~𝟲𝟱~

(First person, Ava's perspective)

For most of the day I tried avoiding Jeongin as much as I could, the uncomfortable silences between us too much for my nerves. Until fate decided to throw a curveball my way. The alarm started blaring through the dorms, pulling me out of my comfortable state on my bed. I rushed to the operations room, ironically finding myself between Felix and Jeongin, both boys giving me suspicious looks. Felix's look was a bit different than usual though, his gaze seeming less suspicious and more... knowing almost.

I turned my attention to the big screen at the front of the room when the commander spoke.

"Good afternoon, Agents. I'm glad to see you all look well-rested. And I see Han is back with us in the operations room. Glad to have you back," Commander Della Valle said, sounding unusually chipper.

"Glad to be back, Sir," I heard Han say.

"Now, I have a mission for you all. I have recently gotten information about a new smuggling ring that I want you all to shut down before it develops further. I will send you all the details-"

The commander cut himself off, turning his head away from the camera and whispering something to someone behind him. Then I saw a flash of a face as the person moved past the camera. The commander quickly turned his attention back to us, and my gaze was back on him.

"Stay safe out there, and don't get injured on the first mission back. It would be very unfortunate. Dismissed."

The screen went black, and my brain went back to the person in the background. It was just a glimpse of a face and the person moved by quickly, but I was sure I had seen that face before. I just couldn't place it.

"Okay, let's get going," Chan said, slipping down the pole into the weapons room.

I slipped down the pole after the rest of the boys, my mind preoccupied with figuring out where I knew the face from. My mind was so far away, didn't realise I had tripped when I landed until I made impact with someone's chest. I looked up to find Lee Know looking down at me with wide eyes.

"Isn't this the third time this has happened? You should really be careful when coming down that pole Ava. Are you hurt?" Felix asked, taking my arm and straightening me out again.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine."

"Okay good. We don't want you getting hurt right before a mission, now do we?"

"Probably not."

I smiled at him before getting my head back in the game, getting my stuff, and myself, ready. I suited up and got my weapon, ready in under a minute. We all headed out at Chan's command. The chopper was waiting for us outside. We all quickly got in and were off to the suspected hideout of the new smuggling ring.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Han tightening his shoelaces. Even after all he had gone through, he seemed fine. He didn't seem stressed or anxious at all. Guess we get so used to this, it practically becomes second nature to us, I thought to myself.

"Han, are you sure you're ready for this?" Seungmin asked from next to me.

"Yeah. I've been resting for way too long, and I just want to get back to doing what I'm good at."

I looked over at Chan when Han answered. I saw the certainty in his gaze. He knew Han was ready even before Han knew he was ready. He really knows his team; I commented in my mind.

...

In no time we were crouching down behind shrubs about a hundred meters from the warehouse. Hyunjin was scouting the entries and exits and how many people we were dealing with. As he did that, Chan went through the plan again. As usual, we were going to enter from opposite ends of the warehouse, rounding up as many people as possible before meeting up in the middle of the building.

"Hyunjin, what do you know?" Chan asked after we briefed the plan.

"At least twenty-five people in there. There are four exits, two of which are on either side of the building. The other two are near the middle on the side of the building we're facing. We should be able to block those off or seal them shut quite easily though. Only four armed guards. Two on either side of the building at the entrances. Not much else to report."

"Not much?" Chan asked when Hyunjin didn't elaborate.

"It seems they have two women held captive. I can't see their faces, but they're being held around the middle of the warehouse."

"Only two?" Chan asked.

"Yes. I'm positive."

"Okay, that complicates a few things, but it doesn't mess with the plan so we're sticking to it. Two of us should break off and barricade those exits on the side of the building before meeting up with the rest of us before we go inside."

Han and Changbin quickly volunteered themselves, to which Chan nodded.

"Okay, then I'll take Ava and Felix up to the north entrance. Lee Know, you take Seungmin and Jeongin to the south. Hyunjin, I want you up here, monitoring things. If they somehow break open the exits again, or start running with the hostages, let us know. Are we all ready?"

We all nodded, putting our hands in the middle of the circle on top of each other, as we usually did. It felt good for everything to be like normal again.

"Let's go," Chan said, and we split into our groups and headed out from behind the shrubs.

Changbin and Han split off from our group, heading towards the exit they had to block off. We kept going, stopping behind the corner that led to our entrance point. Chan peeked past the corner, trying to see where the guards were.

Out of nowhere, he leapt back as a fist came barrelling out from behind the corner, landing on the wall instead of his head. Chan seemed disoriented, so I acted. When the man came for us again, I swung my fist, landing it perfectly on his jaw. It disoriented him enough for me to get him down on the ground and tie a cable tie around his wrists.

I looked up just as the other guard was about to stab me. Chan had pulled himself out of the shock, grabbing the guy by the collar of his shirt and punching him squarely on the nose. Blood dripped down the man's upper lip. Chan disarmed him and brought him down to the ground as well. I handed him another cable tie.

"Nice shot on that guy," he said softly, tying the man's hands behind his back.

I peeked around the corner of the building. Luckily, we had taken down both the guards. Just then, Changbin joined us again.

"Darn, seems I missed all the fun," he said sarcastically when he saw the two unconscious men on the ground.

"Ready to enter when you are, Lee Know," Chan said over the comms, getting up off the ground after he made sure the men were secure.

"We're ready too, Chan," I heard Lee Know answer.

"Okay, three... two... one."

On one, Changbin kicked the doors open, making way for the other three of us to move past him. The people inside scattered, as they always did. We had loaded our guns with tranquilisers, so we took out every person that was near us. We kept moving, finding a few rooms along the way. I kicked the doors open, while Changbin would go in and check if anyone was inside.

When we were three quarters of the way to the middle of the building, I saw the other exits out of the corner of my eye, off in the distance. I saw a guy sprinting towards them, ramming into the door with his shoulder. The door seemed to move slightly, worrying me. When the man rammed into it again, I heard the crack of the hinges from the other side of the building where we were busy cuffing people.

I ran towards the exit, jumping onto and sliding over crates in my way. Just when I was about to reach the man, my foot hooked onto the edge of a crate I tried to jump over, sending me stumbling. I landed on my knee, the crack emanating from it causing my stomach to drop. I lifted my gaze to find the man crumpling to the ground, a tranquiliser stuck in his neck. Then Lee Know came rushing to me, followed by Jeongin right on his heels. Lee Know knelt down next to me, helping me turn to sit down. He gently touched around the knee, looking at me whenever he heard me hiss or suck in a breath through my teeth.

"Seems dislocated. You should be fine. I can pop it back into place," Lee Know said.

"No, you go finish the mission. I'll be fine."

Lee Know gave me a wary look, but I just nodded at him. He smiled at me, gently touching me cheek before getting up and running off, telling Jeongin to stay with me as he left. I shifted, wincing.

"You really shouldn't move," he said softly.

"Yeah, guess I learned that the hard way. You should go too. I don't want to risk us losing one of the guys just because I got hurt."

"Lee Know would kill me if I disobeyed him. So, I'm staying right here," he said.

I noticed his voice sounded a bit wary, and he seemed uncomfortable. I just assumed it was because of that morning. So, I turned my attention to my leg again. It seemed swollen and sunken in. I gently touched it, wincing again. The commander won't be happy with me, I thought, sighing.

(Third person, Jeongin's perspective)

Jeongin couldn't stop thinking about what he witnessed that morning. Until that morning, nothing had seemed off to him at all, especially not between Ava and Lee Know. But after that morning he started noticing the lingering glances they shared. And the accidental brush of their hands. And how Ava blushed whenever Lee Know was mentioned.

Lee Know helping Ava was also screwing with his mind. He definitely saw the look that they gave each other, and how gentle he was with her. But the thing that screwed with his mind the most was the touch to Ava's cheek that Lee Know gave. He had never done that before, not even with Geneviève. But for some reason, his mind couldn't think of a logical explanation besides for Ava having told him about something that she hadn't told the rest about, which didn't seem right to him at all.

So, he told himself he would ask her about it. He sat next to her on the concrete floor of the warehouse, desperately trying to get a sentence together, when Chan came to them. When he saw Ava sitting on the floor, and then her swollen knee, he seemed taken aback.

"Ava, what happened?" he asked, kneeling down next to her.

"I went after a guy who was trying to escape, but my foot got caught on a crate that I tried to jump over. I landed on my knee. Lee Know saw the guy and managed to get him before he got away though. He said my knee is dislocated," Ava said.

"Sounds about right. Can I check?"

Ava nodded at Chan's question, and Jeongin moved out of the way so Chan could get a bit closer to Ava. He gently pressed next to her kneecap, and she winced. Jeongin went to kneel next to her, taking her hand.

"Squeeze as hard as you want," he said softly.

She smiled at him softly, but Chan touched her knee again, and she clamped her hand down on Jeongin's so hard he thought he his knuckle popped. All the while he kept trying to reassure her and keep her calm, using it as a distraction from the pain in his hand. Soon enough, Chan was finished, and Ava released Jeongin's hand. He flexed his fingers, trying to get rid of the remaining pain.

"It's definitely dislocated, but it's nothing too bad. I can actually pop it back, but I would rather have you checked out by a medic or a doctor, just to be safe. Do you think you'll be able to stand?"

"Sure, I just don't know if I can get up by myself."

Chan quickly moved in next to Ava, Jeongin doing the same on her other side. They put her arms around their necks, gently wrapping their arms around her waist and lifting her up. Just then the other members started showing up as well. They seemed very concerned. When Chan and Jeongin managed to get Ava back on her feet, she whimpered when she tried to put weight on the leg.

Jeongin shifted his grip on her, giving her more room to lean on him and keep weight off the leg. She said she would be able to walk without Chan; she just wasn't sure if her other leg would hold up. Chan suggested someone should carry her. Jeongin noticed Felix elbowing Lee Know in the ribs at the question, the latter giving him a glare.

"Lee Know, can you manage doing it?" Chan asked to which Lee Know nodded.

He moved in next to Ava, his arm moving to replace Jeongin's, his other arm going to hook under Ava's legs. He gently eased her off the floor, and she winced when her leg bent in his grip.

"I've got you," Lee Know whispered, making Jeongin's suspicions flare up again.

The members all slowly started moving towards the exit nearest to them, Jeongin staying near Lee Know and Ava to help if it was necessary. When they got outside, to their surprise, another team of agents were waiting for them, wanting to round up all the captured perpetrators and take them to be interrogated. They breezed past the members, moving into the warehouse. Chan caught the arm of one agent, asking him who sent them.

"Commander Della Valle, who do you think?" the agent said rather sarcastically.

Then the man pulled loose, pushing past the members and going into the warehouse.

"That's the second weird thing that's happened today," Ava said.

"Hang on, where are the two hostages?" she asked suddenly.

"Changbin and I found them and got another chopper to take them to the dorms in the meantime," Felix commented.

And with that they all went back to the helicopter to get back to the dorms where without their knowing, a nasty surprise waited for them.

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A/N

heyy guys :)

little bit of an action-packed chapter for yah ;) please let me know your thoughts in the comments on whether you like the romance or the actions scenes more for future reference :)

anyhow, hope you all enjoyed this chapter and i'll see you all in the next one <3