Guts (EXO)

Tongue-Tied

"Well?" Hyerin asked. "Did you find anything?"

"Um, no, not really," Agent M mumbled, taking off the coils of wires attached to the back of her head and her temples. "I didn't really find any drastic changes."

Hyerin frowned, sitting up from the reclined bed inside her father's laboratory. She stopped over there when she heard Agent M was finally back at M-LX, thinking that it was the perfect opportunity to finally ask him what was going on with her. It slightly disappointed her how her genius of a dad didn't find anything.

"Really? That's so weird," she mumbled, jumping off the bed. "I'm sure there's got to be something in me that made me this fast and strong."

Agent M bit the bottom of his lip as he gathered his things. "That may be the case," he said quietly.

Hyerin looked at her father and couldn't help but pity him. He had gotten thinner and there were prominent dark circles under his eyes that showed he wasn't sleeping well. He hadn't look this tired since the day he took her in when her mother died.

"Hey, dad," she called, making Myungjae glance up from what he was doing.

"Yes?"

"I need to go now. The others and I are doing work in a couple of hours and I don't want to be late. Just tell me if you find anything, alright?" She smiled. "And you look tired, so rest a lot."

Agent M forced a grin, and he didn't expect a simple action to be so hard. "Of course." He nodded before turning away from her.

---

The young agents stepped out of their respective vehicles as they finally arrived at the Noxius brothers' residence. That weekend, they decided to get on with their mission to talk to the trio. They could only hope that everything would turn out well, but if it doesn't, they're more than prepared to fight.

The thirteen teenagers walked up to the humongous house and stopped in front of the main door, all of them clad in their M-LX gear. With one step forward, Kris rang the doorbell.

It did not take long before someone opened the door. It was a helper who was probably in her forties, dressed in the traditional black and white maid uniform.

"Yes? How may I help you?" the old lady asked.

"Good afternoon." Suho bowed. "We are here to visit our good friends Kibum, Minho, and Myungsoo."

Kyungsoo snorted at the back while Chanyeol rolled his eyes.

"Oh, but the young masters aren't expecting anybody at this time," she said in a gentle, respectful tone.

"Ah, yes. You see, we came here unannounced since we are going to discuss something urgent with them. We simply didn't have time to contact them sooner. We apologize for this."

The old lady looked contemplative for a while before pushing the heavy doors wider to let them in. "Very well then. Please stay in the living room area for a while as I fetch the young masters."

"Thank you very much," they chorused before entering the humongous mansion quietly.

Some of the agents sat themselves in the living room while the others preferred to stand. Hyerin plopped herself onto the loveseat near the fireplace, while Baekhyun and Kyungsoo took the seat on each side of her. Lay and Kris shared knowing looks at this.

The gang didn't wait as long as they thought they would. While silently waiting for the trio to arrive, a small white cat made its way to the living room, catching them off-guard. They stood up from their seats as the cat circled around in place while the doors leading to another room opened, revealing Myungsoo and Minho walking out.