"Listen Ijin. You gotta get Instagram."

Ijin scrunched up his nose, moving his phone out of Jaehyung's reach as he asked," why?"

"For the memes mannnn," Jaehyung dragged out, a bright grin on his face," And for the group chat too."

…but, he's already in the group chat?

His confusion must have shown on his face as Hyeokjin quickly added," Just get an Instagram account man. Do you have any idea how weird it is for you to have no social media at all?"

He just stared at them, pondering over the idea.

He knew that social media was a way for people to connect with each other online.

But he also knew that if he ever posted anything with his face, it was going to be a risk to both his and his family's safety.

"What?" Seokju asked, and that was when Ijin realized that Seokju was getting rather good at reading his micro expressions," What's wrong?"

How was he supposed to explain that a lot of people hated him and that it was going to be a bad idea for him to have an internet presence?

"Is it something to do with your old job?"

He blinked in surprise.

Yeongchan nodded his head in understanding, and just like that, it was like the others understood exactly what he had been thinking.

"I don't really get it but that's fair."

"Ehhhh, I'm sure there are some assholes who want to kill him."

"Oh that makes sense."

"So that's a hard no."

What?

"How did you know?" His question was directed to Yeongchan. He hummed questioningly, prompting Ijin to repeat the question.

"Oh, you get this weird look on your face," Yeongchan explained easily, the others nodding along with his words," You always make that face whenever you talk about your old job."

Huh…

He didn't know how to feel about that.

Mad Dog used to praise him for being so emotionless, being so stoic and blank-faced to the point where even he would have a hard time reading his emotions.

This had to be the first time when someone was able to accurately predict what he was thinking.

Then again, this was also the first time he had ever been friends with people for such a long time.

"Man. I wanted to like and unlike one of his messages over and over again to piss him off."

Alright, that sounded like another solid reason to not make an Instagram account.

Jaehyung's comment made the rest of them start laughing, commenting on how annoying that would be.

It was moments like these, that made him realize that he was truly grateful to have them as friends.

He had a very high pain tolerance, he knew that. He would rather move through the pain than admit weakness (A apparently bad habit according to Major Kang)

But even he had to admit.

His head was killing him.

The pressure in his head was horrible. It was nowhere near like the time he had gotten sick on the base, and it felt so much worse.

The pressure was behind his nose and eyes and he could feel it moving to his ears. The pressure was so bad, he could hear a little click in his ears every time he swallowed, and each time he swallowed, he could feel mucus at the back of his throat. He hadn't eaten breakfast, but the headache was so bad, that all appetite went out the window, even though he knew that he needed to eat at some point.

He was good with pain, but when it came to prolonged pain that just didn't stop, he wasn't much better than the average person. At least with physical wounds, he just had to be careful with the way he moved, and the pain would come and go.

The headache just would not stop.

"Uh, you good?"

He didn't pick his head off the desk, hating the way his head pounded with his heartbeat," Yeah."

Jaehyung bent at the waist to make eye contact with him," Yeah you don't look fine. What's up?"

A wave of nausea washed over him, and he had to take a few seconds to let that pass before he answered," I got a bad headache. I'll be fine."

Jaehyung rose an eyebrow," did you eat breakfast?"

He hummed," Too nauseous."

Jaehyung straightened back up but didn't stop asking questions.

"Got a pressure behind your eyes?" he didn't answer, he just closed his eyes and hummed as his head gave a particularly nasty throb.

"Can you feel something in the back of your throat when you swallow?"

"Yeah."

"Here," something was being put on his desk next to his head. He opened his eyes to see a water bottle and a little package of pills," Sounds like you got a bad congestion headache. Drink a lot of water and the pills."

What the fuck is a congestion headache?

"Its when a ton of mucus builds up in your sinus cavity," He must have asked the question out loud," Drinking water helps you avoid getting them, but sometimes it still happens."

Huh. That actually made sense.

He tiredly took the congestion pills, and dry swallowed them before following it up with a sip of water," You seem to know a lot about this."

Jaehyung huffed as he took a sip of his own water," Me and my mom are prone to getting them. You gotta drink a ton of water by the way, like two or three liters throughout the day. And eat something, all the mucus you're swallowing with the water is going to upset your stomach."

"Okay," No wonder he was nauseous.

He took another sip of water and shuttered when he felt something go down with the water at the same time as his ears cracking and the pressure decreasing behind his nose.

Gross.

There was a chuckle, and he looked over at his friend, he had a knowing look on his face," You swallowed and felt your ears pop huh?"

"Yeah."

"I know. Gross huh?"

"Yeah," He sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair," I don't understands how I was fine back in Grian. but now that I'm here, I have to deal with this."

"Maybe life just hates you."

He smiled," Maybe."

"By the way, the pills are gonna make you sleepy."

Oh great.

"What happened there?"

For once, it was Ijin asking the question about a scar in the middle of Hyeokjin's arm.

He frowned as he stared at it. He knew how scars from knives and bullets looked like, and he knew that while Hyeokjin's scar was large, it wasn't from a weapon that he knew of.

"Huh?" Hyeokjin looked down at his arm, spotting the forearm scar that Ijin had been asking about," Oh. My mom threw me down some concrete steps when I was younger. I had a compound fracture." Concerned, Ijin glanced up at Hyeokjin's face, but upon seeing his unconcerned expression, he didn't stress too much about it.

Ijin frowned, because he was rather sure mothers weren't supposed to do that, " What did you do?" It must have been something major, as even when he fucked up, Mad Dog never gave him a compound fracture. Even in combat, he had never broken his arm to the point where the broken bone was sticking out of his flesh.

Hyeokjin froze, his cup frozen against his lips.

?

"Nothing-I-it doesn't matter what I did! I was eleven! And she was my mom, she shouldn't have done that!"

For some reason, Ijin looked as confused as ever. He tilted his head as he innocently said," My handlers used to punish me when I made a mistake, or when of my squad members would make a mistake. So you must have done something."

Hyeokjin was starting to look disturbed for reasons Ijin didn't entirely understand," Ijin…its not normal for people to hurt kids…at all. My mom was a sociopath, and she threw me down the stairs because she didn't like the way I had done my hair. Ijin, what do you mean they punished you? What did your handlers do?"

It was a better question to ask what hadn't they done.

Ijin nonchalantly shrugged a shoulder," Reduce my rations sometimes. But most of the time, my main handler would beat me. He broke my ribs a few times after my squad members failed their mission and pissed him off."

He frowned at the face of pure horror that Hyeokjin was giving him.

"It was worse when he found out that we failed some of my missions because my team members disobeyed my commands," Though 004 and a few other fuckers were the only ones who were brave enough to do that. After the first time, Mad Dog punished him for such a reason. Ijin had made a point of socking in the face or threatening anyone who would disobey his commands. It didn't happen often, but he had broken a few of the numbered noses for disobeying.

Hyeokjin was still staring at him.

His friend sighed heavily, his mouth opening and closing for a few seconds as if he had planned to say something but decided against it a few times.

They sat in silence, Ijin sipping at his milk as he waited for Hyeokjin to recompose himself (Though he still didn't understand why he was reacting like that)

Ijin had almost finished his milk when Hyeokjin started speaking again.

"I-okay- okay. First things first, what my mom did to me, was not right. What your handlers did to you, was not right. What they did to us, was not right. At all. They didn't punish us, they didn't discipline us, they abused us."

He could tell that Ijin didn't grasp the concept completely (He was making the same face he would make when they tried to explain pre-cal to him). He sighed in exasperation.

"Look, Major Kang, what did he do when he got mad at you or when he gets mad at you?"

Ijin frowned," Yell at me mostly. Especially when I scare him."

" See," Hyeokjin leaned forward, putting emphasis into his word," That's a normal reaction. That's how my dad reacts when I annoy him. He scolds me, but he doesn't take it overboard, and he doesn't hurt me."

Just like that, Hyeokjin saw the moment it clicked for Ijin.

"Oh…"

" Yeah," It was a relief for the blond to know that he had managed to get his point across, and help Ijin realize the weight of the actions his handlers had taken against him," Look. The Major is practically your dad. He wouldn't do anything like that to you. Do you think he would break some kids ribs because they made a mistake?"

"No," Ijin said firmly, almost looking upset at the insinuation that the major would do such an act," He wouldn't do anything like that."

"Yeah that's the point," Hyeokjin said seriously, happy to hear that Ijin was comprehending what he was saying," a normal person wouldn't treat anyone like that. I know you did what you had to do to survive, but your handlers abused their position of power. "

Ijin nodded along with his words," I understand. We didn't have normal childhoods right?"

Well, Hyeokjin would say that he had an abusive childhood, while Ijin had a childhood straight from hell. But sure.

"Basically, yeah."

"…is that how dads are?"

"Huh?"

"Major Kang," Ijin was tilting his head to the side as he asked," Does he really act like a dad?"

Hyeokjin nodded," From what I've seen, yeah. He's practically your dad. He even scolds you like one."

Ijin hummed, a pondering look on his face.

"I've always wondered what it was like having a father."

If only Ijin knew just how depressing that sounded…

"Well you don't have to wonder anymore man."

Ijin turned away suddenly, looking out the window as if he had seen something, but Hyeokjin knew what he was really doing, the reflection on the window allowed him to see what Ijin was doing.

He was just trying to hide the smile on his face.

"Come on," Yeongchan tapped on Seokju's leg, waking him up from the doze he had entered after getting on the bus," This is our stop. Let's go." He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and after accepting his backpack from Ijin, they walked off the bus, quickly making their way to Yeongchan's house to hang out.

"What do you guys wanna watch? I have amazon prime so we can watch whatever."

"The Martian."

"Birdbox?"

"2012?"

"I'm fine with anything. As long as I haven't watched it."

Ijin had a small smile on his face, enjoying the way his friend was staring at them with deadpanned or annoyed faces.

"Yeah no shit sherlock." Just the reaction he wanted from Jaehyung, he started laughing.

They talked idly as they walked to Yeongchan's house, following their friend's lead on the way. Ever since they found out about Ijin's past with being a mercenary, he had become more talkative, more open to questions about his previous occupation, and more open to conversation overall.

Not to mention, he's become more of a smartass.

They liked to give him shit about it, but to be honest, all of them were just thankful that Ijin had opened up to them and would participate in conversations more. Even if all he made was sarcastic or smartass comments from time to time.

"Here we are," After picking up a package that had been left outside the door, Yeongchan led them in as he juggled the heavy-looking package.

"Are you okay?" Ijin asked, silently reaching for the package as he offered his help to his friend.

Yeongchan happily gave the heavy box to Ijin," Yeah. It must be something for my mom, its heavier than I expected. Mom! I'm home! You got a package and I brought my friends!"

A door slammed somewhere in the house," Okay!" Yeongchan's mother's voice sounded muffled," Tell me what I got in the package! It's for work!"

"Make yourselves at home," Yeongchan said simply as Ijin down the package onto the table. The others wandered over to the table after they took off their shoes, leaning over the table as they asked what was in the package.

"Ah, it's probably just some props my mom ordered." With that, Yeongchan borrowed Ijin's offered knife (The same one they were sure it was illegal for Ijin to keep on his person), and opened the box.

Within seconds, they were all speechless.

They were staring down at the box, and even Ijin, who was difficult to surprise, had his brows furrowed with his mouth hanging slightly open. More than once, all of them blinked, trying to make sure that they were looking at things right.

"Hey…mom…?"

She yelled from her room," Yeah?"

Yeongchan slowly picked up the silicon toy, there was a decent weight in his hand, and it was still in its packaging. Despite their curiosity, the others did not touch the other toys that remained in the box.

"God, I can't believe I'm asking this," Yeongchan muttered to himself," Why did you order dildos?!"

"Ohhhhhh," His mom's voice became clearer, and now that they looked down at the hall, they could see her poking her head out of her bedroom, a towel on her head," An American film company ordered them. I have to do some modifications before I ship them."

And at the news that the giant, foot-long dildos of all shapes and colors were not going to be used for personal use.

It was like their inner child awakened

Jaehyung grabbed a dildo out of the box and smacked Hyeokjin in the face with it, and almost immediately, Yeongchan tried to suction it onto Ijin's forehead simply because he was the closest.

The fighting began.

It was another day when it was just Seokju, Ijin, and Yeona. The other three were off at the P.C café, and they had just finished training. So they were lounging around outside the convenience store, taking a small break before they went off to their own homes for the night.

It was a comfortable silence, something that happened quite often when it was just the three of them since they all had quiet personalities.

"Ijin," Yeona said slowly, slowly swirling her bottle of banana milk around," You…You said that my father was your client right?"

"Yes." He answered simply, not blinking an eye despite the looks Yeona and Seokju were giving him.

"What did he hire you for?" easy question to answer.

"I was hired to protect the village he was volunteering in." He was going to leave it there, but upon seeing Yeona's expectant look, and feeling Seokju kick his shin, he continued," I didn't interact with him much. But your father was a kind person."

Yeona nodded her head in understanding and quietly sipped at her milk. It was silent for a few more minutes until she spoke again," Can you tell me about him? I mean what he did over there?"

"Hm," Ijin thought about it for a few seconds. He had worked with Yeona's father when he was about 16-ish, and a lot had happened over the past few years so he wasn't too sure on some of the specifics," He was in charge of everything, but I would see him most when he was in charge of meals, when he would go around making sure that the other volunteers ate, as well as the kids that would come for food."

"Kids?"

"Yeah. The village had a lot of orphans and widows," He was sure why they picked that village, since there wasn't a lot of men in the village to protect it, and the villagers needed better buildings to further develop their town.

"In that region, the only work women could do was working in the sex industry," Sometimes he forgot that it was not normal for that to be the norm, especially in Korea," The kids also didn't have a lot of choices, they could either become a mercenary when they were older like I did. Or they could have worked in the fields and construction. Most of the time, the girls would join their mothers to make ends meet."

That was definitely a look of horror they were giving him. They looked completely and utterly stunned.

"I…I didn't realize it was so bad over there." Seokju said slowly, looking thoroughly stressed out.

"It's a shithole," Ijin said without hesitation, surprising his friends with his words," Despite what happened, the work your father did, made a difference in the village."

"Despite what happened?"

He froze.

Ah shit.

Ijin looked up at Yeona, surprise coloring his features," You didn't know?"

Yeona was frowning," Didn't know what?"

Just as he considered keeping his mouth shit, Seokju repeated her question, a tense tone in his voice that practically ordered him to tell the truth.

He sighed.

As a person who had little to no information/memories about his parents, he could understand Yeona's desire to know more about her father, especially since it sounded like they didn't spend a lot of time together when he was still alive.

"When your father found out that I was still a teenager," He could tell that he threw them for a loop with the sudden topic change, he still continued." Your father would feed me, give me raincoats when it was raining, and other stuff. Even on my last day guarding the village, he gave me a pack of supplies, all because he said that he wanted to help me because I was the same age as you. I felt indebted to him." They were listening closely. It was somewhat odd, he was used to having such long conversations about his life as a mercenary with Hyeokjin, as he was still the only one who knew of his past when he was 001," About a month after our contract ended, rebels attacked and took over the town." Yeona stiffened up, while Seokju inhaled sharply," I didn't find out until a few days later…"

"By the time I got back to the village," He had to catch a ride with other mercenaries who were going to the same area just so he could get there in a single day, " Your father was the only one left. I helped him get to his pick up point. That was where he made the request that I deliver a message to you."

Yeona looked down at her lap, not looking at either one of them as she processed what Ijin just told her.

Ijin tilted his head at the look Seokju gave him, causing Seokju to just sigh and wave his hand around. Silently telling him to forget it.

"How…" They looked at Yeona again, who was picking at her hands as she stared down at them," How did he know you were going to find me?"

"I don't know," Ijin watched as Seokju grabbed Yeona's hand so she could stop picking at it," I think he made the request so I could return to Korea. He wanted me to deliver it, even if he survived. It was pure chance that I met you."

"oh… thank you. Truly."

Ijin just hummed.

"Don't mention it."

He was only doing what he was ordered anyway.