[2] Code: RIOT || KTH

Ch24: The First Snow

The protest in front of the concentration camp is packed with much more people than Seol had expected when she and Jimin arrive. The media surely does a good job of covering up the amount of protesters. They had set up tents and used barricades to prevent any more police cars from entering the camp to drop off hybrids. 

Seol keeps her eye on Jimin the whole time. Although he seems to be doing better as the days pass, it is still obvious that he talks less, smiles less, eats less. It's better than nothing, Seol thinks to herself; a few days back he wasn't eating anything, so at least there is improvement. Not to mention that he was so insistent on joining the protest. For Jungkook, he kept on saying.

"Hey."

Seol turns around, her eyes falling on the owner of the voice. He's a young man with high cheekbones and cute dimples. He surely does look familiar.

"You're Hanseol, right?" He asks with a small smile.

"You're the receptionist at the Code: RED shelter," She says as she finally recognizes him, "I thought you went missing."

"Oh, it was just a cover-up. Manipulating security cameras and helping a hybrid prison breakout wouldn't really look good on my records, would it?" He says with a shrug, as if what he did was some everyday task.

"You were on in Jin's plan," She concludes.

Hoseok shrugs again with a slight nod.

"Wanna help setting up some burn barrels? It'll be night time soon and it gets pretty chilly. Some say today will be the first snow," He pauses and looks at Jimin, "Your friend can come, too."

Seol turns to look at Jimin who has been standing silently the whole time, his eyes glued on the policemen with guns and shields at the camp's gates. He didn't even notice when Hoseok showed up.

"Jimin," Seol says, "We're going to help-"

"You go," He cuts her off without looking at her, "I'll stay here."

Seol opens her mouth to protest, but she closes it again. Maybe he needs some time alone, she thinks to herself. 

"I won't be long," She says, giving Jimin a pat on the shoulder before following Hoseok. 

"Can I ask you something?" Seol asks as they make their way through the crowd.

"Sure."

"Did you know it was going to be this violent?"

"That Jin would kill off all those people? Yeah."

"Then why did you help him?"

"Jin was good to me," He says, turning his head to throw a smile Seol's way, "And so were most hybrids I encountered. The humans though? Not so much."

"But you can't really judge a whole community from interacting with a few. There are good people and bad people. Both hybrids and humans," She replies, watching her breath leave her mouth. "It really is cold today."

"Of course," Hoseok says, stopping at some empty barrels and grabbing one, "But more humans have been bad to hybrids than the opposite."

"I lived in what used to be called a hybrids' farm," He adds, emptying trash bags into the barrel as Seol copies him, "The humans there, or the 'farmers', owned hybrids and forced them to breed. Then sold the hybrid children as pets. My uncle owned that farm. I moved in with him after my parents death. He was a horrible man to say the least. I interacted with all kinds of hybrids. Even the 'dangerous' ones like lion hybrids and tiger hybrids. They were mostly hidden and sold off to wealthy people for millions in auctions cause they were rare. And you know what, these hybrids were never bad to me."

"Quite the opposite actually," He says, now lighting a match stick and throwing in the barrel, "They smiled at me when they saw that I was just a kid. They told me stories and gave me the love that I never really got from my uncle. Every child I made friends with was either sold off, or forced to have sex with another hybrid once they were old enough to make children and sell them off. But that was only if the hybrid was "rare enough" to my uncle's liking. If not, he would kill them. 'If I can't make money out of them, then no one else can', that's what he used to say. You can imagine his reaction when he found out I was making friends with the hybrids. He almost killed me a couple of times. Said he would've gotten rid of me if only we weren't blood-related. The hybrids were the ones to tend to my wounds. Eventually, I helped them all escape and ran off with them. And I met Jin on the streets."

Hoseok pauses, looking up at the sky with a smile as snowflakes start to fall. "It's the first snow."

Seol stays quiet, not really sure of how she should reply. She scans the crowd for Jimin, but her eyes fall on someone else instead.

"Namjoon!" She calls, and he turns around, walking towards her when he recognizes her.

"I knew I would find you here," He says with a plastered smile on his face.

"Where's Sarang?" Seol asks.

Namjoon's smile falls, and he turns his head to nod at the wire fence of the concentration camps. "They took her two days ago. I couldn't really do anything."

"I- Namjoon, I'm sorry," She says sympathetically.

Namjoon shakes his head in response.

The voices in the crowd start getting louder, and people start looking around. Several phones ring at the same time, like some planned scheme. Seol's phone rings, too, and she picks it up as she reads Yoongi's name on the screen.

"Are you watching this?" Yoongi asks.

"What?"

"Seokjin is on TV. It's also livestreamed on youtube. Check it out."

Seol hastily hangs up and opens youtube. The voices go quiet as everyone watches the livestream on their phones. A sense of deja vu washes over Seol as she sees Seokjin on the screen, his face blank and his eyes piercing through the screen as if staring right at her.

"... to an end. I offer to surrender myself to the police. The prisoners, or what's left of them, will be back to their cells as if the outbreak never happened. I will take all responsibility for my crimes and be prosecuted accordingly. In return, all hybrids will be set free from the concentration camps, and the Code laws to be revised by the government. Hybrids no longer wish to be categorised into absurd groups. We're fully capable of being functioning members of the society, of having jobs and an education. Of having human rights," He pauses, "If you accept my offer, I will reveal my whereabouts, and will not resist upon my arrest. I will be waiting for a reply from the government in the next 24 hours."

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A/N: hoseok backstory ay ay

How much yall wanna bet he won't show up ever again

This chapter exceeded my word limit but hobi doesn't deserve any less