The Dome (Part 1 of the KaiSoo Fanfic Series)

Chapter I

His 18th birthday was supposed to be a special day. It was supposed to be the day that he would legally be recognized as an adult and the day he would finally take his place in society. It was going to be the day he would make his guardians proud and his peers envious of his assignment. Jongin's 18th birthday was going to be the day his entire outlook on life changed. 

That it did, but not in the way he expected it to. 

Ever since he woke up in The Dome after the notorious Invasion ten years ago, Jongin's been curious. He's been curious about what caused The Invasion, who was behind it, and why it wiped out more than half of the world's population. He wants to believe what they taught him in school, that it was a group of rebels who were against the former government that was responsible, but he doesn't know if he can. To him, that seems too simple an explanation for such a massive phenomenon. Yet, he doesn't protest it. He just accepts it because that's what everyone else does. And the Government says that is the duty of all citizens of The Dome: blend in. 

He has trouble choosing what to wear on the morning of his 18th birthday. One of his guardians laid out a suit for him, but he doesn't think he wants to wear that. But he ends up doing it anyway because he isn't allowed to think for himself. No one is. That's why the Government exists, to be everyone's brain. So, he wears the suit and then leaves his sleeping quarters. Outside of it is a machine that the Government created in order to ensure the safety of its citizens. It has a needle in it and when they lay their wrist face down on the tray, it inserts them with something they only know as medicine. No one really knows what it does or what it treats, but they don't question it because the Government issued them out. And anyone who disagrees with the Government disappears from The Dome. 

Jongin greets his guardians with a bow of respect when he enters the dining quarters. "You look very nice, Jongin," one of them says to him. He smiles and Jongin smiles back because that is what he is supposed to do. 

"Thank you," he replies. 

"Yeah, you look nice, hyung," his younger brother pipes up cheerfully. Jongin gives him a more natural smile in response. 

"Asher," the boys' other guardian scolds, "what have I told you about using that word?"

"That it's bad," the little boy repeats quietly, his cheeks blushing red in embarrassment. 

"Yes," he says. "Stop doing it or else I will have to call your school adviser. And stop using slang, too. It is rude and inappropriate, you know that."

"Ok--I mean, yes," Asher says apologetically. He stands up and bows at his guardians and then sits back down. He smiles faintly at Jongin once he sees that he is looking at him. Jongin smiles back, but he still feels worried for his brother. He doesn't like to see him get scolded for the little mistakes in diction he makes because he knows it's not rude or inappropriate. He read that in a book once. It said that before The Invasion, people spoke like that all the time, using contractions and nicknames. But this is now and not the past and the Government says that anyone who uses informal speech can be prosecuted by the Court. 

"Your Assignment Ceremony commences at eight o'clock, correct?" Jongin's guardian says to him as he eats.

"Yes," Jongin replies with a single nod. "Will you be attending?"

"Of course," he says. "It is only required by the Government that all guardians attend." Jongin nods in understanding, but his heart falls heavy from inside his chest. He wishes he would say "Of course, how could we not come to see our son become a man?" But he knows they would never say that because they can't. Not because the Government forbids it, but because they physically can't. After The Invasion, everyone lost their ability to feel emotions. Without emotions, everyone can use logic and the world can function more smoothly. Jongin doesn't know how the rebels behind The Invasion managed to take that idea and make it a reality, but he never asks. The last person who did disappeared from The Dome.