The sounds of ambient music and the distant traffic noises of the busy night streets are the only things that fill the space of the cafe. Well, that is except for the occasional clinking of dishes being returned to their respective places. Tao doesn't really mind and just keeps on staring out the window as he sips on his americano every now and then, his eyes focused on the flickering lamp post on one side of the dark street but his mind completely somewhere else.

"We haven't heard from them yet," He hears Xiumin say, momentarily slipping him out of his trance. Tao takes a big sip of his coffee as he remembers why he's been brooding here at the cafe, pretending to be relaxed when in fact, he's been feeling uneasy since this afternoon. He could tell Xiumin is feeling the same since he's taken the unusual task to wipe the dishes at least three times ever since the cafe closed.

"You've been sitting there for two hours," Xiumin points out when Tao doesn't answer.

"You've already wiped that plate five times," he rebuts. Xiumin sighs.

"What's wrong? You're not usually like this." he finally puts down the plate and leans on the counter to focus on Tao, expecting him to answer. He's curious about what's bothering him so much since it's very unlike him to sit in once place for hours, unconsciously bobbing his feet while in deep thought.

The man in question takes his time to sip from his coffee while still staring at the window, but after a few seconds he finally answers.

"Something just feels off." He turns to Xiumin and pauses, as if trying to come up with the right words on how to explain it. "It's like we're still missing something. I thought two weeks would be enough for me to figure out everything, but for some reason I feel like I'm still missing a large piece."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, kid. Even the NIS had difficulty dealing with RedSnow themselves. They wouldn't have given us this mission if they could figure out exactly how RedSnow does the shit they do." Xiumin shakes his head. "Even the units before us took months before actually grasping tangible information."

"Yeah, which is why I want to figure this out faster so we don't have to suffer months before becoming like the other units. Injured or in the worst case, die." Tao says sarcastically. "And Baek's team is out there doing exactly that; risking their lives looking for something they're not even sure they'll find, because I can't give them a 100% assurance."

"Like I said, it will take us time to figure everything out." Xiumin's tone shifts into a light scolding as he finally puts down the dish he's been wiping. "You're not alone in this Tao. You're not the only one to blame if things go wrong because we have our own decisions in this. We all know that our job is risky and we're always playing with danger. It just so happens that RedSnow seems to be an extremely well-funded criminal organization disguised as a squeaky clean logistics company, so they're a bit more difficult to handle than the other ones we've dealt before."

"Even so, I should be the one out there. At least I'll be the one to deal with the consequence in case something happens." Tao mutters begrudgingly, tipping his cup to finish the rest of his americano. Despite of the dark joke, Xiumin chuckles to himself as he finally figures out what's Tao's deal. He's still upset that Kris hasn't allowed him to go in a mission yet. It's been two weeks since they've started with the RedSnow case and Xiumin knows Tao well enough to understand that he hates waiting and not doing anything, and two weeks is definitely pushing his limits already.

Even worse, their first tasks are to gather intel on RedSnow, but Tao's not the one assigned to do it despite of being the unit's strategist. If there's anything Tao loves the most, it's to be the first one to know and figure out things. It's his pride and glory, like it's the sole thing that feeds his ego and keeps it healthy.

"You know Kris didn't let you because you still had an injury." He walks over to fetch Tao's now empty cup and taps him on the chest, pertaining to his gunshot injury.

"But it already healed a week ago!" He whines and even pulls down the collar of his shirt to prove that the bruise is completely gone. "And it was just a bruise for Christ's sake, it's not like I was actually shot!"

"Even so, you wouldn't have had a team to operate with. Chanyeol's ankle hadn't fully healed until yesterday, I'm more of a lookout than a field guy, and Kai only functions either as a tech support or undercover at a time." Xiumin taps him on the shoulder before heading back to the sink to wash Tao's cup. "Unfortunately for us, we were the dysfunctional team at the start, but now that you and Chanyeol are healed hopefully we'll finally be assigned a mission."

Tao groans and rolls his eyes, deciding to just give up the conversation. Why is it that he can never win an argument against this man?

"Whatever. I'll just go back inside and try to make myself feel useful." Running a hand through his jet black hair, he stands up and starts heading towards the back room of the cafe, but is stopped when a screeching noise suddenly echoes from the streets outside. The two exchanges a quick glance before dashing out of the cafe and into the street.

Just a few seconds later, a familiar black van drifts into the corner and speeds past them, and they didn't even have to look to know that it'll go into the back of their building.

"Shit," Tao curses under his breath as he scrambles to go back into the cafe and towards the back room, then quickly has his iris and fingerprint scanned onto the hidden door leading into their base. He continues cussing as he waits for the door to open, hating how their security system feels so fucking tedious and slow in moments like this.

Once the security lock beeps and allows the door to slide open, he practically shoves it out of the way. He feels his blood run cold as he could already hear panicked shouting all the way from the stairs.

"We need a stretcher!"

"Hurry! Open the fucking door!"

Tao runs the expanse of the hallway and reaches the corner just in time to see someone on a stretcher being wheeled into the recovery room by D.O and Baekhyun, with Kris and Suho trailing after them, most probably the first ones radioed about the emergency. As soon as he comes closer he realizes it's Sehun, unconscious, bleeding from several cuts all over his face and arms.

Lay and Xiumin whizzes past him and rushes into the recovery room as well to render first aid to the injured man, and he hears panicked shouting and arguments as they scramble around to get the emergency tools.

"What the fuck happened?" Tao grabs Chen by the arm before he could enter the room as well, knowing that he was in the mission with them. The panic and adrenaline are still evident in Chen as he looks at him with wild eyes, gulping and licking his lips as he scrambles for an answer.

"Th-there was an explosion," his voice trembles. "It was a trap."

Tao sharply inhales as if he had been stabbed by the information. He knew it. He fucking knew it. He knew something was off about this mission. He should have known that there was a possibility that it was just a trap, considering the fact that the information on the drug deal came from the sniper that RedSnow had hired. They had been so desperate to get a lead that they just bit and swallowed the bait like gullible children, and Tao hates the fact that RedSnow knew that they would do just that.

Once again, they'd been outsmarted by the enemy, and it's damn humiliating. Red Snow had been playing them like they were nothing.

Baekhyun suddenly storms out of the recovery room and paces around while clutching his head, anger and frustration written all over his face, his eyes red from suppressed tears. He screams and proceeds to punch the concrete wall several times.

"I'm going to kill that fucking sniper!" He roars, venting all his anger on the wall in front of him. Tao had never seen Baekhyun break down like this before, and it only emphasizes further how serious this mission meant not only for his team, but for the entire unit. Unit EXO had been working against Red Snow for weeks now, and their series of futile missions are starting to take a toll on them. This mission had been their small slither of hope to gain the upper hand, but it seems that one is now out of the window as well.

Once his knuckles had started bleeding, Chen runs over to stop him, and after a few struggles Baekhyun finally stops and kneels on the floor, covering his face as he tries to conceal his angry tears. It's apparent that he's blaming himself for their failure.

The double doors open and Kris steps out of the recovery room, his grave expression immediately focusing on Tao. "I need to talk to you."

He leads the way and Tao trails behind him, and they stop just round the corner and out of earshot.

"How is he?" Tao asks, pertaining to Sehun.

"Just a minor concussion and a few cuts. He'll be fine, except maybe for his sprained shoulder. It'll take him weeks to recover." Kris' jaw clenches at the thought that they'll be one man short for now on until Sehun fully recovers. He's a skilled combatant and driver, but with that kind of injury, he won't be able to wield neither a gun nor a steering wheel any soon.

"I'm sorry, hyung. I should have known that it was a trap." Tao immediately apologizes, taking responsibility as the team's strategist. It hurts his pride and honor knowing that he had a shortcoming, especially over something blatantly obvious, but it's the unfortunate truth.

"We all had a fault in this," Kris just briefly shuts his eyes and sighs. "I should have known too. But what's done is done, and we need to focus on the next thing we can do. At this point, it's obvious that our usual methods won't work for RedSnow. We'll have to work our way around and strike where they won't expect."

"I'm all ears," Tao nods.

"I need you to gather your team. I'm giving you a mission."

Tao's heart starts beating wildly in his chest at the thought that he'd finally be able to step into the field. He already had his share of waiting. Kris looks at him dead in the eye, his expression serious and resolute, a clear indication that this comes with great expectations.

"I need you to take down Red Snow's defense system."

************

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A/N]:
Imagine Baekhyun furious and upset tho 😭

I hope Sehunnie gets well soon 🥺