Twenty-nine

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                 "Master,” Hana let out a shaky breath.

                 “What is it that you want,” He gave her a menacing stare.

                 “We wish to extend Luhan’s assassination date due to certain circumstances,”

                 Master snickered as he slammed the table, making Hana flinch. “It seems as if you have grown close to him this past month, haven’t you?”

                 “Of course not, I only treat him as an acquaintance, and he does the same,” she rebutted. “Baekhyun and I just wish to participate in some co-curricular activities.”

                 Master started chortling again, “Are you serious? You are asking me, to extend your due date, because of some petty activities? You have a lot of guts, Hana. But I will only agree to do so, if you complete this task for me.”

                 “What task?”

                 “I need you to look into Luhan. By looking into, I don’t mean what he does in his free time. I mean, what he is exactly. Where he came from, and who raised him. I already know a general description of his species, but I need detailed information. I suggest you not to underestimate his capabilities,”

                 “Why do you need this information? What does Luhan have to do with you?” Hana found herself suddenly became defensive of her former friend.

                 “Luhan is only the surface of my research. If I am able to understand how he functions, everything else falls into place.”     

                 “What is everything else? I don’t understand what you are talking about. And what do you mean by ‘how he functions’? It’s not like he’s a supernatural being, is he? He’s the same as one of us.”

                 “It’s never too good to be too curious, Hana. Time will give you your answers. But I suggest you prepare yourself for what you are about to read. You can win a battle, but lose a war.” Master smirked as he tossed an orange envelope at her.

                 Hana stared blankly at him, her mind turning in circles with utter confusion. She was about to walk out of the room, when she turned back around. “One more question,”

                 He raised his eyebrows.

                 “What did you do to Kris?” Her teeth and fists clenched.

                 “He must be taken out of your mission, simply put. It’s up to you and Baekhyun now, to complete it,”

                 She growled lowly, and stormed out of the room.

♦♦♦♦♦♦

                 Loudly sighing, Hana curled-her knees pulled into her chest- as she stared at the envelope, contemplating on whether to open it or not.

                 "Why the depressing sigh?" Baekhyun climbed up onto her bed and lightly bumped his head against hers. "How did the meeting with Master go?"

                 "He just..told me to do some things. He agreed to the extension date though," she rested her head on Baekhyun's shoulder and closed her heavy eyelids. Hana wasn't sure whether she was supposed to tell baekhyun about this side mission or not. "Baek,"

                 "Hm?"

                 "Frankly, I'm not mentally prepared for this. I was sure that I would be able to kill Luhan, but now that we're getting closer, I'm hesitating,"

                 The corner of Baekhyun's lips turned down, "And why is that?" He really hoped that there were ok lingering feelings.

                 "I don't know, it's just...I can't help but reminisce every time I see him. Even if he doesn't know who I am, there's something in my heart that still longs for him as a friend or whatever,"

                 "You...you don't still like him, do you?" His heart clenched as he held his breath.

                 "No, it's just that we spent so much time with each other in our childhood that he is someone difficult to forget completely," Hana softy replied.

                 Baekhyun silently breathed a sigh of relief as he also closed his eyes. "So do you think that you can do this? I can always go by myself,"

                 "I wouldn't do that to you Baek, that's selfish,"

                 *I'm being the selfish one here.* He thought. "Are you going to open that envelope? You've been boring holes into it for 30 minutes now,"

                 "Hey!" Hana playfully slapped his shoulder. "Go away and I'll open it,"

                 "Did Master say only you can look at it?"

                 "Well he didn't really clarify,"

                 Baekhyun got the message and jumped off the bed, "I'll be cooking dinner for us,"

                 Leaving Hana alone, he shut the door.

                 *Baekhyun is so...caring* She kept her eyes shut. The door opened abruptly.

                 "I forgot something," Baekhyun cheekily grinned.

                 "Hm?"

                 “Come closer," He gestured, "I have to tell you something,"

                 Hana raised her eyebrows and leaned towards the edge of the bed.

                 As fast as lightning, he pressed his plush lips against her forehead, "Oopsies,"

                 Her eyes widened as she heard her own heart thumping. When she looked back up, he was out the door.

                 *What was that?* Hana's hand flew to the spot where Baekhyun's lips lingered. Shaking her head to calm herself down, she grabbed the envelope, and nervously opened the flap. There was only one sheet of paper.

Profile #03982

Luhan

                 It is to our concern, that Luhan has undergone a serious and technically

difficult procedure in order for us to preserve his life. After the destruction of planet

Earth, he has been chosen as one of the few who will live on to protect the future of this

planet, if our side wins over the planet, that is. In the future case of a breakout of war,

he will become our strongest creation, our secret sword who will protect my company from

the threats whom my brother will bring onto us.

                 Our knowledgeable scientists have severed the left half of his body and

taken away his past memories, in order to begin reconstruction. His left veins have been

replaced with wires that flow with electricity. A power box, which controls half of his

body movements, has replaced the left portion of his heart, and so on. Of course these

artificial body parts were all of my creations, and they are only crafted to perfection. I

have programmed him to be a human, but in the future, when I command him to do so, his

actions will become that of a robot.

                 This human turned creature is not to be taken lightly, as he will destroy

ruthlessly without any hesitation. I earnestly wish to meet my brother, Hyunbul, to see

what petty creatures he has created. Immortality versus my beautiful robots? 

                 I wonder who will come out as victor.

Documented 12/31/13

                      Hana’s lips trembled as her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets as she crumpled the edges of the paper with her hands. So Luhan was created into a robot? The thought of amputating half of his body sent immense chills down her spine.  She needed to talk to Master about this. She needed to confirm the piece of writing on the paper, not just from Master, but Luhan himself as well.

                 Gulping, Hana leaped off from her bed, “Baekhyun, I’ll be back,”

                 “Where are you going?”    

                 “I have to discuss some things,” She shut the door and briskly walked to Master’s headquarters.

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                 “What piece of crap is this?” Hana threw the envelope on Master’s desk.

                 “So you read it?”

                 “No, I just magically know that MY BEST FRIEND LOST HALF OF HIS BODY SO THAT HE CAN BE TURNED INTO SOME SUPPOSEDLY THREATING CREATURE TO KILL EVERYONE,” She breathed heavily after screaming in his face.

                 “And you still consider him your “best friend”? How sweet of you,” Master gave a fake smile. “You really are something, Gu Hana,”

                 “Tell me what’s going on. NOW,” She demanded.

                 “I would’ve thought you figured it out by now, but I guess not. If you read carefully enough, S.L. Ryu, the creator of all the robots in this planet, is my brother,” He chuckled, “I would’ve never thought things would lead up to the two of us being enemies, fighting for power. Our family wanted to be the only rulers of a living planet. Hence, the destruction of Earth. When our parents died when we were merely 10 years old, we automatically became rivals to each other. Destroying Earth was the only time we ever agreed with each other. Power became our only motivation for creating our playing cards to battle. When we were younger, I was always fascinated with immortality, while he was always fascinated with robots. We both decided to turn our fascinations into reality by becoming our own scientists. Ten years ago, we agreed to play a battle in order to find who was more capable of being a ruler. And now, it seems as if my brother already wishes to start the battle. I’m under no hesitation to accept because of OSS.”

                 Hana’s blood boiled at his immaturity. She scoffed, “Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now, Hyunbul? There is no way you are going to win this battle with your selfishness. Torturing innocent people for power? Are you mentally unstable?”

                 “Who said I wasn’t crazy, Hana? My brother isn’t any better. He’s the one who chopped off your boyfriend’s body, not me. I do not care what you think of me. Power is what I want, and power is what I shall get, with you guys under my control. You know yourself that you cannot disobey me,”

                 She knew that Master was right, she had no say in what he decided.

                 “So prepare yourself, Hana. I need you to get rid of my brother’s worthless creation, Luhan,”

                 “Don’t call him worthless. IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU, MY LIFE WOULDN’T BE HELL. BAEKHYUN WOULD GET THE HAPPINESS HE DESERVES. KRIS WOULDN’T BE SO MISERABLE. EVERYONE ELSE WOULDN’T HAVE TO SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES FROM SELFISH ACTIONS THAT BOTH YOU AND YOUR BROTHER HAVE CHOSEN TO TAKE!” Hana slammed her hands down on his table. “Why can’t you consider how everyone else must feel while you lounge in your stupid leather chair, ordering people around like dogs, WHY CAN’T YOU?”

                 Hana’s anger reached his peak as she lunged forward and grabbed the collar of his shirt with her white fists. She took him by surprise as she threw a punch at his face.

                 “You’re making bad choices,”      

                 “DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE? AT LEAST I’M NOT LIKE YOU!” She cried, all those years of anger, frustration, and sadness escaped her as continuous tears streamed down her sweaty cheeks.         

                 Guards became to run in, taking her wrists in their tight grasps and dragging her away from the startled Hyunbul.

                 “LET ME GO! NOW!” Hana screamed and kicked wildly as the dragged her away and threw her into Cell #8.

                 They grabbed her hair and threw her down onto the cold dirt floor as one of the guards sent a kick to her stomach. Tying her hands to a wooden board, the guard took out the leather whip that was hung on the nearby door.

                 She burst out in never ending sobs as she felt the whip hit her thighs. This was probably the end.

                 She had failed at protecting the people whom she loved. Hana realized that she was more broken and traumatized than she thought.

Author's Note: Happy New Year's, everyone! 2013 was a wonderful experience, aside from all the stress and torture of school. I hope that this year, we will all be able to better ourselves and acheive the goals that we have set. With that said, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter..drama drama drama. Omg, Hana is going insane XD Thank you for everything, words cannot explain how grateful I am, and hope to see you soon!

-Min