⇉ the one with a plan.
part sixty-two
Haechan is panicking.
He isn't in love. He doesn't even know what love is, and he doesn't want to. This is just... hormones, or whatever the fuck. Deep breaths. He needs to calm down. One... two...
"Donghyuck."
It's her.
The expression on Juno's face is hard to read as she slowly walks to a stop a few meters from where he's standing. "Donghyuck," she repeats when he doesn't say anything, "stop avoiding me. Please."
Haechan lifts his eyes to Juno's. He says nothing. Why? Because he's a f*cking screw-up, that's why.
"I don't know what it is about that night that freaked you out so much," Juno continues, shoulders slumped, "but if it's what is making you act this way, pretend it never happened. I'm not expecting anything of you. I don't expect you to confess to me or date me or whatever just because of that, but this..." She gestures helplessly at him. "I want my partner in crime back, feelings aside."
Haechan runs a tongue over his lips. "Sherry-"
"No, I need you to listen to me while I actually have you here." Juno takes a tiny step forward. "I care about you, Haechan. A lot." He flinches. She never uses that name, the one everybody else uses. "I don't know how it happened, but it did. And you said you cared about me, too, but you sure as hell aren't acting like it."
How does he tell her it's not because he doesn't care, but because he cares too much?
"We can rewind time to before that. Erase it from memory. Whatever you want. But I need you with me, especially now." Juno takes a deep breath. "So just forget what happened."
"But..." Haechan finally finds his voice. "I don't want to forget it."
Juno's brow creases. "What?"
He pauses, not sure how to articulate his thoughts. Maybe it's time he just told her the truth. Juno has always listened to his issues, listened to him bluster about the things in his brain that he's always refused to let anybody else see. So why shouldn't she hear this, too? Sure, this time it's actually about her, but if anyone can give him good advice, it's also her.
And whatever commitment issues or love-phobia thing he has doesn't matter. Haechan's fucked up, but not fucked up so much to the point that he can't pick up his pieces and lay his heart bare to her, tell her how much he feels for her. Because it's the least she deserves.
It's just taken him too long to realize it. He prays he isn't too late.
"Juno." Haechan takes one step closer to her. Thankfully, she doesn't move away. "Juno, I-"
A sudden screech from behind them, inside the banquet hall, makes him stop. "It's gone!" they hear somebody shout hysterically. "My flair. It's gone!"
Immediate pandemonium breaks out among the students.
"What?" Juno's brows furrow in confusion. On a whim, she thrusts her hands out in the vicinity of a nearby table. It stays put. All the blood drains from her face. "What happened? My telekinesis isn't working."
Haechan fixes his eyes on her. "Run," he says, with that smooth quality in his voice that's present whenever he's using his persuasion, but Juno doesn't move. "Wait, mine isn't working either."
They exchange a glance before dashing into the banquet hall.
The second Livi catches sight of the two, she rushes over and clutches Juno's arm like it's a lifeline, the rest of the boys trailing behind her. "I can't make my crystals anymore," she says, voice breaking. "Nobody can do anything anymore."
Renjun takes in the chaotic scene of everybody frantically testing their flairs in vain. "What is happening?"
Jaemin eyes the hall lights. They don't so much as flicker. He shrugs nonchalantly, but his shoulders are tense. "No more electricity from me, either."
Mark purses his lips. "I can't clone."
"Same here. Hulk's gone," Jeno adds, a tremble in his voice. Silence descends over the group.
Then Juno whirls around suddenly, long now-black hair whipping behind her. "Let's go," she says, and they all begin to follow instinctively.
"Where are we going?" Haechan asks, right by her side.
"To Floor 5," Juno replies, not faltering in her steps. "To Yang. She can't keep holding out on us like this."
"But... we aren't allowed," Jeno says.
"I don't care." Juno still doesn't stop. "We have only a few days left here. We can't not get answers now just because we're worried about following the rules." They remain hot on her heels, ascending the steps to the fifth floor quickly. "Whoever I see first will have some explaining to do."
Juno pulls the door open and bursts in through the Floor 5 entrance, eyes immediately scanning the space. It's empty; most of the teachers are downstairs at grad.
But there had been one missing.
A nearby door opens ever so slightly. The woman, gray-streaked hair pulled into a messy braid at the base of her neck, steps out from one of the rooms. The 'boiler' room. Ms. Yang has never looked so frazzled. It takes her a minute to register their presence. "What are you doing here?" She approaches them worriedly. "Leave before-"
Juno gives a firm shake of her head. "Not until you explain why none of our flairs are working right now."
Yang opens her mouth to keep arguing, but then she just sighs. "All the seniors have their flairs zapped away as they receive their certificates. That's how it's always been."
"And nobody thought to warn us of this?" Livi snaps.
"It would've caused chaos and confusion."
"There's chaos and confusion downstairs as we speak!" Juno's eyes narrow. "What about all that talk of going out into the world and using our abilities for good-"
"You can't seriously have believed that," Yang interrupts. "Have you ever heard of anyone in the real world with powers?"
"So you lied."
"Of course we lied!" Yang's tone finally rises. "We lied about everything! We always have! They can't let you run wild out there with powers. That makes you a commodity. A dangerous and invaluable one. And we still know so little about how these things work-"
"You say 'they' like you aren't part of that group."
"I am. But I'm also here right now, telling you all this, because it might be too late to turn back, but maybe I want to die knowing that I at least tried. And now I've just found out that certain substances I put my entire life into creating might be passed on to the government later, so guess what? You are not the only ones who have been lied to."
Jeno's lips part when he gets the import of her words. "Dr. Oh wants to sell the drugs to the government," he whispers, understanding. "The drugs that made us like this."
"Imagine a military of superhumans. Wouldn't Korea be unstoppable?" Yang's voice is calm again, but brittle and bitter. "After everything is wrapped up here, regardless of whatever happens, all of our secrets will be sold. And for what? Money. Always money."
"Holy," Mark breathes. "Shit."
"That's why I need your help. I have a plan." Yang looks at all of them in turn. "Some of you must travel back to the city, and the others will help me evacuate everyone."
"Evacuate?" Renjun's brows furrow.
"No," Juno cuts in. "We can help you with whatever, but we need to understand exactly what we're getting into. We have questions."
Yang checks her watch. "Fine. But be quick."
"How's my brother?" Jaemin bursts, like he can't possibly hold it in any longer. "Is he alright? Can I see him?"
"No," Yang answers sharply. "You need to listen to me. Your brother is dangerous. He is a wanted high-profile criminal in the city who has stolen the lives of far too many. You are better off as far away from him as you can get."
Jeno crosses his arms. "But why exactly is Jaeyoon dangerous?"
The teacher sighs deeply, then beckons them into an inner room adjacent to the immediate entrance of the laboratory. "We'll have to speak in here, just in case anybody comes by suddenly. Now, about Jaeyoon." Her eyes drift to Juno. "He was much like Ms. Baek in the fact that he was admitted here later than everyone else. And he, too, became immensely strong - the first student we ever had exceed the 90% mark. Unfortunately, this meant that his antisocial personality disorder also worsened."
"So?"
"The imbalance and nanoles worked a little differently in him. He became a killer." The way Yang shrugs has Juno wanting to slap her. "It all began when he murdered the female student he was involved with who had been involved with someone else, in a jealous rage."
"Wait. The legend." Juno's eyes are wide. "It's true?"
"Of course it's true. A story like that doesn't just come from nowhere. He killed a few students before we finally caught him."
"How many?" Haechan asks quietly.
"Well-"
"How many?"
"Ten." Ms. Yang sighs again, leans against the desk in the room.
"And what did you tell their parents?" Livi sneers. "That their children died in random freak accidents?"
Yang doesn't reply, but her silence is answer enough. Then she continues, "Jaeyoon somehow figured out everything that was happening here. So he ran away before we could remove his powers or erase his memory, which, despite everything, would've significantly decreased his inner turmoil."
"So our flairs do make us mentally ill," Juno says.
"The chemical imbalance will always be there, but yes. Your abilities worsen it."
"Wait." Mark's eyes narrow. "Did you say you were going to erase his memory?"
"Listen. The plan for years has been that right before you all leave here, you will be forced to ingest a substance that will reset your memories back about a few years, or at the very least make them hazy. The point behind it is to have you all start over with a life free of-"
"Don't pretend that erasing our fucking memories is benevolent," Juno spits. "So there's all these people out there just living with mental issues they don't know the causes of because they can't remember here?"
"Would you rather they live with memories of the horror they faced?!"
"It's not like any of the horror would've been their fault!"
"That might be true, but look at how much Jaeyoon is suffering because he remembers. He goes for former students here as his victims out there. because they don't remember but he does."
"How have you not been sued yet?" Haechan cuts in.
"Through smart legal moves on our part, not excluding outright lying and fabrication of information." The teacher's tone is bitter. "So Jaeyoon ran away. We couldn't find him for years. He'd always been immensely intelligent; he hid his tracks well - even found a way to turn off his nanoles so we couldn't track them. But suddenly, a bunch of dead people started popping up all over the city with voltage burns on their bodies."
Jaemin staggers backward. "He... was using his flair. Our flair."
"Yes." Yang nods. "He couldn't control his urges any longer, and it also seems that he wanted draw police attention. We needed to find him before the police did and started asking questions. And here he is now."
The room is silent.
"Could I... have ended up like him?" Juno asks soon.
"Yes. But you didn't," Yang says simply. "Lucky you."
"Indeed," Juno drawls. "God. I can't believe any of this."
"So," Renjun asks, "the resurrections. Have Dr. Oh's daughter and granddaughter shown any sign of... awakening?"
"We got a finger twitch yesterday," Yang answers curtly. "Dr Han is very excited."
Jeno steps back, shaking his head. "No. That's... that's unnatural."
"I agree. Which is why I need your help." Yang gestures at them. "You will not have your flairs to guide you, as evidenced by your new hair colors, but-"
The group looks around at each other, and sure enough, all of them are sporting new varying shades of dark hair. Black, brown, everything in between, but it's natural. Juno might feel incomplete without her flair, but her black hair is comforting. "What does it mean?" she asks.
"That your nanoles have completely shut down," Yang answers impatiently, then straightens. "As for my plan: first, you must get on a ferry and travel to the city to tell the police everything."
They just stare at her.
"Ferries come to and from here at least once every month delivering food and supplies and the like. Did none of you know this? One ferry will be returning to Seoul later tonight. I need someone to alert the police. Ms. Baek."
"Me? Why?"
"I trust that you'll be successful. You can take somebody else along with you, if you'd like."
"I'll go," Haechan says.
"What will the rest of us do?" Mark inquires.
"You will stay back to help me discreetly organize everyone. Get them packed and ready to leave, even the younger grades. Then we'll need to seize everybody's powers. No more testing can be done if there's nothing left to test on. There will be no mind wiping. By the time the police are here, every single last student in this building must be ready to go."
"What about you?" Jeno asks.
"I'm old. I'm no longer afraid of facing the consequences of my decisions. I just need to save who I can. I've been biding my time all year, and now is the only opportunity we have to get this perfectly right." Yang pauses. "Be fast, but do not get caught. I cannot vouch for Dr. Oh or what he would do if he knew what we were planning."
Juno nods determinedly. "Okay."
"Understand that you're putting your life in danger here."
"My life has been in danger for the past nine months," Juno says. "What's a few more nights?"
▸
"Jump down."
"I don't need you to catch me."
"I know."
This isn't the time for bickering, so Juno sighs and abruptly lowers herself down into the tunnel. The distance down is longer than she remembers, but then she feels Haechan's hands catch around her waist just when she thinks she's about to fall wrong. It blankets her with an immediate sense of safety, which irritates her, because she can't entertain these kinds of complicated feelings right now. And from the looks of it, neither can he.
"Don't you think all of this seems so sudden?" Juno muses aloud as they begin to walk along the tunnel, lugging around the things they're leaving the island with. Shawty's little head peeks through Juno's satchel. The camera is recording in her hands.
"What? That Yang has had months - no, decades - to do shit, and just hasn't up until now?"
Of course he gets in. "Yeah," Juno answers. "If it was always this easy to leave and get help, why did she never do it? Why didn't she save all those lives before?"
"I don't know," Haechan says. "It's all fucked. Ms. Yang is a criminal, but... I guess she is a criminal trying to do what's right, now, although she's years too late."
"I will never forgive any of them," Juno whispers.
"Me neither," he replies, and they keep walking. Juno has the flashlight, and she shines it upon their path as they walk quickly down the tunnels to the shore. Ms. Yang is currently distracting the ferrymen with some fake shipment issues back at the school, but it's only a matter of time before they return.
"My time here has just felt like one bad dream," Juno says. "I keep thinking I'll wake up and it's gone."
"I wish." He eyes her. "But some parts of it have been okay."
Juno glances over at him, then back ahead. "Yeah. Some."
"We're almost there." Haechan, changing the subject, points to the next manhole plate above just a few meters away. They'll need to climb out soon.
But then the hole opens.
Nobody enters the tunnel, though. The plate has just been slid over a crack. Haechan and Juno exchange looks. Who did that? Cautiously, the two draw closer, gingerly peeking up to see if there's anybody there. There isn't.
But just as Juno begins to climb up, she suddenly finds herself face-to-face with the barrel of a gun.