The Elevator

The River
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“Oh, my son!”, a voice called out. “My dear, oh!”, another familiar voice followed.

Beomgyu and Kai turned around and flashed a smile, seeing their mothers rush towards them with wide arms. They melted into their mothers’ warm embraces, being showered with kisses and love.

Taehyun, Soobin and Yeonjun watched them with utter satisfaction. It was a pleasant view, seeing people reconcile and reunite together, but there were others with sheer panic written all over their bodies.

Suddenly, the familiar sound of whirring blades gained the attention of everyone; it was the same helicopter, floating in air, now finally within the barrier, thanks to the gradual expansion. There were people with large guns and crates of what appeared to be grenades.

“Wait!”, Taehyun yelled at the top of his lungs, feeling his chest rise and fall rapidly. “Don’t attack yet! It might backfire and worsen the situation!”

“Weapons must be used, young boy.”, a gruff voice demanded from behind.

Taehyun turned around and let out an inaudible gasp; it was Yeonjun’s father, standing with his arms tucked behind his back, standing tall and fierce – one could almost mistake the man to be involved with the chaos. Taehyun wanted to say something, anything that would stop the helicopter from carelessly dropping grenades on the large machine.

“Father, no.”, Yeonjun interrupted as he stepped forward with a firm expression on his face; he didn’t want to admit the fear and hatred in his heart at the sight of his father. “The barrier is still too small. When that grenade is dropped, the machine will attack again and we won’t have anywhere to hide. K-Kai can’t protect us with his wall of fire. He can’t actually control it.”

There was a moment of silence, and all eyes were on the father and the son. It was a battle of eye contact at this point. However, one woman spoke up: “I will not let my son be the bait or the shield until and unless he agrees to do so. There must be another way.”

“Mom…”, Kai trailed off as he tightened his hold on his mother’s hand. He kept his head low throughout.

Unlike Kai, Taehyun was not one to hold back. “And there is another way. Firstly, we treat anyone who is injured. Next, we form groups and we devise a plan to defeat that thing before there’s enough of that liquid to kill us. Before the sun sets, can we please at least get the essentials done?”

Immediately, a man and a woman approached Soobin with a bag of medical equipment. They pulled out the materials for a new fibreglass cast, layered with a new liner that provides a waterproof exterior. “Please, anyone who’s injured, please come forward. We’ll tend to any wounds with all that we have.”, the woman said as she guided Soobin towards a tree with reachable branches.

“Wait, I’ll help.”, Yeonjun said as he gestured Kai to come over. They gently helped Soobin sit on the branch, letting the nurse work on his soaked cast, replacing it with the new cast after cleaning up his leg. Beomgyu waited by Soobin’s side too, wanting to have his arm checked upon, hoping that there was no infection on his previous wound from where a piece of glass was removed.

Taehyun, on the other hand, was walking back and forth, his arms folded as he forced himself to mentally think of some sort of plan. He stopped his feet at a few familiar voices; he turned around and let out a sigh of relief – assembled near him were Yeji, Wooyoung and Changbin, along with a few other very familiar faces, though he wasn’t very close with them.

“Taehyun, right? We want to help in every way we can. All of us.”, Wooyoung started off. “Umm, t-this is San and Yeosang. And umm, Changbin and Seungmin. Oh, Yeji’s here too, along with Jisu. I know, we’re just a bunch of performing arts majors, but if there’s anything we can do, let us know.”

Before Taehyun could respond, a troop of armed policemen walked towards him. “We’re here to help too. Bullets seemed useless on the barrier, but now that we’re actually inside, we can genuinely help or so we hope…”

Taehyun let out a sigh of relief, feeling some of his nerves calm down; seeing so many people willing to help and tackle unpredictable creatures brought him a sense of satisfaction and compelled him to dwell into this feeling of leadership. He firmly nodded and stood on his toes for a slight second, glancing at the tree near which his friends stood, before returning his gaze back to those in front of him. “Okay, here’s what we can do for now.”

But the timing was always wrong.

A sudden explosion sounded from the river; all eyes turned towards the source of the sound – the blades of that very same helicopter were muted out by the blast over the machine-like creature from a bomb that was dropped. However, the machine stood as still and robust as ever, the explosion having no effect whatsoever, not even leaving a mere scratch; the end result was only more destruction to the already damaged bridge and land. As if with disappointment, the helicopter began to descend back to the ground. With not a minute to waste, the machine slowly crept out of the water, large wheels and claws helping it roll and climb over the land.

“Run!”, a chorus of voices yelled simultaneously, signalling every person there to race at their greatest speeds, running away from the slowly approaching machine, its metallic pipes once again protruding out and ejecting out a green, sizzling liquid.

“S-Soobin!” Yeonjun helped the other make his way across the area, but he tossed his crutches to Kai as he carried Soobin on his back. He was thankful that the water level was as low as their feet by now. He heard the helicopter fly over his head, and then noticed how people scattered into different buildings and houses, before he himself followed a few familiar faces.

“Here!”, one woman said as she gestured towards the elevator, waiting for the boys to get in, before she let go of the button. As the lift escalated to the top floor, she flicked out a bunch of phones and other items, handing them over to each of them. “And torches, and batteries, and power banks, and umm, bags! To carry them!”, she rushed with her words, clearly panicked by the situation.

“Thank you so much.”, Soobin said as he slid his phone into his pocket and shoved the other items into a belt bag he wore around his waist. He tapped Yeonjun’s shoulder, wanting to be let down, but the latter didn’t budge. The feeling of being cared and protected made his heart feel alive even if it was just for a moment, a smile lacing his lips as he rested his head on Yeonjun’s shoulder. It was every small moment and action that made Soobin feel that way about the older, but the latter would never know.

The elevator doors slid open, and they rushed out immediately. Taehyun ran towards an open window in the corridor, squinting his eyes as he focused on the machine from the top floor, getting a clear view. It wa

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mayu98_GRP
#1
Chapter 42: I love the story overall and I'm wondering if you planned a second season to this story? If you do, I will definitely check them out later!! Oh, and have a happy new year ahead ^^
DGNA_Forever
#2
Chapter 42: I'm glad that things were able to return to being mostly normal, and also loved the halfway confession of Yeonjun's, saying that he would go out with Soobin and do all of these things that would eventually make them fall further. I'm also glad that you didn't throw them straight into a relationship after the trauma they've been through and the changes to everything. This was nicely done.
DGNA_Forever
#3
Chapter 41: I'm glad they were able to defeat the Slime, but at what cost now? So many people have been effected and lives changed. It's also sad to see how things turned out with Yeonjun and his parents. I hope he'll be able to recover from this.
26rgephart #4
Chapter 21: ahhhhh im just over halfway and im really exited to see how this ends! i hope that the ending is happy~
Missanion
#5
Chapter 1: I feel bad for Yeonjun. He has such egoistic and greedy parents. They don't care about his feelings, they care about money, power and conections. I thought maybe his mother was different but she never corrected nor objected to her husband's words and desires about Yeonjun's future.
It is so desconsiderate and shameful of them to ask for Soobin's help, they are putting a heavy bag over his shoulders and it was hard for him to deny their request because they are his friend's parents, it is not easy.
He could told them that he would do It, so both of them would stop pestering and bothering him. He could earn their trust like that but not doing nothing they have asked of him at all. Sadly, it seems that he will carry on with that plan.
I feel pity for Soobin. He likes Yeonjun and is keeping his feelings hidden deeply inside !
Missanion
#6
The plot seems really interesting and I'm already looking forward to this! I love TXT and yeonbin haha.
DGNA_Forever
#7
Chapter 37: I'm glad Soobin is okay, and obviously Yeonjun does have feelings for him. He just won't let them out yet. I hope they can recover from his harsh words, and also make sure the people responsible for this pay.
DGNA_Forever
#8
Chapter 36: Oh My goodness. I was so afraid that Soobin was gone, but I'm glad he's not. Now I hope yuey can end this and go back to a normal life sometime soon.
DGNA_Forever
#9
Chapter 35: I loved Soobin's confession, and hope that Yeonjun will be able to get the true feelings that he was trying to convey. Now I also hope that Soobin will be able to get out somehow and not die in there, after all they've been through.
DGNA_Forever
#10
Chapter 28: Even with all they have lost, Taehyun does have a point with wanting to fight back. Maybe their powers are exactly what's needed right now to fight these monsters off. It's worth a shot. I love how caring Taehyun is, too.