Trigger ↬ [ P.JS ]

Chapter 41:

Her mouth was closed shut ever since Donghyuck lost control of their ride. Her mind was wondering all sorts of things. Yet, out of all those things, one memory stuck out the most.

Astrid promised to her, that she will see her family, her mom and her dad, that her family will be complete the day her birthday comes. Or was that just something to make her happy at the moment? She knew Astrid, the kid trusted Astrid. Hwayoung didn't know what to do. She wanted to see her parents so bad, but she was panicking about Astrid because she haven't seen her wake up yet.

She's holding Hayoon's hand, he's the only family she had at the moment.

Hwayoung knew that both of them were just nuisance to the adults. Her heart felt heavy at that thought. If Astrid wasn't assigned to babysit them, they would've been dead. They would be walking down the streets of Los Angeles, lifeless.

Well, that's no different from what they were doing just days ago. Now, she's just thankful that they found a hospital that can take care of them.

Mark isn't awake yet, which made the two other adults frantic. Hwayoung told them not to worry, though she felt as if her words didn't mean anything at all. Rina never left her side. She took care of her, and stayed even in the nights. The nurses were forced to merge in their rooms because of this.

Speaking of nurses, Hwayoung felt very familiar with this one specific nurse. She wasn't sure if she met her already, was she mom's friend? She didn't think so, but why was her presence, why was she so used to it?

The kid's thoughts were interrupted by the said person. The nurse walked in with a doctor, did their regular checking, and the doctor left assigning the nurse for the last doses. She proceeded to inject necessary drugs to each of them, Jeno going first. "Mark is going to be fine, Sir. The scans showed no signs of brain injury, well, nothing that can be a danger to him. He'll wake up tomorrow, the doctor said he just needs rest. Was he doing a lot of solving or thinking when the crash happened? Or anything that can cause extreme stress?" the nurse finished with Hwayoung, smiling at the little girl.

Jeno tried to recall, "Yes. He was very stressed." he tensed his shoulders, feeling guilt a little more as time passed. Rina noticed this and subtlety caressed his back. "Is that the reason why he was unconscious for a long time, Miss?" She asked, trying to soothe her friend.

The nurse nodded, heading to the door with her tray. "You'll be discharged when Mark wakes up. Let's all pray that he will tomorrow, so you can be with Miss Lee." she smiled slyly, lowering her volume towards the last sentence.

"What was that?" Rina narrowed her eyes.

"You'll be discharged tomorrow if Sir Mark wakes up, Miss Rina. If you do, you'll be discharged along with other patients that coincidentally got injured with plane crash as well. Do you happen to know Miss Lee?" Yeonmi let her second skin fade, showing her real form to the teenagers and the kids.

Jeno stepped forward, protecting the people on his back. "You!" he yelled.

"Jeno, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm not here to hurt anyone. I've been helping." she slowly placed her tray down, lifting her arms up. Jeno carefully analyzed her, still protectively standing. "Hwayoung knows me, right Hwayoung?" the old lady smiled.

Hwayoung slowly nodded, remembering that her mom and the lady were friends. "You're friends with my mom." she quietly claimed.

"That's right." Yeonmi grinned. "Jeno, didn't you see Jisung in a wheelchair the first day you were here?" she tilted her head, facing him.

"Jeno?" Rina also faced the boy. "You saw Jisung?" she furrowed her brows, looking down at her feet, and realized what she was talking about.

Before Jeno could speak, Yeonmi explained; "The generation before you, we had powers. Not all of us, but most of us do. I'm sure your parents told you to keep this a secret?" she referred to Rina. The girl nodded, making the woman smile. "A facility, a-"

"A cruel world of training, the secret term for hiding people they were scared of." Jeno whispered.

"Right, I'm glad your parents told you about that. Now, I have a rare thing-"

"You're a dark trainee, a black powered one." Rina interrupted her.

"You guys are educated! I'm so happy! Yes, you are correct. I can copy whatever, whoever, along with having a main ability. I have illusions. That explains the copying and Jisun-"

She was pushed violently to the side by the door abruptly opening, bumping her head to the wall. Her vision blurred, she was pretty sure she was bleeding. She heard voices and yelling, the voices were familiar.

"Oh god, please don't make this harder, Astrid." she whispered.

Jeno widened his eyes as he saw the old woman slam her head. He was about to go to her when someone tried pulling him. "What-" he turned his head to the person. "Jisung?!" he let the man drag him while he took controlled breaths. "What are you doing?!" he shouted, noticing the hospital staffs aren't seeing the situation.

"Jeno, we need to find the others, the lady is here! We're in danger!" Jisung gritted his teeth, opposing the strong boy, trying to pull his friend outside.

He turned his head around seeing Rina just as confused as he is, carrying Hwayoung, and Astrid carrying Hayoon with her foot limping.

Rina started yelling, confused. "Are you guys crazy? The lady was helping! She was thrown to the wall! She's injured and were just going to leave her there?! Why are we even running?!" she looked at her, breathing heavily. "Astrid! Answer me!"

"She's dangerous, she's trying to kill us! I don't know why! But she's trying to get us killed." Astrid continued to limp her way out of the hospital.

Rina refused to step out of the place. "I am not going with you!" she held Hwayoung tight. "I am not risking children's lives for this, Astrid. You are crazy! She is good! She was explaining!" she stomped her feet, frustrated.

Astrid halted, she turned around, facing Rina. "Rina, what was she explaining? Rina please, she chased us. We have to go!"

"No. You can go by yourself, Give Hayoon to me." Rina glared at her. "Don't risk lives. There are zombies out there! Please just stay inside!" she pulled Hayoon out of Astrid's arms.

"Rina-"

"Stop being fucking delusional!"

"I'm not being delusional!"

"Leave us here. You can go by yourself."

Astrid sighed. She looked at Rina pleadingly. The girl just returned a cold glare to her. Hwayoung soon caught her attention and she scanned the girl's body. I'm just glad she's okay. Please let her be safe with Rina. Please, if you're gonna hurt them, hurt me instead. She breathed out, stepping out of the hospital. She ran to the other two, seeing that Jeno is also resisting.

"Let him go if he doesn't want to." she said to Jisung.

The boy looked up to Astrid, removing his hands on Jeno. He didn't question her as her eyes already gave him the answer.

Jeno catched his breath and hesitantly walked to Rina and the kids. "What is with them?" he breathed out, not believing what just happened. Rina looked back at him, "Let them be. The old woman will handle it."

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update bc its spooky season and be ready 4 the next chapter bc u will get spooked

take it as u will <3