Girls and boys chatted and gossiped in the lunchroom as Jisung stood with some of his friends, Felix, Hyunjin, and Seungmin, who was nervously patting his hair, trying to fix it before his crush walked by. Jisung stifled a laugh.
"It looks fine," he said. Seungmin had been agonizing over his new haircut, which just looked like any old haircut, ever since he came to school that morning.
"No, it doesn't!" Seungmin hissed. He noticed Yang Jeongin, or as his friends sometimes affectionately called him, I.N, walking down the hall. He was a year younger than them, but was friendly with most people with the people in the grade above. He ducked behind Hyunjin, who snickered.
"Hey, Jeongin. Want to hang out with us?" Hyunjin asked, mostly to annoy Seungmin.
Jisung snickered as well, until he saw Minho walking down the hall behind Jeongin. His smile faded as Minho made a beeline to him.
"I need to talk to you," he muttered, his eyes dark and serious. Jisung shifted uncomfortably and glanced at his friends, then back at Minho.
"Okay," he said hesitantly. Minho grabbed his wrist and pulled him into an empty classroom down the hall, quickly shutting the door behind him. Sunlight poured through the windows, giving everything a golden glow.
"What's wrong-mmph!" Jisung was cut off by a desperate, hungry kiss from Minho. He put his hands on Minho's shoulders as Minho wrapped his arms around his waist. They broke apart, panting. Jisung looked more closely at Jisung and noticed that he had dark bags under his eyes and paler skin than normal. "Are you okay?" asked Jisung.
"I'm better now that I'm with you," breathed Minho. He rested his head on Jisung's shoulder heavily and hugged Jisung closer to him, pressing their bodies together. Jisung frowned.
"What happened?" There was no response as Minho just buried his face in the crook between Jisung's neck and shoulder. Jisung pulled away. Tenderly, he cupped Minho's chin in his hands. "Please tell me," he murmured. Minho avoided his gaze and turned away.
"I'm fine"
"No, you're not."
"Look, I'm just... tired and stressed from exams and stuff. But being with you makes me more relaxed, so I'm fine now."
Jisung narrowed his eyes. He knew Minho was lying; Minho was the one of the top students in their school, and he knew he never had problems with classwork. But he let it slide, because he knew if Minho was hiding something from him, it was for a good reason, and Minho would tell him soon anyways. He stayed there in Minhi's arms for a moment later, then pulled away.
"Okay," he said. "Well, we have class soon, so we should go. I'll see you later." Jisung opened the door, checking if any students were nearby. There weren't, so he and Minho left the classroom. Jisung didn't understand why Minho wanted to keep their relationship a secret, but Minho felt strongly about it, so he agreed. They parted, not saying anything more.
After class, Jisung spied Minho and Felix talking quietly about something. Neither was smiling, and both looked tired and anxious. Why was Minho talking to Felix? Jisung had never seen either say anything more than a simple 'hello' or 'goodbye' to each other. He stepped closer, listening to their conversation.
"-please, Felix. It'll be safer for everyone." Minho whispered, desperation creeping into his voice.
"Fine. We'll do it tonight," Felix said grimly. He turned around and left. Minho sagged against the wall and sighed. He seemed relieved. But what were they talking about? What were they going to do? Jisung thought of following Minho or Felix home, but decided against it at the last second. He didn't want to invade their privacy.
The next day, Felix didn't come to school. He called in sick. Minho came with a black eye and a broken thumb. Jisung approached him as soon as he saw Minho.
"Did you and Felix fight?!" he demanded. Minho frowned in confusion.
"No...? I got injured while playing basketball. You know I'm terrible at it," he said. It didn't seem like he was lying. Doubt crept up on Jisung.
"But I saw you guys talking yesterday! And you both seemed really tense and stressed," he retorted. Minho smiled.
"It's nice that you're worried about us," he said. "But no, we didn't fight. I barely even know him. I was just asking him a question, but probably made it really dramatic 'cause I was tired." Minho did have a point. When he was tired or stressed, he made everything seem like a big deal.
Jisung frowned. If Minho was telling the truth, it was just a coincidence that Felix was 'sick' the next day, which seemed like a stretch. But then again, Felix and Minho had never fought and didn't seem like they were going to. So what was it?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Minho stood in his ruined kitchen, waiting for Felix to respond on his phone. There were a few moments of silence before Felix asked,
"With what? What happened?"
Minho was close to panicking now. He had done everything he could to prevent this from happening, but had failed. "I need you to get out your old gear-"
"No." Felix refused before Minho even finished.
"Please. Jisung was kidnapped," Minho begged. Felix hesitated before answering. Minho knew he was going to say no.
"I'm sorry," Felix whispered. "I can't put Hyunjin in danger like that."
Minho trembled. He tried one more time. "Jisung's pregnant! If you don't help me, you could be risking two innocent lives," he burst out. A silent, tense moment, then,
"He's pregnant?" Felix asked.
"Yes." Minho's heart ached at the thought of any harm coming to Jisung or the child.
"Fine. I'll be there in 15 minutes." Felix hung up, and Minho ran upstairs to the attic. He pulled out his old uniform: a hooded, tight, dark leather jacket with an abundance of zippers and straps to disguise the numerous hidden pockets used to hide knives, bombs, and poisons. Minho put it on, along with a black mask, black leather gloves, and black pants that had more hidden pockets. He took out his long hunting knife and pistol, then strapped them to the holsters on his legs. He strapped his old rifle to his back, then headed downstairs.
Part of him was repulsed and pained at the thought that he was in his uniform again, while another part was numb; that part was the animalistic part, the part completely focused on rescuing his mate, Jisung.
A knock sounded from the door. Minho opened it to find Felix, dressed in similar garb, standing on his front steps. Instead of a rifle, Felix had a leather bandolier of throwing knives strapped across his chest. He was looking uncharacteristically grim, and his blond hair was covered by his dark hood. Minho let him in, reliving a whole world of memories as Felix stepped in, sniffing the air carefully.
Felix used to be, and still was, an expert tracker and hand-to-hand combat fighter, while Minho was more skilled as a sharpshooter and spy. They had both been in the Obsidian Guild, an assassin's guild that they had been forced into when they were both children. They left in their last year of high school when it had become too heavy on their conscience, too risky for their loved ones, and too stressful. Felix and Minho had been the top two assassins in the guild, and some of the most popular for Minho's silent, cruel way of killing and Felix's skill in combat. He was also known for being one of the only omega assassins. People would often underestimate him when they smelled his soft omega scent and saw his small body, which they regretted almost instantly. Minho watched as Felix studied the kitchen carefully, all down to the almost-invisible scratches on the ground.
"Two betas... not Jisung's blood... from the city... Obsidian guild... lower ranks," Felix muttered as he studied a scrap of black cloth with a single red string hanging from it. Minho understood immediately. The betas were from the same group as Minho and Felix had been, and in one of the lowest ranks: red rank, which meant they only did the messy, dirty work that didn't require much stealth or skill. Minho and Felix were the top rank, which was black rank. While others had a patch of color sewn on their uniform according to their rank, the highest ranked people didn't have a patch. Their entire uniform was black, so no need for a patch.
Felix nodded to Minho, and they swiftly left the house. They hopped onto Minho's silent motorcycle with Felix in the front to steer and guide them. They raced through the abandoned, dark streets, resorting to their old positions, like when they were on a mission together. When they were younger, they were often sent on especially dangerous missions together because it was the most efficient, so they had established codes and hand gestures for stealth missions.
Felix stopped at a plain, unassuming one-story building that Minho grimaced at the sight of. The bland building hid so much more beneath the surface, figuratively and literally. He had been forced to train there since he learned to walk, along with Felix. Minho saw Felix shiver, then subconsciously touch a long scar on his forearm that was hidden by his sleeves. The boss had given it to him when he and Minho quit, almost ten years ago. Minho took a deep breath.
"Let's go," he whispered, trying to distract Felix from the painful memories. It worked. Felix's eyes cleared, then he nodded. He was in his 'cool calm' mode, which was a self explanatory name. It meant he was ready to calmly kill anyone without stopping, if he was told to. The two slipped off Minho's motorcycle, then skirted around the building to meet a dusty window. It looked like it was impossible to get in without breaking it - the window was painted shut. But Minho knew, from experience, that if you hit it just the right way, it would loosen and open.
The window popped open, and Minho entered first. He swore he could smell Jisung's lovely scent already. He picked up his pace, just teetering on the edge of risky and efficient. Felix caught up to Minho, shaking his head.
"Try to control it," he breathed. Minho paused and breathed in, trying to tame the beast inside of him, the alpha that needed to protect his pregnant mate. He somewhat succeeded, then slowed his pace slightly. During missions, Minho and Felix knew best how to calm each other, to distract each other from the horrors. They had to learn over the years, to keep their sanity whole.
The building was empty except for a few crates stacked in the corner. It was dull and sparse, at least from this level. Felix, who made sure to keep to the shadows, headed to the crates and pushed them to the side, leaving the largest stack in its original place. He peeked inside of the top crate and hit a button hidden on the inside of the crate. The crates shifted to reveal a trapdoor in the floor. It was locked, and Minho knew the password changed every day. He motioned for Felix to move aside, then promptly cut the lock with a simple wrench. He smirked slightly. The infamous Obsidian Guild used a cheap lock to guard their entrance. Although, he supposed the hardest part about breaking in was finding the building itself.
Twisting flights of stairs lead down to what Minho knew was a maze of random, dark corridors and rooms scattered through the building. At least, that's what it seemed like to someone who had never seen the base before. Everything was actually placed strategically and in an organized way. Felix and Minho silently rushed down the stairs, stopping at the second level. The closer the floors were to above-ground, the lower the number. Along the way, there were about six guards that Felix silently knocked out and piled in a dark corner to stay. Minho was supposed to focus on finding Jisung, so they decided that Felix would do the fighting. Minho stood in the hall and closed his eyes. Now, he was the only one that could track Jisung by using their mating bond. He imagined Jisung's warm laugh, his sweet scent...
"He's in room 2C-B," whispered Minho, almost immediately running through the corridors to the room that held Jisung. Felix trailed behind to guard his back. Minho skidded to a halt when he saw the room labeled 2C-B and eased open the door. His breathing sped up as he saw a lone figure tied to a post. It was a small, male omega. It was Jisung, who was slumped to the floor, unconscious. Abandoning any thoughts of staying hidden, Minho ran to Jisung and held him tightly to his chest. He couldn't help it. His instinct would not allow him to slowly move to Jisung when he was so clearly in danger.
Jisung's skin was pale and his body was littered with bruises and minor scratches, but nothing more. He was unconscious, probably from a sedative. Minho tenderly cradled him, pressing his body against his own. "Hannie," he whispered. "Please, wake up." Jisung did not respond. Minho glanced up at Felix, who stood behind them. "We should go," he murmured. Felix nodded and turned around to see a muscular female figure of average height, flanked by five others clad in black, walking in. The doors slammed shut behind them, locking them in with Minho, Jisung, and Felix. Felix backed away, already in a defensive stance. Minho held Jisung, blocking his body with his own.
"Well, well. Look what we have here," purred the figure. It was Ebony, the leader of the Obsidian Guild. She was so skilled in fighting that people all over the world called her the Queen of Assassins, or a synonym to that. She was a living legend, but Minho knew her one weakness. It was her mate, a kind, gentle-hearted female omega. She had died in an accident that may have been caused by Ebony herself, many years ago. After she died, Ebony had never been the same. She traveled across all the continents and recruited small children that she could mold to her will and created one of the deadliest forces in the world. She killed ruthlessly, and rumor had it that she had killed multiple powerful political figures. "The infamous Lee Know and his precious mate. And of course, Mr. Yongbok." She smiled cruelly.
Minho didn't move, not even glancing at Ebony and her guard. Felix drew his knife, but did nothing more. Ebony paused at the lack of response, trying to find out what they were doing. Faster than lightning, Minho whipped out his pistol from its holster and fired three shots, hitting three of the four guards in the stomach before the rest of the guards and Ebony jumped out of the way. He still held Jisung with his other arm. He knew that Jisung's capture had most likely been to lure Minho back to the base for Ebony to finally end him, but he had still gone anyway.
The remaining guards, at Ebony's nod, leapt at Minho and attacked with the Obsidian Guild's signature long knives. Minho stood over Jisung and deflected their blows with a knife of his own. He snarled, savagely slashing at them, drawing blood at almost every swipe. Meanwhile, Felix faced Ebony. They circled around slowly, daring each other to make the first move.