[Taemin’s P.O.V]

Doojoon took his time and told me and Hye about how he came here and how met Yoseob and the other kids here at the lab. He told us how scared he was at first but eventually stopped resisting and let the doctors do what they wanted. He told us that fear was getting them nowhere and he decided to grow up, Yoseob on the other hand…is still scared of everything and has a hard time sleeping. By the time he was done, Hye was already sleeping soundly but the way her body moved told me that she was still afraid. I wasn’t as scared as I was before because I knew I had to be strong for the both of us.

Yeah, I know I sound a lot more mature than I actually am! I’m only 8 years old and I sound like an adult. My parents have always told me how I turned into a grown-up in such a short time. Eventually I fell asleep too and I slept rather well despite everything that happened in one night.

-THE NEXT DAY-

I woke up in a bed with Hye still sleeping soundly next to me. I smiled and pulled her close to me; she snuggled closer to me and rested her head on my chest. I was happy for an instant when I remembered that I was no longer in my home, but a lab used to experiment on innocent kids like Hye and I. I wasn’t afraid anymore but I was determined to pull it together for the both of us and think about how to get us out of here when I know that it’s enough. I heard knocking on the door and I heard Doojoon mumbling in his sleep and I saw him get out of bed, still half asleep. He walked over and opened the door, revealing professor Leeteuk with a clipboard in his right hand.

“Taemin, today you are getting your physical taken to see what we can do for your training.” Leeteuk said as he walked over to my bed and ruffled my hair.

“What about my sister?” I asked looking at Hye.

“She will be taken later on because she is still young and the boss wants to be sure that she gets all the rest she needs.” Leeteuk said with a genuine smile.

“Ok, do I have to go now?” I asked.

“Yeah, don’t worry Doojoon will be here with her along with Yoseob since he is still weak from yesterday’s testing.” Leeteuk said.

“All right.” I said and I carefully got out of bed, so I wouldn’t wake up Hye. He quietly led me out of the room and we went down a long hallway until we came upon a room at the end of the hall that felt scary.

[Leeteuk’s P.O.V]

I opened the door softly so I could little Taemin a chance to see what was waiting for him on the inside. Inside, there were a lot of monitors, needles, a capsule, and computers along with an examination table in the center. I could see that Taemin stiffened up a bit and I softly rubbed his back to calm him down a bit. He calmed down a little and I had him sit down on the examination table to get his physical. I did what any other doctor would do, checked his pulse, heart rate, and his breathing. He was surprisingly obedient,

He must have been raised by very kind-well mannered people; it’s too bad that he has been forced to be here.

“Alright Taemin, I’m going to need you to remove your clothes and step inside the capsule so your body can heal, so that way you are better prepared for the actual testing.” I said calmly with an unsure smile

Taemin nodded slightly and got off the table, and walked over to the capsule. I the machine and had him step inside; I connected the wires to his body, put on the oxygen mask for him and then closed the door. The healing water-like substance began to fill the capsule and I walked over to the monitor next to it. Every chance I got, I would see Taemin looking at me with no emotion. It stung a bit but I was in no position to question my job here, I it up and continued his physical.

[Jonghyun’s P.O.V]

I walked down the main hallway, occasionally checking up on the kids and finding that they were still peacefully sleeping in their beds. Unfortunately, their rooms are the closest thing to safe there is around here. I sighed heavily, the last child I looked at was Yoseob and that was yesterday night before my shift ended. Seeing as how the kids were sleeping and I had nothing to do, I decided to go check up on Leeteuk who is always early to work. I saw Leeteuk in one of the testing rooms doing what looks like a test…but aren’t all the kids asleep?

“Hey Leeteuk, how come you’re doing tests? Aren’t all the kids sleeping?” I asked walking into the room.

“Don’t you remember about our newest members? He came yesterday along with his sister and I’m doing his physical so we know what kind of test so we can perform.” Leeteuk said as he turned around to face me with a forced smile. He always did hate doing this, he is a doctor that should be helping people but now he’s forced to hurt them. We are the only people here who actually have a heart; I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to leave yet.

I walked over to the capsule and looked inside to find a young man staring at me. I stepped back a little and turned my attention back to Leeteuk who was hard at work. I never understood why we were put into this; I mean what kind of world do we live in that allows children to do these kinds of things? I sighed heavily and walked over to Leeteuk.

“Leeteuk you know that you don’t have to do this right?” I asked him

“I know but what else can I do? It’s not like I can escape and run away from here.” He said as he stopped what he was doing to look at me.

“But still, you know as well as I do that these kids don’t deserve to be here and neither should we.” I said with worry.

“What you are saying is true but what’s done is done, we are the ones that agreed to this in the first place! We knew what was going to happen!” Leeteuk shouted and I heard the guilt and sorrow in his voice. I sighed heavily and tried to calm him down. He was right! We did know what we were getting into and it’s too late to back out now.

[Taemin’s P.O.V]

I stared out of the capsule and looked at the two grown-ups who looked sad about something. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but I think it had to do with this place, but I’m not sure. I saw Professor Leeteuk walk over in front of the capsule and opened it, the water came rushing out and I almost fell forward, if Leeteuk didn’t catch me in time. He disconnected the wires from my body and carefully placed me on the floor, the other grown-up walked over and gave me a long look and after a few seconds…he ruffled my hair and walked away.

[Doojoon’s P.O.V]

-Meanwhile back at the room-

Because it wasn’t my turn to get tested, I was in charge of watching both the new girl and Yoseob. Surprisingly, Yoseob hasn’t woken up yet…normally he would be up and staring at the door waiting. But today he was dead asleep. I went over to his bed and looked at his sleeping face and noticed something wrong in his expression. His face was scrunched up as if he was in pain and it was also flushed, I also noticed that he was sweating a lot.

I placed my palm on his forehead and quickly retracted it because he was burning up badly. The other thing was that he was buried in his blanket as if he was cold but his temperature said otherwise. I pulled the blanket off of him and saw that he was shivering alright, but his body wasn’t cold at all. I feared the worst and quickly ran over to the nearest phone….yes we have a phone but it’s only connected to anywhere IN the lab.

“Someone help! There’s something wrong with Yoseob!!” I screamed in fear into the phone.

“What is the room number you are in?” I heard someone say.

“Room #201, please hurry.” I said tearing up.

“I’m on my way.”

“Thank you.” I said and hung up. I walked back over to Yoseob and held onto his hand, I could hear him whimpering in his sleep and that only made me worry even more.

15 minutes went by and I heard someone knocking on the door of our room. I let go of Yoseob’s hand and opened the door to reveal Professor Jiyong on the other side. He casually walked in and went over to Yoseob and took a look at him. I sat on the other side of the room and waited patiently to see what he had to say about Yoseob’s condition, but that took a long time.

When he was finished, he called me over and explained what happened.

“Looks like yesterday’s test really took a toll on his body and is experiencing side effects from the injections Dr. Joon gave him.” Jiyong said without really caring.

“So what’s going to happen?” I asked looking at Yoseob.

“Well, I gave him an antidote that was prepared for something like this but it will take time for it to take effect.” Jiyong said as he was getting ready to leave.

“How long will that take?”

“About an hour or so…” Jiyong said looking unsure of himself. “Well, if he still isn’t better by this afternoon or tomorrow then….” That was all he said before he walked out of the room leaving me confused. What was he going to say? What are they going to do to him if he doesn’t get better? I couldn’t bring myself to think about what they would do to him, all I can do is wait and take care of Yoseob the best I can.

[Jonghyun’s P.O.V]

I took one last look at Leeteuk and smiled softly but it was a forced one. This nightmare won’t end until this lab burns to the ground but that is wishful thinking on my part. I walked down the same way as I do everyday look at all the scientists who are getting ready for another day of testing. I noticed Jiyong coming from the opposite direction and I yelled hi, but not too loud that it will wake the children up.

“Jonghyun, you’re up early.” Jiyong said teasingly.

“So are you.” I told him.

“Yeah, well one of our little friends became sick from yesterday’s testing.”

“Who was it?” I asked eagerly.

“Who do you think? The blonde 10 year old in 201.”

“Yoseob?”

“The very same one.” Jiyong stated.

“Is he okay?”

“He should be by this afternoon or tomorrow.” Jiyong said before he continued walking away. I stayed in the same spot, frozen…Yoseob got sick? Well it was mostly his fault, he struggled too much and the needle went in wrong, and now his body is paying for it. I ran towards Yoseob’s room and when I opened the door… I found a crying Doojoon and an unconscious Yoseob who didn’t look too good. It broke my heart to see Yoseob like this, he may have been afraid all the time but he was still a strong brave kid.

[L’s P.O.V]

That little brat should be getting his physical today; I wonder how it’s going…

Don’t get me wrong, we are almost the same age, a few apart but still, I am a lot more mature than he is. I thought as I laid in my bed waiting for someone to come get me but knowing Onew…he probably went for chicken on his way back from his mission. Aish! What is with him and chicken? I groaned in impatience and decided to walk around the lab for a bit until Onew shows up. Yeah, I still have to stay in the lab even though I completed my training, this ! But I still have to get routine check-ups to make sure that the machines in my body are still functional.

I looked inside some of the testing rooms and saw nothing important…that was until I spotted that little brat getting treated by Dr. Leeteuk…Lucky kid! I wanted Leeteuk as my doctor but noooo I had to get Joon! That crazy guy almost killed me multiple times and always treated me like dirt! But thanks to him, I became the ruthless weapon I am right now. I could go in there and talk to the kid but he might start something, but then again…I did hurt his sister so I wouldn’t be surprised.

[Song Hye Gun’s P.O.V]

I woke up and found oppa gone…I almost started crying but I saw Doojoon oppa and Yoseob oppa still in the room. But Doojoon oppa looked sad and his eyes were red, I didn’t know why but when I looked at Yoseob oppa…I saw that he looked very bad.

“Oppa, what’s wrong with him?” I asked as I walked over to them.

“Yoseob is sick…he’s sleeping but his fever is really bad.” Doojoon oppa said sadly.

“Is oppa ok?” I asked as I rubbed his back.

“No, oppa isn’t. Yoseob is my best friend and I treat him like a brother.” Doojoon oppa said as he wiped his tears away.

“Oh.” Was all said and pulled my hand away.

“You know, you are very mature for a small girl like you, how old are you?”

“I’m five.” I said happily as I raised five fingers up.

“Funny, you don’t act like it; only yesterday you were actually acting your age.”

“Mommy and daddy raised me to be smart and have good behavior.” I said shyly.

“They must be great parents.”

“…………They are………”

“You miss then?”

“Mhm.” I said, a tear escaping my eyes and soon I was crying like there was no tomorrow. I felt oppa’s arm wrap themselves around me and he softly sang to me. I calmed down a little bit but I was still crying. I don’t know how long I cried but when I was finished, Yoseob oppa woke up and my eyes were red and puffy.

I looked up at Yoseob oppa and he smiled warmly at me and ruffled my hair.

“I was always afraid of this place, I could never bring myself to not be scared f anything but after seeing you like this…shows that I need to be stronger. I want to be stronger, to prove that I could be brave and also be there to keep you happy alongside Doojoon and Taemin.”

“All of us will be here to protect you, after all you are the youngest person here and you need to be protected. Some of the people here won’t care that you are only 5 but others will take it easy on you.” Doojoon oppa said confidently and both oppas brought me into a big hug that almost chocked me.

[Taemin’s P.O.V]

After Leeteuk was finished, he brought me over to another room where 3 other people were waiting for us.

“Everyone, this is our new friend, Taemin.”

“Taemin, this is KangIn, Junsu, and Seungho.” Leeteuk said as he pointed to each person in the room. “Say hi Taemin.”

“H-hello.” I said as I hid behind Leeteuk.

“Alright then, let’s begin!”Junsu said

* Ok this was a boring chapter indeed but hey sometimes the coolest things start off boring. Anyways let me know what you thought in the comment box below <3