Believe Again: Rescue Mission (Part 2)

Saeyoung ran the plan over in his head for what seemed like the thousandth time. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he was worried about forgetting something when he was panicking like this.

This mission had two aims: one, to rescue Saeran and his girlfriend and two, to erase all information in Mint Eye's database relating to the twins and the RFA. The rest—namely Park Ha Yoon—would be dealt with by the Prime Minister's men. Two teams were going in to save Saeran and his girlfriend, and both Jumin's men and a small team of the elite forces provided by the Prime Minister would help with this rescue mission.

Honestly, he was still having a hard time wrapping his head around just this part. Never in his life would he have expected to be working with that man… the man his mother had always warned him and Saeran about. For as long as he could remember, she had refused to allow them to go outside freely, always reminding them of the fact that they had a father who would do anything to erase them from this world.

And yet, here this man was, helping them.

Well, Saeyoung supposed it wasn't exactly like he was doing God's work either. All this was on the condition that he and Saeran packed their bags, left the country for good and buried the truth of their birth forever.

But at least he didn't want them dead. Saeyoung supposed maybe that made him the better parent, at least when compared to his mother… which set the bar ten feet underground.

Nevertheless, it was clear enough from their meeting that things like kinship meant little to the seasoned politician. He had only become more agreeable after Jumin pointed out that Park Ha Yoon knew about the twins' link to him and could reveal it at any time. A ticking time bomb, if he would.

So when the Prime Minister assured them that he would handle that part of the operation, Saeyoung had a shuddering feeling he knew what was going to happen. Only dead men could tell secrets, after all.

He just didn't know how trustworthy Prime Minister Choi was. He could easily be plotting to get rid of him, Saeran and the RFA in the same manner after their work here was done.

At least Jumin had the foresight to make the necessary preparations beforehand. Once they got out safely, Jaehee would have their contact in the news station broadcast news of Mint Eye, Park Ha Yoon, and the truth of the human experimentations going on there. Hopefully, that would be enough to keep the politicians busy for a while, including the Prime Minister, and give Saeyoung enough time to escape with his family.

He and MC had spent the past few days packing and thinking of where they could go. There were so many considerations involved, like MC's pregnancy, costs and accommodations, but too little time. Jumin had graciously offered his help, but that would leave a trail, and Saeyoung didn't want him to suffer any backlash as a result of helping them. He had done more than enough. He had already risked too much just by being at the negotiation table with the Prime Minister about this.

"Saeyoung, how long more?" came Vanderwood's voice in his Bluetooth earpiece.

"Almost." Saeyoung clicked his tongue. There were a few hackers on the other end trying to block his access now; at least they only just realized that he was infiltrating the system. He already found the files that needed to be deleted, it was just a matter of waiting now.

"Let us know when you're ready."

It felt just like old times. As partners, he and Vanderwood usually were put in the same team on missions, with Saeyoung playing the role of back-up and tech support while Vanderwood got his hands dirty out in the field. It was no different this time; Vanderwood would be accompanied by a team of men—thankfully, the ones under Jumin and not the military team—and once they received the green light from him, they would put the plan into action.

"You serious about coming with us?" Vanderwood asked.

"Of course." It wasn't that he didn't trust Vanderwood. The man was a seasoned field agent, Saeyoung knew he could trust him with his life.

But he had to be there for Saeran. Every time Saeyoung attempted to imagine what Saeran might be going through in that building—brainwashing, being force-fed that elixir, being beaten and abused—he felt sick to his stomach. And almost immediately after that he would recall the time he had first brought Saeran to the bunker, and how he had tried to end his life when he finally got the chance to be alone…

That was the day it truly dawned on Saeyoung just how much his little brother had suffered for all those years that they were apart. The pain he saw that day in Saeran's mint-coloured eyes went far beyond description that mere words could provide, and Saeyoung was deathly afraid that he would be sucked back into that despair like before, drowning in quicksand with no way of getting up again.

"He'll be fine," came Vanderwood's voice again, interrupting his thoughts. Saeyoung's lips turned up slightly, grateful for the reassurance. It was all he could hold onto for now, as uncertain as those words were.

It reminded him of when he was young, telling Saeran about all those wonderful things they could do when they grew up and found the means to finally run away from that terrible, terrible house. All he had back then were a bunch of pretty words to share with his brother. With empty hands, all he could cling on to was hope, or maybe an illusory fantasy that was just nice to think about. He couldn't do anything else, other than watch Saeran cry and hold him close at night when they were both too cold to sleep. And then when he joined the agency, he could only imagine and hope that his brother was doing well somewhere out there in this vast and seemingly empty world.

Things were different now. He had more than just words to offer. His hands weren't useless any longer. Now, he had skills, strength, and the means to keep his once empty promises to Saeran. He wasn't going to let his little brother down again.

He just hoped he wouldn't be too late.

Park Ha Yoon was in his office in the middle of work when suddenly there was an urgent call from his secretary. Something about a bunch of men from the police with arrest and search warrants.

Behind his computer, he clicked his tongue, irritation crossing his features.

This was troublesome. He had a meeting with the Defence Minister just last week about the potential of his experimentation results from Mint Eye. That man had given the assurance that he would be allowed to continue his work in peace as long as there was a strong chance of the elixir being developed for military use.

And now this? The police?

What could have gone wrong?

No matter, it wasn't like he didn't plan for such a contingency. It would just mean having to go through a lot of trouble recovering his files and data later. But he could think about that later. For now, he had to act fast.

Pulling out the thumbdrive he'd received from Sejun, Ha Yoon inserted it into his computer. It was a virus that Sejun had invented himself — and only that boy could recover the information from a computer infected with this virus.

And right on cue, the doors to his office burst open, as a group of uniformed men entered his room, reciting the usual things they did to someone they wanted to arrest. In this case, his arrest was to do with his illegal experimentations. Someone must have leaked this information out. But who?

He didn't even bother resisting when they slapped the metal handcuffs on his wrists and escorted him out the building. The possibilities were running through his mind as he tried to narrow down the list of people who would betray him like this.

And there was a list, but there was too little information right now to go on. Maybe he could find out more from the officers who would interrogate him. And if Mint Eye had been exposed, then hopefully Sejun and the others had it all under control — it would be a pain if his little playground were to be confiscated just like that, after so many years of painstaking effort into building it.

Well, he was probably overthinking it. He had the backing of the government itself, after all. Maybe someone messed up somewhere down the chain of command, but this would be corrected soon enough. He just had to wait.

That confidence, however, faltered when he realized he was being pushed into an armed vehicle, instead of the police car that he was expecting. The next alarm bell was when the doors shut behind them and he found himself being manhandled and blindfolded.

Something wasn't right.

"What are you doing? Is this something the police should be doing? I'll lodge a complaint against your superiors!" he shouted, finding his struggle fruitless against the two or three men who were holding him in place. They seemed to be tying him up with some rope, and the coarse material was scratching his arms.

"If I were you, I'd be worrying for my life right now," one of them said in a cold voice.

"Who sent you? Aren't you the police?"

There was a collective chuckle from the men in the van. The engine revved, and then the vehicle began to move. Where he was headed to, he didn't know.

But it seemed things weren't exactly boding well for him.

It was a good thing he trusted his own hunch. Sejun arrived just in time — accompanied by two followers in charge of guarding the dungeons — to see a group of men attempting to escape with Saeran and the woman with him.

In the group he noticed one man with bright red hair, carrying Saeran on his back. That must be Saeran's older brother. They were splitting images of each other, except of course, Saeran looked far more disoriented, still dazed from the effects of the Elixir.

Saeyoung, on the other hand, had narrowed his eyes into a glare at the sight of Sejun and his men. They were far outnumbered. Immediately both groups were at full alert, pointing their guns at each other. And Sejun knew that there was no way he would be able to stop them — not when there were only three of them against five armed men, excluding Saeyoung and the people they came to rescue.

"You're outnumbered," Saeyoung stated in a steely voice, his voice drowning out the clicks of the guns. "There's no point starting a fight here, just let us leave quietly."

"Why should I?" Sejun challenged, not backing down. His pride was on the line. He wasn't about to let Saeran run away like the traitor he was again, and leave them all behind. "I don't think there's much left for us to lose. You guys must have been the ones hacking into our system. Why? Getting our files to expose our existence to the world?"

"Yes." The admission came a lot faster and easier than Sejun expected, and it didn't quite give him the sense of triumph he expected it to. In fact, the information only made dread rise in his chest like bile. If thye were found out…

"You know what that means, don't you?" Saeyoung continued. "It's over for Mint Eye. If I were you, I'd be packing my bags and running before the authorities come and seize this place."

"The authorities? Ha! You have no idea—"

"They're not on your side anymore," Saeyoung said, lips pursed into a thin line. Sejun's smirk vanished, and it was replaced with a menacing scowl.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that Mint Eye is not going to last anymore. And you should get out of here before it's too late to escape."

Sejun's arms wavered, thoughts immediately going to Eun-Mi, who was probably still in that room, sound asleep. If this was true, then they were all royally fucked. There was no telling when the police would arrive to arrest them all. And who knew what would become of Eun-Mi then? Who would take care of her?

"You're bluffing." He tried to sound brave, but there was no way to hide the tremble in his voice. Saeyoung wasn't stupid. If he was as smart or even smarter than Saeran, then there was no way he would charge in here with some half-baked plan when his goal was to save his precious brother from this place. And of course it wouldn't be a stretch to think that he would make sure Mint Eye went down to erase this threat from his family for good.

"You're a smart kid. You should know what's more important right now: saving us, or escaping with Eun-Mi." A different person was speaking now, a taller man whose brown hair was tied back in a low ponytail. His jaw was set, eyes even more determined and colder than Saeyoung's. His gun was still pointed, and Sejun could tell that he wouldn't hesitate to fire if he needed to.

"H-How do you know about—"

"There's no time. Decide now. The two of you as well," Saeyoung cut in, addressing the other two followers on either side of Sejun. They looked just as uncertain, and their eyes were darting between their enemies and Sejun, looking torn as to who to listen to.

"…Are you really going to give up everything, just for revenge? Because someone else told you to?"

It wasn't Saeyoung, or that brunet's voice. Sejun's attention snapped to the man on Saeyoung's back. His voice was much softer, weaker, but there was clarity in it.

"Don't make the same mistakes I did, Sejun," Saeran said bitterly, and his brother tried to hush him, worry plastered all over his face.

As much as Sejun hated Saeran's guts, he knew exactly what Saeran was talking about. He had been there after all, in that hall when the First Saviour, Rika, ordered him to be brainwashed again, and when he had lost control and fired that gun at the half-blind man, killing him.

Sejun knew how much Saeran had suffered ever since— if his nonsensical ramblings when he was being brainwashed again back here was to be taken as the truth.

"Go," Saeran insisted, this time his voice fainter, and then his head fell, dangling off Saeyoung's shoulder.

"S-Saeran! Saeran! Shit! We have to go now," his brother panicked, and began to move. Sejun's men raised their guns, prepared to fire, but they were stopped with a raised hand.

"You heard them. Let's go. We don't have time," Sejun said, lowering his gun and nodding at the group of men before them who warily did the same. The two with him obeyed, though they still looked confused. He wanted to scoff at them. Idiots. They could only act when someone instructed them to, just like well-trained dogs.

And he supposed he was just like them. A stupid, foolish dog, trapped by a collar he had willingly put around his own neck. One that had squeezed his throat so tightly for so long that he could barely breathe.

It was time to finally be free from it all. Just like Saeran.

He turned to leave first, and the two with him followed behind him.

"Are you sure about this?" one of them asked. "Won't we get into trouble?"

"We don't have a choice, we were outnumbered. We wouldn't be able to fight against them anyway. Let's just leave and save ourselves first."

His first priority was to save Eun-Mi. Nothing else mattered, not Park Ha Yoon's insane operation, not the reasons why Mint Eye suddenly lost its government backing, or the consequences that would follow if he escaped. That could come later.

He could only trust that Saeyoung and his team would successfully bring this entire institution down for good.

A/N: im so sorry this semester has been killing me (last sem best sem my BUTT!) :"(

BUT WITH THIS. WE ARE DONE WITH THE MINT EYE PLOT. I mean I'll tie up the loose ends in the next chapter but yeah. MORE FLUFF (or angst?) incoming for the end, I'll still try to update weekly but really no promises because I'm really drowning but I will do my best! And anyways now that the shittiest part is over I'll def be 100x more motivated to complete this asap :D

Thanks for reading (the chapter and my rant LOL) and I'll see you soon (hopefully)! :)