A/N: So... This is a long update as promised! It took me ages to write this ㅠㅠ As usual, text in grey means it's a flashback.

61:22:02

He ran and ran... and ran some more before eventually reaching his destination. Panting, he leaned with his back against the wall. He glanced at his watch.

'They should be here...' he thought to himself.

As if on cue, there was a screech of tyres and a black van pulled up a distance in front of him. He ran towards it and opened the door swiftly, jumping in as the van started moving again. Slamming the door shut, he fell backwards into his seat and caught his breath back.

"Well?"

He turned to face the owner of the voice. Frowning a little, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a small object out and handed it to the man sat next to him. The man nodded, content with the small black rectangular object in his hand, and turned to face the breathless man once more.

"What caught you up?"

"That group of morons from the last mission," he replied. "They saw me and came running after me out of nowhere."

"I thought you said they didn't know it was you."

"Well, obviously they did then," he snapped back.

The man pursed his lips in response and turned away from him. There was a silence in the air for a few seconds.

"Sorry, Doojoon... Hyung... It just... They caught me unexpectedly and... that's never happened before."

"It's fine," Doojoon replied curtly, peering into the object he held in his hand. "You just have to be careful, that's all. Don't let your arrogance ruin you, Junhyung."

"I know, hyung," Junhyung replied apologetically, feeling guilty about snapping at the understanding leader. He pointed at the object in Doojoon's hand. "So... What is that thing anyway?"

Doojoon shook his head. "I have no idea. I guess we should ask the Boss..."

Junhyung nodded and closed his eyes, sliding down his seat into a more comfortable position. After a short while, the van slowed down to a stop and the people got out of the van one by one. They walked into the building ahead of them and took an elevator to an underground level.

The building was a tall office block, made primarily of windows. At the top of the building, a sign read 'Cube Inc.', the company that owned it. This building was home to one of the largest companies in Seoul, owned by famous businessman Hong Seung Sung. The building also doubled as HQ for BEAST, just as Hong Seung Sung doubled as their Boss. BEAST was a trained group of assassins, the only other than MBLAQ that operated in Seoul. It consisted of seven members; calm leader Yoon Doojoon, skilled tech Jang Hyunseung, marksman Yang Yoseob, handgun master Yong Junhyung, strong Lee Kikwang, careful tech Song Dongwoon and the only girl member, Park Jiyeon.

The seven members were close, but perhaps not close enough. They had been in the profession for a few years now, as the members were recruited in the space of a year. Although the team worked well together, they lacked the essence their rival group, MBLAQ, had. There always seemed to be an air of sadness between them. The members didn't enjoy what they did, they were often too rash in their decisions and their days were usually filled with anger. The members were there not because they wanted to, but because they had to be. Nevertheless, they got the jobs done and that was all that their Boss asked of them.

As they walked, a shorter man walked beside Junhyung. He had blonde hair, a small face and wide eyes as he stared curiously at Junhyung.

"Junhyung, are you okay?" he asked in a small voice.

Junhyung turned to face him with a reassuring smile. "Yeah. I'm fine, Yoseob."

Yoseob wasn't convinced but slapped a hand on Junhyung's shoulder anyway. As the members piled into the main room of their HQ, they were greeted by their Boss in person. Since it was late after midnight, he had no business to attend to and instead had waited for the team's return. Upon seeing him, Doojoon quickly handed him the small black object they were sent to retrieve. He examined it in his hand, satisfied, before facing the members.

"Good," he said simply. "From today onwards, we will be focusing on one mission and one mission only. This will also be your final mission. After this, you'll be free to leave the team and continue your lives as they were before. Nothing will tie you down here anymore, you may do as you wish. This is the moment that you've all been training towards... This is the moment that some of you have been waiting for."

Hong Seung Sung glanced at Junhyung, whose eyebrows furrowed together as he pieced together what their Boss was saying.

"Jung. Ji. Hoon." Seung Sung said slowly, enunciating every syllable of the name.

Junhyung involuntarily balled his fists together upon hearing the name.

"He is the first target. The case is marked with high priority and the files are all on the database," their Boss continued. "Go home and get some rest. Tomorrow is the day your most difficult training and resourcing begins. I expect you all to work your hardest on this case. Remember that this is your last and that you can leave when it's finished."

He looked at the members individually to see if they had taken that last sentence into account yet, he had reiterated it many times to emphasise that fact. The members nodded to show that they understood and with one last look at them, Hong Seung Sung walked past them swiftly and left HQ. The members' gazes followed their Boss' back. They were left with reeling emotions, unsure about how to feel about this final mission.

Were their lives as they knew it really going to end like that? Just how hard would this final mission be? Could they do it? Were they ready?

60:39:11

***

Junhyung turned the key in the lock and walked into his apartment. He the lights and collapsed into the couch in the living room. The silence in the apartment engulfed him, causing a ringing in his ears. He closed his eyes and left his head fall back.

"This is the moment that some of you have been waiting for..."

The words ran through his mind, over and over and over again. He clenched his fists together as his mind strayed to the memories he fought so hard to keep at the back of his mind...

Junhyung walked into the classroom and sat at his usual seat, the second from the front in the far right row, closest to the windows that faced the corridor. He glanced around him at his rowdy classmates, letting his eyes fall on an empty seat in the back row near the opposite side of the classroom. He sighed inwardly and turned back to unpack his belongings from his bag.

He crossed his arms on the table and let his head rest on them, facing the window on his right. He watched the people walk past outside, absent-mindedly, when something caught his attention. He sat up straight, his eyes fixated on the figure moving closer from one end of the corridor. He smiled as he caught sight of her face. She was stunning, with her long flowing dark brown hair swaying side-to-side as she walked. She was slim with a short frame, her big round eyes framed in kohl eyeliner and a smile to die for.

She was perfect. At least, in his eyes. She was the most beautiful girl in school and she just so happened to be in his class. Truthfully, Junhyung had liked her since the first time he saw her, and that was the first year they were in high school. He had always watched her from the side, admiring her personality and perfection from afar. He watched her as she walked to occupy the empty seat in the back row, the seat that Junhyung's gaze had lingered over just a while ago.

Today was the first day of their last year in high school together. He vowed to himself that he would make his feelings known by the time they graduated. A vow he had promised at the beginning of every year of high school, but this was his last chance, and he would do it even if it killed him.

Junhyung couldn't help but smile a little to himself as the image of her face floated into his memories. That smile was wiped as the feeling returned to his heart again. The feeling of longing. The longing to refill the hole in his heart she had left. He missed her, so much that words couldn't describe the feelings he felt when he thought of her. He hadn't seen her for a few years, but he still thought of her every day. She was all he could think about, first thing in the morning and the last thing before he slept.

Without realising, his mind drifted to another familiar memory...

He held the small box in his hands tightly as he sat in his seat. He looked up when someone entered the room and saw that it was her. He waited for her to take her seat and unpack her bag. Without giving himself time to think about it any more, he stood up abruptly and turned towards her direction. He took a step forward, and another step, and another step towards her desk. The adrenaline was pumping through his body as his heart was pounding against his chest. He was so nervous that his hands began to tremble a little. He looked down at the box he was holding, adjusted his black thick-rimmed glasses and breathed in, gathering his strength.

'You can do it. Stop being such a coward, Yong Junhyung,' he scolded himself in his mind.

When he looked up to face her, he froze mid-step. She was sat facing the guy to her left. Junhyung couldn't move as he watched her speak to him. He watched as the guy shrugged and rested his head on his arms again. He watched as a smile crept onto her face. He watched as she stole a glance at the guy next to her again. He watched as she said something quietly, the smile still fixated on her face. He watched... until he couldn't watch anymore. He his heel and walked away quickly.

How could he be so stupid?

He replayed the moment she looked at the guy next her. She was clearly curious of him, clearly interested as she smiled at his mere response. What made him think he could ever get that from her? She probably didn't even know that he existed, let alone what his name was. He walked back to his desk and put down the box he was holding just as their teacher walked into the classroom. He spent the rest of that lesson in a completely deflated mood. He was crushed, completely and utterly crushed.

When the lesson ended, he packed his bag and picked the box on his desk up. He walked out of the classroom quickly, flinging the box he was holding towards the bin near the door as he left. He walked quickly down the corridor towards the canteen for lunch.

After eating his lunch quickly, Junhyung walked to his familiar hide-out; the library. Junhyung had very few friends. The only people he could call his friends were his seniors, but since they had all left, he was mostly on his own these days. He didn't have any friends in his year because he was the loner, the nerd, that no-one paid attention to. His seniors were his friends because one of them was his neighbour, someone he had grown up with since he was a baby and his group of friends had accepted him too. His seniors were popular in the school but they were nice to him, and this meant that he was spared from the ritual bullying in the school since even the bullies were scared of his popular seniors.

He sighed as he walked into the library, walking into the furthest corner and taking a book out of his bag to read. He flipped to the page he had last stopped at and within seconds, was deeply engrossed in the book. Junhyung loved reading, a hobby that had earned him the nickname 'Bookworm' from people in his year. He didn't mind though, it was because of these books that he was ranked first in all his classes. He excelled in his studies and it was the only thing he could be proud of.

Junhyung continued reading, so engrossed that he didn't notice someone had come to sit next to him. It took a few minutes for him to realise someone was sat next to him as the smell of sweet flowers wafted towards him. That smell... was familiar... His mind immediately jumped to one person, to her. Huh?

He turned to his right and jumped in surprise to see a girl smiling back at him.

"Hey," she whispered, waving at him.

"H-h-hey..." Junhyung stammered in reply. What was she doing here?

"I think you dropped this earlier," she said, holding out a small familiar box in her hands.

Junhyung stared down at it, his mouth hanging open. "I-I-I..."

"But seeing as it has my name on it... Is it for me?" she said with a smile at him.

Junhyung couldn't speak, so he gulped and nodded at her instead.

"Really?" she smiled happily. "Can I open it?"

Junhyung nodded slowly again. She smiled back at him again and proceeded to open the box to reveal a silver necklace with a heart charm on it. She took it out of the box and marvelled at it.

"Wow," she mused out loud. "It's so pretty. Are you sure this is for me?"

Junhyung watched her reaction carefully as she turned to him grinning.

"Y-ye-yeah," he stuttered again.

"Can you help me put it on then?"

She handed him the necklace, that he took with slightly trembling hands, and she turned his back to him. She lifted her hair with two hands to reveal the back of her neck to him. Junhyung gulped again as he draped the necklace around her and fastened it on the back of her neck. When he finished, she turned back to face him.

"How does it look?"

"B-beautiful," Junhyung replied with a nod.

She smiled at his reply. "Thank you, Junhyung. It was really sweet of you."

Junhyung froze. She knew his name? She chuckled softly as she noticed his response.

"Well, I guess I better leave you to do what you were doing then. Thank you for the gift, really. It's very kind of you, and you have incredibly good taste," she stood up and bowed to him politely.

Junhyung was still in a state of shock as he watched her.

"I'll read the letter you put in it tonight," she whispered with a wink before waving goodbye and walking out of the library.

The letter?

Crap. The letter... Junhyung had written a letter and put it in the box, how could he have forgotten that? He facepalmed himself as he remembered. Now it was going to be a million times more embarrassing.

Junhyung opened his eyes with a start. He scowled as her face remained in his mind, her sweet smile appearing in front of his eyes again. He reached up and rubbed his dry eyes. He stood up, sighing deeply as he walked to his bedroom. Upon entering, his eyes fell on the same object they always did whenever he walked into his room, the photo frame on his bedside table. He walked slowly over towards it and lifted it up from the table in one hand, gazing down at the familiar figures in it. In the photo was a younger version of himself, smiling happily with his arms around a young girl shorter than him, also sporting a wide smile. The same young girl that haunted his memories. His thumb the photo lightly.

'Where are you right now?' he thought to himself. 'I won't stop until I find you... Kim Jihyo...'

58:43:36