The snow was falling pretty heavily by the time Luhan and Tao pulled up to the motel.

“I’ll go check in while you start bringing up the stuff.” Tao muttered as he jumped out of the car and headed inside.

“Yes, boss man.” Luhan grumbled to himself as he unloaded the “luggage” from the car. The suitcases he pulled out were filled mostly with gear that Chanyeol and Baekhyun had oh-so-lovingly given to them.

“Don’t up my babies you losers” Baekhyun scowled.

“Or you die.” Chanyeol smiled

Luhan shuddered at the memory and proceeded to gently roll the suitcases across the pavement. GENTLY.

So far, the two hour long drive to the motel had consisted of nothing but Tao going over case files, mumbling into his head piece and fidgeting with the tracking device placed on the cargo ship of the smuggler they were supposed to be after.

By the end of the trip, Luhan had wanted to jump out of the moving car out of boredom, or at the very least, commemorate his newfound emo-ness by listening to some good, mind-numbing Justin Beiber. But Tao, being the spoilsport he was, threatened to rip out the radio if Luhan didn’t shut it off. And so went the rest of the car ride.

“Baby, baby, baby ohhhhh” Luhan winced and smacked his head a couple times to get that god-awful tune out of his head.

“Can I help you with something, sir?”

Luhan looked up to come face to extremely gorgeous face with a man about his age. Said gorgeous man happened to be wearing a bellboy uniform and sporting a smirk.

“No thank you. I’m quite allright.” Luhan managed a smile towards the bellboy – Xiumin - his name tag read- and began to haul the suitcases up to his room. Naturally the elevator was out of service. But Luhan, being the manly man he was, refused to let his guns back down from a challenge and began hauling the suitcases up, one by one. Gently.

“Are you sure?” Luhan decided that once the mission was over, he was going to make sure Xiumin knew just how he looked while smirking. But right now, it was time to focus.

“I’m fine, thank you!” Luhan continued to pull up a suitcase until he felt a strong calloused hand cover his larger one and heave the suitcase up.

“What?” Xiumin asked, innocent eyes open wide. “This is my job and this is how I eat.”

Shrugging, Luhan relinquished his hold on the suitcase and allowed Xiumin to carry it up the staircase. “BE GENTLE!”

“So, your name is Xiao Wen” Tao tossed a piece of ID from their bags to Luhan, “and my name is Xiao Bo.”

Luhan snorted.

“What? Your hair totally looks like a warm, red sky! And I do wushu, so I’m allowed to be a little wrestler.” Tao pouted.

“You think my hair looks like a warm, red sky?” Luhan grinned, pointing to his honey blond locks.

“No, but Kris does, and so you get that name. Now help me set up.” Motioning for Luhan to follow, Tao opened one of the bags and started rummaging through the wires.  

“By the way,” Luhan began, “Did you inform Kris that we’ve arrived and checked in?” Luhan asked as he plugged the monitor into the sole power outlet.

“Yeah. I sent the communication. I’m limiting the amount of contact we have with HQ at the moment, so we can fly under the radar. I kinda want to get this done with quickly. Smuggler missions are honestly a bore. No creativity anywhere.” Tao snorted.

Luhan frowned because of all the case files he has ever read and all the mock training he has gone through, he had found smuggler missions to be the most fascination. But, oh well, to each their own.

Shrugging, Luhan opened up the suitcases and began setting up the gear around the room. Extremely gently.

Jongdae got out of the car and ducked his head against the downpour. The broken neon sign flashing to his right indicated he was at his location. Fishing out the fake ID and some cash, Jongdae opted to leave his luggage in the car, with his wallet as he ran into the building.

The lobby had a musty smell and an equally musty green carpet. Jongdae moved forth, paying no attention to the dirty and crumbling walls around him. He’d slept in worse conditions.

Putting on his most haggard face, Jongdae moved to position himself in front of the sleeping desk clerk and slammed his hand on the silver rusty bell.

Ding

The man sleeping on the job looked up as he wiped drool off his face.

“Room for one.” Jongdae  spoke calmly as the man shook himself awake.

“Sorry, man. What?” He blinked his eyes as if to chase away his sleep.

“Room. For one.” Jongdae scratched h