Most of you, I think, are aware of the fact that I wanted to post a bonus chapter.  I'm actually going to post two, as I ended up writing two.

This is actually the second of them, but is more contemporary with the events of TBBC: I had initially wanted to include this scene in where it comes, but it unfortunately would have contained a major spoiler for the of the story, so I had to leave it out.

This one is a little angsty, whereas the next bonus chapter, which will go up at some point either right at the end of this month or over the course of July, is very, very fluffy.  I'm an optimistic person, so thought it best to end on a happy note.

Finally, I just want to say a huge, huge thank you for all your support and patience while I've been re-uploading this story.  I can't guarantee it's now typo free, but I know I've caught a lot of them.  If you spot one, please let me know!  And also, if you feel inspired to make a poster or some fanart for TBBC, you are more than welcome to send it to me and I will be sure to feature it at the top of one of the chapters.

Until next time!

Xiumin’s resolve was already beginning to waver by the time he reached the police station.  He stood for a few moments outside the main doors and was on the brink of turning back when Chen clapped a hand on his shoulder from behind.

“You’re early,” he said, sipping at a bubble tea through a straw before holding up a cardboard carton of them.  “Want one?”

The unexpected offer was almost like receiving the invitation from Taeyong again.  Without a word, Xiumin took one of the bubble teas and followed Chen inside.

With every step he took towards Lay’s office, his resolve crumbled further.  He looked around at the police bustling around, transferring files, completing reports, chatting quietly to each other, kitting up, and tried to quash the unwanted sensation of panic.  Was it actually possible to pull off?  Would it be worth it?  Would it even work?  Was he prepared for the consequences if it didn’t?  Was he prepared for the consequences if it did?

His eyes began to prickle and nervous energy rushed through him.  He found himself pushing past Chen as they arrived on the floor with Lay’s office, almost running down the corridor.  Chen called after him, something about wasting bubble tea, then asking what had got into him, but he barely heard as he almost wrenched the door off its hinges.

“I’ll do—” he began before realising that the lights were off and that the room was empty.  Pausing momentarily, he looked around.  The hysteria was rising, beginning to choke him.  He spun on his heel and hared off in the direction of Kyungsoo’s office, oblivious to Chen’s bewilderment.

Lay, Kyungsoo and Jongin were all in there poring over a screen when he burst in, out of breath and sweat born from a combination of stress, nerves and exertion beginning to build.  Startled, they all looked up as he clutched at the doorpost, fighting the rising lump in his throat that was beginning to incite tears, and also the horrible sickening feeling that was translating itself into bile.

“I’ll do it.”  His voice was much weaker than he’d intended.  “I’ll give you Luhan.  Just don’t kill him.”

Jongin and Kyungsoo exchanged glances, but Lay fixed him with a gimlet eye and raised an eyebrow.

“How are we supposed to believe you?” he demanded.

Xiumin’s ears began to ring.  He just gazed at Lay’s hard expression, and found himself speaking again before he could think it through properly.

“I’ll turn Luhan in.”

Lay gave an exasperated sigh.  “I heard you the first time,” he said coldly.  “How are we supposed to believe you’re not double crossing us and going to use this as an opportunity to escape?”

Chen brushed passed Xiumin and dumped the carton of bubble teas on Jongin’s desk, but before he could comment on the atmosphere, Xiumin spoke up again.

“I… I don’t know, I….”  He attempted to swallow, and his vision blurred as the tears forced their way through.  “I’ll serve out the rest of my sentence.  Just don’t give him the death penalty.”

Lay actually scoffed.  “You’ve just had two very long phone calls to Luhan after Semi roundly slammed you for asking her to go with you to join him.  There’s been more than enough time for you to have planned something with him, and why on earth would you be offering to go back to prison?  We all know you hated it there.”

Xiumin blinked and his vision momentarily cleared as the first two tears dropped before others welled up.

“Wh… what do you want me to say?”

“This isn’t you.”  Lay snorted.  “You drive hard bargains, not offer us what we want on a silver platter.  You’re not even asking for the rest of your sentence to be revoked.”

“Would that make it any more convincing?” Xiumin demanded bitterly.  “Am I really supposed to value my own comfort more than my best friend’s life?  I know he’s up for the death penalty.”

“No,” admitted Lay.  “It wouldn’t make it more convincing at all.”

“Then what do you want?”  The desperation ripped out of Xiumin like a wounded animal as the tears began to stream.  “What do you want?  What more could I possibly give you?  Wasn’t this what you were aiming for right from the start?  You knew the only way to catch Luhan would be through somebody close to him – yes, I’m offering him on a silver platter, but you’ve broken me!  You’ve completely and utterly broken me!  I can’t go back on this.  You know how much I’m putting on the line to even offer this – you know I’m breaking the Code and if the wrong person finds out, Semi’s life is forfeit just as much as mine.  What more do you want?”

The near scream his voice had risen to made Chen and Kyungsoo flinch visibly.  Lay remained unmoved as he got to his feet, heading towards the door with his bubble tea in one hand.

“We didn’t break you,” he said.  “We put you in a position where we hoped you might break, but you broke yourself.”  He stopped in front of Xiumin.  The smirk on his face was barely visible, but the taunt was more than blatant.  He took a casual sip of the bubble tea, and Xiumin snapped.

Attacking a senior policeman in uniform with another experienced policeman and an FBI agent in the room was an undeniably stupid move and Xiumin found himself face down on the floor with Jongin sitting on his shoulders and Chen sitting on his legs and his wrists cuffed before his mind had cleared of the cloud of anger that had descended over him.

“There was no need to provoke him,” he heard Jongin snap furiously as his mind began to clear and he became aware of the fact that his arms had been rather painfully twisted and that the carpet needed a clean.  “If he was genuine, that could quite easily send him off the rails.”

“Would he have attacked me if he wasn’t?” challenged Lay’s voice.

There was a loud snort.  “Let me handle this,” Jongin said tersely.  “All of you, get out.”

The ringing in Xiumin’s ears gradually began to die and breathing became a little easier.  The pressure on his legs vanished, and he heard the door click shut.

“Can I let you up?” Jongin’s voice asked.  Xiumin gave a weak nod, and Jongin got off him before rolling him over and helping him to sit up.  Xiumin shuffled back to lean against the wall.  His shoulders and chest were aching, and he could feel the stinging heat of more tears streaming down his cheeks.  A wave of exhaustion washed over him.

To his surprise, Jongin offered him some bubble tea.

“It’s not water, but it’ll do,” he said.  “Dammit, I should have got Chen to unlock the handcuffs before he left.  Never mind.”  He returned to his desk and rummaged around for a paperclip.  Almost listless, Xiumin let the man shove him about so that he could access the keyhole for the cuffs.  It was a moment or two before they clicked open.  Jongin massaged his wrists for a couple of seconds to ensure blood flow, and then allowed him to slump back against the wall.  He placed his bubble tea in Xiumin’s lap and squatted down next to him.

“You know,” he mused, “we’re not too dissimilar.”

Confused, Xiumin glanced across at him.  Jongin was turning the paperclip over and over in his fingers.

“This isn’t a story many people know, because I normally lie about it,” Jongin went on, “but round about twelve years ago, I was a runner for an enormous gang – drug cartel, really – that picked me up off the streets back in the States.  I was orphaned at the time, police knew me probably better than their own families, I was permanently in trouble but never got caught doing anything I could be disciplined for, which sent them nuts.  Used to steal food, clothes, all that sort of thing.  So you can imagine this new life, where I was getting paid to deliver and had shoes and a roof over my head was actually pretty appealing.  The boss quite liked me, taught me how to shoot and drive, seemed to think I had potential, and got me to get experience in other areas too, even though I was probably way too young for that.

“And then, when I was about fourteen, fifteen, he discovered through various sources that there was a mole in his organisation.  He was absolutely furious, killed off a bunch of people, went on this huge tirade – and decided to send me in to steal the files from the FBI and the police, who were doing a joint operation, because I was the only person he felt he could trust.  He’d raised me, he said.  I owed everything to him – my life, my education, everything, or I would have been a street rat probably addicted to the drugs he was selling.  I was also somebody with high potential – I’d carried out a lot of raids stealing stuff like that because that was how I’d survived when I was younger.”

Xiumin sipped at the bubble tea.  “And you got caught?” he guessed in a low voice.

“No.  I found the files, got them out and everything, but he was late picking me up from the drop point and so I read them.

“It was the most amazing double operation.  The police were unbelievably corrupt.  A whistle-blower just a couple of years younger than I am now had joined the police force and been put on the case with the drug cartels, but had figured out pretty quickly that the reason that it wasn’t getting anywhere was because of corruption levels, so he’d dragged in the FBI.  Unfortunately, because this guy was so junior, they went straight to the top end and got