It’s tough being the genius behind the Kingsman — the weapon development specialist, professional hacker and ultimate tech guy.

It’s even tougher being Merlin when you know your boyfriend’s mission tonight is to seduce the target to achieve intel, and you’re obligated to help him succeed.

Granted, no one knows of their relationship, except maybe Kyungsoo and Joohyun, because to be honest, nothing escapes the twins for they’re too sharp. Coupled with the fact that they’re professionals who shouldn’t let their private lives get in the way of work, Sehun supposes he can’t lay the blame on anyone.

He takes a deep breath to calm himself before allowing his eyes to follow Chanyeol’s figure passing through on the many big screens in front of him.

It’s nearly ten at night in Macau, and the agent is currently in a swanky new casino near the Venetian.

“Ten o’clock, Gawain.” Sehun pushes down on a button and speaks into his microphone. “Think you can get Lady Wu to take another shot of that bourbon whiskey to loosen her lips?”

Chanyeol looks ravishing tonight, dressed up in his suit and bow tie, striding to the bar with a hint of a smirk on his lips. Sehun scoffs. The other must know he already has the eyes of most of the ladies occupying the surrounding tables (and even a few men) on him.

“Is that really necessary?” Sehun tries to keep a poker face on as he watches Chanyeol unravel his bow tie and pop open the top two buttons of his dress shirt. The latter is obviously doing this on purpose; teasing more show of skin, clearly enjoying the attention it brings him.

Or maybe it’s Sehun’s attention he hoped to hold.

“What?” Chanyeol even has the audacity to find the nearest surveillance cam and wink in its direction, confident that his boyfriend would have already hacked his way into the system and was now in control of all the footage. “How do I look tonight?” Chanyeol picks up a glass of wine off a passing staff’s tray smoothly and takes a sip. “Hmm… this tastes just like a fire consuming me from the inside.” His voice drops to a low murmur.

You look hotter than fire, Sehun wants to admit. Instead, he decides to walk another path. “A little over-the-top with the hair gel, don’t you think?” A small frown settles on Chanyeol’s face and the agent runs his fingers through his hair carelessly. Sehun is on the brink of stuffing his fist in his mouth to stop himself from making a noise, or worse, squealing.

It was just yesterday his own hands were grabbing that bed of hair in his bedroom, and seeing this now brings back so many memories of their wonderful night together before Chanyeol jetted off to Asia.

“I don’t look good?” Chanyeol asks in a small voice and pouts. A small pout nonetheless, but of course Sehun sees it. “It’s only because you’re not here to do my hair,” the agent whines.

“Target looks about ready to leave. You should get a move on, Gawain.” He ignores the clench in his heart and types away on his keyboard. The command he keys in forces one of the surveillance cameras to shift and focus on the doorway leading to the loo, right by the side of the bar. “I have eyes on all routes. No red incoming. You’re good to go.”

For a second, Chanyeol looks as if he wants to say something. Perhaps he had picked up on Sehun’s sudden coldness and the unspoken words it meant. He does have a knack of reading Sehun better than anyone after all. But Chanyeol’s mask comes back on and he saunters to the bar, determined to finish his job here fast so he could return home.

“Can I get a drink please?” Sehun increases the volume of the speakers and watches as Chanyeol places his empty glass on the counter. “Perhaps I will have—” his voice trails off when the bartender attends to him. Chanyeol shifts his gaze, landing on their target, who already has been eyeing him when he first appeared by her side, after dragging out the seconds. “—what the lady is having.” He nods at her and smiles. “A woman of her class would definitely have good taste.” Chanyeol glances at the bartender before taking the seat beside their target.

Just like that, Sehun can tell their target is already completely charmed by his boyfriend.

“Good evening,” Chanyeol greets. “A pleasure to be in your presence.”

Sehun scoffs when Lady Wu shifts in her seat and adjusts the fur scarf wrapped around her shoulders to reveal more cleavage. And to think she’s already married to one of the richest tycoons in Hong Kong. Sehun decides to cut Chanyeol’s in-ear. With no one listening in now, he drops all pretenses and barks out the words “gold-digging !” at his screen. A small smile creeps on his face because he feels slightly proud of what he just did (small victories).

Sehun reckons that was probably very childish behaviour a second later. Thank god neither Kyungsoo nor Joohyun were here, or they would have to no end.

“The pleasure is definitely all my I assure you,” Lady Wu says. She doesn’t make an effort to hide the way she takes her eyes down the length of Chanyeol’s body, pausing slightly at his lap. The latter leverages on her obvious interest to slide one of his foot against hers. “I’m Songyi. How shall I address you?” She practically beams at him as she trails her feet up the length of Chanyeol’s calves.

“For your company, you can call me whatever you want,” Chanyeol says smoothly and lifts the glass the bartender has just set in front of him to his lips. Sehun sees the exact moment Lady Wu swoons. He scowls. This mission is harder than he had expected.

How dare you, Chanyeol. He grumbles incoherently under his breath.

“Merlin.”

Sehun’s head snaps up when the door to his room slides open. “Arthur said you’d be able to hook me up with a couple of those stun guns you just developed. The ones shaped like es?” Joohyun walks up to his side and stares at the screens. “Oohhh... I recognise that bar. Chanyeol’s in Macau?”

“There’s one in that drawer over there. Get it yourself. Also, they’re shaped like torchlights, you idiot,” he snaps. His irritation is obviously stemming from all the flirting in the screen so the agent ignores the name-calling. Which is rare in itself because any other day and she would have taken him out with a kick to his balls.

Baekhyun had learnt never to overly tease Joohyun the hard way. Sehun swears the other now walks funny, especially so when the female agent is in the vicinity. But Baekhyun denies it everytime he or anyone else points it out.

“Clearly not,” Joohyun singsongs as she raises the stun gun she had just retrieved to eye level and studies it. “It’s huge, lengthwise and girth,” she exclaims. “Did you sample Chanyeol’s for the prototype?” She breaks out into a peal of laughter when Sehun flings his pen at her. Being the pro she is, Joohyun snatches it out of the air easily and throws it back at him. Obviously their Merlin has faster brains than he has reflexes so the pen smacks him on the nose.

Sehun clutches his nose and glares at Joohyun. “Get out. Don’t you have better things to do than bother me, Lancelot? I need to focus.”

“Where’s Kyungsoo?” Joohyun ignores his demand for her to leave and purposely plants herself on the couch to his left.

“Stalking his puppy at his cafe, what else. Go bother your brother. Shoo.” He waves at her dismissively and turns his attention back to the screens. Sehun frowns when he sees Chanyeol leading Lady Wu away from the bar.

He got her hooked that fast?! Damn woman.

“I want to hear,” Joohyun says, walking over to turn on the broadcast tab Sehun had switched off temporarily. At once, Chanyeol’s deep voice comes on, but they are taken by surprise when Lady Wu jumps on the agent the second they enter the dimly lit pathway to the loo.

Joohyun gasps and turns to look at Sehun, but the latter barely notices, too fixated (and disturbed) by what he sees on the screens. To make it worse, the many cameras he had hacked into prior to this offers him an unwanted view of the kiss from all angles. Sehun hates that he’s so good at what he does sometimes.

To keep up with his act, Chanyeol had pushed their target up against the wall and was now kissing her back fiercely. “Do you have a room here?” He breaks away a second later to ask.

“Of course,” Lady Wu looks in a daze. Sehun didn’t even realise he was clutching his pen so hard until Joohyun wrestled it off him. “Let’s go.” Their target starts to lead Chanyeol to the back entrance of the bar.

“It’s just a mission, Merlin,” Joohyun reminds him. There’s a subtle gentleness to her voice that Sehun appreciates, and he whispers back, “I know.” He’s well aware Chanyeol is just being the professional he is, but it still hurts to see.

“So, beautiful lady like yourself—” Chanyeol engages Lady Wu in a conversation when they’re alone in the lift. The latter presses the button for the 17th floor and returns to the agent’s side. She’s obviously behaving herself and keeping her hands at her side because of the CCTV in the lift. Sehun sighs and pulls up the floorplan of the 17th floor before he begins to bring down the firewall of that floor’s security detail. “—wearing expensive clothes and a nice-smelling perfume… even the blind can see you’re walking in cash. Do you run a business, or perhaps, have a rich husband?”

“Husband,” she replies. “You don’t mind right?” She glances up at Chanyeol. “He’s barely around. Even now, I bet he’s not in our room… probably off spending time with some call girls. He was supposed to come to Macau for his pharmaceutical business. him. Let’s have some fun of our own,” she smirks, trailing her finger along Chanyeol’s jaw. The latter dips his head to Lady Wu’s neck and plants light kisses there in reply.

When they finally arrive at Lady Wu’s room, empty like she said it would be, she presses up against Chanyeol even before the door to the room swings shut. “Touch me, please. It’s been so long,” she wraps her arms around Chanyeol’s neck and jumps up to hook her legs around his waist.

Even with the bad lighting they can see the way she so desperately grinds down on him. “What a ,” Joohyun scowls and turns to look at Sehun again. “Wait! No, you put that down right now—” She grabs at Sehun’s arm, or more specifically the lighter in his hand. “It’s not worth it, Merlin. Don’t blow yourself up, or maybe do it when I’m not right next to you.” On the screen, Chanyeol drops Lady Wu onto the bed and crawls above her.

“Die, you !” Sehun growls and stands. Joohyun jumps on his back at once and the next second they both go tumbling on the floor.

They don’t even see Chanyeol feigning a kiss before he knocks Lady Wu out. “Sehun?” The said man stops wrestling with Joohyun when he hears his name being called, and the pair pops their head over the edge of the desk to stare at the screens. “Baby? Are you there? I knocked her out. Can you get the password of the safe for me? There should be something useful in there.”

At the silence he hears, Chanyeol walks up to the pinhole camera he had earlier planted on the television set when he