01

The first thing I noticed as I gained consciousness was the strong scent of disinfectant and medicine. I slowly pried open my eyes, squinting them a little to get rid of the blurry vision. My head pounded wildly as my eyes quickly scanned the foreign room. I wasn't the only one here.

“Where am I?” I carefully asked the other occupant of the room — a middle-aged female who had her back turned against me. She seemed to have been preparing some medical equiptment and was caught quite offguard by my sudden question.

“Goodness! Stay where you are!” She stared at me in pure fear as she slowly backed away to where the door was. I was taken aback by her sudden outburst. She kept her widened eyes locked with my confused ones, as she cautiously made her way out of the room, gripping onto the handle of the door.

“Wait! Don't go-” The door slammed shut, leaving me alone in the plain room which strangely resembled the interior design of a sick bay. I placed my hand at the back of my head to soothe the pounding ache which occurred shortly after the lady's outburst. I tried to recall how I ended up in this strange room, but to little avail. The last thing I remembered was... going to bed. What happened before I went to bed?

And then it hit me. Realisation came crashing down on me about where I was and how I ended up here. A sick feeling churned in my stomach as I felt the bitter taste of betrayal and anger crawling up my throat. 

Flashback

“Mum, I have to talk to you about something. It's important.” I rubbed my neck as I took a seat at the dinner table.

“What is it, dear?” My mum placed the last dish she cooked onto the spot in front of me and settled down on the chair nearest to me.

“You know that rule...” I swallowed hard as I grabbed a pair of chopsticks, tapping it against the insides of my empty ricebowl.

“Which one? Honey, you know there's too many for me to know which one you're referring to.” She scooped some rice and placed it into my bowl, giving me a look to stop playing with the utensils.

I bit my bottom lip, hesitating for a moment, “You know... the one I find most ridiculous.”

“You find almost half the rules ridiculous.” She chuckled in amusement, but quickly stopped when she realised how serious I was.

“I'm talking about the one about the superhuman abilities.” As soon as the words left my lips, I could feel the atmosphere darken almost instantly.

“We've talked about this, honey.” My mother spoke after a while. 

“I know, but don't you find it ridiculous? I mean, how can they just deem people who possess powers as a threat? It's utterly unfair, don't you think?” I realised that I had been staring into my bowl of rice the whole time, not daring to take a look at my mother.

“Minkyung, honey. You have to understand that the war we went through, the war before you were born, it was terrible. All of the rules in the law is there for a reason and one reason only — to make sure we don't have to go through another life-changing disaster again.” She explained firmly.

“Okay, I get it. But do they really have to arrest everyone who has powers? I mean, what about those with harmless–”

“Anyone who possess powers are dangerous Minkyung. Don't you see, they're not normal like we are. They're superior, and they're a threat to our very existence. There is no such thing as a harmless power.” She emphasised on her last point.

I went silent after her outburst.

Dinner was done so in a heavy atmosphere. Whatever the conversation had ended off with lingered in the air as I glumly picked on my food. My mind was racing with so many thoughts, actions and possibly regrets that I almost felt like throwing up everything I ate for dinner that night.

After a while, my mind seemed to have come to a decision as I slammed the pair of chopsticks onto the table, surprising my mum.

“Goodness– Yah, have you no manners!” My mother shrieked, obviously shocked since it was the first time I decided to put away my perfect mannerism.

“Mum, I have something to ask you.” I said, staring straight pass my mother. 

“W-What is it, dear?” She tried to resume with her dinner, but she looked shaken. 

“Am I dangerous? Do I look like a threat to you?”  I stared into my mother's eyes in all seriousness.

“Why are you asking me this?” My mother glared back, suspiciously but worriedly.

I took a deep breath. What I was about to reveal could possibly be the most shocking thing the lady who brought me up will ever have to hear in her lifetime.

“Mum...” I began.

“...Yes, dear?” 

“Recently... I just found out that... that I am one of them...”

“One of who?” 

“...One of the people who has powers...” I revealed in one shaky breath. My mother's hand immediately clasped her own mouth as a small whimper could be heard escaping her lips. 

“But my power, it isn't dangerous at all! I promise!” I quickly spoke up.

“What do you mean not dangerous... Ah... this is all just so hard to take in...” fresh trails of tears began to stream down her face, and I almost regretted confessing my secret to her. Putting that aside, I knew it had to done, and it was definitely the right thing to do.

“The only thing I can do is to turn invisible... See?” To prove my point, I quicky commanded my body to turn invisible. A felt the familiar coldness run through my entire body, before an audible gasp escaped my mother's lips. 

“M-Minkyung ah... Y-You're...”  I smiled for the first time since dinner started. It always feels like a satisfactory achievement whenever I successfully use my power. My grin broke even wider knowing that my mother couldn't see me at all, for her eyes began scanning around the room in a fruitless attempt to look for me.

“I know mum. You can't see me.” I stated as I turned visible again. My mum jumped up from her seat in shock at my sudden appearance.

“See, I mean no harm! My power is harmless.” I emphasised on my point just like how she had emphasised on hers a few minutes ago. “And it's not as if I had a choice. Even I myself don't know how I got the power, I just... did. And it won't go away no matter what I do...” 

My mum looked solemn for a long time. Silence engulfed us and I couldn't do anything other than stand awkwardly in the same position and looked at the older woman sitting accross the table. I figured that she needed time to think, to process the huge bomb I dropped on her. Thus, after a few more minutes, I began to quietly make my way to my room.

“Minkyung.” I paused in my footsteps as I heard my name.

“Yes, mum?” I turned around, only to find the older woman looking at me with an unreadable expression.

“Come here.” She opened her arms wide, and I immediately walked over to her, into her arms. She wrapped them around me tightly, and I swear I felt as if she would never let go. We stayed like this for a full minute, just a solemn yet warm (and almost sad) mother-daughter embrace.

She broke free from the hug first, “Minkyung ah. It's been a long night. Go have a rest now, okay?” 

I nodded my head with a smile, slowly walking towards my room.

“M-Minkyung ah!” Hesistation coated her voice. I spun around.

“Hm?”

“I... nevermind. It's nothing.” She smiled, “Go rest now, baby girl.”

“Okay. Goodnight mum. Love you.” I didn't get a respond immediately, but just as I was about to close the room door, I swear I heard an almost inaudible whisper from my mum. It definitely sounded sincere, but also a little apologetic.

“I love you too... always...”

Flashback ends

“She wouldn't do this to her own daughter... would she?” Unknowingly, sobs and whimpers escaped from my mouth as I wiped the uncontrollable tears of bitterness and regret away from my eyes. Even though I know that the only possible explanation for the authorities to know about my power and throw me into this prison was through the sole person I have ever trusted to confide this secret to — my mother, a part of me still didn't want to believe it. 

“Oh, but she did.” A deep voice broke me out of my thoughts. I spun my head around in surprise as I hadn't even heard the door open. Still a little lost in my thoughts, I looked at the stranger standing by the door. He acted the complete opposite of the previous lady-stranger I encountered. Where she had screamed in horror and ran away from me as if I was going to eat her up whole, this man in front of me made no attempt to back away and hide. Dressed in a white coat which you usually see the doctors in hospitals wear, the man took on a confident stride in his walk as he slowly proceeded towards me.

“Who are you.” I asked. My voice was still shaky and my eyes were a little puffy from the tears I had shed a few seconds ago.

“I'm Doctor Kang, the head doctor around here. And you must be Bae Minkyung-sshi, our newest addition.”

I found his words a little offensive, but made no point to show any discontent as there was simply to many other things to think about.

“I presume you know why you're here and how, judging from the little crying session you've had.” He declared and I just looked away disappointedly.

“I do.” I exhaled softly, my thoughts still lingering on the woman I trusted so much.

“She did it not only for herself, but for the nation, and also for you.” Doctor Kang continued, but I didn't take in anything he said. I brushed his words aside as my mind was too much of a complicated mess to absorb any logic and reason he had behind my mother's intentions. The only thought I could focus on went along the lines of ‘what kind of ed-up mother would betray her own daughter’.

“Whatever. Just tell me what you're gonna do with me.” I spat coldly.

“I heard you're power is invisibility. That's really interesting. Can you show me?” Doctor Kang requested.

“Not in the mood.” I curtly replied, not even afraid if he'll shoot me or kill me for my rudeness. Right now, I feel as if I didn't have any reason to continue living at all. 

“No pressure, Minkyung. I'm not here to harm you. I'm here to observe you, to study you.” Doctor Kang chuckled good-naturedly and I couldn't help but let out a snort at his words. Study me? What, am I an experiment now?

“You know,” Doctor Kang spoke up after seeing my glum expression, “You're the most special person by far to enter this facility.”

“Thanks, I feel so much better now.” I replied sarcastically, misinterpreting his words as his way of cheering me up.

“I mean it, Minkyung-sshi.” Doctor Kang dragged a random chair and placed it beside my bed, seating himself onto it.

“Why so?” I couldn't help but feel curious as he had sounded so serious and interested.

Doctor Kang chuckled again, “Just so you know, we have some pretty bizarre people before you. There's someone who flies, heck there's even someone who teleports.”

“Well, compared to them, my power's pretty normal if you ask me.” I raised a brow.

“You see, they may all have amazing powers, but there's one thing that makes you stand out around here. The doctors, scientists and even officers around here were so surprised and intrigued when we heard about you. We still are.” Doctor Kang spoke with such suspense that I had to fight back the urge to punch him in the nose because of my growing curiosity.

“Just tell me why I'm special here damn it.” I snapped, a little annoyed at him beating around the bush.

Doctor Kang smiled genuinely.

“We initially thought that it was genetically impossible for a female to possess any superhuman ability. But you proved us all wrong.”

A/N: chapter lacks exo but I promise exo comes in soon.