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They had a plan, but it wasn't a very good plan. It wasn't the safest plan either, but it was the best plan that San could think of.

The boy stood beside the door frame, cramming his body in between the wall and the nearly squeaky clean dresser behind him. Once he was hidden well enough between the door and the dresser, Hongjoong slammed his fist on it as loudly and powerfully as he could, making enough noise so that he couldn't be completely ignored by those outside.

San braced himself as the Kim Faction heir stepped back, watching as the door handle twisted and turned from the outside. Whoever had answered his calls were going to open the door.

The door swung open and a man appeared on the other side. San would have gotten a good look at the stranger had they not opened the door so wide as fast, slamming the door right into his body without care. The boy was forced to conceal his yelp of pain, not wanting to be found out by any of the other members of the Kim Faction that he was there. It was hard though, the door hit him square in the face and he ached as the pain rippled through the rest of his body. The amount of unnecessary force the man had used was incredible.

"Jinyoung?" Hongjoong questioned, confusion evident in his voice as he tried to make sense of the situation he was in. San cautiously peered from around the corner, attempting to keep himself as hidden as possible but also trying to see who he was talking to.

The person standing in front of him glancing around curiously, taking in the almost untouched room with fascination glinting in his eyes. He was rather tall, practically towering over both Hongjoong and San like he was a skyscraper, but he seemed weak in a physical sense. He had long and lanky limbs and, despite his height, his figure was a little thin and small. It wouldn't take much for San to quickly overpower him if need be.

After a few moments of silence, an airy chuckle filled the air. "You've been in here for a few hours now and it still doesn't look like you lived in here." He commented, in awe of his unusual surroundings. San took a gander over to the side of the stranger— Jinyoung, Hongjoong called him. Another person was standing beside him, closer to the door than Jinyoung. It must have been the person who opened the door with an unnecessary amount of strength, it had to be as they were standing next to the tall boy with a tough and serious exterior.

Their hand was constantly grazing over their belt and San quickly glanced down to notice that a holster was attached to it. They were armed with a gun, so San may have a harder time trying to disarm them when all he had was his arms and legs for defense.

"What are you doing here?" Hongjoong asked after a moment, hopefully keeping all attention on him instead of the hidden Seo Faction member. "Shouldn't you be... I don't know... snooping around someone's government files? Running around with illegally obtained legal documents on people's lives?"

"I have people who do that for me, I'm just the head of the department, you know that." Jinyoung laughed again, Hongjoong's jab going right over his head. Listening to the Kim Faction heir's description of the boy's job though, it's a very likely factor that Jinyoung played a part in Wooyoung's kidnapping. He seemed to handle the more sensitive information on people so he wouldn't doubt it if that were the case. "Actually I'm here per your father's request but I couldn't help but hear you calling and no one answering so I came to see what you were making the fuss about."

"Oh about that," Hongjoong mumbled, getting ready to lie straight through his teeth with the quickly devised excuse that the two to of them had come up with. "You know... I've been locked up in this room for a couple of hours now and no one has even thought about the fact that I might have to go to the bathroom. And now, I have to go. Like, now."

San and Hongjoong were not the best duos when it came to using their brains and creating lies. Hongjoong had told him it was his friend Yunho who could easily lie without anyone second-guessing him, he usually just took his puppy friend's advice and ran with it. San? He was just way too honest to make up a coherent lie for his situation, San wore his heart on his sleeve most of the time after all.

"We can't do that," the man beside Jinyoung quickly interjected, not even giving the other boy time to respond. "It was the Godfather's orders to keep him locked within his room until told otherwise. Letting him out to roam would be a direct disregard of the Godfather."

"It's the bathroom," Hongjoong insisted, disbelief crossing his face at the soldier's words. "What am I going to do in the bathroom, escape through the sink drain?"

"He's got a fair point, there's no way for him to escape the bathroom," Jinyoung commented to the man, siding with the Kim Faction heir and San had to withhold a snicker. "We'll take him since the Godfather said he cannot roam the halls. If he's seen by my side then the number of questions we'll get won't be too much, plus the fact that I have more authority over everyone here right now."

"Thank you!" The boy exclaimed, putting on his best show as the door opened a little wider and allowed him to slip through. Jinyoung and Hongjoong began to walk ahead of the soldier and San, not even taking notice of the Seo Faction member who was within the walls. He grinned to himself as the man before tried to close the door to the boy's room, stopped by San who took a tight hold on the doorknob and propped it open for himself. He could only imagine the amount of confusion that was on the soldier's face as an annoyed grunt came from the other side of the door, accompanied by an aggressive pull to shut the door fully.

Though San had enough strength to keep the door in place, wrestling with the soldier to lead him away from Jinyoung and Hongjoong. After a few seconds of tugging at the stubborn door, the soldier finally let go and entered Hongjoong's room. San moved back into his hiding spot in a rush as the soldier looked about the room, irritation, and skepticism hardening his expression.

"Psst, hey mister," San whispered, watching as the soldier whirled around towards him. The boy moved the door back and forth slowly, imitating the fight for the door they had just a few seconds before. "I think if you actually closed the door slowly instead of trying to slam it closed, you wouldn't have struggled so much. You know you can jam a door like that."

The soldier's eyes widened as he reached for the gun within its holster, recognizing San's face almost immediately after he stopped talking. "You!" He growled, completely red in the face with anger. "You were supposed to be dead months ago! How did you even get here?"

When the muzzle of the pistol was pointing towards his chest, the soldier's finger just hovering for a few seconds over the trigger, San's hands snaked up to his wrist and pointed the gun towards the ceiling instead of his body. "Oh no, we can't have that," the Seo Faction boy told him, shaking his head at the soldier's action.

In a moment of shock from his assault, the soldier accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting a bullet into the ceiling and alerting anyone who was nearby. "Shit," the boy mumbled underneath his breath, twisting the soldier's arm to loosen his grip on the weapon and snatch it out of his hands.

Jinyoung and Hongjoong weren't that far away right now, so he could only hope that the Kim Faction heir distracted the boy enough to keep them away from where San was. But that didn't count for any of the possible soldiers who may have heard the gunshot though. With a surge of newfound energy for his advantage in the scenario, the soldier barreled towards San, tackling him to the ground with a heavy thud and the gun falling out of his hands.

The Seo Faction boy struggled to shove him off, the mere size and bodyweight of the soldier overwhelming him. "You just had to go and cause problems for us, didn't you?" He frowned, trapped between the soldier and the ground. The enemy reached for the pistol just out of San's reach, trying to use the weapon as the final piece to ending his life. Though a smirk grew across the boy's face as the soldier reached over him, the amount of space he was limited to expanding and giving him enough wiggle room.

He rolled out from under the soldier, using a free hand to topple him over like a tortoise on its back. The gun in the soldier's hand slipped out of his grasp as San stepped over the soldier in an attempt to escape through the doorway. As much as he would love to drag on a fight, he had more important things to do like escape the Kim Faction residence before anyone else found out he was there.

Just as San was about to run out of the room he tumbled to the ground, hitting the ground with a now lighter thud that earlier. He turned his head to glance behind him and found the Kim Faction soldier, holding into his ankle with a tight grip. He tugged on his leg and tried to pull San back towards him, refusing to let him go scot-free.

"God, can't you see I'm trying to let you live here? Do you not have anything to live for?" He complained as grabbed a hold of the door frame, holding onto it tightly so that the soldier couldn't pull the boy towards him anymore.

"I live for the Godfather and the Godfather only," The soldier hissed, his undying loyalty reminding San of cultish behavior.

"Fine then," the boy huffed, grabbing the pistol since it was closer to him than it was the soldier. "Then die on that hill." It took a few moments for him to finally register what was happening until it was too late, a gunshot resonating within the room and echoing down the hallways a second time. The soldier gasped as the bullet lodged itself within his body, blood slowly beginning to pour out of the wound that had been created and spilling onto the nice carpet of Hongjoong's room.

San didn't hesitate any longer than he already had, lifting himself off the ground and dashing through the door as fast as he could. There was no way no one didn't catch that second gunshot, happening nearly back to back with the first. Someone was going to come to inspect what was happening and report it back to the boss of the Kim Faction, and San did not want to be there to see what would happen.

"Hongjoong!" He hissed, looking around the hallway desperately for the redheaded boy. He couldn't have gone far, it hadn't even been five minutes since he left San by himself. "Hongjoong, where did you go?"

"In here," a reply echoed, making San stop in his tracks and turn around. In a room to his left was the familiar red hair of Hongjoong peering out of the door, cautiously looking in between San and the hallway they were in. After a few seconds, he urged the boy inside, opening the door a little wider for him so that he could enter.

"Where did you go? What about— holy shit!" He yelled as he walked in, Hongjoong covered his mouth to muffle his shouts and closed the door behind them.

On the ground lay Jinyoung, the boy who had so generously let Hongjoong out of his room despite the orders of the Godfather saying otherwise. He was sprawled out on the ground and collapsed, flying off in the world of dreams and unaware of anything that was happening under his watch. San knew that Jinyoung was still alive because he saw that his chest was still rising and falling, not stagnant, unlike the soldier San had ended beforehand.

"How did you...?" San questioned, having to withhold a laugh that wanted to escape his mouth when Hongjoong picked up a rather heavy looking book.

"Swing it like a baseball bat right for the head," He explained, demonstrating exactly what he did on thin air. "The book will knock 'em down, and the fall will knock 'em out."

The two quieted themselves when footsteps could be heard outside, a group of people probably rushing straight towards Hongjoong's room after hearing the gunshots from earlier. The two of them stayed silent as they listened for muffled voices on the other side of the wall, complaining about the body that had been and yelling for the missing Kim Faction heir.

"What do we do now?" San questioned him, keeping his voice as low as he possibly could. "We got out of the room, but sneaking out is going to be more of a problem now because I was forced to cause a ruckus. They'll be searching for you now."

"Escape as quickly as we can, that's all we can do right now," He shrugged. "I called my friend, Mingi, to come pick us up since using my motorcycle would draw too much attention towards us, so all we can do is wait for him to arrive and not get caught in the process."

"And what about Mari?" San questioned, recalling the conversation that he and his father had while San was unknowingly trapped in the boy's room. "Your father... he said your Underboss has her. What are we going to—"

"I don't know!" He snapped, clearly not physically ready for that conversation. "I didn't know where your friend Wooyoung was and I have no clue where in the world they'd take Mari. Right now I just need to group up with friends and you need to group with your people so we can figure out what to do about this."

"I can't just group up with my people Hongjoong," San argued. "You know what the Kim Faction did to us, you were there when it happened. We aren't strong enough to fight back for Kim Faction for Mari, we'll be crushed in the process and everything up until then will be in vain."

"Oh, right," Hongjoong breathed, guilt practically radiating off of his body.

San frowned at the sight of his dejection, unsure of how to lift his spirits and make him see the bright side of things— as if there was a bright side at all that is. "Well... I know someone? He's got sliver of authority in the Seo Faction despite being around our age so maybe we can do something with that? I don't know how he'll help, but he's smart enough to think of a plan. He's the smartest one out of all of us."

"If you think he can help," The boy agreed, slowly opening the door to peer out and check to see if anyone else was still in the hallways. "Then I'll take whatever help he can give."

He opened the door a little wider and began to step out of the room, checking once more to see if any soldiers were still in the area. Though after a moment he turned towards San and urged him to come out, finding it clear enough for both of them to roam about the third floor of the Kim residence.

They knew they couldn't just run to the first floor and run out the front doors, they were most likely being guarded by soldiers at the beck and call of Hongjoong's father. Every door to the Kim residence was most likely being guarded by a soldier in the instance of the boy escaping, which he had. They didn't have very many options to choose from to leave the house so they were stuck simply running around the house dodging soldiers who were searching for them and waiting for Mingi to arrive.

That was... until San had an idea. Not a very good idea, but Hongjoong didn't have any room to say no at the moment.

Through the second floor window was his plan, a stupid plan, but a plan in general. They couldn't use the front door, they couldn't use the back door, and one could only pray that their balcony (if they had one, San wasn't paying attention) wasn't being heavily guarded as well. So what better option did they have then go through the window? They wouldn't completely jump through it; they would simply open it up and then climb down from there. It was only the second floor if they fell it wouldn't hurt too bad, sure they'd suffer some injuries but it wouldn't be enough to completely immobilize them.

Hongjoong protested his decision immediately, not wanting to risk getting caught by the soldiers while hanging from the window. But he couldn't think of any better options than San's suggestion so that's what they went with.

Luckily there was enough foliage at the bottom to soften in their fall so in San's eyes this wasn't a very bad idea. They didn't even get caught despite the two boys yelling at the top of their lungs when San lost his grip and pulled both him and Hongjoong down to the ground.

"Is everyone in your faction like this?" The boy complained, rubbing his back to soothe the aching pain he endured from the fall.

"No," San answered, picking leaves out of his hair and clothes. "It's just me, Mari, and Wooyoung."

"I think I hate the way that makes perfect sense," Hongjoong replied, lifting himself off of the ground to check their surroundings. It seems as though the soldiers didn't take into account that the boy might've tried to escape to the window which, frankly, he wouldn't have thought of either if it wasn't for San. So there was no one around the perimeter of the house to catch them at the moment.

"Let's keep moving," Hongjoong insisted, "Once they realize I'm not in the house anymore that's site checking the outdoors. Hopefully, by then Mingi will be here in a few minutes to pick us up and take us to a safer location for the time being, probably his house."

San nodded his head in understanding, rising to his feet to follow wherever Hongjoong was going to take him. "Aye, aye captain. I'll call Yeosang once we get there then. I think it'll be better if he comes to us since a group of Kim Faction members on temporary Seo Faction Territory could result in complete disaster."

Without wasting any more time, the two begin to traverse around the house. Despite no one being out there with them they were still being as quiet as possible to not bring attention to themselves. They moved within in the shadows cast upon the house to keep themselves hidden. After a few minutes of cautious walking and pausing at even the slightest of movements the two made it to the front of the Kim residence. And luckily for them, there was a car out front, a very familiar car to the redheaded boy standing in front of San.

It wasn't like the familiar Rolls-Royces he'd seen driving in and out of Seo Faction territory. It looked expensive but was still inconspicuous enough to bring close to the Kim Faction residence. "Mingi!" Hongjoong called, waving his hands in the air to catch the boy's attention.

The car door on the driver seat popped open and out appeared another redhead that San had never seen. He was much taller than both of the boys combined and despite the clear show of money in the car he drove, he was dressed in a very cheap looking black hoodie and a pair of glasses. In San's opinion, he kinda looked like a nerd. Though he didn't express those opinions out loud as the faded redheaded boy— Mingi was his name he had to remember— urged them to quickly get into the backseat.

"Yunho is waiting back at my place, holding down the fort just in case someone came by and asked for you when I wasn't there," He explained as the two approached. "But why didn't you tell me that Seonghwa was here too?"

"He's what?" Hongjoong asked as he slid into the backseat, San following after him. The two settled into the car when they both looked up, and there in the passenger seat was the boy Mingi had mentioned just a few seconds ago. "Seonghwa?"

The said boy didn't look up when his name was called, all he did was nervously play with his hands and keep his eyes in his lap. San could already tell that there was a guiltiness radiating off of him that he simply couldn't contain. He tried to but his emotions were getting the best of him and refused to hide. As Mingi put the car into drive, slamming his foot on the gas pedal to speed away from the house, Hongjoong continued to pester Seonghwa.

"What are you doing here?" Hongjoong questioned him. "I had told you all to wait at Mingi's House while me and Mari were dealing with things at my house. When did you even get here?"

"He never came," Mingi exposed, glancing back towards San and Hongjoong through the rearview mirror. "Yunho had arrived not long after you called and told us what you were doing, but Seonghwa? He never even showed up so I assumed that he was with you but seeing the situation we're in now... I see that he wasn't."

The tension within the car began to grow at an alarming rate as everyone's eyes were stuck on the silent boy in the passenger seat. If Seonghwa hadn't gone to Mingi's house and waited as told, then without a doubt he was most likely at Hongjoong's house. But if he was there then he would've had the ability to save Mari from her kidnapping and/or help Hongjoong and San escape. "Seonghwa," Hongjoong spoke, "What were you doing at my house? be honest with me while I have this limited space to move and potentially not hurt you if need be."

"I fucked up," he told them. "I fucked up and I didn't have a choice to not do so. I'm sorry, I didn't want to but—"

"What did you do," San demanded, now he was heated as Hongjoong was. "I advise you to choose your words carefully because I don't have as much patience as I look like I do."

"I was going to Mingi's house as you told us to. I was almost there, I was on my way!" Seonghwa explained. "But while I was going there I was stopped because the Underboss came up to me. I don't know how he found me, I don't know if he even knew where exactly I was going, but he stopped me and we talked. He said because I was under his authority because I was in the group of his men, I was bound to his authority and I had to do it he said. Which is true I have to do what he says."

There was a moment of silence between them all, Mingi's gaze shifting between all three boys within the rearview mirror. "He ordered me to go to the Kim residence because you and Mari would be there and then he told me to find her and lead her to him. I told him no, I even made the excuse that I was busy which in a sense I was. But he threatened me and said that if I didn't then I'd pay the price for disregarding an authority's orders."

Seonghwa turned in his seat to look at Hongjoong, his guilty expression on his face now on full display. "Which would result in something happening to you."

"So you traded Mari for Hongjoong's safety," San pieced together. "You were the reason she was caught by the Kim Faction Underboss."

"How could you?!" Hongjoong exclaimed, needing to be physically held back by San so he wouldn't cause Mingi to crash the car. "Why would you do that? You knew they were searching for her, I told you they were searching for her when I found out who she actually was! And you still turned her in, you were the reason she was caught in the first place?"

"I had no choice!" Seonghwa yelled at him. "If I didn't do that then something would happen to you, and honestly I'm closer to you than I am to Mari. So it all makes sense in my head at the time. I know I fucked up and I feel horrible about it but it's not like I had any other choice!"

"I could care less about what happens to me," the redhead tried to make him understand. "They could kill me for all I care, it doesn't matter about what happens to me. But you just put Mari in such extreme danger and I have no clue how to get her out of it!"

"Hongjoong, think for just a second will you?" Seonghwa pleaded. "You're being blinded by this lovesick notion you're in right now. What about all the people who care about you? You can't just pretend like you don't matter to other people because you're in love with her, come on!"

"Okay, this is getting heated," Mingi mumbled, before glancing at both Seonghwa and Hongjoong through the rearview mirror. "Listen we can fight about this all day long, just not in my car? This is not exactly the right place for the two of you to be fist fighting each other. let's just put this on the back burner and sit in silence until we get to my house, okay? Then I'll let you two go at it."

"I agree," San piped up. "I really don't care about the drama you guys are having right now but I'm kind of on a mission to save my friends and if you two are just going to argue the entire time I'll figure this out on my own."

With the semi scolding that both San and Mingi had given them, the two went silent. They sulked back into their seats with glaring eyes at each other before turning their heads forward and staying silent for the entire car ride to Mingi's house. They kept their emotions bottled up inside them until they arrived at their destination, and San could only imagine the type of explosion that would happen afterward.

Whatever was happening between the two of them, San just hoped that once he called Yeosang to his aid he'd be able to fix their problems just as he does for Mari. He had to be able to fix their problems because he was going to be the one to create a plan to save Mari from the hands of the Kim Faction Godfather and Underboss.