Matthew gripped the plastic fork, his mouth grimacing as its last teeth snapped.

"Agh, sh*t." At that, the plastic was thrown across the room, and Matthew glared daggers at the metal bracelet locked to his hospital bed. His eyes snapped to the door and he immediately lied back, putting up an innocent air around him. But his face brightened up when he saw his friend entering the room.

"How is she doing?" Matthew asked as soon as Taehyung was next to him.

"She's fine. But she had lost too much blood and Miss Yoohyeon is donating some of hers," said Taehyung. Matthew looked away and nodded, a faraway look on him.

Seeing the trouble still apparent on his cousin's face, and the broken pieces of plastic seen on the floor, Taehyung tried to appease his concern. "Don't think too much bro, stress is not needed when you're the one occupying a hospital bed."

Matthew sighed. "I'm trying."

"Your fiancée is gonna be alright. Trust me."

Meanwhile, Siyeon was lying down, resting her eyes on a bench outside Dami's room, waiting for Doctor Wendy to give her a go-ahead and see her friend. She was drifting off when she felt a soft touch on her shoulder. She flinched but then relaxed as she saw the Doctor's face, remembering that she was safe in Headquarters.

"You should've taken one of the beds in the ward. I'm sure someone could've find one empty."

Siyeon shook her head, "I'm alright Doc, just a little tired."

Doctor Wendy nodded, dropping the subject. "Were you waiting this whole time, Siyeon?" she asked.

She shook her head again. "No, just got here ten minutes ago." She paused. "Where's Yoohyeon?"

"She's resting in another room. Come, let's go inside." Siyeon nodded and followed Doctor Wendy to Dami's room.

As she walked in, she glanced at Dami's bed, which was situated behind a glass wall. Protective glass, she guessed judging by the lone door with a passcode on the far left and the thickness of the glass. Siyeon's eyes stopped at a male figure before her.

"Jooheon? I thought you were with Yoohyeon?"

Jooheon turned at the sound of her voice and took a second to answer her. "Doctor Wendy dragged me here and to let Yoohyeon rest... alone." He shrugged.

Shaking her head, Doctor Wendy went to the desk in front of Dami's bed where a laptop was running. She took out a USB from her pocket and plugged into the laptop.

"Yes, and no matter what you say, sharing the bed won't help her heal faster. Both of you, come here. I want to show you something." Doctor Wendy called them.

Siyeon and Jooheon went closer, curious on what she was going to show them. "What is it?" Siyeon asked. Before Doctor Wendy explained, she opened a still image of a PET scan.

Jooheon's eyebrows creased, turning to the Doctor. "I'm guessing this is Dami's brain, Doctor?"

"Yes, this shows her brain activity when she's unconscious," Doctor Wendy explained to them.

Then, she goes onto the next slide, which showed the same image but the repeating clip contrasted the previous. Where different colours were on war on different parts of the brain, every pulse sending sparks, looking like a pond filled with hungry fish.

"And this is her brain when the Angel Dust was activated." As the Doctor finished explaining, both of them were still gaping on the short clip.

"W-why is Dami's brain like that?" gasped Siyeon.

"All the lit up parts were reacting to Angel Dust when it was starting to activate inside her body, which is why Dami couldn't control her actions," stated Doctor Wendy.

"To make it short, Angel Dust did not just control her movements but also her mind?" asked Jooheon.

"Yes. Including her emotions. The Angel Dust was formulated to focus and react on certain parts of the brain." Then, Doctor Wendy zoomed in closer. "But, there's one part where Angel Dust couldn't take hold 100%; her temporal lobe," she said, tapping the screen.

"Temporal Lobe?" questioned Siyeon.

"It's the brain part for hearing, language and memory," explained Jooheon.

"Memory..." Siyeon recalled to the chaos that happened this morning. Dami mumbling Matthew's name when she stopped fighting, but it lasted only a few seconds before she attacked again.

"What's wrong, Siyeon?" Doctor Wendy asked as she noticed her zoning out.

"Dami said Matthew's name when Sua tried to distract her and... I don't know she suddenly screamed in pain but it wasn't long before she became aggressive again and attacked her."

"So, Dami had the ability to hear, understand and also remember us but she couldn't control her actions and her emotions because of that drug?" Jooheon cleared up.

"Exactly. Like a normal human being, if people can't control their actions and emotions they will change but their memories and understanding their surroundings prevents them from taking actions recklessly. But, it depends on how strong their mind is," stated Doctor Wendy.

She continued. "Luckily, the antidote that you made, Jooheon, worked and it didn't leave any negative side effects on her body nor her brain."

"So, I guess we already found the cure for Angel Dust," Jooheon sighed, relief in his voice. Siyeon perked up at the news, smiling gratefully.

Doctor Wendy ended the slide show and plugged out the USB from the laptop. "That's all that I wanted to show. With the recent development, let's hope that this chaos stop before it's worse."

"Thanks, Doc," said Siyeon.

"If there's nothing else, then I'm going to leave you here, Siyeon," Siyeon nodded, confirming nothing else needed to discuss.

"And Jooheon?" Jooheon glanced at Doctor Wendy.

"Can we discuss about the antidote inside my office?"

"Sure thing." Both of them walked out of the room, leaving Siyeon alone with Dami. She looked at her unconscious friend through the glass wall, not only worrying for her friend, but the mission that was stretched on for too long.

Siyeon reached out to Dami, and her hand rested against the glass wall. She let out her breath slowly. "How are we going to end this, Dami? We need you to tell us what we're doing wrong dammit." Siyeon tightened her hand into a fist and slammed on the surface.

-------------------------

Struggling with her injuries, Jiu kept walking, or rather limped towards her destination. Luckily, she had some spare clothes that Mino had brought a few days ago so people wouldn't look twice now that she was not garbed in hospital clothes.

She didn't remember how long she'd been walking but her body was starting to get weak and she tried to hold herself up from falling unconscious.

"Not now, Minji. You're almost there." She told herself.

A couple of blocks and near pass-outs later, she arrived at her destination; NITE second headquarters.

"Hopefully Madam Yoona is here..." She panted and walked towards the entrance. As soon as she walked in, the receptionist in charge spotted Jiu walking slowly. Her eyebrows creased more as the Agent got nearer to the reception table.

"Miss Jiu, when were you discharged from the hospital?" the receptionist greeted.

"I-I need to see Madam Yoona right now," Jiu said desperately.

"Madam Yoona is not here today. Today is her off day and she had an overnight shift yesterday," informed the receptionist.

"Damn it..."

Contemplating whether to ask, the receptionist spoke again. "Miss Jiu... about Miss Dami--"

Jiu's attention snapped up at her member's name. "H-huh?"

She took out her phone and showed the video that had been viral since morning. "Here." She held her phone to Jiu.

With trembling hands Jiu watched the video closely and she was shocked to find her members in the video. "Where...did you get this?"

"It's all over the internet, Miss Jiu." Jiu was about to speak before her body decided to shut down, and fell.

"Miss Jiu!"

_______________

It was 3 p.m. and Handong was the first awake. In the quiet room, she looked up at the ceiling and blinked twice, trying to remember where she was. At that moment, she felt a breath blowing behind her neck, then a weight holding down her waist. She slowly peaked over her shoulder and saw a topless Xiumin sleeping and looking down, his arm around her.

She slowly lifted his hand without waking him up and after that, got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom.

She washed her face at the sink, letting the cold water wake her for a minute. As she closed the tap, she looked up at herself at the mirror. She tried to remember what happened between her and Xiumin before they ended up in the bedroom.

"I just gave my first time to someone who won't even remember me..."
she mumbled bending over the sink regretfully. She gripped the sink, willing herself to control her feelings. Her heart hurt when she thought about it. She needed to calm down, desperately willing her heart to beat at a normal rate. 'Is this what it feels when you need to let go of someone you love?' she thought as she turned around and looked at Xiumin's sleeping form.

She walked out of the bathroom and looked around the room, at the messy clothes strewn across the wood tile. Shaking her head, she picked up the clothes when at that moment, Xiumin started to wake.

His vision was blurry when he saw a figure moving around the room. Then realizing Handong wasn't on the bed with him, his eyes focused as he saw Handong picking up the garments on the floor.

"You're leaving?" Handong startled, snapping her head up when she heard Xiumin's voice.

"You scared me," said Handong.

"I'm sorry. I... I thought you were gonna leave," he confessed.

"Why? You want me to stay here for a while?" Xiumin didn't reply, just looked at her quietly. Handong smirked and dumped the clothes on a chair nearby. She went back to the bed and climbed in beside him as she tugged herself back with the blanket.

"Come here," she said. Xiumin shimmied closer, cuddling her.

"Better?" She whispered as she patted his head softly. Xiumin hugged her tightly, listening to her heart beat. Handong smiled at his reaction, happy to bask in the moment.

A minute later, Xiumin whispered, "Handong?"

She hummed.

"Why are we doing this?" Handong hummed again in questioning tone.

"I mean... I already know your true identity and my memory will be wiped after your mission is settled..." he trailed off.

Handong thought about it. Clearly he wanted this too, so she needed to find some solution to keep this relationship. "No... if Madam Yoona doesn't know..." Handong bit her lip. Hiding that would be a struggle. Well, looking at Siyeon's case it was a shock to found out about.

Xiumin remained silent but Handong knew he was worried.

"I will try to speak with Madam Yoona. Hopefully she'll give another chance." She gave a peck on his forehead while his hand moved to her waist. He caught a glimpse of the tattoo again, noticing it first when they were intimate just hours ago.

"The tattoo, when did you get it?" he asked, her waist.

"Remember I told you about the place I was raised in?"

"The orphanage was it?"

She nodded. "It was a must that the kids have this tattoo. I remembered some of the kids said that the barcode links to information about us."

"Like a biodata?"

She tilted her head and continued, "Sort of. I found some info using my barcode and it turns out I wasn't dropped off there when I was a baby. I was kidnapped from my real family and then brought to that place. Since then I tried to find my real parents but failed, so I decided to run away from that hell hole."

"And the woman you called 'mama' was the one that found you?"

"She brought me to her home, keeping me safe and she took care of me until I was seventeen." Handong nodded.

"What happened to her? Did she pass away?"

Without thinking twice, Handong replied his question. "The demon from hell killed her." Xiumin's eyes shot wide open as he leaned back.

Handong continued again. "He tracked me for years, found out my location and he wanted to end my life. But, mama sacrificed herself to protect me from getting stabbed."

"Did... was he caught by the police?"

"No..." At that moment, Handong couldn't hide her wince, her body curling. She couldn't shake off her disturbing past, years of torture in the orphanage then what happened after... Her body started shaking.

"Handong, a-are you alright?" Xiumin cried out, feeling her shivering in his arms. He held her arms, grounding her.

Handong gasped out, "I-I killed him, Xiumin. I killed....with my own hands, w-with a knife..."

Her traumatic experience made her feel terrified, even when she try not to show her feelings but inside, she was still afraid, fighting her inner demons. Ever since that day, knives and daggers caused her to break in a cold sweat, dreading the memory that followed when she killed the demon.

Xiumin knew she wasn't ready to tell him about it. At first, he couldn't understand why she would not show any reactions, but now he understood why. He knew Handong was trying not to show how she was feeling. Perceiving it as weakness, maybe. But when the dam breaks...

Xiumin pulled her closer, cupping her face as he bent down for a kiss. His lips was therapy for Handong, instantly her body stopped shaking, feeling calmer as she let him kiss her. After a while, he slowly leaned back, watching her reaction.

"It wasn't your fault Handong, and you didn't do anything wrong. You were protecting yourself and also... you wanted to avenge your mama's soul."

"Y-you think so?" Handong asked.

"I would do the same thing if someone killed my family, even if I was breaking laws but our emotions would take over our thoughts then," he replied.

"Y-you're right. I-I couldn't hold in my rage when he did that to my mama..."

He wiped her tears and dabbed at the sweat on her face. "She was dear to you Handong. Now, you're safe and you've become so much better. You have an awesome job, a new life and you have.... me by your side."

Handong couldn't reply as she looked into his eyes.

"Even though I can't be like your mama but I hope I can be in a part of your life," Xiumin said, holding her cheek tenderly.

"D-do you love me, Xiumin?" she asked.

He gave a peck on her forehead and whispered. "I do love you. I told you that I'm here with you and I will always be here for you. Always..."

His magical words made her feel something she had not felt for years; being loved and Xiumin made her feel that and more.

"I-I love you too." Handong confessed, and Xiumin smiled knowing she was opening her heart to him. They went in for another kiss, this time more passionate, rougher, and neither one of them wanted to let go.
 

'Xiumin, thank you for always staying by my side...'
 

________________

Jiu slowly opened her eyes, seeing blobs of colours instead of objects. She wasn't sure where she was but she could tell she was lying on a bed. Suddenly, she saw a blurry figure come beside her.

"Minji, are you alright?" Jiu recognized her voice, the person she was looking for.

"M-ma'am..." She blinked rapidly to see Madam Yoona beside her. She tried to get up from the bed, Madam Yoona lending her hand.

"W-hat time is it, ma'am?" asked Jiu.

"Almost 10 at night," Madam Yoona spoke.

"T-ten?!" Jiu cried out, she slept far too long.

Madam Yoona sat beside her on the bed. "You're supposed to be at the hospital, Jiu. You are still weak," she said.

Jiu stayed silent, gathering her thoughts. "I-I can't, Madam Yoona. I can't be in the hospital while Sua, Siyeon, Handong and Yoohyeon are trying to help Dami and do the mission. I'm feeling uneasy and I've never felt so useless." Madam Yoona could just remain silent as Jiu continued to rant.

Jiu continued. "And... about the footage--"

"I already know," Madam Yoona replied.

"It was L, ma'am. He must have told s to record our members so people can see the side effects of the Angel Dust!" Jiu breathed heavily, trying to remain calm. "This is the hardest mission that we have faced for the past five years, Madam Yoona."

"And a dangerous mission too. Half of our team were taken down and Sua was just sent to the hospital," Madam Yoona said.

"Sua? H-how is she, ma'am?"

"Siyeon informed that Sua had difficulty breathing due to an injury on her neck."

"Even Sua, who's immune to physical attack can be beat down." Jiu sighed, looking down dejectedly. A heavy silence descended between the pair.

A minute later, Madam Yoona spoke up. "This is not a spy mission anymore. It's a suicide mission. We have to withdraw this mission--"

Jiu cut her off as she argued, "No, Madam Yoona. I'm disagreeing with your suggestion this time."

Madam Yoona straightened her back. "Three members of your team, including you is knocked out by L. All of us are only pieces, trapped in his game," Madam Yoona urged.

"Then, we have to defeat him in his own game."

"Minji..." Jiu reached out to Madam Yoona's hands.

"Ma'am. I know that you're worried because you don't want the same thing happen to Siyeon but if we withdraw, right now, people all over the world will die and we would be the ones blamed, not L." Madam Yoona remained silent. What Jiu said was true. She was worried about them and didn't want to lose them like she lost her own daughter.

"If this is our last mission together ma'am, then I want to say thank you for taking care of us from the first day you took us in and trained us to be better persons and also, treating us like your own daughters." Madam Yoona felt touched, but still, she didn't want to let out her tears in front of her.

Just then, knocking was heard from the door.

"He's quick," Madam Yoona said, looking impressed.

"He? Who's quick?" Jiu asked as Madam Yoona went to the door.

"Your prince charming." Madam Yoona opened the door and said person rushed into the room, hugging Jiu tightly.

"Thank goodness you're safe, Minji."

Jiu teared up, hearing his voice, feeling sorry for making him worry. "Mino, I-I'm sorry."

Mino patted her hair softly, calming her. "It's alright. I know you'd come here."

They released their hug and Mino cupped Jiu's face as he wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

"It's already late. I suggest both of you should stay here tonight." Madam Yoona spoke from behind.

"B-But, Sua's mother and Chaewon might be waiting for us at the house," said Jiu.

"They're going to take care of Sua along with Jimin at the hospital tonight," Mino replied and Jiu nodded.

"Good night and sleep well," nodded Madam Yoona and she walked out of the room. As soon Madam Yoona closed the door, Mino glanced at Jiu who was still in a gloomy mood.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I don't know why I feel uneasy..." she said.

----------------------

The lovebirds walked out of the house together as Xiumin locked his front door while Handong went to the front gate. She walked to her motorbike and started the engine, waiting for Xiumin.

At that moment, Xiumin steered through the garage doors, and stopped beside her at the front of the house.

"Thank you for today," Handong said.

"Take care. Don't speed up too much and brake at the traffic lights." He advised and Handong chuckled. Xiumin smiled, taking her hand into his, pulling her closer. Handong laughed at his action and cupped his face, giving him a quick peck on his lips.

"You're gonna be late for work," she whispered.

"Just one more kiss," Xiumin pouted. Handong gave him one more kiss but this time, it was not a quick peck as Xiumin moved closer, deepening the kiss. Handong leaned back from the kiss as she smirked.

"Okay that's enough, kiss hunter or you're really gonna be late for work," she spoke.

Xiumin chuckled along and let her go. Handong went back to her bike and swung her leg, putting on her helmet. They looked at each other through the screens and nodded. Both pulled away from the house steering close to each other.

Five minutes later, they reached at the traffic lights where they would separate. Xiumin gave a two-finger salute at Handong and Handong replied with a nod. As the red light changed to green, the duo went separate ways as Xiumin headed to his workplace as Handong went to NiTE first headquarter.

As she was on her way to her destination, she suddenly remembered that she hadn't told Siyeon that she was heading to the agency for the day.

"Ah crap. I will call her when I arrive," she muttered speeding past a green light.

Suddenly, a couple of black SUV cars surrounded her. Two of the cars on both side and one behind.

"What the hell..." She looked alarmingly at both of the cars at her sides as they kept closer to her.

"It's them."

I'm the next target.

End of Chapter 54.