Safe and Sound- Rules
Title: Safe and Sound- Rules
Chapters: 2/?
Pairing: 2min, Onkey, Jongkey
Genre: Romance, Action
Rating: PG-13 (?)
Summary: 20 teens will be called upon by the town council to attend the event of the year, “Erebus Camp”. The selected candidates will have to fight for survival, as there will only be one winner after the end of the tournament.
The tournament begins.
“Are you kids excited?” The Game Master exclaimed excitedly and waited for some form of agreement. The lack of response caused Taemin to sliver his lips into a childish grin and his eyes began to wander around restlessly.
Taemin finally recognized the boy sitting across the table as Choi Minho and not ‘the one that lived by the woods.” For a couple of reasons, he found a sense of security when he looked at Minho, perhaps because he was the only person that he knew.
“And now for the Rules. Each of you will be grouped into groups of 4, without any gender limits. Which means to say, there might be groups with all boys or girls.”Some of the girls began to groan and fluster at the implemented order. “Both genders have equal chances to win. Take the 49th Erebus Camp for instance, the group that survived was an all girls team.”
“Before you start the tournament, you will have to go for trainings with your advisors. They will help you to improve in you battle strategies and survival skills that are the most crucial for you survival. At the Erebus ball tonight, you will have to make alliances with the business partners who will provide you with medication, food and anything you are desperately in need of. But of course, the quantity depends on how impressed they are with you.”
“During the tournament, make sure that all your group mates stay alive. If 4 are alive at the finale, there will be 4 victors. But once a group member dies, there will only be one victor.”
“This is shit.” Someone mumbled beneath her breath.
“Thank you for that statement, Min. And yes! Do not fight, do not even argue with anyone right now. Spend your time training and planning strategies with you group mates. Good Luck!”
Taemin stood up when he spotted Donghae signaling to him from the door. It was then when he felt a shove from behind.
“If you are in my group, I will kill you single-handedly.” Cho Kyuhyun hissed and left the room.
… … ..
Taemin POV
“So what are you good at, Taemin?” Donghae sat on the couch with a cup of Hot Americano in his hand.
“Nothing in particular…. I am pretty agile. I can climb.”
“Oh, gymnastics.” Donghae smiled at me.
“No, not gymnastics.” It sounded a little sissy to me. I could imagine myself in a white rubber tunic doing somersaults. Oh no.
“I have just received your group list. Lee Taemin. Lee Onew. Kim KiBum. Kim Jonghyun. You have Kim Jonghyun, that’s an advantage for the three of you, not for him.”
“What do you mean, Advisor.”
“Three weak looking fools with someone as good as him? Seems like there will only be one victor this year.” He snorted. “If Choi Minho and Cho Kyuhyun are here, I would probably see the light.”
“What’s with the both of them?”
“Choi Minho lives near the woods. He definitely knows how to hunt. Cho Kyuhyun is a good shooter.”
“Cho Kyuhyun has terrible attitude.” I retorted back.
“Looks like you already have a foe.”
“Looks like Cho KyuHyun have loads of foes.” I rested my arm on the arm rest and asked Advisor Lee, “What should I do to stay alive?”
“You don’t have to. Just leave yourself at god’s mercy.”
“You are irritating me, Lee Donghae. As much as you want to survive in the tournament, so do I! So stop being an asshole and do your job. HELP ME!” I yelled at him and flung the porcelain cups off the table. Lee Donghae stared at me startled for a second before smashing his cup on the wall.
“WHO SAID I WANT TO STAY ALIVE? I killed my brother with my bare hands at the last competition.” I swallowed my saliva nervously, “My brother was the runner up. He let me win.”
“I’m sorry….” Advisor Lee shot his head up to look at me, showing me and undeserving smile.
“I see you are all bucked up to win. Let’s get down to business now, Taemin.”
Lee Donghae just succeeded in making me look like a complete jerk -and I felt like one too. He sat on the same couch again, sweeping the pieces of broken porcelain out of his sight.
“The house keeper isn’t going to be happy.” I knew that was the last thing I should have said to break the awkward silence, but I had no idea what else I should have done to break to ice. He looked at me and gave me a gentle smile.
“My younger brother told me that too.”
“Look, advisor Lee, I didn’t really mean to-”
“Stop with that Advisor shit. Call me something else.”
“Like what?”
“Hyung.” That was probably the reason why he looked so irritable to me-I reminded him a little too much about his younger brother.
“Donghae Hyung.” I mumbled hesitantly under my breath.
“That’s better.” He fidgeted and continued, “Now, do you trust me?”
… …. …
Key POV
“Do not trust anybody.” Advisor Park tapped his fingers on the coffee table impatiently, “Do you guys hear me?”
Onew and I nodded our heads curtly.
I could sense the differences in Jinki-or should I say, Onew. He wasn’t talkative back home, but at least he showed some enthusiasm and responses.
He barely spoke ever since.
“So….” Onew mumbled under his breath, “If everyone in our group survives, it means that there would be 4 victors, am I right?”
“Only for certain circumstances. You see, all they want to watch is a good show, but if you guys survive just because you didn’t fight hard enough, the rule will be revoked. At the same time however, it’s difficult for all of the people in the same group to stay alive.”
“So whatever that they’ve mentioned is just bull shit.” I muttered crossly and shifted my glance to look at Onew, “This is fucking stupid.”
“How do the candidates get killed sir?” He didn’t even care to return the gaze or give any response to my statement. I’m not an attention seeker, but his seriousness definitely freaked me out. Onew sounded as if he would not really give a damn if he enters the camp right now.
“Start asking structured questions like him, Key.” Advisor Lee snorted, “Well, it’s a good question. During the tournament, having physical advantages is good for you. But if you don’t, you have to learn to act smart.”
“Like what?”
“The fastest killing machines in Erebus Camp would be firstly, Greed. A little greed is good, too much is lethal. If you aren’t greedy to be the victor, the next person that dies would be you. But if you are too greedy to win, killing no longer becomes a way to survive. It will change into a form of satisfaction.” Advisor Park took a gulp of hard liquor from its bottle and wiped the liquid off his lips. “Next would be trust. There are two ways people would want to allies with you-because you look too naïve or because you are a good fighter. It’s always very tempting if someone wants to give you a ‘helping hand’, especially the girls.”
“What about the weapons?”
“You will only be given a swiss knife in the back pack provided before you enter. But the rest-archers, pistols, rifles, daggers will have to be shared among the candidates. At the beginning of the game, it would be found near the entrance. But don’t go anywhere near it, just run. Plan your route well with your group members and make sure you guys can meet up somewhere in the tournament grounds.”
“I need daggers.” Onew interlocked his fingers together and bit his lips.
“Start planning out what you want to focus on during the trainings, kids. It’s unfortunate that you are one of the few to share one Advisor. I heard Lee Taemin, the other kid in your group has an advisor to himself.” He stood up and slivered his lips into a smirk, “But before this, it’s time for you to favor some of the businessmen and women. Go to the auditorium to meet your stylists”
Dressing up for the dinner would probably be the best part of Erebus camp.
A.N: Okay…… As you may have noticed, I changed the pairings to suit the flow of the story.