The clock struck six when the four members of ATEEZ, the most vicious gang in the town gathered in the meeting room.
"OK guys listen.
If we trust the tip I received at headquarters...
the documents would be guarded in a
... what this says..
A rusty box..",
Yunho explained to his companions all set to give result to what would be the biggest robbery of Ateez.
"rusty box? Isn't that place full of those?", Yeosang squinted in confusion.
"Well, there's only one more thing the informer said...and it's.... Useless", Yunho made a sharp eye contact with his members after explaining the plan.
"Where to?", Seonghwa questioned.
"It's a Pawn shop."
"Anyways, I got the lock on the rusty box covered", Yeosang raised an eyebrow strongly hinting on his unflinching confidence.
Yeosang was known to get into anything he ever wanted access to.
The only thing he could never get into was in someone's pants.
"I've got life insurance come at me bitch", the fourth member said out of nowhere.
"Jongho..focus!", Yunho returned to his plan while Seonghwa simply sat on the chair carefully listening to his companions.
"Jongho will take care of the owner, and I will search for any hidden traps.
After the mission is completed, Wooyoung will meet us outside with the car."
"Roger", Wooyoung nodded.
"... An old rusty box;
Definitely won't be in plain sight...huh...
it's gonna be a long night pirates!!", the four men do a modern hand flip version of a war cry before setting out in their 'obnoxiously invisible-in-the-night' van.
.
"Where are we exactly?", Jongho looked across the dimly lit street where a pizza shop was functioning in full bloom.
The freshly baked smell of pizza was churning the stomach of the youngest until he continued,
"Looks like the pawn shop isn't the only one getting robbed tonight!"
.
.
The four put on their designated masks in order to cover their identity and inconspicuously headed into the den.
.
Walking into the dimly lit store with poorly organized pawned items and more thrifted materials surrounded by a fascinating wooden interior;
One could never guess that this could be a mafia's vault.
The team gradually split apart to divert attention from themselves.
There were numerous interesting items kept in wooden or glass cases.
Old Polaroid cameras, refurbished pistols and even severely pointed swords lay lifelessly in grandeur as a gramophone told eternal tales in the background.
On the other side on the shop, there was a sort of garage, several dirt bikes and refurnished cars with patches of freshly polished paint emanating a suffocating smell could be seen.
Yunho walked around looking for some creaky floor noises or any gruntled joints on the walls leading to traps or back rooms while Jongho was busy counting men.
Yeosang fumbled around with his equipment in the bag while being fascinated by items like a miniature catapult and rusted spokes.
Seonghwa simply walked behind all of his members, suspiciously eyeing a door ahead, colored muddy green and lightly shadowed by a staircase leading to a second floor.
Seonghwa believed the box to be in plain sight unlike the other members.
As they filtered through pawned items, Yunho came across a monster truck, slick black color glimmering in the dim lights.
"I'm gonna come back for you baby", he muttered under his breath.
Just as he was about to turn, his eyes fell on a box, with a texture so rusty his nose could almost smell the Ferrum.
Locked doubly with a thick, chained padlock, it rested on a dull surface, unlike the other items.
Yunho signaled for Yeosang to come closer and both of them examined the suspicious object.
By this time, Jongho had become wary of the stares at him; it was as if they knew something he did not.
The boys then threw off their masks and proceeded towards the confirmed vault...
Until Seonghwa glimpsed upon a man who was peeping at them from afar, one by one, occasionally looking at his phone, implying that the owner had already sensed some mutiny brewing.
By the look of it, he seemed to be searching for something under his table.... Maybe a weapon.
Seonghwa did not seem to be interested in what the man was doing, rather, his sight stretched even further, surpassing the confused owner.
The man's eyes widened a second later, as if he found the object he was looking for;
But before he knew it, he himself was teleported into another dimension by a hard punch from Jongho, who cheerfully glanced at his members before unmounting the table behind his victim.
Seonghwa now proceeded towards the other two who were now successful in breaking the padlock on the box.
While Jongho walked across to his members, he sensed a rumbling sound from behind.
To his surprise, the owner of the pawn store had gathered up the courage to get up and hence was asking for a fight.
The big-built man spit the blood in his mouth and ran towards Jongho who stood there unmoving as if he could teleport.
"ARRRGHHH", he shouted as he approached Jongho, a few inches apart from his body.
His steps colliding with the floor reverberated across the, now empty shop as his humongous body jiggled along the run.
Jongho's fists tightened as he took his stance; himself taking a step or two in the direction of the man.
All eyes were on the two.
The moment he came in contact with the air around Jongho's torso, he received a punch in the guts which made blood gargle in his mouth due to the heavy impact resulting from the momentum.
Jongho then mounted on top of the huge sized man punching his face rapidly and mercilessly without a pause.
Soon, the man passed out with blood smeared all over his face and Jongho joined the rest of his team who had by now got hold of a bunch of laminated documents.
"We got these", Yeosang smirked as he eyed Yunho.
Yunho did not return his smile... Rather, he looked disturbed by a certain thought.
"yeah we did...
But... Wasn't this too easy?", Yunho's words caught Seonghwa's attention.
"This actually does make sense seeing how we're talking about documents for an illegally operating Multinational licensed
cruise ship", Yeosang agreed.
"Guys why don't we check the seal", Jongho suggested.
"Looks legit", Yeosang nodded while taking a few steps before handing the papers to Seonghwa.
Seonghwa glanced at the paper for a second.
Took out a lighter from his pocket;
And burned it to ashes.
"What th-", Yeosang mouthed.
"Yes, you are right."
"If it was real I wouldn't have been able to burn it so easily", Seonghwa stated in absolute calmness before walking away from the aisle.
The others traced his steps as he headed into an unfamilar room which rather looked like an office.
Books nicely placed on wooden shelves while a table and chair were positioned in the centre of the room.
Seonghwa traversed across the room towards the book shelf and ran his fingers through all the books.
"You see...
When a traveller is most desperately looking for water;
all he gets is a Mirage."
"M.. Mirage", Jongho questioned.
After another minute of inspection,
Seonghwa walked over to the table and sat on a corner of it, observing the shelf minutely as he continued,
"Indeed a thirsty crow fills up the vessel with stones in hopes of finding water.....
Nevertheless.... he is oblivious of the presence thereof."
The three nodded their heads in agreement after giving it a thought.
Seonghwa noticed a navy blue colored book placed a little too straight and stiff and compared to the other ones.
"just like how a mere illusion... Was used to distract us from...", He went up to it and tried pulling it out only to be surprised by sudden movements throughout the bookshelf, which was now seen parting from the centre.
"This.", Seonghwa exhaled at the sight of another door appearing behind the distorted bookshelf which looked like a hidden vault.
"Now this is more like it", Yeosang bit his lower lip in excitement.
While Yunho stayed back to avoid the eyes of any possible hidden cameras, Yeosang headed to open the door which later revealed an actual iron vault behind it;
About six feet tall, the vault looked severely secure and durable.
"I'll take it from here.. JONGHO", Yeosang called out.
Jongho appeared back with a drill machine from Yeosang's bag.
"A drill machine?", Yunho furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Chill Karen, you wouldn't want to see me spend two hours retrieving the password to this... Do you",
Yeosang playfully asserted.
Yunho simply rolled his eyes.
Not a single normal one on this gang!
Jongho helped drill a hole in the vault while yeosang inserted an explodable microchip inside using a thick aluminum wire.
In minutes, there was a small explosion on the inside causing the main electric valve to collapse hence physically impairing the the lock.
As he retraced his sturdy wire, a clicking sound echoed across the silent room which ensured the disabling of the lock.
Yeosang then pulled the door of the vault revealing a stack of old looking papers placed inside.
"Whoaa...", Yeosang peeped inside.
"Now we hit the jackpot", Jongho passed the pile of papers to Yunho who then affirmed of their legality.
It was finally passed to Seonghwa who now approved of their mission being successful by his usual silent nodding stance.
.
.
Before the guys could finally be happy about their accomplishment, a faint sound of sirens caught Yunho's ears.
The members looked at each other as the voice still grew, closer with each passing second.
"it's time", Seonghwa stated while making eye contact with each of his members individually.
"Wooyoung would be here by now", Yeosang looked at his watch.
"But we can't go out...", Yunho said in a grave tone.
"They'll be here any minute", Jongho added.
.
.
Seonghwa calmly walked out of the room placing the papers in a leather case before securely keeping them in a bag.
He then looked back and said,
"Wooyoung is not here"
.
.
Outside....the police had gathered due to the report filed by the owner, who now lay cold, lifelessly on the floor in a pool of blood surrounding him.
The police suspected the van to belong to the bandits as they carefully positioned themselves to move inside.
Little did they know that the four policemen were in no way a match for the four bandits inside the pawn shop.
Aside from their combat abilities, what was worth noticing was the low rumbling sound of an engine's ignition, getting louder with each passing moment.
As the police shifted glances to each other in ambiguousness, they were startled by the thunderous crashing sound of glass panes, covering the pawn store from all the sides;
Engine roaring amidst the mayhem.
A monster truck, crashing anything that comes its way rolled mightily across the street as tyres screeched with a loud reverb.
The police was stunned at this sight in the middle of the street while one of the four masked men saluted at them from the inside.
After a breathtaking drift, the driver stepped on the accelerator and
the truck then zoomed out in the distance before the police could ask for backup.
After evading the moment of confrontation, the four men in the car laughed aloud at the sudden change of plans resulting them in abducting the monster truck which caught Yunho's eye.
"Drinks on me tonight", the maknae snickered while enjoying the bumpy car ride.
"This calls for a celebration right?", Yeosang nudged Seonghwa, next to him.
"Please... I have better things to do", Seonghwa rolled his eyes.
"Like what... Sleep?", the other two purse their lips in order to compress their laughter before Yeosang got triggered by their non-responsive asses and poked their shoulders from behind,
"Yahh... Say something"
Jongho laughed in secrecy to tease his elder.
.
"Whooo so glad to finally have you in my arms baby", Yunho kissed the steering wheel while the truck roared in the middle of an empty road.
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A/n:
This story is an excerpt from our upcoming series.... Stay tuned for that!!
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