cloak-and-dagger → ateez (spy school au)

9 → Deal

“Point your toes and keep your arms to the side so the impact doesn’t break them.”

I did what Seonghwa told me, and then we hit the water.

Thanks to his advice, we sliced through it and shot downward. My feet made contact with the river's bed.

The water then dragged me downstream. I whipped through whirlpools and bounced off boulders. The river then miraculously spit me out. As I clambered out of the water and into the sunlight while gasping for oxygen, I passed out on the grass.

A second later, Yunho jogged out of the water. Rather looking bedraggled and half drowned, he appeared refreshed, as if he’d just had a dip in the pool.

He exclaimed, "Wow! That was really intense!"

“We nearly died ten times.” I murmured.

“But we didn’t,” Seonghwa chimed in, a smile still on his face despite almost drowning just seconds ago. “So we've got that going for us, right, Newton?”

I chuckled at the sound of the nickname, Seonghwa still managed to joke around despite the situation we were in. We had emerged on the opposite side of the river where we’d been attacked by enemy agents, but there was no way to cross back, as the water was too wide and treacherous.

“Where were you on the bus just now?” I asked Yunho. “I saw you boarding another one.”

“I stowed away in the back the moment you entered,” he replied. “With all the survival gear. I knew you were looking for us since we were supposed to be on different buses.”

“So you knew the enemies were going to attack my bus?”

“No, but I had a hunch they might, just like Seonghwa-hyung. It seemed like too good an opportunity for them to pass you up.” Yunho sighed. “You being off the protected campus and out into the middle of nowhere made it easier for them to abduct you.”

“And now we’re far from civilization, soaking wet, both our weapons and communication swept down the river, all while being hunted by the man in the black cloak.” Seonghwa assessed our situation.

“We don’t have any weapons?” I spoke up, worried.

“Not one.” Seonghwa shook his head.

“You don’t have anything hidden somewhere?” I suggested. “Oh, your utility belt, Yunho?”

“It got snagged on a rock in the rapids. I asked Hongjoong for his special permission to borrow this…”

So the bandolier was indeed Hongjoong’s, the one I saw back when I just met him at the academy. The ground began to rise sharply ahead of us. The thick forest quickly gave way to a steep, rocky face. Yunho continued towards it without another word.

“Wait,” I called out, recalling the conversation from before. “Why are we leaving the river, Yunho?”

“That’d be the best course of action in normal circumstances,” Yunho clarified. “Unfortunately, we’re dealing with the man in the black cloak, and whoever else he’s working with.”

“Then shouldn’t we at least be heading downstream?” I added. “That’d be the fastest way to civilization.”

“True, but our enemies are also aware of this.” Seonghwa explained. “They'll try to block that escape path as their first response, so we'll deceive them by returning back the way we came.”

The climb was arduous, or at least it was for me. Yunho moved up the rocks with startling ease, as if he was having fun. My muscles ached as I made it to the cliff's edge, where I spotted Seonghwa relaxing under a little tree and eating on some wild mushrooms.

"Fungus?" He extended to me a handful.

Over the previous hour, I had been so focused on avoiding death that I had completely forgotten about eating.

"Thanks." I ate them whole. "Are there any more?"

"Not in this area," said Seonghwa. "But I'm confident that we'll get more as we go."

Seonghwa patted the ground next to him, indicating I ought to sit down and rest.

“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” I said.

“I know exactly where we’re going.”

“Even without GPS?”

“People managed to survive for a long time in the wilderness without GPS. They had maps.”

“We don't have any, though..”

“Well, we don’t have any physical maps. But we do have some mental ones.” Seonghwa spilled, tapping his own head. “When I was ordered to follow you, I grabbed every map of the area I could find.”

“You left them on the bus?” I asked.

Seonghwa gave a nod. "During the ambush, I didn't have time to pack them. Fortunately, I've already dedicated some time carefully studying them, so I know the general layout of the territory. Somewhere nearby, there must be an abandoned fire tower."

I looked at him, bewildered. “You can remember maps that precisely?”

“I can’t remember everything I see. Just certain things.”

“Like what?”

“Maps, pictures, any type of literary texts.”

“You can remember entire books !?”

Seonghwa turned back at me. “You can’t?”

"No!"

When we came out of the woods, there was an old fire tower on a nearby altitude. It seems to have been unused for a long time. The steel was covered in rust, and the majority of the paint had chipped off.

A ham radio was also present. It was old and appeared to be crumbling, but as Yunho turned the side crank, it sprung to life. The dials were then swiftly tuned to the SSA's frequency.

He snatched the receiver and said "Mayday. Agent-in-training 1026, codename Romeo, is calling for immediate assistance."

“Your codename is just whatever nickname Seonghwa gives you guys?” I asked.

“Why not? Mine sounds good and is easy to remember!” Yunho whispered back, grinning.

“Agent Jeong Yunho, good day! We have been waiting for your response.” An automated voice responded, bringing Yunho back to the conversation. "Where are you right now?"

Yunho almost replied before Seonghwa snatched the receiver from him. His face was etched with concern. “What’s your security clearance code?”

There was a pause. “Ah. This must be the notorious Park Seonghwa, Second-in-command of ATEEZ.”

I knew we couldn’t trick you with such a simple scheme.” the voice on the other end laughed. “Is Lee Jooha there with you two?”

“No,” Seonghwa lied. “We were separated from Jooha in the river. We think she got washed farther downstream.”

“Well, you’d better track her down,” the enemy replied. “We need you to bring her to us.”

“And why would we wanna do that?” Seonghwa questioned, jaw clenching.

“Because we’ve captured a few of your friends,” the voice said. “And we’ll kill them if you don’t.

♥︎ ------------------------------- ♥︎

I love when it's time I give each of the Ateez members a nickname from Seonghwa :))