5 Years Later..

"I don't remember this being in the job description when I agreed to become a part of your team shithead!" Sehun's voice whispered through the communication line, his words dripping with venom and his tone filled with frustration. Had Sehun not been positioned so close to their target, the Captain was certain his in-ear device would have caused him serious hearing difficulties, which is why he decided it best not to add fuel to the man's fire. Sehun was a good friend but an even worse enemy.

"Can you even get a visual on the target?" Jongin's mellow-toned voice slipped in over the radio, his question obviously aimed at their team's captain.

"I'm going to need him to step to the left a little more." Chanyeol admitted into his microphone, if he heard Sehun sighing the next moment he didn't say anything about it.

Through his sniper scope, he watched as their target was gently nudged to the side. Sehun's blonde hair entered the frame for a moment as he bowed, his fake apology crossing through their comms. The target merely waved off the gesture, a smile evident on his lips as he went back to gathering his coffee, completely unaware of the red dot dancing across his cheek.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jongin hissed, distress rattling his voice. "What if someone sees you!"

The team captain decided to ignore the question, eyes focused on the man currently chatting with his friend behind the counter. Neither of them seemed to have noticed the red dot hovering over the man's cheek in various calculated movements, unaware that a simple press of the trigger would create chaos.

"Is he seriously drawing a love heart on his cheek right now?" Sehun scoffed, his voice difficult to hear over the traffic. "Does he want to draw attention to us?"

"He's obviously not in the best frame of mind," Jongin sighed through the communication link. "he's been obsessed with Baekhyun for months."

At the slight indication of Baekhyun finding out about their unpredictable mission, Chanyeol switched off the beam, the red dot having disappeared against the apple of Baekhyun's cheek. The Captain remained in his spot, overlooking the coffee shop from the adjacent building's roof, his trained vision focused solely on the college goer.

"He's not talking to us because he's still watching him, isn't he?" Sehun huffed, the squeaking of his shoes echoing through the device.

"..I refuse to comment.." Jongin announced his defeat, drawing an eye roll from Chanyeol.

"If you three are finished with your coffee run the boss is asking for you." Suho's sudden presence in their in-ear had the three males freezing in their positions.

Chanyeol, who happened to glance down at the time, noticed Sehun freezing in the middle of the crosswalk, the green light blinking down into red. Thankfully the soldier's instincts started to kick in, his legs slipping out from beneath him to take him to safety despite the petrified expression on his face.

"We're coming." Chanyeol sighed, flicking the gun's stand back into its resting position. With a few more adjustments the gun was dismembered and placed into the gym bag that naturally became its home, the strap finding its way over his shoulder the next moment. "I'm moving out, Jongin have the car outside the building for when I get down-"

"Eh no, he's coming to get me first!" Sehun shrieked through the ear-piece, no doubt ignoring the judgmental glances being thrown his way. "I'm the one with the coffees, therefore I should be the one getting picked up first!"

"Can I offer my opinion?" Jongin's tiny voice practically whispered through the comms, going unnoticed by the bickering duo already occupying the line.

"If you're so worried about bumping into him, why did you set up your position in the building right next door to his favourite lunch-time café?! That's such a rookie move!"

"Because his beauty needed to be appreciated up close, Sehun!" Chanyeol scolded through the microphone, shoving his body into the doors within the building. The back of his knees ached as he pushed them to walk down the flights of stairs, having zero patience to wait a few seconds for the elevator. He inwardly groaned as the numbers along the wall eventually began to decrease, his speed picking up as he got closer and closer to the bottom.

Stepping out into the busy street of Seoul, Chanyeol found himself in a memory he would much rather forget. A time long since passed, though still present in the wounds it inflicted into his mind. The sounds of explosions that now resembled the city, the smell of gunpowder that now resembled the pollution in the air around him, the sight of people running from the site to safety when in reality they were about to miss their bus. The battles he faced were forever ingrained into his brain, and yet the sight of a beautiful smile across the street had everything dull into the background. A boy no older than twenty-three stood on the sidewalk with his friend, the two of them sipping their coffee with their book bags over their shoulders, now energized to start their next class.

His vision was obscured by the sudden presence of a navy coloured vehicle large enough to block the entire view he had on Baekhyun, had this been a protective mission Chanyeol would have reached for his handgun though thankfully the vehicle in front of him was familiar. The window slid out of its frame giving him the perfect view of his current headache, Oh Sehun sat in the passenger seat of Jongin's van sporting his famous mischievous grin.

"Ya snooze ya loose boss, surely that was the first thing you had to learn to become a Captain."

"Not quite." Chanyeol explained, reaching into his ear to pull out the small bug-like structure. The device's white light blinked in the palm of his hand, displaying what he already knew -that it was working. He gently placed the comm into the gym-bag's pocket, his other arm reaching to open the vehicle's back door. Once he and his bag had made it inside the door having been closed behind him, Jongin pulled out into the main road, their lonesome van joining the city's lunchtime traffic. "The first thing a Captain-in-training learns is how to control his temper so that he doesn't kill his comrades-"

"Aww that's so nice-"

"Instead we learn strategies that can put them in harm's way which makes it look like an accident." Chanyeol finished his explanation with a deadpan tone, his head having been tilted towards the window. When Sehun and Jongin both turned to look at him in surprise, he merely offered them both a small smile before turning back to the view outside his window. Though understandably nothing could compare to the beauty that had been in his field of vision through the narrow scope of his sniper rifle.

"Anyway..." Jongin speaks from the driver's seat, his thumb thumping against the rim of the steering wheel in an irregular rhythm. "What do you think the chief wants from us?"

"Could be a number of things," Sehun admits, deflating against his seat. His hand reaches out to press a dial on the radio, only for Jongin's hand to come out and slap against the skin preventing him from touching the device much to the latter's distaste. "maybe he's going to give us a holiday!"

Chanyeol's lips pursing of their own accord, his eyes quickly glancing to the back of his friend's head before they returned to the atmosphere outside the window. Time seemed to pass quite quickly after that, their journey short as they hadn't travelled far from their base camp. When they arrived at the base they were immediately greeted by Suho and Minseok, the pair just as curious of the summoning as the three of them. Minseok instantly took the coffee Sehun held out for him while Suho rushed to Chanyeol's side, the Captain in the process of taking out the gym-bag.

"So much for ten minutes!" The man huffed, eyes narrowed in a glare. Chanyeol's lips curled upwards, his arm reaching to curl over his tech genius. As a unit they entered the building together, being led by Jongin who happily sipped on his americano the entire way to the conference room. On their way they passed by various other officers and soldiers, many of which paying their respects to their superiors - a position Sehun in particular seemed to enjoy.

"Good you're all here." The chief proclaimed as they filed into the room, one after the other. They weren't on duty but they still marched into position, their hands coming to rest against their eyebrow waiting for permission to lay ease. A quick nod from the Chief allowed Chanyeol the permission to give his men their orders, instantly they relaxed and the atmosphere was no longer cloudy with honorifics.

"What can we do for you sir?" Chanyeol wondered, his casual direct nature shining through his rough exterior. He could feel the burn of his team's eyes on him, each of them watching as he conversed with the Chief who regarded him with a pained grin.

"I'm sorry to say that the holiday I promised you will have to be postponed for a couple months." A sigh from the Chief's lips, his eyes finding the dark green carpet beneath their feet. "Unfortunately I have another mission that I need you guys to focus on, please make this your top priority."

"Consider that done." Chanyeol announced with a nod, his brows furrowing in the centre of his forehead. "Permission to ask for details regarding our new case?"

The Chief's tongue swept along his lower lip, his fingers shaking as he gestured to a magnolia coloured file on the left hand side of his desk. With permission granted from his Captain, Jongin approached the file taking it upon himself to read through the contents while the Chief ultimately gave a run-through of the case's important aspects.

"Sadly, I'm incapable of giving you exact details." the chief explained, though his furrowed brows made Chanyeol hold off his questioning. "We do not know what it is that you guys will be up against, we can only provide you with the evidence we have found and collected through the various district police stations dotted throughout the country. This mission is top priority right now because it appears to involve the entirety of the Republic. South Korean citizens are being targeted though we're not entirely sure why or how."

"No offence Chief but this sounds like any other military case, why is our team in particular taking point on this?" Sehun wondered, never having been afraid to voice his concerns.

The Chief regarded him with a smile. "Those who have had the case before have been unable to determine any link between the victims, none of them are said to have known each other, there were no common transport links, no previous encounters from schools, universities or job occupations, none of them have ordered from the same website or company within the past few months before their death, no common deliver drivers, festivals, events or family members. Ultimately there is no trial, and to top everything off we have compiled all of the local coroner's offices reports only to find out that the time of death for each victim was within the same-time frame. Now I'm certainly not an expert like you bunch but the only logical explanation here would be something in regards to the supernatural."

"What can you tell me about the victims?" Chanyeol asked, watching out the side of his eye as the file was passed on to Minseok.

"There are twenty-seven that we are aware of." the chief sighed, collapsing into his seat, head falling into his hands. "Fourteen males, thirteen females. They've been scattered across the country so we're not entirely sure of where they were found due to the mountains of reports listed, I currently have someone working through them to help provide you with a reduced list. All of the coroners were incapable of finding a reason for their deaths, many of them putting it down to an unascertainable death though to please the public we have decided to announce they died due to complications with the heart. Oh and the most important piece of information!" The chief gasped, eyes lit with remembrance. "A spiral design was carved into the back of their hands, it was the only way we were able to determine that they were all related."