CHAPTER TWELVE

The boy who wanted nothing but to be recognized, the boy who wanted to be heard; that’s you, isn’t it? But we all know the truth, right boy? You do not belong here. You’re not supposed to be here, in the first place. You are a mistake.

Jaehwan woke up with a jolt as thunder roared just outside his window. He pants as he wipes his forehead which was now very wet with sweat. Jaehwan looks at the small clock on the wall and sees that it was 3AM. Knowing that there was no way he’d be able to go back to sleep, he decides to get up and put on his sweater.

Jaehwan shivers as he is hit by the cold air as he walks out of his room and into the dimly lit corridor. He looks at the door across his room; Taekwoon’s room. He had heard earlier that Taekwoon and Hakyeon were called; what it meant, however, was something Jaehwan didn’t know.

“They’re not back yet,” Jaehwan mutters to himself as he walks away from Taekwoon’s door. Even though he wouldn’t admit it, Jaehwan often sat outside of of Taekwoon’s door and just listen to the sounds coming from the boy’s door. It was starting to become a habit for him that Jaehwan found it weird that even though he was leaning outside Taekwoon’s room, he couldn’t hear anything.

Jaehwan lets out a sigh. “I’m starting to get worried. They’ve been out for almost the whole day,” he mutters to himself as he slides down the wall and seats by his door, looking at Taekwoon’s door. Jaehwan notices a piece of paper inserted in the small crack of Taekwoon’s door and raises and eyebrow.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he crawls towards the paper and (with much difficulty); pull it out of the crack. What he reads is something he never expected. Jaehwan finds himself shaking at the words written on the piece of paper but he couldn’t bring himself to look away.

“What are you doing, Jaehwan?” Jaehwan jumped at the voice and almost dropped the piece of paper. He looked up and saw Wonshik standing by his door, probably just leaving his room. Jaehwan just shook his head and gave a smile before hurriedly returning to his room; not casting Wonshik a second glance. Wonshik cocked an eyebrow but ignored it and returned to his room.

When he was sure that the younger had returned to his room, Jaehwan allowed himself to release the breath he didn’t he was holding. Glancing at the crumpled piece of paper in his hand, Jaehwan could feel himself shake as hot tears spilled from his eyes. He wasn’t sad. No, it was far from it. Jaehwan was full out scared. Scared of what exactly was going to happen to them in the near future.

With shaking feet, Jaehwan walked towards his shelf that contained a picture of his family. It was taken during a vacation they had a few years back; 5 years, if he was to be specific. It was supposed to bring him happy memories but all it gave Jaehwan was anger. He takes the frame and prepares himself to throw it away; smash it to the ground, only to fall to the ground and allows the picture to fall to the carpeted floor.

After a few moments of crying, when Jaehwan has finally calmed his self down, he looks at the picture once again before opening the frame and places the crumpled note behind the picture. He takes one last look at the note before he closes the frame and returns it to its original spot. Jaehwan knew that it was risky and that they didn’t deserve it, but he was willing to give them another chance. Surely it was because they didn’t have a choice – right?

“Forget about them being humans. They’re tools, you hear me? They’re tools,”

Author's Note: After much wait, I now present to you, chapter twelve. First of all, I want to apologize for not updating sooner. I was just so busy with school and everything that I completely neglected writing. Honestly, this chapter has been so long overdue. I started it a long time ago but only finished it now. But on the lighter note, VIXX made their comeback with Jekyll!!! The song's really good and really lifts up your mood (but they're battling against EXO in the comeback for rookies, so...)

Anyway, back to the story. Regarding the next chapter, it'll be SET IN A DIFFERENT TIME FRAME, SPECIFICALLY, IT'LL BE EIGHT YEARS LATER. THIS CHAPTER, CHAPTER 12, OFFICIALLY ENDS THE FIRST PART OF THE STORY. I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW MANY PARTS THIS STORY WILL HAVE OR HOW LONG IT'LL LAST, BUT, WELL, I GUESS WE'LL HAVE TO SEE ALONG THE WAY.