Chapter Text
Every day Chan would wake up, shower, dress in the same clothes, eat the same, barely edible food, and attend classes at the learning facilities.
Every single day, he would go to his class, sit down, and partake in the lessons.
That’s what he is supposed to do, and that is what he does.
At noon, he would be given a short break to eat again (a more decent meal, provided by the Facility). During his break, he would always sit with his friends, Changbin, and Jisung. They would eat with few words shared between them.
The less they spoke, the safer it was.
After, they would (through code) agree to sneak out later, unless they were unable to do so easily. Then they would seperate, and return to their classes till they are allowed to return back to the living facilities.
However, today was different.
The first half of Chan’s day went as usual, it was during his lunch break that everything changed.
He was waiting for Changbin and Jisung to join him, starting on his meal in the meanwhile.
Chan is just about to take another bite of… an edible substance, but he stops as someone slides into the chair next to him.
“Hi!”
Chan turns towards the owner of this deep voice.
He is met with the sight of a bright smile, cheeks adorned with freckles, and a head full of unnaturally blonde hair. The boy’s hair is what surprises Chan the most. It is looked down upon for any member of the Facility to alter their appearance.
This kid has guts. He must be like us...
“My eyes are here.” The boy chuckles. He must’ve noticed Chan staring at his hair.
“I… Sorry.” Chan mumbles an apology, his face warm with embarrassment. He adjusts his gaze till he is met with warm, brown eyes.
“Nah, I’m just messing with you.” The boy flashes another smile at Chan.
“Okay…” Chan is really unsure on how to deal with this strange boy. What prompted the blond boy to come over, why Chan?
A more familiar voice interrupts Chan’s thoughts, “Felix, I told you to wait.”
Jisung approaches the table, soon followed by Changbin.
“Hello, Hyung.” Jisung gives Chan a nod, flashing a quick smile. Changbin does the same.
“Jisung. Changbin.” Chan greets his friends, returning their smiles.
“Hyung.” Jisung addresses Chan after he and Changbin have taken their seats, sitting across from Chan, and the blonde boy.
“This is Felix.” Jisung nods towards the blonde boy, “He transferred here from District 5 a few days ago. I’ve known him from when I lived there, two years ago.”
“Oh.” Chan nods, “He’s the “acquaintance” you’ve mentioned previously.”
People from the “upper” Districts tend to less freedom, which is why those who are different, like Chan, much prefer to live in the lower Districts. Felix must’ve been very good at hiding his individuality, despite his hair colour.
“Hi Felix.” Changbin give the younger a small smile. Felix smiles back.
Looks like Changbin has already met Felix.
“ Yes, we can talk more in the hideout .” Jisung nodded in response to Chan. He spoke to Chan using the code they created to avoid the Facility overhearing anything they wanted to keep hidden, much like their hideout.
“ Do we need to…? ” Chan gestures towards Felix, the words “teach him the code” go unspoken.
“ No need, Jisung already taught me your code .” Felix is the one to reply, using their code to boot.
Chan flits his gaze to Jisung, he feels a bit wary about Felix already knowing their code, but he trusts Jisung’s judgment. Changbin was right about their other (soon to be) friend, Jeongin, being like them, and Changbin appears to already trust Felix.
They’ve given me their trust all these years, I should do the same.
“ Okay, we’ll meet at the usual time and place. ” Chan sighs.
They all continue eating their meal, the only words shared was when Changbin asked Felix a few (safe) questions.
After lunch they return to their routine. Chan goes to his lessons, then returns to the living facility, simply relaxing till it is safe for him to sneak out to their hideout.
Most of the people within the Facility obey each and every order, they are essentially slaves. They are raised like robots, brainwashed into the system. They are all too alike, lacking in individuality. That is exactly what makes it easy for people like Chan, Changbin, Jisung, and now Felix to exist. The facility has too much trust in their system, they think that everyone is the same, and that everyone will obey.
Every day, between 11pm and 7am the Facility shuts down nearly all their systems, save for a few security protocols to keep their “slaves” safe from being taken for any purpose that isn’t to benefit the Facility.
It is time.
Chan looks behind him as he approaches the door, his roommate, Woojin is fast asleep.
Thank heavens that ass is a heavy sleeper .
Chan slowly pushes open the door to his living facility, he pokes his head out and checks for any security guards.
When he confirms that the coast is clear, he steps out into the hallway. He closes the door behind him, slowly, carefully, making sure that it closes without a sound.
Chan moves down the hall, quickly, and quietly. There are a few spots where he has to hide away from the cameras, or security guards, but he manages to do so with well practised ease
Once he reaches the only way out of the living facility without cameras, a window, Chan stops. He peers through the panes of the window, checking that the coast is clear outside.
Chan deems it safe, there is no guards walking about. He’ll need to be fast.
He opens the window, and not-so-gracefully climbs out onto the ground below.
Now, to get to where the hideout is, Chan has to get to the forest at the edge of District 9. This is the harder part. He must cross the compound of the learning facility, where guards are walking about more regularly.
Chan ducks from bushes, to trees, to anything that will give him cover, anything that will allow him to stay hidden. At one point a guard comes too close for Chan’s comfort, his heart beats faster. He tries his best to steady his breathing till the guard is gone, then he continues.
He lets out a sigh of relief once he reaches the edge of the forest, after crossing a small fence. From here his short journey will be much easier. He just has to follow the familiar path to the hideout.
After a short trek through the woods, the dirty exterior of their hideout, an old facility warehouse comes into view. Lucky for them the Facility didn’t clear out the abandoned warehouse, so many useful things remained, such as a generator.
A dim glow emits from a small light above the entrance. That, and the gentle hum from the generator indicate that someone is already here.
Chan approaches the entrance. He gently knocks before letting himself in, alerting whoever’s inside that he has arrived.
Chan weaves through some of the items abandoned within the warehouse. He reaches a small clearing that they had made.
In the clearing is a couple couches, cushioned seats, a bean bag chair, a large coffee table, a pile of a variety of old (technically illegal) games, and a large cupboard which they filled with (expired but still pretty yummy/edible) foods. The games are set to one side, along with the food cupboard, while all the seats are circling around the table.
He spots a head of dark hair over the back of one of the worn-out couches. A half eaten bag of chips sits on the table.
“Hey, already digging in to the snacks I see.” Chan teases, he hops over the back of the couch.
Changbin lets out an annoyed groan as Chan goes thud beside him.
“Awww,” Chan coos, pinching Changbin’s cheeks, “Did I wake Binnie baby from his nap? Did Baby fall asleep after his snack?” Chan teases.
All he gets is a glare, and a pout from the younger. Chan chuckles at Changbin’s reaction.
“Is Jisungie here yet?” Chan asks, glancing around the warehouse.
“Not yet.” Changbin replies, his voice slightly husky from having been rudely awoken from his nap.
“Oh, well, I hope he gets here soon. We have a lot to talk about...” Chan sighs. The air suddenly feels cooler, or maybe he just noticed because he is no longer moving. Chan shivers slightly, “Does that electric heater still work?”
“Last I checked it did, but we’d have to turn the lights off to use it so we don’t overload the generator.” Changbin grabbed one of the pillows on the couch and placed it in his lap.
Changbin must be cold as well…
Maybe a fire pit would be a good idea, the place is well ventilated, it shouldn’t be a huge problem… I’ll mention it when Jisung get here.
“I’ll just grab a blanket then.” Chan decides, “Do you want me to get one for you as well?”
“You’d do that for me?” Changbin flutters his eyelashes, he purses his lips, “You’re the best, Hyung.”
Oh no, he’s going to act cute.
“Oh no you don’t.” Chan gives the younger a shove before Changbin has the chance to act cute.
“Owwwww.” Changbin whines, rubbing his arm to exaggerate the pain. Chan knows he’s trying guilt trip him, but that won’t happen. Chan has already gotten off the couch, and has his back to Changbin.
He exits the small clearing they made among all the items left in the warehouse in search of the blankets.
If my memory serves me, the blankets should be…
“Ah ha!” Chan lets out a triumphant sound. The blankets were on a shelf just a few meters from their clearing.
Chan grabs all seven blankets, just in case Jisung, or Felix would want one… or two, and he heads back to Changbin.
Chan places the blankets on the table, “Wake up sleepy Binnie. Here’s your blanket.”
Changbin, who had started to nod off again, opens his eyes, “Hyung…” He whines.
“I brought them here, the least you could do is grab one yourself.” Chan shakes his head.
“Please?”
“... Fine.” Chan grabs a dark green, checkered blanket, and with a flourish he lays it on top of Changbin.
“Better?” Chan asks, wrapping his own, red plaid blanket around himself. He sits back down next to Changbin.
“Much.” Changbin nuzzles against Chan, “Thank you.”
“You’re lucky I care.” Chan chuckles. He places a hand on Changbin's head, combing his fingers through the dark locks.
Their peaceful moment is soon interrupted as the loud Jisung, and (apparently) equally loud Felix come prancing into the warehouse.
“Guess who!” Jisung sings, approaching Chan from behind, and covering his eyes.
“Changbin?” Chan teases, “Is that you? How did you get behind me so fast?”
Jisung gently cuffs the elder on the shoulder, “Hey!” He whines.
“Oh, my bad.” Chan continues to tease, “That whiny voice can only to Jisung. Sorry Changbin.”
The other three laugh as Jisung, whilst pouting, throws himself onto the couch opposite Chan and Changbin. Felix follows.
It takes a few moments for Chan, Changbin, and Felix to regain their composure.
“Let’s just get down to business.” Jisung grumbles, pout still evident on his face. He grabs a blanket from the pile and wraps it around himself, and Felix.
Felix thanks Jisung for the blanket before starting, “Jisung’s right. So, what do you guys want to know?”
“How do you and Jisung know each other?” Changbin asks the first question.
“We met back in District 5.” Felix starts, “I approached him because I could tell he was different, and I was right. We’ve been friends ever since, I think it’s been nine years.”
“Nine years and two months.” Jisung corrects Felix.
“Ah, right, nine years and two months.” Felix repeats, nodding.
“Do you know why you were transferred, Felix?” Chan asks cautiously, not wanting to offend the young male.
“I actually don’t know the exact reason, They just told me that Seungmin, and I were to be transferred here.” Felix shrugs his shoulders.
“Seungmin? Who-” Chan is cut off by Jisung.
“Seungmin is coming here too!!!” Jisung practically jumps to his feet.
“Whoops…” Felix rubs the back of his neck, “I wasn’t supposed to tell you, Seungmin wanted to surprise you.”
Jisung bounces in excitement. His smile stretches from cheek to cheek, “Yes, yes, yes!! Oh my God! Seungmin is coming!!! When?! When is he coming?!”
“In two days.” Felix replies, “You’ll see him in two days.”
“Two days?! I have to wait two whole days!” Jisung is now pouting again.
“What’s two days compared to two years?” Felix pulls Jisung to sit back down beside him.
“You’re right.” Jisung sighs, “I can do two days.”
“Boys!” Chan has to yell to get their attention again, “Who is Seungmin?”
“Oh, Seungmin is our other friend from District 5, he’s also like us.” Felix answers, “We met him about five years ago.”
“We didn’t exactly meet under the best circumstances…” Jisung lets out another sigh, “It’ll be up to him whether he wants to share his story or not.”
Felix tries to change the focus, “Do you have any other questions for me?”
The boys spend much of the night talking. Most of it is Chan, and Changbin practically interrogating Felix, but soon, each of them are happily sharing their stories.
They have to cut their conversations short when Jisung begins to doze off. Chan suggests they head back to their living facilities, with the promise to continue their conversations the night after the next.
Chan makes sure the younger boys make it back to their living facilities safely, before heading to his own. He manages to sneak back into the building and up to his room without a hitch.
Chan carefully opens the door to his room, he slips into the room, and quietly shuts the door behind him.
Chan turns around, letting out a sigh as he does.
Chan’s heart stops as he freezes in place.
In front of him is a very awake Woojin.
I am so fucking screwed.