(suju/tvxq) the fifth floor bathroom suicide
title the fifth floor bathroom suicide
genre general, horror, comedy
characters / pairings hyukjae, junsu, yunho, donghae
fandom (crossover) super junior, tvxq
rating pg-7
word count 2722
about a ghost haunts the bathroom in the fifth floor of the sm entertainment building. curious trainees, namely, hyukjae, junsu, yunho and donghae, stay in the building late at night to check it out.
others / warning trainee days, special appearance by blackbeat's jaewon
disclaimer i do not own any of the characters in this story.
a/n i find it difficult to write trainee days fic! the timelines are so screwed up. this is inspired by the many asian horror films i saw four to five years ago and these translations by meitachi.
♥♥♥♥♥♥ for aoimidori
"Let's make Donghae cry today."
Hyukjae gave Junsu a blank look as the both sat on the floor of the dance rehearsal room. "Again?"
Junsu nodded as he drank water from a bottle he found lying nearby. "Yeah. It's the perfect way to end a tiring day of dance practice."
Hyukjae gave a nervous glance somewhere to his left, where Donghae was sitting alone with his back against the mirror, drinking water and looking like a lost puppy. His gaze was following Yunho, who was on another side of the room, asking questions from the dance instructor.
"We just made him cry yesterday," Hyukjae said, lowering his voice while trying to get the water bottle from Junsu. He was thirsty himself.
"So?" Junsu asked handing the bottle to Hyuk. "We can make him cry everyday if we wanted to."
Hyukjae took a gulp of water. "But why should we?"
"Because we can," Junsu answered matter-of-factly. He fixed his eyes on Donghae, who was now talking to Yunho. He looked like he was about to cry again.
Hyukjae only looked at Junsu as he drank more water. He could tell by the look in Junsu's eyes that his best friend was planning something.
"You guys are planning something again, aren't you?" a voice from behind them spoke.
Hyukjae almost jumped in surprise. "Sungmin-hyung!" Sungmin raised his eyebrows at both of them.
Junsu looked up. "I got it!" he excitedly whispered.
"You better let me in on that," Sungmin said with a grin and crouched between the two of them as Junsu began to explain the details of his plan.
*
"And the point of doing this is...?" Sungmin asked, his forehead wrinkled in a combination of disgust and wonder.
"To make Donghae cry," Junsu answered him.
"I'm out of this." Sungmin waved his hands in front of him and stood up from the floor.
Hyukjae pulled at Sungmin's arm. "Hyung, come on. It'll be fun."
Sungmin shook his head. "Whatever. It's pretty pointless. So, what if you make Donghae cry? He cries everyday without your help."
"He does?" Junsu asked with a slight tone of glee.
"That's what Yunho tells me. Homesick," Sungmin answered.
"So does that mean he's crying in the bathroom right now?" Junsu stood up. "Hyukjae, let's go!"
"What?" Hyukjae asked and stood up as quickly as he could. Junsu was already on his way of the dance room, and Hyukjae hurriedly followed him.
"Oh, brother." Sungmin shook his head again as he watched Hyukjae and Junsu leave.
*
Donghae thought about his father, his mother, his older brother, his friends and the sleepy town of Mokpo. He missed them all everyday. Homesickness alone was enough to make being a trainee of SM Entertainment difficult. He could endure all the difficult routines and the hectic schedule, if he could go home to his family and wrap everyday up with warm dinner made by his mother. He tried to stifle a sob, but what was the point? No one could hear him anyway. No one cared.
He wondered if any of his efforts were worth it. Aside from terribly missing his family, the instructors gave harsh criticisms, which he found hard to accept. He found the other trainees cold and unfriendly, except for Yunho, who came from the same province and was helping him out adjust to the life of an SM trainee. Two other trainees made his life even more miserable: Hyukjae and Junsu seemed to be bent on making him cry.
He wrapped his arm tighter around his knees and pressed closer to the cold bathroom walls. He let out a sob. And another one. And another. He didn't try to cry quietly anymore. In the darkness and the solace of the fifth floor male restroom, in SM Entertainment, in Seoul, no one cared about him.
Suddenly, a voice spoke from inside the bathroom.
"Donghae-ya..." It was hard to tell whether the speaker was male or female. The voice was soft, yet commanded attention, especially in a dark, quiet place like the bathroom.
Donghae looked up and grew scared. It would be embarrassing if anyone found out that he was crying alone in the bathroom again.
"Donghae-ya..."
He stood up and craned his neck to see who it was over the cubicle door, but he was too short.
"Donghae-ya..."
"Yunho-hyung?" he asked out loud.
The voice only called his name out again. "Donghae-ya..." It was growing louder. The speaker seemed to be getting nearer.
Donghae was growing scared. Who was it? He opened the door slightly and peeked, but there was no one near the sink or in front of the other cubicles. He widened the opening to get a better view. When he still couldn't see anyone, he went out of the cubicle to get a full view.
There really was no one there.
With tears forming in his eyes, he ran out of the bathroom and looked for Yunho.
*
"Oh my god, did you see the look in his face when he ran out?" Junsu asked in between giggles as he clutched his tummy. It was painful with laughter.
"Yeah!" Hyukjae was sitting on the floor with his back against the bathroom wall. "He was crying already!"
Junsu sat on the floor beside him. "I wish we could take a picture of his face."
"That would be awesome. Imagine what would happen if we show that to the public after Donghae debuts," Hyukjae said with a grin.
"Aw, man, he'd kill us." Junsu laughed out loud again.
"But he'd probably cry -"
"Hyukjae-ya..."
"What?" Hyukjae asked Junsu, surprised at his best friend's sudden interruption.
"Huh?" was all Junsu said.
"Hyukjae-ya..."
Both stopped talking for a moment, then looked at each other. "Did you hear that?" they asked each other at the same time.
"Junsu-ya..."
Both boys' eyes widened in horror as they scrambled out of the bathroom.
*
"A voice in the bathroom?" Jaewon gave the five of them a puzzled look as he stirred his coffee. Hyukjae, Junsu, Sungmin, Yunho, and Donghae sat in front of him in the pantry with curious looks.
"Yeah, hyung," Junsu said. "We heard a voice in the fifth-floor bathroom last night, some time before midnight."
"He, well, it was calling our names. Hyukjae-ya... Junsu-ya..." Hyukjae added. Beside Yunho, Donghae shuddered.
Jaewon took a sip of coffee. "I'm tired from filming and all, but I guess you should know this," he said and gave a sigh.
The five boys pressed closer towards him, their bottoms almost off their seats in anticipation.
Jaewon took another sip. "There's this story, of a trainee who was supposed to debut before H.O.T," Jaewon began.
The five gave him surprised, puzzled looks. "We never heard of that," Yunho said.
"I don't know if it's true, but it's supposed to be a big secret we're not allowed to talk about," Jaewon responded to the interruption before he continued with a lower voice. "Anyway, he was supposedly very good, and everyone in the company was excited about his debut. A few weeks before his debut, however -"
The quintet sucked their breaths in unison.
"He was diagnosed with a throat disease that prevented him from being able to sing ever. Again." He gave the five boys an intense look before resuming.
"Poor guy," Sungmin whispered.
"Yeah," Jaewon answered. "After that, he stayed on with the company, bullying younger trainees. They tried to stop him, but they felt too sorry to actually kick him out. When trainees started to quit because of his bullying, Chief Lee scolded him. He disappeared after that. Not even his parents knew where he was. Then one night, they found him dead in the fifth-floor bathroom."
Hyukjae, Junsu and Sungmin screamed, while Donghae whimpered and pressed closer to Yunho in fear.
"The autopsy revealed that he had slashed his wrists and bled until he died. There was no suicide note or anything nearby, although the police dismissed it as such." He looked at the five of them again.
"So, he haunts the bathroom on the fifth floor now...?" asked Yunho, the first to recover from the shock.
"Well, no one knows, but the cleaners claim that they do hear someone calling their names from the bathroom late at night," Jaewon answered.
Donghae whimpered again. Junsu almost laughed at the sight of him looking like he was about to cry.
Jaewon stood up. "Well, now you know. I don't know if there's any truth to this story but as long as you go back to your dorms right after training, you'll be fine."
*
But of course, teenage boys are teenage boys, and even if Jaewon told them to go straight back to their dorms after training, they did exactly the opposite the night after.
"B-b-but Jaewon-hyung told us to go back to our dorms," Donghae said, trying not to look at the others.
Hyukjae laughed. "Aw, come on, Donghae! Chickening out? Go back to the dorm and cry in Heechul-hyung's arms if you want."
"I am not chickening out!" Donghae shouted at him, as if about to cry again, while Yunho gave Hyukjae an intense glare.
They were sitting inside the pantry, waiting for midnight. It was 11:55 in the evening.
"Sungminnie-hyung! Sungminnie-hyung!" Junsu was shaking Sungmin awake, who was asleep with his head on the table, between him and Hyukjae.
"Let's just leave him here. You know he never stays up beyond 11:30 at night," Hyukjae said.
"W-w-what if the ghost comes and gets him here?" Donghae asked.
"That's his fault for falling asleep," Junsu answered.
Five more minutes passed. The four boys glanced nervously at each other. Sungmin remained fast asleep.
"Let's go," Junsu said. The four of them stood up and headed towards the door.
The fifth floor hallway was cold and dark. At this late hour, trainees were not allowed to stay inside the building, and rehearsal rooms were reserved for the sunbae, who only had time to rehearse late at night after filming and other promotional activities. They walked as quietly as they could to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. Outside, rain started to fall, and lightning occasionally brightened the dark hallway. Donghae shuddered with each clap of thunder.
The five of them stood outside the bathroom door.
"Who goes first?" Junsu asked in a low whisper, moving aside.
"This is all your idea, so you should go first," Yunho answered.
Junsu glared at Yunho for a second, before taking his place in front of the door. He turned the knob slowly and carefully pushed the door open. The other three watched in fear and anticipation behind him.
There was nothing.
Junsu pushed the door wide open. The bathroom was empty, and not a sound could be heard. Junsu took a step inside.
"Come on," he signalled for the rest to follow him. Hyukjae immediately took a step forward. Yunho was about to do the same, when he felt Donghae pull the sleeve of his shirt.
"Scared, Donghae?" Junsu teased after seeing Yunho stop.
"N-n-no..." Donghae muttered.
"Well, come on!" Hyukjae said. Yunho gave Donghae an assuring look, to which Donghae nodded. Yunho followed Hyukjae, with Donghae close behind him.
Cold wind from outside blew into the bathroom and into the boys' faces. Donghae cried out loud in surprise.
Junsu put his index finger in front of his mouth and glared at Donghae, but it was too late.
"Hey, who's there?" a loud, deep voice from the other end of the hallway asked.
"Oh, shit!" Hyukjae whispered and huriedly stepped inside the bathroom. He tried to pull Yunho in, but it was too late. Whoever was the owner of the voice had seen Yunho and Donghae. Junsu pulled Hyukjae by the waist into one of the cubicles. From there, they could hear Yunho talking. It was one of their vocal trainers.
"What are you doing here? It's late, you should be back in your dorms," they heard him say.
"W-well, uhm, ah..." Yunho didn't know what to say, obviously guilty of something. Junsu heard Donghae whimper.
"Come on, I'll walk you back to your dorms."
Junsu and Hyukjae craned their necks to hear more, but all they could hear were footsteps growing more distant.
"Oh, great," Junsu muttered as both of them sank to the floor.
"Should we go back now?" Hyukjae asked, with a slight hint of fear in his voice.
"Hell, no!" Junsu said. "Chickening out?"
"What?! No way!" Hyukjae opened his mouth to say more, but his hand felt something cold and hard on the floor. He picked it up and squinted his eyes in the dark to see what it was.
It was a knife, somewhat moist.
"I-i-is that a knife?" Junsu asked with his voice trembling.
"I think so," Hyukjae said, sounding equally afraid. "It's kinda wet," he added while putting the knife close to his face.
The knife smelled of blood.
Hyukjae immediately threw the knife away while Junsu pressed his back against the wall. It landed underneath the sink. They looked at each other again, with more fear in their eyes than they had ever seen in their many years as friends.
"Let's... get out of here?" Hyukjae asked again.
Before Junsu could even answer, they heard footsteps, bare feet against the cold bathroom tiles. Both boys froze and felt the air grow cold. Soft moans floated in the air in between each step. Thunder rang from outside.
"My voice... my voice..."
Whoever, or whatever it was, it seemed to be coming from the cubicle farthest from the door.
"Give me... your voice..."
"Run before he gets to the door!" Hyukjae shouted and stood up, pulling Junsu up with him by the arm. His best friend seemed limp in fear, but Hyukjae was determined to get both of them out before whatever was in the bathroom could get them.
"Hyukjae-yah... Junsu-yah..." It was getting closer. Much closer.
Hyukjae never felt the distance between the first cubicle and the door of the bathroom to be this long before. Each step they made towards their escape seemed to take forever.
Suddenly Junsu stopped moving behind him. He turned around to see what happened. A tall figure in a school uniform torn at different places was standing beside Junsu, gripping his arm. Its - His damp hair covered his nose and eyes. Blood trailed down his lips.
"Let me go!" Junsu almost screamed.
"Junsu... give me your voice..." the figure said in between moans.
"Come on, Junsu!" Hyukjae cried from outside, pulling at his best friend's free arm.
"I want to debut..."
"Junsu!" Hyukjae cried even louder, after seeing the knife in the figure's hands.
Junsu pulled away again and again. He didn't know how many times he tried, but after one final pull with all his might and desperation, Junsu broke free from the tall figure's grip. He and Hyukjae gave the tall figure one last look. It was reaching out towards both of them. Without saying anything more, they ran away from the bathroom to the elevators, as fast as they could without looking back even once.
*
"So, is this why you suggested 'horror' as the theme for today's acting class?" Heechul took another piece of tissue from the box at the end of the sink and rinsed it water. He used it to wipe the blood from below his lips.
Jungsu grinned at him. "It was fun scaring the younger ones, wasn't it? And hey, if Chief Lee saw your acting here, he'd probably make arrangements for your debut as soon as possible."
Heechul glared at Jungsu. "I still don't understand why you wanted to do this, Jungsu. They're your favorite dongsaeng."
"Oh, they always tell me about how they make Donghae cry everyday. As a responsible hyung, I should teach them a lesson," Jungsu answered while helping Heechul out of the dirty, torn school uniform he had been in since acting class that afternoon.
"Those kids tell you everything," was all Heechul said, still with a hint of irritation in his voice. He then opened his mouth again to say something about what they did not being the proper way to educate dongsaeng, until he realized something. "But you were with me and Jongwoon in the dorms the other night. You weren't the one who scared Donghae that time, were you?"
Jungsu gave him a questioning look. "Someone scared Donghae?"
"Donghae ran crying to me that night saying someone was calling his name in here," Heechul said. "Sungmin said Hyukjae and Junsu heard something, too. Didn't they tell you?"
Jungsu grew quiet and only stared at Heechul with his eyes open wide.
"Those kids probably just imagined things," Heechul said as he put a shirt on. "Next time, Jungsu, if you plan something like this, go get Jongwoon. At least he wouldn't need any make-up. He's -"
"Heechul-ah..."
Heechul looked at Jungsu. "What is it?"
"I... wasn't saying anything," Jungsu answered, casting a fearful glance behind him.
"Jungsu-ya..."
Both boys quickly made their way out of the fifth floor bathroom.
fin.
genre general, horror, comedy
characters / pairings hyukjae, junsu, yunho, donghae
fandom (crossover) super junior, tvxq
rating pg-7
word count 2722
about a ghost haunts the bathroom in the fifth floor of the sm entertainment building. curious trainees, namely, hyukjae, junsu, yunho and donghae, stay in the building late at night to check it out.
others / warning trainee days, special appearance by blackbeat's jaewon
disclaimer i do not own any of the characters in this story.
a/n i find it difficult to write trainee days fic! the timelines are so screwed up. this is inspired by the many asian horror films i saw four to five years ago and these translations by meitachi.
♥♥♥♥♥♥ for aoimidori
"Let's make Donghae cry today."
Hyukjae gave Junsu a blank look as the both sat on the floor of the dance rehearsal room. "Again?"
Junsu nodded as he drank water from a bottle he found lying nearby. "Yeah. It's the perfect way to end a tiring day of dance practice."
Hyukjae gave a nervous glance somewhere to his left, where Donghae was sitting alone with his back against the mirror, drinking water and looking like a lost puppy. His gaze was following Yunho, who was on another side of the room, asking questions from the dance instructor.
"We just made him cry yesterday," Hyukjae said, lowering his voice while trying to get the water bottle from Junsu. He was thirsty himself.
"So?" Junsu asked handing the bottle to Hyuk. "We can make him cry everyday if we wanted to."
Hyukjae took a gulp of water. "But why should we?"
"Because we can," Junsu answered matter-of-factly. He fixed his eyes on Donghae, who was now talking to Yunho. He looked like he was about to cry again.
Hyukjae only looked at Junsu as he drank more water. He could tell by the look in Junsu's eyes that his best friend was planning something.
"You guys are planning something again, aren't you?" a voice from behind them spoke.
Hyukjae almost jumped in surprise. "Sungmin-hyung!" Sungmin raised his eyebrows at both of them.
Junsu looked up. "I got it!" he excitedly whispered.
"You better let me in on that," Sungmin said with a grin and crouched between the two of them as Junsu began to explain the details of his plan.
*
"And the point of doing this is...?" Sungmin asked, his forehead wrinkled in a combination of disgust and wonder.
"To make Donghae cry," Junsu answered him.
"I'm out of this." Sungmin waved his hands in front of him and stood up from the floor.
Hyukjae pulled at Sungmin's arm. "Hyung, come on. It'll be fun."
Sungmin shook his head. "Whatever. It's pretty pointless. So, what if you make Donghae cry? He cries everyday without your help."
"He does?" Junsu asked with a slight tone of glee.
"That's what Yunho tells me. Homesick," Sungmin answered.
"So does that mean he's crying in the bathroom right now?" Junsu stood up. "Hyukjae, let's go!"
"What?" Hyukjae asked and stood up as quickly as he could. Junsu was already on his way of the dance room, and Hyukjae hurriedly followed him.
"Oh, brother." Sungmin shook his head again as he watched Hyukjae and Junsu leave.
*
Donghae thought about his father, his mother, his older brother, his friends and the sleepy town of Mokpo. He missed them all everyday. Homesickness alone was enough to make being a trainee of SM Entertainment difficult. He could endure all the difficult routines and the hectic schedule, if he could go home to his family and wrap everyday up with warm dinner made by his mother. He tried to stifle a sob, but what was the point? No one could hear him anyway. No one cared.
He wondered if any of his efforts were worth it. Aside from terribly missing his family, the instructors gave harsh criticisms, which he found hard to accept. He found the other trainees cold and unfriendly, except for Yunho, who came from the same province and was helping him out adjust to the life of an SM trainee. Two other trainees made his life even more miserable: Hyukjae and Junsu seemed to be bent on making him cry.
He wrapped his arm tighter around his knees and pressed closer to the cold bathroom walls. He let out a sob. And another one. And another. He didn't try to cry quietly anymore. In the darkness and the solace of the fifth floor male restroom, in SM Entertainment, in Seoul, no one cared about him.
Suddenly, a voice spoke from inside the bathroom.
"Donghae-ya..." It was hard to tell whether the speaker was male or female. The voice was soft, yet commanded attention, especially in a dark, quiet place like the bathroom.
Donghae looked up and grew scared. It would be embarrassing if anyone found out that he was crying alone in the bathroom again.
"Donghae-ya..."
He stood up and craned his neck to see who it was over the cubicle door, but he was too short.
"Donghae-ya..."
"Yunho-hyung?" he asked out loud.
The voice only called his name out again. "Donghae-ya..." It was growing louder. The speaker seemed to be getting nearer.
Donghae was growing scared. Who was it? He opened the door slightly and peeked, but there was no one near the sink or in front of the other cubicles. He widened the opening to get a better view. When he still couldn't see anyone, he went out of the cubicle to get a full view.
There really was no one there.
With tears forming in his eyes, he ran out of the bathroom and looked for Yunho.
*
"Oh my god, did you see the look in his face when he ran out?" Junsu asked in between giggles as he clutched his tummy. It was painful with laughter.
"Yeah!" Hyukjae was sitting on the floor with his back against the bathroom wall. "He was crying already!"
Junsu sat on the floor beside him. "I wish we could take a picture of his face."
"That would be awesome. Imagine what would happen if we show that to the public after Donghae debuts," Hyukjae said with a grin.
"Aw, man, he'd kill us." Junsu laughed out loud again.
"But he'd probably cry -"
"Hyukjae-ya..."
"What?" Hyukjae asked Junsu, surprised at his best friend's sudden interruption.
"Huh?" was all Junsu said.
"Hyukjae-ya..."
Both stopped talking for a moment, then looked at each other. "Did you hear that?" they asked each other at the same time.
"Junsu-ya..."
Both boys' eyes widened in horror as they scrambled out of the bathroom.
*
"A voice in the bathroom?" Jaewon gave the five of them a puzzled look as he stirred his coffee. Hyukjae, Junsu, Sungmin, Yunho, and Donghae sat in front of him in the pantry with curious looks.
"Yeah, hyung," Junsu said. "We heard a voice in the fifth-floor bathroom last night, some time before midnight."
"He, well, it was calling our names. Hyukjae-ya... Junsu-ya..." Hyukjae added. Beside Yunho, Donghae shuddered.
Jaewon took a sip of coffee. "I'm tired from filming and all, but I guess you should know this," he said and gave a sigh.
The five boys pressed closer towards him, their bottoms almost off their seats in anticipation.
Jaewon took another sip. "There's this story, of a trainee who was supposed to debut before H.O.T," Jaewon began.
The five gave him surprised, puzzled looks. "We never heard of that," Yunho said.
"I don't know if it's true, but it's supposed to be a big secret we're not allowed to talk about," Jaewon responded to the interruption before he continued with a lower voice. "Anyway, he was supposedly very good, and everyone in the company was excited about his debut. A few weeks before his debut, however -"
The quintet sucked their breaths in unison.
"He was diagnosed with a throat disease that prevented him from being able to sing ever. Again." He gave the five boys an intense look before resuming.
"Poor guy," Sungmin whispered.
"Yeah," Jaewon answered. "After that, he stayed on with the company, bullying younger trainees. They tried to stop him, but they felt too sorry to actually kick him out. When trainees started to quit because of his bullying, Chief Lee scolded him. He disappeared after that. Not even his parents knew where he was. Then one night, they found him dead in the fifth-floor bathroom."
Hyukjae, Junsu and Sungmin screamed, while Donghae whimpered and pressed closer to Yunho in fear.
"The autopsy revealed that he had slashed his wrists and bled until he died. There was no suicide note or anything nearby, although the police dismissed it as such." He looked at the five of them again.
"So, he haunts the bathroom on the fifth floor now...?" asked Yunho, the first to recover from the shock.
"Well, no one knows, but the cleaners claim that they do hear someone calling their names from the bathroom late at night," Jaewon answered.
Donghae whimpered again. Junsu almost laughed at the sight of him looking like he was about to cry.
Jaewon stood up. "Well, now you know. I don't know if there's any truth to this story but as long as you go back to your dorms right after training, you'll be fine."
*
But of course, teenage boys are teenage boys, and even if Jaewon told them to go straight back to their dorms after training, they did exactly the opposite the night after.
"B-b-but Jaewon-hyung told us to go back to our dorms," Donghae said, trying not to look at the others.
Hyukjae laughed. "Aw, come on, Donghae! Chickening out? Go back to the dorm and cry in Heechul-hyung's arms if you want."
"I am not chickening out!" Donghae shouted at him, as if about to cry again, while Yunho gave Hyukjae an intense glare.
They were sitting inside the pantry, waiting for midnight. It was 11:55 in the evening.
"Sungminnie-hyung! Sungminnie-hyung!" Junsu was shaking Sungmin awake, who was asleep with his head on the table, between him and Hyukjae.
"Let's just leave him here. You know he never stays up beyond 11:30 at night," Hyukjae said.
"W-w-what if the ghost comes and gets him here?" Donghae asked.
"That's his fault for falling asleep," Junsu answered.
Five more minutes passed. The four boys glanced nervously at each other. Sungmin remained fast asleep.
"Let's go," Junsu said. The four of them stood up and headed towards the door.
The fifth floor hallway was cold and dark. At this late hour, trainees were not allowed to stay inside the building, and rehearsal rooms were reserved for the sunbae, who only had time to rehearse late at night after filming and other promotional activities. They walked as quietly as they could to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. Outside, rain started to fall, and lightning occasionally brightened the dark hallway. Donghae shuddered with each clap of thunder.
The five of them stood outside the bathroom door.
"Who goes first?" Junsu asked in a low whisper, moving aside.
"This is all your idea, so you should go first," Yunho answered.
Junsu glared at Yunho for a second, before taking his place in front of the door. He turned the knob slowly and carefully pushed the door open. The other three watched in fear and anticipation behind him.
There was nothing.
Junsu pushed the door wide open. The bathroom was empty, and not a sound could be heard. Junsu took a step inside.
"Come on," he signalled for the rest to follow him. Hyukjae immediately took a step forward. Yunho was about to do the same, when he felt Donghae pull the sleeve of his shirt.
"Scared, Donghae?" Junsu teased after seeing Yunho stop.
"N-n-no..." Donghae muttered.
"Well, come on!" Hyukjae said. Yunho gave Donghae an assuring look, to which Donghae nodded. Yunho followed Hyukjae, with Donghae close behind him.
Cold wind from outside blew into the bathroom and into the boys' faces. Donghae cried out loud in surprise.
Junsu put his index finger in front of his mouth and glared at Donghae, but it was too late.
"Hey, who's there?" a loud, deep voice from the other end of the hallway asked.
"Oh, shit!" Hyukjae whispered and huriedly stepped inside the bathroom. He tried to pull Yunho in, but it was too late. Whoever was the owner of the voice had seen Yunho and Donghae. Junsu pulled Hyukjae by the waist into one of the cubicles. From there, they could hear Yunho talking. It was one of their vocal trainers.
"What are you doing here? It's late, you should be back in your dorms," they heard him say.
"W-well, uhm, ah..." Yunho didn't know what to say, obviously guilty of something. Junsu heard Donghae whimper.
"Come on, I'll walk you back to your dorms."
Junsu and Hyukjae craned their necks to hear more, but all they could hear were footsteps growing more distant.
"Oh, great," Junsu muttered as both of them sank to the floor.
"Should we go back now?" Hyukjae asked, with a slight hint of fear in his voice.
"Hell, no!" Junsu said. "Chickening out?"
"What?! No way!" Hyukjae opened his mouth to say more, but his hand felt something cold and hard on the floor. He picked it up and squinted his eyes in the dark to see what it was.
It was a knife, somewhat moist.
"I-i-is that a knife?" Junsu asked with his voice trembling.
"I think so," Hyukjae said, sounding equally afraid. "It's kinda wet," he added while putting the knife close to his face.
The knife smelled of blood.
Hyukjae immediately threw the knife away while Junsu pressed his back against the wall. It landed underneath the sink. They looked at each other again, with more fear in their eyes than they had ever seen in their many years as friends.
"Let's... get out of here?" Hyukjae asked again.
Before Junsu could even answer, they heard footsteps, bare feet against the cold bathroom tiles. Both boys froze and felt the air grow cold. Soft moans floated in the air in between each step. Thunder rang from outside.
"My voice... my voice..."
Whoever, or whatever it was, it seemed to be coming from the cubicle farthest from the door.
"Give me... your voice..."
"Run before he gets to the door!" Hyukjae shouted and stood up, pulling Junsu up with him by the arm. His best friend seemed limp in fear, but Hyukjae was determined to get both of them out before whatever was in the bathroom could get them.
"Hyukjae-yah... Junsu-yah..." It was getting closer. Much closer.
Hyukjae never felt the distance between the first cubicle and the door of the bathroom to be this long before. Each step they made towards their escape seemed to take forever.
Suddenly Junsu stopped moving behind him. He turned around to see what happened. A tall figure in a school uniform torn at different places was standing beside Junsu, gripping his arm. Its - His damp hair covered his nose and eyes. Blood trailed down his lips.
"Let me go!" Junsu almost screamed.
"Junsu... give me your voice..." the figure said in between moans.
"Come on, Junsu!" Hyukjae cried from outside, pulling at his best friend's free arm.
"I want to debut..."
"Junsu!" Hyukjae cried even louder, after seeing the knife in the figure's hands.
Junsu pulled away again and again. He didn't know how many times he tried, but after one final pull with all his might and desperation, Junsu broke free from the tall figure's grip. He and Hyukjae gave the tall figure one last look. It was reaching out towards both of them. Without saying anything more, they ran away from the bathroom to the elevators, as fast as they could without looking back even once.
*
"So, is this why you suggested 'horror' as the theme for today's acting class?" Heechul took another piece of tissue from the box at the end of the sink and rinsed it water. He used it to wipe the blood from below his lips.
Jungsu grinned at him. "It was fun scaring the younger ones, wasn't it? And hey, if Chief Lee saw your acting here, he'd probably make arrangements for your debut as soon as possible."
Heechul glared at Jungsu. "I still don't understand why you wanted to do this, Jungsu. They're your favorite dongsaeng."
"Oh, they always tell me about how they make Donghae cry everyday. As a responsible hyung, I should teach them a lesson," Jungsu answered while helping Heechul out of the dirty, torn school uniform he had been in since acting class that afternoon.
"Those kids tell you everything," was all Heechul said, still with a hint of irritation in his voice. He then opened his mouth again to say something about what they did not being the proper way to educate dongsaeng, until he realized something. "But you were with me and Jongwoon in the dorms the other night. You weren't the one who scared Donghae that time, were you?"
Jungsu gave him a questioning look. "Someone scared Donghae?"
"Donghae ran crying to me that night saying someone was calling his name in here," Heechul said. "Sungmin said Hyukjae and Junsu heard something, too. Didn't they tell you?"
Jungsu grew quiet and only stared at Heechul with his eyes open wide.
"Those kids probably just imagined things," Heechul said as he put a shirt on. "Next time, Jungsu, if you plan something like this, go get Jongwoon. At least he wouldn't need any make-up. He's -"
"Heechul-ah..."
Heechul looked at Jungsu. "What is it?"
"I... wasn't saying anything," Jungsu answered, casting a fearful glance behind him.
"Jungsu-ya..."
Both boys quickly made their way out of the fifth floor bathroom.
fin.