Crescent // ATEEZ ✔

48 [protect]

"I told you it's her, but you didn't believe me." The woman with the brown locks spreads out the pictures she took on the table, pointing to the same person in each of the picture. "She changed her hair and appearance but there's no mistake it's her. And these people," she points to the group of people surrounding her, "are the members of ATEEZ."

"No," the man with the moustache replies, shaking his head. "There is no way that Han Byul would be together with ATEEZ. That's not how it's supposed to work; she swore that when she left us, remember? She wanted nothing to do with us anymore; she wanted to live a normal life. So why on earth would she be among them? You're being delusional, Danbi. I can't believe you're looking for me after all of this. Our team broke up, we went our separate ways."

Danbi bites her lower lip, tears almost escaping her eyes. "Uncle Remy," she pronounces, "you were there when Jeong Yunho and Lee Eunbi met each other in secret. You were taken away and locked up when you tried helping them live a normal life. Lee Eunbi was killed because she loved another human being. How long do you think we have to suffer from this? How long do people like them," she bangs a fist on the table before pointing furiously to the pictures that she took, "have to live without knowing that their days are numbered?"

"Danbi, I treat you as my daughter and I know that we bonded over the fact that we managed to escape that crazed facility. But doing this is not logical; we're not even a strong team, not even a complete one. Where are the rest? Han Byul, Shon, Alana and Qama are not here. We were a team built with a clear mission, but no clear strategy. If we plan to bring down the Bifidensis by ourselves... that's not going to happen. We're getting ourselves killed while they keep on prospering."

"So you're letting this go? Even when you know how that damn system costed so many lives?"

"Han Byul was the first to leave our team." He gathers the pictures before looking at them. "When she left us it grounded us to our situation; we were only defectors of the system, but not strong enough to beat the system. We get to escape only because of someone else's mercy."

"That's why we have to do this," she presses on, "assemble back our team." She hikes up her sleeves to show him the sword and flowers tattoo on her upper arm. "You have this tattoo. Alana, Qama, Byul and Shon have this tattoo. To remind us what we're supposed to do. Kim Hodong saved our lives, and we promised to pay him back."

"With our lives, again," Remy resigns. "Sure, he saved us from getting killed, but what did he ask in return? To bring the Bifidensis and KTC down by sacrificing our lives, so how does that make him any different than any of the other Bifidensis board members? In the end, it's not him that's getting killed, it's us. We're becoming the scapegoats."

"Uncle Remy, you don't understand!" Danbi shouts, grabbing the attention of the others at the back-alley barbecue restaurant so she tunes down her volume. "This was supposed to be the plan; we were assembled, but we had to wait until ATEEZ was released from the training centre. We were supposed to work together with them."

"Danbi, think about it. That Kim Hodong doesn't even care about his own nephew. He's forcefully shoving his nephew into ATEEZ, knowing that he is fully planning for their deaths."

"He knows!"

Remy looks taken aback. "What do you mean he knows?"

"Kim Hodong's nephew, Kim Hongjoong, knows about this mission all along. He knows why they were picked as ATEEZ by his own uncle, he knows that some of them might not even make it out alive."

He scoffs in disbelief. "He knows... yet he's letting it be. Not even rioting against his uncle."

"Uncle Remy," she pleads, "The mission was supposed to be set in motion as soon as ATEEZ got released into the real world, but it was halted because Han Byul decided to leave to start a new life, and our team broke up. Now none of the ATEEZ members know what they're in for, because Hongjoong was not able to tell them about it as our team no longer existed. They're living everyday on lies! But now that we see her with them... things are changing, Uncle Remy. We might even have a shot at making this work, even without getting anyone killed."