The sun had almost set as they arrived at the base of what was obviously The Mountain.

“We will stay here for the night, I thought we could make it before nightfall but we won’t reach the top in time and it is too treacherous to climb in the dark.” Hyukjae instructed and the others quickly set up the tents.

They had walked all night and day, taking frequent breaks because Hyukjae believed that Donghae needed them. The rests resulted in the hike taking longer than Hyukjae originally thought, and now they wouldn’t be able to climb the rest of the way up until morning.

Hyukjae once again took the first watch while the others went into the tents. Donghae knew that he should try to sleep since he hadn’t the previous night, but he still didn’t feel comfortable letting his guard down enough to sleep around the others. He emerged from the tent and took a seat next to Hyukjae, who was resting against a tree with his eyes closed.

“Don’t you ever sleep?” Hyukjae asked as Donghae sat down.

Hyukjae’s eyes never opened, and Donghae was sure that he had been silent as he came out from the tent. How the boy knew that he was there was a mystery to him.

“Don’t you?” Donghae answered with another question.

“Fair enough.” Hyukjae said, opening his eyes only to roll them at Donghae before leaning back against the tree and closing them again.

Silence surrounded them once again and Donghae watched Hyukjae ‘sleep’. He wasn’t really sleeping. His eyes may have been closed, but he was fully aware of everything going on around him. His ears were on high alert, keeping track of every movement around him. Even when he was at rest, his mind was always working.

“Why?” The question suddenly escaped Donghae’s lips as he continued watching the boy who now opened his eyes.

“Why what?” Hyukjae asked, turning slightly to face Donghae better.

“Why are you like this?” Donghae specified.

“I was trained to be this way.” Hyukjae simply answered.

“Why?”

“It was what I was born to do.”

“But why?”

“I’m not sure what you are asking Kibum.” Hyukjae sighed in impatience.

“Why is it this way? Why were you trained for this? Why is the world this way? Why are we here? I guess just…why?” Donghae finally asked the thoughts that had begun to haunt his mind since his last conversation with Hyukjae.

“I don’t have the answers for you, Kibum. I wish I did. I don’t even have the answers to my own questions. All I know is that this is how the world is, and we must deal with it.” Hyukjae said and then leaned back and closed his eyes again.

Donghae took that as a signal that the conversation was over. He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, letting his ears keep track of his surroundings while his mind ran wild.

Those questions had never occurred to him until after Hyukjae mentioned living in a ‘world of secrets’. As they walked it was all that had possessed his mind. For the first time in his life he questioned what he was supposed to do with his life, why he had been born into this world the way he had been. Was he really the key to world peace? He didn’t understand why the world was the way it was; only that it had always been this way. Hyukjae was right, the world was the way it was, but they had to deal with it. He began to fully realize what was going on. He was infiltrating enemy lines to become friends with them, to get them to trust him. The world may have been this way for a long time, but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t change. Peace might be possible, and the key to it may lie in the secretive boy resting next to him.

He moved himself closer to Hyukjae and placed an arm around his shoulders, pulling him down so that his head rested on his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Hyukjae asked without opening his eyes.

“You sleep, I’ve got the watch. Something tells me we won’t be having any visitors tonight after you told them off last night.” Donghae explained and he felt the boy next to him relax into his embrace.

Their world may be a world of secrets, and their friendship may be a friendship of secrets and lies; but it was their world and their friendship none the less.

“Wake up sleepy heads!” Hyukjae shouted storming into the tents.

Donghae rubbed his eyes as he slowly came out of unconsciousness. He had fallen asleep leaning against Hyukjae the previous night and woke up as Hyukjae had stood up.

“Somebody is overly perky this morning.” Heechul whined as he emerged from the tent followed by Kanging and Yesung. Kyuhyun emerged from the other tent and they all glared at Hyukjae for waking them so early.

“Sorry, but I want to get up there, I am sick and tired of being outside. Plus, I slept well last night.” Hyukjae explained and turned to give Donghae a thankful glance and a warm smile which he returned.

“So, let’s get moving then.” Donghae suggested and the others looked at him in surprise.

“Newbies anxious. Not that I blame you, I’d want to see what The Mountain is all about too if I was you. It’s worth it though, it is epic.” Yesung said and Donghae was surprised at how much the seemingly quiet boy had said.

“Alright, alright, let’s go already.” Heechul finished the thought and began to pack up the one tent.

The others followed and in less than five minutes they were ready to move. They began their journey up the rocky trail at what seemed like an excruciatingly slow pace to all of them. Their footsteps sent rocks flying over the edge as their altitude increased.

“Alright, Kibum, this might be a little tricky for you. Just hug the wall and you’ll be fine. Just in case, I have a climbing rope that I am going to link between the two of us.” Hyukjae said while pulling out a rope and attaching one end to Donghae and the other to himself.

“Heechul, you go first.” Hyukjae instructed and Heechul began to make his way across the perilous ledge that separated them from the other side of the path.

The ledge was no more than five inches in width, and below was a drop that seemed to have no end.

Donghae watched as the others crossed the edge with apparent ease. He had done stuff like this a thousand times over, but wanted to appear nervous.

“Your turn.” Hyukjae said and Donghae approached the ledge cautiously, hesitating before stepping out onto it.

He made his way slowly across, keeping tight to the wall. The rope that attached him to Hyukjae swayed in the open air. He made it across in a matter of a few steps and as soon as he was across Hyukjae began to make his way across.

Just as he was about to reach the other side his right foot slipped, throwing his balance off slightly before he slipped completely, his hands quickly catching the ledge.

Donghae who had been watching him the entire time quickly grabbed the rope that connected the two and pulled tight.

“Guys, hold onto me and help me pull him up. Hyukjae, inch your way across the ledge, I won’t let you fall.” Donghae commanded in an urgent tone, the others quickly came to his aid.

Heechul wrapped his arms around Donghae’s waist, securing the only thing that was keeping Hyukjae from falling to his death. Kangin grabbed the rope in front of Donghae, using his strength to support most of Hyukjae’s weight as he slowly inched his hands closer to the other side.

When he was within reach Kyuhyun and Yesung each grabbed one of his hands and together all five pulled Hyukjae up and out of danger. They sat together on the ground, all panting for air.

“Looks like I needed the rope all right.” Donghae attempted to joke and break the silence that surrounded them after the accident.

“Very funny, Kibum, but thanks. I owe you one, big time.” Hyukjae said and gave Donghae a slight pat on his knee.

“No problem, hyung.” Donghae said and then realized his mistake as soon as it left his lips and he saw all five staring at him.

“You just called me hyung.” Hyukjae said, staring at him incredulously.

“Uh, yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to, it just slipped, won’t happen again.” Donghae said trying to cover his mistake.

Both North and South Korea used the same terms of endearment, but as far as Donghae could tell none of the boys called the other ‘hyung’.

“It’s ok; I’m just not used to it. Even though I am not the youngest in the group, we just never started calling each other that. You can call me that if you want though.” Hyukjae said and while the others laughed Donghae seemed to notice a slight blush covering Hyukjae’s cheeks.

“Ok, hyung.” Donghae said which only made the others laugh harder, while the two involved just looked at each other and smiled.

Donghae felt like, maybe, just maybe, this friendship thing could work.

The rest of their journey up the mountain passed without incident, the four boys mocking Hyukjae’s clumsiness while Donghae sent him pitiful glances. He felt bad for the poor boy, obviously stuff like that didn’t happen to him very often, if at all.

“Congrats, Kibum. You have made it here, now the real fun begins.” Heechul said with a grin as the six reached the top of the mountain.

“What are you talking about, I don’t see anything.” Donghae said, speaking the truth. He didn’t see anything but the great view around him, it would be better under a clear night sky.

“That’s kind of the point.” Hyukjae said and began to lead the way over to what seemed like a random boulder to Donghae.

Together the five boys pushed the large boulder, Donghae was amazed that they were able to move the heavy rock. Once the rock was removed a dark tunnel was revealed.

“Come on, it’s dark, so take my hand again. You better get used to the dark soon though.” Hyukjae said holding out his hand for Donghae as the other four started to make their own way down the tunnel.

Donghae took his hand and followed the others into the dark, not bothering to turn on his night vision. Hyukjae was right, he should probably get used to the dark, without the aid of technology.

“Shouldn’t we close the entrance?” Donghae asked and then he heard a loud slam behind them. When he turned around the light that had been coming from the entrance to the tunnel was gone.

“How in the…?” He started to ask but stopped when he felt Hyukjae give him a glare.

Obviously this place was filled with secrets he wasn’t supposed to know, or, he was about to find out.

They made their way through the tunnel, which wound its way downward. At first Donghae couldn’t see anything and was tempted to turn his night vision on, but the warm hand in his gave him the confidence to trust Hyukjae and keep walking. As they progress his eyes began to adjust to the dark and he could make out the silhouettes of the four boys in front of them, and could make out some of Hyukjae’s features. As they progressed farther he began to see the actual tunnel and could see where they were going relatively well. He could have let go of Hyukjae’s hand at that point, but decided against it. He liked the comfort the contact brought him and wanted to make it seem like he trusted Hyukjae enough to let him guide him through the darkness.

“Almost there!” Kangin called out from ahead and Donghae could see a pinprick of light up ahead.

As they got closer Donghae could hear some people speaking and the soft patter of footsteps across the stone floor. He had turned his sonar off a while ago, and was surprised at how much he was still picking up. He hardly ever went without using the technology available to him, yet here he was functioning perfectly fine without it.

When they finally reached the place the light was coming from Donghae was astounded by what he saw. There was a large, circular room similar to what he had seen underneath the building he had originally been taken too. Only instead of weapons and camping gear this room was filled with all different forms of technology. Around the outside wall were screens, some with news feeds on (both North and South Korean) and others with maps and military arrangements. Most impressive was the holographic layout in the middle, which showed an army unit among the rigorous terrain along the border.

“Welcome to the headquarters of all our operations. Here is where all the military moves are planned and executed, as well as the analysis of enemy movements.” Hyukjae said as Donghae continued to gape at his surroundings.

“So, why am I here, hyung?” Donghae asked while still looking around, taking all of the information in so that he could report every detail to his father later.

“That.” Hyukjae said and pointed at the three dimensional holographic map in the middle of the circular room.

“What about it?” Donghae asked stepping forward in order to see it better.

“On the other side of those mountains there,” Hyukjae said while pointing at the holographic mountains, “is a South Korean army unit. What we want to know is whether or not we should attack them, or wait until they attack us. The thing is, we have been on the defensive for the past year and it is time we got the ball back in our court. This war needs to end, and that is never going to happen if we don’t strike first.”

Donghae studied the image for a few minutes, circling around the table to get a view from all angles. It was impossible to see the South Korean army unit on the map, but he could get a feel for the size and strength of the North Korean army unit.

“Do you know how large the South Korean unit is?” Donghae asked as he continued to circle around the table.

“Over here, this is the only reading we have.” Hyukjae said and guided Donghae towards one of the outer screens which showed a thermo shot from a passing satellite.

From the shot Donghae could only see the heat mass of the unit. This could easily be inaccurate as the troops could be clumped close together to give a false reading on the size of the unit. It also didn’t attribute anything to the fire power at their disposal.

“What are you thinking Kibum?” Hyukjae asked as Donghae continued to circle around the room with a puzzled look on his face.

“I’m thinking that…we need to take a closer look.” He finally concluded with a grin at Hyukjae who stared blankly back at him.

“Which means it’s…” Kangin started as a grin spread across his face.

“Mission time.” Yesung said and all five boys grinned maliciously while Hyukjae just rolled his eyes at their anxiety to get back out in the field.

Please pardon any really bad grammar issues in there. I did my usual 2 edits, but the second was rushed as I wanted to update but didn't want to beta :)

Donghae is such a dorky child!!!!!

Hae: "Why, why hyukie, why!?!"

Hyuk: "SHUT UP HAE!"

can't you see them doing that in real life? actually, I think they have!

You didn't ACTUALLY think I was going to throw Hyukie off the cliff did you? The only thing I am throwing is funnylittlefishy on a ROLLERCOASTER OF DOOM for breaking up Eunhae!!! <---see what you did? you got dragged(drug? CLONE I NEED GRAMMAR HELP!) into a rambling Author's Note!

Who was it that said somthing about the "totally neccessary" handholding? IT IS NECCESSARY!!!! IT IS EUNHAE!!! plus, holding hands is neccessary in all aspects of life...plus, donghae thinks it is "normal" ;) such an ignorant child our fish is :D

now is when things get more 'interesting'....hoping I don't get death threats *glare at clone* for at least a few more chapters *smiles innocently*

mianhae for the long AN :/ I was feeling like rambling....if you want you can blame stiki because he is my rambling buddy and I am getting ignored :/ I HOPE YOU ARE READING THIS STIKI!!!! <3 I love all the people I mentioned in here...just means I am thinking about you guys :)