I will protect you from all around you

I will be here don’t you cry

-You’ll be in My Heart: Phil Collins-

It was like the first morning she was at the headquarters, waking up believing all that happened was just a dream.  Except this time it was a dream about meeting her best friend.  When she got down for breakfast however, she found Gikwang was already at the kitchen, watching Junhyung cooking.  It really wasn’t a dream.

“Hey Erika!  Morning!” he greeted her way too vibrant.

“Morning,” she greeted back with a smile.

“I woke up early to cook, but this lad over here doesn’t trust me with it.  Says that I might poison our food,” Gikwang said with a chuckle.  Junghyung glared at him.

The accusation was not at all upsetting him.  Erika knew why.  It was because Gikwang knew Junhyung so well – a man so concern of safety that he will do anything to keep them alright.  Of course, they worked together as a unit before.  They knew each other and Gikwang was not offended by an accusation from a man so fussy about security.

Breakfast was simple omelette with spinach, onion and cheese, also some grilled potatoes.  Gikwang and Hyunseung ate quite a lot, with third to fourth helpings.  They had been on a long journey with only canned food to survive on.  The fresh food made them so hungry.

“Nobody’s going out today,” Doojoon reminded them.

Therefore, after the breakfast, they had the common sense to assemble in the library to listen to Gikwang and Hyunseung.  That of course, not before Junhyung made Yoseob checked the security again.  Yoseob had to resist the urge to roll his eyes to that.

“So, Hyunseung.  Care to share your fascinating story with us?” Junhyung started when Hyunseung didn’t even have the chance to sit yet.

“Let the man breathe, will you?” Doojoon more warned than asked.  From Erika’s observation, Junhyung was scarier to Hyunseung than to Gikwang.  That man almost jumped when Junhyung had asked the question.

“W-where should I start?” Hyunseung had begun with a stutter and that softened Junhyung a bit.

“Why don’t we start with what happened at your working site?  With Erika?” Yoseob suggested while looking at Erika.  Sierra nodded, showing her support.

“I think that’s a good one,” Yoshikuni said, subtly asking Hyunseung to start immediately.

“Well…I think you know that that place was blown up,” Hyunseung said and earned a glare from Junhyung.

“We figured that much.  What happened before that?  How did those p-scumbags get inside the site? I thought security was pretty tight?” Junhyung asked.

“Well…I don’t really know what happened but there were people in this military uniform got in and threatened us.  They were armed.  They took our phones and cut any means of communication.  We can’t do anything.  We were locked up in rooms,” Hyunseung said.

“You were locked up?  But, you guys knew the place better than anyone.  I mean…it was your workplace…” Doojoon said.

“Well, yes.  Erika said the same thing back then,” Hyunseung said while looking at Erika.

“I did?” she asked.

“You did.  You said we can fight back because we knew the place better than them, the intruders,” Hyunseung stated.

“Did you?” Sierra asked.

“Did I what?” Hyunseung frowned.

“Did you and all the workers fight back?” Sierra finished her question.

“I preferred to just wait for help.  But, Erika thought it was a good idea to fight back.  I mean…if it was not because of her, all of us might be dead.  At least, I managed to escape before that place was blown up,” Hyunseung told them.

“So, you planned an escape?” Dongwoon asked Erika.  All of them looked at her.  She shrugged.

“Not that I remember,” she raised her brows.

“Well, you did!” Hyunseung almost shouted and with a smile he continued, “You fought two men and locked them up in the locker room and we took their clothes to blend with the intruders.  You stole a phone and tried to communicate with people outside.  Only that…” his voice faltered.

“Well…only what?” Yoshikuni encouraged Hyunseung to continue.

“Only that you can’t,” he looked at Erika, “You see, the communication cable was cut so no phone calls can be made.  So, both of us tried to escape to get help.  We tried to go as far as we can to get the signal.  We were near the border when the alarm was rung.  They knew we escaped.  They tracked us,” Hyunseung told.

Gikwang sighed.  Erika was pretty sure he had already heard the story from Hyunseung.  From the look of it, he didn’t really like how it went after that.

“Then what?” Yoseob asked.

“Well, Erika told me to go and get help from the first people I run into since I run faster.  She said that she’ll follow behind.  So I ran.  It was kind of messed up.  I was really getting that far from the site when I realised that I don’t have the phone.  It was too late to get back.  My only plan was to find somebody that can help.  So, I kept running, without really knowing which direction I went to.  I just wanted to find somebody.  That was when the bomb went off,” he shuddered.

Now, Erika could see that Hyunseung was really broken too.  Yesterday, Yoseob put up some courage to fight his horrible memory.  But, Hyunseung’s was even more terrible.  He saw the bomb went off.  He heard the deafening sound.  He saw the fire and buildings shattered into pieces.  It was really awful to relive those bad memories.  Gikwang was already by his side, trying to calm him down.  He looked like he was at the verge of hyperventilating.

“I-I wanted to go back.  I mean…you were-” he choked while looking at Erika, “you were there, on the site and the bomb went off.  But I-I-”

“-did a better decision to go and tell the tale to somebody.  What you did was very smart, Hyunseung,” surprisingly, it was Junhyung who calmed him down.

“It could have been me.  It could have been me died in the blown,” he said, really was starting to hyperventilate.

“But, she didn’t die, did she?” Junhyung said while gesturing his hand to Erika.  Erika did not know what to do, but she nodded and looked Hyunseung in the eyes.  That eye contact sort of calmed him down.  Maybe he realised that Erika wasn’t dead too.

“You don’t know that it feels really good to see you again,” Hyunseung said, when he can breathe properly again.  Erika blinked and after a while nodded to him.

For a moment, she still tried to get use to the idea that they actually knew her and cared about her.  The idea that she was actually belonged with them was bizarre and it did not really make her feel good.  In the end, she replied him with a nod and a “Thank you” and smiled, trying hard for it to not be awkward.

“What about you, Gikwang?  What happened to you?” she quickly diverted the attention to Gikwang.

Gikwang, who was staring greedily at his feet, looked up when his name was mentioned.  He looked slightly dazed as though he was not following the conversation at all.  He then looked at everybody, as if asking what they had asked of him.

“Erika asked for your story, Gikwang,” Junhyung’s tone was impatient but otherwise was soft.

“Oh,” Gikwang blinked again, only just understood what was going on around him, “I was kidnapped, not long after Junhyung and Yoshikuni went looking for Dongwoon and Doojoon,” he began and then he stopped to see the responds from others.

“We already know that bit,” Junhyung rolled his eyes charmingly, now clearly was impatient. Gikwang’s mouth opened slightly.

“Oh.  Sorry, I thought you don’t know.  I could have run away, you know,” Gikwang said teasingly.

“I know a kidnap location when I look at one,” Junhyung was clearly annoyed by the situation.  He was back to his usual strict manner.

“Oh, right!” Gikwang chirped, acknowledging Junhyung’s skill in intelligence, “I put a bit of a fight back then.  But, then everything went black and I woke up in an interrogation room,” he continued.

“Interrogation room?” Dongwoon frowned.

“Yes.  It seems that what Junhyung assumed back then is true.  We were targeted.  They think we hide something.  Some kind of important, top secret information.  They kept asking me about what I know but I don’t know anything they talked about,” Gikwang told them in very serious tone.

“That’s what they think?  They think we hide something important that worth some serious big war?” Yoshikuni asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“Yes.  They kept asking me the same thing over and over again.”

“What did you say?  What information could we possibly hide?” Doojoon asked.  The others listened intently now.

“What else could I say?  I said I don’t know anything.  They took all my possessions including documents and drives, especially those that I used for work.  They even investigated my phone.  But, there’s nothing,” he breathed in, “The problem is they don’t believe me,” he added.

“What happened then?” Sierra asked.

“They locked me up.  They tied me up.  Then, they tortured me.  They made me watch missile attacks on each of your working places.  They said they will attack Doojoon’s site and Yoseob and Sierra’s site if I don’t disclose any information.  I said I don’t know and they made me watch the attacks,” Gikwang’s voice cracked upon reliving the torture, “They also cut me,” he continued.

They stayed silent for a while.  Erika noticed that Gikwang, her best friend was wounded too.  She knew how Dongwoon was wounded physically and saw how Yoseob and Hyunseung were emotionally tortured.  But, Gikwang was hurt inside and outside and that hurt her too.   She even felt the hurt physically in her chest.

“Gikwang?” Yoshikuni called his name when he started spacing out again.

“Oh, yeah.  They did that until Hyunseung came a few months later,” he explained.

“Hyunseung came?” Yoseob frowned.

“Yes.  Someone found me and took me to the north.  They interrogated me just like they did to Gikwang,” Hyunseung continued.

“We were lucky to be locked up together in the same cell.  At the time I almost gave up, thinking that all of you were dead in the attacks, Hyunseung reminded me that Junhyung and Yoshikuni could be safe somewhere because there was possibility that they did not reach the sites when those were attacked.  I started to have hope.  We plotted our escape together,” said Gikwang.

“And you walked randomly until you found us here?  You were not even sure if we are alive,” Junhyung was quite surprised by their determination.

“Both of us kind of agree that if we don’t find you guys at least we have each other to survive on as long as we are not tortured by anybody else,” Hyunseung shrugged.

“We keep the hope up.  We finally find you guys and look how we are together now,” Gikwang grinned sheepishly.

“How did you survive your journey?” Dongwoon asked.

“We have canned food and…believe it or not, there are a lot of places like this if you travel north,” Hyunseung stated.

“What do you mean ‘like this’?” Doojoon asked.

“Like this,” Gikwang emphasized, “Like you find your own source of water and energy and food.  Although I have to say, it is very impressive here because there are not many of you and yet, you managed to build a liveable place here.”

“You seek refuge with them on your way here?” Junhyung asked.

“Yes,” Hyunseung nodded.

“Are they the north government’s acquaintance?” he asked again.

“No, they aren’t.  They are just like us, hiding from the power-hungry government of the north.  But, they did accept us.  Well, they were just prejudice like you were in the beginning but eventually we blended in,” Gikwang shrugged.

“Why are they hiding?  Are they our colleagues from different units?” Sierra asked.

“Most of them, yes.  But, they said they weren’t targeted.  They ran away because they hate the way the government operates.  You know…the war and stuff.  Those drive people mad,” Gikwang continued.

“None of them were targeted?” Erika asked.

“No,” Hyunseung shook his head.

“Why us then?” Junhyung sighed.  That question was left unanswered.

+++++

Later that evening, Gikwang was found lying on the grassy backyard.  His eyes focused on the sunset.  Erika walked to where he lay, expecting to talk about something she had never talked for such a long time.

Memories.

“Hey,” she greeted.  Gikwang turned his head and upon seeing her, he sat up quickly.

“Hey!” he smiled, “What are you doing here?  I thought I am still under Junhyung’s suspicion and are not allowed to mingle with the others,” Gikwang deadpanned.

“Don’t be silly.  Junhyung is suspicious not for long.  He is fine, just overly concern,” she replied and sat beside Gikwang.  He laughed.

“Good.  Now, I know that I can mingle around with what left of people in the world,” he shrugged.

“He took you on tour of this place.  You should know that he already trusts you,” she laughed.

“Oh, really?  Can’t he be more subtle?” he spoke with sarcasm laced in his tone.  That moment was so ancient to Erika that she was glad to be able to experience it again.

“He was too subtle and you are too dense,” Erika chuckled, “Do you honestly think that Junhyung will disclose the source of our food to you had he not trust you?” she tested him.  Gikwang laughed.

“You are always the smart one,” he said and continued, “You speak highly of Junhyung.”

“Well, he does look after us,” she replied.  Her own words stirred her memory on the conversation he had with Dongwoon and Yoseob on the previous day.

“Yes, I guess,” Gikwang smiled, “I am really proud of you, you know?”

“Why, Mr Lee, may I asked?” she looked at him.  Erika felt like everything was pre-war again.   They were sitting at a common in their university, enjoying the sunset together.

“So I heard your legend.  Erika, the lone ranger, travelled alone in a wrecked world and survived,” Gikwang smirked.

“Oh…that legend,” she laughed and after that she continued, “I miss you, Gikwang, and all your jokes and all our time together in college.”

“And work,” he carried on, “Working with you was the most fun.  We have the best unit.  We got to work in the same office…” his voice trailed off.

Erika stayed silent.  She just smiled and played with the drying grass.  Honestly, she did not remember their time working together.  Well, now that he brought up the topic, she thought she could remember how their office looked like.

“I am sorry.  You do not remember, do you?  I shouldn’t have said,” Gikwang laughed but she could hear disappointment in his voice.

“In our office, I sat next to Dongwoon and Hyunseung, right?” she asked, as the memory danced before her eyes.  Gikwang’s head turned very quickly to her it might snap.

“You remember?” he asked anxiously.

“Not the detail but I think I remember how our office looked like,” she replied and he smiled brightly to that.  She saw hope in his face.

“Hey!  You two!” they heard Junhyung shouted and they turned to the source of the voice.  They saw Junhyung leaned against the door frame, hand crossed in front of his chest.  His voice full of authority and Erika found the sight amusing and attractive at the same time.

“I think I have made it quite clear to both of you about the safety rule of this place.  When the Sun starts to set, you have to already be inside the house.  Not sitting somewhere out here, enjoying it.  Unless you want to be locked out, you better make a move now!” Junhyung shouted.

“I guess that’s our call,” Gikwang said while pushing himself up.

“Well, maybe I should lie down a little bit more.  I like seeing him angry like that,” she chuckled.

“Up to you.  I prefer a bed after so long had been sleeping on the hard road,” Gikwang ran to the door, leaving her.  She quickly got up and ran after him.

“Hey, you!  You are dead if I catch you!” she shouted.

Junhyung laughed at both of them.  That sight made him feel so happy.  That sight of them made his guilt washed away.  After all, he knew they were all safe now.

Listening to: Yoseob - Caffeine

Mood: Happy :)