At exactly 19:00, when Kai was halfway into doing the macarena dance for the 14th time (he thought standing still would be a lot more interesting if he could hear what Taehyun and his Lab partner were talking about and hopeful provide him insight on what his client does for a living and why in the world he's so passionate about it. To his demise, the rooms were perfectly and annoyingly soundproof.) He hears an alarm go off, bouncing off of each blinding white wall. He looks around, alert.

Foreign entry? That can mean one of two things, someone had managed to infiltrate the building, the system had recognized a moving object outside and mistook it as a human threat. If he didn't care so much about Kang Taehyun, he might've hoped for the first option in order to have some action in this boring place, Kai hopes for the latter with Taehyun's security in mind.

He doesn't hope for much longer.

"Kai-Shii, can you hear me?" The higher rank speaks through the earpiece, his tone is masked with fake calmness. "Someone entered the building using a fake ID and working badge, it got pinged too late."

The first option is.

Kai holds the tiny mic close to his mouth. "How late?"

They're currently on the fifth floor, an elevator ride in approximately 30 seconds or less, but the infiltrator most likely took the stairs to avoid being seen by one of the real workers. Since the staff is limited, everyone knows everyone which means riding the elevator would get him caught pretty fast.

5 flights of stairs take 2 minutes to climb if the person is in top shape, which let's say he is to give us a margin for error.

"20 seconds into his entrance." the higher rank responds.

Kai has only over a minute to secure the people inside. That is if the person knows for a fact that the 2 most important people are on the fifth floor. If he has that much inside intel, Kai is in quite a bit of trouble.

The door opens, from within Kang Taehyun's lab partner emerges in a frantic manner, dashing out of the room a while after the evacuation notice. He watches him run to the front desk where he's handled by the lab staff that guide him with care into the elevators.

"Kai-Shii. Take Kang Taehyun and get out of the building now. The intruder has a weapon." His heart drops. He gets the order from his superior and moves on automat. Entering the room without searching for permission. He sees Taehyun bent over the table, continuing his work as if there isn't an alert going off. The only indication that he's aware he shouldn't be inside the building anymore is his labored, panicked breath Kai had sadly grown accustomed to.

"Mr. Kang. We leave to leave." Kai approaches him, but Taehyun backs away, his notes still in his hand as he proceeds to write without looking at the pages.

"No."

"No?" Kai swallows. Dumbfounded. "Mr. Kang, there is an armed man on his way to us, we need to go, now." he pursed his lips. It's taking everything in his not to yank Taehyun close to him and run away from this room as fast as he possibly can.

He looks back, the hall is still to his good luck, empty. But he knows it won't be long before it's not. He looks back at Taehyun, his eyes are begging.

"Mr. Kang." he says with desperation, hoping Taehyun realizes this isn't just some joke. "Please." he prefaces. "Come with me." he holds out his hand.

"Kai!" someone yells in his ear. He recognizes Yeonjun's voice. "What the hell is happening, you should be here already! Where is Kang Taehyun?!"

The yells only add to his already fast beating heart and fuzzy mind. He exhales a shaky breath and takes a step forward. Taehyun takes one step back and instantly he's back to where they started.

How they started. With endless push and pull until Taehyun felt comfortable enough with him to stop resisting.

"Mr. Kang." he tries one more time. pronouncing each word carefully. The higher rank pressuring him through the earpiece to do his job right. Fast. "It's not safe here. We can't stay."

Kang Taehyun shakes his head, planting himself into his chair. His hands are shaking as he holds onto a small glass dropper with a rubber head. "I'm not fucking leaving until I am done." His words are sharp, filled with fear contrasted with fierceness. He's not backing down. "You may drag me out by my feet, I know you can. but I will never forgive you." He spits. "I'll hate you."

Kai wants to joke by telling him he already does. He said so many times.

But they both know it's not true by now.

"You stay in that building and you're fired, do you understand me?!" Yeonjun yells in his earpiece, panicked. "Kai! Kai, talk to me damn it!" He slams his palm on the table in the control room, frustration fills him when he's met with silence.

There's yelling outside, alarms blaring. Kai looks at Taehyun who grabs onto the chair in his work room with all his might. he shakes his head, determined. There's no persuading him, he can see it in his eyes.

Yeonjun screams in his ear, begging them to evacuate out of the property.

"I have to complete the research, Kai." There is a flicker of resolve in his eyes, as if believing Kai will take him out by force despite everything if he continues resisting. Still, he stands his ground, he has to. He's rigid on the chair, watching Kai's face, he can practically hear the wheels spinning in the younger's mind, calculating his options.

He thinks back at his phone call with Yeonjun. They talked about Leo, what he had done on his last night as Taehyun's bodyguard. Kai thought back then, he could never betray his clients like that.

When he's assigned. He no longer works for Yeonjun, not in his mind at least. He works for his clients, and the 3 months are not yet over. It's him and Taehyun, against everyone else.

Taehyun's word... is the final one.

He rips the earpiece off, crushing it with his boot once it lands on the floor. Kang Taehyun's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing?" he croaks, as if he's not the one forcing Kai to go against his own seniors.

"How much longer until it's done?" Kai returns with a question of his own.

Taehyun looks down at his desk, his face tells Kai he didn't expect him to follow through. Kai's a little disappointed by that. Taehyun starts mumbling, calculating silently. "10 minutes for the formula to cool down... 3 minutes... Umm-" he grabs his hair. "15 minutes. If I work fast."

Kai's mouth opens agape. "15 minutes?" he repeats, recalling the fact that they have less than 20 seconds in theory until they get found. "Okay... "he agrees, crazily. His eyes dart around the room. He grabs the desk next to Taehyun and pushes it to the door. "I'll be outside, lock the door than block it with the table and pile it with this chair." he points at an extra chair in the room.

Taehyun's lips quiver. "Are you not staying?"

"I'll be just outside." Kai wastes no time closing the door shut. "I'm right here, block the door with the table. Don't come out until you're done." He gulps, biting his lips anxiously as he takes his gun from his belt and holds it in his hand, waiting.

It's not too long before he hears footsteps approaching.

....................

"Bastard!" Yeonjun's boss throws the communications device across the van, his face red and a single vein popping on the side of his forehead. 2 of his team flinches at the sudden act. "He disconnected." he whispers. His eyes were moving slowly until they stopped on Yeonjun. "If he tanks this mission, it's on you."

Yeonjun curses the day he scouted Kai.

"Do you understand what's on the line here!" the higher rank screams. "Kang Taehyun is governmental Treasure." he emphasizes. "If something happens to him..." he trails off. They both know the end of the sentence anyways.

If kang Taehyun gets killed, Kai won't just be out of job anymore. For the company and any others with his tainted record. He will also be on trial for his poor performance and betraying his country. His disobeying orders can be interpreted as sabotaging Kang Taehyun, the government won't let that go easily.

If he gets out of the building alive and Taehyun doesn't, he'll spend the rest of his life in jail.

"Kai knows what he's doing." Yeonjun insists. Although considering the circumstances he's not all that sure about that anymore.

"You better fucking hope so." The higher rank sighs, pissed. "Fuck... "He mutters, slumping on his chair in despair. All they can do now is wait and see if Yeonjun is right.

Yeonjun closes his eyes. "Why aren't we sending back-up inside? Why wait for the bomb squad, we both know they won't make it here in time."

The higher rank looks at him with murderous eyes, seeming like he's about to snap again. "And risk the very likely possibility that the intruder entered with explosives to blow up the lab once and for all?" he shakes his head. "I'm not sending my men off to die. This is Kai's problem now, if he was stupid enough to stay inside than he deserves it."

Yeonjun fumes, biting his lip not to comment on the higher rank's words. "What happened to no man gets left behind?" He can't resist asking. Can't help the thought of Kai alone in that building without a clue of what is about to happen.

The higher rank huffs. "we're not in the military anymore, Yeonjun. It's any man to his own now." He leaves the van with his words hanging uncomfortably in the air.

.................

A few deep breathes is all that Kai needs to reset himself and prepare for what's to come. He turns off any thought in his head that is not exclusively; Keeping Kang Taehyun alive.

Once he does that, he easily slips into a mindset he has familiarized himself with in his short years on the force. Stay focused, stay alert. Don't act too fast, don't think too much.

The footsteps are running towards him. He buckles his gun into his belt and pulls out a pocketknife, his ears perking up towards the noise.

The running stops, only silent footsteps slowly approaching.

Kai's suddenly thrilled about the fact that the rooms are soundproof. He backs into the door, hiding himself as much as he can. His hand grips the knife in an attacking position.

Kai can see his reflection bouncing off the shiny white walls, he's at reach, too close for Kai's comfort.

He stands like a statue when he's faced to face with a man dressed in gray and brown, built not taller than him but much bigger in size and wide. He wears a black cap hat hiding his narrow black eyes, an earpiece similar to the one Kai had and, in his hand, he holds a revolver which seeing that Kai struggles understanding how he managed to slip inside with a gun like that.

He doesn't take his eyes off of the man, his stance with the gun unwavering.

The man looks unimpressed. "Step aside."

Kai stays in his spot as if his legs are super glued onto the floor.

"I don't wish to hurt you, but I do have unfinished business here." he says. Waiting for Kai to move. "Step aside or I'll use force." he warns once more time. Putting his gun aside and readying himself to attack.

Kai gives him a tight smile. As if on cue, Kai feels pumps of adrenaline coursing down his body, his muscles twitching, impatient. "The only way you're getting past that door in over my dead body." to Kai's surprise it doesn't seem like the man wants or if even thinking about using his gun as an option.

That also means Kai isn't allowed to use his and the man knows it.

"I guess I have time to squish another bug before burning this place down." the man says indifferently. As is he's bored, as if this is a game to him.

His attitude only fuels Kai's determination.

It's not even a second later that Kai finds himself tackled to the floor and confided in a head lock. He elbows the man in the stomach and wriggles out of his caging legs long enough to stand back up again and swing his fist into the man's face, he blocks it by grabbing Kai's fist in his palm and pushing him back, Kai slides back against the floor, going under the man's legs he swings his body in a kip up flip and kicks the man's back using his two feet.

He flies back from the impact, landing on his side. The man too, falls forward before he catches himself and turns around, something in his eyes shifts when he realizes Kai has more fight in him than he thought he did.

Kai takes a leap at the wall to levitate himself and when he does, he latches onto the man's head and spins them around, covering the man's eyes with his arm tightly wrapped around him. He yanks the man's cap and clutches onto his hair while positioning his knee in the middle of the man's nape, practically sitting on his back.

The man yelp and pries Kai's legs off his waist, bringing them both to the ground again. He finds an opening to kick Kai in the ribs and Kai finds himself back to the wall as he takes several blows to his abdomen.

He rolls aside and gets a hold of the man's leg like a baby latching onto its mama. He takes his knife out and with one fast swing it's lodge into the man's calf. He screams in pain and fury. Blood starts seeping through the stab wound Kai's inflicted on him.

He grins.

The man kicks Kai's face as he's still laying on the ground and takes the knife out, groaning. "Fucker!" He throws the knife far into the lobby, looking at Kai with angry eyes.

Kai cackles, hopping off the floor while wiping the red waterfall from his nose. He avoids a kick from the man and keeps an eye on the door while he does so. Out of nowhere the man grabs Kai by the sides, lifts him off the ground and slams him into the floor, his fist making direct contact with Kai's stomach.

His body folds as he coughs from the sheer force of the hit. He's about to be hit again only he manages to block it and send to man crumbling down with the kick to the back of his knees. He's a bug that won't die anytime soon, and the man seems to understand it just now.

Kai sees the man finally reach for his gun, he reacts even faster and takes out his, aiming it forward. He fires 2 shots, hitting the man in his thigh and his shoulder. He drops down, not before firing a bullet of his own that gratefully only grazes Kai's arm but the cut is deep and blood starts dripping down his hand.

"Fuck... "Kai reminds himself a little too late that he was not permitted to fire. But relived when he sees the man in still alive, just unconscious from the blood loss. Kai drops down as well, ripping his own tie off to wrap around the man's bleeding leg. He's unconscious but still breathing. He applies pressure on the bullet wound, the adrenaline slowly wears off as the minutes pass and he focuses on not letting the man die.

Kai stands up, his legs are shaking like Jello as he walks towards the door at the 15-minute mark, he drips blood onto the floor. Red footprints covering the entire hall. He tries calling Taehyun, but he won't be able to hear him. He pushes the door, banging on it.

"Mr. Kang! We need to go!" he spares a glance to the man lying on the ground. Kai's own injuries weaken him, and he holds his side and breathes deep through the pain. His arm throbbing. "Mr. Kang!" he yells. He needs to get both him and the man medical attention, but he cannot take another step without Taehyun.

He can't leave until his client does.

"Hey! Kang Taehyun!" he pounds on the door, his head slowly falling down on the frame. He breathes out in frustration, funnily he feels a Deja vu of the first time he met Taehyun and the weeks after that just sitting outside of a door just like he is now, asking Taehyun to open it.

The man squirms on the floor, fluttering his eyes open at the noise. "Shut up man... "He croaks out.

"Fuck off, dude." Kai claps back. "Next time don't break into a property that's not yours." his shirt soaks in blood, turning sticky and wet.

Kai gives up on the door and turns around, leaning on it and slowly falling down until his bottom meets the ground. He takes note of the man's slow breaths. "Keep yourself alive or my boss will kill me."

"That makes me want to die faster."

Kai huffs in disbelief.

The man rolls on his side, giving Kai a tired look. "You should really leave this building... "he whispers. "You don't have much longer." He manages to smile, the corners of his lips shaking.

Kai blinks. "What does that mean?"

The man laughs shortly, his broken laughter turns quickly into a cough, and he groans. Kai watches him, a bad feeling blooms in his chest. Much longer for what? What is the man blabbering about? Perhaps he seeks to mess with Kai's head while he still can. "Hey!" Kai strides towards him. Crouching down. "What do you mean by that?"

"This whole building's going to hell, is what I mean by that." the man swallows, blood begins dripping from the side of his mouth. "The research will be terminated either way, we won."

Kai recoils back, realization hits him and paints his entire face from his wide, adrenaline filled eyes and tightly shut lips. He gets up so fast he has a head rush. "How long until...-"

But the man's eyes already close and his breathing slows down. He's useless to Kai now and the bodyguard knows it. He turns around in frenzy, swinging his leg to kick the workroom door. "Mr. Kang!!" he screams on top of his lungs, trying to break through the room, rattling the knob and punching it. His efforts make the door shake but not much else happens.

His breathing turns erratic as he feels the seconds pass by like a loud clock in his head, ticking away. It is long over the promised 15 minutes and the possibility that Taehyun passed out from panic becomes real and Kai can't cross that off.

He does the only thing he can think of. Firing at the knob. He takes out his gun and hopes to God the bullets won't ricochet off the metal doorknob and get him instead. But as his finger is ready to pull the trigger, the door unlocks. He walks back. Dropping his gun.

Kang Taehyun walks out with a tube in his hand; he looks down as he takes the scene in. Kai doesn't give him time to process what he sees. He takes Taehyun's hand in his, and they start running.

Taehyun doesn't ask, he doesn't talk. He lets Kai drag him down the stairs until he eventually deems him too slow and lifts him on his back, sprinting through the halls.

Holding tight, Taehyun buries his head in Kai's nape, his heart like a boombox in his chest. He holds the tube close to his body, replaying what he saw in his mind.

A body lying on the floor, blood smeared on the floor and Kai's fearful eyes.

He bounces up and down with each step Kai takes, crisscrossing his legs that wrap and lock together around Kai's waist. He hears the bodyguard harsh and fast breaths; his hands grab Taehyun's thighs and secure him in place. Taehyun's mind clouds, unsure of the urgency, he only raises his head when he feels a brush of air that can only mean they're out of the building now.

And that is when he's separated from Kai, flung in the air by a strong wave of heat that burns his bare skin. He yelps, his body hitting the ground and rolling meters from the lab's entrance. The rest is black.