The door creaks and bright light streams through, making me grumble about being woken up; I can feel that it's still early and I'm in no mood to get up and have my first shots for the day.

"Sorry, Bree," someone whispers as more people make their way to the door.

I snarl in return and turn my face away, hiding against the young man I'm lying with, my arms around his neck and our legs tangled with each other's; as if on reflex, he buries his face in the crook of my neck and his arms tighten around my waist until all space between us disappears.

There's a chorus of whispers as they leave and I recognize one of them to be Junhong.

"They look pretty cozy."

"They must've been really quiet last night because I didn't hear a thing."

"Zelo! Respect your big sister!"

Junhong cackles to himself as they close the door and I take my face out of the pillow. If he's running out the room…

I pull my arms back but he hums in protest, still asleep, his voice vibrating softly against my skin. Even whining, I recognize that voice. Still upset with him, I start trying to untangle myself from him; not willing to give up what's keeping him warm, he shifts in his sleep and accidentally grinds up against me. An unfamiliar sound catches in my throat.

"Yongguk, wake up. Right now." I gasp, digging a thumb downwards into his collarbone.

There's a stream of cursing as Yongguk practically throws himself away from me, wincing in pain.

"Thank you." I get up and walk unsteadily across the mattresses, stepping over him as I go to flick the lights on. "I'm going to have a shower before I eat, then head down for my shots. I'm taking more clothes."

I can feel his eyes on me as I walk back to the box of clothing and bend down to find something clean.

"You can stop staring at me any time now," I deadpan. "Unless you want to actually tell me what that little -fit last night was all about because frankly I'm still curious. You had absolutely no problem with him all those times we talked over comm.-link, and you were decent to him when he came to Mato to collect the recruits with the others."

"Bree, I told you to leave it alone. Why can't you just drop it?" he snaps, his temper rising.

"Because you're being a total man- about a man who is being kind enough to allow us to live here without asking anything in return! It was his mention that gave me the opportunity to take up a position with people who are actually consequential to the rebellion. All this time we've been stuck underground with no chance of earning our freedom for ourselves, resigned to the idea that the best we could do is sabotage things here and there, and that we would only be free if everyone else won the inevitable war and gave that freedom to us." He sits in silence as if suddenly ashamed. "At the risk of sounding like an myself, you have yourself and two other trained Matoki here with you who are able head out; if you can't keep the same level head you had in Mato about taking whatever action we can whenever we can, then at least stay out of my way so that I can do it myself."

Standing up, I take my clothes and storm out, pain-killers in hand. Every door I pass through is slammed until I'm standing under a hot shower, letting the water take my frustrations away and gently massage my increasingly painful injuries. I don't know what his problem is and in all honesty I really don't care. The last thing I need right now is an argument with him when I can't even fight him to put an end to it like we normally would. When I finally turn off the water and pull the new clothes on, I can feel my arm twinge. Cringing, I dry-swallow my dose then head back out.

On the way towards the dining hall I throw my nightshirt in to our room; I don't want to go in as I'm all but too enthusiastic about simply avoiding Yongguk if he's still in there. Slamming the door once again, I continue on and am glad to hear what sounds like everyone sitting together in the dining hall. Spooning some eggs in to a bowl, I make my way over to the table and sit down to the left of Hakyeon. Junhong, who is sitting across from me, smiles and asks me if I slept well. Jongup, who is sitting to his left, jabs him in the ribs and scolds him quietly. Hyuk leans over to whisper something to Junhong who replies in kind; he then leans across the table to whisper to Ken, relaying the message and the three of them stop and stare at me before cackling to themselves. Ravi, sitting beside Hyuk, looks over with a lost expression.

"What?" Hakyeon asks.

I shake my head and shrug before I grab a fork from the middle of the table and start eating. We all sit joking with each other as we eat, greeting Hongbin cheerfully as he makes his way over to the table, taking a seat beside Ken. Hyuk suddenly sits up straight, saying something through the food in his mouth as he reaches under his seat and passes a black bundle to Hongbin who looks confused. Hakyeon's hand lands on my leg, running up and down gently.

"Oh," I hear him say quietly; he taps his fingers on my knee to get my attention and I look over at him with curiosity. "I was talking to some of the others about it and considering the recent events I figure Taylor should probably start learning to defend herself. Would you be willing to have some of your men start training her?"

"Oh yeah, that's no problem! They're probably bored out of their skulls and looking for something to do anyways." I lift my fork to continue when I thought strikes me and I stop again. "Wait, why would you want her to start training now?"

"Um… because she got shot?"

"I know that. What I mean is, didn't she receive orders?"

Hakyeon's hand stops moving and everyone at the table is suddenly quiet, listening.

"What orders?"

"Well, I know it's not like Mato so you get to choose who it's with, but don't people receive orders here, too?"

"Bree, what orders are you talking about?"

I look at him like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "To get pregnant."

Everyone starts laughing though Jongup is motioning for me to shut up and Ravi's laugh is hesitant.

"I don't understand what's funny."

"What in the hell would make you think something like that?" Ken chokes out through his laughter.

"Jongup told me."

Attentions turn to Jongup, though in Ravi's case it's a suspicious and vaguely dangerous look.

"What?"

"That's not what I said!"

"You said they were having . Why would they be having if she wasn't told to get pregnant?"

The table falls silent for a few moments before it explodes. Leo, who is just walking in, sits down beside Ravi.

"Are you serious?"

"She's kidding, right?"

"One of our guys or yours?"

"Everybody just shut up!" I jump at the volume of N's voice beside me. "Bree, explain please."

Jongup is suddenly looking at me, panicked.

"What?" I ask yet again.

Hakyeon's hand squeezes my thigh to get my attention back on him. "Bree…"

"I heard her in Leo's room last night and when they came out after she was wearing his shirt and no pants."

No one says anything but the look on Ravi's face is one that could kill as he turns to face Leo. Leo on the other hand is already on his feet and going back the way he came at twice the pace. Everyone is staring at me, as if not believing what I had just told them was true. Jongup has a hand shielding his face from Ravi as he turns his glare on him. Hongbin picks up the bundle Hyuk had passed him earlier and unrolls it; the only way to describe the look on his face is absolutely livid.

"Bree, come down to my office for your shots. Now. I'm going to be busy in the medical ward for a while."

I don't bother arguing. Not because I'm worried about the fact that he's angry but because I'd rather get my first set of shots over and done with for the day. Receiving them is never any less painful and I don't expect that it ever will be; all in all though, I'm glad Hongbin has what is needed to heal breaks so quickly. Mato is more than a little behind the times in terms of medical treatment. We have all the machines and our doctors know what they're doing but there is a lot lacking in terms of actual vaccines, medicines, and the like. Giving my arm a once-over, he smiles and tells me that I should be able to have the pins all taken out by the end of the week, and my shots will be cut back to once per day. Once he's done, I make my way back towards the stairs, intent on finishing my breakfast. I hear his door slam behind me and I can't help but wince – Hongbin is going to tear a strip off her. As I'm heading back up the stairs, Hakyeon is making his way down slowly, a blank expression written across his face but his eyes shifting back and forth, giving away that his mind is elsewhere. I slip wordlessly past, careful not to disturb him.

By the time I get back to the table, the only people still sitting there aside from myself are Yongguk, Jongup, and Zelo, Daehyun still apparently in favour of making himself scarce. I don't want to do much other than ignore Yongguk for the day but with Hakyeon asking for me help with Taylor, I need to speak with all of them right now. Dropping onto the bench beside Jongup he looks over at me slowly.

"What?"

"That was genuinely awkward, Bree."

"How was that awkward? In Mato, everyone knows who has slept with whom and no one gives a !"

A hand slams against the metal table top and my head snaps in Yongguk's direction. "This isn't Mato!"

"Don't yell at me," I hiss through gritted teeth.

"Well, I don't see you listening to me when I talk to you reasonably, Bree. We're essentially in VIXX now and people don't operate the same way here as they do back home. None of the other districts operate like Mato does; what they do to people there is inhuman! Look what they tried to do to you! To the government's so-called diplomats we're all disposable and we're bred like animals. We can find the one we love but I can't touch her!"

I catch the slip but he's storming out of the room before I can say anything and Zelo's hand on my shoulder keeps me in place. He looks at me kindly, sadly, and shakes his head.

"Let him go for now. I know you two usually work fights out through a sparring match but this is not one of those fights." I look at Jongup, clearly pissed off. "I know you caught that but you need to leave it alone; he's hurting about her and you being there is just going to hurt him worse."