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taintedcigs · 7 months

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GETAWAY CAR — rockstar!e.m. x f!reader

CHAPTER ONE: BEST OF TIMES, THE WORST OF CRIMES

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✦ summary: in which you return to hawkins to attend your best friend nancy's wedding, facing the problems you left behind, and the one person you abandoned; eddie munson. (wc: 9.4k+)

✦ warnings — ANGSTANGSTANGST, pining and slowburn, reuniting <33, strong language!, mentions of alc*hol and drg use and a toxic relationship, reader is sad and feels guilty. kinda mean eddie but not rlly.

✦ pairings — rockstar!eddie munson x fem!reader, past billy hargrove x fem!reader

✦ authors note — okay so its finally HERE. im SOOO EXCITED for u guys to read it!! i have tried to proof-read this a lot but my mind is fuzzy so ignore all mistakes!! if u need some stuff to listen to while reading this long ass chapter or the songs mentioned in it u can check out the playlist !! hope yall enjoy it mwah <3

series masterlist | series playlist

I'm a cold heartbreaker Fit to burn and I'll rip your heart in two

The sound coming from your slightly jammed stereo while the rain gently pattered on the roof of your car could’ve been heavenly.

If only it weren’t the roads of Hawkins that you were travelling in. Five years that had passed were seemingly nothing when you recognized the familiar streets and the infamous forest, heart skipping a beat when you finally arrived on Maple Street.

The cars parked just outside of the Wheeler House were enough to give you anxiety, especially when your eyes spotted that van. His van. Why did he still have it? Wasn’t he a rich rock star by now? There was an unnecessary bitter taste in your throat, and your gaze was stuck on the van now, gulping physically as you tried to ignore those guilty feelings bubbling up inside of you. Mind quick to revel in all those memories you had with him in that stupid vehicle.

5 YEARS AGO.

“Hurry!” You whisper-yelled, still looking around, Eddie was right behind you, his tongue darting out of his mouth as it always did when he was focused, running like hell as his calloused hands harshly gripped the tequila bottle that you two had just stolen.

The angry voice of the shop’s owner had long disappeared by now, but you could never be too careful. When you finally got close to his van, you stopped Eddie immediately. “Behind you!” You yelled in a fake-worried voice, causing Eddie to start sprinting forward toward the car.

When he noticed you not following and breaking into laughter, his worried face eased as he realized your little prank, giving you a humorless laugh as he started sprinting towards you.

You squealed when he grabbed you by your waist, lifting you off in one swift motion, spinning you around as your giggles filled the space.

Eddie’s grin faltered quickly. “I hate you,” He mocked in a serious tone.

“I’m sorry, but I just love that worried look on your face. And, oh god, that sprint! You know what you should be?” You asked, a smirk forming on your lips as you waited for him to fall into your trap.

Eddie sighed exhaustedly, a grin plastered on his face, he put you down.

You squealed happily as he did so, “A... Tiger!” You mimicked pompoms with your hands as you tried to re-do your cheer routine, chanting after Eddie.

He playfully nudged your shoulders, “Oh, Pinky... You are on a roll today, huh?” He asked, the nickname rolled off his tongue so sweetly. It was a stupid fucking name, sure, but you loved it. It somehow stuck, the entire town calling you Pinky ever since you pronounced ‘Pinky Promise’ wrong once and your parents funnily referred to you by it.

You nodded, giggling, stealing the bottle from his hands, and chugging a sip. “This was a great idea.” You hummed, pointing to the bottle, the bitter taste burning your throat, almost coughing with how big of a chug you took.

He quirked his brows, flying over to your side as he opened your car door.

“Let’s go, thief.” He tilted his head, hands gesturing forward animatedly.

“What a gentleman!” You mocked dramatically, sliding into the messy van easily as Eddie heaved a sigh.

He sprinted toward the other door, cursing as he struggled to open the rusty door, eyes bulging out of his head almost as he checked to make sure the coast was clear. “You know…” He started with a muffled sigh as he hopped into the driver’s seat.

“Everyone thought I would be a bad influence on you… or that you would at least be a good influence on me, but ever since I met you, all we have done is illegal shit.” His voice was mocking. “I think it’s time you give up that good girl cheerleader title, princess. Because forcing your best friend to steal booze is definitely not good girl material.”

Throwing your hands up in defense, you turned to him. “And they still think you are the devil worshipper!” You added, a hearty laugh escaping from your slurry lips.

Eddie sighed when he couldn’t turn the ignition properly, his van—Aurora, which Eddie of course named himself—was too old now.

“Oh, come on, baby,” He whispered when his fingers roughly tried to turn the key further, earning a hesitant cough from his precious Aurora. “Pleasepleaseplease…” He whispered, engine roaring back to life now with his second try. “There you go, honey, thank you!” He exclaimed as he threw his hands up in the air, mouth quick to press up against the wheel, giving Aurora a thousand kisses, causing you to squint your eyes.

“You are… pathetic,” You scoffed with a shake of your head, a teasing smirk playing at your lips.

“Oh, we’ll see who’s pathetic,” He disagreed dramatically. His eyes diverted from the road as he sneakily grabbed your bag, causing you to protest quickly. “Hey!” He didn’t mind your tug on his bicep when he dug his whole arm into your bag, fiddling as he tried to find your cassette tape under all the mess.

“There we go,” He hummed when he animatedly pulled it toward your sight. ‘BEST MIXTAPE’ The tape dramatically read when Eddie snatched it out of your view stuffing it away from you.

“If you make fun of Aurora, you lose your music privileges.” He hummed all-knowingly, a troublesome look overtaking his features as he focused back on the road. Your gaze squinted, barely able to see his plump lips that were now quipped into a grin.

“Really…” You hummed, hiding behind the way your lips twitched mischievously.

Eddie’s curiosity was quick to perk up; you not whining ‘Eds!!’ as you elbowed him and huffed when you called him a jerk meant only one thing.

You had some really good new music.

“You sure about that… Munson?” You quirked a brow, grin growing wider as you seized your bag from his hands, earning a groan from Eddie.

“What have you got up your sleeve, sweetheart?” He asked, stealing a quick glance at one of your pretty smiles before he turned his attention to the road.

“Something really good…” You hummed, hand diving into your bag again before you reclined in your seat, throwing him a knowing look.

“Jesus…” He whined. “What d’ya want?” He implored, his gaze squinting.

You wanted to keep the game going, tease him further, and get him to his breaking point. But the way his eye twitched with curiosity, tongue licking his lips with need made you want to tell him everything, let him in on your little surprise.

“Hmm… Music privileges…”

“And?” He asked with a huff, knowing that’s not all you wanted.

“And, I’m gonna pick the place where we drink this cutie!” You exclaimed, hand pointing toward the tequila bottle you had a firm grip on.

He threw you a glare; it wasn’t a hard glare, you knew it and he knew it, he did it just to tease you, and that’s exactly what had you so giddy about him. “Fine…” He whined, teasing further. “Whatcha got?”

You clapped animatedly, pulling out the cassette with a huge grin. The Cure’s ‘The Head on The Door’ album was swaying in your hands as Eddie groaned.

You pouted. “You got me all excited for The Cure?” He pinched his brows together, causing you to gasp dramatically, huffing.

“What’s wrong with The Cure? You love them!” You protested, glaring at him.

“You love The Cure, sweetheart.” He grinned, earning a scoff from you as your hands were quick to wrap around your chest annoyedly.

“Just for that, you won’t get to know what the second album is. And it really was a good one.” You shrugged, putting the bag in front of your legs, just out of Eddie’s reach.

“Oh, come on!” He sighed, eyeing you with squinted eyes.

“I was joking! I love The Cure.” He murmured, but you shrugged again, eyes falling toward the window as you started giving him the silent treatment playfully.

“Really?” He understood your play. “Jesus H. Christ.” He huffed, attention turning toward you.

“Just check the glove compartment.” You ignored him again.

“Pinky.” He called out. “Do it.” His eyes pointed toward it, causing you to sigh as you opened it unenthusiastically.

A bunch of cassette tapes fell toward your lap, you squealed at the contact. “Eddie!” You exclaimed with a chuckle.

Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, Faith, Pornography and The Top was sprawled across your lap, and your eyes widened.

The Cure’s discography. Just sitting in his glove compartment.

You turned to him with an affectionate gaze, hands covering your mouth as you stood speechless.

“Wh-what are these?” You were a stuttering mess. Did he really do all of this for you?

“Uh–I’m pretty sure those are albums, princess,” He mocked you in a playful tone as you tilted your head, tongue sticking out in a childish manner.

His smile grew wider before he shook his head. “Started collecting those–uh… after that day–uhh, you remember that?” His gaze avoided yours.

“We–uh almost got kicked out of The Hideout?” He muttered with a sly grin, eyes focused on the road just so you wouldn’t notice the slight flush on his cheeks.

“Eds–” You attempted to speak, but he didn’t let you. “You remember that day? You asked me what my favorite band was?” You nodded furiously, Eddie didn’t even have to take another glance at you to know you had a warm smile on your face, sensing your head bobbing up and down excitedly.

“Y-you know, before they tried to kick us out?” You gave him a slight giggle, humming.

“I told you mine was Dio. And you told me yours was The Cure?” A dizzying grin was stuck on your face, cheeks stretching with pain from how big it was. And Eddie knew if he looked, even for a split second, he’d fall for you all over again. He knew that he couldn’t contain those feelings inside of him anymore. So he avoided it. He avoided that one glance thrown your way because he didn’t want to lose you.

You bowed your head to say ‘yes’ again, words didn’t dare come out of your grinning lips. You didn’t know what to do; you wanted to hug him, feel his arms wrapped around you. You wanted to kiss his flushed cheeks and his apparent dimple, which you couldn’t get enough of.

The silence hanging in the air was killing you. “I remember.” You muttered, almost shyly, like the two of you weren’t teasing the hell out of each other mere seconds ago.

His brows furrowed when you leaned over your seat again, digging something from your bag as you hid it behind you.

“That is why…” You smiled, hands shaking as you hid the cassette behind your back. “I got you this!” You exclaimed, swinging the tape in front of his bulging eyes.

His eyes squinted before the realisation set in. You remembered that day. Just like he did. You remembered his favorite band. Just like he did yours.

He didn’t want to get his hopes up, you were just being friendly, right? You didn’t do this in the same loving, caring way he did. You did this as a friend. You were a great friend. And he was an asshole for harboring these feelings for his best friend.

He couldn’t help the squeak that escaped his plump lips. The car came to a halt quicker than he intended it to. Swinging you over your seat, making you squeal with him.

“Jesus, Eddie!” You giggled, turning to face him and seeing his speechless face as he admired you. You could feel your cheeks heat up, and it was embarrassing.

Why did he have to look at you like that?

Why did he have to complicate things for you?

You wouldn’t be good enough for him.

And there was Billy. Billy. Billy. Billy—

Your inner thoughts were interrupted by his childlike screams as he seized the Sacred Heart album by Dio from your hands.

He didn’t hesitate—like you did—to engulf you in a hug. Hands securely resting on your lower back, and you could feel your breath hitch.

You would spend all of your work pay checks on stupid damn records if it meant you could see him like this again, and you’d happily starve if it meant you’d have him hug you like this again. But that’s what friends did, right?

“Oh my god.” His eyes widened, tone much calmer before his excitement rose up again.

“Oh my fucking god, Pinky!” He yelled in delight again, taking you by surprise when his hands were holding your shoulder in excitement.

“Y-you… shit- you got this for me?” He asked with a sympathetic gaze.

You nodded quickly. “Of course!”

“Why’d you think we had to steal that bottle?” You winked teasingly, causing him to snort.

“Pinky, you’re the fucking best.” He muttered into your hair, a grin overtaking your features when he held your face in his hands, honey-glazed eyes boring into yours.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou.” His fast-paced mantra left you giggling again before he pressed a small, appreciative smooch on your forehead.

He was just being friendly, you thought. There was no way he could want something more. You were beyond fucked up for that, and Billy was the only proof you needed.

He sighed contently when he relaxed back into his seat. “Wherever you want to go, princess, let me know.” He winked with a childish smile.

The two cassettes were replayed over and over again before the two of you made your way to your ‘special destination’.

Dragging Eddie through the woods while he whined earned several giggles from you. He chugged the bottle in his hands with a sour face.

“How much longer do we have to fuckin’ walk?” He complained, his feet dragging on to exaggerate.

“We’re almost there, you dork.” You squinted your eyes at another frustrated groan escaped his lips. Laughter erupting from your stomach teasingly before you handed him the stolen bottle, Eddie chugged quickly, and his face soured, “How did you even find this place anyway?” He asked.

“Skull Rock?” You asked, and he nodded. “Wait, you don’t know about Skull Rock?” You questioned, eyes widening, causing Eddie to roll his. “C'mon, Pinky, not all of us hang out with the prissy popular kids.”

You gasped and playfully but still harshly hit his chest, “Ow!” He flinched. “Shit, are all cheerleaders as heavy-handed as you?” He asked, furrowing his brows. “Hey, I barely touched you!” You smirked while he faked getting hurt, rubbing his chest mockingly.

“Skull Rock is known as the make-out spot of Hawkins.” You enunciated dramatically as Eddie ooh-ed, “Thanks to, ‘King Steve’”, you mocked, mimicking air quotes.

Eddie’s eyes widened. “Wait… wait,” His walking came to a halt when he tried to process that information. “Y-you and Steve?” He asked, dumbfounded, a slight overtone of jealousy was apparent in his tone, mixed with his own insecurities, and your face was quick to sour. “God, no!” You scrunched your nose; you loved Steve, but not in that way, never in that way.

“Who do you think taught him this place?” You tilted your brows.

“I came here the first time my parents left with a tiny note stuck on the fridge.” You shrugged. You were used to your parents always leaving you without any notice other than a scribbled note that told you that they’d be gone for a while. And you never knew if it would be for days or for months. Now that they've been gone for the last four months, you assumed it was permanent this time, and even though you never admitted to it, it fucking hurt. Coming here has been your only escape lately. And all you wanted to do was share it with Eddie, have him in your comfort zone.

Eddie’s face soured; you could see that red tint on his cheeks, almost like he was furious. And he was, because he understood. He understood what it was like to have deadbeat parents who were fucking useless, he understood the pain it brought and how it could make a person feel so fucking unwanted. But at least he had Wayne. You didn’t have anyone. The closest thing to you had that resembled a family were your friends and the Wheelers—and even that wasn’t enough to give him some peace of mind.

“When Steve had his first heartbreak, I brought him here, but that fucker turned this place into an orgy party,” You continued, a simple chuckle escaping your lips.

“And after that, people started coming here all the time for their little make-out sesh.” Your hands stretched forward to make a point, and you rolled your eyes.

“Even Billy took me here one time,” You murmured the Billy part, wanting to avoid the talk with Eddie because you knew neither of them liked each other, and you rarely, if ever, spoke about him with Eddie, while Billy always announced his distaste for Eddie, murmuring about how it was obvious that the “freak” just wanted to get in your pants.

“You know, Billy is one of those people who think I’m a bad influence on you because I’m a “freak” and “devil worshipper,” right, sweetheart?” You avoided his gaze.

You didn’t want to talk about Billy, at least not with Eddie, and not now. You just wanted one thing to yourself without him being involved, which seemed impossible.

You forced a smile. “Well, Billy is…” an asshole, an idiot, and sometimes a fucking narcissist, you wished to say, but you didn’t want to drag Eddie into your relationship problems. Billy was still your boyfriend, and in all honesty, your on and off relationship was something that no one actually understood.

Nancy gave Billy a glare each time he came around, Steve and Robin constantly reminded you how awful he was. But it didn’t matter, because you couldn’t let him go, each time he fucked you up in a different way, you went back to him.

You took him back because you didn’t know any better, you accepted him because love was supposed to be like this, wasn’t it? It was supposed to be a challenge, it was supposed to be fucking hard. It was supposed to be something to fight for.

But it was so…exhausting. Trying to get him to understand you, trying to get him to care, trying not to make him mad—walking on egg-shells each time you were around him.

And everything was so fucking different with Eddie; things were so uncomplicated with him and so fucking fun. You didn’t want to admit that you wanted that… that you wanted him.

Because he was easy—and in the best possible way. He was so easy to love. He was safe and he made you feel safe. When he caressed your back, when he opened a door for you, when he let you walk in front of him with his hand ghosting over your lower back, when you asked him to hold your bag and he swung it over his shoulder. He laughed at things easily, he made you laugh easily. He listened intently, when you just wanted to open up for a bit, he was quiet; when you needed someone to talk to, he gave you all the advice in the world.

And more than anything, Eddie cared. He cared about you, in a way you had never been cared for before.

He brought a side out of you that you never knew existed; relaxed. He was gentle with you, he knew how to joke around, and he didn’t have any problems being who he was. He was open and nice; he didn’t get angry at everything, and it was just… nice to be around him.

You shook your head at your thoughts, “Billy is Billy.” You concluded, eyes fixed on the ground. Eddie just gave you a small smile, as if he understood your train of thought. His hands caressed your back reassuringly in a way that was telling you that it was okay to think what you were thinking, and it brought an imminent smile to your face, knowing that he would always be there for you.

You remembered that night clearly when the two of you drank an entire bottle of booze you stole, and smoked Eddie’s stash, bodies lazily laying next to each other, Skull Rock had the best view, stars filled the empty sky, and a crescent moon appeared between them.

It was relaxing, lying with Eddie, high out of your mind.

“There’s no way you think Honeycomb Cereal is the best breakfast food.” You shook your head as Eddie scoffed.

“I do! It counts as breakfast, and you can also eat it as a snack on its own, what more do you need?” He raised his brows, taking a puff from the joint sitting between his index fingers.

“Uh? I don’t know, waffles? Eggs and bacon? Actual good cereal?” You mocked, causing Eddie to nudge your side lightly.

“Oh, and which cereal does the princess think is the best?”

“Cinnamon Toast Crunch, of course,” You said proudly.

“You are disgusting.” Eddie scrunched his face. You shrugged with a grin on your face as you snatched the joint from his fingers, reaching for the lighter in his hand. And before you could even light the blunt sitting in your fingers, the carved lighter caught your attention.

It was a silver Zippo lighter with a dragon print and had scratches all over it. You scrunched your brows as you looked up at Eddie and said, “What the hell is this?” You held the lighter up, and Eddie seized it from your hands.

“A lighter?” He replied smugly, causing you to huff, “Where did you even get it?” Your curiosity peaked.

“Bummed it off a guy at the bar last night, pretty fuckin’ cool, huh?” He asked, getting excited as he showed you the print, the carving of the dragon was so detailed that you could basically count its scales.

“Stealing is considered cool?” You murmured, causing Eddie to give you a huff as he placed the lighter on the rock between the two of you, allowing you to get a more detailed look.

“Really, Pinky?” He almost snorted. “How about you answer that one, because the tequila bottle you’re holding wasn’t paid for... If I remember correctly,” He mocked a thinking face, dimples ever-so apparent as he tried to contain his grin.

“I–We!” You expressed in a higher tone, “Didn’t steal that bottle because it was cool, doofus. We! did it because we’re poor.” You enunciated the ‘us’ part again before nudging his rib slightly and prodding, earning a “Hey!” from Eddie, who was ticklish.

“Anyway.” You giggled, handing the lighter back to him with a grin on your face, “Would’ve been cooler if it was pink.” Eddie gave you a weird look.

“What?” You implored, shrugging carelessly.

“Pinky liking pink… what a surprise, huh?” He said sarcastically, causing you to groan.

“Don’t be such a guy, Munson,” You warned, you liked pink, but both of you knew that wasn’t why the nickname stuck. And it didn’t matter what it truly meant because you liked it. You liked that it was the only thing you had from them that didn’t leave—something that was truly yours, something that would never abandon you.

“Oh, you know that’s not why, you doofus.” You rolled your eyes. “Have you ever seen a pink dragon?” You gushed, and Eddie shook his head.

“See! Case closed.” You grinned.

“Pink dragons are cool,” You said with a determined face, and Eddie couldn’t help the grin that was plastered onto his face now.

You spent the rest of the night giggling like a bunch of kids over nothing, the chilling breeze of the Hawkins nights providing comfort to you that you had never felt before.

When your shivers hadn’t stopped, you heard Eddie sighing, “Okay, you are getting my jacket,” He insisted, annoyed, because you had refused his offer for a jacket a million times just because you didn’t want him to be cold.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head before you could open your mouth to refuse. Calloused hands quick to securely wrap his infamous black leather jacket around you. You looked up at him, a sympathetic gaze apparent, as you tried to refuse, tried to insist that he would get cold, but he didn’t accept it. “Better I freeze off than you.”

Your heart fluttered before it was apparent on your face, lips twitching into a warm, sickly sweet smile as you accepted, “Thank you,” You murmured, almost shyly. The jacket fell comfortably on your shoulders, a whiff of weed, beer and the old leather smell engulfed you, warmth taking over your entire body.

You liked the feeling of wearing something that was his. In fact, you liked it too much. Something about Eddie always provided some sort of security for you. He made you feel comfortable in your skin, like he was meant to be there for you, like he was supposed to help you, even when you repeatedly told him you didn’t need it. You cleared your throat to gather your thoughts, taking the joint in his hands as your head slowly but comfortably fell on his shoulders.

Taking a puff from it, you looked over at Eddie. “As soon as I graduate, I’m leaving this place.” You could feel his head turn toward you, his gaze almost burning its way through your hair.

“Eight months, eight fucking months left.” Your tone was the most serious he had heard that night, and he couldn’t help but have a baffling look on his face. You had mentioned something about ‘leaving this hellhole’ before, but he never knew how serious you were, at least until now.

He shook his head quickly to gather his thoughts. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and scare you away, so he shrugged. “Fine, but you can’t abandon me, I’m coming with you.” His tone was nonchalant, and it brought a smile to your face.

“I would never leave without you.”

NOW.

You shook your head at the memories, at least you had achieved one of those things. You got out of the hellhole that was Hawkins as soon as you graduated, being selfish enough to not care about the ones you had left behind, but you needed to do whatever you could to survive, and you shouldn’t have to apologize for it, right?

Right?

It’s what you kept repeating to yourself, but there was one part of you that always felt guilty for leaving without a goodbye, cutting off all contact. And that guilt returned with Nancy’s invitation; you knew you couldn’t hold off on her wedding, no matter how much you wanted to escape the town that caused you agony.

Nancy was your best friend when you were living in Hawkins, she was there with you through everything, and the Wheelers were there when your parents abandoned you, inviting you to their home as if it were nothing.

You've seen Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, and Robin several times in the last couple of years. Especially after Nancy told them the exact reason why you left, they understood and welcomed you.

That’s what you loved about them; even though you spent some time apart, they would always be your best friend. And that is exactly why Nancy picked you as her maid of honor—because she knew you’d always be there. She trusted you with her whole life, and so did you. The two of you knew things about each other that no one else did.

And I'll leave you lyin' on the bed I'll be out the door before you wake

You huffed when you turned the stereo off, the lyrics giving you a stupid familiar feeling, like it was written about you and Eddie. Like Axl and Izzy were hiding somewhere in the California apartment you and Eddie stayed in right after you left, as if they witnessed you leaving him there.

The song became an afterthought when you realized you actually had to go in now or one of Wheeler’s snobby neighbors would surely call the cops on you for suspiciously watching the house while hiding in your car like a coward.

Eddie was already in there.

What if everyone else was there too?

Would they cuss you out and tell you to fuck off?

You surely deserved it.

You cursed yourself when you exited the car, feet dragging you all the way to the door, knowing that you needed to do this. Inhaling a deep breath, you rang the bell, even the tune sounded the same, and the guilt inside of you started rising up again.

“Will you get that?” Nancy’s screaming voice could be barely heard from your side of the door, and your eyes immediately pressed shut together.

Please don’t let it be Eddie. Please don’t let it be Eddie. Please don’t let it be Eddie. Please don’t let it be Eddie. Please don’t let it be Eddie. Please don't let it be Eddie—

When the door swung open, the eyes that met yours blinked quickly, not knowing whether they were imagining it or not.

Your blinking eyes were quick to open widely as well, and a sigh of relief left your chest.

It wasn’t Eddie.

But it still wasn’t any better. Your face was quick to feel hot as your gaze met hers, and you felt ashamed. Not knowing what to say, you murmured a simple “Hey.”

Max stood in front of you with an unreadable expression, and you were afraid. For the first time, you were afraid of her.

Was she going to slam the door in your face? Was she just going to ignore you?

You bit your lip out of nervousness at the silence, and just as you were about to open your mouth again, Max squealed—which you had never, ever heard her do before—as she wrapped her arms around you in a jump-like hug.

Your breath got caught in your lungs, and a hearty giggle escaped your plump lips as you embraced it, melting into the hug.

“I can’t believe it.” She squealed, pulling away from the hug to see your face fully again, her eyes almost prickling with tears.

Jesus. She had grown up so fast.

Her face that fell around your shoulders felt weird now that she was so much taller and much closer to you in height. She looked different, and you couldn’t decide whether to feel ashamed or guilty about it.

Your eyes widened, almost in shock, you never expected to be perceived in any way positively, especially by Max. And she could sense that shock on your face, with the way your mouth visibly stood agape.

“You-uh… you’re not mad?” You implored, eyes almost widening with the need to know.

Her eyes softened, and the sorrows in your heart were quick to dissipate with it, she shook her head lightly, almost in an all-knowing way. “Uhm- I-I know what happened.” She almost whispered, gaze falling toward the kitchen, implying that Nancy had already babbled about the day you left.

Damn you, Nancy Wheeler.

Your head popped up toward the kitchen, where Nancy was, as if you were going to run up to her, your cheeks fluttered with embarrassment, you never wanted Max to find out.

“Don’t… please don’t be mad at her.” She turned your attention back to her with a gentle touch on your arm, easing your tense body with just one touch.

“If she didn’t tell me what happened… I don’t think I’d even talk to you, Pinky.” She admitted shyly, your gaze on her still widening.

“Wh-what exactly did she tell you?” You asked, you weren’t going to get mad at Nancy, you knew she didn’t have any malicious intentions, you just never wanted Max to know what her step-brother did. At least not until she was much older. Your brain almost short-circuited as you looked at her once again. She was already much older; you knew Nancy made the right call.

“Not much!” Max blurted quickly, maybe to ease your worries; maybe it was the truth.

“Just that- uh-that… Billy did something horrible, and that you and Eddie left and then uh… the two of you went to.. uh—Chicago?” She stuttered, head hanging low before she looked back at you, trying to read your expressions.

“California,” You muttered. “Uh-Los Angeles, to be exact.” You breathed, correcting her. Did she know more? Did she also know that you left Eddie after that, too? Did she know that you had been carrying the guilt of leaving Eddie, her and those four little idiots too? The only ones you didn’t have any contact with in the last five years?

“Is that… is that where you are now?” Her brows pinched together; she knew where you were—New York, Nancy had told her. But she just wanted to hear more from you, and you could sense it.

You shook your head. “New York.” Your lips pursed together, and she gave you a slight nod as if to ask if there was anything else going on in your life, you caught it immediately. “My cousin helped me get this apartment, and she, uh, has this record shop there.” Max gave you a tight-lipped smile.

“And, uh, it has like a tattoo shop behind it—records by day and tattoos by night.” You revealed more, awkwardly, your stupid joke made you want to hit your head against the perfectly white marbled walls of the Wheeler’s. “I’m actually training to become a tattoo artist now,” You said with your gaze stuck on how much she had grown now, almost feeling embarrassed for some reason before Max’s gasp turned your attention back to her.

“No way.”

“Dude, you’re still so fucking cool.” She nudged your shoulder, and your face instantly lit up. All the worries in your head disappeared, giddiness replacing it when you realized Max still saw you as her cool older sister.

“You think so?” You teased, giving her a light-hearted chuckle, “Uh… yeah? Dude, you work at a record store that has a tattoo shop in the back… you invented cool at this point.” She encouraged, surprise and fascination washing over her face.

“If Mad Max says so” You teased, muffling her hair and earning whines from her.

And you hated that it took you back to five years ago. Every stupid fucking thing you saw or did in this town made you take a trip down memory lane, but it was the worst with Max, because almost every memory with her had your head wandering off to the certain redhead’s step-brother. A chill ran down your spine at the idea of him even being back in town. But there was no fucking way, right?

You had heard from Nancy that the Mayfield-Hargrove’s had moved out and returned to California by the time Max started going to college—somewhere far away from them. However, she and the other kids always returned to Hawkins in the summer. You assumed she wanted to reunite with her friends and that she was trying to avoid the step-fuckers—a nickname Max herself gave both Billy and Neil Hargrove.

“He-uh… He doesn’t know about the wedding, right? Or he isn’t… he isn’t back in town? Is he?” You stuttered eerily; you knew Nancy would never invite him, but you still wanted to make sure that he didn’t know about it or that he wouldn’t know you were back in town.

“No—god, no.” Max shook her head quickly. “He’s in California with the ‘parents’.” She scoffed. “He has no fucking clue.” She added.

And you nodded simply; one of your worries was now at ease.

“What about…” You trailed off, pretending to sound nonchalant about wanting to ask about Eddie, you were anything but as you fiddled with your fingers.

Max picked up on it immediately. “Eddie?” she asked almost smugly, making you nod quickly—too quickly to appear nonchalant.

“Oh!” She grinned, making your cheeks feel hot.

Damn it. How did he still have this effect on you without even being present?

“He came like an hour ago. The last I saw him he was arguing with Dustin about their nerdy game.” She rolled her eyes slightly.

“Oh, uhm, that’s—that’s good…” You said unsurely, you knew he was here, because of his stupid van that was parked outside just behind your car, but what the fuck were you even going to do when you did eventually see him.

Would you pretend like nothing happened?

Would he pretend like nothing happened?

How the fuck were you supposed to do that when your feelings for him were still all over the place? You already felt dumb for not managing to get over him in the last five years, it just seemed impossible considering how things were left off.

You cleared your throat, turning your attention to Max. You didn’t need Eddie to cloud your mind right now, the guilt of abandoning Max still filled your stomach.

“Max…” You caught her attention softly, and almost as if she knew you were going to bring up the subject, a pout overtook her features.

“I—I’m sorry…” You started, voice shaky. “I fucked up, I should have let you know... A message, a call, a note… Jesus—anything.” Your voice was meek, causing you to gulp.

“I should have done something, I—Fuck… I don’t know what to say, just that I’m really sorry.” You were stumbling over your own words when your vision got blurry, eyes glossy as you looked up at her.

“Pinky…” She muttered comfortingly, you didn’t expect this kindness from her that you thought you were unworthy of. You had left her without anything, and she still greeted you with open arms.

Maybe you were wrong. Maybe people could forgive you, maybe they could forget. Maybe Eddie would laugh it off.

“I know that…” She offered a sympathetic gaze. “I knew deep down that you would never leave without a goodbye if it wasn’t important.” She gulped, physically, that familiar lump in her throat returned with the emotional weight her words held.

“I’m not a kid anymore.” Max gave you a small smile. “I know how hard that must’ve been for you, okay?” Her hands were quick to take yours into hers, fingers gently soothing you. “I don’t blame you. So don’t fucking blame yourself… I know how you get.” Her hands stood on your shoulder now, shaking you lightly in the guise of making you feel better.

A poor smile appeared on your lips, Max possibly didn't realize how much her words mattered to you, how you needed to relieve yourself of the guilt. One gesture from her almost enough to heal the wound that coming back to Hawkins split open deep inside of you.

“Oh my god!” Nancy’s shriek caused you to turn around.

“Pinky, finally!” Her voice beamed, and before you even got a chance to say anything, she engulfed you in a hug.

“I was about to lose it,” She whispered into the hug before her eyes widened at you and Max.

“Shit…” She muttered, knowing Max had probably already told you that she blabbed about your disappearance.

“I was going to mention that…” She tilted her head adorably, a shy smile adorning her lips as you brushed it off with a laugh.

“Don’t worry about it, Nance.” You waved your hands in dismissal. “I can’t be pissed at you for anything… at least for the next five days…” You hummed.

“You better use your wedding privileges wisely.” You said, throwing her a wink, as you pulled away from the hug.

Your hands rubbed together quickly. “So... uh–where’s everyone?” You stammered, you were mostly asking about Eddie, but you also wanted to know where the hell Steve and Robin were. You missed those two idiots who were attached at the hip. They could calm you down better than anyone.

“The other kiddos are only going to be able to make it to the rehearsal dinner and the actual wedding.” She pouted, knowing that she planned a five day full of activities for all the people closest to her and Jonathan, but Mike, Lucas, El and Will were all going to miss it.

She huffed. “And uhhh… Steve and Robin are coming later tonight.”

“You remember we got that brunch thing at Steve’s tomorrow, right?” She asked, eyes squinting with doubt, before her arms crossed against her chest.

You almost groaned, head falling back. Fucking Steve and his stupid brunch plan.

“How could I forget?” You said through pressed lips, trying your best to seem enthusiastic, it wasn’t that you had a problem with it—it was because you were nervous, so fucking nervous to be in the same close proximity of Eddie again.

“And Jonathan should be...” She eyed the backyard. “Yup, in the backyard with the band. I left all the band planning to him.” She shrugged, making your eyebrows quirk.

Shit. She really did fucking love Jonathan, didn’t she? She would’ve never let anyone meddle with her own plans otherwise.

“Uhh–Dustin and… the others–” Her voice slightly cracked, and you instantly knew she was talking about Eddie.

“They’re-uh they’re just in the basement… uh—getting something I needed.” She nervously scratched her head. “I’m sure they’ll—uh… say hi when they can.” She gave you a nervous smile, eyeing Max before turning her attention to you.

And just like clockwork, just as Nancy started to babble more about the plans she had for the five days you were supposed to be in Hawkins, her words were quickly interrupted by the loud voice of Dustin, “Shut up!”

“Shut the fuck up!” He exclaimed excitedly as you gave him a slight giggle.

“I wasn’t talking,” You joked, and before you could get another word out, Dustin squeezed you in a tight hug, causing more giggles and excited squeaks to escape your lips.

“Looks like somebody missed me, huh?” You raised a brow.

“What have you been up to, Dustybun?” You asked with a sly smirk, causing Dustin to cringe at the nickname.

“Me? Jesus, you’ve been gone for five years, and you’re asking what I’ve been up to?” You shrugged.

“Where the fuck have you been?” You couldn’t pinpoint if it was genuine curiosity or a slight anger lingering in his tone.

“New York,” Max spoke before you, the attention in the room shifting towards her.

“She’s a tattoo artist now.” She exclaimed excitedly, causing Dustin’s eyes to widen.

“You?” He questioned, causing Nancy to join in and nod in excitement.

“No fucking way!”

“Well, I’m not exactly—”

“Dude, that’s so fucking cool!” Dustin gushed, interrupting you.

“Man, I knew those sketches were too cool to let them go to waste on Eddie’s bedroom walls,” He snorted, but your brows quipped, his bedroom walls? Did he still keep those?

“You have to tattoo me,” He raved, interrupting your thoughts as you stared at him in disbelief.

“No way, do you want Miss Henderson to kill me?” You huffed, crossing your arms against your chest.

“Oh, come on, just one little favor?” He pouted.

“Nuh-uh! The last time you asked me for a favor, she chided me for months, months!” You emphasized, “She even left me one too many voicemails scolding me!” Dustin sighed.

“How about something not-too-big? Like the bat one you did for Eddie, it looks so fucking—”

“You talkin’ bout me, Henderson?” A voice rang from the basement, and the slight sound of his footsteps dragging closer and closer toward the two of you caused you to stop dead in your tracks. You always knew Dustin was too loud for his own good.

You gulped, physically, and that lump in your throat reclaimed its place, his voice caused further suffocation in your throat, not being able to breathe when you could recognize that husky tone anywhere.

But it felt different.

Something about him felt different.

Your brain was struggling to comprehend a thought, your mouth had dried up, and it was getting harder to breathe.

“Dude... you could not rock a tattoo like me, no matter how fuckin' hard you—” And there was a pause, a small hitch in Eddie’s breath, as he finally realized who Dustin was talking to. And you could feel that hesitation, that uncomfortable tension filling the room that was once comfortable.

“Pinky?” You could recognize him just by his footstep alone, but now you’re sure it’s him, the nickname still rolling off his tongue so easily and sugary, like you had never left, like everything was okay again.

You’re slow to turn to face him, heart pounding with worry before you fully take him in, trying to decide his facial expressions, waiting for the anger, disappointment, shame, and fury.

You cannot place what his gaze holds, but you have missed the small glimmer in his eyes, the same one he always had when he saw you, so promising, so mellow that you feel your heart tightening.

You take him in now more than ever, his cheekbones are hollow and his face is more defined. He has so much more muscle on him, and it makes you question how long he has been working out.

His hair still lays messily on his forehead, bangs framing his face perfectly. Black jeans paired with a band-tee, and not just any band-tee, a Corroded Coffin shirt that unintentionally has you smiling. His dark brown eyes are mesmerizing as ever, eyelashes fluttering as he tries to accept the sight in front of him. Trying to make sure that he isn’t hallucinating, that you are actually here.

He looks good, so good that you can feel your mouth dry up, words getting stuck in your throat, the guitar pick necklace adorning his neck makes you want to pull him closer toward you.

You study him more than you should; those deep brown eyes are staring at you like a deer in headlights.

When he takes a step closer, gaze still locked to yours, you feel as if your souls have made a bridge, one you weren’t sure if you would be able to mend.

Close. He’s very close, but still, not close enough, not to your liking anyway. You want to be close enough to take him in wholly; you want him to engulf you in his arms, protecting you from all that’s bad in the world, feeling every ounce of him. The one person you had been yearning for was standing a foot away from you, and it was truly painful.

“You came,” Was all that left his plump lips, his gaze was still soft. He was as nervous as you are, something that you didn’t manage to pick up on.

If only he knew why you had to abandon him, maybe he would understand… Maybe he would even rid you of your guilt.

“Y-yeah, I did,” You stuttered.

“Max, Dustin!” Nancy announced. “Why don’t you two help me in the back?” Nancy threw a look that both of them understood immediately, running off after her without another word exchanged.

The incessant throb in Eddie’s heart returned when his attention turned back to you, he knew you would come, but he didn’t know how much that would crush him.

That rage in him, bubbling up at the surface, subsided quickly when you gave him that gentle look. “What’s Dustin yapping about?” He asked with a chuckle, attempting to lighten the mood and ease his own worries.

“Oh— uhm… just that he wanted me to tattoo him,” You couldn’t help the nervous crack in your voice.

“You? Oh my god, you finally did it?”

“Well… not exactly.” You gave him an awkward chuckle. “I’m training to be one, though.” You shrugged.

“You know I’m a happy customer of yours.” He gave you a smile before he flashed his forearm, showing you the bat tattoo that you gave him five years ago.

He had much more tattoos now, but the bat tattoo you gave him still stood out among the thousand others on his forearm, at least it did to you. “Oh!” He breathed, attention diverting to something else as his hands fiddled behind him. He dug them in his back pocket, he struggled to get something it out. “Aha!” He exclaimed, waving the worn out notebook in front of your curious gaze. “But I’m definitely not giving you the ‘Promise’ notebook back!”

Your pupils dilated at the sight; he still had it. He still had the notebook that your stupid sketches were sprawled all over. You gave it to him sometime during senior year, when he was having some trouble with his songwriting process. Your parents got you that notebook as a joke as soon as they saw the handwritten ‘Promise’ on the front, a silly play on your nickname. And you wanted him to have it; you wanted it to inspire him as much as it did you; your art mattered, and you wanted him to see that, so did his.

“You… you still have that?” You asked, an astonished look still not leaving your features. “Yeah, it really played a key role on our first album.” He beamed. A crimson red blush was quick to wash over his cheeks; he wasn’t sure if he should’ve told you that or let you in this quickly when you left him on a whim in LA.

“But… that’s— that’s still so fucking cool, Pinky,” His eyes widened, he shook off his thoughts in a flash. He had missed you, so fucking much—more than he let you on.

“So I’ve been told.” You meant to sound nonchalant.

“What have you been up to?” You asked as if you didn’t know, as if you didn’t try to gather some information about him from Nancy and Jonathan. As if you didn’t listen to their album the second it came to your record shop.

“Just making some music, here and there.”

It was a lie.

He knew it was a lie, and you knew it was a lie.

Eddie made it big after the last time you saw him, signing onto the biggest record label and releasing an album that became way bigger than even his group had intended to.

“You don’t have to be so humble, I know how big you guys have made it.” You offer him a slight smile.

“Maybe a little bit.” He gestures with his hands, causing you to giggle. “Even had a gig here last week, the crowd was crazy.”

“It’s funny, though.” He murmured, causing you to raise your brows. “All the fuckin’ people at Hawkins who called me a freak and tried to shun me out was screaming my name... pretty weird fuckin’ feeling, huh?” He shrugged.

“I guess I know how the popular princess feels now,” He teased.

You nudged him slightly, “Guess you’re the popular boy of Hawkins now, huh?” He gave you a slight smile, and it felt comfortable, he was so easy to be with.

“Yeah, Jonathan worked really hard to get us for this wedding thing, you know?” He joked, giving a slight smirk.

“You and Jonathan, huh?”

“I don’t even know how you guys became best friends.” You added, wanting to joke.

“Yeah, I guess a lot happens when you don’t abandon people.” Ouch. You guessed you had deserved that one, but it still hurt to see him think of you this way, the entire atmosphere of the room had shifted, the casual conversation you had wasn’t as genuine as you thought it was, and you could see that he was hurt.

You knew he would be angry, but this seeming grudge wasn’t what you were hoping for. Maybe it was selfish of you, but you wanted him to miss you, tell you that he wanted to be with you, engulfing you in his arms as he spun you around, muttering how much he loved you.

But that wasn’t realistic, was it?

You gulped, feeling awkward, and now it was Eddie’s turn to feel bad. He internally cringed as he saw the look on your face, he knew that look so well. The way you played with your hair for some sort of comfort, he could sense that the guilt was eating away at you.

“I— I guess I deserved that.” You forced a smile, chuckling ironically, sensing the visible shift in Eddie’s face, the initial shock of reuniting with you wearing off, and his anger and hurt taking over.

The tension that lingered in the air was interrupted by Jonathan swinging open the sliding door in the backyard and the four people standing behind him.

Before you could comprehend who they were, a squealing voice caused you to turn around, and a blonde-haired woman brushed past you. “Eds!” She called out, walking toward Eddie.

You looked up to see Jonathan leading Gareth, Jeff, and Frank to the backyard, telling them something about their gig, but you could care less as you stood still in your place, eyes glued on how Eddie greeted the girl, focus shifting solely on her as his hands caressed her shoulders, comforting her, as if you weren’t there, as if he didn’t care.

That screeching voice sounded familiar, but you couldn’t tell who the hell she was supposed to be when all you could see was her back and Eddie’s hands ghosting over her waist.

You were starting to feel small, trapped in your own body, with nowhere to go. Why was she hugging Eddie? Why were they so fucking close?

When she finally turned around, tucking her straight blonde hair behind her ears, glimmering blue eyes met yours, and you immediately realized who it was.

Chrissy.

The same Chrissy that was your supposed friend in high school, the same Chrissy who suddenly turned on you and made your life a living hell in senior year.

That’s why you didn’t recognize her—the strawberry blonde color she had was now more vanilla, and you hated to admit that she looked pretty—too fucking pretty.

Your eyes were narrowed with distaste; you had no right to be jealous, but you were powerless against that ugly emotion when it came to Eddie, swelling your chest way quicker than you intended to and stinging you harder as you struggled to keep a forced smile on your lips.

Huffing, your mind drifted to Eddie. Surely he wouldn’t want anything to do with her, you decided. He knew some of the horrible things she did to you during your senior year, so there was no fucking way he would want anything to do with her.

Right?

“Oh my god, Pinky!” She squealed once again when she saw you, and you wanted to chuckle bitterly. With your tongue rolling inside your cheek, you tried to keep your damn mouth shut. She didn’t get to call you that nickname. Not when she did all of that during your senior year.

You didn’t return the hug she forced you into, eyes drifting to Eddie who was now avoiding your gaze. Lips pursed shut as he twisted his rings. Something weird was going on, and your stomach churned at the thought.

When Chrissy’s forced embrace on you ended, you barely forced a smile, and with a dead look on your face, you waited for her to disappear.

Why was she even here?

Who even invited her?

Running up to Nancy and asking her what the fuck she was thinking inviting her here would’ve been an exaggeration, you realized.

As envious thoughts sank further and further into your head, you realized something was wrong now. The way Chrissy leaned in to whisper something in Eddie's ear, giggling as she threw her head back.

It meant something. It was like a sick feeling of deja-vu. A sinking feeling twisted your stomach, and a pang of insecurity gnawed at it. Your jaw clenched involuntarily; Eddie didn't even spare a glance in your direction. His attention was fully on her, and a wave of rage surged within you, threatening to overflow. The need to separate them, to pull her away from him, was almost unbearable.

Still, you knew you couldn’t do anything, and that was what made your blood boil, Eddie was nothing to you, he wasn’t even a friend to you—at least not anymore, something that you made sure of five years ago.

And before you could say or do anything more,

Chrissy smashed her lips against Eddie’s.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson series #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x fem reader #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x you #stranger things fanfic #rockstar!eddie munson #rockstar!eddie x reader #eddie munson imagine #getaway car #getaway car series

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usedpidemo · 1 year

Text

And scene ((G)I-dle Minnie)

“Oh my God.”

No other words could adequately describe what happened to you. It was everything but a blur, things that could easily form into lifelong traumas. Almost everything you went through over the past few days might as well be taken straight out of a movie.

So where do you start?

An encounter with the local mafia that results in your fingers almost getting cut off, rescuing a Thai princess whose father was in cahoots with said criminal organization—the reason why she’s being held hostage as leverage—then escaping with her in a car and being pursued across the country by a helicopter and countless vehicles sent by the syndicate.

You should really be dead by now. Four times over.

Countless bruises, and wounds from bullets, blades, and everything that is designed to kill a man—any of these alone would be enough to permanently break any person, and you’re no athlete or assassin; you’re just a regular guy on what you thought was a promising vacation. It’s a miracle that you’re still breathing, more so standing, running on your feet towards the car you’ve taken refuge in, now on its roof and in flames.

Forget about the millions you’ve also stolen from the mafia; you’re thankful to be alive.

Unfortunately, your miraculous plot armor doesn’t seem to have passed on to the princess. At a glance, she appears to have only minor cuts and bruises like yours, but she’s laying on the tarmac, completely unconscious and unresponsive.

“Princess! Princess!” You shout, turn her face up and slap her cheek, checking for any signs of life. Blood trickles down her dirty face from her forehead, her lips, and her nose. You lean against her chest and press a thumb on her wrist, desperately seeking for a pulse.

Not a single response, not a single sign. She’s as good as dead.

Though you barely knew the woman, in the quiet moments when you weren’t dreading your surroundings, you grew feelings for her. Her beauty was befitting of her royal title, and despite her nobility, she never really thought much of it other than a personal burden. She only wanted to live a normal life, and you sympathized with her plight, even though you were merely a tourist passing through, unfamiliar with her customs and culture.

She didn’t deserve to die because of other people’s stupidity and recklessness, including yours.

You couldn’t bear to leave her alone. The survivor’s guilt hurts you more than anything that could have physically killed you. Sure, her family might not hold you responsible for their daughter’s death, but considering you ran off with her and traveled the entire country to find a safe haven, you might as well be an accomplice in their eyes. If not them, the media will.

You wanted to be by her side for as long as you could, praying for a miracle, but your instincts tell you to keep moving, to keep fighting.

You haven’t eaten anything for two days, and there’s nothing nearby that remotely resembles human civilization for miles. The sun has begun setting down, and soon enough, you’ll be prey to ferocious animals and the ruthless cold night. Despite this, you still have no intention to leave her. You’re just hoping the rescue promised by the national defense reaches you before it’s too late.

Just then, before you get up, you feel a tug on your arm. You turn and find the princess’ hand clinging to yours. She’s extremely weak, barely able to open her eyes, but she’s alive. Her little smile is more than enough of a reassurance that everything is going to be fine.

As much as you want to scream with joy, you’re far too overwhelmed with emotion, and all you can do is cry. Leaning close to her, you plant a gentle kiss on her chin and put her in a tight embrace.

“You’re—you’re—”

“Yeah,” she says, very faintly. She tries to widen her smile, but can’t. She doesn’t have to; she’s already done more than enough. “I’ll be okay.”

Right then and there, you give her a kiss you’ve been holding on for so long, all the pent-up feelings poured into your lips. A smooch so powerful, it can restore her life. A true love’s kiss, you could say. With the little strength she has, the princess gives in, reciprocating your love in kind, parting her lips. Both of you feel each other’s warmth with the setting sun shining down on you.

It couldn’t have been a more hopeful ending.

—————

“And cut!” A man’s rough voice echoes from the distance. That man isn’t really there, but he’s actually there, deliberating the action, fabricating everything up.

See, there was never any rescue, there was no criminal organization, and there was no damsel in distress. You were never really in danger all along.

You’re not really on vacation. You’ve been tirelessly working, in fact, in the confines of a film studio disguised as your ‘vacation.’ The princess you’ve been falling for is merely a co-worker, a colleague. It’s nothing but superficial chemistry to add some authenticity to an otherwise absurd but generic action movie plot.

You draw your lips away from the kiss, unknowingly keeping up the act with a light smile and blush on the ‘princess.’ She mirrors your sentiment, flashes a light grin back. Whether or not there’s some realism between you is up to the viewer, but at the very least the camera makes you two look believable. You can’t edit or animate chemistry like that.

“Great job everyone! That’s a wrap!” says the director, pulling up from his seat to laud you and gesturing to the other staff to stand in front of the cameras. Today’s the last day of filming for your next film, an action-comedy romance thriller with you as the lead. It’s a lot to take in at first, knowing that this is your first principal part in a high budget film after a string of acclaimed indies and even generating some awards buzz along the way, but you knew you had to take the jump and get your name out there beyond a niche of Letterboxd and Twitter film geeks.

As for your co-star, Kim Minnie, she couldn’t have had a more different career trajectory than yours. She was a child actress who’s path to box office stardom couldn’t be any straighter, but her momentum stagnated with a series of commercial and critically panned mid-budget romcoms. She needed a brand reinvention more than ever, and this was her first move in getting her star back on the rise.

As promising of a script as it looked, and even with a respectable director and crew handling, nothing is guaranteed for both of you. There’s so many ways the final product can end up: a critical and commercial success, an absolute disaster, a middling picture that will be completely forgotten after opening weekend, a cult classic that will only blossom years—decades even—after the initial release; the list goes on and on.

At least the bag is guaranteed. The studio threw you millions to star in their blockbuster, even when you have no prior hit or prestigious award to your name. Either a sign of the studio seeing star potential or a big red flag, casting an unknown, and knowing who was supposed to be in their initial casting before you stepped in, it’s safer to assume the latter. Either way, you’re getting paid, and you always have the indie circuit to fall back on, should the worst come to pass.

After a set of group photographs for the behind-the-scenes reel, it’s time for you to move past this project and onto the next one. You don’t really think much of the experience, apart from the overall kindness of the staff and professionalism of your co-stars, some of which you’ll likely work with again, and others you’ll never see again after today. Of course, there’s the press tour, but you’ll cross that bridge when you get there.

—————

It isn’t until the next hour that you’re finally able to drop the act and become yourself again. Alone in your designated waiting room, having cleaned up your rather uncomfortable makeup and in your casual wear, you hear a knock on the door right as you’re preparing to leave. Putting on your shirt, you walk up and open it to a staff member with a box in her hand.

“Miss Kim sent me to give this to you,” says the assistant, holding out the wrapped gift in front of you, which you gladly accept.

“Thanks!” you say, enthused, smiling back at the crew member. “Tell her I sent my regards.”

“Of course, she’d be delighted to hear that. See you!” She replies before quickly turning away as you close the door.

You immediately unwrap and peel off the box that Minnie gave you, presumably a farewell gift, knowing that this was your last day together. You heard rumors of her kindness toward the staff and fellow co-stars in the past, and this confirms her great reputation as a giver and substantiates practically every story and excerpt.

So you open the box and find a new expensive watch inside, completely untouched with a tiny note attached to it.

> To my knight in shining armor

> Love, Kim Minnie

You don’t realize it, but as you finish reading the brief letter, you’re smiling widely, giddy like a child growing feelings toward their school crush. Perhaps there is a little more authenticity in the role than you initially brought, and a little more relatability with your character, falling in love with a princess like her.

Reality then hits hard. You’ll likely never see her again, as much as you want to do more films with her. She has a different preference in projects compared to yours, and your career trajectories couldn’t be any more different. Of course, that can easily change over time, and one day she chooses to become an indie darling like you, the same way you built up your name in the first place, but that’s as likely as a sequel to this picture getting greenlit.

Nevertheless, you were now motivated to see her one last time before leaving it all behind for good.

So you make your way to Minnie’s personal dressing room to knock. The door doesn’t open, neither does any sound echo from the inside. She probably left already, you assume, but the lights are still on in there after noticing the floor. You try again, yet the response remains the same: there isn’t any. There’s still staff roaming the halls doing cleanup, so you can’t make your presence obvious by shouting her name.

After about five minutes, you contemplate leaving, but decide to wait a little more. Eventually, you notice that her door appears to be unlocked. She’s still there; there’s hope. Out of morbid curiosity, you decide to take a peek. Quiet as a mouse, you gently turn the knob without generating a sound, only to find something blinding.

When you peek your eyes inside, you find Minnie shuffling back and forth—naked. It takes every muscle and nerve in your body not to slam that door shut and make your presence known. Cheeks flushed with embarrassment, you close the door. Thankfully, the staff nearby seem to have completed their jobs or conveniently decided to clean elsewhere; you choose to believe in the latter.

Your better judgment tells you to walk away now, that you can still get some closure later on. There’s still the press tour for you to meet her again, and you can always choose projects that also happen to include her. No need for you to get involved in an unnecessary scandal just because.

Despite that, you knew you wanted to see her again, just not like this. But after seeing a tiny glimpse, you had no intention to leave so soon. You wanted more.

So you quietly re-enter her room, your eyes peeking out to watch her dress, and it’s the sexiest thing your eyes ever laid upon. She’s no longer completely nude, having put on some panties since then, but you capture countless mental pictures of her sizable, shapely breasts before she puts on a lace bra. Her previously long blonde locks having turned raven, the former being a cover for her actual hair, flows down to her shoulders with a brush of her hand. Either way, she rocks both colors flawlessly. She radiates star power and charisma naturally on top of her charming, seductive face and well-toned body, and you wonder how her career would have turned out had she played more femme fatale characters.

Her body was perfectly designed for them. In fact, everything about her was made for them.

Even when she’s doing nothing, pacing back and forth half-nude without a care in the world, she makes it look like the hottest thing ever. None of your previous co-stars made you feel this way, enamored and smitten with every little move like they’re deliberate and purposeful. If her goal was to seduce you, she certainly perfected it.

You’re so into her, indulging in the sight of Kim Minnie dressing up for you like your own private little show, that you’re left unaware of your body’s deeper intentions, pushing you a little further past that door, bargaining for more, until—

Thud!

With a sudden, echoed yelp, you throw yourself from the safety of heaven and into the fire.

You crash into her dressing room, your cry echoing across the studio. No harness or body double can break your fall or save you now.

“Hey!” Minnie’s barely finished putting on her shirt when she rushes over to you, worried. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah. I’m good,” you say, grunting as you pick yourself off the ground, brushing off the dust off your clothes.

“Are you sure?” She softly brushes your hair, tilting your chin up so that your eyes meet, hers accompanied with a concerned frown. “What happened?”

“I—I came over to, um—say thanks for the gift watch.” you reply, nervous, uncertain of your chosen words. It’s a miracle enough that you’ve found a reasonable excuse as to why you’re even there to begin with.

“Ah yeah! Manager-nim sent me your regards, but it’s much nicer to hear it coming from your own voice. It’s been great filming with you.”

“Of course,” you say, grinning. “Same goes with you, too.”

Minnie draws her hands away from your face. “Yeah, I hope we can find a way to share the screen together again.”

“Me too.” you reply, nodding in agreement, unable to avert your gaze from hers.

As soon as you stop talking, awkward silence fills the room almost instantaneously. Minnie’s nervous smile remains constant, anticipating a follow up like there’s another half to make it whole. She’s right in that you do have a few more things to admit, but as the saying goes: some things are better left unsaid.

Considering how you fawned over her minutes ago, this seems like the best option moving forward. Keep it all business. You know how this industry works, how these moments go, how one small move leads to another, and the ending is usually not a good one, even if the consequences aren’t immediate. In a line that takes promising careers and shreds them to nothing, you know better than to fall into the system. She likely knows, too.

“I’ll—” you turn around, pausing to glance back at her. This isn’t you, nervous and tense like it’s your first day on the job. “—be on my way now.”

She gives you a modest wave goodbye as you take a few steps forward, the door to your freedom inches away.

Then you stop.

You don’t end up getting your freedom. You don’t really want it. In fact, you toss it aside, a mere afterthought. Against your better judgment, you’re going off script, and there’s no external voice commanding you to stop, and you have no intention to. Impulse brought you to this point, and you were about to reap the full benefits. It’s a high, not a low.

“Minnie.” You turn around towards her with eyes full of lust, and her name dripping from your lips like your personal serotonin. She raises a curious eyebrow, puzzled.

“Hm? Something up? Why are you looking at me like that?”

She doesn’t look fazed when you start walking back toward her. It’s like she knows you have some unfinished business.

A soft peck on the lip. It isn’t practice for a future kiss scene; the kiss only happened at the very end, and in some twisted way, the script wrote itself.

“I think you’re really pretty.” Quickly retreating, you make it so obvious how head over heels you are for her—flushed cheeks, childish grin, and stilted body language. All that’s missing is some cheesy modern pop music or some overused slow 80s classic in the background.

“I—I—”

“Yeah.” Your eyes are pleading, begging. “I kinda fell for you—no, I completely fell for you.”

She covers her lips with her hands, utterly in disbelief. Her cheeks are burning just as bright as yours. “Oh my.”

“Um, well you’re beautiful, and really kind, and—” You had many things to say to Minnie, most of which previously echoed by others, and there’s no substance behind them, apart from maybe the first point, and they’re not what you really want to confess.

“Yeah, this isn’t gonna work.” She sees through the facade, but your awkwardness is genuine. Mostly. “It was cute though, I’ll give you that.”

“W-what do you mean?” Your eyes widen at the sudden twist.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I know that’s not what you wanted to say.” Her shy expressions are replaced by a confident, piercing smirk, her arms crossed close to her chest. “You think I’m hot, don’t you?”

“Yeah, no—actually yeah, I think you’re really hot,” you say, waving the white flag almost immediately. It was so obvious from the jump. One of the few times your ‘acting’ failed you.

“And?” Minnie raises an eyebrow, confidently expecting an answer. Her presence is so striking, it swallows up whatever remaining confidence you had left. There’s really nowhere to hide or run.

“Well, I hope you wouldn’t be upset, but—” Gulp your throat. “I quietly peeked through the door as you dressed.”

“Knew it.” Minnie shakes her head, quietly giggling at points. “I knew something was up when the door was slightly opened.”

“Yeah, but—I’m really sorry! I really wanted to say thanks first! I didn’t mean to peek through the door on purpose.”

“Yeah, because you accidentally peeked through my door? Sure, I believe you.” she replies, mockingly.

“Okay, but I couldn’t help it. You weren’t answering.” you say, tone deflated.

“You couldn’t have waited a bit longer?” she lifts an eyebrow, gives you a wary glare. “Fucking pervert. You’re no better than the rest of them.”

“Five minutes is a long time.” you quietly mumble, pulling out the last of your pathetic excuses, but she’s clearly caught you red-handed.

“Yeah, fuck you. Only sorry cause you’re caught.” Her eyes sharpen and she shakes her head. “Fine. You should be happy I’m in quite a good mood today, so leave. I’ll pretend this never happened, but I don’t want to see your face ever again.”

You’re visibly distraught. You have no intention to walk, not when there’s a lot at stake, and who knows what she’s going to do afterward. Hell, even as early as tomorrow, your career may no longer exist.

“Minnie,” You say, gently, eyes having gone from wanting to pleading. She turns to you with a fierce glare, as if the mention of her name desecrates her entire being. A stare so piercing you impulsively look the other way. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“Hm.” She scans your face. Soft, helpless, vulnerable. “And how will you do that?”

You take a deep breath, swallow hard. “Anything. Please don’t get me in trouble. No one else has to get involved.”

She pouts, runs the offer meticulously through her head, having all the leverage in this proposal. The negotiations delay to make sure all her terms are agreed upon. Footstep clatters echo from outside the room, but not a soul is aware or even tries to interfere with your little affair.

“Okay, you say anything?” she asks, facing you, expression still cold.

You nod, still trembling.

“I only want one thing, then.” Minnie approaches you, each step of her heel a death bell being rung. Her eyes gaze at you, demanding your attention belong to her and her alone—and there were plenty of different parts about her that grabbed them. “You said you think I’m hot, right? Good news, I felt the same way about you—that was, until you pulled that little stunt, pervert.”

She says the last word like it’s a curse on your clean record, a reminder that will cling to you till you’re buried six feet under.

Keeping her eyes locked on yours, she walks around you until a sofa is conveniently right behind her. She then walks backwards, her hand motioning you to follow her, to which you reluctantly oblige. Inches away from the couch, she stops you right in your tracks, rubs her palms down your shirt, sizing you up.

“You’re a good kisser, I’ll give you that,” she says, her modulated, assertive tone reduced to a faint whisper. “But I wanna know if you’re good at love scenes too.”

Despite your stature, you’ve never shot a sex scene. At best, it’s you and your on-screen partner making out before the camera pans out of view, leaving the rest for the viewer’s imagination. Now you have to do the real thing completely uncut.

There’s a huge price to fame, after all.

Minnie lifts her white crop over her head, granting you a much closer view of her cleavage. She tosses it aside before facing you again. Arousing of a sight it looks, you’re anxious. “Take your shirt off.”

You follow, your sweater joining hers on the opposite end of the room to be forgotten. She scans you again, your bare, well-built chest completely exposed to her, now completely clean of fake scratches and wounds.

“Fuck, this is nice,” she comments, palming your chest. This isn’t the first time she’s seen you shirtless, but it’s in a completely different setting and context. “I wish we could have done this sooner. Oh well. Better now than never, I guess.”

Minnie plants a soft peck on your bicep, then on another, until she’s marked all your core points with her strawberry flavored lipstick. She nudges you a tiny bit closer to her, enough that you can feel your groin tense up against the hint of her heat.

“Yeah, that’s it. You feel so hard for me. You want to fuck me so bad, don’t you?” Minnie wraps her arms over your neck, explores your back and squeezes flesh to claim. Her seductive teasing reaffirms your true intentions, even though you’re never going to openly admit them. At some point, you wonder as to what her definition of punishment means, but you brush the thought aside, especially when your blood rushes down from your head to your groin.

She sneakily grabs you by your balls, tightening behind obstructive layers of fabric. Your erection can’t wait to spring free, lest you go home with conspicuously soiled pants. Grabbing a hold of your tent, her infectious lips continue to quietly shatter your eardrums. “I can already imagine this dick fucking my pussy so hard and so fast. Mmm, I bet you can actually make me cum.”

Had it been any other scenario besides this one, you’d have fired back a quip or two. Instead, you remain silent, rendered powerless under her commanding spell, reduced to a weak groaning shell of yourself.

“Too bad that will have to wait,” she suddenly blurts, pushing you away before retreating to the couch. Crossing her legs, she adds, “Let’s do a little trial run. Pleasure me without using your cock, then we might get somewhere. Sounds good?”

You sigh. Whether out of frustration of being blue balled or because of her terms is up for anyone’s interpretation. She lifts her eyebrows, looking at you intensely, smirking, reveling at your visible disappointment.

“The producers are just down the hall, so unless you want to take it to court,” she comments, teasingly, instigating, sparking a fire in your gut. Footsteps echo, again proving her point. You don’t doubt her for a second, but it stings whenever you hear that stark reminder of your little mistake. You just wanted to get on with the act and move past it immediately.

Her eyes maintain an intense grip on you—smoldering—as you approach her and take her by the waist, watching as you take hold of her jeans and slide them down, pushing her gray panties along as extra baggage. Gracefully, she opts to give you a little mercy by kicking off her flats. Even when she seemingly does nothing, her eyes judge, take note of your serious, rather businesslike demeanor of undressing her.

Her splayed pussy’s right in your view, but your petty contempt for her makes it less inviting.

“What are you waiting for?” dares Minnie, pointing down at her entrance, eyebrows raised and tauntingly smirking.

You couldn’t be any more eager to wipe that confident smile off her face.

Keeping the rule in mind, you hover atop her seat on the couch and drop an arm, burying your hand between her pink lips. Minnie winces as your fingers make first contact with her clit, drawing her heat. She appears visibly shaken, caught unawares by your touch, even when she expected it.

“O-oh, f-fuck—” she whines, shutting an eye, cheeks puffing as she tries to resist, to no avail. Her nails rake into your back, inviting you ever closer, slowly relinquishing control, a perfect time for you to claim as yours.

The wet and warm sensation scalds, burns on your fingertips. You anticipated her to be wet, but not this soaked. Her pussy drags your digits further down like quicksand—nigh inescapable. Each little slap and touch creates a clap, a few raindrops that signal forthcoming rain.

Propped only by your other arm resting on her shoulder, you indulge in her wetness, searching for her favorite spot, the gold mine. Her body trembles, slowly but certainly adjusting to your fingers, moans becoming thinner and airy, eyes gradually losing focus on you, absorbed in the pleasure rapidly building within her. Her hips slowly buck and fold, grind against your digits in an attempt to swallow them whole.

“F-feels so good, f-fuck—” she whines, entangling her arm with yours, almost disrupting the euphoric moment when she drags you onto the couch with her. It’s a blessing in disguise, as you’re able to kick off your shoes and increase the tempo inside her.

In that moment, she had forgotten her anger, only to be replaced by a renewed feeling of bliss.

Moaning against her temple, lips barely grazing her forehead, you whisper, “You’re so fucking wet, and I haven’t even put this dick in you yet.”

“Fuck off.” Minnie suddenly snaps, tone frantic, her body set alight by need and craving for more. Even with the little fight she displays, she’s clearly on the losing end, delaying the inevitable. It’s all the more clearer when her voice fades, strains with every passing word, and her plea betrays her. “P-please, keep going.”

You slip a second finger, watch as her legs clamp down as her body squirms tighter and tighter beneath her touch. By the way her legs tremble and writhe violently, you swear they’re melting into the couch. She grasps at straws to keep you controlled, to keep your tempo stable, to leave some breathing room, to no avail. Your digits continue to fuck her at an intense pace, to the point where the wet, squelching claps of her cunt echo along with her lewd moans.

“Yes. Need that.” She squirms beneath you, her hands no longer craving you, but on a different goal; she brings them around her back, unhooks her bra for you to toss them aside on her behalf. Afterward, she grabs you by the wrist and leads you directly to her breast, a generous reward for your efforts.

When you hold her, it’s like rescuing a damsel in distress, saving her from her most wanton of desires by fueling yours. Every little touch, slap, and pinch of her naked body loosens her psyche and drives her wild.. From the most strained cry to the loudest scream, Minnie makes it clear just how amazing you feel to her, and her voice makes the sultriest sounds your ears are blessed to hear.

You can’t help but put such thought into words.

“God, you have such a sexy voice when you moan,” you whisper, and it’s what appears to break her.

Minnie lets out an ear-shattering shrill, her body convulsing as the pressure of your fingers finally pushes past a point beyond repair. Her legs lock tighter on your hand, as if they couldn’t be any more imprisoned, but they eventually loosen up and pave the way for her unannounced orgasm.

She gushes. Like a broken faucet, she doesn’t stop leaking, passionately crying through her vivid climax. It’s a mixture of slick and water that leaves your fingers incapable of leaving her, so you entertain the notion, dragging your digits in and out of her still gushing folds, seeming to make a mark on her cunt. Brushing in and out for a bit, until you settle around the exterior of her clit, you continue to fondle and caress her in your twisted form of aftercare. Even so, her orgasm continues to wash over her and your fingers, spilling onto the mattress you fuck her on.

“Oh God, I can’t stop cumming, oh God—” she whines, gasping for air, mouth agape, her hand grabbing her other breast; her orgasm is gradually dying from a shower to a drizzle.

“Mmm.” You brush your sticky fingers on her belly, playfully nodding in agreement. “Sounds about right.”

Minnie takes a moment to gather herself before she pushes your hand aside—quicker than you hoped. By the way she orgasmed and screamed, you’d think she’d already be down for the count. “I wasn’t ready, you pervert.”

“I was only following the rules,” you respond, lifting your shoulders in a shrug, barely holding on to your confident demeanor, only showing the faintest sign of a smirk.

“Sure, whatever.” Minnie shoots you a stern leer, but it doesn’t faze you in the slightest—not when you know that she’s no better than anyone else. “Now fuck me with that cock and cum fast so we can get this over with.”

You get the pleasantries out quickly, as she wanted. Hopping off the couch, you undo your belt and pants, get your already hard cock free from its denim constraints. She eyes your shaft intently, looking unsatisfied, but you know it’s a facade, a poor acting effort compared to her usual abilities.

“Sure you want me to cum fast?” you tease, jokingly pointing out her fixated gaze on your cock. “Seems like you want me to give it to you nice and slow.”

“N-no. I was just surprised at how big it is,” she retorts, appearing even more scornful than moments before. She looks up at you, visibly annoyed, before looking down at your raging cock once more, another sign of betrayal.

“Please. Drop the act, Minnie.” Tilt her up from the chin, gently pushing her back down on the cushion. Surprisingly, there’s no pushback, no reluctance; she allows you to get atop her on the couch. Her eyes look into yours, then scan your chest with want, with need. “Let me fuck you the way you really want. I want it too.”

A flirty smirk forms on her contorted lips. She pulls you to her level by your shoulders, softly nibbling on your earlobe. With a hypnotic whisper, she says, “Fuck me.”

You return the favor, smiling lightly at the open invitation given to you—knowing that her body knows her wants more than she does. Without wasting any more time on needless pleasantries, you slip yourself in, introducing your cock to her welcoming heat. No matter how much you prepared for this, it takes every fiber of your resolve to not crumble immediately in that moment, uttering a sharp hiss as you close the gap between your length and her womb.

Your unison forms a harmonious groan and curse that fills the room louder than anything before. The powerful wave of pleasure surging through you overrides your senses, leaves you unable to move, keeps your eyes shut, unable to look at the handiwork beneath you. You grip a hand around her breast, elicit another moan from Minnie’s sultry lips, seek a sign you’re doing it right.

“So fucking tight,” you rasp, slowly fighting her tight, wet cunt from sucking you all in. Her creamy legs narrow the gap, leaving you even more breathless. Still, you manage, by some miracle, to pull yourself out before you plunge right in again.

Words can’t tell how good Minnie feels with you inside her; sexy, erotic mewls that tickle your eardrums are the only proper expression.

Your hands intertwine and find themselves in the only comfortable place they can be in, with each other. Finding nothing but paradise in her heat, you rest your head on the groove of her neck, still overwhelmed to look at her ecstasy-filled face. As you mark down her skin, leave marks that no amount of makeup can hide, you settle into a steady rhythm fucking her. With each thrust her walls clench around your cock, turn it to a canvas of her pleasure with her juices.

The world quiets down for just the two of you, except for the crescendo of moans that leave both your lips and the wet flaps of skin against skin, and that’s all you want to hear right now. There’s no pressure from the outside, no call from a producer or staff telling you to get ready, just the hot action happening between you.

Minnie’s thighs continue to clench around your hips, put more pressure around you to burn. In retaliation, you put her deeper into the couch, melt her flesh into the leather as you comfortably fuck her at your pace—not too fast, but not too slow. She returns your lovemaking in kind, rolls her hips, and meets you halfway with each thrust. One hand rests on her taut breast, the other on her hips, but hers are connected with yours; either way, you have the actress exactly right where you want her to be.

“You fuck me so well,” she whines, tone low, lifting her neck up, kicking her thighs, urging more out of you. “Harder. Harder.”

Lifting your figure up, your cock sinks further into her suffocating walls, plunging as deep as you can into her drenched pussy. The deeper you go, the higher your moans reach. Her hot body leaves you so weak, so breathless, that it forces Minnie’s legs to spur your hips on, to keep fucking her just like this.

“Minnie.” Her name is a plea to make the sensation stop or at least slow down, as incredible as she feels around you. Ultimately, it does nothing, and you press on, as if only her body can satiate you.

It’s then that her eyes flutter open, lips still melted and open, still moaning as you pound her. Her chest heaves with each deep breath, while her palms find their way around your chest. She tries to pull you down again, but to no avail. Ultimately, her body goes rigid, trembles violently beneath you as her second orgasm overcomes her and leaves her completely open to the throes of pleasure.

“I came again,” she whispers, her light figure quaking from her fresh climax. Even with jittery muscles, her hand traces up to your shoulder, till it reaches up your cheek, forcing you to meet her. “Please, cum in me already.”

Her legs loosen around your hips, as if telling you otherwise, but the feeling is so good—so wet, so warm, and so tight—that it would be a disservice to everything you’ve done so far not to unload in her. She has her eyes observing you, softly caressing your shoulders in a desperate plea, as if you have any other intention other than to do what she wants you to. It’s fucked—how her glazed eyes keep you still, all while your body continues to work overtime. She melts, she contorts, she anticipates you coming undone for her.

Even with her frame rocking and clenching beneath you, her breasts bouncing with each sharp stroke, it’s her eyes, her expectant gaze, keeping you at bay. Her lips shift around, her orgasm beyond her at this point, softly whispering one final plea. “I want—all of you—inside me. Don’t ever—think of—pulling out. I’m all yours—baby!”

You suppress a breathy gasp, grit your teeth, your muscles and nerves all over the place. A little more before you ultimately surrender. A handful of strokes is all it takes before you go numb, burying your cock deep into her cunt. Hot, hot thoughts fill your head, mostly asphyxiating sensations choking your entire body as you pour shot after shot of thick cum inside her greedy cunt.

“So—warm,” mumbles Minnie, ignoring the longest syllabled fuck from your side as your body gradually descends, all your strength completely sapped in one fell swoop.

You eventually find solace on her bare figure, your cock still throbbing inside Minnie’s pussy, but your motions slow to a halt, until the only sign of life coming from you is the wave of deep breaths you gather on her collarbones. She joins you in rest, letting her nails take refuge on your back, tracing and marking your skin as you did to hers.

The two of you remain entangled, relishing each other’s sweat, cum-filled bodies on the couch, bathed in the afterglow of sex. Both of you would happily sleep another day on set if it meant you were in each other’s arms. Of course, that’s not the reality; you don’t know when you’ll see each other again after this.

Surprisingly, Minnie is the first to break the tense silence. Brushing your hair, she mumbles, “You okay?”

A question that you should be asking her, not the other way around.

You lift your head from her body and nod, create little ripples on her flesh. “Yeah. I should be asking you that.”

She flashes a gentle grin, the trademark smile you’ve missed, and will miss. “I’m good. More than that, actually.”

A few more minutes pass, with your eyes lovingly staring into each other, unwilling to let the moment die. “You could have just asked, you know.”

“Hm?” You lift an eyebrow.

“You could have asked, and we would still end up like this. Fucking pervert.”

“Ugh—you’ll never stop referring to me as that, are you?” you groan, dropping your face on her neck while she throws her head back and chuckles.

“Nope. Pervert.”

—————

(A/N: This one's dedicated to @svndaysaweek, I saw his answer to a particular ask and thought it was very appealing of an idea to write. Again, apologies for the sudden month long drought, was feeling extremely unmotivated and still am XD Thank you for reading!)

#smut #kpop smut #gidle #minnie

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gl1tteryzebra · 1 month

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I had a very pleasant interaction with a cute blonde-headed mechanic recently, now all I can think about is mechanic!jj...

the patchy sliver of shade provided by a low hanging loblolly offered a small reprieve from the heat. jj's signature collared shirt was now hanging open as he tinkered away beneath the bonnet of your car – that was how you knew it was truly sweltering.

it was a miracle you'd been able to rummage that half torn napkin from the depths of your centre console. after your engine stuttered to a stop on the side of some desolate road you were certain you were screwed– 6pm on a sunday night, even if you did manage to coax someone out to wherever you were, the rates would surely plummet your bank account into a state of despair– and then you remembered.

a few months back when you last had car trouble, the blonde slid a crumby piece of tissue across the till at his workshop with a wink, a number scribbled in blotchy red ink.

"you should really invest in a business card." you'd said with a grimace as remnants of whatever he'd been eating drifted down like heavy snowflakes.

" uh–well actually," he reached into his breast pocket, removing a wad of neatly stacked cards bound together by an elastic band. "we're one step ahead of you, sugar."

he passed one of the sleek black cards over as well, albeit a little reluctantly."what's this for then?" you inquired with furrowed brows and he laughed at that, genuinely tickled.

"oh that— that's just in case you're ever in need of my personal assistance."

and it was almost as though today was his manifestation coming too fruition.

off in the distance, through the thicket and beyond the marsh, remnants of daylight peeked over the horizon like a fragile yolk ready to spill into darkness at any moment. you wanted nothing more than to be tucked into bed with a warm cup of tea and your favourite book, but whatever was wrong with your car seemed to not be a simple fix.

patting down the pleats of your skirt, you paced leisurely back and forth before eventually clearing your throat. "how's she looking?"

"she?" his blonde head peeked out from behind the hunk of metal, interest glistening in those pale blue orbs.

"yeah, pinkie. are you telling me you don't name your beloved vehicle?" (the vehicle in question: his beaten up honda CRF 230 which currently laid discarded in a pothole with an open tool box spilling its content onto the side of the road.)

he snickered, removing his cap to wipe the sweat from his brow. "guess you got me there– that's bessie, the finest lass on the road."

you scoffed, "why bessie of all things?"

"oh-kay, there's no way I'll be judged by someone who named their car pinkie...and its not even pink."

"it wasn't available at the time!"

his lips tugged into a downward crescent, mocking your face as it contoured into an earnest pout. "now that's a true tragedy– oh, 'n you happen to go through a car wash recently?"

"uh–yeah. today actually, why?"

"welllll you got water stuck in the engine cylinders, blocking up the emission control system. it got real stinky in the cabin right?"

"yeah it did, almost as bad as a guys locker room."

"ha! sounds 'bout right," his ring clad fingers reached above his head to pull the bonnet down. your eyes naturally drifted to his exposed midriff; lean muscles stretching taut, flecks of sun damage marring his pale skin, a defined v dipping below his waistline...

snapping out of your stupor, your gaze lifted to be met with a knowing smirk– shit. you were surprised when he didn't comment on the fact that you'd so shamelessly checked him out, but even more so as he rushed to pack up his tool box almost bashfully. "uh–so fancy this, I don't actually have the tools I need to fix it on me."

"really? I thought you said you kept everything you ever need on hand."

"huh–oh yeah, well one of the boys must've stolen my shit, bloody typical."

"right...what should I do then?" he flicked his grimy hair from his forehead, regarding you with an impish grin.

"come back to the shop. I'll get my guy to tow your pinkie in tonight, get 'er fixed up bright an' early in the mornin' so you can be on your merry way."

"it's not exactly close to my house–"

he shrugged, persistent as ever, "that's cool, no worries, we've got a couch and some blankets if you wanna stay the night."

"what about you?"

"well I can't risk a thief in the night, can I? best if I stay too."

you resisted the urge to snort, what an idiot. "how am I supposed to get back to your shop now though?"

his eyes spoke for themself, gesturing to his bike as is if that was a stupid question. "oh–no, no no no no no, no way." your hands wildly gesticulated. no, absolutely not. you knew enough about jj's reckless and impulsive nature to guess how this would present itself in other areas of his life– most of a concern to you in this moment, his driving.

"hey, there's need to be scared sugar, I always drive extra careful with precious cargo." he cut himself off with a boyish chuckle as your face morphed into something deeply unimpressed. "c'mon, it's not exactly like you have any other choice...so whadd'ya say?"

you settled onto the back of his bike with a grumble, hands shooting up to adjust the helmet he loaned you (his only helmet). the engine revved to an obnoxious start and with a shriek you hurried cling onto his waist– heart thumping erratically behind your ribs.

"comfy?"

"shut up."

"holdin' me a bit tight, sweetheart. sure you're not enjoying this?"

"shut. up."

his chest rumbled with laughter as he took off into the sunset.

couldn't be bothered to get down and dirty with this one tonight, think I might just make a pt.2

🎀 @seabunni 🎀

#jj maybank drabble #jj maybank prompt #divider by @firefly-graphics #mechanic!jj #jj maybank x reader #want to write more about this #so if you have prompts send em in!!#especially smutty ones hehe #obx x reader

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bewilderedbunny · 1 year

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Objection! (Eddie x reader smut) 18+ only!

Author's note and content warnings:

2.6k words of silly smut. minors DNI!

I thought that a meet cute between a court stenographer and defendant would be fun. Please keep in mind that I know nothing about the judicial system and my only point of references are Better Call Saul and Legally Blonde. (I also found out that the dancing inflatable tubeman wasn't invented until the mid-late 90s. Please forgive me for my ignorance.)

Fem!reader along with use of she/her pronouns. No use of Y/N, just honey, ma'am and sweetheart. Mechanic!Eddie (it isn't touched on much in the story but that is his job in this world) slightly sub!Eddie, vigilante!Eddie, Eddie has a little bit of a stocking fetish, Eddie is a thigh man in this fic, mentions of drugs, oral sex (f receiving) unprotected piv sex (don't do that IRL) strangers to lovers.

Credit to @firefly-graphics for the divider ❄️ not tagging anyone since this isn't my usual fluff 💗

It's a gray, snowy morning as you step off the city bus and walk to Hawkins courthouse. You check your watch as you enter the building. The first case of the day is at 8am and you've got 45 minutes to get your coffee and set up your station.

Most days are pretty much the same with your work. Scribing every word spoken during a case, then later editing and finalizing the transcript. Every once in a while you speak when you need someone to repeat themselves or when you are called upon to read a portion of the transcripts. Other than those instances, your job is to turn off your brain and type as fast and accurately as you possibly can. It can be a monotonous, boring job but it works for you.

You hang up your coat, grab a paper cup of coffee and sit at your station as you wait for the first case of the day.

The prosecutor enters, you see it's Leonard Mitchell. He's one of the older DAs and he has a reputation for being stubborn and irritable.

Next to enter the room is the defendant accompanied by his attorney. The defendant is wearing a slightly wrinkled white button-up shirt, black jeans, and boots, and his long brown curls are tied back into a bun. He whispers something to his lawyer as they take a seat.

The defense attorney looks vaguely familiar to you, but you can't place his name. He's in his mid-forties and has the cadence of an overworked and under-resourced public defender.

The bailiff enters the room and announces,

"ALL RISE"

All of you rise as the judge enters the room.

"Court is now in session. The honorable Judge Steward is presiding."

Judge Steward is one of your favorites. She's mastered the art of being patient yet firm and she's always been kind to you. You're scheduled to work beside her all day today.

"Good morning, everyone. Calling the case of the State of Indiana versus Edward Munson. The charge is petty theft. Mr. Munson, how do you plead?"

Eddie pleads not guilty and the proceedings begin.

The prosecutor starts his argument.

"On the evening of November 12th, an air dancer was stolen from Wheels and Deals car dealership. That air dancer was then seen at one of the defendants' rock shows."

Judge Steward interjects, "What is an "air dancer" exactly?"

"Your honor, an air dancer is an inflatable figure that, when attached to a fan, dances and flails around. They are mostly used for advertising, which was what Wheels and Deals Auto purchased this item for until it was stolen by Mr. Munson. The loss of potential profits from losing this item is substantial."

Eddie scoffs and his defense attorney rebuts with,

"They aren't exactly Superbowl commercials. They could bring in what, an extra sale or two?"

"Yes- of a car. Of which the average sale price for this establishment is for one single vehicle is $14,000."

Eddie's eyes go wide, he can't seriously be expected to pay 14 grand for a balloon, right?

The judge asks, "Mr. Mitchell, how much did Wheels & Deals purchase the air dancer for?"

"$149.95."

The arguments continue for a while, once they are finalized, Judge Steward makes her ruling.

"On the charge of petty theft, I find Mr. Munson guilty. He is ordered to pay $20 in restitution and work 12 hours of community service. The court is now adjourned."

As everyone leaves the room, you're approached by Regina, Judge Steward's clerk.

"You're the court reporter today, right?"

"Yes, I am."

"You can go. Judge Steward had something come up so the rest of the cases today are being postponed."

You grab your coat and walk outside. The ground is covered in slushy snow and as you walk down the courthouse steps, you lose your footing and start to slip. Just as you do, a hand reaches out to hold your elbow and steady you.

You look up and see the balloon thief smiling down at you from a step above. Now he's added a hoodie, leather jacket, and a denim vest over his button-up.

"Careful there, sweetheart. You could've fallen and landed on your money makers." He nods to your hands as he says "money makers" which makes you laugh.

"That would have been awful. Thanks, Mr. Munson."

"No problem. Let's make sure you make it the rest of the way in one piece, 'kay?"

He holds onto you the rest of the way down the stairs. Once you're on the sidewalk, he lets go, you miss his touch instantly.

"Thanks again, Mr. Munson. Take care."

"You too, sweetheart."

He gives you a nod before walking to the parking garage. You wait at the bus stop and check the schedule. The next bus isn't due for another 15 minutes. You would normally head back inside to wait but you don't want to risk embarrassing yourself again with the stairs.

You're shivering and breathing into your hands as a beat-up van approaches. Eddie reaches over and rolls down his passenger window to talk to you.

"You're gonna freeze out here, y'know?"

"Oh, I'm fine Mr. Munson. Really, don't worry about it."

"C'mon, let me drive you home."

You take a moment before getting in the van. It smells like cigarettes and some type of woodsy air freshener or cologne.

You buckle your seatbelt and thank him.

"Of course. Can't leave a fair maiden such as yourself to freeze. Where to?"

You smile at him and give him your address.

There's a comfortable silence between the two of you as he drives.

You look over at him and say, "Can I ask you something?" He looks at you from the corner of his eye.

"Why did I steal the air dancer?"

"Why did you steal the air dancer?"

"I didn't, he just came to my show. Can't help it that he has great music taste. Nice guy, actually. Named him Ozzy.

You laugh and he then says,

"That dealership is the worst, scamming people into buying shitty used cars for well over what they're worth. I work at Thacher Tire and we have so many people come in after being scammed by that place. I just had enough."

God, he stole something so stupid for such a sweet reason.

"That makes sense. A little payback for the people."

He looks at you and smiles, a beautiful dimpled smile "Exactly."

"How do you feel about the verdict?"

"Well, I'm still disappointed that my original trial by combat request was denied."

Your laughter fills the van, delighting Eddie as he continues,

"I'm glad I only have to pay $20, wish it was $0 but it's much more ideal than 14k."

"Very true."

"And the community service is fine. I mean, I was doing service for the community by stealing the damn thing in the first place but whatever." You nod in agreement as he continues,

"I'll be honest, one of the reasons I stole Ozzy is that I thought he'd be fun for shows. And for business."

"At the tire shop?"

"No, I deal on the side."

"Deal… cars?"

He laughs, "No, uh, other stuff."

Your eyebrows shoot up to your hairline and scold him,

"Eddie! Don't tell someone you met at the courthouse that you're a drug dealer!"

"Aw, I'm not Mr. Munson anymore? I liked when you called me that." You roll your eyes as he pulls up to your home. You're disappointed the drive was so short.

"I'm mostly just sad that I had to give Ozzy back to those dickheads. He belongs on stage with the real Ozzy, y'know?"

Your heart hurts at his personification of the inflatable man. You place your hand on his arm and say,

"Maybe they sent him to a farm where he can dance to Black Sabbath all day with others just like him."

He looks at your hand and bites his lip as he smiles.

"That's the dream. What, uh, what do you have going on the rest of the day?"

"Well, they sent me home early so I have no plans. I'm all free."

"Yeah? I'm kind of a free man too, in a way. Avoided some serious prison time today."

"Yeah? What are you gonna do with your newly found freedom, Mr. Munson?"

He looks at you for a moment before leaning in to kiss you. It's soft at first, your lips are barely touching as warm breath fans over you. He holds the back of your head with one hand and rubs your thigh with the other as he deepens the kiss. You give a tentative swipe at his lips with your tongue. He opens his mouth and repeats the action to you. You have your hands pressed against his chest as you lick into each other's mouths.

You pull back and invite him to come inside, he smiles a big toothy grin before jumping out of the van and sprinting (and sliding) to the passenger side to open your door. You giggle at him, he holds your waist as you walk up to your front door. You hesitate before opening it, realizing you should make sure he isn't some notorious drug kingpin.

"What do you deal?"

"Just weed. Sometimes other stuff but it's usually just weed."

"Other stuff? Like what?" Once the door is unlocked take off your shoes and he follows suit.

"Well, it's rare that anyone wants it, but every once in a while I sell ketamine."

"The horse tranquilizer?"

"What's a girl like you know about special k?" He asks.

You chuckle, "A girl like me spent 60 hours last week transcribing in drug court. Probably recording some of your clients, now that I think about it."

You lead him to your bedroom. Once you're inside, he slips off your coat and cardigan, then begins unbuttoning your shirt.

"Well with customer confidentiality I couldn't possibly say." He removes your shirt once it's unbuttoned and leans down to plant kisses along your breasts. You moan and tug at the many layers covering his torso, he takes the hint and removes them.

"Of course. You're a professional, after all." You kiss his neck and trace the tattoos that decorate his chest with your fingers.

"But, the next time one of my customers gets picked up, I may have to show up to their arraignment if it means I get to see you again."

You laugh and lay back on your bed before replying, "You think that would be good for their case? Their dealer showing up with a stolen air dancer?"

He climbs on top of you, a couple of loose curls hang by your face as he leans in.

"Who knows? I may just woo you into accidentally writing the transcript as not guilty."

You roll your eyes and kiss him.

He runs his hand up your stocking-covered leg. Once he reaches the top of your thigh where the fabric ends, he lets out a groan.

"Fuck, these don't go all the way up? You're killing me here. Let's get this skirt out of the way so I can get a better look."

He unzips your skirt and rolls it down your legs. Once it reaches your ankles, he stops and rests his head against your calf.

"Honey, you are something else." He kisses his way along your leg. He looks into your eyes as he lightly bites the fabric of your stockings and pulls. Your thighs go to close on instinct but he pulls them apart.

"Y-you tear those and you're buying me another pair."

"That's fine. Got a deal set up later today with Arod for some Ket."

"Who?"

"Arod? Legolas' horse in Lord of the Rings? He- y'know nevermind. It's not important right now. I'll tell you after."

You laugh at him and he returns his focus to kissing up your thigh. He lays smooches and licks in the area where your mound and thigh meet.

Your hips buck, he holds them down and says, "Woah, down girl."

"You're ridicu-"

He cuts you off by pressing his mouth to your clothed pussy.

You gasp and hold onto his hair.

He pulls back to slide off your panties and says, "Keep talking, sweetheart. Tell me how ridiculous I am while I lick you out." your face heats up as he uses his pointer and middle finger to spread your lips, inspecting you.

"Fuck. Isn't she pretty?"

He spits directly on your clit which makes you squirm. He licks a flat stripe up your folds before eagerly lapping at your clit. It sends little shocks through your whole body. His big hands keep your thighs spread as he devours you.

The slick, wet sounds combined with both of your moans is, quite frankly, obscene.

He moves down to your entrance and gives it a few licks before shoving his tongue in as far as it will go. You gasp and shudder as he presses in and out, fucking you with his tongue. He switches from keeping your thighs spread to squeezing them against his head. You're a bit worried about hurting him, but he's having the time of his life.

The vibration from the little pleasured noises he is making, the feeling of his tongue inside you, and his nose nudging against your clit has you nearly sobbing.

You feel his eyes bore into you and when you finally give in and look down at him, he's a mess. Red cheeks, ruffled hair, and a twinkle in his eyes as he watches you come undone.

He shakes his head back and forth desperately for a moment before moving up to focus on your clit. Having his pretty pink lips eagerly suck at your oversensitive clit is almost painful. As you feel the pressure in your belly build, you tug on his hair and whisper that you're close. He continues sucking, working for your orgasm like it's a prize to be won.

When your release hits, you're seeing stars. He doesn't stop sucking and lapping until you push him away, twitching and teary-eyed. He moves up your body and kisses you. He's more gentle with your mouth than he was with your cunt and the taste of him mixed with your own slick is mouthwatering.

You reach down and fumble with his belt. You tug down his pants and boxers just enough for his cock to spring out. It's a bit longer than average and thick with a reddened, leaky tip. You stroke it softly as he kisses your neck.

"Gotta be inside of you, honey. Please?" He practically whimpers.

"Mhmm, put in me."

You feel him smile against you before saying,

"Yes ma'am. Here, let me help." Reaching down, he covers your hand that's holding his cock with his own and guides your hands up and down your folds before prodding at your entrance.

He enters you slowly, inch by inch, until he's buried all the way in.

"Jesus Christ, I'm not gonna last long. She's squeezin' me so tight. I nearly creamed my pants from eating you out."

"It's okay, Eddie. Take your time."

He holds still for a moment before grinding into you. You moan and hold onto his shoulders. Once he has control over himself, he finds a rhythm. The patch of curly hair surrounding his cock tickles your clit with every thrust. He reaches down to grip your thighs as he fucks you. He lasts for a few moments before pulling back to look at you with a pained expression on his face.

"You okay?"

"Fuck, I'm so close. Where c-can I cum?"

"Wh-where do you want to cum?"

"Your thighs, fuck. Want to cum on your thighs so bad."

"Please, paint my stockings, Mr. Munson."

Your words send him over the edge, he curses and pulls out, covering your stocking and skin with his release. He lays down beside you and pulls you to his chest. You listen to his heartbeat while he takes a moment to catch his breath. Once he does, he says,

"So, as I was saying, Arod is Legolas' horse and-"

#hope this was a fun read #eddie x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x reader smut #eddie x reader smut #eddie munson fic

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yessa-vie · 23 days

Text

03 || HEART STRING OF GOLD || OT8! ATEEZ.

FOX || HEART STRING OF GOLD || OT8! ATEEZ.

→ PARING. OT8 (wooyoung & seonghwa focus) x fem!reader.

→ GENDER. heavy angst (!!!). enemies to lovers. soulmate au (sort of). ateez lore au.

→ WC. 31,810 (i apologize, but i promised i tried to keep it short).

→ RATING. R (mdni!).

→ IMPORTANT. heavy angst (i'm sorry). mentions of death. sugegstive. sex talk. implied sex as a coping mechanism. manipulation (by the reader). possessiveness (mostly one sided). insecurities. flashbacks (sort of). violence. fighting. blood. choking. death threats. torture (knife use, cold water, whip, salted water, weights and hanging from the wrists). forced proximity (kinda?). wooyoung is a little shit (and i love him). explosions. fire. gunwound.

→ NETWORKS. @cromernet @pirateeznet @atzhouse @newworldnet

⇦ || hsog || taglist || masterlist || ⇨

Your mind was still processing what had been said by your superiors.

In all truth, it should come as no surprise, considering how you joined the Black Pirates' Search & Capture Team. Videos of the supervised interactions between you and Angel circulated freely within the Command Center and Guardian's Island. The videos combined with the way you managed to get Angel to spill some information in the presence of your superiors, already made you join the squad. The events of your last encounter with them a month and a half ago helped you get to the position you were in, the way you handled the ambush, how you, Chan and Jeongin handled both the fight and what was apprehended after the revolt was controlled, which they managed to discover thanks to the fact that you and the other two agreed on the idea of looking at the points that had been discovered as possible cells of the Black Pirates, made all eyes turn to you.

Despite that, no one knew about the warehouse, you and Minho had made a promise to each other to keep it a secret, especially after the perimeter investigation when you found out what had happened. Mentally thanking the smoke caused by the explosion of the vehicle that managed to hide them both as they fled the scene. Fortunately, the fire was far enough away to not reach the warehouses, but elaborate enough to cause the smoke caused by the explosion to occupy virtually all of the warehouse space.

“Finally,” one of the last slides appeared in front of everyone, two cars parked in a spot not too far from where the warehouses would be located, the date on the satellite photo capturing your attention, but you had, fortunately, managed to disguise it, “two stolen cars were found in a location near the warehouses the same night we left the location.”

“Why wasn’t this revealed to us before?”

Park Jinyoung was one of the most eager generals in capturing the Black Pirates, making him also one of the most annoying to be around when something was discovered, hence the reason for all the irritable sighs you were able to catch after that line, including of Eden by your side.

“We were investigating the perimeter, trying to discover both the path taken by the cars and check those inside them.”

"And?"

Even though Jinyoung was considerably irritating, everyone remained silent, waiting for what Namjoom would say regarding that information. Your eyes met Jungkook's which were already on you, a movement that was not ignored by Eden who discreetly touched the pen to your leg, making you both look forward while Namjoom nodded, changing the slide.

Ten people got out of their cars and entered another location, looking from above it looked like another warehouse, but far enough away from the previous ones that it was necessary to use cars. Photos of tire tracks that were connected with the warehouse. They had fled in a car, the explosion had been planned, they would never let you catch them. Serpent had already told you, this was a test, they wanted to know how capable you were, how sagacious you were, what you would be able to risk to meet them.

Nausea washed over you as the latest events started to make sense. The power they had, the knowledge, not just over the government, but over you. The fact that Angel arranged for you to find the writing, for you to go meet Serpent at the warehouse, to meet them.

“Someone from the Black Pirates used the location that night, we got satellite photos of a person entering the warehouse at around eight,” another photo was seen and you found yourself from above, you swallow hard watching the photo, so there was a way to see it, even in the dark, “just before the explosion, we were able to define the silhouette of another person approaching, but we were unable to get details of what happened after it thanks to the smoke, apart from the tire tracks of the two stolen cars.”

“Do we have anything on these two people who entered the place?”

Yang Hyunsuk's voice made you stare at Namjoom with your lips in a thin line, trying to control the trembling of your body. They had been seen, there was a way to see – even in the dark – any movement made outside the warehouses, but they hadn't captured anything, no movement of people, so how had they managed to go unnoticed? It was then that you cursed at yourself, sawing your fists on the table, they used the Cromer. Hatred rose in you for not realizing until that moment, how only tire tracks were seen, how no people or footprints could be found beyond the warehouses.

“Unfortunately no, General,” everyone cursed quietly and you sighed, lowering your head, but Eden noticed the difference in your sigh, it wasn’t one of irritation, “we can only say that the explosion was not planned, considering that not long after the last person ran to warehouse six, but we have no notification of anyone leaving, leading us to believe that everyone left when the smoke was high enough to cover the path they were traveling.”

For a moment you thanked Mars and the others, beating yourself up for being so stupid and irresponsible. You getting caught was one thing, Minho being dragged along with you because of your idiocy was another thing entirely. Only then did you notice Eden's eyes fixed on you, analyzing you, making you just nod before going back to focusing on the slides. Two cars indicated that the others were there too, that they probably heard your argument with Mars, Logan, Serpent, and Angel. A small smile of satisfaction threatened to take shape on your face that you hid by faking a cough.

“Any images of the place where they stopped and the ten people got out?”

“Negative, sir,” Namjoom went to the next slide and a video from one of the BTS members’ bodycam played, showing the place completely empty, no signs of recent use. “Not even fingerprints were found, nor were we able to find out how exactly they left without leaving a trace.”

Because they used the Cromer.

“Cromer,” the voice came from Eden drawing all attention to him, including yours, his eyebrows slightly arched when his eyes fell on you briefly, “we already know that they use it in events like these, we never knew how these events happened, but I think we can believe that they are using the Cromer whenever they can, to stay under the radar.”

Everyone nodded and you just stared at your hands in your lap, fingers playing with each other. If they were using Cromer whenever they could, why risk discovery in that empty space? What was special about it? Your eyes focused on the images still shown on the slide. It was a warehouse, several things scattered in the corners, but they seemed untouched. Another long-forgotten spot in Strickland, so what was so important about it?

The subject was quickly changed to the revolts that were taking place on the limits of Strickland, as they had considerably increased since the problem that you, your team and the XKRS encountered when you were going to investigate the possible Black Pirates cell that was located at the school that you, Chan and Jeongin insisted on being investigated, getting some important data and capturing some other members before more could be found.

Fortunately, Eden was responsible for defining which teams would be part of the contingency plan for the revolts spread across the country. Your mind is still processing the last details, trying to connect the dots, the importance of the last, remote warehouse, the reason it was used. It was clear that it was abandoned, several pieces of furniture could be seen scattered around, it was a long-forgotten place of rubble.

“Gather your team and the XKRS and meet me in my office in thirty minutes.”

Was all Eden said after the end of the meeting, making a frown appear on your face, receiving only a smart look from Eden as he walked through the corridors with a folder under his arm. What the hell could he want with both teams? It was true that you were the only team completely made up of people without blockers, but the XKRS were a newly formed team and were not selected for the Black Pirates Search & Capture Team which, now, was the only thing your team was allowed to do, considering the success of recent operations.

“Tough day?”

The only reaction you had was a slight shiver on the back of your neck. You already expected Jungkook to find you after the session, you just didn't expect him to be so close considering the location you were in. Fingers firmly on your arm indicating for you to follow him, stopping in the middle of an empty room. His eyes met yours, confused and tired, making you sigh as he continued to watch you curiously and worriedly.

“I’m fine Kookie, just a lot going on,” you sat down at one of the tables in the place, sighing and running your hands over your face, the sound of Jungkook’s boots on the floor being the only indication that he was getting closer. “You, Chan, Mingyu and Moonbin’s team with that damn promise you made to my brother is annoying sometimes, you know?”

Both laughter filled the space when Jungkook intertwined their fingers. His eyes analyzing every detail of your tired face. A simple kiss being placed on your cheek made your entire body want to burn, but only a small heat could be found within you, but no movement was made, and he didn't move away much after the kiss, his eyes roaming your face, you could see some confusion in them. When Jungkook's hand went to his face, you pulled away.

"What happened?"

“Nothing happened,” in a way, it wasn't a lie, nothing had happened. The truth is that you always felt something for your brother's friends, you weren't blind, they were extremely beautiful, nice and polite, but they never looked at you as anything other than a younger sister, at least not until you were abandoned by your eight friends that occupied your mind. “I’m just tired, Kookie, no big deal.”

“Chan said you were more airy than usual, more in your head,” you closed your eyes, already knowing what was coming next, “you do remember the last time this happened.”

Yes, you remembered it clearly, because it was when your brother died and your best friends and the first men you loved romantically abandoned you. It was also the same time you started getting involved with your team, expanding this for your brother's friends, starting with Chan and ending with Jungkook. When you did everything to feel something, even if it was momentary.

“If that were to happen, we wouldn't be talking right now, but probably on top of this table,” your voice was sharp, earning a doubtful look in your direction. “Why exactly did you bring me here, Kookie?”

“That’s you in the satellite photos taken that night, isn’t it?” His eyes never left yours, but your silence was enough for him to sigh, taking a step to get between your legs. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that could be?”

“I saw a clue and I wanted to follow that clue, what’s wrong with that?”

Jungkook opened his mouth a few times before sighing, closing his eyes.

“Who is the second person? Was it anyone there?” You finally put your head down, you wouldn't tell about Minho, no matter how much you trusted the man in front of you, if this got out, you deserved all the blame, no one else. “(y/n)?”

“There was no one,” your eyes still didn't look up, your fingers gently caressing Junkook's hand, noticing his muscles soften, “the other person went there to meet me at my request, but I'm not going to tell you who it was.”

“You know I can find out, right?”

“Leave it alone Kookie, for me,” your voice was a plea, your eyes then met his. The truth is, they've all always had a soft spot for you, which was only made worse when you started sleeping with them, when you convinced them to sleep with you. When Jungkook's eyes dropped to your lips you knew he would do whatever you asked, so you moistened them before pulling your hands back, placing his hands on your hips while yours went to his shoulders. “Please, Kookie, what do I need to do to get you to leave this alone?”

Your fingers played with his hair, foreheads touching lightly. His eyes finding your lips whenever they could and you knew what he wanted, even though you didn't want it and he felt it, that's why he still hadn't done what he wanted so badly. Your head moved forward, both breaths mixing, your lips passing delicately across his, feeling his fingers dig into your hip, thanking it for the clothes or else the crescent moon marks of his nails would be present on your skin.

Please, Kookie, was all you wanted to say in that simple act, a sincere request before a small touch of mouths and his arms finally wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer to the edge of the table, your legs wrapping around his as your fingers messed around his hair. His tongue invaded yours allowing a small moan to come out. Jungkook was one of your favorite kisses, but something was wrong. Only your body reacted normally, the electric current was no longer present, the heat was different, it wasn't all over the body, just on one point, your heart no longer palpitated.

Jungkook was right, something had happened, that thing was currently ten, but two of the ten seemed to affect you more than the others. Angel and Serpent. Anyone who asks, you would lie, but the truth is that none of them left your mind for long. The way they acted in the warehouse was set in stone in your mind. Mars and the others still had considerable space, but your mind couldn't help but allow itself to wander and recall the moments shared with the two ATEEZ members.

Remembering how Angel's touch was always discreet but firm, his skin warm against yours, the grip firm but delicate, his concern for your injury, but at no point did he change the way he treated you because of that injury, the way how his hand always seemed to find your knee and wrist always could, especially when you were alone, how his eyes always looked for you in the crowd, always tortuous, but when they found you it seemed like a calm could be seen.

Angel was your biggest puzzle and you wanted to figure out every single piece.

Then came Serpent, grip as strong as Angel's, features as if they had been sculpted with the greatest of care, but his eyes were predatory, he drank in you every time his eyes met yours, the smirk always present just like the damn tongue. Something in you said that he would be one of the best kisses you could receive in your life, the paths that his tongue could follow while his firm hands explored your body -

“Are you fucking serious?” Jeongin's voice brought you back to reality, to the fact that you were with Jungkook, but with full awareness that the heat radiating through your body wasn't because of what you were both doing. Although the kiss was cut off, Jungkook's hands didn't leave your body, neither making any move until Jeongin entered the room, closing the door behind him. “Eden is paging us, he said to find you, couldn’t that wait?”

Your eyes fell on the space between your body and Jungkook, aware of his hands on your thigh and lower back. With a simple exchange of glances, he nodded, moving away from you, hands on your waist as you got down from the table, Jeongin's eyes were almost cynical when they fell on you, but you could see a small glint of jealousy and a smirk appeared in your lips, noticing how your third in command's eyes fell on them, probably swollen and red.

“We were just sorting something out, don't worry Innie,” your hand found Jeongin's cheek making him finally take his eyes off Jungkook who was fixing his pants, again you could see the sparkle in Jeongin's eyes and you smiled at that. “Hey, everything is fine, okay? Let's go, yeah?"

Jeongin looked one last time at Jungkook who was already approaching you, feeling his hand on your lower back and his voice low in your ear, but not enough for Jeongin not to hear.

“Be more careful next time.”

A simple kiss was placed on your temple before he left the room, leaving you and Jeongin alone. His eyes darting to the table you were at before falling back on you.

“Why were you here?”

“Jeongin, c’mon, we were really just talking, but it just escalated, that’s all,” your hand dropped from his face making him march over to the table you were at with Jungkook a short time ago, sitting on the edge of the table, legs spread wide, curious eyes on you. “Innie, what happened?”

“What did he mean by ‘be more careful next time’?” You sighed, walking towards him, positioning yourself between his legs, your fingers touching his knees lightly, but you saw his gaze fall on that spot. “If someone catches you with him -”

“If someone catches me with one of you it’s going to be a lot worse and you know it,” your voice was quick but not rude, just presenting the fact that you all already knew. Jeongin's fingers found yours, intertwining them before bringing your hand to his mouth, lips touching your knuckles lightly, eyes fixed on you. “Innie, please.”

“Don't look anywhere else,” was the only thing he said before pulling you close, his right arm wrapping around your waist while his left hand still held yours before bringing it to his shoulder, making his left hand find your right side before wrapping his arms around your waist, holding you in place. “We don’t like to share.”

You could feel your whole body burn from the way Jeongin was looking at you, holding you. Your hands found the back of his head, playing with his hair just in time to cut it while a smirk grew on your lips.

“I thought we agreed, no strings attached.”

“It wouldn’t be the first rule we broke,” the smirk that appeared on Jeongin’s lips made you lightly pull his hair, eliciting a groan from him, before hungry, predatory eyes appeared, but not predatory enough, not like the ones of Serpent, but you decided to bury that observation far away in your mind. “Eden is waiting for us.”

“Chan?” You connected Jeongin's comm point, since communication points were prohibited in team meetings, the third leader's small wave made you move even closer to Jeongin's face, feeling his fingers tighten around your waist even more. “I need you to find XKRS and the rest of our team, then meet me and Jeongin on Eden's office floor,” another pause, your lips brushing against Jeongin's, a subtle nod was enough, “if anyone asks, make up an excuse.”

No one waited for Chan's response, so Jeongin finally found your lips before moving away from the table, continuing the kiss before holding you and placing you on the table just like you were previously. Unlike the kiss with Jungkook, Jeongin still had a certain effect on you, probably because he was the first one for whom you allowed yourself to feel something similar to what you felt for the eight after your fifteenth birthday, or perhaps, it was because he was your first.

“Is that all you found?”

Yeji's eyes scanned the documents Eden had made available to them one last time. Chan was still looking at the aerial photograph of the site. Jeongin explained some situations to Minjae, the rest of the XKRS boys watching everything from afar, some taking notes, others with their eyes attentive.

“That we managed to recover, yes,” the older man sighed before refocusing on the aerial map that Chan was analyzing, your eyes following every movement of the man you considered your teacher, knowing something was wrong, “but I called you here because I believe that the inspection was not done properly, probably because none of you,” eyes fell on Chan who lowered his head, his mouth in a thin line, “were allowed to enter, supervising only from the area considered safe.”

“Not even after?”

Your question made all eyes direct to you. That day, both you and Ryujin were escorted back to the Command Center to report on the situation that had taken shape, leaving both Chan and Jeongin in charge of the situation, but you already knew that some superiors wouldn't like the idea of either of them being in charge of an operation like that, not when it was discovered in the middle of everything, that everyone was close to one of the Black Pirates' active cells.

“They said we had already done enough and that the fact that some of us were injured could make us easy targets and they couldn’t take any chances.”

You could feel the venom dripping from Chan's speech, accompanied by a scoff, repeated by some of his team members, making you understand the urgency of getting you out of the place, as you would ignore that order, but your team wouldn't, as they knew that this would result in direct consequences for you, something they agreed never to do, even if you had given them permission to do whatever they thought was right.

“It wouldn’t make much of a difference, (y/n),” Eden’s voice was quick, as he understood both sides, he had participated in the punishment you had suffered years before due to your team acting against direct orders when you weren’t present, even if you had said it was for them to do it, being correct in your position. “There wasn’t much to do, but I believe there is now,” Eden’s eyes met yours, all 22 eyes in the room watching him walk back and forth pointing to the board with the satellite photos, “it looks like they are promoting movements to return to the site in small quantities so as not to attract attention.”

“Did Jungkook take the photos?” From your peripheral vision, you noticed Jeongin change his posture when he heard the name come out of your mouth, you held back a laugh, receiving a small nod from Eden. “Were you able to define when they happened?”

“Sporadic schedules, varied groups, there is no consistency in activities.”

Seungmin read the report, looking quickly between you and Eden, noticing the silent conversation that was happening, everyone silently waiting for what would be said.

“How sure are you that they will authorize it?”

“I have my contacts,” Eden smiled smartly after answering your question, earning a sigh when your eyes found the school surrounded by a black circle. “I'm still organizing the proposal, but as soon as the council accepts it, and they will,” your doubtful eyes met Eden's who just continued with that gleam of someone who knew more than they would say, “my nomination will be made, probably accepted not more than two business days later.”

“How are you going to get them to be part of it?”

Your head indicated the XKRS who remained quiet, just listening carefully.

“Technically this isn’t direct interaction with the Black Pirates and you need someone who knows the area to help you when you enter the school.”

“We are ready,” Minjae's voice broke the silence that fell in the room after Eden's speech, who knew that you were afraid to add another team, especially a newly formed team that had no connection with what you all already knew. Everyone's eyes fell on the leader of the XKRS who looked at you with determination, “we are ready, let us prove it, we are capable of helping.”

“It’s not that I think you’re incapable Minjae, it’s just…”

Your voice stopped for a moment, mouth creating a thin line, holding it in so that your eyes wouldn't meet Minho's, the reminder that other people could get hurt because of your problem with the Black Pirates. The idea of anyone present suffering the consequences of what could happen makes you stop for a moment, controlling you, your actions and thoughts.

“We don't know how many people are there,” Chan began to speak, your eyes met his and he gave a weak smile in your direction before focusing on Minjae, “we don't know about the situation of the surrounding buildings, much less the current situation of the school , things could get ugly, both for us and for you.”

“We can propose an inspection of one of the buildings as a stakeout before we investigate the perimeter and you enter the school, this way we reduce the chances of ambushes like last time, right?”

Hyunwoo commented, exchanging glances with everyone, finding a small smile on your lips before exchanging glances with Eden and Yeji who were already getting up to face the photos.

“How long do we have between you finalizing the proposal, it being accepted, you nominating us and the mission happening?”

You could see the gears turning in Yeji's head as she walked towards the board with the pictures, Eden smiled pointing at the calendar and turning the page before pointing to the number ten. One month. You would have a month to get everything working perfectly.

“Yeji and Hyunwoo work together on this part, Chaeryeong, Changbin, Felix, Yechan, Yujun, Seeun and Junghoon work together so that we have everything we might need, I want you to cover all the possibilities,” everyone nodded with each direction you made, feeling Eden's eyes on you, despite the XKRS being slightly wary of completely following your orders, a simple look at Eden and they knew he was in agreement, “Hunter, Seungmin, Jinsik, Jisung Sumin and Minho, I need you to check who participated in the inspection operation, select who will participate in this one that we will do before we enter and watch all the videos relating to that day, both the interviews with those who participated and those who were captured.”

“Minjae and Junmin, I need you to talk to Chan and Jeongin about combining both ways of acting, take the Shadows along, everyone needs to be aware of how each other does things,” everyone nodded, watching Eden point to you, “you stay, I need to talk to you.”

With that simple phrase, everyone quickly left Eden's room, the atmosphere becoming considerably more tense. The few times Eden called you to talk alone, were times when he would ask you to do something that would be considered irresponsible and even illegal in the council's view, but both knew it was necessary and that you had the ability to do it. But now, the tension went beyond that, as your mind remembered the way Eden watched you during the meeting earlier.

“Can they know?”

“Only if you need any of them during the mission,” you nodded and approached the table furthest from Eden, it was one of the few interactive tables, only a select number of people had them, your team was one of them. “There is a more hidden part of the school, it is in the parking lot, I need you to go there and check the place for me.”

“Why didn’t anyone investigate last time?”

“They investigated,” he said simply, opening a password-protected file. As soon as the digits were placed, the folder was opened and several photos were presented to you, making you swallow hard as your eyes went over the amount of fallen bodies, “most of the rebels were in the parking lot burning files while the people inside the school diverted attention and the room they were using was sealed.”

“Who took care of this?”

“Kai went there alone while everyone was leaving and took these photos for me,” you nodded touching some of the photos to expand them, Eden’s eyes focused on you, “we managed to capture an informant, Kai, Moonbin and JK took care of him, making us understand some of the data we found.”

“What exactly do you want me to do, Eden?”

Eyes still fixed on you, he pressed a key and three photos appeared, three different locations, but only one thing in common, making your breath hitch, your head spinning. You would recognize that drawing anywhere. Your blood boiled at the idea that it was being used, after everything that happened, you didn't expect them to actually use that drawing to communicate in some way, or maybe it was just because they knew you would find them. An ironic way to get your attention.

A drawing of a blue bird adorned those three photos like a beacon, your eyes unable to see anything other than the outline of the bird's drawing, a small branch being held in its beak. Your mouth formed a thin line that you tried to hide when you noticed Eden moving next to you. Despite knowing that your brother was also a protégé of Eden, knowing that the mission he was doing when he was killed was organized and supervised by Eden, the probability of him knowing the meaning of that drawing was almost impossible, only a certain number of people knew, one of them dead and the other eight wanted by the State.

“It’s not the first time this drawing has been found in an active cell of the Black Pirates,” you couldn’t control your shock, your bulging eyes meeting Eden’s curious ones, making you curse in your mind, before noticing another page being opened and another password being entered, “I need you to find out what this bird means.”

“Isn’t it easier to get one of them to talk?”

“None of those we captured could say,” the lines were simple, but something in Eden’s gaze said that wasn’t everything he wanted to say, making you hold your gaze on his. “Your brother was a good drawer,” despite your features remaining neutral, your body completely stiffened, “I remember he had a nickname for you, but he never explained to me why, but I never pressed him either, but he said the drawing he was doing was for you. He carried it to remember you.”

“What are you suggesting, Eden?”

“I had seen this drawing before your brother disappeared, in the last video call we made, this drawing was on the bedroom wall, along with the nickname he had for you,” the photos of the bunker came back to your mind, but no drawing like that came to mind. “The drawing wasn't there when we went to find out why he wasn't responding anymore, the drawing wasn't found with his body either, which makes me wonder -”

“What could the Black Pirates do with a drawing of a bird, Eden?”

“I think it’s a signal to indicate that they should leave the place they are in.”

Eden's eyes were focused on your reaction, making you close your eyes to control your breathing, staring at the photos he was showing, knowing that it would make sense to think that way. The drawing seemed to mock you in every photo.

“Maybe so, but if you already have a theory -”

“You don’t think the theory is right,” you threatened to say something, but Eden moved away from the table and faced you head on, “I like to think I know you well enough, so please...”

You sighed thinking about how to tell the truth without saying that you knew the leaders of the Black Pirates.

“I think it’s some kind of message, but it may not necessarily be to let them know to leave, but rather something else.”

“So you need to find out what this is,” with that you nodded and started to walk away before receiving a paper from Eden, the code to access the files handed to you, “be careful where you open this file.”

“Yes, sir,” your mind was still processing what was happening, the way Eden was looking at you said he knew something. “Will you allow me access to my brother’s last video?”

Eden lowered his head, pursing his lips, which was enough of an answer, making you nod and head out of the room.

“Most of your brother's files were destroyed,” you stopped instantly, but didn't dare turn around, your vision already blurred, “the little I got is in a file shared by him to save important things, but he never gave me the password. To access what I have, enter the sequence of the investigation file and when it comes up to enter a code, enter your brother's name, one of the files is the data I have, the other is the things your brother kept, but I don’t have the password.”

That was an apology, you knew that, even though you didn't know why he was apologizing, maybe because of the way he looked at you, with suspicion perhaps? But he wasn't wrong in thinking that way, you were betraying everything you believed in by not saying that you knew the leaders, by having protected not only the eight of them, but also Angel.

“Thank you, Eden.”

“Not for this, (y/n).”

To anyone looking from the outside, the scene looked like a fighting ring, except for the mat at the feet of the sixteen men who were fighting and screaming. Left Eye was the only spectator of what the sixteen were doing, a small smile on his wrinkled face, unable to deny that he was happy to see them act like the boys they were for the first time in a long time, even though he knew it was all a competition and Wooyoung only needed to win once.

All the ATEEZ boys could now distinguish between each of the people present. Wooyoung gave a small smirk watching Howl's movements, losing track of the training number they had been doing for over a month so he was prepared for you. Not that Seonghwa wasn't, but everyone admitted that he should have expected the kick you delivered to his midriff after he blocked your first kick.

Considering that none of the sixteen had many things to do, a small competition was created, even curiously encouraged and partially organized by Nightingale so that Wooyoung and the others could be able to fight against you. Hence Howl was who Wooyoung fought, because it was the one that most resembled your fighting style, light, fast and precise, interestingly, not very different from San's style, perhaps another joke of fate as they learned to play along.

The challenge consisted of a single task. If Wooyoung managed to defeat Howl, ATEEZ would have their own office in the bunker. As the Mirrors had been cleaning the place over the past few weeks, everyone knew that they supported the idea that Wooyoung could beat Howl, that he could beat you, if necessary.

In a quick movement, Wooyoung managed to dodge a punch thrown by Howl, receiving shouts of enthusiasm and provocations, making the two in the center of the circle laugh before Wooyoung ducked and tried to trip Howl, who managed to dodge and move away, avoiding a Wooyoung's punch. With an amused smile, the Mirror beckoned him with its fingers to come closer.

That was the end of the training, so they were all sweaty and exhausted, but that didn't stop any of them from doing that 'extra training' that had become almost routine in the last two weeks, always changing who was fighting who, except for Wooyoung and Howl until the first managed to win.

Wooyoung felt the cut on his eyebrow, present from training with Lucky earlier, burn thanks to the sweat that dripped from his forehead, his eyes observing Howl as a whole, already managing to identify some of the movements that could come from the Mirror. He approached with cautious steps, eyes scanning all of Howl's features, resting briefly on his wrists and feet, the smirk always present, at least until he felt like he was losing it, which wasn't happening yet.

Howl threw a quick punch, making Wooyoung duck, moving away to avoid the knee that was already aimed at his face, turning quickly, extending one of his arms to hit the back of Howl's head, who also easily blocked the action, raising his eyebrows to Wooyoung shook his head with a convinced smile before turning on its own axis again, throwing punches and kicks, barely giving Howl enough time to react, until the Mirror turned to the side, bringing a smile to Wooyoung's face. He threw a kick that hit Howl's side, causing him to stagger, giving Wooyoung enough time to spin and throw a high kick to Howl's face, catching the Mirror's temple before turning again, wrapping him in an armbar, pulling Howl towards him until the two were falling back on the mat, Wooyoung's legs immobilizing Howl as best he could.

Which, fortunately, was successful when Howl raised one of his hands while the other lightly slapped Wooyoung's arm, making everyone scream in celebration, going to join the two on the mat who were already hugging each other with a smile, proud of what had just happened. Yunho and Iyaah quickly caught Wooyoung lifting him, while Uno and Mingi did the same with Howl, who exchanged another happy hi5 with Wooyoung while Mars followed Hongjoong out of the improvised training space in the bunker.

“Only we will have access to the office?” Hongjoong asked one last time, receiving a smile and wave from Mars as they headed to the place that would be ATEEZ's office. “Will we have access to everything you have?”

“Yes, Hongjoong,” Mars commented, laughing, looking at the youngest who had an excited sparkle in his eyes, “you will also have a direct connection with Nightingale, so you will have messages only directed to you.”

“Like the messages referring to her?” Mars nodded, a glimpse of sadness passing through his eyes, making Hongjoong look away out of respect, something he found himself doing constantly since the night Seonghwa and Yeosang accompanied the Mirrors to meet you at the warehouse. “How would you feel if you had to interact with her again?”

Their eyes met and Mars just pursed his lips, closing his eyes.

“It doesn't matter, if you guys need us to be in the same space as her, we'll do it,” from the corner of his eye Mars noticed Hongjoong try to orchestrate a few words before stopping and turning to the ATEEZ leader with a sad smile. “This is bigger than her, this is something only you can do, the most we can do is help you reach our ultimate goal, even if it comes at a cost to us, a cost we chose to pay a long time ago.”

“Even so, we cannot ask that -”

“Joong,” the youngest stopped when he heard the nickname, making a smile appear on Mars' lips, “we'll do whatever needs to be done, she's made her feelings for us clear, and we're all okay with that -”

“Are you guys okay with the girl you love hating you?”

The others quickly joined the conversation that the two leaders of each group were having, hovering around the two with curious and worried looks. Mars was calm, but Hongjoong had that look of curiosity and concern, making the others automatically worry, even though they didn't see anger on the ATEEZ captain's face.

“If she hates us, you will be able to do what needs to be done better than if we are insignificant to her,” Mars' eyes fell on Yeosang and Seonghwa who were swallowing hard, “after all, isn't that what you wanted? That she could differentiate each one of us?”

“Do you think it’s a bad strategy?”

Mars shook his head no to Jongho's question.

“When she sees us, she acts with emotion, making her hate us even more, but with you, she acts with reason, even if she has a little emotion behind her behavior.”

“Does that mean you’re going to tell us about what really happened between you?”

Yunho's question made all the Mirrors sigh, exchanging glances, nodding slightly with each glance they met with Mars.

“When you become familiar with the files we will talk about all the details, but we want you to analyze everything with a clear head, drawing your own conclusions, see her for who she is now and know the best way to act, because despite her still be a memory of everything we’ve experienced, she’s not our (y/n) anymore, she hasn’t been for a while.”

“And you still love her, even after everything?”

All the Mirrors smiled at San's question, nodding weakly.

“We love her soul, even though it is now protected by stone walls, mostly built by us, but there is still something of the girl we knew, who wanted to explore the world, who smiled listening to the noise of the forest, who ran to the lake, played with the animals and always had a smile on her face, she looked at everything with an enchanted look and we will fight so that this (y/n) can emerge again without guilt, even if she hates us in the process, we just want to see that (y/n) one last time.”

Howl and San were definitely the romantics of the group, that was clear, hell, they all realized how similar they all were, their personalities weren't that different if they were honest, but ATEEZ had more scars, thicker skin, that was the difference, that was what would make the plan work. Hongjoong's eyes fell on each of the fifteen men and friends who were in that circle, a small idea appearing in his mind.

“How do you think she would react to having all of you in one space?” Everyone's eyes fell on him, curious to understand what he meant with that question. “Think about the answer while we check the office, I will test the direct connection with Nightingale in the meantime.”

Hongjoong winked at the Mirrors before calling the other ATEEZ boys towards the open door not far from them. Shinwoo and Lucky approach Mars with an amused smile on their lips. Wooyeon was the first to break the silence, letting out a small laugh, pointing to the door that Mingi had just closed.

“He’ll definitely make an impression on them,” all the other seven nodded, “fuck how I wish I could see her face when she meets Hongjoong!”

“Do you think Nightingale tells us anything about their vision of Hongjoong?”

Logan asked curiously, crossing his arms in front of him and joining Wooyeon's side, who was also looking at Mars curiously.

“None of our Nightingales will do that, at least not openly.”

“But it’s worth a try, right?”

Iyaah asked with a mischievous smile being joined by the others, even Shinwoo joined the plan, the six of them focusing on Mars and Lucky who sighed. Lucky being the first to speak.

“I’ll get the drink, you take care of Nightingale while we create scenarios of how she will react to each of them.”

While the Mirrors turned their backs to the room that had the door completely closed, ATEEZ decided to explore the place, observing if there were any plugs, or anything that indicated that they would not be alone in that space, but after a thorough search, nothing was found, making them scatter around the place, Hongjoong sitting in the swivel armchair he had pulled in front of the mahogany table. The other seven watched him curiously.

“We need her team's files, both teams,” Mingi and Yunho nodded, already starting to look for the physical file while Yeosang and Jongho worked on the interactive table, connecting it to the network, “we need the recent videos of the interactions, since you say she changes behavior depending on who she’s talking, we need to understand how it all works, how it’s triggered.”

“At least the initial idea is working as expected,” Hongjoong's eyes fell on Seonghwa who was looking for something in his pockets until he took them out in a sequence of numbers and letters placing them on Hongjoong's desk, bringing a frown to the other’s face before continuing, “we need to find out about this file too, Mars locked it in a drawer in his office, but I think we have access to the digital, even if minimal.”

“What do you think it is?”

"Honestly?" Seonghwa's eyes fell on San with the question, even though he knew that everyone was waiting for the answer with ragged breaths. “I think it involves her and her brother who apparently no one wants to talk about.”

“Except her,” Yeosang commented, seeing the light from the screen shine in front of him, Jongho quickly entering the data that the Mirrors had passed to them not long ago. “We need to focus on the brother, I think he is the key.”

“I thought he died?”

Seonghwa nodded, making Hongjoong continue to look at him with a look of doubt.

“The brother is a sensitive topic for her and them, we need to figure out the connection.”

“It seems like her anger is also directly linked to the way they treat the idea of her brother,” Yeosang completed Seonghwa’s train of thought, watching the gears turn in Hongjoong’s head. “Whenever she can, the topic of her brother is brought up, whether it’s when she was with me on Guardian’s Island or in the warehouse with Seonghwa, Mars and Logan.”

“We also need to understand about the necklace.”

Seonghwa comments quickly, everyone gathering around him, but he ignores it, watching Yeosang's eyes scan the older man's face looking for the answer, nodding when he seems to finally understand, heading towards the interactive table looking for the warehouse file.

“What necklace?”

Wooyoung's question hung in the air as Seonghwa joined Yeosang watching the warehouse's night camera, pausing the four cameras at the exact moment you pull the drawstring out of your blouse. Your features were pained, almost desperate, while Logan and Mars' were pained, longing and slightly shocked. If your words were considered at that moment it was clear that none of the Mirrors expected you to still carry the 'gift' that you put on display for anyone who wanted to see, venom and pain pouring from your lips.

“They gave it to her before they disappeared after her fifteenth birthday.”

Yeosang clarified by zooming in on the four camera images. Hongjoong's eyes scanning every detail of the frames, fixated more on your expressions, he could feel the hatred. His fingers were quick to capture each frame it followed, finally finding one in which your eyes fell on Yeosang and Seonghwa, the hatred softening, but determination hardening, almost like a wall being erected.

Mars was right. As long as they managed to make your feelings speak louder than reason, they would have a chance, they needed to use the hatred you had for the Mirrors in their favor, to get closer to the final goal. The captain could not take his eyes off the image of yourself in each frame that was shown. He had to admit, you were attractive, your posture exuded a call for a challenge that Hongjoong wanted to defeat.

The screen was quickly turned off and replaced with the image of a blue bird, making all eight of them hold their breath, eyes falling on Hongjoong who had his lips in a thin line as the gears of his mind could clearly be seen working as he squeezed so that Nightingale's message was opened.

“Hello, captain, I hope you are already adapting. We had news that a mission is being created so that in almost a month, the school will be invaded again by the Government. I need you to plan two different plans, one in case (y/n)'s team is selected and the other, for the case another team is chosen. As a warning, I need to inform you that Yang's team is a strong competitor for the choice to be in his favor, but we are creating enough situations for the Council to understand that there is the possibility of your presence, authorizing (y/n)’s team in participating, promoting the meeting with Wooyoung. Left Eye will leave something he needs to deliver to her, I don't care how they do it. The piece is important to get into her mind, when I have more information I will get in touch.”

With that, Hongjoong was sure of two things: they needed to be able to separate you and your team; then he needed to be in the same space as you, understand your feelings, which he couldn't do despite Seonghwa and Yeosang's attempts. And he knew exactly how to do all these things when his eyes met the frozen image on the interactive screen.

One week.

A week in, and your mind didn't think about anything other than the interaction with Eden.

He knew about your nickname, about the drawing, about what it meant, even if he didn't understand the nickname. As if that wasn't enough, fate seemed to laugh at you when your team was selected to guard Guardian's Island for a week, the exact week that Eden would send the request to revisit the school. Fortunately, something good could end up coming from this, as you would not only have access to Guardian's Island data, but also access to your and your brother's old room, being able to open the folders that Eden had indicated to you days ago.

The surprise on everyone's faces when you informed them that you were going to the part of the dorms that was designated for your parents, was enough to know that you would have to be careful, as you say. Not only had Eden built an entire apartment in her head with the lines about the drawing, but he had also done the same by wanting to talk to you alone, neither of you letting anyone know what the conversation had been about or why you had left considerably upset from Eden's office.

You noticed Chan and Jeongin's eyes following you with considerable concern, being the two who knew the most what that place meant to you, including your brother's influence and how you refused to stay in that space when he himself stopped using it. The truth is that you just took advantage of the fact that your brother left the island because of what he was doing, as well as the chance for you to live at Prestige Academy thanks to the level you were in Class 5. Mostly, you wanted to forget about everything that could remind you about the eight guys who had started to break your heart back then, leaving everything of them behind in that room, knowing that your parents – at the very least – respected your and your brother's individual space.

The place wasn't much different from years before, but the parents' reaction when you entered with the code allowing entry was enough to make you rethink what you were about to do. They had actually taken out the blockers. The smile and red eyes of both when they saw you was enough to confirm it, but you could still see the madness in their eyes, the madness that you had started to see in Jungkook before you convinced him to stop using the blockers.

Their arms wrapped around you, but only despair took over, despair and anger. That should have happened when your brother died, you needed them at that time, but instead they used the blockers, not only blocking both of their emotions, but also any kind of interaction with you, still having the capacity to say that it was better to use blockers, but you had made a promise to your brother before he went undercover, a promise you refused to break. The only one you refused to break.

The words that came out of your parents’ mouth never being processed by your mind, just wanting to finally create space between you. Your father's eyes were the first ones you saw, the glow of madness not as present as in your mother's, but you chose not to think too much about why. On the other hand, your mother refused to let go of you, hands always on your arm or back, guiding you around the house as if you didn't know the place that was still intact even five years later.

“You must be hungry -”

“My team and I ate earlier,” their eyes met yours and you felt the need to explain, “before the shift change, me, Chan and Jeongin always sit down to talk about how it's going to go, including who's going to being responsible for the watch of that shift, so we took the opportunity to eat something.”

“You could have told us; we could have brought you and your friends something to eat.”

“No need,” your words were quick as you tried to control your voice, your parents had never worried about your friends before, nor about you until that moment. “My team and I have our routine and we already know what we need, Yongbok and Changbin organized the food, there’s no need to worry.”

It was only after your response that your father noticed how you were behaving, a shadow of sadness took over his face, while you held back from showing satisfaction and slight irritation with everything. Your mother, on the other hand, just seemed to be happy to have you there, not leaving her side at any time.

“When we found out you were staying here, we bought some things,” the quick movement of your mother moving some things in the kitchen made you look at your father who lowered his head before joining his wife in the kitchen, “I hope you still like -”

“She’s tired, darling,” your father’s hand rested on your mother’s shoulders making her stop instantly, eyes falling on you, softening enough to make you want to vomit. Now they were worrying about you?. “Let’s let her rest, let’s go to the room, we have a meeting tomorrow.”

“Yes, of course,” the weak voice hid a cry for help from her husband, almost as if asking him to help bring you back. “It’s your house, (y/n), please make yourself comfortable.”

At no point did your face show any emotion as your parents headed towards the room. When the click of the door was finally heard, your eyes found the things your parents had bought on the kitchen counter, eyes closing as you sighed trying to keep everything under control. When your eyes opened again, finding the food you and your brother ate before everything happened, a lump formed in your throat, your eyes began to burn, leaving your vision blurred before you left everything behind, heading to where your room would be.

As soon as the door opened, it was like you went back to five years ago. The room exactly as you had left it, it was as if every corner brought back to you the memories buried deep in your mind, in your heart. Every corner you looked, it was as if the nine of them materialized in front of you and you could see them all helping to organize your room the way you always wanted.

You could see Howl, Wooyeon and Logan placing fairy lights around the bed while Iyaah and Uno placed them on the walls and ceiling. Mars and his brother organizing the photos you took, spreading them across the walls, just like organizing the desk exactly how you wanted, the photos and little reminders of their size always present.

Shinwoo organizing the gift they had given you, the record player along with some vinyl records, positioned perfectly in the corner along with the guitar he had given you, after teaching you how to play, the keyboard leaning against the wall, the image of Shinwoo with the guitar, Lucky on the keyboard and everyone around singing and laughing came like a longing and painful slap. It was then that your eyes fell on the separated clothes in the corner.

The denim jacket Lucky had painted seemed to scream for you to pick it up and wear it again. The jumpers and hoodies on all of them just below the jacket didn't help on the matter, if you rummaged through the small pile of clothes, you'd certainly find the boys' sweatshirts and sweatpants too. Before you could focus on it any longer, your eyes found the drawing that had been haunting you for a week. The bird drawing your brother had done all those years ago hung on the bulletin board, surrounded by polaroid photos of you with each of the nine who had your whole heart.

Quick steps guided you to the bedroom's bathroom, making you close the door behind you before turning on the tap and splashing water on your face and the back of your neck. Your face was red and already wet from tears that you didn't even realize had fallen as you took in everything that was present in the room. It was then that your eyes looked up at your own reflection in the mirror. Eyes red and swollen, your lower lip between your teeth trying to stop the tremor that always came when everything got too much, before tears started to fall again, your legs gave out and your back met the cold tiles of the bathroom before her body slid down to the floor.

You didn't care who heard it, even if you knew that only your parents would hear it – if they really wanted to – considering that the place you were in was soundproof, so no one would know what was going on. Then you screamed as you cried holding your own body. The memories of everything that had happened in that room invading your mind, the memories of the last time everyone was there making you dig your nails into your arm trying to get you back to reality.

You cursed Eden for showing you the drawing.

Cursed your brother for dying.

Cursed the eight for abandoning you after promising to stay with you.

Cursed Angel and Serpent for coming into your life.

Cursed your parents for abandoning you after all.

Cursed your team for always supporting you regardless.

Cursed yourself for still feeling those feelings for the eight of them.

And you cursed one last time as Angel and Serpent appeared in your mind.

You didn't know how long you stood still on the bathroom floor, but it was long enough for your entire body to shiver from the cold, even though your face was still hot and wet, finally deciding to turn on the shower and let the warm water fall on you, clearing any and all memories that had arisen at that time. Even though you knew the guilt would never be completely washed away.

Guilt not only about your relationship with your team and the others who didn't have blockers, but mainly guilt about Mars, Lucky, Uno, Logan, Howl, Iyaah, Wooyeon and Shinwoo. Guilt for not being able to hate them as much as you hated yourself for what you felt for them, for what they felt for you.

The glass and gold pendant was caressed by your wet fingers, the drops from the shower decorating the eight pieces of glass. Howl and Serpent's words echoing in your mind. They loved you, but they still abandoned you. Howl's writing along with Mars' speech when he visited your apartment months ago made you close your eyes tightly.

The noise of the shower taking you to the noise of the waterfall that you and the others always went to, when visiting the other dimension. If you really tried, you could smell the air with the smells of the forest around you, you could feel the grass under your feet, you could hear the laughter of each of your nine boys. You could feel Shinwoo carrying you to where the others were, you could see most of the shirtless boys entering the lake and throwing water at each other.

You could see Wooyeon and your brother hiding in the corner while you pretended not to know that they got a cake to celebrate your fifteenth birthday. Shinwoo stopped on the side with you in his arms, holding the boy's neck as if your life depended on it. If he threw you, he would go with. Uno quickly removed your shoes, placing them with the other shoes before Shinwoo placed you on the floor, taking off his own shirt and shoes, following the path Uno had taken previously. Lucky quickly by your side with his hand behind you, the other boys already in the lake watch you curiously.

There had been enough time for you to have become aware of your body and theirs, of how their skin felt, of the suggestions they played next to your ear bringing shivers down your spine. That would be the first time you were conscious of it all, and in just your bathing suit in front of them. The wet earth being what made you most focused on everything that was happening, trying to ignore the presence of all eight boys that occupied your mind recently, the fact that they were shirtless not helping your process of maintaining some sanity in their presence.

Mars was the first to break you out of your trance, his fingers cold from the lake water finding your elbow, making you startle and elicit a small laugh from all the boys, Shinwoo and Uno quickly joining the others in the lake. Mars and Lucky's eyes asked if everything was okay and you just nodded before taking a few steps back, arms wrapping around your waist as you heard the laughter of the boys behind you. The thoughts about how they would feel about your body made you even more aware and stopped you from taking off the shorts and blouse you had stolen from your brother.

Memories of talking about you getting involved with any of his friends coming back to mind. Even though you knew he talked more about people at Prestige Academy, all the other eight were also his friends, which meant you shouldn't feel the things you felt about them. But, in all honesty, your mind and heart don't care about this detail, not even when your brother appeared at your side, taking off his own shirt and putting it on with his shoes down in line.

With a simple kiss on the top of your head and a '*we're waiting for you at the lake*', he turned away and you could hear the splash as his body came in contact with the water. Hands grabbing the hem of your blouse, aware of the girls you had seen in this dimension and in your own, how they looked at the boys, how they looked at those girls, the way you wanted them to look at you.

"Is everything okay?" Wooyeon was quickly beside your, worried eyes found the arms wrapped around your waist, fingers tightening on your shirt. “Are you in pain?” When you just kept your head down, Wooyeon cursed under his breath looking at the group of friends. “He said you wouldn’t be –”

He cut off his own speech and you found yourself laughing at the memory, even though your face burned at the time when you saw what he wanted to say, quickly shaking your hands and head high, making Wooyeon sigh, his fingers quickly finding your arms, his eyes soft and slightly worried.

“It's been a while since we've been to the lake, that's all,” your fingers quickly removed the shorts, your brother's loose shirt doesn't make much of a difference considering it covered half of your thighs, but you see Wooyeon's eyes finding your legs before he looked away with a shy smile, making your face burn even more. “It’s been a while since… well, we haven’t…”

“You can come in with your shirt on if you want,” your heart ached as you remembered that memory, how sweet Wooyeon was, the way his eyes fell on your body and went up to your eyes, making you curse for how naive you were, for not having noticed how his gaze was on you. “It’s okay if you don’t want to take your shirt off, today is your day, you can do whatever you want and the last thing we want is to make you uncomfortable.”

A tear joined the water drops from the shower, a sad smile on your lips at the memory.

“You could never make me uncomfortable Yeonie,” your voice was weak, shy, as it always was when you were with them, your heart feeling like it would come out of your mouth at any moment. The giggle that came out of Wooyeon's mouth took you by surprise before he stopped behind you, making you highly aware of the small distance when you felt the warm air of his breath against your ear. "What...?"

“Do you trust us?”

“Completely,” and back then you really trusted them blindly. Your heart clenched in your chest as your hand tightened on the pendant and your face lowered to meet your knees, the water from the shower hitting directly on your neck and back, squeezing the pendant tighter as you remembered Wooyeon placing it around your neck. "What -"

“Our gift to you,” your hands rested on his shoulder after closing the necklace at the back of your neck, his fingers brushing lightly against your skin, making the area burn and the butterflies in your stomach wake up, “do you know what it means?”

You didn't dare turn back, knowing he was closer than he had ever been, and you didn't trust your own body's reactions at that moment. The eyes and fingers quickly passing over the pendant. A gold thread wrapped around eight broken but mended pieces of glass, the thread forming the design of a heart while the eight pieces of glass met in the middle, meeting another dot of gold, a delicate heart design in gold.

“It’s pretty, but...,” Wooyeon’s fingers found yours on the pendant and your breathing stopped for a minute, “Wooyeon, you guys don’t -”

“The outer heart of gold is your brother, for he arranged everything for us to meet, the eight pieces of glass are each of us, for your brother also held us together before you arrived and brought us together completely, so that you are the heart in the middle, at the center of the pendant, connecting everything within you, because you were the missing piece, you are our heart, (y/n).”

Your fingers rested on the middle heart, your eyes still closed, the water from the shower running along with the last tears you allowed to fall for Wooyeon and the others. Finally remembering how Wooyeon kissed your cheek after that speech, how he carried you towards the lake, how each of the boys took care of you, how your brother's shirt wrapped around your body until you finally decided to take it off, feeling the eight of their hands on your waist and back, trying to ignore the effect it had on you, trying not to think too much about all the times they pulled you close, holding you against their body, how their lips burned into your skin every time they found some place that day – cheek, shoulder, temple, top of the head, hand, wrist, it didn't matter the place, it always burned.

It was the vibration of your cell phone that made you wake up to reality. How many times it had vibrated, you couldn't say, but considering the state of your skin, you had spent a considerable amount of time in the shower. Quickly washing your hair, you let your phone ring a few more times, three to be specific – one from Chan, one from Jeongin and one from Minho. When you finally got out of the shower, your cell phone rang a fourth time – which you managed to see who the call was from –, finding Jisung's name on the screen, sighing, you answered it and put it on speaker.

“I was taking a shower, did something happen?”

Silence quickly took over the other line before everyone started talking at once, making a smile appear on your lips.

“Do you have any idea how long you’ve been in the bathroom?”

Seungmin's voice made you stop for a minute checking the time on your phone, your silence being enough for them to know that you had no idea.

"Did something happen?"

“How do you know how long I’ve been in the bathroom?”

You can hear Yeji, Ryujin and Chaeryeong laughing, making you sigh, slightly irritated, but not at all surprised, ignoring Chan's question again before opening the door, wrapping your body in a towel, your eyes passing through every corner of the room before finding the hidden camera near the shelf next to the guitar and keyboard, giving it the middle finger, your team's laughter making you laugh along before going back to get your phone.

“We just wanted to know how you were doing.”

Yongbok's voice was worried, and you just pursed your lips looking at your reflection in the mirror, knowing that from that angle, they couldn't see you, giving you one last moment of calm.

“I'm fine, but if I find out that you boys hacked the cameras here without telling me, again, so you could spy on me, I'll make sure you never have heirs.”

“Why do you think it was our idea?”

Changbin exclaimed almost painfully at your realization, making you sigh before picking up your cell phone and returning to the room, eyes focused on the camera in front of you.

“Because none of the girls would do that, they know that when I need time it also involves being fully alone!”

“Is that why you always ask them to come with you to keep watch?”

You allowed yourself to laugh, noticing the sadness in Jisung's voice.

“You are very desperate when I don't respond, they know how to act more with their heads, don't take it personally,” some complaints were heard before light slaps made you laugh on the other end of the line. “Minho, stop watching me, I’m fine, but I need some time alone.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Don’t worry, the list is almost zero, so there aren’t many things I can do.”

Before you could hear anything else, the call ended and you made sure to remove the camera, hiding it among the pile of plushies that Howl, Wooyeon, Shinwoo, Iyaah and Uno had gotten for you years before. Did they already love you from that time? The memories played around appearing in your mind, today you could say that the answer was probably correct, they always loved you, even before everything happened, so why had they done everything they did? Why abandon you? Why kill your brother?

Your brother's file.

You quickly searched on some clothes, eyes going to the pile of clothes in the corner, their pile of clothes. Maybe you allowed yourself while you were there, that last moment to happen, as you were already digging the hole again. They were back, they were already fucking with your mind, why not surrender once and for all and wear their clothes? A pair of sweatpants – according to the size, they were from Iyaah or Uno – and a hoodie – they were gray and with the words: UNALLOYED, making you smile knowing that they were from Howl.

You quickly grabbed your computer, opening it and connecting to Strickland's system. Your data quickly placed so you could access the files made available by Eden. The school’s blueprint could be seen, but also another one with drawings within the blueprint that you believed had been made by Kai and Niki, after reading some of the notes that Eden made about the day, writing down in your mind from talking to both of them before entering the school, noticing that there were areas that were not in the original plan making you curse under your breath.

The photos of the event were considerable, both of the bodies as of the walls painted red with some bullet holes. So many people dead on both sides. Your heart sank, knowing that this was one of the reasons you didn't want to stay in Class 5, because these moments hit you, they made you question things you shouldn't, hell, they even made you agree with the things the Black Pirates stood for, even though you knew it was wrong.

Your eyes went through the list of names that they had managed to identify from the Black Pirates, but what surprised you was the number of unidentified people, some with justification, but most didn't have any, making you pay even more attention to the photos and feel the bile in your mouth. How bad had that encounter been and what could be so important that the members would protect at all costs?

When you arrived at the last file, your fingers went quickly to the paper that Eden had given you, the password being typed quickly as you memorized it before burning it and throwing it in the metal trash in the room that still had some ashes from five years ago. Your parents had never touched the room, was it because they didn't care enough, or completely the opposite? But you didn't see any signs of dust, they probably just cleaned it superficially, but never for long enough. It was then that a noise came and your eyes quickly fell to a corner in the room, one hand closing the computer while the other went under the pillow, realizing that they hadn't really touched your room, when your fingers found the dagger, but you laughed to yourself when you noticed the vacuum cleaner running inside your room, explaining the lack of dust.

Your eyes finally returned to the computer screen, several extra files being found, but you chose to focus on the videos, quickly opening the first one, finding the image of Niki, Minhyuk and, consequently, Kai who had the bodycam. You could see each of the rooms, the aftermath of the events, the fallen bodies, red bathing the walls and floor, papers scattered, places torn apart, you could only imagine the work that had gone into collecting all the evidence, identifying the people lying in the ground, your heart squeezed for those who could not be recognized.

Regardless, you organized a cursory plan for your team, also considering the best locations for Minjae's team to stay and oversee the space for you guys. Fortunately, most of the places Eden had required your attention were on the same floor, but you needed to go down three floors to get to the room he had said was sealed, making a note to talk to Jihyo, Changbin, Chaeryeong and Yujun, knowing that all help was welcome.

It was almost midnight when you finally finished the outline of the plan, leaving it in a protected folder on your computer, remembering what Eden had said about what happened to your brother, about the secret file he had. Your eyes fell on the camera you had lowered, knowing it had been placed by your brother and being thankful that it didn't take up the entire room, especially not the part where Mars and the others were appearing.

With a sigh, you opened the network search, checking if the VPN was still on and restarting it just in case before sighing, fingers nimbly placing the sequence of numbers and letters you knew so well: 8B92QMO. You saw the screen open blank, a few quick clicks and the part to enter a password was released, opening the folder that Eden had commented on. Your eyes were already burning looking at the dates, knowing that it would soon be three years since your brother's death.

Your trembling fingers guided the cursor to the last date that was the last video he had shared, clicking softly, the image of your brother opening on the screen and a sob leaving your throat, one of your hands quickly going to your mouth trying to stifle the sound. His hair was disheveled, he had some dark circles under his eyes, but nothing too serious, his hair was longer than usual, his skin was also more tanned due to his undercover work. Despite everything, what really caught your attention was the damn drawing that Eden had commented on.

Like a beacon, your eyes quickly found the drawing of the bird hanging on the note board behind your brother, along with a photo of you and him on his graduation day from Prestige Academy. The lump in your throat increased, making you close your eyes and take a deep breath, calming your nerves, adjusting your headphones before opening your eyes finding the image of your brother looking down, you could see the tiredness, deciding that later you would going through all the files that Eden had gotten, hoping to find something new, something that explained why.

“Update on the case,” your breath caught when you heard your brother's voice after everything that had happened, his eyes meeting yours on the computer screen, “I still haven't been able to know exactly where everything will happen, but I believe I managed to make contact for the first time after…,” his voice trailed off followed by a sigh, “well…, it doesn’t matter, but I need to do this, I need to do this for her.” Your heart tightened in your chest, tears began to fall from your eyes. “She deserves answers, I just hope I get them and -” then the speech was cut off by a noise and your brother took out his cell phone, the glow hitting his face before a small smile appeared on his lips making you smile along with him, after a few moments and text exchanges later, his eyes found the camera again, “tomorrow, (y/n). If you watch this video, I'll get some answers for you tomorrow, okay? Wait for me, I’ll be home soon.”

Then the video was cut.

Along with that, a muffled scream from you broke the silence of your room.

He was doing all this for you.

They were doing all that for you.

All you wanted was the nine with you and not this fucked up situation you found yourself in.

Wiping away some of the tears, you quickly moved the cursor through the folders that Eden owned, but unfortunately, the only new thing was your brother's videos. As expected, sporadic and with little indication of what was happening, just routine videos to show that everything was still fine, no safe words were used, his eyes showed no fear, everything seemed fine, so what the hell happened that you disappeared and turned up dead a month later?, that was all that was going through your head with every video you saw.

Then the last file appeared, also password protected.

The file that Eden said belonged to your brother, that only he had access to.

Both you and Eden knew the password could be anything and you wished he had passed on the passwords he had tried. With a sigh, your fingers were quick trying to somehow find the possible password for that folder, but the only information that was offered was the number of files and the date of the last modification, curiously, it was the date following his last video.

Once again opening all the files that Eden had made available, ending with the last video posted, eyes and ears looking for any clue that your brother could give about the folder's password.

I need to do this for her.

She deserves answers.

You knew your brother well enough to know that him saying those words and then saying your name meant something, but you didn't know how many attempts Eden had made, you also knew your brother well enough to know that when the limit was reached, all files would be automatically deleted from the archive.

Your eyes scanned the video looking for any hint as to what the password could be. He had to have placed it somewhere so you could identify it. That video was for you. There was a reason he did it. The drawing caught your attention again, the conversation with Eden coming back to you and you cursed under your breath at how stupid you were being. His voice could be heard next to you mocking how clueless you had been about it all.

With a sigh and a plea, your fingers typed in the only password you could think of. Fingers trembling searching for each key, it was almost as if you were typing, each keystroke a silent prayer that you were right. Erasing the password twice and entering a third, paying attention to each key, you closed your eyes one last time, a silent request followed by a sigh.

Eleven letters.

One word.

One meaning.

Lots of memories.

The dots representing each of the typed letters.

Your eyes rested again on the image of the drawing his brother had made that was in his room. A silent plea that you were right.

Tremblingly, your index finger found the enter key, closing your eyes at the same second, waiting for any noise that would indicate an error or a file destruction sequence, but nothing came, making you open your eyes, finding all the files exposed in front of you. A simple image of your brother was present, probably a video taken right after the one he had sent to Eden. The outfit was the same, the position was the same, everything was the same, even your brother's small smile.

You had done it.

Unfortunately, you couldn't do anything until you watched the video that was displayed for you, making you sigh and calm down. Knowing that this was probably the real last video of your brother before his death. Again you braced yourself for the video, even though you knew it would probably be in vain, considering what he had done to contain those files.

“Of all the people who could find these files, I hope it's you on the other side of the screen, (y/n),” the mischievous smile was present, it was almost as if you could talk to him, as if nothing had happened so many years ago. “I know a lot has happened and I believe if this video reached you, something happened to me and I'm sorry for that.” The space button was quickly pressed and you found yourself sobbing as you held your face in your hands, tears falling onto your hot face. Everyone knew how complicated working undercover was, but no one ever expected death to happen, at least not in the way it happened. The space key was pressed again and your brother's voice flooded your ears. “I need you to know that I love you, to promise me again that you will never use the blockers and to know who to trust,” a sigh and you noticed him shifting in the chair, his back straight. “There are monsters under the bed, yes, but never forget that the real monsters can be on your side helping you kill the so-called ‘monsters hiding under the bed’, okay?”

His gaze had become hard and you stopped the video again. Something had happened after the video he had shared with Eden, something involving the messages exchanged.

"What do you want to tell me? What really happened?"

Your eyes scanned the video frame again, everything was exactly the same as before, the only difference was your brother's posture, all this after the messages he had received. What the hell had happened the next day? Sighing, you pressed play again, hearing your brother's sigh on the other side.

“If the worst happens, know that I won't be upset if you get hold of my video games, but be careful with my computer, be careful with the pages you open, the last thing we need is a virus getting in there,” you they both laughed, but the raising of eyebrows had been different, his laugh had been different, there was something on his computer, but how did he gain access to the computer while undercover? “Mom and Dad’s house has more things than mine, just be careful, many things there are valuable and I spent a lot of money!” His spine became more erect, your eyes falling on the clock. Almost two in the morning, your parents must have already been in their twentieth sleep. “One more thing, I love you (y/n), nothing in the world will change that. Be aware, not everything is as it seems, there are wolves in sheep's clothing in every flock. I love you, my nightingale.”

As soon as the video was finished, you spent a while just observing the image of your brother, his weak but affectionate smile; his eyes tired, but with a sparkle in them. How you wished you could have him close one last time, hug your brother, hear his laugh, train with him... All you wanted was your brother back. The cursor went through all the files, you already knew you wouldn't sleep, but unfortunately, you couldn't find much beyond what Eden already knew, except some encoded files that you would need time, knowing you couldn't ask any of the people who were with you, that was something you needed to do alone.

Your eyes fell back to the computer, cursing under your breath thinking about how long you had until the sun started to rise and your parents woke up. With light and quick steps, you left your room and entered your brother's. Releasing the breath you were holding, your eyes turned to the room, untouched just like yours. You froze in place for a moment, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath, still finding your brother's scent in the room, it was faint but it was there. Your whole body shook before you opened your eyes, finding the bed, your brother's words coming back to you, just like your eyes falling on your desktop computer.

Before you could think much, your feet were already guiding you to the bed, knees and cheek finding the floor while one hand lifted the duvet, looking for anything under the bed, cursing under your breath when you couldn't find anything, eyes finding the desktop computer. Taking care not to make any noise, you moved the swivel chair away, pressing all the necessary buttons to turn on the computer, your leg shaking nervously as your mind went over every piece of information you had gathered.

That had all reignited the fire that burned inside you.

Maybe now you would finally have answers.

Unlike what you expected, you were met by a black screen with blue bold letters, a rectangle waiting for a password to be entered and you sighed, re-entering the password that you hoped was correct. The letters shining with each key pressed.

NIGHTINGALE.

Then the entire computer went black before a string of words appeared, such as various file names and registrations, recognizing some as those of your team and your brother's friends. They all had the date of last access, making your mouth form an 'o' when looking at the names of the last accesses, but not necessarily for the reason you would expect. The scare didn't come from the fact that the names of your team and your brother's friends were some of the last to be viewed, but rather the fact of when they were viewed.

Most importantly, the fact that your own file had been opened five minutes ago.

Your breathing stopped for a moment watching the computer screen. The well-known names were displayed on the computer's black screen, the dates of interaction were recent, but then everything stopped when a new name appeared at the top, your brother's file had just been opened. Your hand quickly found the mouse, the cursor heading to the well-known name, but which had been deleted from Strickland's files.

"What the hell is happening?"

Your voice was weak, less than a whisper, almost a breath when the click on your brother's name made the entire screen fill with data. There was information from when he was at Prestige Academy, when you were just a child who didn't know anything about life. Various and various files were present on the screen, some you knew, others you never saw anything about in your entire training period or after your graduation.

C2REKL3 – your brother's first mission after he graduated at sixteen. The boys had stayed with you throughout the period, as the fear of the possibility of losing your brother consumed you completely.

GBQJ9DU – the first mission he participated in when he was still fifteen, you still remembered how he, Chan, Mingyu and Jungkook were stressed about what was going to happen, even though you knew that BTB would be there to protect them if necessary.

7KC93ZZ – his first mission (still supervised) after being selected for the ASTRO team, not long after the success of the GBQJ9DU mission, which was the first time he had needed to kill someone. Until today you could see the emptiness on his face and how much he took himself whenever he could, trying to get rid of the invisible blood that stained his hand.

FI2U9KY – your first mission with him when you were thirteen.

ZVYQ8H7 – his last mission with ASTRO before Eden's recruitment so he could carry out the undercover work that would cause him to lose his life in the badlands of Strickland.

On the other hand, your fingers quickly searched for your cellphone to write down some of the sequences: 0JIL63EJ, XWET73T, NAXZMG0, KN3JA0J... How many missions had your brother been part of that you had never imagined? Finally, your eyes focused on the last mission he participated in (but not the last folder that had been changed). Seven months. He had been undercover for seven months, which explains his tan and long hair. Your fingers quickly went to the first file shown, your blood running cold with every word you read from the document.

He had been selected to check the movements of a possible opposition group that seemed to already be causing problems even after having been there for a short time. According to the reports, they were a group of eight people, there were no records of them at Strickland, they were complete ghosts, with considerable knowledge of how the system worked. It didn't take much for you to know that your brother had been chosen to study and capture Mars and the others, you knew he had picked it up on that easily too.

A video appeared in front of you, the first video of the mission, making you hold back your tears, the image exactly as you remembered it. The video was merely introductory, explaining who he was, his role in the team and the ultimate objective, some information about what had happened. You could hear and see other trusted people in the video, Eden was considerably specific in who and which groups participated in the missions he commanded, especially those that required stealth.

The next video was accompanied by a report. Maddox. That was the first word that appeared in the document followed by numbers and coordinates, the last word you could see in the document was a simple: CONTACT. Then the entire screen went black and you cursed under your breath before a blue glow appeared on the screen. A simple 'hello', the user written was Maddox, but you had never met a Maddox and, curiously, the conversation had only started after you opened the file that had that name as the first word.

MADDOX: (y/n), I know you are there, please respond.

Your fingers were still on the keyboard, the tips lightly touching the keys. It couldn't be, he wouldn't do that to you.

MADDOX: Eunwoo is dead, this is Maddox, now answer. NIGHTINGALE: how do you know my name? MADDOX: you really thought it would be this easy to enter your brother’s things and no one would know? NIGHTINGALE: who are you? MADDOX: Maddox. NIGHTINGALE: no shit, now answer the question. MADDOX: let’s say I’m the Lee Minho to your brother, but better.

A scoff left your lips as your back met the back of the swivel chair. You needed to find out who Maddox was and what he wanted.

MADDOX: your brother gave me access and control over his data, who do you think created all of this and made sure his registration was not canceled?

With that your back quickly became straight, your eyes determined and angry.

MADDOX: I knew this would get your attention. NIGHTINGALE: what do you want from me? MADDOX: I can help you if you want. NIGHTINGALE: why is that my name? MADDOX: should we use your real name when involving high treason documents? Your breathing stopped for a minute. MADDOX: I can help you get justice for your brother. MADDOX: I can tell you who wanted him dead, but I still don't know who was successful. NIGHTINGALE: The Black Pirates killed my brother. MADDOX: he said you were smarter and thought for yourself, shame. NIGHTINGALE: he was after them, how come they weren't the ones who killed him? MADDOX: If they really wanted to, even you would be dead, child.

So he was older, but how much older?

MADDOX: you two have the same face when you're thinking. NIGHTINGALE: since when have you been watching me? MADDOX: since you entered that password in Eden's data.

Your entire body froze.

Maddox had access to Strickland's system, but whose side was he on?

MADDOX: I have to admit that I thought I would have to watch you look for the password, but you surprised me by not taking long to find it, both then and now. MADDOX: Maybe the rumors about you are real. NIGHTINGALE: and what could these rumors be? MADDOX: too many for the little time we have. NIGHTINGALE: So how do you expect to contact me after this? MADDOX: If you had looked more meticulously under your brother's bed, you would have found the flash drive that gives you access to everything you were so focused on discovering.

You quickly got up, bending down again, turning on the light on your cell phone, going through the entire underside without finding anything, grunting quietly and rolling your eyes before finding a small reflection in the wooden part of the bed. The light quickly directed there, a flash drive was taped to the wood of the bed, reaching out to pick it up trying to make as little noise as possible, knowing that it was close to the time for your parents to wake up.

Your eyes fell to the computer screen, Maddox had sent a few more messages, so you quickly headed to the chair, flash drive carefully in hand.

MADDOX: Eunwoo made several requests to me before everything happened, I know a lot more things than most superiors. MADDOX: I know you don't have much to believe in me, but I believe that when you see all the data we have in the system, maybe you will use your big brain and help get justice for your brother. MADDOX: by the end of the week a brand new computer will be in your room at Strickland, use this computer to communicate with me and open the files, if you don't do so, using your computer or importing the files with the programs created by Minho in the new one, I'm going to do something about it and you don't want to know what I can do. MADDOX: Your brother risked everything and more, you don't have to trust me, but at least do this for him, so that what he fought for was not in vain. NIGHTINGALE: you talk too much for someone who hides behind a computer. MADDOX: you're not far away, little bird. MADDOX: you're considerably more intimidating in person than on a computer screen.

Your eyes widened, but before you could type anything Maddox had beaten you to it.

MADDOX: yes, Eunwoo recruited me, saw potential in me, Eden too and yes, we have already met in person. MADDOX: I was part of the team that was undercover with him, but my work was more at the base and at the Command Center, which was where I was when the place was invaded. MADDOX: don't do anything stupid, we all have skeletons in our closet and yours isn't the emptiest one. NIGHTINGALE: I wonder what my brother would do knowing you're threatening me. MADDOX: unlike him, my reason for protecting you is nothing more than strategic, it is to him that I swore loyalty, not to you. MADDOX: if anyone on your team knows, know that there are advantages to having access to the Strickland Security Network, little bird.

You let out a small scoff, but the smirk on your lips gave you away. You had liked Maddox, you could understand why your brother had taken him close.

MADDOX: your parents will wake up in an hour and a half, I suggest you get some sleep and wait for the computer to use the flash drive, unless you want your own to self-destruct. NIGHTINGALE: I want the new computer tomorrow. MADDOX: earn it then.

The screen went completely black, you couldn't connect with Maddox in any way, until the screen turned on again, your brother's computer screen from the last time you shared that house was present. You wouldn't be able to contact Maddox, whoever he was. His words replayed in your mind. Mars and the others had abandoned you to organize the Black Pirates. Your brother was assigned to handle the situation they were trying to create. But as Maddox noted, they had several chances to cause your death if they really wanted it. Serpent also made it clear that one of the reasons – if not the only reason – that they hadn't completed the revolution was because of you, because they were in love with you, because they had already destroyed so much of what you loved and believed they couldn't finish the only thing they knew you held on to with all your might.

You were already waiting for that to happen.

Your entire team was already waiting, you knew that some members of your team had also passed on the information to the XKRS, so it was no surprise to anyone when punches were heard at the door of the room designated for you and your team. The eyes of the XKRS boys fell on you with concern, those of your team on the other hand, were determined. They had been waiting to have a talk with Yang ever since you told Hyunjin what had happened for your stitches to open.

Jeongin was the first to move towards the door, being stopped when you raised your hand before sighing and heading towards the repeated knocks and Yang's screams demanding to speak to you. When Eden said that the team that would be responsible for the second sweep of the school would be published that day, you wanted to make it clear that you would be in your office, as you knew that Yang would come after you, this time you were prepared for whatever he wanted. would do.

Maddox had also made it clear that he would arrange for your team to be selected and that he would help you with the door sealed in the school parking lot. You would need to use a communication point with him, which made you put Chan and Minho in charge of communicating with the XKRS. The justification was simple, Chan hadn't yet worked directly with other teams below you and Minho could help Sunmin with any issue he might need with the network, as you needed all the eyes possible to complete the mission effectively.

The punches on the door became more constant, Yang's muffled voice also became more present. With a simple look back, your team understood that they should stay quiet and let Yang be dealt with, even if all the eleven wanted at that moment was to annihilate the oldest. You made a point of making noise by pulling on the handle – which you knew wouldn't open, as you all always locked the door – and then, unlocking the door before sighing and opening it a small crack, just enough for Yang to see your face.

In a quick movement, he pushed the door away, his other hand finding your neck and you allowed it, holding back your laughter as you felt him pinning you against the wall, just like before, just as you expected him to do. In your peripheral vision, you could see the XKRS mobilizing to head towards you, only for your team to deny the advance and place their index finger against their lips. This was supposed to be resolved between you and Yang and just you two.

You allowed yourself to smile when you realized that he was so upset that he didn't notice the presence of the others in the room, his eyes angry and fixed on you. The fingers pressing against your neck enough to make you struggle slightly, he pressed you against the wall again, his free hand finding your left, pinning it firmly against the wall. Your right hand going for Yang's forearm, applying enough pressure to make him imagine the situation was repeating itself.

“I told you to stay the fuck away,” his face getting closer to yours, his fingers squeezing your neck, cutting off the air making you open your mouth, creating half moons on the skin of Yang's forearm, “you have so much desire to be the same as that grub of a brother, that you want to end up like him?”

Air finally returned to your lungs as he released his neck, holding both hands on top of your head, his other hand at the top of your thigh already anticipating a possible knee to his side. Your eyes met his with arched eyebrows.

“It feels like someone has been studying,” the air was inviting and painful in your throat, but you did your best to maintain your posture, you had been through worse, “does this mean that the great Yang is afraid of me?”

The cynical laugh that left your lips brought a slight grimace to Yang's face that squeezed your hips and wrists. Giving him a small smile, you leaned your head against the wall.

“You really want to end up like your brother, don’t you? Who knows, maybe something won't happen in the next mission, hun? We’ve already lost a lot of agents in the field, one more won’t be a problem, right?” Your face hardened, the memories of the data you had access to thanks to Maddox still fresh in your mind, could Yang be one of those possibly responsible? Considering the hatred he possessed for your brother, being driven by you after bringing Jeongin to your team, it was to be expected. “A bullet to the skull, the skin devoured by animals, passing for nothing more than a piece of meat thrown in the middle of the desert -”

Before any of the others could do anything, you threw your head forward, your forehead meeting Yang's nose and making him stumble back, giving you enough space to untangle yourself from him and the wall, grabbing his dominant arm, forcing it behind his back before pressing him with his chest against the wall, pulling his arm up listening to his complaint, the blood that came from the nose staining Yang's mouth and chin, consequently, also staining the wall that you had pressed it.

“You just threatened another government official, you know the consequences that brings, don’t you?”

“It’s your word against mine, princess,” God how you hated that nickname, especially when said like that. “You may be who you are, but I spent time creating my reputation.”

“I should have spent more time in strategy classes.”

Quickly, you pulled Yang's body, so that his chest was now against one of the nearby tables, trying to hold him as best as possible, trying to remember what Changbin had been through to you so many times. Only when he turned his face meeting Jeongin and Chan's gaze did he stop fidgeting, you could see he had realized how screwed he was.

“You dumb bitch, I'm gonna fucking kill you.”

“Oh, you still won’t shut up?”

In a quick movement, Yang managed to free himself from you, just as you expected and wrapped his arm around your neck, trapping you in a headlock, making everyone move towards you before you hissed a ‘no’, making everyone stop, but you could see both Changbin and Yongbok moving around the corners, Chan, Jeongin, Hyunjin, Ryujin and Minjae taking slow steps towards you. Yang's ragged breathing could be heard in your ear, but you made no mention of it.

“Are you really going to keep betraying your family for pussy?” Everyone knew that the words were directed at Jeongin, who seemed unaffected. Yang continued taking a few steps back, your eyes meeting Yongbok and Changbin's who were just waiting for your signal. “As if all your brother’s friends weren’t enough, you also have to fuck your team and my brother?”

“Are you mad because I’m fucking them all, or because I’m not fucking you?”

Yang's arm tightened around your neck making you gasp, everyone else becoming highly alert, but only the XKRS reacted more openly to what was happening. Yongbok and Changbin were still far away, making you think of something to help distract Yang as they got closer.

“A whore's word doesn't mean anything, you should know that,” his lips pressed against your ear and you had to hold yourself back from moving away, “or do you think no one ever knew what you and my brother were doing back home? Or at the Prestige Academy?”

“It’s not like it was a crime what we were doing.”

“But the feelings you have for each other is.”

“So is the feeling you feel right now,” he paused for a moment and you found yourself smiling, “and that’s why you’re not as good as you believe yourself to be, Yang.”

Your elbow quickly met his side while your heel met his toes, causing him to move away enough for another elbow to find his diaphragm followed by a headbutt to Yang's – already broken – nose. Yongbok quickly pushed Changbin and Yang out of your way, Changbin pinning Yang against the wall, Yongbok being your support as you recovered, one of your hands finding your neck which was quickly inspected by him.

Jeongin quickly getting between you and his older brother, still being pressed by Changbin, Chan quickly joins in to hold Yang if necessary. The younger Yang's eyes fell on you for a minute, more specifically on the mark on your neck, making him purse his lips before focusing again on Yang who was watching everything, still slightly aghast at what you had done. You could see the gears in Jeongin’s mind working.

“I think you spent enough time free for what you did,” there were very few times when you felt afraid of Jeongin or any of your team, but hearing the icy voice of your third-in-command made your entire body shiver, remembering one of the reasons you chose him as your other right hand in command, the reason why many were afraid of him. If Yang could be cruel, Jeongin could be the incarnation of Satan if he needed to. “Take him to the room.”

Changbin and Chan didn't even look their way before punching Yang unconscious, dragging his body to the room in question. Initially created for moments when someone was frustrated, angry or simply wanted to speak out loud without the fear of someone overhearing. As your team grew, there were times when it was necessary for some mechanisms to be used, even by you and Jisung – no matter how much you were against such mechanisms. This means that the soundproofing room could also become a torture room on specific occasions, even if rarely used for that purpose.

“Innie,” the nickname seemed to soften Jeongin’s gaze before falling back on you in concern, a small pain forming in your chest. He would torture his own brother for you, what situation had you all gotten yourself into? “Innie, there’s no need -”

“He threatened you,” the words were simple, harsh and had consequences that you knew went beyond a mere settling a score for what Yang had done to you months ago, “we have the recordings of everything, what he did has consequences and you know that -”

“You don’t have to be the one to do it.”

The dimples appeared, making your heart weight heavier on your chest.

Yang was right, in the end. You loved them and they loved you.

Even though deep down, you knew it wasn't the same love you once felt for Mars and the others, that you believed you would never feel again, because in the end, the higher-ups were right, Henry Jo was right, the Sciensalvar were right, Z was right. Feelings were the worst evil that could exist and the universe seemed to prove this to you with each event.

“You are my boss, my leader, my friend, my -” he stopped for a moment and you found yourself holding the air you breathed, Yongbok's fingers on your back serving as a way to keep you centered in the midst of what was happening. Jeongin's sigh was enough to make you release the breath you were holding before his eyes met yours, stopping momentarily on your neck. “He is my brother, if anyone, other than you, has the right to do something, it is me.”

“How will this affect your family?”

“You and the others have been my family for a while now,” the smile was weak but truthful, you knew he believed every one of those words and the tightness in your chest seemed to ease a little at that, but only a little. “Go over the plan with the XKRS boys, we’ll be waiting in the room.”

It was only then that you realized you had been left alone in the office with the XKRS boys. Their worried eyes on you as they watched Yongbok make sure you were okay enough for him to follow behind the others, which he did once you gave a slight nod. Your mind was a mess, not only with what had just happened, but also considering the information you had seen in your brother and Maddox's files.

With a sigh, a mental note came up to check Yang's name and registration in the records. You always knew there was more to the whole situation between the two of you, you knew it went beyond your relationship with Jeongin. Your fingers found the bridge of your nose before you sighed one last time and met the curious and worried eyes of the new Strickland unit.

“You have three seconds to put on a poker face, otherwise you will be demoted to insider work for a month,” all ten straightened their posture, faces becoming closed, but you could still tell by the look what was going on. “ You also need to work on your eyes, but this is better than expected.”

“Erm,” you didn’t look up, preferring to re expose the photos and blueprints of the school and nearby buildings, but you had noticed the exchange of looks between the ten, “if you need some time, we -”

Everyone was cut off by the muffled scream that came out of the room, shocks ran through your body as you swallowed hard and closed your eyes trying to focus on the plan, instead of imagining what everyone was doing in the room. The XKRS's eyes quickly fell in the direction of the scream and you held back a laugh, as you saw yourself in those boys in front of you, remembering what it was like when the others removed the blockers, how you and Chan helped the others adapt, until Jeongin arrives and takes care of this issue.

“Chan has already requested three helicopters to take us to school,” despite the shouting, your voice didn't change its tone, making the other ten begin to understand how things worked. Even though they had some missions, some things only really happened after graduation. “I’ll leave the organization of the buildings to you,” your eyes and pointed fingers found Minjae and Junmin who nodded, making you hand over the blueprint photos of the buildings to them. “After we enter, Minho will try to connect with the network, which will give you an inside look and you will be able to help us when we need it.”

“Are we going to have a communication point with all of you?”

You denied Hyunwoo's question, approaching the table that you had organized in relation to the school locations, both those that had the most deaths, those that had the most information, and those that had both. Everything is divided by area and floor. A smirk formed on your lips when you noticed how none of the boys in front of you squirmed because of the photos.

“Only Chan and Minho will communicate with you, Chan needs more training helping teams below ours and, as we don't know what will happen, I'm going to start putting him and Jeongin in charge of this issue on certain missions,” the others nodded carefully, as they knew that that piece of information was important, that if they did well, they would possibly be called to work on missions related to the Black Pirates again. “Minho knows practically everything about all existing systems so he will be able to help Sunmin with whatever is needed, I also need Seeun to have a direct connection, photographic memory can help us more than the cameras itselves.”

"What is the problem?"

You smiled brightly at Jinsik's question, knowing that Jisung had spent enough time with the youngest and explained the little details that would help him see beyond the words. Honestly, you just hoped that what Eden had asked you to do wouldn't affect your performance as much as you believed it might, not as much as your brother's drawing already had in some ways.

“There is only one part that does not have a camera and is not present in the blueprint,” your fingers indicated a point below everything, making all ten eyes become confused for a moment, “that is the parking lot, but it does not have cameras and the space is not the same as what is specified here.”

You let out a small sigh when you noticed the eyes of the ten in the photos and files of the place. As soon as you headed directly to the parking lot after passing the three rooms that Eden had indicated had the drawing, you knew they would talk to Chan and Minho.

“What can we do to help?”

“Making my team complete this mission smoothly,” before anyone could say anything, you placed a paper on top of where the parking lot would be, “none of them are supposed to go to the parking lot, in case something happens, I want them out of that building, I don’t care if I’m still there, understood?”

"But -"

“The question is of ‘yes or no’ nature,” your voice was hard, you knew there was something in that room that could change the situation for better or worse and you were okay with whatever came, but that was your choice. There was a reason it was sealed, a reason so many died in the parking lot, and you would do anything to make sure your team didn't suffer from whatever came from that room specifically. “The priority is my team, if you have to lie, I want you all to lie, I don’t care, I deal with everything if necessary afterwards, but they are the priority, understand?”

All ten were silent for a moment, your eyes met Minjae's and you knew he understood what you wanted to say, perhaps better than anyone present. He knew you wouldn't say why you alone had to go to the parking lot or why it was relevant, but he knew you had a plan and if they did anything to hurt that plan, you would finish them off without having to lay a finger on any of them.

"Yes ma'am."

Despite the small fright and confusion that appeared in the eyes of others, they quickly followed what Minjae had said. A simple wave was all you made available to them before pointing to the board behind you with all the information they could need. Your feet went to the room the others were in, Yang's screams and curses could be heard, even if muffled.

“If you want,” your feet took root on the floor, not needing to look back to know that you had all the ten complete attention, “you can leave the office, I can ask Minho to share the necessary files with you, you don't need to be here in case it’s still too early.”

Silence once again took over the room, murmurs began to appear little by little. Everyone knew that you wouldn't go towards the room where the muffled screams were coming out, not until you heard back from them. They didn't know, probably neither did your team, but your mind kept replaying the information gathered over the last few days, what had just happened only helping your mind create scenarios of what could have happened.

"We’ll stay."

A sigh left your mouth before your feet walked back towards the room where your team had taken Yang. As soon as the door opened, a scream came out of Yang's mouth and you knew the other ten behind you were startled, but you were on a mission, you would have your answer, even if you only analyzed it later.

The door closed with a click making Yang's eyes find your figure. Jeongin was crouched not far from his older brother, Chan and Changbin on each side of the chair, Chaeryeong was holding one of the electrical cable connections, Yang already had the copper crown on his head. You could see each of your team with injured knuckles, Jeongin, Chan, Hyunjin, Ryujin, Yeji, Changbin and Yongbok's were the most injured ones.

Blood dripped from some of the cuts that were already present on Yang's face, his nose even more crooked than when you had seen it previously. The restraints on the wrists and ankles already red. With a simple shake of your head you caused the copper crown to be removed from Yang's head, the two points that connected the electricity to his temples also being removed. A small sigh of relief was heard from him, but when dark laughter from all of your team members were heard, fear flashed across Yang's face.

Despite being known for being a great interrogator, which you were, and knowing that you preferred methods that didn't involve torture, few knew how well you could torture someone. You didn't do it very often, but when you did, everyone broke down under your hand. Maybe you should thank your brother’s death for that, because you wanted answers and you were willing to go to the ends of the earth to get them.

“The situation is simple, Yang,” your steps were calculated, everyone had opened a corridor for you to find him, the smell of blood was already strong, “you just need to tell the truth and you can walk out of here.”

“You can’t do this to me,” despite the attempt, you managed to see the tremor in his words, making you smile cynically, “I’m an officer just like you, this can’t happen.”

“But weren’t you the one who threatened to kill me a short while ago?”

You walked away swinging your hands up, having Changbin and Chan release Yang's wrists while Yongbok and Hyunjin released his ankles. Yeji handed you one of the daggers that were hanging on one of the walls, making you turn the handle, the tip of your index finger finding the tip of the dagger. Yang's eyes widened slightly at that, he had heard about your torture sessions then.

“Wrists or ankles?”

"Wrists," your response was simple, your voice soft, unbothered, which made only terror run across Yang's face, "take off his shirt."

“His record has already been changed,” Minho’s voice caught your attention, even though your eyes remained on Yang, Changbin ripping off his shirt, leaving his torso exposed to you, “two weeks away due to injury during an unsuccessful mission.”

“You guys can't do this -”

“You couldn't threaten me either, but you did it anyway,” the threat wasn't the problem for you, everyone there knew, except Yang who tried to justify it, but you silenced him by touching the tip of the knife to the exact spot where his jugular pulse was. “Do you really think this is happening because of a simple threat?” You laughed, lowering the knife to Yang's left collarbone, the tip entering his skin as you brought it down towards his sternum, you could hear the grunts as he tried to squirm away from it. “For someone who claims to be so excellent, your brain is very underdeveloped to analyze the situation.”

“You want me to beg, is that it?!”

“No,” the knife found the sternum and ended the contact of the metal with the hot skin of the older man who sighed, “I want you to say if you gave my brother a chance.”

"What you -"

A quick and deep enough cut was made on Yang's right side, in the same location and size as yours that he had opened the stitches months ago. The scream echoed through your head and you ignored it, watching Yang's expression.

“Let's say I discovered something interesting in the report on the invasion of my brother's bunker,” you noticed everyone looking at you curiously, some eyes falling on Minho who seemed equally lost, but no one dared to say a word, “some passwords were used to enter the location, but interestingly, the person to whom that password belongs was on a mission, there is evidence of this person carrying out the mission at the time of the invasion.”

The silence was heavy and everyone saw how Yang went into a slight panic as your words were processed in his head. Some still exchanged confused looks. What you were indicating was a plot to get another officer killed, tantamount to high treason.

"I do not know what you're talking about."

“So there won’t be any problem telling me where you were when my brother disappeared, right?”

“Eunwoo disappeared, no one knows what happened until he turns up dead in the desert.”

“Are any of you comfortable enough to grab the belt?” Everyone knew what that meant, you noticed Yang's fingers wrapped around the iron chain, your eyes meeting Jisung who watched everything curiously. “Ji, can you go further up, please?”

“How much on the feet?”

No one dared question you, everyone knew how much you hated torture, that it was always your last choice. If your allegations are right, which everyone also knew you wouldn't make without having considered all the possibilities, Yang had committed the worst of crimes within their area. That's why when Jisung agreed without much reservation, Yang knew he was fucked. His eyes met Jeongin's in pleading, only receiving a cold look in response.

“Fifty,” the answer came from Jeongin who positioned himself behind you, his fingers finding your lower back, a silent answer to the question you were asking all of them with that request, if they were on your side and that you wouldn’t be hurt or hold grudges if someone decided to turn their back on the situation, “let's increase 10kg every five minutes and move up the chain when the weights are lower to the ground.”

“Jeongin,” Yang’s voice was a plea, “I’m your brother -”

“My brother is Chan, Minho, Changbin, Hyunjin, Jisung, Yongbok and Seungmin, you are not my brother.”

“Are you going to leave this -”

The sound of the belt was heard, just like the sound of the buckle meeting Yang's exposed skin, Chan and Changbin were behind him, taking turns so that neither of them got tired. Chaeryeong and Ryujin threw salt water at Yang, making a scream reverberate throughout the room, but no one dared to move. Hyunjin and Seungmin tied the weights to Yang's ankles. Minho's computer keyboard was clicking every second, you already knew what he was looking for.

“Where were you the day my brother disappeared?”

“You fucking lunatic bitch, are you -”

Five times the buckle found Yang's skin, but only on the fifth did he release some kind of reaction, making you raise your eyebrows in acceptance of the challenge.

“We know you weren't alone,” the tip of the dagger went through every area of Yang's abdomen and you laughed, seeing the muscle contract, digging the tip even deeper into the skin, leaving a red line wherever it passed, “if you say the names, I’ll go easier on you.”

“Go to hell, you fucking slu-”

Your knife stuck in Yang's thigh at the same moment the buckle found the already red skin again. You and him knew the knife was close to the bone but hadn't caught the artery, but he wasn't completely free to do as he pleased. The growl that left his mouth was more from the knife than from the five times the buckle met his back.

“You have two weeks off, there are too many things I can still do with you to justify those two weeks, are you sure you want me to do them all?”

It was then that Yang saw, finally saw, Strickland's weapon.

And you smiled as you saw terror meet their eyes, for in that moment, you were the monster they had created.

Your eyes passed one last time over the notes of the stakeouts that took place on site. Your intuition told you there was something you weren't seeing, but no matter how much you analyzed it, something still didn't seem to add up. Your fingers quickly found the files from the day of the school invasion that were with Jeongin and Chan, your eyes trying to find what was making you uncomfortable about everything. Something was out of place, you just couldn't visualize what.

“Sunmin just confirmed the scan from the latest scanner,” Minho’s voice made you look up from the pages, his fingers quick against the keyboard before turning the screen to you, Jeongin and Chan. His eyes quickly met yours, followed by the other two, making you sigh. “What do you want to do, boss?”

One of your gloved hands found your face, resting your chin in your hand, eyes observing the images that Sunmin made available to you. There were many more people than expected. That place had seen a lot of death, but there was only so much that could be prevented.

“Tranquilizers,” your hands quickly went to the second gun that was hanging on your body reaching the amount you had, “since most of them are at the top, we need to get through there without being noticed or everything will go down the drain.”

“How do you want to organize the descent?”

Chan's eyes searched yours waiting for orders, Jeongin's fingers checking the other three weapons before handing them to Minho, Chan and taking the last one. Your eyes quickly passed through the thermal vision of the school building, you needed to contain your tranquilizer darts for when you arrived in the parking lot.

Despite wanting to be first, you cursed under your breath knowing you should be last.

“Chan goes first, I go last, I don't care who is in the middle,” a small sigh before the pilot's voice indicated that they were already above the school and the descent would begin. “Let's all stay on the emergency stairs, let's follow the sequence of whoever comes down.”

“Ryujin and Jeongin will bring up the rear with you.”

Chan commented quickly before the pilot allowed the exit and you were the first to get out of the helicopter, pulling the mask from your clothes to your face, the protective glasses being quickly pulled down. The place was as deserted as it had been when you and the others had been there weeks ago. Boots thumped against the concrete of the roof and you quickly ran to the door that connected the building to the roof, noticing Jeongin right behind you.

You pulled the door open revealing the freed up space, much to the delight of your team. Quickly each of the twelve members of SKZY entered the building, Chan and Minho exchanging glances checking the communication point with XKRS before heading downstairs. Jeongin and Ryujin's eyes met yours before they followed behind everyone. If everything went well, you would find out what Eden wanted and you would get out of there without much trouble.

Small noises could be heard with each step that your team took deeper and deeper into the school. Quickly the first floor had been cleared for your team to check, your steps leading to the first room Eden had shown you, one of the separate rooms used by the school's vice principal. Most of the notes that had previously been torn out had been replaced, the television playing the video of the warehouse that made you meet Serpent weeks ago.

The drawing of the blue bird screamed just like the first time you saw it in the photo that Eden had given you, the difference was that now it was in front of you. Your fingers passed over the blue line of the drawing and your heart sank for a moment before you sighed and focused on the papers pinned to the bulletin board, searching for any kind of new information, but nothing but the same seemed present.

With a low curse, your hands rested on the table, the image on the television capturing your attention momentarily. Despite everything Maddox had shown you, something still told you that Mars and the others were involved in some way with what had happened to your brother, maybe not with the bunker raid, but something had happened between the raid and your brother's body turning up in the desert, something you felt only the eight of them could answer.

With a sigh you looked away, your hand balling into fists before your eyes focused on one of the papers that were laid out on the table. ‘Hourly update: stable. Requirement: list present in the dark room - hand it over to one of the ATEEZ’. Your fingers quickly grabbed the sheet, placing it between the pockets of your clothes, the static in your ear indicating it was time to move to the next floor.

More and more bodies fell around you, some with tranquilizer darts, others clearly using force to knock them out. Your mind returned to the words on the paper in your pocket, the dark room could only be the place that had been sealed when the invasion happened weeks ago. A moment of calm passed through your body, knowing that the probability of self-destruction of the place would decrease considerably, because if something needed to be removed, it meant that it was only present in that place.

Another important detail was the possible presence of ATEEZ on site. Angel and Serpent's faces appearing on your mind quickly, you felt anxious at the thought of meeting them again. The last thing you needed was to find them together with your team, even though you remembered Angel's behavior back at Guardian's Island, you couldn't contain the thoughts of someone discovering your relationship with them.

“(y/n) we need you up front,” the tension in Changbin’s voice made you freeze for a moment, four floors still had to be overcome for you to reach your goal. Everyone made room for you to find Changbin in one of the curves that gave access to the floor below. He and Chan signaled to each other, a silent conversation about how to proceed, until they nodded beyond the curve of the wall, “how do you want to proceed with the plan?”

The whisper was almost inaudible at your point of communication and you mentally cursed when you noticed the number of rebels that were between that floor and the one below, you couldn't use up all the darts, not yet. The largest quantity was three floors down, you needed the darts for the library floor. Your eyes went over the weapons in the hands of the rebels, only a few had them, but you could see hidden knives, as well as some pistols.

You needed to attract some to be able to move forward. Your eyes met Yeji's, calling her and pointing to the same place Changbin had pointed out. You could see the gears of her mind turning as you headed to meet Chaeryeong, rummaging through the bag the girl was carrying. A light bomb and a gas bomb, that would have to be enough to deal with those who weren't attracted to whatever Yeji was planning.

You, Chaeryeong, Yongbok, Yeji, Minho and Changbin headed to one of the nearby rooms, the blueprint of the space being opened up on one of the tables. Your eyes and ears just watched as your team organized the best method to move forward. Yongbok and Changbin would try to get close enough to contain those who haven’t caught the bait, Minho confirmed the number with the XKRS, such as their presence being mostly on the stairs. The only thing missing was the distraction to reduce the number of people they would have to pass.

Despite everyone thinking in different ways, you knew it needed to be something considerable to make them leave their posts, something that only Mars and the others would use, something that you knew that if it was seen, it would not be questioned at any time by the rebels in the stairs, but would draw enough attention to make them leave their posts.

Drones.

With quick steps, you went searching through the rooms before signaling what the others should look for. Drones were one of Logan's passions, he was also present a few weeks ago, guiding you to where Howl was in one of the buildings to the east. It was a long shot, but you didn't have much to go beyond that, at least it would give you enough time to get through the stairs.

Jisung quickly found a drone and its controller, handing them to Chaeryeong who handed the drone to Minho while she fiddled with the controller. The drone had a camera, which could help them further. While Minho, Chaeryeong and Yeji worked on how to proceed with the drone, you, Yongbok and Changbin went to a further part.

“We need to consider that at least one of them has a communicator, be it a cellphone or a walkie-talkie,” your voice was low enough to make them both approach you, “Yongbok is more agile, I need you to arrive as quickly as possible to beyond the stairs and catch anyone who tries to escape, in the meantime,” your eyes turned to Changbin, “I need you to do your best to keep the others unconscious, but use the darts as little as possible, we need them for the library floor.”

“How can we get close to them? As much as the drone helps, it can only do so much,” your backpack was pulled forward, the gas and light grenade being handed to the two, Changbin carefully taking it in his hands with a smile. “Regular gas?”

“We don't have a mask, we can't risk it,” your smile was a mirror of his, Yongbok's eyes fell to the corridor they would just pass. “I know we agreed on no deaths until we get to the library, but don’t hesitate.”

The simple wave was enough for you to hand over one of the daggers that was attached to your vest, small enough to go unnoticed, sharp enough to cause damage.

“Is there a reason why you shouldn’t be at the front?”

Even though you expected it, that wasn't the moment you imagined happening.

“We need to get to the library, there is something we need to find and I believe it is there, but I also need Chan and Jeongin to be more present in the events, in the decision-making, not just them but the entire team.”

“Do you think what happened to Yang will have repercussions?”

Until that moment, that hypothesis had not even crossed your mind. Despite all the evidence you and your team gathered, you, Jeongin and Chan knew how influential Yang could be, despite being weak compared to others, the few allies he had were strong enough to pull the council to disapprove of your actions and attitudes, however justified they may be.

Your silence was enough of an answer for the two who nodded, making you grateful for that without having to invent a half-truth to justify the choices that were being made that day. When Chaeryeong's voice appeared at everyone's communication point, you sighed in relief, the sooner you finished that mission, the sooner things could be resolved.

As expected, you stayed behind, Chan taking Jeongin's place since his tranquilizer darts had run out. You could see the smoke, hear the grunts and quick footsteps against the wood, you also heard a body hit the ground hard and you just prayed that Yongbok was okay.

As soon as your team passed the stairs, you found Yongbok, Jeongin and Hyunjin holding the rebel, your third in command holding the walkie-talkie while Yongbok pinned the rebel in front of him who, even with a gun to his head, seemed to just stop fidgeting as Jeongin handed the walkie-talkie to you. Your fingers quickly moved to find any frequency that was being used.

“Helicopter spotted three minutes ago, everyone stay away from the windows.”

Despite trying to appear calm, the tension in your body upon hearing the unknown voice seemed to increase as you knew that five helicopters would pass by the place as you had planned, which could also indicate that they knew that you had entered the school.

“Movement spotted in building 3, request for inspection team.”

“Await further information while we verify the order.”

A sigh seemed to come out of everyone around you, knowing that they possibly hadn't been found yet, but an even bigger sigh seemed to come out of you considering you hadn't identified anyone's voice in any of the sentences said. Maybe the ATEEZ boys wouldn't be in school, maybe not even your boys are.

With a simple wave, Yongbok made the rebel unconscious, letting his body fall delicately to the ground, the walkie-talkie going to your vest as you indicated them to follow, Changbin still leading everyone, you following only when you heard his voice in your point of communication. Your feet were quick to the second room you knew the drawing was in.

For a moment, your feet took root, observing the place in front of you. Blocks of soundproofing material, instruments scattered around the place, an old but apparently comfortable sofa, vinyl records and radios with CDs were arranged on the walls, but only when your eyes came across a blue bird graffiti in one of the spots that the soundproofing material was non-existent, that your feet began to walk into the room.

Fingers gently touching the keyboard, the guitar neck, the drums, the electric guitar, even vinyl records. That damn room just reminded you of Lucky's room in their dimension. Finally, your fingers found the blue paint on the wall, your fingertips passing over the entire line of the drawing before turning them towards you, why were you sad that the paint didn't stain your fingers? With a simple shake of your head, you turned your back to the drawing, only to find a sheet of music open on one of the farthest keyboards, the bird drawing was also present.

The score was not complete, but the lyrics that accompanied it were, along with the respective letters of the respective guitar notes for the song to be sung and played. Star 1117. The small drawing of the bird being seen next to the title, the lyrics a mix of Lucky and Iyaah. Your eyes burning with each word read of what was written. If they weren't there at that moment, they had been at the school for the last few weeks, they had been in that specific room, creating another song that you would never hear.

“We need to move forward, there is no one on the stairs.”

Quickly, the letter had the same ending as the paper you had found in the first room. Quick steps against the wood made you find most of the team gathering at the beginning of the stairs, Yongbok and Chan being the last to join before everyone nodded, following the drone that Chaeryeong was using, Minho's eyes focusing on the screen of the tablet, eyes focused on the movements of his hands.

Just one more floor and you would be at the library, the last mandatory stop until you could head to the parking lot. Your body was shaking, not only from the stress of the situation, but also from what you could find in the other two places considering what you had found in the other two rooms.

Fortunately, the next floor was relatively empty, but still, you had to use three darts when you noticed movement occurring near one of the rooms, while the walkie-talkie screeched with interference, but nothing had been said, and was quickly ignored, making your team breathe for a moment before getting together to evaluate the best route to take to get to the library and having few deaths considering that half had already used all the tranquilizer darts.

“Request for inspection of building 3, are you listening?”

Everyone stopped breathing for a moment, completely forgetting that one of the unconscious people could have been the one who made the request. Chan quickly making everyone move as silence formed. Chaeryeong quickly connected with the drone, everyone's eyes on the tablet that showed the images of the staircase that connected to the library floor, the murmurs could be heard, confirming the number of people.

“We believe that five people will be more than enough for the inspection.”

The drone stopped at the same moment the voice was heard, causing Chaeryeong to bring the device back to them. Your ears were focused on the walkie-talkie as you pointed to Minho's tablet, which he quickly handed over to your side, Chan and Yeji moving away to go over the rest of the plan.

You needed to find out which building was categorized as three.

“Checking candidates, please wait for the next information.”

“Movement was also spotted in building eight.”

“Leaders have already been contacted, please wait. Let’s check the cameras in the meantime.”

With a simple exchange of glances, Minho walked away, contacting Sunmin through the communication point while you went towards Chan and Yeji, making all eyes fall on you.

“We need to go now,” that wasn't a request, much less a suggestion, it was an order and everyone nodded. “I'll go ahead with Ryujin, based on the number of people we managed to find out, it'll be every man for himself, we'll meet at the designated building, be careful.”

Despite saying this looking at Chan and Yeji, you had connected your communication point, not only with your team, but also with Maddox. The interference and keyboard noise on your left spot being the only indication that he had heard you. When you get to the parking lot you wouldn't have much time to open the sealed door, you knew that Maddox's distance wouldn't help either, but there wasn't much you could do, not without being discovered by both the rebels and your team.

“Have the XKRS been warned yet?”

A simple nod was enough for Jisung as a respond as he placed himself right behind you, as he was one of those who had darts still available. Seungmin quickly found himself next to him, determined eyes with an amused smile on his lips made you smile in response.

"Everyone ready?" You knew your entire team and Maddox were listening, you needed to tell him what was going to happen so he would be ready when you reached the parking lot. “The library is large enough for us to have visibility of the targets, but it also has several corridors that lead to separate rooms. Be careful. We will meet at the designated building, keep each other informed of your positions and when you leave the school.”

“Good luck.”

Was all Maddox said before you disconnected the communication point with him, being able to hear the others on the team confirming. Even though Ryujin was your shadow, your feet were the first to find the stairs that would take you all to the library. Your boots firmly on the concrete, you can hear the sound of the rest of your team's feet following behind you. Your breathing was controlled, even though you could hear the blood pulsing in your ear.

With each step you took towards the door that led to the stairs, the more you could hear the movement of people, noticing that they were reconstructing the place, the information. With a simple signal, you noticed everyone on your team stopping, a few more steps were taken by you, helping with the visibility of the location.

You would never be able to enter that place without being seen. As soon as you entered you would be spot on, it was necessary to change the strategy, only starting everything after you were already among everyone and, unlike the upper floors, most had weapons, which in itself was a sign that things would not be well received. You needed another plan.

Your fingers quickly removed your goggles, ignoring your team's protests, shutting them up with a simple look. With a simple nod, Jeongin, Yeji and Chan were by your side going through the same process as you and quickly understanding your point, imitating some of your movements, Chan and Jeongin going further and also pulling the sleeves of their clothes to their elbows, Yeji untied her hair, pulling the mask down, but stopping you before your movements could happen. Her voice was low enough that only the four of you could discern what was being said.

“They don't know who we are, but you're the face of the team, if they know you're here...”

With a nod you agreed with Yeji's concern, indicating with your head for everyone to also do what they were doing, the only change you had made was removing your glasses. As the three went towards the others helping with small adjustments, your eyes once again faced the visible space of the library, some rebels also had masks, making it not at all strange if you entered the place.

“Let's go in separately, I'll go first, but we can't communicate,” everyone nodded, even though they didn't completely agree with the idea of leaving you alone in a space where they knew you were a person of interest to the leaders of the movement, “we need position ourselves in various locations so that we can pass through this space and escape unharmed, but if we are discovered, we need to know somehow.”

“This is the last point of important information that can be collected, after that it is mostly resting places for the rebels, including surveillance through the documents that Eden gave us.”

“With that,” Jeongin continued Yeji’s speech, “take what you can get, any possible piece of information could be important.”

“And try not to get caught until the last possible minute,” everyone nodded at Chan's speech, who turned his gaze to you, softening considerably as his hands cupped your face, your foreheads touching for a minute making you both close your eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“You know I can’t promise anything.”

“At least promise you’ll come back in one piece.”

A weak nod and Chan released your face, making your eyes meet everyone else's before your feet guided you past the staircase door, a long sigh leaving your mouth, ending only when you found yourself surrounded by people and light. The eyes finding the main source of natural light. Even though the sun was partially covered by the accumulation of clouds that enveloped the place, the rays still struggled to pass through them.

Perhaps symbolism about the Black Pirates and Strickland's government.

A small smile appeared beneath the mask, a few people walked past you, some waving their hands or heads, others walking past looking at documents, carrying boxes, or simply talking about something you couldn't discern. It was almost comical how easily you and your team had infiltrated the Black Pirates cell, maybe you could even brag about it to some of the boys if you found them.

Your eyes quickly found a shelf full of books, not just one, but at least three, with two ladders that allowed you to reach the top if necessary. Your heart sank knowing that this would be one of your brother's favorite thing about that entire mission. You could even see him carefully picking up some of those books, not at all surprised when your feet guided you to the base of the bookshelf. Titles written on the spines of books that you knew were banned at Strickland, that you yourself had read or heard about thanks to the boys.

Before your fingers could touch any of the books, you could see a chair next to the window, sheet music open in front of the chair and a violin resting on top of it all. The image of Logan playing the violin came back in full force, of how you had helped him when he had a performance all those years ago, how nervous he was, the fear of making mistakes, the way he had asked you to be present at the performance, because if you were there he would be able to do everything without missing a single chord.

“If you had gotten here sooner, you would have seen him play,” an unknown voice brought you to reality, turning your face and finding a girl smiling openly at you, she was pretty, delicate, the kind of girl you introduce to the family, she shouldn't be in that place. “Logan doesn’t play much, but whenever we’re here, for some reason, he plays the violin for us.”

Logan was here, not just ATEEZ.

With that piece of information you smiled, knowing that the girl in front of you noticed despite the mask.

“Is he still here?” You tried to sound casual, hoping the girl wouldn't notice how hard your heart was beating against your chest. “I need to talk to him about a document we received a request about and -”

"ATTENTION!" Everyone's gaze fell on the base of a staircase that you beat yourself up for not noticing before. An officer stood still, fingers on the trigger of the gun he held against his body. “Movements were detected in buildings three and eight, through the cameras we were able to identify some people who should not have been there. The leaders decided to promote two inspections, members will be contacted by radio -”

Everything seemed to get muffled when you found Logan coming down the stairs, in an avid conversation with another officer. He was playing the violin, he looked fine, so the one who was hurt wasn't him. The sigh you let out was quickly suppressed by yourself, especially when it didn't go unnoticed by the girl next to you.

“He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” Her eyes met yours and a simple nod was enough for the girl to sigh and her eyes fell on Logan again. “How can a man as handsome as this be real?”

You allowed yourself to laugh, being imitated by the girl next to you. You understood her point. Despite everything that happened and your history with Logan, there was no denying that he was handsome, his ethereal beauty always leaving you slightly airy, but what made you stop laughing was the memory of Angel during those two weeks. If she found Logan handsome, Angel managed to be even more intriguing in his beauty and way of carrying himself.

“Lim Nayong?” The shock that ran down your spine made your eyes widen quickly, but no movement was made. His voice could be recognized anywhere, your eyes finding his feet not far from you. “You are Lim Nayong, correct?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

The girl next to you, Nayong, responded quickly, but you could notice her body's reaction to Logan being so close. He was one of the few who could recognize you, you needed to get out of there.

“And who is your friend?” Mother fucker, you cursed him in your mind, before your eyes lifted and met Logan's – no, that wasn't Logan. Your mind thanked Yeji for stopping you from removing the mask, not only because you would be easily recognized, but for the hiss of curses you let out when you noticed Angel's eyes pass over your entire body before returning to your eyes, the well-known smile present along with the shrewd, stormy eyes. “Sorry, but can I pick up Nayong? We need her for a mission, if you don’t mind.”

Your negative shake of the head made Angel smile widely before his eyes fell on Nayong and indicated for her to follow some of the officers who were nearby. Angel's eyes still observed every detail of your face, but you didn't look away, only to find the birthmark covered again with makeup, your fingers itching to tear off that foundation and leave the pink skin exposed for anyone who wanted to see.

He took another step forward, you could feel several eyes on the two of you, including that of your team, wherever they were. Angel's scent intoxicated your lungs and all you wanted most was to be able to push him away, as far away from you as possible. A smirk appeared along with a small guttural 'hm' that made you feel heat throughout your body. Logan wouldn't say you were there, but Angel? Angel was an unknown puzzle in every possible way, you didn't know what to expect from him.

As quickly as he approached, the warmth of his presence receded. You noticed his eyes darting quickly towards the stairs he had recently descended, but subtle enough to appear as if he was just looking for one of the officers, who quickly appeared at his side, interestingly enough, the same officer who had descended the stairs along with him before that scene.

Your eyes followed Angel as people went back to their tasks, but you managed to find the eyes of some of your team members fixed on Angel's silhouette. Whether he noticed was never clear. With a quick glance in Chan's direction, you can see Changbin clenching his fists.

“Chan, 60 degrees to your left,” casually Chan turned around finding Chagbin with his eyes fixed on Angel, being quickly blocked by Chan receiving a simple eye roll before you saw the two bickering before they both headed to the opposite side of where Angel was following. “I need to get into the room he was in, if anything, find a way to let me know.”

A small thank you for no one being near you was said before you walked to the side of the windows. The street space was equally empty, your eyes falling on the buildings you knew the XKRS boys would be in, wishing they weren't the respective buildings three and eight.

“I thought he was going to select you too,” another strange voice appeared next to you, this time it was a man, his eyes fell on you and a small smile was present on his lips. “Although we don’t know what was going on most of the time in their minds, I believe we all thought you would be called.”

"And you are?"

“Yuri,” he said quickly, “Park Yuri, I don’t think we’ve ever met before.”

His outstretched hand was cautiously embraced by yours, but you didn't give him your name.

“I was just transferred to this area, it would be unlikely that he would call me,” was the only thing you offered, your eyes falling back on the buildings. “What are buildings three and eight? The only information they gave me was about the school.”

With quick fingers, Yuri pointed out two buildings, none of them the ones you had agreed with the XKRS, which made you hold back a sigh of relief. A small smile of gratitude formed on your face and you hoped it could be seen in your eyes as well. Not only was it important that your team to be safe after completing the mission, the safety and well-being of the XKRS could be considered even more important, not just for you but for the other members of your team.

“So, what is your current job? If you want, you can -”

“I need to check some documents in Logan's office, one of the leaders requested it, so…” Yuri quickly nodded, moving away from you and indicating the stairs that Logan had just come down, confirming your suspicions. With light and quick steps, you climbed the stairs, the fact that you didn't know exactly when Angel would be back made your heart feel in your throat. “Please let it be empty, please let it be empty.”

As soon as your body turned at the top of the stairs, a drawing met you.

The damn bluebird drawing.

Your hand wrapped around the doorknob, ignoring the bird drawing on the door, breathing a sigh of relief when you noticed the empty room. The click of the door behind you made you pull your mask down, finally able to breathe fresh air as your eyes roamed the entire space of the room. Papers and more papers covered the table, a blank board with a drawing of the space they were in, the school and the buildings around it, arrows and notes.

Your eyes turned to the table, the bold letters and censored parts seemed to scream for your attention. One of the folders that was on top of the others was related to the invasion that you and your team had carried out weeks ago. Again, your eyes found the whiteboard, some dots marked the locations where you, your team and the XKRS stayed during the uprising created by the Black Pirates.

�� A date was written in the top corner, making you approach the board, each step making your mind work faster. The date was today. The words ‘moving day’ written on the front. They would reactivate that cell, even though they knew it had already been exposed. However, as Angel had seen, your superiors weren't the smartest, considering the work Eden had to go through to simply get them to think about authorizing this second inspection. Perhaps reusing an already known space would be more advantageous than abandoning it completely.

“Hello, princess.”

The click of the door along with the breathing on your neck made you highly alert. Your right arm quickly moved so that your elbow hit the torso of the person, who was faster than you, grabbing your arm and pulling it close to his firm and slim body before pressing you against the wall, allowing you to feel every part of his body against yours, his hand holding your hip after joining your two wrists above your head, his feet spacing yours, allowing him to stand exactly in front of you, just like he had done in the warehouse.

“So you’re here too,” Serpent’s smirk made you laugh derisively. “Did he say I was here?”

“Our mutual friend?”

“Are you now impersonating them?” The question came out almost painfully, as it was an admission that you could differentiate between them, better than even the followers themselves. Serpent's smile confirmed to you that he also captured it that way. “He pretends to be Logan, you pretend to be Mars and how long will this continue?”

“Now princess, I told you that back in the warehouse,” the pressure of Serpent’s fingers wrapping around your wrist as you tried to free yourself from him made you let out an angry growl before throwing your head back, eyes finding your wrists above your head, giving Serpent the chance to bring his face closer to your neck, “we will do whatever it takes to see your government fall,” your face lowered, the distance between you two mere centimeters making you swallow hard, “the fact that just you being able to differentiate us is just an advantage for us.”

“How far do you think your followers are willing to go?”

“How far do you believe your team can go to protect and defend you?”

Silence fell in the room, the answers were clear in each of your eyes. As soon as you felt Serpent's hand leave your hip, you dared to move it, being met with his right hand firmly on your waist, making you move away reflexively, the cut, despite being healed, was still hypersensitive to pressure, the shadow of genuine concern flashed through Serpent's eyes, turning them almost into the boba you and some of the other team members loved to buy it.

Before you could say anything, Serpent's hands went down on your hips, his fingers digging into the material of the clothing, even though the clothing prevented marks from being made, you knew the likelihood of seeing the red marks from his fingers when you took it off the clothes.

“Let go of me,” you said seriously, ignoring how your body burned under Serpent’s presence. “As much as I believe you’re loving the current situation, I imagine some people wouldn’t be so happy with it.”

“Is this about your team, Mars and the others, or yourself?”

Your head went forward at the same moment, but Serpent was quicker to dodge, but gave you enough space to free yourself from the wall, throwing your body forward, making him lose balance. Allowing you to grab your gun and point it at Serpent who looked up, you could see the fright and slight fear in his eyes, something you hadn't seen in Mars or the others.

“I think you’re projecting, right?”

“There are other ways to hear someone praise you other than pointing a gun at them, don’t you think, princess,” just like when Yang had used the nickname days ago, hearing Serpent call you that way made your body burn, but for a reason completely different from Yang's. “Time is passing, moving day is upon us.”

Your eyes fell back to the whiteboard.

The photos and documents scattered around, like the documents you had looked for in all the rooms being the same, the boxes that were carried, like most of them didn't use weapons. They weren't moving into the school, that was just a distraction, that's why you had managed to get in so easily. Serpent pushed your weapon away pushing your body against the wall, his body on your back, one hand being held behind your back while the other was between you and the wall.

“Where are Mars and Logan?”

“A little surprise information for you, princess,” Serpent's free hand brushed your hair off your shoulder, making it easier for his eyes to meet yours, his predatory eyes finding every detail of your face before you felt his breath on your ear, “it's we who are in charge now, get used to seeing us more often.”

When the heat of Serpent's body moved away from you, it was a mixture of relief and irritation, more specifically because of how aware your body and mind were of how perfectly his body fit into yours. He's not Mars, that's what you repeated whenever something like this happened. Those weren't your boys, you didn't know who those men were, regardless of how physically similar they might be, they weren't the same people and your head should start to get used to that idea.

“What is moving day?”

“Exactly what it appears to be,” his eyes turned predatory again, making you notice when his hands found the door handle, opening it with his eyes still fixed on you. “Use your head, princess, the answers are all here, you just need to see them.”

The click of the door behind him made you release a breath you didn't know you were holding.

He had left you alone in that room, meaning that maybe there was nothing important or relevant, or the complete opposite and you were being blind. Your eyes returned to the whiteboard, to the notes made, the arrows being pulled from each point, until you found an 'x' in the part close to the sports court that was behind the school, where the parking lot was.

With a quick movement, you pulled the mask to cover your own face, quick steps followed you all the way to the end of the stairs, your eyes met Jisung and Seungmin's before you continued down the stairs, you needed to get to the parking lot as soon as possible. Whatever 'moving day' meant, it involved the damn sealed room in the parking lot.

Deftly you reached the weapon, checking not only the number of darts you still had, but also the cartridges in your pockets and the hidden knives. The reason for Serpent to inform you about the 'moving day' was still unknown in your mind, but also, everything involving the ATEEZ boys was unknown, probably why you couldn't get them out of your mind. Not being able to see their movements was something that bothered you, especially when they were so physically similar to your boys.

With quick steps you made your way up the stairs, five darts being thrown in the process. Unlike other times, you hid the bodies. Any chance to avoid being discovered and delay the start of whatever ‘moving day’ meant, you would use. Panting by the fast and constant movements, you finally arrived at the top floor that connected to the parking lot. Only two more darts were available and you were grateful when you noticed only two members guarding the door.

Your eyes fell to the stairs above, wishing that both Angel and Serpent would remain silent, focusing again on the two rebels in front of the parking lot door, noticing the shift in weight between the feet of the one closest to the stairs. A dart was thrown at the exact moment his weight was thrown onto his left leg, causing him to fall on top of the other rebel, a smile took over your lips before the last tranquilizer came out of your weapon, making the last of the rebels fall hard on the floor.

Almost immediately, gunshots and screams could be heard from the floors above, making you curse and quicken your step towards the parking lot. You didn't know what the moving day involved, but judging by the talking you could hear at your communication point, your team was already trying to control the situation. The gun cartridge being quickly engaged while you checked the situation, everyone's screams could be heard along with the gunshots, but so far, nothing problematic enough to make you turn your back and head to where everyone was.

With a sigh, you jerked the door open, holding it with your leg as you scanned the room. A single bed was placed in the middle of the deserted parking lot. The friction between your boots and the concrete was the only noise you could hear, the sealed door could be seen from the other side of the parking lot, for the same reason that made you curse every other time: the damn blue bird.

“Took you long enough,” your gun had been taken away from you before you could even react properly, noticing Wooyeon in front of you throwing the gun away, “I was imagining I would never meet you, princess.”

“You’re not Wooyeon,” your speech was harsh, observing the sly man in front of you, his eyes were curious, his movements were fluid, they were both predatory and playful, “but it seems like you all agreed on a damn nickname for me, does it not?"

“Oh, but the news that has been passed on to me is that you don’t mind us calling you princess, princess.”

And honestly, you didn't really care, maybe that was what made you most uneasy with Angel, Serpent and now Wooyeon's copy. His movements were agile, but cautious, his smart eyes seemed to analyze every little detail you allowed yourself to release, but his smirk was always present, if not an open smile with a touch of mischief. He looked like a fox, patient but agile, cute but sly.

“And what should I call you then?”

“Amuse me, princess,” he laughed at your scoff, making you fight a smile that threatened to emerge, but he managed to catch the twitch at the corners of your mouth. “Oh, don’t be shy, we are all friends here, are we not?”

Your eyes fell again on the drawing of the blue bird on the other side of the parking lot, but the raise of eyebrows followed by Fox's smile made you focus on him again. A small lift of the corner of your mouth was allowed by you, receiving another as his tongue appeared between his teeth.

“What’s the big point in you being here then?”

“Aren’t you going to share with me the name you’re going to use for me?” Your tongue could bleed as you bit it strongly so as not to react in any way to the pout that Fox was throwing at you. “Okay, you have time to choose, but how about telling me about the others?”

Angel. Serpent. Fox.

Each one invading your mind with the simple existence and momentary exchange of words. Fox was definitely the most different from the others, from ATEEZ, the most similar to what you know Wooyeon – and consequently, your other boys – is like, but with the je ne sais quoi that all ATEEZ members – so far – possessed. His steps were determined, but slightly playful, despite your eyes trying to focus on him, the way his body moved was like a dance, a dangerous dance and you were the prey.

And you hated that feeling whenever you were with one of the ATEEZ.

Fox surrounded you, you could feel his presence and perfume completely intoxicate you, making you close your eyes and a smirk appearing on your mouth as you listened to Fox suggest names for him and the others, with each step and word, you felt him get even closer to you.

“I have a question,” your eyes remained closed, but you could identify that he was somewhere behind you allowing you to open your eyes and find the drawing of your brother in blue in the distance, “what does that damn bluebird mean?”

“And why would I tell you that?”

Despite being prepared for whatever Fox would do, you felt your entire body burn and the hair stand on end, as well as an discomfort in the abdomen area that you refused to consider for a long time. He was much closer than you expected, his breath lightly brushing your ear, his hands close but never close enough to touch you.

“Are you saying that because you don’t know?”

Your face turned as your speech was completed, allowing you to notice how close Fox really was. Fuck!, how they were similar to the others, you cursed as your eyes lingered on his face. The mole just below his eye being the first thing you noticed before your eyes fell on Fox's lips, meeting the mole you had only heard others talk about over the years, the damn mole on his lower lip.

“See something you like, princess?”

Your eyes quickly noticed the light smile on Fox's lips before going up and finding his on yours before going down to your mask, his hand removing it causing his eyes to fall on your lips, making you wet them with your tongue, smiling when you notice his gaze completely on your lips.

“My eyes are up here, do you know?”

“Oh, I know, but I needed to admire the lips I heard so much about,” an electric current passed through your body, burning completely when you felt Fox's hand on your lower back, his face mere millimeters from yours. “I have to say, you really are something else, princess.”

“The drawing,” despite the fear of your voice breaking, you managed to say without moving a muscle away from Fox, a fact noticed by him who returned with a smile on his lips, “tell me about the drawing.”

“I'm afraid you'll have to ask one of the others,” your eyes closed once more to try to ignore the lack of Fox's warmth and presence than actually the idea that you would have to talk to Mars and the others to get the answer, “the only thing we know is that it represents something, or someone," your eyes quickly fell on Fox who, even from afar, you could see the smile growing on his mouth for having captured your attention, "ah!, it looks like you know what the drawing means."

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking, right?” Fox nodded and giggled as he headed for the door that had your brother's drawing on it, the mischievous look returning to his eyes with every step you took getting closer to where he was. “Can you tell me the next one of you I’ll have the pleasure to meet?”

His laugh was genuine when you emphasized the 'pleasure' word, making you hide a smile, thanking him for ignoring your failed attempt to contain the smile that formed on your face.

“And what would be the fun in that, princess?” With that, the door was opened, genuine surprise showing on your face, making Fox smile and approach you, his left hand lightly pressing your lower back indicating that you entered the completely dark room, not a light or indicator of one in sight, his breath in your ear. “That’s why you came, isn’t it?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Call it a peace offering of such.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Time is running out, princess, moving day is upon us.”

Your eyes met his one last time, predatory, analytical.

His hand on your waist, burning the area even though it was covered by your clothes.

“What does ‘moving day’ mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like, except we are rebel revolutionaries just as your government categorizes us,” his lips lightly touched your ear, an electric current ran through your entire body, “we need to move in style, don’t we?”

“You gonna burn down the building or something?”

The smirk returned to Fox's face, the only response you would have. When your movements went to the parking lot door, Fox trapped you between his arm and the dark room door, his face serious, his eyes determined.

“Your team will be safe if they don’t do anything stupid,” a step forward, but you didn’t dare move, your eyes tracking to the weapon that was relatively close at that moment, mind going to the hidden places in your clothing, “That includes you, not doing something stupid, princess.”

With a quick movement, Fox managed to trip you before one of his hands found your waist, pushing you into the room and the door closed shortly afterwards. Curses leaving your mouth freely as you punched and kicked the door, only stopping when you heard a noise on the other side.

“Why the fuck are you doing this? Get me the fuck out!”

“Don't worry, princess, I'm sure you can get yourself out,” the playful tone in Fox's voice made your blood run cold, “you and your team have thirty minutes, check the desk, there's a present there for you.”

As silence reigned both inside the room and outside, you tried to calm your breathing, the dark room quickly lighting up with blue emergency lights. Cautiously, you turned your body, believing you weren't alone in the space, but there was no one but you, there was nothing but photos of you, the team Eden had created with you and the others, photos from the warehouse day of you talking with Jungkook and Moonbin, photos of you entering the warehouse late at night.

Your eyes continued to roam the space, photos of you in the refugee camp, even of the cut you had received there were photos, however, they were not from the middle of the revolt, no, you were in the hospital bed on Guardian's Island, Hyunjin, Minho , Changbin, Chan and Jeongin by your side. The photos were from Angel's first day on the island. Did they have someone inside the complex? Your mind went on and on as you looked at each of the photos meticulously placed on the walls and in lines throughout the room, before landing on some of the papers.

Not only were the profiles of each person in the photos, but also of other people, even the XKRS were present in photos and documents. Your feet dug into the floor as you turned to the table, finding not only a huge drawing of the bird with a branch made by your brother, but a circular metal object exactly in the middle of the drawing. You would recognize those two things anywhere.

Your fingers went to find the bracelet, fingers finding the cold metal before wrapping it around and bringing it close to your face, the words still present, screaming at you: 'be free ♡'. Your fingers follow the outline of the words and the heart. Your own heart clenching momentarily with the memory of the last time that bracelet had been seen by you, the last person who wore it. Your eyes resting one last time on the space around you, on each of the photos, on each of the people you know, the way and place they were taken.

The Black Pirates were much better than you, they were way ahead of all of you.

Your superiors had no chance, if the strategy didn't change, they would never be caught, that damn room confirmed your suspicions. That's why they came back, that's why they were organizing to leave. No one in the government could know how much they knew, but they insisted on showing you more and more, they didn't care if you knew about their plans or not.

“(y/n)?” Ignoring the shock of hearing Maddox's voice in your ear, you composed yourself, automatically placing the bracelet on your wrist, hiding it with your sleeve. “You there? What the fuck is happening at the school?”

“I’m here, what do you mean?”

“The helicopters that just came back said they saw spots of light and the sounds of gunfire, but no one is responding,” It was only then that you noticed how quiet your communication point with your team was. "How are you?"

“I have no communication with them,” the words came out quickly along with the realization that the Black Pirates had managed to interfere with your communication points again, you were alone. “Can you hear me well?”

“It’s not quite ideal, but I can, yes. Where are you? Did you manage to get to the parking lot?”

The sigh that left your mouth made Maddox ask again how you were, your footsteps against the floor was all he could hear until you arrived at the door again. It was locked, sealed again, how did Fox expect you to come out?

“I managed to get into the dark room, but I'm trapped inside. Do you think you can help me get out?”

“What’s in the dark room?”

“I guess I’d better tell you after I get out of here,” a sarcastic sigh left your lips, “unless you’re not as badass as you say you are.”

“Give me a minute child and answer all the questions I have for you.”

A simple smile formed on your face as you could hear Maddox's fingers on the keyboard, worry growing by the second, your team was somewhere in that school, Fox had said you only had thirty minutes, now they should have cut it down to twenty.

“If you can do everything in less than twenty minutes that would be ideal,” his fingers stopped and you sighed. “They are going to destroy the school, I need to get out of here before that happens.”

“Tell me what you see.”

A smile appeared on your face, Maddox was cunning enough to try to circumvent your words and get what he was looking for, but you were the offspring of Strickland, of powerful people in the government, you knew the game of words well, what people wanted, except when the subject was Angel, Serpent and Fox. Shaking your head, your eyes focused on the door and what could be seen around it, your fingers passing along the wall, pushing documents nailed to them, photos falling to the floor, you knew that none of that mattered, you wouldn't be able to leave there with everything or anything at all, maybe you wouldn't even be able to leave that room.

“Maddox, everything that could exist here, I gave you, can you or can’t you get me out of this fucking room?”

“Do you still have that object I gave you?”

Your feet took root in the ground, your hands finding the computer mouse-like object you were meticulously keeping in one of your pockets. Maddox's words came back to you as you questioned him about what that was.

“I thought you said it would do more harm than good if I used it.”

“This might also be the only way you can get through that door before the school blows up in three minutes.”

“How can you be sure?”

Despite it being a simple question, they both knew that it had three hidden questions.

How can you be sure it will work?

How can you be sure I won't die in the process?

How can you be sure that the device will activate properly?

Because this was another detail of the object, if it was activated incorrectly, it could explode not only the person but anyone within a kilometer radius.

“I have trust in both our abilities, do you?”

“What do I have to do?”

You knew you didn't have enough time to question or play any kind of joke. Meticulously, your fingers followed Maddox's instructions, the reaction was almost mechanical as your mind wondered about his life story and how your brother found him. What you had in your hands was a small bomb, a bomb with an extremely high mortality rate for its size.

“Now place it right in between the door and the frame, it has to be precisely in the middle,” you nodded, even though you knew he wouldn't see, barely daring to say or breathe, “now click on the bottom left so the bomb attaches itself to the surface,” at the same instant, a countdown began, Maddox’s voice was fast, you could feel the worry in his voice, “now hide!”

Skillfully, you turned the aluminum table that was in the center of the place, the papers falling to the floor, the only thing present on it being your brother's drawing mere millimeters from your face, almost like a bad joke. A noise was heard and you felt the whole room shake, dust and debris falling on your head. It hadn't worked, Maddox's bomb hadn't worked.

Before you could get up, the entire space in the room was filled with heat and noise forcing you to bend down covering your ears, the table ricocheted and hit you with full force causing you to fall to the floor before another noise began to be heard. Rain and gunshots. Your eyes opened slowly, the photos and papers burned around you, the table was hot against your boots. Maddox's bomb had exploded

With wobbly legs you stood up, the door to the dark room was wide open, a hole where the handle was. Despite the table being hot, you pushed it away with the sole of your boot, looking one last time at the place, at the information that Fox had let you have, for whatever reason.

Your eyes fell one last time on the drawing of the blue bird.

ATEEZ didn't know the reason for using the drawing, Eden said that it had already been seen in other active cells of the Black Pirates, maybe that was the boys' way of saying that they never forgot you? As Howl and Mars had said the times you met them? But there was something different about the drawings you had seen that day with the others from Eden's archives, but one thing was certain, the drawing was a message to you, even if you couldn't read it yet.

With one last breath you ran out of the room, eyes looking for the gun thrown in the same place as before, cursing when you didn't find it, Fox nowhere to be seen. It was then that you noticed the bed, not far in front, your gun rested there, with a paper on top, the handwriting was Fox's, considering it was identical to Wooyeon's.

‘Looking forward to seeing you again, princess, hopefully sooner rather than later.’

The eye rolling was interrupted by the noise of the parking door being forced open, making you find a chain passed through the handles, Fox had done that?, but what was the point? In a quick movement, you put away Fox's note, grabbing your gun just as the door opened enough for an arm and a leg to get through, then a face met you just as a noise was heard from outside, lighting up the parking lot a little – an explosion – allowing you to see another door, responsible for the entry and exit of cars, which you believed would be blocked.

“You really are the most intriguing of all, Fox.” Another noise that made the entire structure shake, followed by a scream from one of the rebels trying to open the door made you curse softly and try to communicate with your team by pressing the communication point. “If someone can hear me, I’m in the parking lot, going towards the court, I repeat going towards the court!”

With quick steps, you finally left the parking lot, the sports court was still burning with the fire from the explosion, but that wasn't what made you stop with your feet planted on the ground. No, a small explosion wouldn't be enough to make your heart stop beating for a second, it wouldn't be able to make your knees weaken, much less it would bring about the tightness in your chest that you were feeling at that moment.

Your fingers wrapped around the gun that was lying next to you, making no move to use it. Even though he was physically Shinwoo, something in the way he carried himself and the look he gave you said he was one of ATEEZ, Shinwoo's copy from another dimension. The eyes were hard, analyzing you as if you had three heads. The fire surrounded him, your eyes quickly falling on the burning basketball not far from the stranger.

When your feet finally started to move, a car approached you. The back door opening, revealing Yongbok waiting for you with worried eyes, Hyunjin in the passenger seat and Minho driving the car. Your eyes followed one last time to the figure in the flames, but he was already turning his back on you and heading through the flames, one last noise being heard from the school and the metal door being opened revealing some of the rebels, weapons drawn in your direction.

Shots rang out and you knew they were coming from the car, causing the rebels to quickly take cover as your feet hit the ground, the rainwater spraying both around you and onto your pants. The exchange of shots began and you felt the bullet in your right arm before it hit the car, another one grazing your thigh, burying itself in the leather of the car.

With a jump you finally got in, but with the jolt of the acceleration, your hip hit the metal part, just like the car door slamming against your leg before Yongbok pulled you inside, Hyunjin pushing the door next to you from outside so that you wouldn't be hit by a bullet again.

"Where are the others?" The words were finally able to come out of your mouth, even if between grunts considering the pain that reverberated through your body with each movement that Yongbok made to wrap the wound on your arm trying to stop the blood pouring from the bullet wound. Blood also stained the leather of the back seat and you cursed the shooter and Hyunjin when he pressed the graze wound – which apparently wasn't that graze after all – with a piece of fabric. When the silence continued, your voice gained an authoritative tone, knowing something was wrong. "What happened?"

“They caught the XKRS members.”

03: fox.

heart string of gold || OT8! ateez || lore au

They had abandoned you, all nine people you cared about most had completely abandoned you. In the end, you were just like your parents and superiors said you would be if you continued to allow feelings to be felt. You then became Strickland's weapon and the Black Pirates, like their leaders, were your ultimate target.

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↪ if your name is crossed, is bc i couldn't tag you for some reason.

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