Fall From Grace | ENHYPEN

XVII

Cozen parked carefully inside Tyrron's wide lawn. Then, he carefully lifted Michaelis, who fell asleep after crying, up.

"I'll take care of this," Jethro said, pertaining to the money bag he was holding. The attache case is long gone, they threw it away after leaving the bar's perimeter. Who knows, it might be bugged or whatsoever, so they decided like that.

They quietly walk towards where the entrance to the bunker is. No one said a word, it's not like they have something to talk about.

Actually, there's a lot to talk about, but it's too much to unpack.

"How's the jog?" The three of them jumped in shock when Tyrron suddenly appeared before them.

"Jog... ah, well, it was tiring." Theon laughed awkwardly. Jog, huh? He wished he went to jog instead.

"Why did you go back with a car?" The older rose his brows. He wouldn't be here if only he didn't hear the engine from the car they used.

Theon became silent, thinking for an answer at the back of his head.

"We travelled a little far so no one could recognize us, and aside from jogging, we also sparred a little. Oleandre got tired and fell asleep on the way home." Jethro replied, quickly filling the silence.

"Is that so?" The three nodded at Tyrron's question. "You made sure no one followed you, right?" His voice is a little threatening, but that's it. He's not really in the mood to beat someone up. If they fucked up, he'll tattle to Yyan and let him deal with them.

"Yup. Totally." Cozen smiled, the side of his lips twitching. That did not escape Tyrron's hawk-like eyes, but he ignored it thinking it was just because of fatigue.

"Alright." The older shrugged the thought away, "Head inside and eat your meal. Ask the others where they put it." He said before walking towards his own destination.

He left the three who could only sigh in relief. They hurry inside in fear of Tyrron interrogating them once again.

It's a shocker how Tyrron missed the bulging money bag behind Jethro, but they just view it as a blessing in disguise.

"You're here." It was Max who welcomed them, behind him is Ytriel and then followed by Jaxen.

"We're here." Cozen said before putting the sleeping Michaelis down on the sofa.

"What happened to him?" Jaxen asked before walking towards his friend. He carefully traced the dry tears on the Older's cheeks.

"It's... a long story. Let's wait for him to wake up first." Theon replied taking the water offered by his younger brother.

"You all looked like you ran a marathon. Wait, did you really jog?" Ytriel asked in curiosity.

"We did not. And it's a lame excuse, by the way. Who came up with the idea?" Cozen replied instead. He rested his arm on the long arm rest of their loveseat.

"I did." The older almost drop from his seat when he heard Max's reply.

"I mean! It's great! Right, haha. A genius idea indeed." He sipped the water with his trembling lips as he avoids Max's eyes.

"Not what I heard earlier." Jethro smirked. He just got back from somewhere, probably after hiding the money bag.

"You hide it?" Max asked after taking a seat.

"Yup. Well and swell." The other replied.

Hours passed by quickly. When the clock's hand strike at 10, they all got ready to end the day.

"How was your day?" Yyan asked while unpacking the grocery bags on the counter. He crossed out the names on his list in each product he takes out.

"Just so-so. Four of the mutts went out to jog and spar, but that's that." Tyrron answered while picking an apple.

"Hey! We're not dogs!" Ytriel retorted.

"Went out?" The oldest echoed the words. He let his eyes wander and stop in front the quiet kids piled up on the sofa.

"W-well! We couldn't really waste our time here doing nothing, so we decided to go out and sweat a little." Cozen quickly covered up.

"Why go out if you could just spar at the gym?" Hendryx asked. They indeed have a gym wide enough for sparring. That's where they train, after all.

"It's an abrupt decision. We only plan to jog but decided to spar as well because we can just drive home instead of walking." Theon adds up to their excuse.

"Oh, well. Next time ask for my permission first." Yyan reminds them.

"Yes, sir!" Both of them replied.

"What happened to Michaelis? He seems gloomy?" Hendryx suddenly asked. That made them turn to Michaelis who has his head hanging low while sitting next to Jaxen.

"Ah," Michaelis started, "I might have strained my body a little bit." He chuckled with no humor behind it.

"Do you need some medicine?" Yyan quickly offered.

"No! I'm fine, I'll just rest, and it'll be gone before you know it." The immediate turn down of the offer shocked them but let it slide thinking that Michaelis might not be in the mood. "Excuse me, I'll take a shower first." He mumbled before hastily fleeing the scene.

"What's wrong with him?" Max furrowed his brows in annoyance. He didn't like the feeling of being left out.

"Probably puberty." The attention promptly turned to Ytriel when he said that. He then gave them an unbothered look. "What?"

"Why did I even bother thinking something smart could come out of your mouth." Jethro shakes his head.

"Wha— hey! That's just plain rude!" Ytriel refuted.

"He's not so wrong, Riel." Jaxen chuckled while patting his friend's shoulders. He gave him a betrayed look that the other just laughed off.

When the three eldest left for their own rest time, and when they are all done washing up and getting ready to sleep, that's when Michaelis started his tale.

"A-and that's what happened..." Michaelis sniffed. Jaxen immediately brush his tears away using his thumbs.

"I guess you missed your Mama a lot." The younger whispered in sympathy.

"I do... A whole lot..." Michaelis mumbled.

"What should we do with the money we collected?" Theon asked, earning a nod from some of them.

"We can't really outright give it to Yyan because they will interrogate us where it came from." Jethro stated the obvious. He puffed on his device with new pods. You see, his momentarily disappearance is because of it.

"Should we just... save it? For emergency purposes." Jaxen suggested.

"Or we could buy weapons! We can't join a war using sticks and stones, you know." Ytriel shrugged and began imagining the weapons they could get with the amount of money they have. It is a lot, after all.

"That, that doesn't sound half bad?" Theon almost questioned himself after agreeing with his brother's proposal.

"Stupid idea one after another." Max breathed out. Yet deep inside, he also wants to have his own set of guns.

"Where can we even find those?" Michaelis's realistic question made Ytriel step out of his own bubble. He turned to his brother for some support but the older could only shrug at him.

"Well," Cozen scratch his cheeks, "I might know someone whom we could make a deal with." The unsure yet determined look on his face caught their attention.

"And how did you know this someone you talk about?" Max threw a question at him.

"Hmm, let's say, they owe me." Cozen grinned at his friends. The others shared a one last look at each other before nodding along with Cozen's words. They're already here so might as well step it up a bit.

Step 2 of their plan is a go.