Kai’s blood is boiling.

The more they wait outside of the location, the more he feels like his heart will burst out of his chest. Can other people hear it too? His muscles are tense, and he has a tight grip on his gun. He’s ready to rectify this situation. The enemy’s security is tight, as expected. Kai practically put a bounty on their heads, so he knew they would increase security. There are over thirty men guarding outside, and he could guess that there were more inside.

It was going to be a bloodbath.

He has to give it to Dongyul, though. The place is far from the city, abandoned, and difficult to get to. Covered by nature, it would be hard to see if you weren’t looking for it. Hidden in plain sight. He probably didn’t move, counting on the fact that no one would find him.

He works hard, but the devil works harder.

There’s tension in the air, mixed with a slight thirst for blood as the teams gather a few feet away. Remaining unnoticed. Getting there just revived the collective anger. They had to gather their men on both sides, and it took a while, but Kai had no doubts they would go back with Kyungsoo.

He could swear on his own life.

“Alright everybody, you know the drill. Whoever finds the boss has to let us know of your location and his status.” Sehun informs in whispers. Everyone around him is loading their guns while listening to instructions. “Security is tight, but this shall be easy, as they’re outnumbered.”

“We don’t know if they are, but hold your lines… find and protect the boss at all costs,” Baekhyun adds.

“Anything to say?” Jongdae faces the twins.

“Jongin?” Kai glances at his brother.

Jongin raises a brow. He does a quick scan, noting the expectant faces. However, he doesn’t have much to say. “No mercy. Whoever gets in the way… kill them.”

“Oh, and if anybody finds the leaders of this operation, bring them to me alive… they’re mine,” Kai says as he loads his gun.

They get in position, waiting for Sehun’s signal to move. He clears the area, telling the first group to move.

As soon as they get it, the group advances through the dense woods, trying to make as little noise as possible. Kai and Jongin stay behind with Chanyeol and Minseok flanking them. They watch the first team move urgently. It doesn’t take long until they come across the enemy. They lift their guns, dealing with them quickly. They have the element of surprise in their favor, so the enemy doesn’t see it coming.

At least not at first.

They move inside. There were more people inside than they were expecting, however that did not set them back. Kai turns to Minseok, who nods, separating the group and leaving to cover more ground with a few men.

He shoots targets upon sight, clearing the area as soon as possible for Kai and Jongin to walk through. They have been lucky until now, however, the enemy is soon alerted, making more people rush to their position.

“Boss!” Chanyeol rushes to stand in front of Kai, shooting a few approaching men down. Their bodies fall over, barely a few steps away from them, blood quickly spreading over the cold floor. They keep moving, securing the area effortlessly.

The place is in terrible condition. Kai doesn’t know how long the bastard was planning to keep these people here. He doesn’t even want to think about what Kyungsoo’s status must be.

As they move further inside, they get ambushed by a small group. Kai hears before he sees them as they shoot at them, nailing a few of their men. Jongin pushes Kai’s head down, shooting over his brother’s shoulder. Chanyeol rapidly covers Jongin’s back, aiming at the few left he sees. They soon disable the group; however, they know more are coming.

It gets harder the deeper they go in.

“Search the place. Kyungsoo has to be here.” Kai says. Every second that passes by, he feels his patience slipping through his fingers. He’ll bring the whole place down if they don’t find Kyungsoo soon. He needs to know if he’s okay.

“They found him!” Minseok yells. “East.”

Kai’s feet move before he can even comprehend these words. “Let’s move!” 

Jongin, on the other hand, is trying hard to lower his pace and stay with the group. His body wants to fly away, and his heart is pounding. Minseok said they found him, but not how they found him. His brain is spiraling with the possibilities, but he won’t jump to conclusions until he sees him.

He has to see him.

They arrive at the area a few seconds later. Under the poor lighting, they can see Kyungsoo tied to a chair, unconscious. Sehun and Baekhyun are already cutting the rope as fast as they can. There are bodies piled around them and thick blood spreading across the floor. Jongin’s heart stops beating for a moment. He looks back at Chanyeol. “Secure the area.”

Sehun and Baekhyun finish cutting the ropes, quickly supporting Kyungsoo’s body so it doesn’t fall to the ground. He doesn’t look well. His face looks like an abstract painting. There’s blood on his clothes, more than likely his own.

Jongin feels very violent.

“He’s breathing, but he’s pretty messed up,” Sehun informs.

Okay, he’s breathing, that’s something.

That’s good.

Right?

Kai frowns. “Be careful. We don’t know how injured he is. I’m assuming Doctor Zhang is waiting.”

“Yes,” Jongdae nods. “Let’s get him out of here.” He signals the remaining men to start moving.

“Hey!”

Another group that seemed to have been on the south side of the building, bolted in. It’s just three of them. They pull out their guns, however, before any of them can pull on the trigger, they’re shot one in the shoulder and the other two straight in the head. Falling to the ground with a loud thud.

It happens so fast that Sehun and Minseok barely have any time to aim.

Silence.

Jongin sighs, putting his gun away. “Let’s hurry.”

Sehun, Jongdae, and Baekhyun carry their boss carefully. He doesn’t seem to bleed out, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t be any internal bleeding. They move as fast as they can while still holding him. Both Jongin’s and Kai’s eyes are glued to his body as they take him out.

Kai turns to Minseok. “Any signs of the one responsible?”

“They caught a couple of men who might be it. They were apparently giving orders, and we’re taking them back.” Minseok nods.

“Good, we’ll deal with them when we can.” Right now, getting Kyungsoo to safety is more important to him.

They take him back to the cars, driving directly to Yixing’s practice.

Kai and Jongin wait outside while Yixing examines him. He’s breathing, and that’s the important part. That’s what they’ve been holding on to. He just has to keep it up. Jongin’s hands are shaking, he keeps telling himself Kyungsoo will be alright, not even realizing he’s pacing until Minseok’s hand stops him.

“He’ll be fine,” Minseok assures. But how could he be so sure?

The thought of arriving too late kept circling in his mind. What if they couldn’t fix him? Jongin was never much of an optimistic person, but at the moment he’s forcing himself to be. Kyungsoo has to be okay. He has to.

Otherwise, Jongin can’t respond for his actions any longer.

About thirty minutes passed when Yixing walked outside. Kai and Jongin were the first to get to him, hopeful eyes and fists tightly clenched. They’re ready for whatever he has to say.

Or so they think, at least.

“They did mess him up pretty bad,” Yixing sighs, taking off the gloves. “There’s some drug in his system which explains the lack of lucidity. He has quite a few bruises, scratches, and a black eye, but that’s only surface level. I found a few broken fingers, fractures on his ribs and he’s dehydrated… I’ll look for more when the drug clears out.”

Neither of them speak for a moment. Their brains are trying to process the words, they soak in them. Trying to comprehend the meaning.

What they did to him.

“I see,” are Kai’s only words.

Baekhyun steps forward. “Do you think he’ll be fine, though?”

“We’ll have to see how he progresses, but I believe with proper rest he should be,” Yixing nods.

“Can you keep him here a few days?” Jongdae asks.

“It would be prudent to keep him here under observation. We’ll take him back after he regains consciousness and is feeling better.”

Baekhyun nods. “Okay. We should tell Youngmin what happened.” He turns around to find the twins are no longer standing there. He blinks, looking at Jongdae.

Jongdae simply shrugs.

.*.*.*.

Kai and Jongin walk the familiar hallway that will lead them to the room in their basement. The dungeon. If they felt like their blood was boiling before, at this point it’s evaporating. What they did to him makes their hearts sink. Everything Kyungsoo had to suffer, they would make them pay for it.

They would all pay for this.

Jongin’s fists are clenched when they reach the door. Chanyeol and Minseok open it, no words spoken, and they didn’t need to. They knew what was about to happen and they almost felt sorry for the people inside.

Almost.

They walk inside, and the sight that greets them is not what they’re expecting. The two men that stare back at them are tied down to the chairs, however, Kai can barely recognize one of their faces and neither of them is the person he was looking for. He frowns. Even in a situation like this, that bastard couldn’t even be there himself.

Kai does recognize one of these men though, he remembers him as the person who was following Lee around during that fight event.

Kai sighs. They’re not the people he was looking for, however, they were implicated and more than likely had something to do with everything Kyungsoo went through. “I hope you had fun.” He sits over one corner of the table, the wood makes a shrieking sound under his weight. He goes back and forth between the two, analyzing their expressions. Neither seem to understand the position they’re in. The dim lights are blinking over their heads, chins high.

The one Kai remembers scoffs, spreading his legs. “Fun with Do, you mean? Yeah, we could say so.” He’s trying to look confident. However, Kai knew it wouldn’t last.

“You look too sure of yourself, considering the situation you’re in,” Kai chuckles. “It’s cute. If it were other circumstances, I would consider giving you a deal. Your life for your boss’ however, since we all know who it is, I guess this it is.”

Behind him, Jongin lifts a piece of wood flooring, pulling out a bag. He opens it and starts rolling out some tools without saying a single word.

“You see… Jongin and I usually like to take care of things quite quickly, however, we’re very upset today.” Kai smiles down at them.

“You can’t say that didn’t have this coming for him,” the other growls. “And you two were next. You think you’re too good for this world. We were going to give you what you ing deserve.”

“Why do you two care, anyway?” the second one asks. He doesn’t look as confident as his partner.

Kai takes a deep breath, leaning forward a bit. “You’re not earning points here, kid.” He then gazes at the other one. “I don’t have to explain anything to you. However, he’s my business partner and maybe something more. I don’t like it when people mess with the ones I care about, and you both are about to find out what happens to the people who do.” He laughs, but it's dark, humorless. “I’m sure you’ve heard rumors about what happens in this room.”

Jongin sighs. “Everyone has.”

Kai nods, still smiling. He taps on the table as he takes in their expressions. Tilting his head, any light in his eyes evaporates. “Did you know that you don’t technically die from being skinned alive? Well, if you count blood loss then maybe, but it’s usually hypothermia or infections… buckle up boys, you’ll be here for a while.”

Just then, the face they’ve been trying so hard to keep falls, making way for the pure fear they feel. Once they see Jongin’s empty expression, the complete lack of emotions and thoughts, almost as if his entire body was vacant. When they stare into Jongin's hardened eyes, they know.

They know how ed they are.

“Don’t make a mess, would you?” Kai says with a sigh. His brother raises an eyebrow.

“No promises.”

Silence takes over; however, it isn’t long until the piercing and painful screams are all Minseok and Chanyeol can hear from the outside.

That’s all they can hear.

.*.*.*.

Kai is buttoning up a fresh shirt when they’re informed that Kyungsoo has been in and out of consciousness. Apparently, he has not been fully himself, but if he was waking up, he would be alright. There’s finally a glimpse of hope and Jongin and Kai would hold on to it.

They finish cleaning up before rushing back.

Youngmin is there when they arrive, along with Baekhyun and Sehun. They seem a lot more relaxed, and that’s a good sign in Kai’s book. He allows the tension to leave his body when he sees Baekhyun’s smile.

“And…?”

“Do Kyungsoo isn’t one to give up so easily,” Baekhyun chuckles, shaking his head in disbelief. It’s obvious they’ve been through it as well. “He asked for you guys when he came back for a bit.”

“Is there anything else we can do?” Jongin frowns.

Baekhyun shakes his head again. “Just wait. Yixing said he’ll clear him once he’s fully conscious.”

“I see… can we see him?” Kai receives a glare from Youngmin, but the other man says nothing, and Kai isn’t about to start an argument here.

“Yeah, go in.”

Kai and Jongin walk into the room as silently as they can. In this light, they can see Kyungsoo’s bruises better, and it makes the anger resurface. They walk to each side of him, taking in the frail figure of such a powerful person. He has the entire underworld on their knees, the two of them included. Of course, he wouldn’t give up easily. Kyungsoo’s eyes open just the slightest bit. Jongin quickly holds the hand that’s not bandaged.

“Hey,” Kai smiles, running his fingers through Kyungsoo’s hair. “We’re here.”

Jongin feels how Kyungsoo squeezes his hand lightly.

“Just rest. We’ll be here when you wake up.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything, however, his hand is attached to Jongin’s. It’s almost as if he’s afraid they’ll disappear.

“We’ll be here when you’re ready.” Kai smiles, he leans down to kiss his forehead. “We promise.”

Jongin nods. “No one can hurt you now.”

With that, Kyungsoo’s eyes shut down once again. The other two let out a sigh in unison.

No one can hurt him now.

No one.