The hallways that followed were maze-like, seeming to almost want to mislead them, get them lost. But Hyunjin knew the walls by heart, knew them better than he really knew himself. After all, inside of this building he had never been allowed to just be him.
As one mind, the group moved across the floor, craning around corners and hands twitching in anticipation. Finally, they stumbled across a hallway that had a bright light beaming above it.
Hyunjin paused, holding up a hand to stop the others. "There will be guards posted around here," he whispered. "The rooms we pass will be occupied now. If you hear anything, check the room. But if it isn't them, leave it. We don't have time for anyone other than our members."
Rolling a suppressor onto his pistol as he said this, Hyunjin made sure to make eye contact with each person as he spoke, the absolute seriousness there convincing them to listen, even if they struggled against the idea.
The boy drew himself up against the nearest corner, peeking around to scout out the other side. "There's two men," he breathed calmly, switching the safety off on his gun. "Mark, Minho."
Without a word, the two men flanked him, waiting for his signal to take their targets down. After inhaling slowly, Hyunjin opened his eyes and moved.
Rolling around the corner, he sprinted, hearing the light squeaking of his allies' shoes behind him. The man nearest to him brought up him weapon in confusion, and Hyunjin dropped to his knees mid-run, throwing an elbow up to disarm the man, sliding a knife out and slashing his thigh cleanly as the guard's gun clattered to the ground.
The man opened his mouth to cry out, but Hyunjin swept his legs out from under him, jamming three fingers into the mans throat and slamming his head down, causing him to gag soundlessly as Hyunjin immobilized him.
Now that he was down, Hyunjin blew his hair out of his face, keeping a firm grip on the man below him as he checked on the others.
Mark had finished punching the other now unconscious guard, panting slightly as he wiped some blood off of his hand. Satisfied with his friend's work, Minho stood over his shoulder, smirking as he saw the expression frozen onto the guard's face.
With the immediate threat out of the way, Hyunjin turned his attention to the guard held securely under his knee, grabbing his collar to choke him as he snarled.
"Which prisoners are being held in which torture rooms?"
He kept the man there for a moment before letting up on the pressure, giving him the chance to speak up. The guard coughed, eyes watering as he got his bearings. Snidely, he stared up at Hyunjin, laughing in spite of the fact that he was at a disadvantage.
"You're those stray dogs," he chuckled, noticing how Hyunjin's eyes tightened. "Don't worry. Your bitches are dead already. They didn't last long at all."
Hyunjin slammed the man down again, knuckles white as his hands encircled the man's throat. His fingers dug into the man's tendons as he clenched his teeth, jerking the man harshly before cutting off his air supply again.
As he gagged and turned red, Hyunjin felt nothing, no remorse for what he was doing. In his mind, there was another reason he was doing it.
Because they all deserved it.
Just as the others were getting worried, Hyunjin released the guard's collar a tad, allowing him to cough and greedily inhale the oxygen he had been fighting for. Hyunjin twirled his knife up, holding it just above the man's eye.
"Where. Are. They?"
Gulping, the guard stuttered, unsure if he wanted to continue antagonizing the unhinged boy. He licked his dry lips, hesitating to blink as the blade brushed his eyelashes. Hyunjin let it slip in his grip a millimeter, making the man gasp.
"R-rooms B34 and B36," he revealed, a pleading tone seeping into his voice. "Your members are there! Now let me go!"
Victoriously, Hyunjin smirked, letting the guard sit up and rub his throat, warily eyeing the others.
"Sure, we'll let you go."
The guard had just managed to smile uneasily when Taeyong rammed the butt of his gun into the back of his head, knocking him out instantly. With a smile a bit too cute for their current situation, he gestured toward the beckoning hallway, making eye contact with Hyunjin.
"Lead the way."
Eager to oblige, he stood, sheathing his knife and jogging down the hall, careful to keep an eye out for any security cameras.
They did come across a few, which were quickly disabled thanks to a device that Mark had brought, able to hack into any nearby machines and manipulate their software.
All the while, while secretly taking out and tying up guards posted at consistent intervals, Hyunjin counted the numbers on each door, his breathing getting harsher as his anxiety caught up with him.
Finally, the numbers got closer. B60... B55... B50... B45... B40...
The next door came into view, a gold plaque on the door neatly displaying one number and two letters: B36.
His heart stopped for a moment, calm facade blanching as images of what could be behind it popped into his mind. It was unbearable, what he knew Sicarius did to people. The lengths they would go to to secure their own safety.
Dazedly, he touched Minho's elbow, but didn't have to do much more. His elder thinned his lips and glanced around before kneeling, hands trembling slightly as he picked the lock. When he was finished, Minho stood, giving Hyunjin a nod to confirm that they could move forward.
But he couldn't for a moment, Hyunjin couldn't move. He suddenly wanted to run far away, and for everything to go back to the way it had been before all of this. To when everyone had been happy, to when they weren't intertwined in such a messy, dangerous plot. All because of him.
Chan bumped his shoulder, nervously checking the hallway from left to right. "Hurry up, Hyunjin. We need to finish here so that the others can pull away safely."
His hand seemed like a stranger's as he raised it, letting it settle on the cold metal handle of the door. Slowly, he wrapped his fingers around it, bracing himself to see whatever might have been on the other side.
With a gasp of apprehension, Hyunjin opened the door.
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