The sound of dripping water turned into the soundless echo that coated the beige living room in a motionless emptiness. Shadows danced around the walls covered in picture frames without actual photos in them, the colors of wood almost white from too much exposure to light looked odd in the contrast to simple design of the interior. Few of the pillows were tossed on the floor with no purpose - on one of them was embroidered golden deer without eyes. It was an eerie sight, however the pinkish hues of colored light bulbs added romantic touch to the lifeless surrounding. The mugs on the kitchen table were neatly placed in an organized tow - from the most colorful one to the basic, white one. Everything seemed to have an order here. It was hard not to see an overwhelming sensation of sadness in between of this clean place. It lingered everywhere. There was a soft tap coming from the narrow corridor - followed by steps echoing in the apartment with dreadful sounds. Her hair was messy and pulled by one of the purple ties at the back of her small head. She spotted velvet notebook and took it in her fragile hands; fingers touching the back of the thing with slow tenderness. The bits of sleep in her black eyes rolled from her eyelashes as she moved towards the kitchenette with measured speed. Her fingernails were polished in dark shade of red and they strangely didn’t match her blue toenails. She wasn’t bothered by the fact of that small imperfection and sipped already cold green tea. The mug was purple and huge - her small digits played with the rim of it before placing it down. The electronic clock changed figures as her stare intensified. She wasn’t ready to face the reality. In her spotless studio she could be herself - surrounded by the nothingness and vibrations of her thoughts. Shrugging her musings she anew her way and sat on the lilac sofa with muffled sigh. Her head lulled at the back of its pillows and her lips parted. They were reddish and full - so not familiar. Closing her eyes was the easiest thing for her. Introverted minds worked like this. There was it.

The sound of her ending.

The clock yelled few times before she jumped and switched it off - her fingertips lingered on the structure of it for a while before turning around. She caught her reflection in the old mirror in front of her. Pastel nightgown in which she drowned looked like a miserable lifesaver. Her shoulders hunched and she stiffened watching her bones crack.

It was a time for her to get ready - even if she wasn’t.

*

She was 26 and already felt overpowered and exhausted. The world wasn’t easy on her, especially society in which everyone wanted you to be the centre of another universe. Joohyun wasn’t interested in astronomy so she shut herself in her silent, 24 meters huge shelter. The matters of others didn’t affect her anymore, or so she told herself that every night - like a prayer, stuck on repeat for almost five years. Living alone and doing bare minimum to exist in symbiotic relation with people hadn’t helped her with her overbearing anxiety and introverted mind. She lost herself in the waves of independence and self caring, though she often forgot about herself. She ironed her simple attire with bare hands before exiting the subway station. Her beauty was her curse; she could feel the stares, some of them just fleeting, others so intense that could burn down her body in seconds. She didn’t like being a prey; she longed to be invisible. Maybe, after all she did believe in some unusual truths. The sounds of her high heels eased her running thoughts as she made her way towards her workplace.

Joohyun loved education. Books were her escape and first love: her tunnel vision of the other dimensions.

The thing that made it hard for her was communication with people at the university. According to her - the bookworm and miss know-it-all - you didn’t have to work in groups to achieve perfect all kill. Sadly, the horrible reality of education system turned her into bitter person who had always done the most for the team projects. She didn’t know how to stand up for herself, even if the words and accusations danced on her tongue she kept shut. Maybe it was because her parents were quite peaceful; she thought about it now and often, wondering how her life could have turned if she had confidence and power to speak for her actions. Her hair tingled the bare skin of her neck as she abruptly stopped before window display. The red dress hanging on too skinny mannequin caught her eye. The material of the one piece was shiny and sparkly, however the weather didn’t give it a justice because of the rainy clouds hovering above the city. Wrinkling her small nose she grabbed her purse and walked straight to her workplace.

Joohyun hated November’s halo - the constant changes between warmth and cold. Gloomy aura didn’t help in daily life too. Her boots clicked on the dirty asphalt while her shoulders shrank even more as she spotted huge, silver gates leading to an enormous building. She could see from a far that patrols of soldiers had been walking around the facility with dogs on their leashes. Nothing new, she mused, the sight looked as sad as her non existing social life. Looking for her worker ID, she quickly made her way towards greenish booth. The man sitting there slightly smiled seeing her lithe form fighting with a strong gush of wind.

“Ah, Joohyun! I thought you were having holidays,” his cap covered his eyes when he shot his hand in her direction. “It’s good to see you though,” she played with the card for a while before giving it to him. There was a soft beep as he scanned her identity. His smile never reached his hooded eyeballs.

“I’ve cut them short,” her answer rolled slowly from her lips as she took her belonging with slow movement of her wrist. The soldier paused his maneuvering and stared at her with emotionless face.

“Aren’t you tired?” his questions rang in her ears for a while. She was tired, her body almost shut off last time when she ended her night shift. However, staying in an empty apartment with no one to talk to seemed rather pitiful. Her teeth grazed the soft tissue of her inner cheek.

“I’m fine, Donghae. Life isn’t cheap, you know,” she left her sentence hanging in the air between them before shrugging invisible burden off her shoulders. “I’m going,” waving as a goodbye, Joohyun walked into the dark interior. The sound of iron doors sliding didn’t make her shiver as it used to do when she was a newbie. Light bulbs in the corridor were almost white so she could easily spot cracks in grey walls. The interior she stepped into was minimalistic and completely spotless. White tiles on the floor reflected light with so much power that she had to squint her eyes a little. Throwing her beige coat out of her form she put the code into her tiny wardrobe - in it she had found her cream uniform with sanitary mask tucked in its pocket. Taking the clothes with herself she went to the changing room without a second glance. The smell of antiseptics hit her senses when she changed into her work attire. It wasn’t pleasant scent, however she got used to it rather quickly. Her bag stood on the tiny chair where she had left it but before she could take it someone’s fingers snatched it from her view.

“What a surprise!” following slim digits she saw smiling woman clothed in the same clothes. Her cheerful halo and crescent shaped eyes brightened the mood instantly. Brunette's hair was neatly placed in a tamed plate that hung over her collarbone with a tiny, blue ribbon attached at the end of it. Under her arm were papers and it looked like she couldn’t manage on her own so Joohyun slowly took some of the notes in her own hands. That made the other girl giggle with a breathless mirth.

“Seulgi, it’s nice to see you,” indeed it was. The taller female grinned even more and patted her back with affectation. Kang Seulgi was the one of the two friends she had made in here - it was difficult to look for anything exceptional in the laboratory and underground, nevertheless she got to know her by the psychology course all of them were obligated to pass. It was enjoyable to have someone to talk to or simply eat late lunch or dinner. Especially when the food tasted like nightmare, it was always sour or spicy. Never the perfect balance.

“You’ve returned to Seoul earlier?” her steps were cautious as she locked her shelf with her back turned to the smaller friend. Her figure was beautiful, healthy and proportional. Joohyun bit her lips with a small wrinkle on her forehead. She was never the one who thought about herself highly, of course deep inside she was aware of her looks - however she did all to cover her most alluring features from the public sight. She didn’t find herself pretty; rather dull and lifeless. Seulgi was quite opposite - with her proportions and charm she had people bewitched in an instant. Her personality was the main thing that made people fall for her.

How unlucky she was to have beautiful face but horrendous social skills.

“Yes,” she checked the attendance list and with a swift motion she put her initials there. Her tresses had freed from her ponytail and crept onto her face. Taking the tie in her hands she quickly did a messy up do and glad to have her vision cleared she waited for her friend by the door.

Existing with someone so bright and lively made her tired and agitated at the end of the day. It wasn’t that she hated Seulgi’s presence, quite one the contrary, however her dullness didn’t match the cheerful aspects of the younger girl personality. The thoughts clouded her mind when they both roamed through corridors with their clicking shoes. The overbearing loneliness of this building crept upon her bare neck. Huge, empty walls and silence surrounding every move resonated in her head as she turned right. The passage over nothingness looked pitiful - the way towards her own oppression, she mused with a bitter taste on her tongue.

Was she proud of her job?

No, she wasn’t. Since she was ten she dreamt about working in a laboratory - the clean and sterile scenery lured her towards this aim. Yes, she studied biology and chemistry - working days and nights to pass every exam and never be the last on the students records list. Maybe it was meant to be, at first she was happy for the ability to work in such important facility; not only known in the country but also throughout the world. To be frank, nothing could have prepared her for the drawbacks. Sleepless nights and that sick warm feeling of being guilty. Joohyun bit her inner cheek stopping her walk with abrupt movement. Yes, she was not a saint: her fingers shook when she briefly remembered screams from the 0 floor or better to say the underground base.

“Are you okay?” the troubled face of her friend arrived in her peripheral vision and her wide eyes snapped towards Seulgi with mute questions. “I’ve been talking to you since we left the office,” her brows furrowed with suspicion and Joohyun quickly apologized. She didn’t mean to be rude, her train of thoughts often drove her away from the reality.

“Forgive me, I’ve been having troubles with sleeping,” her words weren’t completely lies. Insomnia has been a part of her life for far too long to pretend it wasn’t there at all. Younger female shrugged and anew her way, shooting timid glances in her direction. She couldn’t blame her.

If she was in others shoes she would probably behave like that - how strange she was?

The destination point was a conference hall occupied by almost twenty women who wore the same attire. The biggest difference was that some of them wore red or black masks over their eyes. The sign of being assigned to the 0 floor, something that Joohyun was able to do only for three days. Sitting in the corner of the room she placed her hands under her s waiting for the main officer and doctor to come.

“Wendy had the night shift,” the lazy whisper of Seulgi made her look at her colleague with surprise written on her face.

“She had never been on one,” her clipped inquiry rushed through the almost lifeless interior.

“There was a change in our assignments. Didn’t Donghae tell you that?” she was resting her chin on her elbow while tapping her foot on the white tiles. There was a difficult lump in at the thought about Donghae keeping it away from her. He was almost like a big brother to her, however she killed his platonic love for her in few seconds. Maybe she was ruthless after all.

“No,” she gulped but before she could continue the door opened and two men wearing uniforms came in. They stepped onto the podium with folders under their arms. It wasn’t hard to imagine how heavy those documents were, judging by the wince of discomfort on doctor's face. There was a heavy silence around them as they scanned the crowd before coughing few times.

“Ladies, we’ve gathered today to organize your future work and assign you the patients for the next month,” his mouth was moving but Joohyun could only hear her heartbeats drumming inside her ears. “The section confined to the government is now occupied by 8…cases” he drawled and she thought about heartbreaking way of addressing someone as a case. They were people: with hearts and feelings. They could perceive pain and happiness. She recalled screams buried deep down inside her mind and her fingers latched on the arm of chair.

“Let me read the other chores,” the voice of the officer rang in her head when she bravely fought against memories of the ground 0. Her first instinct was to run away - from the meeting hall and later from the whole facility. The burden on her shoulders made her heavier than she already was. Stretching her fingers she counted to ten, trying to forget about that period of time. Sick feeling pooled in her abdomen when she had difficulties with breathing. She could see Seulgi shooting her questioning stares but in that moment she didn’t care. Being a prisoner to one's mind wasn’t something she was proud, however it was hers to finish. The strength with which she pushed the yells and begging surprised even her.

“Bae Joohyun,” her name echoed in the room with the vibration of man’s baritone. Her legs almost gave in as she stood up and pulled her identification card with herself. The walk towards the officials seemed to last hours, when she finally stepped to their side she nervously glanced at the very well known eyes of the doctor. “That’s your case. Remember that the work in here is confidential. Working for government is an exquisite opportunity to gain more favors,” the outstretched hand with yellow folder looked like a lonely island. With the bare of emotions face she reached for it.

The document was heavy just like her heart.

*

She had an officer with her as they walked into the guarded area. He was unknown to her, but seemed unbothered of the situation he was in. The folder in her hands shivered when she looked at it with empty eyes. She was shaking, not from the nerves but from her guilty conscience. Sliding door emitted painful sound and she winced, holding the papers to her chest. The inside of the governmental base looked exactly like the one at the floor 0. She tensed at the robotic voice coming from speakers as she was lead to the rectangular corridor with doors on each side. They were silver and had no window - there was a small cube shaped hole that was used for giving and taking trays with food. The guard look at her and started maneuvering with the lock so she dropped her gaze to her simple shoes. There was a lot of rustling and curses but he finally managed to unlock the gate.

“Case number 04, this is your health and nutrition guard,” the emotionless words rang inside the small room without an answer. “You have a hour and twenty minutes then we will come to you, after week your visits will be prolonged,” the rough hands of the officer pushed her inside and the sound of keys locking the doors prickled her skin. There was too bright for her eyes so she blinked few times to adjust her sockets to the almost white led light. The interior was like an inexpensive cage. There was no window, no table or chair. In the centre of it stood a bed, medical one, and on the top of it laid a man. Her gasp was the only sound that registered in her mind. He was strapped to the furniture with leather belts and his face was the side so she could only see black tresses covering his features. In his arm was plugged needle and a yellowish liquid purred down into his veins. She couldn’t decipher what it could possibly be so she moved slowly towards her patient. He looked thin, she pinpointed as his hands resembled bones. Stopping in the foot of his bed she traced her fingers over metal board.

“You don’t have to pretend you’re sad,” she shot her wide eyed stare at the lips of the man in front of her. He didn’t move, the hair still covered his face but she could see his mouth moving. “It’s your job. Isn’t it?” His voice was soft but hoarse. Joohyun believed he had sore throat so she scribbled it down onto the paper she was holding.

“I’m not sad. I’m barely looking,” her fragile words resulted in his muscles twisting. She didn’t know if it was for good or bad but she slowly became determined to help him. To know him.

“And do you like what you see?” his raspy question was aimed to hurt. She knew this. He tried to make her guilty, as if she already wasn’t. The strain on her forehead deepened as she thought about her person. She wasn’t bad, she had the empathy and loved animals. She just… worked here.

“No, I don’t,” her sentences hung in the air for a couple of seconds before the sound of sheets moving was heard. Her black eyes bore holes in his person as his face turned to look straight at her. He seemed surprised and suspicious, however she could see pain written on his features as he flexed his neck few times. He stared at her in silence before closing his eyelids one more time.

“Ah, I see. Then be my guest,” he whispered and cut their conversation with a small sigh. Joohyun's hands shook with nerves. The man before her was beautiful. His skin even in a state of utter isolation glowed - his lips were full and dry. She took another note - bring vitamins, chopstick or vaseline to keep them wet and healthy. She scanned for any injuries while he kept being mute. His fingers were ethereal, long and bony with a mole on one of them. Biting her lower lip she quickly wrote her observations while staring at his non moving form. Her gasp died in as she realized his scent. The whole interior smelled like him - like a fresh linen and musky scent of forest at the dawn. Relaxing her muscles Joohyun tried to think about possible scenarios. She liked silence, she preferred to have her surroundings quiet.

"Your DNA will be scanned in few days," her small voice rung inside these empty walls as her fingertips played with the hem of her uniform. His eyes snapped open and he tried to move but the leather belts around his wrist held him down. There was a muffled curse and wince of pain flying across his face. "Can I help you?" she asked because she wanted to, not because it was her job. Loosening the grip on her paper mat she stepped closer to the unknown man. He had long eyelashes and his teeth were pearly white. He breathed through his mouth and shot her angry look.

"That's a stupid question," he barked with narrowed eyes. She was standing so close to his body that she could spot bruises around his hands - rather painful ones because each time he moved his arms clenched. Her palm touched his swollen limb and before she could inspect the injury he trashed or rather growled at her, throwing her off of him. "Don't touch me!"

She ended up on her fours on the ground with heart in . It wasn’t fear that she felt, it was anger mixed with guiltiness. He didn’t want her here because he knew she was one of the facility's worker. Looking at her knees, Joohyun blinked her watered eyes. That was what she got for experimenting on people, she bitterly laughed at herself in her mind.

"I know you are hurting," she whispered from the ground, not daring to look up and see his stormy glance. "If you allow me to investigate the cause I can fix it," her hair tingled her neck when she decided to look at her inmate. He was staring at her with unreadable expression. They were silent for another minute before he slowly nodded at her and she felt her insides relaxing. She stood up and dusted her beige attire with her hands. When she touched him again he trembled but didn’t pull away. Her lips parted as she examined his bruises and raw skin around the ties. It had to be painful and for sure he tried to free himself from it - the reddish gashes told her so. She couldn’t believe that someone had done such horrible thing to another human being. Furrowing her brows she glanced at the drip-bag.

"You're unusually quiet," her eyeballs shot to his as he spoke with a careful mannerism. "The others were different" he conducted when she let go of him. Joohyun's face paled at the thoughts of other nurses - some of them were truthfully evil. Trying to regain her composure she put an unruly curl of her hair behind her ear.

"I'm not good in talking," she winced at her fragile tone and dropped her gaze onto the tiles. Stretching her digits on her knees she gulped the feeling of hopelessness down . "Do you know what are they giving to you?" her question startled him as he slowly understood she meant the yellow liquid. He laughed for a few seconds and rolled his eyes.

"They are making us forget," his voice was gentle, like a wisp of a night air. She straightened and put her palm to cover her wide open mouth. How could they? The cold realization of the aim of that procedure hit her like a tones of bricks. "It’s quite ruthless, don’t you think?" he asked with a tinge of an irony at the end of his question. Even if he meant it sarcastically, he didn’t look that cheerful at all. His eyes were casted down and small frown ghosted on his features. He looked pitiful and sad, however she knew that he was disappointed. Maybe not necessarily in himself, maybe the disappointment was aimed for the people who did it to him.

"How much?" her worried expression did nothing to him as he emotionlessly stared at her. "How much did you forget?" the last word was merely audible. She leaned forward and he closed his eyelids. It looked like he was trying to remember, the sight of it shook her heart. Such a lost boy in the cold cell without a window to the outer world.

"I can recall the name of the planet I came from but not how it looked like," he muttered with nostalgia and she felt the longing in his sentence. They deprived him of his memories, that was how cruel they could be. "I remember the scents but not the places," his eyes opened and he fisted his hands. They were trembling - she was sure it wasn’t from the pain this time.

"Can you tell me the name of your home?" She asked because she wanted to know, wanted to give him a sense of security. The information was useless to the officials because they already had them inside, trapped like experimental rats. His breathing stopped when he peeked at her from his eyelashes.

"Elyxion," the name rolled from his tongue and she repeated it in her mind over and over again to remember it. It was hers, a secret and some familiarity between them. She didn’t want to be like those merciless scientists here.

"It sounds rather extraordinary," she thought out loud and put the papers on her lap. "This information will never leave this room" grabbing a pen she wrote her initials on the page and shut the folder down. "I will bring the vitamins and reasonable tools to aid you tomorrow. It's time for me to go," she stood up from the hard stool and ventured towards the metal doors. Before she could signal her exit the soft voice stopped her in tracks.

"Baekhyun," she whipped her head so fast that she swore she got a whiplash. "That's my name," he murmured and curled into fetus position. Her head throbbed with sudden emotions and she quickly put the code into the system.

She could feel his stare on her back even as she left the room.