I opened my eyes. Sitting up was a literal pain in the . The noise of people’s footsteps from the hallway caused vibrations waking me. Stretching I glanced around the cage. We’d been in here for a day almost. A day was enough to make one claustrophobic.  

Yongguk hyung was in the cage next to mine. He was against the wall, a dejected expression on his face. Last night I thought I’d heard someone sobbing last night but I couldn’t be sure it was him. I was so tired and hungry I was sure my stomach was starting to eat itself.

The two white coats walked straight to my cage. “The youngest was some help but this one may prove to be of more use to us if he’s interrogated.”

Interrogated?

I swallowed, bowing my head. We’d been warned many times about being captured and shown how to act if we ever did. Much to my bad luck it appeared that I would be the first one to experience another horror that this prison had to show.

“Be strong hyung.” I turned to Zelo as my cage door was unlocked. A guard seized me in an arm lock. They took me out of the prison into a lift. We went to the bottom level. It was the basement.

They took me to a small room which was dark except for one lamp. With a coarse rope my hands and leg were bound. I was forced to sit on the wooden chair while they looked the door.

Nothing

No noise, except my very slow breathing.

That was when I heard it; heavy, solid footsteps. A lump caught in my throat. Soon the door opened.

I was faced by a rather firmly built, six foot, bald man dressed like one of the guards in his possibly extra-large sized uniform, his fingerless gloves well worn. The chair creaked as he sat down. In my mind I thought it would give under his weight.

He stared at me; his small eyes staring at me uncaringly and without sympathy. I found myself compelled to look at him in fear. “What are you starring at?”

“Well… What are you starring at?!”

I couldn’t speak. He sighed folding his arms. “Ok here’s how it’s going to work. You’re going to tell me why you and your puny friends have crossed the border into our territory or I’m going to make a mosaic from the broken fragments of your teeth.”

Now this was when I really knew I was uncertain about the Head Quarter’s teaching methods. They were to remain silent, to not move and give no hints as to knowing something even if we did. But that meant I would be in for worse than just his glare.

He stood up in his chair. “You’ve lost your tongue. Can’t you speak punk?” Coming over to me I felt myself stiffen as he stood at my side, leaning down. He put his head right next to my ear. “I SAID CAN’T YOU SPEAK?!”

The noise shook me. I sat there, trembling uncontrollably. “I-I-I don’t know—“

“—don’t lie to me!” He hissed. The leather in his glove made the noise of stretching as he clenched a fist. I blinked.

I saw the punch fly.

He released his fist into my face.

My head turned, pain rising into my cheek. A bitter of taste of blood formed in my mouth. The toe of his boot kicked the base of the chair and I fell onto my side. For a moment I just lay there, grimacing and spitting out some of the red liquid.

One of his feet stood on the upturned chair. “Tell me what you know.” He walked around to where I was curled. “TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!” I groaned as he kneed me in the stomach.

Rolling to lie on my back I coughed up again. Some sprayed onto my clothes. “… I said I don’t know.”

“YOU’RE LYING!” More pain as he stood on my hand. The pressure slowly started to crush my fingers. He lifted it before anything broke, leaving my hand stinging.

“You think you’re clever?!” Before I could react he grabbed my shirt by the collar and lifted me up. I just dangled in the air. He put his face close to mine. “Guess what?” Spit flew in my face. “YOU’RE NOT!” Releasing his grip I flew back, hitting the wall. My head throbbed from the impact.

The doors opened and the two white coats came in. “What are you doing?!”

“He’s useless. He’s been trained to not say anything! I could beat him to a bloody pulp and it will be of no help.” He cracked his knuckles. I shivered inwardly.

“Aish,” the men shook their heads. “Fine; the English Lop may prove to be more helpful. He’ll be brought here next.”

A guard forced me to stand up as they walked me back, my legs were the only thing they un-tied. Each step took a lot of energy; I thought my legs would give way. Eventually as we came back; the sight of seeing the members at the edges of their cages, waiting for me was no encouragement. The moment I was pushed back into my cage I sank to my knees.

“Jongup what happened?!”

“Jongup what’s wrong?!”

Turning my head I looked at them, hope faded from my eyes. “We’re going to die here… They’re too good. We cannot complete the mission… They’ll kill us before then.”

Himchan hyung seemed reluctant to believe me. “Snap out of it!”

Yongguk nodded. “He’s right Jongup. Don’t give up. We’ve already got a plan in mind.”

I looked at them. Yongguk looked to Daehyun’s cage. “Daehyun managed to get the keys. He slipped them out of the man’s pocket while they were giving him a quick check over.” I saw Daehyun jangle the bunch with a satisfied grin.

The doors opened. All of us froze. Daehyun turned to Zelo who was in the cage opposite Youngjae’s empty one. “Jun Hong catch it!” The maknae stretched out his long arms and Daehyun tossed them through the bars.

They clanged on the floor. All of us winced. The door to our area opened and closed. Zelo quickly stretched an arm out between the bars and got them into his cage. He didn’t have much time to hide them. We were holding out breaths until he had covered them under straw.

The men appeared in view, both guards. They went to Daehyun’s cage, unlocking the door. “Come with us.” Daehyun was ushered along with them. I had to avert my gaze away from him, where he was going would be worse than getting hypnotised.
 

Now it was just the four of us. “Ok it’s just us we need to talk.” Yongguk came as close to the bars of his cage which was closest to me. “What’s going on with you, Youngjae and Daehyun-ah?”

“Yes I want to know too!” Himchan added while Zelo stood there confused.

“What do you expect me to tell you?” I exclaimed before I winced. Talking aggravated the bruise on my face. “Can’t you already see?”

“See what exactly?”

“That those two…” Now saying it aloud felt weird. “Are… Are umm… They are…”

“What, family? Are they comrades?”

“Together!”

If there had been any crickets in the room I was more than grateful if one chirped. It would stop the room from being so quiet. Himchan and Yongguk exchanged glances. “What did he just say?”

“I want to know that too.” Yongguk agreed with him.

“Hyung I’m serious! It’s true.” 

Zelo called out to Yongguk. “Hyung have the aliens done something to him? He’s saying Daehyun and Youngjae are together.”

I wanted to drop onto the floor in dramatic desperation. How could they not believe me? Me their own team mate?!

Yongguk said my name. “What makes you think that?”

“It’s obvious; they are almost always together for pair assignments and they hug each other the most. If that isn’t enough evidence then I don’t know what is.”

The two oldest members talked to each other. Zelo and I got left out until Yongguk spoke. “Jongup, you understand that you’re talking about something rather serious.”

I knew it. Our own leader didn’t believe me. “However that doesn’t mean you are completely wrong. I see and notice a lot about those in this group. Youngjae-ah does appear interested in Daehyun and it’s more than just a friendship.”

Himchan swore while Zelo stood there with his mouth agape. Even I was surprised. “But whether Daehyun feels the same is hard for me to say. We aren’t the closest and so he is more likely to confide in Himchan. Well, has he said anything to you?”

He shook his head. “No, he hasn’t said a word.”

“So from that I can say that it’s a one-sided crush. Youngjae will probably move on if given enough time.”

“But hyung what if it isn’t?”

Leader hyung raised his eyebrows at me. “If it isn’t then we cannot do anything but support them. They’ll receive a lot of backlash from Head Quarters if the news gets out.” The gaze he gave me showed just how serious this was.

“This gets out to no one alright?” I nodded. Our leader looked over at Zelo. “Do you still have the keys?”

Our maknae quickly rushed to the pile, fumbling through it before picking up the ring. “Good once Daehyun is brought back we’ll thoroughly plan our next escape. This time it’s got to be fool proof.”

******************************************************************

Since the last chapter was a little dramatic I had to shed some light with them talking about the pressing matter on Jongup’s heart. Wait and see how their plan goes.