MULTIVERSE | ATEEZ & XIKERS

Betrayal | Chapter 10

As everyone was looking back at the child with disbelief, Seonghwa, who just handed over the jackknife to San, pulled from his sleeve the note he received from the masked figure in the bunker. He opened it and it was a map, and on that map was written: Thunder.

The prisoners rescued from the Disposal Site shuffled into the luggage compartment of a large bus.  The masked figure pleaded with the curled-up, hidden people to be patient and closed the door. Then, after looking around to make sure no one was watching, they removed their mask. It was the girl, the leader of Thunder. She tok off her work clothes to reveal a school uniform underneath, a uniform tha only the most elite student of World Z were allowed to wear.
The other masked people took offtheir masks and clothes as well. They revealed the same faces the members saw back in the Prestige Academy restroom. The girl fixed her hair and got on the bus.

The bus ran along the road before stopping in front of a checkpoint to the city center. Guardians stopped the bus for a short while. From the exterior of the bus, they saw the faces of people through the bus windows. They were faces and clothing tha guaranteed themselves and needed no inspection.
The Guardian tapped the rear of the bus and the vehicle started again. Thanks to their status, the group passed the checkpoint with ease.

———
When his older brother, who had just woken to emotion, panicked in fear at the thought of being disposed of, the boy first tried contacting the Black Pirates through the Black Link, hoping he could find their bunker as ask them for help. But when he was unable to find it, he gave up, leaving only a message on the Black Link and resorted to hiding in the Disposal Site. When my brother's dragged here, I'll save him somehow.
The boy hid all night, but around the time the sun rose, he received a message from none other than his older brother asking why he didn't come back last night, and went home, relieved. Without much thought, the boy turned on his computer to find a message. It had come in via the Black Link. The Black Pirates had seen his message and responded with the rough location of their bunker, along with the assurance that if the boy were to call for help from the Black Pirates while in the area, and the monitoring staff determined the situation was all clear, they would help him. It was then that the boy changed his mind.  The fear he felt staying overnight at the Disposal Site and seeing the facility for himself changed his mind. He ran to the Head Guardian and asked him to make an exception of himself and his older brother, both who had found emotion, if he promised to uncover the location of the Black Pirate bunker.

Yunho and the members, who had believed the boy's desperate plea to save his brother, felt deeply betrayed.

"When I said I didn't need emotions to live in that world, you saint something to me. You said that when the fear passed, I'd see a different world. You were right. Thefaces of people with different facial expressions, the world seen through the window now that the screens have been removed, and the feeling of seeing myself in the mirror for the first time. You must know it all even better than me, you woke to emotion first."

"Brother..."

Seeing his brother crticize his choice, the boy was shaken.

"When I thought I had to die, when I almost died, these people were the ones who save me. How can you do this to them after seeing all that with your own eyes?"

"I didn't have a choice. If I wanted to live and save you too."

"It might have been different if I had never known, but now that I know emotion, I can't go back to how I was before anymore. It's okay to make a wrong choice. It's okay to make mistakes. Yuo can turn it around. You just have to make the right choice next time. Come here. That side's not right."

For a moment, the boy looked down at the Head Guardian's foot beside him and turned to lok at his brother, whose hand was stretched out to him. When the younger boy didn't budge, the older brother moved slowly toward him. The boy looked at the members with a sad face. Yes, everyone lives by making mistakes. Depending on whether or not you choose to turn it around at the next opportunity or cover up your mistakes with more wrong choices can make all the difference in one's life. The members knew it better than anyone else. They looked at the boy, hoping in earnest that he would make the right choice that would erase their feelings of betrayal. The boy, whose eys were shaking violently, moved to approach his brother as if he had made a decision. The Head Guardian moved his head and the Guardians standing behind him sprung to catch the boys brother. All the while, Yeosang, who had freed his legs from the ropes, secretly positioned himself to trip the Guardians. The Guardians fell forward, tangled among themselves, and the boy's brother ran quickly to the boy, avoiding them. Just before their hands could reach, with a snap, the Head Guardian grabbe dthe boy by the back of his collar. Before the members could do anything, the Head Guardian kicked the boy's brother, sending him falling below the execution platform.