Crossing the Line
Made in Korea
Chapter 5: POV- Narrator
Kris and Tao were on edge. Everything with the experiment so far had gone well- almost too well. It was as if they weren't being told something. A secret was being kept from them.
Kris and Tao didn't like secrets, unless said secrets were theirs.
They tramped down the hallway, their footsteps heavy and echoing, bouncing off of the plastered white walls in the labs. Fingers intertwined they felt a sense of unity, which they felt no one else could understand; but this was soon broken when they entered the experimenting lab. For reasons unexplainable, they did not want people to know how intimately close they were.
"Gentleman," Kris addressed the doctors and scientists. He then turned to Joonmyun.
"How are our little experiments doing?" He asked, his voice dripping with malice. Joonmyun swallowed nervously, because, in light of the recent of event of a visitor to the experiments things may be taking a turn for the worse; but he wasn't about to tell Kris that.
"Fine, as far as we can see," he replied calmly.
"Their psyche seems fine as well. Their minds are all in good condition, from what I can see on the monitors-"
"And the monitors, they haven't discovered them?"
They had not discovered the monitors actually, which surprised the scientists and the doctors alike. They were not very well hidden, and the fact that Baekhyun and Chanyeol, especially Chanyeol, didn't think to look for them, or notice them, was puzzling.
"No sir, they have not. And-"
"I still think we presented them too early!" Chen interrupted; but when Yixing turned to him with a wide-eyed expression and a warning on his face, Chen knew he had made a mistake.
"Pardon?" Kris said calmly, blinking at Chen. Chen wrung his hands.
"Well...I just...I feel like...maybe there's still so much room for mistakes..."
"Are you questioning my judgement?"
"Questioning your- no sir! No. I- I apologize...I was not thinking when I said that. I'm just..." The young scientist trailed off.
"I'm just worried that they have too many...too human tendencies. They could...they could make a mistake. Kyungsoo is still so curious about where he comes from. Luhan and Jongin could...grow apart. That could fall in love with someone else," Chen explained his worries to the rest of the men in the room.
"I too have been thinking about that. They are still very free-thinking. And we DID present them four years before we had originally planned to do so-"
"And you know as well as I do that of we hadn't, the society would have become out of control and risen up against us. We cannot have something like that happen again, we don't have the resources for another fight among ourselves. It's too costly- of lives and money," Tao said.
"I just don't think that they were ready. That we are ready-" Joonmyun tried.
"Then get ready, Joonmyun because you're in charge of all of this. If it fails," Kris stepped closer to him, so close that Joonmyun feel Kris' breath on his face. "It's on your head." Kris' eyes flicked back and forth between Joonmyun's. Joonmyun nodded and stepped away, uncomfortable from the sudden close vicinity of his boss.
"May I remind all of you," Kris began, "about the previous revolution." The men looked at the floor, ashamed of themselves for disagreeing with their superior. "There was blood- much of it. And all our own. We turned against each other, the government against the people. It wasn't a pretty sight, and unfortunately, I was caught in the middle. During the first election this society had as a democracy, as you know, it was me against one Park Chanyeol."
He glanced over all of the men in the room, as if trying to see if they had forgotten; but of course they remembered, they were taught this as children, being raised to work for the government.
"I beat him, against all odds. Whether or not I cheated- this is still undetermined; but I know the truth. After I won, most of the community, it seemed, was outraged. They rebelled, and we fought back."
"Yes, Kris-" Yixing began to roll his eyes, but stopped short when Kris gave him a death glare.
"I know you already know all of this though. But I just want to stress how important it is, Dr. Zhang, that this experiment does NOT fail. And like I said, if it does, Joonmyun, it's on your head."
With that Kris exited the room, Tao trailing behind him and left his inferiors to work on solving the problems at hand.
"You didn't tell him. Why?" Chen asked.
"Are you serious? Why didn't I tell him? He would've fired us all!" Joonmyun explained.
"No! Because then he'd have no one left to do the work!" Chen retaliated.
A cold, stony hush fell over the entire room, and all that could be hear was the beeping of machines.
"We can't take a risk like that, Chen," Yixing whispered, "he could and would do a lot worse than fire us. You know that."
"I know. I know," Chen raked a hand over his face.
"We just need to make sure nothing gets out of hand. We need to keep them blissfully ignorant-" Joonmyun began.
"But we haven't idea what Baekhyun and Chanyeol told them. What if they....let slip a few things?" Yixing asked.
"Maybe it's time we had a talk with them. It's been four years since we saw Baekhyun anyway, it about time for a reunion," Joonmyun held up a bag full of assorted instruments, "don't you think?"
------
Knock knock knock
"Yah! Park Chanyeol! Open up!"
Chanyeol rose from the couch where he had been lounging, watching television, wondering who it could be. He peeked through the peep hole in his front door and gasped.
It was them. He began to panic. What was he supposed to do? He knew they would force their way in if he didn't open the door for them. Either way he was dead meat- there was no back door. No second exit. Then he remembered- the bathroom window. It was high up, but a broken limb was better than being held hostage or killed.
He ran frantically around the house, grabbing necessities and throwing them into a small bag.
"Open up, Chanyeol! We know you're in there!" The voices commanded from the other side of the wooden door. They pounded on the door, making it shake back and forth and the door knob rattled.
Chanyeol zipped up the bag and sprinted up the steps; and right as he reached the top he heard the door get slammed down. He swallowed and made his way quietly to the bathroom, careful not to step on the few creaking floor boards. He entered the bathroom, and locked the door with shaking hands. He opened the window and looked down, his face fell.
There was Yixing, Baekhyun's former assistant.
"You're trapped, Park Chanyeol! It would be better go you if you just gave yourself up!"
"Why are you here? What did I do?" He asked playing the innocent card. He heard footsteps come up the stairs and then a knock on the door.
"You know what you did! We have monitors in the house!"
Chanyeol cursed himself. He and Baekhyun were out of touch, they hadn't thought about the monitors they used to use all the time to keep track of each other. He chewed his bottom lip, thinking what his best option was.
What would Baekhyun tell him to do?
They pounded on the bathroom door again.
He looked down at Yixing again. If he jumped right, if he timed it and landed perfectly, he could crush Yixing underneath him and get away uninjured- or barely injured at least. As if he sensed what Chanyeol was thinking he yelled up to him from the ground-
"We have guards everywhere, Chanyeol. Even if you manage to escape me, they'll catch you- at the front door, the backyard, your neighbor's house. We were careful. We need this to work. This has to go well for us," the doctor explained.
"Why? What do you need me for?" Chanyeol asked, willing his voice not to break. He was scared. He looked back and forth between the window and the bathroom door, he reached for his phone, but it wasn't in his pocket like usual, he must have left it on the couch.
When he didn't get an answer to his question, he pressed his back against the wall and slid down to the floor. He sat on the old tiles, his head in his hands, and let himself cry silently.
"Chanyeol?" He heard Joonmyun's voice from the hallway outside. "Please. Make this easier for yourself. Just come willingly."
Chanyeol took a breath and stood in front of the mirror, wiping his eyes, making sure it didn't seem as though he had cried. Then he opened the bathroom door and saw Joonmyun with two men flanking him, blocking any means of Chanyeol's escape.
Joonmyun nodded to them and they rushed forward, grabbing his arms and cuffing them behind his back. They pushed him down onto the floor, pressing his face against the tiles on which he had previously sat. Joonmyun stood over him and smiled in mock sadness.
"I'm really sorry about this, Chanyeol; but we can't take any chances with you," he then shoved a bag over Chanyeol's head, and it was dark and terrifying. Chanyeol smelled something vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember what it was.
Then everything went black.
-----
"Baekhyun~" Yixing crooned, "come out, come out, wherever you are". Baekhyun tilted his head- I must be imagining things again- he thought.
"Baekhyun-ah~" Yixing's voice said again.
Baekhyun sat up in his bed and pushed the covers away from his legs so he could stand. He slid off the mattress and felt a familiar tingling in his toes. His feet had fallen asleep. He stumbled clumsily toward the kitchen to get some water but stopped when he heard a creaking.
He looked around, but saw no one. He tip-toed toward the kitchen, and peeked around the corner from the hallway to the room from which he heard the sound. His eyes widened and it took everything in him to keep from crying out for help.
Yixing. He was here. Along with Joonmyun, and another man that Baekhyun did not recognize. He put a hand over his heart and tried to calm himself and slow his breathing. He held a hand in front of his face and realized that he was shaking. He began to sneak back to his room, to gather some things and try to escape, but Yixing was too smart.
"I know you're there, Baekhyun. Come out now and people won't be harmed- as much," he chuckled evilly as he said this. Baekhyun returned to his spot behind the wall and then entered the kitchen. Yixing was sitting there, feet propped up on a table, and Joonmyun and the unknown man sat to his right.
"How are you, Baekhyun? It's been a while," Yixing stated; he followed Baekhyun's gaze to Chen and nodded. "yes this is our new associate. Chen. But I asked how you were, Baekhyun?" but Baekhyun kept a cool expression, answering the question with one of his own.
"What do you want? I've done as you've asked. I stayed out of the facility and your business. You said you'd leave me alone," his voice shook a bit, he didn't acknowledge it, but there was no doubt that the others had noticed.
"Are you sure about that? You haven't...broken any rules lately?" Chen asked.
"I-I'm not sure what you mean..." Baekhyun was becoming more nervous by the second.
How could they know about that? He wondered.
"Like I said- tell us the truth and a certain someone won't be harmed as much," Yixing repeated.
"What? Who-" but Baekhyun was interrupted by a snap of finger and the front door burst open. Two large- very large- burly men stood there, awaiting orders.
"Tie him up," Yixing commanded. Baekhyun tried to run away, but it was useless, the men caught him and tethered him to a chair so that he could barely move. "Go get the other one".
"What? What other one? Who?" Baekhyun asked, terrified. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt.
The men exited and returned with a tall figure who had a bag over his head Chou was lolling to the side lazily. They took the bag of of the boy's head and Baekhyun began to panic.
"Chanyeol! No. Not again!" He struggled against the ropes, but he wasn't strong enough to escape their hold. "This can't happen again," he told himself, "just- just let him go, I'll tell you anything! Please!"
"Still chasing after him, hmm, Baekkie?" Yixing asked, laughing; but Belhyun didn't have the time to be embarrassed. Chanyeol was going to get hurt if he didn't give Joonmyun what he wanted.
"Please!" Baekhyun screamed, "I'll do anything! He had nothing to do with any of this! He didn't even tell them anything!"
"Well he was there!" Yixing snapped. Baekhyun had never seen him so angry. He caught Yixing's eyes.
"What did they do to you, Yixing-ah?" He wondered aloud.
"Nothing! It's not- it's none- shut up!" He slapped Baekhyun across the face and muttered something about Baekhyun always getting inside his head. "Chen. Get to it,"
"Get to what?" Baekhyun asked. He looked up at Chen, "what are you getting to?" He was becoming frantic. His breathing sped up again, it seemed like his heart was beating a million times a minute, and all he could think about was Chanyeol.
"Sorry. I know we don't know each other," Chen said, "but I'm just following orders...I'm not usually like this-"
"Chen! Do it!" Joonmyun yelled, which made Chen flinch a little. He walked over to Chanyeol with a box. He rummaged through the box for a moment before pulling out a pair of handcuffs and a tiny remote.
"What are you going to do?" Baekhyun begged for an answer. Chanyeol made a indistinguishable sound, and Baekhyun's attention turned to him immediately.
"Oh good, Chanyeol, you're awake. This will be even more interesting," Joonymun seemed excited about something.
Chanyeol's eyelids fluttered until his gaze set on Baekhyun. He swallowed and tried to speak, but it was as if his vocal chords were frozen- no sound came out. He swallowed again and coughed a few times, but he looked so tired; so unlike himself that it worried Baekhyun.
"Don't tell them anything..." Chanyeol mumbled. His eyes had an urgency in them that Baekhyun had never seen before. He nodded to Chanyeol, but he knew he could only keep quiet to a certain extent. Then Chanyeol's head lolled to the side again.
"Chanyeol?" Baekhyun's voice cracked. He looked at Chen, "you don't need to hurt him- I- I-" then he remembered his promise to Chanyeol, and lowered his head.
"That's what we thought," Yixing said. Chen had finished securing the cuffs around Chanyeol's wrists. Then he stood back, and looked at Baekhyun with eyes pleading forgiveness.
Chen hadn't known anyone would get hurt when he took the job; and he certainly hadn't known he would have to hurt anyone like this. He took a deep breath and pressed a sequence of buttons on the remote. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then the cuffs sprang to life, electricity coursing through them. Chanyeol's body vibrated violently as the cuffs electrocuted him and Baekhyun screamed at the other men to stop, but they just electrocuted him again. And again.
After about five minutes, Baekhyun had his head hanging low, tears flowing freely from his eyes.
"Please stop. Please," he pleaded, his voice raspy and throat scratchy from crying.
"Then tell us what you were up to," Yixing whispered in his ear, which made Baekhyun flinch from the sudden closeness. He was close to cracking. He hated seeing Chanyeol like this, tortured; and all because Baekhyun loved him. It was all his fault that Chanyeol was being treated like this.
His eyes flicked to Chanyeol, who was still breathing; but did his breaths seem less? And smaller? Or was it just Baekhyun's imagination? He swallowed his feelings down, feeling them slide down the edges of his heart. He remembered his promise.
He would tell them nothing.
"Tell us what you're up to, Baekhyun," Yixing said quietly, "I don't want to have to hurt him further. Or hurt you," he added. Baekhyun closed his eyes.
"No".
"No?" Joonmyun asked, clearly he was surprised; and Baekhyun looked him in they eyes to prove his point and repeated himself.
"No". Chen shook his head and pursed his lips.
"Chen. You know the drill," Joonmyun said. Yixing bit his bottom lip, and Baekhyun saw his knuckles turn white as he gripped the arm of his chair.
"Joonmyun, he's not going to talk. We should just go-"
"He will talk! I know him well enough!" Joonmyun snapped, his eyes a little crazier than everyone was used to. Yixing's eyes widened and he nodded solemnly. "Chen. Do it!"
"But-"
"Do it!"
"He's not strong enough for this! Chanyeol is not strong enough for this! I will not kill a man for information!" Chen retaliated.
"Fine! Then I'll do it!" Joonmyun started toward Chen, and Baekhyun was thrown into a panic. He struggled against the ropes once again, knowing that Joonmyun wouldn't be so kind as Chen had been.
"Wait! Please!" Baekhyun tried, but his voice was lost in that moment. His mind was floundering, looking for any option that might save Chanyeol. He looked to Chen, then to Yixing, but both just shook their heads. They couldn't help him.
The remote was in Joonmyun's hands now, he was studying it, trying to figure out how to use it.
"Chen! How is this used?" He demanded, but Chen just stepped away, looking at the floor guiltily. "Fine. I'll just press buttons until something happens!"
"No!" Suddenly Baekhyun's voice returned to him.
"Tell us what you're up to, Baekhyun! Or he dies today!" Joonmyun spat at him. Baekhyun shook his head frantically.
"You don't have to do this! Please don't do this!"
"Then tell me!"
"I can't!" He shouted, "I can't."
"Then I'm sorry," Joonymun said as Baekhyun looked up at him with red-brimmed, still crying eyes," but I have to punish you somehow."
Everything seemed to slow down for Beakhyun. He felt bile rise up in his throat. Joonmyun's thumb was slowly descending toward the button on the remote, he heard himself scream. He saw another round of vibrations rack Chanyeol's body, and he pushed off of the floor, but could only push hard enough to shove himself over sideways.
Then everything was still and silent. Baekhyun was sobbing silently, his tears dripping onto the carpet below, soaking it. Someone sat his chair upright, and he saw that it was Chen. Neither Chen nor Yixing would make eye contact with him, but Joonmyun was waiting for the chance.
They had Baekhyun's chair turned away from Chanyeol, and Baekhyun couldn't decide if that was for the better or not.
"This is what happens when you go behind my back. People get hurt. Yixing- Check his pulse." Joonmyun swiveled Baekhyun's chair around to face Chanyeol and Baekhyun tried not to look. He tried not to let them see his weakness for Chanyeol, but Joonmyun grabbed his head, forcing him to look at Chanyeol's still, stiff body.
Baekhyun's chest began to heave, his face contorted into a shape that couldn't even begin to display his pain.
"Chanyeol!" He shouted, "please, don't be dead! Please! I love you! Please!" He dropped his head and sobbed, no longer silent.
Then he heard Yixing announce that Chanyeol didn't have a pulse. That he was dead. Something inside Baekhyun broke. Something that he felt couldn't be repaired. There were tear tracks on his cheeks, and more tears were spilling out. Snot was running out of his nose, but he didn't care how he looked.
Chanyeol was dead.
And it was his fault.
He looked up at Yixing, wanting to tell him to check again. To make Chanyeol alive again if he really was dead, though he knew it was impossible; but when he raised his head, which felt heavy- but not as heavy as his heart- Yixing was already looking at him, trying to communicate something to him without words. Yixing's eyes flicked to Chanyeol, and back to Baekhyun. He shook his head, which would have been invisible to anyone who wasn't looking for a sign.
Had Baekhyun imagined it?
Yixing uncuffed Chanyeol, and Baekhyun felt the ropes loosen and drop to the floor. A first he couldn't move, paralyzed by the possibilities running through his mind. Was Chanyeol dead? Or had Yixing been trying to tell him that Chanyeol was alive?
Was he just fooling himself?
Yixing rose and pulled Baekhyun into a hug, but Baekhyun's arms stayed limply by his sides- he had nothing to say to Yixing. He was a traitor to Baekhyun. Yixing stepped away and walked toward the door, Joonmyun followed- a smug grin on his face- and Chen laid a hand on Baekhyun's shoulder, whispering apologies. Baekhyun shrugged him off and waited for them to leave, his back turned to them.
When he heard the door click shut, he dropped to his knees and curled in to a ball. He uncoiled and pulled himself across the carpet to Chanyeol. He curled into Chanyeol's chest and noticed something peculiar.
Chanyeol's heart was still beating.
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