"I cannot believe we have to go through the sewers," Baekhyun mumbled. "This is so gross. Why us? No, why me?"

"Because you're the one who makes this entire mission possible, now shut up," Sehun whispered. "I'm sure Joonmyeon would be more than happy to buy you eyeliner if you don't mess this up, so shut it and get to work." Of course, they couldn't have Joonmyeon's thoughts on the matter. They had to remove their earpieces so it wouldn't interfere with Baekhyun's hacking signals. The others had theirs, though. They weren't coming in until later. Sehun checked his watch. 9:57 P.M.

"And what exactly are you doing?"
"I am looking out for your sorry . We all know I'm much more skilled than you-" Baekhyun scoffed- "when it comes to combat," Sehun finished.

"Oh." The corners of Baekhyun's lips turned down in a frown. He always did feel a little insecure in his combat abilities. He spent a lot of time training to get better. Sometimes Jongin helped him. Sometimes he intended to train but ended up messing around with Chanyeol - and by messing around he meant anything from pranking the tall one to laying underneath him, legs around his waist, breathless. Baekhyun blushed at the thought and hoped it was too dark for Sehun to see.

"Well? Anything?" Sehun's voice cut through Baekhyun's daze and he started to pay attention. Chanyeol would have to wait. The shorter one flipped down his glasses - Sehun thought they were dorky and didn't understand why the guy didn't just use contacts - and the electronic interface, checking for any systems he could reach through the sewers. Suddenly, his vision was partially obscured when the interface turned red and an exclamation mark appeared on the screen. He grabbed Sehun's arm and stopped the younger from walking any further.

"Watch my back," he said, barely audible. It was his time to shine, and he couldn't afford to mess up. He was the foundation of this mission. If he messed up, Yixing could die, and everyone would hold it against him, and-

"Baekhyun. Breathe. You can do this." Sehun whispered. "You've tackled worse before. You're the reason Kris is alive. You will be fine." Baekhyun didn't respond, frozen. Sehun sighed. "Look, I know I never really say it, I know nobody ever really says it, but we're all confident in you. We know you can do whatever you have to. So calm down. You can do this."

"All right," Baekhyun whispered. "I can do this." He pulled out his phone and started pushing a lot of buttons. Sehun watched the hacking process every time he could and he still didn't understand it. The screen flashed and changed far too quickly for him to comprehend anything. He sighed, smiling slightly. He knew everything would be fine. He pulled out some of his throwing knives and spun them around in his hands, playing with them, bored.

------------

When Yixing woke up, his vision was blurry and his head hurt like hell. Where was he?  He tried to process his surroundings, but all he could see was grey. A lot of it. Grey walls, grey floor.. Wait, what was that? Red blood stood out boldly against the cement floor. He  looked at his wrists. They were strapped into a chair. Attached to his feet were balls and chains. Oh. He knew he had been captured, but he didn't know what had happened. His head was hurting, so he could only assume he had a head wound. He heard what sounded like muffled conversation and let his head fall forward. It was too unclear to be in the same room, so he assumed whoever had tied him up wasn't there to see him wake up. After a few minutes, he heard footsteps and a heavy metal door opening.

"Wake up, dammit!" A shrill voice screamed. When he purposely didn't stir, something connected with his face - a hand. He jumped and raised his head, seeing a tall woman with long black hair and - were her eyes red? She had a scar on her left eyebrow. Whoever she was, she was absolutely awful. His cheek was stinging.
"Was that really necessary?" He muttered, immediately regretting it. Whoever had tied him up could kill him in an instant. He needed to watch his mouth, but that was so hard when his head was throbbing. How was he supposed to think? Of course, that's the point - he wasn't. If he thinks, he can lie or avoid answering questions. The reason he was probably still alive was for just that - questioning.

"Who sent you here?" she asked.

"You know, maybe I'd be more willing to answer your questions if you didn't slap me. People tend to respond better without violence. Food for thought." The woman raised her hand again, then let it drop, scoffing.

"I'll ask again. Who sent you here?"

"Zhang Yixing."

"Who is this 'Zhang Yixing'?"

"I don't know." He paused, waiting until the woman seemed to get mad again, then opened his mouth. "Actually, I think-" he watched her eyes light up- "it's me." He smirked. The woman raised her hand and slapped him again.

"Who sent you here?" She enunciated every word.

"Maybe I came because I wanted to. After all, this is Jeon Manor - there are some pretty nice things here." The lady scoffed again, and pulled something out of her pocket.

"So you're telling me that you had this," she dangled something from a wire - his broken earpiece, he realized with a start, "but nobody sent you here?

. She got him. Damn. Yixing's head hurt so much. He knew the others would come to help him out. Of course they would, right? All he had to do was stall for that long. Panic flashed through him. What if nobody realized he needed help?

"I'll say it one more time before you get really hurt. Who sent you here?"

"All right, I'll tell you." He sighed. This was risky, but it might possibly make her change the subject. "The people who sent me here are... Going to kick your as soon as they get here." Her eyes flashed in anger. Oh god. Let's hope it worked.

"Junseo!" She yelled. A tall man - oh god, was he taller than Kris? - appeared by her side suddenly. "Untie him from the chair, then chain him to the wall. Get your knives. I want you to start carving an intricate pattern on his back. Just stop when I tell you to."

Yixing thought fast. He could either try to fight the guy when he was untied or he could silently go along. His head hurt so much he decided to go with the latter. He sighed as his wrists were unbound and he was shoved towards the wall. He realized he wasn't wearing a shirt when the cold stone touched his chest. He waited slowly for his wrists to be chained up to the wall. He trusted his friends. He knew they'd come for him. He'd be rescued by them in no-

"," he groaned when the metal pierced through his skin. The tip of the blade started to trace little swirls. They weren't very deep, but something told Yixing that they would get worse, soon.

------------

"Done," Baekhyun said a bit too enthusiastically, then lowered his voice as he fished his earpiece out of his pocket. "Cameras, traps, and sound security systems were disabled." He put his earpiece in and Sehun did the same.

"Joonmyeon, Luhan, we're ready to go," Sehun said, earning a glare from Baekhyun. He had just been the one to do everything, so why couldn't he say it? Click. Who was sending him a message?

"Hey," a different voice - Chanyeol's - said. His deep, y voice sent shivers down Baekhyun's spine. "You're doing good. I'm looking forward," his already deep voice lowered even more, "to seeing you in my bedroom later tonight. You're getting a big reward." Baekhyun blushed at the thought.

"How big?" He replied, trying to mask his shyness.

"I'm sure you already know that."

"I want you to say it."

"I want you to say how much you want it."

"And I want you to be quiet!" a higher voice shouted. "Chanyeol if you're going to your pretty little boyfriend, please try to be quiet?" Baekhyun blushed at the thought of being called 'Chanyeol's pretty little boyfriend'. Really, every word in that phrase made him happy, and his heart fluttered. "I don't need to hear this," Jongdae continued. "You two need to focus, anyways. Come on. I could be ing Joonmyeon all I want, but we have a friend to save."

"Baekhyun, what are you doing?" Sehun said. "Come on, we should get out of here and up the the front entrance, in case Luhan and Joonmyeon need help."

------------

"You ready for this, Luhan?" Joonmyeon held his hand out. Luhan sighed.

"Do we really have to act like we're a couple?" Luhan replied, obviously unwilling.

"They're less likely to get mad if they think we're a cute couple." Joonmyeon smiled. Luhan sighed again and held his hand. "Remember, it's all fake."

"Sehun, do you hear that? It's all fake, so you don't have to get jealous this time," Luhan muttered. He heard Sehun start going on about how he has never been jealous because that's stupid, and why should he be jealous when he knows that Luhan could never leave him? He muted his earpiece and they walked toward the door. Joonmyeon was the one to knock. The smile on his face didn't fade.

Slowly the door opened and a small girl appeared in the doorway. Luhan and Joonmyeon shared a glance. Joonmyeon hadn't thought that there might be children here. Oh god. Joonmyeon was about to speak when Luhan decided he could do better. He bent down and put his hands on his knees, giving a small smile.

"Hey there! We were just dropping by to say hello. Could we maybe come inside? We brought welcoming gifts." Luhan's voice was sweet. He looked at Joonmyeon, who looked absolutely confused. He untwisted their fingers (thank God that was over - not that he didn't like Joonmyeon, he just had an 'amazing and handsome' boyfriend, as Sehun had put it) and pulled out two little boxes. The girl looked at him.

"Who are you?" she replied, squinting her eyes at them.

"I'm Luhan, and this," he motioned at Joonmyeon, "is Joonmyeon." He sighed. "He's my boyfriend."

"Aww! You're a couple? That's so cute!" Joonmyeon threw Luhan an I-knew-it glance. Luhan just rolled his eyes. "Come on in. I'm sure Mommy would be fine with you two! My name is Jiwoo!"

------------

Zitao and Minseok walked up to the garden gate after hearing the "couple's" (Zitao laughed the entire time during that, much to the dismay of Sehun) conversation.

They knocked on the wooden gate and waited. A moment later, the gate opened and a small boy appeared at the gate.

"Next time don't laugh, ," Sehun said, laughing. "Now you two better start acting."

"Who are you?" the child asked. "Wow... You're so tall!" he exclaimed, pointing at Zitao. "Is that what Mommy means when she says I have to grow up big and strong?" He narrowed his eyes at Minseok. "Why is he so much shorter than you? Did he grow up wrong?"

Zitao threw his head back and laughed, while Minseok just rolled his eyes. He picked up Zitao bridal-style, and Zitao screamed like a little boy.

"My name is Minseok, and this is Zitao. Even though he's tall, he's a wimp, and even though I'm short, I'm strong," Minseok said. He set Zitao down. "Also, Zitao is afraid of ghosts, but I'm not."

"Wow! You're so cool, Mr. Minseok!" The small boy jumped up and down happily. "What's that on your back?"

"Oh, this?" Minseok pulled the bow off his back and held it out in front of the boy. "This is my favorite bow."

"Can I hold it, Mr. Minseok?"

"You can if you let us in, and if you don't try to use it. It's way too big for you."

"Aww. Can you show me how to use it, though, Mr. Minseok?" The boy's eyes sparkled.

"Yeah. Can you, Mr. Minseok?" Zitao mocked. Minseok rolled his eyes again.

"Sure. What's your name?"

"My name is Jihoon!" Jihoon stepped aside to let the two in. "Hey, are you two... Are you two a couple?" Zitao froze and looked at Minseok, who slowly nodded. Sighing, he, too, nodded at Jihoon and grabbed Minseok's hand.

"Oh, cool! Mr. Minseok, can you show me how to use a bow now?" Minseok laughed and showed him, explaining the perfect posture and techniques for pulling back the string. The boy requested that Minseok try with an arrow, since he has them on his back too, but Minseok insisted it would be too dangerous. Zitao got tired of being ignored.

"Hey, Jihoon, watch this!" Zitao decided to start doing some martial arts tricking, nodding at Minseok, then at the house, before starting. While Jihoon watched Zitao, absolutely entranced, Minseok looked for any traps, security systems, or anything that would need a password. The only thing he could find that fulfilled any of those requirements was the greenhouse. It needed a number code to get in. He didn't quite understand why, but he forgot it.

"Mr. Zitao, you're so cool!"

"So, could we go inside?"

"Sure!" The two agents looked at each other and linked hands again. "You guys can let them in," Jihoon shouted to some people throughout the gardens. "They're nice."

------------

Jongin sighed. He was bored of being discluded from the action.

Click.

"So everything is going fine?" Kyungsoo said. His voice was sweet and happy. Jongin clicked the button to transmit messages only to Kyungsoo.

"Yup. Pretty boring, though. Why don't I get to do anything fun? I could be training right now, or actually testing my skills, but instead I'm stuck all the way over here. Alone." Jongin looked over the hill, where he saw the short boy. "Hey, I can see you from here." He smiled.

"Oh? Can you?" Kyungsoo turned around to look for Jongin, who was happily waving at him. Laughing, Kyungsoo waved back. "Why are we waving when we have earpieces?"

"Because it's not boring."

"Hey, Kyungsoo. Time to go," Kris interrupted.

"Sorry, Jongin," Kyungsoo said, waving one last time.

"You're leaving me here to be bored?" Jongin whined.

"It's not like I have much of a choice."

"Promise me you won't let me be bored later?" Jongin asked, his voice dangerously low.

"Come on, Kyungsoo!" Kris yelled.

"Maybe, Jongin," Kyungsoo said, smiling when Jongin groaned. "Bye."

"But Kyungsoo!"

"Beg for it," was the last thing he said before turning off transmitting only to Jongin.

"Oh, you'll be the one begging," Jongin muttered angrily.

------------

Chanyeol and Jongdae walked up to the front doors. The girl had left them slightly open. They looked at each other and Jongdae smirked.

"You first, my love," Jongdae said sarcastically. Chanyeol gave him a look. He didn't get it. Jongdae rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Everyone else is playing as couples, so we should too. It only seems fitting, doesn't it? So you go in first-" Jongdae suddenly shut up. Chanyeol opened his mouth to speak when he heard voices. Some muttering about the girl who let the boys in. From what Jongdae could hear, the girl's mother wasn't in the household - she was finishing up some business. The way the voices said it sounded shady, to say the least. Chanyeol and Jongdae shared a look. Jongdae fished his phone out of his pocket to speak, because they didn't want to be caught.

Smoke bomb?

Why the hell would we plant a smoke bomb right now, Jongdae?

Whoever it is would come out to investigate. Plus, it's not dangerous.

It's still a terrible idea.

And what do you think we should do, light a signal fire?
Chanyeol sighed. Smoke bomb it is.

Jongdae smiled widely. It was almost obnoxious, Chanyeol thought. Jongdae put his bag down and rummaged through it a bit. He stopped focusing on Jongdae when a message came through their earpieces.

"Sehun and I are going in with you guys," Baekhyun said. "Something doesn't seem right. We'll need all the backup we can get."

"Does that mean I should get over there," Jongin asked, "or should I just keep being bored?"

"Follow Kris and Kyungsoo in. But don't get any ideas," Baekhyun warned. "This is still a mission. Whatever you want to do can wait." Jongdae almost laughed. Wasn't Baekhyun the one ing with Chanyeol earlier? He looked at Chanyeol and nodded, then slung his bag back over his shoulders. He threw the smoke bomb up in the air and they both ran away from it as Sehun and Baekhyun met up with them. Boom. Jongdae smiled. He loved the noise of explosions. When they heard yelling and saw shadows in the smoke, they ran back, fists up.

(Hey! Sorry this one got put up so late. I've been flying around all day and haven't had a chance to put it up, sorry ;~; I'll probably post the next chapter soon tonight to make up for it. Hope you guys are enjoying it! Sorry it didn't get to the actual rescue part of the mission yet. It will though! I promise! Also, really big thanks to all of my subbies! You guys rock! I didn't think anyone would actually want to read this, so I'm really excited!)