ambrosia [NCT DREAM]

2. The Strangers

A boy who looked no older than Jaemin himself stepped forwards through the door. His hair was dark with awkward blonde highlights. He stared at Jaemin with wide doe eyes and bit the inside of his cheek.

Jaemin only froze where he stood, still confused as to what the hell just happened and who the hell this kid was.

The boy had let go of the doorknob, but held on tighter to the large, almost cartoonish hammer in his right hand.

"Who are you?" Jaemin asked. He'd never seen this boy before at his school, not even once or at a passing glance. His faded orange t-shirt read something that Jaemin couldn't quite make out in the darkness, but that and his shorts were both stained with dried blood. His hair was matted and wet and over the shirt he wore an open brown jacket, with tatters and tears in it.

The boy stayed silent, looking around the room for something before shaking his head and turning back towards the dark hallway.

"No wolves in this room, Johnny. But I think you should see something." The boy called out in English, into the dark. He turned back to Jaemin as a voice called back.

"Did you find him?" The voice called out back to the two. It also spoke English. The boy in front of Jaemin nodded, despite whoever he was talking to not being able to see it.

"I don't know if it's him, but I think I found what caused the blast." The boy's voice trailed off, eyes boring into Jaemin with an odd sort of questioning. "You're Na Jaemin, yeah?" He asked, switching into Korean. Jaemin was impressed.

Jaemin sucked in a breath. "Maybe. Who's asking?"

The boy rolled his eyes and moved his dark hair from his eyes. "Look, we really don't have time for this. You are Na Jaemin, aren't you?"

Jaemin nodded, frowning. He really did want to know who this kid was, where this kid came from, and why he wanted to know his name.

Everyone else in the school was dead silent, the hallways dark and damp with the rain that leaked in through the ceiling. Some of the kids groaned in pain, barely conscious. A few kids twitched where they laid, unable to move.

"He's not dead, is he?" Jaemin's voice quivered, looking at his still teacher. The boy with the big eyes checked the unconscious teacher's pulse and sighed in relief.

"No, not dead. Would have been a hassle if this ended in mortal fatalities." The other boy shook his head, getting up from where he knelt.

A boy with soft pink hair ran up, covered in blood. He grabbed Mark's arm and panted, as if he'd been running- which he probably had been.

"Mark! We gotta go, where's Hyuck?" The boy with the pink hair spoke. Though frantic, his voice rang gentle and calmed Jaemin more than it had scared him. His face chiseled and he wore the same t-shirt that Mark did... except his was a faded light pink, close to the color of his hair.

"I don't know!" The big eyed kid answered, before gasping and hitting something quickly with his hammer. Whatever he'd hit had whimpered pathetically, like a wounded dog. Before Jaemin could even turn around, there was a cloud of gold dust where the thing fell.

Mark panted and looked around, about to say something to Jaemin but getting interrupted.

"Mark, this is the guy?" The voice from the darkness asked in English; a tall, older looking boy standing in front of them with a gun in his ha- OH MY GOD, HE'S GOT A GUN-

"Think so." The other kid with the big eyes nodded, turning to Jaemin and cocking his head. "You are Na Jaemin, right?"

Jaemin stayed silent but slowly nodded his head. The oldest kid seemed to be satisfied with the answer, cocking his gun and slinging a backpack over his shoulder.

"Awesome... because we need to go." The oldest nodded, sprinting down the hallway without any kind of warning. The boy with the pink hair followed, grabbing Jaemin's hoodie sleeve and dragging him along. The three strangers ran as Jaemin struggled to follow them, following out of instinct more than anything.

"I don't even know you people!" Jaemin panted, running down the hallways with the small group. "You're just taking me hostage at this point!"

"Well... I'm Johnny, that's Jaehyun." The tallest stopped, pointing towards the boy with the pink hair. "And then that's Mark. There's four of us." He pointed to the one with the large eyes then gestured to the group.

Mark waved, then gripped his hammer again with both hands. Before Jaemin could ask where the first person was, Mark had answered; "Yeah. Hyuck's around here somewhere. And we need to find him fast."