Sungmin didn’t mean to cry.

The instinct to push Kyuhyun away struck him so strongly when the officer’s voice reverberated in his ears. But when Ryeowook had called out to him with an unspoken question on whether they should be left alone, he found himself unable to reply. As much as Kyuhyun wanted that private time to only themselves, his heart had desired the same.

It was a whirlwind of emotions as Kyuhyun sat beside him, their shoulders slightly brushing with the officer’s movements. He could hear the soft hustling of the wind, the enchanting smell of cherry blossoms tickling his nose as the memories brought him back to ten years ago. And Sungmin felt his heart clench at the silent question that drifted into his mind – Why couldn’t things remain simple and unchanging like that moment?

When Kyuhyun had expressed pity for the lack of cherry blossoms, he realized how they had been reminiscing the past together on the same bench. It reminded him of the previous night that they had shared on the same bed, causing him to be suddenly aware of the seemingly burning heat emitting from Kyuhyun’s skin though more than an inch away. Then it snapped in him – What was he doing here with a police officer? Why did Kyuhyun keep coming after him now when the officer had obviously tried to push him away last night before they both succumbed to the monster of lust?

And that sparked off the intention to test Kyuhyun out. He deliberately spoke things he never thought of saying to someone, much less Kyuhyun. The declaration that he belonged to the Satan was one Sungmin often pondered over in late nights. Sometimes, he managed to convince himself that he was on the good side; he was going to bring down TriSatan. Most of the time, that declaration seemed to ring true in his ears. He had killed, and was going to kill till he stole the last breath from Yunho’s murderer; how much good could there be left in him?

Then, it had been unexpected when Kyuhyun had kissed him. Over the years, he wished so hard that he could hate Kyuhyun for leaving him alone to the demons in his heart. He wanted to hate Kyuhyun for not helping him, for not saving him, for leaving him, for not contacting him after flying overseas. That few days when his heart was undecided about taking up the assignment, he had been waiting for Kyuhyun to call, for Kyuhyun to come back. But after three weeks, he had given up – he agreed to become an undercover. As he put his body through the rigorous training, his heart grew even wearier than ever, and the guilt that he was the one who ended the relationship with Kyuhyun overwhelmed him. It was illogical; his mind knew they shared the blame. But his heart tormented him with guilt over and over again everyday, until he had fully convinced himself that he was a devil, that he had done wrong to Yunho, to Kyuhyun, to Hyukjae, to Siwon, to everyone he loved.

Thus, he couldn’t hate Kyuhyun. He didn’t have the rights to.

And that was what broke him even when his mind was deceptively spinning up the situation that he had given in, trusted, and let him Kyuhyun in. It was an act – he had deliberately given Kyuhyun the information about Dark to see his reaction, and the officer’s seemingly anxious efforts in earning his trust strengthened his intuition. There was something amiss about Kyuhyun that he had to find out.

But even so, when he had embraced Kyuhyun, he couldn’t stop his truthful tears from falling. Sungmin cried harder as a thought drifted into his mind – the tears would make his act in front of Kyuhyun even more convincing.

Nobody’s a good guy.

But Sungmin was more than just not a good guy.

He was a devil. One full of manipulative lies and a mask he could never pry off.

He was Dauntless; he was no longer Lee Sungmin.

~---~

“This is my personal number, one you should save under an alias.” Sungmin ordered as soon as he heard the voice greeting ‘hello’ and asking who was on the line.

“Dauntless hyung?”

“Yes. Are you working for Dauntless or are you working for Asphalt?” Sungmin interrupted before the person on the line could answer. “Choose.”

There was a few seconds of silence before a soft answer. “You saved me more than once.”

“Good. Do something for me then.” Sungmin paused, drumming his fingers on the handrail of the bridge. “Use your hacking skills and find out if there has been any interaction between Asphalt and Officer Cho Kyuhyun.”

“Cho—”

“Don’t ask why.” Sungmin cut the person off as he spotted Kyuhyun walking towards him with two ice cream cones in his hands. “I’ll be back in two days. Report to me then.” He hung up before the person could reply, turning to Kyuhyun as he slipped the phone back into his pocket.

“Busy?” Kyuhyun asked, passing him the chocolate ice cream with a smile.

“Just calling up to check on my underlings.” Sungmin frowned at the chocolate cone he received. “I said I didn’t want any, much less a chocolate one. I’m gonna gain weight.”

“You always say that, but you will still eat it when I buy you one.” Kyuhyun said, at his own vanilla cone with raspberry swirls.

Sungmin huffed, unable to deny the truth as he relished in the burst of chocolate taste in his mouth. He turned back towards the pond, admiring the soft ripples disturbing the calm surface of the water. “We should contact the other two.” They had sat on the bench for close to three hours catching up on each other’s lives, though it was mostly Kyuhyun discussing the cases he solved in America and Europe, because Sungmin refused to reveal much. It was almost a miracle that Ryeowook didn’t call.

“Yeah, we should.” Kyuhyun answered, follow