[CONTENTID1]re:trieval[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter 3[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

“We have to check if they’re gone before we enter,” Baekhyun whispered as they began moving, sneaking into an alley that would lead them straight to their destination. The safe house was located in the middle of a regular neighborhood, and it could have been the perfect hiding spot if the Secret Service’s personnel wasn’t so proficient at tracing the steps of wanted criminals.   

Soojin rolled her eyes at his know-it-all tone of voice. “I know, I’m not stupid.” She fell quiet, seething internally while she followed her partner to the safe house. Its windows were dark, so the owners likely weren’t inside although it was late evening—the driveway was empty as well. The building had two floors and a garage next to it. From the outside, it appeared like a normal home. The garden was well-kept, with tall bushes surrounding the property and hiding it from view. After assessing the situation for a moment, Soojin deemed it safe to approach the house, but Baekhyun caught her sleeve and pulled her back.

“What now?” she hissed.

“I’ll go first,” he whispered and shot her a scalding glare that didn’t allow any objections. Soojin bit her tongue and held in her complaints—she knew his rank was higher than hers which technically meant that she was supposed to follow his orders but damn, was it hard. Everything about this mission pissed her off.

Following him like a shadow, she approached the garden and scaled the fence with ease. The bushes weren’t a noteworthy obstacle either and easily left behind. They rounded the entire building once, searching for the best and fastest way to break in. There was a balcony just next to the garage roof with a sliding door that seemed easy to open from the outside—perfect. Baekhyun had the same idea as Soojin and made his way to the backside of the garage.

“Did you bring the rope?” he asked.

“Of course, who do you take me for?”

“A rookie.”

She sputtered profanities at him but didn’t hesitate to retrieve the rope from her backpack. “I’ll lift you up,” he muttered.

“No, I’ll lift you. Like hell I’d let you touch me. You lost the right to do that a long time ago.”

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Lee,” he growled, cornering her until she stood with her back to the wall—literally. “But the longer we argue, the more time we lose. Who knows when they’ll return!”

She grimaced, knowing he was right. “If only Jeno was here,” she whispered, seeing his eyes darken with a peculiar emotion. If she hadn’t known better, she might have thought it was jealousy, but it couldn’t be. Byun Baekhyun resented her, there was no room for jealousy.

Without giving her a warning, he put his hands on her hips and lifted her high enough that her hands could reach the edge of the flat roof. Her body went rigid, his touch burning like fire. The last time he had held her hips like this, they had been tangled up in each other, sharing a passionate night. His fingers had explored every inch of her body and stolen the most sinful sounds from her lips. Soojin drew in a breath, chasing the unwanted memories away. Baekhyun no longer loved her and she didn’t love him. The thought abruptly brought her back into the present. Getting a hold of the edge, she flexed her muscles and pulled herself up. He gave her thighs another shove and she was up on the roof, landing safely on her feet.

“How dare you touch me like this, Byun,” she hissed at him before she threw one end of the rope at him, holding on to the other. She sat down and put her feet on the roof, getting ready to hold his weight. It was fortunate she had put on gloves for the mission, otherwise, the rope would have hurt her hands.

Baekhyun didn’t need long to climb up and immediately jumped from the roof to the balcony, swinging his leg over the railing. He landed on the tiles and crouched to avoid drawing attention from possible bypassers. From up there, they would break into the house. Opening the door didn’t even take him a minute—he’d done things like this a hundred times. Soojin followed him closely, reaching for her gun as they entered the safe house.

They walked into a terribly messy bedroom. Dirty clothes had been left on the ground and it was all too obvious the residents didn’t give a about cleaning. Soojin scrunched her nose in distaste and moved past the chaos once they confirmed that the information they sought wasn’t here. Once they reached the door, Baekhyun held up his hand and gave a short wave, a sign for her to move on. She followed him and glanced around nervously, not liking the silence in the house at all. It was unsettling and made her feel like someone was waiting for them in the darkness, keeping an eye on them.

Baekhyun’s steps were entirely silent as he sneaked through the hallway and peered into the next room, vanishing in it moments later. Soojin contemplated whether she should follow him or not, ultimately deciding to check the room on the other side of the hallway. She didn’t want to be close to him all the time, so she entered it alone, holding her gun at eye level. Her body was as tense as a coiled spring, ready to act should danger await her. The dim light of the streetlamps outside fell through the window and illuminated the outline of various pieces of furniture. She spotted a large wardrobe and another bed that appeared just as messy as the one in the room before. An empty pizza box lay on the mattress, along with opened cans of soda and a bag of chips. She scowled when the stench of rotten food hit her, cursing the owners of this place. On a desk next to the window, she discovered what she had been looking for—a computer. Hopefully, the information they needed to obtain was saved on it. She booted it up while readying her laptop.

When she heard steps in the hallway, she tensed and glanced over her shoulder, only to see Baekhyun enter the room. Unsurprisingly, he looked pissed. “Don’t run off on your own!” he reprimanded her.

She considered giving him a piece of her mind but decided it was better to just ignore the rude comment. “Did you find anything?” she asked while she connected her laptop to the computer.

“Yes. A few useful files were hidden in one of the drawers. I took them.”

She nodded and concentrated on her work. The computer was protected with a password and she would need a little time to crack it. As she typed on her keyboard, Baekhyun went back to the door and stood next to it, keeping his gun in his hand. He observed the stairs leading down to the ground floor, but so far, the house remained quiet.

It took her around five minutes to crack the password, gaining access to all data stored on the hard drive. Her eyes skimmed over countless files and she decided to copy everything that sounded vaguely useful. However, transferring them to her laptop took too long for her taste. She grew nervous, occasionally shooting Baekhyun a look. He appeared calm on the outside, his gaze still fixed on the hallway and the stairs.

After another five grueling minutes had passed, she heard an engine right in front of the house. Car doors were opened and closed. Voices of different people reached her ears. She cursed, knowing that she needed to disconnect her laptop before it was too late. Baekhyun gestured for her to stop and pack up—and she didn’t need to be told twice. She put the laptop in her backpack and pulled the plug of the computer to turn it off instantly.

At the same moment, the front door of the house was opened and the safe house’s residents entered. Every fiber of her body was tense as she looked around for an easy way to get out, but it was too late. The stairs creaked as someone walked up and the light in the hallway. She exchanged a glance with Baekhyun, seeing panic in his eyes. His gaze found the wardrobe in the corner and he grabbed her arm to drag her over to it, shoving her inside before climbing in himself.

It was cramped. She pressed her back against the wood to stay as far away from him as possible. However, as soon as he closed the door, her face was pushed right into his chest. She swore and put her palms on it, a clear warning for him to back off. The problem was, he couldn’t go anywhere. There was simply not enough space. Hearing footsteps, he grabbed her hands, holding them still. Her breathing quickened. This was bad. This was worse than anything she had imagined to happen tonight. She wasn’t ready to be so close to him. It hurt.

“Calm down,” his soft voice breathed, a puff of warm air fanning over her cheek. “Just for a minute.” He was too close, she couldn’t take this. The scent of his aftershave enveloped them. Her heart thundered in her chest as she realized something—he still used the same brand as before.

“One minute,” she repeated in a whisper, her knees getting weak. As she relaxed and allowed him to assume a slightly more comfortable posture, his arms circled her back. Her body was pressed a