✏ project exo {chapter one - part II}

[mouthwash]

p r o j e c t   e x o  :  chapter one - part ii
⇢ authors: illegiblesigns and mouthwash  
⇢ fandom: exo
⇢ pairing: various 
⇢ 6552 words 
⇢ pg-13 (possible disturbing content)



"Remember when we could actually see the sky from here?"

Kyungsoo’s voice sounded cold when it reached his ears. But Kris knew it was only him imagining things. Even if Kyungsoo knew what actually happened, he would never blame him. None of them would.

He turned his attention to the artificial sky. Their physical training was held at a very peculiar place. There were illusions of grass fields, trees and even flowers. Everything was emulated by computer program and the scenery could be changed to adapt to whatever their training required. It was really useful software, originally created for prisons, so the incarcerated could have a false sense of freedom. Some time ago, they were able to see the vast blue and white clouds gliding slowly above the huge walls that encircled them in.

He could still feel the gentle breeze embracing his body. Gushes of air trying to take away his stability as he flew higher and higher, eyes fixed on grey clouds. There were distant shouts coming from below, begging him to return.

Why would he go back to the ground, though? They gave him that power. The ability to soar. But in the end they would never let him actually do it. They would always stop him right before he actually tasted the best part of flying.

Freedom.

The air around him was getting gradually colder. Shivering slightly, he stopped. He was so close to the exit. One more impulse, a push, and he would be able to escape. Not that he wanted to. Kris knew better than this. He knew that even if he managed to fly off somewhere, they would always hunt him down. Running away was suicide.

Finally gathering enough courage to look down he saw dozens of soldiers bellow him with weapons in hands aiming at his direction. His eyes widened at the scene.

“Prototyp- Kris! Kris, get back down right now!” Kris heard General Changmin’s voice echoing through the area he was gesturing to them to calm down.

“I’m going back!” He shouted, kind of amused by their overreaction. The soldiers used to be really rigid with them, mainly on their discipline and subordination, but that kind of reaction was ridiculous. Kris dived back, a tiny grin on his face when he felt the wind involving him, giving him speed.

He only noticed the little dart pierce his left arm when the dizziness started.

Kris stopped mid air, looking at it. It was a tranquilizer. The boy looked back down, disbelief all across his face, while he watched Changmin scream at the shooter. His senses started to fail him and he was seeing double. He took the dart off of him, throwing it back, and feeling rage grown inside him. Maybe he should've escaped. Maybe he should’ve run away from that screwed up place.

He tried to gather some strength but all he was still able to do was to glide, not able to feel his arms and legs anymore.

Soon, his conciousness started to go off. No, no, no. He thought while his mind faded into blankness. The last thing he could hear was a crowd screaming before he started to fall.

That was four years ago but Kris could still remember everything quite clearly. He looked back down and noticed he was alone, Kyungsoo had already joined the others who were standing around in a corner, waiting for the training to start. He could still remember waking up strapped down to cold hard surface, in a place he had no memory of. He could still remember faces saying things to him, things he still tried to lock away inside his mind. What he could never erase was the loneliness and the pain.

When he was released, the sky was no longer there, in it's place there was a dark roof blocking its sight.

Kris closed his eyes, resting his head on his hands. The flashbacks always made him a little unstable and he didn't need this right now. Not right now, not ever again. He couldn't change the fact that the sky was gone and he had no one to blame but himself. It may seem like something small but to them being able to see the sun, feel the breeze, and enjoy the daylight gave them some hope. Hope of someday seeing the land the sky touched.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back up to see General Changmin standing over him, something on his lips that was looked to be a reassuring smile.

“Don’t beat yourself up over this,” he said in an awkward way, patting his shoulder. "Go beat one of them up instead." With a smirk, he pointed over to where the rest of the prototypes stood in line. "You'll feel much better."

He looked over to where the boys were gathering again. Sehun and Luhan had started to stretch while General Changmin started yelling individual instructions to them. Then there was Baekhyun, sitting on the ground, trying to reach his toes but failing miserably. He ended up meeting his gaze and his expression turned almost on cue. He smiled wide and motioned over for Kris to join them.

Kris gave the synthetic sky one last look. Maybe one day, he thought.
Maybe one day they’d be able to see the sky again.

Every day was the same. It was blood test after blood test, stitching up small cuts, and separating medication. Those were Lay’s duties, and quite frankly he was getting tired of them. He spent most of his days locked up in a lab. Today mundane task was to update the Prototypes medical profiles. There were countless files, unorganized and scattered all over his screen. Test results, reactions to medications, date and time of the Prototypes visits the infirmary (Prototype Lux’s files alone would take him a whole day) and so on. Being an intern was hard, but it was his duty, his debt with the Athenian society.

He was working on Prototype 1’s profile and noticed how there weren’t many updates on him from the past ten years. Scrolling through hundreds of files, he found a recent one, from two months ago. His eyes scanned the document carefully, analyzing the doctor’s handwriting so he could transcribe it to his profile.

“Confirmed diagnosis: Depression,” he read the words out loud, finding them a little bit odd. None of the other Prototypes had been diagnosed with a mental illness before. The file also said the Prototype was an insomniac and that this was affecting his training.

Attached to the file were various prescriptions. Lay’s jaw fell open as he read the entire list, potent antidepressants in massive doses and sedatives.

“So they just knock him out every night?” Lay said to himself, hands floating above the keyboard, still unsure of what to add in. He was still a student, he couldn’t really question the doctor’s decisions, but something about this was just wrong. “This can’t be right.” With eyebrows furred, he let his back fall into the chair, sighing loudly.

“But it is.” A voice echoed behind him.

Lay’s head snapped around to find Dr. Taeyeon standing behind him, an unfriendly expression written all over her face. She was the head doctor of the entire operation and his boss. And he had just questioned her authority. Still, Lay was incredibly calm. Eyes fixed on her as she took a step forward, raising a hand to touch the screen in front of him, dragging all the files into Prototype 1’s profile.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said, opening up the files again, and bringing attention to the list of medication. “I have some questions regarding Prototype 1’s prescriptions. These doses are far too strong for someone his weight and size. Also, there are other methods we could use to­­-“

“I don’t think you are in a position to question our decisions,” she snapped. “You know, I could easily report you for this. You’d be out of here in a second. I’m sure they will find another way for you to pay your debt, maybe at the front lines? I heard they are in need of good medics in the battleground.”

A threat, Lay thought, a threat to keep me silent. He was used to those, having lived most of his live in a government home for “a risk youth”. About eight years ago, Lay’s parents had started a movement that questioned the government’s true intentions for war. They were arrested shortly after leading a protest through Hera. Since Lay had no other living relatives, he was sent to a home for young boys. His parents were all over the news for a while, titled as terrorists and enemies of Athena. He felt so ashamed of his parents and was glad to find out they were getting the punishment they deserved. When he turned sixteen government officials approached him, telling him that because of his parents’ actions, he was in debt with Athena and soon he would have to find a way to start paying it off. They offered him a deal.  Since Lay had always voiced the fact that he dreamed of becoming a doctor, they would make sure he was accepted into one of the top medical schools in the country; however, he would have to work as intern through his university years. Lay thought it was a fair trade.

Now there are times he wished he never took this job. Like when he had to watch the scientists perform experiments on the Prototypes, having to witness them wither in pain and fear while they treated them like things. The Prototypes were born from test tubes, they said. They don't feel pain like we do. They were created to become weapons.

He hated this.

He stared at Dr. Taeyeon deep into her eyes, letting her know his disgust. Still there was nothing he could do.

“I apologize,” he bowed his head slightly, eyes facing the white floor.

“Well, since you are so invested in Prototype 1’s condition maybe you should be the one administering his medication.”

A devious smile reached the doctor’s lips. Her fingers moved quickly through the screen, scanning through files until she found a spreadsheet containing the doctor’s schedules.

“Every night at nine o’clock, go to his room and give him the pills and the injectable sedative. Don’t talk more than you need to and try to go in and out as fast as you can. They are still weapons and dangerous, no matter how hard that Professor and the General try to humanize them.” That last bit sounded more like a sudden release of pent up frustration.

He simply nodded. His personal tablet that was lying on his lap beeped, showing him his updated schedule.

“After this you can go home. I suggest you find someone to ride the Skytrain with you. I heard things were rough around your part of town late at night.”

And with that she left the room.

“Attention staff. Lunch will be served in fifteen minutes. Please make your way to the cafeteria at this time. Thank you.”

Lay sighed. The day was going by slowly and now he would have to stay there four extra hours to take care of his new chore. His eyes find the small picture attached to Prototype 1’s profile. It was slightly outdated, three or four years ago. He looked just like a regular boy his age. A boy he could find walking around his neighborhood, going home from classes, or going to his part-time job at the local super market. Absolutely nothing about him was out of the ordinary. Except his eyes, he thought. His eyes looked lost and bleak. He slid his hands over the screen, closing off all the files, and started to make his way down to the cafeteria.

“Can’t believe The Rockets lost, man. We had such a great season. Stupid Minho and his injury. If it weren’t for him we would have won by a landslide!”

“Oh come on, Chanyeol! Like Choi Minho is some kind of miracle worker. The whole team sucked last night. I’ve been cheering for The Rockets since I was in diapers and I can admit that. The Spartans won fair and square. Maybe we’ll do better next year. Right, Lay?”

Lay’s eyes were lost, unfocused somewhere in the full cafeteria. When he noticed the silence on his table he shook his head and saw three pairs of eyes fixed on him.

“Lay, are you even listening?”

Finally he was able to focus on the girl sitting across from him. Her name was Krystal, a lab assistant who had a life story much similar to Lay’s, her sister was now being hunted by the government after breaking a group of Kronian war prisoners out of jail. She was also paying a debt. Sitting next to her was Tao, his best friend. He was a kitchen assistant. Lay thought he seemed annoyed at his lack of attention to the conversation, chewing his lunch rapidly, and tapping his free hand on the table frantically. The figure sitting next to him was a new face. He had a hard time remembering his name.

“Sorry. What were you guys talking about?” Lay answered, trying his best not to sound affected by what had happened in the lab minutes ago.

“Basketball, man!” The new face almost shouted with a smile. “Don’t tell me you are a Spartans fan.”

“Oh,” Lay said. “Did we lose last night? I went to bed early-”

“Lucky you. I wish I had gone to bed instead of witnessing that disaster,” Krystal said rolling her eyes. “Guess we better find something new to entertain ourselves since I don’t think there will be another basketball season next year with the war and all.”

“True. Speaking of finding new ways to entertain ourselves, I have an invitation for you all,” Tao said, leaning in on the table as if he was about to reveal some top-secret information. “Friend of mine got a job at a jazz club. He says the place is awesome. We should go check it out this weekend.”

“That sounds like something out of a movie,” Lay said before taking a sip of his coffee. “Don’t tell me this one of those nostalgia places where people gather to worship Old World stuff.”

“Well, it’s something like that, but what the hell. It’s not like we have many options where we live. The club is just off the Skytrain station. On to the abandoned highway. We could go Friday right after work!” Tao insisted and Lay saw Krystal nod in agreement. The new face however, looked a bit lost.

“I say we go,” Krystal perked up, sliding her empty tray to make space for her elbows. “Wanna come with us, Chanyeol?”

As they stared at him waiting for an answer, Chanyeol’s face contorted into many different expressions, after a while it picked one. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

“I don’t know, guys. I have a lot of work,” he said before putting half of his sandwich into his mouth.

“Come on!” Tao begged. “We’ll take you home after so you won’t have to ride the train alone. Where do you live again? Was it Corinth? It’s just one station before mine I could-”

“Actually, I live in New Rome,” Chanyeol said, still trying to swallow his sandwich.

Lay raised both eyebrows at the mention of Chanyeol neighborhood. It all started coming back to him now, and after giving the new face one long look he remembered who he was. He was Dr. Park’s son. Of course the son of the leader of this entire project would live in Athena’s richest neighborhood, probably at a skyscraper, overlooking the city’s downtown area.

Lay, Tao, and Krystal all lived in Gaza, the name given to Hera’s isolated and underprivileged districts. Since the war started, the quality of living (which wasn’t great to begin with) went down dramatically. There were many veterans caming back from the combat around Athena’s borders, either injured or psychologically unstable. Young boys who had nothing to come back to now flooded the streets. Violence was at an all time high and many families, who were able to live with the bare minimum before, now struggled to be able to buy food, since the prices kept growing up in a daily basis. Lay thought how nice it would be to live so far away from that, safe, in a fancy condo with delicious food delivered to your doorstep every night.

“Of course you do,” Krystal said with a sarcastic smile. “Guess it would be kind hard for you to join us. It’s two hour ride from Gaza to New Rome after all.”

“You could crash in my place, though,” Tao said nudging Chanyeol with his elbow, making Chanyeol’s sandwich almost come out through his nose. “You never been to Gaza before, have you?”

“I have never even been outside of New Rome before,” Chanyeol said with a frown. “I guess I could go. I mean, if you guys want me to come.”

“Come on, rich kid. We’ll show you a real party.” Krystal laughed loudly.

They all joined her. Chanyeol was a bit shy at first, but after a few seconds he was laughing the loudest. Lay still looked at him bitterly, but decided to give him a chance. It was hard finding people their age at their job and Chanyeol did seem nice and not at all like the other New Rome snobby rich kids he was used to running into on his way to work every morning. Lay was in no position to turn away new friendships. Apart from Tao and Krystal, who he had met on his first day of work at the center, Lay didn’t have any other friends. He had always been a loner, the kid who could never really fit in anywhere. As he got older, he started accepting the fact that he was truly alone in the world and it was okay. He could fend for himself.

He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that their lunch break was almost over.  He started thinking about the pile of work he had waiting for him back in the lab, and the extra hours he would have to stay in order to administer Prototype 1’s ridiculous medication. This day was surely never going to end.

“Meet you outside at five?” Tao asked as they started making their way out of the cafeteria.

“I can’t ride home with you guys anymore. They gave me some extra work. I’m gonna have to stay until late everyday for now on.”

“If I were you I’d request for a room at the dorms already. With the way things are in Gaza right now, walking back home alone every night is almost suicide,” Tao said gloomily.

“You’re right. But for tonight I guess I’ll just have to test my luck.”

“I can ask around the kitchen and see if there’s someone who stays late? Maybe there’s someone who can ride with you. I’ll text you either way.” Tao gave Lay a short pat on the back before disappearing within the sea of people making their way to the elevators. He joined them, making sure his keycard was in his lab coat pocket.

10 more hours, he thought as he entered the elevator and watched the door close.

Lay went over the list of medication for the fifth time, checking the doses and separating the pills carefully. He slid the pills into a little recipient, snapped the lid close, and placed it with care in coat pocket. One of the main doctors who had prepared the injectable sedative for him left careful instructions about the right dosage.

It was around 8:30pm when Lay got on the elevator. The center was almost empty except for a few janitors and lab assistants who were used to working late hours. It was clear that he sure as hell wasn’t. When he leaned his back against the wall inside the elevator, he could feel his eyes becoming heavy, and closing by themselves. His entire body ached for rest.

He shook his head, trying to shake away the exhaustion. The elevators door slid open, revealing a part of the center that he wasn’t too familiar with. He had been to the Prototype’s dorm in some rare occasions. Mostly to collect blood samples from Prototype Geller. The scientists and doctors had a lot of interest in him. Geller had an unexplained Gene mutation, which gave him a new ability. Lay didn’t know what exactly that ability was; all he knew was that it made the project leaders and head scientists very unhappy.

He knew Prototype Geller liked to be called Luhan, and each time Lay went over to collect his samples, he made sure to remind Lay of that. He always obliged seeing how it made Luhan happy to hear his chosen name.

Prototype 1’s room was a bit separated from the others. Lay followed the path down the dark hallway, until he found the door with the number 1 written on it. With a deep breath, he typed in the code into the number pad beside the door. He knew that all the Prototypes rooms had different passwords and that they were changed daily. Another thing he would have to keep up with, he thought.

The door hissed open and Lay hesitated a bit before stepping inside the dim room.

“Hello?” He called shyly.

A shadow moved to the bed in the corner of the room. Lay traced the wall with his hand, trying to locate a light switch. Instead, his fingers found a touch screen and it up under his touch. It was a control panel for the room, he quickly found the light settings and set them up properly. With a short beep, the room filled with light slowly, revealing a boy wearing the usual black pants and white shirt all the Prototypes sported. He also wore a friendly smile on his lips.

“You are here to put me to sleep,” the boy said sitting cross-legged on the bed.

Lay's stomach dropped. He knew from the beginning there was something wrong about this. Remembering the situation with Dr. Taeyeon earlier, he wiped his concerns out of his mind. Just do your job. Give him the meds and go home.

Lay pulled out the recipient with the pills from his coat pocket.

“Take these,” he said as dryly as he could.

The Prototype extended his arm and Lay placed the recipient carefully on his palm, trying his best to avoid any kind of contact.

“Do you need me to get you some wa-”

Before Lay could finish, he saw a jet of water leaving an open bottle sitting by the desk and flying swiftly across the room, finding its destination in the Prototype's open mouth.

“Okay,” Lay said, startled. The Prototype let out a soft giggle before swallowing.

“I'm Suho, by the way,” he said before wiping some of the water from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. Lay remained silent. Apparently Luhan wasn't the only one that had been renamed.

“That's-That's nice," he stammered. "I'm Lay.”

“Funny name,” he giggled again.

This time, Lay couldn't help but to let a smile form on his lips. He plopped his briefcase on the nightstand, opening the zipper rapidly when he noticed Suho staring him down. He started preparing the injection as carefully as he could, measuring and measuring, still unsure about the dosage and the reasons why they thought this was appropriate. The first thing on his mind was that maybe this Prototype had behavior problems or was acting out in some way. He turned his attention back to the boy sitting on the bed; his smile now had turned into a pout as he watched Lay preparing his shot.

“This is the worst part of my day,” Suho said almost in a whisper. “Training is hard but this- this is far scarier.”

Lay took a deep breath. Don't let it get to you, he thought. He took a step closer to the bed, the syringe ready in his hand, his mind filled with doubts.

“Why?” The question rolled out of his lips easily. But as it did, he regretted it and wished he could swallow the words back because he really didn't want to hear the answer.

“Roll up your sleeve,” Suho gave him a sad look. “Please?”

The boy shrugged, obeying Lay's request languidly.

“It's just- I don't like the way it feels. I just black out. It's like I can't control my body anymore. I wake up the next day feeling empty.”

At this point, Lay wasn't sure if he could continue anymore. He looked down at the syringe on his hand and at the boy with miserable expression sitting across from him. Although he had a few close contacts with Luhan, he had never seen these types of arguments slipping out of Luhan's mouth before. When he looked into Suho's eyes he saw complex emotions, and then it dawned on him, maybe this was the reason why the doctors were sedating him.

Still Lay had to think of his own neck first, at least for now. He prepped Suho's arm, cleaning it with a little bit of alcohol. The needle broke Suho's pale skin and Lay brought the plunger down to release the medication into his system. The Prototype winced but didn't struggle. He screwed his eyes shut and let out a soft whimper as Lay pulled out the needle. Lay placed gauze on top of the place where the needle had pierced the skin and applied pressure as gently as he could. He noticed Suho's fingers crawled up his arm to touch the gauze, so close meeting Lay's. Before there was any contact he let go, already turning his back to collect his things when he felt a soft tug on his lab coat.

“The other lady, who did this,” Suho said, his speech already slurring. “Dr. Sooyoung, She always stayed with me until I feel asleep.”

Lay sighed loudly. He couldn't say no. He couldn't simply walk away. What they were doing to him was cruel and he felt staying by his side until the medication worked was the least he could do. Also, such a monstrous dose could cause some complications. He wondered if this was the actual reason why Dr. Sooyoung stayed.

“Okay,” Lay said giving Suho a reassuring smile.

Suho laid down clumsily, it wouldn't take too long now, Lay thought as he watched the boy pull the covers over himself with difficulty, his movements already being affected by the sedative. Without even thinking, Lay moved over to help him, placing the covers gently on top of him. He backed away as soon as he realized what he was doing.

“Thank you,” Suho said. A faint smile reaching his lips as his eyes fluttered close. "See you tomorrow, Dr. Lay."

“I'm actually not a doctor yet. I'm just Lay,” he said, corner of his lips curling upwards as he placed his hands on his coat pockets.

“See you tomorrow, Just Lay.”

Lay chuckled and as smile reached Suho's lips as his breathing became steady, chest rising and failing at a regular pace.

He started to gather his things, feeling like his mind was running a marathon. He remembered the fact that his usual commute back home had now turned much more dangerous. If he made it to Gaza in one piece, and didn't bring too much attention to himself, the thugs would leave him alone. He could always pull the "I'm a doctor!" card. There weren't many doctors around Gaza, at least not good ones. That area didn't even have its own hospital. Sometimes, they had to travel almost one hour to find a doctor that could treat the sick properly. This meant that even the thugs knew they weren't in a position to mistreat their local doctors. He seriously considered wearing his white coat out

When all his things were back inside the briefcase, he gave Suho one last look before making his way to the door.

“I promise I'll help you. Give me time,” he whispered, typing in the code in the touch screen on the wall. The door opened slowly and Lay stepped out into the shadowy hallways.

"Goodnight," he said as Suho's door closed in front of him.

His hands were sweaty and he kept getting lost in the middle of the corridors. He probably passed by the door with “LUX” written on golden letters a dozen times before actually seeing it. Chanyeol was more nervous about meeting the prototype than anything he ever been nervous about in his life. He looked at the pile of papers in his hands, tests and more tests that his father asked him to do. He took a deep breath and entered the room.

The place was really well lit and he could see the Prototype sitting on his bed playing with a spark of light coming out of his hands. Chanyeol froze in place. He remembered what his father said. That prototype was defective. What if he lost control of his powers and blinded him with lasers or-

No, no, you’re not a kid anymore. You’re a grown up man. He thought, straightening his back and clearing his throat. The Prototype was startled by the sound, looking back quickly. When his eyes met with Chanyeol’s he felt like throwing up.

Damn, he was way too fucking human.

“I’m sorry but who are you and why are you in my room?” The boy had a confused look, the light on his hands going out completely. Chanyeol tried to smile but all he could do was an awkward lift of lips.

“My name is Park Chanyeol. I’m your new-” The words escaped him and he felt foolish. What was he to that boy, anyways? What was he supposed to tell him? Was he supposed to go there and tell him: Hi, my name is Park Chanyeol and I’m here to fix you? “I’m the new scientist who’s gonna be in charge of your… training tutoring.”

He hoped that the boy didn’t catch the glimpse of insecurity in his voice. Well, if he did, he pretended very well to not to.

“What happened to that nice girl who took care of me before?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. But- But I’m in charge of you now.”

Prototype Lux left his head fall to one side, scratching his chin for a while. But then he shrugged and stood up, going towards Chanyeol.

“He is going to fucking kill me!” He thought, eyes wide, but the boy only gave him a small reverence, taking the papers out of his hands.

“I’m supposed to do these, right?” He asked. “Damn, that’s a lot of tests,” The boy went back whining, sitting on his desk. He looked back at Chanyeol. “I’m Baekhyun, by the way.”

“What? I thought your name was Prototype Lux,” Chanyeol asked, suddenly feeling very awkward in standing there in the middle of the room. He decided it was better to play with his fingers for a while.

“Yeah, that’s what they call me," he lifted his head to face one of the cameras. "But I don’t like being called that! I mean it’s really impersonal and-” He stopped, looking at the boy with an amazed expression. “Can you please sit down? You’re making me very uncomfortable.”

Chanyeol was startled by the boy sudden request and clumsily walked around the room, until he noticed the Prototype pointing to his bed. When the boy finally sat down he heard the other laughing at him.

“You are really weird,” he laughed again and Chanyeol looked back at him, awkwardness all over his expression. “And you have a really funny face too.” The boy beamed at him and Chanyeol felt kind of uncomfortable and kind of amazed by the way the Prototype lips curved into a smile. He felt something messing with his insides and tried his best to calm himself down.

“But anyway, I don’t really like being called Prototype Lux. So call me Baekhyun, ok?”

“I didn’t know the Prototypes could have names,” he said, in disbelief. His father would always call them Prototypes. Prototype Lux, Prototype Gaia, Prototype Geller… That was the first time he heard of them having names.

“Well, there was a time when we couldn’t-”

“I never heard of such a thing so I don’t know if I’m allowed to call you that,” Chanyeol said, looking around and finding the cameras again. He already knew they were watching them, so it wouldn’t be too far off to guess they were listening them too. And that entire name situation could be just the boy trying to defy the project leaders. He was faulty, after all. It wouldn’t be a surprise if by the way he was treated he ended up a little rebellious. Baekhyun seemed really offended by what he said, the smile fading from his face.

“Ok, then.”

Baekhyun turned around, his back facing Chanyeol. Instead of picking up the tests, he took his tablet and started playing a game. The boy almost fell out of the bed.

“What are you doing?” He asked, his voice screeching in horror. “You need to take these tests immediately.”

The Prototype kept messing with his tablet, humming a song. He felt a sudden urge to smash Baekhyun’s head on the desk in front of him.

“Now you’re just being childish.”

“And you’re being impolite.”

Chanyeol sighed in defeat.

“Baekhyun, can you please take these tests?”

The boy turned around to face him, a fake smile on his lips. He put his tablet back on its place, and picked up one of the tests, speaking on an extremely irritating tone:

“Of course! Why didn’t you ask sooner?”

Chanyeol had to scratch his face to stop himself from screaming, but when he noticed he caught both of them laughing at that stupid moment. He looked at the boy again, he was leaning on his desk and biting his upper lip. Baekhyun was actually a really pretty name and it suited him, somehow. There was something about him that made Chanyeol feel quite comfortable, even though he was still scared he would all of sudden freak out and shoot lasers out of his eyes. His father called him a total failure, but he seemed pretty okay to him.

“I hate mathematics!” He exclaimed after a few minutes, already looking exhausted.

“Have you finished anything?”

“I already did Languages and Old History. I’m quite good at these, but they say these subjects are not important. How come, though? I think understanding our history and learning from our ancestors’ mistakes is quite important, don’t you? I mean, History exists to tell us our path in this world and registering our rights and our wrongs.”

“And what whatever someone did centuries ago have to do with me?”

“Everything! I don’t understand how you science people don’t see it because it seems pretty obvious to me,” he said with quite a disappointed tone and Chanyeol had to smile.

“Well, things that are obvious to you may not be obvious to other people.”

“Yeah, like calculus. Do you understand it?”

“It’s easy.”

“Oh, shut up.”

He laughed and it suddenly hit him that it was the first time that day he was laughing so easily. The other scientists were all older or just plain serious, making Chanyeol feel intimidated and kind stupid with his lame jokes and bad humor. However, Baekhyun would laugh at whatever stupid comment he did, replying to him with something even more ridiculous.

There was this part of him that kept telling him to back off, to stop talking, and to stop smiling. That boy wasn’t a friend or could he even be called a person? He could remember all the times his father told him they had no soul, they were different from the normal human being. But Chanyeol just couldn’t see what his father was talking about. Baekhyun was way too human for him to think otherwise and that thought it was what hurt him the most.

When the prototype was finally finished, he turned in the tests, an exhausted expression on his face.

“You were nice. The others always gave me only one hour.”

“Actually, I lost track of time. It won’t happen again,” Chanyeol lied taking the tests from him. Baekhyun sat on his bed, yawning. “Well, I guess I see you tomorrow, then.”

“Ok,” He smiled at him and Chanyeol felt that weird discomfort inside his chest again. He murmured a good night and left the room, trying to push away any weird thoughts that insisted on being inside his head. He had tests to supervise and his father wanted results until the end of the week. He had no time to think about Baekhyun’s cute smile.

Cute. He thought again, chuckling at himself.

Chanyeol entered laboratory to find the place completely empty. He looked at the clock and sighed. He told Baekhyun that the test took a couple of hours but in fact he stayed there with the boy for at least four hours. It was one hour past midnight. The boy sat down at his desk. He felt tired but at the same time he was too curious to know how Baekhyun did, so he took out his glasses and started to read them all.

It didn’t need much reading to reassure what he already knew. The boy did horribly on the “important” subjects. Though, he had to admit he was really brilliant on Languages and Old History, but that wasn’t what his father wanted to hear.

He felt kind upset. If there’s something he noticed, even after spending only a few hours with him, was that Baekhyun was eager to learn. He wanted to learn all those things and he was a smart boy. Maybe Chanyeol could help him a little with the things he couldn’t understand. It was ridiculous. He was called a failure because he couldn’t quite grasp some subjects. People were different, after all.

Baekhyun is not a person, though. He’s a weapon.

That thought hit him hard and he took out his glasses, sighing. He didn’t think the hardest part of his job would be human relations.

Chanyeol looked around the laboratory to make sure he was alone. If anyone caught him doing what he was about to do, his father would eat him alive. He picked the tests with his both hands, taking a deep, long breath. It had been a long time since the last time he actually done this, so he felt a little anxious.

He closed his eyes, feeling his hands being overflow with heat. There was a quick spark of combustion. When he opened them back the papers were reduced to ashes, a small, weak flame still burning on his hands.

“Let’s give him another chance.”

⇢ next: chapter two

a/n: i think first and foremost we have to thank hoooshi for helping our fic not look like OMG WHAT IS ENGLISH IS IT SOMETHING TO EAT LOLOLOL. amanda and i are not native english speakers so actually posting this fic was a major thing for us ;w; 
so it starts! after two weeks of the two of us staying up until 2 in the morning almost to plan this whole thing out and creating this monster that is eating us alive and taking away our sanity lolol. 
we'll pretty much be updating every sunday evening, unless we get caught up with, you know, life and stuff lol. 
anyway, enjoy ヽ(；▽；)ノ
let us know what you think! winkwink.