Educational Adventure

Jonghyun groaned at the bright, exuberant knocking at the door at fifteen minutes to eight. He dragged himself out of his bed in the simple apartment he shared with his mother and sister. It could only be one person. Checking over his things, he made certain he had a weapon on him. One could never be too careful. As he splashed water on his face from the sink, and readied his trusty black bag, he heard his sister pad over and open the door. “Jinki! You look well.”

“Sodam! You’re looking radiant as always,” Onew responded. He’d swapped his coat – old but nonetheless of an obvious fine make – for one that was considerably more worn and inconspicuous, as well as adding a newsboy cap. Sodam was right, Onew still looked as youthful as he had the day he’d announced gravely that he was quitting Odd Eye, and broke Jonghyun’s life cleanly in two.

It was not a pleasant memory for him.

“Stop flirting with her,” Jonghyun said half-jokingly, coming into the room. He hadn’t needed to change his clothes; his clothes were old, familiar and profoundly working-class. Onew beamed at him.

“Come on, we’ll miss the bus if we dawdle,” he reproached playfully, spinning on his heel to head out the door.

“Sodam, if I don’t come back,” Jonghyun began dramatically, only for his older sister to swat him over the head with the morning’s paper.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed – you look happier than you have in years, now that Odd Eye’s back in business,” Sodam told him, “Now, go on, and catch the criminals.”

Smiling, he kissed his sister on the cheek, rested his bag of tricks on his back, and sauntered out the door, catching up with Onew. As Onew had carefully calculated, the omnibus came at precisely eight o’clock. Getting their tickets from the conductor, they settled onto the worn leather seats in the empty bus. With a shake, the omnibus slowly trundled away from the corner, moving under the yellow streetlamps on the dark streets.

Nervously, Jonghyun fiddled with his pocket watch, a gift from Key years ago. Emotional as he was that Odd Eye had reunited, he also knew they were five years out of touch: they needed to be prepared for anything. “So Kim Sehun and Huang Zitao go to Orgel University. What else do we know?” 

“Junmyeon’s boy’s a beastly one. Fancies himself some sort of Communist, rather than a spoilt rich thing.”

“I’m guessing he pulled along his friend to the meeting,” Jonghyun continued, “Zitao – he was the one who yelled at the funeral.”

“Perhaps we’ll finally meet someone who does know Yifan,” Onew said wryly. They sat in silence as the omnibus continued on its long, lonely journey. Then Onew asked hesitantly, “What were you doing during our disbandment?”

Jonghyun started. “Well… Odd jobs, here and there – an independent radio, pharmacist, morgue, oh, I was in a band for a bit… Mainly grunt work for the police, though.”

“Oh.” Onew remained quiet for a long while. When he spoke again, he was looking out the window across from them. “Whose idea was it, to reunite Odd Eye?”

“Mine,” Jonghyun breathed, realising his eyes were beginning to water. “Minho found me because he figured I could help him with his consulting work. And then as we were working – I missed it. I wanted to go back to the old days. Everyone did. We had our family and other friends but there was something missing. It was always all of us or none of us and – you really bloody well screwed us over, and if it hadn’t been five years, I’d knock your teeth out.”   

Onew’s smile was crooked, a stark difference from his usual sunny countenance. It would have been stupid to fight him regardless, despite his personality; he was stronger than even Minho. The fight had left him long ago; time had healed it into an ugly raw scar. He knew the others felt the same, though they hid it better. “We can’t go back to the old days.”

“No,” Jonghyun agreed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, “I don’t blame you. Running away’s the easy bit.”

“I’m not running away!”

“You’re a bloody hypocrite about second chances,” Jonghyun said, glancing at his leader out of the corner of his eye, watching him wince a little, “No, we can’t go back. But I suppose we can find something we can live with. You lot are some of the most insufferable bunch I’ve ever met – but that’s Odd Eye, isn’t it?”

“Dreamer,” Onew murmured, shaking his head, a faint smile on his lips. “I hope Taemin can fit in. Was I too harsh with him?”

“Yes,” Jonghyun told him, not bothering to soften the blow, “But you have time to make it up to him – and you had better.”

The other man nodded solemnly. Jinki was a man of his word - that was something Jonghyun respected him deeply for. That, and his compassion. The large, imposing structure of the university was coming into view, its high arches and soaring towers. Jonghyun gaped. He felt just a little bit filthy stepping into such an institution. “Well, this should be something!” Onew chirped.

“I’ve never been to university,” Jonghyun admitted with a touch of pride as they stepped out onto the cobbled street, “Picked up everything I needed to know on the wrong side of the law.”

“Including how to nearly kill me.”

“It was a good thing I didn’t,” Jonghyun commented, feeling suddenly nostalgic. The image of his leader that day was burned into the back of his eyelids; he’d told him with severe calm to put the gun down, and then, had suddenly broken into a smile and offered him a deal Jonghyun hadn’t been able to refuse. For a wretched piece of work like him, it had been more kindness than he'd ever expected. “That was such a long time ago.”

“Those were good times,” Onew admitted, “And… I did miss them, too. Well.” He cleared his throat, tipping his cap to the driver and shielding his eyes. “There is certainly no time like the present to get an education.”

There were still things that needed to be sorted out between the five of them, but there was time, Jonghyun reminded himself. 

Together, the two men headed towards the university.

Three wr