“We say we’ll reach around nightfall if we go around,” said Himchan. They had been travelling for two hours when they came up against a barricade and stopped to discuss another route.

“That’s a few extra hours of travel.” Yongguk was thoughtful. “We should move quickly. I want to reach before night completely comes.”  

Youngjae, who had been peering into the distance, nodded his head in agreement. “Let’s go, then. Jongup?” He raised an eyebrow at his friend who was standing very still, his head tilted to one side as if listening to something.

Jongup looked up at them and took a casual step forward but his voice was a low whisper. “Someone’s following us.” Thankfully, the other three had the sense to not whip around and start scanning the area, but Yongguk leaned in closer.

“How many?”

“One.” Jongup’s hand lightly touched his gun at his hip. “He’s somewhere to our left.”

Yongguk’s raging instinct told him to hunt down that guy and gun him down but he took a deep breath. It might not even be the enemy. He nodded to the rest. “Let’s go then,” he said in his normal voice. In a softer one, without looking at Jongup, Yongguk mumbled, “Take a small detour and round up the person for me. Don’t kill him. Not yet.”

The leader’s eyes slid to the side to make sure his orders were heard. Jongup didn’t nod or anything, but he met his leader’s gaze before quietly dropping to the back of the group. Jongup had a talent for moving silently, which was why it made him the best choice to catch anybody following them unawares.

They continued on as per normal for about ten minutes before there was a yell behind them, the cue that they had been waiting for. Without any hesitation, the three soldiers spread out and headed towards the yell. Jongup emerged from behind a broken wall with…Zelo?

The tall kid looked sheepish as Jongup pulled him out to face the other members. They lowered their guns and Himchan was the first to speak. “Junhong? What are you doing here?”

“I followed you, hyung.” Zelo pouted. “Hyung just left me alone back in camp! I wanted to come too.”

“You scared us, Zelo! That was too dangerous. We could have shot you!” Youngjae began nagging as Yongguk and Himchan exchanged looks. They were thinking the same thing: the logical thing would be to release Jongup to the kid back to camp, but it would mean one less member for the mission. But they couldn’t go back together without wasting the two days of travel.

Zelo seemed to be able to tell that Yongguk and Himchan were having a silent discussion about his fate. “Hyung…you will let me stay, right? I promise to be good, really.”

Yongguk made up his mind. “Okay. You can stay. But this is not a game. Get it?” Zelo nodded furiously.

“Yes sir!” Young Zelo looked way too happy for someone who was heading out on his first mission, and a dangerous one at that.

Himchan shook his head in mock despair. This kid…this kid is trouble.

***

It was near dusk when the target came into sight. Everyone was on high alert, armed and tense. This was enemy territory and there were only four of them. “Stay low,” Yongguk whispered to his teammates and gestured for them to spread out. “Zelo, you stay behind me.” The lanky youth nodded and slowed his pace so that he was behind Yongguk. The falling darkness was good and bad: good because it would shield them from prying eyes, bad because they couldn’t see the enemy coming.

Gingerly putting one foot before the next, Yongguk steadily moved closer to the dilapidated building. There didn’t seem to be any movement from within its disintegrating walls. A movement caught his eye and he turned sharply, but it was just Himchan who was creeping through the overgrown vegetation. Yongguk turned his attention back to the building, eyes narrowed and whispered into the comms mic. “Team, report.”

“All clear.” Youngjae’s voice came in through the earpiece, tense.

“Same here.” Himchan scanned the area around him, seeing nothing but ruins and wild growth. “This place’s been empty for a while.”

“Clear on my side too,” Jongup replied, but he spotted something. He knelt down to investigate. “But I found broken bottles, most probably alcohol. The smell is still quite strong.” The bottle reeked of alcohol. He could see even more broken glass trailing towards the building. “Someone’s been here recently.”

Yongguk scanned the building again, his eyes narrowed in concentration, trying to spot any movement. But all he could see was stained walls and streaks of green as the plants had grown into the building itself.

“There. Someone’s over there,” Zelo exclaimed. “He just waved to us.”

“Where? Wait, Zelo, don’t!” Yongguk made a futile grab for Zelo but the youth was quicker than he had expected, running headlong towards the building. Yongguk let out a growl of frustration and hissed into the comms. “Zelo broke cover. Everyone, converge at the front of the building. I’m going after Zelo. The rest of you keep a lookout and follow.”

He ran after Zelo, keeping his head low when he spotted a dark figure darting behind a pillar. Someone was there.

“Zelo! Get behind me!” He finally caught up with the kid who had stopped in the middle of the building.

“He’s over there, hyung!” Zelo pointed towards a wall. Yongguk saw him too, a flash of movement. Without thinking, Yongguk stepped in front of Zelo and shot at the figure.

There was a yelp of surprise. "YAH! Don't shoot me!" 

Blood roared in the leader’s ears. One of them, his enemy, was just sitting behind the wall. The people who took his family away from him. People who had started this madness called war. The cowards who hid behind weapons and killed innocents. He could smell the smoke again, the burnt flesh. Hear the screaming. He fired off another two shots, both hitting the wall with resounding bangs.

“Wait! Wait! Don’t shoot!” Whoever it was yelled. "I'm friendly, I swear!" 

“Step out. Slowly. With your hands above your head.” Yongguk’s voice was low with anger and hatred. He barely even noticed that his team had all gathered, guns pointed at the wall.

“All right. I’m stepping out. Just don’t shoot me.” The figure took a step out from behind the wall and Yongguk immediately aimed his gun at the figure’s chest. He was dressed in black clothes, worn out leather boots and his tousled bronze hair had seen better days. Strapped to his hip was a gun sheath. The gun itself was on his hand, held high above his head.

“Drop the gun!” Himchan yelled.

"Okay, okay! Calm down, will you?" The guy was lowering his gun hand to the ground, the other still in the air and his eyes darting between the hostile soldiers. 

By now Yongguk was more than ready to just take the guy down. His finger tightened on the trigger of the gun just as he heard a gasp from behind him.

“Bloody hell.” Youngjae was slowly lowering his gun. “Jung Daehyun.”