The Diamond Race | discontinued

chapter 24

00:00 Seoul, South Korea 37.5665° N, 126.9780° E

When everyone was brought into the briefing room again, the atmosphere was tense. Baekhyun's eyes flickered worriedly at Chen's stormy face.

"Hey, what's wrong."

"Nothing." Chen snapped. He turned slightly giving Baekhyun his back.

Baekhyun blinked at the sudden cold shoulder from Chen.

"Hey, look if this is something I---."

"It's not." Chen was curt, his eyes trained on elsewhere.

Baekhyun frowned. "Okay."

Baekhyun turned his attention back to the front of the room where Xiumin stood talking to Lay and D.O.

As if sensing Baekhyun's eyes on him, D.O turned to meet his gaze. Their eyes locked for a moment, before they both looked away quickly, scalded by each other's gazes.

Baekhyun squeezed his eyes shut, willing away the searing rage that was bubbling up.

D.O rumbled his temples, flashes of his last nightmare dancing before his eyes.

"D.O?"

He blinked as Xiumin and Lay watched him with concern.

"I'm fine."

Lay opened his mouth, but D.O stopped him.

"I'll take the tea after this mission."

"You could just sit this one out." Lay sighed.

"I've sat out too many." D.O chuckled humorlessly. "Besides, I have someone I need to evaluate. This is a good time to see how Kai works up close."

Xiumin butted in at this point.

"Kai's a good agent. One of the best, so you'll probably have very little to pick at."

Lay snorted as D.O gave Xiumin a tired smile.

"The better the agent, the more D.O picks at them. I'd say Kai's in it for this one." Lay smiled.

Xiumin narrowed his eyes at that.

"Well, I hope you have limits, D.O."

D.O heard the warning as clear as a bell.

"Right."

---

"Baekhyun, D.O, and Suho will be a team." The moment the words left Lay's mouth, D.O died inside.

Silence fell upon the room as eyes bounced between D.O and Baekhyun. Despite not all agents knowing the true issue between D.O and Baekhyun, the recent days had shown the tension between the two well enough.

Sehun raised a hand, probably to comment on the team assignment, but swiftly put his hand down when D.O glared at him.

"Why?" Chen's sharp tone cut through the air. "Baekhyun and I are usually a team, we work best together."

"I think it's best that someone stay with Suho. We need him to get in and disable any electronic security systems in the building. D.O and Baekhyun can keep him safe. Baekhyun's disguises can keep Suho hidden, and D.O will deal with any hiccups."

Chen pursed his lips but didn't say anything else. Lay glanced at Baekhyun who's laid back posture had become rigid and stiff.

"It's fine." Baekhyun sighed. "Let's just get this shit over and done with."

D.O couldn't agree more.

---

The tension in the air was so thick, Kai could have cut himself a slice of it.