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With every step down the concrete stairs, Wooyoung’s insides seemed to grew heavier. Every stalling technique had been blocked by Seonghwa and Hongjoong’s steady gaze on him promised they knew.
He still kept a death-grip on his phone, even though it was nothing but a rectangle of glass, plastic and rare metals by now. This deep in the bunker under their HQ there was no cell-service, no signal that would reach him. He threw himself onto one of the seats and waited for the others to file in slowly.
Yunho’s face was looking gaunt, his eyes still red, and he didn’t step away from Yeosang’s side for a second. His frantic orders still echoed in Wooyoung’s ears and he was sure he’d never be able to forget the panic in his friend’s eyes while he tried to staunch his lover’s bleeding.
By now, Yeosang was stable, but still deadly pale and leaning heavily on Yunho. He should be in a bed, preferably inside a discreet hospital, but when Hongjoong called a meeting of the Eight, they all followed.
San was the last one to enter, shutting the heavy vault door behind him. It was the only way in and out.
“What went wrong?” Jongho demanded from nobody in particular. His fists were balled and he kept searching the other men’s faces.
Wooyoung ran his hands over his face. Even if he wanted to say something, it seemed his throat had closed up, hardly letting him breath or swallow, let alone speak. He leaned forward, arms on his knees, face in his hands.
“We were ambushed,” Hongjoong said calmly.
“No shit,” Yunho barked. “They knew exactly where we would be and if not for Mingi’s reflexes Yeosang would be dead now.”
His face was haunted by the mere thought and he tightened his arms around Yeosang. The latter looked up at him and placed a placating hand on his cheek.
“I’m still here,” he murmured, his voice faint. Yunho grabbed his hand and pressed a kiss to the back.
“We should all be dead,” Jongho exclaimed. “It was directed at all of us. The only reason they didn’t succeed was Seonghwa’s last minute decision to change cars and that sudden downpour.”
Wooyoung’s heart clenched painfully. He chanced a furtive glance at Seonghwa, only to find the other already watching him.
Hongjoong’s voice was dangerously level when he replied: “We were betrayed.”
Nobody acted surprised. Yunho’s jaw clenched visibly, Mingi growled lowly and San shifted his stance against the vault door.
“Do we know who it is?” Jongho asked, his voice promising carnage to whoever was guilty of acting against them.
There was almost a sense of levity in Hongjoong’s voice when he answered. “But of course.”
He paused for a heartbeat. There was a shift in the room. Five men focused on their leader, ready to be told the target for their wrath.
“He’s with us right now,” he continued in a conversational tone, posture completely relaxed, as if he had not just dropped the equivalent of a life grenade into their midst.
The words’ impact was quick and devastating.
“What?” San whispered, jaw slack and his face suddenly looking young and vulnerable. Jongho coughed out a sound of surprise, his eyes comically wide. Mingi jumped up and echoed San’s “What?” much louder.
Yeosang sucked in a startled breath, sounding almost exactly as when the bullet had hit him. Yunho’s eyes were closed and his posture was rigid. Only the wounded man in his arms kept him from grabbing the Captain’s lapels to shake more information out of him.
Seonghwa uncrossed his arms, moving into a ready position. The movement drew the others’ attention, but his face was relaxed. There was only one person that had not reacted to the revelation and the others realized this at almost the same moment.
“No,” somebody whispered, too low to identify the voice.
“But that’s impossible,” San murmured, his eyes darting back and forth between Hongjoong and his best friend.
There was the sound of rustling clothes as Yunho very carefully extricated himself from Yeosang, taking care not to jostle his lover. Before he could rise from his seat, Hongjoong placed a hand on his arm.
“Stay,” the Captain commanded, earning a cold glare from the other. “Let him say his piece.”
The silence in the room was suffocating.
Wooyoung felt their eyes on him like a physical weight. He tried to swallow, but there was no moisture left in his mouth.
“Tell him it’s not true,” San whispered, a fragile thread of hope in his voice. He took a small step towards Wooyoung, but halted abruptly when his friend looked up.
His eyes were unfocused and eerily empty. There was no hint of the man he knew in that face.
“Well?” Hongjoong prompted, his tone almost sounding kind, as if there wasn’t a cruel truth to be revealed.
“Yes,” Wooyoung said. His voice was less than a whisper. Nobody reacted, even though they all had heard it. After a moment he repeated himself.
“Yes, I betrayed you all. I told them where we would be.”
His eyes wandered to the side where Seonghwa stood. He couldn’t meet the other’s eyes, looking at his shoes instead.
“Did you know what they were planning?” Hongjoong asked, sounding like somebody inquiring after the health of an acquaintance.
Wooyoung shrugged: “I expected an attack.”
There was a roar and suddenly Yunho exploded across the room. Seonghwa intercepted him smoothly, keeping him from crashing into Wooyoung. With a slight hesitation Mingi helped restraining the other man. Yunho didn’t give up until Jongho stepped in, too. With three men holding him in place, he finally stopped thrashing and instead collapsed on the floor.
San had inched toward Wooyoung. His hand hovered in the air between them, as if there was a magnetic field keeping him from touching.
“Why?” he asked, his voice wet and desperate.
“They have my mom,” Wooyoung replied tonelessly. He seemed to address the floor. Hongjoong rose and went to where San lingered. He gently guided him to the side and then crouched down in front of Wooyoung.
“Why didn’t you come to me?” he questioned him softly.
Wooyoung took a choking breath.
“There was no time. They knew when we were planning to leave and if there had been a delay, they’d shot her.”
He laughed humorlessly and gestured to his silent phone, “she’s probably dead anyway by now.”