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It is as though everything stops, because as soon as Kai steps in, silence prevails. His footsteps are the only sound in the hallway. Someone lets out a sharp intake of breath--then I quickly realize that it was me who did it.

Kai's gaze travels to where Y/n is located, and stays there. No matter how hard I try, I can't read the expression in his eyes. The way he looks only adds questions to the thousands already existing inside my mind.

Is he still angry? Does he still believe that Y/n was the one who killed Seulgi?

But I choose to keep my mouth shut. This isn't my scene to interrupt. Y/n and Kai need to talk. And they need to do it once and for all.

Heechul steps away from Kai, who now has a full-view of where Y/n is. His expression remains unchanged, though. As expected, Y/n is the first one to break the silence.

"Hello, Kai." her voice is still hoarse from disuse, and upon hearing it I see the subtlest change in Kai'a expression. His mouth twitches ever so slightly, indication that whatever he saw or heard affected him.

He clears his throat, responding to Y/n's greeting. "Hello, Y/n."

Silence. All of us are anticipating the next words that they're going to say. Nayeon and our other companions already knew what happened, why Y/n was imprisoned. We told them everything that had happened since we got here. In exchange, they told us what happened to them.

When Nayeon found out what happened, she almost destroyed the metal who's blocking in her cell just to approach Y/n and give her a warm hug.

It was gut-wrenching. The way Nayeon cried when they were recalling the events of the massacre in the hands of someone named Yuri almost made me vomit. I can't imagine being there, seeing all the dead bodies.

They had a much-harder time outside than what Y/n and I had inside the Institute. We might be closer to one of the masterminds, but they faced the wrath of the post-apocalyptic world that we are currently living in now.

Just thinking about it makes me dizzy.

I turn my attention back to Y/n and Kai, and to the moment that is about to unfold.

"Why are you here?" Y/n asks. It is an innocent question-something that seeks an innocent answer. There is nothing hostile on how she delivered it. She simply wants to know why.

Kai swallows, hard. I can tell that he wants to say something, but he doesn't know where to start. Both of them seem unaware of us listening in on their conversation. Heechul stands a few feet away from Kai, waiting for his turn to speak.

Finally, Kai speaks. What comes out of his mouth is something that I did not expect. "I came here to apologize."

It seems that Y/n isn't expecting it as well, because she's rendered speechless. I watch as Kai puts a hand at the back of his neck, rubbing the skin with his thumb.

He continues. "I was such an asshole for accusing you. I should've given you the benefit of the doubt, even after seeing you with a bloody knife while sleeping next to...next to Seulgi."

His voice cracks at the mention of his deceased partner. I don't know if Y/n is aware about him and Seulgi relationship. As far as I know, I'm the only one aware.

But that's not important now. What's important is Kai, and what he's about to say.

"I'm sorry. I was so fucking blinded by my grief that I refused to see reason. I refused to acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, it was just a set-up to make it look that you did it. I don't know if you really did it... I don't know anything about everything anymore. I simply stopped caring."

Y/n continues to be silent. I'm not sure if she's speechless, or she's just giving Kai time to explain himself.

“I still don’t know if you actually killed Seulgi," Kai continues, his unwavering eyes looking directly at Y/n's direction. "But I also refuse to let you rot here without giving you any chance to explain and prove your innocence."

Kai takes a deep breath. "I'm going to do my best to help you and your friends get out of here."

I couldn’t help but to smile.  I thought he had completely rejected us as his friends. He's making it clear that he still has his doubts, but he's willing to listen to Y/n's side. Only then would he decide whether or not he'd condemn her for killing his partner.

"Thank you, Kai," Y/n finally says, and I can hear the smile in her voice. Somehow it makes my heart swell. "I appreciate it."

Kai laughs and his body instantly relaxes, indicating that the tension has now been lifted. I can feel my own chest getting lighter, too.

He looks at me with a smile. "Sorry too, Mina.  I didn't listen to you properly when you explained to me."

I shake my head.  "No need to say sorry, Kai. I understand you."

And I mean it, really. I know how blinding grief can be. It will eat away all your remaining ability to think rationally, turning your thoughts into a jumbled mess and your trust into suspicion. Even though I was lock-up to the cell, I couldn’t help but be happy. There's still hope for us, with Kai and Heechul and Wendy and Hanbin behind our backs. It's too early to hope, but maybe IU will join us, too.

As if me thinking about her alone could summon her presence, the hallway door opens and she steps in, rifle in hand.

"You need to leave," she ordered Heechul and Kai. "Someone will come check this wing any minute now. I don't want to get in trouble."

Heechul and Kai just nodded.  They followed IU out, but before they finally disappeared from our sight, Heechul turned around again.

"We're going to get you out of here, I promise."

Then the door closes and he's gone.

Silence prevails in the hallway again. No one wants to speak, all of us thrilled toknow that there is still a way to get out of here. This is one of our most victorious moments, with us gaining new allies and an actual plan to escape.

Whatever Heechul's planning, I hope that it works. This is our chance to fight back and resist the extra-terrestrial beings.

I used to think that we can't do anything about the invasion. But now...

Even if we're just a bunch of teenagers, we will fight back...

And survive.

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