𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍 //𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝑲𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝑭𝑭//

~𝟭𝟵~

(First person, Ava's perspective)

I had just finished getting dressed when the alarm sounded out through the house. I rushed out my door and down the hall. To my surprise, three of the boys were already there when I stumbled through the door.

"How are you all here already? I was literally down the hall," I said, breathing more heavily than usual. They laughed slightly at my tired state.

"You learn to anticipate when the alarm will go off," Seungmin said. The rest of the boys started gathering. The screen at the front of the room went on, showing the commander. My commander, I corrected in my mind.

"Ah, Agent Noyes. Good to see you. Glad you're still with us."

"Why wouldn't I be, Sir?"

"No reason. Now, onto the mission. An agent went rouge. He's hiding out at an abandoned apartment building. I want you all to retrieve him. I know this will be slightly more difficult without Agent Jisung, but I am sure you will all be okay. Dismissed."

We all turned to leave, but the commander spoke again.

"Oh, and Agent Noyes. I'm trusting you'll stay level-headed out there. I'd hate to see you get hurt as well."

After that, the screen shut off. My gut twisted at his last words. I'd hate to see you get hurt as well. It sounded to me like a threat. I slipped down the pole; eyes unfocused. I almost fell when I landed, my foot landing wrong. I went tumbling into Changbin's chest, almost knocking him over.

"Woah, you okay?"

"Yeah... Yeah, sorry. I just zoned out, I guess. But I'm fine."

He gave me a suspicious glance, but I just straightened up and turned away. I got suited up. As I was tying up my hair, I felt a hand on my shoulder, making me flinch. The hand pulled away and I turned around to find Felix looking at the floor. I cleared my throat, making him look at me.

"Sorry, I should have asked before-"

"No, it's okay. I just wasn't expecting it. Is there something you wanted to tell me?"

He looked slightly guilty, but quickly shook it off.

"Actually yes. I wanted to ask if you wanted to deliver the cookies to Han with me later? They came out great thanks to you."

"I'm sure you contributed to them as well. And I would love to deliver them with you."

"The chopper's here, guys. We should get going," I heard Chan say, then followed the boys out. We got seated in the helicopter. I sat between Lee Know and Felix, but I got a sense of hostility emanating from Lee Know. He didn't talk once the entire trip. It seemed strange to me, but I figured it was nothing and left it.

...

As we got to the lookout point near the apartment building, I felt my stomach churning. We were one less teammate, and I couldn't help but think back to the commander's words from earlier. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts when Chan spoke.

"Okay. We have no idea where this agent is hiding, so I suggest we split up. Hyunjin, I want you coming with us seeing as we're missing a teammate. Ava, you're sticking with me, Changbin and Jeongin. The rest of you are in a team. My team will go in from the front. You guys can go in through the back. We'll start at the bottom floor and work our way up. Less chance he'll get past us. You all ready?"

We all nodded, placing our hands in the middle of our circle. Then the two teams split and headed to their separate points of entry. I heard Chan speak through the comms, signalling the other team to enter just as we did. We fanned out, Jeongin going with Chan and me going with Changbin. We moved through the empty apartments quickly, meeting the other team at the staircase before splitting up again on the next floor. We were about halfway up when I heard a sound. I signalled Changbin, the both of us flattening our bodies against the wall. I was about to open the door closest to me when it burst open on its own, a guy running out and past us. I dropped my weapon and took off after him, signalling the guys on our comms. I chased after him into another apartment, just getting there in time to see him climb out the window. He was about to fall down about fifteen stories when I caught his wrists. I almost went out the window with him from the dead weight.

"Oh no... You don't... You're not going that easily." I said through gritted teeth, my wrists feeling like they would rip off any moment.

I strained to pull him up, almost losing my grip. I felt a pair of arms reach around mine, taking hold of my hands, tightening my grip. We started pulling together. We managed to get the guy in through the window, me collapsing next to him on the floor. The guy who helped me cuffed the agent, and I realised it was Lee Know. I gasped out a soft thank you before dropping my head back down onto the ground. I could barely feel my arms, my fingers trembling. Changbin came to help me up, but I could barely grasp his hand. Instead he just grabbed my wrist, lifting me up without any help.

"Thanks. I can't really feel my arms."

"I can understand that. You just saved a guy from falling fifteen stories by catching him when he was nothing but dead weight. I'm surprised you didn't go out the window with him."

"I almost did, but luckily Lee Know got there fast enough."

"He was actually on the other side of the floor. I'm surprised he got here first."

"Really?" I asked as I looked over at Lee Know. We made eye contact before he looked away.

"We should probably get you and the guy an ambulance. Just to get you checked out."

"That might not be such a bad idea," I said, twisting my wrists and wincing. He gently took my shoulder and led me out of the apartment we were in, following the rest of the guys. As we joined the other boys, they all patted me on the back and gave me encouragement for catching the guy, but I couldn't help stealing glances at Lee Know, my mind preoccupied.

...

"Hey, thanks for saving me back there. If not for you, me and that guy would both be dead now," I said to Lee Know when I got him alone. He wouldn't look at me.

"No problem. Happy to help."

His answer was curt, but I brushed it off.

"By the way, how did you get there so fast? Changbin told me you were on the other side of the building when I went after the guy."

"I must have been closer to you guys than he thought. Excuse me one second."

And with that, he just left. I stood there, brows furrowed at his strange mood, when I heard someone calling for me. It was the paramedic. I went over and let him examine me. My hands were still trembling.

"Your arms look okay. I would just advise you go for an X-ray to make sure there wasn't any bone damage. Otherwise, don't do any heavy lifting for a few days and you should be fine."

"Okay, thank you," I said as I rolled my sleeves down again. I had switched my suit off by then, the tight fabric way to warm. I headed over to Lee Know when Hyunjin and Felix stopped me.

"Hey, what did the paramedic say about your arms? Anything bad?" Felix asked.

"Nope, he just suggested I go for an X-ray to be sure and that I don't do any heavy lifting for a few days. Otherwise, he says I'm okay."

"That's very good news. I'm sure you're happy about that."

"Yeah, I'm quite happy it's nothing serious. Now if you two will excuse me, I have a conversation to finish with Lee Know-"

My voice was drowned out by the helicopter propellers. The helicopter landed in the street, making me giggle slightly.

"Seems to me like the pilot's a bit hasty," I yelled to Felix over the noise. He smiled. We all got into the chopper and flew back to the dorms. And again, Lee Know was silent the whole trip.