"You have to kill Woohyun, right?" - Kim Sunggyu

"I guess Dongwoo isn't trying to kill me." Woohyun began pacing the well-polished floor and ran a hand through his hair as Sunggyu looked on with a slight frown.

"I have no way of knowing if Sungjong is really his target," Sunggyu said slowly, "but if you were his target, he would have been really upset."

"What do we do now?"

Sunggyu scanned the dark corridor, catching no sign of anyone else. "We can wait by the stairs. Someone will pass through eventually."

Woohyun nodded his agreement, casting a wary eye at Sunggyu as they headed for the door to the stairs.

"Still don't trust me?" Sunggyu asked, taking Woohyun by surprise.

"No, I just- it's not- I don't know," he stammered.

Sunggyu sighed. "We'll see."

The two men pressed themselves against opposing walls adjacent to the stairs. They faced each other in the shadows, each one's steady gaze causing the other discomfort, until the faint echoes of footsteps in the stairwell reached their ears. Sunggyu heard them first, and he nodded to Woohyun, who nodded back after a few seconds when he could hear them as well. The rhythm of the unidentified agent's footsteps fell into sync with the regular beat of Sunggyu's heart, and he fervently hoped that he would hear the latter when the former had ceased.

Three. Two.

Woohyun nodded to Sunggyu again.

One.

The door opened, someone walked unsuspectingly between them, and they had pointed their guns before the third agent's face came into view.

Agent Lee Sungjong's gun swiveled between the other two, and he backed, wide-eyed, away as Sunggyu and Woohyun faced him side by side.

"Why are the two of you together?" Sungjong demanded. "Who are your targets?"

Woohyun scoffed. "Why would I tell you?"

Sungjong's eyes narrowed, and he gripped his gun.

"Dongwoo!" Sunggyu called out, keeping an eye on Sungjong's tensed hand. "Dongwoo's my target."

"Dongwoo?" Sungjong's eyebrows shot up. "Dongwoo is on the list too?"

Too? Sunggyu was caught by a word that Woohyun completely overlooked. Too... That meant that Sungjong was surprised by another name on the list besides Dongwoo's. A name he would know well. It was most likely someone from their department. Could it be Woohyun?

"Mine's Sungyeol," Woohyun was saying, hoping that Sungjong wouldn't realize his real target was Sunggyu. If Sungjong knew that, he would know that both Woohyun and Sunggyu were breaking the rules. And Sungjong only broke the rules on certain occasions. He wasn't likely to break the rules now, nor was he likely to look kindly upon others breaking them.

Sungjong blinked in surprise. "I know where Sungyeol is," he said.

"You do?"

"You're going to give him up like that?" Sunggyu demanded. How could his team betray each other so easily?

"I never said I'd give him up," Sungjong shot back. "I just said I knew where he was. And besides, he's...he's on the list..."

Woohyun frowned. "Let's show each other our targets so that we're all on the same page."

Sungjong paled and took a step back. "I...I don't know about that."

"Why? Am I your target?" Woohyun took a step forward, his gun still pointed.

"Of course not! You're not my target!"

"Let's lay down our weapons, then," Woohyun suggested. "On the count of three. One..."

Sungjong shook his head nervously and continued to back away.

"Hey!" Woohyun waved his gun in frustration. "Hey! I'm your target, aren't I?"

Sungjong was walking swiftly backwards now, and he cocked his gun, his eyes wide.

"It's me, isn't it?"  Woohyun yelled. "Why the hell am I on that list? Tell me!"

"Woohyun-ah," Sunggyu said softly, nudging his partner. "Calm down." Someone was going to get hurt if things escalated any more.

"Lee Sungjong!" Woohyun's cheeks were flushed. It had been a long time since Sunggyu had seen him that angry.

Sungjong backed into the stairwell at the other end of the hall, still pointing his gun at Woohyun.

"We'll meet again, hyung," he said, his face blank, and he vanished into the stairwell.

The instant Sungjong disappeared, Sunggyu tapped Woohyun's arm. "We need to get out of here. Now."

Woohyun turned to Sunggyu, his eyes a mixture of frustration, hopelessness, and disbelief. "I...I'm...Sungjong's target."

"Uncock your gun," Sunggyu instructed, and when Woohyun had done as he said, Sunggyu yanked his arm, pulling him through the door to the stairwell they had originally come through.

Sunggyu was partially glad that Woohyun was Sungjong's target, as much as he hated the fact that half of his team seemed to be on that senseless list. It meant that now Woohyun would trust him, and Sunggyu wouldn't have to fear for his life. And with Woohyun's trust secured, it was time to get to the bottom of the bizarre security measures once and for all.

"Where are we going?" Woohyun breathed in barely more than a whisper as he followed Sunggyu down the stairs.

"I don't know," Sunggyu replied, taking the stairs two at a time. "But we need to hurry."