Disclaimer: this is very unedited right now, so my sincere apologies for the mess you're about to read and pls keep ur expectations low :') i also wrote out of order, as i usually do, so you can probably spot the scenes that i was working on with half a brain cell when i should've been asleep ^^; anyway, after working on this non-stop for most of december in between work and classes and holiday plans, i'm going to let it sit like this for a week before coming back to make some edits and section it into chapters for a better reading experience. so if you'd rather wait for that, pls come back in a week! this isn't my best work right now, but it does contain a lot of interesting concepts that i'm excited to explore in the reboot that is coming soon^TM. so tysm for dropping by and pls enjoy!

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“We’re stuck.”

Haseol flicked her eyes towards her older brother, who was standing at the entrance to her bedroom with a clipboard and a file folder in hand, and tiredly asked, “With what?”

“I need you to sign an NDA before I can say anything else,” Kyungsoo primly replied as he walked over to Haseol’s desk, stopping about a foot behind his younger sister, and held out the clipboard for her to take. “You know the rules.”

“Tch, you might as well make me a permanent part of your team at this point,” Haseol answered with a scowl as she swiped the clipboard from his hand and riffled through the non-disclosure agreement. “Or get your lawyer to draft up a comprehensive NDA, so I don’t have to keep signing these stupid things over and over again.”

“You know I can’t do that. Conflict of interest, nepotism, all that jazz,” he passively explained, keeping his gaze trained on Haseol’s hand as his younger sister picked up a black ballpoint pen and lazily signed her name at the end of the document.

She raised an eyebrow as she handed the clipboard back to him. “And how is this not the same thing?”

“Because we still need your help and this is the best way to bypass company regulations without anyone getting in trouble.” After tucking the clipboard under his left arm, Kyungsoo handed the file folder to Haseol and motioned for her to keep it closed. Her scowl deepened, but she obeyed and waited for him to speak first. “So one of our projects has…hit a couple of snags and we need you to help us fix them so that we can get started on the next phase.”

Haseol rolled her eyes. “I already inferred that, thank you very much. So what exactly went wrong?”

“If you’re free tomorrow, it’ll be much easier to show you in person and explain what we need you for,” Kyungsoo vaguely replied, standing unflinchingly even when his younger sister leveled a deadly stare at him.

“Then what is this?” She waved the file folder dangerously close to his face, just about ready to smack him in the forehead for wasting her time.

“Some reading homework to keep you busy until tomorrow,” her older brother glibly explained before turning on his heel and heading out of Haseol’s bedroom. “Don’t stay up too late thinking about this though,” he called over his shoulder. “I can guarantee you’ll only end up disappointing yourself with your far-fetched conclusions.”

“Then don’t waste my time and actually give me something worthwhile to work on!” she hotly replied, continuing to glare daggers into Kyungsoo’s back. “I have better things to do than constantly play hero for you without proper compensation!” Haseol sharply added before her older brother shut the door behind him. “Jerk,” she muttered under her breath as his footfalls gradually faded away.

As she leaned back in her chair, Haseol’s gaze fell upon the file folder in her grasp and she clucked her tongue as she laid it on her desk next to the circuit model she had been tinkering with before Kyungsoo had interrupted her. Bright blue sparks danced around the charged lines and she sighed while activating a small dome-shaped force field around the model to keep the energy contained. She had half a mind to completely ignore her older brother’s vague summons and stand him up tomorrow, but the annoyingly nosy part of her brain guided her hand back to the file folder instead and she flipped it open.

Inside was a rather hefty stack of paper that was sectioned up with colorful paperclips. “Biotechnology and genomics,” Haseol read out loud, tracing her right pointer finger along the title of the first page. She then moved to the next pile, fanning out the rest underneath so that it was easier to shuffle through all of them. “DNA structure and function. Cell structure. The nervous system. Sensory systems. The musculoskeletal system.” Upon realizing that these were all excerpts from a biology textbook, Haseol groaned loudly and let her upper body collapse onto her desk.

Just her luck. A project that involved the branch of science she was least proficient in. It was as if Kyungsoo existed solely to torment her whenever humanly possible.

After letting out a deep exhale and glancing longingly at her incomplete circuit model, Haseol dragged herself to her bed with a yellow highlighter in one hand and the stack of chapter excerpts in the other. She then spotted a bag of Skittles sitting atop her miniature refrigerator and leaned over to grab it. Within seconds, was stuffed with candy and a newly fluffed pillow was supporting her back as Haseol stretched like a cat and leaned against the headboard.

At the very least, no one was going to stop her from being comfortable while she tortured herself with needless studying.

--

“So what am I doing for you this time?” Haseol asked, grumbling as she pulled her coat more tightly around her shivering body. The temperature inside the research facility that Kyungsoo worked at was always incredibly low whenever she visited and today was no exception. Frigid air seemed to be blasting at them from every which way and Haseol silently chastised herself for not wearing a thicker coat, especially since she was no stranger to her older brother’s workplace.

Kyungsoo let out a low hum before slowly answering, “It’s called Project X. I can’t give you the specifics out here, since anyone could be eavesdropping and not everyone in the company is involved or even knows of its existence. But the basic rundown of the situation is that the circuits we’ve been building the past couple of months suddenly started malfunctioning before the alpha test next week and we need you to rewire them as soon as possible.”

“And you couldn’t get one of your guys to do the job?” she asked with a derisive snort.

“None of them have ever rewired anything as…complex as what we’re trying to build right now and I’d much rather entrust this delicate process to you to minimize any possible errors,” Kyungsoo explained in that infuriatingly vague tone of his. “We’ve been working on this project for the past year and we’re now on the verge of a huge breakthrough, so we can’t afford to have any failures.” The hand holding the gray cube that he always carried around noticeably tightened.

Seeing that her older brother wasn’t going to budge and reveal anything else, Haseol begrudgingly dropped the subject and silently followed Kyungsoo into the west wing of the research facility.

It was noticeably more barren in this section of the building than any other place she had been to so far whenever she had worked for her older brother and Haseol was beginning to feel rather exposed under the bright artificial ceiling lights. She was used to working in dark spaces, illuminated mostly by the blue energy of the magical circuits that she had devoted most of her life to studying, so the shockingly white environment was rather ominous. It felt like the walls were looming over her, ready to swallow her up when she least expected it, since no one was supposed to exist in this space.

God, she was never letting her Kyungsoo barge into her room unannounced ever again. If only to prevent unsettling situations like this one.

“So, uh, exactly how top-secret is this project?” Haseol warily asked as they walked further and further down the seemingly endless hallway.

“Very,” Kyungsoo answered simply, spinning the cube more quickly in his hand. “Only a handful of people, including you, know of its existence.”

Haseol furrowed her eyebrows and side-eyed her older brother. “Okay… And just so we’re clear, you’re not roping me into anything illegal, are you?”

“Of course not. We went through the appropriate channels to get this research proposal approved and properly funded. So stop worrying about these insignificant details, Haseol. All you have to do is work your magic and get us through this next phase.”

“I mean, when you’re being all secretive and leading me down a creepy hallway, do you really expect me to not jump to conclusions?” she muttered as she quickened her pace so that she was right on Kyungsoo’s heels. However, there was no response from her older brother this time, so Haseol sighed and unenthusiastically continued following him in silence.

They finally reached an unmarked door and Kyungsoo tapped his employee badge against the lock panel. A loud click sounded in the air and he pushed the door open before motioning for Haseol to step inside. The room itself was just as barren as the hallway they’d just left and an involuntary shiver ran down her spine as she waited for Kyungsoo to gently shut the door behind them.

“Again, I hope you know that this entire situation looks extremely suspicious and you’re not doing yourself any favors right now,” Haseol commented dryly as she leaned against a table.

Kyungsoo merely dropped a file folder on the same table—Haseol had no idea how he had kept that hidden from her this entire time—and coolly replied, “I appreciate your patience, Haseol. This section of the research facility has no cameras or microphones installed, so we’ll be able to speak freely here.” He then lightly tapped on the beige folder and said, “This is a more detailed overview of Project X. You can go ahead and take a look now.”

With that, Haseol gingerly opened the file folder and picked up the thin paper-clipped packet that lay inside. But as soon as she finished scanning the first page, she immediately threw it back on the table and rounded on her older brother. “Kyungsoo, this is insane!” the circuit engineer exploded, staring at him in horror. “You can’t—we can’t—this completely goes beyond what circuits are used for!”

“You haven’t even read the whole thing,” Kyungsoo said as he removed the paperclip and evenly spread out all of the pages on the table.

“I don’t need to read the entire thing to know that this whole operation is absolutely absurd! You can’t just make super soldiers!” With every page now visible, Haseol could see various sketches of magical circuits being implanted into human test subjects before they transformed into various imagined superhuman beings. “I know the government is filled with a bunch of political psychos, but I thought you were better than this, Kyungsoo!”

“We’re doing this to boost our military,” her older brother calmly stated. “I know you spend most of your time inside your little circuit bubble, but things have gotten dire outside, Haseol. If this project is successful, we’ll be able to protect civilians and prevent innocent lives from being lost.”

“Then count me out and find someone else to do this for you,” Haseol spat.

Before she could storm out of the empty room, Kyungsoo easily matched her steps and blocked her from leaving the table. “Isn’t this the ‘worthwhile’ endeavor you’ve been wanting for years? The one you’ve always dreamed of working on?” her older brother pointed out with a hard glint in his eyes.

“Of course not! My circuits elevate technology with magic to help society live more efficiently and safely,” Haseol heatedly explained. “What you’re proposing is borderline unethical!”

“This is the only way we can save our people, Haseol,” Kyungsoo firmly reiterated. “Don’t you understand? We’re losing the war right now. If we don’t come up with a counter to keep the forces invading from the north at bay, we’ll all die.”

“Still! I’m sure the government can authorize something that isn’t as risky and ridiculous as…as this!” Haseol jabbed a finger at the human circuits diagram while staring defiantly at her older brother. “There’s still so much that we don’t know about circuits! Humans are nothing like machines and if something goes wrong—”

“We don’t have time to wait for another solution to just drop into our laps.” Kyungsoo met her furious gaze with a steely one of his own. “Every second we sit by and do nothing, we lose hundreds of innocent civilians and it’s reached the point where we barely exist as a nation. At the very least, by doing this, we’re giving ourselves a shot at having a real future. Not one where kids are orphaned as soon as they learn how to walk.”

Haseol’s knuckles instantly turned white from how tightly her fists were clenched by her side as hazy memories of acrid smoke and ear-splitting screams filled her mind.

Her older brother’s gaze softened as he leaned over and enveloped Haseol in a hug. “This is our chance to help people,” Kyungsoo murmured. “I know you probably don’t believe me, but I promise it’ll be worth it in the end. I wouldn’t have asked you to join me if I didn’t think we’d be successful.”

“You’re the worst, you know that?”

“You might’ve mentioned that once or twice over the years,” her older brother mildly replied as he let go of her. “Do you need a moment before I take you to meet the head researcher?”

Haseol let out a shuddering breath and lightly slapped her cheeks before shaking her head and straightening her back. “Let’s go now before I change my mind about helping you and walk out instead.”

“Alright, he should be in his office right now,” Kyungsoo predicted, glancing at his watch. “It’s in the east wing, where your new office is located.”

“I’m getting my own office?”

Her older brother nodded as he led Haseol out of the room and back to the barren hallway. “It’ll be secure, of course, and out of the way so that people won’t be able to disturb you. As Project X progresses, you’ll be spending more and more time here, so I wanted to make sure you had a comfortable space of your own instead of having to share a bench with others like you did for previous projects.”

“Wait a minute. How long am I supposed to work on Project X?” Haseol asked with a slight frown. “I still have my own projects, you know. I can’t spend all of my time and energy solely on this.”

“Then you’d better work fast,” Kyungsoo replied with a shrug. “Like I said earlier, we need to move quickly to start the next phase of Project X. The sooner we get viable results, the sooner we can expand it into a full-on operation.”

Haseol grimaced, not missing how her older brother had blatantly avoided answering her question.

They soon exited the west wing and made their way towards the east wing. Now that they were out of the freakishly empty hallway, the two siblings crossed paths with several other employees from Astral Ark. Most of them greeted Kyungsoo with reverence, often stepping to the side so that his path was clear. The research director politely nodded and softly smiled at each of them, striding with an air of calm and confidence that made Haseol wish she could snap his legs in half. If only to bring him down a peg or two.

“We’re here.”

Haseol had been so mentally checked out after leaving the west wing that she almost walked past her older brother when he stopped in front of a fairly unassuming door with a simple golden nameplate nailed near the top.

Kyungsoo softly pushed open the door and revealed a man with jet black hair who was dressed in a white lab coat and hunched over a desk covered in stacks of paper. “Haseol, this is Byun Baekhyun. You’ll be working with him on Project X. He’s the one who built the initial circuit prototypes, so he’ll be able to answer any questions you inevitably come up with.”

She waited for Baekhyun to stand up and greet her, quickly scanning the room and absorbing her surroundings while she did. But when a minute passed with no acknowledgement from him, Haseol roughly elbowed Kyungsoo’s side and scowled when he showed no reaction. “Well, is he going to introduce himself or what?”

Her older brother’s response was to knock loudly on the doorframe, causing Baekhyun to jump in his seat as he was jolted out of his reverie. “Baekhyun, I’d like you to meet someone,” Kyungsoo called, motioning for the other man to join the two siblings by the door.

Baekhyun nodded, still seemingly in a daze, and languidly made his way to the entrance. “Hello, Kyungsoo. Who’s this?” He slightly tilted his head to the right as he gazed curiously at Haseol, his soft brown eyes blinking owlishly at her.

“Do Haseol, freelance circuit engineer,” she introduced without preamble, sticking out her hand for him to shake.

“Byun Baekhyun, senior geneticist here at Astral Ark,” he automatically echoed, firmly grasping her hand and shaking it twice before she let go. “So you’re Kyungsoo’s…”

“Younger sister, but I might as well be the older one, considering how often he runs to me to solve all of his problems,” Haseol quipped, staring pointedly at the research director. “I can guarantee that I’ve had a hand in at least seventy-five percent of the research projects that have been approved past the development stage. I have no idea how Astral Ark has managed to stay in the green without me coming to the rescue every other month.”

“She’s been contracted to assist you on Project X,” Kyungsoo smoothly interjected, ignoring his younger sister’s ribbing. “Haseol specializes in magical circuits, so her expertise will be essential to launching the alpha test next week.”

Baekhyun clapped his hands and beamed brightly. “Great! We could really use your help, Miss Do.”

“You can drop the formalities. Just ‘Haseol’ is fine,” she informed him.

“Your brother said the exact same thing to me when we first met ten years ago,” Baekhyun commented with an amused smile.

Haseol openly winced at the comparison while Kyungsoo merely chuckled.

“So when do you officially start?” the geneticist asked, tactfully changing the subject.

“Right now,” Kyungsoo smoothly answered while his younger sister glared at him.

“Thanks for giving me a heads-up, jerk. It’s not like I had anything else planned today, y’know.”

“Science waits for no one. You know that better than anyone else,” the research director airily replied.

“My god, I am never working for you ever again,” Haseol muttered under her breath, yet still audibly enough for her older brother to hear.

“Er, why don’t we go meet our test subjects then?” Baekhyun cheerfully suggested, sweeping his arms towards the hallway. “I can explain what Project X is on the way, unless Kyungsoo’s already covered that.”

“She only has a basic overview of the project, so a more in-depth explanation would be greatly appreciated,” the research director answered as they all stepped out of Baekhyun’s office and began heading deeper into the east wing.

“I still think it’s a ridiculous idea, even without knowing all of the details,” Haseol muttered darkly as she followed their lead.

Baekhyun slowed down until he matched her pace and sent her a kind smile. “It’s definitely not your typical research project and I understand why you might feel apprehensive about working on it.”

“Then why are you involved?” Haseol asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. “No offense, but my brother is mildly insane so I have to assume that anyone who agrees with him on anything is the same.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Kyungsoo deadpanned over his shoulder. “I’ll have you know that my mental faculties are all perfectly sound, so let’s not spread any false rumors around, especially at work.”

Baekhyun just chuckled before answering with a lopsided smile, “I saw a great deal of potential in the research proposal when Kyungsoo first brought it up to me. There’s still a lot that we don’t know about magic and how it affects human physiology, but we can infer by our increasing reliance on magical circuits in technology that our bodies aren’t necessarily averse to arcanic energy.”

As much as she hated to admit it, Haseol agreed with the inference. After all, she used miniature force fields on a daily basis with her bare hands. She handled magical energy as if it were any other physical medium and nothing had ever happened to her throughout her decade of building circuits.

“If we’re able to harness that powerful energy and transform it into implants that can grant its user the ability to utilize magic, we could completely transform society and how we go about our daily lives,” Baekhyun excitedly continued. “Of course, that sort of lifestyle change won’t take place for at least another decade, but we’d like to start integrating it in the military for now since it’ll be most useful there due to our current situation. Once we test the boundaries of what these magical super soldiers can do, we can eventually enhance every regular citizen into an upgraded version of themselves and completely eradicate harmful genetic mutations.”

“I suppose…” Haseol furrowed her eyebrows as she continued pondering over the massive research project she had unwittingly gotten herself into. “And just to confirm, you got actual, real people to volunteer themselves as test subjects for Project X?” she asked, her voice laced with a trace of doubt. “And they’re aware of what the research objective is?”

Baekhyun nodded while Kyungsoo answered, “We have already established an agreement with our current batch of test subjects on how they will serve in the project and how they will be monetarily compensated for their participation. They are ready to take part in the alpha test at any time, so we need it up and running as soon as possible.”

Haseol could hear her older brother’s voice beginning to take on a sharp edge, signaling that he would no longer entertain any questions about this part of the project, and sighed in defeat. “Okay, fine. What's the problem then? Why do you need me?”

Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows and answered, “We’re getting some strange outputs when we try to apply our circuits to simulation models. The energy spikes are all over the place, but we’ve checked and rechecked our calculations hundreds of times by this point. Nothing should be wrong with the numbers, but the readings aren’t reflecting that and we won’t be able to actually test the implants themselves if our simulations aren’t successful.”

“We’re hoping you can help us figure out why this is happening and then rewire them if necessary,” Kyungsoo added. “Even if the problem doesn’t lie with the circuits themselves, you’d be able to help us adjust machinery settings so that the circuits are wholly compatible with the systems we’ve already built for the operation.”

“And these circuits have to eventually be implanted into real humans, no matter what?” Haseol questioned, even though she knew it was futile.

“No matter what,” Kyungsoo confirmed, unwavering as a mountain.

The circuit engineer groaned loudly, shoulders slumping in resignation.

“Don’t worry, Haseol. It’s not as bad as you think,” Baekhyun reassured her.

She could barely bring herself to smile back at him, but still nodded politely, appreciative of his optimism even if she didn’t believe in it.

The trio soon arrived at the dormitories where the volunteers resided and Baekhyun knocked three times on the first marked door. “It’s Dr. Byun and Director Do!”

“Come in!”

Baekhyun twisted the door handle and pushed open the door, allowing the Do siblings to walk in first before carefully following them in and shutting the door behind him. When he turned around, he gestured to a slender man with high, round cheeks and dark brown hair that was parted off to the right. He wore a rose-colored button-up shirt and black dress pants, and his skin looked as smooth as porcelain. “This is Kim Junmyeon,” Baekhyun introduced. “He’ll be our first subject for the alpha test.”

Junmyeon stood up and shook Haseol’s hand. “Hello, nice to meet you.”

“Do Haseol, freelance circuit engineer,” she briskly answered. She also couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, wondering why someone who looked so polished was volunteering himself for such a brutish cause. “What field were you in before joining Project X?” Haseol asked Junmyeon as they all took a seat around the table in his dormitory.

He winced before answering, “Er, it’s…a complicated story, but my…most recent job was in a casino prior to this.”

Noticing his evident discomfort, Haseol hastily apologized. “I’m so sorry. You really don’t need to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“But it would help contextualize why you joined us,” Kyungsoo interjected, causing his younger sister to shoot him a dark glare.

“Don’t put this on me,” she hissed at him.

“Perhaps if you didn’t constantly explain how averse you are to the project and why you don’t understand why it’s necessary—”

“It—it’s fine, Director Do,” Junmyeon cut in with a half-smile. He then turned to Haseol and added, “I can talk about it. Just… Just give me a moment to gather my thoughts.” So after pressing his right hand against his chest and letting out a deep exhale, Junmyeon began recounting his past for the circuit engineer.

And Haseol’s heart dropped to her stomach upon hearing his tale.

Junmyeon had grown up in a well-off family, lending credence to how he carried himself today. However, he had been left an orphaned teenager when his affluent neighborhood had been ransacked and burned down in a targeted attack. As the only survivor, he had been taken prisoner by the assailants and forced into unpaid labor for years. And as soon as he turned eighteen, Junmyeon had been traded to a pack of loan sharks, who put him to work in various facilities they owned as a front for money laundering and other criminal activities.

The other two test subjects, Kim Minseok and Zhang Yixing, had similar stories.

As a child, Minseok had jumped from home to home in foster care, never staying in one place for more than a few months after he had lost his parents in an attack. He had never received a formal education and had only ever worked minimum-wage jobs once he was old enough to enter the workforce. As an adult, Minseok lived in ramshackle shelters most of the time, choosing to spend his scarce earnings on food and alcohol instead.

Whereas Yixing had been smuggled across the border, but abandoned by his handlers when they were caught in an ambush. With no food or money and only the clothes he wore on his back, he had been forced to scavenge the streets for several years until a biker gang picked him up. In time, he had risen up the ranks within the gang, but that had been short-lived once local law enforcement began cracking down on all underground syndicates. As a foreigner, Yixing had been the first to go, so he sought refuge in a rundown warehouse.

For these desperate men, Project X was an opportunity to elevate themselves out of perpetual poverty and famine. For them, it was freedom from having to root around in the dirt for hours on end, only to find table scraps that would barely tide them over for another day. For them, it was an escape from a society where the poor only grew poorer and the seemingly well-off had no actual safety net due to the eternal overhanging threat of invaders.

Project X promised good food, sound shelter, and more money they could ever dream of using in their lifetime. It promised security, connections, and all sorts of resources at their disposal.

But most of all, it promised power. Physically, mentally, magically.

Power that was unmatched. Power that was unheard of.

Power that they never could have attained on their own.

All in the name of science. All for humanity.

To them, Project X was the noblest cause they could give themselves to while simultaneously reaping the most magnificent rewards that existed in this lifetime.

Any sacrifice could be made for power.

It was sickening to see how willingly these men had given up their bodily autonomy to Project X. But knowing the alternatives, knowing where they came from, Haseol couldn’t bring herself to blame them for latching onto any threads of hope they could get their hands on, no matter how fragile they actually were.

After all, she wasn’t any better herself. Here she was in the research facility with them, swayed by the promise of peace and prosperity that Kyungsoo had painted. It would be hypocritical of her to belittle these men for their choices when she had essentially made the same one.

As long as lives were saved, it would be okay. As long as the war ended, it would be okay.

She just had to keep telling herself that.

Everything would be worth it in the end.

--

The next day, Haseol officially met Park Chanyeol and Oh Sehun, two tall research assistants who had joined Project X under Baekhyun’s recommendation when it first began. When they weren’t running upkeep errands, they assisted Baekhyun in running simulations with the circuits or writing daily progress reports to be submitted to Kyungsoo. They were smart, capable men and Haseol found it easy to get along with both as they all worked together, cracking jokes throughout the long hours to break up the monotony of sitting hunched over a laboratory workbench all day.

The circuit engineer learned to block out the tiny voice in her head that insisted she pull out of the project and instead threw herself into learning as much as she could about human genetics under Baekhyun’s guidance. He was rather easygoing, very patient, and one of the better educators she’d crossed paths with during adulthood. Whenever she struggled with a specific human anatomical structure or had trouble remembering the various components that made up human deoxyribonucleic acids, Baekhyun helped her construct mnemonic devices that were catered especially to her.

In return, she brought several of her circuit models from home to use as learning tools for the other three team members. Sehun had gotten his university degree in biomedical engineering, so he was the one wiring most of the circuits for the project at the moment. But even he gaped at the models that Haseol had finished over the past few years, inspecting each one closely in an attempt to deconstruct her process.

After a week of intense review, which was all too reminiscent of university exams for her, Haseol finally deemed herself ready to tackle the obstacles that were currently stalling Project X’s progress. She carefully examined the circuit unit Sehun had given her before asking, “Just so I’m remembering this correctly, the simulation output is too high, correct?”

Baekhyun nodded in confirmation. “We thought about lowering the input, but then there won’t be enough magic to actually enhance and transform a human body.”

“And the energy spikes in the simulation happen randomly as well,” Chanyeol added, passing over a jagged line graph to illustrate his point. “Every time we try to run the simulation, it burns out at a different stage and since there’s no distinguishable pattern, we can’t pinpoint which component within the circuit needs modification.”

“Okay, gimme a minute to look at this.” Haseol’s gaze traveled between the newest graph, the current blueprints of the Project X simulation model, and her notebook as she jotted down several equations. As she worked, the circuit engineer suddenly furrowed her eyebrows in deep concentration and began muttering inaudibly under her breath as she started underlining various sections of the blueprints. Moments later, her eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers in excitement. “Of course! It’s so simple! There aren’t any circuit breakers to offload an overcurrent!”

The three men all looked at her in confusion.

She ripped out a blank sheet of paper from her notebook and began drawing a basic diagram of a circuit model. “Since human bodies haven’t evolved enough to handle arcanic energy, a sudden overcurrent would instantly kill, even if they’ve been living perfectly fine with the circuits for years. If we add something that can act as a stand-in circuit breaker,” she circled the safety device in her diagram, “we can switch off the circuits and temporarily stem the flow of magic whenever necessary.” Haseol then tapped the bottom of her chin with her pen, wearing a thoughtful expression, as she asked, “These super soldiers aren’t always going to be in their supernatural form, right? I remember Kyungsoo mentioning something like that a few days ago over dinner.”

“That’s correct. He’s hoping they can double as super spies as well, if the need for that arises,” Baekhyun explained. “And I imagine it would also be physically taxing for the human body to handle housing such a significant amount of magic so suddenly. I believe we initially planned on developing a mechanism to switch between forms, after seeing how the test subjects will react to the implanted circuits first, but if there’s a way to add that step in now without tossing out our current calculations, I don’t see why we shouldn’t try.”

“Is it possible though?” Chanyeol piped up. “When I submitted our daily report yesterday, Director Do asked me when we’d be starting the alpha test since we’ve already postponed it by a few days.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll handle it,” Haseol reassured him. She then turned to the geneticist. “So if you’re in agreement, Baekhyun, I can get started tomorrow.”

He sent her a thumbs-up and grinned. “I’m all for it.”

It took another week to construct the circuit breakers, which Kyungsoo grudgingly allowed after his younger sister promised him that this would be a long-term benefit for Project X. Haseol designed them as simple silver bracelets that would attach to a surface like magnets if they sensed arcanic energy within a certain radius. Chanyeol helped her build some remote controls as well, to allow ease of control during the alpha test later on. Haseol then tested the tools with her own circuit models at home, tweaking them here and there after each trial, before deeming the final products usable. Sehun was able to verify her calculations by running the bracelet through the simulation, which resulted in the desired lower energy output required for the experiment.

With a loud whoop, Baekhyun scooped the circuit engineer into a hug and twirled around before immediately releasing her and apologizing profusely.

Haseol laughed and waved away his worries. “It’s fine. I’m just glad I could help.”

And with that, the alpha test finally began.

Kyungsoo joined the two researchers when they went to Kim Junmyeon’s dormitory room to review the experiment one last time.

“Once you’re in the implantation pod, the circuits will phase into your body and calibrate themselves based on your unique genetic signature,” Baekhyun explained. “To protect your brain from overloading, since it’ll be processing so much new information all at once, the circuits will place a neural block on your memory. So when you wake up, you won’t be able to access any memories from your past, only common knowledge. You’ll still be able to build new memories, but they will only be accessible when you are in this new magically-enhanced form.”

Junmyeon nodded. “Okay.”

“We also need to warn you about the dangers that might arise,” Haseol picked up. “This has never been done before. You are going to be the first super soldier that has ever existed, so we’re going to be developing protocol as we go. While we have a good idea of what to expect from the dozens of simulations we’ve run, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll go the exact same way in real life. Although we have safety measures in place to protect you as much as possible, this is a huge risk you’re taking. We have no idea how the magical circuits will ultimately affect your body or your mind, which is a huge risk in itself from all sides.”

Her older brother then stepped forward and smoothly added, “You’re also aware that you will receive a lifetime yearly stipend for your cooperative participation in Project X, correct?”

“Kyungsoo!” Haseol hissed, sending her older brother a dark glare.

The research director held up his hands and blinked innocently. “Just making sure he knew everything about the project.”

Haseol rolled her eyes.

“Yes, I understand,” Junmyeon solemnly agreed.

“Perfect. And for the sake of anonymity in our progress reports, you will be referred to as Test Subject One: Suho.” Baekhyun then gestured to the doorway and smiled kindly. “Are you ready, Suho?”

The test subject nodded.

“Alright then, let’s begin.”

--

Suho changed into a black bodysuit before being escorted to the middle of the laboratory where a gigantic spaceship-like pod stood. It was attached to a pillar made of light-emitting diode panels and anchored in marble. Chanyeol and Sehun had spent a better part of a year designing and building the implantation pod, and Haseol could see how proud they were of their magnificent creation as they helped Suho get strapped in.

Meanwhile, Baekhyun was buzzing with excitement as he flitted between the control panel and his workbench, obsessively checking his notes against the small square screen. “How’s everything looking?” he asked when Haseol joined him at the control panel.

“Good, I think. It looks like Suho’s ready,” she told him when the two research assistants stepped away from the implantation pod.

“Perfect.” Kyungsoo joined the two researchers by the control panel, nodding in satisfaction. “Let us commence the first alpha test for Project X then!” the research director announced, prompting Baekhyun to enter the activation key.

With that, the light panels began lighting up in a rainbow of colors, alternating every few seconds, while the implantation pod itself whirred into action and opaque white fog sifted into the container. Within seconds, Suho’s body was completely covered, but bright blue sparks suddenly appeared and bounced around, indicating that the circuit units were gradually being absorbed into the test subject.

After several minutes, Haseol tore her gaze away from the implantation pod and began watching the control panel, which had a green progress bar at the bottom that was steadily filling up as more and more circuits were magically implanted into Suho’s body.

Everything was going according to plan.

But then, Kyungsoo shook her shoulder rather urgently and Hasel turned towards him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What?”

He pointed at the machine, looking just as perplexed as his younger sister. “Is it supposed to turn black like that?”

Haseol followed his gaze and gasped loudly when she witnessed a thick burst of jet black smoke billow into the implantation pod. The blue sparks had turned purple and were dancing madly within the container, crackling like thunder every time they hit the glass. “We have to get him out!” she shrieked, prompting the two research assistants to jump into action.

They threw their hands onto the latch and heaved with all of their might to push aside the glass door while Baekhyun hastily deactivated the operation through the beeping control panel. Once the door was successfully pried open, Haseol rushed in to tug the straps off of Suho’s body.

But as soon as she touched him, the circuit engineer instantly noticed something was wrong. His skin was as cold as an icicle and he was unresponsive when Haseol repeatedly called his name. She then lifted up Suho’s chin to look at his face and his eyes stared back at her, blank and unseeing.

Haseol immediately flinched back, almost tripping over her feet.

“What is it?! What happened?!” Baekhyun had appeared behind her, catching the circuit engineer before she could fall. His gaze then alighted on Suho’s still figure and Haseol could feel his heart drop to his stomach as he choked out, “No! Suho!” Baekhyun dashed forward, crumpling to his knees as he freed the test subject from the straps and lugged him out of the implantation pod.

Kyungsoo was supporting Haseol now as she wobbled on her legs, which felt weak like jelly. “Are you okay? What’s going on?” her older brother asked.

But Haseol’s voice had left her as she watched Baekhyun check for a pulse that no longer existed.

The geneticist’s arms fell defeatedly to his side as he stared down at Suho’s still face, completely dumbfounded. “No…not like this…”

Kyungsoo stepped closer and then sighed deeply as he briefly knelt down to close Suho’s eyes so that it looked like he was deep asleep instead. “Well, he’s dead,” the research director flatly stated as he stood back up. “There’s nothing we can do to bring him back.”

Baekhyun also stood back up and nodded listlessly. “I’m sorry, Kyungsoo.”

“It’s not your fault,” the research director replied. “We’ll just have to figure out why the machine malfunctioned and do better in the next trial so that he didn’t sacrifice himself in vain.”

“Um, should—should we take him down to the basement?” Chanyeol nervously asked as he and Sehun hung back, looking just as distressed as the rest of the team.

Kyungsoo nodded. “You can’t leave him here. At the very least, he can rest in peace in the morgue.”

Sehun swallowed thickly and nodded. “Yes sir. We’ll…take him there now.”

The two research assistants brought over a black box that was large enough to fit a human body and carefully placed Suho inside before fitting the lid back on. They then each grabbed one end and lifted it up before slowly shuffling out of the laboratory, taking care not to jar the box as they moved.

As soon as the two research assistants disappeared past the double doors and into the hallway, Kyungsoo turned to his younger sister with a steely gaze. “How soon can you have this fixed?”

She looked at him incredulously. “Are you serious right now?” she managed to spit out, her voice finally returning.

“Why would I be joking around at a time like this?” Kyungsoo evenly replied. “How soon can this machine be fixed so that we can bring in our next subject?”

“I—I don’t know, Kyungsoo!” Haseol spluttered, throwing her hands up in the air. “My god, why is that the first thing you ask when Suho just—Suho just—” She couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

But Kyungsoo remained emotionless as he ordered, “I am giving you a week to fix everything before the next trial. We’re already far behind schedule. There cannot be any more delays.”

Haseol was just about ready to grab her notebook and chuck it straight at his head, but a hand closed around her wrist and held it back. She turned around, glare intensifying, only to find Baekhyun looking past her with a solemn expression on his usually cheerful face.

“We’ll get it done. You have my word,” the geneticist promised.

“Are you crazy, Baekhyun?! We can’t promise something like that! It could take ages to figure out what malfunctioned and even then, shouldn’t we—”

“We can do it,” Baekhyun cut in, his voice low and even. “I know we can pull through.” His free hand, which was currently balled up into a fist, clenched even tighter by his side. “We have to.”

“For our people, Haseol.” The veins in Kyungsoo’s right hand were beginning to pop out from how tightly he was gripping his gray cube. “We’re doing this for them—for everyone.”

Haseol clenched her teeth and sent her older brother another deathly glare before crying out, “Ugh, fine!” and stomping off to her workbench. The circuit engineer took great satisfaction in seeing Kyungsoo wince when she purposely scraped her stool across the linoleum floor before he finally left the laboratory. “Tch, serves him right,” she muttered under her breath as she grabbed one of her circuit models.

--

When they visited Kim Minseok—or Test Subject Two: Xiumin—a week later, there was much more tension surrounding Baekhyun as he was forced to explain the implantation procedure a second time much sooner than they had anticipated. Their failure with Suho was still fresh in their minds, leaving the others much more fidgety as well. Luckily, Xiumin took it all in stride and boldly asked to be led to the laboratory right away.

“You’ve fixed everything, right?”

Haseol nodded slowly, trying to stifle her yawns after forgoing sleep the past week to finish the circuit modifications as soon as possible. “All of the adjustments have been tested in the simulation model, so there shouldn't be any huge surprises while you’re in the pod.”

“Good enough for me.”

“Shouldn’t he have a bit more self-preservation?” the circuit engineer whispered to Baekhyun while Chanyeol and Sehun helped Xiumin suit up and enter the implantation pod.

“He trusts our process and so do I,” the geneticist firmly said, keeping his eyes trained on the control panel as he readied the machine.

Not wanting to spark a debate with the other researcher when he was clearly on edge, Haseol refrained from responding and just silently watched the glass door slide shut. Xiumin wore a determined expression on his face as he laid in the implantation pod, limbs tensed up in the straps.

Once Sehun signaled that it was safe to start, Baekhyun inputted the activation key and the machine began rumbling while thick white vapor gradually poured into the container.

So far, so good.

Dozens of colors spun around the middle pillar and Haseol peeked over Baekhyun’s shoulder to watch the progress bar at the bottom of the control panel gradually fill up as more and more circuits entered Xiumin’s body. The bar was more than three-fourths of the way full when it suddenly froze and Baekhyun’s shoulders immediately rose in alarm, eyes hastily darting between the implantation pod and the control panel.

“Baekhyun, I think—”

But before she could finish, a loud banging sound echoed throughout the laboratory and the white smoke inside the implantation pod instantly turned black, just as it had during Suho’s experiment. This time, dozens of bright red sparks also erupted within the container and the black smoke soon thickened, threatening to burst out through the seams of the machine.

“No, no, no, not again!” Baekhyun cried, fingers flying over the control panel in an attempt to terminate the procedure.

But with the machine whirring at top speed, colors flashing haphazardly, it was to no avail as Chanyeol and Sehun just barely managed to force the glass door open with a crowbar.

“Xiumin! Xiumin!”

But there was no response from their second test subject. Xiumin laid there, cold and unmoving, only to be placed in a long black box moments later.

“We’ll take him down to the basement chamber now,” Chanyeol quietly said as he and Sehun carefully lifted up each end and slowly shuffled out of the laboratory.

Baekhyun slammed his fist against the glass door, bangs covering his eyes as his head hung in frustration.

Haseol bit her bottom lip, hand reaching towards him, fingers just inches from his shoulder, but left hovering as if there were a wall separating them.

“How could it fail again?” the geneticist whispered through gritted teeth.

Now, all they had left was Zhang Yixing.

Test Subject Three: Lay.

But the research team’s morale was sinking deeper and deeper into the pits of despair.

Although Lay made no comment, it was evident by his expression that he knew something was amiss when the team arrived at his dormitory to him to the laboratory a week after their second failed attempt.

The dark circles under their eyes, from working overtime that entire week to further tweak the magical circuits and successfully run them through the simulation, matched the despairingly somber atmosphere that surrounded the entire group. Had it not been for the strong cup of coffee that Baekhyun had given her earlier in the morning, Haseol would have fallen asleep standing up due to how much her head was spinning with drowsiness.

There was a slight hesitance in Chanyeol and Sehun’s movements as they led Lay to the implantation pod. But within minutes, he was properly strapped in and sealed shut behind the glass door. The two research assistants stepped back, signaling the all-clear for Baekhyun to begin the procedure.

“Please let it work,” Haseol whispered to herself.

Baekhyun briefly closed his eyes and silently mouthed a similar prayer before initiating the implantation procedure.

They all waited with bated breath as the machine sparked to life. Just as before, Lay was soon concealed in a cloud of white fog as he began absorbing the circuit system into his body. The middle column lit up, panel by panel, gradually heightening in speed and luminosity as the minutes ticked by.

The container itself began to shudder and glow as the last few circuits entered Lay’s body, fusing together to complete the entire chain. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” Haseol muttered as the lights swirled faster and faster around the middle pillar.

But it was to no avail as the familiar combination of red sparks and black smoke suddenly saturated the implantation pod, and the middle column flashed red and white like a siren. Baekhyun immediately aborted the operation and yelled for Chanyeol and Sehun, who both rushed to the machine and pried the glass door open. Haseol hastily joined them to haul Lay out of the pod, but for the third time, they were too late.

A feeling of numbness aded her veins as she silently watched the two research assistants lift up the stiff body and gently place it in a long black box.

As soon as Chanyeol and Sehun left the laboratory with Lay’s coffin, Baekhyun slumped against the wall, slowly sliding to the floor. He brought his knees up to his chest and buried his face in his hands, knocking his bangs askew.

Haseol crouched beside him, but said nothing. After all, what was there to say?

Three people had died because of them. Three lifeless bodies would lay forgotten in the basement morgue, never to see the light of day.

And it was all because of her. Haseol could try to shove the blame onto Kyungsoo’s shoulders and easily justify it, but she knew that, deep down, this was her doing. These were her magical circuits, made with her hands, which killed off these innocent men.

And nothing would change that.

--

After their third disappointing failure, both Baekhyun and Haseol agreed to halt the circuit implantation experiments until they had full confidence that the next version they tested had a significantly higher chance of success. It was too malicious to continue experimenting on civilians when minor adjustments seemed to be futile in the grand scheme of things.

Kyungsoo had reluctantly allowed the temporary deceleration after seeing the unmistakable anguish in the two researchers’ eyes. While that didn’t keep him from subtly prodding his younger sister at home every so often, he refrained from visiting the west wing to give Baekhyun and Haseol some space to revise their strategy.

The Project X research team, including Chanyeol and Sehun, ended up deconstructing the entire experiment so that they could rebuild it piece by piece. Haseol often stayed behind, painstakingly working on each circuit wire while referencing various diagrams of the human body. Even though it made her head spin, trying to fully understand all of these high-level biology concepts in such a short amount of time, she pushed through the exhaustion and spent hours upon hours working through her calculations. A simulation had to be successful at least three times before she deemed it viable and moved onto the next.

More often than not, Baekhyun found Haseol passed out in the laboratory with live circuits scattered around her workbench.

So whenever she awoke from her deep slumber several hours later, Haseol found a thick blanket draped over her shoulders and small force fields activated around her circuits.

It wasn’t until she saw Baekhyun napping peacefully across from her one evening, his head resting on his crossed arms, that the gears clicked in her head. Careful not to rouse him with her movements, she surreptitiously covered him with the blanket instead and returned to her notes. Every so often, the geneticist slightly stirred in his sleep and Haseol caught herself watching him a number of times before lightly shaking herself to refocus on the project at hand.

But without fail, her gaze eventually drifted back towards him and Haseol mildly wondered what it would feel like to pat his head. His soft bangs framed his smooth, angular face and low, rhythmic snores escaped his slightly parted lips. However, there were also dark circles underlining his eyes and Haseol felt a pang of shame in her chest, knowing that her errors were piling up higher and higher with each passing day.

Some self-proclaimed expert she was.

Perhaps it was time for her to talk to Kyungsoo about taking her off of the team. She was only a contractor, after all. She was never meant to stay with Astral Ark long-term.

And Project X only seemed to be doing more harm than good, especially with her involvement. Instead of saving lives like it was supposed to, three men were now dead in the basement chamber with nothing to show for their sacrifice.

How many more would blindly agree to sacrifice their autonomy for Project X for money?

How many more would convince themselves that they were helping out humanity, all in the name of science?

How many more would lose their lives for the sake of this operation’s uncertain success?

Haseol shuddered at the thought and kicked herself once again for agreeing to Kyungsoo’s crazy idea in the first place.

While she was deep in thought, Baekhyun suddenly stirred and yawned loudly as he pushed himself up, blinking blearily until he saw Haseol sitting next to him. “How are you feeling?” the geneticist asked as he stretched his arms behind his back.

“Not great,” she admitted. “It feels like I’m constantly running towards a goal I can’t see. And because I have no idea where the finish line is, I’m just chasing myself in circles and never moving anywhere.”

“I can relate to that,” Baekhyun commented with a rueful smile. “Before you arrived, I was honestly starting to doubt whether I could pull this off. Kyungsoo and I came up with this big plan, and it seemed so promising when I first started working on it. But then I hit a wall and I had no idea how to break it down until you showed up with all of your brilliant ideas.”

“Some brilliant ideas they’ve been,” she said with a snort.

“There’s no reason for you to discount yourself, Haseol,” the geneticist said, eyebrows furrowing in concern. “You’ve done a fantastic job so far and I’ve learned so much about magical circuits in such a short time, thanks to you.”

“But it still isn’t enough,” she darkly bit out.

Baekhyun pursed his lips together, eyes darting around the room until they landed on the packet that Kyungsoo had given Haseol when she first started working on Project X. “You know what? I think we’ve started overcomplicating everything, and that’s messing with our heads and motivation,” he said, pushing the paperclipped pages in front of her. “Why don’t we take a step back to look at the big picture? That might help spark some simple ideas that we can build on later.”

“Okay, simple sounds good,” Haseol agreed and began leafing through the packet. When she reached a diagram of the human nervous system, she paused and read the entire page, soaking it all in. Several seconds later, she murmured, “What if…we’re doing too much?”

Baekhyun slightly tilted his head to the right and looked at the other researcher with curiosity. “What do you mean?”

“Maybe…we need to simplify the circuits so that they’re more structurally similar to human neurons. That way, they’d pair better and the test subjects won’t be as overloaded,” Haseol suggested as she busily began running a series of calculations while referencing the diagram.

“Isn’t that what the bracelets are for though?” Baekhyun pointed out. “To act as circuit breakers?”

“They’ll still be our stand-in circuit breakers, but the human body can only withstand so much magic all at once and the more we complicate the process, the more it has to adapt to in an incredibly short amount of time.” She grimaced when she briefly glanced at the charts belonging to their deceased test subjects. “Even if someone’s at peak physical condition, pure magic is just too powerful for the human body to handle, especially with all of the changes we’re inducing in our test subjects at the same time. So it’s in our best interest to simplify our materials as much as possible—without cutting corners, of course—while still safely maximizing the output.” Haseol finished writing down the final cipher and scanned the entire sheet one last time before exhaling deeply. “I…don’t want to be presumptuous and say that I have it all figured out now, but I think I can have the circuits completely modified with a lower magic input by next week.”

“I’ll help you,” Baekhyun immediately offered as he peered over her shoulder and skimmed through the calculations as well.

“It’s fine. You really don’t—”

“We’re a team, remember?” the geneticist cheerfully reminded Haseol. “If I wanted this to be a solo project, I wouldn’t have asked Kyungsoo to help me find someone to work on this with me in the first place.” He then whisked the piece of paper out of her hand and strolled away to make a copy of it before she could protest.

With that, the two researchers threw themselves into work with renewed vigor. Chanyeol and Sehun were brought up to date the next morning, and they immediately began constructing a new simulation model while Baekhyun and Haseol painstakingly rewired each circuit unit.

They collectively forewent their lunch hour, usually rotating between the team to send someone to the cafeteria to bring back enough food for everyone to eat during small breaks throughout the day. Although the two research assistants tried to stay past working hours to help with the modifications, Baekhyun booted them out at five o’clock on the dot each day while profusely thanking them for their hard work. He and Haseol ended up staying until nine or ten o’clock at night, eating leftovers from lunch for dinner and slotting everything together to meet their self-imposed deadline.

As much as Baekhyun affably berated the circuit engineer for not taking enough breaks, he worked on the circuits with just as much fervor as she did and Haseol had to remind him to relax as often as he reminded her. Luckily, it all came together in the end when Haseol declared, “Alright, this is the last one,” as she encased the circuit unit in a force field and carried it over to the implantation pod.

“And I’ve got the back-ups in here,” Baekhyun called as he finished locking up a silver briefcase in an overhead cabinet above his workbench.

“Perfect.” Once she was behind the implantation pod, Haseol deactivated the force field and carefully slotted the final circuit unit into the empty space within the pod, watching as the wires from the adjacent units automatically melded with it. She then tapped the circuit once more, watching as the entire system rippled with blue energy, before shutting the back door and booting up the control panel.

Baekhyun sidled up to her and watched as she set up the simulation. When she hesitated at the last step, he gave her shoulder a light squeeze and murmured, “It’s going to work. I can feel it.”

Bolstered by his unwavering optimism, the circuit engineer nodded and hit Start on the simulation, firing up all of the newly programmed circuit units.

The middle column lit up like a disco ball, whirring and shimmering as the machine came to life again. It almost felt like a fever dream as they watched the cloud of opaque smoke surge against the glass door while blue sparks jumped through every few seconds. Haseol’s chest felt so constricted, as if it were being squeezed to death by a giant claw, that she almost forgot to breathe the entire time.

But then, the whirring slowed to a stop and the angry blue sparks gradually faded, leaving only a soft blue glow in its place. And when Haseol looked down at the control panel, it was bright green with success.

The two researchers immediately began jumping and cheering, their voices echoing around the spacious room. Baekhyun then suddenly scooped her up and twirled them around in a circle, while Haseol laughed merrily as they danced merrily around the laboratory.

It was a small step forward, but a necessary—and hopeful—step all the same.

--

The double doors of the laboratory suddenly slammed open and Chanyeol dashed in before collapsing on his knees, panting heavily. “Doc, something—something’s wrong!” he wheezed in between pants.

Baekhyun and Haseol dropped everything and ran over to the research assistant, helping him up to a nearby chair. “What is it, Chanyeol? What’s going on?” Baekhyun asked. Although his voice was gentle and even, he made no attempt to disguise the worry that was written all over his youthful face.

“We have to—we have to save Sehun!” Chanyeol then let out a violent cough as he pressed his hands to his ribs. “If we don’t, Suho might kill him!”

Baekhyun froze at once, the wind seemingly knocked out of him.

Noticing that the geneticist seemed to be on the verge of emotional collapse as well, Haseol placed her right hand on Baekhyun’s left shoulder to steady him while she continued facing Chanyeol. “What on earth are you talking about? Suho died,” she said, choking out that last word.

“I don’t know how, but he—he knocked down the doors of the basement chamber while Sehun and I were moving some old equipment downstairs to a nearby storage unit,” Chanyeol weakly explained. “I—I think the circuits actually worked on him, but he’s gone berserk. Sehun’s trying to distract Suho to keep him from leaving the west wing, but he won’t be able to hold him off for much longer. We—we have to go help him!” Another series of harsh coughs ripped from the research assistant’s chest, so Haseol hastily released Baekhyun to grab Chanyeol’s shoulders instead and hold him upright.

“Okay, Baekhyun and I will go while you stay here,” Haseol ordered as she used her feet to push the chair closer to the round table it was next to so that the tall research assistant could lean against it for support. “You’re too injured to follow us.”

“Wait! There’s something else I haven’t mentioned,” Chanyeol gasped out as rivulets of sweat dripped down his forehead. “Suho—his skin was flaking away and his body had a…a strange red aura. Sehun and I tried to get close at first, but I think the circuits formed a force field around him so we got thrown across the hall. You—you won’t be able to subdue him without magic.”

“I can rig up something with a couple of magical circuits in no time,” Haseol confidently reassured the research assistant, already striding to her workbench. “And once he’s neutralized, we can fix him with the modified circuits we finished last night.”

However, she barely moved five steps before a hand latched onto Haseol’s arm and stopped the circuit engineer in her tracks.

She turned around to see who it was. “Baekhyun? What are you doing? We don’t have time to waste!”

“Exactly,” he said, brown eyes burning with determination as he stared at the middle of the room.

As soon as Haseol followed his line of sight, she let out a sharp intake of breath.

But before she could say anything, Baekhyun continued, “We don’t have time to build something new. Our best bet is to fight fire with fire and take him head-on.” With that, he pulled her to the implantation pod and stopped right next to the control panel. “Haseol, do you trust me?” the geneticist asked in a low voice as he started up the machine.

“Of course I do, but this has nothing to do with me trusting you!” Haseol protested as she grabbed Baekhyun’s hand, stopping him from continuing to boot up the circuit implantation program.

“If you trust me, then you need to follow my instructions,” Baekhyun said, easily removing his hand from Haseol’s grip and returning it to the control panel. “Chanyeol, where did you leave Sehun?” he asked over his shoulder.

“At the stairwell leading to the basement chamber, but he told me he was going to try to steer Suho to the north hall since—since that’s the most isolated point of the facility.”

“Baekhyun, I already said that I can build something!” the circuit engineer insisted.

He briefly glanced at her, gaze softening, as he murmured, “I know you can, Haseol. You’re a brilliant engineer and that’s why I’m going to use the circuits you modified.” The control panel then beeped as the glass door of the implantation pod slid open and the middle pillar that it was connected to lit up like a beam.

“But you can’t be a test subject! And after what happened to Suho, Xiumin, and Lay—” Haseol’s voice broke as memories of their lifeless bodies flashed through her mind again.

Baekhyun was about to step into the pod, but backtracked instead when he realized how much guilt was weighing down on Haseol’s shoulders. “Hey, none of that was your fault, okay?” he told her in a gentle but firm tone. “They all knew the risks of stepping into the pod. Out of everyone involved, I know exactly what this entails,” he looked back at the implantation pod, eyes blazing with determination, “and I’m confident that Project X will succeed this time.”

Before he could step back towards the implantation pod again, Haseol dashed to the opening and tried to block him from going in. “Don’t do this, Baekhyun,” she pleaded. “I can’t lose you too.”

Not after everyone else I’ve already lost.

A strong pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her and Haseol tightly grabbed fistfuls of Baekhyun’s lab coat, unwilling to let him go.

“If there’s even the slightest chance that I can save Suho, then I have to do it,” the geneticist said, his voice noticeably cracking in the middle. “But if we keep wasting time like this, we’ll end up losing both Suho and Sehun, and I refuse to let that happen.” He then cupped her face and pressed their foreheads together, and Haseol could feel blood roaring through her ears as he closed his eyes. “I trust you, Haseol. I know we got it right this time and my plan won’t work without you. I need you to trust me as well.” There was a slight pause before he softly asked again, “Do you trust me?”

She exhaled loudly before releasing him and looking up at him with a resolute expression. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

Baekhyun sent her a wide smile as he gently hugged her once more and then made his way back to the implantation pod. “We don’t know how dangerous Suho actually is right now, but let’s just assume the worst,” he began as he strapped himself in. “We also don’t know how powerful I’ll be, but it’ll probably be on a similar level except I’ll have more control over my actions.”

Haseol’s arms were crossed over her chest and her lips were pressed in a straight line as she refrained from playing devil’s advocate.

“If I know what’s going on after I’ve transformed, that makes everything a hundred times easier and we’ll have Suho fixed in no time. But if our calculations are correct, which they are,” he quickly added when Haseol’s expression darkened, “my memory will be an empty slate and you’ll have to direct me the entire time until I switch back.”

The circuit engineer sighed heavily as she positioned herself by the control panel. “You know this is a huge gamble, right?”

“It’s a gamble I’m willing to take,” Baekhyun answered with conviction. His voice hardened once more when he added, “We have to save them, no matter what.”

With no other rebuttals left, Haseol grudgingly nodded and began setting up the implantation procedure. “Ready?” she called after the system screen turned green.

“Start it up!”

With that, the glass door closed shut and the middle column lit up like a carnival as the implantation pod began whirring loudly, calibrating itself in preparation for the procedure. Haseol’s hand hovered over the control panel as she stared straight into the pod. Baekhyun met her distressed gaze with a bright smile and managed to send her a small nod within his constraints.

Even though every part of her brain screamed at her to pull him out of the machine, Haseol pressed the activation key and watched as opaque smoke filled the entire pod, completely obscuring Baekhyun from view. The whirring noise from the machine drastically increased in speed and volume while the middle pillar flashed white and blue, almost blinding Haseol from its sheer intensity.

The wait felt both agonizingly slow and all too fast when the whirring gradually slowed to a stop and the middle column faded to a soft baby blue glow. The glass door slid open on its own and a sonorous hissing sound emitted as the opaque smoke gradually escaped the implantation pod. Haseol unbuckled the straps through the control panel and watched as Baekhyun’s silhouette pushed himself out of the pod and stepped through the swirling smoke.

In his place emerged a young man who looked virtually identical to him. Save for the snow white hair that feathered out into a thin ponytail over his right shoulder, the ice blue eyes, and the black leather clothing he donned with chains and rings decorating his face and fingers.

He was Byun Baekhyun in every single way. But at the same time, he was nothing like the Byun Baekhyun she had come to know over the past month.

“Who are you?”

She immediately blanched.

There was a frigid lilt to his voice. A complete contrast to the warmth that usually colored Baekhyun’s voice. There was a sense of detachment when he spoke, as if he were completely void of emotion. And his eyes seemed to pierce through her like icicle shards as they raked over her, similarly betraying no feelings whatsoever.

And it was such a simple question, but Haseol didn’t know how to respond when she had no idea what the answer was either.

All of a sudden, there was a loud clatter from behind and Haseol hastily turned around to see Chanyeol on the floor, completely unconscious. She dashed to his side at once, hauling him up onto the table, while the white-haired super soldier solemnly watched her.

“The other man will die soon,” he suddenly said after she stepped away from the table.

Haseol felt a heightened chill run through her body when he spoke. But when his words finally registered in her brain, her eyes widened and she cried out, “Sehun! We have to rescue him!” She then made direct eye contact with the white-haired super soldier, trying to ignore the intensity of his icy stare. “We have to go to the north hall now!” the circuit engineer ordered as she ran towards the double doors.

“You cannot reach them in time at that speed,” the white-haired super soldier observed.

And before she could retort, he reappeared next to Haseol in a flash of light and scooped her up with both arms. Out of shock, she hooked her hands around his neck and held on for dear life as he raced through the west wing, his black leather coat billowing out behind him.

“The red one is the one you wish to save, correct?” he suddenly asked, his voice chillingly close as he dipped his mouth right next to Haseol’s ear. She flinched away from the unexpected proximity, but the white-haired super-soldier’s hold on her only tightened to prevent her from tumbling out of his arms. “I can sense that he does not have much time left,” he calmly added.

“The—the red one?” Haseol furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. That was an odd way to describe Sehun. But then, she recalled Chanyeol’s words and she sharply looked up at the white-haired super soldier. “You mean Suho?!”

“If that is the red one, then yes. He is already starting to fade to ash.” The white-haired super soldier then halted in front of a totaled entrance, which Haseol recognized as belonging to the north hall.

Even before she was set down on the smashed up floor, the circuit engineer could see a trail of gray ash leading into the wreckage. She ran into the ruined room without a second thought, waving away the smoke from her face as she desperately looked for the tall research assistant. “Sehun! Sehun, where are you?!”

“Haseol…you found me…” He was sprawled on the floor with a bloody gash across his right eye. A long scythe lay next to him, crackling with blue energy. “I…I did what I could…”

“Don’t worry, Sehun. We’re going to get you to the infirmary right away,” Haseol reassured him as she knelt down next to him. She then ripped a strip of cloth from her sleeve and pressed it against the deep facial laceration. “Can you stand?”

“I…I don’t know,” he grunted as he tried to push himself up on his elbows. However, his limbs immediately gave way and Sehun’s upper body crashed onto the floor again. “Guess not,” he commented with a dark chuckle.

“It’s okay, I’ll—”

And then a guttural roar echoed around the room, causing waves of energy to ripple outward.

Haseol turned to the middle of the room and gasped when she found herself looking at the unmistakable visage of Suho. However, similarly to Baekhyun, several features of their first test subject had radically changed.

His eyes were now a dark, deep blue color like that of a raging tsunami. He wore a bright red suit that matched his equally bright red hair and a pair of sharp horns was nestled in between the thick locks. And just as Chanyeol and the white-haired super soldier had warned her, Suho’s skin was ashy and large chunks of his body had already flaked away.

“The problem is in his right arm,” the white-haired super soldier stated as he stared curiously at the other supernatural being. “It is rotting his body from within.”

Sehun weakly nodded in agreement. “He kept attacking me with his left arm, which made fighting him off a lot easier.” However, when he looked up to see who was speaking, Sehun’s mouth dropped open in shock and the injured research assistant choked out, “Is that…?”

Haseol nodded and murmured, “I’ll explain everything later.” She then raised her voice and asked, “You’ll be able to get past that red force field around his body, right?”

There was a loud boom as a blade of light suddenly appeared in the white-haired super soldier’s right hand. “Of course.”

Haseol let out a sigh of relief before cursing out loud upon realizing that there was no way for them to get Suho back to the laboratory in time to fix his circuits before he faded away.

“What’s wrong?” Sehun asked.

“I should’ve brought the circuits with me, but it completely slipped my mind when Chanyeol fainted and then I was worried about getting to you,” Haseol groaned, grabbing her head and screwing her eyes shut. “Baekhyun and Suho sacrificed themselves for nothing, and it’s all my fault.” She then slammed her fists on her thighs, ignoring the spikes of pain that shot through her. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

“Haseol, it’s not your fault,” Sehun reassured her. “None of us could’ve predicted this.”

“But Baekhyun trusted me! Even after I killed Xiumin and Lay, he trusted me to help him save Suho and now they’re both going to die!” Tears began pooling at the edge of her eyes and she brokenly whispered, “I never should have joined Project X.”

“Haseol…”

Another guttural howl reverberated around the ravaged room as Suho glowed more vividly and the red aura surrounding him began to spread out, gradually morphing into a dome-like force field.

The white-haired super soldier’s ice blue eyes flashed brightly when he briefly glanced at the scythe next to Sehun. “Do the circuits emanate the same energy as that weapon?”

Haseol looked up and nodded, her hands slowly falling to her side. “That scythe is powered up with its own set of circuits. But we can’t use them on Suho. The ones we need have been modified specifically to merge with humans.”

“They are similar though, correct?” the white-haired super soldier reiterated as he retracted his blade of light.

She nodded again, but sent a forlorn glance towards Suho as his anguished yowling increased more and more. “There’s no time to save him…”

But before she could finish blinking, there was a thunderous explosion next to the two researchers and a cloud of white smoke erupted where the super soldier once stood.

And just as Haseol’s brain was starting to register his sudden absence, the thick vapor cleared and the white-haired super soldier reappeared with a silver briefcase in hand.

“Here.” He threw the briefcase towards Haseol and it clattered to the ground in front of her. “You can save him now.”

“I—you—how?!” Haseol spluttered as she unlocked the clasps and opened the briefcase to reveal several units of modified magical circuits. “It’s like you teleported there and back in a split second!”

“Teleportation cannot compare to movement at the speed of light,” the white-haired super soldier airily answered. “Finding the briefcase itself would have taken much longer with that ability.”

A fountain’s worth of questions began bubbling within Haseol, but her train of thought was interrupted when Sehun tugged her ripped sleeve and pointed at Suho. “We’re running out of time!”

Lightly slapping her cheeks, Haseol nodded and picked up one of the circuit units. Holding it out to the white-haired super soldier, she told him, “You need to somehow replace the malfunctioning circuits with this one. Do whatever it takes, but don’t kill him!”

“Noted.” He scooped up the circuits with one hand and brandished the blade of light in the other once more before flying straight at Suho. At a speed that could not be tracked by normal human eyes, the white-haired super soldier landed a series of slash attacks all across the force field. When he jumped back, the dome shattered into a million pieces, leaving Suho completely exposed.

The red-haired being snarled as he lunged towards the other super soldier, drawing out the water in the atmosphere into a whip and throwing it towards the white-haired man. The water whip wrapped around his neck and tightened in an attempt to suffocate him, but the white-haired super soldier easily cut through it and continued making a beeline for Suho’s right arm.

Before the red-haired being could conjure a water shield between them, the white-haired super soldier used his blade to slice open Suho’s arm and reveal a series of purple circuits that were oozing black goo and dark red blood. Suho screamed as purple sparks crackled around him like fire. While he was distracted with pain, the white-haired super soldier dug his hand into the gash and ripped the defective circuits out of Suho’s arm.

Haseol clamped her hands around her ears as Suho let out an ear-splitting shriek that shattered the ceiling lights above them, adding to the immense wreckage of the north hall. But she could not stop staring in both horror and awe as the white-haired super soldier grabbed what was left of the mutilated limb and shoved the modified circuits in the gaping space. The ends of the freshly added circuit unit magically melded with the ripped ends of the remaining circuits in Suho’s arm, blue sparks soon overtaking the purple sparks. Pure blue light then encased his battered body as it recalibrated itself to accept the new circuits and Suho’s eyes rolled to the back of his head upon losing consciousness.

The white-haired super soldier easily caught Suho’s limp body and tossed it over his shoulder before flying back down to the two researchers. Seemingly oblivious to their stupefied expressions, he simply said, “It worked. I no longer sense the decaying energy within him. However, he is still very weak.”

His frosty voice jolted the two researchers out of their dazed state and Sehun used what little strength he had left to reach for the scythe, pulling it closer to him. “We should head back to the lab and figure out how we’re going to tell Director Do about all of this,” he quietly said, glancing around the demolished room.

“I’ll handle Kyungsoo later. We need to get Suho back to the pod first.” Haseol slung Sehun’s left arm around her shoulders and gently tugged him up, keeping her right arm securely wrapped around his waist. “And then I’m taking you and Chanyeol to the infirmary. Both of you are on bed rest for at least a week, if not more.”

“You won’t see me for at least a month then,” Sehun joked.

Haseol sent him a lopsided smile before turning to the white-haired super soldier, who was staring back at her with his ice blue eyes. “Can you take Suho back to the lab and place him in the pod? It’ll take us a while to walk back and I don’t want anything else to happen to Suho if we can help it.”

The white-haired super soldier took off without a word and the two researchers began the long, arduous walk back to the laboratory. Luckily, the white-haired man returned several minutes later and picked up both of them with ease before returning to the laboratory once more.

By then, Chanyeol had recovered from his fainting spell and was now standing next to the implantation pod, carefully monitoring Suho. When the double doors swung open and Sehun waved to him, Chanyeol gasped happily and hobbled over to give the two other researchers a hug once the white-haired super soldier set them down. “Oh god, you have no idea how terrified I was when I woke up and found myself alone,” Chanyeol said as they all sat around a table. “And then, five seconds later, Dr. Byun burst through the door carrying Suho and demanded that I help him open the pod.” His voice then dropped an octave as he whispered, “That—that’s Dr. Byun, right? I remember him getting into the pod before I knocked out, but I didn’t think it would actually work.”

“You’re right,” Haseol breathed out, the reality of the situation finally hitting her now that she was no longer riddled with fear and anxiety. “It worked! It actually worked! The circuits work!” She then jumped up and sprinted to her workbench to grab a silver bracelet and a black remote control. The circuit engineer squeezed both items tightly before turning around and walking up to the white-haired super soldier with a resolute expression on her face.

The supernatural being stared back at her with a deadpan expression and his hands folded neatly behind his back.

Haseol steeled herself to stare back at him without getting swallowed up in his unfathomable gaze. They silently stood there without breaking eye contact for several seconds until she finally said, “Thank you for your help. You saved us.”

He said nothing.

Refusing to let his silence intimidate her, she held out the silver bracelet. “I need you to wear this.”

“What for?”

She exhaled deeply before answering with a small smile, “It’ll protect you. I promise.”

After another pregnant pause, the white-haired super soldier wordlessly picked up the bracelet and briefly scanned it before slipping it onto his left wrist. It automatically clamped down on his skin, causing him to hiss loudly while his eyes flashed bright blue.

While he was distracted, Haseol flicked the switch on the remote and the white-haired super soldier was enveloped in a cocoon of white light, which unraveled several seconds later.

In his place emerged Byun Baekhyun once more. Jet black hair, soft brown eyes that met hers with determination and trust, and the familiar white lab coat over his gray button-up shirt and navy blue pants.

He was Byun Baekhyun in every single way.

And before she could stop herself, Haseol threw herself onto Baekhyun and held him tight, tears silently streaming down her face.

The geneticist looked down at her in surprise, hands hovering over her, before hesitantly hugging her back. “Did it work?” he softly asked.

“It worked,” Haseol whispered back. “Everything worked.”

--

Now that Project X had finally secured its first success, Haseol and Baekhyun were able to dive into the long-awaited alpha testing phase, to Kyungsoo’s delight.

They decided to call Baekhyun’s supernatural form “the White Snake” to fully distinguish the white-haired super soldier from the geneticist. Suho was also now solely referred to as “the Red Devil” and kept under heavy surveillance. Because the Red Devil could no longer switch back to his civilian form due to the heavy damage he had sustained from the defective circuits previously implanted in his right arm, he was forced to reside in a specially reinforced room at all times, save for the few hours he had in the laboratory every other day under Baekhyun and Haseol’s supervision.

Meanwhile, Baekhyun was still free to roam around the research facility as he pleased in his civilian form, but also resided in a reinforced room at night as a safety measure. Haseol began staying after hours with Baekhyun, often eating dinner with him in his room while they analyzed test results and developed new experiments for the super soldiers to undergo.

They began with simple physical evaluations, mostly conducted in special chambers designed to contain magic energy. The Red Devil had taken to trying every possible means to shatter the chamber walls and free himself during these experiments, which Haseol and Baekhyun mildly encouraged to collect a broader range of results in a shorter period of time. Chanyeol and Sehun were always on standby in case the Red Devil went too far and needed to be suppressed. In those situations, the White Snake was brought forth and the two super soldiers were placed in a fortified arena made with high-power circuits that Haseol had engineered so that they could clash in peace.

However, as data-rich and indispensable as these battles were, Haseol wished that they could do without them entirely. It was…uncomfortably unsettling, to say the least, whenever the White Snake was around. And this disconcerting feeling was even more amplified by the absence of Baekhyun’s presence whenever they held experiments with the White Snake.

Unlike the Red Devil, who made his displeasure known whenever he could, the White Snake unquestioningly followed orders and spoke very little. He never questioned why the calendar days suddenly skipped whenever he reappeared, never asked what was beyond the doors of the west wing, and never attempted to escape the testing chambers. He allowed himself to get hooked up to millions of wires, allowed the researchers to poke and prod at his muscular body, and allowed the Red Devil to attack first whenever they were into the battle arena.

His steadfast obedience arguably made him the perfect super soldier, one who could be commanded and directed without concern that he would go rogue. The rare evenings when both Haseol and Kyungsoo were at home, eating dinner together, her older brother often lamented over the inability to utilize the White Snake in more advanced field tests, since they could not risk anything happening to the white-haired super soldier when Baekhyun still shared his physical body. Kyungsoo frequently tried to coax Haseol—and Baekhyun, if the research director managed to catch him in his civilian form—into recruiting more test subjects that could be used for field tests, but she staunchly put her foot down every single time, emphasizing the need for more data before they could consider adding more people into the mix. Any other researcher would have jumped at the opportunity to work with a larger sample size, which Kyungsoo never failed to remind her whenever they spoke, but Haseol duly ignored him every single time.

It was too dangerous, too irresponsible to involve more innocent people in Project X at this point. Even without factoring in the occupational hazards, Haseol already had her hands full trying to keep the Red Devil in line while carefully watching the White Snake whenever he switched out. There was absolutely no way she could monitor a third or fourth super soldier as well.

However, if she were honest with herself, the White Snake’s outwardly impassive temperament did make him a relatively easy test subject to monitor and care for. But Haseol almost preferred being around the Red Devil more, if only because he was more predictable with his sleazy and chaotic actions.

The White Snake was too much of an enigma for Haseol to let her guard down around him.

And whenever he made direct eye contact with her, irises flashing bright blue like beacons in the night sky, Haseol felt both a piercing chill and searing heat run through her body that made her knees buckle with apprehension.

It was like he could stare straight into her soul and glean everything about her in just one glance. But because he schooled his expression so perfectly, leaving no trace of emotion whatsoever, Haseol was unable to do the same. So she kept her distance, only coming near him when necessary, and breathed a sigh of relief each time she flipped the switch on the remote control to bring Baekhyun back.

One evening, after a particularly strenuous series of experiments, Haseol was camped at her workbench. There were dozens of open textbooks spread out in front of her, but the circuit engineer wasn’t looking at any of them. Instead, she was staring off into the distance while absentmindedly rolling a white cube across the tabletop with her pointer finger.

“I’ve never seen you with that before,” Baekhyun commented as he suddenly sat on the other side of the workbench, having noticed the lights in the laboratory and coming in to see why the circuit engineer was working late. “It’s just like the one Kyungsoo carries around, right?”

“Oh, this?” Haseol stopped the cube in place and then picked it up, cradling it in her palm. “Yeah, we got them as a set when we were kids,” she explained with a soft smile. “Kyungsoo found them in a small store in our old neighborhood and he used up all of his allowance to buy them for us.”

“They must mean a lot to you two,” Baekhyun quietly commented. “I’ve never seen Kyungsoo without his, even during meetings.”

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow in mild disbelief. “So everyone in the company knows about his cube?”

The geneticist nodded. He then curiously asked, “Is there a reason why he’s so attached to it?”

A dark shadow crossed the circuit engineer’s face and her shoulders instantly drooped. Baekhyun bit his bottom lip, knowing he had accidentally hit a nerve, and quickly tried to backtrack. But Haseol hollowly cut in, “It’s the only thing we have left from our childhood. Before we became orphans.”

Baekhyun froze and his eyes widened as the cube clattered onto the table.

“I was four years old when it happened,” Haseol began, laying her head on top of her left arm and angling her face to the right while staring blankly across the spacious room. “Kyungsoo and I were playing outside while our parents were doing their annual spring cleaning. We lived in a pretty small town that flew under the radar, so even though we knew about the war, we weren’t directly affected like the cities we saw on TV. Sometimes, supplies would be delayed by a week or so, meaning we’d have to ration our groceries for a couple of extra days, but nothing that made us fear for our lives.”

She picked up the cube with her left hand, and the familiar sensation of smoke and screams reappeared at once.

“While we were playing with our new toys, it suddenly rained fire. We had no idea what was going on, only that we needed to get home to our parents as soon as possible. So we ran back to our house as fast as we could, even though everyone was yelling at us to run away with them in the opposite direction. But we couldn’t do that, knowing our parents were still at home. Luckily, Kyungsoo and I were small enough to dodge most of the shots, but other people were falling like flies the entire time. I remember tripping over a charred body that suddenly collapsed in front of me while we were running. If Kyungsoo hadn’t picked me up, I might’ve given up right there and then because of how terrifying it was to see someone literally die right in front of me,” Haseol recounted.

She stretched her right arm out in the air, as if reaching for someone who wasn’t there.

“Sometimes, I wonder how much time it cost us when I fell down that day. Would we have gotten home sooner? Would we have been able to be with our parents during their last moments? Say a proper goodbye to them rather than see their slashed up bodies by the door?” Haseol closed her eyes and her arm limply dropped onto the table. “Kyungsoo thinks I never saw the bodies, since I was behind him and he ordered that I close my eyes as soon as he saw them. But I spotted them the same time he did and I’ll never forget that image for as long as I live.”

There was a lengthy pause after that, save for the barely discernible sounds of even breathing.

Haseol then opened her eyes and propped herself up on her elbows, cupping her face and staring past Baekhyun whose melancholic expression mirrored hers. “After that, we thought we were goners. If the librarian, who luckily had a safehouse on the outskirts of town, hadn’t found us wandering around and taken us in, we probably would’ve died within a day or two. She kept us warm and fed, and we ended up spending all of our free time reading books since she had a home library. All we did was absorb information, share it with each other, and try to apply it in fun ways to keep ourselves entertained whenever we needed a change of pace from reading all day.” She let out a mirthless laugh. “I honestly don’t think Kyungsoo and I would be where we are today without all of those books.”

“Why not?” Baekhyun quietly asked.

She gave a nonchalant shrug and plainly replied, “We barely had any motivation to live after that for several years, knowing we could die at any moment because of the war. Almost everything we knew and loved was snatched away from us in an instant, so we honestly felt like there was no place for us in the world if life was going to be this unfair. But then, learning kind of became an anchor for us, especially once we started doing well in school because of how much we read at home. Kyungsoo ended up developing bigger dreams and pursuing them later on, which is how he ended up at Astral Ark, while I…I guess I’m just trying to positively contribute to the world in the small ways that I can after everything that’s happened over the past fifty years.”

“It’s hard to believe that we’ve been at war for half a century now,” Baekhyun murmured.

Haseol sighed deeply, folding her hands on top of the table. “And there’s no sign of it stopping anytime soon.”

Baekhyun tentatively reached over and covered her hands with his while sending her a shy smile. “Hey, that isn’t to say that we can’t make it happen, especially since we’ve got all this.” He gestured around the spacious laboratory. “Not to mention, we’re on track with the alpha phase now and Kyungsoo is working to get more resources for us, so we can expand the operation once we have more information.”

She hummed while following Baekhyun’s line of sight. “To be honest, I…still don’t necessarily agree with everything that we’re doing here, but you’re right.” The circuit engineer allowed a small smile to grace her features as she turned back to face him. “I do have to admit that our progress with Project X is finally giving me some sort of hope that the war will end someday in our lifetime,” Haseol said, her gaze traveling down to Baekhyun’s left wrist. “And maybe once we know more about what these implanted circuits are capable of, we can work on developing something that’s less…precarious.”

Baekhyun nodded in agreement. “If you’ve got any ideas, I’m all ears.”

And then, a telltale rumble suddenly echoed around the room.

The geneticist stifled his laughter as he stood up and made his way around the workbench. “But first, let’s make sure a certain someone gets fed.” He smiled at her invitingly. “Shall we?”

Haseol sent him a lopsided grin as she genially hooked her arm around his and let him lead her to his room.

--

“Um, excuse me, Miss Do?”

“Hm?” Haseol absentmindedly twirled her swivel chair towards the entrance to her office and found a short, thin man wearing a blue security uniform standing at the doorway. She immediately straightened up and shoved the experiment files behind a tall stack of books on her desk. “Hello, sir. Can I help you?” the circuit engineer asked, plastering a pinched smile onto her face as she stood up and joined him at the door.

“Sorry to bother you, Miss Do. I’m Kim Jongdae with surveillance and I just wanted to speak with you about something I noticed last night during my shift,” he said while showing his employee badge as verification.

“Is my brother not in his office?” Haseol asked in confusion. “I’m just a contractor, so it’s probably better to bring up any security issues with him instead.”

“Um, it’s actually less about security and more about Dr. Byun,” Jongdae answered sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

“Baekhyun?”

Jongdae nodded. “The two of you work closely together, right? I often see you both near the west wing whenever I start my shift.”

“Yes, we’re close colleagues,” she slowly confirmed, eyebrows furrowed deeply as she tried to recall all of the geneticist’s movements from the previous day. “So what is it about Baekhyun that you wanted to talk about? He didn’t mention anything to me earlier.”

“Well, uh, I just wanted to know if he’s okay?” the security guard asked with genuine concern. “I might be overstepping by asking and assuming you know the answer, but did he recently go through a breakup or something like that?”

“I’m sorry, what?!”

Jongdae immediately started backtracking when he saw Haseol’s face twist with shock. “You know how it’s common for people to dye their hair or completely change up their style after they break up with their significant other,” he rambled without abandon while gesturing wildly with his arms in an attempt to hide his faux pas. “Or at least, that’s what I’ve read online in a bunch of articles, but maybe they’re all wrong! I mean, I dunno, it seemed pretty reasonable to me with the whole ‘trying to take back control of your life’ and ‘letting go of the past by doing something completely different,’ so I thought Dr. Byun was going through something since I could barely recognize him on the cameras last night with his new white hair! It was—”

Haseol’s blood instantly ran cold and she grabbed Jongdae’s wrist, rendering him silent as he stared at her with wide eyes. “You saw Baekhyun with white hair last night?”

The security guard nodded vigorously and then timidly said, “He was roaming all around the facility last night. I watched him for an entire hour, thinking I was dreaming the whole time because he looked so different. But after he went back to the west wing, I checked the entry checkpoint logs for all of the labs in the facility and Dr. Byun’s badge number came up on each one. When I first started working here a few months ago, Director Do told me that Dr. Byun stays late to work most nights, so I didn’t say anything to him.” Jongdae then lightly bit his bottom lip before continuing, “I was really worried though, since Dr. Byun seemed so restless last night. That and the new hairstyle. So I decided to ask you about it, in case something was wrong and he needed someone to check on him.”

Haseol withdrew her grip on the security guard and let out a weak chuckle. “Thank you for informing me, Mr. Kim. I know Baekhyun is…going through a rough transition right now and I’ll talk to him about this. I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention anything to my brother though. Baekhyun…is in a pretty vulnerable state right now and Kyungsoo knowing will just stress him out even more.”

“Yes, of course! My lips are sealed!” The security guard pretended to zip his mouth shut, but Haseol couldn’t find it in her to laugh at the mimed action.

The moment Jongdae stepped out of her office and closed the door behind him, Haseol almost ripped out the desk drawer that contained the Project X remotes. Her heart was palpitating at such a high speed that she felt like hurling her half-digested lunch.

But upon seeing all of them inside, now a disorganized mess due to the extreme force she had used just seconds before, the circuit engineer let out a deep sigh of relief and slumped back in her chair.

Of course nothing was wrong. Just her paranoia getting the better of her. After all, she had been with Baekhyun all morning and nothing had been out of the ordinary then. It was probably all just a misunderstanding on Jongdae’s part.

Nothing to worry about.

But even as she repeatedly chanted these reassurances to herself, Haseol’s hand automatically reached for her computer mouse and the cursor clicked on the shortcut to the live feed of the northernmost section of the west wing where all of the test subjects resided. The feed defaulted to the cameras in the Red Devil’s room, since he was the one who needed the most monitoring.

At the moment, he was leisurely swinging upside-down from the trapeze that had been installed two weeks prior at his request. The giant colorful paintings that decorated the expansive walls were in tatters and the marble ground was strewn with shattered pieces of white statue busts. The magical island that she had built for him sat in the middle of all of the wreckage and the Red Devil lazily conjured a tsunami to terrorize the toy inhabitants that she had magicked with miniature circuits for his entertainment.

Seeing that nothing was amiss, since this kind of behavior was par for the course for the Red Devil, Haseol switched to the live feed in Baekhyun’s room.

And she felt her heart jump to when the person walking around the barren room had snow white hair instead of the jet black hair she was so familiar with.

The White Snake was taking calculated steps around the room with his hands hidden behind his back. When he turned around, Baekhyun’s fencing sabre was revealed to be in his right hand, the tip of the blade hovering a few inches over the tiled floor. Haseol watched with bated breath as the White Snake suddenly lunged forward and began attacking an imaginary opponent. The inhuman speed at which he moved caused his arm to look like a blur and it was eerily reminiscent of the time he had rescued the Red Devil.

Once the invisible duel ended about half a minute later, the White Snake resumed his measured walk as if nothing had ever happened. As he moved closer to one of the hidden cameras, Haseol could clearly see the glow of his ice blue irises and the glint of the silver chains that decorated his ghostly pale face.

Another wave of nausea washed over the circuit engineer and she had to grip the edge of her desk to stop herself from sliding to the floor in shock.

Haseol had no idea how the White Snake had done it, but the bracelet remotes were now useless if Baekhyun could switch without them.

And the switches were happening quite rapidly, according to Jongdae’s account; at least two confirmed switches within the time span of twenty-four hours and it was possible that the White Snake had emerged multiple times before being spotted the previous night.

In any case, she needed to figure out why these involuntary switches were occurring and somehow put a stop to them. With the White Snake wandering around after hours unchecked… Haseol shuddered upon imagining the kind of damage he could wreak. Not just in the research facility, but in the world.

--

“Haseol, are you feeling okay?” Baekhyun watched her with palpable concern as they ate lunch together in the cafeteria.

“Hm?” She blankly raised her head and looked back at him. “What, me?”

“Yes, you,” he confirmed with a soft chuckle. “You’re the only Haseol I know.” His expression turned somber again as he repeated, “But seriously, are you okay? Is something bothering you?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine,” Haseol answered, pasting on a lopsided smile. “You know, same old, same old. Kyungsoo won’t stop hounding me about starting the next round of trials, even though I keep telling him we need to hold off until we know more about the White Snake.” Her smile dropped from her face as she continued, “He’s still such an enigma and if we don’t tread carefully, he’ll be more of a danger to society than a boon.”

Baekhyun slowly nodded as he stared at the circuit engineer, but refrained from verbally responding. The two researchers then continued eating in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.

It wasn’t until Haseol pushed her chair back and stood up, ready to throw away her trash, when she felt the geneticist’s hand land on her wrist. She paused and looked at him curiously.

“Is it okay if we go somewhere to talk?”

“Um, sure,” she answered, slowly nodding. As she tucked several loose strands of hair behind her ear, Haseol asked, “Do you have someplace in mind?”

“The west wing will be the safest. Let me text Chanyeol and Sehun first to let them know they can go home for the rest of the day,” Baekhyun said as he took out his phone and began typing. “Afterwards, we can go over some research literature until you need to leave. Or I can watch you work on your circuit model,” he suggested with a soft smile while pocketing his phone.

Haseol gently punched his shoulder as they tossed their trash into a nearby waste container and strolled out of the cafeteria. “And have you fall asleep on me mid-explanation, which means I’d have to drag you to your room all by myself? You overestimate my kindness,” she joked.

“You can just leave me there,” Baekhyun joked back. “I’ve slept in the lab plenty of times, thanks to a certain someone,” he cheekily added.

“No one asked you to, dummy,” she said, trying to ignore how her cheeks instantly burned from such an innocuous comment.

Haseol was so distracted by the geneticist’s teasing remarks that she failed to notice how Baekhyun’s smile gradually faded, replaced by an unfathomable expression, as they entered the west wing and headed into the laboratory. It wasn’t until they sat down at the round table closest to the entrance that she picked up on his subdued state.

“So…what did you want to talk about?” the circuit engineer asked after several moments of silence, carefully drawing him out of his reverie.

Baekhyun lightly shook himself, his gaze refocusing itself, and straightened up in his seat. He then exhaled deeply before scrunching his hands into fists on the table and said, “I…have to tell you something. Something I should’ve told you long ago, but didn’t because I was too afraid.”

Haseol nodded attentively.

“I…I noticed—well, started noticing—several gaps in my memory a couple of months ago,” Baekhyun slowly began, keeping his eyes fixed on a spot in the middle of the table.

The circuit engineer glanced at him sharply, but stayed silent.

“It was like I was constantly waking up, even in the afternoon, even though I never remembered going to sleep in the first place. I’d always wake up in my room, in my bed, but I never felt well-rested.” He let out a mirthless laugh. “At first, I thought I was just napping incorrectly. You know, incomplete sleep cycles and all that, which happened a lot while I was in university. And these weird gaps were infrequent enough that I just brushed it off as general fatigue from stress.”

“What changed then?” she finally asked after a prolonged pause.

A long, shuddering breath escaped Baekhyun’s lips before he answered in a low voice, “When I was cleaning my room one day, I found several files that were supposed to be in my office. I had no reason to bring them to my room, since they were old research reports from when I first joined Astral Ark around ten years ago. Even if someone had broken into my office and found them, they wouldn’t have been able to enter my room without a fingerprint and they’d have no reason to hide the files in the bookcase where I found them.”

That familiar sense of nausea swirled within Haseol once again.

“I know you didn’t let anyone in. You would’ve told me if you had. So that just leaves…me.” Baekhyun’s fists then unfurled and lay limply on the table, as if all of the fight had been sapped out of his body. “I—I don’t know how he does it, but the White Snake is somehow able to forcefully switch himself out and back in at any time.”

There was a minor tremble in Haseol’s voice when she asked, “With…or without the remote?”

“Without…” the geneticist hoarsely answered. “I tried looking for one in my room after I found the research reports, just in case, but there was nothing,” Baekhyun explained, slumping in defeat. He then grabbed the circuit engineer’s cold hands and choked out, “I’m so, so sorry, Haseol…” The tips of his ears burned with shame. “I kept this a secret from you for weeks when I should’ve told you as soon as I figured it out.”

Haseol’s breath caught in when she slowly asked, “Why are you telling me now though?”

Baekhyun’s grip on her hands tightened and he solemnly gazed into her eyes, soft brown irises swirling with emotion. A short chuckle escaped his thin lips before he said, “Because I really like you, Haseol, and I can’t keep that a secret any longer.”

She instantly stiffened with shock and gaped at him.

“I’ve wanted to be honest with you about these feelings so badly for so long, but how could I confess to you without first telling you what was happening to me?” Baekhyun sent her a somber smile and tenderly caressed her cheek, causing Haseol’s body to automatically relax under his delicate touch, before letting his hand fall to the table. “On the off-chance that we started something, I’d always be hiding this giant secret from you. But a relationship can’t survive on a lie and breaking your trust is something I’d never be able to forgive myself for doing.” He then pressed his palm against his forehead, letting out another mirthless laugh. “Oh god, this is the worst confession anyone’s ever made. I’m so sorry, Haseol. You deserve something better than…whatever just took place.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” she said while gently taking hold of his hand and moving it back down to the table before interlocking their fingers. However, deep pangs of guilt struck her chest at the same time.

Here he was, baring his heart out to her even though she had concealed information from him as well. Yet, while Baekhyun had been heavily tormented by his secret, it hadn’t crossed her mind at all to inform him of her discoveries and work on solving the problem together.

She wasn’t the one who deserved better. Baekhyun was.

He leaned his forehead against hers, breath just barely ghosting above her lips, and murmured, “It’s fine if you don’t feel the same way. I’m…just glad I was finally able to tell you,” before pulling away.

“Wait, Baekhyun. That—that’s not it.” The pounding of her heartbeat roared in her ears when he perked up, eyes gleaming with hope. “I have something to tell you as well.” This time, Haseol broke eye contact and was about to pull her hands away as well, but Baekhyun firmly held onto her and began rubbing small circles across her palms with the pads of his thumbs. The loving gesture only multiplied her guilt and she hung her head, resting it against the juncture underneath the geneticist’s collarbone.

“What is it?” he gently asked.

Haseol wordlessly counted her breathing until the hammering in her chest slowed to a less jittery rate and then looked back up at him. Another tidal wave of guilt washed over her as she searched Baekhyun’s gaze, finding nothing but sincerity and affection.

Had he always looked at her like that? Like nothing else in the world existed aside from her?

Even now, as the stretch of silence grew and grew, he patiently waited for her to speak and continued his rhythmic ministrations.

And so, several more minutes uneventfully passed until the silence finally broke.

“Every problem that’s come up since the beginning, since I started working on Project X, has been my fault,” Haseol began, trying to keep her voice as steady and even as possible.

“Haseol, that’s not true—” However, he immediately cut himself off when she noticeably flinched.

“I know you don’t agree, but we can’t rewrite history,” she flatly said. “Not only did I make faulty circuits, but I also withheld critical information from you,” the circuit engineer revealed, purposefully keeping her face angled away from him.

“Whatever it is, I won’t be mad,” Baekhyun reassured her. “I have no right to be,” he added with a rueful smile.

“But you do,” Haseol bit out as her hands curled into fists this time, digging into her thighs. “I already knew you were switching back and forth with the White Snake weeks ago. I verified it myself with the live feed in your room when one of the security guards alerted me.”

There was a short pause before Baekhyun softly asked, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I was responsible for rewiring every set of circuits we’ve used throughout the entire alpha test and something’s gone wrong every single time,” the circuit engineer bitterly replied.

“That’s just the nature of science,” Baekhyun gently reminded her. “Not every experiment is going to succeed and we just have to keep adjusting our methods until we get it right.”

“That kind of logic is applicable when human lives aren’t on the line.” Haseol then shook his hands off of hers and turned away from the geneticist, fully aware of how he deflated next to her. “I wasn’t going to come to you without a guaranteed, fail-safe solution.” Her voice flattened again as she added, “I owe that much to you.”

“Oh, Haseol…” Baekhyun enveloped her in a warm hug once more and their cheeks brushed against each other this time. “We’re a team, remember? You joined because I needed you and I’m always here to help when you need me.”

“But I should fix my own mistakes—”

“And whose idea was it to implant the circuits into my body in the first place?” he firmly reminded her.

Knowing that they would only continue talking into circles this way, Haseol sighed as she maneuvered out of Baekhyun’s embrace to rest her elbows on her thighs and cup her chin between her palms. “Okay then… What’s our game plan?”

They both sat in silence, contemplating their limited options. With so little data, it almost seemed impossible to come up with a feasible solution that wouldn’t blow up in their faces as everything else about Project X had.

When Baekhyun shifted in his seat to reach over and tuck a stray lock of hair behind Haseol’s ear, his bracelet accidentally bumped against her shoulder. The circuit engineer’s gaze then zeroed in on the silver band before flicking to the middle of the room. Baekhyun duly followed her line of sight and his chest tightened as both researchers reached the same conclusion.

“Do you really think it’ll work?” he quietly asked.

“I…I think it’s our only option at this point,” Haseol answered. “Let me do some research first though. I need to see if I can toggle with the pod settings and add an extraction mode. In the meantime, we’ll continue our experiments with the White Snake as usual and gradually shift our main tests to the Red Devil. He’s not ideal, but he’s all we have now,” she said with a wry smile.

The geneticist nodded. “Okay, I trust you.”

Gratitude bloomed in Haseol’s chest as she leaned against his shoulder and said, “Thank you, Baekhyun.”

“Thank you for being the best research partner I’ve ever had here at Astral Ark,” Baekhyun returned with a tender smile. “And…I don’t know if this is jumping the gun, but when the White Snake is gone, may I take you out on a proper date?” he shyly asked, interlacing his fingers with Haseol’s once more. “I don’t want him to suddenly switch out in the middle and sweep you off your feet before I have a chance to,” he continued with a chuckle.

“Who says you haven’t already?” Haseol innocently quipped, pretending not to notice the strawberry blush that bloomed across Baekhyun’s smooth cheeks. “C’mon, we’ve got work to do,” she said, pulling him up and leading him to her workbench.

“I swear, you’re going to be the death of me someday,” Baekhyun commented with a musical laugh as they began flipping through their notes on the White Snake’s most recent test results.

Haseol smiled as his right arm s around her waist, pulling her close. She could definitely get used to this.

--

The White Snake’s ice-cold gaze never failed to unsettle Haseol whenever they were the only two people in a room together. And that disconcerting feeling had amplified exponentially now that her relationship with Baekhyun was gradually evolving past its initial platonic base.

It was like suffering intense whiplash every single day.

She’d start off her mornings with Baekhyun’s blindingly bright smile, a chaste peck on the cheek, and warm hugs that felt like home. Her workbench became a shared space for two with Baekhyun practically abandoning his own by moving all of his notebooks and folders to sit across from Haseol every day. She’d catch him watching her, cheek resting against his palm, every so often and relentlessly for it. But at the same time, whenever he was deep in thought and doggedly making notes on a research article, Haseol would find herself staring at him without abandon until he’d look up and send her a saucy grin in return.

But once the White Snake switched out, it was as if his presence away all of the warmth in a room, leaving the atmosphere frightfully chilly. And knowing that he was becoming more and more powerful by the day, right under their noses, had Haseol on high alert at all times.

Even when Baekhyun returned, there was still a perpetual feeling of dread that lingered. It wasn’t easy to shake off the White Snake’s visage from her mind, especially since he and Baekhyun were practically identical. If it weren’t for their starkly contrasting personalities, Haseol didn’t think she’d ever be able to truly separate the two as individual entities.

It always took an exhaustingly massive perspective shift for Haseol to reconcile that the cold and unfeeling White Snake existed within the warm and sweet Byun Baekhyun. And the geneticist recognized that. So he proposed that she start visiting the white-haired super soldier in a more casual setting, believing it would strip away some of the underlying fear that existed whenever Haseol interacted with the White Snake.

So one afternoon, after leaving Chanyeol and Sehun to restock the laboratory with newly arrived supplies, Haseol and Baekhyun positioned themselves in the middle of his room.

“Ready?”

Haseol nodded. “Are you?”

He sent her an encouraging smile. “Go for it.”

She inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly, waiting for her heartbeat to settle down, before flipping the switch and watching Baekhyun disappear into a ball of white light.

Moments later, the white-haired super soldier emerged and he instantly took stock of the seemingly unfamiliar environment.

However, Haseol knew better.

“This is new,” the White Snake calmly noted as he scanned his surroundings. “We’ve always met in the laboratory, never in a residential area like this.”

“We…decided it would be a nice change of scenery for you.” Haseol motioned for him to sit down at the small table where Baekhyun usually dined. “And we wanted to start checking in on your mental state more regularly, since that’s just as important as your physicality.”

He primly folded his hands in front of him as he leaned back in his chair, the bright ceiling lights glinting off of the silver chains hanging across his pale face. “What is our first order of business then?”

She handed him a packet of paper and a blue ballpoint pen. “You can start by filling out this questionnaire.”

The White Snake raised an eyebrow in mild disbelief, but when Haseol jutted her chin towards the packet, he reluctantly picked up the pen and began reading the first page.

They sat in relative silence as the white-haired super soldier diligently answered each question. Every so often, the White Snake monotonously asked clarification for specific terms or phrases that appeared in the dense questionnaire. In turn, Haseol gave him a succinct answer each time, which he accepted nonverbally. The minutes ticked by, one by one, and Haseol could feel the muscles in her shoulders gradually relax as she reveled in the general stillness.

It almost felt…normal. Or as normal as it could be, knowing that she was currently in a top-secret research facility with a constantly evolving supernatural being sitting across the table from her.

Until it didn’t.

“Would your white cube be an example of a trigger for a significant traumatic event?” the White Snake casually asked, already reading the next question while penning down his previous answer.

“Wait a minute, how—how do you know that?” Haseol sharply asked. “I only told…Baekhyun…” Her knuckles then turned white as realization dawned on her. “Oh god, you—you have his memories…don’t you…” she choked out, unable to disguise the horror written all over her face.

And quicker than the blink of an eye, the aura of the room transformed entirely. The White Snake’s eyes flashed bright blue as he suddenly backed Haseol into a corner and his voice dropped several octaves when he next spoke. “And so what does it matter if I do?” he hissed as the corners of his lips quirked up in a dangerous smirk. “It seems a bit unfair that he knew of my existence from the start while I had to figure that out on my own, doesn’t it?”

“It was for your own safety,” Haseol retorted, trying to put on a brave front even though her palms were becoming sweatier and sweatier by the second.

His eyes flashed again as he stepped even closer. “My safety? My dear Haseol, I think you must be mistaken,” he jeered, chuckling darkly and coiling his svelte figure around her like a vine. “You and I both know that I am perfectly capable of protecting myself. I am not plagued by madness or instability like the red one. Nor am I weak or bound by mortality like my other half.” When his frosty breath brushed the top edge of her ear, Haseol instantly flinched away and his sly grin widened even more. “If I so desired to, this entire building would become a hole in the ground in seconds. And there would be no way for you to stop me. After all, this,” he grabbed the hand that was clutched around the bracelet remote and lazily waved it in the air, “has no control over me.”

Before she could even properly process her own movements, Haseol instinctively flicked the remote control switch and watched in terror as the White Snake was encased in a cocoon of white light.

However, he only laughed as he disappeared into the light, his arms falling to his sides and his ice blue eyes glowing like beacons. “You know this is futile, Haseol,” he reiterated as his velvety voice gradually faded and the cocoon grew brighter. “One way or another, I will leave this place, my dear.”

By the time Baekhyun returned to his civilian form, Haseol had collapsed onto the ground, legs still shaking uncontrollably. The geneticist looked down at her in alarm and immediately hauled her into his arms, bridal style. He carried her to his bed and carefully set her down before pressing his palm against her clammy forehead in concern. “What happened, Haseol? Do you need to go to the infirmary? Did the White Snake do something to you?”

Haseol almost blurted out what she had learned about the white-haired super soldier as soon as she met Baekhyun’s concerned gaze, but managed to hold her tongue once the fog in her head cleared a bit. The White Snake would instantly know she had blabbed and although he hadn’t explicitly threatened to use Baekhyun as collateral, Haseol knew he would have no qualms about sacrificing the geneticist, if only to prove a point.

She couldn’t risk endangering Baekhyun. Not when the White Snake could wipe him out—wipe all of them out—in an instant.

So Haseol only shook her head and sent him a weak smile. “I just felt a bit woozy from staring at his light blade for too long,” she fibbed. “But I think I’m going to ask Kyungsoo if I can leave early today. Rest my eyes and clear my head, y’know?”

“Of course! Let me take you there,” Baekhyun hastily offered as she slid off of his bed and wobbled, trying to regain her sense of balance.

“Thank you,” she murmured, latching onto him for stability. And as he escorted her to the research director’s office, his right arm wrapped protectively around her waist, Haseol’s chest fluttered with both deep affection and immense guilt.

No, nothing could happen to Baekhyun.

She wouldn’t allow it.

With that, Haseol’s resolve tripled in strength and she worked almost obsessively on completing the circuit extraction program, but without Baekhyun’s help or expertise. She maintained their regular routine so as not to draw up any suspicion from either the black-haired geneticist or the white-haired super soldier. But the moment he walked her out of his room, under the pretense that she was driving home to sleep, Haseol double-backed to the laboratory and worked until sunrise before going home to catch an hour or two of sleep to recharge for the next work day.

If Baekhyun noticed her mounting exhaustion, he never mentioned anything, which she was grateful for. Not being able to confide in him was a challenge in itself that Haseol loathed but staunchly persisted through for his safety. After all, the White Snake had made it crystal clear that he would never relinquish his freedom. If he picked up even the slightest hint of the circuit engineer’s plan, Haseol knew Baekhyun would not escape unscathed.

But when she finally finished constructing the circuit extraction program, after countless sleepless nights, Haseol allowed herself to keel onto Baekhyun’s bed while he watched her in mild amusement.

“Need a nap?” he amicably asked as he sat at the edge of the bed.

“Tomorrow,” she murmured into his pillow. “I’m gonna ask Kyungsoo for a day off tomorrow and knock out until the weekend.”

“Good idea,” the geneticist hummed. “Is there a specific reason why you’re so exhausted?”

There was a brief pause before Haseol rolled onto her side and lifted up her head to nod. “I…was working on a surprise for you and I’m finally done.”

Baekhyun’s mouth slightly dropped open in astonishment. “What for? Is there a special day coming up that I forgot about?”

She giggled and shook her head. “You didn’t forget anything. I just wanted to make something to show you how much I appreciate you,” Haseol explained as she pushed herself up and gave him a quick hug

“Aw, you really didn’t have to,” Baekhyun answered, but still grinning widely as he hugged her back. “Am I allowed to see it yet or do I still have to wait?”

Haseol almost had half a mind to wait until the next day due to her exhaustion, but ultimately decided that there was no point in waiting now that Baekhyun had given her the perfect segue to lead him back to the laboratory without alerting the White Snake. “Gimme a second.” The circuit engineer then hopped out of bed and began rummaging through her bag while Baekhyun curiously watched her. Moments later, Haseol straightened up while holding a white blindfold and a pair of foam earplugs. “It’s a surprise, so I need you to wear these when we get to the lab.”

“Sure.” Baekhyun obediently followed her out of his room and into the laboratory, his steps bouncy and light with excitement.

After shutting the door behind them, Haseol turned back to the geneticist. “You trust me, right?” she confirmed once more, armed with the blindfold and earplugs.

Baekhyun smiled and nodded as he closed his eyes without a moment of hesitation. “Always.”

With a deep exhale, Haseol wrapped the blindfold around his eyes, inserted the foam plugs into his ears, and twirled him around multiple times, catching him when he briefly stumbled from the dizziness. As Baekhyun tried to realign his new lack of vision and spatial perception, Haseol led him in circles around the laboratory, occasionally spinning him again and again whenever his steps grew steadier. Once she deemed him completely disoriented, the circuit engineer led Baekhyun to the implantation pod and strapped him in. He convulsed slightly, so Haseol cupped his thin cheeks before pressing their foreheads together and closed her eyes. “Thank you for always believing in me,” she whispered above his lips before diving in for a chaste kiss.

It lasted only a second before Haseol pulled away and the glass door of the implantation pod closed shut. She jogged over to the control panel and upon glancing one last time at Baekhyun’s covered face, the circuit engineer activated the extraction program and watched as the machine whirred to life again. Multiples of colors appeared in alternating patterns across the middle beam and white smoke gradually filled the implantation pod, completely obscuring Baekhyun from view.

Haseol could feel her heart racing at a mile a minute as her eyes flicked between the implantation pod and the control panel. The electronic screen beeped each time a circuit unit was removed and the whirring increased in volume with every second that passed. Images of Suho, Xiumin, and Lay’s motionless bodies then snuck back into her mind, taking advantage of her sky-high anxiety levels. It took every modicum of willpower and self-control for Haseol to boot those scarring memories out of her mind and remain focused on the task at hand.

When the final beep sounded, lasting three full seconds to distinguish itself from the progress beeps, Haseol almost jumped out of her skin from jittery anticipation. She dashed to the front of the implantation pod as the glass door automatically slid open and released the burst of white fog.

And when Baekhyun walked out, looking none the worse for wear as he pulled off the blindfold and took out the earplugs, Haseol’s heart soared in her chest. “It—it actually worked,” she breathed out. “The White Snake… He… He’s gone…”

Baekhyun held up his left wrist and curiously looked at the unmarred expanse of skin where the bracelet used to be. “This means I won’t be able to switch anymore, right?”

Haseol shook her head before wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace, burying her face against his warm chest. “You’re free, Baekhyun.”

He hugged her back just as tightly, one hand reaching up to gently comb through Haseol’s long black hair, and smiled. “I’m finally free.”

--

With the circuits no longer implanted in Baekhyun’s body, both researchers agreed that there was no reason for the geneticist to continue living in the west wing now that the White Snake no longer shared his body. Since he had long given up his lease to the apartment he had been renting prior to the White Snake’s emergence, Haseol offered to let him move in with her and Kyungsoo. Her older brother was less than happy when Haseol came to his office with the suggestion, but relented in the end when the circuit engineer scathingly reminded him of how much Baekhyun had sacrificed for Project X’s sake.

“It’s the least you could do for him after everything he’s gone through because of your crazy idea.”

By the end of the week, all of Baekhyun’s belongings had been moved into the Do siblings’ home and for the first time in ages, Haseol felt like some semblance of normalcy had returned to her life.

--

“Are you free tomorrow afternoon?”

Haseol laughed and pushed her swivel chair close enough to her bed so that she could gently poke Baekhyun’s cheek. “Why? Do you have something planned? Should I dress up?”

“Nothing too fancy. Preferably in something warm though,” he vaguely replied.

She curiously tilted her head to the side. “Do I get any more details than that or…?”

“A surprise would be more fun, wouldn’t it?” Baekhyun lightly pointed out.

“Alright, I hear you loud and clear.” Haseol jokingly saluted him. “Switching topics now, so I won’t feel tempted to wheedle you into spoiling it for me.”

Baekhyun sent her a saucy grin as he leaned back against the headboard of the bed. “You wouldn’t be able to get a single word out of me, even if you tried.”

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow at his challenge. “Is that so? You’re playing a dangerous game here, my good sir.”

“No more dangerous than the ones we’ve already played,” he smartly replied. Before she could press him any further, Baekhyun then opened his arms and beckoned for her to join him on the bed. “If you don’t get any rest now, you’ll be too tired to enjoy the surprise tomorrow.”

After reaching over to activate a miniature force field around her latest circuit model, Haseol obliged and made herself comfortable in the crook of her boyfriend’s arm, sighing happily as he dropped a tender kiss on the crown of her head.

--

“An ice rink? Not bad for a first date idea,” Haseol commented as the couple stood in front of a blue dome-shaped building. “I didn’t know you knew how to skate though.”

“I’ve never done it before, but I’m sure it’ll be easy to pick up,” Baekhyun answered, although a bit stiffly, which didn’t go unnoticed by Haseol. “And since it’s winter, I figured we could theme our date along those lines.”

“Simple, but effective,” she said, nodding in approval. “I like it.”

Baekhyun’s shoulders sagged in relief as they walked into the building. It was packed inside with large families, groups of friends, and dozens of other couples, so he kept Haseol tucked closely against him so that he didn’t lose her in the crowd. Once they had their rental ice skates in hand and found an empty bench to lace them on, he asked, “Have you ever skated before?”

“Once or twice in college with friends,” she replied. “But that was years ago, so we’re probably about the same, skill-wise.” Haseol then stood up, boots tightly laced on her feet. But she wobbled unsteadily right after, having moved too quickly, and Baekhyun hastily hooked his arms underneath her before she could fall.

“Er, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all…”

Haseol could feel his nervous energy heightening by the second and she firmly planted her feet on the ground to balance herself better without needing Baekhyun to support her. “Don’t worry. I’m fine! See?” She boldly marched forward and almost reached the entrance to the rink itself when she tripped over a slight bump, involuntarily pitching herself forward.

Baekhyun was by her side in a flash and broke her fall, grunting as he landed on his with Haseol sprawled on top of him. “Are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that!” Haseol’s eyebrows were furrowed with worry as she pushed herself off of her boyfriend and helped him up. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“I’m okay,” he reassured her. “Just a little sore, but it’ll go away in a few minutes.”

Seeing as they were blocking the entrance, Baekhyun clumsily guided Haseol to the outside edge, where there was a metal rail for them to hold onto. As several couples gracefully stepped onto the ice, hand-in-hand, Haseol felt her boyfriend fidget next to her. She turned to him, about to ask if they should sit so he could recover from their nasty fall, but then noticed how his gaze kept flitting between all of the couples around them.

Along with the couples who were gliding elegantly around the ice rink, there were couples who were giggling like schoolchildren as they took baby steps along the railing inside the rink. There were couples who were sitting at the tables in front of the various food court restaurants that lined the rink, feeding each other and smiling adoringly into their partner’s eyes. And there were couples who were perched on the bleachers in front of the rink, completely oblivious to their surroundings as they passionately kissed.

When Haseol tapped his shoulder, Baekhyun slightly jumped, almost tripping over his skates. “Careful! We don’t wanna fall again,” she cautioned as he caught himself with the railing.

He sent her a weak smile in return.

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Haseol asked, her features painted in concern. “We can go sit down for a bit and then start.”

Baekhyun shook his head. “I’m ready to start skating.” He then held his hand out to her and gestured with his shoulder to the ice rink. “Shall we start?”

Haseol nodded, taking hold of his proffered hand, and stepped onto the ice right after him.

He took to the ice like a harp seal, gliding with ease, even though it was only his first time skating. But Haseol could still feel some tension emanating from him as he held her hands and skated backwards. Again, his gaze was darting between all of the couples who were laughing cheerfully or sneaking kisses every few moments as they skated together.

When her eyes finally met his, Haseol watched in amusement as a pink flush crept up his neck. “I’d ask you again if everything is okay, but I think I know why you’re so jittery now.” She skated right up to him, digging her heels into the ice to halt their movement, and slyly asked, “Is this the first time you’ve ever been on a date, Byun Baekhyun?”

He immediately looked away and mumbled, “Yes,” while the pink flush deepened and reached up to his ears.

Haseol laughed merrily as she affectionately patted his right cheek while planting a short kiss on his left. “There’s no need to be nervous. It’s me! Let’s just have fun and skate, okay? I promise you’re doing great.” She then pulled Baekhyun into motion again and beamed as he began to relax, lengthening his strides across the rink.

The awkwardness soon melted away completely and Haseol’s heart was light like a feather as she and Baekhyun twirled around the ice, completely lost in their own world.

Several hours later, completely drained of energy from skating for so long, Baekhyun led her to a nearby cafe and ordered two soy lattes. Since the cafe was filled with people as well, the couple opted to take home their drinks and enjoy it in the comfort of Haseol’s bedroom.

They ended their night by watching an old animated film on an empty wall in Haseol’s room with a circuit-enhanced projector that she had built back in college.

She sighed in contentment as she leaned her head against Baekhyun’s shoulder, cushioned by his thick sweater.

This was the life.

No crazy experiments to worry about. No secrets to hide from anyone.

Just bliss, pure bliss, as the two of them existed in their own paradisiacal space with each other.

As the movie credits rolled and the projector automatically dimmed, Baekhyun stretched his arms out and briefly kicked the blanket to the side so that his legs could also shake out any tension that had built up from sitting for so long. “Do you want to watch another one?” he asked as he flipped on the light switch and watched Haseol crawl across the bed towards the projector.

She shook her head and deactivated the machine instead. “As much as I’d love to just lay here like a potato and watch movies all night long, we have work tomorrow,” Haseol reminded him with a rueful smile. It then weakened a smidge as she added, “Kyungsoo won’t stop hounding me to pick up the alpha test again, which is incredibly annoying. Has he talked to you about it too?”

“Not really. But I suppose that might have to do with…everything that transpired,” Baekhyun answered with a lopsided smile. As Haseol settled into his embrace, he quietly asked her, “Do you want to start up the trials again?”

There was a distinct pause before she somberly replied, “If I’m being completely honest…no, not really.”

His breath hitched in his chest. “Why not?”

“I know where Kyungsoo’s coming from and that’s why I ultimately agreed to work on Project X for him. His intent and his goals are commendable, even if his methods are highly questionable.” Haseol let out a weak laugh. “But after what happened to all of our test subjects, after what happened to you, it just really stresses me out whenever I think about anyone else going through that,” she admitted. “While I’m not afraid of anyone ending up like Xiumin and Lay since I know our circuits are much better now, I still get this…this sense of dread whenever I think about sending more people into the pod. Even just seeing the Red Devil now, knowing that he’s basically stuck in the west wing forever… It's—it’s heartbreaking.”

“I came out of it unscathed though,” Baekhyun pointed out softly.

Haseol bit her bottom lip as a pair of ice blue eyes flashed through her mind. “But the White Snake didn’t.”

His arms wrapped more tightly around her.

“Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if we had never discovered his upgraded powers. Would Project X still be standing if he’d been able to go rogue?”

Baekhyun had no response.

“It’s terrifying to think about the worst possible outcome, but that’s always what surfaces in my mind whenever I remember him,” Haseol revealed, a note of melancholy coloring her voice.

There was a long pause before Baekhyun quietly asked, “Do you think you’ll ever forgive him?”

Haseol exhaled loudly as she contemplated the question. Although it had been several months since she had freed Baekhyun from the magical circuits, memories of the white-haired super soldier regularly drifted in and out of her mind. Their interaction in Baekhyun’s old bedroom was the one that resurfaced the most and Haseol often wondered what alternative outcome would have transpired if he hadn’t let her switch him back in.

He had seemed less pitiful than the Red Devil at the time, but perhaps he had been the more confined super soldier after all.

Never fully in control of his own body. Never given the freedom to explore his interests, explore what was outside.

Always at the mercy of a single switch.

No wonder he had spoken to her with such venom during their last proper encounter. No wonder his gaze had burned straight through her with its frigid intensity.

Perhaps she would have done the same if she’d been in his shoes.

Exhaling deeply, Haseol slowly nodded and said, “I think I forgave him as soon as we freed you. There was no reason to stay angry at him when he never truly did anything wrong.”

Baekhyun lowered his face so that his forehead was resting against her soft hair and he inhaled deeply, trying to keep his body from trembling.

After another stretch of silence, Haseol affectionately petted his head, causing Baekhyun to look up. “In any case, regardless of what’s happened, one good thing about Project X is that it led me to you,” she said, beaming brightly at him. “So I hold onto that as a pick-me-up whenever I need it.” Haseol then angled her body so that she could reach up and plant a quick peck on her boyfriend’s thin cheek.

Baekhyun felt something squeeze around his heart as it thundered in his chest like a drum. “I very much agree, love,” he murmured. Tilting her head up towards him with his pointer finger under her chin, Baekhyun leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

It took less than a second for Haseol to respond to the intimate gesture, their noses gently brushing against each other as she kissed him with just as much fervor. Baekhyun’s hand moved along her jaw and traveled around her neck until it reached the back of her head. With more support, he was able to deepen the kiss and Haseol’s chest bloomed with warmth the longer they stayed attached.

She didn’t know how much time had passed until Baekhyun finally released her, allowing both of them to catch their breath. After a few moments, Baekhyun carefully maneuvered Haseol so that she was laying on top of him. He then reached to the side to flick off the light switch, plunging the room into darkness.

Humming with contentment as the warmth of his sturdy body wreathed around her, Haseol snuggled up against Baekhyun’s chest and closed her eyes. “I’m really happy to be with you.”

He gazed at her with an unfathomable expression as he gently ran his fingers through her long hair, listening as her breathing slowed once she drifted off to dreamland.

--

In the dead of night, Haseol was suddenly roused from a deep sleep when her phone buzzed incessantly atop the mahogany bureau next to the bed. She yawned loudly as she shifted on her side and clumsily grabbed the electronic device, almost dropping it due to her sluggish movements. “Hello?” she mumbled while closing her eyes again and pulling the comforter more snugly around her chin.

“Oh, shoot, you were asleep. My sincere apologies, Miss Do! It’s me, Kim Jongdae with surveillance.”

“Uh-huh, did you need my brother, Mr. Kim?” she sleepily asked, barely registering the mental image of the thin security guard at Astral Ark.

“Um, I was just wondering if everything’s okay between you and Dr. Byun?”

“Baekhyun? He’s at home with me. We both went to bed around midnight,” Haseol recalled. “Do you need to talk to him instead?”

“Well, actually, he showed up at the facility about ten minutes ago and headed straight for the west wing. But the reason I called you was because his hair is white again, so I was worried that the reason he changed his hairstyle was because you two had broken up and—”

“What?!” Haseol instantly bolted up, eyes snapping open, and threw the comforter off of her. She reached for the left side of the bed, but all she felt was cold air and emptiness. “No, no, no, no!” The circuit engineer jumped out of bed, hastily throwing on one of Baekhyun’s—no, the White Snake’s—sweatshirts.

“Uh, Miss Do, should I—”

“Whatever you do, do not go to the west wing!” Haseol ordered as she grabbed her badge from her desk and dashed out of her room. “Keep an eye on the cameras and call me immediately if he leaves the west wing, but stay where you are! I’m on my way right now!”

Jongdae’s voice slightly quivered as he responded, “Y-yes, Miss Do.”

As Haseol ended the call, she accidentally tripped over her feet and slammed her hand on the wall, letting out a stream of curses in her wake. Luckily, she was right next to a light switch, so she flicked it on at once and then spotted her keys on the dining table. After sweeping it into her hands, Haseol made a beeline for the door.

But just as she was about to fly through the doorway, an arm suddenly grabbed the circuit engineer and pulled her back.

“Haseol, what are you doing?! It’s one in the morning!”

She looked back to see Kyungsoo, dressed in his pajamas and running his free hand through his tousled hair, frowning as he held his younger sister in place.

“Do you have any idea how late it is?! And you’re not even properly dressed to go out!”

“I don’t have time to argue with you, Kyungsoo! Just let go of me!” Without warning, Haseol ripped herself from her older brother’s grasp and ran out of the house, desperately button mashing her car keys to unlock the vehicle before she reached it. Once she was in the driver’s seat, she yelled at the navigation system, “Set destination to Astral Ark!”

“Not without me!” Just as the car engine revved, the passenger door flung open and Kyungsoo jumped in.

“Get out, Kyungsoo! This has nothing to do with you!”

“Anything that involves Astral Ark has to do with me!” he immediately countered as he strapped himself in. “As your direct superior, I’m ordering you to tell me what’s going on now!”

“Fine!” Haseol snarled as the car began hurtling down the dark, empty street. “I have no idea how he did it, but the White Snake somehow took over Baekhyun, even though we removed the circuits from him months ago.”

“He what?!”

“Just shut up, Kyungsoo, and let me finish first!”

The research director’s eyes blazed with anger, but he held his tongue and crossed his arms over his chest as Haseol recounted everything she and Baekhyun had discovered that led up to the circuit extraction. And by the end of it, Kyungsoo’s temper had reached the ends of its fuse and he couldn’t help but shout, “How could you hide something like that from me this entire time?!”

“I just—Baekhyun and I—we thought we had it under control!” Haseol slammed her fists against the steering wheel when a red light forced her to brake. “How was I supposed to know the White Snake had evolved to that degree?!”

“Do you know what kind of liability issues this brings up now?! The entire project could be compromised!”

“My boyfriend might be dead,” Haseol snapped, “so excuse me while I focus on trying to save him instead of worrying about this stupid project that never should’ve existed in the first place!”

The rest of the car ride was tense and silent as Haseol sped through the streets, ignoring every speed limit sign on the road. When they finally pulled up into Astral Ark’s underground parking lot, she haphazardly parked her car diagonally across two parking spaces and the two siblings were already jumping out of the car before its engines were completely cut.

Haseol and Kyungsoo then high-tailed it into the research facility, all the way to the west wing, and headed straight for the main laboratory. The double doors were slightly ajar and Haseol’s heart rate drastically quickened when she saw the white-haired super soldier, dressed in black leather, standing by the control panel of the implantation pod. “You!”

And then the two siblings were each caught in a force field and suspended into the air like bubbles.

“Let us go!” Haseol yelled, banging against the magical shields.

“Haseol, please, I don’t want to fight you,” the White Snake quietly said as he turned around and slowly walked up to her.

“Liar,” she instantly retorted. “I don’t know why you suddenly showed up tonight or how you did it, but I won’t let you hurt anyone else. Even if I have to somehow get into that stupid pod myself—”

“And I refuse to let you do that to yourself,” the White Snake cut in. “Haseol, trust me. I don’t like this any more than you do.” The white-haired super soldier pressed his right hand against the force field and looked at her pleadingly. “Knowing that I can’t be with you any longer… It’s killing me inside.”

Haseol’s breath caught in when she locked eyes with the White Snake, whose ice blue eyes were swirling with a million emotions. “What—what are you talking about?”

“Three months. I spent three months living as the man you love,” the White Snake confessed, his left hand pressed against his chest. “Every morning, you kissed me good morning. And I pretended it was for me. Every night, you kissed me good night. And I dreamed it was for me.”

“You mean, it wasn’t just recently when you switched out?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

“I’ve been here this entire time, ever since you removed the circuits,” the White Snake confirmed. “As soon as I sensed the energy within the pod, I forced Baekhyun to switch in so that he could be sealed away once the circuits were extracted from our body. But what I didn’t account for was all of his memories and emotions merging with my own.”

He sent Haseol a pinched smile.

“Before, when we had been separate entities inhabiting a shared body, I could bypass the neural block as I pleased while still maintaining that mental divide. But once the block was gone, everything he felt for you just…overwhelmed my senses and I found myself sharing that same intense affection.”

He suddenly deactivated the force field and readily caught Haseol in his arms before burying his face in her long hair.

“Even when I tried to fight it, you made it so easy to fall in love with you all over again.”

Haseol could feel him trembling as he held her.

“While I was here, all I could feel was rage towards you. For locking me up. For treating me like I was less than you. Every day, I stewed in my thoughts—planning, dreaming of exacting revenge and making you regret ever believing I could be a tool used for such pathetic beings,” the White Snake rasped as his body shook more violently.

He leaned back and then looked directly into Haseol’s eyes.

“And then, while I lived as Baekhyun, pretending to be him so that I could live outside, live freely, you were always there. And I hated it at first. I hated being around you, even though I also felt like I couldn’t live without you because of Baekhyun’s intense love for you. I hated knowing that no matter how much I tried to pull away from you, it actually hurt me whenever you thought I was upset with you when the one I was truly upset with was myself.”

He pressed his cold cheek against hers and Haseol felt his heart beat against his chest like a drum, strong and steady.

“In the beginning, every night while you slept next to me, I thought about ending your life right then and there. You were so vulnerable. You were so defenseless. It would have been over in the blink of an eye. But then you held me so tightly, like this,” his arms around her tightened, “and I felt wanted. I felt needed.”

“You—you are needed,” Haseol interjected in a barely audible tone.

“I wanted to be desired by you because of who I am,” the White Snake bitterly replied. “Not because of who you thought I was. But how could I come between you two, knowing that this fool, Baekhyun, had been head over heels for you since the beginning of your partnership? Knowing how happy he was when he realized you loved him back.”

Haseol’s ears burned bright red.

Seeing her reaction, the White Snake let out a mirthless laugh. “I was there that day. I had already figured out how to access his memories and his mind without him knowing I was there. And I thought to myself, ‘This guy is an absolute idiot for letting this useless mortal girl have so much power over him,’ when he completely surrendered himself to you. I was so tempted to switch out at that moment, just to ruin things because the entire situation was absolutely sickening to me.”

He pulled back again and gently set Haseol on the ground, so that she was standing on her own two feet, before trailing his long fingers against the edge of her face.

“And when you found me out that day, I could have ended you right then and there. But I didn’t, because part of me wondered why Baekhyun was so enamored with you. So I decided that keeping you alive interested me more than killing you did. But little did I know, you were planning to do away with me anyway.”

Haseol never felt guiltier in her life than she did at that moment, staring straight into the White Snake’s mournful gaze.

“I was prepared to never forgive you. I was prepared to be the villain, if only to oppose what you thought was heroic and righteous. But I wasn’t prepared to love you as much as I do now.” His ice blue eyes started glowing as he marched up to the implantation pod with Haseol in tow, the circuit engineer stumbling in a daze behind him. The control panel was already booted up with the implantation procedure activation key on screen.

Haseol frowned as her eyes darted between the machine and the White Snake, who was pushing open the glass door. “What—what are you planning?” she asked, her eyes round with caution.

The White Snake’s grip on her wrist tightened and she winced from the sheer strength. “I’m going to bring Baekhyun back for you. At the very least, one of us should be with someone who truly loves us back.”

“But he—he’s dead…isn’t he?” Haseol choked out. “If you were in the pod when we extracted the circuits, wasn’t he erased instead?”

“Since he is the original owner of this body, he still exists. But he lays dormant, unable to connect with any part of his conscious mind.” The White Snake then tapped the side of the implantation pod. “But if I were to implant the circuits back into our body, the magic would shock him awake and allow him to switch back out. And then, you two will be reunited,” he ended in a barely audible whisper.

Haseol froze. “You—you can really bring him back?” she hoarsely asked.

“I would have already done it before you arrived, but this requires two people to carry out,” the White Snake explained. “I cannot start the procedure while I am inside the pod,” he gestured to the control panel and then to the giant container, “so I need you to do it for me.”

It…it almost sounded too good to be true.

“How—how do I know Baekhyun isn’t actually…dead?” Haseol asked, forcefully blanking her mind to prevent herself from imagining the worst possible scenario. “How do I know you’ll actually bring him back instead of…of…I don’t know, using the circuit implants to power yourself even more?”

“I have no intention of hurting you anymore,” the White Snake solemnly stated. “Please trust me, Haseol. I’m trying to right my wrongs and I need your help to do so.”

“Well, if—if you want me to trust you, then…then you have to free Kyungsoo first.” Haseol pointed at her older brother who was still suspended in the other force field and had been watching the entire scene in shock, eyes wide as saucers.

“Done.” He snapped his fingers and the force field dissolved into a pillow that cushioned Kyungsoo’s fall from mid-air. The White Snake then looked at her imploringly and repeated, “Please, Haseol. I promise you can trust me. I’ll bring him back.”

She bit her bottom lip and exhaled deeply before finally nodding. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

As she strapped him in, the White Snake murmured, “Thank you, Haseol. I’ll never forget you.”

She pointedly avoided eye contact with him, even though she could still see the strength of his ice blue gaze in her mind. “Thank you for bringing Baekhyun back. I really appreciate it.”

The White Snake suddenly pulled her towards him so that the tips of their noses were just barely touching. Haseol’s heart stopped in and she screwed her eyes shut, not daring to take in even the slightest breath.

But instead of closing that miniscule distance between them and pressing their lips together, the white-haired super soldier just whispered, “Maybe in another lifetime, I was the one you fell in love with instead.” He then laid back into the implantation pod and used a weak force field to gently push Haseol away before the glass door automatically slid shut, separating them for the final time.

Haseol couldn’t bring herself to watch the procedure, so Kyungsoo wordlessly stepped up to the control panel instead and pressed the green start key on the screen while she kept her back to the machine. She screwed her eyes shut and counted to one hundred in her head, mentally blocking out all of the sounds and colors that whirled behind her. But when it all slowed to a stop and she heard the glass door pop open while a burst of white steam hissed out of the chamber, Haseol forced herself to turn around and open her eyes.

The familiar figure that emerged from the implantation pod as the fog faded away looked straight at her. “…Haseol?”

Every fiber in her being was screaming at her to run up to him, but she willed herself to stay standing where she was. “You’re… You’re Baekhyun, right? You’re actually Byun Baekhyun this time…right?” Haseol hoarsely asked.

Baekhyun held out his arms and nodded, smiling encouragingly at her. “I promise it’s really me this time, Haseol.”

A sob tore out of her as she ran straight into his arms, burying her face in chest. “I was so scared,” Haseol cried, hands tightly clutching fistfuls of his gray shirt. “When Jongdae called me and I realized it wasn’t you—it was never you—and that I might have already lost you forever because of the White Snake, I…I…I…”

“Oh, Haseol, love, it’s fine now,” Baekhyun murmured reassuringly as he her hair. “Don’t worry. The White Snake won’t cause any more trouble, I promise.”

Haseol looked up at him, fists clenched even tighter, and hesitantly asked, “What—what happened to him?”

Baekhyun smiled sadly and then placed his right hand over hers across his chest. “He’s still somewhere in here, existing within the circuits again.”

“You’re—you’re not upset with him?”

“How could I be when he took such good care of you while I was gone?” Baekhyun slid his hand back down from his chest to Haseol’s waist and held her even closer. “He transferred his memories to me as a final goodbye, so I know everything that’s happened these past few months. And I’m happy he got to live a normal life for a bit after everything we put him through.”

“Me too,” Haseol softly agreed.

“But now that I’m back…” Baekhyun dipped down to capture Haseol’s lips in the sweetest of kisses, humming in contentment as she instantly melted against him. When they finally parted, he caressed her right cheek. “I’m never letting you go ever again.”

Suddenly, there was a loud cough from the side and the couple jumped as they turned to face Kyungsoo, who was rubbing his temples in exhaustion. “As…sweet as this wonderful conclusion to one of the most confusing and stressful situations I’ve ever been a part of is, it’s also two in the morning and we all have to work in a few hours. We can properly debrief in the afternoon and discuss our next steps then.” The research director then sent a small smile to his friend as he began walking out of the room and said, “I’m glad you’re safe though, Baekhyun.”

“Thanks, Kyungsoo. It’s good to be back,” he answered with a beam.

Waiting until her older brother exited the room first, Haseol quickly dropped one last kiss on Baekhyun’s cheek and smiled. “Let’s go home.”

And as they walked out of the laboratory, hand in hand, Baekhyun’s eyes flashed bright blue for a split second before dulling back to soft brown.

♈♈♈

A/N: if you made it this far, tysm! super appreciate your support and i hope the story was enjoyable despite all of its glaring flaws :') i promise the reboot will be a huge step up in quality (and quantity if you like long stories bc i am clearly unable to keep anything short lol) so pls subscribe for future updates/announcements on that! and pls upvote (i will love you forever) and comment your thoughts/reactions/anything tbh and let's start a conversation :D maybe your ideas will be incorporated in the reboot! ok i'm gonna go sleep now tysm again and happy holidays <3

also going to shamelessly plug my chen story from last year if you're interested in reading more from me tysm!

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