Jongdae's cell doesn't even ring twice.

"Yes?" Yi Fan answers expectantly.

"Yi Fan, you wouldn't believe it. I just bumped into the kids."

He laughs. "And what did you do?"

"Why, I gave them a head start, of course."

He laughs again. "Looks like I trained you well enough."

Somewhere in the background, Jongdae hears Minseok say, "See? I'm trying to tell you here, that's how you lose! You can't do that!"

Jongdae lets them bicker for a while before speaking again. "So, what now?"

A sudden silence from the other end. Yi Fan answers. "We head out. Do you know where they're headed?"

"I have my guess." Yi Fan had told him the location of the house before.

"Hmm. What do you suggest then?"

Jongdae grins. "Are you giving me the opportunity to pick our next move? I'm honored. Really. Absolutely touched."

"Don't dawdle your time, Jongdae."

"Why don't we track them, just to make sure?"

"Sounds lovely. I'm guessing you know they have his phone with them."

"Even better," Jongdae chews his lip, Cheshire cat grin spreading. "I got in contact with him." He's having too much fun with this game of theirs. 

"And...?"

"I might have slipped a GPS tracker in his pocket."

There's a pause as Yi Fan takes it in. When he responds, he sounds like he's trying to hold back his pride. "Well, he's bound to notice eventually. Wonderful. Then meet us here. We'll get started and find them together."

"Where are you both?"

"Why don't you find us?"

Jongdae sighs to keep the giggle from leaving his lips. It seems that Yi Fan has discovered his trick from earlier. "I will." He hangs up. It's all too much. He can hardly contain his joy.

What a chase.

"You really ed him up good, didn't you?" Minseok jabs a finger at Yi Fan's chest from across the table. Their booth is private from all the other tables in the dimly lit bar and it's loud enough that no one notices their conversation at all. Meeting in a public place like this is their thing. It feels amazingly daring for people of their caliber to sit down at a booth and discuss assassination plans.

"Me?" Yi Fan smirks. "What did I ever do?" He pulls out a small device from his back pocket. "He's the one that dropped this here." He throws the tiny tracking GPS into the air and catches it with a swipe of his hand.

"I bet you taught him that."

"Unfortunately, no. He learned this all by himself, though I would love to take the credit for his stealth. Magnificent, isn't he? I can see how you both got in elite."

"You." Minseok jabs him one more time. "You are unbelievable."

"I surely hope so."

Jongdae hops into their small area a second later and plops down next to his brother. He looks ecstatic. Both breathless and more alive than ever. "I was right. They're headed back. To the Oh manor." He leans back and crosses his legs after revealing his find. 

While Minseok is also proud of his brother's talent, he's rather concerned for his over-enthusiasm. "Aren't you a little too excited about this, Jongdae?" He drapes an arm across Jongdae's shoulders.

"Aren't you?" He has that gleam in his eyes that's somewhat new to Minseok. "This is thrilling. A real hunt. It's like pure adrenaline."

Yi Fan leans on his elbow on the table. "I like your more composed side better."

Jongdae coughs and immediately goes straight faced. "If you say so."

Minseok scowls at his brother's obedience and turns back to Yi Fan. "You monster."

He ignores the comment. "Shall we depart? I reckon we might come back here soon after anyway."

His suggestion is followed by an eager nod from Jongdae and a roll of the eyes from Minseok. 

Yi Fan stands and brushes imaginary dust off his suit. "Then off we go."

The keys are shaking in Sehun's hands. He's not sure what to expect to find in his home. His home? That sounds wrong for some reason. It's as if it has been a thousand years since he's been in this place and yet he still calls it home. It'd hardly felt like home before, so what makes it that now?

He inserts one into the lock. It clicks and slides open easily.

Darkness and silence greet them and their return.

"We're back." Sehun feels inclined to say this as they take their first step over the threshold. They take a look around and Sehun's hand creeps to Tao's to take hold. He's almost more anxious inside. He grasps for Tao's fingers and hangs on tightly. He feels him grip back.

Tao reaches behind him and flicks on a light. The room goes stunningly bright for a second before their eyes adjust to the sight. 

It looks the same as ever, though Sehun isn't sure why he expected it not to.

They drift into an incomprehensible silence as they take in the place they had run from only days past. For Sehun, it nearly sends him into a panic attack. For Tao, it makes him put all his guards up. The manor is immense in size. Around every corner, there could be something -- or worse, someone -- waiting for them. 

When Sehun was little, he used to get lost in its maze-like labyrinth of hallways. It wasn't until middle school did he finally understand its layout. All the years before that, his mother had given him a children's phone with only one number stored on it. And it hadn't even been hers or his father's. No, the number on it led him to a direct line with Yi Fan's earpiece. He remembers calling for help, nearly broken down in tears, and describing his surroundings so that his trusty butler could get him. There was always something unique about every corner. An ancient Chinese vase or a certain square of wallpaper. 

Yi Fan stayed on the phone with him until he could flag the lost boy down, usually huddled on the floor, hugging his knees and holding back sniffles. Yi Fan was only a boy then too, but he has a couple years on Sehun. His family has always been protecting the Ohs, a generation by generation business. Yi Fan is Sehun's butler, and his father was Sehun's father's. 

Sehun can't understand what happened along the way.

He remembers Yi Fan finding him, saying, "Sir, are you okay? Do you want me to bring you anything?" His dark hair flopped over his eyes and he peered up at Sehun as he kneeled down next to him.

And between sniffs, he told Yi Fan, "No, I don't...want anything.... Please... bring me back to my room." 

Yi Fan replied, "Of course, sir." He beckoned him to stand and led Sehun back to his room, departing with a "good day, sir."

What happened to those days?

They both take a step forward and pause again. It's strange. 

Sehun suddenly remembers something, "Tao, I--"

"Wait." Tao puts a finger to his lips. "Let's move away from the door first."

Sehun nods. He allows Tao to pull him gently away from the door and up the staircase. They turn the bend and Tao corners him against the wall. 

To stay out of open space, he knows, but he can't help but feel his heart thumping anyway. Tao's face is extremely close to his; he can feel his breath and smell his scent. Soap and sweat. A touch of fading cologne. 

"What is it?" Tao asks, intimately soft. His exhale curls over Sehun's jaw and collarbone. 

He almost doesn't speak. But he blurts out, "Tao, I forgot--"

He's interrupted again. By a noise. Tao sighs. Why is it always a noise? Taps against glass and knocks against walls. They can never seem to catch a break.

It had been a creak from below. Probably just the old wooden infrastructure of the house groaning in its wake. He's about to beckon Sehun to continue when he hears the creaking continue.

It escalates for a second before stopping to let another sound echo through the mansion.

A footstep.

The door had been opened.

Sehun's breath starts coming out fast. His heart skips a beat and his hands tremble as they travel up Tao's arm. Their eyes meet. He can see the wild twinkle in Tao's eyes. They speak danger to him. They tell him don't move. 

Why had he done it? Why had he suggested they come back here? There was no where to run to. Especially here. The house is the worst. Why? Why couldn't he just have let Tao think of somewhere? A pang of regret mixes with the dread churning in his stomach.

Tao leans closer to whisper in Sehun's ear. "Don't. Make. A. Sound."

Sehun nods a fraction of an inch.

The footstep from before is coupled and then tripled with two other pairs of shoes clacking against the marble floor. 

A voice calls out, "Where are you, kids?"

Sehun recognizes it as the man from before. That Kim Jongdae. 

Their bodies tense. Tao starts to move away. He wants to peek around the corner and down the stairs, but he can't risk it. He tugs on Sehun's wrist. A signal. They have to move. There must be another way out? Tao tries the mentally send Sehun the question.

Sehun nods. The back door. The side door. There were windows everywhere. They simply have to find the most convenient way to leave.

Another voice sounds from the first floor. It's Yi Fan's, deep and melodic. "Now, now. No need to scare them off."

The third man responds. Sehun has never heard this one before. He must be a stranger. But Tao's eyes dart to the stairs when he hears it. "Should I join in the mockery or are you two good?"

Kim Jongdae laughs.

Yi Fan says, "Feel free to join in, Minseok."

This "Minseok" lets out a "tch." With every step the men take, they get louder and louder. "ing annoying, you know that? Seriously. These are top-notch ways to lose the fight. Shut the hell up."

Sehun's body won't respond to his thoughts. His mind says go, but his legs have turned to stone.

Run? Stop? Where they're even headed, he's not sure anymore. He can't think. Can't breathe. Can't...can't....

Tao's mouth is next to his ear again. "Sehun, please. We have to go. Now."

His left foot takes a step in what appears to be the right direction, and the right idea, but then the last thing he wants to happen, happens. His foot falls hard on the ground and--

Thud.

Everyone stops. It had been too muffled, yet too loud. Sehun's internal screaming is shrouded by the blood roaring in his ears.

"Well," he hears Yi Fan's voice dominate the silence. "I think I found them."

As if to prove his point, a loud bang shoots down all of Sehun and Tao's hope as a bullet grazes their corner and lodges itself into the wall across from them.

Tao lets out a breath.

Jongdae laughs.

The footsteps get closer.

"Run," Tao urges. "Run!"

The air is jerked out of Sehun's lungs before he can even think as his arm is thoroughly yanked by Tao's sudden dash. His legs move on their own accord, somehow reacting to his circumstance better than he can. All he can do is stare blatantly at Tao's back as he is pulled along a bit too fast for his liking.

No, scratch that. Too fast for his capabilities.

With every step they take, they are matched with three pairs behind them. Even worse is the time that Tao takes to throw his arm out and rip open every door that they pass to act as a growing shield for any bullets.

Bullets. The situation is all at once very, very real.

Sehun can hardly take it anymore. His chest is heaving and working to get oxygen into his system and his body is lagging beats behind Tao's rhythm.

Then his face is red and he can't breathe and everything is slightly tilted and there are purple spots in his vision. Too much pressure. Too little space in his lungs.

He gasps loudly, at the air. Tao spares a second to turn back. He pales at the sight of Sehun.

"Oh, god, no." He stops, but then a wooden door erupts behind them and another bullet smashes into the wall and he's back on the run. Gathering his strength, he brings Sehun up next to him and, with a grunt, lifts him into his arms.

"No," Sehun wheezes out. Just that and he's thrown into a coughing fit. "I... slow you... down." His head hurts. His chest hurts. Everything hurts.

"No, Sehun. Stop talking and breathe, okay? Stop talking and breathe. Save your air. Please, Sehun." He's commanding and begging and a horrible realization hits Sehun.

They're going to die.

All this time, he's been a burden to Tao. Now what? He's baggage. Not worth saving.

The tears start. His world goes blurry, the lines of Tao's face above him blending with the dark ceiling and every shadow that's thrown their way. "Tao, I'm going to die," he chokes out. 

"To hell you are, Sehun. We're getting out of--"

Another gunshot sounds. They're generously using their ammo to scare them.

"I..." Sehun's voice bumps with the motion of Tao's body, the latter's hands on his back and under his knee. He curls against Tao's chest, trying to become smaller. Lighter. "I forgot... my medicine. That's what I... wanted to tell you. This whole time, I-- I didn't have my medicine." He's talking through hiccups. His vision is starting to dim.

"You're going to be fine, I swear. Stop talking now, please. Breathe. Breathe."

"Tao, I don't want to die like this." He doesn't brush away the tears. Doesn't want the motion to disturb Tao's gait.

"You're not going to."

"We can't, Tao. We can't escape. It's no use."

", Sehun. Stop saying my name, I know why you're doing that."

He almost smiles. Tao knows. He understands him. That's all he needs. "You should have killed me when you had the opportunity."

Tao almost breaks at that. He doesn't respond. There's nothing he hasn't already said that is enough to ease Sehun's pain. 

"You should leave me. And escape the agency."

It's the last straw. ", Sehun." He kisses him roughly to shut him up. ". There's no way I am ever going to do that and you need to drill it into your head right now."

Sehun keeps his bodily struggles to himself and instead chooses to plant a kiss on Tao's t-shirt, over where his heart is. "I wish you would," he says in such a way that he means for Tao not to hear him. Not to respond. What is life to him anyway? 

But he's scared. He's absolutely terrified. The pounding of his heart proves it and he knows Tao can feel it in his pulse. It's a fuse of adrenaline and dread that's keeping them both running.

Dead, or alive. Two options. And they don't get the right to pick one.

A voice shouts out behind them. "What's the use in running, loves?" Through all the chaos, he can't tell who it is.

They're running down the length of the entire east wing. There's a small turn at the end, but that's it.

With Sehun occupying his arms, Tao can't do anything but keep running ahead. The distance between them and Yi Fan is large, but closing.

They reach the end of the hallway.

Sehun points to the door on Tao's right and without any hesitation, he opens it, runs in, and slams it behind them.

It's a large and mostly empty room save for a fireplace, a glass coffee table, and two sofas. The door they had entered from has two locks, which Tao bolts right away.

There's a window on the other side of the room. Tao places Sehun delicately on the floor so that he can lie down and sprints to look through the glass. 

It's too high up and there's nothing to break their fall but a thin layer of snow over what he recognizes to be the stone walkway next to the back garden. A jump would shatter bones. He can't risk that for either of them. It's death both ways. They're trapped.

Sehun coughs, reminding Tao of his condition, and he drops next to the sick boy.

"Sehun, please tell me you're feeling better now." His eyes run over Sehun's body to check for anything, anything at all.

"Sorry, Tao." He sits up. Every second they waste, their chasers get closer. "I knew this room had the locks. The door to your left didn't." His eyes are red. He's talking through tears.

"Don't apologize to me," Tao reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a gun.

"Why didn't you use it?" Sehun stares at the weapon.

"Sehun," Tao says the name with a fragility. "This is the gun they gave me. To kill you."

An "oh" tumbles out of Sehun's lips at the same time something slams into their door. In a panicked flurry, he grabs onto Tao's shoulders and links eye contact with him. He's biting down on his lip to hold back sobs.

"Open the door, Zi Tao." Yi Fan's calm voice has no trouble reaching them. 

Sehun bites down harder. He tastes rust on his tongue. "Do it, Tao." His eyes dart to the gun. When Tao shakes his head, he says, "You know what I mean. Do it."

"No," Tao vehemently denies.

"Please, I--" 

Sehun lets out a whimper when one of their pursuers kick at the door. It almost breaks right there.

"I don't want to die from their hands." Sehun's desperation reaches him.

"I-- I can't, I..." Tao doesn't know what to do.

"Please, please, please." Sehun's knuckles turn white as he crumples Tao's shirt in his grasp.

With slippery fingers, Tao raises the gun to the back of Sehun's head.

"What are you doing?" Sehun asks, choking, gasping, wheezing. His tears fall fast and plentiful.

"I'm going with you." 

Sehun lets out a cry and cuts himself off with another bite at his lip.

The door is kicked again. Loud, thundering, insistent. It's a repetitive drumming now. Like they want to punch the door right off its hinges.

Tao raises Sehun's head to press their foreheads together.

There's that familiar feeling on the back of his head, the barrel of the gun against Sehun's skull. The both of them are crying now, salty tears leaking down their cheeks as they stare into each other's misty eyes. In Tao's case, they are silent tears; his expression doesn't change one bit as his eyes give away his feelings. Sehun blocks out the sound of the banging on the door.

"It shouldn't have to end like this," Tao's voice breaks a little. The gun shakes and Sehun's not sure if he's the one quivering or Tao is. 

All Sehun has to offer is, "Life's unfair." There's no comfort in this moment.

Tao presses his lips against Sehun's one last time and pulls back slowly. "I don't want to do this," he whispers. "I love you, okay? I always will. Even after this." He moves his thumb and Sehun hears a click. "I wanted to say that." Tao even attempts a smile. "I promise I'll find you in heaven."

"Or hell." They speak quickly. Sehun touches their lips together again, begging for Tao to breathe life into him.

"Or hell," Tao repeats. But he knows it's not true. He'll be the one going to hell. Sehun will grow his wings and Tao will watch from the flames.

"I love you," Sehun says quietly. The tears refuse to stop. He's hushed, holding these whispers between them.

"Thank you for everything."

"Don't say that."

"I love you too."

There's a crash as the door is knocked down, a bang as the lights dim for the both of them, and a cuss yelled out from Yi Fan.

The three men find two bodies tangled in each other's limbs, their fresh tears weaving together on their rapidly whitening skin as they hold on to each other's dying words. What would have been a romantic scene is ruined by the pool of blood from the lovers' heads.

[MISSION ERROR]

A/N What? Story isn't marked complete?!?! Yes, my lovely readers! I am a er for epilogues. Look forward to tomorrow, I suppose ;) Final author's note will be given then.

As usual, thank you so much. Of course, I say there's going to be an epilogue, but if you want to end your reading experience right here, then I want to say thank you. Seriously. Seriously, seriously, seriously. I really love and adore each and every one of you for reading this story and I can't express that enough. What started as an "oh! that seems like it would be a cool idea" kind of story turned out to be this and as the support from you guys slowly trickled in, I realized what this had become. It was sort of a writing beginning for me as an author. This is the longest work I've ever written, spanning over 88k words and almost 250 pages on a word document. You just read the equivalent of a 350 page novel! Congrats! 

And also, if you are deciding that an epilogue is not fit for you, I would like to say that the next fic I'm working on is called Club EXOrcist, which you can find if you click on the title. It's sort of a mop for any tears you've spilled here (if you have). Supernatural, comedy/crack, and dashes of horror and romance. I hope you'll support me there as you have here :) I love you all, and best wishes to you!