Yongguk narrowed his eyes against the bright glare of the afternoon sun. They had stopped for a break in one of ruined buildings that was still somewhat standing. It had been a quiet two weeks, with no incidents but they were all wary. It was like the calm before the storm. Things were too quiet.

The lieutenant shared the same sentiments and had called Yongguk up the night before with a mission. A couple of days’ travel away was an abandoned enemy post. However, scouts had spotted smoke from the building; it could be possible that they were using it again. So the lieutenant had sent Yongguk and his team out to investigate.

“Observe and report only,” were his instructions. “Exercise extreme caution.”

“What if a conflict happens?” Yongguk had asked.

The lieutenant’s expression was grim. “Then give them all you’ve got.”

They had already been on the road for one day and there had been no sign of trouble. But it didn’t mean that they should lower their guard. He could see Youngjae standing guard outside the building. In another ten minutes he’ll switch Jongup to guard duty and get Youngjae in to rest. Himchan had fallen asleep but Jongup was awake, staring at the ground. In the two weeks since they had become a team, Jongup had barely spoken to any of them. He seemed to exist in a world of his own. Himchan had attempted to get him to talk about himself or anything at all, but to no avail.

“It’s no use, hyung. Jonguppie doesn't like to talk about these things,” Youngjae commented after the last failed attempt during dinner last night. Jongup had politely excused himself to guard duty when Himchan started talking to him.

“He’s never told you anything either? Even though you’ve been fighting together for a year?” Himchan was shocked. A year is no longer short when your life could just end any moment in the battlefield. Teammates became more than even family; they were each other’s hold on sanity in the madness of the war.

Youngjae had shaken his head. “Never. But I know that one of his brothers is a high-ranking commander in the military but he’s based at the outer districts. I don’t think they’ve met ever since the elder brother joined the military.”

“Wow. Wait. Brothers?” Himchan had asked. “He has another brother?”

“Yeah. But I heard that that brother was reported missing.” Youngjae hesitated, then added, “Hyungs, I would really appreciate it if you guys don’t mention to Jonguppie that I had said anything. I don’t want him to be mad at me.” Yongguk and Himchan had exchanged glances before promising not to say anything to Jongup.

Right now, it was just an awkward situation where Yongguk and Jongup were sitting opposite each other in a tiny, dusty space, with Himchan dozing in the corner. Yongguk found himself wishing that Junhong (now known as Zelo) were here on the mission as well. The lanky youth had been left behind at the camp despite his protests. He had not been trained properly and could be a liability to the team. Besides, Yongguk wanted to keep the boy safe. He had grown fond of Zelo and his strange but upbeat attitude. Zelo seemed to be able to negate the awkwardness in the atmosphere and he was always acting silly around the hyungs. Even Jongup seemed to lighten up around the kid.

Surprisingly, Jongup was the first to break the silence. “Yongguk, sir.”

“Just call me hyung, Jongup.” Yongguk replied.

The younger man nodded. “Okay…hyung. I just wanted to ask…”

“Yeah?”

“If there are enemy at the abandoned post, what are you going to do?”

Yongguk stared at his hands. “The lieutenant’s orders are to observe and report only. We try to avoid conflict as far as possible.”

“That’s what the lieutenant would do.” Their eyes met. “I wanted to know what hyung would do.”

There was a long silence. Yongguk’s gaze bore into Jongup’s but his mind replaying another scene, six years ago. He could still smell the smoke and the scent of burnt flesh. And death.

The leader’s eyes narrowed. In a low voice, his dark eyes still fixed on Jongup, he replied, “I would show no mercy.”

Something like understanding passed between the soldiers. Both had known lost and pain and were no stranger to spilled blood. For the first time in two weeks, Moon Jongup smiled but it wasn’t a warm smile. It was the satisfied smile of the grim reaper, watching his enemies fall before him.

Yongguk saw the smile and registered the coldness behind it, and he relished it. He felt the same way, too.

Jongup bowed his head and placed his right hand over his heart. “I, Moon Jongup, pledge my loyalty to you, Bang Yongguk. As a teammate, a soldier, and a brother. I will follow you to the end.”

Taken back but touched, Yongguk nodded. “Thank you.”

Jongup nodded too just as Himchan’s voice broke in. “Don’t I get a pledge too? I’m the general.”

Both Jongup and Yongguk jumped and turned to look at their general, who stretched and yawned. Jongup looked horrified that Himchan had heard everything and rubbed his head self-consciously. “I…it was just something that I felt that I should do.”

Himchan grinned. “I’m joking. I have to stick around anyway, what would you guys do without your smart general Kim Himchan?”

“Who’s smart?” Youngjae came in and Jongup looked relieved. “Jonguppie, it’s your turn to do guard duty.” The younger soldier hurriedly excused himself and practically dashed out of the small space. Youngjae glanced between his hyungs and at Jongup’s retreating back. “Did I miss something?”

Author's note: This is random but BAP has been pretty active on Instagram recently and this girl is happy xD Hope you guys liked this chapter! I promise the next one will be lighthearted >:D
I would also like to apologise if I've been using military terms wrongly :x I did some research beforehand but I got pretty confused with all the terms so I just went with those that I understood kekeke ^^