Crescent // ATEEZ ✔

30 [signal]

Visiting their headquarters for the nth time doesn't confer her the supposed sense of direction as she results in following San around closely, in which he seems glad to be her unpaid guide. He doesn't seem too annoyed with it, even though she's particularly jumpy when she thought something was going to arise from the depths of the darkness of the maze. It isn't too dark until they can't see anything, but it doesn't seem like a place she would like to be if she were alone.

He's gladly pointing out the rooms one by one, in which some are only accessible using a retinal scan and fingerprint, similar to the one demonstrated at the main entrance. He never mentions anything about having her retina and fingerprint logged in, so she's guessing that she's still not allowed to come here without being accompanied, and not that she minds. She's not going to go and snoop around the areas she's not allowed in - she knows her limits.

The headquarters is not simply a place where they carry out their operations, but it boasts other facilities that include but not limited to a martial arts training studio, an electronics lab, a place to hang out, a gym with complete equipment and - what surprises her the most - a basement swimming pool, in which the floor would lower down and water is filled in when it's to be used. All 8 of them have their own rooms, where mostly according to him is where they keep their personal records of the missions they carried out.

"Kind of like a trophy room," he mentions in passing.

"So you keep mementos of your targets?"

He pauses, looks at the floor in wonder as he sucks in a sharp breath. "Some of us do; it somewhat makes us feel validated." He studies her face. "You think it's creepy, don't you?"

"It's not my place to judge," she replies simply, but it's only making him feel skittish as he runs up beside her and tries to keep up with her pace. She's navigating the maze based on her intuition since every path looks the same to her. As long as she doesn't run into a dead end, she'll keep walking. "My opinion of you doesn't matter. Hongjoong sounded the same as you when he asked whether I thought of you as the good guys or the bad guys."

"Yes it does," he refutes. "You're the first person from outside who knows about us - despite being left with no choice - and what you think of us is important. Since only we know what we do, you can't really blame me for being curious on how you feel about us."

"I'm not the only person from outside who knows about you. Emira and Akira Hwang know," she says, this time stopping to face him. He doesn't know why, but she looks and sounds slightly frustrated. For a second, his heart twists - as if he's scared when he looks at her expression. "No one from outside should know of your identities, but they do. I do."

"Emira and Akira, plus you were a different case. The two sisters have known Seonghwa even before he was taken away, but the moment we were released here he came looking for her. You must've seen how he is with her; he can't be separated from her and we couldn't stop him."

"All of you can't be in relationships," she counters, but her face changes as she realizes what she had said.

He looks shocked too, but as she tries to turn away he grabs her wrist and pulls her to face him again. "What do- no, how do you know? How do you know that we're not allowed to?"

She curses at herself for letting it slip out, scavenging through to find an answer that wouldn't raise any suspicions towards her again. In the split second she is reminded on why she prefers to be alone - she just couldn't keep her stupid mouth shut.

Her mind works fast as she spills, "Akira told me."

She sounded firm that he knows better than to question it, but he still searches her face for any contradiction to her statement. It's either she's good at acting, or she's really speaking the truth. He lets go of her wrist before apologizing. "Sorry, I was just taken aback when you seemed to know about it, when they are one of the rules set by them for us. I shouldn't have acted rashly."