Deus Didymus: Rend

P2Chapter68: Starship IX

"He's waking up!"

Bae opened his eyes revealing Rei and Yan on opposite ends of the bed. As he sat up, Bae's arms collapsed under his weight. An intense throbbing pain shot through his muscles; though he hadn't seen them, he felt the bandages covering his torso underneath his gown.

Rei rushed out of the room, bringing Gaeul in shortly after. The two sat themselves next to Bae's bed with their worry boring holes through his skin.

"What happened you?" Rei questioned. "You looked like shit when we found you."

"Found me...?" Bae glanced toward the single earring hanging from Rei's ear--the counterpart to his own. "Right... I sent a distress signal."

Bae sat up in his bed, groaning while Rei helped him adjust his position. He stared into his palm with a defeated frown. "I saw Y/n."

Gaeul and Rei's worry disappeared and in its place a thick tension built, permeating the room. They glanced toward one another seemingly rebounding their thoughts off one another telepathically.

"Are you trying to bring him back too...?" Gaeul asked hesitantly.

"I want to," Bae mumbled. "I know you two don't like him, but he's being controlled and I can't allow that."

"Controlled? By who?" Rei furrowed her eyebrows. "How do you know this stuff?"

Bae glanced toward Yan. He looked with confidence, knowing well that she already knew what he was going to say next. The woman left the room with a sigh, earning an appreciative smile from the young man.

"Yeeun noona told me," Bae whispered. "She said she saw something happening to him at the capital and thinks he's being mind controlled. They made him execute the families of everyone in the military-"

"They what?!" Gaeul gasped with wide eyes. "Who's??"

"She told me there were a lot of them, so it's safe to assume a lot of the people in our batch and many more," Bae answered. "He had an allele in his staff that was like Yan noona's so..."

Rei pulled away gently with furrowed eyebrows. "Oppa. Don't joke like that."

Bae paused. He shook his head causing Rei to cover her mouth. "If I could somehow break the mind control...."

"Why?! Why do you--Why are people trying to save Y/n?! Don't you feel any hatred toward him that he killed your parents??" Gaeul snapped.

"Yeeun noona said she doesn't know if he did but-"

"That makes this even worse!! You're trying to save him even after he killed everyone's parents but yours?" Gaeul interrupted.

"That's not what I-"

"What are you going to do if he kills more people? How do you expect to save--much less stop him? You saw what he could do!" Gaeul continued, her rage seething from her eyes and words.

"Can you let me speak?!" Bae shouted. "I know what he's done, but he's being controlled! It's not him, so if we can get him back on our side all of that power you're talking about is here to help us!!"

Gaeul rolled her eyes, groaning loudly. "And how the fuck are you going to stop him? Answer that and maybe I'll think about not slapping you."

Bae took a deep breath. "I awakened, so I can absorb monsters. If I can absorb them before Y/n-"

Gaeul folded her arms. "And you think you can get to them before him?"

"What is the problem here?" Bae questioned. "You're not usually so difficult to talk to."

"Me?!" Gaeul gritted her teeth as she pointed toward Bae. "You're the fucking dumbass that wants to save that traitor! You're just like Y/n--you can't wrap your head around the simplest shit!! Now I know why all the girls like Minho the most," she muttered.