Yunho would never be able to explain what made him do it, but the second he saw how scared San looked once he realized what was going on...

It reminded him exactly of Yuri.

After her 'bad spells', as she would call them, she always had this petrified look on her face that broke Yunho's heart.

When he closed the door behind him after stepping into the bedroom, San visibly jumped and moved away from him. His head flicked around the room and jerked back and forth like a cornered animal.

Which to some extent, he was.

Yunho felt so guilty when he turned the lock on the door. But this needed to be done. "San?" He asked gently.

The younger turned to look at him with wide eyes. His entire body looked like it was trembling.

"Here." Yunho held out the bottle pills and water, then took a step back when San accepted them. "I think the best thing for you to do right now is rest."

"I think the best thing right now is for you to tell me what the hell is going on."

Yunho's eyebrows rose in surprise. He hadn't expected San to have a bite to him, but if he was being honest, he liked it. "That's fair. I'll tell you what I know, but it's not a pleasant story." He watched as San swallowed three of the bills, then reached up for the headband. "I wouldn't take that off if I were you, unless you want the voices to take over again."

San paused and looked at him. "Voices?"

"Yeah, the ones that control you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sit, please." Yunho said gently, motioning to the bed. "I'll tell you everything I know."

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Hongjoong ran his fingers down the page of script he held in his hands. It was the newest orders for the black market that night and he instantly knew it was going to be a productive evening.

If he could make enough money over the next few nights, he would have enough to buy all the extra security systems, weapons, and tools he needed to make sure the Pack never touched him again. It was something he had been striving to attain for years.

But he kept falling short!

No matter how much money he brought in, there always seemed to be something that drained his assets.

Hongjoong had been monitoring it closely too. He wasn't sure what it was, but just when he thought he had enough, money seemed to disappear from his accounts.

The hard thing was that there were a couple of other people who worked for him who had access to the accounts to purchase items for their auctions.

Maybe he needed to start putting more money into his personal accounts, but he knew that was a risk too, and it could hurt his business.

"Nice, there are some good weapons here." He muttered to himself while flipping the switch to send out his signal.

When he set the paper down, he glanced at the front door and for some reason his mind wandered to the tall stranger that had asked him about the book he was reading.

There was something about the tone of the man's voice that still haunted him. There was so much pain and longing there...

Hongjoong shook his head. Why was he even thinking about something like that? He so many other things he needed to be concerned about right now.

It only took a few minutes for his usual buyers to start appearing. They all gave the password, as always, and Hongjoong just nodded them through to the back room.

He kept his handgun loaded and ready to fire at all times just in case someone from the Pack showed up to try and stop him. Especially Seonghwa.

Oh he couldn't wait to put a bullet in that asshole. Hongjoong envisioned it several times a day sometimes as a way to relieve stress.

And his little dog.

Hongjoong scoffed and shook his head once more.

He was so sick of this place... and he couldn't wait to be free to live his own life once more.

One day. One day soon he would either destroy the Pack or run far away from here with enough money to never have to worry about anything ever again.

His eyes slowly strayed to his book and a sense of longing started to take over.

Deep down, Hongjoong just wanted to have a place where he belonged. But he quickly shoved that thought aside and growled to himself.

The Pack had taken everything from him. He couldn't waver from his mission.

To destroy them all.

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"Jongho, come here." Yeosang said, waving his hand urgently.

He had returned to his computers as soon as Mingi had made it clear that he didn't want to talk anymore, and just a few minutes ago, he had detected something he knew was important.

"What is it?" Jongho appeared at his side instantly and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Look. It's back." Yeosang pointed to the screen where a flashing light pulsed, sending a few rippling circles away from the center indicating the general area the signal was coming from.

The younger leaned forward and his forehead creased a little. "Have you figured out what it is yet?"

Yeosang shook his head and reached for the bowl of suckers he kept at his desk. As soon as he had one in his mouth, he felt a little more relaxed.

He had been trying to figure out what this signal was for months now. It never stayed for very long, and while it was always in the same area, he had never been able to pinpoint its exact location.

And that infuriated him.

Yeosang was the best hacker out there and he couldn't figure out what this damn signal was. "I just don't understand."

"Aren't some of your targets around there?"

"Yes, but... why would they broadcast a signal?" Yeosang started to play with the sucker in his mouth while leaning back in his chair.

Jongho chuckled next to him and leaned forward to capture Yeosang's attention. "If you keep doing that I may not be able to contain myself."

The older blushed and tried to push his boyfriend away, but as always, Jongho held fast like he was a damn statue. "Don't say things like that. We have guests."

"So?" Jongho smirked. It was a deadly look that always had Yeosang losing his concentration on whatever he was doing.

"S-Stop it." Yeosang hissed while returning his attention to the screen. "You're such an attention whore."

"Such bad language to use around your child." Jongho chuckled and leaned even closer. "You're not going to start being neglectful again are you?"

"For fuck's sake!" Yeosang shoved Jongho away by his face and tried to adjust himself to hide the fact that he was extremely turned on.

And the fact that Jongho left without another word told him the younger had succeeded in his mission.

He was going to be in trouble if he kept letting Jongho distract him like this. But Yeosang knew he loved it at the same time.

After taking another moment to breathe, Yeosang started running his programming to figure out what the strange signal was.

The only thing he could think of was that it was either being covered up by something else or being broadcast at a frequency that he just hadn't been able to hone in on.

"What's that?" Mingi's deep voice came from behind him sometime later.

Yeosang tried to hide the fact that he had jumped by rubbing the back of his head and spinning in his chair to face the taller. His heart fell a little when he saw the hopeless expression on Mingi's face. "I'm... I'm not sure. It's something I've been tracking for awhile now, but I just can't figure out what it is yet."

Mingi stared at the screen for a long time, then slowly tilted his head to the side. "Can you zoom out to show more of the area?" Yeosang obliged and watched as Mingi leaned forward to study the map. "I can't believe it..." He whispered.

"What?"

Mingi reached forward and pointed at one spot on the screen, right in the center of the signal's area. "That's Hongjoong's shop."

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San couldn't believe what he was hearing.

He had done what Yunho asked and listened to everything. It was absolutely crazy.

Mercer had implanted a chip in his brain to control him? Why would he do that? There was no way...

San hesitated and sucked in a deep breath.

Maybe there was...

He thought about all the empty moments in his memory. All the headaches. All the worried looks from Seonghwa. All-

Seonghwa. Seonghwa knew about this, didn't he?

San covered his mouth and tears started to form in his weary eyes. He felt so betrayed.

"I know this is a lot." Yunho said gently. "And that it's hard to believe, but... I think it's all true. Mingi hasn't given me any reason to not believe him yet."

The younger turned to look at Yunho and lowered his hand. "But... How? I..." He still couldn't find the words to speak. Everything about his entire life... Had it all been a lie? Was he just some pawn in Mercer's plan? And why?

"I know." Yunho kept his voice calm and even. There was something about it that had San feeling at ease, although he couldn't explain why.

Could it be this connection Yunho spoke of?

"So we..."

"Apparently." Yunho chuckled nervously and rubbed his neck.

San watched the motion carefully, knowing full well he still needed to keep his guard up. But a smile tugged at the corner of his lips when he saw Yunho's ears turning red. It was cute. "And your sister... She was like me?"

Now a dark look crossed Yunho's face and he dropped his arm. "To an extent. You had the voices forced on you. Yuri was actually sick. We did everything we could to try and keep her healthy but the Pack controls all medicine, so we could never get our hands on what we needed."

San looked down at his hands. He hadn't missed the accusing tone in Yunho's voice. "So what happens now?"

"Well, I guess that's up to you. But you should get some rest. We don't need to decide anything right now. You've had a rough day."

At those words, San was suddenly aware of just how heavy his body felt. He was familiar with this and realized it must be because of the chip in his head. How could he not know about it? Why wouldn't Seonghwa tell him? Maybe they weren't as close as he thought...

Yunho stood up and started to walk toward the door when San reached up to grab his sleeve. "Wait..." He whimpered and withdrew his hand. "S-Sorry."

"It's ok, what is it?"

San felt so pathetic right now, but he didn't want to be alone. This was all so overwhelming and Yunho hadn't shown any signs of being dangerous. If anything, he was the kindest person San had ever met. "Will you stay with me?"

A smile crossed Yunho's face and all his features relaxed to one of understanding. "Sure."

San pushed himself further onto the bed and laid down. He watched Yunho's every move and noticed the slight hesitation, but he couldn't blame him.

The two of them ended up laying back to back, but San found himself scooting back so that they were at least touching. There was something about that small bit of contact that comforted him.

Especially when his mind started wandering to what Mercer must be thinking right now. If he had been sent out on a special mission, the fact that he wasn't back would raise so many red flags. Mercer had to be furious right now. Would he send out a search party? If he was so important, Mercer would do everything he could to get him back... right?

Then San's thoughts took him down a more painful path.

Did Seonghwa even know he was gone? Or... did he even care?

San couldn't stop the whimper that escaped him at that thought and was surprised when the bed shifted and one of Yunho's long arms wrapped around his stomach. "It's ok. No one is going to hurt you here. You're safe, San." He whispered.

The feeling of his breath brushing the back of San's neck had goosebumps littering his neck and arms. He bit his lip and closed his eyes.

Part of him felt guilty for doing this, but the betrayal he felt always won out. Maybe if he did something with Yunho it would hurt Seonghwa in return.

But when he felt Yunho relax behind him and a soft snore joining it, San smiled and nestled into the bed. Maybe he would give these strangers a chance. If what they said was true, then Mercer was the real enemy here, and he wouldn't stop until he had his revenge.