“Military resources?”

Baekhyun nodded, taking the USB from Tao’s slack grip and rushed to the seat on his desk.

“What kind of military resources? And what country’s?” Tao’s voice jumped up a pitch, hurrying over to Baekhyun’s side, looking at his laptop.

“I don’t know the details,” Baekhyun grumbled, his fingers flying fast over the keyboard, “I’ve only cracked about 6 files, and it’s still heavily redacted, but according to the title document, it’s all kinds of sensitive information; Statistics of arms and weaponry in Russia, Intel on black operations in Iraq, Military operations and tactics used by America, Naval Base locations of Germany.” Baekhyun snapped his head back and looked at Tao with worry in his eyes, “Tao, if this gets out.”

Tao grabbed Baekhyun by the shoulders, as he was shaking without notice. “It won’t. We won’t let it.”

Baekhyun took a deep breath when Tao’s grip fell from his shoulders. He was about to turn and start working on the other files, when Tao’s grip came back in full force, but on his wrists.

“You should stop working on it.” Baekhyun was about to ask why, but Tao simply shook his head. Baekhyun’s eyes soften, when he realized that to know this kind of sensitive data, you have to pay a price. The less they know, the safer they’ll be.

The elder unplugged the USB drive from his laptop, and then closed the laptop in succession. Tao went back to his bed, sitting down softly. Baekhyun turned around in his chair and asked, “But why would Jung Joo have this?”

Tao could only guess at this point, as he didn’t have a chance to ask only after the guy as dead, “He was a massive underground dealer, and a corrupt politician at that. He must’ve come across this in one of his trades, both parties not knowing the content of the drive. And since he couldn’t crack the code and access the information, he kept it locked up.”

Well, at least that’s one relief that came out from it. The less people who knew about this, the better. With a swift nod, Tao grabbed the drive and took his pillow, hiding the object in the slips of the cover. Baekhyun, understanding the motive of Tao’s action, took the laptop and pulled out the suitcase from under his bed, dug the laptop to the bottom of the carrier before pushing it back in.

“I’ll take the laptop and the drive to our warehouse in the park today after midnight, but for now this’ll have to do.” Tao announced, taking his clothes off and changing to something more appropriate. He smiled wearily at his brother before going out the door to help Kyungsoo and Minseok with breakfast.

Baekhyun stayed rooted at his seat for a few more minutes, exhaling once, then went to the bathroom to freshen himself up. Hopefully, letting the water wash his worries away.

~~~

The call came when they were in practice, announced in the speaker for them to come up to the Chairman’s office. Baekhyun and Tao had an eerie feeling about this, but got swept up in the crowd going in the elevator. When inside, Baekhyun asked to no one in particular, “Why are we getting called up?”

Joonmyeon, thank god for him, answered Baekhyun, although unhelpful, with a, “I don’t know. This never happened before to us.”

They arrived in front of the door that held the Chairman’s office titled above the gold plated name of the man. Joonmyeon held responsible for knocking the door, his expression stiff and professional, although he felt like a nerve wreck on the inside, everyone did.

A muffled voice came from inside the doors and they did as instructed, lining up parallel to the desk once they entered the room.

“You’re not in trouble, if perhaps you’re wondering.” Lee Soo Man spoke, his back facing towards them as he looked out the glass wall window, “So you can stop shaking and tensing back there.”

Everyone gave out a sigh of relief, and relaxed in their spots, all but Tao and Baekhyun. They seemed to have frozen in their place. They knew what this is. Hoping to all gods that existed that it is not what they know it is. Kind of redundant but they’re allowed to hope. The catch was they all were called up. Not individually, but they all were, all twelve of them. If it was a mere trouble, he would’ve called them up personally, instead of in a group. No, this was something much worse, to Baekhyun and Tao, but much more delightful to the other 10.

“Congratulations boys, you’re all debuting as a team together.” Lee Soo Man turned in his chair, facing them just in time to see the delighted and shocked faces of the group. Everyone was pinching themselves and grasping each other’s arms, as if they couldn’t believe its true.

Baekhyun and Tao also couldn’t believe its true. This was the worst scenario that could’ve played out. They’re debuting. That means that they’ll have busier schedules, and less free time, less missions, less progress. This was what happened to the generation before the two, their sister and cousins. Everyone debuted, surprisingly, and they couldn’t execute their plan as swiftly as they can’t go out in the open without being recognized. They can’t slip into places, blend in with the crowd, or even say a word in disguise because everyone knows their faces and voices. The Company had sent the youngest pair into SM earlier than planned because they were desperate. And Lee Soo Man knew this. That bastard.

“You’ll be sent a report that details the background on the group, the name, positions and leader, divisions, a new schedule and training regiment, and also a manager will be assigned to you once you debuted,” Soo Man announced, his voice b with authority and power. He tapped on the tablet he had on his hands, skimming over a calendar. “You’ll be debuting sometime around next year, as it is the start of July as of now. That’ll give you plenty of time to prepare."

Baekhyun could not just stand there and let this happen. They were the Company’s last hope, their family’s last hope, at getting revenge.

“Please, forgive me, but Tao and I have been trainees for barely three months,” Baekhyun spoke out calm and steady, while other members in the room looked at him with shock, “I personally think that we’re not ready.”

Tao nodded quietly to his brother, the other members catching his reaction, and their mouths dropped even further when he supplied, “It would be better, and more fair, that they should debut as a 10 member team, excluding Baekhyun and myself.”

Chanyeol nudged Baekhyun harshly, urging him to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t blame Chanyeol for reacting that way. After all, a trainee’s dream is to debut, no matter how long the training period is. And Baekhyun and Tao were given the golden chance of an early debut with a short training period, yet they were denying it.

Lee Soo Man engaged in staring at both of the males, his gaze calculating and cold. He smiled, cynically, and laced his fingers together as he leaned on his elbows on the desk, “I’m sorry but that’s not your decision to make, Baekhyun, Tao.” His eyes hardened as he continued with a voice that gave no one a chance to defy him. “You’ll all be debuting as one team, yes, however, you’ll be divided into sub-groups.” Tao and Baekhyun’s eyes were blown wide. “Chines members in the Chinese group and Korean members in the Korean group.”

The man was going to separate them. Obviously. Baekhyun bit the insides of his cheeks, not strong enough to draw blood, but strong enough to refrain him from letting his anger show on his face, he tried to reason, “But that would mean it’s divided into a 4 to 8 group.”

Lee Soo Man snapped back with confidence and speed, “Minseok and Jongdae will be placed in the Chinese group, as for the lack of vocals.”

Tao grasped Baekhyun’s hand, his grip strong and heated. The grip conveyed Tao’s shared anger for the development and it also conveyed a message to control his feelings. The elder man’s gaze lingered on the two of them, as if urging them to confront him.

Tao was the first to relax and put on a poker face, while Baekhyun took it a bit further and smiled so bright and fake that it was painful, “Thank you, thank you so much Chairman.”

The chairman’s eyes crinkled in delight, and the tension between the three had dissipated so that the members relaxed in concession. The crowd in the room had been watching the three since Baekhyun first spoke, confused and bewildered. But they were overtaken by the joy and excitement of the news that they had forgotten about it soon after.

“Well, you can all head back to your dorms now. It’s late and I would hate if you were to fall sick due to lack of rest.” Lee Soo Man advised in a caring voice that had the member’s hearts moved by the sentiment. He was devious and charming, and he’s got everyone fooled.

Baekhyun wanted to scream.

~~~

Baekhyun and Tao were the last one to enter the dorms, the former rushing ahead of the latter as he had to close the door. When they arrived at the living room, everyone was still hyped from the news and talking animatedly about it. The room seemed to glow a bright and positive aura but all Baekhyun could feel was contempt with worry.

“I can’t believe it.” Chanyeol whispered happily beside Baekhyun, “We’re going to be idols!"

Baekhyun could only give him a tight smile in return before rushing off to his shared room. Chanyeol frowned in confusion, actually everyone in the premises did, confused as to why the cheerful Baekhyun seemed to be acting the way he was. All of the heads turned to Tao to explain his behavior. Everyone noticed that Baekhyun and Tao were close, unnervingly so. Maybe it was because they entered the agency together and just kept sticking to each other, or there was something more behind the seemingly obsessive friendship. But everyone knew it was more of a brotherhood than a romantic connection.

“He’s just overwhelmed by it.” Tao reasoned, knowing that his brother was definitely overwhelmed but by completely different reasons. “He just didn’t think that this would happen at all,” At least not this fast, “I’m going to go check on him to make sure he won’t flood our room with his tears.”

That got out a laugh from everyone, Tao smiling, ending it on a bright and happy note. He turned and went into his room, closing the door. Baekhyun was sensitive, and although he may be good in lying, he’s not that good in holding his emotions down. He wore his heart on his sleeves, this made him a good actor, as he was able to project emotions as he wanted to, but this also made him honest. Baekhyun was so used to lying, that he was so honest about everything else to his family.

“How dare he.” Baekhyun screeched in a heated whisper.  “How could this happen?!” He kept pacing around in the small space that is their room, only going about 10 steps then coming back around.

Tao kept quiet, sitting nicely on his bed, grabbing his pillow towards him, “Baek-hyung, calm down.”

“Tao!” Baekhyun stopped his pacing and turned to his younger brother, harshly whispering, “How are you not panicking?”

“I am,” Tao explained hugging his pillow to his chest, “I’m just not showing it as much as you do. I’m worried and panic at the same time, so the two overwhelms me so much that I can’t speak and it cancels each other out.”

Baekhyun gave his brother a straight look, before glowering at the younger that dropped his head, continuing to pace around the room.

“I tried.” Tao mumbled to himself, his hands fumbling with the pillow as he hugged it tighter, “Hyung, there’s no use worrying about it. We can’t change his decisions. Now what we should do is think it thro-”

Baekhyun frowned at the sudden silence of the chatter that his brother was giving him; seeing that his eyes were wide and his hands were caressing the pillow up and down. “Tao?”

“It’s gone.”

“Tao, what’s wro-”

Tao stood up abruptly, his hands stopping what they were doing and clutching to the pillow, “Hyung, it’s gone!”

“What’s go-”

“The USB!” Tao ripped the sheet with sheer strength, tattered pieces of white cloth falling to his bedding, the pillow followed shortly after, but the black metal device was nowhere to be found.

Baekhyun choked a gasp back, as he regained his senses, and dove straight under his bed for his suitcase, which was opened. With rapid movements, he precariously threw his clothing behind his shoulders, creating a huge mess in his wake, and shortly the suitcase was completely empty. He sat back down on his knees, defeated, “And so is the god damn laptop.”

“Hyung.” Tao spoke, weirdly quiet.

Baekhyun looked up to see that Tao was staring at his desk, and when he followed his line of sight, he saw it. The laptop was perched on his desk, innocent and seemingly untouched. “I swear I put it in the suitcase, you saw me.”

With shaky hands, he opened his laptop when he got to sit at his desk, logging in at record time. The laptop seemed unharmed and working fine, however the screensaver was not of him and his brother in front of Niagara Falls, a snap they took whilst on a mission abroad, but instead it was the default background of blue waves.

“They wiped it.” Baekhyun clicked on all of the folders, finding it void of any documents, “They wiped my laptop.” All the information they had about it was gone. All of it.

Tao tried to salvage the situation, “You still remember the data, don’t you.”

“Yes, yes I can replicate some.” Baekhyun sounded frustrated, his head cradled in his hands, “But Tao, I haven’t cracked all of them. I’m only through with about 6 or 7 documents and there’s dozens, maybe hundreds of files in there. Plus the files are still heavily redacted; I can only make out the topic of the file. There’s barely any information at all.”

Tao slumped back down on his bed, amidst all of the ripped cloth and Baekhyun’s awry clothing. He was about to give up when he noticed an alarming detail that they had miss.

“Hyung?”

Baekhyun gave a lazy hum, slumping into his chair even more.

“Who stole it?”

Baekhyun made a confused noise to his brother, opening his eyes that faced him directly with the wood of his table.

“Who stole it, SM or the Company?”

“Why does it matter Tao? It’s still gone,” Baekhyun’s voice was muffled by the hand that he pressed against his mouth.

“What are you talking about? Of course it matters.” Baekhyun lifted his head from his palms, to which Tao continued, “We need to know how far we can trust the Company.”

Baekhyun nodded slowly, understanding Tao’s point. If it was the Company that took it, that means that it confirms their suspicions that the Company isn’t what they really thought it was. If it was SM, that means that their cover is blown completely. Either ways, nothing good would come out of any of them taking hold of that file.

“We’re drawing the line between our allies and our enemies,” Tao’s voice sounded strained and hopeful, a weird combination that made him sound desperate, “There has to be a difference.”

Baekhyun felt an urgency creeping back into his bones, but it left as soon as it came. They were helpless. He realized, with a shocking defeat, that they’re situation was worse than what he thought it was.

“I’m not sure there is one.”

HELLLOO~ as promised, another speedy update :) I'm currently on vacation, so I'll probably be able to update faster but I think I'll keep it on a weekly basis, or once every two weeks. And I'm worried that I'm not giving enough action to make the story interesting or giving enough romance to keep you on the edge of your seats please help T^T.

Next chapter is going to be another mission arc, a two chapter special, please look forward to it ~