HUNTERS || ENHA/LSFM || - A K-pop Ghost Hunting Story

25. Insult to Injury

Jungwon stamped his foot, instantly getting out of bed.
He ruffled through Niki and Sunghoon's beds, just to make sure.
They weren't there.

"Niki and Sunghoon... they're- they're gone. I don't know where they are."

Jay scrambled out of bed, smashing his hand on the lamp to turn it on, all sleepiness gone instantly.
"What- what do you mean?!?" He shouted.

Sunoo awoke in his bunk from the commotion, rubbing his head.
"What's wrong...?" He mumbled, rubbing his eyes, his hand subconsciously going to his medkit bag hanging on the frame of his bed.

"Sunghoon and Niki... they're both gone..." Jungwon mumbled, still looking around the room in utter confusion.

Jay didn't stay a second longer.
He ran to the other room, bursting through the door. It didn't matter if the others were still sleeping, this was an emergency.
"Sakura! Have you seen Sunghoon? Or Niki?!?" He shouted, shaking her awake.

She woke up in an instant, rubbing her eyes. Sakura first gave a confused look at him, but then it turned into annoyance.
"I don't care where that brat is. As for Niki, I haven't seen him. I don't know where any of them are." she replied coldly, not even looking at him in the eye.

"Neither have I. Why? Weren't they with you in the other room?" Yunjin asked, half trying to soften the blow of Sakura's coldness with a question.

Jay nodded his head.
"Yeah. They were with us. But they're missing. I- I don't know what happened." he said.

Kazuha heard the words and sat up, horrified.
"What do you mean?!? Sunghoon and Niki- why- where did they leave?!" he screamed, her face petrified.

"I know nothing! They just disappeared! I-"

"We need to find them... quickly... Niki- Sunghoon... they've left their swords here..." Jake said, going up behind Jay, holding Sunghoon's sheath in his hand and pointing at Niki's one still hung up on the wall.

"What- what if they find a monster? They can't defend themselves... they're in a lot of danger..." Jake mumbled, clutching Sunghoon's blade to his chest.

By now, there had been so much commotion that everyone was awake, and in the big room. Jay could feel his heart beating through his chest.

He had already suffered one close call in the past with Niki, leaving him out, unprotected.
And he never wanted to experience another one again.

"We have to find them- any plans?" Jay asked, looking around the room.

"Yeah. We split up in threes. We can cover more ground, yet we're playing the safe game." Sakura said.

"I can come, too. I'm fine. Plus, there'll be more of us." Yunjin said, standing up from the sofa.

"Are you sure?" Chaewon asked.

Yunjin nodded her head.

"Anything else?" Jake asked.

Nobody else spoke up.

"That's all? Then, let's go. We can't let them wait any longer. Time is life." Jungwon said.

And so, the plan was set.
They all grabbed their equipment, Sakura and Sunoo taking their kits, and the others unsheathing their swords or yanking them off the walls.

"The moment I catch that brat, Sunghoon..."Sakura cursed under her breath while holding her sword in her hand.

She scaled up the ladder first, pushing open the hatch and climbing up into the dawn. The others followed behind her, their sheaths clanking against the metal steps of the ladder.