(This chapters a little darker than the others this is a disclaimer)
Ten minutes before
Do-Hyeok opened the sketchbook Yerim gave him with a warm smile on his face
At first, it was a bunch of doodles and sketches of Yerim and her friends, simple stuff you would see in a kids sketchbook.
Until he turned to a more… disturbing page.
He froze, hands gently shaking, eyes dilated, the smile completely faded from his face. It was a simple drawing but a picture says 1000 words.
Suchan saw his face, "Do-Hyeok?" He still had a smile on his face, "What's wro-" and his face grew concerned. He saw the drawing.
It wasn't just one.
Excluding the picture of the director with jungle juice and money in her hands, there were a suspicious amount of drawings of her friends with bug-like features. But unlike what Yerim showed the two earlier, the kids were more disfigured, grotesque and most importantly, they weren't smiling.
Do-Hyeok had seen something like this before.
Thinking back to the group assignment Do-Hyeok spent with the stray dogs, 'The site… I get what's going on now.' His thoughts were calm but his actions betrayed his introspectiveness.
Child trafficking.
Forced human experimentation.
Suspected Abuse and kidnapping.
Potential targeting and exploitation.
Do-Hyeok's hands gripped the sketchbook like it was a lifeline, the paper began to crumple. Four crimes. Not just simple ones either. Ones that could make a person's life a living hell, and that doesn't include the kids that were feed trained…
The worst part?
They haven't been caught yet.
The orphanage was just a branch, a cog in the machine. The cruel reality was, unless they were here, they never would have been caught in the first place.
Do-Hyeok's veins bulged. He was pissed.
Suchan noticed this too, he was just as mad, but he kept his composure more on the outside than in. He hadn't seen what Do-Hyeok had. Hadn't seen children who in their last breaths cry out to their parents who had forgotten their existence. Pressumed dead.
Suchan wasn't in the know.
He was more worried about Do-Hyeok than anything else. Not because he was mad, no. But because of the expression he had on him. The corners of his mouth were curved in a crescent,
It looked almost demonic.
Then, this 'demonic' smile he had on his face dimmed slightly, he gently put the sketchbook away and walked toward the door across from them with the sign 'restricted area'. He'd seen the door earlier, he felt it odd that such a door would be in an orphanage, there certainly wasn't one like that at his old orphanage, now he knew…
Whatever was behind that door was absolutely disgusting.
"Wait, Do-Hyeok, where are you going?" Suchan called out to him but he refused to answer, he simply walked up to the door and opened it. It was a basement. Why would that be in an orphanage?
Then a shout came from the basement, it sounded visceral, almost aggressive.
"WHO JUST OPENED THE DOOR?!"
Do-Hyeok didn't say a word, he just turned to Suchan, a deadly serious look on his face. He gestured toward the door with his thumb.
Sucan didn't need to hesitate anymore, his expression grew just as serious and they both walked through the door.
Off to the side, a certain edgelord watched the two go in, a plastic bag in one hand, he'd just been on a grocery run.
'...Those idiots aren't my concern.' He thought and walked up to the room Dohwa was currently brooding in.
—
Present
"A drawing?" the director spoke looking at the doodle of her Do-Hyeok held up.
"Impressive that you could get past so many of us without a scratch and find this place just off of that."
They were currently in the second floor basement.
Obviously they weren't just empty, unsupervised halls. It was an illegal lab afterall, they had security.
But those halls now lay dozens of unconscious guards.
"I don't understand why Junhyeong chose to bring in an outsider." The director continued, "if only you had jus-!"
But her words were cut short.
SLAM-!
One second, the director was sat down running her mouth, the next? Slammed against the wall by a grey silhouette, to the point where cracks began to form on the concrete.
[Field ant x Overdrive]
(A/N: ill start calling it just 'overdrive' or something after this.)
His eyes weren't visible, just the grey, cold and hard carapace encasing his body. Beneath it all, Do-Hyeok was in a blind rage
SLAM-!
SLAM-!
SLAM-!
With her head in his grip, he slammed the director's head into the concrete until she stopped moving.
"One down." A chillingly cold voice boomed from the grey-ish monster as he turned to the other 'caretakers'.
Mosquitoes.
All of the caretakers were mosquito insect humans. Long sharp claws sprung from their fingers, ready to fight.
Except one.
One of the bastards picked up Yerim and ran barging past Suchan to get out. Do-Hyeok noticed this and instead of immediately chasing after him, he turned and spoke to Suchan.
"Can you take care of this?" He asked, monotone.
Suchan, who was just watching moments before, immediately tagged in while Do-Hyeok ran off after the caretaker. Usually, Suchan would be faster and the better choice to pursue the kidnapper, but that only applies to an open space.
On the ground, Do-Hyeok was undoubtedly faster.
And so, the two separated, Suchan would take care of the mosquitoes and Do-Hyeok would chase after the runner.
—
Back in the old dilapidated orphanage room, Dohwa sat in thought, holding a small bunny plush that was in there.
CREAK-!
The door opened.
Dohwa set the bunny down to the side of the bed and glanced at the doorway with disinterest.
"Junhyeong Lee…"
Junhyeong responded naturally, holding up the bag and saying, "I got you some clothes and a few other things…" he placed down the bag and began to take out the clothes, "thought you might need them since they only have kids sizes here…"
Dohwa didn't play along with Junhyeong,
"I just felt a massive quake from the basement…" her face changed to something more delinquent like, "what is this place? Is it really the same orphanage that I remember?"
'The vibration sensitivity of the scorpion must be kicking in.' Then Junhyeong stood up and decided to tell the truth.
"Down in the basement, there's a lab that's turning kids into insect-humans."
Dohwa's face shifted, rage and disgust covering and hiding a slight trace of fear. She stood up and clutched Junhyeong by the collar.
CLUTCH-!
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
Junhyeong remained calm, "Do you remember what it felt like? Life before you became an insect-human. What kind of person you were."
Memories clashed, years before.
Junhyeong pov:
"...or are you going to report me to the police like you did last time?" the drunken father shouted.
"No…i…please…" Dohwa was still heavily shaken.
SLAP-!
The little girl I knew back then…
SLAP-!
She was too fragile. She was too weak.
SLAP-!
She wouldn't even stand up to a scumbag like him.
"Im… I'm sorry…" her voice came out shaky.
SLAP-!
"I…I'll be good…" deformed to a crying mess.
SLAP-!
All she did was ask for mercy.
The fact is, she didn't even have the strength to defend herself.
FSHHH-!
Feather-like hairs began to sprout out of the small junhyeong's back.
I wanted to help her. I even thought of killing him for her…
The hairs never got far though.
…but even if I helped her out of that situation it wouldn't have solved the root of the problem.
You needed something else, Dohwa.
You needed change.
The memory faded, back to the present.
Dohwa felt nauseous, her vision was blurry and her legs felt like jelly. She let go of Junhyeong's collar and staggered back.
"Then… that's how I became this thing…"
Junhyeong looked at the faltering Dohwa, slightly sympathetic, "I know it's a lot to take in… but it changed you for the better."
Memories reemerged, like a bad dream creeping in without an invite.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STARING AT!!!" The man swung down his arm.
But it never connected,
Jungle juice made you strong.
GRIP-!
Not just on the outside…
"That's enough you worthless piece of shit."
But on the inside too.
The man's wrist cracked, "W-WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL YOUR FATHER–"
By becoming an insect-human…
The memory blurred, blood dripped from the young girl's hands and the man laid on the ground in a bloody mess.
DRIP-!
DRIP-!
…You finally broke away from all that pain.
You were free.
The memory faded once again.
"These kids aren't any different. They're all poor orphans, abandoned by their parents. What do you think will happen once they grow older? Do you really think they can survive in the real world?"
Outside these kids were laughing and playing, completely oblivious to the world's challenges.
"They won't make it. Their paths were set the moment they were born, and they need a fresh start."
Junhyeong took out something from his pocket, it was a can of jungle juice.
"This spray is the only thing that will help them start over. Just picture it, a natural world where your circumstances don't decide your fate."
Dohwa listened to him with the slightest disgust yet an actual hint of contemplation, she was imagining it.
"A world in which you don't have to hide your tail or wings. Where everyone is an insect-human, just like you."
Then Junhyeong smiled, almost meniacally.
"I serve a person who can make that world a reality. He can change the world for all of us."
He walked up to Dohwa and grabbed her arm,
"Just forget about Cinderella or Nest. Even if you become a normal human again, you'll still be answering to all those powerful people that run the world."
He pulled her in.
"Join us, Dohwa. We'll create a new world where we don't have to be the prey. You'll stay with me won't you? We're friends."
…
"…Sure. We're friends…"
POW-!
Junhyeong flew out of the room straight through the door. Outside ran a man in a hazmat suit with a small girl in his arms and a certain ant hot on pursuit.
"Since you're my friend I'm not gonna sit down and watch you ruin your life. I won't let you do this…" her smile grew aggressive.
"Even if it means that I have to beat your ass just enough to knock some sense into you."
—
END OF CHAPTER
A/N: that got dark. Junhyeong redeemed himself in the latest chapter of jungle juice so im permitting slightly more screentime for him.
Still dont like him tho :P