It was a mission of the utmost importance. Mistakes could not be made because it was highly likely that a single error could prove fatal. He was about to stroll through the fire-scorched gates of Hell singing Ten Thousand Reasons at the top of his lungs, and either he would complete his objective and return a hero or he would fail and somebody was going to die.

Wary of his surroundings and cautious, Tao crept along the corridor, moving silently over the ground. His socks muffled the sound of his footsteps. Clutching a sturdy baton loosely in one hand made him feel secure, even though he had been trained in martial arts since he was a young boy.

Pressing himself against the wall, he peered around the corner with dark, narrowed eyes. Under no circumstances could he be seen. In order to achieve his goal, he would have to become a shadow. At the other end of the tunnel he could see the mouth of an abandoned room, silent and devoid of life, just as he needed it. That was where he would need to be. That was where his target was.

Outside, the moon was but a scratch in the star-speckled velvet sky. A cold winter whirlwind twisted broken leaves in its grasp. He could just hear it whistling through an open window. Hair on the back of his neck stiffened as the chill bit and nipped at his pallid skin.

Just a little bit more. The moonlight threw the room into shadow. Using the light of his phone to guide him, Tao scanned the room once brusquely to ensure nobody else was inside, slowing as he turned it back to get a better look.

It was a kitchen. Every inch was spotless, cleaned only hours before. Starting from the left side of the room was a fridge, a microwave, cooker, dishwasher and a washing machine. Above and between them were cupboards, each containing cutlery or plates or a combination thereof.

Tao padded forward and set the baton down on the counter, hesitating as his hand reached for the handle to pull it open. Paranoia made him glance over his shoulder—nothing must go wrong—to make absolutely sure nobody had noticed him sneaking through the building. But like before, nobody was there. So, taking a shallow breath to calm his beating heart, he reached into the cupboard and coaxed the creaking door open.

A silhouette appeared in the doorway. Tao heard the soft footsteps too late and pivoted sharply, snatching the baton as he turned, to point it at the shadowed body. The phone-light allowed him to see the face of his enemy.

Kris, dishevelled and wide-eyed, blinked at him as though he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing. His hands raised in a universal unarmed, please don't shoot- er, stab, bludgeon or whatever the it is you're doing gesture. His lips parted briefly and he poised to speak, but then seemed to think better of it and approached very slowly, getting close enough to ask in a whisper, “Why the are you threatening me with bread?”

Tao's menacing look did not falter even the slightest. The panda had its claw raised to attack, and attack he would. “Turn around now,” he snarled softly, “and go back the way you came. I will use this if I have to.”

Kris threw him a puzzled look. “Or what, you'll make me a ing sandwich? Hey, I won't tell if you don't.”

Hearing those words made one side of Tao's face droop slightly before he studied the EXO-M leader with a look of apprehension. Did he trust Kris, or did he strike? Disciplined by his self-defence training, the rapper growled quietly to himself. He couldn't make the first move. Not until he had ascertained Kris's motives.

Kris dipped his head and nodded to The Package in the cupboard. “You're here for it too, right?” he prompted. “I can help you.”

“No!” Tao hissed. “One of us will go unnoticed. The both of us will get caught.”

Huffing, Kris lowered his hands and folded his arms defiantly. “They'll have to catch us first. Come on, Tao, wasn't it you who said we have to live while we can? Risk is half the fun.” Mischief sparked in his eyes. Kris looked positively enthralled by their situation, and Tao couldn't help but admit to himself that the chance of getting caught was indeed thrilling.

He relented, but only because of their shared interest. “Not a sound,” warned the panda, jerking his head towards a chair in the middle of the kitchen. “Grab that. We'll need it to reach the top shelf. Don't drag it or you'll wake up the dead as well as everyone else.”

Together they managed to reach the package. Tao was nervous when Kris reached up, took The Package in his hands and climbed back down, meeting his gaze for a long moment. “If we get caught, I'm tripping you.”

“I will beat you over the head with that baton if you do,” Kris spat. “Whatever happened to us watching each others' backs?”

“Yeah, you can watch mine disappear as I run the out the door.”

Both cringed when Kris clutched the back of the chair and very nearly dragged. It groaned loudly in protest as his muscles tensed.

Tao snatched The Package out of his hands and headed towards the table. He dug his fingers into the lid of the jar and twisted it while Kris returned the chair to its original position. His hand slipped inside, fingers closing delicately around a soft, crumbling object, before pulling it out—only for it to be snatched away from him.

“Thanks a lot, you bastard.” Kris growled. “I'll remember that next time you need someone to save you.”

Suddenly the light flicked on. Terror filled their eyes as a doe-eyed young man stood in the doorway, his hair sleep-ruffled and face set into a mask of disbelief and fury. Kris gulped and started choking, clutching his throat as he descended into a vicious coughing fit.

Kyungsoo advanced, every step filled with menace. “Seriously? I can't believe you two.” A wooden spoon set on the draining board by the sink, left there to dry overnight, was snatched up. But thank god it wasn't a spatula.

Still, a wooden spoon? no. He wasn't getting smacked with that. Tao reached for his baton.

Several things happened at once. Kyungsoo lunged and Tao met him in the middle while Kris just continued to exhumed one of his lungs uselessly in the background. Bread met spoon; Tao yelped as Kyungsoo, in a deadly rage, parried his blow and snapped his baton clean in half. The force of the smaller singer's strike pushed him into the cupboards, which released an explosive bang, while the plates inside rattled.

With half of a crushed baton in his hand, Tao's mouth went dry as he realised that he was screwed very, very badly. Kris cowered underneath the chair as Junmyeon arrived, followed by Xiumin, Chanyeol and Baekhyun.

Tao dropped the baton and darted away as Kyungsoo brought the spoon down on him. It missed his head but thwacked his shoulder sharply.

“I caught them with their filthy hands in the cookie jar!” Kyungsoo exclaimed.

“Now hold on, I didn't touch one. Kris was- Ah!”

Another sharp blow. Tao tried to wrestle the spoon from D.O but ended up being pushed back towards Kris. Well, if the dorm wasn't already awake, they sure would be now. To bear sole witness to his death and funeral. I shouldn't have listened to Kris.

“Hey!” Kris's indignant exclamation made him wonder if he'd mumbled that out loud. “I caught you down here before me!”

Junmyeon yawned and murmured, “And what were you doing out of bed?”

Kris looked thoroughly chastised. “I was hungry.”

“Yeah, we see that.” Baekhyun snorted. “Beat them up, D.O. Don't let them get away with—hey!” Minhyuk stopped mid-nibble as several accusing eyes landed on him. “Get off those cookies. When did you even get here?”

Minhyuk levelled him with a glare. “I smelled freshly baked cookies so I came to investigate. I'm the official sweetie taster, it's my job—and obligation—to stuff my face. Especially when it comes to D.O's cooking.”

“You mean Hyunsik burned down the kitchen. Again.”

“Sort of. I climbed up through the window in case you were wondering.”

Tao used their moment of distraction with the stray BTOB member to try and make his escape. He didn't get as far as the door before he was tackled and pinned. “D.O, please-”

“Don't you please me!” Those words were naturally met with a snort or two. Clearly his outrage was a source of amusement for everybody else. “I caught you with your hand in the jar!”

“It's not my hand in there now though, is it?”

D.O looked up. True to his words, it wasn't. “Suho!”

Junmyeon gave him an apologetic look and lowered the cookie back into the jar. “Sorry, Kyungsoo.”

“I'm not,” Minhyuk said.

“For sake, get him out of here!” Tao snapped. “Before we have to explain to BTOB why they're scraping his face off our kitchen floor.”

“It won't be the kitchen floor by the time I'm through with him.”

Minhyuk was escorted out by Xiumin. Kris was pried from underneath the table by Baekhyun, who then prevented him from leaving by stepping in front of him.

“Traitor,” Kris growled.

“If it came down to you or Kyungsoo being mad at me, I'd rather have not antagonise him,” Baek shrugged.

Kyungsoo punctuated each sentence with a smack to Tao's head. “The next time you want something to eat, you don't go and steal things that aren't yours! Do you have any idea how hard I worked on those? If I ever catch you again, I'll-”

Junmyeon cut through the middle of D.O's rant about people stealing his cookies. “The cookie jar is gone.”

A moment of silence passed.

“MINHYUK!”