[title song: life round here - ellie goulding]
[there's some violent/kind of gore scenes near the end so please watch out for that!]

chapter 23;

 

“Go on, Sooyong. Shoot him.” A deep voice rumbles in your ear.

Slowly, so slowly, you open your eyes. Your fingers are trembling, the metal of your gun freezing against your skin. Another voice is calling to you, shouting No. No. No. Please. Don’t. Your ears are ringing with so much noise, the sound of your own breathing, of moans of pain coming from your right, of someone promising your immediate death if you pull the trigger, of soft pleading telling you to just listen. You don’t pay attention to anything except for your target and the deep voice at your ear.

Blood rushes to your ears when a finger grazes along your waist, gently caressing you and urging you to follow his orders. Your eyes lock with your target’s eyes, eyes that you’ve known so well, eyes that you’ve seen filled with every kind of emotion imaginable. You remember when those eyes flashed with amusement, with annoyance, with so much love, with lust; you remember every single one of those emotions. Now all you see is emptiness, sheer blankness in those eyes. He doesn’t say a word. He just watches you. The deep voice is now at your ear, lips brushing against your skin, breath tickling your ear.

“He lied to you.” The voice whispers, his words finding its way into the darkest corners of your mind so they can burrow away there. “Since the beginning, all he ever did was lie to you. He hurt you. You didn’t deserve to suffer because of him, sweetheart. Don’t you want him to suffer as much as you suffered? Don’t you want him to pay for what he allowed his friends, his family, to do to you? He let them hurt you. He didn’t even care, did he? He allowed Luhan to hurt Jessica. Did you know that he helped kill your old Gyujin Ahjussi? He shot him right through the heart. This boy killed his ex-boyfriend just because he was ordered to and we all know he would have done the same to you. Look at him, sweetie, he won’t even deny it.” Yongguk’s deep voice rumbles against your ear, voice melodic and sweet, haunting almost in its deep musicality.

One of his hands curls around your waist, digging into the soft skin there, while his cheek rests against the side of your face, mouth brushing along your ears and cheek. He tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, tenderly. “He doesn’t care about you. He didn’t even love you enough to stay with you, Sooyong-ah. He chose the mafia over you. Do you think he loves you?” He chuckles, amused. “If he did love you, he would have stayed. He would have fought for you. But you know that, don’t you? You’ve known that all along.”

Your bottom lip trembles at his words, those awful words that manage to claw its way deeper and deeper into your brain. Your thoughts are racing and so is your heart. You know he’s right. For once, someone is telling you the cold, hard truth. Yongguk shushes you gently and that’s when you realize there are hot tears spilling down your cheeks. He wipes at the tears with the rough pads of his fingertips, humming a tune into your ear, voice soothing.

“He doesn’t love you. He doesn’t give a about you, Sooyong-ah. He never really did, but I think you know that, deep down. If he gave a about you, he wouldn’t have lied about Daehyun, let alone being in EXO.”

You stare at Byun Baekhyun, who clutches at his side, breathing ragged and heavy. He opens his mouth, as if he wants to say something, but nothing comes out. His eyes aren’t quite blank anymore. There’s something there, but you don’t care to figure it out anymore.

“Kill him, sweetheart.” Yongguk hisses, soft voice cutting through your frantic thoughts. His fingers dig into your waist almost painfully. “Make him suffer ten times the amount he’s made you and everyone else suffer.”

He places the softest kiss against your cheek, just below your right ear. “Trust me, darling. Pull the trigger and everything will be okay again.” He murmurs, lips moving against your skin, hot breath making you shiver.

You turn your full attention to Baekhyun then, and you can vaguely register a voice telling you to stop. But all you see is red. You could do it. You could pull the trigger and wipe out Baekhyun, wipe out EXO. You could go back to how things were before all this. You could forget about Byun Baekhyun, literally erase him from existence.

You want to do it, you realize. Deep down, you want to do it.

“Shoot him.”

Your finger hovers over the trigger and your eyes are locked onto his chocolate brown ones. He seems determined, prepared almost, like he knew this was how everything would end. He seems resigned to his fate and your finger twitches against the trigger. You want to pull the trigger. You want him to suffer the way you did. You want to hurt him for hurting you.

You shake Yongguk away and pull away from him, separating yourself. You take a deep, calming breath. You don’t take your eyes off of him and he returns the gesture. The whole world seems to fall away until it’s just the two of you, Baekhyun and you, as you exhale and you know what you have to do. His eyes twinkle and his lips curl up into the tiniest smile. Your heart beats against your ribs.

You need to protect your family and this is the only way to do that.

So you pull the trigger.

~.~.~.~.~.

11 Days Earlier

Minhee is standing in front of you and you can feel her eyes boring into your skull. You’re not looking at her; you’re not really looking at anything.

“What are we going to do when Yixing comes by?” Minhee asks, voice soft and tired.

You shrug, frowning. “I don’t know.” You murmur, frustration beginning to creep into your voice. “I don’t know.” You repeat, in a much louder voice.

You don’t what to do anymore. Was Yongguk really the one who took Mina or was she mistaken? You’re sick of all these lies. You’re sick of continuously trying to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not. You’re sick of being constantly betrayed. You can’t do this anymore.

Minhee eyes you carefully before she speaks, her tone determined. “I don’t know what happened between you and Yongguk.” You don’t like the implications in her tone. You open your mouth to say something since the look on her face is something close to exasperation and tiredness, but Minhee cuts you off with a raised hand and her next sentence, “And I don’t care. All I know is that we don’t know the whole story. We don’t know anything and I don’t ing like it.”

You frown at her, “Do you think I do? I hate this, Minhee.”

Minhee sighs and nods, her eyes full of enough pity to make your frown deepen. You don’t like being pitied. “I know you do. So I’m going to get to the bottom of this. I’m going to find out the whole truth.”

“How do you plan on doing that?” You ask quietly.

Her eyes sparkle with mischief and you wonder how many databases she plans on hacking into. “Don’t worry about it, okay? I’m going to do this on my own. I just want you to stop worrying yourself. You’ll get grey hairs.”

“Okay but. You don’t have to do this alone. Let me help.”

“No. It’s my job.” Minhee beams at you, all wide grins and twinkling eyes, “I’m your unnie, right? I’m supposed to watch out for my dongsaengs whether they like it or not. I need to do this alone. Besides, you’ll just get in the way.”

You stare at her in disbelief and wonder what she has planned. She just grins and turns away from you. You don’t miss the way her grin never reaches her eyes.

Before you can call out to her, the doorbell rings obnoxiously. You groan and sigh, sincerely hoping Yixing came alone.

The moment you open the door, Yixing rushes in and right past you, throwing a hurried hello over his shoulder. You stand aside and watch as he hurries to Mina’s room, where you and Minhee have managed to get her to lie down, and can’t help but smile just a tiny bit. He really seems to worry about Mina and you’re glad Mina has someone like Yixing watching over her.

“I don’t get it.” A familiar voice mutters from behind you, sending involuntary shivers down your spine. You whip your head to the side and groan, rolling your eyes.

“Baekhyun.” You mutter, irritably, your frown deepening when you spot Chanyeol beside him.

“Nice to see you, too, babe.” Baekhyun responds, with a sarcastic quirk of his lips before he pushes past you and into your apartment, Chanyeol grinning pleasantly as he follows Baekhyun in.

Before you can snap at him because you’re tired of people barging into your apartment uninvited, Jessica appears in the hall, blocking Baekhyun’s path. She looks exhausted, her long, black hair pulled up into a ponytail and dark circles just barely visible beneath her eyes. She looks determined, her eyes on Baekhyun.

“Apologize.” She says, her eyes full of fire and her expression taut.

Baekhyun blinks, surprised. “Excuse me?” Baekhyun asks, slowly narrowing his eyes at Jessica.

Jessica then proceeds to jab a single finger into Baekhyun’s chest and practically growls at him, eyes flashing. “I said apologize.”

“Are you threatening me?” Baekhyun asks, in disbelief, as he pushes Jessica’s finger away from his chest and crosses his arms.

“Yes.” Jessica replies, bluntly, earning a soft snort from Chanyeol.

Baekhyun just laughs, “I really don’t think—”

Before Baekhyun can let out another word Jessica stomps on his foot hard and Baekhyun squeaks, voice climbing up an octave. “W—what the ?” Baekhyun shrieks clutching his foot.

“Say you’re sorry to unnie!” Jessica exclaims, rearing back her foot as she gets ready to kick Baekhyun again. Chanyeol starts laughing loudly as Baekhyun avoids Jessica’s foot, still hopping on one foot while he’s bent over clutching the other.

“No.” Baekhyun mutters back, almost childishly, his mouth turned down into an angry pout. The sight of him pouting ridiculously as Jessica attempts to kick him is so absurd that you can’t help but burst into laughter, joining Chanyeol.

Both Jessica and Baekhyun stop what they’re doing and eye you with similar, incredulous expressions.

“Why are you laughing, Yeol? You’re supposed to help me!” Baekhyun whines, glaring at Chanyeol, who’s doubled over in laughter. You giggle at the sight, hand over your mouth, and Baekhyun’s eyes briefly flicker over to meet yours before they drift back to Chanyeol.

“I’m sorry, B—Baek. You should see your face.” Chanyeol cackles, huffing a little, before holding up a hand for Jessica to high-five. “I’ve been waiting for someone to kick him for weeks, Jess. Thank you.”

Jessica smiles just a bit, the corners of her lips twitching, before she gives Chanyeol the quickest high-five. Then she turns back to Baekhyun, eyes narrowed, and points at him rather menacingly. “You better apologize, Oppa.”

“ Oppa?” Baekhyun echoes, grimacing at Jessica. “That’s not nice.”

Jessica just chucks a couch pillow at Baekhyun, who ducks and lets it soar over his head and hit the wall while Chanyeol snorts loudly. She looks around and when she realizes there’s nothing else to throw she stomps out of the room and towards the kitchen. You don’t miss the sincere smile she gives you before she leaves. Your heart warms at the fact that she cares so much about you. You also enjoy how dumb Baekhyun looks.

“Control your ing kids.” Baekhyun hisses loudly as he rubs his food. You turn to meet his gaze and he looks like a kicked puppy, wrinkles forming between his eyebrows while his bottom lip juts out ridiculously. It makes you smile which in turn makes him frown. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”

“Don’t barge into apartments uninvited.” You tell him, pointedly, smirking a little.

Chanyeol guffaws and you don’t miss the way Baekhyun narrows his eyes accusingly at Chanyeol, who only smiles knowingly, grin wide and a bit creepy, before heading to the couch. Baekhyun mumbles a string of curses under his breath and pouts before throwing himself on your couch, ignoring your glare.

You frown at them as they make themselves comfortable, wondering when exactly it was okay for members of EXO to just lounge about on your couch whenever they felt like it.

~.~.~.~.~

Yixing stands at the kitchen door, his expression solemn. Minhee, Jessica, and you immediately end your hushed conversation (which mostly revolves around the fact that Chanyeol and Baekhyun have been lounging in your living room for the better part of the past two hours watching cooking shows and you don’t know what to do about it). You straighten up, leaning away from the counter. “Is she okay?” You ask, worriedly.

“Bang Yongguk?” Yixing asks, slowly, his tone shocking you. It sounds dangerous and strangely heavy to your ears, as if he’s suppressed years of hardships deep inside of him and just an inkling of it is seeping through his tough exterior.

“What?” You ask, caught off guard. You hear the squeaking of stools, signaling that Jessica and Minhee have gotten out of their seats.

“I’ve called Kris.” Yixing continues, as if he hasn’t heard you. He’s staring at you with a blank expression.

“What?” You repeat, eyes widening. You’re annoyed that Yixing is just deciding things without asking you first.

“Why are you doing that?” Minhee quickly inserts, calmly, before she places a soothing hand on your elbow, pinching the soft skin there.

“Mina told me the name of the person who triggered her panic attack. Don’t worry, though. She didn’t tell me how or under what circumstances she’s managed to hear him. But I can put two and two together.” Yixing explains as he watches you carefully. “I’ve heard that you’ve been hanging around Bang Yongguk and I honestly don’t care about the details. But if he somehow triggered Mina, then he could be the one who kidnapped Mina and me. This involves us now, Sooyong-ssi.”

You know he’s right, but you don’t trust Kris. Just the thought of Kris heading to your apartment right now sends fear and anxiety coursing through you. But as long as they don’t know that you’ve been working with Yongguk to take down EXO, you think it’ll be fine. You figure EXO is under the impression that you’re dating Yongguk or something. It’ll be less dangerous for LILAC if they continue living under that pretense. “Fine.” You say, eyeing Yixing seriously. “But if he’s coming in my apartment, he’s going to play by my rules. Otherwise, you pay, do you understand me?”

Yixing nods, “It’s only fair.”

“I’m holding you to this, Yixing-ssi. If he steps out of line, I’ll shoot you.”

“I wouldn’t expect any less from you.”

There’s a bitter undertone to his voice that has you gaping at him as he steps out of the kitchen.

~.~.~.~.~

You can feel eyes boring into the side of your head from across the room and you’ve been trying to ignore it for maybe ten minutes now. But a person can only take so much intense staring before they crack.

You snap your head to the side and bark out a sharp “What?”

Baekhyun doesn’t even flinch from where he’s sprawled out on your couch, his expression smooth and blank. Then he quirks a single eyebrow and tilts his head, chin resting on the top of the couch, against his forearm. “You’re actually ing the upgrade, aren’t you?” He asks, voice dripping with curiosity more than anything else.

It disappoints you how unaffected he seems when just a few days ago he had been incredibly jealous. But he did promise he’d become EXO’s Baekhyun, not your Baekhyun, and the look on his face confirms that all traces of your gentle Baekhyun has been left behind. Your Baekhyun is gone for good, now, and you ignore the pang in your chest because he had done it so easily.

“What if I was?” You ask as you lean back against the dining table and turn your body towards him, crossing your arms, If he can be EXO’s Baekhyun then you can be LILAC’s leader.

He purses his lips, smiling sweetly. “I don’t know. I’m just curious. How does it feel knowing you’re ing the man who tortured your best friend for weeks on end?” Baekhyun tilts his head, eyes shining brightly and he looks so mocking that it makes you want to punch him.

You shrug at his question, copying his expression. “I don’t know. How does it feel knowing you murdered your ex-boyfriend just because Kris ordered you to?”

Baekhyun laughs then, “Oh, you’re good, babe.  But it’s a shame that you really do believe everything anyone tells you. You’re so naïve.”

“ off.” You say, crisply, and Baekhyun smirks, figuring he’s hit a soft spot. You know you’re naïve. How else do you always trust people only to be betrayed a couple weeks later? You’re naïve and both you and Baekhyun know that, unfortunately. It’s your fatal flaw, you realize. You trust too easily; you’re swayed too easily.

As if on cue, there’s a knock at the door, and you push yourself off of the dining table, ignoring Baekhyun climbing off of your couch. You take a deep breath because you are definitely not ready for Kris.

~.~.~.~.~

“Oh, you came alone?” You question, eyeing Kris up and down before glancing along the hall behind him, half-expecting someone to pop up and shove you out of the way. He’s dressed casually, in ripped jeans and a blue v-neck.

Kris raises his eyebrows, the rest of his expression set on a default sort of mocking amusement. “You’re not worth backup.” Kris says, condescendingly.

You level him with a solid glare and speak crisply, crossing your arms. “This is my apartment so, as I told Yixing, I expect you to behave.”

“You’re annoying.” Kris responds blandly as he leans against the doorframe and looks down on you, literally and probably figuratively as well.

“That’s not behaving.” You tell him.

For a second, Kris’s whole expression shifts to something almost murderous and your heart jumps in fear. Then he smiles and it looks unpleasant and forceful. “How about we skip the small talk and you tell me about your new boyfriend?”

The two of you engage in a long stare down before you shrug and step away from the door, letting him inside. You figure this conversation would be best done in the confines of your apartment. “What is there to discuss that you don’t already know?” You ask, a little bitterly.

At your words, Kris’s eyes flicker to some place behind you and when they turn back to you, they’re full of anger and disgust that you never quite expected Kris to direct at you. He always seemed especially indifferent towards you, even before he knew you were a part of LILAC. You never thought he felt so strongly about you. “So you know he’s in B.A.P?”

“Yes. He told me at the very beginning.” You say. Kris’s eyes flicker back to Baekhyun right after those words slip out and you feel a little bad because you realize your statement may have sounded a bit vindictive.

There’s a snort from behind you and Kris makes a face. “He obviously didn’t tell you everything.”

“Did Yixing—”

“Of course he did.” Kris says, waving his hand dismissively. His eyes never leave yours as he speaks, “Your boyfriend kidnapped and tortured Yixing, subsequently betraying EXO’s trust in B.A.P. This is our business now. We’re going to kill him, Sooyong.”

His tense expression makes you wonder if maybe he expects you to retaliate at his words.  They seem to think Yongguk is your boyfriend, but even if he was you’d never protect him. Not after Mina claimed that Yongguk was the one who tortured her. You just hate that you don’t know the whole truth. “Okay. So?” You ask, narrowing your eyes at him.

“He did the same to one of yours, too.” Kris sighs, his frown deepening. “I’m only asking this because Yixing cares a lot about Mina-ssi. Do you want to join us?”

There’s a soft intake of breath from behind you that startles you. Baekhyun’s eyes widen. Kris stares at you and you quickly glance back at him.

“Aren’t we at war right now?” You wonder, eyeing him cautiously, searching his face for some kind of ulterior motive. Unfortunately, he’s good, really good, at keeping his expression neutral.

Kris just smirks and tilts his head. “You see, I believe you and I have very similar values when it comes to this business. Family always comes first, so why don’t we just put aside our difference for a bit? We might as well join forces to take down a similar enemy, right?” Then he grins, his eyes glinting. “Besides, you’re dating Bang Yongguk. You have the upper hand in this situation and I’d like to take advantage of that. He’s always been a pest.”

“What will happen after we take them out?”

Kris’s voice sends chills down your spine. “Depends on how good you are. We could go back to how things were before or you can replace B.A.P and take over all of B.A.P’s jobs. Of course, if you want to replace B.A.P. you’ll have to kill them yourselves.”

“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.” You respond vaguely. Why would Kris suggest that you join him, of all things? He has to be up to something; his eyes are ing glinting, for ’s sakes.

“So is that a yes?” Kris holds out a huge hand, his eyes still fixed on you. He knows you can’t say no. Well, you could, but it’d be a stupid move and both of you know it.

“This is for Mina, so yes. We’ll help you.” You clarify as you grasp his hand firmly, his large hand engulfing your small one.

“It’s a truce, then.” He grins, his gums making an appearance, but his eyes are full of dark mirth. He releases your hand and turns to towards your door. “I do hope you decide to replace B.A.P. You could do so well under me.”

You don’t miss the suggestive statement and his awful, belittling smirk and your blood boils. You can’t respond though, not when he swings open your door and strolls out. Chanyeol throws you a wide grin, totally unfazed, before following after Kris. Baekhyun, however, comes to a halt right beside you and speaks, without facing you.

“We’ll text you.” He mutters.

You nod, your eyes flickering over the familiar angles of his face and his clenched jaw. He looks tense and you get the urge to reach out and smooth out the wrinkles forming between his eyebrows.

“Be careful.” He says, so quietly you wonder if you imagined it.

He’s out the door before you can process a thing and you figure you had to have imagined the faint please he had tacked on right before he walked away.

~.~.~.~.~

 “You’re telling me that we’ve just agreed to work with EXO to take out B.A.P? Even though we’re technically still working with B.A.P to take out EXO?” Jessica exclaims, incredulously. She turns to Minhee, who’s helping an exhausted Mina into a dining room chair, as if she’s asking for some kind of logical backup. Yixing had left an hour ago, after making sure Mina was thoroughly calm. You think it’s quite nice that he cares about Mina so much but it doesn’t seem like he cares about the rest of you at all, if his silent departure had said anything about that.

“Don’t look at me like that. I don’t know why Sooyong agrees to anything these days.” Minhee says without ever looking up from Mina. “We should just shoot them all and move far, far away.”

“That’s a little morbid.” Mina mutters, looking up from the bowl of rice and meat in front of her with a wrinkled nose.

You sigh, loudly. “Kris even mentioned something about joining them afterwards. He emphasized that to replace B.A.P we’d have to kill them ourselves. It was all very suspicious.”

“When are they not suspicious?” Jessica grimaces before plopping down on one of the chairs. Jessica bites her lips, peering up at you. “Did he really mean it when he called the truce?”

“I think so. I mean. We shook on it, so that has to mean something, right?” You say, as optimistically as you can.

“This isn’t middle school.” Minhee inserts with a roll of her eyes.

You shoot her a disparaging look but before you can respond Mina speaks, her tone thoughtful. “I trust Kris to keep his word. Yixing says he never goes back on his word.”

Minhee laughs, a little humorlessly. “You might trust Yixing, Mina, but I don’t.”

“Why not?” Mina asks and when Minhee doesn’t respond or look at her, her eyes narrow. The burn along her face glistens in the harsh fluorescent lighting. “You’re going to trust this Bang Yongguk guy, then? Even after he tortured me.”

“No, I don’t trust either of them.” Minhee retorts as she slams her hand against the table and makes you jump. “It doesn’t have to be one or the other. I just. I don’t ing get it. I don’t ing understand why all of you put your trust into these people so easily.” You watch as Minhee stands and jabs a finger in Mina’s direction, her eyes ablaze with so much anger. You watch as she turns slowly, pointing from Mina to you to Jessica. “They were our friends, I get that. But they’ve tried to kill us. Multiple times. Get that through your ing heads. Please. They’re trying to ing use us. Kris said it himself didn’t he? He wants to take advantage of the fact that Sooyong seems close to Yongguk. They want to take advantage of us and after they’re done they’ll just keep playing with us until they get bored.”

Jessica opens but Minhee shakes her head, her eyes narrowed into slits. “We’re in way over our heads and all I want to do is get the out of this in one piece.” Minhee says, irritation dripping from her tone.

“Then what do we do?” Jessica asks, her tone softer than you’ve ever heard it before.

Minhee locks eyes with you and speaks tersely. “We ignore our feelings. We get answers. Then we step back and let EXO and B.A.P take care of each other. They already hate each other. We just need to add fuel to that flame and hopefully they’ll tear each other apart with little help from us.”

She’s looking at you with fire in her eyes, but there’s an underlying sense of pleading in her eyes. She’s right. She’s so right. You need to stop caring about these people. They’re not your friends anymore. They want you dead. Minhee is right.

So you nod, “Okay. Okay, fine. Let’s finish this once and for all.”

The silence filling the room is unbearable. It has never been this silent between the four of you before. So much has changed in so little time and the weight of that realization is heavy on your shoulders. You slump against your chair and avoid eye contact with your best friends. So much has happened to the four of you.

How did your life turn into this?

~.~.~.~.~.~

“They really were serious about the truce.” Jessica murmurs from across the lunch table, the next day. Her tone is full of disbelief and suspicion, as if she expects someone to pop out from beneath one of the cafeteria tables and shove a gun in her face.

You’re spared from responding when Sehun takes a seat next to Jessica, your eyes following the way his arm drapes across the back of her seat too casually as he leans a little bit closer to Jessica and steals a bite of her food. Sehun raises his eyebrows at you as he chews, challengingly, and you glare when he smirks.

What the is going on?

Kyungsoo takes a seat on your left and you blatantly stare at him as he picks up his chopsticks and spends about a minute staring at his food with a contemplative expression, his chopsticks hovering. Suddenly he meets your gaze and smiles. He doesn’t smile sarcastically like he usually does, no, it’s actually sweet and his eyes turn up into little half-moons and it’s absolutely cute.

It’s absolutely suspicious.

When Jongdae takes a seat on your right and immediately starts teasing Sehun and Jessica as if he’s always done that is when you finally snap. You slide your chair back and stand up abruptly, the legs of the chair scraping along the floor loudly.

“What are you doing?” You ask, eyeing the way Jongdae has a dumpling practically falling out of his mouth as he stares up at you with a dumb expression.

“What do you mean?” Jongin asks in an innocent voice, from Jessica’s left. He looks awfully angelic at that moment and you groan, loudly.

“I. You. Nevermind. I’m leaving.” You mutter before swiveling on your heels. Jessica calls after you but you ignore her, instead heading towards the library. You feel bad for leaving Jessica to deal with all of them alone, but you know they won’t hurt her. There’s a truce that apparently negates all bad blood. They won’t hurt her, you’re sure of it.

~.~.~.~.~

You’re so lost in your thoughts that you don’t realize that you’ve been wandering between the library shelves, fingers grazing along the cracked spines of dozens and dozens of books, until you nearly trip over your own two feet. You slip out one of the books and flip through the pages, the words not really registering in your brain. Maybe you could get lost in here forever and forget all your problems.

“What are you doing here?”

Or not.

You look up and Baekhyun is peering at you through the bookshelf, his left eye and half his nose visible through the hole the book you took out left.

You frown at him and he raises an eyebrow at you.

“Why aren’t you at lunch?” He asks, using that same tone he had used back at your apartment. He sounds genuinely curious and that’s it. There’s no other emotion in his voice. It makes your fingers unconsciously clench around the book you’re holding.

“I could ask you the same thing.” You respond as you pluck out another book, so you can see his entire face. Mostly because it’s disconcerting talking to half a face and a tiny bit because you want to see the rest of him. You instantly shake away the second thought.

“I was looking for a book.” Baekhyun raises a book in his hands and you catch a glimpse of a long title and a wrinkled cover. He looks at you expectantly; his eyes patient and you know that he wants you to tell him why you’re here.

“Me too.” You respond, holding up the book in your hand.

He doesn’t look like he believes you. You watch as he chuckles and looks off to his side, down the aisle. “Really? I saw you wandering. You looked lost.”

You eye him in suspicion, “Why are you talking to me? Why are your friends acting like everything is okay?” You burst out suddenly, accidentally dropping one of the books. The book hits the ground with a soft thud and echoes throughout the library.

Baekhyun’s eyes twinkle in a way you can’t quite read. His eyes keep flickering down your face, before fixing onto your eyes. Then he shrugs. “We have a truce, babe. We’re friendly.”

You glare at him and he just grins, lips curling up into a secretive smile.

“So…” He begins suddenly, leaning into the bookshelf, his chocolate brown eyes sparkling. “You come here often?”

That’s when you abruptly shove the books in your hands back into the bookshelf and he disappears from view, the sound of him cackling echoing through the silent library.

“ off.” You say loudly, glaring at the bookshelves.

“Go eat lunch.” He sing-songs before you hear the sound of retreating footsteps.

~.~.~.~.~

“So how did you manage to get back into their good graces?” A deep, raspy voice murmurs right into your ear. You jump nearly a foot in the air and clutch at your chest, your heart racing.

“Holy you sca—what are you doing?” You cut yourself off when Yongguk grasps your wrist and pulls you into a dark, empty classroom, your fingers automatically reaching for the fingers he has wrapped around your wrist.

Yongguk maneuvers you into one of the desks, the back of your knees knocking against the edge of the desk so hard it skids back with a loud squeak, his fingers still clenched around your wrist. “Answer me.” He says, deep voice strangely low. You pull at your arm futilely before you glare up at him, eyes flashing.

“Let go of me.” You respond, crisply, as you dig your nails into the flesh of his hands. You try to claw at his hands but he seems completely immune to your nails.

There’s a long pause where you glare at Yongguk, who eyes you darkly, long fingers still wrapped around your wrist, grip tight enough to leave a bruise.

Suddenly, he drops your wrist and you snatch it back, glare still fixed on him. Yongguk doesn’t step away, however, his hips pressed against yours in a way that makes you squirm uncomfortably. You frown at him and try to ignore how close he is to you.

“You don’t trust me anymore, do you?” Yongguk asks, softly, his eyes glinting. His fringe falls into his eyes as he looks down at you and you shudder when he brushes a few stray strands of hair behind your ear.

His touch brings you a strange mixture of newly found revulsion and lingering security. You hate it. You hate that your consciousness can’t seem to decide whether he’s dangerous or not, even though your brain knows he is.

“What did you do to get EXO to be nice to you again? Hmm?” Yongguk hums, his tone gentle, curious even.

Suddenly his fingers drag down your sides and grasp your thighs, tightly. He hoists you up on to the desk and you blink, scrambling in his grip as he steps in between your spread legs, a lopsided grin falling from his lips.

“Did you finally decide to play with your precious Baekhyun like I suggested?”

A voice at the back of your mind (it sounds vaguely like Minhee’s) tells you to agree so you nod.

“Good.” He leans forward and it takes you all your strength to remain still, to allow him to think your opinion of him hasn’t changed. You force yourself to look as comfortable as you used to seem with him in these kinds of situations. His lips are hovering above yours and you hold your breath, your mind reeling. “I’m proud of you.”

His deep voice hits you right in your bones and half of you melts at the statement. The other half recoils. You hate that you still having such polar reactions when it comes to Bang Yongguk.

“Keep doing what you’re doing. I’ve got everything under control.” Yongguk smiles, genuinely, his gums show and his eyes turn up into little crescent moons. He gives you the lightest peck on the lips, his grip on your thighs suddenly light as a feather. “Don’t worry about a single thing, okay?”

He looks at you expectantly, his eyes warm, and you smile back, as naturally as you can. “Okay.” You say, nodding.

His hands are warm as he helps you down from the desk.

You shiver under his touch, that awful mixture of disgust and refuge settling at the pit of your stomach yet again.

~.~.~.~.~

You never thought you’d end up in Baekhyun’s house again, yet, here you are. It wasn’t even fifteen minutes after classes had ended when you had gotten the mass text requesting (or rather demanding) you to join EXO for a meeting.

You’re sitting on the couch in Baekhyun’s basement, Jessica on your right, Mina on your left, Minhee hovering somewhere behind you, while Kris sits with an ankle resting on the opposite knee, a regal sort of expression plastered across his face while the rest of EXO flanks either side of him. There’s a single glass coffee table between the two of you and you’re vaguely reminded of an interrogation.

You’re currently gaping at Kris, eyes wide. “You want me to call him?”

“Yes.” Kris says, rather bluntly.

“Right now?”

“No, tomorrow.” He mutters, rolling his eyes. “Yes, right now.”

You choose to ignore his sarcasm and frown instead. “Like call Bang Yongguk?”

“Yes.”

“Actually, seriously call him?”

Kris’s fingers twitch and he looks a bit murderous. “Yes. Why is calling him such a foreign concept to you? Don’t you usually call your boyfriend?”

You admit that you really enjoy it when Kris is irritated because his eyebrows furrow and knit together almost comically. You pause and eye him contemplatively, watching as his eyebrows morph into angry dark rectangles. Finally, you sigh. “We don’t really call each other.” You can’t admit that you calling Yongguk out of the blue would be incredibly suspicious to him since the two of you aren’t actually dating. He only ever calls you when he needs to relay important information. You only call him when there’s something important to discuss.

Kris frowns at you and you don’t miss the way Jongin narrows his eyes in suspicion. “You don’t call each other?”

You can feel Baekhyun’s eyes on you and you refuse to look at him. You just shrug. “We do. But not much. It’s kind of weird.” You wrinkle your nose and Kris exhales loudly.

“It’s kind of—I swear to every God. I’m going to ing kill you if you’re making this complicated on purpose.” Kris groans with so much irritation and exasperation that you burst into giggles. He sounds like an annoyed father and it’s actually ridiculous watching his eyebrows furrow the way they do. He’s turning as red as a tomato. “Are you laughing at me?” He asks, sharply, eyes narrowing.

He scowls so menacingly that you choke on your laughter, remembering that he could actually kill you at this very moment if he wanted to. You shouldn’t push it too much. “No.” You say, quickly, swallowing your giggles, hand over your mouth.

Kris scowls and you bite your lip.

The corner of his lips twitch upwards just a fraction and you smirk. The twitch is gone as quickly as it came and his scowl deepens before he crosses his arms. “Just ing call him.” He tells you.

You make a face. “Why?”

Kris glances just a bit off to his left, expression exasperated, and Sehun speaks instead. “I’m going to track the call so we can figure out where they’re set up.” Sehun drawls out, his eyes flickering between Mina, Minhee, and Jessica before settling on you.

Kris nods, his blond hair falling into his eyes. “Knowing my good friend, he’ll make sure it’s impossible to track him.” Kris mutters mockingly. He tilts his head, grinning at you. “But maybe he’ll let his guard down for his precious girlfriend. He’s done it before.”

You blink at his words, not missing the way Baekhyun suddenly shifts in his seat; your eyes momentarily catching his before you turn your attention back to Kris. “What do you want me to ask him?”

Kris eyes you with a strange expression. “Figure out if he actually tortured Yixing, for starters. I don’t know. Just talk to him until Sehun locks onto a location.”

You nod. You’ve started to figure out that when Kris talks about Yixing, he usually always has a silent and Mina tacked on afterwards. They’ve understandably become a pair and both of you have noticed. Kris just won’t acknowledge it out loud. Sometimes you wonder if this changes anything, but you doubt it.

So you put your phone on speaker and dial Bang Yongguk’s number.

It rings and rings and rings, the silence stretching on long enough for you to glance at Baekhyun, who’s not even bothering to avoid your eyes. He’s staring at you dead on, eyes void of any kind of emotion, and you shift in your seat, uncomfortably. Mina places a gentle hand on your thigh and you avert your eyes, focusing instead on your phone, putting it on speaker.

“Sooyong-ah?” A deep familiar voice finally picks up. He sounds worried and you figure that has to do with the fact that you’re calling him. You never call him unless it’s important. You hope he’s not suspicious. You hope he doesn’t talk about taking out EXO. You don’t want EXO to know about that, although you’re ninety percent sure Jongin already knows, if his deadly scowl says anything about that. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh.” You begin, wrinkling your nose because they’re all staring at you. Jongdae isn’t blinking and Jongin looks incredibly pissed off. Kris has his eyes narrowed and Sehun’s eyes are definitely laughing at you. Even Joonmyun’s eyes are fixed on you.

Baekhyun isn’t looking away.

“Sooyong?” Yongguk murmurs again and it’s strangely gentle, intimate even. It’s relaxing. You’re disgusted with yourself for feeling that way.

Your eyes immediately dart to Baekhyun and Baekhyun stares right back, expression neutral and eyes unwavering.

“I just.” You cough before you stare up at the ceiling and ignore the literal crowd watching you like hawks. You glance at Mina, who’s become incredibly pale. “I keep thinking about Mina?” It comes off more as a question then a statement.

There’s a long pause where you grow nervous, unintentionally memorizing the way the basement ceiling looks, before Yongguk responds, tone still soft, almost as if he’s whispering. “What about her?”

“Is she alive?” There’s a soft snort from someone in the room and you make a face at the ceiling. The other line is silent. “I mean. What if she’s still alive?”

“Have you seen a sign of Mina-ssi? Did she contact you?” Yongguk speaks up, his tone alert. His tone is too sharp and too casual.

You watch as Mina slowly gets up from beside you, legs a little shaky, and heads towards the stairs, disappearing from view. Nobody stops her, Kris doesn’t even look up at her. Yixing, who looks significantly paler, follows after her a moment later and you just watch his retreating back. “No.” You respond, tone colder than you mean it to be. “It’s just a feeling.”

“I’m sure she’s somewhere out there.” Yongguk says after another long pause. “Hmm, how about this? I’ll help you look for her, okay?”

He sounds so sweet and supportive and it’s mind boggling knowing that he’s lying to you. He’s such a good liar. You’re surrounded by so many good liars. “Okay.” You say, as calmly as possible.

“Good.” He says, happily. “I promise we’ll do it together later, but I’ll send out some of my men for the meantime.”

You grimace at that because you doubt he’s sending out men to find Yixing. “Uh, sure. Thank you.”

“No problem, Sooyong-ah. I’m always here to help, okay? Remember that.” Yongguk murmurs. His last sentence takes on an almost ominous tone and before you can respond he continues speaking, tone sweet. “Bye. I’ll see you around.”

And then he hangs up.

“Sehun?” Kris’s voice booms through the silence that’s frankly awkward for you. You’re still staring at the ceiling.

“I’m good. It’ll take a while to figure out the coordinates though.”

You glance at Baekhyun while Sehun is talking, you can’t help it, and he’s leaning against Jongdae’s side, eyes void of any type of emotion that could expose his thoughts. He’s still staring at you and you can’t make out what the look means.

You focus back on Kris and he looks at you, knowingly, something akin to disgust in his eyes and an unkind smile falling from his lips. “Thanks, Sooyong-ah.” He says, mockingly.

~.~.~.~.~

The next day, you’re running late and you rush through the halls of SM University, maneuvering through the crowded halls as quickly as you can.

“Yah, Sooyong. Wait up!”

“Oh no.” You mutter, recognizing the voice immediately. You will not and cannot deal with him right now. “No, no, no, no.”

You walk faster, practically skidding around the corner.

You make it to your Biology Lecture classroom, the double doors shut tight, when your phone buzzes. For a moment, you consider ignoring it, but it could be an emergency so you dig through your backpack until you pull out your phone.

From: Baekhyun

it’s rude to ignore ppl

You roll your eyes when your phone buzzes again.

From: Baekhyun

especially me.

You should ignore the texts at this point but your screen lights up again and your finger automatically slides the message open.

From: Baekhyun

Sooyong

And suddenly your phone won’t stop vibrating and you eye your phone, impatiently, as you mumble a few choice curse words.

soo

yong

soo

soo

soo

sooyonggie

god fine

deal w/ an angry kris phone call w/ 0 explanation and 100% demanding orders

Obviously, you don’t want to deal with that so you slowly back away from the lecture hall doors and dial his number, mumbling under your breath in annoyance the entire time.

“Hello?” Baekhyun answers too innocently, in a tone that you know is paired up with that God-awful smirk of his.

“What do you want?” You snap as you settle into one of the benches along the halls.

“Sehun’s locked on to a location.” Baekhyun says. He sounds as if he’s just run a couple laps and you furrow your eyebrows in confusion.

“Can’t we do this after classes?” You ask, exasperated.

“Nope.” Baekhyun’s voice is louder now and you glance around, in confusion. Striding up to your bench is none other than Baekhyun, his phone in his hand and his backpack slung over one shoulder.

“I need to call the others.” You say, slowly, surprised that he’s managed to find you. He looks amused and you realize you still have your phone pressed against your ear. You snap it shut and stand up, crossing your arms.

“Already did.” Baekhyun says with a wave of his hand.

You pause and try to process everything.

“Are we really going to go into B.A.P headquarters now?” You ask, in disbelief. “You’re not going to make a plan or anything?”

Baekhyun just nods, an easy smile falling from his lips. “We usually just wing everything, honestly.” You gape at him and he smiles with his teeth as he reaches out and pats the bottom of your chin, his fingers brushing along your skin. “Don’t look so surprised. You look ugly.” He says with a lopsided smirk.

You hastily clamp your mouth shut and make a face at him, smacking his hand away from your face, your heart fluttering uncomfortably.

“Besides. Sehun says that he didn’t break through their security cleanly. They’ll figure out there’s been a breach in less than twenty four hours.”

“Well, that’s inconvenient.” You mutter.

“Not as inconvenient as you just standing here. Let’s go before Kris calls.” Baekhyun says, pointing his chin towards the way out. He suddenly sounds very serious and you’re surprised by his change in demeanor.

You childishly stick your tongue out at him because you, Byun Baekhyun and he snickers, eyes twinkling, before turning on his heels and walking away. He doesn’t look back to see if you’re following and after a moment of watching him walk away, you quickly follow after him.

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun touches your wrist and you jump nearly a meter into the air, a sound somewhere between a yelp and a gasp leaving your mouth. You pull your arm away from his gasp and peer up at him. His gaze hardens, his eyes moving from your wrist up to your puzzled eyes before he turns back to the stoplight ahead, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel.

“What is it?” You mutter, watching the side of his face carefully. His jaw clenches a tiny bit and his delicate fingers reach behind the wheel as he takes a sharp right when the light turns green, his expression stormy.

He doesn’t answer. The car is silent even as he pulls up into his garage. You watch, befuddled, as he turns off the engine and finally faces you, expression blank. He points (jabs, really) at your wrist with a single finger.

“Where did you get those bruises from?” Baekhyun asks, slowly.

You blink rapidly and quickly glance down at your own wrists. There are a few small, finger-shaped bruises scattered across the skin there. You’re confused at first until you remember the incident with Yongguk a couple days ago. You didn’t even notice the bruises until now.

You shrug, a feeling of nostalgia washing over you, as you swallow uncomfortably. Is he worried about you? He sounds concerned but he doesn’t look it and that’s what’s most confusing of all.

He looks at you and you can’t look away. His eyes are hard and his jaw is tense. The whole world seems to fall away and you feel like it’s just the two of you, tension bubbling up between the two of you quickly. His eyes are darting between yours as if he’s searching for answers to questions you both know you can’t give. It’s like he’s looking straight through you and right into your soul and you want to turn away but you can’t. His eyes dart down to your lips and you unconsciously do the same. A series of expressions flit across his face in rapid succession and you nibble on your bottom lip, anxiety rushing through your veins.

Then he breaks away from your gaze, his head snapping to the side, and your heart rate quickens.

Without a word, he throws open the door and climbs out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him with so much force the whole car shakes and you wince. You slump against your seat, as you watch him stride away. He shoves the side door open on his way into his house with an audible bang. You take a deep, shaky breath and close your eyes, heart slamming against your ribcage.

~.~.~.~.~

When you finally step into Baekhyun’s house you feel an overwhelming sense of anger course through you. You’re tired of never having the upper hand. You’re tired of being belittled, of feeling this way. So you reach into your backpack and dig through it until you find your phone, your thoughts swimming with ideas.

~.~.~.~.~

The moment you walk into the basement, you know something’s wrong. The first thing you notice is that Mina isn’t there (as well as Yixing). Jessica is leaning her elbows against the back of the couch and fiddling with her fingers, her long dark hair pulled up into a high ponytail that falls over half of her face. Jongin is sitting on the couch and looking at Jessica carefully, Sehun’s fingers gripping Jongin’s shoulder a little too tightly from what you can make out. Minhee throws you a concerned look as she pushes herself off the wall and stuffs her phone into her pocket, her eyes questioning, and you smile reassuringly before you turn to Kris.

He’s sitting on a high back wooden chair, legs crossed, ankle resting on top of his knee. He gives you a stern look. “You’re late.”

“I was heading to class.” You respond, just as bluntly as he had.

He nods slowly before waving a hand, almost dismissively. Then he sits up and leans forward, uncrossing his legs. His legs are spread wide and his elbows are resting on his knees, hands hanging between them. “We’re going to raid their headquarters tonight. LILAC will go in first, break down any initial defenses, and we’ll follow.”

“You get straight to the point, don’t you?” You mutter as you drop your backpack on the couch, beside Sehun, and cross your arms.

“Would you like me to ask about your day, then? Maybe discuss the weather first?” Kris responds, sarcastically. You groan internally, hating how he acts like he’s so superior to you.

“My day was pretty boring, actually.” You give him your most sickly sweet smile. You don’t bother to hide your dislike for him. “Finals are coming up and it’s very stressful, thanks for asking.” Then you tilt your head, mockingly. “And it’s an unusually beautiful day out, isn’t it? Warm, but not too warm. Very breezy. I like it. What about you?”

Kris rests his chin on his hands and stares at you, eyes dark. “Don’t push it, girl.”

You glare at his demeaning tone but before you can snap at him, Jessica interrupts, tone sharp. “Why are you sending us in first?”

Kris doesn’t even glance at Jessica, instead addressing you, tone still as demeaning as before. “Are you just going to let your dongsaengs speak out of turn like that? How disrespectful.”

You narrow your eyes at Kris. “Are you avoiding her question?”

He leans back and places his hands behind his head. “Of course I am.” He says, a predatory smirk falling from his lips.

“Don’t make me call this off.” You threaten. You’re bluffing of course, and his eyebrow raise implies that he knows you’re bluffing. “Or this up for you.” You tack on quickly.

A millisecond of hesitancy blooms in his expression before it clears out. It comes and goes faster than the blink of an eye but you’re sure you didn’t imagine it. Good, you think. You’ve finally pried out a vulnerable reaction, no matter how small.

“You wouldn’t dare jeopardize your safety like that.” Kris says, confidently. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Actually, I would dare. I don’t care about my safety that much. But you’ll have to test your theory out, wouldn’t you?” You step forward as you speak and you’re satisfied with the way Tao tenses beside Kris, hand falling to a hidden weapon. Xiumin eyes you curiously, Luhan actually pries his eyes away from his phone and eyes you with the same interested expression he used to throw at you so long ago. Chanyeol is grinning, maniacally. Baekhyun is the only one not looking at you. It makes you irrationally angry, angrier than you already are. You lean down a bit, so you’re looking Kris right in the eye. “You wouldn’t dare jeopardize your safety like that, now would you?”

“Actually, I would dare. I don’t care about my safety at all. But we’d have to test it out, wouldn’t we?” Kris mocks your words and manages to make himself bigger than you even though you’re towering over him. You hate how he always manages to get the upper hand and, frankly, you’re done with it. You see the way his eyes shift just the tiniest bit and you smirk.

“Liar.” You breathe out. Then you step away from him and your heart races with anticipation, thoughts still swimming. Maybe you’re finally going insane because you turn on your heels and dig through your backpack until you pull out a small gun. You hear multiple clicks throughout the room almost immediately and you don’t even feel fear. You’re not scared. You’re angry and tired.

You drop the gun on the coffee table between the both of you. “Have you ever played Russian Roulette?” You ask, as you take a stand in front of the coffee table, right across from Kris.

Kris just stares at you and you nod.

“I’ll take that as a no. Well, you see, sunbae. It’s a funny little game I learned about in European History. A game of chance, really. First, you fill the gun with just a single round.” You spin open the latch and display it to him. There’s just one bullet in the revolver, empty bullet holders reminding you of dark holes. “Then you spin this.” You spin the cylinder holding the single bullet a few times. The room is quiet, the spinning and clicking of the revolver echoing in the room. “And last but not least, you place it against your own head, so how about we test your theory out, yeah?”

Kris looks momentarily startled as you step back and without warning, you place the muzzle against your own temple. Minhee’s eyes widen to the size of saucers and a million emotions rush through her expression from confusion to fear to betrayal to understanding to anxiety. Jessica makes the smallest noise but you don’t turn your attention away from Kris.

“You’re bluffing.” He says, slowly, confidence not completely there.

“Three.” You say, dragging out the word. Your hands are sweating and your heart is thumping loudly in your chest, but you stare at Kris, calmly. He looks at you challengingly.

“Two.” You continue. Minhee makes a noise of dissent but you don’t look at her.

Kris slowly steps towards you and the whole room is still, the sound of your own soft breathing filling the room. Your heart is pounding in your chest and your fingers are beginning to tremble. But you force yourself to remain as stoic as possible.

The telltale tick of the revolver along with the soft sound similar to a zipper echoes throughout the basement and Kris’s eyes widen in absolute shock. You take a deep, staggered breath, steadying yourself. You’re terrified, really, but you’re not about to back out of this plan. Adrenaline rushes through you and your heart is lodged in your throat.

Your eyes involuntarily flicker to Baekhyun and his expression is filled with horror as he steps forward, towards you, silent words falling from his lips.

“One.” You murmur.

 

 

 

 

Click.

 

 

 

“Holy ing .” Minhee squeaks into the stunned silence. You don’t look at Jessica or Minhee.

You turn to Kris, heart pumping wildly in your chest, and hold out the gun, eyeing him seriously. “Your turn.”

He stares at you, gaze flickering from your blank, calm expression to the gun in your hands. His expression is unreadable. “No.” He says, firmly, a hint of resignation in his tone. “I won’t do it. I…You win this time.”

“Too bad.” You murmur as you flip up the safety and drop the gun back in your backpack. You have the upper hand now, so you take a deep breath, adrenaline still flowing through you.

You don’t give Kris another moment to think. “So here’s the deal. LILAC isn’t here for you to control and play with, do you understand? I’ll pull that trigger on you without a second thought if you dare jeopardize any of my members. And trust me when I say that the gun will sure as hell be fully loaded. We’re working together. So that means LILAC won’t be going in first. We won’t be going in to break any ‘initial defenses’. I know you’re only sending us in first as scapegoats, so we’ll take the nasty while you all just waltz right in. I’m not ing stupid.”

It’s quiet for a long time. Kris is the first to break the silence.

“All that to make a point?” He asks, quietly.

“It worked, didn’t it?” You reply as you plop down on the couch, beside Sehun, arms crossed. Kris’s eyes glint with a newfound respect you’ve never seen him direct towards you before, but there’s also a whole new air of wariness about him that puts you on edge.

~.~.~.~.~

“You told me you wouldn’t load the ing gun.” Minhee hisses into your ear a couple hours later as she waves her cell phone in your face.

“I had to make them believe me.” You respond, sighing.

“You could have ing died.” Minhee throws her hands in the air. “I didn’t know you were insane.”

“Listen,” You begin, touching Minhee’s shoulder. “I looked up all the logistics before okay? I knew exactly where I put the bullet and how many times to spin it so I didn’t end up shooting myself in the head. I planned it.”

“How long ago?” Jessica interrupts, her eyes narrowed.

“Um,” You smile a little sheepishly, “Like fifteen minutes before I walked into the basement.”

Minhee shrieks, the sound a cross between an angry grunt and an exasperated gasp. She smacks your arm, not once but four times, hard. “You idiot.” Minhee shouts. “Idiot, idiot, idiot. Where the is Mina? I want her to beat some sense into you.”

“Ow!” You whine, clutching your arm. You look at Jessica helplessly and she just shakes her head.

“I’m not helping you. You deserve it.” Jessica says.

“I’m sorry!” You yelp, when Minhee smacks you with her cell phone.

Minhee suddenly stops her assault and stares at you, wide eyes serious. She places a hand on your forearm. “Don’t do that ever again. Do you understand me? I don’t care how badass you were, don’t you ing dare do that again.”

You nod quickly. It was still a nerve-racking experience and you definitely never want to go through that again.

“Promise.” Jessica inserts forcefully.

“I promise.” You respond, softly.

~.~.~.~.~

Kim Jongdae and Park Chanyeol are standing on either side of you as you wait for Suho and Kris to bring around their cars. Chanyeol has a lighter in his hands and he’s continuously flicking it on and off. You glance up at Chanyeol, smiling a little awkwardly when he grins down at you, when Jongdae suddenly drapes an arm over your shoulder and casually smiles at you, lips curved up mischievously.

You shrug his arm off your shoulder and he just adjusts it back across your shoulders.

Finally you sigh, “What do you want?”

Jongdae just shrugs. Chanyeol cackles. You frown.

The three of you stay like that for a while, you awkwardly trying to pull away from Jongdae as he leaves an arm around your shoulders while Chanyeol snickers to himself.

When Suho pulls up in a sleek black BMW, Jongdae finally untangles himself from you.

Chanyeol twirls the lighter before stuffing it in his pocket and pats your head.

“What the hell?” You watch as he walks away, completely bewildered.

“Treat Baekhyunnie better, sweetie. You nearly shot yourself in front of him. That’s not cool at all.” Jongdae murmurs against your cheek. He pats your back once before pulling away. He gives you a dazzling smile before following after Chanyeol and you’re more confused than ever.

~.~.~.~.~

You end up in Jongin, Luhan, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun’s group. Kris suggests you four head in first and you agree, amused that he’s actually asking you for your input. But then again, your stunt had brought something new to the atmosphere and your interactions with Kris.

“You’re intriguing, you know that?” Luhan says, suddenly. You glance over at him and he’s looking at you, eyes filled with interest.

“Flattery won’t make me like you.” You respond, eyeing the dilapidated apartment building just across the street. B.A.P’s headquarters, Sehun had said. You finger the dagger in your hands, nervously.

You’re currently in 28^th Street beside Rabbit Pond, which was honestly the only beautiful thing about SM Town. 28^th Street, however, had a notorious reputation of being where BoA had come from. You’ve heard stories about BoA, who had been ruthlessly infamous during the Shinee days a couple years ago. There had been some very nasty rumors about her notorious legacy and you’re glad you don’t have to deal with her, honestly. She was named after a giant snake for a reason. You shake your head, shivering at the thought, and glance over at Jongin, who has his finger against the pager in his ear.

Luhan snorts. “You know,” He murmurs, swinging his gun around his fingers. “You would have brought me a ton of cash” He looks you up and down, a voracious smirk gracing his otherwise innocent features. “My customers love feisty little things like you. You have so much potential. If only I took you instead of Je—”

Luhan cuts himself off when your knife is at his throat, the point a hairsbreadth away from piercing his throat. “Shut the up.” You bite out.

Suddenly Luhan grabs your wrist, his movements faster than you anticipated, and twists it back, the knife slips from your grip and clatters against the sidewalk and Luhan has your arm pinned behind your back. “Didn’t I tell you I don’t tolerate anyone speaking to me that way?”

Pain rushes up your arm and an involuntary whimper leaves your mouth. You try to pull out of his grip but he just grips your wrist tighter, making your knees buckle as you slip down a bit. Luhan chuckles. Jongin is still staring at the building, focused on the pager in his ear and Chanyeol is frowning at you and Luhan. Suddenly the pressure on your arm is gone and you turn around, cradling your wrist. You blink in surprise as you see Baekhyun grab Luhan by the arm and steady him. Without warning Baekhyun rams his fist right into Luhan’s face with a loud smack shortly followed by a soft crack and Luhan yelps, clutching at his face, a string of curses that vaguely sound like they’re in Chinese streaming out from under his breath. Baekhyun lets go of Luhan’s arm and Luhan kneels, head between his knees.

“What the was that for?” Luhan splutters.

Baekhyun doesn’t even look at you. He shakes out his fist and rubs his knuckles. “Keep quiet. You don’t want to tip them off, do you, hyung?” Baekhyun says, nonchalantly.

Luhan looks up, expression seething, and you’re surprised to see blood running out of his nose. “Sorry, hyung, you completely deserved that. You’re being a .” Chanyeol’s deep voice rumbles.

Before Luhan can say anything, Jongin turns to face them. “Sehun says it’s a go.” Jongin glances at you before his gaze roams over Luhan kneeling with a broken nose and then fixes on Baekhyun rubbing his slightly red knuckles. “Hyung, you should staunch the bleeding. You don’t want to leave a blood trail.”

Chanyeol grins, toothily, and rubs his hands together. “Let’s do this.” He reaches into his pocket and takes out his lighter.

You look at Baekhyun and murmur a soft “Thanks.”

He just shrugs and moves past you, his face softening just a tiny bit before he reigns in his expression back to it’s blank state.

~.~.~.~.~

Chanyeol pulls out a small pen from his pocket and a wrapped piece of gum. Jongin glances around before looking at Chanyeol, who’s moving slowly.

“Hurry up!” Jongin hisses.

Chanyeol pops the piece of gum into his mouth and looks down at Jongin. “Genius takes time, Kai.”

“We don’t have time.” Jongin says, bluntly. “We’re on a tight schedule here.”

“Fine.” Chanyeol sighs, dramatically. “But only because you look cuter when you’re not being all pissy.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and Luhan grimaces, the tissues jutting out of his nostrils making him look ridiculous. You stare at him in amusement and he glares daggers at you.

“Thanks, hyung.” Jongin replies, drily, the corners of his lips twitching upwards just a bit. Chanyeol blows him a kiss paired with the greasiest wink before he clicks the top of his pen. It stretches out and a strong stench of gasoline hits you.

Chanyeol presses down on the side of the long stick and it flares to life, blue fire dancing at the tip. You watch in awe as Chanyeol carves a hole where the deadbolt is and easily plucks it out. He hands it to Jongin who drops it behind the bushes in the yard. Chanyeol throws an easy grin your way and winks, “Fire is my thing.” Chanyeol says, conversationally.

Then Luhan kicks the door and it creaks open. He stalks past all four of you and enters the building first, looking as if he doesn’t have a care in the world.

~.~.~.~.~

The building is dark and relatively quiet. There’s no one there. The floorboards on most of the levels are so rundown there’s no way to cross the halls. The only horrible commotion had been when the five of you had run into a few rats nestled at the bottom of the stairs and you (and Chanyeol) had embarrassingly jumped behind Baekhyun in horror. The apartment building seems completely abandoned and it unnerves you.

Finally, the five of you reach the very top flight. You’re breathing a little heavily since you’ve just walked up thirteen flights of stairs. A hand steadies you by the waist and you lean into the sturdy warm hand until you realize it’s Baekhyun. Then you quickly step away, your face heating up. You’re glad it’s too dark for him to see your face clearly.

The hallway is littered with doors and you watch as Jongin pauses in front of one. First, he tried to push it open and when that doesn’t work he steps back and kicks it down, swiftly.

The first thing you notice is that it’s completely empty. There’s no furniture, no pre-installed appliances or counters. There’s absolutely nothing there.

The second thing you notice is the smell.

The apartment building in general already smells musty, but there’s something rotten about the smell in here. You reach for the gun latched to your hip, your thumping against your ribs and your blood rushing in your ears, and watch as Jongin slowly creeps forward. You step in front of Baekhyun when you hear a loud slam. You grasp his arm, protectively pressing him behind you, just as he grabs the back of your shirt and maneuvers you back into his chest.

You all turn the corner, taking turns peeking around. There’s a door there and it sounds like that’s where the sound had come from. Chanyeol reaches it first.

Chanyeol reaches for the doorknob and turns it easily, glancing at the you, Baekhyun, Luhan, and Jongin before nodding. Simultaneously, all five of you your guns, ready to shoot at any threat that comes through the door.

Chanyeol throws open the door with a loud bang.

Staring back at you, guns pointed at you, are five familiar faces. It’s Suho, Jongdae, Tao, Jessica, and Kyungsoo.

The ten of you gape at each other, expressions varying from confused to surprised.

Jongdae is the first to break the shocked silence as he lowers his gun.

“Woah, hyung, what the hell happened to your face?”

Baekhyun snorts and you barely suppress your smile.

~.~.~.~.~

The room Suho, Jongdae, Tao, Jessica, and Kyungsoo had come through was huge. It was as if someone had knocked down every wall in every apartment on the floor and managed to turn the entire floor into one gigantic room. It seemed they had left the walls on the room you had come through and just decided to drill in a door. You wonder why.

There are plastic tarps all along the floor and the rotten smell is even stronger.

You wrinkle your nose, “What is that smell?”

Suddenly, one of the doors at the far corner bursts open and Xiumin and Kris fall through, guns in the air. Xiumin looks around and sighs, “Dead trail?”

Suho shrugs, “Sehun’s working on it. It probably is, though.”

You head over to the right side of the gigantic room and wrinkle your nose, because the smell is worse over here. You look down at the blue plastic tarp crinkled and piled high in front of you. You experimentally nudge at it with your foot. The tarp slides and falls off to the side a bit and you notice the smell getting stronger.

It smells like rotting flesh and makes your stomach churn.

“Guys,” You call as you slowly push the blue tarp with your foot. “I think there’s something over here.”

You don’t wait to see if they’ve heard you. You nudge at the tarp a little bit more and jump back when it slips to the side even more and crumples, your foot hitting something solid. Something is sticking out beneath the tarp and maybe you should have stopped there.

But you prod at the blue tarp so it slips farther away, successfully revealing a pair of black Nike shoes. Then something shoots out from beneath the tarp and you jump back. Something furry brushes past your bare ankles and you scream in horror.

You stumble backwards and warm hands grasp you around your waist, steadying you. “Holy .” You gasp when you realize it’s a rat. There’s commotion around you and the next thing you know, Xiumin is bending over the tarp.

You watch, your heart hammering, eyes fixed, as Xiumin throws it back. That’s when you yelp, bile rising in your throat.

“Ew.” Tao mutters, wrinkling his nose.

Under the tarp is a deteriorating body, the smell of rotting flesh overwhelming. Its clothes are tattered and there’s a large pool of reddish brown dried blood all around it. Its body is caved in, flesh torn and tattered and strewn everywhere. And there are rats. Right in the center, however, is a large, gleaming silver cellphone with a long antenna sticking out of the carnage. There’s a familiar bunny symbol carved into the surface and you feel queasy.

“I guess that’s what Sehun had tracked down. It’s a false trail.” Suho says, a hand covering his nose and tone strangely unaffected.

They all seem unaffected by the sight of a dead body and it makes you realize how long they’ve been a part of this kind of life. They’re used tp death and dead bodies. Jessica has her back to the body, the back of her hand over her nose and mouth. Jongin touches her elbow but she doesn’t open her eyes.

You glance at Baekhyun and he’s staring at it clinically, as if he’s searching for clues.

You close your eyes but you can still see the imagery in all its disgusting glory; it’s etched into the back of your eyelids. Hands grip you by your shoulders spinning you before your face is squished into something sturdy. Baekhyun pulls you into his chest, fingers at the nape of your neck. The smell of decaying flesh doesn’t go away but at least it’s stifled by the smell of sunscreen, cologne, and Baekhyun.

There are voices all around you but you try to concentrate on breathing.

“There’s nothing here.” Kris says, irritably. “Let’s go.”

~.~.~.~.~

Chanyeol burns down the apartment building, the blaze burning brightly in the dark. You watch as he stands in the middle of the road, in nothing but a pair of jeans and a black muscle shirt, the cold wind not affecting him in the slightest. The distant sounds of fire truck sirens are the only sounds in the silent night.

“What next?” You murmur to no one in particular. You pull at your jacket, searching for warmth. You can still smell the body and you feel nauseous. Hands ghost along your arms, the friction creating much needs warmth so you don’t pull away.

“Plan B.” Kris says as he heads to his car.

EXO nods and you feel confused, even as Baekhyun's fingers tighten around your arms for just a tiny moment.

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a/n: I dont think this is going to finish in 3 chapters lmao. i wrote 12k+ for you guys as a present for 1) not updating for a while and 2) yesterday was my 1 year anniversary on this site!!! i know, exciting stuff right?

Anyways please remember to tell me your thoughts i wrote half of this all today so I'm tired lol

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xoxo