And so the sun had set and risen, and Mr Kim's teaching vicinity was once again graced with the presence of seven young men, their souls akin to the sun. Sure, it was currently winter, and the sun's rays were shy, tentatively trying to be seen from behind thick clouds of ashen grey and churning black. But an appreciation should be developed for the silent fight that the strings of gold consistently put up, for soon, spring would come again and liquid gold would penetrate and spill out. But when would this spring begin?
"Okay, I think we can start. Thank you so much for coming. I'm glad that none of you backed out of this," Mr Kim spoke with a smile. "I look forward to working with you," he added with a slight bow, eliciting a series of awkward head bops from the students along with a few "please take care of us"'s for good measure.
The teacher laughed. "Please feel comfortable around me," he assured. "I promise we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other better, so I hope this awkward atmosphere fades pretty quickly." The boys nodded, evident embarrassment plastered on their faces.
"Firstly I'd like to talk about the briefing that our dear Mr President gave this morning. He has made it clear that everyone is obligated to get their blood checked before lockdown begins. Now, this comes with its own issues for students and teaching staff as you're still expected to attend lectures, seminars, workshops and so on for the rest of the week.
"It would obviously be unreasonable to expect the whole student body to be able to see a doctor before lockdown, especially with early curfew hours due to it being winter. Therefore, both tomorrow and Friday, doctors will be coming into university to hold checkups on both students and staff. You will not be told beforehand when you will be called out but don't worry yourselves about this. Just do what you have been doing so far; you've come this far without being caught after all. Just remember: languid, fatigued movements and speech, okay? You've got this!"
Taehyung gulped harshly, visibly unsettled and very anxious. He didn't utter a word though, and instead kept his head low, focusing on his breathing.
"In terms of the beginning of lockdown and the protocol surrounding that, there have been no official statements and it will most likely remain that way. I have strung together an idea of what might happen, what seems to be most probable, although we should bear in mind that there might be slight alterations.
"Here's what I think. Since they're doing checkups now, they won't bother checking that everyone is in their houses before lockdown starts, especially not on campus. If everyone gets positive results on these tests, the government will be assured that no one will try to defy protocol; the injections just simply will not allow for it. Those who do have negative results or don't come for a checkup at all will be taken away as per usual, so that solves that issue for the higher-ups.
"It would be nonsensical to check everyone is present on campus. Some students are leaving to go stay with their family for the duration of lockdown. Then officials can force all students to leave, right? Well, no. Some pupils' families live outside of Daegu and obviously, travel outside of the city is prohibited. Likewise, they can't force everyone to stay on campus because not everyone lives in the university dorms in the first place.
"As you can see, it all gets a bit messy but it ultimately works out in our favour. It would be far too time consuming to get a record of where each student is going to stay, and then go around, checking dorms and family homes accordingly.
"There will be very strict patrol on the streets. Anyone who leaves their house will likely be taken away to wherever they usually hold their abductees, or maybe even killed on the spot. That means there will also be close patrol outside of and in the hallways of the dorm buildings. Thankfully, those are on the other side of campus, so if everything goes well, no one should even suspect that we're here."
None of the students said anything, all listening intensely, all wearing the same look of worry.
"We'll be staying in this building as you may have guessed. It's one of the biggest buildings so there's lots of space. The most important thing, though, is that we have the offices of the Chancellor and Vice-chancellor here. If there is to be any important information hidden here at all, it would be in this building.
"Now for sneaking into the building. Lockdown starts on Sunday, with the beginning of curfew. We need to get into school before then since all campus facilities will already be closed during the day."
"How can you be sure?" asked Yoongi.
"Staff have already received a notice from the government. Students will be informed some time today so they don't leave any important matters for the weekend. In the same way, all shops and other public places will already be closed on Sunday.
"That is why we will meet in the library of this building on Saturday in the afternoon. All supplies should already be someplace here. Only put things in your locker if it's in this building.
"The library is obviously very spacious so at first we'll try to find a secluded spot and pretend we're doing work. There shouldn't be any specific attention brought our way. The library will ultimately close down for students an hour or so before curfew begins. All teachers need to leave the grounds by then and hopefully that'll be the the last time anyone enters the building.
"I know you're probably expecting me to have some sort of secret entry or something but unfortunately, as childish as it sounds, we're going to need to hide out in the library. That means hiding in cupboards, behind shelves, etc.
"It's too risky to hide in a lecture hall or something. Lectures aren't being held on weekends so it would look suspicious if someone saw us. The library, by contrast, is a public space. However, because it is a public area, the librarian will be checking that there's no one in the library before she leaves. We'll have the whole afternoon to plan and properly look around though, so we'll think of something. No matter how I think of it, this seems to be the only way.
"We'll have to stay in the library Saturday night and the whole of Sunday, just in case. After that, we'll be able to spread out. I'll let you know about the plan for post Sunday once we're safe. Just focus on Saturday for now. Are there any questions?" Mr Kim finally finished up.
No one spoke, some shaking their heads, while others looked down.
"You don't need to worry," the teacher reassured. "Hiding in the library will be easier than it sounds. It's not like they'll be expecting anyone to be hiding in cupboards or behind shelves or anything. They'll probably just end up quickly scanning the tables and computer areas. They won't even notice we're there, okay?"
After receiving slightly more confident nods of approval this time around, Mr Kim said, "If you need to talk to me about anything at any point, come find me. I'm always here and more than happy to help with anything that you guys are struggling with. Thank you again for coming. You may leave now."
"Will there be another meeting before Saturday?" asked Jimin.
"I think we'll hold short gatherings here before morning lectures tomorrow and Friday morning, if that's okay. To keep track of your progress and make sure you're all coping. Does that sound good?"
The boys smiled at him gratefully, nodding and bowing as they got up, ready to leave the room.
"Seokjin," the teacher called as the students filed out. "Could you stay behind for a second?"
"Sure!"
Once he heard the door close, Namjoon prepared himself to speak when he noticed an apprehensive Taehyung, lingering by the entry.
"Taehyung, is something wrong?" he asked.
"I just need to talk to you in private about something, Sir," came the meek reply.
"Sure, just give me a minute, okay?"
After a quick nod from the silver-haired boy, Namjoon turned to Seokjin, asking in a low voice. "Do you have the phone?"
"Yeah, do you want me to give it to you?" Jin replied, matching the older's volume.
"No. It's probably safer with you. Just make sure it's on you when we stay here."
"Of course! Is that all?" the student asked, only making his way to the door after receiving a nod from Namjoon.
"You did well today. Have a good day!"
"You too!" the teacher responded with a wide, dimpled smile, waving the younger off as he made his exit. He then quickly turned to Taehyung with a worried expression. "What's the matter?"
"Well, I'm not completely safe," Taehyung said with a sigh, making his way to Mr Kim's desk.
"What do you mean?" the teacher pressed, growing more and more anxious.
"I won't pass the blood test. It's only been a week or so since I last took an injection. I've never done this before. I don't have a substitute and I don't know what to do. I know it's a lot to ask but would it be possible for you to help?" the boy explained, clearly agitated.
"Of course! I have the morning free today so I'll try to get something ready for you. Come back when you're finished with your schedule, okay?"
Taehyung couldn't contain his happiness, a huge grin spilling onto his face as he hugged the teacher. "Thank you, thank you so much!" he exclaimed bowing repeatedly.
"Taehyung, it's really no problem. I'll see you later!" he replied, not being able to hold back his own smile as the younger reciprocated his farewell, continuing to bow all the way back out of the door.
◆
"Listen, Taehyung," Mr Kim started as the student returned. "There's a little complication. If I give you the injection that I take, the results that would show up on your blood test wouldn't be as vivid because your blood has been completely clean for about a week. This would definitely raise suspicion and we don't want that.
"So as much as I don't want to do this, I had to put some sedative in there to compliment the chemicals and make sure the results will be more visible. It's no where near as strong as the government's, but that doesn't mean you won't feel the effects.
"I need you to start taking it today, as often as you would with the government injections, and continue until Saturday. You don't know when you're going to be called out to have the test done on you so you need to be careful. You'll be out of it for the next couple of days but I'll make sure to keep an extra eye out on you to make sure you're safe.
"You don't need to come to any of the follow-up meetings if you're not feeling up to it. You need to conserve your energy as much as possible. Feel free to come see me at any point though.
"Try bringing as much supplies as you can but don't force yourself too much," the teacher continued to list. "Tell you what, go to your dorm now and pack a big bag with all your essentials in it, any extra food, etc. Only when you're satisfied, take the injection. Then, when you come on Saturday, I'll remind you to bring the bag with you. Sound like a plan?"
"Yes, Sir! Thank you so much! I promise I won't disappoint you!" Taehyung exclaimed.
"I'm sure you won't! Now go get everything ready!"
Hey guys!! I'm back!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite the fact that it was essentially another information dump. Let me know what you thought. Is there something I can improve on? All feedback is more than welcomed.
Although it might be a bit underwhelming and come as a bit of a disappointment, we now know that the reason why Taehyung was the most apprehensive before, but the most enthusiastic once he found out about Namjoon's plan was because, as opposed to the others, he hadn't been taking anything at all. We will be finding out how all the members came to not be taking injections soon, so I hope you're as excited as I am!
Thank you once again for taking the time to read this. If you need to talk, I'm here. I hope you're all taking care of yourselves and staying safe. I love you guys!!! See you soon!! 💜💜💜
Published: 22/06/20