“Jane, are you in there?” Joshua’s soft voice spoke, accompanied with the creaking of the door as it opened.

Jane was sitting inside, her eyes welled up with tears as she ran her slim fingers over a photo. “Yeah… I’m in here.”

The young boy walked into the room, feeling around with his hands. “What are you doing?”

Jane sniffled, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her sweater, “Nothing, I was just thinking.”

“About?” Joshua’s lips had become a frown.

“The past,” Jane swallowed down hard. The photo in her hands had become crumpled and faded with age - a picture of the four of them; Jane, Jeonghan, Jack, Renee.

“When? Before I can remember? Before I lost my sight?” Joshua questioned.

Jane looked down at the photo again, “I wonder if he’s still alive…”

“Who?” Joshua pried.

Tucking the photo into the pocket of her dress, Jane sighed, “A child I couldn’t protect. A poor poor child.”

~

“Who is that, Jeonghan?”

Wonwoo and Mingyu rose from their chairs and the latter let out a snicker. “What a surprise, why don’t you introduce us, Jeonghan?”

Jeonghan growled, “Surprise my .”

“Mingyu, Wonwoo, do you know what’s going on?” Seungcheol and Woozi were obviously still in shock as they made their way out from behind the counter.

“Oh yeah,” Mingyu smirked, “we found the kid in Jeonghan’s house yesterday night.”

“We didn’t know that Jeonghan had a roommate,” Wonwoo crossed his arms.

The aura in the cafe was tense, so much so that Joshua didn’t need to see to know. He could feel it. “Uh-”

“His name is Joshua, and he’s living with me,” Jeonghan muttered, “that’s all you need to know.”

Jeonghan’s voice was guarded, hostile, harsher than anything Joshua had ever heard.

“Are you sure that’s all we need to know?” Woozi answered back in just as harsh a tone, “Now that you’ve brought him here, how do you know we won’t tell the boss about him?”

“You know what will happen if I tell the boss about him,” Jeonghan bared his teeth, “he’ll die.”

“If you already knew, why did you let him into your home? Why didn’t you kill him right away, huh? Any other person, you would’ve shot on sight. Any of us, and you would’ve shot on sight. Who the hell is he?”

The aura in the room was dark and tense. Neither side willing to bring up another point. It was so suffocating that Joshua couldn’t handle it.

“Um, if you want to know about me, I can tell you, just don’t hurt Jeonghan.” Joshua spoke up for the first time since he entered the cafe.

He felt as the people in the room turned to face him, even Jeonghan who was beside him.

“Haa… don’t hurt him? Who do you think you’re trying to save? Do you even know who you’re trying to protect? He could kill us all right now without batting an eye, he’s in no position to be saved by you, a kid not even part of our world.” The voice was harsh and rang in Joshua’s ears.

“Woozi… you don’t need to be so harsh to the kid.” The voice was deeper, more coarse, but warmer and less hostile.

“If you guys want to know why I didn’t shoot him, then you should see for yourselves,” Jeonghan raised his hand to the back of Joshua’s head. “Show them.”

Joshua wasn’t exactly what Jeonghan meant by showing them. He hadn’t done anything particular when he had barged into Jeonghan’s home. Regardless, Joshua walked slowly towards the voices with as much confidence he could manage in his strides. He had proven himself to Jeonghan, what was four more people?

“I’m sorry… Woozi was your name? Could you say something please?” Joshua felt his way, feeling furniture that seemed to be chairs and tables. A restaurant, or a cafe?

“What the hell… are you blind or something?” It was the same hostile that spoke.

Joshua felt his way towards the voice, “Yes, I’m blind. Been blind since a long time ago - I was in a car accident.”

“Is that why you’re keeping your eyes closed?” It was the coarser voice, it was likely that the two were standing next to each other.

“Yes… but,” Joshua’s hand brushed against fabric. It was one of them. “I can open them for you.” Joshua opened his eyes the exact moment his hands went up to one of their faces. The male was short, his hair dry. His aura was a bright orange and yellow tint. Woozi…

“What the…”

The same way that Joshua had evaded Jeonghan’s defences, he did the same to Woozi, then Seungcheol. Each of them standing strucken, absolutely dumbfounded, both thinking the same thoughts as Jeonghan had; if he had been the enemy, I would’ve been killed.

“Your aura is a cool green, it makes me want to trust you,” Joshua smiled gently as he ran his fingers through Seungcheol’s hair, “may I ask your name?”

“S-Seungcheol.”

Joshua mouthed the word with his thin lips. Once he was done feeling his features, Joshua closed his eyes again and turned towards Jeonghan, “Is that what you meant?”

The boy in the doorway smiled, “Exactly.”

Footsteps sounded as Jeonghan made his way towards Joshua, “Are you happy now, Woozi? Seungcheol? I couldn’t shoot him, he had already broken my defences the moment I saw him. Since he’s done the exact same thing to you, I doubt you have anything to say?” Jeonghan almost seemed proud of the fact that Joshua had broken their defences.

Woozi hung his head, clucking his tongue, while Seungcheol rubbed the back of his neck with sigh.

“Tch,” Jeonghan made a small grunt as though he were in pain.

“Jeonghan?” Joshua immediately stepped forward, holding Jeonghan’s hands for comfort. “You should sit down, you haven’t recovered yet.”

As Jeonghan allowed himself to be seated by Joshua, Seungcheol spoke, “What if he gets in the way of our plan? Can you throw him away if the time comes?”

Plan? Joshua’s hand tightened around Jeonghan’s as he sat in the seat besides him. What plan?

Jeonghan exhaled sharply, “I won’t let it come to that. The plan will go through as originally planned, Joshua won’t even be there.”

“It’s true,” Mingyu answered, him and Wonwoo sitting back down, “Joshua can’t fight, or even protect himself, it’s obvious that he won’t be part of the plan.”

“And if he get’s involved? Who will you pick, him or the rest of the group?” Woozi snarled.

“Woozi,” Seungcheol glared at the latter, obviously agitated with the question. “What kind of question is that?”

“What? We can’t let the plan go to waste just because of a blind kid, full offence,” Woozi said bluntly.

Jeonghan ran his fingers through his blond hair, a devil’s smile spread on his lips, “Then let me ask you a question, Woozi. If you had to sacrifice Seungcheol for the rest of the group, could you? Could you let him die?”

“You-!” Woozi started.

“It’s the same thing. I won’t abandon Joshua just as much you wouldn’t abandon Seungcheol. Just as much as Wonwoo wouldn’t abandon Mingyu. If this plan is going through, Joshua is staying alive. And I trust that none of you will tell the boss about him either.” Jeonghan glared at Mingyu.

“Eyy, that was just a joke, Jeonghan,” Mingyu chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, “we know what would happen to him if the boss figured out. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, especially Joshua.”

“Seungcheol?” Jeonghan changed his glance to Seungcheol.

The boy let out a deep breath, “I won’t tell, even I’m not that cold-blooded.” Seungcheol looked towards Woozi besides him, “Woozi?”

The pink-haired boy did not answer, his head hung in deep thought.

“Woozi!” Seungcheol rose his voice in disbelief, was he really going to tell the boss?

“I won’t tell…” Woozi muttered, raising his head, “just make sure you follow through the plan. All of our lives hang in the balance.”

Jeonghan nodded his head, “Don’t worry, I’ll follow through for sure. Even if it kills me.”

~

“You were scary in there,” Joshua said, eyes closed.

The two were in the car on the way back from the meet up. Compared to how Joshua was used to hearing Jeonghan’s voice, the way he had sounded in the cafe…

“Was I?” Jeonghan stepped on the pedal, “That’s how I usually sound.”

“No…” Joshua shook his head gently - hair falling into his eyes, “you’re usually kinder, stubborn and obstinate, but caring.”

Jeonghan let out a small scoff, “The me at the cafe, that was the real me whether you like it or not. Are you scared now?”

“No matter what kind of farce you try to pull, I can see right through you. I saw through you the moment you pointed your gun at me that rainy night,” The corner of Joshua’s lips lifted slightly, “I could see through the other’s too. Mingyu, Wonwoo, Seungcheol, Woozi.”

“Yeah?” What are they like then?” Jeonghan questioned, his curiosity piqued.

Joshua scrunched his eyes tightly together, remembering the colours of each person, “Wonwoo is quiet, and sometimes unsure of who to trust, but he has a good heart. Mingyu is playful, and sometimes enjoys rather gruesome things, but he won’t cross the line. Seungcheol is warm, he’s understanding and kind, with a sense of responsibility to him. Woozi is young and stubborn, but once you get to know him, he’s quite the character.”

“And you got that just from seeing them for an hour?”

“Yeah, it took me a bit longer than it took for you though,” Joshua smiled.

“Ha?” Jeonghan raised his eyebrows, “why was mine so fast?”

“Because you’re so bright. Not just your hair, your entire aura is bright, your personality, your mind, everything about you is bright. It didn’t make sense to me why such a bright person was wielding a weapon; killing people. I still don’t understand why.”

“Even a bright person can change,” Jeonghan said gravely, “it only takes one mistake, one petal of doubt, and you’ll have lost your soul to the devil.”

“It’s never too late to change,” Joshua frowned, “everyone deserves a second change. Even the devil received one from God.”

Jeonghan chuckled, “I’ve had too many chances. It’s too late to turn back.”

Joshua did not respond to Jeonghan’s remark. Instead, he brought up something different, “Jeonghan, what is the plan that you were talking about with them? What are you trying to do?”

“...You know Joshua, someone once told me ‘you can never kill a boss unless you are one’. Do you know what I want to tell them?”

“What…?”

“ing try me.”

~

“Boss?” The line was full of static.

“...Yes? What are you calling for?”

“I… have something to report.”

A/N: Hey guys, thanks for reading this chapter! Sorry it's a little late. Thanks for the feedback as always. I don't want to be the person that begs for comments and attention, but the comments really do help me to write and stay motivated ^^ Thanks as always~

Shoutout to abihsot, lolcutepeoplez9, and andytrackable for upvoting ^^