0045 hours

 

Luhan tiptoed across the corridors with Sehun, Chanyeol and Luna following behind as they headed towards the research building.  It was supposed to be an impossible feat as Block A was listed as one of the forbidden territories. The only floors accessible to patients were the first floor – the screening room – and the second floor, where the treatments were conducted.

Luhan and Luna were assigned to disable the control system in the main control room next to the doctors’ lounge. It was perfect for them as Luhan knew his way with technologies and Luna would help tremendously with her sound negation abilities against the alarms and other security measures.

Chanyeol and Sehun volunteered to steal the spatiometer, along with rescuing Sulli. Luhan had objected at first as he’d rather be there to help them but he relented, knowing he can’t possibly be in two places at once. The spatiometer and the isolation chamber was said to be in a secret basement floor under Block A which was where they were headed as of now.

Luna was at the back, doing her best to cancel the sound around them as they move stealthily in the shadows. She listened intently for any suspicious movements around them. Chanyeol, however, kept close to his cousin as much as he could.

“He shouldn’t put you at the back. It’s dangerous,” he whispered to Luna as they continued moving. Luna frowned briefly, upset that her concentration on her task was ruined for a moment.

“It’s fine Chanyeol. It’s the logical thing to do. I have to cover our tracks.”

“It’s still not safe.” Luna frowned.

“Shouldn’t you be focusing more on saving Sulli?” she snapped. Chanyeol looked at her, guiltily. “Sunyoung…”

 “Just-,” she sighed, “I’m alright, Yeol. Stop worrying too much.”

“But-“

“Chanyeol,” Sehun interrupted, “why don’t you walk behind Luhan. I need to speak to Luna for awhile.”

 “Fine,” he grunted “I’ll give him a piece of my mind while I’m at it.” Luna rolled her eyes. Chanyeol switched places with Sehun and wasted no time pestering Luhan.

“He’s right you know.” Luna looked at him inquiringly. “About what?”

“It’s dangerous for you to be at the back. I’m surprised Luhan is alright with that, considering his feelings for you and all.”

“I’m fine! I haven’t been the most competent pla- What did you say?”

“What? I said nothing,” Sehun replied, stifling his laughter. It wasn’t his intention to let that piece of information slip but he couldn’t help himself. Luna deserved to know and Luhan deserved an answer.

“You said-“

“We’re here.” Luhan stopped in his tracks and the others followed suit. He crouched and tapped the floor a few times before one of the tiles slid open, revealing a staircase descending into the dark shadows.

“This is where we say our goodbyes. Stick to the plan and get everything needed. Meet us near the barriers in exactly one hour. Got it?”

Chanyeol and Sehun nodded before leaving the two and proceeded to enter the gloomy halls. A few seconds after they disappeared, Luhan tapped the same tile in the same manner as before and the floor closed, leaving no hint of its secret floor.

“It’s our turn now.”

Luna nodded and followed him as they slipped back into the shadows. Her focus returned to covering their tracks but she was left with an answered question. And she was determined to know the answer.

 

~*~

 

 

“Of all the cool stuff we could do, I’m stuck with covering our trails,” Soojung whined.

Jongin rolled his eyes. “Would you rather be with Luhan and Luna, disabling the alarms? Or Chanyeol and Sehun with their steal and rescue mission?”

“No… those are too dangerous,” she said timidly, “but it must be more fun than having to hide all these trackers.” Soojung pouted. Jongin smiled as he approached her.

“Then like it or not, princess,” he said as one hand landed on her waist, pulling her closer to him, and the other tilted her chin so her eyes would meet his, “you’re stuck with me.”

His lips landed on hers and she accepted them willingly. Her hands naturally wrapped around his neck and pulled him impossibly closer. A few moments later, they broke apart, leaning their forehead against the other.

“What are we?” Soojung managed to breathe out as she forced herself to look into his eyes for her answer. Her relationship with Jongin has always been complicated ever since they first met.

Jongin gazed into her orbs. He saw his image and only his in her dilated pupils.  Flashes of memories flooded him as he remembered the moment he began to really look at Soojung for what she was and not her social status. The scenes followed left a smile on his face; their accidental first kiss, the hugs that followed, the nights spent in each others’ embrace, stolen kisses… Her question was a no-brainer.

“We are whatever you want us to be,” he replied.

“What do you mean?” she frowned, more confused than ever. Jongin sighed and ran his hands through her hair, her cheeks as his hands travel down to cup her face.

“It means, Jung, that I like you. A lot.”

She beamed. “I like you a lot too.”

Jongin smiled and brought her face closer for a quick peck. It didn’t seem fit for people like them to pursue a relationship complete with formalities when life was this complicated. He was satisfied with having her by his side, for now.

“If Luhan was here, he’d smack both of our heads and tell us to go back to work.” Jongin chuckled.

“That he would.”

He had surrendered control over his feelings for her a long time ago. There was no use denying the obvious.

“Come on princess, we still have a lot to do before the fun part starts.” He offered her his hand and Soojung took it happily.

 

 

 

0058 hours

 

“Chanyeol don’t!”

“But it’s dark! I can’t see where we’re going. A tiny spark should be just-“

“You do that and it’s not only us seeing the road.”

Chanyeol groaned before reluctantly extinguishing the fire in his hands. Everything was dark again. He trailed behind Sehun as the younger said to let the wind guide their way. They followed Luhan’s instructions to the letter as they made their way to the spatiometer’s location.

Their journey was quiet and dark. There were no guards surrounding the area but they remained cautious of any unexpected danger. Sehun allowed himself to relax a bit but his guard was never down. He wanted to save Sulli first but Luhan made it perfectly clear that the spatiometer has to be secured first. It took him a lot of self-restrain from doing reckless things just to protect Sulli so this time shouldn’t be any different. He just hoped they won’t be too late.

“Sehun…,” Chanyeol whispered.

“What?”

“Let’s get Sulli first and then the Spat.”

Sehun frowned but he didn’t stop walking. “You know we can’t. Luhan said-“

“Forget what he said! Sulli is in danger and all you care about is getting the stupid Spat!” Chanyeol fumed. “I was wrong about you. You don’t even care enough to put her first,” he mumbled grudgingly.

Sehun spun on his heel and turned to face Chanyeol, gritting his teeth as he spoke, “Look, I care about her more than anyone else in the world. You don’t know how hard it was for me to not just run and free her and get out of here as fast as I can but it’s never that simple. If I do that then we’d all end up dead just because I couldn’t wait long enough to save her. If you could live with the guilt, Chanyeol, then go and unlock her cell with your stupid fire and get us all killed!”

Chanyeol blinked a few times before Sehun turned around, stomping ahead. “Sehun…”

“WH-”

Chanyeol managed to pull him into the shadows before a guard could see them. Sehun held his breath as did Chanyeol when the guard passed by them slowly. When he finally did, Chanyeol released him. Sehun didn’t look at him as they moved on, but mumbled something Chanyeol managed to make out as words of gratitude.

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol suddenly blurted out. “I just want to make sure she’s not hurt.”

Sehun sighed, “I want that too.”

There were more guards passing by as they walk further and Sehun knew they were close to the spatiometer.

“We’re close,” he said to Chanyeol. They shared an elated smile, knowing that it wasn’t too long before they get to see Sulli again.

 

 

 

0103 hours

 

“Are they gone yet?”

“No, I still hear voices. Wait, someone’s coming.”

The doors slid open automatically as two doctors came out, in a heated argument over something Luna didn’t understand. The door closed with a click and Luna hovered near the door again to listen.

“The coast is clear.”

Luhan stood in front of the door, flexing a bit as he prepared to use his powers. “Cancel the sound once the door is open.” Luna nodded and he began to focus on opening the door.

The door was a bit tight at first but Luhan managed to open it big enough for the both of them to slid in. Not a peep was heard as they both entered the room. Luhan released his mental grip on the door carefully before setting a mental lock over the door. Luna returned the sound to where it belonged and exhaled pointedly.

“Great job,” said Luhan as he ruffled her hair, a smile adorning his face.

Luna was stunned by his actions and stood frozen as Luhan paced towards the mainframe computer. Sehun’s earlier statement returned to her mind and she was now bothered by the truth of it. She approached Luhan who was busy typing away some codes into the command system.

Luna hesitated whether or not she should ask him now before deciding to hold her questions. He wouldn’t hear her anyways.

A few minutes later, Luhan leaned against the chair, exhaling in relief as the code he feverishly typed in was overwriting the system. He looked to the side and saw Luna with a frown on her face.

“What’s wrong? Is someone coming?”

Luna fixed her eyes on his as the next words came out before she could stop it, “Do you like me?”

“What?” Luhan asked, dumbfounded as his cheeks began to turn the softest hue of pink.

“Sehun said that you like me,” she said, turning her gaze away from him.

Annoyance surged through him. He didn’t know Sehun was the kind to gossip. A quick ding from the computer brought him back to his senses. Now was not the right time to make a confession. He turned back to the mainframe and typed in the last remaining code to complete his task.

“He got it wrong. I like you as a friend and that’s that,” he said coldly. He didn’t even turn around to say it to her face. Another ding was heard and his task was finished. The first part of his plan concluded successfully. He hoped the others would do the same as well.

“What time is it?”

“0114 hours.”

Right on time too.

Luhan smiled. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

He took her hand in his as they left the room and proceeded to meeting point. But Luna was still fixed in a memory of when she was in his arms. His warmth and affection then was too friendly to come from a friend. Was he telling the truth?

 

 

~*~

 

 

It was dark when Sulli woke up once again. She blinked twice trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness around her but there was something off about the whole room. She looked around her but there was nothing but darkness. She couldn’t find any corners that separated the walls from the floor and all she could see was nothing but black.

What’s happening? Where am I?

She heard an evil laugh coming from behind her. Eris!

“It’s over, darling. You lost, I won. Your body is mine now.”

Her voice was loud and clear and her evil laugh pierced through her ears. She tried to speak, to counter her, but all she could manage was a feathery soft whisper. She then tried to stand but one of her legs were disappearing into thin air.

Eris’ laughter became clearer and clearer as her own strength began to weaken.

What have you done to me?

“You don’t like it? I think it was smart of me to push that awful liquid to only you. It was intended for you anyway, not for me.”

There was a distinct sound of explosion before she began to fade away.

 

 

 

 

0125 hours

 

The guards were too easy to fool with just a little bit of fire and air. They ran like a bunch of scared kids, thinking the floating fire and the howling wind was a ghost that haunted the lone corridor. Once they were gone, Sehun and Chanyeol laughed silently at the sight of adults running away from an imaginary apparition.

They approached the room containing the spatiometer only to see an array of similar devices in front of them.

“How do we know which one is which?”

“Maybe they have labels?”

They did not.

“Alright, think! What color did Luhan say the Spat was?”

“I think it was green. Or was it yellow?”

Sehun turned to the display, searching for green or yellow devices. There was exactly one green and one yellow, much to his dismay.

“Which one should we take?”

“I don’t know. Just take both of them,” Chanyeol urged.

Sehun did just that as he took the yellow one and Chanyeol reached for the green. They turned the switch off and the lights went off. Just as the spatiometer was disabled, the ground shook.

“You don’t think that was because we took the-“

The whole place started shaking and the walls began to collapse. They ran out before they were destroyed too. The room was now just a pile of rubble but the ground was still shaking.

“Sulli!” They exclaimed in unison.

The spatiometers in hand, they ran towards the isolation chamber without thinking of their safety or the possibility the guards could see them.

 

 

 

0145 hours

 

“They should be here by now,” Luna fretted.

Chanyeol and Sehun were ten minutes late and they shouldn’t be. Luhan, Luna, Soojung and Jongin were already outside the tall barriers. They had a brief celebration before stopping themselves because it didn’t feel right without everyone here.

Suddenly, the ground shook beneath them. It started out soft, something one could easily dismiss. But when the tremors grew stronger, it was obvious something was definitely wrong. And that something involved Sulli.

“Soojung, how much longer can your mental confusion last?” Luhan asked.

“About fifteen minutes more.”

Luhan snapped his eyes shut and took a deep breath. He ran through possible actions he could take before deciding on one. It was risky and stupid but there was no other way. Luhan had to go there and save them.

“Jongin, teleport me back inside.”

“What?!” he asked, incredulously.

“You heard me. Get me back in there.”

“You can’t go back in there!” said Luna, her eyes were filled with concern

“I have to save them. They won’t know what to do without me,” said Luhan. He turned to look at her in the eyes and gave her a soft smile. “Besides, how would you live without Chanyeol? He’s your only family.”

Luna couldn’t hold in the tears much longer and they streamed down her face. Luhan pat her head affectionately before turning to Jongin.

“Are you sure?”

“Just do it.”

Jongin sighed as he began to concentrate on teleporting him back into the facility. Luhan began to dematerialize but Luna managed to catch his hands before he disappeared completely.

“But you’re my family too…”

Luhan smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”

They watched in silent terror as Luhan vanished in front of them. The walls were too tall for them to see or hear anything from inside. But it wasn’t tall enough to conceal a large chunk of building shooting into the sky in bright flames before it crashed and exploded on the other side of the walls. Luna’s scream joined the chorus of agonizing cries coming from the sky.