Hyerin cowered behind a wall to hide, as that was what Kyungsoo instructed for her to do, all the while taking peeks to see what was going on. She knew something was about to happen when Kyungsoo told her to go, but she was not going to leave him just like that. Whatever it was that was going to happen, she was going to be there to back him up.

Nothing much was happening between the two, though the tension in the air unsettled her. No way was Kyungsoo going to make TOP slip out of his grasp. He would take the opportunity to finish the man once and for all.

Her predictions were right. Kyungsoo made the first move by pushing TOP, sending him flying to the edge of the rooftop where he unfortunately managed to hang on. Hyerin continued to watch as Kyungsoo furiously stomped his way towards TOP.

She couldn’t see anything at this point except for Kyungsoo’s back, though it seemed like the two were spouting words at each other. She heard TOP’s grunt at one point, making her think that Kyungsoo finally killed him. She was proven wrong when she heard Kyungsoo’s blood curdling scream a couple of seconds after.

With panic and worry clouding her mind, Hyerin sprinted out of her hiding spot and ran over to Kyungsoo who still had his back turned to her, now standing on his knees. As she neared the boy, she saw that TOP was nowhere to be found. Instead, a growing pool of blood was collecting under Kyungsoo’s knees.

“Kyungsoo!” Hyerin exclaimed when she finally reached the boy. “Kyungsoo where’s-”

Her voice caught in as she saw the gruesome sight before her. Kyungsoo was half-grunting half-sobbing, face flustered and right hand missing. The blood he was kneeling on was his own.

“Oh ,” Hyerin whispered, face growing paler and paler by the second. “Oh . . .”

There was no time to think. Hyerin reacted fast and took off her sweatshirt, kneeled in front of Kyungsoo, and started applying pressure on the amputated area.

“I-It’s going to be alright,” she reassured, voice shaking as she tied the jacket around his arm tightly. “It’s going to be alright.”

Kyungsoo gritted his teeth, opening and closing his eyes repeatedly in a poor attempt to appear calm. “M-My hand…”

“Shh, it’s okay,” Hyerin muttered, securing the jacket before reaching up to her earpiece only to find out it’s not there. Thinking it must have accidentally dropped during the outbreak, she fished out her phone from her pocket and with bloodied hands, dialed Kris’ number.

“My h-hand,” Kyungsoo mumbled, jaw clenched. “My hand, he…h-he c-cut it off. He cut it off, Hyerin, he cut it off-”

“I know, I know.” She nodded, pressing the phone against her ear and holding the boy close. He was shaking for some reason and it made her so scared she was starting shake herself. “It’s going to be alright. You’re going to be okay.”

“A-Am I going to die?” he asked, hyperventilating.

“No, you’re not,” she said, although she wasn’t sure of that. “It’s just a hand, you’ll be fine,” she said as calmly as she could.

Finally, Kris answered after the sixth ring.

“Hello?” Kris said, gunshots heard in the background.

“Kris!” Hyerin exclaimed. “Kris you need to come here right now! Kyungsoo lost his hand and he’s bleeding and I don’t know what to do!”

Kris was silent for a moment, probably trying to absorb the unfortunate news before speaking again. “Okay. I’ll be right there. Where are you at?”

“I-I don’t know!” she stammered, looking around to see where she was. “I’m a building away from the burning apartment complex. You’ll see me at the rooftop with Kyungsoo. You need to hurry up, Kris! Kyungsoo’s bleeding so much!” she exclaimed, the panic growing by the second. “We need to take him to the hospital right away, I don’t know what to do!”

“It’s okay, Hyerin, calm down!” Kris said. “I’ll be right there. Just hang on, ok?”

“Please hurry up, please! He’s badly hurt and there’s a lot of blood!”

“I know, Hyerin, just please, calm down. I promise you I’ll be there. So just wait,” Kris said, “okay?”

Hyerin let out a shaky breath before nodding. “O-Okay.”

With that, Kris hung up and Hyerin focused all her attention towards Kyungsoo who was now drifting into unconsciousness.

“Kyungsoo? Kyungsoo!” Hyerin shook the boy by the shoulders, forcing him to sit up straight to no avail. The boy’s head swung to the left as his eyes closed, almost falling face flat on the floor if it weren’t for Hyerin holding him up.

Her eyes widened in horror. “Kyungsoo. Wake up. Stay with me, please, you need to be awake,” she begged, looking around, eyes heating up from the oncoming tears, and completely clueless as to what course of action she should take. She was incredibly helpless and scared and it was the worst thing she had ever felt in her entire life.

With the little strength he had, Kyungsoo slightly opened his eyes. “I f-feel light headed.”

“I-It’s okay. It’s going to be okay,” she consoled, trying to keep herself together. “You just have to be awake. Just stay awake for me, please?”

“O-Okay,” Kyungsoo stammered quietly, his good hand weakly grazing the cemented ground as if he was searching for something. It confused her at first, but when she realized that he was actually searching for her hand, she immediately held his and bit her lip to refrain from breaking out into a sob.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. She wiped it away quick enough that she was sure Kyungsoo wouldn’t have seen it through his half-lidded eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do.”

At least five minutes had passed and Kyungsoo was struggling to keep his consciousness. Hyerin didn’t know if he was feeling hurt or feeling nothing at all, as the boy was just pale and quiet, his face not giving away anything but weakness that if Hyerin didn’t check, she wouldn’t know that his heart was beating extremely fast.  She was contemplating whether she should just carry the boy downstairs herself when finally, Kris came flying to the rooftop.

He jogged towards the two. “Jesus Christ,” he mumbled in devastation.

“There’s not much time. He’s losing a lot of blood.” She sniffed, securing the jacket around Kyungsoo’s arm though at this rate it was not enough for the blood that was still flowing from his severe wound. “Bring him to M-LX as fast as you can! He out, I don’t know if he can stay awake any longer!”

“Calm down, Hyerin,” Kris said, carrying Kyungsoo effortlessly and walking back to the edge of the rooftop. “It’s going to be okay-”

“No, it’s not going to be okay!” she suddenly yelled. “Nothing is going to be okay until Kyungsoo gets to the hospital!”

“I understand,” Kris calmly nodded, placing a hand on top of Hyerin’s head. “I promise I’ll bring him there as fast as I could. He’s not dying, Hyerin, he’s going to be alright.”

“Okay.” Hyerin nodded hard before wiping her tears and shooing the boy off. “Just go. I’ll meet you there later.”

“Alright. Be safe,” Kris reminded before jumping off the rooftop and flying towards the headquarters.

“You, too,” Hyerin mumbled before turning around and running towards the exit. Halfway down the stairs, she was halted in her steps as three Xinths were making their way up.

As quick as a heartbeat, Hyerin kicked the one nearest to her, making the Xinth fall down the stairs and bringing his fellow men with him. She pulled out her gun and shot the three Xinths that were standing in her way.

Without further ado, she ran down the stairs, sneaked out of the building, and rode her motorbike to M-LX as fast as she could, silently hoping that the others were alright.

---

Kris and Kyungsoo were slowly descending from the air when Hyerin parked her motorbike in front of the ER, arriving the same time they did. She took off her helmet and rushed towards the two to help Kris carry Kyungsoo inside.

As they struggled to drag a staggering Kyungsoo to the entrance, the boy started to groan and breathe heavily, startling the two.

“What’s happening!?” Kris questioned in a panic.

“He’s losing too much blood. Hold on,” Hyerin handed Kyungsoo to Kris completely, took off her shirt and replaced the soaked jacket with it, leaving her in a tank top. After that, they continued to carry the boy inside where he was finally met with medical assistance.

The crew was in the midst of rushing Kyungsoo to one of the beds when Hyerin sat herself on one of the chairs outside the hall, tired, scared, and covered with Kyungsoo’s blood. Kris was talking to one of the medics before marching his way towards Hyerin. He kneeled in front of her and craned his neck to look at her.

“Hey,” he mumbled. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, tiredly running a hand through her long hair.

“Can you still go?” he asked. “I need to go back there and help the others. Are you coming?”

“I’m staying,” she said in a firm tone. “I’m not leaving him.”

Kris nodded understandingly, giving her one last look before standing up to his feet. “Okay. I’ll go check up on the headquarters first and then I’ll leave. Keep your phone with you, alright?”

“Thanks,” Hyerin muttered, wiping her bloodied hands on her top. “Be careful.”

“I will.” And with that, he gave her a nod before jogging down the hallway and going back outside.

Once Kris was gone, Hyerin buried her head in her hands, fighting to keep her scattered thoughts together. This was the first time something like this happened to them, and it led her to think about what more was coming for them.

Who was next? How was she so sure that the others haven’t lost one of their hands out there? How many times does she have to watch someone get hurt, and how many times does she have to be a useless piece of crap for not knowing what to do?

She shook her head and stood up, marveling on the fact that the others were out there, fighting for their city with courage while she’s cooped up in a hospital, her fears and anxieties eating away what’s left of the strength she had been trying to assimilate all her life.

---

With a barely audible creak, the heavy doors slowly opened and Kris carefully stepped inside, silently closing the door behind him and starting on his sixth staircase.

Although he intended to go back out to save as much people as he can, Kris decided to check on the headquarters first and was in for a surprise when the place was completely deserted. All the lights were on, but no agent was to be found in the premises.

He went from offices to meeting rooms to bathroom stalls, yet no one was there. It must have been because everyone was outside to save the people, but Kris disregarded that reasoning when he found almost every closet and store room completely.

All the files and documents that filled up all the rooms were either gone or shredded, leaving nothing but blank papers scattered around the floor. He went to check the weaponry department as well and there was nothing there. The prisons were wiped out clean too. He noticed that it was done quite clumsily and disorderly, like everyone was in a rush to get out.

Once Kris finally arrived at the top of the sixth staircase, he pushed the door open to the seventh floor only to halt in his steps when he heard footsteps inside.

He took a quick peek, not at all surprised to see two Xinths walking past the door, armed with their humongous swords. He retreated back out and took a pistol from the holster attached to his belt.

This time, he was careful to open the heavy doors, rapidly sneaking inside. He pressed his back against the wall and sidestepped to the nearest office room he could find, gun secured under his two big hands and pointed down the floor. Looking left then right, he entered the office, locked the door behind him and shut the lights off.

He crouched behind the door, looked through the window and waited for anyone to pass. After a couple of moments, two Xinths turned a corner towards his direction, not at all aware of him being in the premises.

Once the two were right in front of the room Kris was hiding in, he opened the door and jumped out, smacking one of them with the of his handgun.

The Xinth fell to the ground, alerting the other. He then took out the sword from its shaft, about to pierce it right through Kris’ stomach when he positioned the unconscious Xinth in front of him, using it as a shield. The sword bore through the alien instead of Kris.

Kris pushed the dead body towards the other, making him distracted. He took this opportunity to retrieve the dead Xinth’s sword from its shaft and plunged it into the alien’s skull.

After successfully killing the two quickly and silently, he dragged their bodies to the room he hid in earlier and preceded down the hallway once again.

With his back pressed firmly against the wall and his gun ready in his hands, he rushed down the lobby to Agent Zero’s main office. He looked left and right before jumping out into the open to get to the door of the room. Once he was about to twist the doorknob to get in, a hand pulled on his collar and dragged him to an isolated corner of the building.

Once they were safe in the shadows, Kris whipped around and pointed his gun at his captor, realizing that it was no other than Agent Zero. Slowly, he lowered his weapon.

“Sir? What are you doing here?” Kris asked. “Where’s everyone?”

“Evacuated the premises,” Zero whispered. “Once the invasion happened, everyone left and made sure everything was gone.”

“How? Where did everyone go?”

“I’ll explain to you later. For now, we need to get out of here,” Zero said, crouching down low just in case anyone passed by. “It’s not safe.”

“Why? How did Xinths get here?”

“It’s not only Xinths,” he said, crawling a little bit forward towards the door to let Kris have a peek.

The boy slowly raised himself up to take a look inside the room. He was not surprised to see Jiyong inside with night crawlers and Xinths, but what did startle him was the fact that Agent M was there, held captive by Jiyong and at least three guns pointed at his head.

Kris scurried back to Agent Zero. “What the hell is happening!?”

“There were a few agents that were the last to leave, including us. Jiyong and his crew broke in quietly from the back, so no one suspected a thing. At least ten people were killed. Luckily, I managed to escape. I was trying to get out of here because I know the hospital is still in the midst of evacuating people when I saw you in here.”

“. Hyerin’s in there with the others!” Kris whispered.

“What?” Zero demanded. “Why!?”

“Kyungsoo’s hand got cut off and needed immediate medical assistance. We rushed him to the ER.”

“Call her right now and tell her that Xinths are in the main building along with Jiyong. It won’t take long until more of them get here and find out there are people that’s still in the hospital,” Zero said.

Kris nodded and took out his phone, immediately dialing Hyerin’s number. The first ring didn’t even finish when she picked up.

“Hello?”

“Get out of there right now. Take Kyungsoo with you. Jiyong is here in the main building and if he finds out you’re there everyone will be dead. Take everyone out of there right now!” Kris said, purposely leaving out the part about her dad.

“,” Hyerin cursed, burying her phone back into her pocket before standing up and sprinting back inside the ER.

She rushed towards a nurse walking down the lobby. “Are you evacuating patients right now?” she asked.

The nurse nodded. “Yes. At least half of them are already out the back exit.”

“You need to get them out faster. Jiyong and his men are in the main quarters right now and he can’t afford to know people are still in here. Go tell the others!” she commanded, running down the hallway and shouting at staff to get people out of the hospital.

“Hurry and get out of here! Go! Go! Go! Double time!” she yelled, running to the ER where Kyungsoo was currently getting treated.

The medics were in the middle of taking care of Kyungsoo when she barged inside.

“There’s not much time. We need to get out of here right now. No questions just get out!”

“But agent! We’re still working on his wound!” one medic said.

She looked torn for a second before shaking her head. “That can wait. Wherever it is were evacuating to, just continue it there. It would cause more damage if we stay in here. Just go!” she exclaimed. “I’ll come back for him. Keep him safe.”

The crew nodded as they started temporarily bandaging Kyungsoo’s arm in a hurried manner. Hyerin went out of the ER once again and assisted workers into rolling patients out of the emergency exit at the backdoor.

She was in the middle of pushing an agent in a wheelchair when she suddenly remembered something.

“Goddammit,” she whispered, handing the disabled patient over to a staff before running to the front entrance. “I forgot Tao.”

There was no assurance that Tao was already with the other patients that were evacuated earlier. To make sure, Hyerin decided to go looking for him.

She walked over to the front desk where there was no attendant present. She rounded the desk and took the clipboard where all the patients’ names and room numbers were listed. It took a while to look through it, but after skipping a handful of pages, she finally found Tao’s name.

“Room 365,” she mumbled to herself, running down the hallway and up the stairs to the third floor.

When she got there, she dodged the staff running down the hallway like her, also rushing to keep the people safe. It felt like an eternity when she finally reached the room.

She opened the door and stomped inside, abruptly halting in her tracks when she saw Tao was still in his bed, all the necessary tubes and wires connected to different parts of his body as he slept soundlessly in the comforting darkness of the hospital room, painfully unaware of what was currently happening.

Without much further ado, she walked over to him and started to take the covers off of him. She was about to start on the complicated contraptions attached to him when an arm from behind harshly wrapped around her neck, another pointing a jagged knife to .

“I told you I was a killer.”

Hyerin was whipped around and pinned to the wall, forcing her to look at Suzy who was giving her an annoyingly mysterious smirk.

“You won’t kill me. You can’t,” Hyerin said, inching back against the wall as the knife neared her face again. “Your boss wants me alive.”

Suzy rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you. And it sure doesn’t mean I can’t kill him,” she purred, slyly going over to Tao’s bed and crawling on top of his sleeping figure.

She placed the knife securely against his throat. “You have no idea how easy it is.”

“And you think I’ll let you off that easy?”

“No. But I know I’ll be able to get away with it.”

Hyerin was about to retort when she saw a figure outside the window, just behind Suzy. The figure was in the process of slowly opening the glass window when she caught sight of a glistening ring on his right hand. It had a telekinesis symbol on it.

Hyerin turned back to Suzy. “What makes you think you’re much powerful than I am?”

“I’ve been trained professionally longer than you, Hyerin. I know things that you don’t and that alone makes me superior between the both of us,” she said a matter-of-factly.

Hyerin smirked. “Then you clearly know nothing about me, .”

With that said, Luhan appeared behind Suzy, lunging at her on the bed and making her let go of her knife. They rolled down to the floor and started fighting. While this was going on, Hyerin immediately went over to Tao and started taking off the wires and tubes attached to him. She took the wheelchair from the corner of the room and struggled to put Tao in it.

Once she had successfully transferred him from the bed to the wheelchair, she started rolling Tao out of the room and back to the main lobby downstairs.

She was running down the corridor when she spotted Kyungsoo staggering to the exit with Agent Zero helping him. She went over to them to help, all the while pushing an unconscious Tao with her.

They finally got out of the hospital, rushing towards the gate where vans and large vehicles were waiting for them. Just halfway there, a cringe-inducing screech from the speakers around the vicinity halted them from their run. Agent Zero hurriedly led them behind a small department building to temporarily hide in.

A booming voice resounded in the area. The sound was much too loud and vast that it was possible that it wasn’t just within M-LX. This may be booming throughout the city as a whole.

“Good evening, Seoul.”

Agent Zero and the others lifted their head up to see Jiyong at the seventh floor of the main building, peering out of the glass walls with a mic in his hands and two Xinths standing both at his sides. They would have shot him by now if it weren’t for the bulletproof glass. They could have bombed him as well, but all their heavy-duty weapons were already evacuated away.

“I apologize for the sudden inconvenience and for the mild outbreak a couple of hours ago but I assure you that this is for everyone’s good,” he said, voice neutral and intelligent. “You see, the system we are all accustomed to is simply no good. It may seem comfortable and perfectly livable, but we can have something better. We deserve something better. And that is why we need to eliminate our old leaders,” he said. “From now on, you will live by my rules. I will teach you a different style of living where it will be more convenient for you humans, as well as the…other types of beings that will be inhabiting your planet.”

Hyerin shook her head out of disbelief. “Lies,” she hissed. No way will the people be safe under his command. Before they could even step out of their homes, Xinths would have already killed or eaten them by then.

“You will live in a peaceful community where there is no violence, no poverty, no corruption. It will be the perfect lifestyle and this will all be achieved if I get my hands on someone who has the significant amount of power that will be needed in the process.”

There was a brief pause, one that was quite eerily peaceful, before he started to talk once again, his tone suddenly quiet and strained.

“I know you’re somewhere out there, Kim Hyerin. Surrender yourself to me and let us rule in peace,” he said, unnerving the girl. “If you do not, I will kill the people dearest to you as punishment. Starting with your father.”

Through the glass walls, Hyerin could see two Immitis members dragging Myungjae in front of Jiyong, hands cuffed behind him. He was not beaten nor did he look scared, but that did not lessen Hyerin’s anxiety.

“Dad!” she screamed, about to jump out when Zero pulled her back in.

“What the hell are you doing!? Are you crazy!?” Zero demanded.

“He has my dad!” she cried, struggling under Zero’s hold.

“I know somewhere you can hear this, Hyerin,” Jiyong started. “I will give you three days. Surrender yourself at the city hall within those three days. If you don’t, daddy goes bye bye.”

One of the gang members pulled out a gun and buried the mouth against Myungjae’s head. The latter fought to keep a straight face.

“Dad!” Hyerin was about to jump out once again when Zero pulled her by the back of her shirt.

“Hyerin, calm down this instant!” Zero demanded. “You will shut up and compose yourself right now! You’re putting everyone’s lives at risk! Sit. Down.”

“I can’t! I need to save him!” she exclaimed. “Let me go!”

“No, Hyerin!”

“Please, just let go-”

“Hyerin.”

Hyerin turned around to see Kyungsoo’s fine hand grabbing the end of her shirt with the little strength he had. He was breathing heavily and his face was extremely pale.

“Don’t go,” he breathed, head resting on the concrete wall as he tried to keep eye contact with her. “Don’t go.”

She stared at him, her temper simmering down as she saw the pain and desperation on his face. It made her remember the times when he would get angry at her when she got reckless, or even that time when he said that it would be frightening to lose her.

Hyerin was not scared of dying, but somehow his eyes told her that she kept a promise of staying rational, that she promised to him that she would stop being so driven by her emotions. He was not done protecting her and she was not done protecting him, and that thought alone made her stop and think about what she was just about to do.

Her expression was torn, blinking a couple of times before giving up and sitting herself down on the ground next to Kyungsoo. She looped her arm around his, buried her head in his shoulder, and shut her eyes, tuning out Jiyong’s voice.

She couldn’t remember how long it went on, but as soon as Agent Zero told them it was done and the coast was clear, she kept her eyes ahead of her as she ran towards their van, having no idea as to where they were headed to or if they will ever have their home back.

--- 

Hyerin accidentally fell asleep inside the car, immensely surprised when she woke up to someone gently shaking her shoulders. She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw were Chanyeol’s wide orbs glazed with concern.

“Hyerin...?” he trailed off, slightly raising his eyebrows out of uncertainty.

She sat up, making no effort of standing up and stepping out. She looked around, realizing she was the only one left inside the car.

“Where are the others?” she asked groggily.

“Inside.” Chanyeol gestured behind him, though she couldn’t really see what he was pointing at. “Do you need help getting up?”

“No. Thanks.”

“Are you okay, Hyerin?” he asked suddenly, firmly placing a hand on her shoulder with a very concerned look on his face.

Hyerin lightly shook her head and looked down on her shoes, still not believing what just happened for the past few hours.

“It just feels like-” she stopped and shook her head some more out of devastation, “It just feels like a bad dream.”

Chanyeol gave her a pitiful look. “It’ll all get better.”

“But what if it doesn’t?” she asked, looking straight up at Chanyeol. “What if we're not as capable as we think we are? What if this is really the end?”

Chanyeol’s jaw hardened, giving her a look that almost looked scolding. “This isn’t the end. There’s still hope,” he said, pulling Hyerin in for a tight, comforting hug, “there always is,” he whispered.