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Eui Sung waited impatiently as the computer slowly downloaded the files onto the flashdrive he’d plugged in. Tae Joon and Soo Kyung were taking the mark on a wild goose chase through the city, giving Eui Sung, Na Byeol, and Roy enough time to infiltrate his office. Na Byeol was planting bugs around the building while Eui Sung downloaded the information they needed to prove the mark was accepting bribes.
“How much longer are you going to be?” Na Byeol asked over the comms. “I’ve already planted all the bugs and had time to look for a safe.”
“For your information, the files we need to prove the marks corruption are really big. I can’t make them download any faster,” Eui Sung retorted.
“Hurry up and get back to the van,” Roy cut in. Eui Sung rolled his eyes, what did he just say?
It didn’t matter, because a second later the screen flashed with the finished download. Eui Sung smiled. “Done!” He said cheerfully.
“Was that so hard?” Roy asked. Eui Sung sighed and went to respond when the door to the office was thrown open.
“No one is allowed in here.” A guard stepped through the office door, looking down at where Eui Sung was sitting at the desk.
“Oh I was just- ah,” Eui Sung swallowed hard and surreptitiously unplugged the flashdrive, trying to slip it into his sleeve before the guard could notice. Of course the movement only drew the guard’s focus, and he narrowed his eyes.
“Hey!”
“Uh-oh,” Eui Sung muttered. The guard lunged forward, and Eui Sung barely managed to step out of the way as a fist passed through the area his head had been a moment earlier.
“Uh-oh? What uh-oh?” Roy asked. Eui Sung would’ve loved to respond, but the office was a bit cramped, and after dodging two more punches he stumbled into a file cabinet, giving the guard enough time to grab him by the collar and slam him up against the wall.
All of the air was driven from his lungs in a rush. The guard fisted one hand in Eui Sung’s shirt, the other grabbing his right hand - which was holding the flash drive - and hit it against the wall as well.
“What did you steal, you punk?” The guard demanded. As Eui Sung struggled to regain his breath, the guard smashed his hand against the wall two more times, until he finally lost his grip on the flash drive with a cry of pain.
Shit, they needed the flash drive to prove the mark’s corruption. Soo Kyung and Tae Joon wouldn’t be able to use the same ruse to distract the mark again. This was their only chance and he was not going to be the one that messed up the con.
The guard dove to grab it, giving Eui Sung the opportunity to knee him in the crotch. The guard grunted and staggered back a step. Excited by the fact that he actually hit back for once, Eui Sung aimed a fist right at the guards face-
And immediately regretted it when it felt like he punched a brick wall.
“Ah!” Eui Sung bit down on a curse as he shook out his hand, how did Roy hit people all day?
He looked up in time to see the guard glaring at him, a mad intensity in his gaze. Eui Sung barely managed to dive out of the way of the next fist that came flying at him. He stooped and grabbed the flash drive off the floor as he made his way towards the door, hoping that Roy and Na Byeol were on their way and could save him from this mess.
The guard crashed into him from behind as Eui Sung reached the door, making him trip over his own feet and sending him sprawling to the ground. He somewhat managed to catch himself as he hit the ground - kept himself from face planting at least - but the flash drive went skittering out of his grip.
The flash drive!
Eui Sung pulled himself along the floor, scrambling to get to the flash drive first. Just as he reached out to grab the drive, a boot came flying into his vision, kicking both his hand and the drive and sending it sliding across the floor again.
He didn’t even have time to worry about if the drive was damaged because the next thing he knew a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him to his feet. This time he was shoved face first into the wall, the guard twisting his right arm behind his back to keep him pinned.
“Look there’s been some kind of misunderstanding here,” Eui Sung tried, his voice muffled given his face was pressed against the wall.
“What were you stealing?” The guard demanded.
“Nothing! I’m telling you there was a misunderstanding-” Eui Sung cut off in a yelp as the guard grabbed his index finger and started bending it backwards.
“Who do you work for?” The guard asked.
“No one! It’s not- it’s not like that!” Eui Sung insisted. Involuntary tears sprang to his eyes as the guard bent his finger farther.
“You’re a hacker, right? Don’t you need your hands to do your work?” The guard threatened. Eui Sung’s left hand scrabbled uselessly against the wall as the guard bent his finger right up to the point of breaking.
“Wait-” he couldn’t get the words out anymore, his breaths coming in shallow gasps as the guard growled. Eui Sung squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the pain, and was surprised when the pressure pinning him to the wall vanished instead.
“Are you okay?” Eui Sung turned around, cradling his hand to his chest and gasping for breath to find Roy standing behind him and the guard sprawled across the floor. It took a moment for Eui Sung to respond, but eventually he nodded jerkily. Roy eyed him for a moment before stooping over and picking up the flash drive. He tossed it to Na Byeol, who was standing nearby.
“Get him out of here,” Roy said shortly, turning back to the guard who had picked himself up off the ground.
Na Byeol grabbed his shoulder, careful not to jostle his hand which he still held close to his chest, and pulled him away. “Let’s go,” she said. Eui Sung fell into step behind her as they raced towards the van.
“What’s going on? Do you have the information?” Tae Joon’s quiet voice filtered over the comms as they entered the van.
“Got it, it’s going to take a minute to upload,” Eui Sung responded. It took him a few tries to plug in the drive with his left hand, but he managed it, and got set on uploading the data.
It was slow going to say the least. He could really only type with his left hand and his pinkie finger at most, and if he moved his right hand too fast it sent a bolt of pain radiating up his arm. He finished the upload at the same time that Roy climbed into the van.
“Okay!” Eui Sung went to snap his fingers and immediately regretted it as pain lanced through his hand. “All uploaded, Boss,” he reported, voice tight.
“Good,” Tae Joon responded.
“Do you need anything else from us?” Roy asked from where he’d taken a seat next to Eui Sung.
“No. We’ll meet you back at the base,” Tae Joon said.
Eui Sung slumped in his seat, glad to be done with that part of the job. A moment passed and he shot a confused glance at Roy, who hadn’t moved yet.
“Aren’t you going to drive?” Eui Sung asked.
“Na Byeol, hand me the kit,” Roy said instead of responding. Eui Sung frowned, the kit? His question was answered when Na Byeol pulled out a first aid kit.
“Give me your hand,” Roy instructed, looking back at Eui Sung.
“What?” He questioned.
“Your hand,” Roy repeated, motioning to where Eui Sung had cradled his right hand in his lap. “We need to take care of it.”
“Oh,” Eui Sung gingerly extended his hand, wincing when he got a good look at it. His fingers were already swelling up, and apparently he’d skinned his palm when he’d fallen and hadn’t noticed. Wonderful.
Roy gently took Eui Sung’s wrist and held his hand in place. “I’m going to check and see if anything’s broken. Tell me when it hurts.”
“‘When’? That’s comforting,” Eui Sung muttered. Roy looked at him seriously. “Okay, okay, fine.”
Slowly, carefully, Roy started moving his fingers along the back of Eui Sung’s hand, gently pressing as he went. He was far more gentle than someone whose job was to beat people up had any right to be. A few times he hit something tender and Eui Sung winced instinctively, and every time Roy paused what he was doing to look at Eui Sung intently, waiting for a nod before he continued. It wasn’t until Roy got to his index finger that Eui Sung cursed and jerked away.
“Aish,” he muttered, holding his hand to his chest.
“That hurt?” Roy questioned.
“Yeah!” He snapped. Roy held his gaze, not backing down or looking away, and eventually Eui Sung extended his hand again. “Be more gentle,” he muttered.
“Don’t be a baby,” Na Byeol said.
“Hey!” Eui Sung protested.
“Na Byeol,” Roy warned. She huffed and sat back, still holding the first aid kit in her lap, but now Eui Sung was very aware of how closely she was watching them, and he shifted a bit under her gaze.
Eventually Roy was satisfied with his examination, and let go of Eui Sung’s hand.
“Okay, it doesn’t seem like anything is broken, but you should still tape your fingers,” Roy held out a hand to Na Byeol, who wordlessly placed a roll of medical tape in his hand.
“Ei, how am I supposed to type like this?” Eui Sung asked once Roy finished taping his fingers together.
“You’ll only need it for a few weeks,” Roy said, handing the tape back to Na Byeol.
“A few weeks?” Eui Sung gaped at Roy, who didn’t respond, and instead turned back to face him with antiseptic wipes.
“Wait, those things sting,” Eui Sung complained, pulling his hand towards his chest. Roy raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.
“Do you want to get infected?” Roy asked dryly, motioning towards his skinned palm.
“Maybe then you’ll lose your whole hand,” Na Byeol added. Eui Sung made a face at her and reluctantly extended his hand again.
This time when Roy took his wrist he grabbed it in an iron grip, fingers creeping up under Eui Sung’s sleeve to wrap around his forearm and keep him still. Despite all of that, Roy was still gentle when cleaning the wound, but didn’t let him pull away - no matter how much he fidgeted or complained. Eui Sung tried not to, mostly because Na Byeol was still watching closely, but it stung a lot. Finally Roy put the wipes away and covered his palm in gauze, then took a roll of bandages from Na Byeol to wrap his hand.
“So you don’t hurt anything else,” Roy explained as he wrapped Eui Sung’s hand. By the time Roy finished, his hand was twice as heavy as when he started and he was barely able to move his fingers at all.
“You turned me into a mummy!” Eui Sung complained as Roy threw out the used items and Na Byeol stashed the first aid kit away.
“Stop complaining, you’re lucky nothing’s broken,” Na Byeol said, taking the seat on Eui Sung’s other side and propping her feet in his lap.
“His hands are the most valuable part of him,” Roy joked.
“I’ll have you know that I can still do my job with one hand. Just… a little bit slower, that’s all,” Eui Sung huffed, then looked between the two of them. “You couldn’t do your job either if you broke your hand!” He pointed out. The two of them exchanged a glance and Roy shrugged.
“Which is why we know how not to get hurt,” Na Byeol said. Eui Sung opened his mouth to protest but Roy cut him off.
“Be more careful in the future,” Roy said, tapping him gently on the shoulder. “We do need you.”