[Sungyeol’s POV]

Lunch that day was simple as usual. When I reached the table, Myungsoo and Woohyun hyung were busy munching their toasts while Sunggyu hyung was relaxing at the couch. He was reading the newspaper. That’s odd. He never reads newspaper.

I turned my attention to Woohyun hyung. He was staring at his cup of coffee. Then I turned to Myungsoo. He’s oblivious obviously.

“Hyung, you told me about a mission just now?” Myungsoo called soon after. Sunggyu glanced from his new routine and flipped the newspaper back before sitting at the chair beside me at the dining table.

“Yes. But where’s Sungjong and Seyong?”

“I saw Sungjong leaving the house. But Seyong I’m not so sure,” I answered him. I did saw Seyong actually. I saw him following Sungjong out of the house, more like bugging him but it’s not like I was going to tell that to Sunggyu hyung. He would just call them to be home early.

And Sungjong had been pretty stressed lately. He needed at least someone who’s close with his age to spend time with.

 -- --

[Nobody’s POV]

“Why are you following me again?” Sungjong stopped walking suddenly, almost making Seyong who’s following him from behind to bump onto him.

“No reason. I just feel we should get closer.”

“Why?”

“Just because.”

“That’s not a legit reason!”

“Have anyone told you you’re pretty?”

Sungjong stared at him long and hard. “Yes and no. Have anyone told you you talk a lot?”

“Yes and no. Look, I just need a tour around here. It’s been a while since I’m in Korea and I didn’t want to ask Sunggyu hyung since he’s in a bad mood just now. And you’re the only person of Infinite, is it? That I talked to till now.”

“You could have just told me that.”

“It wouldn’t be fun.”

“Shut up. Let’s go.”

“I like you already, Sungjong.”

-- --

(Myungsoo POV)

“I can’t allow you to do this,” Sungyeol said and pulled my arms over his shoulders. “It’s too dangerous.”

I laughed and pulled him into a tight and reassuring embrace. He was getting worried for no reason at all. It’s not like we hadn’t done missions like this before. It was typical for me to be the bait and the actor to take the subject into our trap. I was used to the job and it had become so easy to seduce any woman or even man to fall into our traps. I patted him at the back and whispered slowly.

“I’ll be okay. Don’t you worry.” Sungyeol let out a sigh of relief and I felt his hand brushing the back of my head gently.

“Okay. Just be careful.”

I nodded at his shoulder and finally let him go. I picked my fake luggage and walked out of the house. As I closed the door behind me, I saw Sungyeol faking a small smile at me. Sunggyu and Woohyun hyung was waiting for me in the car and as I sat at the backseat Woohyun hyung gave me an earpiece.

“There will be a ball at the mansion tonight. You’ll have to sneak into the bedroom and place the recorder there. I will also be disguising as a guest to back you up since your uncle would probably come. Sunggyu hyung and Sungyeol will stay in the van outside the mansion to make sure nothing goes wrong. Just make sure you stay away from any mechanical device, it’ll interrupt the static from the earpiece. Worst case scenario, we’ll lose connection and one of us could die.”

“You’ll stay in a nearby hotel for the mean time. The ball starts at eight, understand?”

I nodded. “Yes sir!”

-- --

For a European ball, the party was quiet loud. I thought it would be like the kind of party where you’d find in fairy tales like Cinderella and things like that but it was totally different. The music was blaring loudly and people were dancing like they’re drunk or something, which was good. It just made my mission a lot easier. I slipped pass the writhing bodies and saw Woohyun hyung talking to some lady by the stairs.

They were whispering very closely and Woohyun hyung was seductively playing with her with his y eyes. I hid my smile and walked passed them into the second floor. The second floor was much more quiet and deserted.

“I’m at the second floor,” I whispered. “Good. Turn left and you’ll see a big gold door. That’s the place.” Sunggyu hyung answered back through the earpiece.

“Okay.” I said and started walking casually towards the direction. I threw natural smiles to the guests as I slipped passed them and finally to the corner. At the end of the hallway, a big gold-painted door was visible. There were no guards around. That’s funny.

As I closed in on the door I noticed there was no handle or knob. I tried to see if there was a hidden lock somewhere but there wasn’t any. Suddenly I felt a hand touching my and I instinctively turned, just to see a big guy with a moustache curled on both sides and a hairy beard looking at me behind his glasses.

“L...” I heard Sungyeol’s voice calling me on the earpiece. I bit back my laugh at the obvious jealousy and smiled at the man.

“What is behind this door?” I asked in my fluent English.

“My bedroom,” He answered and I tried not to slap away his hand resting uncomfortably around my waist. He pulled me closer and whispered closely to my ear. “You wanna see?”

His breath reeks of wine and I almost vomited before nodding a yes.

He pulled out a card and inserted it to a socket on the door I didn’t notice before and pushed me by my waist as the door opened inwards. Suddenly there was static on the earpiece and I tried not to react as the sound was screaming on my right ear. Sungyeol’s voice sounded but was cut short here and there that I wasn’t able to understand a thing. Surreptitiously, I pulled the earpiece out of my ear and slipped it onto my coat pocket.

The best thing to do was put the recorder and then leave, I said to myself. As the door opened all the way in, I could finally see a bedroom. There was a bed laid neatly and some other things I wasn’t able to see when, suddenly, a hand pushing me harshly towards the bed. I heard multiple clicking sounds and when I turned, a dozen men were pointing their silencers at me.

“Kim Myungsoo or should I say, L? Your uncle had been talking about you.”

“!” I cursed under my breath.

(Sungyeol POV)

“We lost him!” Sunggyu hyung yelled. I muttered a curse and heard him calling for Woohyun hyung for help. He warned me not to get out of the van but it was too late. I was already making my way out into the mansion. As I ran in through the buzz of guests, I reloaded my gun, obtaining a few shrieks from the women and in a second the guests were running for their lives.

I was too absorbed to get to Myungsoo I had forgotten about the ball. I met with Woohyun hyung and we ran to the direction of the gold-painted door. The door was still opened inwards, thank god. Woohyun hyung instructed me with his hand signals to move slowly towards the door.

That’s when I heard it. A shout but it wasn’t Myungsoo’s. Then a few more shouts before I heard multiple gunshots rang through the air. Woohyun hyung and I nodded before running towards the door. When I entered the room, I was welcomed with pools of blood and slithering bodies with silencers dangling from their fingers and slashed with cuts. At the far corner of the room, Myungsoo was pointing his gun at a big man.

The man was trapped at the end of the wall with his arms to the back of his head as a peace symbol. I knew the men were defenceless against Myungsoo. I neared him and put my hand on his shoulder. He turned to me with the gun still pointing at the man. The moment he saw me, his face softened into a smile.

“I’ll take it from here,” Woohyun hyung said and pulled the gun from Myungsoo’s hand. Myungsoo murmured a thank you and I pulled him into a tight hug before he could get away.

“This is why I have bad feelings. I know something’s bound to happen.”

“What? I’m okay, right?” he answered back.

I loosened the hug to take a look at his face and saw a small cut by his left cheek. A small amount of blood was slowly making its way through the cut. Reflexively, I the cut, earning a yelp from the younger man.

“Yah! What was that for?” He pushed me away and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. I laughed my heads of with his expression. He hit me across the shoulder lightly but managed a laugh at the same time.