“Wake up, Lee Hyukjae.”

I recognised my name coming from mouth I´ve never met before. I could barely tell up from down as I was still sleepy, but I did know, that the person next to me had to be Heechul. The smell of his fading cologne was strong enough for me to stay assured that I wasn´t alone. At this point I wouldn´t be able to act as composed without him being here with me.

“Stop pretending to be sleep, idiot,” this time it was the detective´s voice that spoke to me. Somehow it wasn´t any less annoying then the first one.

“Unh,” was the only sound I was able to produce. And then the warmth vanished as Heechul stood up from the bed. I let out another mysterious noise, which also didn´t get any applause from anyone.

“Get up, Fairy. They told me you have to wash up and wear these,” I opened one of my eyes to catch him scan a cloth in his hand, “pyjamas?” He finished after inspecting the clothes.

“Underwear?” I asked as I forced myself to sit up. One of my eyes was still hopelessly closed and my stomach was grumbling.

“Nope,” Heechul sang as if it was the funniest thing in the world. “But you´ve got pants so don´t worry,” he added amused.

I knew I would be the target of his jokes from now on and so I decided to quickly get up and go take a shower. I grabbed the pyjamas and stomped into the little bathroom. I washed my hair, brushed my teeth and took a warm shower. I felt refreshed when I walked out but the clothes felt weird. It wasn´t bad to have only the dark blue wide pants with no underwear, only men can appreciate this freedom. But the top was too big, it had the same blue colour as the pants. I guess it was so I could move my wings beneath, which was the problem. I felt much safer having them closed and covered with my back protector than having them vulnerable and for everyone to see, if they wanted. Even Heechul didn´t miss the chance to pull my shirt up at the back and peek at my transparent treasure.

“Yah,” I yelped surprise.

“It´s funny, if I did the same with your pants, you wouldn´t be as startled as now,” he said and I blushed. What is he talking about?!

“It´s time,” the voice that woke me up echoed in the room again. I turned around to put the face to the voice and found a woman with short hair standing in the door. She was looking sternly at me and her round face was scrunched. I guess she wasn´t a morning person either.

The annoyed woman led us into a wide room covered in white with strong lighting and then left. I was glad that they let Heechul follow and didn´t even put on him those cuffs. I felt slightly guilty for getting him into this horrible mess. I glanced at Heechul that had that stupid striped coat on him again, he was looking to the front and so I turned away to check the point of his focus. The repulsive woman in white coat from the previous night was standing there and holding an opened file.

“Come here, Hyukjae,” she gestured when she noticed me, “and leave your guard dog behind,” she added. I did as told and inwardly hoped Heechul wouldn´t flare up after being called a dog.

“Sit down,” she pointed to a white plastic chair by her side, “I´ll have to do some basic tests before we start the real deal.” She explained and put away the file she was holding. While she was preparing something on the tall white table, I took my time to check the buzz in the room. About five more people in white coats were roaming around various hi-tech machines and medical utensils. Heechul was standing next to one of the five guards leaning against the wall. He had his arms crossed on his chest and looked very annoyed.

“Roll up your sleeve,” the woman said and I would finally remind her of her lack of politeness when I took notice of the object in her hand.

“I-I don´t want to,” I whined childishly and at that moment was able to excuse her treating me like a kid.

“I thought you agreed to do the testing as long as we gave you the guy,” she gestured to Heechul and then angrily frowned at me.

“Yes, that´s right but this is a little too much,” I shook my head and refused to roll up my sleeve.

“It´s just a syringe, Hyukjae,” the angry woman said, “there are much worse things coming.”

I sighed, what could I say to this. For me the syringe was right now the worst ever torture, even worse could be only taking away Kim Heechul. Nothing could be done and with a short pleading to let the detective hold my other hand, I was forced to let her take a sample of my blood. If I listened more carefully, I would take note of the remark about the future. Indeed, many worse things were coming and I was in no way prepared.

The testing took about three hours. I gave them all my possible body fluids and samples of my skin, hair and who knows what. Psychological and IQ test, condition test and flexibility. After three hours I was pretty tired out honestly but according to the doctor, we weren´t finished yet. Heechul was falling asleep in his seat by the door and the whole morning was anything but joyful.

All of a sudden the alarm started screaming and this time I was sure that it wasn´t me, who activated it. Someone else must have been trying to either get outside, or more likely inside. Heechul´s reaction was the proof that I was thinking right. The latter was awake and smirking. This could mean only one thing – the ASC agents finally found us! How? First, the car used by Zhoumi, Minho and Heechul was left in front of the first base in Sokcho. Every police car of course has the tracking system and so we expected Jungsu and the others come running there right after the old guy manages to get his warrants. The other clue was a certain doctor that very much liked changing sides, always in the right time. Heechul gave him a few useful advices, similar those he gave Song Jihyo as I heard. It was around six in the morning, just the right time for the police to be done with their little tour around the national park.

“Hyukjae!” Heechul called.

“I know,” I said but this other secret base wasn´t as careless as the previous one. Immediately after the alarm, the guards aimed their guns at three points in the room. The doors, Kim Heechul and me.

Following steps of the guards weren´t any merrier as they made us quickly change our location. In no time we found ourselves in a room with much lower ceiling and darker colours. Some familiar faces were already present, Yang Seungho, Mr. White Scarf and the anything but talkative guy. I bowed to them slightly and they returned the greeting, Heechul pretended to not notice and held my hand tightly. That was all I needed from him anyway.

“We´re all here, let´s go,” Yang Seungho announced and pushed a big button on the wall. Secret door opened right in front of him and all I could do was to inwardly curse. This is absolutely not fair, how are we supposed to be saved now?

I glanced at Heechul, who swore aloud. The mute guy turned around with his unreadable face and carefully scanned Heechul. And then I realised it, this guy was all this time just quietly reading us. We had to be extra careful in front of him because he wouldn´t be easy to fool. I immediately whispered this to Heechul and the detective chuckled.

“Let´s hurry,” Yang Seungho commanded again and we all stepped into the long and narrow tunnel.

We walked for about three minutes when the lights turned off all of a sudden and we were all covered in the darkness. The guard in front of me stopped and I would almost crash into him, if Heechul didn´t pull me from behind. He hugged protectively and I surprisingly did feel alright in his embrace. Then a gunshot echoed through the tunnel, making us almost deaf with the intensity of the sound. But no sound could be more horrible than the following one. The lips so close to my ear let out a painful cry. And the embrace suddenly loosened.

Good morning! Another cliff-hanger for you! Have a nice day, everyone and thank you! - Panda Hero