10.

Head tilted back to rest against the cushion of his chair, Lay took a silent breath as he allowed his heavy eyes to drift shut. Veins of colorless light knotted against the black of his eyelids, and even though sleep waited with open arms of invitation, the grave situation of his reality kept him from embracing it.

Don't make me regret my decision for siding with you...

LuHan's words echoed in his mind in an unrelenting fashion; taunting him to the brink of annoyance.

YiXing...

Eyes snapping open, throat constricting at the familiarity of the name, Lay pinches the bridge of his nose as he sits up straighter in his chair. It was dusk, and ever since the small feud with LuHan that morning, something that rarely occurred with the diminutive male and himself, Lay had poured all his attention on the two most significant matters at hand; the hacked database and the Blood Wine overdose.

"Lay," Kris knocks, creaking the double doors open to peak his head in, "everyone's gathering in the living room for the meeting."

Waving his hand in acknowledgement, Lay stretches his arms over his head, groaning when his shoulders pop with a relieving tingle. Getting up from his desk, he brushes past Kris and heads down the dimly lit corridor. Running a hand through his hair, he gradually changes his posture to a more defined and statute grace, hardening the fatigue in his eyes with stern pride.

Kris, falling two steps behind Lay, watches with weary eyes of understanding as the broad shoulders sag slightly with the added weight of responsibility. He was probably one of the very few in their expanding group that has seen the head figure at his weakest and most vulnerable state. Of course, working under Lay for most of his life contributed to that insight.

"The guard that you instructed to capture the two boys failed to do so," Kris informs as they march down the plush walls of the hall.

Lay blinks, unsurprised. "I suspected as much," he murmurs with a sigh, "I'll deal with that matter at a later time."

They round the corner at the end of the hall that cuts into the open living space, where at least twenty bodies were present and quietly whispering amongst each other. But at the sight of Lay, they all rise and hush to silence, bowing as their boss walks by them with an indifferent air towards the couch centered in the room; Kris follows to stand behind him.

"I'll cut to the chase and keep this brief," Lay starts, crossing his legs as every pair of eyes bore into his, "everyone who was present at Club Exodus last night knows the gravity of the situation, and this cannot be something we can afford to overlook." He nods to Tao and LuHan, who stood by the dead fireplace with equal looks of masked dread. "I want you two to take a few men, scout the usual hot spots in Shanghai, and find out who that overdosed case was. I have a feeling this hasn't been the first incident, and it troubles me how we haven't heard anything about until now."

Tapping his fingers against his leg, Lay turns to Chen and Xiumin, "And just this morning, another situation has been brought to light. It seems like our database has been hacked during the chaos, and if anyone gets their eyes on our Blood Wine registry, we won't just be targeted by the State Army, we'll be sitting ducks to all those small fry, road kills that are after our heads."

Lay lets the magnitude of situation finally dawn on some of the unsuspecting members, hushed murmurs quietened down by an exaggerated cough from Kris.

"So, I want everyone--" Lay pauses, watching from the corner of his eye as Chen suddenly flips open his phone and places it next to his ear. The frown that followed hindered Lay from continuing.

"Where was that from?" Lay questions, eyes flashing.

Chen shakes his head, shutting his phone away with slight panic. "It's from one of the boys at the building. The line went dead before he could say more, but I think," he turns to look at Xiumin briefly before looking back at Lay, "I think he said, help."

, Lay curses, getting to his feet and motioning for Kris. "Tao, LuHan, and you seven, with me." He turns to the other men in the room, "the rest of you, I want you to rendez-vous with us on the base floors of our club from the front entrance. I don't think I'm mistaken when I say that some people have successfully managed to break into our building."

He turns sharply on his heels as he walks away, muttering, "and I know just exactly what they're after..."

∞

"Thanks Baekhyun," Chanyeol mutters, chest heaving as he leans against the wall. His breath came in short gasps as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Moving around the pooling blood and body, he crushes the phone that slid across the floor with the back of his heel in one swift motion.

"Anytime," Baekhyun replies, the words outlined by static. Chanyeol looks to the window and the welcoming night sky. He raises a hand in a motion of thanks, hoping for their sniper on the opposing building to see it.

"You okay Chanyeol? I heard a window break," Kyungsoo says through the ear piece.

"That was Baekhyun," Chanyeol says, continuing his way down the lightless hall and halting by a heavily coded door. "I tried to stop a guy from contacting backup, and although Baekhyun got him, I believe he managed to get his message across. I'd say we have at least a good ten minutes before the rest of the thugs get here."

As he was relaying this information, he had whipped out a compact device that was attached to his back. Placing his gun in its holder, he crouches to eye level with the security lock as he connects a wire from the device in his hand to the lock.

"We swiped the main floor. Just need the door deactivated." Jongin says, slight impatience outlining his static-filled voice.

"Give me a moment," Chanyeol h