When Aelia and Felix returned to the apartment with plenty of shopping bags, Seonghwa and Changbin quickly came to help them. It was a lot!
«What's with the hoarding?» Bin asked with a smile.
«Can't hurt to be prepared,» Aelia shrugged, and he didn't ask any more about it. She was part of the Butterfly movement, she knew things.
The next morning they woke up to the news of a coup.
«Fuck!»
Aelia was swearing over and over again as she was watching the news on the living room couch.
Seonghwa brought her coffee and breakfast, and she ate without really noticing what she put into her mouth. She was anxiously looking at her phone every 10 seconds.
«Stop it!» Felix eventually said.
«Sorry!» Aelia hissed. «But should I get rid of the phone? I'm scared it'll be tracked, even if it is a new Butterfly phone.»
«What is your reasoning?» Changbin asked, being all logical again. It was annoying.
«I have it so that I'll be available for the movement. If they need me, this phone is their only way of getting in touch with me. And me with them.»
«But?»
«But, it also links me to them. If it's tracked, or if I'm captured holding it.»
«Captured?» Felix looked at her with wide eyes.
«It won't be a secret very long that I'm part of the movement. Things always leak, that's just the way it is.»
«Who will come look for you?»
«I have no idea! But I think I better leave this place,» she said, looking at her hands for a second.
«What?! No! You're not going anywhere!»
«Lixie,» she said, I don't want to bring anything dangerous near any of you guys. I need you to be safe. And also, I'll have a job to do soon.»
«A job?»
«I'm going to work at a hospital that the movement is planning to... take?»
«They're taking a hospital?»
«Yeah, well... So many slaves will be rescued now, and many of them will need medical attention. Also, there might be people in the movement getting hurt in this... thing, so... I'm going to work with that.»
«I hope it's not that hospital,» Seonghwa said, making all of them look at the TV. There were images of a burning building with lots of blue lights.
«Is this live?» Aelia said, turning the volume back up.
Aelia's anxiety spread among the others in the apartment as well. Changbin had closed the curtains, and Felix checked the locks on the door multiple times. They kept watching how the so-called coup, or up-rising as some news channels called it, played out. It was very far from what Aelia had envisioned it. When she was part of the discussions, prior to her going undercover at the slave house, it was never this big. It was never planned to go after the government. She knew the slavery business had help from far up, but going all the way to the top... that was dangerous. And it would seem, the movement was not prepared. Either that, or they didn't say anything on tv about the things that actually DID go well for the Butterfly movement.
Slavery had always been something that split the population. So many were against it, but at the same time... so many benefitted from it, and therefore wanted it, and needed it. It was said to be a smart way of punishing criminals, while at the same time using available resources for good, and not just letting people rot in prison. Yeah, the logic behind looked good on paper. In reality, slavery was a living hell for so many people...
They kept looking at tv, all day. It was nearly impossible to go to bed, they watched how things played out all over the country. And in their town, things were bad. There were protest marches that turned into mayhem in the streets, they could hear sirens all night, and it felt dangerous. And scary.
«Hey, you said you were angry with me for buying slaves,» Seonghwa said, looking at Changbin. It was midnight, and they were still all sitting on the couch. «How did you end up getting one yourself?»
«Oh.» Changbin blushed furiously and Felix giggled at his cute former master. «Ehm, well, I have no excuse really. You finally convinced me to join you at an auction, and then I saw this beautiful boy on the stage. I just... I couldn't watch him leave with anyone else. He was just so breathtakingly beautiful.»
Bin and Felix looked at each other, and Aelia covered her eyes when they kissed. In secret, she loved seeing them fall back in love with each other.
The smile on Aelia's face as Changbin and Felix finally said goodnight and went to bed, made Seonghwa's heart hurt. She didn't look at him like that. Actually, she didn't look at him all that much. Whenever she accidentally met his gaze, she would quickly avert her eyes. He didn't blame her, of course. If it was true, that he had been such a cruel slave owner, there really was no reason for her to even be in the same room as him.
«Are you scared of me?» he suddenly asked, voicing one of his biggest concerns.
«What?»
«Are you scared of me? That I'll suddenly... I don't know, try to have my way with you or something?»
She looked at him with surprise in her eyes.
«No,» she said. This time she met his eyes.
«Are you sure?»
«Yes, Seonghwa.»
«But I was cruel.»
«We've been over this before,» she sighed. «I volunteered as a slave.»
«And I was trying to save slaves, yeah, I know, but... I wish I remembered what I did to you.»
He didn't miss the blush on her face as she looked away.
«Tell me about one of our...»
«No.»
«Please?»
«No, it's best forgotten, Hwa.»
«That bad?»
«No, it wasn't bad, but... I can't do this. Talk about it. I just can't.»
«Show me then.»
YOU ARE READING
Take Me Home // Ateez // Stray Kids
FanficAfter an unexpected escape from the Mansion, Aelia finds herself in a Safe House. Who is a friend and who has alternate motives? And what do the butterflies have to do with it? As a former slave, life looks empty. Aelia has to find her way in life...
