"Y/N, are you absolutely insane?!!"
I stared Junmyeon down, unwavering. "No." I said calmly. "There's nothing insane about it. It's either my life or my friends'. Four lives, Myeon, or one. It's logic. If you think for even one second that you're going to risk their lives for mine, then you are very much the insane one. There's no way in hell that I'm leaving Baek, Yixing, Dae, or Minseok."
"Look," Chanyeol cut in, "we can find some way to make this work." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "None of us are saying we're going to abandon them, or give up you. Neither of those are an option. We'll find some other way."
Sehun stood. "Hyungs, look. We all know that. But it's easier said than done. We only really have one day to figure something out, because we have to have time to actually implement our plan if we make one. So first of all, we don't have time. And let's face it, we don't know what else we can do. We don't even know whether we need to do something or not."
Jongin looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"He means that we don't even know if the others are actually alive." I said quietly.
Silence.
"So," Kyungsoo broke the silence tentatively, "what do you want to do?" Everyone looked to Junmyeon. The leader of EXO looked around the table at each of us.
Finally he leaned back into his chair and let out a sigh. "I don't know. We've spent long enough debating this here, that it's obvious that there really isn't anything we can do." As Sehun's head snapped up angrily, Junmyeon put up a hand to stop the protest that was sure to come from the maknae. "However," he stressed, "if we can somehow figure out who BTS really has, then maybe we can find the missing two. We can at least have a chance of beating BTS if we have at least two more people. Besides, we're more experienced, more powerful. We have connections with GOT7 and Monsta X, and I think I can even pull some strings to ask a favor of Seungcheol."
"Seungcheol?" Kyungsoo asked incredulously. "As in Seventeen's Seungcheol?"
Junmyeon gave a nod of confirmation. "That's the one."
My jaw dropped. Seventeen? That group of boys was more unpredictable than us! And that was saying something! Plus, Seungcheol was practically known for being stubborn and power hungry. For him owe us a favor, or for us to even be on high enough ground to ask him for one...
"How?" I asked. "How are you going to get him to agree, get him on our side?"
Junmyeon turned to me. "There were a lot of things you missed while you were gone, Y/N. Seungcheol being one of those things. We don't have the time to explain everything, so just know that we have a way to get Seventeen on our side. We need to get moving. We're running out of time." He turned to face us all straight on, placing his clasped hands on the table. His silver EXO ring shone in the rays of sunlight streaming through the window. The leader spoke to everyone. "Jongin and Soo. You guys see if you can find any news as to the whereabouts of whoever we're missing. Sehun and I will go speak with whatever groups we can, see if we can find any help. Chanyeol, Y/N." A expectant silence fell over the table. Junmyeon studied me for a moment, then shook his head slightly. "Never mind. I don't want you to do anything." My eyes widened with shock. "Chanyeol, watch over Y/N. We really don't have anyone to spare, but we can't risk losing Y/N. Got that, Yeol?" Junmyeon said pointedly.
"Clear." Chanyeol replied without hesitation.
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "What about me? You can't possibly expect me to-"
"Yes, yes I can." Myeon cut me off. "And I do. Y/N, you once told Minseok and I that you never want us to hold anything back from you, because you only want to help, not hold us back. So I'll tell you now. You're a hindrance. The main reason we have to go through all this is because we can't just hand you over. If all of this goes to waste, and we lost you somehow, then we may never get a chance to rescue the others. Got it? I'm not blaming you. I'm telling you the facts. And the fact right now is that we need you to stay safely out of the way." No one spoke.
Junmyeon was the leader. If that was what the leader thought, then there was no way I was going to get support from anyone else here. I mentally cursed, although I knew he was right. I didn't want to be baggage, something else to protect while they're out in the field defending EXO with their lives. But that didn't mean I wanted to stay under house arrest, either. "Myeon, I get it. But I can't just sit here under house arrest not knowing what's going on. There's got to be some other-"
"If you get it, then just do it." He cut me off again, damn it. "I'm not taking any risks just for your own comfort, Y/N. You have your phone. You can call us. Or if you want to know something, then ask Chanyeol. This isn't up for debate." Before I could respond, Junmyeon stood up from the table, pushing his chair back. "You all know what you're supposed to be doing, so go do it. Sehun, we're leaving." Sehun scrambled to follow suit as Junmyeon brusquely shoved his chair back to its original position, turned on his heel, and strode out the double doors leading to their mafia half of the building.
Sehun stumbled to grab the handles of one of the doors, then apparently remembering suddenly that we were there too, he stopped and turned around hastily. "Uh, sorry guys." He gave us an apologetic smile. "I'll see you later. Good-" He was stopped short as the door opened suddenly and an arm pulled him through.
We all heard Junmyeon grumble, "Sehun! Let's go!" Before the maknae disappeared. A disturbing quiet filled the room as the doors swung shut. I noted the glance that Kyungsoo shared with Chanyeol. Jongin cleared his throat.
"Um...hyung?"
"Yes?" Both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo said at the same time.
"Ah, sorry." The younger man laughed slightly. "I meant Soo hyung. Shouldn't we, I guess...um..."
"Leave?" Kyungsoo finished for him. "Yeah. We have work to do. Come on." He and Jongin both stood up and headed out the doors, leaving me with Chanyeol. I shook my head lightly and stood too. I grabbed two plates from the table and started toward the kitchen.
"I'm going to start cleaning up." I called over my shoulder. Instantly, I heard the clatter of dishes as Chanyeol immediately began to help too.
~*~
Twenty minutes later, Chanyeol and I resided in the living room. We were both sitting on the couch, talking quietly as I helped him clean his weapons. Having nothing else to do, he had opted to take apart his two hand guns and clean it. I'd offered to help, and he'd had me sit beside him, and showed me how to clean the smaller one.
"Hey, Yeol?"
"Yeah?" The tall man replied, not looking up from the gun between his fingers.
I set the gun down on the small coffee table. "Do you ever feel like EXO is stifling?"
"Not particularly."
I tried a different tactic. "Doesn't it bother you when Junmyeon takes control like that though? I mean, we're literally stuck in here."
"No. He's leader. He knows what he's doing." A frustrated sigh escaped me. "But," Chanyeol set down his gun and stared at me, "it can certainly be annoying. Are you trying to get me to let you 'take a walk'? Alone?" He joked slightly.
I laughed. "Yeah, I guess. I didn't expect it to turn out like this. I feel like you guys shouldn't be having to do all this to get them back."
"Meaning?" Chanyeol raised an eyebrow.
"Meaning," I said seriously, "that Junmyeon should've just given me over to Bangtan."
Chanyeol put a hand over his face dramatically. "Can you just stop, Y/N?" He groaned. "Seriously. This is stupid. We've been over this way too many times, with me, with Baek, with Soo, with Myeon. It's enough. We are not giving you to them." He repeated with exasperation. "Neither Minseok, Baekhyun, Jongdae, or Yixing would've appreciated it if we had, let me just remind you."
I thought about it for a moment. Fair enough. "Yeah..."
Chanyeol shook his head again and stood up. I watched as his put each gun back together, every piece eliciting a 'click' as it slid into place. He latched both guns into their respective holsters on his waist. I stood too.
"Look, Y/N. I get it, okay? I do. But there's nothing we can do at this point. They clearly need you for some reason, and knowing them, it's nothing good. Even if we were to give you to them, there's no guarantee they would give us back whoever they have. So, as Junmyeon apparently was trying to tell you, get over it."
I smiled lightly. "Yeah, I guess." Chanyeol cleared his throat pointedly. "Got it." I corrected myself. "I'm going to go to my room."
"Right. I'm coming with, since I can't leave you on your own, not even here." Chanyeol said, following me out of the room. "Elevator or stairs?"
I eyed the stairs suspiciously. I didn't particularly feel the same energy as this morning, and that many stairs seemed daunting. "Elevator." I decided.
We moved to the elevator, Chanyeol punching the up button. The doors opened with that sickening ding once more, and we both stepped in. My tall companion pushed the button for floor (F/N). The doors closed, and we the rest of the trip to my room in silence.
As we walked down the hallway, I fumbled to find the key to my room, which was in my pocket. Chanyeol, with his large strides, made it to the door of my room a minute or so before I did. I paused in the hall, trying to remember which of the six keys on my keychain was for my room.
"Hey...Y/N?" Chanyeol called.
"Just a minute!" I responded as I triumphantly found the right key.
"No seriously. Get down here. Like, now. Its- OH MY GOD!" Chanyeol called out again.
My heart stopped for a split second. That didn't sound good. I sprinted down the hallway towards Yeol's tall figure in front of the doorway. I slowed, stopping beside him. What I saw made my knees weak. I brought a hand to my mouth in horror.
~*~
A/N OOF. This update took so much effort lol I kept trashing it tbh. But here we are, with a semi-acceptible update. I promise it gets more exciting from here.