Chapter 12: empty arms 

The sharp clatter of rocks echoed with a resounding crack against the adjacent stone walls, and was the only audible exclamation that could be heard in the dead silence of lockdown.

At night, or at least what they called night according to their unavoidable sleep scheduling, wanderers were escorted back to their hub rooms which were designated for said scheduled sleep. Their silence was also imperative, such disruptions were not tolerated by higher ups and most often one would pay for their foolish actions.

The Nest was a tight run setting. Each of the civilians that had come here against their will were tightly woven into a time frame that ran around everyone else's. Their schedules were basic law to how they were meant to be dividing their time, and the enforcers came in the form of scientists and sentries dressed in white armoured leather with full blank face coverings.

Like now, when they were meant to be sleeping, the sentries patrolled the halls with poorly hidden marching footsteps. All armed with long sticks that first appeared like long, otherworldly staffs but when activated would transform in a blink to an extended electrical gun. They were mostly used as stun guns, but at the will of its handler, the electrical potential could be amped up to near fatal levels.

Despite the fear that was settled in the sensible part of his brain, Mingi's mind was too occupied with memories he wished to forget to think about attempting to sleep. Everytime he tried to reel in his thoughts to settle into restless unconsciousness, his eyes remained wide open and alert.

With every throw of the small pebbles that were scattered sparsely across the floor, Mingi lost himself more and more into the welcoming arms of fond memories.

About 9 months ago, which was where his mind decided to travel first, Mingi desperately wanted to branch out of his childhood home and venture beyond his parents' care. The prospect of new things had always excited him, so when he found himself able to move out for post secondary schooling, he jumped at the opportunity of his form of adventure.

Thankfully his parents did not seek to disagree, and supported his decision albeit a little hesitantly, as he would be travelling to a place that he had never been. His parents had supported him for so long that he wanted to have his turn to make them proud.

However, in a somewhat miraculous turn of events, Mingi was accepted to his dream university. He'd nearly expected to shoot awake just to find out it was a dream, that was how unbelievable it felt to hear the news. However, the new information brought a few more problems despite how happy he was with it.

That same university, the one he'd been wanting to get into since he was sixteen, was stationed in the capital city. Farther from his hometown than his parents had initially thought he would go. Meaning he would have to sort out a living space all on his own.

He didn't know anyone in the capital, and his parents were more reluctant than ever, but still, being the loving supporters he'd had his whole life, they let him go.

There were quite a few options for Mingi to choose from when he showed up in the capital with not much other than his car and his belongings for university. He could have settled for a dorm room, but the added cost was too much for his tastes. Instead, he turned his sights to the shared rental apartments intentionally priced lower for university students to stay comfortably. It was pretty easy to find an available place, and it seemed too good to be true.

And indeed, there was a catch.

Mingi had to move in with a roommate, which he didn't actually mind because it would give him a chance to make a friend in the new city and it would lower the cost of their rent. WIth a roommate, he would only have to pay half the rent and only do half the chores around an apartment that Mingi would otherwise be taking care of all by himself.

And as it turned out, Mingi's roommate was really, really nice.

Kim Geonhak, or Leedo as he preferred to be called, quickly became his first real friend in the foreign territory that was the capital.

Then his second problem arose. He had a place to live, but no job to help pay for the rent necessary to stay there. Living with a roommate made the costs lower, true, and his parents did make sure to send him off with a start, but that money wouldn't last long in the big city.

The hunt was on for a job, but everywhere he turned to would never give him the call back. He found it kind of strange, as Mingi was naturally a friendly and open person, he'd hoped for a more social job, but even then he was rejected.

Mingi had been brushing desperation at that point, but he refused to reach out to his parents for help again. This time he wanted to be able to solve his problems on his own, but it was becoming increasingly harder. And not only that, the rent payment due date seemed to be creeping up on him with merciless claws.

However, by some strange stroke of luck, something happened one night when he was just passing by one of those all night clubs. With multitudes of neon signs hanging everywhere, smokers lingering outside, all the works of some stereotypical club life. The "Alice in Wonderland" theme was executed well from just the outdoor decor he could see, and he fleetingly wondered if the quality extended to the inside.

A loud argument exploded from around the corner ahead of him, coming from the direction of what was most likely the back door and where the staff parking was located. Others that loitered across the sidewalk in front of the lively building stumbled around with drunken mumbles, oblivious to what a sober Mingi was hearing.

Mingi had paused then, uncertain or whether or not he was meant to investigate the loud voices or just carry on. He was debating looking into it when a woman rounded the corner in front of him, with invisible smoke pouring from her ears and her face beet red. Her amber eyes were alight with fury and disgust so Mingi scrambled out of her path to avoid getting forcefully trampled by a wedged heel.

Mingi's eyes immediately shot to the man who followed her, calling out to her as if trying to talk some sense into her enraged mindset.

"Come on, Lia! We need you! We can figure something out sensibly!" The man trailed behind her, running a stressed hand through his rich, ebony locks.

She ignored him at first, her only mission was to storm over to a silver car that was parked along the main street.

"No way in hell am I going back in there, you're going to have to do without me! I quit!" Lia slammed her car door with an air of finality. Mingi only watched on as the man could only step back defeated with a frustrated furrow of his eyebrows as she sped off recklessly.

The ebony-haired man pinched the bridge of his nose, whispering harshly to himself in what was no doubt strings of curses.

Mingi chose that moment to butt in, simply getting the man's attention by asking if he was alright. It made the other turn to look at him in surprise, as if he'd suddenly forgotten he was in public.

Mingi could remember how confused the man had been to see the university student standing there. Then there was something akin to an epiphany in the man's expression, and he strode confidently over to swing an arm around Mingi's shoulder with a grin.

His exact words were exactly what Mingi had needed at the time, and he still remembered them to this day, due to the unexpectedness of them.

"Do you need a job? I think a spot just opened up."

Mingi's training had been a spur of the moment thing, and the man, or Park Seonghwa as he had introduced himself, was Mingi's main guide through the crazy transition. All in one night, Mingi had gone from being a jobless admirer on the street to the newest server in an uprising nightclub.

On his first night, he'd already been introduced to the security who performed a quick background check on him. While Seonghwa had already expressed his desire to hire Mingi on the spot, Mingi understood that he still had to go through the protocol to make sure he was hiring someone with a good track record.

That same night, after all of this had happened, he headed back to the apartment with a skip in his step. As soon as he arrived, he broke the news to Leedo who had immediately picked up on his cheerful state. They celebrated with a humble toast of milk and cookies because both couldn't afford to get wasted for their early lectures the next day.

In the coming nights, Mingi had Seonghwa introduce him to everyone else among the staff at the club.

The performers Hongjoong and Hyuna were both extremely friendly and approachable, and the DJ who had seemed intimidating at first turned out to be a really cool and sweet guy.

From there he met Wooyoung, who was nearly attached at the hip with another guy who Seonghwa addressed as San. Mingi had to admit now that when Seonghwa had told him the other two's positions, he'd been excited at the prospect of working alongside Wooyoung, considering they would both be the main servers.

It was then that he met the rest of the bartenders, and first was introduced to the then blond and extremely bright Yunho.

He was pretty certain that Yunho must have thought he was crazy when they first met, considering Mingi just looked up at him with quite literal stars in his eyes. Mingi nearly audibly wondered if this man had been blessed by some otherworldly being, and if he was only imagining their meeting.

There had been something so welcoming about the other's gaze. It was a shade of warmth that reminded him of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, unlocking other childhood memories that he'd thought long forgotten.

If home was ever to be described as a person, to Mingi he found that solace in Yunho.

They quickly hit it off, acting like two hopeless teenagers who had their whole futures ahead of them. It ranged from whispered flirting behind the bar counter on countless nights only to be scolded by Hongjoong or Seonghwa when they were caught slacking off, to Mingi pretending to need Yunho's help in some sticky situation with a flirty customer. (He was pretty sure that Yunho caught on to Mingi's tricks, but at the same time, Yunho never did stop sweeping in to 'save' him.)

They would sometimes just giggle over trivial things in the Brig on their rare shared breaks, too caught up in each other to register what was happening around them. Many times over the months following, Mingi couldn't help but believe that this man was sent to be the other half of his clear cut soul that had felt so empty before.

After two months of tip-toeing around the topic, Yunho and Mingi decided to give their relationship an official label.

It had been kind of a mess considering they had asked each other at the exact same time, but it was just another story they would get to laugh about in the (hopefully) years to come.

When they'd first broken the news to the others, they'd been overjoyed but also not surprised for the newly proclaimed couple. Wooyoung had even joked about how they'd been waiting for the announcement for months, but also didn't think they would get one because Yunho and Mingi were already acting like an old married couple.

This was a point in Mingi's life where he felt completely fulfilled.

Coming to a new city had been one of the best decisions he could have possibly made. He'd found a new job with supportive friends, a doting boyfriend he couldn't imagine himself without, and a spot in one of the best universities that made him that much closer to his dream. Five months following his arrival in the capital, Mingi had never felt better about his future.

Then came that one fateful day.

On a somewhat last second decision, Mingi decided to drop by Yunho's new apartment to pick up his laptop that he'd left there the previous night. Yunho had only moved in about two weeks ago, so Mingi had been over as often as he could to help his boyfriend get everything settled.

That split second decision was one of his worst decisions to date. Though, much of how it had all gone wrong had become a blur to him.

He remembered flashing blurs of colour, a synthetic coldness that settled over his bones and locked them in place, along with aquamarine blue eyes that seemed to bore holes through his skin. He barely remembered the words that were uttered at that moment, but they had sent chills down his spine, repeated in an unending chorus that lived on in his panicked brain. Then his world went dark.

Mingi, like all the others he soon found in his new surroundings, had woken up in strange folded clothing that was a brilliant scarlet red with an unfamiliar armband clasped around his wrist. There was a curling font displayed on the slightly illuminated banding, and the word 'Hummingbird" was etched there for all to see.

It didn't take long for Mingi to come to the conclusion that this was all part of a hatching. The truth behind the hatchings that he would hear so often about from the news and word of mouth.

It seemed he'd been paired with a hummingbird. One of the unique birds in the world.

He wasn't really a bird expert, but he did remember a few things about his pairing that he may have read in a book at some point or another. He'd found it interesting however long ago, that hummingbirds were the only known species to be able to fly backwards, not to mention how fast their wings could beat.

But Mingi's main problem with his pairing was that he didn't understand what made him in any way similar to a hummingbird. Did it mean something? Was it supposed to represent his personality somehow? Or was it just supposed to be a way of identity in the Nest, or a code name for the scientists just to mess with their heads?

There was no way for him to tell the reason behind such a pairing unless he were to pry the answers from the greedy clutches of the faceless scientists who paraded around the place. Their heads were often raised high, looking down on each dejected subject as if they were only an article of research.

If Mingi were to direct any question their way, he'd either be completely ignored, or the guards who'd motion him to stay in line whilst laying a hand on one of their multitude of weapons.

So Mingi just had to live with a hummingbird. And to be honest, he was feeling pretty fine about it, like at least he didn't have something that was more terrifying like a vulture or one of those large eagles.

He remained content with what he was given, but still yearned for the normality and freedom of his previous life.

Like any other victim of the hatchings that was contained in this dark place of despair, the blessed air of the outside world only remained a dream that would dance frivolously out of reach. A constant step away from where they all wanted to be, with no ladder or stepping stool to help them reach.

Except Mingi wasn't entirely like the rest of the people that milled around him in the Red common room either. Mingi had quickly discovered within a few short hours of arriving a month or so ago that the dark circumstances his fellow captives had been in for so long before him had siphoned away their remaining hope.

They lived their everyday life through the routine schedule, taking each switch or transition as they came with total indifference. They were surrounded by stone walls on every side, and under the constant watch of a collection of seriously armed guards who may be humans behind a mask or yet another form of the Creators' android lifeforms.

The faceless guards never cared for the ones who reached their breaking point, they merely shuffled along in perfect time to herd the source away without a single spoken word.

The most recent of these 'fits', which was what the scientists documented them as, involved an older woman who began screeching in pain despite nothing physically harming her. She'd been yelling profanity to the guards whilst going off about the family and life she was missing.

The woman had been carted away almost immediately following the outburst that successfully brought her to the centre of attention. Mingi had been one of many that could only watch on with sympathy and stems of worry.

Mingi knew that the worst of her pain wasn't some cut or bruise on the surface of her skin, instead it was the slow poisoning of her mind that was making her act so irrationally. Mingi made sure to mumble a silent prayer under his breath that she would be able to hold on for just a little while longer.

That day was a turning point in the dull routine that Mingi had been confined to, and when Yeosang had explained the slightest sliver of a chance they had at getting out of this alive. . .

Mingi almost burst into grateful tears right then, but by some miracle he had managed to rein in his overwhelming emotions before he made himself look crazy. His ultimate joy and thankfulness presented itself instead by how often he would gravitate towards Yeosang whenever he saw the other in the same room. His subconscious almost feared losing sight of the other man he had just met, just in case his newfound hope disappeared with him.

Yeosang quickly became a constant figure in Mingi's routine schedule that had previously been occupied with stone and mortar walls plus hopeless bums that tried to crush Mingi's hope because they had lost their own. He successfully slipped into Yeosang's closely knit circle which previously had only contained himself and Eunjung, who was the Nest's greeter.

He began to act as Yeosang's anchor, and in return, Yeosang found his place as Mingi's own.

They'd become a support system for each other, and fast friends.

Yeosang's faith stemmed mainly from his best friend, Jongho, who he would talk about from time to time. Mingi found himself hooking onto that greedily as well, he would trust Yeosang's friend because he trusted Yeosang. Jongho was like their hope, their light through the darkness of the labs and shrouded hallways.

Mingi had a lot of expectations for the one Yeosang spoke so highly of, but his mind sometimes slipped away in the middle of Yeosang's stories. All the wonderful times Yeosang spoke about, reminded Mingi of memories and the people he also missed.

Yunho plagued his mind, stuck to the threads of his mind like a sticky burr.

Did he know that the Mingi he'd known and loved was gone? Probably not, considering the level of detail the Creators found standard. They never failed to make an identical copy of the original. Mingi remembered the first time he had set his eyes on his own replacement robot, and the eerie feeling that he was looking in the mirror while something wasn't quite right about his reflection.

Any minor details that may remain were impossible to notice unless you'd been trained to look for them your whole life. The only reason Mingi had gotten that strange feeling from looking at his copy was because he knew it wasn't real. It wouldn't be easy for others to tell the difference.

The five days before the replacement robot is sent out into the world were the prime test and adjustment days as per the hatching protocol. They sent the original model human through a plethora of tests, like personality tests and how each human model would react in certain scenarios. They performed a full body scan to copy each blemish or feature of appearance that the robot needed to include, before the robot would blend together uncannily into a perfect copy.

Everything possible and impossible was put forth to make the imposter all that more believable.

Still, Mingi prayed that deep in the pit of Yunho's gut he would notice something amiss. That Yunho would see through all the lies and deception his fake would slather on, and come to his rescue.

Every time the thought of Yunho kissing an artificial fake, taking him to their special places on dates, or even going further, he felt sick to his stomach. He'd been replaced by a superior model made of steel and fueled by some strange black substance that should never belong in any human. (Maybe it was a symbol of the evil they were being used for.)

Mingi curled into a ball, forgetting the pebbles he'd been throwing in favour of trying to bury himself further into his own arms. It wasn't the same as Yunho's embrace, he wasn't surrounded by whispered comforts or familiar sweet words layered in honey and affection.

Mingi's eyes stung with bitter tears.

As he sat alone, with no one to hold him but himself.

------

hiya ♡, 

would you look at that, a special mingi chapter. this won't be the last time we hear from him or yeosang either, so you can look forward to that i guess :")

♡ thanks for reading ♡

um, please vote and comment if you actually think this is decent :'D 👉👈 ♡ 

i only checked this chapter twice, versus my usual three times sooo might be tiny mistakes :'D