T h e   I n s t i t u t e

Chapter Ten

As an underground facility, it wasn’t often that the grounds surrounding the Institute were alive with activity but, when the group of special agents arrived, they were met with chaos. A fleet of SUVs were lurching out of the driveway, dodging the great amount of persons darting around. There were flashing red lights coming from the building so undoubtedly the alarm was wailing. In the centre of it all was a frantic Master Chen directing regular agents this way and that, yelling into his communicator as well as his hands free phone.

The second the chauffeur cars came to a halt, Kangin bolted from the vehicle in wolf form with the rest of the group following him, all confused and anxious though some of them still quite intoxicated. Master Chen’s eyes lit up when he saw Kangin bounding across the drive and he hurried forward to meet the special agents as they came closer.

‘What happened?!’ Leeteuk immediately shouted.

‘It’s just as we feared – there’s been a break-in at the Adamantium Vaults.’ Master Chen explained. There were outcries of anguish and disbelief. ‘We’ve got dispatch on their way now. As of yet, we don’t know what’s been taken if anything. Master Gong has sent troops out to patrol the area but I’m going to need some of you to get down there and assess the situation within the building, find out if something’s gone missing and give a full report on anything suspicious. Yesung, Heechul, Henry! I need you suited up and ready to leave in the next fifteen minutes. Go!’

‘What about the rest of us?’ Shindong asked.

‘I need you to stay here but you’ll be on-call. If something happens, I need to know you’re all immediately available as backup.’ The group spurred into action like they’d been electrocuted and quickly headed straight into the Institute. Kangin led the way with great furry strides, delving into the depths of the building, along lengthy corridors filled with agents running up and down, across lobbies buzzing from a frenzy of noise and movement until finally they reached the quieter hallways of their sleeping quarters. To some confusion, Kangin then forcefully nudged Leeteuk into the room that was officially the latter’s but hadn’t been slept in for quite some time.

‘What the hell happened back there?’ He snapped.

‘I don’t know what you mean.’ Leeteuk started absentmindedly brushing dust off the top of the chest of drawers.

‘In Faust. Henry wanted to take a picture of us and you acted like he’d asked you for a .’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘I’m being ridiculous?! It was only a picture!’ Kangin growled. Leeteuk continuing cleaning up the drawers even though the dust was probably gone now.

‘I told him I didn’t want him to and he tried anyway.’

‘What’s the big deal?! Do you just not want evidence that you’re actually with me?’ Kangin challenged, reliving a past hurt of the many times Leeteuk had insisted that their relationship was nobody’s business and therefore, completely private.

‘You’re being stupid.’

‘Am I? Because the way I see it, the only time I’m actually allowed to be your boyfriend is when no one else is looking! Are you ashamed of me or something?’

‘Jesus Christ! We can’t keep coming back to this! Are you really that insecure that you think anything I do means I don’t love you?!’ Leeteuk looked up but only to glare at Kangin, he knew his eyes had seeped to a seer silver and fought against his mind trying to project the future as it did when his emotions ran wild.

‘I wouldn’t have to think that way if it wasn’t for you.’ Kangin bit out; his tone dropping to a threateningly low level. Leeteuk felt his temper rise.

‘You know I hate it.’ He snapped. ‘After living for years in fear of my neurotic parents hunting me down, doing anything and everything to make myself disappear.’

‘That was years ago, Leeteuk! They’re gone! They can’t find you now.’

‘They told me I was a devil!! They told me they were going to burn me alive for predicting the future!!’ Leeteuk yelled. ‘So I’m sorry if having pictures taken freaks me out but you could at least be a bit more sensitive than just assuming it’s all to do with you!’ Kangin looked taken aback for a fraction of a second but then he shook his head and his nostrils flared.

‘If I hadn’t had to wait for a whole ing year to finally tell my best friend that we were together… if I could actually hold your hand in public, if I could even take you to my mother’s grave… maybe I would be a bit more sensitive!’

‘How-’

‘Believe me when I say I’m sorry and that I wish you never had to go through what you did but that doesn’t change this. I’m always going to feel like you’re ashamed of me because you make me think that way!’

‘But I do love you, Kangin!’

‘Well they probably don’t know we’re still here.’ Shindong replied. Eunhyuk flapped his arm about and shushed them both.

‘What?!’ Finally.

‘I just wanted to know if you’re alright.’

‘I’m peachy.’ Sungmin glared and turned his back on Kyuhyun once again, kicking off his heels and moving around his room as he started to put away his bag and jewellery. He certainly didn’t seem peachy.

‘Look I saw Aaron leave you back at the club. I-’

‘Oh don’t pretend like you care! I saw the looks you were giving him. Not everyone’s like Siwon, Kyu, and I can take care of myself!’ At least they were making eye contact now.

‘I never said you couldn’t.’ Sungmin angrily paced up and down, trying to breathe through his obvious rage but Kyuhyun was at a loss as to where it was coming from. He’d never been this mad about him being protective before.

‘Where the hell do you get off being pissed at me for dancing with a guy at a club when you saw no problem in doing the exact same thing?!’ Sungmin finally exploded.

‘I wasn’t pissed and Heechul made me talk to that girl. It’s not like I was particularly interested.’

‘Oh no! Of course not! ‘Cause you’re not a long term guy, are you? You’re only entertained for a while and then you move on like nothing happened.’ The sarcastic tone lashed at Kyuhyun with a bitter sting.

‘What the are you talking about?’

‘We had , Kyuhyun! In case you’d forgotten.’ Kyuhyun’s eyes flashed vermillion as they narrowed.

‘Don’t try and put that on me. You had as much a part in that as I did, if not more because, as I recall, you were the one who used me!!’

‘You could have at least said something! Sure we talked in the morning but I thought you’d at least act as if it was a big deal!’ Sungmin took off his bracelet and threw it across the room.

‘Don’t you ing dare.’ Kyuhyun growled. ‘Don’t you ing dare say that!’

‘Why? Am I wrong?! At least Siwon told me what he was feeling!’ As soon as the word Siwon broke out into the air, Kyuhyun felt his primal nature roar and the bookcase behind him shook violently with evil writhing into its wood, the shelves jumping about and falling down as books propelled onto the floor.

‘Don’t ever compare me to Siwon!!!’ Sungmin’s eyes widened. He staggered backwards. ‘And don’t try and excuse me of acting like it didn’t mean anything because you didn’t say anything afterwards either and then you go off flirting with some guy!’ The lights started flickering on and off as Kyuhyun’s anger reached boiling point. ‘And, just for the record, it WAS A BIG ING DEAL!!! So you Sungmin!!’ With that, he ripped the bedroom door open, stalked outside and slammed it shut behind him.

‘Do you think we should check on Sungmin? See if he’s alright?’ Donghae wondered. All three of them could still hear Sungmin’s agonising cries.

‘Better not. He’ll figure out that we were eavesdropping and then we’ll all be in trouble.’ Shindong replied and the others nodded. Then Donghae abruptly started giggling. ‘What?’

‘Kyuhyun and Sungmin had !’

‘Keep your voice down, idiot.’ Eunhyuk muttered but he was soon grinning.

‘We all knew this day would come.’ Shindong said sagely.

‘I didn-’ Donghae began but was suddenly cut off by Eunhyuk who threw a hand over his mouth.

‘Shhh!! Listen!’

‘You know what I’m going to say.’ ZhouMi began, folding his arms across his chest.

‘Yes. I do. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to say anything back.’ In a fit of annoyance, ZhouMi flexed the muscles of his brain and lashed Hankyung with a swipe of pain through his emotional threshold. ‘Bastard..’ Hankyung muttered, recoiling from the sting.

‘I told you that you’re changing and whatever happened back in that club just proves it.’

‘I can’t help it if I remember things at inconvenient moments.’

‘But what exactly did you remember?’ ZhouMi stood there waiting for an answer for a long minute while Hankyung scowled at his feet.

‘I don’t see why it matters.’ He finally snapped.

‘It matters because you could have seriously hurt someone!’

‘Yeah well I’m used to that now.’ Hankyung angrily pushed past ZhouMi once again when the other boy was caught off guard but he was grabbed and made to turn back around. ‘Let go.’

‘No! Not until you tell me what’s going on behind that ridiculously neutral face.’

‘There’s nothing going on.’

‘That’s the worst lie you’ve ever told me.’

‘Can’t you just drop it? It’s not like you can help!’ ZhouMi let out an indignant cry.

‘Maybe I won’t be able to help but at least I can try! You’ll never know unless you open up about your past for once!’

‘But it is the past! It’s over and done with.’

‘Yes and its coming back to haunt you!’ ZhouMi could feel Hankyung’s resilience fracturing slightly and resisted the urge to smile when he realised he might actually be getting somewhere. ‘Just tell me!’ Another tense sixty seconds went by.

‘I can’t tell you because I don’t even know what it is I remembered.’ Hankyung admitted. ‘I just know it was a memory. It felt familiar.’

‘Oh come on. There’s got to be more than that.’

‘Do you think this is easy for me?!!’ All at once Hankyung was no longer the stoic watcher with the dancing flames behind his eyes, he was a burning eruption of white hot rage born from the smouldering embers of a broken child. ‘You say I’m changing and, yeah, I’m changing. Don’t you think I’d stop it if I could?!! You have no idea what this is like!’

‘Hankyung!’ ZhouMi cried, mostly in fear.

‘I’m not the person you think I am!!’ Hankyung’s eyes were burnt orange. ZhouMi staggered backwards, failing to see his old friend in the figure stood before him just as he had said. In a desperate attempt at bringing back the Hankyung he knew, he tried mentioning what had been nothing more than a theory.

‘Heechul.’ He uttered. ‘Think about Heechul.’

‘Possibly.’

‘Probably.’

‘Do you think we should go now?’ Again there was a brief pause for contemplation.

‘Nope!’ Donghae grinned.

‘, here comes Yesung.’ Eunhyuk pointed out and grabbed his accomplices to pull them all up to a standing position as if that would make them look slightly less suspicious. It wouldn’t have mattered anyhow since Yesung seemed a little frantic to say the least. He came speeding down the hallway with mad-looking eyes and his bottom lip between gnawing teeth.

‘I can’t find Ryeowook anywhere!’ He cried.

‘Really? Are you sure he didn’t just curl up with one of your turtles?’ Eunhyuk joked but the smirk was quickly swiped off his face when Yesung grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

‘This isn’t funny!’

‘Woah.’ Shindong stepped in. ‘Calm down. He’s got to be around here somewhere.’

‘I’ve looked in my room and his room. He’s not there!’

‘What about the common room? Dongwoo might have just let him fall asleep on one of the sofas.’ Donghae suggested. Yesung’s hand scrabbled through his already bedraggled hair.

‘Maybe…’ He muttered.

‘Hey, why don’t we go and look for Dongwoo and ask him what he did with Wookie? You go check the common room and anywhere else in the meantime.’ Shindong said comfortingly. ‘But if you don’t find him then try not to get in a panic, we’ll sort it out, you’re supposed to be going to the Vaults.’ He pointed out.

‘Well it is the full moon next week. It’s your time of the month.’ Leeteuk tried for a smile and found himself breathing a sigh of relief when Kangin started sniggering. They looked at each other fondly for a few moments and realised that the argument was over… for now. A joke and a laugh couldn’t take away the feelings that had been shared; they were still there, festering under the surface.

‘I guess we better try and keep ourselves awake in case Master Chen calls.’ Kangin said, making for the door. Leeteuk awkwardly followed him. He didn’t know whether now was a good time to try and get back in Kangin’s good books by taking a hold of his hand but when he was about to go for it, the door was open and there were people in the hallway. Better luck next time.

The pair was greeted by Hankyung, ZhouMi and Henry all talking conversationally in Chinese by the opposite wall. Leeteuk could have sworn the older two looked tense and it made him suspicious to know what had been going on since Kangin had pushed him into his old bedroom. Hadn’t Hankyung had some kind of panic attack back in Faust? He still seemed a bit shaken up and that felt unusual because Leeteuk had always viewed Hankyung as the ‘take it on the chin’ type person and not one that let emotions get to him that badly.

‘You ready to go, Henry?’ Kangin asked.

‘Yeah I was just waiting to see if Yesung or Heechul were out here yet.’ Henry was the youngest and he still had the bright-eyed eagerness that most of the others had come with when they started living at the Institute. Leeteuk had seen them all arrive, watched them grow and develop into the team they had become. Sometimes he missed the days when they were still just kids and learning the tricks of the trade without actually having to go out there and be special agents. Henry would soon learn that it wasn’t always exciting.

‘Well you’ve still got a few minutes, I wouldn’t count on Heechul being early.’ Kangin jested. ‘It wouldn’t hurt to go and knock on his door though. He’s probably not looked at the time since getting back to his precious wardrobe.’ Henry laughed.

‘If he doesn’t show up soon then I will but I don’t know why Yesung hasn’t come out yet.’

Leeteuk shrugged. ‘He was still fairly drunk when we got back and he’s probably found Ryeowook so I wouldn’t worry. Stay safe at the Vaults by the way, this night has been crazy enough already.’

‘Alright, Umma.’ Henry stuck out his tongue when Leeteuk gave an affronted scoff at the nickname.

‘Don’t talk to your mother like that.’ Kangin joined in to which he received a roll of the eyes.

He was, undoubtedly, changing. ZhouMi would love to hear that he was right. But Hankyung knew that this wasn’t something he could just stop by recognising it. He should probably talk to someone other than his old friend though the idea of it made him uneasy. He couldn’t even figure out where all this was coming from on his own so how could anyone else know what was wrong with him? There was, of course, the accident… But these memories that pummelled him were not that, they were from before… before it happened, somewhere in the back of his mind, he just couldn’t quite-

‘Hankyung? Are you ok?’ Henry’s eyes blinked up at him in curiosity and worry. A quick glance to the side told him that ZhouMi was giving him a dubious examination. His thoughts must have given him a physical reaction.

‘I… I’m fine. I’ve got a headache.’ Hankyung muttered.

‘Already got a hangover?’ Henry laughed. Hankyung gave him a weak smile.

‘I’m here! I’m here! This bloody ing zip I can’t- urgh!’ He looked over and abruptly the only thought processes he could manage were Heechul, catsuit, Heechul in a catsuit… etc. Then he heard ZhouMi snickering behind his hand and became aware that he’d crossed his legs.

‘I don’t know where Yesung is but we should probably head over to the garage.’ Henry said but Hankyung wasn’t really listening. Heechul was wearing a full body black catsuit in some kind of tight material. It was a protective uniform in technical terms and in other – more accurate – terms, it was a piece of artistry designed to show off and accentuate every single one of Heechul’s assets. Hankyung also took note that Heechul with a pony tail could quite easily become a .

‘He’s probably watching Ryeowook while he sleeps which is usually romantic but its Yesung.’

‘You seem very alert for someone who was necking a fair few tequila shots only an hour ago.’ ZhouMi commented.

‘Gave myself an injection of this weird stuff The Institute picked up from the Netherworlds. It puts you back to normal after drinking or taking drugs or whatever.’ Heechul explained. Hankyung could have sworn the shifter was flicking his eyes over to him more than normal.

‘That sounds a bit illegal.’

‘It probably is but Master Chen only invested in it because of Eunhyuk. He still isn’t forgiven for getting into a mood while he was drunk and then stumbling down to the trainees’ dorm and… let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty. All the kids are scared of him now.’ Heechul finished with a snigger.

‘I think our fifteen minutes are almost up.’ Henry interrupted, looking at his watch.

‘Good luck.’ ZhouMi wished them and then waved as he slid around the corner, presumably to his bedroom. Henry began to take off down the corridor and Hankyung realised that he was still stood there, leaning against the wall and worried about speaking in case it came out in gibberish because Heechul was still there.

‘Um… see you later.’ Heechul tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. Hankyung swallowed thickly.

‘Yup, err, yeah. See you later.’

…

‘It was fun hanging out with you in Faust.’

‘Oh, yeah, I- me too.’

…

‘Bye Hannie.’

‘Bye… princess.’ It came out as more of a question than a real statement since Hankyung had grasped at thin air for any suitable nickname. Heechul was giving him a funny look.

‘Did you just call m-?’

‘Hyung! We have to go!’ Henry ing Lau.

‘See you.’ And with that, Heechul was hurrying off and Hankyung was wishing he could burn up like a phoenix into a pile of ashes since that was how he viewed himself in that instance. But then Heechul turned as he went and smiled at Hankyung.

‘As long as we keep it all to ourselves, we’re fine.’ Eunhyuk replied shortly. He looked tense. Surely he wasn’t getting angry again? They’d already had to calm him down once in the club and that was enough to wear them out for one night.

‘Can you believe Kyuhyun and Sungmin had though?!’ Donghae giggled.

‘Actually, yes.’ Shindong snorted a laugh.

‘I don’t get why they’re so mad at each other.’

‘From what I can tell, Kyuhyun was jealous of Sungmin with that Australian guy and Sungmin was jealous of Kyuhyun with that girl he was with. They need their heads banging together.’ Shindong shook his head in exasperation and Donghae sniggered once again.

‘Are we going in the right direction?’ Eunhyuk cut in. He was eyeing up their surroundings with some incredulity. The three of them had, as promised to Yesung, gone in search of Dongwoo. They had first travelled to the regular agent’s sleeping quarters but no one had seen or heard him there and he wasn’t in his room. Before they decided to give up, however, another agent called Sunggyu mentioned that Dongwoo was particularly fond of a midnight feast in the kitchens.

‘It’s just down here.’

‘Of course you’d know where the kitchen is.’ Shindong gave Eunhyuk a sarcastic smile but continued to lead the way along the hall that would take them to the Institute’s military style kitchens.

‘What do you think’s going on with Hankyung?’ Donghae piped up enthusiastically.

‘I don’t know but I’d rather not get involved.’ Shindong sighed. ‘It sounded pretty serious though.’

‘I wonder why ZhouMi was telling him to think about Heechul.’ Eunhyuk murmured musingly.

‘Oh come on! It’s so obvious.’ Shindong exclaimed. ‘Even Donghae knows.’ Cue Donghae nodding vigorously to further the point.

‘Well enlighten me then oh wise master.’

‘Hankyung lurrrves Heechul!’

‘I wouldn’t put it like that…’ Shindong muttered in protest to Donghae’s childish proclamation.

‘That’s… cool, I guess.’ Eunhyuk was clearly unaffected by this revelation. However, they had now reached the kitchens and more pressing matters took over. Shindong tried the door which was fortunately unlocked and the small group stepped inside. The place was deserted, unsurprisingly. Only big metal appliances and the faintly lingering smell of last night’s dinner were there to welcome them.

‘I don’t think anybody’s home.’ Donghae whispered. Shindong rolled his eyes.

‘I suppose I could try tracking him but, honestly, I think it’d be a waste of energy.’

‘But hang on.’ Eunhyuk said. ‘We can’t find Dongwoo and we’ve got no idea where Ryeowook is. This is starting to look suspicious.’

‘You’re right.’

‘Dun dun deerrrrrr!’

‘Donghae, this is serious.’ Shindong warned.

‘Sorry.’ Donghae bowed his head sheepishly.

‘What are we going to tell Yesung?’ Eunhyuk wondered.

‘I can’t believe we just left the club without knowing where he is!’ Yesung screeched.

‘Look we’ll tell Master Chen when he gets here and sort it out. Ryeowook’s probably fine.’ Henry tried to comfort but it was no use, Yesung was still pacing like a madman and practically on the verge of tears.

‘You’re still drunk as well.’ Heechul pointed out. ‘You wouldn’t be getting this hysterical if you were sober.’

‘Yeah well what would you do if Hankyung went completely missing?!’

Everyone went silent.

The air was so thick after Yesung’s outburst that it made it near impossible to breathe. At least, it definitely felt that way to Heechul. A million thoughts were running through his head and he felt the beginnings of a mild panic attack swarming into his nervous system. He couldn’t believe Yesung would say something like that as if it was perfectly normal. Why would he use Hankyung as an example in his ridiculous question? Why would he use his relationship with Hankyung as a direct comparison to him and Ryeowook? More importantly, why was this bothering him so much?

‘What the did you just say?’ Yesung had seemed to realise that he’d crossed some kind of line and he backed away slightly.

‘I didn’t mean to… it just sort of came out.’ He protested.

‘What gave you the impression that I would be just as panicked about Hankyung going missing as you are about Ryeowook?’ Heechul insisted.

‘I don’t know, I-I don’t know. I just…’ It was at that point when Master Chen entered into the fray. He surveyed the three special agents with curious eyes but chose not to inquire about the troubled faces.

‘You all need to get going. The driver is going to take you straight to the Vaults.’ He said sternly. ‘Set up your com-links in the car and keep us informed at all times. When you get there, it’s going to be a case of investigating the entire facility with complete discretion. You’ll be given a tablet that will show an inventory of the Vaults as you enter them room by room so if something isn’t in its place or gone completely, we’ll know what they took.’

‘Err… speaking of things going missing.’ Yesung interjected.

‘Yes?’ Master Chen fixed his attention onto the boy.

‘I can’t find Ryeowook anywhere. He’s not in his room or my room or anywhere else he’d usually be.’

‘Well have you checked where he wouldn’t usually be?’ Master Chen countered with a pointedly raised eyebrow. There was a smirk threatening to play about his mouth but this only served to confuse Yesung and thus, send him into a further panic.

‘We thought he might have come back early with Dongwoo so Shindong went to look for him but none of it makes any sense and I’m getting really worried now.’

‘Ok, alright. Listen.’ Master Chen soothed. ‘I still need you to go to the Vaults but I give you my word that while you’re gone, I’ll have the place turned upside down looking for Ryeowook. If he isn’t here, I’ll do my best to find out where he might be.’

‘Thank you.’ Yesung muttered. He looked completely dejected despite the problem being taken out of his hands. Heechul tried to feel sorry for him but he was still reeling from the Hankyung slip up. If Yesung was under the impression that there was something going on between him and the Chinaman then how many of the others were as well. He’d already had that talk with Kangin about moving on from Jay and hadn’t Sungmin and Ryeowook been messing with him and Hankyung not long ago.

As he got in the car, Heechul tried to push aside the analytical frenzy going on inside his head. He asked the driver to turn up the radio and sang along loudly with Henry while Yesung curled up in the corner of the back seat like a whiny child. They left The Institute for the second time that night, although, Heechul supposed, it was early morning now. The sky was clear, the moon was bright and they had a job to do. No need to think about Hankyung. Stop thinking about Hankyung. Stop it.

Had he just lost his best friend? Over a stupid fight? Well it wasn’t that stupid actually. Sungmin couldn’t believe he’d got so worked up about that ing girl in Faust enough to start yelling about things he hadn’t even really thought about. Was he really that mad about Kyuhyun not saying something after they’d had ? Yes. He didn’t know why but yes. He didn’t even know what he had expected Kyuhyun to say. That he wanted more… was that it?

Kyuhyun had been so mad when he’d said it was a big deal to him. Sungmin couldn’t figure out why. Or maybe he was just scared to think about it. There are some things in life that to anyone else would look like completely straightforward acts. But they’re only the spectators – they don’t actually have to do it. Sometimes there’s something that you just can’t bring yourself to think, talk, daydream, acknowledge… because you’re so scared you won’t like the outcome if you just go for it.

Because it means that much to you.

Sungmin looked over at his bedside table. Beneath the lamp, next to a pink alarm clock that was never used and a coaster with a picture of Wonder Woman on it was a glittery photo frame. It had been sat on Sungmin’s bedside table for more than ten years. He reached over and picked it up as he sniffled. He smiled. The photo of Kyuhyun and himself when they were teenagers smiled back.

And then of course Sungmin started crying all over again.

omg I'm back

well I didn't really go anywhere, I'm just terrible at updating quickly apparently

I want to stress right now that I'm never going to abandon this fic, I love writing it and I'm really excited about things that are going to happen - I'm just really slow at getting chapters done and dusted which I hope you can forgive me for

I found it kind of cool that this entire chapter spans over a time of about half an hour, possibly less

anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and that you're still interested in reading more :) I can't wait to get another ten chapters finished

sorry about all the swearing as well, I mean I feel it's realistic but I have a terrible cursing vocabulary so, yeah, sorry 

as a small incentive to stick with me and keep supporting the story, there will be a chapter or part of a chapter coming up that involves Kangin, the full moon and a hyperactive Donghae ;D

thank you for not giving up on me so far

~JC