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The sounds of terror from downstairs sent a chill throughout her body. The Seven and Hana walked toward the ledge to see what was causing the commotion downstairs. Chenle came up next to her, also peering downstairs.
Much to their dismay, the place was being swarmed with thirty or so men in bulletproof protective gear with automatic rifles strapped to their torso.
Terrified attendees hid behind sofas and other furniture, some making a risky dash to the kitchen. Amidst this, there was a man, one who Hana as well as the Seven could not identify. He had no protective gear nor weapons, but he seemed to be in control of this sudden disruption. He wore dressy clothes and a blazer, much like most of the male attendees. He looked no different from the rest.
Another one of the men in bulletproof gear stood beside the man and equipped his rifle, pointing it upward. He let loose many automatic bullets into the ceiling, managing to destroy some of the lighting fixtures. With the venue being so large and open, the echoes of the bullets fired completely amplified the sound. Hana's ears didn't ring this time.
Chenle grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the railing and out of sight from those who were downstairs. She was no a fright, moreso than earlier. The rest of the Seven still stood visible near the ledge, not caring if they were seen. They were waiting to see what the intention of the man was before they could spring into action.
One brave attendee emerged from his hiding place and made a run for the kitchen doors, though he could only make it halfway before being shot dead by several of the bulletproof-geared men. They resembled an army of some sort. The terror of this happening was followed by horrific shrieks and cries from some.
Though she didn't see what happened, Hana could imagine what it was--an innocent being shot dead. At this point, nothing could surprise her anymore.
The Seven got out their guns, preparing for any sort of confrontation. Whatever would happen, it would be a losing battle. Seven men with handheld pistols--except for Jeno, Chenle, and Jisung, who brought two guns; a pistol each as well as a medium-sized automatic assault weapon each. The Seven were unprepared for a shootout against thirty or so men in bulletproof gear with automatic firearms; the probability was not in their favor, though they would still give it their all, as it was in their nature.
A loud, commanding voice echoing through the venue broke the damp silence. "I'm not here to have anyone killed," he said, contradictory to his actions. It was the man in the suit who seemed to be in charge of the army-like men. "Someone here by the name of Kim Hana is attending, allegedly wearing a green silky dress and has been reportedly undertaking the role of serving drinks."
She stopped breathing, her throat went dry and her face went pale. Of all of the people or things they could be here for, it was for Hana. It made no sense, she was the least involved in this mess. She looked up around her. Many faces who seeked shelter on the second floor with them were looking at her, staring relentlessly.
Mark turned around to face her, calmly mouthing and gesturing an 'It's okay,' to the frantic woman before turning back.
The man continued, "Nobody has to get hurt, send her down here," He clicked at his smartwatch on his left wrist, before looking around the room and up the railings to the second floor. "You have sixty seconds."
Chenle pulled her close to him by the arm, to let her know that they won't send her down. This is eased her, only a little bit.
The Seven turned around and they all grouped back up, many of their eyes on Hana. "Take her upstairs, somewhere safe and hidden," Mark gave his demand to Chenle who nodded. "I don't care how outnumbered we are, you do not leave her by herself."
Chenle, immediately following the directions, gestured for Hana to follow him. The two quickly made a rush for the stairs and up for the third floor. As they were up the stairs, Chenle began walking somewhere, Hana following shortly behind.
But the body of a man stepped in front of the two, stopping them in their tracks. Hana had no clue who he was, but he seemed to be looking at her, eyebrows furrowed.
"You're the one he was talking about," said he, not daring to look at Chenle. "You need to turn yourself in." He took a step forward, about to reach for Hana's arm--not before Chenle stepped forward, blocking his way.
Reaching into the pocket of his blazer, Chenle pulled out his pistol, pressing it to the man's head. The man, in reaction, put his hands up as to not be perceived as a threat. Chenle slowly lowered his gun, allowing the man to walk away scot-free.
"Let's go," Chenle said, walking further through the third floor. This was when chaos broke loose on the bottom floors, there were many guns at once firing off. It was happening.
Chenle opened a door, gesturing for Hana to get in, before following her in himself, shutting the door and locking it. He flipped the light on--it was a storage closet of miscellaneous objects in storage units. It was relatively small in comparison with the rest of the venue.
Hana leaned against the wall, running her fingers through her hair by nervous habit, eyes frantically wide. "Why? Why me? Chenle what's going on, please?" she begged for answers. The gunshots from downstairs weren't hushed, as they could still be heard loud and clear.
"No fucking idea," he crossed his arms, his demeanor remaining rational. "I'm just as lost as you are."
It made no sense to either of them. Hana had no involvement in this syndicate business, other than the fact that her brother was involved. But even if this had anything to do with Jungwoo, it still made no sense that they wanted her captive.
✦*ೃ༄
On the other hand, after Chenle and Hana made their way up to the third floor, the rest of the Seven were observing, waiting for something else to happen. The sixty seconds had passed, and the man whispered something to the geared man next to him, before looking around the room.
"Time's up!" He shouted maniacally. That was when he looked up the ledge to the second floor, and he saw the Seven who had guns boring in their hands. Pointing them out to his gunmen, the Seven realized they were spotted.
The gunmen, at least twenty of them pointed their guns. The Seven ducked behind the ledge, which was made of bulletproof cement, much to their luck. They made it fully ducked down just for the gunshots to all begin firing in their direction. They were fucked.
Renjun was the first to so boldly peer over the ledge and fire with his pistol at the gunmen below, taking cover when necessary. His shots were precise; he was able to shoot down two men in one.
The rest took their positions, also firing at the men below with similar precision. It would take a while to clear them out, and god knows if they had enough ammunition, but they couldn't back out now.
As if they weren't having a hard time already, the lights went out completely, meaning someone must have completely cut or destroyed the power source, likely the man from earlier. This obviously made it harder for the Seven to see.
✦*ೃ༄
"I have to go help them," Chenle said, as he paced back and forth. Clearly, being cooped up in a storage closet while he couldn't help his struggling brothers out bothered him. "We're outnumbered, I can't just-"
"Just go." Hana put her hand on his shoulder, stopping him from pacing. "I'll be okay in here. The commotion is all downstairs anyway."
Feeling assured, Chenle nodded and huffed. "Stay here. We'll come back for you." He took a pistol out from his blazer, putting it in her hand carefully. "Here, I have an extra."
She nodded and he left, not without reminding her to lock the door behind him.
Shortly after, the lights went out, and Hana assumed they went out all throughout the venue, since she never turned off the lightswitch. This meant someone must've been tampering with the electricity.
She quickly equipped the flashlight of her phone before the paranoia of the dark could consume her.
✦*ೃ༄
Chenle joined the Seven back at the ledge with a steady gun, finally being able to help them shoot down these men.
Since they couldn't fully peer over the ledge--otherwise their faces would be blown off by automatic weapons--their precision wasn't the best, ill-affected by their inability to see.
None of the members questioned why Chenle left Hana by herself, since they had far bigger problems on their plate. Though they were able to shoot down a few of the approximate thirty geared men, many, many more remained.
The geared men were stationed all around the first floor; some were ducked behind sofas and counters, some in corners where they couldn't be as easily spotted due to the lights being cut off, and some even standing out in the open, egos inflated by the fact that they were more prepared for this shootout than their opponents, the Seven.
Jeno and Jisung crept down the stairs which luckily also had a cement ledge. As they got to the bottom of the stairs, they were now closer to the geared men downstairs, without being seen.
At Jisung's signal, they began firing their weapons from this new vantage point.
In the span of just some seconds, the two were able to shoot down a combined nine men before they were spotted and had to move back up the stairs back to where the others were.
They still had many more to take down.