Jeonghan had learned so long ago to never trust anyone - not even himself. He had been born familyless, brought up in a rundown orphanage that barely had money to feed everyone. It was there that he sold his soul to the devil, forfeiting all human emotions; a body without a heart.

“Jeonghan hyung, let’s go out to the park!” A young boy’s voice called out to Jeonghan and his attention was drawn away from the window of their room. Looking slightly impatient, were two of the children in the orphanage - Jack and Renee, age seven and six respectively.

“Go out by yourselves,” Jeonghan answered, “you two are old enough to take care of yourselves.”

“That’s not what Jane said,” Jack pouted.

“Jane is constantly worried about you two, you already know she’s a worry wart. You’ll be fine by yourselves.” Jeonghan reassured, frankly too lazy to accompany the two children to the park himself. Perhaps the nine year old Jeonghan had reached a rebellious stage?

“Are you sure, Jeonghan hyung?” Jack inquired one final time.

“Yes yes, the park is literally across the street, just make sure you don’t talk to any strangers.” Jeonghan shooed them away with his hands, his attention already elsewhere. As he heard the creaking of floorboards, Jeonghan was sure they had left.

All of a sudden, Jeonghan felt a slight ominous feeling fall over him. Maybe I should see them out… Unable to shake the feeling, Jeonghan got up and left the room. As he walked towards the entrance, he felt his breath heighten, his hands curling into fists. What was this feeling?

Hurriedly, Jeonghan threw open of the orphanage door. Just leaving the front yard of the orphanage were Jack and Renee, perfectly fine. Jeonghan breathed a sigh of relief. What exactly was he expecting to happen? It was broad daylight, nothing could go wrong. Right?

As Jeonghan watched them cross the road to the park, he couldn’t help but smile at them. He loved them like his own siblings. They were family.

Jeonghan watched as a red car came speeding out of nowhere, he heard the screeching of tires. Jack and Renee were gone.

What…

Jeonghan felt his whole body go numb, his eyes widening, his heart racing. What just happened? Feeling faint, Jeonghan stumbled towards to the road, falling over several times in the process.

“J-Jack?...Renee?” Jeonghan stuttered as he reached the stopped car. Smoke was rising from the front of the car causing Jeonghan to choke. No matter how much he wanted to not be able to see - he saw. Lying a meter in front of the car, were Jack and Renee.

No… Jeonghan stumbled towards them, there was too much blood, too much smoke.

“Aish…” Jeonghan turned his head towards the voice. A man arose from the driver’s seat of the red car, his hand to his head. “Who the …” The man looked towards Jack and Renee on the floor, “…”

Jeonghan felt his rage bubble up, he was the one that hit them. He…

Jeonghan waited for despair to fall on the man’s eyes, for him to try and rescue the children, to do something human-like.

“Serves them right… who the is going to pay for my car repairs…”

Jeonghan’s eyes lit up with rage and hot tears began to roll down his face.

“Jeonghan!” A woman’s frantic voice called after him and within moments a lady showed up behind him. “Jeonghan, what did you do-” The lady’s hands rose to cover and she shuddered in absolute fear. She let out a scream.

Jeonghan looked to her desperately, “J-Jane…”

“Oi, are you the parent’s of these two children?” The man who owned the car looked straight at Jane. “Are you going to pay for my repairs?”

He said it again...

“Jeonghan, go inside,” Jane looked down at Jeonghan, her hands at her side now, eyes full of tears. “Go inside now!”

Jeonghan jumped in surprise, shaking, the young boy sprinted into the orphanage. The moment he did, he felt his innards scream, the picture of Jack and Renee still vivid in his mind. He made a dash for the kitchen sink and made it just in time. His sobs echoed in the empty orphanage.

It’s all my fault… Jeonghan coughed and spat into the sink, throat full of bile. If I… if I had went with them… Immense guilt washed over Jeonghan. What had he done? He had killed them. He had killed Jack and Renee…

There was a flash of metal that drew Jeonghan’s attention. A knife resting on a cutting board. She had been preparing for dinner… a dinner that the four of them should’ve eaten.

No… Jeonghan’s small hands reached for the blade. Within it, he could see his reflection. I didn’t kill them… The picture of the man came into Jeonghan’s head. He did.

Jeonghan gripped the knife in his hand. He doesn’t deserve to live. The young boy ran out of the orphanage at full speed and saw the man standing there, holding Jane by the hair.

“Ahhh!” Jeonghan screamed and charged towards the man. He didn’t see it coming; flashes of red and Jeonghan felt the knife stop. The knife did not move, it had become stuck within the man’s cavity.

“Ngh…”  Jeonghan saw red drip from the man, the same blood that had spilled from Jack and Renee.

Strangely, he didn’t feel like throwing up anymore. He didn’t feel afraid, he didn’t feel sad. His tears had dried up all together.

Jeonghan’s eyes flashed with madness and he stabbed the man again, this time he fell onto the floor. Jeonghan pulled out the knife and pushed it in again in a different spot. The man stopped resisting. Jeonghan stabbed him over and over again. He was long dead, but Jeonghan kept stabbing him. It felt good - as Jeonghan stabbed, he felt a smile grow onto his face. He was enjoying it. That day, was when Jeonghan had sold his soul to the devil. His tears dried up, his heart turned to stone, his soul gone. A human without a heart.

~

“Jeonghan? Jeonghan?” Joshua shook the familiar’s body. When Joshua had awoken, it had only been six o’clock in the morning - but there had been no sounds. Fearless, he had ventured up the stairs and found Jeonghan’s bedroom. Surprisingly, Joshua found the boy asleep, but restless. Breathing coarse, and the sheets ruffling from his tossing and turning.

“N-no…” Jeonghan mumbled in his sleep, voice quivering.

“Jeonghan?” Joshua brought his hand to Jeonghan’s shoulder and shook him gently. “Jeonghan?”

*click*

There was a sudden flash of movement and sure enough, Jeonghan was awake. Not just awake -  wide-eyed and his gun pointed at Joshua. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“You were having a nightmare,” Joshua said with a straight expression.

“Tsk,” Jeonghan bit his lip.

“You were sleeping though,” Joshua smiled slightly, “for once.”

Jeonghan sighed and tucked his gun away under his pillow again. “Rather than seeing that dream again, I’d rather not sleep.” He said those words as though Joshua weren’t there.

What dream? Joshua wanted to ask. A dream that made even Jeonghan scared, Joshua wondered what it could be.

“Last night,” Joshua addressed, “you knocked me out?”

The events of last night were brought back to Jeonghan’s mind, “Yeah, sorr-”Jeonghan felt his eyes widen and he cut off his words.

“What?”

“N-no, nothing.” Jeonghan mumbled. “Leave, I need to get ready.”

Joshua didn’t have anything else to say, so he turned and wandered back outside, shutting the door behind him.

Did I… almost apologise to him? Jeonghan put his face into his hands. What was he doing, apologising to this boy? What was happening to him?

~

“What are you doing now?” Jeonghan growled as he made his way down the stairs. Joshua was visibly scrounging around in the fridge.

Joshua smiled in the direction of Jeonghan’s voice. “I’m starved, I didn’t eat anything yesterday since I was in the basement the whole day.”

Jeonghan felt the jab at him, “Tsk, do whatever you like. Just don’t burn down the house.” He didn’t see a problem in letting the blind boy cook his own meals.

“You barely have anything though…” Joshua trailed off, “this bread is moldy by the way.” Joshua dangled a bag from his right hand - the bread inside had obviously begun to grow a green mold.

“How did you know?” Jeonghan took the bag from Joshua and threw it into the trash.

Joshua looked in Jeonghan’s direction and pointed at his own nose, “You can smell the mold, smells musty.”

Jeonghan raised his eyebrows and said, “Whatever,” before proceeding to grind himself some coffee. He pressed the button and immediately an enticing coffee aroma began to spread around the house.

“Jeonghan, I told you that coffee doesn’t work as breakfast.” Joshua frowned, placing a loaf of non-moldy bread on the table. “Eat something proper, I’ll make you a sandwich.”

“I already ate yesterday, I don’t need anything,” Jeonghan lied through his teeth.

“You should eat everyday. Yesterday was yesterday, and today is today.” Joshua said as he took some plates from the cupboard and placed bread on them.

Jeonghan sighed, “What a pain in the .”

Joshua placed slices of ham and cheese on the bread and topped it off with the other piece of bread, “Here. Even if it’s a pain, you should eat anyways.” Joshua pushed one plate closer to Jeonghan. “If you don’t want me be here, I’ll eat in the basement-”

“Forget it, just stay here.” Jeonghan growled, reluctantly taking a bite of the sandwich that Joshua had made. He hadn’t eaten from home in many months; he had grown used to eating on the road during a job if he had to.

“Okay…” Joshua nodded his head and began to dig into his sandwich.

Jeonghan took another bite before going to fill up his mug with coffee. It was dark, Jeonghan preferred it that way, no milk, no sugar. “Do you want a cup?” Jeonghan took a sip from his scalding mug.

“I don’t drink coffee,” Joshua said mid-chew, “do you have any milk?”

“I don’t drink milk,” Jeonghan took another sip, “why would I have it?”

Joshua walked towards the sink - plate in hand - and began to rinse it, “Buy a carton when you go out today. I’d like to drink some.”

“Ha…” Jeonghan raised his eyebrow mockingly, “why would I buy something for you? You should be happy I’m even letting you eat my food.”

Joshua didn’t say anything and proceeded to dry his plate with a towel, “Up to you, I am craving some milk though.”

Just as Joshua said those words, Jeonghan’s phone buzzed on the counter. “Tch,” Jeonghan placed his coffee down and took the call. “What do you want?”

“I have another job for you. A lady named Park So Hee, age 24. The buyer offered four million, you’ll be doing this mission alone. Same old deal, get it done before 6:00PM tonight.

“Mingyu and Wonwoo have already told me the deal you made. Six million was transferred to your account, don’t worry.”

“I got it,” Jeonghan hung up and slipped his phone into his pocket. “Joshua, I’m going out for a job.”

“I heard,” Joshua answered, now doing nothing, simply facing Jeonghan stationary. “Are you going to put me in the basement again?”

Jeonghan bit his lip and thought momentarily, “No, you can stay here, just don’t go upstairs.” He pulled out his gun and checked the number of bullets. There was a silence as Jeonghan made his way to the door. As he opened the door and stepped outside, he turned around once more, “You can drink the rest of my coffee if you like.” Then the door closed with a beep.

Now alone, Joshua felt his way towards where Jeonghan has been standing before. On the counter, was Jeonghan’s half drunken cup of coffee.

Still hot. Joshua picked up the cup and took a small sip - he grimaced from the taste.

“Bitter…”

A/N: Sorry guys, I had to add in the little gruesome part in the front there, it was necessary to know Jeonghan's backstory ^^"" Happy that I added in more Jihan? The next few chapters will focus a lot more on their relationship so look forward to that. Let me know if there's anything you want to see, and I'll see if I can fit it into the story ^^~ Thanks for all the love <3