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

12:52PM

"it's slowly breaking open! hurry!" jimin yelled, panic dominating the hoarse octaves of his words. with beads of sweat shooting down the side of his face and eyebrows knitted so closely together, you'd clearly be able to see that their owner was anything but calm. thuds alike to gunshots sounded from the other side of the door, each one allowing bruises to start blooming across the brunette's side—and it was then that the shelf yoongi dragged over fell with a heavy thump.

"i can go!" namjoon proposed, making a labored effort towards the window. however he folded into himself as soon as the move was made. "you can't go anywhere with an injury like that!" seokjin scolded, pulling the heaving blonde into a porcelain embrace—proceeding to tend to the growing sea of red streaming from his arm.

"then what about you, seokjin!" jimin called out, turning so his back could instead take the blunt of the thuds. biting his lip in a vain attempt at throwing a lid at the way his sides cried out in pain, the brunette let out a heavy breath before shoving back with twice as much force.

"i'm not leaving namjoon behind!" the rosette yelled back, pulling the said man closer, before cursing. "the stress isn't good for his wound. if someone doesn't get him out of here fast, he could contract a fever!"

"i'll go!" hoseok volunteered, already climbing up the shelves beside the window. with sunset-toned bangs slicking to his forehead, a clear sign of anxiety thanks to beads upon beads of sweat, his eyes were curtained. as the mahoganette reached towards the exit, seokjin tore his eyes away from namjoon.

"pull namjoon up first!"

at his words, many heads turned. along with yoongi looking as if he'd been set ablaze. "what the fuck about us?!" the ravenette seethed, wincing at the blow he received at the sudden slip in focus. the door wasn't going to hold on for long.

"he can't get anywhere efficiently enough with that arm! and you guys'll go last since you're holding jeongguk off!" the rosette reasoned desperately, so painfully aware of the seriousness of their situation—and the possible fatalities that'd come from letting namjoon go first. however, he just couldn't acknowledge those truths enough to throw the blonde under the bus.

"so give me your ha–?!" seokjin called out, his hand stretched upwards, before choking on his words.

with the moonlight serving as a personal spotlight, and bangs parted to reveal orbs ridden with terror, the rosette found himself speechless at how afraid the mahoganette appeared. and that fear was a miasma thick enough to constrict his own heart in a fierce poison, when he noticed the owner of those cowardice orbs crawl out the window.

upon turning back, a sheen of sweat allowed for beams of moonlight to reveal a shit-eating grin and teary eyes to match.

"i..."

"....i'm so sorry!" hoseok choked out, before shutting the window and locking the rest inside.

"JUNG HOSEOK! COME BACK HERE! PLEASE, HE'LL KILL US!" seokjin screamed out, his throat raw and voice hoarse. his pleas were followed by a symphony of cried from the rest, before everything went silent.

the door's hinges broke off.

with jimin falling to the ground, yoongi tripping over the fallen cabinet, and jin serving as a human shield to namjoon, the party of 4 had been left helpless to their perpetrator.

'it's over!' jimin cried out in his head, a string of teardrops beginning to lace his closed eyelashes. each member had been like sitting ducks, glueing their eyes shut in anticipation of that eerie, terror-instilling, voice-

"for a couple terrified guests who want to escape this hell hole you seem pretty attached."

the second those words were uttered, several eyes widened in surprise. it held a keen aloofness, and teasing tone (much unlike the pure childlike madness jeongguk's own tone held), belonging to only one person—someone no one expected to make an appearance now of all times. "no fucking way..." yoongi uttered, ebony orbs swirling with shock as he suddenly broke out into a cold sweat.

"taehyung!" jimin exclaimed, eyes welled with tears of joy. turning to their silverette savior, the faces of those trapped flashed with several emotions—relief and gratitude being two of the many. with hair messier than it'd been the last time they were together, he held a makeshift baton of sorts in his right hand—what he used to bust the door down.

it was then that the hiss namjoon let out whilst attempting to sit up on his own, was brought to taehyung's attention. scanning the blonde and discovering the coat of red dying his sleeve, the silverette's eyes reflected a sheen of worry, deeper than that had been a growing alarm for namjoon's well-being, all wrapped into swirling ebony orbs.

"someone's injured huh," he announced, more to himself than the actual group, before taking a breath. "follow me, i found a safe place. there's a medicine stash and some weapons."

it was with those words, that the group tailed after their new lead—fingers crossed in hopes of being provided the promise of safety and shelter.

12:59PM
1:00PM

"the asshole." seokjin cursed, his nerves unwinding whilst he undid several buttons on his white top. running a hand through messy bangs, the rose-toned curtains continued curtaining a livid expression. "he would've just left us all for dead if that'd been jeongguk at the door."

"maybe it was just fear? this is hoseok we're talking about." namjoon attempted to reason, before wincing at the sudden tightness in the bandaging around his wound. "jin! ease on the wrapping!"

"he practically screwed us over, screwed you over, and you're still defending him?" seokjin scolded, eyebrows knitted together, a clear indication of stress.

"before you go around throwing all the blame on that coward, i don't fucking remember you being unable to reach the window." yoongi suddenly called out, while applying an assortment of gauzes and bandages to his own wounds.

"excuse me? namjoon was inj-"

"but were you injured?" the ravenette countered without a trace of sugar-coating, before directing his steely gaze towards the rosette. "i really don't give any damns about whatever you and him have going on. but you're really gonna make a shitty doctor if you're willing to sacrifice three lives for an injured guy with practically no hope of getting out."

"yoongi!" jimin whispered, pulling on his sleeve as a means to get the ravenette to bite his words back. but this was yoongi we're talking about, biting back words had never been his forte.

"i'm saying it how it fucking is. coward or not, none of this would've happened if you just went out instead of babysitting namjoon. the fact that he was willing to go with that injury instead of you goes to show we had another coward in the room."

"you brat, how dare—!" seokjin seethed, standing up before an arm pulled him back down. "he's right jin." namjoon declared, his voice void of it's familiar warmth.

"i had little to no chance at making it out of there. me being alive now's a miracle and we both know that. the decisions you've made back there held lives on the line!"

"but namjoon!" the rosette retorted, anguish painting his face in the form of teary eyes and red cheeks.

"but nothing! you need to start looking after yourself and group now! don't forget how important you are, the only person with any idea what to do if jeongguk caused any injuries." furrowing his eyebrows before reaching out to hold the rosette's hands to his forehead. "please...i want you to get out of here twice as much as you want me out of here. okay?"

"...okay."

"well now that we've all made up, i suggest a different plan. only 'cause the last one left you all trapped." taehyung spoke up, sarcasm lacing his last phrase. and it seemed like that sarcasm was directed at yoongi. catching onto his tone, the ravenette scoffed.

"i managed to escape jeongguk and his batshit butler through the vents, and snuck around this building. from the smokescreen outside he might be under the impression that you all went back to the last building, or snuck into the forest." taehyung deducted, before moving on. "if you want a better chance at getting out this place alive, we should sneak around the main bedrooms upstairs. of all the places he'd think we'd head through—the snake's den'll be the last idea he'll have."

"so you're saying we head through the family rooms? that's suicide!" the brunette spoke up, eyes wide at the silverette's suggestion.

"and you're saying staying out here isn't, jiminie?" taehyung bit back teasingly, earning a "hey!" in response.

"but what about hoseok? he'll die out there!" namjoon exclaimed, firm in his belief that someone needed to get the mahoganette back—soon.

"he made his decision! if anything he's probably heading into the forest." seokjin countered, prompting jimin to also give his opinion. "but didn't the butler mention something about side routes? them having high fail rates, with obstacles?"

"whatever we decide on, we gotta do it fast. it'll be a matter of time before rich boy here figures out where his toys ran off to." taehyung concluded, as the atmosphere grew into a haze-thick enough to cast a net of anxiety throughout the room—allowing everyone to use the little time they had to decide which was more valuable. morals or their lives?

-

VOTE
save another, or yourself?
a) group decides to send one member out looking for hoseok while the rest progress. though, one member won't stand for this.

b) group progresses without hoseok. though, one member won't stand for this.

c) group looks for hoseok as a whole. however they'll get off their original escape route.