Chapter Text
"Hey, hyung," Yunho greeted Hongjoong who watched the TV in their living room as soon as he entered the dorm. It was their week off after the round of promotion ended, and the whole group decided to stay for a few days in the dorm together before going back to their own home. Even Mingi decided to visit and spend some time with them.
Hongjoong hummed. His eyes landed on the shopping bag that Yunho held on his hand. "Where have you been?"
"Just walking around the stores, but then I met this group of college students, they recognized me and they said they're our fan! They said they're currently developing a video game inspired by our concept and..." Yunho's hand rummaged through the shopping bag, "They gave me this,"
"A game, I bet?" Hongjoong guessed.
Yunho grinned. He then showed the package, with the words 'Another Jumanji Story: The Truth Untold' printed on the cover. "They said it's the first copy, and they want us to be the one who try it first beside them,"
"Looks interesting," Hongjoong took the game CD from Yunho's hand and read the guide. "A game for those who seek the truth?"
"Yeah, I thought by playing this game we could handle the situation," Yunho sat on the carpet, stretching his long legs.
"What do you mean?" Hongjoong asked. Yunho nudged his head towards Wooyoung who walked out from his room to the kitchen to get some water. San who was in the kitchen eating ramyeon looked at Wooyoung, not saying anything which was definitely unusual, since they're known to be loud and always glued to each other. Without a word, Wooyoung went back to his room leaving San alone in the kitchen again. Hongjoong and Yunho just sighed at the sight.
"They're still at it?" Hongjoong asked again, which Yunho hummed.
Here's the thing. San and Wooyoung have been ignoring each other for days, and the rest of the group have been trying to set the two to make up to each other. But no matter what they did, the two still didn't budge from their own ego.
It started when they were having an online fansign as a part of their comeback promotion. Just like usual, the event was filled with laughter, as they were happy that they could communicate with their fans.
Until one of their fans asked a question to San.
"If I have to choose between Wooyoung and Yeosang? Hmm this is a though question," San looked at Yeosang on his right side, then turned to Wooyoung on his left side. San grinned at the camera, then he pulled Yeosang into a hug so the camera could catch them.
"It's Yeosang! I'm always happy just by seeing him, and you know that I can't sleep without hugging something, right? Nowadays I sleep while hugging him," San teased the fans while pinching Yeosang's cheeks, knowing that the fans' bias was Yeosang.
"Then what about Wooyoung?" the fan asked again.
"Wooyoung? Well...I'm sick and tired of him," San then proceeded to sang his part on Thanxx, leaving both the fan and him laughing. Yeosang looked at San in shock, then he glanced at Wooyoung who he knew heard San since he already finished his session with the previous fan. He saw Wooyoung looked at San with an unreadable expression, but then smiled instantly as he greeted another fan to the camera in front of him.
And that was the start of the whole chaos. Wooyoung started to become too sensitive and snapped at anyone that day. Yeosang, who immediately knew what's the problem, talked to Wooyoung about the incident later at the night in their room when Jongho was showering.
"I'm sorry," Yeosang started the conversation as he sat on Wooyoung's bed.
Wooyoung got up and sat behind Yeosang, leaning at the wall. "For what?"
"For what you heard earlier at the fansign," Yeosang turned back and looked at Wooyoung. Wooyoung chuckled, he patted the spot next to him and waved to Yeosang to sit beside him.
"It's not your fault, I'm not mad at you," Wooyoung said as he lean on Yeosang's shoulder. "Geez, I don't even know what's wrong with me,"
"It's normal though, to feel jealous hearing those words," Yeosang combed Wooyoung's hair with his fingers. "Especially from someone you really like,"
Wooyoung's eyes widened at Yeosang's last sentence and he immediately lifted his head, turning to look at Yeosang. "You knew??"
Yeosang laughed at Wooyoung's reaction. "Do I really have to remind you how many years we have been a best friends? Even some people are sick and tired of us mentioning it,"
"Stop it, I hate those words," Wooyoung punched Yeosang's arms jokingly while laughing, but then his face turned serious. "I should apologize to the others for being too sensitive today, by the way,"
"It's okay, they understand. That's why they send me here to talk to you," Yeosang pulled Wooyoung to lay his head on his lap. "I guess the only problem here is San, he probably didn't realize that he caused such a chaos today,"
Wooyoung didn't say anything, which make Yeosang frowned at his best friend.
"That's it, I should snap him out of it," Yeosang pushed Wooyoung to get up and left their room but Wooyoung stopped him and held his shirt.
"No, don't. Just let him be. Maybe if I make some distance with him he'll figure out what's wrong,"
Yeosang huffed. "But he's idiot, so do you,"
"Excuse me??" Wooyoung protested and Yeosang laughed.
"Fine, the only difference is you're not too dumb to realize your feeling for him. Meanwhile he's..."
"Complicated, I know," Wooyoung completed Yeosang's sentence. His eyes widened when he saw Yeosang looked at him with pitying eyes. "What's with that look? I'm okay, really. I'll just figure it out myself,"
Yeosang didn't say anything for a while, before nodding his head and patting Wooyoung's shoulder. "Okay, I trust you. But don't hesitate to ask me anything, okay? In case you need more hands to whack his head or something,"
Wooyoung chuckled, but then his chuckle turned into his signature laugh when he heard his stomach grumbled, Yeosang's followed a moment later. "Woah, even our belly grumble almost sounds the same, that's fascinating,"
"I'm not even surprised if our fart sounds the same too," Yeosang laughed when Wooyoung punched his arm again.
"Eww that's gross but fascinating too at the same time," Wooyoung laughed louder. He then climbed down his bed and pulled Yeosang's hand. "Come on, I'll make some late night snack for us,"
"Yes! I want tteokbokki, please!" Yeosang exclaimed which makes Wooyoung turned and frowned.
"I'm surprised that you didn't ask for chicken,"
"No thanks, I still remember how it tasted when you teamed up with Hongjoong-hyung and San to make me some chicken," Yeosang laughed and ran to the kitchen before Wooyoung could attack him again.
They spent half an hour making tteokbokki (more like Yeosang watching and bothering Wooyoung during the process but it's not like Wooyoung minded anyway) and sat to eat while excitedly talking about the dance covers Wooyoung has been working on and Yeosang's composing progress.
Suddenly, San entered the kitchen and saw Wooyoung and Yeosang eating. Yeosang who saw San cleared his throat and immediately clean up his dishes.
"Thanks for the food, bestie. I'm going to shower first, okay? I'm sure Jongho's already done," Yeosang ruffled Wooyoung's hair as he stood up from his chair. Wooyoung looked up and hummed, until he saw San staring at him and he froze.
Yeosang saw Wooyoung's face and looked at San as he put his cutlery into the sink and nudged his head towards Wooyoung before leaving the kitchen. San nodded at Yeosang and approached Wooyoung who already focused back on his food.
"We need to talk," San said as soon as he sat in front of Wooyoung.
"Shoot, it's not like I can't hear you since I can't turn off my ear to mute my surrounding," Wooyoung answered without leaving his focus on his food.
San let out a heavy sigh. "I know you're upset. It's not like you when you just snapped at anyone when they did nothing wrong,"
No answer from Wooyoung.
"Wooyoung-ah," San called again, he sounded tired and desperate.
"Fine," Wooyoung stopped eating and looked up at San. "Yes, I'm upset. Because what you said today on the fansign. And I'm just trying to give you more space with Yeosang because I know you prefer being with him than me,"
That wasn't what Wooyoung really intended to say but just by seeing San reminded him of what happened that day, and he was being too sensitive all over again.
San looked at Wooyoung in shock. "Woo, you know I'm not serious, it's just a fan service thing,"
"Let me ask you the question then," Wooyoung put down his chopstick and put his hand under his chin. "I'm gonna ask you as a best friend, not a fan. So no need for a fan service thing. Is it me or Yeosang?"
"Can we not do this now?" San said after letting out a deep sigh.
Wooyoung laughed sarcastically. "See? You can't even answer such a simple question. That's the problem,"
"Really, Woo? Honestly, the question is the problem. You know that both of you and Yeosang are-"
"Fine, the problem is on me then," Wooyoung scoffed.
San gaped as he looked at Wooyoung in disbelief. "Seriously, why are you being like this?"
"You know that I like you, right?"
San bit his lips and looked at Wooyoung's eyes. "Wooyoung, I'm-"
"I understand if you can't like me back, but do you hate me that much? Enough to say that you're tired of me?"
"Woo, you know I'm not-"
"We're not gonna talk about this anymore. I've had enough," Wooyoung stood up and threw his leftover food into the trash, before leaving San in the kitchen alone.
At first, San keep trying to make up with Wooyoung but seeing how the younger keeps ignoring him, he gave up and ended up ignoring Wooyoung too.
"You think this game can help them make up? How?" Hongjoong asked Yunho who just scratched his head.
"I'm not sure, at least maybe we can make them communicate with each other?" Yunho laughed awkwardly and moved to the couch.
"Fine, it won't hurt to try, right?" Hongjoong made up his mind and yelled to the other members across their dorm. "Guys, gather up!"
The first one who came to the living room was Seonghwa, who immediately complained as soon as he plopped himself next to Hongjoong on the couch. "Joong, what did I say about having a gather up on our free day?"
Hongjoong chuckled and hugged Seonghwa from his side. "Sorry, but this is not that serious, I promise,"
The others followed behind, Mingi immediately sat next to Yunho, Jongho came with Yeosang clinging on his back while Wooyoung tailing behind them.
"Oh my, is Yeosang okay?" Seonghwa asked worriedly, but his concern slightly vanished as Jongho giggled while throwing Yeosang on the couch.
"Ouch! Do you really have to throw me??" Yeosang whined, but Jongho just patted his head and sat next to him.
"Stop being a drama queen, it's not like I threw you that hard," Jongho then turned to Seonghwa who sat across him. "Don't worry, hyung. He's just still a little bit sleepy after playing games all night long with Wooyoung-hyung,"
Hongjoong frowned. "Woo, what did I say about staying up all night playing games, hmm?"
"Sorry, hyung. But it was so fun that we didn't realize how much time passed! Right, Yeosang-ah?" Wooyoung sat on the carpet in front of Yeosang and excitedly slapped Yeosang's legs.
"Oow, ow! Stop it! Why does my roommates being so violent lately?? Hyung, I want another room arrangement!" Yeosang complained.
Jongho then poked Yeosang's sides and tickled him. "Oh no, you can't, hyung. You'll regret the consequence,". Jongho looked at Wooyoung and nudged his head to Yeosang, signaling Wooyoung to join him tickling Yeosang. The living room then filled with the three roommates laughter.
Hongjoong unconsciously smiled at the scene in front of him. He was somewhat relieved to know that even though Yeosang was 'involved' in Wooyoung and San's quarrel, it didn't affected their friendship for years. He also knew that Yeosang was trying hard to convince Wooyoung about the situation too, only to have Wooyoung brushed it off and telling Yeosang to not worry about it. Hongjoong thought, maybe the only thing they can do was-
"What is it, hyung?" San's question distracted Hongjoong's thought, as he came to the living room after finished his ramyeon and washing the dishes. San looked around, before sitting on the carpet next to Wooyoung. Wooyoung who already sat on his seat again after tickling Yeosang just rolled his eyes and scoffed.
"Do you really have to sit beside me?" Wooyoung snorted at San.
"There's no more space on the couch," San answered nonchalantly without even looking at Wooyoung.
Seonghwa let out a breath as if he has been holding it all the time. "Finally. Honestly, I'm really tired seeing you two ignoring each other,"
"But they're fighting, hyung," Mingi reminded the older.
Seonghwa shook his head and put his finger on his lips. "Ssshh, let them be, at least they're communicating with each other, it's just a matter of time until they kiss and make up,"
Hongjoong almost choked on Seonghwa's words. "Okay, since everyone's here...let's just go to the point, hmm?" Hongjoong took the game CD and showed it to the others. "Yunho found an interesting game,"
"Jumanji?" Mingi squinted his eyes and read the game title.
"Read it properly, baby," Yunho pinched Mingi's cheeks earning a groan from the younger.
"I know, I know. I'm just asking if it's the Jumanji we know about," said Mingi.
"Is that thing even real? Or is it just a regular video game?" Yeosang started to show interest.
"That's why I asked Hongjoong-hyung to gather you guys up,"
"To prove if it's real or not? Together?" San asked which Yunho nodded.
"I didn't expect you to be this coward," Jongho teased.
"It's not that I'm a coward," Yunho rolled his eyes. "Remember that in the movie one of the player stuck in the game for 20 years? Because he's playing alone? This is not about being brave of coward, it's about teamwork,"
"But how do we play?" Wooyoung asked as he took the CD and placed it on. "We only have two game controllers,"
"Let's see," Hongjoong pressed the play button. Their eyes glued on the screen as the game started to load.
-WELCOME TO 'ANOTHER JUMANJI STORY: THE TRUTH UNTOLD' EDITION-
THIS GAME IS CREATED FOR THOSE WHO SEEK THE TRUTH FROM THEIR CLOSE ONES.
ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DISCLOSE THE SECRETS AROUND YOU?
YES
NO
"I don't think it just a regular video game, but it looks interesting," Wooyoung took one of the controller and chose 'YES'. "Who's gonna play first with me?"
"I'm in," Yunho raised his hand and took the other controller from Wooyoung. "I'm the one who brought this game anyway,"
The screen changed with another question popped up.
HOW MANY PLAYERS WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY?
2 Players
4 Players
6 Players
8 Players
"Oh look, we all can play together!" Yunho excitedly pointed at the screen.
Mingi tilted his head questioning. "But how? We only have two controllers though,"
Wooyoung just shrugged his shoulder before turning to the others. "We're all gonna play, right?". After getting some nods and hums, Wooyoung picked the '8 Players' option and pressed the play button.
Suddenly, their dorm windows opened with a loud bang, followed by a whirl of wind entering the dorm. The dust started flowing in the air which make them covered their face with their arms to protect their eyes.
"What's going on??" Wooyoung shrieked. No one was able to answer as they were too bewildered.
Suddenly, the wind stopped whirling around them.
"Maybe it's just the wind," Hongjoong tried to reassure the others. His eyes then shifted to his phone when suddenly it rang with their manager's name displayed on the screen.
"Hello?" Hongjoong quickly answered the call.
"Where are you guys? I just came by but the dorm is empty?"
Hongjoong looked around and frowned at their manager's question. "Hyung, what are you talking about? We're here in the-"
Hongjoong stopped talking when Seonghwa tapped his hand and pointed at the screen.
-YOU CHOSE 8 PLAYERS TO PLAY THIS GAME-
YOUR GIVEN KEYWORDS TO FINISH THE MISSION:
THUNDER
KEY BEARER
HILLS
SACRIFICE
HONESTY
-CLEAR THE MISSION TO GO BACK TO YOUR DIMENSION-
Seonghwa and Hongjoong looked at each other, their eyes started to filled with worry.
"Hello, Hongjoong-ah? Are you still there?" their manager's voice snapped Hongjoong into reality.
"Ahh yes, sorry hyung. We're...we're in the theme park, hyung. We decided to hang out a bit today. Is there...is there something important?" Hongjoong looked at Seonghwa as he answered their manager. The oldest just nodded, meanwhile the others looked at each other in confusion.
"Not really, I just bring some snack and want to check you guys up. Make sure to go back not too late, okay? I'll bring you guys dinner,"
"Sure, hyung. We'll go back to the dorm before dinner, thank you, hyung,"
"No problem, it's my duty anyway. By the way, San and Wooyoung, are they still haven't make up?"
Hongjoong glanced at San and Wooyoung who looked away from each other. Hongjoong let out a deep sigh and hummed to his phone.
"Jeez, those two. Just you wait, they're gonna hear an earful from me later. Honestly I'd like to see them being lovey dovey rather than ignoring each other like this,"
Hongjoong nodded even though their manager couldn't see him. "We do too, hyung. I'll try to talk to them about it again,"
"Okay. See you guys later then,"
The call ended. Hongjoong looked at his phone, still processing the conversation between him and their manager earlier. He looked at Seonghwa again, the oldest bit his lips nervously.
"Please tell me this is not what I think it is," Seonghwa said. No one was able to answer as they're all too confused about what was happening.
Yunho then walked to the window and looked outside. "Guys, something's weird,"
"What is it?"
"It's empty," Yunho said as he looked around at the sight outside. "No cars, no people walking, nothing. As if there's no other people except us,"
"Okay, this started to freak me out a little bit," Mingi said. Yunho quickly sat next to Mingi again to comfort him. "And why did you say we're in the theme park instead of the dorm, hyung?"
Hongjoong ignored Mingi's question and read the sentence on the screen over and over again before turning to Seonghwa. "I'm afraid...this is what you think it is, Hwa,"
"Stop using telepathy between yourselves, hyung!" Yeosang protested. He didn't really want to show it but he actually started to freak out too. Jongho tried to comfort Yeosang by holding the older's hand on his lap.
"We're in another dimension, right, hyung? That's why manager-hyung couldn't see us even though he's here, just like how we can't see him," Jongho said as he could hear their manager's voice from Hongjoong's phone earlier and started to understand the situation.
Hongjoong and Seonghwa nodded weakly.
"That's what I thought, for now. One thing for sure, this game brought us to the other dimension of our place, instead of sucking us to another world. Unlike the Jumanji game we know," Hongjoong explained.
"But how did manager-hyung still able to call you? Doesn't that means that we can ask for help from him?" Wooyoung let go of his controller and started clinging on Yeosang's legs.
Hongjoong ran his hand through his hair and massaged his forehead. He totally didn't expect the game to be real, and he still have the conscience as the leader of the group to make the other members feel less worry even though deep inside, he started to panicking himself. "That, I don't know if we can still make a phone call and it's not like we can call him and just say, 'Hyung, we're actually in another dimension, please help us to come back,', right? How are we gonna explain this thing to him when actually we're not really sure about it too?"
"He's right," Seonghwa nodded his head. "I think we should finish this game by ourselves,"
"So we can say that this game is actually real, huh?" San said while looking at his body and sighed in relief. "Good thing we're still in our own appearances,"
"Is it a good thing? I'm sure you'd rather look at a total stranger than looking at my face," Wooyoung snorted at San again.
San huffed tiredly, he started to have had enough. "Excuse me, but I didn't even offend you?"
"Guys, please," Hongjoong rolled his eyes, "I'm glad that at least you two aren't ignoring each other anymore but can we have like... five minutes of peace without you two bickering?"
They focused back to the game as the screen blurred, before another sentence appeared.
-LEAVE YOUR PLACE AND YOUR HELPER WILL FIND YOU-
"I guess that means we have to leave the dorm?" Yunho asked as soon as he finished reading the sentence.
Hongjoong stood up from his seat and motioned the others to get up too. "Looks like it is. Come on guys, I think it's better to act quick and clear the mission before night comes,"
"What is the mission again?" Yeosang asked, which makes all of them turned to the TV only to find it displayed nothing.
"Maybe that's why we have to leave and find our helper? To ask for the mission?" Wooyoung guessed and shrugged his shoulder.
"Do we have any weapons? We might need it later for the mission," Yunho looked around and Mingi almost choked in his laughter.
Jongho rolled his eyes. "It's not like we have something like guns or real swords in our dorm, hyung,"
"Come on, let's just leave guys. The sooner the better. And please, always stick with each other, okay? We don't know what to expect yet," Hongjoong warned.
With the leader's command, they quickly leave the dorm with thumping hearts and hands in hands.