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Five Minute Overdrive

Summary:

After a string of increasingly bizzare criminal cases started to appear throughout the city; Reports of humans developing their abilities late and mutants spontaneously combusting, Detective Choi Seungcheol was asigned an ordinary case in comparison.

At least, it was at first glance.

Lee Chan, a kidnap victim quickly proves his case was anything but ordinary.

Seungcheol found himself spiraling. Uncovering secrets more convoluted than what he had anticipated. But with the help of his partner Junhui, and lab technician Jihoon, the detective might just be able to solve the case.

And perhaps along the way discover romance in a form of a stubborn shapeshifter name Jeonghan. Long lost friends he'd thought he'd burried in the past and new friends who might just stick with him through it all.

Or

The one where Seungcheol is a telepathic detective, Junhui is his empath partner, and Jihoon is their chlorokinetic lab technician. And they meet a bunch of other (mostly) gay mutants whilst trying to solve a kidnapping case. falling in love with each other along the way.

Chapter 1: They Used to Shout My Name Now They Whisper It

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The first thing Chan noticed whilst on the brink of consciousness was the pungent smell of antiseptic floating everywhere, lemony scented and overly processed. A pathetic imitation of freshness that lingered bitterly inside his nose. The second thing that incited him further into alertness was the metallic flavor encompassing his tongue, flooding his senses even more as his brain worked overtime to keep his defenses up.

With a startled gasp he finally awakened, eyes bloodshot and wide, squinting strenuously upwards at the brilliantly white light blinding him. He tried getting up, wincing, vertigo overcoming his foggy brain, his mind spiraling off as his body abruptly seized attempting to be further upright, jolting back down with a thump. Focusing off beside him, his eyes bugged, thick leather straps were restraining his wrist so tightly that his veins bulged out. Inside one of them a needle was sticking out. His vision followed the lines of the miniscule metal that was attached to an elongated tube and saw it was connected to an IV with clear-colored liquid inside.

Thoroughly freaked out he thrashed around on the contraption constricting him. Taking in everything surrounding him and frightening himself even more. Everything was bone-chillingly anemic and clinical, nothing that he was familiar with. But the ache he felt in his chest was familiar, he wanted to return home.

"Oh, please," he tried shouting, his voice coming out horse and weak, a growing lump in his throat as he felt increasingly agitated at the situation. Attempting - failing - to wriggle away from his shackles only to discover that his feet were both constricted as well. He was lying on the table spread-eagled, vulnerable and helpless, the sudden realization furthering his panicking hyperventilation.

His breathing were shallow ragged intakes of oxygen. His defenses aligning into his fight or flight reflexes. Tears were flowing freely down his face, cascading downwards his cheeks in thick droplets where it previously gathered around rimming his bloodshot eyes. "Please," he pleaded mirthlessly. Nobody's coming to safe him.

His body was burning, the blood in his veins thrumming, boiling with the necessity to escape. "Please!" He shouted again a little louder, eyes falling from white wall to another, claustrophobia choking him as sweat started to build up on his forehead.

Where am I?

"Please!" He cried out and the room erupted into scorching heat. Flames danced all around the room, like a hurricane of fire swirling around the miniscule space. Destroying every single thing that is white in the room, charring it. Chan observed safely in the eye of the hurricane, seeing the straps constricting him melting away. He gathered his limbs into order, beginning his escape. His mind a mess of, I need to get out, I need to get out, I need to get out.

Righting himself up he staggered onto his tremulous feet, the previously blindingly white room, now a pitched-black burnt color. He didn't pay much attention as he set his sights on the door ahead of him.

"Please," he whispered, hoping once more to himself before revving up. Slowly he covered his body in a ball of powerful inferno, taking his stance. Bowing down towards himself he then ran head first onto the door, demolishing it with his shoulders.

Running as quickly as his weaken state allowed, he steadied himself with shaky hands resting on the freezing wall of the darken hallways. Hearing sirens bursting all around him he bloomed fire underneath his fingertips and made his escape, praying for his body to not collapse.

He needed to go home.

 

💊💊💊

 

Growing up, all Seungcheol ever desired was to help everybody around him. He had this enthusiastic way in taking on life, self-appointing himself the responsibility of assisting people who needed it, cultivating destructive, self-aggrandizing behaviors, wanting to become a hero in every situation.

The ability he possessed aided him in his endeavors, it was easier for him to pick-apart people with unpleasant intentions when he could effortlessly wander inside these people's minds, cherry-picking information he needed to enforce what he blindly assumed as justice in the situation.

As a child, all he ever heard were praises; people always approached him for help in resolving a problematic situation and frequently he happily open his arms for them. He remembered manipulating his ability for petty things, assessing low-level situations; like that one time when one of his childhood friends, Mingyu, accused his other friend, Seungkwan of stealing his food when he wasn't looking. He chuckled and simply observed inside his friends memories, watching their greedy little hands stole the mouthful of noodles from right out of his friend's plate. Relaying the information caused his friend to hilariously blew up in each other's faces.

It always ended in a fit of giggle, and jutted out bottom lips. Being the middle ground for everyone was a blessing of an ability for the natural leader to have, and he utilized it to the fullest.

In hindsight, this train of thought was childish and very clearly sugarcoated from the realities of the world surrounding him that he was participating in. Not everything is black and white, not everyone is good or bad, and not everyone had such genuine intentions as him.

He remembered the first time his mother found out about his telepathic ability. She had required him to do a favor the next day, inviting a thirteen-year-old Seungcheol to one of her business meetings, under the guise of learning experience when everyone knew he was much too young to understand anything being presented to him.

The building he was escorted into was gargantuan, doe-eyed gaze fell upon every unimportant detail he saw; glass paneled windows, high-tech vending machines, a ginormous marble-lined lobby. He took everything in innocent stride, falling for the honey-dewed trap the glamorous building had set up for him.

His mother had tugged him aside before entering the room where the meeting would be held, whispering in his ears, "Read what you can from him." She pointed at a frowning man, balding at the top and a sleazy grin on his face. Seungcheol's hair stood up at the back of his neck, the moment he inspected the man, he knew he had less than virtuous intentions. So he readily accepted his mother's request, happily receiving the phone with the notes app opened she trusted into his hands, and sauntered inside with the intention of reading the man and relaying the information in a typed out format.

Seungcheol didn't remember much of the incident, a bunch of the words were unfamiliar to his immature ears, the vocabulary to advance for his capacity. He wrote it down anyways and relayed the information to his mother.

It was years later did he finally realized how his mother became the CEO of that company, why the man was suddenly out of a job. It was an unpleasant truth to be presented with; he should've realized that with every business men – hell, every men there were both positive and negative intentions inside all of them. That the greediness he saw inside that man gave him no right to strip him away of his title, the way he had no right giving his mother the position to replace him.

Ever since then he started pulling further away from the lifestyle he was born into, becoming hyperaware of his parents manipulations that resulted in them gaining profit. They always praised him on his abilities, complaining about their own practically useless one; his mother's language proficiency and his father's seconds memory eraser, one he frequently used on Seungcheol to keep him in a disorienting loop, especially when he started to figure them out, were only useful to an extent. He despised how much he was manipulated, hated the circumstance of his birth.

He frequented less and less of business events, family gatherings, instead worked assiduously to receive a scholarship so he didn't have to disburse his parents’ dirty money anymore. He eventually joined the academy, where he hopefully could atone for his past mistakes and utilized his ability to truly help people instead.

His mother was furious when he refused to accept one of the branch companies she owned and had planned for him to run, became even more furious when she discovered that he refused because he decided to become a detective. His father though, was much calmer, pulling his wife aside, whispering the most corrupt of things to her ears. "It's fine," he had murmured. "Now we got a man on the inside." It sent shivers down Seungcheol's spine.

Seungcheol rejected those offers. Now he's twenty three, living alone, refusing to contact his parents (it's been two years now) and was working as a rookie detective at the Mutant Enforcer and Investigator Agency.

It sounded amazing, even in his mind, having a steady-paying job, a spacious apartment of his own (his parents paid the first few months, but he refused to acknowledge it to himself), a small circle of friends that also had similar mindsets to him. That is until he shifted his eyes beside him and was reminded once again of the stack of paperwork he has yet to process.

Oh right, he thought, he was useless here.

Pushing away from his desk, the wheels of his chair squeaking alerted his partner positioned beyond the partition of his agitation. Junhui quirked his brow up in inquiry only to be met by his partner's malicious stare. Begrudgingly, he rolled his chair nearer to the stack of paperwork, grabbing one randomly, thumbing through it, sighing with every syllable he read.

This was going to be a long night.

He threw himself back onto his chair unceremoniously, moaning and sighing every few milliseconds, a mess of tension knotting his back.

Seconds later he felt this tension uncoiling, straightening out the knotted mess of thoughts inside his brain, relaxing him further onto his chair.

"Wait!" He suddenly shouted, earning glares from other people working at the desks surrounding his. He paid them no mind, choosing instead to point an accusatory finger at his partner. "You, I told you to stop doing that."

His partner shrugged, already used to his friend's intimidating anger (he knew better than to fall for it, Seungcheol was a ball of fluff inside). "I was just trying to help. That massive chip on that shoulder of yours is giving me a massive headache."

Seungcheol pouted secretly grateful that his partner was attentive enough to his emotions. "Sorry," he eventually relented, watching Junhui chuckle at how obvious he was.

"No problem. What are you doing anyways?" Junhui leaned in, peaking his light-brown head of hair through the partition, chancing a glance on whatever Seungcheol was doing.

"Paperwork," he muttered plainly, hearing his friend hummed his ascent.

"Yeah, I did mine yesterday."

Seungcheol was bored of being a desk-worker detective. What was his purpose of being in this agency if he was only going to be relegated to processing paperwork after paperwork for people above him? What was the purpose of him having a partner if he had to do the exact same thing? He knew he was young and quite entitled, aware that he had much to do before he could be a field agent like every other veterans in this building. He was just impatient of waiting for that day to arrive, for the chance to prove himself.

"Choi," someone behind him called, followed by another stack of paperwork plopping on top of his already towering one. He sighed, deflating right back down onto his swivel chair in defeat.

"Woah there rookie, don't pout, you look like a camel."

Seungcheol glared at Jihoon, who happily grinned at him mockingly, looking absolutely drowned inside his dirtied, too large lab coat. There were soil on the white fabric that Seungcheol was positive was the result of yet another one of the tiny lab technician's botanical experiments, he briefly wondered what sort of plant Jihoon managed to grew inside the lab this time. Was it another mutated Venus flytrap? Seeing inside the technician's mind he saw a gigantic elongated structure of a green-purplish plant, a pool of liquid inside where a couple of what he thought were animal carcasses, rapidly dissolving.

Seungcheol grimaced, pulling back from his friends mind and automatically putting a hand to cover his nose even though he couldn't actually smell the dissolving carcasses.

"Fuck, what the hell are you working at with that thing?"

Jihoon chuckled. "You saw didn't you? That's what you get for sneaking into people's mind." The technician stood back, leaning against the empty desk behind him, opening up one of the case files in Seungcheol's lump and slipping a couple things inside.

"Uggh, just do your job why don't you? What even is that?"

"What even is what?" Junhui intercepted, interested in the conversation he's missing. Only now noticing the technician was there, waving and smiling at the smaller one in a way too enthusiastic greeting.

Jihoon rolled his eyes at the two detectives. Why oh why out of all the professionals inside this agency did he ended up making friends with the utmost idiotic people within it. He ran a hand through his short raven hair and sighed, picking up another case file.

Jihoon nodded to himself once he stored the evidence paper in the correct case file, slamming it shut and throwing it back to Seugcheol who readily caught it.

"For your information, I am working. I'm testing out the new mutated pitcher plant."

"For what?"

"Trying to test out the acid theory," he answered simply, when the two detectives threw him a questioning glare, imploring him to continue. Sighing exaggeratedly, he did, "One of the guys from autopsy came to me with this weirdly disfigured body that they thought was melted inside an industrial acid waste, since they found the guy inside one of the chemical factories downtown. But the agency didn't want to give them money to seize an entire factory so they can throw animal carcasses in there to test out if the body was burned via acid or not. So...I made the pitcher plant thing. It has similar enough acidic properties as an industrial acid waste." Jihoon didn't think the body was thrown inside an acid waste, the pig carcass he threw in dissolved much too quickly for a body of the same size to stay intact after being thrown inside one. Plus, the body of the pig he fished out was burned on the inside as well as the outside, it's meat and muscles falling of the bone much too easily whilst the body that they found was much more intact, and absolved of any chemical burns inside.

Whatever, he's sure he'll figure this out. He's not a working veteran level lab technician in the agency for nothing.

"Your work is so disgusting," Junhui commented, grimacing at the thought of melting bodies. He knew full well as a detective he might one day encounter equally as gruesome crime scenes as Jihoon's melting bodies, but he didn't think he'd have the stomach for inducing such a harrowing experiment voluntarily himself.

"At least I have work."

"Uggh," Seungcheol groaned, swiveling back towards his desk. "Don't remind me."

The stack of paperwork was mocking him with its egregiously large stature.

Jihoon giggled in amusement. "Oh come on, I'm sure it's not that bad." He sat down on a chair, scooting it next to Seungcheol and picking up yet another case file. He opened one and started reading. "Think of it as reading a mystery novel or something." The case file that he picked was definitely interesting enough. "Huh."

"What?" Seungcheol leaned in, already getting glimpses, pictures of crime scenes inside the technician's mind.

Jihoon flipped to see the front of the case file, seeing the serial number. "What's case 1083-A?"

"Oh." Seungcheol leaned back in his chair, remembering the success the two lead detectives in the agency got last week. The whole floor had erupted when the detectives had finally taken down one of the hardest underground crime syndicate to pin, that's been wreaking havoc throughout the city. There was a celebration and pizza, which the two detective rookies were conveniently excluded of as they were herded to their desks to immediately work on – that’s right, paperwork.

He remembered something about bodies being found inside the underground den of the syndicate, with weird and various markings on them, but he remembered nothing more.

"It's that big bust that happened last week," he simplified, not wanting to get into it incase his jealousy fester inside his stomach.

Jihoon shook his head in exasperation. "Yeah no shit genius, I can read – is there any more information? Like did they found something weird?"

Seungcheol recounted the words that were said throughout the party, but he didn't remember any information that had caught his ears.

"Oh! One of the lead detectives in the case said that they had to take down one of the escaped convicts he'd put in jail a while back during the bust. He said it was weird since the guy was listed as human when he was imprisoned, but the guy was definitely a mutant when they caught them again," Junhui excitedly chortled. He even saw the convict being carded in a wheelchair, unconscious, before getting put inside the transporter where the criminals inside were going to be transferred somewhere. He remember catching a glimpse of the guy, seeing his eyes suddenly opened wide, glowing bright crimson before laser beams shot out of his irises in various directions, before he was tranquilized seconds later.

It freaked Junhui out enough that the memory became vivid, especially knowing that the guy had been human just a couple months before.

"So he turned into a mutant? – Really, a middle aged man?"Jihoon asked, incredulous, Junhui nodded as an answer. "But that's impossible."

"Late bloomer?" Seungcheol suggested, watching Jihoon frown deepens, shaking his head.

"No, even if you have the mutagene it dies when you reach twenty - twenty five, at most if it's not activated." He hummed, flipping between evidence and calculating aspects that didn't add up in his mind. He needed more information. "Can I take this?"

Seungcheol shrugged, "Go ahead, the paperwork is always backed up anyways. Just give it back to me when you're done."

"Thanks." Quickly, Jihoon returned to his lab, Balenciaga screeching on the linoleum floor as he turned the corner until he's unseen by the two dumbfounded detectives.

"What was that about?"

"Genius being a genius – Don’t mind him."

The two went back to their works, Seungcheol to his monstrous stack of case files and Junhui to whatever he was doing before.

Deep down, Seungcheol was quite envious of Jihoon. The technician was a year younger than him, but a couple years ahead of him in the workplace. Jihoon started working in the agency since he was seventeen, after graduating college early, taking up and passing laboratory science and forensic pathology with flying colors, he was recruited by the agency and marveled as a genius at what he does. He was given leniency at every corner; people come to him begging for his help. Jihoon had accomplished so much in his shorter life-span than Seungcheol ever did, he felt incompetent being there.

He didn't realize he was working his mind up into a stupor until he feels the tendrils of his partner's ability coaxing him downward into a calm and relaxed state.

"Thanks," he said in a small voice.

"No problem." Junhui smiled and went back to work.

Seungcheol had to believe he was there for a reason, and that one day he'll receive numerous opportunities to help people the way he always wanted to.

"Choi, Wen!" Someone shouted from across the room. "The chief wants to talk to you."

Maybe his opportunity was closer than he thought.

 

💊💊💊

 

Chan was hyperaware of his surroundings; everything was either blindingly neon-colored or painstakingly loud. A store that he had passed through several blocks down had suddenly blasted music from within it, startling him into stepping onto a puddle of muddy water. Now with soaking wet bare feet, he stumbled his way through another neighborhood.

People were giving him openly curious glances inside this neighborhood. A couple blocks down were mostly empty of anyone, the further he ran, the more people started becoming aware of the oddity of an existence he was. People were scrutinizing the boy wearing the torn, semi-burnt hospital gown, stumbling barefoot along the unsanitary streets of the city. He's aware the more people stared, the closer he was to the wealthier side of the city.

Nobody in the slums ever inspected one another; people there got their own difficulties to handle.

"Hey," somebody said, following a hand on his shoulder that Chan immediately shook off, attempting to get away from.

He pivoted around, seeing a seemingly compassionate woman observing him, her arms outstretched, palms open in a placating manner. Like she was attempting to tranquilize a frantic wild animal. "It's okay." She soothingly whispered. "Are you lost?"

Chan's cognizant of how he must've appeared; disheveled, skeptical, and yes, he was lost, but he wasn't about to trust some random woman from uptown, no matter how sincerely she presented herself. His slumrat intuition wouldn't allow it. He began moving his feet ready to escape when his legs caved underneath him, darkness overtaking his vision once again.

The next thing he realized, he was being picked and prodded on by several hands in a clinically disinfected area into unconsciousness.

Later he startled awake, causing a commotion on the gurney he was forcibly constricted in, about to yell for assistance when doctors and nurses noticed him awake and simmered him down.

"You're at the hospital," one of the nurses explained.

"Can you answer a couple of questions? A detective is here to see you," asked another.

Chan relaxed reluctantly into the pillows, nodding weakly as an answer.

The process following was exhausting, it reminded him of the first time he had gotten arrested and subsequently thrown into juvie. The agency he was processed in now was as unforgiving, and no matter how many people referred to him as a victim, he still felt like a criminal being held unwillingly in the interrogation room.

He was questioned, thoroughly, apathetically. There was a thick, fog-like partition guarding memories that he couldn't reach towards. He practically served no help for the Captain sitting expectantly in front of him.

"That's alright, I have a detective that just might be able to help you, we can take you home and question you again tomorrow."

Chan shook his head immediately at that. "No, I – I don't remember where my home is anyways." That was a lie; he just didn't think the other slumrats would appreciate it if he was returned back inside a detective's vehicle. They'd have questions he won't be able to answer, neighbors breathing down his neck.

No, he didn't want any authority's attention on the slums.

"Okay then," the Captain easily agreed, suspecting the younger one's trepidations, able to deduce several fearful lingering expressions with his ability. He figured there was no point in terrifying the boy further; he'll talk once he's calmer. "I hope you're okay with minimal accommodation? One of my detectives might have a spare room where you could sleep for the night.

"Sure." And the conversation ended.

 

💊💊💊

 

Whatever situation Seungcheol had expected after entering the captain's office, it certainly wasn't what he had ended up being presented with.

Cap, or the chief detective in MEIA was a charitable man, his head always full of loaded cases his underlings constantly approached him for guidance. His job was complicated, demanding. Seungcheol was sure if he was in the Cap's position then he would've disintegrated days after taking up the position. That's why when Cap entrusted he and Junhui the task as the resident desk-worker detectives, he understood the other's restriction. From what he read, Cap knew that they had potential, but was hesitant on the younglings’ ability to go through a case as rookies that recently graduated the academy. He still hated his job description, so when Cap requested them both into his office, he was immediately ecstatic only from reading several lines from within the Cap's mind.

"You're giving us a case?"

"What did I say about reading me?"

Seungcheol nervously chuckled. "To…not do it?"

Cap nodded firmly, hunching his back before pacing to his leather seat. He was tired, had a long day, and wanted nothing more to sleep it off. Of course life came with many surprises as it promptly deposited a child at his doorsteps at the dead of night.

"Yes, I got a case for you two – a small one," he quickly added, carefully navigating the increasing elation on the rookies' faces, not intending to get their hopes up.

"Yes, anything, whatever, thank you."

Cap sighed; those youngsters were going to be the death of him.

"There's a kid that came in just a couple hours ago, he said he was kidnapped, didn't know where he was, where he came from," he explains, throwing the case file at Seungcheol, who's expression immediately brighten at the sight. Considering he had been ogling at numerous case files for paperwork, the sight of another one should've deepened the frown he had on his face, but he was overly enthusiastic right now. Next to him he could feel Junhui vibrating, barely containing his excitement. "I want you to interrogate him, read him if you have to, check out the last place he remembered being, and report it back to me." The kid, Lee Chan, was most likely a victim of one of yet another very common mutant kidnapping around the slums area. He had the record of the victim ready after seeing the kid staggered inside the interrogation room, dressed in nothing but a hospital gown. He figured the boy had been experimented on the same way a number of mutants who were kidnapped were as well.

Unfortunately these cases were frequent, large quantities of mutants from the slums gets kidnapped daily and sold into trafficking. Their value determined in the underground traffic market based on what abilities they had. Though they haven't gotten another disappearance case in quite some time – the kid never even been reported as missing, most likely because he had nobody who could report in if he was living in the slums – they knew that these cases still runs rampant and the possibility of it ever stopping is slim to none, thus the reality of the world.

Cap was just grateful that the kid was already of age. Barely, turned eighteen a few months back. So they didn't have to endure child services. The kid was declared lucid and of sound mind enough to be released, and was decided to be entrusted to the agency after that. Cap decided that the boy probably required rest, and Seungcheol might have a spare couch in his apartment available.

"I'll take the couch."

"Seungcheol," Cap reprimanded. death of him, he swore.

"Just be nice to the kid, gather as much info as you can, and take him home. Once you're done then report back to me, got it?"

"Yes," the rookies affirmatively answered, excitement barely contained in their voices.

"Okay then, you're dismissed."

Descending the staircase on their way to collect the kid, both Seungcheol and Junhui couldn't contain their growing enthusiasm; it's their first case after all.

So…sleepover?

"Sleepover," Seungcheol assented, following his skipping partner ahead of him.

 

💊💊💊

 

Chan observed as the detective drove further and further away from the heart of the city, wondering which direction the car would take; the darker parts of the city, crime-ridden, sanguinary, and unsympathetic – or the wealthier side where equal amounts of crimes happened but carefully concealed whilst simultaneously shamelessly glorified. He couldn't tell, he never really traveled anywhere outside of the slums even within parameters of the city, so the amount of ginormous, expensive looking structures was his only marker. He didn't have time memorizing the city when everyday he's busy trying to survive an unforgiving society.

"Finish your shit, then you can sightsee." Jeonghan used to say in reply to his whines when he was disallowed to meander longer during their rare excursion to the city. He learned to value his time more ever since then.

"How much further?"

"We're close," came the immediate reply. So detective Choi is quite wealthy from what he could gather. His apartment wasn't too far away from the city, the glimmering skyscrapers still within a seeing distance. However, he didn't know much pertaining to the detective in the passenger seat – detective Wen. Was he just as rich as detective Choi? – More? This was the information he required before deciding if he should trust them or not.

Seungcheol looked apprehensively behind, at the boy in the back seat – eighteen years old, not that much younger than him, but the way the boy's hunching in on himself, glowering at everything that sparkled like it was going to attack him made him look much younger to Seungcheol's eyes.

The detective was aware of the case profile the boy was secretly building in his head against him and his partner. Knowing what he did about Lee Chan, Seungcheol didn't blame him. A young boy maturing in the slums, having to scavenge and swindle people for sustenance and means to live every day, being in and out of juvenile systems; Seungcheol wouldn't blame him for disdaining both authority and affluence. And here Chan was faced with both of them. Seungcheol just hoped that the boy would disregard that part of him, focusing towards his intention instead, because he genuinely wanted to help.

"We're here," Seungcheol unnecessarily announced, vehicle already swerving halfway down the parking basement.

Chan was surprised on how moderately sized the apartment building was. Nothing like the gargantuan structures of luxury and glamour downtown. This one was a little more...modest, with its blue tinted paint thoroughly covering the exterior of the building, smooth with no damages nor cracks present. It wasn't glamour, but it definitely wasn't the slums either.

"I hope you don't mind, my room isn't exactly huge."

The three of them advanced inside the elevator, and Chan right there knew the exterior of the place was absolutely deceiving. There was a smell of expensive perfume lingering in the tiny metal box taking them further upwards. The lights on the elevators didn't flicker, persistently bright and crimson, and there wasn't any jostling that might cause paranoia. They weren't in danger of plummeting from electrical failures of any kind.

Again, not glamour, but this was luxurious enough.

Seungcheol sighed where he stood; not liking that he's losing the boy's trust before conversing with him about a topic of substance. He didn't realize how difficult the people in the slums had it, the more he peaked inside the boy's mind the more he was reminded of his past and how privileged he was – still is.

Seungcheol could feel the happiness he had within him from receiving a case trickling away when they finally reached his floor.

Junhui watched him in concern when he felt his partner's positive emotions took a nose dive.

"Please." Seungcheol ushered the boy out, herding him from behind.

You okay? Junhui asked.

Yeah, it's just – I’ll tell you later.

The three of them made their way into Seungcheol's apartment. Junhui immediately acquainted himself with the furniture, already familiarizing, opening up the case file the Captain had given them. Chan was a bit more tentative in his measures, observing everything in equal measure of astonishment and trepidation.

"Sit." Seungcheol offered the small ottoman and the kid sat perching himself on the edge.

This was going to be a long night.

Once settled, Seungcheol offered the boy some refreshments that the boy vehemently refused before accepting the offer of water.

The air in the room quickly became serious.

"So, Chan, can I ask you a couple of questions? It won't be long; I'll let you rest later."

Chan nodded absentmindedly, refusing to meet the detective's gaze. "Just so you know, I don't really remember much." He'd informed the other detectives this, but nobody had paid attention.

"Yes, I know, that's why you were assigned to me. Full disclosure, I am a telepath; I can see your thoughts and memories." he was pretty incredible at excavating too, was classified one of the top telepaths in the country because of it. That's how he got his position at the agency (besides his wealthy background), his ability might be useful on some trauma cases where victims unknowingly burry memories within their mind, aiding in unearthing them. It broke Seungcheol's heart knowing people have to go through such trauma that their minds literally needed to forget in order to survive, and that the boy in front of him was one of those victims.

Chan was panicking a little in his spot, he didn't like being in close proximity with someone who could instantaneously wander through his memories. He was from the slums, he's done a couple of egregious actions in life, and Seungcheol's a detective, someone who could penalize him for it, especially now that he's eighteen.

His heart palpitated within his chest; his fingertips were beginning to burn, sparks of fire beseeching permission for release, his fight or flight reflexes triggering, he was about to combust and then –

Tranquility – washing over him, and he knew enough compulsers to know that this feeling wasn't natural.

"What are you doing?" He meant it as threatening, but the way he melted onto the backrest, presented him as otherwise.

"I'm sorry; I have to get you to calm down." Chan stared at the other detective, who finally said something to him. "I'm an empath, and we're going to need you to calm down if you're gonna answer some of our questions, okay?"

Chan nodded absentmindedly, too relaxed to care.

Seungcheol felt trepidation taking hold, wondering if attempting this might betray the boy's trust, that might resulted in him closing up on them both furthermore. But this was all for the boy's benefit and for a lot of other mutants benefit as well, so he'll just have to endure everything one at a time.

"Okay, Chan, could you please tell us again what happened? Where did you escaped from?"

Chan started to recount what he had told the other detectives, relaying the information mechanically. He tried his damnest to remember what he was instructed to, but there was a haze in his mind that's stopping him from remembering anything.

This was different than any ordinary trauma cases he'd been presented in training. Chan's mind was filled with fog that felt medically induced more so than the brain's protective mechanism. He managed to see a few things though; a white room, an IV, a dilapidated looking building, and a sign, and –

He could feel Chan's mind starting to overwork itself, firing alarms signs, a mechanism to push him out. He figured this was as far as they could traverse tonight. For now, the information he received was enough, and he nodded at Junhui, allowing the boy rest.

Almost instantly like magic, Chan fell into unconsciousness, his brain registering nothing but absolute darkness.

Seungcheol Immediately grabbed a pen and paper, writing everything down, one label in particular sticking out.

Junhui peaked over his shoulders, reading Seungcheol's scrawls of letters.

"Red Hill Medical Centre."

That's it, that's where they needed to go.

Notes:

Hi everyone! i'm new to the fandom, so I apologize if I get anything wrong. Also, english isn't my first language so excuse my poor grammar. Otherwise, enjoy and thanks for reading. Also comments are greartly appreciated <3
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Chapter title from Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat

Chapter 2: There's a Place in the Dark Where the Animals Go

Notes:

So uhm...I forgot to mention that half of the book is already done since I kinda wrote 30k words right after watching Project Power, so...yeah. Also enjoy hacker hoshi <3
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TW: unwanted sexual advances (it's consensual but the character just doesn't like it, idk, stay safe!)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The club was packed to the brim tonight; pulsating neon-colored lights bathed the dimly lit room, crowds of sweaty bodies grinded on the dance floor. Jeonghan gazed to the ocean of people in revulsion, knowing he had to intermingle in-between them if he was going to score any target tonight.

"Tell me again."

Soonyoung leaned forward, ready to repeat the information he'd collected for Jeonghan. "The guy only comes here to get wasted every Friday night. He won't suspect anything. If you try and come up to him, his bodyguards might though, so all you need to do is get close enough to get his phone, give it to me then I'll hack it. You need to distract him for at least ten minutes."

Jeonghan smirked. "Ten? You needed fifteen last time."

"You underestimate me too much," Soonyoung teased, grinning until his eyes shifted into tiny crescent moons. Jeonghan detested the fact that somebody so intelligent could go so undervalued in this world just because of their circumstances of birth. Soonyoung was a literal magician when it came to tactical analysis – that being his ability after all. Soonyoung was incredibly intelligent that at certain points he's even able to perceive the future, predicting the series of events that would transpire next. All Soonyoung needed was the complete information, which he easily recovered on account of him being an incredible hacker as well.

Soonyoung didn't deserve to be here, slumming it with Jeonghan. Soonyoung could effortlessly create a business from the ground up if opportunity arose, but of course reality didn't work like that. They were considered fortunate enough to have been born mutants, their genetics allotting them the opportunity to level the playing field. Most slumrats weren't as fortunate, that's why they remained where they were. Stuck inside a never-ending cycle of 'never going to make it'; the elites having greedily manipulated mutants, utilizing their various (strategically bred) abilities. The slumrats – even the mutant ones, couldn't possibly compete with that.

"Remember, he has two bodyguards."

"None of them are mutants right?" Soonyoung shook his head. "Good." Then it'd be easier for Jeonghan to take them down if need be.

Knocking back the shot of alcohol, Jeonghan arose. His dress skirt riding up as he began scrambling, attempting to pull it down as best he could. He was wearing a slim-fitted silver number that he's worn to death for little missions like these before. Sleazy men seemed to desire women in skimpy, skin-tight dresses, especially dirty men who thought of everyone else around them as vermin and girls as sex objects. Jeonghan detested them, that's why it's exceptionally fun to bleed them dry of all their money.

"How do I look?" Jeonghan brushed his shoulder length hair back. "You said he likes blondes right? Or I can make my hair longer."

Soonyoung nodded, taking a sip of his own drink as he got his equipment (one laptop on its last leg that needed literal minutes to start up) ready for later. "Make yourself a bit shorter, he likes smaller girls."

Jeonghan huffed but nodded nonetheless, easily shifting until he was a couple inches shorter than he actually was.

"Perfect."

Jeonghan strutted away from his table, setting crosshairs on his target. It always felt bizarre sauntering around with numerous different body parts he wasn't accustomed to. He couldn't ever keep it up for long, only sustaining a couple hours before his ability began depleting his stamina, eventually forcibly knocking him out and right into his original body. Thankfully his original appearance isn't too further off from effeminate, all he had to do was transform a couple parts down there and a little bit on the chest area, and he's golden. His facial features shifting so even if he's caught in some way, the cops wouldn't recognize him.

Walking closer to the table, he did his utmost in navigating through the legion of dancing inebriated bodies. Attempting it as sexily as squeezing through foul-smelling people could be. Swinging his hips along the beat of the music, he began attempting to garner the attention of his target that was now attracting several girls towards his table, all clambering for his attention. Maybe the guy was more important than he originally thought, seeing as numerous greedy little hands was already trying to manipulate the untouchable man.

That made Jeonghan salivate for the guy's bank account even more.

Jeonghan sauntered confidently towards the table; high heels echoing loudly even through the thumping music. His objective was to maybe intimidate some of the people already congregating around the table.

Once he was sure the target's eyes were on him, he began his seduction. Smiling effortlessly, he strategically put his hand on a girl’s waist and whispered something outrageous enough in her ear that the girl ran away, red-faced.

It finalized his control on everyone's attention, but most importantly, his target's. Perfect.

Jeonghan grinned, gazing seductively. "Mind if i sit here?" He said, voice dripping with sensuality, not bothering to wait for an answer before he slipped into the round booth. The others grimaced dejectedly recognizing when they'd lost. His target, uncaring, only lifted a finger for his bodyguards to leave.

"Go right ahead sweetheart."

Jeonghan watched as one by one the other occupants departed, knowing they won't beat the shapeshifter's meticulously crafted beauty, their stiletto heels clicking away in chagrin towards the dance floor, possibly to find some other, much easier target in the ocean.

From where he was Soonyoung observed Jeonghan settling up right next to his target perfectly. Shaking his head fondly he proceeded to go to the bathroom, turned on laptop in hand.

"Damn he's good."

 

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Seungcheol approached the decrepit building; it looked less harrowing than the structures Chan had recalled. The boy must've unknowingly reshaped his memories, warping it until it borderlined nightmare territory. It was understandable; Seungcheol thought if he'd ever get kidnapped then his memory would twist every insignificant little detail into a sinister monster too. But this was the correct place, the sign in front of the building stating 'Red Hill Medical Centre' in big bold letters.

"It looks abandoned," Junhui commented from beside him, finally pocketing his cellphone the detective had been preoccupied with since earlier. At least Junhui was now focused, stepping forward, examining the towering structure – which, according to records, was abandoned, which was why the two detectives were able to visit with no warrant, intending on examining the building.

At first Seungcheol was reluctant to leave the boy in his apartment alone. There was no guarantee that Chan wouldn't leave his apartment or at least attempted to, if he's left unsupervised. Or worse, the boy could probably burn the entire building down. Junhui assured him though that he'd relaxed the boy enough – inducing him further into unconsciousness, so that he wouldn't awaken for at least another couple of hours. Besides, the boy was probably exhausted from being kidnapped. There were no wounds visible on his body when they found him besides the superficial ones, that's why Chan was discharged from the hospital. But the mental toll from being kidnapped must've wounded him enough that he could sleep for days if the boy weren't so agitated by his surroundings. Regardless, they hoped their theory was correct and that they won't find an uninhabited, charred apartment when they return.

"Come on, we should hurry."

They had their issued weapons in their holster, just in case, wearing bullet-proof vests to protect them from any possible incoming attacks, layering their ordinary outfits (shirt, jacket, and jeans). They doubted they would uncover anything dangerous, but it's better to be prepared. Even though whoever that took Chan must've already vacated the premises by now. The only reason why the detectives were there was to scout the place and possibly recover some evidence left behind.

Stepping inside, the whole building groaned at their arrival, their creaking steps echoing down the long empty hallways.

"That's not creepy at all," Junhui muttered sarcastically. Suddenly, running into physical trouble, like a criminals that might threaten their safety seemed way less intimidating than the concept of being pursued by an apparition. The empty hospital resembled something taken out of a horror movie; the detective didn't even want to think of how many people died in here and still roamed the hall in incorporeal form.

"Really, Jun? You're scared of ghosts right now? Get your head in the game," Seungcheol whisper-shouted, startling his partner.

Junhui gulped, "Right." he forgot Seungcheol could hear his embarrassingly loud thoughts.

"Come on." Seungcheol grabbed Junhui's sleeve, guiding him to the right of the intersection, rounding a corner, then another that looked all the same to Junhui but not to Seungcheol. Seungcheol had memorized everything from the tiny cracks to the markings of specific graffitis lining the walls of the hospital in hopes they could find their way around.

They twisted and turned, ascending and descending steps until they eventually reached what seemed to be a dead end, but Seungcheol knew better.

There was a partition that was made out of some sort of opaque sturdy material that prevented the two detectives from accessing beyond. The partition seemed incredibly out of place in the abandoned hospital, especially with all those burn marks surrounding the area of the weird wall. Seungcheol was positively sure Chan had gone through here, remembering the wall of fire he saw inside the boy's memory. "We have to break through this."

Junhui nodded, walking backwards before sizing up the wall, Seungcheol looked behind him understanding what his partner intended to do, he himself following a similar position. Together they rammed their bodies into the wall, expecting to either be bounce backwards or they'd fall through harshly. Luckily, neither happened as the two instead shot through the wall, fumbling face first onto the ground.

Junhui groaned after landing on his side, his shoulder throbbing, although it didn't feel dislocated or anything. But he did take a couple moments to whine on the floor. While his friend was doing that, Seungcheol was swiftly getting up on his feet, examining what they'd stumbled into. The wall was definitely organic, most likely made by a mutant, which provided some sort of clue.

Whilst the rest of the hospital looked relatively abandoned, this section was definitely not. It looked like it was vacated only recently. There were burn marks littering the wall, courtesy of Seungcheol's current house-guest, but it was only several miniscule and sporadic darken spots that resembled grime against the pure white color than anything else.

The LED lights above them were on, shining incessantly down on them. Everything was so spotlessly clean that you could eat off of the floor. There was a humming in the air like there was an abundance of electrical discharge that made Seungcheol aware that some sort of machinery was probably up and running in here.

"Woah." Junhui quickly caught up to his partner, looking around equally as floored.

Whatever they've stumbled into was definitely bigger than just a run of the mill mutant kidnapping.

No, not when Seungcheol peaked into one of the rooms, careful to not touch anything with his hands. He saw machineries, as expected, all running. Panels of scientific statistics flickered back at them. There were IV bags, heart monitor, gurneys, ventilation; it looked like someone was running experiments there.

Experiments on mutants.

"We need to call this in," Seungcheol whispered, Junhui already halfway dialing the Captain's number.

 

💊💊💊

 

Jeonghan felt the suffocating heat of the club finally affecting his composure. What else was he expecting, really, from a shitty little club in the slums? Of course desiring a running air conditioning system so the attendee inside won't die from overheating was too much to ask for. Seriously, was there no ventilation around here?

The person he had beside him who had an undesirably possessive arm encircling his waist definitely felt the heat too. It's just a different kind of heat.

Jeonghan tried his damnest not to grimace from the way the target's stubbles were irritating his neck. His target's been sniffing him like an animal from where they'd sat until now, currently evacuating towards the bathroom. Jeonghan vaguely thought that if this was somebody else, somebody a little bit younger, a little nicer, and overall a little more desirable, the actions currently happening to him right now and on the regular when he's out on missions like these would be kind of attractive. But at last, this target was at least three times older than he was and considering Jeonghan's deliberately disguise himself into appearing younger than his original age (shooting around seventeen – eighteen-ish), he was absolutely positive his target was a predator. One that he had to excitedly entertain for the next ten minutes, unless –

"Babe, could you send your bodyguards away," Jeonghan whispered seductively in his ears.

His target threw him a contemplative look. A business men like him must had some semblance of common sense to run a business long enough to gain a substantial amount of profit from. Some slumrat girls who looked utterly unintimidating might just be that, unintimidating, but he could never be overly careful with pick-pockets and avaricious (borderline) prostitutes intending to swindle him out of the money in his pockets. But then again he's inebriated on whatever that was inside his cup that the beauty in his arms had swallowed the rest of before walking him towards the bathroom, so his judgment was probably a little askew.

He nodded, making several drunken gestures that the bodyguards seemed to understand enough that they halted just before the bathroom door.

Fortunately, nobody was occupying the disgustingly grimy bathroom, safe for one cubicle that was closed, that Jeonghan didn't let his target paid too much attention towards. Grabbing the collar of his target's jacket, then presenting his neck, burying the target's face in it. His target started indulging himself on him, and Jeonghan began faking his enthusiasm.

"Oh my god you're so good," He groaned, in hopes that the bodyguard didn't suspect anything else but that was currently happening inside.

The lowlife attached to his neck kept licking like a thirsty dog and Jeonghan actually groaned in frustration at that, but the guy seemed to take it positively. Whilst the lowlife was occupied Jeonghan made quick work of his target's pockets, finally acquiring the phone, dropping it onto the floor as gently as possible, hoping that his target had a good enough phone quality for the machine not to broke, and he kicked towards the closed off cubicle.

Minutes seemed to pass by tediously as his target slowly began creeping his filthy fingers all over his body. Irritation represented by sweat building on his forehead and Jeonghan had absolutely enough, especially when the guy began groping him.

"Okay," he huffed, "I'm done." bored and a little bit ticked off, he turned the guy around blindingly fast, kicking his feet from underneath him into a kneeling position, then putting the target in a choke-hold. His target struggled within his arms, scrambling, scratching at his skin until tiny droplets of blood rose to the surface of the wound, only to close up seconds later, and the guy eventually passed out, tumbling unceremoniously onto the floor.

"Gross," Jeonghan grimaced before turning, intending to wash every surface of skin that the man touched. He felt incredibly violated even the bathroom seemed less grimy compared to his skin. Shivering within his dress, he patted himself dry.

Soonyoung suddenly opened the door of the cubicle he was sequestered in, a smile on his face as he slipped the phone back inside the target's pocket.

"That was quick, "Jeonghan commented, "You sure you got everything?"

"Positive," Soonyoung asserted, quickly helping to gather a couple toilet papers for Jeonghan, "The money's been transferred to our account."

"Fantastic, let's get out of here." Jeonghan couldn't wait to finally get home and wash his sparkly sequined dress of the guy's stench, since he required the dress again for another mission.

"You're not gonna take his cash?" Soonyoung questioned, noticing the outline of the guy's wallet still inside his pocket.

"No, if they didn't notice anything's missing then those meatheads outside won't chase us around. They'll think he just pass out."

Soonyoung hummed, agreeing, happily going along. He would be completely lost if he hadn't encountered Jeonghan in the slums. Soonyoung had always accepted things in stride; even after being presented with all the darkest parts of the world he still kept a smile on his face and humor in his life. He was a perfect match for Jeonghan, subsiding the apathetical and cynical way the older perceived life. To Jeonghan the world was a warzone, you either have to kill or be kill, and no amount of pleading would get you anywhere in this dog-eat-dog world. If you want to survive, you have to acquire all you need any way you could, that's the lesson that Jeonghan taught him.

"Let's go home."

 

💊💊💊

 

Jeonghan and Soonyoung had managed to walk halfway towards their homes when suddenly a car skidded to a halt in front of them, the furious looking passenger appearing from within the black Rolls-Royce.

"You bitch!" He shouted pointing an accusatory finger at Jeonghan before he instructed his bodyguards to approach towards the pair.

"Run!" Jeonghan shouted.

Soonyoung was already sprinting ahead of him, predicting an incoming mess their way. Fortunately, without having to voice it, Jeonghan knew that Soonyoung wouldn't lead the two bodyguards towards the direction of their home. They didn't want the furious business men to come looking for trouble after he figured out the two boys had drained him dry of his bank account.

Mind working rapidly, Soonyoung started to access his mind palace, memorizing what he could of the layout of this section of the slums. He knew the maze-like alleyways like the back of his hand, knew that a couple of ways down, going straight to the left, there was a building with an emergency latter at the top that Jeonghan was just about agile enough to reach. They both could use that to escape, all they had to do was slow down the bodyguards behind them and carefully Soonyoung began forming a plan inside his mind. Utilizing several sharp turns that the two slumrats were already familiar with might just do the trick.

"Han." Soonyoung shouted, careful to not say Jeonghan's full name. "Follow my steps yeah?" And then he took the first sharp turn and Jeonghan was caught off guard enough that he almost slipped whilst following. But the older was sure that Soonyoung had already set an escape plan, so he heeded the words of the younger ones fully.

"Remember that hag of a woman that had that cat with the rabies?"

"Yeah!" Jeonghan shouted, already knowing where they were running towards.

"Okay," Soonyoung hollered, looking behind him and seeing the two bodyguards closing in. "Let's take the confusing route." And like telepathic twins, the two of them moved in sync with one another, taking an abrupt turn to the left, and running again.

They took turn after turn after turn, navigating the darkened alleyways like they're made to escape it. The last turn that they took sent them to the last alleyway where the emergency latter of the cat lady's home was located. The two bodyguards were slowed down enough that they haven't made the turned yet.

Speeding up his running, Jeonghan overtook Soonyoung, his legs ready to jump. Grunting, he bounced off his feet, his right foot pushing off of the building, his spine arching to give him momentum as he kick of against the next wall. Hands outstretched above him, he grabbed the rusty bar of the ladder and hoisted himself up, both of his legs already coming through the ladder so he could perch himself there upside down like a bat, hanging only by the top of his feet, so he could reach further down enough to hoist Soonyoung up as well. For extra measures, he added a little height to his body by shifting as much as possible in his tiny dress, in a less than ideal position.

"Come on." Jeonghan reached for Soonyoung just as the bodyguard caught up to them.

Soonyoung jump, not being as agile as Jeonghan he almost missed the older's delicate fingers. Fortunately, he didn't and Jeonghan was able to help Soonyoung up on the latter, his feet nearly slipping several times.

Soonyoung managed though, and with a triumphant cry toward the midnight sky. The two started scaling the ladder leisurely, now knowing it was impossible for the bodyguards bellow to reach them.

"Take that suckers!" Jeonghan taunted gleefully as he started his ascent right underneath Soonyoung.

"Give me the pill!" He heard one of the bodyguard suddenly instructed.

"What? Are you sure? It's dangerous you know," The other one hesitated, but he was already digging inside his pocket for the pills.

"I don't care, I don't need the boss tearing me a new one again tonight."

Jeonghan had halted by this point, staring down in confusion at what the two bodyguards were arguing about. He and Soonyoung was already halfway up the tall apartment building, there was no possibility for the two bodyguards to catch up, yet they seemed so persistent and he didn't think any pill would assisted them in their situation.

Squinting, Jeonghan could just about make out the outline of the two bodyguards shrouded in darkness, only partially illuminated by the moonlight above them. He was about to turn away when suddenly something below him glowed brilliantly orange, and before he could start guessing what the source of it was, a fireball flew directly towards him. With quick reflexes, Jeonghan moved to dodge the oncoming inferno. Unfortunately, his upper arm was grazed by the fireball, making him lose balance as he let go of the ladder, his body falling with a yelp towards the ground.

"Jeonghan Hyung!" Soonyoung shouted, quickly making his way down the ladder, with everything in mind, rapidly calculating an escape plan. Somehow a fireball charging at the both of them was not something he had foreseen.

Soonyoung heard the commotion underneath him, flames were being thrown in various directions and he hoped Jeonghan was able to dodge them. The bodyguard shouted a shrill cry that cut through the foggy midnight air. It sounded irritated and frustrated, and it terrified Soonyoung, resulting in him being unable to conjure up a new escape plan. His mind was a repeating thought of, oh shit oh shit oh shit. And his priorities right then was getting to Jeonghan.

Ascending as far as the ladder allotted him, he finally jumped off, landing onto the disgustingly wet asphalt. His eyes immediately flitted towards Jeonghan, who's crouching beside the dumpster as the two bodyguards close in on him.

"Hey!" Soonyoung shouted in attempt to distract them, but the one bodyguard who was literally covered in fire didn't seem to hear him. Only shouting nonsensically, becoming increasingly louder making Soonyoung feel that something was off.

"Hey," the other bodyguard started to shift his attention less towards Jeonghan and more towards his screaming and inflamed partner. At this point the flaming bodyguard had begun shouting in agony, and it made the other bodyguard worried. "Man are you o –"

He didn't get to finish because his partner quite literally exploded, becoming a raging ball of fire, startling both Jeonghan and Soonyoung who was further away enough for the growing flames to not reach them. Unfortunately for the other guard, his position was way too close.

The silence after the thunderous screams were almost deafening, the two slumrats ears ringing.

It seemed like forever before the two boys petrified into silence were able to move again. Their eyes glazed over, reflecting back the flames dancing on top of the two charred bodies.

What in the hell just happened?

Notes:

Idk why but I really love the concept of hacker hoshi sm, it's so cute. Anyways, he definitely became unintentionally super important when i wrote him. Oops.
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Chapter title from My Chemical Romance - the Sharpest Lives. <3

Chapter 3: The Invisible Man Who Can't Stop Staring at the Mirror

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

By the time the ornate grandfather clock rang at midnight, Cinderella was about ready to book it out of the party. Unfortunately, this party was just getting started.

Cinderella – or, Seungkwan desired nothing more than to leave behind one of his left slipper for some sort of prince to find whilst he cascaded down the steps of his egregiously massive mansion. Unfortunately, he couldn't, not when he was quite literally the centerpiece of this entire event.

Today was the day, where everyone in the one percent community had had enough with dancing around the subject of what Boo Seungkwan’s ability actually was, and decided to throw a soiree in his honor.

This was nothing new, of course, in the elite community, this was considered as one of their glamorous tradition. Brimming of fabricated wonder and celebration, as multitude of white-collar elites concocted ideas to try and get around their latest opponent's air's ability so they could all stay one step ahead of the game. That was the actual function of this ball. The alternative function was so the elites could parade another thing – something that their bloodline was born with besides opulence.

Seungkwan hated it, the self-aggrandizing behaviors of his community and he would still one million percent hated it even if he's not who he was currently. A human.

"Oh come on, it probably won't be that bad." Mingyu was scrutinizing the singular olive floating inside his untouched dirty martini like it was going to start attacking him. Seungkwan clicked his tongue disapprovingly, so that's what underage drinking looks like.

His behemoth of a friend was being especially unhelpful tonight, just lounging on the cabriole, occasionally giving out insubstantial but somewhat encouraging commentaries.

At least Seokmin was a little more beneficial, in his physical appearance aspect anyways. His friend was overly excited sending away Seungkwan's personal tailor and stylist to fuss over Seungkwan's clothes himself, even if he knew absolutely nothing about it. Even Seungkwan, with his parents’ expertise, knew more.

The three of them were just staying there in Seungkwan's overly glorified walk-in-closet, anticipating the moment of Seungkwan's showcase. So the trio fell into substance less idle prattle with one another. Of course the other two could've easily left, wait instead between the party-goers, stuffing their faces full of the never-ending buffet. But then Seungkwan would probably whine petulantly and shamelessly until they felt guilty enough to return, and nobody needed that type of embarrassment tonight. Still, Seungkwan love-hate how slow-witted his friends could be.

He was worried, there was nothing he could do but rely on his parents’ quick-wittedness to make something up for him to pass as a mutant tonight. Even if sometimes he felt that his parents were untouchable on accounts of the amount of influence that they possessed, they still weren't miracle workers who could just bend biology at the drop of a hat, and that made him terrified. Terrified enough to ask for advice from thing one and thing two hanging about inside the room, but at last, the two served him no purpose.

He wanted – no, needed Vernon to be there. Unfortunately, his caramel-headed friend wouldn't be making an appearance at his party, the boy being halfway across the world on a study trip in Germany. He was invited by a small group of elite scientists who had seen the potential inside Vernon and had gladly taken the boy with them. It's been months, and Seungkwan incredibly missed him.

There was several knocks on the door, and Seungkwan's heart skipped a bit, for a split second he thought that Vernon might've come home early to surprise him. But as Mingyu greeted whoever it was imploring for entrance, Seungkwan knew just by the delicately paced steps of the person beyond the door that it wasn't Vernon, but it was his other friend who had thankfully made it to the party.

"Hey Josh," Seungkwan greeted, the boy nodding his head in acknowledgement before draping himself elegantly next to Mingyu. He grabbed one of the martinis on the white marble table next to the stacks of shoes, and sipped it slowly, making himself comfortable. Joshua was wearing burgundy tonight, his velvet suite almost shimmering underneath the ambient light of the room.

With Mingyu in forest-green ensemble and Joshua's red one, the two of them sitting next to each other hilariously reminded Seungkwan of Christmas. He giggled to himself imagining Christmas decorations, voicing his thoughts and receiving a couple of chuckles from his friends (except for Mingyu, who pouted)

"Glad you could make it, I was beginning to miss the existence of brain cells within our group." He glared at Mingyu through the reflection specifically, who retaliated by sticking his tongue out.

"Did you just admit that without me here there are no brain cells? As in, you don't have any either," Joshua quipped, and that finally drew a cackle out of Mingyu.

"Shut up, stupid!" Seungkwan shouted.

"You shut up," Mingyu countered.

"Nervous?" Joshua pointed calmly, his maturity showing.

Seokmin had already moved on, once again, choosing to try out Seungkwan's shoes and throwing it haphazardly away once he decided he disliked it. Mingyu was yawning, still holding onto the martini glass. And Seungkwan was loosening and retying his tie for the umpteenth time since Joshua entered the room. It was clear that the dynamic of the group was thrown off, every single one of them worried for Seungkwan.

To them it was no secret that Seungkwan was human, having screened with the best of technologies money can buy and finding no evidence of mutagene existing anywhere within his body. He was turning twenty as well in a few months, there was literally no possibility he was a late bloomer. He was just...human – plain and simple.

This won't work though, not for their egocentric lifestyle.

Joshua noticed the blush that Seungkwan was sporting, creeping up his neck from his frustrations. Also noticed the sporadic way Seungkwan's eyes twitched every now and again, the tension in his hardset jaw, and the younger's building perspiration, even noticed the insignificant details like the stuttering palpitation of Seungkwan's heart, beating away at his ribcage. Seungkwan might be surprisingly proficient in concealing his true emotions – a necessary skill to possess if you want to survive in this elite society, but he could never hide his nervous tendencies from Joshua. Nobody could, it was the boy's ability.

"Don't be nervous, okay Seungkwan? Everybody here in this room supports you. You know how clever your parents are, they have a plan, I'm sure it'll all work out."

Seungkwan detested how kindly-spoken his friend was sometimes. It made it harder for him to smack the older boy in the face for being correct.

Still, even though some of his worries had subsided by Joshua's comforting words, he still couldn't find it within himself to reign in his galloping heart.

Sometimes he was envious of his friends, of Mingyu and Seokmin, even at Joshua who was comparatively not as wealthy as the three of them were. Mingyu had discovered his ability from an early age, accidentally throwing his nanny down stares with just one singular arm, resulting in his parents bribing her and making the problem disappear. The incident was received as a celebratory occasion at the Kim's estate. They excitedly and pridefully celebrated Mingyu's showcase party only a couple days after the incident. Mingyu could barely even speak coherently at that age, but the Kim's were far too ecstatic to let it stop them. That's how Mingyu was hailed as the youngest elite to receive a showcase, even though the powers he had showcased had been less than satisfactory for the other elites. There was no use for super-strength, a dangerous and quite uncontrollable ability that proved to be more of a hindrance to the Kim's than an asset since they had to teach their son to be extra delicate, so they wouldn't have lawsuits of people wanting their broken things or limbs to be compensated coming their way. It didn't help either that Mingyu was kind of a walking disaster, him and his ability was the literal definition of hell on earth. Still, even with all the negative side, came the positives; Mingyu had an ability, he was a mutant, and because of that he was readily accepted into the community.

Then there was Seokmin, the second friend that he knew the longest. With his bright and sunshiny personality Seokmin delighted everybody around him. That aspect alone should be enough to propel Seokmin into success, but of course on top of that he was a mutant, one with an especially useful ability as well. The fact that his parents were the owner of one of the largest tech company in the country was a very lucky coincidence considering Seokmin's mutated ability as a transducer. With his ability Seokmin automatically had quite a bit of an understanding for technology since he's able to offhandedly access electromagnetic wavelengths; Seokmin could work technology in numerous ways with very minimal effort that the fact that Seokmin was not the sharpest tool in the shed was more than made up for. He was the luckiest of the bunch, Seungkwan thought.

Lastly there was Joshua, who'd looked at him with such an understanding and sincere expression when they first met that Seungkwan couldn't believe Joshua was an elite. Which was almost true, Joshua wasn't as filthy rich as the rest of them in the room, but of course he was well off enough to not be turned away when showing at Seungkwan's mansion. Joshua had been born with the ability of enhance senses, which explains why he has such a well-mannered personality. He could read people from all the way across the room, and even if he's not a mind reader, Joshua was perceptive enough to delicately dance around people's emotions, before tackling it head on once he knew how to approach the situation. That made Joshua lucky too.

Seungkwan couldn't even begin to get into Vernon and his whole ordeal (rich and a genius, not to mention his ability complemented his vested interest in science incredibly well)

This was why none of his friend could understand, the feeling of suffocation every time one of the powerful people his parents surrounded themselves with questioned him on his ability; his throat immediately seizing, impeding the airflow, resulting in him choking-out an excuse to escape. He couldn't keep hiding his human status forever, and tonight was the night where his future would be determined; whether or not he was going to survive.

He hoped whatever plan his parents were planning to pull out of their asses would be something so spectacularly clever that it'll fool even the mind readers in the crowd. He depended his life on it.

 

💊💊💊

 

Jeonghan bandaged what's left of his blistering skin back onto his arm, he didn't know the inner mechanism of his healing abilities but he's positive that however it worked it wouldn't left an unnecessary piece of skin just hanging off his limb. Decidedly finished with his self-induced medical triage Jeonghan planted himself onto his mattress to see what Soonyoung was incredibly interested in examining via his laptop.

"Are you gonna tell me what exactly it is you need my Wi-Fi for, or are you just that worried about me that you need to sleep over at my place?"

Soonyoung cheekily grinned as an answer, truthfully it was both. He didn't want to be alone in his claustrophobically cramped apartment, even though it was only across the hall; he wanted to be here to determine if his older friend was alright. He'd witnessed how far down Jeonghan had fallen, heard his whimpering grunts. This didn't even mention the part where there was a guy – two guys, that spontaneously combusted in front of them. So really, nobody could blame Soonyoung for being overprotective. The Wi-Fi thing was just another excuse for him, needing to check on the work they had previously done and to gather more information pertaining the bodyguard who set himself ablaze.

Soonyoung's line of work revolved around computers and the internet just as much as it revolved around him being an excellent strategist, but unfortunately the world wasn't easy to navigate and so they had to be extremely strategic in obtaining access to the internet. Jeonghan had fought for the extraordinarily tiny, dilapidated, irreparably ramshackle apartment alongside Chan, not because of the nonexistent water pressure, or because of their fictional steady running electricity – no, every apartment south of the city had those, that's what being in the slums was all about. Jeonghan chose the apartment because of one thing that other slumrats were ignorant (involuntarily so, don't get Jeonghan wrong) of, and it was the free Wi-Fi. He had found this out when he was squatting in that very apartment and had gotten a ping on his stolen phone that asked him if he wanted to connect to the Wi-Fi.

Yes, he sure as hell did.

There was an area in Jeonghan's apartment, just in the corner of the room that miraculously caught the Wi-Fi from the Lee Tech Company tower. It took Jeonghan ages to discover the areas of his apartment, specifically mapping where the signal was strongest, and it took Jeonghan longer to figure out what the passcode was. Well, he didn't really figure it out, Soonyoung did, that's how the two met after all.

Soonyoung was the only other slumrat interested in the apartment specifically because of that Wi-Fi. Growing up, Soonyoung was especially interested in technology and the internet - not just because of its ordinary function, instead he was interested because he was curious to discover how things work. He used to pick-apart mechanical objects in his parents garage (or at least he thought it was his parents, he didn't really remember much of the time he had parents), and after he was bored with that he would pick-apart different information he could find inside the computer. That's how he had gotten indescribably proficient at hacking, and that's how he eventually turned to make a living off of it.

He needed the Wi-Fi though. Unfortunately, He was outbid by Jeonghan and had to resort to politeness and propriety techniques to get on the older's good side enough to gain access inside the apartment. This had succeeded surprisingly well.

He could lie to himself all he wanted but Jeonghan always had a soft spot for the bright-eyed young slumrats that lived in the worst section of the city, that's why he was heralded as their angel. The one who secretly buys them clothes and food and made a big fuss about not wanting to do so and that it wasn't because of the kindness of his heart, even though it actually was but he just didn't want to be viewed as delicate. He couldn't afford having attachments beyond a working partnership, not when those people might not survive until the next sunrise.

Chan was proof of that. Jeonghan missed the little one.

"Okay, I got it."

"What'd you got?"

"Absolutely nothing."

Jeonghan glared at Soonyoung.

"I mean, the guy didn't have mutagene inside him to begin with, look –“ he showed the laptop to Jeonghan, the screen reflecting blue light onto his face, the screen showing the bodyguard's medical information.

Soonyoung was right. The guy had a colon cancer scare a couple years back and had insisted to use his insurance to get a full-body examination at the hospital. The first thing that they always screen for was the mutagene, even the dormant ones that were unlikely to trigger, and there was nothing. Not even his parents, or grandparents, or even great grandparents possessed mutagene.

He wasn't a mutant, then –

"How did he –"

"It was something else," Jeonghan butted in. He remembered the first several lines of conversation being thrown around in between the two bodyguards, coincidentally overhearing something along the lines of an unassuming pill that could potentially aided their situation. Jeonghan relayed this information to Soonyoung who frowned.

"What kind of pill could give someone mutagene?" Soonyoung asked, and then sighed when he realized that he should've collected the bodyguard's DNA before running away. Not that either could've checked it, they definitely didn't have the technology for that, but maybe they could break into someone's house that possessed it.

"I don't know." Jeonghan was thoroughly freaked out. He didn't want to know what the existence of this pill could mean when it came to surviving the slums. Would it make it extremely more difficult for them to evade repercussions? Most people who resided in the slums and the ones who were unafraid enough to frequent it were never really mutants. In this part of town, being born a mutant was quite a rarity, since the elites had long monopolized the mutagene so it'll stay in their lineage, forever giving them an upper hand in the world. Of course there were a few outliers, that's how people like Jeonghan, Soonyoung, and Chan existed. But that only happen occasionally, rarely. But if everyone could have an ability, this could throw everything off balance, and Jeonghan was unsure if it's a positive or a negative thing.

"Whatever that pill was it couldn't have been stable right? – I mean the guy blew up, remember?" Jeonghan thought that, yeah, he remembered – he didn't think he could ever forget. The image would undoubtedly be stuck replaying inside his nightmares for weeks.

"Well-"

ping

Jeonghan almost forgot that he also owned a cellphone. He crawled over to the side of the bed where he usually deposited the device, unlocking the phone. The screen was marred with spider-webbing cracks from how much running, bumping, bouncing, and jumping Jeonghan's required to do to escape his targets' wrath. Thankfully, everything still seemed to work. Glowing to life the phone pings again as another message filtered in.

"Who is it?" Soonyoung asked, leaning his chin on Jeonghan's shoulder to see for himself. Seconds later squealing- "Oh, Joshua Hyung!"

Joshua was one of the people Jeonghan had tried to screw over at one of the more elegant bar located in the slums. This was before he met Soonyoung, so he couldn't have run a background check on his target like he did currently. He just went into things blindly, crossing everything in his body, hoping that whoever his target was, wasn't a mutant. Most of the time they weren't (again, the slums after all), but the one time they were it was Joshua. One of the luckiest moments Jeonghan could've encountered.

Jeonghan's fingers were already halfway inside Joshua's pocket when the gentlemanly boy seized his hand, delicately pulling it out. "I don't think you wanna do that," he had reprimanded, and Jeonghan was shocked still, unable to run away like he usually did in similar situations. "The reason why I invited you to my booth is because I thought you looked really uncomfortable, so here, I'll buy you a drink and let's talk because you seem kinda interesting."

The night had gone from undercover mission to an impromptu date-night that resulted in Jeonghan gaining a new (affluent) friend. Joshua was really kindhearted, never once talking down to the klepto slumrat, and always answering in earnest understanding. From there Jeonghan discovered Joshua was the son of a business man who's company just recently skyrocketed, Joshua was there as a representative of his Father's company who was interested in building a branch store in the slums so they could create more job opportunities there, and lastly Jeonghan found out Joshua was a mutant. One who could spot a lie instantly by observing people's slight mannerism, and that's why even at such a young age he was able to become a representative.

Ever since then the two kept in contact, Joshua occasionally visited the slums dressed in a less high-end fashion then he usually does (after Jeonghan reprimanded him for it of course), bearing some sort of gift for both Jeonghan and Chan and then eventually Soonyoung, in hand. Jeonghan had refused at first, he might be a slumrat who regularly let men feel him up so he could bleed them dry of their money, but he had his pride. And pity didn't look good against Jeonghan cold and steely repertoire. That's why Joshua scaled back on the offerings; showing up with food he stole from business parties or little prototype trinkets he acquired from visiting different factories instead of buying something semi-lavish for Jeonghan and company.

Joshua was currently texting him about yet another party, this one a showcase party that Jeonghan had heard so much about and still hated to this day. Why go through so much trouble just to brag? Jeonghan didn't think he could ever understand influential people.

What he did understand though was a picture of a luxurious buffet when he saw one. The braised pork ribs caught his attention instantly; his fingers were practically flying off the keys with how much he mouth-wateringly wanted that food.

Jh: YES! YES PLEEEASEE!!

Js: Okay then

Js: Ill bring it over tomorrow

"Joshua's coming over tomorrow? We should probably try and clean up now right?"

Jeonghan nodded, rolling over onto his back, stretching languidly like a cat. "Yup, so you go do that, I'm just going to sleep. Being chased by a man on fire is exhausting." He yawned and rolled his head onto the pillow, sleep already overtaking him.

Soonyoung shook his head fondly, moving to stand up to begin cleaning as Jeonghan instructed, he wanted the older to sleep after such a harrowing day. Not to mention the other's ability was quite energy depleting, so Jeonghan required sleep if he was going to wake up tomorrow.

Still, he couldn't resist muttering a, "Lazy-ass." Under his breath, resulting in Jeonghan throwing whatever's closest at him.

"Fucker."

Soonyoung giggled ending their eventful day by drifting calmly into unconsciousness, hoping no nightmares conjured within them.

 

💊💊💊

 

Seungkwan could feel the anticipation thrumming in the atmosphere surrounding him. It felt like milliseconds had trickled away after his parents had startlingly invaded his walk-in closet, grabbing, and fussing over him, before shoving their beloved son behind a deep-crimson velvet curtain. He waited there like a deer in headlights, his parents frantically shoving a pill inside his fist, firmly instructing him to place it inside his mouth, swallowing only on their cue.

He was confused on how a pill could aid him in deceiving a mansion full of judgmental guess, but he didn't have any option aside from following their instructions.

The congregation was expectant behind the curtain. Seokmin, Mingyu, and Joshua had migrated to an area in the back corner, beside the buffet that the other elites seemed to reluctantly ghost over, only occasionally picking up an hors d'oeuvre or two throughout the night. That's one thing that Joshua couldn't get accustomed to whilst climbing the social latter, the way people would refuse to consume anything in the presence of others like it somehow made them appear less gluttonous than they actually were. They'd drop millions just for a t-shirt for fuck sake; the least they could do was enjoy the delicious buffet like a normal person. That's why he loved bringing Jeonghan food, the other always stuffing himself full of anything that smells remotely delicious; it was quite refreshing to witness such an ordinary reaction.

Which reminded him - Joshua fished out his phone and began texting, taking pictures of the buffet and receiving judgmental looks from the guess surrounding him, not that he cared much.

But Mingyu did, leaning in to whisper to Joshua's ear. "Uhm, what're you doing?"

Joshua shrugged. "Texting a friend." Mingyu raised an incredulous brow but didn't make any further commentary.

"Guys, I think Seungkwan's about to come on." Seokmin directed their attention.

The deep-crimson velvet curtains opened to reveal Seungkwan, standing there squinting at the headlights above him, his fist tightly clenched to his side, preventing him from doing something embarrassing like shielding his eyes. By this time the unassuming, supposedly life-saving pill that was thrust upon him had migrated from being clutched inside his fist to inside his mouth that's all but gone dry.

He was nervous, trembling from his fingertips down to his tremulous legs. There were a million probabilities that something might go wrong right this instance. He could step forward, falling face-first before the massive gathering of audience. He could accidently swallow the pill prematurely, effectively ruining the plan his parents had concocted. And worst yet, the plan could fail miserably and he'd stand there like an idiot, exposed before a community of diamond-wearing sycophants for being human. He'll be ostracized in seconds; his parents wouldn't even bat an eye whilst they carded him out.

He wanted to shout for his mother's comfort, but she was looking at him expectantly, with just a little nervousness glinting her eyes. It's almost unnerving seeing those expressions on his parents face – examining him like he was nothing but a bug under a microscope.

"Ladies and gentleman –" the person the Boo's hired to MC the night started. Seungkwan for the life of him couldn't hear a anything that's being uttered pertaining him. He registered some of the money-hungry patrons chuckling at something that the MC announced, compelling Seungkwan to give an awkward smile in return, not knowing what he's laughing at. Was it himself? Was he the center of the joke? The words spilling out of the MC's mouth sounded muffled, like he was underwater, a thick glass separating Seungkwan from everybody else like he was an animal being examined. He could feel his fingers starting to tremble and he discreetly tried putting it behind him, his eyes already searching the crowd to find his friends from in between them.

Joshua was the first to make eye contact, already noticing Seungkwan's rapidly racing heartbeat, he was concerned that his friend might collapsed from a heart attack. He smiled encouragingly anyways, hoping to subside Seungkwan's nervousness. Mingyu too, waved his hand mindlessly like an idiot, throwing a toothy smile as both he and Seokmin gave Seungkwan two sets of thumbs up.

How is it that out of the three of them, Joshua was the last to join the elite community?

Keeping an eye out for Seungkwan and at an ear out to the crowd, Joshua prompted again for Seungkwan to not be anxious.

Seungkwan noticed their encouragements and his overwhelming anxiety subsided at least a little because of them. Even if he was unlucky enough to be born human in such an unforgiving environment, he was at least lucky enough to have friends that still supported him despite it.

Cutting in focus just in time, Seungkwan heard the prompt words being uttered by the MC. Quickly he swallowed the pill, his throat closing up, it was Sahara dry and it felt like forever before the pill finally dislodged itself from his windpipe. He could practically follow the descent of said pill from sliding down the back of his throat, all the way down into his stomach where it's being burned by acid and then –

He felt his stomach bubbling up, there were things happening inside him that he couldn't completely understand. He stepped up underneath the blindingly bright spotlight, just barely making it without combusting into a puddle of anxious sweat and tears. He saw his parents fronting the crowd, smiling at him completely robotically, eyes conveying a message that Seungkwan should do...something? Whatever that thing was Seungkwan didn't know. He felt a nervous chuckle escape his mouth and the scrutinizing glares of the ravenous hyenas before him became sharper.

What was he supposed to do? All his parents instructed was that he needed to trust them, trust the pill, to swallow it right at the specific time that they told him. Nothing was happening and Seungkwan was confused.

This was it, his biggest nightmare coming true. This was going to be the horrific moment he'll be expose to the entire community. He felt fear gripped his spine, he was about to collapse. He desired nothing more than to disappear right now, evade repercussion by never returning and then-

The crowd gasped, and Seungkwan hadn't realized he'd squeezed his eyes shut incredibly tightly that when he opened them the lights above him were blinding, almost over stimulating.

Once he'd adjusted to it he automatically examined the crowd, reattaching his gaze to the people who cared about him, his friends, he expected them to still maintain their encouraging and supporting gaze, but what he saw instead were three pairs of orbs glistening with disbelieve. It surprised Seungkwan enough that he ended up tripping over his clumsy feet, landing on his ass with a reverberating thud.

The crowd gasped again, the room turning silent as two guards approached Seungkwan to help him up. But as his hand come up to take one of the guard's held out one, he saw nothing.

Nothing.

"What the –" Seungkwan rasped, watching his arm flickering in and out of visibility. His ears were ringing as he stood back up, still looking disbelievingly at his unstable appearance, doing a terrible job pretending to be someome who always had this kind of ability throughout his entire life. He couldn't give a shit though, he was fucking invisible.

The crowd erupted into applause, more out of propriety than genuine excitement, but Seungkwan couldn't care less. With his arms outstretched beside him he puffed up his chest, letting the praises the crowd was showering him with reached his ears. He had never felt so relieved in his life before.

He took his last bow, the curtains coming to conceal him from prying curious eyes, his friends already frantically running from across the room to reach him.

Seungkwan took several deep breathes subsiding the adrenaline inside his system, standing there in absolute darkness, a far cry from the spotlight he was bathed in just moments ago. He felt his heartbeat finally receding into a steady palpitation and his lungs releasing its constriction of his oxygen supply. He could finally breathe easily again, his task was finished, his worries had passed.

What was that thing?

"Seungkwan!" Mingyu shouted, his three friends coming to a stop in front of him. "Was that actually you, you bastard?" Mingyu shoved at Seungkwan, maybe a little too hard, sending Seungkwan stumbling backwards from the force.

He would've blew up on his airheaded cavemen friend right there, the way he usually would when the meathead was absentminded enough to not keep his super-strength in mind, but he couldn't muster it right then. He was already too relieved, his muscles very relaxed, to just suddenly get angry.

"Woah," Seokmin breathed, watching as Seungkwan once again flicker and out of existence. "It's like you're a chameleon or something."

"Are you a mutant now?" Joshua asked, actually warily questioning things, less excited with the development than others.

"No, unfortunately not," the stern voice that came from behind the boys were accompanied by the click-clack sound of high heels and the dull thumping of a pair of loafers.

Seungkwan's parents came up from behind them, smiling politely, nodding their head's lightly in acknowledgement of the boys who parted like the Red Sea for them.

"That was the overdrive pill; we got it from one of our informants in the slums. They reported some sort of pill in the market that could turn you into a mutant, but only for five minutes," his mother explained.

Five minutes, so not forever. Seungkwan couldn't help the lump of disappointment that lodged itself back in his throat.

"Oh," he whispered dejectedly to the ground. Of course it was all too good to be true.

His father put a hand on his shoulder in a useless attempt to console him. "You did great son, all you need to do now is mingle with the people at the party, okay?"

Seungkwan nodded, the three friends who stood circling him could feel the disappointment radiating from him in waves.

"Wait but what if people ask me to do it again?" He didn't want to humiliate himself right after he thought he had evaded his problems.

"Don't worry, we already explained that your powers causes fatigue, you probably couldn't do it again tonight. - You falling over helped sold it too," His mother explained with such a practice ease that Seungkwan was starkly reminded of what world he was living in, the game that he had to play just to save face.

"Okay." His misery had returned.

"Good, we're going to go and close a business deal upstairs; you boys go ahead and enjoy the party."

A chorus of “Yes ma’am." Came before Seungkwan's parents turned around, leaving him again. His friends crowded him instantly, resting their sympathetic hands on his shoulders. It didn't do absolutely anything to relief his disappointment.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Mingyu, who repositioned himself behind Seungkwan, hugging him tightly, comfortingly.

"its fine," Seungkwan lied. He was disappointed; being led into believing his problem was going to disappear, sending his troubles far away, only for that solution to be ripped away five minutes after. If felt devastatingly cruel, but he'll survive. That was mostly his life before the five minute overdrive anyways.

"Come on, let's join the party." The four of them took Joshua's suggestion, rejoining the suffocating commotion of the party.

They dance dissimilar to the elegant music that was being played, uncaring of the snide looks that came their way just as long as Seungkwan felt happy and consoled. They had fun just moving around in circles, teasing one another, stealing champagne and petit fours from the trays that were floating around the ballroom.

Seungkwan might've felt devastated, but he was happy to finally get his showcase over and done with. Now he could finally focus his attention on not being a petulant bitch to his friends.

He attempted to convey his gratefulness through the smile never reaching his eyes, catching both Seokmin and Mingyu's attention who smile sadly back. Joshua's attention was somewhere else though; he had stopped dancing, his ears prickling in attention at the conversation that were happening somewhere in the crowd.

"Really, they didn't think we would fall for that now would they?" Joshua caught someone said.

"Right, until he does it again and again, we'll know for sure then it's not overdrive."

Joshua diverted his attention back to Seungkwan who was already staring at him, without saying anything, Seungkwan knew that trouble was still imminent and the four of them needed to anticipate it.

What exactly is overdrive?

Notes:

If anybody's confuse about DK's trancducer powers, i basically stole it from Gary from the Alphas tv show. Theres an explenation at 1:13 : HERE
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Chapter title from Fall Out Boy - Pavlove <3

Chapter 4: In the Dark No One Hides but Me

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Chan awakened with a startled gasp, for a second the blinding overhead light showered the unfamiliar room reflecting colorless clinical-white. Momentarily he was back, constricted onto the gurney, in an unfamiliar place, seeing faces enveloped in medical masks looming over him whilst an unsteady beeping noise increased and decreased according to his heartbeat. But there were several things different currently that his nightmare didn't possess; for one, his limbs weren't constricted by anything but a thick comforter, and for two, once his eyes adjusted to the blindingly bright morning light he realized that the room was much more colorful than his eyes could initially perceived.

That's right, he remembered, he was at Detective Seungcheol's house.

Panting, he took a second to familiarize himself with this new surroundings. The subtle mint-colored wallpaper lining the room accompanied well the homey sepia toned decorations and the furniture sporadically located everywhere. It gave an elegant atmosphere whilst not being overly grandiloquent that people like him would immediately feel unwelcomed if they prolonged their stay. Chan decidedly liked the place, sleeping on a soft but firm mattress must've done wonders to his attitude because he didn't feel as annoyed as he was yesterday.

A dull rapping on the door drew Chan's attention towards it. He heard feet scratching hesitantly on the linoleum. "Uhm, are you okay in there? I heard gasping," came detective Seungcheol worried voice.

"Yeah."

"O-okay then, there's breakfast so – come out when you're ready."

Seungcheol winced from behind the door; he didn't know what the protocol was for having a stranger – a practical child, stay over at his apartment. He didn't enjoy the way it's compelling him to tiptoe tentatively around his own home. Seungcheol had gone too long not talking to strangers in an interrogative manner, his head always in the game. This whole experience just showed that he probably needed more friends than just his two coworkers if he wanted to interact with people normally. It's too bad he left his past friends behind.

"Dude, stop standing there just waiting for the kid to come out, eat first," Junhui scolded, having kindly be the one to cook them breakfast and made them coffee. He shoved one of the plates of omelets towards Seungcheol, giving his partner a pointed look before returning to the phone he was previously engrossed in. "Eat," he instructed when all Seungcheol did was stare.

"Who are you texting?"

"Who are you to ask?" Junhui offhandedly quipped, eyes never leaving the phone.

But his ears were bright red.

"Your friend. Is this the same person you've been texting with?" Junhui shrugged nonchalantly a weird gesture to make for somebody blushing as brightly as a tomato. Well at least Junhui wasn't frowning at the phone anymore.

"Hey, we don't have anything else for today after dropping the boy off right? Because I think I might have something to do later," Junhui asked, immediately regretting it when Seungcheol gave him that look, wiggling his eyebrows for emphasis. “You know what, never mind." There would've been more time if there wasn't a ginormous break in the case. Now, even against Chan's will, they have to escort the boy home, although Seungcheol already promised himself to use Junhui's personal car instead, to at least fulfill some of Chan's wishes.

Junhui didn't mind, as long as there's time. He quickly shot whoever it was a reply before pocketing his phone back, finally enjoying his own breakfast with a predictably dazed smile plastering his face.

Minghao

Junhui glared at Seungcheol Fuck off.

"Hey, it's your own fault for thinking too loud." Seungcheol defended hand coming to cover himself, his partner attempted to smack him by leaning over.

A ping went off in Seungcheol's back pocket at the same time as Junhui's. It was a text from the Captain, an assertive instruction.

"Nope," Seungcheol sighed disappointedly. "We got nothing else to do after."

At the mention of work, or lack thereof, Seungcheol immediately reverted back to earlier that day. The abandoned hospital that they visited were raided by the agency just before dawn transformed into morning, and now the Captain was instructing them to surrender their investigation, for now it had gotten bigger for the two rookies to possibly handle.

It didn't sit right with Seungcheol. Ones they've started something, he was obligated to resolve it. Not to mention recently the crime rate in the city have been increasing, mutants everywhere started surfacing, committing bank robberies, petty theft, and even jail breaking. It was peculiar since most of the mutant population were predominantly wealthy people; there was no need for them to commit such pointless crimes. And they probably didn't associate with people who were incarcerated, let alone be willing to jailbreak them.

It's not that crimes conducted by mutants were rare or the elites were absolved of committing said crimes – it’s just that most of the crimes transpired were the kinds that happened behind the scenes, like corruption, organized crimes, things that needed meticulous planning on top of abilities. That's why the agency was the way it was, the detectives were mostly mutants because they mainly caught mutants and revolve themself around mutant cases, and the police were mostly humans that deals with other humans in the city who mostly do petty crimes.

These were unbelievable times, the agency was overwhelmed. The detectives and officers were already spread thin enough; the cops were busy handling the petty theft and the detectives were depleted to investigating new cases that's been appearing. The agency was exhausted of resources; they shouldn't pigeonhole the rookies on the sidelines in an emergency like this. That was what Seungcheol thought – that and the fact that Seungcheol felt responsible. If anything, he wanted to obtain the answer to the mystery just so he could give the boy in his bedroom some peace of mind.

It didn't go unnoticed to Seungcheol, the way the boy whimpered, afraid of his nightmares throughout the night. It even continued until the two partners returned from their little hospital visit. Junhui had to calm the boy's mind several times. Seungcheol knew referring to his houseguest as a kid in his head was a little ridiculous, considering the other only being four years younger than himself. He's also pretty confident the harrowing experience the boy went through must've aged him by a lot. Not just the kidnapping but the way his life were before, it must be difficult growing up an orphan in the slums.

Seungcheol didn't realize he was working himself up yet again until Junhui rested a hand on his shoulder and the knotting tension he's been constructing in his back dissolved.

"Thanks."

"Hmm." Junhui fondly shook his head.

The door clicked open behind them, revealing Chan dressed in one of Seungcheol's smaller sized shirt and cargo pants that he'd left out for the boy.

"Morning," Seungcheol greeted, well morning was relative at that point, with the sun already high in the sky. He sat, watching the boy kept his head down, walking to sit tentatively beside Seungcheol on the countertop.

He didn't say anything but he accepted the plate Junhui glided towards him, drawing it closer to his chest in an almost habitual protective motion.

"Sleep well?" Seungcheol asked, knowing well what the answer was but wanting to idly converse anyways.

"Hmm." Was all that he got as an answer, and they fell into silence together, the awkward tension in the room growing. Seungcheol knew the layer of mistrust was palpably surrounding the boy. Maybe he shouldn't have forcibly made him unconscious, but at least the boy wasn't angry. Which the detective thought would be the other's initial reaction.

Junhui sighed, here goes nothing. "Well Chan – here’s the thing. There's been a development in the case, so we have to send you home."

"I'll go home myself," Chan was quick to answer.

"We can't let you do that, we need you."

Seungcheol knew this was going to be difficult, but he'll try. He owed Chan that. "We'll take you with Junhui's car – personal car. Nobody would know."

Chan deflated, there wasn't really much fight left in him. He missed his home, he wanted to return. The only worries he did have was how being accompanied back with two detectives might affect him as a slumrat, nobody in the slums were ever forgiving. "Stop reading my head without permission," Chan petulantly said instead. He hated how easily he surrendered.

He just missed Jeonghan.

"I'm sorry."

"Okay, We might need you to come in again when we make progress on the case, so –" Junhui questioned, careful not to divulge too much unnecessary information about what they'd discovered at dawn.

"I don't have a phone, but my big brother does, if he still has it." With how easily everything breaks around the slums, he highly doubted it. But who knows, maybe for once their family would be on the receiving end of a miracle.

The grumbling of his stomach cut through his thought, Chan couldn't even begin to think how long had he gone without sustenance.

"Eat." Seungcheol slid the plate closer to the younger who'd been preoccupied with protecting his breakfast instead of consuming it.

Chan reluctantly did as instructed, regretting losing his composure immediately when he shoveled more eggs into his mouth before he'd swallowed the one before, letting out a content hum.

"Good?" Chan glared, Seungcheol should've expected that. Chuckling nervously he scrambled for a new topic. "Oh! – uhm, so...You have a big brother?" Seungcheol studied all information they got on Chan and who he was, knew that he was an orphan from the slums that had a couple of track records to his name, but nowhere in his files did it mentioned anything about a brother.

"He took care of me since we were kids." Apparently filling food loosened up Chan's mouth greatly.

Seungcheol hummed, so he meant it more as a caretaker.

Just then Seungcheol was overcame with a flash of somebody's face, smiling brightly, their long copper-colored hair swaying in the wind, and Seungcheol got a name.

"Jeonghan?"

The sound of slamming utensil reverberated through the tiny living room. "I told you to stop looking inside my head! - What else did yo –"

"Hey," Seungcheol placated, palms open in front of him attempting to calm Chan down. He was already standing on his feet a careful distance away from the detective’s right. Well that's a step backwards "I apologize, I didn't mean to - It's just sometimes if someone near me have a very emotional thought, my abilities just can't help picking it up."

Chan eyed the two detectives hesitantly, but he saw the earnest look in Seungcheol’s large doe-eyes and reluctantly uncurled himself. "Okay, just...don't do it again." He didn’t trust the detective, not by a long shot, but maybe if he played along he'll get to be absolved of this situation quickly.

"Okay."

Chan sat back down on his seat, feeling just about ready to go home.

"Look at least now I know who I'm dropping you off to, right?"

 

💊💊💊

 

Minghao took a sip from the flask hidden inside his jacket pocket. The sun was scorching today, radiating down onto the roof of his beat up 1546 classic bright-red mustang that he fortunately managed to afford to restore from the junkyard. The money he made working as a bodyguard for the most notorious crime organizations in the city more than lavishly fulfilled his needs. It was almost perfect, he was a freelancing bodyguard, compensated for every occasion and projects he was brought onto, and gone without a trace the next. He did have to agonize about the constriction of navigating inside a dangerous crime organization, but still, his income was very much fulfilling. He could take care of himself, he was good at his job, and that's why they've hired him for more.

Red light.

He halted and took the time to answer the texts he's been receiving from his boyfriend, sending a photo that he captured himself this morning. It wasn't scandalous or anything, it was just him posing in a mirror with his red bomber jacket, the one with the thick black stripe running across the back and a large eight-ball patch sown in the middle of it. He wore black ripped jeans and a white t-shirt underneath, sporting his glasses that doubled as sunglasses. He thought he looked incredible, maybe even incredible enough for a distraction from the subject they were arguing about since this morning.

It's not that he detested the thought of moving in. It's just that he hated depending on anybody's money, that and the fact that their jobs practically ran opposites with each other; it would be dangerous if they live in the same apartment.

ping

It worked.

Green light.

Honking, he waited for the old lady in the vehicle in front of him to move, flickering on his car radio that landed on a random station. The sound that came blasting from the speaker was staticky and instead of the regular charting music playing there were two people conversing about something, sounding semi-professional as they discuss it.

Minghao realized a minute late that they were talking about the upcoming election.

"Yes well, we all know where this is going."

"And where is it David?"

"Nobody wants a military service honing in on mutants, I mean do you? Do you?"

There were a couple choruses of no's reverberated the male broadcaster's way, a resounding and obvious answer.

"Exactly."

Minghao sneered, flickering over to another station.

"Beware of increased mutant cases, if you see anything immediately report –“

Minghao flicked the radio off as he made the upcoming turn, sunglasses teetering on the edge of his nose jostling at a bump he hit.

Well that was a plausible reason maybe the military task force was needed, mutant crime rates have been increasing. Not that he himself wanted it, but compelling reasons have been appearing, and he knew why, he just unanticipated this happening.

Maybe turning on the radio was a terrible idea; he always gets overly irritated when hearing about politics, especially when Mayor Trask was involved.

Minghao would give it to him; the mayor was shameless, putting his wager in late in the game, aiming for presidency no less. His campaign was also god-awful, nobody wanted yet another push on mutant regulation policy, everything was already at peace, even if it's tremendously unfair. Besides, it's not like the elites would ever make it easy for the Mayor to win.

Thinking about the election brought up the memory from his previous assignment. He was hired to guard an underground meeting that he didn't know the topic of. Not that he needed to, he was just there to protect and keep quiet. But he did overhear a couple of passing conversation from inside the room seconds before the door shut behind him. There were several people discussing something about an auction that was going to be conducted alongside a new unveiling of some sort of miracle substance (which Minghao had an idea of what it was) that would transpire just several weeks from now, apparently inside one of the Mayor's newer building, like he didn't have enough with Red Hill's bankruptcy. They said the party's purpose supposedly weren't politically charge, but of course this came from numerous politicians' mouth so he didn't really trust it.

If the organization he was working for were attempting to do something around that time, then a lot of awful scenarios were about to transpire. Minghao just hoped that he could be discreet enough that he wouldn't get in the crosshairs.

Making the last turn Minghao finally arrived at his destination, a seemingly abandoned barn smack-dab in the middle of almost nowhere, located in the outskirts of the city. Turning the keys to his ignition, his mustang groaned into a halt, Minghao took the liberty of fixing his hair in the mirror before sauntering out of his mustang, phone clutched tightly as he make absolutely sure what he needed to do.

Walking up to the wooden door he knocked several times, stepping back and coughing when dust motes flew everywhere from the disturbance. He was beginning to think that he might've gotten the wrong location with how quiet everything was. Regardless he put his knuckle up to the door again to start the series of knocking he was instructed to do if he wanted to be granted access. He did exactly that, feeling stupid on accounts of how childish it was. It's almost like he was a kid playing pretend spies as he go on his pretend mission, using juvenile codes for everything.

The door creaked open then, startling Minghao who was leaning against the frame. There was nobody to greet him as he enter, which he didn't expect to, but there was a briefcase positions on a rusty metal table ahead of him, one single stream of outdoor light ominously shining upon it.

The situation looked exactly like out of a horror movie, but at the moment the danger was real for Minghao if he decided to overstay his welcome instead of actually moving forward with the instruction. Stepping up, he walked hurriedly towards the table, grabbing the briefcase and the note right beside it where supposedly a set of instructions and a destination were written inside.

Not loitering around any longer, Minghao bid the creepy old barn goodbye, returning to his car, reading the instruction before pulling away from the structure completely.

Sometimes he really detested how hair-raisingly creepy his line of work was.

 

💊💊💊

 

The second the wheels of the jet he was on touched the ground, Vernon immediately felt an irresistible compulsion to kiss the ground beneath after the hours-long journey finally ended. He didn't though, remembering his pride and composure over indulging childish behaviors. He was a scientist after all – well, not really, he was only given the opportunity to join scientific organizations for a limited period of time in Germany, but nothing more. It was merely a learning experience for somebody like him who desired becoming a scientist in the near future - hopefully.

As a kid, growing up came unnaturally fast for Vernon, not in a physical sense but more in an intellectual state. He observed the company his parents had, predicted how long it could possibly sustain running the way it did, and measured what he would have to do in order to succeed in the future. It sounded calculated and heartless, but really, that's how he chose his friends. Seokmin was the first that caught his attention; his parents having a tech company could mean potential future collaborations for him if his friend managed to inherent the company which he probably would. And then there was Mingyu whose parents’ ventures into businesses, buying up other different smaller companies that had nothing to do with one another. Vernon considered that useful enough for him also. Joshua was the last to be introduced to their little friend group, and though Vernon didn't know much about him, the two shared similar interest between each other enough that Vernon really liked him. The fact that Joshua was set to inherent his father's business didn't hurt either. Of course Vernon had more friends outside of the elites, like the ones he met in college where he took up biological science.

Like Wonwoo, who just texted him right now congratulating him on returning home safely. Vaguely Vernon thought about how his relationship with Mingyu was going, before he left he knew that his two friend's relationship had become strenuous. He wondered if it had survived during his prolonged stay in Germany. He quickly shot a quick discreet text to Wonwoo pertaining it who answered quickly and to the point.

Not together anymore.

He read grimacing as he quickly shot back an apology text, diverting instead to Wonwoo's success.

Vernon was impressed that Wonwoo managed to receive a job at Trask Industry, which was literally the most advance tech company in the world, and it just so happened to be owned by Mayor Trask (if the name sake wasn't obvious enough). It was extremely difficult to acquire even an unpaid internship delivering coffee from one office floor to another there; he didn't know how on earth Wonwoo managed to enter so uncomplicatedly.

Unlike Vernon, Wonwoo wasn't exactly affluent - he was pretty well off, but his family didn't possess the elite status encompassing their name so he couldn't have cheated his way through monetary advantages (like Vernon did). In addition to that Wonwoo wasn't exactly the smartest person in the world, his grades were amazing from what Vernon could remember, but it wasn't the best, not even the top ten. Don't get him wrong, he thought his friend was an absolute genius, but not the absolute best, especially compared to numerous Trask candidates that got turned down annually. That's why ever since Wonwoo got the job; Vernon had been buttering up his friend in hopes of getting a position there as well.

He replied to Wonwoos text, conveying his gratitude and that they should meet up, that a discussion about the new tech Wonwoo was making for the company was long overdue. Not a few seconds later he got a confirmation back and a cheeky little comment saying that no, the Trask industry still hasn't had a position open for him yet.

Vernon grimaced to himself; was he really that obvious? He never really intended to be this power-hungry person who would literally take advantage of everybody of worth surrounding him. He loved Wonwoo, thought of him as an amazing and brilliant companion. He loved his other friends too, ones he had profiled ever since he was a child, determining if they were of any used to him. It sure came across like he was extremely callus, he wasn't malicious or unsympathetic, he just found it difficult separating business and personal relationships, that's why he couldn't communicate his emotions well. Because as much as Vernon was his own person, he was also a product of the world he was born into.

Looking outside of the moving vehicle he observed as the people zoomed passed him, trees lining the streets a blur of green and brown monstrosities. The landmarks and skyscraper he used to fawn over as a kid was less towering and less impressive seen through his limousine's tinted window. He felt an ache course through his veins, of guilt for not being as excited as he had to be for being reunited with his hometown.

He did miss it, some parts of it.

Seungkwan was the only friend Vernon had acquired without considering the advantages Seungkwan might bring for him. Unlike Mingyu and Seokmin, Seungkwan's parents were in the business of high-end fashion retail. It was a successful business but it had nothing to do with Vernon's fifty year plan. Still, he befriended Seungkwan, and that all came down to one reason and one reason only.

Seungkwan was amazing.

Vernon never really liked people who talked too much about things that were ultimately useless, but if the empty words came out of Seungkwan, Vernon thought he wouldn't mind hearing his friend bullshit in his ears forever. Because Seungkwan was just a delight to be around, the vivacious and expressive personality that his friend possesses perfectly complemented the cool and stoic demeanor he was sporting. Vernon appreciated how sensitive Seungkwan was, wanting to do amazing things that he realized himself might not happen with how the world works, but the other was still trying anyways. Like the way he planned to maybe do a program, donating unfit-for-sale clothes to the slums, maybe opening job opportunities as a result if he ever opened a branch. It was quite ambitious and Vernon fully supported that.

Seungkwan was both as strong-minded as he was sensitive, as kind-hearted as he was sarcastic. It's apparent with every little thing he did. Vernon remembered the time Seungkwan had so adamantly asked him to accompany him to watch a new horror movie at the theaters. Despite Seungkwan being an absolute scaredy-cat when it came to everything ghost and supernatural, he still was brave enough to curiously go. Vernon agreed to come, if not because he really liked spending time with Seungkwan then it was because of the inevitable entertainment he would get to witness from his friend watching a horror movie.

The night transpired as predicted, Vernon giggled into his arms the whole way through; watching as every time a jump scare happened Seungkwan shouted in surprise, berating the screen for startling him, and then proceeding to shield himself in Vernon's neck, continuing his berating of the on screen ghostly apparitions under his breath. It was entertaining and having Seungkwan cling to him the whole night didn't feel horrible either.

Vernon noted right then that he should probably ask Seungkwan out to watch another horror movie again.

Vernon was well aware of how effortlessly affected his friend was, it could sometimes be both a positive and a negative thing. This sensitivity though made Seungkwan vulnerable to self-deprecation, the way generally jubilant people usually do. Seungkwan had a bit of a confidence issue sometimes – nobody ever noticed. Vernon didn't think neither Mingyu, Seokmin, or Joshua realized the extent of it with how much Seungkwan compensated it with his general diva-like sassy behavior, and an unmatchable exaggerated false confidence. But Vernon knew better, had observed throughout the years the microscopic things that made Seungkwan tick and found himself loving the negatives as much as the positives when he consoled the other boy.

Vernon felt horrible for missing Seungkwan's showcase; he had really wanted to be present for Seungkwan. Who he knew was undoubtedly in disarray throughout the whole ordeal. Being a human amongst the elite would induce such a response. He did received news from his friend that it had been a successful evening and was given a promise of the full story recounting, so he didn't feel too terribly for Seungkwan.

He missed him though, and all he desired to do then was to crawl up in the other's bed whilst listening to the stories coming out of his mouth, his reason why he wanted to kiss the ground instantly after landing. And if admitting those feelings to himself was simple, then why couldn't he admit it out loud?

 

💊💊💊

 

Seungkwan was in the middle of his once-every-couple-of-weeks workout routine, he didn't enjoy feeling depleted and irritated at himself, ever since the showcase. All he wanted to do was fit in, and experience life without the impending anxiety of being caught. He didn't know why being a human was such a horrible thing in this world but he did know that he was one and was completely okay with it, if it weren't for the fact that he could be persecuted for it - If it weren't for those two party-goers increasing his paranoia. How did they know about overdrive anyways?

Since the party, Seungkwan and his friends had decided to find out where the overdrive pill had originated from. Seungkwan needed those pills ready for the rainy days where he'd undoubtedly be demanded by people to prove that he was a mutant. His parents weren't of any assistance; they just said they bought it off of some random person in the slums who claimed that it worked.

Seungkwan didn't know which part he should be concerned with more, the fact that the source of overdrive most likely couldn't be discovered online since the only source he knew, the slums, was physical - or the fact that his parents gave him a pill sold by a slumrat that might've not work and could probably potentially kill him.

"Welp."

"Anything?"

"Nothing," Seokmin answered, swiping the air around him with his hand, closing the series of windows he'd just opened. It may appeared absurd to everybody else, but Seokmin's abilities to access electronic wavelength was incredibly awesome to Seungkwan. It took Seokmin quite some time to learn how to navigate the internet without some sort of hardware but he managed, growing up amongst technology from his parents company aided in that achievement.

Seokmin had been searching the internet for information pertaining overdrive, but he couldn't seem to find it being traded or sold anywhere.

"I don't know, maybe whatever it is, it's only exclusive to the slums," Seokmin suggested.

Seungkwan looked at his friend upside down, his legs outstretched behind him as he bend his upper half as further back as he could. "But why?"

"I don't know."

"Urggh." Seungkwan grunted going down from his pose, lowering himself, unceremoniously splatting onto the mat. He couldn't think and work out at the same time.

"Don't stop." Mingyu rolled his eyes, trying to make Seungkwan stood back up without accidentally crushing him.

"You're doing great sweetie," Seokmin absentmindedly threw, already opening up another wavelength since he was curious for more information.

There were a couple of opened police reports from the agency that captured his attention. Crime rates have been increasing this past several weeks; he knew that from watching the news. It seemed there were a couple of reported incidents of super powered people targeting the banks around the southern area near the slums just this morning, he opened the case file expecting to see the regular crime scene of a bank robbery; a couple of broken glasses, an empty vault. What he didn't expect to see was a body – or what was left of it. A mangled pile of what Seokmin assumed to be a corpse, all dismantled and misshapen like a meat grinder went at it, opened up to him in full horrifyingly high-definition glory.

"Oh my –" he gagged, exiting the pictures in an instant, choosing to instead read the report.

"What – what is it?" Seungkwan stood up, flicking away Mingyu's hands who were trying to get him into position.

"Really? You're the one who told me to force you to work out you know."

"Oh ssh, not everyone could be born with stamina and strength like you, you egregiously ginormous tree," Seungkwan retorted.

"Hey I –"

"Oh my god." The report was more concerning than he thought the more information he uncovered.

"Seriously what?" Seungkwan was freaking out at Seokmin being distraught. Whatever it was his friend was researching it sounded horrible.

The report of the crime scene stated an unknown substance was found in the system of the deceased, who was apparently the person who committed the bank robbery. The guy reportedly had calmly walked through the bank, asking the people inside to sit down and stay quiet as he took one of the workers and instructed them to 'take him to the money’. The hostages report the sensation of feeling out of body and delirious after listening to the bank robber's instruction, feeling unable to resist the temptation of following the instruction except for one hostage who was deaf. The deaf hostage managed to call authorities, reporting the bank robbery in progress whilst pretending as one of the hostage under the influence. The hostages also reported hearing an alarm like noise right before they were released from the delirious state they've been under. Before, authorities busted through the scene. Hostages and some authorities reported that right as the officers were raiding the bank; the bank robber fiddled with his watch and swallowed some sort of pill before combusting right in front of them. The only thing that remained of the guy was clothing articled, and a watch that was counting down from five minutes from what the authorities suspected.

Seokmin relayed this information to his friends who had gone quiet. They both knew what the pill was that the guy consumed, but neither knew if that was the reason the guy combusted, but Seungkwan really didn't want to find out.

"Seungkwan?" Mingyu looked around the room, he didn't hear his friend leaving the room but the friend in question wasn't there anymore.

"I'm right here." Seokmin and Mingyu heard before a second later a trembling Seungkwan appeared as if from out of nowhere, crouching in the corner of the room.

Seungkwan might not want to know more about the pill now, but he would have to if the concerned faces of his friend didn't tell him enough.

"Shit."

Notes:

Find me on:
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Chapter title from Frank Iero - Blood Infections <3

Chapter 5: Every Word Gets You a Step Closer to Hell

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Trask Industry stood proudly; towering in the middle of the city with glass panels lining the whole of the building, crystal-clear as the sky above it with speckling of viridescent reflected from the evergreens below. Everyone who goes inside and out through the automatic doors of the structure carried themselves as tall as the building they're frequenting on a daily bassist. There, everybody knew who they were and were extremely prideful of it. Being able to saunter confidently inside Trask was an invisible symbol of honor only visible during business parties and family gatherings, where people who wanted to know more about you would have no alternative than to ask the very controversial question of 'Where do you work?'

Rest assured if you work at Trask, the answer would roll off your tongue effortlessly, haughtily. At ease with knowing that they belong.

Minghao was not one of these people, so when the security guard at the door questioned him pertaining his business there, he could barely choke out the answer of, "Got a package for Jeon Wonwoo."

Fighting men with guns and superpowers he could manage, but this – the stench of opulence incased in luxury was what made him choke.

"Really?" The security guard gave Minghao a once over, paying particular attention to the way the other dressed, specifically his favorite ratty red leather jacket. "You don't look like a delivery boy."

"W-well." The security shook his head before beginning to turn, walking away when Minghao grabbed the burly man's arm. "Wait! – wait, here," he pleaded, fishing out the small charcoal black card he was given alongside the instruction that said it'll help him in gaining access inside. Minghao was skeptical, the blank card didn't contain any information that he could see and so he pocketed it, but now he's hoping that it'll work.

The security guard rudely snatched the card out of his hand, inspecting it in equal measures fascination and disbelieve. Turning away from Minghao, he took out his cellphone doing something to the card that Minghao couldn't see. When the security guard turned around he squinted his eyes at Minghao. "What's your name kid?" He asked in an unreadable tone of voice.

"Uhm," for a second Minghao almost blurted his actual name before catching himself. The people he messed with were evil duplicitous men, concealing his true name were necessary. "The8." He decided to answer, hoping that's what the security guard wanted.

"You're the8?" The security guard’s eyes widen in disbelieve. He grabbed at Minghao sleeves, dragging him inside, the package almost falling from the abrupt motion. "You shoulda led with that." The guard scolded before sheep-herding him toward the elevator door at the end of the hall, pressing the specific floor for him.

Everything went by in a flash that Minghao was left dumbstruck just waiting there until the metal box opened revealed the floor it was designated too. The little ding before the door open startled him enough that he almost dropped the package yet again.

"Hello," he announced to the seemingly empty room that the elevator dropped him off too. Minghao's never been in an elevator that opened up to a specific room before, just the one that get you to the floor that you needed to go, so whoever Jeon Wonwoo was he seemed pretty important.

The metal tables that were pushed onto the far side of the wall held wires and bolts, machineries that he couldn't even begin to comprehend the function of. There were test tubes and microscopes, electronic panels lining the wall, and there at the far side of the room, wedged between a computer and a large metal contraption was a lanky man in a lab coat, sitting hunched over seemingly engrossed with something.

Minghao approached him, making sure to be noticeable, clearing his throat for good measure.

Wonwoo startled himself away from whatever thing he was working on and stared at Minghao, seeing the package in his hand and standing up quickly to greet him.

"Ah, hello, you must be delivering the parts that I requested."

"Yup," Minghao nodded, uninterested as he thrust the package quickly towards Wonwoo. From up close, the scientist look not that much older than he was, Minghao was a bit skeptical and impressed that such a young person could get a position in such a prestigious company.

The scientist took the packet gingerly like it's the most fragile thing in the world, carefully putting it on the metal table next to the contraption he was working on. There was a glint of excitement in his eyes that made Minghao wonder what the guy was working on.

"What is that thing?"

"It's a machine that could scan mutants and instantly decipher their abilities," he answer, excitement barely contained in his voice.

Minghao's eyes went wide. "It could do that?"

Wonwoo shrugged. "Well hopefully, it's not done yet, but maybe that package you gave me might help."

Minghao hummed, the guy must be some sort of genius to be able to do that. He wasn't sure if the prospect of having someone decipher instantly what his abilities was, was something that he liked, but it sure could be useful for a number of reasons. A lot of people have attempted to unravel the science of mutants, so far there were a lot of aspects that have yet to be answered, let alone understood. How this person Wonwoo could invent such a contraption was beyond him.

"How does it work anyways?"

"Hmm...well, it's pretty difficult to explain. I use a combination of known technology and my mutation to be able to hopefully make it work," Wonwoo explained, already rummaging through drawers, setting up work for the machine.

"What's your ability?" asking someone of their mutated ability was considered discourteous, Minghao bit his tongue the second the question traveled pass his lips. The scientist didn't seem to mind though, already in a daze of happiness from getting his parts.

"I could tell what mutant abilities people have," he answered noncommittally, stopping his rummaging around to observed Minghao, seemingly examining him on something "Yours is pretty impressive if I may say," he complimented.

"Thanks." Minghao nodded, awkwardly smiling since the scientist hadn't looked away yet.

"Thanks for the package." Minghao nodded. "What are you still doing here?"

"Oh, well I was told you had something for m –"

"Oh right! The pills."

Minghao's heart stuttered a little at that, he didn't know the scientist was aware of the pills. The scientist had seemed so kindhearted, openly answering his question with a genuine tone that only people who truly cared about their work would have. It agitated Minghao a little just how jarring the information made the scientist seemed.

Wonwoo wandered into one of the glass paneled room located at the opposite corner of the lab, disappearing for a second before reappearing with a cardboard box at hand. He gave the box to Minghao unconcernedly, like the contents inside were unimportant. "Here," he said, noticing the surprised in Minghao's face.

"What?"

"What is it that you do here exactly?" Inquiring the answer in an interrogative manner. It disconcerted Wonwoo a great deal that he stepped back from the delivery boy before him.

"Uhm...I'm a scientist and I specialize in technology and mutation. I try to utilized mutagene to further the advances in technology. Why?"

That made sense, Minghao thought. "Did you make those pills?"

"No, I just mass produce it. Why?" Wonwoo pressed on, beginning to feel unsafe within his own laboratory.

"Do you know what those pills do?"

"I was told that the pills might help with healing mutants? I know it contains mutagene in it and that's why they needed my machine to produce it quickly. I-I don't know what this have anything to do with anything." Wonwoo babbled on, starting to feel defensive.

At the shift in tone and the genuine confusion in his answer, Minghao yielded. He didn't know why sometimes he'd have these small flashes of moments where all he wanted to do was help with the situation. He knew how dangerous the pills were and how many lives it had impacted thus far, but he needed to do it still, he had no choice in the matter because it was his responsibility. No questions asked. Besides, he was playing the long game; everything would come together at the end.

"Nothing, I'm sorry, I'll take my leave."

He didn't bother sticking around for Wonwoo to inquire any more questions pertaining his behavior, just riding the elevator down with the packet in hand and a last destination to go to. He felt sick to his stomach every time he got reminded of what it is his job entailed, but he really had to go through with it.

The elevator dinged open and he was off.

 

💊💊💊

 

The first thing that Seungcheol noticed when he accompanied Chan home was how extremely dilapidated the surrounding area looked, he could even see rats the size of a cat crawling freely inside the putrid drainage system – in broad daylight no less. He's never seen a more unsuitable place for anybody to be living in. The apartment building (if you could call it that with how precariously it looked standing on its last leg) wasn't any better. The gigantic cracks that spider-webbed upwards side of the building made Seungcheol certain that the building didn't follow any safety regulation that might prevent the structure from collapsing in a disaster. There wasn't even a parking spot anywhere near the building so Seungcheol had to improvise by parking at the side of the narrow road, praying that nobody would do anything to Junhui's vehicle.

The area was seemingly uninhabited but those prying eyes didn't go unnoticed to Seungcheol, it was correct to assume people in the slums would probably cause a scene if they noticed the license plate of a detective car. He hoped it was the correct decision to make since Junhui's risking the one and only personal car he had that he actually was really quite fond off since he bought it with his own money after a while working at the agency. Junhui didn't think he could afford another one anytime soon if this got stolen and Minghao needed his.

Stepping out of the car felt daunting; Seungcheol didn't know what monstrous entity laid waiting beyond the frightening looking metal door of the deteriorating building. He didn't want to – couldn't even imagine how anybody could possibly live inside. This was Chan's home. He couldn't begin to imagine how many laws are being broken by the people inside, and how many times he would have to pretend not to notice.

"Come on." Chan beckoned, leading them inside, unfreezing the two detectives from their positions. He saw the disgust plastering their faces when they examined the building he practically grew up in, really they shouldn't judge. If the detectives could afford the sort of apartment Chan's been exposed to previously, then they shouldn't complain.

Navigating through the building, up the several flights of stairs was familiar to Chan, it's like he just return home from a visit to the store and not like he's been missing for probably quite some time. He didn't pay any attention to the two detectives who were lagging behind him, just excited to witness the look on Jeonghan hyung's face when he realized he'd return home. He wondered if he had been missed, wondered how many nights Jeonghan had stayed out looking for him and he briefly thought about the lengthy conversation that they would have just cuddling together, Jeonghan playing with his hair. Maybe Soonyoung would be there or Joshua and they'd get to eat dinner together.

He was too excited to wait, knocking on the door and waiting for anybody to answer.

"Chan, wait!" Seungcheol pleaded, panting from having to chase after the boy, Junhui a little further behind. Something told Seungcheol that things were about to go awry. He didn't want Chan to be overly excited for something uncertain. And Seungcheol was also hesitant on meeting Chan's family.

The door clicked open and beyond it was everything Chan could possibly hoped for.

Soonyoung had opened the door, his face contorting in complete surprise, letting the door hang open as wide as his mouth. There on the mattress sat Joshua, already settling in, looking like he was about to recline but just barely because he's observing Jeonghan now. His Jeonghan hyung was sitting cross legged on the floor, a lid of a large food container in his hand. Chan watch as that very lid clattered onto the floor and came stuttering out of his Hyung voice was his name, broken and brimming with emotion.

"Channie?"

"Hyung!" He breathed, running happily inside, tackling Jeonghan onto the floor.

He hugged the older as tightly as he could, feeling the flesh and bone underneath his fingers as he squeeze tightly, smelling the familiar scent of home as he buried his face in his hyung's neck. "I really miss you." Even if he didn't remember much of anything, or even how long he's been kidnapped, he remembered missing Jeonghan, that feeling stayed with him throughout everything.

It took quite a while for Jeonghan to collect himself, his arms splayed wide at his side, rigid and unmoving. He didn't know how to response, what to think; it all felt like a hallucination, a vicios dream that he thought he had move passed ages ago.

"Am I dreaming?" he heard himself mumbled disbelievingly, his own voice sounding so distant from him. It must be a dream.

"No," he then heard Soonyoung state, his voice full of coldness and alarm, a hint of terror underneath, revealing the detectives coming through the door, flashing their hologram badges and entering the premises without permission.

"You can't be here," he heard Soonyoung said voice as cutting as before.

Joshua came to stand beside Soonyoung, as if he was a legal representative. Fixing his clothes and putting on a professional expression.

"May I help you gentleman?" Joshua asked in a politely fabricated tone Jeonghan only ever heard whenever his best friend was talking with some particularly irritating business men on his phone.

"They came with me," Chan defended, surprising the detectives quite a bit releasing his hold on Jeonghan, standing. He was about to walk away when Jeonghan mind finally processed the situation, quickly grabbing the younger's wrist, shaking his head.

Chan looked at his hyung below him understandingly. "It's okay; they're the ones who helped found me. They just have a couple of questions."

"Okay." Jeonghan curtly replied. "But you stay next to me."

"It's okay, we just wanna talk." Seungcheol placated.

"I'll decide what's okay."

Seungcheol halted in his spot where he attempted to walk forward. He heard the door closing behind him and for somebody armed with a weapon and a partner, he was the one who felt afraid in this situation. But then he remembered who this was coming from. Jeonghan was a slumrat and a protective figure, Seungcheol understood that the defensiveness was a mechanism derived from fears, his fears towards him.

"You're not in trouble, nobody is," Junhui quickly started. That at least disarmed Jeonghan enough, the shapeshifter losing the tension in his back. "We just wanna ask a few questions that might help us out with our case. We need to know when the last time Lee Chan was in your care," he explained, watching Jeonghan nodding in understanding.

"Okay."

This wasn't what Seungcheol expected to encounter when he first heard the name Jeonghan being echoed loudly from inside the mind of the boy holding his big brother in his arm. The face and the feeling that accompanied the name emanated the impression of tranquility; the beautiful long-haired boy seemed extremely soft in Chan's mind, and at the same time sophisticated and elegant. The standoffish defensive person in front of him was almost a complete opposite of how Chan had depicted him.

Jeonghan inspected him then, his eyes judging and unsympathetic contrasting a burning passion and protective tenderness hidden behind it.

Seungcheol didn't know why his heart stuttered in his chest.

Everyone shifted from their places, some occupying the bed and others sitting down on the floor as he herded the two detectives onto the floor as well until they form a little circle. It was the most unprofessional scene Seungcheol had ever been presented and his slight unease must've shown on his face because seconds later he heard Jeonghan chuckled dryly.

"Sorry detectives, we weren't expecting guests. If we did we would've stolen a couple of chairs for you before you arrive."

Seungcheol winced, he wasn't judging. He was aware of his inexperience living like Jeonghan and he was fortunate not to.

"We're very sorry if we had inconvenience you," Junhui covered sounding far more professional than he usually was; Seungcheol was surprised to see this side of his friend.

"Whatever, what do you wanna know?"

Seungcheol started off with the standardize inquiries of when was the last time any of them seen Chan, and if they knew what had happened that had led him to getting kidnapped. He didn't expect the dry humorless chuckle as the start of his answer.

"Wow, if you people had bothered to take me seriously months ago then you would know the answer to every single question."

Seungcheol was about to ask Jeonghan to elaborate before getting cut of by Chan's hollow voice. "Months?"

Jeonghan looked at the younger one in confusion. "You don't remember?"

"No, I just figured that I was taken for a couple of weeks – but months?"

"Eleven," Soonyoung supplied, his voice emotionless. "You were missing for almost a year." Contrary to Jeonghan's believe, Soonyoung too also kept track, he missed Chan as much as Jeonghan did, but the older seemed to disintegrate at the slightest mention of their youngest companion. Someone needed to be strong for the both of them, and Joshua was that for a while but it wasn't enough since he had another life awaiting him that didn't involve them, so Soonyoung stepped up.

"Oh my god," Chan's despondent voice surfaced as only a breath of a whisper. He deliriously stood on his feet, hands already coming to his hair, tugging frustratingly at them. Jeonghan didn't stop him.

A year, he'd been gone for almost a year.

Deliriously, he ambled towards the window, needing something cool tor rest his forehead upon. He needed some space. a year.

"I'm really sorry, c-can you please tell me what happened?"

Jeonghan sighed, squirming uncomfortably in his spot, he didn't want to relive the very day he had lost somebody exceptionally important, someone he actually kept near his heart. It was a careless mistake, he invested his trust on the very people who lived to destroy it, and he suffered the consequences. And although now he knew Chan was alive and well, there was still an ache within his ribcage that served to demolish him every time he recounted that specific day.

"It happened back in April." A couple of white vans had pulled up just at the outskirts of the slums. The red banner that stated 'Red Hill Medical Facility' were clearly written on it. He thought he knew what they're intentions were, it wasn't the first time the government had decided to give charity to the poorest, grimiest, people that haunted the shadows of the city. It was probably some sort of political ploy to gain sympathy from the public. Free healthcare that was what they all needed.

Jeonghan had been dubious, rightfully so, pulling his two idiots back from the single file lines that had formed in front of the vans.

"Don't, we don't know what they want yet." He had whispered, eyeing warily some of the authorities that had come to maintain order for the occasion. He knew the van was gathering information, drawing blood, reading heartbeats and blood pressures. Some people who were done were even allowed to leave freely with a bag of basic medicines in hand, which were things that the three of them desperately needed.

"But, Channie…" Soonyoung pouted just as Chan sneezed particularly loud.

Chan had been frequently coming down with something lately. The spring season often proved to be an aggravating inconvenience when it came to triggering Chan's allergy, and thus leading to lowering his immune system. They've been holding off on medicine, unable to afford any since they've been low on targets lately. This was the perfect opportunity for them to receive some medicine.

Their eyes were huge, staring imploringly towards him. They really did need some medicine. "Alright, you go on that line, me and Soonyoung will go to the other two."

They split up waiting in line, Jeonghan already thinking of plans to deceive the medic into dispensing as much medicine as possible. Maybe he should shift himself into having a physical deformity. He was so engrossed in stepping every time the line shorten, and thinking of outlandish plans that he completely didn't notice when one of the vans had pulled out of its previous spot, leaving the slums entirely.

The crowd was even growing, making it harder for him to notice anything was amiss. It wasn't until he decided to ask Chan what medicine did the younger specifically needed, only to look up to see the van that his younger had been queuing for had disappeared that he started panicking, breaking away from the line to find him.

In the middle of his frantic searching he bumped into Soonyoung, who asked what was happening. Another van had driven out of the slums. Jeonghan, agitated, had gripped Soonyoung wrist so tightly that it bruised later on that day. The two of them immediately cut through the sea of people attempting to obtain information from somebody in charge.

Jeonghan had a horribly sinking feeling about this.

They struggled making their way up front; one persistent bodyguard kept blocking them off. The bodyguard looked young and inexperienced, but there was a glint in his eyes that made it clear that he wasn't quite a novice. The bodyguard eventually relented; there was a hint of sympathy in his eyes at seeing Jeonghan's panicked face that served to agitate Jeonghan even more. Jeonghan and Soonyoung finally managed to arrive at the front of the incoherent queue, and was face with a nurse in a mask.

"May I help you gentlemen?"

"Yes, where the fuck is my brother?" He had shouted, only to be given a robotically rehearsed answer.

"We're sorry, we don't know who that is, but we did have some people shipped to one of our many hospitals for further treatment."

"He doesn't need further treatment; he only had a fucking cold! Where is he. You can't take him away from me, he's under age," Jeonghan began screaming, voice cracking, eyes reddening, already brimming with tears.

"I apologize, but we don't know where your brother is."

Jeonghan ended up being forcibly escorted away, shouting and crying. Eventually, they decided to search for Chan everywhere within the city. They even asked for Joshua's assistance, which Jeonghan was already reluctant ask, not wanting to be a charity case if they're utilizing his resources.

Unfortunately nothing he did amounted to anything.

Days turned into weeks and weeks eventually turned into months without any sighting of Lee Chan anywhere. His baby brother had disappeared.

"I tried reporting to the police twice, and all that they did was arrest me for threatening authority." Jeonghan rolled his eyes, all that scamming and the one thing that gotten him arrested was the complete incompetency and animosity the city justice department had for people like him. How fitting.

"I deeply apologize" Seungcheol said. "Did you see anything weird since then? Did the vans come back? – a-and whilst we're here do you have anything to report?"

At the mention of a chance to report Seungcheol was hit with a vision of something brightly lit, inflamed and it solicited a gasp out of him. He tried to play it off when everyone stared. It took him a second to find who the memory belonged to.

"Anything?" Seungcheol implored the boy cowering near the door.

"Uhm – "

"Soonyoung." Jeonghan suddenly reprimanded.

Seungcheol watched Soonyoung straighten back up, already beginning to shake his head before reiterating, "No." unconvincingly.

Truthfully, it did disquiet Soonyoung. Sometimes around dawn, when his mind just wouldn't allot him unconsciousness, the flashing images of burning bodies invaded his mind. He knew that technically the deaths of those men weren't their fault. The bodyguard choosing to consume that pill and it resulted in their deaths. Even so, guilt still grew larger within his chest, even when the first few hours after the incident he felt practically okay, the more that he thought about what happened the more disgusted he felt. He saw two people died right in front of him, and even though it was indirectly, the bodyguards wouldn't have died if they hadn't messed with the business men, and that meant they were responsible for their deaths to some extent.

This was eating him alive whilst Jeonghan seemed callous enough to not mention it anymore, keeping up his usual demeanor. Soonyoung knew it was a defensive front, but he didn't think he could hold his own tongue anymore.

"Are you sure?"

But he'll do it for Jeonghan; he always had their best interest at heart so he trusted him.

"Positive."

They became overly silent, but that just made Seungcheol more determined on finding out what Soonyoung was hiding, even if it had nothing to do with his current case he still wanted to help. That was after all, his natural response.

"Okay, but I'm gonna need a clearer picture on that day you say Chan was kidnapped. Can you, maybe, show me?" He addressed Jeonghan.

"Show you what?"

"What happened, I might be able to see something that you couldn't."

Jeonghan looked at the detective like he was insane. "And how exactly am I supposed to show you?"

Right, Seungcheol could be unbelievably airheaded sometimes. There was a protocol that he had to follow, on his cases he needed to have full disclosure on his telepathic abilities, but since he rarely ever designated a case he rarely ever had to do it.

"I'm a telepath." He expected the way some of them guarded themselves instinctively, safe for one person who kept his composure and had been keeping his composure throughout everything. He appeared different than the rest of them, and seeing the brands on some of the seemingly mundane articles of clothing he was wearing it was clear to Seungcheol that that one was rich and thus had no fear over authorities.

"I'm sorry I didn't disclose this sooner, I should've, but don't worry I'm not allowed to read someone without their expressed permission," Seungcheol explained.

"Oh, of course, like I'm suppose to trust you." Jeonghan rolled his eyes.

"No really I –"

"Do you wanna read or not?" Jeonghan cut in, halting Seungcheol in his speech, whatever that's going to get the two detectives out of there faster without causing them much trouble was preferable.

"Ah yes, of course."

Seungcheol scooted over closer to Jeonghan who was slightly elevated, sitting on the mattress. He put his hands around Jeonghan's head, cupping, not yet touching. The moment seemed oddly intimate the way Jeonghan leaned forward a little. And from where he was up-close, Seungcheol could see the little details on Jeonghan's face, like the tiny beauty mark he had under one of his eyes.

Jeonghan was really beautiful, the kind that takes your breath away. He'd been able to keep his composure thus far, but something about the lack of distance obliterated that factor.

He feels a sudden rush of foreign emotions overwhelmed him, he look back at Junhui who raised a brow at him as if to say 'hey, we're on the job.'

Which was correct. Now was not the time.

"May I?" He asked again, making sure to have Jeonghan's fully expressed permission like he promised he was supposed to.

Junhui seemed to sense the odd tension surrounding his partner, but as long as Seungcheol did his job then he'd give him privacy. He just couldn't help at getting glances of Seungcheol’s emotion's sometimes, the man was extremely expressive. Not wanting to waste time himself he chose to ask the other two occupants more information, beckoning them over to a corner, whilst Chan was quietly observant throughout the whole ordeal.

From where he was just inches apart from Jeonghan, Seungcheol could see the tiny specks of golden inside the other's iridescent iris. Seungcheol throat went absolutely dry when he realized just how attractive the boy before him actual was. The protective attitude that Jeonghan possessed was one of the things he was particularly intrigued with, finding similarities to himself. Also the fact that Jeonghan had a softer side to him from the glimpses he saw inside Chan's mind solidified his completely inappropriate attraction. He shouldn't be thinking like this on the job, this wasn't some guy he glanced at in passing and had somehow found him attractive. This was somebody close to his victim.

The glitter in his eyes though, it was –

pretty. He heard, alongside a glimpse of large brown eyes. It took him a second to realize that those weren't his thoughts, and the image of the familiar eyes he saw belonged to himself.

He couldn't stop himself from choking on air, falling into a coughing fit to cover it up.

"Shit," Jeonghan whispered, groaning as he squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment, shaking his head frantically. telepath, he reminded himself. "Fuck, never mind."

"I didn't hear anything," Seungcheol managed to choke out.

"Just – fuck, okay, continue."

From across the room Soonyoung, Joshua, and Junhui diverted their attention towards the pair, taking a break from their idle interrogation.

"What was that about?" Soonyoung asked.

"I think they're flirting," Joshua supplied, seeing Jeonghan's demeanor shifted the way it did when he found somebody attractive.

Junhui looked at his partner, noticing the bright red tint to his friend's ear. "Definitely flirting."

"That's one hell of a way to flirt," Soonyoung commented.

After the brief distraction, Seungcheol rested his hands back around Jeonghan's head, brushing a couple strands of hair behind and biting his tongue to keep from doing anything more absurd.

"Okay," he said again before regaining his composure, then falling into Jeonghan's memory, letting it unfold

He deconstructed the defenses Jeonghan had built surrounding his hidden memories. It was a kind of trick that Seungcheol rarely utilized since nobody really desired their inner most thoughts to be invaded. He wasn't particularly amazing at it either, so really it wasn't particularly useful. But sometimes the people he practiced on (mainly Junhui and Jihoon occasionally once he's pleaded enough times) were oddly loopy and for a brief moment a lot of their thoughts were unguarded. It was an accidental side effect that he never really explored but now he might think there could be usage for it.

Once he felt Jeonghan's mind melting a little, he asked the very question he asked Soonyoung.

"Are you sure there isn’t anything else?"

And that was it; the question made Jeonghan's recounted everything valuable. Because at that precious moment Seungcheol saw what he needed. Some guy taking a pill, exploding seconds later, killing one other. Seungcheol kept extracting as many memories as possible.

Seungcheol could see the beginning of where it all went wrong. Jeonghan was in a dress. Soonyoung was on his laptop. There were intentions of stealing and then there were a guy being choked off. Everything led him to the bodyguards’ death.

He didn't know that Jeonghan had to resort to so many troubles just to survive. The fact that most people with money had half a mind to have several bank accounts, and the ones that were usually wired to the phone were a smaller one, utilized momentarily only for instant monetary transactions meant that even through all that effort, the money that they stole never amounted to much. He didn't realize how extraordinarily high the pay for rent this dilapidated building seemed to Jeonghan. The fact that he also spent the money on the children, orphans, living around the slums broke and warmed Seungcheol's heart at the same time. It was beginning to get increasingly difficult for Seungcheol to not take things personally, not when his saviour complex is being coaxed out of him the more he reads.

Chan vaguely was discerning everything happening behind him, but he couldn't be bothered to look back, his head was filled with thoughts on his lost memory. Before this he had no intention of pursuing his own case further, not really caring about whoever had kidnapped him and just desiring to return home to his family. And now that he's back and was informed of the duration he was missing - how long Jeonghan had to suffer because of his absence, Chan wanted nothing more than to seek revenge on the people who have hurt him. He needed to know what had happened, why it happened.

Chan stared blankly at a car pulling up below.

Maybe he should start by remembering the months when he was kidnapped.

– The person on the alleyway below him, the one in the red jacket, opened up his trunk to reveal a box that the person picked up –

Or maybe he should retrace his steps, what had happened right before he was kidnapped. He couldn't remember it either.

– The thunder reverberated loudly outside, startling the person below, compelling them to look upwards and that's when Chan saw the face of the man clearly. That was –

"Shit." He whispered in disbelieve, before seconds later booking it out the door, startling everybody who he didn't bother acknowledging their screams of.

Seungcheol was startled away from his reading, seeing the commotion Chan had left as the boy ran away outside.

"What was that all about?" Soonyoung asked.

Jeonghan was already on his way blindly following Chan behind him, he didn't want to lose him again.

Junhui went over towards the window to examine what the boy had seen, his eyes taking a second to adjust before gasping himself when he was faced with the familiar view. He too followed in running downstairs.

Seungcheol was left in a daze as everybody left the building, but then he caught a thought from Chan who was down the hall by now and all that he needed to hear was the words, He was there, he was there when they kidnapped me, before also booking it out the door.

 

💊💊💊

 

Dropping off the pills to the person who ominously observed through his doors was an experience Minghao didn't think he would desired encountering again.

Going all the way to the slums, listening to the radio station against his better judgment, had reminded once more of the effects of his actions towards the city. It made his guilt fester the entire journey towards the slums.

He detested what he had to do sometimes, but before clearer instruction told him to stop, he really couldn't. He couldn't uncover his position since it served a greater purpose. He had to keep reminding himself that even if the assignment he physically had to do remained the same, he was not the same person he was when he first got started everything.

He wasn't selfishly doing it for himself anymore; he was defending the people who had entrusted him the position as well. The ones who saw potential and gave him a chance at redemption

He needed to do this. He would divulge all the information he had required on his regular half-yearly schedule by the end of the week.

Minghao was beginning his return to his vehicle, imagining going home and sleeping off the exhausting day when he heard a shout coming from behind him before a fireball barreled straight onto his face. He was catapulted backwards, face stinging, but before he could register anything, his flight or fight reflexes jump started, compelling him to run.

His feet were moving as rapidly as physically possible. His body recognizing danger motivated his legs to carry him even faster.

Minghao ran blindingly fast, passing alleyways as he took sharp turns, running further inwards towards the slums where he could hopefully escape. There was somebody shouting his name behind him that he didn't quite focus on, to busy escaping the situation. He didn't know who or why the person behind him was pursuing him, but with the numerous fireballs flying towards him, he didn't really have the luxury to care.

Turning left, he unexpectedly stumbled into a couple of slumrats selling things on the dirty concrete, hearing a couple complaints coming way, but he didn't focus on it, barely muttering a, "Sorry." Behind him.

The next fireball to fly towards him almost grazed his ears. If it weren't for his feet sliding him quickly aside, he'd probably been hit. The distraction finally gave his body time building up an unbreakable shell surrounding himself so he could resist the oncoming fire.

Turning right, this time he saw a bridge ahead of him, a flowing river running exactly underneath it. This could be perfect.

"Chan, wait!" Minghao overheard, the name being shouted unfamiliar but the person shouting it was.

It couldn't be.

"Please!" He heard another person shout, this time the voice was definitely familiar. What is going on?

Glancing behind him, he saw that none of his pursuers have made the last turn yet, so he utilized the time by speeding up his running, eventually hiding underneath the bridge.

He heard oncoming footsteps only moments later and saw his burning pursuer stepping into his line of vision. Minghao, wasn't really thinking, didn't even register the fact that the other pursuers might also be mutants, equally as dangerous as the one leading the chase. But he let his initial reflexes took over as he manhandled the boy right beneath the shallow and murky river water underneath him, catching him off guard.

Together they tumbled into the river, and the first thing that his pursuer did was shoot a wall of inferno from his open palms, attempting to burn Minghao alive, and it would've worked if it weren't for the fact that Minghao's body was ready.

Just before the flame hit him, the skin on his body harden, growing thick, darkening, turning scale-like. He anticipated as the flames reflected against his skin to no effect, observing as the organic shielding he had constructed began glowing from the extreme heat.

Minghao tried his greatest to manhandle the pursuer’s hand underwater as well, observing as the flame slowly extinguished with every inch of the hand drowning underneath the water.

Steam was everywhere and Minghao couldn't discern what was happening below him, he just kept pushing like his life depended on him before –

His mind went completely blank, he freeze in his spot entirely immobilized. He felt the boy beneath him crawling right out of his grip, standing up, soaking wet entirely, red-faced and furious. And before Minghao could register anything, a wall of flame shot relentlessly right towards him.

"Chan!" He heard, followed by. "Seungcheol no, wait – Minghao!"

And then the flames engulfed him at the same time his mind was released from its immobility.

He was repelled backwards, his hand relentlessly coming up protecting everything, blocking the flames. His body might be able to survive the onslaught of inferno but his clothes sure as hell couldn't.

"Chan?! – Chan!" He heard again repeated, more frantically, before the hellfire that was released upon him dissipated entirely and he could breathe again, his skin returning to its original state, stamina depleted.

Somebody was holding his pursuer’s hand, keeping their body close to them and away from Minghao so he couldn't attack again. "Chan, channie please, talk to me." the long-haired person pleaded.

"He was there hyung! He was there at the place where I was kidnapped!"

The two people turned around to observe him, and four others that just ran around the corner also set their eyes onto him. One pair of them was burning more passionately than the others and it wasn't the fiery boy in front of him.

"Hey...you were the bodyguard that I saw during that free medical care thing!" the long-haired person accusatorily shouted.

"He was also there at the place where I was kidnapped," the boy added, addressing the newcomers now.

Chaos instantly erupted, but all that Minghao could focus on was the one detective who was approaching him gradually, tentatively.

"Minghao," he whispered and Minghao quickly covered Junhui's mouth, pushing the detective up against a wall.

"It's The8," he hissed, watching as the detective's eyes widen. "I'm on the job," he muttered, more quietly this time.

Someone overheard him though and it was the other detective who also stepped forward.

"Minghao?" He asked, before recognition dawned on his face. "Junhui, this is your Minghao?"

Minghao was totally screwed.

Notes:

So, Merry Christmas everyone! Idk if anybody's reading but cus it's the holidays i've decided to post around every 2 weeks, but i will still post regularly. Hopefully. Thx to anyone reading and have a good holiday <3
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Find me on:
twt

Chapter title from Nails For Breakfast, Tacks For Snacks by
Panic! At The Disco <3

Chapter 6: Ribs Are a Cage of a Wild Heart

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Seungkwan didn't know how to navigate his own life anymore. He tiptoed around his parents, not wanting them to worry or even worse – praise him for discovering his mutation's permanence. The thought of discovering your mutation after adolescence was practically impossible. Furthermore, the millions of dollars’ worth of screening equipment they'd tested on him certified the absence of mutagene inside him.

Now he was walking around his own goddamn mansion, invisible, hidden, and afraid.

Unfortunately, Seungkwan didn't trust his parents when they said they didn't know much about the origins of the pill, and because of the bank robbery case Seokmin had unearthed, he figured he owed it to himself to discover his parents secret. He didn't want to just wake up one day, suddenly imploding into a million pieces of flesh and bones. He didn't want to die just yet, thank you.

So now he was here at Vernon's, returning again to the boy currently unmovingly staring at him.

"Uhm..."

I missed you, was what Vernon wanted to say, instead, clearing his throat, he said, "Sorry."

"No! – I-I mean I missed you." Seungkwan quickly covered, realizing how rude he'd been; here his friend was, barely returned from a lengthy stay outside of the country, was called suddenly so Seungkwan could visit. Vernon probably thought this was a casual visit between two friends who'd been separated for a considerable amount of time, but then Seungkwan completely obliterated that notion. He wasn't here for a greeting, he needed Vernon, he needed his friend's expertise on genetics.

"Oh God," Seungkwan whined, finally registering how selfish he'd sounded, "I'm such an idiot."

Vernon chuckled, shaking his head before encircling Seungkwan in a hug, melting him instantly.

"It's fine."

Seungkwan shook his head, "No," he said, managing the most sincere apologetic face he could muster. "I'm sorry I didn't warn you properly on the phone, but I really need you."

"Of course."

The two of them made their way inside, Vernon unconsciously intertwining their fingers; fulfilling his body desire of being attached to the person he'd so dearly missed. It was peculiar how easily Vernon physically conveyed his feelings when it came to Seungkwan sometimes. It's like for a brief moment he forgot that he wasn't supposed to show any emotions. Everything else around him didn't matter except Seungkwan, touching Seungkwan, being near Seungkwan, and-

He lets go.

"I'm sorry," there were no stutter to his voice, but there wasn't any clear intention behind the apology either. He really was clueless on how to interact with Seungkwan. It was easier to be reserved with everyone else except him.

Seungkwan didn't seem to have those hesitations, easily reintertwining their hands before continuing their ascend contradicting his confidence by blushing maddeningly.

And that's one thing that Vernon could never get over, how brave Seungkwan was, effortlessly overcoming his own fears regardless of his hesitation. Maybe Vernon could learn a thing or two from him.

"I'm sorry, I missed your showcase by the way, I really wanted to attend."

Arriving in Vernon's room, they quickly arranged themselves on the bed, tugging and pulling in a familiar motion. This was something the pair was accustomed too, so it didn't feel difficult despite the tension that always amalgamates between them whenever they're near.

"Its fine, It’s just –" Seungkwan crawled himself onto the space Vernon reserved next to him, body slotting automatically onto his friend's side. It reminded Seungkwan of the movie nights they used to organized, just the two of them in Vernon's room. He thought maybe they could conduct another movie night once this little problem is solved –"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Vernon turned towards Seungkwan, gazing earnestly towards the anxious boy. "I'm listening."

"Uhm, well, where do I start?"

It was difficult to concentrate on his difficulties when Vernon was so close. He attempted to anyways, starting from the showcase, how terribly anxious he had felt, the way his body froze in front of so many people, the way his heart almost beat out of his ribcage and the suffocation that he felt throughout the whole night.

Seungkwan squeezed the fabric of Vernon's shirt whilst reliving the nerve-wracking moment.

Vernon was also finding it difficult to focus on Seungkwan's story when the little squeeze that he gave was just absolutely adorable. He was more focus on the way Seungkwan was absentmindedly worrying the hem of his shirt, moving up to the collar, mumbling on some parts of his statements and pouting on some section, with his bottom lip slightly jutting out, and then –

"Woah...that's really cool."

Seungkwan halted his storytelling, instinctively looking down at himself – his invisible self "Oh," he mumbled, before returning his visibility. Almost instantly he felt light-headed, he wasn't accustomed to what he could do yet. "Sorry."

Vernon shook his head. "No, you're really fascinating," he blurted. He didn't blush, but his heartbeat stuttered, he shouldn't have been so upfront, but the way Seungkwan's ears burned red sort of made it worth it. Maybe he could manage being this forth coming if this was the result, but then again people are unreliable.

Shaking himself from any thought, he nodded, "Please continue."

Seungkwan fell back into the story, simultaneously returning towards Vernon's embrace. He told his friend about the police reports and the other people who took the pill.

"...And I was scared you know?" Seungkwan mumbled, cutting his gaze towards his friend’s eyes, suddenly realizing they were inches apart. During his rant, he'd probably moved closer, or maybe it was Vernon who'd move, he didn't know, but breathlessly he continued, "And uhm...I'm scared now."

"I'll help."

"Okay."

Vernon's breath fanned across Seungkwan's, making the other blushed horribly. The tension was building so heavily before Vernon finally snapped himself awake, leaning back and clearing his throat

They stayed in their position just breathing together, registering the awkwardness that had suddenly appeared from their unexpected actions. Seungkwan missed Vernon so much, all he really wanted then was to fall asleep right there, but –

"Alright, let's see that mutagene of yours."

It was difficult for Vernon to concentrate, but he did catch everything that his friend explained. He was wary of the overdrive pill Seungkwan had taken. If it had blown someone up then whatever was contained inside the pill, it was obviously unstable. He didn't think that Seungkwan was in trouble though, it's been several days since the pill was taken, it probably passed through Seungkwan's system already. It was the sudden appearance of mutagene he was worried about; he didn't know how that could be possible and what the repercussion of that would be. Fortunately, he owned some equipment in his lab that might help.

It's been a while since Seungkwan saw Vernon inside his lab again, his natural habitat in his opinion. He remembered the times he's spent in silence with his friend, hanging upside down on an office chair, scrolling through his social media and just waiting for Vernon to be finished with whatever it was he was doing. It was cute, Seungkwan thought, the way Vernon got so enraptured in the work he was doing, hunching over some lab samples, his eyes switching colors with all the different visions he saw, jotting whatever it was that he found in his notes.

Occasionally, he would look up and give Seungkwan the most blinding smile in the world, and Seungkwan would whine, asking how much longer would it take and that would make the smile on Vernon's face impossibly brighter as he chuckle at him. Seungkwan really took that time for granted.

He remembered that there were a million and one thing stuck within his throat when he was accompanying Vernon to the airport. It was just a few months, but they acted like it was forever, and still nothing substantial was cemented between them.

He did say it, the three letter words. Unfortunately, he didn't think Vernon had taken it the way he meant it, and he felt fortunate that those words weren't brought up again.

Seungkwan really did missed Vernon though.

"Come here." Vernon guided Seungkwan to sit on one of the chairs in the lab. The place was kept clean during his leave, although most of the stuff inside still managed to collect dust from disuse. Still, it wasn't difficult, maneuvering in such a familiar environment. He fell back into everything with ease as he put on every necessary thing and disinfected everything that needed it.

Finally, putting the needle up to the light, Seungkwan gulped, he hated needles, it was scary.

Seungkwan trembled in his seat whilst his upper arm was being tied. He hated sharp objects.

"Don't worry, it's just a pinch." Vernon took Seungkwan's hand, caressing the skin there and letting Seungkwan relax from his light touches. Leaning down he looked straight at the other boy's eyes, at that moment they felt their heartbeat syncing.

Vernon took the distraction, sticking the needle in, drawing blood quickly and pulling out. Seungkwan flinched but otherwise made no fuss; the other was incredibly good at unknowingly distracting the invisible boy.

"Wait here."

Seungkwan watched as Vernon bustle over everything that needed to be done; moving microscope slides and test tubes everywhere. It was amazing being able to witness Vernon work.

Vernon finally settled down behind a microscope and begins his observation, pushing the limit of the microscope and when that couldn't go anymore he used his ability – his microscopic vision – to go further. He was lucky to be born with an ability that aligns so greatly with what he wanted to do. He's used to just utilizing his vision rather than a microscope that he sometimes forgot how to use the machine. He needed microscopes sometimes, for things like these that required better equipment than what his home laboratory had.

Seungkwan squirmed in his seat, afraid that Vernon might see something. The minutes ticked by like centuries, Vernon humming and nodding to himself every couple minutes. Seungkwan had to bite his tongue from asking what Vernon was seeing every time.

"Hmm, you look..."

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, there's no way the other wasn't doing this on purpose now. "Spit it out."

Vernon chuckled, "Normal – you absolutely look normal, just like any other mutant."

Mutant, he was officially a mutant now.

"But how, I had no mutagene inside me before, I mean I understand dormant genes but there was nothing to activate, right?" Seungkwan vaguely remembers his middle school classes regarding it, but this was different.

Vernon was stumped there, he really couldn't tell anything more except that according to what he saw, there was nothing wrong with Seungkwan's DNA safe for the new addition of mutagene.

"I really don't know, unless you have that overdrive you took on hand then there's really nothing else we could examine – I-I wouldn't know where to begin. I'll try whatever I can but in the meantime..."

Seungkwan hummed, he figured that they were going to need the pill, and he might know just where he could get it.

"Okay, I'll get that pill."

 

💊💊💊

 

Seungcheol was flabbergasted, how Junhui succeeded in concealing a completely separate faction of his life from his partner was beyond him.

They'd returned to the agency a day after the incident, shamefully bowing their heads when the Captain reprimanded them for still pursuing the case even when he instructed them no to. In their defense, they accidentally stumbled into the potential lead – well, technically, the potential lead stumbled upon the victim.

Minghao hadn't said anything to anyone when he got captured, no matter how much Junhui pleaded for him to tell him what's going on. And in the next turn of bewildering events, Minghao was the one who decided to go to the agency.

"So," the Captain started, eyes narrowing at the two detectives. "You've discovered one of our informants."

Their what?

"I apologize; I didn't know that he was involved with our case."

Junhui knew? His eyes widen disbelievingly at his partner who looked remorseful, and was clearly averting his gaze from Seungcheol.

"Well, we didn't know either" the captain answered admittedly, leaning backwards in his chair and squeezing his eyes shut. There were so many things the agency was lagging behind. Something sinister was developing, but they'd yet received any information to complete the final picture. And here they were, rookies, stumbling into something exceptionally big.

"Minghao – or, the8, was set to return to the agency several weeks from now. We don't make it a habit to extract our informants from the field prematurely, unless we wanna compromise their position. It was already difficult for me to accept that one of our informants and one of my detectives are dating."

Junhui winced; he didn't realize that the captain was aware of their relationship. Junhui knew Minghao for a long time and became the one who inevitably helped to bust the whole organization Minghao was involved in. After that, Junhui had convinced the captain to make Minghao an informant for their agency. As far as Junhui's aware, he though the captain thought they were acquaintances.

"But, your personal life has nothing to do with the case, and since there's no rule regarding interpersonal relationship within the agency, I can't reprimand you for that," the captain continued.

"Yes, thank yo –"

"However, I think because of that, you boys are too close to the investigation." Before this the captain had been considering letting the rookies continue their investigation since they were already overwhelmed, but with this newer development –

"Wait!" Seungcheol panically obstructed, he might not know exactly what was happening, but he knew one thing. He needed this. "Please, I think we might have something here. I think we could solve whatever this is," Seungcheol argued. There was something exceptionally important buried within the case that he desired to investigate, and from what he'd witnessed at Chan's apartment yesterday, it's necessary to give him closure.

The Captain looked hesitantly at the rookies. At that moment, he was at a lost on what to decide. His instincts however, told him that these boys might be capable of helping.

"Have you boys heard of overdrive?" As expected, there was recognition written in their expression, probably from yesterday. He explained what he knew anyways, "It's this pill that's been reportedly circulating throughout the city. It apparently turns humans into mutants, but only for five minutes."

Seungcheol's eyebrow crawl up his forehead, it actually aligned with all the peculiar happenings around the city, and Jeonghan's incident he encountered with the bodyguards, but "Is that even possible?"

The captain shrugged. "Apparently the pills are specifically circulating within the slums. We don't know why, or how, all we know is what the informant told us."

Minghao, he heard Junhui finished.

"Apparently he's close to all this, but even he doesn't know everything yet. All that he did was assist in delivering the pills around several locations but he's never traversed closer than that. He didn't know the origin of the pill either or even what it's made of and neither do our labs. Once consumed the pills seemingly just... disappears. We'd need a full report from our informant which is scheduled next Tuesday, but currently that's everything we have." the city's been steadily declining into madness; he's exhausted every personnel in the agency, and even help from outside, depleting their resources. To put it simply the captain was desperate, he needed somebody to be in charge of this investigation.

"This is a massive investigation; we know practically nothing, why should I trust you?"

"Captain, I know that the two of us are novices, and you have no reason to trust us blindly on such a polarizing investigation but –" Seungcheol paused, not wanting to overstep his boundaries.

"This is our job, this is what we were trained to do," Junhui finished.

The captain was silent only for several moments before he relented, breathing out a reluctant sigh. "You will only investigate the boy and his involvement with the pills and our informant."

Seungcheol couldn't believe his ears, he felt happier than the first time he received the case in the first place. "Does that mean..."

"I trust you two, don't break that trust."

The detectives practically squealed, "Yes, thank you, we won't let you down."

The Captain nodded and the two detectives turned to leave.

"And boys," the two rookies paused in the doorway, turning around, anticipating, “Be careful."

 

💊💊💊

 

If Seungkwan knew anything about his parents, it was that they kept records of their transactions, even the ones that happened secretly, heavily concealed from the justice system. They still recorded it, receipts, just in case.

After Vernon's expertise making certain that yes, they actually needed a sample of overdrive in order for them to uncover more information; he decided to enlist the assistance of his friends. Seokmin, mostly, but Mingyu really wanted to be included. Joshua couldn't make it, explaining something about needing to visit somebody else who also needed his help. Seungkwan didn't want to monopolize Joshua's time, especially only for moral support, Seokmin was enough.

He had requested Seokmin to create something that would be allowing him to go unnoticed by the security cameras his parent installed inside office. There was his invisibility, unfortunately it wasn't enough. He had a feeling whatever he needed to locate would be inside the almighty drawer. And if seeing the heavy metal drawer open on its own isn't strange enough, the files floating around might signal something when his parents inevitably review the security camera footage.

Luckily, after a thorough explanation on what information Seungkwan knew about the office security system, Seokmin managed to construct something as a solution.

Ever since he discovered the supposedly five minute pills had worked well over the five minute duration, Seungkwan had been persistently interviewing his parents on where exactly did they acquired overdrive from. They lied to his face as effortlessly as breathing, in their minds they probably thought it was in Seungkwan's best interest to be ignorant, but witnessing the adverse side effects the pill possibly possess, Seungkwan needed to know.

He also might've overheard a couple stray conversations; his parent’s referring to the overdrive that he'd consume as an earlier sample. Hearing that solidified the fact that his parents knew something more, the answer was right in Seungkwan's line of vision.

The office.

"Next week, we need to pick out fabrics –" his mother voice floated from her private office all the way descending the stairs.

Seungkwan hesitated only briefly before finally slipping inside the office barely escaping the door shutting behind him. He heard the usual locks clicked into place, a mechanism resulting in the doors opening only from inside the office. He never noticed just how secretive and paranoid his parents were.

"What do you need to hide all the time, huh?" He commented under his breath, knowing full well what the answer was. No elites were immune from cheating every now and again.

Seungkwan had only ever been in his parents’ office a handful of times before. Remembering when he was just a child of elementary school age, when all his difficulties consisted only of what toys he wanted to play with his friends later that afternoon, he would sometimes he allowed visitation inside the office. He missed it, being childlike, just freely breathing, and ignorant. It's sad, he was only nineteen, taking a year hiatus before college, and yet he already felt the weight of the world weighing his shoulders. It shouldn't be like this.

"Now, where..." he scanned the throughout the area, carefully keeping himself concealed from the vision of the cameras inside his parents office. Once located, he immediately tip-toed towards his mother personal computer and started following what Seokmin instructed him to do.

"What is it?"

"It's a drive, I wired it so the cameras would show a loop of your mother's empty office, you’ll have ten minutes."

Seokmin was a bewildering entity, Seungkwan thought, an idiot at times and a magician behind a computer.

After inserting the drive, seeing the red light on it blinking, he took that as indirect permission to remove his camouflage.

Since he discovered several days ago he had retained his invisibility, he figured out several facts surrounding it. One was that it required copious amount of energy and concentration, maybe it was because he was new at it but making himself invisible felt like he was trying to balance concrete on his shoulders and walk on a tightrope simultaneously. Exhausting and attention consuming. The second thing he learned was when he makes other things that extended past his body, like his clothes, invisible, it's even more exhausting.

He was relieved to finally be alleviated of that. He was sure he was about to pass out.

The metal drawers at the further side of the room were ginormous and were one of the only things Seungkwan remembered from the time spent inside this office. His parents were always unforthcoming about the large drawer, not allowing him a look inside. In conclusion, secrets were probably hidden in there.

He opened the first drawer, immediately sighing. "Come on," he whined, seeing the multitude of alphabetized documents inside.

Overdrive. O. There were a lot under that, he wasn't sure ten minutes was enough.

After seemingly hours, he finally discovered the document on overdrive, opening it, something small fell. "A tiny flashlight, huh?" It weighed practically nothing and when he switched it on, no light shined from it.

"Weird." He went to rummage some more. Seven minutes in he was already exhausted, decidedly slumping himself on his mother's swivel chair. He was giving up; he only discovered that tiny flashlight and nothing important.

Time was running out, leaning down he tried ejecting the drive from the computer, not bothering to look, just allowing his hand to blindly guide him. Moving around resulted into something sharp poking his wrist.

"Ow!" He looked towards the culprit and saw something black and shiny sticking out from the folds of the document he'd placed below him. Leaning forward to investigate, he discovered it was an opened envelope.

"What the –“The envelope was black and understated, opening it, revealed a similar looking card contained inside with nothing written on it.

He flipped it over several times, he wasn't sure what it was or why it was carefully concealed. He put it up to the light hoping he would see something, like that awesome invisible writing trick depicted in movies, with writings revealing itself underneath illumination. Of course the card was completely black and opaque, so the light couldn't even shine through it.

But then why would it be hidden, unless –

"The light." He suddenly remembered, running to the drawer and pulling the flashlight he'd discovered. He had one minute left, he needed to move quickly.

He flicked the switch on, again, no stream of light came through, but he pointed it at the black card and gasped at what was revealed.

"Yellow Snapdragon, Sunday 10 p.m." he read, his cellphone alarm suddenly vibrating, reminding him he only had thirty second left.

"Oh crap." He moved as quickly as he could, returning the flashlight, the card, and the envelope to where it's previously located. Lastly he ejected Seokmin's drive, before turning himself invisible, feeling the thin filament that was coming from within him slowlt encompassing very part of his body until it disappeared. After that, he quickly ran out of the room, closing the door behind him.

With three seconds left to spare he released the breath he was holding. It was over.

Finally calming down, he began making his way back, fishing out his phone to call his friends. The line ring for barely a second before somebody clicked to answer. "Guys, I think I found something."

Notes:

Find me on:
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title from Sabrina Carpenter - No Words <3

Chapter 7: Worshipping Murderous Nothing but Evil Duplicitous Men

Notes:

Let's add a lil bit of ✨Junhao

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The first time Jun had discovered Minghao was when he wasn't anything but a shadow to the rookies from the agency. He hadn't known what was happening or how he'd ended up surviving a ginormous raid on his (practically) first day. It was for a drug operation that the agency had been working towards cracking down for months, and when they received the substantial information that they needed to locate the gang's latest trade off spot, their response were instantaneous.

It had been one of the first criminal organization compose solely of unregistered mutants, nobody was a human there unless they were held captive.

Jun had been greatly terrified, his knees trembling under the pressure of barely graduating rigorous training and jumping inside something unbelievably important right after. Added to it the intensified nerve-wracking emotions thrumming underneath well trained operatives' skin. It was a waking nightmare; he opted toward clawing his arm, coping, resulting in tiny crescent indents. It stopped himself from attempting to influence everybody's emotions.

Standing there, by the docks behind one of the higher shipping container stacks. He was instructed to stay put, monitor the oncoming situation and learn.

He remembered the uncomfortable silence ringing through the large area, only occasionally being broken by the sound of waves crashing to the shores. The minutes passed droningly underneath the dim moonlight, as trained operatives held their weapons, anticipating the massive oncoming assault.

Junhui could barely swallow enough air into his lungs, his head spinning violently.

And then it came, a steady heartbeat pumping blood through anxious veins, and buried deep within was a singular misplaced emotion that Junhui could only described as something on the opposite side of his expectations. Nobody had noticed the intense emotions that somebody in the area was experiencing – of course they didn't, it wasn't their ability. Junhui felt it though, the anxiety rising up his throat from whoever it was.

"Something's wrong," He had frantically whispered, only to be shut down by a myriad of unnecessary shushes.

They don't understand, he thought, somebody was deathly afraid.

And then the raid began.

It was a mix of muzzle flashes, dancing bullets through the intensity of the night, screaming men armed to their teeth with weapons all advanced forward in firm and choreographed steps. The smell of sea salt intermingling with the scent of solid metal both from the scraping bullets and the blood.

All the while, the only thing anchoring Junhui was that horribly debilitating mix of emotions of absolute fear.

Everything after was a blur, the banging party ending in a whisper and days to come he caught but a glimpse of that same odd mix of feelings that he had had before.

Minghao had been tranquil, overly so, not a single opening available. He was sitting in the interrogation room, hands rested calmly clasped together like he had chosen it and not because it was handcuffed together.

Junhui was hypnotized, the effortless way the boy had spoken an antithesis to the agitation hidden deep within. It was a marvelous sight to witness somebody lying effortlessly through their teeth, but underneath all that he caught wind of something. The same thing he had caught during the raid but couldn't quite place within his knowledge.

Right now, closer in approximation it was apparent what the emotion was.

Guilt.

It was a whirlwind of uncontrolled motion after that, running straight into the interrogation room and laughing awkwardly.

Junhui didn't know how he had managed to succeed, or how he out of anyone, had received such a kindhearted, unguarded, thankful emotion from the criminal. But that was what transpired; he got a criminal out of dodge in exchange for loyalty.

Junhui wished he could say that that's when the partnership offers were created, but no, he had just merely suggested it at the correct time.

The romance came after.

Recounting everything, even back then Junhui was always loyal to Minghao, never once lied or deluded the other in anyway. For an empath he knew what it felt like being lied to, and it wasn't a nice feeling so he sought to never inflict it onto anybody else. It was quite a stark contrast to his boyfriend whose life literally revolved around calculated heartless deceptions.

Junhui should've realized sooner. Minghao was keeping secrets, that the undercover assignment he was put into wasn't just the regular old neighborhood gang bust. No, Minghao was massively intelligent, his talents wouldn't have been wasted the way Junhui thought it was.

Minghao had received an assignment for the case, the one responsible for half of the destruction currently happening throughout the city. And here Junhui thought he knew the other better.

"It wasn't like I didn't want to tell you." Minghao rested his elbows onto his knees, leaning forward, rubbing all over his face. He wanted nothing more than to just recline backwards on the bed he was sitting on, but he could tell Junhui wasn't ready for any type of relaxation.

The spacious bedroom that they often share felt claustrophobic then. The area, however, provided them with the close approximation that they sorely needed after going so long without. Even if it was unpleasantly forced at the moment.

Junhui thought it was a good thing Seungcheol was patiently waiting until tomorrow for the complete explanation. Even more thankful that Seungcheol had managed to calm Chan down enough not to absolutely destroy Minghao. Not that the kid could, his pyrokinetic abilities were no match for somebody who could literally adapt to almost anything. Seungcheol ended up distracting Chan, explaining, promising Chan thoroughly that he'd be filled in later, providing enough leverage for Minghao to escape that situation.

This was a problem that needed to be faced head on, their relationship – before they could take the case further.

"Why didn't you tell me? I texted you every day during work thinking that you'll definitely be okay at the end of the day, but no, you were playing with fire, you could've –"

"Could've what? – Died?" Minghao scoffed. The whole reason he was able to play undercover in the first place was his very convenient ability. He could adapt to any attack, his powers able to be controlled both consciously and unconsciously. That's how he was so easily accepted – a boy, not of legal age back then, an immigrant no less with barely any understanding of the country's native language – into one of the biggest crime organization in the country. His ability was a blessing that continued defending him even up until now.

Junhui didn't understand how that was even remotely called for, the way Minghao could shrugged it off effortlessly. He could tell that his boyfriend wasn't afraid which was positive to an extent. Junhui just had to make sure the reason Minghao wasn't afraid was because he was confident in his ability, and not because the other was unafraid of dying.

Junhui was already skeptical of the agency’s ability to protect non-official workers, like undercover agents. They didn't particularly care what happened to Minghao and there were a myriad of flaws Junhui could list as a potential danger just because the agency didn't actually care – plain and simple. He wished he could make an impact in the agency enough to renew their rules and regulations when it came to protection. But he couldn't and Minghao could die as a result.

The former thought didn't sit well with Junhui, something similar to devastation cracking through his already frayed worried face.

Minghao soften up a bit at that at least, his shoulder releasing the tension that was there as he breathed a relieved sigh. This wasn't going to turn into a screaming match – which was a rarity between them but devastating when it happens – and he was grateful.

Minghao motion towards the spot beside him, watching his boyfriend's downturned head walked slowly towards the bed, his hand immediately corralling the smaller one's body. From this spot, with Junhui buried in his neck, Minghao thought his boyfriend resembled a wounded puppy.

"You trust me don't you?"

"Of course."

"Then you trust that I will do everything in my power to always come home to you."

The silence was perceived as hesitation, which meant no, Junhui didn't fully trust that.

"I'm not the same boy I was years ago, I'm not as reckless," Minghao said in earnest, leaning his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "I have something to live for now." He added a squeeze to the others, settling comfort deep within Junhui's chest. Right then he knew, Minghao was afraid, but it was of losing him.

"I love you."

They shared a chase kiss, warmth spreading from the tiny motion. It was the first falling water droplet before the dam broke and they were tumbling backwards in a heaping mess of tangled bed sheets.

There were plot holes to whatever future they had constructed together. External forces sought for them both to self-destruct. Junhui would do his utmost to protect Minghao, make changes within the agency as best he could. He knew it wasn't his boyfriend's fault the agency was flawed and if Minghao wanted to stay then he'd support it. But he won't do nothing, he would try, however it may be, to construct a better environment. Somehow.

For a moment, it felt like the universe was perfect inside the ignorant bubble they were in, and all they could do was embrace each other. Now all they had to do was keep each other safe.

 

💊💊💊

 

Grabbing a cup of coffee from the break room so early in the morning really did hit different, when the air lingering was too cold to be refreshing and perspiration fogged up the windows. Practically nobody was at the agency, whether it was because they were out on a case, attempting to solve whatever shit-storm's happening outside, or because they were home enjoying their early dawn with tranquil unconsciousness. Seungcheol though, was here because of one reason.

To get answers.

Several days ago was a headache of a time, Junhui's racing thought had been really difficult to barricade, even though Seungcheol's numerous self-thought mind-blocking techniques, some anxiety-ridden thoughts managed to escape. Truthfully, the pleading eyes of his partner were what cemented his decision, the complicated emotions bleeding through it. Junhui needed time and Seungcheol was willing to wait.

Seungcheol allowed the couple to escape, despite Chan's disagreeing shout that reverberated long after Junhui's car drove away. Seungcheol was stranded, with no idea how he could calm down the victim and his rightfully furious family.

It was almost impossible, with him receiving unsympathetically cold glares from everyone every time he refused to uncover any more information. Mainly because he didn't have the full information himself. The sporadic glimpses he caught from the couple wasn't nearly enough for him to impart said knowledge. Unable to decipher it just yet, he decided to wait, let the fire breathe before he extinguished it.

It was unfair to the victim's family, he's aware, but his first substantial case had unexpectedly spiraled into something out of his depths. He was clueless.

"If you have no information for us then leave."

"No, Jeonghan hyung, he has to know! He has to!"

A screaming match full of overwhelmed emotions was clearly scheduled in their future, Seungcheol felt horrible for causing it.

"Hey, maybe we should calm ourselves first," the odd one out – Joshua, his head supplied, had suggested before pushing the quarrelling brothers into their claustrophobic apartment, Jeonghan going willingly, a strong grip, pulling harshly on his younger brother's wrist, who'd refused to move.

"Please," Jeonghan pleaded voice soft, which loosen the tug in between them, but Chan didn't surrender.

The impromptu staring competition, followed by the steadily heating hands of Chan was an incredible sight to witness. The way that Jeonghan had steadfastly refused to release his grip on the younger one, knowing the risk of being burned. It was so intimate and simultaneously violent that it struck something inside Seungcheol.

This wasn't what he'd imagined would unfold when he thought of reuniting Chan with his family. There should be stunned silence, love, and melancholy but instead his lack of experience handling a case ruined all of that. He felt like an intruder.

He would've run if it weren't for his stubborn savior complex bolting him to the ground.

One of the other boys – Soonyoung, the hacker, his mind reminded, was standing in the corner; face carefully concealed with only a hint of concern shining through his facial expressions, body rigid. Everything about Soonyoung screamed 'tense' – like he, someone Seungcheol had assumed was an important part of the family – was intruding as well. And Seungcheol thought that maybe he wasn't the only one there pretending to be strong when his knees were buckling for the sake of everyone else. Seungcheol couldn't begin to imagine how thick a skin one had to develop, living to witness these kinds of pressure affecting your family every day. He deserved better, Seungcheol thought, they all do.

"You know what he would do don't you? What they always do! They'll leave and they won't tell us anything, won't help in anyway. Pretend like we don't exist, like we don't matter. You know this!"

"No." Even without the same blood coursing through their veins, it seemed stubbornness ran in their family. The only other person who seemed understandable in their mannerism was Joshua, who only sighed exasperatedly, like he'd been through this before. Maybe he had.

"Guys, come on stop this." Joshua's words fell on deaf ear.

"Hyung."

"Chan."

Seungcheol registered too late the smell of burning flesh, and when he did he frantically ran forward, forcibly breaking the two brothers apart. "Jeonghan!"

Chan startled backwards, his eyes blinking rapidly at the charred flesh, the smoke. "Hyung," he whispered, and this time it sounded apologetic. "Hyung – I –"

Seungcheol's immediately grabbed Jeonghan's hands, eyes frantically searching for the sink – anything. "Where's your bathroom? Do you have a first aid kit? Where –"

"It's fine." Jeonghan's skin began shifting colors, stitching itself back up and Seungcheol stood back in surprise.

"Hyung I'm sorry, I –"

"Its fine, Chan." Jeonghan's tone conveyed anything but 'fine', but they let it go.

Chan's stomach churned with guilt almost immediately. They've done this before during disagreements, but never once had Chan gone as far as to burn Jeonghan. Before Chan knew it, he was crying, falling backwards on the bed, curling in on himself.

That's when Soonyoung finally move from his previous position, protective arms curling routinely around the sobbing boy, like his only purpose was to be strong. Jeonghan's stare were both sad and unbreakable looking at them, his hand were clenching around his steadily healing wrist. Then it was Joshua's turn to rest his hand on Jeonghan's shoulder, resulting in two added occupants surrounding the mattress.

"I'm really sorry," Chan sobbed.

There were no shushing or exchanges of comforting words, but somehow the connection between them felt incredibly strong. They were acknowledging everything in their own way, their pain, their disappointment – their grief.

Seungcheol only then realized that the family hasn’t been allotted the chance to do that yet and it made him feel like a disruption. He needed to go, leave this poor family alone, and finish the case for them.

Suddenly the determination within him ignited again. Stalking forward, he reached inside his pocket, taking out a random piece of paper and a pen, writing much needed information on it.

"Here." He held out the card with as much certainty as he could muster, nodding for Chan to take it.

It might've hurt Seungcheol a bit, to be overwhelmed with their mixture of emotion-driven thoughts, especially when Chan stared with his tear-stained eyes directly at him. "What's this?"

"My phone number, so you can call me later if I ended up taking too long getting you that explanation – and my badge number, so you can write me up anonymously to my superior if I fail you in some way." He thought that that would make Chan ease whatever negative feelings were swimming inside his chest.

"Thank you, detective, we’ll be sure to call you," Joshua said, the polite smile feeling more like a dismissal.

Seungcheol nodded, feeling oddly sadden by the thought of departing. There was something inside the tiny apartment that was drawing Seungcheol towards it. Something was missing within his chest.

He was halfway out the door when Chan muttered something that halted him. "You better come through; I swear I've been lied to too many times in this life."

It was halfway through his subway ride home did he realize the feeling that drew him into that cramped apartment. It was longing.

The turn of a new day brought a newer perspective to Seungcheol. The agency he saw in front of him, he realized, was horribly imperfect. That family that he left was his first time experiencing such blatant disregard on the small folks. It made him wonder if any other detectives have felt the same way him, this disjointed disappointment. Change had to be made, and it would start with him if it had to.

That's why he was here; exhausted, determined, waiting for Minghao and Junhui to finish with recording their complete statements. Apparently, Minghao was an informant, and it was mandatory for him to do that within a certain period of time. The function was so the undercover informant would stay, undercover.

He waited at his desk, steaming up his face with the warm cup in his hand, leaning back on his chair, eyes closed. His stomach grumbled, demanding breakfast but he ignored it. He had made plans to eat out with Junhui and Minghao right after their talk anyway. Instead he chose to relive whatever he felt whilst departing Chan's apartment.

Maybe it's a combination of things; how Jeonghan had so steadily ignore Chan's outburst, how he'd let the other burn him, and how they ended the night together. All their problems didn't suddenly disappeared but it was a wonderful sight to see, familial.

Another thing that he couldn't ignore was how his mind felt inside Jeonghan's. He didn't know how to describe it, the instantaneous connection that they shared. It was palpable and incredibly strong, so strong that it became difficult for him to pull away at the time. Staggering after Chan was an indescribably difficult feat. And even then...

There's something about that shapeshifter.

He almost fell asleep daydreaming his memories when a familiar but unexpected footsteps echoed towards him, followed by the forefront of thoughts scratching his mind before sarcastic words began spilling through.

"Choi."

"Jihoon." Seungcheol begrudgingly sit himself back up, getting a small tentative sip before resting his cup on his desk. He didn't expect the forensic technician to visit him unprompted this early in the morning. "Can I help you with something?"

"You're on a case right?" Jihoon sat himself in his usual seat – stolen. The person he stole the chair from squinted menacingly but made no attempts at complaining; only huffing under his breath before walking away.

Seungcheol chuckled; Jihoon could be ridiculously entertaining in his obliviousness and general anti-socialness. There was a headache throbbing away at Seungcheol's temple but the sight of Jihoon, someone familiar within the agency alleviated some of it.

"Yeah."

"Pills?"

"How did you –"

Jihoon rolled his eyes. "Everybody else are doing it, it's just that all of them hadn't prove themselves useful in obtaining a viable subject for me yet," He said frowning, he needed to progress on his research, certain that he had discovered the tip of a massive ice berg, but the water was deep and murky, he needed some sort of leverage to see the scale of this peculiar phenomenon spreading seemingly only within the city.

"You need a subject? For what?"

"The pills, I've been trying to synthesize them but it's really hard when it disappears almost instantly after being in contact with organic body – well, we don't know if it's instantly yet, since nobody can seem to follow instruction and bring me back a subject on overdrive and the pills themselves."

"Have you asked the other detectives?"

"Of course," Jihoon said, a slight redness covering his ears indirectly informed Seungcheol of the embarrassing lie.

"Uh huh...and you wonder why me and Junhui's the only people that hang out with you." Seungcheol was a telepath, it made it a hell of a lot easier for him to decipher that the cold shoulders, and the snide critiques Jihoon spews out, it was just how the technician's attempts at friendliness manifested. Then there was Junhui who knew the content of the other's heart even before he knew Jihoon's name. The technician had a bit of a reputation as the resident egotistical bad ass, but it could get lonely at the top. Seungcheol and Junhui just so happened to know how to climb.

"Whatever, can you help, or are you as incompetent as everyone else here?" Jihoon rubbed at his eyes, he was beginning to get frustrated. What kind of pill is overdrive? Why couldn't he seemed to find any traces of it even only minutes had passed since the body was transferred to him – not even in their hair follicles! Nothing. That didn't even remotely answers the mystery of how overdrive seemed to be affecting mutagene and DNA interactions itself. Then there was the exploding thing...

Seungcheol startled in his seat, watching the contents of the technician's laboratory bombarding his psyche. It was in disarray, things scattered haphazardly around metal tables, pushed to the side, presumably making room to uncommonly shaped plants – at least, Seungcheol hoped those were plants. Whatever it was grew coiling from the auburn dirt beneath, climbing all the way up to the ceiling. It had strange skin-like qualities to its vines, and on ends of them there were dangling pods that looked like what Seungcheol imagines an amniotic sack would look like. From the momentary reading, he could vividly see that it was throbbing. Throbbing.

"What have you been up to?" Seungcheol's face contorted in disgust, this was why he always felt wary of visiting Jihoon's laboratory. The other would sometimes passively insinuate that Seungcheol should visit at times. Seungcheol would always indulge him, but whenever he did always resulted in him being thoroughly flabbergasted on what exactly Jihoon could do both as a mutant and a technician.

"You saw the thing didn't you?" Jihoon deadpanned. Seungcheol said nothing, unfurling the tension building between his eyebrows, mumbling a quiet sorry. Jihoon sighed. "It's a human-plant hybrid I made so I could use it as a test subject if we ever acquired those pills. It's safer that way."

Seungcheol nodded mindlessly, not understanding anything. "You scare me sometimes Jihoon."

The other smiled in contentment.

"So can you get me a subject who's been in contact with overdrive and overdrive itself?"

"I guess so...but the pills, it's..."

"They track them." Minghao was walking towards them, several case file on one hand and Junhui in the other.

"Track them?"

Minghao nodded. "They counted them before they're put into the market and they gave them out to slumrats desperate enough for this."

"Why?" Jihoon asked, there's got to be a motive for such an elaborate distribution plan, only for the pills to end up in some random slumrats possession.

"I don't know, but that's what my last drop-off guy did before..."

Chan tried to burn him alive, Seungcheol remembered.

"Right." Seungcheol told the pair to sit, grabbing any chairs available and coalescing around his cubicle. "You're done with the statements?"

"Yup, it wasn't as difficult as we thought it would be." Junhui breathed out a nervous chuckle, Seungcheol took note on his partner's lie. He was sure the rapid occurrence couldn't have been pleasant for either people to sort out, he was just glad that they did.

Seungcheol gave his partner a reassuring smile, making the tension in Junhui's back gave way. Junhui wasn't the only one good with figuring out emotions.

"I'll explain everything now."

Seungcheol nodded, attention already wrapped. Leaning forward, he placed his elbows onto his knees and prompted Minghao to continue.

Minghao looked warily to the vertically challenged human, who seemed to be leaning closer as well. Who was he? "Who –”

"Jihoon, he's the resident forensic technician. He's cool," Seungcheol explained.

"Are you sure?"

"Ahh! What part of he's cool do you not understand, huh?"

Minghao reeled, not expecting hostility to be the other's default.

Jihoon.

Choi.

Seungcheol shook his head, Jihoon was definitely in denial.

"And you ask why me and Junhui –"

"Yeah, yeah, just...sorry," He reluctantly mumbled towards Minghao, extending a hand in greeting that Seungcheol vaguely associate with kindergarten students forced to make up by their teachers. "Lee Jihoon."

Minghao took the technician's hand gingerly, the word 'the8' almost slipping his tongue before catching himself. This was Junhui's friend and coworker, and technically right now he wasn't on the job. "Minghao."

After the slight detour of the subject, they returned to their conversation. Minghao was quick and decisive in relaying the information needed, from his surface involvement in transporting the pills, to his involvement with the abduction. Though, at the time he didn't know it was an abduction. He just saw a bunch of children being taken into a hospital; they had appeared sickly to him so he assumed that's what it was. It wasn't until that one kid, Chan, woke up for a fraction of a second mumbling about how he needed to get home.

Minghao was only there as the bodyguard once again when the children were moved to that new abandoned hospital location. Truthfully he knew something other than an innocent free healthcare was definitely brewing beneath, but his position was to observe and report back information. His job was not to play hero and yet...

There were children, fully awake but incoherent being sheep-herded inside ambulances, looking bleary-eyed and vaguely disgruntled. For a while, he had ignored his conscience gnawing at him. Then the ambulance door closed behind him and the vehicle started driving away and the decision to stay put was made for him.

There were the last group, hooked up to IV's and machinery Minghao couldn't begin guessing what the function was. They all looked deathly pale; he had to swallow down bile that had risen up his throat. These were children.

"Help." he remembered hearing those desperate words, barely whispered out, accompanied by the strong grip to his wrist. He didn't remember much except for the deafening blood pumping in his ears. Nobody was surrounding him except for these unconscious kids and the one currently cementing his surprisingly strong grip onto him.

He didn't think, didn't even hesitate before nodding, hands scrambling to do...something.

He pressed buttons frantically, reading the words describing each function and wiggled out the IV needle, puncturing the bag and standing back abruptly when somebody walked towards him.

By the time the personnel arrived, the kid had already slipped back into a coma and Minghao breathed a sigh both for relief and disappointment. He couldn't do much else except hope nobody had noticed the machine had been tampered with and that he was the one responsible.

It was a good thing what he did wasn't all in vein.

"You saved someone."

"I could've compromised my position."

"But you saved someone." Junhui took Minghao's hand in his, rubbing them comfortingly in-between his own.

Seungcheol had never seen a more affectionate look coming from his partner, it was quite adorable. So much so that it flustered Jihoon who coughed when he eventually couldn't take it.

"Get a room."

"Jealous?" Seungcheol countered, watching Jihoon gradually embodied a tomato

"No," his mouth said, just as his mind said maybe.

Seungcheol chuckled. "So, you have to contact someone right, to get a job? Or someone contacts you?" Junhui questioned, sobering up the other two immediately.

"Right, there's this guy, goes by the name Axis. He's the one who usually contacts me. But he did give me a burner cell with a number on it so I can contact him. It's for emergencies only."

The image that came with the thought of 'Axis' unnerved Seungcheol quite a bit. The guy frightens Minghao enough to project his thoughts of the guy quite vividly. He did looked menacing, with a hard-set jaw, a permanent scowl seemingly etched onto his face, and the pièce de résistance was the silver scar drawing from the man's head all the way down diagonally across his face, rendering one of the eyes useless as it indicated with the murky grey color.

Seungcheol shuddered, doing his best to shake the intimidating figure out of his mind. "Can you call and ask to meet him? Tell him you need more jobs or something."

Minghao winced, he could...but it was dangerous, especially if Axis thought his excuse for calling him wasn't good enough. Or worst that he caught on that he was up to something.

"No, it's too dangerous Seungcheol." Junhui had his arms protectively around Minghao's waist, shaking his head. After understanding most of the things he thought he knew about Minghao's job description was a lie, nobody could really blame him for being wary in trusting Minghao to do this incredibly dangerous thing.

"We need to know where Chan was taken and where those pills came from – we have to know something."

"But –"

"Junhui." Minghao stared at his boyfriend's, earnestly, an undertone of warning behind them. Seungcheol made a point to block him away from the private conversation going through between their heads, unwilling to cross that line.

Junhui wasn't a telepath but he got the message anyways.

Trust that I'll come home to you.

"I'll do it," Minghao affirmed, and this time no protests came.

Jihoon suddenly clapped, startling everyone. "Well great, once you're done with that make sure that my request is fulfilled, yeah? Just be sure to get them to me immediately if you can." With that he stood up, walking away from the trio back to his laboratory.

"Aren't you going to eat with us?"

"Nope, I'm gonna go play with some corpses and mutant plants, thanks," he said before turning a corner.

"What request?"

Seungcheol waved a hand as if to say later as a temporary answer.

"Is he always like..." Minghao started, Seungcheol nodded his affirmation.

"But he's friendly on the inside."

"What does friendly on the inside even mean?"

Seungcheol shrugged. He was glad to take some load off his shoulders now that a couple of his duties had been executed. Minghao would inform him late on Axis and his next mission, but overall he was content. He was optimistic that he could solve whatever this is, or at least help alleviate the problem.

He needed to inform Chan on Minghao's explanation. He should give them a call, Chan had since texted, begging for some sort of information, and now Seungcheol at least had something to convey.

Maybe after food though.

"So...breakfast?"

 

💊💊💊

 

The three of them were at the apartment, like they usually were. Ever since the incident, unpredictable tension had encompassed their whole mood these past few days. Jeonghan felt compelled to realigned himself and remember that somebody he had cared for so dearly, Chan, after being heartlessly stolen right from underneath him, had finally returned in one piece. Chan held no traumatic memories to relive upon, just an empty darkness where a year worth of memories should be. It unnerved the boy quite a bit, but Jeonghan couldn't begin to understand why Chan was incredibly stubborn in not moving on.

So a movie it was, provided through an illegal pirated site discovered by Soonyoung, about an unlikable loner girl trying to survive her teenage years whilst denying her best friend and brother the ability to love they deserved.

It was an uninteresting enough premise that Soonyoung fell asleep, but Jeonghan stayed awake sharing an unbreakable silence between Chan who was in a more calmer mood now then he was yesterday. Jeonghan was grateful for these miniscule pockets of time where there was only tranquil silence that he could pretend nothing ever went incredibly wrong in their lives.

"Did you ever..." Chan bit his lip as soon as those words came out, shaking his head like he was stupid for asking. "Never mind."

It caught Jeonghan's curiosity that he sat up, carefully rearranged Soonyoung's head onto his lap instead of his shoulder before addressing Chan. "What?"

Chan made several aborted motion, his brain scrambling to allocate a better way to iterate what he needed to say.

"Did you ever think I was dead?"

Jeonghan was at a loss for words, but the hesitant silence was answer enough.

"It was my fault; I shouldn't have let you go on your own. I was too greedy."

"That wasn't what I ask."

Just like that they'd reverted back to their previously heavy silence.

Jeonghan sighed, relenting to the hold that the pyrokinetic boy had on his conscience. Lying to Chan was impossible; he never managed to deliver it convincingly.

"I stayed up all night for the first couple of months trying to find you," he began, absentmindedly caressing Soonyoung's hair away from the boy's face. Soonyoung stirred but otherwise didn't wake up, instead burrowing closer to the shapeshifter's stomach. "It was either with Joshua or Soonyoung; they'd always force me back home whenever I'm nearing my breaking point."

Chan recognized Jeonghan was stalling; it was completely pointless since the answer to the question was already obvious. Maybe Jeonghan understood once he concluded the answer it would subsequently open a floodgate of emotionally driven conversations, cementing how far away the finish point was. Maybe he wanted to maintain their bubble of peaceful silence they've constructed for a second longer.

"I did everything to try and find you – even visited the agency, but of course that resulted in absolutely nothing. We search news article too, and there was one..."

Jeonghan hesitated, tears brimming his eyes, a lump in his throat preventing him from continuing. He realized he had to have this conversation at some point that it's imperative in order for them to move on. He just found it incredibly difficult to relive the period of time where he had mourned the disappearance of his brother and reluctantly moved on from it without receiving any answers. Because of that, the feeling of devastation that followed him had now returned and even though he pretended well enough that he was okay for the several months now, he knew he still wasn't. He was severely overwhelmed to appreciate the miracle of Chan returning.

"There was this one article about an unidentified body found just at the outskirts of town, buried. The body was...burnt. A-and I –"

"You thought it was me," Chan completed. Out of everything that could kill him, fire was not one of them, the fact that Jeonghan considered this meant he was desperate; his grief-stricken mind had become irrational. Chan suddenly felt incredibly guilty for giving Jeonghan a difficult time recently – even before.

"It matched your description – the height, the built, I know it was stupid of me but I –"Jeonghan didn't want to finish – was he so desperate for closure that he had seen Chan's face in a nameless dead body? "You were all I have."

Chan immediately buried his face in Jeonghan's neck, drawing himself closer to the older comfortingly. Jeonghan was who had guided him to survive his unfortunate circumstances. It pains him that his chosen brother was hurting. He loved him, had missed him desperately despite the absence of memory accompanying his one year missing.

Jeonghan felt the increasing dampness penetrating through his thin t-shirt, but made no attempts in pushing Chan away, instead holding the other closer towards himself, resting his chin atop of the younger's head. Soonyoung didn't rustle below them, but Jeonghan drew him closer anyways. At that moment, he needed to feel closer, his heart vulnerable after finally beginning to process his emotions. They were all he had besides Joshua, whose presence could be felt in the space between them.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Chan let the older process the overwhelming feelings before vocalizing his steadfast determination. The pain that Jeonghan went through just cemented his convictions. He needed to find closure, for them both.

"So you understand why though – that I need to do this? Promise me you'd tell me if something happens, if detective Choi comes out with more information." Chan's aware of the calls recently exchanged between the detective and his brother, late at night when he supposedly had fallen asleep. Jeonghan had yet to relay anything considerable, but Chan had a feeling that if there was a substantial development in the case, Jeonghan's intention was to shield him away from it as thoroughly as possible.

Jeonghan sighed, the sound resonating deep within his ribcage. He wanted to refuse, instead forcing the other to move on, but it wasn't the right thing. Besides, it was pointless. "I promise."

Instantly they returned to the tranquil undisturbed silence they shared before. The swaying breeze coming in through the large cracks in the wall providing enough cool air for them to finally sleep.

Soonyoung to his credit, pretended to be a man dead to the world quite excellently. He didn't rustle or fallen unconscious, balancing between the area of unconsciousness and wakefulness.

Keeping an eye out for his family had always been his primary precedence and admittedly, the 'you're all I have comment' considerably wounded him. They were all capable individuals, growing up in the slums would do that to a person, but he was one of the last to be acknowledged by them and that's why he always tried to be useful. Even Joshua, who came after, fell quickly into step with Jeonghan like they were twins separated at birth. He felt standoffish and unwelcomed sometimes in numerous situations.

That's why he couldn't possibly sleep, even if he's exhausted. If he'd chosen to remain awake then the silence Jeonghan and Chan shared would've stretched until days ahead. Soonyoung knew he was loved by them, that he was never far from either of their minds, but he sometimes felt like a purposeless fragment of a machine. Keeping a brave face, keeping his family safe was his priority; mainly because he cared for them, but partly because he felt like if he didn't then he was expandable.

Suddenly, Soonyoung felt the soft thrumming vibration resonating through his back, indicating the two above him had finally fallen asleep. Purposefully stirring, he awaited for the two to wake. When they didn't, he sat up, being extremely careful, avoiding knocking down the brothers leaning against one another. He rearranged both of them until they were lying beside each other, throwing a thin blanket over them before burrowing down himself.

"You guys are all I have," He muttered brokenly into the unforgiving evening air. He simultaneously felt warm and alone in his position, nestled in-between his brothers. He's aware that their conversation wasn't over, that their days ahead would be brimming with numerous negatives and positives before anything could possibly return to how they were before.

Soonyoung readily accepted the responsibility of maintaining everybody's safety, recognizing something destructive cultivating within him. Maybe it was his ability signaling his impending future, or maybe deep inside he just knew, but right now, he'd let the tranquility of their heartbeats lull him into a heavy mindless sleep, hoping for something better tomorrow morning

Notes:

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Chapter title from Run The Jewels - Let's Go <3

Chapter 8: Turn This Grave Into a Rave

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Days that trickled by without any new development become straining, like Seungcheol couldn't attempt anything other than waiting. He ended up spending it either researching as thoroughly as possible, traversing every insignificant information that they had. Otherwise he'd started calling Jeonghan, relaying the same information he had repeatedly.

It was a little unprofessional of him, he was aware, but Jeonghan didn't seem to mind. Surprisingly, the two got off well; they'd always ended up conversing adamantly about something completely unrelated to the investigation.

"I don't know, i just thought the movie was better, alright!"

"Seungcheol, you do realize I only said the book was better cause I can't afford the movie, right?"

Seungcheol would pause, biting his lips regretfully, hissing quietly. "Ahh...shit, Jeonghan. Well, maybe we could go after..."

Seungcheol couldn't finish, after what? The case? That could be years.

"Right." How did it come to this? They were talking about informants for fuck sake. "And maybe I could take you to a library – y'know books? Paper that you can hold, Seungcheol?" Jeonghan had teased.

"It's a promise."

From their long-winded conversations, Seungcheol would always be reminded of the moment he accessed Jeonghan's memories, how he witnessed the shapeshifter's extremely dangerous 'missions'. It got his mind worrying until eventually his concerns started diverting his attention.

Jeonghan's job was actually similar to Minghao's.

"I know the money's there but what about health benefits?"

"Seungcheol, why should I trust them?"

Trust me, was what he wanted to say.

"The agency's corrupt."

"Do you think I am?"

Those concerns, Seungcheol realize, were completely inappropriate and were beyond pushing boundaries. But he couldn't help but care; slowly he would subtly voice these concerns. Jeonghan would notice and even though the shapeshifter was flattered, he knew the darkness within authorities. Seungcheol's charisma wouldn't change that.

Besides, Jeonghan could be equally as charming – enough so that his voice would hypnotize Seungcheol, accompanying the detective to sleep.

"– point is, I hate changes too but –"

"This reminds me of a book... somehow."

Seungcheol would sigh, leaned his head further from where it was hanging of his couch and listened. Because unfortunately, he's unable to retain the ability of denying Jeonghan of anything now. "What's it about?"

"A girl, getting too much attention," Jeonghan would pause just to build the tension. "It's Chuck Palahniuk’s book, have you heard about it? Also, How far are you from banging your head on your coffee table again Choi Seungcheol?"

"It's not my fault, I was tired okay!"

"Okay Choi Seungcheol...so about that book..."

The last thing he heard before succumbing to his exhaustion was a vague, "I feel overwhelmed, Choi Seungcheol." And a "Goodnight."

His head didn't in fact, hit the coffee table again. On the contrary, in his dream he was floating, weightless, nobody warranted any of his concerns. Until the shrill ringing rudely interrupted his therapeutic hallucinations.

The room was dark, no signs of illumination streaming between his window curtains, it wasn't morning yet. He groaned, blindly groping his surroundings, searching for the source of the incessant ringing.

He answered.

"He's got a meeting."

Seungcheol blearily looked at the digital clock beside his sofa, blinking '03:03', then groaning loudly into the speaker.

"What?"

"Minghao, he got the meeting. We should start coming up with our full plan."

Seungcheol sat bolt upright then. He'd been patiently waiting for days to receive confirmation that they could proceed with their initial plan. Since then he had numerous opportunities to research everything needed about Axis. He didn't uncover much, but the things that he unearthed was quite...concerning to say the least. Axis was a dangerous man; Seungcheol was reluctant to involve himself. He'll do it, of course he would, that was his purpose as a detective after all.

"Right, I'll get back to you on that."

There was a pregnant pause, Junhui's ragged breathing coming out crackly through the receiver.

"What is it?"

"It’s really happening, huh? Us becoming real detectives? I-Its kinda nerve wracking.

"Yeah." There was a fondness and a hint of nervousness layering their voices. Junhui must've been unable to sleep without relaying this information to Seungcheol. He was probably overly anxious to wait until morning, and that's why he called at whatever o'clock in the morning.

It should be cause for celebration, but somehow Seungcheol was...hesitant. Which was confusing, whilst simultaneously understandable. With that hesitation though, he felt his conviction growing once again, a chance to prove that he was different. Somehow. He did care. He wanted this.

It was finally registering how...real everything was. And with all they have witness as a trainee and eventually as detective rookies, standing with false brevity, attempting to solve this kind of problem felt like a whole beast entirely. It was much more intimidating.

"We'll be great."

"We'll be amazing." Seungcheol reaffirmed.

They shared the static silence between them several beats longer before saying their goodbyes and settling into bed, a thrum of anticipation coaxing them to sleep. And that night, Seungcheol's dreams were invaded with someone who shouldn't have affected the way he viewed himself so quickly.

 

💊💊💊

 

After their nightly confrontation, every day since felt surprisingly tense. Chan was an amazing kid, but Jeonghan's aware of his brother’s determination.

The information they received were barely viable, snippets of an unfinished investigation. It wasn't enough, not for Soonyoung, and certainly not for Chan. But it was enough for Jeonghan, the sooner he got to forget the incident, building replacement memories for when Chan was missing, the sooner he'll be able to return to how thing was before.

The frequency of Seungcheol's calls also increased recently. Their late night long distance rendezvous had mutated into a sort of tradition.

Seungcheol would subtly ask. Jeonghan would reject.

And all the while they'll share a tension only soulmates could possibly possess. That's why Jeonghan had called up Seungcheol again, feeling like he needed somebody to lament towards who weren't Joshua or Soonyoung. He needed somebody foreign enough, unfamiliar with the inner mechanism of his family, and observed it from a third person perspective.

Unexpectedly, Seungcheol also wanted to call him. There's been a development in the case.

"So when is this undercover thing happening?"

"Tomorrow, probably, I'm really sorry I can't tell you more, I'm sure Chan isn't overly happy right now."

"It's okay."

"No, I'm sure he's pretty pissed off that he couldn't confront one of the people responsible for his kidnapping."

Jeonghan pursed his lips in consideration, flipping over onto his stomach where he laid beside a peacefully sleeping Chan. He played with the boy's hair, fingers combing through the short brunette locks.

Jeonghan didn't think Chan was angry per-say. Yes, he was frustrated, and with someone as energetic and passionate as Chan, it often manifested into something similar to anger. But he wasn't furious at his center, just...tired, and afraid, but most of all hurting.

The younger might not be ready to give everything up yet even if Jeonghan was. Right now, the shapeshifter contented himself with just cuddling the sleeping boy from behind; enjoying the warmth he received from it after going forever without. Soonyoung was almost always there after Chan disappeared, but his warmth could never replace his self-adopted little brother. It wasn't less than, just...different. The same way Soonyoung couldn't be replaced by anybody else.

"Jeonghan?"

The muffled crackly sound of the detective startled Jeonghan from his caressing.

"I'm here, it's fine, Chan'll be fine."

"How about you? Are you okay?"

Seungcheol actually was concerned with Jeonghan; their exchanges of calls always begin with Seungcheol. Now Jeonghan had called first and he sounded tired.

Seungcheol wanted to hold him.

"I'm fine Seungcheol – I'm a slumrat remember?"

Seungcheol winced, and Jeonghan almost forgot what a sensitive subject it was to Seungcheol. Whilst Jeonghan was prideful of whatever that came with being a hard-working man, Seungcheol didn't like his dishonest ways.

That maybe was one thing that they genuinely disagree on – their perspective on their own economical statuses was tinted with pride. It made it difficult for either of them to empathize.

Jeonghan would surrender for today though. "I'll be fine, I'm gonna go out for another run with Soonyoung anyways." And the second he said it, Jeonghan knew it was a horrible subject to divert towards.

There was a pause; Jeonghan didn't have to be a telepath to know what the detective wanted to say. The other subject that's been dangling over them both ever since their first encounter of one another.

"Spit it out, Seungcheol."

Jeonghan could hear Seungcheol inhales clearly across the line, so he knew the telepath was there.

"Listen, I just found out Junhui basically arranged Minghao's partnership, so I'm sure I could –"

"No."

"No wait just...here me out."

"No."

"Please." From the brief couple of weeks period of their call exchanges, Jeonghan discover Seungcheol pleaded in a way that if you rejected him, it'd feel like you've stabbed a puppy with a corroded knife. It was irritating and somehow, comforting.

Seungcheol took the silence as an opportunity to explain, rattling off bullet points on why Jeonghan should accept an offer from the agency. From it being beyond safer for him and his family, and the fact that it provided steady income. Everything was pointing towards Seungcheol's idea being a brilliant one, except for one very stupid (admittedly) but persistent detail.

Jeonghan's pride.

"Seungcheol, we both know why that's not going to happen."

Chan wouldn't like it if he accepted the offer and Soonyoung would follow his decision whatever it was so he wouldn't be dismayed with the rejection.

Jeonghan was a slumrat, an entity of pure survival mechanism and callousness. He formed relationships, by some miracle, with a couple people living in and out of his world. They accepted him for who he was, somebody who was smart and cunning in ways society wouldn't be able to accept. The offer would be nice if Jeonghan weren't oblivious to conventional work methods. He had never had a formal education, legally not a dollar to his name, had been arrested several times under different disguises that he frequently changes, and had inflicted pain onto numerous people who may or may not deserved it. He wasn't an honest man and he didn't want to be.

Maybe somewhere along the way he also realized how little he's practically worth. The agency, corrupted as it was, had standards. Standards Jeonghan didn't think he would meet. Otherwise, the agency also persecuted people like him, why would he help them?

"I'm sorry."

Seungcheol sighed, disappointed in himself for even asking. Regardless the effect managed to make Jeonghan feel like he just got reprimanded for something he was blameless for. Otherwise, his chest felt heavy, his heart increasing its palpitation. This only ever occurred when he knew he made the wrong decision but was unwilling to change it.

shit.

"It's fine, just...tell me if you change your mind – and, oh, tell Soonyoung too. The offer extends to him."

"Okay."

"Oh and Jeonghan..." the detective paused; like he barely held back whatever it was he wanted to say.

"Yeah," Jeonghan said softly in retribution.

"Be careful, just promise me that." It wasn't what the detective wanted to say, Jeonghan could tell, but he wasn't going to pry.

"Of course."

The line went dead after that and Jeonghan was forced to succumb into the darkness and silence of his claustrophobically small apartment.

He was a little annoyed at himself for allowing somebody like Seungcheol, a detective no less, to wiggle his way into his life so quickly. Of course their relationship was thin at best, initially fueled by their increasing overprotectiveness of Chan. The only other person he let wiggle their way inside so rapidly was Joshua, and even then it took more than just a couple of weeks.

There was a disconcerting feeling blooming inside Yoon Jeonghan's chest, a Gordian knot that needed to cut in some way. He just hadn't find a sharp enough object yet.

 

💊💊💊

 

Seungcheol slept feeling overwhelmed and unbelievably worried for somebody he technically had no substantial connection with whatsoever. That was what it entails when you're a telepath. Knowing more than you should about somebody, more than they were willing to show in the surface made it easy for him to get overly attached to a complete stranger.

The consuming feeling of walking in somebody else's shoes, seeing a horrifying incident happen and not being able to stop it. Knowing the coping mechanism for it was all wrong from the perspective of somebody on the outside looking in. It was useful, but at times, torturous. Especially with his savior complex.

There was a terrible dread weighing Seungcheol's chest, but for the most part he ignored it. He even ignored it when his dreams conjured up images of Yoon Jeonghan – said dream confirming the two still unbroken mental connections.

 

💊💊💊

 

Seungcheol never thought that this would be a location that somebody would willingly frequent. There were literal rats, milling about drainage systems, traversing their way around like it was their business. Nobody even startled at the sight, only lightly grimacing as the furry little creatures walk in between them.

"How come you two have lived in this city for twenty something years and never once gone to the heart of the slums before," Minghao commented, amusement evident in his voice.

"We have gone to the slums before." Mainly Jeonghan's apartment, Seungcheol's mind supplied "We just...never stayed long."

"Hmm."

Minghao was striding along like he belonged in between the unkempt, haphazardly thrown on cheap cocktail dresses and off white t-shirt, adorning his own simple leather jacket on top of jeans and a simplistic shirt. He walked like he knew where he's headed, never faltering in hitting the silent beat with his stride. Seungcheol also noticed the way Minghao was broadening his shoulders more, his stance widening – in fact everybody were walking in similar fashion. It's like even at a place where everybody should let loose, unwind via alcohol and no doubt several different illegal substances, everybody was still cautious, distrustful gazes scanning warily at the people they had come with.

Seungcheol thought moving away from the elites did a number on his culture shock, but the slums were a different beast entirely.

Inside the sweltering hot club wasn't any better, party goers were inebriated in some instance or another. Still, he didn't miss how each of their eyes scrutinizing, flitted to one another when someone was getting a bit too close. They were mindful with their limited surroundings and it made Seungcheol less skittish in showing of his own cautious demeanor.

It unfortunately didn't assist him in avoiding feeling like a fish out of water, the hair on the back of his neck was standing up on its end, and there was this deeply rooted paranoia that everybody there were watching him and somehow had seen through his facade.

The first thing he and Junhui did was sat at an enclosed corner near the bar. The booth, cracked-piss-smelling leather and all, were almost secluded to the rest of the party. Certainly someone didn't predict the layout of their building before pushing their last booth too far into a corner, but it worked swimmingly enough for the two detectives.

They weren't wearing earpieces, it was too risky when the meeting would be up close, so for the night Seungcheol would have to do majority of the work. The plan was simple; Seungcheol would keep a line out on Minghao, instructing the other on what to do whilst simultaneously listening in on the target's mental cognition. Minghao would do his best as the8 to wheedle bits of information out of their target, Seungcheol would then voice what he collected aloud and let Junhui write and record everything they needed.

Seungcheol saw Minghao sliding towards the booth on the opposite corner of the room. It was hidden from their line of sight, where it was beyond the bar in the middle of the room, but Seungcheol could saw the tip of someone's head facing towards where Minghao would be, and Seungcheol knew it was Axis.

"They're talking." Seungcheol quickly found the line to the target's mind and waited patiently there.

Junhui had his recorder already rolling and pointed towards Seungcheol, but in case the thumping music in the club was too loud, Junhui had his pen and paper ready. The other was also keeping an eye out for the target and Minghao simultaneously, giving off calming and reassuring energy respectively so everything could work optimally. He was careful not to overdo it, not wanting their target to sense anything was amiss.

Seungcheol saw the eyes, intimidating and calculating even after Junhui's effort to mellow them down. Axis was sipping idly at the amber liquid in his glass, hand swinging about elegantly in between swigs. He could hear their conversation crystal-clearly, the noises inside the club taking a back seat, ebbing away from his ears until it sounded like there were a partition in-between them and their target.

"So what brings you here? I hope for your sake it's an emergency." There was a sinister undertone whenever the guy spoke that made Seungcheol have goose bumps all over. So far, their target's initial mental cognition was aligning with whatever he was saying.

"Look, I don't wanna take up your time but...I need some work."

Minghao was doing a terrific job, Seungcheol thought, the informant's voice trembling slightly, purposefully, which drove the desperation in his tone. He just hoped his target bought that.

Right after, Junhui felt suspicion not belonging to himself creeping slowly, incased with a layer of annoyance. Junhui bit his lips, afraid they had screwed up before even beginning.

"What is it?" Seungcheol queried, noticing the shift in expression.

"The guy's suspicious."

Seungcheol tuned back immediately to find Axis mind had gone lax, probably because of Junhui.

"You call me up, because you need money." With every word, Axis tapped his ringed index finger on his glass, it intimidated Minghao, but that wasn't particularly a negative thing.

"Y-yes, please, I'm late on my rent and I don't know anyone to stay with." Minghao's voice trembled at the right places it seemed, because Axis expression softens to ones of contemplation.

Question him about the pills, quickly. Seungcheol instructed, seeing the opportunity.

"Those...pills that I delivered. Maybe I could do those kinds of jobs again?"

Flitting thought of suspicion returned, immediately Seungcheol did his best to warned Minghao.

"I mean – that was quick and simple right? I won't have to intrude on other's business."

Seungcheol saw then, an image of a location, a swanky looking building.

keep going.

"A-and like all I have to do is drop 'em off so not a lot of things could go wrong. I did a great job doing that before, right?"

The crimson-golden sign above the building sparkling intermittently. Somewhere in the dark, at an intersection, with a lot of construction surrounding the building. Furthermore, the building was unfamiliar to Seungcheol. In conclusion; it must be new. He relayed to Junhui everything; the other detective began writing immediately.

It was always difficult to discern writings from images flitting through his mind. It was almost like trying to read a book inside incoherent dreams. Luckily, he caught enough information.

"Yellow...Snapdragon? – just write it down."

He heard the scribbles of Junhui's pen traveling further away whenever he refocused on their target.

"You did decent."

Flashing lights, stage, podium. Invitations.

Pills.

"There's going to be a party and the pills are gonna be there."

When he tried to reconnect to Axis mind, instead his thoughts caught onto another frequency. It was sharp and strong, his ability taking note of how familiar whoever's cognition it belonged to.

And then he saw something, someone was facing a cracked mirror. Their reflection bouncing back all distorted. They were in a sparkly sequenced dress, just the tips of their silver hair visible reaching just before their chest. There was a pair of hands that settled suddenly on whoever it was's torso that garnered the attention of the person in the dress. And then whoever it was finally started looking up, slowly, taking their time in raking their features.

A small seductive smirk on a familiar face became visible to Seungcheol who choked instinctively. Jeonghan.

He watched the shapeshifter's face gripped in a split second shock before he heard commandingly. Furious.

Get out of my head Choi Seungcheol.

Then Seungcheol was sprinting before he could even register that his body was moving.

 

💊💊💊

 

It wasn't hugely surprising that less than a month of Chan's return; Jeonghan's little family had started running out of supplies. Sustenance and water, mainly. They had stopped showering daily a week in, and they smell worse than usual. That's why Jeonghan had taken it upon himself to pickpocket a couple of people in the club. He hadn't requested Soonyoung's company this time; instead Soonyoung was given the responsibility of making certain that their youngest stayed obediently inside the apartment, where he's safe.

They didn't need much anyways; just a week's worth supplies, and then maybe Jeonghan would pick up odd jobs again. It was getting increasingly difficult; he didn't know why whenever it came to unstable politics, the slumrats always descended into temporary (bigger) chaos. He hadn't had an honest job in forever, but maybe once the elections are over then jobs would steadily trickle back in. Right now the shapeshifter just had to content himself with this, stealing.

"Sorry," Jeonghan knocked purposefully hard to the man's broad shoulder, diverting attention away from the hands sneaking to behind to the unsuspecting victim's pocket. Once he's gotten far enough away, disappearing into the crowd, he shifted his face, his hair, his height, his 'dress'.

He hated doing this when he was technically naked, it made the brush of their bodies more noticeable and he always felt worse for wear by the end.

Honestly, he felt terrible every time he inflicted this. It wasn't anything like stealing from the wealthy, where you're able to receive satisfaction of knowing they somewhat deserved it. But this, he didn't know how many lives he had severely impacted, how many people had unintentionally worsen at his hand, just by him stealing several loose change from them.

For once, he wanted a wealthy target who’s moronic enough not to create multiple backup bank accounts. Maybe if that were to happen, Jeonghan, Soonyoung, and Chan could run away forever with the money that they had. Although he didn't think it would be very pleasant, living a life constantly evading authorities. The irony wasn't lost to him, but that's the reason why they only ever drain one account, so the elites wouldn’t pursuit matters further since to them only a fraction was stolen, not worth any effort. Them stealing every few months also made their movement difficult to track by the agency.

A girl suddenly grinded at him, keeping his hips steady whilst she whispered incoherent murmurs in his ears. He was currently sporting shorter hair, his hands inside his 'jacket' swayed to the mindless rhythm. It was honestly disorienting for his body to keep switching between genders, on top of which now he had to manifest clothing. He felt about ready to surrender, but of course he remembered everything that needed to be paid to get the water up and running again. They also required food to fill the minibar that they stole forever ago from a motel. They also needed electricity for said minibar. Their apartment had been shut off for a couple days now, Soonyoung had resulted in stealing power from neighbors.

He gripped the girl tighter, feeling her bag she had hidden behind her opening under his fingers.

"You're hot," he whispered to the girl, watching her eyes grew brighter as she drew him in for a kiss. He could identify the feel of paper bills in his hand, and with quick movement he slipped all of them out and hidden them in the sleeve of his 'jacket'. He pulled away from the kiss. "But you're not my type," he whispered callously after, walking away.

He got further into the club, and was now able to see the edge of the crowd where the booths laid. He could use a couple breathers.

Shifting discretely into a female body he sat on an opened booth, rubbing tension from his sore feet, frowning. He had brought a wallet, and he slipped the stray bills he managed to steal inside. Closing his eyes, he leant back to the cracked leather furniture, seeing lights barely shining through his closed lids until a sudden shadow darkened it.

Opening his eyes revealed a man, not much older than him, grinning libidinously at him. His intention was predictable; the man's was gazing intently at the wallet Jeonghan had inserted money into a couple of seconds ago, causing the guy to probably come to the wrong conclusion about the shapeshifter. Jeonghan only had a millisecond to decide before the words confirming his suspicion slipped out of the man's mouth.

"How much?"

Jeonghan eyed him, contemplating his decision. Unlike the random bodies floating around the shithole, the man looked semi-decent, sporting an orderly looking suit jacket over a white t-shirt. His blonde hair was sticking up wildly in several places, but it looked purposeful and stylish. There was effort in this man's appearance. Jeonghan ultimately came to the conclusion that the man probably had money even if it's not one percent worthy.

He wasn't too horrendous looking either, hell, if Jeonghan wasn't a pickpocket-shapeshifter and this wasn't a club that slumrats frequented, he'd probably hook up with the guy free of charge.

"Three hundred, five if you want...more."

The shit-eating grin the guy sported grew impossibly wider. Grabbing excitedly at Jeonghan's hand, he guided the shapeshifter towards the bathroom.

"Five it is."

Jeonghan didn't make it a habit to sell himself to the first descent looking body he saw within the club, but desperate times...

And besides, he was admittedly pent up. Grieving a lost loved one for a year does that to a person.

The whole situation was incredibly filthy, Jeonghan noted. Their teeth were clashing, and heat bloomed wherever the man touched – Jeonghan wasn't sure if it was more positively or negatively inclined. The hands that snaked around his torso, the lips that moved down his neck, their shared breaths in the disgusting bathroom; it was all moving to rapidly, the shapeshfiter needed to find his bearing before continuing, he didn't want to be tricked out of payment. So he pushed back, turned towards the mirror and made it clear for the man behind him to let off.

He breathed downwards towards the sink where he found purchase, gripping impossibly tight. He was already panting and if he had a dick right then, he's almost positive he would be hard.

"Payment first," He managed to strangle out of his enclosed throat.

The man nodded, agreeing, stepped slowly forward and held up the 500 for Jeonghan to see, before slowly slipping them inside the wallet the shapeshifter had rested on the sink.

"Now, where were we." Hands snaked, returning onto the dip of his hips, gliding unhurriedly up his glimmering 'dress'. Jeonghan's body prickled in anticipation, he hoped the man was also in a similarly desperate state, enough that the unzipping of his dress was render unnecessary. Jeonghan couldn't begin to think of a way to explain why his dress seemed to be attached to his body if the man had attempted to get him out of it.

He became increasingly worried about it the further up the hands were traveling, but then something else, something familiar, but no less troublesome suddenly bombarded his thoughts.

He gasped, stupefied, before realizing ...Get out of my head Choi Seungcheol.

He was catapulted into reality and away from the detective's mental purchase when the guy diverted the direction of his hands, placing it comfortably underneath the hem of his skirt. This time the more the hand glided upwards, the more skin was presented. The kisses up his neck also served as a really captivating distraction.

Just when he felt the man's hand settled on the curve of his ass, pleasured noises bubbling his throat, the bathroom door slammed open, startling the two apart, revealing a panting red-faced Seungcheol.

"I'm a cop!" Seungcheol stutteringly declared, nose flaring, chest puffing, stalking forward with as much intensity as a lion stalking its prey. "Get out."

With desperate movements the man had taken back the money he had slipped into Jeonghan's wallet before sprinting outside towards the crowd. Everything happened irritatingly quickly that Jeonghan couldn't register what was happening before Seungcheol's voice captured through his overworked mind.

"What were you thinking?"

And Jeonghan felt...furious

"What am I thinking?" He gritted, a hurricane just barely contained beyond his lips. He whirled around, and just as quickly Seungcheol's chest puffed, it deflated at the anger he saw coming from Jeonghan. It was Jeonghan's turn to stalk forward now, his accusatory fingers already pointing at the detective. "What am I thinking?!" I was thinking that maybe I'd have an easier night accepting the guy's offer so I can come home to my family, quicker." He said nudging at Seungcheol's chest. "I was thinking that I can fuck a descent looking guy for once after a year of being pent up!" He pointed again. "I was thinking that for once, things will go my way."

He ended the anger fueled rant by panting harshly; suddenly realizing Seungcheol's face was closer. From where he was positioned he rememorized details of the detectives face that he'd been exposed briefly before, the specks of gold floating in the other's iris, his worriedness and remorse filling his features, and those...lips.

The gap between them disappeared, all too suddenly there were trembling hands scrambling all over his body and a soft but desperate lips covering his own. Before long their tongues joined the concoction and they were making out inside a disgusting bathroom. They didn't care, brain hazily induced by adrenaline. All they could possibly comprehend was how amazing the feel of the other's body so close was.

"Jeonghan," He heard Seungcheol whispered before their lips reunited again.

Neither knew how long they spent just indulging their lust in the middle of an unexpected situation before suddenly the door opened and somebody walked in, ignoring the couple steadfastly, instead going inside a stall. It was enough for Jeonghan to snap himself from his stupor. With as much conviction as his reluctant body could muster, he pushed the detective away, frustrated.

"Fuck!" He shouted at nothing in particular, their stuttering breath echoing around them made Jeonghan irritated for some reason.

Licking his lips, Seungcheol decidedly forced himself to meet Jeonghan's incessant gaze, boring unabatedly into his skull, an incredible frustration painting his face. Jeonghan wanted to slap Seungcheol, but he also wanted to return to their kissing.

He saw the moment of recognition in Seungcheol's eyes, and the blush creeping up the detective's neck. It reminded Jeonghan of the other's ability to read him telepathically, then blushed himself before shaking himself out of it.

As steady as his overused voice could, Jeonghan breathed, "Get out of my head, Choi Seungcheol."

Before leaving the detective alone with his thoughts in the disgusting bathroom.

Jeonghan wanted to sleep, and maybe never wake up.

Notes:

Find me on:
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Chapter 9: Saturn's About to Make Love and I'm Just a Heartbreaker

Notes:

Here comes the designated best friend talks to (i.e. threatens) best friend's new boyfriend

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Seungcheol couldn't sleep; thoughts of Jeonghan appalled and irritated kept invading his mind. It's not that Seungcheol thought it would've been easy balancing his work and his attraction, but he never really predicted himself blowing up unwarranted. Seungcheol was buried in complications.

And just like with everything, Seungcheol threw himself wholeheartedly into work, distracting himself.

He still had paperwork, unfortunately his responsibilities didn't disappear the minute he received the case. Somehow though, he thought it would've been worth it.

Jeonghan.

"Why are you here at ass o'clock at night?"

Seungcheol shrieked (rather unmanly) before registering whose voice had permeated through the silence.

"Busy?"

"Jihoon, you're an ass."

Jihoon had the gall to laugh before perching himself confidently on Seungcheol's desk, slamming something quite loudly onto it. "Eat," he instructed, revealing the bread he'd bought from the vending machine.

"Seriously?"

"C'mon, accompany me eating dinner." Jihoon grabbed Seungcheol's wrist before deciding midway he didn't like touching, making a face before letting go.

Seungcheol chuckled, he was glad for the passive-aggressive attentiveness. "You're an oddball Jihoon."

They ended unsurpsingly at Jihoon's laboratory. Everything either smelt of disinfectant or rotting flesh. Seungcheol didn't know how Jihoon developed an appetite in this situation.

Still, Seungcheol ate the bread offered, feeling his stomach grumbled. He managed to ignore the mutated plants invading his side, before relapsing into silence.

Jihoon didn't like that.

"Talk."

"What?"

"Y'know – do that thing that people do..."

It was amusing to witness Jihoon attempting to be human. "You mean open up?"

"Whatever – I just thought your pouting looked ridiculous."

Seungcheol sighed – Jihoon, somebody who was absolutely brilliant but ignorant when it came to human interactions, managed to sense Seungcheol's uneasiness. It made him wondered what kind of expression he was sporting to garner such attention.

"Is it the shapeshifter?"

"How –"

"Junhui, he mentioned something about you abruptly leaving the nightclub after he saw...Jeonghan? Was it?"

Seungcheol nodded, everything since then, his thoughts, the air that he inhaled had been revolving around the shapeshifter. He'd fucked up.

"Tell me about it."

Maybe it was because it's Jihoon, somebody's who's cold and unforgiving, somebody who could hold Seungcheol accountable. But whatever it was, Seungcheol ended up divulging everything. Heart helplessly splayed on the atmosphere around them.

"Is he the person you kept trying to offer Minghao's deal to?"

"Junhui?"

"Junhui." Jihoon curtly nodded. Maybe Seungcheol should reiterate the importance of personal matters to Junhui.

"I fucked up; I overstepped my boundaries and now –"

"You like him."

Seungcheol relented, rolling his head to the side of the swivel chair he was sitting upon. For somebody without knowledge of social cues, Jihoon sure kept predicting Seungcheol's thought.

"Maybe you should start by apologizing? Seungcheol, for as long as I've known you, you've always been the type to insert yourself into every problem you see. Something commendable, yes, but ultimately destructive. You should do something to help your guilt once in a while."

Seungcheol wandered how he became so predictable. Yoon Jeonghan might've messed with him more than he thought. It wasn't that the jealously had overtaken him – even if it's partly the reason – but he hated seeing Jeonghan resorting to that.

He wanted to take care of the shapeshifter.

Jihoon's words were simple yet it resonated deeply within Seungcheol.

Regardless, he had enough vulnerability for today.

After the lull in conversation, Seungcheol began inspecting the laboratory he was in. It was in shambles, predictably, but nothing out of the ordinary.

"Found anything with the pills yet?"

"Well you haven't brought me back some now have you?" Jihoon retorted, watching the detective shrunk back. "There is something though."

Seungcheol's brows raised in interest.

"A couple detectives managed to seize a box that's suspected to have held overdrive, but whatever insides already long gone." Jihoon grabbed the box in question, inspecting it sides like he hadn't already. "There was a tracker, our surveillance team managed to pinpoint its previous location – somewhere in the dessert, I think – before losing signal."

That's an interesting development.

"It'll still be easier if I have the pills." Jihoon quipped

It's not like they hadn't received any development, everything were just difficult to disentangle. From Minghao's gathering of information inside the nightclub, they'd come to the conclusion they needed to attend said party. Unfortunately, even if Minghao managed to acquire the invitation, they needed somebody to pose as the person who originally owned said invitation.

Apparently, whatever organization was behind everything had a tendency to track their properties.

Either they recruited the owner of the invitation or they needed somebody who could –

"Fuck."

"What."

"In order for the agency to acquire the pills, we need somebody to infiltrate the party."

"And?"

"Well as you said, even the box the pills were carried in was tracked so the invitation would be to–" Seungcheol halted, giving up on explaining further. He was sure Jihoon was picking up everything he'd put down. "I need Jeonghan."

There was a pregnant paused in the conversation, Jihoon midway shoveling rice into his mouth.

Then Seungcheol looked up, and Jihoon broke – cackling maddeningly, slapping his thighs, and almost falling backwards on his seat.

fuck.

"Oh...Choi Seungcheol, good luck with that." Jihoon wiped the tears of amusement away from his face, finally coming down from his elation of Seungcheol's misery.

Seungcheol wondered what he'd done in previous lives to warrant such a complicated current situation. Maybe it was the universe attempting to string Seungcheol along – wanting him to reconcile with Jeonghan. Regardless, Seungcheol left Jihoon's laboratory with more complication than before entering.

 

💊💊💊

 

Chan woke up to an empty room; the space on the mattress Jeonghan previously occupied was cold, concluding the shapeshifter had left for a significantly long time. The sun was already high up in the sky – the clock stating it was well passed afternoon. And here he thought today they'd be able to converse about the problem.

Jeonghan tend to avoid things, Chan noticed. Wanting to keep everything inside a safe precious bubble away from the brutality of the world. It's very ironic considering what the shapeshifter had thought him throughout the years.

Chan grew up calloused, wary, and intelligent because of Jeonghan. The kidnapping unfortunately made Jeonghan distrust his own teachings.

Jeonghan had been particularly irritable since his nightclub visitation several days ago. Other than that he'd been quiet, and Chan, irritated as he was himself, leant over Jeonghan's side comfortingly. He could sense when his older brother was hurting.

They'd apparently fallen asleep like that and Jeonghan probably left for another round of avoidance.

At least Chan was alone, maybe he could sneak out, visit the agency. The information he'd been gaining wasn't enough, and Chan needed to deliver some hurt and despair of his own.

He was stubborn like that.

Chan was preparing to escape when the bathroom door clicked open to a shit-eating grinning Soonyoung leaning against a wall. "Going somewhere?"

"So you're the babysitter for today, huh?"

Soonyoung bowed grandiloquently, before tackling Chan back onto the mattress – literally.

"Oof – Jesus, get up you're heavy!"

Soonyoung chuckled but otherwise relented, rolling over allotting the younger freedom.

"Man...are we watching another movie?"

Soonyoung took a while to answer, making a point of touching his chin and humming. "Nope!" He excitedly answered, like he didn't have a whole day planned ahead beforehand.

Soonyoung stood up abruptly, leaving Chan teetering off sideways. "Then what?"

"Come on." Giving an outstretched hand he waited for the younger to take it, his whole body buzzing and thrumming with anticipation. He was happy to have finally found a temporary solution to subside the dreariness that's been surrounding his family.

Chan rolled his eyes, taking the hand nevertheless, and waited. "So?"

"We're going out –" Chan's eyes widen. "And you can't tell Jeonghan." For obvious reasons – Jeonghan's almost motherly instincts could get terrifying at times.

"I –“

"Let's go." And before long Soonyoung was dragging Chan, halfway through the city.

They went on the automatic transport – Soonyoung cleverly hacking it so they could ride without a bus-card. As they settled into their seats, Chan observed the city whizzing pass outside in childlike wonder.

It's been one whole year since he'd seen the city up-close. The one with detective Seungcheol didn't count with how irritated he was that night. But now, another towering skyscraper had erected within the city, tall and foreboding. There were more people loitering the streets than he remembered; families lazily strolling, children laughing, busy bodies running. Everything was just a little more big and Chan felt his absence prominently in everything.

He wanted to finally capture everyone who'd taken him away, whatever the cost.

He wondered how his noble cause to aveng his family became something he took personally.

"There's construction replacing the junkyard. There're buildings there now." Soonyoung suddenly interjected, Chan moving to look at his other slightly older brother.

Soonyoung rarely reveal anything to them – at least, nothing revolving himself. And not for the first time did Chan wonder if the hacker was actually selfless or just repressing his emotions.

"How come?"

"The mayor bought it for...something, I don't know. It's politics."

Chan hummed, nodding along, pretending to know whatever that meant. "A lot of things have changed since I've gone missing, huh?"

Soonyoung's grip on the wooden basket perched on his lap tightens before unclenching in a release of breath. "Not really – I mean, we're still here." I'm still here, he wanted to say. Because he wanted to reiterate his willingness to sacrifice everything for this family.

he didn't say it.

"Yeah." Chan turned his head away from the dizzying sight of the bustling city, leaning closer instead towards Soonyoung, his head resting on the other's shoulder, feeling, inhaling the familiar warmth of home. "I guess so."

The two brothers arrived at the edge of the city, the area opposite the dessert where towering mountains resided. Soonyoung had cleverly thought of a plan for Chan to escape the suffocating four-walled one-bedroom apartment without putting the boy in danger. He concluded in order to achieve that they needed to also escape the city, away from people with malicious intents. Away from people Chan could potentially throw himself onto for the sake of case development and vigilantisms.

Hiking it was. Not that it was the point of their excursion – the point was the picnic. There was some delicious food stored in the basket courtesy of Joshua, who had given him it before leaving to attend to personal matters.

Thank heavens for Hong Jisoo.

Now, after sneaking pass the security gate, they were faced with a wall of rocks, covered in a layer of thick forest.

The sun was already well passed the sky, beginning to set. They needed to climb up quickly.

Soonyoung sighed, blowing raspberry with his mouth - somehow, he didn't think this one through. All he saw were the pretty pictures taken by the people who'd managed to climb up the mountain. The view overlooking the city was so hypnotizing that Soonyoung just had to bring Chan up there. He was positive the incredibly beautiful sight would bring a smile to anyone's face.

He, however, didn't want to climb.

"Alright pyro-boy, flame up!"

Chan cut his gaze slowly towards the hacker, eyes widening in disbelief. "What?"

The journey upwards was definitely rocky, Chan finding Soonyoung heavier than ever, and he found his grips slipping a couple times. Chan hadn't had practice controlling his fire-power propulsion. Considering that, he did pretty amazing.

Their feet landed on the rocky planes safely, the railing rendered useless once you flew over them.

"Wow." The sun was setting, closing a chapter of another day. The lights of the city illuminating one after another, like firecrackers stretching the sky. The stars reflecting the shine unnoticeable, but coming out of hiding. The view was breathtaking.

Soonyoung chuckled, slithering his hands across the younger's shoulder. "Pretty cool, huh? – Man, did those pictures sucked in comparison."

"Everything's so...wonderful."

Sliding away, Soonyoung began setting up. Before long there was a perfectly crafted midnight picnic area. Soonyoung hoped Chan would enjoy it.

"I know it's different – Jeonghan hyung isn't here. And it feels like ever since you've return home we haven't been focusing on celebrating it –" not that it wasn't understandable considering the circumstances of Chan's disappearance –"but, I don't know, I figured we could just- oof." Chan didn't hug much, but when it does it was the warmest thing in the world.

Partly because he was pyrokinetic which meant his body temperature's hotter than others, but that's beside the point.

"Thanks, Soonyoung."

They arranged themselves effectively, the rocky planes of the mountain terrains were a little unforgiving on their backsides, but who cares when you got a view like this. The sun was setting lower, colorful explosions of crimson and deep persimmon invading the previously cerulean sky. The two brothers enjoyed the spectacle above by sharing comfortable silence between them.

Gradually, the darkness took over. Navy painting over reddish tones until there was glimmering stars occupying the night, and that's when they started dinner.

The contents inside the basket were simple, besides the blanket there were turkey sandwiches and bottles of water waiting for consumption. Chan gladly obliged.

"Jesus – you'd think hyung didn't feed you," Soonyoung commented, making a point of wiping mayonnaise from the corner of the younger's mouth.

"He hadn't, we're running low remember?"

And that halted Soonyoung in his own vigorous chewing – right, he forgot.

"He loves you y'know."

"Well I know that, it would be better if he'd love me a little less."

Sometimes Chan wanted freedom, something he knew as a slumrat was already difficult to achieve to begin with.

"Do you actually want that?"

Chan's stomach had the gall to churn in guilt. "No."

Soonyoung was perceptive, maybe this was a given considering how intelligent he was at predicting certain events, but this was especially apparent when it came to his family. Leaning back, head tilting towards the sky, he allotted the chilly night air to wash over his neck traveling downwards his spine. Everything was a mess, inside his head and in physical form. Sometimes he wished it was effortless for him to speak up when he's hurting.

"Why're you angry, really?" Was what he said instead. Everything was easier when it's not personal troubles.

Chan held his breath for several seconds before answering, and he did it with his sight upturned towards the glittering night sky. "I just want somebody to pay for what they did to me."

"And?"

"And I want to make Jeonghan hyung proud."

And there it was the actual reasoning behind all the petulant fits. Jeonghan was amazing, skillful, beautiful, and intelligent; the complete package. He was also kindhearted and selfless despite his callous exterior. To everybody else it might sound peculiar. Jeonghan was a crooked slumrat who stole to survive. Hardly a role model.

And yet, he was perfect, to them anyways.

"He doesn't understand that I want to do this for myself. I know it's selfish and I justify it to myself that it's also for the greater good, I just –" Chan hesitated, the already cold turkey sandwich turning icy, unconsumed in his palms. "I just wanted to change something, not just...survive."

Soonyoung hummed, enclosing his arm around the younger to cover against the winter-like cold. He didn't particularly understand where Chan was coming from, sometimes the pyro-boy was obtusely ambitious for the world he was given. Unlike him, Soonyoung was more of a see-where-this-river-takes-me type of person. Sure he was intelligent and was gifted at computers, but as long as he's surrounded by everybody he loved, he could die never touching the computer again and still depart happily.

Maybe that's why staying silent was something he frequented. Taking the saying love is sacrifice to another level.

"Chan, what do you wanna be when you grow up?"

Chan wanted to correct that they were grownups, but they weren't actually. Even the events they've endure couldn't deplete them of their physical youths.

Truthfully, Chan never contemplated his future ambitions before. He wanted to do something. That something was unclear, but it vaguely related to wanting to create a better future. Perhaps not only for him.

"I want to protect people." just like he was protected by his family. Maybe it was the chilly night air finally getting to him, or rather it was the sight of the city shining underneath the sparse moonlight. Everything looked perfect from far away – precious and so...vulnerable. Chan knew the contents of said city was merciless, but from further away it looked pretty, like something worth saving. "I wanna help people in trouble."

Soonyoung wouldn't point it out, but it sounded awfully like the detectives' job description.

"What about you?"

Soonyoung chuckled, waving his hand uncaringly. "Oh, I don't know but don't worry about me."

Something off kilter about that statement invaded Chan's notice, but the younger stayed silent nevertheless.

"You should be nicer to hyung – and not just last night," Soonyoung continued, arriving to the point of their little adventure.

They'd noticed the stale air traveling around Jeonghan after his nightclub expedition. Chan, concerned, became a little bearable for the night, offering physical comfort and unspoken emotional support. He would undoubtedly return to his sour mood without any intervention.

True to prediction, Chan grunted petulantly, making Soonyoung chuckle.

"Jeonghan hyung comes from a caring place, Chan. I'm not telling you to stop fighting for what you believe in or give up – I know you're frustrated, that's the correct response, but maybe instead of inconsistently bursting your emotions everywhere, try talking to him, maybe?"

Chan sighed, splaying backward and regretting it almost immediately when his back met the uneven foundation. "I did, he agreed, but he still –"

"I know," Soonyoung chuckled. "God, I know. You're both stubborn as a mule you'd think that it runs in the family."

That bubbled a chuckle to pass Chan's lips. The younger moved his head onto the older's thigh, sighing in contentment when his back was elevated. "But you're not stubborn," Chan pointed and that brought a stutter to Soonyoung's heartbeat.

Family.

"I can be, sometimes."

They let the silence stretched for fifteen minutes before Soonyoung piped again. "Promise me you'd be more understanding and patient."

Chan snuggled his head closer to the older's stomach, eyes shutting intermittently from the pull of unconsciousness. They should've probably brought more blankets, but they unfortunately didn't own more.

"Okay."

"Good." Soonyoung nodded, at least one problem was alleviated, but then – "Fuck, Jeonghan hyung's gonna kill us."

Chan eyes widen, "Shit," Chan echoed the sentiment.

Before they burst into laughter, falling backwards and wincing but otherwise giggling still. Soonyoung's mental premonition's been faulty before, maybe Jeonghan wouldn't caught them sneaking home at the break of dawn, but if he did at least they know it was worth it.

 

💊💊💊

 

Life had a tendency to kick you while you're down, then in the middle of regaining composure; it pushes you for one final measure.

Today, Life decided Jeonghan's was its target.

"Fucking –" the squelching his foot made in contact with his shoes was unbearable. That was – what? – The second puddle he'd stepped on?

The clouds overhead decided to split open earlier, forcing the shapeshifter to take shelter under an awning with a warped roof. At that moment, the roof decided to collapse in on itself and doused Jeonghan with a hefty dose of rainwater. Not seeing the point of remaining under the shelter considering he was absolutely soaked, he began walking again. That's when the rain stopped and Jeonghan was left looking a fool, soaking when he could've just waited.

To add insult to injury, the hunt earlier that day had been difficult nobody with big money came to the areas Jeonghan was frequenting, leaving him with only a hundred bucks in his wallet. In addition to that failure, he had also come up empty handed after job-hunting. Something about the election, everybody's overly preoccupied somehow, enough to stop providing menial jobs, like the city was holding its breath.

But it was fine; everything was okay, because he got to return home to two lovely children...

Not.

Chan's probably still- not angry in particular, but definitely disappointed. Soonyoung was Switzerland, at least on the surface, but the boy was definitely leaning onto the younger's side just a little.

The constant pressure broke lose in a form of a stray tear that he barely managed to hold back. He'd love nothing more than to break down wailing in the middle of the streets, except that people would probably call the cops on the lunatic and it'll just land him into hotter waters.

His fist was gripping impossibly tight onto the wallet, teeth chattering away. At least he was closer now.

His cellphone buzzing in his back pocket alerted him to a text and Jeonghan fished it out offhandedly, eyes going wide at the name.

Sc: Can we talk?

No...Yes. Jeonghan might've typed and retyped several times before ultimately pocketing the cellphone again.

Seungcheol had been texting him numerous apologies the second they'd left the nightclub. Guileless rambling that was ignorant at best. Seungcheol hadn't even realized what he did wrong before he began apologizing, and Jeonghan didn't know if he should accept that.

It was genuine though, everything about Seungcheol screamed earnestness. That's one of the things Jeonghan liked about the detective, the way he'd sacrifice everything to do what's right.

It irritated Jeonghan sometimes.

Another text came through, reverberating his pocket and Jeonghan sighed, fishing the cellphone back out against his better judgment.

Js: Lunch?

Well, that was surprising. Joshua had been busy yesterday, some business matter needed attending. Jeonghan thought his bestfriend would still be busy today.

Sure. He texted, receiving a reply right after.

Finally, after trudging his way through yet another hellish day, Jeonghan arrived home to his two brothers who were sound asleep. Apparently.

"I wasn't born yesterday."

He didn't get a response, but he tapped away at the concrete below, hips cocked and waited.

Soonyoung was first to fold, peeking an eye out of the blanket he was snuggled up in.

"Gotcha."

Chan breathed, before relenting, grumbling and nudging Soonyoung all the while. "What the hell, hyung." Managing a couple slaps to the hacker shoulder, it wasn't long before the two fell into a fit of giggles.

"I'm sorry – I just felt him staring."

"I'm still here you know." With the reminder the two immediately went rigid, back straightening impossibly.

On any other day, sleeping away at the apartment was normal, but the fact his two youngest tried to pass it off meant there was something fishy. "What did you two do?"

Neither spoke, forcibly smiling to the ground underneath the shapeshifter’s almighty glare.

"Speak."

"It was Soonyoung's idea!"

Soonyoung gasp, clutching at nonexistent pearls before slapping his whole hand to Chan's face, pushing him back on the mattress. "Traitor!" He breathed, but there was a hint of humor to his tone that made even Jeonghan relented.

They fell into harmless chuckles, Jeonghan slumping gracelessly in between the two who protested on account of the wetness. This was calming, Jeonghan thought, momentarily forgetting all the animosity that's been going on for the past several days.

Chan noticed first, the ever present worried tension in between his hyung's brow. "Bad day?"

Jeonghan barked out a laugh, too loud for the tiny space. "You could say that again."

It wasn't fair to blame it all on one person, but whatever Jeonghan did to trace back the root of his problems, it always reveals Seungcheol at the center. The detective was just a polarizing present on the shapeshifter's life; barging in like a hurricane, offering help and companionship. At the same time, Jeonghan's never met anybody so dedicated onto something that it left him flabbergasted and appalled. He didn't know how to take it.

Why was Seungcheol so interested when he was clearly trouble?

"Is it detective Seungcheol?"

Jeonghan didn't realize he'd closed his eyes until it opened too suddenly, taking in too many artificial lights.

"You mumbled him in your sleep sometimes."

Judging by the surprise look on Soonyoung's face, even he didn't know. Which wasn't uncharacteristic considering the hacker slept like a log.

"Sorta...it's that and everything."

Chan hummed, not knowing how to feel about the situation. The youngest was still in the position where Seungcheol was just another authority figure who was apparently helping him seek justice. He didn't know how much he'd missed but Seungcheol was clearly more than that for Jeonghan. So momentarily, he redacted his compulsion to push Jeonghan further, instead snuggling to the older's side, reeling when he felt a vibration.

"Is that him?"

"It's either him or Joshua." But Jeonghan had finalized his agreement with his bestfriend leaving only one person.

"I don't know what happened with you two, but if you like him then maybe you should consider talking to him?"

Jeonghan felt Soonyoung nodding in agreement to his shoulder and that coaxed a guttural sigh from within him.

"It's a lot more complicated than that."

Another buzz.

Jeonghan fished his cellphone out for the umpteenth time that day, seeing the ID belonging not to Seungcheol.

Js: Close.

Pocketing the phone he herded the two to stand up, reaching to the wallet and opening to reveal the hundred bucks he stole previously. "This was all I got today." He outstretched the money towards the older of the two, who took it without question. "Since you guys went out anyways, how about you buy us some groceries; pay some bills if there's any left?"

"Are you sure?" Jeonghan could hear the hesitant and concern behind the question. So he did what always do to be strong.

Stepping forward he cupped his two younger's cheek, and said, "I'm fine," as earnestly as he could muster.

Which, after only a brief conversation, felt less than a lie than when he told himself that earlier that day.

"Okay."

The two went trudging out and Jeonghan was left to change his clothes.

The distinctive sign of Joshua's arrival came not by seeing or hearing. Instead the wafting smells of something delicious alerted the shapeshifter to his bestfriend's arrival. Peeking through the bathroom door he waved his hand, scrunching his face and repeated the usual 'you shouldn't haves' before relenting not a millisecond later.

"Seriously."

"You could make it up to me by telling me what's up."

Jeonghan tried it, conveying the most compelling I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about face. But just like with the food, he surrendered easily.

"It's everything..."

Joshua gestured wildly with his chopstick, mouth half full. "And...?"

Jeonghan exhaled loudly towards the ceiling before saying in a small voice, "Detective Seungcheol."

"Trouble in paradise?"

"Sorta." Once Jeonghan fell into a stream of exposition about what happened during Joshua's busy schedule, the shapeshifter found himself unable to stop bemoaning his misfortune with Choi Seungcheol. Unbeknownst to him, his bestfriend's knowing grin had been steadily growing wider and wider.

"You like him."

And Jeonghan had the gall to attempt the
I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about face's sequel.

Joshua leaned forward, pinching the shapeshifter on his side. "Ow! Fine, yes, sue me!" The series of pinches continue until Joshua felt his bestfriend was thoroughly chastised. Leaning back, he gave Jeonghan a complete once over and noticed the slight blush to his cheeks, the systematic way his fingers intertwined with one another, and his forever shifting gaze.

Oh, he got it bad.

"Don't look at me like that, just because you can sense clearer, doesn't mean you can sense through my feelings," Jeonghan grumbled petulantly, compelling Joshua to lean once more to get another good pinch in.

"Nope, that just comes with being your bestfriend – and i told you it's called synesthete."

Jeonghan might've rolled his eyes a bit too dramatically, continuing his eating in lieu of facing his problems.

"So besides the nightclub thing, what is it that you're so afraid of?" Joshua knew his bestfriend was rarely ever taken care of by anyone outside of the inner circle, not that he had any in the first place. Jeonghan had a tendency of stretching himself too thin and ignoring any semblance of protection. Now some hunky detective actually cared enough for Jeonghan's wellbeing, and even if Joshua didn't knew much about Choi Seungcheol (a matter he would eventually correct on his own), he knew that the detective could be good for the shapeshifter.

"He keeps giving me offers to work with him and he said he needed my help with something." Jeonghan couldn't resist reading the messages that came way after the nightclub incident. Something about Seungcheol pleading scared Jeonghan a little. He was willing to help as long as it was him on the line and not Chan or Soonyoung. The snowball effect that might come from letting Seungcheol in though, was something Jeonghan was fearful of.

"You don't want to fall in too deep and so you push him away." Shifting gazes jutted out bottom lips, and an increase to the finger twirling. "I'm right."

"I just – I don't even – uggh...I don't know, I don't know." Jeonghan shook his head, coming to stand up and throwing away the leftover's container. He needed to occupy himself from his own jumbled, unpredictable thought. Not even he could discern what he was feeling; all he knew was his habitual defense mechanism.

"You lost Chan last year; you don't want to get closer to Seungcheol because you don't want to lose him to. And you're afraid that if you help a little, then you'll accept the job, then you'll get that much closer to Seungcheol. Am I hitting anything here? Can I get a bingo?"

Curse Hong Jisoo.

"You missed one."

"Is it that you're afraid if you accept the job it could lead to you losing Soonyoung and Chan as well." Both of them drowning in a case, living dangerously.

Jeonghan was predictable.

"Fuck you."

"I love you too."

Patting the concrete next to him, he watched in amusement as the shapeshifter reluctantly slot himself into place. Joshua's hand came caressing Jeonghan's side in an almost automatic manner. He couldn't begin to recount how many time they have to talk the other down from a stupid self-destructive decision. Majority of the time, Jeonghan was on the rescue’s end. Joshua realized that it's because his bestfriend leads a less than ideal life, but sometimes Jeonghan's own stubbornness could be his own downfall.

"Maybe...talk to him first?"

"Chan said that," Jeonghan mumbled into Joshua's shoulder, which prickled from the warmth.

"Well you know something's wrong when thee Lee Chan's making more sense than you."

Jeonghan grumbled, making Joshua pat his friend in further amusement.

They fell into an easy silence after, knowing the conversation was practically over. Joshua was kindhearted – at least, that's what he liked to think. He often practices selflessness and the art of surrendering in order to uphold the peace. But he could be as equally stubborn – enough to rival Jeonghan's on steadfastness – if he deemed it necessary. And maybe they haven't known one another for the longest time, but Joshua could still predict Jeonghan's future decisions.

"You're gonna say yes." Jeonghan gave a curt shake of the head, and a 'tsk' noise, but Joshua persisted. "You're gonna say yes because you always follow your heart Jeonghannie. You're gonna say yes because no matter how much you try to hide it, you're kindhearted and if the opportunity presents itself, you'll help." Joshua's speech left no room for arguments, but Jeonghan wasn't going to relent that easily.

"We'll see."

 

💊💊💊

 

With one crisis averted, Joshua found himself walking towards the agency in search of another trouble. From the miniscule knowledge he possessed pertaining Choi Seungcheol, he seemed like a selfless enough guy. Foolish and earnest, sometimes overtly so. Surface level assessment checked out Joshua's approval box, but until he had the pleasure of meeting this elusive telepath, he wasn't going to sign-seal-deliver that agreement yet.

"Excuse me; I'm looking for Detective Choi Seungcheol." Joshua observed as the desk clerk gave him a once over, eyes catching on the high branded buttons on his lapels. There was no nod of approval, but Joshua could tell a bigoted classist when he sees one.

He was escorted without any complications and was left to sit at the detective’s desk, apparently waiting for his lunch break to end.

When Seungcheol finally returned it was less than half an hour of waiting. The first thing the detective noticed was the strikingly familiar person sitting at his desk, one leg dangled atop of the other, back perfectly straight, and head looking straight ahead – not downturned making the person looked demure, nor upturned in a haughtily manner. Gentlemanly, was what Seungcheol would describe the man, even from behind it was incredibly apparent.

Finally able to see the person's face he realized the familiarity.

"Mr. Hong, what can I do for you?"

Joshua stood up, fixing the lapels of his casual suit and sending Seungcheol the politest smile in existence. It was a little tight. Somehow that made Seungcheol nervous.

"Are you busy? – I'm here for personal matters I'm afraid."

Even if Seungcheol was, he still sat down, unable to resist the alluring but constricting tension.

He had a feeling on the topic of conversation. More specifically, who.

"I-Is this about Jeonghan?" chuckling nervously Seungcheol tried his best not to falter under the scrutinizing gaze of who Seungcheol had come to know from the phone calls, as Jeonghan's bestfriend.

He resisted the urge to peak, not wanting to cross boundaries and making it a habit he falls back on whenever he was nervous or threatened.

On other notes, the agency really should train their operatives on their abilities better.

"Hmm, Perceptive...and nervous, why is that?"

The impassiveness of the tone sent shivers through Seungcheol's thick layer of work jacket. He had a feeling that Joshua was the type to only warm up to whoever deserving of such kindness. But he also knows for certain that he is kind.

"I –"

"Forget it, we'll come to that." Joshua airily dismissed, his hands gesturing elegantly like picking his words from thin air. "I'm here, as one would say, as a bestfriend. You have an interest with Jeonghan so think of me as the sort of sibling that's giving the new boyfriend a stern talk down to, hmm?"

"I-I – okay?"

"From what I've gathered I really can't sway either of you in one direction or another – you're way into deep now." Joshua said the last part under his breath, but Seungcheol caught a little amusement in his tone. A joke the detective was excluded from. "I want to know more about you detective. You seemed like a decent enough guy – the kind Jeonghan particularly needs no less. But who are you, really?"

Seungcheol could hear the underlying question, partly because he caught the passing mental thought. Give me a reason why I should let you be with him.

"I really don't know where to start."

Cutting his gaze to Seungcheol's eyes, his ears almost perked up, all of Joshua's senses tingling. Thoroughly feeling like a bug under a microscope, Joshua finally let off, humming in thought. The gentlemanly guy folded his hand over his lap, swiveling a little in his chair, before snapping softly – almost elegantly – to himself.

"So, how's the case been going, detective?"

"I – uh, you could call me Seungcheol. And the case...the case is doing well."

Joshua nodded, placating. "Steady progress?"

"As steady as it could get–" at the thought of progress, Seungcheol remembered the epiphany he had inside Jihoon's lab, and suddenly the temperature of the room got that much hotter. "Actually, about that. I sorta need Jeonghan's help."

"Ah, yes, he said something about that. From what I can gather he was still on the fence about it." Seungcheol nodded, that was expected. "He's not quite sure what to make of you yet, and in result he's not sure if he could trust you."

Seungcheol leaned further into his chair, almost closing in on himself. Each movement, he was aware, was under intense scrutiny.

It made Seungcheol realize that he didn't know Joshua's abilities.

"So what do you do for a living?– Jeonghan's mentioned something about an outreach program. I mean, you seem so young." Whatever possessed Seungcheol was feeling embolden apparently, but it was too late to back away now.

Surprisingly, Joshua's feature softens at the question, an almost fond look mixed with ambition took over his facial expression. "Yes, an outreach program of some sort. I'm planning on making it self sustaining."

"So you like to help people?"

"Just like you." And suddenly the conversation had took a detour right back to Seungcheol. Great.

"Who doesn't?"

"But you take special interest in helping people yourself, don't you?"

Seungcheol squirmed in his seat, detective eyes catching another prickle to Joshua's ears.

What's he listening to?

"Well, that's the whole reason why I chose this job. I really want to help people."

Joshua's face scrunched and it took a moment before he spoke, and when he did he sounded surprised, pleasantly so. "You really meant that."

It wasn't a question, so Seungcheol didn't answer.

The quietness felt deafening, the look of contemplation on what felt like the brother in law's face didn't make Seungcheol feel any better. But to that Joshua straightened.

"You know Seungcheol, Jeonghan and you are very similar and very different in so many ways. You're earnest that's for sure, so I would imagine you won’t start lying to me, so – Seungcheol, do you like Jeonghan?"

Like, the word definitely held more merit then its dictionary definition counterpart. So of course without hesitation Seungcheol said, "Yes."

"Your heartbeat was steady," Joshua muttered offhandedly to himself, but it was enough for Seungcheol to hear and the detective finally figured out the other's ability.

"You've been reading my movements," Seungcheol realized, to which the other nodded too nonchalantly as an answer. Seungcheol didn't graduate the academy from nothing.

"So far you've been as forthcoming as one could get. I would imagine that's partly the reason why Jeonghan is so afraid of how he feels about you."

So he does feel something for me. The realization made Seungcheol's heart stuttered, and Joshua smirked.

"You know Seungcheol, I've read people my whole life, their movements become easier to unpack overtime. Because of that I could easily discern the type of person they are, and what action they most likely will take." Leaning back, Joshua seemed to loom instead of shrunk and Seungcheol waited in anticipation. "People like you – earnest, truthful, somewhat...naive, have a tendency to try and fix every problem they see." Joshua was aware that Jeonghan fell into that category, helping people was something the shapeshifter was somewhat ashamed of. And therein lies the difference. "You wear your heart on your sleeve, which is admirable, but it makes you predictable." There was a point to this, Seungcheol was sure of it, the air crackling in tension really made him felt ten degrees hotter. "Jeonghan didn't tell me details about the nightclub incident, just an overview of what happened, but even from that I knew. You came to save him because of not only your jealousy, but because there was – from your perspective – a problem, that needed tending. Am I correct?"

Well that didn't seemed too negative, so why did Seungcheol felt like have failed the last test? "I-It looked like he was about to...I-I mean for money and –"

Joshua hummed loud enough to cut Seungcheol, but said nothing further, his eyes glistening and Seungcheol was almost tempted to peek inside the words constructed inside the other's mind. He didn't have to wait long fortunately.

"Not everything needs fixing – not everyone needs to be fixed. Not every flaw is a flaw."

Well, that was indistinct, Seungcheol thought, before the other's gaze shifted behind him and Seungcheol half-thought a grim reaper had come to take his soul, per-request of Joshua.

"Hello–" Joshua stood hands outstretched and ready. "Hong Jisoo – Joshua."

"Lee Jihoon."

Not grim reaper, but, close enough.

"Jihoon, what are you doing here?"

The lab technician rolled his eyes, which seemed to be the default whenever he met one of the two detectives. Seungcheol chuckled under his breath before a lab report was shoved into his chest.

"You asked for this, for the undercover mission." Idiot.

Sometimes Seungcheol didn't like that he could read people's thoughts.

The report given was something Seungcheol asked for. After realizing what he needed to do, he and Junhui had begun brushing up further on their soon to be target. The only bases haven't been covered was the full-body biological information that could either be gained from the hospital, or the person had been arrested before so the agency had the information.

"Human."

"I could've told you that." Jihoon shook his head, the mellowness of several days back long forgotten. Seungcheol knew it was probably because Joshua was present.

At least Seungcheol knew their target weren't another dangerous mutant. Although with everything that's been happening, Seungcheol didn't know if the information made the target more or less of a threat.

"Honestly, the things I do for you."

Joshua chuckled at that. "Babysitting and friendship can be easily misconstrued can they?"

There was an elated surprise on Jihoon's face, and Seungcheol knew that look. Oh boy, he thought, they'd bonded.

"Sometimes." Jihoon nodded and Seungcheol already knew Joshua had gained Jihoon's respect.

Joshua broke their conniving gaze first, gathering his overcoat he had thrown over the arm of the swivel chair. "Well, I best be going." He stood up without much decorum, having loosen his cold facade, and inclined his head towards the two. "It was nice to meet you," he said to Jihoon, before turning to the detective, gaze hardening with a hint of amusement and something else. "Seungcheol."

Joshua got halfway down the corridor before shouting; "Call him again," behind him. And Seungcheol knew what that meant.

"Your shapeshifter lover's an acquaintance of his, I presume?"

Seungcheol slapped haphazardly somewhere behind him, hearing the lab technician giggle mercilessly.

"Yeah."

Joshua left without much of a flourish, disappearing into the city like Jeonghan's very own fairy godmother.

It left Seungcheol reeling a little, the detective didn't know whether he'd managed to impact thee bestfriend positively or negatively. But he had a feeling Joshua had made his mind up about him long before, and the visitation was just a reaffirming both to himself and to Seungcheol on who the detective really was.

It wasn't until later when Seungcheol was lazing in the comfort of his own home did he realize that the undeterminable expression in Joshua's eyes before he left was one of hope - both in the sense of future opportunity and a plead.

Seungcheol grabbed his cellphone from the nightstand and began calling the person he's been trying to contact this past week and a half. The constant ringing almost discourage the detective, wanting to pocket the phone before –

click.

"Seungcheol?"

Notes:

Once again I stole a power from 'Alphas'. Joshua's power basically means all his senses are boosted but he can only use them one at a time, which i thought was pretty cool.
So to recap everyone's powers:
• S.coups: telepath (mind reader)
• Jeonghan: shapeshifter + healing
• Joshua: synesthete (boosted senses)
• Jun: empath (emotion reader + manipulation)
• Hoshi: Accelerated probability (able to predict future actions and possible outcomes)
• Wonwoo: Power detection (able to detect someone's ability)
• Woozi: chlorokinetic (plant manipulation)
• DK: transducer (able to read electromagnetic wavelengths)
• Mingyu: super strength + invulnerability
• The8: reactive evolution (able to adapt to any situation)
• Seungkwan: invisibility
• Vernon: interchangeable visions (including: x-ray vision, heat signature vision, enhanced vision)
• Dino: pyrokinesis (fire manipulation)
.
.
.
Find me on:
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Chapter title from Saturnz Barz by Gorillaz <3

Chapter 10: Play the Hand You've Been Dealt With

Notes:

Prerequisite warning; I. Dont. Know. How. To. Play. Poker. Well.
.
With that said, it's still my fav chapter so enjoy <3

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Jeonghan arrived at Seungcheol's apartment precisely an hour after the agreed upon time. He'd been hesitant in answering when the detective finally gathered enough courage to apologize yesterday. Somehow, Jeonghan was afraid of how strongly the nightclub incident affected him. Seungcheol was nobody except the detective processing Chan's case, and yet...

Jeonghan didn't want to finish that thought.

Of course nothing was ever simple, and Seungcheol in addition to apologizing (stuttering adorably throughout), had ended his "I was out of line, I'm sorry," speech with a somber tone and a request. A pretty important request.

And as the detective began learning about Jeonghan, he also discovered the shapeshifter would do anything for his family even if he firstly seemed reluctant.

"I found a breakthrough with Minghao during our, y'know...nightclub...incident, but-" basically, Seungcheol's potential lead could possibly resulted in the capture of Chan's kidnapper. Jeonghan couldn't deny Chan of at least humoring Seungcheol's request.

There were unidentifiable emotions invading Jeonghan's chest, an amalgamation of animosity, protectiveness, and an oddly fluttery feeling at the prospect of meeting the detective. He convinced himself that he agreed to this purely to turn the detective down finalizing his resolve and making it extra clear that he didn't consent to anything regarding this. But then there were something complacent within himself, wanting to be convinced into helping.

He should've shot his conscience dead long ago.

There were people sauntering the streets with their noses haughtily upturned, knowing consciously their direction and their preceding actions. He was aware vaguely on what direction he should take to get inside of detective Seungcheol's apartment. He was supposed to notify the detective when he finally arrived and he'd buzz him up.

He had absolutely no idea what that meant.

He should've worn something better than the barely cleaned clothing covering his body, he looked painfully distinctive in the sea of arrogant people. Maybe he should've gone naked, shifted some sort of bullshit clothes and maintain that. He'd probably sleep like the dead after the meeting but at least then he wouldn't look horribly out of place. Saved himself the troubles of getting humiliated by the very people he sought to bleed dry.

Walking up to the front door, Jeonghan was relieved to see nobody was there except for an old lady who barely paid him any attention. There was an elevator that had no button but a card scanner in place to open it, that's probably why he needed Seungcheol to get inside. He observed as the old lady pressed a button in one of the panels and talk to it. He couldn't quite hear what the lady had muttered but a second later the elevator door opened for her to get inside.

Now alone he hesitantly copied the old lady exact sequence. Contemplating the wall panel lined with buttons with little names written below it. He had no trouble finding Seungcheol's name and barely thinking things further before pressing, listening to the buzzing.

He should've called the number the detective texted, safe himself a heart attack from overthinking and being hyperaware of how misplaced he was. It's just that he had his pride, he didn't want to seem stupid by being overtly inquisitive. Ironically, he looked stupid now.

"Hello?" Jeonghan heard the detective’s tinny voice filtering out of the panel.

"I-uh-I...I'm here?" The sentence came out more as a question than a statement and there was silence from the panel that made Jeonghan think he did something wrong.

"Okay," came Seungcheol's voice seconds later accompanied by the elevator opening behind him.

Alright then.

There were no buttons for him to press inside the metal box; he didn't even know which floor he'd need to get off on. Fortunately the elevator started to move automatically and Jeonghan was saved the trouble of overthinking again.

He watched as the numbers on the screen above climb higher and higher, he felt anxious with every passing floor. He came here with the intention of being steadfast and confident, conveying his disagreement to comply with Seungcheol and then returning home. This uncharted territory steadily stripped away his confidence, he was blindly moving along hoping he didn't make an idiot of himself. He should be confident by now considering what he did for a living, but something about seeing directly how little you're worth compared to somebody else felt disheartening. He thought he already knew who he was, but these couple of days throwing in more and more incidents at his face was making him rethink everything.

Eventually he arrived at the detective’s door. Knocking several beats until he's eventually introduced to Seungcheol's personal apartment. Seungcheol stared at him wide eyed, like he didn't expect Jeonghan to actually fall through with the invitation despite knowing the other had reconfirmed it just a couple minutes ago.

"Hi," was the simple greeting that fell through Seungcheol's mouth. Jeonghan anxiously scratched his head, smiling tightly, not knowing what else to do.

"Are we just gonna stand here or –"

"Oh, no, right – please, come in." Seungcheol stuttered out.

The inside of the detective’s apartment was unsurprisingly comfortable, nothing flashy or egregiously luxurious, exactly like the exterior. But also exactly as the exterior, Jeonghan knew that the simplicity in the designs, ornaments, and furniture are perfectly choreographed around the room. Something carefully constructed, an attempt to convey a deceptively humble atmosphere than it's reality. Jeonghan had to remind himself the two different worlds he and the detective traversed around; he couldn't afford helping somebody by risking himself, the family that he already owned.

"Please sit." Jeonghan sat on the cream colored sofa, it was understated like everything else in the room. Jeonghan was grateful Chan was able to stay in a cozy, comfortable apartment before reuniting.

"You want a drink? Food?"

"Can we just cut to the chase please."

Seungcheol nodded rapidly. "Yes, yes, of course. I won't take much of your time."

Seungcheol sat gingerly opposite of Jeonghan, nervously rubbing his palms together. He didn't know where to begin; afraid he might cross another line. He was pretty positive that this request goes against agency protocol, but he really was desperate. His coworkers were all swamped, the city's been slowly declining to shit, and he really didn't think he could do this mission that he concocted without some assistance. At least the Captain entrusted him in solving this case, but now everything was escalating steadily bigger than the case, and if his gut was telling him anything, is that he would be willing to go rogue.

And grovel at Jeonghan's feet.

"I'm sorry about before, truly."

"You said that already." It wasn't difficult to regain confidence apparently, especially since Seungcheol was giving Jeonghan all the power.

"Right, I just wanna repeat that again – this isn't what I called you for."

"Then why am I here, detective?" Jeonghan crossed his leg, keeping them there with intertwined fingers corralling his knee. Seungcheol was nervous, Jeonghan could tell, and after the buzzing lights of their little quarrel and eventually make out session, Jeonghan find Seungcheol's complete nervousness endearing.

"You know you can call me Seungcheol." again, was what Seungcheol wanted to say, but he could tell Jeonghan wasn't completely trusting of him yet

Jeonghan leaned forward closing the gap between Seungcheol and him, his long hair covering his face gracefully. Attempting, but ultimately failing, to look intimidating and not terrified like he actually was. "Alright, Seungcheol, what am I doing here?"

Seungcheol's throat became dry, the tension returning, the one that he and Jeonghan seemed to share whenever they interact with one another. If everything weren't so complicated then he would've been more open to exploring their relationship like they haphazardly did before, hoping he wasn't the only idiot who felt something tangible. Right now unfortunately there's no space for any personal attraction.

"I really need your help," he began, conveying as much sincerity as he could muster in those words. He started to explain everything about what they had discovered, about the party that they needed to get into for information. About how only a select few people were invited and he needed Jeonghan and Soonyoung to aid with getting around that.

Seungcheol watched as Jeonghan steadily drew in on himself, he was beginning to wonder if asking for his help was the correct decision, especially right after he wronged Jeonghan, undermined the other's worth and determination. He watched as the boy in front of him nervously pulled at a strand of his hair before quickly drawing it behind his ears; Seungcheol realized then, Jeonghan was afraid. The other gaze darted nervously around the room like it was going to swallow him alive. It was the same kind of nervousness that Chan had when he stayed with him. He realized how overwhelming and daunting it must be to be in their position and to suddenly be thrusted into this unpredictable circumstances.

"Please, I know that this is huge, but I desperately need your help. I know that you're afraid that the people you love might get hurt because of this, but trust me I would do everything in my power to keep that from happening."

Jeonghan bit his nails; he really hated how convincing Seungcheol sounded to his ears. He didn't know why he had grown such an attachment to this singular person who constantly irritated and polarized him. And yet...they fell asleep to each other's voices and managed to create a world inside a disgusting bathroom together.

Besides, Jeonghan, no matter how much he denied it, wanted to help people in general.

"How can I trust you, Seungcheol, what you did –"

"I know, I really am sorry," I really do like you, "How can I prove that I'm trustworthy?"

Jeonghan scanned his eyes around Seungcheol's neatly assembled apartment, searching for a solution.

He stood up and started pacing the room. It's adorable, the personal knick-knacks that Seungcheol had that filled the shelves hanging on the wall. There were no pictures or anything, which led Jeonghan to think that maybe Seungcheol had nobody to share the frame with. There were other objects, all random, seemingly insignificant. Jeonghan ghosts his hands over them, his mind working, thinking something up.

From where he was, Seungcheol observed Jeonghan nervously. The other boy was really beautiful, the curiosity and fierceness hidden in such a delicate exterior really drew Seungcheol in.

Jeonghan played with the marbles, different broken Russian nesting dolls, and moved on from one item to another. Until he settled across a deck of cards and some poker chips. Jeonghan was well verse in poker, being a practical scammer. He also liked playing to pass the time as he waited for some of his target. He sometimes even deliberately folded a few good hands just to butter up those targets, putting on the helpless damsel act. He wondered what it would be like to play Seungcheol, someone who could read him telepathically.

Jeonghan caught on by now their gossamer string of constant connection, neither knew how it came about but neither disliked it. It did however made Jeonghan feel vulnerable; he wasn't ready to divulge anything deeply substantial to Seungcheol yet, even if their mind had apparently connected.

Trust.

"Hey, you play?" Jeonghan muttered behind him, already inspecting the chips and the cards Seungcheol owned thoroughly.

Poker, Seungcheol frequently played back when he was still indulging in extravagant and exuberance. It was bittersweet, his past, he still kept something from it. He couldn't wash himself of who he was completely.

"It's been a while, but yeah."

Jeonghan hummed, walking back to Seungcheol. "How about this, we play, and if you win then I'll help you, but you can't cheat."

Seungcheol wasn't even thinking about cheating, trust was the test after all. He'll try to win as fairly as possible.

"I know what it feels when you're in there Cheollie...the second I can feel you –"

"You'll stop the game."

–"And I won't help you."

Seungcheol contemplated his presented options. He was descent at poker, but it's been a while.

"Alright." All things considered, this was still Jeonghan's game.

They ended up settling in the kitchen, the elevated countertop were considerably a better position than leaning over the shallow coffee table. There weren't any windows or fairly reflective objects or anything, everything resembling that were already stored away. There weren't any other option but to play fairly.

"Deal me."

Whatever comfortable atmosphere that surrounded them were suctioned right out and replaced with a suffocating tension. For a moment Seungcheol was back, he was young, barely realizing what his parents did had made the money he spent dirtier than previously imagined. When he was sixteen, when he was playing with his friends throwing around money like it's nothing.

Seungcheol was given the dealer button after he received the higher card than Jeonghan. He placed his small blind and Jeonghan placed his big blind.

"So Seungcheol, now that we're face to face and not making out –“ Jeonghan dealt the cards face down with an incredible velocity, putting the rest of the deck back at his side. They're playing Texas hold'em, the starter game to any poker player; Jeonghan figured he'd at least throw Seungcheol a bone judging from the dust collecting on the deck when he found them. "Tell me about yourself."

It was a sleazy technique Jeonghan's aware, distracting someone during a poker game, but Jeonghan wanted to actually converse with Seungcheol directly, discover information they couldn't share through phone calls. Jeonghan knew Seungcheol found him incredibly irresistible judging from that unexpected club encounter, he wanted to know more.

"Well what do you wanna know?"

Jeonghan cleared his throat and check his hand whilst Seungcheol mirrored his movements, both of them revealing absolutely nothing.

"Start from the beginning, how come you're working as a cop rich boy?"

They're off.

"Detective," Seungcheol corrected, grumbling under his breath, unable to retain his scowl after hearing Jeonghan giggled. He contemplated his several future probable movements as he answered. "Well, let's just say I got tired of spending my parents’ dirty money." Seungcheol threw his chips in the pot, "Raise." he figured his cards were pretty solid. He knew he had the option to not play every hand but it's been awhile since he's played, plus he was feeling embolden.

"Call." Jeonghan threw his in, they didn't establish it but Jeonghan could also cheat, easily maintaining a poker face, utilizing his ability to make an unchangeable feature. Considering Jeonghan have the upper hand currently, it didn't matter anyways.

Talking and distracting was an additional tactic, coaxing Seungcheol to fumble and read him when he's desperate. What Seungcheol said about dirty money didn't sit well with Jeonghan either.

"I'd spend ‘em if you're not going to."

Seungcheol chuckled humorlessly, the sound surprising Jeonghan since the detective sounded genuinely irritated.

The flop was dealt; the three cards shown were a four and a six of hearts, and another four of spades.

"Check," Jeonghan announced immediately, he wasn't gonna be arrogant a single round in without any provocation, regardless of the quality of his hand.

It was a pretty agreeable flop for Seungcheol, the two hearts – one of Ace and the other a five, his hand could play well if he was lucky at the turn. The thought of reading Jeonghan crossed his mind, seeing the glint of something curious in the other's eyes, but trust was the agreement and he wasn't going to surrender that easily. "Bet."

Jeonghan almost snickered, Predictable.

"I'm sorry to say I don't have my parents’ money anymore – not even sure if my name's still in their will," Seungcheol continued the conversation. He wasn't sure how long he had gone without talking to his parents, and the previous time he did, his parents had all but seized their opportunity in coaxing Seungcheol to return, playing their game. It still didn't sit right with him to associate with them. It made him feel dirty.

"Let me guess," Jeonghan said, folding his arms, leaning semi-intimidatingly to stare at Seungcheol's eyes, widening in alarm at how close Jeonghan was getting. "You don't talk to them anymore because you feel disgusted by what they do, and you chose to be a detective with a massive savior complex because you wanna atone for their sins. Is that it?"

Jeonghan got it exactly correct; it made Seungcheol uneasy at how predictable everything was. "Are you sure you're not the mind reader here?"

Jeonghan blurted out a chuckle that sounded snarky as the shapeshifter leaned back in his seat, brushing his hair away from his face. It was always the same, the two breeds of the elites. One who felt no shame for what they did for a living and the other who was remorseful but otherwise unhelpful towards the people below them. Regardless that mindset was both derived from one singular belief, a belief that they were all better than everybody else. It irritated Jeonghan, the fact that Seungcheol was absolutely blind of the privileged he possessed.

Jeonghan's willing to strip his dignity everyday if it meant keeping all his loved ones alive, he wasn't above anybody, even if his pride sometimes surfaced. Joshua, who's Jeonghan closely acquainted with also had wealth, but his bestfriend was actually doing something to reinvigorate a dying system.

Until Seungcheol did that with his position and not only following along, Jeonghan couldn't completely develop his feelings towards the detective any further.

"You know Seungcheol, you're more selfish than I thought you were. Bet you didn't know that about yourself."

Seungcheol heart drops hearing those words, all his life he always took comfort in knowing he'd escape, started a better life. His heart dropped even more when the turn was dealt and he saw ten of clubs.

"How come?" He tried not letting it get to him and change his demeanor.

"You could've given the money to charity, y'know, someone like me wouldn't care where it actually came from," they didn't have the privileged to. "Or you know, you could start a business in the slums with that money, give some of us some descent job," Jeonghan said the words with increasingly more bite. “My friend Joshua, you met him, he's doing something like that – check."

Seungcheol was aware, but shook his head nevertheless, "You don't understand." He tried to explain, but ultimately unable to elaborate further, he really couldn't express the frustration he felt during those times, of being manipulated by the system and wanting to escape. "Check," he mumbled out, his feet tapping an anxious rhythm onto the kitchen linoleum.

"What don't I understand Seungcheol? That you'd rather throw away resources that someone else might need just so you could feel better about not spending your parents’ dirty money?"

The river was dealt to reveal the queen of hearts, and there it was, Seungcheol's opening to win this fight he wasn't sure he wanted to win anymore.

"Bet," Jeonghan challenged, and that threw Seungcheol into a bit of a loop. His head was horribly jumbled; however, the thought of reading Jeonghan never crossed his mind. The shapeshifter really had a talent in frustrating him; the passionate glint in the other's delicately shaped eyes, and the way his tongue bites you with every word. He was saying some really hurtful things to Seungcheol, but deep down he knew the other had a compelling reason for them. And if the telepath found Jeonghan absolutely attractive doing that then nobody else needed to know.

"I'm all in," Seungcheol surprisingly decided, he was thoroughly worked up with emotions to think straight. All he could recognize was that his cards were descent enough now with the existence of the queen of hearts. "You really don't understand, those were dirty money. My parents did a whole lot of awful things to get it – they manipulated me into getting it as well. I hurt so many people in the process."

"Call." Jeonghan put his chips in. "I understand that the people your parents swindled were the people stupid enough to get swindled. They probably had plentiful for you to steal anyways. But now you're a detective, doing your part to 'rescue' the people of the city." Jeonghan's voice was oozing with sarcasm. Seungcheol still didn't get it. "My people aren't part of the city though, not to a lot of people's eyes. Seungcheol, you can't expect me to believe you've evolved without you growing outside a broken system."

Jeonghan had a point, but the shapeshifter undermined Seungcheol's experiences, it made him understandably frustrated. Seungcheol flipped his cards, revealing his hand, a flush. He smiled a little to himself, knowing it was practically a winning hand.

"And therein lies the difference between the two of us. You can afford to wash your hands of the dirt forced onto you by somebody else, I can't. I do whatever I need to survive – I've seen deaths caused by my hand. Not everybody can afford to make ourselves feel better." Jeonghan flipped his card and Seungcheol's disappointment swallowed him right after. "Some of us have to play the cards that we're dealt with, even if it means getting your hands dirty to make it worth something." Two sixes, one’s of heart and the other of spades – a full house. "Pray that we're lucky."

"You won," Seungcheol needlessly muttered, completely exhausted and defeated.

"I got lucky."

"No, you were smart, you played me by distracting me – making me frustrated."

Jeonghan hummed. "Force of habit," he shrugged, what he did was dirty and that's how he play. That's how he survived his horrible experiences. "You didn't read me." He noted, that was quite a surprise as well, he had figured that getting Seungcheol frustrated would made him succumb.

"As promised." He wasn't even going to anyways, he detested cheating and he valued Jeonghan's time. "I'll drive you home."

"Yes. Then on the way you could inform me about the mission"

Seungcheol's eyes went wide, does that mean?

"Well don't look so surprised, I learned a lot about you Cheollie and even if you're a blind sack of shit at times...I understand partly, your exasperation. And I do think you care Choi Seungcheol." Jeonghan threw Seungcheol into a loop with the warmest, genuine smile, gifted for the detective. It made Seungcheol weak. "Plus you didn't cheat, so, I trust you." With his family's life too no less, except. "Chan's not getting involved, like at all. Deal?"

"Deal," Seungcheol agreed with tenderness in his voice that Jeonghan's beginning to get accustomed to. "Thank you," he added, liking the redness that climbed up the shapeshifter's neck and blossomed onto his face.

"Whatever, I'm not doing it for you; it's just to give Chan some peace of mind knowing those bastards who kidnapped him got caught."

Seungcheol didn't even have to attempt to read Jeonghan's mind to know that even if he was just red for filth by the other, his self-serving hero complex (that he was gonna attempt to fix) was able to recognize Jeonghan's own, carefully concealed, more selfless, hero complex. Sometimes a perpetual self-destructive tendency since Jeonghan was susceptible with self-sacrifice.

They weren't all that different.

Seungcheol came out of the game with a new found respect in addition to the growing fondness he had for the shifter. How complicated Jeonghan could be, and how beautiful that notable fact was.

Jeonghan stood from his seat, making small movements to rearrange his clothes before moving towards Seungcheol. He ghosted his hand over the detective’s cheek before placing it under his chin, turning it so they were looking directly at each other. Jeonghan too blossomed something within similar to fondness, it's been growing ever since they met, but now he allowed it to thrive under the more comfortable open air. He smiled, a little smugly as he ran his thumb over the detective's bottom lip.

"Come on, take me home."

 

💊💊💊

 

Joshua was the last to arrive at Vernon's household, for several days now he had been repeatedly visiting Jeonghan's apartment, asking his bestfriend if he was okay. Jeonghan had bent over backwards to cater to whatever Chan needed, whilst managing to avoid the pyrokinetic. Joshua, seeing the ramshackle apartment, readily agreed to babysit Chan and Soonyoung when Jeonghan finally visited Seungcheol.

He hated seeing everyone so worried and tense.

Then Jeonghan returned home, with detective Seungcheol guiding him with a comforting hand on the small of his back.

Joshua was glad his conversation with Seungcheol worked.

Joshua understood – their encounter with Minghao happened pretty rapidly. Detective Junhui protecting Minghao throughout. It was clear that Minghao wasn't who they thought he was, but beyond knowing that Minghao was an informant, they didn't know anything else.

It took Chan a couple of days to recover himself; he still wanted to uncover everything. Seek justice.

Joshua understood, he wanted to help anyways possible, but he also understood where Jeonghan was coming from when he said. "No, from now on we're done. I don't need you to disappear on me again."

He had forbid Soonyoung from pursuing the matter further either. They've just been radio silent, with Jeonghan and Chan cultivating a thin gossamer invisible tension between them from avoiding the topic of conversation. Jeonghan went out a couple times with Soonyoung, leaving Chan in his care just so the shapeshifter could escape. He did come home with money from different hunts, and there was the nightclub incident with detective Seungcheol.

Jeonghan had been off kilter for days before Seungcheol apologized. Joshua was happy at least everything had been partly sorted, especially since Jeonghan decided he'd help Seungcheol.

That at least subsided Chan's hurricane of emotions.

After he deemed everything sorted, Joshua finally found it appropriate to handle the other mess. Seungkwan's

He couldn't ignore Seungkwan anymore, not that he meant too, it's just sometimes it felt like he was being stretched too thin, juggling both sides. If only there weren't such a big divide between the slums and the elites, he was pretty sure if everyone had started off on even playing field than the two groups would've met and enjoyed each other's presence right about now. He knew Soonyoung and Seokmin would bond over their knowledge on computers and technology. Seungkwan would love Jeonghan's attentive personality. Chan and Mingyu could bond over how immature they were.

Instead he had this, twice as many problems.

"Josh! Where have you been? I need you," Seungkwan whined, pulling away from his place plastered to Vernon's side and coming to hug him.

"What's going on?"

"I think I might die," Seungkwan blurted.

Things had escalated since Vernon examined Seungkwan before. The slightly older boy had a habit of working himself up dramatically the longer the root of his problem went by unfixed. And with the new development of his parents' secret, Seungkwan's been struggling to keep himself together.

"Ssh, you're not." Vernon pulled Seungkwan back to his side, rubbing at the other's arm protectively. Was it inappropriate to think that the pout on his friend's face looked adorable?

Maybe.

"I don't know, he might." Mingyu unhelpfully input. He might be trying to help but sometimes he's brutally honest. Leaning over he gave everyone their cups of mac n cheese. Mingyu cooks when he's frustrated, or afraid he also cooks when somebody else was those things. Seungkwan enjoyed food; he needed to chew on things to distract him.

"Woah, woah, what? Dying?"

"Didn't you read the texts?" Seungkwan asked, exasperated.

Things have definitely escalated since he was occupied with his other friends and his job. He got numerous texts from Seungkwan, all frantic and indiscernible. He received some from Seokmin, very informative but out of context. He got one from Vernon, who just said 'hi' and nothing from Mingyu.

Joshua breathed exasperatedly, trying not to get frustrated, breathing calmly through the commotion. "Tell me again."

Seungkwan explained everything Joshua had missed for the past couple days, interjected several times by Vernon and Seokmin. Joshua's eyebrows climbed further up his forehead with every word. Somehow it felt familiar. "The whole city's falling apart."

"What?" Seungkwan had been curious on what his friend was doing these past couple days, he respected Joshua's time of course, and that he had other business to attend to that doesn't involved them. He was still curious.

"Nothing, it's just – never mind." Even if the subject surrounding everything – overdrive – was sorely similar, surely they two situations couldn't be connected fully.

"It doesn't matter we need to decide our next move," Vernon interjected; he was beginning to get increasingly anxious.

Joshua hummed in agreement. "Whatever this is, it's bigger than all of us, it might potentially get dangerous for us if we don't have more information."

"We need a plan," Vernon reaffirmed.

Seungkwan nodded. "We need to get inside that party."

Notes:

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Chapter 11: Leagues of Social Climbers Are Abound

Notes:

A chapter's sooner than usual, huzzah! Also, my x-men jeongcheol fic is out if anybody's interested.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Chan turned his back on Jeonghan, petulantly laying. Jeonghan released an exasperated sigh. Chan had been, thankfully, overarchingly agreeable these past few days, occasionally throwing him wary glances underneath his imploring ones.

Predictably, when Jeonghan had agreed to a meeting with Seungcheol, Chan was ecstatic. This furthermore elated him when he discovered that Jeonghan had decided to help the detective in some sort of mission.

Jeonghan, figuring Chan deserved some debriefing and reassurance, didn't realize how his explanation ultimately came across as rather misleading

"Chan, seriously, it's not even that big of a deal," Jeonghan lied, zipping himself up, grumbling when his hair got caught.

Jeonghan might've given Chan false expectations.

No, It didn't matter how much the other wanted to, he wasn't going. And even though he didn't throw another ultimatum-like fit, the cold shoulder of disappointment didn't felt any better.

Progress, Jeonghan thought, a little but it was evident.

The sparkly silver cocktail dress he previously frequented became very much unwearable, if not for the overpowering stench of burning bodies then from the memory of what it had witnessed. It was quite a shame since otherwise it was perfect; it didn't chafe him on any crevices of his body, it hugged his body correctly regardless of his frequently shifting body, and it's also easier to pair a silver dress with any color shoes or accessory. Now he was stuck with the deep maroon velvet number that had a mermaid contour, a gigantic slit revealing his leg. It looked amazing; Joshua gave it to him when his mother was accidentally given the wrong size. Joshua thought Jeonghan could utilize it instead, through his usual endeavors. Ultimately, he'd only wore it once before. It was too much of a hassle, from trying to put it on, to walking in it, to finding the complementary accessories.

If Jeonghan ever learned anything from his little heist missions, it was that women everywhere had it hard. He loved the way a dress look on him, but man was it a pain in the ass.

Chan refused to help him get ready too, since he was preoccupied with sulking.

Jeonghan had to be patient; Chan had given him numerous olive branches and middle grounds that he hadn't accepted before. It was only fair to allow Chan his time to refuse as well.

Soonyoung was also coming along which made Chan envious. He did understand that sometimes he had to let the people around him fight for him. It's still a particularly difficult concept to grasp but he's getting there.

It wasn't ideal, and Jeonghan might’ve suspected a hint of worry in between all those disappointments, which showed Chan wasn't furious unlike before. He just needed time to process.

Jeonghan struggled into a kneel beside Chan, rubbing the other's back comfortingly.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

He heard Chan sighed body shifting underneath the blanket.

Soonyoung was already waiting in Seungcheol's car, Jeonghan really needed to get going.

Walking away, mid-way reaching for the doorknob, he heard Chan rustle behind him. "You promise?" He heard his little brother whisper hoarsely in an unexpectedly worried and vulnerable voice that might've broke Jeonghan's composure a little.

"Promise," he replied sincerely, walking back to Chan who readily sat on the mattress, curling their pinkies together. Jeonghan planted a kiss to the other's forehead.

He didn't know why they were acting like he was departing for war, it surely felt daunting enough. This was bigger than a felony, this could determine what happened to somebody else's life, he couldn't afford any failure.

 

💊💊💊

 

Seungkwan was attempting to swallow his heart that had leaped up to his throat. The entrance to the party was unassuming; it was a newly constructed building that looked deceptively empty from the outside, the trail of people decked in expensive suites and fancy dresses hugging the backside of the building proved otherwise. The fear however lied somewhere else, with the burly men guarding the back entrance who looked like they're capable of squeezing his head open just by glaring. He didn't want to enter, he felt safer inside Seokmin's SUV.

"Well unless you suddenly manifest the ability to walk through walls then you just gotta suck it up and go past them." Joshua chided. Seungkwan's fear was understandable but misplaced since nobody was going to see him.

Seungkwan's been training every day for the party and eventually managed to hold his invisibility semi-consistently even managed finally making somebody else also invisible.

They chose Mingyu to go inside alongside Seungkwan since Mingyu was a perfect bodyguard. Strong, able to break a couple backs if needed for escape. Joshua had also been considered to go before ultimately deciding on their friendly tree. Seokmin needed to be in the car to watch the inside of the party and make sure everything goes smoothly; his task included manning the ear pieces to guide the infiltrators inside. Vernon was also on heat-signature look out, he made Seungkwan and Mingyu wear his cooling device that he made in Germany for different purposes. Fortunately it worked well in this situation, since it aided Vernon in distinguishing his two friends from the other patrons. With Vernon they have eyes where the cameras couldn't capture. Joshua, ultimately staying out, decided he could be additional look out whilst keeping an ear out to the infiltrators.

"What do we do? What do I have to do? I-I don't remember, I –"

"Seungkwan," Vernon's full or reassurance and a hint of amusement effectively halted the invisible boy somewhat. Grabbing Seungkwan's face, he caressed the other's cheek, looking at Seungkwan's eyes with an intensity that made Seungkwan's heart stop. "You'll do just fine. All you need to do is just stay invisible, don't touch anyone, and pay attention. If you find any pill just grab one and get out, okay?"

Seungkwan nodded vigorously. "Uh huh, yup, hmm...okay." smiling hysterically a little.

Something about his two friends clearly enamored disconcerted Mingyu. "Oh my god, get a room," Mingyu whined, stepping out of the van. Ever since the breakup Mingyu had been having trouble stomaching relationships, he found people who remotely showed affection in a clearly romantic sense very off-putting. It was easier when Vernon was away, rendering their friend group's romantic dynamic to zero. But now...

Mingyu brushed his hair back, playing with the cuffs of his green suite, he kinda felt bad since he always teased Seungkwan for being such a pussy when it came to Vernon. Now that the two finally made a little progress he was being a bitch about it. He should move on by now.

"Didn't know Wonwoo affected him that much," Vernon mumbled, finally letting go of Seungkwan.

"They were together for three years." Seokmin shrugged. Truthfully they all knew it was for the best, the two had completely differing personalities and ambitions. They were going on a separate destination inside the same car; one of them had to get off eventually. It more so hurt Mingyu's pride the fact that Wonwoo was the passenger who got off.

Joshua snapped his fingers at the three others who were rapped looking behind them. "Focus," he reminded. "It's almost time, are you ready?" He asked Seungkwan, the other nodded immediately.

"Okay, let's do this thing."

 

💊💊💊

 

Jeonghan adjusted the hem of his dress, revealing his leg out the side of the open car door, purse strongly gripped, the black card invitation inside. It nearly gave Seungcheol a heart attack witnessing Jeonghan beautifully descending the steps, as a woman no less. Besides surprising, it was uncanny to see the female version of Yoon Jeonghan. The last time was unfortunately murky underneath the darken LEDs of the dingy club bathroom, plus he was already occupied with Jeonghan's lips to –

"Hey," Jeonghan snapped his fingers in front of Seungcheol, reminding the detective of their current situation. "Give me the earpiece." Seungcheol place the small black item in Jeonghan's hand.

The other really did look amazing.

"Okay, Jeonghan, all you need to do is locate the target, grab his phone, and make sure to get it close to the transmitter we gave you, simple. Like what you usually do." The transmitter was safely tucked inside Jeonghan's purse, he would only have to drop the target's phone inside and let Soonyoung do the rest. Ten minutes, and they don't even have to steal anything this time thanks to the agency's resources.

Something about this situation concerned Seungcheol. It wasn't like this mission was completely protected by the agency, he even warned Jeonghan this detail, but he readily accepted anyways. Seungcheol was hesitant. Maybe it's his biases influencing his decisions, but he wanted to ensure Jeonghan safety. This resembled Jeonghan and Soonyoung's usual excursion too much for Seungcheol's comfort. It disregarded agency protocol.

This wasn't a hundred percent.

"Make sure to do it quickly, so we could get you out of there then escape." Junhui notes the numerous flaws in their plan, worrying. Jeonghan nodded anyways.

"The guy usually doesn’t roll with any bodyguard, so don't worry about getting pass one," Minghao added from the back seat, sitting beside Soonyoung.

Soonyoung smiled at his hyung, giving the other a nervous thumbs up as encouragement. They've done these trillions of time before, sorely lacking any adequate equipment, without back up, and surrounding dangerous places.

Unlike the detectives, he felt confident in gaining success. After all, they've experience similar situations beforehand. Still, he acknowledges everything that's different. The stakes were higher and both Soonyoung and Jeonghan were finally hitting that looming barrier that told them they were in over their heads. But just like when Chan went missing, one of them needed to put on a braver face in order to achieve success. That responsibility, decidedly, would once again fall onto Soonyoung. Jeonghan was going to be in the line of fire anyways, so he figured Jeonghan needed reassurance.

"Can you hear me?" Minghao said through a small microphone.

"Yup." Nodding, Jeonghan resisted the urge to fiddle with the ear piece. It felt strangely intrusive, resembling an ear bud stuck inside his ear, but he couldn't draw attention to it once inside.

"Okay, I can hear you on this end." Minghao was the one who were going to oversee Jeonghan, guiding him. Minghao was the only one who's completely educated regarding the target since he spent some time as the8 with him. He was quite a disgusting man with expired values and beliefs, he felt entitled to everything and he talked through the side of his mouth, a force of habit from letting his cigarette hang from the side of his mouth whilst conversing with people. Overall he was an untrustworthy and dangerous man, but Minghao had fortunately gotten on his good graces several occasions before. Now he's hopefully able to impart that information onto Jeonghan.

Minghao needed this to work. After meeting Chan, seeing the anger and pain his actions had caused the other made Minghao wanted everything to be resolved quickly. He wanted his agreement with the agency to be terminated and to start building a new life, a better one.

"Alright." Failing to convey confidence, his hands started wandering endlessly, smoothing out his dress, worrying his bottom lip. Looking behind him he saw hoards of people, dripping with opulence, surrounded by the feeling of superiority, strutting inside the building. Confident, never feeling estrangement, a slight glint of anticipation in their eyes. Mimicking them was impossible. Regardless of his competency as a shapeshifter, the posture imbedded inside of those people couldn't possibly be mirrored. Dirty slumrat blood ran through him, not liquid diamonds.

Hey, you're a million times better than any of them – you'll be amazing. He heard Seungcheol's encouragement echoing through his mind.

Get out of my head. Jeonghan teased, finally able to joke about it.

Seungcheol smiled.

Kiss for good luck? Jeonghan offhandedly suggested before quickly leaning down pecking the detective on the lips before he could register anything.

"I –"

"I'll see you in a few okay?" And then Jeonghan was off before his hesitations overwrought him, leaving a stunned Seungcheol behind.

He was definitely asking Jeonghan on a date after all this.

"When did that became a thing?" Soonyoung questioned from the back seat.

Seungcheol ignored Soonyoung, instead clearing his throat to distract from the blush creeping liberally upwards his neck.

"Okay, let's just focus."

 

💊💊💊

 

Seungkwan was holding tightly onto Mingyu's arm, it felt like forever before they reach the opened entrance, they were both standing there, cluelessly waiting for everybody to clear up. Everybody it seemed, have suddenly decided to be fashionably late to this event. Seungkwan didn't anticipate this predicament; in fact he was beginning to think that they hadn't anticipated anything with all of them just being overly zealous of this infiltration mission.

His oxygen was abruptly choked out of him, when the muscular bodyguard began glaring at the spot the two infiltrators were standing on. Was he not invisible? Was the lack of reflection in on one of the window panels in front of them an illusion of competency Seungkwan concocted inside his own mind as false encouragement for himself? Was it –

"Move," Mingyu whispered harshly in his ears. The sudden warning almost flicker Seungkwan into visibility, thankfully he managed to prevent it. Barely.

Two guesses moved through where they were standing, Seungkwan then realized that they were who the bodyguard was glaring at.

"Seungkwan, relax." Vernon calmly instruct in his ears. "I can see your heart beating out of your ribcage."

Right. He wasn't even through the door yet and Vernon could still spot them. It was kind of freaky that Vernon could just do...that, see right through him, literally. Wait, does this mean could see me naked, he thought as his chest began pumping another heart attack inducing rhythm.

"Hurry, look, there's only one person left going inside," Vernon pointed.

There was a woman, barely older than Seungkwan, walking inside, clad in a deep blood-red dress long enough to reach the ground. She was having trouble preventing it from getting dirty on the slightly wet tarmac, having to bunch the hem of the dress up. Everybody seemed to appreciate her troubles, happily ogling her up and down from further away, stuck in their spots and keeping their distance wide enough for the two infiltrators to trail behind her.

"Stupid assholes," the woman mumbled under her breath, glaring holes at some of the people who openly tried to sneak a peak of underneath her dress. Seungkwan couldn’t' agree more, some people really were just unashamedly disgusting creeps. "Stupid dress." Now that Seungkwan didn't agree with because holy hell that dress looked amazing. It sorta resembled the one he saw Mrs. Hong bought from his parents, weird; he thought it was one of a kind.

Suddenly, Mingyu pulled him sideways, the force hard enough to almost yank his arm off. Okay, maybe Seungkwan exaggerated certain actions whenever he's nervous. Besides, miming words the other rolled their eyes on was his only coping mechanism.

Underneath 'the cloak' – as Seungkwan so called it – people looked somewhat blurry, similar to distorted images under water, only not as hazy. He's still capable of navigating himself and Mingyu who's also covered underneath the cloak. Unfortunately, It becomes dizzying after a while.

The two of them made their way to a safer place where there weren't too many people mingling about. It was smart really, Mingyu were the one who pulled them straight into the thick of the crowd, bumping people here and there only nobody seemed to pay them any mind since they've already expected to bump anyways.

Discovering a clearing beside the stage, they decided to stay there, besides the slightly raised podium similar to the ones in ballrooms and wedding venues. The structure was layered underneath velvet – the expensive kind. The decorations surrounding the stage were cream colored, accented with gold, a perfect picture of luxury. Seungkwan was impressed at the set-up.

"Focus," Vernon reminded. Which was odd because surely he couldn't see Seungkwan being distracted –"Mingyu's tugging on your sleeves."

oh.

Seungkwan directed his attention towards his friend, raising an inquisitive brow. Mingyu's eyes pointed towards the other side of the ballroom and Seungkwan followed Mingyu's direction. The moment he laid eyes upon them was the moment every fraction of his soul got forcibly ejected from his body.

Right, his parents were also attending.

He was interjected from his wide-eyed staring by the deafening microphone feedback ringing through the enclosed space. Being nearer to the stage speakers was beginning to look like a horrible decision. Barely managing to hold in a wince, Seungkwan bit the inside of his cheeks to prevent any noises from escaping that could potentially alert others of their presence.

Seungkwan was beginning to sweat, even with only fifteen minutes passing. At least in their hidden position he didn't have to maintain their invisibility and overexert himself. The couple minutes inside his parents’ office room had been incredibly difficult, there’s no way he would survive a whole party relying on his invisibility alone.

Maybe the anxiety of possibly being caught factored into the fact that the room felt horrendously stifling. Or maybe it was the room full of people triggering his brain into thinking everything was sweltering hot. Seungkwan has never been nervous in public, in fact he found happiness in being admired by a pool of people. It seemed that ever since overdrive he'd discovered a newly found anxiety in other people.

Now he finally noticed. They're smiles were extremely fake.

"Ladies and Gentleman." A man began talking animatedly to the audience. The room dimmed slightly, like a show was about to begin. Somehow Seungkwan and Mingyu were reluctant to uncover what kind of show that was.

"See any pills?" Joshua asked in his ear, once again reminding them of their true purpose, "Put your hands up if the answer's no so Vernon could see you."

Seungkwan hesitantly did as instructed; it's relieving to know their hiding spot was solid.

"Okay, just put your hands up again when you see it."

Inside the car the air wasn't any less tense; Seokmin was obsessing over switching between cameras to see if there was anything happening, which resulted in the responsibility of watching Seungkwan and Mingyu being relegated mostly to Vernon. Joshua was keeping a vigilant ear out on everything else, beginning to get a better picture on things.

"I think this is a fundraiser event," Joshua informed both for the people in the car and the ones inside.

"Fundraiser, for what?" Vernon asked.

Joshua shrugged. "They're deliberating if they should donate anything or not. If it's worth it."

The two groups returned to their task, keeping the information tucked in the back of their minds. Seungkwan and Mingyu were listening to the mc of the event droning on about things that made the audience chuckle, an icebreaker opening of some sort. It was all very mundane until the mc started diverting the topic, grabbing their previously depleting attention.

"Everyone, I'm sure you're all aware of the main event. You wanna know if you decide to...donate, will your generous investment be worth it." The man said in an overly exaggerated, jester-like manner. "Well, you'd certainly receive overdrive for whomever you need it for."

The MC made his way through the crowd, vivaciously galloping around like a circus master. "Your child? Your partner? Somebody here have at least one person that they're close to that are...humans." He spit the word out like it absolutely disgusted him, it made Seungkwan flinch since he'd been human for so long before. Even currently, realizing he wasn't human anymore, the apprehension towards the elite's toxin-invested mindset regarding mutations made his stomach churn and bile rose up his throat.

"Well, if you fund our little...five minute overdrive endeavor, that five minute could possibly turn into forever." Cheers erupted throughout the whole ballroom, everybody elated at the mention of the possibility of their issues ending. "Of course you might want to know; does it work? What would we gain?" The mc clicked his tongue. "Well ‘fraid not people, tonight your minds would be blown and your questions satisfied.

"Oh my god," Seokmin gasped, Seungkwan could tell something was freaking his usually sunshiny friend out. His voice was dripping with horror and disgust.

"There's somebody locked inside a cage, he looks really malnourished. A-and there's other kids, I don't know where they are but there are tubes like...inside them."

Vernon, scooted over beside Seokmin to see what the other saw, reeling instinctively afterwards. "The kids are hooked up to some sort of machine, there's pills pumping out of one end."

Seungkwan gulped, sounded really horrible. Whoever these people were it's clear they're dangerous, being involved in any capacity could result in potential harm towards him. He didn't want his parents to be involved either, but there was nothing he could currently do he needed a sample of overdrive quick, figure out his uncertain death schedule and then maybe report everything to the police. He sure as hell hoped he'd survive.

"You want proof? Here it is folks." Someone carted in a massive tube-shaped glass container and placed it in the middle of the audience. Captured inside was a young boy, trembling in fear warily glances at everybody surrounding him. Simultaneously, his eyes were unfocused like he was drugged beforehand.

Seungkwan thought he might vomit.

Somebody reached out, opening a section of the cylindrical prison, force-feeding the pill into the child’s mouth.

Mingyu yanked at his arm again, effectively drawing away Seungkwan's attention. Then he saw it. There was a pocketful of overdrive readily hanging off of the person who force-fed the boy's pants. Seungkwan leaped into action, turning them both invisible. Wanting to finish things quickly, he navigated through everyone efficiently until he reached the clearing where the person and the glass cage resided. He grabbed one pill and tried moving back slowly.

He saw the child suddenly contort in front of him in an oddly misshapen sort of way and Seungkwan almost gasped. The boy folded in half like he suddenly lost his spine, it was disturbing since the boy was too dazed to do anything but the fear in his eyes was still piercing.

"That is sick," He heard Vernon comment, revulsion filling his voice.

Yeah, it was. But the people cheered the boy on as he contorted into numerous different shapes, doing party tricks for the people who were hurting him. Seungkwan wanted to leave. Now.

With the people piling around the trapped boy, it became easier to navigate through the side where less people were milling about. He was going to vomit; he carted Mingyu who couldn't process the boy behind, disbelief making his gigantic friend pliant to Seungkwan's carting. Seungkwan was determined to get out, his lunch was about to lurch out everywhere.

"So who wants to be the first donator, huh? The top ten people who generously donate to our cause will get twenty pills for free." Silence fell over the room as people raise their numbers announcing how much they would pay and a chart appeared where people's name and how much they donate were thoroughly listed. Names of elites were called out as each people set to donate a certain amount. "Ah, Mrs. Boo, thank you for your generous donation."

Seungkwan lurched, he needed to vomit now. He made a b-line towards the bathroom, visibility flickering erratically

"Hey you okay?" Mingyu asked at the same time Joshua said "Wait."

Joshua, by now wanting to see the action inside had peered through Seokmin's laptop. Seokmin had all but abandoned it, choosing to see through phone cameras of the attendees inside, utilizing his powers.

Something caught Joshua's eyes; he never thought that there would be cameras aimed located anywhere near the bathroom. Regardless there it was, pointing towards somebody he second guessed the identity of twice, but there was no mistaking it.

Seungkwan balanced himself on his feet, swaying dazedly as Mingyu hitched his friend up to a standing position in the hall. "Need bathroom," his friend choked out. Mingyu nodded and started walking his friend towards the bathroom, not noticing the two people that had entered before them.

Arriving at the bathroom, the door was unusually heavy. It wasn't until Seungkwan half gasped, half begged Mingyu to do something that Mingyu finally decided to bust the door open with his strength. The door broke off its hinges, making Mingyu realized that it was locked, and then he looked up to see the reason why it was locked.

All he saw was red after.

"Jeonghan?" Joshua shouted. His bestfriend needed help.

Notes:

Find me on:
twt

Chapter title from Social Climb by I Don't Know How But They Found Me <3

Chapter 12: Every Face Is a Hologram, We're All Caught in a Dream

Notes:

TW
So this is when the rape/non-con tag comes into play. Its a tiny section of the chapter and super vague, but if ur sensitive its better to be safe. Plus the story's still easy to follow even if u skip this chapter

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Jeonghan passed through the door without so much of a glance behind towards the people whose happily scanning his body shamelessly thorough. He genuinely felt bad for women; it's so uncomfortable being one.

The party or whatever it was, was packed full of attendees, wealthy people who had their pinkies raised whenever they gulp down their fancy beverages.

It was disgusting, Jeonghan thought, the entire place was pearlescent, golden white and shiny through every single corner. The curtains were deep burgundy, velvet no less, with crystals hanging on ropes ascending it. There was a gigantic chandelier in the middle of the room that could easily kill ten people if it falls. Jeonghan secretly wished it did.

Jeonghan scanned the room, searching for his target's ugly face that he had to forcibly memorize solely for this mission. The guy looked like a creep, with a permanent smirk on his face whenever he got captured on security cameras. He had a condescending way of carrying himself, making all the people around him looked all but four feet tall in his presence. It was menacing, but Jeonghan was more repulsed by the man.

He was a pimp on top of everything, making income out of desperate women, taking whatever lives they had, smothering it unashamedly.

He was thoroughly sickening and Jeonghan had to flirt with him, he even memorized what the guy liked in his women. From the slim, average size stature, moderately sized breast, toned everything, and to his shoulder length dark brunette hair. He was the perfect vision of his target's fantasy which would hopefully secure his success

Still, it was a nauseating experience, but he's a professional.

"The man's on the other side of where you're standing, in one of the private booth," Minghao informed.

Jeonghan nodded discretely, hoping Soonyoung saw his answer, but if he didn't Seungcheol did, he could feel the detective prowling in his thoughts, present at the forefront like a safeguard to remind him that he wasn't alone.

You're not.

I know, Jeonghan answered, before making his way towards the target.

All the people milling about, openly, curiously eyeing him made him agitated

This wasn't his first time. It wasn't that he thought of himself as the end-all-be-all when it came to attractiveness; it's just that when you're a shapeshifter you could be the perfect vision of anyone's wet dream, commanded completely at will. Who knew that the target's taste in women was common amongst these folks.

He doesn't like shifting for too long, and for reasons like these, he only does it for the money, or currently, for Chan. It was easy to lose track of yourself when you could be anybody else.

That's why you have a shining personality, Seungcheol teased, a little bit of sarcasm powering his teasings. Jeonghan could tell there was genuine complement within though, and he willed his blush and smirk away.

Is that so?

"Wanna sit, little miss?" Jeonghan heard, he was preoccupied attempting to make it so he looked like he wasn't busy with paying attention to everybody else, that he forgot what he strutted across the room for.

His target's sleazy, crooked teeth smile made him want to vomit. The shiny gold tooth in place of an incisors glinted in the light, it was tacky, and repulsive, but he smiled nonetheless; an innocent smile, hidden within it a mischievous intent that he disguised as something sexy instead of something hidden, a desire to be destructive.

"Why, thank you." He slid himself next to the target, who wrapped his arm around his shoulders immediately. Jeonghan eyed the hand, secretly sneering, before immediately schooling his face back into one of innocent nonchalance. It was a good thing the target didn't notice.

He could feel a coiling fury wrapping itself around his mind, though the sensation was apt, it wasn't his. Seungcheol really was predictable.

Jeonghan didn't know but he thought of teasing Seungcheol for it later, a warmth settling within his chest, blooming a small smile tugging on his lips that he had to bite away. That seemed to subside Seungcheol’s raging emotions a little, but the target ended up thinking the smile was for him.

The target leaned closer, breathing in Jeonghan's ear like a predator toying with his prey, giving it a preview of its shining shark teeth.

"What's your name sweet thing?" He asked, tone condescending. Jeonghan felt his soul chip away for trying to suppress the urge to slap the man across his stupid face.

"What's yours?" He asked instead.

The man chuckled darkly. "You're a feisty little thing."

Jeonghan stretched his lips thin into a smile, innocent and sweet. A little murderous

"Baller, what's yours?"

Jeonghan kept the grin, grabbing 'baller's' glass and downing the warm amber-colored content inside. "Wouldn't you like to know," he answered teasingly.

Baller chuckled again, emphasizing by tightening his grip onto Jeonghan's waist with his long talon-like nails. "Oh, a really feisty one, huh?"

Jeonghan bit his lip, not giving anything away, he tried his best fuck me eyes he could muster, maybe if he could get Baller's defenses down he could get to the phone, wherever it was.

"It doesn't matter; all you need to know is my name anyway." Baller signaled two fingers at the bartender across the room, who intently watched the target's signal telling him to get him another drink. He leaned in closer against Jeonghan's prickling ear. "You're gonna be screaming it later," baller whispered before kissing his neck.

Jeonghan shivered, managing to make it seemed like the involuntary response was from anticipation and not repulsion.

Seungcheol returned, angrier than ever. It made Jeonghan feel better that he was there.

Meanwhile, Seungcheol was seething inside the car. This is why you never mix your work life with your love life, Junhui thought, touching his friend's tense shoulder tentatively before compelling the hurricane invading the other's temple to subside. It was difficult trying to deplete an endless pool of hatred. Junhui didn't blame Seungcheol, the target really was disgusting.

"Are we good?" He heard Minghao questioned warily, a hand over the microphone so Jeonghan didn't overhear.

"Yeah." Junhui nodded.

"The guy's absolutely disgusting," Seungcheol spit, unending hatred sprinkled within. "His mind, it's so-"

"We know." Junhui tried again to calm Seungcheol down. "We know, it's the name of the game."

It didn't make Seungcheol feel any better. Reading the other attendees inside served nothing either, only overwhelming him with their seemingly endless amount. Condescending thoughts jabbering about their power-hungry intentions, it's giving Seungcheol whiplash surrounding his history. He didn't think he can handle it.

The only other thought he's unable to focus on was the people attracted to Jeonghan. Desiring to own the beautiful creature for the night.

Baller the absolute worst offender.

"Has Jeonghan got the phone yet?" Seungcheol asked, his body shivering to get the shapeshifter out of there.

"Not yet," Soonyoung answered his attention thoroughly on the laptop. Fingers clacking intensively on the keys, it was what he did when he's agitated, obsessively looking up security cameras after security cameras. He hoped Jeonghan could secure the phone quickly and get out of there. For his hyung he'd be willing to overwork his brain, curling his fingers self-destructively just to chisel the time down to seven minutes, maybe five if he was diligent enough. Soonyoung got a horribly sinking feeling about this.

The room had started gathering, a man at the microphone freely speaking about something or another. For a second, Baller looked towards the stage, contemplating, probably wanting to join whatever event might bring the most chaos. It would be more difficult for Jeonghan to acquire the phone if his target's flanked everywhere by clueless people. And the longer the time passes, the more he looked about ready to depart.

Being quick-footed, Jeonghan started unabashedly inching closer towards the target, becoming increasingly handsy, stroking the other's suite jacket leisurely.

The sleazy smile returned sending nausea wracking through Jeonghan before lodging inside his throat.

At least his tactics were working.

"Like it?" He seized Jeonghan's fingers, coarse against delicate making an incredibly unfair comparison. "It’s silk from Italy," He bragged. Of course it was, expensiveness was the objectives of these people. Jeonghan always wonder why did the best things in life go towards the people who obviously didn't deserve it.

"Fancy," He appeased anyways, the ego needed to be stroke somehow.

Jeonghan took the opportunity to enticed baller some more, hands mapping whatever's jutting out whatever's pocket, searching everywhere for that damn phone. Coming across a slight bump, solid and rigid, Jeonghan breathes. score. But it was difficult to grab, the position would definitely raise suspicion if he-

It rang.

Baller sighed, sleazy grin wiped away quickly as he aggressively ripped the phone from his back pocket. The dude had been sitting on his phone, a difficult spot to grab the object, but now things escalated negatively.

Baller didn't even bother to answer it. Glaring at the phone before placing it back where it was, crushing it with his ass. Jeonghan sighed, he needed that phone, he didn't think that he could slip his hand through the second time without getting notice.

You need to get him to stand up, Seungcheol suggested, a hint of urgency powered by frustration in his tone.

Yeah, no shit.

Seungcheol really wanted Jeonghan out of there, he didn't like the repulsive thoughts the guy was thinking surrounding Jeonghan. The flashing images of the desires inside Baller’s head were truly disturbing. The form of pleasure Baller subscribed towards was something that should only happen within a safe environment, between equally descent people.

This is not good.

Jeonghan thought of an idea, Seungcheol catching a glimpse of it sat bolt upright in his seat, garnering everyone else's in the car attention.

"What is it?" Soonyoung ask, worry in his tone.

Better go Seungcheol, you won't like this, Jeonghan said right before pushing Seungcheol out of his mind.

He didn't even know Jeonghan could do that. Nobody could do that.

"Wait," he said aloud, really freaking everyone else inside the car. "Shit, I gotta get inside," he rushed desperately, half way from getting out of the car.

"What are you doing? Seungcheol!" Junhui was grabbing at Seungcheol tightly. Their trainings made the equally as strong, but nobody could ever stop Seungcheol once his desperate.

Soonyoung who was extremely worried now, started to scramble to search for Jeonghan, who was not at the booth anymore. Having been distracted at the worst part before, Soonyoung frantically searched for his hyung, feeling his bottom hollowing out with every security cam empty of the familiar face. "No no no. We shouldn't have done this."

"We need the phone," Junhui argued, just as Soonyoung got the signal of the phone.

He was worried for Jeonghan but he didn't want the other's hard work to go to waste, so he insisted on multi-tasking.

Seven minutes. I can do it.

The minute baller stood up, Jeonghan slipped his hand inside the target's back pocket and sneaked the phone inside his purse. He hoped no calls came through while it's in there, but he was sure he could take his mind off it long enough to slip it back if it did happen. A little sleight of hand was always the trick.

They headed to the bathroom, Jeonghan casually strolling through whilst Baller kept maneuvering him to walk faster. He made a flippant excuse that he didn't want to cause a scene in such a prestigious occasion, which seemed to appease his target enough to walk at his pace.

It took seemingly several minutes for them to eventually arrive inside the bathroom. Unsurprisingly fancy as everything else outside.

It was cold, clean. Marbles decorated thoroughly instead of tiles. White and golden partitions for the urinals, the cubicles matching in aesthetics. It was shimmering, clinically polished.

Jeonghan thought he'd rather live inside this bathroom than the shitty apartment he shared with Chan in the slums. There was even a bone-white, faux leather cabriole decorated towards the corner. Supplanted besides a fake looking - but actually living dieffenbachia plant - fake on account of how vibrantly green it was.

These people, Jeonghan thought, wasteful

Only allotted barely seconds to admire, he was suddenly being directed towards the furniture, disturbingly roughly. He failed to hear the locks clicking shut behind him. Although warning signs was ringing loudly as the blood rushing within his ears.

Getting back up calmly, he attempted to put his panic alongside his purse aside on the counter. Unfortunately, he was quickly prevented from doing that. Being sheep-herded towards the sofa distressingly forcefully. The beginning of a full-blown panic attack invaded Jeonghan's senses.

"W-wait," he heard himself for him to display such apprehension stuttering out. It was a rarity alongside vulnerability, having done similar things beforehand. But this was different, something Jeonghan's aware the precariousness of, but somehow always thought he would be able to escape.

He was intelligent, quick on his feet, experienced, and a mutant. Usually his targets were merely humans, mostly arrogant and uneducated.

And although Baller fits the latter part of the description, he was still surprisingly strong. And Jeonghan, agitated, couldn't shift or do anything.

Seungcheol.

His previously halting words were disregarded, Baller instead choosing to ravage him everywhere. He was laid on the cabriole, having landed with a thump, Baller's body covering his constrictingly.

"Wait," he repeated, this time the agitation was audible. Baller hand's sneaked up the underside of his dress, and Jeonghan started to hyperventilate.

Never had he ever been invaded like this before. Consent, protection, his control, were always something present even when dealing with the shitiest people.

But now...

First of all he wasn't even sure pregnancy was a possibility within his female convines. He didn't want to find out. Neither did he want to discover if his superhealing could heal STD's. These types of people would never be considerate enough to have any protection. Jeonghan never before alotted them a chance to get this far, he set the rules even if he was pretending to be demure. Giving them what they desired only when he was benefited. or else he would knock them out.

He couldn't with this one. Ten minutes.

Somehow disappointing Seungcheol and Chan was something he's concerning himself over within this situation. He didn't know when he'd cared this deeply before.

Baller squeezed his breast then, his nails digging in, intending to hurt him and gain his undivided attention. Maliciously grinning.

"Stop!" Forget it, Jeonghan thought, he was certain Seungcheol would value his safety more than this mission.

Wanting to sucker punch the guy out of existence, gaining strength and conviction back, something suffocating suddenly rushed over his spine, a coldness freezing over him. His body seized up, muscles stubbornly unmoving, rigor mortis setting in. He felt himself turned into dead weight; he couldn't move even minuscule maneuvers, sleep-paralyze-like state taking over.

This was something akin to a nightmare. Once Jeonghan was disbelieving of happening, but simultaneously one he'd anticipated. This was what his insignificant heist could do, someday, today. Even with Seungcheol present he knew he the agency didn't back this up, it was absolutely dangerous. He was sure it couldn't get worse.

Then Baller began touching his skin, feeling underneath his skirt and pain, searing and blinding bloomed every time a contact is initiated.

Jeonghan tried to scream, but his tongue was nothing but a useless muscle. He was surprised he was still breathing with all the panicking and hyperventilating.

"You shouldn't have been so stubborn," Baller whispered in his ears, biting the lobe till Jeonghan was sure it bled.

Outside, Seungcheol, fortunately had long managed to rip Junhui's hands away. Soonyoung in the backseat was constantly making steady progress at an incredible speed; he only needed two minutes left if this kept going

"Seungcheol!" Junhui whisper-shouted as both he and Minghao, charged to grab at the incoherently screaming detective.

"Jesus, what is it? The target is dangerous we know, we established this, Jeonghan agreed to-"

"Jeonghan's going to get hurt! He's touching him, h-he can't move!" Seungcheol ripped through the other's hands once again before Minghao tackled him to the ground.

"Please, stop," Minghao pleaded, using his hands to literally cement itself onto the ground, surrounding Seungcheol.

"We need those data, you'll ruin the mission." Junhui didn't understand the overreaction, he tried to deplete the endless pool of hurt and worry from inside Seungcheol's heart. He genuinely was confused since he knew that Jeonghan knew what he signed up for was potentially dangerous, and might result into a more sexual type of distraction. Was Seungcheol really that jealous?

Seungcheol glared at him then, and both Junhui and Minghao fell to their knees at the flashes of Jeonghan. "Oh no."

 

💊💊💊

 

Mingyu did the first thing he thought when he saw how the women had looked dead underneath that man, and when she gave him that pleading look, her head lulling listlessly towards the side - he ran and grabbed the man's collar tugging him backwards forcefully enough that the man flew to one of the cubicle door. He crumpled into a heap of groaning mess on the ground, but Mingyu was too busy helping the woman up, carefully.

Seungkwan jaw dropped, gob smacked at what he just witnessed. An attempted assault on top of everything he had endured tonight - at least, he hoped it was attempted. He winced and ran towards Mingyu's side, nausea forgotten momentarily to help the young women up.

"Are you okay?" Mingyu, asked, voice shaking a little but comforting nonetheless.

The women swayed in her seat, body still refusing to stay upright for long before she slumped back onto her side.

"Did he drug her?" Seungkwan questioned, tremor invading his voice.

This night couldn't get any worse.

The man that Mingyu shoved finally stood up, swaying on his feet, an angry flare flushing his face. "You threw me; I could sue you for that! Don't you know mutation powered assault could get you twice the punishment?!" He spits indignantly.

Seungkwan, who was quick to think on his feet, pulled his phone out of his pocket and pointed the camera at the man. From his position behind Mingyu, the man couldn't have known he didn't have his phone out the whole time. Seungkwan popped up from he was hidden, chest puffing out in a sort of attempt to come across like he wasn't shaken up, his head held high as he pointedly drew attention towards his phone.

"Do you? Cause I got that whole thing on camera, let's see which one of us would get away with self-defense, hmm?"

The man looked fearful at the sight of the phone, he could always get away with these things, but that was because he stayed clear of most cameras that could unarguably prove him guilty.

"Hey, don't get hasty now."

The women suddenly stood from her spot on shaky, legs, dismissing Mingyu's attempts on easing her steps. She grabbed her purse, walked over to the man and puffed up her chest, setting a scolding look on her tearstained face before she punched him. Hard.

The phone slipped back into the man's pocket went unnoticed by anyone.

"Get. The fuck. Out," the women gritted, watching the man straighten himself out, walking angrily out the door like he was the one who was wronged.

The three left stood there for what felt like hours, a thin tension tying them all together.

"A-are you okay?" Mingyu asked again tentatively, slowly walking behind the women who was facing away from them.

The two boys gasped as he watched the women grew several inches taller, literally, her shoulders broaden, and previously soft but toned muscles turned sculpted a bit more bulky.

Seungkwan gasped. what is happening?

Then a sob, loud an involuntary cut through the post-panic and confusion. Mingyu and Seungkwan immediately felt horrible for the practical stranger.

"Do you need-" Seungkwan didn't get to finish his sentence before the women ran out of the bathroom.

Seungkwan and Mingyu both looked at each other deciding to run after the women, knowing that was the descent thing to do. It wasn't right to just walk away without making sure the women was okay. The two trailed behind her, invisible, but there. They made their way out, finally, and far enough away out of sight from the building that the two could turn visible again.

"Hey!" The two of them heard, they looked to the side to see Joshua running towards them, but it wasn't them he was addressing.

"Joshua?" Seungkwan did a double take.

"Jeonghan!" Somebody then shouted, before the woman was engulfed in a tight hug.

Mingyu's first reaction was to body the unfamiliar man again, but then he got distracted when Joshua also shouted, "Jeonghan." And move to a stop beside the women.

"Joshua?" Mingyu and Seungkwan saw another boy, with blonde, almost white hair, look wide-eyed at Joshua.

"Soonyoung? What are you doing here - what are you both doing here?" Joshua addressed both Jeonghan and Soonyoung in a confused manor.

Soonyoung stammered, glancing at everyone there confusingly. "I - we were-" and then he got cut off by a gut-wrenching sob, and everyone's attention returned towards Jeonghan who all but broke down.

"Seungcheol," Jeonghan gasped out through ragged intakes of breath. He felt Seungcheol rubbed his back comfortingly, shushing him and telling him he's alright. Jeonghan grabbed Seungcheol where he could and hold on for dear life, burying his face in the detective’s neck, effectively wetting it with his tears.

"Han?" Only then Jeonghan realized that other people had come up to him, his eyes glanced towards Soonyoung before eventually landing on Joshua who had spoken his name.

"Joshuji," he whined and let go of Seungcheol, who still cradled his body closely, whilst his best friend bend over to grab his barreling friend.

Soonyoung ran to his hyung side, and Jeonghan was effectively crowded by the three people there he cared for the most.

Feeling safer he breathed in calmly and shook back the worrying glances.

"D-did you get the data?"

Soonyoung scrunched his face up before throwing himself at Jeonghan. "Fuck that," he brokenly whispered. "But yes, you don't have to worry about that anymore."

Both Mingyu and Seungkwan heard the surprisingly deep voice to the women, and maybe now they thought she wasn't a woman at all. The two of them didn't want to assume but they're thoroughly confused.

"I shouldn't have asked this of you," Seungcheol suddenly piped.

"Ask what? Why are you here - why are you all here?" Joshua questioned, frustration building in his throat.

By then the commotion had garnered the attention of the passengers of the only two vehicles sequestered away at the relatively empty hidden spot. Coming out of the woodworks walked Minghao, Junhui, Vernon, and Seokmin, all looking confused.

"Joshua, you know them?" Seungkwan asked when he managed to untwist his tied tongue.

"Who are they?" Soonyoung asked to Joshua who seemed to be the middleman to this entire situation.

Seungcheol had now aided Jeonghan onto his feet, still holding tightly, crowding the other's body like a shield, away from everyone’s prying eyes as he rubbed his back comfortingly.

"I-" Joshua was at a loss for words; he had remnants of fear, anger still coursing through his veins from seeing Jeonghan getting hurt. He was worried, his head ached, and he was confused, but one thing's for sure. "I think we all need to talk."

Notes:

So...see u in 2 weeks. Please, feel free to read my x men jeongcheol fic to pass the time (yes this is a shameless promo). Comments r always appreciated
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Title from Mirage by Sabrina Carpenter <3

Chapter 13: I'm Unnapreciative of the Air That I Breathe

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The tension inside the unfamiliar vehicle Seungcheol's currently occupying was palpable, but even though the car was unfamiliar, the people inside were surprisingly - maybe frighteningly - familiar.

They certainly thought so too, the other group, with the way their deeply-historical eyes glanced warily, a sliver of bitter resentment still present behind every pair.

Seungcheol ignored every glare, there's still time until he arrived at the place he had promised never to returned to, but he didn't want to focus on that. Instead the attention's directed towards the boy who was holding his hand at arm’s length, curled up to his friends, leaning brokenly.

Junhui and Minghao wasn't there, Jihoon had called unexpectedly to converse with them about something, and the two decided to split up figuring that they needed to return to the agency anyways, reporting their mission. Seungcheol decided to stay only because he wanted to be near Jeonghan. Even at the mere mention of the shapeshifter he felt bile rise up his throat, guilt threateningly bubbling up his insides, he didn't like the fact that his decisions indirectly cause Jeonghan pain. He shouldn't have asked for his help.

He was slightly surprised that Joshua was there, alongside the others, but that was a conversation that they'll expand upon later.

Another one of his numerous responsibilities was he needed to be the one to explain a few things to this new (but old) group of people who are somehow involved in all of this too. He figured he was the most qualified to do so for a number of reasons, and for another he also needed to know if the information the other group gave him was significant to the investigation.

He sighed, releasing the tension already forming along his spine. His head's pulsating, the lights the vehicle passed by seemed to be getting brighter and brighter, the housed climbed taller and taller. He hated the reminder of what once was, and the convoluted mess he was in with this investigation didn't help the growing overwhelming emotions inside him.

Hey, he heard alongside a squeeze to his fingers. Are you okay?

Seungcheol looked at Jeonghan, the shapeshifter's face buried in Joshua's neck where he was leaning his whole bodyweight onto the other. He was surprised that the shapeshifter managed to nudge inside his mental connections, but it wasn't like Seungcheol hadn't had a hand in it either with how much his mental connection worried for Jeonghan.

Seungcheol returned the sentiment, squeezing Jeonghan's fingers, smiling sadly. Are you okay? He threw back, watching Jeonghan's composure stagger from the response. Seungcheol suppressed a hiss, regretting his decision of asking instantaneously.

It's not your fault.

Seungcheol smiled again, not quite reaching his eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered aloud, watching several different pair of eyes landed in his direction. He didn't mind them.

The ride eventually delivered them to a large mansion that Seungcheol honestly thought at one point he would never encounter again. He was there, and that fact cemented a strange wistful feeling churning his stomach.

Stepping inside, the detective was greeted by a familiar picture of broken white pillars, holding up a large structure. Long winded hallways decked with sparse decoration, few and far in between. The dark gleaming marble floor echoed his reflection, making him feel a pang of nostalgia twisting him.

He used to run barefoot in those hallways.

"Seokmin, do you have a room?" Joshua asked, still holding onto Jeonghan who had managed to erect and reinforced his entire barrier. He looked okay, a tiny crooked smile grazing his features as if whatever breakdown the other had witness after the party never happened.

Seungcheol knew better, he didn't have to read the shapeshifter's thoughts to know that the events of the night had affected him quite negatively. The foundation of his livelihood shaken after such an unpleasant encounter. It was definitely a miracle nothing similar had happened sooner.

Baller was never registered as a mutant, but with the addition of overdrive they should've known better than to send an unprofessionally trained, third party operative into the field.

"You can go to mine."

Joshua nodded, hearding Jeonghan away from the group awkwardly standing around. Jeonghan leaning closer to the other boy the further away they got.

Without Joshua, Seungcheol was left to be the middle man of the group and he was afraid. He could practically read the equal resentment intermingling amongst hopeful thoughts.

He couldn't ignore this even after the investigation's solved, can he?

The upstairs door clicked shut, signaling to everybody else that the other two boys had sequestered themselves successfully. Seungcheol gave a longing look towards said door, before following the other dutifully towards the hang-out area.

He shouldn't run away from his past, Jeonghan had thought him that.

They each sat down tentatively, even the owner of the house looked like he was sitting on a bed of nails than a plush Armani couch.

There was silence for a while. No offer of refreshments available on the table.

Seungcheol didn't know where to begin, which part he should address, and neither do the rest of them.

But only one amongst them currently was left in the dark to the underlying tension in the room, considering he was being bombarded with unbelievably problematic relationships for the past couple hours, sometimes, pretending to be strong was an impossibility.

"Would somebody please say something?!" He pleaded, practically shouted. Soonyoung was done keeping his thoughts bottled within himself.

He had been thoroughly confused all night. Hell, all week. He's only given the briefest of information, like targets to do background checks on, and whatever he ended up doing involved overdrive. What he didn't know was the importance of the situation, why did he have to - again - witness somebody he cared deeply fall apart.

"I was there for overdrive," one of the boys Soonyoung recognized as the one who helped Jeonghan suddenly inputted.

"You were going to buy some?" Seungcheol phrased his question almost like an accusation, and the other boy scoffed.

"Still with that distaste for the rich, huh, hypocrite?"

"I-"

"We were there to get one, yes, but it was so I could take it apart, study it deeper."

Seungcheol nodded, this would be easier if he could read them all, but he couldn't bring himself too. Not wanting to see the unending distasteful memories regarding him.

"Seungkwan took the pill during his showcase, and now he's a mutant," Mingyu explained.

"How's that possible?"

"Well that's why we need overdrive, to find out, we heard that it might have some...adverse side effect," Vernon clarified.

Seungcheol nodded, he remembered the increased in reports the agency got of mutant running rampant. He knew now the reason behind everything was overdrive and the 'adverse' reaction was death, but a new question arose within his mind. Who would mastermind such destruction, and for what? Money? Chaos? Watching people explode randomly like a demented balloon whilst newly powered mutants ravage the city?

"You're here to find out who's behind it, aren't you?" Seungkwan guessed, with realizations in his tone.

Seungcheol didn't have to answer that.

"You better." The conviction in the other's tone made it feel like the word was an olive branch, the elephant in the room significantly smaller that it was before Seungcheol stepped inside. They have to continue their business of course, and with a couple exchanges of information, Soonyoung agreed to visit Seokmin's computer room whilst the rest stayed behind to figure things out.

"You've got a computer room?" Soonyoung questioned, wide eyed and awe-struck, he hadn't seen the room yet but the prospect of it existing enticed him.

"Of course, my parents own a tech company," Seokmin stated, like owning a tech company was some ordinary, everyday, average Joe type of thing.

"Man..." Soonyoung breathed, "I should rob you," he whispered conspiratorially.

"What?"

"Nothing."

As the two voices went further down the hallway, leaving entirely away of the other's hearing range, muttering something or another about the latest piece of computer technology - the ones left behind could only stare silently at one another. They've no barrier of a foreign person in their way now and it's...awkward.

"You look nice - you exercise?"

Seungkwan shrugged, his hands gripping his knees tightly, his legs were folded towards his ribcage. He had a haughty look plastering his face that the detective couldn't help but squirm under.

Considering the sides their standing, Seungcheol knew he left a bitter taste in everybody's mouths when he left so abruptly. Didn't even give any of them the chance to talk him down, it was his decision, he wanted to run away.

He should've realized back then that nobody could control the circumstances of their birth. That whatever you do with what your received were what you should be evaluated by. Seungcheol failed to understand that until...

The detective eyes glance briefly towards the room that the shapeshifter had sequestered himself inside. He needed to talk to Jeonghan later, about what he wasn't certain yet.

"You could read me if you want, get it over with so you could run away again." Seungkwan was trying very hard not to start crying, he won’t let anybody know this but the day Seungcheol left them to become somebody new, a piece of his extremely clingy soul went along with him.

"I-Is that your permission? I can't read you without it."

"Why? You used to get inside there without even asking, just taking what you want-"

-"Seungkwan." Vernon shook his head slowly, hand caressing Seungkwan's thigh in comfort. He, unlike the rest of them, never really felt attached to anything. Of course there was the occasional pang of nostalgia when thinking about the old days, but nothing beyond that. He'd learned to burry that deep within. Retaining his single minded focus. He understood that Seungkwan was more emotional than him when it came to this, so it was up to him to keep the other in check.

Mingyu who had been silently seething perched forebodingly on the sofa, shoulders broaden threateningly. The increasingly consequential happenings tonight had rattled him pretty significantly, he felt like he was traversing unsteady foundations. Right now, he needed somebody to center him before he exploded, cascading down anger and overreactions.

The fact that Wonwoo came to mind made him want to scream.

"Alright!" Mingyu didn't realize he had shouted before his balled fist at his side banged against the armrest of the sturdy furniture. "We don't need this!" He shouted, "We should just start at the beginning," he amended softer.

"Him first."

"Seungkwan, please," Seungcheol pleaded, almost whined, he'd forgotten just how melodramatic his former friends could be. He used to think of it as something positive, something noteworthy that he could memorized in his heart. Currently, it was just annoying. "I'm the detective, so really I need to know what you know."

Seungkwan stood abruptly, pacing the room with an irritated expression upon his face. His tongue was running circles inside his mouth, his eyes shut, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, staccato puffs of air escaping sporadically.

Stopping, Seungkwan looked upwards towards the ceiling before sighing theatrically.

"You come here, not even bothering to apologize before going straight to business. Did any of us meant anything?"

The deafening silence they've created constructed an unbreakable tension.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, of course you're sorry now but-"

"No, I'm sorry," Seungcheol reiterated empathetically. "I am. I’ve always regretted the way we parted. I shouldn't have done it that way - I shouldn't have done it at all. It's just that, I didn't want to be a part of this - t-this 'world' anymore, knowing where all these riches came from just made me nauseous." Seungcheol breathes, adding a note of anguish. He didn't mean for everything to get this complicated, " I guess in my head I correlate all of you with that...opulence. I felt so disgusted with myself for living the way I did."

It took several exchanges of sighs before the ramblings set in, where nobody uttered any replies.

"Is that it then? Why you left? You know you could've told us how you felt and we could've helped in some ways." Even if Mingyu had no problems with the money he was spending and how he'd continuously spent it, he could see where Seungcheol's coming from. It didn't excuse the abysmal way he treated them. The zero contact, no dramatic goodbyes, just...absolute silence.

It strangely reminded Mingyu of something.

"I know, a-and I shouldn't have judged any of you for something that you can't control."

"Did it really take you that long to come to that conclusion?" Seungkwan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He felt a headache rise to his temple, this night really devolved from one subject into another rapidly.

"Yeah...somebody made me realized it recently." Seungcheol's eyes flit briefly towards the Seokmin's door. If he had Junhui's abilities he would've sent as much positive emotions as he could beyond that partition.

The other three caught the look but made no further comments, just because they're currently reconnecting their broken relationship, didn't mean that it was magically fixed enough for them to reinsert themselves into each other's business.

The conversation did alleviate the chasms insides their chest they've never realized was growing. It was a conclusion to a chapter that they all needed, how they cultivate their relationship from there was to be determined. For now, they had an investigation to solve.

"Okay, why don't we exchange information before taking everything from there," Seungkwan relented, heartbeat alongside resolution's significantly calmer. "But don't think you can get rid of us after this. I don't care what your agency says; we're in this situation now."

Seungcheol chuckled, feeling a familiar spark of warmth reigniting somewhere deep inside. There was some rope constricting his lungs that made it difficult to breathe ever since his departure, maybe if it hadn't disappeared yet, it at least loosen up.

"Okay."

 

💊💊💊

 

"No, Jisoo, stop." Jeonghan was trying - failing miserably at thwarting the oncoming hands that were attempting to change him in every which way. Undressing him from the skintight red dress and into a more comfortable shirt that secretly he begrudgingly admitted sounded super comfortable. The shirt looked unassuming, but it was definitely of the highest grade of cotton - If Jeonghan could tell from the momentary brush of his fingers. The shirt didn't belong to him though, or Joshua, and he felt reluctant adorning it.

Joshua, for his part, didn't heed his protesting commands. He gripped the zipper of the dress, pulling it down, and starting to hitch it up from the hem of the skirt. It was a bit difficult with the other kicking straight at his face, but he managed. He's babysat several dumbasses in his lifetime; he could manage an irritated shapeshifter.

If this was anybody else, Joshua would be reluctant to engage so forcefully after...

But this was Jeonghan and Joshua could tell when the shapeshifter was still in the repression period after crying it out in the vehicle. Joshua's practically an expert of handling Jeonghan by now.

Jeonghan pouted, arms crossing his chest, naked safe for the briefs he opted to wear with the dress. His hair was unruly, sticking up in peculiar angles; he did his best to smooth it out.

Petulantly, he shifted a shirt for himself, watching as Joshua sighed exasperatedly.

The shapeshifter could be extremely stubborn.

"What, you're gonna stay like that until we go home? Come on, Han, that could be hours from now, you'll pass out."

Jeonghan shook his head, his face incredulous. His skillsets was light-years better than just a couple hours.

"Don't give me that look. Why waste energy when you could just wear a shirt."

Joshua held up clothing article again; ready to slot it onto Jeonghan.

"No."

"Oh for fuck-" Joshua kneeled beside the shapeshifter, fingers deftly coming onto the hem of his own shirt, beginning to hitch it up.

It took a several seconds before realizing what his best friend was doing, immediately Jeonghan's hands came seizing the ongoing movement.

"its fine," Joshua assured, "wear mine."

Jeonghan knew he finally lost. He accepted defeat, the cotton shirt, the cargo pants on offer beforehand. It fit him surprisingly well.

"You sure it's fine?"

"It's Seokmin's; I'm pretty sure he'll be fine even if you pummel him upside the head with a baseball bat."

That garnered a chuckle out of Jeonghan, his cheeks lifting, the expanse reflecting light where the invisible remnants of tear tracks there became visible.

Joshua had some loose picture on what happened; truthfully it's a miracle something similar hadn’t happen before. Jeonghan's line of work was dishonest and expectantly dangerous, Joshua hated it, had begged his best friend to come work for him instead. Jeonghan's prominent qualities are his stubbornness unfortunately, Jeonghan always hated taking from him. Joshua had to resort to technicalities to ever give the shapeshifter anything; like food from banquets he had attended, or pieces of clothing that his mother couldn't wear. He might've sprinkled in a magnanimous amount of fabricated backstory in there, but that was the only way Jeonghan would accept anything.

"Quit."

"What?"

"Work for me instead." Joshua leaned in closer, drawing the other by their shoulder, guiding the shapeshifter's head onto his shoulder.

"And do what? I have no qualification; I don't even know what you do." It was unfair to literally everybody else who worked to receive spot. Even if he did accept it, he wasn't sure he could maintain it.

"I'll give you training."

"Josh-"

"I'll help you with anything."

"Joshuji." Jeonghan tone was a warning, compelling the (only several months) younger clamped his tongue, their tensing bodies leaning against one another.

Everyday Joshua harbored immense amount of worry for the shapeshifter, stemming from the elites or the slums. It was difficult, juggling his relationships, at times he felt he wasn't enough for going between locations.

Who he worried most was apparent, the second that he met the shapeshifter that attempted to rob him, he was absolutely sold on who Jeonghan was. He'd do anything to keep the shapeshifter around. They were perfectly complimentary together, keeping each other in check. Predicting each other well despite not knowing one another that long. Recently though, Jeonghan's been needing him more.

Joshua cared for Jeonghan too much not to worry about the danger's resulting from stealing from wealthy, dangerous, powerful men. He was well aware Jeonghan had the skillsets; the cunningness to evade every consequences and the astoundingly useful anatomy that came from being a shapeshifter. Still, it was some stupidly risky work that Joshua had pleaded countless times before for Jeonghan to quit from.

It was effortless for Jeonghan to ignore those concerns, and then hypocritically preach to him about how blind elites could get with their own fortune.

"You're a damn hypocrite Yoon Jeonghan."

Jeonghan lifted his head from where it's perching precariously. Carefully eyeing his best friend. He never heard that much reprimanding tone came out of his Joshuji before.

"How could you preach about playing the hand that you've been dealt with when you're not playing yours?" Joshua reasoned, hands clenching-unclenching systematically, frustratingly, at his sides. Jeonghan sensed a shitstorm of reprimanding coming his way, so he braced himself for it. "You know, you keep doing all this dangerous stuff, sticking your neck out like you can bounce back every time, then something like this happens and you hadn't considered it? What about Chan, what happens to him if something happens to you? Soonyoung? Would you let me take care of them the way I've been trying to?" The long-winded rant ended with a frustrated shout, the volume might've permeated beyond the room he making him regret it instantly.

Jeonghan remained disconcertingly silent, head bowing demurely, shoulders vibrating with the beginnings of a tremor. Jeonghan was crying.

"Shit," Joshua breathed, quickly returning to his position from where he stood, after being completely overwhelmed in his emotions. He automatically drew Jeonghan into a front facing hug, wanting to slap himself for being overly critical after the traumatic incident the other'd went through for the sake of everybody else. It brought further guilt within Joshua, because of the relieve washing over him from uttering those thoughts aloud. He'd been holding back too long.

Jeonghan muffled his hiccups, the other hand unconsciously squeezing his thigh wherever Baller had gripped him. He could still remember every second of the attack whenever his eyes closed. The deep darkening veins creeping up his side, sending blinding pain wherever his skin was touched. He knew he'd heal, but simultaneously he was agitated, seeing brief flashes of moments throughout his life.

He remembered Chan, crying, Soonyoung and Joshua corralling his sides. He thought he was going to die. When he didn't, he thought there was no returning how things operated with them before.

"You're right, I-I know I could be stubborn but it's just, sometimes it feels like if I don't do things by myself then-"

"I know," Joshua interrupted immediately. For the slumrats, born with only their skillsets, facing a world brimming with bad intentions. All they're given, they could hold onto with their humdrum life was their pride.

Jeonghan wasn't immune to this inglorious aspect, neither was Chan with his bright-eyed, charging through everything head on - view of the world, nor Soonyoung with his constant tendency to pretend, putting on a brave facade. Pride was one of the only things they could thoroughly proclaim belonged to themselves.

The two remained silent, cuddling each other. At some point they both maneuvered themselves, reclining backwards towards the bed they're currently perching on. Facing each other, forehead resting against one another.

Joshua let his hand caress Jeonghan's thigh comfortingly, where he knew the wounds were still present. The shapeshifter would heal eventually, always does.

"You don't have to accept the offer, but promise me you'll ask for help whenever you need it next time?"

"Okay," Jeonghan whispered, feeling unbelievably better already. Most of his hysterical reaction came from the shock. Also the way the situation had forcibly made him rethink their future as a family.

The pain was just another negative aspect that pushed him into spiraling. Now that he'd faced everything head on, argued with his best friend, finally confronting his errors, he's ultimately ready to move on.

He'd probably have nightmares about the incident for a while after this, but at least the origin of his troubles had been dealt with.

"I love you, asshole."

"I love you too, dick."

Bursting into a fit of giggles suddenly, their heads knocked painfully against one another.

"Ow." Jeonghan protested, rubbing his temple.

Their laughter tapered off into tranquility and silence finally.

They probably needed to rejoin the other, help solve whatever problem had ignited, but for now they were content sharing this comfortable atmosphere created between them. At least for this moment.

Once Joshua regain his composure, he maneuvered himself, leaning on his side, resting his head on his hand. "So, the detective, huh?" He wiggled his brow.

Jeonghan burst into choked off giggles, a little dampness still present within his scratchy throat. Hitting his best friend in retaliation. "I swear, this is not the time."

 

💊💊💊

 

Soonyoung shouldn't have expected anything less than a palatial room filled completely with the latest breakthroughs in technology when the elite said 'computer room'.

Whistling, impressed, Soonyoung took his time gawking, gasping, giggling for being able to roam through the entire space, feeling at ease.

After the excitement of a new toy to play with unavoidably faded, the only feelings remaining was am accumulation of nerve-wracking emotions, the suffocating stemming from not belonging. What he's ultimately experiencing was unbearable silence, occasionally interrupted by the clicking of computer keys.

Turns out he wasn't the only one bothered by the noise.

"We have a holographic interface one you know."

Soonyoung's laptop, was to say it kindly, ancient, it's something of a relic from the old world that didn't quite exist outside of the memories of the people who'd kept it. It was an heirloom from his family, he never told Jeonghan or Chan, neither had questioned anything. He loved the laptop more than the reasoning of it being reliable.

Currently Soonyoung was there, surrounded with gadgetries only the little child within him had ever dreamt of and he still insisted on using his laptop, albeit attached to numerous other extensions that helped it work better.

Truth be told, he's absolutely terrified of fucking things up.

"I know, I just...I rarely use one."

Seokmin was oblivious to the twisted tension knotting itself within the other's gut, he only smiled the way he did before continuing his specific task, spewing offhanded words from his mouth in an attempt to cover the unbearable silence.

"You're really good, how many data have you unencrypted?"

"Not enough," Soonyoung chuckles, hands flying on the keys. He felt like a superhero doing these types of things, but the longer he came up empty the harder it was to remain positive. "What is it with rich guys and multiple data inscription - I mean really, you have to lock your games too?"

Seokmin chuckled, "Yeah, we do that. Couldn't be too careful for somebody like us."

For the umpteenth time he'd failed in encrypting a particular data, sighing frustratingly, he slammed his fingers to the keyboard. "Holy shit, I can't do this." His voice came out desperate, strangled, breathless. Fireworks began blooming behind his eyelids from squeezing it too tightly.

Soonyoung detested this gnawing fear, looming of something going wrong. Practically tasting destruction on his tongue.

He's unsure if it was genuinely his ability calculating a magnanimous amount of probabilities, ringing warning sirens from every angle, or if he's just worried. What if he didn't do this correctly? What if he failed? What if he couldn't keep his family safe? He wanted to converse with Jeonghan about this wanted to cuddle up beside Chan, probably ultimately talking down the younger when he inevitably pissed Chan off with his teasing.

Soonyoung wanted to laugh again; he didn't know when his role in Jeonghan, Chan, and even Joshua's life had suddenly positioned him to be somebody on the outside looking in. When did he became this person wrought with distress from shouldering their burden and keeping face? When-

He didn't realize he was hyperventilating when somebody's hand came down, caressing soothingly at his back. He heard a muffled echo of a voice telling him to breathe, to calm down, and he tried his best following those instructions.

"You okay? You had a panic attack."

Soonyoung breathing calmed, the hand behind him felt weighted, reassuring. He needed to regain his composure before continuing, he'd never broke down to anybody like that before.

"Really? Never?"

"Huh?" the hacker hadn't realized he'd mumbled those words aloud, immediately he straighten himself up, albeit with his cheeks still blooming crimson from embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just-" He made a series of flailing arm movements that the other barely caught onto, humming.

"No, It's fine, it's good to let it out once in a while. You're under a lot of pressure, huh?"

"Yeah," Soonyoung answer in a small voice hoping it was enough of a dismissal.

Seokmin nodded, and went back to flipping through the air, seeing wavelength no other could see. "Wanna talk about it?" He offered surprised that he himself genuinely meant it. He felt drawn to Soonyoung the minute they met and saw each other occupied in the background with some form of technology at hand. They were similar but different, their roles in their respective friend group were almost one and the same, but Seokmin had the pleasure of plugging off every once in a while. What he did, his passion for technology, his investment in his parents company, was merely a hobby that he became an expert in. Whereas he could tell, Soonyoung possessed potential like no other, but was stifle by how much dirty things he had to do just to survive. It was admirable and very burdensome.

"I'm fine, my emotions got the better of me I guess."

Seokmin could tell that the frown the other was sporting was foreign on a face that was born to smile. Like attracts like after all. They were similar, he could relate, and maybe that's why he won't let things go.

"It's difficult, sometimes, seeing the people you care about going through hard times and knowing that all you can do is support them as best as you can," Seokmin started, he figured if he prompted things then he'd be able to coax something out of his new found acquaintance. His fingers still dashing through the air as he search deeper into the device at hand, he at least distracted the other enough with his words to listen. "They never really asked people like us, the one without the immediate problem, if we're okay."

Soonyoung was silent, his finger had stopped moving and his attention was diverted away from the harsh light of the laptop screen. He was curious and felt comfortable enough to ask, "How do you deal with it?"

This was where they differ, he couldn't possibly start to imagine what kind of positions and circumstances Soonyoung was surrounded with every day. He knew one thing though, that bottling feelings up won’t help.

"You talk, tell the people you cared about you're breaking."

"But what if-"

"If they think you're a burden for speaking up, then maybe you shouldn't invest your time caring for someone who wouldn't care for you in return," Seokmin resolutely answered.

It was funny, how Soonyoung pegged the other wrong. He thought Seokmin was the ditsy one of the group, intelligent at some areas of course but less wise. He was quite thankful for it though.

"Thanks."

"It's fine, I've been there."

Soonyoung felt at ease returning to his work, his brain working quicker than it previously allotted, clogged up by the pressure and standards he hold himself over. It became surprisingly easy that before long he had achieved what he needed to, and all that was left was to open up the information they received and boy...did they found something.

Notes:

Just saw a video of DK admitting he's bad with technology. So like...my two techy characters r stupid with it irl......lit😌
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Chapter title from Smoke Rings by Frank Iero <3

Chapter 14: I'm Unaware of the Blood in My Veins

Notes:

This one's...kinda a doozy, sorry bout that. Feel free to comment any questions <3

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

It wasn't a race as much as it was their motivation to progress forward. After their important conversations in Seokmin's household, several of their questions, some of their tension, had thankfully dissolved into something quite comfortable. That was, until the reminder of reality striked again. Everybody eventually discovered themselves going towards the one place that was the center of the hurricane, the agency.

Junhui had called, suddenly saying that Chan - Jeonghan's baby brother Chan, was at the agency, and was surprisingly compliant in every aspect.

"You kidnapped my baby brother?!" Jeonghan had shouted to the receiver only for the stuttering Junhui to answer.

"Well it's hardly kidnapping."

Jihoon turned out, had heard off Chan, eventually requesting the younger's presence at the agency soon after he received the news that they had acquired some pills, saying something about needing to test a theory, and somehow all of them ended up being roped into coming a long since Soonyoung had information he needed to say, and everybody else wanted to listen.

Somewhere deep within Seungcheol's heart, the little boy in him was thrumming for the adventure alongside his new found and long lost friends. It was ridiculous, but he let himself indulged in it just until the car ride is over

They arrived speedily and after a concise introduction with one another, they return quickly to business.

It was unimaginably chaotic.

The majority of them had a lot of things to voice, unbelievable amount that they needed to do, and it all coincided with one another. Some of them had no business being there at all, but was just along for the ride to accompany their respective acquaintances.

It was hectic having twelve people cramped into a room, spacious as it was, Jihoon's laboratory were not equipped to hold them. Fortunately there was a meeting room connected right next door. Unfortunately, nobody could decide who gets to go first.

"I've got something to announce, it's important!" Soonyoung shouted, his hand properly up in the air like some preschool kid requesting permission to go to the bathroom.

"Well, I need to test the boy, so I need the pill, please would you-"

-"No way, we need to test it ourselves."

Seungkwan apparently was equally as relentless as Jihoon. And on the opposite side of the room there was Jeonghan pleading for his brother to just come home with him.

"Please, we've done our part-"

"-"No, you've done your part, this is mine, please hyung I-"

Seokmin was looking at everything around him like there were six tennis games transpiring simultaneously, head spinning in attention, but at least he was quiet. Mingyu was also quiet, incredibly so. It seemed that the tiny furiously-frustrated forensic scientist had caught his attention.

Seungcheol was disoriented. The bickering was getting increasingly tiresome and the headaches from all their noises filling the room both through his ears and through his mindreading was beginning to become painful.

"Please, can we-" he started, voice to small as it was curved by bigger conversations.

He wasn't much fond of doing what he was meaning to do, and just like any mental strain in his ability, it usually resulted in quite the headache. Unfortunately, he didn't see any other choice but said last resort.

Reaching deep within himself he gathered every single painful memories of frequencies, tuning into it, filling up his temple before blasting it at every angles towards the room.

"Fuck!" He heard, followed by shrieking noises and then-

Complete silence. Finally everyone was done.

Everybody was crouching inwards, teeth clenching from the painful frequency shooting through their brains.

"Fucking again?" Jihoon gritted, sharing a knowing look with Junhui.

"Seungcheol!" Jeonghan looked appalled, gearing up, practically ready to berate Seungcheol when the detective all too suddenly gave him a pleading look, an edge of pain to his features. It made Jeonghan calmed down, taking a seat instead, and with him everybody respectfully followed.

"I apologize, but we need to finish everything quickly and efficiently. So how about we hear the ones with information first, after getting the big picture, then the testing can start. Sound good?" There were nods all around; even Jeonghan seemed to concede his efforts in shielding Chan away. He was sure that their conversation wasn't over unfortunately.

Seungcheol sighed, this was probably a typical occurrence when a bunch of adolescent mutants try and solve a mystery. Every single one of them was barely an adult, acting childish was practically second nature.

"Seungkwan how bout you tell him your story?" Seungcheol prompted before the silence stretched on even longer.

"Right." Seungkwan gritted, "of course." His head was a mess; his fingers were ringing itself into a knot atop of the table. He didn't know why or how he and his friends ended up here, stuck inside this inescapable whirlpool, but he couldn't wait to leave. So he began speaking, told the others who weren't there before everything he knew.

Judging from the contemplative expressions that he received, everybody was as confused as he was and somehow it made him feel less alone in his discomposure. Perhaps he'd finally find his source of comfort and it only took a traumatizing event for him to acquire it.

Soonyoung announced his peace next, telling the others of the blueprint he found in Baller's device. "Seriously, a robot? Why would anyone want that?" But they didn't have an answer for him.

After yet again another exchange of information, there was reverent contemplative silence shared between them. Each and every one of them were connected to this situation, whether it was by choice or not. It felt like a hurricane had blown the door wide open and the safety they possessed beforehand was ruined by the mess happening outside. They were all in over their heads.

"Well then, I'd have to check you over. I've been needing a test subject like you for the longest time," Jihoon pointed to Seungkwan, who nodded in understanding. "And I'm going to need you too," He addressed Chan, who's already informed beforehand. "I think...I think I can figure this out," he said the last part more to himself and the three started to stand up, heading towards the laboratory.

"Can I come with?" Vernon asked. He explained his reasons, expertise on the subject, and his probable usefulness. Jihoon was glad there was someone he could cross check and confide with at least, even if it was a stranger.

"Can I come too?" Mingyu, who had been mostly silent throughout everything was looking Jihoon up and down in a most obvious once over ever. The smaller couldn't say that he disliked the attention, but the forensic scientist had always been excessively awkward and standoffish from receiving any attention.

"Why?"

"I'm interested in science?" The statement came across similarly to a question than an answer but not wanting any further arguments, Jihoon just did a series of abortive gestures before predictably relenting.

The five left the room, Jeonghan and his desires to keep Chan made it transparent he wanted to follow them, but he didn't want to be a useless nuisance. Sighing, Jeonghan detested how things became so complicated.

 

💊💊💊

 

Now this was legit, Vernon thought. He'd never expected to be able to see the insides of an agency's laboratory, but he was thoroughly satisfied. The latest in technology were lining the room and he felt giddy at the prospect of maybe using them. What was unexpected was the overabundance of plants strewn haphazardly about everywhere; it made the laboratory resemble a rainforest. Upon closer inspections though, he realized the plants weren't particularly normal.

"They're hybrids, I made them for...research," Jihoon answered, sensing their questioning glances. He didn't much like explaining himself to people; he wanted to just do things without further commentaries. He wanted to do some DNA testing, test out the pill and finally prove his suspicions.

Mingyu was floored by everything, it wasn't as much as admiration that filled him but more curiosity. The tiny scientist was intriguing, he reminded him of someone else he knew. As soon as the thought came he shook it out immediately. There was no need to go there, ever. Instead he decided to perch himself on one of the chairs available, contenting himself with observing everything surrounding him.

"What's your theory?" Vernon asked, inspecting the color-changing leaf in his hand. Quickly deciphering that the colors changed when body heat was introduced to it. This place was quite a marvel.

Jihoon sat Seungkwan down in one of the chairs, pricking and prodding him with machinery. He needed to test the mutagene first.

"What's yours?" He asked instead, occupying his hands with inspecting Seungkwan.

Vernon frowned, he thought about what he knew about mutants and mutagene, his thoughts beginning to form. "Mutagene's are only found in mutants, right?"

"Correct." Jihoon grabbed Chan, sitting the other where Seungkwan was and beginning his process all over again.

"It's activated by proteins and hormones and for different people there are different factors on when or how it's activated - it might not activate at all."

"Right."

"But Seungkwan's a human." Vernon reaffirmed. "There's nothing to activate."

"Exactly."

Jihoon was finished with both Chan and Seungkwan. All he needed to do was check the contents of the pill - finally. He grabbed the unassuming thing he had ready in his hand, observing it scrutinizingly.

"How can this little thing, change your entire genetic makeup?" He pointed the pill at Seungkwan. "And what does this have to do with you." He addressed it to Chan.

Mingyu saw the exchange, got it thinking himself. "Aren't mutants just...you know, mutated humans?" He remembered the discussions he'd had with Wonwoo, the blind spewing of conversations about biology and everything in-between. He'd loosely paid attention, the purpose of his presence only to be something reactionary, somebody to fill up the silence. Some things sticks as it turned out.

"That's right," Jihoon answered, almost surprised. The gigantic tree that decided to follow them into the lab didn't seem like somebody who pays attention in biology classes. "You're not dumb." He clamped his mouth shut immediately; he didn't mean to voice such observations aloud. It's just like Seungcheol said; he really was horrible at 'people'.

"And you're really smart," Mingyu replied offhandedly, seeing the forensic scientist glow crimson.

"I'm sorry."

"Its fine, you're cute."

"What?" Jihoon felt heat rising up his chest; he couldn't imagine what shade of scarlet his face was undertaking right now.

"I-I mean cool, you're cool - i-it's fine. I mean," Mingyu stammered out deciding to just shut his mouth before he said anything furthermore idiotic.

The other three who observed the exchange glanced briefly at one another, silently saying 'what the fuck?'. But both Vernon and Seungkwan was used to the fumbling fool they call a friend and Chan didn't particularly know any of them so he had no right to judge.

Mingyu cleared his throat, deciding to move their conversation along. "S-so...if Seungkwan was human before, wouldn't he have to mutate first, then get his mutagene activated?"

Vernon hummed, reverting back to business pretty quickly. He concluded as much. "But what can do that?"

Jihoon picked up the pill, they only had a couple, which was ashamed, but enough. "This, apparently."

When Jihoon started to break open the pill, releasing the powdered content inside, he grabbed the sodium and alcohol, having them always ready beside him and Vernon caught on to what he was doing. He stalked forward, leaning over the forensic scientist.

"You're checking for DNA inside the pill?"

Jihoon didn't answer his hands were flying animatedly over all the equipment at his disposal. There were sparks visible in the other's eyes, passion filling them the more he moves. Mingyu found that attractive.

Mingyu had always been the type to fall pretty quickly whenever somebody caught his attention. He was hesitant though, now that he knew reciprocation weren't always achievable. There was something about Jihoon that caught his interest immediately the moment he arrived, maybe this time would be different. Now that he learned from his mistakes, he could restart something new.

Mingyu wanted to ask the vertically challenged scientist out for coffee or lunch, or something of the sort. Still, everything felt severely out of place in their situation. Besides he didn't know if he was ready yet. If he could ever be ready again.

Seungkwan caught Mingyu's gaze, already predicting the contents of his friend's mind the more the other gawked. It was high time Mingyu moved on; he wanted to voice it ever since his friend's wallowing period. He didn't have enough expertise on the situation though, so he had refrain from saying anything. He was glad at least; his friend was starting to take interest on others, even if it turned out to be something fleeting. He leaned in towards Mingyu, bumping their shoulders together. "You seriously have a type," he teased watching the taller glow red.

"Shut. up." he hissed. So he found intelligent people attractive, sue him. Besides, the way the other was drowned inside the lab coat he's currently wearing really did something to his heart. "Shut up," he whispered more quietly to himself this time, like he was telling his mind to forget about it.

A vision of glasses and sweater paws crossed his mind, and it took his attention away completely. Maybe he wasn't ready after all.

"Most mutants have their mutagene activated around adolescence. It's not an overnight process, even when abilities could manifest straight away the mutagene could take months, even years before it finally stabilized into its final form. This could only be found in certain periods of time, in young teenagers especially."

"Transitional mutagene," Vernon mused.

"Exactly." Jihoon took the rest of the pills that he didn’t need, and grabbed his human-plant hybrid that he had at the ready. He wanted to see what would happen if he tested it out on the hybrid. He had a feeling he knew what the final result would be. "What's interesting about mutagene is that it only takes one to be activated before the other follows. The inactive mutagenes are activated by being introduced to the transitional mutagene, and they mutate themselves." He drop the diluted pill extract on the plant and watch it start to change - to mutate.

"Holy..." Vernon stood back, wide eyed, watching the previously unassuming, healthy looking ivy grow wrought. The branches twisting and turning in rapid speed, turning the green plant into a vermilion monstrosity.

The four of them expressed their surprise - safe for Jihoon who had expected this turn of event - at the rapidly changing plant, starting to decipher what it meant, even only surfacely.

"They kidnapped me...those other kids, just to make those pills."

Jihoon hummed. "Transitional mutagenes are unstable, nobody has ever been successful in synthesizing them before, plus they're different from person to person. So if someone were to insert these transitional mutagene into pills, the outcome-"

"May vary," Venon finished. "That's why some people just...blow up."

Seungkwan winced, he was even more worried now that he knew more of what he had consumed. "Does that mean I'm going to blow up?"

Jihoon shook his head. "Your mutagenes are already stable, don't worry." Some people weren't so lucky unfortunately, and Jihoon couldn't begin to figure why anybody would want to do this. Whoever it was didn't care if people die, and that angered him greatly, it reinstilled his conviction on why he joined the agency in the first place. Helping in capturing whatever evil was out there.

Like the evil who decided to play God with the unstable pill. "There's one other thing though, there's two DNA's inside each pill. One of them consistent in every pill which means-"

"Whoever the consistent DNA belongs to made the pill," Vernon realized.

"And we have to stop them."

 

💊💊💊

 

With what's left of the group, nobody knew what else to do except wait for Jihoon's results.

Soonyoung had contented himself with speaking about his founding, theorizing along with Seokmin, their hands on some sort of computer device and chatting idly without taking their eyes of their screens. Junhui and Minghao was off to the corner speaking in hushed concerned whispers with one another, occasionally exchanging some heartwarming gestures like stroking the other comfortingly. Seungcheol, however, was a thousand percent sure that Joshua was trying to communicate something telepathically to Jeonghan - boring his gaze incessantly towards the shapeshifter -despite not having the ability to do so.

Seungcheol wanted to maybe glance briefly into whatever storms resided in each of their minds, but every time he had to remind himself that it was unethical. He just hated not being in the know. Maybe that made him a hypocrite, easily succumbing to desperation whenever the situation turns dire.

He was about to spin off into some sort of self-deprecating ranting inside his own head, the way he usually would when he wasn't getting anything accomplished, before somebody's familiar presence nudged into his mind. We need to talk.

He didn't have to look up to recognize that it was Jeonghan and so he stood up, walking towards the open balcony figuring that they needed space themselves. Joshua, who Seungcheol had figured was one of Jeonghan's people, eyed them curiously on their way out with a glint of smug amusement in his eyes.

They were both leaning against the railing for what felt like forever before any of them started speaking, even if it was a mere ice-breaking banter.

"Did Joshua tell you to talk to me without having to say it?" Seungcheol questioned with a hint of a amusement.

Jeonghan nodded, smiling softly to the ground. "He knows me well."

Seungcheol agreed, humming noncommittally. Having done his part to break the tension, also not being the person who needed desperately to voice something currently, he chose to keep silent, waiting patiently.

From where he's positioned, Jeonghan's side profile was catching the slightly passed afternoon light perfectly against his features, making the shapeshifter look otherworldly. Beautiful, Seungcheol thought, quivering knees almost buckling when said face turned towards him, giving him a fragile, earnest expression.

"This is weird, huh? If we'd met in some normal circumstance, then-"

"Then maybe I wouldn't pay attention to you." Seungcheol shrugged easily, he was done thinking of what ifs. Honestly he recognize how much less complicated their situation would be if they've met somewhere else, in some other time, had been different people, but that's not their situation, and he still quite enjoy the prospect of coffee considering everything.

"Yeah...I guess - I'm just." Jeonghan sighed; the words were caught in his throat. Is this what it felt like to like someone? It didn't feel particularly satisfying to admit out loud. He tried anyways, rewinding the words he needed to release inside his mind. "You know I like you right? I mean...I can't say for sure if it's the real deal but I am attracted to you, and ... you to me?"

"Right."

No hesitation. That felt almost daunting.

"Right...well, I've been told that I rarely let people in, that I don't accept anybody's help." Bile rising up his throat, Jeonghan discovered this was difficult when Seungcheol looked at him right then with nothing but kindness and understanding. He felt underserving of it, but perhaps that's the reason he needed to say it, so he'd technically earn it. "Maybe, I'll accept yours - a-and a coffee, you know, after."

Seungcheol gaped; there he thought he was the one who needed to do more convincing. The gaped turned into effortlessly into a bright smile; those words had made his day. He really did adore Jeonghan, maybe it wasn't unconditional yet but he could see himself falling deeper into the complex pool of Jeonghan's heart. Right now he was completely attracted, and he wanted to know more, so coffee sounded absolutely fantastic.

"Of course." Seungcheol bit his lip, giddiness spreading up his stomach. "Does this mean you'll accept the job offer too?" He almost forgot that he even offered it. It wasn't a stellar job, he knew, but he had thought that it would've kept Jeonghan relatively safe without having the shapeshifter completely changing his lane and methods of doing things. He could even get to keep his right hand man, Soonyoung. After the incident - their 'test round' so to speak, Seungcheol wasn't so sure anymore. Jeonghan was almost hurt - had been hurt, maybe his way of doing things were incompetent as well.

Doing the unthinkable, Jeonghan nodded.

"Wait seriously?"

"Yeah, I want to keep my family safe. It's about time I learn to set aside my pride for them, and I guess now I've learned the difference between pity and help."

"But you got - I-" hurt you, Seungcheol projected, unable to finished his sentence aloud.

"Maybe, but even then I knew I had protection. You were back at the van with Soonyoung, Junhui, and Minghao - and that was just you, them. If I had a whole agency backing me, giving me paychecks - a steady income, some added benefits..."

"I never said anything about-"

"Ssh." Jeonghan planted a finger to Seungcheol's lips, grinning playfully. "We'll talk about that later."

Seungcheol chucked, rolling his eyes. Yeah...he was definitely in like.

"Immunity," Jeonghan suddenly said, a little bit more seriously this time. "I need that for my family, I need to know that the world won't fuck them over anymore."

"Okay," Seungcheol promised easily. He couldn't quite guarantee that to himself but he knew he sure as hell would fight for it.

"Now with all that said..." There was a split second where Seungcheol's ears registered Jeonghan's deep intake of breath before his face was cupped in between two soft hands to face the other's direction. There was a sparkle inside Jeonghan's eyes, promising new beginnings. Seungcheol wanted to fall deep inside the ever shifting colors of those irises and so he leaned in, covering the distance between them.

It felt different than the last time he did this. This wasn't rushed, weren't under some sort of jealousy addled hazed, and certainly wasn't in a dirty club bathroom. He was there, fully present with Jeonghan instinctively wrapped around his arms, as he drew the shapeshifter closer. Their lips slotted perfectly, and when they parted every now and again, each time they come back it felt like a whole new world was being explored. It was fantastic, it was-

"Ew, stop! Stop!"

They parted with a slick sound, probably too obscene for their intruder, who dramatically gagged almost immediately.

"You done?" Jeonghan asked.

"Yeah, the scientist dudes kicked me out and they told us to wait inside and Joshua said - Oh wow, that's why Joshua hyung wanted me to get you guys, man...asshole," Chan muttered the last part under his breath, accepting the arms Jeonghan threw around him to draw the other in.

"Happy?" Jeonghan said, forcefully burying Chan's head to his chest.

"No?" Chan's voice was muffled, and he was starting to gasp.

Seungcheol chuckled. "Don't kill the kid."

"He's my kid, you don't get a say in it." He released the gasping Chan anyways. The younger dramatically staggered backwards before righting himself, sending Seungcheol a scrutinizing once over.

"I thought you said no fraternizing with the enemy," he teased.

Jeonghan sighed; at least he now know Chan actually paid attention when he said things. He honestly expected more hostility from Chan, he didn't much liked authorities, and he was only here to further his means, but perhaps knowing beforehand where this was heading had soften him up a bit. Having witness Jeonghan's pining for a while.

"Well Channie, there's no enemy. there's just...us," Jeonghan explained airily, opting to rest an arm on Chan's shoulder instead. "And them."

"What's him then?" Chan nodded towards Seungcheol.

Jeonghan smiled fondly before answering. "Us."

They had back inside, awaiting the news that was about to come. Their troubles might not be over but Seungcheol and Jeonghan felt lighter.

 

💊💊💊

 

"Alright, so we have a robot looking thing, pills with some mutant's DNA on it-"

"Gross," Seungkwan grimaced.

"And no motive or a possible suspect," Seungcheol finished.

"Correct," Soonyoung nodded. "Why would anyone do this?"

Their table was silent, everybody's mind racing, thinking of some possible answer to all their questions.

The robots/mechanical-humanoid-shaped tanks were an admittedly huge chunk of the puzzle that they have no idea where to place in all this madness.

Soonyoung had a theory, that maybe whoever's involved in making those robots were also the ones involved in making overdrive. Who or why was still up for deliberation.

"Do we know any company that would benefit from this? All these people dying," Seungcheol questioned.

Mingyu shook his head, hands attempting (failing) at resting idly on Jihoon's thighs. That was a weird thing that Seungcheol noticed, he'll question Jihoon on it later. "Well, companies need customers - less customer, then less profit."

"Wouldn't medical companies benefit from this?" Jihoon asked.

"No, the main targets currently are the people in the slums. They couldn't afford medical care anyways."

Why somebody - a person, a company - would have targeted the slums. The efficient way overdrive had seeped into their core demographic had affected not only the people in the slums but also the people throughout the city as well. Crime rates had started going up, death tolls climbing higher than skyscrapers, and there was the matter of the elites and how they played into all of this. They were the ones who funded overdrives multiplication (as it turned out) after all. What sort of motivation is there? Were they aware that the pills were causing deaths? Seungcheol voiced the questions aloud.

"Speaking from experience, we all know how the elites are. We can't be less than - we can't be..." Seungkwan gulped. "Humans." They're willing to pay for it, even if the side effect included death.

Junhui was working to keep everybody's emotions stable whilst thinking up a theory of his own. He was certain that they currently possessed all the puzzle pieces; they just had no idea how to assemble it. Unknowing of the end result they were striving towards.

Personally, Junhui thought that they should just wait on the foreign DNA being tested against the database.

Ping.

Speaking of-

"The results are in, the DNA belongs to-"

"No way."

"Hey!" Snatching the phone away from Jihoon, Mingyu eyes grew wide, recognition impacting his core. It was such an expression of disbelief that it prompted Seungkwan, Vernon, and Seokmin to glance what their friend had saw.

Coming into view the name alongside picture on the phone; the unmistakable cropped raven hair, the sharp jawline, striking features, the glasses, they gasped themselves, each stepping back in disbelief.

There's just no way.

Minghao having been quiet throughout the whole ordeal, wanted - needed to understand their convoluted situation. So he stood up, walked calmly towards the flabbergasted group, and became the third person to snatch the phone away.

He observed the picture, and his face scrunched. He really didn't expect to actually recognize the person, but, there he was, posing for the camera, the man that he delivered the spare parts for some machinery just a couple weeks ago.

"Jeon Wonwoo-" One other person was left to gasps, Seungcheol sat back, reeling, the cogs in his brain turning. "Isn't he the guy who worked at Trask Industry?"

Seungcheol's eyes widen in disbelieve, suddenly everything made sense. Trask Industry, the abandoned hospital where the kidnapped children were held captive in, the luxurious building where the fundraiser took place, they were all owned by one person. The only person to stand to benefit from all of this.

"It's the mayor."

Notes:

Find me on:
twtq

Chapter title from Smoke Rings by Frank Iero <3

Chapter 15: It's So Easy to Hate You, You're Hard to Love

Notes:

And...there goes the last ship 🚢

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Wonwoo's never been the type to fall in love. He realized how it sounded to people when he'd vocalized this, incredulousness written all over their faces. Proclaiming, 'You just haven't met the right person yet' or 'Sweetie, you're young, you'll understand later.' Which, could be possible, he didn't know who he was completely. When it came to matters of the heart, he'd let it maneuver freely wherever it desired. It was a testament to who he was as a person; pragmatic, headstrong, and perpetually uninterested

Because of which, he was lonely. Often would his classmates remained as far away humanly possible from him, sometimes reluctantly sitting down on the weirdo's table because the cafeteria was overcrowded. Never smiling, he ignored every menacing jabs behind his back. The occasional giggly girls who tried to ask him out jokingly inevitably got turned down, or the reversal, throngs of boys who attempted to befriend him ended up making fun of him at closer length. Wonwoo continued on with his life.

It wasn't until years later did he realize that that was bullying.

He just never felt bullied or unsafe to revel in practicing who he was. Wonwoo realized that they detested him, but he never really cared for their opinion. It genuinely didn't affect him. He was never horrendously harassed either, so he never really felt required to redesign the flow of everything surrounding him.

People were bored, he understood that.

He was him. They were them. And if they dislike him then why should their opinions matter? Either way he was mostly preoccupied, thinking up something borderline ingenious in the claustrophobic, underutilized school laboratory whenever it's available. He would write up whatever unorthodox findings he discovered, excitedly vibrating in his spot, begging to show it to somebody, except...

He was alone. That's perhaps one of the only negative aspect within his life. He needed somebody else there beside him, objectively speaking, everybody needed someone. By 'needed' he meant it literally, like when you needed medicine when you caught a cold.

But friendships were oppressive, an emotional toll he'd be required to help carry as long as he needed friends, and he wasn't about to revamp the majority of his life, attempting to do relationships perfectly when it'll just end up falling miserably apart.

He was stubborn, he didn't want anybody.

It wasn't surprising when he met his match he became enamored enough to disregard those principles.

...at least for a while.

Mingyu; charming, stubborn, kindhearted, thickheaded, and egregiously talentless in subtlety was equally as strong headed as Wonwoo was. Once he thoroughly believes in something, he wouldn't let anything go.

Mingyu's beliefs usually consisted of something egocentric, uninspired, and practically unattainable if it weren't for his wealthy upbringing. It was reckless as well, never seeing anybody else's differing perspective, never anything sympathetically. He was a nuisance from day one, a mosquito that Wonwoo needed to swat.

But the mosquito was incredibly persistent, also a descent enough companion to counteract his loneliness.

Their personality meshed well despite every single differences, and when Wonwoo found himself lonely at times, he felt Mingyu's warmth and presence dependably beside him, nudging and practically begging to be let in.

Wonwoo met Mingyu at a banquet for Technology Uprising, a new organization founded by celebrity-scientists that honestly lack a lot of substance underneath their luster. Regardless, he was a young elementary student with vested interest in anything science and technologically inclined. Not knowing better than the glamour presented to him, so when the invitation came he took it up on its offer.

Their first encounter transpired unceremoniously, with Wonwoo standing in the middle of the crowd, listening to some deathly boring speeches when the boy beside him unexpectedly started speaking. Words falling on deaf ears. It went on for several minutes without Wonwoo reprimanding the boy or getting irritated himself. Wonwoo was simply uninterested.

That is, until the boy suddenly leaned down, whispering lowly in his ears, "You wanna be my friend?"

And then his consciousness that was midway floating up to space was jolted right back into his body. That...was unexpected.

They started off with absolutely nothing but trading numbers, unsurprised that Mingyu had one at such a young age (a whole year younger than his eleven year old self), his new found friend was decked to the nines. Wonwoo was thrown into a whirlpool of something he wasn't sure he's prepared to navigate. Mingyu was so...dauntless, his colors so overwhelming against his own monochromatic appearance that he ended up being tinted.

He didn't mind. Alongside Mingyu came friends, plural. An unending array of people. Loneliness wasn't an issue anymore.

Of course being surrounded by numerous people at a rapidly growing rate became unbelievably daunting. He could feel their energies, their potential, most of them had gained their abilities at such a young age.

Mingyu's capable of crushing him into a pulp if Wonwoo ever did anything the other disliked. Didn't matter if it was voluntary, Mingyu's still capable. Which factored into the fact that he had accepted the other's friend request in the first place. At some point there was a telepath in their group that for a hot minute he was positive would ruined his chances in gaining friendship. Because for the first half of it he was faking everything. But then the person left, quite a lot of them did.

Mingyu, he had realized, was very likable.

With Mingyu came a revolving door of friendships. Everybody as fleeting as they were interesting.

Most importantly Wonwoo wasn't lonesome like he thought he'd probably be whenever he contemplated existence as an eleven-year-old. Not when he's beside Mingyu. He'd previously thought nobody like a case-hardened, impartial individual.

He was incorrect.

He had friends, multiple, always maneuvering in groups everywhere they went. Everybody possessed vibrantly polychromatic, absolutely distinct personalities, never allowing the room be colorless. Sometimes he felt terrible because of his grey-scale contribution, he wasn't somebody interesting, neither was he eye-catching.

Mingyu always disagreed, simply stating the inaccuracy in his statement. That he was beautiful in his own individual, gently unspoken way.

Mingyu always ended up being somebody who spoke for him whenever the room became unbearably loud. Nobody willingly listening to him.

The two of them together were astonishing, Mingyu's vivaciousness subsided Wonwoo's own impassive personality. That's probably why so many of them allowed Wonwoo to stay. Being the perfect foil to their favorite friend.

Wonwoo was well aware how attached he was to Mingyu. They weren't exactly best friends inside their friend group. Wonwoo was unsure what their tightknit relationship actually entailed. They were certainly closer than everybody else, but that's more because he wasn't well acquainted to anybody beside Mingyu. Everybody else was neutral.

That's why when Mingyu confessed to him it took him completely by surprise. There wasn't any forewarning, nothing but something terribly shocking.

"I-" he remembered thinking to himself 'Do I want this?' the answer wasn't yes, but it wasn't no either. So he did whatever best decision a person in his situation should do - contemplated his options.

He didn't want to return to the loneliness he'd previously surrounded himself in. Simultaneously he worried about the destruction that'll undoubtedly happen from this. Would everybody else choose him over Mingyu? Probably not.

Besides, he didn't really see the negatives in accepting. Mingyu was delightfully endearing, truly an adorable puppy. Somebody who's seemingly understanding (at least to Wonwoo), alongside incredibly attentive. Wonwoo didn't dislike Mingyu. Wonwoo didn't like him either. At least not in that manner.

Wonwoo didn't think he'd like anybody. The notion’s something incomprehensible for him.

Wonwoo was somebody who's analytical; he honestly didn't see any benefits within a romantic relationship. The general idea of relationships was unappealing to him.

Wonwoo's absolutely positive there's something wrong with thinking that. Like there was something wrong with turning down Mingyu. Never mind his everything was screaming 'no'.

"Okay."

"Really?" Mingyu had that enormous puppy dog eyes that made Wonwoo always melt. He liked Mingyu, he realized that. All he had to do was convince himself that he liked him that way.

So they went out for a while, surviving well into college years. It wasn't spectacular, but the years of having friends resulted in Wonwoo's experiences interacting with people. He was somewhat more excitable now, showed his emotions unashamedly enough. He was even brighter when it came to his education - at least, that's what Mingyu described him as being.

Wonwoo liked Mingyu. He did.

Wonwoo remembered the first domino piece of their inevitable ending beginning to fall. Coincidently enough, they were at domino's, eating lunch, spending another day in their life together.

Mingyu had perched across from him with a contemplative look encompassing his features, biting his lip as an extension of biting his tongue. Squirming intermittently, like he wanted to let something out. Thoroughly irritated, Wonwoo confronted the other accordingly.

"You didn't call me," Mingyu had mumbled, voice small, somewhat accusatory.

"What?"

"When I was away for a week, you didn't call me," Mingyu re-explained.

Wonwoo had shrugged, not really finding anything deplorable in his action. Both of them were adults that didn't need one another to depend on. They meet every other day, maintaining a healthy relationship, but not that excessively so that they possibly ended up losing track of whatever responsibilities needed to be fulfilled.

A week was the longest the couple had gone without seeing one another since they dated, but Wonwoo just thought of it for what it was, a non-permanent distance. Mingyu would definitely return by the end of the week, he'd been informed that. There weren’t any emergencies to inform Mingyu so calling his boyfriend seemed unnecessary.

"I just, didn't feel the need to." Wonwoo decided on honesty. Figuring it would be more valuable than the opposite.

"Oh, okay."

The lunch went on in tense silence. Wonwoo didn't understand this test he's being presented, but he was positive he answered it incorrectly.

Unbeknownst to him, that incident started Mingyu into noticing little disconcerting things about their relationship. Like the fact that whenever they contacted each other, Mingyu was the one who would initiate it, always. Unless Wonwoo had some pressing issue that involved him. Or whenever they initiated physical contact, it was Mingyu who asked for them. Wonwoo was amazing, responsive and fluid, but there were no spark of passion behind it. The nail in the coffin was when he started to notice Wonwoo replying with an "I care about you." Instead of the expected "I love you." Whenever they share an intimate moment together.

For what it was worth, Wonwoo was thoughtful. He'd always asked of Mingyu's well-being when the other looked downhearted. Always reminded him to eat and shower when he noticed Mingyu not getting enough of those. Would listen to Mingyu's every single venting and wallowing, giving out honest, genuinely compassionate suggestions.

It was like they had the wrong label over their relationship.

The dominos were falling and they were falling quickly. Even somebody as intelligent as Wonwoo couldn't immobilize it.

"Why won't you say it?" Mingyu had suddenly asked, voice cracking, in the middle of them being intimate. Just stopped whatever ministration he was doing. Stood up angrily glaring, pacing the room.

Wonwoo, confused, calmly shrug his clothes back on, figuring that they weren't gonna finish this anyway, before finally addressing Mingyu. "Say...what?"

"I love you!" Mingyu shouted frustratingly, "like I do." He mentioned the last part more quietly.

Wonwoo stood up; face carefully schooled into an expression of understanding, before coming close to reach Mingyu, compliantly saying, "I love you."

Which was, apparently the wrong maneuver to make because Mingyu only pulled away, with a forced smile on his face and said surprisingly sincere, "You're a good friend, you know that?" Sullenly walking out the door.

The next day Wonwoo knew their gimmick was done, texting a meticulously detail oriented, lengthy breakup text which might've sounded painstakingly desperate at several sections where he practically begged for their friendship to remain intact.

Because he wasn't the same person he was back in elementary school, he couldn't disregard hurtful experiences that happened towards him anymore. Wonwoo had friends now, ones that he cared about even when he wasn't sure they felt similarly about him. Wonwoo was able to express himself physically too, had developed quite a colorful personality for himself throughout the year. Wonwoo wasn't the unsympathetic machine that he portrayed previously, despite his remaining analytical opinions of everything. Everybody seemingly accepted him that way, because they knew even if he saw things in a binary manner, he was still a companionable person.

Wonwoo didn't know what to do if he lost them.

Now it's been months since he last seen the faces sitting at his table currently, and he was deathly uncertain on how to approach whatever hugely important problem they were trying to uncover. He recognized partly it was his own antithetical decision to avoid them whilst stringing them along, was the reasoning behind the fractured expression in each of their faces. He hadn't allowed the grip he had on Mingyu to loosen, they all recognized that, but it didn't seem like the other was ready to let go either.

"I can't believe you're involved in this." Mingyu was boring his eyes at him, equal measures of contempt and unadulterated sadness. Wonwoo didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." It was as sincere as he could manage; it felt like the bottoms had been ripped away from underneath him. It seemed that even in his profession, he still mess everything up.

 

💊💊💊

 

(a couple hours earlier.)

Mingyu was worrying his bottom lip; they had decided to split into groups of several different vehicles, making their journey to Jeon Wonwoo's residence. Mingyu was positive his ex-boyfriend probably wouldn't expect a cavalry to be stepping through his doors at ass-o'clock in the morning when he got the text from Vernon to ask to meet up saying that it was urgent, but he was getting exactly that.

Mingyu didn't know what to feel, he hadn't exactly talked to the other since the break up and some part of him since then had realized his own culpabilities in what had happened. He didn't blame the other for not mentioning anything. He was - when their relationship went on - somewhat overbearing, and had probably came off too strongly. Mingyu never really voiced his dislikes in their relationship either, not until towards their ending. Perhaps that's when the trouble began. He'd just wished that maybe things had ended moderately, more agreeably. He wanted his friend back, the one he had come to cherish and love beyond their romantic relationship. He knew though, he was the one who had ended things, had refused to negotiate, had refused to apologize or even acknowledge the apology he'd received. And now he was lying in the bed he made, miserable and worried.

Mingyu heard a sigh from beside him. Snapping him awake from his self-loathing quick enough to see Jihoon's face contorted into a million different adorably begrudging expressions, before settling onto calmer neutral expression. He didn't expect the scientist to look at him then equally reluctantly, earnest and greatly annoyed.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Jihoon held up a flower, the vines curling around his hand, disappearing inside his sleeves. It made Mingyu imagine several different pictures on where the plants were leading to, but then he realized Jihoon was holding the flower up for him. Mingyu accepted the flower, snapping it off from its branch.

Mingyu inspected the four petals purple flowers in his hand, stroking delicately at its petals, liking the way it looked whenever the streetlights shining in through the window illuminated it from various different angles. It's a beautiful flower, and the gesture was surprising enough that Mingyu forgot to blush when he received it. Or maybe that was because he was thinking too hardly about his ex-boyfriend that his newfound crush couldn't outshine him enough.

"It's a Lunaria Annua, otherwise known as a-"

"Penny flower," Mingyu finished, it was a cute gesture, giving him that flower. "It's beautiful."

"Mm." Jihoon nodded. "So are you going to tell me what's gotten your face looking like you're trying to shit out the biggest defecation this city's ever seen?"

"Behave." He heard Seungcheol reprimanded from the front of the car at the same time as "Eloquent," was muttered sarcastically through Jeonghan's mouth.

The couple in the front seat glared teasingly at one another before Seungcheol lifted the partition between them and the backseat, allowing privacy for Mingyu and Jihoon. Seungcheol had decided to drive one of the agency's cars provided last minute, since he didn't bring his own. Mingyu had chosen specifically to ride with him because of his careful avoidance of his friends concerned glances. The other reason was perched intriguingly beside him. That reason was now concerning himself with Mingyu's thoughts.

"You better not peak Choi," Jihoon muttered.

"Yeah," came the muffled answer. Mingyu almost forgot that there was a telepath aboard. Wincing at how embarrassingly vocal his thoughts had been for the past car ride, he hoped the other didn't hear anything.

"So?"

It was getting increasingly difficult for him to align himself when his seat-mate kept looking at him like that - brimming with a surprising amount of concern. It made him a little car-sick, how vulnerable must he look to have received such pity from a practical stranger.

"Was he your friend? - The guy in the picture I mean."

What was he supposed to answer? Yes? But Jeon Wonwoo was more than that, and the fact of the matter is he valued their friendship more than their absolutely abysmal romantic relationship. So in a way, yes, he was his friend, but also he was more than that.

"Ex?" Jihoon guessed again, Mingyu was getting progressively disconcerted with how effortlessly the forensic scientist could read him.

"Yeah," he sighed out, figuring there was no reason in lying. "We were dating for a while, it ended...badly? I don't know, I haven't talked to him since we broke up." Some part of him felt responsible for the badshit happenings all around the city. Maybe if he had concerned himself with rekindling his friendship with Wonwoo, then maybe somehow he could carefully guide the other from making those pills in the first place. He didn't even know what motivation Wonwoo could possibly have to produce such a destructively volatile creation. The fact that he'd been so far removed from his ex-boyfriend's/former best friend's life just washed another tsunami of regret through his stomach. He felt sick.

"It's not your fault you know, all this. It was whoever made overdrive's fault."

"Yeah, but if he created the pill then maybe I could've..." Mingyu bit his tongue, why was he going down this roundabout route, hurting himself unnecessarily.

"Maybe...maybe not, but you can't concern yourself with maybes. You wanna take responsibility then take responsibility right now with what you can."

The advice was straight forwardly given, it sounded simplistic enough to follow, except for the fact that his logical side didn't always coincide with his emotions. He didn't take to binary responses well; he needed something...some emotion, driving the suggestion. Jihoon was almost exactly like Wonwoo in his straightforwardness - actually, a lot of things about Jihoon reminded him of Wonwoo, from his profession, numerous interests, and the way they go about things. It sent his head spinning; Seungkwan was right, he has a type, which maybe was a shallow, somewhat self-destructive trait. He didn't want to replace Wonwoo in any way - didn't even know if Jihoon wanted to replace his absence, but Mingyu couldn't help but feel like he was trying to rewind a broken record repeatedly.

Jihoon sighed exasperatedly, interrupting the other's wildly spinning thoughts. It looked like some battle was forming within Mingyu's mind, prompting Jihoon to squirm in their seat fighting against his habitual judgment.

Seungcheol, who'd been silently resigned, giving away nothing oh his opinion, was correct. Jihoon needed friends, he needed to let people in and not just solve problems the way he would a case, rigid and unempathetic. So against his automatic responses, he formed his thought and framed himself accordingly.

"Mingyu, in my line of work there are things that you're required to do that might decide on somebody else's mortality," Jihoon began, a lump forming in his throat immediately. He didn't much like divulging his emotions, even just a fraction of it. Not to a companion. Let alone a practical stranger, but somehow Mingyu felt different. He was utterly, completely vulnerable that it only felt right for Jihoon to response similarly unguarded. "My failure could result in somebody else’s death, some bad guy to escape. Nobody knows this - I-I've never told anyone this but...it took me an incredibly long time to learn that I can't possibly save everybody. Not every single thing connected to me is my fault," Jihoon finished with a resolute nod, Mingyu held his breath not knowing how to answer.

It took a while, the contemplative silence stretching never-endingly between them before either decided to vocalize anything. Somehow though, Mingyu felt a fraction better, even if he couldn't understand why himself.

The first thing to come out from either of their lips was chuckles, courtesy of Mingyu. "Y'know you remind me of him, slightly anyways. I didn't know you're so...personable."

Jihoon snorted. "Fuck off."

Mingyu chuckled good-humoredly, falling dramatically backwards in his seat, nodding vigorously "Yeah, that seems more like you."

Jihoon thought Mingyu emulated a bumbling fool well, which was his first impression of the interesting gargantuan person. Their entire interaction was swift and impactful. Jihoon didn't realize that spending barely any time knowing someone could result into hearing parts of the other's life story. It made Jihoon think that if he was a little better with interacting with people, that he'd have far more acquaintances than he currently did. That's why he contented himself in laughing along - this was pleasant, bonding with someone.

Their laughter eventually tapered off, Jihoon finally finding time to communicate his piece. "I've been told that I'm not-uh...exactly...a people person," He murmured, hoping this explanation was enough. Jihoon didn't know whatever substance's in the air between them that made him deliriously drunk enough to share something somewhat deep in meaning with conversations like this. Conversing with this bright-eyed unfamiliar mutant. It felt nice.

"Not being a people person isn't a bad thing. I mean, I am, but it's not bad to be a little more selective. It just means that the people who stuck by you are probably the real deal."

"Huh." Jihoon never thought about it that way. Didn't realize the charming knuckle-head had somewhat of a sagacious advice stored like that. "Still, it won't hurt being nicer to people. It's just I find it incredibly difficult to change. Force of habit, I guess."

Mingyu nodded, holding up his hand with an almost carefully innocent and unguarded expression. "Maybe we could keep one another in check then." He waited patiently for Jihoon to accept his hand. When the other eventually did, tentative and begrudging, the biggest smile blossomed on Mingyu's face. It made the technician's heart skipped in surprise.

"Idiot."

Still, Jihoon couldn't deny how much he enjoyed how easygoing this interaction was. Neither of their problems was untangled in this single conversation, but the notion that if they familiarized themselves with one another they might just be able to help each other out, made it easier to appreciate the silver lining to this train wreck of a situation.

"We're here," Seungcheol informed from the front seat. The sobering realization that they weren't done yet hitting them like a ton of bricks.

 

💊💊💊

 

The blueprint that they were all currently staring at was large in size then any regular blueprint. It covered the rectangular glass table entirely in a show of its dominance. This was as small as the paper could be when the aspects needs to be thoroughly described when it came to depicting the moving parts of the mechabots, as Jeon Wonwoo called them. This was just the blueprint, imagining the entire thing scaled to size was quite literally unimaginable, which was precisely why Wonwoo thought it could never came into fruition.

"There are things the Mechabots needed in order for it to fully function. It needed my DNA, for one-" which was how the maker of the pill had acquired his DNA -"and for two, it needs another mutation."

"What mutation?" Jihoon inquired, ignoring the currently tempestuous human being beside him that radiated indescribable negative energy. Kim Mingyu was not very forgiving or in control whenever it's about his feelings, as Jihoon had discovered.

"A very specific mutant."

"What kind?" Vernon asked, apparently the only people who weren't overly surprised nor dumbstruck with the startling revelation where the only three scientist. Everyone else could only wait, putting their trust into said scientist. Not leading the others astray when it came to reiterating with layman's language.

"I don't know yet, but it does have to do with fluctuating and adapting so the mechabots can fight any mutants without getting damaged. We couldn't exactly pinpoint a specific person when even two mutants with the same ability are still different in parts to one another. That's why we needed the screening - why Mayor Trask is adamant when it came to it. And I agreed. Haven't the incident these pass couple of months proven that?"

"But he caused those problems," Mingyu pointed, not giving the other the oxygen to breathe. He's finding it increasingly difficult, not to be a petty asshole.

"I know, i know, i know, God I know!" The shout that came really startled everybody silent. From their first impression, Jeon Wonwoo seemed like the type of person who wouldn't wear his emotions on his sleeves. Even the people within the room that knew him would agree wholeheartedly. "I thought I was doing the right thing, working here, working for a better future. To bridge the gap between mutants and humans, to reach equilibrium." Wonwoo hung his head low; he really messed up this time. And here he thought ruining his relationship with Mingyu, and automatically his friendships, were the worst thing that he could've done. Guess the world really loved fucking with him.

Surprisingly it was Mingyu who stood, calmly and rationally, no emotions visible on his face. Placing a comforting hand to Wonwoo's back, patting it twice sympathetically. Wonwoo couldn't believe it, but as he look up, he saw the scrunched between Mingyu's eyebrows and the sadden look in his eyes that shouted his sympathy. Wonwoo found himself relaxing.

"Come on, tell us again so we could understand and fix this."

So Wonwoo started again, with his attention focused entirely on only retelling his story. When his eyes shined with unshed tears, nobody mentioned it. He was regretful of course, of pulling away, throwing himself undividedly into his work. Maybe if he had kept everyone in contact, maintain a closer distance, somebody would've pointed out his spiraling ways. For someone as intelligent as him to not have predicted this horrible outcome was embarrassing.

He remembered the infinitesimal seconds he received the offer. How the thought of burying himself in heartless, callous, calculated work, sounded relieving. It was a reprieve from his constantly wracking guilt. And it did work; he had come up with some brilliant ideas such as the mechabots, to decrease the chances of criminal mutant individuals, getting away with their crimes. Had suggested to implement mutagenes inside medicine and technology in general. Had even offered up his own DNA for imperative testing .

He hadn't realized all the while, that all those things were the blueprint of the entire city's worth of destruction. That his well-meaning aid looking towards the future had a negative impact instead.

His mutagene warped into concocting overdrive, pills that could recognized someone's mutative abilities even without being triggered yet. Forcibly mutating them into something they weren't supposed to be.

This was chaos. The mechabots were supposed to be switched with a screening equipment, but the loaded weaponry it has on its arsenal really suggested it's usage would be otherwise.

"So that's it then. The mayor made the pills so he could show how dangerous mutants are by giving it to the people who would be desperate enough to utilized it in a lot of petty crimes-"

"Hey!" Jeonghan frowned at Seungcheol who ignored the shapeshifter currently pinching his side.

"And he made the mechabots so he could justifiably destroy mutants."

"That's why he's running for president. This would be so much easier if he was in a seat of power," Minghao pointed.

Junhui nodded, the looming fear of gigantic robots destroying the world was present in the forefront of his mind. He was terrified shitless, but at the moment he had contented himself with just calming everyone else instead. They needed to think rationally in order to stave this impending before it began.

"We should arrest him, he made the pills, he'll get arrested." Junhui looked to Seungcheol who shook his head.

"No, he's the mayor, the agency's in his back pocket."

Jeonghan rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"So we need physical, undeniable proof that he's done this, right?" Chan started, he really was beginning to get antsy. Also angry. The tips of his fingers were flaming every now and again, and it took Jeonghan's pointed glare each time to stop him from burning down the whole building. "Then why the hell aren't we doing that? Gathering evidence, break into his house or whatever."

"Even if we did found something on him, he could as easily just cover it up. It's impossible," Seungcheol pointed and everyone grew silent. What were they supposed to do? Every obstacle they faced seemingly grew larger and larger every second passing.

When everyone's weariness threatens them, Soonyoung suddenly jumped. "Wait! But we could still stop it right? We might not be able to hold the mayor accountable or whatever, but we could stop those mechabots from being made, we just have to erase your DNA coding, something?

Wonwoo frowned towards the ground. They needed to think further on this, move to a better place to concoct a plan. "This could take days."

"Then let's go," Mingyu readily suggested. "Let's go to mine's."

Notes:

Find me on:
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Chapter title from Easy to Hate by Waterparks <3

Chapter 16: Say I Wanna Settle Down Build Your Hopes up Like a Tower

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The second that Soonyoung's laptop captured a steady Wi-Fi signal, he grabbed Seokmin's arm - never mind that he was, at this point, still a practical stranger - sheepherding him to an empty room to search more information for their upcoming mission.

Everybody disbursed randomly. Wonwoo watching everybody disappeared into numerous different rooms, was eventually left with himself, standing awkwardly within a place he used to call home.

Mingyu's

It was a lose lose situation, on one hand there were strangers who didn't know him, but had also suffered the impact of his misguided decisions. Then there were his old acquaintances, looking at him worriedly and distantly simultaneously. He didn't like that unfamiliar expression on their faces. It was like the years they'd spent together had all but been thrown to the back burner, unable to resurface because of one reason. That one reason was currently suffocating him, with the way he managed to glare unashamedly intently without saying anything.

He chose the tech-inclined people. The ones who disappeared first.

He practically ran to catch up with them, hiding himself cowardly.

It was a good thing when he clicked the door open, nothing but politely - somewhat guarded - smiling faces greeted him.

"Hi, can I join you? I think I could help."

"Sure," the unfamiliar one of the pair - Soonyoung, his memory supplied, patted companionably beside himself.

He sat, watching silently as clacking fingers flew faster than lightning. He didn't understand anything except that both of their abilities were being utilized right now. It wasn't a mistake that his more companionable past friend - Seokmin, was swiping on air.

After a few minutes of nothing but senseless noise, Wonwoo began to get restless. So had the others apparently.

"Okay..." Soonyoung drawled, he was scratching his head vigorously that Wonwoo's concern for his hairline. The hacker was pouting petulantly, making him less intimidating than his illegal profession. "Okay, I don't know where to begin."

"I tried searching through the guy's phone but there's nothing anymore," Seokmin agreed.

Wonwoo scrunched his face determinedly, wanting to help. "How about you searched through my company's cloud server."

The two perked up at the possible lead. "Right...tell us what you got."

It wasn't easy, apparently, with Wonwoo rattling of I.P. addresses, numbers, pins that he didn't understand himself. He promptly exited, fetching his equipment that he brought from the laboratory preemptively. Carefully avoiding Mingyu's gaze throughout. When he returned there was another addition supplanting the group. One of the smaller stranger, the other scientists. Lee Jihoon.

"No, I got it; Trask's wifi also got some embedded information inside it."

"Really?" Seokmin leaned, observing whatever inside the laptop.

It's been what...hours since they've done this. Wonwoo was intelligent, he knew a fair amount about every single thing, but somehow he didn't imagine hacking to be this...boring.

"Hey." Jihoon interrupted through Wonwoo's train of thought, imploring the other to deposit himself back down. He did after unloading his devices onto the two tech experts.

"Hope that helps."

They barely managed mumbling a thanks, eyes to busy flickering back and forth at whatever they're seeing. Wonwoo didn't think he could ever stop being impressed by them. They were both so young, so different.

"So, I was hoping you could tell me more about the mechabots, how it worked?" Jihoon asked, and Wonwoo once again made the effort to concentrate.

It seemed that his mind was currently unable to engage in intelligent conversations. Even if the self-destructive thought weren't at the forefront of his mind, it was still present, waiting to hold him back from being productive in anyway; but he refused to surrender without a fight.

"Of course."

Wonwoo started from the very beginning, the reasoning for the mechabots. He always detested the fact that some people were just born with an advantage. Even though he was aware that circumstances such as that happened every day, he couldn't help but want to balance out whatever possible.

"Mmm, I get it."

Jihoon didn't elaborate further. Get what? Was what Wonwoo wanted to ask.

It took a while to get accustomed to Jihoon's one-note responses. It was like the other wasn't capable of conveying any more. The only thing that got him excited was when he eventually started handling the gritty science behind his inventions.

"Wish I would've thought of that - synthesizing DNA into mechanical objects."

"Well, a lot of good it did me."

Jihoon was silent, a look of contemplation on his face. "Well, even if it all went bust, whatever tragedy happened, there would still be the core idea right? We just have to make it so it doesn't...kill everyone instead?"

Wonwoo chuckled; he kinda liked this Jihoon person. "Right."

Wonwoo then changed his topic to the warehouse just outside of town, where Mayor Trask stored every single invention. He was never invited there, wasn't sure if he's supposed to be aware of it's existence, but he had overheard about it during work.

"A warehouse?" Soonyoung asked, "Do you think you could recognize it if we point it out?"

Wonwoo thought about it. If they had found a location somewhere within the dessert vicinity, he was confident he could tell if it was or wasn't the warehouse. He's heard tales about it enough time to discern. "Sure."

"Okay, keep talking."

Wonwoo didn't realize the other was listening - could listen, with how focus the two were at their own tasks. It was seriously of impressive.

He obliged their request, beginning to talk again about the mechabots again and their failsafe.

The failsafe.

"Failsafe?"

"Yes, every invention I make always has a failsafe so if it's ever misused-"

"You could destroy it." Jihoon nodded. "That's smart, I should steal that." Though he doubt he would ever need It. He was a lab technician not a scientist-inventor, but the novelty of the idea got him excited.

In the end, everything was fairly simple and simultaneously complicated. They needed to prevent future production of overdrive which they still didn't know how to, without finding the location of those children. Then they have to terminate every existing mechabots - prototype and everything, so it couldn't be developed further. Then they have to eliminate every blueprint copies so the invention couldn't be duplicated.

"Where'd you store the blueprint, do you know?"

"No but..." Everything was located at the warehouse. He remembered somebody said once. "The warehouse."

The warehouse is their key, he realized.

"Okay!" Soonyoung shouted, startling both scientists in the room. There was a gleeful expression on his face, his lips stretching thin in an almost mischievous manner. He looked like a child. "I got a plan."

"You do?"

"Well...I've been listening." And then he started explaining his first draft plan and Wonwoo realized, no, he's not a child.

 

💊💊💊

 

There were a few people choosing to stay behind, loitering the living room; Mingyu, Seungkwan, Vernon, Joshua, and Seungcheol mainly, needed to communicate. They weren't well equipped enough to start making plans, but they all do needed to speak. At least just to fill through the silence.

"Are you guys sure you wanna do this?" The question, in Seungcheol opinion, was important. It was dangerous what they were meaning to do. Even if they didn't know precisely what they were planning to do specifically yet.

"Yes." Surprisingly enough it was Seungkwan who delivered am extremely stream-lined and confident answer.

Vernon seemed to have quite a few objections with that statement.

"You know we won't be operating within the justice system anymore," Seungcheol reminded. "What we'll be doing will be classified as vigilante justice. It could get us arrested."

To that Seungkwan scoffed. Scoffed, like he found it amusing. Perhaps it was, when Seungcheol thought about it.

Seungkwan only needed to raise a questioning brow before Seungcheol fully got it.

Elites, basically the equivalent word for permanent immunity.

"They could try and arrest us but they'll just end up losing." Seungkwan never liked exploiting his own fortunes, but when everything else had failed, he couldn't help but fall back into it. It was their own fault - they being whoever created the system. Seungkwan was confident impending decision was clearly admirable. Everybody stood to benefit except for the villains, he didn't need more convincing. It did end up making him sound overconfident.

"I don't like it." Vernon protested alongside Seungcheol nodded agreeing. It was a fair enough response - hell, it was the normal response.

Seungkwan obviously didn't agree, so they started bickering and Seungcheol was left to their harsh whispering.

"Why are you so opposed to this now?"

"I just think it's dangerous, Seungkwan-"

Joshua who was there and was silent in observation, finally got up to leave. "I'll do it," He said simply, touching Seungcheol on the shoulder before he disappeared somewhere down the hallway.

It was to Jeonghan's room, Seungcheol noticed, and with the bickering couple before him, he wanted nothing more than to retreat somewhere else as well. But would he impose? It wasn't just Jeonghan, there was probably Chan too, and maybe Soonyoung if the other was done for the night.

Seungcheol recognized greatly that Jeonghan came with a family, even if they both shared this strangely potent chemistry, would he be able to share equally strong relationship with the rest of Jeonghan's family? Where would he even fit? Seungcheol was sure as hell going to try.

He could feel his mind trying to brush against Jeonghan's, just a little-

"Right Mingyu?" The question was delivered with significance and Seungcheol pulled back whatever reach he'd made, opting to remain in the moment.

Mingyu was there, Seungcheol had forgotten. The owner of the house, it seemed had his attention somewhere else.

Both Seungkwan and Vernon noticed this as well, their faces coming down from their frustrated anger into something similar to compassion.

"You should talk to him," Seungkwan suggested, it took a while for Mingyu to refocus and when he did he didn't look delighted with the suggestion.

Seungcheol suspected something magnanimously important and out of his league was about to happen. Perhaps at some point before this he was welcomed into these types of conversations, but he would have to rebuild memories of what he'd unfortunately broken since he disappeared from their lives, if he wanted to input something valuable for them to listen to. So instead, he stood up, bidding them goodnight.

"If you guys wanna change your mind you could. I think tonight we all need to just contemplate our decisions. It could be dangerous to go into something important with a lot of regrets." Seungcheol noted the way their ears perked up from the hidden meaning between his suggestions. They realized they had internal problems that needed immediate tending and perhaps the sheepish expression on all their faces was a testament to how much Seungcheol's gentle suggestion affected them. This in turn showed just how much they actually valued him, which made the track to Jeonghan’s door infinitely easier.

The last thing heard was Seungkwan's gently echoing voice saying, "He loves you, Mingyu."

Followed by a reverberating crash and Mingyu's roaring words, "How would you know about love when both of you can't admit it either!"

Yeah...Seungcheol didn't want to be a part of that conversation.

Being there, in front of Jeonghan's door wasn't amazing either. He could hear a couple of muffled conversations behind the partition. Soonyoung must've returned, and Joshua was most definitely inside.

More than the umpteenth time tonight did Seungcheol consider escaping all together, searching for Junhui, bothering him with the investigation. But then he would probably end up bothering Junhui and Minghao's quality time. That's another apparent problem Seungcheol refused to deal with right now.

More often than not, Seungcheol would find himself in these annoyingly pressing situations. He took on too much, wanted to do good wherever a supposed problem existed. The negative with that was he realized he could never fulfill everyone's desires. At the end of the day he had to trust that some things would correct itself whilst some others won't. The thing about that he didn't have much practice on trust when for years he had discarded numerous old friends, barely replacing them with two additions.

He liked to tease Jihoon, tell the younger that he's not a people person, but right now standing restlessly in front of Jeonghan's door, made him feel like maybe he was probably hypocritical.

He needed to get inside but he wanted to escape.

Seungcheol made up his mind, readying himself to turn around when the door suddenly opened. For a second he was afraid it was Jeonghan, waiting impatiently - he didn't know why the thought frightened him rather than endeared, but it didn't matter when the person that suddenly appeared wasn't Jeonghan.

"Soonyoung, I-"

"Well are you getting in?"

Soonyoung was expecting Seungcheol, politely inviting him inside, posture welcoming and disarming enough. Seungcheol was still hesitant though, no matter how much he adored Jeonghan and how much the other reciprocated, he couldn't lie to himself, admitting that he might fuck everything up with the rest of the family.

"I-"

"We've been waiting for you, I told the others you were outside- Don't try to run by the way." Soonyoung instructed, when Seungcheol's body leaned a fraction sideways. "Junhui's busy with Minghao, judging from the way they glanced at each other earlier, they're probably talking about their...uh...love life, currently, so."

"H-how did you-"

"Come in." Seungcheol wasn't given much of an option when Soonyoung grabbed his wrist so casually, gleefully dragging the detective inside.

The people loitering about seemed expectant of him, like they knew he'd eventually arrive.

Seungcheol almost forgot how rich Mingyu actually was, that even the guess rooms were almost as wide as his entire apartment. There was a large king size bed as a centerpiece as well; the spacious area looked cozy with Jeonghan nuzzled inside velvety blankets. He was flanked with Chan in his arms, half asleep and mumbling - and then Joshua, who set an almost protective hand on Jeonghan's arm.

Seungcheol couldn't help the pang of jealousy he felt then.

"Jeonghan was beginning to think you'd blown him off - kiss and ignore-"

"Soonyoung!" Jeonghan reprimanded red faced and adorable.

-"But Mingyu was loud, and I saw you walking here."

Seungcheol might've grinned listening realizing that, although he never really doubted Jeonghan not reciprocating his feelings. They've gone pass their will-they/won't-they period; it was the fact that he was afraid of not being welcomed here. Soonyoung seemed to not mind though, and neither does Chan.

Joshua...

"W-wait the minute - saw?"

Soonyoung nodded, his fluffy head of hair flying around. He seemed youthful; Seungcheol felt a pang of guilt for putting him in this unideal situation - for putting all of them in this situation.

"It's his ability; he can see things," Jeonghan explained, his face was amused and it almost melted Seungcheol's anxieties it weren't for the fact that Joshua was peering from beyond Jeonghan, an unreadable expression on his face.

Seungcheol snapped himself away. "A precog?"

"No...I just, I don't know. I can calculate things I guess. It happens involuntarily sometimes."

Right, Soonyoung mentioned he'd heard Mingyu. It was an undoubtedly useful ability, certainly belongs pretty fittingly within the agency. That was another thing that was still completely unconfirmed yet, and after this Seungcheol isn't confident how much future plans any of them would be able to return happily too.

"Sit." It was surprisingly Joshua who prompted Seungcheol, eyeing him closely in that manner.

It made the insignificant decision of perching himself on the bed became comically important. Where Seungcheol might die of embarrassment if he chose the incorrect spot.

He sat tentatively at the foot of the bed, center, nearest to Jeonghan.

He didn't know what to input, so he reverted to what he always fall back on - the investigation. "Did you find anything, Soonyoung?"

"Sorta, we got our basic planning practically assembled, but maybe it'll be finished tomorrow."

In the meantime, Seungcheol should build his report. Cover his bassist with useful information. Hopefully, safe everyone from getting into trouble at the end.

"The sooner we go the better."

"Chan, we talked about this."

Hot headed and volatile perfectly encompassed Chan's personality, Seungcheol thought. The youngest wouldn't let off on anything, even if there were several notable moments where he'd caved. More often than not, those times involved Jeonghan.

Chan reminded Seungcheol of himself sometimes; determined, overtly so.

"You know there are ways to help without getting yourself hurt." Seungcheol began, curious glances were on him, interested, unyielding. Perhaps he'd overstepped his boundaries as the brother's boyfriend.

Was he a boyfriend?

Were they boyfriends?

"How?"

"By staying back, incase anything else happens." It was a consolation position, Seungcheol was aware, but it didn't mean it wasn't important.

Chan must've seen right through him, scoffing indignantly. "Right."

"I'm serious, charging head on don't always fix the problem. It could make things worse. Sometimes, if we wanna succeed, we have to be willing to hold back whenever the situation demands it."

"Like a game of poker," Jeonghan supplied a small knowing smile on his face.

"Exactly."

Chan haven't even considered that statement. Maybe it was the fact thst he was held captive for almost a year that made him eager to get back out anytime an opportunity's presented. Seungcheol sensed this, the seething self-destructive compulsion from not being able to do more, he'd felt it before.

"You know you'd be amazing at the agency - all three of you would." He said, looking pointedly at Soonyoung since Jeonghan already accepted his offer.

"Really?"

"You're a talented hacker Soonyoung." Seungcheol was well aware of how amusing it was that he, a detective, was complementing a hacker. It still didn't take away the fact of the matter.

Unlike Soonyoung, Chan wasn't overly eager on the suggestion.

"Why would I help an organization that screwed us over. Asking us to trust you was a stretch enough detective Seungcheol."

"Well, wouldn't it be easier for you to change that organization if you're on the inside?"

Chan, admittedly, hadn't considered that approach.

"Huh." Was all he could manage to say, before burrowing down in the blankets. It was a considering type of noise that nobody in the room expected elicited from the youngest one, this soon towards Seungcheol.

Joshua's ever fluctuating expressions finally settled on something somewhat content. There was a grin on his face that made Seungcheol feel accomplished more than condescended. It was like a mutual agreement between them, a passing grade for Seungcheol.

"Alright, I'm going to sleep." Joshua pulled himself away from the tangled mess on the bed. Jeonghan whined, jokingly begged the other to stay, but Joshua only leaned down, kissing the other's temple.

Unlike before, Seungcheol didn't feel that pang of jealousy.

Joshua made sure to ruffle both Chan and Soonyoung's head on the way out, the other complaining and trying to pull away from the touch, whilst Soonyoung contented himself with the physical comfort. It was fascinating to see such a colorful group of people discovering solace in one another.

Joshua made sure to put a hand on Seungcheol's shoulder, and their mutual respect was sealed.

There was probably a giddy grin on his face because Jeonghan chuckled suddenly, bringing him back to the present.

Quickly, silence took over, lulling heads eventually succumbing to sleep. Restless but not nightmarish as of yet.

Seungcheol took care of staying silently still in the corner, observing Jeonghan's fondness playing through. The way the shapeshifters brushed his brothers' hair back. Revealing their tranquil faces in the face of violent situations.

Jeonghan frowned, brow scrunching adorably, Seungcheol thought, until the detective notice the apparent pain. To which the detective was reminded once again; Jeonghan's been through a lot.

"Y'wanna talk about it?" Seungcheol voiced small, interrupted the silence blaringly. Jeonghan looked up at him, eyes void of any emotion.

"I'm still processing," was everything Jeonghan offered as an explanation. It was traumatic what happened. Definitely would influence his future decisions. But the thought that'll probably haunt him was the 'what if's'. What if the worse were allowed to occur.

"I wouldn't ever let that happen."

A tiny smile blossomed on Jeonghan's face. The shapeshifter reminded once again of their constant mental connection. He's beginning to like it. "I know." A single tear managed to escape, which was the catalyst of Seungcheol's bravery.

The telepath crawled closer towards his adored person, careful not to jostle the other two sleeping bodies. Leaning in, he kissed Jeonghan on his temple. Warmth and tranquility blooming the other's mind. "I'll always be here whenever you're ready." To fall. To cry. To have and endless conversation. To break down completely.

Jeonghan chuckled wetly, squeezing Seungcheol's hands. "Thank you."

Sharing another kiss, Seungcheol pulled away, never completely leaving the bed. The warmth constsntly prolonging him to leave.

"Wanna sleep here?" The offer presented itself as a joke, but there was a sliver of hopefulness to Jeonghan's voice that made Seungcheol want to agree wholeheartedly. There was a lounge sofa located in the corner of the room, spacious enough for a person to sleep on. It probably wouldn't be comfortable, but it was apparent nobody's going to use it. Everybody else occupying the large bed.

He could stay, Jeonghan wanted him to. He had a feeling the other two wouldn't mind either...

But he couldn't. He still wasn't ready yet. A few friendly conversations wouldn't instantly fix that fact. Unlike before though, he felt that there was a place for him now. An opening to Jeonghan's heart, his home that he had readily accepted Seungcheol inside of.

That's why leaving felt more comforting than arriving inside the room.

He kissed Jeonghan, the other two groaning contentedly, before leaving, a small smile on his face.

Tomorrow would be a new day, full of problems that needed to be solved. But today he had solve another, and he felt content sleeping his worldly troubles away until tomorrow.

 

💊💊💊

 

In several days that passed, each of them pulled their own weight, contributing thoroughly into everything. A lot of them couldn't actually help, but they did by supporting the others who could.

Days passed by. Mingyu avoided Wonwoo like the plague, and everybody could feel their palpable tension, building steadily, intensely.

Everything considered, their plans might be in order, but not all of their hearts were settled.

Nobody was happy of the situation they were thrust into. Surprisingly, nobody had decided to return home yet, immediately detaching themselves from the mess they were in. Instead, everybody signed up. Some were there for revenge purposes, some just wanted to keep another safe, but every one of them felt the responsibility to help.

This was why it was decided that Jeonghan was going inside much to Soonyoung and Chan’s disagreement. Junhui would go inside in place of Minghao, who'd originally intended to go himself. It wasn't safe for Minghao since his abilities were dangerously similar to the description of the mutant that the mechabots needed to be completed. They couldn't risk anything. Seungkwan would go inside, even after Vernon begged non-stop against this - Seungkwan was, unfortunately, their only source of stealth. Wonwoo and Jihoon would also go inside, since they're expertise was greatly required to prevent rhe mechabots take over from happening. Plus Jihoon's ability could possibly provide them with means of escape if they needed those.

Seungcheol knew that much, remembering a time when he had flat out refused to get out of the lab technician’s laboratory, teasing the smaller one only to be catapulted suddenly towards the wall of ivy at top speed. Leaving him reeling until sundown. It was incredibly impressive, but it drained a lot of Jihoon's energy so he hoped that they won’t need anything

The rest, Soonyoung, Seokmin, Joshua, and Vernon would provide them with directly detailed contacts on the inside. Though they needed to be closer in proximity to the building than the last group, in order to perform completely to the best of their abilities.

And then there was the cavalry. Chan and Mingyu were relegated on standby incase anything terrible were to happen and they needed instant forces for protecting the others. Minghao would only be there as their last resort back-up. Lastly, Seungcheol would be the connector between the three groups incase technology failed them.

It felt somewhat ironic to Seungcheol that he'd probably be at a relatively safe distance. Further from danger when he was the detective in the situation. But he had to see the big picture, and they all needed to play smartly instead of trying to get one another killed by sacrificing themselves carelessly.

He was afraid for Junhui, Jihoon, and Jeonghan, the people he'd come to care for - hell he was afraid for every one of them. Some of them were his newly rekindled old friends, and others were connected to him through the people he cared about. He couldn't help the gnawing anxieties burrowing his insides, telling him that something horrible would inevitably happen. He disregard it as best he could, hoping to move forward rationally with everything.

Seungcheol was pretty certain this breaks a number of protocols in the agency, but right then he couldn't care less. It's high time he learned that the justice system - the so called equal playing field, was flawed. Seungcheol sometimes needed to make decisions of his own.

With eveything said, he sighed anxiously. "Any questions?" The forest of hands really was expected.

Notes:

And then ot13 are working together!
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Find me on:
twt

Chapter title from Lost Boy by Troye Sivan <3

Chapter 17: Because We're Stronger When Together, I Know I Know That I'm Bulletproof

Notes:

This chapter came outta nowhere, n its longer to make up for it, but idk i wanted to write something fun, y'know before...

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Going to and fro houses seemed to be the popular decision these past few days. Their preparations for the upcoming infiltration mission had taken up most of their time. Gathering equipment, planning, and continuously searching for information surrounding the warehouse they were about to infiltrate was essential.

One of the things that were deemed essential by Jihoon was several equipment that they didn't possess. They couldn't exactly sneak them away from the agency. Jihoon couldn't exactly make whatever it was he needed to make in the agency either. They were going off radar, all of them, straddling the line between lawful and illegal.

Fortunately, Vernon had what Jihoon needed in his laboratory.

Pulling up to a familiar driveway, Vernon noticed a couple of people loitering around inside. Scanning their signature he recognized their identity.

"We'll pick you up around noon," Seungcheol said before the two detectives drove away from his house and Vernon was left to his devices.

The large double door thudding to a close echoed throughout the large space. Vernon felt oddly empty than familiar after being accustomed to a mansion of thirteen maniacs, including himself. Somehow his own house he had no previous issues with felt lonelier now.

"Vernon?" His mother's head peaked through the railing, before her full body descended the large staircase.

She's fully dressed, down to her high heels click-clacking onto the marble floor. She walked towards him, hands engulfing her son once she's close enough.

"Hi mom."

"Did you just got back?" She asked, and Vernon realized him and his parents haven't encountered one another since his arrival from Germany.

"Yeah..." he lied instead.

"Vernon." And that was his dad, equally as dressed up as his mother.

"Are you guys going somewhere?" His mother, at least looked sheepish before she answered.

"I'm sorry, we have work but maybe when we return we'll celebrate?"

Vernon smiled, he could feel the tension radiating through his clenched teeth. He shook his head offhandedly, trying to brush of the tiniest speck of hurt making itself known in his chest. "It's fine, I'm going to hang out with my friends later."

"Oh that's right, Seungkwan kept asking for you at his party."

Vernon almost hissed, Seungkwan wasn't exactly somebody who wanted to see him right now. But he nodded for pleasantries sake and watches as his parents disappeared through the door he just walked inside from.

Of course his parents forgot his schedule, but it wasn't their fault. Both of them were hardworking, infinitely dedicated in their different pursuits. It was admirable.

Sometimes though, Vernon felt alone.

Thoughts of this repeated in his head, mixing in with the suggestion of it correlating with his and Seungkwan's argument, until he found his way towards his lab. By that time he'd blanked on the list of equipment Jihoon needed, and his arrogant self had thought it wouldn't slip his memory. So he didn't jot them down.

"Fuck," he whispered before deciding to call Jihoon.

This would be much easier with the lab technician coming along, but unfortunately Jihoon had matters to attend to alongside Soonyoung.

Thankfully, Jihoon answered his call and happily repeated the list of equipment he needed. Vernon began to gather them.

"I think I found everything."

"Cool - is there, another thing you wanted to talk about."

Putting the last equipment inside a box, Vernon paused. "No, why'd you ask?"

"It's just you sounded...exasperated, a little disappointed." Jihoon echoed his sentiment by sighing himself, "Look, things been weird lately and I'm not exactly a therapist but, people been talking to me like one so - wanna talk?"

Vernon chuckled, from what he gathered, the short several days he'd spent with the others; Jihoon wasn't exactly a people person. But neither was Vernon, not actually.

"It's nothing - it's just, I met my parents and they thought I just got back from my Germany trip." And that does sounded disappointed, even to his own ears. Vernon didn't mean to let that emotion slip out.

"They didn't notice you've been back for a while?"

Vernon chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, well, I guess I know where I get my emotionally stunted responses from."

"Is-Is this about that fight you had with...uh, Seungkwan."

Apparently the entire household was aware about that. "I just, I wasn't ready, okay! - I'm still not, and I don't think I would ever.

Jihoon didn't answer, only static shared between the lines, Vernon was beginning to think he'd hung up.

"Look, I'm not familiar with you two's relationship, but if you're not ready to confess then there's nothing wrong with that."

Vernon would agree if it was anybody else's relationship, but because it wasn't he recognized his own culpability playing part in the argument.

"It's just we've waited for a long time to be together, and now this is my last chance and I still couldn't admit it." Not to himself either. He had feelings for Boo Seungkwan. One that has been cultivating forever, and yet he's constantly denying it.

Jihoon exhausted exasperations were palpable through their thin electronic connection; it was enough to make Vernon regret exploding. "I'm sorry, I-"

"No, it's fine." Jihoon found Vernon relatable; honestly he himself had been hiding his entire life. Relationships were always turbulent, even with the ones you couldn't help but cherish. He wasn't the expert on opening up, but recently, he himself have been finding it easier to release himself. Call it Seungcheol and Junhui finally rubbing off on him, but it's been getting increasingly difficult for him to pretend he didn't care. Vernon wasn't somebody who he knew particularly well, and yet, he still cared. And unlike before, Jihoon didn't think caring was something abhorrently terrible anymore.

"Got any advice then?" Vernon sighed, grabbing a seat. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Look, I'm not exactly the 'wear emotions on your sleeve' type myself, but - well, I don't wanna sound insensitive here but we're currently in the middle of a warzone. We can't afford stunted communications, so, I'm gonna say this once. You don't have to verbalize...it but maybe Seungkwan thinks you're stringing him along and the fact that you couldn't admit your feelings when there's a significant chance somebody wouldn't survive later probably validates it for him."

Jihoon's correct; Vernon couldn't afford avoiding his problems, just patiently awaiting the infiltration date. Going in with a heavy heart on a suicide mission was, well, suicide.

"What d'you suppose I say?"

Jihoon knew only several thing surrounding therapy. One of the things they weren't allowed to do was give their patients specific instructions.

But Vernon wasn't his patient, neither was Seungcheol or Mingyu when they both turned towards him for guidance. They were his friends. This entire ordeal had transformed certain aspects of himself. Jihoon felt proud of said transformation.

"Tell him that you're not ready, but you're not stringing him along."

Clarify your intentions, was what Jihoon's basically suggesting.

"But also apologize."

The conversation ended with Vernon agreeing to Jihoon's recommendation. Once again he's left alone in na empty house, reverberating his sadden sentiments. Maybe if Jihoon was as barricaded as he presented himself to be, the fact that he'd readily help Vernon was a testament that people, in some aspects, could change.

Vernon could change.

Still, he wasn't ready, admitting that was okay. The four letter word sat heavy on his tongue whenever Seungkwan was around. But the conversation made things clearer. He wasn't afraid of being sentimental because of the repercussions anymore, he was simply not ready. And he's content with that.

He's not there yet, but he's getting closer. He'll just have to hope Seungkwan understood that. But if he knew anything about his best friend, it's that with his impatientness and sometimes hilarious cowardice, he's also equally as understanding, kindhearted, and brave.

They would be okay. His cellphone rang, alerting him to Seungcheol and Junhui arriving to pick him up, and he returned to Mingyu's mansion a step closer than he was before.

 

💊💊💊

 

Boredom overtook Minghao; everybody besides himself had been appointed several responsibilities that needed attention. Granted, it was early in the day, there wasn't much to do this early in the morning except consume breakfast, like half of the household, or bury yourself into your work immediately upon waking, like the other half.

Minghao wasn't hungry. Had no responsibilities either.

Regardless, he decided to grab a couple slices of bread, ate it plain because who cares, and resolutely go on a morning walk around the premises.

That's when he encountered Chan, palms flaming, before the younger plunged it into the freezing pond, sitting entrance, watching the smoke.

It was a peculiar action that captured Minghao's attention, before the younger began to stir, sensing somebody watching him. And that's when the informer hisses beginning to walk the other way.

"Hey!" Too late.

The informant froze in his steps, wanting to escape whilst simultaneously wanting everything to be over. He had never hesitated as much as this before, neither had he felt as guilty. This was a new experience; maybe facing the direct consequences of your action was something he didn't like to experience.

"I remembered everything y'know," Chan began, voice not nearly as furious as he was before. "At least about you. I remembered you were there when they kidnapped me-"

Minghao turned, hands fidgeting. He could hide himself underneath layers of aloofness, but when facing situations that actually mattered Minghao cared, deeply. Too much at times, "I'm really sorry."

"I remembered you saving my life."

Surprised, Minghao was beckoned, until the two found a comfortable area to soak up the ambiance and away from the headache inside the mansion.

"I'm sorry I tried to burn your face off," Chan started. Minghao thought it was an amiable start, he couldn't help but chuckle at their constricting situation.

"Tomorrow- the day after tomorrow, I mean, it's what Soonyoung is aiming for. We're going to infiltrate the presidential candidate's secret warehouse with a bunch of strangers," Minghao began, mirthless laughter escaping liberally, unable to be stopped after it started. He could feel his eyes tearing up. "I think I'm past you burning my face off."

Chan gave a quick observation to the person sitting beside him underneath the cobweb addled pine tree and gave a quirk of a brow. "You're panicking," Chan concluded.

"Aren't you? - I mean, we're going into battle, basically!" And there wasn't a damn thing neither could do to protect those they love. Not when they're both relegated to the back-up squad.

"People deal with anxiety differently I guess." Because for Chan, it's the sleepless nights he's been trying to conceal from his Jeonghan hyung's attentive and vigilant eye.

It's nothing really, only his core burning him alive from the inside out.

He needed release.

"All my life has escalated up to this - I-I've never - I've never panicked before." Maybe it was the constant coolness finally breaking through. Or maybe, he was perfectly fine with the prospect of getting hurt himself, but if Junhui-

"Come on." the younger stood up, brushing the fragmented tree branches stuck to his pants. "Let's go spar; let some steam out."

The younger began walking towards the pond and Minghao felt persuaded to follow. He needed release as much as anybody in that mansion did.

"I forgive you by the way," Chan said, before turning around and readying his stance.

"Me too."

 

💊💊💊

 

Tomorrow, Seungkwan never requested much the nineteen years he'd remain alive but right now he had only one request. Time.

"Again."

Closing his eyes he stretched the invisible barrier, pushing further, extending it from clinging to his skin and towards the air surrounding the previously paced materials. They watched as every single obstacles and objects were engulfed, leaving nothing for the eyes to see.

Seungkwan held on, breath clenching tightly onto his lungs. Despite it oxygen flowed freely outside, the breezing wind distracting him, challenging him to let go.

"Focus."

"I'm trying," Seungkwan gritted. How many minutes had it passed this time? Fifteen? Twenty? Not enough.

He couldn't breathe.

"I can't."

"Seungkwan!"

Everything rushed back like a cannon ball barreling towards his chest. Thrown backwards he was left with another disappointing scene. The invisibility cloak returning towards himself.

"Twelve."

Worse than before. Amazing.

They've been practicing for hours, Jeonghan and him. They're unfamiliar with one another and maybe that's why their pairing was a terrible suggestion. Regardless, Jeonghan's the only mutant who's capable of teaching Seungkwan control over his ability.

"The way his mutation operates is similar to yours," was what the lab technician - Jihoon, had discovered. Apparently they tapped into the same source of energy to power their mutation. That's why both of them get fatigued fairly easily.

Jeonghan fortunately had had about twenty years to practice his mutation. Building it's strength and invulnerability like a muscle.

Seungkwan got a week.

"Well, I don't know. I can't build muscles in days."

Jeonghan sighed, kicking pebbles underneath his feet. They've chosen to practice near the private pond Mingyu's family owned in the garden; Jeonghan didn't want to begin to guess how many acres large it was.

His primary focus was towards Seungkwan; their lives depended on the sporadically invisible boy. And yet Jeonghan kept getting distracted. Numerous emotions began piling up the second Jeonghan decided to suppress everything. Soonyoung and Chan hadn't contributed much beyond a well-meaning attentiveness. Seungcheol and Joshua wanted to talk about it, Jeonghan refused as per usual. Maybe his mentality was declining because the dam's getting full.

Looking over the pond where Minghao was sparring with Chan. Had been all day.

Throwing a particularly large fireball, Minghao ducked and the flaming ball burned through a tree behind them.

"Well shit!"

Minghao waved a hand "They're rich anyways."

And they began again. Jeonghan didn't know why they're training, since their responsibility was to stay behind. Seemed like a pointless endeavor.

That's not completely true. Jeonghan knew the both of them were frustrated, and that's how they're coping. Besides, the shapeshifter was grateful for the distraction away from his other (more emotional based) distraction.

The smell of the bathroom in the Yellow Snapdragon still lingered in his nose.

"Come on, again."

Seungkwan pouted at the shapeshifter's outstretched hand before taking it. Cleaning himself up he tried again.

It took less time for everything to fail this time around.

"Fuck!"

"You'll get this."

"No I won't." Jeonghan actually heard the misplaced guilt in Seungkwan's demeanor.

It truly wasn't Seungkwan's fault. Jeonghan was as experience at being a teacher as Seungkwan was being an invisible mutant.

Truth was both of them were entirely too young and inexperienced to be entrusted with saving the city. It's completely overwhelming.

"I don't get it." Forgoing the ground, Seungkwan walked the distance toward the mahogany bench beside the pond, slumping in defeat. Jeonghan followed. "I get underwhelming progress, but actually getting worse?"

"Yeah, well, I haven't exactly helped."

Jeonghan had been teaching Seungkwan everything he knew. How it felt like tapping to his own energy source whenever he used his abilities. How he managed it, what it entails. Everything. It wasn't enough.

"How did it felt like for you? Growing up with shapeshifting abilities."

Jeonghan chuckled, reverting his memory backwards wasn't exactly something he was ecstatic of doing. Looking at Chan, barely dodging an armored fist he realized then how amazingly the other had grown up. He was one of the handful of creations Jeonghan was proud of contributing in developing.

His past was a sore subject, but remembering might help Seungkwan. "I don't remember much of how it started. I've probably been shapeshifting to survive my whole entire life." Stealing foods, clothing, money. A child. "I've always had difficulty shapeshifting, not enough sustenance and all." He chuckled and found it sounded wet. Seungkwan rested his hand on the older's shoulder. "I was alone for the longest time. Surviving, barely getting by. And then I met this...tiny child being dragged away from the market for stealing something."

"Is it your brother? Chan?"

Jeonghan nodded. He remembered everything like it was yesterday. How the torrential downpour hadn't stopped in weeks and everybody in the slums were afraid of drowning under the unideal circumstances. Jeonghan had found an emptied out basement, had been living there for twenty six days (he'd counted) and was stocking up with food and water before the upcoming final blow. Everybody was preparing.

That day he had ended up journeying towards the market where everything was in shambles. Swiftly shifting he began unashamedly swiping food; some upfront, others discreetly. It didn't matter particularly how since his method of escaping was to shapeshift after stealing.

Back then feeling remorseful for stealing wasn't an option. It still wasn't. But when he was younger his default emotions was always anger. Turbulence clouded his judgment. In result he always felt worse for wear after shapeshifting. His abilities, his emotions, consumed him.

He'd stolen a lot of canned food when he finally arrived at the last vendor. Unfortunately, somebody else had apparently decided to target the vendor.

Chan was miniscule compared to the six feet tall hefty trader, who loomed over the tiny figure like a monster.

"Let me go!"

"You stole from me an expect me to let you go?"

"Please, it's not for me!"

Jeonghan watched from further away as the tiny child struggle, failing to summon enough strength. But that's when he noticed the steam fogging up the two struggling figures and simultaneously Jeonghan realized.

"Mutant."

The boy was attempting to summon flames, but the unending water droplets prevented him from succeeding.

At that moment Jeonghan's never ending anger unexpectedly disappeared. He felt this yearning to protect this younger stranger and held him underneath his wings. Save him. That, coupled with the soft-spot he possessed for tiny children, Jeonghan saw only one solution.

"So he was an orphan?"

"No, his parents were the ones forcing him to steal stuff - once they'd discovered his mutation they'd deemed him useful."

Seungkwan scoffed, getting irritated on Chan's behalf.

"But you saved him - a-adopted him?"

Jeonghan nodded. "Superstrength isn't part of my ability, but I figured if I had at least looked strong, the guy would let go." Shapeshifting himself bigger taller than the already big and tall vendor was practically impossible. For his skillset back then and his lack of energy. He shouldn't have been able to do that. "My emotions were clouded for the longest time, but at that moment I just...I knew I had to believe in myself if I wanted to safe Chan.

Jeonghan wished dissolving once anger and irrational decisions was as effortless as it was back then. Somewhere in the back of his mind the memory he'd manage to bottle up for days began to resurface. Considering their work load was piling up, a little added trauma seemed...fitting.

Seungkwan himself have been itching to process what he'd witness. It wasn't anything gruesome, but the implication of what would happen if the situation had run its course made his stomach churn sometimes.

At least the shapeshifter was taking it well. Seemingly.

"I'm sorry by the way. I-I don't wanna seem like I'm avoiding it but I'm sorry about what happened."

Jeonghan smirked, of course. He'd been wondering when the bouts of sympathy would start piling up. Even Seungcheol, after they'd finally devised the plan, had been progressively getting softer towards him. The others wouldn't let him off either, that's partially why he had agreed to this training with Seungkwan. It gave him something to do.

Not that the gestures weren't appreciated but somewhere deep down he knew he was fine. It was harrowing but far from traumatizing.

"I've prepared myself for that type of situation long before it happened, Seungkwan."

Seungkwan gave him a look that Jeonghan chuckled at.

"I'm not in denial - I've just. With how I operate it was a matter of time before somebody finally gotten the best of me and..." it's the damnest thing, here he was spilling his guts out to somebody he's unfamiliar with, and yet Seungkwan's comforting hand resting on his fidgeting hands calmed him. He didn't even realize his fingers were creating dents on his skin. Maybe he'd been suppressing it too long. "I got hurt, it was scary."

"It's okay," Seungkwan whispered.

The scenery was beginning to get blurry, Jeonghan was aware he was beginning to tear up. Seungcheol's gaze, imploring and attentive from well beyond the pond suddenly cuts towards him and Jeonghan chuckles wetly.

"I know."

Maybe he won't be able to process, not for a while. But he was thankful he finally made the correct decision to accept Seungcheol's offer. To stay here an fight for an actual cause. And he knew he was protected.

Emotions, what an incredibly complicated, inconvenient and powerful thing.

Maybe they've been approaching it incorrectly.

"Heard you shouting the other day."

The change of topic came as a surprise. Out everything Jeonghan had in his skill-set arsenal, Seungkwan would've thought the knowledge of creating reliable segues would be in there somewhere.

It didn't matter, he'll play.

"You're suggesting that my problems with Vernon is what's making it worst."

Jeonghan shrugged, fully locking eyes at Chan. "Maybe, it's not exactly an exact science."

Chan swiftly counters Minghao's fist-first approach. The informant might've been capable of blocking the attack, but the force still sent him backwards.

Somewhere in Jeonghan's peripheral vision he saw Seungcheol and Junhui back from their daily trips to the agency. By this point they've become enraptured with the dueling duo as well. The last to reveal himself was Vernon, who decided to grab a couple equipment for Jihoon.

Jeonghan watched as Seungkwan's shoulder tensed immediately.

"Yeah, I think I've cracked it.-" Jeonghan stood up, hands outstretched once again imploring for the other to take it. "Come on, let's go again."

Seungkwan didn't know what good it could possibly do. The difference between now and then was a single conversation, but Jeonghan seemed to have something else in mind.

"Are you going to confront him?"

Seungkwan did, yesterday, that didn't go over well. Now he was steadfast on not interacting with Vernon at all.

Clapping his hand, Jeonghan managed to startle Seungkwan out of his reverie. The shapeshifter wore a grin, "Great, so here's your options-" If Jeonghan's learn anything these past few days was that not everything had an instant solution. Not everyone could be compelled to do something if they weren't ready. Seungkwan was asking a lot of Vernon, who's not ready, so as a solution they needed to do something else.

"You want me to steal the box in his hand?" Seungkwan looked mortified, whirling around towards Jeonghan with a pretty convincing puppy dog eyes in display. It reminded Jeonghan once again how young Seungkwan actually was, only a year older than Chan. It's solidified the importance of Seungkwan succeeding even more.

"Not the entire box, just five items, one by one." Jeonghan remembered vaguely Jihoon rattling of the list of items he needed that Vernon owned, and it was well more than three. "Just go invisible, hide it behind a tree and that way I won't force you to talk to him."

Seungkwan whined, a little more petulantly than usual but he hated confrontation. It was bad enough he'd blew up on Vernon beforehand. Now he just wanted to avoid him, was that too much to ask?

"This is revenge isn't it, for bringing up-"

"No, Seungkwan." Jeonghan shook his head lightly in amusement. "I'm not gonna lie, that's all I could think of."

"Your plan's stupid."

"I'm well aware."

The feeling of Seungcheol finally calling him from across the pond signaled a perfect time for Seungkwan to finally do it. He'e have to go invisible long enough to walk across the pond without allerting Vernon, grab an item at a time, made it invisible before hiding it behind a tree.

It's extremely convoluted and stupid but this was more about Seungkwan confronting his emotions than anything.

"I'm going." It didn't take long for Jeonghan to arrive beside Seungcheol, who linked their fingers together almost automatically.

The two watched in amusement as Seungkwan fumbled his way into invisibility.

"Training going well?"

"Haven't decided yet."

Jeonghan rested his head against Seungcheol shoulder, breathing in the comforting and the progressively familiar scent. The warmth of Seungcheol's body plastered beside him felt amazing. He hadn't realize the weather outside had been this cold.

"Are you okay?" Of course Seungcheol wanted to talk about it.

I'm processing.

Seungcheol didn't press, instead kissing the crown of Jeonghan's head. He was glad Jeonghan at least had begun processing.

"Why aren't you guys getting inside?" Jeonghan asked, Chan and Minghao's duel couldn't be that entertaining.

"There's a lot more equipment in the car, I've called the others down to help us get them inside."

"What are you up to, huh?"

Grinning was enough of a halfway answer, when suddenly Vernon's equipment started floating away from him. The two detectives’ eyes went wide.

Tell Junhui to not freak out.

Seungcheol nodded, gaping nonetheless and soon the three of them converge together to inspect Seungkwan's unorthodox training.

"Didn't he think to make the equipment invisible before pulling it out of the box?" Junhui commented. It's a miracle Vernon hadn't caught him yet.

Jeonghan snigger into Seungcheol's shoulder. "It's fine, let him get caught. He'll learn his lesson either way."

"Which is?" The grip encircling Jeonghan's waist tightened and Seungcheol couldn't help but grin in amusement at the other's mischievous expression.

"You'll see."

Seungkwan, of course, invisible as he was felt hair rising at the back of his neck, his shoulders tense and his breathes stuttering. He was concentrating way to hard on net getting caught that everything that he'd learned (minimal as it was) was absent from the memory bank inside his mind. Winging it was obviously a terrible idea, but when your ear-thumping aligns with your heartbeat, blanking was to be expected.

He'd managed sneaking three equipment behind the pine tree beside the pond, almost singing his hair when Chan's fireball flew over his head. All the while he felt guilty for using Vernon as an experiment when they haven't finish their argument yet. The equipment hidden looked complicated and clearly expensive; Seungkwan would hate to break it.

Regardless, the fourth time he did it went smoothly enough. He felt goose bumps particularly on that round; Jeonghan, more upwards up the hill were following the line of his body. It was creepy.

"Am I looking at the right direction?"

Seungcheol hummed his ascent.

"Good. How's he doing?"

Taking a quick glance into Seungkwan's mine, he gathered a bunch of curses and overly personal information being thrown around. "He's fine." Physically anyways.

"Well that's no fun."

Junhui exhaled, bending forwards he leaned his hands on his knees. "Yeah, well, he's very anxious." The detective didn't think he'd felt this much anxiety before. "Jesus, he needs therapy."

Jeonghan chuckled. "Not if he do this correctly." He's positive it'll work, he might not have Soonyoung's level tactical intellect, but if there's one thing he knew how to do it's to manipulate people.

It'll be over any second. Seungkwan waited until Vernon's attention was away from the box he's holding. Waiting for the correct moment, Seungkwan blindly reached inside for whatever equipment he could find purchase on. This was it, after this he'd have proven to himself that he's capable, reliable. That he could set his emotions aside and focus on what's important.

He was positive that was Jeonghan's lesson and partly he was correct.

Mind wandering on future accomplishments, Seungkwan unbeknownst to himself had gotten distracted. From his position, face inches away from Vernon's, he made sure to not exhale, but that wasn't much of a problem when being this close to Vernon automatically took his breath away.

His friend really was incredibly attractive; jawline sharp and angular, nose curving in a universally desirable way, his eyes were the size of the moon.

And his lips.

"Woah!" Vernon jumped backwards, almost dropping his box onto the ground. To safe his precious equipment from tumbling he leaned forward, teetering dangerously. Seungkwan had about fifteen seconds to realize his invisibility ward had been deactivated before suddenly his body was leaning backwards at the weight.

The tumble managed to barrel over Chan and Minghao who was aligned during the perfect moment. Seconds later, there were four soaking mutants inside the pond.

Jeonghan hissed, this was not in the plan. Somehow he hadn't foreseen any potential collateral damage. He should probably praise Soonyoung more; this making plan thing was surprisingly difficult.

"Oh fuck, the equipment!" Jeonghan ran downhill, beckoning the frozen detectives to come help. Meanwhile the four shallow water occupants were none too happy with their currently wet situation.

"What. The shit!" Being a pyrokinetics, Chan's worst nightmare was to be wet. Rain had always unease him, he wouldn't even shower if it weren't for hygiene purposes. Drawing from previous experiences, being soaked in a body of water had never been a pleasantly experience.

"I-I'm sorry - I was just-" Seungkwan started to stutter. Unfortunately ones Chan is pissed, it was difficult to coax the boy of his heated ledge.

The mouthful of water were sufficed enough to gag Seungkwan. Chan actually barked out a laugh at that.

"Did you just splash me? - what are you five?" But Seungkwan wasn't any better; gathering water with his shaky arms he pushed it towards Chan who was fully laughing at this point.

Seungkwan didn't really have that good an aim.

"Seriously?" Minghao deadpanned, he wasn't fond with water either.

In an interesting turned of event, Vernon laughed, the sound oddly misplaced with how low and hollering it sounded.

Minghao wasn't having any of that.

"Jesus, I'm sorry!" But now the four of them were splashed and neither was backing down.

By the time Jeonghan and the detectives had finished putting aside all the scattered equipment, the soggy-quadruplet were having a full blown water fight in the pond.

"They can't be serious." Jeonghan was not watching his failure of a plan devolve into child's play.

He carefully approaches the pond, a thousand percent ready to berate all of them when he made one fatal mistake. He got to close.

Chan, laying low underneath a curvature at the lip of the pond managed to get a good grip of Jeonghan's pant leg. With a little bit of a tug and a lot of strength from Seungcheol, the shapeshifter came splashing onto the shallow water.

"What the shit!" Jeonghan eyed Seungcheol angrily.

"I'm sorry-" Seungcheol doubled over, hollering uncontrollably -"I just, I-"

"Just help me up!" Jeonghan held his hand out expectantly, his bottom lip jutting out and his jaw tensed in irritation.

Seungcheol found it absolutely adorable.

With his defenses down he accepted Jeonghan's hand, meaning to pull the shapeshifter out.

He didn't catch the tendrils of mischievous intention until it was too late and he was plummeting face first, creating a big splash.

Jeonghan chuckled darkly, shaking his head. "Of course you would fall for that."

Coming up for air Seungcheol managed to splash Jeonghan one more time before dragging the squirming shapeshifter next to him, whispering something in his ears.

Seconds later Junhui managed to trip his way into the pond.

Not a dry mutant left in the crowd, everyone succumbed into the temptation of showering with one another with (hopefully) not too dirty water. They were all preoccupied until the rest of the house decided to descend.

The house (mansion) was significantly far away from the pond, it made sense why the reinforcement took so long. Seungcheol had even forgotten about calling them down in the first place.

"Hey!" Jeonghan shouted over the others roaring laughter "Wouldn't it be ashamed if we're the only ones to have fun."

The rest of Mingyu's household occupants descended towards the ponds expecting a very serious training scene. They ended up all joining with helping, having some sort of personal reason or another to go. But when they got to the scene, they were surprised that it was absent.

"Did everybody leave or something," Soonyoung asked, walking towards the tree line hoping to find somebody.

"Seungcheol said they'd just arrive." Jihoon fished out his phone just to double check and found the confirmation that he needed it.

Definitely odd.

"Hey, didn't Seokmin come down with us?" Wonwoo pointed, head whirling in search of the transducer. Hearing a faded splashing noise in the background.

Turning around they saw the gathered equipment by the edge of the pond. "They must've been here," Jihoon deduced

They heard another distinct splashing noises, but thought nothing of it. But the sound caught Mingyu in particular, who knew his family's manufactured pond was definitely not a host for any fishes. It couldn't even survive since the pond was purely for aesthetic and the water was frequently disinfected.

"Hmm." Mingyu took the few steps to get him to the edge of the pond, followed by the others. He was about to bend down when-

"Now!"

Mingyu, the gigantic clutz that he was managed to stagger himself into the pond withot any aid. The rest was either pulled or pushed from behind. Except for one.

There was a myriad of chuckles drowned by the sounds of cursing - mainly from Jihoon - everybody reverberating either their amusement or annoyance.

"Fuck did you do that for! - Choi-" Jihoon gave it his best, growing any sort of plant life near the watery area until it was huge enough to cup at least ten gallons of water.

Whatever plant it was grew so big that it shadowed everybody from the sun. They stopped laughing.

"Jihoon, no." Seungcheol was mortified.

Jihoon only smirked, head carefully covered underneath a makeshift organically made umbrella, before tipping over plant bucket and dousing everyone with pond water.

"Arggh! - Jihoon, you're lucky this isn't disgusting water." Mingyu wade through the pool, his superstrenght creating waves in the small space as he actually managed to capture Jihoon in his arms who failed to swim away.

"You know what happens now?" Mingyu asked, oddly menacing, before he full-bodied dunked both of them under the surface of water.

The already huge water fight turned even larger. Thoughts of suicide mission and saving ghe world light-years away from their mind. In the tiny section of a moment they get to be young and laugh and truly unwind for once in their lives.

All the while this was happening, one was still hesitant to join.

Mingyu noticed first; Wonwoo awkwardly standing at the edge of the pond, one leg pointed towards and the other outwards like he didn't know if he should leave them, if he was intruding. That should be fixed.

"Come on." Mingyu's voice managed to cut through everybody else's, who all simultaneously turned towards Wonwoo. He wade his way towards him, giving out a hand awaiting to be taken.

Wonwoo stayed silent, body rigid and unable to move.

Jeonghan didn't like seeing a lost lamb either - never have - so he wade halfway until he's nearer to the scientist and beckoned himself. "its fine, the water isn't cold!"

Liar, Seungcheol cut, sparking an amused grin on the shapeshifter's face.

"Take the hand!" The shouted comment brought a surprise to everybody. Through his chattering teeth, Jihoon managed to join in beckoning the scientist.

And maybe it was because the comment came from Jihoon, who was grimacing every time he moved like the water physically hurt him. Who played along and chuckled anyways. Who Wonwoo thought he related to the most out of everybody present. Who Wonwoo knew was Mingyu's newest crush, that he decided to took the hand and felt the expectant tug from it warmed something within him.

Halfway through falling he thought that taking that hand was simultaneously the worst and best decision he had in a long time.

 

💊💊💊

 

One of the grandeur features available in Mingyu's household was perhaps an unnecessary, yet beautiful one. At least it preoccupied Seungkwan enough from facing the very problem he had persistently avoided for days. The dancing flames were pretty, and it kept him warm whilst the others showered in the eight bathrooms available to them. He figured Junhui and Minghao wouldn't mind sharing and maybe the other couples as well. Point was, he wanted to wallow, so Seungkwan volunteered to be the second batch.

"Hey." Apparently so did Vernon.

Seungkwan pulled the towel closer to towards his body, careful not to drip pond water onto Mrs. Kim's imported Persian carpet.

"Hey."

"Can I sit here?" Seungkwan glared at Vernon, the tentativeness was utterly intolerable.

"Right." Vernon was equally soaked, but he didn't seem bothered much by it. "Well I'm glad that we're speaking again."

"Jeonghan hyung said we need to put our problems aside in order to have a successful mission." That might've came across more haughtily than Seungkwan intended, but it was the truth.

So why did his heartbeat just increased.

"I'm sorry." Vernon began, he had been preparing the speech all day, but as he became entrance by the fireplace as well, everything must've escaped him. He'll just have to improvise. "I do care about you Seungkwan, deeply, but-"

"You've been pretending to be an unsympathetic robot most of your life? I'm aware - Jesus, Vernon we pay attention you know."

Gripping the edge of the seat, Vernon leaned towards his companion. "We?" They?

Seungkwan sighed, he seemed to blink a millennia away from his consciousness before fully facing Vernon, and the look on his face was more exasperated than disappointed.

"Yes, we. Mingyu, Seokmin, we wouldn't have stuck by you for so long if we didn't know you're actually a pretty decent person." Seungkwan shook his head. "I mean seriously - we know how your parents are, you're nothing like them."

"But I am!"

"But you're not." Seungkwan had figured something along those lines. Falling for your emotionally constipated best friend comes with perks as much as caveats. For one, he started paying extra attention to Vernon long ago.

The result was this, knowing, Vernon had done his utmost to maintain his uncaring facade. Seungkwan noticed how carefully Vernon tried to choose his friend-groups. Everything was constructed his benefit.

But equally as much Seungkwan got to see the amazing part of Vernon. The one who cared more than he had bargained for. The one who couldn't admit it.

"No matter how much you deny it, you're still here aren't you? Risking your life for practical strangers, for- " Seungkwan sighed. "Me."

Vernon took his hand gingerly in his, automatically caressing. "I-I'm not ready."

"And that's okay." Seungkwan squeezed Vernon's hand, his palm quickly warming from the action. "I just wished that you'd at least admit that - y'know, I was beginning to think you're stringing me along-"

"I'm not."

"I know, you're just not ready, and I'm content with that." And Seungkwan relished in the fact that he wasn't lying to himself. "We'll revisit this right? After...everything."

Neither realized how close their faces had become to one another, until Vernon answered, "Definitely," breathlessly.

Seungkwan felt the tremors his rapid heartbeat was causing throughout his body. The goose bumps covering every expanse of skin. "I-I'm sorry too, for blowing up and giving you the silent treatment."

Vernon chuckled, the action fanning warm air on the other's face. This wasn't the time but Seungkwan would be lying if he said he didn't like it.

"It's okay, I admire that about you. You always wear your heart on your sleeve."

People always say that you often search for your missing parts within other people surrounding you. The ones possessing those parts you'd keep close. Maybe that's why the space between their lips were erased, finally meeting on a long awaited kiss.

Vernon's lips were better than what Seungkwan had imagined, but not less warm and amazing. He couldn't help but search deeper-

"Yo lovebirds-" the two pulled away, Seungkwan smacking backwards onto the armchair.

"Fuck."

-"shower's open - one, maybe you should share." Mingyu grinned.

Seungkwan wanted to smack that expression of Mingyu's face, but he was certain his own fingers would shatter instead. impervious bastard.

"You're an asshole."

Seungkwan ended up obtaining the first shower. Vernon always was more of a do-er than a say-er.

He didn't mind, after all, a magnanimous weight had thankfully been lifted off his ribcage.

Everything would be okay. Tomorrow’s another day, maybe one brimming with miracles, or perhaps increasing panic. Their last day. But Vernon would sleep easily knowing at least one trouble had been fixed today.

Notes:

Hope everyone enjoyed the lighter chapter 😌 tbh i just wanted them to have a water fight 😌
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Find me on:
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Chapter title from Die Young by Grandson <3

Chapter 18: All the Gold on Earth It Wont Buy Time

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Soonyoung was scrambling; out of everybody he's the one who's probably been pulling the heaviest weight, but the overloading distress of feeling incompetent was eating him alive. Especially now that he's faced with the biggest responsibility of all.

He and Seokmin had been working tirelessly to fill the gap of their pre-made overarching details. There were some aspects that needed their tending like the warehouse's security, floor plan, surveillance, etc. For the most part they've managed to collect several important details, but Soonyoung couldn't help but feel there's a chasm in the middle of everything. An important oversight.

The door creaking made Soonyoung look towards it, only realizing that the sun had apparently risen, blinding his eyes as a first mission. "Hey," he said to whomever it was, shielding his eyes from the backlight.

"Have you been awake all night?" Seokmin's concern was evident in his voice, but Soonyoung truly didn't see anything that should be cause for concern.

"I've been trying to get into their security system," Soonyoung explained between a yawn. "There's something that I'm missing, I keep-" the laptop in his lap jostled, his body teetering of the side of the bed. He felt dizzy. Seokmin approached him tentatively, holding an arm out for support.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Perfect." Smiling, he felt the tightness in-between his eyebrows. Maybe he wasn't okay. "I just need to get this done - the plans tomorrow and I need-"

"Rest." Seokmin's hands were warm, rubbing softly onto his back, messaging his arm, then cradling his palms. "You need rest, Soonyoung."

"But the plot hole," Soonyoung whined, the sound adorable enough to squeeze a chuckle through Seokmin's concern.

Grabbing the laptop away from the hacker, Seokmin found it scarily easy to ease the other backwards into a reclining position. But even when Soonyoung's body's halfway melting into the mattress, his eyes are still stubbornly open. And he wouldn't let himself succumb to exhaustion.

Seokmin sighed; he's been around stupidly scattered-brain people all his life. And yes, he'd admit that he's included in said description, but the absurdity of his upbringing contributed to his actions currently. He knew what to do and when to stop a derailed train.

"Okay then. What're you thinking?" Playing along, he hoped trapping Soonyoung would result in the best outcome.

"I've been hacking the shit out of their security system but it's nothing like I've ever seen before." There was some sort of signature to every system that Soonyoung had never encountered before. The fact that they needed the information today had been stressing him to death.

"Have you research any external resources? Another company associated with them?"

Soonyoung's eyes that'd been drooping shot open. A solution so simple had been staring him dead in the eyes all night, and yet he didn't see them. "Oh shit."

Seokmin patted his newfound friend's chest, feeling an erratic rumble of heartbeat beneath it.

Soonyoung grabbed the hand, shaking it in disbelieve, looking up at the other's eyes imploringly. "Oh shit."

"Yeah, that's why you need to rest. Your brain works quicker that way," Seokmin berated, tapping gently at the side of the other's head.

"I just wanted to do my best."

"So do I - I mean, I'm not a hacker like you, but I'm still trying my best." Tucking the other in who had relaxed from the realization that he did required sleep, Seokmin smiled encouragingly. "But doing your best means knowing your limit."

Shifting around, they decided on Seokmin to finish Soonyoung's discovery. Letting the hacker rest before their final preparation.

After getting comfortable himself, Soonyoung stirred, sitting up when Seokmin tried to pull away. "Hey," he said softly, blossoming with tenderness, pulling the transducer close by the shoulder. "Thank you," he whispered, giving the other a tiny kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome."

 

💊💊💊

 

Jeonghan visited Soonyoung's room sometime during the afternoon, meaning to ask the other if he wanted lunch, bringing the plate he'd pre-prepared alongside him. Only to find Soonyoung fast asleep, with somebody inside the room, tapping frustratingly away at a laptop.

"You're going to break that."

Seokmin yelped and Jeonghan found himself suppressing a laugh.

"Oh - uhm...hello. Soonyoung's asleep." Seokmin recognized the shapeshifter milling around Soonyoung, protectiveness coming off in waves. Jeonghan, if memory served him correctly, was Soonyoung's brother. Seokmin half-thought it was Seungkwan visiting him again.

"I can see that." Jeonghan cracked the door wider, stepping inside and sitting beside the snoring hacker. He didn't remember a time where Soonyoung slept this unguardedly, with drool pooling liberally onto the pillow beneath him. "What are you doing?"

"Taking over," Seokmin smiled tensely, his finger tapping softening. Occasionally switching to swiping through the electromagnetic wavelengths.

Jeonghan was curious; he hadn't spoken much to anybody else besides the people he knew, the detectives, and Seungkwan. He didn't know what half of their powers were. "What is that?" Jeonghan pointed towards the finger swiping.

Seokmin chuckled, a redness coming over his features. "My thing," he muttered shyly. He's aware of how idiotic he always appeared just swiping over everything that nobody but himself could see.

Jeonghan moved beside the transducer curiously, curling on the opposite end of the bay window. He placed the plate on a near table and watched fascinated as the other work. "Explain it."

Seokmin eyed Jeonghan suspiciously, expecting to see some sort of joke and amusement that he himself wouldn't find funny. But all he saw was curiosity and friendliness. "It's like...holograms, I guess. I can see colorful lines for different things and I can touch them, expand them. See what's inside," he explained.

"That's cool."

"Only when you can see it." From his perspective, a world of wonders was visible. Colorful and full of knowledge. It's beautiful having the capability to witness these thin connections that connected everybody together. Sometimes he got caught up in said wonders, escaping for the horrid reality he tried so hard to change.

"I'm sorry," he shook his head, "It's just, growing up people made fun of me for it." It's not like he could physically prove these connections existed. All he appeared as was a madmen finger-tutting over bare air.

Jeonghan moved closer towards the transducer, taking the laptop balanced precariously on his lap before it tumbled. "Well people are stupid. Fuck them."

"I wish I can - I kinda take things to heart."

Smiling, Jeonghan found himself another somebody he desperately wanted to take care of. He wished such warm interactions wouldn't solidify itself as quickly as it did. It’s difficult knowing you'd probably get hurt in the end.

"Think of it this way. You're saving everybody within the city and nobody even knows it, besides us." Jeonghan pointed. "You should reward yourself - be proud. it doesn't matter how idiotic you look using your powers. What matters is what you do with it."

Seokmin nodded, a tiny smile gracing his features. "Thank you."

"It's fine. God knows I've embarrassed myself with my shapeshifting for...less." Grabbing the plate of food, Jeonghan thrust it towards his new friend. "Eat," he instructed, knowing how engrossed one could be whilst working.

"Isn't that for Soonyoung."

"Soonyoung doesn't need it." Eyeing the hacker fondly, Jeonghan shook his head. "He'll eat his own body weights' worth after he's done defiling the sheets with his spit."

Seokmin chuckled, accepting the plate as a token of their friendship-

"Oh shit, I found something."

 

💊💊💊

 

Soonyoung slept like a baby, expensive silk sheets and goose down pillows did wonders for his body. Stretching himself awake, the first thing he noticed was the windows, curtain drawn open letting inside the shining moonbeam "it's night already," he mumbled, before hearing the telltale click-clacking of a keyboard.

Soonyoung woke up begrudgingly, noticing Seokmin still occupied the room, back turned towards him.

"You're still here," Soonyoung mumbled in disbelief.

Seokmin turned, his face brightening up the way the other usually did Soonyoung noted. And the hacker - bedhead and droopy-eyed - found himself smiling back.

"I found your thing, already informed Seungcheol. Just doing some last minute checking."

Soonyoung groaned, stretching again for good measure. "God, you're a genius."

Seokmin chuckled, "Tying a bow on a finish present is hardly brilliant." The transducer perched himself beside the drowsy hacker, who leaned automatically onto him. "You did all the work."

Soonyoung hummed, hoping the sound would be taken as ascent. He's still unsure of his worthiness in the group, but he's glad to have found somebody caring for him. Even if it's only temporary.

"So what's next?"

"We brief the others."

 

💊💊💊

 

"So that's everything?"

Seokmin nodded, "hopefully."

They're all gathered together inside a lounging area to discuss their upcoming mission for the final time, all tensed and nervous energy. The room was stifling hot despite the air conditioning being cranked full force.

Seungkwan couldn't stop fidgeting. All eyes were on him when they'd ask if he'd be able to handle it. "Absolutely," he'd managed to strangle out.

Practicing every day’s proven to be an effective thing. They've thankfully confirmed the reasoning behind his previous decline was purely mental. And judging by the way Vernon's eyes kept meeting him tenderly, encouragingly - Seungkwan could confidently say that he'd gotten that department cover.

"Alright, anything else?" Seungcheol asked.

After reconfirming their roles, Seokmin had come out with a mother load. Something Soonyoung was incredibly butt-hurt on not discovering himself. But also thankful for finding a new friend who's incredible at what they do. Who's not afraid of taking over whenever Soonyoung's not ready.

It's a new feeling. Maybe he liked it.

The basic surmised of everything Seokmin found had changed their entire viewpoint of the mission. The infiltration group and the people staying behind were still solid, but everything else was shaken up when Seokmin uncovered the mother load - or more - the motherboard.

"It's a security system company that protects you on all fronts." Seokmin could see the appeal of a jack-of-all-traits type of company. But if there were a failure within their inner dynamics then everything surrounding it would most likely crumble alongside it.

That's what happened when the company filed for bankruptcy few years ago. Their last customer was anonymous, but with several semi-illegal traces Seokmin found that the warehouse had hired them. For everything.

"Idiots," Jihoon agreed. "So there's a motherboard with blueprints of everything? Projects, machines, everything?"

Seokmin hummed his ascent.

Rounding back to the Achilles heal. There was a flaw within the company's inner mechanism. The way they specifically control their data is by inputting something inside. Unfortunately, it made the data easily traceable and if one copy is deleted, everything else - even outside the motherboard. Would also be deleted.

"I could erase my entire mechabots blueprint," Wonwoo realized. Suddenly he wanted to go to that warehouse now.

"So is that everything?" Seungcheol confirmed.

"Everything's covered, I-I think-" Seokmin stuttered. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

Soonyoung elbowed the transducer to his side. "Don't be." you're perfect.

"Alright."

The mission would transpire accordingly. The group infiltrating would be equipped with everything protective under the sun. Jihoon had taken the liberty to create some hybridized plant-life that might help them. Bombs, tranquilizer, and some with healing properties. Everything was ready.

Vernon had also taken the liberty of making something that could aid him in seeing their infiltration team better once inside. Something to discern them from afar.

Seungcheol and Junhui managed to steal everything they could from the agency. Somehow managing not to get caught. They needed equipment for reinforcements. Junhui had promised to start changing things as best his position could allow, within the agency. Every Single problem he'd encountered that had cause so much pain towards the people in this room. To everybody.

Everything needed had been packed inside a car - several, courtesy of the elites.

"Everything should be okay if we stick to the plan."

"And if we don't?" Chan countered, eyeing warily at Jeonghan specifically. If he lost him again then-

Jeonghan linked their pinkies together, smiling as unrestraint as humanly possible. "We'll try our best." He was sure, for some of them, if the roles were reversed then they'd sacrifice themselves without hesitation. But that's exactly why they're all arguing.

"You better," Jihoon and Joshua muttered at the same time. They hadn't converse much during their stay, but they have the same principles going on so both were sure everything would continue between them far after tomorrow’s mission.

Jihoon needed friends, the technician begrudgingly admitted to it. Maybe he needed something more - and his eyes cut towards Mingyu who was tensed and wrought with anxiety. But then he looked towards Jihoon like he'd senses his presence and Jihoon could never return from this. He won't.

Joshua just hoped when everything is said and done he'd be able to invest himself better. That there wouldn't be any more worries and dividing himself, stretching himself sore. He'll enjoy every investments he had put into his relationships with every single person inside the room.

Some sacrifice, some exercises of trust needed to be made.

"For whatever its worth I'm glad to've met all of you." Wonwoo had to say it. Days prior he had believed his future would only be filled by status and technology. That he'd take his last breath alone in his deathbed. Now he had hope for something better.

"Me too," Minghao echoed. Who would've thought an anti-hero like him would ever stick his head out for anybody other than Junhui. These people, he'll fight with them.

"Alright then."

 

💊💊💊

 

Seungcheol found it his responsibility to check on everybody before their sleep. Wonwoo had walked away from everybody the second they dispersed and he found himself somewhere else instead of comforting Wonwoo. He looked like he needed space.

He found Seungkwan, Seokmin and Mingyu in one of their 'secret' hideouts. A small room with a bar that used to be filled with milkshake machines and candy bars when they were younger. Now everything was decorated sophisticatedly. All rosewood and candelabrums versus paint splatters and gummy bear chandelier.

"Hey," he greeted the two, hoping he won't be kicked out. Honestly he was baffled to see this hideout still up and running.

"Hi!" Seokmin announced brightly.

Mingyu nodded his acknowledgement, shifting a couple cards in his hand, whilst Seungkwan smiled at him immediately. "Grab a seat," he said, dragging a chair closer to them.

"Poker?" He asked, taking the seat.

"Yeah."

Quickly he found himself steadying into a familiar rhythm. Difference was, he didn't find it as guilty as he did before.

"So, is everybody okay?"

Seungkwan smirked, "Cheap move, Cheol."

Seungcheol chuckled good-humoredly. "Worth a shot." He said playing his turn. "But seriously."

"I'm great. Me and Vernon are...okay."

Seungcheol nodded, "You sure you could do the invisibility thing, right?"

Seungkwan hummed in conformation, "Your boyfriend is something else." He wasn't fond of the whole ordeal. It was embarrassing, but he couldn't deny the results.

"Seriously," Seokmin agreed. Nobody even knew the two had an interaction.

Drinking the amber liquid given to him, Seungcheol smiled behind the rim of the glass. Neither confirming nor denying Seungkwan's statement.

"I like our new friends." And of course Seokmin did.

Mingyu giggled, elbowing the transducer beside him. "You like everybody - wait, are you cheating?"

Seokmin put his hand down immediately, ceasing his swiping. "Nooo..."

Shuffling the cards in his hand, Seungkwan smiled knowingly. "By 'like', did you happen to mean one particular person?"

Seokmin eyed Seungkwan suspiciously, hands stopping midway towards his drink. "Nooooo..."

"Okaaay," Seungkwan drawled, knowing how hard Seokmin had worked when Soonyoung was asleep. He'd been scrambling and it would've been understandable if he was doing it purely for everybody's benefit. But Seungkwan knew when Seokmin was trying to impress somebody.

"Speaking of liking-" Seungcheol put his cards face down on the table, eyeing Mingyu incessantly. The others eyes were stubbornly dodging him. "Jihoon-"

"No."

"If you hurt him-"

"Shut up," Mingyu gritted, this was embarrassing. "What are you his keeper?"

Seungcheol shrugged, "Might as well be. Jihoon is kinda a loner." This made the other susceptible to overloads of emotion.

If Mingyu's trying to pursuit his friend, the least Seungcheol could do was make certain that they were ready. "I saw Wonwoo on the balcony."

Mingyu's body tensed and that's how Seungcheol knew the other hadn't interacted with Wonwoo besides their brief encounter at the pond. At least it was a positive encounter, but it wasn't good enough for Seungcheol. "Here's a bet, if I win, you talk to him."

Mingyu didn't say anything, but he didn't protest so they kept playing.

Eventually, Seungcheol won. A royal flush in diamonds.

"Son of a bitch." Mingyu threw his hand. Seungkwan grumbled whilst Seokmin whined.

Seokmin's hand came up comfortingly patting Mingyu's back, "Come on, we'll accompany you."

"I never promised that- ow!" Seungkwan glared, rubbing the arm Seokmin pinched.

They went to send off Mingyu, Seungkwan arguing a little as encouragement. And they watch from afar as their friend began approaching the other.

"I cheated by the way."

The two frowned, before realizing. "I forgot that you could do that," Seungkwan muttered.

They decidedly went their separate ways after. Night was coming to a close and they needed rest. Seungcheol decided to approach Jihoon, and maybe somebody else later. A deep fondness settling inside him from their game.

Promise me we'll do this again, he wanted to say to all of them. But he didn't have to voice anything to know they all wanted the same thing.

 

💊💊💊

 

Jeon Wonwoo wasn't somebody that displayed his heart unabashedly on his sleeve. His latest decision - as it revealed - had been the origin of uncountable destructions throughout the city. He simply couldn't sleep everything off the way everybody else were doing on the eve of their infiltration.

After the brief explanation surrounding their responsibilities tomorrow, everybody had dispersed moments after, towards each of the available guestrooms free for the picking. Mixing and matching sleeping partners to memorize their last positive moments together before...well, the inevitable.

Some fell asleep on the couch, like Lee Jihoon, the talented technician Wonwoo had been acquainted with via numerous conversations and brief reprise of casual interaction in between heavy silence. Jihoon's actually somewhat similar to him. They have mutual values surrounding mutant laws and the politics puppeteering behind it. Considering everything, screening would probably help.

They also agreed that killing and terrorizing innocent people, creating a contraption that could possibly destroy any semblance of peace, were definitely not a justifiable pathway.

They were both similarly composed when facing certain situations, although he noticed that the latter had a strikingly sharper tongue than he did. Casually chiding his detective acquaintances after they commented several well-intentioned, but albeit misguided, inputs.

"Choi, step back you ass, you're not smart enough for this."

Then the detective had clapped the other upside the head, and retreat into one of the bedrooms, resting himself for the night. Shuffling idly like tomorrow's nonexistent.

The interaction was something familiar and friendly; it made him ache for a similar type of friendship. It also made him aware of the fact that he hadn't spoken to much his ex-friends in any casual manner since they were reunited again. Although Vernon and Seokmin did converse a couple of times. Also, the olive branch yesterday at the pond with Mingyu...

"Come on, they need to talk."

The last bit he heard was what guided him here, enjoying dangling his feet off of the balcony, staring up at the muddled haze polluting what's supposed to be a beautifully starlit sky, calmly awaiting for the steady steps he knew was coming.

True to his prediction, it took merely seconds before his expectations came to fruition.

"You always loved looking at the stars."

"There's comfort in feeling you're insignificant. Because-"

"When you're insignificant, whatever decisions you make wouldn't decide the fate of the universe. And when you fuck up it won’t be too terrible." Mingyu sighted with practiced ease. Repeating what Wonwoo had explained to him so many starry nights ago. It was definitely a peculiar opinion on the 'we're not alone in the universe' suggestion. That's partly why Mingyu had fallen for Wonwoo. The oddity.

"Yeah well...look at me now."

Mingyu chuckled hollowly, coming to sit beside Wonwoo.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

The answer Mingyu had received innumerable times before, repeated in different iteration but the same idea. It was painfully practiced, even when it was truthful, as such it delivered some memory from when they were dating. Where Wonwoo would answer with calculated half-truths that Mingyu had reveled in hearing. Now that they weren't together, it's easier to discern the meticulously concealed lies.

Mingyu maintained an insurmountable amount of anger within the hollow of his stomach. It still didn't prevent him from muttering something that the other wouldn't anticipate. "I'm sorry."

Wonwoo didn't - couldn't say anything, not until he understood.

"I'm sorry that I was forcing my own fantasies onto you. That I got angry when you turned out to be different than what I expected. That I made you feel like you couldn't talk to me - any of us. After." Mingyu gripped the metal bars preventing him from plummeting over the third floor, feeling the cold rushing from his knuckles upwards his body where he previously felt raging fire. He wondered if this is what taking accountability over your mistakes had always felt like. "I know you hate being lonely, and I cornered you into feeling that way."

Wonwoo sighed, had his bumbling immature friend changed so drastically since they parted? Or was he actually finally witnessing the real Kim Mingyu, seeing the forest for the trees that it was. Perhaps he too had disillusioned himself over the depiction of Kim Mingyu. Because this person confessing his own problematicness before Wonwoo - who was objectively more in the wrong in the situation - was not the same Kim Mingyu as the one who had excluded and ostracize him forever ago, back when they broke up. It blossomed a seedling of hope within his chest.

"Jesus, say something. I don't like being the last to talk when I just said something embarrassing."

And that's it, that's what broke the tension. Wonwoo's lips stretched into a smile before a bubble of laughter escaped. It came unexpectedly, it's apparent by the way Mingyu's eyes widen, that neither predicted such reaction.

"Wow, really, you're laughing at me?" The words didn't contain any bitterness, delivered with a tug of a smile on Mingyu's lips. He watched as Wonwoo devolved into chuckles that made the other's body vibrate.

It became so loud that Mingyu was worried it'll rouse the others from their sleep, never mind the fact that his house was practically a castle, and there was enough space in between them that they'd need to call each other through their phones in order to contact one another.

"I'm sorry," Wonwoo managed to strangle out. It was unlike him to have reacted this way, all he knew was his head was nothing but static and stuffing, his heart anchored down by guilt, and it was getting increasingly difficult to see, before Mingyu's hand came up cradling his cheeks, nudging insistently pass his glasses, wiping tears away, revealing a concerned face.

Tears. He didn't realize he was crying.

"It's not your fault." Mingyu lied easily.

"Of course it is. I should've told you before I built your hopes up like that. I was just...scared of losing everyone if I rejected you. And really, I thought I might learn to love you but I just - I don't think I could love anyone - Ever!" Wonwoo buried his face in his hand, the biting wind blew pass him like he was intangible. He felt freezing from within already that the night air didn't concern him as much as his tears did. "And I know that me avoiding a long overdue conversation about it is preventing you from moving on - I-I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, I forgive you."

Wonwoo took a couple of hiccupping intakes of oxygen before peaking up from his position. "Just like that?"

Mingyu sighed. "I know it's easier to blame yourself for everything, but from my perspective I made a couple of mistakes myself. I was pushy, and I didn't care enough to release you before it hurt us both. And i didn't create a safe enough environment for you to come out with the truth." Mingyu stared at him like he knew the contents of his soul. Of course it was somewhat obvious from their conversations exchanged between one another after years and years, that Wonwoo wasn't exactly streamlined. He himself didn't have a word for it, but he just knew, romance isn't for him. And sex, though he's not repulsed by it, he also didn't particularly enjoy partaking. Mingyu suspected this information long before he had asked Wonwoo out on a first date. Yet he still tried anyways. It was misguided of him at best, selfish at worst. "It wasn't your fault."

"But..."

"Some parts is, but this isn't your fault."

Wonwoo didn't acknowledge the shift in topic of conversation before it settled onto him like a billion pound. The racking guilt he was harboring didn't stem from only one of his mistakes. "Oh fuck," the words slipped out of him, desperate and accompanied with a sob, chocked and muddled.

He really did murder all of those people didn't he?

"It wasn't your fault," Mingyu repeated, drawing the other closer to his body. Wonwoo had never felt so powerless, defeated, broken and strung out within Mingyu's arms. It's probably cruel to say that it reminded Mingyu of how much he had missed this. His best friend.

They crawled backwards, Mingyu hitting the concrete wall with Wonwoo still cocooned inside his arms. He let the other cry his pain away. Allowing the pressure to release in thick rivulets of salt-water.

The other needed to release his emotions eventually, because as much as Wonwoo constantly pretend that nothing could get to him, he harbored a lot of complex and strong emotions. Mingyu had changed him in ways he could never repay, but to the other, Wonwoo had also transformed him in similar ways.

No months of hiatus painstakingly avoiding one other could possibly deprived that away from them.

"Sometimes you can't control what your decisions could devolve into. All you can do is try your damnest and not wallow in the past. Just try and take responsibility of whatever you can now." The sight of Jihoon, soundly asleep on the sofa way across the room drew Mingyu's attention automatically. He silently thanked the other for the simple lesson.

They huddled closer towards one another for what seemed like forever, but the break of dawn never overtook them so it must not have been that long.

It was unfortunately long enough for Wonwoo to feel the oncoming consequences of his sorrow. Where his face became puffy and swollen, he knew the evidence of his tears would last until morning. Maybe burying under his emotions and collecting it like water inside a dam was an unwise decision considering the dam broke and left a mess everywhere. But beneath the chaos there was relief, of every baggage Wonwoo had carried for forever.

He knew though, that some - surprisingly - wise words from Mingyu won't inexplicably change the fact that he's partly responsible. The collateral damage that had impacted countless innocence. That guilt is warranted. But it did motivate him enough for their upcoming morning infiltration.

They were going to find that fucking warehouse and blow it up sky high alongside whoever's responsible.

 

💊💊💊

 

(After the infiltration)

Jeonghan couldn't hear anything beyond the rushing blood within his ears. His heart pumping erratically that he was certain he'd die of a heart attack. And he would allow it. Anything's better than the scene unfolding before him.

"Soonyoung!" He shouted, unsure of how loud his voice actually was. His throat was horse from the amount of screaming he'd been doing.

He should've seen this coming. Not just their failure today but also Soonyoung. As his older brother he should've seen how much the other had spiraled. Jeonghan could've stopped it. The pain and suffering would probably be transferred to him but he was past the point of caring.

Swallowing the knot in his mouth, he tried again. "Please," he whispered, knowing it was no use. The guilt was settling deep. Burrowing incessantly like an unwelcomed parasite.

Soonyoung was practically slumped over. Half of his crewmates are nowhere to be seen. And the other wasn't in any position to do anything.

And through it all he had thought, the inkling of hope within his stomach dying was the perfect conclusion to his life.

Notes:

Yay they talked!
also if anybody's curious about Mingyu's, Seungkwan's, Vernon's, and DK's mansion, those links are roughly it.
so................see u in a couple weeks :)
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Find me on:
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Chapter title from Out Alive by KE$HA <3

Chapter 19: It's Better to Burn Than to Fade Away

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The rattling echoes of the vehicle engines resonated deep through the passengers located inside. They were already seated in groups they were designated into. Seungcheol, bending forward to gather his breath, felt a killer headache unfolding steadfastly with how much worry the others were radiating.

Junhui, could you please?

All Seungcheol received was a tightlipped affirmation from his partner sitting beside him on the passenger seat. The other glanced behind at the various anxiety ridden figures, and Seungcheol watched along as steadily everybody relaxed into their seats.

"Warn a guy Wen," Jihoon chided, no intensity behind the words, having no qualm with the little help they all desperately needed.

Mingyu, who Jihoon was not watching avidly from behind, was lulling his head every couple minutes. The other had pulled an all-nighter. Jihoon knew, even after Wonwoo had retreated to his own space the other remained wide-eyed until dawn arrived. Jihoon really did wanted to stay awake alongside him, but unlike Mingyu, who's racing thoughts equates to sleepless nights, his own resulted in dead sleep. His brain shutting down completely, unable to comprehend the variables of what the morning after would bring forward for everyone.

Jihoon hoped everything would transpire smoothly.

"Is that it?"

Wonwoo, who'd been resting his head on the cool surface of the car window, look up to see the supposedly imposing building from his nightmares. He though the ominously standing building would come across somewhat more intimidating than it did. But he still knew better than to underestimate when he's aware of its dangerous content. Steadying his breathing he tried to tranquil his overheating brain.

"Yup."

Seungcheol nodded, parking their vehicle a ways away. The other car behind them halting alongside them.

They were hidden behind mounds of rocks, sand, and bushes. It was the dessert after all, nothing much could provide coverage. This was enough. Where they're located, concealed by the mountain range was everything they can managed.

Everybody eventually mustered themselves up before getting out of the cars, converging with the groups they were previously assigned to. It wasn't ideal, Chan was disappointed and apprehensive knowing his two older brothers each received a difficult task. It probably came across hubris but Chan would rather him getting kidnapped again than letting his loved ones get hurt. Minghao wasn't too fond of the entire ordeal either. Junhui, being the representative of the agency would be the only person inside with similar experience. Meaning everybody would rely on him. It put a tremendous amount of responsibility on Junhui's shoulders, and Minghao didn't want that.

"I don't think we should do this." Surprisingly, out of all the petulant faces present, Soonyoung was the one who couldn't conceal his nervousness any longer. "I-It's dangerous - Jeonghan hyung-" Soonyoung's arm came to encircle Jeonghan's, who drew away almost immediately. The action deeply wounded the hacker, Jeonghan knew, but if he let Soonyoung's anxiety get to him now, he might just surrender to the younger's plead. "Please."

"It's for the best, Soonyoung." Jeonghan step forward, ammending his previous action by patting Soonyoung's head as comfortingly as was possible. Neither should start their mission with thoughts full of negativity.

"Take care of Chan," Jeonghan firmly instructed, sensing the detective's nod before it happened.

Was this it? Was Jeonghan planning on not coming back?

"Of course not, everyone here would be fine."

"Stay out of my head!" Jeonghan reprimanded, startling Seungcheol who took a slow step backwards. "Sorry," Jeonghan mumbles, hunching in on himself.

Comforting the shapeshifter, Seungcheol tried his best not to get antsy himself. Since the anxiety had apparently spread through the others.

"I think I'm the one who should go inside."

"Minghao-"

"No! I'm the one with experience with this kind of thing. How come you're allowed to risk your life when I couldn't?" Minghao argues, knowing exactly the reason why.

Junhui sighed, a heavy and painful sound.

"He's got a point," Vernon suddenly inputted. The set-up was clearly flawed.

"Vernon," Seungkwan amended, planting a comforting hand on the others shoulder, who shrugged it off immediately.

"You don't even want to go in!"

And everything devolved from there. Everyone becoming louder than they could afford. Even Junhui couldn't mediate such explosive emotions.

They couldn't do this here, not now. Seungcheol thought, before doing what he deemed necessary.

"Fuck!"

A litany of cursed shouts, alongside folding over bodies, descended onto the group. Seungcheol didn't like doing it either, but everybody needed to refocus their attention if they want to escape this infiltration alive.

"Y'should fucking retire that," Jihoon protested, slurring his words before swaying into fully standing.

Finding their bearings, everybody eventually turned to Seungcheol for guidance. Everyone glaring more than anything. Seungcheol held his arms out, ready to placate the situation. "Look, we can't be bickering right now," he reasoned, trying to insert as much compassion without losing the authority driving every word. "I'm going to give each of you time to talk with each other. And just know, I'm not gonna force anybody to do this, but with that said, none of you can stop anyone who wants to. We're all adults here." Everybody could consent. It didn't make their situation any better.

"I don't like this," Chan immediately voiced, after gathering Jeonghan and Soonyoung to the side. Joshua a careful distance away, observing their situations.

With the most offensive ability, Chan held the opinion that he should be going inside.

"Yeah well, I don't like it if it's the other way around." Jeonghan reasoned, a little childishly. Jeonghan's willing to do anything to keep the other safe. Sure walking away is a possibility, but perhaps in his vulnerable state he found that he couldn't.

Soonyoung on the other hand didn't care, only wanting to return home. But he stayed painfully silent, voicing his thoughts in the first place was a mistake.

Over to the other side, Seungkwan leaned forward to Vernon whispering protests in his ears. "I-It's not safe."

"Yes, I though we've established that." Looking into Vernon's eyes, Seungkwan saw fear dusting them. Smiling, Seungkwan took Vernon's hands in his, squeezing tightly. There were three specific words currently stuck within his throat. Dislodging it proved to be quite a difficult task.

Unknowingly, Vernon echoed this sentiment. "Seungkwan I- I'll keep you safe."

Seungkwan smiled, tiny and a little pained. "Thank you." After this, Seungkwan swore to himself, he'll be brave enough to say it.

Somewhere opposite the couple stood the oldest relationship in the group. The ones whose longevity was currently tested.

"We can switch."

"No."

Minghao knew there was no point in arguing. Junhui wouldn't trade him for the world. Knowing he shared the exact opinion regarding Junhui, Minghao knew this was no time to be hypocritical.

It's ashamed how perfectly they aligned with one another. So much so that these types of decision hurts. Deeply.

Stepping forward, Minghao planted a chase kiss to his boyfriend's lips. It quickly turned deep, a protest of arms encircling around the taller's neck as the informant tried desperately to hold him back. Anyway he could.

They eventually parted, foreheads pressed against one another. "Come back to me," Minghao whispered, knowing once Junhui did, their relationship would undoubtedly sway drastically.

"Are we done?" Seungcheol called, they all reconvened, huddling together. Even before anybody said anything Seungcheol knew one thing, they were all doing this.

 

💊💊💊

 

The infiltration team had gone and wait where they were supposed to, trailing behind were their surveillance team, whilst Seungcheol and the rest stayed behind. It was definitely unfair. Everybody who desperately wanted to go inside were the ones needed on the edge of the outer ring. Regardless, it's for everyone's best interest.

There was an empty building, abandoned and unassuming located near the warehouse that provided the second group with concealment. Where Vernon and Joshua would keep an eye and ear out respectively. They, of course were provided with earpieces and comms, courtesy of Seokmin. And there was of course Soonyoung who'd managed to crack the security system of the warehouse in thirteen minutes flat. Which Wonwoo previously thought was impossible.

"We-well...they're Trask!"

"And I'm Kwon Soonyoung."

Jeonghan had looked fondly at the hacker, still fussing with his Kevlar. Fumbling fingers increasing the anxiety surrounding them.

The presence of protective gears finally solidified the gravity of the situation. It wasn't another Jeonghan and Soonyoung's - sometimes featuring Chan - illegal escapades. This wasn't some standard procedure detective work. Both Junhui and Seungcheol were technically currently operating outside their protocol. This was much more dangerous than they had anticipated. Cold feet were to be expected, but the grim harsh lines on everyone's faces reaffirmed their determination to set things straight.

"Are you guys alright?" Seungcheol's voice filtered in through their comms, he could easily have telepathically communicate to them but they needed to test out their equipment before proceeding any further.

"Yup," Seokmin answered, and edge of a whimper to his voice. His hands were trembling and he felt his barely contained tears slipping through.

Soonyoung smiled, tight-lipped, putting his hand over Seokmin's quivering one. Finally exhaling, Seokmin resigned himself to stroking the air, seeing invisible electromagnetic wavelengths, pretending there was a physical interface in an attempt to calm himself. He never intended to be swept along with this pandemonium, but here he was, practically at the front line, doing something borderline illegal.

"You'll do fine." Soonyoung knew this, he had experience and Seokmin was admittedly just as competent as him at this.

Seokmin nodded, finding his resolve. With everybody on standby, they have their expected final goodbyes, whispering hopeful dreams through clenched hearts.

Seokmin wanted to focus instead on what was presented in front of him, the images off every cameras he'd hack, waiting in tabs opened to the right of his face. Next, he needed to find the one capable of opening the small back door of the warehouse, in order to allow the others entrance. Security was down courtesy of Soonyoung, and that was on every front which made it easier for Seokmin to access the electrical wirings that'll open the doors. He swiped the buttons presented before him, only for it to inquire a passcode which needed further work.

"Soonyoung," Seokmin called, swiping the image towards Soonyoung's open laptop.

"One sec."

Soonyoung was saying his goodbyes to Jeonghan, who had turned down all his subtle bargaining for the shapeshifter to just...not do this. Jeonghan was self-destructive, Soonyoung had gathered. Too invested in saving everyone that he didn't realize his actions hurt others around him. Chan was also the same, it made Soonyoung think on how he had survived this long worrying this much. Still he refrained from speaking his mind, letting Jeonghan out of his tight grip.

Jeonghan smiled kindly, brushing a stray piece of hair out of Soonyoung's face, cupping the other's cheek gently with one hand. He appreciated the worried lines present in-between Soonyoung's eyes, but there was really no need for it, so he made sure to calmly stroke the tension away with his thumb.

"I'll be back soon, Soonyoung."

"I know it's just-" Jeonghan didn't glare, but he did gave a warning expression for Soonyoung to stop convincing him from not going. "Okay." He said instead.

"Great." Jeonghan drew the younger into another lasting embrace, unconsciously rocking them back and forth. "We do this all the time, we'll be fine," he whispered to Soonyoung's ears.

Soonyoung's incredibly incredulous of this, remembering what had happened the last time. He didn't want Jeonghan to get hurt, he really really didn't.

He stepped back, nodding once more before returning to his position, perching before the laptop, already chipping away at the system, finding the passcode in record time.

"You're good," Seokmin complemented, a strained knowing smile blooming his features.

"Thanks." Soonyoung blushed, he didn't know if knowing how to hack was considered a compliment, but he'll take anything to distract himself. Because as of now, they were ready to go, the door was open. "We're all set."

Joshua stood up, from his place eyeing the laptop, and hugged Jeonghan before he left. Next to him, Vernon was fussing with Seungkwan in his arms, which was a complete switch of their personalities that it scared Seungkwan a bit.

"I'll be fine, no one would even see me," Seungkwan pointed, but Vernon uncaring, only hugged him tighter.

"I really don't want you to go." He blurted quietly, desperation shining through. It made something stutter inside Seungkwan's ribcage.

It wasn't a secret that Seungkwan was a bit of a wuss when it came to these types of situation. He felt bile rise up his throat the moment he realized that this was what he needed to do, and that he himself couldn't bring himself to back away from this. Right now, he felt his legs gradually growing numb from the biting anticipation, but the look on Vernon's face it made him feel...better. Perhaps it's sick to think but he enjoyed the fact that Vernon was terrified. A visible scar that showed he cared. That brought confidence back within Seungkwan.

"I'll be back before lunch time. Maybe we could go eat after this at that god-awful mexican place."

"Mexican makes me gassy."

Seungkwan chuckled. "I know, I just want to torture you a little bit later."

They pried themself apart, reluctantly, staring into each other's eyes in what Seungkwan was sure meant something deeper than the other was willing to let on. True to it, Vernon moved to speak only to clamp down on his tongue. It was fine, Seungkwan their unspoken words became motivation for him to return.

"Okay we're ready."

"Let's go." Wonwoo led them outside, chaining hands before disappearing into their surroundings. It was weird underneath there, warped and almost disorienting. It didn't help any of their nerves.

Jihoon who had witness all the heartfelt goodbyes felt loss and strangely empty. He had heard Junhui reassuring Minghao for the umpteenth time that day, and Seungcheol's heartfelt sentiments towards Jeonghan, all through the comms. It was odd to not have anyone to say goodbye to like that. Even Wonwoo had gotten a few hugs from his newly reunited friends.

Come back in one piece Lee Jihoon. He heard Seungcheol said, and before he knew it a smile grew onto his face.

Stay out of my head Choi.

Mingyu's worried about you, came as an answer alongside a brief image of Mingyu worrying a purple (slightly flatter) flower in his hands.

He didn't had much time to think about it before he was presented with the doors into the warehouse. Having paid little attention, Jihoon merely let the others dragged him along. Wonwoo at the front.

They waited for the surveillance team to give them the okay go. Joshua sweeping his ears around the perimeter, Vernon seeking heat signatures, whilst Soonyoung and Seokmin checked the surrounding cameras. When they were positive nobody's near them, they were able to shoulder their way in person per person.

"Be careful," Jeonghan hurriedly whispered, pointing with his chin towards the heavy set door that was closing in quickly.

Holding his foot out, Jihoon sighed with relieved, managing to close the door noiselessly.

This has proven to be incredibly difficult to manage.

The first thing that they needed to do was find a lone guard, which, thanks to Soonyoung for hacking their rotary system, they knew one was coming their way soon.

"Get ready," Seokmin warned, before a guard, whistling absentmindedly away, popped up from the corner of the corridor.

They all held their breaths, moving into position. Creating a barrier by covering the guard’s way, Jeonghan positioned himself where it was easier to strike.

The unsuspecting guard walked through the halls without paying much attention. When he hit something invisible blocking his way, he had no time to register anything before a hand came up behind him, muffling his useless shouts. Jeonghan easily overtook the guard's struggles.

Jihoon had brought one of his mini hybrid plant, a cross between the frisky flower and water hemlock, only mutated in such a way that it produced a something similar to fast acting chloroform. When Jeonghan held the security guard's head, positioning it where his nose peaked in-between his fingers, Jihoon whispered to everyone to hold their breathes. Picking the flowers of its growing stem, Jihoon held it up to the security guard's face, before caressing the bulbous bud and watch as a yellow-ish substance sprayed all over the guard's exposed nostril.

The security guard went down like a sack of potatoes, hitting the ground with a dull thud everybody winced at. Nobody was there to hear it fortunately.

Jihoon didn't know if the plant would've worked. He didn't make it a habit of carrying around his tiny monstrosities everywhere to test out on security guards. The ones he allowed for the seedlings to grow onto his body were the ones he deemed useful for emergency medicinal purposes - or when he thought it was cute. After putting it into perspective, it made him tremble knowing how much poison he was carrying on him currently - growing out of his arms, stretching underneath his shirt. He wished nothing more than to be done.

"There's the storeroom, go to the right," Soonyoung instructed. The infiltration team were struggling to carry the guard, finding the task difficult whilst keeping their concealment.

Once inside they stripped the man of his uniform, and Jeonghan shapeshifted into the guard. Taking initiative, Jihoon immediately encompassed the man in a cocoon of non-poisonous ivy, restrictive enough that the other wouldn't be able to move a muscle, jaw locked and speechless. He hoped that his hybrid plant knocked the guard out enough to not cause them problem, but just in case he sprits some more sleeping spray onto the figure.

"Right, where to?"

"In the heart of the warehouse, there's this massive computer that's running everything in the facility, that's the mainframe. The one connected to the blueprint copies, we need to destroy it," Wonwoo answered, their faces set in a grim line. This was it, the epicenter of the problem.

"I'll get the card key."

Unlike everything else these days, the door that would lead them to the main frame could only be opened manually through a card key. It was safer to do so, only people - important people - could access the room. Jeonghan would have to slip inside one of the warehouse supervisor's room to acquire it. They needed a distraction, something that could get Jeonghan inside of the room without any suspicion surrounding why he's there and not on his guard rounds.

That's where Seungkwan and Junhui comes in, they'll go somewhere near the mainframe first, dropping off Jihoon and Wonwoo, before escaping through the air ducts.

"Alright let's go," Wonwoo instructed, each of them filing out, hands entwined. Jeonghan stayed behind, pretending to make his rounds again.

He had barely managed to memorize them, choosing instead to trust Soonyoung in his ears - specifically, rattling of instructions on how to maneuver inside the labyrinth of corridors.

Jeonghan had never felt this nervous before. His last two missions were total failures. The last one managing to be more traumatizing than anticipated. It made his movement stunted, uncoordinated, feeling like he's floating aimlessly.

Calm down, I can feel your heartbeat like it's my own. Seungcheol's voice sounded steady running through his mind, pretty sure that's not how my telepathy's supposed to work.

That at least coaxed a whisper of a chuckle into escaping Jeonghan's throat. There were comfort weaving clear instructions intermingling in Seungcheol's words. Although it didn't stop Jeonghan from feeling nervous, it did stop his shaking hands from competing with an earthquake.

Bringing his balled up fist to his chest, Jeonghan sighed. "Thanks."

"You're welcome?" Soonyoung replied, sounding confused and flattered simultaneously.

Jeonghan chuckled underneath his breath. He could do this "Go left here."

 

💊💊💊

 

There was this small-scale crevice, shadowed by darkness and avoided by the camera's view located near the mainframe. The unassuming cylindrical room dead center of the bigger space held the key to the destruction of the city. They had to be patient, waiting for their access inside. Both Wonwoo and Jihoon shudder at the deafening silence, the heaviness of their situation sinking in slowly, agonizingly.

Their ragged shallow breaths coalesce in the darkness, eyes piercing one another. Seungkwan and Junhui were maneuvering inside the air ducts following invisible instruction, heading towards the security room. It was their designated mission, it made Jihoon antsy that he didn't get a bigger role. A more movable instruction that'll give his nerves something to chew on.

He could feel veins of ivy creep up his legs - he didn't know why, but ivy only ever come when he's highly stressed. Which is understandable, considering. This was definitely the worst part, the waiting. The breathless anticipation of something unpredictable. Jihoon much rather go through the motion. This waiting...It's driving them both insane.

"We'll be fine, we'll get out and everything will be fine." Where they're located, engulfed by blackness, unable to see anything pass one another, Jihoon couldn't tell if those words were encouraging Wonwoo or himself.

"I know."

"What we're doing is helpful."

"I know."

There was a long pause where Wonwoo didn't have any replies, but Jihoon beat him to a topic, his running mouth disallowing any rest. "Maybe we're going to get absolutely murdered but hey aren't we..."

He didn't know that stress for him manifested in rambling, but how could he with how carelessly he pushed people away. Never once had he grave anyone with the sight of his anxiety attack.

Topics easily stitched from one into another until a break forcibly inserted itself into a topic.

-"Have you guys talked?"

Wonwoo breaths hitched; Jihoon was talking about Mingyu.

"I-I'm sorry, i-it's not my place, I know, but-"

"You like him." It wasn't a question, and really from the way Mingyu's unnatural bumbling increases whenever he sees the tiny scientist, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

"I-" Jihoon didn't know how to answer that, if it was even a question in the first place. He never liked anybody, ever. Consequently, nobody liked him either. Still somehow he had gotten himself roped into this massive thing amongst twelve other people - who's level of fondness towards Jihoon haven't swayed significantly to either side yet.

They've had easy conversations, but one of them stood out like a sore thumb, someone new who wasn't Junhui or Seungcheol. Somebody who liked him.

Odd.

"He cares for you y'know." Jihoon tried, averting Wonwoo's attention. "He talked to me about you, he was extremely sorry," He rambled, hoping for a change of topic - never mind that he started it.

"He cares about you too." It didn't work, clearly, as Wonwoo was quick to throw back.

"How? He barely knows me."

Wonwoo shrugged, but the other couldn't see it. The ways in which Mingyu goes about creating relationship is somewhat of a peculiarity. How one as secretly selective as him managed to garner so many friends was beyond Wonwoo. But the way Mingyu never fails to fall hard and quickly for others, deciding with scary accuracy whether or not he should keep somebody around, it's something unexplainable yet commendable.

Wonwoo opened his mouth to explain, instead clamping after he sensed someone passing.

"Guard," Jihoon whispered.

Their eyes piercing through darkness never left the man clad in the navy blue outfit, watching him circle the cylindrical mainframe. When the man stepped closer to their area, staring, the two scientist drowned in shadows held their breaths. Perhaps having a conversation in this situation was unideal.

The guard inches ever closer before pausing, shaking his head. "I watch way too many horror movies," the guard mumbled before walking away.

The suffocation released them through an overdue - probably too loud - exhale, but thankfully the guard was long gone to have heard anything.

Jihoon was panting in peace when Wonwoo spoke up again.

"Mingyu latches onto people he likes pretty quickly. It makes him vulnerable, only judging people based on their goodness - He gets hurt very easily."

There was an unspoken 'don't you dare hurt him' in between what Wonwoo had said. It really did put things into perspective just how obvious their mutually blooming feelings were to everybody.

It wasn't an instantaneous process, not by a long shot, but Jihoon wanted to know more about Mingyu. Jihoon didn't realize himself that he didn't want to let Mingyu walk away until the explanation came from the mouth of the ex. Fuck.

 

💊💊💊

 

The air ducts were surprisingly large, Seungkwan and Junhui were having zero problems crawling their way around. What was a bit of a dilemma though, was the fact that the air ducts was quite literally a maze. There were unnecessary branches that led absolutely nowhere. Twisting turns that kept the hacker from giving them correct directions.

"I'm sorry, the air duct in the blueprint looks different."

"It's fine, just, get us out of here, please? It's sweltering hot in here," Seungkwan grumbled, putting extra emphasis on the hot part by swiping dramatically at the sweat beading his forehead with his sleeves.

"I don't know how to lead you guys, this...this wasn't part of the plan." Soonyoung admitted, a kernel of panic evident to his voice that Junhui noticed. The empath extended himself, trying to reach the hacker.

"Okaaaaay," Junhui stretched the words patronizingly slow, grabbing whatever tendrils of Soonyoung he could, calming it slightly. "How about you get Joshua and Vernon to help us. Do it manually."

Junhui heard the rustling noises on the other side of the comms, before a familiar voice was delivered. "Hello." Joshua voice rang in his ears, definitely ringing through the intercom. It's kinda startling.

Seungkwan definitely thought so, as he jumped up, bumping his head on the metal ceiling. "Ow, Joshua, warn a guy."

"Sorry."

On the other end, Vernon was trying his best to see inside, specifically Seungkwan's and Junhui's heat signature. He saw the other's too, the scientists waiting and the shapeshifter pacing, but it was clear who's who when Seungkwan and Junhui looked like their suspended in the air. Vernon was glad he grabbed some of his equipment, it made it easier to tell them apart from their enemy. Unfortunately from where he was, he couldn't quite see the perspective that he needed, just peering discreetly through the slit in the window.

Joshua tugged at the other's sleeve, coming in right beside him. "Soonyoung, where's the surveillance room again?"

Soonyoung presented the image of the floor plan, pointing out the surveillance room.

Vernon hummed, from what he could tell, Seungkwan and Junhui was definitely close, just a hair's breadth away. The lack of correct vantage point was fortunately subsided by Joshua.

"Soonyoung, could you maybe do something that'll let me listen in the surveillance room?" Joshua asked.

The latter scrambled back in his spot, both him and Seokmin flying over their respective technology interface trying to see if there was in fact comms in there they could perhaps hack.

"Found it!" Seokmin announced brightly, he swiped at the air before suddenly, Soonyoung's laptop started playing an audio.

Having rarely been presented with Seokmin's ability, Joshua almost forgot how useful it could be. Especially now. Joshua could hear two bodyguards conversing with each other about their lunch breaks. Unsuspecting of the infiltrators almost directly above them.

Joshua nodded, placing himself beside Vernon, peering through the slit of the closed off windows. "Alright." Closing his eyes, Joshua face contorts as he concentrated to find their voices.

Pushing through flutters of butterfly wings, sour notes of someone's whistling, the scrape of combat boots against concrete, Joshua finally found what he needed.

"Tandoori mayo?"

"What? I like it."

Bingo.

Stretching himself out even more, he could hear his scrambling friends in the air ducts. From that, their position is made clear. They just needed to play hot and cold.

"Keep moving." Joshua whispered to their ears, he could hear them, the little thumps of their knees against metal.

"They're moving," Vernon informed, corroborating Joshua's ears, seeing the bright crimson signatures trudging forward slowly, correctly

Junhui and Seungkwan walked only about a few meters before they were presented with yet another intersection.

Vernon, seeing the divide from where he was knew where to lead the two. "Tell em' to take left."

Nodding, Joshua informed them right away whilst making sure they're getting closer.

Being presented with intersection after intersection, it was easy for them to maneuver after getting the hang of it. Joshua listening in and Vernon observing.

"Which one?"

Joshua scrunched his face in contemplation. "Try left first."

The two moved a couple meters in before Joshua realized they're going further away, his ears having to strain harder to connect their voices to the surveillance room. "No, right!" He corrected right away, Vernon watching the two turn back.

Turning a corner, Joshua heard the overlapping voices of their team and the surveillance guards and knew they'd arrive.

"We found it," Junhui whispered and it was back to Soonyoung and Seokmin on the comms.

They're going in.

Notes:

Hi! Sorry it's been a while, i wanted to finish up the epilogue first, cus its so close to being done. Hope u like the update <3
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Song title from Nicotine by Panic! At the Disco

Chapter 20: It's Better to Leave Than to Be Replace

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"Anything?"

Seungcheol shook his head, nothing was something positive. "They're fine, Jihoon and Wonwoo got a little scare-" Mingyu inhaled an audible breath behind him. "Junhui and Seungkwan got a little lost-" Minghao squirm from beside him. "But they're otherwise fantastic.

Exhaling harshly, Mingyu tries not to allow the oscillating sunlight overhead get to him. It was infuriatingly ironic how his ex-boyfriend and current interest was designated the same exact task. They'd undoubtedly, inadvertently, spend time together inside. The thought of which made the shuddering goose bumps run rampant through Mingyu’s skin. He was perhaps frightened Wonwoo might turn Jihoon off to him. Though he knew it was nonsensical at best, and downright a slander to Wonwoo's name at worst, his nervousness was still visibly thrumming through his veins. He's terrified of what they're doing inside, how they're doing, and if they're safe.

He realized that even with all the talks he'd shared with both the scientists respectively, there was still so much information and desires he'd withheld, wanting to make up for lost times and make new memories.

"They better get out safe," he grunted through clenched teeth, breaking a rock that he was clutching in his hand. He stared dumbfounded down at it as it crumbled. "Fuck," he breathed before fishing out the flower in his pocket for the umpteenth time that day.

"You okay?" Seungcheol was eyeing him warily. One of the unspoken responsibility fallen towards him as their unofficial leader was that he needed to keep everybody in check. As deathly concerned he was of the infiltration group, he was also concerned with the ones outside. Their mentality were fragile from having their loved ones vulnerable on the frontline.

Not to mention everybody out here possesses some sort of offensive ability. Something that didn't combine particularly terrifically with their desires of violence against people that could potentially hurt their person. Seungcheol's unsure if he's able to hold them back.

He was maybe, also, stretching his telepathy thin with keeping a line constantly connected with Jeonghan, Junhui, and Jihoon in specifics. Jeonghan receiving the clearest line of all. That, coupled with the fact he'd previously used his telepathy by disorienting everyone, meant that his ability is severely drained. So he couldn't rely on telepathy in holding the outside three back.

You okay over there.

Eyes crinkling into an unexpected smile, Seungcheol was unsurprised at this point. Somehow Jeonghan had managed to infiltrate through his mind, underscoring their important fast pace bond.

Don't worry about us, we're fine here.

It was like Jeonghan's presence in his mind was never-ending, and it gave the shapeshifter unlimited access to communicate through Seungcheol's telepathy. It was fascinating and simultaneously embarrassing. Here he was obsessing over someone he just met a couple months ago.

Still, he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't care, because he did, and he wanted Jeonghan out as soon as possible.

Chan okay?

Seungcheol turned to the youngest who were drawing patterns in the sand. Some of the people who stayed back chose to stay in the car, before they got bored and relegated themselves outside, hunkering behind bushes and rocks. It was still a safe area to meander about, but it provided them with zero distractions.

Chan was grumbling every couple minutes, setting ablaze handful of sand and dried leaves, expressively showing his pissy-ness. But if Seungcheol looked at him from a different perspective, the lines of worry present on Chan's face became immensely apparent.

a little angry, a lot worried.

yes, a perfect descriptor for Channie.

Seungcheol's chuckle brought the attention of the three towards him. He blushed and ducked quickly, signaling with his hands that it wasn't anything.

Take care of him for me?

Seungcheol wanted to say that Jeonghan didn't have to ask. But the connotations of those words gradually resonated in him. Seungcheol loathed the implications behind them, the worried tone that was the driving force of that sentence.

I'll take care of him until you get back.

Seungcheol walked towards Chan, plopping himself next to the pyrokinetic. Chan didn't acknowledged him, probably having a difficult time speaking without exploding everywhere. The younger eventually inhaled stutteringly, closing his eyes to face the sun. "Did he say something?"

"He said he'll be back soon."

"He better." Chan eventually shook himself off, a calmer expression settling begrudgingly on his face. It wasn't good news that Seungcheol had delivered, but the reassurance coming from Jeonghan provided comfort to some capacity.

"You really like him, huh?"

Seungcheol reeled from the slight change in topic, but he guessed that this conversation was predestined if not from Chan, then from Soonyoung or Joshua. Although Joshua's firm tranquil conversation made it clear he expected Seungcheol's competency. And Soonyoung...Soonyoung, Seungcheol had a feeling, was holding himself back, not realizing his worth to his own family enough to vocalize anything. Chan on the other hand, was ready and willing to deliver his own version of 'big brother talk' despite being younger.

"I'll be good to him."

"No, you better be amazing. I didn't say this before but I don't care that you took care of me or that you've been helping me with the kidnapping thing. If you hurt him, I'll burn you-"

"Okay."

"They won't even find the body, there will be nothing left-"

"Okay."

"I swear-" Seungcheol cut the younger off with a hand just above his wrist. The pyrokinetic hand was ablaze, fire curling upwards his fingertips. Maybe, Chan wasn't calming down after all.

As long as the other stayed put for the time being though, it didn't matter. "Sorry."

"Its fine, I believe you."

Minghao looked away from the two talking several meters away, directing instead towards the warehouse that was located far enough that it seemed tiny from where he's positioned. He wasn't usually queasy, but the talks of charred bodies behind him was making his stomach turn. Was this what it felt like? All the waiting and the not knowing. Did Junhui experienced this before? This utterly debilitating anxiousness, that's weakening him from the top of his head down to his trembling toe.

"Is Junhui okay?" He suddenly asked, he doesn't like the slightly off-center pitch to his voice, making it apparent to everyone that he wasn't his usual calm and collected self.

"He's fine, he just arrived at the surveillance room," Seungcheol informed. It didn't deliver any semblance of comfort for Minghao.

"They'll be okay." This time, the line was delivered strongly enough that Minghao might believe it, if it weren't for the fact that it was coming from the guy who charred the ground every few minutes.

After apparently deciding, Chan sauntered towards Minghao, eyes intent in clearing any nervousness. Clearly his body's itching to find any modicum of peace and usefulness, in this literal drought inside the dessert.

The second Chan settled next to him, mimicking Minghao by resting his arms on the hood of the car like it didn't burn him - which it, probably didn't considering his ability - an apology dislodge its way out of Minghao's throat. A simple, "Sorry," that was reflex at this point.

"Don't be, we've settled that already, remember?"

Minghao hummed, acknowledging his stuttering defenses. "I feel like I should apologize to somebody. I was too close with this...this everything."

Nodding, Chan leaned forward on the metal plate, drawing heat from the ever warming hood. Everybody seemed to be investing in self-blame. "It doesn't matter, everybody's involved somehow. What matters is what you're doing about it."

Minghao blinked, he almost forgot Chan was from the slums. The hardened shell around the younger seemed apparent now that its thickness is put to the test. It's almost ashamed to see such a bright person having to resort to that apathetic-ness. Then he realized, he was somewhat similar in that regards.

An inexplicable urge to change himself and the world he lived in bloomed inside Minghao's chest. Maybe he'd be able to do that once everything's settled.

Maybe the agency wasn't perfect, his partnership needed a lot of work and maybe Junhui had a point.

He realized conversing with Chan was something comfortable. Minghao hopes, once everything's over, they'd all be able to stay together.

"Junhui got the door disabled!" Seungcheol suddenly announced.

 

💊💊💊

 

It was fascinating seeing others push their ability to the limit, concocting different effects their supposedly one-note power's able to yield. For someone like Seungkwan, who'd grown up bred to be jealous of these ability wielding individuals, he couldn't help but take incredible interest in observing one's power. Even now, having his own invisibility did not alleviate him from hypothesizing Junhui's full extent if he was the person driving the detective’s body.

Junhui, Seungkwan thought, didn't disappoint in his deliverance.

Junhui was seated facing the two guards, their faces empty of any expression of recognition, stirring hollowly at the two intruders like they couldn't perceived them being there. You could almost see their brains attempting to catch up with their surrounding reality, trying to alert their bodies that something was wrong. But there was a blockage, a clashing between the heart and the brain. That was all Junhui.

"You do this often?"

"No, it gives me a headache, but it's effective on missions like these."

Love bombing was something Junhui came across upon an online article warning reader of the dangerous world of cults. The way they'd manipulate someone in a vulnerable position by giving them constant encouragement, sympathizing to the point that their bodies mimic the movement of the victim. It was all a rouge to capture someone's trust and attention. Making them malleable

it was an awful exploitative occurrence but it never stopped Junhui from taking inspiration from it. Overwhelming ones senses with emotion can be a powerful thing.

The second the two jumped from the air duct shaft, the guards' panic mode was instantaneously on. Their mind susceptible for the empath to control, which he did effectively by seeping through both emotional responses and planting as much contrasting feeling as he could into it.

It was pretty effective judging by their lulling heads.

The only thing left for Junhui to do was the hypnotizing. Leaning forward on the swivel chair they'd abruptly confiscated from the guard, Junhui tried his best to will away any modicum of excitement visible. The detective, admittedly, liked doing this - not manipulating people, but this, the opportunity to stretch out his empathic limbs. It was exhilarating and maybe it was his youth talking but no white collared establishment such as the agency could ever take away the excitement he had for his job.

Clearing his throat, Junhui asked calmly, "What's the code for E17?" The tone the detective use was so compelling that even Seungkwan felt himself wavering.

The way the doors of each corridors operated was that it could only open if you knew the code of the day, an airtight protocol. Fortunately, with every contingency there's a downside. System error was bound to happen in places like these, and the only possible solution was for whoever that encounter this problem to contact their superior. That's where Soonyoung and Jeonghan comes in. They needed a reason for the shapeshifter to contact their superior.

As the guards started to rattle of numbers, Junhui quickly informed Soonyoung of this. Seungkwan was busying himself by checking on their friends through the security cameras.

 

💊💊💊

 

Dancing was a thing that Jeonghan prided himself in being descent at, his feet was quick to move to rhythm-less beat during nightclub excursion. Today the steps were more specific, Soonyoung commanding directions for the shapeshifter to follow. Smooth, straightforward, and incredibly calculated.

"Left." Swiveling on the balls of his feet, his trajectory changed.

He shouldn't have been so anxious before, he'd done this several times in the past; stealing countless identities walking like he belonged, was his forte.

The last intersection brought him all the way to a hunkering metal door located near the center of the warehouse. This was the route the guard Jeonghan had stolen his identity from was supposed to take. The guard was supposed to put in his thumbprint, let his eyes be scan and lastly, punch in the codes.

Jeonghan delivered all those parts swimmingly. The lights on the door turned green, weird clunking mechanical noise could be heard as the gears inside whirl and tried to open the door for the shapeshifter, but...it never happened.

Jeonghan stood back, a curl of a smile coming to his lips that he tried his best swallow down. Cameras were watching.

They did it.

Walking towards the supervisor's office, a metal box of a room hovering several feet up in the air, overlooking a vast empty space, Jeonghan felt half the battle awaiting him. For once everything seemed obtainable; getting the blueprints, turning off the mechabots, and escaping was just around the corner.

He knocked on the large door, hearing the metallic taps echoing through the emptiness. Seconds later an unfriendly exhausted voice commanded him to enter.

There, sat on a chair, was a man he had to memorize his face days before. He was much more intimidating in person despite his small stature, but the way his chair swallowed his figure made no deterrence to the comfortableness he possessed with authority.

"What is it?" The supervisor asked, not bothering to greet the guard by his name. It was repetitively standard anyways, something must've went wrong.

"It's the doors again, sir," Jeonghan said, in the most sheepish voice he could muster. He watched the exasperated scowl took over the supervisor's expression.

It was definitely a stupid under thought system that placed the heavy load onto the supervisor. Especially for something so trivial. They're in the goddam desert for fuck sakes! Who would want to infiltrate that?

"Which door?"

Jeonghan didn't see any evidence of suspicion on the man's face, just complete exasperation, like he'd had this problem a million times before. So calmly he answered "E17, sir."

Jeonghan might not know fully what Soonyoung's ability was capable of, but he knew his self-adoptive younger brother was one hell of an intelligent guy to have concocted all of this.

The supervisor got up, his hands on his hip with all the glory of beer belly dad on display, as he saunter out, looking less intimidating than when Jeonghan had first walked in.

They traveled back to the door, Jeonghan carefully keeping his pace behind the supervisor. Jeonghan's position made it comically easy for the shapeshifter to quickly swipe the keycard, stealing it like he took all those wallets from his unsuspecting victim. This was even easier since it was dangling, enticing, begging Jeonghan to practically take it.

They got to the door, the man did all the procedures; punching in codes, hearing the gears grinding and seeing the door not opening up. He sighed for what could possibly be the twentieth time since they walked through that corridor.

"Yup, those guards down at security must've fucked up the codes again." It was a tedious job, to supervise every single happening within the walls of the warehouse. It's almost like it was what he was hired to do.

"Of course, sir, I'll get right on it." The shapeshifter was all too happy to take the leave, his mission half-way finished and his previous reservations had finally subsided somewhat. Once this was all over he wanted to go home and sleep for a week, maybe ask Seungcheol out on a date once he finished all of his damn paperwork.

I'll say yes to that.

Jeonghan walked a little bit faster towards the security room.

 

💊💊💊

 

Junhui and Seungkwan was there, as expected, sitting in a chair facing two hypnotized security guards. Jeonghan might've gotten loose a borderline deranged cackle.

"You done?" Junhui asked, straightening up and forgetting all about the guards.

Jeonghan dangled the keycard drawing a satisfied smile out of the two.

"Come on then, let's go."

With that, Jeonghan could finally release his hold on his ability, face melting away into his own features and let Seungkwan turn the three of them invisible. With the last of his strength, Junhui used it to overwhelm the guards furthermore into a wakeless hallucination, overwhelming then with foreign emotions. Their faces contorted to match their feelings before...

Lights out.

Soonyoung's idea for the emotion induced sleep was a brilliant one. It'll appear to everyone else that the guards simply had fallen asleep during the job. The lack of evidence of foreign infiltrator would raise no suspicion to anyone else. Although, punching their lights out would've been much simpler, Junhui thought.

Having no time to dwell on it furthermore, the trio finally managed to find themselves regrouping with the two impatiently waiting scientists.

"Boo," Seungkwan whispered next to Wonwoo's ear, who didn't even flinched before giving Seungkwan a death glare.

"You're not as quiet as you think you are."

"It's really scary how you can glare at me without being able to see me," Seungkwan pointed before taking hold of Wonwoo and Jihoon, turning both of them invisible.

The group share a momentary bout of silent breathing, allowing themselves a moment of tranquility, washing away their anxiety before their last step.

Walking towards the cylindrical room felt final, like they were actually actually doing this. It would be a lie to say it didn't scare any of them shitless, but at least they'd somewhat prepared themselves for it.

Jeonghan ended up receiving privileged to swipe the keycard. With a thrumming hum and a surreptitious 'ding' they were inside the mainframe.

Wonwoo didn't know what his wild imagination had expected of the interior of such a secretive room. In reality it had nothing but an endless row of computer, everything was pristinely white and clinical. There was no indication sinister happenings were occurring within the cylindrical room, Wonwoo half expected it to be brimming of the latest security system, ready to kill them in the most theatrically villainous way. But here they were, there was nothing, just some data in computers that needed to be deciphered. It was simple, straightforward - easy.

Too easy.

Wonwoo wasn't one to look a gift horse towards the mouth though. Besides, this wasn't a movie. It wasn't easy when the lot of them had to create a plan to get inside the warehouse. Certainly wasn't easy having to execute it, so perhaps his reason for it being too easy was the result of his high expectations.

"Okay, all the mechabots' information are connected to the mainframe, we ruin the mainframe then we erase the mechabots' blueprint, All of them," Wonwoo began explaining, he could tell that both Soonyoung and Seokmin were also listening at their end. Now that they were all inside the mainframe, all Wonwoo had to do was stick the drive that Soonyoung gave him and let everything else fall into place.

"We have to find where they're storing the pills and mechabots too don't we?"

"Yes, that's where you'll come in Jihoon."

It was somewhat of a chore to execute, not only did they have to erase all copies of Wonwoo's DNA from the pills, destroy the mechabots alongside their blueprints, find the location where the kidnapped children's are being held captive, they also had to do it whilst making it seemed like it was all a series of unexpected accidents and that no outside party was involved. After they hopefully succeeded, Wonwoo would quit so the company couldn't recreate anymore mechabots.

Somewhere deep down Wonwoo felt sadden, this was after all his hard work. He wanted the screening for mutants - was quite the advocate for it. Watching it be contorted and twisted into something unimaginably horrifying made him feel absolutely horrible.

"Guys, I'm purging the data right now, anyone who had a copy of the blueprint would automatically have it erase in about..." Soonyoung paused, Jeonghan could practically see the other scrunched face in concentration and the shapeshifter couldn't wait to be done with all of this and return safely to his family. "Twenty minutes, which will set off an alarm once everything is done with. So, in the meantime, I think you guys should get going with the mechabots and pills."

"You found the location already?"

"Well don't act too surprise mister detective," Soonyoung mumbled, slightly offended "I got you all this far."

Jeonghan shook his head fondly, "Where is it Soonyoung?"

"Oh, uhmm...well...it's beneath you."

Seokmin interrupted to explain that there was an elevator hidden near the door, disguised as a small closet that could lead them down to the mechabots. "That was definitely not in the floor plan," Seokmin mused offhandedly in the middle of swiping away at yet another encrypted data.

The five of them squeezed into the claustrophobic elevator, Jeonghan having to shapeshift his stature until it more or less mimicked Jihoon, which the scientist wasn't overly ecstatic about. It did the job as they descended into something that they weren't at all ready to face yet.

The 'elevator' that they were in had clear glass walls, as the moving box slowly descends into the plunging darkness below them. Little by little the place they were descending to was revealed, and the more it became clear the more they became increasingly nauseous.

On one end of the large expanse there were seemingly hundreds of mechabots lining the room. It could potentially take hours for them to destroy every single one, even with Jihoon's hidden offensive aspect to his ability.

Pushed to the further corner of the room, a vat of neon-green liquid was bubbling menacingly away. It looked like something out of a comic book. Connected to the vat was a large metal tube, ending in a crate filled with pills as the machine endlessly produced them in the thousands.

The scariest corner inside the room was undoubtedly the last. Unconscious children strapped to their gurneys were hooked up onto something connected to the vat-machine. The worst part that neither of the onlookers wanted to admit was they all look dead.

Soonyoung gasped cut their horrified thought. The hacker had found the location of the children a second too late, having no time to warn the infiltration team of the oncoming horror.

"I uhm...found the kids."

"Y-yeah." Jeonghan sounded broken, and Soonyoung knew it was because he was imagining Chan as one of those children.

Seungcheol too, was present at the forefront of Jeonghan's mind. The shapeshifter was deathly distraught for the telepath not to notice the shift and Seungcheol didn't like what he see through Jeonghan's mind one bit.

Seungcheol's initial reaction was unadulterated anger, wanting to seek maximum punishment for whoever's involved. Then he caught something.

I can't hear their thoughts. The minute he broadcast those discoveries to Jeonghan he could feel the shapeshifter's whole mind went blank, the implications of the words settling in.

It felt like they've descended for miles before they reach the very floor they had to get off on, and when they do it was on trembling limbs.

They all had wildly differing reactions to everything presented. Seungkwan, having been done with his task of going invisible had gone incredibly still, choosing to sit somewhere in the corner and not involved himself any further, fingers clenching and unclenching, trying to grasp the situation. Jihoon and Wonwoo sat off towards the pills, distracting themselves, wanting to get things done immediately. Jeonghan practically ran towards the unconscious children, his caring instincts taking over. He wanted to check if the kids were still...

Junhui was the least visibly disturbed amongst all of them, his job and past experiences as a detective coming into play in controlling his visible emotions. Inside he was shivering, something cold ran through his spine once he himself couldn't detect any emotions from those children. He had to will himself still, thinking of Minghao to return to before he finally was able to do something

The hold Junhui had on everyone felt like a protective blanket, warm and soft, very much unexpected for their situation, enough so that everyone was hyperaware of the fact it was a fabricated emotion. They leached it clean nonetheless, clinging desperately to their life line.

Jeonghan frantically checked for pulses on the first child he got his hands on - a boy looking all too similar to his baby brother that he would've dissolved into a puddle if it weren't for Junhui's hold. Finger shaking, he hovers it over the boy's neck, hesitating for only a moment before placing it there firmly.

Shutting his eyes tightly, his ability to hold his breath was being tested with how long he waited for that one singular stutter. Relief flooded his senses when he felt the miniscule bump and he breathed out an almost sob.

"Oh God." He stood back, leaning his hands on his knees, bending forward as he tried to subside his racing heart.

The kid was alive. He was alive, but were they all?

Jeonghan felt like a speedster with the way he move around from one kid to another, his hand coming down on their pulses for barely a second before moving on. Fortunately, it was more likely that they were all still alive. Still, his paranoia provided something to do at least.

Jeonghan stopped at one of the kids, panting heavily. He needed to catch his breath. "They're alive," He announced, hoping that would alleviate some tension in the room.

"Oh thank god," Seungkwan strangled out, stray tears remaining where they were.

Jihoon and Wonwoo were already at their station, presented with situations that were more than they bargained for. From their understanding, the vat was where the combined DNA was stored, and that's why the kids were so close to the contraption. They're function was to be a living factory.

Unlike normal DNA, mutagenes that were in the cusp of forming could not be replicated or synthesized. So of course harvesting became their first choice to create overdrive.

The good news was this was it, Wonwoo's DNA were there and all they had to do was destroy it.

"Jihoon." Wonwoo signaled for the scientist to do his thing. Holding their breathes, they hoped it worked.

From Jihoon's sleeve, sprouted some greenery, curling upwards towards his fingers and then away once it grew too long. It was a plant hybrid Jihoon had been trying to perfect for days. The harmless on its own vegetation was infused with Wonwoo's warped DNA. The theory was it would hopefully destroy Wonwoo's DNA in the vat if the hybrid was introduced to it.

They've tested this with Wonwoo's blood. Observing as every strand of DNA was erased completely away. It had worked and was quite fascinating to see, but they had no idea what it would do when introduced to other materials that the vat possibly contained. Not to mention the vat was huge, and Jihoon would have to conjure a large plant to do so.

The plant itself looked nothing out of the ordinary for a squirting cucumber; its bulbous parakeet-green fruit grew slowly from the edge of Jihoon's hand. It looked unassuming other than the intimidating stature but Jihoon knew the usual fluid and seeds that was supposed to be inside an Ecballium elaterium, was now filled with Wonwoo's jacked DNA. It's nothing to disregard.

"That's it?" Jihoon senses the hesitation in Wonwoo's tone and the technician managed a smirk.

"Yup." He said before dropping it onto the vat.

Grabbing Wonwoo's sleeves, Jihoon guided them several feet backwards before the pig-skin sized pod exploded inside the vat. "Well shit..." Wonwoo whispered.

"I'm making some more-" because one sure as hell wasn't enough -"you go destroy the mechabots, I got a handle on things here."

Wonwoo didn't question if the other was positive, seeing the efficiency for himself. Instead he took his leave quickly, approaching the towering rows of his own mismanaged creation.

Even in hindsight he knew he could've been a lot more rational before making the machines. Fortunately he was still sound-minded enough to've installed a failsafe only he knew how to trigger. He does this to his entire mechanical inventions for the exact reason that he didn't want it to be exploited. He wanted to control the narrative of his creations.

Unfortunately though, he didn't account for the numerous amount of mechabots. Having to trigger this manually would definitely be tedious.

Stepping behind the first mechabot he came across, he opened the panel with practiced ease despite having never touched a physical embodiment of his creations before.

Wonwoo - not to be overconfident - was somebody whose intelligence was nothing to be disregarded, but, like everything, there was always flaws to his designs. The mechabots in particular emitted a certain frequency that if could be tapped into, might just make the machine explode.

With this Wonwoo calculated with a single manual trigger he could probably destroy around a dozen mechabots within twenty meter radius. Still, this could take several hours alone to complete. For once, Wonwoo required help.

"Hey everyone! Can somebody not doing anything come help me with this please?"

Everybody except Jihoon scrambled towards the scientist. They were given brief crash courses on how to trigger those failsafe before they each disburses, disabling the mechabots with vengeful spirits.

After fifteen minutes, the same repeating routine eventually became tedious. Trigger. Run. Hide. Trigger. Run. Hide. Again and again, repeatedly.

Jihoon was also feeling his excursion from growing the plants at lightning speed. It’s definitely disintegrating his usual defenses

Settling on a rhythm became easy enough, albeit derivative.

But of course everything was deceptively effortless.

Perhaps their increasingly drooping eyes weren't caused by the unimaginatively boring mechanical movement of their routine. Maybe the smoke that each of them had somehow failed to notice creeping suddenly from underneath them weren't caused by the fluctuating temperature of the room.

Maybe-

"Hey, any of you feel-" Seungkwan didn't get to finish before he dropped gracelessly onto the floor.

 

💊💊💊

 

There were no cameras inside the basement room the infiltration team currently meandered in, plus the frequency that Wonwoo triggered might affect the comms whilst they're at range of them. Seokmin couldn't find anything to hijack either, so Soonyoung had requested Seungcheol's assistant in providing them with summarized visuals of what's happening inside, which the telepath readily provided.

With what Seungcheol relayed, Soonyoung could already calculate how long everything would take, assuming there were no unforeseen variable.

Eventually, Seungcheol couldn't update him anymore, the detective's headache growing immensely with how much he was overexerting his ability. Soonyoung didn't need it anymore fortunately, and had allowed Seungcheol to rest from monitoring duty, after providing some calculated estimation.

Soonyoung could almost picture everything happening in his mind scene per scene, like a movie unfolding behind his eyelids. There were a possible chance that he might be off with his calculations by a small percentage. Nothing majorly worrisome, only derailing his predictions for five minutes at worst.

In the meantime he checked the monitors where they would see their group finally escaping the basement.

One minute passed after Soonyoung's predicted time.

Then another.

Then another.

Before he knew it, he was off by fifteen minutes.

Something was horribly wrong.

"Shit," Soonyoung cursed barely audible under his breath.

Panic was rising unrestrainedly, he could feel it take over his body. From the center of his chest bloomed a flame unimaginably cold that he perceive it spread uncontrollably throughout his whole body. His fingertips were shivering, he could even identify his eyeballs vibrating in a scientifically concerning way. Something was deeply wrong, he could sense it. Understandably, similar to somebody under the spell of intense anxiety, Soonyoung couldn't think straight. Not even his self-preserving ability could stop him from what he did next.

Without a moment of hesitation he shot up from his seat, startling everyone else around him.

"Soonyoung?" He heard Seokmin questioned, voice fading into the background, muffled, underscoring the blood rushing inside his ears.

Soonyoung didn't allow them a chance to question him twice before he sprinted out of their hiding spot blindingly fast. Visions of Jeonghan and then Chan periodically strobing interchangeably in his mind's. He needed Jeonghan to be safe, he worry for what would happen to Chan if he's not. How would Joshua react? How would Seungcheol? What would become of him after his family disappear? He didn't want those answers.

He vaguely heard Seokmin following closely behind him, and then the sound of a scuffle happening right after, undoubtedly stopping Seokmin from being exposed as well. It didn't matter at that point, Soonyoung currently only had one singular objective.

"Jeonghan," he whispered desperately harshly, as he ran approaching the warehouse uncaringly, his feet carrying him almost automatically.

He got about twenty meters away from the building before sensing the oncoming assailant at his peripheral vision. And although his ability - clouded by emotions - was still working, it was unfortunately inefficient enough to outsmart the hidden predator rearing its head.

The next thing he knew everything was black.

 

💊💊💊

 

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck..." Seungcheol muttered, panicking, alerting to the cavalry that something's gone wrong. "Fucking shit, this can't be happening."

The distressed tone ringing through was enough to convince the three others flying towards the warehouse and Seungcheol realized too late before eventually following them. As a leader he shouldn’t have been so visibly affected. But shit.

Jeonghan wasn't there. He couldn't sense through the shapeshifter's cognition anymore. Not through Junhui, not through Jihoon, none of them. They weren't there.

Mingyu led the cavalry. Following closely behind him was Chan, already set ablaze, anger flowing through him in uncontrollable waves. Minghao was covered head-to-toe with his callous protective shield. They were running at top speed onto the battlefield and were about to get there when three other silhouettes came to their attention just over the horizon.

"Vernon? Joshua? Seokmin? - What are you..."

"Soonyoung is gone. They - they're all-" Seokmin leaned his whole bodyweight against Mingyu, his palm flat on the other's chest. He was panting severely from their heavy running.

"What is it? What happened to them?!" Chan shouted, fired up as ever. He couldn't even begin to imagine...

He thought he'd lost Jeonghan, but now knowing that Soonyoung was disappeared too - how could they let this happen?

"They're gone." And it was Seungcheol's hollow voice that cut through their frantic reunion. His body felt like it was being controlled through taut strings, moving forward almost robotically, lifelessly. His whole being was in denial. "We failed, they're gone." As a leader he shouldn't be saying this. As a leader...

And it was the sinking feeling in each of their stomachs burrowing harrowingly deep that rooted them to their spots.

Notes:

Wow, can't believe I actually got to a 100k words with this fic. Thanks fr everyone whos reading <3
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Chapter 21: A Weathered Flag That's by the Sea

Notes:

TW : violence n torture n stuff, its not detailed or anything, but, yeah...horangdan...brace up

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"We need to get them back! We- We need to-"

"Chan." Shaking the younger, Seungcheol watched as a thousand different expressions took over Chan's features, all harrowing. Reeling backwards, Seungcheol found himself overwhelmed with agitated thoughts, memories and what-ifs flitting through his senses.

This piling over the unimaginable guilt he felt for failing meant that he was one second away from keeling over himself. But in an ocean full of lost lambs somebody needed to take over.

Chan was young, he operated through his emotions. Finding a family must've been a difficult and grueling process, now losing them in one fell swoop must've knocked him to his knees as angry rivulets of tears washed down the pyrokinetic's face.

Minghao on the other hand was deathly silent, if it weren't for the fact he's standing upright, Seungcheol could've thought the other had stopped breathing. Being on the other end of the stick must've shocked his system.

Neither Mingyu nor Vernon was doing any better. There were a million things left unsaid dying in their tongues. Their silent tears were a testament to these sorrows.

Joshua and Seokmin was probably the most level headed, but even then Seungcheol could discern how much their dying slowly inside.

"He'll be fine, Chan." Joshua hugged the younger - kicking, screaming and all. Seungcheol watched fascinated as the two plopped onto their knees, rough midday-sun heated sand scraping their knees through the slacks. Chan wasn't inflamed, heart too exhausted to perform such a difficult task, but he make note of the sizzling sound. Joshua made no attempts to move, only hushing and caressing persistently.

Seungcheol's eyes were boring holes into the youngest skull, only when those pair of eyes desperate eyes looked straight at him that he unfroze. You promised! He heard, clear as a whistle. Perhaps being able to rudely hijack his telepathy was a family thing.

Just like that his conviction burned inside the pit of his stomach, hot and determined. "Okay okay okay....we need a plan." He paced, mind whirling thinking of something quickly.

Seconds stretched by like hours of Seungcheol doubting himself and his capability to fix things. Soonyoung wasn't here, he would've created something already with his ability and general intelligence. Wonwoo would've known the situation better and concocted solutions out of it. And even Junhui, who Seungcheol thought had more experience would've been more suited than this.

"But what can we do?" Mingyu, finally seizing his gaze, voice cracking, was trembling from head-to-toe.

Seungcheol had never seen somebody so physically strong looked so despondent and vulnerable.

"Nothing," Minghao answered, equally as hopeless.

"Don't say that!" Vernon, who's been keeping silent rose unsteadily on shivering legs, pushing the informant backwards with his fists. "Don't you fucking dare say that!"

Right then Seungcheol realized just how young Vernon was - all of them was!

Up lightning quickly with the thunderous realization, Seungcheol towed a dumbstruck Seokmin off to the sidelines, cupping the lost-boy's face, staring into his eyes intently. "Seokmin," Seungcheol whispered, clear and firmly. "Tell me you could try and locate their phones, anything?"

"W-well - I..."

"Seokmin!"

"Maybe!"

Through the pinging silence a thought formed into Seungcheol's head. They didn't know anything now, but what he did know was they needed to move. Now.

They moved to the vehicles in relative silence, Joshua, who's stabilized Chan to the point of coherency decided to ride with the younger in the other car. Wanting to distance Chan from Seungcheol and the general reminder that Jeonghan was gone.

They drove and drove until the warehouse was miles behind them. They ended up stopping at an empty parking lot of an abandoned gas station somewhere between the city and the dessert.

"We need to locate them first, any clue on where to search." Seungcheol didn't think any of them was up for answering, but they were running out of time.

Eventually Seokmin stepped forward, with bloodshot, swollen eyes, his nose glowing crimson was running. He hiccupped once, twice. "We- we could, he - oh god." Seokmin put a hand over his mouth, he couldn't stop himself from sobbing. Denying everything that had happened, barely processing.

Mingyu who's clutching Vernon to his chest, made room on his shoulder, corralling Seokmin readily, openly. He himself still had that glazed over look in his eyes, but his body, capable and ready needed to clutch something warm and that he cared for. "You're okay," he whispered, a little hollowly.

"The mayor - he's the one behind all this right? Maybe he's hiding them in one of his properties again." Joshua supplied, face carefully neutral. It was a stretch, but it was something.

"Is he even involved with this right now? Don't he have an election going on tomorrow?" Vernon asked, having just screamed his entire being out, his voice was throaty. Even Seungcheol knew the other was suffering silently, reverting to his usual silent mode after the outburst near the warehouse.

Witnessing responses that he'd never thought he would witness, Seungcheol never wanted any of them to go through this again. But in order to escape this seemingly in escapable tunnel, they have to go through first.

"Y-yeah. It's in town hall, the mayor's reading some speeches today so it's highly improbable but..."

"But?" Seungcheol prompted, even though he had an inkling on what Minghao was letting on.

"Wonwoo said he liked to get involved, so if they're anywhere-"

"They're close to wherever the mayor is. Okay, Seokmin can you-"

"Okay."

It was always jarring to see through Seokmin's eyes, Seungcheol found, when the other was searching through thin air. At least monitoring the situation became easier that way, and it wasn't long until Seokmin discovered something.

"What is it?" Seungcheol saw the other's eyes widen, and he too understand why. It was almost impossible for them not to be there.

"There's a building next to the town hall, it's still under construction but no worker's coming in today because of the speech rally."

"Let me guess, the mayor owns the building?" Chan spoke for the first time since they stopped, malice dripping from his words. He remembered the bus ride with Soonyoung, the memory bringing the prickling sensation to his eyes, everything seemed much simpler then and he definitely took things for granted as well.

Still, the vivid conversation of the upturned buildings they crossed rang clearly in his ears. He couldn't wait to arrive there.

"And the properties surrounding it." Seungcheol nodded, feeling lighter already. Seungcheol felt it deeply rooted inside, they're definitely there.

"Let's go then."

 

💊💊💊

 

Wonwoo woke up with a killer headache; he had his whole morning routine mapped thoroughly inside his brain. He needed to wake up, turn on the coffee machine, made some haphazard breakfast brimming of protein and barely any fibers. Next he would indulge in a quick shower, turning it as freezing as possible. Dreading another long-winded day, he didn't want to open his eyes only to be smack with rays of sunlight invading the slits of his window blind.

Unfortunately, that was not the sight that greeted him when his eyes regrettably open. His monotonous everyday fantasy would've been preferable than this. Tied impossibly tight to a cool metal chair, the binds digging into his skin so insistently it's practically trying to burrow underneath.

That's right, he was kidnapped.

Lulling his head listlessly, he saw the others haven't awaken from whatever sleeping fog had invaded their system yet. Everybody was in the same level of concerning, unconsciousness making them seemed somewhat lifeless. Except for Jihoon; the blood pooling underneath one of his leg chair stemmed from his split opened upper arm. Wonwoo remembered vaguely dreaming of the technician fighting of somebody. Turns out it was true.

The sight of one of them wounded further alerted him, scanning the room he discovered that nobody else was physically injured, thankfully. Soonyoung was there, surprisingly enough, which made him panic. Was Mingyu here? Vernon? Did any of the others got captured?

Not overly dwelling on it, he immediately started racking his brain for a solution for escaping.

Looking around all he could see was an expanse of grey concrete, unfinished support beams, and rotten wirings sticking out in corners. It was clear the place was either in the middle of construction or was abandoned long before. Perking his ears up he also took note on how everything's eerily quiet, which either meant they're far away from public places or the area owned was private. Which considering the track record of the mayor's numerous properties, the latter part seemed increasingly likely.

It's highly impossible to escape even if they managed to unravel themselves from their chairs. They would probably become lost quickly, eventually caught again. Perhaps-

"Well, Mr. Jeon, how...unexpected."

Wonwoo's head snapped up, a silhouette of a man revealed himself blurrily from behind a pillar, his cracked glasses making him difficult to discern. Such a bond villain entrance, Wonwoo thought, but not nearly as charismatic.

"Mayor Trask."

"Oh, so you've figured it out?" A man, unintimidating in stature, finally stepped into focus. Hands busying itself onto smoothing nonexistent wrinkles on an expensive suit jacket. "Well, I should've anticipated this. You are quiet intelligent after all."

"If you think that I'm gonna still work for you after this then you're delusional. What you're doing is horrible, a lot of people died and-"

"That's the point!" Mayor Trask was known to be kindhearted to the public, even with his carefully concealing smile present on his face the way every politician has, he still managed to gather significant trust towards him. That's why he was the favored candidate when it came to presidency. But currently, he had all three characteristic of a cheesy Bond villain, completely tactless. Wonwoo couldn't help but roll his eyes mentally despite his circumstances.

"I suppose you have an ulterior motive that stems from a traumatic history, experiences that's making you doing this? Honestly, Mayor, I would've thought you're more civil than that." He didn't know where the balls to vocalize that came from, but he's proud for speaking. He was wronged, coerced into doing something he would never do willingly. He had a bone to pick with the asshole sending pinprick sensation of anger throughout his body.

The mayor found it humorous, apparently, that the usually silent scientist had a side that's so laughably honorable. He chuckled darkly, pacing around the room, cementing his melodramatic villain role. "And I suppose you want my back story, hmm?" The Mayor clicked his tongue, "I realized from your resume you took several psychoanalysis courses, but I'm not about to regurgitate my inner most thoughts to you when I could spend this time getting information instead."

With a snap of a finger, two hulking men ambled out of the shadows. Senses wiring instantly, Wonwoo concluded neither men were mutants. Having realized that, the information brought little comfort seeing the size of their bodies.

"You see, Mr. Jeon, here comes the unpleasant part."

"I have no information for you," Wonwoo countered, perhaps somewhat too quickly.

Mayor Trask, sensing this, chuckled, "You see, we expected you to come destroy the mechabots, maybe dispose of the pills. Gave you quite the entertaining show didn't we, with those children?" Digesting those words, Wonwoo felt bile surging up his throat. All that suffering, for a show of dominance? He couldn't believe he'd once trusted this monster.

"How amateurish can your crew get? Raising suspicion with all their previous...missions. Really, come now, did you think we wouldn't notice one of our investors pulling out immediately after the incident at the Yellow Snapdragon?" Wonwoo remembered hearing about the others attempt to gather information on what's going on way before he was brought into all this. He should've known, should've anticipated, should've considered that the mayor's party suspected something's amiss long before their last mission. "There was no way you're reporting to the agency, so the warehouse was the only target," pocketing his hands, the Mayor shook his head, giving a bubble of mirthless chuckle. "Unfortunately, we didn't anticipate the file purging."

shit.

"But it's very fortunate that you're still here - still...alive." Wonwoo heard the for now. "So, wanna tell me how to disable that failsafe of yours?"

"And why should I-" the biggest out of the meathead lackeys stepped forward. Wonwoo gulped, responses dying instantaneously. Right.

"Don't worry, we need you coherent. So how about we do..." the mayor scanned his eyes to the other unconscious slumped over figures, they would probably rouse from unconsciousness any minute now, but Wonwoo dreaded that happening. At least this way they wouldn't feel anything.

Every suffocating second passed, a glance was given to one of his friend. The mayor's eyes eventually stuck to one person, and Wonwoo prayed he'd reconsider, if not just to buy time.

"How about the pretty one." He pointed to the shapeshifter, dark hair covering his face, arms twisted painfully behind his back. People were rarely treated to Jeonghan's actual face, Wonwoo having suspected the other's mistrust of people. But currently, was not the way Wonwoo wanted to see it.

Uncaring, the two lackeys rounded menacingly, flanking the shapeshifter.

Wonwoo began to stir, rigidness dissipating. He couldn't be the reason for another person getting hurt. Jeonghan migth've been the less familiar figure in the room, but the camaraderie they've all built had seeped itself deeply underneath his skin. Wonwoo couldn't not care, he'd rather shoulder the pain himself. "No no no, wait, please. Just-"

"Failsafe," The mayor sing-songed, finger wiggling. Wonwoo shut his mouth immediately. "You know in hindsight we should've known sooner, you mutants really are smarter than we give you credit for." Spitting the word 'mutant' out like venom, Wonwoo received a glimpse of the Mayor's driving motivation. Something acidic and curling in his stomach. It made Wonwoo skin crawl for being a terrible judge of character.

Being sheep-herded into this position, knowing he couldn't safe everybody was cruel.

Please..." he pleaded instead, but they didn't stop.

One hand, strong and muscular, came circling tightly Jeonghan's impossibly thin neck in comparison. The shapeshifter was starting to wake, mumbling something incoherent underneath his breath as his head was bent backwards with the force around his neck.

"Wait!"

Wonwoo's head snapped to the other side of the room where a previously slumbering Soonyoung was blissfully unaware. The hacker looked surprisingly bright-eyed, no traces of anesthesia left behind those glassy orbs. His lips tremble as stared at his caretaker like he's everything.

"Ah, you're awake."

"Please, you wouldn't want to do that, not him," Soonyoung pleaded, trying his damnest to not let the brittleness assume his voice. It made Wonwoo heart clench painfully.

"And why is that?"

"Because-" Soonyoung's eyes shifted erratically, trying to find some semblance of an excuse in the rundown building. His eyes finally landed on Wonwoo, and the scientist watch as something dawned over the hacker's feature, the scientist was up like lightning, struggling within his binds again. "His DNA!-"

"No!"

-"H-he's a shapeshifter so he could adapt to anything right? Don't you need that type of muta-"

"Soonyoung!" Wonwoo shouldn't have done that. Shouldn't have shouted. Cursing himself for his failure to this beforehand, to protect the shapeshifter from the menacing glare full of wanting in the Mayor's eyes. And his failure of not shutting his lips, now the Mayor knew this wasn't some sort of deception.

"That's quite a development indeed."

"Please, just...let him go," Soonyoung interrupted, when the Mayor took too long of a gander to the slumped over shapeshifter. "L-look, Jihoon over there's a Lab technician, he could probably help with DNA extraction if Wonwoo refused-"

"Soonyoung!"

-"a-and Junhui there is a detective, so you probably won't want to mess with him-"

"Stop!"

-"and Seungkwan, that one over there's an elite. You'll probably get in a lot of trouble for hurting him." Soonyoung was frantically rattling off excuses, cornering Wonwoo's way out.

The two weren't familiar acquaintances, but Wonwoo realized just how intelligent the other was. The fact that he's trying to safe everybody, except himself was noble, but misplaced. And Wonwoo cried rivulets despite not knowing him well

"Stop."

"So hurt me, just me." The final nail in the coffin reverberated loudly in Wonwoo's ears. His pleading falling on deaf ears as he watched Soonyoung chose martyrdom.

Soonyoung's over was undoubtedly enticing and an Mayor Trask might be a lot of terrible things but he's not idiotic.

Soonyoung spared the desperate scientist a final glance, a crooked smile hidden in the brokenness of his features. "Look at him," he nodded, head tilting ever so slightly towards Wonwoo, "He'll fold if you hurt me."

A thick ugly sob wrenched itself from within Wonwoo's gut, as the scientist watched helplessly the ever growing grin on the politician's face.

"How brave." The mayor snapped his finger and once again, the two men rounded on a target, Soonyoung this time.

 

💊💊💊

 

It was disturbing how quiet an expanse of land under construction could seem. The agitating soundlessness of it all, despite being in the middle of a bustling city, was possibly the scariest factor The fact that somebody could so easily transpire unlawful things underneath the noses of thousands bystander, unbeknownst, concealed. It sent shivers up Seungcheol's spine.

Shutting his eyed for a brief reprieve, Seungcheol utilize the time by scanning the entire area. Catching a few lines of figure's active minds. "They're here, I could feel them." Wonwoo was fully coherent, so was Soonyoung. Jeonghan, whose connection was currently back on was beginning to rouse from his sleep.

"We should go then." Minghao side stepped against one of the wall, keeping his back straight before his entire body blended into the shadows, the others following behind.

They'd ditched their vehicles a couple blocks down, not wanting to alert any of the mayor's underlings to their presence. Without knowing the full extent of capabilities that their enemy possessed, being extra vigilant was the only solution.

They advanced in a particular order, meticulously constructed to produce the best result. Seungcheol was in front, guiding them, whilst simultaneously keeping a streamline of consciousness out and about. It was inaccurate at best, but it'll do for now. Beside him was Minghao, guarding the preoccupied detective. Vernon and Joshua was in the middle, similarly keeping an eye and ear out respectively. Their abilities were useless within a certain range, moreover, their status as inexperience civilian made them an easy target. That's why the protection was necessary. Then there was Seokmin, carefully protected. He needed to concentrate on his task of finding a line that he could connect to. Cameras, phones anything. The one behind was Chan, then Mingyu. Whose offensive ability might be of used as back side protection

"Found anything?" Chan whispered frantically, leaning closer to Seokmin like he could see the electromagnetic fields that the transducer was peeking into. The pyrokinetic wanted more than anything to contribute to the safety of his family, but even if he was blessed with a terrifically long-ranged, offensive power, unfortunately he wasn't blessed with patience.

"Not yet," Seokmin muttered, distracted. Beads of sweat was starting to build the longer he swiped through wavelengths. There were cameras everywhere around the vicinity, despite that they were all heavily encrypted. More than once had he wish he was in Soonyoung's position instead. The hacker would undoubtedly more useful.

Everything was going relatively uneventfully before Seungcheol halted suddenly, yanking Minghao back by his collar. "Wait," he whispered, swearing underneath his breath that he felt a buzzing mind near.

The stretching silence grew louder the more nothing happened, Seungcheol was left in his confusion. "Must've been my-"

A series of men, drawing themselves suddenly from the shadows intercepted whatever it was Seungcheol wanted to declare. The speed at which their unexpected assailants charged towards them was blinding, then Seungcheol realized- "Mutants, they're mutants!"

"Watch out!" Mingyu stepped up first, knocking both Vernon and Seokmin behind him, before a man with crackling lighting for hand tried to grab them. Mingyu halted the man's wrist mid-air and squeezed. The sound of crunching bones and a piercing shout filled the silence seconds later

Releasing the hand, Mingyu swallowed the acid in his throat, grimacing unabashedly. He was way too squeamish to be doing any of this.

"Run!" Seungcheol instructed, letting Vernon, Joshua, and Seokmin run past him. Pushing Minghao along, Seungcheol attempted to signal for Chan and Mingyu, but the others stayed put.

Fireballs were flying through the air. Chan's eyes whirled from corner to corner. The amount of attackers charging at them was seemingly endless. More than once had he resorted to erecting walls of flames, washing it over their assailant like a hell-raising tsunami.

With every punch, and every flame thrown, Chan was beginning to sweat. Not from the heat, but the pressure weighing him down.

Jeonghan

Soonyoung

Gritting his teeth, he managed to cover Mingyu's blind spot, sending three assailants flying onto a metal grate.

Mingyu, who finally noticed the younger's presence turned to give a grateful look. Chan smiled in return, feeling useful for once

"Chan! Mingyu!" Seungcheol bellowed, hands frantically signaling for them.

Just like that, the grateful expression was wiped, replaced by a much darker one. "Go I'll handle this." Mingyu swatted at Chan, who pushed back immediately.

"No, I could help!"

"They might need your help," Mingyu reasoned. Seungcheol had a gun and Minghao was experienced, but the only offense that they had currently stood pushing the super strong man.

"But-"

"Go!" Mingyu shouted, with a final super-strength filled push.

Staggering backwards, Chan grumbled before hesitantly running towards the others.

Having ran a significant ways away, Chan had enough time to look behind him to see one of the five assailants’ jaw unhinging from Mingyu's powerful uppercut. The echoing sound of crunching bones and excruciating shouts were painful to hear. But as much pain as those sound gave them, the familiar shriek coming from Mingyu was even harder to bare.

The man with the electric hands, persistent, swung a limp hand, grabbing Mingyu's ankle. "Fuck!" Mingyu wailed before going down with a firm thump.

That's the last of what the group discern before fully rounding the corner.

"Shit." Seungcheol felt the last of his optimism dying. Leaving Mingyu behind, somebody he'd only recently reconciled with was probably the hardest decision he's ever made.

But they needed to move forward. "We need to find them quick."

Gathering their bearings whilst still moving, Vernon looked around, searching from building to building, down and above. "I-I don't see them."

Joshua similarly was scanning around for familiar voices, face scrunching up increased frustration when he couldn't find anything. Turning to face Seungcheol, he shook his head despondently.

Hope seems scarce, and it was rapidly depleting the more aimless their direction got.

All seemed hopeless, that was until Seokmin screeched, shoes skidding painfully on the gravel. Eyes as wide as saucers, he announced, "I found them!"

"Where?" Seungcheol perked immediately, with Seokmin beginning to rattle of description.

Seungcheol, seeing through Seokmin's mind, saw a familiar head of hair, slumped over and almost lifeless. Safe for the way it occasionally flickered in and out of visibility. That's- "Seungkwan! I can see him through a window." Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly discern which building's window it was. But he could definitely tell it was very high up off the ground, he announce this to everyone.

"There's not much tall buildings, let's go." Seungcheol led them to the nearest possible building, at the back of his mind still scanning for his friends whilst simultaneously flashing the images of their location towards Mingyu, hoping the other would catch up.

Vernon only laid a glance up the building before shaking his head and they moved on, running towards another building, stealth be damned at that point.

They were up to their fifth building before Joshua stopped at his spot, head snapping right so fast it might've given him whiplash. "Wait!" He announced, ears prickling, zoning in on a particularly familiar noise and- "Soonyoung!" He heard, clear as day and his eyes widen.

There was only one tall building he could see in that direction. He pointed towards it. "There." And they immediately ran.

 

💊💊💊

 

Jeonghan was fully coherent now, the disorienting light coming through the windows were forcing him to witness a sight he'd rather bury underneath his nightmares. Something other than the reality transpiring currently.

"Soonyoung, no, please...please...stop it!" The shapeshifter mumbled, through tears, his pleas mind-numbingly repetitive. "No no no, Soonyoung!"

"Fuck!" There goes another one of Soonyoung's finger nail.

There were contraptions being strapped onto Jeonghan's body, a prickling of a needle making itself known where it sits within his forearm. He was uncaring of it though, of anything. He'd heal, he always do, that was his thing. And that's why he couldn't begin to understand why Soonyoung had volunteered in his place.

"Why?" he sobbed out, nose running freely, red-faced and completely exhausted. He must appear like a wreck with how heavily he was sobbing.

The other's weren't in any better conditions; eyes bloodshot and puffy from tears, mumbling off incoherent words underneath their breaths. The situation had escalated significantly since before any of them were awake. Now there were men with guns trained to their heads, threatening to shoot if they made even a single move. Their abilities were practically useless. If it weren't for the numerous reasoning and pleading Seungkwan’s flickering would've gotten him shot right about now.

"Are you ready to talk?"

"Wonwoo, please," Jeonghan pleaded. He didn't care for the consequences if Wonwoo talks, it's not like the city has ever been kind to him anyways. What he did care about currently was his savior-complex ridden younger brother strapped to the chair, with a guy and a plier occasionally ripping off his fingernails, alongside another guy delivering head-spinning punches towards him.

"No." Wonwoo's voice didn't shook as much, having heartbrokenly repeated it for what seemed like hours now.

"Soonyoung!" Jeonghan shouted, unsure of how loud his voice actually was, when the assailant delivered a particularly hard punch, something snapped painfully inside Soonyoung's gut.

With a wail that Jeonghan echoed, Soonyoung slumped over. The shapeshifter's throat was horse from the amount of screaming he'd been doing.

He should've seen this coming. Not just their failure today but also Soonyoung. As his older brother he should've realized how much the younger had spiraled. Jeonghan could've stopped this. The pain and suffering would probably be transferred to him but he was past the point of caring.

Swallowing the knot in his mouth, he tried again. "Please," he whispered, knowing it was no use. The guilt was settling deep. Burrowing incessantly like an unwelcomed parasite. "Why are you doing this?" He pleaded again, his emotions stripped bare for everyone to witness.

A murmur of similar questions flooded the room. It didn't distract their captors from inflicting the seemingly endless amount of pain towards Soonyoung though.

Soonyoung constantly doubled over, head lulling. Half of his crewmates were nowhere to be seen. And the other wasn't in any position to do anything.

And through it all he had thought, the inkling of hope within his stomach dying was the perfect conclusion to his life.

Junhui couldn't let that happen. Grabbing the final tendrils of positivity, he yanked it up to the surface, wanting Soonyoung to survive.

The detective was trying his damnest, multitasking by calming everybody down somewhat, and weeding out tiny unruly emotions out of their captors. Hopefully making them slip up.

It was difficult with all the pained screaming, to concentrate. Not to mention there were so many of them. So many he needed to protect. So many he needed to destroy. He was beginning to loosen when an inkling at the back of his mind started to invade familiarly around his consciousness. Gasping quietly, he realized they needed to be precise if they were going to escape this.

Seungcheol, he began.

Notes:

Oookay, next chapter is the ending! so thank u for everyone who's been reading it this far!! Also, after the final chapter there'll be a looong ass epilogue, so im gonna split it into two so stay tune fr that!!
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Chapter title from Chlorine by Twenty One Pilots <3

Chapter 22: None of Us Are Promised to See Tomorrow, What We Do Is Ours to Choose

Summary:

The End~

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Seungcheol tried reconnecting with Jeonghan's mind first, but the other was presumably preoccupied. A nagging pulsing splintering the shapeshifter's focus.

Someone did fortunately answer, Seungcheol shouldn't have doubted their bond as partners. Junhui, was precise and straightforward, filling Seungcheol's mind with important information, flashes of images, fleeting, valuable.

They needed to be meticulous about things. Relaying the information, Seungcheol waited for the other's input.

"Wait! There are others inside right?" Seokmin asked, watching Seungcheol nod.

"Numerous."

"Okay, fantastic." with more people inside the room there were more chances that someone had a phone readily opened, vulnerable. Seokmin could hack their cameras, their speakers, see what horrific happenings were transpiring inside. He suggested this to do the group who nodded immediately.

So that was exactly what he did, and he almost let out a sob, grateful at what he managed to find. Someone's phone was in their pocket, sticking out and facing the mayor, the soldiers with guns, and Soonyoung-

Soonyoung.

His blood went cold.

"Oh no."

Concerned by the reaction the detective takes it upon himself to look inside the transducer’s mind, only to find-

Shit, that was...

He flashed the images to the others.

"Soonyoung," Chan cried, he needed to get inside now, needed to-

A hand came up to stop Chan from barging into the neighboring building. "Hey, stop it, we need to think everything out first." Minghao didn't like what's happening either, but running in there mindlessly was practically suicide. "We need a plan."

Seungcheol's brain fired off ideas instantly. Possibilities that could make the situation better. There were firearms in there, lots of them, their friends were being thoroughly guarded and their only source of eyes and ears on the inside was Seokmin, hacking inside someone's phone camera. They needed more back up, they needed to get inside.

"Wait, Seokmin can you hack my phone? Our phones, see through our cameras?"

"Yes."

 

💊💊💊

 

Soonyoung didn't think his ears could pop twice each, but the impossible kept happening. Another pop, theb gushing sounds began invading his ears. He quite enjoy the depletion of his body equilibrium, it induces the type of high that's welcomed in a situation like this. It meant that his brain was trying to fight it off - the pain, washing it down his body, melting everything away onto the floor. What he didn't like was the fact that his ability supplied the predictions on where the punches would be coming from, hoping uselessly for the body's master to fight against it.

"Wonwoo!" Jeonghan had took to begging, as Soonyoung could discern. Thankfully, Wonwoo was rational enough not to surrender. Soonyoung didn't know Wonwoo that well, but at that moment he found solace in the other's silence. It meant that his ongoing sacrifice wasn't completely wasted, and that he kept both the city and his family safe.

Maybe he was content going, with that thought in mind.

"Soonyoung! - Don't you dare fall asleep you stupid asshole!"

Well perhaps it wasn't his idealistic circumstance, Soonyoung didn't much enjoy hearing bloodcurdling cries of his loved ones. He knew his decision was irrational, spurred on by years of holding his tongue, always keeping his emotions in check, pretending to be strong. This became the unfortunate result, it was stupid he could admit that. Jeonghan handled pain worse than him, sure, but the other could heal. But maybe he was done seeing everyone else in pain.

Maybe he was done period.

Somewhere across the room, Seungcheol hid between walls, machines, and constructions alongside Joshua, Vernon, and Chan. Minghao had been all too reluctant to stay behind, wanting nothing more than to do something. But protecting Seokmin from possible attacks was just as important a cause than any.

Seungcheol figured between Minghao and Chan, the latter was more capable of creating damage, alongside give them protection from enough distance with his abilities's range. Vernon was here to watch every single movement and Joshua was here to assess the miniscule movements. Some of them, Seungcheol could tell, wasn't coherent enough to realize he was there and was trying to reach them telepathically.

Like Soonyoung, who was...battered. And then Jihoon who was bleeding. But there's Junhui, who one of the larger assailant guarding them was advancing towards.

"Maybe I should add more incentive, hmm?" The mayor barked, jutting his chin, before thick insistent fingers wrapped tightly around Junhui's neck.

Seungcheol gritted his teeth, looked away, choosing instead to ask if Seokmin was seeing this.

Yeah.

His phone was trained to the action, but it was useless for Seungcheol if they didn't move to a better vantage point - although, what he's witnessing was currently gruesome enough. He's thankful Minghao was looking somewhere else.

Joshua, Seungcheol instructed. They've been debrief on their instructions.

Joshua nodded, steely gaze trained to the massacre further ahead of him. Slowly, meticulously he scanned for the best candidate to be contacted. Wonwoo, seemed the most rational.

Nodding, Seungcheol reaches outwardly, Don't panic, he started, watching Wonwoo's eyes widen in recognition. But he did a great job at schooling his face only a second later. We're here, but we need you to make the mayor talk, make him reveal everything.

Knowing reinforcement have arrive brought relieving exhales to Wonwoo's breathing. Being put in this difficult position, knowing he was the cause of the destruction previously, having decided to hold his tongue for the moment, was breaking him. Scanning the room, Wonwoo quickly, discreetly, discover where the others laid hidden.

Can you do it? Seungcheol asked.

I've been trying to, he won't budge.

Seungcheol contemplated what options were available.

"Joshua," Seungcheol whispered, seeing the other's attentive scanning of the room.

"Okay, now."

Alerting the others, Seungcheol watched as one by one their backs straighten. A little of a tell-tale but nothing their opponents would become suspicious towards.

After the message was relayed everyone knew what they needed to do, that's when their baiting began.

"Stop, please! Why are you doing this?" Jeonghan pleaded first, the edge of desperation for everything to be over very much a genuine reaction.

The Mayor just chuckled and they realized they needed a better strategy.

Seungcheol alongside the rest were advancing in the background, moving from one hiding spot to another, praying that they could catch the armed men off guard. The detective had a plan, but it was better to be closer since his telepathic ability was already depleted.

Provoke him, tell him you know why you're doing this, he frantically instructed. Agitating the man hovering his thumb over the trigger perhaps wasn't the greatest proposition, but nothing else have succeeded so far.

How? We, don't know why he's doing this, Wonwoo replied.

Make something up, Seungcheol answered, if it's irritating enough, I'm positive he'll fold.

"I know why you're doing this."

Heads rapidly snapped up, the captives bracing for a deadly argument. Seeing as the Mayor was amused, captured by Wonwoo's attention.

"Oh? And what is that."

Wonwoo really, truly was clueless. He had his theories of course, having stayed up countlessly just hypothesizing about it. Because he felt guilty, he felt complicit, stemming from his negligence. It was partially his fault, no matter how much Mingyu tried to convince him it wasn't. Besides, that wasn't the important take away. What's important didn't lay in his past. What’s important was what he could create of the future.

He could help their situation by doing this correctly. If bullshit was what they needed, then bullshit was what he'll give.

"It's obvious isn't it?" He felt the hold on Junhui's neck loosen already, hear the strangled gasp escaping the detective's parted lips. He could do this. "You're jealous of us, of mutants."

"Well that's completely ridiculous."

"Is it? Because from where I could see, you could've hired mutants to do this, much powerful than yourself, but instead only humans are siding beside you. Not to mention you wanting to regulate mutants with the mechabots, you're jealous."

"No."

"You're a jealous bitter old man whose influence are clouded with envy!"

"No!" The Mayor shout, losing his composure for the first time finally, sending dangerous shivers up everyone's spine. It was welcomed nonetheless. Everyone strapped in their seats could practically taste it. They didn't know exactly what its function was, but if it'll help their escape so be it.

Wonwoo leaned in his seat, even the meathead goons had stopped whatever ministration they were planning for Junhui and Soonyoung, although he didn't know if that's much of a positive when Soonyoung head lulls listlessly already. Seungkwan had flickered back into visibility, and Jeonghan had stopped crying paying his fullest attention. It was all eyes on Wonwoo, including the Mayor.

"Then what is it?"

The Mayor shook his head, chuckling gutturally, underscoring a deep darkness. Shaking his finger mockingly, he paces around his former employee. "Oh, I know what you're trying to do." He came up behind Wonwoo, steely hand gripping the back of his chair. "Fine, if you're really that curious," He hissed, rattling the captive's seat

From their changing positions, Seungcheol could capture the mayor's scheming features clearly. This was perfect.

Seokmin, do it. Now.

Seokmin from where he was, cradling himself against Minghao with bated breath, started to scramble. He knew what was happening simultaneously down a couple streets from the abandoned land they currently resided in. Speeches of candidates were being conducted.

Seokmin didn't know how the Mayor managed to slip away - was allowed to in the first place. He could've left it all to his underlings but he didn't, and that sadistic nature Seokmin detected would hopefully be ultimately his own downfall.

Pressing the red enticing 'live broadcast’ button, Seokmin would solidify that premonition.

"You see these men standing before you." The Mayor pointed at every single underlings, soldiers with weapons, the muscles. All obediently silent, listening, respecting.

Seething.

"What about them?"

"Do you know how many opportunities were taken from them just because of what they are?" Circling dramatically around Wonwoo's chair, he abruptly halted behind him, slamming his hands painfully onto the wooden rest. It startled Wonwoo, making him jump, scraping the wooden dowls onto concreate. The way the Mayor leaned forward, lips pressing near his ears, sent hair-raising chills down his spine. "Elites; they manipulate the system, crossbreeding just to get that one perfect, mutant...specimen. Monopolizing everything. Gaining power."

The mayor made sure to glare at Seungkwan who shrunk back, flickering in and out of visibility. The mayor smirk, a fleeting look of disgust reflected in his expression.

"Not to mention slumrats, who lazes around, doing nothing but steal, pillage, and riot." He glared at Jeonghan then, like he knew, like he could smell the slumrat wafting off him. But unlike Seungkwan, Jeonghan didn't shrink, he puffed up his chest prideful as always.

The Mayor scoffs, smirking sardonically. "Predictable."

Chan was about ready to jump in and chuck a couple fireballs straight through the Mayor's head.

"Of course at least they weren't mutants."

"So you do hate mutants?" Wonwoo pointed.

"Well of course, but that's just because they're arrogant. Thinking they could control the world with their birthright."

And something about it clicked to Seungkwan. Sure he's never encountered speeches like these from someone like himself, but he could recognize self-hatred anywhere. The gnawing endless feeling of not feeling accomplished in what was supposed to be your expertise. "You were an elite." realization slowly dawned on everyone's face.

Faltering, a hint of a memory passing through his eyes, the Mayor turned away. "Unfortunately, until my mother disowned me when she found out I was human. I was forced to relegate to the slums with nothing but the clothes on my back, but-" he huffed out a chuckle -"Of course I wasn't welcome there either - there really is no honor amongst thieves."

Arrogance; a man-eating parasite that's managed to burrow inside every other individual in the city, without them even noticing. It needed to be eradicated.

"I wasn't the only one who were wronged. I'm just here to fix the system that has failed us." He stood back, opening his arms wide, gesturing to the armed humans standing beside him. "That wronged us all."

"By massacring people?" Jihoon piped for the first time since he was held captive. Silently stewing in anger, blood lost and lightheadedness be damned. He worked at the agency to stop hubris men such as these, he despised the thought that no matter what, the people on top were still worse.

"If I must, yes. But isn't it smart?" Something maniacal made its way to the Mayor's composure, something arrogant in it of itself. Proud of what he had managed as a solution. "I worked damn hard to get to my level of relevancy and it wasn't easy either. I played up the sympathy card quite well, didn't I? And then the pills-"

Seungkwan head snapped up.

"Oh the pills...the slums really were predictable. Give them a gun and they start shooting."

So that was his game plan, Seungcheol thought, piecing things slowly together.

"Ones there's enough body count then people would start to be afraid. The mechabots project would be approved, and the ones bowing will be the elites. Perfect, isn't it?"

"No, why give the elites overdrive too then?" Seungkwan wanted to know the reason why he'd become one of the guinea pigs. Straining his shoulder, he grappled with his frustration. "Seems stupid to me?"

"Overdrive would've been the agency's target by then. They'd find it in your system and they'll incarcerate you. Sure, a lot died, even the ones in the middle. But isn't it worth it for a better world?"

Spitting, Jeonghan reveled when it hit somewhere near that expensive shoe of his. "Fuck you." This was why he's fighting? Why Chan was traumatized, ripped away from his desperate arms? Why Soonyoung head swayed lifelessly, blood pooling from his parted lips? This...this- madman? "You kidnapped all those children, killed all of those people, for what? Worth it my ass!"

Stalking towards the shapeshifter, the Mayor dug his fingers into Jeonghan's cheek. Roughly shaking it, snarling. "I did what was best for the world! You - you were born as nothing but a worthless nobody-" the Mayor dug his thumb deeper, satisfied only until pearls of blood surfaced. -"And I'll make sure you die a nobody too."

Ding

The Mayor's eyes flitted to the contraption the shapeshifter was strapped in, amused he let out a chuckle. There previously pulsating crimson light had turned unyielding lime green, signaling the complete collection of the bio-information needed.

"Times up," he whispered, before whipping out a gun, disengaging the safety.

Gasping, the shapeshifter closed his eyes, waiting for-

"No!"

Seungcheol came barreling carelessly, sweat beading his forehead and a terrifying anger of pure adrenaline fueling his steps.

"Who-"

And Seungcheol shouted, loud and guttural and he did what he thought was impossible.

He froze them. All of them.

Time's ticking, Chan, covered in inferno, ran and started attacking the frozen guard. Fireballs dancing in the wind as silent shouts hissed through restricted lips.

Joshua ran immediately towards Jeonghan, slapping the gun still trained to his friend's head, hearing it fire somewhere behind him.

Vernon worked tirelessly as he came to Seungkwan, untying him before they untie the others.

"Hurry..." Seungcheol grunted, feeling tears prickle his eyes as the grip on his ability slowly dissipated.

Junhui's untied. Then Jihoon.

"Hurry!"

clang

Everybody ducked as a stray bullet hit the metal pipe, one of the guard already unfrozen, not far behind him, the other's quickly unfroze as well.

"Shit- Jihoon look out-" Ducking, the defense training the agency gave their personnel was tested then. As Jihoon swiftly overtook the armed guard behind him, hands quickly constricting the opponent’s wrist with some extra irritating ivy.

"Well holy fuck- Jeonghan duck!"

Tuck and rolling, Jeonghan vaguely heard somebody tackling his possible assailant to the ground. A quick glance behind him noted Junhui as the one responsible, already cuffing and inducing with his empathy.

The shapeshifter, through all the fireballs flung, through the unruly plants sprouting from the cement cracks, and the hail of bullets, finally reached Soonyoung. "Youngie-" he whispered, voice crackling in despair as his hand cupped his younger brother's cheeks, wet with blood and tears. What was once full of life was now hollowed out, carved cruelly. Empty.

Quickly untying the binds, Jeonghan slung Soonyoung's arm across his shoulder, meaning to get him to safety-

bang

The next thing he knew, a bullet shot through his ankles and he's tumbling gracelessly onto concrete. Clearly they weren't escaping just yet.

"Jeonghan-" Joshua came up beside him, quickly taking Soonyoung away despite the other's protest -"I'll get'em safe, protect the others, c'mon," he instructed before toeing Soonyoung away from Jeonghan's grasp.

"No..." Jeonghan whisper-cried, hands outstretched uselessly as he struggle to get up, his healing affected from whatever the machine did. "No, not another one of my brothers," he pleaded before a fist made itself known to his face.

Angry - healed - Jeonghan whirled into standing, only for Seungcheol to shoot the guard. "I had that!"

"You're limping, c'mon let's go-" Knocked down like pins, Chan struggled beside them after being used as the bowling ball.

The three of them quickly stood again, back against each other with Seungcheol firing away, Jeonghan kicking whatever within reach, and Chan hurling fireballs. From across the room, Junhui grappled with somebody, successfully securing their rifle before firing away. Then there was Jihoon, safely tucked behind a thick wall of ivy, as his branches curled around assailant's legs, whipping wildly through the air. The others were tucked safely in a corner, away, protected by sets of gun and a wall of unruly bushes.

For a moment, they seemed undefeatable, but of course-

Jeonghan went down first, blindsided by the end of a gun from a fresh batch of soldiers, ripping away Chan's concentration and then dominos began to fall and suddenly the tide changed.

Overpowered, outgunned, outmen; the lot of them were forced to the floor, hands behind their backs, a gun trained to each of their heads.

Click click, and those weapons were ready to fire.

"No!" Seungcheol shouted, exerting himself for the last time, freezing everybody in place just in time for-

"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!"

- the swat team.

Chaos ensued as Seungcheol's grip loosen and the sky descended a downpour of bullets.

He saw Jeonghan finally free from his binds, the shapeshifter staying low with his hands in the air, grabbing for Seungcheol and the others, tugging them away.

"Seungcheol?- Cheollie, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he tried to grit, but all that came out was a horse whisper. He was leaning his whole body weight onto Jeonghan. The shapeshifter fussed over him, hands coming up to his face and then shoulders and then back up again.

Limping side by side, they finally reached the staircase. The swat team bustled all around them, their friends who were supposed to stay behind had climbed up the stairs, joining them impatiently halfway. Minghao throwing himself onto Junhui immediately, his hand coming up to the other's neck.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a little sore."

Through their hectic struggling they managed to be graced underneath the sunlight once again.

Breathing an endless sigh of relief, Vernon wrapped his whole body around Seungkwan, hearing the other winded huff and giggling- somewhat unhinged - from the wonderful sound "Oh Seungkwan," he said, finding his hands fitting perfectly where it rested on the other's beautiful cheeks.

"V-Vernoni-"

-"love you." The words rang in Seungkwan's ear like he's inches away from the bell of King Seongdeok.

"Wha- what?"

"I love you," Vernon repeated, conviction showing through. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

"Took you long enough." Grabbing Vernon by the lapels of his tattered jacket, Seungkwan pulled the taller close, slotting their breathless lips together. Desperately tugging, wanting.

Parting, they rested their foreheads against each other, noses lightly touching. "I love you too."

It seemed everybody was okay...

Almost.

Jeonghan fell to his knees beside Chan, his fingers blindly scrambling over Soonyoung's battered face. "Soonyoung?" Jeonghan sobbed, seeing how unresponsive the other looked, propped up on the gurney as the medical operative carried him around.

"Why- why would he do that?" Chan asked through his running nose, gasping and stuttering. "Why- why the fuck did he did that?!" He shouted, still in shock and disbelieve.

"My fault..." Jeonghan whispers, through Chan's continue shouting, until Soonyoung was carded completely inside one of the ambulance, and Jeonghan had to reluctantly hold him back. "My fault," He whispers again, buried in Chan's dust-covered hair. "I could've healed."

"Soonyoung! Soonyoung hyung!"

Everything was fine as they observe from a safe distance, their brother being prodded inside the ambulance. But it seemed that the swat team had finished all of their arrest, because hands came up behind Jeonghan, behind Chan, pulling them away.

They went kicking and screaming; Jeonghan shapeshifting into different bodies a mile a minute in hopes of escaping the men's hold, whilst Chan had flames coming up his arms, through his mouth, he was burning everywhere.

"Let go!"

"Let us go!"

The receding form of Soonyoung was the last thing that they'd seen before they were all taken away.

 

The damage was done, Mingyu ran up to the scene last. He escaped unscathed, thank god. Those underlings, as he quickly discovered was completely human. Some of them surprisingly exploded mid-fight, the effects of overdrive not agreeing with their bodies. And because of the shock he managed to beat the others and escaped.

He didn't know what he expected when he finally found the building, but a swat team wasn't something he had anticipated. He stared slack-jawed unable to move, taking everything in. watching his friends being pushed out of the building one by one.

Then Wonwoo came out, and he almost readily ran to him when Jihoon also came out - bleeding. He didn't know where to turn, but the decision was made for him when Wonwoo ran towards him, bloody hands coming down on his shoulder.

"Are you okay? What happened? why is there a swat team here?"

"Seokmin, he apparently broadcasted the Mayor's confession throughout the whole city." Wonwoo was surprised himself when he heard, somewhat of a hidden genius resided within his friend after all.

Everyone was bustling before the election, speeches of candidates were being broadcasted everywhere over news channels. All Seokmin had to do was hijack them, sending their live broadcast instead. The authorities came in swiftly after that.

The two of them could see Seokmin talking to one of the officers on standby, he was relatively okay. Seokmin was quickly ushered towards the ambulance where everybody needed to be. Mingyu's eyes followed as his friend walked and - there, again, Jihoon came into his line of vision.

"Go to him."

Mingyu raised a brow, cutting his gaze back towards Wonwoo. "What?"

"Go to him, he's hurt."

He didn't know what was said in between those words that compelled him to move towards Jihoon. It was like Wonwoo was done, was completely okay to release Mingyu without letting whatever they had bother what they'd eventually have. Perhaps, after all their shared traumas, Wonwoo's finally trusting Mingyu not to abandon him again.

Mingyu came running to a stop before the lab technician. HIs tentative hand coming up to cradle and touch in any method possible.

"Mingyu - stop."

"Are you okay?" Mingyu continues, unable to stop fussing once he's started.

"Mingyu, please, stop." Jihoon grabbed one of Mingyu's flying hands, wincing immediately as it jostled the wound on his other hand.

Concerned, Mingyu immediately drawn to the wound. "Are you-"

"Shut up- Jesus fuck, Mingyu just-" And then Jihoon was leaning forward on his tippy toes.

He couldn't quite reach without Mingyu leaning halfway, but the other was to preoccupied to notice what Jihoon was trying to do. So the lab technician took it upon himself to grab at Mingyu's collar, pulling him down forcefully, slotting their lips together into a bruising kiss.

Doubts, fear, melted from his body, his spirit dazedly floats above whilst his feet was planted firmly on the ground, content with his new found crush in his arms. Their lips moved together harmoniously. It tasted like a promise of something more, that this was just the beginning. Besides, Jihoon standing on the very tips of his toes was quite adorable. Predicting the future wasn't part of his abilities, but he could practically feel himself falling. Hard.

"Excuse me-"

The two broke apart, glaring at the officer standing sheepishly further away.

Right. They were in a crime scene and Jihoon was technically a victim.

Jihoon was escorted to the ambulance on standby with Mingyu trailing behind every step of the way. There were questions they no doubt needed to answer, and repercussion for what they had done, but they contented themselves because everybody got out alive. Hopefully.

Jihoon wasn't the only one forced to go to the ambulance. Everyone who was essentially strapped to a chair, except for Junhui, who was presumably talking with another detective, was there.

Vernon sat slumping sideways, plastered to Seungkwan like they're made out of Velcro.

"I'm stupid."

"You're oblivious but you're not stupid." Seungkwan pouted, pushing at the body holding him close, but unable to resist following the motion. Happiness, anger, frustration all drowning together under the sense of relief from escaping. Heart still worrying for their other currently unresponsive friend.

Seungkwan was assessed by someone before, who declared him relatively unharmed, but he still needed to be transported to the hospital. Everyone did, so it seemed. Now they were just waiting outside the ambulance. Vernon being adamant to apologize unendingly.

"It doesn't matter anyways."

Vernon frowned, dragging Seungkwan impossibly closer to him. "Of course it does."

Well, yeah, it does, but it doesn't all the freaking same. Seungkwan was also guilty for dancing around their relationship, especially since Vernon had a difficult time admitting to anyone he even had friends - true friends, who liked him as much as he does them. If the other wasn't willing to admit that then how could he have confessed to Seungkwan?

Whatever quarrel they had, it's a good thing they've finished it.

Inching closer towards his Vernon, Seungkwan buried his face in the other's neck, inhaling the dirtied warmth it gave him. It's been an exhausting day, but it's not over for all of them. "I hope he's okay."

Rubbing Seungkwan's palm, Vernon attempted a smile. "I'm sure he will be."

 

"We'll talk about this later, right now you need to go to the hospital, both of you."

The captain had on a stern expression on his face. They were in trouble, how much was still undetermined. They did broke several laws, but those very law and their enforcer didn't provide them any other option. Much more could've gotten hurt if they hadn't intervene, Seungcheol and Junhui stood steadfastly by that. They did right. At least they hoped so.

Deciding to trudge back towards where the ambulances were parked, they'd only gotten halfway before Minghao ran towards Junhui at blinding speed, a fist raised high, ready to strike. Seungcheol's eyes went wide, and he dodged, leaving Junhui to suffer a shoulder hit.

"Ow!"

"You asshole."

That...was Seungcheol's queue to leave.

"Why would you do that? Why would you made me go through that? Was it because that's how you feel whenever I'm on the job? - W-Why?" Minghao berated, gasping for oxygen his lungs couldn't seem to swallow. Panic attack, Junhui realized, Minghao was hyperventilating. Junhui had to do...something- something- so he leaned down, hands grabbing at the other's narrow shoulder before kissing the hiccups away.

It worked, the shortness of breath, the desperate gulping, halted, thankfully. Reluctantly, Junhui parted only to see the ever-present frown still present on his lover's face.

Right.

"Why, Wen Junhui?"

Junhui sighed, a nervous frustrated chuckled bubbled pass his lips, continuously worrying his palms behind his neck. "Minghao," he said his lovers name like it pained him to vocalize. Having argued this many times before, it should've felt routine by now. But he's never been on this end.

Slowly lowering his hands to encircle Minghao's midsection, Junhui drew his boyfriend close, burying his nose to his shoulder. "Y'know this wasn't-" His voice snagged on the lump in his throat. "...Because I love you, and I don't want you getting hurt." His voice cracked at several places, unshed tears finally escaping.

"I-" this was difficult. This was a conversation for another time, but thankfully, unlike their previous arguments, the next would have a different outcome. So instead, with not knowing what to say or how to answer, Minghao came up with another answer to another question. "Yes."

"...What?" Junhui took a moment before realizing. When he did, his grip tightened.

"Yes, I'll move in with you," Minghao confirmed anyways.

It didn't matter than Junhui had asked that of Minghao months ago. He had his answer now. The rest of their days might not be perfect, but Junhui took comfort in knowing it'd be theirs. So the natural next step was to pull the boy in front of him, kissing him stupidly breathless.

 

Longingly, Seungcheol stared at the couple- well, couples, friends that finally found their peace in one another. Seungcheol felt a tug at his heart that made him stare at one specific ambulance. He didn't know if he was welcome. If he was there would he be destroying a family's dynamic whilst they're going through a waking nightmare?

Soonyoung was relatively lucky, he heard one of the medical operator said. Bruised up in several places, internal injuries that could rival a boxer's, and if it healed, scars would litter his body like nightmares would his family's thoughts. The information that he'd most likely pull through didn't stop them from hurting for their family; Chan who's flames had all but died down, extinguished by heavy rivulets of tears falling from his eyes, Joshua who was sadden for what Soonyoung had gone through, and Jeonghan-

Jeonghan thought of himself as the reason for Soonyoung's undoing and that simply wasn't true. Seungcheol wanted to tell the shapeshifter that, but he couldn't - probably shouldn't.

He must've been staring for too long because Joshua suddenly gazed towards him, eyes seemingly finding dulled out apparitions, even involuntarily. Seungcheol watched as Joshua bid his leave from the two brothers, coming his way with conviction and protectiveness in his steps.

"Hey," He greeted, before leaning on the ambulance beside him.

"Hey."

"So, are we in trouble?"

That's right, it wasn't over. He could possibly be fired, and the others could be prosecuted. Of course people like Seungkwan, Vernon, they would be off Scott free if their parents had anything to say about it. But Jeonghan and his family - they probably won't be so lucky.

"I'll protect them you know, don't worry about that. Are you in trouble?" Joshua asked, sounding genuine enough that it took Seungcheol by surprise.

"Uhm...y-yeah, I wouldn't know yet, but I think the worse would be getting sacked,cand honestly, I'm fine with that." If he's unable to change the world from the inside, didn't mean he couldn't try on the outside.

Joshua hummed, nodding along. "Okay, so why are you here moping around and not there?" He jutted his chin towards where Chan and Jeonghan were, staring through an opened back of an ambulance. They haven't gone to the hospital yet- couldn't with the city in a frenzy. Only Soonyoung was carded away, his wounds significantly more critical than the other's.

"I-I don't want to impose."

Joshua chuckled. "Well for a telepath detective, no less, you sure as hell are bad at reading people." Seungcheol turned towards Joshua, his face scrunching up in offense, making the other chuckle further. Eventually he stopped laughing at the expression on Seungcheol's face, sobering up at the situation, a soft fondness taking over. "He needs you, Seungcheol."

Spurred by the sentimentality, Seungcheol's feet began to move even before the detective registered it. Its good Joshua talked to him. It felt like a gateway has finally open, lying beyond was the rest of his existence. Hopefully.

Seungcheol could never stop being enamored by Jeonghan. Even with swollen lips, bloodshot eyes, hair darker than he usually wore it, matted and entangled, Jeonghan looked every bit as ethereal as when he's dressed up. The only thing missing was the sparkle behind his eyes, one that Seungcheol's determined to coax out again.

"Hey-" Seungcheol didn't get to finish his greeting, his eyes widening. Standing up, Jeonghan ran towards him, slumping his whole bodyweight and clinging desperately.

His shoulders were quickly becoming wet, but annoyance was the last thing on his mind. He didn't register up until now how worried he had been for Jeonghan. The shapeshifter had been in there, with a gun to his head. One trigger could've ended everything, and Seungcheol's arm winded tighter squeezing Jeonghan's midsection, fingers gripping through debris and dried blood, minding none of it.

"Seungcheol," Jeonghan sobbed, tugging tighter at their bond.

"It’s okay angel, everything would be okay," Hiding kisses in the other's hair, whispering his troubles away, Seungcheol tried his best in convincing they're alright.

So Seungcheol made himself as comfortable as possible for Jeonghan. Every inch of their bodies plastered as Seungcheol continuously supplied comfort.

Before long they returned to the ambulance, Jeonghan leaning half-lidded on his shoulder. Sandwiched between his brother and his hopefully lover, clinging, knowing he won't recreate the same mistake.

Eventually, they fell quiet and it took a long time before Jeonghan spoke again.

"I know," Jeonghan answered and his voice might've shook too uncontrollably for it to be completely believable, but the sentiment, the desire for that statement to become reality was desperately clinging to his tongue.

"We're going to be okay," Seungcheol reaffirmed, because they were, and thanks to all of them, the whole city would be too.

Notes:

That's it!! That's the end of the story! Wow, can't believe I actually finished a 100+k chaptered fic, it's kinda surreal. There'll be an epilogue, but this is the official ending, so thanks to everyone who read it <3
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Title from Never Close Our Eyes by Adam Lambert

Chapter 23: Epilogue pt. 1: Would You Destroy Something Perfect to Make It Beautiful?

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The traffic was horrible; the sweltering heat of the afternoon sunlight, the cramped longwinded highways, and not to mention the claustrophobic feeling that streets overcrowded of honking vehicles gave you. Seungcheol was late, he's definitely going to get murdered and he's late. He could always blame it on the traffic, but of course that wasn't a practicable excuse when Jeonghan had warned him about it after seeing the news earlier that morning. There was construction being made everywhere around the city, which was amazing but now he's late.

He was fucked, he was late, and added to that, he still hadn't grab their tuxes from the dry cleaners like he'd promise Jeonghan he would whilst journeying to the agency.

Jeonghan's going to eviscerate him, if Junhui didn't slaughter him first.

The corner that finally deposited him skidding to a halt before the familiar building he'd contributed in growing, brought a miniscule relief in the tightness clutching his chest. This was good, he could still make it.

The relief didn't last long when he turned the corner. Immediately, Jeonghan's resting don't-fuck-with-me face, became visible when he finally arrived at the pick-up spot, burning holes into his skull. He was definitely fucked.

"Where were you?"

The three of them piled into the car. Chan comically sweating, his grey uniform looking significantly tighter around the neck, stains of dark grey spotted the fabric where perspiration had broken through. He must've had a tough day in training. Soonyoung didn't appear any better either, with hair sticking up wildly like he's been running his fingers through it, which only happens when he's frustrated. Considering the fact the hacker was working and working was ludicrously easy for him, then he must've been having a particularly difficult day.

All of that observation, Seungcheol noted, was to come to the conclusion that he was extra fucked. Because when the two of the pillars in Jeonghan's life was miserable then the shapeshifter wasn't doing all too swimmingly either.

"I'm really sorry, the traffic-"

"Was horrible? Oh, who would've guessed that?...oh wait-" Jeonghan glared, voice dripping in sarcasm.

Seungcheol couldn't resist, it was inappropriate when he was being scolded like this, to draw his pouting boyfriend to his side, peppering kisses on his cheeks.

"I'm really sorry." He was using that voice. The voice he usually weaponized whenever there's an emergency, and he needed to get on his boyfriend's good graces.

It worked almost always, and judging by the way Jeonghan's cheek upturned the way it does before his lips followed, Seungcheol had succeeded yet again.

"Do we have time to shower? Or are we just going to the airport?" Chan was already halfway in stripping the outer layer of his grey training uniform, he was left with an undershirt that was disgustingly soaked. Maybe a shower was the best idea. Unfortunately...

"Shit, I forgot - the suits."

"You didn't grab it?" And Jeonghan's voice returned swiftly to that terrifying warning tone.

"I'm sorry?"

Jeonghan rolled his eyes. "Oh no, that won't work twice on me Choi Seungcheol." But as he said it, he was smiling a little bit, frustration present, but anger merely a false facade.

Besides, nobody could get angry today. They were all miserable, and if it was any other day then this would probably be the kind of experience they would lament about for weeks, the kind that they would remember back on whenever they wanna get themselves absolutely pissed. But today was no ordinary day, they were all too excited to let outside forces bring their dynamics down.

"We could get a shortcut," Soonyoung happily supplied, voice tilting the way it does whenever he had one of his insane suggestions working tremendously inside his head.

"Soonyoung-"

"No, no, I swear this would work. There's construction down the street anyways, so we have to go somewhere else, right?"

Seungcheol sighed, what's the worst thing that could happen?

 

Somewhere else turned out to be a series of longwinded, barely spacious enough, alleyways that Seungcheol had to turn a corner in so much it was practically a labyrinth. But true to his words, they were nearer to their destination, and the dry cleaners they had their suits stored in was thankfully enroute.

Soonyoung was an intelligent person, an animated personality whose unending schemes made the room brighten effortlessly, unbelievably climaxing before combusting. Soonyoung was unique, and Seungcheol felt honored to be welcomed into his family.

He, Chan, and Jeonghan had been some particularly useful additions for the agency. It seemed that tragedy they'd face together light-years ago had shaped their lives significantly, not to mention drastically at the time.

Seungcheol remembered having to console Jeonghan at the hospital where Soonyoung rested limply in that anemic hospital bed. Whatever surgery he had gotten had passed quite successfully, as the doctor revealed, but time could only tell if Soonyoung would eventually regain consciousness.

Soonyoung had suffered multiple contusions, his nose needed reconstruction, his ribcage became cracked in three places, and he couldn't use his hands for a while either, waiting for the fingers to heal into place. But he had survived, and without any permanent long-lasting physical damage. It was definitely a miracle, which was what everybody needed - Jeonghan especially.

At the time, Heonghan had stayed countless hours loitering the hospital, with Chan plastered at his side. All the while Jeonghan blamed himself endlessly for everything.

"It should've been me Seungcheolie...I would've healed."

Seungcheol would allow Jeonghan to cry his frustrations through his shirt until he succumbed to exhaustion and unconsciousness. Then he'd carry the shapeshifter to the sofa, bundling him inside the warmest blanket that he'd brought to the hospital. After Jeonghan stopped stirring in his sleep, Seungcheol would repeat the same thing to Chan, who'd stubbornly usually fell asleep with his body folding awkwardly, leaning onto Soonyoung's bed.

Then Seungcheol would take their place beside Soonyoung, sometimes with other companies, sometimes not. Joshua visited quite frequently, wanting to support his friends, his family. Seokmin came by a couple of times, usually lamenting to Seungcheol about how bright Soonyoung was, and how after witnessing those amazing things Soonyoung was actually capable of, Seokmin didn't want him to leave them just yet. The others also visited sporadically, they were connected after all. They'd share their piece to Seungcheol, say their condolences to Chan and Jeonghan, and then leave.

It went on for a significantly long time it almost became routine. To come to Seungcheol, venting their hearts out. He didn't know when he was appointed leader of this little rambunctious rendezvous, but he was glad to have been able to help.

Days seemed to drawl on without time actually moving, just waiting beside that hospital bed. And all too suddenly, they blinked and then three months had passed.

Jeonghan hadn't had much progress processing his guilt, but Seungcheol couldn't offer up much more than a shoulder to cry on.

"I would've healed," he'd repeated like a broken record, and Jeonghan would've, his healing would probably reverse whatever wounds were inflicted before his body even reached the ambulance. But Soonyoung didn't want Jeonghan to go through that pain, and Jeonghan couldn't understand why.

Not until Soonyoung woke up.

Seungcheol was the happiest he had been to see this practical stranger - lukewarm acquaintance, woke up. It had felt like he had gotten to know pieces of Soonyoung from the stories others told about him. The fact that he woke up meant that Seungcheol would get to know him even more.

But the day he did woke up wasn't gifted for him. It was for Jeonghan, and Chan, and for Joshua who had coincidentally, miraculously been there.

He heard the shouts where he was, getting snacks in the hallway. Jeonghan was furious and equally terrified, Seungcheol could hear it in the tremble of his voice, the piercing pulsing of his thoughts. He was disappointed in Soonyoung for not telling them his problems sooner, how it ultimately manifested in his self-destructive tendency. But Jeonghan was also disappointed in himself for not noticing Soonyoung's depletion sooner.

Jeonghan was a whirlwind of heavy emotions. Most of all though, Jeonghan was happy.

Then the trial happened, their destiny was haphazardly judged by the 'justice' system. It was already decided beforehand, even if Soonyoung hadn't awaken yet, the decision on what would happen to them would ceaselessly commence.

Fortunately, they were let out without any repercussion. It came as a shock to Seungcheol until Seungkwan pulled him aside with a worried frown. "Don't worry, this is the last time I'll exploit it," Seungkwan had whispered, tried to assure, but Seungcheol didn't care. Fairness was in perspective, he had discovered.

The city, surprisingly enough, had supported that decision.

They all thrived together from their unpleasant experiences. Seungcheol ended up spending most of his time at Jeonghan's rather than his own apartment. And as they all recover, flourish, Jeonghan had started realizing just how devoted Seungcheol was to him, them.

He had stayed, then continued. Instead of asking Jeonghan to come over, he visited the shapeshifter's apartment frequently. Because he knew Soonyoung and Chan was still somewhat uncomfortable with staying in such a lavish environment, but Seungcheol had no problem staying at their less than ideal one.

The idea racked upon Jeonghan's head as his money began to collect from the steady income given by the agency, until one day he'd gathered enough.

"I'm gonna move out," he had announced, fingers running through Seungcheol's hair in his lap.

"Okay."

"It won't be too far from here, I don't think we're ready for that yet."

Seungcheol got up, rested his head onto Jeonghan's shoulder instead. He took his time peppering kisses on the other's collar bone. It wasn't often that both Soonyoung and Chan wasn't at the apartment. Today, both of them were occupied at the agency. He exploited those moments thoroughly, breathing in the air of his Jeonghannie before he registered the words.

"Do you need any help moving out? I can search for an apartment."

To this Jeonghan gulped, Seungcheol could feel the movement where he was, resting against Jeonghan's neck.

"I already found one. It's just outside of the slums; it's pretty nice, pretty clean. It's uh - It's a four bedroom apartment."

Seungcheol hummed, that sounds nice.

Idiot.

Seungcheol chuckled, still not getting it.

"You know for a detective you sure are slow sometimes." Four bedrooms Seungcheol.

"What?" Seungcheol had drawn back, not understanding the pointed look he was given. So what if it's a four bedroo- "Oooh."

"Yeaahh...oh." Jeonghan shoved him, a faux exasperated look on his face. "So?" He then asked more sheepishly.

And as Seungcheol turned towards his boyfriend, eyes wide and calm, the logical final answer was, "Yes, absolutely." Seungcheol leaned, giving his everything a promise through a kiss, parting in a well-earned, giddy chuckle. "We'll have a free room though," he started, clearing his throat, "cause there's no way in hell I'm missing a chance of waking up beside you every day."

They all received a second chance to a new life, a better one, and that was all that they could've hoped for.

They'd made it then, Seungcheol was confident they would make it now, almost exactly a year later. Seungcheol would get there on time to see the happiest day of his coworker/partner's life and he'd get to enjoy it with his own (hopefully) life partner.

"I think a shower sounds like an amazing idea," Jeonghan groaned, rubbing circles absentmindedly on his thighs, each cycle making Seungcheol's heart warm. This was a good day, no traffic, no rat-maze detour, no amount of sweat could change that.

But maybe a shower was needed in this situation.

"Mingyu's?" Seungcheol eyed Soonyoung through the rearview mirror, already texting the other to anticipate their arrival.

"Mingyu's." He agreed.

 

💊💊💊

 

Seungkwan couldn't stop, he'd ruffled a couple strands there, accidentally created a crease near the lapel, then he'd been force to return, fussing over that particular space. It was a spinning sequence that Vernon found endearing...

At first.

"Stop, I look fine. We won't even be in the suits before we get there."

Seungkwan tsked, smoothing down the collar of Vernon's jacket for further measure. "I know that, but other people will be there. We need to make a good impression the second we arrive."

Vernon eyed the other two lounging behind them, hands busied with champagne flutes. "You gonna help me or what?"

Joshua just clinked his glass with Wonwoo, before downing the whole thing, grimacing openly. It was odd since they were non-alcoholic. "You're on your own on that one buddy."

Vernon sighed, he could use a drink too right now - an actual alcoholic drink. But there would be plentiful refreshments tonight. Besides, he was absolutely certain he didn't want to be drinking himself into forgetting this moment.

"We need to be at the airport in thirty, by the way." Wonwoo was worried, knowing they all have a tendency to prolong everything before going anywhere. Especially Vernon, although it wasn't his fault. He only ever came to work late because Seungkwan's always at his peak fussiness in the morning.

Secretly, Vernon loved it.

Besides, Vernon owned the company, he could arrive whenever he wanted to.

The proposition came once the downfall of Trask Industry was cemented. It left a ginormous chasm in the technologies and sciences market, Vernon was the only person who had predicted it happening (with a little help from Soonyoung), whilst everyone else was still clinging to the hopes that someone would eventually take over the company. Unfortunately, the name had brought down their integrity, their notoriety, somewhat. Even the strategical name change couldn't alleviate that problem. It was the perfect time for Vernon to swoop in, having seemingly endless money and resources, with people backing him up from his international visitations, it was almost effortless. But most importantly, he had trust - the city had witnessed the defeat of their former mayor. Their names were public knowledge and the city was grateful for their selfless service, even donating for Soonyoung's expenses. Added to that Wonwoo as his lead researcher and Joshua as their sponsor, they're practically unstoppable.

This time it was different, their research and further development in mutations and technologies had a purpose. They lend their technology to both the slums and the agency, in hopes they could level the playing field for everybody. There were even talks that because of them, people were generally in favor for their screening procedures, they just needed to create the technology that would be capable of commencing that safely, and without any room for exploitation. Even the elites had donated to the cause, not wanting the divide to end with a civil war.

Wonwoo predicted they'll be finished at the end of the year.

"It's fine, the airport is close." Seungkwan assured, airports being a frequented place for the elites. But maybe, sometime in their near future, it won't be super exclusive anymore.

Seungkwan was happily contributing, just much as the others; instead of throwing away recalled pieces of clothing from his parents’ line of work, he donated the wearable ones to the slums. Joshua oversaw all this happenings, his charity work being the savior for almost half the city, he was quite renowned. It was operated out of pocket at the moment, but they were working in making a sustainable system for everyone so everybody could benefit.

"Okay," the door clicked open, revealing Seokmin with his hair sticking up frenziedly. "I'm done."

"Really?" Seungkwan sighed, showing his disapproval, he had been working tirelessly at making everyone appear somewhat presentable and now he had to reorganize Seokmin's particularly unruly hair. "We offered a driver didn't we?"

"I didn't think it was that far," Seokmin whined, if he did he would've accepted their offer as well. He just wanted to scale down on luxuries ever since the incident. Today he had been running a couple errands around the city, making certain that his company was left with good attendance whilst he leave the city for a couple weeks. The last run was near Mingyu's house, one of the small branch of his store was having trouble with their Wi-Fi, and it being one of the largest building near the elites, needed to be tended by him personally.

Seokmin, like everyone else in the room, discovered purpose that day. He had begged his parents to open up a branch for himself, instead of taking over the company. And because of his renowned, heroic statusp, spreading throughout the city, he had no trouble collecting investors.

The tech company had one simple purpose; evening out the spread of technology throughout the city, and hopefully the world. It was an admirable motivation, fighting for equality. And it was supported by the people of the city who had laid witness to the horrors of their previous ways. Most importantly, it's supported by his friends. Their existence becoming synonymous to young heroes who were fortunate enough to start up their own business at a startlingly young age.

"We should get going you know." Wonwoo reminded again, tapping his watch for extra emphasis.

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, still not satisfied on how everyone looked, but deciding not to pursuit things further. They could look like monkey's that'd escaped the zoo for all he cared. "Fine, get Mingyu then."

When nobody in the room moved, Seungkwan glared.

"Really?"

"They might be - you know..." Seokmin whispered like the couple could hear them through layers of walls between them, face turning tomato red.

"Jeonghan's coming over, by the way," Joshua piped in the absence of volunteers.

And really now, did he have to do everything himself? "Fine." Seungkwan stomped petulantly towards the door, but before his hand could reach, the handle suddenly turned.

A sleepy - bed head, Mingyu came in, his eyes barely open, with gunk sticking to the corners.

Seungkwan gasped, horrified, hands coming dramatically to cover his mouth. "Don't tell me - you were asleep?! This whole time!"

"Sorry, we had uhm...a late night." Jihoon muttered sheepishly from behind Mingyu and everyone groaned. He was purposefully using the bigger one to cover his body, which seemed real convenient when he never really liked being reminded of his short stature before.

Seungkwan smiled, tightlipped, borderline unhinged, walking backwards towards the couch before unceremoniously plopping himself onto it. "I give up." He threw his hands up for extra emphasis. "Go shower or something, we need to be there in thirty."

"Twenty five," Wonwoo corrected, barely focusing on the chaos, double checking their schedule instead.

Mingyu, who had barely registered the words, yawned, nodding lifelessly, before turning silently around, opened his arm and kneeled expectantly.

Jihoon, who had turned fifty shades of red at this point, threw himself hesitantly in a still sleep addled Mingyu's arm. The larger of the two picked him up, supporting the other beneath their thighs, even shuffling once which prompted everyone to groan furthermore, for Jihoon to bury his head in the other's neck.

A litany of "Eww." And "Gross." And "Get a room." Carried them out like a choir of assholes.

"Well, that was unexpected," Seungkwan muttered sarcastically, barely settling down before the door burst open again.

"Surprise!" Soonyoung shouted, barreling himself like a bowling ball to the pins lounging idly on the couch, a chorus of 'oofs' strangled forcefully out of them.

Seungkwan glanced at the sweaty figures in front of him before whining pitifully. "Why do I even bother at this point?"

Vernon chuckled, sitting himself besides his distressed boyfriend, pulling him to his side comfortingly. The way Seungkwan worry was really endearing.

"Well nice to see you too," Seungcheol rolled his eyes. "We need a shower by the way."

"No shit!" Seungkwan mumbled, losing its previous bite.

"It's not our fault that somebody was late."

Seungcheol groaned. "Hannie, I said I was sorry."

"Uh huh." Jeonghan shook his head.

Chan at that point had buried himself in between Seokmin and Joshua, despite their protests of him being disgusting and sweaty.

"Damn I'm so tired."

"Still need a shower," Wonwoo deadpanned, before rising from the couch, evacuating the contaminated area.

"If you're gonna shower go to the ones downstairs, Mingyu and Jihoon's on this floor."

Seungcheol grimaced.

Joshua shook his head. "No, they just overslept this time."

Seungcheol really didn't need to see that side of his friends again. Walking in on their thoughts once was enough nightmare and repressed trauma to last him a lifetime. Thinking about it always send the detective into a blank-like state, not understanding how...fluid, the lab technician could be and-

"Okay! Stop- goddammit stop oversharing," Jeonghan complained. Sometimes Jeonghan felt special for having that particular connection with Seungcheol. Other instances, it made him want to launch his boyfriend out the window.

The couple turned, Jeonghan dragging Seungcheol towards the shower.

"We need to be there in twenty, by the way!" Wonwoo shouted.

Both Chan and Soonyoung groaned, letting up from their victims, they needed their showers too.

"See you in three," Soonyoung called behind him.

"Five - oh god, please make it at least five," Seungkwan practically begged.

 

💊💊💊

 

The eleven of them ended up getting to the airport a whole thirty minutes early. In hindsight, when everybody raced towards the gates whilst Wonwoo, the one with their schedule, was lagging calmly behind them, they should've sense something was amiss.

"Fuck you."

"What? If I didn't lie about the time, we would've been late." Wonwoo couldn't stop laughing. At least half of them tripped over their feet in their rush - it was hilarious.

"Yeah, but -" Jeonghan flailed, not knowing what to say. "Fuck you."

But truly that decision was for the best, or else their flight would've departed without them. Now they had time to lounge around the airport, gather their bearings and calm their excitement.

Their flight wasn't going anywhere particularly far, its destination was to a private island located outside of the city. It was a beautiful and quaint place that Seungcheol contributed in finding. The island was lush with greenery and greatest of all, secluded, which were all the things that Minghao adored. It's absolute perfection, the main building of the island resembled that of Ricardo Bofill's 'La Fabrica'; old-timey, uniquely romantic architecture, with ivy traveling upwards it's exterior, a spacious garden filled unendingly with exotic flowers, and a beautiful ocean view - integrated into it were futuristic walls of windows and the neon lined pathways inside the building.

The island caused gazillions to rent out for a day - let alone two weeks, and was extremely sought after. They had managed to secure it by booking almost six months in advance, and outbidding others who'd wanted the island themselves. They weren't any competition against the most successful youngsters in the city after all.

The place was usually rented only for large gatherings and special occasions. Which was exactly what this'd be. A very special occasion.

Everyone was thrumming with excitement in their airport seats, garnering attention from the people waiting around them.

I'm so happy for them.

Me too, Jeonghan replied, squeezing Seungcheol's fingers.

They're enthusiastic buzzing were disruptively coursing through them that one would think they were all getting married.

"Oh!" Seungkwan squealed. "Junhui just texted me a picture of him wearing the suit - isn't it beautiful?" He sent the picture to everyone.

It was beautiful. A black velvet suit jacket, with red ornate rose pattern spattering decorating it, also with slacks to match. Beneath it Junhui wore a white crinkled shirt and a deep burgundy tie. The picture cut off from the thighs up, so the shoes weren't on display, but they all could imagine how amazing their friend would look tomorrow.

"It's just so beautiful," Seungkwan echoed, eyes glassy.

"Why are you surprise, you're the one who made the sui-"

"Shh, Lee Chan, let me enjoy this." The younger glare, but reluctantly admitted it was a beautiful outfit, it made them want to get there even quicker. Just as the anticipation was about to kill them, their jet was finally ready to take them.

 

💊💊💊

 

The rehearsal dinner the day before the wedding was probably one of the exciting parts about this wedding. Seungcheol wouldn't say it, but he was a sucker for traditional weddings. Something about going through the motions of it, having small moment of calmness within such a glamorous occasion, that also didn't have anything to do with business felt fantastic. He had hoped since he was a child that he could go through one himself, with a person he truly loves.

"Thanks." The ornate velvet box that Seungcheol slipped Junhui was a massive relief. Nobody had noticed, not even Minghao, but Junhui had forgotten to bring their rings with him to the island. Thank fuck for Choi Seungcheol, a partner whose loyalty showed in tightlipped silence when the situation called it.

"Sure - can't have me investigating your murder the day before your wedding."

Junhui chuckled, saluting with the box. "You sure you didn't get it mixed up."

At that, Seungcheol's heart immediately lodged itself into his throat. "I'm sure."

They were about to discuss things further when a knock reverberated though, and with a concise, "Come in." Mingyu trudged his way inside, looking severely worn. The sight of the boneless hulking figure made Seungcheol instinctively construct his mental barrier extra tight.

Never again.

"Done with unpacking?" Junhui didn't seem to share his partner's trepidation. Welcoming the clearly fucked-out Mingyu whilst busying with his appearance in the mirror.

The dinner rehearsal was something casual, only for close friends and families, they didn't feel dressing up was necessary, so everyone opted with wearing semi-casual clothing. Thank god, Junhui didn't think he could go through with wearing constrictive formal wear two days in a row.

"I'm done - s'nice place by the way." The breathtaking scenery was definitely worth the expensive price.

Everyone was coupled for each specifically themed, equally exquisite rooms. Their beds were the shape of a semi-circle, with two crescent shaped light fixtures protruding from their headboard. The walls were all made of smart glasses, transparent and opaque by command, alongside the controllable projection imbedded inside. Chan and Soonyoung in particular, preoccupied themselves by changing it into a beach- no a rainforest.

Seungcheol got the night sky suite whilst Mingyu got the garden themed one. Turns out, Mingyu really liked Jihoon passionately talking about the different kinds of holographic flora. Like, really, liked it.

...And now he's tired.

"Gross." Seungcheol couldn't help that he slip up sometimes. "Think of something else, please."

"Like...if you decided to maybe join us?" Junhui sat in between the two, the lounge area they were in were reserved for Junhui tomorrow, similarly the crowded one down the hallway was reserved for Minghao. Having complete privacy allotted them endless topics of conversations.

"I don't know - I haven't decided if I'm going to college yet." Being a field operative for the agency was certainly not something his parents would readily approve of. Not only was it dangerous, it also didn't provide much when it came to income.

The things that he went through really influenced him though, and the sheer fact that he could help, made him want to do it. Besides, being closer to Jihoon whilst working wasn't a downside either.

"Well, whatever you decide, I'm sure Jihoon would support you," Seungcheol offered, Junhui humming along.

It was freaky, whenever Junhui and Seungcheol's together, it's like they both instinctively merged their abilities together, making it easier to read anyone. Mingyu didn't like it, impressed yes. Appreciate, no.

"Enough about me, tomorrow's your big day, nervous?"

"Nope." There was a slight tremble as he said it, slight trepidation only emphasizing how important it was. He wasn't lying. "I mean...it feels like I've been waiting for this moment since I met him." He didn't know how else to explain it, but as his feelings expanded within his ribcage, the pleasantly warm, all-consuming emotion that was Xu Minghao spread through the room, giving a glimpse for the other two on what he felt.

They both get it, it was similar to how they felt for their partners respectively. Just as important and all-consuming. But rather than drowning in their anxieties, navigating the waves were almost easy whenever they're together. Love. What a wonderful thing.

Cheollie?

"Hannie's looking for me." Just as he announced it, the shapeshifter, unannounced, entered through the door. He was sporting a different hair style than when they had arrived. Jeonghan's previously short locks were long again, shimmering a silver-grayish sheen.

He happily walked inside the room, tipping his head in greeting towards Junhui, before depositing himself onto Seungcheol. Several others trailed behind the shapeshifter; Seungkwan dragging Vernon reluctantly, alongside Jihoon who's lagging behind them.

"Hey!"

"Hey, miss us?"

"You were just across the hall," Junhui pointed. After getting a glimpse of what Junhui looked like wearing his suit, Seungkwan had insisted to see Minghao wearing his as well. After being appointed of organizing their outfits, the stylist been bustling incessantly. Seungkwan could be fastidious when he wanted to be.

"Minghao looked terrific, by the way, in his suit." Vernon was really impress with Seungkwan this time, the suits just complimented them well.

Seungkwan huffed, putting his head on Vernon's shoulder. "Of course it's great, I made it."

It was almost comical how startlingly different Seungkwan and Vernon was. One a ball of nervous energy, rolled in sparkling diamonds, and beneath it all was a concealed emotional heart. Whilst the other had a relaxed, phlegmatic exterior, alongside insides that contained a lot of emotions for one just to handle.

They shouldn't work with how they're constantly bickering over little things- well, more Seungkwan complaining whilst Vernon indulged, like now, teasing back and forth. They're opposites

Junhui knew better, maybe knew more than everyone else in the room when it came to the matters of the heart.

One look and Junhui knew, the unending depths of affection the two possess for one another. Similarly to the other couples, their contents of their heart were painfully apparent, even if he wasn't an empath.

Junhui knew all their hearts.

"C'mere."

"No."

Like how Jihoon secretly liked how Mingyu offered a spot in his lap without question, after Jihoon eyed the way Jeonghan had plopped down so easily onto Seungcheol. It showed that the other was attentive. Jihoon in his own ways, allowed Mingyu to take care of him. Opening up his vulnerable parts. Taking a chance.

Junhui knew.

Maybe the strongest feeling in the room stemmed from Seungcheol. His jacket pocket seemed to weigh heavier than the shapeshifter, currently shifting speedily in his lap.

"How about the blonde? It'll go well with your best man suit, but I don't know if it'll go well with my suit."

"You look great with anything." Seungcheol obliged, kissing Jeonghan's temple.

"Yeah, I know that, I just don't wanna look stupid tomorrow." Jeonghan frowned. "Maybe I'll go naked and shift into-"

"No!" The others protest.

Jeonghan shifted in his spot, affronted. "Wow, thanks."

Chuckling, Seungcheol cooed and dragged the currently smaller one closer to his body, gripping his hips tightly. "C'mere." He turned Jeonghan to face him before planting a chased kiss onto the other's lips.

That earned a groan from everyone.

Maybe it was the reminder that Jeonghan was real, and was there, and was his as much as he was Jeonghan's that made the pocket weighed less than it did before, Junhui speculated. But he knew that Seungcheol's heart was also trident true.

The thing he absolutely knew most was probably the ethereal endless beauty that resided in the room across from him. The person he thanked god (as an atheist) for, every day.

The most fantastic part about it was the comfort in knowing that Minghao felt the same about him.

This was a happy occasion. There were threads of negative emotions weaving inside the fabric of positivity; anxiety, trepidation, and worries, but instead of ruining the whole piece, it made the experience even more beautiful. Junhui realized this, that at its core everything was their own brand of perfection.

The rehearsal dinner went off without any dilemmas, commencing under the moonlit sky, underscoring the spattering of sparkling stars. The food was delicious as it was mesmerizing to see. And the happy folks surrounding the table, sharing the experience, wrapped the present up in a bow.

After today's perfection, could only come tomorrow’s beauty.

Notes:

To anybody wondering what the island looks like, i sorta stole it from that (kinda underwhelming, but really ~aesthetiquee~) movie Paradise Hills, which is Ricardo Bofill's Architecture, and also a part of the island which will show later on the second epilogue I stole from this MV, specifically at minute 1:11-1:33ish.
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Okay stay tune fr part 2! <3

Find me on:
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Chapter 24: Epilogue pt. 2: Cause We're a Page-Turner Heart Warmer Science-Fiction Fantasy

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The wedding reception took place at the highest point of the architecture they're mainly residing in, a tower only accessible through a bridge. It wasn't connected to the rest of the buildings, placed secluded, located near a cliff's edge overlooking the limitless expanse of the sparkling sapphire ocean. The sunlight hit the calm surface of the water magnificently, whilst the sky opened up, showering glitter to the seafoam green decoration littering the reception. Sending rays of ethereal light onto specific places.

Junhui thought it was perfect, everything glimmering under such a beautiful day. All his worried laid later, during the ceremony.

Nobody was there yet, Minghao opted to strolling through the garden that the property offered, alongside Jeonghan who had subsequently been appointed Minghao's best man.

To think that a lot of them hadn't known each other just over a year ago. That Minghao had surrounded himself with extremely dangerous people that could take his life guiltlessly in a split second. And now Minghao had friends, coworkers who actually knew him. Jeonghan had become close enough, almost maternal enough first, their connection stemming from their respective boyfriends. Now Jeonghan's honored with the best man title. Junhui couldn't think of anyone better.

Speaking of best man.

"You didn't forget the ring again?"

"It's in my pocket," Junhui patted, his heartbeat skipping when he didn't feel it there on the first pat.

Seungcheol laughed, unbridled, elbowing the groom, "Nice."

"It's not my fault I'm busy thinking of everything else."

Seungcheol nodded, grabbing the fretting detective before sitting him down. Junhui could pretend like he wasn't nervous of anything but it was only normal for the pre-wedding jitters to finally set in.

"Calm down, the next twenty four hours would be one of the best moments of your life." Seungcheol patted his friend who he was fully supporting now.

That pressure...suddenly, Junhui was afraid. "What if Minghao-"

"Minghao, loves you."

Everyone knew this, it was ridiculously obvious. As the oldest relationship within the group it was unmistakable, the two were practically married already. The only thing separating them at the time was their unfortunate circumstance. But today, they're free.

"You're not nervous at all?" Junhui questioned, voice a bit strangled as he searched for the truth in his partner's eyes.

Seungcheol chuckled, once, before looking away, thinking of the angel who'd graced his life.

 

💊💊💊

 

"Really? Not even a little." Jeonghan stepped, grimacing from the wet mossy feel of being barefooted. Minghao was skipping along, wistfully treading the forest-like area like an otherworldly creature.

The flower garden was indeed beautiful, it was a little journey away from the main building. There were no fences or walls lining it, instead there were towering trees sparsely growing in between the beds of flowers. It almost seemed like a magical forest, plucked straight out of a fairytale.

Minghao, the few days he had stayed here had utilized these garden-like areas often, going on nature walks ridiculously early in the morning that the fog was still teeming low. The minimal time he had with this piece of nature had made him comfortable, familiar with traversing it, like old companions. And whatever freak out he'd had in the day, whatever anxious thoughts his insecurities were conjuring up, the place always managed to calm him down. He could tell that this was going to be a spot he would frequent in the future, he would look back on it with nothing but beautiful memories.

"I had my freak-outs, I'm fine now."

Jeonghan hummed, arm encircled around Minghao's. Taking a step atop of the smooth rocks protruding from the creek they were trying to cross. Jeonghan found the coldness seeping through him unbearable, hissing with every step. Minghao just smiled.

"Are people supposed to be this calm when they're getting married?" Jeonghan teased, barking out a chuckle, stopping abruptly from almost slipping.

A steadying hand came over Jeonghan's waist, making sure he's upright before Minghao crossed first, helping the other later.

"I don't know, people are different I guess." They began walking in silence, Jeonghan in anticipation since Minghao had talked up this particular area so much that he's excited to see it.

True to the advertising, the place was magnificent beyond belief.

"Woah."

Rushing over towards the lake, smattering of droplets from the waterfall refreshed the shapeshifter significantly, with eyes widening in increasing wonder. There were vines curling around granite pillars, fragmented from what used to be a gazebo. The mismatching-ness adding character to what's categorized as broken.

The whole area was enticing Jeonghan to dip his toes in, go for a swim, it didn't matter if the water was freezing. Not to mention the cave Jeonghan could clearly see beyond the waterfall was calling to be explored. It seemed like an opportunity too enticing to miss.

And if it weren't for the wedding commencing later in the day, Jeonghan would've jumped. Maybe later, when everyone was asleep and the two married couple finally sequestered themselves in their room, Jeonghan would sneak out, dragging Seungcheol along.

"Pretty, huh?"

"Very." Jeonghan agreed.

They sat with their toes in the water, leaning on the pillars in peace. Minghao only kept silent for a minute before breaking the calmness with his inquisitive voice.

"What about you? How would you feel on your wedding day?"

Jeonghan who had been fascinated by staring at the thin sheen growing around Minghao's feet, the other's ability protecting him from the temperature, finally looked up.

Stumped, Jeonghan hummed, contemplating the question thoroughly. Minghao waited patiently.

"I don't know - I never thought about marriage before. I don't know if I even want one. People like me-"

Minghao nodded, knowing what Jeonghan meant. He never struggled like Jeonghan, but he had been an immigrant and living was tremendously difficult then. But he wasn't that person anymore, and neither was Jeonghan. They had their resurrection, steadily surrounding themselves with people that created an easier atmosphere for them to breathe in, to exist in.

They're finally able to think beyond the day ahead. They're finally allowed the moment to know what ambition felt like.

"I mean, Seungcheol wants to get married." They talked about it in the earlier parts of their relationship, knowing how imperative those conversation was for a healthy connection. Their wants and needs from one another, laid bare. "He wants to have kids too." Never mind that they practically had eleven. "But...I don't know."

Minghao hummed, it was sort of a heavy handed question. But even through the haziness and hesitation, the small smile that curled itself onto Jeonghan's lips when the shapeshifter started to fantasize those scenarios told an evident story.

Minghao smirked knowingly, inching closer beside Jeonghan. The two sat there for as long as time permitted, prolonging their eventual return. Jeonghan's the one who noticed how low the sun had gotten, realizing how idiotic it was to escape into the woods without any technology-based time teller.

They ran with pine needles sticking to their soles, one pushing another to go.

"You're getting married, you fuck! Stop dragging your feet."

 

💊💊💊

 

The ran back to the changing room, the frantic exchange of clothing, and the singular pissed of Seungkwan was all well and worth it considering their undisputed end result.

Everyone's eyes were on the couple, Junhui wanting to be walked down the aisle by his parents and Minghao enjoying the view. He might not have parents attending himself, but at least the supportive ones he got from this marriage was enough for him. Besides, he had family, all twelve of them with eyes on him. One pair brighter than the others.

"Nice call," Chan whispered to Seungkwan, pertaining to Jeonghan's hair. The shapeshifter hadn't decided which style he was going with until Seungkwan made the executive decision to style it black, short, with bangs.

Chan had fought against it endlessly, just because the younger liked arguing with Seungkwan, but he could admit when he was wrong.

Both Seungcheol and Jeonghan were wearing muted burgundy suits that were exactly the same safe for a couple of differentiating details. It was the perfect suits to complement the ones the grooms were wearing. Everyone could agree to that.

"I don't think I've ever seen Minghao smile this wide before." Jihoon pointed, Mingyu squeezing his hand.

"I know." Mingyu brought his own partner's hand and kissed it, loving the immediate reaction that took over the lab technician’s face whenever he does anything affectionate in public.

Mingyu remembered the first time he came over to Jihoon's workplace - the lab technician had received even more notoriety in the agency, subsequently garnering butt-loads of his coworkers’ attention. Of course, none as close as the ones he met through the incident. But everyone was friendlier to him now, had stuck around him whenever he needed company.

That's why, when Mingyu returned from an investor's party his parents had been invited too decked in all moss-green three piece ensemble, looking like a super villain, all eyes turned to him. Everyone kept staring and kept turning until he stopped at the cafeteria Seungcheol had said Jihoon was in. Surprising the young scientist, he came up behind his unsuspecting victim to plant a smacking kiss on his cheek.

Jihoon had glowed bright crimson that Rudolph would think he'd lost his nose. The smaller later would describe it as embarrassing, but the taller would argue that it was the most adorable thing he had ever witnessed.

Unsurprising that after that, Mingyu initiated more PDA just to elicit those adorable reactions. He had no qualms with it, and neither does Jihoon based on the absence of objection.

Right then, surrounded with found family, in a deeply romantic setting. The two couldn't help but imagine.

The couple weren't certain if domesticity was for them, but they could agree that they wanted to stay with each other for a long long time. And to see the two oldest relationship in their group finally made it, brought happy tears to their faces.

Nervous? Seungcheol asked again, but Junhui's smile only widen.

Not anymore.

The time stretched by slowly before Junhui reached the front, his father giving a comforting pat to his elbow to send him off. Minghao reached his hand immediately, barely containing his emotion as it spilled into his cheeks, redden, damp.

Junhui wasn't nervous, but if the breeze blew any harder he's sure he'd be forced into kneeling. Nobody could blame him, it's expected when he's facing the most beautiful human on earth.

"We are gathered here today," the officiant began, rattling of the same basic speech. Throwing a couple of personalize lines into it. It was a little dry, but that was expected when the officiant was their boss.

The captain had gladly accepted the offer to officiant two of his most reputable workers (who hadn't been slick enough to hide their relationship from him) in marriage.

The billowing wind rustled the grooms’ ears, until the two couldn't hear anything but their beating hearts. And then it's time for their vows.

"Minghao, we started our relationship miserably. We were both put in a...difficult-" Junhui sighted, trying to remember his simple and concise vows. Through his mental barrier reached Seungcheol, doing his best man duties in trying to calm Junhui down. -"situation. We weren't supposed to make it, because things kept getting increasingly harder after." Junhui chuckled through his tears as the crowd echoed his sentiment. "But we're finally here and I could never be happier than to be standing here with you."

Sniffles reverberated through the small onlookers. Everybody hitching themselves up for another floodgates of tears. Because Minghao looked absolutely ready to say I do, his heart showing on his sleeves the way he'd rarely do for anybody else.

"Junhui..." Minghao started, choking on his name. "For most of my life I've never been given options. Just living life from one task to another." Minghao recalled all those horrible occurrences he'd endured. Suppressing all those nightmares were difficult. "Until I met you and you showed me- " cutting his gazes to the specific people in the crowd, Minghao smiled at the ground, fingers tightening in his. Chuckling he restarted again, "Because I've never be allowed to choose anything for myself. But in this moment, I'm glad that I can finally choose you.

After their emotional climax had simmered down, Seungcheol brought their rings forward, glad that he gave the right ones.

Junhui took it, exchanging their rings, dampen with droplets of tears on shiny gold metals.

"I pronounce you married."

The newlyweds’ lips locked. They're two gears who couldn't bear to be separated, less the beautiful machine that was them broke down.

Cheering and hollering washed over the crowd, honored to lay witness to such beauty.

"I love you," Minghao whispered before surging forward again.

The newlyweds inspired some of the couples in the crowd it seemed. Jeonghan glanced ones at Seungcheol, before dragging themselves to the sideline, sharing their own private kiss.

Even the younger ones were influenced. Only taking one singular look at Seungkwan, puffy eyes and heavy cries, Vernon's hands automatically reached for those dampen cheeks. Squeezing them minutely, chuckling as Seungkwan eyes went wide and-

"Verno-"

-Kissing the living daylight out of his boyfriend.

"Sap," Seungkwan whispered, giving a playful shove on his boyfriend's shoulder before diving back in.

Not one to be upstage when it came to public displays of affection, Mingyu did what he thought was only fitting.

He did the same thing.

Jihoon stopped his clapping to look at the arms that had curled silently around his midsection. "What are you-" a pair of lips stopped the words from stumbling over.

Affection bloomed from the heartaches they've endured. A tightness within finally allowed to release. Everybody needed today just as much as the newlyweds did. Their hopes of a better future represented by the bestest of people. From the tentative kisses of their youngest, to the promised filled ones of the oldest. To the long awaited kiss of the newlyweds then to the heated ones of their most unlikely couple. They're finally hopeful.

Chan watched everything transpire, huffing in his seat. He never thought forming a romantic relationship with anyone before. But now, in the eye of the lip locked hurricane, he couldn't help but want one. "Okay this isn't fair. I want someone to kiss."

At least he wasn't the only one.

"Me too," Seokmin agreed.

"I don't." But Wonwoo was different, romance being his least favorite thing done to himself.

"I do," Joshua whispered underneath his breath, swirling his dirty martini he got earlier at the bar.

"Me too, buddy," Soonyoung huffs, although he's content with everything right now. Still, as the option presented itself- he couldn't kiss Wonwoo, that would just be disrespectful on the other's preference. And he couldn't kiss his - practically, brothers - not like that - disgusting. So it leaves one other option.

Seokmin didn't register the hands that were turning his face to the right until his vision was drawn away from the newlyweds and onto someone else. "Hey?"

"Hi." Soonyoung smiled before planting a brief but smacking kiss on the other's lips.

The other two patrons flanking them groaned.

"Satisfied?" Chan asked, irritated, earning a mirthless chuckle from Wonwoo.

"Mmm." Was Soonyoung's final answer, giving a curt nod and a shrug.

 

💊💊💊

 

The newlyweds spent the last moments of their ceremony red-faced, and giggly. Before anyone realized it, the evening sky had settled in overhead and the party commenced after.

Jeonghan had been trying, and failing to do his duties as best man to assemble everybody into at least one group picture. But the others scattered haphazardly and his hands could only imprisoned two people at a time, releasing one to gather another, resulted in the person he released disappearing.

Feeling the need to freshen up, he went to the bathroom only to return realizing Soonyoung and Chan had gone off, disappearing from where he told them to stay. put.

He huffed, eyeing the crowd again, spotting Seungcheol talking to Jihoon and Mingyu, they kept disappearing and reappearing ever since the ceremony. Jeonghan had absolutely enough, trudging his way menacingly, getting caught in the throngs of dancing people in the process, he intended to give them a piece of his mind.

Go. He heard in his head, muffled, similar to a whisper. Which Jeonghan guessed wasn't intended towards him.

By the time he got there, Mingyu and Jihoon had disappeared again. Guess he knew who Seungcheol was speaking to.

"Why'd you tell them to go?" The shapeshifter whined, swinging his boyfriend's arm wildly.

And right as Jeonghan asked, a fortress as thick as the great wall sprouted, protecting around Seungcheol's thoughts, locking Jeonghan away.

The training's been fruitful after all. Ever since the agency deemed it fit to personalize each mutant's training, Seungcheol had gotten better at not letting his thoughts spill, even to Jeonghan.

It was a blessing most of the time, but currently it only served to annoy the shapeshifter.

"Uhm...Mingyu said he needed to-"

"They're gonna fuck again aren't they?"

Seungcheol's ears glowed embarrassingly at that. Jeonghan sighed, body slumping onto the older who caught him readily, a steady comforting hand patting his back. They swayed almost instinctively, to the breezy music playing in the background, swimming over a natural rhythm, their feet pushing and pulling like tides of the ocean.

"I just want to take one good picture together."

Seungcheol shushed a whining Jeonghan, who he honestly thought was adorable. Everyday he's astounded by Jeonghan's dedication in caring for them, even for inconsequential things like taking pictures together. Seungcheol thought he wouldn't dislike having to endure that until he die, then forever.

"We'll have plenty of time for that, okay? - It's not like they could get off the island."

Jeonghan chuckled, the vibration tickling Seungcheol's neck. "True."

For some time they just swayed to the steady rhythmic thumping of the music, losing themselves in one another. Lost between strangers in a crowd. Jeonghan thought, the least he could get during this party was a picture with Junhui and Minghao. The thought of capturing their impossibly wide smiles on their wedding day, even without him in the picture, really excited him. Maybe he could post them online, boast about how adorable those two lovebirds were, and maybe embarrass them a little.

Wanting it very badly, his eyes began scanning the crowd, searching for those fated two.

It wasn't a massive gathering, barely a hundred people were invited and some had already left with the night ferry that was provided by the island. It was mainly Junhui's family members, distant cousins, aunts and uncles. And then there were coworkers from the agency, attending to show their support. So it wasn't difficult for Jeonghan to take account of the people present, quickly realizing there were a lot more missing in the crowd than he previously expected. Eleven people to be exact.

Jeonghan drew his head away from where it rested comfortably on Seungcheol's shoulders, signaling the telepath. "No fucking way," He breathed, Jeonghan could understand the others being exhausted and wanting to turn in early. Or in the case of Mingyu and Jihoon - fuck each other. But the newlyweds - missing from their own wedding? Oh, hell no.

"Jeonghan don-"

"We have to find them, come on." Dragging Seungcheol hands faster than the detective could speak, fire bloomed within each steps. Jeonghan expertly dodged the swarms of people, simultaneously looking like an ethereal God of fury.

God Seungcheol was gone.

There wasn't anything in the world that could stop Jeonghan.

Maybe one thing.

"Jeonghan!" Junhui's mother easily engulfed the other in a hug, wiping the shapeshifter's face into a polite smile.

"Mrs. Wen, congratulations on your son's wedding."

"Oh stop, Jeonghan, you're the one who helped." She chastised, slapping lightly at the shapeshifter's arm. "And what did I told you about calling me Mrs. Wen, hmm?"

"Sorry Mrs- eomma."

Jeonghan stood back, grabbing Mr. Wen's hand in a firm handshake after Seungcheol. Mr. and Mrs. Wen was remarkably different, Jeonghan noted. Mrs. Wen was significantly more boisterous and personable, just like his son. But Mr. Wen's personality was more reserved, an ever-present polite smile and concise speech pattern as his marker. His quietness made it easier for him to accept Minghao when he was first introduced.

"Mr. Wen." Both Jeonghan and Seungcheol nodded.

"Boys, you look great this evening." Compliments were rare coming from Mr. Wen, but when it did it was always genuine.

"You boys look lovely together," Mrs. Wen emphasized, making up for her husband's lack of enthusiasm.

Junhui had introduced his parents to some of the group on the day they'd visited him at work. Seungcheol was there at his usual area beside Junhui, Jihoon had been there, since he was bored spending his time cooped up inside the laboratory, and Minghao, Soonyoung, and Jeonghan had just returned from a mission.

Junhui was ambushed, hit face first with embarrassing childhood stories and a bunch of 'now is that how you greet your mother'. The Wen's eventually offered for them to all go out for dinner together. Everyone had been reluctant initially, but they accepted anyways.

Junhui's parents quickly discovered their favorite of the bunch besides Minghao - at least, his mother did. Maybe it was the maternal instinct that guided her to the one person who had experience in raising and protecting a growing human. Jeonghan, that day, gained what he had longed for his whole life. A mother who had quickly took a liking to him and had taken him - them in readily.

Mrs. Wen was an amazing mother, so if anyone were to know where Junhui's located, it was her.

"Eomma, I can't find Junhui and Minghao anywhere - have you seen them?" Jeonghan jutted his lips, mutely trembling, looking for sympathy.

Mr. Wen couldn't resist caressing Jeonghan's cheek. There was a moment of hesitation before answering, her eyes flitting to Seungcheol briefly before returning steadfastly to his, warmth and kindness showing through. The movement didn't go amiss to Jeonghan. "Awe, I'm sorry sweetie, I don't know where they are. They did say they were tired, so maybe they turned it early?"

Jeonghan doubted it, but before his lips parted in protest, Seungcheol interrupted pretty quickly. "Ah, that makes sense."

No it doesn't.

Seungcheol's grip on his midsection tighten.

"Since the boys aren't here, you too should go turn in as well. You must be tired."

"But, eomma-"

"That's a terrific idea, eomma, have a nice evening now." Seungcheol sent the Wen's off without giving Jeonghan so much as a word to breath before the shapeshifter was dragged away from the party.

"What are you doing?"

Seungcheol only grinned, his gummy smile proudly presented. Pearly-whites glistening underneath the moonlight. He was stunning, but there was a layer of deceit in his voice that made Jeonghan second guess himself.

"Trust me." Was what Seungcheol said, sensing Jeonghan's hesitation. And since Jeonghan was maybe (more than) slightly in love with Seungcheol, he readily accepted the request.

 

💊💊💊

 

"And you're positive we're not lost?" One would think with the most capable group of people on the planet, who saved an entire city, they'd be able to manage a meager expedition better than this.

Hissing, Mingyu caught Jihoon before stepping onto the freezing puddle.

"Thanks," Jihoon muttered, beginning to walk again before Mingyu carried him over. Like a child. "I swear, Mingyu I-"

-"Guys, shut up, it's bad enough we're lost, we need to hurry and catch up with those newlyweds." Chan hissed, his flames the only source of light in the forest they're in. Trusting Soonyoung on 'shortcuts' should have a warning label over it.

"We're not lost," Soonyoung argued, no confidence behind the statement whatsoever.

"Sure," Wonwoo muttered sarcastically.

"Stop squabbling- careful-" Joshua held his hand out when Seungkwan almost slipped on a mossy patch. Repositioning, the younger gripped tightly to Vernon's sleeve.

Lugging around their equipment wasn't fun either. Thankfully, the task had been relegated to Mingyu, which annoyed the taller somewhat. Honestly they've only been walking for barely ten minutes, but it's easy to lose sight in darkness.

Climbing rocks, after rocks, Soonyoung began to question his judgment- "Woah," feeling his foot slipping, he gripped whoever's holding him up tightly.

"Thanks," he murmured, before being hoisted up and coming face to face with Seokmin. "Thanks," he repeated, a little breathlessly.

Chan rolled his eyes, this was going to be an unbearably long journey.

 

💊💊💊

 

Halfway down the sparsely lit pathway, Jeonghan quickly realized they weren't heading to their rooms after descending a staircase further.

Jeonghan's curiosity peeked even more when after they reached the bottom, Seungcheol started to advance him away from the building entirely.

What are you up to Cheollie?

The other didn't answer, but Jeonghan could tell, even from behind, his boyfriend's cheek stretching in a smile.

They went down different routes, even getting lost in the maze garden - purposefully, Jeonghan noted - by how easily it was for Seungcheol to navigate them. Time passed uneventfully, but Jeonghan could taste the beginning of something interesting brewing inside his boyfriend's mind. With anybody else, Jeonghan would be suspicious of getting murdered, but with Seungcheol all he felt was barely contained excitement and curiosity.

When their journey began to drag, a brush of branch too many for Jeonghan, the shapeshifter opened his mouth to question again - That was until a familiar looking creek presented itself to them.

"You know there's a quicker route to get here." Jeonghan pointed, recollecting the memories from earlier today.

I know. Was what Seungcheol wanted to project, but they said they need more time.

Instead what Seungcheol said was, "Really?" Before bending down and beckoning Jeonghan to get on his back.

Jeonghan raised his brow at this. "Cheollie, I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own."

"I know, but you've been busy running around taking care of the wedding all day and besides, I want to."

That was a good enough argument for Jeonghan, laziness showing through the shapeshifter easily plopped onto Seungcheol's back. Instantly snuggling his face into his boyfriend's neck.

"Is this a date?" Jeonghan questioned, when the further they walked through the forest, the more candles illuminated their pathway. Did Seungcheol planned this? Or are the candles just part of the island's night time decoration?

"We're almost there." Seungcheol non-answered, shifting Jeonghan on his back, before continuing walking.

By now, the ground had started to intermingle with petals blood-red petals - rose petals, Jeonghan's mind supplied. The further they got, the more of the flower covered the forest floor. That definitely wasn't part of the night time decoration.

"Okay - Cheol, what's going on?" Butterflies began to flutter within his stomach, but he didn't want to become excited over nothing. Not that being alone with Seungcheol wasn't exciting within itself. But imagination was a powerful thing

His suspicion was answered when Seungcheol brought him beyond the final stretch.

The tumbledown pillar-gazebo that he had visited this morning was all decorated with fairy lights now. It drew Jeonghan in like moth to a flame, and before he knew it, the shapeshifter had jumped of Seungcheol’s back, running towards the magnificent display.

There was music playing, he noted, coming through a tiny speaker. The melody familiar to him somehow. A sheet of blanket rested over the stone floor, one singular rose resting atop of it, beside a deck of cards. The picnic basket leaning against the metal bucket holding a wine bottle made Jeonghan absolutely melt.

He felt warm hands settled on his waist, and his breath hitched. "You planned this?"

"Surprise."

Immediately Jeonghan's thoughts began racing, was this an anniversary or something? Should he have brought something?

"Nope. I just wanted to make tonight special for you too."

Jeonghan couldn't help it, he melted onto Seungcheol - his back flushed with the other's broad chest.

"How selfish," Jeonghan teased, before dragging them both to sit on the blanket.

Seungcheol popped opened the wine, producing two wine glasses from inside the small basket, and a platter of chocolate covered strawberries - Jeonghan's favorite.

"Woah, this is way too much for nothing," Jeonghan pointed, but Seungcheol only shrugged, handing the rose to his boyfriend and grabbing the deck of cards.

"One round," Seungcheol suggested, knowing Jeonghan couldn't resist. It was their long-standing tradition ever since that fateful day

"What's the wager."

Humming, Seungcheol pretended to consider. "Hmm...how about, if I win we can do whatever you want for the rest of the night." Jeonghan had a few ideas. He'd never tried things outdoors before but he wasn't opposed.

"And if you win?"

"You won't ask any more questions for the rest of the night."

That's it? "Deal."

They started the game fairly at first. Strategy filled and barely teasing glances. Between the two it was undisputed that Jeonghan was the better player, his experiences aiding in most of his winnings.

But somewhere along their games Seungcheol began to cheat. His mental connection tickling the forefront of Jeonghan's mind. Seungcheol wasn't one to play unfairly, so something must be motivating him to win.

Not finding any negatives in losing, Jeonghan folded his winning card and Seungcheol won.

"Cheollie-"

"Nope," he silence Jeonghan with a finger. "No questions remember?"

Glaring, his eyes rolling to the back of his head, Seungcheol leaned in, giggling, kissing the shapeshifter’s expression away.

They finished the strawberries and whatever's left in their glass, but not the wine. Seungcheol insisted on it. He wanted them to be sober for this.

"Come on." Seungcheol began to stand up, holding a hand out to Jeonghan. "We're not done yet."

Jeonghan questioned silently what more could Seungcheol possibly planned for them out here. And when his boyfriend produced a lantern seemingly out of nowhere, Jeonghan knew he was in for something bigger than he initially thought and his heart began racing again.

Seungcheol led them to the edge of the lake where a boat was waiting for them, tied to a tree.

"After you." Seungcheol guided Jeonghan onto the boat, and before he knew it, they were now on a midnight boat ride, illuminated only by the sparkling moon above them and the lantern Seungcheol was holding.

The sparse, pulsating light casted shadows onto Jeonghan’s face, highlighting his features wonderfully. Jeonghan looked indescribably beautiful, oblivious and undoubtedly curious, but still patient enough to hold his tongue, trusting Seungcheol with his life. The telepath couldn't help it, he leaned forward again, planting an unexpected kiss to Jeonghan's lips.

"I love you." Seungcheol whispered face inches away, darken by the night sky as their breaths intermingle through the atmosphere.

It was so intimate, that at that moment, Jeonghan swore he fell in love all over again "I love you too."

Spending the entire night confused didn't seem terrible as long as he could spend it with Seungcheol. Their bodies remained inches away, drawing each other's warmth, not wanting to part. What did parted them though was the surprisingly sudden addition of light that casted greenish-blue hues onto Seungcheol's face.

"What the-" there were lotus flowers, floating all around them, leading all the way to the waterfall. Each were glowing bright emerald and cobalt, it was clear that they were no ordinary lotuses - modified somehow for its center to shine.

There was only one person Jeonghan knew who's capable of creating them, and that person had disappeared at the end of the ceremony - not to have sex after all.

"Cheollie-" Seungcheol quickly silenced him with another kiss, it appears that Jeonghan was having difficulty keeping up his end of the bargain.

Seungcheol didn't seemed to mind much, just kept smiling that gummy smile of his, increasingly looking dopier by the second. "You're the most beautiful person that I've ever known." And Seungcheol knew this compliment meant a great deal to Jeonghan.

It was quite difficult to get the shapeshifter to even showed a dusting of red on his face when his ability could easily will them away. Jeonghan had quite the relationship with his ability, having lost himself in it before. Hearing compliments on his physical appearance was nothing new when he could literally change his features into what anybody desired. It was taxing on his mental and emotional stability sometimes, feeling compelled to stay inside the cocoon that mirrored back everyone's desires. But with Seungcheol he never once thought of shifting to the other's desire, because the other's desire was him - the real him, completely and irrevocably. Jeonghan couldn't begin to express just how much he loved Choi Seungcheol for this - loved Choi Seungcheol in general.

That's why, any other questions that he had, died in his throat. Seungcheol could lead them both to their deaths for all he cared, he still trusted him. Maybe until forever.

I hope you meant that.

Jeonghan couldn't linger on that statement too long before they reached the waterfall. It wasn't as big as Jeonghan initially thought. The water bouncing off were only trickles, the stream rushing calmly downwards. Their boat easily slip through beyond the waterfall, into the cave Jeonghan wanted to explore before.

"You really are full of surprises, huh Choi Seungcheol?"

Glimmering stalactites cascaded downwards the gleaming granite ceiling. The blackness within the cave setting precedence of calmness and tranquility, instead of fear.

From where's he's positioned, facing towards the entrance of the cave, Jeonghan couldn't see the surprise waiting behind him. Meters away, located atop dry land, illuminated only by the moonlight shining through the moderate crevice cracking the ceiling, was their final destination.

"We're here."

Docking the boat, Jeonghan quickly turn, only to be faced with shit-eating grins and suspicious smiles. Jeonghan suppressed a gasp, feeling ever curioser of his situation.

"What's going on?" Jeonghan questioned tentatively. Whatever attempts of not getting his hopes up dissipating ever so rapidly.

Chan and Soonyoung approached him first, helping him off the boat whilst Seungcheol trailed behind.

"Come on, hyung," Chan implored, before he was dragged to the little set they've prepared beforehand.

The projections on the wall created pictures - almost undiscernible initially - to life, Jeonghan took some time processing everything. It was almost unrecognizable, but Jeonghan couldn't take his eyes of the entertainment before him.

The pictures - videos, being presented to him showed moments of himself at different occasions. The only correlating factors was how happy he was in every scene. Several was taken during his birthday. The first time he'd ever truly celebrated anything, the one where he had people surrounding him.

Jeonghan wanted to cry, hands grasping blindly whilst never taking his eyes off, he found Seungcheol's in the darkness. Slotting perfectly together.

Just watch, was Seungcheol's soft instruction.

Jeonghan did, watching his memories blossomed alongside those slides. Pictures taken during Chan's first training. Their first official mission together. The office party from their success.

All celebratory instances that he'd experience. Most of them shared with his newly found family.

It never failed to surprise the shapeshifter just how attentive Seungcheol could be. Gathering these pictures together. Taking them in the first place. Jeonghan didn't think his excitement could be increased.

That is, until one picture showed up.

It was of the couple during the New Year’s Eve party, thrown inside one of their idiot's large mansion. The two were leaning on one another on the furniture, their eyes reflecting their emotions.

Jeonghan remembered that day like it was tattooed inside his brain. It was the day Seungcheol said 'I love you' for the first time, Jeonghan echoing that statement merely seconds later.

The slide ended abruptly, the screen turning black, Jeonghan was left staggering in his position, still clutching the rose from their midnight picnic. There were kind expressions presented towards him and Jeonghan couldn't help but felt, for every single one of them.

"You guys did this?" He gained several nods, that made him hiccupped. "Why?"

This time, Jihoon was the one who stepped forward, taking the napkin from Mingyu's jacket pocket before dabbing the cloth onto Jeonghan's tear-stained face. "Because." The other said mater-of-factly. "Turn around, hyung." Jihoon instructed softly.

Jeonghan did, slowly, not expecting such a startling sight to overthrow the surprising moments before.

"Cheol?"

Holding an unmistakable box open in his hand, Seungcheol smiled sheepishly onto the ground.

"Jeonghan," Seungcheol started, throat scratchy from the amount of tears he was holding back. "I've had the pleasure of knowing you for almost two years now. And every day I feel blessed for having met somebody like you-"

"Cheollie," Jeonghan barely strangled.

-"I love it when you cry, when you're angry, when you're feeling really sad. I love everything because I love you. But I love it whenever you're happy more. And that's why-" Slowly descending onto his knee, Jeonghan didn't think the oxygen could escape his lungs even more. His stuttering heartbeat completing the image before him. "I hope to make you happy today."

"Oh fuck," Jeonghan whimpered, knowing what's coming.

Lights were flashing erratically around them, something that should be caused for distraction. But i was definitely unmatched by the happenings before him.

"Jeoghan, would you marry me?"

Jeonghan only hesitated a moment, a strangled sob escaping pathetically before his answer. But the answer should be obvious. "Idiot - yes, of course, yes."

Hastening into standing, Seungcheol met Jeonghan halfway. Their lips meeting each other easily, even with eyes spilling of tears and the darkness surrounding them.

"I love you Choi Seungcheol."

"I love you too."

Giving the couple moments to process everything, the other stood back, documenting everything for what seemed like forever simultaneously no time at all. They eventually needed to return though, some sort of closing ceremony already scheduled for the wedding.

Escaping the cave was a hilarious struggle, but they all managed perfectly well. When they'd pass the pillar-gazebo, Jeonghan finally realized the music playing was from that one fated night in the club. Something acoustic instead of thumping. A different version. Jeonghan's heart swelled even more as his steps lingered behind.

"Come on, someone will clean up later." Seungcheol tugged on Jeonghan's wrist when he sensed the shapeshifter's hesitation.

"Wait." He gave the columns a contemplating look before deciding that this needed to be commemorated as well. "Can we take a picture - all of us, there?"

Nobody could refuse Jeonghan's request and they agreed for the picture. Seungkwan trying and failing at concocting a makeshift tripod made from branches littering the ground.

They ended up using Seokmin's...screen? No one, still, entirely understood the mechanism of it all.

"It's there, I swear - look, I'll send it to your phones right after, okay?"

They took a couple pictures, their bright faces illuminated by the glowing lights. Their genuine positive emotions coming through the picture, today was something celebratory after all.

Halfway returning, their phone buzzed, the pictures texted to them by Seokmin.

"What?" Seokmin questioned, when everybody stared.

"Nothing, it's just...freaky," Jihoon commented, before continuing his track.

They returned to an organize reception, with handfuls of people remaining. But they all didn't mind, the atmosphere they've created being the only important thing to exist at the moment. Something that they share through their boisterous laughter and uncoordinated dancing.

Everybody was content, leaning against one another, supporting. Perhaps it was from tragedy they've been allowed to know one another. Something harrowing that scarred them both physically and mentally. Their beginning left something to be desired, looking back, hopelessness was reflected, wafting in their everyday life. But now, they're all here, alive, breathing freedom in in the form of their bonds. The ones bloomed from struggles, correct, into something neither one every expected, but had desired nonetheless.

Because they were each other's stronghold. Whatever hardships happened in the past had definitely shaped them into what they existed as now. A family.

Notes:

It's finally over! Thank you everyone who read my first looong chaptered fic (def didn't plan on making it 100+k) until the end and left kudos/comments hope its been worth it <3
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Chapter title from Written in the Stars by The Girl and the Dreamcatcher <3