"What?!"

"You have to train-"

"I said I don't want to be involved!" Chan cut off Felix, intending to stand his ground.

His loud outburst echoing around the empty underground space, drawing all the attention towards them. Chan scowled and began climbing back into the van.

Felix reached out to grab his arm. "You have to know how to defend yourself."

"Remember, people know you are involved with us somehow. I'm not having you get hurt." Chan took a step down, hearing the concern that lathered his boyfriend's words, but he didn't feel like giving up.

He shrugged his hand off aggressively.

"I am not touching a filthy gun," he spat, voice dripping with spite and disgust. Felix frowned, taken aback by the rotten tone. Chan had never spoken to him in such a way, it hurt. Chan regretted what he had said instantly. 

"You don't have to," the ginger's voice softened, hoping Chan's temper would defuse. "Just learn how to hold a good fight. Black Shag aren't rookies, they've been in this business for a good ten years, they don't fuck around."

Chan narrowed his eyes. He could feel the others watching them curiously, their gazes burning holes in the back of his head. Giving in, he dropped his shoulders and relaxed.

"Fine," slipped from his plump lips, causing Felix's face to break into a grin.

"Next time, let me finish what I was saying." 

Felix moved back to the others, placing a comforting palm on the his boyfriend's shoulder as he passed. "Love you," he whispered, making Chan smile.

"I know."

Felix clapped his hands together, instantly commanding the attention of everyone in the room. All heads turned to face him, curiosity sparking in their eyes. "Changbin, you're gonna go now to the safe house. Scope it out and set it up."

The boy looked up, his attention fully consumed by the fishy-smelling kimbap he was munching on.

"What?" he mumbled, in between mouthfuls. Felix ignored him and addressed the others. 

"I need someone else to go with him..." 

He pondered briefly.

"Seungmin!"

Seungmin's name echoed through the air, prompting an exasperated grumble from him. "Why me?" he whined, dragging out the words as if they weighed a ton. Changbin, his mouth filled with rice and seaweed, rolled his eyes dramatically. "'Ook, I don wan you to come eifer."

Seungmin shot him an annoyed scowl, while Chan looked on in confusion. What was the deal between these two?

"I thought you said we would go after sundown," recalled Seungmin, trying to sidestep his boss. Fuck working with Changbin. The very thought of it made his skin crawl. Felix took a breath, inhaling the musty air laden with the aroma of kimbap. "Just call me when you get there."

With that, he spun on his heels, not wanting to drag the conversation any further. Seungmin let out another loud and prolonged groan and scowled at Changbin, "Hurry the fuck up then."

Changbin and Seungmin were walking towards the safe house, trying to keep their heads low and blend in with the crowd. Seungmin had had his arms crossed since they left, the same scowl plastered on his face. Sour and pissed. Changbin strolled happily next to him. Though he didn't like the latter, the food he held in his hand made it bearable, plus he hadn't uttered a word thus keeping the peace.

But as they rounded a corner into an alley, Seungmin suddenly had a bone to pick.

"Do you have to chew so loudly?" he halted, looking at Changbin with a face of absolute spite.

The latter's eyes widened, taken aback. He glanced from Seungmin to the kimbap.

"Fuck, I hate working with you!" Seungmin flailed his arms in the air.

Changbin remained quiet, confused and slightly pained by Seungmin's words—so uncalled for. The taller pointed behind them, back down the alley. 

"Just go back," Seungmin waved him off.

"Aren't you overreacting?" Changbin murmured, his forehead creased as he stared at his shuffling feet. Seungmin glared at him, the wind gushing through his blonde and brown locks.

Changbin sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll stop eating."

He swallowed his food in one large gulp and stuffed the kimbap in his pocket, walking on. Seungmin's lips pursed, and his feet began to move again. Guilt making a cameo in the pits of his stomach, before he stomped it out with each angered step.

"Wait up!"

It came out more demanding than he wanted it to. He hoped the latter hadn't noticed.

The alleys were dark and cold, the sound of rush hour traffic like white noise behind the suspicious sounds that reverberated around the aged brick buildings and run-down shacks that backed onto each other. Changbin remained ahead of Seungmin, ignoring him, fooling himself into thinking he didn't care about what he'd said. What hurt more is how he said it and just how often.

"Wait up!" Seungmin yelled again. His voice still hadn't lost its cold, impatient tone and it made the boy on the receiving end frown. Changbin came to a stop at an intersection of alleys, waiting for him to catch up.

"Geez, why didn't you listen-"

"Oh shut the fuck up!" Changbin cut him off. He'd had enough. The string that held his baring attitude had finally frayed, snapped, and now a flurry of sore feelings and thoughts came out in an angered spiel.

"I did fucking nothing wrong." He pointed at his own pained expression. "What is the bloody problem?"

Seungmin fell quiet, shrinking away in a belt of fear and resurfaced guilt. "I-"

"Last time I checked, I never wronged you once. What's with the shitty attitude? Why do you treat me like scum of the earth?!"

Changbin's voice rang in his head. Words couldn't form on his tongue thanks to his jumbled brain. Changbin glared at him, waiting for some sort of smart or sarcastic reply. His mouth was a thin line as he bit his lip, stopping another string of heated words. His loud words had garnered the attention of a few passers-by, eyes wide like goldfish. They walked past, muttering all sorts of things in hushed voices, leaving their words to the speculation of the pair.

He cocked his head to the side. "So?"

When no response came, he sighed, hands falling to his side in defeat. "I'll go back then, since my presence is such an inconvenience."

"I'm not going easy," Felix warned, "cuz that's not how it is in the real world." 

Chan grimaced at the truthfulness of his words, but agreed anyway.

Felix, a tall and agile martial artist, squaring off with Chan, someone who only ever worked out.

"Whose idea was it to spar anyways?" Chan asked nervously.

Felix flashed him a reassuring smile, acknowledging his hesitation of the impending bout. Why they couldn't have started with something easier, Chan didn't know. He had never sparred with anyone before, hitting a punching bag was about as close as he got. But Felix had to "evaluate" his skills, as Minho had put it.

They adopted their stances, moving cautiously. The other members watched, invested as they awaited its start.

"I bet Felix is gonna win," Minho said, looking each of them over.

Jisung, sitting beside him, frowned. "Hey, don't underestimate my man Chan."

"What the fuck, Ji? I'm your man."

"Shut up, it started already."

Felix had darted forward, unleashing a barrage of swift jabs. Chan faltered, shrinking away as he messily dodged. He side-stepped quickly, avoiding the attack, and threw a sharp right hook to Felix's cheek. Felix clutched his face, stumbling backwards. Chan's eyes widened, and he rushed to the latter's aid.

"Oh shit, sorry, I didn't mean it to be that hard."

"It's fine, babe. I'm just shocked, that was pretty powerful," Felix laughed, shaking his head. Chan visibly relaxed and waited to start again.

Felix hammered Chan with a series of high kicks, aiming to keep him at a distance. He ducked and weaved, doing about all he knew. However, avoiding the latter's attacks wouldn't suffice, and he soon found himself backed into a corner. He managed one punch, knocking Felix backwards as he tried to regain his footing.

The faded ginger employed more of his taekwondo tactics, focusing on countering Chan's hooks and uppercuts with brisk kicks. The sparring session intensified as Chan finally tried counter-attacking. He'd been holding off in fear of hurting his boyfriend. He needed to catch the latter off guard and exploit that.

After several rounds of intense exchanges, Chan paused, sweat glistening on his forehead. "Lix-" he said, out of breath. "Can we please stop now?" He bent down, panting, and placed his palms on his knees.

Felix nodded, happy with where Chan stood. The sound of the others clapping enthusiastically when they finished made the blonde smile.

"Is Bin gonna train him?" Hyunjin asked, strolling over with two towels he got from the back of his van.

Chan accepted one gratefully and looked up at Felix, waiting for his answer.

"Yeah, I think between me and him, we'll do it." Felix wiped the sweat from his forehead with his towel. They walked over to where the rest were and plopped down on some wood pallets, letting out a small groan. Jisung smiled and reached out to pat Chan on the back.

"You did well against Felix."

Chan thanked him, grinning from ear to ear. Felix's arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"Mhmm," he hummed, shaking the latter.

"What should we eat for dinner?" Jeongin asked, glancing up from his laptop.

"Should we order something?" Minho suggested, scouring around everyone.

Jisung pecked his boyfriend's forehead. "That sounds like a great idea, Min."

"Literally anything Minho says is a good idea," Hyunjin rolled his eyes with a huff, "you practically idolize him." Jisung's face soured at the comment, but Minho placed an arm around him, the expression vanishing in no time.

"Babe, what do you wanna eat?" Felix asked, leaning down to meet the said boy's gaze. Chan looked into the ginger's soft brown eyes, stealing a quick kiss from his plump lips.

"Whatever you want."

A few hours had passed, and Seungmin had found the safe house. It didn't cross his mind to alert the others that Changbin was supposed to have been returning to them.

"Min hasn't called me yet," Felix said slightly confused as he looked at his blank phone screen. He'd been awaiting a call from either boy for awhile now.

"What about Changbin?" Chan asked, walking over and wrapping his arm around the latter's waist, pulling him closer. Felix hummed, feeling the warmth of Chan's body against his own.

"Surely he would have asked about dinner or something," Hyunjin said, a look of concern passing across his face.

Felix shook his head. "No one has said anything."

Meanwhile, Seungmin had finished arming the safe house and was passed out on the couch in the living room. The others had been worried for hours, but he had no idea. He had been so focused on the task at hand that he hadn't thought about the other members of the group. His phone buzzed in his jeans' back pocket, and he slowly awakened. He rushed to answer it, remembering what he was supposed to have done. It was Felix, voice laced with worry.

"Seungmin?!"

"Yo," he answered hesitantly.

"Why didn't you answer my calls?" Seungmin looked to see his boss had rang him more than ten times in the past hour.

"I accidentally fell asleep." 

He knew his excuse wasn't going to help much, but at least it was the truth.

"Well, what about Changbin? Why didn't he ring?"

Seungmin's forehead creased, eyebrows knitting together. "Isn't he with you?"

"What-no-"

"Huh?" Seungmin's eyes widened. Changbin wasn't with them, and he certainly wasn't at the safe house. "What do you mean? He's supposed to be with you!" 

Felix started yelling, panic and stress levels rising.

"H-he said he was-s going back. He got angry at me," the latter's voice cracked, guilt overtaking him. Something had obviously happened to the missing boy, and he felt at fault—if only they hadn't argued and if only he hadn't provoked it.