Ten frowned at Adryn's words. He didn't like that she was so negative, but he knew that she was a work in progress, so he let it go. Ten decided to turn his attention to the cameras then.
"127 is on their way to their mission location." Ten spoke to Adryn, bringing her attention to the cameras. He then pulled out an earpiece from the table next to him and handed it to Adryn. "Do you know how to put this in your ear?"
"No..." Adryn meekly replied to the man. He nodded his head and pulled her hair away from her left ear. He then gently put it into her ear, which instantly let Adryn hear Taeyong's voice as he spoke to the members of 127.
"Be prepared for anything. Watch out for the victims and especially watch out for the drugged-up gang members." Taeyong's words were met with a chorus of 127 acknowledging his words. "With that said, get ready. We'll be there in 10 minutes."
After Taeyong spoke, Adryn drew her attention to the cameras that Ten was also watching. She didn't say anything, as she wasn't sure what to say in the first place. She also didn't want to say the wrong thing or break anyone's concentration. So, Adryn and Ten just watched the cameras until the 127's van was seen pulling up into an alley a little ways from the compound's gates.
They watched as the men of 127 broke off into groups and split apart. Some of them were seen hopping the fence, while others went around back to get in. Adryn noticed that Johnny stayed in the car though. She then continued to search the cameras until she saw the flash of pink hair from under the black cap Taeyong was now wearing. Adryn couldn't pinpoint anyone else, so she just watched Taeyong and the other man he was with.
As everyone got into the compound, Ten was giving them all individual instructions. He was warning them about the various enemies around them as they made their way through. Adryn was just continuing to watch Taeyong, until out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone lurking toward the van where Johnny still was.
"Um, Ten? I think someone is sneaking up on Johnny?" Adryn muttered to Ten as she pointed at the unidentified person on the screen.
"Oh, hey, Johnny, there's someone creeping up on you. Deal with them." Ten relayed the information to Johnny. "The person is coming up to the left side doors to the van."
"Got it," Johnny replied before he snuck out of the van without closing his door. He then went around the back, catching the other person off-guard. Johnny was able to disarm the man, knocking the gun out of his hands before he cracked the man's neck, ending his life. Johnny then pulled the man's body out of street view and into the alley. He returned a moment later to give the camera a thumbs up. "All good now."
"Good job, Johnny." Ten seemed alright with Johnny's situation, so both he and Adryn turned their attention back to the other cameras. Ten and Adryn both then noticed that there was someone also creeping up on Taeyong and whoever he was with.
"Ten?" Adryn didn't need to point out what he saw as well. Ten instantly went into serious mode and addressed Taeyong.
"Taeyong, there's someone coming to you. This might be a trap so be on your guard. This seems like they were waiting for us." Ten spoke clearly to Taeyong, alerting him. It was then when all hell broke loose.
Various fights began to break out among the members of 127 and the enemy gang. Adryn kept her eyes on Taeyong though. She nervously held onto her chair as she watched Taeyong take out 5 men within a few moments. The man who was with him also was holding his own against the various men coming at them so suddenly.
"Taeyong, we're going to be surrounded!" It was Mark with Taeyong. He was starting to get frantic as Taeyong tried to remain calm himself. Meanwhile, Adryn was full-blown panicking. All she could do was watch the screen and see a huge group of over 10 men come at Taeyong and Mark.
However, Adryn's fears lessened as she watched Taeyong and Mark move in perfect sync. They fought back to back and were able to take out the entire group within a few minutes, with only a few of them getting a little too close for comfort.
"Mark, are you alright?" Taeyong was a little breathless ad he tried to catch his breath from the fight. He turned to see Mark holding onto his abdomen.
"I may have been stabbed," Mark replied simply to Taeyong as he looked down at his hand. There was blood creeping through his fingers.
"Are you stabbed or not?" Taeyong went right to Mark, pulled his hand away, and saw the wound. "Fuck..." Taeyong muttered as he put Mark's hand back over the wound. "Guys, Mark has been stabbed. This was clearly a trap, finish up. Now."
"Yuta and I have found the victims, but they're all dead," Doyoung spoke up with an annoyed tone.
"Everyone, get back to the van right..." Taeyong's voice died out as he heard footsteps coming toward himself and Mark. Both of the men turned to look at the new man walking up to them. The man had his hands behind his back as he walked with an unsettling smile on his face. "Mark, get to the van," Taeyong ordered the injured man instantly. Taeyong had a horrible feeling about what was to come.
"But..." Mark couldn't argue as Taeyong shot him a serious look. Mark merely nodded his head and stumbled off, trying to make his way away from the drama to come. As soon as Mark was out of sight, Taeyong turned to address the new man. He was clearly older than him and had graying black hair.
"I don't know who you are, but you need to stay out of my way. If you're part of this gang, you need to leave before we kill you too." Taeyong spoke with authority in his voice, but the other man just smiled at him. Adryn and Ten both noticed at the same moment that the older man had a gun behind his back.
"Taeyong, he's got a gun!" Ten called out to his leader, giving him a moment to ready himself. It was like the other man knew what was just said, as he pulled out his gun and began to shoot at Taeyong. However, Taeyong stood still as the man shot around him.
"I'm not involved with any gang that you're dealing with yet. I am interested in you and your little girlfriend. Therefore, I needed to come and have a little chat with you." The man spoke English to Taeyong. He had paused his shooting, but started shooting again, but closer to Taeyong this time.
"You have a funny way of talking with someone!" Taeyong yelled at the man, as he had to start dodging the shots. The man paused again to speak to the annoyed Taeyong.
"My name is Min-Joon. You don't know me yet though, as we haven't been formally introduced until now." The man, Min-Joon, spoke to Taeyong with a smirk on his face. Taeyong was confused, as he racked his brain to figure out if he'd even heard of the man before. "I'm the new leader of Emerald Devils, an upcoming gang in this part of Korea." Taeyong's eyes widened as he recognized the name of the gang.
"Are you really the new leader? Then you're the one who sent people to kill Adryn?" Taeyong asked as he slowly began to get pissed off with the man.
"Yes, I am the one, but I didn't want Adryn dead. I just want to fix her." Min-Joon smiled at Taeyong before continuing. "I saw you and her chatting a year ago, and I found myself interested in the clearly broken woman. I'm a fixer and all of my other women were broken as well." Adryn was horrified to hear the man's words. She felt Ten tense up beside her as she slowly began to freak out internally. Taeyong was now full-blown furious with the man. "I'm a much better man for Adryn. The little American is going to be mine."
"There's no way that you are ever getting your hands on Adryn," Taeyong growled out as he pulled out his own gun to point at Min-Joon. The other man simply smirked at Taeyong and snapped his fingers. This caused all the power in the entire compound to go out. With the darkness, gunshots began to ring out in various places of the compound. Adryn and Ten watched in horror as they only got to see quick flashes of light; nothing else.
"What is going on! Everyone check in now!" Ten yelled out through the microphone.
"I have Mark, but I don't see anyone else," Johnny spoke up from inside the back of the van. "What am I supposed to do? No one else has responded, but there isn't much I can do. Mark is laying here bleeding out. He's unconscious too."
"Just stay in the van, the rest of 127 is coming. I know it. I have faith in them." Ten replied to Johnny, who just mumbled an agreement in response. Sure enough though, a moment later, Taeyong spoke up.
"I'm alright, sorry for not responding right away. I was trying to catch Min-Joon." Taeyong said from the darkness. "I lost him in the dark though."
"Yuta and I are fine," Doyoung spoke up next.
"Jungwoo and I are fine, startled but fine," Haechan said next in a shaken-up voice.
"I'm on the way with Taeil!" Jaehyun called out in a breathless voice. "I'll be there to help Mark in a moment."
With everyone accounted for, they all hurried out of the darkness of the compound. They piled into the van, careful to not step on the unconscious Mark on the floor.
"How did Mark get stabbed?" Haechan demanded to Taeyong, who just ignored him to address Johnny.
"Drive fast," Taeyong growled at the tall man. Johnny did as he was told, as Jaehyun started to tend to Mark. He had a medical kit, but it wasn't going to be enough for the deep wound Mark had.
"Adryn, get to my office. Get it ready for Mark. He'll need to be treated right away." Jaehyun spoke to the woman, who was shaking now.
"You'll have to guide me and tell me what to do..." Adryn muttered to the man, unsure if she could do what she was told.
"You've got this, just hurry."
"Alright..." Adryn stood up and so did Ten. The teal-haired man unlocked the door to the room they were in and with that, Adryn was off. She practically ran to Jaehyun's office/medical room. Once there, Adryn spoke up breathlessly. "I'm in your office, what do I need to get?" Jaehyun told her everything that she needed to gather, and with shaky hands, Adryn gathered everything. She found the last item just as 127 got back to the house. Adryn stood aside as Johnny and Taeyong carefully carried Mark into the room with Jaehyun right behind them.
"Set him down here," Jaehyun spoke to the two men motioning for them to set Mark on the closest bed. They did as told and then Johnny left the room. Taeyong just stood back with Adryn, as Jaehyun put gloves on. "Adryn, get gloves on, you need to help."
"What? I have no experience with anything medical though." Adryn hesitantly walked to Jaehyun and put gloves on anyway.
"You'll do just fine. Just follow exactly what I say."
"Alright..."
With that, Jaehyun and Adryn went to work on Mark. Taeyong just stood back and watched as Adryn got more comfortable and less shaky as she did as Jaehyun told her to do. It took about a half-hour to get Mark out of danger. Both Adryn and Jaehyun ended up being covered in Mark's blood. Adryn stared at her bloody hands as Jaehyun turned to Taeyong.
"Mark will be alright. He just needs blood since he lost so much. Can you go get him some blood from the lockup? Be careful with it, we're running a bit low on O+ blood." Jaehyun spoke to Taeyong as he carefully sat down and leaned back in his chair. Taeyong hurried up and ran out of the room as Jaehyun then turned to look at Adryn. "We had a stockpile of O+ blood, but it's dwindled down. We have other blood types too, but we mostly use O+."
"I have O+ blood." Adryn mentioned causing Jaehyun to nod his head.
"You'll need to donate blood every once in a while then."
"That'll be fine, I can do that." Adryn then looked at Mark with a frown. "Will Mark really be alright?"
"Nothing vital was hit. He probably just passed out from the loss of blood and the shock."
"When will he wake up?"
"You seem worried about Mark, more than you probably should be." Jaehyun teased Adryn, but she frowned at him in response, not liking the teasing.
"I care about all of you, but I have gotten along with Mark pretty well so far."
"Don't tease Adryn," Taeyong spoke up as he walked into the room with some bags of blood in his hand. Jaehyun smirked at the upset man as he took the blood from Taeyong's hands.
"Adryn, you can go. I've got it from here. You should probably get cleaned up before the blood dries." Jaehyun smiled at Adryn as he stood back up to get the blood ready to be put in Mark.
"Alright..." Adryn sighed as she looked at herself and all of the blood. She removed her bloody gloves and looked at Taeyong who was approaching her.
"Let's go." Taeyong took a hold of Adryn's hand and glared at Jaehyun. "I'll take care of Adryn."
"Good luck, Adryn!" Jaehyun called out to the woman with a chuckle as Taeyong pulled Adryn with him. The two walked through the halls until they reached her bedroom.
"Carefully get a change of clothes. Don't get blood on anything." Adryn did as she was told and carefully collected a change of clothes.
"Why are you watching over me?" Adryn asked as she turned to look at Taeyong with the clothes in hand.
"Did you hear everything that went on with Min-Joon?"
"Yes... What gang is called Emerald Devils?"
"They are a newer gang, but they're ruthless and violent. If their leader truly wants you, then he'll do anything to get you."
"That worries me... But I know you and the others will protect me." Adryn smiled at Taeyong, bringing a smile to his face.
"Can I hug you? I need a hug..."
"You'll get even bloodier than you already are..." Adryn chuckled but set her clothes down anyway. She walked right to Taeyong but stopped before hugging him.
"I don't care, I just want a hug from you." With those words, Adryn stepped a step closer and hugged Taeyong. He wrapped his arms around her in return. For a few moments, they stood there and just hugged each other. After feeling like the hug lasted long enough, Adryn pulled away.
"I should probably get cleaned up now." Adryn smiled at Taeyong, but he just pouted at her. Adryn chuckled and patted his cheek. "Stop being so cute."
"You think I'm cute?" Taeyong asked hopefully, but Adryn just laughed and shrugged her shoulders. She then gathered her clothes carefully and headed to the bathroom. She knew she needed a shower, not only to get clean but to contemplate everything that had happened that day so far. She was calm now, but she felt the tears and the anxiety coming.
