Zelo crossed his arms as he stared at the two men across the table from him. “Honestly, I’ve given you all the information that you wanted, but how do I even know you can pull this off? There have been tons of attempts on my father’s life.”

                Himchan scoffed. “Really? Look, just stay out of our way and you won’t get hurt.”

                “Did you hear about how the French Ambassador was killed last week?” Youngjae hid his smile behind the glass he took a drink from.

                Zelo looked at Youngjae in confusion. “Yeah, why would you bring that up? There are rumors that it was done by Matoki.”

                Himchan turned his scowl from Youngjae to Zelo. “You’ve heard of the Matoki?”

                “Of course I’ve heard of them.” Zelo rolled his eyes. “Who hasn’t heard of them? A team of who knows how many who are hits for hire. I think there is even one who specializes in stealing but no one has confirmed if Tats is a part of Matoki. The only ones we know of for sure are the General and Joko. They also—wait, why did you bring this up?”

                Himchan laughed. “You talk about them like how a kid talks about his favorite superheroes. It’s adorable.”

                Zelo scowled which only egged Himchan on more. Himchan had to use all the restraint he could muster to keep himself from pinching Zelo’s cheeks as he talked about himself and Youngjae with that sparkle in his eyes. It wasn’t something Himchan saw often in the two times they had met up after the kidnapping but Himchan couldn’t help but smiles when he saw Zelo acting cheerfully.

                Youngjae giggled. “You are looking at—“

                “Jae!” Himchan stopped Youngjae in time from admitting who they were but not in time to stop Zelo from understanding. The heir sat there in awe, mouth slowly falling as his eyes darted back and forth from Himchan to Youngjae.

                “You are… the Matoki team?” Zelo asked breathlessly.

                Himchan glared at Zelo, mustering all the hate he could in his eyes. “This information doesn’t leave this table.”

                “Holy … so Joko and the General?” Zelo ignored Himchan’s glare as he became more and more excited.

                Himchan stomped on the younger’s foot, bringing his head out from the clouds. “Could you not say our code names out loud? There is a reason we use them.”

                “I… well…” Zelo sat there star struck. “What am I supposed to call you then? You both have actually never given me your names, although I’ve heard you call him Jae before…”

                “Names aren’t important.” Himchan waved of the question.

                Zelo pouted. “But you both know my name. Why can’t you tell me yours?”

                Himchan sighed unable to handle Zelo’s unintentional cuteness. “Fine, I’m Himchan and this is Youngjae. Happy?”

                Youngjae looked at Himchan, surprised he actually had given such secret information out. Himchan shrugged as an answer to his unasked question.

                “So, Himchan and Youngjae, that kill was really you?” Zelo asked, still not believing them completely.

                “All my big brother.” Youngjae bragged. “I just did surveillance help.”

                “Wow… wait—you both are brothers? Huh, I was thinking couple but being brothers seems better.”

                “Woah!” Youngjae leaned back with a disgusted look on his face.

                Himchan groaned and made a mental note that Zelo would have to die. He knew way too much about them to be allowed to live.

                Zelo chuckled, thinking both brothers were just grossed out from his comment. He smiled at them and Himchan could see a change in the way he looked at them and how he held himself. Zelo was impressed by them and it made Himchan’s chest bubble up with pride. People had complimented him and his ‘crew’ before when they hired him or talked business, yet for some reason seeing Zelo look at him like he was amazing was different. He felt special and he was greedy to see Zelo admire him more.

                “Murdering an Ambassador here and there is one thing, but my father is in a whole other field.” Zelo sighed.

                Youngjae frowned, disliking the comment, but Himchan was absolutely livid. He wanted Zelo to look at him more and to admire him more, the reasons though he was pushing to the side never thinking about useless things.

                “There is no place I can’t break into.” Himchan said confidently.

                Zelo leaned forward with a huge grin on his face. “Prove it. I’ll give you a week to get in to the mansion.”

                Himchan narrowed his eyes. “Just get in?”

               Zelo nodded. “Killing is one thing but if you can get into the house, even just an arm inside so you can take a picture, then I’ll truly believe you are the Matoki crew. I’ve already given you all the information on the house you could possible need so, show me what you got.”

                Himchan was annoyed but he couldn’t help how his lips curled into a smile. The younger man had spunk and it intrigued Himchan. Zelo was serious when he needed to be, getting them all the information they needed and more but he also had a cute playful side that Himchan was trying hard not to get dragged into. He was an assassin damn it and there was no way he would sit there, talking comfortably with a client. There needed to be boundaries. He couldn’t afford to get close to someone who might one day have to kill.

                Youngjae and Zelo though had really gotten close. Himchan sighed as he somewhat listened to their chattering about schools, music, and people they wanted to kill. The eldest sat back and sipped his coffee as he looked over the documents in his hands, once more going over the Choi family mansion blueprint as well as the security guard rotation schedule. More often than he would admit though, his eyes would wander up so he could watch Zelo talk. His soft smile suited his face. His confused look to some of Youngjae’s questions made it hard for Himchan not to ruffle his hair. What was really starting to annoy Himchan was how badly he just wanted to touch the tall man’s face.

                Himchan used to only touch Youngjae’s face, something that Youngjae hated more and more each day, but since he had met Zelo, pinching Youngjae’s cheeks didn’t have the same affect.  There was a cuter boy and Himchan needed to touch him.

                Feeling the force of the need shocked Himchan. He put down his cup abruptly and stood up, catching both the younger males’ attention.

                “Are we leaving?” Youngjae asked with a hint of a whine.

                Zelo smirked. “Have to go make plans?”

                Himchan’s eye twitched in annoyance. “For one thing or another.”

                “Can I ask one more question before you guys go?” Zelo spoke up as Youngjae stood.

                Himchan stared, waiting for him to continue on.

                “Which one of you is going to sneak in and how will I know you did? If it’s Tats is he going to try stealing anything?”

                The anger over Zelo not thinking it was him who would be able to get in was beginning to cloud his judgment. He didn’t know why he cared so much about how the younger thought about him, and in honesty he assumed it was probably better not to.

                “I suppose Tats is technically the one who sneaks into places.” Youngjae bit his lip in thought.

                Zelo’s eye lit up in excitement. “The great thief Tats, huh? How will I know then? They say he—or she can get into anywhere undetected.”

                “You’ll know.” Himchan said between gritted teeth. He his heel and stomped away.

                “Hey!” Youngjae caught up and looked at Himchan strangely. “What was that all about?”

                “What was what?” Himchan asked.

                Youngjae rolled his eyes. “Oh I don’t know… how about the jealousy you showed when it seemed like Zelo was more interested in this imaginary person instead of you. I wonder why he thought you were the general and not Tats…”

                “Or that Tats was both…” Himchan grumbled.

                “See! You’re acting jealous.”

                “Shut up before I decide not to let you help.”

                “That’s definitely helping me think you aren’t acting strange.” Youngjae rolled his eyes to confirm he was being sacrastic and sighed. “So, when are you breaking in?”

                Himchan smiled. One look at his grin had people making way for him along the sidewalk. “Tonight.”

                The Choi family lived in a mansion on the east side of town. A heavy iron gate surrounded the entire perimeter along with loose dogs and security guards roaming around inside. There were sprinkles of tall trees and bushy shrubberies inside as well as cameras decorating the outside and inside of the house. All the doors were hooked up to an alarm that would go off if a code wasn’t entered into the nearby box within 20 seconds. Once inside though, most of the guards stayed near the drug lord’s room and office where there were a plethora of cameras and heat scanners.

                Tonight, Himchan wasn’t going to deal with any of the extra pains. Tonight, all he had to do was get into the house. This was practice for the next time he had to do it and it would give him more ideas on how to break in when he went for the kill.                

                He used the time sheet Zelo had given him and climbed over the fence when he knew the coast would be clear. Seeing no dogs, he jammed to the closest tree and shimmied up it, thankful that plan one was working. Plan two would have required some more technology, like signal blockers, so he could jam the cameras near the house to get inside. Plan one, was to climb the trees and get directly into the second floor window he was aiming for.

                Himchan secured himself to both trees before jumping; making sure this stunt wouldn’t get him killed. The trees ended up being strong enough to support him, just like he thought they would. He gathered his materials and jumped one more time, landing on the balcony of the second floor.

                Himchan shook his head, seeing that the window was open. ‘Really, this mission was supposed to be so hard but not only have you given me all the information I need but also leaving the door open?’

                Himchan slowly pushed it open, just in case the person who the room belonged to was still awake. A slight creak of the door made him pause and listen for noise. The only thing he heard was his heart beat that was pumping from the adrenaline. Sure he hadn’t heard anything, Himchan continued to open the door. A gentle breeze made its way in as Himchan slipped inside. He quickly pushed the door back to its original cracked open position before slowly sneaking over to the bed. Yet again, Himchan had to wonder why this room seemed to be the least protected room out of the bunch. He shook the thought from his head as he neared the bed and pulled out his knife.

                His rested his knife along the man’s neck just before covering their mouth with his hand. The man’s eyes flew open and the scream that passed through his lips was muffled by Himchan’s hand. The fear in his eyes didn’t dim when he saw who was over him and Himchan didn’t blame him. Tonight he had dressed up in his gear, all black clothing to help him blend in along with his guns in plain view. Around his lower face there was the bandana he was known for, dark pink with six dots on the front. It didn’t help with the hiding, but Himchan had to make sure he was noticed somehow; otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten any jobs.

                Himchan smirked behind his mask. “Still doubt my skills. Zelo?”

                When Himchan felt Zelo relax beneath him he removed his knife and hand. He pulled down his mask, allowing Zelo to see the accomplished smirk on his face.

                “Christ, Himchan you scared me.” Zelo rubbed his neck.

                “You should have been. I could have killed you.” Himchan frowned. “Why are you in the room with the worst security and why the did you leave the door open?”

                Zelo scowled as he sat up. “My room might have been demoted after my father got remarried last year.”

                Himchan’s eyebrow quirked up in interest. “Remarried?”

                “So, you are the one who came, huh?”

                Himchan’s eye twitched, not liking that his question went ignored. He fought the urge to press the question by telling himself that it didn’t matter to the job. “Were you expecting Youngjae?”

                Zelo shrugged. “No… but I guess with all the information I gave you that Tats didn’t want to break in?”

                “I am Tats.” Himchan said out of anger. He mentally scolded himself for caring so much about how this young man thought of him.

                “I thought you were the general.” Zelo frowned. “So, this means you aren’t in charge?”

                Himchan scoffed. “I’m in charge; of course I’m in charge! Matoki is only Youngjae and I. I’m Tats when I thieve and the General when I go out with Youngjae.”

                Zelo’s eyes widened in surprise as he mouthed a curse word. “Are you kidding me? You’re both?”

                “Yes.” Himchan smiled

               “A master thief and an incredible assassin… wow I really got kidnapped by one hell of a guy.” Zelo said in admiration.

                Praise. At the moment it seemed like Himchan fed off of praise, but only Zelo’s praise and compliments. He felt like the most powerful man in the world, even with one of the actual most powerful men in the world in the same building as him.

                “I should get going.” Himchan said after stretching. “You know I’ve been here, so I assume you don’t require further proof that I was here, right?”

                Zelo smirked. “The hardest part is getting out.”

                “And?”

                “Think you can do that during the day time?” Zelo challenged.

                Himchan crossed his arms and stared Zelo down. “And why, may I ask, would I not just leave now?”

                “Oh, so you can’t do it during the day. That’s okay, I was just checking. I’ll see you around Himchan.”

                ‘This ing brat.’ Himchan watched as Zelo slid back down into his blankets and stopped paying attention to him. His mischievous smirk was engraved into Himchan’s skull, forever there to taunt him if he left now.

                Himchan grumbled as he walked to the door and shut it. He frowned, thinking he heard Zelo sigh sadly. He made his back over to Zelo’s bed before unbuckling his belt so he could take his weapons off.

                Hearing the noise, Zelo sat up in a flash, his eyes wide. “I thought you left!”

                “Like I could leave after a ing insult like that.” Himchan grumbled.

                “Oh…” There was silence between them as Himchan took his belt off and laid it on the night stand. He sat on the bed and began taking his shoes off. “What are you doing?” Zelo finally asked.

                “What? You want me to stay awake all night waiting for the sun to rise? that, I need my sleep.”

                “Where?” Zelo asked confused.

                “In the bed, of course. I’m not sleeping on the hard ground.” Himchan scoffed.

                “Fine, the bed is big enough for the both of us anyhow.” Zelo said before laying back down.

                Himchan stared at Zelo’s back in surprise, not expecting that answer. If anything he expected the other to get out and sleep on the couch or tell him to do so. So, Himchan did exactly what he said he was planning on doing and slipped underneath the thick blankets. He texted Youngjae to tell him he was okay and then he laid there, staring at the ceiling.

                Himchan fought back a groan as he realized he probably wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. There were way too many factors here that made it impossible for him to sleep peacefully, the first of many being the voices of guards outside being carried by the wind and the last being Zelo sleeping beside him. Himchan knew Zelo shouldn’t be on his list; knew that the now sleeping boy shouldn’t have such a hold on him, but his rational side was losing to his emotions.

                The assassin wasn’t sure how long he had laid there, staring at the ceiling and listening to Zelo’s little snores before the cute noises turned into scared whimpers. Himchan frowned and when the whimpering continued he finally looked over. Zelo had turned toward him in his sleep and immediately Himchan’s heart felt stabbed by a knife. Seeing tears in Zelo’s eyes made him want to brutally destroy anything to make the younger smile again. There was nothing he could do since he was sleeping though, there was no real threat for him to vanquish.

                Another small cry escaped Zelo’s trembling lips and Himchan reached over to pull Zelo in close to him. His body had acted on its own and now in this position he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do.

                ‘So much for not getting comfortable with clients…’ He awkwardly patted Zelo’s back and made shh-ing noises hoping it would help. When Zelo stopped shaking Himchan relaxed. He began rubbing Zelo’s back as he quiet said words he hoped would bring comfort to the sleeping boy.