CHAPTER TWELVE
MEMORIES!

❝ THE PAST IS JUST AS
IMPORTANT AS THE FUTURE ❞

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"Recruits are on their way." A male voice spoke through the intercom.

"Good." The man seated at the far-middle of the wide circular table, eyeing the vacant seats, said. He sighed, running his slender fingers through his light-dyed hair. "How many have we reached out to?"

"More than fifty." A dark brown haired man, named Jaehyun, responded.

"And how many have we managed to convince?"

Jaehyun winced, looking at the amount, a sigh leaving his mouth. "You know it's okay if—"

"Jaehyun. How many?"

The said male sighed, his shoulders slumping forward in distaste. "Roughly five," he answered hesitantly, then adding, "for now."

"Look, we can head over to the other cities to check but securities have been strengthened and most of us Hidden won't be able to hide any much longer," Jaehyun explained. "For now we have two new additions to the Rebellion that are on their way right now."

"One who is a girl."

"I don't see any problem with that—"

"You know what's the problem."

"We can't just leave her alone, Taeyong. She might turn into one of them, you can't let that happen. You promised, her." Jaehyun retorted, standing up from his seat to glare at the older.

Taeyong clenched his jaw and his fists that were hidden under the conference table. Old memories flashed before his eyes and he couldn't help but bite down his bottom lip to suppress the urge to yell.

After a moment, he said sternly. "I don't want to see that girl."

"You won't. If that's what you want. But you know very well you can't run away from this."

Taeyong hissed, "I'm doing this for the future. Not the past."

"The past is just as important as the future," Jaehyun stated, picking up his stuff before dipping his hands into the pockets of his pants, pulling out an old polaroid photo. Tossing it across the table as Taeyong avoided looking down at it.

"I'll check on Doyoung's progress with that doctor. Johnny's meeting up with the two recruits and Ten's training with the lab rats and the two other recruits." Jaehyun listed, looking down at the holographic screen. "So far we have five recruits- more to come." He said, about to leave when he got called once again.

"Jaehyun." The said boy halts but he didn't look back, only waiting for Taeyong to continue.

He hears the chair moving and faint sounds of Taeyong's footsteps patting against the floor. A hand on his tense shoulder, Jaehyun remained silent. "Once Sera arrives, I want Yunseo to befriend her, okay? Just," he pauses, "don't let her cross paths with me."

Without another word, Taeyong walked past Jaehyun and left the conference room. Jaehyun let out the deep breath he had been holding, a frown dawned upon his lips as he eyed the doorway.

Shaking his head, he dialed for Doyoung, "Any progress?"

"I just arrived, why? Did something happen?"

"Bold of you to assume something happened." Jaehyun scoffed.

"Tsk. I know you, Jaehyun. What happened?"

Jaehyun scrunched his nose, stepping onto the sensor and the door glides open. "Oh you know... he doesn't want to see Seraphine."

"Honestly? Neither do I."

≫≫≫

"Since when have you joined the Rebellion?"

"Don't you ever stop talking?" Mark grumbled, his eyes trained on the road while the girl beside him threw him a bunch of questions.

A pout formed on her lips, "Rude."

After a couple of seconds, Sera spoke again. "Come on, just answer the question."

"No wonder the UA is suspicious of you," Mark rolled his eyes, "You're so nosy."

Sera rolled her eyes, looking out at the tinted windows to see the vast buildings that made up Neo-127. "Have you been into other cities?"

Mark sighed for the umpteenth time already, wanting to slam his head against the steering wheel already. He looks over to see Sera gazing out, eyes circled with curiosity and that made him rethink his words. Seeing her look out to the world like it was the first time, well, it is. The way her eyes sparkled in amusement whenever they told her new stuff about the world, impressed to know them, as if proud.

Mark remembered himself from her when he first encountered the Rebellion. Well, to him, it was a lot more different. Being born in it made him less curious though of course there were still never-ending wonders about the UA and how they governed.

"I was born into the Rebellion. My parents, they were Irregulars."

Sera shot him a look, surprised to hear him speak about it. But she wasn't shocked to know he was born into it like what Mark thought. "You had parents?"

Mark furrowed his brows, "Everyone does..." he trailed off, glancing at Sera to find her looking down. Then it hit him—people today had no idea about their past; who they were, their families, everything was like erased. "I mean-"

"What's it like having parents, Mark?"

The boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not sure how to respond to her question this time. His parents disappeared years ago, at least that's what his older friends told him. He was sure that they were lying, where else would they disappear to? All he knew was they could've been captured under the UA and were used in experiments as punishment. He was sure they were.

Sera noticed his stillness and decided not to push any further, shaking her head and clearing her throat. "Never mind, it's okay. I'll just shut up—"

"I miss them. My parents." He looks over at her though avoiding any eye contact. "I was only with them for quite some time but knowing you had no idea who are your parents is worse."

"I also have been into other cities before, as undercover, mostly."

Sera hummed, resting her head on the palm of her hand as her elbow remained propped onto the car door. "These... people at the Rebellion, are they friendly? My sister never lets me talk to other kids, she says it might ruin my... innocence, or whatever."

"They are. They're my family." Mark smiles at the thought. "Most of them... the ones near our age came from plantations."

"Plantations?" Sera tilted her head, not familiar with the word. "What's that?"

"Bad places to be in, Sera. Like hell, if you know what that means."

"I do, I've read books."

"You'll be fine there, and safe, so don't worry," Mark assured her, speeding up as the gates to Neo-116 came into view.

Sera felt her breathing got caught up in her throat, her heartbeat quickening as they neared. Lips pressed together, creating a thin line across her face. Nerves slowly chaining her to stay still in her seat, seeing the number of soldiers guarding the barriers between cities.

They stopped at the checkpoint, handing out the cards for confirmation, and afterward, the huge gates slowly opened.

"Here for... Mr. Seo Youngho?"

"Yes," Mark answered monotonously and the guards immediately let them in after saluting.

Rolling up the windows, he glanced at the tensed up girl, reaching out to grab her shaky hand, squeezing it gently. Sera craned her head to look at him and he only smiled, "You'll be fine. Trust me, infant."

Sera snorted, yanking her hand back. "Way to ruin the mood, Mark." Shaking her head as she chuckled.

"But it made you smile, didn't it?"

Sera's lips instantly pressed together to stop, giving the boy a side-glare to which he smirked at. Mark focused back on the road, taking a deep breath as they entered the city. He opened a secret compartment, pulling out the old devices they hid. "Here," he hands it over to Sera. "Call Jungwoo."

She nods, opening the device to find a picture of Mark with a few other boys. Smiles pulled up their lips and it made her smile too. It didn't take long for Jungwoo to answer, it was as if he was expecting them to call.

"Mark! Have you arrived in Neo-116?"

"Uhh... this is Sera..."

"Oh, Sera! Hey, how was the trip? Have you two arrived?"

"It was okay, all of the buildings looked the same, I don't even want to talk about the never-ending billboard advertisements about that stupid TV show. But yeah, we've arrived."

Jungwoo chuckled, "Okay, that's good. Can I talk to Mark?"

Sera hummed in response, handing the phone over to Mark. "He wants to talk to you."

Mark grabbed the phone, pressing it to his ear, "What's up?"

"When you two have arrived at the base, don't let Sera near Taeyong. Got that?"

Mark nodded his head slowly, "Yeah... got that."

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