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CHAPTERFOURTEEN

❝BIO-ENGINEERINGQUANTUM

PARADOXFACILITY:PARTONE❞

"Are we close?”

“Yeah, according to the blueprints Leeteuk gave us, there should be a door that leads to a stairwell up ahead. And that stairwell should lead us to at least the fifth floor, I believe.”

“But aren’t we supposed to head to the underground part of the facility?”

“We are, but there are no actual entrances to the laboratory from outside the facility. Once inside we’ll have to find an elevator or another stairwell that’ll lead down there.”

“That sounds super easy.”

Woohyun squeezed his eyes as their conversation registered in his mind. He didn’t know exactly who was talking, but he did recognize the voices. His head was still pounding, but the ringing in his ears had ceased.

He felt warm, and he felt movement. He could tell he was leaning against something, or perhaps, someone.

The brunet tried to open his eyes to see what was going on, but it was hard. They felt heavy like lead. The struggle was unceasing  as he heard the others continue to talk.

“I think this is the entrance.”

“You sure?”

“Of course not.”

Woohyun finally found the strength to will his eyes open. Everything was dark and blurry as his eyes tried to focus. He could feel whoever he was leaning against stopped moving.

“You better be right, Dongwoo,” a familiar voice threatened.

Although it was still dark, Woohyun’s vision focused. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he recognized his surroundings. He was still in the tunnels.

The brunet’s brows furrowed.

What happened? He thought.

He remembered asking to rest for a moment. And he remembered feeling extremely tired. He couldn’t recall much after that. It was all just a blur. Had he fallen asleep?

Sudden movement brought him out of his thoughts. Woohyun then realized that he wasn’t actually leaning on someone, but rather he was being carried. He felt a pair of hands holding him up around his thighs. His chest and left arm was pressed against their back while his right was simply dangling. His cheek was leaning against their shoulder.

He blinked a few times, wondering who he was with. He lifted his head and craned his neck to get a better look at who was carrying him. It was too dark to get a good look at their face, but the only thing that stood out in the darkness was his hair. His caramel colored hair was bright enough to see in the dingy tunnels.

His sudden movement alerted the man.

“You’re awake?” It was Sunggyu’s voice. He turned his head slightly to the left to look at the younger. Woohyun didn’t get a chance to answer, for two bright lights flooded his vision.

“Woohyun!” Dongwoo yelled joyfully. He walked up to the two and continued blinding Woohyun with his flashlight. The brunet flinched from the sudden brightness. “I was so worried! I honestly didn’t think you were going to wake up anytime soon… or at all really! And then we would have to bury you somewhere out in the outskirts of the city! And there would be a good chance your grave would be destroyed or at least stomped on and messed up by elephants–”

“Shut up, Dongwoo,” Hoya nudged him in the ribs, forcing the blue haired man to stumble a little, lowering his flashlight in the process.

“What happened?” Woohyun rasped.

God, it felt like he hadn’t talked in years.

“You passed out while we were taking a break earlier,” Sunggyu answered.

“How long was I out?” He coughed. His throat and tongue felt like sandpaper.

“For almost two years,” Hoya frowned

“What?!” Woohyun screeched. Sunggyu flinched; it felt like his eardrums burst.

“Just kidding!” His frown turned upside down.

“Actually, you were unconscious for just a couple of hours,” Sunggyu said, lowering himself to the ground. Woohyun took that as a cue to get off him.

The brunet lost his footing for a moment when he pushed himself off the leader. The room felt like it was suddenly spinning. If it wasn’t for a hand that gripped his arm and the other placed on the small of his back, he was sure he would have collapsed.

“Steady there, Woohyun,” Dongwoo mumbled, helping him keep still. “We think you have a concussion, most likely from the car crash.” Woohyun closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself. When he reopened his eyes, everything was still. The INFINITE members were all eyeing him with concern.

“Do you think you could walk or…?” Sunggyu asked, frowning.

Woohyun looked down at his feet and swallowed thickly. He took a couple of steps forward without stumbling. The room didn’t start spinning. Everything seemed fine now. “I think I’m okay for the moment.” He looked back up, giving Sunggyu a small smile.

Sunggyu nodded but didn’t seem convinced.

“I’m sorry for being such an inconvenience,” Woohyun apologized, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

He always hated being such a burden to others. That was the other main reason why he declined his brother’s offer to live with him when he was a teenager. He didn’t want to leave his mother all alone, but he also didn’t want to be a nuisance to Boohyun.

Sometimes, though, Woohyun wished he had taken the offer.

For a long time, the brunet had put the blame on himself for his brother’s sudden disappearance. He had always thought because he declined the offer, Boohyun thought he didn’t need him anymore. But Woohyun did, though.

He needed him.

He needed his brother.

Especially with everything going on right now.

Woohyun felt like curling up in a corner and crying, wishing all of this was a really just a very long nightmare.

“You’re not an inconvenience, Woohyun,” Hoya reassured. “If anyone is to blame, it’s Dongwoo–”

“Excuse me–?”

“His terrible driving skills are what caused us to crash–”

“Well, next time, I’ll let you drive when there is a rocket grenade heading towards–”

“Well,” Sunggyu interrupted the two’s argument. “Since you seem to be doing better, let’s go. We think we found the entrance into the BEQP.” Not waiting for a response, the resistance leader turned away and entered the stairwell. Dongwoo and Hoya followed.

Woohyun took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn’t collapse when he took a step. Finding his balance somewhat stable, the brunet slowly followed the other three. Although it seemed that his two hour nap helped his weary body recover from today’s earlier events, Woohyun was already dreading climbing the stairs.

The stairwell was quiet as everyone ascended it. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Well, everyone but Woohyun.

Woohyun wasn’t the most talkative person in the world, but he couldn’t stand the silence. There needed to be some sort of noise. He needed some sort of distraction. The brunet wanted to so badly to strike up a conversation with the resistance members about something–it didn’t matter what it was about–but everyone had some sort of deep, intense look o