Chapter Text
"This was not a good idea."
A small group of young boys - teenagers - stood crowded together, different coloured hover boards sitting by their feet as they looked around the deserted car park of the old amusement park.
Honestly Mark, the eldest boy, had no idea why he had agreed to this. This was clearly the worst idea the group had come up with in a long time, which was saying a lot as they were known for their mischievous behaviour. By far this topped the list of bad ideas and Mark was going to try his hardest to put a stop to it.
"Why not Hyung?" Jaemin inquired a cheeky grin quickly growing on his face before he continued, "are you too scared Mark-ah? Don't worry Senior Jaemin will protect you" the younger stood in front of Mark, standing in a ridiculous pose that the elder supposed was meant to look like that of a super hero. Jaemin's smile grew when he heard a snort come from Donghyuck, who promptly high-fived him as he moved away from the oldest Hyung.
Mark shook his head, frowning at the carefree nature of the two younger boys. Looking around he saw Jeno wore an expression similar to his own, showing the handsome boy's disapproval at the childish behaviour of the two friends.
"We all know this is about that stupid dare with your classmates" he spoke, looking directly at Donghyuck and Jaemin. "I understand you don't want to lose, to be named losers or babies...or whatever by the other, but...isn't this taking it too far?" Mark pulled at the edges of his red beret, voice hesitant as if trying not to upset either of the boys.
"I agree with Mark Hyung, we don't need to prove ourselves, we have nothing to prove" Jeno voiced, rubbing the back of his neck, hoping that maybe the others will take him more seriously, which of course they did not, choosing to make fun of both the older boys. He looked at Renjun, the second oldest boy, hoping the other would speak up as well. He did not receive this help, the older Chinese boy just putting his hands up as a sign that he didn't want to get involved.
Seeing the interaction between his Hyungs, Jisung chose to speak up. "Come on Hyung, it won't be so bad. We'll just check out a few of the closer attractions, take a few pictures, then leave again, we can even stay as a group to ensure nobody gets lost or hurt, right?"
Mark sighed, he could already tell he lost, he raised his hands in defeat and gestured towards the main entrance way to the park. If he were to tell the truth, he would tell you he was absolutely terrified, he had heard the rumors whispered around the town about this place, about how when it was still opened it had claimed the lives of many, and that those restless souls were still there, haunting the park and hurting those who dared to venture inside.
"Okay, Fine! You guys win but make sure you always have your torch, phone and partner with you, I don't need any of you getting wondering off alone." Jeno gave his consent, voice laced with irritation.
Hearing the confirmation, the young boys all chose a partner. Donghyuck and Jaemin partnering, exclaiming how they would lead as they were the only brave ones, this comment earning an indignant noise from Jisung, who firmly believed he was the bravest.
The youngest boy was paired with Jeno and Renjun, the three of them walking just behind the self-proclaimed 'bravest' members who were leading the way. At the back, Chenle was grasping Mark's hand tightly, sticking closely to his Hyung, an action to which Mark just smiled fondly at.
Chenle wouldn't say he was scared...okay maybe he was a little scared but it was mostly because of his limited language. He had only been living in Korea for a few months so his Korean was improving gradually, learning more as he had the help of Renjun, who happily translated for the younger when he couldn't understand something.
Just before they reached the entrance, the boys had to walk past the ticket booth, the small room was dark, the sides and colours worn down by the weather and aging. From the corner of his eye, Chenle saw movement, looking towards the booth he saw what looked to be a shadowed figure inside the dark booth. Turning, he frantically pulled on Mark's sleeve, the older turning his attention towards him with curious eyes, which quickly turned to worry as he saw the panic of the second youngest boy.
"Ge, a man- there was a man inside the boo- room" Chenle pointed towards the dark space, trying to find the right words to explain. Mark swung round so fast, wide eyes searching the room, if Donghyuck or Jaemin saw him they would have been laughing at the comical look on the oldest boys face. The expression changed, eyebrows furrowing when he saw nothing.
The oldest was about to scold the younger Chinese boy, thinking he was trying to trick him, but quickly stopped himself, the look on the boys face showed that he was truly shaken up and the elder couldn't help but feel slightly worried. He was tempted to try and dissuade his friends again but quickly disposed of the thought knowing it would only waste his breathe, instead he wrapped an arm around the Chinese boy, giving his shoulder a slight squeeze in hopes that it might comfort the boy. It seemed to do the job as he felt the younger become less tense.
Pulling the boy with him, they squeezed themselves through the small gap in the gate, Mark going first, standing up and helping the younger through before connecting their hands once more and rushing to catch up with the others, who had not seemed to notice the missing group members. "We promised to stay together" Mark raised his voice to make sure the others could hear him as they walked.
The group walked slowly up the motionless escalators, steps careful to avoid injury, they didn't know whether or not the metal was still safe to walk on. At the top, the boys were met with a less than pleasant sight - and smell.
The grounds were deserted, the place was messy, looking as if the visitors had just dropped what they were doing and escaped from the tragic events that happened the day the park was officially closed down.
None of the boys knew exactly what happened, none of them had even been born at the time of the...incident, each just knowing what their parents had told them any time they had asked about it, 'The park was closed a long time ago and is now cursed, stay far away from it'. Clearly this warning had been ignored, the boys choosing to pretend they never heard the wise words their mothers had spoken.
"This place is a dump" Donghyuck exclaimed, voice loud in the silent park causing Renjun to give the boy a disapproving look, but did not say anything. Jaemin looked around, his face showing his excitement. "I wonder if we could get the power back on" an idea which was immediatly turned down by Mark. "There is no way we are getting on any rides, sorry I came here to supervise, not die" his tone sarcastic as he rolled his eyes at the younger boy, something which was immediately met with whines and protests of the boy.
Not far in front of them, a shadowed figure stood, watching the boys as they argued between themselves. 'The games begin' sinister smile on his face as he slowly walked back into the shadows.
-:-:-:-
The boys had been walking for a few minutes, trying (and failing) to reach the bumper cars. They had seen a park map and had tried to follow it but they seemed to be getting nowhere. Donghyuck stopped, turning his attention towards Jeno who was only a few steps behind him."You said this was the way" he whined, Jaemin joining or the fun of it. Jeno sighed in frustration, his mouth open so he could reply but was cut off by Chenle, who had seen the ride they were looking for.
As they approached the ride each boy stopped in shock, the lights turning on and lighting up the area. Looking around they saw the whole park had been lit up, bright colours filling up the space which had previously been darkness. Each boy wore a look of awe however, Jeno's face quickly turned to worry, 'the electricity can't just come back on, it shouldn't even be available anymore' he thought, disturbed by the sudden event. None of the others seemed to be too worried, all still too dazzled by the 'beautiful' lights.
Donghyuck and Jaemin climbed over the railing onto the ride, Jisung pulling Renjun to do the same. Standing on the floor area they looked at all of the small cars, looking around carefully for the ones they wanted to use. Renjun saw the headlights to one of the cars in front of him and Jisung flash on, shocking them both enough into stilling themselves.
Mark watched as the game car began to move towards the two boys, he shouted a quick "Look out" before he heard a noise of pain coming from Renjun and a panicked Jisung.
The cars started to move, the boys dodging them to the best of their ability. Mark ran, leaving the other two with a quick "stay here" before climbing over the fence. He raced towards Renjun who was being supported by Donghyuck and Jisung, Jaemin in front of them. He pushed Jisung towards Jaemin, telling them to run. He pulled Renjun quickly onto his back, Donghyuck standing behind to support the injured boy.
Climbing over the railing, they moved as far as they could away from the ride, seeing cars crashing into the spot they were just in, the railing bending from the force but ultimately not breaking.
For a moment nobody dared to move, all that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the shocked boys. They were brought out of their reverie by a groan of pain, coming from the unfortunate Chinese boy who was currently clutching at his leg, a look of pain could be seen clearly on his face.
Jeno bent down next to the boy, trying to get a good look at the injury. From first glance the elder could tell the foot had already started to swell.
"Can you move it? Even a little?"
A tear slipped carelessly down Renjun's face, a quick shake of the head and a deep inhale of breath was the only way he could respond. He was pretty sure the injury was bad, shots of pain had ran up his leg as soon as he had even tried tilt his foot slightly to the left, he hoped it was just a bad sprain but his gut instinct told him it was more than likely a fracture.
"I can't say for sure what is exactly wrong, but what I can say is that he definitely cannot be walking around on it" Jeno noted, tone wary as he looked at the injury. Hearing this Mark walked forward a few paces, stopping directly in front of Renjun before bending down. "Put him on my back, we're leaving now"
From behind him he heard a few complaints, said complaints were promptly silenced as a glare was thrown in their direction immediately quieting the whiny boys.
Jeno shifted Renjun carefully onto the eldest's back, instructing the younger to wrap his legs around Marks torso, the younger did what he told by slipping his legs to either side of his Hyung. Mark held onto the boys legs as the younger wrapped his arms around his neck to ensure he was stable.
The group travelled slowly towards the exit, walking in their original pairs, with the exception of Renjun who was now with Mark and Chenle. The walk was silent, even Donghyuck and Jaemin who was at the rear of the group chose to not say a word, noticing the strained atmosphere around the group.
Five minutes past before the group made it back to the escalators, Jeno and Jisung taking the lead to ensure the safety of their Hyungs as they descended down the steep steps. The group had almost reached the bottom, close enough to the entrance that they could see the lights from the street lamps just outside.
Jeno made a sigh of relieve, he had never wanted to come in the first place and now he could finally leave. Unfortunately this was just wishful thinking. From the back of the group a scream could be heard. Everything happened so fast, one second it was calm, everyone safe, the next Jeno had turned to see Jaemin being dragged up the stairs at a fast pace by what seemed to be a shadowy figure, Donghyuck running up after him, shouting something Jeno couldn't quite make out.
Mark quickly put Renjun down, "I need someone to take Renjun out, anyone else who wants to leave, I would prefer it if you did, that way you will be safe." He spoke urgently, words said so fast it was hard to even understand what he was saying, his face showed pure panic before he ran off back up the stairs, almost tripping in his haste.
"Chenle, Jisung, I need you to take Renjun Hyung out of here" Jeno spoke firmly. Chenle nodded, clearly wanting to do nothing more than escape this nightmare. Jisung face grew angry "no I'm coming! I can help" he insisted. Jeno frowned at the younger, all he wanted to do was go and help, not stand here and argue. "You can't, it's too dangerous and Chenle can't get Renjun-hyung out of here by himself. Please go and help them, once you're out go straight home with the other two, I'm depending on you"
Jeno knew he had won when the younger sighed, nodded his head in defeat before assisting Chenle with helping Renjun to his feet. After he could see the younger boys were actually leaving he ran up the stairs at alarming speeds, when he reached the top he saw no one in sight so he looked around carefully. To his left he spotted familiar red material laying on the ground, he walked over to it before picking it up he found it was the stupid red beret Mark liked wearing. Tucking the hat into his back pocket, he continued slowly to the left, eyes darting around the area as he observed his surroundings.
The area was dimly lit, the lights from the rides being the only source of light, but that was all he needed. Suddenly he remembered his phone, quickly tugging it out of his back pocket Jeno rang the first number he could think of, Mark's. He waited anxiously as the phone kept ringing but nobody answered, he felt relief when he heard Mark voice but it quickly vanished as he heard it was the automatic voice mail message. Hanging up he tried Donghyuck, the phone was answered almost immediately, Donghyuck frantic voice on the other end.
"Where are you? Are you with the others?"
"No I'm alone right now, where are you? Did you find Jaemin?"
Donghyuck ignored his question, choosing to ask more of his own, something Jeno frowned at.
"Where are the others? Are they safe? And where are you?"
"I made Jisung, Renjun Hyung and Chenle leave already, and I'm-" he stopped looking around at his current surroundings. "I'm by the weird swan tunnel thing". From the other end he could hear Donghyuck shuffling around, he felt himself once again sigh in relief as he heard another familiar voice speak to him through the phone.
"Jeno-ah, are you okay?"
Jeno scoffed good naturedly at this, before answering.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? I wasn't the one who just got dragged up stairs" at this he heard a wary chuckle come from the boy. "Well I think that was your own special way of asking me if I am okay, so yeah I'm fine, just a few bruises."
Jeno smiled at this, happy to know his dongsaeng was not injured, at least not seriously.
"We're coming to you right now, try not to move too much, it will take us like thirty seconds to get to you."
Jeno stopped, he stood in the dark, grabbing his torch with his spare hand, he didn't really need it but the extra light made him feel a little bit more comfortable.
As promised he saw two figures approaching him not even half a minute later, he smiled as he quickly closed the distance between the, pulling the two into a hug. He pushed away gently, checking the two over for any injuries, only seeing a few bruises on the youngest boys wrists and arms.
Donghyuck looked around, a frown quickly replacing the smile which had been their only moments before. "Where's Mark Hyung?"
Realisation suddenly hit Jeno like a truck, his face morphing into that of panic. "I- I don't know, he was supposed to be with you" his voice grew louder, his eyes seemingly tearing up. He kept trying to reassure himself that Mark was fine, "he's a strong dependable hyung, nothing could happen to him", despite the reassurance, Jeno could only feel dread in his chest.
Jaemin quickly tried to reassure the two older boys when he saw them panic. "May-maybe he's fine, no he must be, this is Mark we're talking about. He probably went back after he couldn't find us, you know what he's like." Yes they all knew what he was like, there was no way he wouldn't leave the park without finding them.
Donghyuck quickly dialled the boys number, waiting as patiently as he could as it rang. The phone was answered after the fifth ring.
"Hyung where are you? Do you know ho-" A pained scream could be heard from the other end, successfully cutting Donghyuck off. Jaemin paled hearing the noise, grabbing hold of Jeno's arm almost as if he was trying to ground himself to reality.
In the background he could hear Donghyuck yelling into the phone, trying desperately to communicate with his Hyung, but Jaemin couldn't focus on anything, his breath became uneven, every breath becoming increasing difficult before he collapsed into the arms of a shocked Jeno, the elder bot shaking him as he told him to breathe, but Jaemin couldn't no matter how hard he tried and in the end he was met with the blackness of unconsciousness.
-:-:-:-
Jaemin jolted awake, he looked around frantically but calmed down slightly as he realised he was in his room. 'I guess it was a dream' he thought. His eyes widened in horror when he noticed the hand shaped bruises on his wrists, he shot out of bed, only to be met by the floor.
Obviously hearing the noise, Jaemin's mother ran into the room, followed closely by Donghyuck and Jisung. She rushed to her son, helping the boy off of the floor and sat him on the bed,
"You shouldn't be moving around, you injured your legs when you were dra-" She stopped mid-sentence after she realised what she was about to say, she didn't want to remind her son of anything which could have been traumatic.
"Where's Mark?" He asked, voice cracking slightly. Nobody would look into his eyes, looking anywhere else than at the young boy. Their reaction told him that something was wrong, and repeated the question, his voice firm as he tried to catch the eyes of his mother.
Slowly his mother handed him her phone, the local news website pulled up on screen. He felt his heart sink as he saw his friends face on the front. The bold title made his heart stop, tears gathering in his eyes as he read:
'Boy missing! The curse hits again!'