Warnings for this part: a lot of angst with self-blame and a pretty rough ending

You walked behind the guards with your head hung low. The hallway was silent but your mind was filled with voices that kept telling you that you were the reason everything was going on. 

Nothing would have happened had you not gotten involved. Hoseok’s dead because of you. You are a murderer. 

Among all that, you also stressed about what you knew about Minhyuk. Everything you knew was something you should have never found out considering how close you two had become. 

You’ll kill him, too. You’ll hate yourself forever if you accidentally reveal anything. Imagine how little it would take for everything to be over for him.

You were too exhausted to cry and just mindlessly stared at the floor while following the guards in front of you. The sound of your footsteps was somewhat calming for you. 

Suddenly, the guards stopped and you bumped into them. They remained silent as they opened a door into some sort of a room. Then they turned to look at you and motioned you to get inside. When you hesitated, one of them pushed you inside rather roughly and you found yourself on the floor right when they closed the door behind you.

“There she is,” a voice spoke, causing chills to run down your spine. “Our secret weapon.”

Though you couldn’t see anything but the empty white walls of the room, you could feel the person’s presence near you. The faint sound of footsteps made you look around anxiously, though you weren’t sure if you would benefit from seeing the person’s face or not. 

“Where are the others?” you asked as you stood up, ignoring the shakiness of your body. “Did you hurt them? What about Hoseok? Is he really taking the blame? Shouldn’t you hear my story first?”

“Oh, no,” the voice right next to your ear made you jump in surprise but the presence disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. “We can’t possibly let a victim like yourself defend the offender. Who knows if they’re threatening you to do it. Oh, no, no, no, human. That’s not how our laws work.”
“What kind of laws are those? You’re punishing the wrong person!”

“Then would you prefer us punishing the real culprit?” the question made your stomach twist.

“No! Why are you even punishing anyone in the first place? They just saved my life!” you snapped in frustration. 

You could feel someone grasp your arms tightly, to the point of pain. “Because no human life is worth saving, especially not with our blood,” you could feel the person’s breath on your face until they pushed you away, causing you to fall to the floor once again. “Tell me, human,” they began. “How much do you really know about our world?”

You hesitated to answer, since you didn’t know what the person was looking for in your answer.

“See, we’re beings who have suffered an insurmountable amount because of you humans. We all became these emotionless monsters thanks to your doings. Many of us have been tortured to death because of your ‘curiosity’. Yet, we are still forced to live among you.”
You remained quiet, not sure what to say in your defense.

“Hence why giving one’s blood to a human is so frowned upon among us. Our organization, us law-makers, we’re trying to create better lives for the new ones of our kind. Softness towards humans is not a character trait we want to increase among us.”

“Then why would you punish the ‘rebels’?” you asked without much thought. “I thought they’re fighting towards the same goal. And why would you want to kill the older generation who were innocent?”

“We believe in order. Those hooligans just want to swipe out the whole human race in the most brutal way possible. Quite honestly, I’m surprised they let you escape alive,” the voice snickered. “Nevertheless, we needed a fresh start. A few casualties are bound to happen under such circumstances.” 

The words twisted your stomach more and more. 

“Upon hearing that Yuna had turned, we got more interested in the gang you have been hanging around with. Much to our dismay, they haven’t been very cooperative. So, why not take advantage of the situation and kill two pests with one stone? The stone being you, of course.”

“You think that will make Yuna come to you sick bastards? She would rather die and I’m guessing she already is.”

You could hear footsteps and suddenly, a figure entered your vision from your right. A tall woman stopped in front of you, her icy eyes drilling a hole through you. The faint wrinkles on her forehead caught your attention. She smirked and leaned forward slightly. 

“Oh, she will come. The death of her dearest friend will surely shake her up a little. Enough for her to rush here to save the day,” she spoke with an evil smile. “Only to find out that she is way too late. Then we’ll… negotiatewith her a little and use her knowledge and power to gain more trust among the young who have been radicalized by the rebels. Efficient, isn’t it?”

“As if she would ever become your slave,” you spat at her, which seemed to have no effect whatsoever. “She would never!”

A laugh that sent chills down your spine came out of and you even flinched a little at the suddenness of it. “Oh, silly. It’s not like we’ll give her much of a choice.”

You wanted to, quite honestly, kill her right then and there but before you could even seriously think about it, a loud bang made you both turn towards the door. 

“She’s here,” an unfamiliar guard announced. “And she brought some back-up.”

Confused, you turned to see the woman’s reaction. Her gaze was stern while she otherwise seemed expressionless.

“Get Jitae,” she spoke calmly and the guard took off almost immediately. Then, her gaze landed on you. “We’re going for a ride.”

Minhyuk’s POV

The banging on the door, the footsteps, the screams. I had become numb to all of them. Somehow, I was just in an almost comatose state. I didn’t know emotions could mess someone up like that.

“Stop it,” Kihyun’s voice sounded faint in my ears.

“Let me in!” Hyungwon kept screaming and banging the door with bruised hands. “I’ll kill you! Cowards! Sick bastards! Let me in!”

“What are we going to do?” Jooheon questioned while pacing around in front of me. “Can’t we just let them kill ______? Wouldn’t that save Hoseok?”

The mention of ______ caused my heart to ache. I had no idea where the hell they had taken her and for all I knew, she could have been dead already. The thought of her limp body lying around somewhere in the big building made my stomach twist and I wanted to throw up.

“No,” Hyunwoo said sternly. “You know what her death would mean to Minhyuk. Besides, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing that can be done anymore… Knowing those s, he’s gone already.”

Hyungwon dashed towards Hyunwoo and grabbed his shirt aggressively. “Is that what you want? Your friend dead? Huh?! Traitor!”

Hyunwoo pushed him away. “How dare you!” he yelled.

While Kihyun and Jooheon tried their best to