"Why do I have a sinking feeling that you've forgotten your climbing gear on purpose?"

Seonghwa giggled, digging his fingers deeper into the earth covering the steep cliff he was dangerously hanging on. His feet immediately found footing again as he carefully moved to the right.

"How did you know? You don't get it, Sannie. This is like going up a set of stairs, only far less boring. Why would you need to use a gear for climbing the stairs?" Seonghwa turned to look out over the ocean of clouds beneath him. The ground was way too far to see still, and the white fluff underneath was reaching into an unknown distance.

"I prefer the good ol' house stairs. Also, stop looking down, I'm getting queasy," San murmured with an exaggerated gagging sound. Seonghwa smiled to himself before angling his head back up. The camera on his comm followed, easing the picture San received. Seonghwa could hear him murmur a quiet thanks.

Seonghwa reached out again with his gloved fingers, grabbing onto another edge while taking care where he stepped. His heavy boots found secure footing on the steep wall, but the stone above didn't support his weight.

Seonghwa felt it get loose before abruptly breaking off. He reacted quickly, and twisted his body away, letting go with his left hand. The rock tumbled down right where his torso had been a moment ago. Remembering San, Seonghwa didn't watch it fall into the depths before reaching for another edge again.

San made a little unsure noise.

"You worry too much.", Seonghwa commented dryly before he put all of his strength in his feet, and jumped off. His fingers reached for the edge above, grabbing onto it safely. He balanced his weight and made sure nothing would break away this time. He could see what had his friend worried so much, but at the same time, the rush and adrenaline of the situation were too intense for him to take his gear with him. Where was the fun with that?

"Oh, hey, Yeosang is back. Yeo, grab a headset. Let's watch Hwa die together," San murmured through Seonghwa's headset, and a rustling sound was heard as he set up the new connection for Yeosang, who was just sitting down.

"Back so early? How was your trip to Venice? Rain?" Seonghwa turned to watch at the platform underneath. With a bit of effort, he would manage to grab onto the outmost rocks.

"Yeah, rain. We decided on Rome last minute. I came back early when San told me about your newest bad idea," Yeosang's deep and rich voice replied smoothly. Seonghwa had to chuckle.

"Sweet."

"So what are you doing in Bolivia?"

Seonghwa smiled to himself before he let go altogether. San audibly gritted his teeth to hold his protests back when Seonghwa flew down into the endless sea of white. Yeosang gave a little distressed whine.

Seonghwa dropped a few meters down before grabbing onto the edge he had correctly calculated. His shoulder protested as a sharp jerk travelled through it, then he used the other hand to reach for it too. Safely, he hung on the cliff without anything beneath his feet.

"Ascending."

With that, Seonghwa pulled himself up to elegantly swing onto the platform. He looked out over the labyrinth of boulders and walls that led further over the mountain he was standing on.

"Yeosang, meet Tiwanaku. A lovely pre-Incan civilisation that's currently in ruins."

Yeosang barely managed to speak from the shock. Instead of a full reply, he just choked out a quick 'Delighted' before falling silent again.

Seonghwa chuckled at him before dusting his gloves off and looking around. He would need to scale the rocks to his right to get further behind. Right in front of him, there was also a streaming waterfall decorating the stone. From the looks of it, it was leading to a little lake on this level.

With nimble fingers, Seonghwa pried open the little backpack he carried with him. He took out his binoculars to get a better view of the things. He quickly swiped the area and found a spot that seemed to lead further behind the enormous obstacles quite well. Satisfied, he made sure to memorise it from this angle.

After putting the object away, he munched down an energising chocolate bar. He ate while staring out over the beauty that Bolivia's clouds were, and once again appreciated his job.

For a wealthy archaeologist like him, it was easy to get such sights. As he was working on his own currently instead of with his team at university, so he also wasn't bound to stupid rules such as climbing gear.

"I got bad news."

Seonghwa finished his snack and turned to walk over to the route he had spied out earlier. He jumped up the first part and balanced on a rounded boulder as his heavy boots made his way over. After another step, he looked around.

"Is it related to you feeling queasy?"

"You got unwanted visitors. I can pick up some pretty strong signals from further west." San seemed to hack away at his computer again and then gave a contemplating hum.

"See those? It's a cluster. Seems like you chose a bad day to search for this."

Yeosang gave an approving noise as if they couldn't trust San's eyes alone.

Seonghwa huffed annoyed, jumping over to another stone. He caught himself with his hands before pushing back the hair that had started to stick to his forehead. By now, Bolivia's heat began to catch up on him in his long clothes.

He should have insisted on wearing shorts instead. Not as if his legs weren't covered in scars anyway.

"I'll send them off, " Seonghwa promised with a shrug and then leapt. The two boys fell silent.

Seonghwa made his way over the rocks and further to another steep stone wall. With the aid of a few large roots and branches sticking out of the ground, he managed to pull himself up. However, he froze, when suddenly he heard steps above. Startled, he pressed himself close to the earth and listened in to their conversation.

"No, I can't see anybody I could shoot on sight. Maybe your information was wrong? Ask him again. I don't want to stand around the whole day. I've heard some howling earlier, I don't need to find out whatever that was. I was so happy hearing I get to put someone down today, and now there's just nobody here. What a disappointment. He owes me one."

Seonghwa arched his brow. San thankfully supplied him with information before he even had to ask.

"Those sound like mercenaries. I think you-know-who hired them to make sure you're not getting in his way this time around."

Oh, hell, no.

Seonghwa could not reply without alerting the stranger of his presence, so instead, he jumped up with a cold determination. Without asking further questions, he pulled his heavy shotgun from his back and pointed it at the guy.

The other reeked of alpha, his heady and suppressing scent clouding the whole platform they were standing on. Seonghwa wrinkled his nose at the man when even he felt his head go woozy with the smell.

"Hey, bastard. Who are you waiting for?" He called out warningly, and the man turned around to him with nearly too much enthusiasm. Seonghwa found his assault rifle pointed right at his head as a greeting.

"You, as it seems. I came to make sure you don't proceed."

"Put him down." It was Yeosang's voice, cold and calculating. With a chuckle, Seonghwa pointed his weapon right at the man's head too, returning the favour.

"Who sent you?"

"None of your business, Park." The man curled his finger around the trigger, but Seonghwa was quicker. A single shot sounded before the man's head exploded in a red cloud of blood and brains. It splattered all over the walls and ground, gaining the attention of some birds lazily circling above them.

"San, find out what that brat wants here. This is my piece of the key, what does he want?"

Seonghwa peeled his hands off the weapon he was gripping much harder than needed. Anger was simmering low in his stomach at the thought of that pain in the backside of a man. Fuming, he threw the weapon on his back and stepped over the remains of the man.

"I'm afraid he kinda searches for the same thing. He's faster than you. That fucker used his chopper like some sophisticated asshole."

Seonghwa aggressively jumped up another edge and put down two more soldiers, who were standing guard there.

"What is he wearing?"

Seonghwa could basically feel San exchanging a tense glance with Yeosang.

"I haven't seen him yet, but... Probably nothing too harmless. You might want to hurry."

With another leap, Seonghwa scaled the last part of the mountain. He kneeled right down when he took notice of the ruins underneath. He got an excellent view over the valley holding them and the entrance to the ancient city in the mountain.

Seonghwa was in awe.

"Isn't she beautiful? I'm falling in love all over again," he murmured distractedly while getting his binoculars out again to get a closer look. San's low chuckle sounded against his left ear.

"You say kinda that to all the ruins. It's getting old. Aren't you committing adultery?"

Seonghwa again looked around, noticing the chopper in the distance and a jeep that just came down the road from another way up the mountains. A more comfortable one, as it seemed, but also more boring.

"I call it having a lot of love to give. And here come the bloody tourists to spoil it all." He zoomed in onto the jeep, seeing more of the same guys in black uniforms and helmets emerge.

 "Your cam doesn't pick up detail that small. What do you see? Is it trouble?" San carefully asked as Seonghwa clicked his tongue at the sight of them spreading out like ants.

"Men with guns. More Mercenaries, by the look of them. Probably also his men."

Yeosang quipped up curiously.

"What're they doing there?"

Seonghwa put the binoculars away. He stood up again and pulled the gun over his shoulder. With it pointing at his nearest enemy, he started jogging down the hill until he was in reach.

"Getting into trouble."

He fired the first shot, taking a man down and alerting the others of his presence. Yelling orders at each other, they moved to confront Seonghwa head-on. He opened fire, his fingers restlessly working on his weapon. He could feel a bullet slide off his hip, where his vest was protecting him as if Yunho had known he would run into those guys here.

Seonghwa told San to deliver his thanks to his dear butler as he ran over the field hunting those betas down. He got all five of them before turning to the last two who were positioned at the entrance to the ruins. Seonghwa carefully sneaked up the stairs with his weapon poised and ready to kill. A shot buzzed past his ear when one of the guys prematurely shot, but both of them turned tail when Seonghwa lifted his weapon at them.

Seonghwa waited, hearing them run off. Then, a grinding noise, as if of stone sliding over stone was heard. A single scream followed that cut off abruptly. Seonghwa silently put the weapon away.

"Oof. That sounded permanent," San commented with a sneer apparent in his voice. Seonghwa shook his head, looking out over the once sacred field that was now stained with ugly red pools, and corpses. The chopper was long gone and the jeep stood forgotten.

"Death by irony is always painful. Amateurs. Is Yeosang still there?"

"Nope, left when the bloodbath started. I think he's kinda sensitive these days. His heat is coming up."

"Right, I've been feeling itchy, too. Killing a few of those violators might actually lift my mood a bit. I'll try to get this done quickly and maybe also leave the body of a certain someone behind." Seonghwa stepped into the ruins determinedly and let his fingers glide over the old and dusty walls as he searched the long corridor for traps.

"Yunho and I are still here too. I know you like to keep forgetting this, but I can fuck his fever out of him just as well as you can."

"Yet, you are not the pack alpha. Just keep him busy for a few days. I'll make sure to finish soon."

"Yeah, yeah. You just concentrate on finding whatever killed those two men I see no trace of before you don't even get a chance at our sweet Yeosangie anymore."

Seonghwa would be elated if he found the body of his favourite Nemesis speared on some deathly spear trap down here. He might work with that.