“Fifty million?”

“Did I stutter?”

The blonde couldn't feel his legs anymore. He stumbled on his feet and collapsed into a plastic chair by his side. “I just–fifty? Fifty million?”

“Repeating it doesn't give me an answer,” the tall hooded man stated with a roll of dark eyes. He took a seat across from the blonde.

“I know, I know, it's just... that's a lot of money.” He laughed nervously, then coughed when the taller man stayed silent. “Fifty million,” he whispered once more, staring at the ground. He could do a lot with that. He could pay off his mortgage, buy a better place, actually get somewhere. Do something. Be somebody. He coughed and straightened. “I'm in. But... what exactly is it that you want me to do?”

In the dark, there was a flash of white from the taller's smile. “I believe there is a lot you can do, Mr. Han. Is it true that you used to work at the airport?”

 

-
 

“I can't believe we're doing this.”

“I can't believe no one else thought of this,” a lower voice countered.

The brunet gave his friend a blank stare before turning to rifle through his pile of keys. “Where is it?”

“But I'm serious,” the taller man sauntered over with a crooked grin, hands in his pockets. He nudged the smaller with his elbow, grin widening when the elder shuffled his feet to keep his balance. “You know? It's a great plan but it was just so easy–“

The brunet swept the taller's legs out from underneath him and watched as he fell onto the small bed, laughing in time with the squeaking of old springs.

“You need to be more serious about this,” the elder sighed, fishing out a single keychain from the thousands gathered on his bed. “This is a dangerous stunt and I'm not even sure that I want you involved. Yeol, you should just go home and I'll take care of–“

The taller shushed the brunet by placing both hands on the elder's cheeks and squeezing, chuckling at the childish glare shot at him. “Baekhyun, stop you're worrying. I am a grown man and I can take care of myself.” He gave the brunet two pats on the cheek.

Baekhyun swatted the taller's hands away, glare withering as he continued to stare at his friend. “Chanyeol...”

“Yes, mother?”

Baekhyun groaned, shoving the remaining keys into a small metal box. Locking it, he shook his head, murmuring, “I don't know why I try.” He shoved the box under the bed and pulled out something else, standing and making sure it was loaded.

Chanyeol blinked and then smirked. “Ooh, Baek's so scary!” He laughed, launching into a new round of loud giggles that Baekhyun was sure the whole neighborhood could hear.

“You have absolutely no idea what you're doing, do you?” Baekhyun groaned, pulling his shirt up to shove the gun into its holster.

“Ah, but I do,” Chanyeol replied, sitting up to yank the soft navy shirt down to hide the holster and the elder's belt entirely. “I am going on an adventure with my friend and when we are done, we'll go out and get ice cream, right?”

Baekhyun shook his head and turned around, heading towards the weathered door. “I suppose.” He couldn't hide the smile that bubbled up when he heard the loud whoop and then was pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

“Just like old times,” Chanyeol cheered happily.

Baekhyun hid his frown in a muscled arm before locking his door.

 

-
 

“A warehouse?”

The two men beside him shrugged.

“Okay, where did you guys even come from?” The shortest of the three exclaimed, eyeing the other two distrustfully.

One of the two, a wide-eyed man in a pressed suit, startled and drew away slightly. “I drove in while you were parking and was wondering if we were going to same place.”

The second nodded, “I'm the Benz. Same story as his,” he gestured towards the fidgeting man, pausing to adjust his striped tie. “So,” he eyed the initial speaker, “do you know who tall, dark, and handsome is?”

The man tensed up slightly before answering, “no idea. You?”

Both shrugged. “So we're all in the same boat,” the second smiled tentatively, hands dropping from his suit.

“I guess so,” the first agreed, halting his fidgeting to take a deep breath.

“You two got names?” The shortest muttered, continuing towards the warehouse which now had light filtering through one of the four cracked windows.

The second man paused before answering, “Suho,” he stated with a manufactured grin, holding out a hand which the shortest took and shook once.

“D.O,” the second murmured hesitantly, waiting before shaking the proffered hands.

“Xiumin,” the shortest said with a slight nod.

Suho flashed a grin, glancing at both men. “Does anyone want to say their real name?”

Xiumin gave a laugh. “Not tonight.”

D.O nodded in agreement and then stopped. They had reached the warehouse.

As Suho reached for the door handle, there was a loud noise and all three men turned towards the dark window that had been the only sign of light seconds earlier.

“So, who wants to turn around and go back?” Xiumin joked.

D.O sighed and squared his shoulders before giving Suho a nod. The fair-skinned man pulled open the door and all three shuffled inside.

There were only nine chairs dispersed arbitrarily into two rows in front of a makeshift stage, which was just a row of large food crates and two smaller crates to be used as stairs. The lights were dim and only three of the nine seats were filled.

It wasn't until the three took seats in the back row of folding metal chairs that they noticed there was someone on the stage.

The brunet stood and shook out his arms, surveying his audience and pulling a blackboard over from its place against the wall. “Seven? Good enough,” he muttered under his breath and immediately began scribbling something onto the board with a yellow piece of chalk he'd pulled from his jeans pocket. It wasn't until he was done that the men gathered before him started talking.

A dark-haired man in the first row squinted and frowned. “Is that a runway?”

“It is,” the man onstage nodded, pocketing the chalk. “I am Lay, and you're all here because someone asked you to come.”

“Yeah,” a brunet seated beside a blonde-haired giant agreed, leaning forward. “And where is he?”

Lay laughed and hunched his shoulders before letting them fall. “He's running a bit late, so he told me to start.”

“Wait,” Xiumin called out, holding up a hand. “You know this guy?”

Lay nodded, looking slightly confused. “Well yeah, he's my–“

The door at the back of the warehouse burst open and a tall blonde sauntered in, followed by a tall shadow.

“Lay,” the blonde greeted good-naturedly, patting the other man on the shoulder, “I told you to start, not to teach a history lesson.”

The brunet smiled sheepishly, “I forgot?”

The man sighed and pushed the brunet towards the crate-stairs. “Go have a seat, I'll take it from here.” He waited until the brunet had left the stage before he turned to his shadow and knocked a black hood back, revealing a side profile of a dark-haired man with deep purple circles under his eyes. The slightly shorter man kept his eyes on the blonde and whispered something. The blonde nodded and pressed his forehead against the other's, nodding and whispering a response before pulling back, watching as the shorter man pulled his hood back over to hide his face and headed off the stage and over to a seat, crossing his legs and not moving his gaze from the blonde.

“You're him,” the brunet from earlier stated with surprise. “You're the one I talked to at the diner.”

The blonde smirked. “Indeed I am.” He faced his crowd and gave all eight men a nod. “My name is Kris and I've called you all here for one reason.”

“Yeah,” the dark-haired man who'd spoken first gave Kris a searching stare. “What's going on?”

Kris grinned. “I'm sure each of you are pretty sure what's going on, assuming that's why you came in the first place.”

D.O bit his lower lip. “You said something about fifty million.”

Kris' grin widened. “Yes, I did.” He removed his suit jacket and let it fall to the ground, ing the cuffs of his shirt to roll up his sleeves. He clapped his hands and headed to the other side of the stage. “I'll begin by finishing what Lay had been about to say. I'm his senior. Lay is my co-pilot and has been for about eight years now.”

Suho frowned. “What?”

Kris grimaced. “Our company has been finding loopholes to dock our pay since we joined. We've never once been promoted, and we're just kind of tired with the entire deal. I'm sure most of you can sympathize.” He sighed when all the men remained quiet. “Look, I'm going to need you all to get really close in the next week, so don't be afraid to open up.” He groaned when still, no one spoke. Kris wandered towards the edge of the stage and sat, feet just touching the ground. “I know for sure that you all are in the same predicament that I am.”

“How would you know?” Xiumin shouted, fists clenched.

“Why else would you have come?” Kris asked in reply, smile strained. “Look, each one of you needs something, whether it be a new start or money. You need it because you're a smuggler,” he eyed the brunet in the front row, who suddenly was on his feet and was being held back by his blonde friend. Kris paid him no mind and continued, “you're bored with the monotony of a cubicle life, or... you're homeless.” He gave the hooded man a meaningful look.

The suited brunet in the front row crossed his arms. “And how exactly are you going to help us with that?”

Kris paused, resting his chin on his palm. “Wait a moment.”

Suho looked to D.O, who was also frowning. What were they waiting for?

The side door was thrown open and a blonde man dashed in, panting. He pushed the door closed behind him and let out a deep breath when he saw Kris, dropping a large blue bag so that he could rest both hands on his knees.

“Excellent,” Kris hummed, hopping from the stage and over to the newest addition. “Almost thought you were going to be a no-show,” he admitted in a quiet voice, reaching for the bag. “How many are in here?”

“Eight. Three are women's. I'm sorry that I didn't grab more, I didn't want it to be too conspicuous and I thought I heard someone–“

“Eight is fine,” Kris hushed the man, smiling. “Everyone, this is Luhan, and he is the main reason we are going to be able to stage this.”

“And what are we staging?” The front-row brunet asked once more.

“Well,” Kris began in a terse tone, “we are going to carry out a heist.”

No one so much as breathed.

“A heist?” Xiumin repeated, incredulous.

“Yes, Lay and I need money and we want to go out with a bang. We thought we'd help out a few others if they helped us.”

“Well, I'm out,” Suho announced and stood.

“Go ahead, I won't stop you,” Kris encouraged, smiling. “I won't stop any of you. If you want to leave, do it now. I can't afford to have any doubts on my team.”

Suho froze a few feet from the exit. “Team?”

“You're asking if there are others?” Kris assumed, placing the blue bag on the stage. “There are. Two other teams. You all would be under my name, my responsibility. If you can't handle the thought of that, then go. Now.” His eyes followed Suho as he slowly returned to his seat. “Right. Luhan, would you like to explain what it is we're going to do?” Kris asked, offering the man the blue bag.

The blonde man by the door started and hurried forward, grabbing the bag and taking Kris' silent direction to go onstage. Once there, he set the bag down and placed his hands on his hips. “All I know is what Kris has already told me. I guess I'll start by saying I was a member of the police department stationed at the airport. I've been working that job for twelve years, until there was a baggage mix-up. A coworker falsely accused me and I've been out of work for a week. My spare I.D. still seems to work, since I was able to get these today.” He stopped to open the bag and pull out a dark shirt and dark pants. Turning to Kris, he elaborated, “I got the uniforms, and I didn't know if you wanted the vests or not so I grabbed those too.”

Kris took a seat beside Lay, nodding in response. “Well done. Thank you very much for your help, Luhan. We really wouldn't be able to do this without you.”

“And what, pray tell, are we stealing?” The dark-haired man asked through gritted teeth, staring at Kris impatiently.

The blonde matched his gaze, staring him down until he smiled and clicked his fingers. “You don't know each other yet, do you? Here, I'll go around with names quickly. So we've got Chen, Lay, Zitao, Luhan, Baekhyun, … Chanyeol? Yes, I got it right? Fantastic. And then in the back are Xiumin, Suho, and D.O. And I, of course, am Kris. Any questions?” He clicked his tongue when no one answered. “Would anyone like to use their real name?”

Baekhyun froze. “Wait. We were supposed to use fake names?”

Kris shrugged. “For privacy. We've got two lawyers and a doctor in the back so they wanted to keep the others from finding out about them.”

Chen tapped his foot impatiently. “Are you going to answer my question, or will you continue to change the subject?”

Kris gave him a forced smile in return. “Diamonds, men. We will be stealing diamonds.”

A fit of coughing erupted from the back, and everyone turned to face D.O. The man heaved in breaths and looked around wildly. “I'm sorry, I think I out for a second. Could you repeat that?”

“Diamonds. That's what we're getting,” Kris stated simply, standing and crossing his arms.

Lay leaped up to stand beside him. “Kris and I fly cargo aircraft. We can find out who's flying what for whatever company. A month ago we saw a flight a couple days before ours with unmarked aircraft, but a memorable name. We're talking a huge load here,” he paused, glancing upwards and making a face. “It was something like... oh what was it?”

“Fifty million,” Luhan stated gravely from the front.

“Wait.” Xiumin stood, shaking his head. “You want us to steal fifty million dollars worth of diamonds?”

Kris shrugged. “That's the general idea.”

Suho nodded, standing beside Xiumin. “How are we supposed to do that?”

Kris turned to Baekhyun. “Did you bring it?”

“I brought one.” He stood, nudging Chanyeol to stand with him. “I parked it over in the garage. You wanna see it?”

Kris shrugged. “It would make explaining easier.”

Chanyeol grinned. “Field trip!”

The ten men trickled out, Kris pausing to lock the warehouse door and check to make sure there was no evidence of anyone having been there before catching up to the short brunet. They walked in a sparse group, D.O and Suho bringing up the back and no distinctive rows. They walked into a dark car garage where a few had parked their cars and stopped in front of a black armored car. Baekhyun unlocked the door and clambered inside. After a moment, he stuck his head back out. “It's clean. What do you want me to do?”

Kris leaned against the hood of the car. “This is what we're going to use once we get off the runway and back through the gate. I've got two others working on entry and exit, so don't worry about that. All you need to know is that five of us are going to be getting the loads from the aircraft into two cars that one of the other teams are working on at the moment. Once we get out, we disperse the loot into six other cars. Three of which are going to be one of these,” he patted the gleaming hood of the car. “We're looking at an ideal time of ten minutes loading the diamonds from the aircraft to the cars. In order to assure that, we'll be meeting every day, different spot. I'll find a way to contact each of you. Any questions?”

The hooded man stepped forward. “What's the share?”

Baekhyun nodded, upper half hanging out of the driver's window. “How much am I getting?”

“We're looking at about a couple hundred thousand per person. We'll hammer out the details later. Stay focused. I'll tell you where to meet next, you can go now,” Kris dismissed, watching as all but Tao, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol walked away.

Chanyeol punched the air and shook Baekhyun's arm, trying to get his attention. “Man, you've changed so much since high school.”

Baekhyun shrugged. “Doesn't everyone?”

Chanyeol shook his head, golden tendrils covering his face. “Not into an awesome gun-dealer underworld-guy. It's like you've done a complete three-sixty!”

Baekhyun laughed, rolling his eyes and leaning forward to muss the excited man's hair. “But you haven't changed at all, Yeol.”

Kris cleared his throat. “Baekhyun, could you give me the keys? I have a place for these things. If I could drop by and grab the other two, that would be great as well.”

Baekhyun shrugged, jumping out of the car and tossing the keys to Kris. “Be my guest. I guess I'll see you in a week, then?”

“Yeah,” Kris consented, staring at the camo key in his hand.

“It came like that when I got it,” Baekhyun defended as Chanyeol bounced towards his sunshine-yellow toyota.

“Byun,” Kris murmured, grabbing the other's bicep. “I'm going to need something else.”

Baekhyun nodded, sensing the other's urgency. “What is it?”

Kris swallowed. “I don't think we'll need it, but just in case... I'm going to need guns. Just a couple.”

Baekhyun blinked. “Yeah, sure. Name your kind and quantity.”

“Something small. Shouldn't be more than five.”

“Ten machine guns. Got it.”

Kris laughed and pushed the other away. “Go home!” He shouted as the shorter man skipped off. He started when his sleeve was tugged and momentarily realized he'd forgotten his jacket in the warehouse before freezing upon seeing two watery eyes.

“Kr-Yifan,” the younger began slowly, staring at the ground. The name slipped from his lips naturally. “Can you give me a ride?”

Kris laughed. “A ride? You're coming back with me, kid. I need to keep a close eye on our best hand-to-hand combatant because if he gets hurt, we're all screwed. Yep, you can kiss your bachelor life goodbye, you're stuck with me now.”

Tao glanced up at the blonde from under his headlock. “Ge, really?”

“What, you think I'm kidding? No, I'm a ruthless dictator.” He stopped the act when Tao wormed his way out of the hold and threw his arms around Kris.

“Thank you,” Tao murmured into the elder's chest, clinging to the blonde.

Kris cleared his throat. “Now's not the time to get emotional, Taozi. I forgot my jacket back in the warehouse, how about we go get it?”

Tao wiped his eyes and nodded.

Baekhyun slid into the car, suppressing a grin as Chanyeol bounced in his seat.

“That was awesome.”

The brunet rolled his eyes. “You shouldn't put too much into this. Nothing ever turns out the way it's planned. Remember that.”

“Negative Nancy,” Chanyeol sang under his breath, glancing at Baekhyun out of the corner of his eyes, grinning. “I'm just optimistic. You should try to be, too.”

Baekhyun sighed and rested his forehead against the glass. “Maybe you're right.”

-

 

“Kris get up.”

“Yixing, go away.”

“It's Monday.”

Kris shot out of bed and was at the door in seconds. Yixing was seated at the table with Tao, both with two pieces of toast on plastic plates. They watched as Kris teetered over to the table and collapsed into a chair. “This is it.”

The other two shared a look.

“Hey Kris,” Yixing began, chewing a chunk of toast slowly. “If you're not feeling okay, we could–“

“No, I'm fine,” Kris interjected quickly. “Plus, everything has to go perfectly today. It just has to.”

“Okay, Ge,” Tao beamed, applying a generous amount of butter to his next piece of somewhat burnt bread.

“Perfectly,” Kris uttered, heading towards the black briefcase he'd hid beside his bed for weeks now. It was finally time to open it.

 

-
 

“Hurry up, Baek!”

“I'm hurrying, you overgrown toddler!”

“Hey!” Chanyeol shouted indignantly, running in from the bathroom, shirt half-covering his face. He yanked down the remainder and pouted. “I don't call you mean names.”

“And I don't rest my elbow on your shoulder. I need to have some way of pestering you,” he argued, standing on the balls of his feet to arrange Chanyeol's hair so that it didn't look like a bird's nest. He moved back and slumped back onto his bed, grabbing the combat boots and pulling them on, lacing them tightly as Chanyeol stood and watched. He sat up and hopped off the bed, turning in a circle. “So, how does it look?”

Chanyeol grinned, his right eye scrunching. “You look awesome. But,” his voice switched to a high whine, “why don't I get a cool outfit?”

“Because you'd look like a kid playing dress-up,” Baekhyun quipped, smoothing down the wrinkles in the blue uniform. “Did you pack all of your stuff?”

“Yep. And here's your bag, too.” Chanyeol offered up a blue duffel bag, stepping closer to the door.

Baekhyun sighed and looked around. “I'm going to miss this place.”

“But it's kind of a dump.”

“Yes, but it's my dump,” Baekhyun countered, turning to Chanyeol and sharing a laugh. He snatched his bag from the man and lead the way out, giving the apartment one last wistful stare before closing the door and locking it, slipping the key into the bag. He turned to the stairs, descending with Chanyeol matching him step for step. “Do we need to go over the plan again?”

“You leave and do your thing, I stay, you come back, we throw some boxes around and then blast off,” the blonde summarized. “What's to go over?”

Baekhyun groaned, jumping off the final step and heading towards the front door. He stopped just before the exit and the embroidered shield on his bicep. “You're taking this too lightly,” he warned.

“You keep saying that,” Chanyeol remarked with a loud laugh, nudging his friend. “Stop your fussing. I'll be fine.”

Baekhyun sighed. “Of course you will... I just thi–“

“Here he is!” Chanyeol announced excitedly, bounding out the front doors and over to a dark armored car, one of Baekhyun's own. Kris got out of the front seat and dashed to the back, opening it the doors and waving Chanyeol inside.

Baekhyun could hear the others in there, and hastily made his own entrance, pausing to look at the dark sky, lightened with the first few rays of dawn.

“You ready?” Kris asked with plastered-on smile and a hoarse voice.

Baekhyun gave an affirming nod and clambered inside, sliding over beside Chanyeol who was already talking animatedly to D.O.

“We just have Luhan to pick up, and then we'll head over to the airport. The plane doesn't land until dusk.” Kris nodded to the men inside, and then shut the doors.

 

-
 

Luhan had smuggled out police helmets with large, dark visors and handed those out to three others who were dressed in the blue uniform, then tossing one to Kris once they'd stopped and he'd opened up the back. He had parked the car on the shoulder of the road, across from the two fences stopping the group from getting in. Kris slipped on the helmet and leaned against the side of the car as the others piled out, Tao exiting from the passenger's seat and wandering over to stand beside him.

“What now?” Chen asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“We wait,” Suho responded with a shrug.

The group waited impatiently, feet tapping and eyes searching, Baekhyun and Chanyeol eventually giving up on staying still to play tag on the other side of the car.

All ten froze when they heard a rumbling in the distance. It grew louder until four cars pulled up beside them and others filed out. Luhan eyed the two police cars with wide eyes. One of the new men laughed and hopped up to sit on the hood. “What, you thought only Kris had guys on the inside?”

“Nice of you to finally come,” Kris grumbled, not moving.

“Our pleasure,” a brunet grinned, throwing an arm around a bleached blond.

A chubby, smiling man moved to the back of an identical armored car and a group of men clambered out, stretching and complaining. The same man moved to the other armored vehicle and opened the doors, allowing a large group of girls to pour out.

“Where do we get the uniforms?” A blonde girl asked, not missing a beat.

Kris turned to his team, standing still beside the car. “Luhan,” he called, motioning for the man to grab the blue bag from the back. Three of the girls detached themselves from the group and took the bag, moving over to one of the police cars and getting in, shutting the doors behind them.

“These are the other two groups,” Kris announced, turning to his own team. “They've both been involved in small burglaries before. The girls usually steal from banks, and the guys over there kick it up a notch. A few years back they staged a museum raid, to take stolen works.”

“We like to think of ourselves as modern-day robin hoods,” a short man explained with a cheerful smile.

“They lost one of their best men there.”

The entire group froze, a brunet letting out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, but who remembers that?” The question was quickly followed by a hiss as a feminine man elbowed him in the ribs, face deadly.

“Hankyung will always be missed,” he affirmed, “but we are not here to remember the dead.”

“Come on, Heechul,” a kind-looking man chided, stepping forward. “Let's not start things out on the wrong foot. Now, if Kris is done, then we can move onto the plans.”

The tall blond nodded.

One of the girls stepped forward, looking out of place in a tight white shirt, short skirt, and tall heels. “We've got Sunny coming with another car. A Mazda.”

“Very low-key,” a tall brunette piped in with a chuckle.

“It's better than an armored monster truck,” the girl argued, crossing her arms. “We'll only be needing the armored car, so someone can take the Mazda. No license, no tracking system. We stole it just the other day. New model, too.”

The brunet who seemed to be in charge of the other group of men nodded. “Siwon and Yesung should be here soon with two compact cars. Same deal; first come, first served.”

Kris nodded.

A smaller man raised a hand, worrying his lip between his teeth. “I have someone who does fake I.D.s if anyone's interested,” he offered, holding up a small pile of business cards.

Kris nodded to the nine men behind him, most of whom looked torn. “Ryeowook's an honest guy,” he stated, and almost immediately Luhan walked up and grabbed one.

A couple hours later, three cars pulled up, one of which was pounding loud music, music that only increased when the door opened and a short-haired girl popped out, shaking her pinkish locks and shouting an incomprehensible verse. The dark-haired man from the second car laughed and tossed the keys to the leader, the third walked up rolling his eyes and passing his own keys over.

The three girls exited the police car, tossing the blue bag into the back of their own armored car and pulling on the helmets, standing at the ready.

“Okay,” the leader of the guy's group began, “Kris and his four take the two cop cars and go in with

Tiffany, Seohyun, and Hyoyeon. They come back in twenty minutes, tops. If they're not back by then, we take off and none of us were involved, do you all understand?” He demanded, eyeing Kris in particular. Once he received a nod, he loosened and continued. “They get back, we try to split the packages, however they're wrapped, between the cars and then we all take off and live our lives. Try not to stay in contact and if you're off to a new life, best of luck to you,” he paused. “Basically, we're looking for no hostages, no deaths, and no screw-ups. I want a clean robbery with no evidence.”

“I think they got that, 'Teuk,” a man still inside their car called out.

The man ran a hand through his short hair and turned to the girls. “Taeyeon, is that about it?”

The impractically dressed blonde nodded. “Leeteuk covered just about everything. Kris, my girls act quickly and work smoothly. There shouldn't be any problems with them.”

Kris stood straight, making his way to the police cars. “The plane takes off in a little over an hour. We should get going.”

Taeyeon and Leeteuk nodded, both sending some sort of signal that had their members gathering into a close circle.

“Baekhyun, Chen and Hyoyeon, I want you in that car with Luhan driving. You'll follow us in, and then try to stay beside me. Tao, Seohyun and Tiffany, you're with me,” Kris ordered, pointing to people and then to the cars.

Those mentioned nodded and got in, driving up to the fence and then stopping a few feet away. A few others followed, glancing over their shoulder at the rest who stayed, hidden behind a bush and a few large trees.

A large man pointed to the fence. “I thought you said you'd take care of this, Kris?”

“I did.”

“Apparently not,” the man countered, leaning against the fence, “looks like you're boys have failed you.”

Kris got out and slammed the door behind him, combat boots kicking up clouds of dirt as he made his way over to the fence. Locking eyes with the larger man, he wrapped a hand around the thick wire and tugged, face impassive as the panel of fence broke free and fell to the ground. He offered a polite smile and explained, “my boys are nothing if not subtle.” And then he was off.

 

-
 

Luhan felt as though he'd blinked and then they were on the tarmac, racing over to an area where he knew there'd be a large jet waiting, after weeks of briefing from Kris. He flicked the obnoxious lights on almost the same time as Kris, the cars speeding side-by-side towards the runway.

He blinked again and Kris was skidding to a stop beneath the belly of a metal giant, throwing open the door as Luhan slammed the brakes to a hasty stop beside him. The confused workers only had a moment to regard the sudden appearance of the masked giant before the girls popped out with their guns. Luhan watched as first realization, then fear took root on the faces of the men and women. He only had a second to watch the innocent group though, because Kris was swearing rapidly under his breath as he neared the plane's hold, which had already been shut.

Luhan prepared himself for the shouting and the orders to the people who had without a doubt somehow alerted a higher power. Apparently, he didn't have to, because Tao emerged from the back of the car wielding something long and steely, offering Kris a grateful nod as he was lifted by the waist so that he could pry the door open. There was a resounding crack, and then a metallic moan, and Tao had done it.

Luhan was already hoisting himself up and in before the door had even fully opened, grabbing the nearest heavy parcel and ing it into Kris' waiting hands. He forced himself to stay in the moment instead of marveling at the items within the bags. He quickly gave up on tossing the bags down one by one, and resorted to shoving them out the door. There were several clanks and Tao was by his side, hopping over the reinforced bags to the back to push everything forward.

Luhan was in the driver's seat again, and the girls were shouting at him to “go, what are you waiting for?”

He stared at his bleeding palm, the one he'd grazed on the jump down from the hold, and then at the bags they'd had to put in the backseats to speed up the process. He met Chen's eyes in the rear view mirror and the man offered a giddy smile.

It was only then that Luhan realized just what they had done, what they had accomplished, what this meant, and a hysterical laughter bubbled to the surface. His hands clenched tighter around the steering wheel and he wondered if the fence was getting farther away, or if it just seemed that way.

 

-
 

Baekhyun knew something bad was going to happen. A guy just didn't pull off a stunt like this with no mishaps. It just didn't happen, despite what Leeteuk had been saying for the last ten or so minutes. So, when the cars appeared in the distance and Chanyeol began shouting triumphantly in his ear, Baekhyun prepared himself for a dead body or, at the very least, nothing.

He raced forward with the rest as the cars cleared the perimeter and stopped, passengers and drivers hopping out with infectious grins and bearing bags of untold fortunes.

It only made Baekhyun's chest clench tighter. If it hadn't happened yet, then when?

Nonetheless, he helped the others load bags into cars, vans, armored trucks and other's arms until there were none left. He stayed still, unable to believe they'd already grabbed the mountain of bags that had been hiding in the trunk. A trio of the strangers was already celebrating to his right, someone was singing as another danced in circles, and the others laughed.

Chanyeol bumped his side and he glanced up to the beaming face.

“That was awesome.”

Baekhyun hesitated. “I suppose it was.”

One of the girls hopped in the police car with orders to hide it far, far away, and then regroup at a later time. In the mess of bodies in front of the thrumming car, people moved as quickly as they could, stepping over toes and jostling bodies; it was inevitable that someone would fall. Baekhyun only head a muted thump as the car rocketed forward and then a scream pierced the air.

Time stopped.

The girl hopped out of the car, pigtails swaying and she immediately began to apologize, tears threatening as she covered his mouth with manicured hands.

Kris rocketed into motion, pushing a few aside to kneel down next to the injured member, who seemed to be having trouble breathing. It was only when Kris gently swept hair away from the face that Baekhyun recognized Tao. The man laughed feebly before staring down at his awkwardly bent leg.

“That looks broken to me,” he nodded, in a breath and grinning up at Kris, “wouldn't you agree?”

Kris forced a smile, unable to tear his eyes away from the limb that had begun to bleed, scarlet liquid coating worn jeans. He gazed up at the crowd. “What are you doing?”

“We'll have to change plans,” Leeteuk sighed.

“Why?”

“We can't just–“ Another man began, the one who had taunted Kris about the fence.

Kris shook his head, ending the conversation. “Get out of here. I'll take care of this one.”

“Right.” Leeteuk nodded, turning to push his men towards the parked cars. “Well, what are you waiting for? The man said go!”

Baekhyun waited only a second more, until Chanyeol was herding him into the passenger seat of one of the armored vehicles, claiming the driver's seat as his own. Two others, he wasn't exactly sure who, crowded into the back and began laughing along with Chanyeol as the vehicle was started. Chanyeol waited a moment for most of the other cars to pull away before attempting a three-point turn.

Baekhyun watched as Kris moved to cradle the dark-haired head in his lap, murmuring words before stilling as the younger's chest seized up. Baekhyun only had time to see the blonde head sink and the larger man's body to tremble and then Chanyeol was yanking him away, turning him towards the now risen sun and offering up a grin.

Baekhyun's chest ached in reply.

 

-
 

Chanyeol had already explained his plans for the future from here until his untimely death, where he would give his adorable grandchildren fantastical gifts in his will, and therefore become the “cool grandpa.” Baekhyun rolled his eyes as the gangly man carried on, effectively distracting them both from the road.

It was only when it happened that Baekhyun thought that yeah, driving next to one of the other robbers really wasn't a good idea.

It started with a loud screech as the driver swerved to avoid roadkill and lost control of the steering wheel, cranking it only to drive 50 mph into the side of the other car, taking it down with it as the car flipped forward and the armored vehicle flipped onto its side. One of the men in the back shouted and then there were flames and Baekhyun was suddenly flying through the air, landing hard on his back.

He could see again before he could hear, and then sound hit him as hard as the car, shaking his back to reality. He held a hand over his ear and drew it back to see red coating his palm. He could only hear the crackle of flames instead of something else, and when he remembered what he was missing he was up on his feet, swaying dangerously and falling twice as he made a dash for the flaming van.

He found him by the side of the road.

“Oh god,” he sobbed, legs carrying him just far enough so that he could crumple by the side of the curly-haired man, his hand doing nothing to stop the sobs that tore their way up from his chest, wracking his entire body.

He reached forward with trembling hands and shook the man, tears blurring his vision but not the charred face. “Chan,” he sobbed, saliva and snot running down his face, mixing with the dirt coating his body from the fall. He shook the man again, wishing that the other would just open his eyes and burst out in peals of laughter because of how dreadful he looked.

No such thing happened.

It had gone on for a minute before Baekhyun acknowledged he was trying to bring back a back man. He slumped onto the much bigger body, allowing the meaningless shouts and sobs to come forth as he pulled the dead man closer.

 

-
 

Luhan tore himself free from the wreckage, looking at the sorry sack who had taken out his lighter and a cigarette at the worst possible moment. He stayed down, waiting for his breathing to come easier and watching the smoke pollute the air, an arrow pointing directly to the perpetrators of the crime.

When he heard shrieks and screams, he pulled himself up and stared at another one of the men Kris had gathered as he twitched on top of an unmoving body.

Luhan stood in a flash and shook himself of debris, not realizing he'd had a bag of the diamonds clutched in his hand until he'd wormed his way into the smaller vehicle. He threw it into the backseat, hands held in surrender.

The two previous occupants of the car had been thrown during the accident, and Luhan thanked his lucky stars when the car finally started. He spared no glances for the fallen, knowing that if he did, he'd be rendered immobile for hours.

He sped away from the fire and the bodies, easing up on the gas as his breaths came easier. Just when he had talked himself down from a panic attack, some idiot appeared from nowhere and stood in the center of the road.

“WHAT THE ,” Luhan screamed, feeling near incoherent as the suicidal kid morphed from a deer stuck in headlights to a casual bystander, shoving his hands into his pockets and smoothly making his way over to the passenger's side.

He surveyed the car, eyes lighting up when he spotted the bag in the back. The mousy haired teen slipped into the seat through the damaged-beyond repair, really-side door and moved the bag onto his lap before Luhan could so much as shout in surprise.

“Awesome,” the kid said with a light lisp, pawing through the heavily lined bag. “I was worried you weren't part of the whole thing, but this proves it,” he looks up, eyes still twinkling in the early sunlight, “well, what are you waiting for? Go!”

Luhan's foot moves of its own accord and slams on the gas, launching the piece of metal and its occupants forward. When he finally finds his voice, they're hours from the airport. “Who are you?”

“Hmm?”

Luhan glances to his left. The kid had been falling asleep.

“Sehun,” he starts, but frowns. “Never mind, forget I said that.”

“What? Why?”

The kid laughs. “You don't get it yet, do you? We can't go back. Whatever your job was, whatever your name was, it's not anymore. I had this plan,” he starts, but pauses. His head hits the window and Luhan starts.

“You had a plan?” He prompts.

Sehun looks at him out of the corner of his eyes and exhales. “Kris got this friend of mine and me to cut the gate. We got there pretty much last night to get it done and while we were doing it, we starting talking about what would happen after. Obviously, we'd have to leave the area, as soon as possible. Jong-” he freezes, bites his lip, then goes on. “He thought we should use public transportation, you know, the best place to hide is a crowd. So we came up with a basic idea of what we were going to do. But somewhere he turned right and I turned left and here I am.”

“Here you are,” Luhan echoes, taking a left at a deserted intersection.

“So, what do you think? I'll be going into twelfth grade next year-”

Luhan chokes on his spit. “WHAT?”

Sehun shrugs and continues. “We'll have to stay together, you know. I don't have anyone else and you... well. I'm holding your bag so you have to stay with me.”

Luhan rolls his eyes.

“Maybe you could be my uncle? No, you look like a toddler. A cousin. You'll be my cousin. My parents died in a house fire and you decided to take guardianship.”

As Sehun goes on, Luhan lets his voice fade into the background as he drives on and away. A pillar of smoke comes into view in his side view mirror and he tenses up, foot stomping down on the brake. He reaches for the door handle, wondering if the smoke leads to the accident he walked away from, or something different. What else had gone wrong? A hand grabs his and stops his from leaving.

“What are you doing?”

Luhan blinks and realizes that the kid is leaning over him, face tight and eyes hard, yanking his hand away from the door. He mumbles, “I was just going to see where the smoke was coming from.”

Sehun's mouth hardens and he stays where he is, grasping Luhan's hand hard. “You don't get it do you? You can't. Don't look back. Never look back. From here on out, you can only move forwards.” And then quieter, almost so that Luhan can't even hear, “that's the only way.”

The blond's grip loosens on the door and he considers the younger's words. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he yanks the already dangling rear view mirror off of the cracked windshield and throws it out the window. Sehun is thrown back into his seat as Luhan forces the car forward, willing the rising smoke out of existence. When they start driving deeper into the land and the smoke disappears behind trees and great slabs of rock, Luhan finally relaxes. He turns his head to the side, where his passenger is going through the glove compartment. He takes a deep breath and says goodbye to Luhan, offering a small smile when Sehun looks up and gives him a questioning stare.

“Tell me where to go.”