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My father folds his hands together and brings his fingers to pursed lips.

“They’re calling it the Revive Effect,” he says finally, “we need to prove to Seoul that this virus was completely unintentional and that Augmenting is indeed a benefit to society rather than a detriment.”

“How bad is it out there?” N whispers.

“It’s not looking too good. Seoul now has reason to believe that we, as the government, are working against them. If we don’t act soon, people are going to get hurt. Right now, this plan is all we’ve got.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see N reflexively clench the bedsheets between his fingers and I urge my father to get to the point.

“The Revive Effect is a similar process to regular Augmentation, but with a few differences. Instead of normal, healthy people as our subjects, this project will select terminally ill individuals in order to enhance their quality of life.”

I tilt my head to the side with a quizzical look.

“How so?”

“These people who’ve never experienced life to the fullest, never had the opportunity to do anything for themselves will now be able-bodied and free with the advantages of Augmentation-”

He stops and rubs his hand over his chin.

“What’s wrong? That sounds like a great idea,”

“There’s a problem.” he murmurs and his gaze falls to the floor, “right now, we’re still trying to figure out how two hosts can still co-exist in the same body.”

I turn to N in hopes that he can clarify what was said and he looks at my father with a puzzled expression.

“You mean they’re going to transfer the terminally ill individual into someone who’s already able-bodied? Is that even possible?”

My father nods and rests his elbows against his knees.

“We can transfer the patient’s memories into an able-bodied test subject. That way, they’ll still think, act, walk, and talk like themselves, but just have a different body that can handle it.”

“So, you’re saying that we can basically fuse two different personalities together? The dominant host as the body, and the terminally ill patient whose memories will be incorporated into it?”

“Correct,” he responds, “as soon as we figure out a way for both hosts to cooperate, we can officially launch the Revive Effect and release it to the public.”

“How soon do you think that would be?” I ask.

My father wrings his hands together, unconsciously twisting the wedding ring on his finger. A habit he showed when under stress.

“A few weeks, a month at most,” he responds softly.

Silence falls over the room, N’s soft wheezing the only audible sound as he struggles to draw in oxygen through the machine.

“This project is our only shot, I hope we can do it right.”

“We will.”

N smiles sleepily, head thrown back against the pillows and I brush his bangs out of his eyes.

“Rest,” I say simply.

He nods and his eyes flutter, his features relaxing. Only when his breath becomes deep and even do I know he’s truly asleep.

~~

The nurse shoos us out of his room with a clipboard in hand.

“They kick you guys out, too?” I ask when I see that the others are waiting in the hallway.

“Yep.”

Ken isn’t here, which has me somewhat surprised. Before I can ask, Hyuk catches my eye and motions with his chin in the direction of Ravi’s room. I give his shoulder a soft squeeze as I pass him by and jog quickly down the hall.

The room is dark when I step through the doorway, and I immediately notice why when I glance to the windows. The shades are pulled tight in order to leave room for all the flowers, cards, and packages lining the windowsill. The thought of my friends doing all this for Ravi has a soft smile on my lips.

I lay a hand on Ken’s shoulder and he flinches, grabbing my wrist. He relaxes when he turns and sees that it’s me, shoulders slumping.

“I’m sorry, Mari.” Ken’s voice is barely audible.

I shake my head, “It’s ok.”

His fingers linger on my hand.

“You wanna take a walk with me?” I suggest gently in order to get him out of this room. He’s going to go mad if he stays with Ravi like this for much longer.

Almost like he’s read my mind, he glances to Ravi before nodding to me.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

~~

Ken’s breakfast consists of coffee and a sandwich and he munches as we leave the hospital wing entirely, looping back to take the elevator up to my floor. The two of us wander down the hallways aimlessly. He doesn’t say a word, hands shoved deep into his coat pockets, gaze lowered to the floor.

His silence worries me.

“Ken?” I whisper, “Ken, talk to me.”

He suddenly crowds me against the wall, hands cradling my face and he tilts my head back to press a kiss against my lips.

I’m startled, to say the least. His lips are gentle, moving slowly with my own and I place a hand on his chest to pull him closer, the wall pressing up against my back once more.

His arms box me in, rocking me against his body and he sighs softly, breath washing over my face and he pulls away. He’s still so close that I can see the flush in his cheeks and my pulse feels like it’s going to bruise my ribs. Ken’s eyes search my features and that’s when I realize that they’re filled with tears, biting his lower lip harshly. I cup his face and he leans into my touch, eyes closing slowly.

“Thank you,” he says simply. He kisses my hair softly, bringing me into his chest as his arms circle my waist. “thank you for everything.”

~~

When the two of us return back to the hospital wing, I’m surprised to find the hallway empty, the waiting chairs unoccupied.

“Where is everyone?” I ask over my shoulder to Ken.

He shakes his head. I quickly glance into the nearby hallways to check before entering Ravi’s room.

Rebecca is the only other one in the room. She leans against the far wall, fidgeting with her hands together nervously. The figure on the bed stirs as Rebecca continues to speak in a hushed tone and the realization suddenly hits me.

Ravi is awake.

He looks incredibly pale and weak, the bandages still wrapped tight around his torso, his hair ruffled to the point that its almost sticking straight up. The two of them still haven’t noticed me until I draw nearer and Ravi finally looks up.

Our eyes meet.

Confusion, fear, panic. So many emotions flash across his face all at once and his eyes widen.

“Stay away from me. Take Ken and leave, don’t let anyone else come in to see me.”

His voice is emotionless and cold.

My breath comes short and my chest suddenly aches, like Ravi had just socked me in the stomach. Those were definitely not the first words I had expected to hear. Words so strong and soaked in venom.

I look to Rebecca and she avoids my gaze, chewing her lip as she studies him.

“Don’t say that,” she says softly.

Ravi checks himself and shakes his head.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

He glances back to me.

“I just don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

My heart drops to the floor as the meaning behind his words click in my head.

“What happened to N wasn’t your fault, you know that.” I respond gently and lay a hand on his shoulder.

Ravi flinches and recoils from my touch and I withdraw my hand quickly.

“You don’t understand, neither of you do. You have no clue, no ing idea what it was like for me.”

His voice quivers and I can see moisture starting to brim his eyes as he draws in a shaky breath.

“I felt like I was possesed, that’s the only way I can manage to describe it. Everything that was happening to me, I was still conscious enough to witness it all, but I couldn’t fight back. I was losing against my own body.”

He stops to wipe his face with the back of his hand. his words spill out quickly, like everything he’s had pent up inside of him is welling up, rushing past his lips before he can stop himself.

“When I saw Rebecca with N, something inside me just snapped. I lunged at him and everything went dark. I saw myself...kn-knocking him unconscious, throwing him around like a ragdoll. I felt his ribs break underneath my own hands.”

His words spill out quickly, like everything he’s had pent up inside of him is welling up, rushing past his lips before he can stop himself.

“I was screaming at myself to find control again, to stop. But I couldn’t. I thought I was going to kill him.”

Ravi clenches his fists, his skin stretched tight over bone-white knuckles.

“That was the first time in my life that I didn’t feel human. If the virus hadn’t crashed my system then, who knows what would have happened?”

His question hangs in the air in silence, along with the soft beeps of the machines as Ravi shifts his weight on the bed. I don’t know how to answer him, I’m completely torn. This was in no way premeditated by Ravi, and the fact that he thinks the virus is the only thing that saved N’s life has an iron fist clenched tight around my heart.

“I changed my mind. Can you send Ken in? He must be so ing worried..”

The corners of my lips pull up into a soft smile and I nod, exiting the room to go tell Ken the news he’s been waiting so long to hear.

A/N: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! Spring break came and went, and I happened to be out of town :C

I thought I'd be able to write while we were on vacation but our hotel didn't even have wifi unless you paid for it. like the . I PAID A TY $10 TO WATCH EXO'S CALL ME BABY I FEEL SO CHEATED i just want my money back cry

aww Ravi. Someone get this guy a cookie and a blanket like he really needs it

if you guys have watched the Error mv 2398473 times like me then you guys can start to pick up what I based the Revive Effect off of and all that good stuff! Things are starting to get more complicated and angsty so hang on to your pants everyone is that even a saying idk

next chapter will be uploaded later today, thanks for waiting so patiently guys <3

xoxo Sahara