𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡

❝code eight❞

JANUARY 29, 11:05 AM

SECRET TUNNEL

"What happened to you?" Yanchen asked Xinchun as Zhenya was busy treating his wounds.

"Ge, we thought you were a goner," Zeren mentioned, sitting beside him.

They were still in the tunnel and they don't know how far they were from the Spades' main cabin. Xinchun was lucky that Yanchen brought his emergency kit.

Zeren was supposed to leave crumbs on the floor but when Yanchen handed him the pack, he thought it was food for the trip and ate all of it.

Zhenya put the last bandage on Xinchun's cheek. "We need to find the others."

Zeren helped Xinchun up as the latter implies, "Sungwoon escaped from us and we ended up chasing him and having a fight till earlier this morning. I let Zibo and Dinghao ran away but Sungwoon must've hit my head pretty hard. I just woke up a few hours ago."

Zhenya touched the walls of the tunnel. But instead of touching some dirt or ground, she felt a brick. "Do you know where this tunnel leads to?"

"Nope," Xinchun answers. "I've only heard about it in the rumors before, but this might be the tunnel that connects the 4 units."

Yanchen flashed his phone in front of them, "We have no choice but to move forward. Watch out for doors, it might lead us to one of the headquarters."

Zhenya nods, walking forward as she carefully examined each brick.

"Where's your laptop?" Zeren asked Xinchun out of the blue.

"I gave it to Dinghao," Xinchun answered, still feeling the pain of his wounds. "I was fighting with Sungwoon. I couldn't risk it."

They continued walking, not minding the grumbles of their stomach. They needed to get out of there and report back to the group that Sungwoon had escaped.

"Guys," Yanchen was already far in front of them. It was almost 2 pm and they were starving. "I think I found something,"

He knock on the brick and felt wood, "Bingo," He let his fingers wander and found a small knob. Yanchen was about to turn it when he was stopped by a ray of light.

"What do we have here?" The voice asked, sending shivers down Zhenya's spine. She knew that voice, anywhere.

She gulped, finally meeting his eyes, "Li Xikan."

Xikan was standing in the middle with the Zhu twins on each of his side. He had a gun on his belt and he was wearing the Serpent jacket.

Xikan looked shock. He didn't expect to see her down here, "Zhenya? Why are you here?"

"I should ask you the same thing,"

Xikan grumbles, his eyes landing on Xinchun. "Yue ge said some of his team didn't make it out the house and knowing that the cabin was connected to the tunnel, we decided to check if they escaped here. And so they did."

"Well, we're glad you're here," Yanchen thanked him. "We were getting lost."

Xikan smirked, "You should be. The only one who knows every inch of this tunnel is me, Ruiying-jie, Fan-ge and the Zhu twins."

"Are you done talking?" Zhenya interrupts, getting a bit annoyed by Xikan.

"Fierce as ever, I see," Xikan comments motioning to Yanchen, "If you're planning on opening that door, don't."

"Why?" Yanchen asks.

"That one leads to a locked bathroom in one of the malls," Xikan replies. "It's kind of a shortcut. Unless you want to go shopping, then be my guest."

Zhenya sighed, looking at Xinchun who had almost no energy left, "We need to go. Xinchun still needs medication,"

Xikan clicked his tongue and turned around, "Follow me,"

Zeren moved towards Zhenya while dragging Xinchun. The younger leaned in to the girl's ear, "Why do I feel so much tension between you two?"

Before Zhenya could explain, Xinchun opened his mouth, "Of course you can. Those two have a history,"

"What kind of history?" Zeren asked Xinchun, ignoring the look Zhenya was giving to them.

Xinchun eyed Zhenya one more time before speaking the truth, softly but with a hint of pain, "Li Xikan was her boyfriend. Her FIRST boyfriend."

✦✦✦✦✦✦ 

January 29, 3:17 PM

"This is how we're going to lure Shi Zhenya?" Kwon Hyunbin asked as he picked up Sungwoon in the woods. The guy was carrying someone on his back.

With the help of Seo Sunghyuk, they put the boy on the backseat, "Are you sure this'll work?"

"Look, I didn't explore those tunnels and got beaten up by that stick guy just for you to criticize my plan." Sungwoon argued, sitting on the front seat. "Where's Jonghyun?"

Hyunbin started the engine, "He's waiting at Boa's. The helicopter's ready."

"Good," Sungwoon slumped back on his seat. "Soon they'll realize that one of their lackeys is missing, and Zhenya will throw a fit."

"How are you sure that she will?" Sunghyuk asked the older one. Still uncertain about the plan.

"Zhenya adored that guy. If he weren't so clumsy and walked right into my trap, this wouldn't have happened."

"What's his name anyway?"

Sungwoon smiled at him through the mirror, "Lou Zibo."