“Um….” Tao droned on for a really long time. 

“Tao,” Suho called impatiently. 

“Hold on!” Tao complained. “I’m trying to figure this out.” 

“Just move the arrow around.” Suho instructed. “I’m in the lobby.” 

“So where do you want to go?” 

Suho wanted to roll his eyes and scream in irritation. “Just anywhere! Make sure there are no shooters in the way.” 

“I’ll be able to see them?” Tao asked surprised. 

“No, you won’t, so choose wisely.” 

“Wh…are you crazy?! Why are you making me do this?!” Tao complained loudly. 

Suho swore he could feel his eardrums in pain. 

“Hurry Tao, we don’t have a lot of time,” Suho indicated calmly, but with authority. "I don't know the floor plan of this building, so I need you to guide me toward the most efficient routes; no dead ends. Losing time right now is dangerous."   

He heard a long sigh from Tao, “There are three hallways on the right. Two on the left and another one far up ahead. The first on the left seems to be an end, maybe it leads to the storage room.” 

“Got it, what about the second one?” Suho asked. 

“Um…it intersects into another hallway along the way,” Tao explained. 

“Good,” Suho commented, “don’t hang up.” 

Pulling out a handy dagger from inside his jacket he turned to his partner. Chorong’s eyes widened when she spotted it. 

Smugly smirking in reply Suho whispered, “My secret weapon. I have extra ammo, so don’t hold back if you have to shoot. Stay close. We shouldn’t split up in here. Although it seems like a small place, but there are probably a lot of dead ends so it could get pretty dirty in here.”

Chorong nodded. 

“Is the coast clear?” 

“Clear,” Chorong nodded after peeking around. 

Even though it was daylight outside, windows were only built alongside the exterior of the building. Light was limited. Along the hallways they would be drenched into utter complete darkness; a total blackout, which meant lots of danger. Suho wouldn’t know how many men were waiting to attack if there were any at all, but he wouldn’t doubt it. If Victoria was here, there would surely be many awaiting them. 

“Lets go.” Suho sprang up into position, hurrying toward the second hallway. 

An anxiousness swallowed him up when they passed the darkening first hall. A fear that something would jump out at them increased within him, so training his eyes on it as they passed confirmed nothing. At least his was lucky this time around. 

They easily passed on before he found himself staring into the darkness of the second hallway. This would serve as a good haunted house; the kind of thing Suho wasn't good with. Easily paranoid he never watched any sort of horror movies now that he lived on his own. 

Suho gulped and forced himself forward. His first step was cautious and hesitant. As the sole of his foot touched the ground he felt shivers spring up and down his spine. He hated this. Why was he and Chorong the first to reach this place? He hoped the others were doing well. 

Framed pictures hung about the hallway. They had been meant to make the nursing home welcoming and lively, but they looked nothing of that sort right now. The persons in the pictures seemed to be staring at him as he moved by and it creeped him out hysterically. It was difficult to hide the scare, so he strengthened his grip on the dagger. Very shortly they reached the first room. As if it had been left that way on purpose, Suho paused in step unable to help himself from gulping loudly. 

The door had been removed and the bed, and bare, left inside. The curtains on the window had been removed and a ray of sunlight filtered into the room, but the rays looked eerie. Maybe it was because of the large tree standing outside the window that made it look dark. Suho imagined seeing someone, an old person, sitting on the bed; their feet dangling against the ground in a bored manner. His heart beat even louder. 

“What is it?” Chorong asked from behind. 

“N…nothing,” he shook his head. 

With another gulp he stepped forward. They would eventually pass the room anyway, so what was he so afraid of? 

As soon as the thought passed through his mind he caught something black charging at him. Upon turning Suho screamed the loudest scream he’d ever summoned in all his years of life. As he was knocked back his head hit the wall, immediately sliding to the ground from the weight of his attacker. The dagger dropped from his hand. 

“What’s going on!?” Tao screamed from his ear piece. “Suho! Suho! Are you ok?! What’s going on?!” 

Two gunshots exploded in the immediate chaos before Suho felt the dead weight crushing him. A heavy breath oozed out of him while he blankly stared up at the ceiling. 

“Suho?” Tao called out again. “Suho! Answer me, dammit!” 

Blinking his eyes while regaining his consciousness he hesitantly reached his hands up to push the weight off him. Listening to the body thud beside him he sat up to lean into the wall and ran a hand up his face from the fear that had collapsed through him. 

“Suho,” Tao called again. 

Breathing shakily he replied, “It’s fine.” 

Forcing himself up he stared down at the dead man who could barely be seen in the darkness. It finally hit Suho that this place wasn’t haunted, but at the moment filled with unwanted presences of the alive. Victoria was still awaiting rescue and the building was still waiting to be searched. 

This couldn’t be any more real than real. 

Turning around he glanced at Chorong who looked as shaken up as he from pulling the trigger. The man must have surprised her too. 

Suho honestly wanted to give her a smile, but his body was too stunned to allow him to. Besides, the danger all around them was kicking in real hard.  

“Thank you,” he told sincerely and turned back to stare into the darkness. Pressing the ear piece into his ear to adjust it he informed, “I’m heading forward Tao.” 

~_____~

It was impossible not to be nervous. Namjoo's plan could be summarized as walking into suicide. Lay couldn't think of anyone plausible he knew of that would something absurd as this. Usually men in his line attacked together, not separately. He was certain that if they'd chosen to do the cliché, attacking from behind they would be able to win victory. It was more of a sound outcome than something like this. 

Planting himself against a building away from sight he worked on untangling the long line fishing rope wounded up into a tight circle. Greasy and dirty with dirt and grime he'd discovered them lying upon a pile of trash where Namjoo had also forked her pepper spray. In back alleys he would have never thought to find such defensive atrocities. 

The shadows of the metal staircase dropped its bleak imagine over him as the silence droned on. Fast was the keyword right now. He couldn't pop out any second later than when Namjoo decided to attack. Already five lingering minutes had passed and he couldn’t hear anything from the street. What exactly was it that Namjoo was doing? 

His head shot up a second later when he heard banging footsteps echoing throughout the abandoned street. With heart sent into racing mode he quickened his hands, slightly frustrated with why the rope had been left this way. Half a minute zipped by when the rope finally loseened. Holding it out with both hands he let out a gasp of victory and shot up to his feet. Too excited he bumped his head into the bottom of the staircase. It send a pounding pain scourging through his head and withholding the groan of pain stepped out to peek out the corner. 

Namjoo had just confronted the three chasing her, her gun at head point threateningly. His eyes alternatively zipped from her to the men cautiously, so that if they made a foul move he could back Namjoo up. Having no weapon on him was a hindrance and he made a silent reminder to never leave headquarters without one. 

A surmounting seriousoness lined Namjoo's facial features and she didn't give away that she had a plan to stay in advantage. Her eyes traced over the three before slightly bending her knees to place the gun on the ground. Confused expressions interlined the three's faces at the act and Lay felt himself fear for her life. Namjoo hadn't told him she'd do this. 

"What's this?" One of them started suspiciously. 

"One question," Namjoo said, "where is she?" 

"Think we'd tell you?" 

Namjoo slowly nodded her head. It was an expected answer anyway. "All right then." 

With their gazes glued, telling her that she had their utmost attention she extended a hand to her back. Pressing his lips together to retain his anxiety Lay carefully watched. He had to make his move at the right time or all would fail. 

Abruptly turning toward her right she screamed, "Donghae!" 

Along with the three Lay was fooled as well. His eyes scurried toward the opposite end of the street before he turned back to see Namjoo charging at them. The sole of her feet sunk into the gut of the first man's belly, sending him toward the ground. As Namjoo kneeled her weight onto him she shot the pepper spray into his eyes and the second his scream hit the tantalizing air, Lay ran out. 

Rolling off him Namjoo sprang back to her feet to elbow the next one in the face. Interlocking her arm through his she pulled it toward his back and listened to him moan. Kicking the back of his shin bringing him to his knees she then shot the pepper spray into his eyes while Lay worked on flipping the first man over to tie his hands. Thanks to the few survival courses he'd taken he'd gained useful rope tying skills he'd never used before. Lay had once thought the class had been put to waste, but it was undeniably useful now. 

Though he had been unable to cut the rope up into three pieces he continued on to connecting the substitute handcuffs and tied the second man up. He was halfway through his particular knot when he heard the pepper spray can fall to the ground. Lay shot his head up in time to see the last man standing lug Namjoo to her feet before slapping her face with the loudest snapping effect he'd ever heard in history. 

Lay's eyes widened when Namjoo landed on the ground and the man reached for the gun hanging from his pocket. Recalling the gun Namjoo had so easily set aside earlier he slid toward it. Wielding the machinery in his grasp and with a twist of his body pulled the trigger. Although they'd agreed to bring the men back alive, there had been no option to this. There were already too many injured people on their team and having one dead would be a not just a major loss, but a devastation he couldn't afford. 

Leaving the dead man aside he stepped toward Namjoo to help her to her feet. The red on her face equaled the amount of pain throbbing through both their injured bodies. To his distinct shock though, Namjoo wasn't able to stand on her own. Instead her weight fell against him and he surprisingly struggled to hold the two of them up. 

"Are you ok?" He worried. 

"Sorry," was all she muttered in return with her face buried against his shoulder. 

He couldn't tell whether it was because of the limp she'd suffered earlier of if there was something else at the cause of her sudden weak phase. Helping her toward the side of the street where they sat down he dialed for the cops along with an ambulance. As soon as they arrived and Namjoo was lifted onto a stretcher he followed. 

"I'll go back on my own," she insisted, "you should go look for Suho and the others."

"All right then. Don't worry about it," Lay assured. "You worked hard, so go rest." 

She sent him a nod before being wheeled into the ambulance and when it disappeared down the road he was left standing there with only his wits and the gun. 

~_____~

Staying in top shape wasn't really one of Donghae's most controversial problems. It wasn't like he had much time to work out anyway, but he'd never imagine running for such a distance like this. Eunhyuk's back seemed to get closer before going farther from him then closer again. Answers to what he was doing here was all he cared about at the moment. Donghae needed to know all about Eunhyuk in order to condemn him for putting him through all this unnecessary obstacles.

His chest momentarily hurt from breathing so hard, but his legs still automatically kept rolling forward. It was as if his mind had a body of its own, his mind and brain no longer in control. Flinging his hand out once brought him to a miss. If only he was able to catch Eunhyuk and wrestle him to the ground, bring him to a stop. 

Even if he was running and still going, his body had its limit. Donghae thought he was reaching that limit soon. About to try and reach out for Eunhyuk again he was instead flung to the ground upon surprise by his friend's fist. Donghae's eyes sunk back and for a moment stared at the sky hovering above him. Eunhyuk's shadow loomed over him when he crouched down before him, like a bully to a nerd he'd just beaten up. Interrupting Donghae's ability to speak he pulled out a phone from his pocket. 

Propping himself back onto his elbows to look up at Eunhyuk showed him an excruciatingly calm expression. Unlike his unsteady breathing , Eunhyuk didn't seem tired at all from the run. Donghae's eyes switched at once from his bully's familiar face to the picture on the screen. 

Alarms raced through his head and he finally recalled what he was doing in Yeongwol in the first place. In the midst of a dark room Victoria was lying slumped against a wall, gagged and her eyes blindfolded, obviously unconscious. 

Pulling the phone back Eunhyuk quietly swiped at the screen before holding it back out to Donghae. This time there was a picture of Suho and Chorong in the dark, anxiety and fear on his vulnerable face. 

"Good job, huh," Eunhyuk teased, "sending them all out here to get split up. Although I don't know where your other precious assistant is, this block is overtaken by gunmen at this moment. A fire is going to break out at the nursery home in forty-five minutes." 

Twisting his hand he glanced at his watch, "Oops. You spent the last ten minutes with me, so that makes thirty-five minutes left."

Donghae's eyes widened, fazed by the news. 

"Should I tell you where your woman is?" Eunhyuk tested. 

Donghae's eyes became stern and for the first time in Eunhyuk's presence was without word. 

"Storage room, the furthermost room in the nursery home," Eunhyuk informed. "Time is wasting." 

~_____~

Tension never seemed to stop brushing against Suho's whole as they travelled further into the nursery home. He really hated the eerie feeling each and every room they passed gave off. It was unsettling. 

"Dead end up ahead," Tao's voice entered his ears. 

Stopping in his steps Suho stared at the wall ahead of them, "Noticed." 

Glancing over his shoulder he browsed around, trying to figure out which hallway to take. The one they'd just come from loomed behind them like a taunting shadow and they would have no choice, but to backtrack their way down. 

"Every hall's going to come to some sort of end," Chorong explained, "maybe we should start checking the rooms." 

The rooms...Suho's worst nightmare at the moment. Yet, there was really no choice. 

Turning away from the looming hallway in order to erase the thought that something would appear running at them he closed his eyes. 

"Check the rooms Tao and see which ones lead elsewhere." 

"All of them?!"

"Yes." 

Tao exhaled a long sigh of complaint, but said no more. 

"Where do you think they're keeping Victoria?" Chorong wondered. "It seems like we've walked everywhere." 

A total of four men had been shot by Chorong in the past fifteen minutes. Suho's heart had leapt out of his chest a number of twenty times during each surprise attack. If he stayed longer he wouldn't live to see daylight. Deep in his heart he prayed for the others to reach as soon as possible. Even though Chorong was brave and he knew he could trust her, just the two of them wouldn't do, especially because of him. 

"She's here," Suho breathed in a long breath of air to help neutralize his nerves, "they wouldn't lie about it, that's one thing for sure. Or playing us around like this would really have no point."

"They could just be toying with us." 

Suho turned to look at her and recalled the dried blood on her face earlier. Though he couldn't see it he could only wonder if she was still in pain. 

"Are you ok? Can you hold up longer?" Suho questioned. 

"Who? Me?" Tao's voice arrived over the earplug. 

"I'm ok." Chorong replied. 

"I'm not talking to you," Suho replied to which Chorong looked taken aback. 

Strung the by sudden confusing situation Suho shook his head. 

"Sorry, not you," Suho apologized. 

"Me?" Tao asked again. 

"No!" 

Chorong's quiet laugh enlightened the dark atmosphere a little and Suho found calm in her laugh. It helped remind him they weren't actually trapped there...at least they wouldn't be forever.

"If you're tired, let me know," Suho told. "I'm inexperienced with search and rescues, so it's taking much longer than I want. As you notice, it's only the two of us here and I can't do much. I really hate places like these." 

"I think it's kind of exciting," Chorong glanced around. "Like staying in a haunted house overtime."

"You like that stuff..." Suho quietly mumbled. 

Chorong shrugged, "It's thrilling." 

"Well that's something that doesn't happen everyday." Suho commented and watched her smile. 

"Found it," Tao's voice intercepted their conversation. "You're nearby. In the custodial office. It's four doors down. There's another room in there."  

Suho glanced around then to Chorong, "Four doors down; custodial office."  

She nodded and began making way toward it.  

"Got it, Tao," Suho replied. "We're checking it out."  

Silence swam all around them as their soft footsteps bounced off the endearing walls. Chorong stopped in front of an open doorway and stared into the empty room and certainly there was another room inside. Unlike every other room they'd come across the connected room had a door blocking its way.  

He and Chorong entered cautiously, their eyes swaying to and fro even though they obviously saw no intruders. The window to the side allowed a bit of sunlight to infiltrate the room and Suho felt a little calmer at the sight of the sun; the outside world.  

"I'll open the door," Chorong offered and held the gun steadily as if to show him she was in better position to.  

Nodding, he watched her make a grab for the knob. Without a creak it swung open slowly, light caking into the room as the door opened wider. Holding their breaths they waited for whatever was in the empty room to come into sight. Chorong's fingers fidgeted around the handle of the gun and slowly held it up. A mask of dust drifted down and Suho barely screamed from the bottom of his lungs when a thin amount of light landed on the body slumped across the ground. He barely coughed when it caught in his throat.  

Both he and Chorong froze in fear wondering what it was, whether it was dead or not. Every other corner of the storage room was locked in darkness and neither of them were willing to go further in. A soft gasp escaped Chorong before she ran in, dropping onto her knees. Suho almost screamed after her, wondering if she was in her right mind before she started shouting Victoria's name.  

No longer held back he hurried in.  

"Oh my god..." he murmured shocked at how cruelly she'd been kept. "Is she...is she..."  

After pulling the gag off Chorong reached for the pulse in her neck and released a sigh of relief. She nodded her head before turning to him.  

"How is it?" Tao questioned.  

"We found her," Suho relayed the news.  

"Lets get her out of here first," Chorong suggested and with a nod both of them helped to carry her out of the dark.  

Taking off his jacket and folding it he placed it on the ground in order to be used as a pillow, they placed Victoria gently onto the ground. She was bleeding, but at least alive.  

"Tao," Suho called, "I need you to get an ambulance for us while I notify Donghae and the others to come for us."  

"I'm on it."  

With everything suddenly under control Suho felt so much more at ease. For the first time he'd succeeded in doing and completing something himself. As the sun continued to shine into the room and relief fluctuated through him he didn't think he'd felt so proud of himself before.    

Of course it was thanks to Chorong for being so brave with him. He owed her. 

"We did it." He smiled her way.  

Meeting eyes again she returned the proud smile. All that had happened between them couldn't be compared to how content he felt during this moment. In contrary to the other's capabilities, the two of them had been somewhat slow and in the back. But this time, without the others, they'd found Victoria.  

Unfortunately, the moment didn't last long for either of them. A split second later the happiness dropped from Suho's eyes and his eyes widened in both fear and warning. At the same time, Chorong seemed to react the same way before something painful hit the back of his head and the next second all was as dark as the building itself.  

***Only if Donghae or Lay makes it to the nursery in time all will be well! Chorong and Suho are not in a good situation right now. More problems await the team. 

***I've thought the rest of the story out. I only need to somehow jot it down now, but since the semester has started it will take some time. Thank you for reading :)