The three of them sit at the kitchen table in a half-awkward silence, Suho across from Sehun and Luhan.

“So, what is this case that you require my help on?” Suho asks with a slight pretentiousness, and Sehun tries not to grimace. He can’t understand why Luhan puts up with him, or maybe it’s just because Luhan is far too forgiving (read: oblivious) to pick up on Suho’s arrogance.

Suho reminds Sehun of a tight-laced corporate worker. While he and Luhan prefer casual discussions and unconventional methods of investigation, Suho is all about paperwork and detailed records and regulations. Granted, Suho’s background is a lot more professional than his or even Luhan’s, as he actively deals with high-profile government cases, compared to Luhan who only accepts them “on the side”. Wielding this type of authority also tends to make Suho an at times.

It might be the measured way Suho smiles or just the overall aura of ‘smarter and more mature than you’, but Sehun doesn’t quite trust him. Dislikable personality aside, Suho is generally more well-known for his underground dealings rather than his official work. Sehun’s heard a fair share of unsavory stories involving shady financial transactions and double-deals (but since when was any of that new). Rumor also has it that Suho maintains a large database of connections, both legitimate and not so much, which in this case could prove quite useful. Sehun has to admit, Luhan’s strategy of utilizing resources is a logical one, albeit sure to come with a price in the future.

“I’ve received contact from the United States regarding a matter of national security. It appears that someone hacked into their system sometime in the past few days.”

Suho raises an eyebrow in mild interest. “Oh, really?”

“Do you know anyone who might possess the capabilities necessary? According to the file they faxed me, the connection was heavily encrypted and extremely difficult to trace. This is the work of a professional.”

Suho doesn’t even need to blink before dropping a name. “Kai.”

“Jongin? You mean, Jongin?” Sehun blurts out before he remembers that he doesn’t like Suho. He huffs and frowns at the elder.

“Who else? He’s got the motive and the balls to do it.” Suho leans back in his chair and smirks at Sehun, but there’s a hint of warning in his eyes and Sehun glares back at him.

“Kai it is,” Luhan declares, apparently completely oblivious of the silent exchange between Sehun and Suho, scribbling out the name on his notebook. “Our first suspect.”

“But Jongin is my friend,” Sehun starts lamely and Luhan looks up with surprise, pausing in his writing.

“You know him personally?”

“He’s my friend...” Sehun mumbles, and Sehun thinks Luhan looks almost offended (but maybe that’s the result of his desperate wish for Luhan to actually notice him every once in a while, though after being bribed with bubble tea, Sehun doubts it’ll ever happen).

“Sehun, associating with these kinds of people is risky.”

Sehun shoots an obvious glance at Suho. “Then what category does he fit under?”

“Necessary evils.” Suho looks almost pleased at the comment, although it’s clearly not intended as a compliment.

“Jongin isn’t evil!” Sehun protests. “I’ve known him for years!”

“What?” For a moment, Luhan seems less like the clueless person Sehun’s used to, and more like someone who’s capable of normal emotion, like betrayal. Betrayal.

“We were classmates in middle school,” Sehun explains with a sigh. “I haven’t talked to him for a while though.” That’s not entirely true, but Sehun doesn’t want to risk hurting Luhan’s feelings.

Jongin has changed quite a lot from middle school, Sehun will admit to that. If he recalls correctly, Jongin practically made himself into a legend after that Varskoff incident a few months back with Kris and Tao. Sehun isn’t too clear on all the details, but he knows it involved an elaborate sixteen-line code, a misleadingly cute stuffed alpaca, as well as millions of dollars changing hands overnight. He never quite mustered up the nerve to ask Jongin about it, though he’s not entirely sure if he’d want to know anyway.

“Hm.” Luhan seems as if he’s about to say something else, but instead he closes his notebook and sits there quietly.

Sensing the tension in the atmosphere, Suho fakes a glance at the polished Rolex on his wrist and coughs politely. “I should probably be going now. I’ve got a meeting in fifteen.” Sehun is pretty sure that’s a load of bull, given it’s a Sunday afternoon, but he’s not about to complain about Suho leaving.

Suho’s words seem to snap Luhan out of his pondering and he looks up. “Just one more thing, do you have the address to Kai’s residence?”

Sehun and Luhan end up in front of a rather shabby-looking dorm in one of the sketchier parts of town. Sehun can’t help but wonder if Suho gave them the wrong address either purely out of spite or just to screw with them.

“Is this it?” Luhan looks around in confusion, noting the garbage bags and dirty old tin cans by the alleyway. “I expected something less -”

“Ghetto-like?” Sehun helpfully supplies.

Luhan presses the rusted buzzer and doesn’t seem surprised when it makes no sound. “Looks like it’s broken.”

Sehun raps sharply on the door. “Hello? Jongin?”

He hears the sound of footsteps before the door opens, revealing a messy-haired Jongin clad in a worn maroon hoodie and skinny jeans. “Sehun!” He smiles warmly and steps forward to give Sehun a hug, causing Luhan’s eyes to widen just a fraction. Sehun tries not to stare too much at Jongin’s jeans and coughs nervously instead.

“Why don’t you come in?” Jongin opens the door wider and they walk inside. The hallway is dim and narrow, and doesn’t look to be particularly clean, wallpaper peeling and dust gathered in the corners. To their right is what appears to be a bedroom and up ahead is a small kitchen with a table big enough for one. The area is rather cramped and there doesn’t appear to be an upstairs or a downstairs.

“This is uh, where you live?” Sehun asks, trying to be polite. Last he heard, Jongin was ridiculously, unbelievably wealthy from his last hacking stunt. Maybe he’d just been really careless with his finances.

Jongin laughs and gives him a sly smile. “Not at all. This isn’t even a fraction of my house. To keep the nosy people out, you know.” Sehun and Luhan watch with interest as Jongin pries open a light switch panel to reveal a keypad. He punches in a long series of digits and an electronic ping is heard.

Sehun nearly stumbles backwards into Luhan as the empty stretch of wall to their immediate left slides away. “Holy crap.”

The first thing Sehun notices is the enormous high-def television screen centered against the entire back wall. It’s split into roughly ten different sections, each block showing either breaking news, stock prices, or scrolling lines of code. The next thing Sehun notices is how huge the room is. It’s at least the size of an official governmental research lab, and he’s willing to bet that Jongin’s research is just as advanced, or maybe more. Everything from the walls to the tables is polished metal and glass, making Sehun feel like he’s just walked onto the set of some futuristic sci-fi movie.

In other words, Sehun really has way too many genius friends.

Luhan wanders around, admiring the various designs tacked up on the large whiteboards placed around the room. It’s a mad scientist’s perfect lair, which when applied to Jongin, is actually quite an adept metaphor (or somewhat extremely accurate).

Jongin grins. “Like it?”

“Yeah. Damn,” Sehun comments appreciatively. Even Luhan looks impressed, which is something that rarely ever happens.

Jongin slumps down into a high-backed leather spinny chair in front of his computer, whirling around casually to face them. “So what can I do for you?”

“Have you heard of the hacking of the Pentagon?”

Sehun starts and stares at Luhan, because really, why the heck is Luhan being so obvious, but Luhan shakes his head slightly and Sehun steps back, crossing his arms and waiting for Luhan to finish. He can’t say he always knows what Luhan is doing (far from it), so he’ll just have to wait and let Luhan work his genius magic.

“Of course.” Jongin grins and sits back, slouching in his seat and staring back at Luhan. “And I know exactly why you’re here.”

Luhan doesn’t seem deterred in the least. “I hope you’re not offended.”

“Not in the least. I’m more honored, to be honest.” Jongin smiles calmly and turns to Sehun, raising an eyebrow. “Why aren’t you speaking more, Sehun-ah? You were really talkative in middle school. And somewhat in high school, especially when we were in the bathroom together experimenting.” He laughs at this, and Sehun can feel his face turning red because Jongin. Did. Not. Just. Go. There.

“Experimenting?” Luhan asks mildly, giving Sehun a questioning glance. “On what? I didn’t know you experimented, Sehun-ah.”

“Didn’t you know?” Jongin’s smile becomes even wider and Sehun has the sudden urge to stab something because no no no Jongin what the hell are you doing - “Sehun’s really good at kissing. And other things. If you know what I mean.”

.

Luhan blinks, flashes of disappointment in his eyes and maybe even jealousy (but no, Sehun is definitely imagining that). “Oh. That’s nice.”

Definitely imagining. There is no way a person could sound so nonchalant.

Jongin looks as though he expected a stronger reaction, but he lets it go with a shrug. “As for your hacking case, I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong guy. It’s no fun messing with the States, they don’t know how to take a joke.”

Luhan nods, and steps back as if he’s about to leave, which tells Sehun that either Luhan has already figured it out, or he believes Jongin. He pauses, then turns back to Jongin. “I’m kind of thirsty. Do you mind if I stay for a while and drink something?”

“Hyung, what are you doing?” Sehun hisses under his breath, “we can just get water afterwards. Or bubble tea. You promised me bubble tea.” To be quite honest, Sehun doesn’t want to stay under the same roof as Jongin in the next million years because that was the most embarrassing moment of his life. What happened to being “friends”?

“Oh, it’s no problem. Kitchen’s around the corner,” Jongin gestures vaguely behind him. “I have juice too.”

Luhan hesitates for a moment, unsure whether or not he should leave. “Really?”

“I know you want to snoop around for evidence anyway,” Jongin says dismissively. “Might as well do it with my permission. I’m innocent. You’re not going to find anything.”

Once Luhan leaves, albeit reluctantly, Jongin stands up and turns to face Sehun. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Why the hell did you tell him that?” Sehun retorts, furious that Jongin had chosen now of all times to tell Luhan. In fact, he would’ve preferred it if Luhan never found out about that particular period in his life. In his defense, he had been restless and and messing with Jongin hadn’t been one of his most thought-out decisions, as were most things he’d done as a teenager.

“Well, I thought it’d make him jealous,” Jongin says straightforwardly, hands in his pockets. “Strange that it didn’t, because I’m pretty sure he feels something for you.”

“Huh?” This is not the answer Sehun was expecting.

“Come on, I’ve seen the way you look at him. You might as well stamp ‘unrequited love’ on your forehead and be done with it.” Jongin laughs and nudges him playfully. “There’s a reason why I was your best friend, Sehun-ah.”

Sehun smiles in relief, feeling much better now that he knows Jongin wasn’t trying to maliciously screw him over.

“So, how about a kiss for old time’s sake?” Jongin jokes and Sehun makes a face, but he leans forward in mock agreement as if he would. Unfortunately, that’s the exact moment when Luhan chooses to walk back in, holding a carton of apple juice and looking even more lost than usual.

.

i am forever surprised by how many different pwp plots angela can come up with in one chapter why ;A;