Taeyong had never given much thought to his future beyond Yensen. What was the point of imagining a future when he knew his occupation wouldn't allow him one? And he wouldn't hope for one either, because that in itself, was a luxury he couldn't afford. Especially when Yensen's enemy's were constantly searching for him.

"Keep your eyes on me, Taeyong-ah," said a exasperated voice.

Snapping into focus, he ducked from a punch aimed at him while he sent a strained smile towards Namjoon. 

"We've been going at it for hours, hyung. Literally, it's been four hours." 

"Well its your fault for skipping out on practice to god knows where," the elder said as he continued to shoot kicks ad punches towards the prodigy.

"Your making it sound as if I go out clubbing!" Yelled out Taeyong as he ducked from yet another punch aimed towards his pressure points. 

"Don't you?" 

"Hyung, wait-owwww! Hold on! Owwww-yah!" Namjoon released a hearty laugh as he tackled the youngster into the ground and gave him a nogi. After struggling to push the other off of him, Taeyong finally managed to shove the elder off as he tried to regain his breathing after hours of being drilled by the leader. Laid side by side, Namjoon suddenly grew quite as he eyed the dark circles under Taeyong's eyes. Feeling the change in atmosphere, Taeyong turned his face towards the leader with a curious expression painted onto his face.

"Your feeling better, right, Teyong-ah?"

"I'm not sick anymore."

"That's not what I meant Yong-ah, and you know it." Namjoon whispered as he sat up and stared at the lying form of the other. Taeyong felt the air grow tense around them as his mind flashed back to the days since he met EXO and was first assigned this mission. He thought of everything that had gone wrong in the past days and how he was already in so deep. He was becoming emotionally attached to the group and it was affecting his performance. It was affecting his goals and was making him think of days when he cared for the simpler things in life, like dancing and banging away on the drums. It was making him weak and he was afraid this weakness would endanger the mission.

"I thought I was prepared for this mission, after all, it's what I've been wanting to do for years."

"But?"

"I didn't expected to lose myself so quickly. I-I, wasn't supposed too. I was supposed to be professional, strong, and god not so emotional. I mean, I created such a strong mask, so why is it falling apart? And why so easily?" Taeyong whispered as he raised his eyes to the white ceiling of Yensen's gym.

"You prepared for this mission with the idea of being Xscion. But you no longer have an alias. That's why. Your mission this time, your going in as your real self. Your  bare, your vulnerable, and your identity will be exposed."

"So what do I do, hyung? How do I stop feeling?"

"Our emotions and conscious is the one thing that separates us from the other gangs, its what makes us a secret police force and a protector of our country. You can't get rid of it, but you can control it and it will come naturally to you when you need it most,"  Namjoon said as he raised a hand out to Taeyong with a soft smile, "I don't think any of us really knew what we were getting into until now. So what I'm trying to say is, just remember that we have your back, alright?" Namjoon released a nervous breath as he watched Taeyong's anxious expression soften into a smile as he grabbed his hand and stood up, "It'll all be over soon, and your brother will be here, with us, okay?"

Namjoon watched the other nod his head hesitantly as he thought of a way to distract him from his thoughts,"So you up for some of that ice-cream? I'm sure Jimin will top it off with a waffle if you ask nicely." Namjoon released a satisfied smile as he watched the youngers eyes light up. It wouldn't distract him for long, but it was good enough for the moment.

"Haha, what are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Taeyong said as he began to pull his friend towards the elevator. What Namjoon failed to notice, however, was the crisp and white envelope sticking out of Taeyong's back pocket. If he looked closely, he would have noticed the neat and fancy scrawl of Taeyong's name scribbled on the center of it. He would have also noticed SM Entertainment's stamp on the corner.

But he didn't and that was a crucial mistake.

Crossing his arm and leaning against a telephone booth, Taeyong watched as the cluster of fangirls before him swarm around the entrance doors of SM Entertainment. He had initially planned on strolling his way through the doors, but after spying the security detail hovering around the entrances, he was stumped. He could always show them the acceptance letter, but he didn't want to attract attention. Because let's be honest, any more of it would ruin him. 

"We would like to congratulate Kim Taeyong for passing the first examination for the position as EXO's apprentice. Please report to studio N10 at 9:00 am for a final examination on Wednesday......"'

He sighed as he caught the time from a nearby passengers phone, it was 8:57 and he knew he would be in for hell if he was late. SM Entertainment wasn't a joke, and it wouldn't ever be. With that final thought, Taeyong uncrossed his arms as he began to make his way across the street and towards the entrances while putting the letter  he was reading back into his back pocket. What he didn't expect was seeing his face, along with the guys he auditioned with, to be on the posters of countless EXO fans. And then there were also those who had X's across his face on the said posters.

'Its way to early to deal with this.'

"Yah, isn't that Kim Taeyong?!"

'Damn!'

Taeyong cursed his luck as he kept his head down and jogged the rest of the way towards the security detail. Who, may I add, stared at him for a couple of minutes before asking for his ID, name, and his reason for visiting. He reached his hand into his back pocket for his ID, only to be interrupted by another authoritive voice.

"Ryun-sshi, he's with me." The younger boy swiveled around to see the CEO of SM walking towards him with a smirk painted onto his face as the fans all but cleared a pathway for him. He clenched his teeth as he acknowledged