Tao, Sehun, Chanyeol, Lay and D.O stayed in Baekhyun’s room while the others did their preparations to move out to their assigned locations.

After much persuasion, Baekhyun was finally able to convince his friends that he really wasn’t sleepy at the moment and wouldn’t be able to sleep. Instead, they had him sit comfortably on the bed and eat some warm food. After that, they settled for some light conversation.

“I still don’t like staying here when all of you will be out …” Baekhyun muttered bitterly. “Come on, Baekhyun … just listen to us and rest up, ok?” Lay spoke gently “You’ll be back with us when you recover but please just take care of yourself for now …”

Baekhyun sighed deeply. He appreciates his comrades’ concerns and worries over him, he really does and he’s very thankful for them. But really, nothing, NOTHING will make him feel better other than the knowledge that Soojung is alive and well.

“I’ll be fine, hyung …” he simply said.

“Hyung … why didn’t you do it?” Sehun suddenly spoke, making Baekhyun look at their maknae. “What was that, Sehun-ah?”

“You are the best sniper we have. Even if you WERE injured, a target THAT CLOSE couldn’t possibly be missed …” Sehun continued with a cold voice.

It took a moment for Baekhyun to understand what he meant. Sehun was talking about Luhan.

“If you really wanted to save Soojung noona you --”

“Would you have done it?” Baekhyun answered, his face expressionless. Sehun bit his lip and looked down. “Would you have shot Luhan hyung if you were in my shoes?”

Of course, Baekhyun already knew the answer. Luhan was Sehun’s favourite hyung. To ask such a question was almost cruel. “Why are you asking me this, Sehunnie?” he changed the subject to lighten the mood.

Sehun sighed “I just wanted to know if, given that the hostage was not Soojung noona, you would have shot him …” then he smiled “Thank you, Baekhyun hyung.”

Baekhyun smiled back and patted the maknae’s head “Yes, Soojung is the most important person in my life. But that doesn’t mean I’d shoot someone like Luhan hyung … He’s my hyung too. I wouldn’t do that”

Baekhyun was not lying. Back in that moment, he had an extremely high chance of hitting Luhan cleanly but he was held back by his confusion. Though the desire to save Soojung was great, he just couldn’t pull the trigger. He wanted to ask the big question ‘Why?’ first. Just why was Luhan doing this?

A few minutes later, Suho entered the room, asking the ones inside to go prepare for their departure. “Stay here and get better first, ok, Baekhyun?” he said as Chanyeol exited the room. “Yeah, yeah, hyung. I got it.” He replied.

The EXO-K leader gave a small salute before exiting the room.

Sighing, Baekhyun laid back on the bed.

Soojung looked around. She could see nothing even remotely familiar.

The room she was in was small. A bed, table and chair and a door to a small bathroom were all there is. Four foot-sized square windows were placed high on the wall opposite the metal door which was the only exit. There were no sounds coming from the outside but she could see the blue sky, white clouds and occasional birds flying past.

After being dragged out blind-folded from the helicopter that night, she was immediately put in here and therefore she had no idea where she was and how long she had been there.

Moments later, the metal door clicked and creaked open revealing the tall, lean figure of Luhan as he entered the room.

“And how’s my wifey today, hmmm?” he answered with a bright smile as if there was nothing going on.

“DON’T.call.me.that.” Soojung glared at him, her voice dripping with poison as she emphasized every word. “Awwww … being a grouch on such a beautiful morning” Luhan pouted then walked over to place a tray of food on the table. 

Soojung kept her angry expression as she eyed Luhan then the food on the table and back. Unwilling as she may be to accept anything from her oppa who is now a traitor and a criminal in her eyes, she knows that her health is of prime importance. Dying of starvation without finding out anything, she couldn’t even begin to think about it.

“Come on. Eat …” Luhan urged and attempted to step closer to her. But the moment he did, she bolted up and squeezed herself onto the farther corner of the bed. Sighing audibly, Luhan stepped back “Fine …” he muttered and closed the metal door, making sure it clicked locked before leaning on it and fishing a small syringe out from his pocket and unwrapping it carefully. 

“You, being our ace student when it came to chemicals, should be able to know what this is at one glance, right?”

“… a Paralysis formula” Soojung muttered, her face a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

“Ding Dong Deng!” Luhan exclaimed and smiled goofily at her before rolling up his sleeve. “You’re not thinking of …” the girl gasped as Luhan positioned the needle on his mid-arm.

“Well, you’re not gonna eat anything no matter how much I ask, right?” he smiled but winced when he injected himself with the liquid. “