They walked into an odd sight.

For one, Ijin was already awake.

And two, it looked like he never went to sleep.

He was on the phone, he was leaning over the table with a marker in hand.

"Where are you again?" Ijin glanced towards them when they walked out of their room and gave them a nod of acknowledgment before he looked back down at the table," No. No, don't go there. They don't like Asians there."

They exchanged looks.

What the hell was he talking about?

"I kept my face covered, they didn't know I was Korean. Just-" There was a response on the other side of the call, and though they weren't able to decern any words, they could tell by the pitch that it was a man Ijin was talking to. " Are you looking at the map? You cannot go through that trading route. It doesn't exist anymore."

Definitely sounded like it was not a pleasure call.

"I don't give a shit about your ranking," They blinked in surprise, it was rare when they heard Ijin curse," You asked for my help, and I'm giving you help because of Major Kang." As if Ijin was in front of whoever he was talking to, he tapped at the table with the end of the marker," If you take your men through that trading route. You will get them killed. It doesn't exist anymore, it is being controlled by the Cerian mercenaries."

The voice was louder, clearly upset, but Ijin wasn't phased in the slightest.

"Give the phone to Major Kang…Because you're pissing me off and if you want me to help you- Give. The. Phone. To. Him." They exchanged looks.

Ijin could be blunt sometimes, but this had to be the first time they had seen the young man be so irate and rude.

There was a different voice now, a different pitch from the previous voice, "Major Kang," He said something in his second language in a long sentence. They couldn't understand a single word, but they clearly hear the tone of pure and utter annoyance and the beginnings of anger in his voice," Tell him that unless they decide to go through the crocodile infested waters- There's always crocodiles there, they like to hide by the banks- He will get his entire squad killed. His only choice is to go through the," That was another word they couldn't understand again," smuggling route. I've used it more than once, no one uses it from early afternoon to evening," Ijin's twisted up his face in annoyance, not paying attention to the way his family was just standing there, staring at him.

"…Yes I know its their territory. That's why it's a smuggling route…No they cant go that way, they don't like foreigners. They almost killed me because of my accent once." Ijin's face twisted in what they had long learned was his 'Annoyed face' before he cut in,"-Major Kang. Are you going to trust me or not?" Just him asking that simple question was enough to make it tense. Even as bystanders, Dayeon and Grandfather.

It was silent for a few seconds, and then Ijin finally said,"...ok. Do you need me to translate anything else?...okay. It's almost seven, I need to start getting ready for school…its fine sir…It's fine. I'll always be in your debt sir…You helped me find my family, I will always be in your debt…Alright, I'll tell them…Be careful sir. Don't do anything stupid…Huh? Oh-hmm. You have a higher chance of passing safely if you cover your faces and the Korean emblem on your uniforms…That's why I kept my face covered…Tell the others I said hi…Yes, I'll tell them…Goodbye sir, safe travels." At last, Ijin brought down the phone and hung up.

He sighed heavily, his hand going up to pinch the space between his brows. Dayeon approached the table slowly, curious about what her brother had been writing on," Was that Major Kang?" She rose her eyebrows when she saw that he had been looking at a very very detailed map.

There were notes all over notes, notes in both Korean, and whatever language Ijin used when he worked as a guide. There were towns crossed out, names circled with notes next to them. Roads that had been crossed out and roads that had been drawn in. It was worn around the edges, there were water marks and brown dots speckled the paper. They could tell that it was a well-used map, a map that seemed to have a lot of important information to boot.

"Yeah," Ijin sighed out, standing up to pick up the markers he had taken out," Their maps of the area were outdated. He called so I could help him figure out where to take his men."

"Oh," Grandfather said simply, leaning over the table as well," Is this yours?"

"Yeah," Ijin yawned into his fist, letting his family look over the map," I used it when I was a guide. Helped me keep track of the paths and routes." Grandfather looked up at Ijin and frowned at the way the boy kept on yawning.

"Stay home. Get some sleep before you go to your training." Hesitation flickered across Ijin's face, but when she started to motion for him to say yes as she has done in the past, he agreed.

"Okay," he rubbed at his eye with his fist, his fatigue becoming more apparent by the second," I'll text the others to tell me what I missed."

She smiled.

Good.


He frowned down at the phone. It had been hours since he had hung up after talking with the kid, but the feeling of something being overwhelmingly wrong still lingered. It had been lingering after he hung up, and even almost eight hours later, when they were safely back on base, it was still there.

It was an odd mix, the mix being the feeling that something was wrong, and the urge to call the kid just to check up on him. It bothered him just enough that after he had pushed away the feeling, it still existed in the back of his mind.

Now after a long day of sneaking through enemy territory through hidden routes and suffocating head coverings, he was back on the base showered and rested. The feeling was worse than ever now that he had nothing to do.

He knew that Ijin was fine. He was in South Korea of all places, and he knew full well that Ijin would be able to handle whatever their homeland threw his way. Because with the exception of mortars and bullets, Ijin had proven over and over again his skill in terrible situations.

But why did he feel like something was wrong with Ijin specifically?

He looked up at the clock and sighed, they were more than a few hours ahead of South Korea, so it was starting to get a little bit late to call the kid. at least, by his standards.

His door slammed open.

He jumped, jerking into a straight sitting position as he looked at whoever opened the door.

"Sir!" Ji-Hoon looked stressed, his radio headphones hanging around his neck as he gasped out," They traced the call!"

They what?!

He stood up so fast, that he made his chair fall over.

"The camp found out about Ijin!"


After living most of her life as a single girl with an aging grandfather, she had long learned that she needed to pay attention to her surroundings, and to her gut instinct. Even with the addition of having a taller, and quite strong older brother, it was a habit that was ingrained in her. Whatever stuck her as odd, almost immediately put her on guard, not enough to be wary of everything and anything, but enough where she would start taking note of whatever was off-putting.

She knew that something was wrong when she turned the doorknob and it was unlocked.

Ijin had a habit of always locking the door, to the point where it was somewhat annoying with the way he would lock the door behind him, even though they were coming up in a few minutes. She got that it was a habit from him living in a dangerous area, but the point was that Ijin never forgot to lock the door. It would be a cold day in hell when he forgot to lock the door, especially the entrance door.

Slowly, she opened the door, her stomach twisting as she did so.

The first thing she noticed was an odd metallic smell permeating the apartment, a strong coppery smell that almost made her feel like she could taste it. It was strange, and it smelled nothing like the floral wax cubes she had recently replaced in the warmers.

She opened the door further, and it felt like her heart skipped a beat when she saw a body laying in the doorway. A large, bulky man dressed in all black was downed in the doorway, and she found herself believing he was dead until he let out a pained groan.

She couldn't stop the startled scream when a body slammed into the wall adjacent to Ijin's bedroom, her position not allowing her to see who had thrown him, or just what the hell was happening.

"Dayeon?" Ijin's tired voice rang out in the apartment, and she felt some type of relief when she saw her injured, but alive brother limp from around the corner. There was blood staining his grey sweatpants, and there was blood dripping down the side of his face, almost dripping down into his eye.

"Ijin?!" she couldn't keep her voice calm even if she tried," Wha-"

"Later!" Ijin snapped out, his voice tense as he started to limp towards her, already reaching out for her," Leave! Now!"She had never seen that look on his face before, a look that was a mix of worry and fear.

She was already turning around, fumbling with the doorknob with her sweaty palms when there was a clear bang that made her jump out of her skin. It was loud enough that her ears rang, and she had stilled out of pure fear. She felt something hit the side of her face, it felt like someone had thrown small woodchips at the side of her face.

A jarring thud made her turn around despite her desire to run away with her brother in hand.

She shrieked," Ijin?!"

While mere moments before, he was up and walking around, now he was deadly still on the floor, a pool of blood forming around his head as he laid face down on the floor.

All caution went out the window.

She collapsed onto her knees, her brother's blood staining her skirt and hands as she reached out for him. Her hands trembling terribly as she somehow managed to get him to roll onto his side, his body heavy and limp in her hands.

The blood on the side of his head was dark red, the blood dripping down the side of his face, down his chin, and onto the floor. The red liquid was disgustingly warm, and the coppery smell strengthened, helping her realize that it was the smell of blood that had permeated their home.

She didn't even get a chance to truly question if her brother had been murdered right in front of her before Ijin proved that he was still alive, if barely. He turned his head to promptly vomit onto the floor, his body shaking like a leaf in the wind as he did so.

She didn't feel any better.

She only felt worse.

A gasp made her look up at the doorway, and there was a sense of relief when she saw Seokju and Yeona standing at the doorway, the suited men that always accompanied her standing protectively in front of her.

She didn't even get a chance to plead for help before the suited men were rushing in, Seokju right behind them as he pulled her up to her feet and pulled her into the hallway with Yeona, leaving them in the hallway to go back into their apartment.

Yeona was hugging her tightly, she was trembling just as hard as she whispered," What happened?"

"I…I don't know."

Seokju rushed back out of the apartment, there was blood on his hands and a panicked look on his face as he grabbed them both," We have to go! Move! Move!" they were stumbling with the way he dragging them down the hall, he pulled them in front of him and started pushing them even faster down the hall. His usual patient and gentle behavior was nowhere to be seen.

There were more gunshots behind them, and she couldn't stop the squeak even if she wanted to. If it wasn't for Seokju pushing her in front of him, she would have stopped completely like she had when Ijin had-

She stopped.

"Wait!" Seokju pushed her into the stairway entrance," Ijin-!"

"Later!" He hissed out, joining them in the stairway as he ushered them down the stairs," we need to leave!"

She started to push back, but like Ijin, Seokju had at least a foot on her, along with a decent amount of weight," No!"

She can't leave him behind!

"He's hurt and-"

"And Ijin will kill me if you get hurt!" Seokju screamed into her face, his face a bright red from exertion and anger.

She paused, the only thing she could do was stare up at him, tears brimming her eyes as she desperately wanted to go back to her brother. To the kind brother that she had finally gotten back, to the brother that stayed up with her on stormy nights and locked the balcony door for her.

She couldn't leave him behind.

She couldn't lose him too.

Seokju and Yeona were holding onto her now, giving her a few seconds before they pulled her away from the railing she was so stubbornly holding onto. There were more gunshots above, and her stomach twisted further.

Seokju jerked her away from the railing, using his body to stop her momentum before she fell down the stairs.

"We're leaving."