Chapter Text
Visions…monochrome visions. Dreams aren’t often in black and white…even a young child knew that much. That’s why Lee Felix knew that it was wrong when he started having horrifying, monochrome visions at such a young age. He could remember the day it started all too clearly...and he could remember the day he was taken away from home even clearer. As he was violently thrown to the cold floor of a tiny, secluded room, he had almost forgotten just how long ago that had been.
“Stay in here for another twenty-four hours or so until we need you again.” One of his regular experimenters harshly spoke to him as he tried to get up off of the floor. Not even a second later, a marker was thrown at him.
“Don’t forget to write down today’s date and coding on the walls as usual.” He was yelled at once more…just like every day. The door slammed shut and he was once more left all alone.
He looked up at the ink covered walls which were marked with his writing for the past six years. Wow…it had really been that long. This would be his 2,190th code…there was barely any room left on these graffiti covered walls. Oh…that’s right. That 2,190th code would also mark his sixth birthday spent in this hellhole. How old was he again? As he thought about it, he took the marker into his hands and began to stand up. He figured that it was his eighteenth birthday. Looking at all of the coding and trying to find a free spot had him terrified. How much longer would this continue? Would it ever end? He had spent a good portion of his life in here. All of this testing…brutally being handled from one uncaring psychopath to the next…it was tiring. Why were these visions so important to other people? Maybe it was because they weren’t just regular visions…but glimpses of the future.
As much as he hated to admit it, every vision he had ever had up until this point became true sooner or later. These experimenters that he had spent the last six years of his life with just wanted to find a way for him to reveal their futures as well. He absolutely couldn’t understand why anyone would want to know their future. These visions horrified him enough; they haunted him every time he slept. He didn’t like being drugged to sleep every day just so someone could try and find out their future through him. His arms were always red from the IVs that were often shoved into him as he was put under sedation. It was something he once more noticed as he pulled the cap off of the marker.
He crawled up onto his bed and stretched up as far as he could to fit the code into a blank spot. He released the breath he had been holding as he dropped back down onto the bed. He solemnly put the cap back on the marker and lied down emotionlessly. Suddenly, his eyes began to fill with tears.
“Happy birthday, Felix…” He spoke…desperately trying to remind himself of his existence. He hadn’t heard those words from anyone other than himself in six years.
He thought of his family back in Australia…he wondered how they were doing without him. His mother…father…and sisters…did they miss him? Did they still remember him? If they saw him again…they may not even recognize him. After all…he wasn’t even sure if he could recognize himself.
This was the only room he had been in other than the testing room in the last six years. In that time, he hadn’t even seen his own face. He had no clue what he looked like anymore. He just assumed he looked about the same as he did when he was twelve…but he really had no idea. He hadn’t really felt different or any changes in that time…other than how deep his voice had suddenly become. He could barely recognize it as his own…it scared him. Was that all that changed? Twelve and eighteen was a big gap though…and he hadn’t seen anyone about his age. He was only ever around adults.
God, he hated them…he hated adults with a passion. They were the ones who caused him all of this pain for so long. He could barely understand the words they spoke. Abruptly moving from Australia to South Korea was seriously jarring. He had picked up a decent amount of Korean in that time but…it was still hard for him.
As he glanced over at the wall across from his bed, he noticed a rather large blank area that hadn’t been filled in with codes. He stared at it for a moment, wondering how he didn’t notice it before. Or maybe…it was that he tried not to notice it. It was his eighteenth birthday…that was kind of a milestone, wasn’t it? Maybe…he should do something for himself.
He picked up the marker and hopped off the bed. He popped the lid off as he slowly stepped up to the blank spot. He had almost forgotten how to write letters…as he had only been writing numbers and codes for more than half a decade. He began to move the marker in his hand in any way that he could…hoping to remember how to write anything in the English language. Without even thinking, he began to fill the spot in with big letters until he ran out of space. He took a couple of steps back, puzzled by what he had just written. He stared at it in confusion…trying to decipher his own message to himself.
I AM NOT
‘I am not…what?’ He thought to himself, wondering how he would have finished the sentence. He didn’t have much time to think about this though, as he heard a large boom come from inside the facility. The floor shook a little and dust fell from the ceiling. He coughed a couple of times before he suddenly heard the system alarm going off. What was happening?
He dropped the marker in fear, now seeing blue and red lights flashing around the room. He had never heard the security system go off like this before. Did this mean there was a breach in the system? Had someone broken into the building? Before he knew it, a loud crack hit the door of his room. He yelped a bit, instantly stumbling backwards. He stumbled until he fell to the floor, seeing the door bend inwards. Someone was trying to break into his room. He was terrified for his life at the moment. The thought of dying and never seeing his family again frightened him.
He covered his ears and closed his eyes as the previously locked door broke open without mercy. The shaking redhead barely opened his eyes to find a young boy with a mallet in his hands step into his room. The timid younger just cautiously eyed him as he began to move closer.
“Who are you?” He growled out in English, though fully aware the boy wouldn’t understand him.
“I’m a friend…and this is your cue out of here, mate.”
Much to Felix’s surprise, the boy did understand him…and even responded fluently. Even more…he also had the same Australian accent. Was this boy also taken away from home? The dark haired boy lent out a hand with a smile, the younger hesitant to take it. But…if he was being offered a way to escape this place…he couldn’t afford to hesitate. He eventually took the boy’s hand, who quickly began pulling him out of the room.
“Can you speak Korean?” He asked as the two ran down the halls, despite the flashing lights and alarms.
“A little.” The younger commented in the little Korean that he knew.
“Are you the one that caused this?” He further added, glancing over at his new friend.
“Of course I am…God, one week in here was way too long.” He commented, Felix quickly scoffing at that remark.
“One week? This is my sixth birthday in here.” He admitted as the older halted at another door before them.
“Really? So, you’re him, huh?” He remarked, Felix confused by his words.
“What do you mean?” He asked as the boy began banging on the door with the mallet.
“I mean you’re the one that sees visions, aren’t you?”
Somehow, Felix could feel his stomach turn upside down at the thought of this boy knowing his secret…if one could even call it that.
“So what if I am?” He sort of barked at the other, afraid he might be just another one of those adults.
“If you are, then I’m glad I found you. A kid like you doesn’t deserve to die in a place like this.” The older informed him, the younger still on the cautious side.
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe. I’m Chan, by the way.” He introduced himself, though Felix stuck on his previous words.
“Who’s ‘we’?” He wondered as Chan flung the door open. His answer seemed to have come to him in an instant.
“Changbin, you doin’ alright?” Chan wondered as another dark haired boy stepped out of the room.
“Yeah, better than ever. Good to see ya, man.” He spoke in relief, tapping Chan on the shoulder. The new boy’s eyes quickly went to Felix…making the younger feel awkward. He had a feeling he wasn’t the only one.
“Who’s this?” The slightly distracted other questioned, the two just staring at one another.
“This is Felix, our new friend. I’ll explain later; let’s find the others.” Chan introduced the two, taking both of their wrists and running along.
“There’s more?” The youngest of the three asked as they once more halted shortly after.
“Six more to be exact.” Chan told him, yet again banging on the door locks with the mallet.
As the oldest of the three fixated on rescuing another friend, Felix noticed Changbin’s eyes gravitate towards him. The younger had a feeling that Changbin knew of his secret as well. Was that why he kept staring? His gaze was slightly intimidating; Felix couldn’t hold eye contact for long.
“Okay, let’s move.” He heard Chan quickly spit out as a blonde boy stepped out of the room. The four began to move to the next spot.
“Jisung, this is Felix; Felix, this is Jisung.” He quickly introduced the two to each other.
“Hey, I heard something down here!” Felix heard a loud voice speak…and it didn’t sound like one of his new friends.
“They’re after us; we have to be quick!” Jisung spit out as Chan stopped to bust out another friend.
The cycle continued for quite a while, though the group was moving as quick as they could. Each moment they stopped, Felix could feel his heart rate increasing. They were going to get caught…and when they did…he really didn’t want to think about what would happen to them. He was too valuable, of course…so it wasn’t like they’d harm him. After all, he seemed to be the only one in the world with this power. But the others…if they weren’t worth anything…they’d get killed in an instant. That was when he worked up the nerve to ask such a question.
“Why are you all in here?” He wondered as the current eight of them stopped at the final door.
“Society has a thing against those that are different.” Chan simply stated, slamming the mallet against the final lock. Felix had to stop and think about his words.
“We defied against their experiments and using a kid with visions of the future for their benefit…yelled at them that it wasn’t right they were using kids as test subjects. It’s disgusting…and sick. But…our big mouths got us caught.” Jisung admitted, the redhead suddenly understanding everything a bit better. It made him smile a little, actually.
Jisung and the rest of the gang, excluding Chan and Changbin, didn’t know that he was the one they defended. Still, the thought of being known by someone other than himself was very reassuring at the moment. He was happy to know others fought for his freedom. He was glad…that he met these kids. The final door busted open and a cute little dark haired boy stepped out.
“Hyung, you’re the best.” He sweetly thanked Chan, who smiled and nodded.
“Okay, that’s the last one; let’s get out of here.” Their leader took charge.
“Quick! They’re down here!”
The sound of an adult’s voice horrified Felix.
“They’re coming.” He quickly trembled out, turning back to see several of the experimenters heading down the hall after them. The group naturally darted off at the sight of them, with Chan at the back defending them with the mallet, swinging it whenever necessary.
“We gotta get to the front court yard!” Changbin yelled out from the front as the group headed out in a line.
He rammed the doors open to unveil the front office of the facility, something Felix hadn’t seen since he was first brought in here. He could actually smell fresh air; the thought of escaping happened to hit him head on. It was driving him crazy…the reality that this could actually happen. For the first time in six years, he was so close to stepping outside of the building…and that was something he would literally die for.
“Move! I’m coming to the front!” Chan yelled as the nine friends drew close to the hard, glass entrance doors.
‘Please…just this once…’
Felix began to pray as Chan harshly slammed the mallet into the glass doors.
‘Let me have my freedom!’
The glass instantly shattered, the group shielding themselves as they ran through the rain of shards.
“Damn it! They’re getting away! Don’t let the Vision Child escape!” Felix heard one of the guards scream out.
“Run to the bus at the front!” Chan directed the group as they finally made it out of the facility. Once more using that handy mallet of his, Chan shattered the window on the right side of the bus, reaching in and unlocking the door from the inside.
“Do you know how to drive this thing?” A different dark haired boy asked Chan who took the driver’s seat.
“I don’t know how to drive anything but I’m willing to learn.” The optimistic leader admitted, truthfully worrying Felix. But the fact that he was outside and close to escaping this place was more than he could ask for. Chan instantly shifted the gears once all boys were on board and stepped on the gas.
“Hang on tight!” He shouted, Felix figuring he was about to ram through the facility’s front gate.
He looked back to find all of the experimenters outside of the building, presumably trying to catch them. But as soon as the bus burst through the gate and Chan floured the gas…Felix had a feeling that they might just be free from that place…at least, for now. And just the sight of it far behind him made his face light up into the biggest smile he had ever had in the last six years.
“We did it!” Jisung yelled, the rest of the group immediately cheering.
“Oh, by the way…” Felix turned to Chan who looked back at him with a smile. “Happy birthday, Felix.”