[CONTENTID1]Chapter 15[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]The door finally opens, and as Yixing steps out excitedly, he hears a choked up cry from beside him. Sehun had one foot out the elevator, and the other in. His face was flushed red, as he trembled all over. Heavy wheezes for air was the only sound he made, as his hands start convulsing. His knees collapsed, as the bodyguard's hand spasms reached for his own neck.   

"Sehun—What—Are you—" Yixing runs back towards his friend, face etched with worry. Never before has he seen Sehun like this, with his red rimmed, glassy eyes in such a vulnerable position.  

A panic attack. Sehun was having a panic attack. Before the heir could figure out what to do, the taller boy's eyes rolled up the back of his head, and he gave one final gasp for air before falling down with a thud.  

The elevator doors close.   

Yixing was stuck in this underground room with an unconscious boy, and no inkling idea of what to do.  

His phone was left, regrettably forgotten in the hotel room, a precautionary measure in case Suho decides to call him, and he knew for a fact Sehun didn’t have his; the taller male’s had died recently and he was charging it. Yixing bends down, knees drawn to his chin, and checks his body guard's pulse, a tsunami of relief hitting him once he feels the faint heartbeat. It was small and meek, but stable and reassuring. 

Filling the empty room with colorful words, he tugs at his chestnut brown hair in desperation, and drags his friend's lanky, unconscious body towards the center of the musty abandoned room. The heir pulls Sehun up, slinging his body guard's strong, muscled arm across his broad shoulders, and walks around with difficulty, trying to find an intercom he contact someone with. Every room should have one in case of an emergency. His hopes rising as bright as a wild forest fire, Yixing hobbles to where it should be, but the flame reduces to a mere, flickering candle once he sees that it was smashed and broken beyond use. Wires stuck out hazardously and pieces of the intercom littered on the floor like broken glass fragments, as if someone had smashed a metal bat against it repeatedly and then some more.  

In fact, now that he was aware of his surroundings, the whole room looked like it received the same brutal treatment that the intercom did. Although the room was as spacious as a ballroom, it was as sparse as a caveman’s cavern. The very few lab equipments in here were ripped to shreds, as if a bear went rampant in here. Even the walls had long, deep scratches along it, the gashes ranging from a few centimeters to Yixing's height. A frighteningly large human sized cage was set at the center of the large, suffocating room, the bars bent and lock demolished. To his shock, the heir sees multiple sturdy shelves that kept metal collars and sharp whips—was this lab meant to test lethal war beasts? 

Adjusting Sehun to a more comfortable position, Yixing wobbles over to the only table they had in the ruined, obliterated room. It was separated from the others through a thick, yet crystal clear glass. The Chinese boy supposes that it's where the scientists viewed their test subjects without fear of losing an arm, because the glass was undoubtedly the only unbreakable thing in here, and protected the desk from harm, unlike the rest of the furniture in this room. Unbreakable or not however, it wasn't invincible: the glass had minor scratches and dents as well, but was overall unharmed. Someone, or something, did a number in this abandoned lab, and with a determined curiosity and frightened carefulness, Yixing hesitantly puts Sehun down on one of the chairs, and reaches into one of the drawers with a quivering white hand. He half expects a monster to jump out at him, but to his embarrassment, the only thing awake in this room was him and his rampant imagination. 

He pulls out a worn, leather bound journal with the initials 'NKN' scrawled on the cover with a thick, permanent marker. The edges of journal were frayed, and the contents inside are now a faint saffron, instead of the pristine ivory white Yixing was sure it used to be. Flipping through the pages as carefully as handling a newborn child, the heir skims through it, not really looking at the black cursive words, but rather the dates on the top corner. 

The journal was first written sixteen years ago, and the last entry was four years back. Stuffing it into a large, hidden pocket inside his jacket, Yixing keeps on searching the contents of the drawers, until he finds a small, rusted key and a poorly drawn map of the company. He knows the map was extremely outdated, because of how much the layout of Zhang Corps changed over the years. It was missing several new floors, and many of the extensions to the place. This was drawn two decades ago at most. However, what made Yixing decide to keep it was it included a map of the underground levels. It was valuable information, and he knows that keeping it would benefit him later.  

Zeroing in on the floor U408, the place he was in right now, Yixing tries to look for another way out, but with no avail. He groans loudly, laying the map on his face as a way to block out the irritatingly bright fluorescent ceiling lights, when extra markings seem to have suddenly appeared on the paper. Yixing grabs the paper again, examining it on the desk, but the markings seem to have disappeared. He turns the paper around, and his heart leaps when he sees seemingly random squares drawn on the back. He flips the paper around again, and holds it up to the lights. There, now in plain sight, were the secret doors. It was an old trick. One that no one would ever do anymore, because of the advances in technology and little need for paper. 

He should've guessed it when NKN used a journal to keep his findings instead of a tablet. Grinning victoriously, Yixing manages to find a secret exit...right next to the wall that Sehun was slumped up against in his chair. Pocketing the map, the Chinese boy swears he will come back later, and pulls Sehun up, and the chair away. Sure enough, a faint outline of a door was there along with an almost invisible keyhole. Inserting the key, Yixing jiggles it around randomly until he hears the subtle clicks of the door unlocking. He pushes the door open with little difficulty.  

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