“Are you defending me?” Kai asked. His arm wrapped around my shoulder from behind me, fingers closing around my throat. “I could kill you right now. Aren’t you scared?”

“Kai… You aren’t a murderer. Don’t do this because Park told you to. You are not his puppet,” I whispered as I felt him putting pressure on my neck. It reminded me too much of the moment when Li had tried to kill me and brought back unwanted memories.

“Let her go now,” Chanyeol snarled, fire encasing his whole body until he was a living torch. His eyes were burning—he looked like the devil incarnate.

“Calm down, I’m just playing around,” Kai smirked, his hand leaving my throat. “You’re always so easy to anger.”

The the fifth and last person appeared, walking through the doorway and stopping in the middle of the room. He had black and slightly curly hair and watched me with interest swimming in his eyes. I concluded he was Chen, the one who controlled thunder.

“Welcome to the madhouse, Hyorin,” he said smiling, but the dangerous glint in his eyes told me I would have to be careful around him as well. That he knew my name meant he had been listening in for a while without showing himself. “Since we’re all here, why don’t we have some fun?”

Lightning danced around his fingers, sizzling and radiating heat. The atmosphere in the room became tense as the men stared each other down, about to attack each other. If they decided to use their abilities all at once, I would die in the ensuing chaos. I wanted to retreat but collided with Kai who stood behind me. I winced, looking at him with wide eyes. He stared down at me, tilting his head and pondering over something. Our gazes stayed connected for what seemed like an endless time as I attempted to find out what was going on in his head.

Around us, the situation was about to escalate. Chanyeol’s fire rose higher, the wind picked up and the air around Suho became humid. Chen’s lightning ominously moved over his arm like a snake. His sudden arrival had provoked everyone—while they had been willing to talk before, they were now at each other’s throats and I wondered if this always happened when all of them were in one room. Did they lose control this easily? They were going to fight each other, I knew it and I had to get away, but I wasn’t sure if Kai would let me. He still glared at me, scrutinizing me silently. His eyes creeped me out.

Without warning, he put his hand on my shoulder, teleporting us to another room. I gasped, still not used to the strange sensation overcoming me when he did it. We were now in a white room that was identical to Chanyeol’s.

“Where are we?” I asked in puzzlement, glancing at Kai. The green-haired man seemed entirely unphased by what had happened just now. His posture looked lazy, hands hidden in his pockets as he stared at me. What always stood out to me were his eyes which seemed to glow eerily. I found them unnerving and couldn’t take looking at them for too long.

“My room,” he answered curtly, shrugging his shoulders.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“Silly girl,” he laughed tauntingly. “You would have died if you had stayed.”

“I thought you… you wanted me to die?” I asked, unable to comprehend his actions. The more time I spent with him, the more I realized how hard it was to read him. He was incredibly unpredictable; and his ability to teleport wherever he wanted only served to make it worse.

“Maybe I changed my mind,” he said, not caring enough to give me a proper explanation. A loud bang sounded from the other room, making me jump in surprise. I heard the crack of thunder and the loud whooshing of wind, mixed in with angry screams. They didn’t hold back.

“Then will you help us escape?” I asked hopefully. Kai could teleport everybody outside! However, he shook his head, snuffing out my hope.

“You don’t get it. I can only teleport out of here if Park allows it,” he grumbled. “If I could have gotten away that easily, I wouldn’t be here anymore.”

“I see, that’s a shame,” I answered, sighing to myself. “Thank you for helping me, Kai.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the reason you’re here and you’re thanking me? You’re not making sense,” he mumbled, shaking his head.

“You didn’t have a choice” I muttered softly, a sad smile blossoming on my lips. His eyes widened when he saw it, confusion taking over. Something flickered through his gaze, but it was gone before I knew it and an empty expression returned. He didn’t give away what went through his head.

The door to his room was thrown open suddenly, banging against the wall and making me wince in surprise. My head snapped around, eyes falling on a group of armed guards. They were clothed in black and stuck out from the blinding white of their surroundings like a sore thumb. My breath hitched when I stared right into the barrel of a gun.

“What do you want?” Kai hissed aggressively, his aura radiating danger. I shuddered in fear, moving back.

“We’re here to get her. Step out of the way, Eighty-Eight,” one of them replied, pointing his gun at Kai’s head, but the threat didn’t bother him in the slightest. A smirk appeared on Kai’s lips, mocking the men in front of us. He took hold of my wrist and again we changed rooms.

This time, we reappeared in some sort of living area. A table and chairs stood in the middle of the room, but otherwise, it was empty. Like in the rest of the prison we were in, there was no decoration and no color. The sight saddened me. These men had spent years in this environment, never seeing the sun, never breathing fresh air. How did they survive without losing their minds completely? I could tell that they weren’t who they used to be, but they weren’t total psychos either. So far, none of them had killed me, even though I clearly had no means to defend myself against them. I was a rabbit in a lion’s den.

Hearing a low curse, I turned my head to see Chanyeol entering the room. His hair was tousled, part of his clothes drenched in water and he clutched his arm, leading me to think it was injured. He stopped when he saw us, his bi-colored eyes widening. Behind him, Chen, Suho, and Sehun appeared, staring at Kai and me.

“Are you done kicking each other’s butts?” Kai sneered mockingly, crossing his arms.

“What does it look like to you?” Chen snickered as he came closer. He also appeared haggard, his clothes ripped and singed in some parts, but he didn’t pay his injuries any mind. “You missed half of the fun.”

The guards we had left behind in Kai’s room finally caught up with us and came running through the door, again pointing their guns at me and Kai, but they froze when they noticed all five of the men were here. “What do you want?” Suho snarled, walking closer to them and prompting them to point their guns at him. A water sphere appeared in his open palm, floating in the air.

“We are here for the woman. It doesn’t concern you, Zero-One,” a guard growled back. “Come over here, Hyorin. Don’t make us use force.”

“Why?” I asked reluctantly, not moving an inch. Since they were working for my uncle, they were bad news and couldn’t be trusted.

“These ing lab rats had the simple job of killing you, but they failed. It’s been hours and you’re still alive, so Mr. Park has decided on a different approach,” he explained, grinning at my aversion. “You’ll have the honor of partaking in an experiment yourself. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

The room fell deadly silent. I was shocked, didn’t want to imagine what they were planning to do to me. I knew how terrible their experiments were and the last thing I wanted was to go through this psychological and physical torture myself. I was afraid and the growing fear made my body tremble like a leaf. The silence veiling the room was filled with tension and worsened it.  

“I don’t want to!”

“You’re not getting a choice,” the guard countered, aiming his gun at me. “Come here now, otherwise I’ll shoot. Mr. Park simply told us to get you out of here, he didn’t mention anything about injuries.” I froze as I stared at the barrel, tears forming in my eyes. In my distraction, I didn’t notice the glance the five men around me shared. It only took them a second to agree on a plan which they set into motion without delay.

Kai touched my shoulder, and we both teleported to the o