Zero only has one goal, to be human. Escaping from the cell that once contained her, the outside world, which she longed to see for so long, is filled with more darkness than she expected.
She is faced with a world that is determined to label her a...
Nanna watched as Zero was seated on one of the lawn chairs outside. She had her back to the house as she looked directly at the withering trees of the forest.
Since the first time, she saw the girl in the street. She recognized the look on her face. The look of someone who had lost everything. Someone who was lost. Someone who reminded her of herself after she lost her son.
The girl startled her by turning to look at her as she approached her.
'Sweetheart, would you like to help me make dinner? It could help relieve your stress', she suggested.
She lightly poked at her forehead. Indirectly telling her to stop frowning so much or she'll get wrinkles.
She nodded and followed her into the house.
She found Diamond and Hoseok in the kitchen who were on kitchen duty that day, tying the black aprons around their waists.
They began by prepping the ingredients for their meal. Like all the residents of the Mines, they mainly ate plant based meals. Throughout the years, animals had become so rare that only the rich could afford to have them. Despite that, Nanna made sure that all her meals were made with enough love and warmth that they could almost forget that they were basically eating the same meal everyday.
She put Hoseok in charge of dicing up the vegetables. He hummed lightly as he did his task. He reminded her of her son in many ways. Her son would also hum simple tunes while completing tasks around the house.
Hoseok had grown up in a household where they slept hungry most nights. He would sleep most of the time to avoid the agony of hunger. In his dreams, he lived in a house where his family would happily gather at a dining table to eat. In reality, he lived in a house that did not even have a kitchen.
As he grew up, he had to move further from his dream to survive. Instead of wielding a knife in a kitchen. He learned to wield a gun.
Diamond was in charge of cleaning the dishes. She jokingly complained about how she had just done her nails that morning and now they were going to be ruined.
Zero was grating carrots quietly in the corner.
Nanna approached her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
'When we're doing kitchen duty, everyone has to talk about how their week went'.
Zero nodded, her hands never stopped the up and down motion of grating the carrot.
'I'll go first'.
Diamond wanted to take the opportunity to slack on her duties.
'This week there was a new customer at work who gave my friend a whole briefcase full of gold, that money could have fed an entire family for years.'
Nanna and Hoseok gasped in shock.
'Does your boss accept male dancers?' He asked. Half serious, half joking.
Diamond laughed and did not respond.
'You can't leave me hanging like this', Hoseok whined as he sipped from the blue cup in his hands.
'You can't dance, 'she retorted.
'It can't be that hard', he waved a hand to dismiss her, 'I'm very flexible-',
'Kids', Nanna watched them through squinted eyes and they went back to work.
She turned to Zero and smiled to urge her to speak.
'My week was happy and sad'.
Diamond turned to her. The plate she was holding dripped water on the floor but she didn't seem to notice.
'Mine too, I wished that I was the one who was picked by the customer'.
Nanna backed away with a small smile on her face as their conversation continued. If anyone was going to help Zero out of her shell it would be Diamond. She decided to ignore her obvious slacking just once.
She added oil to her already sizzling pan. She grabbed the bottle of alcohol from Hoseok, who had been attempting to sneakily pour more of it into his cup. When she poured it into the pan, the flames rose as high as the white ceiling in the kitchen. Hoseok watched her intently as she cooked.
Everyone in the kitchen was clapping in awe of the skill. Except Zero who had run out at the sight of the flames.
'Where is Zero?' Diamond asked when she saw half a carrot discarded on the ground.
Nanna gestured towards Hoseok to ask him to continue cooking. Meanwhile, she looked for her with Diamond.
They found her in the backyard. Her back was pressed to a brown rough surfaced tree trunk with her knees pressed to her chest.
She had her hands on her ears as she mumbled to herself.
'Leave me alone', she yelled.
Nanna wondered how she knew they were there when her eyes were pressed shut.
'Sweetheart, did the fire scare you? I'm sorry, I should have-'
She smacked her hand away.
'Leave me alone'.
Despite her protests, Nanna approached her and pulled her into a tight embrace.
'Leave me alone'.
She told Diamond to go back to the kitchen to give them space.
'Sweetheart, I don't know what happened to you but I'm leaving you alone'.
Zero was no longer listening to her. Her voice was chanting in her head, meaning that she was losing control. She cursed herself for being stupid enough to walk into the kitchen despite knowing that was where the fire was.
'Kill them all'.
The frightened voice was growing louder. If Nanna kept her hands around her she might lose them.
'Sweetheart it's okay, don't let yourself get lost in the dark thoughts'.
Nanna began patting her back. The two swayed back and forth like the green blades of glass that they were seated on.
'I'm a monster'.
Zero's voice was brittle. She wanted Nanna to run away now that she knew the truth about her.
Nanna smiled lightly at her. In her entire life, she had seen her fair share of monsters. One's who kill without any remorse and one's who bring suffering upon others. She had gained a sixth sense when it came to people like them.
In her eyes, Zero was just a girl with a dark past. She wished she could fight anyone who made her believe that about herself.
'Monster or not, I'm not leaving you alone'.
Zero was overwhelmed with the relief of finally being accepted with open arms. The pain that had been buried deep within her manifested as tears that streamed non-stop from her eyes.
Diamond was standing at the doorway watching them. For the first time since the phone call, she felt guilt. Guilty because she had sold out someone who had been nothing but kind to her all for money. In trying to escape her misery, she had become exactly like the people she hated so much.
A/N
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