Still lying on the ground, Jin heard several clicks and understood that his two friends had just turned their weapons and their lamps on their enemies. It was probably the worst thing to do if they wanted to survive but it was a normal reflex.

    For a moment, the two sides seemed to stare at each other without making any movement. But if Jin, at his height, could clearly see the feet of their assailants in the darkness, Eunkwang, Shownu and the North Korean soldiers meanwhile, were blinded by their flashlights and could barely distinguish the silhouette of each other.

    "Drop your weapons, now!"  a menacing voice suddenly yelled in an accent that was unfamiliar to the idols and sounded like the eldest and captain of their group.

    "We'll lower our weapons when you lower yours," Eunkwang warned them.

    In his BtoB group, he was the leader, as Shownu was for Monsta X. But in their current small group, he was the oldest, so even if it was a leap into the unknown, it was up to him to lead the discussion with the North Koreans, if it still could remain a simple discussion and not an armed confrontation.

    "There are five of us and two of you," another soldier remarked in front of them.

    "Three," Jin interjected, raising a hand but not straightening up. Even though his chest still hurt, he wanted to stand up to his friends but he gave a pitiful spectacle by being unable to get up.

    The five North Koreans burst out laughing at this spectacle and Eunkwang would have buried his face in his hands in shame if he could.

   "So here is the great army that must defend South Korea against us," the North Korean captain quipped. "It is pathetic."

    "Two women and a kid," scoffed the one who seemed to be the youngest of the North Korean group. 

    He must have been the same age as Jungkook Jin realized with amazement because it was not an age to join military service according to him. However, the disrespectful words of the boy in front of him stung his pride.

    "Who are you calling a kid, you brat?!" he snarled, ignoring the insult made to his two comrades at the same time which earned him a kick from Shownu who kept his eyes and weapon pointed at his enemies.

    "You, moron. Hey, Miung!" the young North Korean soldier said to another soldier who seemed barely older than him, "don't you think he looks like a total moron? Look, he's patrolling barefoot!"

    He pointed to Jin's bare feet and chuckled. Jin blushed when he remembered this detail.

    "You are the moron, learn to talk to your elders, brat," he replied sulking, lacking in argument.

    The youth of the other had made him completely forget that he was, despite everything, addressing his mortal enemy, a North Korean soldier who, moreover, probably did not have the same social codes as him.

    "But what are you talking about Jin?! It is not the moment!!" Eunkwang exclaimed without looking at the other, still lied on the ground, keeping his attention on the other side of the fence.

    Even though he was getting to know Jin and his personality well now, he wondered how he could so forget about the danger they all were in front of and argue like that with this North Korean soldier as if nothing had happened. This was beyond his understanding. But Jin's carelessness made him even more aware of how much he had to stay on guard to keep him alive.

    "Shik, it's not nice to disrespect them at your age," the said Miung remarked in a falsely accusatory tone as he addressed the younger, an evil smirk tugging at his mouth. 

    His voice was nevertheless icy, and Jin had the intimate conviction that despite his youth, the one who had just spoken was dangerous. 

"But it is true that they may not deserve your respect. After all, if they had a modicum of honor, they would have stayed behind with disabled people instead of daring to come before us and humiliate their country with their weakness. Maybe I should cripple him so he can go back to the back?"

    He turned his gun towards Jin and closed one eye to aim better, fixing him with an icy gaze.

    "What do you say ? Should I crush one of your legs? Or maybe both?"

    Flat on the ground and completely vulnerable, Jin paled  and instinctively curled up to try to protect his legs, expecting to feel a bullet pierce him at any moment. Unable to contain himself any further, Shownu furiously turned his rifle in the direction of Miung who also wasted no time before aiming his own gun at the South Korean singer.

     "Shoot him and I'll kill you!"

    "Pfff! If he needs you to protect him, then Miung is right," Shik taunted, annoying Shownu who, however, continued to stare into Miung's icy gaze. "Look how terrified your buddy is! Miung wants to do him a favor!"

    He in turn turned his weapon towards Jin. 

    "But if Miung is busy, I'm willing to take care of it."

    "Stop it or I'll kill him!" Shownu warned, keeping his gun trained on Miung. 

    "I don't care," Shik chuckled, catching Shownu off guard. 

    "What?!" 

    "You South Koreans are really close to losing the war just to protect your friends. You are too sentimental, incapable of the slightest sacrifice, and that makes you weak, that's why you won't win."

    Shownu briefly turned to the North Korean soldiers to see if they would put this pretentious young man in his place but they did not flinch. Worse, they seemed to be having fun with the situation, watched them with amused eyes, as if they didn't take Shownu seriously with his rifle and didn't pretend to intervene. 

    Eunkwang seemed overwhelmed by what was happening. He had the feeling that they had already been guilty of a declaration of war and that the only thing they should now strive to do was to stay alive at all costs, even if it meant humbling themselves before the north men:

    "Shownu, don't do that!" he warned. "Do not give in to provocation, we must not attack them."

     But Shownu didn't change his position and continued to stare at Miung with obvious hostility while Shik threatened Jin with his gun. 

    Jin saw that Shownu's arm was shaking slightly. He didn't know if Shownu was going to pull the trigger despite his anger. Shooting the shadow that had tried to kill his friend earlier had been spontaneous. But shooting a person while looking them straight in the eye was another: Shownu probably wasn't ready to do that for he had too good a heart to actually want to kill a man in cold blood.

    However, Jin was confident that Miung on his side wouldn't hesitate. The coldness of his voice and his forward gaze says enough about him. He would have no qualms about killing someone, eye to eye. 

    Jin was scared. He was more afraid of losing his friend than of getting shot. Eunkwang was targeted by the other soldiers and Shik turned away from him to observe Shownu curiously. Jin then realized he was the only one everyone ignored, probably taking him for a harmless wimp...

    It all happened in a split second. 

    Jin, still lying on his rifle, discreetly let his right hand run on the ground and close on a handful of mud. Straightening up slightly, he sent his projectile briskly through the fence, aiming for Miung's face as much as possible.

    Despite his tricky position, Jin blesses his shooting abilities, better than Shownu's. His projectile hit Miung in the eyes and blinded him momentarily, putting him in a position of vulnerability he was not used to. Taking a few steps back and trying to clear his face with one hand, he fired with his other hand, without being able to aim however.

    The shot startled everyone, even his allies, and Jin, no longer hesitating and not waiting to know if anyone had been hit, jumped to his knees, grabbed his rifle, loaded it briskly and fired immediately in a new deafening detonation on the right foot of Miung who screamed in pain.

    "AAAAAAAAaaaaaa!! I'll kill you, you piece of shit!! AAAaaaaaah!!"

    "SHIK, NO!" the North Korean captain yelled as he saw the youngest of his group move beside him.

    Shik wasted no time in reacting in the face of the attack suffered by Miung and was now aiming at Jin who hadn't reloaded his weapon yet and saw in horror the light pointing at him and felt the loaded gun furiously leveled at his face. 

     He had just the time to wonder if this was his real end before he felt Shownu throw himself on him and heard the gunshot.

    "SHOWNU! JIN!" Eunkwang yelled.