Cleaned Up
X-ExperimentsIndex:
(Y) – Old Woman speaking
(GO) – Byunghee speaking
(DH) – Daehyun speaking
(L) – Myungsoo speaking
(SY) – Sungyeol speaking
(YA) – Yoona speaking
(J) – Jessica speaking
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“Look at you all! You look like you’ve just come crawling out of a mine. Tsk tsk tsk… This just won’t do.” (Y) As the old woman shook her head in disapproval, the group each looked at their own clothes before looking back at the woman. They didn’t know who she was or what she wanted, but she seemed to want to help them somehow. It was definitely something that they needed too, especially with their little escapade with what was called a ‘fountain’.
“What’s a mine?” (DH)
“Oh my… You don’t even know that?! No. This just won’t do. Come now. You will each take a bath one by one. Who will go first?” (Y) The group each looked at one another, hoping to find some sort of answer from one of their friends. However, when they each mirrored the same confused look towards one another, they each looked at the old woman once more.
“What’s a bath?” (L) The old woman shook her head in disapproval yet again as she adjusted her grip on her staff. Daehyun felt like they had just failed some sort of test and he wanted to have another go at it. However, before he had the chance to say anything, a man entered the room with a surprised look on his face. His reaction didn’t last long though, as he soon looked at the old woman.
“Grandmother. Are these the people you were asking help for?” (GO)
“Oh, Byunghee! Yes. I need you to give the men a bath. One by one, mind you! Confusing them just won’t do. Teach them and observe like a parent, will you? They are old enough to learn. I will help the women downstairs, so don’t be too rowdy.” (Y) The man named Byunghee stared at the group, a look of discontent on his face, before looking back at his grandmother and nodding. The old woman looked at the group before smiling a bit. “This is Byunghee, my grandson. He will help the boys get ready. Girls, come. Follow me downstairs.” (Y)
The woman tapped her staff twice onto the wooden floor before she began walking. The girls each looked at everyone with a bit of worry on their faces, but they decided to follow the old woman regardless. Once the girls were all gone, Byunghee let out a small sigh before folding his arms and shifting his weight onto his right leg. The men each looked at Byunghee with innocent eyes, which Byunghee felt a bit uncomfortable with. “Alright then… Never thought I’d have to do this… but you. You’ll follow me. The rest of you will stay here and not touch anything. In fact, the only thing you can do is sit on the floor and wait. You understand?” (GO)
Myungsoo and Sungyeol nodded as they proceeded to sit on the ground with their legs spread out in front of them. Daehyun swallowed the lump in his throat as Byunghee used a single finger to motion for him to follow, before leaving the room. Daehyun looked at the other two before slowly following after Byunghee. A bath didn’t exactly sound like something good, but if it helped them somehow, then maybe he shouldn’t fear it so much.
Once they were inside of a small room, Byunghee closed the door before turning towards Daehyun. Daehyun looked around in slight awe, touching the surfaces of things here and there. Byunghee didn’t understand completely, but he did at least know that these people were subjects of Himchan’s. It shouldn’t have been that surprising to see their curiosity as high as a child’s, but it was just still a little surreal. “Alright. Strip.” (GO)
Daehyun briefly glanced at Byunghee before his gaze soon locked onto the other male. He looked around for a moment before standing up straight, though he didn’t exactly understand the order that Byunghee just gave him. With a slightly annoyed sigh, Byunghee walked up to Daehyun before taking a hold of the bottom hem of his shirt with one hand while he used his other hand to pull Daehyun’s hand up to it. “You see this? Your hand takes your shirt, THEN you pull your shirt up and over your head until it’s off. You then pull your pants down. Simple, yes?” (GO)
Byunghee waited, but Daehyun only seemed to stare longer. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Byunghee released his hold on Daehyun’s hand before proceeding to pull Daehyun’s shirt up and over Daehyun’s head. Since Daehyun hadn’t put his arms up, Byunghee brought Daehyun’s shirt downwards until it was completely off of Daehyun. He then proceeded to toss the shirt off to the side before pulling Daehyun’s shorts down. “Understand?! THAT’S what strip means! You take off all of your clothes!” (GO)
“Oh… Why didn’t you say so? I can take off my own clothes! That’s what cloth is called here, right?” (DH) Daehyun bent over a bit and took his shorts before moving over to his shirt and carefully placing it on top. He then turned to Byunghee, whom seemed to be a bit frustrated at the moment, though Daehyun didn’t necessarily understand why. “Now what? We’re not… gonna do experiments… are we?” (DH)
“What? No! Just… stand there and wait until I get the water warm.” (GO) Daehyun nodded as he watched Byunghee walk over to a large tub before turning something on the wall. Instantly, water started pouring out and sparking Daehyun’s interest, causing him to walk over to the tub out of curiosity. When Daehyun crouched down next to the tub, Byunghee was about to scold the man for not listening, but he simply sighed as he shook his head. “You see this thing? This is a bathtub. And that… is a faucet. This is a handle and you just turn it to make water appear. Does that make sense?” (GO)
“Wow… So water just appears? What are we going to do with the water?” (DH)
“You’ll see in a minute.” (GO) Daehyun looked up at Byunghee as he held his hand underneath the running water.
“What’s a minute?” (DH) Byunghee unintentionally slapped his forehead as he shook his head. Was it really going to be like this for the other two as well? Byunghee wasn’t going to look forward to it and he would have preferred to have all three of them in the bathroom, but he knew that his grandmother had a point of bathing them one at a time.
“Just get in the bathtub.” (GO)
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“Just sit on the bed and wait until I finish washing everyone else. Oh and DON’T tell ANYONE that you got an !” (GO) Daehyun nodded as he picked up his clothes before making his way out into the hallway. Looking around a bit, Daehyun shivered as he turned and made his way towards the room that the other two were waiting at. He didn’t understand why getting an was bad, especially since he liked how it felt, but apparently he was supposed to keep it a secret and make sure that no one else saw it. So, Daehyun would just have to listen to Byunghee and do exactly as he was told.
Getting to the room, Daehyun stepped inside before looking at the two, whom were now staring up at him. Myungsoo quickly got to his feet, his eyes wide as he rushed up to Daehyun before leaning in close to look at Daehyun’s skin. “Wooooah! You changed colors!” (L)
“Isn’t it cool?! He said that my skin’s nice and clean now!” (DH)
“I wanna be like that too! I’m going!” (L) Myungsoo rushed past Daehyun before disappearing into the hallway. Daehyun grinned as he made his way over to the bed. Once he was sitting on top of it, Daehyun set his clothes on the ground before putting his hands on his knees and looking at Sungyeol.
“What’s it like being… um… clean?” (SY)
“Uh… It’s strange. My skin feels smooth and soft, like a pillow. Byunghee also said that I should smell better now.” (DH) Sungyeol nodded as he stared at Daehyun’s skin in amazement. Daehyun’s skin really was a different color and it really did look a lot nicer than before, so Sungyeol was looking forward to his own bath too.
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Byunghee was trying hard not to stare too sternly at the three men currently standing in front of him. Not a single one of them has had experience with an before their bath and for some reason; it just baffled him that they were so excited over it. Okay, yes, the one named Sungyeol felt guilty about it at first, but he still got excited over it when it had been explained that it was a normal and okay thing to have. “Are we only wearing this thing?” (L)
“It’s called a towel and no, you are not. It’s only used to dry you after a bath. You’ll wear the clothes from this closet here. Just pick what you want, but I will decide if it’s good or not.” (GO) The three each nodded before they began looking through the clothes that were currently hanging within the closet. Byunghee watched, keeping a close eye on the three. He has figured out that as long as he treated them like kids, then he shouldn’t be caught off guard. Okay, some things would be too inappropriate for children, but he would have to find a way around that.
After a few minutes ticked by, the three men had collected their choice of clothing and placed them in three separate piles like they had been instructed to. Byunghee went around, sifting through the clothes here and there as he gave either an approving nod or a disapproving shake of his head. Whenever he noticed duplicates within the same area like two shirts or two pants, he would take the one that didn’t seem to go well with the rest of the clothes and simply toss it back towards the closet. When everything was done, Byunghee folded his arms and nodded before turning towards the other thee males. “Alright. Get dressed.” (GO)
The three men nodded, though as they began attempting to put on their clothes, Byunghee couldn’t help but start to get a bit frustrated just by watching them. Yes, they would figure out some things, but other things like the shirts or even the underwear confused them. He would have to step in from time to time and show them the correct way to put it on. Still, it wasn’t as bad as bathing them, so he at least had the patience for this.
Once everyone was dressed and prepared for the outside world, Byunghee let out a relieved sigh before taking one last inspection of the three. After everything seemed to be in order, Byunghee nodded before leading the trio downstairs. “Alright. Just sit on the couch and wait until the girls are ready.” (GO)
“Couch?” (SY)
“The long chair right over there.” (GO) Byunghee pointed over at the couches that had been cozily tucked into the corner.
As the three men obediently did as they were told, Byunghee went into the kitchen. Judging by what they had each been carrying in their bags, it must be safe to assume that they were hungry. He didn’t exactly know what they liked or didn’t like, but they were just going to have to it up and eat whatever he decided to make. Though… as he looked around the kitchen, he noticed that his grandmother had already taken the liberty to fix something up. “What, are we serving a king or something? There’s too much food here…” (GO)
Why was he surprised anyway? Whenever his troops came here from time to time, his grandmother always seemed to make a banquet for them. Though, now that he thought about it, he wondered if they have had actual food before. It might actually be a little funny to see their reactions if this ended up being their first time having real food.
As he looked at the kitchen table, he was wondering where they should sit for lunch. The table was definitely not big enough to seat all six of them and he didn’t trust them not to make a mess in the living room, so maybe they could just sit on the ground. That’s what his men had to do when more than two of them came here, so why should he treat them any different?
With a small shrug, Byunghee began preparing for lunch.
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“This… is a spoon. This is a fork and this is a knife! How do you not understand something so si-” (GO)
“Byunghee! Don’t yell at these poor kids. They have never been exposed beyond a cell and finger foods.” (Y) As Byunghee grumbled to himself off to the side, the grandmother smiled warmly as she slowly sat onto the ground in front of the group. They may look like adults now, but the looks on their faces said otherwise. They held confusion, yet it was evident that they were willing to learn what it was like in the world beyond the cold iron walls.
Taking a hold of a spoon, she held it like she normally would when eating before holding out her hand for everyone to see. Almost immediately, all eyes were on her hand and some of them had even leaned in a little closer to see what she was doing. “Hold your spoons like this, in your right hand. If you use your left hand, then use your left hand instead.” (Y)
They each did as they were instructed, looks of deep concentration on their faces as they stared at their hands and spoons. Some of them even had to use their free hand to help make it exactly how the grandmother was holding it. She quietly laughed to herself, though she was happy that they were each trying. Even when some of them seemed to want to give up, their friends were there to help them. It was endearing to see how close they seemed to be, so she had good hopes for them.
When everyone was finally able to hold the spoon in a comfortable way, the old woman motioned for Byunghee before pointing at her food on the table. Byunghee quickly, yet carefully, brought the bowl of food over to his grandmother before standing off to the side once more. With a smile, the old woman carefully placed her bowl of food on her lap before digging her spoon in. “Make sure you are careful when you pick up your food. It might spill out if your spoon is tilted, so if you are worried of that, you may eat closer to your plate.” (Y)
She demonstrated the right and wrong ways of lifting food with her spoon, making sure that they were watching closely. The one that was sitting at the front definitely seemed to be the most interested in what they were doing though, specifically with the constant ‘ooh’s’ and ‘woah’s’ that escaped from him. Despite the children that she has had, not once has she met anyone that excited over something like this. It was a little exciting to be teaching people like this. It also made her a bit... proud to be teaching them. “So we don’t ever use our hands to eat?” (DH)
“You can, but only for the appropriate foods. Maybe another day, I will teach you which one that is. For now, eat your food carefully. Tell me how it tastes.” (Y) The old woman watched as the group attempted to follow what she had demonstrated to them. Instantly, amazement filled the kitchen as they each began talking and eating in an excited manner. The old woman smiled with a bit of amusement, but also a bit of pride to see how happy they were. Byunghee, however, let out a quiet groan as he tried to block out the noisy group. “Now, now. Don’t talk and eat at the same time. Help yourself to as much as you want.” (Y)
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“So that’s called a skirt?” (DH)
“Mhm. It feels weird, but I really like how it looks.” (J) Jessica smoothed out her clothes a bit, trying to keep it in good condition, as the group walked through town with the old woman and Byunghee in front. It had been decided that it would be a good idea to give the group a tour and thus, they were being shown around the area. “All of these clothes are so nice looking! I want to wear all of them.” (J)
“Really? I think this thing called underwear feels weird. It’s really tight and I have to fix it all the time.” (L) Myungsoo clearly had a hint of discomfort in the tone of his voice as he tried to adjust himself down below. Jessica merely shrugged though as she looked around the city.
From what they have been told, Arten City is the center of all crystal-powered energy. All crystals that the rest of the world uses come from Arten, which would explain why the city is flourishing well. Despite being built within a large cavern, Arten City has incorporated the crystals that they are well known for, thus allowing for natural light within. Thanks to the crystal’s power, even plants are able to grow with no problem within the cave. Though, since there were a lot of words that they hadn’t heard of before, the majority of the explanation had to be explained even further for them to understand. Jessica had the most interest in it, so she was able to understand it a little easier.
Of course, besides that, they were learning about how to live normally amongst the other citizens. From simply talking to people to how to make money, Byunghee and his grandmother made certain to inform them as much as possible about what they needed to know. “Are you all understanding this?” (Y)
“It’s confusing.” (SY) The old woman could see the confused looks on everyone’s faces, which caused her to give a quiet laugh. She understood that it would be a while before they could fully understand what everyone else already knew. Though… they had a short amount of time to do so before they would have to get moving again. She was a little worried for them, but she was also certain that they would be able to progress well.
“Don’t worry. You will understand it with time.” (Y)
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“Wow! This bed is different feeling from our old beds!” (DH) Daehyun had sat on the bed before he began jumping up and down. Unlike their old beds, these beds were soft and very bouncy. It was a completely different experience and he was definitely enjoying it. His hands were firmly on top of the bed to keep him from falling backwards, but he just couldn’t help but be amazed by how different this bed was.
“Do we get to live here now?” (SY) Daehyun stopped jumping before he began thinking about the answer to that question. It was a little hard to say if they were going to live here, but it seemed like the kind of place that he had been imagining about. Still, it seemed like they were going to be staying here for a long while, so maybe they really were going to live here from now on.
“I hope so. I like it here.” (DH)
“But what do we do if they find us?” (SY)
“Easy! We fight them and protect our new home. That’s… what this place is called, right?” (L) Daehyun nodded as he fell back onto the bed. Turning his head towards the edge of the bed, he noticed Bartholomew sitting innocently while staring back at him. He still didn’t understand how, exactly, Bartholomew worked, but sooner or later, he was going to have to figure it out.
“I’m hungry… Are we allowed to eat more? I really like the food she made. I’ve never had anything like that before!” (DH) Daehyun rubbed his belly and his lips as he imagined the taste of the food once more. He hadn’t been able to keep food off of his mind throughout the entire time they were walking around, but it was rather hard to blame him for doing so. Even the rest of his group had the same thoughts, though some had a stronger will power than him.
“Should we go get some? I want some food too.” (L)
“Do you think Jessica, Yoona, and Jieun will want to come too?” (SY)
“It’s faster if we just go on our own! They can get food if they’re hungry, right? Let’s go now!” (DH) Daehyun quickly jumped to his feet before making his way over to the door. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in Daehyun’s movement as he opened the door and disappeared into the hallway. Myungsoo and Sungyeol each watched, a bit amazed to see Daehyun moving with such anticipation, though Myungsoo had quickly pulled himself out of that amazed state before following after Daehyun.
Once Myungsoo and Sungyeol had caught up to Daehyun, the three of them made their way downstairs before they began to try and be a bit sneaky. They probably would have asked if it was okay for them to eat something, but the thought never really crossed their minds. Back at the laboratory, they were usually forced to eat at very specific times, so it was a little difficult to start changing up their usual habits. Thus, sneak tactics were their only plan for the time being.
Coming to the archway to the kitchen, Daehyun carefully peeked his head out from behind the wall as he looked inside. When he saw that it was currently empty, Daehyun grinned happily as he nonchalantly strolled into the kitchen before making his way over to the table. Sadly, the food wasn’t where he had seen it earlier when they first ate. “There’s no food…” (DH)
“Maybe they hid it somewhere.” (L)
“Should we look?” (SY) The three nodded before they each spread out and began looking through each cabinet. There were a few things here and there that everyone had been able to find, but they weren’t exactly the kinds of food that they were looking for. Without even bothering to check a few other places, the group of men had gathered the many little bottles of food and had placed them on the counter before standing in front of it.
“It doesn’t look like the food we ate earlier… but it looks like the food we got when we got our bags.” (DH) They were each reluctant to try it out, especially since they had no idea what each thing was. Still, their hunger and their determination was what were making them think otherwise.
“Is it really food? What if it’s poison?” (SY)
“I’ll test it then and see.” (DH) Daehyun picked up one of the bottles before turning the lid. When the lid was placed atop the counter, Daehyun raised the bottle up before looking inside. Despite the clearness of the bottle, Daehyun couldn’t help but feel as though the thing inside of it had changed somehow. It looked exactly as it did before he opened the bottle, but now that he was about to taste it, it just seemed to look… well, tastier.
“What are you doing?” (GO) Instantly, Daehyun dropped the bottle out of surprise before he looked at Byunghee with a surprised look on his face. Byunghee stared down at the spilled contents on the floor before looking back up at Daehyun with narrowed eyelids. As Byunghee began walking forward, Daehyun, Myungsoo, and Sungyeol each took a step back in response. Once Byunghee was where the spilled contents were, he bent over and picked up the bottle before looking down at the label. “What… were you doing with the cinnamon…?” (GO)
“Uh… We were… just looking at it.” (DH)
“… Looking at it…” (GO) When they didn’t say anything, Byunghee let out a sigh as he set the bottle on top of the counter. Why, exactly, were they staring at the cinnamon? Then again, why was he surprised that they were curious in the first place? They probably hadn’t seen the spice before, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that they were looking at it. With a sigh, Byunghee rubbed the back of his neck before looking at the group. “These are all spices and no… you don’t eat these directly. These are put into the food while it’s cooking to make it taste better. So… do NOT eat these, alright? These are bad to eat directly. If you want something to eat, just go to the fridge and look there.” (GO)
Byunghee walked over to a large, box-like device that stretched from one wall to the other. It had neon-lit handles that made it look more like decoration over something that actually held something. When Byunghee pressed a button off to the side, the box slowly opened before revealing the food that had been stored inside of it. “When you’re done getting your food, just press the button again. The handle is there just to hold the towel.” (GO)
As Byunghee went over to the closet to get the broom, the three males made their way over to the fridge before looking around in awe. When they each exchanged glances between one another, grins spread across their faces before they began rummaging through the various containers. This time, they did make certain to be careful with it before taking whatever looked the most appetizing and setting it on the counter.
Byunghee watched them carefully, scolding them every now and then if they did something wrong. Of course, he also found himself smiling a bit with amusement. They really were just like kids, as his grandmother had called them, and he found himself loosening up just a bit. As long as he kept that sort of mentality, then he shouldn’t have to worry about getting a constant headache from this group.
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[[ My Own Thoughts:
-/ahem-
A little slow, but there are always calm parts in every storyline!
Well… maybe. Depends on the storyline I guess?
Anyway! The exciting parts will be coming up soon.
Lots of fighting and a bit more explanation here and there…
So… yeah!
Comments are loved!
I love talking with everyone.
It’s also nice to know how I’m doing with each of these chapters. ]]
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