Kris didn’t appear on any of the surveillance cameras until early afternoon the following day, and even then he looked as though he wasn’t going to stick around for long, so Misook wasted no time in sprinting across the base to the armoury where Kris was testing out what she could only assume was his new gun. Chanyeol was also in there busying himself with the ammunition cabinet, only turning his attention away momentarily to greet Misook as she walked in. 

Kris remove his mufflers and turned around just as Misook reached the middle of the room, stopping her in her tracks. Kris wanted to say something, that much was clear, but whatever string of words he wanted to come out of his mouth ended up as a simple “Oh, hello,” 

“We need to talk,” she said, her eyes flicking to watch Chanyeol vacate the room - either to give them privacy or to avoid an awkward encounter. 

Kris removed the remaining bullets from his gun and put them on the table a short distance away before folding his arms. Misook held back an eye roll. 

“Look,” she began, “I’m sorry for yelling at you, and I’m sorry that you have a fear of heights, that’s not your fault,” 

The male blinked, “I’m sorry too,” 

“For what?”

“For getting mad at you the other day,” he continued, “I don’t want you asking too many questions about us, it’s my job to keep everyone in this base safe, but I shouldn’t have threatened you,” 

Misook nodded in response. She hadn’t come in search of an apology for that, but she welcomed it nonetheless. To be perfectly honest she was surprised that Kris was even apologising at all. 

After a few moments of silence, Kris reclaimed the bullets from the table and reloaded his gun. 

“I need to go, the people who captured us at the warehouse weren’t from a rival gang. At least, not one that we know. Jongin and I went back there last night but it was too dark to see anything, so we’re going back there now,” Kris explained as he walked out of the armoury. Misook followed. 

“Since when do you work with Jongin?” Was Misook’s first question. 

Kris grunted, “He thinks he knows something, and as much as I dislike the guy he’s the only operative in Sector E available right now. Yixing doesn’t want Minseok leaving the base for the time being until his arm heals, Tao, Baekhyun, and Luhan are out, Joonmyun can’t leave the front desk as our taxi friend has shown up again, and Kyungsoo is busy doing police business on the opposite side of the city”

“What about Chanyeol? Sehun? Jongdae?” 

Kris turned his nose up at the last name. 

“Chanyeol is busy doing repairs and Sehun is supposed to be helping him,” Kris added. 

“You haven’t mentioned Jongdae,” Misook pointed out. 

“He’s injured, he wouldn’t be useful.” He remarked, bluntly. 

His statement didn’t sit well with her, but Kris was already meeting up with Jongin in the lobby and sprinting out of the door before she could ask further questions. 

Misook was in the middle of responding to a text from her sister later that day when the lights suddenly went out, throwing the room into darkness. The gentle hum that usually surrounded the base fell silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop. Flicking the torch on her phone on, she put her shoes on and made her way over to the door. 

She soon realised that the power must’ve been completely out when she pressed the door release button and nothing happened. She pressed it again for good measure, and when the door failed to open she pulled on the handle and opened it manually. The corridor was eerily quiet until the sound of footsteps caught her attention, followed by a bright light almost blinding her. 

When the footsteps got closer she realised that it was Jongdae with a head torch, and what looked like a tool bag slung over his shoulder. 

“What happened?” Misook questioned as she blocked the light from her eyes. 

“Power failure, my guess is faulty wiring somewhere but Sehun says he needs assistance in the surveillance room, something about needing a small person to fit in a hole,” Jongdae explained, handing her the tool bag and a head torch from his pocket.

“Couldn’t you do it?” Misook hinted. She really didn’t want to be crawling into small spaces. 

Jongdae raised an eyebrow. “Are you kidding? My shoulders won’t fit through there, no matter how skinny my is.”

Before Misook could protest he began walking away, whistling as he went and with a spring in his step. One day she would understand Kim Jongdae, but today was not that day. Sighing, she adjusted the tool bag on her shoulder and ventured off towards the surveillance room. 

Sehun was standing on Tao’s shoulders when she arrived, peering into the hole in the ceiling as Tao protested. 

“Tao will you stay still and shut up!” Sehun yelled as his foot slipped. 

Misook was sure she heard something clatter to the ground as she put the head torch on. Turns out she was right and had to quickly move the screwdriver out of the way before Tao stepped on it and sent Sehun crashing to the ground. 

“Need help?” Misook said, putting the tool bag down and steadying Sehun’s foot so it was back on Tao’s shoulder. 

“Oh, hello,” Tao said as if only just noticing she was there. 

“Yes please,” Sehun popped his head out from the hole in the ceiling. His hair was covered in dust. “I can’t reach the back where the main breaker switches are, it looks like one of them has come loose.” 

“Sure, what do I need to do?” She was glad she didn’t decide to wear a skirt today. 

“We’ll help you into the roof and then you need to find the breaker switch that’s come loose, should be at the back so you’ll have to climb in. Find the switch and change the screws - Jongdae should’ve put some in the tool bag - and then push it back into the board, flick the switch, and the power should come back on.” Sehun explained, hopping off Tao’s shoulders. 

“Any reason Sehun wasn’t the one on the bottom?” 

The boys stared at her. 

“Okay that came out wrong,” Misook corrected herself, “Why wasn’t Sehun the one lifting Tao? Wouldn’t it make more sense for the one with broader shoulders to be the stool?” 

“Sehun knows more about electronics than I do and I don’t like being lifted,” Tao said simply. Sehun nodded in agreement. 

“Alright, let's get this over with,” 

It took her a minute to find the right screws as there were a few different types, but once she did she slipped them, and the screwdriver, into her pocket and let Sehun and Tao lift her into the hole. She shot up so quickly because of their strength that she almost lost her balance; the hole was a lot bigger than she first thought, albeit very dusty, which had her sneezing the second she got in.

“What does the breaker switch look like?” She asked, scanning the area with the head torch. 

“It’s grey in colour,” Sehun answered. 

Looking around, Misook spotted what looked like a large grey board filled with switches and began heading towards it. When she reached it, she pulled out the screwdriver and screws with every intention of fixing it quickly. However, there was more than one switch and they all looked the same. 

“Guys, which one is it?” 

“Third row, second from the left. It’s the only one that’s loose.” 

Finding the right switch she began to remove the faulty screws and replace them with the new ones. It was an easy fix, but it did make her wonder how the old screws came to be like that in the first place. None of the other screws appeared to be in bad condition, and she had no reason to believe that all of the other screws had been changed at a different time. Once she was done she flicked the switch. The hum of the base returned and the lights of the surveillance room shone brightly through the hole, signalling that the power - at least for the surveillance room - had come back on. Backing up, she lowered her feet down and the boys caught her in their arms like a bride. 

“There we go,” Tao smiled. 

“Need anything else?” Misook questioned as she dusted herself off.

Before either of them could reply, Jongdae came waltzing in like he’d just struck gold and set his laptop down on the counter. 

“Sweet, the power is back on in most of the base, there are a few rooms where it hasn’t yet but that’s something I can fix,” Jongdae turned to Misook, “thanks for the help, sweetheart, might I suggest a shower?” 

Misook narrowed her eyes at him, but nonetheless, a shower sounded