Jimin Ki Archives/IV: Hey! They Took the Smart Kid!

HERE'S SOME ADVICE: DON'T RUN AFTER YOU JUST VOMITED. My stomach surely didn't agree with my actions and I felt horrible. Merely seconds after I had spilled my insides on the floor, another explosion occurred and we had to rush over there. Sophie held my hand as we run—well more like, she dragged me—to the situation. Eventually, Sophie found Natalia, Paula, and Seojun bickering with each other near another partially destroyed room.

We managed to interrupt Paula from throwing a punch at Seojun's face when Natalia pointed us out as we ran down the hallway towards them. Paula immediately released Seojun's collar and embraced Sophie in a hug. Seojun looked generally relieved and Natalia managed to put a smile on her face. Paula, not so much. After pulling herself away from Sophie she directed her pent up anger at me.

"Where did you ''go?!" ''She screeched. "We spent valuable time looking for you! Why did you leave?!"

I flinched and Sophie laid her hand on Paula's shoulder. "Calm down Paula. He's already shaken up enough. He vomited back there and he's shaking, see?"

Paula huffed and crossed her arms. "Well, at least you're okay, scrub. Don't do that. You gave us all a scare."

"Well, now that we're all together. Where's Alice and Baekhyun?" Natalia asked, cutting the reunion short. Sophie sighed, her expression becoming pained.

"I had to leave them behind, I agreed to chase off Jin who showed up a little while after you guys took off," she explained. Sophie looked like she wanted to say more, but an ear-splitting scream pierced the air, and immediately, we all knew who it was. Automatically we spun in the direction of the sound and bolted for the room. I still followed the others cluelessly, but I kept pace between Paula and Sophie who were at the back and Natalia, who was behind Seojun.

The scream cut off abruptly, but Seojun kept running while the rest of us hesitated for a split second. The door to the room was blocked off by a pile of broken plaster, a good chunk of pipe that had fallen from the ceiling and the walls around. Natalia grunted, stepping forward to grab a chunk of plaster and toss it over her shoulder like it was a weightless rag doll. She kept doing this until the doorway was clear, and then she smashed her shoulder into the door and it popped open.

She must've noticed my shocked expression, and she smiled a little while the rest of us entered. Or, tried to enter. Inside the room, broken plaster crowded it, pipes and foundations had fallen into the mess or were teetering, threatening on collapsing. A wail erupted from the other side of the room and Seojun took to climbing over most of the mess to get there. He dug around for awhile as the wailing continued, becoming more broken as each minute passed.

Sophie had taken to nibbling on her non-existent fingernails as she watched Seojun toss plaster, chunks of wood and pipe, over his shoulder and into a pile that was slowly getting larger. Finally, he paused and shifted around to slip into the small opening in the debris he created. I glanced at Paula who had her hands on her waist as she waited impatiently for Seojun.

The wailing faded into a brief yelp in happiness, and the muffled sounds had developed into Alice's familiar voice. "June!" she yelled, her voice pained and the feeling in my empty stomach worsened. She's injured. "June, over here!" He complied and soon we could just barely see the top of his pastel green hair as he bent down to do something.

In a couple of minutes, he reappeared with the limp body of Alice in his arms, who had her left leg bent at a bit of an odd angle. Sophie freed her fingers from the torture of her teeth and stepped in front to see Alice, her expression ever so worried.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" she exclaimed in a fussy manner. "No, that's a stupid question! Of course, you're not okay! We need to get you to the hospital wing!"

Paula huffed and pushed past Sophie. "Where's Baekhyun?" she demanded, ignoring Alice's state of health which was easy to see, she wasn't well. Natalia held up her hand as if to put a pause on the whole entire situation.

"Yelling at Alice will not solve a thing Paula, so I suggest you chill," she hissed through gritted teeth. Paula shot the ginger a glare, but backed down, although her expression said otherwise. Natalia turned to Alice slowly, and I could hear her trying to calm herself by taking deep breaths. "I'm already going to assume you're in pain. Where does it hurt?"

"I think I broke my knee," Alice groaned in response. Throughout the whole entire thing, I hadn't spoken a word and everyone seemed fine with it. It's not really like I could help anyway whatsoever. "I landed on it weirdly when Nyle knocked me into a wall."

Yuna, S, Zero, Jin, and now Nyle? Were there any others, and how many were there? Zero never gave me a number.

Natalia nodded in understanding, putting her hand to her chin as she thought. "Do you know what happened to Baekhyun?" she questioned softly and Alice nodded.

"Jin came back after awhile, and after Nyle knocked me down, they knocked Baekhyun unconscious. From there, I don't know anything else because the ceiling started falling apart at that point and buried me in plaster," Alice explained in a labored tone.

"Well, let's get you to the hospital wing then," Natalia sighed. She spun on her heel and headed out the door, Paula following her. Seojun stepped over some more leftover debris from the battle and followed the two, then Sophie and I. Sophie dragged her fingers through her hair, staring ahead hard. It was clear this attack had been worse than previous ones if they were in such bad condition.

No one was badly hurt besides Alice, but I noticed how worn out Seojun looked despite his calm and relaxed expression. His shoulders were tense and his footsteps heavy. Natalia was apparently thinking very hard as she held her fingers to her temple as she walked. She too was tense and had a few scratches and cuts across her arms and face. Paula looked similar to Natalia, yet even more tense and very angry. Sophie was probably the most healthy person, for she bore no sorts of injuries, small or large, but walked quick and heavy in her footsteps.

Me? My shirt was torn at bit at the end, and my hair was a mess, but I was fine for the most part. My stomach still felt like it was dying inside me, and I still felt jittery, but I wasn't shaking as badly.

The hospital wing was roomier than I originally imagined. The walls were a coral color that resonates warmth around the area and soothed me into a more peaceful state. The beds were all a peach color and several of them had patients, adults who I assumed were injured in the attack as well. There was a mini receptionist desk, and a lady with curly black hair and a soft face stood behind it, scribbling on papers. A white door was behind the desk and the woman as well. There were retractable curtains that could be pulled around a bed for privacy, and IV stands stood by most beds.

Seojun made his way to the receptionist desk, and the lady there glanced up. When she got a look at Alice she immediately ushered him over to an empty bed and insisted he lay Alice down gently. Seojun complied. Once Alice laid on the bed, the woman rushed back over to the desk and knocked on the white door. Seconds later it peeked open and she slipped inside.

We waited patiently for her to come back out, and she did with—who I assumed was—a nurse behind her. The nurse examined Alice, touching certain places on her leg and having the woman record how she reacted. Eventually, I turned away, not only bored, but my ears strained from Alice's whimpers.

"Miss Jin?" Sophie suddenly spoke up. I glanced over my shoulder, suddenly interested. "We have one more patient," she continued, gesturing to me. Oh yeah, I vomited. I forgot about that for a second. The lady who used to stand behind the desk—Miss Jin—glanced at me with narrowed eyes.

"What's wrong with him?" she inquired, stepping away from Alice and the nurse.

"He's feeling a bit ill," Sophie explained. Miss Jin didn't seem too convinced. "He's shaking, and he barfed awhile back. Is it okay if he stays here until he feels better?"

Miss Jin let out a curt sigh and walked over to us. She studied me, and suddenly, the color of the walls no longer seemed to be helping anymore. I stepped back defensively and ended up tripping over my feet. I hit the floor head first, knocking the wind out of me and blurring the edges of my vision. I blinked hard a few times, but the throbbing pain prevented me from doing so.

I could see Sophie scrambling over to me, followed by the others and Miss Jin who now generally seemed concerned. She asked Seojun and Paula a few questions before making her way over to me. At this point my hearing was fading and so was my consciousness. I fought to keep my eyes open, and the pain fought harder to keep them closed.

I eventually had to capitulate to the pain, closing my eyes and abandoning my senses and connections to the world.

My dream this time was a bit odder than the one about July. I found it hard to believe it hadn't even been a day since I had been brought here. This time it featured a man I didn't recognize, his hands tied around a giant oak tree. It took tree-hugger to a totally different level. For the most part, he appeared unconscious, or that's what he had tricked me to think. The next moment, his eyes flickered open, a golden brown type of color that looked like autumn leaves.

His eyes searched the area for a second and then landed on me. I could feel them searching my soul and it sent a shiver down my spine. It gave me a Zero type of chill. I hoped my face wasn't red in real life. He shifted as if to make himself more comfortable if you could make yourself more comfortable around a tree.

''"Help me..." ''was the ghost of the whisper that the strange man with the amber eyes rasped. "It's not my fault... tell them... set me free... set me free..."

The top of the tree burst into the flame, and the flame quickly began to eat away at the tree, getting dangerously close to the man. I bounded over to him in a hurry, trying my best to undo the twine that held his hands together. The fire danced across the bark getting ever so closer, and the smell of burning wood filled my nose.

Loop after loop after loop. Every time I thought I had untied the rope, it somehow found a way to tighten itself again. I frowned, growing more worried as the fire raced closer. I had to abandon the man soon if I didn't find a way to untie the rope, or we'd both burn here together.

Then the dream changed, and now the I was in the man's place, and he was in mine. The fire ran faster than ever, engulfing the branches in its path and passing the fire on to the branches of other trees. Instead of helping me, the man flashed me a malevolent smirk of triumph and stepped back to watch the damage. I glanced at the fire that was only inches away from my head.

I opened my mouth to scream for help but nothing happened. There were no words or sound to carry throughout the forest and save me. The man continued to watch with his amber eyes and his deviant smile. I could stall no more, the fire came, and it too engulfed me.

My eyes took a moment to adjust to the bright lights of the hospital wing, but when they did I felt relieved. I was not tied to a tree, burning alive. However, there was a man beside me, watching me, he just didn't have amber eyes. His presence wasn't soothing whatsoever. Subconsciously I wished for Paula or Sophie, or even Zero who I was sure was a world away in July's fortress.

"Are you feeling well Jimin?" Dr. Maxwell asked me as I sat up. I refrained from yawning and tiredly scratched my neck. "If you are, you'll be beginning training today."

Training? What training?

Oh yeah. Superhuman abilities. Deity patrons. All that great stuff.

"The others have made a plan to secure Baekhyun and bring him back to the Institute. They'll explain more at breakfast if you're willing to head over to the cafeteria and get some." Anything sounded better than staying here with Dr. Maxwell, who to be honest, made me feel very uncomfortable.

I nodded in agreement and Dr. Maxwell stood, probably to go the desk and talk to Miss Jin to check me out of the hospital wing. Across the room I spotted Alice, who's leg was propped up and wrapped in a cast, being held over her head as she read a book. She looked up and I waved at her, she waved back.

The pain in the back of my head was still there from the fall, but it had mostly faded and felt better than it had yesterday. I wasn't aware there was a bandage wrapped around my head and that I had actually bled until I felt my forehead, which was wet and sticky from sweat and blood.

Dr. Maxwell was returning to my bedside by the time I realized, and he announced I was free to go.