[CONTENTID1] CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT - HEROES COME IN DIFFERENT FORMS[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

I'M BAAAAACK!!!! So in two days, it's Easter holidays for me. I've almost completed all my assignments and unit asessments for school. Now, it's just studying for my final exams in May, studying for my driving test and making the best of my holidays. However, my family just left for Spain but I'm stuck at home because if I went with them, there would be NO STUDYING getting done TT_TT keep me company, guys?

Oh and since I haven't updated in like a month or something, here's a looonggggg chapter! <3

“Do the names Yongguk, Himchan, Jongup and Zelo mean anything to you?” I ask and their jaws drop. They glance at each other, then me, then back at each other and so on, so forth. I snap my fingers in Youngjae’s face, stopping their cycle. “Well?”

“How…how the hell do you know those names?” Daehyun asks. I shrug out of his hold and stand back to get a good look at the both of them. Daehyun’s face is black and blue, his upper body shirtless and covered in more bruises and proof of whippings. Youngjae’s just the same, though a little better off than Daehyun and the others. Bar Julien, whose large mass is, yet again, working in his favour. 

“I’ve had the misfortune of meeting your ex gang,” I bite out, putting emphasis on the word ‘ex’. Maybe, just maybe, I feel slightly threatened by Yongguk because he was their leader long before I was. “They’re here…like, here-here. They should be joining us soon.”

“Wh-what?” Daehyun squeaks, his eyes going wide. They’re full of excitement, excitement which spurs more bitterness in my heart. “Yongguk hyung and the rest are here? Eeeeee! Daebak!” He starts bouncing up and down, clapping his hands repeatedly.

“No, not daebak at all, Daehyun!” Youngjae snaps, shutting up the older male. “Think about what this means.” Daehyun tilts his head to the side in confusion. “The food here, Daehyun.”

“The food…” he mumbles, scratching his head. Then, it hits him. “Oh my god. Oh my god! They’re…they’re cannibals!”

“Yeah, they are. Keep that in mind,” I say, almost childishly. Then, a question springs up in my mind. “Wait…aren’t…aren’t you cannibals too if you’ve been eating the food they give you?” They snort and shake their heads.

“We’re only fed rice and carrots,” Jiyong informs me. “And that’s only because we’re the ones who ing grow them. That’s our purpose here, as their slaves. We harvest the non-human foods.”

“Wow,” I mutter, frowning. “I mean…that’s bad but…it’s…good?”  I shake my head and laugh awkwardly. “I didn’t mean—”

“Shut up, we understand,” Sehun says, sitting down on one of the tables. He pats the empty space next to him. “So, DaeJae’s old gang are here. How does that help us?” I grin and walk over to him, sitting down next to him. Warmth radiates off him and I take comfort in it. The others join us. 

“They’re going to help get us out,” I tell them. I recite the whole plan, quietly, to them as they listen intently. Once I’m done, I remember my prior confusion about our missing members — and the extras.

“So, we’re entrusting a bunch of cannibals with our lives?” Mino questions before I can voice my own enquiries. “No offence, DaeJae.”

“Is that our official codenames or something?” Daehyun mutters.

"Any, we just totally ship your guys," I tease. "DaeJae OTP!" Daehyung shoots me a playful glare and I stick my tongue out at him.

“None taken,” Youngjae sighs, rubbing his temples. “I just…maybe they’re not eating the meat. Maybe they’re eating the other foods, like us.”

“There’s a slim chance of that being true,” Sehun states.

“Still a chance,” he retorts. 

“Um…yeah,” I cough, rubbing the back of my neck. “So, now that we’ve established that we don’t trust them…can someone tell me where the hell Tao and the other AIs are? And Choi Youngjae’s group.”

“Right after you were shot in the neck, Hakyeon ordered the AIs to basically get the out of there,” Julien begins informing me. I turn to face him. “Tao refused, saying he had to save you but Hakyeon and the others grabbed him and ran. Choi Youngjae and his friends used us as a distraction and snuck out through the vents in the VIP room.”

“Why didn’t you guys do the same?” I groan, rubbing my eyes in frustration. “You’re all so stupid…”

“Maybe, but we stick together,” Mino shrugs. “You were passed out, Jimin was hurt, along with Jungkook, Hyoyeon and Daeho. We couldn’t leave anyone behind so…we fought until they won.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jungkook says. “It doesn’t matter what they took from us. Our ing body parts, our freedom, it doesn’t matter now because we’re getting the out. We’re getting out of here and we’re not looking back.”

“Yes we are,” Daehyun scoffs. “We need revenge. Look at us! We’re black and blue. Look at Hyerim, look what they’ve done to her.” He waves his hand over my body and I look away. “And you saw what they did to Hyoyeon and Kwangmin. We haven't even seen Jimin in weeks!”

“Wait, what?” I look at him for elaboration but he says no more. “What did they do to them?”

“The point is…we need revenge,” Daehyun growls. Sehun rolls his eyes and slides off the table, walking over to him. “Don’t tell me you disagree.”

“I don’t,” he says. “I want revenge too but we’re not getting it. You know why? Because trying to get revenge always ends badly. Somehow, in some way. The smartest thing to do is to get out and never look back.”

“Sehun’s right,”Jiyong sighs. “As much as I want to get back at these people for what they’ve done…we can't risk it.”

“Would you say that if it was Chaerin?” Daehyun asks. Jiyong’s eyes darken and his arms shoot forward, grabbing Daehyun by the neck. Julien immediately intervenes, shoving them apart. Although it didn’t look like he put much effort into it, he somehow managed to send them a few feet apart.

“Don’t ing talk about her,” Jiyong growls as he gets to his feet. “Don’t bring her up. Understand?”

“Whatever,” Daehyun spits back. “I made my point.”

“Enough,” I say before things can escalate again. I stand up and look Daehyun in the eye. “We’re getting out of here, that’s our number one priority. Got it?” He glares at me but nods obediently. “Good. Now. Let’s get this show on the road.”

“I hate this plan,” Youngjae mutters. He walks over to me and grabs my face, studying it. “You’re going to purposely get hurt. I don’t like it and I don’t think any of the others do, either.” I smile and take his hands off my face, squeezing them.

“I’ll live,” I promise him. I put my hands around him and give him a light squeeze. “Besides, I’ve got you to tend to my wounds.” I pull back and wink at him. “Right?”

“Right,” he says with a grin. “Let’s do this, then.” We high-five and and I turn to cast my eyes over the courtyard. I spot Yongguk and Zelo — I might as well start addressing him as so, right? — and nod at Daehyun and Youngjae to follow me. We walk across the courtyard until we reach them.

“I TOLD YOU!” Zelo squeals, jumping up and down excitedly. He slams into my friends, hugging them fiercely and repeating his thanks to me. “I missed you hyungs so much.” Youngjae and Daehyun laugh, patting the maknae — it’s a given, at this point — on the back. He finally pulls away, grinning at them with so much warmth. He reminds me a little of Karim, in the sense that this twisted place hasn’t completely stolen his innocence. 

“We missed you too, Zelo,” Youngjae says with a smile. Daehyun ruffles the blond’s hair and grins. “We were actually going to come looking for you guys before went down but then we went to Algeria…ah, it’s a long story.”

“One we can't wait to hear, soon as we get out of here,” Yongguk states. I look over at him and he nods, smiling at me. “Yes, we’ll help.” I squeal and throw one arm over Daehyun and one over Youngjae. “You weren’t lying.”

“It’s good to see you, hyung,” Youngjae tells Yongguk. The older male walks up to us and I step back, understanding that they need this. He puts his hands behind their necks and hugs them briefly.

“It’s good to see you, too,” he murmurs, closing his eyes. He takes a deep breath and pulls back, smiling a rather charming, gummy smile at them. He turns to me and we nod at the same time. “Be, uh…be careful.”

“Can’t exactly do that, can I?” I scoff and he shrugs. I take a deep breath and turn around, searching for a target. An opportunity falls right on my lap. At the table I was sitting before, eating Minki’s beans, is a short male with angelic features. “Hey! That’s mine!” I storm over to him and shove him off the bench. He lands on his , the beans spilled over his chest.

What a waste.

“Those were mine, ,” I growl, deciding to play it big. I glance at the guards and see that I’ve caught their attention. Shindong is watching me, his brows creased as he tries to decipher the situation. I turn back to the male on the floor. “You owe me now.”

“Yah, who the hell do you think you are!?” someone demands, walking over to help the other male up. “You okay, Joonmyeon?” The other male nods and dusts his knees. The taller one marches up to me, towering over me. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Those beans were mine and he stole them,” I reply.

“You left them, they were no longer yours.”

“That’s not how it works,” I retort, shoving him back. I know I’m picking on someone far from my size but that’s the point. I push him again and he clenches his jaw, grabbing my hands and shoving them away. 

“I don’t hit women,” he growls. “Don’t make me break that vow.”

“What’s going on here?” Shindong asks, joining us. He props his hands up on his hips and peers at us. “Well? Someone gonna answer me?”

“That one stole my food,” I tell him, nodding at the one named Joonmyeon. “And this one’s trying to justify him.”

“This isn’t a court, lady. Get over it,” Shindong replies, turning to leave. I take a quick breath and turn to him.

“So much for useful guards, huh?” I scoff. He turns back around and raises a brow at me. “Are you paid to be this useless?”

“Woah…what’s that girl doing?” I hear someone ask from behind me.

“I don’t know but it doesn’t look good for her.”

“Is she stupid or brave?”

“Both.”

“What did you just say?” Shindong demands, stepping towards me. “You might want to shut your mouth now, lady.”

“Do your job right and I might think about,” I reply. The next thing I feel is a sharp sting on my cheek. I smirk at him and tilt my head, looking him up and down. I tut. “Huh. You even hit like a little .” His eyes widen and he moves to strike me again. I dodge his hand and uppercut him in the gut. He grunts and doubles over. I elbow him hard in the nose, an audible crack following.

“WOAH!”

“Did you see that? She just destroyed Shindong.”

“It doesn’t take much to destroy Shindong.”

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