district 17 | svt

14

"Why were you confined?" Soonyoung asked bluntly, earning questionable looks from the others who weren't put in prison.

"Ah, that?" Jeonghan chuckled bitterly, "I grew out my hair. Representatives didn't really fancy it I guess."

"That's not the entire reason," Jisoo mumbled under his breath, causing his friend to hit him on the shoulder.

"I wasn't done yet," Jeonghan said between gritted teeth, quickly clearing his throat with a smile. "I also broke the rules a lot, like not taking my pills, purposely forgetting assignments, stealing food from the Dining Hall, vandalizing property-"

"Anyways his reason for getting confined is pretty reasonable," Jisoo interrupted, turning to look at one of the other former prisoners, completely unaware of the annoyed look Jeonghan was giving him.

The next boy flashed a friendly smile, showing his teeth that seemed brighter than the daylight sky outside.

"Hi everyone!" He greeted, "I'm Seokmin. I'm seventeen years old, and I was confined for almost year because I sang in public."

Jihoon's jaw dropped, his eyes wide with shock. Seohyeon didn't know what was more surprising: Jihoon's reaction or Seokmin's reason for being imprisoned.

"Mad respect man," Soonyoung said with a thumbs up, nodding his head with approval.

Seokmin smiled awkwardly before glancing at the boy next to him, titling his head as a sign for the boy to get on with his introduction. The boy next to him grew worried, before he looked at the rest of the people sitting at the table. The eye contact didn't last very long though; he immediately looked back down, fidgeting with his hands on the table.

"I'm Hansol," he said quietly, his voice barely loud enough to hear, "I-I'm sixteen years old... I was confined for three years because of... my anxiety disorder...."

The others looked a little shocked but the boy's statement, but Hansol simply gave everyone a friendly smile and subtle nod, his gaze moving towards the very last recruit. The next boy, who looked a lot younger than the rest, stood up from his chair and waved.

"Hi guys," he said a small smile growing on his lips, "I'm Chan. I'm also sixteen years old, and uhm....

I'd rather not talk about why I was imprisoned, if that's okay."

"Awww why?" Soonyoung whined, "All the other guys gave their reason why can't you?"

His eyes lit up and he leaned closer towards Chan, earning a glare from the younger.

"Was it that bad?"

Jihoon gently nudged Soonyoung in the arm, immediately shaking his head once the latter looked his away. Chan simply scoffed before looking away and crossing his arms over his chest, leaving Soonyoung to sulk with no reply. Joshua awkwardly cleared his throat to grab everyone's attention, but the air still felt a little thin and full of tension.

"Well, now that everyone has been introduced, let's get this meeting started shall we?" The instructor beamed, earning a bunch of eager nods from all the recruits.

"Now first in order-"

Before the meeting could even start, the shelf door suddenly clicked and was swung open by a panicking student. Seohyeon turned around to see who it was, a worried expression immediately growing on her face when she saw her friend, Junhui, in distress.

Junhui frantically closed the shelf door behind him, his eyes quivering with fear. Seohyeon quickly stood up from her seat and rushed to his side.

"What's wrong?" She asked, reaching out her hand to grab onto his arm.

Junhui looked distressed, almost in tears. He was panting uncontrollably, like he had ran all the way to the building from the hospital. He made eye contact with Seohyeon, allowing himself to become more vulnerable and faltering.

"M-Minghao..." He stuttered in a shaky voice, "He's gone."

Seohyeon's eyes widened with fear; her hand that gripped onto his sleeve slowly fell to her side. She could hear a few of the other people in the room quietly gasp and whisper amongst themselves.

"What do you mean he's gone?" She asked, "I thought he was being hospitalized."

"I thought so too," Junhui said, his voice a little bitter, "But when I went to visit him, they said he wasn't there anymore. They said... a few DPO guards came in the hospital yesterday and... took him away."

"Away?" Seohyeon repeated, "What do you mean away?"

Junhui's eyes grew sullen as his gaze met hers. Seohyeon thought for a moment, trying to figure out what he meant. Once she realized, she slowly backed away from Junhui, her hands covering her mouth with shock.

"They probably took him to the Confinement Floor," Jisoo spoke up, causing the two to turn around and look at him.

"Why would they do that?" Seohyeon asked, now a little frustrated.

Minghao didn't do anything wrong. He was a good student. He always followed the rules, and he was respectful and responsible. The only rule he broke was taking his pills, and technically many of the citizens of District 17 didn't know it was illegal not to take your pills. He didn't have any reason to be confined.

"I dont know the exact reason why he was put in confinement," Jisoo began, "but I do know that District 17 has many secrets. These secrets are hidden from everyone in order to keep everything in District 17 in order. Maybe one of those secrets is the reason why Minghao was taken away."

"But you can free him right?" Junhui asked.

Jisoo's eyes began to well up with sympathy. He knew the pain that Junhui was going through. He too experienced his own roommate, his own best friend, getting taken and imprisoned out of the blue. He knew how painful it was, not knowing what to do and how to help the situation. He knew the emotional turmoil Junhui was feeling. Jisoo had felt it before.

"You can release Hao out of there, right?" Junhui asked one more time, a little more desperate.

Though the possibility of releasing Minghao was uncertain, Jisoo tried his best to give Junhui a reassuring smile.

"I'll do what I can," Jisoo told him. "All you have to do is focus on getting prepared for this mission alright? I'm sure that's what Minghao would want."

Although Junhui wasn't too satisfied with the answer, he let out a sigh and nodded, earning a grin from the instructor. Satisfied with Junhui's response, the Jisoo turned back towards the table and carried on the meeting, talking about a few protocols for their mission.

Junhui looked down at his hand when he felt something grip onto it, his eyes widening once he saw Seohyeon's hand in his own. He looked back up at the girl, making eye contact with her beautiful, glistening eyes. He felt her squeeze his hand a little as a way of comforting him, making him slightly smile as he eyed began to well up with tears again.

"It'll be okay," she whispered to him.

Seeing her friend, who was always so reliable and consistent in his behavior, falter and crumble with worry made her sad. She didn't like seeing Junhui like this, but she didn't know what else to do except be there next to him and hold his hand.

"You're right," Junhui replied back with a smile, getting lost in her gaze. "It will be."

Seohyeon grinned as she felt Junhui lightly stroke his thumb over her hand. Simply being by her side in that moment made Junhui feel a lot better. It was as if nothing else mattered in the world except the two of them whenever she was with him. Her comfort was all he needed; her presence was all he needed.

As the two smiled at one another, they were unaware of one of the young recruits watching their small moment with a huge frown on his face. Watching the two of them gaze blissfully into each other's eyes made him boil up with frustration. The student began to fill up with anger, bitterness, loneliness... and longing.

He hated the sight.

He hated the feeling.

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