8/13
When Seungcheol didn't come to school the next day, the teacher immediately told the boys to stay at home. The parents were freaking out too— four kids just disappeared without a trace? How was that possible? A state of emergency fell upon the rural town, and everyone was staying in their homes.
Seokmin sat at the dinner table with his parents. What was usually a light-hearted and fun atmosphere in the house was now stiff and heavy. The table was eerily silent. Seokmin looked out the window to see that it was completely dark outside now. He didn't go outside in the morning or even look out the window, so he had no idea whether the sun laughed that day or not.
"Dad?" Seokmin asked.
"Yes?" His father's voice sounded despondent.
"Do you know if the sun was laughing today?"
"No idea. I didn't even look outside today."
"Why are you asking, sweetie?" Seokmin's mother asked.
"Well, whenever the sun started laughing, one of the guys would disappear the next day..." Seokmin explained slowly. "It doesn't seem like a coincidence."
"Just because the sun is laughing, it doesn't mean someone is going to disappear. Maybe there's a wild wolf or bear that grabbed them—"
"Are you saying that they're dead?!" Seokmin shrieked.
"We can't rule out the possibility, son—"
"No! I don't want to believe it! They disappeared. They're not dead. No."
Seokmin shook his head frantically. Tears were streaming down his face. His mother patted his back and glared briefly at his father before saying calmly, "Dear, I don't think they're connected. We don't know what's going on out there, so we need to be cautious of everything, right?"
"Yeah..." Seokmin nodded and managed to calm down.
"I heard that they're sending out a special force to come investigate," Seokmin's father said softly. "Maybe they'll find something, or someone."
Seokmin continued nodding. He stared at the unfinished food on his plate. He really couldn't stomach anything anymore. He excused himself from the table and immediately went to his room. He left the lights off and stared out the window. The moon was smiling like it usually was. For a hot second, Seokmin thought he saw the moon snicker, but he could've been imagining it. No, he was definitely imagining it. Losing four of his friends was definitely making him go crazy. That's also why he heard something small hit his window, right?
The soft clink happened several more times, and Seokmin finally saw a pebble lightly tap the window. He opened the window and looked down to see Mingyu and Minghao waving to him.
"What are you idiots doing?!" Seokmin whisper-hissed.
"Hao just had a crazy idea, and it could be legit," Mingyu whisper-hissed in response.
"Come down! We'll explain it!" Minghao also joined in on the whisper-hissing.
Making sure his parents wouldn't hear him, Seokmin carefully opened the window more. He never thought he would be climbing out the window of his house, and it kind of scared him, but then he saw Mingyu hold his arms up— he didn't think Mingyu was tall enough to catch him from that high up, so Seokmin lowered himself slowly, making him wish he really exercised more. He plopped into Mingyu's arms carefully, and the three boys shuffled away from the house to the dark, dusty road.
"Okay," Minghao began. "I remember hearing about this forest in Japan where people go to kill themselves. I don't think any of the four boys killed themselves, but I think they could be somewhere in the forest."
"...So?" Seokmin asked.
"We should check the forest," Mingyu stated bluntly.
"Are you out of your mind?! There is no way we're doing that! I'm going back inside, bye—"
"If you go back in now, your parents will know you snuck out," Minghao grabbed a hold of Seokmin's arm. "Look, there's three of us, yeah? We'll be safe as long as we stick together."
"...I want something to defend myself with," Seokmin negotiated.
"Like what?"
Armed with a rake, a hoe, and a shovel, the three boys arrived at the forest, only to see that the entrance was blocked off. Seokmin was fully prepared to leave, but he watched with horror as Minghao and Mingyu hopped over the barricade with ease. They silently gestured for Seokmin to hop over too. Timidly, Seokmin climbed over the barrier, only to fall onto the forest path with a thud and a tiny yelp.
Alarmed, Minghao and Mingyu shushed Seokmin— they were all terrified to speak. Sticking together closely, they slowly made their way through the forest. Seokmin kept reacting to the slightest sound. Whatever his father said earlier scared him shitless. He was horrified, and he felt like he would have a heart attack if he really did see a bear, or a wolf, or a—
"Snake!" Seokmin yelped quietly as he spotted one slithering across the path.
The snake didn't seem bothered in the slightest. It slithered normally across the path, and once it disappeared, the three boys exhaled in relief.
"What if it's a snake? A poisonous snake?" Minghao theorized.
"Then we should be able to find their bodies if they were bitten... Although, I don't really want to see anyone's dead body," Mingyu frowned.
"We're in the forest because we're trying to find the bodies, Gyu. Keep up."
Seokmin felt tears flow from his eyes again. He didn't want his friends to be dead. Overcome with complete depression, Seokmin trailed behind his friends. He wanted to run out of the forest. He was getting more scared by the second.
The night was cool as usual, but not cold. Seokmin felt fine when he left the house, but he suddenly felt the temperature in the air drop. He heard rustling in the trees to his left. There was nothing. Rustling to his right. Nothing. Seokmin's legs were ready to give out on him. He either wanted to scream, cry, or hug his mother. He shouldn't have come to the forest. Seokmin turned on his heel and started walking quickly back to the entrance.
"Seokmin! Wait!" Mingyu called out for him; Seokmin did not turn around.
The faster he walked, the further Mingyu and Minghao's voices were. He heard the wind howling in his ears as he speed-walked. Wait, why would the wind howl in his ear? Where did the wind even come from? Distracted, Seokmin tripped and fell to the ground. He tripped on a snake. Just as Seokmin was about to let out a scream, he saw it. The moon started laughing. The shifting dark body got closer to him. Its three slanted, white eyes locked its gaze with Seokmin's horrified one. The moon started bleeding. The phantom retreated into the darkness. Seokmin was gone, his shovel remaining on the ground, the snake that tripped him wrapping around the handle.
