Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh the chapter before the last. Writing this was actually really freaking difficult. I had a lot of feels last night writing this chapter and had to vent on Tumblr about it lols.

Thanks once again for following this story (which literally has been like 4 years in the making sorry)! Without further ado, here is the rest of the chapter ^-^

That sharp look, filled with anger and hatred, was not something that Jongin would soon forget. It was a look that did not need words to explain. It was the same look that Jongin had in Kris’s office and the same look he had at the mall, looking at the collapsing corpse of Luhan’s original shooter. Jongin was become familiar with this feeling.

This haunting look was from Sehun, however, after Luhan had been put on the stretcher. They were wheeling him through a passage of doors before they reached locked ones labeled “authorized personnel only”. Jongin had tried to go in with them to stay by Luhan’s side but if Sehun’s looks could kill, then Jongin would be long dead.

He was not intimidated by the pale, lanky facility employee, no. What unsettled him was the cause of this glare, considering he knew his own impetus behind this all-consuming feeling. He was well-aware that he regarded Luhan as someone special to him but what about Sehun?

It had already been a full day since arriving back at the facility. After a routine workout that seemed to be ingrained into his muscle memory, he went back to his bleak white room where he had tossed and turned the night before. Although the doctors had already told Jongin that the bullet wounds were not serious and about how lucky Luhan was, it still did not give Jongin the peace of mind that he needed. He needed to be with Luhan right now.

He saw the scene over and over again in his mind, as Luhan fell to the floor in pain clutching his arm. It would not leave him no matter what he did. So he accepted it and let it fuel on his rage. He suspected that Kris had been behind the attempted assassination, which means Kris would be his target. And if that wasn’t reason enough to end his life, he was told to by the higher authority as well.

Jongin had been called into a dark office where he generally got his instructions from the higher ups. It was a lab more than an office. Everything was white and the furniture was sparse other than the table, two chairs, and a white bookshelf which had very little on it.

“You were careless during your mission.” The man said. Jongin did not reply to that and the man continued without pause. “Now that we have a loose end, we need to fix it. Find Kris and kill him.”

Bzzzz.

Jongin frowned as he walked towards the source of the sound.

Bzzzz. It sounded again. Jongin had almost forgotten that he left the phone Joonmyun gave him in his pants, which were discarded in the small bathroom of his room. Oh right, Joonmyun. He closed the door in the bathroom knowing that the cameras would not be spying on him there.

“Kai? Oh thank God you picked up!” Came Joonmyun’s voice, as obnoxious as the day they had met but without the cheerfulness it once contained. “I heard a brief gist of what happened. Is Kris dead?”

“No.” Jongin would like to change that though. He heard a long silence on the line before the other spoke up again.

“Did you reveal your abilities to him by any chance?”

“Yes. Why?”

A sharp intake of breath. “Kai, I need to ask something of you. I’m not asking through SM but I’m asking you as a person. They’re going to tell you to kill him. I’ve heard of how SM works. Please find it in your heart not to do this. I will compensate you for it in any way that you want, I’ll double what SM is paying you.”

“They don’t pay us.” Jongin tried to think, really tried to search through his memories about this but it seemed to be true. They were mere slaves to the facility’s wishes. Besides, Kris had tried to hurt Luhan, and he was not about to be bought out before he can exact his revenge.

“Is there anything else you want? Anything at all in exchange?” Joonmyun pleaded, Jongin could hear the strain in his voice.

Jongin was quiet for a bit. What did he want? Having missed part of his life to be at the facility, having killed so many people, he should have a million things that he wants. He doesn’t want to be a slave here forever. He wants to be out in the free world. He wants all his memories back, even if they end up destroying him. He wanted to be human. And he wanted, more than anything, for a certain blonde boy to be back by his side.

“Freedom.” He laughed bitterly. “But that’s not something you’re offering, is it?” Maybe Luhan was right. If he craved all these things just because of the week that he had spent with him, then the constant yearning all these years would have destroyed him.

“--- Possibly.” Came the reply. Jongin’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. What did he mean? “I just need you and Luhan to finish the mission I had given you without hurting Kris. I called him earlier today and he has a lead on where to go. Luhan is smart enough to figure out where SM put the tracker in you and if you two do manage to escape, I will take care of the rest. You guys will have new identities and enough money to go to anywhere else in the world.”

This deal was too good to be true and Jongin could not help but be suspicious. Sure Joonmyun was probably one of the richest businessmen in Korea but his actions and his words didn’t match up. Jongin didn’t know much about business but if the rival company is out of the way, that should be a benefit right? Something was off but he didn’t get time to consider it before he heard a loud boom and that shook the whole facility.

“Kai?” Joonmyun called out, hearing the noise in the background.

Boom. It went again only this time only this time, it was closer and louder. Jongin looked at the direction of the noise and saw that a crack had appeared on his wall. The crack split and got bigger and bigger, spreading in a wicked sprint up the wall and across the ceiling. One more boom before the ceiling above him cracked and a large chunk of plaster fell. Jongin teleported out of the room before it hit him.

“Kai? Is everything alri—“ Kai stuffed the phone in his pocket, effectively hanging up on the elder. He had one thing on his mind: Luhan. The problem was, he wasn’t sure exactly where the elder was recovering. He was sure that the blonde boy was still put in a medical ward to recover but he didn’t know where. So he flashed to outside the doors where they had originally taken him to do the surgery.

In the distance, he heard shouting and gunshots. The entire facility was shaking and pandemonium broke loose in the halls. Not far from where he appeared, he witnessed a man fall with a bullet to the head slumped against the wall. By the looks of his uniform, Jongin could only assume that he was military or government of some sort. Behind a pile of wreckage, he could see two men fighting. One was in the same uniform, pointing a gun and shooting at the target while the small boy, who Jongin recognized as another case due to his emotionless composure at the face of danger, dodged with lightning fast reflexes.

He teleported to the other side of the door and began running through the long halls, which were once white but now filled with rubble and broken pieces of construction. He ran past every room, looked through all the doors, but Luhan wasn’t here.

He quickly teleported to another floor of the facility where he remembered staff medical wards would be. Running around, he saw researchers and other members of the facility doing the same, some trying to hide, but all with guns in their hands. So even the researchers carried guns with them, Jongin observed bitterly. Our lives were worth next to nothing as to have everyone be armed with a gun in case someone got out of hand? He was thoroughly disgusted.

As he continued his journey running blindly down the halls, his eyes caught sight of a giant looming door that stood out from the rest. Pushing it open hastily, he found himself in a giant chamber with high ceilings that looked like a huge warehouse. There was wreckage everywhere but he saw immediately a metal door on the other side of the room. He was about to teleport when another piece of the ceiling caved in right in front of him though and caused the dust to rise all around him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a familiar lanky figure standing not far away from him, training the gun on his face.

Sehun. The look in his eyes screamed murder as they glared at each other from midway across the room.

“Where’s Luhan?” Jongin demanded. “Is he in there?” He beckoned to the door.

“Why should I tell you?” Sehun spat out. His finger was perched dangerously on the trigger. Jongin could sense Sehun’s protectiveness over the blonde boy.

“I’m trying to help him.” Jongin said. “Where is he?”

“Shut up! You couldn’t even protect him earlier. He’ll be safe and hidden away in the bomb shelter.”

It was clear that the whole facility was going down. Even if the bomb shelter was safe, who knows how long they’ll be trapped under the rubble. When they do get out, where would they go? SM is a facility that tortured and tested human beings so he wouldn’t imagine that they would be tried as anything but criminals. And if worse came to worse, Luhan might be taken as an experiment again. The doe-eyed boy would not be safe in either of the situations and both Jongin and Sehun knew that.

“The place is going down and you know it. I can get him out of here.” Sehun kept his gun aimed at the tan male. Although his stance for holding the gun was trained, Jongin knew that Sehun had never fired it before with the intention to harm. He saw the brunette waver, his eyes were those of a kid's and they betrayed him.

Sehun didn’t lower his gun but cocked his head to his right rather than the steel door behind him.

“He’s through this door, under the ground.”

Jongin looked to where he had beckoned and indeed he made out a trap door barely disguised to fit in with the rest of the flooring. The two exchanged a nod before the tan male had disappeared.

Sehun lowered his gun and let his arms hang loose against his sides. He looked up at the cracking ceiling and knew this would be for the best. He didn’t like the man but he could tell that he was genuine. Most importantly, he knew Luhan would be safe now.

Jongin appeared with a soft click from a black tear in space. The bomb shelter was larger than he expected and a dull white, grimier than the facility itself. There were many researchers in here, including the higher ups that Jongin have occasionally received instruction from. They were all shocked to see him, most of them froze at the sudden intrusion.

“Jongin!” He heard the sweet voice cry out and immediately saw Luhan, who sat on the floor, leaned against the side of the wall.

Jongin immediately appeared in front of the boy, kneeling down in front of him. From the boy’s loose collar, he could see bandages wrapped all around his shoulder and arm. “Are you okay?”

Luhan nodded with a smile. “I’m so glad you’re safe, Jongin.”

The mood of the room was tense. Even more so now that case 83070004KAI had entered the room. They were scared now that they weren’t in control anymore. Even though they vastly outnumbered the two, they all knew of his skills and that he could turn the room into a slaughterhouse if he chose to. More so than scared, some of them were baffled at his blatant ignorance of everyone else in the room except for the one other case they had in there, which they had planned to use as a bargaining chip to sell off to the military or national security.

Behind him, Jongin could hear the cocking of a gun. He turned and faced an older man, whom he briefly recognized as someone in charge of his training. He had his gun pointed at Jongin but was visibly shaken.

“You freaks. You caused this. All of you are the same, we should have killed you earlier and now look where it’s led us.” He spat out.

The look on Jongin’s face was apathetic. Apathetic towards the man who had caused him so much harm. His threats were worth nothing now. It gave Jongin some satisfaction to see what they had been reduced to. Although he would have personally liked to end his life, he knew something else had to come first. He turned back towards Luhan, wrapped his arm around him, and took them both out of the crumbling facility.

The facility had been located in the clearing of dense woods. It was a simple building with barely any windows and all in a sickly white. Over time, the white had turned grey and brown but now, they were just brittle, fallen pieces that no longer could be of use to anyone.

Jongin brought them into the thick forest, far enough from the site of the destruction so that they won’t be spotted but close enough to see what was going on. Jongin immediately saw tanks, which he concluded was the reason for the destruction of the building, and military men evacuating from the building. As if with a final groan, it finally collapsed in on itself. Simultaneously, Luhan let out a small cry, praying in his heart to anyone who would listen, in hopes that the brown haired boy who had been Luhan’s first real friend, would be okay.

“Luhan, are you feeling better?” Sehun asked after Luhan had ended his call on a foreign cell phone, his brows were knitted in worry.

“Yeah, a lot better. The pain medicine is really helping I think.”

Sehun was still not convinced. He took a seat next to Luhan on the bed and brushed down a strand of hair that had been sticking up at an awkward angle.

“I missed you, hyung. It was lonely here without you.” Luhan smiled. He knew Sehun wanted attention whenever he called him ‘hyung’. “Are you back to stay again?”

“I don’t know Sehun-ah. I think we have yet to finish the mission but I don’t know if this shoulder is going to hold Jongin back or not. If it does, I don’t want to cause trouble for him and he might have to go alone.”

The mention of the tanned male made Sehun pout. “But I can’t protect you if you’re not here.”

Luhan ruffled the brown locks on the other’s head. “I’m the older one. I should be protecting you.”

“But even so,” Sehun started again, but instead of finishing this sentence, he put his hand on the elder’s cheek. But even so, I’ll always protect you no matter what.

Luhan was openly crying now, burying his face in the crook of Jongin’s neck. If he had been stronger, maybe he could have helped. What good was a power that couldn’t keep people from being hurt?

While Jongin rubbed Luhan’s back in an attempt to comfort the crying boy, he had a million questions swarming in his head right now. Why is the military here? How come it’s just now finding out about what the facility really does? Why is the military just destroying everything? Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed something in the sky. He looked up and saw a shape—no, a man. He was high in the sky as standing as casually as if he had been taking a stroll. He too seemed to be observing the havoc. There he stayed for a little while and at the collapse of the building, he seemed to be satisfied and disappeared in the opposite direction. Although the person was far away, Jongin would never mistake that looming form. It was Kris.

YES I JUST DID THAT AND YES I HATE MYSELF FOR IT TOO.

ing Sehun ugh. HE'S MY ING BIAS AND LOOK WHAT I DID TO HIMMMMMMMMMM. So many feels last night while writing T_T

But dun dun dunnnnnn what was Kris doing there? What was his involvement with this chapter? Tune in to the last chapter to figure it out!

Yeah so I really rushed through this chapter because I at action-y scenes and because when I actually read action scenes, I go into super speed-read mode. On another note, I see other authors write some deep, dark with lots of feels and I keep wondering if they ever get this caught up in their feels as well.

-random note-

Also, I kinda feel bad for making Luhan to seem so weak tbh. But you know how this story came to be in my head? So one day I was at the gym and there are these televisions in the weight area. As I was doing crunches, I watched briefly this scene that somewhat resembled the mall shooting scene I wrote. I didn't know the name of the movie or what it was but then later that night, I had a dream that looked like EXO's Lucky One. And then somehow, this general idea came into my head. So you could say that I just gave Luhan the female lead and Kai the male lead.

-end-

Anyways, try not to spoil anything in the comments pleaseeeee c: Share your thoughts with me hehe~ Comments always welcome.

Gif credit: seluphilia