Under Seige
Love? Hate? Death.
Jaejoong POV
I was getting into the real heat of things! Gunshots fired from all around me, and I could feel my excitement sky-rocketing. I knew I was in my element, and I fought to keep my guard up and resist the urge of just letting my bullets fly.
From behind my hideout, which was basically just a marble statue in the corner of the room, I reloaded my gun, before quickly whipping it out and shooting at the closest moving object.
Said object fell to the ground in a heap and before I could celebrate my bullseye, I had to dodge several other bullets that suddenly flew my way. I pressed myself against the statue, hearing the cracks from overhead and debris of the wounded statue fall on my hair.
I was about to take aim and shoot again when I heard faint footsteps, amidst all the gunshots and yelling. I looked up to the stairwell of the second floor, and saw the lights turn on.
Someone was coming. I automatically raised my gun to point up to the second floor, waiting for the person to come closer.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
It was Japanese, I realised. It distracted me for a second. The rest of us seemed to freeze as well, as the gunshots suddenly stopped.
One of the guards, I couldn't pinpoint who, spoke up to the person on the second floor.
“It’s fine, Karam!” he said, “Just go to bed!”
I grabbed the chance, as I reached behind my back to retrieve my two daggers and throw it with deadly precision at the guard closest to me.
My aim was perfect, as one of the guards suddenly pitched forward, having two daggers protruding from his back.
I broke into a grin, but it was quickly wiped off my face, when the other guards suddenly moved and started shooting again, particularly at me.
I let out a small eep, pressing myself into the statue in order to become a smaller target. I knew it would be useless however. These guards were professionals. I had little doubt they could shoot a moving mouse with much difficulty.
Luckily, Yunnie and Chunnie reacted quickly too, and they began shooting at the guards. There was a small standoff, before something from the corner of my eye caught my attention.
It was the person from the second floor, now standing at the stairs, looking at the scene before him with wide eyes. It seemed everyone else noticed him too, and they froze once more, all staring at him.
I couldn't resist the easy target and took my gun out to aim and shoot. But the person suddenly screamed, and ran back up the stairs.
Everyone was in action once more, as I heard one of the guards yell.
"Protect the Shims!" he said, before Yunho put a bullet in his head.
The rest of the guards were quick to react, as two of them ran up the stairs to chase after the boy. The excitement in me suddenly grew tenfold as the idea of playing cat and mouse with these people tempted me.
“I got it!” I yelled, as I blindly ran forward.
I knew it was a pretty stupid thing to do, but I couldn't help myself. I quickly retrieved my daggers from the dead guard, before I ran up the stairs.
I could hear the bullet ricocheting off from somewhere as the guards aimed at me. I was lucky there was Yunho and Jaejoong to deal with them.
I reached the top of the stairs, only to see the two guards turn a corner. I quickly reloaded my gun, holding it in my right while I held the daggers in my left. I ran forward to catch up with them, throwing my dagger at one of the moving heads. The guard I targeted dropped down dead, making his partner take his gun out and shoot.
I dropped down on the floor and rolled for cover, hiding behind the closest thing I could find, as gunshots hailed over head.
The gunshots stopped quickly as the guard moved away to protect the Shims. I quickly peeled myself away from my hiding spot and followed.
"Karam, quickly," I heard the guard say, as he ushered the person forward.
I hid myself in a corner, knowing he was waving the gun about and would shoot at the smallest movement. There was movement, and I knew they had moved away. I resisted the urge to follow, but rather stretched my senses to follow their footsteps, hoping I wouldn't lose them in this maze of a house.
"Get in your room and stay there until we get help."
"I do not understand," I heard the person reply. "What is happening?"
"It's nothing. Just move, alright?"
From the desperation in his voice, I knew the situation was getting dire for their party. He was merely trying not to lose hope.
I smiled. This was going to be an easy victory.
I moved, following their footsteps, appearing within their sight just as I released a few bullets in their direction. I wanted to play, so I purposefully missed my target, letting the bullets fly around them as they dodged for cover.
"Run!" The guard yelled.
I ran after them, excitement blinding me as it pushed me forward. I saw them turn a corner. Moments later, I turned it as well, only to see an empty hallway. I screeched to a halt.
Where were they?
Changmin POV
I heard my bedroom door slam close, making me sit up in surprise. Once my vision had focused, I could see Karam and Junjin Hyung, frightened looks on both their faces.
"What's going on?" I asked groggily. I had been quite rudely awaken from their entrance and was pretty confused.
"We're under siege," Junjin answered, as he locked my bedroom door, before taking a chair and jamming it under the doorknob.
Karam ran to me, hopping up on the bed and burying his head in my chest.
"Scary..." he mumbled in Japanese.
I quickly wrapped my arms around him, as Junjin Hyung took to reloading his gun, before pressing himself against the doorway.
"Where are the others? And Siwon?" I asked.
"Siwon is out of the state. He left for Gangnam a few hours ago, said he didn't want to wake you."
"What about the other guards?"
"They're dealing with the intruders."
Junjin then put a finger to his lips, asking for silence, and I clamped my mouth shut. In the emptiness of the air, tension in the room grew.
I could almost hear my own heartbeat. Karam constricted his arms tighter around my chest, and I brought him closer to me.
There was silence, before the doorknob shook, as someone tried to open it on the other side.
Karam let out a frightened whimper, as I immediately clamped my hand over his mouth. Junjin motioned for us to come to him, and we did so, moving as quickly and as silently as we could.
The doorknob twisted faster, before it stopped completely.
There was silence, before I let out a loud puff of air.
"Is it gone?" I whispered.
Then there was a loud banging on the door, strong enough that the door shook on its foundations, threatening to break.
Karam screamed, shocked at the sound.
I heard laughter on the other side, one that sounded gleeful and childlike.
"I can hear you," said the person behind the door. It sounded so creepy that I could feel my goosebumps rising. Karam buried his head deeper into my chest, soft whining sounds escaping his lips. I tried my best to shush him, but I could feel his tears wetting my shirt.
The pounding stopped all of a sudden, the silence shocking us. Junjin signalled for us to stay there, as he slowly crept forward, gun at the ready. The sound of gunshots suddenly filled the air and I yelled in shock.
The intruder was shooting through the doorknob, destroying it, as well as the chair holding it in place. Junjin started swearing, as the intruder started kicking at the door once more.
It wasn't going to hold much longer. A few more kicks and the door would be destroyed.
"Karam, hide," I whispered into his ear, "Junjin Hyung and I will deal with this."
Karam looked up at me with fear in his eyes as he shook his head vehemently.
The door shook once more, breaking the top hinge.
"Go!" I pressed, pushing him away.
Reluctantly, Karam let go of me, before he moved to hide inside the wardrobe.
Junjin handed me a gun, pressing it into the palm of my hand.
"Anything happens to me, I want you to just shoot. The others are calling for back up. Just hold on a bit longer, Changmin ah."
I nodded, my fingers curling around the gun. I was more comfortable in hand to hand combat, but if the intruder was armed, I would need every chance I could get.
With one final, loud blow, the door fell of its hinges. Before it had even hit the floor, gunshots had already sounded.
The two of us instinctively ducked, as bullets ricocheted off the walls. Pressing against the doorway, out of sight, we readied our guns.
There was a blur of color, almost as if the intruder was too fast for our eyes to catch, and suddenly we were under attack.
The intruder probably predicted that we were hiding by the doorway, and immediately swung to the side, a dagger in one hand, and a handgun in the other.
Junjin was quick to dodge the blade, although I wasn't. I held up my arms to my face to protect myself. The blade grazed me, slicing through fabric and I let out a yell in shock rather than pain.
I heard rather than saw Junjin get into action.
With this close a range between the three of us, the guns would brought more harm than help. I knew Junjin was thinking the exact same thing as he suddenly dove into combat.
Before I could prepare myself to join in, I felt a powerful chop to my throat that closed my airways, making me choke and leaving me temporarily immobilized. I fell to the ground when a punch landed in the square of my chest.
Junjin yelled for me, but was immediately distracted when a dagger grazed the air close to his face. The intruder and Junjin were in combat, with Junjin nearly defenceless, while the intruder carried both a gun and a dagger.
I had no hope.
It was over when the dagger successfully found a spot on its target, right in the middle of his chest. I got up and screamed as I saw him fall to his knees, gurgling sounds made as he choked on his own blood. There was a gunshot as the intruder held a gun to Junjin's head, and fire.
He dropped down to the floor, completely dead.
For a moment, I was frozen in shock.
But my instincts quickly sunk in. Karam was still here. I had to protect him the best I could. I had to give all I had to protect him. I wasn't going to give up.
I raised my gun, pointing it at him, and fired.
Because I was so unused to holding a gun, I missed. It did surprise the attacker however, as he yelled in shock, moving to cover his ears.
I was taken aback by the childish action, and froze momentarily. I stared him down, and suddenly something about him seemed insanely recognizable.
The small build. The jet black hair. The childish personality.
I was distracted and it showed.
He seemed to see it too, as the intruder suddenly retrieved something from his back and charged at me.
I dropped the gun. No use with it here. I steeled myself as I prepared for combat. He raised his arm and swung, and too late, I realised that he had another dagger in hand. He had probably hidden it all along. I moved to deflect it, raising my hand to catch his wrist. But he was trained too, as his free hand moved to hit me at my throat. I was lucky I managed to catch that hand as well. I held on to both his wrists, fighting against his movements.
For a moment, we were face to face, inches apart, as we each had the other locked in position.
And then it hit me.
I knew him.
My shock made me falter, and the intruder gave a sudden burst of strength, twisting so suddenly I lost both holds of his wrists. He spun around and gave me a round house kick to my head.
I raised my arm to protect myself, just as his leg collided with my limbs, and grabbed on to it, pulling him forward to force him off balance.
Despite being off balance, he had the speed and agility to brandish his knife enough to slice through my arm. I dropped his leg this time and yelled in pain. He saw my moment of weakness and quickly moved in, hoping to stab me with the dagger. I grabbed on to his hand, catching it midswing.
Despite me knowing that it probably wouldn't help the situation, my shock made me yell his name.
"Jae!" I yelled, making the point of looking into his eyes as I yelled his name. "Jae!"
I saw the shock register in his eyes as he suddenly paled and squirmed to get out of my hold. Although I knew it was stupid, I let him go, and he backed off, the same shocked expression on his face.
"O-Oppa?" he stammered.
"It's me," I answered, a sense of relief and fear filling me. He recognized me, but that didn't mean he wouldn't kill me. He had already killed Junjin, a trained guard and protector, so what of me? "It's me, Jae. It's Oppa."
He took some unsteady steps back, his eyes never leaving me. I had no idea what he was going to do, so I stayed rooted to the spot, staring at him.
His hands moved to suddenly grip at his head, and I heard him mumble some words.
"Oh no... Oppa is it. Oppa is the mouse. Oppa can't be... He can't be the mouse..."
Before I could comprehend what he was saying, Jaejoong suddenly started screaming.
Screaming bloody murder, loud enough for me to flinch.
Yoochun POV
Jaejoong's scream sounded throughout the house, enough to break my concentration. From my peripheral vision, I could see Yunho flinch fractionally to the sound. His Jaejoong was in trouble. If we didn't reach Jaejoong soon, I had a feeling Yunho was going to let all hell loose.
This time, the thought of the mission was thrown out the window. Our priority right now was Jaejoong and his safety.
"Kill them all," I heard Yunho's voice in the transmitter.
I nodded fractionally. I knew there was currently no room for argument, and I took out the other hand gun to hold in my other hand, before I let all hell break loose.
There were nine guards left, and although I didn't want to admit it, we were outnumbered.
It was harder to be accurate holding a gun in each hand, but we needed to be quick.
Yunho and I began firing wildly, shooting the best we could.
There were small setbacks, but the two of us managed to kill them all quickly enough, before we bounded up the stairs, straight to the source of the sound.
"Jaejoong, what's wrong?" I asked, the moment I entered the room.
He was just standing there, looking straight ahead, his face pale and gun dropped to the ground. He didn't answer my question, so I stepped into the room out of concern, turning my head to look at what it was that held his gaze so strongly.
I let out a gasp.
It was Changmin, leaning heavily against the wall, bloodied from a wound on his arm and dishevelled in appearance. He had a dead look in his eyes, as they concentrated on Jaejoong, before they slowly traveled to me.
"Changmin," I heard Yunho say from beside me, his voice careful and monotonous. "You're Siwon's adoptive son."
Changmin's eyes traveled to him before they traveled to the doorway. I had a feeling someone was there, so I turned my head to where he was looking, only to see Junsu standing there, pointing his gun towards Changmin. I knew he wouldn't hesitate to shoot. I was torn between choosing to protect Changmin and obeying Kangta's orders of killing the targets.
"No!" I heard Jaejoong scream.
I whipped my head around to see him standing protectively in front of Changmin, arms outstretched to the side.
"Junsu Hyung, don't shoot! He's my friend!"
I knew nothing could stop Junsu, so thinking of the brightest idea I could come up with in a span of several milliseconds, I tackled Junsu from the side.
Too late, I realised, as Junsu pulled the trigger.
Luckily Junsu shot when he was falling, so his aim was off, if not only fractionally. But it was enough to save Changmin, as the bullet went astray, instead hitting a wardrobe off to the side.
"Don't shoot!" Jaejoong was screaming. "You can't kill him. You can't!"
I grabbed the gun from Junsu, who looked winded, before I quickly picked myself off the floor. I threw it at Yunho, who caught it effortlessly. As the team leader, he would be in charge of what to do. I prayed that he would do the right thing.
"Jaejoong, come here," he said, as he calmly walked forward, gun still in his hand.
"Yunnie, you can't! He's --"
"Your friend, I know."
For a few seconds, Jaejoong looked torn, before he slowly moved away from Changmin and turned to stand a distance away. And then Yunho raised his gun, pointing it at Changmin. I bit my tongue, resisting the urge to stop him. We had a mission, I knew that. But this was Changmin. Hadn't we promised to protect Changmin the best we could? To let him live the longest he possibly could?
What of that promise?
Yunho took several steps forward, till he was barely an arm's length away from Changmin.
"There's someone in the cupboard. Who is it?"
Changmin's eyes suddenly turned to steel, as he looked up at Yunho the best he could.
"I don't know what you're talking about." he responded.
"I heard a gasp when the bullet ricocheted into the wardrobe. Something is in there. Who is it?"
"No one," Changmin pressed. He looked extremely pale. I was scared he was going to faint. "No one is in there."
Yunho took a good look at him, before he cocked his head to the side.
"Jaejoong. Open the wardrobe."
Jaejoong slowly came forward, heading towards the wardrobe. Changmin's eyes followed him the whole time. I could see his body slowly tensing up, as Jaejoong came closer, till he was standing right in front of it. He slowly opened it and let out a gasp.
"Karam," he whispered.
I knew Karam was a classmate of his. Don't tell me... That Karam was actually Changmin's younger brother? The coincidences were unbelievable. That was two people that we knew that became targets to kill. From where I was standing, I looked into the wardrobe.
No wonder Jaejoong was so shocked.
The Karam kid was hiding there, sitting among the hanging clothes. And he had a bullet wound to his left shoulder. Deep enough that his clothes were soaked in his own blood. He had his eyes closed and was pale, sweating, and barely breathing. He was going to die from blood loss if we didn't do anything.
"Karam..." I heard Changmin say, the tiredness overwhelming him.
"Jaejoong, help Karam out of the wardrobe," Yunho ordered. "Yoochun, help out."
I nodded as I came forward. Jaejoong was trying to drape Karam's arm over his shoulder, before I stopped him, and took the injured kid in my arms, resting him on the floor.
Blood immediately soaked my shirt, but I held him to my chest. I was suddenly afraid of leaving him alone, lest he die.
"Yunho Hyung..." I heard Changmin say, "please don't kill him. Please don't..."
The gun pointed to Changmin slowly lowered to the floor, and Yunho was simply just staring at Changmin. Changmin took an unsteady step forward, towards me, Jaejoong and Karam.
"Karam..." I heard him say, "Sorry... Sorry I couldn't protect you..."
And just like that, Changmin collapsed, his legs giving way. Yunho easily caught him with one arm, in such a way that Changmin's unconscious form was hanging off it. I looked to Yunho, whose back was to me. He was just staring dead ahead. The kid in my arms was going to die soon unless we moved.
There was silence between the four of us, as the question hung in the air among us.
What now?
Changmin POV
I woke up feeling nauseous, as the world around me spun wildly. I blinked several times, before scrunching my eyes closed. The sudden invasion of light was too much to take. I slowly opened my eyes, letting them focus slowly. I was in a foreign environment, I realised. I was lying on a foreign bed in a foreign room. For a few moments, I was confused. Had I been drunk the might before?
And then with a suddenness that left me reeling, I remembered. I remembered everything. Yunho, Jaejoong, Yoochun invading my house. Killing my guards. I sat up, my heartbeat speeding up as I panicked.
Where in hell was I?
I sat up so suddenly the world spun once more, making me clutch my head.
"You're awake."
Shocked, I looked up to the source of the sound, and saw Yunho Hyung seated on an armchair next to the bed I was lying on. He had such a calm, dead expression on his face that for a moment, I thought everything was a dream. That I was okay, merely being delusional, as I usually was. I felt a pain on my arm, and looked to see a wound.
A knife wound.
The dagger.
It wasn't a dream after all.
I immediately scampered away from him, till I was leaning against the headboard.
"You," I breathed, saying the first thing that came to mind, which was unfortunately that singular noun.
Yunho's eyes moved to look at me, without him actually turning his head.
"Where am I? What did you do to me? You were in my house. What do you want?"
Yunho slowly closed his eyes, before he opened them, staring dead ahead.
"You're at my house. You fainted. So I brought you here."
"Why did you bring me here? What do you want from me?"
At Yunho's silence, I suddenly lost it.
"You tried to kill me. You broke into my house. Attacked my guards, attacked my brother, attacked *me* , and I've only known you for one day. What do you want from me?! Tell me what you want from me!!"
Yunho was still silent at my outburst, and I was just going insane.
"Where's my brother? Where's Karam? Did you kill him? Where's Karam?! Where is he?!" I was screaming now, but I didn't care.
"Karam's alive. Your brother got hit by a stray bullet. Yoochun is tending to him."
I felt the relief wash over me with such strength that I found myself tearing up.
Karam was alive. Thank God. He was still alive.
"He's alive," I whispered, feeling my tears fall.
"Changmin."
I looked up, surprised to see that Yunho Hyung had said my name.
"Your wound. You have to get it treated before it gets infected."
I looked to my wound. It was still throbbing, for some reason, and I knew it was going to require stitches from being sliced so badly.
"It's fine," I said, feeling the cold shoulder growing on me.
"It isn't. If it doesn't get treated, your arm will rot and fall off."
I blinked at his bluntness. Was this seriously the man who had tried to kill me?
Yunho disappeared into what I assumed was the bathroom, before he came out holding a large bowl filled with water, a towel and a first aid kit. He sat on the edge of the bed, and reached for my arm, before I swiped it away.
"Don't touch me," I growled. "You tried to kill me. Don't tell me that I'm going to trust you enough to heal me."
Yunho looked up at me for a while, before his eyes landed on my wound once more.
"I'm not going to kill you," he said.
I snorted. I knew my life was literally in his hands right now, but I couldn't help the cockiness I was showing him. If I was going down, then I might as well go down laughing.
"Yeah, like I'm going to believe that."
"I won't. Why do you think I brought you here, instead of just shooting you right there and then? I won't kill you."
I was brought to silence, as Yunho gingerly held my arm in his hands and started inspecting my wound.
"This will need alcohol and stitches."
I ignored him, as he started cleaning it. I let out a hiss of pain when he wiped it with alcohol.
It was some time later that Yunho warned me that he was going to start stitching the wound together. I gasped as the needle and thread pulled at my strings, and Yunho froze momentarily. I forced myself to relax, and Yunho took this as a sign to continue. I think he tried to finish as quickly as he possibly could, because the pace suddenly quickened. I bit my tongue, waiting for him to finish. As soon as he did, he wrapped the stitches in bandages and I stated stayed still until he finished.
"Yunho Hyung. What's going on? Why am I here? Why were you trying to kill me?"
Yunho didn't answer, but rather stood up, and took a tray filled with food that was placed on the table a distance away and placed it on the bed.
"You were out the whole day. You should eat."
My stomach grumbled at the sight food, but I ignored it. I wanted answers.
"I don't want any food!" I yelled, "I want answers! Why am I here?! Why were you at my house?! What do you want from Karam and me?!"
Yunho sighed, closing his eyes for moment, before he opened them and looked straight at me.
"We were assigned to kill you and your brother. But we didn't. So we are forced to hide you before anyone finds out that you two are still alive."
I was stunned into silence. That was a lot to take in.
Who told them to kill us? What did we do? And most importantly...
"Why didn't you... Kill us?" I asked hesitantly, my voice soft.
Yunho was silent, his eyes swiveling to look at me in such a way that I felt like swallowing myself whole. He didn't answer, rather walked away and exited the room, shutting the door behind him.
Yunho POV
I exited the room, locking the door behind me, before I leaned against the door. I had no idea what I was doing, nor why I was doing it. I couldn't kill Changmin. And I didn't know why.
As soon as Changmin had lost consciousness, I had fought with Junsu, who was adamant in killing the two brothers. I just couldn't let him do that. I wasn't going to kill Changmin. I had hated myself in my moment of weakness, but I had given in to it, which properly made me all the more furious with myself. I was an Outpost, I couldn't afford the weakness. I couldn't afford maintaining a happy heart.
I had ordered us to evacuate then and there, bringing Changmin and Karam along. I don't even know why I had brought Karam along. I didn't even know him, all I knew was that he was Jaejoong's classmate and Changmin's brother. And that had once inhibited me from killing. Karam was on the brink of death from the blood loss. Yoochun had done an emergency blood transfusion using his blood since he was O type, and I had little doubt that that had saved him.
I had even saved my target.
I pushed myself away from the door, and started walking down the stairs to the kitchen, grabbing a drink from the fridge. As soon as I closed the fridge, Junsu was standing behind the door, looking at me with his arms crossed. I ignored him as I took a swig from the bottle.
"Why did you do that?" he said, when I had turned my back on him.
I didn't answer.
"Don't ignore me. You know we were sent to kill the two of them. So why didn't you?"
I stayed silent, and started walking away, when he suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder and roughly spun around.
"Don't ignore me!" he roared, "You know we had a mission, and not only did you fail it, you saved them! What is your motive, Yunho?! Don't tell me this is weakness!"
I lashed out at him, my fist connecting with his jaw. He stumbled back, clutching at his injured jaw.
"I have my reasons," I answered calmly, "And I as the group leader order you to watch your place. My decision is final."
Junsu suddenly charged at me, grabbing me by the throat and slamming me against the fridge.
"I do not take order from someone unworthy, Yunho. If you are too weak to terminate them, I shall do it myself!"
I stared him down. Junsu was brave, his face only inches from mine, b with his threat.
"Let go of him," I heard Jaejoong say.
The two of us turned our heads to see Jaejoong standing at the doorway, a gun pointed at Junsu.
"You hurt a strand on his head, I will hurt you so bad you'd wish you were dead."
Junsu stared at Jaejoong, considering his options, knowing Jaejoong was serious. He let me go, backing away slowly.
"Yunho's word is law. So I would appreciate it if you heeded to it. Changmin and Karam are now under my protection as well. So if you even *think* of hurting them, I will blow your brains out."
Junsu glared at the two of us, before he finally nodded.
"Fine. I will not hurt them. But let's see what Kangta says when he hears of our failed mission."
Junsu stalked out of the kitchen, and ultimately out of the house, when I heard the front door slam shut. Jaejoong dropped the gun and ran to my side, hugging me around the waist.
"Yunnie, you okay?"
I nodded as I his head slowly.
But now we had another problem.
Kangta.
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