What's Broken Can't Be Fixed

06

     It was quiet again, and Changbin stood firmly, trying to keep his ground. He knew Jeongin had a knife, but he didn't want to risk him getting hurt while trying to stab the other guy. "What do you want?" Changbin asks.

     "I want to know why you're here." Comes a quick response. "Take the bandages off." Changbin slowly reaches up and unwraps the bandages from his eyes. He blinks a couple of times, adjusting to the dim light. But when he does, he sees a boy that could be no older than him. He had wavy blonde hair, wearing a thin white cardigan with nothing under it, that came down, leaving his shoulders bare. Baggy jeans, a necklace with many shells and ornaments on it, and vines strung across his chest. Honestly it looked like he came straight out of a fairytale... or a forest.

     He did not at all look like how he sounds. "Who are you?" He questions, not moving the gun away from Changbin's face.

     "Seo Changbin."

     "And your friend?" Jeongin lets go of the door handle and walks cautiously back towards the two.

     "Yang Jeongin." He says while taking the bandage off of his eyes. Now, Changbin thought Jeongin was tall, but the blonde towered over both of them.

     "What's yours?"

     "Who's asking?" He questions, while spinning his gun on his finger.

     "Someone who doesn't want a gun pointed at their face." Changbin answers, and the boy raises an eyebrow.

     "Choi Soobin." Then they hear footsteps and the back door opening.

     "Soobin. Are you-?" A boy stops talking as he sees Soobin standing in front of Changbin and Jeongin. "Who are you guys?"

     "Just two people who need some food so they can survive for a while." The boy nods in understanding, but as he does Jeongin and Changbin feel that gurgling in their lungs again. Jeongin grips his chest in hopes it would stop but it doesn't. And the two spit up blood that splatters on the floor. They wipe their mouths, and when they look back up, they see the two others staring at them with wide eyes.

     "You two are infected?" Soobin asks, and Changbin nods but Jeongin stays still.

"We're not going to infect you I promise! Plus, we're only at stage two!"

     "Calm down..." The black-haired boy whispers. "So are we." He looks up at Soobin, and the blonde slips off his cardigan, revealing his back. What was unusual about it was that there was a red scar the shape of a 21 on his back. And when the other lifts up the back of his shirt it was a 22.

     "How did that happen?"

     "Code X eats through your system and burns a number on your back. We think it's the number in which you've been infected. So, I was the twenty-first person to be infected." Soobin explains as he puts his cardigan back on.

     "Code X?" Changbin asks, and the blonde nods.

     "Just a name we've decided to call the virus until we know what it actually is." Soobin pauses. "What's your number?"

     "I'm not gonna-" Changbin begins to protest but Jeongin places his hand on the boy's shoulder.

     "Turn around." Changbin sighs and turns with his back facing the others. And then Jeongin lifts up the back of Changbin's shirt to see if there even is a number, and sure enough, there was a scar on his back. "Seven..." Jeongin mumbles, taking his hand off of the boy's shirt. "Did you guys feel it when the scar was made?" He asks, and both Soobin and the black haired shake their heads.

     "Your turn." Changbin says, spinning the boy around and lifting his shirt. "Six."

     "Holy shit..." The black-haired mumbles, and everyone looks at him in confusion. "You two were some of the first people to get infected!"

     "No..." Jeongin shakes his head. "There were already so many others infected when he experienced the first stage, there's no way we're in the top ten." The three look at him oddly but then Soobin nods.

     "He's right. I've seen the infected and they don't have scars on their backs."

     "But we're infected too, no?"

     "We are." Soobin looks and Jeongin, the two share the same focused expression.

     "Are we... special?" Changbin asks, now all the eyes are fixed on him. "I mean. Yes, we're showing all the symptoms, and yes, we're slowly progressing into the stages. But what if the virus knew that we were different from the other infected?" There was silence for a moment. None of them knew what to say or what to do.

     "Are you with others?" Soobin asks, and Jeongin nods. "Take us to them. We have to see if they have a number too."

     "Hell no!" Changbin yells, surprising everybody. "What are you gonna do? Hold a gun up to them like you did to me? Just because you're not shooting right now doesn't mean the gun isn't loaded." Showing his distrust, the black-haired sighs.

     "My name is Beomgyu. And I'm sorry he almost shot you. But this is really important." He pauses. "Please take us to the others." They all stare at each other, but then Jeongin nods, and Changbin doesn't say anything about it. He only follows the other.

     Jeongin and Changbin put on their gasmasks, and Soobin and Beomgyu don't. They only look at them confused. "What's with the masks?" Beomgyu asks, and they shrug.

     "To help with the fog." The two look at Changbin and then shake their heads.

     "When you're infected the fog doesn't affect you. It's like breathing normal air." The blonde informs them.

     "But-"

     "Have you ever tried going outside after you got infected without those masks?" If they were being honest, they hadn't. "Yeah, it still feels weird on your eyes, but you get used to it, it won't hurt you." With that, they take off their masks and don't bother to pick the bandages up from the floor. Changbin and Jeongin stand in front of the door, nervous to go outside without their masks. Jeongin steps out first and holds his breath when he does so. But when he gets tired, he exhales, hoping for the best. And when he took his first breath, he felt... fine. Jeongin turns back to Changbin and smiles, signaling that he can come out. It felt great to breathe without a mask on his face, after adjusting to their eyesight, they led the other two to the gym.

     "You all live in a gym?" Beomgyu questions, and Changbin nods. Once they came inside, everyone was already waiting for them.

     "Where did you two go-" In the middle of Chris yelling, he noticed Soobin and Beomgyu standing behind them. Before they could jump to conclusions Jeongin explained everything that happened, leaving out the fact that Changbin was almost shot.

     "So, we're special?" Jisung asks, and Jeongin shrugs.

     "It would make sense." They start with Felix first. Eight. Then Chris. Four. Minho 5, Jisung 3, Hyunjin 2. They were all surprised that Hyunjin was only the second person to be a special infectee. But if they were going in order then Seungmin would be...

     Jeongin nervously walks up to Seungmin. There are other numbers, it didn't have to go in order. He lifts up the back of Seungmin's shirt, and everyone's eyes widen. The scar on his back... was in the shape of the number one.