The thirteen agents stood before Agent Zero with straight backs and determination on their faces as they were called one Saturday afternoon into the headquarters. They were all doing their individual weekend activities when they suddenly received a message from the senior.

“Since Agent M isn’t present today, I will be explaining to you your next mission,” the grey-haired man said as he flipped through some paperwork. “Around approximately 1:30 PM while M-LX was doing their usual rounds around the city, they found three bodies of women in an alley in Itaewon.” He opened a folder and took out three glossy pictures, placing it down on his table for everyone to see.

The young agents’ eyes widened as they saw the horrible images. It was that of the dead bodies, but it was nothing like they expected. They were almost unrecognizable, their insides looking more like ground meat.

They tried not to gag at the sight.

“Do we know who did this?” Chen asked, taking one of the pictures for a closer look.

“Unfortunately no, and that is why we are sending you all to find out,” Agent Zero said. “The way these women got murdered…it is not something a human being can do. I will leave this mission to your hands and yours alone. I trust that you will be able to solve this.”

“Yes, sir!” they chorused.

“Very well then.” He nodded. “Ah, but before you leave, Agent M asked me to also say something else.”

They looked around at each other quizzically before Tao asked, “What is it, sir?”

Agent Zero smirked. “How does an official name for your special unit sound like?”

---

“We have arrived at your destination, Unit EXO,” the driver announced when the van came to a stop.

“Ah, EXO. So that’s who we are now.” Xiumin sighed, passing on the big duffel bags among the members of their unit.

“Isn’t it kind of corny? It's like a boy band name or something,” Kyungsoo scoffed, opening the bag handed to him and taking out the necessary weapons.

“What matters is we have an official name, so don’t complain,” Hyerin said while the boy raised an eyebrow at her. She grinned at him cockily before loading her guns. “Plus, we have new outfits now.”

Compared to their last uniform, their clothes now were much more comfortable and better looking. They were all clad in black fitted shirts that were tucked inside their black pants along with combat boots. Aside from their utility belts, they have compact containers strapped onto their biceps for their mobiles and other small gadgets. 

Kris checked his watch. “It’s already ten at night. Itaewon’s going to be busy soon so we better leave or else we’ll garner too much attention,” he said, tucking in a few knives in his belt.

“I can’t believe we’re in this kind of place,” Chen mumbled under his breath while helping Luhan with his belt.

“What do you mean?” Sehun asked, already prepared and ready to go out.

 “What do you mean ‘what do you mean?’” Kai snorted. “You know what he means.”

“Huh?” Sehun frowned. “Seriously, what do you mean?”

Chanyeol gave him a mocking look. “Dude. Come on, you know what this place is.”

Sehun gave him a blank stare before exclaiming, “Guys, I really don’t know! Would I even ask if I did!?”

At this point everyone stared at the boy incredulously.

“Sehun,” Suho started. “You’re saying that…you don’t know what Itaewon’s known for?”

“I don’t!” Sehun yelled out of frustration.

“…Okay.”

“I ain’t telling him.”

“Me too.”

“Tell him, Kris.”

“Hell no. You do it, Suho.”

“Um…I’d rather not.”

“Itaewon is known for its night life and the infamous Hooker Hill, Sehun,” Hyerin explained, having enough of the boys’ bickering. They stared at her with a mix of shock and amusement.

“H-Hooker…Hooker Hill?” Sehun stammered.

“Yep. The Hooker Hill speaks for itself. It’s located here at Itaewon where ion happens,” she deadpanned, putting her phone inside her mini-compartment. “So if you wanna get laid, this is the perfect place.” She winked at Sehun before squeezing herself through the boys and out the van.

Sehun stared at the ground, face turning into a very deep shade of red. “W-What…ion…hooker…l-laid…?”

Baekhyun gave him a sympathetic look. “Seriously, Sehun? You really didn’t know?”

“I-I just, I-…no,” he sighed.

“Let’s go, Sehun. Just forget about it.” Luhan lead the boy outside, trying very hard to keep himself from laughing.

Once they were out, they hid in the nearest alley and formulated their plan from there.

“Okay, so this is how it goes. We’ll split into groups consisting of those who will investigate the crime scene and those who will ask around. Try to conceal anything that’ll give away your identity,” Hyerin said.

“That’s pretty impossible when we have identical spy suits on,” Xiumin said.

“Here.” Lay came back from the van with several jackets, sweatshirts and hats.

Chen raised a brow. “Where did those-”

“Doesn’t matter. So who’s going to be asking around town?” Lay asked.

“We’ll split into two at least,” Hyerin said, rubbing her index finger under her chin. “I’ll take Chen, Lay, Suho and Luhan with me. We’ll investigate the crime scene. The rest should go and ask around.”

Without uttering any more words, the remaining split themselves into two and readied themselves.

“Can’t I go with you?” Chanyeol blurted out.

Hyerin gave him a look. “Why?”

"Uh," He wasn’t supposed to say that out loud. “Well, I just think that…you would need someone beside you if anything happens, y’know,” he reasoned.

Hyerin laughed and punched the taller one playfully. “C’mon, Yeol. I can take care of myself. And I have four guys with me, isn’t that enough protection?”

“Really? With Chen in your group you would be the one protecting him!” Chanyeol retorted.

“,” Chen scoffed. "I can electrocute you to death before you even get the chance to burn a strand of my hair.”

They chuckled at this while Chanyeol attempted to kick Chen on the shin.

“It’s okay, Chanyeol,” Hyerin reassured. “Look, if it’ll make you feel better I’ll trade with Baekhyun and be in your group instead.” 

Chanyeol almost felt his ears flapping with joy when Kyungsoo just had to cut into their conversation.

“Absolutely not,” he said.

Hyerin frowned at him. “And why not?”

“Inspecting dead bodies is way safer than going around the streets at night,” Kyungsoo scoffed. “And besides, if something happens to you, I won’t be going through the trouble of saving your again,” he added.

“And who said I would need any saving and, specifically, from you?" she challenged, raising an eyebrow. "I am perfectly free to do whatever I please."

"Cut it out with the sass."

The corners of her lips playfully tugged upwards. "And you have a problem with that? Why?"

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Because,” he said with finality.

She sighed, folding her arms. They were at it again. “Because,” she repeated. “Fine, fine. I won’t go.”

What a ing ! Chanyeol glared at the boy beside him before turning back to Hyerin dejectedly.

“Be safe,” he reminded.

Hyerin smiled at him and it once again caught him off-guard. Lately, she’s been doing that a lot, and he was yet to get used to it. “You, too.”

Chanyeol couldn't help the giggle that erupted from his throat. With that, he followed his respective group to town, leaving Hyerin confused and wondering.

The other four—Chen, Lay, Luhan and Suho—who have been watching the whole thing, gave her a teasing look.

“Wow, Hyerin.” Lay raised an eyebrow.

Chen rolled his eyes. “Well isn’t that just interesting to see,” he said, while Suho laughed.

“What?” Hyerin demanded, snapping out of her thoughts.

“My, my, Hyerin. Chanyeol, eh? Guess I have competition?” Luhan teased, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they started on the pavement.

“Competition for what? What the hell are you talking about?” she questioned.

“Nothing!” they chorused.

“es,” she huffed. “Let’s hurry so we can finish up early.”

The group made their way into the streets of Itaewon, the place slowly filling up with people. This part of the city was known for its bright lights and late night activities, attracting foreigners over. The gang found themselves walking with people of different nationalities.

It was not long before they had gotten into the deeper part of town. To be more particular, they were now in the red light district of Seoul—the Hooker Hill.

The lights at this location were dim compared to the inner city, various types of clubs and shops with bright neon signs lined both sides of the street. There were fewer people at the Hooker Hill, but that fact did not help their nerves even a bit. What with them being a bunch of teenagers in a red light district.

A few feet ahead of them, two women in little black dresses stood in front of one of the clubs, both probably waiting and looking for customers.

It was not long before they spotted the group of young agents approaching.

“Oh my god, what are we doing here?” Chen mumbled, looking down and pushing his bangs over his face out of embarrassment and guilt.

Hyerin sighed at the boy and couldn’t help but put a protective shoulder around him. “Take it easy.”

"My mom would be so dissapointed in me," he moaned.

“We should hurry up,” Suho said. “Cops might spot us and ask for identification.”

“We have fake I.D.'s, anyway,” Luhan said, fixing his beanie.

“Still, we can’t risk it. Better to get out of here clear of any problems. Let’s go.” This time, Suho led the way.

A half a mile later, they finally arrived at their destination. It was a very dark unnoticeable alleyway with a metal fence at the end of it.

“C’mon,” Lay whispered before climbing over the fence. The others followed suit and quietly made their way further into the dirty, narrow pathway.

After a few moments of walking further, they arrived at a small dark back lot, where their only source of light were the cars’ headlights passing by. It looked abandoned, with only large piles of garbage bags and puddles decorating the floor.

“Is this the right place?” Luhan asked, blinking a few times to adjust to the darkness.

“Pretty sure,” Lay said, taking out a small device from his small compartment. “At least that’s what the GPS told us.”

“There’s just trash in here,” the painter said. “I don’t see any-”

“Guys,” Chen called out in a shaky voice.

“Yeah?” Suho asked.

“I think I found it.”

With that, the gang crowded around the boy who was in front of the biggest pile of garbage bags in the place. They gasped, finally finding the three dead bodies before them.

They were barely recognizable as humans. All over their bodies were deep slash marks, their flesh jagged and torn apart. Their insides were either out or taken away, proof was the very noticeable hole in their chests down to their stomach. Their faces were slashed to the point where they couldn’t determine their features anymore. It was so gruesome that Hyerin and the others had to turn away for a couple of minutes to keep it together.

“Jesus Christ,” Suho hissed.

“I was looking through the garbage when I noticed a hand sticking out,” Chen explained. “I guess the M-LX people hid them for us.”

“Why couldn’t they just take out the bodies immediately? Explains the rotting smell in here,” Luhan said, nose crinkling. “Everyone would be suspicious of this place.”

“Well, they did tell us that this mission is entirely for us.” Hyerin shrugged. "Some kind of test, I guess."

Chen's face darkened. "They're human beings, not some ed up prop for newbie agents to play with."

“As much as I'd love to talk about the ethics of dealing with the dead, we need to work, guys,” Lay reminded, checking his watch. "We better be quick." 

“Okay, let’s get this over with,” she sighed, tightening her ponytail. “Who’s brave enough to help me search these corpses to look for evidence?”

The boys stood there motionless. Hyerin raised a brow as she waited for anyone to volunteer. “Anyone?”

“I’ll help you, Hyerin,” Suho spoke up, stepping closer to the bodies.

“I’ll help too,” Chen said.

The three proceeded to squat down over the dead, waving their hands in front of them to get rid of the smell. The other two, Luhan and Lay, watched as they did their work.

“Let’s start with this one,” Hyerin huffed, pointing to the one on the left. With that, they scooted over the dead and proceeded to search its body.

“I got a wallet.” Suho waved the leather wallet before opening it up. “Cho Boram. 22. Yonsei University. Majoring in music,” he mumbled while the others continued with the search. “Such a shame. She’s really pretty, too.”

“Oh, really? I don’t see how,” Luhan sarcastically remarked. 

Lay nudged him roughly on his side. "Too soon."

“What the hell? There’s nothing!” Hyerin exclaimed. “We’re touching this dead person for nothing. Ugh, we should’ve just asked around too,” she complained, but then suddenly had an idea. “Wait a sec. Chen help me out here.”

The boy gave her a questioning look. “With what?”

“We’re going to flip her around,” she said. “Go to the other side.”

Reluctantly, Chen followed her orders and went over to the other side of the woman. Without even a signal, Hyerin turned the body over, accidentally toppling it on top of Chen.

“Aaah! Get it off! Get it off me!” he yelled, but the poor boy was ignored as the rest of the gang stared at the dead girl’s body in horror.

“Guys, a little help here!?” Chen exclaimed, panicking.

“Shit,” Lay gasped.

“Oh, god,” Suho whispered, his hand clasping over his mouth in shock. Luhan couldn’t take his eyes off the corpse.

“Chen…” Hyerin mumbled, looking as if she’d seen a ghost.

“What!? Oh, screw you guys,” he sighed, pushing the body off of him as hard as he can. “Now what is it that you guys are freaking out about?” As the body landed on his side, he turned it over to see the back.

He too, had the same reaction as the others. “Oh god,” Chen muttered, eyes widening.

Burned and engraved on the dead woman’s back was the biggest, most horrifying ‘L’ they had ever seen.

---

Baekhyun cringed under the sultry, piercing stares of the women a few feet away from where they stood, hanging his head low and fixing his glasses as to not make anymore eye contact.

“Are they done yet?” he asked impatiently.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “For the last time, Baekhyun, they are not. You’ve been asking that question since we arrived, stop acting like a !”

“Well excuse me for being such a ! It just so happens that I don’t normally go to these kinds of places!” the bespectacled boy exclaimed.

Kyungsoo scoffed. “Your band plays after dark, are you sure you’re not lying? How do I know you're not involved in stuff like this?”

“I’m just a band vocalist, D.O.”

“Only a band vocalist?"

“You are all kinds of messed up-” Baekhyun stopped himself and sighed. “Why are we even talking about this?”

Just in time, Chanyeol and Kai walked out of the fifth nightclub they’ve been in that night.

“So?” Kyungsoo raised a brow. “Did you get anything?”

Kai sighed dejectedly. “No. People here are really shady, overprotective, and self-preserving most of all. I can’t get anything out of them,” he said, running a hand through his jet-black hair.

“All they really care about is if you want to get laid. If you don’t then they really don’t want anything to do with you,” Chanyeol added. “Oh, but the lady did say something about this one nightclub. Right, Kai?”

“Yeah, she did.” The teleporter rubbed his chin, thinking about it. “We were asking her if there was anyone in here that was suspicious and she said that there’s this one club that’s pretty shady compared to the others. They said this place had special customers and that they had standards for letting people in,” he scoffed. “Why would you put up standards in a place like that?”

“Then we better check that place out,” Baekhyun spoke up. “It might be a slim chance they’d let us in but it doesn’t hurt to go there to see for ourselves.”

And so the gang took the address from the lady and proceeded to head to their destination. It was located at the dead end of Hooker Hill, making it stand out since it had its own building. There were no flashy lights or signs, but there were bouncers that indicated that it was certainly a club.

As what Baekhyun predicted, they were not permitted to come in.

“We pretty much can’t do anything about it right now,” Kyungsoo said. “If we can’t get in, we can’t get in.”

“We should go back to the others and see what they got,” Kai suggested.

“Alright. I’ll text them to meet up at our original spot,” Baekhyun said, taking out his phone.

“Can you teleport us back?” Chanyeol asked. “I’m too lazy to walk.”

Kai gave him a dirty look before starting back on the pavement. “Just shut up and walk.”

---

It was not long before the respective groups met up with each other. Everyone was tired and wanted to go home, but they had to at least share what they found.

“We took a look at the bodies,” Hyerin started. “The letter ‘L’ was carved and burned into their backs. All three of them–we checked. It was sick. We have to do more research on what that means.”

“It was hard collecting information from the people here. But we did learn that this new club at the end of the street is kind of suspicious,” Kris said. “They said it’s no ordinary club. Ever since that place opened, suspicious men would be coming in and out of there.”

“I think we got the same info,” Kyungsoo said. “The lady we asked earlier said the same thing.”

“Perfect.” Hyerin grinned. “We should go check it out then.”

“We already did. They didn’t let us in,” Baekhyun replied.

“Yeah, they didn’t answer our questions too,” Tao offered.

“Then we break in!” Hyerin suggested. “It’s so easy. There must be a way in there-”

“No way, Hyerin. That’s too dangerous,” Chanyeol cut in.

“It doesn’t make any sense if we break in. We don’t even know what’s in there. It’s better to come prepared than mindlessly attack,” Lay said.

“C’mon you guys, we aren’t trained for nothing,” Hyerin retorted. “It’s not anything that we can’t handle.”

“Still, you don’t know that,” Chanyeol snapped, trying to refrain himself from saying anything stupid.

Hyerin scoffed. “Seriously, Chanyeol? You have fire as your power, you think you can’t burn that whole place down?”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say. What about you? You think you can handle whatever's in there?” he asked heatedly, slowly losing patience.

Hyerin frowned at the boy. “I’ll be perfectly fine! Stop worrying about little things like that when we’re on a mission-”

“You just don’t get it, do you? Your safety is not a little thing, Hyerin, you can get hurt!” Chanyeol exclaimed, catching the girl off-guard.

The others looked away, fearing that the tension might get out of hand.

She shook her head and threw her hands in defeat. “Okay. Fine. We won’t,” she said dryly. “You guys can go ahead. Chanyeol, can I have a word with you?”

With that, the others went over to the vehicle while Hyerin pulled the boy to the side.

She looked up at him with big intense eyes. “What the hell was that?”

Chanyeol ran a frustrated hand over his face before leaning back against the wall. “I’m just worried.”

Hyerin wanted to laugh. "About what, Chanyeol? My safety? You know for a fact that I’m fully capable, why are you worried now?”

“Just because you’re good in fighting doesn’t mean you can’t die, Hyerin! Maybe you should stop being so impulsive all the time and think about the situation for once!” he exclaimed.

“Says the guy who thinks perfectly rational all the time!” she snapped back. “You know, I am so tired of you being so clingy to me and being so worried about everything I do! I am not your child, I am not your girlfriend or your wife and I’m sure as hell not your business. So just stop.”

Chanyeol stared at her in bewilderment. He didn’t understand. Was it such a bad thing to be concerned about someone? “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Hyerin didn’t budge under his gaze.

“I appreciate your concern but I can take care of myself,” she said, walking away.