Chapter 32
The walk back from unit 14 to the casino was strange to say the least.
The four lethal members walked away from several burning cars, the smell of burning flesh and rubber starting to prick their noses as they left. The rain was heavy and soaked them all through in seconds. Min Seol had accepted her hair's fate.
Taeyang's arm kept bleeding, but he managed to rip off one of his shirt sleeves to use it as a makeshift bandage to try and stunt the heavy blood flow. He was use to pain and at this point it didn't bother him too much anymore. He just felt annoyed when passerby's stared at his injury, resulting in him sending them death glares until they hurried away.
Inha was the only one of them that was told to go there, and left with nothing. No wound, no human pet. Her hand was clasped around her rosary beads and silent prayers relayed in her head. As much as she enjoyed the thrill of the kill, she couldn't forget what she believed in.
Kai Ling had a small puppy following close behind her. No one had questioned it yet as they each had their own things to attend to first, but she was quite pleased she had a little follower. The possibilities she could get him to do was endless, an evil smile never left her face until Taeyang spoke up.
"I think I underestimated your little sonic screwdriver Sunny." He admitted in a dull tone. It takes a lot for him to admit he was wrong, even to this small extent. Min Seol glanced back at him and smiled.
"I don't make these things for them not to be impressive." She said smugly, moving a strand of hair that was plastered to her face by the heavy rain behind her ear.
"Yeah, what happened? I missed it. One second there's Taeyang yelling then a moment later I was nearly blinded and everything's burning." Kai Ling asked. She was busy giving Baekhyun orders and setting some ground rules at the time.
"She had a tiny little pen thing, then she pointed it at the group of guys and clicked it. What happens? Electricity. Everywhere. The guys are frazzled and then everything metal in front of us is on fucking fire!" Taeyang explained over dramatically. Inha's eyes flashed to Min Seol and grimaced.
"This wasn't suppose to be a loud mission. We discussed this before you joined us." She said in a stern and authoritative voice. "Next time if you see us, go where you were headed before. You should know this Sunny."
"I know Inej, I just-"
"-You just wanted to help, I know." Inha interrupted. "But this is more serious than you think now. None of us should run into these situations head on and without briefing. We're not immortal you have to remember. Our lives are easily taken by one unplanned move and we need everyone if we're gonna get through this." She lectured. Everyone's heads hung low as they knew they were in the wrong. Even Baekhyun felt scolded even though he didn't do anything.
"Zero got a slave. Are you gonna give her a bollocking too?" Taeyang complained, trying to move the unwanted bad attention off himself. Kai Ling sent him a deathly glare but before she could argue, Inha's words interrupted her.
"I know. She'll have to consult directly with Zeno about this." She stated. The name 'Zeno' sent chills down Baekyun's spine. That name was the reason for all wrongs and plans of action in his cold firm. He'd learnt to link it to bad feelings since everytime he was forced on a mission to destroy his units and such, it never ended well. He was also scared of Inha simply because he'd encountered her on a mission before and nearly had his head ripped off.
"Oh great..." Kai Ling sighed. She knew arguing wouldn't help since Inha was too loyal and actually respected the hierarchy of the firm.
The rest of the walk back was filled with silence as everyone's thoughts were elsewhere.
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They got back to the casino and walked through the front doors. Everyone was dripping and left a trail of puddles as they walked through to the back rooms. Dae-Hyun was on the floor and saw them, half rolling his eyes and half laughing when he noticed their appearances.
"Looks like you guys made the most of the weather." He chuckled before stopping when he saw Baekhyun. "Who's this? Should I get Hanzo?" He asked, his eyes only glancing away from Baekhyun briefly. Baekhyun visibly tenses as he heard the name 'Hanzo'. Another name he linked to bad feelings, only this time he knew unbearable pain came along with meeting this member.
"He's with me. No need for that." Kai Ling said. "We're on our way to see Zeno anyway..." She muttered as she made eye contact with a glaring Inha.
"You know it's bad when you gotta use code names around 'em. Even worse when he obviously knows who they are based of said code names." Dae-Hyun explained, pointing to Baekhyun and didn't sound convinced. "The fact he shat himself at the mention of him seeing Hanzo says it all, but ah... It's not my issue." He ranted before leading them all to the backrooms.
"No one asked for your opinion to be honest, Jäger." Kai Ling added as she walked past him holding the door open for her. He just chuckled and shook his head.
"He's upstairs my love." Dae-Hyun told her in a fake sweet voice, paired with an equally as sickeningly false smile. Kai Ling rolled her eyes as she walked past him and grabbed Baekhyun's wrist, dragging him along with her.
Inha followed behind to make sure she did actually go to see Zeno and not escape out of it. Kai Ling entered the upstairs room and saw Ryota looking at some papers, his head in his hands and his face looked stressed. He looked up and the two stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Ryota caved in, Kai Ling to worried to speak first.
"Can I help you..?" He asked in an unsure tone. His eyes now shifting from Kai Ling to Baekhyun who was standing behind her. "Who's that?"
"Zeno... This is Baekhyun." Kai Ling stated. Ryota looked at Baekhyun intensely, making the other let out a shaky breath. He'd never seen him in the flesh before and to say he was shitting himself would be an understatement.
"Why are you here?" Ryota asked.
"I thought-" Kai Ling started to answer but the boss held up a finger to signal for her to stop talking.
"I think Baekhyun here is fully capable of speaking for himself." He said, glaring at him. Baekhyun swallowed, his saliva not soothing his dry throat like he hoped it would. "Aren't you?" He asked tilting his head.
"Yes sir." He answered quietly, but he was relieved his voice was stable and not shaking like he thought it would be. "I was working for The Nobodies, and was sent to take over one of your units. I decided I had two plans to chose from. To either escape The Nobodies by myself, or to join Malevolent instead. I decided that joining Malevolent would probably be the better option since The Nobodies will always find members who left without permission." He explained, his eyes trying to look anywhere but the ones burning into him.
"Why didn't you ask for permission?"
"Zeno-" Kai Ling went to interrupt again but Ryota looked at her and she stopped her sentence before it even truly started.
"Would you please leave me and Baekhyun alone to talk?" He asked but they all knew it wasn't a question. She opened her mouth to argue back but Inha grabbed her wrist and led her out the room, shutting the door behind her. His eyes focused on Baekhyun's again, raising his eyebrows to prompt the other to answer his previous question.
"W-well, no one can actually leave." He admitted. "When people go to ask for permission, we usually have to dispose of a body the next day." He explained, eyes drifting off as he could see the last body bag he had to take away in his memory.
"So we were your last option." Ryota stated, his expression cold and void of emotion.
"N-no! I... I've wanted to join Malevolent for a while now. I don't agree with what Kyungil is doing. No one benefits from his orders apart from himself." He quickly said, trying to make sure Ryota didn't think he decided to be here because he has to be rather than wants to be.
Ryota hummed and scanned Baekhyun from head to toe.
"Do you have the mark?" He asked bluntly, clenching his jaw. He saw Baekhyun instinctively rub his wrist where the tattoo should be. Baekhyun shook his head then tilted it, frowning.
"Well, not exactly." He muttered. Ryota frowned and grabbed Baekhyun's wrist, making the other yelp quietly at the sudden action.
Ryota moved the sleeve to expose Baekhyun's wrist. Instead of finding a tattoo of The Nobodies' mark, he saw a collection of thick scars. The dark blue ink was almost invisible, in its place were a mix of old and new scars.
"Ah..." Ryota breathed, glancing up at Baekhyun before back down to his wrist. "You've been planning this for a while looking at these."
"Without the mark there's no way they can actually identify you as a member, unless any of the more important members remember you personally." He mumbled.
"I see." Ryota stated and dropped the others' wrist and walked back to his desk. "I have a way of removing the mark altogether." He started to say, leaning on his desk with both hands. "But it comes with a price."
Baekhyun swallowed again and shifted the weight from one leg to the other. He looked at Ryota's face for any signs to show he was lying or tricking him.
"What's the price?" He asked, voice low. He thought this would be too good to be true. This easy to join the opposing firm? The enemy side? He was surprised how quickly he was able to be accepted.
"You can become a member of Malevolent and work with Kai Ling since she's formed an attachment already it seems," he started to say, Baekhyun holding back a smile when he mentioned Kai Ling. "but you have to let us remove that mark of yours completely and you must tell us everything you know about Kyungil's plans." He offered. "Sound fair?"
"Yes sir. Very fair. Thank you." He said quickly, bowing 90° at the bright red haired man who he was surprised showed kindness to him.
"Good. Let's remove that mark of your shall we?" He asked rhetorically, before calling for Inha who he knew would be waiting outside the door. She entered and looked at Ryota, then at Baekhyun. "Inej, take Baekhyun down to see Hanzo and Scorpion." He ordered. The two names made Baekhyun freeze in utter terror. Those two members he'd learnt to link to multiple Nobody members' deaths, brutal mutilation, and torture. "Tell them to remove that nasty mark on his wrist."
Inha nodded and walked to the frozen boy, grabbing his upper arm and led him out the room.
"Tell them to not hurt him too much. We need him in good condition. He's one of us now." Ryota called after them as they went out of sight.
Inha silently led Baekhyun out the back entrance of the casino and to a small grimy looking outside building. She opened the door and pushed Baekhyun in. He stumbled and looked up to see the infamous pair in the flesh. His mouth hung open and his eyes wide with fear.
"This is Baekhyun. Get rid of the mark on his wrist. Don't kill him or hurt him too badly, we need him for future missions, Zeno's orders. He's one of us now." She ordered them before leaving the rotting building.
"Ah it's been a while since we've done anything like this." Minseo chuckled happily, walking over to Baekhyun and sat him down on the chair in the centre of the room.
Kyoji walked up to the sitting boy and grabbed his wrist and exposed it. He frowned as he realised what markings that were still there were of The Nobodies mark. He frowned and strapped the arm to the chair arm rest that was made of metal. Minseo grsbbed the other and strapped it to Baekhyun's side, and then strapped his torso to the back of the chair so he was unable to move at all.
Baekhyun gulped but let it happen. He had to do this to be accepted, and this couldn't be worse than what they would do to him if he were captured in a stupid and pointless mission. He took deep breaths closed his eyes.
"I can take that right off." Kyoji said, his voice in monotone which scared Baekhyun a little more than if it had substance to it. He watched as Kyoji walked off to a table, from where he was he couldn't see what was on it but he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
"Can I just try something I've been working on on him?" Minseo asked Kyoji, sounding amused as he imagined the potential outcomes.
"Don't touch him." Kyoji stated in an authoritative voice. Minseo pouted and whined, sending Kyoji a sad look.
"But-"
"Zeno said not to hurt him, so we won't hurt him more than necessary." He said walking over with a cleaver-like knife in his hand. Baekhyun's eyes quivered as the dull light glinted off the clean and shiny metal.
"Such a killjoy..." Minseo muttered, rolling his eyes. Kyoji stopped next to Baekhyun on the side of his marked arm.
"Laser removal is too expensive these days so this is the alternative it seems." He joked in a dull tone, resting the cold metal on the skin of Baekhyun's forearm. "Ready?" He asked, glancing at him.
"I guess..." Baekhyun managed to say quietly. His heart was racing and he closed his eyes, not being able to watch whatever it was Kyoji was about to do.
Kyoji looked back at the blade in his hand and moved it so it was resting above the scarred and marked wrist. He wedged the blade into Baekhyun's skin a little, making him whimper. He glanced at him before back at the knife.
"Okay I'm gonna do it now." He warned and when Baekhyun nodded he took that as his cue.
He placed his free hand on the blunt side of the razor sharp knife which was now angled so it would cut horizontally. He pulled his free hand back and hit the blunt side with a strong force. Baekhyun cried out as the knife sliced away at the skin on his wrist. Blood splattered in the direction it cut and managed to paint a little of the wall crimson.
Kyoji quickly walked to the table and placed the blood covered knife down and grabbed his phone and a rag. He threw the rag to Minseo who caught it and walked over to a whaling Baekhyun, wrapping the skinless wrist tightly. Kyoji phoned Mina waited for her to pick up. "Stop the bleeding quickly. If he bleeds out it's our fault."
"Our fault?! I didn't do anything!" Minseo complained as he pressed the rag down on Baekhyun's wrist with a lot of pressure.
"Zeno doesn't know that." He added before the dial tone stopped.
"Hello?" Mina answered.
"We need you to in the new shitty office to patch someone up." He said glancing at Baekhyun who he could tell was trying to suppress the extreme pain he was feeling.
"Oh god-" She exclaimed, the sound of things being knocked over could be heard over the receiver. "What happened?"
"Layer of skin gone." He stated. "Be quick, don't want him to bleed out." He added and then hung up. "We'll have someone fix you up. Hang in there."
"T-thanks I guess?" Baekhyun stammered out followed by a strained laugh.
"Has a layer of skin brutally sliced off and he still has a lil' bit of sass." Minseo said smiling at the whimpering boy. "I think we're gonna get along just fine Baek~." He cooed.
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Taeyang sighed as he sat down in his seat, arm patched up from Mina who came to the casino. His arm had been clipped by the bullet so there was no need for her to go digging around for pieces of the metal in there.
Turning on his monitors and computer he checked everything was alright in the units and checked up on The Nobodies' movements.
"Why is there always something wrong with you?" Dae-Hyun asks in his now permanently croaky voice as he sat down at his own desk. Taeyang grumbled at his comment, not moving his eyes from the multiple screens in front of him.
"Wha..?" He breathed out, a deep frown carving itself into his brow. His eyes narrowed as he zoomed in on the aerial view of the casino.
He saw a Nobody car parked a few blocks down from the casino, its blue tinting giving it away. He zoomed in even more but couldn't see anyone inside through the open sun roof of the vehicle.
He moved his view so he was moving back towards the casino and paused as he saw two men dressed in all black, one carrying a suspicious suitcase in his hand. Taeyang leaned closer to the screen to get an even better look and his heart stopped as the other man quickly pulled out a small type of remote before hastily shoving it back in his pocket.
Taeyang stood up from his seat so quickly that it fell over, causing Dae-Hyun to look up in shock.
"What-"
"Quickly!" Taeyang yelled urgently as he grabbed his pistol and ran towards the door.
"Why?" Dae-Hyun asked as he stood up from his own desk and quickly shoved his own gun in its holster that rested against his ribs. Taeyang glanced at him quickly before running and lead the way out.
"Bomb."
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A/N
Oh hey... remember me? Lmao
I'm so sorry it's been like, years it feels like since I updated, but I promise I will update more after this week as I will be done with exams and have an extra month off school!
I have an exam tomorrow I've not revised for at all so prayers would be nice although I'm sure I'll need a miracle at least-
But after that and the one next Monday, I shall have unlimited time for updating!
It was sad writing about Kyungil knowing History have now disbanded. But gotta push through for the plot-
Next chapter will have action in it (obviously) and there will be some cheeky li interactions~ so stay tuned for some romance I can't write for the life of me.
Sorry for any spelling mistakes~!
Thanks again for reading/voting/commenting!
It means the world~! Ily guys<33
- ducky
xx
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