Chapter 16


*MBLAQ's POV*

"Mir, you and Joon will be joining me on this night-time excursion." Seungho stated.

Mir nodded and left to go to his weapons artillery vault. Joon stayed where he was and listened to the details of the mission. 

Seungho continued on knowing that Joon would catch Mir up on the details later. "As you have heard, we're going to a training ground by the Summoner's Bay in a couple days time. We need at least two vehicles to transport both us and the equipment we'll be using."

Joon nodded in understanding. 

"The point being, while using this kind of transportation, we make ourselves easy targets for the royal guard force that litter the forest areas near our destination. Our job is to get rid of them and clear the way for our transportation route. If we get rid of the guards then the travel will be safer and easier for us." 

Joon nodded once again and was then joined by Mir who had just walked back in. He was now fully equipped with a katana attached to his back, a small blade attached to his belt, several throwing knives, and two handguns with extra ammo.

Seungho looked at Joon. "Catch him up on the mission. I'm going to go see G.O and Thunder before we leave."

***

Thunder was preparing the headsets for Joon, Mir, and Seungho while G.O was moving some equipment around to get ready for packing later.

Seungho walked in and greeted the two. Thunder looked over and smiled. "Yang Leader, just in time. I have the headsets ready for you guys."

Seungho laid his hand on Thunder's shoulder. "Thank you. How's everything coming along?"

G.O spoke up. "It looks like we'll be able to pack most of everything that we need."

Seungho nodded and took the headsets from Thunder. "Keep it up you two. The sooner we get ready, the faster we get to the day we take out Lord Delacroix."

"Yes Yang Leader." The two answered in unison as Seungho walked out of the room.

***

Mir, Joon, and Seungho were currently sprinting through the Blackheart Forest, leaping over fallen logs and moss. Most of the royal guard force was placed in this area so they decided to start here.

After a few minutes they all noticed a small camping ground up ahead in a clearing. The 3 men all quickly hid behind some trees. Seungho took out some mini binoculars he had in a small pouch and looked through them.

He spotted a few tents with many guards scattered everywhere. He didn't see any firearms which was a bonus for them but he did notice some swords and some of the guards had knives attached to their belts. 

Since blades seemed to be the main choice of weaponry, he thought it best if Mir went in first. Seungho put up the binoculars and looked over at the maknae. He gave him a signal, letting him know that he could go forward.

Mir nodded in understanding and stepped out from his hiding place. He ran forward and into the camp, completely taking the guards by surprise as they all stood up and quickly grabbed their swords.

Mir stopped and looked at them. "So you guys wanna play with blades huh? Fair enough."

At this he slowly reached behind himself and unsheathed the katana from it's scabbard. With intricate movements of his wrist, he twirled the sword around in his hand before giving off one very satisfied smirk.

The first guard came forward with a standard sword, swinging it in a downward motion at him. Mir turned his body so the blade just barely missed him and he swung his katana straight at the guard's neck, slicing it open and making blood spray everywhere.

The second guard ran at him with two blades. Mir used his katana to deflect every single strike, each with a loud CLANG. He then used a wrist movement to make his katana flip one of the swords out of the guard's hand. The man was now fighting him with one blade and that seemed to have weakened him a bit.

Mir came at him several strikes before finally landing a slice across the man's chest. Another guard tried to come at him from behind but Mir was too fast. He brought his katana up and blocked the strike. He then twirled the katana with his wrist and made a long cut across the guard's arm.

Soon afterwards, Joon and Seungho came out of hiding and joined in the fight with their standard hand-to-hand combat. Seungho came up behind one of the guards and snapped his neck before using a roundhouse kick to knock out the guard next to him.

He then ran forward and leaped into the air, using a scissor kick to hit another guard in the face and successfully breaking his nose. He took off to the side and launched a powerful fist uppercut on another guard, making him fly off his feet and onto his back.

Joon came at two guards at once, leaping into the air, and kicking both of them in the face at the same time. They flew back several feet and Joon leaped back up onto his feet soon after. 

One of the guards coming at him now had a small knife so he quickly dodged the man's swipe at his head. As he kept evading, the guard tried a forward jab at his stomach so he grabbed the man's arm and twisted it before bringing down his elbow on it. The arm broke with a loud SNAP and the guard dropped the knife. He then used a frontal kick on the guard's face, knocking him out cold.

Mir had another guard come at him from the side. He quickly leaped back and dodged the first strike of the man's blade. He then came back at the guard with a strike of his own. He twirled the katana with his wrist before bringing down the blade, slicing the man across his outer thigh. 

He then did a turn and stabbed the man through his back, impaling him. He pulled his blade out of the guard's body swiftly before turning around and stabbing another through his stomach. He kneeled down as another guard ran at him with his sword held up high. As the guard brought the sword swinging down, Mir rolled off to the side and stabbed the man from the side.

Seungho quickly got behind another guard and hunched down. Using the heel of his palm he broke the guard's shin and then quickly got up and using the heel of his palm once more, he broke his jaw as well.

Joon was currently fending off two men with swords so one ended up making a cut across his arm. Joon yelped in pain and at this both Seungho and Mir quickly reacted. 

Seungho came up behind one guard and using his knee, broke the man's spine down the middle. Mir came up on the other guard and impaled him through his neck causing him to choke on his blood.

Seeing as how that was the last of the guards, Mir focused his attention on Joon. "Hyung! Are you alright?"

Joon nodded as he held onto his left arm. "It's just a scratch." He added a smirk as he said this which made Mir feel a little better.

Seungho smiled at the two and nodded his head in approval. "Good work you guys. It looks like we took care of most of the royal guard force in this area. Let's head back and have Thunder heal that cut of yours. I think we're done for the day."


*OC (Alexa's) POV*

I was now sitting inside Yoseob and Doojoon's shared apartment. It wasn't as awkward as I thought it was going to be since these two were such great guys. The conversations we had just seemed to flow out really easily.

We were all hanging out in the dining room area eating some snacks. We had been sitting at the table talking for about a couple of hours when Yoseob had gotten up to go to the kitchen.

Doojoon spoke up first. "So what's this code you need help with?"

I was thankful for him bringing that up. I pulled out the book and showed it to him. "You see these sets of numbers and letters?"

I pointed at my handwriting on a piece of paper that I had stuck in there as a book mark. He nodded and I went on. "I think that I need to correspond the numbers with the book's page numbers and I'm not quite sure how the letters come into play yet."

Doojoon tilted his head to the side in thought. He looked from the piece of paper back to the book. He then smiled and looked up at me. "I think I know how the letters go with this."

Wow, he's GOOD.

"Really?" I asked excitedly.

He nodded and pointed some stuff out in the book. "You're right about the numbers referring to the page numbers. The letters however go with a certain word on each page. For example, this first letter T that's given, goes with the word The because it's the only capitalized T word on that page."

I shook my head in amazement. "You're a genius!"

He grinned from ear to ear. "I know." 

He pretended to brush something off his shoulders in a cool manner and I couldn't help but laugh. Soon after, Yoseob walked in with some green tea. Does everyone know I like this stuff?

He handed me my cup. "What's so funny?"

I took the cup from him and thanked him before answering, "Doojoon is full himself and I find it funny."

Doojoon faked being hurt and looked at me with a shocked expression. "Aigooooooooo! Am not!"

Yoseob laughed and I smiled while taking a sip of the green tea. 

"I heard that green tea was your favorite so I made it just for you." Yoseob stated with a bright smile.

I cocked my head to the side. "It's true but who did you hear that from?"

Yoseob and Doojoon looked at each other before looking back at me. "From Khun of course, who else would we hear it from?"

Khun?

"Really?" I asked with slight surprise evident in my voice.

They both laughed. Doojoon looked at me and gave me a look. "Oh come on! The whole time he was training here with us, the main person he talked about was YOU."

I laughed. "Oh I get it. Let me guess, he said nothing but bad things about me right? Did he mention all of our fights as well?"

That's when their expressions turned to one of confusion. Huh, wonder what's up with them?

Before I could voice my question aloud, Khun's voice was heard from outside the door. "Hey, who locked the door? Yoseob, Doojoon! You guys better not be trying anything funny!"

Yoseob called out in a girl's voice, "No one by those names lives here! Go away you peeping tom!"

I put my hand over my mouth to contain my laughter. Doojoon joined in with the joking as well, "Oh Alexa! I had no idea you were so SKILLED with your hands!"

I fell off my chair and rolled onto the floor while laughing into a small cushion that had been on the chair. I think I did a good job of covering up my laughter because then I heard Khun banging on the door.

"DOOJOON THAT IS SO NOT FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yoseob couldn't control his laughter anymore and let it all out. Doojoon and I joined in soon afterwards. I was practically crying from laughing so hard. As Doojoon walked over to me to help me get up off the floor, Yoseob walked to the door and unlocked it. Khun practically fell in because he had been leaning so much against the door.

I almost started laughing again but then I noticed something. His hair, it wasn't blonde anymore. It was actually back to it's original black color. 

My first thought was how in the world was he able to dye it back to that color in just a couple of hours? My second thought waswhy?

Not that I was complaining or anything because I actually preferred his natural hair color. That's when it finally hit me.

"The main person he talked about was YOU."

Oh. My. God. 

It all made total sense now. Everything he did that I found odd, it all registered in my brain at that moment. 

"I preferred you with your black hair."

He dyed his hair back because of me. He talked to these guys about me, he teased me, he worried about me, he helped me out, he came on this mission with me......all because he liked me.

My heart began to race and my palms felt sweaty as a million thoughts went through my mind. Anxiety had become to overwhelm me as I thought about all this.

I couldn't even think straight at that point. The only understandable thought I had was but I love Seungho, NOT Khun. 

I looked at Khun and he smiled at me while scratching the back of his head nervously. Why did this man, who I thought didn't even see me that way, like me?

This just made things REALLY complicated.

God, this is the worst test EVER.


*MBLAQ's POV*

As soon as the 3 guys walked into the nursing area, Thunder quickly rushed forward with worry evident in his eyes. 

"MIR!!! How much blood did you loose?!"

Mir cocked his head to the side in confusion. Seungho nudged him and pointed out all the blood staining his clothes.

The maknae came to a slow realization. "Oh this? This isn't my blood."

His face had been so calm when he explained it that Thunder gave him an incredulous look. He then turned his attention to Joon and noticed the gash on his left arm.

"Oh hyung! Your arm, does it hurt?" He asked while examining the cut like a worried mother.

Joon rolled his eyes but smiled none the less. Thunder was very caring after all.

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch." He stated.

Thunder snapped his head up to look at him and gave him a look. "A scratch huh?"

He prodded around the cut with his fingers and of course Joon winced. Thunder gave him a knowing smirk. Mir and Seungho, who had been watching the whole time, laughed at his reaction.

Thunder focused his energy into his hands until they glowed green and then held them over his wound. Joon watched in amazement at how fast his healing abilities were. Within a few seconds the cut had begun to close up and then it shrunk until it became nothing but a faded pink scar. Thunder then went off towards the cabinets to look for cleaning supplies.

G.O walked in and looked around at everyone. "Why is it every time we go on missions, Leader and I manage to come back without any stains but YOU TWO always have major cleaning up to do? Aigoo, even when Thunder goes on a mission with us, he doesn't ever have to clean up!"

Seungho laughed at G.O's exclamation while Joon and Mir both had sheepish grins on their faces. Thunder looked between those two and G.O and noticed that it looked like a scene where the father scolded his kids. He shook his head amusedly at the thought. 

When he looked up he saw Seungho lay his arm naturally around G.O's shoulder while smiling at Joon and Mir. G.O began to smile at the two as well.

If G.O is the father then Seungho must be the mother.

Thunder burst into a fit of laughter at the thought.


*OC (Alexa's) POV*

It has been a few days since my realization of Khun's feeling towards me. I had a mix of emotions today because Seungho and the guys were supposed to be heading over later this afternoon and I had most of my code cracked.

The down side was that now whenever Khun and I were alone together I felt extremely awkward. He didn't seem to notice though, which was good for me but kinda bad for him. I felt really bad about the whole situation but honestly, what could I do?

So I was both happy yet troubled at the same time. And now EVERYONE is gonna be staying at the same place.

AISH! What in the world am I supposed to do? If Seungho finds out about Khun's feelings then there was bound to be some trouble.But what if Khun gets hurt from realizing you're with Seungho?

Aigoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Too many contradictions!

I tried my best to brush all these thoughts aside as I sat on a bench near the arena where Khun and Yoseob were currently sparring. Doojoon had gone off to get a drink of water so I was left alone to sit and sulk.

I decided to pull out my hidden message book and work on the code cracking some more. What I had so far was: "The name that is written on the wall of the-"

That was most of the message since there were only a few blanks left. So I was pretty confident that I would have the entire message by at least tomorrow evening. I was on a bit of a time schedule since everyone was planning to raid Lord Delacroix's fortress in about 2 days.

I was sincerely hoping that the hidden message didn't turn out to be a riddle because in all honesty, I wasn't very confident when it came to riddles unless they were simple.

I looked up at the sky for probably the millionth time in the past few days. 

God, if you can hear me, please listen carefully. I really need a miracle.


End of Chapter 16