Taekook One-shots/Short Stories 💜💚

🌲The Cabins Secret🎭

Happy Halloween🎃
Happy Reading 😱

---

Jeongguk stared at his cracked phone screen, squinting at the text.

"There's no way out," it read.

Taehyung had sent it five minutes ago, but Jeongguk couldn't call him back. The signal was dead-just a dull symbol spinning in the corner of the screen. He wiped his clammy hands on his jeans, feeling the biting wind that howled outside the old cabin's thin wooden walls.

Jeongguk and Taehyung had driven deep into the forest for what was supposed to be a weekend trip with their online friends. They'd met "Mask" and "Daughter" in an online forum dedicated to creepypasta and urban legends, bonding over late-night discussions about the things that lurked in the shadows.

Mask, the enigmatic leader of their little group, had suggested the meetup, promising a weekend of ghost stories and chilling explorations in a secluded cabin.

Daughter, Mask's quiet but intense accomplice, had found the isolated location, nestled deep within the woods.

Taehyung, curious and bold as always, had been thrilled about finally meeting their online friends in person. But Jeongguk had felt a prickle of unease from the start. Something about the cryptic messages from Mask and Daughter, the insistence on absolute secrecy, and the remote location of the cabin had set his alarm bells ringing.

Their hosts-Mask and Daughter-hadn't greeted them in person, only leaving cryptic notes scattered around the cabin.

One note, pinned to the fridge, read: "The fun begins at sundown. Don't wander far from the cabin. The woods have eyes." Another, scrawled on the bathroom mirror in lipstick, simply said:

"Obey the rules." Taehyung, ever the optimist, had laughed it off, claiming they were just setting the mood for a spooky weekend. But the unease in Jeongguk's stomach had grown heavier with every passing hour.

And now, Taehyung was missing.

The power flickered, plunging the room into near-darkness. Jeongguk reached into his pocket, his fingers curling around the dull knife he'd grabbed from the kitchen earlier. It wouldn't do much against anything-or anyone. But holding it felt like holding onto the last thread of control.

The front door creaked open, letting in a gust of cold air. Jeongguk's heart pounded as he crept toward the doorway.

"Taehyung?" he called softly.

There was no answer. Just the wind rattling the windows and the eerie silence pressing in like a second skin.

And then, there it was-a figure standing upside down at the edge of the doorway. Taehyung's body, twisted unnaturally, his head facing Jeongguk with glassy eyes that reflected a strange rage. His limbs were bent the wrong way, his feet planted on the ceiling. His mouth twitched into a smile that didn't belong to him.

"Jeongguk," Taehyung said, but the voice wasn't his. It was higher, colder as if the wind itself had spoken.

Jeongguk stumbled backward, nearly dropping the knife.
"Who-what are you?" he whispered, heart thundering.

Taehyung-or whatever wore his body-tilted its head. "Don't you remember? We told you. There's no way out. This is our playground now. You shouldn't have come."

Behind Taehyung, more figures slithered from the darkness. Masked faces, twisted smiles, and limbs that bent in impossible directions.

Jeongguk recognized the usernames scrawled on the walls, now attached to bodies that should have been human but weren't.

They shuffled closer, whispering Taehyung's name like a chant, their cold breath grazing Jeongguk's skin.

"He broke the rules," one of them hissed, a tall figure with a burlap sack over its head. "He wandered too far. He saw what he shouldn't have seen."

"The first rule of the playground," another whispered, its voice a grating rasp, "is to never question the masks."

Jeongguk clutched the knife tighter, knowing it was useless. But if Taehyung was trapped in that nightmare-if his friend was still in there somewhere-Jeongguk couldn't leave him behind.

He took a step forward, and the figures around him hissed.

"You don't belong here," one of them whispered-a woman wearing a porcelain mask, her empty eyes fixed on Jeongguk. "This is our playground now. And we play by our own rules. The final rule... is to never leave."

Jeongguk felt his resolve waver, the cold seeping into his bones. But then he saw it-just for a second-a flicker of recognition in Taehyung's distorted gaze. A silent plea.

With a shout, Jeongguk lunged forward, the knife glinting in the dim light. He knew it wouldn't cut deep, but it didn't matter. That would be enough if he could break through the rage and find his friend buried beneath the twisted mask.

The blade sliced across Taehyung's arm, and for a moment, everything stopped. The wind died. The figures froze. And Taehyung's smile vanished, replaced by a flicker of something-something real.

Then, with a deafening roar, the cabin spun on its axis, flipping everything upside down. Jeongguk hit the ceiling-or was it the floor?-as the world twisted around him.

When he opened his eyes, Taehyung was beside him, breathing heavily. His limbs were back to normal, and the rage was gone from his eyes.
"You did it," Taehyung whispered.

The masked figures were still there, but they didn't move. They only watched, their heads tilted in unison as if waiting for something.

Jeongguk helped Taehyung to his feet, the dull knife still clutched in his hand.

"Come on," Jeongguk whispered, pulling his friend toward the door. "We have to leave. Now."
But as they crossed the threshold, the porcelain-masked woman leaned forward, her voice low and amused.

"You'll be back," she murmured. "Friendship is a funny thing. Sometimes, you have to break the rules to keep it. And besides... he saw us. He knows our secret. He'll be drawn back. You both will."

The door slammed shut behind them, and the wind roared once more, carrying the sound of distant laughter.

Jeongguk didn't look back. He kept running, pulling Taehyung along with him until the cabin was just a distant nightmare in the rearview mirror.

But even weeks later, back in the safety of their city lives, the memory of the cabin lingered. Jeongguk couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, of unseen eyes following his every move.

And Taehyung, though physically unharmed, had grown withdrawn and quiet, haunted by something he couldn't explain.

Some friendships, Jeongguk realized, come with a price. And some masks, once worn, are impossible to take off. He knew, with a chilling certainty, that the porcelain-masked woman was right. They would be back. The playground had a way of drawing you in, of whispering your name in the shadows, until you had no choice but to return.

----

Hope you liked this story.🫣

The next update will be the last horror story for now😔😭.

Please share, vote, and comment I would greatly appreciate it 🙏🏽.

💜💚