The loud bang echoed in Minho's ears even though a big black headset covered them fully, preventing his drums from getting damaged. Minho turned his head to look at Jonghyun, who had a gun in his hands, pointing towards the target a few metres ahead of him. Minho could see the concentration on his friend's face, one eye slightly closed and his lower lips hid behind his teeth. His right arm was stretched forward to its fullest. Suddenly, another bang filled Minho's ears. Minho looked at the target, a black hole almost near the bull's eye. Impressive, Minho thought.

The day after their meeting and their promise to start working for the Thorn Bird family, Jinki had made them wake up at sunrise and had led them to a shooting range outside the house. It looked like one of those professional ranges where Olympics shooter's performed. "Is this even legal?" Jonghyun had remarked with a frown on his face. After providing them with their equipment, Jinki eventually replied, "Trust me, the shooting range is one of the least illegal things in this house." Jonghyun and Minho had shared a doubtful look between them.

Truthfully, Minho had absolutely no idea how to use a gun. The one in his hands now was the first one he had ever held in his life. There was no way he would tell Jinki. The guy seemed to think they were both perfectly aware of their skills. Well, Jonghyun was, apparently. Minho envied him, he always looked so professional when it came to that kind of stuff. Jonghyun had told Minho about his past and it really didn't look that different from Minho's. Minho had always wondered what made Jonghyun get into the illegal life without even trying to live a more legal life.

Minho was still looking at Jonghyun performing his skills. He didn't even realize that he himself never tried to shoot. For some reason, he was trying to learn from Jonghyun just by looking at him but his friend was so fast and his movements didn't look like a newbie's movements; unlike Minho, who sighed, looking down at the gun his hand that he was loosely holding. For an untrained arm like Minho's the metal object felt so heavy, so impressive. Holding it made Minho feel weaker than ever. Weird, it's supposed to be the opposite, he thought, his eyes focusing on the gun.

His train of thoughts were interrupted when a series of bang's came from Jonghyun, who was smiling triumphantly, satisfied by his performance. Probably sensing Minho's eyes on him, Jonghyun looked back at him, the smile still in place, probably waiting for Minho to congratulate him. He must have realized from Minho's expression that the younger man needed some help because his smile disappeared as quickly as it came. Minho felt his pride scattering to pieces. I still don't see what they can possibly want from someone so unskilled like me, he sighed, the thought stinging him like a blade.

Just when Jonghyun was making a move towards him, Minho jumped and tensed when he felt a sudden warmth engulfing him. When his arms were slowly lifted up and stretched forward, Minho couldn't help but turn his head. His eyes were met with Jinki's. Half of Jinki's face was hidden behind Minho's shoulder but Minho could feel the older man's lips moving against his shoulder blade. "Don't look at that moron. He only thinks he can use it." That was what Jinki said but Minho was too distracted by Jinki's body pressed up against him to actually listen.

Minho swallowed then nodded slowly. His arms were now at head height but the gun in his hand was held completely wrong, even Minho knew that. Jinki's hand was soon on his right hand and the man started touching his fingers as Minho allowed him to move them freely on the gun. And when Jinki was finished with them, he took his other hand and positioned it on the other. In between all this, Minho's body and mind were on fire. It wasn't really the way Jinki had approached him that made him like that, it was the way Jinki was moving against him, the way his every moment was completed with the movement of his thighs against Minho's legs. The fact that Minho wore only a tank top wasn't helping at all since he could feel Jinki's breath on his almost back.

Minho let out a long relieved sigh when Jinki's finger was on Minho's index finger on the gun's trigger. "You need to relax, and feel the power in your hand," Jinki said, whispering against his ear hidden behind the headset. Weirdly, Minho could not only hear him perfectly but he also felt that there was a deeper meaning behind Jinki's words. A shiver went through his spine when the older man pressed harder against him and a loud bang came from the black metal object in his hand. Jinki's body pressed behind him prevented Minho from recoiling but the hotness Minho felt in that moment...he still wasn't sure where it came from: the bullet that had perfectly went through the bull's eye or Jinki's hot lips on his exposed neck.

None of them moved. Jinki's arms were still around Minho's and Jinki's body was still pressed against his back. Minho realized that he was panting slightly and he hoped that Jinki couldn't see his completely flushed face. "Now, it wasn't that hard was it?" Jinki said slowly, disentangling from Minho's body. "Shall we go and have breakfast, now? I'm tired of watching your ty performances." That said, Jinki removed his headset and walked towards the house.

Minho felt like he was regaining the control in his body only now that the older man was getting away from him, that for the whole time Jinki was behind him, Minho felt like his body belonged to Jinki alone. With that thought, he finally remembered that Jonghyun witnessed the whole scene. How long did they stay like that? To Minho, it felt like years and the longing feeling his body was going through at that moment made him feel really shameful.

Jonghyun's expression was totally readable, Is there something that I'm missing? it said. Minho ignored him and left the gun in the equipment box before sighing and leaving the shooting range following Jinki, a safe distance in between them. When Jonghyun reached Minho, he directed his--whiny--voice towards Jinki, "Yah, my performance wasn't ty!" Minho, on the other hand, had to force himself to stop thinking about Jinki kissing the back of his throat.

-----

Kibum cursed lowly when he almost spilled the tea on the tray he was holding with trembling hands along the staircase towards Mr. Kim's office. After being dragged to the kitchen and becoming a little more polite, he was 'promoted' to be the personal maid of Mr. Kim, one of the sons of the owner of that impressive house.

Kibum learnt that the man who had received him was Mr. Kim's lawyer, who acted like he was the owner of the household.
He also learnt that he was not in Seoul. Workers in the kitchen had told him their story and many of them were just people sold to the family because of their parents' debt. Not one of them looked like he was kidnapped and Kibum had lied to them about it. He was young, but he was not stupid.

The cooker was also the master of the kitchen and he made sure everyone knew that. Kibum had felt like this whole house lived in times of the old age of Emperors and Kings, where everyone was socially ranked. But then, when someone had mistakingly revealed the nature of the family, Kibum was suddenly not surprised of how things worked here. Mafia families have always been socially ranked.

Kibum had tried to not make mistakes and so here he was, a maid. He felt so ashamed to be taking drinks to Mr. Kim but at least they didn't make him wear weird things. He always imagined maids to be women. Kibum hadn't liked the way Mr. Kim had looked at him when he decided Kibum would be his personal maid, especially the way he had said, "You look like a woman, you'll be perfect as my maid." Kibum was utterly disgusted by that.

He managed to get upstairs without any problems but he still wasn't used to trays and all the things he had had to carry on them. He hoped, however, that his job would keep him far from having to be more intimate with Mr. Kim (he still remembered the maids who had washed him a few days before).

He arrived at Mr. Kim's office and moved his arm to let the tray slide on it so that he could knock with a free hand. Before he could though, he heard from the inside, "Kim Jonghyun might be alive." Kibum's hand froze. Had he heard right? Or was he still dreaming like he had been doing for the days since he had been kidnapped? So many times he had dreamt of Jonghyun being alive, being with him.

Kibum shook his head out of his thoughts and told himself he must have heard it wrong. He knocked twice at the door and waited for permission to enter. When he heard it, he opened the door slowly, his eyes low and the tray between his hand and arm crossing the room towards the armchairs where Mr. Kim and another man were talking. He was told Mr. Kim had a guest so he tried to be more polite than usual and left the tray on the glass table. "At last," Mr. Kim said, annoyed. Kibum bowed to apologize and then turned around to leave.

A hand blocked him by grasping onto his arm. Kibum's eyes widened and he looked at Mr. Kim's guest who was looking at him as if Kibum were something to eat, or to , Kibum thought. Kibum couldn't move, not because he couldn't free himself but because he was not meant to do so so he just waited in silence. The man smiled at him and dragged Kibum down by the arm towards him. The arm that kept Kibum from leaving was now touching his face, moving it around like a prize. "This one is very pretty," the man said, caressing Kibum's cheek.

Kibum was petrified. He was scared by that compliment that was accompanied with that look: the look of a lion gazing at his prey. "Isn't it? His name is Kim Kibum."

When the man heard Kibum's name, he smirked dangerously and caressed Kibum's lips with his thumb and whispered, "Is he?" Kibum couldn't possibly believe everyone there knew him, especially when he had never seen this man before. The man's finger were touching every part of his face and Kibum felt sick. So he was meant to let this man do everything he wanted with him? No, Kibum would never allow it. He jerked away and rushed towards the door without looking back.

He closed the door behind him and he fell on his knees, panting. The shame of being touched by someone without consent was too much for him to bear. Kibum knew he was pretty and he always tried to enhance his prettiness and now it was becoming his number one enemy. He got up and hurried towards the stairs, towards his room and didn't leave it until the next morning.

-----

The dim light coming from the desk lamp in Jinki's office was the only source of lighting at such time in the night. Everything inside there was silent, you could only hear the distant sound of barking coming from the country the house was surrounded by.

The lamp was reflecting its light on Jonghyun's face, making his skin bright and hot. But Jonghyun didn't care a bit about it as he was so engrossed in looking at his phone to even notice. His expression looked distant, almost lost in memories. His eyes looked down at the picture the screen of his phone was showing: a picture of a drunk Kibum sleeping in Jonghyun arms. Minho had taken it with Jonghyun's cellphone without anyone noticing. Not even Jonghyun was aware because he was too absorbed in looking at his angel in his arms.

Jonghyun had found it on his phone some days ago by chance. Since then he had been looking at it for hours during the night or when he couldn't stop thinking about Kibum. Was he ever going to see Kibum again? Jinki had assured him that yes, he was; but then, Jinki couldn't know it for sure.

Tears started flowing down his cheeks and he immediately wiped them with his sleeve. He blamed the light that was too hot on his skin, but even he knew that the only reason he was crying was because he couldn't stop blaming himself.

And Jinki was damn late. He had told Jonghyun to wait in his office when Jonghyun just wanted to go to bed after such a stressful day. What did they have to talk about in the middle of the night that couldn't be discussed after a good sleep? Jinki sometimes was a bit too much. Okay, not only sometimes. He had a view of things, of situations, that Jonghyun (being Jonghyun) just couldn't understand. I wonder what kind of education Jinki has had when he was a kid, Jonghyun thought.

Finally, the sound of the door that echoed in the overly silent office, silenced Jonghyun's thoughts. He immediately put away his phone after a quick look at Kibum's picture and stood up. "Took you long enough," he said sarcasticly. He had been waiting for more than 45 minutes for God's sake!

Jinki just looked at him, his serious expression in place. He closed the door behind him and slowly reached the desk where Jonghyun was tapping his finger nervously against. Jinki sat on his chair and sighed, looking at Jonghyun. "My father is a heavy talker, you should talk to him sometimes." Jinki's voice sounded bored and tired. So, even the almighty Jinki is tired. Jonghyun smirked at the thought but then he was met with Jinki's confused expression, so he stopped.

"Uhm so..." Jonghyun started, looking uneasy. "What did you want to talk to me about?" Jonghyun was exhausted but he was also curious. Weirdly, Jinki hadn't called for him and Minho, but for Jonghyun only. There must have been a serious reason for it. That, or Jinki couldn't trust Minho enough to talk to him so intimately. Then why would he trust YOU? That's a good question.

Jinki was quiet for several seconds. Not even once did he break contact with Jonghyun's eyes; it seemed like he was studying Jonghyun. Jinki looked like a perfect strategist, in Jonghyun's opinion. "Jonghyun," finally, Jinki spoke. Jonghyun didn't reply and waited for more. "I want this conversation to not leave this room." The request was clear. No one had to know about it. When Jonghyun nodded, Jinki seemed satisfied and continued, "I know we got off on the wrong foot since the beginning. I know you probably don't trust me enough to do this yet. But," he stopped and looked at Jonghyun for what seemed like an eternity. Jonghyun thought he stopped breathing. "I want you to be my partner."

Jonghyun blinked a few times, and then laughed. What? "Jinki.. I mean, hyungnim, what are you talking about?" Jonghyun couldn't believe it. Not in a million years would he have believed that something like that could come out of Jinki's mouth. Jinki had told him from the start that Jonghyun was just his 'assistant'; which meant, he was nothing. Jonghyun had been satisfied with it, he would have done anything to find Kibum, even clearing Jinki's as a job. But this, this was a completely different story.

"Right now, I can trust no one in this house. Not my father, not my driver, not my father's right hand man." The allusion to Minho was clear now. "I know for sure you haven't been in contact with my father yet and I also know that you have murdering feelings for Kyuhyun and so there is no way you could have talked to him. So, I'm asking you to be my business partner, to be my shadow, to be the person I need to trust the most. I need someone who is good with a gun and someone who is willing to do anything in order to protect me and my business."

Jonghyun was speechless. Jinki sounded deadly serious about it. Jonghyun swallowed and tried to clear his mind. "You are willing to trust your life with me?" He needed a confirmation, although Jinki had been clear enough. Suddenly, Jinki didn't seem so strong like he thought he was, he looked lonely and lost. Jonghyun didn't even think about it twice, something told him to just agree to Jinki's offer. "I will be honoured to be your partner, Jinki." Jonghyun knew that Jinki wouldn't have gone so far if he weren't serious about the offer he was making. Jonghyun had somehow appreciated the sincerity.

For the first time since he had met him, Jinki's vulnerability was clear on his face. When he heard Jonghyun's answers he had seemed relieved, almost grateful. Of course, it might have just been Jonghyun's imagination, since the room was almost totally dark.

Jinki nodded and stood up and Jonghyun did the same. When his boss', no his partner's, hand moved towards him, Jonghyun immediately shook it, half smiling. "Thank you, Jonghyun." Jonghyun had never heard such sincerity in Jinki's voice. If all of this turned out to be a joke, Jonghyun would still congratulate Jinki for his perfect acting skills. "Remember, no one has to know. Not yet," Jinki said before switching the lamp off and then walked towards the door, waiting for Jonghyun to follow him.

Jonghyun did follow him but before Jinki could open the door, he stopped him, a serious expression across Jonghyun's face. "Jinki, are you sure you are just looking for a partner? You look like you might be in need of a friend too." Jonghyun held Jinki's eyes for a while and then opened the door for himself, leaving it open for Jinki. "Goodnight Jinki, see you in the morning."

Jonghyun didn't look back at Jinki but he was sure that the older man was still in his office, thinking about Jonghyun's subtle offer to not only be his partner, but his friend as well.

❞
It took me..... more than a month to write the LAST scene .... I'm the worst -.- aaaaand, some more minew interactions for all of you <333 what do you think of jongyu partners-in-crime? :P Jinki doesn't trust Minho but he desires him (yes Jinki bb, everyone knows that already ^^)

Bye, everybody see you in chapter 10~