𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍 //𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝑲𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝑭𝑭//

~𝟯𝟲~

I walked around aimlessly in front of the van, my muscles tense as I waited for the clock to strike eight. Felix came up to me, and I almost walked into him from how unfocused I was.

"Hey, calm down. Your job is easy. It's us who should be pacing," he said to me, eyes forming crescents as he smiled.

"But if something goes wrong, it's on my head. If one of you..."

I couldn't even say it. The words got stuck in my throat, adding to the suffocating feeling I felt. I turned to pace again, but Felix took my shoulders.

"Listen to me. Nothing is going to happen. We went over the plan close to ten times beforehand. Everything is going to be just fine."

He let go of my shoulders and spread his arms, as if asking for a hug. I hesitated before moving into his arms. But my brain was still running a hundred miles per hour. He pulled away, leaving me to pace again. Finally, my comm buzzed, signalling it was time. I looked back at the van, all the boys giving me reassuring smiles. I squared my shoulders and gave them a nod, before turning and heading down the outcropping we were stationed on.

I tried to keep my breathing as even as possible as I walked up to the door of the warehouse. I flung it open and walked in. My eyes kept flitting around, assessing my surroundings for any dangers or signs that this was a trap. All too soon, I was standing right in front of the door with the keypad for the third time. I reached for the handle, not surprised to find the door unlocked. I pushed it open and walked into the darkness.

I closed the door behind me, as instructed. The lights went on, revealing a man I had seen somewhere before, but I couldn't place it. He held out his hand to me, and I snapped out of my daze. I walked up to him slowly, fiddling with the USB in my hand. I hovered the hand with the USB above his but wouldn't let go of the USB just yet.

"What'll he do with this?" I asked. He wouldn't answer.

I hesitantly dropped the USB into his hand, pulling away. He took a small device out of his pocket and stuck the USB into it. Must be some sort of chip reader, I thought. It seemed to come up clear, making me softly sigh with relief. Until the guy took out a gun. He made me turn around and pressed it to my lower back, gripping onto my shoulder.

"Walk," he commanded.

He urged me out of the room, then out of the warehouse, where he stopped. He made me kneel. Then he took both my hands, interlacing my fingers behind my head. Please say Chan got my message. Please let them come to get me. Don't let me die before I've taken him down, I prayed. The words had barely taken shape in my mind when I heard a bullet whiz over my head. I heard a thud behind me and turned around to find the guy on the ground with a bullet hole in his chest. I looked up and saw Hyunjin and Chan coming towards me. Chan helped me up onto my feet while Hyunjin dusted me off.

"Wait, what about the others? Shouldn't we go help them?" I asked. Chan shook his head.

"They're still looking for the guy, they'll radio if-"

Chan was cut off when we heard a voice echo through the comms. It was Lee Know.

"Chan, we've found him, but we need back up. He's behind the building, facing north."

"On our way."

We all started running around to the back of the warehouse, my feet flying over the ground. We peeked around the wall to see the boys huddled behind some barrels near us. I was in front, so I sprinted to the barrels, ducking behind them just as a guard looked my way. I slid in next to Jeongin, who signalled the rest.

"The guy I gave the drive to had to kill me, but Hyunjin shot him. If he doesn't show up, they'll know something is up. We have to hurry."

They all nodded, and Jeongin handed me a gun. Chan and Hyunjin had gotten to us by then. Chan started counting down from three. Just as he got to one, the car the commander was in started up, speeding off. I jumped out from behind the barrels, trying to tail after the car or shoot its wheels, but it was too fast. I stood there with my hands on my knees, the dust from the car still fanning over me. I looked behind me to find the other boys slowly strolling toward me, looking completely unfazed.