district 17 | svt

15

{ D - 139 }

The Age Ceremony was drawing closer and closer. The crew was only able to meet up together every few weeks on Resting Days, and it was challenging to continue their progress on preparing to escape. However, the supplies were being gathered at a steady pace, and there was a finalized design for their weapons they would use throughout their journey. They still had to figure out the route they would take once they were able to sneak outside the walls of the district. The only reliable map they had of the outside world was from simple geography books which they used as reference to create their own maps.

Junhui walked down the halls, careful not to express any negative emotions he was feeling inside. He'd been feeling so dejected lately. He'd wake up in an empty room; he'd walk to the Girl's Dorm by himself to greet Seohyeon and Jane; he'd go to second meal all by himself; he'd go to bed all by himself.

He hated it.

He hated living his life without his roommate.

He missed the boy's scolding, the boy's cheerful smile, the boy's sarcastic remarks.

He missed Minghao so much.

Junhui knocked on the door, waiting for a signal to open it.

"Come in," a gentle voice said from the other side, allowing him to turn the doorknob.

Junhui pushed the door open and was greeted by Jisoo, who was sitting at his desk and looking up at the latter with a smile.

"I'm here with a few files from Instructor Kim," Junhui explained, walking over and handing them to the former instructor, "He said they were today's inspection reports or something."

"Thank you," Jisoo responded, carefully taking them from Junhui's grip.

Once Jisoo placed them on his desk, he began to flip through the papers thoroughly. He could still feel Junhui standing there, wanting to speak up, but he simply continued to go over the reports.

"You're dismissed you know," Jisoo chuckled, his eyes never leaving the paper.

"I know, sir," Junhui replied.

Jisoo sighed and closed the file, looking up at the student, meeting his serious gaze. "Are you planning to watch me go over the reports then?"

"No, Jisoo, that's not it," Junhui defended, his voice beginning to trail off, "I just wanted to..."

Junhui took a deep breath before looking back at Jisoo, his expression growing desperate and a little frightened.

"Were you able to confirm where Minghao is?" He finally asked.

Silence filled Jisoo's office as the two continued to stare at each other, not really knowing what to say. After a few moments of quiet the instructor let out a sigh before hanging his head with a frown.

"I tried everything I could," Jisoo said, "But I couldn't find anything. I even checked with at District Headquarters, and there was nothing about Minghao in Confinement. It's like everything about him... vanished."

He clenched his fist with frustration.

"I'm sorry," his voice trailed off.

Junhui let out a deep, shaky sigh, careful not to let any of his tears fall. He simply gave the instructor a small smile as he began to walk away.

"It's okay, Jisoo," He finally spoke up, causing the latter to lift up his head, "I appreciate the effort. If it's a lost cause, then... I guess there's nothing we can really do about it."