Kim Taehyung, son to the former Minister of Finance, son to the former Provost of Seoul National University. In other words, son of a family whose name carried prestige, honour and most importantly, power.

He was only 20 years old when he started working as a lab assistant for S.M.E., all while pursuing his degree. His father, a powerful yet corrupt politician was drummed out of the cabinet he was serving after a yearlong investigation into his ‘questionable ethics’ (the same ethics used to provide Taehyung through the best schools in South Korea and trips to New York, he would argue). Taehyung, very much under the scrutiny of South Korea’s upper class families with their Ivy League degrees and cosmetically fixed eyebrows and Botox scars, applied for a job as a lowly lab assistant to get away from the society he grew up in.

Between cleaning equipment and typing long reports, his job was mundane but he was happy. He was happy to be treated like a regular person, instead of that politician’s son. Well that politician’s son was about to meet someone who would change his life forever.

Her name was Jessica, a Korean-American who moved to South Korea at the age of 12 and was enrolled into S.M.E. at age 14. Taehyung was 20, and she was 14 but already they formed a friendship unlike any other. A sort of familial relationship for the young girl who was away from her family most of the time.

Taehyung never had a sister, or any other sibling for that matter, and he loved Jessica like she was his own sister. At age 16, Jessica was asked to prepare for her debut, and Taehyung was the man who injected Triple X into her.

“Just give it to me.” She slapped her arm several times for good measure. She was giddy with excitement, as if she was going on a roller coaster ride in a theme park.

“You are so excited for this.” He .

“I am! I’m about to make my dreams come true!”

It wasn’t just Jessica’s dreams but also Taehyung’s dreams. With his degree in hand, he went from lab assistant to now lab coordinator while pursuing his Masters. He saw with his own eyes Jessica’s development, and how she turned into one of the best performers S.M.E. had ever created. Like a proud father, he couldn’t help but carry this bragging pride with him that said I did that.

Problems started to happen after 4 years. Jessica became unstable and violent. She told her therapist she had wild dreams, and she sleepwalked at night. Her members reported her acting erratically, cutting her hair on purpose or even lashing out at other people for something minor. Taehyung, now a researcher, worked day and night to find out what was wrong with Jessica. Her behaviour was no uncontrollable, and the company decided she had to go.

“Once I inject this,” Taehyung told Jessica, a syringe in his hand. “You will forget everything. Every memory you ever had of this place will be erased. We will send you off to the countryside where a family will take you in and care for you.”

“You mean you are going to dump me?”

“Jess I…”

“That’s what you do to your failed products? Dump them far away and have them be someone else’s problems?”

“Jessica…” Taehyung didn’t know what to say. He tried to hide his tears but Jessica didn’t bother to hide hers. She was already crying.

“Fine. Just give it to me.” She sniffled, putting on a brave face.

“Jessica I am so sorry. I tried to help you I…”

“Just do it oppa.” She drawled the last word out with such iciness in her tone that Taehyung could feel his heart ripped apart.

Taehyung stood there, rock solid for a good 15 minutes. Then, he said. “Get up.”

“What are you…”

“Shut up and listen to me.” Taehyung said. “In 10 minutes, someone will come to collect you. I’m going to inject you with anaesthesia so that you knock out.”

“But the…”

“Good night Jessica.” And with that, he pushed the syringe in her arm.

Jessica was taken, and Taehyung lied on the report saying 10 milligrams of the memory removal shot was taken when it didn’t happen. Taehyung was willing to do a lot of things in his line of work, but to hurt someone he loved, was not one of them.

Taehyung became Professor Kim Taehyung around the time S.H.I.N.E.E. was produced. The group was successful, and the board became extremely fond of him, quickly electing him to be the director of the whole research department. He soon found that the board was no different than the upscale snobs he grew up with. In fact, some of them were the same people.

Jessica haunted him. There was no word of her being dead or alive. The only person he had ever loved and Taehyung was forced to tear her life apart. If he had known, he would have never injected Triple X in the first place.

In a group interview for new research assistants, Taehyung stumbled upon one particular candidate. His name was Luhan and he was unlike the other 4 candidates he was interviewed with. Most candidates were confident and eager to show off their wealth of knowledge or astounding leadership skills or influential upbringing, but Luhan did none of that. He sat there, watching the other candidates and listened to them.

“Candidate number 2, Luhan.”

“Yes.” That was the first word he said apart from his self-introduction.

“I have a question directed to you,” Taehyung said. “Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?”

“Sir I can…”

“I was asking candidate number 2 and not you.”

Candidate number 3, a Harvard graduate was eliminated.

“I see myself as a scientist.” Luhan answered. “Doing what I hope to be doing, which is conducting researches and scientific breakthroughs.”

“Do you not see any accolades? Winning awards or getting high powered jobs?” Taehyung asked. “Many of your fellow candidates see themselves in higher positions in 10 years time.”

“I have no intention of doing that.” Luhan answered. “I love science, and I would like to dedicate my life to that.”

“And how do you think your job will be worthwhile if you don’t seem to care about the rewards that came afterwards?”

“Science is a long and arduous process. If we are doing it just because of the results or the societal benefits we reap for it, we are not truly appreciating science itself.” Luhan answered. “Knowing that my research can help change someone’s life for the better is what powers me.”

Taehyung cracked a smile. This candidate was someone different, and he can feel it in his bones.

Which is why he was totally fine with risking his life for his. He spent months watching Luhan, spying on him and asking Zitao to feed him with updates. He knew about Uprising through Luhan, and when Luhan blurted his plans to Sehun absentmindedly, he knew what he had to do.

Jessica was the leader of Uprising. How could he fight her?

And he wouldn’t, not after what he had done to her. If he had never injected her, she would never be the leader of an underground rebellion. This, in his retrospect, was all his fault. This was God’s way of punishing him.

He told Luhan to run, but not before calling him a fool, because Luhan was a fool. A careless, emotional fool, someone who let his feelings get in the way of his judgement. Someone who ruled with his heart and not his mind.

Someone with such feelings, in a world of robots, was dangerous. Dangerous enough to make a difference.

Only fools survive.

 

 

A/N: And this, ladies and gentlemen, marks the end of the ride. I really want to thank all of you who took the time to read this story, all 41 chapters of it, gave comments, subscribed, upvoted or even just waited for weekly updates. Familiar readers of my work know that I don't like to follow the norm when it comes to writing, and that I am very experimental. This story is honestly the most experimental, and dare I say, futuristic piece that I have ever done. I understand that readership has been down for a few months and it is frustrating to write and not expect the feedback you are used to, but I also understand that as an author I can't expect readers to respond to me all the time as they have their own lives. And that's why I am so grateful to all of you who have given love to this story because your love is what drives me as an author.

I really do love doing things like this, stories and plots that not many have tackled before and adding twists to them. Let me know if you think this is a good way forward for me! Leave all the comments you want because this story is finally over! Do upvote if this story has touched you (I have less upvotes than I do chapters TT) and subscribe if you want to know more. Once again thank you for being a part of this ride! Until the next story! ^^