Guts (EXO)

What Lies Ahead

Suho swallowed the lump in his throat, the rims of his eyes reddening from the incoming tears. “Jongin?” he whispered, dropping his weapon to the ground. The others lowered their guns as well.

“Kai?” Xiumin took a step forward. “Is it really you?”

Kai tucked his own gun back into the back of his jeans and stepped out of the darkness. The light from Suho’s flashlight made him squint and put a hand over his face, bothered by the brightness. “Suho?”

“Jongin!” Suho exclaimed, dropping his guard down and enveloping the younger boy into an embrace.

“It’s you,” he sobbed, his fingers wrapping around the back of Kai’s neck. “You’re alive.”

In a heartbeat, Kai hugged Suho back, almost about to cry himself. “Hyung…”

The others joined them, hugging and crying and laughing while Kyungsoo watched them from afar with stern eyes, the pistol in his hand still pointing at the Xinth’s head.

Kai’s gaze turned to him and his eyes immediately widened. “Kyungsoo, no,” he said, holding both his hands out, gesturing for him to put the weapon down. “She’s not one of them. She’s on our side.”

Kyungsoo gave him a reluctant look.

Kai’s brows curled up, pleading. “No, hyung.”

Kyungsoo took in a huge breath, his blasé eyes looking the girl up and down before lowering his gun. The girl collapsed to the ground from relief and Kai quickly went over to Kyungsoo to hug him.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes shut, putting a hand on the back of the boy’s head. “Where have you been?”

Kai smiled. “I can explain myself,” he said quietly. He gave Kyungsoo’s metal arm a double take. “But first, you better tell me what happened to your arm.”

Kai released the boy and helped the girl up. “Are you alright, Hyeji?” he asked, grabbing her by the shoulders and studying her from head to toe.

“I’m alright, Jongin.” She gave him a small smile, patting the hand on her shoulder before nodding over to the back of the store. “Shall we?”

“Yeah,” Jongin waved the others to follow them. “You guys want to come in?”

The boys followed them to the large storage room at the very back of the store. Inside were unopened boxes of liquor, bundles of blankets scattered on the floor as makeshift beds, and other things that told the boys the two have been staying here for quite a while now.

Kai lit three candles and placed them in the middle of the room while everyone sat in a circle. Hyeji offered the boys water, to which they hesitantly accepted.

“So you guys have been staying here for a while now?” Lay asked, his eyes constantly switching from Kai to Hyeji. He was still not comfortable with having a Xinth in their presence.

Kai noticed Lay’s discomfort and placed a hand on his lap. “It’s okay,” he reassured. “She’s no harm to us.”

“Tell us then,” Chanyeol urged. “What her purpose here is.”

“Not until you guys tell me about Kyungsoo’s arm,” he said, nodding over to the said boy.

“Well to make the long story short,” Kyungsoo passed the jag of water to Xiumin, “TOP cut off my hand after the takeover happened.”

“TOP…” Kai trailed off, eyes darkening from the sound of the man’s name. “That son of a bitch ruined everything.”

Suho exchanged a look with Kyungsoo before asking, “What do you mean?”