Minseok walks into the office, narrowing his eyes at his boss. He makes him work a lot more than necessary. First, the food he brought in an hour ago has been left untouched on the tray. Kai is still glued to the computer and the phone and he’s sure he’s been contacting Sehun at least every hour.

And last but not least, Jongin is nowhere to be found.

Minseok would bet three months of salary on the fact that he’s out there looking for Kyungsoo on his own. Doing exactly what he was told not to do. He approaches his boss, folding his arms over his chest. He’s never been afraid to tell them what they deserve to hear.

“Boss…”

“Report,” Kai says, his eyes glued to the screen as he types at the speed of light.

“Kim.” Minseok raises an eyebrow. He will not give in on this.

“Report,” Kai insists. This time he looks up at him, arching a brow.

“I’ll give you the update, but as soon as you hear it, eat what I brought.” Minseok shifts his weight from one foot to the other, completely unbothered by Kai’s ferocious stare. “Otherwise, I’ll tell Kyungsoo how pathetic you’re being right now.”

Kai glances at the food and sighs. “We have to find him for that to happen, don’t you think?”

Minseok rolls his eyes. “Everything is chaos, as you expected. The gangs, clubs, and other organizations are invading probable locations and fighting each other.” He places his tablet over the desk. News of vandalism and gang wars are all over the digital newspapers. “They’re ransacking everything on their path and the police, of course, are staying out of it.”

“Good,” Kai nods. What he needs is to pressure them. The moment they make a move, he’ll know. “No leads yet?”

“None,” Minseok sighs. “But there’s also someone outside who wants to see you.”

Kai frowns as he looks at the time. Who would want to meet with him this late?

The door opens, revealing an impatient Park Daeun. She tilts her head when she lays eyes on him. This was definitely a sight she did not expect to see.

“You look awful.” She walks into the office, sitting down on Kai’s desk, and grabbing a few things from the food tray. “I didn’t know this situation would affect you this much.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Kai dismisses her, going back to the screen.

Daeun sighs. “I guess I should go back with the little information I have.”

Kai stops typing. He then leans back in his chair. “I’ll bite… what do you have for me?”

She smiles. “I heard some people talking about a certain package they had to protect after that little show you put on tonight.”

“You were there?”

“I’m everywhere darling,” she rolls her eyes. “Point is, Lee and his men might be on the move, and I happen to know some places he likes to hide in.”

“Okay, what do you need in exchange for this information?” Kai knows more than anything that in this world, nothing is free.

“Oh, nothing really. This isn’t for you, I just have a few unfinished businesses with Lee.” She shrugs. “You just happen to be conveniently out to get him.”

“If I can confirm he’s behind this, it will certainly not be pretty.”

“Fine by me,” she smiles. “Consider it a gift for old time’s sake.”

The moment she leaves, Minseok and Kai exchange a look. He cannot confirm the veracity of this information until he gets any clues about Soo’s location. However, if this is true…

“Get in contact with Jongin. Tell him to bring his here or else.” Kai sighs. He rubs his eyes in an attempt to help them survive just a little longer. “Check the places she gave us.”

“I will…” Minseok frowns. “But eat. Now. If I come back and it’s still there, I’ll force it down your throat.”

“,” Kai says, going back to typing.

Minseok groans. He’s surprised Kai can still crack jokes with everything that he’s going through. Minseok exits the office, leaving behind another warning to eat the food.

He feels more like their mother sometimes.

He desperately needs some vacation time.

.*.*.*.

The night air is colder than usual. The temperature has been dropping over the last few days, so Jongin wouldn’t be surprised if it snowed soon. He hopes it doesn’t, however, snow would only make the search harder than it already is. He takes a deep breath as he finishes his glass.

He’s been sitting in a bar for the past two hours. People are looking at him and whispering and he knows they’re talking about him, his brother, and Kyungsoo. After Kai’s announcement, every single gang and syndicate had gone into chaos and neither of them have any remorse.

Whatever needs to be done to get him back.

Jongin’s grip tightens around the glass. They had barely started to figure things out, to even think that things could be over before they had even begun made Jongin’s blood boil. He doesn’t want to think about the possibility of him being dead at this point.

He doesn’t know what he would do if that happened.

A couple of men enter the bar. They’re loud and judging by the jackets they’re wearing, they belong to one of those motorcycle clubs. Jongin orders another drink. He notices when the men recognize him. They’re not very discreet about it.

They laugh as they walk towards the bar, occupying both seats on each side of him.

“Well, look who it is… which one are you? The crazy bastard who likes to pretend he’s classy or the insane silent one?”

Jongin ignores them, taking a sip of his drink.

“I guess that’s an answer.” The other says and they both laugh like they just heard the funniest joke on earth. Jongin sighs.

His patience is nonexistent.

“Sitting down to let others do the job for you?” The first one mocks. He’s leaning closer to Jongin with every word. The putrefied smell of cheap alcohol coming out of the man’s pores drowns his senses. These men have probably been drunk for days.

“After the mess, you guys caused…” the other one laughs. “But hell do I want the money.”

The first one nods. “I hope you don’t mind that we share Do for a while before handing him back to you.” He turns to the bartender for half a second to order a drink.

Jongin stands up. He’s done with their bull already. There’s only so much he can take.

The first one grabs Jongin’s arm before he can leave. “Leaving so soon?”

Jongin grabs the man’s arm, twisting it until the other is crying in pain. He kicks the chair the man is sitting on, and this causes him to fall over the bar. Jongin kicks a leg, leaving him to complain on the floor. He then turns to the bartender.

“Send me a bill.”

He says nothing more as the other man rushes to help his friend.

Jongin walks into the chilly night. The fresh air does its work to wake him up and sober him up a bit. He sits on his bike, staring at nothing as he ponders where he should go next. He’s been looking all night, and he’s running out of options.

Kai said he shouldn’t be looking for him on his own.

But what else could he do? He couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.

It wasn’t in his nature.

His phone rings inside his pocket.

It’s Minseok.

“Get your here. Do’s team caught their mole.”

Just a few words.

That’s all it took to fire him up again.

.*.*.*.

Sehun is waiting for them when they arrive. He looks tense and like he hasn’t gotten a lot of sleep either. They greet him before he leads the way inside.

Both Baekhyun and Jongdae are leaning against the door. The first one seems to have recovered a lot. Kai assumes the person they’re here to see is behind it. Kai clenches his fists.

“Has he said anything?” 

Baekhyun shakes his head. “Nothing yet. He’s waiting for you.” He crosses his arms.

So that’s what it was.

“He wants a deal.” Kai nods. Smart of him.

Another man walks in then. Baekhyun and Jongdae seem to recognize him. The man shoots a glare at the twins before reluctantly greeting them. The man is not too short, with soft black curls covering his head and a few piercings here and there. He looks young, even more so with the leather jacket and tight pants he’s wearing.

“Took you long enough. We don’t have any time to waste.” He says.

Kai frowns. “Excuse my manners, but who the are you?”

“This is Kyungsoo’s younger brother, Youngmin.” Baekhyun replies, getting in between them.

“I wasn’t aware Kyungsoo had one, to begin with.” Kai arches a brow. Of course, it’s not like the topic ever came up while doing business. He only saw what Kyungsoo wanted him to see.

“It wasn’t necessary for you to know.” Youngmin raises both eyebrows, challenging them, and Kai can tell Jongin doesn’t like him already.

“Well, we’re on the same side here, so let’s talk to this kid,” Kai says.

Youngmin scoffs. “So you say.”

He’s honestly starting to upset Kai.

“Excuse me?”

“Youngmin,” Baekhyun warns.

“Let’s just say I don’t think Hyung should trust you completely,” Youngmin takes a step closer to Kai. He has balls, Kai will give him that.

Jongin is about to approach him when Kai pushes him back.

“Cute,” he sighs. “Listen, we can discuss that all you want when he’s here with us, for now… I would suggest you not provoke us.” Kai doesn’t wait for a response, and he walks into the room. Patting on Baekhyun and Jongdae’s shoulders on the way in.

The place looks a lot like their dungeon. Only that there’s a single chair in the far corner where the guy is sitting. He’s tied up and judging by the bruises on his face, they probably tried to get information the hard way.

Kai sighs. “Listen, kid, we don’t have time. The first thing I need to know is if there are others.”

The guy just stares at him, not saying a word.

“You see, I caught the one on my side, and apparently they had another one there to keep him silenced, so he’s no longer. Unless you want to share his fate, I would suggest that you give me names.” Kai shrugs and he can tell the other is considering it. There are others for sure.

He nods.

“Good. Do you know where Kyungsoo is?”

The other man nods.

“I’ll give you a deal, then. We’ll let you live…”

“Kai.” Jongin protests behind him.

“We’ll let you live in exchange for his location and the names of the others… and if the information is accurate, then there might be some money waiting down the line.” Kai smiles. “I’m sure you heard about it.”

Nobody says anything after that, all sound has been out of the room.

Kai waits.

“Or maybe I’ll just let my brother get it out of you then…”

Jongin pulls a single knife out of nowhere, the blade so sharp the guy could almost see his own reflection in it.

“No!” There’s fear in the man’s eyes when he glances at Jongin. “I’ll tell you what I know.”

Kai smiles. “That’s what I thought.”

They get names, locations, and part of a plan that the guy was probably not supposed to know, but found out anyway. Sehun leaves immediately. He has to handle the situation with the rest of the traitors before he can start gathering the men he needs to get Kyungsoo.

Kai tells Minseok right away. They need to be on the move.

“So, what’s the plan?”

Kai smiles at him. It does not reach his eyes, however. “Now, we get him back.”

“And we end some bastards.” Jongin finishes.

Kai could not have said it any better.