Kyung was the first to react to Zico’s words. He rushed up to Zico, not caring anymore about his injuries, “Why didn’t you tell us before?” Kyung grabbed the collar of Zico’s shirt, losing his ability to think clearly.

“So that’s why you were looking for the key so urgently.” Taeil mumbled to himself beside you.

You weren’t sure why the hunters wanted something like that. Why them seemed so desperate now that they heard what Zico was looking for all this time.

“You have the key don’t you?” B-Bomb asked you, his palm out in front of you. He wasn’t just asking if you had it, he was practically ordering you to give it to him. It wasn’t like him to be this forceful.

Either way, you complied. Doing so now would be better for you in the long run. If Zico’s guess was right, the necklace Sunggyu was looking for was down there. You reached into your pocket and pulled it out. You only pondered for a moment before setting it down in his palm. B-Bomb examined it as he turned towards Zico.

“Let go of him Kyung. Now’s not the time.” B-Bomb said sternly. Kyung tsked and let go of Zico. B-Bomb tossed the key to Zico, who caught it easily despite his injuries. “You couldn’t try it then. So do it now. We’re all here to back you up this time.” Zico stared down at the key, something inside of his head told him not to. To not use this key. To not investigate further.

“He’s right. We’re with you now. Don’t worry about anything.” U-Kwon assured him.

“I’ll take the lead once we get down there.” Jaehyo stated as he pulled one of his knives from his belt and twirled it in his hands, “If there’s something there in the darkness, I can react faster to it than you can.”

“As always, I’ll take the back Hyung.” P.O flexed his muscles.

“As will I.” Taeil took a step forward. Zico couldn’t help but feel touched. He had hid these secrets from them for a long time. He never thought they would take it so well. Now that the secrets were out, he felt relieved. There was no longer a weight on his chest. Now, his friends were there to carry some of his burden. Zico nodded slowly in confirmation of the unknown journey.

Kyung huffed and rolled his eyes, “Well let’s get going then.”

Zico smirked as he swung his good arm around Kyung for support, “Just because I’m hurt doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you Kyung. Get rid of the cocky attitude alright?” He joked. Kyung couldn’t stay angry at Zico. They had been together since they were children. He laughed as well as he helped Zico take his first step towards the descending staircase.

“Wait!” You stuttered out as you reached forward. You caught nothing except the immediate attention of the hunters, “We can’t go.” You urged them. As expected, they didn’t understand your words. “Zico is hurt. If there is really something down there besides some run down prison, we can’t risk going today.”

Taeil looked down as he thought over Zico’s condition. He turned to Zico now, a frown on his face, “She’s right. We can’t go today. Zico should be better by tomorrow but even then is too soon. We’re going to have to wait around two days. Until then, we should build up our strength. Prepare ourselves for whatever is down there.”

“And if the key doesn’t work?” B-Bomb questioned.

“If we go down there now and find out it does, do you actually think you’d be able to hold yourselves back from investigating right away? It’s better to be safe than sorry.” Taeil reasoned with him. Before Kyung could protest, Zico shrugged off of him.

“Fair enough. Let’s go home then. There’s no point in rushing now.” Zico started to walk before he stumbled over, causing U-Kwon and P.O to have to catch him. He looked at both of them before roughly messing up their hair with his hands. They both fidgeted underneath his grasp, however, you could see the smiles on their faces.

“Let’s go.” Jaehyo told you. He had caught you dazing out as you stared at the three of them. He lightly nudged your shoulder before walking behind the three, back towards where you all had parked the cars.

You looked back to the staircase. “So that’s what the necklace is.” You mumbled to yourself. “I wonder if Sunggyu knows. Why go after it? He didn’t seem resentful of his animalistic nature. So why?”

“Hyunjoo! Hurry up!” You heard Kyung yell. You turned back around before following. Still, there was something about all of this that irked you. The first of which was that underground prison. Why did it even exist in the first place?

When the eight of you arrived back at the cars, everyone started to take off. The only car left was B-Bomb’s. He got in and started it. U-Kwon was about to get as well when you grabbed onto his arm. He looked down at you and cocked his head, “What is it?”

“I’m going to walk home from here.”

“What?” He immediately focused all of his attention on you, “Why?” He grasped your shoulders and inspected your body, “Are you okay? Did you fall down again? Why are you always falling over things-”

Before he could embarrass you any further, you put your hand to his mouth, “I didn’t fall.” You said with a light laugh, “I’m just homesick.” You fibbed.

“Oh,” U-Kwon’s shoulders slumped over, “Alright.”

 B-Bomb noticed the two of you talking and rolled down the window of the passenger side, “What’s going on?”

You leaned over in order to see him past U-Kwon, “I’m going to walk home from here. I’ll get my car later okay? Can you tell the others?” B-Bomb furrowed his eyebrows. You walked up to the truck and pulled your backpack from behind the passenger seat. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” You waved before setting off on the sidewalk.

B-Bomb watched you for a minute before he turned to U-Kwon, “What’d you do?”

U-Kwon shook his head fervently, “Nothing!”

The two of them looked towards where you had disappeared around the corner. B-Bomb sighed while U-Kwon listlessly got into the passenger seat. B-Bomb backed the car up before taking off down the road.

You opened the door to the house and stepped inside. The smell of coffee wafted around the house, as it always had. It had been around eight days since you last came home. “I’m home.” You announced as you kicked your shoes off and closed the door behind yourself. No one answered your call, “Mom?” You asked as you locked the door. Still, there was not a sound in the house. You peeked into both the living room and the kitchen. Then, you walked up the stairs. She wasn’t even in her room.

You figured she had left for work, since she was a nurse she must have been at the hospital since early this morning. Still though, you couldn’t help but wish she was there. It had been a while since you last saw her. When you called her, you always got her voicemail. She was avoiding you, like always. You didn’t want to know how you’d feel if you visited the hospital and saw her, only to have her pretend you weren’t there. Thus, you hadn’t gone. But now, you wanted to. You just wanted to see if she was okay. Besides, you needed to get the scratch on your arm checked out. Taeil had fixed you up, but that didn’t stop it from hurting whenever you would flex your muscles.

You walked to the bathroom, deciding to wash up and eat before leaving.

“Here are the painkillers.” The pharmacist handed you a bottle of pills at the medicine pick-up counter in a white paper bag. You nodded in appreciation before going to grab them. However, she quickly pulled the bag back, “You look familiar.” She said, her nose scrunched up. “You don’t come here often do you?”

You shook your head no and went to grab the painkillers again. She pulled it in the opposite direction this time. You huffed at her persistence. After coming all the way to the hospital late this afternoon around six, even setting up an appointment and waiting in the waiting room for over an hour, you had yet to see your mom. The doctor, once he called you in, looked at the cuts on your arm.

You told him it was a stray dog and thankfully, he believed you. He said it didn’t look too bad and most likely the pain was because the skin was inflamed. So, he prescribed you painkillers and sent you on your way. It was nighttime, around eight o’clock, when you were called to the counter; your medicine was finally ready. That’s where you were now. Standing in front of the most curious pharmacist in the entire hospital.

“Then where have I seen you before?” She asked, a hand on her chin. You shrugged. You didn’t want to tell her your mom worked there. Most likely, your mom would not like that one bit. The nurse finally gave in and handed you the bag. You pulled out your wallet from your long, beige pea coat pocket. As you opened it, you flipped your hair back in order to be able to see the money you were pulling out. Your hair stuck to your neck, causing you to reach up and pull the strands from the top of your red turtleneck dress that went halfway down your thigh. The pharmacist quickly waved her hands in front of herself, “No, no. According to your file, your health care plan covers the cost. Besides, you wouldn’t pay here. You’d receive a bill in the mail later on if you were paying from pocket.”

“Oh, sorry.” You apologized. You had never even been to the hospital besides for a cold or two when you were young. So, you didn’t really know how any of this worked. You went to close your wallet when the woman caught a glimpse of your driver’s license. The picture was one that resembled closely to that of an employee ID card she had seen recently. She looked between the computer, which had your name on the screen, and the photo on your license.

“Oh my gosh.” She suddenly caught your attention, “You’re Hanbyul’s daughter!” She exclaimed. You froze at the sound of your mother’s name. The pharmacist leaned forward, “Aren’t you? I can tell! You have your mom’s facial expressions. No one can make a straight face as well as she can.” You couldn’t tell if the woman was praising or insulting your mom. The woman inspected you again, looking over your black stocking covered legs and your red flats, “You’re so beautiful! She’s never talked about you before though. She only mentioned in passing she had a daughter at our gatherings.” She suddenly shook her head, “Oh right. I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Baek Taehee. I’m one of your mother’s friends. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” You bit your lips, wondering how to get out of this. Thankfully, you saw something in the corner of your eyes that gave you a way out. “I’m sorry, I can’t stay and chat. I have to go to my friend.”

The woman, Taehee, followed your gaze. Her eyes widened, “That boy? He’s your friend?” You nodded before bowing slightly and taking a few steps back. Taehee didn’t even notice you already walking away, her eyes on the boy you had directed the word “friend” to. “If I wasn’t twenty six, I’d be on that in a heartbeat.” She truthfully said out loud.

You walked up to the line of chairs in front of the front desk of the hospital. When you stopped in front of one of the chairs, the occupant looked up at you slowly. Their eyes widened when they realized it was you. “Sunggyu.” You said with a smile. 

--------

A/N magically whisked away into a time space warp of some kind by AFF.