{ D - 7 }
There was only one week left until the Age Ceremony.
However, a lot of things can happen in a week.
Seungkwan was doing his normal volunteer hours in the Childcare Center. He was on his break, after he had just finished reading a book about plants to Doyoung. The young child was now eating Third Meal, along with the other soon-to-be five-year-old children. As he walked over to the lounge room, he could hear hushed voices coming from the inside of the door. Before he walked in, he peaked through and saw only the two head care workers inside discussing something very quietly and discreetly, like they didn't want anyone else to hear.
"What do we do about Number 57821?" One of the workers asked quietly.
Seungkwan recognized that ID Number to be Doyoung's. He leaned in closer to the door so he could clearly hear what the two employees were discussing about the child.
"I mean it's plainly obvious the young child has no ability to verbally communicate," the worker continued. "According to the law he should've been eliminated when he was two."
"The district hasn't dealt this a situation like this before," the other worker explained. "So we weren't able to do anything by the book with this child. The young one has caused us many... inconveniences."
"Did you get a message from the Head Council regarding this situation?" The first worker asked impatiently, earning a nod from the former.
"They sent me a message saying they want Number 57821 eliminated tonight," the other responded.
Seungkwan's eyes widened with fear. The Head Council was going to eliminate Doyoung? He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. He leaned in closer once more in case they were discussing any more details about Doyoung's elimination.
"But everyone's so busy preparing for the Age
Ceremony that it'll have to be delayed," the same worker continued, causing Seungkwan to sigh with relief.
"When is the next available elimination appointment open?"
"In four days."
Seungkwan's began to tear up. How could they eliminate Doyoung? How could they kill an innocent young child? Even at four years old, the small boy held so much potential; yet the district was planning to get rid of him because of his inability to speak. The thought made Seungkwan's hands curl into fists as tears began to stream out of his eyes.
"So it's confirmed that the young one's elimination is in four days?" the other worker asked.
The second working nodded. "In four days, number 57821 will go through the elimination process."
The young volunteer began to slowly back away from the door before he turned around and dashed out of the Childcare center with tears streaming down his face. Shortly after, he accidentally bumped into someone's shoulder, causing him to bow as an apology and scurry away with his head dipped down. The person he bumped into grabbed onto his wrist before he could walk away any further, causing him to look up and meet the eyes of the person he ran into, a very familiar friend.
"Seungkwan," Hansol said, "Everything okay?"
Seungkwan allowed himself to become vulnerable in front of the former and immediately began to cry helplessly. Hansol grew worried, leaning closer towards Seungkwan's face and delicately wiping away the latter's tears.
"I-It's Doyoung," the blonde-haired whimpered, "Jihoon agreed to let me take him with us during our escape, b-but they're planning on killing him before the Age Ceremony even happens."
Seungkwan gripped onto Hansol's shoulder's, his shaky hands desperately clinging onto the fabric of the taller's shirt.
"I don't know what to do!" Seungkwan sobbed.
Hansol pulled Seungkwan into a hug, lightly stroking the back of the shorter's head as a comforting gesture. He had never seen Seungkwan like this before, even when they were roommates three years ago. He was always a bubbly, friendly person with no hesitation to show an exaggerated emotion. However, seeing his own friend fall into a state of devastation and helplessness was something new, and it ached Hansol.
"It'll be okay," He assured Seungkwan, "We'll figure it out."
He pulled away from their hug, wiping away the last of his friend's tears while whispering words of comfort and assurance. Seungkwan's loud sobs lowered to quiet sniffles, and Hansol couldn't help but smile at pat the latter's head with care.
He held up his bracelet and tapped on the grey button, allowing a holographic contact list to pop up. He tapped on Jihoon's and sent a message about what happened before pressing on the grey button once more to turn it off.
"Do you really think everything will work out?" Seungkwan asked doubtfully.
Hansol nodded assuringly and gently rubbed Seungkwan's back in a comforting way, making the latter smile. Seungkwan took a deep breath and nodded eagerly, facing back towards the Childcare Center, watching the children through the window. They were all so young, so bright, with their whole lives ahead of them. He didn't want anyone to take their futures away.
"You're right," Seungkwan agreed. "It will all be fine. Everything will work out!"
His gaze softened once he recognized a familiar little boy walk around the lobby, holding a small toy bike in his hand.
"It has to," he mumbled.
_________
{ D - 4 }
Junhui was in the middle of training when he felt his bracelet vibrate on his wrist three times. The minute he felt the vibrations he completely forgot his was in the middle of a spar, which caused him to be abruptly punched by his opponent. Of course the punch brought an immense amount of pain and a scolding from his instructor, but he didn't care about training in that moment.
When the bracelet vibrates, it means someone from the group sent you an update or a message. However, three vibrations was a message everyone received from Jisoo that an emergency meeting had to be held, which meant something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
After what seemed like hours, Junhui's training session finally ended and he darted out of the building towards the Library. Once he reached the Library he quickly made his way up to the second floor and into the secret room, pulling on the specific books to unlock the door. The door freaked open and he went inside, greeted by Seohyeon and Jisoo who were standing beside the table.
"Jun," she spoke, her eyes trembling with fear.
"What's wrong?" He asked, closing the door behind him and walking up to her.
He cupped her face with his palms and titled her head slightly upwards so that they were still keeping eye contact. Seohyeon opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out of her mouth. She didn't know what to say or what to do.
"You two have a seat," Jisoo offered, "I'll explain everything once the entire team gets here."
Junhui lead Seohyeon by the hand towards one of the chairs before sitting in one right next to her. Soon one by one the other recruits entered into the room quietly and discreetly, all sharing the same confused and worried look on their faces. After about thirty minutes, the last recruit came in, and everyone sat around the table in silent tension as they waited for Jisoo to explain the reason behind this emergency meeting.
"Do you think it's really serious?" Soonyoung whispered to Chan.
"Why else would he hold an emergency meeting?" Chan whispered back, annoyed, "Of course it's serious!"
Jisoo cleared his throat and stood up from his chair, causing all eyes to look up at him. The instructor closed his eyes took a deep breath before looking back at all the recruits around the table.
"I wish I could tell you that this problem isn't too serious, but unfortunately that's not the case," he began.
"What happened?" Jeonghan asked, a little shocked he didn't know about the situation.
"Someone's been reporting us to District Headquarters," Jisoo stated, "about our plan."
All eyes widened with shock, and everyone was left speechless. Seohyeon tilted her head down, her hands curling into fists.
"Who?" Mingyu asked desperately, "Who found out about our plan?"
Seohyeon stood up from her seat, grabbing everyone's attention. She looked up as her eyes began to well up with tears that were full of fear, devastation, and heartbreak.
"My roommate, Jane."
Junhui, quite taken aback by the news, sprang up to his feet and gripped onto Seohyeon's shoulders. The girl simply looked up at him, not knowing whether to be disappointed in Jane or in herself.
"I don't know how she found out," Seohyeon confessed, her voice cracking, "And I know she didn't know any better and was just following what the rules tell us to do. But why do I feel so betrayed?"
She began to sob into the palms of her hands, and Junhui immediately pulled her into a hug.
"It's okay," Junhui whispered, gently patting her back. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault."
"But if it wasn't for me, then she wouldn't have found out," Seohyeon argued, "Them she wouldn't have reported anything to the district, and everything would be fine."
"That's not the only reason why this meeting was held," Jihoon spoke up.
Seohyeon looked up from Junhui's shoulder and at the black-haired boy, silently confused like everyone else at the table.
"Jisoo and I didn't tell you this, but we have another recruit coming with us," Jihoon explained. "He's one of the young four-year-olds in the Childcare Center. I know things would he risky with a child on board our mission, but—"
"But I needed him to come with me," Seungkwan interrupted, all eyes turning towards him.
The blonde-haired boy stood up from his chair. Junhui quietly helped Seohyeon sit back down in her chair, wrapping an arm around her shoulder for comfort as they listened to Seungkwan talk.
"He has the inability to talk," Seungkwan continued. "In other words he's mute. And... the district was planning on eliminating him tomorrow night."
"Hansol contacted me, and I contacted Jisoo about it," Jihoon pitched in. "And after a lot of thought and discussing..."
"We have no choice but to escape tonight," Jisoo finished the statement.
"Tonight?!" Seokmin panicked.
"A-are we even ready?" Hansol asked nervously.
"I'm not even packed," Hoshi mumbled.
"We have no choice," Jihoon said, "If we don't leave tonight, the district will either lock us all up in prison for life or eliminate us. There's no other option."
"I know it's all very sudden, but try to cooperate," Jisoo spork up. "Our lives our practically at stake. I need every single one of your in order for this mission to work."
Jisoo's eyes were practically pleading with desperation. But he was right. They had no choice but leave. Even if they stayed, the district wouldn't be too happy about it. They'd probably end up in prison or even worse... killed.
"Everything's all been taken care of anyway right?" Wonwoo asked.
Everyone looked over at the glasses-wearing male who was sitting in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
"All of our supplies and weapons are stocked up to the amount we need," he continued. "Plus, we've been training for months. There's a reason we wanted everything ready before hand. If anything, I think we've been ready for weeks now and have just been waiting it out."
"I agree with Wonwoo," Junhui acknowledged.
Seohyeon looked over at him, still unsure. Junhui lifted up his hand and placed it on top of her head, gently ruffling her hair. Once Seohyeon saw the smile Junhui had on his face, all of her worries and stress seemed to wither away. She knew what he was saying, even without any words.
Everything would be okay.
"Then it's settled," Jeonghan stated. "We leave tonight, while everyone's asleep."
"We all know what to do?" Jisoo asked, earning a bunch of eager nods from all the recruits.
They all still looked apprehensive, not knowing what danger their rushed plans would bring. However, they knew that by trusting in their training, their plan, and each other, things would work out. Jisoo grinned, his gentle eyes glistening with mischief and courage.
"Then lets eat! We've got a big night ahead of us."
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A/N: hey everyone! i'm sorry it took me a hot minute to post this chapter, but school will be starting for me soon and i won't have much time to write so i'm changing the posting schedule to every monday! lets hope i can stick to it lol. thanks for understanding :')