Caged Lions Always Strike

Chapter 9

Innocence

White.

White fluorescent lights distributed evenly across the ceilings.

One for each slab.

Some of the lights were older and gave off a warm halogen glow.

The entire room was illuminated from corner to corner from the lights, giving off a sense of artificiality.

There were no windows.

The room reeked of disinfectant but Luhan could clearly smell a faint rusty smell.

The room was sparsely decorated save for a table with different sized items spread out across the table. Luhan was already familiar with them – his parents had created them when he was younger.

Luhan’s parents were a cause of a lot of his own misery, it seemed.

There were a couple of people, dressed in grey faded outfits, assembling what seemed to be some sort of structure made to constrict someone onto the wall.

Luhan’s attention turned back to his own situation as he became aware of a sharp prodding feeling on his right thigh.

He attempted to turn his head or at least crane his neck to be able to look at his thighs but found his body was held back by rubber straps all over his body.

There was a buzzing feeling in his extremities, perhaps from lack of blood flow or maybe drugs.

He couldn’t remember how he had got here from his room when the migraine began.

x x x x x x

The mid-afternoon glow pierced the windows of the all-white kitchen, reflecting the light to all corners of the kitchenette.

Low voices were heard from the TV in one corner with the birds singing in the trees opposite the kitchen windows.

Tap tap tap…

Minseok was typing on his laptop leaning on the arm of the sofa whilst Luhan had his head on his lap and watched the television programme with a passive expression and unfocused eyes.

Every few minutes, the typing sounds would pause and Minseok would run a hand through his hair and release a deep sigh. One of his arms would rest around Luhan’s waist, as if wanting to hold Luhan even closer.

And then within a minute, as if the pause had never happened, Minseok would return to typing.

The idyllic peace came to an end as Minseok felt Luhan’s body suddenly come tense and curl in on itself.

The laptop fell off the sofa’s arm as Minseok pulled Luhan up from his lap and braced his shoulders whilst kneeling in front of him on the floor.

Luhan’s face was distorted with fresh tears lining his cheeks and a sheen of sweat beginning to form across his forehead. His hands were held firmly over his ears and his shoulders were shaking.

The sound of Luhan’s whimpers echoed in the previously peaceful room, the TV could barely be heard as Minseok focused on Luhan’s apparent pain.

Luhan felt a burning pain in head, as if someone was drilling into the side of his head.

He couldn’t hear Minseok’s frantic questions through the repetitive droning sound echoing within his head.

Minseok eyed the bracelet in his right arm that was emitting a faint orange light. He swallowed the thick bile that suddenly blocked his throat and felt his stomach drop.

He closed his eyes and felt his head bow towards the ground whilst still holding onto Luhan’s hands, attempting to pull them away from his ears.

“…It’s your turn now…” Minseok whispered and felt the tears stream down his face.

He could do nothing but hold Luhan tightly until his whimpers were no longer heard.

After some time had passed and short words of encouragement were passed between the two martyrs, Minseok led Luhan to the underground training hall.

Minseok had hoped Luhan would escape the ‘training’ since he had decided to comply without force but that was only a hope.

And in this world that Minseok had come to see as dark and twisted, hope was nothing but a dream within those who could afford to hope.

For some, hope was a foreign word.

x x x x x x

There was a child in front of him. They were asking him to hurt it.

Every cell in Luhan’s body protested as his hands scrunched into fists and the child collapsed onto the ground.

Its screams echoed around the room and both the child and Luhan cried. The soldiers in the grey faded overalls nodded from the corner of Luhan’s eyes.

Luhan felt an overwhelming pressure gather within his mind and white spots began to dance across his vision.

The child’s screams echoed around the stark white chamber, mimicking Luhan’s own tortured screams of pain and horror within his mind.

The screams came to an abrupt end after a dry crack and a thud as its body fell onto the bloodied floor.

Luhan’s gaze focused on the rapidly growing pool of blood despite the white spots across his vision blocking the red stain. He felt a sudden breathlessness overcome him and struggled to draw breath.

Rivers of tears swept over the already-dried stains of tears on his hollowed cheeks, sobs now replacing screams in the chamber.

His vision blurred before fading to black.

x x x x x x

They found Luhan four hours after the call.

Luhan’s eyes were still distant and glazed from the migraine as the small group chattered loudly and freely in their usual corner of the library. The corner everyone avoided since it was almost always loud nowadays.

“Don’t get me wrong; everyone’s allowed to be a nerd but at least wash yourself, for god’s sake!” Baekhyun’s shrill voice was the loudest, shortly followed by Chanyeol’s bellowed laughter.

“And some deodorant isn’t a bad thing, either.” A rare chuckle from Sehun and a quiet “Preach” from either Yixing or Junmyeon - Minseok couldn’t tell – was heard.

The group had several little huddles of its own, each with its own conversation, snorts, and laughter.

Minseok was discussing the cafeteria’s lack of lunchtime variety with Kris and Tao whilst Luhan rested with his head in Minseok’s lap.

Minseok’s hand rested atop Luhan’s head, lightly his cheeks whilst maintaining eye contact with Kris. Every few seconds during Kris’ rant about the abundance of celery in the cafeteria’s lasagne, Minseok would break eye contact and his eyes would flit to Luhan’s face and then back to Kris.

It was halfway through the morning, the dawn chorus having already faded to the chirping of the Himalayan swiftlets that had made the local area their home after the nuclear war of the early 2000s ruined their native land.

The library was buzzing with quiet chatter as students piled in to conduct last-minute revision for the exams coming up, some recovering from nightly sessions with their heads buried in their books.

In that moment in time, everything was perfect.

Luhan was safe in Minseok’s arms; safe from harm and safe from the world.

Jongdae was slowly opening up, beginning to chuckle lightly at jokes and even making a joke of his own.

But the peace was short-lived.

The library suddenly quietened into hushed whispers of fear and shock and soldiers in white stormed into the room where Minseok sat. One of the soldiers with scratches all over his face that had long since healed and scarred over, stepped forward as the soldiers neared the group.

His face showed no pity, except for the shine in his eyes from held-back emotions, as he drew his gun and pointed it towards the boy in Luhan’s lap.

“The headmaster calls Lu Han to training, yet he has failed to attend.”

Minseok’s breath escaped him and his light grip on Luhan’s waist tightened. “I wasn’t aware that there had been a call.”

The soldier’s eyes were pleading, “Surrender Lu Han and none shall be harmed.”

Minseok frowned, “Can you promise me that his mind won’t be harmed?”

The soldier closed his eyes, swallowed, and then opened them once more. “No.”

Minseok’s head tilted upwards, “Then why should I hand him over to you when you can’t promise me that he’ll come back unharmed?”

“Minseok, just let them have him. You know the headmaster wouldn’t kill him. Not yet.” Jongdae pleaded, the others were as pale and silent as death itself.

The soldiers suddenly lunged and dragged Luhan out of Minseok’s lap before he had time to react. The boy awoke with a start and Minseok’s tears fell as Luhan’s pain-filled eyes widened in terror.

“No!” Minseok’s agonised shouts were heard as the soldiers left the library with Luhan thrown over one of their shoulders. The library was deathly silent.

Minseok would not sleep that night.

x x x x x x

“Luhan!” Minseok ran up to the sleeping body lying on the floor of Luhan’s own bedroom. He cradled the man in his arms and listened to his breaths leaving his lungs and his heart beating, albeit slowly.

Relief coursed through his veins and he felt a thousand times lighter knowing that Luhan was alive.

Soft sobs could be heard throughout that night from both men as they lay on the floor, embracing each other.

One crying for the child that had perished, and one crying for the innocence that was stolen from them and the pain that came with it.

x x x x x x x x x x x x 

A/N: My deepest apologies for the horribly late chapter! I've been suffering with writer's block as well as exam stress and general life ery :P ahahaha I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that the deepness and sadness made up for my absence?? Hopefully the next chapter will be written sooner rather than later but unfortunately, I cannot promise much. Thanks so much to all the lovely commenters and subscribers and the people who comment every time I post and understand that life and don't push me for updates! You all make writing a tiny bit easier ;)

Much love

hetacat