~Chapter 7 – Fighter~

            When there is nothing left to lose, you find that it is much easier to lose yourself to recklessness. The X-Clan only have each other and there’s nothing that they wouldn’t do to save one another. Jooheon doesn’t think his actions are reckless, rather he calls it ambitious. It takes a certain level of confidence and quick wit to be able to infiltrate enemy lines as one of them without being detected.

            This is the key to what will be their success.

            Jooheon roams the halls of the facility like he owns the place, like he has been here all his life, like he belongs. After all, he’s spent a good chunk of his seven-day reconnaissance here learning the schedules and memorizing the locations of every important figure head to make sure the X-Clan can pull this off without a hitch.

            As Jooheon walks in his painstakingly gathered doctor garb, he keeps his eyes on his target. There’s an emergency exit door within the facility that he’s managed to disable the alarm on a few days back but kept it locked just in case anyone may have taken notice of the defect and tried to fix it. As he gets closer, he subtly flicks the lock to open as he puts his hand in his pocket and keeps on walking while three other people slip right through and head in the opposite direction from him. Phase one for his part is done, the rest of the job will be left up Wonho, Kihyun, and IM.

            Picking up his pace, Jooheon heads towards the classified building where he knows Hyungwon and Minhyuk are locked up. According to the schedule he snooped into, they should have just received their doses and the hallway should be emptied out of workers. Jooheon’s chest squeezes with pain at the thought of all the torture his friends had to go through and his grip on the antidotes sitting in his pockets tightens. He hopes they’re not too late to save them.

            When Jooheon finally reaches Hyungwon and Minhyuk’s room, he punches in the security code with bated breath. Anxiety consumes him as the door glides open and he bolts inside as soon as he can fit through the small gap. The sight before him makes his breath hitch.

            Hyungwon and Minhyuk are sitting on their beds, still and deathly pale as if they have no consciousness of who or where they were. Jooheon rushes to their sides, the overwhelming feeling of relief upon seeing his friends buries itself under a mountain of worry.

            “Hyungwon! Minhyuk!” Jooheon bites his bottom lip when he doesn’t get any reaction out of them, “Are you guys okay? What have they done to you? Do you remember who I am?”

            The more questions Jooheon fires off the more his worry grows as Hyungwon and Minhyuk continue to stare off into a daze like empty dolls. An anger begins to well up deep inside Jooheon’s chest, he curses at the officials and the entire facility that dared to treat his friends this way. Tears prick at his eyes, but this isn’t the time for that, he reaches into his pockets for the pink and blue gummy bears. He isn’t sure if this is going to work but at the very least it has to do something for Hyungwon and Minhyuk.

            Jooheon holds out the gummy bears towards Hyungwon and Minhyuk and tells them, “The X-Clan will save you guys. I’m so sorry we took so long. Here, take these. We have an antidote for the elixirs. I don’t know what they’ve done to you, but these should at the very least heal you.” He places the blue gummy bear on Minhyuk’s tongue and the pink one on Hyungwon’s tongue.

            Hyungwon and Minhyuk lets the antidote sit in their mouths for a moment without showing any change in their demeanor. “Come on, guys,” Jooheon tries to coax, “Chew and swallow it. Then we can get the hell out of here.”

            As if they heard the promise of being released from the hell they were trapped in, Hyungwon and Minhyuk begins to chew on the antidote. Slowly, their dazed gazes begin to clear up and soon recognition flits across their faces as the fog they were under finally begins to lift.

            “Jooheon?” Minhyuk says tentatively as if he wasn’t sure, as if he was scared that this was another nightmare meant to crush all his hopes again. He swallows and before he even gets the chance to really gather his bearings, Jooheon grabs him in a tight hug.

            Minhyuk hugs Jooheon back tightly, the feeling of happiness and hope fills his entire being once he realizes that Jooheon really wasn’t a figment of his imagination. Something akin to a choked sob nearly spills from Minhyuk’s lips as he felt the warmth of Jooheon’s hug.

            “Minhyuk!” Jooheon sighs in relief, “Did the antidote work?”

            “Antidote?” Minhyuk questions in confusion, he still doesn’t let go of Jooheon yet though, still afraid that this could all go up in smoke before his very eye