Earth ???
5:00 P.M
November 1, 2020

"They're ready to see you now Mr. Jung," the receptionist informed Hoseok in a monotone voice.

The latter didn't bother to thank nor spare a glance to the worker as he swiftly walked across her. He opened the door without knocking, hands shaking in the process, and faced them nervously.

"Long time no see... IU... Go," he simply greeted. "I did not mean for us to meet again this way, but these series of unfortunate events forced me to face you both."

"Please, drop the formalities when we're all alone. Hearing Go from you is bizarre, considering our past together," Jingoo smiles. "Anyways, what brings you here?"

"What else?" Jieun chimes in, attitude dripping her words. Unlike Jingoo, who was standing tall to greet their old friend, she sat behind her desk, avoiding his eyes out of disdain and pours herself a cup of hot tea. "(Y/N) of course."

For a second, Jingoo's lips fell into a frown upon realizing Hoseok's reason of visit, then picked it right back up to keep formalities. He made his way towards him, stopped when they stood eye to eye, and rested his left hand on top of Hoseok's right shoulder. "My dear friend... I suggest that you don't speak more of her. As you already know, she is a sensitive topic for both Jieun and I."

"I don't care. (Y/N) came back." Hoseok gritted his teeth, his eyes turning dark at the sight of Jieun acting nonchalantly.

"Jung Hoseok," Jingoo warned.

"She was never to return to this world and here she is!! What is the reason?! Why did she have to return?! We— we three made sure— we made sure," Hoseok choke on his words. Tears threatened to spill down his cheeks as he recalled what became of the past. "...that I would not have to see again..."

Jieun gulped down the hot liquid slowly just to feel even an ounce of pain as it slides down her throat.

"Jingoo," she sets down her cup, "I'd like to talk to him privately."

Without a question or a sound of protest, Jingoo nodded his head and exited the room. Once they heard the door click close, a threatening silence engulfed the occupying space.

"She read my mind..." Hoseok began, "...she figured out that I killed her father, but stopped before she could see everything."

"Oh my," she forced out a bitter smile, "how tragic."

"Jieun I need to know where she is. Now that I've seen her again, her soul rightfully in her body, I can't— I just CAN'T leave how things use to be. I thought living without her was fine, but I was wrong... terribly wrong when I saw her eyes."

"I can't help you."

"Please... please Jieun," Hoseok dropped down to his knees, "I have to make things right. I have to explain to her what happened that night."

"Again, I can't help you," she got out of her seat and paced back and forth around the room, her heart racing faster and faster.

"Yes you can—"

"Hoseok, you and I made an agreement years ago. Do you remember?" Red rimmed Jieun's eyes as she spoke, her voice shaking from both anger and pain. "It was the night you killed her father. The blood soaking her clothes. The tears that stained her cheeks. Her small writhing arms desperately clinging around your neck, eyes filled with trauma, her yet undeveloped brain unable to comprehend what she witnessed. You caused that."

Her eyes were a knife to Hoseok's ribs, the sharp point penetrating deeper to his vital organs. She had filled it with an emotion Hoseok knew too well: raw anger. The unmoving gaze was accompanied by her deliberate slow breathing, as if Jieun was fighting something back and loosing miserably.

Dark swirling smoke radiated from her body. "I knew her father well. He was my and friend. When you killed him, it was like loosing my own flesh and blood, but I forgave you. I forgave you because I've lived long enough to know that holding grudges won't get me anywhere. That and also you told me your side of the story..."

"She deserves to know too, but the question is... will (Y/N) be willing to listen? Sadly, the answer is she won't," she paused as she poked her index finger against his chest, her sharp nail ripping the fabric of his dress shirt, "so you, Jung Hoseok, should give up. You've hurt her once, don't hurt her anymore... I beg of you."

"... how do you know that she won't forgive me?" He clenched his jaw.

"You took what was precious to her. Then placed her in a world where she was loved deeply by everyone around her, only to take it away again."

"That I had no control off."

"It doesn't matter. Everything in her eyes is the same," Jieun sneered.

"Do you really think I'm going to give up just like that?"

"Yes," she said in a matter of fact. "You did years ago, so you surely can do it again."

"No." He was stern. "This time it's different."

"You will do nothing because you can do nothing," Jieun remonstrated as she pushed Hoseok backwards. "Give. Up."

"Go ahead, underestimate me," Hoseok scowled at Jieun. "It'll be fun to watch your face fall once I've proven you wrong..."

Hoseok pivoted his heels to the direction of the door, thundering out of the room and ignoring Jieun's daggered stare that poke a hole on his head.

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Earth ???
2001

"Number 181994." An anonymous voice ringed from up above, waking Hoseok from his deep slumber.

He squinted his eyes, rose from his solid bed, letting the thin sheet of blanket fall to his hips and trudged in front of a wall. He wore no shirt, only white pants that matched the color of his barren room he called a prison cell.

A silver platter slipped out from the wall, containing bland, unseasoned meal he was forced to eat. He chewed it in such an agonizing pace in hopes to make it last longer. After all, this was his only meal he'll receive for the rest of the day. Once he finished, he returned the silver platter back to where it came from and dipped back to his bed.

He was tired— drained and sick of being detained inside this hollow cube of concrete room. There are no way out or a way in. Of the four walls, a one-way mirror was built to observe his withering condition, how the drugs that was injected to his bloodstream reacted in specific. The interior design disoriented his brain— it caused Hoseok to forget his own name, replacing what his mother gifted him the day he was born with numbers given by the people behind the glass wall.

The isolation drove him to near insanity.

He scratched the walls till his nails bleed bright red, but as he slept through the night and wake the day after, the walls return to its blank white canvas, the smell of new paint stinging his nose. Each day is the same continuous pattern; eat, drugs injected, show significant change of behavior or appearance, and sleep.

The people behind the glass made sure to strip him of his identity, reminding him that he's nothing but a lab-rat, a man lower than animals.

His savior will never come and no matter how much he seek he won't find them. He was powerless— the lowest of the low— the bottom of the food chain. He lived on the streets, attempted to climb the ladder, but there aren't no paths for him to take when the world is lead by the powerful.

He's a rank zero.

The ranks are built to specify the weak from the strong.

A low-tier, ranging from 1 to 4, are commoners working everyday jobs; they hold no special place unlike the mid-tiers of 5 to 7 who are able to climb to success, gaining the power that are given from the high-tiers who ranges from 8 to 9.5. They are the world's leaders— they control the people either with their abilities or other methods.

9.6 to 10? They are rare beings. Little to no information are known about them.

The world of criminals embedded the ideology of rankings to their hearts unlike law abiding citizens who are restricted of harming a rank below them. They abuse and exploit rankers below them to have the taste of power.

Unluckily for Hoseok, he was the absolute outcast, the untouchable as one might call it. He was captured, sold, and tested on for illegal drugs.

Tap.

Hoseok shifted on his bed.

Tap.

He covered his ears with his hands.

Tap.

His eyes snapped to the glass.

Tap.

'Can you hear me?' A child-like voice echoed in Hoseok's mind, causing him to jump from his bed and crash to the floor.

He's going crazy— legit going crazy. He's starting to hear voices that aren't his in his brain!

'Please don't be scared! My name is (Y/N), I'm five years old, and I just want to play! I'm waiting for my papa to come back, he went out with his friend and left me here.' She sounded innocent, to Hoseok at least. He gravitated towards this extraordinary thing that captured his attention, legs sauntering to the glass that separated him and the mysterious little girl.

"Is this your ability?"

'One of my abilities ahjussi!'

"One?"

'I learn fast. So I can learn how to replicate supernatural's abilities! How about you ahjussi, what's your powers?'

"I don't have any."

'But everyone has one, papa told me... unless you're a...?'

Hoseok frowns. "Yes, a zero... does that bother you?"

'No. It doesn't matter to me if someone is a different rank than me, ahjussi. You seem really nice unlike papa's friends. They scare me a lot. I don't like them.' She giggles. Her eyes landed on his and she oddly felt like she was home. 'Ahjussi, do you know what your name is?'

"181994."

'That is not your name.' (Y/N) continued to stare at his lifeless eyes. He looked like he was detached, alive but isn't alive at the same time, as if he took a huge step back from life. Her hands trembled— she wanted to reach in and touch his paled hands that needed warmth. She wanted to rekindle his heat, but his insides are too damp with unshed tears. 'Your name is Jung Hoseok, ahjussi. I saw it in papa's papers.'

He felt a tug on his heart, letting the weight on his knees to get the better of him. "Jung... Ho... Seok?"

'Ahjussi... you're crying. Are you okay?' (Y/N) knew that he had pain inside, she sensed it from his aura, but now that it's visible on his face, she wishes it would go away. 'Papa always told me it's good to cry but not good if you don't tell other people why you're crying.'

"I-I—"

'Put your hands on the glass.'

Hoseok didn't question it and followed her orders, scoffing at himself for being bossed by a little girl. As he palmed his hands on the glass, warmth seeped to his skin, sending tingles through the little nerves of his fingers to his arms then to his whole body. He presses harder, wanting to feel more comfort, more of the elating joy he never felt.

'Ahjussi, if you ever feel sad, tell me okay? I always tell my feelings to my teddy bear. Since I'm little, I can be your life sized teddy bear!!'

Her kind words brought Hoseok an inexpressible relief. She gave her a sense of security— that behind the glass wall someone was there for him, even if it was just a child who simply wanted to play in hopes to get rid of her boredom. And so they talked and talked, laughing, chuckling, and teasing (Y/N) occasionally. Her presence filled an empty spot in his soul with her sweet and innocent presence. He wanted to wrap the child around his arms, shielding her from the dangers of the world despite him being the one who's always on the edge of the cliff, never knowing if he would survive another day.

'Ahjussi I can feel papa coming back...'

"It's okay. You should go, I don't want you getting in trouble," he forces his hands to part the glass, the warmth immediately disappearing. (Y/N) frowned on the other side and took a step back. From her vision, Hoseok's aura turned dark and gloomy, a state completely different from earlier.

'I'll come back tomorrow. I'll beg papa to bring me here again!' The more (Y/N) was exposed to Hoseok, even if a wall of glass separated them, the more she wanted to learn about him. It may bloom into something more, or she'll just lose to it and go find something else, but with this one, (Y/N) was certain.

She wants to befriend Hoseok.

And what (Y/N) wants, (Y/N) gets.

"(Y/N)—"

'If he says no, I won't give up. I'll use my puppy dog eyes or even cry until he can't take it anymore. Giving up are for losers and I'm not a loser and so are you. Don't give up!'

"Don't give up?"

'Yes Hobi...' Hoseok can hear the smile in her sweet voice. 'Wait for me, okay? Teddy bear won't leave Hobi alone!'

"Okay... I'll wait for you teddy bear," He smiled. "Hobi won't give up."
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A/N

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. How was it?

Thank you and have a good rest of your day/night :))

—France