A/N Time for... character development!

[Suspension building, SM, after the mission]

“YOU HAVE TO GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

“I NEED JENO!”

“I AM…. HEALED!”

Renjun and Jaemin were the first ones who were put in suspension the moment they reached SM. They were locked in a white room with two beds and food given to them every day like it was prison and Jaemin hated it. Renjun knew that it was coming and he had mentally prepared himself, the male taking off his shoes and sitting down on the bed while Jaemin sulked.

Renjun knew it was a matter of time until Jaemin lost it, the male going to his side of the room as far as possible from Jaemin. All it took was thirty minutes- thirty minutes, until Jaemin began pacing around the room haughtily.

“I gave them the briefcase! I helped them and this is what they do to me?!” Jaemin screeched, kicking the wall. “It wasn’t like Renjun would have shot Chenle! Why are they locking me up?!”

“I would, just not in the head.” Renjun hummed, calmly.

Before they came into the suspension room, they were given the opportunity to ask for one thing and one thing only. Renjun asked for his textbook. He could occupy his brain with reading, that was no problem… but Jaemin—

Jaemin leaped against the wall, trying to reach the vents but to no avail. Renjun sighed and shook his head, burying his face in the book when Jaemin came up to him.

“Sit down, Na Jaemin.”

Two years.

Two years and a half now, actually, and Renjun knew very well how Na Jaemin’s brain worked. He looked up to see Jaemin eyeing his textbook, Renjun quickly holding it against his chest. He knew what Na Jaemin was thinking.

Na Jaemin wanted his book.

“No,” Renjun said, shaking his head. “You can’t. You were given one thing! Why didn’t you ask them for something of your own?”

“I did! I asked for Jeno! One thing. One thing I asked for and they can’t give it to me! LIARS! Liar! Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar—” Jaemin rambled, a hand going to punch the wall when Renjun lifted a hand to shield his friend's knuckles from coming in contact with the solid surface. “I need my one thing! RENJUN! Give me your book—”

“No!” Renjun fought back, hugging his book and running to the other side of the room. “You are not making origami with my book!”

“I just need one page! One page!”

“Go ask them for paper!” Renjun yelled at Jaemin who advanced at the smaller male dangerously.

“I’m not wasting my ability to demand one thing on paper!” Jaemin reasoned, pushing his sleeves up. “Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me!”

“No!”

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“Look! It’s a swan!” Jaemin said happily, holding up a swan in the air to show Renjun who moodily sat on the floor across from him. “How pretty!”

“Look, it’s 637 swans,” Renjun replied monotonously. “My book had 637 pages, Jaemin.”

The two of them were on the floor, swans scattered around them. Jaemin had asked for one, but of course, the ‘too much’ gene had to work and it ended up with Jaemin ripping all of the pages off from Renjun’s textbook to make swans because “They need friends, Renjun! FRIENDS!”

And Renjun just had to comply because it was Na Jaemin.

But Jaemin was now bored and he began to behead the swans, ripping the heads out violently at the fact that he was going to have to stay there for god knows how long without Jeno. Renjun watched his friend dully, Jaemin jumping up just to head over to the camera, speaking to it.

“You have to let me go,” Jaemin said, his voice lowering. “You can’t keep me here or I will die. Everybody will die! RENJUN WILL DIE!”

Renjun’s eyes widened at Jaemin’s craziness, the male turning to run towards Renjun who squeaked.

“Renjun, come here. I’m so sorry, my friend, but I will have to murder you to get out.”

“NA JAEMIN!” Renjun squealed as Na Jaemin chased him around the room. “How dare you! I adopted you!”

Jaemin stopped in the middle of the room, both of them beginning to fight.

“Adopted me? I found you on top of a twenty-floor building about to kill yourself!” Na Jaemin yelled at Renjun who glared at Jaemin.

“I’m thinking now that maybe I should have!”

The banter between the two continued, Jaemin throwing his hands in the air. No, no, no! Renjun must not think of suicide! It is a sin! A sin, I tell you! Jaemin hissed at Renjun.

“TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW! People who think of suicide go to hell!” Jaemin said to Renjun who yelled back.

“I’M ATHIEST!”

Jaemin’s eyes narrowed at Renjun, the male marching up to the door.

He must cleanse the room! Renjun must be enlightened! Jaemin slammed his fist against the door over and over again, calling the guards when they came, Jaemin asking for his one thing.

“Yes, what do you need?” the guard asked carefully.

“I NEED THE HOLY BIBLE!” Jaemin bellowed at him. “I demand it right now! I must make sure Renjun accepts the concept of god! I need the holy bible to read to him how important life is and—”

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“Look! It’s a swan!” Jaemin exclaimed, Renjun on the floor with the pillow on his face.

“Look, it’s 1,200 swans. The Bible had 1,200 pages,” Renjun murmured.

“These are holy swans, Renjun. Shut up,” Jaemin said. “I’m bored. Renjun—”

“Shut up!” Renjun stopped his friend from talking. “This is suspension! All we have to do is stay here for a bit and—”

“This is not suspension! This is the seventh level of hell!”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Infirmary]

Luhan.

His voice rang in my mind over and over again, flashes of his face appeared in my dreams and I found myself jolting awake. My head was heavy and I lost my vision once more, hearing only voices.

“Is she going to be okay? How is she not dead yet?” Johnny’s voice floated into my ears and I turned my body. “She’s moving…”

There was no reply to Johnny’s question but it made me wonder the same thing. How was I still alive? Suddenly I felt a surge of pressure go through my body and I gasped, jolting up. My eyes flew open and I felt hands grab my face. Johnny’s scent reached my nose and I saw his face looking worriedly at me.

“Dana!” he was saying and I tried to focus on him, my heart racing. “Dana. Breathe.”

No, the problem wasn’t that I couldn’t breathe. The problem was that I felt like I wasn’t safe. My hands reached out to hug Johnny, my arms trembling. I closed my eyes, Johnny trying to rock me back and forth when I looked up and suddenly everything became clearer.

Johnny.

His face was right in front of me and something in my brain clicked, my hands going to grab him and automatically my heart rate slowed. It was like it was saying that I was safe and I had nothing to worry about and when I felt myself calm down, a wave of pain washed through my body.

“Ow…” I gasped, my hand going to rub the sides of my arms. “Ouch—”

“Dana?” Jaehyun asked, coming from the side. He looked worried and he slowly pushed me back down on the bed. “Dana, what’s wrong?”

“Ow, Jeffrey. Ow!” I managed to say, another wave of pain making me turn to my side. The feeling was new and I loved it, Jaehyun’s eyes widening at my words. “Jeffrey. It hurts. It hurts so much, Jeffrey. Ow—"

“Really? Where, Dana, where?” Jaehyun was asking, a hand going to press on my bruise and I yelped.

“Everywhere!” I said, feeling a rush of emotions as I began to sob. “It hurts, Jeffrey. It hurts so much.”

I was happy. I was happy to finally feel something but I think they thought I was crying because it hurt. Jaehyun panicked and I watched as he tried to think of something to do to take the pain away but I couldn’t stop pinching my own arm.

So, this is what pain felt like.

So, this is what it felt like to be alive.

I sniffled, a hand going up to wipe my cheek to see Johnny staring at me.

“Johnny,” I said his name, grabbing his hand. “Johnny. Johnny. Johnny.”

Johnny didn’t say anything, a finger rubbing mine. He smiled at me and I desperately needed him closer. I felt like if Johnny wasn’t around, something bad would happen and I would die. I squeezed his hand, saying his name one more time when Jaehyun came with a syringe. I was still out of it and I didn’t understand half of what was going on at the moment.

“Where’s Luhan?” I asked, Jaehyun stopping beside me. Johnny stood up, stretching and he was still wearing the same clothes I saw him wear when we started off to YG’s base. It meant he didn’t go back to the lighthouse yet. “Where’s One? The little kid?”

“What Luhan? What little kid?” Jaehyun asked back and I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Luhan was there. He saved me. He brought me out and there was a little kid named One. Luhan…. He… He carried me and I—” Images of Luhan flashed before my eyes and I tried to explain what I saw but my thoughts were working faster than my mouth could handle and I tried to string my words together.

“Relax. Dana, we saw you by the submarine. No one saw Luhan or a kid,” Jaehyun explained. “The island exploded. Na Jaemin pushed the self-destruct button. Both he and Renjun are in the suspension room right now. Chenle is also suspended from class but he’s in his dorm room.”

“What did Chenle do?” I croaked.

“He authorized the self-destruct order. Renjun threatened to shoot him,” Jaehyun said and I turned to see that Johnny was gone. My eyes widened at Johnny’s absence when Jaehyun took out a syringe to tell me that it would sting. I searched for Johnny when Jaehyun inserted the needle into my skin but I felt nothing.

I frowned, looking at the needle that was drawing blood.

“It doesn’t hurt,” I told Jaehyun who looked at me and fair enough, it was like my body wasn’t feeling pain anymore. “Why doesn’t it hurt?”

“Are you sure?” Jaehyun asked, a hand going to press against my bruise. “But you were yelling about how painful everything was a moment ago.”

Nothing.

“No, it doesn’t hurt. Why doesn’t it hurt?” I asked, pinching myself before my mind jumped back to the base. “They were also experimenting on babies. But a green liquid. They created the Marvel-U drug because they have a Hulk drug and One was injected with the drug and… and… Where is Johnny?”

Jaehyun watched me carefully. “Why do you need Johnny?”

“Jeffrey. I need Johnny. If he’s not with me, I’ll die.” My mouth was trying to explain what I felt. “Jeffrey, you don’t understand—”

“Okay. Okay. Lay back,” Jaehyun told me, pushing me back gently. “I’ll get Johnny. He probably just went to the bathroom— Johnny! Johnny.”

“What’s wrong?” Johnny asked, confused and I sat back up, a hand finding Johnny. My eyes darted back and forth and the moment I looked up to see Johnny’s face, my fingers tightened around his skin and another wave of pain washed over my body. I groaned, doubling over. “I’m here. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. She said she needs you or she will die,” Jaehyun said. “I would say she’s just being Dana and she’s being dramatic but a moment ago she couldn’t feel pain after feeling it and—it’s the drug. It’s doing things to her.”

“Lie down, Dana,” Johnny told me and I complied, my palms feeling the heat of his skin. I felt safe again, my eyes fluttering shut as they talked. “What do you think is happening, Jae?”

“I think it might be because the Marvel-U drug is rewiring her brain and your voice and your face may have been the first thing she saw when she woke up.” Jaehyun sighed. “I need to read more about what the Marvel drug does. I know it gifts people with skills and abilities but I think it’s much more than that.”

“But she can feel pain, can she?” Johnny asked. “She said she felt pain a moment ago.”

“Yes, but when you left, she didn’t even feel the syringe. I pressed on her bruise and it didn’t hurt at all until you came back again.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that when you’re not around, her brain is on defense mode. It’s scared and alert. When you’re around, it thinks it's safe so it allows her to feel and relax—going back to being a normal body without the defense mechanism.” Jaehyun tried to explain, the sounds of papers flipping making me frown. “Johnny. Oh, Johnny. Poor you, Johnny.”

“What?” Johnny asked.

“Poor you...” was all I heard Jaehyun say when I finally lost consciousness once more.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I woke up, my eyes opening softly to feel someone holding my hand. I struggled to move, turning to the side to see that Johnny was sleeping. His hand was on mine, holding it and I blinked at him. He looked tired, the male breathing heavily.

“Ouch,” I said to myself softly as I tried to move, trying to sit up. My body was in pain but it wasn’t that bad as before. I tried to prop myself up, seeing Johnny stir. When he saw that I was awake, he let go of my hand and he stretched.

“Dana,” he said, a hand going to rub his eyes and my hand instinctively went out to touch his arm. “How are you feeling?”

“It hurts,” I told him. “But it feels good.”

Wow. No wonder Seasonies said weird things… It was like my brain was working on full speed and wanted to say so many things but couldn’t figure out what to say first. I struggled to understand what was going on in my mind when my hand went to pat my stomach. It ached like it was empty and I saw Johnny look at me knowingly.

“You’re hungry,” he told me and I gasped.

“I’m hungry?” I asked and Johnny nodded, pushing a plate of oatmeal towards me. It was probably made by Jaehyun and I slowly brought the food to my lips, taking it in. After a few bites, I was already full and I discarded it on the side to see Johnny stand up. “Johnny, where are you going? Johnny, don’t leave me.”

I grabbed Johnny and pulled him towards me, shaking my head. No.

“Johnny, you can’t leave me. If you leave me, I’ll die.”

“Relax, Dana. I’m just going to get water,” Johnny said. “It’s just there. Right over there. You’ll see me.”

He pointed and I saw that he was pointing to the water dispenser at the side of the room. He made his way to it and I panicked. I was confused. Why was I panicking? I could see him, right there across the room. Why was it that my heart was echoing in my ears like I was in danger?

Johnny grabbed a water bottle and headed towards the water dispenser and I saw him crack his knuckles, heaving a sigh. My heart twisted in my chest and I felt a rush of adrenaline. He was too far. Too far. I slid off the bed, Johnny not noticing my presence until I finally reached him. I did the first thing I had to do, sliding my arms around his waist and pressing my face against his back.

I felt him tense up momentarily when he realized it was just me.

“Dana, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Body Pillow,” I told him, not knowing what to say as to explain why I was acting this way. He would just have to handle it. He would understand. It was Johnny. I heard him fill the bottle up silently, a hand going to tap my arm softly. “Johnny.”

Just saying his name made me feel safe and I felt my body calm down.

As long as he was close to me.

As