When the morning bell sounded, Sungmi was still curled up next to Sehun, but both had fallen into a sleep from exhaustion. When her eyes opened, the first thing they saw was Sehun’s back, causing her to spring back off the bed in alarm. Thankfully, Sehun was only beginning to stir and Baekhyun was muttering incoherently and yawning away so loudly that she got away with the little shriek she let out when she hit the floor. Quickly standing and dusting herself off, she sat on her own bed and began pulling her boots on.

Sehun sat up, still facing that way as he scratched the back of his head. Although trying not to make it too obvious, Sungmi was watching him. He slowly turned until he was facing her and began putting his own shoes on. His eyes flitted to hers only briefly before flitting back to his laces, but it was enough. Sungmi saw the red, puffy skin under his eyes but hoped no one else did, impossible as it seemed.

“Oh,” Baekhyun let out, climbing down from the bunk and looking to Sehun. His hands rested on his hips. “You’re back.”

Fleetingly glancing in Baekhyun’s direction, Sehun gave a little nod. Baekhyun saw it too; Sehun’s eyes. He looked to Sungmi with a furrowed brow for an explanation. Sungmi pursed her lips, looking away.

“We should get to breakfast,” she murmured, standing but waiting for Sehun to finish tying up his shoes. Not that it was much good because as soon as he was finished he all but sprinted from the cabin, leaving the other two in his dust.

Baekhyun once again looked to Sungmi. “Is he ok?”

Sungmi pulled her lips to the side uncertainly. The obvious answer was no. But Sungmi didn’t really know how to explain all the stuff that had happened last night, not properly at least. “The mission he went on,” she told him finally as they exited the cabin. “Well, he was the only one to make it back alive.”

Baekhyun’s brow flinched and he looked uncomfortable suddenly. He swore under his breath, shaking his head a little.

“Byun Baekhyun, Han Sunghee,” a voice called out to them, garnering their attention. They turned back to face the voice. “Captain Minseok would like to see you both as soon as you have finished eating. Please report to his cabin then," the man told them before swiftly departing.

Exchanging a look with Baekhyun, Sungmi couldn’t help the sudden tension in her body. This couldn’t be good.

Kyungsoo and Chen were already in Minseok’s cabin when Sungmi and Baekhyun turned up. They were sitting silent, staring straight ahead as Minseok continued to write away at a document on his desk. When the pair entered, Minseok glanced up at them from under his glasses. “Have a seat,” he said, before resuming his writing. “We’re only waiting for one more.”

Sungmi sat beside Kyungsoo, giving him a little smile. He looked tired after his nightshift, but smiled back nonetheless. When he saw how tired she looked, his brow puckered in worry. She shook her head a little as if to say it was nothing.

The door opened again, and this time in walked Sehun. He looked unapologetic as he took the seat beside Chen and every bit as bad as he had looked this morning. Kyungsoo seemed to clock this too, because he shot Sungmi a questioning look. Before she could respond though, their captain slid out his chair, scraping it like nails on a chalkboard as he slowly stood. He looked across all their faces from over the top of his glasses, his face unreadable.

“I’ll admit that I’m surprised you’re all still alive,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back as he meandered to the front on his desk, leaning his weight on it. “Very surprised, actually.”

No one said anything to that, because quite frankly so were they.

“Having said that,” Minseok went on, pulling his glasses from his face. “It’s nice to still have a complete team at this stage of the game.” He hissed in a breath. “I won’t beat around the bush about this – we’re moving forwards.”

Sungmi frowned instantly and she was aware of the others shifting all around her. The news wasn’t welcomed.

“We won’t join one of the other regiments, though,” Minseok told them, seeing their faces. “We’re going to be a specialised team. We’ll be going on missions as a squad, less so on our own anymore.”

Not missing the way Minseok’s eyes went to Sehun as he said that, Sungmi couldn’t help but do it too. Sehun looked utterly impassive though.

“We’re leaving this evening. You’ll each be given a kit bag filled with essentials that you are expected to carry and maintain on your own. Questions?”

For a moment, no one spoke until finally Chen did. “Why us, sir?”

Minseok his lip, looking to his shoes. “Not by my recommendation, anyway – that’s for damn sure. The front lines have been badly hit recently and so a lot of the regiments have been forced to move forwards. They need teams like