"We just finished a mission last night, why is Heeseung hyung letting us work so much." Jay sighed and draped himself over the steering wheel.

"There's been an influx of jobs recently, it seems." Sunghoon explained, "The organisation can't catch us slacking." Jay frowned and looked outside through the tinted windows.

"It's almost time." Sunghoon said glancing at his phone and straightening out his tie of the costume again.

"Relax, will you?" Jay rolled his eyes, "You're going to choke yourself with how much you're adjusting your Santa costume. "

"You're not the one sticking your neck out to a bunch of criminals." Sunghoon retorted getting out of their van, Jay followed suit.

"Whatever." Jay shrugged and tied his hair back, one bothersome strand escaping the hair tie and falling over his forehead. The assassin didn't seem to care though.

"But isn't this a bit overkill?" Jay asked, gesturing to the desserts Sunghoon had baked for the occasion.

The blond had woken up at 5 am to start preparing desserts for the party. He was an exceptional baker if he did say so himself.

Meanwhile, Jay was getting rid of the real catering team so their plan would go without a hitch.

"It's necessary for the plan to go smoothly." Sunghoon replied.

The hitman displayed all his desserts on a cart large enough for Jay to sneak under. A white cloth draped over it to completely mask his partner.

With his cake and hidden assassin secured, Sunghoon put on a showy smile that was sure to peak out even through his mask and pushed the cart towards the five-star hotel.

They were tasked to infiltrate an underground auction and assassinate all the criminals that gathered. There could be no survivors.

"You ready?" Sunghoon whispered. He received a grunt in return. Taking that as his okay sign Sunghoon pushed the cart into the hotel whilst keeping an eye out for any bodyguards.

Three in the hallway. Two by the elevators. They were keeping it covered, no doubt. It'd be suspicious if there were more bodyguards than necessary.

Whatever it may be, it made Sunghoon's job easier.

Or harder because there's a possibility that some of the guards are simply dressed like civilians. It shouldn't matter though when he had Jay on his side.

The man's only mission was to shoot anything that moved and all Sunghoon had to do was get the assassin inside and assist.

This was the tricky part. He'd have to be convincing and discreet enough to get into the exclusive auction with no hitches.

Two men were standing by the door to the emergency staircase. So that was an entrance to the auction site.

Sunghoon approached the service elevator, grip tightening on the cart encasing Jay. It was imperative that he used the service elevators as the regular elevators did not go down to the basement. This was also the reason he needed a disguise.

"Stop," one of the bodyguards stopped him, as expected. "What is this?"

"Catering for an event." Sunghoon answered. His eyes darted to his sides in a show of nervousness but taking the opportunity to scan the lobby.

"What event?" The man asked.

"The one in the b-basement" Sunghoon added a stutter for good measure.

"I'll take the cart there." The guard announced, "You can leave now."

That's no good.

"I- I was instructed to set up the dishes and arrange the banquet table too." Sunghoon argued, timidly.

"These preparations should have been done before the event begins." The guard growled.

"I apologise, I had a flat tire while I was driving here." Sunghoon bowed.

"I don't fucking care for your excuses." The guard grumbled and went to grab the cart from him.

Sunghoon was faster, pulling out the files he had brought with him, they were fake obviously, but he needed it for the others so believe him.

"You can read it all here if you want, or call the organizer of this event." Sunghoon smiled, seeing the guard's phone ringing just as he finished talking.

The man answered the call, Sunghoon heard yelling from the phone, making the guard flinch and apologize to the one who called.

"You can go." The guard cleared his throat, pointing at the elevator. Sunghoon smiled and thanked the man as he entered the elevator, a sigh escaping from his lips when the door closed.

But what Sunghoon didn't realize that there was a kid in the elevator with him as well. A child, that looked no older than four, was staring at Sunghoon with smiling eyes.

"J-Jay-ah, there's a kid here." Sunghoon mumbled, hoping that Jay would hear him.

"We're about to commit mass murder." Jay responded, making Sunghoon roll his eyes.

Sunghoon kicked into the cart and smirked in satisfaction at the groan that the assassin let out.

The child looked at the huge cake, as if he wanted to eat it all. He turned to Sunghoon, who was still in a Santa costume. "Can I try?" He asked, receiving a nod from Sunghoon.

The kid giggled and started to eat the cake with his bare hands, Sunghoon would normally be disgusted but instead, he was feeling proud of himself because it seemed like that someone finally recognized his baking talent.

"Santa, do you have my present?" The child asked, his lips smeared with pastry cream. Sunghoon smiled awkwardly as he started to think what he was going to say to the boy.

"O-Of course, what was is that you wanted?" Sunghoon asked, he didn't know what to do right now but to get along with the kid.

"I want my papa!" The kid shouted excitedly, making Sunghoon surprised with his words.

Why was this kid asking for his parent? Was he lost?

Sunghoon shook his head, getting away from the thoughts. He had to protect this kid, this place wouldn't be safe for him some minutes after.

"Oh right! I can give you your present, but you have to listen to me alright?" Sunghoon asked, clapping his hands and smiling at the child, who laughed and jumped around.

With the ding of the elevator, he wheeled the cart out of the service elevator, with the kid behind him. They could take this kid out safely, all Jay needed was fifteen minutes.

Sunghoon wheeled the cart towards a heavily guarded door, but before, he kneeled down in front of the child.

"We are going to play a little game now, close your eyes and ears okay? If you do that, I will make you see your papa as the prize." Sunghoon winked, trying to convince the toddler.

The child nodded and did as Sunghoon said, a little smile plastered on his lips.

Sunghoon turned to his way after making sure that the boy was behind him, secured.

"Seven" he whispered under his breath and heard the clicking of a gun.

"Hey!" What are you-" Before the guards could finish their sentence, gunshots fired out from under the cart. Not a single bullet missed its mark.

Sunghoon pushed the cart into the dimly lit auction room as the guards fell like dominos behind him.

"We're in." Sunghoon said, calmly turning around to lock the doors as though their sudden entrance hadn't alerted everyone in the room.

"Hands up!" Someone commanded. Sunghoon turned around only to have about ten people pointing their guns at him.

"Alright." Sunghoon complied, putting his hands up "but good luck convincing my partner."

As if on cue, the white sheet covering Jay was pulled away like they were performing a magic trick. It was a magic trick. The assassin was practically invisible, his agility aiding him in quickly taking down all the armed men whose guns were pointed at Sunghoon.

"Show off," Sunghoon grumbled, pulling out his gun and dodging bullets, the child still behind him.

There were screams but Sunghoon didn't worry too much. The room was soundproof.

There was fresh blood pooling on the floors but Sunghoon had seen it all too much that he was indifferent to it now, but he wasn't sure about the kid.

He didn't know where Jay was in the crowd of people trying to escape in a panic but it was alright. In the end, it'll only be the two of them alive and hopefully the child too.

Sunghoon pointed the gun at a weeping woman and shot her in the forehead.

One.

A man who slipped on a pool of blood and fell.

Two.

Another woman who was cornered by the wall.

Three.

-

"Eighteen. I killed eighteen people." Sunghoon said climbing onto the stage where the auctioneer was once standing.

"And I killed the rest." Jay said.

"Give me a number so I know if I beat you." Sunghoon said.

"I don't keep count," Jay said "But I can tell you for a fact that you didn't beat me."

Sunghoon knew that.

"So what were they trying to auction off?" Jay asked stalking around the room and checking all the bodies on the floor to make sure they'd killed them all.

Sunghoon pulled back the curtain that led backstage and examined the items.

"Drugs, weaponry," he found a pistol on the table and whistled "This one's rare."

"Let's keep it." Jay said, pulling the trigger on someone "What else do they have?"

"Jewellery, probably stolen. More drugs and-" Sunghoon paused, hearing some rumbling somewhere in the room.

"What's wrong?" Jay asked, now pointing his gun in Sunghoon's direction.

"Jay," Sunghoon's voice shook "the child is there."

The assassin frowned and walked over to where his partner was standing, gaping at his discovery.

Sure enough, there was the child, curled in on himself under the cart, sleeping tightly.

Sunghoon walked forward and scooped the kid up in his arms, inspecting him for any injuries.

"Is he..." Jay trailed off, not wanting to imagine the worst-case scenario.

"He's breathing." Sunghoon informed.

"Good, now let's get going. We don't want to be here when the cops show up." Jay said.

"What about him?" Sunghoon asked, still holding the toddler.

"Let's leave him here. The police will find him and take him home." Jay replied.

"But what if something happens to him?" Sunghoon asked again.

"That's not our problem." Jay said.

"Let's take him with us." Sunghoon said, ignoring Jay's words.

"Have you lost it? We can't do that." Jay hissed "We don't know who this kid is or why he's here in the first place. It's a huge risk."

"We'll find his parents and return him to them." Sunghoon said.

"Sunghoon, we're not good people."

"I don't want to leave him here!"

"Why are you being so stubborn!"

"Papa?" A small hand clutched Sunghoon's costume's soft fabric.

Jay peered over Sunghoon's shoulder to see the small boy stirring in Sunghoon's arms.

"Papa." The boy blinked his eyes open, focusing on Sunghoon's face. "I- I'm scared."

Sunghoon blinked, taken aback by the fact that this kid just called him Papa. But the boy was distressed and Sunghoon's first instinct was to soothe him.

"I-it's okay, sweetie." Sunghoon held the boy close "You're safe now."

"Sunghoon," Jay warned.

"Let's go." Sunghoon said standing up with the small boy cuddled to his chest.

Jay had a lot to say but he bit his tongue and followed his partner out, stepping over the corpses of the criminals he'd massacred.