confused

 

A moment later after Chorong left her confused and alone, Eunji roused from her sleep. Waking up, she finds Hayoung staring at her with worried eyes. “Hey, how are you?” She asked hurriedly, sitting beside Eunji on the rock hard excuse of a bed they were given. “I’m fine, how’re you? Do you feel weird?” Fine was certainly not how Eunji would describe her experience. But she couldn’t say that outloud, not when there was a guard outside.

 

Hayoung sent her a smile, “I feel fine, for now.” She mumbled, looking a little sullen. Eunji gave a weak smile back, she knew how Hayoung felt. Not being able to see family or friends right now, with no outside contact - it was maddening. But Eunji had to think of something, anything else. Her thoughts stray back to the girl in her dreams and the conversation. “Hey, Hayoung. Do you wanna say hi to our neighbours?”

 

Hayoung gave her a weird look, but hesitantly nodded. Eunji needed a way to see if Chorong truly was there, or if she was just a figment of her hazy imagination. Eunji went close to the right wall, banging hard onto the cool steel wall, the sound of hands clashing against metal reverberating against the walls of their room. “What the hell is that noise?” A familiar voice yells, Eunji hears stomping and a light banging. 

 

It wasn’t a dream

 

“Chorong?” Eunji mutters, but loud enough for the person on the other side to hear. There’s a long pause, Eunji almost banging on the wall again in case the other person just forgot she existed. Suddenly, a soft voice, one you couldn’t hear if you weren’t actively seeking it out. 

“Eunji?” Eunji perked up, the sound of Chorong saying her name brought a sense of relief to her. She wasn’t going insane, yet. Hayoung raises an eyebrow, turning to look at Eunji with an ‘I need an explanation’ look. Giving a nervous smile to the younger, she pressed herself against the wall. The cold metal cooling her skin. “So, you remember right? I’m not insane?” Eunji quietly mutters - or as quiet as she could, judging by the fact that there was a giant metal wall in between her and the girl of her dreams. Literally. 

 

“Yes, Eunji. Although the latter I cannot guarantee.” Chorong says, Eunji rolls her eyes, but a small smile plays on her lips. “Okay. Just making sure.” Eunji mutters, before she moves away from the wall to turn to Hayoung. “Explanation?” Hayoung whisper-shouts. Eunji laughs nervously, unable to decide if she should tell the truth or not. Seeing the hesitation in Eunji’s eyes, Hayoung softened her eyes. “You don’t trust me.” 

 

Eunji immediately shakes her head. “No, no it’s not that! It just….It sounds insane.”  She mumbles out, rushing to explain herself. Hayoung raises an eyebrow, “Eunji, we basically got kidnapped and sent to a random facility in the middle of nowhere, kinda hard to beat that kind of crazy.” Hayoung deadpans, narrowing her eyes at Eunji. 

 

Eunji knows she can't get out of this without a feasible explanation. Looking around, hoping to have an excuse come up in her head, she starts to panic. She wants to tell Hayoung, but she doesn’t want the guards to overhear. The overbearing wave of emotions and inner turmoil set off a deep anxiety trigger in Eunji. 

 

Deep breathes, come on deep breaths.

 

It doesn’t work, the deep breaths don’t work.

 

Distract yourself.

 

It doesn’t work, she can’t distract herself.

 

I can’t do this, I can’t. I can’t.

 

Quick shallow breaths were taken in by Eunji, just enough to keep her conscious. Collapsing to the floor, Eunji huddled into a ball, trying to calm herself down. She’s had many panic attacks over the years, but this one was one of the worst. Normally she would just space out, having to calm herself down without any outward signs of a panic attack.

 

But this was bad. Eunji could not think straight, she had tunnel vision, her breathing was shallow and she was shaking. Hayoung immediately rushed to her side, “I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer. Eunji calm down.” Hayoung whispered, in hopes of grounding the older. But Eunji couldn’t hear her, her thoughts were too loud for her to hear anything.

 

‘Eunji.’ A light voice whispered, who was that?

 

‘It’s me, Chorong.’

 

Chorong? Why was she so loud yet soft? Wasn’t she in another room?

 

‘Eunji, calm down. I can practically hear your thoughts. Well, I can, but besides the point.’

 

What?

 

Eunji stopped shaking, her vision slowly came back, but she was still spaced out. 

 

What was Chorong doing, how could she hear her?

 

‘Mind reading, idiot.’

 

What?

 

No that’s not possible. Not humanly possible.

 

‘What do you think they injected us with? The flu vaccine? Eunji, we are test subjects.’

 

No, no, no. This can’t be true. 

 

‘It is. Now, go explain yourself to your roomie. She’s kinda worried.’

 

Okay, yeah. 

 

Focusing her eyes, she turns to the taller girl huddled beside her. “Hey.” Eunji mumbled, running her fingers through her hair. “You’re okay.” Hayoung yelped, throwing herself on Eunji. “God, I’m sorry for pushing you, there’s no need to answer.” She said, smiling lightly at Eunji. “No, it’s fine. I do owe you an explanation anyway.” Eunji mumbles, taking a deep breath before she fully faces the girl beside her.

 

“You know, when we were injected with that thing?” Eunji mutters, waiting for an acknowledgement from the younger before she continues. “When I was knocked out, I was in this fever-like dream. I was in my hometown, back at a place where I met my best friend, and then I saw this girl, I chased after her. Turns out she was our neighbour, Chorong. She seems to have some prior knowledge of everything.” Eunji mutters, knowing how insane it sounded.

 

But Hayoung seemed to believe it, pursing her lips. Eunji held her breath, not knowing what reaction would be elicited from the girl. “Okay.” Hayoung mumbles, turning to Eunji. “Okay?” Eunji said in disbelief, that’s it? No ‘That’s insane’ or ‘You’re going crazy.’ Hayoung nodded, “If that’s what happened, that’s what happened. I cannot confirm or tell that you are lying. I believe you.” 

 

Eunji smiled, gratefully. Perhaps her time here won’t be so bad.

 

There was a pounding at their door, Eunji jumped up in surprise. Arms curling around Hayoung’s waist in a swift movement to pull her behind her. A guard - one she had not seen before came in. The guard wordlessly came up to Eunji, grabbing her arm. Dragging her out despite her protest. How is this guy so strong? The guard dragged Eunji to a different part of the facility, tossing her on the ground as soon as they entered the room with almost superhuman strength.

 

A loud thud was heard as Eunji hit the ground, arms hitting the ground in an attempt to soften her fall. She glanced around, noting that the guard was standing in front of her. “Where’s Hayoung?” She angrily asked, no response. These guys sure aren’t talkative. Grumbling a curse, Eunji got to her feet - alarming the guard. Rolling her eyes, she leaned back against the wall. 

 

Moments later, another guard came holding 2 girls. Chorong and a raven haired girl who was wailing. Chorong eyed Eunji, opening but choosing to keep it shut a moment later. 

 

Eunji. Calm down.

 

I am calm!

 

You’re not, I can feel it.

 

Okay, whatever mind reader.

 

Glad you know what this is.

 

Shut up, it felt like a dream

 

It was, kind of. Anyways, where’s that roommate of yours?

 

Before Eunji could think of a response, another guard bursts into the room, arms wrapped around her roommate. She glared at the guy as the guard tossed Hayoung beside her. Luckily, she managed to catch the girl before she hit the ground.

 

The raven haired girl who was wailing earlier - whom she presumed was Chorong’s roommate spoke up in a harsh, angry tone. “What the are you going to do to us you creeps?” She shouted, Eunji noticed how Chorong’s entire body tensed as the girl took big strides up to one of the men. The guard eyed her curiously, choosing to shove her back, causing her to fly back. Chorong winced as she held out a hand, offering to lift the girl up in which she accepted.

 

Footsteps drew closer to the room, Eunji noticed the guards straightened up. Is it their boss? A guy - clad in a business suit, with glasses and a stern look on his face barged in. His arms swinging in a mechanical way, footsteps almost too loud for his height. “Sorry for the harsh methods of bringing you here.” He began, a sly smile appearing on his face. “We didn’t wish to bring you here under false pretences, this is a drug trial - kind of. Just a little longer than 3 weeks.” He nonchalantly said, his smile morphing into a cheshire grin.

 

Eunji narrowed her eyes, curling her hand into a fist. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your money after all this, maybe a little something extra too!” He joyfully said, a cruel look in his eyes as he approached Eunji. “Awe dear, you sure have fire in you. I’m sure your powers will be great!” The man said, grabbing Eunji’s shoulders as she stiffened. Powers?

 

“Ah yes! The serum we injected into you earlier, it will differ for all of you. Yours,” He said, abruptly stopping to dig his hands into Eunji’s shoulder further as he brought his face closer to her, causing the girl to back away in disgust. “Is a bit more special.” He finished, leaning closer before pulling back to glance at Chorong. “Well, that is all, my guards here will train you in order to bring out these powers. Be good, or there will be a punishment.” The man says, before skipping out in an orderly fashion.

Eunji glares up at her guard who was supposed to train her or whatever. Choosing to stand close to Hayoung. “People, I will not harm you if you listen.” Surprisingly, the guard’s voice is more feminine, light and a bit sinister. Taking off their mask to reveal the long dark hair that perfectly frames their face. “Let’s skip formalities shall we, I will be with you for a while anyways. I am Naeun.” They introduce themselves, Eunji hesitantly glances at Naeun. “I’m Eunji.” She begrudgingly introduces herself, Hayoung too follows suit, smiling, Naeun brings them further back into their training room.

 

Eunji looks one more time in Chorong’s direction, catching the girl looking at her. Eunji smiles, though it was more of a grimace, and Chorong smiles back at her softly before looking back at her guard. Naeun notices, but doesn’t say anything about it. “Alright, now before I begin, is there anything you want me to know?” Naeun asked, her voice sickeningly sweet. Hayoung hesitates, but shakes her head. Eunji follows, choosing to keep silent. “Really? Very well then, we will begin.” Naeun says, abruptly moving further away from them. 

 

Looking back at the 2 girls when she was far enough away, a sinister smile adorning their face. “Let’s start.”

 

Scared.