Over the time, Leeteuk had learned how to stay cool under Sungmin’s menacing glare. When the blonde stepped in his office, sat down across his desk, folded his arms and glowered at him, Leeteuk knew he was in for it. But nevertheless, he was ready to stand his ground. He reclined on his swivel chair, clasped his hands behind his neck and grinned at the scowling man.

“Well, Sungmin. I’m proud of you.” He praised. “You’ve lasted the whole month without killing Kyuhyun or Eunhyuk. That’s an impressive feat for you.”

“Uh-huh.” He hummed dully. “I want out. Now.”

“But why? Things seem to be moving along pretty well—”

“Eunhyuk’s unbearable, Kyuhyun’s smartass attitude is enough to make me pull all my hair out and you promised me only one month.” He stated. “So as of now, I no longer wish to be affiliated with the likes of them—not that I ever wanted to be in the first place.”

Leeteuk sighed. “I hate to break it to you, Sungmin, but—”

“You’re not doing this to me again, Leeteuk.” He interrupted scornfully. “I’ve had enough of those two. Either you get rid of them or I feed them to a pack of hungry wolves.”

He snorted. “Where would you get a pack of wolves?”

“I know a guy.” He revealed tonelessly. “Now, do we have a deal or not?”

“I’m afraid not, Ming.” Leeteuk stated firmly, albeit feeling a teensy bit worried that he might wake up tomorrow and find Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk’s mauled remains on his doorstep. “We still haven’t found a partner for them yet so you have to stay with them for a little bit longer.”

“How much longer?”

“A month or two, maybe.” He replied. “Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll throw in some extra cash for you, okay?”

Although Sungmin appeared to consider his offer for a moment, he soon went back to giving Leeteuk a glare that could kill. “Why do I have to stay with them? Can’t the two of them just work together, without a third party?”

“I tried that once.” His expression turned solemn. “Let’s just say it didn’t work out too well. Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk are a nice pair but together, they’re a bomb waiting to explode. They need a glue to hold them together, and until I find someone else, you’ll have to be that glue.”

“Fine,” he stood up huffily. “But I can’t promise I won’t kill them this time around.”

Eunhyuk tore his head off his pillow, dry drool trickling down his chin. His sudden movement made the woman beside him stir. He stared at her incredulously as he scrambled his brain for her name. But his concentration soon broke when his phone went off, emitting that stupid nursery rhyme ringtone Kyuhyun had set it to. He would’ve changed it by now (given it’s been months since Kyuhyun tampered with his phone), if only he knew how.

After rubbing his eyes, he d his nightstand for the ringing phone, only to knock off some of the bits and pieces on the stand in the process. When he finally managed to force his eyes open, he grabbed his phone beside the half-empty glass of beer sitting on his nightstand and grumpily pressed answer.

“Hello?”

“LEE HYUKJAE! WHERE THE ARE YOU?”

Eunhyuk cringed. Only one person with a voice as shrill as that knew his real name. That damned Cho Kyuhyun. “Well, good morning to you too, sunshine.”

“Yah, you sarcastic piece of crap. Where are you?” He roared. “I’ve been waiting for you here all morning. Do you have any idea how pathetic I look sitting all alone here in this conference room?”

“I have a general idea.” A smirk crept on his face as he looked around the room for his jeans. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. Isn’t Sungmin with you?”

“I tried calling him. He isn’t picking up. I tell you, once I see him, he’s going to receive the scolding of the lifetime.” He griped.

“What about Leeteuk?” he inquired.

“He said he won’t come until all three of us are here. So hurry up or I’ll gouge both your eyes out.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” He insisted as he put on the t-shirt he was wearing last night. Afterwards, he slipped into his jeans and looked for the other half of his sneakers. “Be patient.”

“I’ve been trying to be patient for the past hour and a half, Eunhyuk. So don’t you tell me to be patient.” He hissed.

“Well then, try harder.” He quipped, although he was sure that he just angered Kyuhyun even more.

After muttering something incoherent—Eunhyuk figured it was a swear word—he practically blew out Eunhyuk’s eardrums when he yelled into the phone. “Where the hell are you, anyway?!”

“I think I’m in my apartment—oh, sorry, my bad.” His eyes scanned the room, and it took Eunhyuk more than a minute to realize that he wasn’t in his bedroom. “This isn’t my apartment.”

“What? Where are you then?” he asked.

“I had a date last night and I’m at her place right now. I forget her name.” Once he finally had both of his shoes on, he grabbed his coat and headed out the door. “I think I can slip out before she wakes up. I’ll see you later, Kyu.”

“Yeah, yeah.” And with that said, Kyuhyun hung up.

Eunhyuk nonchalantly helped himself to the fridge, hoping to find something to eat on the way to the office. Once he got his hands on a fresh carton of strawberry milk and a muffin, he shut the refrigerator door and started to make his way out the front door. That is, until—

“Hyukkie?”

Oh crap.

“A little too early to be drinking, don’t you think?”

Sungmin brought his head up, only to see a striking, young man graciously grinning at him. His eyebrows knit together, as he was expecting to see the cute chick that usually tended bar around here. Sungmin has been frequenting this bar for as long as he could remember, and that busty girl whose clothes were usually too small for her was always there to keep him company. They weren’t necessarily friends though; they rarely chatted as much as they flirted.

“Where’s Yoojin?” he asked before gulping down the rest of his beer.

“Got fired.” He revealed in a casual manner. “Apparently, she called in sick one too many times.”

“Oh.” He nodded solemnly.

“You seem disappointed.” He deduced.

“Well, it’s gonna be sad coming in here now, knowing Yoojin won’t be here to keep me company anymore.” He admitted wistfully.

“I’m here.” He offered.

“Let me rephrase that.” The blonde cleared his throat. “It’s gonna be sad coming in here now, knowing Yoojin won’t be here to have with me anymore.”

The man chuckled. “Well, it isn’t part of my job description, but if you want—”

“Just the beer will be fine, thanks.” He held his empty glass out for him to refill.

“I was kidding.” He assured him.

“Good,” he said. “Your face is too nice to be wasted on men.”

“Judging by that remark, I presume you’re the type to waste your type on men?” he said, half-jokingly.

“Me? Nah. I like women—especially ones like Yoojin.” He purred at the thought of Yoojin’s cleavage hanging out as she leaned over the counter. “Now those are the ones to watch out for.”

“You seem to know your way around.” He remarked. “What’s your name?”

“Sungmin.” He revealed without thinking as he swirled his drink around. “Remember that name. Believe me, you’re gonna see a lot of me around here.”

“I look forward to it.” He extended his hand for a handshake, to which Sungmin thoughtlessly accepted. “Nice to meet you, Sungmin.”

He nodded before fishing his phone out of his back pocket. He stared at the screen, which read, ‘Three Missed Calls – Cho Kyuhyun (jackass)’. Sighing, he pocketed his phone once again and tossed his pay on the counter.

“No, no.” The tall man shook his head. “This one’s on me. Take it as a favor from a friend.”

Sungmin eyed the young bartender warily before hiding his money. “Alright then. See ya around.”

“See ya, Sungmin.”

“What happened to you?”

Although Kyuhyun had much intention to yell Eunhyuk’s ear off the minute he saw him, instead he ended up looking rather amused when the skinny man entered the conference room with a bandage on his jaw and a red slap mark on his cheek. He sat down, sulking, and refused to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Well?” Leeteuk asked expectantly. “Aren’t you gonna tell us what happened?”

He slowly brought his head up with his eyebrows furrowed together, his lips forming a pout and his red cheek still throbbing. “Angry women are crazy.”

“What else is new?” Kyuhyun chimed in sarcastically. “I can’t believe you got beaten up by a woman.”

“Yah! I did not get beaten up by a woman. She just…” his voice softened. “Threw a vase at me. And man, that chick can slap. I’m telling you, it almost wasn’t worth sleeping with her in the first place.”

“Well, lesson learned: don’t piss off chicks.” Leeteuk dismissed. “Anyway, where’s Sungmin?”

“Good question.” Kyuhyun remarked. “Do you think, by any chance, if we keep asking that, he’ll magically appear out of nowhere?”

“Well, it’s worth a shot.” The older man shrugged. “Again, where’s Sungmin?”

The three looked around, half-expecting to see a grumpy blonde storm in like he owned the mothering place. But when no such thing happened, they decided it was time to give up.

“Well, that was stupid.” Leeteuk cleared his throat. “Let’s just get on to the briefing, shall w—”

All of a sudden, the door flew open, causing the three to whip their heads around to the alarming noise. In trudged a very dark-looking Sungmin, a cup of take-out coffee in hand and a pair of large sunglasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. Without a word, he took a seat at the very end of the table, crossed his legs and rested his chin on his palm, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

“Go ahead.” He said with his lips hardly moving. Although it was hard to tell with his sunglasses on, he seemed to be looking at Leeteuk, who looked less than pleased to see him.

“You’re late, Sungmin.” He scolded.

“No, you all just came in too early.” He countered with a small scoff. “Look here, Jungsoo, I came in here to find out who I’m being paid to kill next. If that’s not gonna happen, then I believe I have the right to start shooting at random people on the streets, and still get paid. Have it your way.”

Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk’s heads turned back and forth from Leeteuk and Sungmin’s annoyed faces as if they were watching a grand tennis match. They even had Kyuhyun wishing he had a bag of popcorn to munch on as he sat back and watched the amusing scene.

“Jungsoo?” Kyuhyun asked Leeteuk, a teasing smile on his face.

“You shut up.” He snapped with his index finger pointed at the sniggering man. “And you,” he turned to Sungmin. “If you’re late again, I swear, it’s not going to be just your pay I’m gonna cut.”

“Yeah, yeah—”

“It’ll be your head too.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

“And if I have to take drastic measures, I might even have to cut your—”

“Can we just get on with the briefing, for God’s sake?”

Leeteuk turned around and brought up the first projection, which was a picture of a handsome man wearing a tailored suit along with a dazzling smile. His hair was coiffed to perfection, his teeth were straight and pearly white and he probably had the most alluring pair of eyes anyone has laid eyes on. In other words, he was too good to be true.

However, this wasn’t the case for Sungmin, who knew all too well that this man did indeed exist. The face on the screen was far too familiar for the blonde to think twice.

“This is Choi Siwon. Firstborn son of Choi Kiho, sole heir to the Choi fortune.” Leeteuk revealed. “On the other hand, he’s also a mob boss, leading one of the most dangerous mafias in all of Korea. Choi Siwon is what many would call, a master of deceit. He can fool even the cleverest of people without as much as trying. He has gone through a number of fake identities, as well as phony jobs, like a doctor or a mechanic or a—”

“Or a bartender.” Sungmin finished, earning a raised eyebrow from his boss. “This briefing is over. We have a job to do.”

- Dip. Jackass. You two remember the plan? -

- Yes, sir. -

- We have names, FYI. -

- I don’t give a flying , Jackass. Just make sure you two know what to do once we get into action. -

- Alright, let’s go! -

- Sungmin, since we’re doing your plan, you should be the one to pay for all the drinks I’ll be having tonight. -

- For ’s sake, how much do you even think you’re gonna drink? -

- More than I can remember tomorrow morning, that’s for sure. -

“Back so soon?”

The smirk on Siwon’s chiseled face sent chills down Sungmin’s spine – he himself couldn’t tell whether or not that was a good thing. He sat on the same stool from this morning and stared Siwon right in the eyes, though his cool expression showed no change.

“I see you brought a friend.” Siwon eyed the lanky man awkwardly standing behind the blonde.

“Trust me, he’s no friend.” Sungmin dismissed as he motioned to the bartender for a glass of beer. “He’s just here to discuss business.”

“What kind of business?” Siwon asked with a curious smile.

“None of yours, we can tell you that.” Kyuhyun chimed in as he took a seat next to Sungmin. “So why don’t you do your job and get me a drink?”

“Well, Sungmin, I can’t say I’m the least bit surprised that you’re associated with such crabby people.” He gave a rather quizzical remark as he poured Kyuhyun a glass of beer.

Feeling his pride take a hit, he looked to Sungmin, expecting him to come to his defense. But he did no such thing (which didn’t really surprise him). “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I can tell you’re a bright man, Sungmin.” He told him. “You don’t need me to figure it out.”

“You know what I think?” Kyuhyun asked after taking a big sip from his glass.

Although his face didn’t seem to show much interest, Siwon asked anyway. “What?”

Along with a sigh, he said, “I think a long night is ahead of us.”

“It’s been over an hour. Is he dead yet?” Sungmin could practically feel Leeteuk’s eagerness seeping through the screen of his iPhone.

“Not yet, Teuk.” He replied. “Kyuhyun’s stalling too much. I told you he was no good. You should have let me do this alone.”

“I don’t want to have the same argument again, Ming.” He dismissed. “What about Eunhyuk? What’s he doing?”

“He’s on lookout in case he tries to flee.” He said. “But I gotta say, among the sleazy crowd of crazed drunks, he blends right in.”

Leeteuk let out a frustrated groan. “It’s almost midnight. Can’t you just get this over with already?”

“Can’t.” He refuted simply. “There are too many witnesses around. Our plan was to lure him out to the back, and then I sneak up and put a bullet through his pretty, little head. The only problem is Siwon and Kyuhyun are getting along too well.”

“Sungmin, you have no idea how much I loathe this man. I want him dead before dawn, ara?” he ordered. “Just keep an eye on Kyuhyun. He can get a bit out of control when it comes to alcohol.”

“He’s gone through more glasses of beer than I can count. But I think he’s holding up fine. He’s—” Sungmin turned around to check on his partner, only to see him lying lifelessly on the dirty floor. “Holy .”

With one quick motion, he slipped his phone in his pocket and ran over to the scene. He pressed two fingers against the unconscious man’s neck and was fortunately able to find a pulse. As he stood back up, he realized the bar was now empty. Siwon was nowhere to be found; only his green apron could be seen, sprawled out on the counter.

Sungmin scanned the room for Eunhyuk, only to find him sandwiched among a group of women with lust-filled eyes. When he finally managed to catch his attention with a loud cry of his name, he snapped his fingers and pointed towards the exit, signalling him to go after Siwon.

Although his blood was about to reach its boiling point, his mind was still set on his job and therefore, went into the staff room to look for the so-called ‘bartender’. Although he startled quite a few with his sudden barging in, he stormed back out when he realized there was no sight of Siwon there.

He returned to the bar and saw Eunhyuk hovering over the still unconscious Kyuhyun. The look on Eunhyuk’s face was enough to tell him that their plan had ultimately failed. Upset and unable to control his temper anymore, he swung his leg and gave Kyuhyun a swift kick on the stomach. He probably wouldn’t have stopped if Eunhyuk hadn’t held him back.

“Sunbaenim, stop.” He pleaded. “It doesn’t matter that we didn’t get him tonight. There’ll be other chances.”

“I would’ve easily gotten him tonight if you two weren’t here.” Sungmin harshly removed Eunhyuk’s hand from his arm and walked off in a huff.

Eunhyuk, mostly in fear of Sungmin but partly because he had other business to take care of, chose to leave him alone for the time being.

- He got away, Teuk. -

- I’m disappointed in you. -

“He knew we were on to him.” Sungmin griped. “That bastard probably knew the whole time. God, I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.”

“Are you sure?” Eunhyuk asked in hopes of making the heated blonde feel better. “He could’ve just been scared off…”

“If he didn’t know, he wouldn’t have taken off so suddenly.” He stated before shifting his gaze to the man drooling on the floor. “This is all his fault. Take him home. I know this night won’t end well if he stays here with me.”

“You’re staying here?” he gulped. “But I...I have a date.”

“Then ditch her.” He said while gritting his teeth.

“I can’t. She’s…well, she’s really hot.” He shrugged. Upon seeing the fire spark once again in Sungmin’s eyes, he knew that was his cue to leave. “Well, I gotta go, sunbaenim. Best of luck to Kyuhyun.”

Before Sungmin could even protest, Eunhyuk had already dashed off. With his hands on his hips, he stared at Kyuhyun’s sleeping face and wondered how someone so idiotic managed to become an assassin. He didn’t even know why he kept wasting time with a couple of bozos by the names of Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun—or as he liked to call them, dip and jackass.

Seeing as he had no other choice (since he knew Leeteuk would freak if he left him on the floor all night), he picked Kyuhyun up, put him on his back and carried him all the way to his car. He tossed him into the backseat before starting the car. While muttering a few curse words, he put the engine on gear and started driving.

As the trip from the bar to the office wasn’t too far along, Sungmin figured he still had a shred of patience inside him. A few minutes into the trip, everything was finally falling back into place for Sungmin. Everything was quiet, there were no distractions and he had nothing to worry about except the road. Or so he thought.

“!” Sungmin nearly crashed into a lamppost when Kyuhyun rose from the backseat, leaned towards his face and promptly his earlobe. Disgusted and confused at the same time, Sungmin had to stop the car for a few minutes to smack the living daylight out of the drunken man in his car. But as he turned to look at him, he had already fallen back asleep.

With his eyebrows scrunched together, he wiped Kyuhyun’s saliva off his ear and started driving again. All the while, he tried to clear his mind of the oddity that had just occurred.

Sungmin figured that the amount of alcohol Kyuhyun had taken in had added to his weight, considering dragging him to the elevator was one of the hardest things he has ever had to do. As he pushed the elevator button, he kept a tight hold on Kyuhyun’s collar to keep him from doubling over.

Not long after, he felt Kyuhyun standing up. Much to his surprise, when Sungmin turned to his side, his eyes met Kyuhyun’s red and lustful ones. Before he knew it, Kyuhyun had pushed him up against the wall, put his hands on either side of his head and shoved their lips together. Sungmin was powerless—apparently Kyuhyun was stronger than he thought. With beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, he stood still as Kyuhyun’s warm tongue slid in through his lips. Sungmin didn’t know why he let this drunken man…violate him so easily. And he didn’t know why he seemed to enjoy it either.

When Kyuhyun started to pull away, Sungmin found himself wanting more. But as he opened his eyes, he realized Kyuhyun had lost consciousness yet again. The intoxicated man would have fallen flat on his face if Sungmin hadn’t caught him by his arms. Kyuhyun was on his knees, eyelids closed and mouth slightly hanging open.

The next thing he knew, the elevator doors slid open. Leeteuk appeared before them, but the smile on his face soon disappeared when he saw the compromising position the two were in.

“…O…kay?” He bit his lip and tried to avert his eyes from the sight. “I don’t even want to know.”

“What? No, Leeteuk—” Sungmin let go of Kyuhyun’s arms, only for him to land on his back on the floor.

“Better do something about that problem of yours, Ming.” Leeteuk suggested, his eyes fixated on the bulge in Sungmin’s crotch. “Don’t tell me you and Kyuhyun…?”

“Oh, God, no!” The blonde refuted immediately.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.” He smirked as he grabbed a clump of Kyuhyun's shirt and pulled him out. 

“Well, I know I wasn’t gonna like it.” He said as he pushed one of the buttons on the elevator.

He didn’t understand what just happened, but all he knew was that he had to go home, lock himself in his bathroom and take care of his…problem.