insomnia | stray kids ff

lvl 21: backup

"Since JB is shot, he is a perfect experiment."

I hear another voice as I hear them walk down the stairs. I ran over to Seungmin quietly and pushed him back into his room and closed the door shut as quietly as I could. I press my head to the door to hear their conversation. It's very faint but I can make out a few words.

"Turn... report... cure..," I hear. I wait a few minutes before deciding to leave but Seungmin stops me. He holds my wrist from turning the knob.

"What is happening, Hana?" Seungmin whispers. I look at the rest of the members in the room who are sound asleep and sigh once I look back at Seungmin.

"It's a long story," I avoid the question but Seungmin persists.

"C'mon," Seungmin says. "I'm your best friend. I know you haven't been sleeping lately. What's up?" I pause and sigh as I look back at Seungmin.

"Remember when Felix disappeared after our first day of jobs?" Seungmin nods. "The night before Felix and I snuck upstairs because we heard screaming. We saw guys in lab coats watching a girl get eaten by a zombie. They were doing horrible experiments. I think something bad is going to happen to Felix," I say. "And JB."

"You have to tell everyone else," Seungmin first says which makes me feel uneasy.

"I don't want to put them in danger. It's already bad that you know now," I state.

"If you don't tell Chan then Felix and JB are going to be more in danger than they are now," Seungmin says.

"Whatever JYP has behind this place is something so different than what we think of this place. Who knows what he is capable of?" I say.

[they say time

will solve everything]

"Are you sure?" Chan asks me. Our whole group met in one room the next day after breakfast.

"She's right, I was with her when we went to go check on Felix," Yeji says and I look over at her with a friendly smile. Once she sees me, she goes mute again and looks at the ground. My eyes fall on Hyunjin next who looks surprised yet worried.

"I helped them, I turned off the generator as a distraction," Minho states. Chan looks back at me with a shocked face.

"It's not safe for anyone to be here. Whoever is the next weakest link, they'll test on," I explain and then cover the bite on my arm with my hand even though I am wearing long sleeves.

"Channie," Sana says and Chan looks over at her. "We can't go into this without a plan. What's our main goal?"

"Rescue Felix," Minho says first.

"Figure out what JYP's plan is," Woojin argues.

"Help JB," Jisung says.

"There are too many main goals," Changbin says and shuts everyone up. "We have to pick one. We can't help everyone without getting caught and punished," Everyone goes silent. Sana smirks and then raises her hand.

"Sana, you don't need to raise your hand," I say. We all look at her and smile cutely. She blushes and lowers her arm.

After hearing Sana's plan and agreeing upon it, we all branch out into our designated groups. Sana has decided to go talk to the girl's about it and explain the whole story. They agreed to help us. I go and pack my things.

"Don't you think it's weird?" Ryujin asks the girls in our room.

"What's weird?" Sana asks.

"To invade our own territory," Ryujin says as she hides some knives in her clothes.

"It's not our territory," I say and then strap my tan backpack around my shoulders. "It never was."

"Hana," I hear Sana call my name and I look up from the ground. "Have you been sleeping?" My big sister gets up from the ground and walks over to me and sees dark circles under my eyes. She tries to touch my face but I swat her hand away gently.

"It's okay, I'm fine," I lie and look away from her.

"Hana," Sana says in a serious tone. "You're not sick right?" I feel the whole room get smaller and the air feels thicker. I don't look at Sana and head towards the door.

"I'm fine," I repeat. "Everyone stay safe. Don't let your guard down. We go when Minho gives us our cue," I leave the room and then sigh once I close the door. I'm fine.

"Hana," I blink out of my daze and look up to see Changbin. I smile at him as he walks towards me trying to hide my troubled face.

"What's up?" I ask him.

"Remember when you said they will take the weakest one of us and study us?" Changbin whispers. My eyes grow wide and I drag Changbin to an empty room to discuss this topic privately. When I close the door, I continue the conversation.

"Yeah, why?"

"Why would he take Felix? Felix isn't weak. He's actually one of our strongest fighters," I think about what Changbin said and then find myself at a dead end.

"Why did he take Felix?" I repeat his question and try to figure this out but then the lights in the room go out and my sight is faulted. "Changbin," I try to reach for him and then feel his hand and hold it.

"I'm here, Hana," He says and squeezes my hand gently. I try to look around for the door with my one free hand while the other is in Changbin's. "That's our cue."

I feel the door and then reach down for the doorknob and hold it. I press my ear against the door to hear voices. I hear nothing and slowly open the door. I look through the door crack and see pitch black.

"There's a flashlight in my backpack," I say and Changbin gets the flashlight from my backpack and hands it to me.

A bunch of people are now piling out into the lobby as they murmur and speak to one another about the power outage. I hear some children crying softly. I walk out slowly with Changbin behind me and shine my flashlight on the door to the staircase. I look around at the crowd and see Hyunjin looking at me with a grim face. I realize I am still holding Changbin's hand and immediately let go once I see Hyunjin. I hide my hand in my pocket and don't look at Changbin who I can feel is staring at me with hurt eyes.

"It's time," I say slowly and take a deep breath.