Changmin had been in the room with Jongwoon for around 2 hours. Everyone on the other side of the door couldn't help but wonder how things were going inside, but as long as Changmin was with Jongwoon, they were convinced everything would be alright.

Actually, the two of them hadn't been very close the past year, despite being very good friends before. Ever since Yunho had died, Jongwoon obviously hadn't been interested in seeing Changmin anymore - and it had highly confused everyone. And despite the sad events that had led them up to finally being together in one room again, they truly hoped that it would at least help the two of them to grow closer again. 

Jongwoon might think he doesn't need anyone, but he obviously isn't as strong as he thinks he is. And even though he'd always had people he could go and talk to, Changmin, Yunho, and Jongwoon had always had a very special kind of friendship no one could replace.

"I missed this," Changmin sighed, as their conversation had gone from soothing, talking about the burned down house and Jongwoon's family, to memories of their shared past. Good memories, which obviously made Jongwoon feel a little better, and Changmin in the process as well. Jongwoon's tears had dried up a while ago, even though his eyes were still bloodshot red and looking sad and tired at the same time, he smiled softly in return nevertheless. It gave Changmin finally the opportunity to ask what he had wanted to ask for so long. "Why did you shut me out?"

Jongwoon quickly looked away from Changmin, suddenly remembering that he had indeed shut him out for a valid reason, and wondered what had gotten into him that he was talking to Changmin this freely. As if they were still the good friends they used to be. The good friends he secretly still wanted them to be.

"Reasons," he mumbled nearly inaudibly.

"What reasons?" Changmin asked, not having missed Jongwoon's answer.

Jongwoon made the mistake of looking at Changmin for a split second, seeing nothing but sadness and hurt in his eyes. He silently cursed at himself, for being dumb enough to look Changmin's way, and closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. 

He was already feeling like crap anyway, he doubted things could get any worse. So a little more than a year after everything had happened, Jongwoon would finally tell Changmin the mistakes he had made; the mistakes that had cost Yunho his life and had made Jongwoon feel like he wasn't worth the life he was given any longer.

"Be careful," Changmin mumbled, feeling a bit more worried than usual. He hugged Yunho tightly but released him a mere second later; he didn't want to be too intimate with some of the others around, nor did he want them to think he was being overly worried.

They all had done pretty dangerous missions before, risking their lives for a better Haven, but the mission of today just felt a little more meaningful than everything else had been up until today, and with that, it also felt slightly more dangerous. Because today, they aimed to kill Lee Minho - Leader of the royal guards and right-hand man of the King himself. 

It wasn't only Yunho he worried about; he also worried for Jungsu, Jongwoon, Donghae, Kibum and Zhou Mi who were all part of the plan. Being a doctor, he had treated many of them before after things had gone wrong. But he wasn't sure they would even return home this time if things did go wrong again. Attacking Minho surely wouldn't be taken lightly, and was most likely punishable by death if they weren't killed on sight already.

Changmin had been one of two members who opposed to the idea when it was proposed; Ryeowook being the other. But they had decided to support the mission anyway, as the others seemed convinced it was the right way to go. It could even be the solution to everything, as killing the King's right-hand man might scare him enough to either step down as their King or to at least start to act differently - like a good King for once.

"Minho is the one who should be careful," Yunho winked at Changmin while squeezing his hand, clearly noticing the worry in his significant other's voice and feeling quite honored to have someone this perfect worrying over him. "Stop worrying, we'll be fine."

Changmin nodded and looked to his side, where Hyukjae and Donghae clearly were having a conversation similar to their own.

A few minutes later, Jungsu, Jongwoon, Kibum and Zhou Mi joined them as well, fully armed and dressed in the attire best suitable for their respective jobs. Changmin mildly wondered if they had taken a little longer to get dressed than Yunho and Donghae had, so the two of them could have some time with their loved one before they had to depart on their oh-so-dangerous mission.

Jongwoon smiled politely as he noticed Changmin staring at him, but didn't come over to talk like he used to when he was still his upbeat self. Changmin could understand though, as many things had happened in the past year, but he still missed the Jongwoon that he once used to be. And he dearly hoped that after today, maybe Jongwoon could leave certain things behind, and return to his former self again.

It was pretty clear to anyone that Minho had to be the one who had led the attack on Jongwoon's family a little less than a year ago, in name of the King. When Jungsu had proposed the idea of killing Minho for their cause, Jongwoon had instantly sprung up and supported the idea full heartedly. Changmin doubted the plan would have been accepted if Jongwoon hadn't been so passionate about it.

"Ready?" Jungsu asked, as he came walking over towards Yunho and Changmin. He had already gone over to Donghae, who was now waiting at the door of their hide-out together with the rest of their mission team; only Jungsu and Yunho were missing. Yunho nodded and said a last quick goodbye to Changmin before they left.

Changmin and Hyukjae sighed simultaneously before looking at each other. Both obviously worried, but also both convinced that if there was one team who could execute their task successfully, it was the team they had just sent away to finish what they had started many months ago.

Donghae and Zhou Mi walked into the familiar tavern they had been visiting regularly for the past few months. Every Tuesday they would go over and stay for hours, as part of their plan, and this Tuesday was no different. Only this Tuesday would be the last time, as their plan was about to unfold.

"Donghae, Zhou Mi!" Someone called out to them, and they turned to face no other than Lee Minho. He seemed happy to see them, which wasn't that odd considering the only reason they had been going to this tavern regularly was to get closer to him. It had all been part of the plan.

They waved at him feigning enthusiasm and walked over towards his table. They exchanged quick greetings with some of the others who sat at the table as well, which they recognized as Minho's guard friends.

Lee Minho was an interesting man, Donghae and Zhou Mi had found out. He was very fond of the Royal Family and they had no doubt he would do literally anything for them. He was trained by his own father, who himself had been the right-hand man of 2 of their previous Kings, and the things he was capable of was quite impressive.

This impressive, that at one night Donghae had marched into Jungsu's office and told him that they couldn't kill Minho even with 100 people aiding them; the man was invincible! It had taken Jungsu and Hyukjae 3 days to calm him down and to convince him that he had to proceed with the plan and to not be scared of Minho the next time he saw him.

Luckily that had been months ago. Nowadays, Donghae no longer feared Minho, as the weeks after that encounter, he had also learned that Minho had a more humane side to him. He was married, father to 2 young children, and liked to garden in his spare time. Donghae had then tried to convince Jungsu that they couldn't kill him because he was just an ordinary man, but eventually saw that they really were left no other option. They either had to kill him, or he would eventually kill them instead. Minho surely was a man capable of doing so if he found out who they really were.

The conversation between Minho, Donghae, Zhou Mi and Minho's fellow guards started with unserious matters. Jokes were made, laughs were shared, alcoholic beverages were ordered, and for a brief moment, it felt as if they were real friends.

But the conversation quickly turned more serious.

Civiltry had been quite active when it came to making the King's and his guards' lives hell. Continuously stealing food, money, weapons, and armor, leaving threatening notes at unpredictable places including on the King's desk, kidnapping guards as a warning, stealing important files from the King and making them public, ridiculing the king by ruining his statues etc. They tried hard to let the King, his army, and the people of Haven know they were still out there - they hadn't given up!

Minho had taken notice of their activities, and the past few weeks complained about them a lot. It at first had been hard for Donghae and Zhou Mi to act as if they also hated Civiltry, but it had become easier as time passed.

"They even-" Minho continued his complaint but halted as he was quite embarrassed by what was about to come next.

"What is it?" Donghae asked curiously, noticing Minho shamefully looking at the table top and couldn't help but be curious - even though he could already know the answer as he had been the one responsible for what was about to be told next, but because he was so engulfed in his acting he genuinely was curious and oblivious. As Minho shamefaced shook his head in reply, he urged, "Tell us, Hyung!"

Minho sighed and took a few minutes before he was able to mutter his shameful secret.

"They stole my underwear," Minho mumbled nearly inaudibly, before everyone at the table started laughing loudly, and he soon joined in as well. It was too ridiculous not to laugh at. And time, together with the alcohol, surely made things a lot funnier anyway.

"Why would they do that?" Zhou Mi asked laughingly, still amused by the situation and knowing perfectly well that Donghae had been the one taking it with him. "And did they take it all, or were they so kind as to leave you at a spare behind?"

Minho shook his head while grinning to himself, "They took it all," he replied, "So there must be some poor men running around the lower district in way too expensive underwear now," he joked, doubting that an alliance like Civiltry would be able to just throw that