Chapter 127: Prison Break (3)

Prison Break (3)

Leaving Seo Haim’s elimination behind, we started searching thoroughly from the first-floor hallway.

Jin Sehyun sighed while grumbling.

“Ah, why did Seo Haim get caught already….”

“If it was Siwoo hyung of all people, there’s no saving her.”

“That’s true. Let’s just focus on doing our part.”

Getting the golden ball would be the best, but for now, something else came first.

We had to find the hint ball quickly.

I peeked around the hallway, searching every corner where a hint ball might be hidden.

“It feels like it should be here… but it’s surprisingly hard to find.”

Then, my gaze fell on the rooms attached to the central corridor.

Through the glass doors, I could see meeting rooms, probably since this building was originally used as an office.

I tiptoed slightly to look inside.

“Can I open this door?”

“Uh, I think so?”

Click.

I pushed the door and it actually opened.

It didn’t look like they blocked it off for filming or anything….

Glancing around cautiously, I opened the door to the empty meeting room.

“By the way, Seohan.”

“Yeees—.”

“You’ve been speaking formally lately, haven’t you?”

“I’m just shy in front of the camera.”

“…?”

While I was unconsciously slipping in polite speech to Jin Sehyun.

My gaze turned to the whiteboard on the meeting room wall.

“Oh? Hyung, look, a hint ball!”

No way.

That thing dangling with tape… wasn’t that a ball?

“Ohhh!”

Jin Sehyun’s expression instantly brightened.

“It’s a hint ball!”

It was one of those capsule-like plastic balls you’d see in arcade claw machines as a kid.

I rushed over and yanked the red ball taped on the board.

It didn’t seem all that well hidden, honestly.

The moment I pulled it free, Jin Sehyun got excited and urged me on.

“Open it quick. Let’s see what it says.”

So far, there weren’t enough clues to figure out the password.

At least cracking open the first ball might give us an idea….

Creak—

I twisted the tightly sealed plastic ball and held it up to the camera.

Inside was a slip of paper with a single printed character.

[유]

“Yu?”

“I think if we collect all the letters, it’ll spell something out.”

If we really had to collect all six red balls, that explanation made sense.

Jin Sehyun spoke in an excited voice.

“This is basically a treasure hunt, isn’t it?”

“Let’s hurry and find more!”

Somehow, this felt a bit like….

“It’s like going back to my school days.”

“Hm?”

“Eh?”

Oh, right.

I was eighteen.

“Haha… the next ball’s probably on the second floor.”

I quickly left the meeting room, avoiding Jin Sehyun’s eyes.

The next ball we found was also red.

Jin Sehyun discovered it hidden in a flowerpot along the second-floor corridor and held it up to the camera.

[발]

The second hint was “bal” (foot/release).

Jin Sehyun rolled his eyes and asked me.

“What’s ‘Yu-bal’ supposed to mean?”

“…Probably not that.”

Somehow, it even sounded like a curse word.

When we asked Seo Haim over the radio, she only gave us weird answers.

-Foot-oil! Gasoline!

“Hyung, it’s supposed to be six letters.”

-I love you-yu?

“Quiet, yu.”

Click—

Jin Sehyun, listening nearby, muttered that and cut off the radio.

Ah.

“Let’s just ask Junseo hyung instead.”

“That’s a wise choice.”

With only two balls, it wasn’t enough to figure anything out.

There were supposed to be six red balls hidden in this building in total.

It was time to step up the search on the second floor.

After combing through the second-floor meeting rooms, we found one green ball and one blue ball.

From the green ball came a familiar letter.

[먼]

“I’m telling you, it has to be Dust, no doubt.”

“Could it be Universe Dust’s debut day?”

“Or maybe the number of members….”

We tossed around guesses while relaying the clues to the hyungs over the radio.

Static—

As soon as the radio connected, I spoke while holding it in one hand.

“Let’s combine what we’ve found so far.”

-What did you guys find?

“Everything except the golden ball, one of each color.”

-We found three red balls.

At Ha Junseo’s words, Jin Sehyun’s eyes went wide.

“That means we’ve got almost all of them, just one left?”

There were six red balls total, so that meant five had already been found.

This was doable.

“Call them out!”

Stardust’s official brain, Jin Sehyun, grabbed a pen.

Through the radio, Ha Junseo’s clear voice called out the letters.

Jin Sehyun jotted them down one by one, muttering under his breath.

“Mae, yeong, ui.”

So the red balls we had so far were….

[유] [발] [매] [영] [의]

A total of five letters.

Jin Sehyun tapped his chin with the pen and repeated.

“Mae-yeong-ui… Yu-bal?”

-Why’s your brother-in-law showing up here?

Huh?

“Wait a second.”

That didn’t sound right, so he tried rearranging.

Jin Sehyun bit his lip, shuffling the letters around.

“Hmm….”

Then suddenly, he let out a small exclamation.

“Ah! ‘Release of Universe Dust’?”

That was it.

I nodded vigorously and added.

“So it could be Universe Dust’s release date… or release month. One of the two, since it’s six letters.”

With one letter left, there was still room for interpretation.

“If it’s the release date of Universe Dust… then that’s our debut day, right?”

“Yeah, since our debut was April 27th. I think it’s probably the release month.”

When we checked earlier at the main gate, the password was three digits, so 4 was most likely the answer.

“Okay. Let’s keep it at 4 for now.”

We decided not to rush it, since the remaining balls would turn up while searching anyway.

I spoke into the radio in an excited tone.

“Hyung, I think we just found the first password.”

-……

“So if you guys keep searching the upper floors and find any green or blue balls, just let us kno—”

Why was there no reply?

Static.

I was about to check if the signal cut when—

-Haa… haa.

“Hyung?”

Along with ragged breaths came Ha Junseo’s urgent voice.

-Seohan! Now’s not the time to be using the radio!

“Eh?”

-It’s… it’s Kang Siwoo!

Jin Sehyun’s eyes rolled wide again.

“Siwoo hyung showed up?”

“That’s a big one.”

We needed to know which floor this was happening on.

Clutching the radio, I shouted.

“Hyung, which floor are you on?”

-Are you coming to help?

“To avoid that floor.”

-Hey!

The brotherhood of Stardust was something else.

Ha Junseo’s grumbling voice came over the radio.

-Jin Sehyun, don’t teach Seohan weird things. He’s the youngest, he’ll get spoiled!

Jin Sehyun smirked proudly and shrugged.

“I tend to teach good things, actually.”

-Hey, Seo Ian’s here too. The two of them are ganging up on me!

In an instant, Ha Junseo had become the prey.

From the sound of it, he was about to get caught any second.

I chuckled and raised the radio to my ear.

“Just kidding, I’ll come help.”

“Seongbin hyung’s there too?”

“Seems like it. With four against one, maybe we can pull it off?”

If two of our members were about to get caught, we had to try something.

But.

Unfortunately….

We were already too late.

Crash, bang!

From the radio came Ha Junseo’s screams.

-Aaagh! Siwoo hyung, spare me!

You’re older than him!

What in the world was going on upstairs?

-Aaaagh!

His cry was cut off as the speaker system on the ceiling announced the result.

[‘Prison Guard Kang Siwoo’ has captured Ha Junseo.]

[Ha Junseo captured.]

[Ha Junseo captured.]

I had a bad feeling about this….

And sure enough, three minutes later.

-Kang Siwoo hyungnim! Please spare me just once!

-No chance.

-Aaaaah! Why is the world against me~.

[Cha Seongbin captured.]

[Cha Seongbin captured.]

Cha Seongbin, too, was dragged to prison.

Jin Sehyun scratched his head and muttered under his breath.

“Everyone’s getting caught faster than you can boil cup ramen….”

“Hyung, stop using food comparisons. You’re making me hungry.”

Three members gone within thirty minutes of the game starting.

Even our own faces darkened with despair.

The camera zoomed in on mine, spotlighting my expression.

All I could do was let out a hollow laugh.

“What do we even do now?”

To be continued in Part 2.

[Universe Dust’s Close Brotherhood (Self-content Spoilers)]

After Dusty Campus, Doubles’ ambitious follow-up… Dusty Prison!

Conclusion: as always, the kids were handsome and cute.

Ah, I seriously burst out laughing while watching the self-content, haha.

Why were they especially wholesome today? Every word was a gem, I laughed holding my stomach, haha.

Just look at how our kids talk, ㅠㅠ.

Seohan: Hyung, what floor are you on?

Junseo: You coming to help?

Seohan: To avoid that floor.

Junseo: Hey!

Mam-Seohan cutting ties with Ha Junseo instantly, hahaha.

That’s how Ha Junseo got dragged away by Kang Siwoo, and within three minutes, Cha Seongbin was caught too….

Jin Sehyun muttered with the most sentimental face in the world.

“Everyone’s getting caught faster than you can boil cup ramen….”

Why ramen of all things, haha.

Jin Sehyun, are you insane, ah ㅠㅠ.

Feels like the kids are all turning into Cha Seongbin little by little;;

-I watched the self-content, and Kang Siwoo seriously looked like a Siberian Husky on the hunt.

└Ahahahahaha, the predator of the area.

└Seo Ian flushed them out, but Kang Siwoo was the one who actually caught them, haha.

└You guys are literally hunting?

-Not sure about the others, but Jin Sehyun definitely is turning into Cha Seongbin. He even said in yesterday’s live that he sometimes sleeps upside down.

└Hahaha, why copy the weirdest thing, haha.

└Why upside down of all things ㅠㅠㅠㅠ.

└The problem is, Do Seohan is turning into Jin Sehyun. That guy who was the most F in the world started throwing blunt truths around with a smile.

└Universe Dust becoming more like each other, I just want to keep them all in my pocket.

└Ah, so cute ㅠㅠ.

-Kang Siwoo’s amazing, seriously. If he caught Ha Junseo and Cha Seongbin that fast, the small-animal duo downstairs will be done before the water for cup ramen even boils.

└Who’s the small-animal duo?

└The squirrel and the regular mouse.

└Hahaha, regular mouse wtf.

└Why is Do Seohan the regular mouse, hahaha.

└I can’t take this, haha.

└And Jin Sehyun still insists he’s a gray kitten.

└But since his comeback hair wasn’t ash-gray, he’s just a squirrel now.

└So harsh, teacher.

└Not a mouse, a hamster, ㅠㅠ.

“Regular mouse? Are you kidding me?”

Dusty burst out laughing while reading the comments under the self-content spoiler post.

Why call a hamster just a mouse?

Okay, maybe technically, but still, it sounded a bit off.

“Regular mice are cute too… sure….”

Dusty muttered softly, agreeing with the comment.

Maybe because the idols were quirky themselves, the fandom seemed unusual in its own way too.

“They’re all crazy… it’s scary.”

Anyway, this self-content clearly showed that Doubles spent a lot of money.

The scale was almost like an outside variety show. And with the kids being cute on top of it, it was a joy to watch.

“I binged through it all in no time.”

Would Part 2 be uploaded tomorrow?

‘I don’t think I can wait that long.’

Dusty pouted as he opened YouTube.

At least, thankfully, there was still one trailer left.

Lately, the self-content team had been so considerate, even spoon-feeding fans with proper previews.

“Ah, this looks fun.”

Dusty’s eyes sparkled as he grabbed the mouse.

Click—

The trailer started playing the moment he pressed the button.

.

.

.

.

A tense standoff on the sixth floor between two prison guards.

The trailer opened with Jin Sehyun’s desperate cry while caught in Kang Siwoo’s grasp.

[Seohan-ah…!]

Jin Sehyun mimed wiping away tears as he turned to Seohan.

Dusty stared at the screen with wide eyes.

“What the?”

Did they get caught too?

Clearly about to be dragged away, Jin Sehyun cried out desperately.

[At least you have to survive…!]

While he was busy filming a melodrama on one side, our youngest blinked innocently and said brightly.

[Yes, hyung!]

[You’re really abandoning me?]

[You just told me to survive.]

Who said Do Seohan was ISFJ?

The lone survivor, Do Seohan, turned and bolted without looking back.

And then, the next scene.

[Ah… life is hard….]

Do Seohan, clutching the golden ball, panted as he turned to the camera.

His face looked utterly exhausted, like he really had been running all by himself.

[Huff… huff….]

Do Seohan’s breathing grew heavier, overlapping with Cha Seongbin’s sly voice.

[Fighting, breadwinner Do Seohan!]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep