it was a beautiful sunny day, where the birds chirped and the sun rays seeped through the curtains of stray kids' dorm building. chan being the leader that he is, was the first to wake up to get a notification on his phone from his boss.. jyp himself.

it read "chan.. wake your members up and pack your bags. the entertainment company knows that you all have worked very hard this year, which is why i have made the decision to give you all a surprise vacation to travel to the mountains where everyone would be able to relax without getting mobbed by fans. it is completely private and has all the supplies that everyone needs, but.. there is a cost." chan stopped reading in that moment, wondering why jyp would even give them a vacation if there was something that they need to do. chan continued to read anyway, "it is a very simple cost, instead of living in your ordinary hotel.. you would all need to camp. don't ask me why, i just think that it would be a fun way of interacting with nature. anyway, when you all are ready.. just head out of the building and you all will see a black van which will transport you to your location. have fun!" chan sighed, camping doesn't sound too bad.. but what would the other members think about this?

he got out of his bed and stretched before grabbing his phone and exiting his room, time to find out. one by one, chan knocked on everyone's doors to wake them up as he sat down on the living room's sofa. the rest of stray kids finally came out of their rooms, hair still on bed mode and yawns coming from all of their mouths.. classic. "ah, you all finally woke up. i've been waiting for a while now." chan grinned as the others sat on the sofa, all groaning as they had to be waken up earlier than usual. "now, before you all complain to me about waking you all up too 'early'.. let me explain myself. so, jyp-hyung texted me and said that we.. are going to be going on vacation."

at that sentence, all of the eyes that were closed were now wide open. "where are we going hyung?" jisung asked as all of them waited in anticipation for chan's answer. "we're.. going to go to the mountains! that jyp-hyung said is totally private and has all the supplies that we need!" everyone cheered in happiness as stray kids haven't really gotten to go outside much due to their busy schedule. "but, we need to be camping.. it's alright though, it's better than not having anywhere to sleep at all right? so, please don't complain you guys.. anyway, pack your bags people we need to get moving." stray kids obeyed and everyone started to pack their bags.

-

(time skip to the black van)
everyone was now on their way to the mountains, they were excited and were ready to have a good time. but, as the driver had told them.. the trip to the mountains would take a few hours and with that said, they would have to be patient. the maknae line were currently playing a game of 'chopsticks' as the hyung line were taking a little nap. the only people who were not doing anything were changbin, hyunjin and jisung. hyunjin was getting bored and he was not having any of it, so he decided to whisper something into jisung's ears while jisung laughed and agreed to his mischievous 'plan'.

"hey changbin-hyung, have you gotten any taller yet? i can't really tell as you're too short." jisung said as hyunjin snickered, they loved teasing their beloved hyung for his height.. it is a great way to waste time and awesome entertainment according to them. everything was for fun as they were sure that changbin knew that this was all a joke.. right? changbin just sighed as he tried to laugh with them, taking out his phone, plugging in his earphones before slipping it into his ears. changbin doesn't understand why his height really mattered to his members, was his rapping skills not enough to satisfy them?

while he was thinking, hyunjin and jisung decided to throw another sentence at their hyung. "changbin-hyung? more like short-hyung!" at that sentence, changbin decided that he has heard enough and went to his spotify to blast his hiphop playlist.. on full volume. with that settled, he also decided to take a nap and so closed his eyes before falling into a deep sleep.

-

(time skip to the mountains)
"hyungie? wake up, we've arrived!" jeongin said as he shook changbin until he woken up. "thanks jeongin." stray kids exit the van and took their belongings before the vehicle left them. "well, i guess this place will be our home for the next few days." chan said as everyone turned around to take in the breathtaking scenery, "let's get going guys.. we need to find a place to make our tent and settle our things." and so, just like that.. stray kids had begun their little hike. they walked for a while until they saw something unexpected, "woah.. jyp-hyung didn't mention anything about a forest being here, the only thing i expected were a couple of trees."

"well then chan, why don't we just make our tent over there? there would be plenty of shade for us during the day and we can take some dope pictures while we're at it." woojin mentioned as chan took it as a good idea, "okay hyung, but we have to be careful for any wild animals." stray kids ventured into the forest until they reach a decent place or what they call a 'pretty' place.

felix opened his bag which contained the tent and started to build it while the rest took some nails and a hammer to pin the tent into place. what seemed to have took hours, was finally complete.. stray kids took out their personal mat which will be used as a 'mattress' and laid it all, after that was done.. they put their bags into the tent. seungmin looked at the sky and sighed, "it looks like it's our time to rest." everyone looked at where seungmin was looking and understood what he meant, the sky that was a light blue color hours ago.. was now a gorgeous shade of purple. "wait hyungs, before we go to bed.. can we go explore the mountains a bit more? i heard that there is a cliff around here and we can take really good pictures over there!" jeongin asked with his naturally cute voice which stray kids of course, cannot say no to. so, they went to venture again.. until they did find that specific cliff that jeongin was talking about. "wow, you're right jeongin.. the view is also amazing over here." felix giggled as he took out his phone to snap a few pictures.

everyone, including changbin were enjoying their time, till someone had to ruin it with their teasing. "yeah jeongin, this view is so amazing that it almost beats the entertainment i get from changbin-hyung's height." everyone laughed as changbin lowered his head and clenched his fists tightly, he's getting pissed and he knows that. "they think that this is funny but they do not know how much damage this causes my mental health, curse your asshole-self hyunjin.." changbin thought as hyunjin caught onto his mood. "what's wrong hyung? can't accept the fact that you're too short?" changbin was beyond furious by now.

"that crosses the line, hyunjin." changbin thought as he tackled hyunjin and started beating the shit out of him, "YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY HUH?" hyunjin pushed changbin off of him and took the advantage to punch changbin in the face. they started to roll and fight on the ground until they were pulled apart by the aussie line,

"YAH YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT, RESPECT YOUR HYUNG!" changbin yelled as he tore chan's strong grip off his shoulders. hyunjin, with the help of felix had just gotten up with his bloody nose and black-eye. now hyunjin was pissed as well, why can't his hyung take his jokes? why does he gotta be so sensitive? "NOT BEFORE YOU LEARN TO HANDLE JOKES!" with that said, hyunjin shoved changbin with extreme force.. forgetting that they were near the edge of a cliff.

changbin let out a scream as he felt his body being pulled by gravity, hyunjin being the closest tried to catch his hyung.. but with no success. the others gasped in horror as they witness their main rapper fall off the cliff. in a matter of seconds, everyone could hear a thud while the birds flew away from the horrible scene. "oh my fucking god.. OH MY FUCKING GOD!!" chan exclaimed as he ran down the hill to the location where changbin's now dead body lay. the others soon followed and woojin swore that if the injuries would've been worse, he would've threw up right there and then. changbin's then sparkling eyes were now filled with sadness and betrayal as visible tears were left on his bloody face. when changbin fell, he was unlucky as he landed on a pile of rocks/boulders.. which lead to the blood-covered rocks and his cracked open skull with the brain almost fully out of the head. changbin also got his neck snapped from the impact and broke most of his bones.. most importantly the ribs.

"changbin-hyungie.." jeongin whimpered as he let out a wail and hugged seungmin who was trying his best to comfort the poor maknae. "hyunjin.. what did you do?" minho turned to hyunjin who had a poker face the entire time. don't let his expression fool you though, he was just deep in his thoughts as he knew that he had fucked up. "i don't know hyung.. i didn't mean for this mess to happen, i swear!"

"well since it already happened and there's no way we could reverse time, how do we deal with the body?" jisung asked while trying to calm his breathing. "leave this to me. seungmin, please take jeongin back to the tent.. i think he has seen enough traumatizing things for today." chan sighed as seungmin agreed and gently pulled a still-crying maknae out of the place. "mate, you sure you wouldn't need any assistance?" felix asked in english with his australian accent as chan gave a small smile to his fellow friend. "i am sure bud, don't worry about me. please get some rest along with the others." felix looked at chan in worry but eventually nodded and told the other members to come with him.

chan, now alone.. faced changbin's body and started to drag it to a place filled with fallen leaves. he then placed it somewhere appropriate before taking a handful of leaves and started to cover the body with it. after making sure that the body was well-hidden, he decided to go back to the tent to take his mind off all of the events that had happened in a day. "should i tell jyp-hyung? no.. probably not now because that would be an added burden for him, maybe after the trip. i'm sorry for failing you changbin, rest in peace." chan letted out a tear from his eye and went to where the rest of the members were.

what chan failed to notice while he was on his way back though, was a dark figure hiding in-between the trees, stalking him.. its' crooked smile, pale skin, smashed open head and glowing bloody-red eyes were the most noticeable features. it had a slim and tall figure, more specifically.. eight feet tall. and it.. was ready to avenge its' tragic death.