Zhou Mi hummed as he made his way through the hallways of the base. The big party that Yunho was hosting was only a couple of days and he was pretty excited for it. It was not often that the Chinese man was able to enjoy these type of events since Donghae was more common to bring Han Geng with him on important meetings.  So the fact that all main members of the gangs were obligated to arrive was good news for the Chinese man. He knew the others were fretting about it, and he did believe that Yunho had something up his sleeves but Zhou Mi was confident in his abilities to stay alive.

After all he was one of the best knife users in all of Korea and China.

It was something not a lot of people knew about him and it didn’t surprise him. After all in the gang he was normally the odd man out. Han Geng was the most recognizable member in the M gang as he was the one who normally accompanied Donghae on important missions and meetings. And Henry was always there to get in the way and annoy their Leader that a lot of people knew about him as well. Despite being ranked higher than most members, Zhou Mi was more of the behind the scenes type of player. He may not always get the recognition that he deserved but he knew Donghae respected him. Otherwise he would have been killed off a long time ago.

And it was Donghae who gave the tall Chinese Man his weapons of choice.

Zhou Mi's hand dropped to his side where three familiar blades were strapped to his hip. Each blade had a blood red handle with a black carving of a dragon and eight inch long blades that were always sharp. The knifes never left Zhou Mi side and he didn’t let anyone, not even Henry, touch them. They have certainly gotten the man out of some desperate situations and he cherished them above all else.

Grinning at this the man turned and stopped in front of a door. Giving a polite knock he left himself in. The other members of M, san Donghae, were currently inside the room. Han Geng and Siwon were sitting at a table going over some paperwork while Kyuhyun sat at his computer clicking away at some game he was playing. Ryeowook and Henry were at another table playing some card game of sorts. Zhou Mi smiled and went to join the pair.

"MiMi!" Henry called brightly as he scooting over to allow the older to sit with him.

"Hello Henry, what are you playing?" He asked as he placed a hand on the younger's back.

"Go Fish." Ryeowook said with a grin. "And Henry is losing, again."

"Ryeowook-gege!" Henry whined and pouted his lips. "Don’t tease."

"But you are so cute that it's so easy to tease you." Zhou Mi replied with a grin as he pecked the younger on the cheek.

"MiMi…"

Ryeowook and Zhou Mi laughed at the pitiful look Henry had on his face. Their laughter gained the attention of the others but no one comment on the trio. They were about to go back to their own activities when the door opened again and Donghae entered. The M leader did not have a pleased look on his face. Glancing around the room he was able to gain all their undivided attention with one gaze.

"Who here hasn’t dirtied their hands in a while?" He asked calmly.

Right away every ones gaze shifted over to where Henry sat. The Maknae shifted uncomfortably in his seat from their gazes. It was true that the youngest member has not seen a lot of mission time and has not killed anyone in a long time. It's not to say the youngest hasn’t killed, because they all have killed at one point or another. But he hasn’t been out doing the dirty missions in a while. He was about to raise his hand to take a mission he already knew he wasn’t going to like when Zhou Mi stood up next to him.

"I haven't been out in a while. My knifes are starting to rust from their little use. I will take this mission for you Donghae." He declared in a clear voice.

Donghae observed him for a minute and it was almost as if he was going to deny Zhou Mi when he finally nodded his head.

"Very good. You are to go to Park Sunglee home and find out why the man hasn’t paid his debt to me in quite a while. I'm beginning to get annoyed with him."

"I'll take care of it."

"Make sure you remind him why paying the M gang back is so important."

"Of course."

Donghae nodded to him and turned and left the room again. Everyone was quiet after he left and seemed to be deep in thought. Zhou Mi released the breath he was holding and relaxed his shoulders. Turning to Henry he knew the younger lover was upset with his decision but he smiled none the less for him.

"Don’t worry Henry. I'll be okay. It’s a simple scare and collect mission. I'll be home in no time."

"You always take missions that should have gone to me. I will have to do them at some point you know."

"I know but I wish to delay you getting your hands bloodied as much as possible. If I can do at least that for you, then I will always be happy." Zhou Mi replied as he kissed his lover on the lips. "Your purity is the most important thing for me to protect."

Zhou Mi straightened up and gave a final nod to his lover. Turning he left the room still filled with the other members he made his way out without catching any of their eyes. Behind him though he sensed Kyuhyun following after. The two were actually really good friends as Kyuhyun welcomed Zhou Mi well into the group. So he didn’t mind the other was probably going to be asking a lot of questions on this. The two men silently made their way down the hallways towards Zhou Mi's room. When they got to the door the Chinese man stopped and turned to Kyuhyun.

"Yes Kui Xian?" He asked in Mandarin.

"You can't keep protecting him forever. One day Donghae is going to disregard your volunteering and send the kid out instead."

"I hope that never will happen. As long as I do my missions perfectly, Donghae will rely on me to do the ones meant for Henry as well. I want to make sure he doesn’t have to dirty his hands too much so when the time comes he can have the opportunity for freedom."

"He is a part of the M gang. None of us will be able to enjoy freedom in the way your describing. That is why we are all here."

"Kui Xian, one day you will find someone worth protecting and you too will try your hardest to protect them. Because that person will be the most important person in your life. I hope you have that happen soon."

Kyuhyun scoffed at this. Turning he crossed his arms and glared down the opposite hallway.

"Bunnies don’t need protecting." He muttered under his breath.

Zhou Mi was bewildered at this but made no comment. He actually had no idea what Kyuhyun meant by it or even what to say so he let it go. Nodding to his friend he went into his room to get ready. He knew this was an easy mission but something in the back of his mind was bothering him, like there was something more going on than anyone is ready for.

***

It was a dark night when Zhou Mi finally headed out. The moon was bright and almost full so there was plenty of light but it was still late. As the Chinese man stealthily made his way through the streets of Seoul he made a point of steering clear of too many brightly lit streets. He had no desire to be seen by another gang member or anyone that would cause him problems. Luckily the person he was after was not too far from them.

Entering a small housing complex the man went up the few flights of stairs and to the one door where he knew Sunglee lived. Picking the lock he slipped inside the dark home. Clearly the man he was after was not in at the moment so Zhou Mi took the time to observe the surroundings. The place was small and well kept. There was a table by the door that had some main both open and not sitting on top of it. Zhou Mi curiously went through the mail to see what there was. There was a handful of letters all from the same person. It was a debt collector like Zhou Mi was but the man didn’t recognize the name or logo on the top of the paper. Whoever they were, Sunglee owed them more money than he owed Donghae. Grabbing a couple of the letters he folded them up and stuffed them in his pocket. At that time he heard the front door opening again and so he jumped to a shadowed area and waited.

The person who entered was not Sunglee but one of his sons. The boy was halfway through college and must have come back from break. He was tall with a solid build and clean kept hair. He was dressed nicely with a college air to it.  Zhou Mi kept in the shadows as the boy dropped some things off at the table and made his way upstairs. When he was out of sight Zhou Mi turned to step out of the shadows when the door opened again.

This time it was Sunglee. Sunglee was an older man, close to his fifties. He wore an old brown suite and his face was clearly tired. There were deep bags around his eyes and his hair had more gray in it than black. Dragging his feet the man went to the table and picked up the new stack of mail he son had brought in. Shifting through the letters one by one his hand paused on one of them. Zhou Mi craned his neck slightly to see that it had the same logo on it as the ones he had hidden in his pocket. The older man sighed and passed by the letter before tossing the whole stack on the table. That was Zhou Mi's cue to enter.

"Good evening Sunglee." He called softly as he stepped out of his hiding spot.

Sunglee jumped and spun around. His eyes widened so big that Zhou Mi could easily see the whites all around.

"Zhou Mi-shi. What are you doing here?" The man asked fearfully.

"Well you see Sunglee, you haven't been paying your bills lately and Donghae is getting rather annoyed by you. He sent me to find out why you are not paying."

"Zhou Mi I'm truly sorry I haven't paid in a while. Work has been so slow lately and I barely make enough money to even put food on the table."

"That is none of my concern. You came to us when your work was slow and requested help. You dropped to your knees like the dog you are and begged for our help. And we gave you enough money to get out of your debt. And now your debt with us has grown and you haven't paid in while. You know the penalty of not paying Donghae."

Sunglee's eyes fearfully shifted to the ceiling where they both knew his son was upstairs, probably doing homework. Both men knew the importance Sunglee's son had to the old man. It was the main reason he came to Donghae for money. So he could start paying for his only son's schooling and college.  Sunglee dropped to his knees and stared imploringly at the tall Chinese man.

"Please spare my son Zhou Mi. I promise I will get you the money, I just need more time."

"On your knees like the dog you are I see." Zhou Mi sneered at him. Pulling a knife from is hip he brought it to rest under Sunglee's chin and tilted the man's face up. "You better pay your dues soon Sunglee. Or I will be here to kill your son for collateral."

He brought the knife away with a quick flick of his wrist. It was enough to nick the side of the older man's face and draw a little blood. Zhou Mi barely spared the man a glance before leaving the house. Walking under the darkness of the night he began to make his way back to the gang's hangout. Turning a corner to stopped for a moment to pull out the letters he stole from Sunglees home. Opening one he stared again at the unfamiliar insignia with a steady look. There was something about the oddly shaped logo that struck a chord with the tall man. Almost as if this other debt collector was going to become a nuisance to Donghae's gang.

"You know, stealing someone else's mail is considered a crime." A new voice called out to him.

"So is spying." Zhou Mi calmly replied as he turned towards the darken street. "Now get your in the light so I know who's there."

The man chuckled and stepped into the street light for Zhou Mi. The man was also of Chinese blood although he looked younger than Zhou Mi. He also had a dark aura to him as he eyes seemed to be cold and unrelenting. He was dressed in all black but Zhou Mi noticed that he had an emblem of the same insignia that was on the letter. Zhou Mi shifted his body in a more defensive mode as he also noted the man had a long metal staff strapped to his back.

"I know you." The stranger said with a calm voice. "You are Zhou Mi of the M Gang. I have heard of you."

"I am at a disadvantage. I have no idea who you are brat."

"You can call me Tao. And soon I will be more well known in all of Asia than even you or anyone else in the M gang."

"Tao huh. Sorry but that doesn’t sound like the name of someone who is going to get far."

"Just you wait. You already have a feeling I am someone dangerous. You recognize my insignia on the letter and you took a defensive pose when I approached."

"You're walking around with a giant metal staff on your back any person with common sense would be defensive around you. And you creep in the shadows like some bug. It's enough to make a normal man shudder."

The man named Tao took a sudden rush at Zhou Mi. The tall Chinese man was barely able to get his arms up to defend himself before Tao was right in his face.

"Do not mock me. I am not someone to take lightly. Soon the well-known M and T gangs will fall and a more powerful one will take its place. Soon the whole world will know and fear the name EXO. You are nothing but a stepping stone in Kris path for complete control of everything."

Before Zhou Mi was able to say anything, or to even question what an EXO was Tao was gone again in the shadows. Zhou Mi stared at the spot where Tao was originally was and frowned. It didn’t sound like the kid was bluffing. In fact he sounded very sure of his leaders ability to take over. That was slightly alarming. Either EXO are nothing but a bunch of kids over their heads in this stuff or Donghae was going to have his hands full shortly. Quickening his steps he made his way back to the gang's headquarters and made a straight beeline to where Donghae's room was. Knocking on the door he glanced over his shoulder before entering at Donghae's command.

The leader was sitting at his desk and for once the room was empty. Normally there was another member always in the room with Donghae but the leader seemed to be completely alone. Donghae didn’t give him any time to process this as he pointed to the empty street.

"Have a seat, you look like you are going to explode soon."

Zhou Mi took a seat and took in a deep breath. Letting it go he reached into his pocket and threw down the letters onto Donghae's desk. The leader glanced at them quickly his eyes hardening. Looking up he dropped them on the table and pointed at Zhou Mi with a serious look on his face.

"Tell me everything you know."

So Zhou Mi retold the entire story to Donghae. When he finished Donghae picked up the letter again and looked sharply at the logo at the top.

"EXO…" He muttered under his breath. It was clear he was not happy with this development.

"What would you like to me to do Donghae?"

Donghae raised his eyes and the dark unforgiving look on his face made it clear that Zhou Mi was going to be killing someone tonight. His hands instinctively dropped to his knives.

"You will go back to Sunglee's home and you will kill his son. If the man wants to borrow money from more than just me then he will need to learn what happens to those who cross me. Clearly he is more concerned in paying his debt back to these EXO people than he is to me. The letters show a decrease in his debt amount. Where he has not paid me back in a long time. Kill the boy and bring me back his head."

Zhou Mi lowered his head. He knew the boy was not to blame for Sunglee's actions but he was the best for collateral. And Donghae was clearly angry. He never liked people who pushed into his territory.  In fact the only reason the M gang was not completely in control of Seoul and all of Leeteuk's men dead was because of Yunho's hold on both men. But this was obviously different. And so Zhou M nodded his head in agreement and rose to his feet.

"It will be done." He promised before leaving and going off to take care of Donghae's request.