It’s too much. It overwhelms him, the mustiness of the third-floor basement, the dim light bulbs barely lighting up the windowless room. It makes his skin crawl, the roars of the passionate youth around him, the lack of space in this dingy concrete room, the smell of gunpowder in the damp air. He can’t take it anymore.

“Well, well, well, if it ain’t my best friend Andy,” an oily voice drawls beside his ear, and Andy nearly jumps out of his skin. “Aw, come on, scared by me, a wholeass weakling?”

Andy turns, looks into the smiling eyes of Lee Minwoo, and takes a step back. Minwoo is short and well-built, black hair falling over his eyes, and always armed with a smile. But underneath that guise of happiness, he knows, Minwoo is cold and calculating, able to skin a man faster than Andy can snap his fingers. Andy has no intention of showing him any vulnerability.

“Well, you crept up on me, didn’t you?” he replies easily, showing a smile of his own. “Don’t let your guard down, I’m definitely going to get you back.”

Minwoo laughs, throwing back his head in a show of unbridled joy. He’s not much shorter than Andy, but somehow, he seems much more terrifying. Less subtle about his feelings, but slicker and more treacherous.

“All ‘cuz I scared you.” Minwoo’s smile grows dark, and he leans in close, dropping the fake valley accent. “I shudder to think of what you might do had I gone even further.”

He turns away, clapping his hands to draw his men’s attention, and Andy is left with chills prickling under his skin. He knows Minwoo, knows him well, knows that he would take advantage of anyone. Andy had personally witnessed him sliding a knife into a business partner’s back while still shaking his hand in front. Minwoo terrifies most of the Family, and for good reason.

He runs through tonight’s plan one last time as Andy observes from the side. They’re to eliminate a big court official, Mun Junghyuk, for corruption. Family operatives have already disabled the alarms on the entrances, and the three mission teams will enter the building from three separate rendezvous points. Once in, the teams will merge and split again with respect to skills. The technical team will deal with security and destroy incriminating evidence. The scout team will spread out and keep watch, as well as sort out random passersby. The operating team, then, will be the ones to break into the apartment and murder the man.

“Remember who Mun Junghyuk is,” Minwoo announces, and Andy rolls his eyes. “He asked for our help, and then he betrayed us, causing the capture of no less than twelve of our soldiers.” Hisses and boos fill the room, and Andy meets the other man’s hard gaze with exasperation. “We will not forgive him! Death to Mun Junghyuk!”

Minwoo leaps off the chair he had been standing on and makes his way to Andy’s side with an amused grin. “Wasn’t I good?” Seeing no reaction from Andy, Minwoo shakes his head in mock hurt. “Come on, that was the best performance I’ve given in ages!”

“It was so dramatic that it ended up cringey.” Andy yawns, indifferent. “Would have been better without the whole death thing.”

Minwoo chuckles at the dry criticism. “That’s fair.” He leans against the wall and glances at the clock. “Hyesung’s late. What do you think he’s doing this time? I bet he’s…”

Minwoo continues to talk, but Andy can’t hear a single word. He responds automatically to the conversation, but he doesn’t even know what he said or why he said it. , why now? Why now, why here, why him? Why is he so affected by the simple mention of a name? Why does his brain short-circuit at the single image of a face that comes to mind?

Shin Hyesung, the dark knight. The brightly-shining, darkly-cloaked assassin. Hyesung shines like the sun, illuminating whichever room he happens to be in, lighting up the murky atmosphere like a ten-thousand-watt light bulb (in contrast to the dim forty-watt bulbs used throughout the building). Hyesung dazzles his audience, leaving them breathless, and Andy is no exception.

“...dy, Andy!” He snaps back to attention as Minwoo shakes his shoulder roughly. The movement rattles his skull, and it hurts. Andy takes a step back, steadying himself. “Where did your little brain go?” Minwoo taps his finger against Andy’s head, hard, and Andy ducks away.

“Can’t a man think around here?” he jibes, attempting to hide his hammering heart. Minwoo is scaring him left and right today, and Andy doesn’t want him to notice anything wrong. But is anything really wrong? “Just because you’re dumb doesn’t mean everyone else has to be.” Minwoo shakes his head, walking away just as Andy sticks out his tongue, and claps his hands again.

This time, it’s for real. The chatter dies, and everyone turns to Minwoo.

“Are we ready?” he asks quietly. No one speaks. Not a single person even moves. “Yeah, well, we have to be.”

It’s rare, almost unheard of, for Minwoo to be so completely serious, as he is now, and Andy knows it’s because of this particular mission. It involves a lot of people, hence a lot of risks. Minwoo, loyal lapdog to the Family, hates losing anyone on missions.

“Stop wasting time.” Andy joins him, gaze sweeping over every single excited face in the crowd. “Blood will run tonight.”

i finally got my together and finished revising this chapter... expect a long time for ch. 2 since i have to add in more stuff :"(( and adding in stuff always takes a long time...