Ying&Yang °•Minsung•°

1.

The day Minho's life had shifted he had sat down in Chan's office with an attitude.

"Me? Wasn't I supposed to go after poison guy today?" he had said, slightly displeased.

Chan had moved in his chair.

"It has to be you"

He was serious. So much more serious than usual.

"Whyyy" Minho had whined.

He had been working on the same case for months now and was so eager to finally put an end to it.

"You're the only one who can handle this one. I'm sure of it."

And when in Chan's soft brown eyes Minho had seen just how tense he was, he had agreed.

Now he stepped off the bus in a residential area, his mentor's words echoing in his mind.

"There has been commotion."

Just a few blocks away from Minho the sky got black with smoke. The godawful smell of chemicals burning reached his nose, making him cough. Even the neighbors were starting to notice, sticking their heads out the windows.

"Fuck. That looks so much worse than I thought"

Minho didn't waste a second and started running. People were calling the police before his eyes.

That was bad news. Minho needed to get to the scene before the authorities.

When he saw it, his heart dropped.

That husk couldn't even be called a house anymore.

A gaping hole right where the front door stood, the walls collapsed on themselves, the roof completely eradicated... pieces of cement and metal pierced the air like arms asking for help, all enveloped in the start of a fire.

Heart drumming in his chest, Minho stepped over a pile of rubble and entered the rooms that had staid intact.
He could hear police sirens approaching from afar.

He coughed once again.

"I need to hurry"

What had Chan said...?

"A boy. Roughly your age."

Right.
He was on a rescue mission after all.

The first room was relatively empty if you ignored the sofa, white with dust and a crushed chair.

As Minho moved towards the second and last intact room he smelled it.

The smell of blood.

"I'm too late." he panicked, running at full speed towards the door.

But when he entered he was frozen in place by the horrifying scene before his eyes.

A pile of bodies occupied the centre of the room.

Everything else had been obliterated to tiniest bits, a veil of ash that covered the floor angle to angle.

A hand rose to Minho's mouth as he tried not to throw up.

The pile consisted of what once was a family. A mother... empty eyes and blood dripping out of her mouth; a father... crimson splattered all over his face and....

A young man. Roughly Minho's age, infact.

"No..."
A sob escaped his mouth.
Had he failed after all?

Him?? The strongest asset The Strays had to offer??

He approached the bodies with slow steps.

"If only I hadn't complained... If only I had taken a bus earlier... If only..."

But it was too late.

Minho fell to his knees in front of the young man's face.

His eyes were rolled so far back that Minho could only see the white. Three smears of blood escaped them and were already solidifying on his soft, round cheeks.

Minho closed his lids with a trembling hand.

"I'm so sorry..."
he silently cried.

The police was now closer than ever.

For a minute, Minho considered just letting them find him.

His limbs were heavy just like his heart and his eyes, his eyes couldn't stop staring at that sweet, sweet face. The person he had failed to save.

He forced himself up.

Chan was still counting on him after all.

He turned his back to that bloody mess and prepared to run but...

Just as he took the first step...

Someone coughed.

Minho whipped his head around so hard he hurt his neck.

The little one! The little one was breathing!

Relief flooded him so fast that he got lightheaded.

"Oh thank god..."

The police.

He rushed to the pile and untangled him from his mother's grip then pushed him onto his shoulder, causing him to cough hard again.

"Mum..." he called with a weak voice.

Minho's heart hurt.

"I'm sorry..." he repeated.

Finally he got outside from a back door.

The police was now at the front along with a crowd of curious neighbors.

"Just what I need..." Minho thought, grinding his teeth.

But still, he would make it.

He wasn't the strongest of The Strays for nothing.

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