What Doesn't Kill You: Chapter 10
Title: What Doesn't Kill You Chapter 10
Pairing: None in this chapter
Genre: Superhero AU, action
Rating: PG-13
Chapter 9 < --- Side Story: Sungmin--- > Chapter 11
Character Profiles
Siwon's Story
Hangeng's Story
Yesung's Story
Henry's Story
---
Kyuhyun had figured that once Heechul had decided he was part of the group that the rest of them would follow with their welcome. As it was, they all seemed wary of him. As they’d dispersed they’d shot both Heechul and Kyuhyun sidelong glances.
Even Donghae looked unsure as Yesung helped him hobble out of the debriefing room, and Siwon sent him one last, worried frown before wheeling Heechul out the door, leaving Sungmin and Kyuhyun alone.
Sungmin, of all people, he suspected to be the most welcoming. Despite his sometimes scary cheerfulness he was Kyuhyun’s first friend at the apartment complex. That had to account for something, didn’t it?
Apparently he’d thought incorrectly, because the moment the door closed behind Siwon, Sungmin’s smile fell to be replaced by a stony emotionless visage that Kyuhyun had never seen on his face before.
“So uh…” Kyuhyun cleared his throat. “What information are we looking at?”
Sungmin leaned back in his chair and sized Kyuhyun up through half-narrowed eyes, as if seeing him for the first time.
“What we find here, the others can’t know about.”
Kyuhyun blinked. “The…others…?”
“Leeteuk hyung and the others.” Sungmin clarified coldly.
Kyuhyun swallowed. Was the information…dangerous? They were all in this together, weren’t they? Why were they keeping something from the rest of the group? “Why can’t we tell them?”
Sungmin held the flashdrive in his hand so tightly that his knuckles had begun turning white from the pressure. His gaze was stony. “I don’t know why Heechul chose you, but let me tell you one thing. If you betray us, we will kill you.”
That wasn’t what Kyuhyun had expected. No matter what people had said about Sungmin, Kyuhyun had always believed he would continue to be the cheerful, pink-loving man that had befriended him his first day here. Not…this.
It was as if there was a different person sitting in front of him.
“Do you understand?”
No, he didn’t. He was more confused-and frightened-than ever. What was so important that they were threatening him with death? What were Sungmin and Heechul and the rest of the “usefuls” planning?
His throat clamped up as he suddenly realized that if he didn’t answer correctly, Sungmin really would kill him without batting an eye. The only person that would be able to stop him was Heechul.
Heechul.
Heechul had trusted him. That’s what Sungmin had said, right? So Heechul wanted him to be on his team. He wanted him as a member of the “usefuls”. That meant something. It had to mean something. He was useful and Hangeng was not. It had to mean something.
Kyuhyun found himself nodding slowly. “…I understand.”
Sungmin didn’t look convinced, but he held up the flash drive anyway. “Come on, we need to start decoding this.” He stood and headed toward the computer room.
Kyuhyun stood, hesitating, as he watched Sungmin’s retreating form. There was sureness to his steps, a coldness that Kyuhyun hadn’t seen before. Perhaps he’d never known the real Sungmin at all.
He followed behind silently.
---
For some reason, Eunhyuk had wanted to see Henry-or maybe Leeteuk had ordered him to watch him-and somehow he’d gotten Kibum to go with him, even if the other man didn’t seem as inclined to welcome their new addition.
At least, that’s what Donghae assumed when he found them.
“Hey! So this is where you guys were!” Donghae grinned as he peered around the door. He turned to Henry. “Hi, my name is Lee Donghae and I’m the dog that you hit.”
Henry squirmed uncomfortably at the memory, and he wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Um…sorry about that.”
“Oh it’s fine. I’m perfectly fine now!”
“Did you finish your talk?” Kibum asked. No, Donghae was not fine. Maybe in comparison to Heechul hyung, but that didn’t mean he was ready to go running around and transforming into kittens anytime soon.
Donghae nodded. “Yep! Heechul hyung seems better.”
Henry didn’t see why these people seemed worried about the evil feminine professor Xavier. He didn’t seem likeable at all. He supposed he was a bit biased since Heechul had told them to kill him, but even pushing that aside, he didn’t appear to be a very nice person.
Donghae shuffled over to Kangin’s bed and sat down. “We should throw Henry a welcoming party!”
“I don’t think anyone else is going to want to throw a party.” Eunhyuk put in, but Donghae waved him off.
“Ryeowook can make a cake! He likes making cakes.” Donghae had stood and began hobbling toward the door on his cast but was stopped by Kibum, who grabbed his arm with a frown.
“Sit down. I’ll go and get him.” Kibum murmured, “I need to walk around more anyway.” He limped out, leaving Henry with Eunhyuk and Donghae.
“I don’t think Kibum hyung likes me.” Henry finally answered.
“He’s probably just mad now that he can’t curse in English without someone understanding.” Donghae grinned, “Kibum went to school in California when he was little.”
“For a few years,” Eunhyuk supplied, and he saw the way Henry’s eyes lit up a bit in hope. It was as if he’d been tossed some kind of lifeline. Eunhyuk hoped he didn’t think it meant Kibum would be nicer to him. Henry was a threat to them, he knew that much, even if it was simply because Henry was different, and that Henry’s family would be looking for him.
Eunhyuk was rarely “in the know” but he wasn’t stupid like Heechul always said. They couldn’t fully trust Henry yet-maybe they never would-so for now he had to keep a close eye on him.
Especially since Donghae seemed overly friendly to someone that had almost killed him and-inadvertently because of this-almost killed his favorite hyung. Eunhyuk understood Donghae well enough to know that as cheerful and playful as he seemed on the outside, he was more than capable of hatred and holding a grudge.
It just didn’t sit well with him at all.
He’d have to ask Kibum about it later.
---
After three hours sitting on the rooftop of the hotel Siwon began to miss the warmth of their car parked three blocks away, and even more so for their apartment full of hot chocolate and down-feather comforters.
He could feel the chilly bite of oncoming winter even through his gloves. He zipped his coat up as far as it could go, the metal zipper brushing against his chin and making him shiver. He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Yesung looking unfazed, sprawled out on the ground with a pair of binoculars.
Siwon hunkered down beside him and bit the inside of his cheek. The silence was uncomfortable. It wasn’t that Siwon found it difficult to be around Yesung, but the situation they were in, the knowledge that in the building across from them could be the person that had almost killed Heechul…it put him on edge.
“…now that we know Typhoon and the others are out there and they know about us, what are we going to do hyung?”
Yesung shifted his attention from the seventh floor window to Siwon before his gaze flickered back again. “Heechul will take care of it.” Because Heechul always did.
Siwon nodded, but he looked unconvinced, “But if we have to go against them-”
“They chose their path. We have to stick with ours.” Yesung answered, grip tightening on his binoculars. There was movement…the curtain had shifted. Were they leaving?
“But if we have to go against each other-”
“We’ll win. We always did in training.” Yesung continued scanning the building to see if any of the other rooms showed any activity. It was easier than looking over at Siwon, who he knew was confused and worried.
“Only as a group,” Siwon continued, “One on one-”
Yesung was a mellow person. He didn’t often get angry, so even when he continued to interject, it was in that same bored, dull tone he always used, “We just have to make sure we aren’t separated.” He paused. “No matter what we can’t be separated.”
Siwon nodded slowly, as Yesung sat up from where he lay, resting his binoculars in his lap as he leaned against the air conditioning unit. Siwon watched him fiddle with the straps, “Why didn’t Typhoon and the others come with us? I wasn’t there when Heechul hyung asked them.”
“Only Sungmin was.” Yesung shrugged. “I don’t remember. That day was…” I try to forget it. No one wants to remember anything from that place, especially not that day.
Siwon sat down beside him and busied himself with the security camera feed on his iPad. That day, he and Donghae had been sent ahead to get Eunhyuk and Ryeowook out of the facility. Yesung had cleared the way for them and stayed behind to help Heechul and Sungmin. Heechul had wanted to ask Typhoon to come with them.
…ever since then, Heechul hyung had walked with a limp.
“Fuck! Let’s go!” Sungmin’s arm was bleeding-Yesung could see the bone-and he and Heechul were holding each other up. They were slipping on their own blood against the tiled floor, and Yesung hurried forward to help with Leeteuk only a second behind him.
Heechul’s leg was in shreds, and his mouth was ringed in crimson, the liquid dripping down his chin.
Leeteuk grabbed Sungmin, and the others held on as he phased them through the wall. Heechul collapsed on the other side and Yesung pulled him up. The other man didn’t speak but he nodded through the pain, coughing up a mouthful of blood and bracing himself.
There were no sirens, and that scared Yesung even more as they neared the cleaning van they’d gotten for this mission. Judging from the damage that had been dealt, they’d had to have made some noise. Shouldn’t people from the facility be converging on them from all sides?
Or had Sungmin silenced them? Right. That was probably it. Yesung leaned back against the seat and turned to the two they’d just saved. He tried to smile, but both of them were looking more terrified than anything. One of them, a dark-haired boy with sharp facial features and wide-eyes stared at Heechul and Sungmin in horror.
Heechul had found a mop bucket from the shelves and proceeded to throw up a mouthful of blood.
“Hyung! Are you alright?” Siwon called from the side. He was sitting in the front but took this moment to crawl over the seat into the back. He looked to their two new members, “…do you want to go sit in the front with Shindong and Leeteuk?”
One of them, a red-head, scurried over the seat to get as far from the blood as possible. The other hesitated, looking as if he wanted to help but was unable to get passed the shock of everything that had just happened.
They didn’t have much time to worry about it, however, because Sungmin began screaming.
“Fuck! Fuck! Get it out!” Sungmin was writhing on the ground, seizing as he clawed at the back of his neck.
The two pressed themselves back against the seats, as far from Sungmin as possible as the others converged on him. Heechul motioned to Siwon and the other man turned Sungmin onto his stomach, holding him in place.
“Oh god…” Yesung slid down against the wall, trying not to look at the plant root growing out of Sungmin’s skin.
Heechul dug into Siwon’s boot and grabbed the switchblade he kept there, he coughed up another mouthful of blood, spitting it into the mop bucket. Then he brushed away Sungmin’s hair and dug into the back of his neck with the knife with one hand and pulled on the root with the other.
Sungmin screamed, bucking under him, thrashing in pain. Siwon held him fast, but Yesung and Donghae ended up having to help as the others continued to stare.
“What’s going on? Is he ok?” Leeteuk asked from the front. Shindong looked back worriedly through the rear view mirror but couldn’t see anything.
Heechul pulled, hacking, until his hand came up full of bloodied roots which he threw into the mop bucket. They writhed there in the blood before going still, and Heechul was already pressing his jacket against the wound.
He tried to speak, but it came out garbled and he ended up having to throw up another mouthful.
“We need to get them to Kibummie!” Donghae looked frantically from one to the other. The jacket that Heechul had been wearing was once white. Now he watched it turn a disgusting pinkish red against Sungmin’s neck.
“W-what is going on?” The angelic-faced boy finally squeaked out.
The others turned, as if remembering the two they’d saved for the first time. The boy swallowed, before he pointed at Sungmin, “He’s…I can hear the plants in him. There’s still some against his spine.”
“We can’t get too close to his spine!” Donghae looked ready to panic. He leaned over the seat, bloodied hands leaving slick stains against the fabric. “Hurry Shindong hyung!”
Heechul paused only for a moment before swallowing. He spoke, but his voice was hard to distinguish around the blood bubbling from his lips. “Where is it?”
“…what?” The boy squeaked.
“The roots.” He managed, pointing at Sungmin with the knife.
“I…I don’t think…” The boy looked fearful and unsure. “I don’t even know how I know about the roots! I can’t tell you! It’s not real!” He clenched his eyes shut and put his hands over his ears.
Yesung swallowed, looking from Sungmin to Heechul to the boy that was now crying softly. He reached out and grabbed one of his hands and pulled it back. “Hey,” He gave a soft smile. “I believe you. We need your help, please. I’m Yesung.”
The boy hesitated, before he looked back down at Sungmin. He began to thrash and scream again and Donghae and Siwon tightened their grip. Finally the boy climbed over the seat and held out his hand for the knife.
Heechul stared at him for a few moments before he gave it.
“…I’m Ryeowook.” The boy finally whispered, before he removed the jacket and began.
“Hyung, you ok?”
Yesung blinked. Siwon was staring at him worriedly, and he realized that he must have been out of it for a few moments. He gave a small smile and a nod before going back to his binoculars. “…Siwon…?”
“Yeah hyung?”
“Definitely…we definitely can’t let them separate us.”
---
Heechul stared woefully up at his top bunk from where he sat in his wheelchair and wondered how long he’d be confined to the stupid thing. Sleeping in it was going to be a bitch, but he preferred it to the hospital room.
He gave an agitated sigh and turned his attention back to the laptop in his lap and the files it held. Henry Lau…he’d find out what about the kid had made him seem familiar. Kim Heechul didn’t like not knowing something.
He rolled his shoulders and felt a satisfying pop. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, taking a deep breath. The pain was coming back. He’d need some more painkillers…no, he didn’t need anymore. The less dependent he was on the things the better. He just needed to focus on something that wasn’t pain.
Or perhaps he just needed to focus on a pain he was familiar and comfortable with, like the ever-present ache in his leg. But that only served to remind him that both injuries had been given by the same person.
Xmas seemed to have gotten used to living with one arm and channeling his gift through it.
He also seemed to have continued his initial hatred of Heechul.
Fucking bastard…first he went for my leg and now my stomach. Next time I’m taking more than an arm. Heechul’s fingers curled around the sides of the laptop. Xmas had been lucky that Typhoon had cut his arm off before the rest of his body could disintegrate.
It really was a shame that his reflexes were so quick and that Heechul had been in too much pain of his own to make sure he killed him outright.
At least Sungmin had fucked Attack up enough that he probably couldn’t function properly. Heechul would just have to focus on the positive things.
Xmas was there…that means the others are nearby if they aren’t dead already. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn’t want to deal with them, and he didn’t want his team to have to deal with them either.
The last thing they needed was a family reunion.
He knew the others were bracing themselves for that moment-had been since they’d escaped-and he wondered if maybe he was the only one dreading it. He didn’t like feeling that weak.
The door to the bedroom opened and Hangeng walked in with a tray of food and a medicine bottle. “Hey.”
Heechul shut the laptop closed with a definite click-not quickly, as if he were hiding something-but deliberately, because they both knew that Hangeng wasn’t allowed to see it.
Hangeng didn’t comment on the action as he sat down on the bottom bunk beside Heechul’s wheelchair and placed down the tray. “Are you hungry? Ryeowook said not to take your medication without eating first.”
Heechul shrugged and grabbed for an orange.
“…why did you let Kyuhyun go with you?”
Heechul picked at the skin. His leather-clad finger dug too far and the juices squirted out onto his palm. “We’re decoding some information.” Heechul answered truthfully. “The kid seemed up to the job and his power made it easy, that’s all. Why?”
“Is that all?” Hangeng asked softly.
Heechul’s eyes narrowed. “What are you implying?” His grip on the orange tightened and the juice dripped onto his pants’ leg.
“It’s just…” Hangeng looked away. “Are you sure?”
“Idiot.” Heechul rolled his eyes and reached out to poke Hangeng in the forehead with a leather-encased finger. He tore off a slice of orange and popped it into his mouth. He took one bite and swallowed as the citrus flavor turned to ash.
He grabbed for the water.
---
It wasn’t an easy decision to make, and Leeteuk felt more than a little uncomfortable as the group stared back at him.
They shouldn’t be having this meeting at all. But like Kangin had said, if the “usefuls” were keeping secrets, they needed to be ready. But ready for what? Leeteuk didn’t want to believe that it could end with sides being chosen, but they needed to be ready in case it happened.
Leeteuk felt responsible for all of those that had been deemed “useless” so he needed to find a way to protect them.
“What are we going to do about the kid?” Kangin poked at his ramen with a chopstick, looking uninterested.
Ryeowook eyed him with a bit of annoyance-he’d made the ramen at Kangin’s request and the older man wasn’t even eating!-but sat down in his own seat and wrapped his fingers around his coffee mug.
“He’ll stay in our room for now.” Leeteuk rubbed his forehead and felt a soft twinge that meant an oncoming headache. “Ryeowook, are you going to check Heechul’s injury later?”
Ryeowook nodded.
“Where are Eunhyuk and Kibum?” Shindong was eating his own ramen with his usual gusto, but he’d paused as he noticed that two of their own weren’t present.
“I had them watching Henry.” Leeteuk replied. “We can’t leave him alone.”
“Why not? No one is going to hurt him. He’s just a kid.” Shindong shrugged, “It’s not like anyone is going to try and take him out. I mean, what can he do anyway?”
“I don’t know, but we don’t know what Heechul is planning.” Kangin grumbled, and he stabbed a piece of pork floating on the surface of his broth and held the impaled meat up for inspection. “We have to keep him somewhere away from the others.”
“Speaking of others, what’s with Heechul hyung picking out Kyuhyun, huh?” Shindong put in. “That was weird.”
Yes, it was. Leeteuk didn’t know what was going on there but he would definitely be asking later. He was hoping it would be after Ryeowook gave Heechul more pain medication though. He’d be easier to deal with if he couldn’t feel the hole in his stomach.
“We need to know whose side he’s on.” Kangin looked around the table seriously.
“Why do there have to be sides?” Ryeowook asked softly. “Aren’t we all on the same side?” Of course they were. They were his hyungs…Yesung was with them. They had saved the rest of them, of course they were all on the same side!
“It’s complicated, Wookie.” Leeteuk replied softly. “I don’t know what’s going on either but something feels different.” Something had felt different since the beginning. “We need to be cautious, just in case.”
“My hyungs wouldn’t hurt us.” Ryeowook answered back stiffly.
“Yeah, well we don’t know that.” Kangin snapped back, more than a little brusquely. Ryeowook bit back an angry retort when he saw Leeteuk’s silent agreement and Shindong’s hesitant acceptance. All of them were thinking the same thing: what happens when the others turn on us?
But they wouldn’t! Did Eunhyuk and Kibum think the same way? Of course not. They were with Donghae. The three of them were inseparable. It was impossible for them to distrust Donghae and the others, right? Right. Ryeowook wasn’t going to let paranoia destroy them from the inside.
He’d talk with Kibum and Eunhyuk later. They had to figure out some way to get the others to trust Heechul. It wasn’t fair to be so cruel.
Something in the back of his mind seemed to crawl forward, digging into his brain and latching on and refusing to budge, they’ve been hiding so much from you for so long…you don’t know what they’re planning. Any time you’ve asked, Yesung has never told you the truth. He’s lied to you.
NO! Yesung had never lied. But he’d never told him the truth either. He’d always avoided the subject, or asked Ryeowook not to ask about it again. Ryeowook swallowed. What if…they really were planning something?
The door opened and Ryeowook jumped, practically falling out of his chair.
Kibum looked around the kitchen with a raised eyebrow. “…did I miss something?”
“No, nothing that they can’t fill you in on.” Leeteuk answered back tiredly.
“Donghae wants to throw Henry a welcoming party.” Kibum continued. He turned to Ryeowook, “He wants to ask if you’ll bake a cake.”
Ryeowook nodded, breaking out in a small smile. “Of course!” Right. Nothing was wrong. Everything was normal. They were going to have a party and everything would be fine.
“I could go for some beer.” Kangin grinned, “Should I pick some up at the store?”
“There’s no need to get drunk.” Leeteuk scolded, before standing. “I have something to talk about with Heechul.” It seemed like he’d have to have that talk without the buffer painkillers after all.
“Do you want someone to go with you?” Kangin’s smile had fallen slightly.
“No. Just the two of us.” This talk has been a long time coming.
---
Heechul passed Kyuhyun in the hallway and the other boy barely looked up. When he spotted him he jumped slightly and gave a shaky nod in greeting before disappearing back into the apartment. Heechul was left momentarily confused before he wheeled himself into the computer room to see Sungmin briskly going through a file.
“If you turn those pages any faster you’re going to rip them in half.”
Sungmin looked up at Heechul’s voice. “Hyung! You should be resting.”
Heechul shrugged and patted the laptop on his lap. “I found out a few interesting pieces of information. Did you find out anything from the codes?”
“I’m still trying to break it.”
“Why don’t you just let Kyuhyun touch it?” Heechul suggested, and the slight, panicked look that crossed Sungmin’s face told him why the younger man had looked so frightened. “You stopped him?”
Sungmin looked like he wanted to argue. He’d probably been rehearsing this speech ever since Heechul had said that Kyuhyun would be joining their group. He clenched the papers in his hands tightly and they crinkled at the edges. “Do you trust him?”
“He trusts me.” Heechul answered back readily. “And we can use that to your advantage. He would have been one of mine at the training facility anyway.” Heechul didn’t know why Sungmin was so against this.
“But he isn’t one of us.” Simple, but true. So that was the answer. Did Sungmin think someone was threatening their tight-knit family? He’d always been possessive of what was his, and overly-protective.
“I thought you were his friend. Why are you being so harsh all of a sudden?” Heechul had placed his laptop on the table but didn’t open it. His information could wait till this was finished.
“Everyone here is my friend.” Sungmin answered. “But they’re just friends.” They aren’t family. No, closer than family. They aren’t you or Siwon or Donghae or Yesung. “What about you and Hankyung hyung? He would do anything you asked him to.”Not that Sungmin would have accepted him either, but that choice just seemed more logical.
“Would he?” Heechul questioned aloud and shot Sungmin a sardonic grin. “I wonder.”
Sungmin would have asked what Heechul meant by that but the door opened and Leeteuk walked in. Heechul eyed him with a tired sigh. It looked like he’d have to tell Sungmin the information later. “Sungmin, go check on the kid and then go to sleep. You’ve been up for a while.”
Sungmin’s jaw tightened. “I’ll stay up until Siwon and Yesung get back.”
“Well, wait for them outside.”Leave. It was an order, but one that Sungmin didn’t take well. He was already agitated with the earlier talk, and he’d never quite trusted Leeteuk to begin with. Heechul was injured, and Leeteuk had been trained enough to be able to take him out in his current state. It wasn’t safe to leave Heechul alone with him.
“Go.” Heechul repeated, annoyed, and Sungmin found himself heading for the door. He walked outside and closed it with a soft click.
Heechul didn’t hear Sungmin’s retreating footsteps and he knew he was waiting outside, listening. He didn’t think anything said between Leeteuk and himself would be confidential so he didn’t call out to him to tell him to go into the apartment. He’d only made him leave for Leeteuk’s sake, after all. “I guess it’s time for that talk, huh?”
“Yeah.” Leeteuk sat down at the table. He looked older than he should have. Heechul wasn’t an inherently caring person, but he’d become attached to his only hyung enough to worry that he hadn’t been sleeping well. “Have you phased lately?”
“Not since our mission.” Leeteuk replied, “I figure I’ll have an attack soon.” They always came after using his power. “But you’re not going to change the subject on me, Kim Heechul.”
Heechul shrugged, “Whatever. Talk.”
“You’ve been harsher lately.”
“I just don’t think it’s smart to let a normal kid run around our apartment.” Heechul defended. “We don’t know anything about him. He could be a spy.”
“He doesn’t even have a power!” Leeteuk answered back, exasperated.
“What if he has the ability to hide it? We don’t know if he’s really a civilian or not. He could be a GAM user.”
“Not everyone is a spy. Not everyone is the enemy. When did you become so paranoid that you couldn’t trust even us?” Because that was the real reason Leeteuk was angry.
Heechul eyed him for a moment. “When have I never trusted you?”
“You’ve been keeping things from us, haven’t you?” Leeteuk asked wearily. He already knew the answer, and they both knew it was rhetorical. “Why?”
“Because there are things you don’t approve of.” Heechul answered truthfully, and the finality and coldness there was deafening. His expression was clear and apathetic.
“Why do you have to do those kinds of things?” Leeteuk managed to get out. “Why do you have to kill innocent people? This was never about killing our enemies. It was about saving people.”
Heechul was silent, but his eyes said enough. He was quietly judging, and in his eyes Leeteuk was lacking. Finally he spoke, and his voice was soft. “We’ve been through a lot together, but I wonder just how far you’re willing to go to achieve your goals. Sacrifices must be made.”
“You aren’t some military general. You aren’t Sun Tzu.” Leeteuk bit out. Angry. Tired. He just wanted all of this to end.
Heechul looked offended and more than a little annoyed at Leeteuk’s statement but he hid it behind a pained wince and a crooked smile. “Someone needs to be if we’re going to survive. We’re different hyung. We aren’t human anymore.”
Leeteuk let out a sigh that ended with a shaky half-sob. “I just want to go back to my family. That’s all any of us want. Why can’t we go back to the way we were, Heechul?”
Heechul’s eyes narrowed. “Because everything has changed. You can’t ignore that.”
“I can!” Leeteuk shouted, slamming his hands down on the table. The sound echoed. “We can pretend it never happened.”
“No.” Heechul’s voice broke softly, and he no longer looked angry. “You can pretend and forget. But we can’t.”
He looked younger, more fragile than Leeteuk was used to. Was this the young Heechul before the training facility? Before 12 years in that hell had turned him into what he was now? Leeteuk didn’t know, but he did know that the boy he saw wasn’t there any longer. He’d probably imagined it, because Heechul looked cold and haughty once more.
“I think we’ve finished our talk.” Heechul turned his wheelchair toward the door.
“…Heechul…” Leeteuk sighed.
“Don’t make me lose what respect I have for you, hyung.” Heechul whispered, and opened the door and wheeled himself out, leaving Leeteuk alone.
Leeteuk looked up before the door closed to see Sungmin’s harsh, pained glare and he knew that he’d heard it all. He didn’t care, he simply leaned his forehead against the cool wood and closed his eyes.
Why couldn’t they all just go back to the way they’d been?
What was so wrong with being happy?
Pairing: None in this chapter
Genre: Superhero AU, action
Rating: PG-13
Chapter 9 < --- Side Story: Sungmin--- > Chapter 11
Character Profiles
Siwon's Story
Hangeng's Story
Yesung's Story
Henry's Story
---
Kyuhyun had figured that once Heechul had decided he was part of the group that the rest of them would follow with their welcome. As it was, they all seemed wary of him. As they’d dispersed they’d shot both Heechul and Kyuhyun sidelong glances.
Even Donghae looked unsure as Yesung helped him hobble out of the debriefing room, and Siwon sent him one last, worried frown before wheeling Heechul out the door, leaving Sungmin and Kyuhyun alone.
Sungmin, of all people, he suspected to be the most welcoming. Despite his sometimes scary cheerfulness he was Kyuhyun’s first friend at the apartment complex. That had to account for something, didn’t it?
Apparently he’d thought incorrectly, because the moment the door closed behind Siwon, Sungmin’s smile fell to be replaced by a stony emotionless visage that Kyuhyun had never seen on his face before.
“So uh…” Kyuhyun cleared his throat. “What information are we looking at?”
Sungmin leaned back in his chair and sized Kyuhyun up through half-narrowed eyes, as if seeing him for the first time.
“What we find here, the others can’t know about.”
Kyuhyun blinked. “The…others…?”
“Leeteuk hyung and the others.” Sungmin clarified coldly.
Kyuhyun swallowed. Was the information…dangerous? They were all in this together, weren’t they? Why were they keeping something from the rest of the group? “Why can’t we tell them?”
Sungmin held the flashdrive in his hand so tightly that his knuckles had begun turning white from the pressure. His gaze was stony. “I don’t know why Heechul chose you, but let me tell you one thing. If you betray us, we will kill you.”
That wasn’t what Kyuhyun had expected. No matter what people had said about Sungmin, Kyuhyun had always believed he would continue to be the cheerful, pink-loving man that had befriended him his first day here. Not…this.
It was as if there was a different person sitting in front of him.
“Do you understand?”
No, he didn’t. He was more confused-and frightened-than ever. What was so important that they were threatening him with death? What were Sungmin and Heechul and the rest of the “usefuls” planning?
His throat clamped up as he suddenly realized that if he didn’t answer correctly, Sungmin really would kill him without batting an eye. The only person that would be able to stop him was Heechul.
Heechul.
Heechul had trusted him. That’s what Sungmin had said, right? So Heechul wanted him to be on his team. He wanted him as a member of the “usefuls”. That meant something. It had to mean something. He was useful and Hangeng was not. It had to mean something.
Kyuhyun found himself nodding slowly. “…I understand.”
Sungmin didn’t look convinced, but he held up the flash drive anyway. “Come on, we need to start decoding this.” He stood and headed toward the computer room.
Kyuhyun stood, hesitating, as he watched Sungmin’s retreating form. There was sureness to his steps, a coldness that Kyuhyun hadn’t seen before. Perhaps he’d never known the real Sungmin at all.
He followed behind silently.
---
For some reason, Eunhyuk had wanted to see Henry-or maybe Leeteuk had ordered him to watch him-and somehow he’d gotten Kibum to go with him, even if the other man didn’t seem as inclined to welcome their new addition.
At least, that’s what Donghae assumed when he found them.
“Hey! So this is where you guys were!” Donghae grinned as he peered around the door. He turned to Henry. “Hi, my name is Lee Donghae and I’m the dog that you hit.”
Henry squirmed uncomfortably at the memory, and he wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Um…sorry about that.”
“Oh it’s fine. I’m perfectly fine now!”
“Did you finish your talk?” Kibum asked. No, Donghae was not fine. Maybe in comparison to Heechul hyung, but that didn’t mean he was ready to go running around and transforming into kittens anytime soon.
Donghae nodded. “Yep! Heechul hyung seems better.”
Henry didn’t see why these people seemed worried about the evil feminine professor Xavier. He didn’t seem likeable at all. He supposed he was a bit biased since Heechul had told them to kill him, but even pushing that aside, he didn’t appear to be a very nice person.
Donghae shuffled over to Kangin’s bed and sat down. “We should throw Henry a welcoming party!”
“I don’t think anyone else is going to want to throw a party.” Eunhyuk put in, but Donghae waved him off.
“Ryeowook can make a cake! He likes making cakes.” Donghae had stood and began hobbling toward the door on his cast but was stopped by Kibum, who grabbed his arm with a frown.
“Sit down. I’ll go and get him.” Kibum murmured, “I need to walk around more anyway.” He limped out, leaving Henry with Eunhyuk and Donghae.
“I don’t think Kibum hyung likes me.” Henry finally answered.
“He’s probably just mad now that he can’t curse in English without someone understanding.” Donghae grinned, “Kibum went to school in California when he was little.”
“For a few years,” Eunhyuk supplied, and he saw the way Henry’s eyes lit up a bit in hope. It was as if he’d been tossed some kind of lifeline. Eunhyuk hoped he didn’t think it meant Kibum would be nicer to him. Henry was a threat to them, he knew that much, even if it was simply because Henry was different, and that Henry’s family would be looking for him.
Eunhyuk was rarely “in the know” but he wasn’t stupid like Heechul always said. They couldn’t fully trust Henry yet-maybe they never would-so for now he had to keep a close eye on him.
Especially since Donghae seemed overly friendly to someone that had almost killed him and-inadvertently because of this-almost killed his favorite hyung. Eunhyuk understood Donghae well enough to know that as cheerful and playful as he seemed on the outside, he was more than capable of hatred and holding a grudge.
It just didn’t sit well with him at all.
He’d have to ask Kibum about it later.
---
After three hours sitting on the rooftop of the hotel Siwon began to miss the warmth of their car parked three blocks away, and even more so for their apartment full of hot chocolate and down-feather comforters.
He could feel the chilly bite of oncoming winter even through his gloves. He zipped his coat up as far as it could go, the metal zipper brushing against his chin and making him shiver. He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Yesung looking unfazed, sprawled out on the ground with a pair of binoculars.
Siwon hunkered down beside him and bit the inside of his cheek. The silence was uncomfortable. It wasn’t that Siwon found it difficult to be around Yesung, but the situation they were in, the knowledge that in the building across from them could be the person that had almost killed Heechul…it put him on edge.
“…now that we know Typhoon and the others are out there and they know about us, what are we going to do hyung?”
Yesung shifted his attention from the seventh floor window to Siwon before his gaze flickered back again. “Heechul will take care of it.” Because Heechul always did.
Siwon nodded, but he looked unconvinced, “But if we have to go against them-”
“They chose their path. We have to stick with ours.” Yesung answered, grip tightening on his binoculars. There was movement…the curtain had shifted. Were they leaving?
“But if we have to go against each other-”
“We’ll win. We always did in training.” Yesung continued scanning the building to see if any of the other rooms showed any activity. It was easier than looking over at Siwon, who he knew was confused and worried.
“Only as a group,” Siwon continued, “One on one-”
Yesung was a mellow person. He didn’t often get angry, so even when he continued to interject, it was in that same bored, dull tone he always used, “We just have to make sure we aren’t separated.” He paused. “No matter what we can’t be separated.”
Siwon nodded slowly, as Yesung sat up from where he lay, resting his binoculars in his lap as he leaned against the air conditioning unit. Siwon watched him fiddle with the straps, “Why didn’t Typhoon and the others come with us? I wasn’t there when Heechul hyung asked them.”
“Only Sungmin was.” Yesung shrugged. “I don’t remember. That day was…” I try to forget it. No one wants to remember anything from that place, especially not that day.
Siwon sat down beside him and busied himself with the security camera feed on his iPad. That day, he and Donghae had been sent ahead to get Eunhyuk and Ryeowook out of the facility. Yesung had cleared the way for them and stayed behind to help Heechul and Sungmin. Heechul had wanted to ask Typhoon to come with them.
…ever since then, Heechul hyung had walked with a limp.
“Fuck! Let’s go!” Sungmin’s arm was bleeding-Yesung could see the bone-and he and Heechul were holding each other up. They were slipping on their own blood against the tiled floor, and Yesung hurried forward to help with Leeteuk only a second behind him.
Heechul’s leg was in shreds, and his mouth was ringed in crimson, the liquid dripping down his chin.
Leeteuk grabbed Sungmin, and the others held on as he phased them through the wall. Heechul collapsed on the other side and Yesung pulled him up. The other man didn’t speak but he nodded through the pain, coughing up a mouthful of blood and bracing himself.
There were no sirens, and that scared Yesung even more as they neared the cleaning van they’d gotten for this mission. Judging from the damage that had been dealt, they’d had to have made some noise. Shouldn’t people from the facility be converging on them from all sides?
Or had Sungmin silenced them? Right. That was probably it. Yesung leaned back against the seat and turned to the two they’d just saved. He tried to smile, but both of them were looking more terrified than anything. One of them, a dark-haired boy with sharp facial features and wide-eyes stared at Heechul and Sungmin in horror.
Heechul had found a mop bucket from the shelves and proceeded to throw up a mouthful of blood.
“Hyung! Are you alright?” Siwon called from the side. He was sitting in the front but took this moment to crawl over the seat into the back. He looked to their two new members, “…do you want to go sit in the front with Shindong and Leeteuk?”
One of them, a red-head, scurried over the seat to get as far from the blood as possible. The other hesitated, looking as if he wanted to help but was unable to get passed the shock of everything that had just happened.
They didn’t have much time to worry about it, however, because Sungmin began screaming.
“Fuck! Fuck! Get it out!” Sungmin was writhing on the ground, seizing as he clawed at the back of his neck.
The two pressed themselves back against the seats, as far from Sungmin as possible as the others converged on him. Heechul motioned to Siwon and the other man turned Sungmin onto his stomach, holding him in place.
“Oh god…” Yesung slid down against the wall, trying not to look at the plant root growing out of Sungmin’s skin.
Heechul dug into Siwon’s boot and grabbed the switchblade he kept there, he coughed up another mouthful of blood, spitting it into the mop bucket. Then he brushed away Sungmin’s hair and dug into the back of his neck with the knife with one hand and pulled on the root with the other.
Sungmin screamed, bucking under him, thrashing in pain. Siwon held him fast, but Yesung and Donghae ended up having to help as the others continued to stare.
“What’s going on? Is he ok?” Leeteuk asked from the front. Shindong looked back worriedly through the rear view mirror but couldn’t see anything.
Heechul pulled, hacking, until his hand came up full of bloodied roots which he threw into the mop bucket. They writhed there in the blood before going still, and Heechul was already pressing his jacket against the wound.
He tried to speak, but it came out garbled and he ended up having to throw up another mouthful.
“We need to get them to Kibummie!” Donghae looked frantically from one to the other. The jacket that Heechul had been wearing was once white. Now he watched it turn a disgusting pinkish red against Sungmin’s neck.
“W-what is going on?” The angelic-faced boy finally squeaked out.
The others turned, as if remembering the two they’d saved for the first time. The boy swallowed, before he pointed at Sungmin, “He’s…I can hear the plants in him. There’s still some against his spine.”
“We can’t get too close to his spine!” Donghae looked ready to panic. He leaned over the seat, bloodied hands leaving slick stains against the fabric. “Hurry Shindong hyung!”
Heechul paused only for a moment before swallowing. He spoke, but his voice was hard to distinguish around the blood bubbling from his lips. “Where is it?”
“…what?” The boy squeaked.
“The roots.” He managed, pointing at Sungmin with the knife.
“I…I don’t think…” The boy looked fearful and unsure. “I don’t even know how I know about the roots! I can’t tell you! It’s not real!” He clenched his eyes shut and put his hands over his ears.
Yesung swallowed, looking from Sungmin to Heechul to the boy that was now crying softly. He reached out and grabbed one of his hands and pulled it back. “Hey,” He gave a soft smile. “I believe you. We need your help, please. I’m Yesung.”
The boy hesitated, before he looked back down at Sungmin. He began to thrash and scream again and Donghae and Siwon tightened their grip. Finally the boy climbed over the seat and held out his hand for the knife.
Heechul stared at him for a few moments before he gave it.
“…I’m Ryeowook.” The boy finally whispered, before he removed the jacket and began.
“Hyung, you ok?”
Yesung blinked. Siwon was staring at him worriedly, and he realized that he must have been out of it for a few moments. He gave a small smile and a nod before going back to his binoculars. “…Siwon…?”
“Yeah hyung?”
“Definitely…we definitely can’t let them separate us.”
---
Heechul stared woefully up at his top bunk from where he sat in his wheelchair and wondered how long he’d be confined to the stupid thing. Sleeping in it was going to be a bitch, but he preferred it to the hospital room.
He gave an agitated sigh and turned his attention back to the laptop in his lap and the files it held. Henry Lau…he’d find out what about the kid had made him seem familiar. Kim Heechul didn’t like not knowing something.
He rolled his shoulders and felt a satisfying pop. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, taking a deep breath. The pain was coming back. He’d need some more painkillers…no, he didn’t need anymore. The less dependent he was on the things the better. He just needed to focus on something that wasn’t pain.
Or perhaps he just needed to focus on a pain he was familiar and comfortable with, like the ever-present ache in his leg. But that only served to remind him that both injuries had been given by the same person.
Xmas seemed to have gotten used to living with one arm and channeling his gift through it.
He also seemed to have continued his initial hatred of Heechul.
Fucking bastard…first he went for my leg and now my stomach. Next time I’m taking more than an arm. Heechul’s fingers curled around the sides of the laptop. Xmas had been lucky that Typhoon had cut his arm off before the rest of his body could disintegrate.
It really was a shame that his reflexes were so quick and that Heechul had been in too much pain of his own to make sure he killed him outright.
At least Sungmin had fucked Attack up enough that he probably couldn’t function properly. Heechul would just have to focus on the positive things.
Xmas was there…that means the others are nearby if they aren’t dead already. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn’t want to deal with them, and he didn’t want his team to have to deal with them either.
The last thing they needed was a family reunion.
He knew the others were bracing themselves for that moment-had been since they’d escaped-and he wondered if maybe he was the only one dreading it. He didn’t like feeling that weak.
The door to the bedroom opened and Hangeng walked in with a tray of food and a medicine bottle. “Hey.”
Heechul shut the laptop closed with a definite click-not quickly, as if he were hiding something-but deliberately, because they both knew that Hangeng wasn’t allowed to see it.
Hangeng didn’t comment on the action as he sat down on the bottom bunk beside Heechul’s wheelchair and placed down the tray. “Are you hungry? Ryeowook said not to take your medication without eating first.”
Heechul shrugged and grabbed for an orange.
“…why did you let Kyuhyun go with you?”
Heechul picked at the skin. His leather-clad finger dug too far and the juices squirted out onto his palm. “We’re decoding some information.” Heechul answered truthfully. “The kid seemed up to the job and his power made it easy, that’s all. Why?”
“Is that all?” Hangeng asked softly.
Heechul’s eyes narrowed. “What are you implying?” His grip on the orange tightened and the juice dripped onto his pants’ leg.
“It’s just…” Hangeng looked away. “Are you sure?”
“Idiot.” Heechul rolled his eyes and reached out to poke Hangeng in the forehead with a leather-encased finger. He tore off a slice of orange and popped it into his mouth. He took one bite and swallowed as the citrus flavor turned to ash.
He grabbed for the water.
---
It wasn’t an easy decision to make, and Leeteuk felt more than a little uncomfortable as the group stared back at him.
They shouldn’t be having this meeting at all. But like Kangin had said, if the “usefuls” were keeping secrets, they needed to be ready. But ready for what? Leeteuk didn’t want to believe that it could end with sides being chosen, but they needed to be ready in case it happened.
Leeteuk felt responsible for all of those that had been deemed “useless” so he needed to find a way to protect them.
“What are we going to do about the kid?” Kangin poked at his ramen with a chopstick, looking uninterested.
Ryeowook eyed him with a bit of annoyance-he’d made the ramen at Kangin’s request and the older man wasn’t even eating!-but sat down in his own seat and wrapped his fingers around his coffee mug.
“He’ll stay in our room for now.” Leeteuk rubbed his forehead and felt a soft twinge that meant an oncoming headache. “Ryeowook, are you going to check Heechul’s injury later?”
Ryeowook nodded.
“Where are Eunhyuk and Kibum?” Shindong was eating his own ramen with his usual gusto, but he’d paused as he noticed that two of their own weren’t present.
“I had them watching Henry.” Leeteuk replied. “We can’t leave him alone.”
“Why not? No one is going to hurt him. He’s just a kid.” Shindong shrugged, “It’s not like anyone is going to try and take him out. I mean, what can he do anyway?”
“I don’t know, but we don’t know what Heechul is planning.” Kangin grumbled, and he stabbed a piece of pork floating on the surface of his broth and held the impaled meat up for inspection. “We have to keep him somewhere away from the others.”
“Speaking of others, what’s with Heechul hyung picking out Kyuhyun, huh?” Shindong put in. “That was weird.”
Yes, it was. Leeteuk didn’t know what was going on there but he would definitely be asking later. He was hoping it would be after Ryeowook gave Heechul more pain medication though. He’d be easier to deal with if he couldn’t feel the hole in his stomach.
“We need to know whose side he’s on.” Kangin looked around the table seriously.
“Why do there have to be sides?” Ryeowook asked softly. “Aren’t we all on the same side?” Of course they were. They were his hyungs…Yesung was with them. They had saved the rest of them, of course they were all on the same side!
“It’s complicated, Wookie.” Leeteuk replied softly. “I don’t know what’s going on either but something feels different.” Something had felt different since the beginning. “We need to be cautious, just in case.”
“My hyungs wouldn’t hurt us.” Ryeowook answered back stiffly.
“Yeah, well we don’t know that.” Kangin snapped back, more than a little brusquely. Ryeowook bit back an angry retort when he saw Leeteuk’s silent agreement and Shindong’s hesitant acceptance. All of them were thinking the same thing: what happens when the others turn on us?
But they wouldn’t! Did Eunhyuk and Kibum think the same way? Of course not. They were with Donghae. The three of them were inseparable. It was impossible for them to distrust Donghae and the others, right? Right. Ryeowook wasn’t going to let paranoia destroy them from the inside.
He’d talk with Kibum and Eunhyuk later. They had to figure out some way to get the others to trust Heechul. It wasn’t fair to be so cruel.
Something in the back of his mind seemed to crawl forward, digging into his brain and latching on and refusing to budge, they’ve been hiding so much from you for so long…you don’t know what they’re planning. Any time you’ve asked, Yesung has never told you the truth. He’s lied to you.
NO! Yesung had never lied. But he’d never told him the truth either. He’d always avoided the subject, or asked Ryeowook not to ask about it again. Ryeowook swallowed. What if…they really were planning something?
The door opened and Ryeowook jumped, practically falling out of his chair.
Kibum looked around the kitchen with a raised eyebrow. “…did I miss something?”
“No, nothing that they can’t fill you in on.” Leeteuk answered back tiredly.
“Donghae wants to throw Henry a welcoming party.” Kibum continued. He turned to Ryeowook, “He wants to ask if you’ll bake a cake.”
Ryeowook nodded, breaking out in a small smile. “Of course!” Right. Nothing was wrong. Everything was normal. They were going to have a party and everything would be fine.
“I could go for some beer.” Kangin grinned, “Should I pick some up at the store?”
“There’s no need to get drunk.” Leeteuk scolded, before standing. “I have something to talk about with Heechul.” It seemed like he’d have to have that talk without the buffer painkillers after all.
“Do you want someone to go with you?” Kangin’s smile had fallen slightly.
“No. Just the two of us.” This talk has been a long time coming.
---
Heechul passed Kyuhyun in the hallway and the other boy barely looked up. When he spotted him he jumped slightly and gave a shaky nod in greeting before disappearing back into the apartment. Heechul was left momentarily confused before he wheeled himself into the computer room to see Sungmin briskly going through a file.
“If you turn those pages any faster you’re going to rip them in half.”
Sungmin looked up at Heechul’s voice. “Hyung! You should be resting.”
Heechul shrugged and patted the laptop on his lap. “I found out a few interesting pieces of information. Did you find out anything from the codes?”
“I’m still trying to break it.”
“Why don’t you just let Kyuhyun touch it?” Heechul suggested, and the slight, panicked look that crossed Sungmin’s face told him why the younger man had looked so frightened. “You stopped him?”
Sungmin looked like he wanted to argue. He’d probably been rehearsing this speech ever since Heechul had said that Kyuhyun would be joining their group. He clenched the papers in his hands tightly and they crinkled at the edges. “Do you trust him?”
“He trusts me.” Heechul answered back readily. “And we can use that to your advantage. He would have been one of mine at the training facility anyway.” Heechul didn’t know why Sungmin was so against this.
“But he isn’t one of us.” Simple, but true. So that was the answer. Did Sungmin think someone was threatening their tight-knit family? He’d always been possessive of what was his, and overly-protective.
“I thought you were his friend. Why are you being so harsh all of a sudden?” Heechul had placed his laptop on the table but didn’t open it. His information could wait till this was finished.
“Everyone here is my friend.” Sungmin answered. “But they’re just friends.” They aren’t family. No, closer than family. They aren’t you or Siwon or Donghae or Yesung. “What about you and Hankyung hyung? He would do anything you asked him to.”Not that Sungmin would have accepted him either, but that choice just seemed more logical.
“Would he?” Heechul questioned aloud and shot Sungmin a sardonic grin. “I wonder.”
Sungmin would have asked what Heechul meant by that but the door opened and Leeteuk walked in. Heechul eyed him with a tired sigh. It looked like he’d have to tell Sungmin the information later. “Sungmin, go check on the kid and then go to sleep. You’ve been up for a while.”
Sungmin’s jaw tightened. “I’ll stay up until Siwon and Yesung get back.”
“Well, wait for them outside.”Leave. It was an order, but one that Sungmin didn’t take well. He was already agitated with the earlier talk, and he’d never quite trusted Leeteuk to begin with. Heechul was injured, and Leeteuk had been trained enough to be able to take him out in his current state. It wasn’t safe to leave Heechul alone with him.
“Go.” Heechul repeated, annoyed, and Sungmin found himself heading for the door. He walked outside and closed it with a soft click.
Heechul didn’t hear Sungmin’s retreating footsteps and he knew he was waiting outside, listening. He didn’t think anything said between Leeteuk and himself would be confidential so he didn’t call out to him to tell him to go into the apartment. He’d only made him leave for Leeteuk’s sake, after all. “I guess it’s time for that talk, huh?”
“Yeah.” Leeteuk sat down at the table. He looked older than he should have. Heechul wasn’t an inherently caring person, but he’d become attached to his only hyung enough to worry that he hadn’t been sleeping well. “Have you phased lately?”
“Not since our mission.” Leeteuk replied, “I figure I’ll have an attack soon.” They always came after using his power. “But you’re not going to change the subject on me, Kim Heechul.”
Heechul shrugged, “Whatever. Talk.”
“You’ve been harsher lately.”
“I just don’t think it’s smart to let a normal kid run around our apartment.” Heechul defended. “We don’t know anything about him. He could be a spy.”
“He doesn’t even have a power!” Leeteuk answered back, exasperated.
“What if he has the ability to hide it? We don’t know if he’s really a civilian or not. He could be a GAM user.”
“Not everyone is a spy. Not everyone is the enemy. When did you become so paranoid that you couldn’t trust even us?” Because that was the real reason Leeteuk was angry.
Heechul eyed him for a moment. “When have I never trusted you?”
“You’ve been keeping things from us, haven’t you?” Leeteuk asked wearily. He already knew the answer, and they both knew it was rhetorical. “Why?”
“Because there are things you don’t approve of.” Heechul answered truthfully, and the finality and coldness there was deafening. His expression was clear and apathetic.
“Why do you have to do those kinds of things?” Leeteuk managed to get out. “Why do you have to kill innocent people? This was never about killing our enemies. It was about saving people.”
Heechul was silent, but his eyes said enough. He was quietly judging, and in his eyes Leeteuk was lacking. Finally he spoke, and his voice was soft. “We’ve been through a lot together, but I wonder just how far you’re willing to go to achieve your goals. Sacrifices must be made.”
“You aren’t some military general. You aren’t Sun Tzu.” Leeteuk bit out. Angry. Tired. He just wanted all of this to end.
Heechul looked offended and more than a little annoyed at Leeteuk’s statement but he hid it behind a pained wince and a crooked smile. “Someone needs to be if we’re going to survive. We’re different hyung. We aren’t human anymore.”
Leeteuk let out a sigh that ended with a shaky half-sob. “I just want to go back to my family. That’s all any of us want. Why can’t we go back to the way we were, Heechul?”
Heechul’s eyes narrowed. “Because everything has changed. You can’t ignore that.”
“I can!” Leeteuk shouted, slamming his hands down on the table. The sound echoed. “We can pretend it never happened.”
“No.” Heechul’s voice broke softly, and he no longer looked angry. “You can pretend and forget. But we can’t.”
He looked younger, more fragile than Leeteuk was used to. Was this the young Heechul before the training facility? Before 12 years in that hell had turned him into what he was now? Leeteuk didn’t know, but he did know that the boy he saw wasn’t there any longer. He’d probably imagined it, because Heechul looked cold and haughty once more.
“I think we’ve finished our talk.” Heechul turned his wheelchair toward the door.
“…Heechul…” Leeteuk sighed.
“Don’t make me lose what respect I have for you, hyung.” Heechul whispered, and opened the door and wheeled himself out, leaving Leeteuk alone.
Leeteuk looked up before the door closed to see Sungmin’s harsh, pained glare and he knew that he’d heard it all. He didn’t care, he simply leaned his forehead against the cool wood and closed his eyes.
Why couldn’t they all just go back to the way they’d been?
What was so wrong with being happy?