Bada was lying on the hotel room bed and sulking when the phone rang. She jolted up in surprise and picked up the receiver, eager to finally get out of the hotel, which was starting to creep her out.

"Good evening Ms. Jeong. I have called to inform you that dinner will be served in the dining room in a few minutes"  Yeri's monotonous voice said through the phone.

"I won't be staying for dinner. Please send someone to escort me to the reception" Bada said, sighing in relief at the familiar voice of the indifferent receptionist.

"You will find the dining room if you go straight towards the right of your room. I hope you are enjoying your stay at the Midnight Hotel, where you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." Yeri finished, ignoring the girl's request.

Bada felt herself freeze at Yeri's words.

"You can check out any time you like but you can never leave"? What the heck?

Before she could say something in protest, the phone beeped with finality, signalling that the call had ended, much to Bada's annoyance. She tried calling a few more times but to no avail. Her calls were back to being ignored.

Since there was nothing else to do and she was hungry anyway, Bada decided to go to the dining room and try her luck. She hoped she'd find someone else down there who could help her get out of the hotel.

Keeping the directions Yeri had explained in mind, she walked straight for a few minutes and found herself facing a set of mahogany double doors. She felt small in front of the big and posh doors but quickly dismissed the thought.

Bada pushed the heavy doors open and found herself facing a hall with a single huge dining table, where a few people were already seated.

She looked at the beautiful setting in awe. It was the most beautiful dining room she had ever seen. After a few minutes of staring around the room, she finally came back to her senses and walked towards the table. Not wanting to sit alone, she walked towards where a group of boys her age were seated.

"Excuse me, can I sit here?" She asked, addressing the boy who had his back to her. He turned around and Bada scrambled back from the table in shock, not believing her eyes.

"It can't be" she whispered, as she locked eyes with the equally shocked boy.

"Bada?" He whispered, not breaking eye contact. The girl felt tears streaming down her face as she walked towards the boy and wrapped her arms around him.

"I missed you so much Eunwoo" she whispered, tightening her hold on the boy, who hugged her just as tightly.

They hugged each other until someone cleared their throat. Bada broke the hug and looked at the person who had interrupted them.

"Binnie!" She gasped, jumping onto the boy, who hugged her back with a chuckle.

"See Eunwoo? I told you she likes me better" Moon Bin teased, making Eunwoo roll his eyes.

Bada broke the hug and looked at the two boys with a stern look, making them cast scared glances at each other.

"Okay. I'm happy you guys are okay, but I need an explanation and I need it now" she said, making Eunwoo gulp. She heard a chuckle from behind her and turned around to find four other boys looking at the scene in amusement.

"So you're the infamous Bada. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Jinwoo" A boy with brown hair smiled. Bada smiled back and nodded at the boy. She looked at the other three boys and noticed that the guy from the hallway was one of them.

"I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Hi everyone I'm Jeong Bada" she said, bowing to the four boys who smiled and the other three introduced themselves as well.

"Hello. My name is Yoon Sanha" A tall boy with a cute smile said.

"Hi. I'm Myungjun. I'm the oldest." A short boy with a contagious smile said, making Bada grin.

"And I'm Minhyuk. I'm sorry if I came out as a psycho earlier, in the hallway" he said with a nervous smile.

"No, it's okay Minhyuk-ssi. I don't mind" she said, flashing him a sweet smile, still confused about all that was happening around her.

After the introductions were done, the boys invited Bada to sit with them and she happily obliged. She sat between Eunwoo and Moon Bin as they ate.

"Yah Eunwoo! Tell me what happened!" She said and the boy pretended as if he didn't hear her, which annoyed her.

"Yah Lee Dongmin!" Bada yelled at the top of her voice, making everyone look at the embarrassed boy.

"I told you not to call me that!" Eunwoo protested, making her chuckle. He had always hated that name, and Bada knew that.

"You asked for it" she smirked, making the boy pout at her.

"I'm your boyfriend! Why are you only bothering me? Bother Bin as well!" he complained and she rolled her eyes. Moon Bin stuck his tongue out at Eunwoo, who frowned.

"Yah Moon Bin! Just because I don't have a name for you that you're embarrassed by does not mean you're off the hook. I need an explanation and I need it from both of you, right now" Bada said sternly, looking at the two boys, who stayed silent, looking down at their plates.

"Eunwoo, Bin, I'm not going to be mad at you guys, okay? I've finally found you guys after months of searching and I'm really happy about that. At the same time, I'm really confused right now, so I need an explanation. I'm entitled to that much, right?" she said softly this time. Eunwoo sighed before looking up at her.

"We're going to try to explain it to you. Most of it won't make sense, but please believe us. We're only going to tell you the truth, okay?" he said and Bada nodded in response.

"Where should we begin?" 

"From the beginning, please"

//

exams are a bitch sigh i'm so tired 

i hope this is sufficient for my lack of updates for a while. exams have completely drained me so i'm not in the mood to write these days. i'll try to update soon. you'll find out more about what's happening in the midnight hotel in the next chapter.

until then,

ciao