Renjun's limbs were heavy with sleep as he headed down the stairs to the observation room.
He joined with Jeno and Jaemin, as Jisung helped a very sleepy Chenle stay steady in the small room, along with Mark who had a serious case of bedhead with Donghyuck trying to fix it.
"You are going to go under a series of tests for a potential identification process that we've come up with," Taeyongrvoiced out, his clear tone like ice water on the younger boys' conscious.
Donghyuck's hand froze above Mark's head as he heard the older.
"What do you mean by that?" Mark asked, a raspy tone coming out due to his tiredness.
Taeyong knew the question was coming but he didn't want to answer it directly.
"Abigail's done some things, things none of you remember, or not," he said pointedly at Renjun, "and we need to find out what those are."
They all nodded in ignorance, the onslaught of words cloudy in their minds.
Although Renjun seemed to attach himself to the words, hoping what he was gathering wasn't true. He knew Abigail had done terrible things to himself, never would've he of thought that she had already done them to the others. He had just met them not too long ago, but the thought of them experiencing the same torture without knowing it made him hate Abigail with a new intensity.
Taeyong looked at him knowingly, the boy's determination towards something that Taeyong would never know burning bright.
"Remember the letter I sent to you before you came to Neo City?" Taeyong asked.
A chorus of 'yes's were heard from each boy, most differing in tone due to different levels of tiredness.
"This couldn't of waited until after breakfast?" Donghyuck asked, who had stopped messing with the mess of Mark's hair and instead leaned on the older.
Taeyong smiled at the retort of the youngrt boy, needing the sense of humor to surround the boys and lessen the upcoming tension.
"No, Donghyuck, because right now you are in your most weakest state, and that's the prime time for testing," the older responded, feeling the tension start to grow.
He had failed to tell them that it was actually about two o'clock in the morning, and that they were going to have a challenging time ahead.
He let himself sigh, before telling the boys to all go into the room connected to the back of the observation room, where they wouldn't have the access to see the tests of the other boys and their capabilities.
After reaching the dark room, the boys hesitantly settled themselves on the large black couch that resided there, and hoped that the large T.V. screen would allow them to see what was going on in the other room.
"We can monitor the tests, right?" Mark asked, looking at Taeyong who stood in the doorway, watching the stiffness of the others.
Taeyong wasn't going to let them see initially, but he knew how attached they all were to each other, and on a last minute decision, affirmed that he would allow them to watch the screen.
"First up," Taeyong said as he clutched the wooden clipboard he grabbed off of one of the counters in the observation room, "Mark Lee."
Mark was nervous, shaking slightly as he stood, until he felt a warm hand quickly wrap around his own. He looked down to see the supportive looks he received from all the other boys, and the reassuring look of Donghyuck's, who had taken a hold of his hand.
"Fighting," the younger said softly, a smile adorning his face.
Mark allowed himself to return the smile, along with his own small chant, before letting go of Donghyuck's hand and following Taeyong's silhouette into the observation room.
Taeyong told the younger to close the door behind him, as the older turned on the screen for the others.
Mark shut the door, before turning to see Taeyong patting a leather stool that sat in front of him. He followed the silent instruction, and sat onto the cool leather.
"I have a few questions to start off on."
Mark nodded, pretending to be strong as he gave the older his most convincing smile.
"Let's get it."
. . .
Jisung was terrified as it came to be his turn.
He had seen what the others had gone through, and he was already shaking in Jeno's arms as the older tried to calm him down.
First Taeyong had asked each boy about the differences in their behaviors or actions they realized after he had sent the letters. And they all answered truthfully.
"I had been getting a lot more sensitive as the weeks passed at Renjun's. Like once I had gotten a paper cut, and it took almost three hours to stop the bleeding."
"I had been having these small 'attacks' that would last about ten minutes each, but I felt like I was dying each and every time."
"I had been really drowsy overtime, to the point where I've caught myself sleeping while standing up."
"I just kept getting these hunger pains all the time, where I'd be eating what seems like any second I could get my hands on. And if I wasn't eating, it felt like my stomach was eating itself."
"I kept getting hungry too, but I think that's because I'm growing. But I was also having language slip ups. Like, I knew what I wanted to say, and I would form it in my head exactly, but as soon as I went to say it, I would somehow mix Chinese and English unintentionally in the sentence."
First it had been Mark, then Renjun, Jaemin, Donghyuck and Chenle. It was finally his turn, and he knew what was going to happen.
"Park Jisung," Taeyong said, standing at the doorway once again, "you're the last one."
Jisung stood up, almost falling into Jeno's arms as he shook in anxiety.
Jeno's arms were ready to catch, but Jisung didn't want to be so cowardly, so he took each step by stride before he was in front of Taeyong.
"Jeno can join this time."
Jeno nodded, walking into the room and closing the door behind him.
He sat off to the side, allowing Jisung to take his turn on the leather stool.
"I believe you know the question I'm going to ask?"
Jisung could only nod, wringing his hands in his lap. He couldn't make eye contact with the older.
"I had been getting really hyper, where I couldn't sit still. Like there was something missing, and I just had too much energy," he finished quickly, watching as Taeyong wrote down his words.
"O.K., Jisung, this is great information. I believe you know what's next?"
Jisung was left to nod once more, feeling a wince coming from inside.
"It'll only be like a slight pinch, and that's all that will register for you," the older tried to reassure the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder.
The two stood up, Taeyong gesturing for Jeno to do the same.
"The others are in there," he told Jeno, pointing to a door and letting the boy leave the youngest.
That only made Jisung that much more terrified.
"Now you'll just lay down here, and wait for my signal," Taeyong said, pointing to the chair with the monitors surrounding him.
He complied, laying himself onto the slightly warm leather, still anxious for what was to come.
Taeyong sat onto a wheeled stool, and took the electrodes and placed it on his temples, and jaw.
Jisung closed his eyes, and tried to calm his breathing as he lay there.
His eyes were still closed when he felt the heat rise, but he didn't feel it surround him. It was more as if it was coming from him.
It continued to rise, until the limits seemed pushed and his body was straining as he arched his back off of the chair.
Gritting his teeth, he almost couldn't feel the icy hands of Taeyong pushing him back into the chair.
That's when he felt the prick, oh so subtle at the tip of his finger.
He calmed down when the temperature seemed to dwindle, and eventually return to normal.
He sighed, still not opening his eyes, until Taeyong's muffled voice caught his attention and he focused on it.
"-now, we are to test this blood, and see what results are and determine whether or not you have Defect DNA transplanted into your blood."
Jisung's eyes were instantly opened and looked straight at Taeyong.
"Defect?"