Disclaimer: I don’t own anything other than the plot and story.

Rating: Strong T

Warning(s): Taking liberties with the characters but not much, introductory chapter.

|One|

“He could have at least been opened minded enough to consider the possibility that –” Choi Jinri, the younger of the two siblings, ranted about her unreasonable professor.

No one could say, Choi Sooyoung, didn’t love her sister, but her obsession with the folk tale was getting ridiculous. “Jinnie, Dong Bang Shin Ki are just characters in a fable, they don’t exist.” When growing up she’d hoped they existed too, that they’d protect the innocent from all the evils in the world. But, she’d out grown the fantasy and realized that she shouldn’t wait for heroes, and if she was to protect her sister and herself after their parents passed away, she would have to do it on her own.

“I can’t believe my own unnie is patronizing me too,” the younger woman huffed in annoyance. Her theory was well thought out and presented to warrant even the slightest of contemplation. But, everyone was throwing it out because it was derived from a fable.

Sooyoung sighed, enveloping her sister in a comforting hug. “I’m not patronizing you, Jinnie. Out of everyone I should know how brilliant you are, I just wish you’d focus on things that can be proven.” Choi Jinri was destined to discover or create something in the future with the brain she had there was no doubt, but the more she dwelled on the DBSK fable the more that future would be derailed.

“What if it can be proven?” the teenager insisted, Choi stubbornness shinning through.

She honestly didn’t want to argue with her dongsaeng, stirring the conversation elsewhere, “Rice is in the cooker, stews on the burner and side dishes are in the fridge, when you’re ready to eat. Hyoyeonie and Sunny, will be coming over to stay with you, until I get back.”

“I’m 18 you know, I can take care of myself,” Jinri informed her, following her sister into the living room, “I don’t need a baby sitter.”

Rolling her eyes, Sooyoung shrugged on her leather boomer jacket, “I might be gone for more than a night, Jinnie. I’ll feel better if you have someone with you.”

“Arrasso.”

“I love you, and be good,” slipping her gun into its holster under her jacket. And the smaller one into the holster strapped to her calf.

“Yes, Agent Choi, ma’am,” the teen mocked her sister with a salute, getting an affectionate, but annoying hair ruffling for her trouble. “I love you too, unnie. Please be careful.”

With one last kissing on her dongsaeng’s forehead, she murmured, “Always,” before leaving.

--~*+*~-:-o-:-~*+*~--

“There’s been some activity on the north corner of the forest,” Yoochun announced, pulling up a satellite feed of the area on the big screen and zeroing in on the location in question. “It’s about 10 to 15 miles from the road and they’ve cleared about 3 acres, setting up a make shift camp. At first I thought it was a bunch of scientists or environmentalists carrying out a study, until I saw this…” connecting his phone to the console, uploading the pictures and video from his phone.

Changmin looked up at the picture, displayed on the large screen, “Traffickers? What are they bringing in ammo, drugs…” The green and black metal casing looked like the ones synonymous with ammunition storage for transfer.

“Try everything under the sun, peddlers for all occasions,” Yoochun confirmed. “They’ve even decided to do some farming to grow their stocks, and have set up labs to process their product. Smells like a frigging chemistry set.”

“Because out here there’s little risk of smelling them cooking up their merchandise,” Yunho added. “Also that part of the forest has many tributaries and streams to help with irrigation. We need to shut it down before cops tracking this syndicate track it to the forest, or before they blow themselves up and burn the forest to the ground.” And expose the five of us in the process.

Jaejoong tsk-ed, “Are there any people we need to save, while taking it down?” there was a possibility that the syndicate was also delving in human trafficking as well, and if they were to take it all down they would need to take those captives to safety too.

“Of course there is, life has never been that easy,” Changmin scoffed. Don’t get him wrong, he liked playing the hero once in a blue moon, but preferred the missions that were easy in and out job with minimal collateral damage. Captives were walking targets.

“Then we’ll need to co-ordinate with the Captain,” Yunho surmised. “Junsu-ya, Yoochunnie, you two will canvas the area. 24hrs surveillance, if someone sneezes in the camp I want to know. Changmin-ya you can work out logistics and strategy, make it swift and clean as possible. Jaejoong you’ll be tracing back activities over the last few months –”

Jaejoong interrupted when he heard his assignment, “wait, I’m the oldest but, I’m the one getting the busy work?”

“That’s because you’ll slow us down harabeoji,” Changmin couldn’t help the remark slipping through, ducking in time to avoid the book thrown at his head for the trouble. “What you were the one bragging about being the oldest, look at it as a complement.”

“Yah, punk, be quiet and let the grown-ups talk,” Jaejoong countered the maknae’s dig with one of his own.

Changmin smirked, “Well I suppose we all look like toddlers to you at your age, what are you 182 in dog years?” ducking in time as another book came flying at his head.

“Are you two done?” Yunho sighed, only going on when Jaejoong settled on glaring at Changmin, while the latter smirked triumphantly. “The professor and I will handle liaisons with the Captain. Changmin-ah, Jaejoongie can I trust you will hold in the cat fights, until after the job’s done.” His last statement emphasized by sending both a pointed look, before leaving the room fighting a smile.

--~*+*~-:-o-:-~*+*~--

“This isn’t personal, Gaeul-ssi¹,” Hong Yungseung assured with a less than sincere laugh. If anything it sounded maniacal and too hysterical to be anything but evil. “It just, well, business.”

Sooyoung scoffed, even if the movement jarred her ribs and breathing burned her lungs. “Because being a peddler of death, destruction and slavery isn’t personal at all,” her voice was weak, tone breathy and raspy, but it didn’t diminish the sarcasm her words carried. Of course a person driven by money and greed will never look at such things as wrong. Never thinking that the guns he peddles illegally end up in the wrong hands killing innocent people, drugs caused people’s destruction and human trafficking put many into slavery. But, it didn’t really matter to Yungseung because as long as he got his money, nothing else mattered.

“That’s the problem with self righteous, glory hounds like you, Gaeul-ssi, so emotional,” he countered. “Money and power doesn’t care, it has no feelings and doesn’t judge right from wrong. But, privileged little chaebols like you don’t know how it is to struggle to make money, since it’s just always there.”

“You know you’re going straight to hell, Hong,” she managed to say, hissing in pain when her injured side hit the ground harshly, when Hong’s men deposited her unceremoniously –uncaring of injuries. Why would they when she was going to die anyway?

He sniggered, crouching down and brushing away her blood matted hair off her face, his finger gently brushing the only undamaged part of her face, with deceiving care and affection and watched with amusement as she feebly tried to flinch from his touch. “Sleep well,” his lips screwed into an ugly scowl of smile, contradicting his words by kick her harshly in the ribs and over the edge into the cool waters below. The current would carry her downstream along with the problems she presented.

With her dislocated shoulder, fractured shoulder-blade, banged up knee and broken leg, she couldn’t even attempt to escape her ties and her impending death, as the cold depth of the cold river enveloped her completely and pulling her downstream with its strong current.

--~*+*~-:-o-:-~*+*~--

The operation went off without a hitch, the five moving in simultaneously and swiftly taking down the camp with clinical precision. Only after securing enough evidence and freeing the captives into safety, did they destroy any and all traces of the camp seeing as an NDI² agent had already taken the liberty of documenting their investigation to a painful T that added with what they collected, would be enough for conviction. It also helped that the mastermind had been present at the sight and had been arrested along with his lackeys.

Yoochun and Junsu had gone into the city to do god knows what for the weekend, since the threat to them had been nullified they weren’t required at the manor.

As for Jaejoong, he’d gone to the nearby town’s hospital to complete his medical training with BoA, in other words, annoy her with questions about why ‘Ordinaries³ are so ordinary’, or flirting with her little sister, Yuri, to get a rise out of the woman.

Changmin had chosen to not indulge in women or alcohol, but instead catch up on his medical research paper and have a relaxing weekend in.

As for Yunho, he always preferred the countryside more than the city. The fresh air was always a welcomed luxury, from the bustle and heavy smells of the city. It was certainly less straining on his senses, even if he’d learnt to control them better. Being out there was just much more calm and less ridged –freer if you will.

Shutting his eyes, he let the calming flow of the river lull him into complete serenity. However, his acute hearing picked up the distinct sound of a weak cough and a raspy in take on breath coming from further downstream. Their heartbeat faint and fading fast by the sound of it. Usually he’d dismiss it as an animal whose time had just come to an end, but it sounded nothing like an animal prompting his curiosity.

As he came closer the coppery smell of blood became more distinct and heavy, despite the river’s attempts to mask and wash it clean.  The rapidly growing darkness would have easily concealed the heap of black lying motionless half out the water, but for him it was easy to see  and confirm that it was indeed human and injured.

Most avoided this particular river due to it stronger than usual currents that would drown even the strongest swimmers, so it was particularly suspicious for any person to dare its wrath. He had no time to contemplate reasons or intentions, because the person’s pulse was fading rather fast and the rugged pain filled gasps of air suggest broken ribs –he had to act quickly.

In a flash he was by the person’s side, finally able to identify them as female. He was bound to hurt her by lifting her, but she would just have to persevere. The only sign of life she offered was a weak wince of pain when he lifted her before completely passing out.

The surroundings flashed and blurred by as he run swiftly through the trees toward the manor, his only concern was the woman in his arms whose heartbeat could barely be heard over the whistling of the rushing wind around them.

As soon as he burst through the door he called out to the most qualified and only medic in the house, “Changmin-ah!” hoping he wasn’t in one of his ‘ignore hyung’ moods.

The whirl and whoosh of wind announced the younger sibling’s arrival in all his bored and annoyed glory. “You rang, hyung,” Changmin asked, watching the older man as he laid the bundle in his arms on the bed. They all thought he’d out grown his compulsion to bring home every injured puppy he came across, but it seemed to have re-emerged, “I thought we’d been through this –wait is that an ordinary?” Noting the very battered, but very human form laying on the bed contrary to the fur and four legs he was expecting, Hyung what did you do?

“Yes, and she’s fading fast,” Yunho answered, stepping back to give the younger male more room to work. “You have to help her.”

Clearly the guy had lost it, “Neo micheoseo?” knowing he was bound to get a smack upside the head for his insolence, but was he crazy. “What do you expect me to do perform miracles. Just by the sound of her raspy gasps she’s got a broken rib or bruised lung, not to mention her barely-there pulse. The equipment I have isn’t sufficient to treat an ordinary, if she was one of us, I could maybe try –”

“What about giving her a transfusion?” Yunho interrupted, not liking the fact that even with his acute hearing he was straining to hear the sound of her heartbeat.

“It only worked on BoA because she was at least 80% compatible with JaeJoong. If she’s incompatible, a transfusion would only make her suffer more pain,” Changmin was well aware of the guy’s save-the-world complex, but doing what he was suggesting was dangerous. And even if it did work, how the hell were they going to explain any side effects to her and who’s to say she’d take it well. “The best thing to do is –”

“I’ll risk it,” Yunho understood that Changmin was just trying to be rational, but he couldn’t let her die without trying all possibilities, could he? “I’ll take full responsibility when the professor and the others come back.”

“Hyung –”

“Jebal, Changmin-ah,” he asked earnestly, praying that she kept on fighting like she was, “just try.”

The things I do for this guy, Changmin sighed in defeat. Quickly attaching heart monitors to her chest, and a breathing mask over her nose and mouth before taking a sample of her blood for further investigation should the transfusion work and preparing the transfusion kit, “Are you sure about this?” Changmin asked once more, hoping against all hope his hyung’s mind changed, but it was dashed with the curt nod from the older male to continue.

--~*+*~-:-o-:-~*+*~--

Even compatibility didn’t ensure a painless procedure; it just ensured a short ordeal and survival than incompatibility or minimal compatibility. Lucky for them, it seemed that by someone great and almost impossible miracle, the woman had a high compatibility with Yunho and her pain was short lived. Her screams of pain however were long and loud enough to bring down the house, due to the absorption of Yunho’s blood.

Her leg also required resetting before the transfusion took complete effect or it would unfortunately have to be re-broken and set right which was additional pain for her to endure, as well as her dislocated shoulder. The problem with resetting was the possibility of doing it wrong, and the person ending up with limp in their walk or severe pain for the foreseeable future. Resetting bones wasn’t something he hadn’t done before, with the injuries the other four usually sustained but ordinaries were different –what if he messed her up for life? But, it couldn’t be delayed until the professor or even Boa came back, nor could they take her to a doctor after the transfusion because too many questions would be asked, so he did it hoping for the best. Her shoulder blade, ribs and right hip had suffered some cracks from heavy blows and would required only support for it to heal. It was lucky for them that she had suffered a head injury or severe organ damage. He still couldn’t believe she was still alive.

“You do realize the professor will flip a building when he comes back and finds her here, and then flip and island when he finds out you transfused her without authorization,” Junsu stated the obvious that everyone was thinking, but none was saying.

Changmin snorted, “And there you go stating the obvious again, sometimes I really wonder if your IQ is really what it is.” They were all aware of the problem it would cause saving her, let alone having her there but what’s done is done. Now they had to figure out solutions to the impending consequences of Yunho’s –and his –actions. “Good news was that she was highly compatible –”

“Bad news we don’t know how much its changed,” Yoochun cut in before the youngest had a chance to finish. Sure the changes in Boa had been minimal, but that’s not to say it would be the same for the nameless brunette.

“Can I just ask why she was so important to save, hyung,” Changmin asked his older brother, not understanding his mindset on saving the woman. When he’d brought her in, she had been barely breathing, her pulse fading and heart barely beating among other injuries. Yet, knowing all this, Yunho was willing to risk their lives to save hers.

Yunho sighed, watching the woman who was still deeply sedated and the monitoring equipment around her. “Because, it would be a tragedy to not at least try,” he didn’t want to tell them that he was unusually drawn to the woman and felt compelled to do whatever to save her life, even if the odds were against him. “She’s young and has her whole life ahead of her.”

“I still don’t understand. She’s not exceptionally beautiful and you don’t exactly know whether she has lived a life worth saving, but you say it would have been a tragedy if she died,” Jaejoong challenged. Most would have taken his words as heartless, but she was the most ordinary of the Ordinaries he’d ever seen –nothing special on the surface, and probably the same on further inspection.

Yunho sniggered, “I didn’t know you were this vain, Jaejoongie.” Even he didn’t know what compelled him so fiercely to save her, but even with the uncertainty hanging over them at the consequences of his action, he didn’t regret saving her.

“Not vain, just not convinced,” the slightly older of the two clarified, pushing off the counter, a bit annoyed at the dig, leaving the room to try and get more information on the unknown brunette they’d just saved.

Changmin sighed, “Let’s just hope she doesn’t repay you by broadcasting,” following Jaejoong out to help with the research. He hadn’t expected to find any identification on her seeing as she was probably beaten and robbed before being dump into the river to die, but they still needed to know who she was to better assess her reaction before they roused her.

Yoochun and Junsu lingered a bit longer, watching their hyung watch the girl with an unyielding stare that wasn’t going to end anytime soon. “Come on Jun, let’s go make sure those two don’t kill themselves trying to out-do each other,” throwing an arm round the faux-maknae, and guiding him out.

Yunho could understand why Jaejoong didn’t see her as attractive, because she really wasn’t what you’d call a classic beauty –at least not by Korean standards, but was still rather pretty. No he didn’t regret his actions at all despite the consequences.

¹Gaeul – I read somewhere it means ‘summer’ in Korean. The reason why the person called Sooyoung this will be revealed in the next chapter.

²NDI – I got it from the Before U Go MV, and in the story it stands for National Defense Institute think of it as the Korean version of the FBI.

³Ordinary – What DBSK call ordinary human beings, seeing as they are extraordinary.

Comments would be lovely and greatly wanted, helps me know what you think. Constructive Criticisms is welcomed, because it helps me improve. Flames … “to each, his own”.