The room was dark. That’s all he noticed as he tried to fight the drowsiness away. His body felt languish as he sluggishly rubbed his eyes. The room remained dark as he felt the soft cover that warmed his body when he sat up from the thin mattress. His lower back felt uncomfortable, making him wonder how long had he been resting.

How did I get here?

D.O frowned confused as he noticed that under the cover he wasn’t wearing any pants. Touching towards his chest his fingertips felt a soft fabric making him realize he wasn’t wearing Kai’s jacket anymore. Something wasn’t right. The room was too damn dark; so dark that he wasn’t able to see the outline of his hands even if he held them right in front of his face. He widened his eyes in a fruitless attempt to see something, anything of his surroundings.

With much effort, he got up. He felt his muscles were numb and weak as he fumbled forward. D.O knew something wasn’t right with each step he took. The vibrations felt soft against his skin, giving him a faint lead towards the direction of the door. Feeling forwards, his fingers felt the roughness of the wooden door. Blinded in the dark, he patted the door until he found the knob.

During his individual trials he had spent great amount of time learning to control his strength, so he wouldn’t accidentally hurt anyone. He mastered this skill to the extent that he developed a basal state of strength, a plateau that could only be surpassed when he summoned the strength in his muscles. So opening a door wouldn’t require more strength, unless he had to break it down. But as he turned the unlocked knob, he felt his muscles grow weak and struggle to execute the simple task. With a huff, he used more force to push the door open –but his strength still felt very, very weak.

Something was terribly wrong.

Holding onto the open door D.O was greeted by more darkness. There was a drop of temperature, causing the hairs of his unprotected legs to rise automatically. Still unaware of where he was, he wandered out of the room and perceived the weakest vibrations with each step, managing to map out his surroundings. He felt he was walking down a hallway and the lack of people around made him worry.

What is this place? Am I back in the company? Did they catch us? But… it doesn’t make sense. She wanted me dead… So where the hell am I?

A few timid steps further and D.O was able to perceive a change in the structure. There was a gap between the walls, which could mean a staircase –since there was no sign of an opening or a hole, for there were no wind breeze or external noises to confirm that. With a more courage, D.O carefully made his way towards the presumed staircase at his right side. He was right. Cautiously he stepped down, holding tight onto the rail. He heard the wooden plank creak under his weight.

‘D.O? You’re awake?’

“Luhan? Luhan where are you?”

‘Downstairs,’ he sounded tired. ‘In the living room.’

“Is that far? You sound so close,” D.O said confused.

‘I’m in your mind,’ he answered.

Now he was completely sure that something was wrong.

Telepathy? -he thought clearly, as he continued descending the staircase

‘Yes.’

Are the others alright?

‘Yeah, we’re okay. All safe and healthy.’

Really? He felt unconvinced. You sound tired.

‘Well, the mood has been rather ty. Come over here.’

Where’s the living room?

‘Just come downstairs.’

Can’t you at least turn on the light? he thought grumpily as he reached the ground floor. The wooden flooring felt smooth against his bare feet.

‘Couldn’t you at least put some pants on?’ Luhan scoffed as he walked up to him.

“I couldn’t find any,” D.O bluntly answered as he spoke towards Luhan’s general direction. “Seriously, why is it so dark in here? What is this place?”

‘It’s midafternoon,’ Luhan replied confused. “D.O?”

Said boy raised his eyebrows as he tried to look at Luhan, but he couldn’t see the other’s silhouette. He felt something pass closely in front of his face, causing him to jerk backwards in reflex.

“Damn,” Luhan mused.

“W-what?” He stammered as he felt Luhan step closer. He was startled when he felt a pair of hands cup his face. “Wha-what are you doing?” he asked as Luhan directed his head to face him.

“You can’t see,” the other stated gravely.

D.O’s repeatedly blinked, as if he could clear his sight by doing so. That feeling he had, this was it. He grabbed onto Luhan’s wrists and tried to pull him away, but the other didn’t budge. D.O felt a spur of fear as he realized that his sight wasn’t the only problem.

“No, way,” Luhan gasped, letting go of his face just to hold on to the back of his neck. He pulled him forward and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy’s body.

This wasn’t a normal hug, D.O felt himself being restrained by the other’s strength. He tried to push himself away and break free from the confined embrace. He struggled and attempted to summon his strength, but he was powerless –he was weak. Giving up, D.O awkwardly stood still as he rested his forehead against Luhan’s shoulder. He didn’t feel comfortable, since he was sure Luhan had more reasons to hate him now –but he didn’t dare to look up as he felt he was about to cry.

“What happened to me?” D.O asked, his voice cracking from the pressure in the back of his throat.

“You almost…” Luhan softly whispered –his tone was sympathetic. “I don’t know, you were hurt pretty badly,” he answered instead.

“What’s going on?” Chanyeol’s deep voice startled them.

“D.O woke up,” Luhan pointed out as he broke the embrace. “He’s still a bit tired and probably hungry too,” he covered up. D.O simply nodded, keeping his eyes casted down to where the floor should be.

“Okay. And your pants? I’m pretty sure we left a pair for you to use,” Chanyeol said. D.O noticed his voice also sounded tired, as if they were all in a low mood.

“I’ll go get it,” Luhan offered. “Why don’t you heat up some lunch?”

“Yeah, sure,” the fire boy agreed.

“D.O, just go rest at the living room,” Luhan added, giving him an encouraging push towards the right direction. ‘Turn left, walk straight around six steps, then there’s a coffee table in front. There are two couches at each side, facing each other. Just pick one,’ Luhan instructed.

D.O was grateful that Luhan kept his problem a secret for now, the telepathic must have read his thoughts and knew how distraught he felt. He was thankful that Luhan was giving him time to process the truth without the others questioning him. He slowly reacted as he heard Luhan walk up the stairs. But he felt a big warm hand hold onto his shoulder.

“Are you alright?” Chanyeol asked concerned.

D.O stiffly nodded and brushed the other’s hand away. He walked slowly, taking deep breaths to calm down his anxiety. He felt lost in this darkness, but he didn’t want to breakdown. He was careful to feel every vibration with his feet. Every minimal reflective wave would show him where an object was, where the wall was, where the coffee table was even where Chanyeol was, walking about in the kitchen at the opposite side of the house. He could feel the presence of two other members inside a room located through a small hallway connected to the back of the living room. He could feel Luhan walking down the stairs. He walked so slowly that Luhan managed to get back before he sat down. Now fully clothed, he sat rigidly as he waited for Chanyeol to appear with food.

“We’re hiding in an abandoned house,” Luhan finally answered his question. “The guys managed to get us out and collapse the dome. Jongdae drove us towards a city near the sea. We’ve decided to hide here for now.”

“We should be running, not hiding,” D.O commented, feeling afraid that Mama would come find them.

“We couldn’t leave this place yet,” Luhan said.

“Why not?”

“Well, we were waiting for you to wake up.”

“How long was I out?” D.O asked uncertain.

“Nearly three days,” he replied.

D.O remained silent as he tried to process the fact. All he remembered was Mama threatening to kill him, but after that there’s nothing.

“You’re not the only reason,” Chanyeol’s voice said as he entered the room.

“What’s the other reason?” D.O asked curious.

“Well, Suho…” Luhan faltered his speech.

“We’ve been waiting for him too,” Chanyeol answered instead.

“What happened to him?” D.O asked concerned.

“Well, when we got here we went to the beach and he just had a silent fit and dove into the water,” Luhan explained. “We kind of got a little anxious while waiting for him to return. So we went looking for him.”

“We managed to fish him out this morning,” Chanyeol quickly added. “It took a lot of group effort to get him out.”

“More like my effort,” Luhan huffed.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol hummed. “D.O?” Chanyeol called for his attention. “Take it.”

He was confused at first, until he felt the heat radiating near him. He felt an external force move his arms forward and reach for the bowl. He knew it was Luhan using his telekinesis. He held onto the bowl tightly and brought it close to his lap.

“Are you sure you’re alright? You seem disorientated,” Chanyeol worried.

“I’m just tired,” he lied. “What is this?” he asked as the scent was new.

“It’s instant ramen,” Chanyeol replied, sounding a bit wary. “It’s all we’ve managed to cook.”

‘It’s soup with noodles. Use the chopsticks to eat the noodles and just drink from the bowl,’ Luhan instructed.

Why are you helping me? D.O thought clearly for the other to hear, but Luhan never answered. He tapped the ceramic to find the chopsticks resting at the right side. Carefully he reached forward, trying his best to be inconspicuous. But he knew it wasn’t going to be easy to eat without seeing, especially hot soup.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Chanyeol asked.

“Is it okay to be hiding here?” D.O asked instead, trying to distract him from his unwillingness to eat. “Is it safe here?”

“Well, yeah,” Luhan replied. “This place is quite calm. The city isn’t deteriorated and desolated. It’s actually quite populated.”

“Yeah, no weird crazy ladies with fake prophecies,” Chanyeol added.

“The people here are so normal and uninterested –they have no idea who we are,” Luhan kept talking. “And when we tried asking if there were boggers around, they thought we were crazy.”

“There are no boggers lurking around,” Chanyeol confirmed. “These people haven’t even heard they existed. And we even found out there isn’t a war.”

“What?” D.O said baffled.

“We spoke to some ladies at a hair salon, they were quite nice,” Chanyeol explained. “Anyway, they told us that the war ended nearly 50 years ago and that they don’t fear there will be any one soon.

“They said that they’ve always had some disagreements with North Korea, but they always help them out with provisions and such,” Luhan explained. “The North always threatens with military displays, but they never do anything. They are… what was the saying they used?”

“All bark but no bite,” Chanyeol reminded. “It means they just threaten with words, but never truly instigate a war.”

“It almost seemed like a lame joke to them,” Luhan added. “The outside is so… normal. There’s nothing to fear or run away from.”

“But… Even if it’s safe out here, they must be after us,” D.O said concerned, keeping his gaze down.

“It’s okay for now. We’ve been laying low and keeping vigilance. We haven’t seen any signs of Mama, the colonel or his army,” Chanyeol assured. “We even got rid of the RV, Jongdae drove away south and dumped it far away -obviously Kai brought him back, we wouldn’t have him run all the way back. The RV will work as a decoy and hopefully that will keep them away for a while.

“We decided it was best to just hide in the city and rest,” Luhan explained. “We are all kind of…umm…”

“Emotionally drained,” Chanyeol admitted, sounding as tired as ever.

“Yeah, that,” Luhan agreed. “And we couldn’t leave Suho behind and we didn’t want to carry your unconscious body all around.”  

“I… What? What happened to me?” D.O asked solemnly. “Why was I unconscious?”

“Oh, um…” Chanyeol sounded hesitant.

“I know she wanted to kill me,” D.O bluntly stated. “But I can’t remember what happened.”

“She did hurt you,” Luhan affirmed. “And well, I wasn’t quite awake myself to say what happened next.” It was clear that he was passing the burden to Chanyeol.

“Um, well. You, um…” he mumbled as he searched for the right words. “Future Kai helped out and well, him and Kai, well they both, um… They managed to extract the chip inside your head.”

“The chip is gone?” D.O said surprised, thoughtlessly placing his hand against his head.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Chanyeol confirmed.

“Oh,” he breathed out as he realized why Luhan could read his mind. He looked towards his right side, where Luhan should be sitting by. “That’s why you…”

“Yeah,” Luhan answered. “The chip was what kept blocking me out.”

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling. He felt so relieved, as if he was finally unchained. He had no more reasons to fear Mama and her manipulation. He wouldn’t have to worry anymore for the trigger to go off at any given second. He was completely free and safe now. All thanks to Kai –well both of them.

“How… How did Kai get it out?” he asked curiously.

“He literally phased it out,” Chanyeol said.

“Kai or Future Kai?” Luhan questioned.

“Kai.”

“Kai as in present Kai?” D.O asked.

“Yes. Kai as in present Kai, the Kai that has always been with us Kai,” Chanyeol clarified.

“Okay,” D.O sighed. “So we are all safe here and no one recognizes us, so we should be alright. Right?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Luhan commented.

“Well, we all had to change our appearance to hide. Haven’t you noticed?” Chanyeol spoke confused, as if what he was talking about was obvious. “Aren’t you a little surprised about our clothes? Or our hairstyles?”

“Oh ,” Luhan mumbled in defeat.

“D.O?” Chanyeol questioned again.

D.O sighed as he tried to search for Chanyeol with his unseeing gaze.

“No,” he heard Chanyeol gasp.

Chanyeol shifted, sitting closer to him. The warm bowl was taken away from his hands and left on the coffee table. And just like Luhan did before, D.O felt his face being held between two warm hands -very warm hands. He could feel Chanyeol’s breath ghost over his skin. He knew the other was right in front of him, but he couldn’t even perceive a glimpse of his face.

“You don’t have to stick your face so close to tell he’s blind,” Luhan remarked.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Chanyeol sounded upset, as he brushed away D.O’s bangs. “Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t alright?”

D.O kept quiet as he felt pressure in his chest. He didn’t want to give in; he didn’t want to cry.

“D.O, why don’t you ever ask for help?” Chanyeol reprimanded, but his tone was far from angered. “You know we’ll always help you,” he sounded caringly, almost soothingly as if he could rid of D.O’s troubles.

He couldn’t speak, he knew his voice would crack if he did. He tried to fight back the pressure in his eyes, in his nose and the back of his throat. He didn’t want to cry but Chanyeol’s caring tone struck a nerve. He felt so weak and lost in this darkness. He felt himself being pulled into a warm embrace. He hid his face against Chanyeol’s chest as he struggled to restrain his tears.

“It’s okay,” Chanyeol cooed. “You’ll be fine. Lay will help,” he spoke softly. “It’s alright. You’ll be alright,” he hushed, softly his hair.

It took a lot of effort to push away from Chanyeol’s strong arms. D.O wiped away his tears before speaking.

“Wh-why?” he gulped hard as he tried to calm his voice. “Why do you care? Why don’t you hate me?” he said frustrated as he tried to push Chanyeol’s hands off.

“What?” the other said surprised, not wanting to let go of him.

“After all I’ve done. Why don’t you hate me?” D.O spat out disconcertedly, raising his voice and finally freeing himself from Chanyeol’s incessant hold. “You know I was helping her. That I was part of the hoax. That I -I lied,” he clenched his jaw as he wiped away the hot tears.

“D.O-”

“I deserve this,” he interjected. “I deserve this.”

“Maybe you do,” Luhan said nonchalantly.

“Luhan,” Chanyeol warned.

“But punishing you wouldn’t make a difference,” Luhan continued. “You still did what you did, but not all of what you’ve done was bad.”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol agreed. “You might have been part of it in the beginning, but you were always on our side. Even Mama realized you were bound to betray her.”

“So you’re not mad at me?” D.O asked dumbfounded as he dried the last tears that dared to fall.

“Nah,” Chanyeol reached out to soothingly rub his arm. “Just a little… disillusioned.”

“We did have time to cool down our anger,” Luhan honestly said. “If you hadn’t been unconscious I probably would’ve smacked you. Many times,” his tone wasn’t as serious as his words.

D.O lifted his legs towards his chest so he could wrap his arms around them, making him small like a ball. “I don’t get how you guys can be so forgiving,” he softly said.

“It’s not that we’ve forgiven you,” Luhan spoke, minding his opinion. “It’s just that we want to hear your version first, before judging you.” He paused, breathing in deep. “We’ll wait for the others before interrogating you, though. And I’ll know if you’re lying,” he warned.

“Yes, I know,” D.O agreed.

Chanyeol patted his back before standing up. “Luhan, you’re so senseless,” he suddenly scolded.

“What? Why?” the other asked offended.

“You knew he couldn’t see and you didn’t tell me. How was he supposed to slurp up noodles like this? Huh?” Chanyeol jokingly bickered as he took away the bowl –D.O heard as the base of the dish rasped against the surface of the table.

Luhan scoffed and quietly mumbled a childish insult at the other.

D.O smiled, feeling better thanks to Chanyeol’s cheerful attitude. A little normalcy was good to bring up his spirits.

“You can drink the soup from this mug,” Chanyeol explained as he handed it to D.O, holding onto his hand long enough to ensure he grasped the mug firmly. “I’ll feed you the noodles.”

“I can eat on my own,” D.O grumbled as he aimlessly tried to reach for the chopsticks.

“Let me help you, you stubborn prick,” Chanyeol countered, but his tone wasn’t scornful. He spoke kindly, almost caringly.

D.O sighed, given up on trying to be self-dependent. He nodded, giving permission for Chanyeol to feed him.

Say ‘ah’,” Chanyeol said cheerfully.

D.O grumbled as he heard Luhan laugh out loud.

 

“Are you seriously blind?” Jongdae asked again. “Not just a little fuzzy looking, but complete blind?”

“Yes,” D.O groaned annoyed.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Sehun questioned as he rubbed D.O’s neck.

“Of course it is!” Baekhyun exasperated. “Being blind is scary as .”

“That was such a stupid question, Sehun,” Tao mocked.

“It was not,” the other bickered back, letting go of D.O so he could chase the other boy.

D.O had expected –and dreaded- this. He knew the group would pester him about his current ‘temporal’ condition. And right now all he wanted to do was curl into a corner and revel in silence. But there was no way that would happen any time soon –or ever.

“Don’t worry, Lay will fix it,” Kai said as he rubbed his back soothingly.

D.O quietly nodded, he was glad he would be free from the darkness soon.

“Where’s the patient?” Lay chimed as he called for him.

“Over here,” Kai answered, motioning Lay to join them at the couch.

“Hey, you’re awake,” Lay said cheerfully as he patted his head.

“Yeah, for a while now,” D.O smiled.

“So apart from the lack of sight, is everything fine? Do you feel any other issue?” Lay questioned as used his fingertips to rub D.O’s temples.

D.O thought about his body feeling weak and powerless, but he shrugged off the thought believing he was just tired. “Yeah, I’m okay,” D.O answered. “It’s just my eyes.”

“Hmm,” Lay hummed. “Alright then.”

“Lay, Kai, come over here,” Kris’ ordered. “It’s time.”

D.O frowned as the other two immediately complied, leaving him sitting alone on the couch –still surrounded by complete darkness. D.O felt with his feet as the members gathered at the other side of the living room. He felt the shift in the atmosphere as they became quiet. Something was up, he knew it. He rubbed his thumb with his right hand as he bit his bottom lip. He breathed deep as he mustered the courage to speak.

“You’re, umm… You’re going to interrogate me, right?” D.O asked, feeling a bit nervous as he knew he was the center of their attention.

“Yes,” Suho replied. “You’ve got a lot to explain to us.”

“Yeah, I know,” D.O breathed out. He tried to direct his eyes to look forward, but he felt lost trying to figure out where to gaze at. He thought maybe it was best to close his eyes.

“Don’t close your eyes,” Kris ordered.

D.O quickly widened his eyes, as if he could see better that way –but in reality, he couldn’t even perceive shifts in light. “It’s disconcerting to not know where to look at,” he complained. “Why does it have to be this way?”

“You’re vulnerable this way,” Kris answered this time. “You might not see anything, but I can clearly see into your eyes.”

“Besides, if you don’t tell us everything, if you dare lie or if we’re not convinced by you. Then you won’t get your sight back,” Luhan said in a dead serious tone.

D.O felt as if he was punched in the guts. Yes, he was vulnerable and they were taking advantage of his predicament. This he never expected from them.

“You have to win our trust back, D.O,” Suho calmly said.

“I understand,” he said after moistening his lips. “I… I don’t know where to start,” he admitted.

“From the beginning,” Chanyeol said.

“Start from the reason why you ended up as part of the hoax,” Xiumin suggested.

D.O nodded as he collected his thoughts. “I… I don’t know how long I’ve been down there. But the weeks leading to the, the fake escape were… different? I don’t know, it’s like I remember them better. Does this make sense?”

“Yeah, go on,” Tao said.

“Okay, umm. Well I was taken to Lu Mei’s office frequently and just, she began to tell me a story about…” he breathed deep as he tried to shake the nervousness off. “About me. I can remember things but it’s like a puzzle of loose memories. She told me the truth and that I had a family out here, somewhere,” he stopped talking and bit his tongue. He was getting emotional and he couldn’t let that happen. He needed to cool down and think rationally.

“We kind of figured she convinced you by promising you’d see your family,” Suho spoke instead. “Well, you did say that after all. That she broke her promise. Her promise was that you could see your family again, right?”

D.O pressed his lips together and nodded. He took in a shaky breath. “I can’t remember their faces. I don’t even know their names,” his eyes began to water. “But I have this nagging feeling inside that they’re out there.”

They remained silent for a moment, giving D.O some time to control his emotions and not lose his composure. D.O continued once he felt he could properly speak again.

“I was meant to start the second part of the trials with you guys, but Mama grew anxious as you became eager to escape,” he paused as he remembered something. “I, I’m not quite sure, but I think I remember that something was bothering her. Something that didn’t have to do with us, but I believe it could’ve caused her to speed up the trials.”

“Do you know what was bothering her?” Kris asked.

“No, I never knew,” D.O answered. “I noticed that her behavior was changing, she seemed more restless. So I guess something was wrong.”

“Okay, so something caused her to speed up the trials and that’s how she ended up using you to trick us,” Suho surmised. “What did she tell you to do?”

“I never wanted to be part of it,” D.O confessed. “But I didn’t have a choice-”

“D.O,” Chanyeol butted in. “You had a freaking chip in your brain, of course you couldn’t refuse.”

“She threatened to kill you with that thing right?” Kai asked, though it didn’t sound like a question. His voice sounded sorrowful.

D.O could only nod, he couldn’t answer with words.

“So what did she tell you to do?” Sehun asked curiously.

D.O took his time to remember as best he could. He gave out a dark chuckle, “You guys have no idea how wickedly smart she is,” he said as he thought about Mama’s evil mind. “She told me everything I had to do. How to convince you guys, how to escape, where to go. Everything. We first met before a trial, because she needed you to see what I was capable of. She said ‘Whenever you find the chance to be alone with Kai, open the earth’. And I did,” he said regretfully. “You have a unique walk, Kai,” he tried to smile. “There’s something about your presence that can’t be ignored.” He stopped himself as his emotions began to spur -he didn’t want to sound like he was confessing something else. “It was easy to know when you were near, so all I had to do was make sure you’d see me fall,” he clenched his jaw as he felt his eyes sting. “She said that the fastest way to gain your attention was to make you save me. She said you wouldn’t think twice before trying to save me from the boggers.”

“You did that on purpose?” Kai said perplexed and hurt. “You put your life at risk. You suffered seizures just because she told you so?”

“Ye-es,” his voice broke as he wiped a tear away. “Yes, either I did it myself or she would’ve induced a seizure at any second.”

“,” he heard someone exasperate.

“Why me?” Kai asked sorely. “Out of everyone, why me?”

“Because you’re the only one who could’ve broken into her office,” D.O explained. “So she could convince you even further to escape and make it seem more legit. She needed a way to tell you she’d help and where to find the last members. She wouldn’t just tell you out on a whim, it had to appear as if you were the ones figuring everything out.”

“So we were being tricked from the start,” Kris said annoyed. “Everything was just a huge lie.”

“How did she even know we knew there were others missing?” Tao asked.

“We were always being watched,” D.O simply said the truth.

“How could you lie so much?” Kai said resentful. D.O could feel him stepping forward. “Was everything you told me a lie?”

“No,” D.O quickly answered. “Not all,” he could feel Kai standing close, far enough to not be reached but closer than the rest. “She kept insisting me to memorize the story of how I got here, so we both would answer the same way. I would give you hints and she would fill the puzzle.”

“So everything about your past is a ing lie,” Kai sounded angered.

“No,” D.O felt desperate, “Well, not all. I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure?” Kai said incredulously.

“It makes sense, but at the same time I don’t, I don’t,” he frowned as he tried to speak. “I don’t know who Ming Li is. I feel like I met Lu Zi, but I can’t remember her. I know I was from the outside, but all I know are stories and I’m not sure if it’s all true,” he confessed as he furiously wiped his tears away. “You were just too damn curious; you kept asking questions I didn’t want to answer.”

“Why? Because you weren’t sure if they were true?” Kai argued back furious, raising his voice.

“Because I didn’t want to lie to you!” he yelled back as he felt his chest break. “That night, when we were in the forest, I wasn’t crying because I didn’t want to talk about my past. I was crying because I was tired of lying. I hated lying to you, Kai,” his voice grew thick as he couldn’t stop tearing up.

The room grew silent, only his soft sobbing disrupted the tension. A tissue box floated all the way to settle at his side. He thanked Luhan in his mind as he tried to compose himself again. The minutes were stretched into a long pause. D.O felt a little thankful that he was blind at the moment, for he wouldn’t be able to dare look at Kai’s face.

“Who taught you to sing?” Kai suddenly asked. He didn't sound angered anymore, instead he sounded caring.

D.O looked up as he knew the other boy was standing right in front of him. He breathed deep as he tried to find his voice again. “I can’t remember,” he sadly confessed, “but I know it must’ve been my mother.”

Kai didn’t say anything as he walked back to where the group was, ending their little impromptu one on one. D.O did his best to keep his emotions controlled as he waited for them to start questioning him again.

“You were supposed to get us out, right?” Xiumin asked this time, taking initiative. “Did you know what was meant to happen after that?”

“Did you know where the town was?” Jongdae quickly added.

“I knew where the town was, but I had no idea what was going to happen,” D.O honestly said. “I insisted on going towards the river because I knew we’d find the town. She said I would find my family there –but that obviously turned out to be a lie.” He paused, “I didn’t notice the dome until we were at the Kim’s residence. I didn’t understand why there was a dome until we spoke with the Colonel. That’s when I realized it was a trap and that the trials weren’t over.” He paused again, giving them time to process all his words. “I didn’t know it was going to end up the way it did. I know I should’ve told you guys it was a trial, but I just couldn’t,” his voice strained as his eyes watered, “I couldn’t.” He sniffled, “I wanted to vote no and get us the out of there, but that morning Future Kai visited me and told me we had to stay. He said we had to confront the trial in order to learn the truth and that it was going to be harsh, but we would all make it. And that I… I shouldn’t be scared,” he sighed. “I guess he meant that I wouldn’t die,” he uttered those words so softly, fearing he would break.

‘What else did he say?’ Luhan’s voice in his head startled him. ‘You were thinking something else. What was it?’

Luhan bear with me please, he pleaded in his mind. I can’t tell you guys yet, it will hurt you. But I promise I will tell you when they are ready to know.

‘I’m not convinced-’

Please. Please, I’ll tell you later, but please keep this between us for now.

‘I’ll decide that after you tell me.’

“Why did Miss Ga go nuts and yap about you not being monochromatic and such?” Baekhyun asked. “Do you know what she meant?”

“I think I do,” D.O answered. “She wasn’t referring to helping them out against a war. I think she meant I wasn’t going to help them with the trial. That I wasn’t going to help Mama anymore since I disobeyed her orders.”

“What did you do? I mean, she said you betrayed her,” Lay asked.

“Oh, umm…” he felt a rush of nervousness again. “She knew we would try to destroy the building, but she strictly ordered me to not wander off when I was meant to go to the subterranean. I wandered off,” he admitted. “I wandered off and destroyed her lab and… well, I freed the boggers into the bunker where the staff was hiding.”

“No,” Kai interrupted. “We freed the boggers into the bunker.”

“It was my idea to kill them. Not yours,” D.O countered, trying to take the blame away from Kai. “I pissed her off, that’s why she wanted to kill me.”

“So all this time, you were manipulated and tricked, just like us,” Kris commented, his voice didn’t sound as stern as before.

“Yes,” D.O said. “I might have known more at the beginning, but in the end I was tricked into the trial as well.”

“And all she promised you was your family?” Suho asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m curious about that,” he admitted. “You said that you have some memories but they didn’t make sense until Mama added her input, which could all be lies. Right?”

D.O gulped hard. “Yes.”

“What do you remember?”

“I… I remember a picnic, on a sunny day. It was the last day I was outside, before ending up in the underground building,” D.O spoke slowly as he looked into his memories. “Mama said I hurt Lu Zi once and it was reason enough to take me away.”

“Go on,” Suho encouraged.

“I remember being sick, I used to always be sick in bed.” He paused as he kept thinking. “A book, about a bat. She said she read that book to me to explain how echolocation worked and that I could do something similar. I always remember that book.”

“Did you ever fall off a tree?” Luhan asked.

“I didn’t fall off, I just landed rather roughly,” D.O said embarrassed.

“So you did fall,” Sehun asseverated.

“Okay, I did,” he confessed. “Mama said I ended up breaking the ground and caused a quake, which made Lu Zi fall and rip her bottom lip open. But I only remember falling and that Mama was more worried about me than her daughter.”

“D.O,” Suho sounded different. “D.O we have those same memories.”

“What?”

“Without everything Mama added to them, we, all of us, have those same memories,” Suho solemnly said.

“No, no that can’t be right,” D.O frowned.

“It’s true,” Kris said. “It’s something we still don’t fully understand why, but we know Mama implanted the same childhood memory to all of us.”

“No, no,” he shook his head. “These are my memories.”

“D.O it’s true, we all have the same ones,” Kai said this time, sounded sympathetic.

“D.O, I’m afraid that everything you think you know is a lie,” Suho spoke softly.

“No, it doesn’t make sense,” he said losing his composure.

“D.O are you sure you’re from the outside?” Kai asked.

“Yes, I know I am.” He frowned as he thought about it. “I have these memories from out there. I know my mother taught me to sing, I know I have a family-”

“Are you sure? Maybe Mama was the one who taught you to sing,” Xiumin opined.

“No, I knew how to sing already,” D.O felt frustrated.

“Are you sure?” Chanyeol carefully asked.

“I, I….” Was he sure? He couldn’t even remember when he learned how to sing, it was something he just did.

“Mama played the piano, right?” Suho said. “Do you know a song she hasn’t played?”

D.O remained silent in shock. He couldn’t think of a song other than the ones they practiced. Maybe they were right. Maybe Mama had completely brainwashed him. Did he even have a family? Yes, he was sure he did.

“It can’t be true, because I… I can remember my mother,” D.O’s voice was strained. He hadn’t noticed he had been crying again. “It’s a little vague. I can’t see her in my memory, but I can feel her. I, she, she picks me up and holds me close. And I feel this warmth, I feel safe and loved.”

“D.O,” Suho spoke again. “I’m sorry, but we share that same memory too.”

He felt as if his heart shattered to pieces. Everything he believed about himself could be a big ing lie and he had no way of proving otherwise. He felt hopeless as he silently let himself cry. He didn’t care anymore that he was in front of the group and that they were all watching him break down. He didn’t have the strength to care. The reason he had to justify his actions had turned into nothing. He had been tricked all along and was a puppet to use against his group. He felt awful. He hated himself for being so gullible, for being used. He hated that he hurt his friends.

One by one, they left the living room and gave him some time alone. Lay came by later and helped comfort his emotions. And as promised, he healed D.O’s eyesight. They kept the living room dimmed, so his sight could slowly adjust.

“Lay,” he softly said in a hoarse voice. He was resting his head on Lay’s shoulder as they remain seated at the couch. “Why did you save me?”

“What?” Lay sounded startled, but continued rubbing his arm in a soothing way.

“After Mama told you guys I was part of it, that I tricked you all,” he said as he hid his face against Lay’s shoulder. “Why did you save me?”

“Survival is our first instinct,” Lay calmly said as he adjusted his arm around D.O’s frame, so he could hug him more comfortably. “We’re a team, so we make sure everyone survives. No matter what.”

“But I-”

“You’re one of us D.O,” Lay interjected. “So get use to us caring about you,” he smiled as he rested his head on top of D.O’s.

“Okay,” D.O said tiredly. He was tired of pushing them away, and after his long confession, he didn’t have much to keep to himself anymore. “I’ll try.”

“Good,” Lay smiled.

 

 

---

A/N: And scene. There are only three more series left, I can't believe how far I've gotten already. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and finally got some more answers and clarity about this whole ordeal. (Sorry if there are grammar mistakes, I'll edit later... or never haha).

Hey guys, after much consideration I decided to un-rate my story since, well, it doesn't quite fall into only mature content, beside strong language and violence. And I don't want this story to be confused for a , so yeah... 

Thanks to Afrogenuis, Strngetotoro, Inari09, Yaone_L, valkatvalerie and diki_chan for subscribing to my story. I hope you have enjoyed reading it so far. 

Okay guys, have a great week. Annyeong! 

-Blackie.