Believe Again: Family

TRIGGER WARNING: Passing mention of suicide in this chapter.

It was a quiet afternoon, a rare day when he could simply lounge on his seat in the office and not do anything. The results from his experiments were going well, and if all went according to plan, he could easily sell his groundbreaking research to the government for a fortune. What they would do with it, he didn't know. Perhaps they would use it in the military as part of training, or use it against infiltrating enemy spies. He could see how it would be useful in that way.

A serene smile lifted his lips, satisfaction pooling in his chest. Years of hard work and come to this, and he was so close to achieving success.

Just then, he heard his phone ring — a rude interruption to his peaceful afternoon.

The caller ID was unknown, but he picked it up anyway, prepared to trace the call if he needed to.

"Park Ha Yoon." It sounded like a young man, and his voice was dripping with venom.

His lips curled into a smirk. He had a feeling he knew who this was. He had been waiting for him to get in touch.

"Who is this?" he asked anyway.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that I know what you have been working on: illegal human experiments, kidnapping, drug dealing... I imagine the judge won't be too kind when he hands down your sentence."

"Ah, so you're the hacker who broke into my home and stole the information from my computer." Ha Yoon's gaze fell to his computer and he pressed the familiar controls to start tracing the call to his phone. "I must say, you didn't do a very good job given that I found out about it."

He paused briefly as he waited for a location to be given. Eyes never leaving the screen, he continued, "So you're calling me because..?"

"Release Saeran Choi. Immediately. I know you have him with you."

"Saeran is an important test subject," Ha Yoon replied. "I've been meaning to invite him back to our organization for a while now, and now that he's back here, it'll be a shame to say goodbye so soon. Don't worry; we have been treating him kindly so far."

"Don't give me that bullshit. I know what your organization does and nothing about the experiments is pretty. You either let him go right now, and we pretend nothing ever happened, or I release the information about Mint Eye to the public and the police retrieves Saeran for me. If word goes out about your practices, no shady government dealing can save you or Mint Eye from shutting down completely."

"I see. That doesn't sound ideal." The location coordinates finally loaded up on the screen. Minari, huh? He made quick work of sending the coordinates to the ground team and sent them orders to track down the caller immediately.

"So, are you going to give him up?"

"Like I said, no. He's an important test subject. Besides, if you release information about Mint Eye, then I guess I'll be forced to tell the world about the Prime Minister's illegitimate twin sons."

Ha Yoon heard a sharp intake of gasp, and a wicked grin formed on his face. Bingo.

"What... do you mean by that?"

"Oh, don't play games with me, Saeyoung Choi. I know who you are. Rika told me all about you and your brother. Tragic story, really. I understand why you're so anxious to have him back given that you've only recently been reunited with him."

There was a pause on the other end, as the man on the line chose his next words carefully. "No one will believe you even if you let the public know."

"Very true. It'll be hard for people to believe it, but I think the Prime Minister won't take that threat lightly. I wonder what he'll do to you and your brother and everyone else you know once he finds you."

"What do you want?" Saeyoung finally asked him.

They were at a stalemate, but Ha Yoon knew he had the upper hand in this negotiation process. "I want to be able to carry out my experiments with no hitches," he said. "I'm close to getting all the results I need, and I'll need to observe your brother, amongst other test subjects, for just half a year more. Rest assured, once that is done, I will have no more use for him and I'll let him go home to you."

"No. He goes home now. He's suffered too much in that damn organization of yours and I won't let him stay there a second longer."

"Then it seems we don't have a deal," Ha Yoon said coldly. "Goodbye." Ignoring the man's protests, he hung up and put his phone down, before leaning back in his chair again.

What a pain. And it had been such a wonderful day too.

When Saeyoung returned to the bunker, MC was waiting for him at the door. The silent question in her eyes was answered when her gaze fell on his tightly clenched jaw and livid expression.

"He knows about me and Saeran. Our connection to the Prime Minister," Saeyoung explained, squeezing his eyes shut.

MC always knew just what to say to comfort people. Her usual hopeful self and words were like a healing balm for his broken heart. But even she didn't have words for this. Her silence was like the final nail in the coffin; it only hammered in the fact that they were completely and utterly screwed.

"Is there anything we can do to get Saeran back?" she asked, one last shred of hope gleaming in her eyes.

They were met with soulless ones, the kind she used to see back when they first met.

"Six months." He dropped his head, fingers curling into tight fists. "Ha Yoon says he wants to keep Saeran there for another six months. Then he'll leave us be for good."

"He can't endure another day of that, let alone six months! What'll happen to him?"

Saeyoung didn't know. Neither did he want to imagine it. He thought back to the time when they had just broken out of Mint Eye and Saeran was at the hospital, acting up almost every day at anyone and everyone who tried to get close to him. He was always angry, and his rage had consumed him like a fire until all that remained of him was dust and ashes. The bitterness had then overwhelmed his senses, and not even the sweetest ice cream in the world could relieve him of the pain and hatred for this world any longer.

All that filled Saeyoung's mind was a picture from the day he burst into the bunker and found Saeran holding that piece of glass next to his wrist.

He was done listening and waiting; he had to do something now.

"I'm going to save him," Saeyoung said resolutely, eyes steeling with resolve and blood boiling with a vengeance. "No matter what."

"What are you going to do?" MC asked.

"I'll have to break into Mint Eye and get Saeran out myself."

"Alone?"

"There's no time to waste." Saeyoung moved to leave, but was promptly stopped in his tracks by MC who stood in his way with a stern look on her hardened features.

"It's too dangerous. We should let Jumin and Vanderwood know at least. They would be able to help—"

"We don't have time!" Saeyoung shouted, pushing past her roughly. His eyes were focused and set, feet striding straight towards to the workroom to gather his field pack. He didn't look back even at the sound of her stumbling and hitting the wall.

"Saeyoung, don't be rash," MC called after him, already hot on his trail. He pushed the door to the workroom close behind him as he entered, but she held it open before it could slam in her face.

"You need to think this through," she continued, watching as he pulled out his field pack from the closet. He began hastily tossing all sorts of gadgets into the bag, seemingly at random.

"You can't break in there alone; Jumin will help if you'll just ask him to. I'm sure he can provide you with some backup, or at the very least, have a team on standby in case something happens to you too. Just call him right now."

"I can't, okay? Every second that Saeran's there, he's relieving his old nightmares. And worse. I don't know. I can't stop thinking about the shit he's probably going through now while I'm here, all snug and comfy in this damn bunker instead of running out there and saving him like I should have done years ago!"

"Saeyoung, you need to calm down—"

"Don't. Not now, MC. Saeran is waiting for me. So don't tell me to do nothing."

"I'm not telling you to do nothing; I'm telling you to call Jumin and Vanderwood, and work out a plan that will work better than you charging in there alone with no plan whatsoever! What's the point if we lose you too?"

"The plan is to save Saeran, and I'll do that whatever it takes, even if it means I don't make it back."

MC's lower lip trembled as she allowed his words to sink in, and she could only numbly watch as he opened and slammed various drawers in the room, coiling different wires and placing an assortment of gadgets and high-tech devices into his field pack. Thick silence hung in the air between them, with only the sound of his frantic movements to fill it.

Saeyoung clicked his tongue when he realised that he needed to grab something from his own room to bring along as well, but MC stood at the doorway, not moving.

He tried his best not to look at her, knowing that she would only try to persuade him again. Her words were the only things in the world that could possibly sway his heart away from the destructive things he thought about every day back then.

"Don't go," she said. Just two simple words. The same words that Saeran had pleaded years ago as well.

It seemed that no matter what he did, Saeyoung always left someone behind. Someone whom he loved to the very core of his being.

"I have to. Saeran is waiting for me."

"There is another way. We just have to find it. Together." Her fingers gripped the hem of his shirt, and it was then that he noticed her shoulders were shaking, and that her whole body was trembling. Her face was hidden from his, but he found three drops of tears that had fallen to the ground.

"I don't have a choice."

"Yes, you do. You need to wait and come up with a proper plan. You can save Saeran, but you won't if you act stupidly like you're doing now. They'll just catch you before you can do anything. All of us care about Saeran, and we're here to help you, so stop trying to do these things alone."

He understood what she was saying. Truly, he did. But he gently pried her hand off his shirt and moved her to the side so that they could both stand in the doorway.

"But right now, Saeran has no one. I failed my little brother once, and I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. And I will come up with a plan. Something that'll work."

"What, in the car? That doesn't make sense! You'll be abandoning Saeran again if you don't make it out together with him, don't you get it?"

"Well," a dry, humourless chuckle left his lips. "I guess my story was never meant to have a happy ending. But it doesn't matter as long as you and Saeran are safe."

She shook her head before raising her face, revealing the tears streaking her cheeks. Anger and sorrow was etched into her features, and Saeyoung could tell she was torn between hugging him and punching the living daylights out of him; whichever would be more effective at forcing him to stay in the bunker and doing what she said.

"That's not good enough."

"MC—"

"It's not good enough!" It seemed shouting was the right choice; she had his full attention now, his eyes unable to leave her tearful ones. The bespectacled man had no idea what to do except to gawk at her.

"You can't throw yourself away and leave us! Not when we're about to— Not when we have..." she trailed off, looking down.

Saeyoung followed her gaze to where her hand was now coming to rest gingerly over her stomach.

It didn't take long for the hacking genius to connect the dots, but his brain experienced a short-circuit right then; what his brain could comprehend, his mouth and lips couldn't make sense of or articulate in coherent words. All he could manage was nonsensical stutters like the wide-eyed fool he was, until he finally found the sense to take in a deep breath and gather his thoughts.

I'm... going to be... a father.

Yeah, saying that aloud in his mind didn't help all that much either. His heart was beating a million times per second and his system was rapidly overheating. At this rate, he was going to experience a complete meltdown.

"You— a baby— my— our...baby?" he choked out, eyes beginning to water as the realization sank in.

She nodded, biting her lip as another tear fell from her eyes.

"When... When did you find out?"

"About two weeks ago," she replied softly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, feeling slightly hurt and betrayed that she would keep such a big secret from him all this time.

"I didn't want to distract you and Saeran from Mint Eye; you two were busy enough, and it wasn't the right time to do it."

He had no words. He wanted to retort her, find a reason to scold her for not telling him earlier, but he couldn't. She was right; he had been so caught up with Mint Eye and making MC worry that he had neglected her altogether, made her feel so insecure that she couldn't bring herself to tell him about this once she found out.

He reached forward, fingers gently brushing over her stomach. His lips quivered. There was a life growing inside of MC; a life they had created together.

"I... I'm sorry," he said, his own tears finally falling. "MC, I'm so, so sorry." She must have been dealing with the morning sickness and other discomforts on her own this whole time. He should have been there to hold her hair back, made sure she didn't strain herself by doing all the chores in the bunker while he and Saeran remained cooped up in the room to do their research. Not to mention, she must have been worried sick about them; that kind of stress couldn't be good for the baby.

She shook her head and took his hand to press it against her abdomen. "No, I wish I didn't have to tell you like this. I had a whole pregnancy reveal planned, and I was going to wait until after everything was settled before I told you and videoed you bawling your eyes out."

He couldn't help but chuckle, despite their circumstances. "You're right," he agreed. "I definitely would have bawled my eyes out. I'm close to it right now."

"How am I going to deal with two babies in the house?" she grinned.

They laughed genuinely then, which was a nice release from all the pent-up tension that's been blanketing the bunker for the past few days.

"Saeran will be the nanny," Saeyoung smiled, before pulling his beautiful wife in for an emotional kiss. It had been a while since he'd properly kissed her, reminded her that she was beautiful and told her that he loved her to the space station and back. He had a lot to make up for, and he would do just that once everything went back to normal, with Saeran back in the bunker with them to resume their usual bickering routine.

And he would start off by making sure no one in his family was taken from him ever again.

"Well," MC said, "now that your head has cooled off a little, why don't we drop Jumin a call and explain the situation to him? He'll be able to help us. And I'm sure Vanderwood will do his best too."

"Okay," Saeyoung said, immediately reaching for his phone to dial the familiar number.

It was time to get his brother back.

A/N: Hiiiiii. I just want to start off with: DID YOU GUESS THAT MC WAS PREGNANT? :)))))

Sorry for the immensely late update.. It's been a wild summer lol. A week after finals ended my internships began, worked overtime almost every day, brought home back to do over the weekend... (I have work due tomorrow oh no...) that, and I've been writing for zines and also organising them. Sooooo. I hope that explains my loooong(cat) absence despite saying that this story is "back in business".

I have the next few chapters planned out but I'll be cutting a little (a LOT) of the stuff I originally planned to write short or just omitting them altogether because I don't see myself having the time, energy or motivation to drag this story out that much longer. I just. Want. To. End. It. :"))) AAAAAAHHHHH. So yeah, there will be very little stuff in Reader's POV (im sorry reader-sans) for the whole adfjalsdfj part of the story (wtf is description) and I hope you don't mind. Heh.

OKAY i'm going to duck out for now. I'll try to update soon. :) Thanks for reading this A/N that I exploited to the full to rant to my heart's desire. BYEEE :)