Ukiss Me Goodbye

“ Hurry! It’s freezing cold down here!” AJ shouted as he waited for the others to reach the bottom of the ladder. But it wasn’t just the cold that gave him chills.
The open hatch above provided only a dim ray of light, allowing AJ to see, what appeared to be, an intricate system of underground tunnels. Because none of the tunnels had a light source of their own, it was impossible to tell where or what they led to, if anything at all.
And where was Kiseop? AJ had called out his name repeatedly, but only the echoes of his own voice had answered him in the dark. Eli may have joked about Kiseop being a coward, but seriously, what kind of coward goes running off into the dark? Alone?
AJ would never admit it to the others, but inside he knew that something was strange about all of this. If only he could put his finger on what that something was.
“Great. More tunnels.” Said Dongho as he hopped down from the ladder to take a closer look, squinting to adjust to the dark. “ I wonder which one leads to a way out.”
Eli hopped down after him. “ That one!” He confidently pointed to the tunnel directly in front of them.
“ How do you know?” Asked Hoon, who aggressively brushed off the cob webs that had clung to his fancy suit on the way down the ladder. Thankfully no spiders had hitched a ride along with them.
Eli scratched his spiky, gelled hair as he blatantly answered, “ It’s where all the rats are headed.”
“ RATS!!?” The members shrieked in unison, excluding Eli who seemed more amused than concerned.
Faster than lightening, Kevin climbed the nearest member like a tree, regarding the floor as if it were boiling hot lava instead of concrete.
“ Get off Kevin!” Soohyun barked at him, lurching his back under Kevin’s shifting weight. But scared stiff Kevin wasn’t letting go any time soon.
As the very real rats scurried underfoot, even AJ recoiled in disgust. Ghosts may not have bothered him much, but rats---Rats were on another level!
The idea of being down in the dark with the possibly diseased rodents was not going over well with the members, who immediately started vouching for a Plan B. And as expected, the Leader was quick to step up and give it.
“Back up the ladder we go!” He pointed upward with difficulty, thanks to Kevin who was still wrapped around him like an anaconda.
Zero disagreement followed. For once, the members were on the same page, many of them even pushing for first dibs on the rusty ladder.
Using Soohyun’s body to his advantage, Kevin got to it first, quickly scurrying towards the light of the open hatch. In comparison to the cold, dark, rat infested tunnels, it looked like the open gates of heaven; bright, warm, inviting and----THUD!!!
The hatch door had slammed shut. The light was instantly extinguished.

And someone complained of something wet against their cheek…

Notes