An injured Wooyoung was an obedient Wooyoung. Taecyeon couldn’t believe how cooperative the inspector was as he tended to the other’s injuries. The medic would only sigh in exasperation, but would so often laugh as if he was reliving some memory or perhaps even an inside joke. Seulong was with them too, his comments and snides only met with irked eye-rolls and indifferent shrugs.

Nichkhun was quiet as well as Junsu worked over his wounds. The Hell medic was floored seeing the state their de facto leader was in. Never in their entire history together did Junsu ever see Nichkhun in need of any assistance. The Thai was invincible to his eyes, but perhaps he may have found his match in Wooyoung.

It seemed likely. Everyone else thought so.

Nichkhun was surprised by his lack of urge to throw some violent fit. He reasoned he was too tired, that the lack of sleep, that fighting all night made him soft for this day. Even Victoria’s usually smothering presence didn’t bother him as much.

However, it was Wooyoung who was disturbed by her sudden presence, and the young officer made no secret of his distaste for her, in his subtle way of course. A way Nichkhun could read- and he was honestly amused by Wooyoung’s reactions to her.

For Wooyoung, no one else should ever be by Nichkhun’s side but June. He understood if no one else knew about June before JYP had brought her up, even then he doubted they knew the full extent of what Dr. Aybarra meant to Nichkhun.

“So who won?” Seulong asked, oddly feeling brave. Nichkhun was the enemy, that thought never left his mind, but seeing him at his current state, seeing Wooyoung and Taecyeon as they were, he couldn’t help but feel as in nothing had changed after all.

Wooyoung frowned while Nichkhun smirked, and laughter erupted from their two friends. This led to more confusion from Junsu. Still, the atmosphere was light and almost carefree. It didn’t seem to matter that there was a great danger looming over them.

“So does this mean we’re all friends now?” Junsu asked. The question was sincere. He knew what Fortuna was capable of, and he also knew there was no chance that he was going to get out of having to face them in battle. He wanted as much help as he could get.

The tension in the room rose again as the laughter died down. Serious expressions were exchanged between Taecyeon and Seulong, but they refused to comment on it.

Junsu sighed as he finished up with Nichkhun. “Well, if you change your minds, we’re down at the shop. Victoria, would you like to help?”

The woman nodded slightly, feeling as if she had already overstayed her welcome. The pair exited the infirmary together, leaving the four men behind.

“I still don’t think this is the right way to do this,” Taecyeon declared. “There are other ways-”

“Like what?” Wooyoung’s challenge to Taecyeon’s statement didn’t fall unnoticed. “LSM backed you into a wall. You don’t have a choice but to fight back.”

“This isn’t the oath we took Wooyoung. Nichkhun may have no qualms moving over into the dark side, but I can’t live like that. I don’t know what went down between you two or what he said to you to have you siding with him again, but I refuse to cooperate.”

Seulong was silenced, but he agreed to everything Taecyeon said. “Look, we may still be under JYP and all, but he’s been working underground too. This isn’t our cause, and I’m not fighting for it.”

~ ♘ | ☖ ~

Schuldig

(Guilty)

The screeching sound of the metal gates being pushed open was the one thing that reminded Chansung of that one day. He turned around to look at Jinwoon as he struggled to maneuver himself inside the shop. Victoria was unsure of how to help him as the boy often refused, and Junsu knew better than to volunteer.

Chansung sighed. He couldn’t decide if that one day almost too long ago was a blessing or a curse.

Mai walked into the flower shop expecting a forced calmness in the air, but there was none. Instead a cool breeze flowed through the windows carrying the scent of various flowers across the room. Her eyes immediately fell onto Jinwoon. Her mind couldn’t grasp around the fact that someone as warm as him was in Hell, the wheelchair notwithstanding.

“Chansung, didn’t I tell you to put the roses all together on that side of the room?” Jinwoon asked, pointing towards the cooler corner of the shop.

Chansung groaned. “Junsu said to put the reds together.”

“Since when do you listen to Junsu? And Junsu, could you please check the peonies at the back?”

Junsu made himself more comfortable on his seat at the counter and rested his temple on the heel of his hand. “Chansung, go check the peonies at the back.”

“I’ll do it,” They all turned to Victoria who was already putting on an apron, “I’ll go. I don’t want to just sit here.”

Chansung sighed again as he watched Victoria disappear into the storage room. “See what you did? Who are you gonna order around next? Mai?”

Startled, Mai took a cautionary step back. Did they really mean it when they said everything should be normal today? Thoughts about the last time she was in this shop filled her mind. Could there have possibly been a way for her to have known since then that this was the lair of the assassins she had worked so hard to trace? Jinwoon had been the same, warm, sweet, and friendly. But had Mai known the nature of his job, would she have offered him the same respect?

“I thought this was just a cover, why are you still working?” she asked.

“Because if we don’t work, then we don’t eat,” Jinwoon beamed. “And we can’t put Chansung through school, too.”

If Mai was confused before, she was downright bewildered now. It was lost on her that these assassins were literally florists by day. “It’s a little ironic, isn’t it? I thought that a man that knew the meaning of a flower was incapable of harm.”

“Harming the innocent,” Chansung added. “A man who knows the meaning of a flower is incapable of harming the innocent.”

“Two wrongs don’t make a right. You still kill people. That doesn’t make you any better than they are,” she answered tartly. It came out before she could think, but she didn’t regret her words.

“Are we going to go through this again?” Junsu drawled. “We told you, we all have our reasons. Chansung said it best, it’s not as if the good is running out, it’s just that evil is infinite and sometimes even you and your good girl badge isn’t enough. These people consider themselves above the law, above your power, and to take them down, we break the law.”

“You can’t honestly believe in necessary evils. That can’t be the only reason why you live like this.”

Jinwoon folded his hands on his lap as he spoke carefully, “Officer Mai, we believe in what we did then, and we believe in what we do now. You cannot judge us for what we believe is right.”

Mai staggered back. “I’m sorry if I find it hard to believe that you do this for the greater good.”

Jinwoon sent her a patronizing look. “Officer Mai, some of us were born into this life, and others just die into the night. Our reasons justify our actions, whether or not you agree to them. We may be driven by revenge, Fortuna has done us many wrongs, but all we really want is their heads. They need to pay for what they did to us. I admire you for staying true to yourself and your convictions after having everything that was important to you be taken away like that, but Officer, your family lives. We lost everything we had to Fortuna. Officer Mai, we lost our existence because of them. I don’t think you understand the gravity of that.”

Mai couldn’t accept it. How could someone as warm as Jinwoon be filled with revenge? Looking around her, these people didn’t appear to be killers. They looked nothing like blood-thirsty assassins- they looked normal. “I know what Fortuna has done, but can’t you-”

“Forget it Mai,” Taecyeon cut in. He and Seulong stood awkwardly by the stairs that led to their basement room. “They won’t listen. You’re wasting your breath.” They didn’t wait for Mai to answer, and they disappeared down the staircase.

“Officer, you have a reason to fight, it’s the same for us. We believe that what we do is right, you can’t contest that.”

Mai looked back at Chansung and the pensive expression on his face. “What did Fortuna ever do to you?” she asked.

He simply shook his head, and shrugged. “Like Jinwoon said, some of us just die into the night.”

Mai didn’t understand, and her lips pressed tightly as she resisted the urge to ask just what they meant with being born and dying into the night. “You don’t happen to have some...I don’t know...a..a...”

Junsu smirked, knowing full well what Mai meant. “There’s a spare room on Rai’s floor that we use as a training room...Have fun.”

…

Wooden floorboards were not something Mai was accustomed to, but she was desperate enough to take any and all ways for her to release the building up tension inside her. It was a simple room, just the floorboards, a single kickbag hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room and a few weapons hanging on hooks to the side. She was suddenly unsure if she was supposed to take her shoes off or not.

“Don’t be silly, Mai. Nobody cares,” she muttered to herself as she walked to the center of the room and started doing her stretches.

It was for all points and purposes empty and she couldn’t begin to think how she was going to train here. Empty, like some Inspector’s heart. The thought shook her and she mentally slapped herself to get rid of the thoughts she knew were just about to plague her.

No, he couldn’t possibly be empty, she argued to herself. There’s that Dr. Aybarra, and Nichkhun, however they’re all involved in this whole thing. Where are they anyway? Taec said he’d check on them both, but he didn’t say anything.

The building frustration inside her was released through a powerful kick. The sound of her instep on the leather bag echoed across the room, and she was again reminded of how it was like training with Junho. He always took her blows with no complaint, and every time she taught him how to attack- every time she would give him permission to attack her, he never did.

He was a lousy sparring partner, but he was still her best friend.

She didn’t know if that even mattered anymore.

The sound of the sliding doors opening reeled her attention back to the physical room, and she was unsure how to react when she saw Chansung come in. “I thought you might need a partner,” he said, pulling out four rolls of handwraps and tossing two towards her.

Mai caught them effortlessly though her eyes narrowed significantly at him. “I thought you had to work.”

Chansung laughed. “I did, but Victoria’s down there, and Nichkhun clocked in too.”

An irrepressible smirk graced her face. “Nichkhun works too?”

“Of course he does, everyone has to pull their load. Even Rai works, you know. Just...not as much as Jinwoon and me.” He shook his head, now worried about Rai. He didn’t worry about her physical safety, it was her heart he was concerned with.

“So, Rai. She’s with Junho. How are you so sure they’re not going to just disappear?”

Chansung shrugged playfully at her. “Who knows.” The mark was not something he knew he could share just as easily. He may have wanted to, but Mai wasn’t one of them. Not the way he could smell Wooyoung was, the way Rai affirmed Junho now was.

“You can’t just trust them like that, can you?”

“You have a lot of questions.”

“And why is Jinwoon in a wheelchair? How did you even find Rai? How did you all gather together like this? I can’t see you just meeting each other on the street and going, ‘Oh hi there, I’m about to launch an illegal attack against Fortuna, maybe you’ve heard of it. Wanna join?’”

Chansung grimaced at Mai’s poor execution of mockery. “Alright, I’ll make you a deal. Every hit you land on me, I’ll answer one of your questions. I’m not going to go easy on you, so maybe you’d want to put on some arm guards...or a body armor or something...if we can find one here...”

Mai smirked. “Deal. And I can handle you fine, I’d have you know.”

Chansung sighed, times like these he preferred Rai as a sparring partner. She didn’t talk much, and it was always a hard workout for him. “Fine, are you ready?”

Mai finished up wrapping her hands and nodded. Chansung toed off his shoes and socks and joined her in the middle of the room. Mai was suddenly conscious about her shoes, but as soon as she bumped fists with Chansung there was no way she could excuse herself to take them off.

The two fighters sized each other up as they took small steps to circle each other. Mai couldn’t get over the slightly amused look on Chansung’s face and jabbed at him, testing him.

Chansung saw the jab from about a mile away and easily dodged it. He knew how Mai fought, he had seen her footage when he and Jinwoon reviewed the tapes they collected from before. He was anticipating fighting her our of sheer curiosity. He has never seen anyone so careful when in combat- or perhaps he was just too used to Rai and Nichkhun.

Chansung raised his fists higher to his face, and when Mai’s eyes darted towards them, he quickly dropped to the floor and swept his feet across her feet. Mai was down in an instant, and he pulled her up by the arm.

“So, what do you have against Rai?” he asked.

Mai frowned as she rubbed the spot where she landed on her back. “She killed our captain. Consider that the tipping point of our rivalry.”

Chansung chuckled at the word rivalry, could it still be considered as such when Rai didn’t care? “You know you’ll just lose if you face her one-on-one.”

Mai’s lips were in an even thinner line. “I can beat her,” she grunted, attacking Chansung with another jab.

Chansung sidestepped the the left, but it appeared as if Mai had anticipated his move and swung her leg in a wide arc. The sides of her feet met his forearms as he blocked, but what he didn’t anticipate was her follow up roundhouse as she kicked off from the ground and used the momentum to land the next hit.

“Point. What did Fortuna ever do to you?”

Chansung was surprised with her question, he had expected her to ask about Jinwoon, Nichkhun, or Rai- even Junsu, just not him. “Of all the questions-”

“Just answer it.”

“Nothing.”

“What?”

“Fortuna didn’t do anything to me.”

“Then why are you here?!”

Chansung smirked. “One question per hit.”

Mai rolled her eyes and launched a series of kicks at him, Chansung easily blocked her attacks, waiting for an opening. He didn’t have a question, he just didn’t want her to ask any more about him. He caught her foot in his hand, and one tug was all it took for her to fall to the ground.

“Again, I told you, you can’t beat Rai.”

“I can. Even without my jutte, I can beat her. She has no technique, and you can easily find her weakness if you trap her in a corner. Besides, I won’t lose to someone with a debilitating injury.”

“You’ll lose.”

“I won’t!”

“You’re too careful when you fight. You fight to live, Rai fights to die. You fight to make sure you’re kept alive, Rai fights knowing she has nothing to lose.”

Taken aback, Mai was silenced for a few seconds. Chansung helped her up again, but this time she rolled back and landed another kick to his arm. “Tell me why you’re all here.”

Chansung’s palm met his face. He wondered how Schatten managed to not kick her out of their team for this long. “Revenge. Nichkhun wants revenge, Junsu wants revenge, Jinwoon wants revenge. Fortuna took away everything that meant everything to them. Rai just wants to kill Nichkhun for revenge, and I’m here as a replacement. Are you happy now?”

“Replacement?”

Chansung ran his knuckles over his face. The pads were rough on his skin, and that distracted him long enough. “Two years ago some pro-thief accidentally ran over what I heard was one of the greatest assassins underground. He was notorious that way, and I ran him over. Now I replaced him because he was generous enough not to get me killed.”

Ran over? Mai gasped as the realization hit her.

Jinwoon.

Chansung’s face was contrite, and Mai knew the fight was over. Did she feel sorry for him? She didn’t know how to react properly to his confession. One on hand, she thought it was silly, but on the other hand, she realized she really had no idea how these things worked out. If the circumstances were a little different, then Chansung would have been just another face in the crowd.

“And Mai, Rai didn’t kill your captain. Kass did, but that’s not a reason to kill her. You say you don’t understand our feelings, but the way you hurt Rai that night, the way you even hurt Junho, who I understand is your partner, you really can’t judge us. That’s very hypocritical of you.”

Silenced, Mai could only watch as Chansung’s back faded into the exit.

[A/N]: So here's a collection of my fail drawings. I was in the mood for it, so I figured I might as well share anyway.

and that concludes my Rai bias collection. Yes. it's Rai. woot. Forgive my crude attempts at drawing. I try ^^;;