THE BABY MILL [[{SHINee}]]

THE BABY MILL [[48]] STRIAE

            Onew couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen the outdoors. He’d spent so much time cooped up indoors being Dr. Park’s lab rat that he had forgotten what trees were. What the sun was… What clouds looked like.

            Strapped in his wheel chair now, with his stomach protruding ever so slightly, he had to admit that he’d missed nature. Missed the sound of leaves rustling in the breeze; of the cicadas singing tunes about the heat, grass in general. Maybe if he asked JunPyo really nicely they could take off his slippers and let him squish his toes in the green stalks.

            Who could have foreseen that he would even miss ants? The bugs he’d used to despise were no roaming around him, intriguing him with the way they moved. One was even crawling up his hand… Casually minding its own business like Onew was nothing but another branch it needed to climb over in order to get back to its colony.

            With a light shake of his arm he tried to shake it off, though he couldn’t quite manage a strong enough shake. It caught the attention of the doctor thankfully who leaned forward and brushed the bug off in one delicate motion.

            “You still don’t like ants, do you?” he murmured affectionately with one hand passing through Onew’s hair.

            Onew was too happy about the fresh air to cringe. It was just like old times for all he cared… He wasn’t in a wheel chair but on a blanket spread out in the grass. He was weak but only because he was recovering from the flu. JunPyo would always take him out after he got sick to make up for the time they had lost while he’d been in bed.

            “Are you happy?” JunPyo asked, rolling his chair to a tree where a bench was. It felt good to be in the shade and hidden from the scorching heat of the sun.

            But the nuance in temperature made Onew realize that he was only here because JunPyo was celebrating the birth of another one of… Those. A baby. It was a bit disconcerting to know that his plan was working so well. It would only encourage him to kidnap more boys… To ruin more lives, both old and new.

            And what if it had been TaeMin who had given birth? It would take an idiot to not know that something had happened who knew how many nights ago. The carrier had been worrying incessantly, wondering what had happen to the two carriers and the two donors… To his friend who had been part of the escape team.

            “Onew… What are you thinking about, baby? Are you too hot? Maybe I should take you back in…” JunPyo’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Probably for the best as he hadn’t been heading in a very good direction.

            “I’m fine…” he whispered, closing his eyes.

            A breeze came and ruffled his stringy hair. He wanted to treasure this moment… Wanted to savour every moment and use it in the time when he hurt the most…

            “Are you sure?”

            His hand was taken by the other, dangling loosely in the doctor’s hold. Lips brushed against his finger tips, touching the broken finger nails, torn cuticles, flaking skin… Onew wanted to pretend like everything was normal again…

            “Thing are going well… Your vitals are stronger than before,” Dr. Park murmured, mouth still so very close to his skin.

            And this was why Onew couldn’t pretend like everything was okay. All this talk about vitals and the conditions of other boys. Baby talk almost always came up in the conversation too, but unlike past times there was nothing pleasant about babies anymore.