WHO ARE YOU?|ATEEZ FANFIC (In Editing Progress)

Chapter 56|Electric shock

It was pitch black in the basement beneath the building where the final competition was to take place. Holding hands and at a slow pace, the group ran together through the darkness. Seonghwa, who was running at the front, could barely see his hand in front of his eyes, let alone the path. Every few seconds a broken lamp would flash above them and illuminate the hallway with flickering lights for a brief moment, but that wasn't enough for the boys to get an overview of the hallway. All they knew was that the competition would take place at the end of the flight.

"This is the second time we've sneaked through such a dark chamber." Yeosang muttered. The mint-haired man was relatively in the middle of the chain between Yunho, who was running in front of him, and Wooyoung, who was still holding San's hand, who formed the end of the chain behind him. However, instead of holding on to Wooyoung's hand, he clung to his shoulders from behind and rested his head on his shoulder. Every time the lights came on, the usually brave blonde boy would jump and whimper in shock, which Wooyoung found both cute and funny. San wasn't afraid when facing a Halateez, but was afraid of the dark? Yunho, who had heard Yeosang's quiet complaint, smiled a little and squeezed the younger man's hand.

"If we hold on tight this time, at least we won't get lost and end up in some shithole together."

"Don't say something like that!" Yeosang scolded.

"I don't want to go to Wonderland 2.0... One experience like that was enough for me." Hongjoong, who was two group members ahead of Yeosang, grinned slightly.

"It was a bit like a sauna." The tall black-haired man behind him pouted.

"We shouldn't joke about that." Mingi said, but Hongjoong just continued to smile.

"I think you can make fun of things that have happened in the past. And sorry, but Jongho looked really funny with his burned hair." Offended, the youngest of the group, who was walking between Hongjoong and the top of the chain, grimaced and made a loud 'Hmph!' sound.

"At least I didn't look like a grilled chicken!" He teased back and Yeosang opened his mouth in shock.

"At least I didn't smell like one!"

"Ow!" The chain suddenly came to a halt when a quiet cry of pain came from the very front.

"Seonghwa? You all right?" Hongjoong immediately asked, worried about his older friend, but he shook his head until he realized that the others still couldn't see him.

"Everything okay!" He replied, causing relief among his friends.

"What's the matter?" Yunho asked as Seonghwa groped in front of him.

"This is the end of the hallway. I'm feeling a wall... Irgh." He took his hands off the wall and wiped them on his pants. The walls were dirty and damp, just as you would expect in an old abandoned basement. Disgusting. The eldest thought to himself and turned to the others.

"Now what? There's no door here."

"Maybe to your left or right?" Jongho suggested, but Seonghwa wasn't particularly keen on checking the other walls.

"Mhh..." He said disgustedly and the youngest rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Wimp." He murmured, breaking away from the second eldest's grasp and stepping forward himself. Seonghwa immediately padded back a bit and grabbed Hongjoong's hand when he found it. The black and white haired man allowed it without question and squeezed the eldest's hand lightly, while Jongho began to feel the walls little by little, carefully, not too enthusiastic about the dirt on his fingers.

"I think," he began, as he suddenly went from the rocky surface of the wall to a smooth one. "here it is." When he found a door handle, he immediately grabbed it and pushed it down. For once without any problems, without an extra key that they would have had to look for, the door opened and a dim light inside the room met Jongho and illuminated the area of the hallway in front of him. Immediately the other seven boys gathered behind their youngest, who stood by the door and simply looked into the room, somewhat perplexed by what he found. When he was told about a boxing competition, he had expected a real fighting ring, on a small hill, surrounded by rubber ropes and everything that went with it. Inside the room he saw a small fence cage with a single spotlight hanging from the ceiling above it, providing just enough light to make the cage clearly visible and to easily make out other silhouettes in the rest of the room, such as benches or a water cooler were. Although there was enough space in the boxing ring for a boxing match, it wasn't exactly inviting to enter.