√ 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 // 𝐻𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑦𝑢𝑛𝑗𝑖𝑛

fifty.

A hand on her shoulder woke her.

The shock of being thrust out of a deep sleep caused her to jolt, a hand flying up out of habit to defend herself. But her wrist was caught by a larger grip, and a dim light flicked on above her face.

"What -"

"You need to get up," Chan's voice ordered softly. "Now."

Blinking the blurriness was from her eyes, Nari sat up, arm gravitating towards the empty bed beside her. "Where's Hyunjin?"

But Chan didn't answer, instead gripping Nari's arms gently and pulling her off the bed. "He's with the others. Everything's fine, but I need you to come with me."

     Yeah, everything was definitely not fine. Chan's face had a ghastly cast to it, like he'd just witnessed something horrible. His hands shook as he brushed the wrinkles from her clothes, but he said nothing. Nari would just have to wait and see.

     After she was ready, Chan led her out of the bedroom and through the maze of hallways. A large, heavy door was where he stopped, and a feeling of dread brewed in her chest suddenly, and Nari didn't want to go past the door.

     "Chan... "

     He just smiled softly, his eyes not reflecting any sort of happiness at all. "It's okay."

     The handle twisted in his grip and swung open, revealing a conference room like the one they all first sat in together. All of SKZ was seated, looking worried and concerned, but confused.

     They had no idea what was going on either.

     Chan gestured for Nari to sit before he did so himself, at the head of the table. Jisung gave Nari a small grin as she sat, bumping their shoulders slightly to lighten the mood.

     Clearing his throat, Chan opened his mouth. And closed it. His hand went to his pocket, slowly withdrawing his phone and unlocking it.

     "The reason I've called this meeting is... complicated."

     Nari shifted in her seat, wanting Chan to hurry up and ease her curiosity.

     "It's about Woojin."

     The name instantly cast a dark cloud over the group, eyes narrowing and heads shaking. Chan nodded, rubbing his eyes roughly before looking up again.

     "I know. I know. But... there's a situation," he continued hesitantly. "I got a message from him last night through our private line. I- I think he's in trouble."

     Minho had heard enough. "Chan, this is the man who betrayed us that we're talking about. Why should we care what kind of danger he's in, he's the one who allowed that to happen to our most vulnerable members," he gritted out, stabbing a finger at Nari and a sleepy Jeongin for emphasis.

Seungmin laid a hand on his hyung's arm to calm him down, and Minho took a deep breath, jaw clenching as he slowed his heart rate.

"I just don't see why we're even discussing this. He should be left to deal with the consequences of his actions."

"I agree," Chan nodded, causing Minho's eyebrows to raise. "But it's not just about him at this point."

That caused a hesitant pause. Who else could this be about?

Their leader chewed on his lip before beginning. "We knew Sicarius never stopped their assassin program."

Hyunjin's entire body tensed up, bracing itself to face this subject.

"Woojin... the reason he sold us out is because someone he knows was taken for the program. His brother."

     Nari's hands began to shake, rising to cover her mouth in disbelief.

     "He tried to barter with Sicarius for both his brother's and the other children's freedom for a time, but... but they weren't satisfied with any information or free services he offered them. They wanted dirt on something more important. Something they'd been searching for a long while."

     "Me."

     Hyunjin leaned back, his chest rising and falling rapidly in panic. "In exchange for the freedom of the innocent kids Sicarius was going to brainwash and turn into murderers, he turned Stray Kids over, with me in mind the whole time."

     "Again... all of this happened because of me."

     Chan massaged his temples, his eyes scrunching in agitation. "Hyunjin, cut it out with that talk. Just when I thought I'd beat some sense into you."

    His leader gently placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to meet his eyes. "It's time to stop demonizing yourself for saving your own life. You need to stop blaming yourself for leaving those kids behind when your life was on the line too. You're just surviving, Hyunjin. You have the right to live happily as much as anybody."

     "Now, back to business."

     Hyunjin nodded, swallowing his overwhelming feelings for a little while longer. Nari scooted closer to him, her fingers wrapping around his and squeezing.

     "Woojin made a deal with Sicarius: hand over our gang and they would release his brother and every child currently in training. He initiated the first part of his plan over the past few days. To kidnap one or more of our members to lure Hyunjin back to Sicarius's headquarters."

     "When the time came though... he said he couldn't do it. After all the secrets, the lies and the betrayal... he let us escape."

     Seungmin blew a long breath out and steadied himself on the table. "So, what? He wants our help in return for refusing to be captured and tortured to death?"

     "He knows Sicarius won't stop until they have me, all of us now," Hyunjin mused. "He realized he doesn't have the guts to turn us over, but he still needs his brother to be released along with all the other kids. We have a common interest in that, and he also knows he has more information about the current security details of Sicarius than we do. We need each other to pull this off."

"Great," Changbin exclaimed wryly. "Teaming up with the man who betrayed us to our biggest enemy. What could go wrong?"

     "A lot," Felix spoke up. "Which is why we have to start planning now."

     Minho whirled on him in shock. "Felix, you can't possibly be considering joining Woojin after everything that just happened."

Felix shook his head in disagreement. "Not joining him. I don't agree with anything he's done, not the methods he's used or the deception in his plans. But we need to take advantage of his knowledge, whether we like it or not. Nothing will go back to the way it was after this is all over, but maybe we can move on with less pain in our hearts."

A gruff sigh left Minho as he stretched his sore arms out. "I hate to admit it, but I see your point. Not just the assassin program, but all of Sicarius has to be taken down, and we can't do it without help from the inside. I say we give it a shot."

Chan grinned grimly as he searched his member's faces. "All in favor of destroying Sicarius from the inside out? A show of hands, please."

Nine hands filled the air, and the decision was made. Sicarius was going to fall.