I'm sorry for this late update. I was very occupied with iKON's comeback and with keeping track of some unfortunate events in my country. (I did say weekly to biweekly in the foreword though...) Anyway, here it is! :)

Bobby stretches his shoulders as he enters the secret room with a cup of Starbucks americano in hand.

“Ugh, my head still hurts.”

“No one told you to drink so much last night.” Hanbin quips as he presses the button to turn on the monitors. He raises an eyebrow because Agent 14 is standing half in the room. Alone.

Bobby goes to his seat. He sips coffee and places the cup on the desk. “Wait, where’s Donghyuk?”

A phone alert interrupts them. They both glance at Hanbin’s phone as said person picks it up. The screen says it’s from Donghyuk so he opens it immediately.

He freezes. Bobby notices so he stands up and demands that he see the message. Hanbin doesn’t shield the message from him since it’ll affect him as well. The White Lotus heir doesn’t take long reading it before he grunts in frustration and shakes his head.

“Ah . Hold on, I’ll try to contact him.” Bobby curses again and plasters his phone on his ear. It rings a few times before a long beep takes over and suddenly, an automated voice tells him the number no longer exists.

“Kim ing Donghyuk! Who the hell told you to go rogue?! !”

Hanbin shakes his head and stares at the message. Bobby’s right to be angry. Who told Ezra to do an unnecessary sacrifice?

He stops, dread overcoming him. On second thought, it’s not really unnecessary in a sense. It’s like that famous saying, and is also something to be expected from a shadow agent.

A life for a life.

“A deal, B.I-ssi. I’ll go ahead and finish the rest. Sawaki and his organization will be dead and the bomb will be brought to you. In exchange, grant Agent 14 his freedom and never let the NIS use him again. I won’t take no for an answer.”

.

.

.

The gentle cold breeze in the sea and the picturesque sky in the horizon are all an ironic backdrop to what he just did and what he would be doing.

Donghyuk wants to laugh at himself. He can almost hear the scolding he’ll be given if he manages to survive the solo infiltration he’s planning. He’ll be called stupidly reckless, unnecessarily stubborn (again), and a selfish martyr among other things. Junhwe will definitely be angry and might not even forgive him regardless of his reasons.

If only the world they’re living in isn’t cruel and cold. Junhwe wants a peaceful, normal life so he’ll give him that no matter the things he has to do. The NIS won’t ever let a top spy go unless he does something that’s close to what Junhwe did to warrant his former freedom. Going in solo to get the bomb prototype and kill Sawaki should do the trick. Bobby-hyung won’t like it one bit, but he’s sure his hyung could manage without him.

As for Junhwe… he’ll think about it after he’s done.

He stops navigating the small boat he’s in at the planned sink point, and starts the timer for a silenced explosive to activate after 10 minutes. He checks his gear one last time, making sure his pack of weapons and dive suit are all working perfectly, before jumping off. If everything goes as he had planned, he’ll be finished before noon and will walk out alive.

The event is at 8 pm so he practically has the whole day to do everything if Junhwe still hadn't caught on. He also made sure the invitations they got are sent back with apologies for deciding not to attend, just to be consistent with Junhwe’s drama last time.

As expected, security is really tight. Guards are stationed at every corner, especially at the area around the port. It’s nothing Donghyuk can’t handle though.

Needles and knives are used. He disposes of whoever stands in his way, not bothering to check if they’re allies of Bobby-hyung’s uncle or not. When he’s near to the research center, he waits patiently atop a tree until a man wearing a lab coat comes out. He quickly acts to knock him out, steal his clothes and things to wear them himself, before hiding the man.

For Donghyuk, research centers are one of the easiest to infiltrate because of the large number of personnel who don’t care to know their own co-workers. A quick review of the guy’s things tells him he’s supposed to be a lab assistant at an experimental facility located west-side of the building. It’s the opposite of where he suspects the bomb prototype is located, but he’ll just work around on that.

He enters the building and slips through hallways and doors, using misdirection and stealth so he wouldn’t be noticed. When it can’t be helped, he converses like nothing’s out of ordinary and slips out without being suspected. He surveys as much as he could, drawing out estimates for the number of security personnels, the types of cameras and alarm systems, and a rough draft for an escape route. Seems like the blueprints he and Junhwe had been studying are not that reliable.

The moment he successfully hacked into the locked entryway for the bomb chamber, Donghyuk knows things will start seriously now. Everything he’s done since arriving the island has been too easy, and it’s not only because he’s a top spy. There’s something else waiting for him there.

“Well done Donghyuk-ssi.” Sawaki greets him with that disgusting smile. The bomb chamber is completely empty, and more than a dozen guards are on standby. “Or should I say, Ezra.”

“So you knew who I am.”

“At first I didn’t. You were always wearing a mask or a disguise during those White Lotus parties after all.”

Donghyuk is honestly not surprised Sawaki knew. What he’s more concerned about is the fact that the bomb is nowhere inside the chamber and judging by the number of guards inside, he won’t be getting out unscathed. He can also sense more threats outside, just waiting for an order.

“I must say, I’m very disappointed.” Sawaki smiles more and walks down the platform he’s at, the five guards around him on alert.

“I was hoping you weren’t involved with the theft of my precious documents. I really liked you, you know.”

Donghyuk shrugs and does his best to appear unbothered. In his mind, he’s calculating the number of bullets and knives he has. “And you would have killed me once you’re tired of me. No thanks.”

“Sadly for you, the thing you wanted is gone. I already got it delivered to a very generous buyer.”

“The NIS.”

“Yes. Your chief will be very happy with the profits.”

“Someone who’s playing with the world’s safety for profits is not my chief.” Donghyuk glares but his target just laughs.

“It doesn’t really matter for you now. You won’t get out of this alive.”

Donghyuk doesn’t answer. Yes, he knows his chances of survival now are getting lower and lower, but he maintains a relaxed stance, daring the others to make a move. His mind has already identified three possible exits but in order to get there, he has to kill everyone and expend the rest of his arsenal. Since the bomb’s not there anymore, he might as well wreak havoc in the place and try to chase the bomb delivery. A deal is a deal.

Sawaki snaps his fingers and instantly, the guards all take their guns off from their holsters and pointed at him.

“It’s nice getting to know you, Ezra-ssi.”

Donghyuk’s not one to believe in lucky charms, but he wishes he’d stolen a kiss from Junhwe before foolishly walking into this trap.

***

Calm down, that’s the first thing Junhwe told himself as soon as he saw the note. There has to be a logical explanation, a reason - no matter how ridiculous, for Donghyuk to leave again. After everything that happened last night? Nah, Donghyuk wouldn’t disappear again just because.

And their bosses are fast to save him from speculations too. Hanbin is suddenly calling him, completely unencrypted, to tell him the reason.

Calm down, he tells himself again. But as he re-reads the exact message Donghyuk sent to Hanbin, he knows just psyching himself to calm down isn’t going to work. Just what the . From where did Donghyuk jump over to get to that kind of conclusion? On the other hand, he wouldn’t let it go past Donghyuk to pull a stunt like this, completely out of logic and reason, for the benefit of the people he loves.

“.” he has this weird mixture of anger and giddiness happening inside him and it’s not okay. He needs to do something asap.

“Don’t worry, with Bobby’s help, we’ll take care of the bomb and our snake. Go and do what you need to do.” There’s some fumbling from the other line before Bobby’s voice greets him. “Back-up is already on their way too. Let’s meet up there and some up, yeah?”

Junhwe doesn’t need to be told that. He’ll do more than up for this unnecessary disturbance.

***

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