Monsta X: The Clan Pt. 2

10: Even If I Fall

"I've never been this earnest in my life"

"Even if I fall"

Wonho:

It was nearly complete.

All that was left was adding some finishing touches to the activator, which I needed Changkyun's help for, and the flowers, which Kihyun was supposed to be bringing.

I hadn't expected to finish this fast. In reality, the activator was really simple to build, since it was very simple in structure. The hard part was changing its purpose so that it activated a machine rather than ran a game. With Changkyun's assistance, if he showed up, I could easily complete that.

Kihyun was supposed to come with the flowers soon, and assuming that Changkyun would arrive, this was about to finished. I had already warned Jooheon that the time was coming near when we'd get to use the machine. He was standing by and working to make sure that what needed to be done was done.

Everything was set.

Everything I needed to complete was almost done.

Then why was I feeling so anxious?

Staring at the cloaked machine, I was almost tempted to grab the nearest hammer and smash it to pieces. To burn all the blueprints away and erase everyone's memory that such a machine existed anyways.

I hated the idea of the machine. It was messing with something that shouldn't be messed with. It was built too quickly under my unskilled hands. There were flaws with it that I was sure could ruin this whole thing.

This machine's very existence was a danger for all of us.

We were playing with the constant variable, and that's something that shouldn't be changed.

The whole purpose of the machine was to help them come back. Jooheon could cover the issues with Shownu, but Minhyuk and Hyungwon were a special case. The government hated the idea of the two of them, and I'm sure no amount of Jooheon's convincing would let them out.

I was sure they would die, we were all sure. We were all just too scared to say it.

I guess that's why I built this machine so quickly, why they all pressured me to build it as fast as I could. I couldn't waste any time on this when their lives are in my hands.

But do I even want them to be saved?

The thing is, I'm not sure.

We've gotten used to life without them that I can't imagine how we got along all together back then. Bringing them back would bring more problems, more conflict, more confusion. Another list of problems that we would have to deal with.

And then, of course, there was Minhyuk.

Just the thought of him makes all of us nervous.

I'm sure that if he wasn't in the equation we would all be rushing much faster to save Hyungwon from that place. Yet, when it came to Minhyuk, he was the reason for our hesitation.

There was something about Minhyuk that made us all uneasy.

You can't forget the burning look of insanity in his eyes as he picked up the tank of gasoline and mercilessly laughed at the people dying in flames, the flames that he had created, all because he was obsessed, obsessed with the idea of keeping Hyungwon safe.

And then to make it all worse he had dragged Changkyun and me into that mess. While we had tried our hardest, it was Minhyuk's fault that our friendship was ruined. It was his fault that we assisted.

He made us do horrible things that we can't undo.

One can argue that Changkyun and I had a choice. We could've chosen to walk away, but what would that do? The building would've burned anyways.

We had no other choice.

Nobody really wanted Minhyuk back after all of that. If anything it was how convincing he sounded, almost more powerful than Jooheon. The craze in his actions and words were almost addicting as if you get dragged into his insane ideas.

Once in, there was no mistake.

I hated the idea that a part of me could agree to the horrible things that he did, to the unique actions that he did just to stand for what he believed in. He wasn't confused like the rest of us. He was certain and confident in everything he did. He didn't overthink everything either.

I guess that's something that's admirable, yet terrifying, to us.

I was reluctant because of this. I almost didn't want to continue.

However, the thought of Hyungwon drove me. Hyungwon, the poor kid who was dragged into this big mess without wanting any of it. He was the peaceful one out of all of us, the stable rock. If anything, the least deserving of pain, yet he got most of it anyways.

Standing up, I walked over to my beautiful machine and pulled the plastic sheet covering it away to reveal the shining piece.

The light from the nearby window made the metal almost blinding to look at. From any stranger's point of view, it looked just like an arcade machine, and that's the exact way I planned to design it.

The elevated box had a blank, dusty screen surrounded by a color green border. Blinking lights completed the arcade look, and instead of the game name at the top, it simply said "X", the recent name of the arising rebellion, in purple LED lights. Two large speakers stuck out from the side of the machine for the audio of the structure.

From the back of the machine, a panel can open to reveal a system of blinking buttons and switches, all of which operate and control many different aspects of the system.

Right next to that, built into the side of the machine, was a simple metal bucket connected to several wires and pumps, along with a strange looking device that looked almost like a juicer. Above all of that was a simple tray. The purpose of this section was for the flowers and harnessing their power, when we got them that is.

Running this whole thing were several dozen wires, each thick and fixed with LED lights to color code them. They snaked through the entire room, each connected to a different outlet in the warehouse.

Overall, the structure was complex for something as simple as an arcade machine. I assume that's because its goal was something big.

It had to do what has never been done before.

I sighed, staring at the big mess of beautiful metal bits, hoping that my efforts wouldn't go to waste.

With luck, it would work.

With luck, they would be saved.

And with luck, we would build the first ever working time machine.

A/N

Timestamp 1:36-1:45

A longer chapter, as promised. Also, I prefer calling I.M. as Changkyun, (I don't know why it's just more comfortable for me) so I'll be changing it in all of my previous chapters and the first book for consistency. Jooheon is also confusing, isn't he? You'll find out later ;) The time aspect was also hinted in the prologue, which was even titled time.

Next chapter will be this Thursday, 8/2.

Don't forget to vote!