Crimson | Hyunjin centric fanfic

Drip

Next thing he knew, he was sitting in a tight circle with 'The Kids' the seven of them whispering amongst themselves, occasionally looking at the ceiling with scared expressions. From the way they acted, Hyunjin assumed they were being monitored.

    "I'm guessing you're like us if you're here," Minho said, staring at the bandage on his cheek. "Did they catch you when you had a meltdown, too?"

    "Meltdown? What are you talking about?" Hyunjin asked, not able to recall acting out like Minho had described.

    "So you don't know yet," Seungmin said calmly. "I guess you'll find out soon enough then."

    As he talked, Hyunjin couldn't process the fact that the sick boy in front of him was the same Seungmin who was always happy and full of energy. Whatever this lab was had taken the life out of him and left him with a withering shell.   

    "What...What do they do to you here?" He asked, the subject touching a nerve.

    "Shut it," Changbin warned. "They can hear us. If we tell you well... it won't be pleasant."

    Somehow, they had managed to communicate that the lab put minimum effort into taking care of them, Chan giving up most of his meals to make sure the others had enough to eat. He also learned that Jeongin had the most severe case out of all of them and was used like a rag doll by the scientists. That information left him dreading the future that awaited him. Why was a hellhole like this allowed to exist?

    The sound of the door unlocking set them scrambling to find a way to make themselves look more natural and not like they had been up to anything suspicious. If what they said about hidden cameras was true, Hyunjin felt like they should have just stayed in place.

    Eunho opened the door, a tray of food in hand. Hyunjin's jaw nearly dropped seeing that their portions were worse than the others had described. The food he had barely looked like enough to feed three people nevermind eight. At this point, if Chan kept sacrificing his meals, he would starve.

    "I know this isn't enough but there's nothing I can do about it," Eunho said sympathetically. "A lot of patients have been starving but the higher ups don't seem to care."

    He placed the food on the table, watching as everyone went after it, swarming around the table like vultures. Hyunjin watched the situation in horror, wanting nothing more than for this to all end.

    "I recommend you start to prep yourself," Eunho said, redirecting his attention to Hyunjin. "I'll be back in a few minutes so you can begin your testing."

    True to his word, once the food was gone, Eunho came back into the room and escorted him out. Jeongin attempted to attack Eunho, but in his weakened state, he was easy to brush off. Once again, he was led down the blinding white halls to what looked like a large gym.

    The gym was so large that he felt like an ant. Despite that, the white walls made him feel claustrophobic like they would close in on him at any moment. The metallic smell of blood and some sort of chemical lingered in the air. A few parts of the floor were stained pink, the blood that had been shed leaving its mark.

    A woman in a dark outfit held him still as she placed multiple devices on him that he assumed connected to a lab machine somewhere. She placed electrodes on his forehead which itched uncomfortably. He wanted nothing more than to get them off as soon as possible.   

    Around him, people in similar outfits rushed out, placing a sturdy-looking manniquin in front of him. A few heavily-armed guards took their places around the perimeter of the gym, their presence enough to make him more afraid than he already was.

    "From the data we've collected, this condition affects each of you a little bit differently," The woman said in a monotone voice as she finished hooking him up to the machines. "However, all of them shared the trait of super-human strength. We want to test and see if it's the same for you."

    "Okay...but why are there guards in here? If I'm by myself there's no need for security?" Hyunjin questioned.

    Ignoring him, the woman placed her hand on his shoulder and turned him in the direction of the mannequin. "I want you to punch that as hard as you can."

    He didn't want to obey so easily, but with all the guards around him, he had no other choice but to. The punch he delivered did nothing more than cause the mannequin to wobble slightly. The woman took notes before rushing out of the gym like it was on fire.

    Hyunjin ran after her, desperate to find a way out. He didn't want to be part of those tests and he didn't want to be left alone with the guards. Maybe he would wake up and find out this was just a nightmare.

    He reached the woman, grabbing her arm when a bullet tore through his shoulder and a familiar strangling sensation engulfed him once more.

~~~

    The rest of 'The Kids' were forced to watch the experiment. They sat behind a window that was invisible to anyone inside the gym. Hyunjin was quickly hooked up to devices that were connected to machines inside the room where his data could be processed and used against him.

    The experiment was going smoothly, starting Hyunjin off easy. It only went south when he panicked. The gunshot sounded jsut as loud to them behind a protective barrier of glass as it did to the people inside the gym.

    Before it was too late, the woman was pulled inside, the door locked behind her. The guards inside were prepared to kill if necessary, but losing him now meant losing a stepping stone to completing their research.   

    A guard watching them grabbed Changbin tightly by the arm and led him to the metal door to the gym, pushing him inside to defuse the situation. That was their excuse. In reality, they wanted to know how long it would take Hyunjin to tear him apart.

    The sight of his blood had turned Hyunjin into a bloodthirsty animal and Changbin had just become his prey.