~_____~

There were fat flies swarming around a garbage bin with a reek of overdue food and dirty towels. They were now walking along a small dirt path winding them through the empty storage houses. The material they were built out off had become worn down over years currently covered in cobwebs. Corpses of various flies waved back and forth due to the current of the wind. Chorong thought for a second the webs might come flying their way.

Stains of remnants she couldn’t depict seemed to be running drily along the sides of the storage houses. Chorong assumed they’d been used for storing goods from the families in the countryside. As time elapsed and more people left for the cities Chorong supposed the storage houses had become of no use thus left behind; and now with no one nearby the gang had claimed the territory theirs.

The main warehouse came into view at the end of the trail; a long shed molded out of blue walls and a white roof.

“Step back,” Lay his arm out to move them toward a blind spot where they wouldn’t be sighted.

Chorong felt her back gently thud against the shed to their right and worried about dead flies on the webs touching her back. The last thing she really needed was for a spider to be crawling through her hair during the mission.

She couldn’t hear a thing and it seemed like the others were holding their breaths; their eyes sitting on the blue warehouse. The four rows of windows alongside the building had been blockaded up with either wood or some other material. Chorong wondered how the girls inside were faring.

How long had it been since they’d last seen daylight? Breathed fresh air?

Her heart ached for them.

“He said the girls were being held by the west end,” Suho recalled in a quiet voice, his eyes still and full of concentration. “Is it the left or right?”

Lay seemed to calculate everything into his memory before replying, “Left. The merchandise inside hasn’t been touched, so the girls must be held behind the leftoever shelves. It shouldn’t be too far from the back door.”

“How would you assume that?”

“There’s a gap between the areas through the window,” Lay narrowed his eyes to point it out, “there are definitely shelves inside. They’re probably used as dividers to separate the girls from the powers.” 

Suho nodded, Chorong relayed the information through her brain and kept them locked inside.

“The back door’s probably barred,” Chorong concluded.

“Most likely from the outside if the girls can’t access it from in,” Lay nodded. “The men should be preparing to leave on the other end, which means not many of them are keeping watch on the girls.”

“Then while we surprise them, you get the girls,” Suho placed orders.

“Since we couldn’t get a detailing of the area beforehand,” Lay started, “we shouldn’t fully assume that we’re right on.”

Chorong nodded.

“If you can’t break the back door, use your gun,” Lay suggested. “Making some noise won’t hurt our plan, but be cautious. We’re going to have to move faster if you have to use your gun. You should know what to do.”

“I can take care of it,” Chorong promised, anxiety building up deep within her chest. It was almost hard to breathe and control her thoughts with the ramming of her heart against her ribs. She fought hard to keep her breathing evenly paced and her hands from trembling.

Suho and Lay trusted her with the girls. Suddenly this mission seemed so much more dangerous and nerve wrecking. They only had one go and if she messed it up they were doomed. She didn’t want to be the fault of it.

The two of them seemed almost fearless as if they had everything under control. If they were nervous, she couldn’t see it on their faces.

“Keep low,” Lay warned. He turned to her to explain, “We’re going to head around the shed to the other side.”

So she was going to be left alone here. Noticing Suho’s stare she turned to look at the determination in his eyes.

A small smile appeared on his face saying that he believed in her. Words weren’t needed; she could read it through his eyes for the first time.  

“You can do this,” he encouraged. “I’ll see you later.”

With a nod of her head she watched them go. An ounce of doubt filled her and another of strength seeping through her.

Things had to turn out right, there was no choice. That was the only result possible.

Turning around and taking caution to remain out of sight she nearly crawled to the other end of the warehouse. What looked like a weak door had been chained up. The doorknob had been removed and two hooks had been replaced. The chain had been strung through the hooks and a safety lock had been put on. Only a key would open the back door.

Lay was right. She would have to use her gun.

If due to miscalculation and there were men among the girls, what would she do?

Chorong wasn’t a strategist. Would a foolish plan work nonetheless an act on impulse?

There was really no choice. She only had one go, just as Lay and Suho did. If she faulted, they’d have a hard time.

her lips she gently reached for her gun and aimed for the lock. Again, repeating to herself that there was only one chance. She had to break the lock and open the door no matter what.

The palpitating of her heart drummed so loud she could no longer hear the wind singing through her ears. Tightening her fingers and readjusting them again and again she felt the of the gun dig into her now sweaty palms. After a second she resituated her agaim and pulled the trigger.

An echo cause a flock of birds to shoot out of the forest behind her and to her lock the lock broke open. Quickly breaking it off and tossing it to the grass she undid the chain and pulled the door open. A rushed murmur of panic rustled among the disoriented girls who hadn’t bathed for days. The sight of them huddling against each other in their worn and dirty clothes broke her heart.

Frightened faces of disdain, scarred hearts apparent in youth of their eyes, and their tangled hair gave away the long days they’d spent locked up and tortured. The youngest seemed around 8 or 10 and the oldest women there seemed of her mid-twenties. A lot of them looked thinner and paler than should be. The dark bags carrying the weight of their worries and cries hung underneath their eyes pitifully.

Even they looked afraid of Chorong.

“Come on,” Chorong walked in.

As Lay had estimated, there was a large shelf being used as a divider. Rows and rows of other steel shelves all full of boxes and dusty blankets went on and on. There were chattering coming from the other side of the large warehouse. Chorong suddenly realized the whole area was larger inside than it looked from outside. She couldn’t hear any noise coming from Suho or Lay’s side. Were they waiting for her to get out first?

Unable to wait any longer, she prodded the girls to get up, but none of them moved. Their eyes watched her move back and forth urgently. Not a word was said during this moment. And Chorong only realized later that she should have been more careful.

Those large boxes and those shelves were great enough of a hiding place for even men of Kris’ height.

When a dark shadow suddenly appeared on the floor beside her she felt her senses come to a freeze. The world came to a long standstill. The secondhand of time ticked in her ears resolutely while her heart pounded loudly in her ears. She knew what was coming.  

Chorong spun around in hopes of being able to dodge in time, but without luck something hard hit her whole head and she out.

~_____~

Occupied with looking around Suho only came to a stop once he knocked into Lay’s back. It only came to him a few seconds later that Lay had actually taken a step back.

They were right by the corner of the shed adjacent to the warehouse; still out of sight. Whatever it was that Lay had seen Suho couldn’t.

“What is it?” His voice was merely a whisper.

“They’re assembling,” Lay replied.

“What?”

Lay’s palm slightly pressed against his torso pushing him further back until they were both literally pinned against the shed. Lay’s neck was still twisted and his eyes were wildly staring into the window out of Suho’s view. It made things much more pressing. Suho wanted to know what was going on, but he couldn’t make a noise.

A second later Lay quickly turned away, pressing himself further into the shed as if the shed would him in.

“They’re in formation,” Lay explained. “They probably know we’re here and are ready to counter us.”

Suho’s brows twisted together.

“Then what do you suggest?” Suho asked.

He took notice of Lay’s eyes darting toward the gun in his hand. Everyone was still probably conscious of the fact that he couldn’t shoot a gun well, but he’d been holding one recently. If he had to pull the trigger to save lives, he’d do it.

“I’ll go first,” Lay told. “You back me up.”

Suho couldn’t argue with that, so he nodded.

He listened to Lay tighten his hold on his gun before lifting it up. Glass shattered a quick moment after what sounded like another shot coming from Chorong’s side and within that split second his footsteps pounded against the earth as he charged ahead. Suho followed.

Whereas Lay quickly leaped into the air and through the now open window coolly, Suho felt his feet collide against the wooden frame as he leapt through. The impact caused him to roll forward face first. However much the pain was Suho wasn’t allowed time to sink it in. Once on his back he found a gun aimed right at him.

His eyes darted to the top of his lids to see that Lay was safely at the opposite end hiding behind a pile of wooden crates in the open area. He was in a crouched position, careful to remain out of sight. Suho caught the small shift of his head and glanced at the men surrounding the enclosed area. Upon estimation Suho guessed there were at most 6 of them.

Obviously for gang gang work Suho didn’t think it was a smart idea to have too many men around either. Plus, with such strong men brute force could be easily used to ease those girls under control.     

“Who are you?” His voice was heavy and deep.

Suho caught the nod of Lay’s head again before dropping his hands open and bared his teeth with a laugh and short smile. In that instant Lay made a shot at Suho’s perpetrator giving him the chance to run.

While hurrying pass the crates Suho watched Lay push them forward before following. About 10 feet ahead were lines of shelves stocked up with huge boxes with leftover business materials.

“Split up!” Suho shouted before darting to his right and dropped down behind a box wearing out because of long use.

Footsteps ushered down the long aisle and he waited straining his ears for any noise possible. Nothing seemed to be coming from Lay’s side. Where had he gone? Where was he hiding?

his lips he stared at the aisle on his right. Remaining his his low crouched position made his calves tense up, but he couldn’t move or try to peek either. It was too dangerous. If they caught sight of him they’d probably shoot him to death.

That was when he heard slow and gentle footsteps approach. Withholding his breath he clutched his gun prepared to defend himself.

Those footsteps stopped and Suho heard no more. The pacing of his heart accelerated.

What was going on?

His eyes darted from both corners of his lids. Imaginary sweat filtered down his face as if he were a wet towel being wrung dry. He couldn’t hear anything and that was even more frightening.

What should he do?

The sharpness of his breath stabbed his throat when he realized it. Shooting up from where he was he jumped forward just as bullets went soaring through the air behind him. The loud echoes of them deafened him when he landed on his chest in the open aisle. He’d be in danger’s eye if he wasn’t quick enough.

As if with a mind of his own his hand twisted left and pulled the trigger. A ballistic scream came from one of the men before he pushed himself up dashing for the hiding place in front of him. But even if he was in a hiding area he wasn’t deemed safe. They knew where he was and they’d follow to attack.

Heavy footsteps emerged and one of them appeared at the end of the aisle. On impulse Suho reached for one of the boxes hoping it wouldn’t be too heavy. To his luck the weight of the box forced his arms down a bit. He would  have a hard time throwing this box, so in the end he turned the open box and shoved the contents at the man. As the binders and a keyboard flew at him Suho tossed the box forward, shooting him directly.   

Hurrying his attention back to the shelf he grabbed another box throwing it to the ground before crawling through. Once on the other side Suho dropped onto a knee and listened quietly for any other noise.

Now that three of them were down he assumed the others would be more careful. After finishing these men up here they’d go find Chorong, but the worry was that they wouldn’t know how many men were over on that side. Which all, but meant that he would have to finish things up here quick.

“Suho!” Lay’s voice snapped into the air.

Suho had no idea what was going on. He first thought Lay was in trouble, so he shot up to his feet. Instead he caught the sound of something creaking before there was a loud crash.

~_____~

Lay had been hiding safely behind a box after crawling into an empty space on the bottom shelf. Footsteps passed him every few seconds. He’d catch noises of Suho fighting them and was only prepared to jump out if Suho needed him.

He’d been cautious to keep Suho in his sight. Since trouble usually lingered after him, Lay would have to make himself available in any case Suho wouldn’t be able to save himself. Even though reckless he was pretty much capable of anything.

In the silence Lay had caught one of them silently moving forward, which left him the question of where the other two were. Too much silence had gone by in two minutes. It was highly unlikely that in such a situation so much silence would be droning on. And that was when Lay crept out to carefully peek out from behind the shelf. There at the back he spotted two of them pushing against the heavy shelves to topple the others over like dominoes.

Suho was pretty much doomed and there wasn’t anything Lay could do about it. He was hiding, but Lay couldn’t tell where now. When he shifted back there was no Suho in his original spot. Honestly, he would have preferred to seek Suho out and escape in silence, but silence was the only thing that would kill Suho now. So instead, Lay ran out from where he was and screamed for Suho.

“Get out of there!” Lay belted out once the first shelf toppled forward.

There was a huge ingeneous creak creating a distorted illusion where Lay could feel the ground trembling. He didn’t want to have to dig Suho’s crushed body out of there.

“Suho!” Lay screamed again, turned and shot at the men before running out from where he was.

The next shelf crashed against the third and the fourth. Lay’s heart was literally trying to break his rib cage and a whoof of relief hit him when Suho suddenly dashed out from behind one of the shelf further back. The relief that had come too quick died in mid-air and Lay choked on his breath when Suho ran right into the other man seeking him.

Lay lifted his gun up when the man swung Suho into the shelf on the opposite side. He literally flopped down like a rag, but before Lay could make the shot to save Suho a rain of bullets shattered the windows in front of him and behind him. He immediately cowered to the ground with hands around his head in a desperate act to save himself.

What was happening!? Had reinforcements from the enemy arrived?

When all silenced and Lay lifted his head up he saw familiar uniforms he’d seen before when they’d been in the forest in Wonju.

At last! They finally came for them!!

***Huhu~~ Someone came for them! ^^

***Return to Seoul next chapter & Namjoo & Suho's discreet plan against Donghae