∞ 𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐄∞
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[ᵗʰⁱˢ ⁱˢ ᵃ ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ᶠʳᵒᵐ ᵗʰᵉ ᵏⁱᵈˢ' ᵖᵒⁱⁿᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵛⁱᵉʷ, ʸᵒᵘ ᶜᵃⁿ ˢᵏⁱᵖ ⁱᵗ ⁱᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ʷⁱˢʰ]
"Is this really not a dream? Pinch me." Tae-Man let out a cry when Yu-Jung did as he asked. "It was a metaphor, you weren't supposed to really pinch me!"
"Don't be such a child."
"Mr. Lee and Chae-Yeong are really alive, aren't they?" Bo-Ra said for the third time since they left the penitentiary. "This is so messed up. They have been alive for a month, what the hell! How could she just leave like that? We had a million questions and she just decided to pretend this was not a big thing."
"Why did we have to discover this now?" Hee-Rak said as they entered the building. "Darn it, we have to deal with criminals on top of the spheres too."
"I think that's the last thing we should be worried about right now," Jang-Su told him as he made his way toward the sofas in the hallway.
"Speak for yourself."
"Oh my gosh! Yeon Bo-Ra, are you ok?" Ha-Na said as she made her way toward them. Duk-Jung and Jun-Hee came after her.
"Be quiet. Stop making a fuss."
"What should we do? Oh, right, emergency first aid."
"Bo-Ra, let's go," Ae-Seol said as she appeared with a first aid kit in her hand.
"I'll take care of it on my own," she just said and continued walking before a hand stopped her.
"Bo-Ra, just go and get treated." Yu-Jung let go of her arm as Bo-Ra rolled her eyes and followed Ae-Seol down the hallway. The rest of them made their way to the sofas, closing their eyes as they leaned back, taking in what happened that day. The inmates were enough, and having learned the situation about the Lieutenant was not helping.
"Did something happen? How did Bo-Ra get hurt? Were there a lot of spheres?" Jun-Hee asked Yu-Jung.
"It wasn't the spheres."
"What? Then what was it?"
"Let's talk about it when the others come back. Why weren't you guys keeping watch?"
"The thing is..." Duk-Jung told her. "Something came up." They looked at him, not sure if they were ready to hear what he was going to say. "Right, did you guys find a transmitter?"
"No, there weren't any," Young-Shin responded.
"You said there would be! You were so confident!"
"Don't raise your voice!" So-Yun scolded her. "Is that our fault? You have no idea what happened out there. We almost died!"
"Why? What happened out there?"
"Forget it. I'm exhausted to talk right now."
They stood in silence for the next few minutes, the three that stayed behind whispering to each other, noticing the bad mood they were all in. There was no point in telling them about the inmates and the Lieutenant until the others came. They still didn't understand entirely what happened. Chae-Yeong was there with another girl, but where was the Lieutenant then? Why would he leave him behind? Was he injured? He sounded fine over the transmitter, but everyone could fake being well at times like this to not alert the others. The unspoken questions were floating in the air when noises came from outside. They got up, going to the entrance to welcome the others back. Yeon-Ju and Sun-Yi were the ones that entered first, looking like tey wanted to puke. The others noticed that and stopped in their tracks.
"What happened? What's wrong? Yeon-Ju, Sun-Yi, what is going on?" The questions stopped as Chi-Yeol and Il-Ha entered, carrying something that was covered with a white sheet. They placed it on the ground, without answering the questions that were also thrown at them as the others were following close behind.
"Where's Su-Chul?" Jun-Hee asked, but again, there was no answer.
"Come on, say something," Hee-Rak told them.
"Why aren't you saying anything? You're making me anxious!"
They crouched, looking at the object that was sitting on the ground, covered by a white sheet covered with blood stains. Young-Shin lifted a trembling hand and reached it, uncovering what was lying underneath. They all screamed and fell back as they saw the familiar face that now was attached to a dead body. They watched him with wide eyes, not believing what they were seeing, hoping it was just a bad dream, praying that it was not Su-Chul and someone else that looked very similar to him. But it was hopeless. Su-Chul was dead and they could do nothing to undo it.
"What happened?" So-Yun was the first to speak as she shook Chi-Yeol. He wasn't even looking at her. "Answer me!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face. Nobody dared to speak for a few minutes at least, sobs invading the silent space just like the spheres invaded the Earth. Unwelcome, unexpected and real. They looked at the pale face for a few more minutes before So-Yun covered his face again, a small tear reaching his face as it shattered. Just like their hearts, shattered in a million pieces as they saw their friend lie on the cold ground, not being able to open his eyes. His heart was not beating anymore, his lungs were not breathing anymore and his smile was long gone from his face. This was the first loss that they suffered in a long time and they weren't ready for it. How could they ever be? Death was death, it was inevitable, but that didn't make it less painful.
And now, it was watching them closely.
❃❃❃
After they buried his body, their sobs diminished until they couldn't be heard anymore. They were gathered in the strategy room, sitting in a circle while they looked at Chi-Yeol as he placed a few papers on the table.
"What's this?" Yu-Jung asked him.
"The ballot Su-Chul had. There were three dissenting votes. Tell me why Su-Chul had these." Yu-Jung pursed her lips as she hesitated. Hee-Rak made his way toward them, taking the papers in his hands, examining them
"What's this? Why are the dissenting votes here?" he asked as Sun-Yi grabbed one and held it for everyone to see.
"I voted against staying yesterday. The fact that he hid this was to fool us into thinking that more of us voted on staying."
"Who fooled us? Are you saying Su-Chul did this?" So-Yun said. They all turned to Yu-Jung, waiting for an answer.
"I asked Su-Chul to destroy the ballots. That must be why he had them."
"Why did he only have ballots who were against the idea?" Yeong-Sun asked. "And three of them? It's proof that the poll was rigged."
"Are you saying Su-Chul rigged the poll?"
"Guys, stop. Why are we suspecting one another? This will only lead to misunderstandings."
"Then let's get to the truth right now. If the poll wasn't rigged, today's poll will produce the same results. Raise your hand if you voted X," So-Yeon said and some of them started raising their hands.
"Hey," Tae-Man said. "We shouldn't be raising our hands to vote."
"Why are you stopping us? Wang Tae-Man, you're acting suspicious."
"What? You've been losing you cool al day, I'd rather you shut your trap."
"Shut my trap?" Sun-Yi yelled back.
"That's right!"
"Let's calm down!" Young-Shin said as he got between them, forcing them apart. "Su-Chul... How did he die? Squad two, don't you know anything?"
"Say something."
"Su-Chul..." Chi-Yeol said. "I heard him argue before he died."
"What?" everyone said.
"What if it wasn't an accident?"
"Kim Chi-Yeol, what the hell are you saying?" So-Yeon said.
"Who did he fight with? Why are you only mentioning this now?"
"I was to startled before to put two and two together. That's why I didn't say anything. What the hell is going on? First, we need to know who Su-Chul was arguing with in the hospital. Tell me where you were and what you were doing at the time."
"What? You're suspecting us?"
"Are you out of your mind? You're asking us for our whereabouts?"
"Tell us where you were first! Why should we believe you anyways?"
"I'm not saying we should suspect each other. We should at least find out how Su-Chul died."
"Then, you're saying one of them killed Su-Chul?" Ha-Na asked.
"Watch your mouth and don't say whatever comes to your mind."
"What if Su-Chul didn't trip and fall? What if he was killed?"
"Let's confirm what we know first. We have proof that the poll was rigged, so let's figure that out first," Sun-Yi changed the subject, turning to Yu-Jung. "Yu-Jung, you probably know what's going on, so tell us. Why won't you say anything? Speak up!"
"Don't badger her like that," Jang-Su interwined.
"Jang-Su, maybe you were in on it too."
"This isn't time to take sides," Tae-Man said.
"Tae-Man, are you advocating for them? Maybe you're in on it too."
"Don't test your luck."
Soon, they started arguing more and it led to more chaos. They were all yelling as they were trying to sperate Hee-Rak and Tae-Man, just before a gunshot was heard. They all looked in the direction where it came from, seeing Il-Ha with a gun in his hand.
"Su-Chul and I have been rigging the polls," he said.
"Kwon Il-Ha, what are you saying? Is it true?"
"Su-Chul and I were scared at first and wanted to leave. But the fear only fueled our anger and we wanted to destroy all the spheres. You wanted to do the same thing, right?"
"What? You fooled us just to kill the spheres?"
"Of course you're angry, but -"
"Kwon Il-Ha," Bo-Ra said. "Are you out of your mind?"
"How could you have done that though? It would have taken more than two to rig the votes," Young-Shin said.
"It's all my fault. It was my idea."
"Darn it, you prick," Hee-Rak said just before he punched him, falling on the ground. Nobody stopped him. "Who else was on it? Answer me!"
"Guys," Yu-Jung said, catching everyone's attention. "I'm sorry." Everyone looked at her, stunned, as Jang-Su came beside her.
"What the hell? Why would you do this? Were you all on it? Is this why you suggested a poll?"
"No, they wouldn't do this. Right? Yu-Jung?"
"Why aren't you saying anything? Tell us why you fooled us right this moment! Tell us!"
"It's because the CSAT was cancelled, isn't it?" Duk-Jung said and everyone turned to him.
"What? Kim Duk-Jung, what are you saying?"
"It's a lie, isn't it? The CSAT couldn't have been cancelled!"
"Calm down! The CSAT was already cancelled when the spheres first landed. But how is that important right now."
"He's right, there is something more important that I need to tell you," Yu-Jung said.
"Another lie? What is it now, you fooled the whole planet into thinking the spheres existed when they were flying puppies all this time?" Sun-Yi told her.
"Sun-Yi, watch your mouth," Jang-Su told them "I think you're going to want to hear this."
"What is it?" Jun-Hee asked.
"When we went to the penitentiary today, something unexpected happened. And we met someone."
"Stop beating around the bush, just tell us," So-Yun told her.
"Chae-Yeong and Mr. Lee are alive."
"What?" So-Yeon asked as he approached her. She was playing with the dog tags at her neck again. "You'd better not lie to us or I'll kill you with my own two hands."
"She's telling the truth," Tae-Man said. "Chae-Yeong saved Bo-Ra and Ae-Seol's lives."
"How? Why are you telling us this only now? The Lieutenant is alive and you decided to keep it to yourselves? Is there anything else you're keeping from us?" Ha-Na asked.
"We wanted to tell you when you all got back, but things came up and we didn't have the chance to do so. We haven't seen him, though."
"What do you mean you haven't seen him? You just said that he was alive and that Chae-Yeong saved your lives."
"They weren't together. She was with some girl, I have no idea who she could be. We spoke with him over their transmitter."
"And? What did he say?"
"He wants us to go to the amusement park in three days. That's all he told us before Chae-Yeong had to leave."
"That bitch left just like that?" Su-Yon said. "I never liked her, but this is low even for her. To leave when she just dropped the fact that the Lieutenant is still alive?"
"And what are we still doing here arguing? Let's go pack!"
"So-Yeon, wait, we can't just go like that," Jang-Su told her.
"Why not? We failed the moment we let Mr. Lee die and now we get a second chance. Are you out of your mind?"
"We need to plan this. Together."
"We don't need to protect each other anymore. That was a promise that we made when we thought Mr. Lee died. But he's still alive. Is there any place safer than where he is? Because I don't think so."
"Let's vote," Sun-Yi said. "Is there anyone who doesn't want to go to the amusement park and meet the Lieutenant?" Nobody said anything, nobody raised a hand.
"I think it's decided. At least we know that it isn't rigged now. Don't think we forgot about that. We never will."
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𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇'𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝑒:
𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒾'𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒷𝒶𝓈𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑔𝓊𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝓇𝓎.
𝑒𝓃𝒿𝑜𝓎!