This would have been totally fine with Sungmin if Youngsoo had been a normal, happy person who didn’t look at him constantly with a calculating gleam in his eyes. It would have been perfectly all right if Sungmin didn’t feel apprehensive every time he came over.
So he took to hiding whenever the head of police showed up. He would drag Kyuhyun to a different area of the house and they would spend quality time together, where they could forget about the world and he could banish the memory of those eyes from his mind.
Kyuhyun had talked to Jiyong and they had made the arrangements for Kyuhyun to work from home. Sungmin was delighted with this and this also managed to take his mind off the head of police. Whenever Jaejoong mentioned his name, he would always go closer to Kyuhyun, not knowing why but feeling apprehensive.
Minwoong hadn’t made any progress on the codes and he was growing increasingly impressed with the quality of the codes, saying something about the logic and wisdom of whoever was writing these, sometimes wondering if it was a code he hadn’t heard of before. But he wasn’t worried. He knew practically every code in the book and Changmin had once told them that he managed to crack a code that nobody had even known existed.
They got another letter that was still complete nonsense. It had arrived just after Youngsoo had one day. It said: Smooth lamprey info begun Do cut tab You boycott catastrophe Limo explosive.
Sungmin didn’t know what to make of it and Minwoong had taken the new letter with great interest, saying something about the level of coding and ability of the author. He had immediately gone into the basement and began to work away at it, comparing that letter with the other ones.
Changmin had managed to hack into a database and he found out that the top of a building downtown was a gang home and the police stormed it on Thursday but found no plans on Sungmin or anything to do with him.
For the past week, Yoochun and Junsu had destroyed two microphones per day. They did it under the cover and quiet of night, carefully and quietly taking the devices apart. Anymore than that, they said, would immediately alert the people on the other end that something was going on. They always dismantled the microphones at different times in order to throw anyone off who might be listening.
On Friday, Sungmin helped load a few of their belongings onto a moving van which would take them to the new house. The outside of the van said “Waste Disposal” so it looked like they were getting rid of some of their things. Of course, they couldn’t take everything but Sungmin made it a point to take everything important.
He was making lists of things that needed to be packed and taken away and things that could be left behind. He was having a hard time deciding what should be left behind and was constantly switching items, making the taking list longer than the leaving list.
Kyuhyun eventually decided to take the lists from him and determined that everything too large to pack in a suitcase would remain here. Sungmin wished he had more suitcases and eventually appealed to Jaejoong and asked him if he could take some of their things. Being the kind person that he was, Jaejoong agreed and then Sungmin began to work on Yunho.
This got the desired results and Sungmin moved onto the others. Nobody could resist his large, round puppy eyes and Changmin, Yoochun, Junsu and Minwoong found themselves carrying various items of Sungmin and Kyuhyun’s.
Sungmin requested at the presence of at least a few flowers and Yunho agreed. He was then presented with a list of fifty different flowers. This, he later discovered, was what a few flowers were to Sungmin. Eventually, the list was narrowed down to twenty-five and Sungmin nearly blew a fuse trying to decide what twenty-flowers should be included.
Kyuhyun was mainly worried about Sungmin’s safety. The fact that Sungmin was being kept in the main house did nothing to curb his fears. His greatest fear was that they would receive another letter, telling them of Sungmin’s planned kidnapping, attack, assault or murder. He prayed that that would never happen.
Kyuhyun also wished that Minwoong would hurry and decode the letters so they could find out what the person was saying. He knew that Changmin was beginning to take a hand in decoding as well because of Minwoong saying it might take more than one person to decode the letters.
He knew that Yoochun and Junsu had captured various bodies moving around the gates at night but never moving past the gates or the walls that protected the house from the streets. They had picked up motion on the motion detectors but never saw anyone crossing the walls.
The two of them were debating splitting up their shifts into day and night. That way they would be able to take care of the cameras and the motion detectors during the day. Jaejoong discouraged this idea because for one thing, Yoochun and Junsu would hardly see each other (and Jaejoong wanted his children to be happy) and for another, wasn’t that what the day guards were for?
The Yoosu couple had no answer for Jaejoong’s discouragements but didn’t object all that much. So they stayed as the night shift. On Friday, Yoochun reported that they had caught someone trying to climb over the wall. They phoned the authorities (the police station was surprisingly close to the house) and alerted them to the intruder. They apprehended the suspect but that was the last they saw of anyone trying to get into the house.
They still received that one letter and were puzzled as to how it came to the front door. Jaejoong, surprisingly, proposed the theory of ninjas and weird workings and mystical powers. This theory was gently rejected by Yunho who suggested that Jaejoong go to bed early that night.
Minwoong actually made a suggestion that made sense for once and speculated that they might be digging underneath the wall to get in. Yunho and Jaejoong went out to inspect the wall that separated the property from the public but found nothing. It was a complete mystery to them and one that Jaejoong was now determined to solve.
Junsu once speculated that the letters and threats were being delivered by ghosts. This suggestion scared Sungmin half to death and he asked Yunho multiple times if they had any evil-ghost fighting weapons. Yunho told him that they didn’t and it didn’t matter either way because Jiwon was too evil to come back as a ghost. That comforted Sungmin somewhat but he stayed by Kyuhyun for an entire day (not that Kyuhyun complained, he could keep an eye on Sungmin that way).
Jaejoong was in charge of making the necessary transportation to the new house. He had arranged for a car to come pick them up at around dusk and take them to their new home. In order to avoid anyone following them, Jaejoong reinforced his plan by using another three cars as decoys and another six people to stand in for Sungmin and Kyuhyun.
So in all calculations, there would be four cars leaving and eight people. Kyuhyun was quite pleased with this plan and thanked Jaejoong many times for thinking of such a brilliant idea. Jaejoong actually had people audition for the role (willingly or not from the police force) and they chose people who looked remarkably like the people who they would be playing.
A plan had been established and the timing laid down. Now all they had to do was put this plan into action. It would be dangerous and Yoochun was certain that whoever was after Sungmin would have a few people watching the house to make sure that they weren’t leaving. He predicted that very few people would actually be watching and he made sure to calculate in extra time in the unlikely case that they were attacked.
Plans are made all the time and simple ones work fairly often and sometimes, on a rare occasion, they fail to work. Complex plans take time to put into action, even more time to carry out and therefore have a higher chance of going wrong, things falling apart and sometimes, failing completely. And yet, despite all of that, complex plans actually have a higher percentage of working because of what can be salvaged from the train wreck.
But, for those who are planning, there are always others planning a counter attack. Of course, that’s sometimes only because someone is after you, you’re at war or someone is simply being malicious. But counter-attacks do happen and there is always the chance that that counter attack will destroy your plan completely. But there’s always the chance that it won’t.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
It was a dark place, it was a cold place but it was surprisingly dry and hospitable despite the lighting and temperature. It was easy to get lost but easier to find the way out. If you looked too hard for the exit, you would miss it but if you weren’t looking, you would find it. This was the way that most hideouts of theirs were built.
Two people walked down the hall, one tall and the other slightly shorter. The taller one stared straight into the distance while the shorter one looked around impatiently.
“Why are we going to this? We already know what we’re doing!”
“The boss wants us to convene with the others so we all know the precise actions of one another.”
“Why? We aren’t going to see the others until we get back here with the item.”
“If something goes wrong, we need to know the exact locations of everyone else in case we need their help.”
“Can’t he inform us on this later?”
“The boss has more important things to do than cater to our needs. We must fend for ourselves if we’re to succeed here.”
“We do everything for ourselves already.”
“So we should be used to this.”
“It’s like the last time. Do or die.”
“That’s the way of it here. This is a cause we believe in. Why shouldn’t we add more chaos to the already chaotic world? It will make people more aware of how corrosive humans are to the planet.”
“Noble sentiments, noble sentiments. But surely we can slack off now and then?”
“Not at all. Only the strong survive here. Come, we are already two minutes late.”
“It’s not like he’ll kill us. We’re the only ones who can do this job.”
“I know that but it doesn’t make a good impression.”
“All right. Let’s go. Hopefully the boss won’t be too angry that we’re late.”
“He won’t be. He needs us.”
The two of them entered a dark room, lit only by a small lamp hanging from the ceiling. The two of them made their way into chairs surrounding a rich and polished mahogany table. The eight other people at the table followed the two with their eyes as they sat down and turned towards the head of the table which was shrouded in shadows, being the farthest away from the lamp.
“Nice of you to join us,” came a deep, cold voice from the dark shadows. White teeth gleamed brightly despite the lack of light. The man’s face was covered in shadows and those in the room could only make out the eyes and the teeth of the man speaking.
“Sorry sir, we had to check our weapons,” the taller of the two men who had just sat down explained.
“You have learned how to use them correctly?”
“Yes.”
“I have faith in you. I have no others. You will not fail me?”
“We would rather die.”
“Good. And as for you useless scum, what on earth have you been doing?”
“Well sir, we’ve been keeping tabs on the house.”
“Not very well, obviously. You still haven’t managed to figure out who has been sending the coded letters.”
“We watch closely and yet we see no one. Either this person or people are very stealthy or-”
“You haven’t been watching carefully enough. What of you people? Do not displeasure me again. I have already shot enough of you. The new recruits are not ready to take your places. So give me good news or I will not be able to express my irritation thoroughly.”
“Well, Agent-34 finally made contact with the Main Burrow. We’re tracking their movements through what he says in his reports on them.”
“Very good. This time you have done well. I shall reward you.”
“Thank you boss.”
“And what of Agent-16?”
“Terminated.”
“For what cause?”
“Desertion.”
“Who exterminated him?”
“Took his own life.”
“I see. It’s a pity. I would have loved to take him under my wing. Give me no more monosyllabic answers. Are we ready for a plan to be put into place?”
“We are. We have all the current information to begin Operation Hunt.”
“Good. Tell us what you have learned that is of use.”
“Well, we learned that they will be moving houses at around dusk on Sunday night. A car will come to pick them up and drive them to the new house. We already have Agent-39 on the case. He will know where they are, we don’t need to follow them. We will have to attack just as they are going to the car. We will kidnap Prey and take him back to this hideout. We will then take him to the building and begin the revenge sequence there.”
“Very good, and if others get in your way?”
“Kill them.”
“And what of Mate?”
“Keep him hostage and threaten Prey with his life as torture. We don’t actually kill him. He isn’t all that important. Besides, if we kill Prey, Mate will undoubtedly follow on his own.”
“Brilliant. Have we got all the necessary materials we need?”
“We do, here they are.”
“Excellent. Now, what of you? We need your plans in case we don’t manage to capture Prey or Mate in time.”
“We have our plans here for you.”
“Tell us what you have in store for Prey and Mate in case we don’t manage to get them.”
“Well, we send Prey a letter threatening Mate. If he comes, we take him and only him. Mate won’t find us. He isn’t that smart. We’ll leave Mate to die on his own. We take him to the hideout and then rendezvous with Bobcat’s pack. Bobcat and Eagle will then take Prey to the building and proceed with the revenge sequence there.”
“I knew I was making a good choice when I chose you to lead our backup team.”
“Thank you, boss.”
“Now, what tools are there for the torture? The same as last time?”
“Five years ago we used the electric choker. Technology has advanced somewhat since then. We’ve obtained a new technology that will definitely be of use. We call it the Phantom Choker because it is lightweight and Prey will not be able to feel it or see it around his neck. Not only is it invisible to the captor but it electrocutes and causes temporary loss of senses.”
“I applaud the technology team. That should be enough for torture.”
“We have ten men who have volunteered for this job. They all want a piece of Prey.”
“Very good. Now, did you get the last thing that I asked for?”
“We did. It was quite simple to obtain. We bought it from a flower shop.”
“Prey’s flower shop? Why would he be carrying that?”
“It was around a flowerpot. The perfect length, strength and shine.”
“All right, all right. Did you get it was my question.”
A long, decorative silver wire was slid across the table towards the man shrouded in shadows at the head. A long slim hand exited the shadowy part of the table and picked up the silver wire. Long fingers examined the cold shiny metal delicately.
“This is perfect. Well done. It will be something to see this around Prey’s neck.” White teeth gleamed in the darkness.
“Like a rabbit in a snare,” one of the men seated around the table said.
“Exactly. Which reminds me, we’re now converting to a new code name for Prey.”
“What is it?”
“It’s similar but still works.”
“What is it?”
“Bunny Prey. Because that’s what he is.”
The laughter of ten men rang throughout the air as the man at the end of the table smirked. A slight tilt of his head brought his dark eyes into the light slightly and the lamplight reflected off of the dark orbs. White teeth were exposed as lips pulled back in a dark grin.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
No comments:
Post a Comment