The Diamond Race | discontinued

chapter 13

23:00 Paris, France 48.8566° N, 2.3522° E

"Explain."

Junmyeon stood in front of four people, each with the ability to kill him in probably five seconds. He had gathered them all in Chen, Baekhyun, and Kai's room right after taking his shower. And yet, they all looked like a bunch of scolded preschoolers. He waved the file and USB drive in front of them, demanding answers.

Kai was as silent as ever, while Baekhyun looked nervously at the floor, Chen had the gall to look amused about the entire situation before him. His own brother, Minseok--- no Xiumin, sat looking rather pale, with his hands clasped in front of him.

"Well, erm. You see, we wanted to prank you a bit. It's a joke." Baekhyun chuckled weakly as he tugged anxiously on his pink hair.

Junmyeon wasn't buying it for a second. After he had finished his shower, Minseok was already gone from their room, which prompted him to go to next room over where he knew his brother's friends were staying.

Junmyeon turned to look directly at his brother.

"Nothing to say for yourself?!" He snapped.

"Junmyeon, look I---"

"You lied. You are a liar." Junmyeon cut his brother off. "Do mom and dad know this? Do they know that you were never studying abroad?!"

"No, they don't know." Minseok closed his eyes, willing away the massive headache that were beginning to form.

"How?!" Junmyeon yelled. "This entire time? Why didn't you tell me! All of you are secret agents working for some secret international organization---!"

Junmyeon's rant was cut off by the sudden vise-like grip Chen had on his mouth.

"I understand that this is a bit of a shock to you, but please do us all a favor and lower your voice. All of France doesn't need to hear what we're discussing right now."

Chen's smiled was chilling, it had the kind of shine to it, that made a promise that Chen would kill Junmyeon without a moment's hesitation. And it made Junmyeon remember exactly who he was dealing with. Xiumin, seeing the fear Junmyeon was regarding Chen with, made him spring into action.

"Get your hands off my brother." Xiumin snarled, shoving Chen quickly away and hiding Junmyeon behind him.

Chen raised his hands in the air, a more humor-filled smile tugged on his lips. This was new behavior from Xiumin. Xiumin was very protective of Junmyeon, so protective, that he would turn on his own teammates to protect him? It was intriguing.

Just who are you, Xiumin? Chen narrowed his eyes slightly at his team leader.

"Look, Junmyeon, this is all my fault." Xiumin turned to look at his younger brother. "I should have never brought you over."

"Right. Of course." Junmyeon laughed bitterly. "You're not sorry for lying, you're sorry for getting caught."

"No. No, goodness, no Myeon. That's not what I meant."

"Then if that's not the case, then why?"

"It was to protect you. I figured the less you knew, the safer you would be." Xiumin reached for his brother's hand.

"And what a lovely job you're done." Junmyeon yanked his hand out of reach. "I want the truth. Everything. Why you're in Paris, what your mission is. Why you called me here. Now."

"It's sort of a long story." Baekhyun muttered from behind Kai's shoulder.

Junmyeon huffed and made himself comfortable on the end of Kai's bed. He tipped his chin up in defiance, bring his arms tightly across his chest. He looked each agent squarely in the eye, settling on his brother's nervous form in the end.