“Sehun!” Areum jumped into his arms.

“I’ve missed you!” Sehun cried out. He wrapped his arms tightly around the small girl.

“Me too!” she exclaimed. She pulled out of his arms. “Where’s Oppa?”

‘She still looks for Joonmyeon Hyung first…’ Sehun thought bitterly. “He’s coming after, um, finishing up some tasks with the Exo-M leader,” he mumbled. In fact, the two leaders had gone to order a delivery of weapons. Apparently, the two gangs were now declaring war on Beast. It was to eliminate or be eliminated; that was the rule of the Underground World.

“Areum!” a deep voice called out.

“Chanyeol Hyung!” Areum threw her arms around the said boy’s neck, for he had leaned down to her height. Chanyeol slightly frowned when he heard the word “hyung.”

“At least Exo-M stayed true to their word and didn’t harm you,” D.O. spoke up.

“Thank goodness you’re safe,” Kai said in the background softly.

“Okay, sorry for interrupting your oh-so-happy reunion, but we have to talk. If we’re collaborating, shouldn’t we get to know each other?” Luhan butted in. Exo-M had rented out a restaurant and brought Areum to the Exo-K members. They were going to eat lunch and discuss their collaboration.

Tao, who was sitting next to him, grinned from ear to ear. “Yeah! Let’s all ‘fess up our deepest, darkest secrets! For example, I collect stuffed panda bears and-”

Luhan glared at the Exo-M maknae, making him fall silent. “I mean our main strengths and weaknesses. We have to choose who does what and what not. You know, we won’t see them again after our goal is reached.” Tao looked down.

“Anyways, sit down and order. I’m hungry,” Xiumin muttered. Exo-K and Areum obeyed and sat down quietly. Areum sat in Chanyeol’s lap like a little child and he handed her a menu.

“So which of you are the best fighters?” Chen spoke out. “Do you guys have any hackers or geniuses?” He pointed to Xiumin. “Hyung can break nearly all the codes there are in this world. He’s the brains behind our missions.”

Kai raised a hand. “I’m a hacker,” he admitted. “And Chanyeol Hyung is our brains; he has a lot of information about the Underground World in his head. He’s also our communication bridge.”

Chanyeol nodded to each boy as he spoke. “Baekhyun is our smooth-talker, who usually Barters and deals with deliveries on our behalf. He’s also our leader’s right-hand man. Sehun is our best fighter; he started martial arts when he was three. And as for D.O., he’s our chef.” D.O. glared at the older boy. “Ha, just kidding. He’s the main manager of our, um, ‘goods.’ You know, the deliveries and such.” He couldn’t say “weapons” and other gang-related items in front of Areum, who was still in his arms.

Luhan coolly nodded. “Well then, I’m the researcher of the gang; I find out top-secret information for our leader. I’m also the ‘manager’ and in charge of matters when Kris isn’t around. Lay’s the one who does the Barters and deals because of his cool, calm countenance. Tao’s our best fighter excluding Kris and Chen is our main communication bridge.”

“I guess your weakness would be Areum,” Luhan added after an afterthought.

Sehun frowned. “She’s not a weakness,” he snarled.

The other boy arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean? I’m pretty sure you guys freaked out when you realized she was taken to our hide-out – especially Joonmyeon. She can’t fight either, and she lives with you all. Therefore, she would be Exo-K’s weakness.”

“Well, weakness or not, now you’re helping us protect her,” Baekhyun stated. “Since it seems like Beast knows about Areum, it’s be fatal if they manage to catch her. Who knows what they might do to her, other than keeping her as a hostage.”

“Baekhyun, not now. You’re scaring her.” Chanyeol tightened his arms around the girl, whose face had turned a deathly white.

“That’s true.” Luhan nodded, but a scowl appeared on his face. “It’s inconvenient, but we must do something about it.” He tapped his chin. “We all, I mean Exo-K and Exo-M, can keep an eye on her. The more, the better. We could find a temporary hideout for both our gangs and have at least two people keep an eye on her at all times. It should be big and well-hidden; I’ll search for a place like that soon enough.”

Kai nodded. “A temporary hideout. By the way, what’s your weakness?”

Xiumin spoke up. “Our weakness would be having too much money. We did so many deliveries ‘on behalf of’ Beast, so a lot of dough rolled in.”

Sehun gaped at him. “How is that a weakness? Money is just a resource. The more, the better.”

Chanyeol shook his head. “I’ve heard of the billions Exo-M had in their bank accounts and hidden in thick bills around their hide-out. Other greedy gangs try to trick them into losing money. They’re a good target for the lesser gangs. Problem is, there are lots of lesser gangs.”

“Also, since our reputation is covered by the veil of drug deliveries, we don’t have close comrades like Exo-K,” Chen said. “You guys can constantly rely on the eyes and ears of rookie gangs like BTS and Seventeen, but we don’t collaborate unless we’re at a major disadvantage, like now. However, we are on dealing terms with darker gangs, so we have access to the valuable information inside the Underground World’s news warehouse.”

“Well, the numbers of our enemies are pretty much the same, anyways,” Kai said. “And we both have Beast after our necks.”

Areum finally spoke up. “You guys are collaborating? Did Kris and Oppa talk?”

Chanyeol nodded curtly. “It seems like the archrivals Exo-K and Exo-M are getting together. This will make history,” he muttered.

Luhan’s brow furrowed. “We never saw you guys as archrivals,” he spat out. “You guys were just pests.” Static sizzled in the air between the two boys.

“We’ll have to work on our attitudes toward each other,” D.O. said under his breath.

Thank you, lovely commenters and subscribers!! Keep on reading and enjoying this story! :D

If you also like fluffy romantic comedies, check out Two of Me and House of Secrets.