No trigger warnings for this chapter.

___

It was a long ride and Youngjae wasn’t making it easy for anyone. Somewhere along the way Jongup had put a blindfold over his eyes and that was when Youngjae had started talking.

“Is this really necessary?”

“I don’t even care where we’re going.”

“Is this another one of your toys?” (Junhong had chuckled at this)

“People are divided on this, you know. Some say that nothing good ever starts with a blindfold while others say that anything that starts with a blindfold must be good.”

“I’d be much less bored if I could look out the window.”

Himchan never reacted. His ability to ignore and tune out annoyances was remarkable.

Such patience didn’t grace Jongup. Junhong had to hold his hand to stop him from hitting Youngjae every five seconds.

But perhaps the most remarkable thing was that Youngjae had not closed his mouth until the car came to a stop.

The hand that grabbed him to shove him out of the car must have been Jongup’s.

“This was a bad idea. He’ll do exactly what you’ve told him not to do,” Youngjae heard Jongup say.

“It doesn’t matter. It might actually be fun to see Ravi break his teeth,” Daehyun said. His voice was a bit farther, coming from where he’d parked his Tesla.

“Who’s Ravi?” Youngjae asked. No one answered.

“Silent treatment won’t work on me. I’m not trying to annoy you, I just want answers.” That wasn’t entirely true. Youngjae wanted answers and to annoy them. Still no response.

Soon Jongup pushed him along. Only when they were inside was his blindfold taken off. They were inside an office building. It seemed abandoned aside from a running vending machine by the front desk, where a freckly boy sat.

When he saw the six of them entering he stood and bowed. He was looking at them with admiration.

Youngjae felt bad for the boy. How low must he have sunk to consider such people role models.

Daehyun flashed him a smile and the boy flushed. That was the most communication that was exchanged as they were heading to the elevator.

By the time they reached their floor, Youngjae was fully alert. He was wondering what kind of people would be Dobong-gu’s friends. More importantly he was wondering who was Bin and what did he want from Youngjae.

They went down a carpeted corridor. Youngjae was looking around at the framed abstract art-works on the walls which he could make no sense of. There were a few doors in the corridor but they seemed to be heading to the farthest one.

‘Conference hall,’ it read.

A few people were present in the building. One girl who seemed to be a secretary of a sort spotted them and immediately turned to pace the other way. Standing by the door labelled as ‘conference hall’ were two younger boys, chatting casually. One of them was scrolling on his phone.

Just like the freckly one in the lobby, they straightened up and bowed formally when the six of them approached. Junhong ruffled one of the boys’ curly hair and Jongup fist-bumped the other.

Youngjae’s heart was drumming against his chest as they went through the door. He almost expected to be enlightened.

Only three people were present in the conference hall which was too big to host a meeting for nine people, although Youngjae suspected more would arrive.

He took a good look at the three men in the room. The first one who caught his eye was one a bit older than he was. He had dark red hair and tattoos visible on his bare arms. He wasn’t dressed formally either, wearing a sleeveless black shirt with some logo Youngjae didn’t recognize, black ripped jeans and a chain around his neck. He was playing with some dice, they made a clicking noise that echoed through the room. With his eyebrows slightly furrowed and his red hair, he reminded Youngjae of the red angry bird.

The other two were both brunettes, both quite tall. The older one had a longer face and a slit eyebrow and the expression of a cat that’s just smashed a vase and is feeling proud of itself. Maybe it was the sharp shape of his eyebrows, or the look in his eyes, or the faint smirk on his lips but he looked ready to screw anyone over. He was sitting on the table, swinging his legs.

The younger brunette was as dressed up as Daehyun was. He wore a casual suit and a red silk handkerchief around his neck. He was standing in front of where the older sat, arms crossed and tapping his foot nervously. Was that Bin? Was he expecting Dobong-gu because of Youngjae?

Youngjae knew he was just being self-indulgent as he thought this. In reality his presence seemed devastatingly insignificant.

As soon as the door opened the younger brunette looked up, smiled brightly and ran around the elongated table. He halted in front of Daehyun and gave him a formal bow, then ran straight for Junhong, embracing him tightly. Daehyun had responded to his bow with an equally formal nod, and was now looking after him with an unreadable expression.

It had all happened quickly and subtly; Youngjae had only been able to catch it because he was doing his very best to take note of every single detail around him.

Daehyun ripped his gaze from Junhong and his friend and instead opened his arms to embrace the other brunette. They greeted each other with “son of a .” Youngjae was getting frustrated that he didn’t know anyone’s name yet.

Jongup went to sit next to the angry bird and they slipped into a quiet conversation while playing dice together.

Yongguk and Himchan shared no greetings. They stood at the edge of the table, arms crossed, waiting.

This way, Youngjae was left awkwardly alone.

Daehyun to the rescue. He wrapped his arm around Youngjae’s shoulders, smiling brightly.

“Ken, this is Yoo Youngjae. You’ve asked for him, there you have it. Jae, this is Ken. We go way back.”

Ken saluted as a greeting. Youngjae only nodded, not caring for any formalities. Ken didn’t seem to care either.

But Youngjae didn’t like the way he was being looked at by Ken. He looked like a hyena stalking its prey.

Him and Daehyun chatted a while longer, until Ken patted Daehyun’s shoulder and said, “I haven’t greeted my favourite hyung yet. Excuse me.”

He made his way over to where Himchan and Yongguk stood. The bow Ken gave them was deeper than necessary, but even so Yongguk glared at him with distaste.

“It’s so good to see you again,” Ken was saying. “N will be here any moment, don’t worry.”

Himchan muttered something under his breath.

“We’ve got the time,” Yongguk said.

 Youngjae had to live through a couple more minutes as the third wheel to Ken and Daehyun’s conversation before the door opened again.

In walked two men, one with dark hair and tan skin and the other quite pale with blue hair a few shades lighter than Jongup’s. They were chatting and laughing about something. Both had dimples, though not very prominent, only when they smiled.

And then the dark haired man looked across the room, locked eyes with Himchan and his smile, as well as his dimples were instantly swept away. He bowed and Himchan nodded, suggesting that Himchan was older. Formal and highly impersonal. They didn’t acknowledge each other further.

The blue haired one was carrying a laptop. He walked over to the table and placed it down. This was the action that kicked everyone into gear, taking their places at the table. Youngjae waited to be pushed or otherwise directed to where he’d be sitting.

The two groups sat on opposite ends. Youngjae was between Junhong and Yongguk. To Junhong’s left was Jongup. To Yongguk’s right was Himchan, then Daehyun.

As brief as the moment of silence that occurred was, Youngjae couldn’t stand it. He was anxious like a student about to get their test results with a teacher who keeps stalling.

“Well, this is the most boring meeting I’ve ever been to. There’s not even any refreshments,” Youngjae said.

There were a few chuckles from over the table, but Ken laughed the loudest. Himchan, Yongguk, Jongup and the angry bird didn’t laugh at all.

“We used to drink scotch but we got drunk too quickly,” Ken explained.

The dark haired man leaned in, placing his chin in his palm. His smile was back and so was his dimple. “You must be Youngjae. I’m N. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Bad things, I assume,” Youngjae said.

N’s smile was gentle. “We weren’t affected by the events from three years ago. I don’t like to form opinions about people based off of stories.”

Himchan once again muttered something under his breath, too quiet for Youngjae to hear. No one reacted to it or asked him to speak up.

“I’d like to know who I’m working with,” Youngjae spoke.

N blinked, batting his pretty lashes. “Excuse me?”

“You all know each other and as I’ve been told you’re going to ask something of me. Before we get to business I’d like to know who I’m working with.”

N leaned back in his chair. “I see.” He gestured to his right. “Ravi and Bin—” then to his left, “—Ken and Hyuk.”

Now that he knew their names – not their real names, as was evident – Youngjae took another glance at the other side of the table.

Sat across from Jongup was Ravi, the angry bird. Next to him was an empty spot and sitting across from Youngjae was the blue haired man with the laptop. Bin.

Youngjae locked eyes with him, but he said nothing. N was sitting across from Yongguk, Ken was next to him and in the end the brunette with the red handkerchief – Hyuk – was sitting across from Daehyun.

“I’d say I’m pleased to meet you, but it wouldn’t be true,” Youngjae said in the sweetest voice he could muster.

“We don’t expect you to be,” N said, just as sweetly.

“How’s Leo?” Daehyun cut in, changing the subject because the snarky remarks were truly going to get them nowhere.

Ravi looked up and for a second the sound of the clicking dice ceased. “He’s fine. The bullet was horribly misplaced. The good news is we’re dealing with idiots who can’t shoot.” Then he kept playing with his dice.

“So what happened?” Daehyun asked.

Youngjae found this odd. While he was with Dobong-gu he’d learned the way Yongguk and Himchan’ co-leadership worked; Yongguk was the one who made decisions and his word was the last, but Himchan was the one to voice them.

But now it was like Himchan was refusing to speak. And with neither Yongguk nor Himchan speaking, there was no one to carry the meeting on Dobong-gu’s side.

“He was ambushed,” N said simply.

Hyuk was the one who elaborated, “Ken, him and I have noticed them pop up here and there, making trouble. It didn’t use to be anything special and nothing we couldn’t take care of internally. But they’re reckless, same people keep appearing over our territory and they’re impossible to miss. The biggest slip-up was when they tried to take over some of Leo’s routes. He went to settle it—”

“He shouldn’t have gone alone,” Ravi muttered.

“Dami and Yoohyeon were with him,” N cut in. “We’ve been over this.”

Ravi shook his head but said nothing else.

“Ambushed, as hyung said,” Hyuk finished.

“How misplaced was the bullet?” Jongup asked Ravi.

“Shoulder. If you ask me, for someone skilled that’s far from the head,” Ravi said.

“It may have been a warning, not an assassination attempt,” Jongup remarked.

Ravi frowned and hung his head as he contemplated Jongup’s words.

“Whether they were aiming for the head or not, it was a threat,” N said, placing his palms flat on the table. “Leo’s territories are safe for now, but we can only imagine they’ll try something similar again.” He looked up at Yongguk and Himchan. “Have you noticed anything?”

Yongguk looked to Daehyun and Junhong. Daehyun shook his head.

“I have,” Junhong said after a moment. “On the east, but it was very minor. As you said, settled internally.”

There was a second of silent back and forth between Himchan and Yongguk as they tried to convince each other to speak, but Yongguk did so in the end.

“If you’re right and if we are dealing with the same group as we have three years ago, with the police still after us they’d be trying to stay away, wouldn’t they?”

N nodded slowly.

“I am almost a hundred percent positive it’s them,” Bin said as he started typing on his laptop. “You just have to confirm it.”

And this was the first time anyone addressed Youngjae directly since the conversation began. Bin didn’t even look at him, but it was clear who he was talking to.

“I can’t wait,” Youngjae said.

“I was able to dig out one name and one record. We have a few blurry pictures from security cameras before they disabled them, but...” His voice faded. “This one. He’s the most persistent,” Bin said and turned his laptop towards Youngjae.

It was the exact same picture from the record Youngjae was given three years ago, the record he had access to thanks to the alliance with the Chinese police department.

“Escaped convict. Rumoured to have fled to The Republic of Korea.”

Youngjae remembered every single piece of information from that record, but more importantly he remembered the smirking face, the rings he wore to make his punches more painful.

He remembered the man grabbing Youngjae by the hair before hitting him.

Youngjae remembered his answer to the question, “Are you sure about this?”

“His boyfriend will come for him, I’m sure of it,” he’d said.

'He's not my boyfriend,' Youngjae had wanted to say, but his mouth had been full of blood.

In present day, in the moment that had escaped Youngjae in favour of a flashback, Bin was saying, “That’s—”

“Jackson Wang,” Youngjae spat.

Bin blinked. “Yes.”

Youngjae didn’t stay in the present for too long. He was down in the subway, sitting across from Jackson Wang who was counting down minutes.

“I told you they’d show up.”

It was going according to plan and yet Youngjae had not expected Dobong-gu to show up. He much less expected to be relieved when he saw that Yongguk had come for him.

Youngjae remembered the heaviness of the fact that in just a few moments he would betray Yongguk.

I never loved him anyway. He’s always been just a case.

A name on a record. Someone to put behind bars.

Four, eight, seven.

It wasn’t N calling for Youngjae repeatedly that brought him back to reality. It was Junhong taking his hand under the table.

When he blinked the memories away, he saw that everyone was staring at him expectantly. Everyone aside from Junhong, who was trying to be subtle about their hand holding, and Yongguk who hadn’t looked at Youngjae since they left.

“Are you okay?” Hyuk asked and he actually sounded worried.

Youngjae hoped he hadn’t teared up. He didn’t check.

He sat back in his chair and looked at N.

“And this is why I’m here,” he said. It wasn’t so much a question as it was stating the facts.

N nodded. “We’d like you to tell us what you know. We’re a bit behind on information and your help would be greatly appreciated. We know that the Chinese government had entrusted you with certain records. If it’s possible we’d like to see them, but why don’t you first tell us. If you can remember, of course. Take your time darling.”

Out of the corner of his eye Youngjae noticed that Himchan had ripped his gaze from Youngjae and was now focused on N.

Himchan was staring at him as if he were an insect that needs to be disposed of immediately. Youngjae wasn’t exactly sure why and it was the first time he’d seen Himchan express such blatant hatred towards someone, but there was certainly something in the way N spoke. Something that made you want to punch him.

Your help would be greatly appreciated. If it’s possible. If you can remember. Take your time. Darling.

His gentle tone and the pretty batting of his lashes lulled you into safety, but he wasn’t asking. It wasn’t even a demand, it was an order.

Youngjae stayed quiet. He was debating his options.

Two were evident.

Talk. Save your and be a coward.

Or don’t talk. Save your pride and lose your head.

His gaze flicked over to Ravi and Jongup. He could see why they were friends and he could only imagine that they shared the job of extraction.

It seemed to be an easy decision seeing as Youngjae wasn’t a coward. And yet what he imagined happening afterwards was a scenario he didn’t like.

He would keep the information to himself and he would die. He could rely on the police to find his corpse, maybe find Dobong-gu and their friends, perhaps even Jackson and his gang. These twelve would go to prison, Jackson and the gang would be deported and also put behind bars and then what?

Dobong-gu was let loose as suspects of mass destruction. Such a thing shouldn’t be possible. Who’s to say all of them wouldn’t get out just as easily another time? Youngjae didn’t trust the justice system as much as he had. Only a few months ago his decision would have been much clearer than it was now.

Because there was one tiny problem. Youngjae wanted nothing more than to see a bullet between Jackson Wang’s eyes. The justice system would not give him that.

And so, a third solution arose. Talk, sit back and let this bunch of criminals do the dirty work.

His debating had apparently taken too long, because N let out a melodic sigh and sat up in his seat. “You disappoint me, Youngjae.”

“Off the top of my head...” Youngjae said suddenly, looking up and tilting his head as if trying to remember. “It’s a group of seven individuals, not all Chinese as you seem to think. The names are Jackson Wang, Xu Minghao, Han Dong, Wen Junhui, Mark Tuan, Lalisa Manoban and Chittaphon Leechaiyakul. Pay in mind that they, especially the Thai ones, are most likely going by a different name.” He paused. “Well, Jackson isn’t. I’ve heard him being called by his name.

Anyway, Jackson Wang, 21 years old, 174 cm, 63 kg, born in Hong Kong, Chinese. He had been involved in juvenile crime, suspected to have been involved in his mother’s murder, the police had been called upon his household many times although it was never clear if he was the abuser or the abused. He’d gone missing before reappearing here, apparently he’d gotten into too much trouble in his homeland.

Xu Minghao, 17 years old, 179 cm, 53 kg, born in Anshan, Liaoning, Chinese. He hadn’t been involved in criminal activity before escaping to Korea, although he is the son of a known crime boss.

Han Dong, 19 years old, 165 cm, 51 kg, born in Wuhan, Chinese. She has been repeatedly involved in juvenile crime and minor destruction, trespassing and such...

Wen Junhui, 19 years old, 182 cm, 66 kg, born in Shenzhen, Guangdong, Chinese. No criminal past. The only thing connecting him to this case is his friendship with Xu Minghao and the fact that they had both been located here.

Mark Tuan, 21 years old, 175 cm, 59 kg, born in Los Angeles, American of Taiwanese descent. His criminal past in China follows Jackson’s, they seemed to have been parts of the same gangs. They came to The Republic of Korea together.

Lalisa Manoban, 18 years old, 167 cm, 46 kg, born in Bangkok, Thai. No criminal record.

Chittaphon Leechaiyakul, 19 years old, 170 cm, 59 kg, born in Bangkok, Thai. No criminal record.”

Youngjae took a deep breath. He was aware of everyone’s eyes on him, everyone but Yongguk’s, yet he wasn’t done.

“Keep in mind that this information is three years old. I’d also like to point out that the reason the Thai individuals have no criminal record – or didn’t have one back then – is because they were civilians, victims of human trafficking. Just... off the top of my head.”

Hyuk's eyes were wide and a smile was gracing his lips. He was leaning in, elbows rested on the table. “Do you have a photographic m—“

“He does.” It was Yongguk who answered.

This should have been surprising but no one showed it. And despite his intervention, Yongguk was still making no eye contact. Somewhere along Youngjae’s presentation he had lit a cigarette and was now blowing out a cloud of smoke.

Youngjae had managed to make him quit for a little while. He couldn’t stand kissing someone who tastes of nicotine.

Youngjae didn’t keep his gaze on Yongguk for too long. “Yes, I have a photographic memory,” he told Hyuk. “The records state crimes each of them had committed, but I’m not so good at memorizing lists.” He smiled.

“It would be lovely if you could show us those records,” N said in a honey sweet voice, though there was a change in his posture. He seemed more alert and his smile was no longer as casual. His fist was clenched, he was twisting his silver ring around his finger.

“You want me to hack into my own system?” Youngjae asked, doing his best to sound outraged.

“That should make it easy,” Bin said and turned the laptop towards Youngjae. Bin seemed... Pissed off. Youngjae didn’t understand this. Everyone else was at least a little impressed, but he was pissed off.

Maybe he hadn’t expected things to be so easy.

“Alright then,” Youngjae muttered and pulled the laptop closer.

Bin stood and walked around the table to stand behind Youngjae to watch him work. This was, of course, incredibly frustrating yet Youngjae figured it was necessary.

N seemed like a collected man. But Youngjae could see him making huge slip-ups; he’d let his anxiety show by standing up and pacing small circles. He was thinking.

He stopped when Youngjae was halfway in.

“Youngjae,” N called. His voice was nearly back to normal, but still strained. “What can you tell us about the Thai victims?”

Youngjae glanced up and paused for a second. He leaned back in his chair and looked up. He needed a second to convert – that was an entirely different case that was later connected to this one. “Just that they were brought here five years ago. The gang that had done the smuggling was located and...” Youngjae frowned as he remembered the obscurity of the case. “They were found dead. The victims had been missing. We’d spent some time searching for them and found most of them. Some are still missing and these two were found in Jackson Wang’s proximity.”

Since N gave no response, Youngjae went back to work. There was silence as he typed, the clicking of the keyboard oddly echoed through the room.

“Are the identities of the missing individuals known?” N spoke.

“Yeah,” Youngjae said, not looking up.

“Show me.”

Youngjae looked up at him and raised his eyebrows. “I’m a bit busy at the moment.”

“And what’s the point anyway?” Junhong mumbled from Youngjae’s left.

Jongup sat up, slightly leaning in. “These two may have known him.”

“So what!?” The irritation on Junhong’s voice made Youngjae wince. Not because he felt threatened but because he had never witnessed Junhong’s anger. Youngjae wasn’t sure he was capable of such a thing.

“So what? You might find out that he was with them and then what? He’s not gonna come back just because you found his friends,” Junhong was saying and each word felt like a knife to the chest.

Youngjae pouted with his eyebrows raised. This sudden argument was entertaining enough, but he really didn’t want to get involved. He just leaned in closer to the screen and kept going.

“You’re right,” N said.

Jongup’s gaze snapped up. “What!? I thought you were on my side!”

N shook his head. “No, Junhongie’s right. He isn’t going to come back.”

After that there was silence. Hardly bearable for Youngjae because he was starting to realize what he was actually doing. He was stealing from his own co-workers and friends. He was providing this bunch of human disasters with information needed to find and dispose of a group of people. Youngjae stopped and took a deep breath. He cracked his knuckles and kept typing. No going back now.

His chest kept aching as if there was a pile of rocks inside, he realized he desperately needed a distraction. Even if he wasn’t thinking about his decision and what he was doing, there was still the ever-present anxiety of doing something wrong.

Distraction.

“So who’s Leo?”

Silence.

“Hey, I’m just trying to make small talk. He’s the only guy I haven’t met, so who is he?”

More silence.

“I just don’t know what kind of an answer you’re expecting,” Ken said, looking up from his phone.

“Dunno. I suppose you don’t want to tell me about all the fun stuff like what his position in the gang is, where his territories are and who works for him. But you can always tell me about his daily life.”

“He’s chill,” Daehyun said after some thinking. “Likes cats and at drawing. He’s got a nice voice.”

“Oh,” Youngjae said as if that meant anything to him at all.

“Yeah, he does,” Hyuk perked up. “Hyung, didn’t he want to be a singer when he was younger?”

This question seemed to have been directed at Ravi, because he was the one who sighed. “Can we stop talking about Leo?”

“Why?” Youngjae immediately asked as if it was his business. When he looked up from the screen he was delighted to be met with Ravi’s deadly gaze. It made Youngjae grin. “Why? Is he your boyfriend?”

Ravi spent another moment just shooting dagger’s Youngjae’s way. His dice clicked as he twisted them around in his palm. “Fiancé.”

Youngjae was not expecting this. The comment he’d made was meant to be a stupid joke and Ravi’s response wiped the smile off his face. “Oh. That’s... Nice.”

Youngjae was able to shut up for a few minutes only because he was thinking about Ravi’s previous behaviour and how protective of Leo he’d been. Now it all made sense. Youngjae stole a glance at Ravi’s hand that was twisting the dice; he wore many rings but one stood out as it had true value. Youngjae didn’t know why this made the heaviness heave a bit.

Then he remembered that he was happy about some criminal’s engagement. Why should he care?

It took half an hour more. Youngjae let out a loud sigh to get everyone’s attention and when he had it, he said, “Here you go.”

N rushed around the table to stand behind him. Everyone was gravitating towards the laptop now, huddled up around Youngjae.

It took all his might to completely ignore Yongguk’s presence beside him, how he had leaned in with his cigarette between his index and middle finger. Youngjae could smell the smoke but also Yongguk’s shampoo.

Four, eight, seven.

He was too close. Youngjae wanted to push him away.

The hand on his shoulder startled him. He glanced up and found himself face to face with N’s beautiful, dimpled smile. “I am so glad you decided to help, dear. I appreciate it, you have no idea how much.”

Youngjae could only imagine. Just a few hours ago these idiots were lost.

He smiled sweetly. “It was my pleasure.”

Youngjae ducked as Bin reached over and took the laptop. He guessed Bin was saving files for further use. They’d need them.

Nremoved his hand from Youngjae’s shoulder and instead put it on Bin’s back, whispering something in his ear. Bin nodded and after finishing what he’d been doing, he placed the laptop back in front of Youngjae. He looked around, searching for some sort of explanation. Himchan? Yongguk?  No, of course not.

He looked back up at N, frowning in confusion.

“If it’s all the same to you, I would still like to have a look at the missing victims,” N said softly.

Youngjae was still confused and highly sceptical, but more than anything he was curious. What was N and Jongup’s insistence on finding out their identities? He didn’t question it. Now that he was in, getting to those files would be much easier.

“Here,” he muttered. Jongup appeared by N’s side and they turned the screen towards themselves so that he couldn’t see. In response, Junhong stood up and went to where Hyuk was sitting. With his arms crossed, Junhong sat on the table and hung his head.

As Jongup and N looked, there was a sense of expectation in the air, as if something grand was about to happen, a natural disaster maybe. Youngjae was on pins and needles, waiting for some sort of reaction, a revelation perhaps. And yes, they seemed shocked, but no such reaction came.

N just shook his head and stepped back. He brought one hand up and covered his mouth and held onto the edge of the table with the other.

“I guess now we know,” Jongup muttered and pushed the laptop back to Youngjae.

“And what do we know exactly?” Junhong called from his spot on the table. “That they were friends? What kind of knowledge is that, huh?”

“Junhongie,” Himchan said and reached for the younger, trying to calm him down.

Junhong yanked his hand away and stood up. “It’s a useless piece of information, that’s what it is,” he said and locked eyes with Youngjae.

. He really didn’t want to be a part of this.

Youngjae tried to shake his head subtly, begging Junhong not to do whatever he was about to do, but the younger was already making his way over to the laptop.

Junhong squinted at the screen. “Let me make your job easier for you,” he snapped and pointed at the picture that was on display.

It was a tired teenage boy with dark hair that fell into his equally dark eyes. High cheekbones and a thin face, a bruise covered with make up on his jaw.

“That one’s dead.” After saying that Junhong stormed out of the room.

“For ’s sake,” Himchan muttered and stood up to go after him. He didn’t look back nor did he say goodbye.

Youngjae followed Himchan out with his gaze, then turned to look at the screen again. He looked at the boy in the photo, then at the information below. His eyes passed over Thai that he couldn’t read and settled on the transcription.

Kunpimook Bhuwakul.

___

I always accept and encourage comments and thoughts, perhaps what you think is going on or would happen, but I gotta say for this one I'm really nervous so please don't be too hard on me. It's an important chapter that brings a lot of things forward so it's easy to mess up but I hope I did it well enough.