[Nobody’s POV]

“Okay so here’s the information. The new ally, I found out about them but I don’t know their attention yet. They handle nuclear weapon.”

“Nuclear weapon?” Everybody exclaimed. Nuclear weapon was one of the biggest businesses with the smallest amount of people involved. It involved a lot of money and could give instant fortune to the people involved. However, nuclear weapon could be deadly if it fell to the wrong hands.

“Yes. And the group named Loen is an accomplice of the agency. And hear this, they had an undercover building in Manwondong with almost a thousand staff working under them. However, he staff didn’t know about the business. They thought it was a normal bank.”

“Wait,” Hoya suddenly stopped Sunggyu. “Bank? My sister is an accountant of a bank in Manwondong. I think she worked there and maybe she found out about something. That’s why she was killed.”

“Yes, could be but we still need to be sure. How about working undercover?” Sunggyu suggested.

“Me? Isn’t that L’s job?” Hoya looked almost shock. He never did undercover job before. And he didn’t think he could act at all. But Sunggyu just nodded and ran his gaze to Dongwoo.

“Dongwoo you’ll be helping him. Since you two are the closest I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, right? And that’s an order. I’ll give your fake identities in a while. Hoya, you and Dongwoo will disguise as new workers. There’s an office at the top floor. Go there and try to find any evidence at all that can relate the bank to Loen. Then scan it using this,” Sunggyu threw a sleek silver coloured phone to Dongwoo. “The information will be directly sent to me. Then leave. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Yes sir!” Dongwoo made a salute to Sunggyu.                                                                                              

“And I mean you Dongwoo. You’re reckless.”

“Sorry sir!”

Sunggyu tried to keep a straight face to the bubbly Dongwoo before looking back to the rest of them. “The rest of you stay here. Woohyun and I had some plan up our sleeves.” Sunggyu sneered.

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?” Sungyeol remarked.

“What do you mean?” Woohyun asked.

“Sunggyu hyung’s mind is like Hitler’s and yours is like a serial killer. Together? I don’t even want to think of the possibilities,” Sungyeol shook his head a few times and moved his body so he looked like he was trembling.

“You remember last month they sent us to Greenland? And it’s not even green there! Winter training? I’m going to kill you if you do that again,” Sungjong added.

“Hey, but I had fun there. Didn’t everybody?” Myungsoo suddenly asked. He put his hand over his mouth when Sungyeol and Sungjong glared at him through hooded eyes.

“Anyway, this time it’s different. I promise. Everybody’s going to enjoy this. Hoya and Dongwoo can join us when they’re done with the mission, no excuses. Okay, so back to business, both of you can take the car tomorrow and leave in the morning.”

Everybody nodded.

-- --

[Sungjong’s POV]

I bit my lip and suppressed my laughter. This is too funny. How could the hyung ever think of doing this? They should think of this sooner instead of sending us to Greenland. I put my hand over my mouth so the laughter wouldn’t escape. I peeked at Sungyeol hyung again and finally burst out laughing.

“I told you, you can’t cheat, right?” Woohyun hyung was laughing his heads off. I noticed him leaning against Sunggyu hyung comfortably and wondered since when they showed their affection in front of everybody. I knew they cared out each other but it never involved touching and leaning and stuff like that.

Myungsoo hyung beside me at the sofa was burying his face in the knees to muffle the sound of his laughter. I mean, everybody was laughing at the scene. Sungyeol hyung dresses like a girl and dancing a girl group dance.

It started with a board game. It’s the combined ideas of Sunggyu hyung and Woohyun hyung. When you throw the dice, and moved forward or ascend, you get a scoop from the ice cream placed in the middle of the table as a prize. But when you descend, you have to make 10 runs around the house. It was their main idea. Exercises, the fun way.

The problem was there were many traps and we keep descending one by one. Even Woohyun hyung and Sunggyu hyung made at least 100 runs each. But no one expected Sungyeol hyung to cheat. As a result, he had to dress as a girl and make his own original performance.

When he was done, and everyone else stopped laughing, Sungyeol hyung sat beside Myungsoo hyung. Myungsoo hyung quickly wrapped his arm around his shoulder for the job well done. I had to divert my eyes elsewhere.

“You’re not going to change?” Sunggyu hyung asked eyeing his short skirt. Sungyeol hyung grinned and pulled the cushion on his knees to protect his skinny legs from the eyes of the hungry men. I laughed. Sometimes he was so unpredictable.

“It’s okay. But let’s not get your uality confused, okay?” Myungsoo hyung remarked suddenly, sending everyone into fits of laughter.

“If I have my gun now, I swear I’ll shoot that mouth of yours.”

“Really? It’s the mouth that had been kissing you every night. Are you sure?”

That sent the living room to silence.

“You two are...” Woohyun hyung’s words trailed off.

The second silence.

I felt the hole in my heart getting bigger. I raised my eyes and met with Sunggyu hyung’s eyes. He knew about my feelings. Nobody else besides him knew. I didn’t know why he never said anything or comfort me when situation like these happened but he was always looking and watching my expressions.

“Whose turn is it?” Sunggyu hyung broke the silence. “It’s you right, Woohyun? Roll the dice.” He said and peeked at me again. I returned the gaze and nodded slightly, telling him that I was okay. He seemed satisfied and turned his attention back to the game.

“Yes! You descended! 10 runs hyung!” Myungsoo hyung said excitedly. Woohyun hyung stood up and began pulling his shirt off from his head, exposing us to his milky abs. He had the best body among us. Then he ran to the door and began running. “Show off!” Myungsoo hyung yelled.

The game ended at about 2 AM when Sunggyu hyung reached the 100^th box. We all cheered excitedly. Everybody was exhausted and literally dragged themselves to the bed. I was about to leave when Sunggyu hyung suddenly grabbed my hand. Only both of us were left in the living room.

“You okay?” he asked sitting back down on the couch. I sat beside him. I wasn’t okay to tell the truth. I met with Myungsoo hyung first in the agency but Sungyeol hyung caught his attention in just one night. I let him go. I didn’t fight for him and he slipped away from my hands just like that.

“Truthfully, no.”

“I’m sorry,” Sunggyu hyung said, exhaling a long breath. He put his hand on my back and patted it gently. I found that quite soothing and leaned my head on his shoulder.

“Why are you sorry?” I asked, staring at the fireplace.

“For not taking care of you. I can’t do anything. It’s their choice. You should let go, Sungjong.”

I perked up and looked at him in the eye. “Would you let go of Woohyun hyung?”

“That’s different.” He said and I found that answer so unreasonable. “Why is it different? Why are my feelings towards Myungsoo hyung any different from your feelings? We liked someone who doesn’t like us. They’re the same. You and me.”

“But Woohyun hyung and I are friends. We’re not from the agency!”

“Are you saying just because I’m from the agency, I’m emotionless? Heartless? Is that it?”

“You got this the wrong way Sungjong!” His voice became louder and I’m surprised nobody came out from the rooms to stop us. I stood up but Sunggyu hyung grabbed my hand before I could budge. His grip was strong and I felt my wrist getting sore. Finally he stood up and forced me to face him.

“I’m helping you Sungjong. I know how it felt to be lost.” His raised his brows to convince me but I slipped from his grip and pushed him away roughly.

“I don’t need your help!” I smirked and walked quickly to my room. I met with Woohyun hyung in the hallway and he stared at me with his eyes. He was in this with Sunggyu hyung, I knew it! I shoved past him and slammed the door shut after reaching my room. I leaned against the door and slowly, my legs gave away. I sat on the floor and straightened my legs.

My legs were hurting from the running. I ran my hand on some spots and squeezed lightly. It hurts like hell. I wished Myungsoo hyung was here. He would help me with them.

I collapsed to my bed in exhaustion. The training was taking its toll on me. My body ache all over and I thought I could die any moments now. The general only gave us a half an hour rest before we need to be back in the mud. I felt like crying. What did I do to deserve this?

When I first set foot in this place with my parents, I thought we were just visiting. They told me it was a family visit and they wanted me to meet my uncle, the general. I didn’t like him one bit. He smelt funny, like gasoline and he always had that stare. It scared the hell out of me. Then I met the president in his office, whose soon I found out was Myungsoo hyung’s uncle. He was sitting on his comfortable chair with his legs on the table. The moment he saw me, he smiled. He was expecting me.

I felt my father’s grip on my shoulder loosened immediately and my mother untangled our fingers for the first time since we came in the agency. I turned and saw her crying. My father had pulled her out of the office but I also saw his red eyes. I was puzzled.

“Where are they going?” I asked the president.

“Your parents sold you. You’re one of my people now.” I remembered him saying that. I got in the same room as Myungsoo hyung and Dongwoo hyung. They had been there longer than I knew. We became friends. I cried, almost every night and they were always there to help me. Myungsoo hyung would let me sleep with him in his arms and sang a soldier’s lullaby I never heard of.

“You’re dead?” I heard a voice from the door and raised my face slightly to see Myungsoo hyung entering the room. He was drenched, in mud. His pretty face got hard mud all over it and all I could see were his eyes and pink lips. He threw his boots to the side and sat on the wooden floor. The floor was dirty with patches of mud but we didn’t bother to clean it up. Usually there’s a cleaner that come once in a few days to clean the room.

“I feel dead,” I answered. I changed my position so I was sitting on the bed instead of lying on it. The white sheet of my bed had dark brown smudges over it. I had collapsed into it without considering my muddy clothes. “My legs are killing me.”

“Let me help with that.” He moved closer to me on the floor and straightened my leg. Then he began massaging it. He moved to my other leg next just as the general called us back to training. He could have massaged his own legs but no. He didn’t.

Came the time when I did my first kill. It was eleven months after I started staying there. I got called one night to the office and the president threw a silencer at me. I caught it with trembling hands. I knew everybody did the job, it was compulsory because Dongwoo hyung told me on my first night there. But realizing I was going to kill a man, someone else’s family member was worst than I thought.

After almost a year in the agency, I had forgotten how it felt to be outside. The guard beside me drove our truck to a neighbourhood I wasn’t familiar. In fact, I was unfamiliar with anything. He stopped in front of a very homely looking house. It was Halloween and I didn’t know it. The house had decorations and elves decoration in front at the yard. The trees had tissue papers over it and carved pumpkins were everywhere. At least I still remember how Halloween was celebrated.

“It’s that house. Kill the man named Mr. Hopkins.” The guard said in a weird dialect. He wasn’t from Korea, maybe Russian. I nodded and hid the silencer in my coat. I stepped out of the truck and walked up the pavement. I knocked on the door and a second later, it opened.

A man around the age of forty stood in front of me. He had a thick curly moustache and short brown hair combed to one side. His glasses had red coloured rim and it sparked from the light above the threshold.

“Here’s your...” he looked at me from top to bottom. “That’s an unusual choice of costume you got there, young lad,” He said smiling. I hesitated. I heard voices from inside the house He had a family.

“Mr. Hopkins?” I asked. He smiled again and nodded. “I didn’t know I’m famous in the neighbourhood.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered and pulled the gun and shot him, right in the heart. He collapsed into the house and a woman appeared behind him. She screamed and it echoed in the house. “Why did you kill him?” She cried. I took a hesitant step back and turned but the kids trick or treating along that road had heard of the scream. They started running towards the house. I hid the silencer back in my coat as I struggled to make way through the crowd of children forming.

But suddenly I stopped. I could run. Maybe. Just maybe, I could find back my parents. But reality hit me. I didn’t remember my house or even the faces of my parents. My new house is the agency, and my family members are Myungsoo hyung and Dongwoo hyung. I raised my face to see the guard calling me into the truck with his hand. I ran in and we left the place.

I felt like crying when I reached the agency. Not only did I let go of my only chance of escaping, I even killed someone else’s husband. I opened the door to my room to see Myungsoo hyung sleeping soundly on his bed. Dongwoo hyung wasn’t there. I lay down beside Myungsoo hyung. He had his back on me and I turned towards him and wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his back.

He woke up immediately. “Are you crying?” He whispered.

“I killed someone today,” I sobbed. He turned his body so he was facing me and pulled my head into his chest. He held me in his arms that night and sang his weird soldier’s lullaby. I cried my hearts out that night as I fell asleep in his arms. He was my family. I had no one but him.