Dedicated to:
pickmeupmomrn renjuniverse_
koeunmimi icouldcarelessss
~*~*~*~*~
"I knew you'd be here." Yeri said as she sent a sly smile towards Mark.
At this moment, Mark didn't know what to do or how to react. A few minutes ago, he was only minding his own— minding the task at hand. He only got to avert his focus because he happened to come across the loge box.
Yes, it was his objective to find either of the targets but this was not how he imagined it would go.
Seeing that he had gone silent, Yeri moved her feet forward, causing her fingertips to brush against the knob before she left it alone completely. Each of her heels clacked against the smooth, cold floor of the loge box.
As she slowly approached him, Mark got to notice how she looked. Yeri was wearing a gold sequin dress that reached the floor. Starting from the torso part down to her bottom, the fabric had clung to her body like a second skin, while the rest flowed freely. She matched it with gold open-toe heels that had ankle straps on them. Her grayish-brown hair had gone wavy and was parted to the side, causing her long feather earrings to be shown.
Mark wouldn't be bothered by it at all... if it wasn't for the dress's deep V neckline with thin straps and skirt slit.
"Did my presence cut off your tongue?" Yeri had asked, noticing he hadn't said anything so far.
He was too captivated by her looks.
Since he was still tongue-tied, Yeri's eyes slightly widened at this before she let out a small laugh. "My eyes are up here, Minhyung." She pointed at her eyes using her two fingers.
Hearing this, Mark moved his gaze up and made eye contact, not getting bothered by what he just did. "What are you doing here?" His eyes had gone serious again.
"Really, Minhyung?" Yeri stopped when she reached one of the box seats. "You were an agent. I believe you already know why."
Mark observed how she let her hand touch the back of the chair. Her eyes followed her fingertips as it traced the designs carved in it.
"And I should be the one asking you that." Then she locked eyes with him again, and in this time, the amusement in it had been gone.
It was filled with disappointment.
"Why are you here? Haven't I warned you before about this?"
This made Mark's lips slightly curl. "You were an agent too, Yerim. You can tell why I'm here."
Yeri's eyes made a squint at his mockery before finding it amusing, grinning at it. Mark always had his way with words.
Instead of commenting on it, she proceeded to talk. "I didn't really expect you to go all this way. I thought we would only run into the Elites later."
Yeri and the others had already made a guess about the agents attending the auction party tonight but the thought of the X-Force also coming for them at the same time never crossed their minds.
So, she was already expecting the Elites, Mark thought.
"I guess you're the same Mark I used to know." Mark's ears perked up to this. "Determined to get the job done."
Mark's lips showed a full smirk. "You know my ways." And then he began to walk back inside the loge box.
~*~*~*~*~
At this moment, with the auction almost at its peak, Jeno and Xiaojun remained vigilant in the crowd. They were stationed at the far end of the room, where other personal bodyguards and hotel guards were lining up. With this distance, they were too far from Koeun's unit yet, on the good side, they could see them.
So far, nothing out of ordinary had happened, which was supposed to be a good thing. But in this case, it was keeping Xiaojun on edge.
"Hey," He decided to talk to Jeno, who looked at his way. "the auction is about to end soon. We haven't spotted The Dragon."
"I know." Jeno said as he let out a breath. "This room is too crowded and dark. It's impossible to find him."
"But we also haven't seen either of his men... or Taeyong and the others," Xiaojun added, noticing how the auction was nowhere near danger. "They should be starting the heist if they don't want the items to be taken by these people."
"I find it strange too." Was Jeno's reply, his forehead creasing.
Since they never knew how he played his game, it was difficult for them to read what was in The Dragon's mind. And if this kept up, they might never find their targets and they could get away with the auction items.
"On the good side, the items are still fine." Xiaojun continued, eyeing the custom artworks on the stage. "Perhaps The Dragon is waiting for the auction to end."
"That's probably it." Jeno replied as he did the same. "He must be watching this in the crowd and waiting for the right time to strike."
Xiaojun was about to agree when a thought suddenly entered his mind, making him frown. It was something in what Jeno had said.
Jeno still had his eyes on the auctioneer and the artworks when he heard him speak. "What if we're wrong?"
He quickly spun his head towards him. "What?"
Xiaojun was deep in his thoughts, his prominent eyebrows knitting together. "I mean, what if he's not in this theater room? He could be listening to this party somewhere else."
Jeno hummed at this, thinking about it. "It's possible. If he's about to commit a crime in a big event like this, then he will ensure his safety before anything." Then he glanced back at him. "Either way, we need to find where he is, quick."
Xiaojun gave him a nod before reaching for his earpiece to talk to Renjun's unit while Jeno went back to scanning the crowd. But just as he did, his eyes happened to catch something that sparked his curiosity.
Three meters away from them, two hotel guards in black suits were also listening and talking through their earpieces, and they seemed to have become in full-alert mode.
"...there are criminals on the loose. Stay vigilant." One of them told the other.
Criminals. Jeno's eyes narrowed at this.
~*~*~*~*~
"Isn't this nostalgic?" Yeri asked Mark as he moved further inside the loge box. She had a wistful look on her face as she sat on the chair's armrest.
"What's nostalgic?" Mark asked her, stuffing both hands in his pockets. In the background, he could still hear the auctioneer's voice conducting bids below.
"This eventful moment." Yeri answered, not looking at him since she was too immersed in reminiscing the past. "We get to meet in such a place like this again. Elegant dresses. Dashing suits. An expensive party. On a mission." Then she let out a small giggle. "Do you remember it, Minhyung?"
"I do." Mark spoke firmly, still taking slow steps around the room.
How could he forget? That mission carried one of the memories he treasured with her.
Inside a house of Spanish grandiosity, the people seated around the round, decorated dining table were sharing laughter caused by Yeri's joke. Mark, however, wasn't much into their conversation, and so he only took a sip of his wine.
"You're a funny chica (girl)." The main target, Madrazo, remarked.
"Why, thank you." The girl in the red dress, Yeri, smiled at him as she tucked her wavy brown hair behind her ear.
Madrazo seemed to be growing fond of her since he asked her a question that earned a holler from the rest by their table. "Can I ask you for a dance?"
Mark lowered his glass of wine and saw him offering his hand towards the girl. The party was in full swing and that must be the reason why he asked.
Yeri was slightly taken aback but kept the smile on her face. "Sure—"
"Madrazo."
The two of them spun their heads at Mark's way. His face was blunt but Yeri could see his possessiveness. "Mi novia (my girlfriend)." His tone was reminding him.
Madrazo noticed this and laughed it off, raising his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. It was only a joke."
Yeri smiled at his answer. "That was during our sixth mission."
"The drug raid at Madrazo's Hacienda..." Mark mumbled enough for her to hear as he recalled past events. By this time, he was already behind the box seats.
Yeri threw a glance over her shoulder. "You remember..." Her face brightened upon this, knowing that he hadn't forgotten that special mission. But then, the smile on her slowly faltered as she looked down. "But now, we're on a different mission."
Mark had stopped walking and looked at her way. "You can still back out. It's not too late to do the right thing."
Yeri gave him a look before chuckling. "With this thing still on me, I can't." Mark was a little confused about what she meant so she brushed her hair to the side, revealing her exposed back— a huge part of it was still burnt.
Because of this, Mark absentmindedly moved towards her way to get a clearer look at it.
"For every successful mission that I took, they would get a part of me treated." He had almost forgotten about it because she looked captivating when he first laid eyes on her.
And before he noticed, his fingers were already tracing the burnt area on her back.
~*~*~*~*~
"Sold to the man in the back!"
Koeun heaved a breath as the room was filled with the crowd's loud applause. The auction was only five available items away from ending yet they still hadn't found the man they were unto.
She gave Chenle a look and found the boy searching for him in agitation. Then she let her eyes move towards the area in the far back where she knew Jeno's unit was currently stationed and found them having a serious discussion.
Their team had been given one task and it seemed like no one could do it. The factors affecting their mission was making it difficult.
It was troubling her.
"Chenle."
Feeling a light tap on his shoulder, Chenle looked back towards Koeun. "Yes?" Then he noticed her troubled look and he immediately frowned out of worry. "Is there something wrong?"
"Not really." She assured him. "I just need to go to the washroom for a bit."
He figured she just needed to calm herself down so he gave her a nod. "Okay. Be cautious though."
"I will." And Koeun stood up from her seat to walk away. But just as she was about to turn away, she didn't notice someone behind her, and so she accidentally bumped into the person.
Koeun would've almost lost her balance if it wasn't for the man catching her just in time. He had his arm wrapped around her waist, making her lean against his chest.
Behind her mask, Koeun's eyes widened at this sudden incident, looking up to see his masked face. She remained too surprised for the next few seconds, but when she realized their awkward position, she removed herself from him. "I'm so sorry!" She spoke in Chinese.
The man raised a palm and shook his head. "It's alright." He told her.
She was about to say something back when her pupils dilated and shook upon seeing an object that caused chills to run down her spine. Was that what I think it was? She hoped it was something unrelated to the mission since she knew the Chinese value it a lot in their culture.
"Koeun."
Snapping out of her thoughts, Koeun only got to notice that Chenle was already by her side. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." She gave him a nod before her eyes searched for the man earlier, only to see him already walking further away.
Even by his back view, she studied his features well: his blonde hair that was parted to the side, his perfect built, and his great taste in refined suits— the silky black suit embellished with golden embroidery. She might have never seen his face due to the mask but she could already tell who it was.
"Chenle, does he look familiar to you?"
The dragon ring he had made her suspicious.
Chenle got to narrow his eyes as he studied him as well, and it eventually grew wide upon realization. "More than familiar..."
He compared the man's features to the one in the photos that were shown to them by Jisung as Jeno and Xiaojun explained who their target was. No doubt, the resemblance was too obvious.
"That's him..." Chenle trailed off. "That's Qian Kun."
And before Koeun knew it, Chenle was already storming towards his way.