GROUND ONE • LEE DONGHYUCK •

eight.

SAGE SAT BESIDE JENO, WATCHING AS DONGHYUCK PRACTICED WITH A BOW AND ARROW.

It had been two days since the man had came to her room, caring for her. It had been two days since the boy lingered in her mind constantly. She let out a huff before moving her eyes away from him. Jeno could only softly laugh at her frustration. Jeno and Sage began a friendship, the two finding out that they liked similar things.

Although Jeno seemed tough on the outside, he was a gentle giant. His smile could warm the entire room. He honestly reminded her of a Samoyed. Jeno found the girl interesting also. She would get excited quickly about small things and rant about them. He listened to every word she had to say— her smile bringing him a bit of happiness.

Sage took another glance at Donghyuck— his eyes already on her. She quickly moved her gaze away from him. Jeno smirked as she scratched the back of her head. Donghyuck shrugged it off and continued to train himself.

Sage took a drink of water, Jeno speaking up. "He cares about you a lot," Jeno told her, her eyes widening at the sudden confession. Before she knew it, she was coughing out the water that was meant to go in. "Don't say stupid shit Jeno."

He smiled. "I don't like to lie Sage. He really does."

She wiped her mouth and turned to him. "How would you know?" she asked, squinting her eyes.

"When he went to give you the food the other night?"

She shook her head. "Renjun told him to. Im telling you he practically hates me."

Jeno tilted his head. "So that's what he told you," he laughed out. "Renjun himself didn't even get dinner because he was sleep. Donghyuck thought about giving you food all by himself."

All the curly haired woman could muster out was a soft "oh." Did he really care that much about her? Even then, if he did care, why did he go out of his way to be rude most of the time? She really didn't get the man. She sighed and stuck out her bottom lip. Should she confront him about it?

Jeno nudged her slightly. "He's had a hard time expressing how he felt about things recently. Trust me, he was like this with us for a moment. Just... give him time okay? He's a good person when you get to know him."

Sage nodded, her mind being clouded with more thoughts of the boy. He had eventually finished training— a smile on his face as he walked up to the two. He flicked Sage's forehead with his fingers, the girl slapping his arm.

His hand pointed to the water bottle that Sage had brought for herself. "Pass me the water bottle." She furrowed her eyebrows, a frown beginning to grow. "Manners?" she spoke up.

He took a deep breath. "Please?"

She smiled and gave him the water bottle, watching as he gulped down just about every drop of water that was in the bottle. It's like he did things purposely to piss her off. Donghyuck tapped Jeno and pointed towards the exit of the training center. "Ready to go?"

Jeno nodded. "I'll see you later Sage."

"See you later."

"Bye Sage," Donghyuck softly said, avoiding her eyes. She smiled. "Bye Donghyuck."

After the two left, Sage got up and left the center too. She had a plan, one that wasn't thought out enough. She knew that there was five levels in Ground One. Two were for rooms, one was for the arena, and another was for transportation. So what the hell was the other floor used for? The floor was the very last one, meaning that it was more than likely a basement. Sage needed to see what Ground One was doing. She didn't care if she would be punished for it.

Sage stepped into the elevator and pressed "zero". Before the doors could close completely, a foot appeared, causing the doors to reopen. Donghyuck stood in front of her with a smug smirk on his face. She rolled her eyes as he stepped into the elevator with her.

"You look like you're planning something," he expressed, looking at her wide eyes. She glared at him. Why did he always have to insert himself in something? "Go to your dorm Donghyuck," she pushed, the boy shaking his head.

"If you are gonna be dumb then i'm not going to let you do it alone. Where are we going?"

She really wanted to smack him in his head. Sage pressed the lower level of Ground One, turning her head to look at the curious man. "I have no idea."

"Sage I swear to God if we get caught-"

She covered his mouth as the elevator door opened, her other hand pushing him into the corner of the elevator. "You followed me here," she whispered. "Shut your mouth so we don't get caught."

She moved away from the man and crouched down, beginning to crawl. The basement was separated into two parts. The elevator led into a hallway that was filled with big packages. The two hid behind the boxes every now and then when a staff in a white coat passed by. After the two was out of the corridor, they were met with a door.

Lab, Do Not Enter Without Hazmat Suit.

Donghyuck began to crawl towards it but Sage grabbed his arm. "You see the sign dummy? Let's take the stairs," she whispered— her finger going towards the flight of stairs. "I think the stairs lead to a theatre where we can watch what's happening from up there."

Donghyuck let her walk up the stairs first to make sure that no one was walking behind them. Sage's theory was right. The two peeked at the doctors, making sure to duck so they wouldn't get caught. Sage could only softly gasp at the scene in front of them. A man was restrained to a chair, three doctors surrounding him. A doctor placed his hands on the man's chest, only causing him to thrash and yell more.

"Wait," Sage breathed out. She got a better look at the man. It couldn't be. "Holy shit."

"What?"

"It's Kai. They're experimenting on Kai."