Trails Of Time (changlix)

13. Will we survive?

Why is this happening?

It's a coincidence. A bad coincidence.

Why me? Why Felix?

You can do nothing about it anymore. You just have to pull through.

I don't want to die. Help me out of here...

You're not dead... You're wounded.

It hurts. Please take it away... it hurts so bad...

Take it easy, They're trying to help.

Who?

Everyone, Changbin. They're all trying to help.

Is Felix okay? Is he hurt?

He's okay. He's right next to you.

Where? I want to see!

If you want to see, open your eyes... Changbin, It's time to wake up and open your eyes to the real world...

Changbin breathed deeply. He was in pain, but he opened his eyes. 

He was in the shop, laying on the floor. Felix was next to him, with tears in his eyes. The cashier was sitting against the wall, her hands tied with tape. The crazy man was standing at the store's door with a gun in his hands. Police were outside, shouting something.

Changbin looked around, trying to examine his wounds. However, when he tried sitting up, he hissed and laid back down.

"Binnie! D-don't move! You're badly hurt!" Felix yelled, pressing Changbin down gently.

"W-what's going on?" Changbin asked, his voice cracking up. 

Felix seemed uncomfortable. "I... that man... he stabbed you... and now we're hostages." He explained.

Changbin's eyes widened. "We need to escape." He said and tried getting up again.

Felix pushed him back down, shaking his head. "Binnie-hyung... he has a gun," Felix whispered. "If you try something h-he might kill you."

"But I can't just wait, he might kill us anyway." Changbin hissed, sitting up.

It was so painful, he let out a loud groan. The man turned to them, smiling. 

"Oh, won't you look at that! I thought you already died!" He yelled, waving his gun in the air. 

He turned serious and watched Felix trying to get Changbin to lay down again. 

"So sweet... trying to help him in this situation." The man said, almost sounding sad. "I actually hope I could let you go."

"Y-you can! You can let us go! You still have a chance to do it!" Changbin said, his voice getting hoarse. "You don't have to listen to the voice... you don't have to obey it..."

Felix glanced at Changbin, not having a clue what the older was talking about. 

The man looked defeated. He lowered his hand, looking at the floor. "How?"

Changbin nodded, waiting for him to say what he had to say.

"How do you know about the voice?"

Changbin couldn't help but smile. "Because I have it too." He said cautiously. "I know how you feel. I know what that voice says to you."

"You can't know! You have a happy life! You can't have any problems!" The man yelled, clearly irritated.

Changbin smiled. He realized now everything. He began to understand the man's motive.

"That voice tries to get you angry. It wants you to hurt others, but you don't have to. You can say no to it." Changbin said.

The man calmed down a little. He closed his eyes for a brief second. "Have you done that?" He asked.

Changbin nodded. "I have. It was trying to tell me that it was all my fault. That I killed them. But I told it that it's not true. I pushed it away."

The man sighed, watching the gun in his hand. "But my voice says I have to kill."

"Yeah, but it's not a command. You can still stop this."

The man pressed his hand on his face. He was clearly confused, as he began to mutter something quietly. His legs began to shake and he lifted the gun back into the air.

"I have to kill someone!" He screamed.

"NO!" Changbin yelled. "Please, you don't have to!"

The man raised the gun and pointed it to Changbin. "Shut up." He hissed, eyes burning in red. "Don't manipulate me. I know what you're trying."

Changbin swallowed nervously but calmed down. "Lower the gun..."

"No! Do not tell me what to do!"

The man's hand shook, but the gun pointed to Changbin's forehead. The man began to walk towards him.

"You don't know what it says to me!"

Changbin shook his head. "That's right, I don't. But I know what that kind of voice can do! I know the damage it does to your mind!"

"Shut the fuck up!"

The gun almost touched Changbin's forehead. The man breathed heavily and stared at Chanbin straight into the eyes. A drop of sweat rolled down his cheek that proves him being nervous. 

Changbin frantically wondered what he would say next. He should be really careful because the man was sensitive at the moment. 

"I'm tired of... listening to others..." The man groaned and wiped off sweat. "I want to do what I decide... I do not want to listen to you, nor the voice in my fucking head."

"Then don't listen to me or that voice." Changbin stated.

Felix grabbed Changbin's hand carefully. He was shaking out of fear. "Binnie-hyung... don't make him angry..."

Changbin gathered his courage. "Listen to yourself. Decide what you are doing now." He said.

The man looked at him with wonder, his eyed rolling off to the side. "Yeah... that might be what I'll do." He smiled.

Changbin and Felix looked at the man. He walked to the door, glancing out. The police stood behind the police cars, trying to come up with a plan to get the hostages out. They had bulletproof vests and shields, clearly ready to take out the man.

The man stared at the police, opening the door slightly while pointing the gun at the cashier, who was screaming out of fear.

"Listen! I want a car, cash and a head start!" He yelled to the cops. "If you bring them to me within half an hour, I will let them go!"

The police started chattering right away, probably figuring out if they should obey him. 

"How much money?" One of them asked through a speaker.

"Two million won!"

The man then stepped back in, pointing the gun at Changbin and Felix. "Now, we just have to wait..." He hummed.

Wait... we just have to wait?

Is he really going to let us go?

Will we survive?