Hyunji's P.O.V

My arm wrapped around Mi-Cha's body. Her head fell limp to the side, resting on my shoulder. Jueun had taken the other side to help. From shock and exhaustion, we stood there, watching the roaring flames consuming the skeleton. Sweat ran down our faces, limbs, and backs from the heat it gave off.

"We can't just leave it," Mark whispered. "If we don't watch it, what if it got through the cracks where the walls and ceiling meet? It would spread throughout the house."

I loosened my clenched jaw that I didn't even know was tensed. "The cool concrete with limit it from getting any bigger. The fire will die down soon."

We stood in aching silence, until Jisung started turning out. The rest of us followed. Everyone, excluding Jueun, unconscious Mi-Cha, and myself, went out in search for Jaemin and Johnny. We carried Mi-Cha's body towards the stairs, stopping abruptly to see two figures sprawled out across the floor.

"Guys!" Jueun called to the others. "We found them!"

Jaemin and Johnny's bodies looked beaten. 'Mi-Cha' must have let out a real battle against them to be able and take the two guys down. Fortunately, they weren't unconscious. The second Jaemin looked up and saw Mi-Cha, he was on his feet. A red wound was opened on his forehead, and a light line of blood trickled down. Jaemin's hair was a huge mess; ruffled all over the place. Johnny groaned, rubbing his temples. A bruise was forming under his right eye, and his lip was split and starting to swell.

"Why isn't Mi-Cha awake?" Jaemin asked, sliding in to take Jueun's spot.

"We don't know," I replied. My words came out quiet, but rough.

We all shuffled out into the hall, escaping the basement. Renjun closed the door, sealing away the horrors we experienced down there.

"Chenle," Jueun started, taking a couple steps towards the boy. Her eyebrows were furrowed, but the expression wasn't clear. "You were the one who burned the skeleton, right?"

Chenle nodded, looking worried.

Jueun pulled Chenle's arm, causing him to stumble forward into her outstretched arms. They wrapped around the year-younger boy, who had a couple inches on Jueun. Chenle's eyes widened in shock from her sudden embrace.

Jueun let out a chuckle, pulling away. "Good work, soldier." She ruffled his hair, and Chenle smiled shyly. "You're the reason we're all making it out alive."

"Well, maybe all of us." Mark glanced in Mi-Cha's direction.

"Plus, we're still not out of the house," Renjun added.

Jaemin took all the weight of Mi-Cha — which wasn't a lot — and carried her. I led the way to the blocked door, as an option to at least try. When I tried flipping the lock, it wouldn't budge.

What a surprise.

Johnny gently moved me out of the way, then slammed his heel against the lock. It seemed to have jiggled something loose, so Johnny brought back another blow. This time, the latch fell to the red carpet, causing the door to open by itself.

The giant object blocking the door looked like black metal. Since Johnny was closest, he began to push at it. The object wouldn't move. Not even a small area around the door frame showed an opening, it was completely blocked. Jueun, Jeno, and Haechan all found a spot and pressed their shoulders against it. Using all their strength and weight, they gritted their teeth, leaning in.

The object creaked, as if it was giving in. I slid in between Jueun and Haechan, helping with the process. It was excruciating, straining all my muscles. The object finally gave in, falling off the steps that led up to the door. I winced at the thunderous crashing noises it made. Random items were scattered about that had apparently been stacked on the giant metal bookshelf. There was a bare spot on the other wall, hinting to where it came from.

Hana quickly opened the garage door, chilling air blowing on our faces. I wiped my forehead of sweat. Haechan was the first to step out as he stretched his arms out to the side and stared at the night sky.

"I'll never take the sky for granted again!" he cried, starting to laugh.

"Tsk, tsk." Johnny shook his head, stepping out. "Someone was the first to leave the house." A mischievous smile played on his face.

Haechan dropped his arms.

It was Johnny's turn to laugh. "Haechan is gonna have some smooching to do with his crush."

My heart thumped. Wait, that's me. I widened my eyes, taking a step back. I could've sworn Haechan's eyes glanced in my direction.

"Are you kidding me? After all that, I still have to go through with a punishment?" Haechan whined.

Johnny nodded, pulling out his phone. "You better get yourself some nice chapstick." His fingers typed on the screen.

"Whatever, that's stupid." Haechan rolled his eyes.

What, am I not good enough to kiss? Why is it so bad? Wait, no, it doesn't upset me. I've never kissed anyone, I'm not ready.

But why is he so willing to not?

Jueun leaned over to peek at her brother's phone screen. "Ooh," she cooed. "Someone's calling their other half."

Johnny pushed her away, bringing the phone to his ear. I pulled Jueun's sleeve my way. "Why didn't you tell me before that Johnny was in a relationship?"

Jueun's eyes glistened with amusement. "Where's the fun in that?"

My attention was directed to Jaemin's gasp. I spun around, seeing the stirring of Mi-Cha in his arms. Jaemin lowered to the ground, setting her down, yet still holding her in his arms.

Her eyes opened, locking with his. It looked like she was trying to hide a smile. "Jaemin, why are you both the last thing I saw before blacking out, but also the first thing when waking up?"

Jaemin smiled. "Didn't I tell you? When would I ever leave you alone in a time of trouble? Pabo."

Mi-Cha's eyes lingered on the cut on his forehead. "What happened?" They then scanned the area. "We got out?"

"Firstly, you have one powerful arm for your size," Jaemin joked, pointing at the wound. "Secondly, yes, we did."

We all helped Jaemin explain what had happened. Mi-Cha told us that she didn't remember a thing while the spirit possessed her. Johnny ended up giving the address to his significant other so they could meet up with us. After the call, Johnny offered to take us laser tagging at a place that's open twenty-four hours. He wanted to help make up things for Jisung, since his birthday party turned into a disaster.

We waited in the driving way of the not-so-creepy-anymore house. A red, Range Rover car pulled into the drive. Jueun winked at Johnny, nudging his arm with her own. Just a hunch, but I'm guessing that's Johnny's girlfriend.

The door opened to the car and my interest increased, wanting to see who Johnny was dating. Legs appeared, wearing black jeans and Converse. My head cocked to the side, seeing a male walking around the door. Johnny's arms opened wide, bringing the shorter guy into a hug.

"Geez, Ten," Johnny chuckled. "Took you long enough!"

      The guy, apparently named Ten, laughed.

"Jueun," I whispered. She looked at me. "Not only did you not mention Johnny was in a relationship... but why didn't you mention the fact that he's gay? I would have totally backed off at just the relationship part."

Jueun tried to hold back a laugh, but utterly failed. "Like I said, where's the fun in that?"

The drive was split up more evenly for the ride to the laser tag place with Ten's extra car, who is also tagging along (tagging, because of laser tag). No one had to sit on any laps, and there weren't any squished back seats. When Johnny called in advance, there was an open spot at 1:30 for us to take, since probably every normal person was at home, sleeping, and not just leaving a legitimately haunted house to play laser tag.

The laser tag place had an arcade we planned on playing around in afterward. We arrived just in time for our time slot to play laser tag. The guy working there really looked like he didn't want to be there at that time of the night. His monotone voice spewed out rules and regulations for in the course.

I looked up at the board as it showed our teams. I found my name highlighted with green indicating my team color with the number 22 for my vest number. I slipped it one, and as I turned around, I found Haechan standing there. He had his chin tilted up, peering down at me in a cocky way. I copied his gesture.

"You're going down, Park," he told me. "I'll get you."

"Try me." I raised my eyebrows in challenge.

Our teams split up to opposite sides of the giant laser tag course. I hooked an arm around Jisung, ruffling his hair with my free arm while we walked. He laughed, pulling away.

"The best thing about this experience is the memories we made along the way," I told my brother.

"I almost died!" Jisung exclaimed.

"Ah yes," Hana sighed. "That was my fondest memory."

Jisung gasped. "But Hana, I thought you were worried about me?"

Hana pinched her lips together, not making eye contact. "You heard nothing while in the basement. Ignore everything that was said."

Jisung huffed a laugh, scrunching his nose, shyly. "No, I think I'll keep that one in my pocket." I tried to fight back my smile.

The game started, but my teammates were too excited to get going to wait for me. I crept behind, mostly staying near the walls. A flash of red caught my eye. I held up my laser gun, preparing to tag. Haechan appeared, walking straight up to me. I let out a chuckle, getting ready to shoot.

Haechan was only a couple steps away when he dropped his gun, letting it hang by a cord that connected it to his vest. I furrowed my brow in confusion. Haechan pushed my gun out of the way, planting his lips on mine.

I was so shocked my eyelids were frozen, wide open. The gun slipped out of my hand as a weakness spread throughout me. Haechan gently held the sides of my face, and I could finally relax.

When Haechan pulled away, he already had his gun back in hand. My face was burning up, so I silently thanked the dark room that could hide my probably red face. Haechan held up the gun and shot my vest square in the center, then started to walk off.

"I told you I would get you, Park!"