The Gifted (Txt x Itzy)

七十六

From the bushed sprouted a strange tendril of a plant that didn't seem like it was from the forest. "Why is there-" Yeji didn't manage to finish before the tendril burst and a girl stood there, her eyes darting nervously from the ten.

"Oh, hey, hi," Jisu started but the girl just scowled, "Who are you?" She took a moment to process the scene before her, composed of five girls (one with strange shoes) and five boys (all looking exhausted). "You must be gifted, like us," Jisu explained, getting really tired of having to coax and comfort, "We can bring you to a safe place." The girl frowned, "I don't want to go to a 'safe place', I'm perfectly fine here, in nature. So leave me alone!" The vines on the ground began crawling towards the girl like some strange leafy snakes, then they wrapped around her legs as she turned the same chlorophyll green and sank into the ground.

"Well," Kai said, "Great start."

"Yep," Yeji sighed.

"Why would she be so unwilling," Yuna scrunched her nose in thought, "Won't they feel safer surrounded by people like them?"

"But she doesn't want that," Taehyun explained, "She wants to stay in nature, where I guess she feels the most connected to. She doesn't want to be cornered into a dry rocky place with no plants."
"To be fair, we didn't even tell her that there wouldn't be plants at the base."

"But she doesn't care," Taehyun argued, "Because the place she wants to be in the most is where she is the most comfortable."

And everyone realised that he wasn't just defending the girl, he was defending his reason for leaving.

-

The rest spent almost the entire day like that, scouring the forest for a sign of any gifteds, and the few that they found were either hostile or unwilling. A couple of gifteds followed their directions back to the base but a vast majority had the same answer, "We prefer to be free."

"What is up with them?" Yuna muttered, "They would be free, free from humans, right?"

"But you'd feel so constricted in the base, like a small prey hiding from predators, because, let's face it, sooner or later, someone would find out again, and this would become a vicious cycle. I'd rather be out in the open than be tucked in a cave, hoping no one comes and finds me," Taehyun said.

Everyone remained silent, before Jisu shook her head slowly and sadly, "You're really bent on leaving, aren't you?"

Taehyun gave a long pause, before saying, "Yeah."

The pastel blue sky began to seep into a richer midnight tone, so Yeji suggested, "Maybe we should head back." They did as she said, hiking through the dirt and trees, thankful that the stars still led them home.

But was it home to all of them?

-

They had let their guard down, serenaded by the cool evening breeze and the calm silent surroundings, only filled with their footsteps, the light rustling of leaves and the occasional coo of a bird.

Then they were attacked.

Fifteen gifteds surrounded them, some with eyes angry and others with panic-stricken faces.

"O-okay," Ryujin said carefully, "What now."

"Maybe we can talk to them?"
"Or, we could fight," Chaeryeong said enthusiastically. They all shot her a look before she said, "What? We haven't in a while."

"What do you want?" Kai decided to start.

The gifteds shifted uneasily, before one boy said in a steely hard tone, "You took our everything from us."

"What now."

"The military base, our home," another intercepted, "And the cure."

"Yeah, no, we're not apologising for that," Yeonjun bit at them, "We had to do so. It was to protect the other gifteds."

A girl bared her teeth, "We needed that cure. Seri needed that cure too."

The ten sucked in a sharp breath; they had avoided talking about that girl, and didn't plan on starting any time soon.

"The cure comes from another gifted's blood," Yeji explained, "And it isn't permanent. You would have to keep taking the blood."
"And the boy would keep producing blood, no?" The first boy said, "He would be contributing to us. He would be helping us."

"You're willing to drain someone of their blood just so you can, I don't know, feel better about yourself?" Jisu clenched her fists, fingernails digging into her palm.

The fifteen had wary looks on their faces, some trying to figure out if they should engage. Then, one who seemed like the leader shook his head, "You know where the boy is. Bring him to us."

"Aha ha, no."

The first girl frowned, "Then you die."

"Bring it."

AN: Ah I'm so sorry i didn't realise i copied and pasted it wrongly