Caratland [Seventeen FF]

-56-

Soonyoung poV:

Another few days passed. Caratland was still closed for customers. Chan was still closed off in his room.

I was on my way to the storage since we still had a few coin boxes that needed to go there. I was alone when I noticed that the storage shone from the back. Fascinated as always I made my way there. Weirdly enough it was shining in a beige colour. I never saw that colour before. Oh right, I did... It reminded me of the tunnels of the world. I looked around, but there was no one. I was alone in the storage. That means... The portal must be shining because of me. But that means I must have a world too. The fact that I could see my world. I could enter the portal now and- Then the memories hit me again. The memories of this cruel evening. That thought alone was enough for me to take a few steps back. Suddenly the colour also changed into a mix of orange and yellow, the beige completely disappearing. I turned around to see Hansol and Seungkwan looking at me surprised.

"What are you doing here?", Seungkwan asked me.
"Bringing the coin box at it's place", I replied.
"Why? Seungcheol said caratland will stay close for a while", Hansol said, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know", I shrugged my shoulders. "By the way, was something off when we returned?", I asked. Seungkwan and Hansol switched looks, only to shrugg their shoulders.
"You fell from the top instead of coming out from the usual place of the portal", Seungkwan then said.
"Right, we all thought you're dead since the portal disappeared", Hansol added. I just nodded. So something weird happened, when we returned. But what was that world I saw on my way back...?

We all returned to the amusement park, which was quieter than the usual. Jeonghan, Jisoo and Jihoon were in the middle of a chat, when we interfered.
"How's your morning?", Jeonghan grinned, when seeing us.
"Where's that energy coming from?", Seungkwan asked suspicious.
"From the non-existing work", Jeonghan winked.
"Where's the rest?", I asked, looking around a little.
"Minghao and Jun are in their rooms, Seungcheol is in his office and for the rest I have no idea", Jisoo said and shrugged his shoulders. I nodded. The thought of what happened after our nightmare in Chan's world was still circulating in my mind. I could clearly remember the world, but not how I got there.
"Is something wrong?", Jeonghan asked, noticing that I drifted back into my thoughts, but I just shook my head. The only thing that matters is that we're out of there.

"By the way, why were you there?", I asked Seungkwan and Hansol, referring to the storage. After joining the others for a short time, we went to the food court and ate sushi.
"We wanted to check if the portal was still there", Hansol replied with a full mouth.
"So no one of y'all went through the portal after the incident?", I asked a little surprised. Everyone switched looks, but eventually they shook their heads.
"We didn't really had time since half of us were in the city at the hospital to care for Seungkwan and Minghao and when they were discharged you woke up. I guess no one really thought about it", Jisoo explained.
"I'll never forget the face of the nurse after we told her that Minghao just accidentally burned himself, while trying to cook", Jeonghan laughed.
"That moment when everyone got nervous and didn't know what to say- unforgettable", Hansol joined, making everyone except Jihoon laugh. Jihoon was in his thoughts again, but since he obviously didn't want to talk about it I let it slide.

The same day we had a team meeting. It was my first meeting, which was strange, considering the fact that I worked here for more than seven months. It was about 11PM, when we all gathered in the office. Jihoon explained me their weird timing and that there wasn't a real reason for it. There were exactly thirteen chairs. As we gathered everyone sat on one, leaving one chair free. It was Chan's chair of course. The last one to enter was Jeonghan and he was clearly annoyed.
"Okay, guys! I have enough. Let's sign a petition to make normal daytime meetings", he exclaimed, still standing next to the door frame.
"Let's go for it!", Minghao agreed.
"Yeah, I need my beauty sleep", Seungkwan also agreed, yawning softly.
"I got used to this time", Hansol shrugged his shoulders, making Seungkwan, Jeonghan and Minghao judge him quietly.
"As expected some people can't relate", Minghao snapped, while rolling his eyes.
"Before we pick a fight again, let me explain the reason we gathered here", Seungcheol stopped them, before it could get any worse.
"We're listening", Wonwoo crossed his arms, while Jeonghan took the seat behind Seungcheol.
"We're going to reopen Caratland again", Seungcheol declared, earning a mix of annoyed moaning and sad sighing.
"But you said it stays close until we all recover from the incident", Jun complained.
"You're not even hurt, Jun", Seungcheol raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, then how am I supposed to work with a broken arm?", Seungkwan questioned.
"I saw you chasing Hansol with a woodstick earlier. If you can do that, you can also listen to customers complaints. Also I don't want to open it myself since it's the first time I took a rest since years, but my mother is forcing me since it's getting warmer again and she wants to make money", Seungcheol explained his point.
"Isn't your family rich yet?", Mingyu murmured, but got ignored.
"So as of next week y'all going to be here at 12AM or our meetings will start at 1AM", Seungcheol ended the meeting and let us free.

After the gathering most of us went back to the hotel. While Jihoon got dragged with Seungcheol and the others to the hotel, Jeonghan and I went to the amusement park. I actually didn't want to go, but Jeonghan insisted.

At the carousel we became victims of a secret attack. More like I became a victim, as Hyungwon and Minghyuk came out of their hideout and jumped on me. Well, Hyungwon kept his distance, but Minhyuk went full on.
"I was so worried. I didn't even know you were stuck", he whined, while clinging on my shoulders.
"I didn't know you heard of it", I laughed.
"Jeonghan told us the whole story, but what the hell happened in there? You gotta be immortal or something like that", Hyungwon joked, while crossing his arms.
"And I thought you're a little kid", Minhyuk said, pinching his nose bridge embarrassed. We kept talking for a little time, until we all got too tired and returned to the hotel.

While Hyungwon and Minhyuk decided to not sleep for 24 hours, Jeonghan and I returned to the basement.
"But Soonyoung", he suddenly said. We were in front of the elevator. I turned to him, signaling him to keep talking, "What do you think about Jihoon?"
"He's my best friend of course. Can't imagine a day without that pink-haired dwarf", I grinned. "But you two share secrets, right? Please tell me! I swear I'm dying out of curiosity", I begged him, my hands fold together.
"Wow, I kinda pity Jihoon, because you're so clueless", he shook his head and entered the elevator. I tilted my head confused, but followed him in.

And I thought the times of secrets were over. I guess on Caratland this never stops...