The Escape

The sound of the electric doors sliding open, made Yixing look up from where he was curled up in the corner of the bed. His assigned therapist, Doctor Kang, greeted him with a smile.

The first day on the rehabilitation facility, Yixing had woken up remembering nothing again. The last thing he recalled was him and Dae eating lunch together. The mansion’s pompous room had been replaced for a smaller one with grey walls, a large window made of unbreakable glass and a private bathroom. An unknown man had walked in later, introducing himself as Dr. Kang, his therapist. That meant Dae and those bastards that had held him hostage had lied. They must have shot him another amnesia-inducing dart and contacted authorities to say he was an unreadable. If this mess was all because of Junmyeon, then Yixing had even more valid reasons to despise him. If only his heart could catch up with what his brain said. Even in these moments of utter desolation, not only did he miss his family and friends, but also the man that had made his life go downhill.

Regardless of who had sent him here, Yixing hadn’t planned on staying. Dr. Kang was much shorter than him, with a body complexion Yixing could easily knock down. That same first day, after Dr. Kang had explained to him of his unreadable status and why he wasn’t apt to be in the outside world, Yixing did just that. He took the pen from the man’s pocket, pinned Dr. Kang down on the floor and threatened him in the eye with it, demanding the doors to open and being released. Nothing had happened, of course, because Yixing realized the ankle bracelet he was wearing sent an electric shock to his leg. It hadn’t been painful, but it caused him to lose mobility and fall on the floor. The doctor warned him that he would activate the paralyzer ankle bracelet each time Yixing attempted to hurt someone or run away. Yixing hadn’t listened and tried to find more ways to escape from his captivity, only to end up unable to move for a few seconds. Until one day they must have put something on his water or food because his need to escape had suddenly vanished. That day he had woken up as if he had been under a spell in which everything that used to make him angry didn’t affect him, in fact, he had felt nothing for hours. Yixing was sure they must have drugged him. When he could feel emotions again, his rage had returned, but so had his fear. Afraid of being subjected to more unknown medication that might harm him, Yixing surrendered to the seclusion.

And so, the time had passed in the rehabilitation facility until Yixing counted it had already been 18 days since his arrival. Yixing wondered if this was how Qian had been isolated too. Each day he woke up in this room. Looking out of the window, it was strange, but on the distance, he saw they were surrounded by nature, snow-covered trees and hills. On the ground floor outside the building were recreational places things like a basketball court and a gym. Yixing had even seen people walking outside, talking to each other or their therapists, none of them freaking out because they were locked in against their will. Or maybe they had no idea why this was bad. Yixing had also never been allowed to be surrounded by others and was mostly on his own in his room. On the wall, there was a touch screen that his therapist had said he could use to send requests. The requests could be to leisure activities like painting, reading a book, listening to music or watch a program, even clothes, but only if the System approved, he would get it. Often, Dr. Kang also took him outside to get fresh air and sun, of course when nobody else was out, but a crime prevention enforcer accompanied them at all times. Yixing knew they worked for the Security Department because of the logo in their jackets, Tao had had the same. Even when Dr. Kang went home during the weekends, one of the interns looked after him and brought him outside. One time, as crazy as it sounded, Dr. Kang had taken him fishing on a lake nearby. However, just because these people weren’t treating him less than dirt, it didn’t mean Yixing was having the time of his life. He hated this place. He hated to be locked in. And based on what Tao had told him told, Yixing suspected that the humanity these people were showing him was something Qian had never gotten and that only fueled his hatred. He wouldn’t be thankful to them, he was still furious with these people and didn’t hesitate to show his indifference and disdain.

But contrary to the horrifying books about dark therapy he had read whenever he had visited his parents abroad (because the System censored everything that could make one stressed or ‘unhappy’), this was almost nothing like those descriptions. Sure, they made him wear this ankle bracelet with the ability to paralyze his body momentarily, and they had given him some sort of medicine that numbed his feelings, but so far, they hadn’t physically or emotionally hurt him, not with some twisted ‘therapeutic’ methods such as inducing pain on him or giving him painful electric shocks. This wasn’t the nightmare he had been dreading. In reality, they called him by his name and not a number. He was well fed (although often ate alone in his room). He was allowed to wear the clothes he wanted. And he had a session with his therapist every day except on the weekends. In those sessions, Dr. Kang would ask him questions like: How are you feeling? What is bothering you? Could you tell me about yourself? Talk about your family. Or something along those lines. Yixing refused to open up. He got the feeling that they only wanted to brainwash him with more subtler methods. Instead, he diverted the talk with Dr. Kang to other topics such as how he could work for an organization that had harmed innocent people and didn’t care to sweep the issues under the rug. Often, that would only lead to Dr. Kang replying with more questions like ‘why do you think that was’ or ‘how does that make you feel.’ Having a conversation with that man was impossible.

So, now that Dr. Kang was in front of him, Yixing was readying himself for another one of his daily therapeutic sessions in which they got nowhere.

“Yixing, please put on your shoes and follow me,” Dr. Kang said, motioning him to step out of the room. And that made Yixing raise an eyebrow because they would usually talk in here and not on Dr. Kang’s office, besides, they had already gone out for a walk this morning. Maybe they were finally considering him apt to reintegrate with the other ‘inmates.’ This place wasn’t technically a prison, but Yixing felt that term was fitting.

Yixing and Dr. Kang left the room and headed towards the elevators. The rehabilitation facility had four floors and was divided into different wings. In this wing, the second and third floor was reserved for the unreadables. Yixing knew about this because it was one of the few questions Dr. Kang had answered him. Dr. Kang took them to the ground floor, which was used by the crime prevention enforcers staying here. Of course, those idiots would be right under them just in case someone like Yixing tried to escape. There weren’t many of those crime prevention enforcers, though, maybe around fifteen people, Yixing had counted. He and Dr. Kang separated when the therapist told him to step into an unknown room. Yixing thought he had come to be questioned and this would be an interrogation place or something of the sort. He was surprised when he saw it was a lounge with comfortable looking chairs, good lighting, books, fresh flowers, and anything else that made the lounge welcoming and not creepy. It seemed more like the place people would hang out during their breaks. Then, his eyes noticed a man was standing near the panel windows with his back facing him.

Yixing cleared his throat to mark his presence. When the mysterious man swung around, and they saw each other, he let out a gasp. He couldn’t believe his eyes while he stared at the person in front of him with puzzlement. “Jongin!” he called.

Jongin smiled at him, the first smile in ages Yixing didn’t mind returning. “Hi Yixing.”

Considering how badly things had ended between them, Yixing was out of place for doing this, but he was thrilled to see a familiar face that he mindlessly walked forward and hugged an old friend. He had always felt sorry that Jongin’s feelings for him had come in the way of their friendship. Yixing had truly valued him as a friend. If only he hadn’t fallen for the wrong person… Then maybe he wouldn’t even be in this situation.

When he and Jongin ended their hug, Yixing said, “Oh, god, you don’t know how happy I am to see you. But what in the world are you doing here?” Yixing remembered him working at the Security Department, but he had never expected him to come.

“I’m here to see you, Yixing. We have a lot to talk about.”

But Jongin didn’t ask him to take a seat. Instead, he opened the glass doors that led to the patio outside. These ‘officers’ surely had luxuries while ‘preventing’ crimes. Yixing hadn’t brought his jacket, but Jongin lent him his. Jongin led the way while they headed to the yard and conversed. First, they talked about everything Yixing remembered and what had happened to him. Then, it was Jongin’s turn to explain himself.

Apparently, Jongin worked with unreadables at the Security Department. He was in charge of training and mentoring them to go out on duty with crime prevention enforces. When a crime prevention enforcer would go on a hunt to eradicate a criminal or hunt an unknown unreadable, they would take an unreadable with them. To prevent that a crime prevention enforcer’s own crime coefficient rose, they would seldom shoot fire to kill a criminal, and would mostly handle those guns that shot darts with amnesia-inducive sedatives. The rule had been established once the unreadables were found out to be useful, given that killing a human being could add up stress to someone, even an enforcer. So, unreadables were the ones who did the dirty job, and that was the main reason the division Jongin worked at was training them. Of all the current and known 42 unreadables, 23 were on duty. But because preventing crime tended to be useful thanks to the Emotion Watches, most of the time people at the Security Department were hunting after potential criminals, the ones that ended up in rehabilitation facilities, not people that had already committed the crimes. Still, chasing criminals happened every so often. For example, last year, during a mission involving a stabbing murderer on the run, Jongin had gotten injured while protecting the unreadable he was currently training. The unreadable had missed the shot, and the criminal had taken the chance to harm them, but Jongin got in the way. Fortunately, Jongin and the unreadable had both made it alive when back-up arrived, and the injury could be treated. The heroic action had made Jongin gain points with his higher-ups. At the beginning of the year, the head of the unreadables’ division had retired, and Jongin was assigned to become the new boss, the youngest one ever. Now that Jongin had full autonomy over his decisions and his choices at the division, usually without having to report to someone, he could come to see Yixing today without needing a valid reason.

Hearing about Jongin’s job, Yixing had mixed feelings. Sure, the unreadables had limited freedom, better than this hellhole, but the Security Department was using them as human shields. At least Jongin seemed to care about them and took care of his proteges. And Yixing knew he was just doing his job and what he had been assigned for. Yixing couldn’t hate Jongin for that, the ones deserving of that feeling were the people that had created this whole mess.

“So, you knew I was an unreadable this whole time,” Yixing said. If Jongin was so good at what he did, he must have known.

Jongin nodded. “Yes.”

“But you didn’t turn me in?”

“I… Couldn’t.”

Yixing smiled. “Thank you, Jongin. You’re one of the few kindest people I’ve met.”

Jongin looked away, staring at the rehabilitation facility on the distance. Their walk had taken them near a garden that had a frozen water fountain, which reminded Yixing of the night they had met. Yixing hadn’t walked this far from the building before, they wouldn’t let him go more than a few meters away. From this view, he could see that the fence surrounding the place was actually made of tall hedges that were currently covered in snow. Weren’t they afraid people could easily escape through it? Then again, nobody had attempted to do so when he had observed from the window in his room. The idea of him doing just that crossed his mind, but he wouldn’t want to put Jongin in an awkward position.

“Do you have any idea who did it? Kidnapped me and turned me in?”

“No,” Jongin said. His gaze fell back on Yixing. “You had been reported missing for days, people were looking for you. But then, a crime prevention enforcer found you trying to rob a man in a small town on the streets. He shot you a sedative and reported your unreadable status to the Security Department because your watch hadn’t changed colors during the attempted assault.”

“That’s a lie,” Yixing scoffed, “I didn’t do anything, I was locked in with that Dae and those guards!” He might not remember how he ended here, but Yixing was confident he hadn’t tried to harm someone. “I’m sure they’re the ones behind it.”

“Yes, I feel that too. But that was the official report. You saying someone held you captive isn’t believable, it would be your words against an enforcer who ‘saw’ you attempting a crime. Unfortunately, detective work isn’t part of my division so I cannot order a further investigation.”

Of course, Jongin couldn’t. Of course, his kidnappers would have made false reports to lock him in. “Then what? Am I going to stay here forever? Grow old and die?”

“As of now, they’re still evaluating you. The process usually lasts a couple of months because they want to see whether you’ll be a good asset to the Security Department if you have the right mind and attitude to deal with the job. If your therapist clears you, then you’ll be asked if you want to help us out in exchange for limited freedom.”

“And if I refuse?”

In case of denial, Yixing would stay locked in forever, Jongin explained. This rehabilitation facility specialized in helping potential criminals recover, but there were also unreadables who hadn’t been willing to help at the Security Department and the ones that have gone ballistic to the point they had to continually be medicated with emotion suppressants.

“Emotion suppressants?” Yixing asked.

“Pills that numb your emotions. They make you feel nothing. In a way, you’re less susceptible to act upon hurting yourself or others. And if you show resistance, then it makes you docile. Although, of course, it can backfire, that’s why you have a paralyzer on your ankle.”

Well, that explained why Yixing hadn’t felt anything at that time. This place would surely do everything to keep him here. He let out a frustrated groan while he stared at the black ankle bracelet.

“I recommend you not to get violent or defiant. I saw they already administrated you one dose. Yixing, don’t let them drug you continuously or you’ll lose the ability to feel. People say it’s forever, but I once managed to help someone get their emotions back after years, it’s doable. But it’s better if you don’t lose them in the first place.”

Wouldn’t it be better if he felt absolutely nothing? He would spend the rest of his life locked in here because there was no way in hell Yixing would help those rats at the Security Department. He would rather rot himself in here than participating on their dirty business.

Jongin looked around the garden as if making sure nobody was spying on them, but it was lunchtime so nobody would be out right now. “I came here to tell you I’m gonna help you, Yixing. I, no, we will take you out. But for that, you’ll need to have all your emotions in place,” he whispered.

Yixing’s eyes widened while he heard Jongin explain the real reason for his visit. After learning of what had happened to Yixing, Jongin knew he couldn’t let him stay locked in. Even if it meant going against his work, his bosses, the government, Jongin believed Yixing deserved to be free and be with his family. Jongin wasn’t alone on this, though, because when Huang Zitao, yes that same lying Tao, had learned of his plans, he wanted to help Jongin, not only him, Yifan too. Their rescuing team also had another person involved, but for their safety, they wanted to remain anonymous. Yixing didn’t know why he felt somewhat disappointed when he asked if that unknown person was Junmyeon and Jongin said no. Why had he been expecting Junmyeon would even care for him? Of course, Junmyeon wouldn’t. Besides, Yixing hadn’t forgiven him yet. At least Tao’s guilt was contributing to something good.

For days, Jongin and the others had planned the perfect escape route. Jongin thoroughly explained every detail of the operation to him. For the plan to go smoothly, Yixing’s most important task would be to get ‘sick’ and end up in the hospital wing, which was located on the east side of the building, the opposite end where unreadables and crime prevention enforcers stayed at.

When everything was said, Jongin took out something from his pocket. “This,” he said, holding up a pink pill, “Is a detoxifying pill. Unlike the ones that are usually available for public consumption, Wu Yifan said these ones have a strong active substance. They are specialized to help in the treatment of overdoses, but relevant for us is that they can cause side effects like headaches, fevers, or nausea. It’s nothing life-threatening, but it will make you fall ‘sick.’”

“Jongin, are you sure this will work?” Yixing asked, his voice wavering at the end. He was glad that he would get the chance to get out of here, but what if something went wrong? Not only would he continue in isolation, but all of them would end up in trouble. As much as he was angry with Tao, he didn’t want him or Yifan to be punished, neither Jongin. Yixing didn’t want anyone else to be hurt either. “What about the people in the hospital? Won’t cutting the electricity affect them?”

“We’ve checked, and no important procedure will take place, unless someone falls in very sick, which I doubt. And it’ll only be around twenty minutes, but none of the patients need a machine to survive, most of them are suffering influenzas and colds. We’ve spent days coming up with the perfect plan, Yixing, to the point it’s almost failproof. Believe me, we will succeed.” Jongin looked at him straight in the eye. “So, are you in?”

Yixing was still unsure, but this was a chance for freedom, and if he rejected it, then he’ll spend the rest of his life wondering what could have been. Therefore, Yixing nodded and took the pill Jongin was handing him before hiding it inside his shoe.

While reviewing some details of the escape Yixing wanted to understand better, they made their way back to the facility. Before stepping inside the crime prevention enforcers’ resting lounge, Jongin whispered, “Remember, Saturday.”

It felt as if his heart would jump out any minute now and walk away on its own, leaving him there alone and anxious. On the outside, Yixing was resting on a hospital bed, reading a book, one of the few books the System had allowed him to read. The nurse had said he should be resting, but after hearing Yixing’s endless nagging, she gave in, thankfully. The book had a purpose in the plan, but he had thought he could also use it as a distraction from his inner worries. At this point, it was mostly decor to his scene for the cameras. The nervousness wouldn’t leave him, and he tried his best to avoid looking at the clock every time.

After dinner had ended, Yixing had gone to the bathroom. That was the only place in the room that had no cameras so he could take the pill secretly without leaving any proof. At that moment he was also hesitating and doubting how smart this escape plan would be. In the end, Yixing put aside the pessimistic thoughts and chose to swallow the pill because staying there forever would only drive him to insanity. For around an hour he had laid on his bed reading the same book when the side effects finally struck. Yixing had begun feeling sick, feverish and nauseating, all at the same time. He had waited a while before pressing the button on the monitor asking for help. When the nurse came for his rescue, she found him crouched near the toilet seat vomiting, sweating and shaking, which contributed to the veracity of his ‘illness.’ She took him to the hospital wing immediately. One of the doctors examined him, and after a thorough check-up, the doctor believed Yixing had food poisoning. To be entirely sure of the diagnosis, the doctor ordered a blood test. But the lab technician had to leave due to a personal emergency, and the replacement from the city hadn’t arrived yet. In the meantime, Yixing was going to stay the night in the hospital and be put on an IV for fluids replacement.

The hours passed, and Yixing had gotten relatively better, just like Jongin had said he would, but perhaps the fluids were also helping his fast recovery. He’ll have enough strength to go down the stairs to the ground floor.

Minutes before midnight, the door opened, and Huang Zitao stepped inside the room.

Tao had arrived on Thursday, two days after Jongin’s visit. Yixing had seen Tao that same day because he was the crime prevention enforcer that followed him and Dr. Kang during their early morning walks. Because Yixing was an unreadable, he must have at least a couple of crime prevention enforcers guarding the hospital floor he was staying at. Today, Tao had taken the late-night shift and was one of them, that was why he was here. He needed to be here because the stunt they were about to pull would help to divert attention from Tao supposedly helping Yixing escape.

Since Tao and Yixing had been friends before, Tao coming to check on him wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. They had actually talked privately before, whenever they had gotten the chance. Of course, their communication was all part of the plan, not because they had suddenly become best friends again. There was this lingering awkwardness between them, mostly because Yixing was still somewhat mad at him. But now that Tao was here and would actually help him get out, perhaps the anger would dissipate completely. Tao was basically risking his whole life to take him out.

“Hey, Xing,” Tao said. He grabbed one of the chairs next to the wall and pulled it beside Yixing’s bed.

“Tao.”

“How are you feeling?” Tao asked, his voice filled with concern.

They needed to hold this chit-chat for a while had Jongin instructed. Believing nobody was watching them, they talked like the old friends they had once been, about how Yixing was feeling and what was going on in the outside world. Their conversations were being recorded, so they had to talk like that. As it was supposed to go, Yixing acted as if he was glad to have a friend here, keeping him company and supporting him.

Until Tao’s signal came and Yixing glanced at the clock which made his heart race a mile again. He grabbed his book again. Tao leaned into Yixing’s bed as if trying to comfort him. From this angle, the gun that was resting inside Tao’s uniform jacket became visible. In a swift movement, Yixing hit Tao on the head with the book while his other hand pulled out the gun and threatened Tao with it.

“Sorry,” Yixing said. No less than a few seconds later, everything went dark. That was the next signal. Yixing had around twenty minutes to get out of here.

“Okay, the electricity has been cut off. We gotta act now,” Tao said. Yixing heard him standing up from the chair. Tao lightened the room using the flashlight in his phone. “I’ll be right back,” Tao said before bolting out. Thankfully, none of the doors in the hospital rooms were electric, and they could open them without problems.

The second part of the plan involved Tao putting into sleep all the crime prevention enforcers guarding the hospital corridors. Every patient from the second floor had been transferred to the third one, given that Yixing was still an unreadable without clearance, he could be dangerous to others. While on the first floor it was mostly used for the medical staff, but since it was the night and not all of them were on call, Tao wouldn’t have to take down a lot of people. Sadly, everyone that could become a potential witness had to be sedated and lose their memories, the team couldn’t risk anyone seeing them here. With the security cameras being out of function, at least there wouldn’t be any records of Tao’s actions.

Jongin had reassured Yixing that Tao was one of the best and quickest enforcers, with extraordinary precision, the task wouldn’t be hard for him. But with each passing second Yixing heard the clock tick, he couldn’t help feeling anxious. What if Tao didn’t make it back on time and they were found out? What if the lights returned sooner than expected? What if people would wake up earlier and came to see what was going on? Everything could be ruined easily.

Trying to distract himself from negative thoughts, Yixing revised the subsequent part of the plan. He was staying in room 205. He had to swing to the right and run until the end of the hallway where there would be a door leading to the stairs. Then, Yixing would go down to the ground floor walk to the left, then swing to the right and go straight ahead until he reached an exit, where Yifan would be waiting for him.

Yixing’s whole body jumped when the door flew open. His heart was in his mouth momentarily but thank heavens that the flashlight revealed it was Tao who had walked inside. Tao hurried to search in the cabinets after something, then he went to sit next to Yixing’s bed again and asked him to hold up the phone’s flashlight.

“Yifan said this will hurt like hell,” Tao said. He was preparing to disconnect the IV needle from Yixing’s hand. “Ready?”

“Yes,” Yixing said. He grunted in pain the moment Tao in a swift motion removed the needle from his vein. But he couldn’t wince in ache for too long. As soon as Tao had taped a gauze to his hand, he put a pocket clock around Yixing’s neck. Tao handed him his gun along with a small artifact that had an antenna sticking out. The pocket clock, Jongin had said, contained a spy camera that would help them see Tao in action and Yixing’s position. While the artifact with the antenna must be one of the two-way radios the team was using to communicate because even cell phone services would be deactivated.

“All the halls have been cleared. Yixing, run as a fast as you can to the exit, you have around ten minutes. And now, shoot me in the arm.”

Yixing gulped. He would have wanted to say more to Tao, however, given the circumstances and time constraints all he could voice out was, “Thank you, Tao.”

Tao smiled at him before nodding. Obviously, Tao won’t remember any of this tomorrow, but Yixing would make sure to tell Yifan how thankful he was that they had done this for him. Without further ado, Yixing’s trembling hand shot fire, thankfully on the right place. Seconds after the dart had landed on Tao’s left arm, he fell to the floor in a deep sleep. Yixing got up from the hospital bed, he didn’t have any shoes, so he left the room barefoot. It was a good thing he had convinced the nurse to let him use his sweatpants and could put the gun in his pocket. In his right hand, he lighted the way with Tao’s phone, while his left hand held the two-way radio. Obviously, he had to take the phone with him if he wanted to make it seem as if he had betrayed Tao, but the phone also helped him keep track of time. He ran through the halls trying to ignore the fact some people were lying unconsciously on the floor. Nobody was dead, but the eeriness of the situation was unavoidable, especially with how his feet pounded against the floor and his rapid breathing were the only audible sounds. The shaking light source guiding his way also contributed to the feeling.

“Yixing, are you there?” Yifan’s voice spoke through the radio device.

He pressed down the green button and spoke, “Yes, I just left the stairs.”

Down in the first floor, Jongin said he had to go left before turning right. If he were in the correct place, he’d see some signs pointing to the exit. Yixing held the phone to look above him, and yes, he saw a red sign with an arrow and next to it was written ‘exit.’ Yixing had come to the correct hallway, he kept running as if his life depended on it. This was it. There were only a few meters left separating him from freedom. The exit sign above two doors could be seen. Until a needle pierced its way through the flesh of his upper shoulder. Damn it, he cursed inward. Someone had shot him an amnesia-inducing dart again. His eyes shut down just as he fell to the floor.

Junmyeon felt happy which was odd considering he was stuck in a car trunk, but he felt that way because he was holding a small tablet where he could see Yixing talking to Tao. If only he could hear his voice. Still, it had been such a long time since he had seen Yixing. His lips had automatically formed a smile while his heart fluttered. But Junmyeon also felt guilty and worried because Yixing was in this situation because of him. Even so, Junmyeon wasn’t going to dwell too much on those feelings, he needed to have a clear mind for the moment he’ll go into action.

It had taken them a few days to meet in secret to plan the perfect escape, or they hoped it’d be perfect. Tao had found the way to divert his father’s attention from him. He had decided to become a substitute crime prevention enforcer at rehabilitation facilities. Usually, being on duty in those places meant he was there to guard and do nothing more, which was why many enforcers didn’t like the idea. So, him volunteering to help in that division was highly welcomed by the people in charge. Tao’s father hadn’t been pleased with the idea at first, but after finding out that it was Tao who had faked the results of Yixing’s obligatory medical check-up by the Migration Office, the man had first destroyed the incriminating evidence and then accepted it was better for Tao to leave the headquarters and lay low for a while. And so, it was possible for Tao to fill in for crime prevention enforcers during the weekends or wherever a rehabilitation facility needed him. Coincidentally on his second shift, Tao had been relocated to the same place as Yixing. Jongin had thought that it would be much better if Tao were the one in charge of this part, not only because of how fast and skilled he was at shooting, but because it would give Tao a solid alibi. If Yixing shot him to sleep, people wouldn’t suspect he was involved with the escape.

Meanwhile, Yifan had obtained the medication that would make Yixing fall sick. Junmyeon had been worried about this part, but at least from what he saw on the screen, Yixing didn’t look that ill. Yifan’s part of the escape was to drive inside the rehabilitation facility while smuggling Junmyeon. The real lab technician had been called to the city because of a fake medical emergency, also done by Yifan. Then, when it was close to midnight, Yifan would arrive and pretend to be the replacement lab technician. Baekhyun’s hacker skills contributed a lot to the team, and with his help, they could change the information on Yifan’s medical ID and pass him as a lab technician under a different name. So, the moment Yifan would put the medical ID against the identity sensor, the gates would open without problems. Yifan wouldn’t need to go inside the hospital, though, because they had timed everything perfectly so when Yifan arrived at the parking lot the lights would go off. Junmyeon would know that the operation was a success if Yifan opened the car trunk.

Fortunately, the moment the car stopped, and everything went black on the tablet’s screen, it didn’t take a few seconds until Yifan let him out.

Junmyeon’s part of the plan was just as also crucial. Hidden in the trunk of Yifan’s car, he could go inside without being seen, just in case they encountered someone outside that could risk their plans. The day before, Jongin had given him equipment from the Security Department: a safety suit, Jongin’s own gun, a helmet that had a flashlight and would prevent from him shedding any single strand of hairs, along with goggles that had night and thermal vision. Junmyeon had practice archery during his childhood. His skills were nowhere near as good as Tao’s, but he was a far better shooter than Yifan, which was one of the reasons he was in charge of this part. Junmyeon and Tao had also practiced shooting, days before the escape. So, he at least was confident about how to use the gun.

“Good luck,” Yifan said after releasing him from the trunk.

Junmyeon nodded before making his way inside the hospital. While Tao took care of chasing the crime prevention enforcers, Junmyeon would help him with the medical staff downstairs. Unlike Tao who for obvious reasons couldn’t have this modern equipment, Junmyeon had an advantage. The night and thermal vision allowed him to see in which rooms the staff was at. There were around ten people spread on the areas Yixing would be passing by. Surreptitiously, one by one Junmyeon managed to put them to sleep. Every time he had to quickly get a closer look at the individuals and see if he had taken down the paramedics. In the coffee room, he hit the jackpot and made sure to grab their keys.

“I’ve cleared the area,” Junmyeon said. The thermal goggles revealed nobody was standing nearby, everyone was lying on the floor.

“Good job, I’m after the last one,” Tao said back through the two-way radio.

Junmyeon ran back to the exit where he immediately searched after the correct ambulance. Once he found it, he took the duffel bag Yifan’s was handing him and jumped into the driver’s seat to start the motor. The third part of the plan involved driving far away from here as fast as they could. Because the gates would be locked and couldn’t open without electricity, he would have to drive the ambulance through the fence. It was a good thing that to prevent the rehabilitation facilities from having a ‘menacing’ look, Jongin and Tao had said the fences were made of tall hedges. That meant he could easily destroy them and make an opening for Yifan and Yixing to drive trough. Then, he’ll drive the ambulance until it was time to destroy it while Yifan would drive Yixing to the meeting spot with Jongin.

Everything seemed to be going perfectly when Junmyeon heard Yixing’s voice confirming to Yifan that he was on his way. Nervously, he held the steering wheels while looking at his ambulance mirror and hopefully catching the moment Yixing ran to meet with Yifan. But that wasn’t coming, and Junmyeon was starting to freaking out.

“Yixing? Yixing?” Yifan called through the two-way radio.

“What’s going on?” Jongin asked immediately.

“I think Yixing was caught,” Yifan answered, “The camera suddenly went dark, but I’m pretty sure he fell on the floor.”

Junmyeon let out a curse to himself. One of the others crime prevention enforcers must have woken up and made it from the west wing far earlier than any of them had expected. While he could hear the others arguing and trying to come up with a solution, Junmyeon bolted out of the ambulance and ran back to the hospital’s doors, ignoring Yifan shouting his name. He had around five minutes left.

Standing in front of the doors, the thermal vision showed that somebody was dragging a body across the floor. They were some meters away from him, luckily, he could adjust the shooting range and velocity of the gun, so it would reach the person without problems. He would only get one chance to fix this, or the enforcer would take him down instead. Junmyeon gulped. Then, he held up his gun, kicked the doors open, aimed at the person who turned their heads to see him and shot. No less than a few seconds later, the person fell to the floor.

Junmyeon took off the googles and activated the flashlight on his helmet, all the while he ran to meet the two bodies lying in front of him. Luckily, he had aimed right and shot the crime prevention enforcer on the leg. As expected, Yixing was also passed out. On the two-way radio, the others were wondering what the hell he was doing. He couldn’t lose any seconds, though, and ignored their calls while he quickly pushed aside the crime prevention enforcer from Yixing. Junmyeon took back Tao’s phone, the two-way radio, and the gun that the crime prevention enforcer had taken from Yixing, he put everything on his own pockets. He sure hoped that the weapon the crime prevention enforcer was holding didn’t belong to Tao. At last, he held Yixing in his arms, bridal style, before running back outside. They had only three minutes left now, Baekhyun said.

“Thank god, you made it,” Yifan asked when he saw him coming out.

He nodded while he and Yifan ran to the car. Yifan opened the door for him, and Junmyeon put Yixing on the passenger seat. He took a special knife from one of his many pockets and made sure to carefully cut open the ankle bracelet. He succeeded and didn’t cut Yixing on the ankle.

“I’ll take the ambulance, you drive him back,” Yifan said when Junmyeon was done.

Junmyeon didn’t have time to protest. The clock was ticking, and they had to act quickly. So, he nodded and gave Yifan the bracelet, Tao’s phone and gun. They both hurried to get inside the vehicles. As soon as Yifan took off, he followed him. Junmyeon was shaking, terribly shaking, while he drove off, and it wasn’t because of how fast they were going. Even after he saw Yifan driving through the fence, making a big hole that allowed him to pass and they were driving further and further away from the rehabilitation facility, none of his nervousness went away.

“Lights are back at the facility,” Baekhyun reported not even minutes later.

“Updates on your positions,” Jongin asked.

“There was a last-minute change,” Yifan said. “I’m driving the ambulance now. Nobody has been on sight so far. In four kilometers we’re approaching the separation point.”

“Junmyeon?”

Doing his best to drive with one hand, Junmyeon took out the two-way radio from his pocket. “Yes, I’m here. I have Yixing with me.”

“Good. Be sure to tell us any updates.”

With that said, another problematic task had begun. It was vital that they went fast and didn’t let themselves get caught or seen by anyone. Yixing’s well-being and happiness were in his heart, and that motivated Junmyeon to do his best.

When the separation point came, Yifan continued driving south while Junmyeon headed east. Since Jongin was an enthusiast of flying, his family had indulged on the hobby growing up. Thus, Jongin’s family had their own private heliport near the eastern coast to their disposal. Using one of their helicopters would be less suspicious than Junmyeon suggesting he could provide a brand new one. That action would have linked Junmyeon to the escape, while Jongin flying a helicopter was something he frequently did whenever time permitted his absence from work. So, that was where Junmyeon and Yixing were going.

Yifan and Junmyeon continued driving while reporting on the situation. Half an hour after leaving the facility’s grounds, Jongin said that the alarm about Yixing missing went off. That would give them at least two hours before back-up from the headquarters at the Security Department arrived. And even if crime prevention enforcers from the nearest cities would be called to monitor the possible escape routes, they wouldn’t arrive on time either. So far neither Yifan nor Junmyeon had been followed by anyone. Baekhyun had messaged that he had successfully replaced the footage of Yifan’s car arriving at the rehabilitation facility, along with deleting on the register that the gates had been opened by him. He had also erased the false information on Yifan’s medical ID and turned it back to normal. They couldn’t leave behind any trace of Yifan being there tonight.

When they had been driving for around one hour, according to the GPS Junmyeon was about forty minutes away from arriving at the meeting spot with Jongin. Just then Yifan communicated that he would begin the disposal of the ambulance now. This part of the plan involved abandoning the ambulance in the middle of the road, leave the motor on, make it catch fire, and put some weight on the pedal to hit the gas until the vehicle would randomly crash on the trees. The spot hadn’t been randomly chosen. Only a few meters away in the woods was a hiking trail, a popular route even in the winters due to the beautiful scenery. It was a route that started at the nearest town and went back to it. So, the path was kept clean even in the winter. However, from the location of the ambulance crash, it was seven kilometers away from town, which meant that Junmyeon would have supposed to walk that far, but it was Yifan task now, and he’ll have to do it fast. The hiking trail was the perfect way to divert any suspicion because there would be other footprints on the snow. That was what they had researched, though, there weren’t any guarantees that today someone had been there. But when Yifan communicated the operation was successful and that it seemed people had been there earlier today, they all felt relieved. Junmyeon had a hunch of why Yifan chose to trade places, and he’ll make sure to thank him for it later.

He couldn’t tell if it were because they had thought of every single detail, because of their resources or because of some deity that had been on their sides, but he was damn happy when he arrived later at the heliport without being chased or caught. Junmyeon also thought his Emotion Watch would give him away, but despite the worry, it had remained mostly white. He was back at controlling his emotions. His heart no longer felt as heavy as before, but of course, he was still nervous about the final part. But Baekhyun had said he’ll do his best to keep the location of the helicopter hidden from any radars.

Junmyeon stopped the car near the helipad, where Jongin was standing and reporting to the others probably that Junmyeon had made it on time.

After unbuckling his seat, he glanced at the sleeping man on the passenger seat. A rueful smile settled on his lips. Time was a luxury at this point so Junmyeon couldn’t say goodbye for too long. He hadn’t even expected he’ll be able to say anything to Yixing at all tonight. But now that the opportunity was here, he caressed Yixing’s hair, pushing it away. “I’m sorry. Please be happy now,” he said before quickly planting a kiss on Yixing’s forehead.

He took Yixing out of the car and carried him towards the helipad. When Yixing was seated on the helicopter, Jongin made sure of covering him with a blanket before buckling him.

“Are you still sure about it?” Jongin said after closing the door to Yixing’s seat.

The ‘it’ Jongin meant was Junmyeon’s only condition for Jongin to join the team: Jongin couldn’t tell Yixing that Junmyeon had been involved in the plan. If Jongin managed to keep the secret, then he was in. When asked why Junmyeon didn’t answer but asked Jongin again if he accepted the condition, which Jongin did. The reason was of course that Junmyeon didn’t want Yixing to feel he owed him something, he didn’t want to burden Yixing and somehow make it seem as if Yixing was forced to forgive him because of everything Junmyeon had done. Yixing was better off not knowing his involvement. Junmyeon only wanted Yixing to be happy from now on.

“Positive.”

“As you wish,” Jongin said.

With nothing left to do or say, Jongin jumped into the other seat while Junmyeon went down from the helipad. The loud sound of the blades was irritating his eardrums, but he still stayed close and watched as the helicopter took off and was soon high up in the sky, the noise vanishing into nothing. It would take them around ninety minutes to arrive at the western coast of a country with no System, no unreadables, no secrets, and no Yixing locked in. After that Yixing would live under a new identity and he could rebuild his life accompanied by his parents. Junmyeon smiled one last time and brushed away the droplets that had rolled down his cheeks.

 After taking out the items needed to make the ambulance catch flames, Yifan had put back the duffel bag on the back seat, thankfully. Yifan had probably done it when Junmyeon had gone back for Yixing. Junmyeon had also needed to pack some civilians clothes because he’d need to blend in when he arrived at that town. The plan might have changed, but he couldn’t arrive back home in what he was wearing. He drove the car towards one of the hangars where Jongin had said he had to leave every piece of equipment they had used tonight. After changing into his own clothes and putting everything inside the car, he walked towards the parking lot. Jongin had left there another vehicle that would be used for the drive back home. 

It felt as if a part of his heart has left tonight too. Junmyeon let out a sigh while he stared at the starry sky. There was a long road ahead of him.

And this, my good folks, marks the end of my lame attempt at writing "sci-fi" and "action" -w- It went terribly, but I got to enjoy listening to the Aldnoah Zero OST while writing this and it made the experience pretty cool (and bearable). AcyOrt came in just the right moments to save my inspiration. Anyway, if my schedule goes as planned, I’ll see you all next week with the 2 final chapters! (otherwise the second-to-last chapter only).