He opened his eyes. He has lost track on what month it was but his gut feeling tells him that it's already summer. The sweat that was trailing down the side of his face and the sweat accumulating on his forehead were sufficient markers. However, it was not as easy as it seems. He straightened himself up and wiped the sweat. He looked straight towards the gray painted wall and clasped his hands. He dreamt once again. It was that dream again.

"Can't sleep?" 

"It's hot.."

"What can you do? it's summer already. Lie back down.."

He did as he was told. He gulped down and rested his hands on his chest. It bothered him. He hasn't dreamt that dream for so long and for it to come down to him all of a sudden took him by surprise. Slowly, he turned to his side, once again facing the gray-painted wall, closed his eyes and hoped within himself that he sleeps peacefully.

"Hey..Hey! Kim, Lee.. wake your lazy asses up and get out of bed!"

The morning call was no use. He tried with utmost effort to fall asleep but it was no use. He closed his eyes, turned to his side, scrambled with his blanket but everything deemed fruitless. He scratched his head and sat up. The person with whom he shared his room was already dressed, just finishing buttoning up.

"I assume you weren't able to fall asleep."

He shook his head.

"Your eyes give it away. Wash your face before going out or else the others will pick on you again. I don't want to go out of my way and help you. But don't think I am doing it for your sake, kid. I am about to finish; just trying to glorify my name even more."

He rathered not reply. Instead, he stood up and dressed up as well. Idly, he took the his suit and buttoned it up all the way to the bottom his neck. He took a deep sigh and walked out of the room. Once again, it was one of those days. They knew his name but he will always be labeled as the guy in orange tagged as "31391"

The alarms rang throughout the hallways which means that everyone in the building is required to head out of their rooms and head to the common area where all of them dressed in orange will dine. It was breakfast which means it is most probably 8 or 9 in the morning. There were no clocks located within the building. The authorities always say it is unnecessary. They say that everyone should just focus on what they were doing and not because of the time.

It was an immediate give away to know where the dining area is. You'd hear loud shouts and noises coming from the area. Whether there was a commotion or not, everyone shouts even if the person they were talking to was just opposite them. It's a common picture for him. It's always been like that ever since he came in.
The queue was already fairly short since he came out a little late. He took a tray and expected what the meal would be. The smell of the food the canteen staff were serving are enough to let someone know what the food was.. and as he predicted; rice, tasteless seaweed soup and two slices of chicken . The taste won't satisfy anyone's tastebuds but the food was enough to fill a person's stomach. The servings were generous.

"Hey! Key, over here!!"

It was his roommate. He goes by the name Onew but the man was clumsy enough to reveal his true name. Key made his way to the table. They were accompanied by three other prisoners which were quite quiet. As he was about to reach his seat, he fell over. The guys that were near them focused their attention's towards Key. A few gasped while others just stared.

"Oops.. Sorry." Someone uttered.

Key looked at the spilled soup and then up to see who it was. As he expected, it was Siwon. He stood and picked up his tray and made his way back to the table once more. Siwon and the rest of his crew inside the prison just chuckled and walked away.

"You should've punched him! It's not the first time he has done it.. If you don't fight back. He'll keep doing it."

"It's fine, hyung. You said yourself that you are just trying to glorify your name. I am doing the same thing. I don't like it here as much as you.. Why would I trouble myself if I can continue to behave and be in favor of the authorities."

"Well, you do have a point."

Key digged into the remainder of the food he had left on his tray while Onew chowed down on the chicken s. He asked one of Key's slice which the latter gladly gave away.
Once everyone finished, the tasks for that day were distributed. Task assignment and grouping is usually based upon the wing where their rooms were located. Key and Onew's were located on the south-west wing which were assigned to cleaning the common shower room. Key sighed while Onew pretended to puke.

They were all men. It is highly expected that the bathroom will be filthy. The two of them gathered the buckets and worn out brushes that they will be using to scrub the floors and tiles in the shower room. They went ahead of picking up the brushes to avoid settling in scrubbing the toilets which were a lot more disgusting. 

Onew lathered the floor with the soapy water while Key started to brush. The soapy water turned dull and muddy. It disgusted Onew. "Seriously, what is this? We don't have a mud pool so why do the floors always turn into this?"

"It's concrete, hyung. It is highly expected since the surface and nature of the material tends to accumulate dirt even if it is not used. You see the overseeing window over there? The dust that comes from outside can actually cause the effect you are so disgusted with."

"All right. No need for your geek talk again.. You always bat that out whenever I ask silly questions.."

"Sorry.. It's always been a habit."

Onew chuckled and helped in scrubbing the moment he finished lathering the floors. The entire shower area had an area of around 42 square meters. It was pretty big. It sounds easy but scrubbing the floors and walls squeaky clean to an extent to satisfy the wardens is difficult. 

It took the two of them and two other prisoners to finish in two hours. It was still early for lunch so they were given the time for leisure. The prison had an open field for soccer which most of the other prisoners enjoyed. It was something that Key and Onew weren't really a fan of. The duo tends to just sit on the bleachers and observe from afar.

"How many more months left for you before you finally get out?"

"I'll still be under probation for six months before I actually can call myself free. But at least I can enjoy the luxury of sleeping on a more cozy bed. It's about two months more and I can finally get out."

"So three years passed like that, already?"

Onew is one of the prisoners that had the lightest case inside the facility. He was a fresh college graduate that became friends with the wrong people. He was a skilled graduate and computer programmer. His wrong friends used his skills in coercing him to use his ability to code algorithms that will allow them to hack into ATM machines which would make the machines vend all the contents. Onew was good but by chance, the police were able to track the IP address he used and traced the location. The others got a heads up and didn't return after obtaining the money which left Onew to pay for the crime. Prior that incident, he had a clean record which is why his sentence is lighter. The jury that presided over his trial considered his case as a mistake and a phase of rebellion.

"How about you?"

Key just smiled and looked from afar. "You do know about it, right?"

"Sorry."

"It's..."

Before Key was even able to finish his sentence, he was struck with a soccer ball with ample force to cause him to get dizzy. He looked to where the ball came from and Choi Minho snickered at his direction.. Proud of hitting a bull's eye.

"Key, are you all right?"

"I'm okay, hyung. Just a little dizzy. "

"Let's go inside."

Onew assisted Key to the clinic. It wasn't anything sophisticated but there was enough medicine for the prisoners. Add to that the old nurse was really nice.

"Ahjumma?"

"Ohh. Onew-ya.. What happened?"

"It's Key?"

"Lie him down. Let me guess, it's the Choi Brothers again?"

"Yeah."

"Those two always picks on this poor kid. Key is too nice to be honest. You guys are in a harsh environment. I know that fighting back will only be troublesome but he has to learn to defend himself."

"I know that, ahjumma.. But somehow, I honestly think Key is not the type of guy to fight. He prefers to handle situations professionally."

Onew left Key in the nurse's hands. Key was still fairly conscious before Onew left but the shot he received from Minho's kick was quite strong. He fell asleep immediately.

-------------------

"Don't..Please."

"Why shouldn't I?"

He walked closer towards her, with an evil grin painted on his face and revengeful eyes as he looked upon the woman. She continued to cower into the corner; covering her face and was expecting the doom she was about to face. In three seconds, as he was two feet away from her, a shot was fired..A single shot was fired.

"No.. No!!"

It was that dream once again. The dream that haunted him when he entered and the very exact dream that has haunted him for the past two weeks. Key looked around and he found himself still in the clinic where Onew left him. He went out of the bed and took a tissue paper and pen to write a note to thank the nurse for looking after him. She was already asleep in her office. The old lady has been nothing but nice to him ever since he came in. It was already dark and most of the halls were already empty. Key felt that dinner time was already over. He missed it but he doesn't really mind it. He wasn't feeling hungery anyway. He left the corridor of the right wing and started to head to the south-west where his room was. 

As he walked along the halls and reached the corner of the south wing, someone spoke.

"Well, if it isn't chicken?"

It was Minho.. The one that hit him in the face earlier that day.

"What do you want, Choi?"

"Nothing.. I just came to check you. Didn't see you at the dining hall this evening.. Saw you come out of the right wing. Clinic, I presume?"

"It's none of your business."

"Woah, woah.. What's your mouth, you bastard!"

Key snapped and dragged Minho by the collar with much force which surprised the latter. He led the two of them in a storage room which contained some buckets, brushes and a few dusting feathers. In one swift motion, Key pushed Minho to the wall which made the taller one smack his head on the concrete causing him to shout it pain. Also, Key grabbed one of the brushes, cracked the handle making a sharp point from where the rest of the wood snapped off. He then pointed it towards to Minho's neck.

"I've been the object of affection of you and your brother. Gosh, Choi.. I am flattered.. Since that is the case, I suppose you already know why I am in here, right? I mean, come on.. You love to follow me around. I bet you've heard the stories."

Key deepened his poke on Minho's neck with the snapped wood which made Minho's sweat trail to the body of the wood. "I am poking directly above your carotid artery. It's one of the blood vessels in the body that pumps a lot of blood. If I push into it and raise the angle to a near 60 degrees, I can also dislocate and dislodge your mandible. Not such a pretty sight, isn't it?! If you don't cut it out with your lame jokes and pranks, I will be more than honored to make you bleed out. I am not scared. I can easily run away with it. I am smart.. Unlike you.."

Minho looked directly into Key's eyes and trembled in fear. The typical Key he'd bully around in the field or in the dining halls was gone at that moment. Key's eyes reflected that of anger and vengeance. 

"All right.. All right! I get it. I'll stop. I'll tell my brother to stop messing with you as well. Please, just drop this thing on my neck."

Key clicked his tongue and threw away the wood to the corner. Minho ran out of the room almost screaming while Key headed to his room to finally get some shut eye. 

Friday came early and it's one of the lightest days in the week for the prisoners. The administration tends to conduct religious prayer meetings or even academic lectures for the benefit of the inmates. To ensure attendance, two wings are randomly chosen to attend. Those that don't go either help in the kitchen or tend to the fields. Most of the time, the lectures are very boring and the south-west wing is always lucky to dodge the lackluster program. Unfortunately, that day, the south-west wing was chosen.

"Hurry up,  hyung!!" Key rushed Onew. He seemed to be the only prisoner enthusiastic for it because the topic would be the molecular approach to criminology. It only means that the speakers would be explaining and fortifying the fact that criminals can't always get away from their crime. The lecture aims to enforce in the prisoner's minds to not commit crimes again. Key could care less on the objective. The lecture screams science and that's all that matters to him.

He dragged Onew to the auditorium where the lecture will be conducted. He sat near the front and awaited eagerly like a little kid excited for his toy. About six rows of 20 seats were filled and the lights were finally closed. The focus was finally on stage. The bored prisoners only looked at the light and sighed..Not really enthused to listen. However, everyone's demeanor changed when the speaker came out.

It was a testosterone filled facility. Their action was only natural. The speaker had a special power over the crowd that day. 

Why? It's because she is a woman.

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First chapter! I actually plan to tag this fic Rated M since the concept is really dark but I am still debating whether to push that. I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. Please look forward to the next one^^