The Fire Of Responsibility (18.3)

When Val opened her eyes, all she could feel was pain. She let out a groan and quickly, someone hurried over to her. She squinted her eyes, trying to blink through the bleariness, and realizing she wasn't in the car anymore. She was in a place that was mostly white, and completely unfamiliar.

She panicked.

As she struggled to sit up wherever she was placed, she let out a gritted scream as she felt pain racing up her back. Someone was calling her name, and their voice sounded vaguely familiar but she was just scared…She was so scared…Not again. Not this place again.

"Val, sweetheart, you're safe!" The person called, slightly panicked but never raising their voice, "You're not back there again, this is the escape shuttle, you're safe. I'm Elliot, alright? It's just me. There's no one else here except Owen, Nia, and Mina. Can you take deep breaths for me? It's just me, just Elliot."

Hearing Nia's name, Val felt a bit of clarity. She stopped for a moment and began to process. She wasn't back there again. She was in the escape shuttle. Owen, Nia, Mina, and Elliot were there.

Nia.

"Nia…Is she…" Her voice was raspy, as her hands gave out from under her and she landed on her stomach, letting her body relax.

"She's sleeping. They patched up her back and gave her some stitches. She's alright now, just getting some rest. The blood loss was maybe the worst thing, but thankfully she's not anemic or anything. Especially with the way you kids tried to patch her up, she's going to be alright," Elliot looked over to his side. Val followed his eyes to see Nia sitting up, her head resting on Owen's shoulder as she slept. Owen seemed a bit nervous though, "You, on the other hand, were extremely lucky. If whatever fell on you had fallen just a bit higher, your spine could have been seriously damaged. For now, you just have some really bad bruises, and it's going to ache for quite a few days if not weeks. Mina's trying to find a splint to support your back."

Then, Val remembered, "The baby? Alya?" She asked, her eyes widening in dread and fear.

"They're safe. Chaewon's taking care of the baby right now, and Alya, well…" Elliot leaned down for a moment and when he leaned back up, in his hands was the small black kitten with kaleidoscope eyes. He placed her down on what Val had realized was a bed, and Alya padded over, stopping in front of Val.

"Hi, girl," Val said, smiling weakly, "I'm glad you're doing alright," She let out a soft laugh as Alya leaned down to lick her face. She looked over at Owen, who was looking at the door nervously, "What happened with him?" She asked.

Elliot sighed, "Ariyasul rescued you, right?" Val nodded, "Well, they haven't shown up. When Kaedan found out, he wanted to go find them, of course. Who wouldn't want to, Ariya is his in-law through Kaedan's brother. Xander was best friends with Ariya as well, and Fenix said he'd go with them since he was the only available person who last saw them."

"Ah…" Val was beginning to see the problem, "Fenix…"

Elliot let out a deep breath, "Let's just trust Xander and Kaedan. I know they'll do whatever they can to take care of him."

Suddenly, the door opened and a familiar, light-blue-haired woman walked in, holding a couple of back braces. She saw Val was awake, "Hey, how are you feeling?" 

"Like I had five dumbbells dropped on my back," Val groaned. 

Mina approached her and sighed, "What exactly happened to you? I can't make heads or tails of how you got so injured going into a building…"

Val snorted, "Well when said building collapses on you, I think these would be standard injuries for that sort of situation."

"What?!" Owen looked shocked, "I knew your back was injured but…"

She took a deep breath, "When I went inside, the first thing I saw was…" She had to stop and take a deep breath again, "Haven. They were…I checked their pulse but…There was nothing. I could still hear the baby crying so I had to keep going and I managed to make it up the stairs. That was where I found the basket with Xingxing and Alya in it. Lifen was…Half of her body was crushed by the ceiling when one of the explosions hit the store. She was still alive when I got there," Val didn't even realize she was crying, "I wanted to save her but…But I couldn't get her out and when I asked about Sam…" She started sobbing, "Lifen has been trapped under the debris with his dead body since the bomb first hit."

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Mina murmured, horrified, "Sweetheart, you don't have to keep going if you don't want to."

Val shook her head, "No, it's fine. I…Kind of cried it all out while I was in the building. Lifen made me promise I'd take Xingxing and Alya and get out of there. I…Didn't want to leave but if I didn't…There was a lot of smoke and I was scared for them. I went to leave…Lifen was gone by the time I got to the stairs. Then, the house started to collapse. I tried to get out but when I was close to the entrance-Right, the entrance collapsed when I went in, so I didn't actually know how to get out—The ceiling started caving in. There's a wooden beam across the ceiling and when the ceiling fell, the wooden beam fell too."

"Holy shit, Val," Elliot said softly, "You are so unbelievably lucky that didn't cause serious damage to your spine."

"I know," Val said, "But I just…I couldn't let Xingxing and Alya get hurt. I was about to pass out when Ariyasul rushed in and picked me and the basket up and got us out of there."

Mina nodded, "Alright. Okay. Elliot and I are going to help you sit up so I can put the back brace on you, is that alright?" She asked, and Val nodded, wincing as she rolled over. Elliot gently took her hands and helped pull her up, "By the way, Owen didn't know what happened to Nia, do you…"

Val nodded, wincing again as Mina supported her back, gently helping her sit, "When we were searching for Owen and Fenix, there was an explosion that we were in the blast zone of. She…Protected me, but I think the broken pieces of a wooden crate ended up cutting into her back."

"I see. Well, she only needed a few stitches and generally was alright, especially thanks to whoever started patching up her back," Mina said, wrapping the brace around Val. With some support on her back, the younger definitely felt a bit better.

Suddenly, the door opened and Hyunwoo rushed in, running over to Val, "Are you okay? Are you safe? Does it hurt?" 

Val laughed a bit, opening her arms. Hyunwoo immediately went in for a hug, and Val saw Risále, Bella, Leon, and Lumina entering the room, "I'm alright now, Nia is as well. By the way, what took you guys so long? I think we've been here for a while, now haven't we? Did you guys just get here?"

Hyunwoo seemed to go quiet at this, "...Why don't you tell me what happened to you first?" He asked, and Val narrowed her eyes. She knew he was avoiding the question.

"Hyunwoo. What happened?" She asked.

He sighed, "...Veronica was here," Val and Lumina both froze for a moment. Then, Val spoke again, her voice filled with rage.

"What…What did she do to you? What did she say?" She said, her voice quiet but filled with unbridled anger.

"...Nothing you need to worry about right now. You need to recover," Hyunwoo said quietly.

"Hyun Anna…"

"Please, Val," Hyunwoo said, his voice somehow firm yet pleading at the same time, "Not here," Val let it go, but Hyunwoo's words were enough to confirm what had happened. The man sighed, "Risále, Leon, can you both come with me? Please? Bella, you can come as well if you want to."

Bella thought about it for a moment, "Do you need me to be there with you?" She asked. Hyunwoo shook her head and gave her a small reassuring smile, "Alright, I do have to make sure everything is going alright. I've been gone for too long."

With that, Hyunwoo led Risále and Leon toward the door. He looked back at Val for a moment, and his face softened, "I'll tell you later, okay?" Val nodded, and he headed out. Risále and Leon followed him towards another room in the escape shuttle, and Hyunwoo closed the door behind them, locking it.

Then, he sat on the bed, and looked at the two in front of him, "Alright. What questions do you have?" He asked quietly.

Leon and Risále looked at each other, before Leon hesitantly asked, "...What Veronica said…Was what she implying true?"

Hyunwoo sighed, "So, you're asking if what Veronica said about me being close with those six men is true, right?" Leon nodded slowly, "It's partially true. I'm guessing you've put together what she really meant by that. Yes, those six men sexually assaulted me multiple times over an extended period of time," He seemed to be regulating his breaths to keep himself calm.

Both other people were silent until Risále asked quietly, "...When did this happen?"

Hyunwoo looked up at them both, raising an eyebrow, "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Please," Leon pleaded. Hyunwoo looked into their eyes apologetically.

"...Alright," He said softly, patting the open seats on the bed next to them. They both sat down and Hyunwoo took a deep breath, "I was eighteen when I was put in Sector 2. That was when Veronica first started her…Experiments on me. First…She was in charge of 'breaking' me…" He shivered, "Eventually, she got bored or something since I wasn't giving her a reaction. That was when she started leaving…Them…With me. I don't think I need to explain what happened. This went on for about a year when that specific White Lotus headquarters was ransacked by the rebellion. That was when Bella found me."

Risále hands were clenched into fists, "I'll kill Veronica. I swear to god, I'm going to make her regret ever being born."

Leon seemed to be thinking about something, looking down at his hands. Then, he looked at Hyunwoo, "Whenever we did anything sexual together…You didn't…It didn't…You didn't feel forced, right? Did I…Did any of us ever make you feel uncomfortable?" He asked.

Hyunwoo shook his head, "No, anything I did with you, Risále, or Bella was all completely consensual. And every time I was uncomfortable and brought it up, all of you stopped. I was asexual before this happened, but when Bella first found me, I couldn't stand anyone touching me. Of course, I'm much better now and have more confidence in myself, and I'm okay with physical affection in general. That definitely was thanks to my therapist," He laughed a bit self-deprecatingly, "Back then, the other rebellion members wanted to leave me behind at the time. But Bella recognized me. She wouldn't give up on me."

"She knew you before?" Leon asked, and Risále looked confused, "The thing I can't talk about," Leon clarified, "...I thought she didn't actually know any of us…"

"...She was familiar to me," Risále said softly, and Leon looked at her, "It was kind of like Lumina and Owen. I don't think I really interacted with her but I think…She was also working at the White Lotus around the same time as us. I think I must have seen her around. Was this…Was this during the time I was working with you?" She asked Leon.

Hyunwoo was the one who answered, "Something like that. I guess some of what happened wasn't…You know, different," He said meaningfully, looking at Leon, "When Leon was working with the White Lotus, I was there often. That's probably where they got the idea of using me as a hostage. I was mostly there just to make sure Leon was alright and knowing that he had no one else at the time…I didn't trust De Luca to not take advantage of Leon's desperation. That's why you found me familiar, Risá," Hyunwoo said, "You and Leon were best friends, but you were also kind of friends with me. You knew me as his boyfriend and we used to get along really well. Similarly, Bella and I only talked a couple of times. To be honest, she left the White Lotus not too long after I started coming around. Eventually, once we started getting closer when we were older, she did admit that she recognized my voice. She also told me she somewhat remembered meeting Risále once or twice, but that she only saw Leon around. Mostly, she knows the two of you because she was keeping an eye on you two since you were both similar to her. She wanted to make sure you guys didn't end up siding with the White Lotus."

Risále seemed to realize something, "You were eighteen…When means Leon and I were sixteen," It clicked and she looked at Hyunwoo, devastation in her eyes, "Oh, no. No, no, no, no. Please tell me it's not because…Because we escaped."

Leon froze.

Hyunwoo shook his head, "It wasn't your fault," He said softly.

"They…This happened because of me, didn't it?" Leon whispered, and as Hyunwoo went to shake his head, Leon was a bit firmer, "Don't lie to me. Tell me exactly what happened. I know you're holding things back. Because if I make assumptions, I think it will be worse than actually hearing it from you. I need to hear it, please."

Hyunwoo bit his lip, and then sighed, giving in, "The first few weeks or month, they thought Leon would come back for me, regardless of their threats. Unlike what they assumed, Leon was much more concerned about my well-being than trying to be arrogant and prove them wrong, especially when there was a threat to my life. Eventually…Neither of you showed up and I wasn't giving any information on where you both went…Not that I actually knew," He muttered, "They didn't know what to do with me so they gave me to Veronica, since she was searching for subjects at the time, seeing as this was a few years after Lumina escaped from her. She…Already had Val at the time," He winced, "They were sixteen when I first met them but Veronica had them for…Much longer. I wouldn't be surprised if Val's time around Veronica overlaps with Lumina's. When Bella got me out, I went back to get Val out of there."

"How can someone be so…" Risále whispered, "...So cruel? This is disgusting, how…Does she even have a soul?"

Hyunwoo shook his head, "Considering what she did to her own girlfriend, who she also groomed and abused, seeing as Lumina was a few weeks from turning fifteen while Veronica was twenty when they met and entered a relationship, I doubt it. Turns out, Veronica knew about me for a while…" He trailed off, "I suppose people at Sector 3 spread rumors that someone not involved with the White Lotus was always at the headquarters. She was the one who asked for me to be sent over to her, she said she…" He shivered again, "She said she had an eye on me since I was thirteen."

Leon's eyes widened, "We…We met when you were eleven, you didn't even start dating me until you were sixteen…She knew about you since then?"

"I was still at the facility pretty often to see you before we started dating," Hyunwoo smiled weakly, "We were still close friends before that, so I suppose they took notice of me before you had to register me as your partner so that the White Lotus could make sure I kept secrecy."

"You were…You were a literal child…" Risále said quietly, "Oh, what the fuck, if Lumina is five years younger than her, and you're four years younger than Lumina, then that means she was…"

Leon's face twisted with disgust, "She was twenty-four when she started looking at you, that's unbelievable. And Val?"

"I'd be inclined to assume she still had Val before she had me, so Val could have been younger than thirteen."

"Does Lumina know?" Risále asked, "Does she know that Veronica did this to you and Val, especially at that young of an age?" 

Hyunwoo paused, "She…Somewhat knows. Neither of us told her the details but she knows that we vaguely went through something similar to her. Neither of us let her know that it was much more similar to her situation than anyone could have thought. Veronica kept Lumina trapped at her home, while she kept Val and I trapped at her facility."

"If I had gone back…If I hadn't been a coward, then maybe that wouldn't have happened—" Leon began to say, but Risále stopped him.

"If it's your fault, then it's my fault as well," She said, "If I hadn't made a fuss, if I hadn't put you in a situation where you had to help me escape and had to leave Hyunwoo behind. If I hadn't done that, none of this would have happened."

"Both of you," Hyunwoo said, his voice hard, "Neither of you is at fault for this. I do not blame either of you, and you shouldn't blame yourself. I know that you won't believe me right now, but this was inevitable. Veronica always had her eyes on me, and one way or another, she would have found her way to me. This was just one unfortunate way. But it is not—Listen to me, both of you—It is absolutely not your fault."

They were both quiet, and Risále spoke up again, "Do you…Are there any boundaries you want to tell us about beforehand? I don't ever want to make you uncomfortable, and I doubt Leon would want to either. If there's any flirting or anything that makes you feel uncomfortable…"

Hyunwoo shook his head, "If I feel uncomfortable, I'll tell you. You both know that I'm a bit of a flirty person, and it took me a lot to get back to this place. But I don't want to be treated like glass because of what happened. If something is wrong, I'll say it. I want you both to trust me to do that. And obviously, I will tell you if sex is not something I can do at that time if that's where things are leading. I know Leon is the same as me when it comes to this, and so I'd expect the same treatment that you give to him. Don't walk on eggshells around me," He leaned over and kissed both of them on the forehead, "I am alright, I was just surprised. I never expected to see them again. She was specifically provoking me so I couldn't help but freeze up," His eyes sharpened as he spoke, the glint of violet almost reminded Risále and Leon of Val's eyes.

"...I know this has nothing to do with anything but Val's eyes look like yours…" Risále spoke her thought. Hyunwoo laughed, playing with a piece of her hair.

"Val's eyes…That was one of Veronica's experiments," He said, speaking seriously, "When Bella and I found them, they were completely blind. We were…" He laughed a bit, "I think 'Not happy' is an understatement. We may have forced the doctors at that facility to perform surgery on them to give them the mechanical eyes they have now. That's why they can just kind of take out their eyeballs?"

"They can what now," Risále deadpanned, and Leon looked just as confused,

Hyunwoo was holding back his giggles, "Oh, yeah, I guess you haven't seen it yet. Sometimes they just take out their eyes when things get too overwhelming and they take in too much information. They have a cane they use when they're not wearing their eyes. They…Did tell me that they got the purple eyes because of me," For the first time, Hyunwoo seemed a bit shy, "I didn't really do much but it was really sweet of them."

"You did save them," Leon reminded him, a small smile on his face, "You were the one that chose to get them out of there as soon as you had somewhat recovered. No wonder they think so highly of you, you deserve it, Hyun."

Hyunwoo seemed flustered, "I…Guess that makes sense? I couldn't just leave them there. Not after everything we'd both been through."

Risále giggled, "Look at him, he's blushing! We have to try so hard to fluster him and it never even works, yet just being told that he's someone's hero has him all embarrassed!" She teased.

"He's always been terrible with genuine compliments," Leon added, grinning, "It's my secret weapon."

Hyunwoo sighed, a fond smile on his face. He wrapped his arms around both of them and pulled them close, each of them resting on one shoulder, "What am I going to do with you two?" He shook his head.

"Well, you could—" Whatever Risále was going to say was completely forgotten when they felt the ground shake, and heard screams from outside.

Bella burst into the room, disheveled and breathing hard, "I hate to drag you three out but…We have a problem."