He had to resist the urge to slam the door closed on the way out. As much as he wanted to punch 001 in the face for being so fucking difficult with his emotions and his roundabout away in showing them, he knew that 001 was technically in the right.

Liam knew that 001 had a good point and he was absolutely right. He and Isak were at risk of being killed by the Camp, and they were former operatives of the damn thing. The chance of 001's family being killed by the camp was absurdly high and 001 was making the right choice in distancing himself from them. If he wanted to keep them safe, then he had to stay away from them, Liam wasn't arguing with that.

The only problem was that 001 was too fucking stupid to just say that outright. Of course, he had to make it seem like he wasn't interested in his family in an attempt to keep them safe. Honestly, all he had to do was explain the situation to them! Not to make it seem like he didn't like their very presence!

Which led him to his current situation.

Liam jogged down the hallways, trying to find 001's family to try and fix the damage his former leader had caused. He rounded a corner, and thankfully, saw the still sniffling sister and grandfather of 001. Dayeon was stifling her sobs as she wiped away her tears, her grandfather rubbing soothing circles into her back as she did so.

Seriously, 001 was such a dick, even if he was trying to protect them.

001's grandfather looked up when he got closer and gave him a strained smile that showed how that little scene with 001 had affected him. Liam walked up to them, "Sorry." he breathed out, internally cringing when he saw Dayeons tear stained face looking up at him, "I didn't know he was going to react like that." And he truly didn't, he would have never given them the green light to talk to him if he had known.

Glumly, Dayeon looked down at her lap, "It's okay." She croaked out, though the sniffle that quickly followed it up let him know that it was anything but okay. "He's just so…different." Her verbalizing the change in 001 was enough for her to start crying again. Though her grandfather tried, his actions did nothing to soothe her pain.

He should have known that simply warning them about the personality difference wouldn't have been enough. That was a huge mistake on his part.

Sighing heavily, Liam sat next to her on the bench, a careful distance between the two of them. For a few seconds, all he could do was just sit there, scrambling for the words that would both inform and soothe the ailing family. But it was difficult, what could he say other than 'hey your brother is a dick but he doesn't really mean it'. He was meant for combat, for using his body as a weapon and weapons as an extension of his body. He was not meant for softly delivering messages and it showed. "Ijin…he doesn't remember anyone." Liam said slowly, pursing his lips when he heard her sobs slightly increasing at his words, "But, he's trying to keep you safe. Even though he doesn't remember, he knows that he loved you guys and he doesn't want anything bad to happen." Though that did nothing to soothe the young lady, that did make 001's grandfather send him a grateful look.

Seriously, he was going to make 001 pay for being such an emotionally constipated ass. All of this would be avoided if 001 had just outrightly said that he wants to keep them safe by keeping a distance. But of course, 001 had to show that by scaring them off as if they were one of their shitty mercenary coworkers.

Liam sighed, "The way we were raised. We were taught to disregard our emotions and well…without any memories, your brother was affected the most. No one was safe, especially not some eight-year-old that barely survived a plane crash." Even he, who had been older than 001 when he joined, got shit from the others. The bullying and beatings had been relentless, there was not a single night where he felt safe enough to enter a proper, deep sleep, and it was something of a known fact that the ones who were deep sleepers were usually the first ones to be robbed or killed.

It was hell there, all because everyone was trying to get a step up on each other.

"Look, he cares, he really does. The only way he knows how to show it is by pretending that he doesn't care. I had to ignore my own brother so our handlers couldn't use him against me, I had to pretend I hated him to keep him safe." He gently put his hand on Dayeon's shoulder, internally thankful that 001 wasn't there to snap at him, "He just wants to keep you two safe. This is the only way he knows how. He knows that the only way for you two to be safe is to stay away from him." Dayeon took a few seconds, but she nodded her head to show that she understood, her lip enduring the way she was chewing on it.

Despite the way it seemed to bring no comfort to the young lady, it at least seemed to comfort the older man, as brutal as the truth was. Though it wasn't the result he wanted, it was better than nothing.

"Look. I'll talk to him again," He needed to talk to 001 to try and cement the fact that none of them were in danger of getting attacked for the time being. That he could afford to take the time to try and recover what memories he can. "He's only been awake for two days. He's stubborn, but he's not unreasonable." Once he and Isak thoroughly explained the situation to him, he was sure that 001 was going to stop being such a defensive ass all the time.

001's grandfather awkwardly cleared his throat, and Liam found himself thankful when he, at last, started to say something instead of letting him ramble on. "We understand." He said quietly, the older man audibly taking in a deep breath to steel his nerves, "If you wouldn't mind, I would like to take my granddaughter home." He gave Liam a knowingly look that Liam picked up almost instantaneously. It was obvious that her grandfather wanted to get Dayeon to the comforts of their own home for some privacy to process everything.

Well, he definitely was not going to get in the way of that.

Liam took his hand off immediately, "I understand. I'll try talking to him later tonight." And with a few farewells and nods of appreciation, 001's family was off to their home, or to wherever they were staying after their home had been exposed.

Then he wanted to scream after he stomped back to 001's room with the intent to talk about what just happened, only to find an empty room.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Where is he?" He had to actually refrain himself snarling out his question towards the bodyguards, "Where did 001-Ijin. Where did Ijin go?"

The bodyguards almost looked nervous under his gaze, but to their credit, they didn't waver as one of them said, "He went up to the roof. Just a warning, the kid's pissed."

He heaved out a sigh.

Great. 001 just loved to be difficult, didn't he?


To say that he was not in the best of moods was an understatement. There was an odd mix of sorrow and anger burning in his chest that made him desperate for some air. He knew why he was mad, he was damn near livid that Dayeon and her grandfather were being pulled into his shitshow of a life. They were kind people and they were people that did not deserve to be involved in his problems.

As for the sorrow.

He had no idea why he felt like that.

It was stupid, it was idiotic to feel bad for doing the right thing. He did the right thing and that meant that Dayeon and her grandfather were going to be away from him and safe.

Yet, despite that, he couldn't dispel the sorrow he was feeling no matter how many times he tried to rationalize his actions.

All it did was frustrate him even more.

He stepped out onto the roof, the leather jacket wrapped firmly around him as he stepped out into the cool air. Immediately the feeling of the cold air on his face made him let out a sigh of relief, some of the tension leaving his shoulders as he did so.

He hated the cold. He hated the way he could feel the biting cold wind zapping away all of his body heat, the way the cold made the inside of his nose sting and the back of his throat burn. The way it would make his ears ache if he was out there for too long and make his fingers and toes go numb. But yet, there was something about the cold that helped him think. There was something about the cold air filling his lungs and burning his throat that made his mind clear. It was weird that something he hated could help center him so much, maybe it was the fact that the cold always made him want to slow down overall that made it easier to think. Either way, he knew that if he wanted to try and calm down, he needed to sit out in the cold for a little bit to cool his head both figuratively and literally.

Patting at the jacket pockets, he scowled when he remembered that it was 006 who had the cigarettes, leaving him with the lighter. Scowling, he took out the lighter and sparked it irritably as he thought. God, all he wanted was to get a smoke to try and relax and he can't even get that. This was less stressful than living at the Camp but that didn't mean he didn't have to deal with stress at all.

The sound of the flint sparking filled the air, that single, repeated action making the lighter heat up in the process. Making it spark did nothing to ease his foul mood as a cigarette would have, but he could deal with it at the moment. All he had to do was go out and buy some the next chance he got. Which led him to another point, when the actual fuck was he going to be allowed to leave of his own accord?

Those stupid bodyguards didn't leave him alone until he finally hissed out that he was going to the roof and to leave him the fuck alone. He wasn't even going to leave the top floors and yet they were acting like he was planning to go across the city.

The fact that almost his every move had been monitored by at least one person was starting to annoy him and adding on the fact that he was not used to sitting on his ass uselessly for such a long time; he was starting to go stir-crazy.

His head still hurt occasionally, and there had been a few times when it felt like he was going to pass out after standing up a little bit too fast, but he could deal with those. If anything, it was something he had experienced and dealt with before, even if the pain was worse than usual. He's dealt with it before, and he could deal with it now. As much as it stacked up on top of everything else and drove him crazy.

"Here, "the voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he found himself looking over as a man in hoodie and sweatpants held out a box of cigarettes to him, waiting for him to take it.

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. The man looked vaguely familiar, and he couldn't tell if it was because it was someone he was supposed to know, or if it was someone he had seen around.

Either way, he didn't take the man's offered pack.

He looked at the man up and down, noticing the way the man was relaxed, but alert. The man was leaning against the railing, just like he was, though unlike him, he had his right leg up on the lower bar of the railing, his body angled towards him slightly, his black eyes observing his reactions.

The man huffed and motioned towards him again, motioning for him to take it, "I don't have a lighter, and you don't have a cig, let's do each other a favor." He thought over the offer for a few seconds, eyeing the cigarette pack as he did so.

Fuck it.

Restraining a sigh, he took the pack from the man's hands and noticed with some joy when he opened the pack, breaking the seal as he did so.

Well, at least he knew that he wasn't going to get poisoned. Or at least if he was, the man sure did put a lot of effort into tricking him.

Quickly taking a cigarette for himself, he handed the pack back, along with the lighter. He watched the brown-haired man as he lit his own cigarette, taking in a deep breath as he did so. The man exhaled, the smoke momentarily lingering before the wind took it away, and again, the man took in another deep breath without hesitation.

Yeah, it was definitely fine. If the man had been planning to kill him via vice, he would have never lit his cigarette first.

He couldn't help but let out his own sigh as he lit his cigarette, almost savoring the way the cold and the smoke helped ground him. A cold gust of wind made him shiver, but he wasn't going to go back inside until he felt like it.

"Aren't you a little bit young to be smoking?"

"Go and jerk it if you can't shut up." He didn't even hesitate. He wanted some peace and quiet, and beyond them using each other to get a smoke, he didn't owe anything to the man. He was there for a smoke and for some peace, not for some fucking stranger to lecture him about smoking. It's not like the stupid things were going to kill him faster than the camp coming after his ass. Besides, if the guy really had a problem with it, then he shouldn't have given him the stupid thing.

Irritably, he took in a deep breath, noticing with some annoyance that he was already close to halfway through the stupid thing. He really had to get some of his own so he could keep a handle on his temper.

His patience was fraying, and he knew it.

The man sighed, and just like that, they had lapsed into silence again, nothing but the bitter wind filling the silence between them.

He couldn't help but sigh heavily. He knew that he needed to get a hold of his temper, but with the way he couldn't control his rather conflicting emotions, and the pitying looks everyone kept on giving him, he felt a little bit entitled to losing his temper. The switching between the hot smoke and the cold air filling his lungs helped ground him further.

It was all just so frustrating and other than his reaction to a situation, everything was beyond his control. 006 and 032 still weren't telling him anything beyond 'your friends and family are worried' and 'The camp won't find us'.

First of all, it was damn well obvious that the camp found him, they shot him for god's sake, and second of all, he couldn't put all of his supposed friends and family at risk because they were 'worried'.

What he didn't understand was why were they still there? Why didn't they leave as soon as he woke up? it was stupid of them to stay there, especially since 006 and 032 were in hiding, and they were only putting their freedom at risk by staying with him.

He understood that they were staying with him out of some sort of loyalty or comradery, but it didn't change the fact that it was stupid of them to do that.

He didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of him.

The smoke dissipated on his last inhale as he got to the filter, and he flicked the cigarette butt into the trashcan as he blew the smoke into the air, watching it as the wind took it away.

The shuffling of clothes made him look over at the man again, and again he was surprised to see the man offering him another cigarette as if he wasn't being a dick to the man.

"Will you be willing to listen if I give you these?" the man asked, a sincere look on his face as he said that.

Whatever. The man didn't seem like he had it in him to kill anyone, at least not under a circumstance like this.

He took it, "What? Am I supposed to know you too?" Either way, at least he wasn't looking at him with pity, as if he was some child that had been forgotten. Who knows, he could probably get some more answers from him.

The man nodded, "We work together. My name is Kyong." The man extended his hand for a handshake, and while he didn't return it in favor of igniting the tobacco, it was nice having a name to the face. Though it didn't do a single thing to spark his memory, he was just as unfamiliar as everyone else.

Kyong slowly took his hand back, thrown off by his standoffish nature, though he didn't look surprised at all.

Chewing on the filter, he looked at Kyong up and down, taking note of the way he was lacking that certain look in his eyes. The look that he and the others shared from the Camp, an apathetic look that didn't show any weakness or kindness. Kyong did not look like they worked together, "You don't look like a mercenary." Kyong wasn't even in a stance that would allow for fast reactions if shit went south. It would be far too easy for him to incapacitate the man right now, right there.

Kyong pursed his lips, his thin lips turning white at his words, "I'm not." He said simply, giving him a short nod as he continued, "I'm a bodyguard and you are too."

Ah.

Now he remembers.

Kyong was the man in the suit who brought him clothes after he woke up. He didn't recognize Kyong because he had first met Kyong when he was nicely groomed in a suit while Kyong currently looked like he rolled out of bed a few minutes ago.

But bodyguard huh? He could see himself working a job like that.

That was probably the best job for him in such a peaceful country, the Camp had him do a few bodyguard missions, and he sincerely doubted that he could work in any other sector of work with the way he grew up.

"The men keep asking for you. They miss you."

He couldn't help it.

He scoffed.

He was 001, he was the asshole that everyone talked about behind his back. The one that everyone found unnerving, the one that everyone isolated to avoid facing his wrath.

He sincerely doubted that 'the men' missed him.

Kyong gave him an odd look, a slight crinkle in his brow that showed his confusion, "They do." Kyong repeated as if it was going to convince him, "The men who outside of your room volunteered to watch over you."

That just brought him back to the point he had with his family and 006 and 032. All they were were more people he needed to keep out of his business.

"I don't need them, "He said smoothly, not a single ounce of hesitation in his voice, "They'll be killed if they try to protect me. Send them back."

The man made an offended noise in the back of his throat, "They're highly trained men." Kyong shot back, his voice holding tones of offense, "they trained for situations like this."

He felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance and he chewed on the filter again as he tried to rein in his temper, "The people who are after me are the ones who trained me. I used to lead their top squadron until I defected." He huffed out, sending a glare over to the unblinking man, "They'll be killed. Tell Seokju and the others to go back."

That only made Kyong frown, as if he said something particularly stupid. "You remember Seokju?" He had an almost hopeful tone in his voice, one that was reflected on his face.

Now it was his turn to frown. "Who?" He didn't know anyone named Seokju. He would definitely know if he had been introduced to someone like that considering that he can only remember the past two days. He's been introduced to Dayeon and her grandfather, but other than that, that was it.

There was a crinkle in his brow, "Seokju. Seokju Koh." Kyong repeated, "You two are close friends. You train with him, and you go to school with him as well. You're the same age as him."

Didn't ring a bell.

Trying to remember a person named Seokju only followed the current trend of nothing coming up. not a single memory came up, he had no face to connect the name to, no memories to try and dig through. The only person he knew who was his age was 006, and that was it.

Not that he was surprised.

"If I knew him, I don't remember him now." He said bluntly. It was nothing new, and he did not need to try and soften a blow to a coworker that he also did not remember. The way Kyong was talking about it, he was going to go ahead and assume that Seokju was in one of the pictures of his phone, maybe one of the phone numbers as well.

Kyong sighed in disappointment at that, as if he was surprised by his words. Though he didn't know why, they wouldn't be saying that he didn't remember anything if he didn't. "I see…Well, wou-"

The door slammed open.

Kyong cut himself off, startled at the sound of the metal door bouncing off the wall. He merely glanced at the bodyguard before he looked over at the doorway, not surprised to see that it was 006 who slammed open the door.

"001!" 006 snarled out, his pale skin already turning red out in the cold," Get your ass in here! Its fucking cold! You already have amnesia, you bastard! We don't need you to get sick!"

He was as calm as always, "It was colder last night asshat. Stop bitching." 006 looked like he wanted to bash his head into the wall, and honestly, he would like to see 006 try.

006 stalked towards him, and he could tell that 006 was barely restraining his anger at that point. "Come inside. Come in and I'll explain everything and answer your questions." When he didn't move, 006 made a 'come' motion with his hands, "Let's go already. Its fucking cold and I'm getting nipply out here." 006 crossed his arms to make a point, his hands rubbing his arms to warm himself up.

He huffed out a laugh at that. "You're weirder than I remember." And 006 really was. The blonde would have never said anything like that back in camp, he never would have made a joke in any situation. The fact that he was making jokes like that now was something he was probably never get used to.

Rolling his eyes, 006 smiled, and just like before, it was weird to see him doing that, "You're the one who's acting weird. I got him," 006 nodded towards Kyong, and he found himself raising a brow when he saw Kyong exchange the nod.

Huh.

Those two were closer than he thought.

Oh well. 006 had a good sense of judgment, which really only proved his original thoughts that Kyong was not a threat to him.

"Fine." Tossing the packet back to his coworker, and throwing the filter into the trash can, he started to go back inside." You better explain what the fuck we're still doing here."

"I will, I will." The blonde sighed, almost fed up with his antics, "Just stop being so difficult will you?"

"Bite me." 001 had no real heat in his voice as he strode past him into the stairwell, the smell of cigarettes waving past Liam in the process.

Well, Liam was going to go ahead and hope that the Major wasn't going to mind his jacket smelling like cigarettes when he finally got it back.

Without a second thought, 001 went down the staircase, not looking over his shoulder like he usually did when he was on guard. Liam followed him down the staircase, and when 001 tried to stop on their usual floor, Liam motioned for him to keep on following him. "Come on." 001 just hummed before he started following him again.

"Where are we going?"

"Out." Just like that, 001 was picking up his pace ever so slightly, showing his enthusiasm to get out for the first time since he's woken up. Not that Liam blamed him, he would be going crazy if he had been restrained to a room and a rooftop for two days.

Liam took the lead, waving off bodyguards and security as he led 001 out of the hospital and onto the street.

It was discrete, as discrete as 001 could be, but Liam could tell that he was looking around out of curiosity. It was fair, they've been to other countries for jobs, but 001 defected before Mad Dog started to outsource them to other companies beyond the middle eastern area. This was most likely 001's first time, to his perspective at least, in such a developed country.

People were milling around, ambulances and cars blazing by, the tall buildings looming over them. It had to be overwhelming for even 001 and Liam could see it. He could see it in the way 001 ever so slightly hunched forward, shifting his weight onto the balls of his feet just enough where he could quickly react. He dipped his chin forward, lowering it to his chest to better protect it should anything happen, his shoulders tensing up and bringing his arms slightly forward to again, help with his reaction time. It was subtle, and if it wasn't for the fact that Liam was trained to do the same thing, he never would have noticed. 001 looked tense to the regular person, but Liam knew that he was ready to defend himself at the drop of a pin.

He was sure that Mad Dog would have been proud to see what he had produced from that hellish training.

Or scared.

Mad Dog was doing this because he was scared of 001 and what he was capable of.

"Calm down." 001 flicked his eyes to him for just a moment before he was back to scanning the crowd around them, clearly not trusting the mass amount of strangers that surrounded them. "Korea has one of the lowest crime rates. Guns are illegal and knives that are longer than eight centimeters are illegal too. And from what I hear, you have ties with some of the local gang leaders. Nothing is going to happen."

Now 001 leveled him with a stare, somehow conveying the words 'I don't believe you' with his eyes alone. It was obvious that 001 didn't believe him for a second, because he was still in that defensive position of his, and it looked like he wasn't planning to relax any time soon.

Knowing that 001 probably wasn't going to relax for the next few weeks, he just started talking. 001 wasn't going to respond, but he was going to listen. "I know you're worried about your family." He started, and when 001 sent him a look to try and protest, he held up his hand to cut him off before he could, "Listen. I know what you're doing. You're doing the same thing I did to 032, I pushed him away to keep him safe and now you're pushing away your family."

Based on the huff that 001 gave, he knew that he was hitting it right on the mark. "You were in a coma for a week and your sister has a strong friendship with a multimillion company heir. Her friend already moved your family to a new apartment under a new name. me and my brother already set up false trails of you leaving the country, we killed the men in your apartment. The ones we could while Interpol took care of the ones we couldn't. We already took care of everyone and everything." Liam ended firmly, trying to stress the fact that 001 was being over-paranoid without saying it outright, "You helped me save 032 when the camp caught him, so let us return the favor. You and your family are safe."

They had been walking the entire time Liam had been talking, and by the time he finished, they were already at a nearby park. Children were milling around the park, their childish, high-pitched shrieks of joy filling the air as they ran to and from. As they ran up, over, and under the playground equipment, their giggles and laughter were full of joy as they lived their young lives to the fullest.

Parents lined the playground, couples and single parents as they watched over their kids. None of them were particularly concerned about their kids, all of them were either engrossed in their phones, a book, or each other as their kids played. It was clear that other than an occasional glance to the playground, none of them were worried about their kids suddenly being taken, or blown up. Likewise, none of the children were looking around nervously, the most nervous they got was when they couldn't see their parents, but as soon as they saw them, they were quick to get back to playing.

As he thought, 001 was stunned at the sight of the truth, carefree families that crowded the area. It was reasonable. Children were precious back in the shitty areas of the middle east, which really was the only part that they saw. They were kept far away from the battlefield and while the numbered had never been the group to contribute to the problem, it was common for children and teenagers to be taken by different merc groups for multiple reasons.

The fact that so many parents and guardians found it safe enough for their children to be playing so freely only showed how peaceful the country was. The fact that the mass majority did not have their heads on a constant swivel was a further testament to that.

If it wasn't a peaceful country, then the inhabitants would have reflected it.

"Focus on getting better for now. And stop being a dick." Liam added it on as an afterthought, snorting at the annoyed look that 001 gave him. "Seriously. You were acting like 004 back there." Now that got him a proper glower. No doubt about it, 001 was offended that Liam said that he was emulating 004. Which was fair, 004 was a little bit of an odd case. If being a bloodthirsty killer was the requirement to be odd.

001 redirected his gaze to the playground, and while the tensions didn't leave his shoulders completely, 001 rocked back onto his feels, slightly straightening back up in the process. He relaxed and heaved out a sigh that showed that he was trying to relax. Though Liam had no doubt that 001 would be ready to pounce at a moment's notice, at least he wasn't primed and ready for it all the time.

They stood there for a few more seconds, taking in the relaxed atmosphere as they did so. Granted, it didn't last long because of the traffic that was going on nearby, but it didn't change the end result.

"Alright." 001 breathed out, "I'll trust you. But the moment something happens-"

"I will tell you." Liam ended, getting slightly exasperated, though he did understand, "Me and 032's asses are on the line too. If anything happens, we're gonna have to stick together. You know that if they wanted to finish you off, they would have done it while you were still in that coma." His words hung in the air for a few seconds, the two of them staring at each other, watching each other's micro-expressions.

001 sighed again. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay." 001 repeated, giving him an annoyed look, "I'll give them a chance. I'll stop pushing them away." Liam couldn't help but sigh in relief.

Oh, thank god.

He knew that 001 could be reasoned with, but sometimes he was just difficult to work with, especially when he felt like he was being backed into a corner. Liam would even call himself lucky that he was able to convince 001 to stop pushing everyone away from him.

"Does that mean you'll be willing to meet everyone else? Your friends I mean." 001 waved his hand around almost flippantly.

"Sure. As long as they leave me alone, I don't care."

Yeah. Liam was going to hope that he had the same attitude when it was time for him to meet his friends again. The only good thing was that 001 was always level-headed, and unless his friends did something to completely and utterly piss him off, then it was just going to be fine.

If anything, it was probably going to be better than the whole thing with 001 pushing away his family.

Whatever, only time would tell at that point.

"You hungry?" Liam didn't even give 001 a chance to answer before they were going towards the nearby convenience store.

001 quickly caught up, "Where are we going?"

It was going to be entertaining to see 001 have the same reaction he did to the cheap, calorie-packed food his former leader had introduced to him.

He smiled, "Just repaying a favor."