A thin layer of sweat covers Sehun and Chen’s bare chests. The boy’s hair sticks to his forehead before he pushes it out of his eyes. “It’s too tight!” he gasps.

“Stop being such a ,” he grunts.

“Kai will,” he pants, ”Kill us if he sees us doing this.”

“I know, I know! Just shut up and-” When it finally sticks inside, the two men both let out a groan as they step back. “ man, why the hell is a railroad spike so damn hard to put in a tree anyway? There’s always a hole for it!” he complains. 

Sehun laughs and wipes his face; they had just gotten done with a long, defense training session. “Well, we broke the gun dummy, anyway...only fair we bought a new one.”

Chen yawns and stretches. “Kai doesn’t have to know a thing.”

“Kai doesn’t have to know what?” The two boys look at each other when their boss’s voice is heard from behind them.

“Uh...bye,” Chen waves before quickly heading back inside; leaving Sehun. He glares after his trainer and scoffs.

“,” Sehun mumbles, watching as Kai approaches. “We um...accidentally broke the gun dummy, so we bought a new one before you’d find out.”

Kai raises a brow at the target. “New is always good. Where were you yesterday?”

“What do you mean?”

“You were gone for like, two hours, Sehun,” The boss says firmly. 

Sehun looks away and grabs his towel, drying himself off with it. “I was with Amber.”

“In my car.”

“...Yes.” Kai crosses his arms, waiting for a further explanation. The boy turns to face his boyfriend again. “Fine. I found him.”

“Found who?”

He nervously fiddles with the towel. “The boy from my camp.”

Kai shakes his head with a look of confusion. “So? Why wouldn’t you tell me? You don’t trust me?”

“It’s not that, Jongin. I just...I went to visit him and...where I visited him is kind of a delicate place,” he explains. “It’s not a good place for…”

The leader chuckles. “For a hard, brute like me?”

“Exactly.”

“Where was it, then? A church? A nursery home?”

“A hospital.”

“A hospital?”

Sehun sighs. “A Psychiatric Hospital, Jongin. He’s at a psychiatric hospital.”

Kai furrows his brows. “What...is he doing there?”

“Well, apparently, he didn't...do so well after the camp,” He admits. “I just...I want to keep this to myself, okay? I don’t want him thinking I went around blabbering about all of his problems. As much I seriously adore you, I need Taemin to trust me.”

“Taemin, huh?” Kai slowly nods. He gently puts a hand on Sehun’s cheek. “Okay. I don’t know exactly what you went through but if anyone were to understand it’s...your friend.”

Sehun sighs and smiles. “Thank you, Jongin…” His heart flutters when the man leans in, kissing him. It’s hard but soft, all at the same time and it makes him weak. As they stand together under the sun, the boy becomes almost hypnotized as their lips move together. Sehun sighs against the man’s lips, grabbing his shirt tightly as he tilts his head. His knees bend a bit when Kai grabs his hips tightly, gently pressing him against the warehouse wall. All of him gets all tingly when the man’s tongue slips in, exploring. It gets a little messy and heated, between Kai pressing against him and Sehun’s sweat. When they hear a cough behind them, they freeze. As they part, Sehun laughs nervously when he sees Suho. “H-hey...um, hey brother!”

Suho crosses his arms with a stern look on his face. “Don't get cute with me, Oh Sehun. When were you going to tell me?”

“Um…” Sehun purses his lips. “...Soonish?”

His brother sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Kai, seriously?”

Kai gives Suho a lazy smile, shrugging as he gently caresses Sehun’s bare arms. “Sehun’s cute; I couldn’t resist him.” That causes the boy to stifle his giggles.

“I don’t care if you’re the boss, after we take care of Sovereign and King, I’m giving you the older, very protective brother talk,” He says, pointing a finger at the man. But Kai grins, despite the threat. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, Sehun, I need to talk with Kai about preparations for the attack.”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Sehun smiles. He watches as his step-brother and boss begin to walk off, leaving him by himself. He stares after them for a moment before groaning and letting his head fall back on the building. When his phone rings, it causes him to flinch. “Hello?” He greets as soon as he answers it.

“Hello, honey,” His step-mother greets.

“Oh...hello,” He clears his throat. He still feels strange around her but he’s trying. He knows they had a long talk about how she’s not trying to replace his mother but she wants to be someone close to him. Sehun was quiet for a while before telling her that he’ll try. She was happy with that. 

“I’m on my way back from lunch but I just wanted to call and ask you how you’re doing,” she says. He knows she works as Chief Executive Officer at the hospital. It’s funny. His biological mother was a nurse and this step-mother is the CEO of a large, major hospital in Seoul.

“I’m okay,” He says as he makes his way into the warehouse. He looks at Suho, Kai, and Baekhyun, talking around the table. “I um...I was just with Junmyeon, actually.”

“Oh, can you tell him I said hello? I know I was just on the phone with him but…”

“Sure,” Sehun smiles.

“Speaking of...my son, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” she says. “We were talking, honey and...It’s been...a few weeks since your father died, almost a month. It’s...it might be time for you to visit his grave, right?”

He swallows hard and shuts his eyes. “I...I don’t know…”

“Sehun...you need to make peace. I know you two had your differences b-but…”

“You’re right.” He lets out a soft sigh and opens his eyes. He notices Kai, who gives him a confused look. He shakes his head before leaving, going into the garage for some privacy. “I know I should. I guess I just...I’m not…”

“Do you want me to go with you? For support?” His step-mother asks. “I can extend my lunch.”

Sehun shakes his head. “N-no, I…” he knows it’s time. “I’ll go myself…” he bites his inner lip for a moment. “Maybe Junmyeon, you, and I...maybe we could go out for dinner sometime.”

“I would love that, Sehun,” she sighs with what sounds like a relief. 

Sehun starts to get nervous the more he thinks about going alone, to visit his father. He doesn’t know what he’d do or say. He takes a deep breath. “A-actually...could…” he stutters. “Could you…”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

The boy feels like a ing child. “I don’t want to...bother you.”

“Come now, it’s not a bother at all. I’ll have someone cover my three o'clock and come pick you up.” Sehun agrees and gives her an address to pick him up from; in a better neighborhood, obviously. When he hangs up, he stares at his phone. Where the hell does he even start?

Sehun stares at his lap as he sits in his step-mother’s white Honda Fit. It seems fairly new and when he brings it up, she tells him that she recently bought it, before her marriage with his father. Junmyeon co-signed for it with her but he does have his own car. He looks up when they finally park, starting at the cemetery. He doesn't get out until his step-mother does. He says nothing when she puts an arm on his back, the warmth of her hand comforting as she leads him through the open gate and down the walkway. Sehun can tell she really is a kind woman. Strong and gentle. He feels bad for calling her those awful things when they first met. “I...I want to apologize.”

“For what?”

“I...called you some pretty nasty things when we first met,” He sighs. “I’m sorry.”

She sighs and shakes her head. “I know you have your own problems, Sehun. Your...past.”

“Oh...you know about that?”

“To be honest, I did look it up,” she sighs. “Your father briefly mentioned you went through...therapy. I got curious and I...I know you’ve been through a lot.” Sehun slowly nods as they both stop and look down at the grave. On the stone, his father’s name is written. He swallows hard.

“H-here it is,” he mumbles.

“Oh, darn! We forgot the flowers,” She sighs and looks around. When seeing a flower shop across the street, she pats Sehun’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Sure,” Sehun whispers, watching as she walks away. He turns his attention once again to the stone. He crosses his arms tightly.“God...why’d you have to be here, dad?” he says. “Why couldn’t you have been somewhere else, huh? Out drinking or something, like you usually do?” Sehun clenches his fists. “Why did you have to be there?! Why did you let King find you?!” He begins to shout.

“It’s rude to yell in a cemetery, you know,” someone speaks in Chinese.

Fear fills him as someone steps beside him, close enough to smell his cologne. Expensive, Chinese cologne. Sandalwood. He can't stand most icon colognes because of it now. “What...are you doing here?” he asks in the same language.

“I was passing by and I saw you,” Zitao chuckles. “Can’t I say hello to a friend?” He glowers darkly at him; he’s wearing sunglasses, which he’s thankful for. Sehun already spent enough time looking into the man’s eyes. “Your mother is a very beautiful woman; I can see why your father married her. Though...it’s confusing to me.”

“What is?”

“Why she would marry a drunkard,” he chuckles. “A drunkard bastard who beats his son.”

“She didn’t know…I only met her after they married.”

“You didn’t go to the wedding? How sad.”

“They asked me too,” He admits and puts his hands in his pockets, feeling his gun through his sweater. Why the hell is he talking to Zitao? He should shoot him. “You already know…”

As if knowing what Sehun is thinking he hums. “Would you really shoot me in such a peaceful place? What will your precious step-mother think if she sees you with a gun, shooting an innocent man,” he chuckles. “Or at least...I will seem innocent.” 

Sehun knows he’s right. “What do you want?” He begins to panic as he sees his step-mother starting to come back. He flinches when he feels the man touch the boy’s waist. It makes him want to throw up.

“Pretend we’re friends or she dies.”

“ you,” he mumbles and crosses his arms. He forces a smile when she approaches them.

“Hello,” She greets. “Is this a friend of yours, Sehun?”

Sehun clears his throat and nods. He knows the bastard must be getting off on this; controlling him, scaring him.  “Y-yeah. He’s...he’s teaching Chinese at a local college,” He lies. “I um…”

“My name is Zitao; we met when Sehun’s class was visiting the college I work at,” Zitao continues. “You know, those strange high-school tour things.”

His step-mother chuckles and nods. “Yes, I remember. I was so entranced with the professor, I signed up for medical school,” she shakes her head as she hands the flowers to Sehun. His hands shake as he takes them. “I know this is hard, but It’d mean so much to your father if he were alive.”

He tries to ignore Zitao’s presence and how terrified he feels. “Y-yeah,” He slowly leans down, setting the flowers down on his father’s grave. He stands back up, trying to step in between Zitao and his step-mother; just in case. The idea of him even laying a hand on her pisses him off. It pisses him enough for the fear to subside and instead, anger replaces it. “Hey, can I meet you by the car? I need to talk to my friend here.”

She smiles and nods, patting her stepson’s cheek. “It was lovely to meet you, Zitao.” 

Zitao smiles as well, both watching her walk back and get into the car. Sehun turns to face the man. “You stay the hell away from her or I swear to god, I will start from the very bottom of your gang and slowly make my way up to you; I will find out who you love, who means the most to you, and tear them apart slowly in front of you!”

Zitao slowly grins. “I knew I liked you. But, my little cutie, you’ve already killed my lieutenants.”

“No, I didn't,” he shrugs. “Lay got what he wanted from Kris.”

The smile on the Sovereign disappears. “Lay?”

“Yixing,” He smiles. “He killed Kris. How does it feel knowing your old loyal lieutenant not only slowly killed him but he enjoyed it? I tortured Kris, sure. But oh...Lay made him scream,” he whispers. “All night long, Zitao, so much worse than I did. I heard him and Lay took no breaks. Slowly cutting your favorite dog ripping him apart.” He loves the look the Sovereign gives him. He glances down at the man’s angry, clenched fists.

Zitao takes a deep breath and pulls off his glasses. “You’re an interesting boy, Sehun.” Without another word, the man slowly walks away, putting his hands in his pockets. Sehun goes back to the car quickly and gets in; afraid he’ll change his mind and shoot at them. 

“Sehun…” Sehun looks at his step-mother. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I...maybe,” he says, “I don’t know. I’ll be okay.”

She nods as she starts the car. “I’m happy you at least made friends. I heard that Junmyeon introduced you to his friends as well?”

“He did, um....a couple of months ago.”

“That’s great,” His step-mother nods and begins to drive off. Sehun’s smile slowly fades as he looks out the car window and glances at Zitao. He stares back at the man before looking away. 

“Sovereign is getting more confident,” Sehun announces as he enters the warehouse, pulling his leather jacket back off. He had taken it off when going to the cemetery. Some of the other boys look up and furrow their brows in confusion. “I went to the cemetery with my step-mother and he approached me.”

Suho gasps. “While you were with my mother?!”

“He told me he’d kill her if I didn’t pretend he was my friend,” He admits. Sehun pauses to look at his step-brother. “I promise, Suho, I wouldn’t have let him harm her. Even if I had to shoot him in front of her.”

“I know, I just…” He groans. “I hate the thought of that man being even near her. He didn’t say anything, did he? You know, about…”

“No, he pretended to be a professor at the college,” He crosses his arms. “But he apparently felt comfortable enough to stand next to be in public...he even,” he groans when he thinks about it. “Touched my waist.”

“He's dead,” Kai growls, grabbing his gun.

“Eventually, sure,” Sehun smiles. “But we need to stick to the plan. Just...let’s focus.”

“Are you okay?” Suho asks, patting his brother’s arm.

“I’m fine,” he lies. “Can we go over the plan?”

Kai nods as he waves, getting the rest of the boys. He lays out the blueprint of the hotel on the table. “Use the tokens, K,” Amber says, handing him some large thumbtacks. He smiles when he notices pictures of each member glued on top. It’s cute and creative. The boss shakes his head but he does, in fact, use them. 

“In a couple of weeks, Sovereign and King are going to be at this hotel together, possibly planning to try and take us down.” their boss begins. “They’re unaware that we know, so let’s keep it that way. Amber has found a small window of opportunity for some of our men to sneak in and plant some small, controlled explosives,” he says. “Lay will drive Sehun, Suho, and I in Tank and bring us into this alley,” Kai grabs some tokens and puts them in an alley beside the hotel. “During the distraction of the explosives out front, we’ll enter through the side door. With the rest of you taking their men down,” Tokens are placed once more. “We’ll have an easier time making our way to King and Sovereign.”

Krystal reaches over, grabbing her and Chanyeol’s tokens. “Chanyeol and I will be on the opposite building with our snipers,” She says, placing them. “We can take out some of the men through the windows or any back-up.”

“Good, good,” Kai nods. “Amber, you’ll keep an eye on police activity and anything else that may go wrong.”

“I’ll wait in a van parked several blocks away,” the hacker says. “Krystal got paranoid so she hired me a bodyguard to wait in the passenger seat.”

“Really? Is it someone we can trust?”

“Lisa,” Krystal says.

Their boss seems content with that. He puts his hands on the map and takes a moment to look at every one. “If anyone is even close to death, I want them immediately pulled,” he says. “Whatever you have to do, whoever you have to kill; we protect our own. Got it?” All of the boys nod, including Krystal. All of them had been paired with partners. “If there’s anything wrong or if anyone has questions or concerns, come to me. If I’m not here, you know the drill; go to D.O.” Everyone once again nods and goes off to do their own things when the boss excuses them. Kai’s rough facade drops when his eyes turn to Sehun; who gives him a small smile. But he goes to his brother instead.

“Junmyeon, can I talk to you?”

His brother smiles and nods, wrapping an arm around Sehun’s shoulder. “Is it about...what happened?”

“No, no,” he shakes his head. “It’s actually...a personal matter. Can we go somewhere private?”

“Of course,” he says before bringing the boy over to his car. Sehun slips into the passenger seat, waiting as his brother gets in front. When Suho is in the driver’s seat, he speaks up.

“We were all talking about ghosts the other day,” Sehun begins. “And...mine came up.”

“Which one?”

“The boy from the camp.”

“Right.”

The boy takes a deep breath. “I-I found him.”

Suho raises a brow “You did?”

“Amber did, actually. I um...I found out after the camp, he got put into a psychiatric hospital.” His step-brother frowns but keeps listening. “I...I visited him.”

“How did that go?”

Sehun watches as they drive to a cafe; a different one, luckily enough. He only speaks again when they’re seated inside. Suho orders them both tea, probably to help with nerves. “It went well, really,” He smiles. “I asked to keep visiting him and he agreed.”

“That’s wonderful, Sehuna.”

“B-but uh…” He sighs. “He said that he’s getting released in two weeks and he's scared because he has nowhere to go. I would never ask you directly for anything usually. But he’s so alone, Junmyeon a-and back in the camp, he kept me sane, we both did. I haven't spoken to him since b-but it kills me to think he’s all alone. Even his own parents aren’t visiting him! No one visited him before me!” Suho nods his head as he seems to listen carefully. “I….Junmyeon, I really want to help him…”

His step-brother sets his cup down after sipping a few times. He hums a bit as he leans back and folds his hands on his knee. “You want my help?”

“Yes,” he admits. “Um...I’m not asking for anything too expensive, just something to help him; you know? I swear, I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t care…”

“I know,” Suho smiles. He looks out the window, staring out of it for what seems like a good five minutes. “What you went through...what he must have gone through in that ing camp,” he takes a deep breath. There’s something in his eyes that almost seems like a realization. “I’ll help your friend, Sehun.”

“Y-you will?!”

“The unspeakable things they must have done for that boy to end up in...a hospital,” He sighs and sits up straight. He leans forward, putting a hand on Sehun’s own. “When he’s out, introduce me.”

Sehun smiles wide before standing up and hugging his brother tightly. He doesn’t care if they’re in public. He knew his brother would help him. “Thank you,” he mumbles. Suho wraps his arms around the boy, returning the sign of affection. 

“You’re welcome, Sehun,” Suho sighs softly. “You’re welcome.”

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