♦ ♦ ♦ Chapter Eleven ♦ ♦ ♦

Onew strode through the steel hallways of the HQ, Ae-In clutching to the hem of his navy blue coat. Behind them, Minho and Taemin followed in their steps wordlessly, both clad in red military outfits. The large doors at the end of the hallway were open, and even from a distance, Onew and his group could hear the panicked voices inside. Onew quickened his steps, and as soon as he stepped in, the noise died down. Everyone turned expectant gazes upon them. Hologram screens were haphazardly pulled out everywhere, and Hyunjung was furiously running from each screen to another. Onew cleared his throat, and Hyunjung turned to her.

"Onew! Thank goodness you're here. Hurry up and do something!" It was a rare time for Hyunjung to lose her cool, and it threw everyone off their balance.

However, Onew and his men were at the top for a reason. He calmly reached up and massaged the bridge of his nose. Ae-In moved closer to her, unable to relax with all the hubbub of orders and shouting going on. Taemin stepped up from behind them and spoke out in a clear, loud voice, overpowering the din of the room.

"Everybody, out!"

Hyunjung watched them, the rest of the investigation staff unmoving. Minho cleared his throat, and the attention turned to him.

"You heard Taemin. Out."

In a flash, everyone was filing out of the room quietly, leaving SHINee with Ae-In and Hyunjung. As soon as the doors closed, Hyunjung let out a scoff, gesturing at all the hologram screens. It all displayed the information about the trackers.

"They're nowhere! They're gone, Onew!" Hyunjung flopped down unceremoniously on her chair, looking frazzled and panicked.

Onew stepped forward and inspected the screens. According to the information displayed on each of the screen, each tracker on the EXO members had been disabled a good twenty-four hours prior to discovery. A day had passed before Hyunjung called on him. That gave EXO forty-eight hours to move. Onew turned to Hyunjung, a frown on his face.

"Why did you just call on us now?"

"Those idiots of an investigation team told me that they could do it. I believed them since they've worked for me before but...ugh, fix this, Onew. Do something."

Onew sighed before turning to Taemin, nodding at him. Taemin tipped his head forward before walking to one of the available laptops in the room. Hunching over, adept fingers quickly moved over the keyboard. Hyunjung watched them expectantly, and when Taemin straightened up, he clicked one more button and all the hologram screens disappeared, replaced by one huge screen. It was a heat map of 2145 Seoul, and Hyunjung only frowned in confusion.

"And this will do what, exactly?" She asked, and behind Onew, Minho chuckled softly.

"This is a program that Taemin and Jonghyun-hyung had been working on prior to Key's disappearance. It shows...anomalies." Minho stated simply, and Hyunjung couldn't be more confused.

"Anomalies?"

Before Minho could answer, Taemin had leaned over and pointed at something just on the outskirts of Seoul. Compared to the data shown on majority of the land, the energy readings on the part that Taemin was focused on was abnormally high, considering that there was no living thing on that part of Seoul. Onew looked at it for a while, before walking to another laptop, fiddling with it and bringing up another hologram screen, much smaller than the heat map. It showed the tracker's last whereabouts, and it was the same as the one with the high energy readings. He clicked his tongue, and Taemin looked at him knowingly, before glancing at Minho.

"Hyung, go tell Jonghyun-hyung that we're good to go."

Minho nodded his head before heading out of the room. Onew straightened up, and gestured for Taemin to go. Hyunjung remained silent all throughout the things that they did.

"Where are you all going? What about EXO?"

"We're going after them. We'll be gone for a while." Onew started to walk out, and Hyunjung sprang up from her seat, confused.

"Wait, what? What was up with that heat map? You don't know where they are."

"We do. We have our ways. Now, let us do our job, and we'll come back here with EXO."

Onew tipped his cap forward before leaving, taking Ae-In's hand into his and striding back down the hallways. Ae-In looked up at him, her icy-blue eyes twinkling with artificial lights. She squeezed his hand, and Onew hummed in response.

"Where are we going? Are you really going to come back here with the other oppas?"

Onew didn't say anything until they were out of the HQ. Once they arrived in the building's garage, they saw their black truck loaded and ready to go. Jonghyun was in the driver's seat, hand on the steering wheel. Taemin sat beside him, eyes glued on a tablet and brows furrowed in concentration. At the back, Minho loungin casually on one seat, hat tipped forward to hide his eyes. Onew hauled Ae-In up to the back, and he followed, sitting beside her and telling Jonghyun to go.

As they pulled out of the driveway, Onew leaned closer to Ae-In, whispering into her ear. "We'll bring EXO back."

The little girl turned to him, face tinted with a hint of horror. "Why? I thought you knew they were good!"

"They are. We'll bring them back...no, they're going to come with us on their own accord." Onew said, eyes focused on the road.

Taemin turned back, a pout on his face and briefly making him unbefitting of his military outfit. "Hyung, I don't think you should tell the little kid about our plan."

"I'm not saying anything."

"Well, you're hinting something. Stop. If we fail and she knows something, you know Hyunjung will still have her head."

Onew mulled over this thought for a while before reaching out and ruffling Ae-In's hair. Ae-In didn't know what was going on, but for now, it didn't seem like a bad idea.

"We've been on the move for two days already. When are we going to find a new hide-out?"

Suho threw Luhan a glare, and the latter stopped complaining with a grumble. Suho turned back to the road, legs hurting from having walked all day. They couldn't risk hitchhiking, as they really wanted to move under the cloak of the darkness and secrecy. Kai had offered to teleport them, but when he tried to do so with Kyungsoo, he had passed out right after. Minwoo had told them that it was far too early for them to try tricks like that. Their bodies were still getting used to the sudden influx of energy.

In front of him were their sunbaes, occasionally talking to each other about their plans and the location of their next hide-out. They already had one, but it was so far away, and without the use of any kind of vehicle, it would naturally take them at least two days to reach it.

Behind him were his own team members already looking sluggish and tired. Baekhyun was asleep on Chanyeol's back, and if he thought that Baekhyun was heavy, he didn't show it. Kris was dragging Tao, Chen was trying to stay lively with Xiumin. D.O. was fanning Kai's face, afraid that the other might pass out again. Sehun, Luhan and Lay were quiet, already tired from the walk.

Suddenly, Minwoo stopped in front, making Suho bump into him. The younger group perked up expectantly, looking towards the front. Eric was crouching down, feeling the ground with his palm. He felt the ground for a few more seconds before stopping at a certain spot, beckoning Minwoo over. The latter knelt down beside him, pressed a hand on the same spot, and the same light that Baekhyun and Chanyeol saw a few days ago emitted from his hand again.

The ground started trembling underneath them, and Luhan shrieked as the hard packed dirt started cracking. It was long before Suho realized that the crack was turning out to be a large square on the ground. Once the lines connected, the trembling stopped, and Andy grinned at them.

"Come on, let's go fix the new hide-out. I'm sure HQ's already aware of your disappearance. We need to go MIA for now."

Minwoo lifted his hand and the square in the dirt lifted up, revealing a steel trapdoor under the earth. Suho gaped, and so did the rest of the boys.

"There's a...trapdoor?" D.O. mumbled, and Hyesung nodded, leading the way down.

"We already prepared this a few months ago, just in case a situation like an emergency evacuation came up."

Suho nodded as if he understood, and decided to just follow his sunbaes. They all huddled down the staircase, and as soon as they landed, Minwoo came in last and closed the door. The inside of the hideout was surprisingly clean and filled with stuff that they needed. The room branched out into different rooms, and as soon as Jun Jin mentioned that those would be their rooms, everyone started going on their own way, eager for some rest.

Suho was about to sit down when a loud sound erupted from outside. His head snapped up in alarm, and Shinhwa came rushing to his side. The rest of the EXO members came over as well, Baekhyun looking frazzled as he had gotten jolted awake by the sound. They all stayed quiet, listening to the sound. It sounded like a--

"Truck? Is that a truck?" Baekhyun asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he scrunched his face.

"Sounds like it...but if it's that loud, then it must be right on top of us." Kris muttered.

At that same moment, the trapdoor suddenly flew open. They all jumped in surprise, Shinhwa automatically moving in front of EXO to defend them. Eric had super strength like D.O., Hyesung had wind abilities like Sehun, Andy had his combat skills to match his super speed. Minwoo could morph objects with a single touch. Jun Jin had fire abilities. EXO, as much as they wanted to stand up and fight as well, had no strength left. They could only watch in abated suspense as whoever pulled the door descended into their hideout. Baekhyun was the first one to speak up.

"Taemin? Minho?"

^{A/N: A very "wat"-worthy update. =)))) I'm so sorry, I know what to do with this fic, but I don't know how to do it. You feel me? =))}

^{On another note, I absolutely love super badass SHINee. Holyyy shiiiiit. ♥}

^{Advanced happy holidays to everyone! Until the next update which will take forever again, I assure you~}