Dreaming A Dream | An ONF Fanfiction

Chapter 12

We started running after Jaeyoung as soon as he sprinted in the direction opposite to us. He was unbelievably fast, faster than an average human. I bet he could have run even quicker and lost us without much effort, but I guess he wanted to tease us. Or lead us somewhere. We just had to hope it wasn't a trap. We were all tired, but all we could do is run and run and run. We couldn't lose him.

After an intense, 10 minute long run, we arrived at a rocky formation, almost at the edge of a cliff. He was cornered. Why did he lead us there? He had no way to escape unless he jumped off the cliff. And we knew damn well he wouldn't have done it. No being would have survived such a fall.
He was staring in the distance, not a worry in the world. He seemed so calm. The way he acted felt so... inhumane. So cold. So fake. All that time, I kept hoping it wasn't really him.
He untied his hair, letting his blue locks move with the wind. He turned around, an evil smile plastered on his face. Not a single droplet of sweat on his forehead. Regular breathing. No signs of fatigue whatsoever. That was enough to understand that what we were looking at wasn't human. Most importantly, it wasn't Jaeyoung.

My friends and I were trying so hard to catch our breath. Changyun especially wasn't used to intense physical effort and had to sit down. Yuto immediately helped him get some hydrating drinks from his backpack.
Minkyun, Seungjun and I barely stayed up on our feet, but we couldn't fall at such an important moment.
Minkyun took a very trembling step towards Jaeyoung. He took a deep breath, and voiced the question everyone was dying to ask:

"...who are you?"

Jaeyoung snorted before letting out an amused laugh. I always liked his laugh, as I do with all laughs, but at that moment I absolutely despised it. It was an insult. He was making fun of us. And while I was sure it wasn't him, it hurt us all. Just the thought of that... entity using Jaeyoung's semblance for its evil deeds was sickening.

"You guys... you're so funny, do you know that? Also, I'm not gonna lie when I say you're smarter than I thought... I thought I would outsmart you all... I mean you're still inferior to me in all aspects, and my puzzles were easy to figure out... So no, you haven't outsmarted me yet but I'll congratulate you."

He started slowly clapping, a straight, unamused look on his face. His tone was so damn infuriating. He was trying to make us angry, and he was succeeding. I couldn't take it anymore. I was irritated beyond human comprehension. I just wanted to know if the real Jaeyoung was safe. I wanted this terrible being to stop playing around. I walked forward.

"Tell us where Jaeyoung is. Right now."

I looked him dead in the eye. I wanted answers. I've never wanted something else more in my life.
He didn't look phased in the slightest.

"Oh so you did figure it out! Not bad, not bad at all! Well, I suppose I can give you the answer, or I could let him answer you."

We all opened our mouths in shock. Was he giving up? So easily? I had a very bad feeling about the whole situation. He seemed too calm.

"Why are you so surprised? I'm not hiding anything really. Honestly, I could kill you all in a matter of seconds."

He raised his hand and extended his index and middle finger to the sky, forming the shape of a gun.

"Pew."

A bright electric shock came out from his fingers and flew across the sky. Minkyun fell backwards, scared by the sudden outburst of energy. I quickly glanced at him, but fortunately it seemed he was just caught by surprise. We all were really. Was that lightning magic? Technology? I've never seen anything similar in my entire life.

"But I'm not going to kill you. It would be no fun. I would rather let my creations kill others. Now THAT is fun. So much fun..."

"QUIT WITH THIS BULLSHIT! TELL US WHERE JAEYOUNG IS!"

Seungjun lost his patience. After the sudden outburst of rage, a single tear fell down his cheek. We were all at our limit.

"As I said, you'll have to ask him."

Jaeyoung pointed his two fingers to his head.

"Pew."

.
.
.

We rushed towards his collapsed body. The shock was strong enough to reveal part of his insides, and as expected, this thing wasn't human.
Wiring and pieces of synthetic material were sticking out from his arms. One of his eyes fell out, revealing a socket filled with exposed wires.
We didn't know what to think. It all happened too quickly. All we could do is stare at the robotic body before us. He lied. He didn't make us talk to Jaeyoung. Maybe he wasn't even alive anymore. But I wanted to believe he was safe.
We just kneeled down in silence for what seemed like ages. We let tears run down our faces. We were even too tired to scream. At least the threat was gone, but Jaeyoung's whereabouts were still unknown. And we would have never known. We would have lived the rest of our lives unsure if he was dead or alive. And I did not want to live like that. We had to continue searching...

"...Wh... where am I?"

Out of nowhere, the broken robot spoke. Everyone stared in shock. A shiver ran down my spine.

"...guys...?"

It was him. We could clearly hear him. Our Jaeyoung. His voice was weak, but I recognized it. Not that the robot had a different voice, but the tone... It wasn't Jaeyoung's. The voice that spoke at that moment had that human element, that warmth... We were all sure it was him. The tears that were running down our cheeks suddenly turned into tears of joy.

"Jaeyoung... It's us... We are here to save you."

Minkyun said in between hiccups. Jaeyoung started glitching out.

"That bastard... took over this body. I don't remember a-anything he did... I was like in a coma... Listen, I d-don't have much time. I will open a hatch on the b-back of my head. A small vial of liquid is i-in it. That is my whole conscience. Find my secret underground lab, I'll give you the c-coordinates in a second. You'll find my real b-body in there. Insert the vial in the m-mechanism."

A small hole opened at the back of his head. I carefully took the vial and put it in my bag, wrapped up in soft material.
Jaeyoung told us the coordinates of his lab as Seungjun carefully wrote them down. Before shutting down, he quietly said:

"Thank you."

He stopped moving. His single eye lost any sign of life. But we would be able to save him. The lab wasn't too far from there. We got up on our feet. Still shaken and crying, we started heading towards the indicated coordinates, leaving the robotic body behind us. I glanced at it one last time.

"Don't worry Jaeyoung. We will save you. We would never abandon you."