seungyoon
THE LIGHTING in the room hasn't changed, so I can't tell what time it is. It feels like it's been twelve hours since I first sat in this chair, but who knows how long it's really been? There's no way to tell.
My wrists have already begun to ache from being in handcuffs for so long.
How long are they going to keep me here?
Are they going to question me again?
Are they going to transfer me to a cell?
These questions will remain unanswered. I'm not going to ask them. No one would answer them even if I asked.
I'm not even sure if I'd be able to ask these questions.
It seems like Seunghoon left an eternity ago, and no one has been in since.
Are they just going to leave me here?
No. They have some kind of plan. They're probably getting their torture devices ready so they can try to force information out of me.
I take a deep breath in, close my eyes, and breathe out.
When I open my eyes again, everything is the same.
I'm still in this interrogation room, sitting across from my own reflection in a mirror, my hands cuffed to the table in front of me.
I'm waiting for something.
But what am I waiting for?
I close my eyes once again, and this time I picture Nephi's face.
I didn't need to turn myself in. If I hadn't turned myself in, Nephi would have escaped anyway. He had already escaped moments before I turned myself in.
But I can't dwell on that.
I did this to protect him, and he's safe now. That's the only thing that matters.
Where is he now, though?
Where would he go?
He's smart. I remind myself. He'll know what to do. He'll figure it out.
And when I get out of here, I'll find him.
I look at my hands, cuffed to the table.
Is there a way I could get out of these cuffs?
I don't think so.
And even if there was, what would I do after that?
Someone is most likely watching me right now, through the mirror that I'm forced to stare at. It's a window on the other side.
But there's no way I could even get out of these cuffs. I don't have anything to—
Bang!
I jump at the sound of a shot.
My head whips toward the door to this room, but nothing happens visually.
I can feel my heart beating more quickly in my chest.
Bang!
Another shot.
I can hear muffled yelling.
What is happening out there?
I listen carefully, trying to figure out what exactly might be happening.
But all I can hear is muffled chaos: gunshots going off, people shouting and letting out screams, and banging sounds.
Did someone attack the AAN building?
Or...
Is someone trying to get me out?
The sounds of yelling get closer and closer.
I hear the sound of something slamming into the wall, somewhere near the door that leads into this room.
There's snarling sounds right outside my door.
More gunshots.
More banging sounds.
Before I can comprehend what's going on, the door swings open and I'm met with a familiar face.
"Minho?"
He moves over toward me, a long piece of metal in his right hand.
He has a hood over his head, but I can see his face clearly. His eyes are black and violet.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask incredulously.
He doesn't get the chance to answer.
An AAN member rushes through the opening of the door and fires his gun.
I flinch and instinctively duck my head lower, closing my eyes.
When I open them, Minho is taking the gun from the man, dislocating the man's arm in the process. He gets the end of the gun pointed at the man and fires.
The man drops to the floor.
Minho wastes no time, rushing over toward me. He jams the piece of metal into my handcuffs and unlocks them.
"Are you here alone?" I ask.
There's still screaming and banging outside, so I'm guessing the answer is no.
"No," Minho answers. "We have to leave. Now."
He moves quickly toward the door. I make a quick detour, grabbing the paper clip in the corner of the room before following Minho out the door.
I stuff the paper clip in my pocket and look down the hall to my left.
Jinwoo is down there, on top of someone. More AAN members are moving toward him, their guns aimed at his head.
I grab a pistol off the ground and fire.
A bullet hits one AAN member square in the head. I fire another that punctures a woman's chest.
"Jinwoo!" Minho screams. "Let's go!"
Jinwoo immediately runs toward us.
Minho grabs my arm and pulls me away from the members racing toward us.
He maneuvers us through the hallways until I can see an open door.
Jinwoo gets in front of us, tackling someone near the door.
A gun goes off.
Minho stops abruptly, which forces me to stumble backward.
There's blood dripping from Jinwoo's arms and abdomen. Minho has a wound on his left shoulder.
Minho raises his gun at the AAN members to the left of us. His gun goes off.
All of this happens in mere seconds.
I aim my gun at an AAN member behind us. But when I fire, no bullets shoot out.
Empty.
"Let's go!" Minho screams, ripping Jinwoo off the AAN member on the floor.
More gunshots ring around us and I pray none of them have hit me.
Jinwoo and Minho will heal. I won't.
We sprint out the door, Jinwoo leading, Minho behind me.
It's dark outside.
I can hear gunshots still, but we're running faster than I ever thought possible and soon, we're far enough away that no AAN member would be chasing us anymore.
We quickly go into an alley and I immediately collapse, my back against a wall of a building.
Minho stays standing, leaning against the building opposite to me. Jinwoo collapses next to me, falling all the way to his side. He's breathing heavy, but I can see that he's already stopped bleeding.
Minho has a hole in his shoulder from the bullet wound, but it's healing pretty fast. Jinwoo just heals faster.
After we've caught our breath, I see that Minho's eyes have changed back to normal. He's looking at Jinwoo.
He moves over toward Jinwoo, kneeling down next to him. "Jinwoo? Are you okay?"
Jinwoo slowly sits up and rubs his head. His eyes have changed back to dark brown.
"Yeah," Jinwoo says quietly. "Sorry, I just... I couldn't really stop."
"It's okay," Minho says. "Don't worry about it. You helped us a lot. We couldn't have made it out without you."
"It's normal," I tell Jinwoo. "You're supposed to be able to do things like that. Your instincts took over."
There's a moment of silence as we continue to catch our breath.
"Thank you." I suddenly speak up. "Thank you for saving me."
Minho lets out a sigh. "We had to, Yoon. You're the leader of the Alliance. Those people need you."
I lower my head. "Yeah, but Nephi needed me, too."
"Did they let him go?" Jinwoo asks.
"No," I answer. "But he escaped on his own, moments before I turned myself in."
Neither of them respond. I don't think they know exactly how to.
"All that matters is that Nephi is out and he is safe," I say. "And now I'm out too, thanks to you guys."
I slowly stand up and move toward the end of the alley.
"Where is Nephi?" Jinwoo asks. "Where would he have gone?"
"I don't know," I respond, turning to face them. "He's smart, though. I'm sure he went somewhere safe. And we'll find him soon—"
"Yoon!"
I don't have time to react to Jinwoo's scream.
I feel arms wrapping around my neck so I react to that instead.
I quickly grab the paper clip and spin around, shoving it into the person's throat.
The blood seeps onto my hand and I see he has a knife in a holster and a gun in his hand.
Before he can use the gun, I knock it out of his hand. Then I grab the knife, sliding the blade across the front of his throat, moving my hand with the paper clip in the process.
The man drops to the ground.
I look over at Minho and Yoon. "We need to get out of here. More probably followed him."
We quickly weave through alleyways, Minho and Jinwoo following me.
Once we're far enough away again, we slow our pace and walk normally.
"Where are we going?" Minho asks. "My house is the other way."
"We can't go there," I tell him. "It's not safe. That building has cameras all over it, they'll identify you soon enough, if they haven't already. They'll know to go to your home first. We can't go back there."
Minho doesn't say anything.
"Where will we go then?" Jinwoo asks.
"The Alliance base in the third sector is closer," I tell them. "We'll go there."
"The third sector?" Minho questions.
"It's closer than the base in the eighth sector," I explain. "We'll go there and I'll make sure everything is better there. It's a smaller base than the one in the sixth sector was. I'm taking measures so that we won't get found out again."
Minho and Jinwoo don't respond.
"There's a bus stop close by," I tell them. "We'll take it to the third sector."
Our footsteps are heavy.
Minho and Jinwoo may have saved me from the AAN, but now they are forced to leave their home.
They were found helping the Alliance leader.
Whether they like it or not, they are now part of the Alliance.
And to the AAN, that makes them criminals.