Chapter 9

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Mingyu opened the door and stepped first inside his office, Linda and Minghao following him.
The room was neither small or huge, it was comfortable. She could see piles of papers on his desk.

«It's the study I have done so far for our project.» said Mingyu as he saw her looking at the piles amazed.

It was quite unorganized but her desk was always a mess as well.

«May I then?» said Linda as she streched her arm towards the papers, looking at him while waiting for his permission.

«Sure but, no need to rush. You shall see the laboratory first.» said Mingyu and walked to a door in a corner.

He opened it and gestured Minghao to come and help him.

As soon as both of the men walked deeper in that room, Linda turned to the piles. As if she could fight her curiosity and wait to read the study.
She would do it anyways, so what was the difference?

She walked near the chair so she could read them normally. Surprisingly enough, most of them were handwritten. Not the most beautiful letters but they were easy to read.

She started reading the first pages briefly, some things didn't make much sense, he had to explain for her. She picked some others quickly and gave them a look, interesting stuff.
Didn't he have the time to organize them better? It seemed like he was writing on them even the last second.

A few papers were placed on the side of the desk, apart from the piles. This of course earned Linda's attention.

She placed her fingers on the first page and carefully read the words of the first sentences. Her thumb smoothly moved on the bottom part of the page, without hesitation she turned it to read and see more.

|YOON JEONGHAN-BIOLOGIST|
|04/10/1991 | AREA 2 |

Names and photos. ID photos. Their birth date and place, their speciality, the area they belonged.

|LEE SEOKMIN-PHYSICIAN|
|27/02/199P | AREA 2 |

She knew some of them, she had seen their names on articles and television.

|HONG JOSHUA-PHYSICIAN|
|30/12/1995 | AREA 2 |

They were the people who took part in the experiment. The one that had failed. They had all died that day, all 11 participants.
Mingyu had witnessed his partners' death yet he managed to continue his study unbothered.

She looked at all the profiles, the last page was a report about the accident.
She read the first words but the men interrupted her study.

«Unable to fight your curiosity?» said Mingyu and smiled as he saw Linda upon his papers.
His smile faded away very fast though.

Linda turned to him startled, she smiled but it faded as well when she saw his reaction. His voice sounded playful yet his face was very serious.
She shouldn't had read those apparently.

He placed the box he was holding on an empty chair, then walked to her. She let go of the papers and stepped back, looking away from him.

He placed his huge palm on the few pages, as if sealing them so nobody could touch them ever again.
Mingyu stood like that and took a deep breath, he seemed like he was in shock, he kept looking at his hand silently.

«I am sorry about that.» said finally the girl, feeling very embarrassed about the fact she got caught looking at something she probably shouldn't.

But it wasn't her fault if he exposed them. If he didn't want anyone to read it then he could had hid them.

«And for what happened.» she added, her eyes moving at any direction except the one Mingyu was standing at.
«I shouldn't had-» she tried to apologize for sneaking on them but he stopped her.

«No it's alright. I told you you could read them anyways.» he said as he seemed more relaxed. «And about those...» a smile slightly appeared on his face. «It's not a secret.»

Linda stepped on the side and walked away from the desk, she stood next to Minghao that was watching the two while leaning on the door.

«Should we go... To the laboratory?» said Linda and looked at the man, Minghao shrugged and nodded at the same time, he was waiting for Mingyu's answer.

«Let's go!» said Mingyu and turned to them with a wide smile on his face.

He grabbed the box and lead the way again, the other two followed him.
They got out of the office but from another door, there was another hallway.

Linda was glad he didn't scold her or anything, although he had not the right to do so.

He probably remembered his partners. Some of them were his friends apparently. Everyone knows each other here. And he lost them all at once.

She could understand his pain, she sure did. Losing someone you love, a person you care about a lot. Your world collapses, you feel alone. Nothing can be the same again. He was a strong person for being able to hide his sorrow and pain.

Maybe didn't his partners matter to him? Impossible, they worked together for a lot of years. The face he made, his reaction, was something familiar to her.

Enough with it. Time had passed and there was no point on looking behind. She was far away from her house now and she was starting a new life here, even for a while. The dead is not what matters, it's the alive ones that matter to you from now on.

Almost 2 hours had passed since Mina and Hyuna had left. They probably found already a place to stay.
Would they visit other places in Switzerland? She wish she could go with them. She felt kind of bad that they literally came for nothing all this way. They ended up getting kicked out.

«What is that?» she asked Minghao and Mingyu turned his head behind as he was walking.

«Some stuff the others asked me to deliver. They work in the laboratory next to us, so why not.» he said and smiled again.

Linda nodded and looked at her tiny hands. She could offer help to look nice but she wasn't strong at all. The men could handle it better, especially Mingyu. He seemed like a strong man.

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