The sound of shattering glass and an exploding TV behind him caught Jongin in a daze as he saw the balcony window slowly fall apart into many pieces. What the…

“Jongin, what’s going on?” Joonmyun’s voice echoed through the hallway.

Jongin snapped out of his reverie. “Guys, hide!” He ran into the kitchen, panic laced across his face.

“Eh?” Jongdae asked.

“No time for that. Don’t cross the living room. I think someone can see us,” Kai panicked.

“How do you know this?” Kris’s eyes widened.

Jongin shook his head. “I’ll tell you late-“ A flower pot in the living room exploded from the bullet impact. “We have to get out of here. Someone’s after us... someone’s after us…” He was shaking by then, and kneeled down in shock.

“Where is the noise?” Tao whimpered. “There are no sounds of shooting…”

Luhan shook his head. “Silencers. He has a really good one.”

Joy tugged on Luhan’s arm. “Oppa…” she cried.

The older boy rubbed her back. “Joy, go to Alex, okay. She’ll take care of you.”

Eve moved next to Jongin and hugged him in comfort. “Jongin-ssi…” she soothed him as she rubbed circles around his back.

Jongin shook his head once again. “Almost killed… shot…” he murmured in his broken English.

“Don’t think about that now, you hear me?” Eve felt him nod against her shoulders. “You need to help us get out of here. Everyone does. Can you do that?” Jongin pulled her head out of her shoulder and nodded again, eyes glistening under the light. “You’re a strong person, Jongin. Let’s go?” Eve offered her hand, and Jongin took it without a second thought.

Next, a mirror shattered, and everyone sprung into action. “Joonmyun, bring Minseok, Jongdae, Yixing, and Tao to carry the others from the bedroom, and do not stand upright when crossing the living room. Blow out the candles while you’re at it. Kris, Luhan, Sehun, help me pack up the food, clothes, and equipment. We’re moving down a few floors. Joy, go with Eve and wait for us. Jongin, go check if our raft is still there. No one use flashlights!” Alex commanded as she quickly stuffed all the food into bags and heard more shots ring out.

“Unnie…” Joy whimpered.

Alex turned around and hugged her sister. “Joy, I will stay with you soon. But we’re in danger. Can you stay with Eve?”

Joy pouted. “Will you come back?”

The older sister smiled. “Of course I will. Now go with Eve, okay? I want you to stay safe.” Alex watched her sister nod before going over to Eve and Jongin.

Kris then approached her, his face laced in doubt. “How do you know what to do?”

Alex turned to him with complete seriousness. “The guy saw our candles. He knows where we live. Next thing we know he could be at our doorstep. I’m not taking that risk. We’re leaving.”

“Where to though? We need to leave the building,” the tall leader pointed out.

Alex nodded. “I know that. Do you have any ideas?”

Kris shook his head, and looked to the other EXO members in the room. “You guys, any ideas?”

Sehun shook his head. “We should probably go in a general direction first and leave this place.”

Luhan pulled out the four guns he took and loaded bullets into them. “Minseok-ah, Joonmyun, Jongin, take one,” he said as he passed them each a pistol and a handful of bullets. Luhan took the last pistol and tucked it in his belt.

The other boys nodded as they grasped their guns. “Where should we meet?” Tao pointed out.

“Stairwell at the 5^th floor. Sound good?” Alex spoke up.

“Cool,” Jongin replied.

“Now remember, guys, stay safe. We’re not having any more injured people,” Kris continued with a stern tone. The rest of the boys nodded before hurrying for evacuation.

Eve held Joy in her arms as she and Jongin descended down the flight of stairs. “Jongin,” she spoke right as he was going to descend to the fourth floor.

Jongin turned around and gave her a kind gaze. “Yeah?”

Eve hesitated before continuing, “We’ll wait here for you?”

The boy nodded. “Yup. Stay here. I’ll be back soon.”

Eve returned to gesture as he swiftly glided down the stairs and ran through the door to the fourth floor level. As she heard the door click shut, she turned to Joy. “Joy-ah…”

“What’s going on?” the young girl whimpered.

Eve gently shushed her. “Joy, we’re going to be quiet, okay? We will be safe here, and wait for Jongin-oppa. Got it?” The younger girl nodded in response. “Good girl…” Eve whispered as she patted Joy’s back and slowly walked around the flat area of the stairway.

She felt her heart pounding in nervousness. Whether it was from the earlier gunshots, or whether she was worried for Jongin, Eve didn’t know. All she knew was her stomach churned, and her gut feeling was that something was not right. Eve could only pray that Jongin will be safe.

Jongin opened the door to the fourth floor room. He carefully maneuvered around the room since the room was pitch black, and swiftly avoided any furniture that would make noise. Jongin could see the moonlight peaking through the balcony window, and slowly made his way towards it.

Once he stood in front of the window, he unlocked the clasp and slid the window open. But as he was going to push it all the way, he froze once he heard a paddle in the distance. Huh? Another paddle sound occurred, and it was closer than the last.

… Jongin cursed in his head as he quickly slid the window a little bit closed, just enough for the person to possibly have trouble getting in unless he opened it. He then ran behind the wall separating the kitchen and the living room, with full view of the window when he peeked his head out.

The moonlight shined all the way to the wall, so Jongin looked carefully at his pistol as he inserted bullets into it. C’mon… he was impatient as he struggled to stay quiet. Once he was finished, Jongin then hid behind the wall as he heard the person tying the rope to the railing. The boy then heard the window creak open, and heard the individual taking confident strides toward him. Oh my God… Jongin shook a little as he raised his gun.

“!” the man screamed as a bullet entered his arm, and blood spurted out and trailed down his arms. In rage, he turned around and raised his gun to shoot the boy who hurt him. However, he missed as his target swiftly ducked, rushed forward, and punched him in the gut. But that did not distract him, since right then and there, his fist met with the boy’s jaw. Jongin lost his grip on the pistol and crashed to the ground, face contorted in pain.

He saw that the boy was thin as a twig. “So you think you can take me down, huh? Twit.”

Jongin pushed himself up and spat out the blood that pooled in his mouth. “No. But you’ve been hurting us. Gives me a reason to not do the same.”

The man started laughing. “So that’s what the once famous EXO member says. Psh, you guys are nothing now.”

Jongin’s eyes opened in alarm. “… Who are you?” he murmured.

“Oh kid, you don’t remember me anymore? Has a week or so completely wiped your mind of all those who helped you become the so-called dancer you are? Pathetic, all of you. Good for nothing kids who think they have all the talent in the world. No wonder that Joonmyun kid was there for seven years. He has none at all! Who would have thought,” the man shook his head in sarcastic disbelief.

The boy wracked his brain. “Producer Lee?”

The man laughed in cynical amusement. “Correct, my boy. Finally, someone who remembers me.” He roughly pushed Jongin to the ground once again, and Jongin’s back erupted in a fire of pain. “Seems like your back still can’t handle a little bit of work.”

Jongin groaned in pain. “You bastard…”

“It’s my job to be. You trainees were so pathetic, thinking you all were all that. Especially you, you ungrateful and egotistical boy.”

“I wasn’t-“ Jongin started.

“I didn’t ask you to talk, my boy,” the producer interrupted. “You were the worst of them all. Anyway, that’s beside the point. Point is, now that we’re all even and there are no rules to abide by, it’s my turn to lead the field here. You see what this flood did?”

Jongin sighed. “Flood everything?” he replied in complete disinterest.

“Idiot. Everyone’s dead! That’s what it did,” the man exclaimed before giggling like a madman.

The boy thought for a moment, but realized something didn’t fit. “No it couldn’t have. We all lived.”

The man turned to gaze at him before hovering over him in a predatory manner. “You? So?”

Jongin stared at him with a hard look. “You killed everyone else. You killed our parents…”

The man laughed mockingly once again. “So you have a larger brain than I thought! You are right. I got everyone, especially all your families. You know what I’ll do next then, huh?”

“You sick man. If you wanted to kill us, why don’t you just kill me now?” Jongin writhed in anger and spat at him, and a wad of blood and saliva landed on the man’s pants.

He raged. “You ing little piece of !” he shouted as he kicked Jongin in the side, and watched the boy curl up in pain. “You listen carefully, boy,” he kneeled down and whispered into the dancer’s ear. “I planted five bombs in between here and where you all are living. In half an hour, this whole place will explode. I’m only merely going to injure you all just enough for you to witness the burning bodies of you and the rest of your so-called band. And you can say goodbye…” he sneered as he unlocked his gun.

Jongin’s steady gaze bore into the eyes of the man opposite him. “Then have at me. If you want to kill every single person here tonight, why don’t you start with me?” he mocked Producer Lee.

The man set his face into a serious line, a complete change from the fake glee that was plastered on his expression a minute before. “So be it then.”

If the producer who helped them back in the day will kill him now, Jongin didn’t regret anything. He had a career, albeit shortlived. He had a loving family, until the man in front of him killed them. He had the greatest friends in the world. Lastly, he met Emily, Alex, Joy and Eve.

Oh, Eve, I hope you don’t miss me, Jongin thought as he closed his eyes. He didn’t regret meeting her. He knew at this point, he loved her. It was a love that was short but strong, and Jongin didn’t care that it was possibly one-sided. His love for her was enough that he would die for her. He only regretted that he was a coward to try anything, and his life was about to end.

Producer Lee lifted the gun towards the boy. “Say your last words, Jongin. You’ll join your family in hell now.”

Eve knew something was wrong when Jongin didn’t come back. Only two minutes passed, but when a gunman was on the loose, she knew he would be quick. Not wanting to wait any longer, Eve warned Joy to stay silent as she quickly ran to the door of the hotel room.

She slowed down as she heard a loud crash from in the room. Eve heard the beginning of the conversation, and her eyes widened in alarm.

She turned to Joy. “Joy, can you run as fast as you can and get Alex? You know where our room is right?” Eve whispered. The little girl nodded her head. “Go, quickly!” Joy ran as fast as her short legs could carry her, and Eve knelt in front of the door with a pounding heart. She knew this was stupid, but she couldn’t leave Jongin in there.

“Producer Lee?” Eve heard Jongin sputter.

Producer? Eve thought as she then heard the man laugh. Jongin worked with him? Oh no…

She couldn’t stand it any longer. The gunner was someone from SM. Someone who help train EXO. Someone who should be a mentor. Or, was a mentor. Eve’s breath quickened in anger as she balled her hands into fists. Eve, you won’t do something stupid. Jongin’s life is at risk. You won’t go in. You won’t. Alex will come down. I know it… she mentally reminded herself as she rolled back and forth on her soles and closed her eyes.

She heard Jongin grunt loudly and whimper in pain. She heard the man curse. Alex, hurry… Jongin, hang in there, please… Eve’s eyes watered at the thought. Right then, the door to the fourth floor clicked open, and Alex and Luhan rushed towards her, flashlight lighting the hallway. Eve put a finger to to warn them when the light landed on her, and the two swiftly and quietly sped walked to her side.

“Eve, what’s going on?” Alex whispered.

“Jongin’s in there with the gunman…”Eve whispered back.

Luhan’s face hardened. “This isn’t good,” he murmured as he heard a gun click. He quickly took out his pistol and unlocked it as well.

“Luhan?” Alex and Eve whispered at him.

“Stand next to the wall.” The two girls did so as he quietly twisted the doorknob and slowly pushed the door open. Luhan raised the pistol at the man’s broad back and placed his finger at the trigger.

One more shot rang into the darkness.

Hey all, I'm back with a new update! Got some interviews for jobs so I've been busy with that. Hope you all like it!

In the meantime, I'm putting a poll here. Which story would you like for me to update/write first after this one is complete? I have some ideas (all of which include EXO members), but I'd like to see your guys's input as well :)

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