hey there, alligator [1]

𝑿𝑿𝑰𝑰

SLOWLY OPENING HIS eyes and attempting to adjust his vision, Changkyun steadily picks himself up from the frigid surface. He scans his surroundings. He only spots dark walls by his sides and bars blocking his path up ahead. Where is he? His heart begins to pound instantly at the thought of being caged in an unknown place. He ascends to his feet and marches up to the metal bars with trembling legs. Before the cell is Jooheon; handcuffed and thrown to the ground.

"J-Jooheon!" Changkyun calls out attempting to gain Jooheon's attention. His fingers wrap around the poles. "Jooheon! Please wake up! Wake up!"

Nothing.

Changkyun gets no response from Jooheon's idle figure. He proceeds to admire the room around him once more. There is nothing, but just a cell. The cell he is occupying that is. He grips on to the bars and begins to jerk and tug.

Nothing.

He can't escape from the cell. He's trapped.

"What do I do? Jooheon's not answering to me. What if he's dead? No, he can't be! It's hard for someone like him to die! Where are the others? Where could they be?!"

The sound of a set of doors opening and footsteps nearing are perceived. Changkyun instantly lifts up his head and grips on to the iron bars tightly. He gulps the lump in his throat preparing himself for what might be the worse.

Standing before his cell is a tall and slim young man. Changkyun cocks his eyebrow. For sure, he has never seen this young man before; not even in the articles online, the newspapers, or even on television. Who's this stranger? Is he the one behind the attack of their safe house?

"W-Who are you?" Changkyun inquires silently. He is extremely terrified but attempts to not express it much.

The young man chuckles mischievously and introduces himself, "My name is Yeon. I'm the Militia's sergeant. Let's see. You must be Im Changkyun, one of the AWOLS we've been hunting down, correct?"

Changkyun remains in silence. Whoever this Yeon is and whatever he's asking for, Changkyun vows to not answer. He removes his hands from the bars off the cell and backs up a bit. He doesn't dare to answer his questions.

Yeon emerges with a laugh. "I get it. You're scared. I'll be scared too if I were in your shoes. Yet, I need you to cooperate with me. Or you'll make things worse."

"What do you want?" Changkyun holds in his heavy breaths. He doesn't want Yeon to notice he's scared or he might use it against

Yeon looks away from Changkyun and lays his eyes on Jooheon's unconscious figure. He bites the bottom of his lip as if he's going through a thinking process. After a few seconds, he instantly claims, "Changkyun, do you know how long I've been searching for you?"

Changkyun remains in silence detesting to answer back to Yeon. His eyesight retains upon Jooheon tho. He's trying to develop a plan at the same time while he's being questioned.

"Answer me!!" Yeon grabs on to the slim poles of the cell vigorously alerting Changkyun. He stumbles back locking eyesights with Yeon. He can tell he's extremely angry about the entire situation. What does Yeon truly desire from them both? They're all caught, so what's the point of interrogating?

Yeon begins to laugh hysterically. He heaves his hands away from the pole and marches up to Jooheon's figure. He uses his foot to turn Jooheon so his stomach will be facing up.

Why isn't Jooheon waking up? Why isn't he responding? Could he have been drugged? What's exactly occurring at this exact moment? All the questions flow through Changkyun's head.

"I don't like being ignored," Yeon claims sincerely with an irked expression. "Especially when I'm talking to someone. I detest it a lot, you know?"

And with that last statement, he harshly kicks the side of Jooheon's face. The impact prompts a horrendous sound to fill the room. Jooheon's not moving, but there's blood trickling down his lips.

"He's bleeding and he's not waking up?! Is he really unconscious or did they drugged him?!"

That's when the negative thought about Jooheon instantly flourishes inside his mind. Perhaps the disease knocked Jooheon unconscious and weakened his system. Therefore, Jooheon's not immune at the moment. Could the alligator disease seriously be killing him slowly?

"S-Stop! STOP!" Changkyun calls out without hesitation. He grabs on to the metal poles tightly. "I give myself in! Just let him go!— PLEASE LET HIM GO DON'T HURT HIM!"

Yeon chuckles as the last kick is sent to Jooheon's countenance. It sends his figure to turn on its side as a small groan escapes from his lips. There's blood trickling down to the ground from Jooheon's lips. Changkyun can't believe what's happening before his eyes.

Jooheon's becoming weaker.

"Let me give it to you straight," Yeon informs as he retains his eyesight upon Jooheon. "Ever since Jooheon escaped from the lab, I knew it was a mistake mixing an alligator gene with his. I knew it will make him invulnerable— like a monster that kills people."

Changkyun grunts. "He's not a fucking monster! Whatever you bastards did to him— you'll regret it! You'll regret all of it!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Yeon exclaims as he hoofs Jooheon's stomach. The hit provokes a harsh cough to come out of his mouth.

Changkyun maintains in silence. At this point, he discerns that if he attempts to argue with Yeon horrible things will happen to Jooheon. He's slightly invulnerable, so they'll probably use vile techniques.

"You're an eighteen-year-old caring and loving for a twenty-one-year-old. What's funny is that someone like him loves a piece of shit like you." Yeon chuckles as if his allegation was a world-class joke.

"How did you know about our safe house? How did you found it?" At this point, it is Changkyun's turn to inquire about the questions.

Yeon steadily locks his eyesight with Changkyun. A smile gradually grows in his visage. The grin terrifies Changkyun a bit, but he retains a strong character.

Yeon answers truthfully, "I found the two of you at a club. I saw you drink and dance with one another. . . the sight disgusted me so much." Yeon scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Faggots like the both of you only ruin these government more!"

Another impact on Jooheon's face. And another to his stomach. Yeon's angry and he's using Jooheon as his punching bag to blow off the steam.

"Leave him alone!" Changkyun demands. "I-I'll turn myself in and you can let Jooheon go along with my friends! J-Just please. . . STOP HURTING HIM!"

Yeon stops his actions. At this moment Jooheon's bleeding through his lips and nose. He retreats his leg and leans his head back. He sighs deeply and claims firmly, "Why should I let them go? I killed three birds with one stone. I finally attained you, your friends, and Jooheon. Don't you see? My mission's complete."

Changkyun's eyes widen. The tears threaten to fall down his countenance. There's no way he will accept this path as the end of his life— of all their lives.

He didn't yearn for Kihyun, Shownu, Minhyuk, and Hyungwon to sacrifice their lives for him. He didn't mean for his last conversation to be an argument with Wonho. And lastly, he wanted to share his future with Jooheon.