note: idk what this au is but some lab smth or the other??

a/n: ik i write a lot of ni-ki and sunoo imagines but just bear with me 😅 also, i would suggest listening to a conan gray playlist while reading this. it sets the mood

tw: general creepy stuff, cursing

2196 words

- linden

Your father's lab was never a place you wanted to be. You'd rather curl up on the grass in your backyard with a fluffy blanket and watch the stars. But when you saw the picture in your father's files of a boy...a human boy, your mind changed.

Why was there a human in his lab? Was the boy really a human? He looked like a human...

You had to get your hands on those papers again.

It was a rainy, gloomy day when you brought up the topic as you were eating breakfast with your father at the big dining table in the hall. "I would like to visit your lab." You said, trying to play it cool. Your father looked at you with raised eyebrows, diverting his gaze from the mushy oatmeal the two of you tried to consume.

"Would you like to come today?"

"Today?" You were the one raising your eyebrows now. Your father only nodded and pushed away his bowl, "Cover these and keep them in the fridge please. I'll go get ready and you do too. Decide by then if you want to come."

"But school-"

"You can skip. I'll call you in sick, or will you do it?" He leveled you with a cold gaze.

"I'll do it..."

Your father nodded briefly and went down the hall to his room. As soon as he'd left, you covered the uneaten bowls of oatmeal with china plates and put them in the fridge. Then you went down the hall in the same direction, turning left to your room. You opened the door and started rooting through your expensive but measly closet.

"I need something comfortable..." You muttered. It seemed like an eternity before you found a decent pair of pants, an off-white collared shirt and sweatshirt to put over top.

You heard a knock on your door, "Are you coming or not?" Your father asked. You stared at the stark white of your door. You found yourself second guessing yourself.

For the boy. You thought. You strode forward and opened the door to be met with your father's face, "I'm coming."

The car ride was long and lonesome. You'd called into your school sick, faking a cough as you were on the phone, and the rest of the ride after that was spent gazing out the window at the dove gray clouds that dotted the gray-er sky.

Finally, a blocky white building rose above the horizon. Your father pulled into the parking lot and you exited the car. "What would you like to see first?" You father asked you. There was a strange gleam in his eyes. It was unnatural when his expression was usually cold.

"I'll just...explore on my own." You would be able to find what you were looking for more easily then. Your father fixed you with a stiff gaze. "Alright." He led you into the building then released you to do as you pleased.

What you found was surprisingly more fascinating than you'd expected- and far more gruesome. There were animals with multiple heads. Creatures that looked like two animals had been forced together in a fusion. A beautiful fox the size of a human being with lifeless blue eyes- yet, it moved.

But you still couldn't find the human boy.

You looked all day but you couldn't find him. Your only choice was to miss more school and come tomorrow, and if you had to, the day after, and the day after that.

Why were you doing this? Why did you care? You couldn't help but fight with yourself, but you knew the answer.

It was because they could be doing terrible things to other human beings. You knew they'd been harming animals, and now people too? Enough was enough.

The next day wasn't any less gloomy, but it was colder and windy. You found nothing. Nothing more than the poor creatures they'd messed with beyond recognition.

It was only the third day you found something of hope. It was raining hard outside and you'd come across a room labeled, "Files Room 1" on the third floor. You looked around. There was no one there. Then you tried the door.

It was locked. Of course it was locked.

You pulled a bobby pin out of your hair and shoved it into the lock. With a click and a creak, the door slid open a crack. Thank the old rusty locks. You put the bobby pin back in your hair and cautiously entered the room.

It was dark, and the only source of light was from the hallway, and when you fiddled with the switch, the pale led lights above your head. You scanned the room. There were files upon files, all of them marked with a little golden sticker that read "IMPORTANT".

Room 1. It made sense thatvwas where the important files were, and that was exactly where they'd keep the files of their only human experiment, wouldn't it?

"How would they label-" You cut yourself off when you saw a familiar stack of pages on the lonely desk in the corner.

It was his files.

You forced your frozen feet forward and clutched at the papers, scanning the information with your eyes:

Kim Sunoo  |  김 선우

Age: 18

Nationality: Korean

Height: 5'9" [175cm]

Date of Birth: June 24 2003

Blood Type: O

DNA:

- Human

- Plant

You stared in a mixture of horror and, begrudgingly, wonder at the information on the front page. He had plant DNA? "What the fuck did they do to you?" You muttered.

Then your eyes drew to something at the bottom of the page:

Holding Room: 6-666

Sixth floor, six-hundred sixty-sixth room in the building.

"I'll find you tomorrow....Kim Sunoo. But for now I have to go." You whispered.

You smoothed out the crinkles in the paper and left it on the desk where it had approximately been. As you left, you locked the door from the inside and pulled it shut, checking from the outside that the lock had clicked.

They shouldn't suspect a thing.

The next day, you woke up with the sun. Before the sun, actually. You were up and ready to go, anxiously spending time on your phone, by the time your father woke up.

To your surprise, he didn't bother questioning you until the drive to the lab.

"What's gotten into you lately? Sudden interest in my lab work when you always seemed to be repulsed by it."

"I realized that it's really not all that bad." You lied in a mumble. Your father just hummed in response.

When you reached the lab, you respectfully chatted with the secretary, trying not to seem suspicious. As the people who observed you always seemed to find you a little strange, it did the job.

A bustling scientist on their way to tell the secretary some news, and there was the perfect excuse to be on your way. You entered an empty elevator and clicked the glowing number six. The monotone voice listed off the numbers, "...2, 3, 4, 5..."

ding, ding, ding, ding, ding...The doors finally opened. You stepped out of the elevator and onto the cold tile of the sixth floor.

The door in front of you was labeled, "6-655" and the one to the right of that, "File Room 22" and the one to the right of that, "6-656", and so on going up with no breaks. Just labs with darkness coming from the cracks under the doors.

You walked down the hallway, feeling uneasy at the emptiness until your feet pulled you into a run. Out of breath, you came to lab "6-660." You let out a long, winded breath, "Six more doors."

You walked the short distance, and when you came to the door, you found that a harsh knife of light spilled out of the crack under the door. You tried the door and it pushed open without a problem.

You stood in the doorway, staring listlessly at the mess of scientists swarming around glowing screens and lab tables.

"Do you want to come in?" A voice asked. Your head snapped to the side, looking at the woman with bewildered eyes. "I'm the head's kid..." You mumbled.

"I know." The woman smiled. "Your father must have sent you here to meet him. You're interested in our experiments?" You dug your nails into your hand, regaining your senses, "Yes." You lied.

"Good, good." She shut the door behind you.

Everything seemed to glow. The screens, the lights, the weird plants, and DNA models. You trailed after the woman as she led you into a smaller separate room.

You couldn't help but gasp.

You were only divided by glass. He was right there in front of you. Kim Sunoo.

He was beautiful. His hair was a soft pink, his eyes dark like shadows and stormy. He looked scared, and you hated whoever put him in there. You hated your dad.

"He was imported from a lab in the city." The woman was saying, but you were still staring at him. Different from the regal looking and spiteful version of him on the photo in the files, he was dressed simply in a black top and black pants, and he looked vulnerable.

"I'll leave you, is that okay?" The woman asked, "There's a door on the right if you want to go in the enclosure." You nodded, but found yourself trying not to flinch at the word 'enclosure'. He wasn't some wild animal.

When she'd left, you moved closer to the glass and placed your hand up against it. "Hi." You whispered, "My name is l/n y/n."

Sunoo's eyes widened in surprise at being treated like another human being. "My name..." He murmured, "Is Kim Sunoo."

You smiled, "I know. Can I come in?"

Sunoo put up one of his hands so it was placed where yours was on the glass. His hand was bigger than yours, and you imagined it would be soft and warm.

Sunoo nodded to your request, "Please.."

You removed your hand and he stared after you as you moved to the door on the right. His eyes were dark in a scary way, but he watched you with longing.

You pulled open the glass door and shut it behind you. You stood and stared at the door for a moment before turning to Sunoo, "What keeps you from escaping? The door isn't locked."

Sunoo glared at the door, "Electrical shock."

"Can I come closer?" You asked softly. He studied your face for a moment, thinking. He moistened his lips and looked down, pouting. He nodded.

You stepped over the cold ground, moving in a way that wouldn't startle him.

You immediately regretted it. Tou regretted it because that was when you realized you really were treating him like a wild animal. You disregarded your caution and approached him like a regular human being.

When you were close enough, you held out your hands, palms up. Sunoo looked at your hands for a moment, then, gently, he reached out and traced the lines in your palms. "I don't remember the last time I touched another human being." He whispered, eyes wide with wonder.

"You speak well." You said. Sunoo sighed and his shoulders fell heavily, your hands still in his, "They took me when I was six. I practice when I'm alone. I have conversations with the walls."

You took his right hand in yours and pulled a pen from your pocket. You clicked the pen and drew a couple blue stars on his hand, "Talk to the stars." You suggested.

Sunoo looked up at you, his eyes glittering with curiosity for this strange human being he'd just met.
He offered you a smile.

You returned the smile, but you looked up in confusion when you felt a cold drop of water on your head.

"Oh." Sunoo said. Water started to sprinkle out of the ceiling in bursts. In a flash of instinct, Sunoo shielded you with his body.

"What's happening?" You shivered against the cold water. "They water me." Sunoo grumbled sarcastically. When you looked up at him. his face was dotted with crystalline water, and slim plant sprouts grew from his skin.

It felt like magic.

"Oh, miss y/n, sorry we didn't know you were in the-" The woman from earlier had started talking, but she cut herself off, "Get away from him!" She shouted.

The spray of water had stopped and she ran into the enclosure, tearing you away from Sunoo. You clung onto him a moment more, "We're just strangers," You whispered, "But I promise I'll get you out of here."

Sunoo's breath was hot and his voice sad on your ear, "Thank you y/n."

The woman pulled you away and out of the enclosure. You couldn't hear what she was sternly telling you, it just dissipated into fog in your mind.

All you could see was Sunoo's sad but expressionless face as he watched you get pulled out of the room.

He put his hand up to the glass. "promise" he mouthed.

this was so long lmao-
maybe i'll make a book out of it? what do u saw