Youngjae was the first to leave the store with his backpack full of food.
 
Daehyun was the second.
 
After a couple minutes, Yongguk was nowhere to be seen.
 
"What do you think happened?" Youngjae asked. The seconds passed, and Youngjae grew more and more anxious. Where was Yongguk? What was taking him so long?
 
Daehyun shrugged as he put the backpacks into the back of the van. "I don't know."
 
"We have to go get him," Youngjae said. He couldn't take his eyes off the store because he feared that if he did, Yongguk would never appear again.
 
"You heard him earlier," Daehyun warned. "We have to leave."
 
Youngjae spun around to glare at Daehyun. "He's Guernica's leader! We can't just leave him in there! What if he's dying?"
 
Daehyun grit his teeth, and slammed the doors before turning to Youngjae. "We have orders to leave if anything happens!"
 
"He could be dead!" Youngjae exclaimed, his hands balling into fists.
 
"All the more reason to leave!"
 
Youngjae stared at Daehyun in shock. How could he say that? Didn't he care at all about Yongguk? When Youngjae spoke again, his voice was nearly a whisper. "If something happened to you, would Yongguk leave you?"
 
A look of defeat flashed across Daehyun's face, and then...Youngjae thought he saw shame. "...no."
 
Youngjae took a deep breath, and grabbed Daehyun's hand. "Let's go."
 
Youngjae led Daehyun back into the store. They didn't have much time before the alarms again. They'd have to find Yongguk and get out before then.
 
"You're absolutely pathetic!"
 
Daehyun and Youngjae looked at each other, and ran to the source of the voice. It wasn't very hard, considering the way the yelling grew more and more furious with each passing second. They went out the back door, and they found the person who was yelling—as well as Yongguk. He was up against a wall, being choked by a Legion soldier, who spewed curses and insults. Yongguk clawed helplessly at the soldier's tense arms, gasping for breath.
 
Youngjae stared, terrified. What was a soldier doing here?
 
"Yongguk!" Daehyun exclaimed, pulling out his handgun.
 
The soldier spun around, his eyes wide, and Yongguk used that momentary confusion to pin the soldier to the ground.
 
"Why didn't you guys ing leave?" Yongguk rasped. The soldier squirmed in Yongguk's grasp, but Yongguk only pressed down harder. "I will shoot you if you don't stop ing moving."
 
"You wouldn't," the soldier sneered. "You're a coward, Bang Yongguk. Just like all the other rats."
 
Why... Why was the soldier speaking to Yongguk like he knew him?
 
Yongguk pulled out a ray gun from behind him, and held it against the soldier's head. "Rats are smarter than you think."
 
Yongguk pulled the trigger, and the soldier beneath him jerked as the laser shot through his head. Youngjae stared as a wisp of white smoke floated up form the soldier's head. Heaving a deep breath, Yongguk stood up, and wlaked towards Daehyun and Youngjae.
 
"Come on, you two," Yongguk grunted. "We gotta leave before someone shows up."
 
As the three of them walked in deafening silence, Youngjae noticed something was amiss. He stared at Yongguk, trying to pinpoint what it was. He glanced at Daehyun, and the other did the same. Apparently, they'd reached the same conclusion.
 
"Yongguk...?" Daehyun asked. "Are you alright?"
 
"Yeah."
 
Then, Youngjae saw it.
 
"Your shoulder," he said, picking up his pace so he was right beside Yongguk. "Yongguk, you were shot."

Daehyun was by Yongguk's other side almost immediately. "Yongguk, what the ? Give me the backpack."

Yongguk shouldered off the backpack, and handed it to Daehyun, hissing in pain as he did so.

"How the hell did that happen?" Daehyun asked.

"He shot me from behind," Yongguk replied, leaning on Daehyun for support. "God, I wasn't paying attention. I should have been."

Daehyun reached into his pocket, and handed the van's keys to Youngjae. "Open the van."

Youngjae nodded, running towards the van. He still didn't understand why that Legion soldier was there, of all places. What were chances of that happening, anyway? Youngjae shook his head as he opened the back doors. He needed to focus on helping Yongguk and Daehyun. It wasn't long before the two reached the van, and Yongguk let out a grunt as he laid down.

"Call Himchan," Yongguk instructed. "He'll know what to do."
 
"You do it, Youngjae," Daehyun said as he went in search of a first-aid kit among all the items strewn on the floor.
 
Youngjae blinked, apprehensive and a bit horrified. The only time he'd really spoken to Himchan was back in the bunker, but that didn't exactly count because it was mostly Himchan speaking. Yongguk had peeled off his outer layer of clothing, and the blood had seeped through, blossoming like a flower. No, there were more important things to worry about. Shoving his fears aside, Youngjae pulled out his phone and dialed Himchan's number.
 
Himchan picked up after the second ring, and Youngjae put the phone on speaker. "Hello?" His voice was wary, cautious even.
 
"It's Yongguk," Youngjae breathed, the panic beginning to settle in. "He was shot. We need your help."
 
There was a moment of silence on Himchan's end, but Youngjae could hear muffled rustling and talking. After a moment, Himchan said, "Bullet or laser?"
 
"Laser," Daehyun provided, placing a first-aid kit by Youngjae.
 
"Better than extracting a bullet," Himchan replied with a sigh of relief. "Okay, Daehyun—"
 
"I'm going to get us out of here. You'll have to use Youngjae," Daehyun said, opening the back doors to exit.
 
Youngjae's mouth fell open. "Wait, Dae—"
 
"Youngjae?" Himchan called out.
 
"Y-Yeah." Youngjae gulped, his gaze landing on Yongguk. The bloodstain had gotten larger, and it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
 
"Where's the wound?"
 
Youngjae peered at the wound, and shuddered at the thought of having to treat something so gruesome. "On the left shoulder."
 
"Okay. You need to follow my exact instructions." There was a slight tremble in Himchan's voice, and that didn't contribute to Youngjae's state of mind.
 
Youngjae took a deep breath, steeling his nerves as Daehyun started up the engine. He flipped on the light on the ceiling of the van, and held back his gasp.
 
//
 
It wasn't exactly the easiest task treating a laser wound inside a moving car, but Youngjae managed to get the task done. Yongguk passed out after ten minutes––probably from shock––and Daehyun stayed in the front seat even after he'd parked the van.
 
Youngjae leaned back on his knees, heaving a sigh of relief as he stared at Yongguk's now bandaged shoulder.
 
"Yongguk?" Himchan's voice called out through the phone, hopeful and quiet.
 
"He's still, uh...asleep," Youngjae replied, unable to bring himself to say unconscious.
 
"Yeah," Himchan replied, his voice still quiet, and it wasn't hard to hear the disappointment in his voice. Louder, he said, "Thanks, Youngjae. And... Sorry."
 
Youngjae felt his cheeks heat up slightly. Maybe this was just what he needed for Himchan to finally trust him. "It's alright."
 
Himchan was the first to hang up, but a wave of relief washed over Youngjae as he laid back against the van wall.
 
//
 
Daehyun snored in the front seat, and no matter what Youngjae tried, he just couldn't doze off. Yongguk seemed to be asleep, judging by the way his chest lifted and fell at an even rate. Outside, Youngjae heard the scuffling of Legion soldier boots, and sighed.
 
"Why are they so persistent?" Youngjae mumbled quietly.
 
Yongguk turned his head, opening his eyes as he stared at Youngjae.
 
"Sorry... Did I wake you?" Youngjae asked, feeling a pang of guilt. Yongguk was supposed to be resting.
 
"No," Yongguk replied, a response that was short and clipped that in no way quelled Youngjae's guilt.
 
Youngjae nodded anyway, bringing his legs up to his chest. It was too silent with just the sound of Daehyun snoring and Yongguk breathing. He wasn't used to such...nothingness.
 
"They're the Empress's pawns," Yongguk suddenly said. He'd turned his head so he was staring up at the roof.
 
"I'm sorry?" Youngjae asked in lieu of response.
 
"The Legion. They know of nothing else but her," Yongguk said, his voice going low.
 
As a sort of joke, Youngjae said, "You talk like you used to be one of them."
 
There was silence for a moment, and Youngjae glanced at Yongguk in curiosity.
 
"That's because I was," Yongguk muttered.
 
Youngjae's eyes widened, his mind focusing on that one fact. Was that why the Legion soldier was so familiar with Yongguk? Because Yongguk himself used to be one?
 
"Oh."
 
Yongguk closed his eyes as he began talking, as if he was remembering a time from the past. "I left because...I realized there was something better than being a soldier. I didn't care if I wasn't being loyal to the Empress and the country anymore, I just needed to leave."
 
"Why did you decide to go against the Republic then? Why couldn't you just live a relatively normal life?" Youngjae questioned. Doing that would have been a much more logical choice than running a rebellion.
 
"Why didn't I?" Yongguk asked, more to himself than to Youngjae. He contemplated the question for a moment before speaking again. "They make being a Legion soldier sound like a high and mighty status, but there's something wrong going on inside the Republic. I thought that it'd be better to do something instead of sit on the sides. How else will you make a difference?"
 
Yongguk made a good point.
 
"How'd you find out?" Youngjae asked. The more Yongguk talked, the more Youngjae wanted to know.
 
"Do you know about the NeoMotion controversy?" Yongguk asked suddenly.
 
Youngjae nodded. How couldn't he? The NeoMotion pills were mentioned in his history textbooks—told as one of the many follies of the Old World Man—and these pills had the capability to make people feel certain emotions—something about triggering neural signals in the brain, but Youngjae couldn't remember the details. However, as people began to abuse the substance, all natural emotions were virtually wiped out and replaced by the pills. It was pulled off the market shortly after, and all those illegally producing the pills were arrested.
 
"I realized that the soldiers'—our—emotions were being suppressed," Yongguk explained. "What we were fed was basically the opposite of NeoMotion. Soldiers felt no empathy, no love, just undoubted loyalty to the Empress. We were basically robots, and, as a result, we killed all those who disobeyed the law without feeling a single bit of guilt."
 
Youngjae sat there, speechless. To think the Republic was doing such a thing was horrible. Why would they do that?
 
"I wasn't dismissed from my duties," Yongguk continued. "I ran away, and I've been wanted ever since."
 
"How... How long ago was that?" Youngjae asked.
 
"I don't know... Six, maybe seven, years?" Yongguk answered. "It gets hard to keep track."
 
Youngjae kept silent, mulling over his thoughts.
 
"I can't tell you how many people I've killed when I was in the Legion. I've lost count," Yongguk suddenly said. "And I won't mind if you begin to hate me."
 
"I don't," Youngjae reassured.

Yongguk turned to look at Youngjae, and smiled.
 
It wasn't that Youngjae was angry at Yongguk for being a former Legion soldier. Far from that, actually. He felt...admiration for Yongguk. To run away from the Republic, and then stay in hiding for seven years was incredible.

A/N: Ayyyyyy I finally got to include this into the story

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