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Sometimes, Jisoo finds it’s quiet on the mission he’s in.
It’s usually when he takes seconds between the times he regains his breath, before continuing his pursue. Just a moment of silent—and everything goes mute, black and white and slow motion—as if the world wants him to see from another perspective. Jisoo can see his parents’ faces, somewhere watching him, his uncles and aunts, his brother, people who had died for the sake of protecting him in the past. They are also the reason why he should finish the mission and come back alive to The Headquarters.
And then a voice will wake him up.
A mellifluent and familiar voice comes from his earpiece, screaming in high-pitch voice because Jisoo doesn’t respond to his call. When Jisoo blinks, everything is back to the way it was before—and so, he runs again.
There are also gunshots involved in the arrest, and a Good job, Jisoo, you did it. You did a splendid job on his ear. Jisoo takes a deep breath, walking to where he parks his car and drives back to The Headquarters with shoulders feel lighter than ever.
Jisoo walks along the corridor, enjoying the sound of the heel of his shoes meeting the floor. Some people walk pass him and congratulate him—Congrats, you’ve made your life a day longer is what they are trying to say, or at least it’s the way Jisoo guessed it, but of course they don’t say it out loud. As a field agent, Jisoo knows best about this.
The Control Room is always noisy, but when a mission is finished, it’s a kind of good noisy. Jisoo pushes the door open and everyone in the room cheers, some immediately leave their seats to pull him into a bone-crushing hug.
“Again, our magnificent agent, the best we ever had in history, the one and only, Hong Jisus has saved the day!” Soonyoung announces happily, half clinging on Jisoo’s taller body. Jisoo grimaces, knowing Soonyoung would use a hyperbole statement.
“Come on, it’s been four years. It felt good at the beginning, but now it feels embarrassing.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that you’ve done a great job, Jisus.” Soonyoung shrugs. “Watching you run and do things with your gun is always something. We had a good show to watch, thanks to you.”
Jisoo rolls his eyes. “It really hurts my pride. You guys were just watching while I was fighting between life and death? How dare you call yourself a friend.”
“It’s because we’re indeed, your friends.”
Jisoo looks up, automatically smiles at the figure who talks from the second floor, body leaning on the railing. “You should be happy to have us. We’re willing to sacrifice anything if you were in danger, you know.”
“Speak only for yourself, Junghan.” Jihoon suddenly appears behind the pretty and fragile looking boy (which is actually, not at all). “But really Jisoo, we glad you’re safe. That was a dangerous mission.”
“Thanks, Sir.” Jisoo grins, “So, what do I get in return?”
“Coffee?” Junghan chirps, “Coffee is always good, right?”
“Fine, coffee is good.” Jisoo looks up again to meet Junghan’s bright eyes. “You’re paying.”
Junghan doesn’t drink coffee, nor does Jisoo.
The funny thing is, it’s such a habit for Junghan to force Jisoo to drink some caffeine (it turns out to be cappuccino with lots of milk) after a mission, and how Jisoo always does as he told just makes it funnier. Sure Jisoo can say no anytime, not that Junghan will be offended with his rejection, but seeing Junghan’s eyes light up in amusement as Jisoo trying to empty the mug in one go is somewhat… calming.
And then Junghan will start briefing him about his new mission to follow up the latest or giving him evaluation of his previous work—and Jisoo will just hear him patiently, a little smile curled on the corner of his lips. At the end of his long speech, Junghan will lean across the table to peck Jisoo on the lips, smiling wide.
“I’m so proud of you.” Junghan says, and Jisoo really wants to stand up and cup Junghan’s face on his palm and kiss him again, despite the risk of being fired if his boss walks in to the cafeteria and sees the whole scene.
“Thank you,” Jisoo says, trying not to sound so eager. But then, this is Junghan—who makes him fall in love every other day, who understands him the most, who has known him the longest, who has the mellifluent and familiar voice to wake Jisoo up when he’s lost at his own world in the middle of a mission. This is his Junghan, another reason why Jisoo should come back alive after every fight on the field.
Soonyoung hands him a stack of papers when he gets back to the Control Room. Jisoo frowns, accepting the papers half-heartedly. Junghan receives the same copy and he leaves Jisoo’s side (after a quick squeeze on his hand) to sit behind the laptop where he works.
“Hey come on, don’t look at me like that. How would I know another case would come just fifteen minutes after you finished one? And for your reference, villains won’t know your resting time, so just deal with that.”
“Okay, so, what’s this?”
“Jihoon will explain it further. Your turn, my King!” Soonyoung calls; complete with a wink that effectively traumatizes Jihoon.
“Disgusting,” the latter disgruntles. “Okay, so, I just received an e-mail from Junhui, who’s currently going undercover in China, about the movement of the organization we’ve tailed for three years. Seems like they are planning something big, but we can’t tell as much now.”
“What kind of movement did they make?” Junghan asks.
“Our spies caught a record of them negotiating with a Russian military corporate just a month ago. Junhui has succeeded on copying the data they were exchanged after he hacked on the organization’s system, but he couldn’t get the data open. He sent the item over to us,” Jihoon pauses to look at Junghan, “please take care of that, Junghan.”
“I’ll do my best,” Junghan nods. Jihoon turns his attention back to the rest of the team.
“After years of trying, we finally could reveal that the organization is called by its code, Oasis. It’s the name they use when they make a deal with someone, but apparently, they had put false information in the national database to fool people who were trying to dig up about them. From what I heard, they have the best negotiator and trapper; the cause of massive chaos in Hong Kong economy sector a year ago was their doing.”
Jihoon points to the wide screen behind him. “Our other agent Minghao tracked one of them down—who so far we believe, is one of the negotiators—and this shocking result is what we got.”
Wonwoo, sits on the far left of the room, almost topples off his chair, his jaw drops immediately. “Wait, what? He’s on FBI Wanted List?”
Jihoon nods. “Soonyoung and I had tried to collect information about him, and as we expected, he was confirmed dead. He was working with Russian government in secret operations that we assume had something to do with some terrorist actions in the past decade, and it make sense since FBI was also after him. We didn’t have enough proof about this, but we’d know for sure after the file is unlocked.”
“Wait, Jihoon.” Jisoo cuts in, “How do you know we’ll get some hints from the file?”
“Well, instinct,” answers Jihoon. “I don’t know what’s inside, but if it contains some information, whatever it might be, it’d be useful for us.”
No one can mess with Jihoon’s instinct, so Jisoo shuts up. “Uh, okay. Anything else we should know?”
The screen changes when Jihoon presses something on his tablet, showing another three faces Jisoo doesn’t remember he knows any of them.
“I’ve already printed the copy of their profiles into your file. They are on the top list of missing Korean agents from Argentina, who were also confirmed dead. We came to a conclusion they’re also the part of Oasis, and were last seen in Macao, three weeks ago. Three weeks ago, Jisoo and Mingyu blew up a building that actually was a money counterfeit factory, and remember what currency they were making there?”
“Macanese pataca,” Mingyu says with a gasp, “it’s Macao’s currency.”
“True.” Jihoon nods. “The organization probably smuggled them to Macao and asked other agents to take and distribute the money from Korea. But the building was related to Mingyu’s previous drug deal case, and was demolished without knowing it was actually a beginning to another, bigger case.”
Jisoo frowns, biting his lower lip. “So they were going to overthrow Macao’s economy like how they did to Hong Kong?”
“I believe yes. And they kept us busy with another case, so we’d postpone thorough searching about the actual case. Also, I’m afraid they’d sensed our plan in Korea, so they started off in China. We’re lucky we have a bunch of agents there.”
Wonwoo sighs loudly. “So, what are we going to do now?”
“That,” Jihoon says, “will be decided after tomorrow. We’ll have to wait for new information from our agents in China, and for Junghan to unlock the file.”
“The time given for me is less than 24 hours?” asks Junghan, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me something is going to explode and kill us all if I can’t open this file by tomorrow.”
“Oh, no, they are not that extreme,” Jihoon laughs, “Our agents in China asked for a day to get more information. Also, we need to make a plan. Field agents, please study your file well. You’re going to make an arrest at any time.”
Mingyu, Wonwoo, and Jisoo sigh in unison. “What a hard life of a field agent,” Mingyu says, and the other two can’t agree more to his words.
It’s almost midnight when Jisoo glances at his watch, and glances over the table to see Junghan still on his laptop, unfazed by how the situation has changed since two hours ago or so. Everyone had left—Mingyu and Wonwoo were called for a robbery case, and Jihoon went home with Soonyoung after convinced everyone he’d keep in contact with the agents and inform the team once he got something. Junghan insisted he had to finish his task before the daybreak, and of course, Jisoo would stay.
“Aren’t you tired?” Jisoo asks, and Junghan looks up from the screen, smiling. Jisoo wonders how someone can still smile this bright after stuck with codes for hours.
“Are you?” he asks, “You can go home if you want. I remember you complained about the company’s couch that was really bad for your back, so I won’t recommend you to sleep on it again.”
“I won’t go home without you,” Jisoo says. “But really, you’ve been doing this for almost five hours straight. You need to take a break.”
Junghan hums in thought, but then he nods and gets up from his chair. “Okay,” he says, “a short walk will do.”
Jisoo offers a hand to him, “Let me lead the way, Princess.”
Junghan laughs, taking Jisoo’s hand and doesn’t protest when the taller boy pulls him closer to his side.
There’s something poetic about walking hand-in-hand with Junghan, so late at night with ice cream from a minimarket nearby on their free hands. Jisoo always loves this little moment with Junghan—after all, they are in a relationship where everything is uncertain. His work is insane, people he’s working with are insane, and Junghan is what makes him stay on his right mind, most of the time.
Jihoon calls Jisoo when they stop on the park bench—telling him that Junhui and Minghao had opened the file and they got nothing. In conclusion, it was such a waste of time trying to open the file; intentionally apologizing to Junghan.
“Junghan is still working with the file,” Jisoo says. “But I’ll tell him that. Thank you, Sir.”
“What’s wrong?” Junghan asks. Jisoo sighs and takes Junghan’s hand to intertwine their fingers together.
“Junhui and Minghao had opened the file, and there was nothing inside. Also, Jihoon begs for your apology after he made you worked for hours for nothing.”
Junghan laughs quietly, “I forgive him. Also, I’ve opened the file, so I knew there was nothing inside.”
Jisoo blinks. “You what?”
“I’ve opened the file not too long after Junhui handed it over to me. It was a trap, Jisoo. The passwords were too easy and you don’t need a professional hacker to crack them. Perhaps Minghao and Junhui needed longer time because they were not familiar with Korean military codes that were used, but it was something too predictable for an organization who managed to do a lot of things illegally. I knew something was wrong the moment I saw it empty, but I didn’t tell everyone yet.”
Jisoo licks his lips, “So, they purposefully let you hijack the transferred file and make it look easy to break, to fool us? To make us think they don’t have what we’re looking for?”
Junghan nods. “Yes, they must’ve expected many people would watch the transaction. If they were smarter, they could’ve made the transaction visible to lure us into the trap—the empty file.”
Jisoo lifts a hand to caress Junghan’s cheek with the back of his fingers. “You,” he says gently, carefully, “are one of the best things ever happened to us. What would we do without you, Yoon Junghan?”
“Oh, I’m flattered.” Junghan chuckles, “I tried to break each element on it, and I actually did find something. The second layer of security line, in higher level, a lot more complicated. The file’s real content is probably hiding between these passwords, but I still can’t find a hole to crack them.”
“How long do you think you’ll be able to decrypt the file?”
“I don’t know,” Junghan sighs, “maybe a little bit long. The codes were mutants—like, you know, when the original base of something was changed to a new form, they’re called mutants. Not everyone could create mutants code. We’re absolutely not playing with whomever behind this.”
“I’ll help you with the code,” Jisoo holds Junghan’s chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilts it to his direction, pressing a kiss on his forehead. “But we need to sleep first. And probably have a cup of coffee in the morning.”
Junghan laughs. “Agree.” he says, “My place or yours?”
“Wherever makes you comfortable, Princess.”
Jihoon goes crazy (almost chokes Wonwoo beside him to death) after Jisoo tells him about Junghan’s encounter the next morning, and the first ten minutes of the day is suddenly so horror that no one dares to move an inch from their current position. Junghan and Soonyoung are already on behind the desk, continuing on where Junghan left off last night.
Jihoon furiously typing on the keyboard, trying to get Junhui or Minghao (or both) as fast as possible. When Junhui’s face appears on the screen, confused—as anyone else—Jihoon yells, that must feel as bad as if Jihoon was really yelling in front of his face.
“Get me every CCTV of the country and make sure none of those bastards slip out of my hand,” Jihoon hisses, “and where’s your cute little friend?”
“I’m here,” Minghao’s face appears beside Junhui’s, grinning wide. “Good morning, Sir, thank you for calling me cute.”
Jihoon presses his lips into a thin line to prevent himself from laughing. “Good morning, Minghao. Did you have a good sleep?”
“Not really, Sir. The sirens kept blaring all night long and about five criminal cases happened within three hours last night. I think it has something to do with the failed drug deal after Mingyu captured them three weeks ago, and everyone here is going mad.”
“Soonyoung will help you with the cases’ detail, so please just focus on watching the three agents.”
“Understood,” Junhui and Minghao nod.
“Oh, wait, Sir!” Minghao gasps, looking down to type something on his keyboard. The wide screen on the room changes, moving Minghao and Junhui’s face to the top left corner, and the other space is replaced by a box of CCTV record. It’s black and white and mostly blurred, but then Minghao zooms in and catches a face with 95% similarity with one of the agents they are targeting, getting off the train.
“The record came just now from Nanjing Station.”
“How the hell did he get to Nanjing?” Soonyoung shrieks. “What’s going on in there? Quick, send someone to take him right now!”
“Calm down, Soonyoung, there’s always a probability for them to distract us with little thing like this.” Jisoo says calmly, and looks up to speak with Minghao and Junhui. “Please check every possible place for the other agents to be around, narrow it down to places like airport and train station.”
“Are they going to go somewhere?” Jihoon asks. Jisoo nods without looking at him, focusing on the CCTV record on the screen.
“I think so, and I had a feeling this case will be related to Mingyu’s drug deal and the building explosion, also the cases happened last night, and probably the homicide case I took last time. And, whatever plan they’re having right now, it will put everyone in danger. We must stop them before it happens.”
“We found another target in Beijing Capital International Airport,” Junhui reports, “I’ve checked the schedules; they only have three flights to Macao today. Another agent is still nowhere to be found.”
“Send back up team to Nanjing and Beijing airport, and alert the police, don’t lose him!”
Jihoon shoves a fist to his mouth, infuriatingly trying not to yell and scare his subordinates even more. He asks Soonyoung to check the possible places in Seoul, just in case one agent was left here to put another trap.
“Jisoo,” Junghan calls, his tone is somewhere between shocked and worried. “Jisoo, come here.”
Jisoo runs to Junghan’s side, looking at his laptop. “What’s it, Junghan?”
“I’ve decrypted the file,” Junghan says. “Jisoo, weren’t you said the victim of your last case was robbed after he killed?”
“Yeah, the money lost was around 20 million USD. Why?”
“The money was deposited to this file. The contract date matched with the date of the murder, and they had Oasis stamp here. Think again, why would Oasis give the Russian military company these much money?”
“Most probably they are buying weapons,” Jisoo answers. “With this amount of money, they could buy enough weapons to sweep half population of China and Korea.”
“Are they planning an assassination?” Wonwoo asks eerily.
“I still don’t know, but this is a new hint for us. Junghan, can you get me more details about the victim and his previous relation of work?”
“Sure,” Junghan nods, fingers dancing in the keyboard. “Uh?” he pulls his back a little a moment later, confused. “I didn’t see something like this earlier. Wait, what the hell?”
Sensing something’s not right, Jisoo peeks at Junghan’s screen again.
His eyes widen in shock, scrambling his way to the wide screen and shouts at Junhui and Minghao, “Don’t let those bastards go anywhere! Evacuate everyone to safer place! They’ve planted bombs on those places!”
“Bombs?” Everyone in the room gasps in shock.
Jihoon grabs Jisoo’s arm impatiently. “Explain to us! What do you mean by bombs?”
“They sent the agents to different places to plant the bombs! They had the map along with the fund inside the file! Where’s the third bastard, anyway?”
“We still can’t locate him,” Minghao says. “But we’re trying to do it as fast as we can. I’ve alerted the police about the bomb, but it probably takes time for the team to get there—”
“We don’t have time to wait.” Jisoo cuts in, “Please send an official announcement to leave the place immediately.”
“Wouldn’t it be more suspicious? The only way to know about the bombs is by cracking the file…”
“Junghan is right,” Jihoon says. “But we can’t risk the lives of more than a hundred citizens around the station. It’s better to evacuate first. Minghao, please continue with the procedure.”
“Understood, Sir.”
Jisoo groans frustratingly; this case is getting more and more complicated. He relaxes a bit when he feels a squeeze on his shoulder—it’s Junghan. The latter gives him a reassuring smile, and Jisoo nods in return. That was the way Junghan told him everything’s going to be okay, and even though things aren’t always okay in the end, Jisoo is fine as long as Junghan is there.
“Sir! An explosion just happened in Yongsan Station!”
Jihoon shoves Soonyoung away to take a look on his laptop screen, and his disbelief expression explains it all. Jihoon clicks something on the keyboard and what’s on Soonyoung’s laptop now displayed on the wide screen.
“CCTV captured a suspicious-looking man with a black bag about three minutes ago in Yongsan Station. He has 98.7% similarity with the third agent we’re looking for,” Jihoon sighs, “and just now, an explosion happened. Unless he’s an exceptional runner, he’s probably dead by now, or badly injured.”
“Was he purposely showing his face on the nearest CCTV before detonating the bomb?” Wonwoo asks. “Then, it was a suicidal action?”
“I do think so, but there’s only a way to confirm it. Let’s go to the crime scene, guys. Mingyu, get the car ready.”
Mingyu nods, heading out the room. Wonwoo takes his backpack and follows the younger, shouting at Jisoo to go with him.
“I’ll be back soon. For dinner, okay?” Jisoo reaches Junghan’s face and kisses the corner of his mouth briefly. “I love you.”
(Junghan doesn’t have time to reply to those three words, but he knows Jisoo doesn’t always need to hear it out loud.)
“Junghan, hurry up! We need to clear the way for them. I’ll check the route, and you can direct them to the fastest alternative.”
Junghan takes a deep breath, nodding his head at Jihoon. “Understood, Sir.”
Jisoo gets back to a clean and fresh apartment approximately eight hours later, looking absolutely worn out. He knows Junghan is there, but when he expects to hear some noises coming from the living room where Junghan sits there and watches television, he gets nothing.
He’s greeted by a beautiful long haired figure he was looking for sleeping on the couch instead, the couch is too small and he has to fold his legs in such an uncomfortable position. Jisoo gets down on his knees beside him, stroking Junghan’s cheek softly. Junghan’s eyes crack open before he abruptly sits upright, eyes wide and concerned.
“Sorry I’m late for dinner,” Jisoo says quietly. “You might hurt your back sleeping like this. Come on, let’s get you to bed. Do you want me to carry you?”
Junghan shakes his head, eyes are still on Jisoo. The other catches his gaze and takes Junghan’s hands, holding them firmly.
“Do you need something?” he asks.
“No,” Junghan answers. “Just. You. Just you is enough.”
Jisoo smiles and kisses the back of Junghan’s hand. “I’m here. I know you’re worried a lot about me, I’m sorry.”
“Have you eaten dinner?”
Jisoo shakes his head. “Mingyu and Wonwoo invited me to join them, but I couldn’t leave you any longer. So, no, but it doesn’t matter.”
Junghan clicks his tongue and flicks Jisoo’s forehead playfully. “It does matter, Hong Jisoo. You should eat dinner first. I cooked your favorite, and I won’t go to sleep until you’re finished eating.”
Jisoo can’t ever say no to Junghan.
Junghan practically clings to Jisoo the whole time, and Jisoo lets him. It does feel weird being stared when you eat, but at the same time Jisoo finds it adorable.
“How was work?” Junghan asks, a finger playing with the collar of Jisoo’s white shirt.
Jisoo puts down his fork on the plate. “It was a chaos. The agent died on the explosion, and forensic found something that presumed to be the detonator behind his jacket.”
“Did they find anything else? Something to get closer with Oasis like identity card or anything related with the organization?”
“Negative,” Jisoo answers, “we were assuming the same, but the only thing he had on his body was the remote. I think the explosion is also the part of their plan—to mislead us again, like how they did with the file.”
Junghan touches Jisoo’s face, letting him lean on his hand and relax beneath his touch. “How about the other agents in China?”
“They couldn’t locate the bomb at Nanjing and Beijing. They set a trap to disrupt the investigation, basically. They could just blow three places at once and kill three agents in one go, but they only went with one. Why do you think they are doing this?”
“The exact plan was to loss one and save two. They are having another plan with the other agents and the one was used as bait.”
“Exactly,” Jisoo nods, pulling away to stare at Junghan’s eyes. “They knew we’re doing something here. Maybe that was also the reason why the explosion happened only in Korea.”
“This is getting more dangerous,” Junghan whispers, avoiding Jisoo’s eyes so he doesn’t catch the glimpse of tears there, but Jisoo already sees it. “Please be safe, Jisoo. Please.”
Junghan doesn’t ask him to leave his work to someone else and keep his hands off the case, doesn’t give him an option to be a coward. Jisoo knows it isn’t what Junghan wants him to be. Junghan only wants him to be safe.
Jisoo pulls Junghan into his body, hugging him tight like there’s no tomorrow.
“I’ll never leave you, I promise.” He says on Junghan’s crown, feeling the latter nods on his chest.
“I trust you. I’ve always been.”
Jisoo presses a kiss on Junghan’s hair before he moves to carry Junghan on his arms, laughing at his slight surprised squeak.
“What are you doing?” Junghan frowns, but doesn’t actually protest.
“Carrying my princess to bed,” Jisoo grins. “At the very least, I still get a good sleep with you tonight. That’s more than enough, honestly.”
Mingyu tosses Jisoo a set of papers when they meet in the Control Room on the next day, just right after the automatic door closes behind Jisoo’s back.
“What are these?”
“Ticket, passport, and whatever documents you may need on our trip to Macao. Me, you, and Wonwoo, I mean.”
“You guys are going to Macao?” Junghan asks, looking at Jisoo confusedly. Jisoo just shrugs and prods his chin at Mingyu’s direction.
“This morning we received a report that another two agents were spotted in Macao. The Russian company’s representative was later reported to be in Macao as well, around seven hours later. One of the agents took on a plane not too long after the explosion in Yongsan, it only confirms the assumption that the actual deal is going to happen in Macao.”
“Junghan! Here you are,” Soonyoung appears before them and grabs Junghan’s arm, winking at Jisoo. “I’m sorry, man. As much as I adore you two together, I still need your lover to do some work over here.”
Jisoo just smiles and bows politely at Soonyoung. “I trust my other half to you, Your Highness. Please take a good care of him for me.”
Junghan shoves his fist to Jisoo’s ribs playfully, smiling at him before Soonyoung pulls him to his desk and the look in Junghan’s face changes drastically from a lovely angelic creature to a genius computer expert. Even after all these years working with Junghan as his partner, Jisoo never gets bored with Junghan’s millisecond transformation.
“Quit staring at your boyfriend. We have a lot of things to do.”
Jisoo feels warm spreading on his face as he tails behind Mingyu to another room.
“Two Oasis agents in Macao will have a meeting with Viktor Borislav, the Russian’s company representative. We already found Mr. Borislav’s whereabouts and put a transmitter on his car and hacked into his phone. His last phone call and text message were addressed to a contact named Oasis, though we’re not sure who does he refer to. From what we got, the rendezvous is planned to happen tomorrow morning at 9, Four Seasons Hotel Restaurant.”
Jihoon clicks on his keyboard, and the wide screen shows a document—someone’s profile, to be exact.
Jisoo reacts from his chair; he recognizes the person on the profile. “Isn’t he the culprit of my last case?”
“Yes,” Jihoon answers. “Junghan has worked hard to reveal this piece of information. Please, Junghan.”
Junghan nods and stands up, throwing a small smile to Jisoo before focuses back to the paper board he’s holding. “Last week, our agent solved a homicide case with Gideon Isaak, a Russian-Korean as the victim, after he called to our hotline and asked for help. He was dead when we arrived, and 20 million USD from his bank account was gone. Our agent caught the culprit, he’s the person we’re seeing right now, and he’s now secured at the prison. His data on his personal computer was deleted, but I managed to recover them and this was what I found.”
The profile slides to the left and the right side of the screen shows a document, a deal to buy a high amount of nuclear weapon from a Russian company, at the price of 20 million USD.
“I found that this man killed Gideon Isaak and being caught on purpose. He was another member of Oasis, to put it simply. It was the part of their whole plan, because they knew about us, probably after they checked to the last phone call Mr. Isaak made before he died. And what I mean by that is, Oasis knew we were tracking them for years, they knew we blew up the counterfeit money factory, and that was why they led us to several events like sudden criminal attacks in China, the blank file, and the bombs. They were behind all of them to keep us distracted.”
Junghan pauses, glancing at everyone and he stops at Jisoo, whose staring at him in unreadable expression.
“I checked Mr. Isaak’s computer, and I found that he was former worker of that Russian company who made a deal with Oasis. Mr. Isaak didn’t want to get involved with the dirty business, so he left the company and tried to inform us about Oasis and their plan. Oasis caught his act, and killed him. They robbed his money to buy the weapons as bonus point, I guess. The fact that we were able to burn down one of their most important buildings must be a surprise, probably that’s why they decide to play with us.”
“Holy fucking shit,” Mingyu gasps, “and you call it a piece of information, Sir? It was big!”
“That’s not the point, Mingyu.” Jihoon rolls his eyes. “Field agents, now is the time for you to play your part. We can’t let Oasis finish the deal, and you can do it either by stopping the agents or take the Russian as a hostage—be careful, he has armed men backing him up.”
“Excuse me, Sir. Don’t you think it’s a little bit too… dangerous?” Wonwoo asks. “This is Oasis we’re talking about. They are almost invisible, and they kill indiscriminately. Furthermore, only three of us?”
“The three of you are my best men, you know that, Wonwoo. And you’re not a secret agent working for the government if the mission I hand to you is as easy as walking a dog in the park.”
Wonwoo wants to protest again, but Mingyu squeezes his hand from his side. “Understood, Sir. We’ll get going to prepare before the flight.”
Jihoon nods, “You may go, agents.”
Jisoo raises his arm. “Can I borrow Junghan too, Sir?”
Jihoon smiles knowingly. “Yes you may, agent.”
Jisoo pins Junghan to the wall and kisses him languidly despite his bold and sudden movement. They are hiding behind the shelves on the Equipment Room, where Jisoo had excused to “borrowing” Junghan from Jihoon. Of course Jihoon knew Jisoo wasn’t going to check their stuffs with Junghan, but it really, really doesn’t matter now.
Junghan easily find a way to drape his arms around Jisoo’s neck, responding to his kisses with the same slow motion. He pulls away and kisses the tip of Jisoo’s nose, stroking the hair on the back of his head.
“I feel like someone is giving me a goodbye kiss,” he says, eyes bright and clean, just the way Jisoo had always liked it.
Jisoo leans in and smiles against Junghan’s lips. “This is a see you later kiss, actually. I won’t be long, just… some days. And we’d always be in contact; I’m not giving you a room to worry about me. Not anymore.”
“I appreciate your effort, agent,” Junghan pulls Jisoo’s collar to pull him closer, kissing him again. “But I don’t think it’s entirely my fault if I can’t stop worrying about you. It’s part of my job as your boyfriend—”
“—soon husband.” Jisoo cuts in.
Junghan blinks. “What?”
Jisoo laughs. “You’re not thinking you’ll be my boyfriend forever, right? I hope you’re not, because sadly it won’t happen. One day, I’ll call you my fiancé, and the next thing we know, you’re already my husband. And I’ll spend the rest of my life living happily with a beautiful, wonderful, and impossibly genius husband.”
Junghan opens his mouth but nothing comes out. His eyes are glistening with tears, and he buries his face on Jisoo’s shoulder in happy tears—mumbling a you bastard and I love you so much between his sobs after he finds his voice again.
I promise I’ll be back, he says to himself; to Junghan. I love you so much too, Junghan.
He’s sure Junghan knows it even without him saying.
Soonyoung plants a tracker on Jisoo, Wonwoo, and Mingyu’s arm and hands them the list of equipment he’s prepared for them before the agents’ departure.
“Read it carefully and make sure I didn’t miss anything.” He says, injecting three more things to the three’s blood vessels—vitamin, supplement, and a genetically designed molecule to change their DNA when it’s necessary. “Oh, I’m going to miss you guys. The Control Room is boring with only people working behind the desk every day.”
“We’ll miss you too,” Mingyu says. “Fighting for your life on the battlefield is not as cool as it sounds.”
“Once the deal is cancelled and we got Oasis, you’ll have a whole month holiday. Jihoon had said it himself, but I think it’s mostly because that old man needs to lie down and chill after all the stress he got from this case.”
“Exactly,” Mingyu snaps his fingers, earning a giggle from Jisoo, Wonwoo, and Soonyoung. “How’s the list, Wonwoo?”
“Just everything we need,” Wonwoo smiles. “Perfect, thank you so much, Soonyoung.”
Soonyoung nods, his eyes look softer than they usually do. “You are all my best friends. I promise I’ll do my best to bring you back home after you knock down those bastards’ asses.”
“We will do our best, too.” Jisoo shakes Soonyoung’s hand, smiling. “Ah, wait, where’s our earpieces?”
“Here,” Jihoon says behind Soonyoung’s back, throwing an earpiece to each field agents. “Good luck. This mission may sound impossible, but doesn’t mean you can’t do it.”
Jisoo exchange a glance with Wonwoo and Mingyu.
Their day is just about to start.
Junghan leads the team to their secret base in Zhuhai before they go to the hotel. “You’re not going to check in with all those guns, guys. Please.”
“Oh, right, of course.” Wonwoo laughs. “I haven’t heard about our base in Zhuhai. Do you know about this, Junghan?”
“I know everything an analyst should know, Wonwoo. And yes, we have four bases total in Macao, but Zhuhai will be the nearest post to our target. Don’t forget your fingerprint and retinal scan before entering the code on the front gate.”
“Understand, Madam.” Mingyu turns his head to Jisoo behind him, laughing. “Really, your boyfriend is super strict and perfectionist. He’s been too long hanging out with Jihoon, you should save him.”
Jisoo raises a brow. “Mingyu, they could hear anything you said with your earpiece on.”
“Yes, I heard that, Kim Mingyu. Are you sure you don’t need help for your access to the base?”
It’s Jihoon’s voice. Jisoo and Wonwoo burst into laughter, leaving Mingyu mumbling Oh, shit and pleading for their superior’s apology.
Jisoo finishes his scanning first and the door opens after confirming his ID. “Go change your clothes, Minghao will come to pick you up.” Junghan says on his ear.
“Are you there, Minghao?” Wonwoo asks from his earpiece.
“Yes I am, agent! ETA five minutes.”
“Enough time to change and get our new identity,” Jisoo says. “Let’s go, guys.”
Five minutes later, Minghao drives the field agents to Four Seasons Hotel, and the boy can’t stop squealing excitedly at seeing his “old pals”. Junghan even needs to remind him to mind about the roads several times or he will kill the three even before they do the mission.
“Anything new, Junghan?” Jisoo asks, arm propping his chin as he stares into the crowded road. As a field agent, travelling is not something new for him, but it often reminds him how lonely he’s out there.
“Not really. Oh, Viktor Borislav will stay in the same hotel as you guys, two floors up, room 718.”
“No suspicious movements of the agents?”
“No,” Junghan pauses to take a deep breath. “Are you okay, Jisoo?”
Jisoo chuckles lightly. “Junghan, there are four people in the car and you only ask about me when everyone can hear you clearly. I’m okay now, but probably not anymore when these people beat me up for being jealous of your affection on me.”
“I don’t care. There are four people in the car and one of them is my man. Of course I should worry about him, and the others should not be bothered by that.”
Minghao laughs behind the steering wheel while Mingyu and Wonwoo shoots him a dirty look. Jisoo grins innocently at them. “I’m okay. Uh, a little bit disappointed actually, I wish you could see how beautiful Macao is with me. I heard they have the best night view from your hotel room.”
“Gosh, this is an open communication device. Please stop being sappy with each other where we can exactly hear what you say,” Mingyu rolls his eyes. Jisoo jabs him on the ribs, and the other fakes a groan.
“Aren’t you jealous?” Junghan laughs mockingly. “Okay guys, you’re here. Don’t forget your new identity, we reserved you a room with your alias so don’t make any stupid mistake. And get ready for your mission tomorrow! Minghao, I sent you the hotel layout and all security cameras access. Please report to the base if something’s up.”
“Roger that, Captain.” Minghao turns around and smiles to his passengers. “Have a good night in Macao, tomorrow we will be very, very busy.”
Jisoo, Mingyu and Wonwoo decide to check in one by one, pretending they don’t know each other. Jisoo goes to the front desk first, meanwhile Mingyu and Wonwoo walk around to get a good look of the cameras.
“Good evening, Sir. Welcome to Four Seasons, what can I do for you?”
Jisoo clears his throat, looking over the receptionist’s shoulder and realizes a camera is installed there, hidden between the engravings on the wall. Such a weird place; considering the height that only allows the camera to catch the chest of the person in front of it—but then a jolt of realization hits him. It’s the hand, the camera is there to read a hand’s movement when someone signs the bill. Someone is trying to copy a certain someone’s signature.
“Excuse me, Sir?”
“Ah! Oh, sorry. Yes, I booked a room under the name of Joshua Hong, can you check it for me?”
“Sure, Mr. Hong. Your room is on the fifth floor, room 523.”
Jisoo frowns, “And where’s the key?”
The receptionist smiles, “Someone has been waiting for you up there.”
The door is unlocked and the first thing to meet Jisoo’s visual is Junghan sitting on the bed, clad in a white bathrobe. Jisoo blinks several times; assuring himself that this is not real. He’s hallucinating; he’s certainly not seeing Junghan with his hair tied to his back, smiling at him. No.
Junghan stands up and walks upon him to help Jisoo removing his coat. “How was your flight, Mr. Hong?”
“It was fine,” Jisoo says in a confused tone and Junghan wants to laugh at him, but he doesn’t. “What are you doing here, Junghan?”
“Jihoon sent me to assist you three,” answers Junghan. “Why, you don’t like seeing me here?”
“No, it’s just… well, surprising. When did you come here?”
“I was already here even before you got on the plane. Private jet, you know? The perks of working as an analyst, you get to know first what the company actually has behind the doors.”
Jisoo’s lips curl into a smile. “I must thank Jihoon for this.”
“You should, this was his idea.”
Jisoo sighs; a smile never leaves his lips. He can’t believe Junghan is here with him right now, and suddenly he feels all better.
“Hey, you look good in that bathrobe.”
Junghan smirks, “Do you know I look even better without them?”
“No,” Jisoo says. “I don’t believe what I don’t see.”
Junghan shrugs, “You know what to do, then, Mr. Hong.”
Jisoo holds his breath when he pushes Junghan to the bed, climbing up to hover on the smaller body. He silently prays that he had locked the door, because he doesn’t have time to explain anything that is going to happen to anyone.
The clock is blinking red beside Jisoo on the nightstand. 3:20, it says. Jisoo sits on the bed with his back pressed against the headboard, suddenly too aware to sleep. His mission will start in less than six hours, and he doesn’t know how this will end, will he stay alive, will everyone on his team be safe, will he be able to see Junghan’s face again after a long, tiring day. Just as usual.
The bed creaks when Junghan sits up, copying his position. His long hair is messy and his face looks tired, but he’s still the most beautiful thing Jisoo has ever seen.
“Did I wake you?” Jisoo asks, brushing Junghan’s hair from his face.
Junghan shakes his head. “No, I just woke up. Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“Thinking,” answers Jisoo. “Come here, I have something to tell you.” He opens up his arm and Junghan leans on his chest.
“What is it?”
“Remember that sometimes… when I’m on the field, you had to yell on my ear because I didn’t respond to your call?”
Junghan nods. “Yeah, I remember. And it’s pretty annoying, but I’m used to it now.”
Jisoo chuckles, “Do you know what’s happening at those times?”
“No,” Junghan pulls away, his eyes starting to look worried again; Jisoo can tell right away. “Did something happen to you? When? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Listen to me first,” Jisoo says patiently, pulling Junghan back to his body. “You know this job runs on my family’s blood, right? Yes, they were exceptional agents, the best at that time. But we also had a price to pay—we had to run away, go into hiding for countless times. People were chasing after me since I was born, mostly to get revenge to my parents and their siblings. They died because they struggled to keep me alive. And sometimes, on my duty, I saw them watching me, and for a very short time, I didn’t feel lonely anymore. It was a nice feeling, but it didn’t real. And your voice is what brings me back to reality, so I kind of owe you something all this time.”
Junghan raises a brow. “If I were you, I’d be annoyed to me, if that was the reason you were off several times on a mission.”
Jisoo shakes his head. “They are the reason I should finish a mission and come back alive; I don’t want their death to be a waste. And you, a reality of mine, are another reason I shouldn’t die on the field; because I still want to live with you on the next day. Seriously, Yoon Junghan, do you ever ask yourself what effect do you have on others?”
“I was born gorgeous, what can I do?” Junghan tilts his head, laughing. Jisoo laughs too, can’t believe he actually finds something funny at 4 in the morning. But he’s with Junghan, the only one he has after he lost most of his family members, and with Junghan he knows he’s still able to breathe.
The long haired boy lifts Jisoo’s hand up and kisses the back of his hand. “I’m sorry,” he whispers.
“Why are you sorry for?”
“I should’ve been more sensitive about you. I didn’t know you were feeling like that often, and I don’t blame you for not telling me. It’s just… well, I thought I was the closest person to you on our team.”
“You are,” Jisoo says. “I didn’t tell you sooner because you have this tendency to always worry about me, and no, Princess, I won’t let you do that.”
Junghan looks down, chuckling lightly. “When you were… um, seeing your parents. What do you feel? I mean, as a son, as someone who misses them the most. How do you feel?”
“Do you want an honest answer?” Jisoo asks, smiling as Junghan nods. “I feel sad because I can’t bring you to them.”
Junghan hits his arm, irritated. “You’re ruining the moment. I was serious!”
“Hey, I’m serious too,” Jisoo grimaces when Junghan hits him again. “When I saw them, I thought about how it would feel to be completed again as a family; my parents, me, and you. We’d have dinner in my parents’, you’d help my mother in the kitchen while I talk about business and soccer with my father. I didn’t mean to tell you this, but I think you have a right to know. I kind of see my parents when I see you.”
“Really?” Junghan kicks the sheet and straddles on Jisoo’s lap, legs trapping each side of the taller body. “May I know what do you see in me?”
“You remind me to love and be loved,” Jisoo looks up to meet Junghan’s lips in a heartwarming kiss, Junghan’s hands rest on his face. “And I have everything I wanted in live. It may not perfect—my life, that’s it—but it’s always worth it.”
Junghan smiles against his lips and kisses him again—Jisoo closes his eyes, letting everything fall back on its place before.
Jisoo’s phone rings loud enough to wake Junghan up some times later—what time is it, by the way?—and he reluctantly reaches for the thing to answer the call without looking at the caller ID.
“Yeah, hello?”
“Junghan?” the voice on the other line says. “Why do you have Jisoo’s phone with you?”
Oh, it’s obviously Jihoon’s voice. Junghan bites his lower lip, doesn’t know how to answer. He completely forgot that he didn’t have the tracker on him like Jisoo, Wonwoo, and Mingyu, so Jihoon can’t locate him from the HQ. And of course, it’s weird to see Junghan answers Jisoo’s phone when he’s supposed to sleep somewhere else.
“Uh, Sir, I can explain—”
“Wait, no, I don’t need your explanation. I think I know what’s going on,” Junghan can practically hear Jihoon grins. “Is Jisoo up already?”
“Not yet, but I’ll get him up right away. Is there anything else you need to tell him, Sir?”
“I called to tell him Viktor Borislav is going to have breakfast in the restaurant at around 8. I called Wonwoo and Mingyu and asked them to stand by nearby, it’s possible for the two agents to show up some time earlier. Junhui and Minghao are ready with the weapons, so you can call them anytime. Can you please pass this message to Jisoo, Junghan?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Okay, thank you. Have a good day.”
“You too, Sir.”
Junghan sighs as he puts Jisoo’s phone back, half kicking the sleeping boy beside him.
“Hey, wake up. You’ve got a mission to kill, haven’t you?”
“Five minutes,” Jisoo groans. “Who was that?”
“Jihoon,” answers Junghan. “Mr. Borislav is having breakfast downstairs in a few hours. It’s possible for two agents to show up, and he already alerted Mingyu and Wonwoo. Minghao and Junhui are nearby with the weapons.”
“Okay, give me five minutes.” Jisoo pulls the sheet up to his chin, groaning when Junghan fights him to do it. “It was just like, yesterday, when you whined nonstop at me because I didn’t get enough sleep and you called me zombie the whole day.”
“It’s actually two months ago, and now you have to wake up. Come on, Minghao keeps bombarding my phone asking if we’re gonna get something to eat with them.”
“Tell them we’re going to eat in the restaurant in thirty minutes,” Jisoo finally gives in, kicks the sheet in attempt to wake up. “Oh, by the way, I saw a camera installed on the wall behind the front desk when I checked in yesterday. You said you had given Minghao all cameras access, did you notice this one?”
Junghan shakes his head, “No, I didn’t see that. And why would they have a camera installed on a wall? It’s an uncommon place to install such a thing.”
“From the height, I assume it was there to record a certain signature. I’m not sure but I can’t put Oasis away from my hypothesis. They need Viktor Borislav’s signature, and they could do anything to get it.”
“But both sides agree to do this,” Junghan frowns, “or not. Oasis doesn’t want to leave track behind the deal after they knew we’re after them. They could send someone to record Mr. Borislav’s signature, and do… something, to keep Mr. Borislav’s mouth shut.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.” Jisoo grabs his phone on the nightstand, lazily touches the screen with his fingers. “I’ll inform Mingyu and Wonwoo and tell them about this. I’ll go take a shower, and if you need something just call the room service. The bill will be on the company.”
Junghan laughs, “Still trying to be romantic in this situation?”
Jisoo turns around, shrugging. “In what situation do I not love you?” he questions back, earning another string of laughter from Junghan.
Junghan and Jisoo are the last ones to join the troop—even Minghao and Junhui are there, Minghao waves enthusiastically at them while Junhui is busy with his laptop, probably contacting Jihoon and Soonyoung. Wonwoo hands Junghan an opened menu—to catch a crumpled piece of paper has been slipped in between the pages.
“We don’t want to raise suspicions,” Mingyu explains before Junghan can open his mouth. “It’s a message from Mr. Borislav.”
“Why did he leave you a message?” Jisoo asks.
“I don’t know, we can’t read the message because it is written in codes. Both I and Wonwoo are not expert with these things so I called Minghao and Junhui. He left the paper on our door last night.”
Jisoo and Junghan exchange glances, knowing Mingyu and Wonwoo are about to tell something more. Or better, they found something big.
“Tell us.”
“Mingyu and I were on the seventh floor, to check for the camera access. Mingyu found many secret cameras were installed in such weird places, so we came to the seventh floor to see if they had something to do with Mr. Borislav. Mr. Borislav had bodyguards, as we all knew, so we pretended to look for a friend’s room and never got near his bodyguards, not even an inch. We heard some noises coming from his room, someone was shouting to what I assumed as someone in the phone. Well, my Russian is limited, so I didn’t have time to translate all the words.”
“One of the bodyguards always kept an eye on us, so I told Wonwoo to leave. The bodyguard talked to his earpiece when we walked passed him, and when we opened the door later, the paper was there. It was so late so Wonwoo decided we would tell you in the next day.”
Junghan plays with the paper on his hand, shoving it down his lap when a waiter is walking upon them and asking for their orders.
“I’ll eat whatever Honey, can you choose it for me?” Junghan says to Jisoo, handing him the menu and gives him the code to talk to the waiter. Jisoo gets the message and when he’s face to face with the waiter, he realizes he’s not an ordinary waiter—he wears an earpiece and tracer lens, all of them are so neatly hidden and if it wasn’t for Jisoo’s field experience for years, he’d easily miss it.
“Are you… after Oasis?” the waiter asks in a heavy Russian accent.
“Yes, we are. Are you one of Viktor Borislav’s men?” Jisoo asks, eyes scanning the room. There must be something wrong here. Wonwoo and Mingyu do the same; they know Jisoo’s gestures very well. “Do you know about the message he left on my friends?”
“Message? What are you talking about?” the waiter seems confused, and at this point Jisoo knows something is very, very wrong. “I don’t know about the message you mentioned earlier, but I’m telling you that my boss is in danger. Most likely they are going to kill him after the deal, and you have to save my boss.”
“Why do we have to save your boss?” Wonwoo raises a brow, “If he’s involved in the deal, it means he’s the accomplice of that shitty organization.”
“If you save my boss, you can have more information about them. As you know, they are almost invisible. They’d killed people in our company more than you could imagine, and the 20 million deal is the last deal they offered to us before they blow us to bits; and then run away with the money.”
“Shit,” Jisoo mutters under his breath. “Okay, you may go. We’ll take over the situation from now on. In thirty minutes your boss will have a breakfast here, right? Keep an eye on him, also suspicious people who might follow.”
The waiter nods and takes the menu, leaving the group sighing heavily on their seats. “What are we going to do, now?” Junhui asks.
“First, solve the code. If the waiter didn’t lie to us, the message must be something he wanted to tell us without anyone knowing,” Junghan says. “I think I know how to convert the code into letter. Junhui, hand me the laptop.”
Junhui quickly does as told. Jisoo watches Junghan copies the code and with several clicking on keyboard, the code slowly disappears and changes into letters. Jisoo reads it slowly, “Help. They are going to kill me before I sign on the deal.”
“Before he signs?” Mingyu frowns, “What’s the point of bringing him all the way here if they still are going to kill him before the deal?”
“All they needed was his signature, not the presence of him.” Junghan answers. “Jisoo saw a camera installed in a wall on the front desk, he assumed it was there to record his signature. All those weird cameras you saw were probably there to monitor every movement of him too.”
“We need back up from the HQ. We don’t know what they are planning next, and it’s impossible to do everything with our own.” Wonwoo says, reminding the team.
“I heard everything.” Jihoon’s voice says from their earpieces. “We’ll take care of it. You guys make sure the agents don’t run away this time, and Viktor Borislav’s safety is your priority.”
“We got it, Sir.”
“Your target is on the way to the restaurant, ETA 2 minutes.” Jihoon says. “Jisoo, you lead the team.”
“Understood, Sir.” Jisoo pauses to take a breath. “Minghao, Junhui, stay outside. We’ll escort Mr. Borislav out and when he comes, bring him to shelter. Mingyu, you keep an eye on the target. Wonwoo and I will catch the agents when they start moving. Junghan will stay here and direct us to find a way out. Go to Minghao and Junhui after we got the target, do you understand?”
The other five agents nod at Jisoo’s instruction. Jihoon counts down the arrival of Viktor Borislav, and fortunately, nothing seems suspicious until he takes a seat, not too far from Jisoo’s table. The agents can finally exhales.
“Someone’s coming,” Junghan says. “It’s those agents. And… wait, two other people, armed. Their statuses are unknown, but I remember I’ve seen these faces somewhere.”
Jisoo jumps from his seat to Junghan’s side, squinting at the laptop screen. “Wait, I remember seeing them somewhere too. Jihoon, any idea?” he asks, directing the question to the Headquarters.
“They are Oasis’ negotiators, the ones on FBI wanted list. How the hell they end up here?”
“If it would lighten up the situation, Sir, the organization knows about us and what’s in our end.”
“Thank you, Minghao. Be careful, agents. Get in your position. Minghao, Junhui, leave from the side door now.”
“What?” Junhui looks extremely offended. “We can’t leave the others here! With all due respect, five is better than three, Sir—”
“Do it now!”
Minghao pushes Junhui to the said door and right after the door closed, someone fires a gun to the ceiling, shocking the whole restaurant. Some people try to escape with no luck—the two men fire more bullets and killing them at place. Jisoo pushes Junghan to hide under the table, Wonwoo and Mingyu quietly following him.
“Fuck, they are shooting randomly. Mingyu, the target?”
“Not moving at all, one of them is with him. He’s armed too.”
“This is not the day of the deal—this is the day they plan to kill him.” Wonwoo loads his revolver, shoving it passes his belt. “Plan, Jisoo?”
“I and Mingyu will distract them and trying to get close to the target. Go to my room with Junghan, and find the fastest way to get back to the hotel from the restaurant. I had a feeling we’re having more parties than two men with guns.”
“I get it. Come on, Junghan.”
“Wait,” Junghan says, pulling Jisoo into a brief tight hug. “Promise me I’ll see you again after we finished with this,” he whispers on Jisoo’s shoulder.
“You will, I promise.” I love you, Junghan, is what he was going to say next, but Wonwoo already tugs Junghan’s hand and heading to the door. Mingyu loads his gun beside him, pressing his back to the side of the table to get a better view onward.
“He’s still with the target. How do we get close with him with all these innocent people around? We can’t let them get killed.”
“How many are they?”
“Six, seven if you count the one with the target. Fuck, where did the other three come from?”
“Can you shoot one of them? Just to distract, so we can split up. See, the waiter is there, I know he has a gun too. I’ll try to deal with the one beside the target, and you can get the rest.”
“Brilliant,” Mingyu grins, aiming his gun at the leg of the men. He counts to three, and Jisoo rolls to the other side of the room when Mingyu fires his gun, shooting another man in time when they realize they’re not alone with the pistols.
“Mingyu, run!” Jisoo shouts, Mingyu leaving his spot fast enough to avoid the bullets directed at him three seconds later. Jisoo stops behind the pillar, clicks on his gun and throws another three shots to kill two of the men with the agents.
“Junghan, where are you?” Jisoo whispers desperately to his earpiece. He gets a rustling sound on his end in return, but then he can hear Junghan’s voice and he can’t be more relieved.
“I’m here. I've got you, agents. Wonwoo is on the way back to the restaurant, ETA two and half minutes. Mingyu has cleared the sideway, Jisoo, are you close with the target?”
“I can see him, but my position is no good. Three men, armed. I’d be dead if I try to confront. Can Mingyu back me up?”
“Negative, too far. I can’t aim accurate shot from here, and they have another four, five men coming in from the front door. Holy shit, just how many people they prepared for this event?”
Jisoo grits his teeth, they have to move or Viktor Borislav will be killed. And this is not the only hazard they would face. Another spray of bullets landed on the floor, Jisoo realizes it’s the waiter—trying to clear the way for him. “I saw that. Wait, don’t move.” Junghan says sharply on his ear. “Listen to my count. Shoot at nine a clock by three, okay? One, two, three!”
Jisoo aims his gun to his left and shoots without exactly looking at where his gun points, but Junghan’s direction is enough to help him putting the bullet through the man’s heart. Jisoo swears under his breath, hopping to hide under the table when a bunch of bullets aimed at his head, piercing the wooden table.
“Wow, Junghan, that was fantastic,” Mingyu laughs. “I’m with Wonwoo now. We can deal with these chunks for you, Jisus. Can you get the target?”
“Yeah, I’ll try.” Jisoo reloads and clicks his gun. “I’m ready. Move!”
Mingyu and Wonwoo shoot around, breaking glasses and destroying the whole decoration, basically. The company’s financial department will be working hard about this later, but it can wait. Jisoo manages to stand beside the waiter—now looks nothing like a waiter. Jisoo nods, and they start shooting at once but their opponent can resist. “Don’t waste your ammunition for random shot,” Junghan reminds him. “How much do you have left?”
“About a half,” answers Jisoo. He presses his back harder to the pillar when someone fires his gun at their direction. “Wonwoo, Mingyu, are you close?”
“Not really—Jisoo, behind you!!”
Three accurate shots were fired—one of them grazing Jisoo’s shoulder and the other two landed on the waiter’s chest and stomach. Blood pooling around Jisoo’s shoes and for a moment he’s blank, colors start fading and everything goes slow motion. This is it, Jisoo thinks. He looks around and sees his parents, his brother, his uncle and aunt. They are smiling at him, encouraging him to go on, but Jisoo is too carried away with the moment.
What do you feel when you see them? He hears Junghan’s voice on his head, As someone who misses them the most, how do you feel?
Right, I miss them so much, Jisoo says to himself. Times like this don’t come often. I should let it stay longer, this is the only way I can meet them after I spent years of my life all alone.
“Jisoo!” a familiar scream breaks through his eardrum. “Jisoo! Wake up!”
Jisoo blinks, the colors are back and various sounds attack him at once. “Duck down!” Junghan shouts again, and Jisoo lies down on his stomach right when two bullets landed a few meters beside him. “Thanks,” he mumbles to Junghan and takes the waiter’s gun, heading to where Mingyu and Wonwoo have waited for him.
“The target is alive, two agents are after him. He brings a suitcase that seems like the money involved on this deal.” Wonwoo says. “Their main purpose is to kill Viktor Borislav, because he knows more than he’s allowed to. I think it happened to Gideon Isaak too, as for why he’s killed when he’s not related to the company or organization anymore.”
“They have to remove any traces, it makes sense,” Jisoo nods. “What about Oasis’ men?”
“Dead. Minghao and Junhui had some of them before they entered the building, and no one is coming after them.”
“Viktor Borislav’s bodyguards?”
“Most of them are down, too. But I don’t know, the target is running by himself, only followed by the agents. I don’t think he’s a type to fight, which means he’s in more danger now.”
Jisoo sighs. “Junghan, can you tell me where are they?”
“On the elevator, they are going to the highest floor. The target is on the west elevator, the agents are on the east. You have no time to wait for it to go down, use the stairs. The end of the passageway, second door to the left.”
“Let’s go!” Jisoo, Wonwoo, and Mingyu run with Junghan’s direction.
“Uh, Junghan, may I ask something?”
“Sure, Wonwoo.”
“How many floors does this building have?”
“Ten floors, why?”
“Do you think we can catch up with the elevators? We’re running out of time, aren’t we?”
“He’s right,” Jisoo responds. “Try to stop the elevator to buy some time. I’ll wait at the tenth floor.”
They part at the third floor, and Mingyu grabs his shoulder before Jisoo climbing up again. “We can do this,” he says. Jisoo nods firmly at him.
“Yes, we can do this.”
“I’m almost there. Are the backup teams ready?”
“They are on the way, ETA ten minutes.” Junghan answers.
“Wonwoo and Mingyu?”
“Coming your way, they are on the seventh floor. The elevators have stopped, and they are on the rooftop now. Be careful, everything they need for the deal is inside the suitcase Viktor Borislav is holding.”
Jisoo pushes the metal door with his shoulder at the same time when the agents arrive on the rooftop from another door. Viktor Borislav is hugging the suitcase with all his life, terrified to death.
“Don’t go near me,” the Russian man says, walking backward nearing the edge of the building. “If you dare, it’s no good for everyone. I will die along with the deal, and you can’t touch the weapon. I worked my whole life for it; you can’t take it from me only with 20 million bullshits that you stole from my friend!”
“Junghan, you hear that?”
“I do. Viktor Borislav is being the company’s representative to cancel the deal himself, because he seeks for revenge for his friend, Gideon Isaak. I think he has known they would want him to die before or after the deal, that’s why he sent Mingyu and Wonwoo the message.”
“His safety is still your priority, Jisoo,” Jihoon says on his ear. “He would be much of a help for our further investigation to bring Oasis down. Secure the suitcase first, it’s our solid evidence.”
“He doesn’t seem to trust me,” Jisoo whispers. “It would be dangerous for him to trust me at this time, either. The agents can shoot him anytime, and I have no cover. How long do I wait until the backup teams get here?”
“Six and half minutes. If you can’t take the suitcase, just make sure the target is alive until six and half minutes. Mingyu and Wonwoo are right behind you, just give a signal when you need them.”
“Okay,” Jisoo takes a deep breath, shoving his gun to his belt and raises his arms. “I’m not going to kill. I’ve seen enough deaths today, and I’m not interested seeing more.”
The agents point their guns at Jisoo, who walks calmly upon Viktor Borislav. “I’m also not interested at whatever you’re fighting about. What’s on that suitcase? Money? So childish, do you think money can solve all your problems?”
“S-shut up,” Viktor stutters, “who are you?”
“Me?” Jisoo laughs mockingly. “Is it matter, my identity? I’m here to greet the people behind you. Hello, dead people. What a long journey after Argentina, don’t you think?”
One of the agents shoots at him; Jisoo can easily dodge it with one swift move. “Oh, you must be surprised I know about that little secret of yours. You have caused me a lot of troubles these days, I seriously need to meet your boss. Can you tell me where is he?”
“Three minutes until arrival.”
“You,” one agent surges forward, “you must be one of them, those fucking bastards who dare to play with us and ruin our plan. It’s you, isn’t it? Who caught Gideon Isaak’s killer and put him in jail?”
“I thought it was the part of your plan. You should thank me because I made it easier for you.”
“Two minutes until arrival.”
“Jisoo, I and Wonwoo are behind the door. We’ll break through after the backup teams ready.” Mingyu says.
Another shot. Jisoo can dodge it but it scrapes the previous wound on Jisoo’s shoulder and now he can feel his left arm goes numb, blood dripping from his sleeve.
“Thirty seconds until arrival.”
Jisoo clicks his gun, counting quietly. “See you in thirty,” he says, shouting at Viktor to bow down when he starts throwing shots at the agents, who quickly aim back at him—but a bullet from Mingyu’s gun landed on his shoulder before he can fire his own.
“I thought we still had about ten seconds,” Jisoo chuckles. Mingyu grins, “Faster better. I’ll take over the situation, go!”
Jisoo quickly tugs Viktor up and pulls him to the door, Viktor looks bewildered with the amount of blood he has on his hand from Jisoo. Another gunshot can be heard from the rooftop, another one misses Jisoo and Viktor’s heads by two centimeters.
“One of them is behind us!” Viktor screams, his footsteps are messy with Jisoo half dragging him and the heavy suitcase on his other hand. “Sir, you are bleeding. Are you okay?”
“I’ll be okay after I’m sure you’re okay,” answers Jisoo, the pain starts to bite on his skin. “Junghan, any way out?”
“The elevator is on your right. They are behind you, Jisoo, is your arm all right?”
“I’m okay, I’m okay.” Jisoo grimaces. “Come on, Mister. We have no time. Get on the elevator.” He pulls Viktor to the elevator and presses the button, right before three bullets penetrated into the box. Jisoo sighs in relief, and Viktor slides down to the floor, his body trembling.
“Mingyu has been shot. Not severe, but he’s unconscious now and Wonwoo can’t leave him until the team reaches them. Minghao and Junhui are in the fifth floor, they are standing by on the elevator door. Can you hang on for five floors?”
“I think so,” Jisoo pants. “The agents’ position?”
“They are using the other elevator, they will stop at fifth floor too. I think they put on a tracker or something in the suitcase. They can read your every move.”
Jisoo sighs, the pain is getting clearer but his mission is nearing the end, and he can’t give up now. He takes his gun and pulls Viktor out when the elevator door opens, walks under Junghan’s guidance.
A little bit more, and the team will catch them, and they will take the agents down. But things aren’t work that way, not in this business. Jisoo should’ve known that. Someone shoots Viktor from behind, the bullets pierces through his back. He immediately collapses to the ground, and once again, everything is black-white and mute around Jisoo.
He can hear another gunshot in distant, it’s coming from his own gun. One of the agents dies after Jisoo shoots him in the head. The other one runs in slow motion, trying to reach the suitcase, and with the rest of energy he has left, Jisoo pulls his gun and shoots him on the leg. Jisoo gets up, drags the suitcase and holds it tight, running to the balcony and throwing himself to the air.
The world is still black and white and soundless.
Viktor Borislav’s face is pale and he looks so terrified, even in his death. Jisoo closes the dead man’s eyes with his palm, sighing heavily. He doesn’t know how long it will take for him to stop blaming himself after Viktor’s death.
“Let’s go, you need to get treatment,” Junghan says from his side, the boy is supporting him to walk after Jisoo broke his ankle, accidentally, when he jumped from the fifth floor. He’s lucky Junghan asked the team on the first floor to be prepared, or else he could be dead.
“How’s Mingyu?”
“He’s fine now. The bullet didn’t touch his vital organs, so the surgery wasn’t crucial. The doctor advised him to rest for three weeks, but we know how Mingyu is. By the day he discharged from the hospital, he’ll be ready for another mission from the HQ.”
Jisoo chuckles, “I’m sorry I failed the whole operation.”
Junghan frowns, “What are you saying?”
“The agent escaped, Viktor Borislav is dead, and now we’re back to zero. It’s all my fault, so I’m sorry. You all have worked so hard for this.”
Junghan stops walking and jabs on Jisoo’s ribs, annoyed. “I hate it when you start blaming yourself,” he pouts. “You’ve done your part very well. We’re one step closer to the organization, and it doesn’t matter if we have to start it from the bottom again. The most important is, our team is still complete and will have a whole month holiday to spend together.”
Jisoo raises a brow at Junghan. “Oh, Jihoon was serious about it?”
“Of course,” Junghan laughs. “Our boss is very something, isn’t it?”
Jisoo laughs, pulling Junghan closer to his side. “I wonder what I ever did to deserve all these good things in life. I flawed, I made mistakes, and I’m far from perfect. But look at me, I have a wonderful team to work with, and I have you. I can’t believe I am this lucky.”
“You flawed, you made mistakes, and you’re far from perfect. But you are still the one I want, and still the best field agent our team ever had. You’re perfect in your own way for us, and you’ll never know how or why. All we need is just for you to stay with us, with me, because no matter what happens, I’ll stay by your side. All of us will. Can you believe that’s how much you affect people around you?”
Jisoo smiles, leans down to kiss Junghan’s lips softly. “I think I deserve a pat in my back,”
Junghan does pat him in the back, real hard it almost makes Jisoo stumble forwards. “You’re so mean.” Jisoo protests.
“That was for jumping from the fucking fifth floor without telling me anything, you dumb ass. I almost died of heart attack seeing you did that. Do that again and I will never speak to you again for the rest of my life.”
Jisoo laughs until he can’t feel his legs and Junghan grumbles at him because you’re so heavy, what are you doing?! and Jisoo laughs harder until Junghan starts laughing with him, until they forget what’s so funny. Jisoo drapes an arm around Junghan’s shoulder, resting his chin on the other’s head.
“You don’t have to worry about that. The answer is on you, and I can’t tell myself.”
“Me? What answer is on me?”
“You have this magic magnet with super power that will bring me back to you, no matter how far I go. And it’s good, because I know I actually have a destination. I have somewhere to go when everything gone wrong and bad. And I know you’ll always stay by my side, so I’m not afraid to go far beyond what I could imagine. I’m talking about me jumping from the fifth floor, of course.”
Junghan circles Jisoo’s waist with his arms, readjusting his head on Jisoo’s chest. “Maybe this magic magnet with super power is called home,” he says softly. Jisoo nods, agrees, and presses a kiss on Junghan’s hair.
He’s home.