Gulping Suho started nervously, “L…Lay, y-”

“Get down!” Chorong suddenly screamed tackling the both of them.

Suho landed roughly on his back with his head knocking into the concrete. The pain immediately soared through his head and he helplessly groaned from it. Urging the pain away he pulled himself up, reaching for his gun and aimed at their perpetrator not too far from them.

The man’s deathly screamed screeched into the air when Suho’s bullet jumped through the vessels in his hand. Lay quickly pulled himself up as Suho grabbed Chorong’s arm to lug her up safely. Before Suho could belt out an order for them to run Lay immediately dashed toward the perpetrator.

Suho’s eyes widened as Lay reached for the gun that had dropped from the man’s hand and barely screamed when he suddenly rose up from the ground. Before his warning hit, Lay was tackled to the ground.

“Lay!” Suho shouted stepping forward.

Wrestling with the man Lay turned to look at them, “Go on! I’ll catch up!”

Suho hesitated. Leaving behind a comrade was one of the worst things he could do.

“I said go!” Lay raised his voice again.

Suho’s brows very narrowly interconnected with the decision that had to be made before grabbing Chorong’s hand to lead her away.

“Suho…” Chorong quietly started following his lead.

His was heart was quickly being crushed with guilt. He couldn’t bear the thought that he’d run off leaving Lay to fend for himself. Suho just wanted to hate himself. This was one of the worst things he should be deemed punished for.

“He’ll be ok, he’ll be ok,” Suho breathed under his breath, but it was more of a persuasion for himself.

~_____~

Donghae was crazy, he was insane!

Namjoo couldn’t explain how angry she was with how he never thought of anyone when Eunhyuk or Hyukjae appeared. He was risking all their lives at this very moment! If anything happened to him, hers and Suho’s efforts would be put to waste!

That wasn’t to say that their work was more important compared to Donghae’s desperate chase to recover Eunhyuk, but that at this very second not only theirs, but Victoria’s was in danger.

She ran long and hard to keep Donghae in her sight, but she was running out of breath. Donghae raced across the street at the speed of a cross country runner and Namjoo immediately followed without checking for the street lights. The very next second she heard a horn beeping at her. The very second she stopped in step was too late.

Fear swallowed her entire whole and her feet froze. All Namjoo did in that second was raise her arms up to shield herself while tires screamed against the concrete as it burned for a halting stop. The heavy weight of the car’s bumper slightly bumped into her legs and she collided forward onto the hood of the car. It all happened so fast Namjoo could only recognize the pain bellowing throughout her whole body as she slid onto the street.  

A gasping pain escaped her when she opened her eyes to see the extending street beyond her. The immediate thought that she’d lost Donghae flurried through her like mad as she rose.

“Miss, are you ok!?” The driver grabbed onto her arm pulling her up. “Stay there, I’ll call an ambulance.”

There was no time for an ambulance. Namjoo needed to find Donghae before he might do something stupid.

Pain coursed up and down her lower legs as she brittly stood waving the driver away. All she wanted to do at the moment was curse and curse some more. Namjoo slightly jumped when a gunshot bellowed into the air and looked around for where it had come from. It sounded near – perhaps from the way Suho and the others had gone. After twisting to look behind her she spotted the man who’d opened the door for Hyukjae with two others following him. They were slowly heading her way from down the road they’d started from.

With her heart ramming hard inside her chest she immediately started down the street ahead of her in hopes of losing them.

~_____~

Lay fought to twist the man’s wrist a bit in hopes of hurting him even more so that he could gain an advantage. He could feel blood dripping onto his face from the attacker’s wounded hand, but found it even more difficult to breathe. His side still hurt every time he took a breath and he feared that he might not make it out alive.

Something cracked before Lay felt the chills run through his body. He didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that he’d broken someone’s finger intentionally. Throwing his head up he headbutted the man before shoving him aside. Finally sitting up breathing heavily he reached for the gun, but cowered immediately when someone from afar shot at it.

Lay immediately turned in search of his next perpetrator, but sighted no one. Realizing it wasn’t time to dwindle in one spot for too long he got up to run. As soon as he started down the direction Suho and Chorong had gone, he immediately started backtracking upon seeing unfamiliar faces appear out of an alley.

Taking Donghae’s advice into mind that there were probably shooters around he hurried out of their sight. This area was becoming more dangerous by the second, but he was on his own without anything to defend himself with.

Reaching the street they’d started from he decided to continue straight up until he’d reach wherever Victoria was being held. However, as he ran further ahead he spotted a group of three men quickly turning down their left. Lay would have taken another route to avoid them, but instinct made him curious.

Slowing down he quieted his breathing and followed from far behind. Down the road ahead he spotted a familiar back darting down the street with a horrible limp.

It was Namjoo.

His heart started racing again before backtracking out of sight. Running in the opposite direction he mapped out the possibility of the area into his head. For sure there had to be a road that somehow connected to the street Namjoo was currently running on. If he deemed that there was no soluble hiding places nearby she’d continue going straight. If that was the case he’d be able to help her.

Swerving right Lay quickly passed the buildings in a rush, hoping that Namjoo was going at the same speed or slower. If she was limping, fast wasn’t an option for her at the moment.

Through the gaps between the buildings he could see the men jogging after Namjoo in a tease. That meant she couldn’t be too far in front of him. Clutching onto his side so that he might better bear with the pain surging through him he urged himself to run faster. A flush of wind soared past him sweeping his hair back. Lay barely managed to trip over his own feet. A narrow alleyway appeared on his right and he immediately turned.

His breathing was even heavier now and he was barely gasping for air at such volume. Leaning against the building for support he tried to smooth out his breathing capacity and poked his head out to see Namjoo just head up the road. Once she neared he leapt out to grab her instantly. A surprised gasp escaped her with a mere shout, but he quickly pressed a hand over her lips. Without explanation he ushered her into the alleyway where they immediately started escaping.

Finally out and into the basking sun again they dropped against the building in the open street, both panting sorely from their runs.

“Wh…what are you doing here?” Namjoo started baffled and confused.

The pain coursing through him was too much for him to take. Clamping his eyes shut to steady himself he panted heavily again.

“I lost Suho and Chorong,” Lay explained.

“Oh…great,” Namjoo breathed painfully and clasped a hand over her stomach, short of breath.

“Are you ok?”

With eyes closed Namjoo nodded, but the crossed expression on her face told him otherwise.

“I lost Donghae too,” Namjoo told, gasping for air.

“Seems like it,” Lay bitterly laughed.

“Hyukjae’s here,” Namjoo explained, which all but caught all of Lay’s undivided attention.

“You…saw him?”

Namjoo nodded and Lay felt his insides flip.

Suho’s earlier silence and hesitation had been the answer to his earlier question. If Namjoo also knew how Hyukjae looked like then Victoria was right about being suspicious. Both Suho and Namjoo had definitely kept secrets from the team.

Why?

Because of Donghae? Or were they up to something else?

“We have to get to Victoria first,” Lay started, switching out of his thoughts. He would have to worry about Suho and Namjoo after rescuing his team leader. “First, we need to defeat their offense.”

Namjoo glanced at him.

“We can backtrack from here, follow them, and surprise them; attack from behind,” Lay started.

“No,” Namjoo shook her head. “They’d be expecting a surprise attack. We fight head to head.”

Lay shortly frowned.

“I have an idea.” Namjoo started.

After splitting up with her Lay was suddenly confident that even though Namjoo tended to be in more control of herself unlike Suho when caught in situations, she was just as bizarre.

They both were insane.

~_____~

It was delirious anxiety that was spreading through Suho like wildfire. His breathing had gotten heavy even though he hadn’t come that far from where he’d left Lay. He’d slid passively and cautiously behind and against the buildings. Staying out of sight was most important to him at the moment. He was afraid that if they were caught and confronted he wouldn’t be able to contain his emotions.

The gun in his hands had completely gone numb against his palm and sweaty fingers. To be honest he was very much afraid. This was his very first time in the battlefield alone…and with a gun. Donghae should be here to lead him, but he wasn’t here. Namjoo should be on the lookout for any dangerous persons; be first to shoot, but she wasn’t here.

Suho was well alone with neither of his team mates to lead him.

This, from his point of view, was a very bad situation.

Preventing injury and refraining from entering any sorts of crossfire was very important.

The silence all around him sounded life threatening. Maybe the shooters were planning some kind of strategy against him. Suho should at least hear footsteps or something, but after all they were gun men – and professional ones at that.

Suho was even more nervous.

Were they heading in the right direction?

His eyes skimmed through the empty streets. Empty soda cups littered the side of the street, but no presence could be seen. Was this one of the streets the cops had closed off right after the scene of the crash?

With his back pressed against the wall and his legs jittery, he poked his head out from beyond the corner. The corner of the brick building was extensively sharp and in every detail. The dim orange-redness color of the stones stood out so clearly within the corner of his eyes. Suho still couldn’t spot any movement. They were really alone, even in their hiding which made him entirely nervous even more so than just a few seconds before. It was as if the weight of the anxiety got heavier each passing second.

His poor shaking heart couldn’t utter any word of language to poor injured Chorong who was following him from behind. Whether she was scared too or more composed than he, he didn’t think he wanted to know.

Deeming that the area was clear Suho crept out from behind the alley they’d been standing in and shuffled forward with the lightest steps he could control. It scared him that he could barely hear Chorong’s footsteps even though he knew well she was there.

Suho continued creeping forward squatting in a lowered position. They quickly passed one building and then another. A drop of sweat slid down his eye before dripping onto the concrete. The afternoon sun seemed to be rubbing into his back like heated ice cubes. It was an awful feeling added to the anxiety he was experiencing. Suho felt like he was drowning in a tub of molten sweat.

Brushing an imaginary bang out of his eye he continued forward again. So focused on imagining himself as an invisible object he missed sight of what they were about to pass. His heart leapt out of his chest when he literally fell backward.

“Suho, look,” Chorong told letting go of his shirt.

Tilting his head back Suho stared up at the olden nursing home that had recently closed down a few years ago. The wooden plaque of the building’s name was weathering away from storms and passing rains. Some of the letters had chipped off while other areas of the plaque were seemingly covered with cracks. The nursing home long abandoned, looked identical. The building worn down from being unused looked dark and empty, souless.

Even as he stared at the dark insides from through the dirty windows clogged up with cobwebs, he couldn’t transmit through his brain what was so special about the building.     

“This is the northernmost point of here,” Chorong continued when the silence around them droned on. “Victoria’s probably in there.”

His brain suddenly lit up and as if functioning again, he suddenly stood. The abandoned nursing home stared at him, devouring his eyes just as his eyes searched it as if to look for any sense of familiarity.

Forgetting about his anxiety and watch for other shooters, he stepped forward. The heavy doors felt cold upon his approach. As soon as he neared he could see that the lock had been touched and the door had been left a crack open. It looked just like someone had purposely left it that way as if expecting them from the very start.

Suho gently swung the door opened and stared into the dark gloominess. The furniture left behind had turned old, but the familiar smell of what was once a nursing home still smelled just as fresh. Another step in and Suho felt dust drifting down onto him. Lifting his head up he saw the chandelier from above swinging slightly.

Overtaken by a sudden cautiousness he grabbed Chorong’s hand, pulling her after him. The old reception desk on his left was still standing strong. Luckily for him the sturdy desk hadn’t been removed from spot and would serve as a good barrier until he got a better map of the place. Until then, he wouldn’t move.

“Here, hold it,” Suho handed Chorong the gun.

When she took it he quickly searched through the built-in pockets hidden inside his jacket. Pulling out a few wires and a short metal piece along with what looked like an earplug he set himself to work. Namjoo had shown him this once and just once. It was what made her such a savior on the field.

“What are you doing?” Chorong whispered.

“I’m,” he quietly explained plugging the earplug into his ear and turned to meet with her eyes, “going to call Tao.”

In fact, Tao had never gone back to the apartment at all. He was currently at headquarters as instructed. The envoy to Wonju last night had served him some luck. Namjoo always had some good equipment stashed in her trunk and that was just where he’d gotten these precious babies.

Turning away from Chorong he connected the wire to the mobile piece and immediately heard phone dials. A second of lasting static noises buzzed into his ear before he heard Tao’s irritated voice.  

“What took you!? I waited for an hour!” Tao’s voice blasted irritatedly into his eardrum. “Do you know what I could have been doing?”

Ignoring him completely Suho started, “Are you at the computer like I told you?”

“Yes,” Tao replied. “Why’s there a freaking password on here anyway? Don’t you think it’s unnecessary? I almost couldn’t get in.”

“You ask Namjoo about that,” Suho shortly cut him off. “Now pull up the map.”

“Where is that?”

Brat Tao suddenly sounded like the child Suho had first met he first joined the team. By now Suho had already gotten used to it. Since Tao hadn’t shown his childish self lately Suho thought it was good to hear him being like this.

“The ‘M’ icon, click on it,” Suho instructed.

“Ahh…” Tao droned on when he found it. “Sheesh, who decided on these icons? It’s so confusing!”

“Again, you better ask Namjoo,” Suho replied.

“What next?”

“There should be a bar on the right indicating the location. Type in: Yeongwol Nursing Home.”

“Isn’t that place haunted?”

Suho found himself glancing in the direction of the swaying chandelier, “Shut up. Just do it.”

For a moment Tao didn’t reply, but Suho thought he heard tapping noises from the keyboard.

Nervous, he called out, “Tao.”

“I found it.”

Closing his eyes and heaving a relieved sigh Suho asked, “Now tell me where to go.” 

***Aside from personal matters, they're finally working together! Tao's finally being of help to Suho! Namjoo & Lay have teamed up! Suho & Chorong are a team right now! But aside from that, Lay knows SuJoo has been keeping secrets from the team!