II.

For some reason, people have become so fond of brick walls in Kyungsoo’s neighborhood that almost every alley has one or two. Taemin found himself walking by those alleys one night, not sure why, but he felt like he just had to.

He came around Kyungsoo’s house and saw that all the lights were off except for one. He decided he’d drop by and maybe gather a little bit of what’s happening in Jongin’s life.

When Kyungsoo opened the door, Taemin immediately noted the stressed look on his big doe eyes. “D.O.-yah, what’s up?”

“Oh, hyung, it’s you. What brings you here? Come on in.”

“I just wanted to check on you guys, I guess.”

Taemin had been close friends with Kyungsoo and Jongin back in Yonsei. He had spent more time with them outside uni than he did with his batch mates.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me. Kai though…”

“What about him?”

“Well, I think he lost his gun somewhere. I didn’t even know he had a gun until he told me he’d lost it. The fool.”

“That’s… wow, I didn’t know that either.” Taemin answered, trying hard to not sound suspicious.

“What else was he telling you?”

“Nothing. He just came here and sat in front of the TV the whole time. The poor guy looked so out of it. He wasn’t answering when I asked about Krystal.”

“Krystal?”

“Yeah, she called some nights ago. He never heard from her since.”

--

“Taemin-ah, Key’s gonna stay here for some time. Will that be a problem for you? No? Okay thanks.”

“This person, I haven’t even said yes or no yet. But… yeah, it’s fine, whatever. Why is he staying here?”

“He said he wants to spend some time together before I go undercover.”

Taemin groaned. Just as he was about to answer they heard someone knocking on their door.

“Must be him.” The older stood up and went to open the said door.

“Hi!” Taemin heard Kibum drop his bags and pull Jonghyun in for a hug. “Missed me?”

“A bit.” He heard the other one say and the other one giggled.

“Get a room, you guys.”

“This child. Why are you always grumpy when I’m around?” Key asked, letting Jonghyun carry his bags to the living room.

“He hates mushy stuff. He’ll get used to it.”

“Yah, why don’t you get yourself a girlfriend… or a boyfriend?” As Kibum was expecting, Taemin turned around and walked straight to his room as soon as he mentioned girlfriend.

“Oh god, this kid and his cynic . Jonghyun-ah, come with me to the kitchen. I’m cooking dinner for you guys.”

“Really??? Aww jagi I missed you.” Jonghyun had this huge grin plastered on his face as he pulled his boyfriend in for a kiss.

“I know. Now, palli and take the groceries to the kitchen. It’s right there in that bag.” He pointed at the eco-bag beside his backpack.

“Okay.”

--

“I haven’t had a decent meal in like forever.” Taemin said, throwing a glance at Key who’s washing the dishes.

“So I was told.”

“Hyung, how was your uh, modelling stint?”

“It was boring. Also, I hurt my foot pretty bad. The stupid asset’s all over me and she stepped on me with her highass heels.”

Taemin laughed. “It was a long time since we’ve had a talk like this. I’m assuming your assignment was a success?”

“Oh please. You’re looking at the best agent right here. Of course it was a success.” The older scoffed and flicked droplets of water on Taemin’s face.

“A—hyung it’s cold!” The younger looked peeved. But then immediately, he wiped the water off his face and asked, “Will you be staying here when Jonghyun-hyung goes to his assignment?”

“What the hell is that assignment anyway? He only told me that he’s going away for a while and that it’s pretty confidential.”

“Yes, it is. In fact, I’m in this assignment with him. Only I’ll be staying here, you know, to monitor… stuff, for him.”

Key chuckled. "You're the backup, as usual." 

"So what?"

“Lee Taemin.”

“What.” Taemin was so used to Key that he can almost predict what he’s gonna say next.

“Nothing. And no, I won’t be staying here. I’m going to spend some time with my parents.”

Bummer. I was so looking forward to that long speech about partnerships and taking care of comrades, Taemin thought.

“Oh, good for you then. I’m going to bed. You two get on with your stuff. Looks like your prince charming is done showering.” Taemin laughed as the older yet again splashed water on his face.

--

“How’d it go with stuff at the Harbor?”

“Rescued 50 young women from ion. Can you believe that… 38 minors. Choi Minho and his gang should be wiped out from the face of the earth.”

“So, what happens to these girls? Do they go back to China?”

“Most of them, yes. But they won’t be going back to their families since most of them were killed. They will be sent to a rehabilitation facility instead. You should’ve seen the look on their faces, the poor ones were traumatized. They were all shaking when we found them and…”

“Choi Minho… was he there?”

“No.”

“How about his men? Did you take them into custody?”

“Yes.”

“Good job as always, hyung. It kinda makes me sad to let you go undercover. Makes me wanna go instead.”

“Please. Your clumsy wouldn’t go as far as two weeks in there. Not underestimating you though… you work best with computers. I remember you at it in your first year of training but look how you’ve grown!”

“Yeah, whatever. Make sure no one got to run away unless you want your cover to be blown even before you set afoot in their domain.”

“I know, I know. And I’m not going there till next week. Chill.”

“Hyung, you only got four days before you go.” Taemin took out a stack of paper from his rucksack and handed it to Jonghyun. “You might wanna look at this.”

After some time of flipping over the pages, Jonghyun suddenly stood up with his face looking like he’s gonna cry in a moment or two. “Where did you get this?”

“I hacked in to the Security Bureau database last night.”

“Amber is in this list. I didn't know she went missing?!”

“It’s not definite yet but I think Amber is with Crimson Rhomb. She went missing when she was in her last year in high school, right? If I remember correctly, it was the day she found out she’s not going to graduate because she couldn’t pay her fees. Based on my research and recent interviews with people from Amber’s former residence, their property was taken by a loan shark. Until now, the whereabouts of her family remains a mystery.”

“I’m going to kill Choi Minho.”

“Hold that thought. May I ask you… do you know why Choi Minho was in that same alley as Kai was the night your guy took that picture?”

“I think his girlfriend lives there. Choi Minho was drunk. And so was Kai. He was actually with his bodyguards so I had my guy call for backup, just in case. According to my guy’s report, Choi Minho was throwing twigs and pebbles at his girlfriend’s window. But no one ever came out. It so happened that while this Rhomb guy threw stuff at a person’s window, Kai was walking nearby. He got annoyed by the noise so he pointed his gun, which he was holding right then, and the other took out his and did the same… and then the bodyguards intervened. They dragged Choi Minho out of the scene and my men took Kai home after that. It was said in the report that Kai got a minor injury when one of the bodyguards prodded him by the chest. I'm still wondering where Kai came from that night, why his gun was out even before the encounter.”

“Oh, okay. I thought Kai had something to do with Rhomb. Thank goodness." Taemin obviously didn't wanna talk about Kai anymore so he went back to the Amber topic. "Now, about Amber. When you go the Rhomb lair, I want you to find not only her but also some other people.” Taemin flipped another page and showed it to Jonghyun.

“Who is she?”

“A socialite…-ish?”

Jonghyun rolled his eyes at his partner's answer. “And? What makes her so special? There are hundreds of them being kept by the Rhomb.”

“This girl here,” Taemin pointed at the picture of the pale girl with chocolate eyes, tall and lanky, who looked like she’s in her mid-twenties. “Her name is Song Qian, Chinese national. Daughter of a billionaire who owns resorts, malls and museums scattered around Asia. She also owns a ballet school in Beijing.”

“So?”

“On the eve of her birthday she was kidnapped by Choi Minho’s men. Now when this girl disappeared, there came a drastic vanishing of her parents’money’s zeros. That was also the time when night clubs became so alive in Korea that even the media couldn’t help but notice. Oh and drug consumptions, my god you wouldn’t believe how many cases of drug overdose were there in the last four years. I'm not really sure but I think the parents are being conned by the Rhomb while keeping the daughter. When you get this girl out, alive, hopefully the Rhomb will have fewer operations. Fewer operations means less murder and harassment, less drug deals, less ion, less everything. And with you on the inside, hopefully we can turn things around and then obliterate them for good.”

“Obliterate as in? Kill?”

“Well they kinda asked for it.”