Things were not going as planned.

   And that really pissed him off.

   The revolts started before what his seniors had thought and everything was a mess now. Several areas were completely destroyed and their men had to go back to safe points, the information they brought about their enemies being quite useless. Same ways of fight, same weapons; the only fact that indeed changed was the attack strategy, it was the only thing that could explain the suddenly victories in such a short period of time.

   Youngjae quickened his pace and entered the huge room, crowed with people working on maps and electronic devices and walked to his friend. Maybe he was kinda annoyed with what was going on but Himchan had it way worse than him, and according to the instructions he was giving it did not seem to get any better.

   “Youngjae, if you are not here to give me good news I kindly suggest you to leave by where you came in.” The elder snapped but only got ignored by the other.

   “They have a new head” He didn't shutter and earned some interested glares.

   “What do you mean?” Youngjae was brilliant at his job, had some marvelous ideas and he was a witty bastard. And Himchan knew all of that and maybe more so, even if this was not his field of work, he knew when to appreciate his help.

   “Someone new is giving them orders” He chuckled gazing over the maps and the new points marked on it, “ Their first tries were lame and easy to see before hand but now, they had changed the patterns” he moved his forefinger across some lines, remarking his point “and I just got this. My new cams are working perfectly”

   “So you just came here to brag about 'how cool my inventions are', don`t you?” Himchan replied focusing on the pictures he had between hands with furrowing eyebrows, disregarding the other's smirk. They were just a few HD pics of two individuals, their faces stained in black to make more difficult to identify them and their bodies partially hidden behind some blocks. Youngjae's cameras could not catch better angles but with no doubts, it was the best improvement made until now. “Send this to Dani, make sure she gives new orders to the teams.”

   “That lovely young woman you don't want to introduce me to?” the elder nodded as only reply to his friend.

   “Temptation is cruel sometimes, y'know? Moreover, I don't want one of the best brains under my command getting distracted now with all the we have to do” He said giving new dictations to his co workers.

   “That's nice of you but my brain-”

   “I was talking about hers, you .” a cheeky smile adorning his face “ Now, make mom proud and go back to work.” And he pushed Youngjae to the door until he was outside, in the middle of the corridor, door closed behind him and mouth slightly open before he went to his lab, hissing about 'that idiot of hyung'.

***

   “The kids are late.”

    His deep voice broke the small room's silence. His only companion stopped cleaning his face, lifted his head and watched him without saying a word. He looked to the exit expecting the two young boys to come in chattering about their round but nothing.

   “Just give'em a couple of minutes, hyung. They're comin'” His accented words didn't achieved the wished result and Yongguk shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

   “An hour an' a half, Daehyun” He stated, his voice way lower than before “ You arrived here an hour and a half ago, don't tell me not to worry, what are doin' those damn brats? Gonna kick their -”

   The door opened and a small, thin girl entered, a stressed look on her face

   “They just got here, Zico brought them to the infirmary.” Yongguk and Daehyun got up fast and thanked her really quick before leaving to the place. Maybe their hideout wasn't the biggest thing but now all those corridors were the longest thing they could ever meet until they got to the little white door, it being opened with a loud 'crack' without them even trying. A curvy female was there glaring them and before they could say something, she already shushed them.

   “Listen carefully you two, big idiots. This is a place for the injured to rest and silence is the rule number one if you don't want me to kill you. And believe me, Yongguk, your noona is not here to protect you like last time, gotcha?” Both nodded rather impatiently and whispered a 'Sorry Hyosung' “They are the number 28, straight and then right.” She signaled to them the way before giving a last warning “ Don't-you-dare-make-any-noise”

They trotted quietly until they got to the curtains with a big '28' in black and opened them gently. Jongup was lying on the bed, breathing slowly, almost imperceptibly, some blood still on him even after a quick wash with a tall boy holding firmly one of his hands, squatting next to his bed while mumbling something none of the two older guys could get.

   “Hyungs!” The boy got up, a smile brightening his face, but with no intentions whatsoever of separating from the sleeping teen. Yongguk hugged him murmuring a soft 'you worried me, jackass' before letting Daehyun move to him and reading over Hyosung's notes.

   “What happened?”

   The younger opened his mouth several times, trying to find the words to explain what exactly happened but everything was just...so confusing. They were walking, checking new places to take and give the next hit, making sure they knew everything about the areas where the next riots were going to happen and then...

   “ They just appeared out of nowhere, hyung” he looked down at his friend, caressing his hand tenderly. “Zico hyung thinks...he believes they somehow already knew we were there.”

Yongguk furrowed his eyebrows with a bad feeling, they would have to take measures before hand. Hyosung entered between the curtains and moved them aside, starting to take care of Jongup's wounds.

   “Hi sweetie. Do you feel better after the pills?”

   “ Yes, noona. Thank you.”

   That was going to be hard but better now than waiting for too long.

   “Junhong, your name now is Zelo, get everything ready, you're leavin' tomorrow mornin'.” The tone of his voice was dead serious and really close to scary. All of them there turned to watch him, the young woman ready to protest but said nothing after catching a cautious look from Daehyun. She let out a sigh.

   “ Trust your hyung, Junhong.” She said softly, trying to believe herself her own words. “ He knows what he's doing... and I'll take care of Jonguppie, no need to worry, okay?”

   The boy stood there insecure about what to do or to say. He trusted Yongguk, he was practically a father to him but he didn't want to leave. Not so early and after what had happened today. Not after what happened to his friend. Daehyun exchanged glares with him encouraging him.

   “C'me on, bro. I'll show you your new files. Everythin' is going to be fine.”

   Yongguk and Hyosung waited patiently in silence until they left the nursing.

   “Explain yourself” She demanded.

   “It's better if he's with 'em an-”

   “ WHAT!?” Just a second after the outburst, she realized where she was, and repeated, this time almost whispering “what?! Are you serious? How is he going to be better with them? Do I have to remind you that we live under a dictatorship?! This so-called- government is pure and you know it. Damn you know it!

   “Hyosung-”

   “Hyosung, no! You were the one who brought him years ago crying in your shoulders, and now, and now you're giving him to them ? To them? To those who killed his parents?” She stood there looking him deep in the eye but he only stared back no saying a word“ Oh man, you went crazy or something...please, tell me it's a bad joke. Please.”

   “Hyosung, Junhong is a good actor he can pass as one of 'em and here...here the things may go bad...Everyone knows him here and if he's on the other side no body from our team is gonna do any harm against him.” she nodded in disbelief of what she was actually hearing “ But if those bastards get here, do you think they're gonna stop only 'cause a brat is in their damn way? Do you really think they're gonna stop? Hell no. He's gonna work with 'em, like a fan, another new kid willin' to fight for their government. He can pass info and he's not gonna be alone, y'know?”

   “ Is she going to be there?” The young man nodded and she sighed with relief.

   “ His file...actually his file is just a safe background in case ...things go bad” He scratched the back of his neck, uncomfortable “ Everyone here has one, so, if they want they can start again, a new life out there. Daehyun and Jongup have one, the girls too, everyone. You too.”

   “And you?” It took its time to reply and what she didn't like is what she got as an answer.

   “ Y'know I stuck until the very end with that I believe in, hon'”

   The woman closed the little distance and hugged him tight.

   “Yongguk, I know you care for all of us but you're not everyone's father, and sometimes you should look after yourself too.” She said softly against him.

   He tiptoed comically considering how tall the boy was until he reached the 28^th bed, right side. He wasn't going to be there by when Jongup woke up and probably a lot of time would pass before they were going to see each other again but that wasn't to change anything.

 Jongup had kissed him two days ago and he wasn't tolerate that some with society at the moment were about to destroy what they had.

 Like...they had...you know...something.

   The worst was that...there wasn't any confession, any...he didn't know! Just something to hold now that he had to leave, not just a kiss. After that they had had different missions or were too busy to actually have a proper chat about what happened. Not that he complained but he just wanted to make everything clearer. Somehow Junhong thought Daehyun had figured out about his feelings about the other boy, doing a lot of emphasis that he would protect him and take care of him in a brotherly way, of course. He repeated that last part quite a lot and he was just uncertain if he knew or if he was just trying to make him forget momentarily what he had to do and how his life was going to be after that night, or to be more correct, after two hours...and a half.

   He shook his head, trying to focus on what he had to do, “Confidence, Junhong, confidence.” he cheered himself up and pulled out a folded little piece of paper, putting it inside one of Jongup's hands. He gave a little squeeze to it and stood there, looking at the young teen. He could be staring at him forever, counting every fact, every simple detail that made him the most amazing person in the world. He was funny and looked after him, always, no matter what, they could talk about everything, he was good looking and for his surprise he was an awesome dancer; he still remember when he caught him dancing while tidying up his room and he just froze, red as a tomato when realized that the tall boy was staring from his frame door with his mouth totally open. If he were...if he were his boyfriend, he...he would be very proud of his boyfriend- the charming thought bringing a cute, innocent smile to his face.

   He bent to his face and stood there clumsily for a moment, insecure about what to do or even if that was right. Then moved and kissed his cheek, getting straight quickly, gasping, somehow waiting the other to wake up but nothing. He breathed again normally with his eyebrows furrowed. This time he bent again, giving him a light peck on his lips and ran away as quietly as his excitement allowed him to.

***

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Lilmonster's cute note:

First of all THANK YOU VERY MUCH to all of you who subscribed and commented even before this chapter (hope you liked it) was published (hope you liked it), I really appreciate it (hope you liked it).

I will try to update as soon as possible but please take into account that I like to spend a lot of time trying not to kick too much the dictionary -and even doing that I still have the feeling that I mess up- and writing something funny and entertaining. I am open to any kind of suggestions and ideas.  :)

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think (otherwise I will grab a jar of cookies and goodbye world).

PS: If you see any mistake or misspelling, please discreetly tell me so I don't get embarrassed like a little kid >////< .

Next Chapter: The Tall Kid

' Hello! My name is Zelo.'

 

' What are we doing here, again? '

 

' Run. I'm giving you time to save your life so run.'

 

 

' I know who you are.'

 

 

' I have younger brothers, Youngjae, and I don't want them to go to war.'

 

 

' Thank you, hyung.'