Playtime came and went, and Kim Seokjin finally opened the shuttle long after Chimin had given up pounding away at the locked door in an angry rage.

The door slid open. Chimin's back had been leaning against it so that the sudden loss of support made him almost fall backward in surprise. His sharp eyes shot up at Jin's smug face. Chimin could see that Jin's hair was damp around his ears, his skin soft from a fresh shower.

Joon still lay back on the floor and just barely opened up his eyes, whereas Chim was quick to his feet as he shouldered past Jin and into the small shuttle. The sharp, conniving man started to rummage through drawers as he fiddled about with his face mask in a flurry of motion.

"Jin, help me modify these masks so we don't all lose our minds out there in the poison gas again."

Jin shrugged his shoulders and obliged, though he was in far less a rush about it than Chimin, who's hands were shifty and swift. The golden-haired treasure hunter was hot on the trail of something—and they'd already wasted so much time, thanks to their stubborn doctor.

Joon swaggered slowly into the shuttle, the door sliding shut behind him. "Where's Lilith?"

Jin cleared his throat. "She was tired. She's taking a nap. But we should go ahead and get to work and let her sleep."

Joon shrugged and lazily went about making a cup of oatmeal for a snack.

Chimin muttered numbers under his breath as he held the mask in his hands up towards the light, eyeing the liquid solution that was packed into the small tubes along the mask's sides, as filtration aids.

Jin looked between Joon and Jimin suspiciously. He couldn't tell if they were none the wiser about his reasons for commandeering of the shuttle space, or if they were just playing ignorant. For some reason, as he watched the lazy way about Joon as the tan young man moved about with his hot bowl and spoon, this lack of recognition only served to annoy Jin all over again.

Chimin's sharp voice pierced through the lining of both Jin and Joon's thoughts. The golden-haired man flashed a dazzling, debonair smile as he admired his modified mask in the shuttle light. "There we are. Now, all we have to do is figure out the explosives."

Jin nearly dropped the mask in his hands. "E-explosives? What is this, a demolition derby?"

Chim chuckled acidicly. "Oh, Jinnie. You didn't expect us to let a few rocks keep us from entering the Library of Mirth, did you?"

Jin grumbled, "It just seems kinda dangerous. I don't want to, you know, fall into oblivion. Or rock crags. And break like a toothpick and die. That's not on my vacation to-do list."

Chimin's smile and voice were both warm and dangerous: "Well, sitting around on my ass and watching the galaxies burn from a gorgeously aesthetic distance does seem quite glamorous. All those colors and lights. But it's not why the fuck I came here, so, let's get to it then."

Then Chim walked over to Joon and draped a modified mask over the disinterested man's shoulder. "Hurry up with your oatmeal. We're suiting up and heading back out again as soon as you're both ready."

Jin's voice quaked a bit. "B-but we've lost daylight. Why not wait until, I don't know, I can at least SEE my inevitable death coming if this all goes terribly wrong?"

Park Chimin laughed, but it was far from kind. "Death comes for us all. For most of us, it comes like a shadow subtly being swallowed up by the sun—but we never quite notice when it's gone until it's already happened, so soft and sudden. I'm sure you'll be ever so lucky, Seokjinie, when you pass."

Kim Seokjin suddenly felt nauseous as he looked down at the clear, mechanized mask in his own hands. He muttered under his breath, "But how does that metaphor work... when there IS no sunlight...?"

The others ignored Jin's quiet commentary.

Joon set his bowl and spoon lazily down in the small sink. He said in a low, chocolatey voice, "Park Chimin, when death comes for us all, why do I get the feeling you'll be the Grim Reaper holding a scythe over our heads and reading us our last rights?"

Chim threw back his head and fake laughed, his golden hair spreading forth over the crown of his head with angelic glory. "Oh, Kim Namjoon. What a thing to say."

Joon glared through his almond eyes as he pulled that clear mask over his face. He shuffled around the room looking for a warmer insulated body suit, to accommodate the chillier evening air outside.

Jin reluctantly followed on cue, looking for a warmer body suit to accommodate the chill of the night.

Chimin watched his comrades in motion, his mind ticking in careful calculation. I wish Lilith was still awake and I could go ahead and use her as bait. But... I suppose I should wait until Joon helps me through some of these texts first. Jimin gave an irritated sigh. That's the thing about murder, isn't it? It really is all about the timing. ...But what a thought: Joon, a dimming shadow; me, the sun come to swallow him whole.

Chimin beamed to himself as he went about sliding into his own thermal body suit. His thoughts had put him in a terribly happy mood.

--

Joon managed to convince Jimin NOT to use their full arsenal of explosives in order to get rid of their rocky obstructions into the Library. Through a good, healthy debate of different mineral rocks and their hardness levels, Joon made a rather convincing argument for them rock climbing higher up the mountain and then drilling their way down—in an attempt to lower themselves into the Library of Mirth from above.

Jin was far from convinced at the merit of this idea, especially considering it was as black as a banshee outside in the dark. At the prospect of climbing up the side of an actual mountain using rope and pickaxes, the good doctor determined that he would be the belay team from the ground—making sure that Joon and Chimin didn't fall from the mountainside to their deaths if they slipped and fell during their tumultuous climb.

Joon was a little sluggish compared to Chimin. The three young men communicated over a com system, and Jin was the sound bite in Chim and Joon's ears spurring them on:

"Oh. My. God. Joon, I could have climbed this mountain and come back and given myself a freaking pedicure already. You are SO S L O W."

Chimin chuckled, the sound echoing through all of their earpieces.

Joon grumbled, "Well at least I'm not a coward who couldn't get his feet off the ground."

Jin snapped, "I didn't think I could find another reason to loosen this slack and let you fall to a gruesome death should you slip, but damn. You're really tempting me, man."

Joon answered, "Glad to be of assistance."

Chimin, on the other hand, snapped, "Ok, ok. Stop being so annoying guys, we have like three more hours of this. At least pace yourselves with the death threats."

Joon barked a genuine laugh: "That's ironic coming from you, Chiminie."

The good doctor Jin retorted defensively from his securely planted space on the ground, "Oh, shut UP Namjoon."

Eventually, Joon and Chim found the perfect angle for carving a way down into the tunnel below. A heavy blow torch of sorts and some forced patience was all it took. Eventually, the two young men were staring down into the blackness inside of the caves below. The lights attached to their masks were flickered on, their only aides to their eyes as they began their descent.

"I'll go first," Chimin offered.

"How chivalrous of you," Joon noted sarcastically.

Chimin laughed. "I figure you're less likely to drop me than the other way around."

Jin grumbled into their ears, "I don't think you're supposed to be the one to admit that, Chim."

The golden-haired treasure hunter only laughed as he adjusted the strap around his waist, checking to make sure his rope and harness were still secure. Then he crawled into the black space until he was dangling by his elbows, the rest of his body consumed with blackness beneath him.

"Joon."

Kim Namjoon twitched his head to try and flick his grey hairs out of his tan face. He tightened his grip around the belay rope and prepared to carry the weight of his comrade as he lowered Chimin down into the pit.

"What, Chim?"

Chimin turned up the brightness on the side of his mask, the reach of his mask's light extending further.

"Let's focus on why we're here, Joon. To find the Satoor Ai texts. To help Shae and everyone else defeat Petra. Leave all this extra baggage out here and save it for later, alright?"

Joon was taken aback as he looked down at the soft earnestness that had overcome Chimin's features. A softness that was oh-so convincing it could almost be true.

"Sure, Chim Chim. Sure."

Then Chimin leaned back. Joon braced and caught his weight against his hips, and Joon successfully began to lower Chim down into that black pit.

Meanwhile, Jin remained silent back at the base of the cave's obstructed opening, still holding Joon's belay rope secure. Jin was making a mental note that, while he loathed Joon more than anyone in the universe... at least he could read the ex-leader clearly in most things.

But Chiminie? Jin gulped. He really is shady as Hades.