‘’All right, listen up crew. As you all already know, Sewol has sunken and there are a lot of people missing. Our mission is to get into the ferry and save as much as passengers as possible. Understood?!’’

‘’Sir, yes, Sir!’’

Jongin instantly let out a confident smirk. Finally, his chance had come. Being the youngest member of the Seoul Search and Rescue Squad, he never got the chance to actually participate whenever something happened. Today, however, was going to be different. His hard days of training were going to pay off!

The blonde boy was nervous but excited. Of course, he felt bad for the passengers who hadn’t been able to survive but he had already learned countless times that you should focus on the living instead of the dead… especially when you were the one responsible for getting the hurt out of a life-threatening situation.

‘’Since this is a major operation, be prepared. Journalists will be all over the place, people will try to make up stories and interview you-’’ Jongin got goosebumps when the head started to intensely glare at his crew. ‘’You are not allowed to give them any news or information. I will make sure to severely punish those who do.’’

‘’Sir, yes sir!’’

‘’Is that clear?!’’

‘’SIR, YES SIR.’’

Kang Siwon, the head of the Search and Rescue Squad, nodded while looking at this crew. His team was chosen by the president of South Korea herself. She had requested to put him in charge of the rescue squad.  He looked to his side and locked eyes with his rival and co-worker, Park Sungmin, he wasn’t looking all too happy and Siwon knew why.

Sungmin’s team was as good as his own so Siwon felt superior when his team got chosen instead. He turned his head with a satisfied look. The only thing he worried about was his youngest crew member; Kim Jongin. The blonde was naive and he was too focused on saving. Normally that would be a good quality but Siwon feared that Jongin would neglect his orders someday…just to save one mere human life.

The head unconsciously glared at the blonde. Again the goosebumps made an appearance on Jongin’s dark skin. He tried to keep an emotionless face since that was what he was supposed to do. The head had scolded him more than once for being unable to control his facial expressions. Jongin couldn’t help it though, he was very sensitive of others opinions about him and on top of that; he wasn’t good in hiding his feelings.

Jongin tried to shrug it off before they were dismissed. The crew bowed down to the higher ranked men and they took off in formation.

 ‘’Whoa, aren’t you guys excited? We are going back into the depths of the ocean! This is so thrilling!’’

Jongin looked up and chuckled. One of his crew-members, the most talkative one, was literally jumping up and down. He was a few years older than Jongin but he didn’t act like it. Sometimes Jongin felt like a stuck up old man because he often ended up scolding his hyung.

‘’Yah, Park Chanyeol, shut up and get ready. Now is not the time to behave like a 14-year-old girl.’’

Chanyeol pouted before heading towards his locker. He glanced at Jongin and smiled like a love-struck-idiot when he caught the younger staring. Chanyeol was Jongin’s biggest fan, some of the crew-members even thought that Chanyeol was gay for the latter.

‘’Kris-hyung, why are you always so mean to me?’’

Chanyeol faked his aegyo while shaking his shoulders a bit. It really looked stupid, to the extent that Chanyeol earned two flying shoes to his head from different members.

Jongin simply rolled his eyes while zipping his one-piece up. They had special uniforms which were practically swimming suits. All of them were of course black; the suits protected them against the cold waters and were very light. It was like an extra skin. Some of the (shy) members often wore black shorts over them to hide their private parts. Jongin was one of them. Jongin couldn’t even shower with the boys without turning around and hiding in the corners of the bathing room.

‘’Jonginnie-ah, this will be your first mission, eh? Must be electrifying for the newbie, right guys?’’

Heechul, one of the oldest, ruffled Jongin’s hair to mock him. He was always on Jongin’s tail; it annoyed the out of the younger. Jongin slapped his hand away and didn’t bother to react to the laughter of the older boys.

Jongin started to glare and tried to gather his stuff. He accidentally made eye contact with Kris. Kris was a Chinese member who had been raised in Canada. He was always very serious and didn’t crack a smile, even if he had accomplished his goals (by being the best one in their crew), he still didn’t smile. At first it was a bit creepy but after a while Jongin had accepted it. The blonde noticed that Kris’ eyes were the ones who held all the emotions which were lacking in his face.

Jongin knew Kris was annoyed because of Heechul. His Chinese eyebrows, which resembled an angry bird, were twitching already. If this would be an anime, steam would be surely blowing out of his nose and ears. Kris and Chanyeol were the only ones who really kept an eye out for Jongin. It made the latter crack a smile. He comfortingly patted the taller on his shoulder in an attempt to calm Kris down before leaving the changing room. He waited outside until Park Chanyeol came out.

‘’I still don’t get why Heechul-hyung bothers you so much. I mean, he is always trying to annoy or embarrass you… do you guys have some sort of history together?’’

‘’Not that I know off…’’ Jongin lazily replied. He wasn’t in the mood to talk about Heechul, he subtly tried to change subject.

‘’Hyung, how many times did you go out on a mission?’’

Chanyeol’s eyebrows lifted themselves as he looked up at the ceiling.

‘’I guess…about 15 times in my whole career…’’ Chanyeol bit on his lower lip while trying to remember the exact amount of times.

Jongin mouthed an ’o’. He was impressed. Chanyeol always seemed to be a careless person but he was really good in his job. The tall male was well known throughout the city for his good deeds. He had also been in the newspaper alongside Kris a few times. Jongin envied both of them.

‘’That’s really cool…I wish I could be as swift as you and Kris-hyung. I’ve seen the footage of the last rescue mission. You worked really accurate and precisely…as if you knew exactly what you were doing.’’

Chanyeol chuckled, that was far from the truth…at least to him. Chanyeol could only think of his bad qualities, how he quickly gets confused, how he talks way too much and ends up drifting away from the original topic...not to mention how stubborn he is...

However Chanyeol was also very aware of his strong points; his leadership and his fast thinking. It didn't matter Kris had surpassed him on both areas and became the leader of the crew, because honestly; Chanyeol wasn’t so far behind him.

‘’I’m not that good, Jongin. Though I can’t say about Kris. That stupid always beats me in my own game. He doesn’t stop challenging me…’’

‘’At least he challenges you…I'm not even worth the challenge in his eyes.’’

The boys both laughed. They were surprisingly in a good mood, in contrary to the people of South Korea… who were devastated by the loss of their children.

‘’Today, on the 16th of April, 2014. The Sewol has sunken. Over 250 passengers are missing and the death toll is still rising. It is unclear as to why the ferry sunk in the first place but according to……’’

Chanyeol and Jongin instantly lost their smiles upon hearing the news. They had reached the assembling room and every person in it was glued to the screen. Jongin watched how one picture of the tragedy flashed on the screen after the other. Jongin could feel a strong jab to his heart. He was actually getting terrified. What if he screwed up? What if someone died because of him? What if he died himself?

He glanced at his taller friend. Chanyeol looked serious for the first time that day. Jongin had seen his serious expressions before in the past, even if it was really rare.

He disliked it though.

He preferred the annoying, noisy Chanyeol anytime over the serious, depressed Chanyeol.

Chanyeol sighed and clenched his fists. Jongin saw the original skin color on Chanyeol’s knuckles turn white. Jongin understood his frustrations…everyone in the room was feeling the same thing.

‘’Ten minutes left until take-off.’’

Jongin was taken by surprise as he turned around to the source of the voice. He saw the man close the same white door he came in through. Suddenly Jongin felt anxious. The air was starting to suffocate him. He unknowingly clenched his jaw. The blonde’s eyes were darting from the screen to his crew-members.

Chanyeol seemed to notice Jongin’s unusual behavior. He tried to pat the blonde’s shoulder as he felt bad for him. Jongin flinched and slapped his hand away in response. He immediately regretted doing so.

‘’I-I’m sorry, hyung.’’ Jongin held his hands up in defeat. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was always told that taking deep breaths would calm him down. However the blonde got frustrated when it didn’t seem to help in the slighest.

‘’It’s okay, Jongin-ah… Are you fine though? You seem a bit pale…’’

Chanyeol was worrying for the younger. Even though he recognized the stress Jongin was having. Chanyeol had gone through that phase countless times. It really for the younger but there was nothing Chanyeol could do. Jongin had to tackle his own inner problems himself. It was the best way for him to learn to control his emotions and feelings.

Jongin shook his head in response. His eyebrows had formed a tight knot. He suddenly felt his neck hurt. He let out a deep sigh as he tried to massage the pain away.

‘’I’ll be fine. My neck just hurts a tiny bit.’’

Jongin’s lame excuse made the taller chuckle. Upon hearing the familiar voice Jongin seemed to relax a bit.

‘’How many minutes are left anyway?’’

‘’3 minutes and…20 seconds to be exact.’’

Jongin flinched for the second time. Chanyeol also seemed to be surprised as he let out a soft ‘oh’.

Kris, who had joined them a few minutes ago without them knowing, shrugged. He put his arm down again. Chanyeol noticed the expensive watch Kris was wearing. It was a gift he had received from the officials for saving the daughter of an important man. He didn’t remember who it exactly was but he was damn jealous of Kris for getting such an awesome present.

‘’Still wearing that ugly watch of yours?’’ Chanyeol tried to sound indifferent but Kris was quick to notice the jealousy in his voice.

‘’Forget the watch… you should focus on getting that hideous thing off your face.’’

Chanyeol’s eyes dangerously widened while he touched his face and wiped some invisible things off.

‘’Oh…never mind it is your face.’’

Jongin chuckled and shook his head. He forgot about his neck cramps and approvingly slapped Kris on his upper arm. Chanyeol however glowered at his rival. He absolutely hated it when Kris played with him like a cat plays with mice.

‘’I can’t believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book, Park Chan-stupid.’’

‘’I can’t believe you are actually using elementary-school-insults on me, Wu Yi-.’’

Jongin busted it out in laughter. He quickly covered his mouth and turned serious when his crew-members send him death glares. Now was definitely not the time to be fooling around and laughing like you hadn’t got a single problem in the world.

Jongin muttered a soft ‘sorry’ when the members finally returned their attention to the screen.

‘’Time for take-off. Remember, don’t speak to any outsiders. Heck, don’t even speak to your colleagues from other teams. Keep everything to yourself and let’s get ready to save the children of our nation!’’

‘’Sir, yes Sir!!’’

Jongin flinched again when the crew answered in a loud voice. He still couldn’t get used to all the shouting they did.

Everyone was rushing to the back exit of the building. Jongin was naturally keeping up. Once they reached the parking lot, he saw four jeeps which were waiting for the members to board them. This was the first time that Jongin could ride one of those and he could feel his heart beat faster upon seeing them up close. The cars were big and they looked very neat. Of course they were all black with tinted windows. It looked more professional that way.

Chanyeol didn’t hesitate as he boarded the first one. He seemed to be aware of what to do. Jongin on the contrary didn’t know which car to board. He saw all of his crew-members dash to the cars they were supposed to be in. Jongin hesitated and stopped; feeling like a lost lamb.

Luckily for the blonde, Kris noticed his hesitant friend and pulled him into the second car. Before Jongin knew what happened they were already on the road. He looked at Kris with a relieved look. Kris nodded in response at him; reminding Jongin he had his back.

‘’Does everyone have their gear with them? Check for any complications.’’

 Kris instructed his men while checking his own devices. Everyone was geared with build-in-sensor-suits. It was a weird name but Jongin was already used to it. Besides the build-in-sensor was really something; it would be able to tell the main base about your whereabouts at any time. The sensor also functioned as some sort of a walkie-talkie. It had a microphone and it was connected to the wireless earphones they wore. The sensor was placed in the black swimsuit, to be precise; it was placed right above the heart. Jongin looked down and pressed the second button on top of the sensor. He heard a beeping sound; indicating it was going online. Kris was holding on to a tablet and he saw a new green dot appearing on his screen.

‘’Jongin, you’re online. Check your microphone and earphones.’’

Jongin nodded as he pressed the button on the left side of the sensor; again he heard a beeping sound only this time it were two short sounds.

‘’Test one, test two.’’

Jongin spoke in a monotone voice. He saw Kris nodding in approval. Kris spoke through his own microphone while covering his mouth. Jongin could clearly hear Kris’ voice coming through his earphones.

Kris nodded again and checked Jongin’s gear off as working without complications on his tablet.

By the time they had arrived to the scene, everyone in the car had checked their gear. So far no one seemed to have any troubles with it.

The driver of the jeep suddenly started to furiously honk a few times. The car had stopped and it confused the crew. Kris got up and moved to the front of the car. He looked out of the main window; frowning as he saw a few vans blocking the deck.

‘’How the are we supposed to reach the boats if these s won’t make way for us?!’’ The driver shouted