Tugging his hood over his head, Choi Seunghyun stepped out of prison into a torrent of rain. Great omen for my first moments as a free man, Seunghyun thought, grimacing. Many a cold night in his cell, Seunghyun had pictured himself striding triumphantly into the sunset, away from the wire-barbed hellscape that was the SME State Penitentiary. Unfortunately the weather seemed to be actively defying his fantasy, as he staggered through a veritable waterfall.    

Cursing, Seunghyun struggled towards the bus stop down the road, hoping to find respite from the rain. By the time he made it, his clothes were soaked through, and his pants squelched uncomfortably as he sat down on the bench. Sheets of water cascaded around the roof of the bus stop, creating waves that slopped against Seunghyun's sneakers. When the twin headlights of the bus flickered through the downpour, Seunghyun could not have been more grateful.

However, the vehicle that pulled up in front of him was decidedly not public transit. Seunghyun felt unease creep into his belly when the black van slid towards him across slick, dark asphalt. When he saw the silver insignia stamped on the door, the blood froze in his veins. A black-tinted window rolled down, and the driver, smirking from behind his sunglasses, said, "Get in, Agent TOP."

Reluctantly, Seunghyun climbed into the passenger seat.

"I haven't even been free for a whole hour yet. You really can't just leave me in peace for a single bloody hour," Seunghyun groaned, wiping water from his eyes. He flicked it at the driver, who chuckled. "And I thought 'Agent TOP' was discontinued the moment I was put away."

"Yes, well, desperate times call for desperate measures," the driver said cheerfully, turning sharply down a dirt road.

TOP stared at him.

"You can't be serious."

The driver didn't reply.

"I just got out of prison."

The driver led them into the dark mouth of a tunnel.

"Not even an hour."

The van pulled into an underground parking lot, lit by harsh fluorescent light.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger," the driver said, stepping out of the van. He went to the other side and opened Seunghyun's door. Seunghyun stared at him dumbly.

"No."

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I'm not going back."

"Tough nuggets, Agent TOP."

The last thing Seunghyun remembered was the driver's hand shooting out and a sharp pain in the side of his neck.     

Seunghyun woke to find himself on a plush leather sofa, a man in a pinstriped suit shining a flashlight in his eyes.

“Good, you’re up,” he said, looking pleased.

Seunghyun recognized the man. He immediately shut his eyes again.

“Oh, don’t be like that. I have a job for you,” the suit said, patting Seunghyun’s head patronizingly. Seunghyun groaned.

“You can’t do that. I’m a civilian now. There’s a whole section in my parole contract about how I have to stay docile and normal when I’m roaming loose among the masses.”

“You mean this parole contract?”

Seunghyun looked up to see the suit holding a thick packet to a steel cigarette lighter. Large black print at the top read, ‘PAROLE CONTRACT: CHOI SEUNGHYUN.’ The words curled into ashes on the shiny hardwood floor. Seunghyun sat up and rubbed his eyes wearily. “What in God’s name could you possibly want from me, Mr. Lee Soo Man?”

“Incidentally, you won’t be roaming loose in the masses, darling. Anyways, there’s a new unit that we’re training, but there’ve been some…difficulties,” Lee Soo Man responded, handing Seunghyun a tablet.

“This has nothing to do with me,” Seunghyun said, handing it back. Lee Soo Man shot Seunghyun a shark-like grin.

“It does if you ever want to see the light of day again.”

Seunghyun knew Lee Soo Man. He had worked for the man for nine long years, and knew that threats coupled with that particular grin were never empty.

“This is coercion,” he grumbled ineffectually, turning on the tablet. “I just got my rights back and they’re already being violated.” A file containing pictures of a crop of teenage boys popped up. Seunghyun flicked through the photos, eyebrows raising steadily as he got further in.   

“Well, your issue is pretty obvious. If there are twelve goddamn kids lumped together unit it’s no wonder you’re having problems. Twelve people are a battalion, not an ops unit. Five people are an ops unit, six tops. Put that many people together on a recon mission and they’ll just trip over each other, and don’t even get me started on the division of work. The kids are probably just bored. Split it up into two groups and train them separately and boom, all your worries will go away. Now let me go.” 

The corners of Lee Soo Man’s eyes tightened. “Do you really think we hadn’t thought of that already? EXO is split into two groups, M and K. Boredom is not the problem. Read the attachment for the last agent, if you would be so kind.”

Seunghyun looked at the last kid. He glared out of the picture, probably trying to be menacing, but failing abysmally. Codename: KRIS, read the description, Status: Defected (YG). A tight band seemed to constrict around Seunghyun’s ribcage. He swallowed and looked up.   

“Kris was the leader of EXO-M. He was quite popular, not to mention respected among his peers. We’re hoping, given your…experience with this matter, that you can prevent more members from following in his footsteps.”

Seunghyun rubbed at a phantom ache in his leg absently. EXO’s a stupid name, he thought. He voiced this opinion, just to experience the childish glee of getting the vein in Lee Soo Man’s temple throb. There was once a competition to see who could get it the most prominent, between him and Daesung and Seungr-no, he was not going to go down that particular memory lane.

"Why are asking me to do this? You’re the bastard that put me behind bars in the first place."

“Oh believe me,” Lee Soo Man said, smiling coldly, “If it were up to me, you would still be rotting away in solitary confinement. But don’t play dumb, it’s unbecoming of you. You know exactly why you were called in for this job. Unfortunately, the higher-ups are willing to stoop to consorting with criminals-” “Ex-criminal, actually” “-to stop this trend from spreading through the rest of the group. Due to your experience with that complete fiasco ten years ago, they picked you as the best candidate. Welcome back to the fold, Agent TOP."

Seunghyun ran a hand over his face wearily. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.