phobia (sequel to insomnia) | stray kids ff

zone 9: indefinite

No One's POV

A boy with blonde hair and an anime face removes his eye from the sniper scope. He is standing at a nearby post, drawing all attention to him. He has a straight face and looks down at District 9 who are outside the walls. He shot at a zombie emerging from the forest nearby who was planning to eat Sana. Sana flinched once the shot was fired and immediately scurried over to Dahyun. The zombie's body falls to the ground, shocking not only District 9 but SM.

"Taeyong!" SM pesters at the blonde boy who just smirks. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to be up here," He yells at him.

"How long have you been lying to these people? To us?" Taeyong asks, gripping his sniper firmly.

Jihyo and the rest of District 9 watch silently. SM shakes his head and chuckles sinisterly.

"I am only doing what is best for our community. Resources help us survive," SM says to Taeyong in a quieter voice so Jihyo and the rest don't hear from below.

"When you said you found Hana alone and vulnerable out there three years ago, did you already know she was a halfie?" Taeyong questions, glaring at SM.

SM snickers at Taeyong's invasive curiosity. Causing Taeyong to grow angry, he points his gun at SM who raises his hands and backs up a little but his guards all point their guns at Taeyong in response.

"Oh TY, you know, you remind me of me," SM speaks.

The rest of District 9 watches in confusion from below. Felix nudges Jihyo to signal her that he needs help. Jihyo hesitates before acting upon his request. She looks at Felix and nods silently, permitting Felix to interfere.

"You tricked us. You tricked everyone here," Taeyong looks at the residents of SM Town watching the whole scene.

Due to the lack of guards because of Hyunjin's hulk moment, the residents were not monitored to stay in their homes. SM squints his eyes at all of the people below him inside his community. They all watch in fear and confusion. SM smiles and then looks at the guard beside him. As SM was about to signal for him to shoot Taeyong, someone yells in the distance.

The growing chaos grew to a halt and everyone turned their eyes towards Hana. She is standing among the crowd inside SM Town with Hyunjin by her side. His hood is up, covering his face. SM's eyes grow wide when he realizes Hana has escaped.

"No, no, no," SM mutters to himself and clenches his fists in frustration.

"If you shoot him, you'll have to shoot me too," Hana announces which shocks everyone, including Taeyong. Taeyong signals to Hana to stop speaking nonsense but she does not stutter or show hesitation in her stance. SM scoffs.

"Don't talk that way, Hana. You're such a silly girl," SM belittles her, making Hana even angrier.

While Hana is trying to reason with SM, Felix starts scheming a new plan in his head. He begins to look above at the guards who are staring straight at them outside, watching their every move. The waiting is making Felix more anxious as he feels a tight knot on his heart.

"You lied. You lied to your people. You lied to me," Hana speaks in a stern tone. "You kept me here and made me think my friends were dead. You jailed me in this place for three years. THREE YEARS!" Hana's voice grows louder.

"Hana! I know you're probably angry. You're probably very upset with me but you have to remember you did so much for this community. You weren't here just to be locked up. You contributed to our system," SM tries to appeal to her morals but Hana is fed up. Right when she was about to speak again, SM interrupts her. "So what if you knew your friends were still alive? Would you really leave all of these people here? These people benefited from your blood. You're our cure. They needed you and you saved them. Would you really want them to die just because you wanted to be with your friends again?"

Hana grows quiet as she contemplates on what SM is telling her. Maybe he is right. Maybe Hana is the selfish one in this situation. She stares on her as she stands quietly in the crowd full of SM town residents. They all wait for her to respond but she has nothing to say.

Suddenly, a gunshot is fired, making everyone jump and turn their heads towards the source.

A body falls.

[i want many things 

but they don't go as i want]

Hana's POV

I helped so many people here. They need me here. I look down at the ground after SM explains his perspective. The last thing I want to do is be responsible for people dying because I put myself before them. I sigh and begin thinking about the three years I've spent here. It wasn't really a prison or a mental hospital. Although I missed my friends back in District 9, I slowly found myself moving on from them. I was so close to being okay with their "death" until Hyunjin showed up.

That's when everything came back to me. That slight sliver of hope I felt when I saw him, made me feel better. I started feeling like myself again. I didn't feel lost anymore. A missing part of me was restored but is it worth risking the lives of others for my own happiness?

"Don't listen to him!" I hear a voice and look behind me to see Jaehyun. I raise my eyebrows.

"Jay..," I was about to say his name but he interrupted me.

"Don't listen to him," He says softly in a serious tone. I remain silent. "Everything he said are manipulative ways to get you to stay here. He is guilting you to stay. You have a choice. Don't let him control your emotions,"

I stare at Jaehyun's eyes and see how sincere he is about this. I remember everything he has done for me these past three years. I begin to feel regret as I think about leaving even more. If I leave, I probably won't see them again. I look behind Jaehyun to see the rest of the people I grew close to.

"But all these people..," I try to talk but Jaehyun smirks puts his hands on my shoulders. I stop speaking.

"These people will be okay," Jaehyun assures me, looking deeply into my eyes. I feel my heart beat loud through my chest. I sigh and close my eyes, nodding my head.

Suddenly, a gunshot is fired and Jaehyun's eyes grow wide. My heart begins to race as we both fall to the ground while the people around us gasp in fear.