Chapter Two; The Night

The week went by rather slowly for Taemin. He could tell both Soojung and Jongin were anxious about a fourth person joining them and Taemin could see why. After all, the three of them had never known anyone aside from each other, let alone working together with a stranger while potentially entrusting their lives to them as well. On the other hand though, Soojung was adamant Taemin stay in bed until he was fully recovered, which was another term of until Soojung decided otherwise as Taemin bounced back within a few weeks for Soojung was relentless about the stern looks she gave him each time she saw him outside his room.

When they finally got the call from Minho, letting them know to head downstairs for their debriefing they all did as they were told, shuffling down the stairs to the basement which had become a makeshift headquarters of sorts. They were silent despite the tension that filled the air, the younger two hadn’t said anything further about another addition to the team but their silence spoke volumes. They settled down onto the round table before the screen lit up and Jongin hit a button to connect the call, soon after Minho’s face displayed on the screen.

“Hey you three,” he greeted, eyes squinting as he watched the three of them through the camera, easily picking up the sullen looks as his brow raised upwards. “Don’t make those faces, it’s just this one time okay?” He assured, his voice a touch softer than normal before he cleared his throat and continued. “Shall we begin?”

“Yeah, please,” Taemin nodded as he leaned forward onto the table with his elbows resting against the wooden surface.

“Alright, follow along,” Minho ordered before the screen switched to display the country’s prime minister. “As you all know. Moon Chaeho has announced his retirement after this term, which leaves us 2 candidates, Park Jungmin and Go Eundae. Any guesses who the client is?” Minho grins wide like a Cheshire cat.

Taemin’s eyes narrow as he looks at the screen, several headlines flash over the display as he reads a few of them ‘Tight race between candidates, Park and Go.’ ‘Go Eundae suspected links to Yakuza presence in Seoul.’

“Go Eundae?” Soojung finally said, her own brow raised as she waited for Minho to respond.

“You would think, except no, our client is Park Jungmin-”

“Classic election, these bastards are looking to dig up dirt on one another and they need our help.” the corner of Jongin’s lips tug downwards, clearly irritated by what he was hearing.

“But from what I recall Park is ahead in the advanced polls and in public opinion, so why the need to dig dirt on Go? His image is already stained,” Taemin asked, shooting Minho a confused look as he tried to make sense of this new mission.

“You can never be sure, politics is a tricky business,” Minho responded with a shrug of his shoulders. “Park wants us to find more, solid proof. In fact he’s made it clear that he wants to find definitive links between the Yakuza and Go and a supposed ion ring.”

“The election is not for another year though?” Soojung pointed out earning a nod from Jongin. “Why so far in advance?”

“They want all the information gathered well before the election. My guess? They’ll drop it the month before the public hits the polls for real. I do have to warn you though, this is a long haul mission, and patience will be your most important asset. This mission had initially been assigned to two other agents, one of them suffered a nasty injury not long ago so we’ve decided to move the other in with you three. She has all the knowledge so trust her judgment, let her take the lead on this.”

“Whatever,” Taemin shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly, looking between Jongin and Soojung who both seemed to be having the opposite reactions and the elder of the three could understand where they were coming from but since his last mission went south he was itching to get back out there again even if it meant adding an additional member to their otherwise tight knit group.

“Not the enthusiastic response I’m used to but hey, I’ll take it,” Minho mirrored the other’s shrug before his eyes scanned over the younger two. “Once the mission kicks off you’ll be boarding in Itaewon, come Monday morning I'd better see all of your asses at the Seoul HQ eight o’clock sharp.”

Before either of the three could deject, Minho clicked a button and disappeared off of the screen, leaving the room buzzing with anxiety.

---

The remainder of the week went by painfully slow by Taemin’s standards; whose injuries were still healing though the bruises had long faded now. He mostly kept himself holed up in his room, only coming out when Soojung, Jongin or worse, both would hound him to come out and eat. He had told them he kept in his room to recuperate and get plenty of sleep but the dark circles his eyes told them otherwise though they didn’t push for explanations it was clear to them that Taemin wasn’t over that mission.

While they couldn’t blame him they also worried he was digging himself into something deeper that he wouldn’t be able to pull himself out of. Sometimes late at night they could hear Taemin on the phone with Minho, arguing, yelling and demanding for more information. What was the purpose of that mission? What had happened to him? All questions that Minho couldn’t answer nor was he willing to entertain a further investigation.

Eventually Friday rolled around, two days be