Nine

 

I opened my eyes  groggily, peering into the way-too-bright light hanging overhead.   I felt an arm slide smoothly behind my back to prop me up, and I turned to my right to see my dimpled best friend.   “You passed out after coming back,” Yixing calmly explained to me with his ever-present patient smile. “Moonkyu shouted at Jongin for doing that, and even Dr Lee lectured him about starting the transportation before he had physical contact with you.”   “What happened?”   “He started teleporting too early and almost left parts of you behind,” he replied, grimly.  “Also, Jongin was in a bit of shock with the whole killing someone thing, but I guess death is inevitable if we are to carry this out. Although you have all returned safely, so let’s not worry about it now.”   The permanent twinkle in his eye comforted me before I heard the sound of my door slamming onto the wall.   “Oh my goodness, thank god you’re okay,” Moonkyu sighed in relief. “That bastard thinks he can be all touchy-feely with my sister one second and then put her in danger the next. I’ll kill him if he ever attempts that again.”   “Don’t worry about it Moonkyu, it’s alright.” I smiled, “I guess he had no choice right? We had no time.”   Moonkyu frowned at me, “Stop defending that kid, it’s like-” His frown deepened before he asked, “Wait, why exactly are you defending him? Isn’t he just a stupid kid with a sour attitude?”   “He didn’t mean to,” I muttered, looking away, ignoring the undeniable feeling of reddening cheeks.   “Yeah, thanks to Yixing,” Moonkyu shot back. There was a loud commotion from outside of the door, and a moment later, Jongin burst through.   “Are you okay?” he asked, looking paler than usual.   “Yeah, I feel fine,” I replied.    He gave me a tight-lipped nod and then stalked back out of the room.   “Sorry about that,” Kyungsoo said, poking his head in for a moment. “I know we were told not to disrupt you guys but Jongin’s been sitting outside of the door for ages.”   “He was feeling guilty,” Yixing explained.    “Tell him not to be,” I replied. It really hadn’t been entirely Jongin’s fault. We were in a hurry to escape, the room had been in utter chaos, and things happened so fast; it’s not like he knew he could have accidentally killed me by teleporting so early.            Four days after the release of the video, which had been broadcasted in every single district on that fateful day, a riot started on the streets of District 8. The news stations in District 1 ignored it, pretended like there was no revolution simmering under the surface. Dr. Lee and Kyungsoo only found out through their underground contacts. Apparently, District 8 was tired of the oppression, and was putting up one hell of a fight.    As we all sat in front of the radio tuned to a secret frequencies that reported the real news, tension set in the room.    “District 3 will be next,” Kyungsoo predicted, eyes flashing with excitement. “There’s been whispers of rebellion for years now over there. I’m surprised that District 8 even beat them to it.”   “This is good news,” Dr. Lee added. “This only weakens and distracts the party, making it easier for us to take down the Capitol.”    “Come on kids, let’s have a party to celebrate the first successful project so far!” Lu Han’s singsong voice immediately elevated the tension.   Minseok nodded enthusiastically. He jumped to his feet, and pointed toward the kitchen. “There is so much alcohol stored right now; I think this is a good enough occasion to break it all out.”   Moonkyu seemed to cheer up almost instantly.   Lu Han and Moonkyu soon set down the hallway, jogging after the speeding Minseok. The others all followed at their own pace, but I stayed behind with Kyungsoo and Yixing to finish listening to the radio broadcast.    When it ended, Yixing stood up and stretched