"I will begin with this confession: whatever I have done in the course of my life, whether it be good or evil, has been done freely; I am a free agent."

As Jooheon pulled up outside Blooded Shadows base an hour later he rubbed the back of his neck. The whole journey back he had been contemplating an assortment of ways to explain how Kihyun was called back home. He frowned as he got out of the car and headed inside, making his way directly towards Minhyuk’s office. He knocked on the door before being permitted to enter the room.

When he walked into the room Minhyuk was standing up near the shelves, closing up a small safe that he had. His gaze flickered towards Jooheon who simply held an envelope between his fingers. Behind his head the television blared with the news report regarding the teenage boy murdered in the alley.

“Uh…here’s the payment,” he stated placing it down onto the top of Minhyuk’s desk. His eyes shifted to the news report. Minhyuk looked over his head as Jeong’s face came up on the screen. He gritted his teeth and snapped his head around so that he was facing Jooheon once more.

“I sent Kihyun with you, where is he?”

“His mother contacted him, he had to go back home,” Jooheon responded slowly. His eyes fell from the television to the dark eyed man across from him, separated by a long desk.

“How do you know it was his mother?” Minhyuk asked, “If he is the rat, then don’t you think he would create some sort of cover story if he believed we were onto him?”

“Kihyun isn’t the rat,” Jooheon defended. Minhyuk was silent for a moment before he moved away from the safe. He sat down in his chair and pulled the envelope forward in order to count the money.

“Really? And how can you be sure of that? Do you have another suspect,” Minhyuk snapped, clearly irritated by the secrecy.

“I just know it isn’t him,” Jooheon protected.

“Would you be willing to put your life at stake?” Minhyuk frowned, his voice quite serious.

“Yes,” Jooheon confirmed, “I would be.”

“Why do you have so much trust in him? You have no proof against him, if you give me solid evidence that shows that I don’t have to think that my friend is against me, then I can believe you! How would you know without evidence?”

“I know that Kihyun isn’t the informant because,” Jooheon paused for a moment, before releasing a breath, “I was the one who told Jeong about the set up.”

“What?” Minhyuk quizzed dumbfounded.

“I was there when you arranged the assassination. I contacted Jeong, giving him the heads up. Kihyun came back from it, asking me to run the prints of a gun. I was partially worried and curious about what happened. I passed on the results to Jeong before I told you or Kihyun. Then I neglected to give some of the information to Kihyun about the results until recently.”

“Why are you telling me this, unless you’re trying to make up an excuse for Kihyun?”

“You think I really cared what happened to him? I withheld information between The Void and Jeong from him.”

“What information?”

“He asked me to find out The Void’s connection to Jeong,” Jooheon clarified.

“You better tell me what is going on, or you’re going to wish you never stepped foot in this office,” Minhyuk threatened.

“You want to know what happened when Kihyun failed in his mission? He only made it back because of Shin Hoseok, the member from The Void. When he jumped into the car, he led Kihyun away from the location unknowingly. Jeong was going to send you a message by making an example out of him.” Jooheon explained. “I ran the tests and gave them to Jeong after he contacted me inquiring about Hoseok. He came across him in the café, and he stated he sold drugs to Kihyun –”

“Kihyun doesn’t do drugs,” Minhy