SELECTED CHOICE:
b) the basement off the side of side b's building. it'll kill some time, but may prove to be the safest route.

12:31PM

"over there!" yoongi shouted, the words leaving his mouth before he had a chance of comprehending them. panicked ebony orbs swirled with fear and a twinge of relief as the met what looked to be the entrance to side b of the jeon mansion.

footsteps grew louder and uncoordinated, though it wasn't like anyone cared—with a deafening explosion of smoke, snarls, and yells outmatching them. "yoongi! we have to stop somewhere soon, namjoon doesn't look alright!" jimin cried out, readjusting his hold on namjoon—who had dimmed eyes and a sheen layer of sweat on his face. teary eyed and past the line of being worried, jin muttered mantras of the blonde's name in a poor attempt at keeping him conscious.

"in there!" yoongi yelled, the pressure of namjoon's situation piling onto his shoulders. leading the group (if you didn't count hoseok practically being glued to his side in fear) to the building's backdoor, he let out a string of curses.

"locked..." hoseok uttered, his voice hitching and trailing off due to the near insane amounts of fear tagged along to the fact the door was shut. gripping t they needed to do something fast, or else jeongguk was going to catch up in no time.

"how about kicking the door down? we could all just run like hell?" jimin suggested, much to jin's dismay. "we can't do any kind of running when namjoon's like this!"

"then how about hiding in the forest?! anything?!" hoseok shrieked, beads of sweat shooting down the sides of his face as the reality of their situation dawned upon him. though unlike hoseok, who had been hellbent on going into the forest, yoongi caught a glimpse that changed his mind about the extent of madness within the jeon mansion.

'shit...you mean to tell me he's even got—...in the forest?' the ravenette stressed, his eyes widening as a jolt of fear wrecked his body. however it was then that he came across another option.

"we can't go in the damn forest!" the ravenette announced, gritting his teeth in absolute hatred at a specific noirette that came to mind. his words served looks of confusion of jimin and jin's face, something close to betrayal on hoseok's. "but!" yoongi continued, running a brusied set of fingers through silky black bangs, before pointing to what looked to be a small structure along the side of the building. a downwards shed that potentially led to the mansion's storage room—a perfect hiding place at the cost of wasted time. running over and swinging the handles open, yoongi looked back to the group of four.

"we can get in there, quick!"

12:45PM

"i think the coast's clear...we could rest up here for a bit." jimin called out, as he handed namjoon over to jin. raising an arm to sooth his tense shoulders, the brunette took a second to eye their surroundings. what looked to be a basement, racked on all sides with shelves and compartments alike containing all sorts of canned goods. it was then that jimin realized how hungry he was, biting and licking his lips as he eyed several fruit containers with a starved gaze. however the events prior to them getting to this 'safe zone' chased that desire away.

"that's a relief...and yoongi, what you did back there was smart thinking. thanks for having my back." namjoon brought up, shooting a look of gratitude towards the raventte.

"thank goodness you're stable, you gave me a heart attack!" the rosette fussed, a few stray hairs shifting messily as he ran a hand through his bangs. his heart felt warm at the blonde's better state, in contrast to how he was before. "the smoke just got to me, but i should be okay. jin and...." scanning the group, namjoon's eyes softened once they landed on a specific brunette.

"jimin, right? thank you both for risking your lives in caring for me. words can't express who guilty i feel, especially since i practically led him right to us with this stupid bloody arm."

"namjoon!—" "it's the truth." the blonde interrupted sternly, leaving seokjin with an unsatisfied expression and throbbing heart.

"well what's happened, happened. the fact that no fatalities were faced makes it easier to put that fact aside. so injured or not, try working on being useful. got it?" yoongi said, his eyes indifferent and clearly aware of how lucky they had all been. if it hadn't been for quick thinking and the way things played out, just how bad would the situation have turned out? this all dawned on namjoon, as he nodded in agreement to yoongi's request.

"also, there's been something i've been wondering. how did some of you come to know jeongguk?" the blonde asked aloud, before seokjin intervened.

"he's well known at the university we go to, and often talks to namjoon since he was close to his older brother. besides that i've only seen him a couple other times since he sometimes attends weekend lectures."

"his older brother was about as perfect as a guy could get. jeon junghyun, aced all his classes, was a star athlete, and had the looks to match his charisma. he was someone people were just drawn to, and a good highschool classmate too. but..." namjoon trailed off, before his expression tensed.

"when he turned 18, he passed away."

"what?!" jimin blurted out, confused and shocked at the abrupt end of this new person.

"without warning, and the cause of death was still unknown. it was only a few weeks after that jeongguk began approaching me, and a few years later that i was invited to this mess."

"i've heard of him, but never known the guy personally. i guess i should've put that into consideration before actually coming here, haha..." hoseok trailed off, all sorts of emotions swirling in his tone, as his hand covered his eyes.

"he was just an annoying brat at our high school. he took everything, both money and people, for granted. not to mention he always wore that stupid smile on his face. i knew damn well it was a fucking facade, and what happened tonight goes to shoe my intuition was spot on." yoongi scoffed, knuckles fading into a pearly white tone as he clenched his fists tighter—as searing hot memories of how two faced jeongguk really was, dominated his head.

"i....just know of him." jimin mumbled, bangs curtaining his eyes as a frown bloomed upon his face. yoongi could practically feel the heartbreak coming off of him in waves, and felt sympathetic towards the brunette. it wasn't everyday that your longtime crush turned out to be a serial madman out to kill both you and your friends.

"and there was one more guy right? taehyung, right?" seokjin spoke up, namjoon nodding in agreement.

"he's a special case. someone who treats life like a damn game, yet managed to actually come through for us in the beginning of this hell." the ravenette drawled, eyes squinted at the thought of the silverette. just what the hell happened to him anyway? was he alive, dead? yoongi just had no idea. "i'd probably trust him more if it weren't for the fact that i think he's always hiding something behind that smile."

the moment those words left the ravenette's mouth, a deafening series of knocks sounded on the door of their safe haven. a new wave of fear washed over every individual, as jimin immediately rushed to hold the door back. "what the hell is this?!" a mahoganette panicked, as he took a couple steps away from jimin's direction.

"it's jeongguk! fuck!" yoongi cried out, before making an attempt to drag one of the shelves to the door. the only one that'd do a good enough at holding the intruder off, was the largest one across the room. tediously dragging it across the toom, the ravenette's heart dropped at jimin's sudden cry.

"i can't hold this for long! whoever's there might have a weapon!" eyes darting across the distraught faces of his peers, the brunette came to a realization once he glanced towards the back of the room.

"someone could climb out the window, and can pull the rest of us out!" jimin yelled, relieved as yoongi came to his side—helping him keep the door shut.

"we don't have forever!" the ravenette yelled, as the trio leftover looked at one another. anxiety hit him like a sack of bricks, the intensity of the situation rising, as it grew harder to keep the door closed.

-

VOTE:
who shall be the first out the basement?

a) hoseok, though what risks will he take in order to survive?

b) seokjin, though will he be able to leave namjoon behind?

c) namjoon, though what could he really do in his state?

(!!)
try voting on the actual option,
it helps a bunch to have the votes
in one spot!