***
When Haerin opened her eyes, she saw herself in a field of pretty flowers. Those pink, purple and yellow colors blended together in a way that it seemed like a perfect daydream. One where her lover would wear a sundress and run around, her face not showing. Haerin also noticed how the sun was shining very brightly, making her feel a little uneasy and blinded from how hot it felt. She got reminded of Danielle right away, so the feline stood up and looked around, trying to find a familiar figure on the horizon. She felt herself weirdly charged and quite alright, so Haerin decided to walk around and spot anything that was out of order.
Path of such was quite refreshing, bringing nostalgic feelings that would dawn upon you when it was the start of spring, when those pretty flowers would bloom along with your peace of mind. What made this location better was different elements that blended together, making it palpable and appealing to analyze.
All of this was reminding Haerin of her childhood. One that wasn't really prominent in her mind. One where her parents were no longer there and all that she got was to live in her uncle's farm. What was love of parents, she didn't know. But, she would forever be thankful to Taehyung for his kindness and welcomeness.
But, it was still a wound that would pulse and throb, the scorching fire, that never died down after whatever happened with her abandonment, would rise up higher and higher—mostly when the feeling of jealousy and envy raised goosebumps painfully on her skin. Those emotions always surfaced when she saw a friend or a random stranger outside with their parents. Like, how Danielle's dad was an amazing person, how he tended to her and loved her unconditionally. And there she was, getting the same attentive attention that the brunette was taught from the girl herself. It felt nice, it felt good, but it was so unfamiliar and distant, that it scared Haerin sometimes.
But she learned to accept the fear. She was sure she was slowly falling in love with Danielle, so the concept of it didn't scare her anymore. Not when the brunette proved her own dedication and commitment with courage and determination, just like how she promised. That was enough for Haerin to let go of her worries and settle with the good things that she had at that moment.
While still walking through the field, the feline's feet slipped and she fell down. "Ow..." She mumbled and stood up, but the flowers weren't colorful anymore. Instead, they were gray and ashes were surrounding them all around. Haerin looked up and saw the horizon, once beautiful with sun and sunlights peeking onto the trees' leaves mesmerizingly, gone.
Haerin sighed and gulped, getting serious. Since she could never have any type of peace in her life, she decided to leave it at that and let the universe slap her face however it wanted. She was tired of so much fighting. She did so much, tried to achieve everything in order to safe people, but in the end she failed to help herself.
The feline dragged her feet and raised her brow at a familiar house. One she vaguely remembered spending her time in during her childhood. When her parents were present, that was. She slowly walked down the hill and saw how everything turned darker and blacker, making Haerin miss the sun that annoyed her at first.
She stopped when two figures got out of the house. Her eyes trailer after them, one, a woman, holding her baby and kissing her forehead several times. Then, she put her down and Haerin felt uneasy, like her forehead went through this weird sensations when the kid got kissed. She gulped and walked a bit closer, watching how the man brought his car near the woman, who sniffled and hugged her daughter one last time, as it seemed. But the girl wasn't letting go.
Invested, Haerin walked closer and widened her eyes when they didn't acknowledge her. She stood next to the car and parted her lips when the daughter looked a little too much like her.
Oh.
"That's me." She said loudly, but no one paid attention. Then, she realized these were her parents, but they couldn't see her. Nor talk to her.
The feline bit her lip and sat in the backseat when the mother sat in the passenger seat. She looked out of the window and watched baby Haerin's hand get clasped with uncle Taehyung's. The feline cringed. Does that man even age?
Then, Haerin looked at her parents closely, licking her front teeth and trying to understand what was happening with them and why they were crying. Was this the day that they abandoned their only daughter? When Haerin spent all her years getting laughed at and made fun of because her parents weren't present.
"I'm scared," Haerin's mom said and the feline looked down to see her father grabbing the woman's hand and smile reassuringly.
"We will be alright." He said and caressed her hand.
The feline blinked a few times, watching their intertwined hands with her eyes dropping slowly. She stared at it, noting their matching rings and how weirdly similar their hands looked like her and Danielle's when clasped together.
When the car stopped abruptly, Haerin blinked a few times in surprise and looked up, only to widen her eyes and part her lips after seeing a small paper attached to this little building, the words written there making her gulp.
BioWorks Entertainment.
She watched her parents get out of the car and walk inside the building. Haerin quickly jumped out and followed them, not caring if she was in a dream of whatever she was in, she needed answers and she needed them now.
The Kangs walked inside and Haerin quickly understood who stood before them.
Lee Hajoon had his arms crossed, while Minho had his behind his back. The son of this cocky man looked up and smirked lightly, catching Haerin off guard, since he made direct eye contact with her too.
"So, what is your final decision?," Hajoon asked and raised his brow, while Minho was still staring at Haerin. He was mouthing words that were a bit muffled for the feline, but she decided to not pay attention to his foolish antics.
Haerin's dad clenched his jaw and gulped. "We agree. I'll help you build this laboratory—but with one condition. Don't harm anyone dear to me."
The feline opened her mouth and felt her insides clench coldly. She wished this was a simple fantasy, a dream that had nothing to do with reality, something that came out of nowhere.
But, her prayers weren't answered, when everything turned black and she was in front of the mirrors again. She was looking into her saddened reflection, where Minho stood behind her, his hair slicked back, his hands still behind his back, but he wasn't smirking anymore. "I guess that wasn't the best show, was it?"
"I don't believe it."
Minho smiled. "It was my memory. I showed it to you through my perspective. Your parents needed money, badly. So, they decided to work for my father and build a laboratory for him. Unfortunately, it got raided by some people—that were hired by me—and exploded after years of development, killing everyone inside it. Your parents worked here for years and I killed them at the end."
"And why did you do that?" Haerin asked, clenching her hands and her jaw, breathing heavily.
Minho smiled devilishly and laughed loudly, letting his canines show. "So I could build a laboratory by myself! So I could do everything by myself. That foolish man that was called my father could never get on my level, you know. And now that you're knocked out on the ground, I'm rebooting the system of the digital world."
Haerin sighed in deeply, biting her tongue and feeling her fists go white. She looked up at Minho and licked her lips. The emotions inside her were going crazy, like a mayhem of thunderstorms, ones that could turn small white anger into a blazing explosion.
So, it did turn into an explosion.
The feline gritted her teeth and punched the mirror, letting it break inside the space. Minho groaned. She then walked to every other mirror that was in her reach and punched all of them, feeling blood seep out of her knuckles and paint the black ground red. She didn't care anymore, all she wanted was to feel something that wasn't sadness, betrayal and disappointment. Something that would make her forget that her parents left her for fucking BioWorks. For money.
She felt her tears trickle down, and she closed her eyes tightly, reopening them and finding herself in the same space where she fell asleep. She remembered the words he said, the things she felt, the sights she saw and everything seemed to engulf her at once and burst out of her when she opened her mouth. "Dickhead! Thought I couldn't wake myself up, huh?! You ass, you ass! Cogito, ergo sum, was it?! I'll show you, I'll show you who thinks more here!"
Haerin gritted her teeth and grabbed a piece of broken glass, pushing it into her stomach.
"AH!" Minho's voice said in her mind, making Haerin clench her jaw and feel the scorching pain that started making her more and more unconscious. But, she wouldn't stop until that son of a bitch was dead, and that meant she was risking her life too, highly.
"Idiot! We'll both die!," He screamed in her brain, but Haerin didn't care anymore.
"You'll die. Weak ass bitch! You need someone else's body to function, your father was right to trap you in that digital world!" She screamed and felt the side of her head start hurting, but she knew it wasn't her pain. It was his.
Haerin breathed it and directed another cut near her abdomen, groaning when she felt how painful it was. And she continued with that, looking for vital places to pierce her flesh and drown out her own cries, along with Minho's.
The feline closed her eyes and saw how Minho stood before her, but not like before. He was glitching, grabbing his head, groaning and crying, fighting for his life.
But, when Haerin made one last attack, both of them released a final sigh and the feline's body fell to the floor. She groaned and gasped, trying to hold onto her own life desperately. However, she felt Minho slowly sipping away from her conscious. "Man, I can't think of anything iconic to say before dying." She gasped out and let her head fall to the floor.
***
"Chief, why here?!"
"Minho would want to come back here. So that's why we're going there!," Yeonjun ran to the building, with Taehyung, Danielle, Hanni, Hyein and Minji trailing behind. They all were breathing deeply.
The chief then noticed barricaded doors and licked her teeth. "Ugh. Why is she smart..," He mumbled and raised his leg up, kicking the branches that were blocking the door. Minji came up beside him and started kicking it too, both of them making sure to use a hundred percent of their power.
When it finally worked, they walked in and dropped other branches that were also set up by Haerin, to make sure that she wouldn't escape anywhere.
Yeonjun dropped all of them, using his gun sometimes to ease their path and find the feline quickly.
Once they walked further inside, both Minji and Yeonjun gasped.
"HAERIN!," Minji screamed on top of her lungs, running up to the lying girl and trying to shake her awake, but the girl was unconscious. Yeonjun ran up beside Minji and they turned Haerin on her back, cringing and tears welling up when they saw how many dangerous and horrible cuts and injuries she had on her body.
Danielle sniffled and fell to her knees, grabbing the girl's body and pushing it closer to hers, huffing and hugging her girlfriend with all her might. "She's gonna be okay, she's gonna be fine," she mumbled over and over.
***
Light chatters were the only things Haerin was hearing. She gulped a few times and licked her lips, huffing from being so restricted.
She opened her eyes and looked around, noticing a few nurses above her, grabbing some things and walking around. "Gah!," The feline groaned and abruptly jumped up the bed, but she couldn't do much more when a few gasps made her more aware of what was happening.
"Haerin..." It was Danielle's voice. She was hugging the feline now, very hardly, making Haerin gasp for air. She couldn't talk from tiredness, so she tapped on the girl's shoulder two times, indicating that she needed oxygen to breathe. "Oops, sorry!," The brunette said, but she smiled after, letting her tears flow down. She leaned in and pecked Haerin on the forehead.
After everyone came up to her and kissed and hugged her, caressed her, kissed her forehead again and asked a few questions, Haerin gulped and decided to ask a question about the things she saw which caused her to turn into a killing machine that almost killed herself. Along with someone who lived in her mind. Who died, finally.
She looked up at Taehyung and parted her lips. "Uncle..." She started and everyone turned to her. "Did mom and dad really start working for Lee Hajoon?"
Her question made Taehyung a bit stiff, but he decided to clear his throat. "Not really. He said he would give a lot of money to them in exchange for them to build him a laboratory. It was estimated to be a non-ending work of four years, but I suppose Minho told you everything..." Haerin nodded. "Well. Whatever he showed and told you was the truth. He himself hired some people who raided and exploded the building in order for that arrogant boy to gain control back."
Hyein huffed. "That dude is sick. I can't believe he tried to live in you." Everyone turned silent, so the model continued. "That sounded so bad. Sorry."
Haerin gulped and sighed. "I deserved to know the truth, uncle."
Taehyung pursed his lips. "You did. But you weren't ready. Nor was I." He confessed and the feline breathed out lightly. She put her head against the pillow and bit her tongue.
The door opened suddenly and Yeonjun walked in, beelining for the feline right away. "Oh! Thank god you're okay!," He said and huffed out, crouching down and patting the girl's head. "I wonder how many cat lives you have lost by now."
Danielle gasped. "Chief!"
"What?! It was funny!," Hyein said and continued laughing, making everyone else laugh.
Haerin smiled and sighed, shaking her head sideways.
Nothing felt better than home.
💙