“!” Bambam cursed loudly when another two more humanoids blocked his way. The exit was just right in front of him. Thankfully, Taecyeon managed to appear behind them in time to smash their head against each other. That act was enough to shut the two humanoids down. 

Taecyeon took a quick glance at the unconscious woman in Bambam’s arm then back into the empty space where Udon was fighting a group by himself. 

“Where did they come from?” Bambam asked in a panic tone. “There weren’t so many when we were observing them. With all the fighting, Udon won’t be able to hack into their system easily.”

“I know I know.” Taecyeon kept his eyes on the situation behind Bambam. “Mark’s little brother will not be easy to handle either. He’s human...”

Almost on cue, Jisung managed to escape from Udon and dashed to where Taecyeon and Bambam were. Taecyeon did not flinch and instead remained at where he’s standing.

“Taecyeon...” Bambam muttered worriedly. He could guess what the older man was going to do. But if he failed, it might be harder to get out.

“Bring them both out.” Taecyeon instructed in a soft whisper and before Jisung could hold up his gun, Taecyeon grabbed the smaller built boy. Being bigger in size, Taecyeon forced Jisung down onto the floor and knocked him out. He then pushed Jisung’s unconscious body towards Bambam.

“Go.” Taecyeon commanded. “Now. Udon, you too.”

Udon stopped fighting and walked up to them; Taecyeon stepped forward in a defensive manner, blocking the remaining androids from Udon and Bambam. 

“Drive them to safety, I will get out somehow.”

Despite the instruction given to Udon earlier, Bambam’s eyes widened. However, there was no chance for him to protest as Udon dragged all three of them out.

---

Bambam wanted to run back into the mall but Udon stopped him, pushing him back into the car.

“You’re not allowed to go.”

“Udon, listen.” Bambam started off breathlessly. “Turn off your attack mode. Taecyeon doesn’t even have any weapons on him!”

“Saving you, Sunmi and Jisung is my top priority.”

“Udon—“

A bright light shone on their car and another car came to a stop with a loud screeching sound. Bambam almost wanted to cry when he saw Jaebum flung the door open. Jinyoung’s following behind.

“Wha— You managed to get them.” Jaebum mumbled, half in shock.

“But Taecyeon’s still in there. The androids in there were a lot stronger. Even Udon was having a hard time.”

Jaebum and Jinyoung shared a look with each other.

“Bam, listen.” Jaebum started slowly. “You’re not the strongest fighter in our team. Let Udon drive you back, no don’t argue. We are here, Jinyoung and I. We fought off that group of androids in that warehouse, remember?”

Bambam nodded, his breathing still uneven.

“With Taecyeon around, things would be easier.”

“Wait for us at Jaebum’s apartment.” Jinyoung stepped forward. “The girls are really worried.”

This time, Bambam did not argue. 

They were right, Jaebum and Jinyoung were the strongest fighters in their team. With Taecyeon there, everything would be alright.

“Good boy.”

Bambam managed to crack a small smile at Jaebum’s and Jinyoung’s simultaneous replies. He gave them another slight nod and turned around towards Taecyeon’s car. Jinyoung and Jaebum shared a quick look after they made sure Bambam got on the car before the both of them made a dash towards the quiet mall.

—

---

“Jeongyeon, do you think they will be fine?” Nayeon paced around the room, half biting on her fingers and asked. “We should have stopped them right?”

“Nayeon.” Jeongyeon’s voice was firm as she looked up from her laptop. She had been tracing Jaebum’s and Jinyoung’s track. “Calm the down. They met up with them.”

That made Nayeon stopped her pacing as the girl hurried to sit next to Jeongyeon. Indeed, the screen indicated that they were all together. However, it didn’t take long before two dots were seen to leave the location.

“Wait, why—“ Nayeon muttered. Jeongyeon started typing again, wondering the same thing. 

“It’s Bambam and Udon.” 

“Why would they leave the others behind?”

“My guess is, they got Sunmi and Mark’s little brother— Nayeon!” Jeongyeon called out and grabbed onto Nayeon’s wrist to stop the other girl from biting her fingers again. “Your finger’s bleeding!”

Nayen blinked and looked down as a small “oh” formed on her lips.

“It’s a habit…”

“Calm down and trust them.” Jeongyeon tried her best to sound confident but Nayeon didn’t miss the slight shaking in her voice which she decided to not bring it up. After all, Jeongyeon was just trying to comfort her.

Silence took for but only for a short while. It was soon broken by the sound of a door opening just behind them. The two girls turned around abruptly and was greeted by Mark who was dragging his injured self out again. Nayeon was the first to jump up from the couch. 

“You shouldn’t be moving!” She rushed to the man’s side, holding his arm to help support him. However, her gestures weren’t appreciated.

“You said they got Jisung and Sunmi?” Mark fixed his gaze on Jeongyeon. 

“It was just a guess…” Jeongyeon trailed off at the end, avoiding any eye contact with Mark. She did not want to bring his hopes high. 

“Where are they now?” 

“Mark!” Nayeon exclaimed as she held onto his arm again, not backing down. “Your wound’s going to open— it already did.”

Jeongyeon glanced at Mark’s lower left abdomen and indeed, the area was soaked with blood again. She hurried to his other side, helping Nayeon to support the man as he staggered a little.

“Let me go!” Mark tried to push them away but his opened wound had made his body weak again. Nayeon and Jeongyeon’s grips were still firm around his arms.

“You can’t even push us away. What makes you think you will be of any help.” Jeongyeon scoffed which got her a glare from Nayeon. However, she ignored it and continued. “You’re just going to be a burden and we don’t need that.”

“Shut the up!” Mark yelled, trying to push them away again. “You don’t understand! It was my fault he went missing…”

The two girls shared a look. That’s the first time Mark talked about his past.

“I shouldn’t have left him alone.” He continued to ramble as he tried his best to shrug both girls off. “I need to go, I need to be the one.”

“Mark.” Nayeon tried again, this time her voice was more firm. “, look at me!”

Jeongyeon’s eyes widened, surprised at what Nayeon said. Just a moment ago, she was really worried about the man. She watched Nayeon jumped in front, blocking Mark from dragging himself to the door.

“Get lost.” Mark’s voice was deadly cold. “Get lost before I—“

One loud slapping sound stopped Mark from continuing. Jeongyeon’s jaw dropped a little. Didn’t Nayeon just glared at her for being harsh on Mark just earlier?

“Jeongyeon’s right. You’re a burden right now.” Nayeon stated in a matter of fact tone. “You’re being a burden. A pathetic one too. A pathetic loser who thinks that everything’s his fault and that it can only be solved by himself. What do you think you are? A hero that save us all? You think you’re all that special?”

“Nayeon…” Jeongyeon tried stopping her and it was then, she saw the tears welling in Nayeon’s eyes. 

“You’re not special. You’re just a human, like all of us. How do you think all of you got here? Even before I became a part of this? All of you worked together, didn’t you? Because you worked together, I’m still alive, good as new! Because we worked together, we could bring Jeongyeon’s parents out from danger. Because we worked together, we could stop Jinyoung from shooting earlier! And because we worked together, we are able to reach this point where you finally know what happened to your little brother!”

Nayeon paused and took in a deep breath. She didn’t realised that she had said all those in one breath. Mark had stopped struggling in the midst of Nayeon’s outburst. Jeongyeon watched the two of them nervously. One side of her hoped that Nayeon’s words would make Mark understand but the other half of her was worried that Mark would get even more agitated. 

But after feeling Mark’s body relaxing proved to her that her worries were uncalled for.

“So, be good.” Nayeon’s voice got gentler. “Recover soon so you will be able to do what you want, should and need to do.”

“Yeah, be good.” Jeongyeon supported. “Go sit down, we will dress your wound. I would have let Nayeon handle it but, I’m the more experienced one here. We don’t need you to have extra wounds.”

“Hey!” Nayeon shouted, feeling slightly offended.

“I’m just joking.” Jeongyeon chuckled as she and Nayeon supported Mark to the couch. 

---

Should they really go back to the apartment?

What if they already found out about it?

Will they be able to handle a brainwashed Sunmi and Jisung?

“Udon!” Bambam spoke in a loud voice. “Go to the bookstore, we are going to the basement.”

Udon nodded. 

“I told you to turn off your attack mode.” Bambam muttered, taking his phone out from his pocket and after some time, he looked up again. “Are you back with me now?”

“I guess so?” Udon turned to look at the back after setting the car to auto drive mode. His gaze shifted to the unconscious Sunmi. “That's Sunmi... She gave me this name and life, sort of.”

“Yeah, we got your mother back.” Bambam followed Udon’s gaze to the figure that's leaning against his right side. “Apparently, we got Mark’s little brother back too” He turned his attention to the younger boy who’s leaning against the car door on his left. 

“They were so near us all these time.” 

“Bambam, where's Taecyeon?” Udon interrupted Bambam’s thoughts. “We left him there—“

“Jaebum and Jinyoung are there with him. They will be alright.” Bambam couldn't hide the uncertainty in his voice as he added in a soft mumble at the end. “I hope.”

Udon, with his super hearing ability as an android definitely did not miss the last two words. But being exposed to the humans who were filled with compassion and love for each other, he also learnt to keep his mouth shut when he's supposed to.

The rest of the ride was silent as Udon took over the wheels manually.

---

“Why is Bambam and Udon heading to the old bookstore’s direction?” Mark slowly sat up straight, his gaze fixed on Jeongyeon’s laptop screen. 

Nayeon put the unpacked first aid kit aside and turned to watch the screen too. Indeed, the two dots were heading to the neighborhood she was very familiar with. 

“He got them.” Mark answered the silent questions in the girls’ head. “It will be dangerous to come here. Call them. Jaebum, Jinyoung or Taecyeon, any of them!”

Mark inhaled sharply, trying to calm himself down. He could feel the anxiousness building up in him but Nayeon’s words kept ringing in his head. She was right, he couldn't do anything if he just act without thinking. 

“Boss!” 

Mark and Nayeon stared at Jeongyeon who finally got hold of Jaebum.

“Put him on speaker.” 

Jeongyeon nodded at Mark’s request and did as he requested. 

“We got them!” 

Mark stood up immediately and strode towards Jeongyeon who was standing by the side of the couch. Nayeon stayed seated down and kept his gaze on the two of them while the conversation continued.

“Bambam’s heading towards the old basement, why aren't you guys together?” Jeongyeon managed to ask in a calm tone. 

“We sent Bambam away.” Jinyoung’s voice shouted on the other end of the call. “Taecyeon was caught in a messy situation.”

“Is he—“

“I’m fine.” Taecyeon interrupted Jeongyeon’s question. “Just a little scratch. I won’t die from this.”

“Bring the first aid kit.” Jaebum instructed. “He was stabbed—“ He could hear the loud gasp from the two girls. “But it wasn’t anywhere crucial. We will meet at the basement.”

With that, the call ended.

---

` the updates are really getting slower (i'm sorry!) but it will continue to come. i'm aiming for at least an update within 2 weeks. hopefully, we can go back to the weekly updates! but, i started two one shot collections (adoration and a levihan one that's not here) so i will get distracted a little. this story is still my main project now! since.. we are almost at the last part of the story. share your thoughts and guesses or predictions!!

 

- ddeokbxkki -