𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 | x1

19

19 — YOU HOLD ME NOW

it's better to suck it up and just let go.

—

"want some chewing gum?"

jaemin offers to the two people of whom he now calls his 'waiting buddies'. eunhee nods as she grabs one pack, whereas daniel politely declines. "i don't like sweets, sorry."

"you don't?" jaemin purses his lips, disappointed. "awe. that means you don't like me."

eunhee turns to him with signs of internally judging him. "did you just admitted that you refer yourself as sweet?"

"what did i admit?"

"you're sweet."

"awe, thank you eunhee. i know i am." he grins in delight.

"na jaemin! i didn't mean it like that—" eunhee was ready to pick up a fight, but she decided to let it slip away instead. she frowns. "why are you here anyway?"

"honestly, i have no idea." jaemin heaves a sigh. "guanlin, who turns out to be dongpyo, who turns out to be guanlin's friend with anger issues, dragged me out once we felt the earthquake. though i have a feeling that it has to have something to do with that lady doctor with her weird bangs and the fact that i have 2 y chromosomes."

"you're an x1, too?!" eunhee gapes.

"you met my sister?!" daniel yells out a whole different thing.

"yes? and.. yes." jaemin slowly answers. "honestly.. no. i don't know what's an x1 and i don't know your sister. sorry, i'm just generally really bad at true or false questions."

eunhee looks up at daniel. "so does that mean he has powers, too? he also has the chromosomes like the other boys."

daniel shrugs. "i'm not the one who's able to answer that. it's seungyoun."

meanwhile, at the terrace in front of seungyoun's spacious mansion..

seungwoo flinches, notices the presence of a figure who has come to 'calm' him once again. he sighs. "what are you doing here, hangyul-ah?"

"i'm making sure you don't burn anything." he says coolly, heading towards the older boy without feeling any threatened by his fire fists. "i know seungyoun hyung is like, yoon seri rich, but he won't be happy to see his front lawn turn into ashes, don't you think?"

seungwoo simpers. "what if i burn the school instead?"

hangyul raises both of his hands. "hey, i won't stop you. i'd call it a mutualistic symbiosis." he puts his hands on the railing, copying the same position of the older brother, glancing to the sky. "you were quite shaken up back there. are you okay?"

"sorry. anything about imnet always triggers bad memories. i tend to avoid it." seungwoo takes a deep breath. "yohan might have the luxury to forget his experience, but i don't. i get to remember what happened in that hellhole, every single thing that they did to me. and it was horrible, and i couldn't bare to think about it for just a second."

hangyul nods. he knew that seungwoo was once captured by imnet before, but he never brought up the topic because he thought it was too sensitive. "what happened back then? how were you captured?"

he shrugs. "honestly, i forgot how i got captured. i wasn't being careful, and to some extent my immaturity brought me into the mess. i found myself naked and chained to the bed inside small room with bunch of masked people in lab coats, testing out every single thing in my body. i lost a lot of blood, i sweated buckets, i was drenched in my own urine. i was only thirteen back then."