What Doesn't Kill You: Chapter 9
Title: What Doesn't Kill You Chapter 9
Pairing: None in this chapter
Genre: Superhero AU, action
Rating: PG-13
Chapter 8 < --- Side Story: Henry --- > Chapter 10
Character Profiles
Siwon's Story
Hangeng's Story
Yesung's Story
---
“Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies…”
A hand reaching for his own. He could almost grab it. “Noona, slow down! I’m getting dizzy and I can’t hold on.”
The world was spinning, melding together in a blur of pink coats and yellow skirts and green, green grass with a hint of blue sky and charcoal black hair. His hands were held tightly, clasped warmly with bare palm against bare palm and there was no way he would be let go. Their giggles filled the air.
“Ashes, ashes, we all fall DOWN!”
“No…no, please no.” Heechul sobbed, feeling pressure on his fingers. No! They couldn’t touch him. They’d die! He pulled, tugged, but his hand held fast and he was too weak to fight it. He forced his eyes open and blinked wearily.
Hangeng…
He could see the Chinese man just barely over the oxygen mask covering his face. The mind-numbing fog that came with strong painkillers still had a hold of him, but he could feel Hangeng’s hand holding his own tightly through the leather.
The leather was there. Hangeng was safe.
Heechul blinked again, and was ashamed at the drop of warm liquid that trickled down his cheek.
He was lying in the medical room hooked up to half a dozen or so machines. An IV was stuck in his arm rather than his hand, not that he’d expected any different. His gaze rested on the bag of blood and plasma hanging over his head before his head began to hurt from the strain of tilting his eyes back so far and he closed them briefly.
He listened to the beeping of the monitors and the almost undetectable hum of the oxygen and the buzz of the humidifier on the side table. But mostly he listened to Hangeng’s rhythmic breathing.
Why? Why do you stay with me? I’ll end up killing you. You’ll get tired of this, of being unable to kiss and do all of those stupid romantic things. You have to get tired of this or you’ll die, you idiot. I’m killing you.
He didn’t like feeling this weak. He attributed his thoughts to almost dying. Because Hangeng was there he suspected everyone else had made it out safely. They had to have. Had Siwon managed to catch and interrogate Kim Hyun Shik before they’d brought Heechul back? Ah, his head was hurting again, and his brain didn’t want to allow him to think straight.
“…you’re awake.”
Hangeng’s voice sounded sleepy but satisfied. A slow smile spread across his lips. Heechul didn’t say anything. Hangeng sat up from where he’d been hunched over Heechul’s bed and leaned back in the chair he’d pulled up to the side. He didn’t let go of Heechul’s hand.
It was a comforting warmth, but it was fake. He’d forgotten the feeling of skin against skin. He would never admit it, but he was jealous of the others who could touch each other so freely. Sometimes he took off his gloves at night and let his hand rest over the edge of the top bunk and wished that he could touch Hangeng’s face or run his fingers through his hair. But then that obnoxious children’s song would echo in his head and he’d hurriedly put his glove back on, feeling sick and angry and more than a little horrified at what he’d almost done.
“Are you feeling alright now? Are you thirsty?”
“What happened?” Heechul croaked out, fingers trembling, even as Hangeng held on fast, thumb brushing across his palm tenderly.
“We didn’t get Kim Hyun Shik.” Hangeng supplied after a moment’s hesitation. It sounded better than we failed miserably, and on top of that you almost died.
So Siwon had failed in the end? Or had he done his job well? And the others? He was tired, and trying to think about what still needed to be done was too much at the moment. And on top of that…no, he wouldn’t think about it now. He needed to discuss it with the others.
The reason they’d been discovered at the mansion.
“Sungmin. I need to see Sungmin.” Heechul braced himself and tried to sit up but Hangeng stopped him. He finally let go of Heechul’s hand in order to push him back down. His fingers touched Heechul’s collarbone, steering as far from his stomach and giving the wound there the widest berth he could.
“Heechul, you just woke up, it can’t be that important-”
“Get Sungmin and Siwon in here.” Heechul snapped tiredly, and it didn’t hold its usual bite. He was too tired and drugged to sound bitchy.
“I need to have Kibum or Ryeowook check your vitals first.” Hangeng argued, and Heechul didn’t have the strength or the desire to care.
“Fine.” He assented, although he wasn’t excited with the fact that he would have to wait even longer for his answers. “Go get one of them and then get Sungmin and Siwon.”
Hangeng nodded and stood. He stopped at the door and looked back with a relieved smile. “Hyung…thanks for being ok.”
“Ya, do I look ok? There’s a hole the size of a dinner plate in my stomach.” Heechul grumbled, but Hangeng’s smile simply widened and he stepped out of the room. Heechul leaned back against his pillows and stared up at the ceiling.
He had a lot to discuss with the others.
The door to the medical room opened again and Ryeowook appeared. As soon as he saw that Heechul’s eyes were opened he gave a bright smile and his eyes filled with tears. “Hyung!” He sobbed out, reaching out for his hand. “You’re alright!”
Heechul rolled his eyes at the dramatics as Ryeowook checked the machines and his IV. “Are you in any pain?”
“I’m pleasantly numb.” Heechul grumbled, “And my throat feels like cotton. Can I have something to drink?”
“Of course!” Ryeowook chirped, “I’ll go and get you something. You look alright for now. Kibum wants to check your wound later tonight.”
Heechul nodded absently, eyes fluttering shut. He’d kept them open too long already and he needed to keep up his strength in order to discuss more important things with the others. He heard the door close a few moments later and figured that Ryeowook had left to go and get his water. When he’d asked for something to drink he’d meant alcohol but he supposed he couldn’t hope for much. After all, alcohol and medication didn’t mix very well and he was fucked on drugs right now.
It seemed like forever before the door opened again. He’d begun to think that Ryeowook had forgotten about him and that Hangeng hadn’t given Sungmin and Siwon his message. The morphine or fentanyl or whatever the hell he was on was starting to wear off and any time he moved he could feel the wound in his stomach throb.
“Hyung, are you awake?”
Heechul pried his eyes open with pure willpower and blinked up at Sungmin. The younger man was staring down at him with a concern that Heechul was unused to. Sungmin liked to hide most of his emotions behind a pleasant smile, so to see him look so distraught was awkward. It also told him just how close he’d actually come to dying this time.
Siwon stood behind Sungmin, towering over him, holding up a glass of water. “Ryeowook said you were thirsty.”
“Thanks.” Heechul managed, as Siwon moved around Sungmin and cupped the back of Heechul’s head with his hand, tipping the Styrofoam cup to his lips. The water tasted disgusting as always, stale and sour, but he managed to keep it down, swallowing about half of the cup.
“So?” Heechul murmured, grimacing a bit as he shifted. The half-pain of the pain-killers wearing off was uncomfortable more than anything else.
Sungmin pulled out a flashdrive from his jacket and held it out. “I got the information.”
Heechul gave a tired but satisfied grin. “Good.” He closed his eyes briefly and then opened them again. “When I get out of here we’ll look it over. You and Donghae can begin analyzing it now.”
Sungmin paused, looking uncomfortable before he braced himself and spoke. “I don’t know if we should have Donghae look it over.”
“Why not?” Heechul asked, raising an eyebrow. Even Siwon looked surprised at Sungmin’s suggestion, his signature eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
“He’s too close to the others. He feels guilty about lying to them.” Sungmin answered haltingly, refusing to look Heechul in the eyes. “I’m just worried that he’ll say something unintentionally.”
“Donghae would never betray us.” Betray me. Heechul answered back steadily, and they all knew it was true. Donghae would do anything for Heechul.
“Not on purpose.” Sungmin continued, knowing he’d stepped over some invisible line. “But he wants to trust them all.”
Heechul sighed. “I know. I’ll have a talk with him later. Get Kyuhyun to do it then.”
Sungmin and Siwon both turned to him in surprise. “…what?”
Heechul gave a small grin that lasted for about two seconds before falling as a stab of pain chased up his spine. “It’s a test for him. To see if he qualifies.”
“But if he tells the others…?” Sungmin broached, looking unconvinced. Of those that had lived at the training facility, Sungmin was the most wary of others, the least trusting.
The most like Heechul.
“Then we say that we were going to tell them eventually. Which is true.” Heechul finished. “We’re only keeping them out of the dark for now. Once it’s all finished, we’ll tell them everything.”
Siwon nodded, still looking doubtful, but Sungmin’s nod was curt and confident. He trusted what Heechul was doing wholeheartedly. Heechul figured that half of Siwon’s doubt was because he wanted to trust the others as well, but despite his kindhearted exterior and Christian values, Siwon was less inclined to want to share their secrets with the others than Donghae.
“Now, what about Kim Hyun Shik?” Heechul managed to sit up, and Siwon placed a few pillows behind his back to prop him against the headboard comfortably. It was nice to be able to look at them in the eye instead of staring up into their faces, even if his wound was beginning to throb. “Hangeng says you lost him.”
“I followed him.” Siwon nodded. “I have the license plate number and his current location. Yesung and I have been tracking him off and on to make sure he’s still there.”
Heechul reached out and patted Siwon on the head. “Good boy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Siwon grinned childishly, pleased with the praise. “I know I was supposed to go after him if anything went wrong, but we had to save Hankyung hyung and Eunhyuk hyung and then we got the message that you were injured…”
Heechul nodded, “I’ll forgive you this once because it was to save my beautiful self.” He gave a grin to say all was forgiven before falling back against the pillows, all of his energy spent. “Have someone come in and give me some more painkillers, will you? Donghae will be in here in no time now that I’m awake.”
“There’s one more thing, hyung.” Sungmin bit the inside of his cheek. “We have…a visitor.”
…
…
…
“What?”
Siwon looked a little apprehensive, turning from Sungmin to Heechul, who was eyeing them with a mixture of confusion and annoyance.
“Leeteuk and Yesung brought him back.”
---
Henry couldn’t stop shaking.
It didn’t help that sitting on the couch in front of him was the owner of the dog he’d hit. And sitting beside him was a man with his leg in a cast that everyone told him was the dog.
Henry just wanted this bad smoothie-induced acid trip to end.
“Now, you said your name was Henry?” The dimpled man that had saved him gave him a comforting smile that eased Henry’s fears just a little. The man had introduced himself on the ride to the apartment complex. Teuk or Eeteuk, or something.
Henry gave a shallow, jerky nod.
The person he was terrified of the most was the man sitting next to ‘the dog’. He was injured as well, his leg in a brace of some sort, but the cold, even glare he’d given him since they’d stepped into the building and the dog owner had recognized him had been about the scariest thing he’d ever witnessed.
“We can’t keep him here.” A stockier man standing behind the couch commented. If it weren’t for the flower boy with the frigid stare he’d say this one was the most intimidating.
“Well we can’t just let him go. He knows about our powers.”
Henry turned away from the argument to the ‘dog’ he’d hit. The man noticed his gaze and sent him a cheerful smile and a little wave.
“Until Heechul hyung gets up we’ll just keep him here.” The sniper finally announced, “He’ll know what to do with him.”
“Why is it his decision we have to follow?” The burly man behind the couch sent sniper a questioning glare. “Jungsu is the oldest. He’s the leader.”
There was a moment of silence that felt charged with a tension that Henry figured had been there all along. Sniper and the ‘dog’ looked ready to argue. Rather, sniper looked ready to argue and the ‘dog’ just looked uncomfortable. And then there was the acne-ridden one that looked offended at the burly one’s comment that Henry hadn’t really noticed before this moment.
Henry just wanted to leave. And he wanted an explanation, better than the, “we’ll tell you when we’re at the apartment” one he’d gotten in the car. They were at the apartment now, so they needed to start tell him what the hell was going on.
“We could always kill him.”
Everyone turned at the sound of the new voice to see a man sitting in a wheelchair being pushed by the tall man and the one wearing headphones and a pink barrette that Henry had seen when he’d arrived. He decided immediately that the man in the wheelchair was the scariest: scarier than the gorilla monster that had almost torn him apart or the glaring boy in the leg brace.
“Heechul hyung!” It was a chorus of activity for a moment as the ‘dog’ leapt up from his seat and managed to hobble over to the other, falling down on the floor and grabbing his legs in a fierce hug.
The sniper had headed over as well, but his greeting was less enthusiastic. Henry saw the acne ridden boy stare, but he didn’t move. The Chinese man had reappeared at the wheelchair-bound man’s side as if he belonged there, and Henry didn’t think anyone would be able to move him if they tried.
“We are not going to kill an innocent civilian!” Leeteuk seemed to be the only one who had remembered Heechul’s comment about killing Henry.
“You shouldn’t have brought him here in the first place. You should have let that GAM user take care of him. We’re not an orphanage or an animal shelter. We don’t have time or room for strays.” Heechul answered back coolly.
Henry didn’t like him, and the feeling was undoubtedly mutual. Heechul watched Henry with a disinterest bordering on abhorrence. He didn’t think that the other man hated him. He just seemed…not to care. At all. As if Henry weren’t a human being but a fly that could either by let free or squashed depending on where he decided to land.
“We’re supposed to be saving lives, you know.”Leeteuk shot back.
Heechul gave a small sneer and a short laugh. “We aren’t superheroes, hyung.” He leaned back in the wheelchair with a sigh and continued before Leeteuk could argue back. “Do whatever you want with him. Kill him or lock him up, but don’t let him leave. We can talk about this later. I need to have a talk with the others.”
They all know what that meant, save Henry, who still had no idea what was going on.
Hangeng reluctantly stepped back and Yesung took his place while Sungmin helped Donghae stand. As Siwon turned the wheelchair toward the front door Heechul stopped him and looked back. “Kyuhyun-ah, come on.”
There was a moment of silence.
Kyuhyun stared at Heechul in shock before pointing to himself. “M…me?”
“Ya, get over here before I change my mind, you idiot.” Heechul snapped before turning back to Siwon. “Let’s go.”
Kyuhyun stared for a second longer before stumbling forward, practically running to catch up. He shot one look back at the rest of the group sitting around the living room, dumbfounded, to Henry who looked confused and terrified, to Hangeng, who looked oddly betrayed.
The smoldering glee he felt couldn’t be dampened by his guilt, and Kyuhyun found himself smiling as he walked out the door.
---
Leeteuk bit back an angry retort as he watched Kyuhyun run off after the others like an excited puppy. He didn’t know what was going on, but that talk that he and Heechul were going to have later…it would be long and detailed and no one would be leaving until he got answers, even if he had to withhold Heechul’s painkillers to do so.
But back to the matter at hand…he’d think about all of that later. He needed to do something about the poor boy sitting next to him, looking more terrified and confused than ever. He reached out a hand and patted Henry on the shoulder, “I’m sorry, I know all of this is so sudden. Don’t mind Heechul. He’s been through a lot lately.”
“We haven’t introduced ourselves, have we?” Ryeowook sat down next to Henry on his other side and gave a feeble smile. “I’m Ryeowook.”
“Shindong.” The chubby man supplied as Henry nodded feebly at Ryeowook in greeting.
“I’m Jungsu, but you can call me Leeteuk.” Leeteuk gave him a comforting smile that made him relax a bit more. “That’s Kangin.”
“I’m Eunhyuk.” The frightened, fidgety one sitting beside the one that glared answered. “This is Kibum.” He pointed to the one that was still glaring coldly.
“I’m Hangeng.” The Chinese man answered, and Henry found himself feeling more at ease with him than anyone else, for the simple fact that he was familiar, that the accent he carried was different and therefore relatable. This was someone else that didn’t entirely belong, and that meant Henry wasn’t as out of place as he’d thought.
“Now I know that you have a lot of questions…I’ll try and answer what I can.” Leeteuk had grabbed Henry’s hand. “But first, let me explain some things about why we’re here and…who we are.”
Henry slowly nodded.
“You know about the GAM virus, don’t you?”
Henry nodded again. Of course he knew about the GAM virus. His father was one of the leading researchers on it! It’s why they’d come to Korea in the first place. He opened his mouth to say so when Leeteuk continued.
“The GAM virus isn’t what the government has made it out to be. It isn’t just a strain of the H3N2 flu virus. The virus…it causes changes to people, Henry.” Leeteuk paused, as if unsure how to continue. “You saw what Yesung could do, and you saw my power, didn’t you?”
He didn’t know what he had seen. It was all a hallucination, anyway. He’d just been roofied or something, or maybe he had the GAM virus too? He didn’t know, but ‘superpowers’ wasn’t his first rational thought.
“The virus is airborne, so it’s probably spread across most of Korea by now. Only certain people are affected by it, of course. If it were introduced to all of Korea and everyone were infected, the government would have a problem. The government is still trying to figure out the exact reason only a small percentage have the advantage of accepting GAM. They created the virus, Henry.”
“Heh…what?” Henry stared at them all in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Of course it wasn’t created. His father was helping to find a cure. The government wouldn’t make something like this. These guys were all crazy. “So you’re saying it’s some kind of government conspiracy? Yeah right.”
“Aish, why doesn’t anyone just shut up and listen when we explain it?” Kangin snapped irritably.
“You didn’t the first time, either.” Leeteuk shot back, before continuing. “Henry, I know it’s hard to believe, but the government…the GAM Project, it’s a project to create super soldiers for Korea against the world. The Korean government is building an army.”
An army? What kind of sci-fi bullshit was this? He needed to get out and warn his father that there were crazies here that wanted to attack the government.
“I know it’s hard to believe, but you saw what we’re capable of…and we’re not even the useful ones.” Leeteuk gave a sardonic grin at that.
“I don’t know what I saw.” Henry replied back stiltedly. “I don’t know what I saw because it was all…I’m sick. I’m hallucinating. None of this is real.” Maybe he was just hearing things wrong. Maybe his lack of Korean vocabulary was screwing with what he was hearing. He was probably translating incorrectly. That had to be it.
“It must be a lot to take in.” Leeteuk nodded. “When you want to talk about it, we’re here. Until then, we’ll find you a place to sleep.”
“What do you mean? Can’t I just go home?”
Kangin snorted. “Go home? What do you think we are, stupid? You’re fucked like the rest of us kid. It’s only a matter of time before the government comes after you too. You’re a witness now. They won’t just let you go with a slap on the wrist and a promise not to tell.”
Henry bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying something he’d regret. These people were all obviously insane. The government wasn’t going to kill him because he wasn’t going to tell anyone. Besides, who would believe him anyway? He was obviously high as a kite.
He needed to get out of here before these people brainwashed him and made him drink their crazy-ass kool-aid and turned him into some kind of cult zombie.
He was fast. Most of them were injured. Once he got to the door he’d be home free. He’d take the stairs and then hide out in one of the buildings before he found a bus stop or a taxi. Yeah, that was the plan. He just had to get out first.
“I’m…you can’t just keep me here!” Henry shouted, jumping up. “I want to go home! You’re all freaks!” He bolted.
He made it about three feet before something hard slammed into his shins and his legs buckled. He found himself lying face first on the floor, nose grinding into the carpet and tears welling in his eyes in both pain and anger.
Someone grabbed his shoulder and turned him over onto his back. Ryeowook. He was looking down at him worriedly, “Are you alright?” Ryeowook then looked over to the couch, “That was unnecessary.”
Henry followed his gaze to where Kibum sat, holding Donghae’s crutch. He noticed Henry’s gaze and gave him a nod. “I figured that we had to send him a message.” And then he was staring deep into his eyes, and Henry couldn’t look away, despite how frightened he was at the moment. “None of us want to be here, but if we weren’t here we’d be dead. You should feel lucky you’ve been given the same option.”
Kibum stood and hobbled off down the hall. Even limping, Henry felt that the man’s exit was cool.
Eunhyuk had stood as well and looked from Henry to the hallway Kibum had just walked down. “…aish.” He ground out before heading down the hall after him.
Henry had sat up at this point and was rubbing his shins. They still stung from where he’d been hit, and he was rather certain that his legs would be one large bruise by the end of the day. He sniffled, but he scrunched his eyes shut and tried not to cry. He’d already yelled at them and tried to escape-and was beaten down by an injured man using the crutch of the “dog” that he’d almost killed-he needed to salvage what little pride he had left.
He opened his eyes when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned to see Ryeowook still crouched beside him, giving him a pitying look. Henry didn’t want his pity. He also didn’t want to see how Kangin looked, because he was certain that after Kibum he would be the most willing of those left to have him stuffed down the proverbial chimney.
Because of this he was surprised when it was Leeteuk who spoke: gentle, motherly Leeteuk. “Kangin, we’ll place him in our room for now.”
Kangin and the others seemed equally surprised. “Why ours? Yesung and Ryeowook’s room is better. Or Sungmin and Siwon’s.”
“I don’t know what Heechul is talking to the others about.” Leeteuk answered back evenly. “And I can’t guarantee Henry’s safety otherwise.” Leeteuk turned to Henry and his eyes were cold. “Do you understand the situation you’re in now?”
Sit down and shut up, or get killed by a feminine man in a wheelchair that made Professor X look like a pussy. Henry got the message clearly, but that didn’t mean he liked it. Anger and humiliation-and fear, he didn’t know if the fear would ever go away-still tingled down his spine.
He stood slowly-his legs almost gave out on him but Ryeowook held him up on his other side. “…where is your room?”
Leeteuk sighed and got up from the couch and walked toward him. “Come with me.” His voice was more gentle now, but it didn’t help put Henry at ease as the older man led him to the last room down the hall.
As they walked, he heard voices coming from one of the other rooms, voices he recognized distinctly as Kibum’s and Eunhyuk’s.
“Hyung isn’t going to let this go.”
“We don’t know what’s going on…let’s ask Donghae later.”
“When has that ever worked? Donghae isn’t going to tell us anything, hyung. He’s Heechul’s before he’s anyone else’s.”
“But he’s our…”
“Just go check on the Chinese boy. I think I might have broken his shin.”
He wasn’t Chinese. He was Taiwanese and Canadian…and a little Hong Kong. Henry shuffled after Leeteuk as the older man opened the door to his room and led him inside. Maybe he’d be ok…he just had to keep telling himself that he would be ok and that he’d find a way out of here and warn his father that there was a group of psycho terrorists out to kill him.
----
Kyuhyun didn’t know what was going on, but the fact that he was allowed into the room was enough. He sat at the end of the table and tried not to look too eager as the others sat. He’d been pushed to the end-still slightly an outsider-while the others took seats around Heechul at the head of the table.
He looked pale and tired, and Kyuhyun wanted to tell him that he should go rest. He wondered why the others hadn’t told him so. It seemed like something that Siwon would do, at the very least.
Instead, they all sat there quietly and waited for Heechul to speak. Kyuhyun wondered if they were going to make a comment about how he was there now, like…an introduction or something, but Heechul spoke as if there was nothing out of the ordinary.
“As you may have realized, our mission didn’t go as planned.” He leaned back in his wheelchair.
“Everything was fool proof.” Sungmin shot back. “We planned it all. We were supposed to go in, get the information, and get Kim Hyun Shik.” His brows knitted together in annoyance. “I don’t understand what went wrong.”
Get the information? What information? This hadn’t been an information retrieval mission…Kyuhyun pursed his lips and waited for an explanation.
“Right before I was attacked…” Heechul paused and gave a small laugh. “Don’t you wonder why you didn’t find what hit me and made this?” He looked pointedly at his stomach.
“Ryeowook and Kibum said that the wound was made with something that didn’t leave any traces. You were cold and shivering though, hyung. I thought you were dead…” Yesung swallowed and looked down.
And then suddenly, as one, the entire group turned to stare at him in shock.
“It can’t be…he was there hyung?” Donghae swallowed.
“That’s why we were discovered.” Heechul nodded, not looking pleased at the revelation. “I don’t know where he was hiding, but I saw him right when the lights turned on and then was hit.”
“He wasn’t there when the lights came back on.” Yesung looked confused-and worried. “How did he disappear?”
Kyuhyun was confused. So confused. What was going on? Who were they talking about?
“But if he was there…” Siwon looked more worried than shocked. “The others would be too.” He looked at Heechul. “Hyung, if he was there, was Ja-”
“He wasn’t.” Heechul answered back quickly, a sharp answer, before he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “I would have known if he was there.”
The others nodded, and Kyuhyun wanted to ask what was going on but he feared that if he brought attention to himself, to the fact that he didn’t know what was going on then they’d remember that he wasn’t supposed to be there.
“Now that we know they’re back on duty, we have to be mindful of all of our missions from now on.” Heechul leaned forward and rested his chin on his intertwined fingers. “Siwon, you and Yesung have been tracking Kim Hyun Shik, does it look like they were with him?”
“We didn’t see them.” Yesung shook his head. “But if they hid so well before…perhaps they have a new member that allows them to hide their presence?”
Heechul nodded. “Both of you, be careful. Don’t get close to the residence. Until we know the full extent of what is going on than we can’t be sure it’s safe.” He turned to Sungmin. “Sungmin, you and Kyuhyun will be decoding the information we received.”
Sungmin nodded, and Kyuhyun blinked. He was…being given a job? A job he didn’t understand, but a job nonetheless it seemed.
“Later, explain to him the details of what you’re doing.” Heechul paused, “…Donghae, get close to Henry Lau.”
There was a pause as the others turned to him with barely veiled curiosity. Donghae looked especially confused. “Hm? Why?”
“I’ve seen him somewhere.” Heechul answered cryptically. “I don’t remember where…but keep him close.”
“Alright.” Donghae nodded. “…what will you be doing while we’re all on our missions, hyung?”
Heechul just gave a slow smile. “I’m going to get some answers.”
---
Donghae was sleeping, but there were dried tear tracks on his face. Yesung watched as Heechul walked over to his bed and pulled the covers up to Donghae’s chin before sitting down on the edge of the mattress.
Yesung knew without asking what had happened. He swallowed, walking over to his own bed and placing the makeshift urn on the bedside table. He’d have to find a better place for it in the morning.
“Your clothes need to be thrown away.” Heechul spoke softly, fiddling with one of his gloves.
“…what did they make Donghae do?” Yesung whispered.
Heechul tore his gaze from Donghae’s face to Yesung and he gave a crooked smile. “They made him shapeshift in the same room as Bada. When he’s an animal, he can’t stop his instincts. He didn’t know what he was doing until afterwards.” The leather squeaked as Heechul gripped his hands together tightly. “…there wasn’t anything left for me to save for him.”
Yesung felt sick, worse than before. His legs gave out on him and he fell back onto his own bed. “Why?” He whispered hoarsely. “How could they do this?”
“It was hard, wasn’t it?”
Heechul and Yesung both looked to the doorway where Typhoon stood. His usual smile wasn’t as cheerful as before. It was frigid, but there was a manic gleam in his eyes, as if he were enjoying a funny joke.
“Go away Typhoon.” Heechul replied wearily, standing to head to his own bed. “We’re going to sleep.”
“It’s hard to kill something dear to you. Remember that, because now killing strangers will be so much easier.”
“Shut up Typhoon.” Heechul hissed. “Get out.”
Typhoon didn’t back down. He turned to Yesung. “That’s the point of this training. Don’t forget it. Killing strangers is easy, Jongwoon.” The door closed behind him and a second later Heechul’s book hit the wood, the sound echoing.
“Fucking…” Heechul stopped, because the sound had awoken Donghae who was staring around fearfully, as if he couldn’t quite remember what had happened.
“Hyung?”
“Go to sleep.” Heechul replied tersely, reaching down to grab his book. “…both of you.” He headed toward his bed but paused, because Donghae had turned to sob into his pillow and he was visibly shaking from holding in his tears.
Heechul lowered himself down onto the bed. “Don’t think about it.”
“W-what…did they make you do this too?” Donghae managed to get out.
“A cat.” Heechul replied, running a gloved hand along Donghae’s forehead, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “His name was Heebum.”
Yesung watched Heechul’s fingers brush against Donghae’s skin. He wondered how often Heechul found himself wishing he could touch people. He remembered the look when Heechul had petted Kkoming. There had been something raw, vulnerable about Heechul in that moment.
But it had only lasted a second, and then Heechul had become cold and callous again.
Yesung wondered…would he be the same way?
Yesung’s eyes flickered open and he found himself staring up at the still ceiling fan. He could hear Ryeowook’s heavy breathing in the bed next to his. It must have been their talk earlier that had led to revisiting bitter memories.
Typhoon…Yesung wondered how Heechul was taking it all. He turned over on the bed and found himself watching Ryeowook. He was dreaming about something, eyes twitching beneath the lids, lashes fluttering as he mumbled something incoherent into his pillow.
Typhoon, despite how kind he’d seemed in the beginning, had always been cruel. There’d always been a dangerous edge to him, like a sharpened blade that would as easily cut its wielder as his enemy. Yesung had never trusted him, despite his closeness to Heechul.
Sometimes Yesung wondered if perhaps he was the reason that Heechul had turned out the way he had.
Pairing: None in this chapter
Genre: Superhero AU, action
Rating: PG-13
Chapter 8 < --- Side Story: Henry --- > Chapter 10
Character Profiles
Siwon's Story
Hangeng's Story
Yesung's Story
---
“Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies…”
A hand reaching for his own. He could almost grab it. “Noona, slow down! I’m getting dizzy and I can’t hold on.”
The world was spinning, melding together in a blur of pink coats and yellow skirts and green, green grass with a hint of blue sky and charcoal black hair. His hands were held tightly, clasped warmly with bare palm against bare palm and there was no way he would be let go. Their giggles filled the air.
“Ashes, ashes, we all fall DOWN!”
“No…no, please no.” Heechul sobbed, feeling pressure on his fingers. No! They couldn’t touch him. They’d die! He pulled, tugged, but his hand held fast and he was too weak to fight it. He forced his eyes open and blinked wearily.
Hangeng…
He could see the Chinese man just barely over the oxygen mask covering his face. The mind-numbing fog that came with strong painkillers still had a hold of him, but he could feel Hangeng’s hand holding his own tightly through the leather.
The leather was there. Hangeng was safe.
Heechul blinked again, and was ashamed at the drop of warm liquid that trickled down his cheek.
He was lying in the medical room hooked up to half a dozen or so machines. An IV was stuck in his arm rather than his hand, not that he’d expected any different. His gaze rested on the bag of blood and plasma hanging over his head before his head began to hurt from the strain of tilting his eyes back so far and he closed them briefly.
He listened to the beeping of the monitors and the almost undetectable hum of the oxygen and the buzz of the humidifier on the side table. But mostly he listened to Hangeng’s rhythmic breathing.
Why? Why do you stay with me? I’ll end up killing you. You’ll get tired of this, of being unable to kiss and do all of those stupid romantic things. You have to get tired of this or you’ll die, you idiot. I’m killing you.
He didn’t like feeling this weak. He attributed his thoughts to almost dying. Because Hangeng was there he suspected everyone else had made it out safely. They had to have. Had Siwon managed to catch and interrogate Kim Hyun Shik before they’d brought Heechul back? Ah, his head was hurting again, and his brain didn’t want to allow him to think straight.
“…you’re awake.”
Hangeng’s voice sounded sleepy but satisfied. A slow smile spread across his lips. Heechul didn’t say anything. Hangeng sat up from where he’d been hunched over Heechul’s bed and leaned back in the chair he’d pulled up to the side. He didn’t let go of Heechul’s hand.
It was a comforting warmth, but it was fake. He’d forgotten the feeling of skin against skin. He would never admit it, but he was jealous of the others who could touch each other so freely. Sometimes he took off his gloves at night and let his hand rest over the edge of the top bunk and wished that he could touch Hangeng’s face or run his fingers through his hair. But then that obnoxious children’s song would echo in his head and he’d hurriedly put his glove back on, feeling sick and angry and more than a little horrified at what he’d almost done.
“Are you feeling alright now? Are you thirsty?”
“What happened?” Heechul croaked out, fingers trembling, even as Hangeng held on fast, thumb brushing across his palm tenderly.
“We didn’t get Kim Hyun Shik.” Hangeng supplied after a moment’s hesitation. It sounded better than we failed miserably, and on top of that you almost died.
So Siwon had failed in the end? Or had he done his job well? And the others? He was tired, and trying to think about what still needed to be done was too much at the moment. And on top of that…no, he wouldn’t think about it now. He needed to discuss it with the others.
The reason they’d been discovered at the mansion.
“Sungmin. I need to see Sungmin.” Heechul braced himself and tried to sit up but Hangeng stopped him. He finally let go of Heechul’s hand in order to push him back down. His fingers touched Heechul’s collarbone, steering as far from his stomach and giving the wound there the widest berth he could.
“Heechul, you just woke up, it can’t be that important-”
“Get Sungmin and Siwon in here.” Heechul snapped tiredly, and it didn’t hold its usual bite. He was too tired and drugged to sound bitchy.
“I need to have Kibum or Ryeowook check your vitals first.” Hangeng argued, and Heechul didn’t have the strength or the desire to care.
“Fine.” He assented, although he wasn’t excited with the fact that he would have to wait even longer for his answers. “Go get one of them and then get Sungmin and Siwon.”
Hangeng nodded and stood. He stopped at the door and looked back with a relieved smile. “Hyung…thanks for being ok.”
“Ya, do I look ok? There’s a hole the size of a dinner plate in my stomach.” Heechul grumbled, but Hangeng’s smile simply widened and he stepped out of the room. Heechul leaned back against his pillows and stared up at the ceiling.
He had a lot to discuss with the others.
The door to the medical room opened again and Ryeowook appeared. As soon as he saw that Heechul’s eyes were opened he gave a bright smile and his eyes filled with tears. “Hyung!” He sobbed out, reaching out for his hand. “You’re alright!”
Heechul rolled his eyes at the dramatics as Ryeowook checked the machines and his IV. “Are you in any pain?”
“I’m pleasantly numb.” Heechul grumbled, “And my throat feels like cotton. Can I have something to drink?”
“Of course!” Ryeowook chirped, “I’ll go and get you something. You look alright for now. Kibum wants to check your wound later tonight.”
Heechul nodded absently, eyes fluttering shut. He’d kept them open too long already and he needed to keep up his strength in order to discuss more important things with the others. He heard the door close a few moments later and figured that Ryeowook had left to go and get his water. When he’d asked for something to drink he’d meant alcohol but he supposed he couldn’t hope for much. After all, alcohol and medication didn’t mix very well and he was fucked on drugs right now.
It seemed like forever before the door opened again. He’d begun to think that Ryeowook had forgotten about him and that Hangeng hadn’t given Sungmin and Siwon his message. The morphine or fentanyl or whatever the hell he was on was starting to wear off and any time he moved he could feel the wound in his stomach throb.
“Hyung, are you awake?”
Heechul pried his eyes open with pure willpower and blinked up at Sungmin. The younger man was staring down at him with a concern that Heechul was unused to. Sungmin liked to hide most of his emotions behind a pleasant smile, so to see him look so distraught was awkward. It also told him just how close he’d actually come to dying this time.
Siwon stood behind Sungmin, towering over him, holding up a glass of water. “Ryeowook said you were thirsty.”
“Thanks.” Heechul managed, as Siwon moved around Sungmin and cupped the back of Heechul’s head with his hand, tipping the Styrofoam cup to his lips. The water tasted disgusting as always, stale and sour, but he managed to keep it down, swallowing about half of the cup.
“So?” Heechul murmured, grimacing a bit as he shifted. The half-pain of the pain-killers wearing off was uncomfortable more than anything else.
Sungmin pulled out a flashdrive from his jacket and held it out. “I got the information.”
Heechul gave a tired but satisfied grin. “Good.” He closed his eyes briefly and then opened them again. “When I get out of here we’ll look it over. You and Donghae can begin analyzing it now.”
Sungmin paused, looking uncomfortable before he braced himself and spoke. “I don’t know if we should have Donghae look it over.”
“Why not?” Heechul asked, raising an eyebrow. Even Siwon looked surprised at Sungmin’s suggestion, his signature eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
“He’s too close to the others. He feels guilty about lying to them.” Sungmin answered haltingly, refusing to look Heechul in the eyes. “I’m just worried that he’ll say something unintentionally.”
“Donghae would never betray us.” Betray me. Heechul answered back steadily, and they all knew it was true. Donghae would do anything for Heechul.
“Not on purpose.” Sungmin continued, knowing he’d stepped over some invisible line. “But he wants to trust them all.”
Heechul sighed. “I know. I’ll have a talk with him later. Get Kyuhyun to do it then.”
Sungmin and Siwon both turned to him in surprise. “…what?”
Heechul gave a small grin that lasted for about two seconds before falling as a stab of pain chased up his spine. “It’s a test for him. To see if he qualifies.”
“But if he tells the others…?” Sungmin broached, looking unconvinced. Of those that had lived at the training facility, Sungmin was the most wary of others, the least trusting.
The most like Heechul.
“Then we say that we were going to tell them eventually. Which is true.” Heechul finished. “We’re only keeping them out of the dark for now. Once it’s all finished, we’ll tell them everything.”
Siwon nodded, still looking doubtful, but Sungmin’s nod was curt and confident. He trusted what Heechul was doing wholeheartedly. Heechul figured that half of Siwon’s doubt was because he wanted to trust the others as well, but despite his kindhearted exterior and Christian values, Siwon was less inclined to want to share their secrets with the others than Donghae.
“Now, what about Kim Hyun Shik?” Heechul managed to sit up, and Siwon placed a few pillows behind his back to prop him against the headboard comfortably. It was nice to be able to look at them in the eye instead of staring up into their faces, even if his wound was beginning to throb. “Hangeng says you lost him.”
“I followed him.” Siwon nodded. “I have the license plate number and his current location. Yesung and I have been tracking him off and on to make sure he’s still there.”
Heechul reached out and patted Siwon on the head. “Good boy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Siwon grinned childishly, pleased with the praise. “I know I was supposed to go after him if anything went wrong, but we had to save Hankyung hyung and Eunhyuk hyung and then we got the message that you were injured…”
Heechul nodded, “I’ll forgive you this once because it was to save my beautiful self.” He gave a grin to say all was forgiven before falling back against the pillows, all of his energy spent. “Have someone come in and give me some more painkillers, will you? Donghae will be in here in no time now that I’m awake.”
“There’s one more thing, hyung.” Sungmin bit the inside of his cheek. “We have…a visitor.”
…
…
…
“What?”
Siwon looked a little apprehensive, turning from Sungmin to Heechul, who was eyeing them with a mixture of confusion and annoyance.
“Leeteuk and Yesung brought him back.”
---
Henry couldn’t stop shaking.
It didn’t help that sitting on the couch in front of him was the owner of the dog he’d hit. And sitting beside him was a man with his leg in a cast that everyone told him was the dog.
Henry just wanted this bad smoothie-induced acid trip to end.
“Now, you said your name was Henry?” The dimpled man that had saved him gave him a comforting smile that eased Henry’s fears just a little. The man had introduced himself on the ride to the apartment complex. Teuk or Eeteuk, or something.
Henry gave a shallow, jerky nod.
The person he was terrified of the most was the man sitting next to ‘the dog’. He was injured as well, his leg in a brace of some sort, but the cold, even glare he’d given him since they’d stepped into the building and the dog owner had recognized him had been about the scariest thing he’d ever witnessed.
“We can’t keep him here.” A stockier man standing behind the couch commented. If it weren’t for the flower boy with the frigid stare he’d say this one was the most intimidating.
“Well we can’t just let him go. He knows about our powers.”
Henry turned away from the argument to the ‘dog’ he’d hit. The man noticed his gaze and sent him a cheerful smile and a little wave.
“Until Heechul hyung gets up we’ll just keep him here.” The sniper finally announced, “He’ll know what to do with him.”
“Why is it his decision we have to follow?” The burly man behind the couch sent sniper a questioning glare. “Jungsu is the oldest. He’s the leader.”
There was a moment of silence that felt charged with a tension that Henry figured had been there all along. Sniper and the ‘dog’ looked ready to argue. Rather, sniper looked ready to argue and the ‘dog’ just looked uncomfortable. And then there was the acne-ridden one that looked offended at the burly one’s comment that Henry hadn’t really noticed before this moment.
Henry just wanted to leave. And he wanted an explanation, better than the, “we’ll tell you when we’re at the apartment” one he’d gotten in the car. They were at the apartment now, so they needed to start tell him what the hell was going on.
“We could always kill him.”
Everyone turned at the sound of the new voice to see a man sitting in a wheelchair being pushed by the tall man and the one wearing headphones and a pink barrette that Henry had seen when he’d arrived. He decided immediately that the man in the wheelchair was the scariest: scarier than the gorilla monster that had almost torn him apart or the glaring boy in the leg brace.
“Heechul hyung!” It was a chorus of activity for a moment as the ‘dog’ leapt up from his seat and managed to hobble over to the other, falling down on the floor and grabbing his legs in a fierce hug.
The sniper had headed over as well, but his greeting was less enthusiastic. Henry saw the acne ridden boy stare, but he didn’t move. The Chinese man had reappeared at the wheelchair-bound man’s side as if he belonged there, and Henry didn’t think anyone would be able to move him if they tried.
“We are not going to kill an innocent civilian!” Leeteuk seemed to be the only one who had remembered Heechul’s comment about killing Henry.
“You shouldn’t have brought him here in the first place. You should have let that GAM user take care of him. We’re not an orphanage or an animal shelter. We don’t have time or room for strays.” Heechul answered back coolly.
Henry didn’t like him, and the feeling was undoubtedly mutual. Heechul watched Henry with a disinterest bordering on abhorrence. He didn’t think that the other man hated him. He just seemed…not to care. At all. As if Henry weren’t a human being but a fly that could either by let free or squashed depending on where he decided to land.
“We’re supposed to be saving lives, you know.”Leeteuk shot back.
Heechul gave a small sneer and a short laugh. “We aren’t superheroes, hyung.” He leaned back in the wheelchair with a sigh and continued before Leeteuk could argue back. “Do whatever you want with him. Kill him or lock him up, but don’t let him leave. We can talk about this later. I need to have a talk with the others.”
They all know what that meant, save Henry, who still had no idea what was going on.
Hangeng reluctantly stepped back and Yesung took his place while Sungmin helped Donghae stand. As Siwon turned the wheelchair toward the front door Heechul stopped him and looked back. “Kyuhyun-ah, come on.”
There was a moment of silence.
Kyuhyun stared at Heechul in shock before pointing to himself. “M…me?”
“Ya, get over here before I change my mind, you idiot.” Heechul snapped before turning back to Siwon. “Let’s go.”
Kyuhyun stared for a second longer before stumbling forward, practically running to catch up. He shot one look back at the rest of the group sitting around the living room, dumbfounded, to Henry who looked confused and terrified, to Hangeng, who looked oddly betrayed.
The smoldering glee he felt couldn’t be dampened by his guilt, and Kyuhyun found himself smiling as he walked out the door.
---
Leeteuk bit back an angry retort as he watched Kyuhyun run off after the others like an excited puppy. He didn’t know what was going on, but that talk that he and Heechul were going to have later…it would be long and detailed and no one would be leaving until he got answers, even if he had to withhold Heechul’s painkillers to do so.
But back to the matter at hand…he’d think about all of that later. He needed to do something about the poor boy sitting next to him, looking more terrified and confused than ever. He reached out a hand and patted Henry on the shoulder, “I’m sorry, I know all of this is so sudden. Don’t mind Heechul. He’s been through a lot lately.”
“We haven’t introduced ourselves, have we?” Ryeowook sat down next to Henry on his other side and gave a feeble smile. “I’m Ryeowook.”
“Shindong.” The chubby man supplied as Henry nodded feebly at Ryeowook in greeting.
“I’m Jungsu, but you can call me Leeteuk.” Leeteuk gave him a comforting smile that made him relax a bit more. “That’s Kangin.”
“I’m Eunhyuk.” The frightened, fidgety one sitting beside the one that glared answered. “This is Kibum.” He pointed to the one that was still glaring coldly.
“I’m Hangeng.” The Chinese man answered, and Henry found himself feeling more at ease with him than anyone else, for the simple fact that he was familiar, that the accent he carried was different and therefore relatable. This was someone else that didn’t entirely belong, and that meant Henry wasn’t as out of place as he’d thought.
“Now I know that you have a lot of questions…I’ll try and answer what I can.” Leeteuk had grabbed Henry’s hand. “But first, let me explain some things about why we’re here and…who we are.”
Henry slowly nodded.
“You know about the GAM virus, don’t you?”
Henry nodded again. Of course he knew about the GAM virus. His father was one of the leading researchers on it! It’s why they’d come to Korea in the first place. He opened his mouth to say so when Leeteuk continued.
“The GAM virus isn’t what the government has made it out to be. It isn’t just a strain of the H3N2 flu virus. The virus…it causes changes to people, Henry.” Leeteuk paused, as if unsure how to continue. “You saw what Yesung could do, and you saw my power, didn’t you?”
He didn’t know what he had seen. It was all a hallucination, anyway. He’d just been roofied or something, or maybe he had the GAM virus too? He didn’t know, but ‘superpowers’ wasn’t his first rational thought.
“The virus is airborne, so it’s probably spread across most of Korea by now. Only certain people are affected by it, of course. If it were introduced to all of Korea and everyone were infected, the government would have a problem. The government is still trying to figure out the exact reason only a small percentage have the advantage of accepting GAM. They created the virus, Henry.”
“Heh…what?” Henry stared at them all in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Of course it wasn’t created. His father was helping to find a cure. The government wouldn’t make something like this. These guys were all crazy. “So you’re saying it’s some kind of government conspiracy? Yeah right.”
“Aish, why doesn’t anyone just shut up and listen when we explain it?” Kangin snapped irritably.
“You didn’t the first time, either.” Leeteuk shot back, before continuing. “Henry, I know it’s hard to believe, but the government…the GAM Project, it’s a project to create super soldiers for Korea against the world. The Korean government is building an army.”
An army? What kind of sci-fi bullshit was this? He needed to get out and warn his father that there were crazies here that wanted to attack the government.
“I know it’s hard to believe, but you saw what we’re capable of…and we’re not even the useful ones.” Leeteuk gave a sardonic grin at that.
“I don’t know what I saw.” Henry replied back stiltedly. “I don’t know what I saw because it was all…I’m sick. I’m hallucinating. None of this is real.” Maybe he was just hearing things wrong. Maybe his lack of Korean vocabulary was screwing with what he was hearing. He was probably translating incorrectly. That had to be it.
“It must be a lot to take in.” Leeteuk nodded. “When you want to talk about it, we’re here. Until then, we’ll find you a place to sleep.”
“What do you mean? Can’t I just go home?”
Kangin snorted. “Go home? What do you think we are, stupid? You’re fucked like the rest of us kid. It’s only a matter of time before the government comes after you too. You’re a witness now. They won’t just let you go with a slap on the wrist and a promise not to tell.”
Henry bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying something he’d regret. These people were all obviously insane. The government wasn’t going to kill him because he wasn’t going to tell anyone. Besides, who would believe him anyway? He was obviously high as a kite.
He needed to get out of here before these people brainwashed him and made him drink their crazy-ass kool-aid and turned him into some kind of cult zombie.
He was fast. Most of them were injured. Once he got to the door he’d be home free. He’d take the stairs and then hide out in one of the buildings before he found a bus stop or a taxi. Yeah, that was the plan. He just had to get out first.
“I’m…you can’t just keep me here!” Henry shouted, jumping up. “I want to go home! You’re all freaks!” He bolted.
He made it about three feet before something hard slammed into his shins and his legs buckled. He found himself lying face first on the floor, nose grinding into the carpet and tears welling in his eyes in both pain and anger.
Someone grabbed his shoulder and turned him over onto his back. Ryeowook. He was looking down at him worriedly, “Are you alright?” Ryeowook then looked over to the couch, “That was unnecessary.”
Henry followed his gaze to where Kibum sat, holding Donghae’s crutch. He noticed Henry’s gaze and gave him a nod. “I figured that we had to send him a message.” And then he was staring deep into his eyes, and Henry couldn’t look away, despite how frightened he was at the moment. “None of us want to be here, but if we weren’t here we’d be dead. You should feel lucky you’ve been given the same option.”
Kibum stood and hobbled off down the hall. Even limping, Henry felt that the man’s exit was cool.
Eunhyuk had stood as well and looked from Henry to the hallway Kibum had just walked down. “…aish.” He ground out before heading down the hall after him.
Henry had sat up at this point and was rubbing his shins. They still stung from where he’d been hit, and he was rather certain that his legs would be one large bruise by the end of the day. He sniffled, but he scrunched his eyes shut and tried not to cry. He’d already yelled at them and tried to escape-and was beaten down by an injured man using the crutch of the “dog” that he’d almost killed-he needed to salvage what little pride he had left.
He opened his eyes when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned to see Ryeowook still crouched beside him, giving him a pitying look. Henry didn’t want his pity. He also didn’t want to see how Kangin looked, because he was certain that after Kibum he would be the most willing of those left to have him stuffed down the proverbial chimney.
Because of this he was surprised when it was Leeteuk who spoke: gentle, motherly Leeteuk. “Kangin, we’ll place him in our room for now.”
Kangin and the others seemed equally surprised. “Why ours? Yesung and Ryeowook’s room is better. Or Sungmin and Siwon’s.”
“I don’t know what Heechul is talking to the others about.” Leeteuk answered back evenly. “And I can’t guarantee Henry’s safety otherwise.” Leeteuk turned to Henry and his eyes were cold. “Do you understand the situation you’re in now?”
Sit down and shut up, or get killed by a feminine man in a wheelchair that made Professor X look like a pussy. Henry got the message clearly, but that didn’t mean he liked it. Anger and humiliation-and fear, he didn’t know if the fear would ever go away-still tingled down his spine.
He stood slowly-his legs almost gave out on him but Ryeowook held him up on his other side. “…where is your room?”
Leeteuk sighed and got up from the couch and walked toward him. “Come with me.” His voice was more gentle now, but it didn’t help put Henry at ease as the older man led him to the last room down the hall.
As they walked, he heard voices coming from one of the other rooms, voices he recognized distinctly as Kibum’s and Eunhyuk’s.
“Hyung isn’t going to let this go.”
“We don’t know what’s going on…let’s ask Donghae later.”
“When has that ever worked? Donghae isn’t going to tell us anything, hyung. He’s Heechul’s before he’s anyone else’s.”
“But he’s our…”
“Just go check on the Chinese boy. I think I might have broken his shin.”
He wasn’t Chinese. He was Taiwanese and Canadian…and a little Hong Kong. Henry shuffled after Leeteuk as the older man opened the door to his room and led him inside. Maybe he’d be ok…he just had to keep telling himself that he would be ok and that he’d find a way out of here and warn his father that there was a group of psycho terrorists out to kill him.
----
Kyuhyun didn’t know what was going on, but the fact that he was allowed into the room was enough. He sat at the end of the table and tried not to look too eager as the others sat. He’d been pushed to the end-still slightly an outsider-while the others took seats around Heechul at the head of the table.
He looked pale and tired, and Kyuhyun wanted to tell him that he should go rest. He wondered why the others hadn’t told him so. It seemed like something that Siwon would do, at the very least.
Instead, they all sat there quietly and waited for Heechul to speak. Kyuhyun wondered if they were going to make a comment about how he was there now, like…an introduction or something, but Heechul spoke as if there was nothing out of the ordinary.
“As you may have realized, our mission didn’t go as planned.” He leaned back in his wheelchair.
“Everything was fool proof.” Sungmin shot back. “We planned it all. We were supposed to go in, get the information, and get Kim Hyun Shik.” His brows knitted together in annoyance. “I don’t understand what went wrong.”
Get the information? What information? This hadn’t been an information retrieval mission…Kyuhyun pursed his lips and waited for an explanation.
“Right before I was attacked…” Heechul paused and gave a small laugh. “Don’t you wonder why you didn’t find what hit me and made this?” He looked pointedly at his stomach.
“Ryeowook and Kibum said that the wound was made with something that didn’t leave any traces. You were cold and shivering though, hyung. I thought you were dead…” Yesung swallowed and looked down.
And then suddenly, as one, the entire group turned to stare at him in shock.
“It can’t be…he was there hyung?” Donghae swallowed.
“That’s why we were discovered.” Heechul nodded, not looking pleased at the revelation. “I don’t know where he was hiding, but I saw him right when the lights turned on and then was hit.”
“He wasn’t there when the lights came back on.” Yesung looked confused-and worried. “How did he disappear?”
Kyuhyun was confused. So confused. What was going on? Who were they talking about?
“But if he was there…” Siwon looked more worried than shocked. “The others would be too.” He looked at Heechul. “Hyung, if he was there, was Ja-”
“He wasn’t.” Heechul answered back quickly, a sharp answer, before he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “I would have known if he was there.”
The others nodded, and Kyuhyun wanted to ask what was going on but he feared that if he brought attention to himself, to the fact that he didn’t know what was going on then they’d remember that he wasn’t supposed to be there.
“Now that we know they’re back on duty, we have to be mindful of all of our missions from now on.” Heechul leaned forward and rested his chin on his intertwined fingers. “Siwon, you and Yesung have been tracking Kim Hyun Shik, does it look like they were with him?”
“We didn’t see them.” Yesung shook his head. “But if they hid so well before…perhaps they have a new member that allows them to hide their presence?”
Heechul nodded. “Both of you, be careful. Don’t get close to the residence. Until we know the full extent of what is going on than we can’t be sure it’s safe.” He turned to Sungmin. “Sungmin, you and Kyuhyun will be decoding the information we received.”
Sungmin nodded, and Kyuhyun blinked. He was…being given a job? A job he didn’t understand, but a job nonetheless it seemed.
“Later, explain to him the details of what you’re doing.” Heechul paused, “…Donghae, get close to Henry Lau.”
There was a pause as the others turned to him with barely veiled curiosity. Donghae looked especially confused. “Hm? Why?”
“I’ve seen him somewhere.” Heechul answered cryptically. “I don’t remember where…but keep him close.”
“Alright.” Donghae nodded. “…what will you be doing while we’re all on our missions, hyung?”
Heechul just gave a slow smile. “I’m going to get some answers.”
---
Donghae was sleeping, but there were dried tear tracks on his face. Yesung watched as Heechul walked over to his bed and pulled the covers up to Donghae’s chin before sitting down on the edge of the mattress.
Yesung knew without asking what had happened. He swallowed, walking over to his own bed and placing the makeshift urn on the bedside table. He’d have to find a better place for it in the morning.
“Your clothes need to be thrown away.” Heechul spoke softly, fiddling with one of his gloves.
“…what did they make Donghae do?” Yesung whispered.
Heechul tore his gaze from Donghae’s face to Yesung and he gave a crooked smile. “They made him shapeshift in the same room as Bada. When he’s an animal, he can’t stop his instincts. He didn’t know what he was doing until afterwards.” The leather squeaked as Heechul gripped his hands together tightly. “…there wasn’t anything left for me to save for him.”
Yesung felt sick, worse than before. His legs gave out on him and he fell back onto his own bed. “Why?” He whispered hoarsely. “How could they do this?”
“It was hard, wasn’t it?”
Heechul and Yesung both looked to the doorway where Typhoon stood. His usual smile wasn’t as cheerful as before. It was frigid, but there was a manic gleam in his eyes, as if he were enjoying a funny joke.
“Go away Typhoon.” Heechul replied wearily, standing to head to his own bed. “We’re going to sleep.”
“It’s hard to kill something dear to you. Remember that, because now killing strangers will be so much easier.”
“Shut up Typhoon.” Heechul hissed. “Get out.”
Typhoon didn’t back down. He turned to Yesung. “That’s the point of this training. Don’t forget it. Killing strangers is easy, Jongwoon.” The door closed behind him and a second later Heechul’s book hit the wood, the sound echoing.
“Fucking…” Heechul stopped, because the sound had awoken Donghae who was staring around fearfully, as if he couldn’t quite remember what had happened.
“Hyung?”
“Go to sleep.” Heechul replied tersely, reaching down to grab his book. “…both of you.” He headed toward his bed but paused, because Donghae had turned to sob into his pillow and he was visibly shaking from holding in his tears.
Heechul lowered himself down onto the bed. “Don’t think about it.”
“W-what…did they make you do this too?” Donghae managed to get out.
“A cat.” Heechul replied, running a gloved hand along Donghae’s forehead, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “His name was Heebum.”
Yesung watched Heechul’s fingers brush against Donghae’s skin. He wondered how often Heechul found himself wishing he could touch people. He remembered the look when Heechul had petted Kkoming. There had been something raw, vulnerable about Heechul in that moment.
But it had only lasted a second, and then Heechul had become cold and callous again.
Yesung wondered…would he be the same way?
Yesung’s eyes flickered open and he found himself staring up at the still ceiling fan. He could hear Ryeowook’s heavy breathing in the bed next to his. It must have been their talk earlier that had led to revisiting bitter memories.
Typhoon…Yesung wondered how Heechul was taking it all. He turned over on the bed and found himself watching Ryeowook. He was dreaming about something, eyes twitching beneath the lids, lashes fluttering as he mumbled something incoherent into his pillow.
Typhoon, despite how kind he’d seemed in the beginning, had always been cruel. There’d always been a dangerous edge to him, like a sharpened blade that would as easily cut its wielder as his enemy. Yesung had never trusted him, despite his closeness to Heechul.
Sometimes Yesung wondered if perhaps he was the reason that Heechul had turned out the way he had.