Hearing this, all eyes widened and they averted their gaze to Ren who now was leaning back on the couch and sighed in frustration. Though they said nothing, she knew they deserved explanation. Why did this guy know their base-camp? Had she been followed the whole time? Or perhaps, she was the one who invite him after all?

Few minutes passed and the only sound heard was the clock ticking on the coffee table.

Ren noticed Jonghyun got up from his seat and was slowly approaching Mizuki with both hand in his pocket. He peered him up and down, and then leaned closer. She saw Mizuki tensed up and his expression changed. Jonghyun must have given Mizuki that infamous icy stare —that would sent shivers down your spine— he always gave to whoever he thought would interfere with.

Jonghyun’s lips twitched a bit. A deep and eerily voice escaped from his mouth,“…what do you want from us..?”

Everyone kept silent and watched the two of them glaring at each other without no intention of backing away.

It was too sudden.

In a blink of eye, Jonghyun’s black magnum gun was pointed before Mizuki’s face. “… i don’t like to see someone suffer.” stated him, emphasizing every word. “And this..” Jonghyun swayed the gun up to his forehead slowly.“…will help you.”

Just as Jonghyun pulled the trigger, Ren called. “Jonghyun.” She raised and grabbed the fitness bag. “Let him go.” said Ren when she walked passed them. “Besides…” She stopped her track.

“He is different with us… He is innocent.”

With that, Ren walked out. Jonghyun snorted. He withdrew his gun and slid them back behind. “You’re lucky.” and off he went, following Ren.

An uptight silent fell upon them. Yonghwa cleared his throat to broke the ice.“Hey, Mizuki.” He gestured him to the couch while jerking his head to Jungshin and Minhyuk to get them a drink.

“I’m sorry for that.” said Yonghwa in apologetic tone, placing a can of Heineken in front of him. He sat down, squeezing Minhyuk in between him and Jungshin. “Unfriendly welcome you got there, huh?” said him again jokingly and opened his drink.

“Jonghyun hyung didn’t usually act like that,” Minhyuk spoke followed by Jungshin’s nod.

“He only do that to someone who he thought would get in his way.” said Jungshin finishing Minhyuk’s statement. “And it is kind of strange… don’t you think? He just met Mizuki anyway.” he shrugged and looked over to Yonghwa who gave another nod.

“True.” Yonghwa set down his drink. “There must be a reason why tho.”his word trailed off. “Oh, and anyway, we all know who you are Mizuki. Ren told us not long after your arrival and we investigaed you right away.” The three of them snickered.

“You should see her face!” Jungshin laughed.

“Oh I never want to see her wrath if I were you,” Minhyuk chimed in. “She could literally killed a hordes of buffalos!!”

Yonghwa laughed and turned to Mizuki who now seemed a bit relax. “Here.”he wrote down a note and passed it to Mizuki. “We are going to perform here tomorrow. I see you need an explanation and I believe Ren never give even a single hint, considering her personality, am I right?” he smiled while Jungshin and Minhyuk were beaming with glee.

“Come. And watch us perform. We’ll have a little talk after that.”

- - -

Mizuki didn’t flinch at the group’s antics, although a myriad of questions were bubbling in his head. The longer he stayed here, the more confused he was, and he knew he would need clarification if he were to do his job well. 

He wondered how much power Ren held over this group, and what their relationship was. The moment she told them he was different from them, that he was innocent, it was as if the whole atmosphere completely changed. 

Jonghyun had been right about to pull the trigger, and Mizuki knew he was serious. The man had intended to put a bullet right through his skull—not that Mizuki would let him, of course, but he’d wanted to see how serious they were. 

This, the bodyguard thought, was not an ordinary gang. 

“We are going to perform here tomorrow,” said the one named Yonghwa, handing him a note. “I see you need an explanation and I believe Ren never give even a single hint, considering her personality, am I right?” 

Mizuki accepted the note. “I wouldn’t know,” he replied dryly.

Ren had hardly spoken a word to him in the short time they had been together. She’d mostly been difficult, ignoring him and yelling at him. 

He looked up, and the men were smiling at him now, almost a complete one-eighty from the threatening demeanour they’d adopted when he first entered the warehouse. Jungshin and Minhyuk exchanged looks as if they were sharing a hilarious private joke. Yonghwa seemed like the friendliest one of the bunch, the less threatening and most likely the leader, but in this business looks could be really deceiving. It could be an asset, in fact; Mizuki would know. 

The scribbled letters on the paper formed an address to a concert building. Making a mental note to research more about the building, Mizuki left the place after giving one last nod to the men.