Mapping out buildings he was unlikely to ever enter had somehow worked in his favour, Kyungsoo thought as he skidded around the corner of the third-floor corridor. The next right would take him to the stairs where he had the option of heading back down to the lobby or heading up towards the roof where - if he were extremely lucky - there would be a helicopter waiting for him. However, luck hadn’t been on his side all day so he decided against the roof. 

The next left, however, would take him to more offices and the third-floor toilet and storage room. The offices would likely house objects he could use as weapons in case he ran out of ammo, but many of them were also a dead end with only one way in or out; he’d be a sitting duck if he were found. The lift was also a no go. He’d learned over the years that in life or death situations you don’t allow yourself to be cornered, especially not in a slow-moving metal box that would lead any claustrophobe to have a panic attack in almost immediately. 

Luckily for him, the building had two sets of stairs, one that was widely used by employees and their clients, and another that was used primarily for emergencies but was also used by the caretakers and security guards during the twilight hours. Taking the next left, and then another left, Kyungsoo found the door that would lead him to the emergency stairwell. Testing the handle, he was relieved to find it unlocked and slipped through without hesitation. 

He’d last heard gunshots on the first floor, somewhere between the first set of offices and the staff room, so he decided against going down. Taking the steps two at a time he kept a tight grasp on his handgun. The MP5 strapped to his back had already used half of its bullets before he’d gotten hold of it.

Reaching the fourth floor, Kyungsoo slid through the door and made a left down the corridor. From the fourth floor, he’d be able to see what the situation was like outside without being seen. The last thing he needed was to alert the authorities to his presence and blow his cover, which would put him in more danger than he already was. At least the gunmen didn’t know he was in the building. Yet. 

“Soo, what’s the situation?” His earpiece buzzed to life just as he reached the large window at the end of the corridor. 

Down below, Kyungsoo could see at least a dozen squad cars, at least two SWAT vans, and an intelligence van parked in various places around the building. The police had completely cornered off all the roads leading up to the building, and quite a crowd of people had gathered despite it being late evening. With the number of police surrounding the building, Kyungsoo knew that the gunmen were heavily outnumbered, but there were also hostages on the first floor that could be put at risk if anyone tried to enter the building by force. 

“Cop cars are everywhere, gunmen were last heard on the first floor, probably looking at around ten to twelve hostages. I have only seen two gunmen so far, but I know there are at least five judging by the number of different accents I’ve heard. That or these two guys are a two-man tribute act to the Kids Next Door.” Kyungsoo heard Jongdae snort. “Where are you?”

“In the basement. I found the mains power source, as well as the motherboard for the computer systems throughout the building. I’ve not been this excited since college, lots of things for me to play with.” Kyungsoo could just about imagine Jongdae tapping his fingers together like Mr. Burns. 

“Can you lock and unlock doors from your position? The emergency stairwell door was open and I’d prefer it if it weren’t for now. I can handle the gunmen if they come up one set of stairs but if they’re coming from both directions I’m a goner.” 

“Yeah, no problem, just shout when you need the doors locking or unlocking, I’ll try and find a way to shut off the power for specific rooms, probably won’t help because the emergency lighting will kick in almost immediately but without power they can’t operate the lift or use the computers.” 

Kyungsoo muttered thanks to Jongdae before turning around and heading off back in the direction he’d come. Before turning the corner he stopped and listened. He could hear the door at the other end of the corridor opening very slowly - he’d noted that the main stairwell door to the fourth floor needed oiling, something that really irritated the people who worked there, but would be of great advantage to Kyungsoo. 

Cocking his gun, he put his back against the wall and peeked around the corner. The corridor had a slight curve to it, but Kyungsoo could just about make out the barrel of an MP5 resting in a large, tanned hand. Kyungsoo could already tell that this gunman was bigger than him, definitely not someone he’d want to fight one on one. 

“Dae, unlock the emergency stairs door on the fourth floor,” Kyungsoo whispered, not willing to take chances even though the gunman must’ve been at least thirty feet away from him. 

“Got it.” 

The gunman appeared to be guarding the main stairwell, though Kyungsoo couldn’t understand why. There weren’t any employees on this floor, and by the looks of it the gunman hadn’t brought any up with him either, so why exactly was he guarding the staircase door?

Unless he knew that Kyungsoo was there. .

Taking a deep breath, Kyungsoo analysed the situation. To get back to the emergency staircase he had to turn right onto the main corridor. There was no way he’d be able to make it to the stairs without being spotted by the gunman, and he didn’t have to see the gun to know that the gunman had more rounds than he did. 

“Dae, can you hack into the security cameras for the fourth floor?” Kyungsoo questioned.

“Yeah, give me a sec...aha, got it,” Jongdae replied. “Okay, you’re definitely not going to be able to make it to the stairs without being seen, that’s a given, however, there should be a grid for the ventilation system a few feet behind you.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Kyungsoo spotted the grid on the wall. He’d been working with Jongdae long enough to know where this was going. 

“If you can get into the vent, climb up, then forward, then take a right and it should drop you in the staircase.” 

Kyungsoo grimaced, “it’s a good thing I have narrow shoulders.” 

Taking one final look to see if the gunman had moved - he hadn’t - Kyungsoo inched his way back towards the grid. By the looks of it, the vent would be a tight squeeze with the width of it only an inch or two wider than his shoulders, but being uncomfortable in a small space for a minute or two was far less painful than being shot so Kyungsoo got to work unscrewing the bolts and climbed in.

It was definitely a tight squeeze, but of the most uncomfortable places he’d been in it still didn’t make the top five. The hard part was climbing out at the other end. The vent opened out into the stairwell, but it was at least a six-foot drop to the ground and Kyungsoo didn’t have enough space to spin himself around. 

Looking up he spotted a thin pipe, more than likely a water pipe. Just about managing to flip onto his back, he reached up and grabbed the pipe, pulling himself out. It wasn’t until he’d dropped to the floor that he registered that the pipe had been scolding hot. His hands were sore, but he didn’t have time to think about that right now. 

Making off up the stairs again, Kyungsoo noted the movement of the security camera in the corner. Evidentially, Jongdae was now following his every move. That would make things somewhat easier. 

The fifth floor and up were building sites. The company that owned the building had opted to expand their offices, so the three floors above the fourth were in the middle of being converted from three large function rooms to meeting rooms. 

Kyungsoo heard the door lock behind him and he stepped out onto the fifth floor. He was thankful that he had Jongdae watching his back as he hurried through the building site, avoiding stray pieces of wood and power tools as he went. 

“Dae, has the bastard on the fourth floor moved?” Kyungsoo wandered into the half-dismantled function room at the end, finding it to be the only one with more than one exit and sat himself down behind an upturned desk. 

“Not moved an inch since you got into the vent,” Jongdae replied, “Our friends on the first floor have gathered into one corner of the room, though, think they might be planning something.” 

“And the cops outside? Do you have a visual?” 

“Don’t seem to have a plan as of yet, my guess is they’ll wait until someone starts firing before they actually realise there’s a situation in front of them that they need to sort out. The police are completely useless sometimes,”

Kyungsoo snorted, “Dae, you are the police,”

“Exactly, I know how difficult I can be,” Jongdae flipped a switch, “it’s a good thing I’m smart.” 

“Debatable,” Laying out all the bullets he had left on the floor in front of him, Kyungsoo calculated how many chances he’d have against the gunmen. He cursed, “Dae, how many gunmen are there? I’m severely limited on ammunition,” 

He heard Jongdae click his tongue, “Well, we have our guy on the fourth floor, plus two that are guarding the main staircase on the ground floor, then the leader and…four of his men on the first floor, and there are two wandering about on the second floor, so ten in total,” 

“Wonderful,” he really was short on ammo, “just what I wanted to hear. Any chance you could get in touch with the police and tell them what’s going on, without mentioning that I’m in the building? We don’t know if the gunmen are on the same line as the cops.” 

“What do you think I am, a ? On it,” 

Putting the bullets back in their pouch, Kyungsoo glanced out of the window. Like Jongdae had said the police hadn't moved since he’d left the fourth flo