Nothing Left But Altitude (2/4)
“But that’s-” Junmyeon gasps when Kyungsoo brings him the folder stuffed full of photographs-some stills of the leotard Kyungsoo had sent to the lab for analyzing, some headshots of Zitao and Krystal and Victoria and several other performers Kyungsoo doesn’t recognize. It’s amazing how easy it is to find information about people when you have their names and their profession. Kyungsoo tries not to notice that Chen’s face isn’t among them.
“I know,” Kyungsoo says grimly, sliding a finger across a particularly clear shot of the symbol. “It’s much too close to E.X.O.’s for comfort. I don’t know if they’re trying to make a point or just scare us, but either way this means K.E.X.O. has decided to add an internationally infamous prostitution ring to their operation. The question is, why.”
“What about this?” Kai asks from his spot across the table. He’s been oddly quiet, sitting back in his chair and never meeting anyone’s eyes. It’s honestly a little disconcerting.
“Looks like Chinese,” Junmyeon says, picking up the picture in question and tilting his head as if trying to make the characters slide more smoothly into his brain.
“It is,” Kyungsoo says, tapping his fingers against the cold tabletop. “I’ve already asked Minseok to take a look at it. It was stamped along the inside of the leotard. That thing can’t have been comfortable to wear, with all this ink messing up the fabric.”
“Minseok?” Kai asks curiously, looking from Junmyeon to Kyungsoo.
“Agent Xiumin,” Junmyeon replies absently, still studying the photograph in his hands. “He spent a few years in China working to expose a smuggling operation. Became our resident Chinese expert once…when he came back.”
Junmyeon shoots Kyungsoo an involuntary look as he stutters over his answer and Kyungsoo bites back a groan. As if Kai wasn’t already curious enough. Kyungsoo knows nothing, he knows nothing but what he Needs To Know. If he says it enough times, maybe he’ll start to believe it. Maybe he’ll stop having dreams about acrobats dressed in green shooting him before he even has time to turn around, fire licking up around him as he screams.
“Once what?” Kai asks, gaze hardening as he glares at Kyungsoo.
“I said once he came back,” Junmyeon says shortly, dropping the picture back into the folder and shutting it. “Let me know what Xiumin says. This could be interesting. Command is still deciding where you send you two next. We had hoped the Golden Dragon would prove to be more than a single branch of K.E.X.O. but obviously we have more digging to do before we find the roots.”
“I’ll go talk to him right now,” Kyungsoo says quickly, standing and walking out of the room before Junmyeon-or Kai-can say anything more. However, it doesn’t take long for him to hear soft footsteps behind him, and when he does Kyungsoo lets out a long-suffering sigh. Kai always walks so lightly, so gracefully. Kyungsoo rubs his hip ruefully and wonders if he would have been just as graceful if he hadn’t taken a bullet to the side at age fifteen.
“Who was the Chinese expert before Minseok?” Kai demands, falling into step beside Kyungsoo.
“I can’t tell you,” Kyungsoo says, but Kai presses on completely unfazed.
“Who was the acrobat that we saw in London?”
“I don’t know.”
“How come you’re allowed to know Minseok’s real name but I’m not allowed to tell you anything about myself?”
“Names are fluid, easy to change, a name means nothing to an agent.”
“Do you know Suho’s real name?”
“Real is relative. But yes.”
“Will you tell me?”
“No.”
“What happened to your parents?”
At this Kyungsoo stop dead, Kai sweeping right past him before backpedaling quickly.
“Why do you want to know?” he asks sharply, and Kai at least has the decency to look embarrassed, though his sheepish grin quickly fades when he sees the look on Kyungsoo’s face.
“Just trying to even the playing field,” Kai says with a noncommittal shrug, but his eyes are burning with curiosity and something that looks suspiciously like pity. Kyungsoo hates it.
“If there’s one thing you learn as an agent,” Kyungsoo says, continuing his brisk walk down the hallway. “It’s that there’s no such thing as an even playing field. You have to assume you’re always at a disadvantage.”
“Sounds kind of depressing,” Kai comments, brushing dark hair out of his eyes. Kyungsoo is careful not to look at him.
“You’re such a child,” Kyungsoo spits, but instead of looking offended Kai just gives him a contemplative glance.
“How old are you anyway?” he asks, smiling slightly when Kyungsoo glares at him and doesn’t answer.
It’s not until they step into the elevator, watching the little glowing numbers tick steadily upwards, that Kyungsoo suddenly feels like the silence is too thick, like it’s suffocating him. Damn Kim Kai. Damn him.
“We were on vacation,” Kyungsoo says softly, and Kai’s head snaps upwards, eyes focusing immediately on his face. “We were in Greece, on this little island. All I remember is fire.”
“Fire,” Kai repeats wonderingly, but Kyungsoo presses on as if he hasn’t spoken, feeling like he’s spilling his insides out onto the grimy elevator floor all in the name of filling a silence.
“They were being followed, but they didn’t know it,” Kyungsoo continuess, keeping his voice as cool and even as possible. He’s never told this story to anyone else before, but he’s told it to himself enough times that the words have become worn, familiar, almost comforting. “They were both E.X.O. agents, and everyone had told them to be more careful, to spend less time together outside of base. Nobody really knows who killed them. It could have been any number of people. E.X.O. makes a lot of enemies. But everyone thinks K.E.X.O. had something to do with it.”
“But,” Kai ventures as Kyungsoo heaves in a breath. “But why didn’t they kill you when they killed your parents?”
“Who knows?” Kyungsoo says with a shrug, as if he hasn’t spent endless nights awake wondering the exact same thing. As if he hasn’t woken up screaming more nights than he can count begging them to kill him too, take him instead of his parents, instead of his partners, instead of his friends. “Maybe they didn’t see me as a threat. Maybe they didn’t notice me at all.”
“Seems kind of strange,” Kai muses, almost to himself. “Leaving alive a little kid old enough to remember what had happened, old enough to hold a grudge, build up some kind of revenge complex.”
“That’s the thing, though,” Kyungsoo says slowly, and he wonders if the air in the elevator has somehow turned to water because he feels like he’s drowning. “I don’t remember anything else. Just fire.”
“That’s all?” Kai asks in disbelief, just as the elevator dings and the doors slide open accommodatingly. A man is standing there waiting-someone Kyungsoo recognizes from past meetings with Minseok. They nod to each other before Kyungsoo and Kai exit the elevator and head down the hallway towards Minseok’s office. But the man has broken the spell.
“You know what?” Kyungsoo says when they reach the door. “Forget it. Forget all of it. It’s not important. And, for all you know, I made the whole thing up.”
With that, Kyungsoo swings the door open, pretending he doesn’t see the way Kai’s eyes narrow at his words. Minseok looks up as they walk in, and smiles when he sees Kyungsoo. It’s always been a bit strange to Kyungsoo when people are happy to see him. Even after so much time around Junmyeon and Minseok-and now Kai, he supposes-he can’t quite shake the feeling that they’re going to follow up that smile with a gun pressed against his temple.
“You here about the picture?” Minseok asks, waving around the photograph in question. Kyungsoo can see that he’s copied out the characters, and their translation, onto a pad of paper sitting besides a still-steaming mug of coffee.
“Yup!” Kai chirps happily, sitting down in the chair across from Minseok and leaning forward in interest. Kyungsoo thinks wryly that one day he’s going to get whiplash from his partner’s mood swings. Nobody should be able to go from serious to happy that quickly.
“Well, it was fairly simple to translate the words,” Minseok says, handing the pad of paper to Kai. “Though some of them were a little hard to read-the ink had started to wear off. But they don’t make any sense by themselves. It must be some kind of code.”
“Hmm,” Kai hums, examining the words printed neatly across the page.
“Dragon apple fox phoenix muddy,” Minseok recites, as Kyungsoo leans over to get a better look at the paper. “I have no idea what that could mean.”
“K.E.X.O. likes mystical creatures?” Kai suggests, and Minseok snorts in amusement.
“No matter what it means, it’s an ingenious way to carry messages,” Minseok says, leaning back in his chair and picking up a different photograph of the leotard. “Even if you searched through everything in their luggage you’d never think to look inside one of their costumes.”
Ink is a powerful thing, Kyungsoo. Whether it’s on people’s bodies, their clothes, their belongings, it can tell stories. Or send messages. Don’t you think?
Kyungsoo coughs loudly, hoping the noise will cover his sharp intake of breath as the memory drips acidly into his mind. It seems to work-Minseok and Kai are both focused on the photographs-and Kyungsoo feels slightly relieved.
“It doesn’t really seem like any code I’ve ever seen,” he says thoughtfully, reaching down and plucking the paper from Kai’s hand. He sees Kai’s eyes widen when their fingers brush and realizes with a start that he’s never actually touched Kai before, at least not without the intent to injure him.
“But what else could it be?” Minseok asks, staring hard at the letters as if willing them to reform into something intelligible.
“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo says slowly, but the gears in his brain are whirring. “It seems almost like…each word stands for something, you know? Like, ‘dragon’ could be the Golden Dragon?”
“Maybe…” Kai says thoughtfully, staring out the window. “But then what about ‘apple’? Or ‘muddy’? What could those possibly stand for?”
“I have no idea,” Minseok sighs, just as his phone rings. As he reaches over to pick it up, Kyungsoo exchanges a frustrated look with Kai. Then he grins at how familiar it feels-the camaraderie of being confused together.
“We’ll figure it out,” Kai says firmly, just as Minseok hangs up the phone and sighs.
“We’ll all keep working on it,” he says. “And, meanwhile, it looks like you two are heading to New York.”
“Ever since you came back with information about the people involved in the Golden Dragon,” Junmyeon says hurriedly as they’re striding down the corridor, “we’ve been monitoring their communications. And in the past few days they’ve made several calls that we’ve traced to New York-specifically, the headquarters of Wu Enterprises.”
“Wu Enterprises is involved with K.E.X.O.?” Kyungsoo asks in astonishment, struggling a bit to keep up with Junmyeon’s brisk pace. Sure, he can outrun a fleet of people with guns but that doesn’t mean he can keep up with Junmyeon when he gets going.
“I mean, that’s what I said!” Junmyeon exclaims happily. He’s always so happy when they uncover some new interesting piece of information. “But then I thought about it and is it really so surprising? Everyone’s heard rumors about their shady business deals, why would it be too far-fetched to believe that they’ve made some kind of deal with K.E.X.O.?”
“And it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve been middlemen in illegal transactions,” Kai says excitedly. “I bet K.E.X.O’s paying them a lot more than anyone else, too.”
“They’ve been middlemen before? How do you know?” Kyungsoo asks in surprise, as even Junmyeon slows down to stare at Kai. He suddenly looks a bit pale, but quickly manages to recover himself and flashes them a brittle grin.
“That’s just what I’ve heard,” Kai explains, walking on and drawing them with him. “It’s not like I have proof, but it would make sense, wouldn’t it?”
“It would,” Junmyeon says, already moving on from Kai’s slip. “In that case, let’s see, what can we have you two do…”
Kyungsoo gives Kai a hard look but Kai ignores him, encouraging Junmyeon on with the plan slowly taking shape in his head. For the first time, Kyungsoo realizes that he might not be the only one keeping secrets.
“Okay, so what if!” Junmyeon practically giggles. “What if you and Kyungsoo were two investors. Top investors! Lots of cash. But you rarely appear out in public, which would explain how they hadn’t heard about you before.”
“Sounds promising, keep going,” Kai says with a laugh, and Kyungsoo drags himself out of his bitter musings. He’s stuck with Kai for the time being and he’s seemed pretty trustworthy so far-though Kyungsoo knows better than anyone how misleading looks can be. He’ll just have to keep a closer eye on him.
“And that way you’ll hopefully get to meet with some top-level executives,” Junmyeon says happily. Kyungsoo can practically see floor plans, plane tickets, business suits flicking through his mind. “And if you can steal one of their access cards, then you’ll be able to come back after hours-I can probably get you into the building, if the person you grab isn’t high enough up on the corporate ladder…”
“I never got why they call it the Big Apple,” Kai says as they near the city, watching skyscrapers rise steadily along the horizon.
“It actually has to do with horse racing,” Kyungsoo says eagerly, before remembering that no one really likes to hear his random history facts. He doesn’t know how he gets all this information in his brain-he just likes knowing things no one else knows. Call it a side effect of his childhood if you want, Kyungsoo doesn’t mind. He’s used to that.
God, Kyungsoo, I don’t know how you know everything about everything but could you stop just once in a while? Honestly, if I wanted to know why they call it the Big Apple I’d ask. Can you at least pretend we’re about to be fighting for our lives and not attending a fucking garden party?
“Really?” Kai says, and to Kyungsoo’s surprise he actually looks interested. “What about horse racing?”
“Well,” Kyungsoo begins to say, but then the pilot comes on the loudspeaker and the rest of Kyungsoo’s explanation is drowned in a rush of static. Even though he knows Kai can’t hear a single thing he’s saying, the fact that he’s gazing at Kyungsoo anyway with attentive eyes makes Kyungsoo smile.
“That’s it,” Kyungsoo says later, pointing out the window as they glide along slippery streets, rain beading on the car windows as prettily as on the mirrored sides of the enormous skyscrapers they’re passing.
“Whoa!” Kai breathes, craning his neck roughly to the side as he struggles to see the top of the building through the clouds. “I thought Seoul had huge buildings but this is something else!”
“When are you going to learn?” Kyungsoo sighs as he deals Kai a wicked kick to the shin that has him howling in pain, curling down to cradle his injured leg with a glare.
“What, now I can’t even talk about places I’ve been?” Kai says angrily, and Kyungsoo suddenly realizes what he’s done.
“Oh,” he says dumbly, wishing he could tear his eyes away from Kai’s accusatory glare. “I just thought you were…never mind. Sorry.”
“Ha, at last an apology!” Kai says, raising a fist in triumph, and Kyungsoo can’t contain the small grin that slips out as he rolls his eyes. “Maybe I’ve lived in Seoul, maybe I haven’t, but apparently you’ll never know.”
“That’s the way this works,” Kyungsoo says with a shrug. The car pulls up to the curb and Kyungsoo is quick to put up his umbrella as he steps out onto the damp sidewalk. He hates getting wet. It weighs him down, makes it harder to see, and it catches on the smoke he can always almost taste in his throat, thickening it, choking him.
“Wu Enterprises,” Kai reads with a laugh, running a hand over the enormous silver letters spread across the thick glass of the building’s front entrance.
“I guess they haven’t put up their motto yet,” Kyungsoo smirks. “See, usually here underneath the name it says, in smaller font, We don’t fuck around.”
For a few terribly silent seconds Kai says nothing, simply staring at Kyungsoo like he’s grown another head. But then he’s laughing, howling so hard he has to clutch his sides for support, and soon Kyungsoo is laughing as well, the two of them cackling together under Kyungsoo’s umbrella as passers-by stare in concern or amusement.
“That was-you are-” Kai snickers, drawing in deep lungfuls of air as he leans against the wall to catch his breath. “When did you get a sense of humor?”
“What!” Kyungsoo sniffs in mock-annoyance. “I’ve always had a sense of humor! It’s probably just too refined for ruffians like you.”
“Ruff-did you just say ‘ruffians’?” Kai gasps, dissolving into another fit of laughter. Kyungsoo’s stomach is sore and his face aches and he can’t even remember the last time he felt this happy.
“Excuse me,” a deep, polite voice suddenly says from behind them, and Kyungsoo and Kai whirl around, doing their best to appear completely normal. As Kyungsoo’s emotionless mask slides into place, he’s surprised to see that Kai looks equally unperturbed. Maybe the kid has promise after all.
“Yes, sir?” Kyungsoo asks hesitantly, smoothing down the sleeves of the suit Junmyeon had handed him mere hours ago. “How can we help you?”
“Well, actually, you stole my question,” the man says pleasantly, eyes sliding away from Kyungsoo’s to glance at Kai. “Are you here to visit Wu Enterprises?”
“As a matter of fact, we are,” Kai says happily. Kyungsoo shoots him a glance and when Kai meets his eyes the both of them struggle to contain another burst of laughter. Kyungsoo doesn’t even know what’s so funny anymore, but it’s somehow hard to look away.
“Excellent!” the man says, reaching up to smooth back his neatly gelled hair. He’s tall, Kyungsoo thinks in annoyance as the man leads them into the building and up an escalator. Once they’ve been deposited on the upper floor, Kyungsoo begins to move towards the reception desks only to find his way blocked by several feet of designer suit jacket.
“Is there a problem?” Kyungsoo asks, eyes flicking back and forth as he scans the exits. They could probably survive a jump to the lower floor, but the question is whether they would simply be jumping into a sea of guards. The fire escape he can just barely make out at the other end of the entrance hall might be the better option.
“No problem at all,” the man says in that low, soothing voice. “I just figured we could move right along to the big office, Mr.-“
“Kim, of Kim&Kim Investment,” Kyungsoo says quickly, though inside he groans at Junmyeon’s intense lack of creativity and plausibility. Of course he had thought naming their fake firm “Kim&Kim” was very clever, but Kyungsoo just thought it was stupid. And gave too much credit to Kai, since Kim was his name, not Kyungsoo’s, and Kyungsoo thinks he deserves to have a made-up company named after him for once, thank you very much.
“Then you must be the other Kim,” the man says, smiling brightly at Kai. Kyungsoo counts a few too many teeth for it to be friendly.
“Am I allowed to ask how you know?” Kai says smoothly, and Kyungsoo feels a strange rush of gratitude towards Kai’s ability to talk to anyone about anything.
“Well, you two may live largely out of the public eye but that doesn’t mean no one’s ever taken a photo of you,” the man says with a lopsided grin that Kai easily returns. “We make it a point to meet potential investors as soon as they arrive, just to show that we mean business and can be very accommodating.”
“Well, you’re halfway to having me convinced,” Kai laughs, straightening the lapels of his jacket. “But I assume we’re being taken to talk business?”
“Right this way,” the man says with a broad grin that makes the hair on the back of Kyungsoo’s neck stand up. That’s never a good sign, in all his years of going on missions it’s never been a good sign. Kyungsoo rubs the back of his neck and reminds himself that no one would be stupid enough to pull a knife on them while they’re still in a crowded lobby. Even if Kyungsoo would kind of like the man to, because at least then he’d have a chance to fight back and maybe get rid of some of the adrenaline surging through his body.
The man leads them to an elevator-of course he does, Kyungsoo thinks viciously-and as the floors slowly flick past Kyungsoo is careful never to take his eyes off their host. Kai seems much less concerned, wandering over to exclaim at the city spreading below the enormous panes of glass.
“Stunning, even if you’re like me and lack a certain fondness for heights,” the man says, clasping his hands behind his back and taking a step backwards towards the more solid-seeming-or at least not transparent-elevator door. Kyungsoo watches every quick movement of his patent leather shoes but the man doesn’t make a single suspicious motion. This makes Kyungsoo even more anxious.
“This way,” the man motions when they’ve reached the top floor. Kyungsoo has to actually grab Kai’s arm and pull him along, since he appears to be transfixed by the scene before them. Kyungsoo has to admit he’s rarely seen a more luxuriously furnished office space. The entryway is paved with swirling marble but further inside thick white rugs cover the floor, offset by stylish leather couches and desks made of some dark, polished wood. It looks almost like a penthouse apartment, rather than an office.
“Mr. Wu certainly likes to work in comfort,” Kyungsoo says, letting a hint of awe and appreciation slip into his voice.
“A little comfort never hurts,” the man says with a quick smile, and just as Kyungsoo is about to respond, a voice calls to them from the far side of the room. All three of them turn to see a man sitting on top of a granite countertop, swinging his feet-also wearing patent leather shoes, Kyungsoo notices-nonchalantly back and forth.
“What’s this? Visitors?” the man smirks, lazily cocking an eyebrow as he takes in Kai and Kyungsoo.
“Ah, you must be-” Kai starts to say, only to have the man heave himself off the table and step forward, cutting him off.
“Baekhyun. Baekhyun Byun,” he says with a sly smile, reaching out to shake Kai’s hand. He holds on just a bit too long and Kyungsoo has to restrain himself from jumping forward and throwing Baekhyun to the ground. “God, doesn’t it get tiring having to remember to say your surname after your first name? Americans, I swear.”
“These are our Kims,” the man standing behind them laughs, and Kyungsoo realizes with a start why he’d looked vaguely familiar. Maybe he should have spent a bit more time looking at those target photos Junmyeon had given him.
“Then you must be Mr. Wu!” he exclaims, as the man laughs pleasantly. “I’m so sorry we didn’t recognize you-”
“Don’t worry about it, and please call me Yifan,” the man says, as Baekhyun walks over to stand beside him. “I do try to surprise people whenever I can. It helps me to get a feel for them before they’ve started trying to sell me something. Although in the case of you two it’s us who are selling to you., I suppose”
“Selling ourselves, as it were,” Baekhyun adds wryly, laughing when Yifan elbows him in the side with a disgruntled expression. “Oh, please don’t tell me you two are going to be scared off by a sense of humor.”
“Of course not!” Kai laughs, leaning back against the countertop Baekhyun has so recently vacated. When Kyungsoo glances at him he marvels at the way Kai looks so at ease. The first time Kyungsoo had ever pretended to be a businessman he’d been terrified, sure he’d forget some term or sit the wrong way and get discovered within five minutes.
“Excellent!” Baekhyun says with a smile. “Then you also won’t mind if I do this, right?”
And suddenly he reaches up, grabs Yifan’s tie, and yanks him down until their mouths are pressed together. Baekhyun kisses hungrily, all harsh taking, but Yifan gives as much as Baekhyun takes and Kyungsoo begins to feel extremely uncomfortable. He wishes his pants were a bit looser and especially that Kai was standing a bit farther away. He’s so close Kyungsoo can smell him-some light cologne that reminds Kyungsoo of trees and mint and comfort. It’s very distracting. Kyungsoo thinks about asking him not to wear it anymore, but he can’t quite come up with a good excuse.
“Well?” Baekhyun asks breathlessly when he finally tears himself away from Yifan, cheeks pink and hair rumpled. Kyungsoo is so pleased to notice that Baekhyun is just as short as he is that he takes a few seconds too long to answer.
“Hot,” Kai says dryly into the silence, immediately melting the tension. Kyungsoo wants to kick himself for getting so distracted. It’s not Kai’s job to save the day, to make sure this mission is a success. It’s his, Kyungsoo’s, the one who’s never known what it feels like to not be an agent, who doesn’t have any of Kai’s stories but also none of Kai’s faults.
“Well, looks like we might just want your money after all,” Baekhyun grins, grabbing Yifan’s arm and linking their fingers together. Yifan still looks vaguely embarrassed, but Kyungsoo notices that he doesn’t try to pull away. It’s not until Baekhyun turns around and leads them over to one of the enormous wooden desks that Kyungsoo remembers what they’re really there for. Because lying there, in plain sight on top of a pile of papers, is a slim gold paperweight shaped into what looks like three interconnected rings twisted into strange shapes. The symbol-those rings-seem familiar, but Kyungsoo can’t quite place them.
“You like it?” Baekhyun asks, a sly smile slipping across his lips as he notices Kyungsoo staring at the paperweight. “It was a gift from a former client. A very wealthy former client who we managed to make very happy indeed.”
“Just one of many, in case you were wondering,” Yifan adds from where he’s standing at Baekhyun’s shoulder. Now that Kyungsoo is sitting down Yifan looks even taller, oddly reminiscent of those bodyguards Kyungsoo once saw in Rio. Well, “saw” might not quite be the right term.
“You do seem like a fairly reliable investment right now,” Kai says from Kyungsoo’s left, and when Kyungsoo glances over he sees Kai leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “Stock prices are up, you’re bringing competing companies to their knees every day, and rumors about your shady practices are currently unconfirmed.”
“What more could you ask for in a successful multinational corporation?” Baekhyun sighs, leaning back as well and studying his perfectly polished fingernails. Kyungsoo wonders idly if Baekhyun knows how to shoot a gun.
“Well, that’s just it,” Kai says slowly, holding Baekhyun’s eyes as a small smile plays across his lips. “There’s a reason we’re coming to you with our money, and it doesn’t have to do with any of those things.”
“You mean you’re here because you’ve heard we don’t play nice,” Yifan says with a dark chuckle.
“I didn’t say it,” Kai smiles, throwing up his hands in a gesture of mock surrender. Baekhyun snorts ungracefully before recovering himself. Reaching across the desk, he picks up the paperweight and absentmindedly runs his fingers over its smooth surface.
“And just what do you need that you think we can help you with?” he says slowly. When he looks back at Kai his eyes are hard and dangerous.
“We actually know a little something about that old customer of yours,” Kai replies, staring right back at Baekhyun. Kyungsoo shoots him a worried glance, not quite sure where he’s going with this, but Kai ignores him, keeping his gaze focused on the man sitting across from him.
“Oh, really?” Baekhyun raises an interested eyebrow. “You don’t seem like the type.”
“Are you sure you’ve actually dealt with people like that before?” Kai asks softly, and the question sounds innocent but his voice is poisonously sweet. Kyungsoo’s heard far too many people use that exact same tone of voice before erupting, and obviously Baekhyun has too because he immediately leans forward and clasps his hands together.
“I’m not usually one to question people who want to give me ridiculous sums of money,” he breathes pleasantly. “But perhaps you don’t know who you’re dealing with. You’re practically a child.”
“Oh, really?” Kai asks, leaning forward as well, elbows planted firmly on the desktop. “Because it seems like one of us here was stupid enough to try to cross someone they shouldn’t have, and it certainly wasn’t me.”
To Kyungsoo’s surprise, and Yifan’s apparently since they both lean in at the same time to ask if Baekhyun is all right, all the blood drains from Baekhyun’s face and he clenches his fingers until the knuckles turn white. He lurches forward as if to grab Kai’s neck but at the last moment regains control, settling back in his chair and dropping his hands into his lap. Kai looks incredibly pleased with himself, smirking at Baekhyun before dropping his eyes to his watch as if bored with the whole situation.
“I’m just trying to ensure the safety of my investment,” Kai continues, easily meeting Baekhyun’s livid gaze. “Surely you understand.”
“Of course he does,” Yifan says smoothly, slipping closer to Baekhyun’s side and placing a restraining hand on his shoulder. Baekhyun tries to shrug it off but when Yifan resists he simply sighs, slowly beginning to regain his normal color.
“Despite what you may think you know,” Baekhyun says icily, and Kyungsoo sees Yifan’s hand tighten imperceptibly around his shoulder. “Once we make a mistake, we never do it again. We are more than prepared to deal with whatever you might have in mind.”
“Good, good,” Kai says happily, clapping his hands together like they’ve just come to an amicable agreement and Baekhyun doesn’t look like he wants to rip his head off. “My partner and I will discuss it and meet with you again tomorrow?”
“Perfect,” Yifan replies with a smile, quickly stepping forward to usher them out of the room and back into the hallway. Once there, he closes the door quietly behind him and says earnestly, “I’m so sorry about Baekhyun. He can be a bit…unconventional…at times. But I promise the rest of our team and I are much more discreet.”
“I should hope so,” Kai murmurs silkily, before giving Yifan a wide smile and sauntering out the door, dragging Kyungsoo in his wake. It’s not until they’re inside the elevator and the doors have slid closed that Kai relaxes, slumping so hard against Kyungsoo’s side that Kyungsoo nearly topples over.
“Whoa! Are you okay?” Kyungsoo croaks, voice scratchy from not being used almost the entire time they’d been talking with Baekhyun and Yifan.
“I am so tired!” Kai whines, but he seems to notice Kyungsoo’s discomfort and goes back to keeping himself up with his own legs. “But hey, we did good, right?”
“That is terrible grammar,” Kyungsoo sniffs, though he can’t help but laugh when Kai frowns and widens his eyes sadly. “But yeah. We did. You did.”
Kai looks so self-satisfied that Kyungsoo almost forgets the way Baekhyun’s face had been clouded with anger and fear. Not a look you generally see on successful businessmen.
“How did you know-” Kyungsoo asks hesitantly, carefully watching Kai’s face. “About their previous job not going quite so smoothly?”
“Just a lucky guess,” Kai shrugs, face smooth and impassive, and Kyungsoo finally realizes that Kai is just like his other partners. He can’t trust him. He’ll never be able to trust anyone.
“Well, nice work,” Kyungsoo says with a warm grin he doesn’t feel, turning back to face the elevator door.
“And now we’re set for tonight,” Kai says slyly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a thin piece of plastic that he hands gently over to Kyungsoo. It takes Kyungsoo a few moments to figure out what exactly he’s holding, but when he does he nearly falls over in shock.
“How did you! When?” Kyungsoo gasps, mind immediately back-tracking to all the moments Kai would have been close enough to Yifan to steal his access card. They’re few and far between, and Kyungsoo fights the urge to slap himself in the face. Just when he thinks Kai is starting to act like a real agent he goes and does something that could get them both killed.
“It’s something I picked up,” Kai grins, but his smile falters when he sees the look on Kyungsoo’s face. “Uh-oh. Am I in trouble again?”
“Kai,” Kyungsoo says through gritted teeth. “Remind me what Suho told you to do when we were back at base?”
“Get in here, get someone’s access card, come back at night and look for anything suspicious that might connect Wu Enterprises to K.E.X.O.?” Kai recounts slowly, wrinkling his nose as he tries to figure out what he’s done wrong.
“Yeah, someone’s access card,” Kyungsoo hisses, just as the elevator dings and the doors begin to slide open. Quickly, he wipes off the card with his shirt to get rid of any fingerprints and tosses it to the floor over in the corner.
“Hey!” Kai starts to protest, but Kyungsoo grabs his arm and drags him out of the elevator before he can finish.
“Look, it’s one thing to steal the access card of some random office worker or security guard,” Kyungsoo explains as they hurry out of the lobby and down into the street. “But it’s another to take the card of the guy who runs the entire company.”
“But a random security guard’s card won’t get us in everywhere we need to go,” Kai insists, huffing a little as Kyungsoo walks briskly ahead. “Like that top-floor penthouse! And if we can’t get in there what’s the point?”
“Look, there are other ways to get into places like that,” Kyungsoo says roughly, gazing up at the gloomy sky above them. Looks like rain. “But if you had taken Yifan’s card we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. We would probably be dodging security guards with guns. And in a few hours this whole place would have been on lockdown as they changed all their access codes. Actually, you know what, maybe we should have taken it. I haven’t been shot at in ages and I’m starting to feel a little paranoid.”
Kai laughs, shaking his head ruefully. Kyungsoo knows he thinks he’s joking. He’s not.
“Okay, well, I guess that makes sense,” Kai says. “But then how exactly are we going to get back in? Now we don’t have anything.”
“You’re not the only one who knows how to pickpocket,” Kyungsoo smirks, holding up the card of a guard who had had the misfortune to brush a little too closely by them as they walked through the lobby. Kai laughs again, louder this time, and claps Kyungsoo on the shoulder. The motion sends an unexpected jolt of pleasure through him and Kyungsoo suddenly wonders what it would have been like to have friends as a child-people like the friends Kai had talked about, who want to spend time with you and talk to you and hug you when you’re sad and slap you on the back when you make a bad joke. He suddenly wants to ask Kai to tell him more about what it was like. But then the first few drops of rain start falling and Kyungsoo remembers where they are, and who he is, and simply walks faster, daring Kai to keep up.
They get into the building without a hitch, Junmyeon assuring them tinnily in their ears that he’s taken care of the cameras. Just in case, they’re both dressed in the guard uniforms Junmyeon had pressed into their hands the moment they’d met him in what he’d called a “temporary base of operations” and Kai had called “so, your hotel room” while Kyungsoo laughed. When Kai flashes their stolen badge and turns to give Kyungsoo the all clear, Kyungsoo has to struggle not to think about how good Kai looks. The kid would make a good policeman. Or at least a terribly attractive one.
Rushing to get away from such strange, unwarranted, and completely unwanted thoughts, Kyungsoo steps through the door, gun raised, and scans the lobby for any sign of movement. They’ve come in through a door near the back of the room, which means luckily they’re hidden in shadow, and Kyungsoo doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Strange. Usually in a place this big there’d be at least two or three bored nighttime guards strolling the perimeter and wondering how much longer they had left in their shift. Kyungsoo has done enough all-night stakeouts to empathize.
“Okay, so now let’s head for the elevators,” Kyungsoo whispers, mostly for Junmyeon’s benefit on the other end of the line because he knows Kai has the plan memorized to the letter. Kyungsoo made him recite it twice before they left.
As they dash across the darkened lobby Kyungsoo is already tensed for the gunshots, the alarms, the shouting. He knows they’re coming-they always come. It’s just a matter of now or later. He can hear his own breath rattling loud in his throat, almost loud enough to drown out the sirens wailing in his memory, the phantom pain blooming in his hip as he feels an invisible bullet pierce his flesh. He stumbles, then, but before Kai has a chance to turn or ask if he’s all right Kyungsoo has recovered, steeling himself the way he always does during a mission. It’s safer to be made of steel, he’s found over the years. Steel doesn’t burn.
“Okay, Suho,” Kyungsoo whispers as the elevator doors close in front of them. Normally Kyungsoo makes it a point to avoid elevators during missions. They’re enclosed, easy to manipulate from the outside, and easily destroyed with a good pair of wire cutters. But this time it seems they don’t have a choice-the floorplans Junmyeon had managed to find showed the stairs ending at around the 40th floor. Probably for exactly the reasons Kyungsoo just listed, Wu Enterprises wants anyone going to the top floors to have to take the elevator.
“I’m on it,” Junmyeon replies, filling the line with the sound of keys clicking as he tries to find the right access code to get them up.
“Remind me why we didn’t just go up the outside of the building?” Kai says, voice loud in the small space. Kyungsoo fights the urge to hush him because he knows no one can hear them outside. The only way they’ll be found is if a guard decides they want to use the elevator. It’s just force of habit for Kyungsoo to be silent when he’s working. He keeps forgetting that Kai is never silent.
“Then how exactly would we get into the office?” Kyungsoo replies, fingers sliding over the comfortingly cold metal of his gun.
“Break a window!” Kai sighs, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“You do know that we aren’t trying to get caught,” Kyungsoo snorts, watching as the access light on the elevator flickers, Junmyeon’s tapping loud in his ears. “Breaking a window would set off every alarm in the place.”
“Not if you break the right one,” Kai says with a short laugh, but before Kyungsoo can ask him what he means the light they’ve been watching turns green, Junmyeon cheering quietly in their ears.
“Okay, you’re on,” he says. “Remember-Kyungsoo. If possible we want you to get out without a single shot being fired. That means avoid guards, don’t kill them. Don’t try to open any safes without my help. And please don’t break any windows. Kai.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ve got it,” Kyungsoo mutters, rolling his eyes as the elevator doors slowly slide open. The top floor is pitch black, but the instant Kyungsoo edges tentatively out of the elevator a sensor clicks and the entire room is instantly flooded with light.
“Shit!” Kyungsoo hisses as he ducks and slides quickly behind a nearby couch. Kai follows him, already grumbling about getting caught and hasn’t Kyungsoo ever heard of automatic lights? Kyungsoo ignores him.
“Suho,” Kyungsoo whispers, ears straining to hear the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. His fingers slide down to brush anxiously against his gun. “Can you turn these fucking lights off?”
“Give me a minute,” Junmyeon hisses, the tapping in Kyungsoo’s ears even louder than before. “The lights are tied into the main environmental controls but I can’t find the commands for the top floor-there.”
The room goes dark again. Having lost any semblance of night vision he might have gained on the way up, Kyungsoo waits in place for several seconds, squeezing his eyes shut, willing the mask of yellow dots to disappear from his vision. When it finally does, he stands cautiously, only to see Kai already halfway across the room examining something on Baekhyun’s desk.
“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo huffs as he joins Kai over by the table, watching him set down the enormous stack of precariously balanced papers he’d just picked up.
“What do you mean?” Kai asks in confusion. “I’m looking for clues.”
“Yeah, but we’re a team,” Kyungsoo sighs in frustration. “You can’t just run off and do whatever you want.”
“Oh,” Kai says slyly, and when Kyungsoo looks over at him he sees that he’s grinning broadly. “So we’re a team now? You really mean it?”
“Shut up,” Kyungsoo growls, but he can’t keep the smile out of his voice as he pushes past Kai and yanks open a nearby filing cabinet.
They work in silence for a few moments, Kyungsoo glancing around the office every few seconds, sure that it won’t be long until they trip some sort of security alarm. Then he won’t have any qualms about breaking a window. He’s so focused that he nearly takes Kai’s head off when he suddenly grabs Kyungsoo’s arm.
“What the hell are you doing?” Kai hisses as he ducks just in time to avoid Kyungsoo’s fist.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that,” Kyungsoo snaps angrily, dropping his hand to his side and flicking through another stack of papers with his gloved hands. They seem to document an exchange between Yifan and Baekhyun concerning a buyout of a major competitor. Boring.
“Isn’t it your job to make sure no one can sneak up on you?” Kai says, raising an eyebrow. Kyungsoo ignores him, moving forward to look at what Kai’s holding in his hands.
“Well?” Kyungsoo asks, reaching for the dark object. “What did you find?”
“You know that-ah-paperweight?” Kai says, yanking the object out of Kyungsoo’s grasp. “Well, I looked on the bottom, and there was something written on it.”
“What, etched into the metal?” Kyungsoo asks curiously, holding out his hands again. Kai suddenly seems to realize that he’s holding the paperweight out of reach and sheepishly hands it over. Kyungsoo flips it over to examine the bottom, but he can’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“No, not like that,” Kai says in amusement as he watches Kyungsoo turn the paperweight over and over in his hands. “Look, on the other side of that ring.”
“I don’t see anything,” Kyungsoo grumbles, shoving the paperweight back into Kai’s hands with a frustrated sigh. “But if you think there’s something there, let’s bag it up and bring it back to Suho.”
“No, look,” Kai hisses, grabbing Kyungsoo’s arm again and pulling him into the puddle of moonlight spilling through the enormous windows. This time Kyungsoo doesn’t pull away. Standing there, bathed in moonlight, Kai looks strangely otherworldy, ethereal. Even his skin is glowing with a pale silver sheen.
Shaking his head, Kyungsoo focuses once again on the paperweight Kai’s holding. And this time he sees it. The words are printed neatly onto the metal-small enough to be practically unnoticeable. They’re written in some sort of strange shiny substance that glimmers dully in the moonlight but fades out whenever Kai’s hand shifts.
“What is that?” Kyungsoo asks interestedly, pulling the paperweight gently out of Kai’s hand and moving it back and forth-watching the letters melt in and out of sight.
“Oil,” Kai says simply. Kyungsoo hums in appreciation. Genius. “Only possible to notice in direct light. Something the bottom of a paperweight wouldn’t see very often.”
“But this…” Kyungsoo breathes, finally making out what the letters actually say. “This is the same message-”
“That we found on that leotard? I know,” Kai says quickly, folding his arms across his chest thoughtfully.
“Almost the same,” Kyungsoo corrects, squinting as if that will help him better decipher the nearly-transparent letters. “It’s missing the first part.”
“What?” Kai asks in disbelief, grabbing the paperweight out of Kyungsoo’s hands to examine it himself. Kyungsoo holds back a growl of annoyance. Although he supposes he has to give Kai points for finding the message in the first place.
“See for yourself,” Kyungsoo says, as if Kai isn’t already. “This one just says, fox phoenix muddy. It’s missing the dragon apple part.”
“Wow, how did you remember that?” Kai asks, sounding impressed. Kyungsoo’s suddenly glad that it’s dark in the office because he can feel a blush rising to his cheeks before he can push it away.
“I told you, I just remember things,” he says, shooting another look around the room. “And if we’ve found what we’re looking for, I think we really ought to get out of here. A room this ostentatious, there’s no way they haven’t put in a ton of security systems to protect it.”
“Let’s go then,” Kai smiles, leading the way to the elevator. As the doors slide closed, Kyungsoo watches for any signs of movement in the shadows. There are none. The office is as deserted as it had been before they’d come. It’s unsettling.
“I’ve found the security cameras installed in that office and switched their feed with a loop from earlier tonight,” Junmyeon informs them as they plummet downwards.
“Perfect,” Kyungsoo says, sliding the paperweight into a small bag and attaching it securely to his belt. “We’re on our way out.”
“Just be careful to-” Junmyeon starts to say, but his words are suddenly cut off by the ding of the elevator doors opening.
Kyungsoo immediately reaches for his gun, already thinking of three different ways they can make it out of the enclosed elevator and behind some kind of shelter, each way optimized for a different number of potential assailants. The last thing he expects is Kai’s hand snapping up to force his arm back down, grip surprisingly strong as he pulls at Kyungsoo’s fingers until they uncurl from the gun already halfway out of its holster. Kyungsoo considers breaking Kai’s fingers and drawing the gun anyway-the thought suddenly flashes through his mind that Kai is some kind of traitor trying to get him killed-but it’s too late because someone is already stepping into the elevator with them.
It’s another guard, dressed in the same uniform they’re wearing, and to Kyungsoo’s surprise he gives them a lopsided smile when he sees them standing in the corner, Kai’s hand still gripping Kyungsoo’s arm.
“Long night, huh?” Kai says, moving away from Kyungsoo as soon as he’s sure Kyungsoo isn’t going to start shooting.
“God, I’ll say!” the man laughs, and Kyungsoo’s head feels like it’s spinning. This is not how it’s supposed to work. They’re supposed to be fighting, and shooting, and running. Not exchanging pleasant banter with a security guard.
“I know we’re not really supposed to take the elevator,” Kai continues, despite Kyungsoo’s horrified expression. “But I just couldn’t imagine having to climb ten flights of stairs right now.”
“Yup, I know how you feel,” the man sighs, leaning back against the elevator wall. “I just came from the office floor-walking through all those cubicles always tires me out.”
“Well, catch you later,” Kai says with a smile as the elevator dings and they step out into the lobby.
The man doesn’t respond, but he dips his head in friendly recognition before heading off into the shadows. Kyungsoo feels like he’s in shock, standing frozen in place for so long that the elevator doors start to close and Kai has to jump forward and pull him out before he’s sent off to some other floor.
“What is wrong with you?” Kai asks as Kyungsoo walks numbly across the darkened lobby towards the door they’d come in through. Kyungsoo ignores him, instead running a hand tiredly across his face and sighing loudly into the silence.
“Now will you tell me what’s wrong?” Kai asks as they climb into a cab and head back to the hotel. Kyungsoo ignores him, tracing the outline of his gun. It’s comforting.
“Seriously, what the hell is wrong?” Kai asks as Kyungsoo yanks open the door to their hotel room and begins to pace back and forth. Kai sits down heavily on the bed. “Did I do something wrong? Did we forget something?”
“It’s all going too smoothly!” Kyungsoo suddenly yells in exasperation, throwing up his hands as he continues pacing. “Why is no one trying to kill us?!”
“You know,” Kai says from the bed, amusement plain on his face. “Most people appreciate not being shot at all the time.”
“It’s just-I can’t-” Kyungsoo growls in frustration before flopping down beside Kai and hanging his head tiredly. “I’m not used to this. I feel so…useless.”
“Kyungsoo,” Kai murmurs, smile dropping from his face as he sees Kyungsoo’s angry frown. “Just because I can talk pretty to people doesn’t mean you’re useless. Are you kidding? Back at base, you’re a fucking legend! When I heard I was assigned to work with you, I-”
Suddenly Kai cuts off, a blush spreading across his face, and Kyungsoo lets his frown relax slightly.
“You what?” he prods, nudging Kai’s knee gently.
“I was just really excited?” Kai mumbles, still not meeting Kyungsoo’s eyes. “But I was also really scared. You were this amazing agent, you know? You’d had all these successful missions and survived where all these other people had died and you had a story and I. Well, I. Uh.”
“What, you don’t have a story?” Kyungsoo says with a small laugh, and he’s gratified to see Kai finally raise his eyes to look at him.
“I guess I do,” he sighs. “But I’d never been on a single mission, and I didn’t-I don’t-want to mess anything up.”
“Well, you’re doing a good job so far,” Kyungsoo grins, and when Kai offers him a shy smile in return he feels that strange warmth bubbling up in his chest.
“If I tell you something,” Kai says slowly, eyes flicking up hesitantly to meet Kyungsoo’s. “Will you promise not to hit me or kick me or put me in a headlock?”
“No promises,” Kyungsoo says sternly, though for some reason it’s much harder to protest than it had been mere weeks ago. “I’ve told you about the sharing information thing-”
“My name is Jongin,” Kai interrupts suddenly, cutting off Kyungsoo’s weary objections. “It’s Jongin. I just. I wanted you to know. That.”
“Jongin,” Kyungsoo whispers before he can stop himself, and he doesn’t miss the way Kai shivers at the way the word sounds on his tongue. This name is softer, rounder, warm and familiar as if Kyungsoo’s always known it in some deep corner of his mind. It suits him better than Kai does, Kyungsoo thinks. It suits Jongin.
“I just wanted you to know,” Jongin whispers again, and he’s so close Kyungsoo can see the lamplight reflected in his eyes, feel the curling warmth of his breath against his skin. Jongin.
“He was my old partner,” Kyungsoo says abruptly, feeling slightly giddy. Jongin smells so nice and his eyes are so bright and his mouth turns up comfortingly as Kyungsoo continues. “The man we saw in London. Jongdae. Chen. He was E.X.O.’s Chinese expert before Xiumin.”
“Some people just can’t handle this, you know that,” Jongin says, masking his surprise at the sudden confession by wrapping a soothing arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders. “It’s not your fault that after he left he ended up working with people who probably want to kill us.”
“He’s the one who gave them the idea for the ink, and maybe even for the oil,” Kyungsoo continues, the words barely even intelligible anymore as his mind races ahead of his mouth. “He was always thinking up interesting ideas like that. He always said I took things too seriously, and he always said I didn’t take things seriously enough. He didn’t want to hear about New York and horse racing.”
“Kyungsoo,” Jongin says quickly, “it’s not your fault, look-”
“No, you don’t understand,” Kyungsoo growls harshly, and this time everything comes tumbling out. All the hurt and the confusion and the pain, that red-hot pain that’s been trying to kill him his entire life because Kyungsoo is only human and where there’s fire humans burn. “They told me he was dead, Ka-Jongin. I thought he was dead.”
“Who’s…they?” Jongin asks, but the flash of pity and surprise in his eyes tells Kyungsoo that he already knows.
“They lied to me,” Kyungsoo spits, and saying the words out loud for the first time suddenly makes it seem so real, fire ripping white-hot through his chest. “I’ve given them everything, everything I had, everything I am, and they lied. They told me he had died and I believed them, even though he was always better at this than I was. Better at the fighting, better at the talking, better at the lying. What are we doing here, Jongin?”
“Maybe he figured it out,” Jongin says quietly, fingers rubbing small circles across Kyungsoo’s shoulders as Kyungsoo buries his head in his hands. “Maybe that’s why he left, Kyungsoo, because he realized-”
“Realized what?” Kyungsoo yells, and he doesn’t know when he got so angry, when he started shaking so hard he feels like he might shiver apart. “That the people he’s dedicated his life to, the people he’s killed for and watched his friends die for-the good guys-lie and steal and kill just as much as the people they’re supposedly fighting against?”
“What do you think this is, James Bond?” Jongin jokes softly, but Kyungsoo is still burning inside and can’t even muster up a smile. “There are no good guys, Kyungsoo, or bad guys. They’re all just people. And people do what they think they have to do to survive.”
And Kyungsoo doesn’t remember when he fisted his hands in Jongin’s shirt, or when Jongin’s fingers tangled themselves into his hair, but somehow given these circumstances kissing Jongin seems the only logical thing to do. So Kyungsoo does.
And that’s when their room explodes.
Part 3