"if you knew..."

han aehra.

"let's just go. now," aehra demanded, heading back to the ladder.

"no! there are more of them than us," taeil argued

"I'll bring kun and yuta. they're our ninjas, after all," aehra said confidently. "taeil, lucas and jungwoo can stay here and defend themselves, if there's need for that."

"I'll come too, since you need my fingerprint, and I actually trained before," taeyong advised. aehra hesitated before nodding.

"let's go. there's no time to waste," aehra said, rushed. when she reached the foot of the ladder, taeil stopped her. he leaned forward so that his face was just beside hers.

"you don't call the shots here," taeil whispered, just enough for aehra, and only aehra, to hear him, his breath tickling the side of her neck "... don't act like you have authority, newbie." he emphasized the last word.

aehra shivered, but she simply replied, "I know what I'm doing."

"do you, really?" taeil tested, smirking.

"yes!" aehra maintained.

"there are roughly twenty people in the Onyx, and you're bringing two people, and one burden," taeil gestured to taeyong.

"I know! I'm not planning on killing anyone, just sneaking in and out!" aehra half-yelled, growing more and more frustrated.

"there's strength in numbers, genius," taeil said as if aehra was a kindergartener with no knowledge.

"skill matters more than the numbers, genius," aehra jabbed.

while the two were arguing, kun untied the ropes around taeyong's wrists, grabbing a gun and slamming it into taeyong's hands.

"shoot any of us, and I'll slit your throat," kun growled, holding up a sharp dagger.

"sure you will," taeyong said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. he turned to face the rest. "shouldn't you all at least pass me a pair of shoes? I'm more important than any of you," he drawled, leaning against the wall.

"shut up, child," jungwoo snapped. everyone turned to look at him, a little surprised since he was never that rude. "aehra was the one who left you alive. I can shoot you right here, right now." jungwoo reached for his gun. he seemed different somehow.

"hey hey, it's okay," aehra said, patting his shoulder. jungwoo threw his gun across the room onto his bed, the gun narrowly missing taeyong's face.

"aggressive, are we?" taeyong provoked, picking up his gun. kun, as fast as lightning, pushed taeyong to the ground and grabbed his gun.

"everyone, let's relax, okay?" aehra said gently, although she was tense too.

"we really should've shot him..." taeil sighed.

"well now we can't, since we need his money," yuta said, twirling his gun around his finger.

"can you just quickly go and return?" lucas asked. "you're wasting time."

"I don't want my previous feet to get frozen," taeyong sighed, getting up and smoothing his clothes gingerly.

"hey, stop!" aehra shouted.

"feet sell pretty well on the black market," kun replied.

"shut up. you don't even know what money feels like," taeyong spat.

"taeyong, kun, please relax," aehra pleaded.

"what are you insinuating?" kun warned, raising his voice.

"don't try to challenge me, peasant."

"taeyong. you're not in your rich mansion, you're not in your company building. you're in our base. so respect us," aehra demanded.

taeil sighed. "should I just step down as leader?" he joked.

"clearly you should," taeyong rebuked, smirking.

"will you shut up or not?" yuta sighed, picking up his throwing knives.

"stop wasting precious time. just go, get the money, get back quick," lucas said, his voice rushed.

"you seriously want me to go barefoot?" taeyong jabbed.

jungwoo threw him a simple pair of boots. "just shut up already," he sighed.

"and may I remind I'm simply wearing a dress shirt? I'll freeze to death, too," taeyong said while wearing the boots.

"oh. would you like to go naked?" aehra snapped, sick of his attitude.

"would you like that?" taeyong winked. pink spilled across aehra's cheeks and nose as she looked away, stepping next to jungwoo, ad if wanting support.

"a-anyway, taeil, jungwoo and lucas; you can take care of yourselves while were gone, right?"

"why not take all of us?" jungwoo perked hopefully.

aehra sighed. "were more detectable with more people," she explained, earning a pout from jungwoo.

"if you all die there, I'll kill you again, in hell," taeil said, smiling slightly.

"just go!" lucas rushed.

"seriously? not even a jacket?" taeyong said in disbelief. jungwoo took of his jacket and draped it over taeyong's shoulders.

"honey~ are you happy now~? need a kiss~?" jungwoo acted before rolling his eyes and walking away. aehra snickered while taeyong flushed and glanced away.

"let's just go," he whispered, walking to the ladder first.