Junhong walked until he reached the end of the street and headed into a small alley, between two big houses. His feet felt heavy on his long legs, heels dragging lazily on the floor. The smell was strong, a mixture of garbage and piss, and it made him sniffled some new air, trying to cover his nose with the warm scarf around his neck. His eyes trailed over the trash cans, until it stopped on one, set right under a clad graffiti that claimed the name of some gang.

He kicked the can with his foot, hard so that he didn’t have to take off the cap himself, and the loud sound of the metal hitting the floor reached his ears. There was a plastic bag that fell out of the bin, and Junhong carefully took it between his fingers. There was a black beanie, ragged but still soft, along with a polaroid picture. His eyes fell on a warehouse – no, actually, it looked more like a haunted house, really. There too, was graffiti covering the walls and without much thinking, Junhong knew exactly where this place was.

He folded the picture somewhere in the pocket of his hoodie, right before planting the soft beanie over his head. He was careful to hide his mouth under the scarf when he put the trash can back in its place, before finally heading out of the alley.

Junhong walked, for a long time. So much that his feet started to scratch inside his baskets, and a dull pain appeared on his toes. There’s this bad neighborhood, right outside of town. It’s dirty, and old and definitely the place not to be alone at night – unless you planned on having your purse stolen, or try to get in trouble.

Though, Junhong wasn't scared, he never was.

He walked down a long street and eyed the abandoned residence who was appearing in front of his eyes. It looked like some abandoned mansion, something that seemed to be beautiful, and expensive it its old days, but now, it was nothing but dust and broken windows.

‪He walked a bit faster and rolled his eyes when his eyes fell on the barbered wire circling the terrain, preventing careless kids to trespass in this area. Without giving much attention to the big red sign on the iron barrier, he climbed on top of some old debris, lifting himself up on the wall. His feet crashed down on the floor, his breath not even heavy after the jump he just took. Junhong gave one more look behind his back, before finally entering the house.

‪He walked along the corridors and didn't bother to discover the empty place with his eyes, too focused on looking for something. He his lips when he finally perceived a man leaned against the wall of what used to be the library, at the end of the place. Junhong walked to him and the man eyed him from head to toe.

‪He was tall, with broad shoulders and plump lips. The last time Junhong saw him, he had raven hair, but now, the street lamps outside the window reflected on some purplish locks. His eyes were firm, hands buried deep in the front pockets of his pants as he waited for the younger to join him. Junhong noticed the beige color of a file under his right arm as he approached, ignoring the gun tightly shoved under the other’s belt.

“Good evening.” was his greeting. He didn’t give his hand for the younger too shook, but instead, offered him the said document. Junhong nodded his head politely, his fingers circling around the papers. His eyes travelled on a few pictures, scanning over the details of a man’s face. The photograph was black and white, and the person at the centre was a man with dark hair. He was talking on the phone, eyes cautious of his surroundings. But not cautious enough. “Any questions?" 

‪Junhong thought for a moment as he kept looking at the picture he had between his fingers. He softly smiled, eyes raising to meet the older’s once again. He knew exactly who that man was, and it wasn’t hard to understand why the elder gave him this photo. "Where can I find him?" 

‪“I’m sure you'll be able to find him on your own." The man extirpated his hand out of his pocket and handed Junhong an envelope.

With a smile larger than before, he took a look inside, pleased when his eyes landed on a handful of money bills. Once more, he folded the paper and the photograph, carelessly hiding them in his pockets. "Consider it's already done." The edges of the other’s mouth quirked in a slow smile, something that the younger almost didn’t caught. It wasn’t really in the elder’s habits to show some feelings, whatever they are. Politely then, he bowed to the other before withdrawing himself outside the room.

‪The younger one moved away and headed into the same direction he came. Before going down the stairs though, he heard the other’s voice again. “Yeah, it’s Jin. Package delivered.” Junhong found his way outside the mansion and sigh loudly when a soft breeze came to crash on his cheekbones. He adjusted the scarf over his mouth again, then he climbed over the wired fence just as easily as before.

He walked again, finding his way outside the neighborhood without much thought. There was something in the air as he turned around the corner of some street, his guts sensing something was out of place. It wasn’t someone following him, nor it was the fear of his elders waiting for him at his lair. It was –

That. 

The sound of something resembling thunder, though it was much more louder. The ground vibrated under Junhong’s feet, as he saw, not even a couple of feet away, the ground sinking on itself.

If he didn’t know better, he could swear a bomb just exploded.

‪And the sound of sirens finally reached his ears, his heart pounding hard against his ribcage. His feet started walking again – no, he was running, his speed increasing at every step he took. He couldn’t be seen around, for sure.

Yongguk was alone, silently sit on the old and rusty couch in the middle of what was the living room. His face was dark, eyebrows frowned as his eyes were fixed in front of him, on the television screen where some woman was listing today’s news. “… to wait for Mister Choi to update on the situation.” His fingers were impatiently tapping on the arm rest, nails digging harshly on the cushions. The woman on the screen straightened in her seat, blinking as the background behind her changed into something else.

“Witnesses said it was like a volcano going off in the heart of Seoul. Around midnight today, an explosion went off in the known neighborhood of Guri. It isn’t the first time something of this extent happens in this area, and the police cleared the streets, fearing that there might be some other devices.” Yongguk’s eyes weren’t twitching, and it was almost as if he’d stop breathing. He had stopped the impatient rhythm on his fingers digging in the couch, instead brought them to his mouth, scratching absently at his chin.

An old woman came into view, a microphone held in front of as her eyes looked somewhere on her sides. “I heard a loud boom, an explosion like thunder – it was really scary, my dog hide himself under the couch.”

The screen let the reporter appear, someone on the streets, clearly posted where the explosion just happened. “Police didn’t make an official statement yet, though all they could say was that the explosion was caused by an intentional act.” Yongguk cleared his throat before taking the remote between his fingers and increased the volume sound. “It is not, however, excluded that the explosion was caused by the same gang that robbed a bank in Gangnam a few days ago. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but theories on the responsible of the act are clear to Seoul’s citizens.”

This time, it was man in his late forties that appeared on the screen. He had a golden tooth that almost didn’t appeared on camera. “Of course it’s that deluded gang, who else could it be? Everything was fine until they came around. Robbing banks, now subway explosions, what’s next? Are they gonna break delinquents out of prison?”

Yongguk his lips, concentrated as his heart beat rang to his ears. Once more, the presenter appeared on the screen, gathering the papers in front of her. “There is no further explanations to the situation, but the police assure that they are looking very carefully on the evidences found on the scene. Now concerning the highest point in yesterday’s vote for Mayor Choi in the recent activities –“

The television went off, a black screen appearing as Yongguk pressed the power button on the remote. A loud sigh escaped his lips as he leaned against the back of the couch, sinking further into the cushions. He closed his eyes for a moment, processing the informations he just heard. Though, he jumped surprisingly when a knock on the door came to interrupt his thoughts.

The French door let see a man, shorter than he was himself, glasses on his nose and a computer under his arm. “Am I interrupting?” Song Minho came inside without being invited, finding a place on one of the mostly broken chair beside the couch. He carefully posed the hardware equipment on the coffee table, pushing aside the forgotten cup of coffee Yongguk had brought with him earlier.

“Not that I mind you barging unwanted but,” he began, sarcasm clear in the tone of his voice, “What are