It was a lot of information to process, so Junmyeon and Kyungsoo were very quiet when they followed Kyu to dinner. Almost everyone took it together, except for the guards who were still outside and Kyu who brought them the dinner. Some were teens but most of them were in their early twenties. 6 of them were like Junmyeon and Kyungsoo, ordinary people. They had like the two helped someone escape or were with them for reasons they liked to keep a secret. The dinner was rather sparse and consisted of rice and something that resembled some sort of odd vegetable. After dinner, they cleaned up together and a group of 3 started doing the dishes in an improvised kitchen.

Kyu came back inside carrying two large trays with empty bowls and cups. “What are they doing?” Junmyeon asked when 5 of the yellow eyed people were getting on the floor. “They are praying”, Kyu said. “Praying?” Junmyeon asked and reached out his hand. “Can I help you?” He took one of the trays and helped carrying it to the kitchen.
“Who believes in God these days?” he murmured. Kyu put the tray down on a wooden table. “They are all free here to practice their religion if they have one. Others who do not believe or have another religion are not allowed to attack the others or question the way they practice their religion”, Kyu said. Junmyeon watched the 5 people praying from where they were standing. “That’s nice. I wished more people could think like that”, he murmured. Kyu looked at him and her eyes narrowed shortly. “Do you want to take a walk outside? It is cool now”, she said. Junmyeon looked at her in surprise. “I – uh, yes”, he said and followed her outside.

 It was still warm but the sun had already set and the temperature was dropping quickly. They walked to the back of the large main building and by then it was already completely dark. “For being so allegedly violent and savage, you lead a more peaceful life than most villages and towns do”, Junmyeon said. Kyu was looking up into the sky and Junmyeon followed her eyes. “You can see the stars here like nowhere else”, Kyu said. And she was right, the sky was sparkling with stars glowing against the velvet black blue. “We’re not all like that. Some here have managed to go through that rigorous training at those camps. It is good to have them here as protection for those who cannot and do not want to fight. They have helped me rescue many”, Kyu said. “But it is true that many have deficits that you ordinary humans don’t have. All I can do, is teach them tolerance and acceptance. There is no room for feelings like friendship or love. They would not understand something like that. Most of them have been prosecuted and hurt since they were born, they cannot be so vulnerable and put this much trust in someone else”, Kyu said.

“But you are all here. You are standing together, how else does this work but through trust?” Junmyeon asked.
“Rational thinking, logic and strategy”, Kyu said and shrugged. “It is the safest to stay here and help each other than to roam the desert alone”, Kyu said.
“I think you’re underestimating your fellow comrades. I am sure that many stay and help out because they are grateful to you and what you’ve done for them. I think they would side with you and would fight with you”, Junmyeon said. Kyu looked at him surprised.
“It’s you who cannot trust anyone, right?” Junmyeon said. Kyu looked away. “I think many stay out of fear, too. I am not that great saviour you maybe think I am”, Kyu said. “What do you mean?” Junmyeon asked. But Kyu did not answer, she led them back into the building. When they came inside Kyungsoo was helping two other yellow eyed boys to build a new tent out of cloths. “This will be yours”, Kyu said. “Thank you”, Junmyeon said. Kyu just nodded and walked off.

“How come Kyu knows so much?” Junmyeon asked. One of the boys turned around, he was one of the youngest. “Because she was there”, he started.
“Shush, Kenta”, the other boy interrupted him harshly. “What do you mean, she was there?” Kyungsoo asked ignoring the other boy. “If she did not tell you herself then it’s none of your business”, the other boy however said and shoved Kenta away. They sat inside the tent and Jongin who was sitting on the floor, wrapped in a blanket stared straight ahead, his eyes focused on something no one could see. “She was there”, Jongin repeated then. Kyungsoo who was just creating beds for them with Junmyeon turned around.
“What?” he asked. “What do you mean with she was there?” Junmyeon asked too. Jongin pulled his legs up to his chest. “She was there. She watched us from the other side”, Jongin said and pointed at something. “She was with Jian”, Jongin said quietly. “She was his personal guard. She was always with Jian”, Jongin whispered as if he was scared someone would hear them. He was different since they had arrived here. “Who is Jian?” Kyungsoo asked. “He made sure you did not go. His camp, it was his camp. He always said you cannot go”, Jongin said and his voice suddenly got louder and he buried his head between his knees and he started trembling very hard. “Okay, okay. It’s alright”, Kyungsoo said and dropped to his knees and put his arms around Jongin.

It took an hour to calm down Jongin and when he had fallen asleep, Junmyeon and Kyungsoo left the tent and looked for a quiet corner in the hall where no one would eavesdrop on them. “So he was in one of those camps and whatever they did there was so traumatising that it sent him into this state as soon as he saw Kyu again”, Junmyeon said. Kyungsoo had his arms crossed. “But isn’t it weird? Kyu is one of them, she has yellow eyes but it sounds like she was working for the people who did all those horrible things to her own kind!” Kyungsoo said.
“Yeah”, Junmyeon murmured and bit his lip. He did not know why but he did not tell Kyungsoo that Kyu had hinted that she was not the great saviour. “But something must have happened. She suddenly started freeing people from those camps and created this safe shelter here”, Kyungsoo continued.
“Another thing, if they are looking for them all over the place - especially since they probably know that Kyu betrayed them and freed several of them - they must be after them. How come they have not been found yet?” Junmyeon said. “I guess that’s why they’ve got those guards on the watch”, Kyungsoo said. “And we roamed the desert for years and never stumbled across this place. Now that I think about it, it is rather odd that we haven’t. I mean we did drove for quite a while that night, but I went pretty far with my division as well”, Kyungsoo said. “Well, but if we found it, they will too one day”, Junmyeon said.
“Don’t worry, we’re prepared”, a voice said behind Junmyeon and they both flinched. Kyu stood behind them. She was carrying her long wooden stick again.
“We expect everyone who stays here to contribute. So Kyungsoo, if I may ask for your military knowledge? Training is about to start, maybe you can teach our guards something”, she said. “Follow me”, she said and the two followed Kyu through the hall, she opened a heavy iron door and they took stairs down into the basement.

On the ground floor, they used fire as a light source but only scarcely. The basement was the same, only few scorches illuminated the basement. It was a hall, too, but it was smaller than the one upstairs. There were 6 people, 2 female and 4 male yellow eyed ones. In the far back of the hall Junmyeon could make out targets that had been shot at. But no one was carrying a weapon.

“We’ll practice close combat tonight”, Kyu said and pointed at Kyungsoo. “As we have a special guest tonight, let’s see if we can learn something from him. Or maybe you’ll learn something from us”, she said. Junmyeon stepped back. “I – uh – I’m not”, he stuttered. Kyu laughed. “I know, you can just watch. I brought you so you can be sure we won’t hurt your friend”, she said. Junmyeon blinked puzzled, then a frown appeared on his face.

Within a couple of minutes sweat was dripping down Kyungsoo’s chin and his arms were trembling. They were all incredibly strong and had much more stamina than he had. But they were lacking refined techniques, they did have strategies but they focused on their strength only. Kyungsoo who was smaller in general had learnt early on in his army training how to take advantage of that. Soon he had won every single fight which left all 6 in confused rage. But once Kyungsoo had explained them how he had won, they got interested and let him show them his techniques. An hour later, Kyungsoo had already won their respect. “Well done”, Kyu said and winked at Kyungsoo.
“You can go and take a shower with them upstairs. I’d like a word with Junmyeon”, she said.

Kyungsoo went with the four guys to take a shower, which was outside the big building in one of the small sheds. He got a set of the same brownish clothes the others of the guard wore. “Welcome to the shelter, Kyungsoo”, Minseok said as they stepped into the shower shed. Minseok was the oldest of the group and one of the strongest. “Thanks”, Kyungsoo said and smiled at him. “Were you in one of those camps as well? Sorry – I shouldn’t have asked”, Kyungsoo said and immediately apologised. Minseok shrugged as he got undressed. “Nah, it’s fine. I was in one and I completed my training there. My time was not easy, sure, but not as bad as most people’s. Some are traumatised from what they’ve gone through. I mean some camps are supposed to be really… cruel”, Minseok said and Kyungsoo thought of Jongin. He suddenly had the urge to get back to his tent as quickly as possible. He quickly undressed too. There were no showers like Kyungsoo was used to, they could only spill buckets of water over their heads and scrub their body with soap. Minseok was very muscular despite their meagre food supply, he looked very healthy safe for the many scars and bruises. On his right shoulder there was a tattoo, the number 7. “We’ve got weapon training tomorrow”, he said as he grabbed his towel. “See you there?” Minseok asked. “Sure”, Kyungsoo said and Minseok left the shed.

Kyungsoo quickly finished too and slipped into his new clothes. His hair still wet, he hurried back to his tent. Junmyeon had not yet returned but Jongin was awake and he looked anxious. Jongin’s eyes went up to Kyungsoo’s wet hair and his flushed face. “I was training with the guard”, Kyungsoo explained and sat down in front of Jongin. “Sorry, I did not want to wake you up to tell you. How are you feeling?” Kyungsoo asked. Jongin’s yellow eyes just stared into Kyungsoo’s eyes. “It’s late, we should get some more sleep”, Kyungsoo said then. “You should sleep”, Jongin said. “Uh, what?” Kyungsoo asked. “I don’t need more sleep”, Jongin said. Kyungsoo frowned. “You did not sleep well earlier”, Jongin said matter of fact. Kyungsoo blinked. It was true when he had drifted into a light sleep earlier that day he had seen the soldier he had shot, he had just looked at him, he dreamt of all the blood. Kyungsoo looked away.

“It was an exhausting night, how can anyone sleep well after that?” he said.
“You had a nightmare”, Jongin said bluntly. “Were you watching me sleep?” Kyungsoo snapped. He did not want to think of the soldier again, he had hoped that the good exercise had exhausted him in a way that would let him sleep calmly. He sighed and put his forehead into his hands and when Jongin remained silent, he finally looked up. Jongin was still staring at him. “Sorry, I didn’t want to shout – what?” Kyungsoo apologised but interrupted himself. “It’s dangerous to sleep when no one is there to make sure you won’t be attacked”, Jongin said. “What?” Kyungsoo asked blankly. “If they had come back into the tent and killed you while you were sleeping”, Jongin started and Kyungsoo started laughing. “Why is that funny?” Jongin asked. “What would you have done then?” Kyungsoo asked. “I would have woken you up and I would have fought”, Jongin said plainly. Kyungsoo’s laughter faded away and he just looked at Jongin. He flinched back when Jongin suddenly reached out his hand and touched his face.

He could not understand why Kyungsoo was laughing. It was not funny, Jongin’s nerves had been on edge and he did not trust the people here. What if they came back to murder Kyungsoo and Junmyeon? They were none of them, so it would be only logical to kill them. When Jongin said that he would have woken up Kyungsoo to fight with him, Kyungsoo stopped laughing. And he looked at Jongin again with this look that Jongin could not understand. He had never seen it in anyone’s eyes, it was as if they were radiating a warmth that transcended his eyes and went right into Jongin’s chest and filled him up. But when he reached out to touch Kyungsoo’s face, right beside his eye he could not feel anything unusual that would explain the warmth he felt. Kyungsoo’s face was warm but he had just exercised. Kyungsoo’s skin was soft under his fingertips unlike Jongin’s rough skin. When Jongin’s fingers slowly wandered down Kyungsoo’s cheek, Kyungsoo closed his eyes. Jongin could not understand why and for a second he was worried the warmth would disappear but it did not go away. Kyungsoo opened his eyes again and touched Jongin’s hand with his own.

*

Junmyeon had come back late that night, he seemed to have taken a shower as well because he came in with wet hair. He had gotten grey clothes to wear, but Kyungsoo only glimpsed at him and went back to sleep. They soon found a routine in living at the shelter. Kyungsoo trained everyday with the guard and learnt new things. Shaila, one of the girls, was very skilled in throwing knives and taught Kyungsoo some tricks. Sometimes Kyungsoo taught them new techniques. Junmyeon was usually in their tent writing down everything he knew, but he often went into Kyu’s tent which was full of books and scriptures to look something up. Kyu was out the entire day but in the evenings she sat down with Junmyeon and Kyungsoo in her tent to talk. Junmyeon tried to learn more about the designer children, the mutated children and the studies that had been done on it. But Kyu had only few fragments of it and her own knowledge was not complete either. Kyungsoo wanted to see the maps that Kyu had drawn. She was a very gifted artist and the huge maps she had created incorporated many details. To each village or town that was drawn Kyu had written down the language that was spoken there in the native language and script. With Kyungsoo’s help she had added the town that Junmyeon and Kyungsoo had come from on the map. It seemed they had driven quite the way and must have passed through an area that should have been blocked because of radiation hazard. “I’ve drawn maps of the desert and my exploration tours as well… but I left them all behind”, Kyungsoo said thoughtfully.

Minseok taught them the language that Kyu had spoken in to them on their first day. “It is the language the nearest village here speaks. You need to be able to recognise it”, Minseok said. “If someone comes here or you meet someone who speaks that language you’ll know they’re dangerous”. Kyungsoo frowned. “If we had understood what you said to us that day, would you have killed us on the spot?” he asked. Minseok crossed his hands behind his head. “Yeah”, he said casually.
Jongin joined the group that went out to get food, he taught the three others to hunt. So every now and then there was even fish or meat for dinner.

They had spent a few days at the shelter when Junmyeon entrusted Kyungsoo with what Kyu had told him. “They live together like a group of friends or family”, Kyungsoo had just said as they were washing their clothes in a shed outside. It was late afternoon but still extremely hot. “What?” Kyungsoo asked when he saw Junmyeon’s stony expression. Junmyeon looked over his shoulder but they were alone.

“Kyu told us that there were side effects right? Those mutated children have deficits”, Junmyeon murmured. Kyungsoo frowned. “What do you mean?” Junmyeon wrung out his shirt. “She said they are not capable of feeling anything like love or friendship. I didn’t believe her so I did research and went through all the studies and notes she had taken in her time at the camp. And it is true. Their brain doesn’t produce several hormones that are responsible for those feelings. The firstborns lacked any empathy or human feelings, most were more or less apathetic, some were simply cruel. Apparently there is a difference between every mutated child but still most of them are incapable of those feelings, so the scientists tried to do something about it”, Junmyeon said. Kyungsoo’s frown deepened. “Well no one here is apathetic or cruel. And most of them are rather young, so I guess they belong to the group of children that were born last and had undergone several – wait, they tried to do something about their lack of feelings? What did they do?” Kyungsoo asked.

Junmyeon hung up his clothes. “They injected them hormones to stimulate the brain into producing more of them”, Junmyeon said. “And? Seems to have worked”, Kyungsoo said. Junmyeon squatted down to wash the next piece of clothing. “They only did those experiments with the first 10 mutated children after that they tried to avoid the issue overall by improving their techniques”, Junmyeon said. When Junmyeon didn’t continue Kyungsoo cleared his throat. “What are you trying to say?” Kyungsoo asked. Junmyeon kept washing the clothes, almost a little aggressively.

“He’s trying to say that they did some mean experiments with those 10 firstborn children but every child born after them is hardly an improvement, they’re just about as inhuman as the first 10”, a voice said. Kyungsoo flinched and turned around. Minseok was pulling the long thin cloth that replaced the door to the shed to the side and stepped inside. “Minseok! I – no – I would never call any of you inhumane!” Junmyeon called. Minseok smiled.
“Well it’s true, isn’t it?” he said and sat down on the ground. “The truth is the first 10 born children are just worse than the others. But since they were the first ones they had to be the proof and evidence that their little experiment of designer children having children was successful. So they put a lot of work into it”, Minseok said. “Don’t worry about it, Junmyeon. We are more than inhumane, I’ve been there and seen it”, he said and then his lips pulled up in a very odd smile. “They taught us on how to act human. But that’s exactly what it is, an act. We’re acting human but we aren’t. We’ve been taught how to treat each other, we had to learn it the hard way and for way longer than you. Most things are still incomprehensible to me”, Minseok said. “For example?” Kyungsoo asked. Minseok crossed his legs.

“Touching. I’ve seen quite a few ordinary people constantly needing to touch someone and be close to them. You’re only making yourself vulnerable and I don’t get why you would want to do it”, Minseok said thoughtfully. He leaned backwards onto his hands and looked up to the ceiling. “They injected us something and then made us put our arms around others. It was really strange”. Junmyeon and Kyungsoo exchanged wordlessly glances. Kyungsoo thought of Jongin and how he had touched his face.

“Minseok, do you have anyone you would call a friend?” Kyungsoo asked. Junmyeon kicked Kyungsoo’s foot. Minseok saw it and grinned. “It’s fine, I knew you would ask”, Minseok said and looked up to the ceiling once more. He looked lost in deep thought. “Back at the camp there was someone. He helped me a lot and he was very kind. I called him my friend, he was the only one I’ve ever called my friend”, Minseok said. “What happened to him?” Junmyeon asked quietly. Minseok looked at Junmyeon. “I don’t know, he is still at the camp I suppose”, he said. “Did you run away without him?” Kyungsoo asked. Minseok looked perfectly calm. “Yeah”.

After they had finished washing the clothes and hanging them up they returned to the main building. Today there was no training for Kyungsoo; Junmyeon went to Kyu’s tent to look something up in one of her scripts. Kyungsoo found Jongin sitting in the tent on the ground.

“What are you doing here?” Kyungsoo asked surprised. “I thought you went out hunting”. Jongin shrugged. “Not today. The guards said no one can leave the building today”, Jongin said. Kyungsoo frowned. “No training and no hunting today? Even Kyu is staying inside…”, Kyungsoo murmured. Jongin leaned his chin onto his hands.
“They are close”, he said then. Kyungsoo immediately looked at him. “Who is close?” Jongin looked down. “When we went out to hunt, I saw traces of cars. I knew that they were looking for us”, Jongin said. “But they are getting closer and closer. Kyu said that they’ve been living in this building since almost 2 years now”. Kyungsoo let out a long breath. “2 years is pretty long… but if you’ve seen their traces I just hope they didn’t see yours”, Kyungsoo said. Jongin looked almost insulted. “I don’t leave traces”.

Kyungsoo chuckled and looked at him. “I know but maybe the others did”. Jongin shook his head. “I taught them not to leave any”. Then they sat in silence for a moment. Kyungsoo wondered what would happen if they were actually found. He didn’t even know who ‘they’ were. He was so lost in thought, creating emergency scenarios, thinking of how best to defend the building and just thought of better asking the guard and Kyu about it, when he noticed that Jongin was staring at him. As usual he did not avert his eyes when Kyungsoo looked back at him. They looked at each other and Kyungsoo wished he could know what Jongin was thinking and whether he could even feel anything at all. Just then Jongin reached out his hand and put it against Kyungsoo’s cheek and murmured: “Warm” almost as if he had not realised that he had said it out loud. “My face is warm?” Kyungsoo asked. “No, your eyes”, Jongin said. “My – my eyes are warm?” Kyungsoo repeated.

Jongin’s hand started shaking when Kyungsoo had shifted a little closer. “Yes”, Jongin said quietly. Kyungsoo was so close now that their noses touched. He could feel Jongin’s breath on his lips, he was breathing very fast. Worried that he scared him, he slowly pulled back. Just then the tent was opened and Junmyeon stuck his head in.
“Kyungsoo, could you come for a second?” he asked. Kyungsoo shortly closed his eyes in annoyance that the moment had been destroyed and sighed. “Yes”, he said and got up. He shortly looked at Jongin. “I’ll be back right away”, he said. He left the tent and Junmyeon walked with him a few steps away from the tent.

Junmyeon looked very serious so Kyungsoo forgot about his annoyance. “What happened?” he asked worried. “Kyu wants to talk to us”, Junmyeon said. While they walked towards Kyu’s tent he however continued quietly. “You seem to have forgotten what I just told you earlier”.

There weren’t many people in the hall and no one paid any attention to them. “Huh?” Kyungsoo made. “We could be attacked any other day”, Junmyeon hissed. “Excuse me? Am I not working hard every day, training my off? I have been thinking about nothing else, there is constantly these weird guys creeping around in my mind who plan on attacking us and taking all those people into camps to do what they did to Jongin” Kyungsoo said, his annoyance creeping up again. He had some difficulty keeping his voice down. “Where is that coming from now, Junmyeon? What the heck is wrong with you?”

Junmyeon glared at him. “Oh please, I’m not blind, Kyungsoo. You think no one saw it, but everytime you think you’re alone with Jongin you try to get closer to him”, he said quietly. Kyungsoo stared at Junmyeon. “Kyungsoo, have you forgotten who he is?” Junmyeon asked. “What?” Kyungsoo asked. “You’re expecting him to be like any other ordinary human. But he’s not”, Junmyeon said. Kyungsoo opened his mouth. “What? You expect me to treat him like they did back at our town?” Kyungsoo hissed. “No, Kyungsoo. Don’t act stupid, you treat him completely different. That’s the thing here”, Junmyeon said.
“Then what is your problem?” Kyungsoo asked. “Kyungsoo, where do you think this is going? I am not seeing him as an inhuman lower being. He just thinks differently and that’s it. Kyungsoo, stop dreaming”, Junmyeon said.

There was a short moment of silence then Junmyeon’s mask broke and he bit his lip, looking close to tears. “I’m sorry, Kyungsoo. I didn’t want to say it like that but I am scared for you, for all of us. I don’t want you to suffer more than you have to anyways”. Kyungsoo stared at him, he did not shout or cry but Junmyeon could see in his eyes how badly he had hurt him.

 “Leave me alone”, Kyungsoo said quietly. “Kyungsoo, I am not saying that without reason or to hurt you purposefully. I am trying to –“, Junmyeon started but Kyungsoo cut between. “I said leave me alone”, he said a little bit louder. “Kyungsoo, you know it yourself. Kyu said it herself to me, they cannot feel like a normal human being. He cannot love you and he won’t, I’m sorry, he isn’t a normal human being”, Junmyeon said. The tent was opened abruptly when a loud smack had echoed through the hall and drew the attention of everyone to them. Junmyeon held his face where Kyungsoo had hit him. “Don’t you dare to talk about him like that”, Kyungsoo hissed and walked out of the building. Kyu stared at Junmyeon. “What is going on here? Kyungsoo, come back this instant!”

Junmyeon looked away. “Nothing. I told Kyungsoo something he did not want to hear”, Junmyeon said. Minseok appeared next to Kyu in the opening of the tent. Minseok looked at Junmyeon with narrowed eyes. “Minseok, get Kyungsoo back here and fetch Jongin on your way”, Kyu demanded. Minseok nodded and followed Kyungsoo. Junmyeon entered the tent and could feel Kyu’s eyes on him, piercing through him as if she was trying to read his mind. There were 3 others in the tent, Shaila, Sean and a young boy who was always drawing very complex paintings in his free time. Minseok returned with Kyungsoo and Jongin and they all settled down.

“Okay, I have gathered you here because I am afraid that we might be found any day now. Fleeing is too risky, so we have to prepare to defend ourselves and fight. I want to go through several strategies with you”, Kyu said. She explained different ways and methods that she expected the attacks to happen. Shaila and Minseok suggested different points for the guards to be positioned and what kind of weapons to carry. They talked until late into the night, the next morning there was a compulsory training for everyone in how to use a gun and a knife. Everyone was already very skilled in close combat but Kyungsoo didn’t think it would help much if they were attacked with guns.

AN: thank you so much for subscribing to my story! Also thank you for your comments, my heart always skips a beat when I see that someone wrote something!!
 It means a lot to me and I really really appreciate upvotes, comments and subscribers! I'm so curious to hear what you're thinking of the plot, the characters and what might happen next... ^^

I was so excited to finally introduce Minseok into the story!
Kyungsoo and Junmyeon had a short break from all the trouble but maybe this is the calm before the storm...?
Hope you keep on enjoying the story