Jinki’s eyebrows twitched as a particularly loud thump issued from the office. It was promptly followed by shrill screeching and mad yelling and the harsh sound of something solid breaking. He sighed in his mind and once again contemplated on the wisdom of this mission. Jinki knew he should have never taken on this assignment. The fact that he was given Taemin and Jonghyun as support should have made it abundantly clear that nothing good would ever come out of this. What the freak was he thinking when he accepted—

Jinki’s thoughts were interrupted as the door flung open suddenly, swinging dangerously on the hinges at a speed that spoke of broken noses and bleeding gums should anyone have the misfortune of standing before it then. A blonde figure, pale skin flushed stood in the opened doorway. Sharply snapping his hand at Jinki in what could have been ‘ing come here or die’ gesture, he simultaneously shouted to the hidden person in the office, “Fine then! Let’s get your ing little pansy in here and see what he has to say about this ing crap!”

Jinki sighed in his mind. Why did it seem like everyone around him likes using vulgarities? Even the new guy seemed to have no reservations using them.

Nonetheless, Jinki cringed and adopted a suitably intimidated expression. Cowering in his seat, he made no movement and was rewarded by the angered blonde somewhat smugly declaring, “Look, that’s how much he ing loves you! He doesn’t even dare to fight for you, you ing fool!”

Another man appeared in the doorway and pushed the blonde aside, not too roughly, not too violently, but also making it clear he had no affection left for the other. “ off,” he eloquently snarled before his voice changed and took on a more restrained tone, “Onew, come in. I won’t let Kibum hurt you.”

His expression softened as he spoke and Jinki was struck by how schizophrenic the man seemed. This was one double-faced psychotic bastard for sure. It took more than a dash of craziness for a man in his late twenties to join hands with one of the most notorious family in the underworld and establish a money-laundering operation of this scale. No wonder why the FBI wanted him under lock that badly. Too much insanity in this world could just make it appear like the new norm, and no one wanted that, do they?

“O-okay, Minho,” Jinki inserted an appropriate stutter into his words and darted a frightened look at Kibum as he scampered over to Minho for safety. Minho immediately curled a protective arm around Jinki and glared malevolently at the practically hissy blonde. He reached out and grabbed the door handle, closing it harshly. Jinki pretended to jump in fright at the sudden noise and Minho rubbed his arm apologetically.

Jonghyun and Taemin were probably watching all of this. He would never be able to live it down.

“Sorry,” Minho looked down, his eyes genuine, “Are you al—“

“Cut this ing crap!” Kibum smacked Minho’s face with an intent to hurt, “You are even doing this in front of me with this ing homewrecker! Am I not here or what?”

Minho cradled his face and gently pushed Jinki behind him. There seemed to be no blood. He looked up and glared at the assaulter, “Sadly, you are very much here even though I wish you are buried in the pits of the earth.”

“You are wishing me death now?” the incredulity in Kibum’s voice was painful to hear, “Do you really hate me this much? Don’t you remember what we had?”

-

The screens fizzled and flickered and Taemin punched Jonghyun’s arms urgently, “, hyung! We are losing the picture!”

Jonghyun moved his body away from Taemin, opting to use his hands on the keyboard as opposed to teaching the kid a lesson in respect for his elders. Furiously typing away as command after command screens appeared, Jonghyun spoke, eyes fixed on the screen, “Darn it. I think Jinki-hyung moved into an area with poor reception.”

“Hyung! You need to hack into the building’s systems! I don’t care, I need to watch this!”

“, Taemin, I know. Just give me a moment.”

“This is like some cliché soap opera, Jonghyun-hyung. And this is the confrontation between the wife, the mistress and the husband! And the wife is just about to tell us the history between the two of them and show the mistress she is a force to be reckoned with. Hyung, this is the of the drama, I can’t miss this!”

“I know, I know! Just let me work my magic!”

“I bet that Kibum guy grew up together as childhood friends with Choi and was his first love. They dated for many long years before they married but as a result of his ailing grandfather overseas, Kibum had to leave the country to care for him. And bam, in comes Jinki-hyung and his dastardly plans, and he seduced Choi into infidelity and now Kibum has to return him to sanity and snatch back what is truly his! Jonghyun-hyung, I am sure that’s what happened!”

“Taemin, shush, I am in the midst of a delicate operation now.” A short pause sounded, “Did you just compare Jinki-hyung to some third-wheeling ?”

Taemin smiled bashfully, “You will not tell that to Jinki-hyung, will you?”

“If you promise to wash your hands every time before you leave the toilet.”

“Hyung! You make me sound like some gross brat!”

“You are one gross brat until you wash your—! I am in!”

“Oh man, Jonghyun-hyung, I love you! Let me kiss you now!”

“Never unless you wash your mouth with Listerine—Holy crap, what the hell is happening?” Jonghyun’s eyes goggled as he watched Jinki and Choi in the midst of a heavy makeout session on the office couch. The expected fight was replaced by steamy and Blonde Kibum was nowhere in sight. And the fact that Jonghyun had just managed to hack into the systems meant that he had first-class view of the action in every angle possible.

“Hyung, you ing . Now I don’t get to see Kibum dude tearing out Jinki-hyung’s hair.” The disappointment in Taemin’s voice was positively tangible.

Back from my grad trip, hurray! (Although, I overspent and now have this huge basketful of laundry that refuses to disappear ><)