Chapter 167 Frustrated

Lee Seng grabbed the bag and turned around. There were a couple of people staring at him as he passed. They whispered the usual things he was getting used to as he exited the convenience store. Lee Seng turned right and followed the main road for a while until he reached the front of the Academy. He moved past the academic building and turned right. He followed the road until it led up to the dorm building.

"Get to the point, Geoff." Lee Seng angrily spoke. Lee Seng sighed as he pulled the front door of the entrance open.

"You lost control during the exam and killed a squadron of the Academy's security team. You got off scot free and that was pushed under the rug because we didn't want you to be attached to that." Dr. Valentin's voice echoed in his head. Lee Seng shook his head as he hit the elevator button to go up.

"You got off free for murdering a squadron of people. I want you to remember that because you lost control of the Protocol, which wasn't your doing, you killed people in the end. That's all they'll see if this gets out. We tried our best to cover it but whatever happened today isn't going to be so easily covered up. So, we're going to try our best to cover it up by using whatever means we have to. You'll get a lot more attention, but you need to keep a low profile, alright?"

'What else am I gonna do?' Lee Seng shook his head. His face contorted with confusion and frustration. The elevator dinged and opened. Lee Seng stood in front of the empty elevator, contemplating his actions. He lingered in front of the elevator door, ignoring the door as it closed. He groaned and threw his head back as he turned around.

No one was around to watch him, to judge him, to whisper anything about him.

'Why couldn't I just live a life in the shadows?' Lee Seng turned and hit the elevator button. The door opened and he forced himself inside. He hit the second floor and then the close button.'My life would've been better if I could just erase myself from this life and start somewhere new…' He sighed loudly and shook ruffled his hair as the elevator came to a stop and the doors pulled open. Lee Seng moved towards his dorm room. Lee Seng pulled his phone out and scanned the QR code with the door. The door clicked open and he pushed through, glancing at the time.

10:24pm

He had been out for most of the day and didn't want to update his friends about him being out of the hospital. He closed the door behind him and wandered over to the end of the hall right before it opened up into the room. He took his shoes off and shuffled over to his desk and set his things on it. He could hear the shower running and took this small moment to try to gather himself. He removed the backpack on his back and sat it on the floor next to the bookshelf and his desk.

He pulled the chair out and started to fish through the convenience store bag food he had bought. He devoured the food like piranhas eating their prey. The sound of the shower stopping casually alerted Lee Seng of Manny's return to the room. Lee Seng continued to go through his food as Manny exited the bathroom in boxers and a towel in his hand. He was drying his hair as he noticed his roommate was back.

"You're back." Manny casually observed aloud as he moved to his bed. He planted his butt on the edge and went about drying his hair. "Liz said there was an accident and something happened to you today. You doing alright?" The sounds of Lee Seng munching on his food filled the quiet space. Lee Seng felt hiccups coming on and pulled his drink out as he let a hiccup out. He opened the drink and drank it before letting out a loud 'ahh'.

"I'm fine." Lee Seng answered with a pound on his chest. He took another sip of the fruit punch drink. "Just achey."

"What happened to you during the class?"

"Didn't Liz tell you?" Lee Seng spoke between the last bites of his breakfast sandwiches.

"She was vague. Said you guys trained with training bots."

"We did."

"And what happened?"

"I got beat by a training bot, duh."

"But the bot should've been on the same level as the rest of the class, right?"

"Should've been, but mine wasn't."

Manny sighed and stopped drying his hair. He set the towel down beside him and pulled onto his feet and moved over to Lee Seng. He reached for Lee Seng when Lee Seng snatched Manny's wrist and glared at him.

"Are you really okay? You're not telling me anything." Manny's nosy nature only came out with very few people and Lee Seng was one of the unlucky ones who had to deal with it. Lee Seng tossed Manny's hand away and moved back to unwrapping his first sausage hotdog and taking a bite of it. Manny folded his arms and crossed his legs. "I'm waiting. Tell me, dude. You're doing the thing you do when you're clearly stressed about something."

"Oh, you can still read me like a book, huh?!?" Lee Seng slammed his hands down onto the desk and turned to stand and look at Manny. His anger coursed through his veins like poison.

"What the hell is your problem? Am I suddenly a problem for you?" Manny's voice raised.

"Yes, you're a problem, Damion!" Lee Seng shouted back. He took a step forward and poked Manny in the chest. "You, Valentin's, are all a problem."

"What does this have to do with my family? I just asked you a simple question! I know you, Seng! You like to bottle your problems up and shake it like a carbonated drink until it explodes!"

"Says the guy who doesn't share anything too personal." Lee Seng rolled his eyes and moved back to sit. Manny grabbed Lee Seng's arm and pulled Lee Seng into himself. They collided and Manny's serious eyes stared into the raging storm within Lee Seng's eyes.

"What happened? Tell me or don't. Get it off your chest before you actually cause a scene and explode the literal building." Manny held Lee Seng close for a while, studying Lee Seng's eyes. Lee Seng pushed Manny away and turned to sit down. Lee Seng angrily ate his food, ignoring the burning holes Manny was making with his stares.

"Fine, keep it bottled up and let's see you actually explode with your powers." Manny turned and moved back to his bed. He grabbed the towel and continued drying his hair. Lee Seng ate the rest of his food in mere minutes and stood up, chugging the rest of his fruit punch as he stood up and moved to his closet. He opened it and fished out some clothes and went to shower.

'I really don't need to do this.' Lee Seng sighed as the hot water rained down on his body. He stuck his face into the stream of water and held his breath for a while.

"AHHHH!" Lee Seng screamed. He pulled himself out of the stream of water and turned around. "Stop. Being. Frustrated!" Lee Seng pounded his chest.

—

"Did he leave you?" Scarlet asked Dr. Valentin over the phone. Dr. Valentin shook his head and moved back into his office. He shut the door and moved to sit in his office chair. He sat the phone down and leaned back.

"Yes, he doesn't agree with what was said, but knows he can't do anything about it." Dr. Valentin sighed.

"Was the incident that bad?" Akali asked.

"Three of the workers were in critical condition along with Dr. Reynolds being unconscious. I would say the situation needs to be handled this way." Nicole spoke.

"Number One is right," Alex spoke. "He may be thinking this is something we're doing against his will, but this could get worse. We have to take this precaution."

"At the expense of the tabloids being harsh on him?" Carlos argued. "He's just a kid."

"He's one of the Original Numbers, now. We can't treat him like a kid. If we treat him like a kid, we underestimate his potential. We did that with Zoe." Nicole pointed out.

"Do we know which one of them is going to contact the tabloids?" Akio asked.

"We've just started keeping an eye on the groups. None of them are moving as of yet." Abby answered.

"You think one of them will actually move?"

"Lee Seng is a case of popularity. You either feel pity for the kid or you see him as a disappointment." Nicole spoke.

"You really think he's going to want to join us after all the shit you're going to put him through?" Akio retorted.

"You're just protecting him because he's like your little brother. If he truly has Protocol 11 coursing through his veins, it's only a matter of time before he's truly one of us."

"You bi–"

"Enough!" Akali shouted. There was a collective sigh and grumbles. "It doesn't matter what we personally think right now. The damage has been done so continue to do what we all voted on. Even if you're opposed to it, there's nothing we can do."

"Fine." Akio grumbled. "Are we done here? I got things I need to take care of."

"Just follow the plan, alright?" Nicole asked.

"Alright, One." The eight other Numbers spoke.