It all happened too fast. The silence before had been too foreboding. Jeonghan and the other’s had no time to react before it was too late.

“I’m sorry…” Wonwoo’s voice was shallow and regretful.

Jeonghan who stood behind Joshua, still felt the need to beat Wonwoo up. He couldn’t forgive him that easily, if at all. But his anger and vengeance would have to wait - if Wonwoo survived.

*BANG*

Glass from the window shattered as it was obstructed by a single bullet. The bullet travelled too fast for Jeonghan to be able to react, and he could only blink as Wonwoo fell backwards from the shock.

Seungcheol and Woozi immediately started yelling, and Mingyu frantically stumbled towards Wonwoo. From Jeonghan’s view, he could see the blood beginning to soak through Wonwoo’s shirt. Wonwoo’s eyes were open but unresponsive. His body was still, unmoving. Despite Mingyu’s screaming and hands shaking his body, Wonwoo didn’t respond.

Jeonghan took action immediately and reached for Joshua, pulling him to the floor.

“Jeonghan!?” Joshua’s face said everything. He didn’t understand what was going on, he couldn’t see Wonwoo on the floor, or see the shattered glass, or the blood… “What happened!?”

Jeonghan held his grip on Joshua and glanced to Seungcheol and Woozi. They didn’t need to question why Wonwoo had been shot. It was because Joshua had not been found in Jeonghan’s house. Their boss had held Wonwoo responsible for his words.

Seungcheol and Jeonghan exchanged glances, ‘the shooter’s still there.’

Jeonghan leaned close to Joshua, “Wonwoo has been shot, we need to move him quickly. Do you understand?” Joshua turned to face Jeonghan slowly, “Don’t move, stay down.”

Stealthily, Jeonghan crawled towards Mingyu and Wonwoo. Mingyu had tears streaming down his eyes and his hands were compressing Wonwoo’s wound. Looking at Wonwoo’s open, unblinking eyes, sent shivers down Jeonghan’s spine.

“Mingyu, we need to move him out of here,” Jeonghan brought his fingers over Wonwoo’s eyes, “pull yourself together.”

Mingyu sniffed once more before wiping his tears with his sleeve, “En.”

“He’s gone,” Seungcheol immediately rushed towards Wonwoo, “, we’ve got to hurry and stitch him up.”

They knew that Wonwoo’s chances were not likely. He had been shot in the stomach and it was highly likely that one of his vital organ had ruptured. His blood had begun to pool onto the wooden planks on the floor.

“We’ve got to try,” Jeonghan placed his hands under Wonwoo’s body and lifted him up with a grunt. Seungcheol and Woozi rushed up the stairs in the back of the cafe, shouting at Jeonghan to hurry.

Jeonghan quickly turned his head to Joshua still knelt on the floor, “Joshua, come up the stairs quickly.”

~

Joshua sat dead quiet on the floor as Mingyu and Woozi sutured Wonwoo’s wounds. He could hear the clipping of scissors and the heavy breath of Mingyu. Every now and then, he could hear Seungcheol’s low voice mumble something to Jeonghan, to which the blond boy would not respond. Joshua really didn’t know what to do. He felt helpless, his hands intertwined in prayer. Even though the situation was so grave, the only thing that Joshua could do was pray.

After what seemed like many long hours, there was a final clip of scissors and a deep exhale from both Woozi and Mingyu.

“We’ve done the best we can do,” Woozi said as he cracked his tight neck and returned the tools to the first aid kit. “The only thing we can do now, is wait.”

Jeonghan stepped closer to the bed so that he could see Wonwoo’s face more clearly. Pale and clammy, his eyes were closed and lined with dark underbags. He had lost a lot of blood and with their resources, finding blood was a pipe dream. Jeonghan’s fingers curled into fists, “We need to finish this plan as soon as possible.” His voice was low and it made Joshua feel uneasy.

Seungcheol wiped the sweat from Woozi’s forehead with towel, “We’ll start gathering all of the members who want a revolt. Of course, I’ll let them know that you’ll be the one to do the killing.”

Jeonghan ran his hands through his sweaty hair, “Who else would be willing?”

~

“Jeon Wonwoo, you requested that you wanted to have a partner to work with, thus, I have placed you with a boy that has been working here for three months.” His boss’s voice was husky and made Wonwoo feel uncomfortable. “You can come in now.”

Wonwoo turned his head as he heard the door creak open, accompanied with the sound of footsteps. A boy around the same height as him walked confidently into the room - his brown hair was styled and he wore a classic white shirt and ripped black jeans with a red plaid shirt tied around his waist. The look in his eyes when they met Wonwoo was breathtaking. Wonwoo found himself utterly stunned.

“This is Kim Mingyu. He’s been working alone for three months, but now he’ll be working with you. You two will move into the same home and you’ll be supplied with weapons and jobs immediately.” His boss nodded his head at Mingyu and began to walk out of the room.

“Eh? You’re leaving me alone with the new kid already, Boss?” Mingyu’s smirk revealed his sharp canines. “Isn’t that just a tad rude?”

Wonwoo felt his jaw drop. What was this guy thinking saying something so out of line to their boss? The boy gulped and waited for their boss to respond.

“I’ll call you when we have a new job,” Their boss said the words without looking once and disappeared from the room.

Wonwoo breathed a sigh of relief and his shoulders relaxed.

“So, what’s your name?” Mingyu turned to face Wonwoo, “You heard mine already, it’s Kim Mingyu.”

“J-Jeon Wonwoo,” Wonwoo stuttered over his words, yet much to his embarrassment, Mingyu didn’t seem to care.

“Yeah? How old are you? I just turned sixteen three months ago.”

Wonwoo blinked in amazement. He was only sixteen? From the way he dressed and his attitude, Wonwoo had assumed him to be at least in his early twenties.

“Well?” Mingyu raised his eyebrows at Wonwoo’s unresponsiveness.

“Eighteen… I turned eighteen in July.” Wonwoo answered in a small voice.

It was Mingyu’s turn to blink in amazement, “Really!? You’re two years older than me? Man, from your posture and looks, you seem younger than me. I mean, I guess you are tall…”

Wonwoo began to feel uncomfortable as Mingyu’s eyes scanned him up and down.

“I-I’m sorry… could you please not stare at me like that?”

Mingyu blinked at Wonwoo, which was accompanied by his signature smirk, “I’m sorry, you’re just good looking is all.”

“W-wha?” Wonwoo felt his face turn bright red and his gaze immediately fell down to the floor, “What are you saying…”

“Haha, I’m sorry, did I surprise you?” Mingyu immediately said, “Boss didn’t say who I would be working with, so I was just assuming the worst, you know?”

Wonwoo looked back up at Mingyu, “The worst?”

Mingyu’s eyes sparkled, “Yeah, I mean, not just any kind of person gets caught up in this world, I was expecting some middle aged man with a hella like temper and believes that money means everything. I guess I was wrong?”

Wonwoo blinked, “But you’re not a middle aged man either, are you?”

Mingyu let out a hearty laugh, “I guess not, huh? That must mean we’re exceptions, right?”

“There’s no one else like us?”

“Hm….” Mingyu cocked his head in thought, “Besides us, there are ten,” Mingyu began to count on his fingers, “Jeonghan, Seungcheol, Woozi, Hoshi, Jun, Minghao, Dokyeom, Hansol, Seungkwan, and Chan. I think that’s about it. The ten of them are ranged from Chan, age 13, to Seungcheol, age 20. A lot of the other’s under our boss are middle aged. Pretty nasty people at that.”

“Do you see them a lot?” Wonwoo inquired.

Mingyu smiled, “Jun and Minghao live closeby to us, and I see Seungcheol and Woozi pretty often as well. Dokyeom, Woozi, Hansol, Seungkwan, and Chan work further north so I don’t see them often.”

Wonwoo had been counting on his fingers, “What about the other one?” He held up his fingers to only nine people.

“Ah.. you’re talking about Jeonghan. I often get jobs with him despite his preference to work alone. I advise you stay away from him if you can.”

“Why?” Wonwoo frowned.

“You remember the contract you signed with the boss? There was an option to whether killing was an option for you. I’m guessing you wrote it wasn’t an option?”

“Of course-” Wonwoo started.

“Jeonghan wrote it as an option. In fact, I heard rumors that the boss took him in after he stabbed a man seventeen times. He was only nine years old at the time as well. He won’t hesitate to kill you. He’s been doing it for too long, and he abandoned his feelings a long long time ago.”

The thought of such a person existing sent shivers down Wonwoo’s spine.

“But, you have to be nice to him, as much as you don’t want to.” Mingyu’s smile faded from his lips.

“Why?” Wonwoo looked at Mingyu with curiosity.

As though he didn’t want anyone else to hear, Mingyu leaned his face in till his mouth was beside Wonwoo ear.

“He’s the only one that can kill the boss, and set us free.”

~

The five of them waited inside the cafe for Wonwoo to awaken, or die. None of them had been called in for jobs and so they stayed within the cafe, not sure if they should head home, and whether it was safe to do so.

Jeonghan had stayed next to Joshua’s side and soothed him, telling him that it was a good idea to stay in the cafe in case one of the boss’s men spotted him.

“Mingyu, you should go wash your face,” Seungcheol advised, placing his hand on Mingyu’s shoulder. The boy had sat next to Wonwoo and had not left his side once. He still had tear stains on his face and he looked a complete mess, totally opposite from his usual confident self.

Mingyu simply shook his head, his grip on Wonwoo’s hand tightening.

Wonwoo didn’t look any better, or any worse. He hadn’t stirred even once since they had stitched him up. His face was still pale and clammy, but thankfully, he hadn’t broken in a fever.

Woozi had taken responsibility of giving everyone water and food if needed. Everyone except for Jeonghan of course. Woozi had strangely found himself holding a soft spot for Joshua. He wasn’t sure whether it was because of the way Joshua had approached him, or whether he pitied the boy. During the incident, Woozi had taken a quick glance in Joshua’s direction. Completely and utter confusion was on his face, accompanied with the realization of his own helplessness. Woozi knew all too well what it felt like to be helpless.

Within the dead silence of the room, Jeonghan’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Jeonghan and everybody else held their breaths. They didn’t need to ask to know who it was.

Jeonghan picked up the call, “Hello?”

“I have a new job for you. 53 year old, Im Chae Dong. Just a small job, they offered 2 million won.”

“Deadline?”

“3:00AM tomorrow morning. Handle it well.”

That was the end of the call and Jeonghan let his hand fall to his side.

“Are you leaving?” Seungcheol’s words were grave and serious.

Jeonghan sighed, “I’ll have to finish this job first. If I don’t complete it, the boss will notice something’s off. Better off that he doesn’t know that I know what happened to Wonwoo.” Jeonghan stepped towards Joshua who was now standing. “Could you wait here please?”

Joshua shook his head slowly, “Do you have to go? Do you… have to go kill someone again?” The boy’s eyes began to fill with tears. “Are you going to kill them even if they’re a good person? Even if that person was your friend?”

Jeonghan’s heart panged with guilt. … He couldn’t bear to look at Joshua crying. He should’ve shot him ages ago. He shouldn’t of let Joshua enter his heart. Now it was too late.

“I’m sorry…” Jeonghan brushed Joshua’s hair out of his eyes, “I have to go.”

Joshua let out a small whimper. Despite the embarrassment of the other’s watching, Joshua couldn’t seem to stop his tears. His heart felt as though it were crumbling apart.

“Please don’t cry like that,” Jeonghan frowned and leaned into Joshua, his lips meeting Joshua’s forehead.

Joshua flinched in surprise, earning a small smile from Jeonghan. He whispered, “Wait for me,” and disappeared from the room.

Joshua felt his body sink to the ground against the wall again. His tears flowing even harder than before. This time, his cheeks began to heat up and he buried his face into his legs.

Stupid...

A/N: Yeahh~~ I'm back from camp guys, whoot whoot ^^" Missed writing this fic so this chapter feels pretty good to me. A little less action, a little more back story~ A lot of you were wondering what happened, so here you go! Tbh, I think this series will be around 15-20 chapters long, it's been doing pretty well so far so I'm happy ^^~ (I mean, well for my first jihan fic ^^"") Thanks for the comments as always, love y'all~

Shoutout to EUNKYEBIN, quarterframe, and sugarjisoo for upvoting ^^~ Love y'all <3 <3