Decayed [ATEEZ Fanfiction]

Chapter 1 - The Beginning of the End

The world was spinning. The axis of her mind seemingly turned on itself as the voices distorted. Words jumbled in a muffled mess. Almost like being underwater. The world just keeps moving. Waves of confusion and denial drowned her chest as she could barely make out her voice in the shattering screech of her mind.

"What?"

A whisper maybe - a shout even for all she knew- but barely there.

The older woman sighed. Her face was grim and pitying of the poor soul she was sitting across from in the small office. The blazer made sure her shoulders remained tall, even though both of them knew the tone-deaf request the agent was making.

"The institute finds it best to include you in the team to solve this case." The woman spoke.

Her voice was elegant. Classy was a better word for it. Fake. That was incredibly secure inside her mind. Oh yes, Miss Chang was a dignified woman, fake in her interest in giving an impossible task to someone who had barely healed the basic wounds of her life. But there was a clear emotion behind those eyes. Maybe fear for what she was talking about, excitement on discovering something new, or pity for she may have a sliver of humanity between those shoulder pads, cut to size too unevenly but not enough to take away from the tidy hair and simple makeup.

"Y/N?" She spoke, snapping the younger woman out of her bubble.

Her eyes finally met hers. Brown eyes. How fitting.

"After the success of your previous case, Dr. Kim finds it appropriate for you to join the team and obtain supplementary information on this copycat" Miss Chang spoke.

Y/N could feel a burn traveling through her veins. A dread and fear so sticky, the walls of her not-so-well-nourished veins pinched and pulled away, leaving the acidic reaction behind.

"By doing what exactly?" She dared ask. Anger laced her tone ever so gently. Fear and anger held themselves close when remembering that boxy little room.

"Talking to the one this unidentified subject is copying"

A tidal wave set Y/N's senses on fire. But the room just grew colder. And no one would ever tell. Like a mirage, her yellowed-white walls were becoming reflective. Metal. With all the coldest traveling to her fingers, her wrist resting upon that table. The sound of metal chains clacking, metal versus metal, in a subtle clash of movement. A stark reminder of all the things those god-forsaken pieces kept away.

"And who am I supposed to be talking to?" She asked.

Ha! The agent was annoyed. Just once did Y/N not mind that reaction. She remembered a time when that was her biggest failure. And yet this felt like a trophy won after a race with the only ending being death.

"Choi San"

And there he is. Death itself it seemed. But not quite. How incredibly strange have the last four years been. From finding a small home to recognizing the real meaning of betrayal for the hundredth time in her life. All those moments blended into a deeply rotting mush that grew bigger and bigger as the dimensional understanding of time moved, the earth spinning ever so quickly.. A mind of its own hunting the peaceful silence Y/N had created for herself. That relief, that freedom. Gone. Again.

"No" She said. "He's not my concern anymore. None of them are"

"Look, I know how taxing this must be, but you are the only person to have ever gotten something out of him. Poke his brain. Their brains." Miss Chang interjected. "You will be helping so many people"

Helping. How pretty that word was, wasn't it? On its own, a hallmark of the very things that kept society going. The word is used to force people to give their time away to someone else, expecting nothing in return. A word that became useless, not quickly, but patiently. A volcanic eruption of reality. Helping didn't exist other than for laziness and greed.