In theory, their made up plan was quite well structured. It definitely has a chance of success, however the odds of failure were still too big for Jeongguk.
But the thing is, they didn't have any time left. If they wanted at least one shot at saving the mermen, they'd have to act now, otherwise it'll be too late.
"Okay, you remember what you have to do, right?" Jeongguk's facial expressions told Seokjin everything.
'Please don't mess this up.'
"I do, Jeongguk-ah. You can count on me. Now go." Seokjin urged the male out of his van and right into the back of it instead.
The younger inhaled shakily, praying to god that their plan won't shatter to pieces. He hid behind the empty, taped-up boxes, pulling his black cap over his face and shielding himself away in his all-black clothing.
He could eventually feel the van come to a halt, causing his heart to hammer fiercely in his chest.
"State your business." A security guard spoke up. Seokjin rolled down his window slightly, the cap on his face hiding his identity a little. Thank god it was 1 AM, otherwise the man would see his flushed face.
"Delivering for the company. I have the goods in the back." The security guard nodded, whistling.
Two other guards appeared, walking up to the back of the van and opening it. With their flashlights they scanned the boxes.
Jeongguk held his breath, flat on the ground in the utter back of the van. He had his eyes pressed close, a sweat bead rolled down his forehead.
The guards finally closed the door after a good minute or three, holding up a thumb for the main security guard to see, who was still glancing at Seokjin.
"All good. Let him through."
The man nodded, stepping back and pressing a button that opened the gate.
"Thank god." Seokjin exhaled shakily from pent up anxiety, sitting back in the seat while accelerating. Jeongguk wasn't doing much better.
He drove through the gate, the little pebbles under the wheels crunched as he went.
He pulled to a stop once he parked his van next to a few others, inside of the company's suppliers department.
Scanning the area around him, he stepped out, walking towards the back.
"We're clear." He muttered once he opened he door, causing the younger to stand up and walk towards him.
"Hurry. There aren't a lot of boxes, I'll try to prolong it the best I can. The guards are outside, we don't want them to get suspicious and check on us." Seokjin added, proceeding to lift one empty box and started stacking it to one of the many rows of other boxes there were.
"On it. I'll do my best." Jeongguk immediately answered, stepping out but still somewhat crouching. He was about to leave, but stopped, turning back around to face the elder.
He hugged him, stuffing his face in his hoodie.
"Thank you, Seokjin-hyung. I can't express my gratitude enough."
Seokjin chuckled, pulling the cap off the other's head and ruffled his hair.
"It's what family does, Jeonggukkie. Now hurry and go save your friends, alright?" He put his cap back on, shoving him a little ahead.
The younger peeked around to make sure no one was watching him, before heading over to grab one of the largest platform-hand trucks there were, used to lift and transport heavy goods around from one place to another.
Picking the one with the least squeaky wheels, he pushed it towards the glass door that gives entry to the rest of the company.
He fished his keycard out of his pocket, swishing it over the scanner smoothly and nervously tapping his foot as he waited for it to work.
The scanner beeped, flashing red.
"What? No, no, come on, come on.."
He turned his card around, trying again, but this time keeping it pressed against the scanner.
"Fuck yes.." He muttered, when the scanner went green and he heard the door unlock.
Opening it, he pushed the hand truck inside, closing the door behind him softly.
He knew there was a CCTV camera in the left corner watching him, so he nonchalantly pressed his cap further in front of his face, whistling quietly while walking on at 1.30 AM like it was the most normal thing to do.
Totally.
Once the camera was out of sight -or rather, he got out of the camera's sight- he started speedwalking towards the main entrance, since he knew how to get to the showroom from there.
He sighed in relief once he saw the reception desk come into view. He stopped in his tracks before he continued on, looking around to make sure no one was there to surprise him.
With that, he went on, rushing his way towards the door that screamed he wasn't allowed in.
Once he stopped right in front of it, he put his hand on the handle, opening it.
Or, that was supposed to happen.
"Of course it's locked. Fuck.." He groaned out in frustration. Now what?
Standing on his tippy toes, he went to feel the small bar above of the door, fingertips prawning around in the hope of feeling a small, cold metal piece.
Nothing.
"Fuck!" He hissed, stepping back. He glanced at his watch, he had to hurry.
Trotting over to the reception desk, he pulled out every drawer, to avail.
"No, no, no, please, no, I'm so close, please.." He rambled, tugging on his hair when even the last drawer had no sign of any sort of key.
"Jeongguk, how far are you?"
Seokjin suddenly voiced through his earpiece.
"Not far. I'm almost there, but the door is locked. I can't find the damned key anywhere. How many boxes do you have left?"
"Not many. I'll see what I can do.
Like I said, I'll try to buy
you as much time as possible."
With that, it went back silent and Jeongguk hastily glanced around.
Desperation flowing through his veins, he felt like he was about to sob out.
At last, his eyes fell upon a keychain that hung on the wall next to a calendar. He grabbed it, ran back to the door and started trying every single key hoping eventually one would fit.
There were way too many keys attached to it for Jeongguk's liking. It takes time, and that is exactly the thing they don't have.
About nine keys later, he was still going with a profusely trembling hand, which didn't make it any easier.
"Gguk, you have to hurry!
I'm almost out of boxes!"
As if that made it easier. If anything, Jeongguk would start hyperventilating soon.
"Thank god, what the fuck!" He exclaimed in bliss, the twenty-first key doing the trick. He opened the door hastily, pulling the hand truck with him inside.
He dashed his way towards the second door, only praying that it wasn't locked like the first one. To his utter happiness, it wasn't.
His knees felt wobbly once he entered the showroom, those giant red curtains were surely going to haunt him in his worst nightmares.
He pulled the hand truck right in front of the tank, walking over to press the same set of buttons he saw Bang Si-hyuk touch previously.
Since it was way too dark, he had to use his phone's flash in order to be able to see what he was doing.
He watched the curtains open, the lights flicking on soon after. He squinted his eyes, adjusting them to the sudden light.
Now he really had to hurry. A ginormous tank with the lights on in the middle of the night was a dead give-away.
Once Jeongguk's eyes met Taehyung's, he could see the male try to reach him again. Shaking his head, the human pointed to the chains, trying to tell him not to hurt himself.
Jeongguk zipped open his hoodie, stepping out of his pants, only to reveal his diving-suit. He couldn't dive in in his clothes, water would be left throughout the hallway. At last, he pulled out his earpiece and put it on top of his clothes.
He gave Jimin a nervous smile, feeling more pressure than ever since he had four pair of hopeful eyes watching his every move.
Running around, he went to grab the ladder that leaned on the wall next to it and put it on the side of the tank, not wasting any time.
He took a deep breath, letting himself fall forward. His body shivered at the sudden cold that engulfed him.
Opening his eyes, he swam downwards, his hands already reaching for the chains that connected the both of them to the bottom of the tank.
Jeongguk felt the pressure of the water press down on him when he held himself clutched to the chain. With all of his power he tried to push it off the hook, but he didn't have enough force. The water and the tightness between the mermen made it impossible.
Figuring he wasn't able to do this alone, his eyes shot towards the mermen, an idea popping up in his head.
Swimming back up to catch a new deep breath, he went to untie the wrists of his friends first.
After that, he tried to sign them to move closer to the hook so that there would be less tightness on the chain and less force needed.
Once again, he tried to push the metal off the hook, but failed.
When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked back up, right into Jimin's silvery and brown eyes.
He gently pushed Jeongguk aside, taking over his previous position.
With all of the strength he had, he pushed, the chain coming off the hook.
Now only he and Taehyung were still connected by it.
Jeongguk, who came back down after having caught a new deep breath, gently put his hands on the chain around Taehyung's tail, prying his fingers in between to loosen it. Once he succeeded, he pulled it, creating a big 'O' around his body, before pulling it down entirely to free him.
Taehyung wasted no time, diving forward to embrace Jeongguk immediately.
Jeongguk almost smiled, normally his heart would flutter, but considering the current situation he had to gently push him away to focus on freeing Jimin.
Finally, the three of them swam back up, their heads now poking up above the surface.
"I don't have enough time to explain right now. We have to hurry, there's almost no time left. We have to get out of here." Jeongguk panicked, pulling himself up and sliding halfway down the ladder.
"You guys will have to go tail-first down the ladder, there's no other way. Use it to slide down. It'll hurt a little, but it's the only way out at the moment."
The mermen glanced down. Taehyung's eyes widened at the height, shaking his head quickly and backing a bit further away.
Jimin muttered a "Crybaby," under his breath, using his strength to maneuver his tail over the edge, right on top of the ladder. His hands clutched the tank tightly.
"It's alright, Minnie. I'll catch you." Jeongguk said at the bottom of it, arms already spread out towards him.
Jimin merely nodded, clutching his eyes shut as he let go of the tank, leaning backwards.
He had to bite down on his tongue when he felt the metal steps create a burning friction against his scales. Luckily, it didn't last long before he slid onto the floor, his upper body caught in the arms of the human.
A smile took over his face, looking up at him.
"Alright, Minnie! Good job! Can you tilt yourself onto the hand truck over there? That way I'll be able to get us out of here." The male pointed towards it, causing Jimin to nod.
He used his hands and arms to pull himself forward, trying to keep the platform from rolling away whilst sitting down on top of it, pulling his tail onto it.
Meanwhile, Jeongguk stood there looking up, waiting for terrified Taehyung.
"Tae, we don't have time! Please, we have to go now!"
The mop of blue hair slowly got back into view again, big eyes following suit. He shook his head, "I can't do it, Jeonggukkie. I'll fall and─"
"That's not going to happen, Tae. I promise, I'll catch you no matter what. But we really have to go, so please, hurry!"
Taking a very deep breath, Taehyung laid back, pushing himself forward so he floated on top of the surface to push his tail over the utter edge of the tank.
Slowly, his tail slid down, his upper body coming into view. He was now gripping the tank so harshly, his knuckles turned white.
"You're doing a great job, Tae! C'mon, you can do it! I'll always be here to catch you when you fall."
With that, Taehyung trusted Jeongguk with his entire being; letting go and sliding down, hissing out in pain.
"There you go! Alright, we have to move!" When he opened his eyes, Jeongguk was holding onto him tightly.
He nodded hastily, performing the same act as Jimin and going over to the hand truck while Jeongguk hastily slipped back into his clothes.
Then, the human ran towards them, holding onto the hand truck.
"Alright, let's get out of here."