victory [vik-t(ə-)rē] n. - success in a struggle or endeavor against odds or difficulties

“That went rather well, wouldn’t you agree?”

Mihyun happily clasped her hands together as she stood before the three boys. Their mixed expressions of anger and disbelief completely contrasted her own look of satisfaction.

“Are you crazy?!” Sehun exclaimed as he grabbed a hold of her chin to tilt her head upwards. He scowled and let out a short grunt when he saw the red line that traced her neck. “You said you wouldn’t get hurt!”

Mihyun opened to point out that she had actually said that he wouldn’t hurt her, not that she wouldn’t hurt herself, but the angry glint in Sehun’s eye made her hold her tongue. “It’s not too bad, and it worked, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, but at what cost?” Sehun muttered, taking the first aid kit Jaesuk had handed him.

“It’s just a little cut,” Mihyun protested, wincing when Sehun applied rubbing alcohol onto the injury.

“Stay still,” Sehun scolded as he blew gently on the wound. His eyes flashed with concern, and he glanced over at the girl’s face to see any signs of pain. “Does it still sting?”

She responded with a small smile and a shake of her head, “It’s all better now.”

At this point, the attention of the two was completely captivated by one another, and both Luhan and Jaesuk felt as if they were intruding on something rather intimate. After exchanging knowing glances and amused grins, the pair silently slid out of the room to leave the couple on their own. Their departure went completely unnoticed by the others, and the pair continued on as if there hadn’t been any outsider there in the first palce.

“Foolish girl,” Sehun muttered under his breath as he gently applied a plaster to her skin. He leaned back to examine his work, and nodded his head in approval. “What are you going to do now if that scars?”

“It won’t,” Mihyun shrugged in response. She stretched her arms up into the air and fell backwards onto her bed with a soft thump, a wide smile stretched across her face. “We’re free.”

Sehun opened his mouth to continue his scolding, but decided to let it go. After all, the girl had achieved something great, and he shouldn’t be one to rain on her parade any longer. In all honesty, he was proud. He knew it wasn’t easy for Mihyun to have stood up to her father the way she had, and he was proud that the girl had summoned enough confidence to do what she had done.

The girl let out another squeal of delight, and Sehun rolled his eyes affectionately at the girl’s childishness. He lied down beside her with his arms stretched behind his head, and teased, “We’re not all free yet, you know.”

“Don’t be such a spoiler, Sehun,” Mihyun whined as she nudged him with her elbow.

Sehun turned to Mihyun with an arched eyebrow, “Am I hearing correctly? Han Mihyun is actually whining? The Han Mihyun?”

He laughed aloud when Mihyun gave him another nudge, and reached over to ruffle the front of her hair affectionately.

A blanket of silence captured the two, and Mihyun her side to gaze at Sehun’s side profile, admiring the boy’s rugged features.

Sehun caught her stare out of the corner of his eye, and he propped his head up with his hand to return the gaze, “Am I really that handsome?”

“It can only get better from here, right Sehun?” Mihyun asked, pretending she hadn’t heard the boy’s earlier words.

Sehun stared at the girl’s face for a few seconds before he reached out to brush a stray strand of hair from her eyes. “I hope so.”

Kyungsoo bit down hard on his bottom lip as he traveled the hallways alone. All of the others had been called out to do work, while he was once again, left in the cage by himself. He was tired of being the only one who couldn’t bring anything to offer to help the rebellion turn its gears, so he decided that it was time to venture out on his own. He knew he was disobeying Jongin’s orders for him to stay in the cage, but he couldn’t help but become restless from simply reciting the same words over and over again.

He hated it.

He hated being the one who was left out.

He hated being the one who was useless.

He hated being stupid. He hated being dumb. He hated, he hated, he hated it.

He hated himself.

He knew the others saw him as a burden that they had to carry, even if they were too nice to say so. The others cared for him of course, he wasn’t dumb enough to say that they didn’t, but they would still probably appreciate him all so much more if he could actually be of use.

All Kyungsoo wanted was to be desired. All he wanted was to be needed.

Kyungsoo needed to be doing something, because sometimes, sometimes when he was stuck in that room all by himself, his thoughts took a hold of him; Kyungsoo had very ugly thoughts.

Sometimes he would sit in the corner with his knees pulled up to his chest and his face buried in his folded arms as he wallowed in his self pity. Other times, he would direct his anger at other people, sometimes even the ones he held dear to him.

He hated himself for thinking so, but often times, he couldn’t help but feel rather bitter towards Luhan. Kyungsoo loved Luhan, he really did, but he felt that it was unfair. It was unfair that Kyungsoo was the one everybody picked on for being stupid – at least he could speak, couldn’t he? He might stammer rather often, but at least he could articulate his words.

Luhan wasn’t even physically restricted from speaking – he just couldn’t. Kyungsoo didn’t exactly know why, for he never had the guts to ask, but what he did know was that the elder had endured events so traumatic that he eventually lost the will to speak. Either way, Kyungsoo saw it rather clearly – he could speak and Luhan couldn’t.

So why was he the one chosen to suffer?

It was an ugly thought, he knew. He knew he was a horrible person to question why he was the one treated badly and not the other boy; it wasn’t as if he was referring to a stranger or anything - Luhan was his beloved Hyung. It was an ugly thought, but it was still there, and it wouldn’t disappear as much as Kyungsoo willed it to.

He had bad thoughts, he knew, but all he could do was just hope and pray that they didn’t make him into a bad person.

He was just tired of being useless, tired of being stupid.

Kyungsoo grumbled unintelligibly under his breath as he kicked at the dirt scattered across the ground. He had been so eager to leave the cage that he had forgotten to bring his notepad and pencil along with him.

Even when he was trying to be useful he was stupid.

“W-Why ar-are y-y-you so d-dumb?” Kyungsoo questioned himself under his breath as he kicked at a rather large rock. He jumped in alarm when the rock slammed against a door to create the sound of a hollow thud, followed closely by a small creak.

Kyungsoo glanced up to see that the rock had hit the door to the private office of the Noye house, causing the unlocked door to open just the slightest bit. It was rather strange that the door was unlocked, for the door was often placed under intense security since it contained many of the most important documents.

Important documents.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened in realization, and his heart began to double in its beats. If this room contained documents as important as it was made out to be, the map to the Noye house should most definitely reside somewhere within those four walls.

He could almost hear it.

He could almost hear the praise he would receive from the others if he was to return with something important as the map to the Noye house.

Kyungsoo glanced around to make sure nobody was around before he silently tip toed over to the slightly opened office. He peeked inside to make sure nobody occupied the room, and slipped carefully inside once he confirmed that it was empty. His heart was nearly beating out of his chest, and he glanced wildly around the room to search for the place that held the map.

When nothing obvious stuck out to him, he heaved a small, reluctant sigh, and made his way over to a corner cabinet to begin his search. He knew his time was rather limited, and that he would suffer dire punishments if he was caught.

There was a little voice in the back of his head nagging for him to leave while he still had the chance. Kyungsoo would have listened to it if it wasn’t for the other voice.

The louder voice.

The stronger voice.

The voice that told him to keep going.

The voice that told him that he could finally gain his acceptance among the others if he were to do something worthy.  It was a voice Kyungsoo had heard many times before – back when he would be rolled up into the corner of a room. It was the voice that gave Kyungsoo bad thoughts, the voice that would always remind Kyungsoo of his worthlessness. Now that the voice was finally giving him a chance to redeem himself, Kyungsoo couldn’t back down.

He wouldn’t.

Kyungsoo moved from cabinet to cabinet, desperately searching for the single piece of paper that would allow him to redeem his worthiness. A single piece of paper, that was all he needed – and he couldn’t even find that.

He fell to the ground, bitterly chuckling under his breath. He was so stupid that he couldn’t even find a damned piece of paper. Of course.

Kyungsoo shook his head and clenched his fist. He couldn’t give up now. The chance to enter a room that was normally so carefully locked would never come again, and he would never be able to forgive himself if he gave up this opportunity. He would find that map even if it cost him his life!

With this new burst of motivation, Kyungsoo quickly climbed back to his feet to continue his search. This time he decided to go for the center desk, for it should probably contain the most important documents concerning the Noye house, right?

He fumbled through a few pieces of paper before his hands came to a sudden halt. His eyes widened with surprise, and he quickly brushed a layer of papers aside to pull out the piece he was looking for.

He found it.

He found it.

He really, really found it.

Kyungsoo hugged the map to his chest, ignoring the sharp corners that cut into his delicate skin. He had found it, he had really found it. He let out a cry of victory, a new sense of confidence pulsing through his veins at the success.

“Who’s in there?!”

Kyungsoo froze.

Two guards entered the room before Kyungsoo could even turn his head, drawn by the cry the boy had emitted just seconds prior.

“What do you think you’re doing in here?” one of the guards growled as he held up his gun threateningly. “What are you looking for?”

Kyungsoo clenched the map tightly in his hands. He wasn’t going to let them take it away from him. Not now. Not when he had only tasted the flavor of victory so shortly.

“G-G-Go aw-away,” Kyungsoo whispered. Perspiration began to build up on his forehead, and his eyes darted from side to side as he tried to come up with a plan to escape.

“Hey, you’re that Noye Jaemin was trying to sell, aren’t you?” one of the guards laughed as he approached Kyungsoo. He turned to the guard beside him and sneered, “You can put your gun away, Wang, this dumb isn’t capable of doing anything. You’re not supposed to have that out anyways. We’re going to get into big trouble if we get caught with that.”

Wang laughed mockingly along, and tucked his gun back into its holster. He strolled carelessly up to Kyungsoo and literally ripped the paper away from his clenched hand. When Kyungsoo cried in protest, he easily struck him down to the floor with a fist.

“Let’s see what the idiot was trying to steal,” Wang chuckled as he unfolded the paper and smoothed out the wrinkles. His eyebrows furrowed in, and he raised his eyes from the map to Kyungsoo. “Take a look at this, Jung, look at what this was trying to steal.”

“It-It’s m-mine!” Kyungsoo cried as he reached forward to grab it.

“You’re even stupider than I thought!” Wang sneered as he shoved Kyungsoo back to the ground with his foot. “Do you think anybody would believe that?”

“Now what were you trying to do with this, huh?” Jung asked as he pulled Kyungsoo up by his collar. He held up the map with his other hand and shook it in Kyungsoo’s face. “What would you want with this map?”

“N-Noth-thing,” Kyungsoo replied, his eyes trained solely on the paper. He bit down on his bottom lip as he tried to devise a plan to get the map back into his possession.

“Hey, you think this has to do with that girl?” Wang asked Jung in a low voice, as if Kyungsoo wasn’t capable of hearing their exchange.

“You mean that Noye lover girl? The Han corp one?” Jung replied thoughtfully as he eyed Kyungsoo up and down. “She is pretty close with this brat, isn’t she?”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened in alarm. He wouldn’t get Mihyun in trouble, he wouldn’t! “I-It was-wasn’t her! I-I g-got it o-on m-my-my own!” Kyungsoo exclaimed as he tried to set himself loose from the other’s grip.

“Yeah right, like you’re smart enough to break into the office to steal these,” Wang scoffed as he shoved his fist into Kyungsoo’s gut. “This is what you get for lying. Now tell me who sent you here.”

“N-Nob-body!” Kyungsoo wheezed as he clutched his stomach in pain.

“Stop lying to us!” Jung exclaimed as he struck his fist roughly against the back of Kyungsoo’s head. The blow caused him to hit the ground once again with a loud thud, and Jung grinned in satisfaction when Kyungsoo emitted quiet whimpers of pain.

“I-I’m no-not ly-lying,” Kyungsoo whispered as he pushed himself onto his hands and knees. He wiped the blood that was trailing down his split lip, and spoke again in a stronger voice, “I’m n-not lying.”

“Of course you’re lying,” Wang rolled his eyes. “How the hell would you get in here? You think that you’re smart enough to do this on your own? Hah! Everybody here knows you’re just some stupid ing noye that only fulfills the role of being a waste of space. You can’t do anything on your own.”

His words caused a flame to ignite within Kyungsoo, and with clenched fists, he slowly climbed up to his feet. “Y-You’re wrong.”

“What? Speak up, I can’t hear you,” Wang laughed mockingly as he nudged Jung with his elbow.

“Y-You’re wr-wrong!” Kyungsoo screamed as he ran forward to shove the guard to the ground. “I-I’m not stupid! I-I’m n-not stupid!”

"Y-Yah, get this crazy fool off of me!" Wang exclaimed as he tried to shove Kyungsoo off of him. The smaller refused to release the handfuls of the guard's shirt from his hands, however, and  he pounded his fists against the man's chest. Kyungsoo's eyes widened in fright and he began to panic when Jung came forward to pull Kyungsoo off of his partner with harsh jerks.

Desperate for safety, Kyungsoo grabbed the stock of the gun from Wang’s pants, and quickly held it up at the two. “T-Ta-Take it b-back! T-Take i-it back! I-I’m n-not stu-stupid!”

The two held up their hands in alarm, not having any other gun to defend themselves against the Noye’s weapon. Wang let out a small growl as he wiped the blood that ran from his nose caused by Kyungsoo's thrashing.

“Y-Yeah okay, you’re not stupid, now give us back the gun!” Jung exclaimed as he tried to reach forward.

“D-Don’t!” Kyungsoo exclaimed as he pointed the gun at him. He brought his other hand to the gun, attempting to steady his shaking grip. “S-Say i-it li-like y-you me-mean i-it!”

“What’s going on in here?!”

The door of the office burst open, and another pair of guards entered the room. Their eyes widened at the sight of a gun equipped Noye, and they immediately froze mid-step.

“What the is going on, Wang?!” one of the guards exclaimed as he eyed the gun in Kyungsoo’s hand carefully.

“Little just came brought a gun out of nowhere! I think he had it smuggled in,” Jung whispered back, quickly pinning the presence of the gun on Kyungsoo.

“L-Liar!” Kyungsoo cried in outrage as he waved the gun at him. How dare he blatantly lie in front of Kyugnsoo’s face when he had been the one to possess the gun in the first place. “Y-You’re ly-lying!”

By then a small crowd had gathered around the outside of the room, curious to see what all the noise was about. The mouths of the noyes gaped, stunned to see a fellow noye actually trying to fight against the guards – a noye who was equipped with a weapon nevertheless! Those who recognized Kyungsoo were even more shocked, and a few of them quickly fled the scene to seek out Jongin or one of the other boys to come to his aid.

“Look at what this stupid noye is trying to do,” Wang chuckled to the other guards under his breath. He turned to Kyungsoo and spoke in a louder voice, “Yeah, yeah you’re right I’m lying. Now just put the gun down alright?!”

“I-I’m n-not stupid!” Kyungsoo cried.

“Nobody said you’re stupid, boy, now put the damn gun down!” Jung sighed. “Hurry up and do it before reinforcements come!”

“N-No! I s-sai-said t-take it ba-back!” Kyungsoo screamed, his eyes stretched with an almost delirious glint. “S-Say i-it! I-I’m n-not-not stu-stupi-pid!”

“Kyungsoo,” a calm voice sounded above all of the noise. “Kyungsoo, what are you doing?”

Kyungsoo’s ears perked up at the familiar voice, and his head snapped over to the crowd to search for the face that owned it. “M-Mih-hyun!” he cried in relief at the sight of the girl. “T-Tell the-them! Te-tell th-them th-th-that I-I’m n-no-not stup-pid!”

“Kyungsoo,” Mihyun broke through the crowd with Sehun and Luhan at her sides. The trio had come for another visit to the Noye house, but was side tracked by the small crowd that had formed down the hallway. Originally, they were going to pass by it without a second glance, but after the murmured name of “Kyungsoo” met their ears, they immediately rushed to find the source of the crowd.

 Mihyun stepped forward, holding up a hand to stop Sehun from holding her back. Her heart thumped loudly against her chest as she watched Kyungsoo wildly brandish the gun. “Kyungsoo, you know you’re not stupid, so why are you doing this?”

“Th-They sa-said I-I’m st-stupid!” Kyungsoo exclaimed as he trained his gun back on the guards. His eyes began to gloss over in tears, and his whole body began to quiver. "B-But I-I'm n-n-not!"

“Well, are you stupid?” Mihyun asked as she slowly took another step towards him while eyeing the gun cautiously. She knew that Kyungsoo wouldn’t hurt her, but she was less certain for the well being of the guards.

“N-No!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, outraged that she had even asked him such a thing. He wasn't stupid, not anymore; not after he had found the map for them all.

“No what?” Mihyun urged the boy to continue as she took slow steps towards him. 

There was a beat of silence.

“I-I’m n-not st-stupid-pid,” Kyungsoo whispered, tears slipping out of the corner of his eyes as he wearily watched the girl approach him. Now he no longer possessed the emotions of anger o fear. He was ashamed. Ashamed to allow Mihyun witness yet another embaressing situation. 

“I know, Kyungsoo,” Mihyun replied with a gentle voice. She reached out for the boy and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“I’m n-not stup-pid,” Kyungsoo repeated himself in louder voice, his hands shaking as he loosened his grip around the stock of the gun.

“You’re right,” Mihyun agreed as she slowly pried Kyungsoo’s fingers off the weapon.

A loud clattering thud sounded as the gun hit the ground. Wang quickly scooted forward to snatch the gun off of the ground and back into his hands. Kyungsoo straightened his back and pressed his arms tightly against his sides as he stared at the small crowd before him.

“I’m not stupid.”

“No,” Mihyun smiled as she wrapped her warm hand around the boy’s clammy one. “You’re not stupid.”

The male turned to her with glistening eyes, his quivering bottom lip tucked between his two rows of teeth. Mihyun opened to speak, but decided to allow Kyungsoo the first words. 

“I’m sor-sorry,” Kyungsoo choked out as he quickly engulfed the girl into a tight hug. His body was still shaking all over, and Mihyun wrapped her arms around the boy’s waist to soothe him. He buried his face into her neck, causing her blouse to dampen with his tears. “I-I’m s-sorry. I’m sor-ry. I-I’m s-so so-s-so s-sorry.”

“It’s fine, Kyungsoo,” Mihyun whispered as she gently rubbed his lower back. His sobs slowly toned down into a few quiet whimpers. “Everything’s fine now. Everything’s okay.”

A deafening bang shot across the room, and Mihyun’s heart stopped when Kyungsoo suddenly fell slack against her body. Screams filled the room at the shot, and pounding feet sounded in multiple directions as the noyes scurried off to safety.

Mihyun glanced up to see the head of a gun pointed straight at them, not missing the satisfactory smirk spread across Wang’s face as he tucked his gun back into his holster. “It’s about time somebody got rid of that useless scum.”

From that point on, everything seemed to move in slow motion.

“Kyungsoo?” Mihyun whispered, nearly any sound coming from her lips. A seeping warmness began to soak the fabric clenched in her fingers, and the cry of his name got stuck in .

His body began to slide to the floor and she didn’t have enough strength to hold him up, so she hit the ground with him. “Kyungsoo? Kyungsoo? H-Hey, Kyungsoo wake up,” Mihyun stared down at the unmoving body before her, and her eyes quickly began to sting with tears. She grabbed for his hand and felt for a pulse, her eyes widening when she felt a weak thump beat against her fingers. “Kyungsoo, come on. Kyungsoo, please, please wake up. Please, please, please, don’t do this. Please, just – don’t, Kyungsoo!”

She felt another body drop to his knees beside her, and Luhan’s frail arms reached outwards to shake his friend. His mouth opened and closed as he voiced silent pleads for Kyungsoo to wake up, and his body shook and shuddered.

“I-I’m…”

“Kyungsoo! Kyungsoo just hold on, okay? Just hold on I’m going to call for help,” Mihyun exclaimed as she fumbled around her pockets for her phone. Her finger shook as she tried to dial for help, and she swore loudly when her trembling fingers kept hitting the wrong buttons. “Just hold on for a little bit. Just for a little and I’ll get some help.”

“N-No,” Kyungsoo whispered as his eye lids fluttered open and closed.

“T-The blood! We have to stop his bleeding!” Mihyun cried as she quickly tried to remove her jacket to press it against Kyungsoo’s wound. “We can get you help, we can help you. Please don’t give up, Kyungsoo, we can help you.”

“N-N-No,” Kyungsoo repeated himself in a tone so soft she could barely hear it. He uncurled one of his tight fists, and shakingly held up his hand to give Mihyun the small scrap of paper that had been tucked protectively inside.

Mihyun quickly took the scrap and flattened out the creases as she tried to decipher what the other had given her. The paper was less than an inch in size, and had three letters printed across it while the rest of the text was missing. She choked on her breath once she realized what the tiny piece of paper had originated from.

It was from the corner of a map.

She focused her attention back on Kyungsoo when he uttered a few choked gasps as he tried to get out his final words.

“I-I-I’m us-u-useful.”

The corners of Kyungsoo’s lips twitched upwards into a small victorious smile and he finally allowed himself to release the small string of life he had been clinging onto.

Now, it was his turn to be free.