“I… have something to report,” Wonwoo’s voice was shallow and flat. “There is someone living in Jeonghan’s house. A blind kid. He’s not part of this world.”

“...How are you so sure about this?” His boss seemed to be doubtful.

“I saw him, when Jeonghan was injured we brought him home, the kid was there.” Wonwoo insisted.

“Can I hold you against it then?” The boss replied finally.

“Yes.”

Wonwoo hung up and let out a heavy sigh. He had done it. He had told the boss about Joshua. Tucking his phone into his pocket, Wonwoo entered back into his apartment.

“Wonwoo?”

Wonwoo was taken aback to see Mingyu awake at this hour, the latter standing in the middle of the living room, “Who were you talking to?” Mingyu’s eyes were dark, prying.

Wonwoo sighed, “I was talking to Minghao, I told him that he and Jun should come visit soon.”

Mingyu raised his eyebrows, “That’s all?”

“What would I be hiding from you?” Wonwoo said, hair falling into his eyes, “I’m going to sleep.” And the tall boy disappeared into the darkness of their room.

Stupid… Mingyu’s hands curled into fists, “What did you do…”

~

Jeonghan and Joshua were both startled when Jeonghan’s phone rang on the kitchen counter. The two had been sharing a cup of coffee and talking about the plan that Jeonghan and the others had been planning.

“Who is calling this early?” Joshua said before taking a sip of coffee. The clock had just reached the hour of five. Most people were still asleep, at least, people outside of this world.

Jeonghan picked up his phone, “It’s Mingyu…” He frowned and then picked up the call. “Hello?”

“Hello? Jeonghan? Thank God you’re awake. Is Joshua with you?” Mingyu’s voice was straightforward and serious, completely opposite to how he usually was.

Jeonghan glanced to Joshua, “Yeah, he’s right beside me. Why?”

“Oh God, Jeonghan, I-I think that Wonwoo told the boss,” Mingyu’s voice began to tremble, Jeonghan had never heard his voice that way.

“What? What do you mean-”

“Wonwoo was on the phone with someone outside our apartment. He never calls outside our apartment. I think he told the boss about Joshua. About him living in your house. Hurry, hide him before the boss sends men to your house. Protect Joshua please-”

“.” Jeonghan hung up the phone swiftly, “Joshua you’ve got to hide.” Jeonghan took both of their cups and threw them into the sink.

“What? What’s happening-” Joshua stood up.

“That ing Wonwoo went and told the boss about you. He’ll be sending people to my house any minute, you’ve got to hide or else you’ll be killed.” Jeonghan thought about what had happened yesterday at the cafe. Wonwoo had been exceptionally quiet, more quiet than Jeonghan had ever seen him. .

“Where should I hide?” Joshua latched onto Jeonghan’s hand for support.

There was a single knock at the door.

. Jeongan leaned into Joshua, “Go upstairs, quickly, don’t come out until I call you,” He whispered and let go of Joshua’s hand.

Fully aware of the danger at hand, Joshua hurried and climbed up the stairs as fast as possible. He didn’t turn back or bother to listen to Jeonghan’s breathing. He had to focus on hiding. For his sake, and for Jeonghan’s.

Once he had made his way upstairs, Joshua made a straight beeline for Jeonghan’s room. He didn’t know any of the other rooms, it would be a waste of time to search for a hiding spot there. In Jeonghan’s room, Joshua remembered that his bedsheets were quite long. Maybe…

Joshua lifted up the sheets of Jeonghan’s bed and felt. It’s empty. Moving quickly, Joshua crawled under the bed. Underneath the bed, filled with dust and cobwebs, Joshua clasped his hands together. Please God, let Jeonghan be safe. Please....

~

Jeonghan waited for the exact moment that Joshua’s feet disappeared from the stairs, then he swung open his front door. Standing in the doorway were four of the people from his group, each wielding a gun.

“Jeonghan, we’re here to search your home. No objections, we have direct orders from the boss.”

“Haa?” Jeonghan smirked, “What would you be searching for? I don’t have anything special besides a few guns and bombs. Search all you want.”

Jeonghan stepped back with confidence and allowed the four men to enter his home. He recognized most of them, they were all loyal subjects to the boss, his enemies.

The man in the front turned to the others, “Search thoroughly.”

Jeonghan watched as the men spread out amongst his house. One man upstairs, two on the main floor, and one in the basement. He didn’t care about the others, just that one man upstairs.

You’d better be well hidden, Joshua…

“There’s nothing in the basement.” One of the men emerged from the stairs.

“The main floor is clear.” Another men emerged from around the corner.

Jeonghan bit down on his lip, come on, Joshua.

After a minute of silence, a man appeared from the stairs, “There’s nothing upstairs.”

Jeonghan let out a small chuckle, gaining the gazes from the four men, “Are you satisfied now? Maybe you should tell your boss to check his sources before barging into his men’s houses. Especially my house.”

“Tch, let’s leave,” The men gave one last glare to Jeonghan before disappearing into the morning. Jeonghan waited for one minute before moving from his spot. Then he made a mad dash for the stairs.

“Joshua? Joshua!” Jeonghan called as he walked up the stairs.

“I’m fine,” Joshua appeared from within Jeonghan’s room. He ruffled his hair from the dust.

“You hid well?” Jeonghan let out a small sigh of relief.

“I didn’t know anywhere else to hide besides your room. Luckily you have space under your bed, a little dusty down there though,” Joshua sniffed.

Jeonghan bit his lip, “That damn Wonwoo, how dare he…” The boy’s fingers curled into fists, “I’m going to kill him.”

Jeonghan turned to head downstairs, but was stopped by Joshua. “Wait, let me go with you.”

The boy looked at Joshua in disbelief, “What? No, you’re staying here. What if you get caught by other people?”

Joshua frowned, “If you’re going to talk to Wonwoo, I’m coming. This involves me after all, and if those people come back to your house, I don’t want to be alone.”

Jeonghan sighed, “Fine. But don’t stop me from hurting that bastard.”

~

There was a sudden bang as the door of the cafe swung open. Woozi jumped in fright and Seungcheol dropped the cup he had been drying. “Jeonghan? Joshua?”

Jeonghan ignored the pair and made a straight beeline towards the table which Wonwoo and Mingyu were situated. “You ing bastard-” Jeonghan grabbed Wonwoo by the collar and pulled him to his feet.

“Jeonghan! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Seungcheol and Woozi rushed out from behind the counter to stop the blond boy.

“Stay out of this,” Jeonghan snarled, his eyes fixated on the boy in his grasp.

Wonwoo seemed surprised, definitely taken aback. “W-what’s going on?”

“Don’t play dumb, you ing tattled on us,” Jeonghan’s eyes were filled with bloodthirst, “isn’t that right, Mingyu?”

Wonwoo glanced to Mingyu. The boy had his head hung, his hands curled into fists. “Why did you do it, Wonwoo…”

Wonwoo’s heart ached when he saw Mingyu’s expression. Hurt and disappointed.

“What did he do, Jeonghan?” Seungcheol questioned.

Jeonghan bared his teeth, “Why don’t you let him answer that question?” His words were icy and harsh.

Wonwoo had lost his strength to fight back, and he let out a deep sigh, “I told the boss about Joshua.” His words were small and quiet.

“What!?” Woozi exclaimed in dismay, “Why the hell would you do that?”

“Wonwoo, you know as well as we do that Jeonghan told us not to tell the boss. We need Jeonghan’s help, why the hell would you do something like this?” Seungcheol said in a strained voice.

“I wanted to be free. If the plan failed because Jeonghan was too busy protecting Joshua, none of us would be free. In fact, we’d probably all be dead. Wouldn’t it be easier if Jeonghan didn’t have to worry about a heavy weight? Wouldn’t that be a better decision?”

They couldn’t believe their ears. Wonwoo had always been doubtful and slightly skittish, but he had never spouted such irrational logic before.

“Wouldn’t it be easier if I just killed all of you including the boss? Wouldn’t it be so so much easier? Yes. It would be.” Jeonghan growled, his grip on Wonwoo’s collar tightening, “But do you know why I didn’t kill you? Because you didn’t deserve it. Because if you died, Mingyu would never let me live. And yet? You almost killed Joshua! Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you now.”

“Jeongh-” Mingyu started.

“Jeonghan.”

Heads turned and Jeonghan froze. They didn’t need to look to know who it was. It was Joshua.

“Don’t hurt him,” Joshua started walking towards Jeonghan, slowly, but confidently. It was as though he were aware of his presence in the room. “Put him down.”

“Joshua,” Jeonghan’s words seemed to falter slightly, “he almost killed you. I can’t just let him-”

“It’s okay,” Joshua reached them and placed his hand on Jeonghan’s arm. “Killing him won’t solve anything.”

Joshua was angry - he really was. Wonwoo had endangered both his and Jeonghan’s lives, so much so that even he, had thought about he should do to Wonwoo when he met him. But killing was something of that world, and he wasn’t part of that world. Never was, never would be.

“Wonwoo,” Joshua said his name clearly, “although I don’t know you very well, if at all, I know that you do not mean harm. I want to help you as much as I can. I want to break you free. You, Jeonghan, Mingyu, Seungcheol, Woozi, and everyone else who will side with us. So please,” Joshua brushed Wonwoo’s hair out from the latter’s eyes, “trust us.”

Jeonghan had released Wonwoo from his grip but the latter did not move. Did not straighten his clothes or look up to face the other’s. If there was a word to describe his behaviour, it would be ashamed.

“Look up,” Joshua opened his eyes although they did not help him at all, “look straight into my eyes. When you look into people’s eyes, you’ll find nothing but the truth.”

“I’m sorry…” Wonwoo spoke after minutes of silence.

He had reflected on his actions. He was regretting.

*BANG*

The ear piercing sound was accompanied by shattering glass. Joshua’s ears rang and he could hear muffled screaming, but nothing else.

What happened!

Joshua felt around frantically. Wonwoo was no longer where he used to be.

“Wonwoo!?”

Joshua felt a pair of hands grab him from behind and pull him down. “Jeonghan!?” The hands were familiar. He still couldn’t hear properly.

“What happened!?” Joshua shouted.

His ears rang and slowly, the voices around him grew clearer. He couldn’t see what had happened. Joshua strained to hear, strained to understand what was going on around them. When his hearing came back, the first thing he could hear was the bloodcurdling yell of Mingyu.

“Wonwoo!”

A/N: Hey guys!!! Thanks for the great feedback as always~ What's happening is, I won't be able to post a chapter on Saturday since I'm away at a camp ^^"" Sorry about that. The next chapter will most probably be Wednesday next week. Thanks for the comments as always, and I hope you're enjoying the story ^^

Shoutout to Moonhyejin, me_ulan, joshushu, and asiangirl236 for upvoting~ Love y'all <3