I am... | SKZ [ Book 2 ]

NOT! 2

Where am I?

Who am I?

I am not...

ME

Of course, they could not dwell in the same place forever. They had to keep going, not just in physical space, but mentally as well.

They left behind their haven, their temporary home... their district. But it was for the best. Despite there not being any signs of being found out, they still had to make sure they would not be brought back to the hell they had worked hard to escape from.

Along the large abandoned place, they eventually reached a long set of stairs, leading to the unknown. Of course, they would go wherever the stairs lead them, which was another large place full of mirrors.

Exhausted from their exploration and moving, they decided to set in for the night at the bottom of the stairs, deciding it would be best to explore the next day, once filled with energy, rather than in their current state.

—

With a groan, the youngest of the nine woke up the earliest in the morning, as he usually did. The sun still wasn't out, instead, it was still rather dark, and everyone else, even Seungmin who from time to time woke up earlier than Jeongin, was out cold, everyone else was sleeping.

The faint moonlight shone through a circle-shaped window at the top of one of the walls. The single beam of light that entered through the window reminded Jeongin of the system, their bright, white, night lights, searching for anyone who dared escape their headquarters past curfew. No... he told himself with a sigh. Don't think of that. You're out of there... They cannot get you... he thought, closing his eyes trying to close his eyes in order to fall asleep again.

He sighed once again, being unable to fall back asleep. Everyone around him was sleeping soundly in their sleeping bags placed on the floor. Compared to sleeping on the beds provided by the system, sleeping on the floor with a sleeping was not comfortable at all. Being truthful, at that moment Jeongin missed the warm comfortable softness of their old beds compared to sleeping bags. He wondered what he would be doing at that moment had he not gone. Would he be happier? Or would he still be bitter and hateful of everyone around him, acting foolishly and annoyingly? He tried to imagine what could have happened after his conditioning had Chan not gotten them out of there. Snapping back to reality, he mentally scolded himself for thinking about such things again. He had to be grateful for what he had, and all of the effort Chan had put in getting them out of there, after all, even if they didn't have comfy beds, trusty Felix would help giving massages to everyone to help ease the tension and pain in their muscles.

He still couldn't help but wonder if this is what he really wanted. Had he really wanted to escape from the system, or was he just tired of the people around him? Did he really hate the system? After all, his mind often traveled through memory lane and he longed for some of the things he had back then. What did he really want? Who really was he? Was he the kid who wanted to escape his suffocating surroundings? Or was he a kid who could care less about the system around him and was completely fine with his previous life and longed for it? He honestly didn't know, and thinking about it made his head hurt.

Trying to distract himself from his thoughts and headache, he turned his gaze to the walls surrounding him, and the many many mirrors. Who could have build such a place, and for what reason? His eyes eventually fell on Minho, who was sleeping next to him, and observed his sleeping hyung with the little light there was. Minho was facing the ceiling, therefore making his side profile very easy to look at, so Jeongin decided that's what he would do. Despite the nine of them having spent a lot of time together, Jeongin realised he hadn't quite ever really payed attention to his hyungs' physical features. Not that it really mattered anyway (at least in the system physical appearance was not much of a concern).