Word Count: 2586

You're appealing to emotions that I simply do not have
Blackmailed myself
Cause I ain't got anyone else

So put your hands in the air and don't make a sound
But don't get the wrong idea
We're gonna shoot you

Youngjae sat on the edge of the bed and contemplated the situation, rubbing his burning eyes. What could possibly go wrong? He was currently sheltering a dangerous criminal sought by the police, criminal he had just previous helped escape and who was now passed out on the couch of his living room. Youngjae dropped onto his mattress, curled up inside his sheets and remained with his nose stuffed in his pillow. He refrained himself from screaming of frustration and bit into his pillow instead. Once he was on the verge of suffocating inside of his coccoon, invaded by a sudden heat wave, he roughly sat straight again, his hair sticking out all over the place.

Youngjae rethought about the expression JB was wearing when he had resolutely reached out his hand to him, offering an almost hopeless help. Sure, he was displaying a cold stare, piercing even, but that certainly didn't give him the looks of a criminal in any way - who could have guessed? He was inevitably young, a couple of years older than Youngjae was, at best. He also seemed in good shape for someone who had just spent two years in jail, though livid due to his wound. All of this didn't reassure Youngjae in the least.

Gratefully, given JB's state at the moment, the latter wouldn't be in measure to hurt Youngjae, right? Besides, Youngjae had literally saved his life. Yeah, nothing worse could happen. Youngjae was drawn from his dark reflections when he felt something shuffle at his feet. He bent down to find Coco trying to chew on his slippers, unsuccesfully. Coco was a tiny little dog he had taken in after discovering her alone in a dark street of Old Seoul while on a walk with Mark. Ever since, she had adapted herself pretty well to her new life in Youngjae's penthouse, and she was Youngjae's perfect companion when he felt lonely.

Chuckling in such a situation, Youngjae took her in his arms, holding her the princess way, tenderly patting her on the head. "Ah Coco, what am I supposed to do? There's a pretty bad guy in our living room at the moment, and I'm not sure what he'll do to us once he wakes up.. It's my fault, so I'll protect you no matter what, don't worry." Obviously, Coco manifested no reaction and Youngjae sighed desparately, biting his lower lip.

Eventually he stood up, and with a single-minded pace, Coco still in his arms, headed to the livingroom, only to find JB awake, which made him gasp in horror. Youngjae gathered all of his courage and approached him. JB was sitting legs-crossed, leaning onto the armcouch, his right hand tightly gripping his injured arm, fingers deeply sinking into his skin, that was dangerously turning into an unrecognizable colour. His head was slightly bent to the side, allowing his messy raven hair to halfly cover his eyes, even though they were visibly closed. His lips formed a tight line, and it wasn't really hard to guess he was putting up with a strong pain.

"How are you feeling?" Youngjae asked, not daring to look at the killer. It was a stupid question and he felt quite dumb, but what else was he supposed to say?

"Like my arm is gonna fall out," JB replied, voice hoarse and smothered. His eyelids stayed closed.

Youngjae consented in cautiously studying JB. His prisoner shirt (how had Youngjae not noticed it earlier?) stuck to his skin, soused in blood and snow. His hemorrhage had probably not stopped. Sighing, Youngjae deposed Coco on the floor and disappeared into his bedroom, before coming back a few seconds later, holding a first aid kit, a wet towel, a blanket and a black tank top belonging to Mark.

“Here, take this," Youngjae said, casually handing the blanket. The best thing to do was to not look suspicious or worried. "And... take off your shirt. I'm going to clean off your wound."

JB raised his head and turned to Youngjae, who almost made a step back before restraining himself. "I can do it myself," he said, frowning, but accepting the blanket anyway.

"No, let me," Youngjae insisted quickly. Why was he helping a criminal when the latter had assured him he could handle it himself? "You're soaked in blood, so.."

JB kept silent for a while, openly peering at Youngjae, probably wondering if he could trust him, or how he should murder me, Youngjae added mentally. After an eternity, he gave his back to Youngjae and removed his shirt, tossing it to the side. There, Youngjae felt himself grow with nausea again; JB's back was entirely covered in blood - both dry and fresh blood. But the worst thing was his wound. A hideous notch going from the top of his shoulder to the bottom of his shoulder blade. It looked as if it had been done with a blade of some sort, but as far as Youngjae knew, the police didn't use knives, so how...? Youngjae decided this was a story he did not wish to know the details of, and proceeded to desinfect the injury as best as he could. Once most of the blood was cleared out, Youngjae noticed how dangerously blue JB's side was getting. He risked wandering the tip of his fingers there, but quickly retreated when Jaebum tensed and growled in pain.

"Sorry. I think you might have a broken rib. What the hell..." Youngjae whispered, and was thankful when JB said nothing. He then proceeded to open his kit, from which he took out a couple of patches before adding, "These are Special Health Care patches. It might burn and you might not be able to feel your arm for a couple of hours, but they will stimulate your cells and your wounds will heal faster. I, hum, developped them myself so I would know." This time, Youngjae took JB's silence for permission, so he carefully applied the patches on JB's shoulder and side, frowning and sticking out his tongue in concentration. Once it was done, he handed JB the spare shirt and quickly got up from the couch, making his way to the kitchen.

"...Thanks," JB said and Youngjae stopped dead in his tracks, turning to face him. JB was already regaining some colors. His voice sounded clearer, too.

"I know who you are," Youngjae blurted out, wanting to bury himself to the ground. "I've read the news."

JB's face darkened. "Are you afraid of me?"

"No! I mean yes," Youngjae said, taking a step back. "But I won't report you to the police and no one saw us, so please don't kill me-"

"You bringing me here, that's what the media doesn't know," JB said. His voice sounded a lot more confident than earlier. "What JR's men know, on the other hand, is another story."

"What? You-"

"You said there wasn't any civilian witness, and that might be true. The federals aren't looking for me. JR's men are. I know how their training is, even after having spent two years in jail. They probably already reported us to their HQ and are on their way."

"You're lying," Youngjae accused, yet he was starting to doubt. "You're trying to lure me."

"I'm not," JB insisted, a hint of annoyment in his tone. "They could be here any minute."

Just as to confirm those dires, the bell rang, and Youngjae froze. JB slowly lifted himself up the couch, ready to react whenever. "Don't make a noise," he half whispered warningly. 

The bell rang a second time, and everything became slow motion. The door was forced almost effortlessly, exposing a faceless silhouette. JB rushed instinctively rushed towards Youngjae and drew him into a protective embrace, giving his back to the intrudor. The beaming laser, previously aimed right at Youngjae, embedded itself in the kitchen wall, disintegrating several centimers cube of it. 

Youngjae, who still had his face in the crook of JB's neck and his head still dizzy from the previous blow whizzing past his ear, felt the other's left arm raise and jolt as a soft explosion sound was heard. Instantly, Youngjae pulled away from JB and watched in horror as the enemy dropped dead on his porch.

"You just killed him!" Youngjae cried, staggering away from JB. "This wasn't supposed to happen! When did you have this?" he added, pointing at the weapon JB was still brandishing.

"I took it from a corpse earlier," JB replied unapologetically, putting the gun in his back pocket. "It didn't have the stun setting so I had no choice. They're going to send back up, so we need to leave right now. They probably didn't expect me to be armed."

"This is wrong," Youngjae croaked, not meeting the other's eyes and ignoring him. Instead, he stood there in the kitchen, his back against the wall and his eyes still fixed on the corpse. "I can't be part of this."

"Too late, you are now." JB walked to face Youngjae and didn't stop until only ten centimenters separated them. He tried to catch his gaze, but the other was purposely avoiding his eyes. "We can't stay here. They're gonna be on us until we're dead or brought to JR. Come with me."

"Why would I go with you?" Youngjae asked defiantly, facing the other. He was scared, and almost on the verge of having a panick attack. "It's you they want, not me."

"Actually, no." JB shook his head. He put one of his hands on Youngjae's shoulder. "What do you work on, Dr. Choi Youngjae?"

Youngjae flinched at the touch and at the mention of his name. How did JB know? He began to get the terrible impression that he was already involved in all of this without knowing. That was the only possibility.

He thought about his research of five years. Nothing too big - well, it could be revolutionary, only if he were able to resolve and confirm the two last equations. Without them, the formula was useless. He also replayed JB's question in his mind, and something gave him the feeling he already knew the answer to it. But the only people aware of his project were his CEO, who had given him reluctant permision six years earlier, as well as his colleagues, his closest friends who were certainly a bit worried, but still fully supportive. Not even the chemistry department had been informed yet.

"I might not be the best option there is," JB continued, as if he was following the trail of Youngjae's thoughts. "But I'm your only option. Therefore, I am asking you... Do you trust me?"

Youngjae was smart. He had a mind of deduction similar to no one else's, especially when he used it at its best. There was no need for JB to clarify anything - JR wanted the formula, and also JB. Visibly, something had happened between the two of them two years ago, which got JB to jail as a result. Had he been betrayed? Basically, Youngjae and JB together were the Jackpot, - two for the price of one. If Youngjae hadn't found JB, JR would have gotten to him anyway sooner or later.

Youngjae stared back into JB's eyes. He noticed through the other's dark locks, two tiny moles on his upper, left eyelid, which made his gaze look even more sharp. Honestly, Youngjae felt impressed and startled at the same time. Why had JB saved his life when he had no reason to? Youngjae's only existence had become a threat to JB the moment they had met, so what was his motive? And now that they were even, he had no reason to help Youngjae. But the more Youngjae stared, the more he could sense a hint of trustworthiness beyond JB's inscrutable facade.

"I do," he finally said at once, and he promised himself he would never, ever fully have faith in someone who had just unhesitantly killed a person in front of him, even in order to save him.

*

Less than an hour later, they were standing in the middle of the street in the middle of the night and in the middle of a light snowstorm. Youngjae, with Coco tucked in his right arm and luggage in his left hand (Only the strict necessary, JB had said, and Youngjae had whined) found himself in the impossibility to hug himself, shivering and teeth chattering like crazy. It didn't help him that JB was bare arms, still injured and that he didn't seem to feel the cold. He reached for Youngjae's keys in his backpocket.

"Where is your car?" JB asked, looking around the area.

"T-Two streets d-down," Youngjae replied with difficulty, nodding towards the direction. "On the par-parking."

JB sighed and contemplated Youngjae who was literally dying of cold. Youngjae never used his car since he always went to work on foot, and he didn't want to create useless traffic in front of the buildings, so he would leave it on a parking, a little too far away in such a situation.

"Stay here," JB ordered. "I'll go get it, I won't be too long."

"Okay."

Youngjae saw JB run to the indicated direction and barely had time to think 'How can he run with his injury' that he was already back, driving the car this time. JB emerged from the driver's seat and opened the door for Youngjae, gesturing for him to get in. "Hurry," he said, and he took his luggage to put it in the backseat.

Once the both of them were settled (with their seatbelt fastened, why thank you) inside, JB started the car and raced without any wording.

After several minutes, Youngjae noticed they had entered a part of Neo Seoul he wasn't familiar with, and pointed to the dashboard. "You know," he said "You can just input the location and it'll drive us there automatically, in case you want to rest."

"No," JB said, not glancing anywhere but the road. "It's not like that. It won't work. Besides, that'd be reckless."

"Oh, if you say so." 

Youngjae shrugged and went back to absently carressing Coco. It didn't take him too long to fall asleep.

*

Youngjae woke up a short while later to a hand shaking his shoulder. "We're here, come on," he heard JB say, but he was already outside the car. He quickly got out as well and grabbed his luggage, catching up to JB who was heading towards an old building.

Inside, it really looked abandoned. The staircase clearly wasn't maintained and seemed in pretty bad shape. Youngjae wondered if they were at the right place, but didn't ask any question and followed JB in the stairs. 

A couple of floors later, JB turned into the hallway, well, Youngjae had expected a hallway, but rather than that they were standing in what looked like an underground parking. Once again, Youngjae kept silent and stayed beside JB, who clearly knew where he was going. A while later, they stopped in front of a blank wall, and JB spoke into a speaker that Youngjae would never have noticed on his own.

"Wang," he said, "Open up, it's me."

Wang? Youngjae frowned. Had he hallucinated? Or had he heard wrong? After all, he was still half deaf, right? Wang wasn't a common last name in Neo Seoul, even in the late 2070's. Youngjae jumped when the wall pivoted on itself, revealing a small entrance corridor.

From there, showed none other than the one and only, Jackson Wang.

Hello ! Chapter 2 is here, and it's well damn confusing. Well, everything's pretty clear to me, but if you got any questions, don't hesitate and ask me ! First off, thanks for 70+ subscribers ! I wasn't expecting that many people with just Chapter 1. Thank you so much. Secondly, I apologize for any grammatical errors or weird sentence twists. I wrote most of this chapter from 1 am to 3 am yesterday and I didn't quite reread it with attention and since I liked how it turned out, I didn't edit too much of it. Please comment!! It's appreciated and keeps me motivated! See you next week for chapter 3 :)