By three in the afternoon the next day, Yerin had interviewed all nine subjects and even learned their names. While some didn’t have any issues talking to her, like Yixing, others she instinctively knew would take a few more sessions to open up. Kyungsoo said maybe three words throughout the whole hour. From what Yerin had read in his file, he was the most closed off, though still cooperative with the doctors and guards. Even with his small stature, he was the strongest of them all, possessing impossible strength. Yerin wondered if he was simply afraid to hurt someone accidentally, hence why he kept his distance. He never let her come too close to him, shrinking back if she leaned forward or made any sort of gesture in his direction.

Jongdae was the first one that she actually had the urge to smack. Over the years, it seemed he had built up a defense of sarcasm. Yerin couldn’t take any of his answers entirely seriously and he even winked flirtatiously at her at one point. It couldn’t be denied, though. She certainly admired his bravado in the face of his situation.

The one who really deserved that admiration, however, was Baekhyun. His happy disposition was shocking from the moment she walked into his room. He was grinning wide, like a cheshire cat, as Yerin sat down in front of him. It took only about five seconds for him to give his name and he loved telling stories about when they were all together in the large dorm room, located on a different floor. Yerin didn’t even have to prompt him with any questions. That was his way of coping with his life, she concluded, preferring to focus on the fun times they had with each other, ignoring the not so pleasant incidents.

Minseok was another quite one. His form of silence wasn’t one of fear or hatred, more of a neutral disinterest. The only reason that Yerin even knew his name was because of Baekhyun’s description. Most of the communication was her trying to ask open-ended questions and Minseok simply shrugging or glancing in her general direction before looking away again. He would be a tough one to crack, but she hoped he come around soon.

The one that concerned her the most out of all of them was Sehun. His fear of her and of his circumstances radiated off of him no matter how stoic he tried to stay. Pushed all the back into the corner where his bed met the wall, he kept his arms wrapped around his folded knees, tucked in tight to his chest. Yerin stayed a bit farther away than she had with the others, doing more to try and sooth him and convince him that she wasn’t there to harm him more than anything else. The expression on his face gave off the vibe of a high wall that she would have to climb extensively before he would begin to trust. No, though it was there, his fear didn’t show on his face; his expression was more mooted than that. Almost like he’d given up.

As Yerin typed out her observations, she constantly went back and reread the sentences, trying not sound as empathetic and heartbroken as she was feeling. If she wanted to keep these sessions going and stick to the promise she’d made them, to be there for them and to always come back, then she had to stay professional. At least in Dr. Wang and Dr. Kwon’s eyes. It took a lot of time, but when it was at the hour to go home, her report was finished at last.

The door to Dr. Wang’s office was locked and Yerin didn’t have her own drawer to lock the papers in until the next day. Dr. Wang preferred reports to be printed out on paper rather than handed in electronically. Not entirely sure what to do, Yerin decided to see if maybe she could track the lead doctor down.

Sticking with her own hallway for the time being, Yerin poked her head into the first two labs to find them empty. If she was less anxious, she might have spent some time looking around as she’d never really explored the other work spaces before. Her work was too time consuming and the interest had never come to her before. But she didn’t want to seem like she was sneaking around and these rooms looked just like any other laboratory she’d been in. Yerin approached the last room, concluding that if Dr. Wang wasn’t in there, then she would forget it and slide the paper under Dr. Wang's door and hope she didn’t get too upset over it. Unfortunately, while the doctor wasn’t in this room, one other person was.

Near the back were several computers and vital monitors hooked up to a cylinder tank almost as high as the ceiling. It was full of water, much like an escape trick a magician would pull. But it was no magician floating in the water. 

It was Junmyeon.

His eyes were closed as he bobbed up and down in the water, his chest not moving. There was no oxygen mask over his mouth to help him breathe, only waterproof wires stuck to his chest and head. The beeping of the monitors was the only proof that he was still alive. In a sort of trance, Yerin stepped forward until she was only an arm’s length away. Reaching out, she pressed her hand up against the cold glass, a sort of fog forming around it, creating a perfect outline of her fingers.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Yerin gasped, dropping her hand and swiveling around. Dr. Wang wasn’t looking at her as she stepped up to the tank. Her gaze was fixated on Junmyeon. A strange look somewhere between admiration and a much darker emotion settled in her eyes.

“He can hold his breath under water for almost an hour without any internal damage,” she said in a breathy voice, like she was describing a painting. “It’s amazing how interchanging just a few sequences in one’s DNA can grant completely astounding gifts.”

“They’re an extraordinary group,” Yerin agreed, although her opinion lingered on who they were as people, not the science that had been done to them.

Pulling herself away from the water tank, Dr. Wang looked over at Yerin. “Was there something you needed, Dr. Lee?”

“Right, yeah,” Yerin held out the report for her to take. “I’ve finished my first analysis. There isn’t too much to go on since it was hard to get some of them to talk, but I think if I keep going, I can get more data on their current mental states.”

“Excellent.” Dr. Wang glanced over the first page before tucking it under her arm. “I’ll go over it with Dr. Kwon. See you on Monday, Dr. Lee.” She her heels and left the room.

For a few seconds, Yerin stayed there, staring at Junmyeon. Then she thought it was time to go. She was about to follow Dr. Wang's lead and leave the room when Junmyeon’s eyes snapped open, meeting her own gaze. Silently, Yerin tried to convey how much she wished he wasn’t in there, but she didn’t think it was enough.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

He nodded, understanding. Knowing there wasn’t anything else she could do, she left the room as well.

Nada was already gone when Yerin dropped her lab coat off and gathered up her purse to leave for the weekend. It was tormenting to know that she would be gone for two days and not be aware of what was going on down in level sixty-six.

“Yerin!”

Marcus ran up to the elevator, panting from the short exercise.

“Hi, Marcus,” Yerin greeted halfheartedly.

“You headed home?” he asked, putting his hands in his pockets. He was out of uniform so his shift must have been over as well.

“Unfortunately.” Yerin was completely serious, even if Marcus took it as a joke. If she had some sort of excuse to stay, she would take it. Her mind wouldn't stop imagining what tests they might run or what tortures they might put the boys through. 

Marcus didn't see the distrought underneath her facade. “You want to grab some dinner?”

Yer bit her bottom lip. As much as she really didn’t want to go home and be alone with her thoughts, she didn’t want Marcus to think that dinner could lead to something more romantic. Unlike her other emotions, her dilemma must have been written all over her face.

“It’s not a date,” he insisted, throwing his hands up, palms out. “My treat, but just as friends.”

“I guess that doesn’t sound too bad.” Yerin sighed. “Okay, then. Where are we going?”

It’s a good thing it wasn’t a date, because she would have been seriously unimpressed. “Dinner” was a hidden dive bar that was much too noisy for her liking. Marcus requested a table near the back of the building and seemed to be on a first name basis with the wait staff. Generic bar food was their specialty and nothing in particular stuck out on the menu. In the end, the two of them shared a plate of greasy nachos covered in too much cheese and not enough meat. Yerin mostly just picked at it, not really hungry.

“Everything okay?” Marcus asked after it had been silent between them for several minutes.

Wiping her hands on a napkin, Yerin replied, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a long day.”

“The therapy sessions getting to you?”

Yerin wasn’t sure how to answer.

Yes, they were getting to her. It was hard to see nine people who had had their childhoods taken away from them and hadn’t had contact with another human being who wasn’t out to poke and prod at them while performing painful tests in over two years. The process had been draining, but there was a silver lining. Being able to connect with them, to make Yixing smile just a little bit or to let Kyungsoo know that he’s able to be around others without hurting them, that made her feel like what she was doing mattered. So much more than staying in a lab and looking into a microscope day in and day out. Perhaps she had chosen the wrong profession in college.

“They’re…” she took a deep breath, “strenuous. There’s only so much I can do or say. Half of them won’t even really talk to me.”

“I think it’s a brave thing you’re doing,” Marcus commented.

Yerin looked up at him, eyes wide in surprise. “Really? How so?”

“The reason everyone is able to do what they do down there is because they disassociate.” Marcus stopped to take a sip of his beer before continuing. “They make themselves forget that they’re people like you and me. It makes me sick, to be honest.”

The image of Yixing and the guards flashed through her mind and her stomach did a little churn of its own.

“But you,” he tapped the top of Yerin's head with his finger, “you’re talking to them one-on-one. That makes you see them as only human. An animal can’t talk back. To do that, you have to be willing to face reality. To me, that’s brave.”

With the tips of her fingers, Yerin played with the straw that floated in her glass of water. It was nice to hear something like that for once. All Nada really wanted to know was what they looked like. She wasn’t completely shallow, but like Marcus said, she’d shut off that part that would remember whose blood they were constantly looking at and cataloging. Plus, she’d never seen their living conditions up close.

“I really appreciate that,” Yerin said with sincerity. “It’s kind of been like walking on eggshells. Not wanting to seem too sympathetic. I’m sure if Dr. Wang suspected anything, she’d yank me out of there in a second. I thought I could do it.” It was hard admitting all this. She ran her hand through her hair, trying to keep her breathing even. “I knew human trials were to be expected within EXO. I’ve read the stories and I knew I would have to accept that they happened. But forced experimentation like this? The cases we read about were always about somewhere else. Like a ghost story. I walked right into this blindfolded and now I can’t unsee any of it.”

“Maybe you were meant to be here,” Marcus offered.

Yerin laughed. “What? Like fate?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, genuinely. “I mean, what if you were meant to help them?”

“How could I possibly help them? They’ve been in that place since they were teenagers. What hope is there?”

He shrugged. “Who knows? Opportunity might be closer than you think.”