I contemplate backing out of this suicide mission after this whole...encounter. I had to ask myself, was it really worth it? Suddenly I feel a tiny set of fingers intertwine with my larger ones. I look down in shock at the gesture to see Junhyun smiling up at me. I keep forgetting this kid is even here! "What's wrong?" I ask him, wondering if he was scared. He probably should be. "Nothing. I just wanted to hold your hand." He lies. I can tell. I squeeze his hand then kneel to his height, ruffling his hair.

 

"You don't have to be embarrassed of being scared. It's expected of you...you're still just a kid." I assure him. He nods and I pat his shoulders, standing to my normal height. Just then Rachel and Joon come back inside. Joon looked more stressed than ever. "Why is it so empty here?" I hear Jisoo ask from somewhere outside the hallway. "Huh? Oh..yeah. I think Chief took all his guards with him to meet Alex." Joon explains, sinking down into one of the chairs. "All of them??? We have to warn him!" Jisoo shouts, pulling out his phone. "You do that." Joon sighs, letting his head rest on the back of the chair. "He won't answer my calls.." He adds.

 

"What about the East and West wings?" I ask. Everyone looks at me shocked and Joon raises his head to look at me. "What?" I ask. "How do you know about the wings?" He asks. I scoff. "What you thought I was a bully for my health?? My father was a part of the outside gang residing in your East wing." I tell them. He rolls his eyes and lays his head back again. "Figures. You come from a loooooong line of backstabbers." 

I ignore this comment and try ti keep my sanity. He'll be upset for a long time...I'll just have to put up with it.

 

"But wait...if there aren't any guards, where are the girls??" Rachel asks looking worried. Joon lifts his head up again. "I didn't even think about it." He says. Rachel's eyes widen, fear and worry taking over her appearance. "Haneul!!!!!" She exclaims before rushing out of the door without thinking twice. Joon follows closely behind her. "Rachel! You can't just run through there!!!" He exclaims. I stand there still holding the kid's hand, not sure if I should stay or follow. If I was alone I would have followed, but I have another person to look out for now...and I still decided that the safest thing to do now was to stay together. I squeeze Junhyun's hand as he looks up at me in confusion.

 

"C'mon kid...." I say, leading him down the long, dark, corridor.