insomnia | stray kids ff

lvl 47: isolation

Hana's POV

Jae runs out of his room to see Sana having a seizure. He tells everyone to step back and not to touch her. I couldn't stop my tears from rolling down as I watch. Please be okay. This whole thing was all too familiar as I think back.

*flashback*

"Wait, if you put her blood in his body won't that make him worse?" Jisung asks and stands up.

"Is it because she's immune?" Jae asks. Jisung shrugs. "I think that her blood could save him."

He takes my blood and puts it into Hyunjin's veins. I sigh and Jae puts a bandaid on my shot mark. I look back at Felix and he nods to me to tell me it's okay. I nod and turn back to Hyunjin and holds his hand.

"You can't go yet," Tears fill my eyes as I stare at Hyunjin's unresponsive body.

Suddenly, Hyunjin starts shaking like he's having a seizure. I immediately get up from the bed and Jae runs over to check on Hyunjin. I hold him down as my eyes well up with tears in fear.

"What is happening to him?" I yell and Hyunjin's eyes open and he starts screaming.

"His body is reacting to your blood," Jae says.

"Can he handle it?" I ask and then Changbin and Jisung barge in with Felix and Woojin behind them.

"He hasn't turned yet but it doesn't look like he can take the blood," Jae says.

"What can I do?" I ask him.

"Put him on his side," Jae orders, and I do so. Hyunjin's seizure passes and he stays still in shock. I wipe the tears from my face and sigh. "He's just in shock."

*flashback ends*

I watch as Jae does the same thing that he did with Hyunjin when he got bit. I look back at Hyunjin he is beside me and then look back at Sana. She stops shaking and returns to her stable condition as before. Everyone just stands there in silence as Jae checks for a pulse.

"Would she become superhuman like how Hyunjin did?" I ask and Jae looks at me with a shocked reaction.

"I mean, it's possible," Jae says. "But that means that being superhuman can happen to anyone who has the blood of an immune injected in them." I feel a stare at me and notice Felix looking at me.

After everyone returns to their rooms, I tell them I need fresh air and head outside. I sit on the rocking bench and rock myself back and forth. The door of the cabin opens and Felix sticks his head outside.

"Do you need company?" He asks me. I smile a little and pat the bench for him to sit beside me. He takes his seat and we both stare at the darkness of the woods.

"Here we are again." Felix jokes.

"I told you," I start off. "Every time we are together at night, the next day something crazy happens." There is the silence after I say that. Felix sighs and looks at me instead of the view.

"What you said back there about Sana, perhaps becoming superhuman, do you think she will?" Felix asks me. I shrug.

"Hyunjin did. I don't even know if he was actually immune before. He still became unconscious after he got bitten. We never did." I say. "That means that Sana wasn't immune either. Hopefully, she takes my blood though."

"What I find weird is that our powers didn't kick in until we met Wonpil." Felix points out.

"There is definitely a connection there," I say. We hear the door open again and see Jae's face instead.

"What are you guys talking about?" He asks. I look through the window and see Young K watching over Sana.

"We need to tell you everything," I say.

[imprisoned in confusion

i still don't know myself]

Yeji's POV

As I was about to knock on the door of Ryujin's room in the music store, I realize she can't hear. I frown at my inconsiderate self and walk-in. I see Ryujin drawing in a sketch pad and tap her shoulder. She jumps a little but softens her posture once she sees it's me. She turns to a clean page on her sketch notebook and writes.

"How are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm feeling better. Can I tell you something?" I nod my head and Ryujin starts writing a paragraph on the paper.

"When I almost did what I did, I regained some of my hearing. I heard you calling my name. That's when I realized what I was doing was the dumbest thing I could possibly ever do. The thing is, I didn't know what I was doing. It was like I was a completely different person."

"So you're telling me you can hear a little," I write after reading.

"I think. Can we try?" I nod and then start speaking.

"Ryujin!" I exclaim. "Ryujin is stupid. Ryujin is stupid," I joke as Ryujin tries to decipher what I am saying by reading my lips. She writes on her notepad.

"You're not funny," I start laughing.

"Wait, you can hear me?" I exclaim. She makes a gesture with her hands to communicate that she kind of can. I squeal and hug Ryujin tight. This feels like old times. Almost at least. Ryujin reaches for her notepad again and writes again.

"Not being able to hear made me feel more isolated. Especially since you weren't around. It felt like..." Ryujin stops writing and I see a tear fall onto the paper. I stop her from writing and hug her. "It felt like I was back with my dad again." Ryujin finally speaks.

I remember how isolated Ryujin felt whenever her dad was around. Her dad did not deserve the title to be her dad. He was barely around her and only spoke to Changbin in the house. I understand that he lost his wife but that didn't mean he had to ignore and basically blame Ryujin for her death. It was obvious that her dad was depressed and the only way to oppress his emotions about his late wife was to take it out on Ryujin. It hurt me to see Ryujin crying at night. That's why she is so closed off from everyone and why she doesn't like to show her weak side. She was raised to act strong around her father and knew that she couldn't shed a tear in front of him. I try my best to make Ryujin feel better. That was the only thing I could do at the time.

Now that she can barely hear, I can see how it makes her feel like her dad is around again. She doesn't know what is being said about her or what is going on. Just like in her house, she felt like she was just a charity case and that her dad only kept her in his house because her mom wouldn't want Ryujin to be abandoned. I know what it feels like to be abandoned and Ryujin already felt it when being with her dad.

I hold Ryujin in my arms as she sobs into the sleeve of my shirt. I pet her hair and close my eyes as I try to imagine a better world for us in the future.

a/n:

I'm trying to reveal the backstories of important characters more because I lost the chance to through all the drama of the book. it is important to know what life was like before the characters were in the apocalypse so you can better understand why they act a certain way in the book. thank you for reading!!!