[title song: all of the lights - ellie goulding x portland cello project]
[this is a whopping 20k??? like do I even know how to write short chapters anymore?? but it had to be since it follows baek over a lot of the chapters tbh]
[also there's violence and killing in here and mentions of although there is no straight up ]

bonus chapter 1;
(baekhyun's pov)

“Pretty.” Byun Baekhyun murmurs, eyeing the girl in approval as he leans forward. She’s dressed immaculately, not a hair out of place from what he can see, but he thinks she looks a little too put together for his taste. She looks like the epitome of a good girl and it makes him more curious than ever as to why Minseok has been diligently watching her for the past few weeks. Minseok holds out the blunt in his hand, raising a brow, and Baekhyun just shrugs, a single shoulder rising and falling. He leans closer and takes a quick hit as Minseok holds on to the blunt, lighting it for him, and he doesn’t even flinch when Baekhyun slowly blows out the smoke in perfect circles right in Minseok’s face, tongue sticking out as he winks at Minseok flirtatiously. The drug makes him feel a little bit giddier, his cheeks pulling up into a smile. “Is there a reason why you’re stalking her, hyung?”

Minseok just rolls his eyes and wrinkles his nose, ignoring his question as he nods in the girl’s direction. She’s joined by a familiar looking boy that Baekhyun vaguely recognizes. Baekhyun squints a bit, taking in the leather jacket and sturdy demeanor, before recognizing the boy and easily putting a name to the face. It’s Min Jihoon, a member of B.A.P. Kris had told them to keep an eye on, despite them being EXO’s allies. Min Jihoon has a thing for drag racing and is especially skilled at kissing , according to Jongdae’s side notes that Baekhyun never fails to read. “They’ve been together for a while now.” Minseok tells him, nonchalantly.

“I’m guessing Kris knows all about this.” Baekhyun asks, eyeing the way the girl puts her hands on her hips in an authoritative manner, her expression contorted into a scowl. He watches as she gestures angrily towards the university behind him, words spilling from her lips that he can’t hear from this distance. Jihoon takes her verbal bashing for a good thirty seconds before he pushes her up against the side of the car and leans close into her ear. Baekhyun finds it all incredibly cliché when she shoves him away, the anger flickering out of her expression despite her efforts, when he easily steps closer to her, his words obviously soothing her.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes at the scene.

“Kris wants to know what the class president is doing with one of Yongguk’s favorites.” Minseok responds, finishing off the blunt. Minseok drops the burnt bud to the concrete and grinds his heel against it, smashing the blackened makeshift cigarette.

Baekhyun glances at Minseok warily, eyes darkening. “I doubt she knows anything.” He nods in her direction, “I mean look at her.”

The girl gets into the passenger seat of Min Jihoon’s car, despite being angry just a moment ago. She seems like such a delicate little thing, limbs all curled up on each other while she tucks herself into the passenger seat. But then she slams the door shut, so hard Minseok winces slightly, and he vaguely understands why Kris is curious. There’s something about her that makes Baekhyun the slightest bit curious, he won’t deny that.

“Kris wants you to make sure.”

Baekhyun hums in annoyance, forcing away thoughts of the last time he did something like this. “He couldn’t have told me this himself?”

“He’s busy.” Minseok pats Baekhyun’s back consolingly. “You know that.”

“Hmm.” Baekhyun nods, slowly, watching as the car speeds away. It’s not like he has a choice in the matter. “I guess I do enjoy pissing off Yongguk.”

“And she could be useful.” Minseok adds, thoughtfully.

~.~.~.~.~

“Wanna hear a joke?” Chanyeol murmurs as he falls flat on his back in the grass, flicking his lighter on and off, the flame bright against the dark night. He watches Baekhyun meticulously cover his sniper with a few leaves, bottom lip caught in his teeth.

“Those jeans? Your hair? Your life?” Baekhyun replies as he leans in and peers through the scope of his gun, nibbling on his lip as he adjusts it just so.

“You’re supposed to say ‘yes’, .” Chanyeol kicks Baekhyun’s side and Baekhyun snickers, avoiding Chanyeol’s long limbs easily. “And I do have a life, thank you very much.”

“How long?” Baekhyun blinks up at Chanyeol, tilting his head, dark hair falling into his eyes.

“Thirty six more seconds.” Chanyeol responds, without a beat of hesitation, before rolling onto his stomach.

“Paid doesn’t count.” Baekhyun adds, returning to their earlier conversation, as he readjusts his sniper and scopes out the dark street carefully and thoroughly.

“Oh, you.” Chanyeol grunts. “I have a healthy life, you should know, you were a part of it.”

“For one night and it was awful.” Baekhyun snaps back. Chanyeol opens his mouth to retort when Baekhyun holds up a slender finger, instantly silencing him as he glances down at his watch.

Baekhyun scans the dark street when he spots the target stepping out of the club. He takes a deep breath, waiting for Luhan’s girl to step aside. She stops walking, crouching drunkenly as she fiddles with her heels, and that’s when Baekhyun smirks in amusement.

Easy, he thinks.

There’s barely a sound when he pulls the trigger and the man’s eyes widen almost comically. Baekhyun watches, amused, as blood begins to pool and seep down the man’s forehead, as Luhan’s girl lets out a bloodcurdling scream, and he leans back just as the man collapses to the ground, lifelessly. A clean shot, Baekhyun admires his work absentmindedly.

Chanyeol lets out a low, appreciative whistle. “Damn, nice.”

Baekhyun throws Chanyeol an obviously head look and Chanyeol just snickers, ruffling Baekhyun’s hair affectionately. Baekhyun ducks away from him, groaning and swatting, but he isn’t able to hide his fond smile and Chanyeol is completely aware of this, unfortunately.

~.~.~.~.~

“I’m going to ask you one last time.” Kris growls, his voice low and throaty. “How the  did they get ahold of your key card?”

“I…I don’t know. I swear I—ple—” The guy’s voice trails off into a loud, ear-splitting scream that echoes throughout the house, making Baekhyun wince. This has been going on for hours now and Baekhyun hates the fact that he hasn’t been able to nap properly in his own house.

That’s when Baekhyun chooses to push the door in, a couple bottles of soda dangling from his long fingers. Joonmyun leans against the silver table on Kris’s left, a face mask pulled over his mouth and chin on the heel of his left hand as he scrolls through his phone. The low hanging light creates long shadows throughout the room and Baekhyun can just make out a man in thick rimmed glasses tied to a chair on the other side of the table. The black rope digs into his skin, red rope burns visible and his glasses slip off his nose, thanks to the tears running down his face. He’s bleeding from multiple cuts along his arm and Baekhyun grimaces at the needles sticking out from beneath the man’s fingernails, Kris prodding at one occasionally just to elicit a painful whimper. Kris smirks in amusement at the sound.

Kris barely glances over his shoulder at the sound of Baekhyun’s entrance before turning back to his victim.

Kris’s victim gives him a pleading look and Baekhyun feels something stir deep inside his chest. It’s not very strong, however, since he’s easily able to bury it away, turning to face Kris’s dangerous smirk instead.

Baekhyun notes that Kris hasn’t bothered wearing a mask.

“You couldn’t have done this at the warehouse?” Baekhyun asks, readjusting his mask, as he places a bottle of soda beside Kris and Joonmyun each. He pops his bottle open, eyeing the nerdy looking man tied to the chair with mild interest. “At this rate, he’s going to stain the floor and the neighbors will file a noise complaint.”

Kris snorts in amusement as he twists off the cap of his soda, taking a sip. “I want to know how the  this LILAC group got their hands on your passcode and your security card.” Kris leans back, tilting his head as his unwavering, dark gaze remain locked on the man’s cowering form. “You weren’t working the day of the robbery.”

“You should tell him what you know.” Joonmyun adds, eyes flickering away from his phone. His voice is gentle and soothing and Baekhyun snorts at the irony of it all. “He doesn’t have a mask on, so you’ll die anyway. You don’t want him to torture you, though. Because trust me, that’s no fun at all for anyone here.”

“LILAC must be a serious deal if you’re not asking Tao to do this.” Baekhyun states, amused when Kris turns his glare on him.

Joonmyun makes a face, rolling his eyes at the way Kris fumes while Baekhyun grins mischievously, “Get out of here before he ties you to the chair, Baek.”

“Love you, too, Kris.” Baekhyun responds, ducking out of the room with a loud laugh when Kris growls.

~.~.~.~.~

“Sooyong. Lee Sooyong.”

Baekhyun scrutinizes the photos carefully, déjà vu that he refuses to think about washing over him. This is completely reminiscent of another mission he had years ago and just thinking about it makes his heart clench. He groans internally, rubbing his eyes before he turns to the schedule Joonmyun had dropped on his lap. “We have Communications together.” Baekhyun states, flicking at the flimsy piece of paper.

Joonmyun grins, nodding. “You’re going to do a semester long project together. Have fun.”

Joonmyun winks over his shoulder as he lets himself out and Baekhyun sighs, leaning his chin on his hands as he eyes the girl’s file, her firm gaze staring back at him almost challengingly.

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun passes by Minseok on his way off campus and does a quick double take when he realizes Minseok’s currently sprawled across a bench, head lolling off the edge and mouth hanging wide open. A couple girls are eyeing him appreciatively, giggling behind their hands when Minseok’s shirt rides up whenever he stretches further off the bench, snuggling into the wooden bench like a tiny bear.

Baekhyun slowly shuffles back, frowning as he pokes Minseok’s squishy, soft cheek. Minseok’s eyes flutter open, sleepily, and Baekhyun sighs in sympathy. Ever since they had found one of their clients with their legs shot at and the money meant for EXO gone, it’s become glaringly obvious that LILAC has started encroaching on their territory. Their other clients have even begun to notice and some of them have even decided to start their own dealings with LILAC.

Kris being unhappy is the understatement of the century and Baekhyun has never found it so hard to find information on a syndicate. He assumes it’s because they’re pretty much brand new, and that fact pisses everyone off even more because they’re just a bunch of ing rookies. LILAC’s just a bunch of ing rookies and they’ve managed to completely sabotage years of hard work in barely a month.

“Hyung, get up.” Baekhyun pokes his cheek a bit more, jabbing at it relentlessly. Minseok responds by baring his teeth and pretending to bite at Baekhyun’s finger, eyes still closed as he simultaneously tries to snuggle away from Baekhyun.

“If I go back to your house, Kris is going to make me do stuff.” Minseok complains, pursing his lips.

Baekhyun snorts, “You’re good at doing stuff though.”

“I know.” Minseok sighs, sitting up eventually, his eyes drooping. “Why am I such a catch? No one leaves me alone.”

Baekhyun laughs at that. He holds out his hand after a minute, gesturing towards the exit at the end of the hall, “I’ll hide you in a closet.”

Minseok snorts out a snicker for about half a second before his voice dies out.

That’s when Minseok’s eyes light up with sudden realization, eyes sparkling. He breaks into a mischievous little grin, sharp teeth showing, that Baekhyun finds eerily similar to Jongdae’s. Minseok’s cheeks puff up, deceptively cute. “Speaking of closets, I’ve got news about your girl.”

“Not my girl.” Baekhyun reminds Minseok, raising his brows questioningly at the same time, gesturing Minseok to continue.

Minseok pulls put his phone and scrolls through a few pictures, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Then he pushes the screen towards Baekhyun, grinning all the while. “Look what our bad boy has been up to.”

Baekhyun pulls the phone closer and rolls his eyes at the grainy photo displayed on Minseok’s phone. He leans closer and examines the photo of Min Jihoon pushing a girl that is definitely not Lee Sooyong down onto a desk, his hand disappearing up her navy blue skirt as he dips down and buries his face into the crook of her neck. Something inside of him twists at the sight and he almost feels pity for the Sooyong girl. If there’s one thing Baekhyun absolutely detests in this world, besides cucumbers, it’d have to be people who cheat on their partners. Even he has lines he would never cross. “Is this a regular thing?” Baekhyun asks, a slight edge to his tone.

Minseok just looks at Baekhyun for a moment, eyebrow rising, and Baekhyun ignores what that look is asking him. He’s allowed to be annoyed with someone else’s immoral decisions once in a while.

Eventually, Minseok nods in confirmation. “I suspect it’s been going on for months, now.” Minseok frowns then, staring across the hall, brows scrunching up. “There are even multiple rumors floating around about it that are all completely spot on.”

Baekhyun can tell he’s wondering why she hasn’t caught on yet. It’s a blow to her self-respecting good girl image and Baekhyun finds it all amusing, in some twisted sort of way.

If anything, this new information gives him an opening and he decides he’s going to take it, easily shoving the momentary pity for Lee Sooyong away.

“Well,” Baekhyun hands Minseok back his phone, mind reeling with a plan, “It’d be a shame if the poor girl ever found out, wouldn’t it?”

Minseok gives Baekhyun a long sidelong glance, the momentary concern easily slipping off his face, and he lets out a small, amused laugh.

~.~.~.~.~

“Scout’s honor?” Baekhyun raises a brow, tilting his head as he watches her stumble through the recently formed crowd of guests, both hands clutching the red solo cup Minseok had filled up for her. She’s dressed in jeans and he appreciates how well they fit her form for a good minute before turning to face Minseok. “Really, hyung?”

Minseok snickers, handing off a bright blue drink to Baekhyun, who takes it without hesitation. “I’m honorable as , Baekhyun.”

Before Baekhyun can respond, Luhan materializes at Minseok’s shoulder, hair a mess and eyes analytical. Baekhyun gives him a quick (admittedly judgmental) onceover before downing his drink and taking another one.

“Don’t give me that look, Byun.” Luhan responds, throwing an arm over Minseok’s shoulders as he eyes up some chick in the corner. “I’m not here for business.”

“I hope not.” Baekhyun mumbles, “I’ve got a relationship to up tonight.”

Baekhyun winces slightly at the sting of alcohol as it slides down his throat and he’s suddenly incredibly grateful for Minseok and his horrifically intoxicating concoctions. This one’s a pastel purple and tastes especially terrible. Baekhyun just hopes Lee Sooyong won’t be the type to start drunkenly sobbing all over him when this is through, although he figures that’ll be the best case scenario, considering how it’ll make it easier to get her to trust him in the long run.

Luhan snorts, “Have fun with that, Homewrecker.” Minseok chokes on his beer, cackling loudly while Baekhyun wrinkles his nose.

Luhan’s eyes lock onto something across the room that Baekhyun can’t quite identify due to all the people in his house. Then Luhan speaks, lips curling up into his signature, slightly goofy smile. “Honestly, she looks like the type that’ll start crying.”

Baekhyun pouts, groaning so loudly that both Minseok and Luhan burst into laughter.

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun pushes past the crowd of people, the alcohol in his system making it hard for him to wipe the self-satisfied smirk off his lips.

He spots the girl easily enough. She’s glancing through the crowd, as if she’s looking for someone in particular, and Baekhyun finds it absolutely convenient when she heads towards the part of the house he has set everything up. Why was this so easy?

Before he can head after her, a hand wraps around his forearm, pulling him to a halt. A tiny birdlike girl with blonde hair and wide eyes stares up at him, her eyes hazy with alcohol.

He raises a brow, tilting his head as his gaze flickers down to the hand still wrapped around his forearm.

She blinks, a good four times, and Baekhyun finally recognizes her. Choi Minhee, one of Lee Sooyong’s best friends. She’s also in his Korean Literature class, he remembers. Baekhyun had done his research on Lee Sooyong and her friends, though. She’s the eldest of the four, despite her appearance, and she’s top of her class in the Engineering department. “I was going to, like, thank you for getting that hypothetical stick out of Sooyong’s .” Choi Minhee slurs, blinking at him.

He doesn’t miss the way her eyes flicker over his shoulder before landing back on him, her hand still clutching at his forearm. If it was anyone else, Baekhyun would have killed them by now, but he reminds himself to keep his cover. He still shakes her arm off and he doesn’t miss the way her eyes narrow the slightest bit as she looks at him, eyes still filled with drunken stupor.

“But I trust her boyfriend more than I trust you, and that’s saying something because that dude’s a first class .” Minhee states, her head tilting a bit.

Baekhyun’s lips tug down into a frown and he rolls his eyes, “Is there a point to this conversation or can I go?”

“I’m watching you, Byun Baekhyun.” Minhee mutters, slurring her words together incoherently. “I’m watching you.”

Baekhyun writes off her narrowed eyes as overprotective drunkenness, but there’s something in her expression he can’t quite pinpoint, something dark and oddly familiar.

The alcohol in his system makes his thoughts swim and he gives up on identifying whatever Choi Minhee’s expression hides in favor of finding Lee Sooyong and beginning the first phase of his plan, rolling his eyes as he walks away.

~.~.~.~.~

“Hey, babe.”

He finds her in the empty hallway, exactly where he needs her to be. His thoughts swim a bit as he looks her up and down, tilting his head to the side as he analyzes her posture and her expressions, stowing away everything he takes note of for future use. She’s more than a little buzzed, if her tripping the moment she swivels around at the sound of his voice says anything about that. Her blouse is slipping off her shoulder a bit, a sliver of skin peeking through, and Baekhyun likes the way her jeans fit her curves so well. He needs to get in the mood anyway, he thinks, so he makes himself feel an attraction to her, eyeing her with interest that he’s sure is making her turn the faintest shade of pink. He’ll admit that it’s not exactly a problem for him. He’s always liked a girl with a little something extra to grab onto and use as leverage.

Crude words leave his mouth and he’s amused by how effected she seems by them, her pupils dilating and her pretty lips popping open when he steps incredibly close, leaning into her personal space. “I’m a little drunk.” He murmurs, lowering his voice.

Her breathing hitches, he’s close enough to hear it, and he grins at the sight, at how easy it is to make her react.

“You don’t just go around saying things like that, drunk or not.” She squeaks, jabbing his chest with each word that leaves . He’s too drunk for her admonishments, he realizes, and suddenly all he wants is to shut her up (with his lips or something else, he’s not entirely sure) and stop her from poking him like that because it kind of hurts and he’s absolutely not in the mood right now.

So he steps even closer, trapping her between his body and the door behind her, and dips his head down. He can feel her stiffen the tiniest bit against his chest. “Well, can I, though?” He whispers, an inch away from her ear.

Strands of hair falls over her face and he wants to twist those individual strands through his fingers and pull her head back and he is clearly way too drunk to think properly, his eyes focusing on her pretty pout. Her breathing definitely hitches, this time, he can feel her exhale against his skin and he imagines her heart beating against her ribs like a bird trapped in a cage. She moves her left hand and he’s internally amused by how easily his plans are falling into place.

Just like clockwork, she reaches behind her and twists the doorknob, toppling back into the room. He easily catches himself against the door frame and watches as she sprawls out on the floor, eyes flickering up to Min Jihoon ing the Other Girl in one of his guest rooms (he makes a note to throw the sheets out after this, grimacing slightly in disgust) and everything just naturally falls into place from there.

His plan falls into place perfectly.

Lee Sooyong turns, expression morphing from apologetic mortification to hurt to incredible sadness until she settles on rage.

Baekhyun easily settles his own expression into shock.

Her expression flickers back to extreme hurt as she ignores Min Jihoon’s words and scrambles to her feet, stumbling over her own two feet.

Baekhyun feels the smallest inkling of pity when she pushes past him, looking close to tears. He watches her go, forcefully shoving the pity as far away as he can.

Min Jihoon’s eyes lock with Baekhyun’s and Baekhyun just smiles, lopsided and serene. “Exactly how long did you think you could keep doing this?” Baekhyun asks, nonchalantly, smile widening as the other girl hastily dresses and pushes past him and out the room as well, her eyes cast downwards.

He turns his attention on Min Jihoon and locks him into a level gaze.

“You planned this, didn’t you?” Jihoon growls, fist curling around the fabric of his wrinkled t-shirt.

Baekhyun just tilts his head and eyes him in confusion, “Why in the world would I lead your girlfriend into the bedroom you’re cheating on her in?” Baekhyun asks, frowning, “I don’t even like her.”

Jihoon sees through it, though, and Baekhyun chalks it up to the natural suspicion everyone in their field of work develop early on. At least Min Jihoon isn’t as stupid as he looks; Baekhyun will give him credit for that. “You’re planning something.” Jihoon narrows his eyes and steps towards him.

Or maybe he is as stupid as he looks.

“Obviously.” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, snorting at Jihoon.

“Leave her the alone, Byun.” Jihoon steps even closer and Baekhyun wrinkles his nose at the stench of alcohol, sweat, and radiating off him. “She has nothing to do with any of this.”

“We’ll see.” Baekhyun states before he turns on his heels and leaves the room, ignoring Jihoon’s angry words. Min Jihoon can’t do to him, not when he’s on EXO’s turf and ing Yongguk’s been missing for the better part of a year now, not when he’s aware that Baekhyun is capable of killing a man in exactly two minutes and five seconds with his bare hands alone.

~.~.~.~.~

Lee Sooyong doesn’t cry. That’s the first thing he notices when he finds her downing a dangerously colorful drink while Minseok and Luhan watch her in amusement.

The second thing he notices is that she’s the flirty, giggly kind of drunk and he wonders why he hadn’t expected it. Obviously, she’s been suppressing something to be the uptight, goody two shoes class president she’s always presented herself as. And now it’s all unraveling completely and it’s just so cliché that it makes him smile in amusement.

The third and most interesting thing he notices is that a little thing like her should not be able to haul someone the size of Min Jihoon into the ground in one move without some kind of professional training. Especially when Min Jihoon’s been trained by Yongguk’s combat specialist, Moon Jongup.

He locks eyes with her after Sehun cranks the music back up and there’s a flicker of anxiety in her eyes he catches immediately. She bites her bottom lip and quickly looks away, snatching up a cup of beer from Minseok’s little makeshift bar. Self-defense classes, she mumbles to Minseok, anxiety still rolling off of her in waves.

It makes sense, really, seeing as they live in a hellhole of a town with ridiculous crime rates, but there’s something off about her demeanor. Even as she continues to drink and drink and drink, seemingly drowning her sorrows in beer, Baekhyun can’t stop thinking about why he feels like something is not right about her.

She knows nothing about any of this, Min Jihoon had said. Baekhyun wonders if Jihoon was right or if that’s what Jihoon wanted to believe about her.

Baekhyun watches in amusement as she slips into Chanyeol’s lap and whispers something in his ear, making the tall boy laugh, eyes darkening. She wraps her arms around Chanyeol’s neck and Baekhyun snorts because she’s shirtless, ridiculously drunk, making out with his best friend, and completely unlike anything he’s ever seen before.

Baekhyun leaves her be for the rest of the night (he figures she’s safe enough with Chanyeol as long as he doesn’t pull out his lighter or something), throwing Luhan one last warning look (for which he receives an eye roll and a sarcastic salute) before Baekhyun finds some other girl to lose himself in. His fingers tangle through the hair at the nape of her neck as he presses kisses down the girl’s (Eunmi or Eunji or something or other) neck, fingers twisting through her long hair.

But even as he’s roughly ing the girl against the bathroom sink, face pressed against the mirror and on full display, his fingertips fluttering down the curve of her spine soothingly (because apparently that’s how Eunmi/Eunji loves getting ed) Baekhyun wonders what the hell is really up with Lee Sooyong, his mind wandering when the girl (apparently it’s actually Sora) slips him her number and gives him a sloppy, drunken goodbye kiss.

Later that night, Baekhyun makes sure everyone’s gone home (he even calls in a few taxis which Chanyeol finds to be the funniest ing thing because, as Chanyeol puts it, Baekhyun?? Being a ing gentleman?? Unbelievable, I must be dead) and he’s left wandering through the mess his house has become (Baekhyun idly wonders what his parents would say if his parents ever actually bothered to come home in the first place). As he drapes a couple blankets over Kyungsoo’s tiny curled up form, Baekhyun finds Lee Sooyong sleeping on the floor in the extra TV room, her hair a tangled mess and her fingers clutched securely around her phone and her purse.

He nudges her bare shoulders, one of the straps of her lacy black bra slipping down, and he groans when she doesn’t even stir. He has half a mind to just leave her there and freeze, before he decides he’d better not (because he’s not a complete , contrary to what Chanyeol and Jongdae love to tell him). She’s ridiculously easy to lift and Chanyeol doesn’t even bat an eyelash when Baekhyun walks through the kitchen lugging the girl he’d spent a good portion of the party making out with. Chanyeol just holds out a potato chip and Baekhyun lets Chanyeol feed him, ignoring the eyebrow raise from Minseok in the corner of the kitchen.

“Isn’t that the girl you’re supposed to stalk or whatever?” Chanyeol asks while he plops another chip into Baekhyun’s mouth. He eyes her thoughtfully, tilting in a way that reveals his large ears. “I can’t believe I made out with her. Woops.”

“Not stalk, . Honestly, neither can I.” Baekhyun snaps back after chewing the chip. Chanyeol just snorts and Baekhyun flicks him off on the way out the kitchen.

He drops her off in the guest bedroom the other boys leave their extra clothes in and he momentarily contemplates whether he should dress her or not. The lacy black bra is ridiculously distracting (it looks really good on her, much to his dismay) so he decides to drag the comforter over her body instead, frowning.

She turns in her sleep, her grip loosening on her phone and purse, and he leans over her sleeping form to pluck them out of her grip. The phone lights up right then and Baekhyun catches sight of a preview for one of her messages.

Jessica:

We should get the money soon or else...

Baekhyun blinks at the message preview, wondering what exactly the entire message has to say. He’s on edge all of a sudden and he can’t figure out why. Slowly, Baekhyun drops her phone into her purse and pulls the covers up to her neck, eyes lingering on her sleeping form for a moment before leaving the room.

By the time he gets to the kitchen, his brain is reeling and he’s throwing the purse into one of the kitchen island drawers with an audible slam that has Chanyeol jumping from where he’s sprawled across the couch watching Friends on Netflix.

“What’s got you slamming ?” Chanyeol calls out to him, quietly, since Minseok’s sleeping on the recliner and Kyungsoo’s still sprawled across the other couch (neither Chanyeol nor Baekhyun want to deal with waking up a cranky Kyungsoo at three thirty in the morning because they’re sure they won’t come out of it in one piece).

“Something is off about her and I can’t figure out what the it is.” Baekhyun groans, dropping down onto the kitchen island stools. He drops his chin on his palms and stares intently at the glass of water in front of him. His head swims and he can’t seem to focus on any of the precise details etched into the glass before him.

Chanyeol stares at him for a good minute before he turns back to the TV, “You’ll figure it out, Baek. You’re good at this stuff.”

Chanyeol’s right, he is good at this. Baekhyun and Chanyeol both know exactly how good he is at this, if the last time says anything about that.

Baekhyun blinks way his thoughts (because he refuses to think about him now), abruptly sitting up, palms flat against the granite countertop.

Something is off about her and he vows to find out what it is, although he’s pretty sure it has nothing to do with knowing about B.A.P. and Min Jihoon’s other profession. Jihoon hadn’t told her, that much he’s been able to figure out based on their interactions and Jihoon’s earlier words to him.

But there’s something not quite right, not since he witnessed her take down Min Jihoon for touching her, without breaking a sweat.

He decides to figure out the reason behind that blatant anxiety she had been radiating earlier as he grabs a can of beer from the fridge and joins Chanyeol and a sleeping Kyungsoo on the couch.

~.~.~.~.~

“Are you ing serious?” Baekhyun hisses the moment he steps into the dimly lit room, his eyes narrowing on Luhan’s sprawled out figure right next to two other people. Luhan doesn’t even look up to meet his eyes, too preoccupied with taking another drag from his blunt.

The room is completely hot-boxed and Baekhyun can feel it immediately, wrinkling his nose because he is so not in the mood for secondhand smoking.

White smoke drifts out Luhan’s mouth and his nose, a curtain of faint white floating eerily up and over his face as he blows a bit of smoke into the face of the girl straddling his lap on the couch, her back turned to Baekhyun, despite the fact that the other person—Minseok, he quickly notices (he’s not even surprised because whenever there’s weed involved, Minseok is always there— is cupping the girl’s cheek and pulling her into a heated kiss. Luhan grins, all teeth and sparkling innocent eyes, as he takes another deep hit from his blunt and Baekhyun realizes her flannel shirt is hanging open, completely ed. He rolls his eyes, anger flaring even more at being so obviously ignored.

Luhan exhales softly as he watches Minseok and the brunette make out right on his lap, faint wisps of smoke caressing the three of them gently, one of his own hands trailing up the thigh she has tucked snugly around his hip. He passes the blunt to Minseok, wrapping his fingers through the girl’s hair as Minseok holds the makeshift cigarette up to the girl’s lips, face ridiculously close to both Luhan’s and the girl’s while she takes a slow drag, her eyes drooping from a ridiculous amount of drugs in her system, no doubt. Luhan’s hand trails further up the girl’s thigh until he’s slipping his fingers beneath her short skirt.

“Luhan.” Baekhyun snaps, interrupting Luhan’s darkening gaze.

Luhan’s eyes snap to meet his, his hand falling away from the hem of skirt. The girl whines and Minseok easily placates her, occupying her full attention. “You look like you’re here to completely kill my vibe.”

“Nobody asked you to get ing high.” Baekhyun retorts, crossing his arms. Luhan narrows his eyes, but Baekhyun doesn’t even hesitate to continue because he knows Luhan’s usually all talk anyway. “Her best friend, Luhan? Are you ing kidding me?”

“How was I supposed to know who the hell she was?” Luhan asks, tone lethargic, uncaring.

“I thought you had a thing against recruiting the younger ones.” Baekhyun states rather than questions, his eyes hardening at the idea of it all. He’s not exactly opposed to it, seeing as ion is legal in South Korea anyways and he partakes in it once in a while like everyone else he knows, but sometimes Luhan’s methods don’t sit well with him. Whatever he did to the Jessica girl had, surprisingly, pissed him off and Baekhyun’s unsure why because he’s seen much worse before (with much less of a reaction on his part). Why would he feel pity now? Was it because Lee Sooyong looked pathetic when she cried? Was it because of the unsettling statements about revenge she had spouted afterwards, the look in her eyes completely serious?

He decides it’s because he knows if Jessica mentions something to Sooyong, his whole plan would unravel before his eyes.

Baekhyun notices that Minseok’s stopped kissing the girl, one of his hands disappearing somewhere in her open flannel, her head dropping against Luhan’s shoulder and her hand over , while Minseok’s other hand is preoccupied with finishing off the blunt. Despite everything, he keeps his eyes fixed on Baekhyun, Luhan, and their conversation the entire time.

“I did.” Luhan’s eyes grow distant then, his lips turning down into a frown. “I do.”

“It’s always been consensual, too.” Baekhyun adds, nodding pointedly at the girl in his lap, frowning slightly as he takes in Luhan’s hazy eyes and tiny frown. Luhan was one of the fairer pimps in the underground world and Kris, though he’d never admit it, had always been grateful for it (all of them were, even Kyungsoo, who has a penchant for watching things die slowly).

“It was never consensual for me when I started out.” Luhan snaps back, the drugs in his system making him a little hard to hear. But Baekhyun’s keen sniper ears pick it up easily and he narrows his eyes, retorting haughtily.

“That doesn’t mean—”

“Besides,” Luhan cuts him off immediately, suddenly relaxing against his seat as his momentary vulnerability disappears, and eyes Baekhyun. The girl leaning into his shoulder follows his movements, soft moans leaving because of whatever Minseok’s doing to her, Minseok’s eyes now fixed on Luhan. Minseok eyes him in slight concern and worry swirls at the back of Baekhyun’s head as well. He wonders why Luhan had decided to go against his (loosely set) principles in the first place. “She was lurking.”

Baekhyun blinks at his words, “What?”

“She was up to something.” Luhan tells him, plucking the half-finished blunt out of Minseok’s fingers. “I don’t know what it was? But it seemed like she was patrolling or something.” Baekhyun opens his mouth but Luhan interrupts him, sighing deeply so a darker puff of white clouds his features. “Before you ask, I didn’t get out of her. But take this information as you will. Especially considering she’s your girl’s best friend.”

Baekhyun lets Luhan’s words sink in, mulling over them thoughtfully.

Minseok leans forward; his lips brushing along the girl’s forehead before he pulls away from her and glances between Luhan and Baekhyun, chest now hovering over the girl muffling her soft whines on Luhan’s shoulder. “You think she’s going to remember you?”

“Probably.” Luhan shrugs.

“You think she’s going to talk?” Baekhyun supplies the next question, wrinkling his nose at Luhan, who seems rather amused with the fact that the girl on his lap won’t stop squirming.

“Probably.” Luhan shrugs again.

Baekhyun raises a brow. “But?” Baekhyun prompts.

Luhan just smirks, a predatory look falling over his features. “She knows no one will believe her. I’ve already got it planted in her pretty little head after Yixing fixed her up.” Luhan states, in a factual tone that has Baekhyun making a face. Luhan rolls his eyes before his mouth drops open into a thoughtful little ‘o’ shape. “And Sehun’s mentioned something about talking to her, so there’s that. It’s all under control.”

Baekhyun snorts in disbelief. “Doesn’t sound like it, Luhan.”

“Hyung.” Luhan corrects, crossing his arms.

“No need to call me hyung, hyung.” Baekhyun snaps back, grinning just as maliciously as Luhan had been a minute ago.

Luhan throws him the middle finger. “ off, Byun. I’m tired of you and I was in the middle of something.” Luhan immediately returns his attention to the girl in his lap, his fingers tangling in her hair as he pulls her head back. Minseok mouths her cheek and Baekhyun takes that as his cue to get out before he sees something he’d rather not see.

“Just don’t pull that ever again, hyung.” Baekhyun calls over his shoulder, tone joking despite the fact that he’s one hundred percent serious. Luhan knows he’s serious and that’s all that matters. “I’ll break your ing nose.”

Luhan throws a couch pillow at him but it hits the door with a dull thud just as Baekhyun closes it.

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun’s eyes follow the knife cut running up her shoulder long after he changes the subject. Something stirs in him, then, something akin to overprotectiveness. It’s suspicious, not because he thinks she’s in a mafia (he absolutely doubts it because although she’s clever enough and strong enough for one, she’s too clumsy). He is, however, starting to wonder if she’s involved in something else that’s just as dangerous.

She’s easy to read, he’s figured that much out about her.

And Lee Sooyong is lying to him about the cut on her shoulder. Baekhyun has eyes and he knows that’s a knife wound. He can see the way her pupils dilate, the way her chest rises the tiniest bit, stiffening.

Why do you care so much? She had asked.

He tries to tell himself it’s because he can’t figure her out and it pisses him off. He tries to tell himself it’s because of his mission.

But he hadn’t lied when he said he was worried. He is, genuinely, worried and that pisses him off the most. It’s annoying.

~.~.~.~.~

“She’s so damn annoying.” Baekhyun mumbles as he picks at the tiny vault’s lock, hair falling into his eyes. He huffs, brushing away the hair.

Jongin snorts from behind Baekhyun and Baekhyun can imagine his eye roll. “This is, like, the millionth time you’ve said that.” Jongin points out, too amused for Baekhyun’s taste.

“Because it pisses me off.” Baekhyun snaps back, spinning the vault’s dial three times to the left while he listens intently for the faint clicks.

“Aw, poor baby. You actually have to do schoolwork, for once.” Jongdae cuts in, breathlessly. “What a travesty.”

Baekhyun glances over his shoulder, glaring at Jongdae. He eyes the man Jongdae’s hauling along behind him, a black sack over his head and the man’s hands and feet tied behind his back. There are a few masked men filing in through the doors behind Jongdae, their packs a bit fuller than they should be and their masks lopsided. Baekhyun’s eyes flicker to the tall, burly one at the front and he watches the way his hands remain wrapped on the handgun at his hip. Baekhyun mentally curses Joonmyun for not thoroughly looking into the people he’s been hiring, lately, thanks to how busy he’s been with all the damage LILAC has been causing.

Baekhyun’s eyes flicker back up to meet Jongdae’s and he raises a brow. Jongdae immediately looks back over his shoulder before his eyes start twinkling in that way Baekhyun has learned means something incredibly bad (Joonmyun calls it ‘stupid’ or ‘reckless’) is about to happen. Baekhyun grins in anticipation. He likes it when Jongdae does something reckless and spices up their boring bank break-ins.

“It is a travesty.” Baekhyun responds, sighing as he leans closer to the vault, listening carefully. “Usually I just give a girl the eyes, y’know, and she’ll be on her knees. If you know what I mean.” Baekhyun wiggles his eyebrows, he can’t help it, and Jongdae groans, rolling his eyes. Jongin barks out a soft laugh. Baekhyun’s smile immediately drops as he continues speaking, “It’s annoying, though. She’s—”

“Annoying?” Jongin finishes for him, tone mocking as he rolls his eyes.

“Exactly.” Baekhyun nodding vigorously.

Jongdae snorts again, dragging the man at his feet to the center of the room, and Baekhyun rolls his eyes, just as the vault creaks open. It’s a tiny safe, but Baekhyun immediately catches sight of the glinting jewels stashed deep within the confines of the vault. There may not be much but it’s definitely worthy enough to shoot up a heavily guarded bank rooted in American origins.

Baekhyun slips his hands into the vault, the jewels spilling from his fingertips as they glint in his hands. He’s never seen diamonds so pure, the gold deliciously heavy in his hands. “Holy .” He mumbles as he examines the jewels. He gives himself a good ten seconds to remain amazed by the beauty and rush of stealing, before he drops the jewels into a small fabric bag Jongin throws at him. He tucks it into his pockets, suddenly aware of the extra eyes on him.

Baekhyun pushes himself to his feet, the weight of his gun heavy on his hips as he toes the tiny vault door closed. He eyes the cronies Joonmyun had hired to help him carry out this job. He tilts his head at them. “You all grabbed the cash right?”

The one in the center, the burly one with his fingers grazing the gun at his waist, nods, “We get fifty percent, don’t we?” He asks. Baekhyun easily recognizes the contempt in his tone  and he exchanges a quick glance with Jongin and Jongdae before placing his hand on his own gun. Jongin barely changes his stance, although the wariness in the way he holds himself is much more obvious. Jongdae straight up twirls his gun, eyeing the eight cronies before him with those same twinkling eyes.

“Uh-huh.” Baekhyun nods. There’s the distant sound of police sirens and Baekhyun is amused at the sudden interest the police seem to have with protecting the town. They’ve never cared before and he wonders why they’re heading out here now.

The eight cronies, obviously inexperienced, panic immediately, their heads snapping up in unison.

“We did so much more than you.” The burly one snaps back. He points his gun at the gagged man at Jongdae’s feet. “I had to ing wrangle that guy in. We basically broke into this damn bank for you. I think we deserve at least seventy five.”

“That wasn’t the deal.” Jongin says blandly.

The man points his gun at Jongin and the tension is so thick, Baekhyun could cut it with a single gunshot. “I don’t give a . It’s eight against three right now, so I think you boys should just hand everything over, if you don’t want to get hurt. Don’t you think?” He turns to the rest of the group and they all voice their assent, advancing on them immediately, guns out.

Jongdae actually laughs. “You really sure about this? I’m a damn good shot.” Jongdae states, popping upright from his squat over the man at his feet. He nods at Baekhyun and Jongin. “They’re pretty good, too.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes at the understatement. The police sirens grow louder.

“Let’s just get this over with and get the out of here.” One of the cronies in the back screams, like a damn battle cry or something. Baekhyun laughs at that in wry amusement.

He has ten bullets loaded and eight men to take out. He’s trained hard to have a ninety nine percent hit rate. He never misses.

Easy, he thinks, as he pulls his gun out. Jongdae grins like a cat beside him, fingers curling around two handguns.

~.~.~.~.~

Not even a day later, and Baekhyun’s in the mood to either empty a fully loaded gun into someone’s head or someone’s brains out. Baekhyun huffs, plopping down onto the empty chair beside Sehun, who’s fixated with his computer. Apparently he’s still trying to break through LILAC’s firewalls and Baekhyun is the smallest bit in awe at LILAC’s techie’s skill. Sehun is the best, Kris had made sure of it when he had recruited Sehun long ago, but this person was definitely giving him some sort of challenge (that Sehun obvious found fun, if his twinkling eyes mean anything).

Sehun groans, loudly, lolling his head as he stretches his neck. “They’re trying to hack our cams now. ing hell.” Sehun mumbles, his fingers rapidly tapping away at his keyboard.

Baekhyun leans forward on his chair, chin hovering over Sehun’s shoulder. “What are you going to do?”

Sehun yawns, pauses for a millisecond, and responds with a, “I’m going to shut everything down.”

That’s when Jongin and Zitao step into the room, balancing a handful of bags of chips in their hands along with a couple bottles of soju. “Shut everything down?” Jongin repeats, raising a brow as he dumps the food on the couch beside Baekhyun’s chair. “They’re giving the Oh Sehun that much trouble?”

Sehun growls and grumbles something unintelligible and Jongin laughs, patting Sehun’s head affectionately. Zitao makes a face, his tone placating, “Are they really giving you trouble? Do you want me to find them and kill them?”

“It’d be amazing if you could have just done that when Kris ordered you to.” Jongin mumbles as he stretches his arms over his head, yawning. “I haven’t been getting any sleep at all lately.”

“Kris ge doesn’t want them dead yet. Or at least he doesn’t want me to kill them.” Zitao pouts then like a little boy and Baekhyun reaches out to ruffle Tao’s hair. It should be disturbing that Zitao looks like Kris had denied him the chance to participate in a game of football or something, but Baekhyun’s always had a soft spot for the tall, wushu master who has a penchant for brutally murdering people, especially when he pouts and cowers at the idea of ghosts.

“You don’t kill people, Zitao.” Jongin points out. “You tear them apart.”

“And you don’t?” Zitao asks, raising a brow.

“Good point.”

“Well, I’m sleepy, too, so let’s get this over with.” Sehun says just as his computer starts to hum a series of beeps, the screen flickering into blue almost immediately. Sehun types in a few words and numbers, some of which Baekhyun remembers him explaining as binary code, before he leans back on the chair, twisting his wrists with a grimace on his face.

Jongin makes a face at Sehun, chucking the bag of chips in his hand at Sehun’s nose. “That’s because you’ve been busy until four in the morning with that girl.”

Sehun just rolls his eyes and plucks the chips bag from where it landed on his lap. He opens it, ignoring Jongin’s words and narrowed eyes, along with Zitao and Baekhyun’s curious glances. After a long moment of silence, Sehun replies thoughtfully, his eyes fixed on Jongin, “Someone needs to cover up for Luhan, right?”

Jongin just grunts, rolling over on the couch so he can take a nap. Baekhyun eyes the two of them carefully, noticing the slight tension in their shoulders. Zitao laughs, though, apparently highly amused.

Joonmyun interrupts their moment when he comes skidding into the room, hair a mess but otherwise put together.

“Why are the security cameras shut down?”

Sehun raises his hand but doesn’t provide an answer, still chewing on his chips as he watches Jongin’s turned back thoughtfully.

Joonmyun seems to understand his silence immediately, easily interpreting it although annoyed because Sehun hasn’t said anything. “Everything’s vulnerable, Sehun.” Joonmyun chides, sighing as he leans against the doorway and tries to fix his hair.

That’s when Baekhyun locks eyes with Sehun, eyes widening with revelation. Sehun speaks up, still watching Jongin. “The only way to destroy security camera footage is to delete the files on the computer and then destroy the actual cameras.” Sehun states, in a textbook tone.

“Is that what LILAC is planning, now that our security is completely down? You think they’re going to try and destroy their own security cameras?” Baekhyun inserts, raising a brow. He’d be disappointed if they succeeded because Baekhyun would love to know their real identities.

“Probably.” Sehun says around a handful of chips.

“It’s a bit straightforward, but they are rookies.” Joonmyun inserts, sighing again. “I’ll call in some extra help.”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “I’ll go.”

Zitao pops out of his chair and bounces on his toes. “I’m going, too.”

Baekhyun kicks the couch Jongin’s pretending to sleep on, eyes flickering over Sehun’s expression for a moment before Baekhyun settles on Jongin. “You, too.”

Jongin groans, loudly. “Fine.”

Baekhyun grins because Jongin rolls off the couch almost too quickly for someone who’s supposed to be hesitant on going. Sehun throws three bags of chips at them (all of which hit Jongin on the back of the head), ignoring Joonmyun sighing you’re going to make a mess.

~.~.~.~.~

It’s hilarious how unaware LILAC are of their surroundings. Zitao gives him a look, his face hidden by his mask, and Baekhyun can feel the disbelief. He’s thinking the same thing. This is LILAC. These are supposedly their new rivals. The universe must be playing a giant ing joke on them.

Baekhyun figures the universe is definitely playing a gigantic joke on them when the two tiny looking girls completely surprise all three of them the moment Zitao bounces off his toes, spear in his hands.

Baekhyun had underestimated someone before and that had left him with three broken ribs and a severe concussion from the famous Moon Jongup (Baekhyun hates Yongguk and his connections more than anything else in the world).

This time, his underestimation results in Zitao getting shot in the leg and a lot of blood.

Baekhyun’s blood boils as he wraps a hand around one of the girl’s waists and presses his gun into her head. “You’re going to ing pay for that.” He growls into her ear and he relishes in the way she stiffens (he doubts it’s in fear, her breathing is not irregular, and he figures they’re not as much of a rookie as he had pegged them to be). Jongin drags the girl who had shot Zitao by the ponytail, incapacitating her the moment she drops her weapons.

It’s definitely not fear she’s radiating and Baekhyun tugs at her, pressing the gun further into her skin. He wants her to feel fear. “Don’t even think about escaping because you won’t.” Baekhyun grits out, anger coursing through him when he sees Zitao clutching his leg in pain. Suddenly, Baekhyun’s mood to unload a round of bullets in someone’s head comes back full force.

Jongin crouches in front of the girl Baekhyun’s holding, his grip on the other girl still tight. They’re both wearing their masks and Baekhyun’s blood boils again. “You’re the leader, aren’t you? I saw you giving that one permission to shoot Zi.” Jongin asks, tilting his head.

“I am.” The girl in his arms speaks steadily, too steadily for Baekhyun’s liking. “So what?”

So Baekhyun yanks at her, glad to finally get some kind of reaction out of her. He speaks softly but firmly, observing her actions and the bits of exposed skin beneath her mask. There’s something familiar about the way she holds herself that he can’t quite pinpoint. “We’re going to track down the rest of your members,” He pauses, his rough hand suddenly becoming gentle, caressing even. Her fingers shake the tiniest bit and he grins, “And we’re going to kill them all. One by one. While you’re forced to watch until the very last second. And then we’ll kill you, Leader.” 

Jongin answers a call then and she relaxes the tiniest bit against him when Jongin turns away a bit.

Then she speaks to Baekhyun, tone a soft whimper that he completely does not expect. “Hey, can you loosen up a bit? It hurts.”

It’s strange because at any other time he would have scoffed and tightened his grip, laughing sadistically. But her tone reminds him of something. Of someone? He’s not sure, but whatever it is has him snapping back at her, caught off guard.

“I’m not even hurting you yet.” Baekhyun says, his voice changer making his voice crackle.

And then she says please and Baekhyun can’t help but soften. Since when has a girl saying please turned him soft?

But of course, LILAC’s leader is full of . Faster than he realizes, she swipes her knife down his forearm, intense pain running up his arm.

“.” He cries out when she doesn’t even give him a chance to recover. He doubles over in pain when she knees him in the groin, successfully sending him to his knees.

There’s a commotion and Baekhyun reaches for his gun. He aims at the two running figures, his eyes focusing on the leader, but he’s injured and he doesn’t quite get her through the heart like he planned, his bullet burying itself in her side instead.

Baekhyun rolls over on his back, sighing. He's never supposed to miss.

Jongin groans, rolling into a sitting position, a giant bruise blooming across his cheek, “I can’t believe they got away.”

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun has a sudden revelation, later the next morning, after he checks on a pissed off and restless Zitao, and finds Kyungsoo making lunch in his kitchen. Baekhyun steers clear of the meat, because well he’s still not entirely sure Kyungsoo was joking the time he had mentioned that getting rid of bodies was easiest when he cooked them up with a variety of spices, and plucks a broccoli out of one of the bowls. Kyungsoo throws him a disgruntled look that Baekhyun finds more adorable and amusing than anything else.

(Baekhyun likes to pretend he’s never witnessed Kyungsoo murder a man or inventively kill the neighbor’s dog because it wouldn’t stop barking. The next day they were served something that tasted suspiciously different, but no one dared question Kyungsoo. After all, Kyungsoo was a family man, as Jongin once put it, his loyalty more apparent in his actions than his words. Kyungsoo is a nice person; they all know that, Kris wouldn’t keep him around otherwise. Kyungsoo’s actions are meant to show that he cares. Kyungsoo had torn apart the man who had brutally disfigured and killed Jongdae’s girlfriend (who was also one of Luhan’s girls) in a slow and orderly fashion, the screams and gurgles lasting a good two weeks after Luhan had hauled the man’s into Baekhyun’s basement, Jongdae occasionally joining him. Baekhyun had heard the whole thing, seeing as they loved to do like this in his basement. Kyungsoo promised the same fate for Yongguk and Baekhyun figures that’s why Yongguk had disappeared for so long. Kyungsoo does horrid things for a reason, at least that’s what Baekhyun tells himself whenever Kyungsoo pulls a knife on someone, a glint in his eyes.)

Baekhyun’s phone buzzes then and he opens it almost too quickly, smiling at the text message.

Sooyong:

I’m ending this conversation.

They’ve been texting back and forth all day and he decides it’d be best if he’s nice to her, especially since she’s sick.

“What are you smiling like a at?” Jongdae asks, glancing over Baekhyun’s shoulder. Jongdae snorts and proceeds to walk past him, shaking his head slightly. “You text like an , have I ever told you that?”

“And you don’t?” Baekhyun tells him, rolling his eyes.

Jongdae turns to him, sipping on a glass of water. He smiles, genuinely, “You know.” Jongdae begins thoughtfully, “I’ve never seen you smile like that since…”

Jongdae clamps his mouth, his fingers tightening around the water glass as his eyes widen.

Baekhyun blinks, smile dropping from his lips immediately.

Kyungsoo whacks the back of Jongdae’s head hard and Jongdae mumbles a quick sorry.

Baekhyun stuffs his phone into his pocket and hates the déjà vu that washes through him, the revelation of him pissing Baekhyun off the most.

(Baekhyun ignores the way his heart clenches the tiniest bit.)

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun sees a bowl of soup in Chanyeol’s hand and wonders if Lee Sooyong is eating properly. She’s sick, isn’t she? Sick people are supposed to have soup.

It’s not like he wants her to die from the flu while he’s trying to figure her out. Figuring out information about dead people is a million times harder.

~.~.~.~.~

“Can you tell your girl’s friends to steer clear of downtown?” Luhan asks, as he grabs a pair of chopsticks and eyes the food set out on the table.

“You see them a lot down there?” Baekhyun asks, curiously.

He had deduced long ago, from her little stutters and blatant lies, that Lee Sooyong is hiding something. He had also deduced long ago, that whatever Lee Sooyong is hiding was the reason behind the little scars he’s noticed scattered across her skin, when her blouse would slip from her shoulders or when she would sweep her hair up into a bun and he'd catch sight of a bruise.

Luhan nods, chewing on his noodles. He swallows before speaking. “I see her friends in the loan districts a lot. Especially the places where people borrow money, equipment, and weapons.” Luhan blinks, thoughtfully, “Jessica is there a lot.”

Sehun looks up from his phone at that, Jongin leaning back on his chair three chairs down from Sehun, his eyes hardening as he glances at Luhan. His gaze softens, though, whenever he glances back at Sehun. “Are you keeping tabs on Jessica now, hyung?” Sehun asks, frowning. There’s a hidden edge to his tone that makes Baekhyun, Jongin, and Luhan stare at Sehun.

“Not really.” Luhan shrugs. Then he rolls his eyes. “I just notice her around. You’d think she’d learn to not hang out around there after everything though.”

“She hates you.” Jongin says blandly, leaning back on his chair. His tone is clipped; accusing. The chair squeaks and the table is quiet for a long moment.

Luhan snorts.

“Obviously.” Luhan rolls his eyes. Then he laughs, “Oh, I forgot you’re helping Sehun with her, huh, Jongin? Not jealous anymore?”

There’s a vindictive edge to his tone Baekhyun doesn’t like. Jongin looks rigid and pissed.

Sehun looks tired.

“Stop.” Sehun interrupts, abruptly cutting off Jongin’s response, the latter looking ready to punch Luhan. “Just stop.” Sehun repeats, his dark eyes unreadable as he holds Luhan’s gaze. Baekhyun is too busy thinking to notice the way Jongin stares up at the ceiling, breathing deeply, or the way Luhan clenches his chopsticks, his jaw twitching.

“The loan district, huh?” Baekhyun repeats, more to himself then to the boys at the table.

Baekhyun remembers the time Sooyong had mentioned something about paying off loans, the morning after the party.

“Holy .” Baekhyun starts suddenly, startling Jongin, Luhan, and Sehun.

Luhan’s chopsticks fall against his bowl with a loud clatter.

Jongin frowns at Baekhyun, “What is it?”

“I think I’ve figured out what’s up with Sooyong.” Baekhyun murmurs, his chair screeching as he slides it back and grabs his keys from the counter.

Debts, he thinks. He wonders which syndicate is bothering Sooyong and her friends, his fists clenching unconsciously. ing loan sharks.

He stops by a takeout shop for a viable excuse.

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun has a soft spot for Lee Sooyong.

He doesn’t know how the hell it had happened because he had told himself to not let this happen again, at any kind of level.

Baekhyun has that revelation when he realizes that his thoughts sometimes drift to the softness of her hands or the fact that he had wanted to do more than just kiss her forehead after they had talked. He realizes that he was angry when he noticed the way she flinched in poorly disguised pain after he walked in, brushing against her side. But he wasn’t mad at her, he was mad at whoever did that to her.

He’s supposed to get her to trust him, though, because according to Kris, just keeping her in his company was enough to piss off Min Jihoon (and consequently Yongguk, Kris’s rival and ally and the man Baekhyun hates most in the world). He isn’t supposed to have a soft spot for the girl.

But he likes that she’s witty enough to keep up with him. That she’s hot and cute and interesting in the way she dresses and holds herself, her clean image obviously fabricated for reasons he seriously wants to be privy to. She’s still not his type, not when he needs to work so damn hard to make her interested, but he does worry about her and it’s a strange (and horrible) type of feeling.

(Maybe it just means she’s actually a friend that he likes, like the boys in EXO are to him. A tiny minuscule part of him, which constantly whispers to him of Daehyun, doubts that very fact and Baekhyun hates it so much.)

Her clumsiness is completely amusing; along with the way she freezes, eyes wide with innocence, whenever he leans into her or touches her a certain way. She’s supposedly the textbook definition of cliché Good Girl, but he has a feeling there’s more to it than just that.

(He likes the way she bites her lip when she’s concentrating on her work, a wrinkle forming between her eyebrows.)

(He likes the way his shirt had hung off her frame, long but not long enough.)

(He likes the way she doesn’t take any from him, snapping back at him with an angry expression he can only describe as adorable.)

(He likes—)

Baekhyun groans in annoyance because he absolutely needs to get her off his mind. He rolls to his side, rubbing his face in his hands, before he snatches up his cell phone.

He texts Chanyeol about finding a party and an hour later he’s getting smashed in the house of someone he’s just met fifteen minutes ago. He makes out with just enough hot boys and girls to get his mind off figuring out Lee ing Sooyong.

It’s working just fine until he spots Lee Sooyong’s best friend drunk out of her mind among the crowd of sweaty bodies. He can’t make out anything except for Sehun holding her back by the waist, lips at her ear, while Jongin hovers with a strange expression Baekhyun can’t quite figure out.

When she’s close to passing out on the couch, Baekhyun has half a mind to take Jessica to Sooyong’s just to see her and somehow figure her out.

Except he doesn’t, making Sehun and Jongin take Jessica home instead.

Baekhyun’s mind finally eases when he has another couple shots of rum and he hazily registers being shoved up against wall by someone hot, their hands sliding down his chest slowly.

(He always wishes it was someone else, but that isn’t anything new, not since him.)

~.~.~.~.~

An ultimatum and a deadline is what Kris works best with.

But something about the deadline, two weeks from now on a Friday, leaves everyone around him in a state Baekhyun can’t quite wrap his head around.

Yixing breaks the tension first, when they’re all lounging in Baekhyun’s basement and staring at the blank piece of paper before them.

“I’ve never felt this unsettled about an ambush before.” Yixing states, his eyes drifting from person to person.

“They’re not going to be able to overpower us, Xing.” Jongdae murmurs, in a light tone that sounds too forced. He rubs Yixing’s back.

“I know.” Yixing sighs. “I just have a bad feeling about this.”

The room grows silent, brooding.

Kris dismisses everyone except for Yixing after that and Baekhyun ignores the distinctly loud smashing and exchange of heated words carrying up from the basement.

Baekhyun decides to spent that evening with Yixing, watching as he rolls and unrolls his boxes of gauze. He organizes the needles and the medicine and his entire room three times before Baekhyun silently reaches for his hand and squeezes it gently.

Yixing remains calm throughout the evening.

(Baekhyun has never seen him lose his calm demeanor, not even when he’s assigned the task of stepping into hospitals and changing the dosages of their untrustworthy clients, watching as they slip into permanent unconsciousness. Not even when Yixing is the one confronting a rival gang, the gun in his hand a lot less dangerous for his victim then the thin blade Yixing keeps in the heel of his shoe. Baekhyun had watched Yixing skin someone alive once. Yet, he has never seen Yixing’s demeanor become anything but calm or calculated.)

“You’re growing soft again.” Yixing murmurs to him, while they’re curled up under every pillow and blanket he and Yixing could get their hands on, just so they could marathon the entirety of Adventure Time (with Chinese subs) in Yixing’s little apartment right off campus. Baekhyun doesn’t mind the fact that he barely understands the English cartoon or the chinese subtitles because Yixing is smiling.

(Baekhyun stays over at Yixing’s because he doesn’t want to see his basement (Kris) a mess, not when the one other time he’s seen his basement (Kris) a mess was right before Baekhyun had decided he had to carry out the original orders Kris had given him regarding him. Kris hated Yongguk for a reason and Baekhyun felt selfish. He still does.)

 The again catches Baekhyun off guard. Baekhyun turns to Yixing, half his face buried beneath a blanket. “I’ve always been soft.” Baekhyun says, offhandedly, his eyes twinkling slightly when Yixing looks over at him. “No matter how many times I go to gym I just can’t grow out of the Nutella abs look.”

Baekhyun pouts, jokingly, hoping Yixing will take the hint and stop while they’re ahead.

Yixing has never been good at stopping while they’re ahead. It’s always been something they’ve all loved about him because he’s honest when most people in their profession are not.

(Right now, Baekhyun hates him for it.)

“That’s not what I meant.” Yixing mumbles. His eyes are soft, softer than the flannel throw blanket thrown over his head. Yixing nudges Baekhyun’s blanket out of his face. “But I’m guessing you knew that already.”

Baekhyun nods, slowly.

“I think.” Yixing pauses, mulling over his words slowly, the way he always has, since the day Baekhyun had met him. “It would do you some good. To become soft again. To try again.”

Baekhyun stares at him, at his honest eyes and even more honest smile, and Baekhyun crumbles.

He crumbles, once again, in front of Yixing.

Baekhyun closes his eyes, his fingers curling around the pillow. “This is exactly like before, Yixing. I don’t want it to…end up like before either.” Baekhyun feels like he’s falling apart, Daehyun flooding his mind. “It’s too hard.”

Fingers card through Baekhyun’s hair, warmth seeping into his cold cheeks. Baekhyun isn’t crying, he was all out of tears years ago, but Yixing brushes at Baekhyun’s cheeks as if there are tears riddling Baekhyun’s cheeks only Yixing can see. “The circumstances may be the same but that doesn’t mean the end results will be the same, too.” Yixing tells him, thoughtfully. “You’re different from before. You don’t love her the way you did with him, perhaps you never will. It’s not the same.”

“But Kris—”

“He won’t ask for you to kill her. She’s normal. She’s not a part of a rival syndicate. Yes, she can be used as leverage against Min Jihoon, but you’ve grown soft for her and Kris has noticed. He doesn’t want you to get hurt again.”

Baekhyun grimaces at that and Yixing laughs softly, his voice tinkling.

“She’s normal.” Yixing repeats and Baekhyun can’t help but feel relieved.

~.~.~.~.~

The next evening, Baekhyun finds himself wandering into the room where a beautifully decorated pot that used to hold Daehyun’s ashes sit, neatly placed in his own little compartment among a couple dozen other people, a bouquet of dead flowers stuffed into the cubby along with a few pictures and figurines. Baekhyun stares and stares and stares at his photograph, silently berating himself over the fact that he was beginning to forget the smallest of details regarding Daehyun, like the way his lip quirks a bit when he smiles, his eyes twinkling in a way Baekhyun is beginning to forget.

Baekhyun places three red starbursts inside of the cubby, right beside his photograph, because Daehyun had loved the red ones (much to Baekhyun’s playful disgust).

Baekhyun smiles sadly, shuffling in his place.

“I’m sure you don’t want to see my ugly crying again so I’ll keep this short.” He murmurs, imagining the way Daehyun would roll his eyes in response and no doubt agree, laughing beautifully. “I love you and I’ll always love you, but Yixing was right. It’s time for me to try again. It’s time to.” Baekhyun blinks and stares up at the ceiling, his jaw clenching. “It’s time for me to stop visiting you so much. It’s not healthy, is it? You’re probably rolling your eyes at me from up there right now, aren’t you?” Baekhyun sighs, wiping at his eyes, despite the fact that there are no tears. “I’m sorry, Dae, but I want to be happy again.”

Baekhyun sighs, again, shutting the glass door to Daehyun’s cubby tightly. “I’ll see you soon. I…I miss you.”

Baekhyun turns on his heels and freezes in place.

Ahn Mina stands at the entrance, in heels, short shorts, and a lacy top that is the much flashier then how her best friend, Lee Sooyong, dresses. Baekhyun had researched her a bit, in the beginning, and he knows that Mina and Sooyong are childhood best friends, despite seeming like polar opposites.

Ahn Mina stares at Baekhyun with a curious expression, but there’s also something guarded in her expression too, as she glances over his shoulder, her manicured fingers clutching onto the red roses in her hands tightly.

“What are you doing here?” Mina asks, bluntly, her eyes darting between Baekhyun and the tiny gravesites behind him.

“Visiting a friend.” Baekhyun states, copying her tone.

Mina just stares back at him. She studies him in much the same way Lee Sooyong does, when she thinks he’s not paying attention. Except Ahn Mina is blatant about her staring.

Without another word, Mina steps past Baekhyun and walks to the far end of room, stopping at Ahn Jieun. “My grandmother.” She tells him, even though he never asked. She opens the glass door and replaces the drooping red roses in the small vase with the fresh ones in her hands.

Her back is turned to him when he is compelled to ask, “How is the debt situation?”

Her hands still for half a minute before she shrugs, nonchalantly. “It’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about.” Mina glances over her shoulder pointedly and Baekhyun guesses Sooyong had explained everything about his earlier house visit to her. He momentarily wonders what Sooyong tells her friends about him.

“That’s good.” He says before heading towards the door. He gives her a half-assed wave that she doesn’t even catch since her back is turned. “See you, Ahn.”

“Byun.” Mina calls out to him. He turns on his heels and raises a brow at her. She crosses her arms and gives him a look that would have any other man cowering, no doubt. “I’m going to be at my parents’ for the next few days and she’s going to be alone.”

“Uh.” Baekhyun rubs the back of his head, confused, “Okay?”

Ahn Mina rolls her eyes at him as if he’s an idiot. “She’s going to be alone, .”

“…So what?” Baekhyun prompts, making a face at her.

“Make a move before Fri…” Mina trails off, her eyes growing distant and strangely serious. She seems worried, the look in her eyes reminding him of Yixing’s during the meeting in Baekhyun’s basement yesterday. But then it disappears, as quickly as it had come. She glares holes into Baekhyun’s head. “Just make a damn move before it’s too late.”

“What,” Baekhyun splutters at the confidence in her tone. “What are you talking about? I don’t even like Sooyong.”

Mina snorts, laughing as she turns back to her grandmother’s urn. “Okay.” She drags out the word, laughing while he glares at her back. “Then how’d you know who I was talking about? I didn’t even say her name.”

Baekhyun blinks and Ahn Mina laughs at him until he leaves the room, grumbling profanities under his breath.

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun’s mother calls the next afternoon during a meeting. Her voice is full of static and all he picks up is the fact that his parents are somewhere in the Brazilian rainforest. It’s a short conversation, mostly filled with static.

Baekhyun picks at a loose thread on one of the couch throw pillows, listens for her crackly goodbye exactly two minutes later, and knows that his parents won’t be coming home after Brazil either. It’s been years since he’s last seen them face-to-face, a month or two since they’ve skyped.

Their conversations always last two to three minutes.

The room returns to its quiet planning. Chanyeol pats his back, harder than he means to because Baekhyun is pushed forward too far and ends up glaring at his goofy grin and half-assed apology.

Joonmyun sighs loudly from beside Kris, waving his phone, “Some guy shot and killed one of our middle men. I need someone to deal with him.” Joonmyun pauses before he points at Jongdae. “Jongdae, you’re up.”

Jongdae groans. “I have a date tonight, hyung.”

“Then do it quick. Take someone with you.” Joonmyun shrugs before taking a seat. He rubs his temples and Baekhyun feels bad for the amount of stress Joonmyun is always subjected to. He runs most of EXO’s internal and external affairs, which usually means he bogged with the paperwork, scams, and organizing.

Baekhyun yawns and leans over Chanyeol to nudge Jongdae, “I’ll help you out.” Baekhyun says, grinning.

Jongdae gives him a quick onceover, a concerned glint in his eyes before he nods, slowly. “Thanks, man.”

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun presses a heel against the man’s chest, his gun aimed at the man’s head. “So you’re telling me you shot our guy because you weren’t thinking straight?” Baekhyun asks, in a low, dangerous tone. He digs his heel further into the man’s chest watching as the man’s head falls back onto the concrete and splutters out a choked sob.

“I’m sorry. I was scared and he took out his gun and I just shot at him without thinking and—” The man’s garbled words immediately turn into choked scream.

Baekhyun points his gun right at the man’s head this time, watching as he claws at his shoulder, tears and snot running down his face. “Kinda like that?” Baekhyun asks, tilting his head.

The man nods, breathing shallow. “Please, I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.” He whimpers.

“Do you have our money or not?” Baekhyun asks, ignoring the man’s whimpers.

The man’s eyes widen. “I just need a few more days. Please, just a few more days.” Baekhyun sighs and the man starts talking louder and faster, his voice cracking because of his tears. “I have a wife and children to feed. Please, I don’t want to die.”

“Maybe you should have thought of them before getting your hooked on drugs, yeah?” Baekhyun frowns.

“I swear I won’t do it again.” The man shrieks when Baekhyun raises his gun again, grabbing for Baekhyun’s ankle pleadingly. “Please, don’t kill me.”

“Too late.” Baekhyun says, smiling slightly. The man pales significantly, Baekhyun’s next words eliciting a series of whimpers from his mouth. “Rest assured, we’ll take great care of your wife and children. You owe us a million, don’t you? Should have sold those drugs like you were supposed to, idiot.”

Baekhyun cuts off his loud pleading with his gun.

Bang. Bang. Bang. He gets three bullets straight through the middle of his forehead, blood pooling all around the limp body. There’s blood splattered all over Baekhyun’s jeans, much to his disgust.

The man’s eyes are wide open, his mouth hanging wide, in the middle of begging for his life.

Baekhyun steps off the man and looks over at Jongdae and the middle man’s partner, a sturdy woman with a high ponytail, who had detained the dead man and called Joonmyun. Jongdae nudges the woman’s side.

“Get rid of the bodies.” Jongdae tells her, his eyes on Baekhyun.

She does as she’s told and Jongdae and Baekhyun leave without another word.

Jongdae holds out his hand when they’re a good block away. Baekhyun hands him his gun.

“Finally got it out of your system?” Jongdae asks, pocketing Baekhyun’s gun casually.

Baekhyun just nods.

“What should we do with the family?” Jongdae inquires, thoughtfully.

Baekhyun shrugs.

Jongdae digs into his pocket and pulls out a wallet. Baekhyun knows it’s the dead man’s wallet, not Jongdae’s, because they’ve done this too many times to count already. He points at a picture of a boy around their age and an older woman. “Look at him. Hmm. Lu hyung will definitely want to talk to them. I guess I’ll leave it up to him, then.”

Jongdae throws an arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder and grins at him. He rubs Baekhyun’s back soothingly and Baekhyun is grateful for how well Jongdae understands him.

~.~.~.~.~

 An hour later and Baekhyun is restless.

He is so damn restless that he keeps tossing and turning in his sleep.

Until finally he shoves off his blankets and throws on a shirt and sweats. He tugs on a beanie over his messy hair and he’s out the door before he can figure out what he’s planning on doing.

He doesn’t really think, however. His feet just move on their own accord and the next thing he knows, he’s running through dark streets. Nobody is out this late and when he’s right at the entrance of her neighborhood, he comes to a halt, his heart beating in his throat.  

He wants to see her.

He wants to see Lee Sooyong and he wants to kiss her, he wants to feel her lips on his and he wants to feel warmth again. He wants to try and he wants to try with someone he actually likes.

Because he does like her. Maybe it’s not in a romantic sense, maybe it’s completely ual and sensual, but there’s something about her that intrigues him. And, best of all, she’s safe. She’s a safe option for him because she knows nothing about the mafia world.

She won’t get caught up in it. He won’t have to kill her. He’ll never have to tell her that he originally pretended to be interested in her just because he was told to.

She’s normal and when he’s with her, he can pretend he’s just a normal university student, too.

He steps into her apartment building, the tired security guard giving him a quick onceover, before smiling in fond memory, nodding for him to go forward.

He’s knocking on her door before he can second-guess himself.

She’s glaring when she appears, a thin robe wrapped around her. Her hair is a mess and he wants to run his hands through it and tug at it and play with her hair until she’s whimpering in his arms.

He blinks rapidly when he realizes she’s asked him a question.

“What the hell are you doing here, Baekhyun? It’s three in the ing morning.”

She’s flushed a soft red from her annoyance and all he can do is observe it from a distance. Her lips look soft and pink and he wants to touch her. He wants to see her eyes widen, so innocently, when he touches her.

He wants to kiss her.

He smirks and steps forward. One step, two steps, three steps, until she’s craning her neck to look up at him, blinking owlishly in sleepy confusion. He’s can’t describe it as anything other than cute.

“I’ve figured out my second wish.” He whispers, his eyes searching her wide ones.

Then he swoops down and presses his lips against hers, his fingers wrapping around her waist, her cheek, her hair, as he walks her backwards into the wall. She responds within seconds, wrapping her legs around his waist and Baekhyun groans.

She’s anything but innocent, her tongue playing with his and he thinks she tastes good, like mint and strawberries and her and he can’t stop his roaming, fumbling hands.

She stops him, however, her eyes widening as she shakes her head quickly, whispering something about not being easy.

He wants to tell her that she is the most difficult thing he’s ever had to figure out, but he doesn’t.

He asks her to dinner instead, his mind running on autopilot.

Only after she kicks him out, only after he realizes that he can’t stop kissing her soft lips and touching her soft skin and tasting her, does he realize that he just asked her out on a date.

He doesn't do dates.

Oh .

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun likes it when she laughs.

It’s quickly becoming one of his favorite things about her.

He even lets it slide when she starts laughing at him for getting lost in a completely different city, her eyes curling into crescent moons and little laughter lines fanning out from the corners of her eyes. Her eyes sparkle and he wants to be the only one to make her laugh like that.

And then she jumps out of the car while he’s driving, dress flying out from behind her as she scowls at him, and he finds himself wanting to strangle her for being so goddamn reckless.

But then they’re in a convenience store and she’s gathering a few dozen boxes of packaged food in her arms, smiling widely, a wicked glint her eyes, and he doesn’t want to strangle her anymore. He wants to kiss her.

He doesn’t love her, but he likes her a lot. He likes her even more when she climbs onto the tip of her toes and presses a chaste kiss against his lips, smiling into the kiss sweetly. He threads his fingers through hers, her thumb brushing absentmindedly against the top of his hands, and he realizes that he likes the way she makes him feel.

He feels like a normal kid, not someone who kills people and sells drugs for a living.

(Not even Daehyun could make him feel like this, like there’s more to life than a syndicate.)

~.~.~.~.~

Sooyong finds it hilarious whenever he voices his frustrations and he pouts, squeezing her hand. She squeezes his hand back in retaliation, giggling softly as she flicks through the radio stations, her hair thrown into a messy pile on top of her head.

He’s never been on a first date with a girl that had been so casual and it’s strangely endearing.

He glances at her fondly, his thumb rubbing circles into the hand she’s had in his throughout the night. He opens his mouth, expectantly, and she shakes her head, mock glaring as she hogs all the pocky sticks.

He laughs, loud and wide, and it hurts his mouth a little because he hasn’t laughed like this in a while.

But then the car breaks down and he’s worried this will ruin what was already a pretty lousy date.

She falls into a fit of giggles and suggests he call someone for help, instead of yelling at him.

He calls Joonmyun because he’s pretty sure Joonmyun won’t laugh at him.

“Hello?” Joonmyun sounds distracted.

“Okay. Promise you won’t laugh at me?” Baekhyun says, smiling embarrassedly. She watches him with laughing, sparkling eyes, her dress hiking up when she squirms in her seat.

“What did you do?” Joonmyun asks, suddenly sounding more concentrated. “You didn’t accidentally kill the girl or something, did you?”

“No.” Baekhyun says, rolling his eyes. He sighs. “I missed the reservations you made and got lost. Now the car broke down right outside of town. We need a ride.”

Joonmyun laughs and laughs and laughs and Baekhyun scowls.

Then Joonmyun sounds serious. He lowers his voice, “We’re not going to be able to pick you up for another hour or so. Sehun tracked down one of LILAC’s biggest sources of income. Kyungsoo is currently…” There’s a loud thud in the background coupled with a shriek and soft laughter. Joonmyun coughs in slight discomfort. “He’s currently dealing with the man. We’re probably going to have to drop Kyungsoo back off and then I’ll be available. We’re really close to you two, actually.”

“That’s fine.” Baekhyun responds, his mood from earlier deflating the tiniest bit.

“Have fun, Baek.” Joonmyun says, before adding a quick, “Be safe!”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes as Joonmyun hangs up.

“They can’t pick us up for another hour.”

“Alright. Then let’s have a picnic.” She states. She’s already pulling off her seatbelt, her hand on the door.

“Where?” Baekhyun asks, raising a brow.

She climbs up on to the hood, spinning onto her stomach so she can give him a lopsided smirk, her eyes glinting. Strands of hair fall into her dark eyes. “Right here.” Her voice is soft.

Baekhyun breaks into a dark little smirk of his own, eyes following her movements on the hood of his car.

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun goes to another party, but this time he has a goal in mind.

He’s supposed to help Chanyeol burn the host alive (fire is more Chanyeol’s thing, anyway), but somewhere between sidling up to the target and his third drink, Baekhyun says yes to a drug he knows nothing about.

He’s high as hell and he doesn’t even remember how he wrangled the target in for Chanyeol, watching with a warm face and wide eyes as Chanyeol leans into the target, eyes glinting dangerously.

Chanyeol’s lighter dances in the dark.

Baekhyun has never seen a person (and subsequently a house) go up in flames, reds, oranges, yellows, and deep blues swallowing up the world. He’s never seen anything more beautiful (his mind wanders to a certain person but he quickly pushes that thought away, he’s not supposed to like her that much).

~.~.~.~.~

Sometimes Lee Sooyong won’t listen to him. She’s too stubborn for her own good, he decides, frowning because the moment he snaps at her, repeating his words because she’s also pretty damn oblivious too, she stares him down, her hands on her hips. She knows how to make herself bigger, her eyes drilling relentless holes into his skull, until he laughs at her expression (because he thinks she looks good when she’s angry, unfortunately.

There’s something inherently good about her and he notices it especially in the way she treasures her best friends before herself, in the way she watches out for Jessica, despite the fact that Jessica has happily managed to find solace in Sehun and a reluctant Jongin.

Baekhyun watches the way she observes everyone at the table, frowning slightly when Jessica mutters something in Jongin’s ear while she walks past him, making him scowl at her, his eyes darkening, as she takes a seat beside Sehun, who is between them.

He watches the way Sooyong makes sure Ahn Mina eats (they’ve all noticed the way she had grown pale and sickly for the past couple of days, no explanation given on her part).

Lee Sooyong is inherently a good person, a wonderful person really, and Byun Baekhyun is starting to feel beyond guilty for constantly lying to her.

He likes her as a person, though they may fight a bit, and it doesn’t sit right with her that he has to hide something from her.

(A part of him is bitter. He thinks it’d be easier, no better, if she had some kind of flaw that made her a ty human being, because then it’d be easier for him to lie to her.)

The meeting with LILAC is creeping up on them and they’re all a bit sobered by the fact, a creeping feeling lingering at the back of his mind. Joonmyun had made an excellent plan, but Yixing still looks worried and Baekhyun can’t help but feel restless over the idea of Friday.

So when she gives him a sweet kiss goodbye Friday afternoon, he can’t help but snake his fingers around her wrist and pull her back towards him, his eyes lingering on her.

He playfully banters with her, enjoying the way her cheeks redden softly.

“You never actually, like, acknowledged it, you know. Like out loud.” Her voice is more tentative then he’s ever heard it before and he wonders if this is the most unconfident he’ll ever hear her.

She wants to be his girlfriend, he realizes, smiling.

But then his heart drops to his stomach because it’d be quite the move to make her his official girlfriend and then possibly die tonight. He feels awfully guilty and he sighs, pulling her closer by the waist, suddenly possessive when he notices the sad look in her eyes. “My girlfriend is stupid.” He mutters, decisively.

“Thank you.” She mumbles back, a blush creeping up her neck. He smiles, gently circles into her waist with his thumb. He tucks her head under his chin and lets his stable expression drop, worry flooding his eyes.

“I’ll miss you.” He says softly as he draws patterns against her spine, words he wants to say but doesn’t (because he doesn’t love her yet and he’s promised himself that would be the only time he’d let her into the other world he lives in). She tries to pull back but he holds her there because he doesn’t want her to see the look in his eyes. She’s too observant to be privy to his expression right now. “I just. I like you, okay. I don’t. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll take you out somewhere nice.”

It’s a promise to himself to not let anything bad happen to him tonight.

She chuckles against his chest, fingers gripping him a little too tightly. He wonders if he’s imagining the tremble in them. “Last time you tried to take me out somewhere nice we got lost.” She reminds him.

He makes a face. “We weren’t lost.” He insists.

She laughs and he can’t help but join her, holding her a little bit closer. He wonders if he’s just projecting his worry on to her and imagining that she’s doing the same thing to him.

“I need to go.” She mumbles against his chest.

“Me too.” He answers a moment later, sighing softly, her hair tickling his nose.

She pulls away too soon and pulls him into a kiss that he deepens, nibbling on her bottom lip. He kisses her deeply, pulling at her bottom lip a little roughly, with need, until she pulls away, gasping for breath, her pink lips swollen and inviting.

He cups her face gently, pushing away the loose strands of hair over her eyes. He pecks her forehead carefully, thumb rubbing against her cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He tries to keep the uncertainty at bay.

“Yup, see you.” She smiles carefully.

He slips away from her and pulls out his phone as he walks out the building.

From: Chanyeol

We’re waiting for you two blocks down, beside The Machine. Hurry.

~.~.~.~.~

Jongin makes a face at the inside of LILAC’s warehouse. “Why do we get stuck with the secondary stuff?” Jongin whines a bit as he pulls on black gloves, looking around.

Their warehouse had been guarded by three guards whom they had easily taken out. Now, they’re taking in their surroundings, masks on as they watch their cronies take away the last bits of LILAC’s valuable goods.

Chanyeol uncaps a giant container of gasoline, the container tipping vicariously a few times in his clumsy grip.

Sehun snorts through their communications units and Jongin glares at air. Chanyeol shakes his head as he heaves the gasoline over his shoulder, “But we get to burn their warehouse down. That’s fun as hell.”

“You get hard over fire. Of course it’s fun for you.” Jongin states rolling his eyes.

“Hey, don’t be vulgar.” Joonmyun interrupts, narrowing his eyes at a shrugging Jongin.

“ you. The correct term is pyromaniac.” Chanyeol tells him.

“Either way, you’re a fire er, hyung. That’s weird.”

Joonmyun swats at Jongin. “Don’t kink shame him!”

Baekhyun bursts into laughter at Joonmyun’s words and Chanyeol puts a hand over his chest. “It’s not a kink.” Chanyeol screeches. Then he pauses, eyebrows furrowing as if he’s had a revelation. “I think.” He adds in a quieter tone, unsure of himself.

Kyungsoo groans. “Can I pay you to stop talking?”

Jongin snickers and Baekhyun laughs even harder, voice echoing because of the high ceilings.

Chanyeol pouts and pours gasoline all over the couch.

Baekhyun finishes up his container of gasoline and accidentally knocks his chair over in search of the two extra gasoline containers he’s positive he brought along.

“Yo, where’d the last two gas containers go?” Baekhyun calls out.

Kyungsoo shrugs, helping Jongin wipe off some gasoline that he spilled on himself.

“I bet hyung used it up.” Jongin says, absentmindedly. Baekhyun rolls their eyes.

Joonmyun looks around, grinning slightly, the line of his smile visible through his black ski mask. “I think we’re good here. Kris just texted that they fell into our trap, but we’ve only got two of them.”

“You think the others are lurking around here somewhere?” Chanyeol asks, whipping his head around.

Joonmyun nods.

A dark, maniacal grin spreads across Chanyeol’s face, his eyes darkening significantly. Chanyeol flicks at his lighter and Baekhyun finds that his eyes are drawn to the flame.

The room glistens with gas, the smell strong, despite the masks.

“Then let’s burn them alive.” Chanyeol murmurs.

~.~.~.~.~

Everything’s going well, perfect even, until Sehun’s shouting over the communications unit that there’s something wrong at headquarters. Until Joonmyun’s unit makes it to the EXO warehouse only to find one of the walls in absolute ruins, gunshots resound everywhere, and the smell of gasoline flooding their senses the moment they step into the ruined building.

Baekhyun digs Jongdae out of rubble and brushes away the debris from his face. Jongdae groans in pain, his leg buried beneath a giant rock. It takes a moment, but Baekhyun’s able to push it off.

“Go.” Jongdae murmurs, shoving at Baekhyun’s arm. “I’m fine.”

Baekhyun’s anger flares inside of him as he scrambles to his feet, ducking behind fallen rock when he gets shot at. Thankfully, he isn’t hit, but he wonders how the hell LILAC could cause this much damage so quickly. Through the dust and rubble filling the warehouse, Baekhyun notices someone hauling a girl in a red dress carefully through the rubble.

Baekhyun growls, quickly maneuvering his way through the rocks. He grabs the wrist of the girl in the red dress, her mask hanging on by barely a thread, the purple lipstick he finds so annoying glinting mockingly back at him from beneath the edge of the mask. He catches a glimpse of disoriented soft eyes that he had to have imagined, when suddenly she kicks out at him, sending him to crumbling to the ground.

Baekhyun’s head begins to spin and he wonders if he was hit in the head.

Then he realizes why his head is spinning.

There’s smoke in the building. There’s a fire. He can smell gasoline.

Oh no.

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun collapses in the grass, Zitao sprawled out beside him, his chest pumping up and down and his face blackened with smoke and ash. Baekhyun has no strength left to move, let alone go back in there and haul someone else out.

Zitao’s fingers fill the spaces between Baekhyun’s and Baekhyun closes his eyes, focusing on Zitao’s trembling hand and ragged gasps for air.

For the first time in a long, long time, Baekhyun prays. He prays the rest of them get out alive.

Baekhyun prays and wonders if his prayers will even count if he doesn’t believe in a merciful God.

(He hopes Zitao’s will at least.)

~.~.~.~.~

Baekhyun awakes to Kyungsoo hovering over him with crinkles of worry running along his forehead and tired eyes. Baekhyun sits up immediately, his head pounding. “What happened?”

“We lost a lot of our employees in the fire. You’ve been unconscious for twelve hours. Everyone else is more or less okay.” Kyungsoo says, handing him a water bottle. There’s sadness in Kyungsoo’s eyes that’s well hidden. But Baekhyun knows him well.

Baekhyun stares, slumping back in his bed. “What do you mean by ‘more or less’?”

“Kris, Luhan, and Jongdae all have serious third degree burns. I had to send them to the hospital.” Kyungsoo says, tiredly rubbing his eyes. “The others have a few broken bones here and there, bruises, or some kind of problem from inhaling too much smoke. They’re okay.”

Something clicks in Baekhyun’s brain then and he’s suddenly very alert. “Why are you doing all the medical things? Where’s Yixing?”

Kyungsoo looks away, his eyes focusing on the ceiling. Baekhyun has never seen him look so tired and upset before. “We don’t know.”

Baekhyun blinks rapidly, his heart dropping to his stomach. He feels like he’s going to throw up. “Wh—what do you mean?”

“We never found a body. Jongin said he saw Yixing leave the warehouse ahead of him. But Yixing didn’t come back. He’s gone.”

“Kris is going to be pissed.” Baekhyun mutters, his eyes stinging at the thought of Yixing dead or running out on them, though he doubts Yixing would ever do the latter.

Kyungsoo just sighs, patting Baekhyun’s chest before getting up off the bed. “You’d better rest.” Kyungsoo says with a deathly glare that leaves no room for discussion.

Baekhyun snorts and Kyungsoo shuts the door softly behind him.

Baekhyun tries to call Sooyong, then, his heart heavy.

(Suddenly all he wants to do is hear her voice and know he has some kind of reprieve from this ugly, painful mafia life.)

But Jessica answers, her voice hoarse and soft. Alarms go off in his head but he’s too tired to analyze.

“Sorry, she’s had a family emergency. She needs to be away for a while.” Jessica murmurs, tone genuinely apologetic.

“She didn’t take her phone?” Baekhyun asks, skeptic.

“Yeah, she forgot. She was in a hurry.”

The alarm bells in Baekhyun’s head goes off even louder and he grows worried for Sooyong. What could have happened to make her forget her phone on a long trip?

“Tell her to take her time and if you get in touch with her, would you mind asking her to drop me a call?”

“Yes, of course.” Jessica says distractedly.

“Thanks.”

“Bye, oppa.” Jessica hangs up abruptly and Baekhyun sighs, his mind drifting from whatever’s wrong with Sooyong to Yixing to the disappointment coursing through him.

~.~.~.~.~

All they do is worry. Joonmyun visits the hospital over the course of the next couple days and, for the first time in a while, the rest of the boys stay over in one of the guest rooms or the basement, waiting for Kris, Luhan, and Jongdae to come home. Apparently, they’ve woken up but Joonmyun hasn’t said anything to them about Yixing, deeming it bad for their health.

Baekhyun is curled up in the basement with Chanyeol and Kyungsoo watching Netflix when there’s banging at the front door. Chanyeol groans out a sleepy protest and Kyungsoo’s head pops up from Chanyeol’s shoulder, his eyes blinking owlishly.

Baekhyun sighs, throwing off the blanket, and heads upstairs.

He pulls open the door and his eyes widen at the sight before him.

Lee Sooyong stands at his doorstep, her frame shaking from the cold. Baekhyun takes in her appearance, her shorts and his favorite sweater that she had somehow gotten her hands on. It slides off her shoulder and she looks wild-eyed, her hair a little damp and the tip of her nose pink. She shivers in the cold and he blinks.

“Sooyong-ah. Why are you out here in the cold? What’s wrong?” He wonders if something had happened to her family.

Baekhyun knows her well enough to recognize that she’s upset, that she’s barely keeping herself together before him. All the worries plaguing him earlier seems to vanish, however, when he looks down at her wild eyed form.

Instead of answering, she steps forward, fingers threading through his hair as she pulls him into a deep kiss, all desperation and need. Startled, he steps back, arms snaking around her waist as he pulls her over the threshold a bit more. Baekhyun is aware that the other boys are all in the house, but something in him just snaps when she sighs against his mouth, her fingers massaging his scalp.

Baekhyun makes up his mind when she brushes a thumb along the nape of his neck, her soft moans filling his head. Baekhyun hauls her up by the waist and kicks the front door shut behind him, easily pressing her back against the hallway wall, grip tight as he trails his kisses away from and along her neck, and nibbling until she stops trying to suppress her moans.

She tugs at the hem of his shirt roughly, her fingers brushing along his skin, and growls, “Off.”

Baekhyun lets himself drown in her then, losing all common sense as he smirks down at her, his fingers curling around the hem of his shirt. “Your turn.” He whispers throatily, watching as she flushes, her fingers reaching for her own shirt.

He drinks in the sight of her and he’s never seen something so beautiful. He gently traces a couple visible scars running along her shoulder, eyes drinking her in reverently, before he decides to ruin her and all her goodness, learning, in the process, that it is not impossible for her to become even more beautiful.

~.~.~.~.~

He likes her. He likes her a lot.

He doesn’t kick her out the morning after, like he’s done to so many other people.

She moans softly when he touches her everywhere and anywhere he can reach, and then she pulls him off the bed, laughing as he smacks headfirst into the ground. He thinks this is the happiest he’s been in a while.

Maybe Baekhyun likes her too much but he doesn’t care, because he’s analyzed everything and there can’t be a bad ending to this. Nothing could possibly go wrong, although the guilt does claw at his chest when she tells him she trusts him, eyes unwavering.

He’s the happiest he’s ever been, even when Jongin lets him know that Kris is back from the hospital and waiting downstairs in just a single sentence.

“Kris wants to see you.”

~.~.~.~.~

“Yixing is gone, Kris.” Baekhyun murmurs, softly, sighing as he plucks out a bowl and a box of cereal.

Kris’s eyes shatter into a million pieces before Baekhyun’s eyes and Baekhyun is reminded, then, that happiness does not last that long, not when they’re a part of a syndicate.

Kris translates his sadness into harsh words and anger.

(Yixing used to tell Kris how unhealthy of a coping mechanism it was. Kris never listened.)

Kris growls, his big hands curling into fists. “Are you kidding me? Where the is he?”

~.~.~.~.~

“You haven’t laughed this much in a while.” Jongdae grins, his arms wrapped completely in bandages. He saunters up to Baekhyun, grin wide.

“My face hurts.” Baekhyun responds, grinning at Jongdae conspiringly. Jongdae just pulls Baekhyun into a tight hug and that’s when Baekhyun realizes exactly how many emotions Jongdae’s actually hiding. Jongdae had never been good with expressing his demons, always opting for happiness instead.

Baekhyun rubs his back gently.

Kyungsoo sits on a chair and watches the exchange solemnly.

“You want in on this, Soo?” Baekhyun asks, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Jongdae cackles in his embrace, tightening his grip theatrically.

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Next time, don’t have loud when we’re all in the house.”

Kyungsoo wrinkles his nose and Baekhyun laughs. “Thanks for picking up all our clothes, by the way.”

“You’re disgusting.” Kyungsoo states factually.

~.~.~.~.~

An hour or so later, Baekhyun is in the living room watching Jongin and Minseok play a game of football with a miniature ball when Sehun walks in, laptop in hand. “I managed to recover some footage from our warehouse.” Sehun says, holding up his laptop.

Baekhyun jumps at Sehun’s voice, startled from his thoughts (which mainly consist of Sooyong’s soft hands, of Sooyong sprawled out on his bed, of Sooyong , of Sooyong giggling softly, her eyes turning up into sweet crescents, of Sooyong in general).

Jongin, also startled by Sehun’s voice, accidentally kicks the ball way off, sending it flying at Sehun’s head. Sehun ducks and the ball propels down the hall, bouncing off the hallway walls and the front door before bumping into the potted plant filled with plastic greenery just to the right of the door, next to where all their shoes lay in disarray.

Sehun glares at Jongin. “Dude, what the hell.”

Jongin holds up his hands, grinning slightly, a playful little smirk dancing across his face. “It was an accident.”

“Whatever.” Sehun mutters, still glaring at Jongin as Minseok snickers, “Just come down in fifteen minutes. I’ll have the whole thing fully recovered by then.”

“Can you grab that please, Baek?” Minseok asks as he falls back on one of the couches and stretches. Jongin yawns, joining Minseok on the couch as he throws off the socks he only uses for indoor football matches.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and decides not to put up a fuss today about getting things for people when they should be getting it, seeing as this is his house.

Baekhyun rolls off the couch, grumbling softly under his breath, as he pads his way down to the potted plant beside his front door.

“We’re heading down now, by the way.” Minseok calls after him.

Baekhyun waves a hand dismissively as he kneels over to get the ball, picking it up.

That’s when something catches his eyes, just within the confines of the plastic greenery in the pot. Baekhyun blinks, eyes focusing on something that’s a shade of purple he’s come to dislike over the course of the past few months.

Baekhyun reaches into the pot, his hands prodding as he pushes away a few plastic leaves, until his fingers curl around a slick plastic tube.

He pulls away, still crouching, and examines the tube carefully, bringing it up to his nose.

It’s a tube of lipstick, he realizes, his eyebrows shooting up.

It’s a familiar purple color and when Baekhyun turns the tube to the side, his gaze lands on the label immediately.

The ball falls from his grip, bouncing down the hall and back into the living room.

241 able Lilac, it says.

It’s LILAC’s lipstick that they constantly mark their conquests with, he remembers, glaring at the offending tube of makeup.

But then, Baekhyun blinks in confusion, frowning. How did LILAC’s lipstick get into his potted plant?

“Baek! Get down here!” Kris’s voice booms from the basement and Baekhyun jumps, nearly dropping the tube of lipstick.

I’ll figure this out later, he decides, pocketing the lipstick.

~.~.~.~.~

“I managed to recover most of the footage before the fire broke out.” Sehun says, turning his laptop around.

They all gather around his laptop and Sehun puts the volume of his computer all the way up.

The footage is clear, a result of the expensive security cameras Sehun had gotten his hands on, and when Sehun presses the space bar with a long finger, the audio is pretty clear, too, despite sounding a bit distant and crackly.

There are four different camera angles on the screen, each taking up a quarter of the screen. The top left has a view of Jongdae pointing the gun at two members of LILAC, whose backs are turned to the camera. One of the LILAC members is bleeding out on the ground and the other one, the one with the red dress from earlier Baekhyun realizes, stands stiffly in front of her.

Chanyeol whistles at the sight, “Damn, Jongdae. Love the scary thing you’re doing.”

Jongdae grins, shrugging slightly. “I try.”

The top right part of the screen has Kris speaking into the phone. The bottom two screens catch Baekhyun’s attention, however. At first, there’s nothing but a few guards, but then there’s a flicker of a shadow and one of the guards on the bottom left screen crumbles to the ground without a sound. The two other guards look at each other, but before they can say a word, they crumble as well, choking silently on their blood.

Two people—girls, Baekhyun assumes, judging from their ponytails and the fact that one of them is wearing a skirt over leggings—tiptoe into the bottom right screen, glancing both ways. The one dressed in all black, her long dark ponytail swinging, reaches into her knapsack and pulls out two circular devices, red lights blinking. She stares at the wall for a moment, contemplative, before she strategically places each circular device a few meters apart from each other.

The girl in the floral skirt and leggings grabs the other girl’s hand and points frantically at the screen in her hands. “They shot her.” The girl hisses, her tone horrified.

“We need to hurry up.” The girl in all black states, tone completely serious.

Floral Skirt nods and disappears off screen, the girl in black focusing on pressing a few buttons, stepping over the guard’s dead bodies, before she slips off screen too.

“A lot of areas in the warehouse don’t have security cameras, unfortunately.” Sehun murmurs when he notices Kyungsoo’s tired, questioning gaze. “Because we usually have a ton of guards manning the rest of the warehouse.”

The girl in the red dress steps right in front of her bleeding member, refusing to move when Jongdae tells her to.

“I don’t ing care.” She retorts, her back stiffening significantly.

At the bottom left screen, the girl in the floral skirt returns, and Baekhyun glares, watching as the three guards stationed there drop to the ground with dull thuds, knives protruding from their throats and foreheads. The girl in the floral skirt lugs a container of gasoline into the screen, huffing slightly as she pours it all over the floor, walking out of the screen a minute later. She presses those same circular blinking devices onto the walls as she passes by, more preoccupied with the gasoline then the devices she’s attaching to the walls.

“Those are the containers of gasoline I was looking for back at their warehouse.” Baekhyun grounds out, leaning back as he crosses his arms.

“I don’t get it.” Joonmyun slams his hand down on the table, the laptop wobbling a bit. “There are only four of them. You all do realize this, right?”

“We clearly underestimated them.” Kris says in a grave tone, the room watching in complete silence as the circular devices attached to the walls start blinking rapidly, red lights flashing.

And then there’s a loud boom, effectively disconnecting the bottom two screens, black and white static filling the room.

Sehun presses a few buttons and the top two fill the entire screen, half the screen showing rubble, the girl in the red dress barely visible beneath rubble, and the other half showing Kris turn and run, a gun in his hands.

“ing hell.” Luhan mutters, sighing loudly, a perpetual glare plastered across his face. Baekhyun knows he’s upset over Yixing still.

Sehun pats Luhan’s arm, gently, but Luhan just pulls his arm away, shaking his head quickly. “Don’t.” He mumbles and Sehun drops his hand immediately.

Baekhyun’s attention returns to the computer screen, however, when the girl in the floral skirt emerges from the dust and rubble, running towards the girl in the red dress whose arm is trapped between a few heavy rocks.

The girl in the floral skirt struggles with the heavy rocks until she finally manages to dislodge it, unpinning her friend (LILAC’s leader, Baekhyun corrects himself in annoyance) from the wreckage.

The girl in the red dress thrashes in the other girl’s arms, the other girl’s voice faint despite the volume being turn up. Baekhyun figures it’s because of the bombs that had went off earlier. He can barely hear their voices. He makes out a faint stop before LILAC’s leader stops thrashing, stilling in her spot.

A relieved laugh bubbles up from her lips as she grasps for the girl in the floral skirt, her laughter slightly pained but otherwise clear and loud and Baekhyun absolutely freezes.

He hears a crackly, “Look at you.” before the words trail off indecipherably.

And then LILAC’s leader does it again.

She laughs in relief and Baekhyun’s heart beats against his chest so hard, he’s afraid it’ll break through.

“.” He whispers. “.”

Baekhyun would recognize that laugh anywhere. He had just heard it a couple hours ago.

He had.

He.

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol’s voice is soft in his ear, careful, concerned.

“Go back a few seconds.” Baekhyun tells Sehun, his eyes trained on the computer screen.

“Why?” Sehun asks, blinking in confusion. He forgot he had left the computer on in the first place.

“Just do it, Sehun.” Chanyeol responds for Baekhyun, his hand fluttering up and down Baekhyun’s spine in a comforting way. Baekhyun’s jaw clenches and he doesn’t know how to breathe, Chanyeol’s hand feeling heavy rather than comforting.

Sehun rewinds the video and Baekhyun watches it all over again. He hears it all over again, her laughter echoing. He hears it twice, one after the other, and Baekhyun’s mind wanders to the tube of lipstick stuffed deep within his pocket. His eyes examine the girl in the red dress’s posture, her hair. He remembers way back when he had shot LILAC’s leader, how Sooyong had been injured right after (that story had been a lie, he realizes bitterly), and now he’s found LILAC’s signature tube of lipstick at his front door, the morning after she had shown up at his doorstep, distraught and in need of a distraction.

(Baekhyun knows how to put two and two together, but his heart won’t stop beating against his throat.)

“Baekhyun, what is it?” Chanyeol murmurs, one of his arms wrapping around Baekhyun’s shoulders and pulling him into secure warmth Baekhyun didn’t realize he needed until then.

“It’s her.” Baekhyun mutters, his tone light and terribly casual, despite the circumstances. Baekhyun points at the screen where Sehun had paused on the two girls. “That’s Lee Sooyong. That’s exactly how she laughs.” Baekhyun murmurs the last part and Chanyeol’s fingers tighten against his shoulders.

Baekhyun’s voice doesn’t hitch nor falter, he sounds eerily calm to even his own ears, but why does he feel like he’s falling apart at the seams?

All he can think is: betrayal.

She’s been lying to him from the start.

(A part of him whispers that he has no right to be angry when he had been lying just as long, but he’s not in the mood to be rational.)

The shock in the room is loud, grating against his ears.

Baekhyun digs out the lipstick tube from his pocket and tosses it on the glass coffee table with a deafening clink.

“I found this with the shoes this morning.” Baekhyun states, his fists clenching and unclenching.

The tube of lipstick is passed around and examined carefully, ending with Kris, who curls a fist around the object.

Sehun’s jaw clenches, his eyes darkening, but Jongin asks the question, his hand resting on Sehun’s thigh. “The other three girls in the video. Do you think they’re her friends?”

Baekhyun’s heart drops even further down his stomach when he sees betrayal and anger and all kinds of other emotions drifting across their faces.

“We need to make sure.” Kyungsoo says, suddenly, the sudden compassion and logic startling all of them.

(Yixing is usually the logical one of the group, despite his airheaded qualities. Kyungsoo shoots first and asks questions last.)

Joonmyun nods, quickly, agreeing with Kyungsoo immediately. “Sehun, you’re going to record their conversation. Baek.” Joonmyun pauses, hesitation clouding his expression. “You need to call her. Make her…laugh.”

Baekhyun agrees, staring at the ceiling as he tells her a corny joke and listens to her damn laugh, barely controlled anger coursing through him.

Lee Sooyong is LILAC’s leader.

~.~.~.~.~

“You need to pretend like you don’t know, so we can use it to our advantage, do you understand me?” Kris grips his shoulder tightly, eyes searching his carefully.

Baekhyun nods, grin lopsided. “Well, I do love ing with our enemies.” Baekhyun states, all too casually.

~.~.~.~.~

Jongdae throws him a sideways glance, filled with worry and concern.

Baekhyun doesn’t love the girl so he figures it’ll be easy to see her and talk to her like he normally does.

But the moment he sees her he loses it. He’s never felt so angry before. He’s never felt so betrayed.

(Now, even his reprieve from the mafia life is a lie and the thing they had is based on lies, on both their parts.)

He’s never felt so disappointed before.

He’s sees her sitting at their table, eyes softening when she looks up, a gentle glow despite the tired look in her eyes, and Baekhyun realizes he’s finally figured her out.

He’s figured out why her good girl image had always seemed fabricated to him.

The only upside to this is that the guilt he had been harboring for weeks now had vanished.

It’s been replaced by anger, betrayal, sadness, hurt, things he’ll never be able to admit out loud.

When she makes up an obvious excuse to run off, his loose resolve to keep quiet about what he knows snaps.

“Sit down.” He snaps, his fists clenching around the chopsticks in his hands.

Her voice is grating on his nerves, but a small part of him still likes the sound of it. She challenges him, like always.

“No oppa, let him continue. I want to know what the  his problem is.” Sooyong grits out, turning on him.

Baekhyun slides out of his chair then, ignoring Kyungsoo’s words of warning. He turns on her, towering over her, and his heart drops to the depths of his stomach at the sight of her. Whenever he looks at her he’s reminded of everything he likes about her, from the softness of her eyes to the way falls open when he touches her. But he’s also reminded of the fact that she’s been actively lying to him and she was still actively lying to him.

She stands in front of him, with balled fists and a defiant glare, as if he has no right to be angry with her and it just makes him angrier and more upset.

“You’re lying to me.” He growls, his eyes searching hers. Emotions flash through her eyes and he realizes that she knows, too.

She’s figured him out as well and he bets she’s feeling exactly the way he is. A tiny part of him wants to pull her into a hug and tell her that they can work this out somehow. But he knows that’s irrational and it’ll never work, not after everything LILAC and EXO have been through.

“You’re lying to me, too.” She responds in an incredibly soft and understanding voice, her eyes flickering between his. It only makes him angrier because she has no right to seem so calm and collected, not after everything.

So Baekhyun reels his emotions back in and forces his emotion into a more contained, professional state.

He rationalizes his anger, straightening up as he reaches for his bag with deliberately showy movements.

Baekhyun turns to her, eyes remaining locked with hers, as he yanks open his backpack and pulls out that damn tube of lipstick.

He dangles it in front of her face, watching as anxiety and horror briefly flickers across her pretty face.

241 able Lilac.

She recognizes it, he can tell.

“I believe this is yours, babe.” He says, mockingly.

Sooyong’s lips part the tiniest bit and Baekhyun hates how there’s an unidentifiable ache in his chest, even as he gives her a lopsided smirk, emotions flickering wildly through her wide eyes.

Lee Sooyong is LILAC’s leader and Byun Baekhyun wants to kill her for everything she’s done, not just to EXO but to him.

a/n: btw Baekhyun is biual in this story, in case anyone is confused (but his relationship with exo is all very platonic, he's just very touchy fyi). But this is pretty plot heavy and mostly focused on Baek's relationship with everyone else, while he comes to terms with exactly how much he likes Sooyong (because he totally likes her a lot more than he's admitting at the moment lmao). 

Also yes!!! They figured out who the other was in pretty much the same way because I’m cheesy as hell!! I hope you all liked it! Thank you so much for the support and the beautiful comments. Let me know your thoughts on this please? I am not sure if I wrote him well or not because I’ve never written from Baek’s pov before D:

xoxo