❄ Cold Relations ❄ [SEVENTEEN] ✓

Chapter 33: Skimming the Surface (i.e. Jihoon vs. the Outside World)

Squeezing eleven people into one elevator was quite a challenge—and all because Jeonghan, Jun, and Seungkwan refused to wait for the next ride up. S.Coups made sure to climb on last, so he wasn't crushed at the back. Timing each full breath allowed him to keep his anxiety in control.

Ding! The SEVENTEEN members spilled into the adjoining corridor, amidst an ice maker and a vending machine.

Wonwoo folded his arms across his chest and rested his back against the wall. "I'm trying to think of the reason that put us in this situation in the first place, but nothing's coming to me. If anyone has anything to add, it'd be a great help."

Hoshi rummaged through his pockets for some loose change, fishing out three five hundred won coins and inserting them into a slot in the soft drink vending machine. A glass coke bottle dropped into the compartment behind the "push" flap. Hoshi reached in and grabbed his prize; then he twisted off the cap, took a sip, and spit it right back out.

"Aw, Jisoos, that's nasty." 

Joshua turned around.

"It's all stale..." Soonyoung smacked his lips together and swallowed a few times, trying to rid his mouth of the revolting taste.

Seungkwan steered them all back on track. "What happened the day before everyone disappeared?"

Wonwoo tried to remember but couldn't. "My memory's a little hazy. I don't recall... much of anything, to be honest."

"I need paper," Woozi announced. "Let's head back to the lobby. The rooms are too small for us to all crowd inside. Nine was pushing it. Eleven won't even fit through the door."

Once downstairs, Jihoon drew out a timeline, the first dot marking the "start of time" when the city was deserted. "Now to estimate how many days have passed since then."

"No need," Vernon said. "I've been marking them down on a spare calendar. It's a few years old, but it serves the purpose just fine."

"That'll be a big help," Woozi agreed. "Will you bring it down here?"

"Sure thing." Four minutes passed. Vernon came out of the stairwell a little less enthusiastically than he had going in. "Yeah, so... apparently I stopped counting the days when I injured my shoulder. So... all I have marked so far is November 6th—the day time stopped—and November 14th, which I assume is today. But I'm not entirely sure. It was just a guess."

"Then we'll trust you."

Minghao looked down at his feet, and Jun picked up on his change in body language almost immediately. "We forgot to celebrate Little8's birthday."

The8 shrugged it off. "It's okay, really. What's one birthday in the scheme of things? There's always next year."

"I don't understand," DK said insensitively. "When was there time?"

Jeonghan elbowed him in the ribs. "Don't be mean."

"I'm not trying to be...?"

"So, anyways," Woozi snapped impatiently, "can we please discuss the time... wait a minute. Something's coming back to me." He snapped his fingers repeatedly to jog his memory. "I think I've got it! If we truly want to solve the problem, we need to return to the one place that can reunite us."

Hoshi frowned slightly. Jihoon, you're talking in riddles again.

Joshua took the bait. "And that place is...?"

"Wait, wait... it's coming to me." Woozi scrunched his eyes closed and willed the evasive image to stick in his mind. "The dorm... and the practice room!"