Dangerous Mind 「 vi. 9095 」
Author’s Note: Three years ago this chapter gave me trouble and I inadvertently abandoned it for a while due to frustration. Three years later…I don’t have a clue what I was originally trying to achieve, so enjoy my new direction in this plot. orz
Changmin woke up the following morning, surprised to find a blanket over him, and that he was alone in his room. He had no idea when he had fallen asleep, or even when did Jaejoong left. He shook his head lightly; a little amused to realize what Jaejoong was talking about the day before. “I really am a deep sleeper.”
He crawled out of his bed, and headed for the door. As he tried to turn the doorknob, he was surprised to find the door not opening. He tried pushing the door open with the side of his body, but it was a futile attempt. In the end, he tried banging on the door and yelling for someone on the other end.
He was met by silence.
“What’s going on now?”
“Jaejoong,” Yoochun looked up from the documents on his desk, but he waited for Jaejoong to move closer before he began speaking again. “How do you feel about that kid, Changmin?”
“He’s a tool, a worthless tool, of course.”
“Good answer.” Yoochun leaned back in his seat, and fiddled with his fingers absentmindedly. “I don’t have anything for you to do this morning. Come back later tonight.”
“Yes, sir.” Jaejoong bowed politely before he left Yoochun’s office.
Yoochun opened a drawer, and pulled out a manila folder. As he slowly removed the contents inside, his eyes darkened noticeably. His hands shook violently as he stared at the material in front of him, and before he knew it, he just flung it across the room, inadvertently cutting the side of his hand a little.
“Fuck, he’s getting too close.” Yoochun’s eyes landed on the several photographs he had thrown across the room, his teeth sunk slightly into his bottom lip as he stared at the images of Jaejoong asleep in Changmin’s room. “Too damn close. He won’t betray me, he won’t, he promised.”
When the door to his room suddenly opened, Changmin looked up in surprise to see Jaejoong walking in. He quickly got up and demanded angrily, “Why was the door locked?”
Jaejoong raised a brow, and turned around to look at the closed door. “Was it?”
“Don’t toy with me, Jaejoong!”
Jaejoong stared at Changmin, and then he chuckled lightly. “Why would I toy with you?”
Changmin flinched a little. The way Jaejoong laughed was unsettling to his ears. He avoided contact with Jaejoong’s eyes by finding a sudden admiration for the wooden floor in his room. No words left his or Jaejoong’s lips, but Changmin could feel the other man’s distant eyes drilling holes into his head.
Changmin stiffened when he felt a cold hand touching his face. He backed away, but that only seemed to make Jaejoong move even closer to him until the distant between the two was nearly nonexistent. Icy, delicate fingers danced down the side of his face, leaving behind a tingling sensation that also seemed to put all of his nerves on edge.
“Why do you…” Jaejoong’s voice was soft; his eyes were unfocused. “Why do you-” He stopped speaking suddenly, backing away until the space between them was vast again.
“A-are you alright, Jaejoong?” Changmin stared at his companion, searching for signs that could explain the peculiar behavior just a moment ago.
He could hear a soft “shit” escaped Jaejoong’s lips, followed by a clearer, bolder voice: “We don’t have any plan for today, so just-just go do some training. You’re still a weak little brat, rich bo-Changmin.”
Jaejoong left without another word, leaving Changmin to muse over his strange behavior, particularly the sudden change in the way he addressed Changmin.
“What a weird guy,” Changmin muttered to himself as he headed back towards the bed, deciding sleep was better than what Jaejoong had suggested.
Jaejoong stood in his room, staring at the mirror occupying the wall. He adjusted the slicked-back blond wig he was wearing, making sure not a single dark strand of hair had slipped. He carefully applied a fake scar under his left eye, to further distinguish himself from his usual appearance. Picking up the faux glasses on his dresser, he put it on, and made one last examination over his new appearance. He exhaled slowly, readying himself for his latest mission.
9:15 p.m.
It was almost time. He started to leave the base, heading for the new car he would be using in place of his own. As he pulled out into the road, his mind raced back to his earlier conversation with Yoochun.
(“We’ve got words on Yunho’s recent activities,” said Yoochun, his finger traveled around the rim of his snifter absentmindedly. He paused in the distracted action to pick up the glass, breathing in the scent of cognac slowly before taking a sip. “It seems he has aligned himself with the Tri-Angle.”
“Tri-Angle?” Jaejoong stepped closer to Yoochun’s desk. “Didn’t we deal with them before?”
“Yes, I believe so.” Yoochun closed his eyes, trying to remember the incident Jaejoong was referring to. He opened his eyes, frowning. “They intercepted our business with the Triad and stolen our firearm supplies in the process.”
“Well, what is that bastard doing with them now?”
“Most likely he’s using them to strengthen his company.” Yoochun snapped his fingers, and suddenly his door burst opened with two men carrying in another, this one a blond-haired man. Yoochun nodded, and the goons threw the struggling captive to the floor.
“We have one of his moles here.” Yoochun gestured to the captive.
“I’m not telling you a single fucking thing,” the captive yelled back, eyes glaring at Yoochun. “You’re dead, you’re fucking dead, Park Yoochun!”
One of the goons swiftly struck the captive for his insolence. He looked up, seemingly unfazed in spite of his bruised face and the blood trickling down his nose. His unhinged laugher resonated in the room. “Soon, Tri-Angle will take down YJ Mob, Yoochun! Death to YJ! Death to YJ!”
Yoochun’s eyes narrowed, though his voice remained cool as always. “Get that piece of shit out of here. Dispose him.”
The door closed, but both Yoochun and Jaejoong could still hear the maniacal laughter echoing down the corridors. Yoochun’s hand trembled slightly as he tried to pick up his glass. “We’ve managed to find three different messages sent to the mole, each one ending with 9095.”
“9095? What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” Yoochun whispered, his hands clasped together in front of him in deep contemplation.
“Could it be an alias?”
“Perhaps, or it could even be some sort of code. We’ve tried to get an answer out of him, but nothing worked.” Yoochun stood up and walked towards Jaejoong. He twirled a strand of Jaejoong’s dark lock around his finger. “One of the messages mentioned tonight’s meeting at Yunho’s main home.”
“You’re asking me to go undercover?” Jaejoong carefully moved Yoochun’s hand away from his face, but he could feel the other man grasping onto it. Yoochun tightened his hold on Jaejoong’s hand.
“Be careful.”
Jaejoong closed his eyes, feeling the familiar cold lips brushing over his own.
“Of course.”)
Jaejoong parked his car a mile away from Yunho’s property, careful to not reveal himself. He raised his arm, speaking into one of his cufflinks. “I’m here. Can you hear me?”
“Perfectly, sir,” One of Jaejoong’s subordinates answered back on the other end.
“Good. I’m heading in now. Make sure backups are ready in case of an attack.”
“Yes, sir.”
As he walked up to the gated home, he could see three blond-haired men waiting outside the entrance. Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed when he noticed an approaching black car. Promptly the men quickly rushed over to open the door, bowing in reverence.
There he is, Jaejoong thought, recognizing Yunho instantly.
By his side was a tall dark-haired woman, dressed in a luxurious dark blue evening dress. Her arm instinctively linked with Yunho as they walked, talking amongst themselves. Several more blond-haired men followed the duo, and Jaejoong quickly and carefully made sure to mix himself in with the group.
“So Yunho, Papa has been telling me how happy he is with the recent alliance you two have made.”
“KyungMi, the pleasure is all mine.” Yunho held up KyungMi’s hand, placing a chaste kiss on it. “As I’ll be helping with future funding and supplies for your father, I hope he’ll offer me the ‘strength’ I’ll need in the future.”
“Of course, darling.” KyungMi motioned for one of her underlings. She whispered in his ears before signaling him to carry out her task.
“Were you speaking ill about me? In front of me?” Yunho flashed his usual crooked smile.
“No, dear, of course not. I was just telling him to keep a lookout for trouble.”
Yunho chuckled. “My home is perfectly secured by my own men in addition to yours. You worry too much, KyungMi.”
“Perhaps,” she murmured uncertainty, “but I need to make sure our business is kept confidential, especially…” She waved the topic aside, “You’re right, I am worrying too much.”
“Now, you sent out copies of 9095 to the provided contact list, right?”
Jaejoong’s ears perked up at the mention of the cryptic number. He peered pass the man in front of him, staring at Yunho and KyungMi sitting on the sofa together. He could see KyungMi nodding, and then reaching into her evening purse, pulling out a black flash drive.
KyungMi smirked. “Yes, I have the original right here. As for the copies, they should activate right about…”
Jaejoong’s body tensed up when he heard screaming and yelling in his earpiece.
“It’s a fucking virus!”
“We were tricked. Jaejoong, get out now!”
“Shit, we’re being ambushed! Abort mission, Jaejoong, abort mission!”
He could hear gunshots firing off as his men fought for their lives in the sudden attack.
“Now.”
Jaejoong turned and stared straight into KyungMi’s eyes.
“Who are you?” KyungMi’s finger lifted Jaejoong’s chin, examining his features with a bit of interest. Her eyes widened slightly as she touched his skin tentatively, slowly peeling away the fake skin Jaejoong had applied earlier that night. She then lifted his faux glasses away, revealing his true face.
“Jaejoong!” Yunho quickly rose, making his way closer to the smaller man. He paused, watching as KyungMi backed away from Jaejoong.
“Jaejoong? You know him, Yunho?”
“This is the one I warned you about.” Yunho turned to smirk at Jaejoong. “Park Yoochun’s right hand man, Kim Jaejoong. You’re getting rusty, love, falling into a trap and all.” Yunho glanced around Jaejoong with a slight surprise look on his face. “Where’s that kid that was with you last time? The tall, lanky kid.”
Jaejoong remained silent, keeping alert as his eyes traveled around the room at the different underlings ready to shoot him on the spot. He slowly backed away as Yunho tried to close their distance. “So you’ve aligned yourself with Tri-Angle, Jung?”
Yunho chuckled. “I tried doing business with YJ Mob, Jaejoong, but you and Yoochun made things difficult for me. You know with the whole trying to castrate me when I tried to rap-”
“Shut the fuck up, you son of a bitch!” Jaejoong’s hand was itching for his gun, but it would be extremely difficult to reach for it in this precarious situation. He growled softly, glaring at each one of his enemy.
“You’re still as short-tempered as always, love.” Yunho smiled, walking around Jaejoong in circles, taunting him to no end. This time, he managed to close his distance with Jaejoong. He cupped Jaejoong’s chin, kissing him roughly as to cause the slenderer man to struggle.
Within moments, a dagger slipped from Jaejoong’s right sleeve, its apex already finding its target at Yunho’s throat. Yunho’s security team as well as KyungMi’s underlings tried to get close, but they backed away hesitantly when they saw the dagger digging deeper into Yunho’s skin, drawing a small trickle of blood.
“Yunho!” KyungMi tried to get closer, but one of her underlings blocked her path. “Let me go!”
“It’s dangerous, Miss, we need to get you out of here,” he answered, signaling for two other men to guide her out in spite of her resistance.
“Now,” Jaejoong began in a hushed tone, “You will help me leave, Jung, and if any one of you-“ his voice raised to indicate the other threats in the room, “Your beloved leader, Jung Yunho will die tonight.”
Yunho closed his eyes, knowing full well that Jaejoong was a man of his words. His hand made a slight motion to indicate the others hold back their retaliation. The men backed further away, growling and glaring at Jaejoong all the while.
“Drop your weapons!” Jaejoong ordered, eyes once again scanning the room and making sure his command was met. “Let’s go, Jung.”
Jaejoong walked out slowly, his hold on Yunho was surprisingly strong despite being the smaller of the two. The walk to the gate was relatively quiet, except for the occasional struggle from Yunho. They made it to the entrance, but there were other guards there to greet them with guns aimed at Jaejoong. He pushed Yunho forward, using him as a shield.
“Go ahead! Kill me and he will die too!”
The guns slowly lowered, and Jaejoong walked by with Yunho in tow. They walked a few feet away from the home before he heard statics in his earpiece. After a few more seconds of statics, a low, rough voice came through: “You’re a piece of work, Kim Jaejoong.”
Jaejoong stopped in his track, shocked. He adjusted his hold on Yunho to reach for his microphone that was masquerading as a cufflink. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Your men put up quite a fight. Some escaped and some…met their maker.”
Jaejoong growled, “Answer me! Who the fuck are you?”
Yunho tried to struggle amidst Jaejoong’s confusion, but his captor tightened his hold on him.
“As the leader of Tri-Angle,” the voice began. Jaejoong could sense that the other man was probably smirking on the opposite end. “You may only know me by my public name: Rising Dragon. Don’t worry, we’ll meet again, Kim. Oh and before we part ways, I would suggest you let go of my future son-in-law before something happens to you.”
The earpiece disconnected. Jaejoong’s eyes widened when he realized that he had once again fallen into a trap. Around him in trees were different dark-suited, blond-haired men with guns aimed at him. Only this time, they did not wait in their attacks, firing immediately at Jaejoong.
He pushed Yunho in front of him, with the latter receiving minor grazes of the bullets. Jaejoong reached inside his suit, pulling out his own gun and firing at his targets immediately, managing to hit them one by one. As they fell from their heights, he knew he was still at a disadvantage when he noticed the approaching backup group in the distance.
He started to make his escape, running as fast as he could to his waiting car, but one gunshot managed to hit him in the left side. “Fuck!” Groaning, he clutched the wound, trying desperately to slow down the rushing blood loss.
He stumbled for a bit before regaining his balance. Out of sheer will, he continued running, showing no sign of slowing down in spite of his injury.
“Let him go,” he heard one of the men say. “We need to tend to Leader Jung immediately.”
Another laughed, “Looks like Heaven is getting another ‘angel’ tonight.”
Jaejoong settled into his car, breathing deeply as he tried to regain his composure. He ripped off the blond wig he was wearing, placing it close to his wound. Hoping it could help slow the blood loss a little. He gripped the steering wheel with one hand while the other was still placed on the wound.
He drove back to base slowly, his vision shifting in blurriness.
He didn’t know what time it was when he returned to base, but he was sure it was well after midnight. He limped down the corridors, using the wall as a crutch. He stopped momentarily in front of Yoochun’s office, seeing the door was slightly ajar with lights streaming out.
He pushed the door opened further, leaning on the threshold. “I’m back.”
“Good,” Yoochun softly answered back, eyes averting Jaejoong. “Get yourself cleaned up. We’ll talk when you’re better.”
Jaejoong nodded, despite not knowing whether or not Yoochun even noticed the action. He limped out of the room to take care of his injury.
3:48 a.m.
Jaejoong’s vision kept slipping in and out of focus as he stared at the clock on the wall in the infirmary. He groaned slightly as he felt the bullet being pulled out of his wound. “Shit…”
“You got lucky, hyung. A few inches closer and you’d be dead.”
“I know, Junsu,” Jaejoong groaned irritably at his doctor. “Just patch it up already.”
Junsu rubbed some alcohol on the wound, surprised that Jaejoong didn’t hiss from the sting like his other patients. As he wrapped a bandage around Jaejoong’s torso, he gave his orders to the injured man, “Hyung, you should take it easy for the next week or so.”
“A week?” Jaejoong turned to glare at Junsu, who waved the look aside. “I can’t, not when Tri-Angle is acting up. They were expecting us, they were-Shit, how could we have fallen into such a fucking stupid trap like that! Goddammit!” He slammed his fist on the mattress he was sitting on.
Junsu shook his head. “I know you’re angry, hyung, but it is vital that you rest up or the wound will-”
“How many men did we lose?”
Junsu was taken aback by the question. He continued placing his focus onto the bandage he was wrapping. “I-I don’t know. Two came back,” Junsu gestured to the two other occupied beds in the room, “but we’re not sure how many are still out there, and-”
“It’s my fault, I was careless.”
“Hyung…”
Junsu cut the bandage, but he continued to look at Jaejoong’s distressed face. He had only seen this face two other times in his life, and both times Jaejoong punished himself severely for his mistakes. Junsu placed a gentle hand on Jaejoong’s shoulder. “Get some rest, hyung. Doctor’s order.”
He left the room, flicking the lights off.
But Jaejoong couldn’t rest, not when his mind replayed the night’s event over and over again, trying to make sense of what was going to happen next. Yunho, KyungMi, the 9095 virus, and Rising Dragon. They were all key subjects in what would potentially be the downfall of YJ Mob, but how? What were they going to do?
Jaejoong punched the mattress again, unable to get his mind to rest. He stood up, making his way out of the infirmary and down the halls. He walked past several doors, struggling to keep up straight as his vision continued to fail him. He didn’t know how long he was wandering through the empty halls before he finally stopped.
It was Changmin’s room.
He was unsure of why his feet had led him here. Even so, he still felt a strong inclination to step inside. Hesitantly, he reached for the doorknob and turned. As he made it into the room, he noticed an untouched tray of food was left on the table, but he dismissed it immediately.
Jaejoong walked to the bed where Changmin lay sleeping with his face to the wall. He watched the younger man’s face furrow in anguish, occasionally hearing a soft plea and whimper. He could guess what Changmin was dreaming about, but he would prefer not to.
Unsure of his action, Jaejoong slipped into the bed, lying down on his right side to stare at the weary back. His hand was instinctively holding the wounded area. He waited for Changmin to notice the sudden weight shift in bed, but like always, the other man was oblivious to the outside world once he was asleep.
“Deep sleeper as always,” Jaejoong murmured, staring at Changmin's back.
He closed his eyes, ready for sleep to claim him as well.
He waited.
And waited.
And waited…
And then he reopened them, knowing sleep would not be on his agenda tonight.
Previous ContentsNext
Changmin woke up the following morning, surprised to find a blanket over him, and that he was alone in his room. He had no idea when he had fallen asleep, or even when did Jaejoong left. He shook his head lightly; a little amused to realize what Jaejoong was talking about the day before. “I really am a deep sleeper.”
He crawled out of his bed, and headed for the door. As he tried to turn the doorknob, he was surprised to find the door not opening. He tried pushing the door open with the side of his body, but it was a futile attempt. In the end, he tried banging on the door and yelling for someone on the other end.
He was met by silence.
“What’s going on now?”
“Jaejoong,” Yoochun looked up from the documents on his desk, but he waited for Jaejoong to move closer before he began speaking again. “How do you feel about that kid, Changmin?”
“He’s a tool, a worthless tool, of course.”
“Good answer.” Yoochun leaned back in his seat, and fiddled with his fingers absentmindedly. “I don’t have anything for you to do this morning. Come back later tonight.”
“Yes, sir.” Jaejoong bowed politely before he left Yoochun’s office.
Yoochun opened a drawer, and pulled out a manila folder. As he slowly removed the contents inside, his eyes darkened noticeably. His hands shook violently as he stared at the material in front of him, and before he knew it, he just flung it across the room, inadvertently cutting the side of his hand a little.
“Fuck, he’s getting too close.” Yoochun’s eyes landed on the several photographs he had thrown across the room, his teeth sunk slightly into his bottom lip as he stared at the images of Jaejoong asleep in Changmin’s room. “Too damn close. He won’t betray me, he won’t, he promised.”
When the door to his room suddenly opened, Changmin looked up in surprise to see Jaejoong walking in. He quickly got up and demanded angrily, “Why was the door locked?”
Jaejoong raised a brow, and turned around to look at the closed door. “Was it?”
“Don’t toy with me, Jaejoong!”
Jaejoong stared at Changmin, and then he chuckled lightly. “Why would I toy with you?”
Changmin flinched a little. The way Jaejoong laughed was unsettling to his ears. He avoided contact with Jaejoong’s eyes by finding a sudden admiration for the wooden floor in his room. No words left his or Jaejoong’s lips, but Changmin could feel the other man’s distant eyes drilling holes into his head.
Changmin stiffened when he felt a cold hand touching his face. He backed away, but that only seemed to make Jaejoong move even closer to him until the distant between the two was nearly nonexistent. Icy, delicate fingers danced down the side of his face, leaving behind a tingling sensation that also seemed to put all of his nerves on edge.
“Why do you…” Jaejoong’s voice was soft; his eyes were unfocused. “Why do you-” He stopped speaking suddenly, backing away until the space between them was vast again.
“A-are you alright, Jaejoong?” Changmin stared at his companion, searching for signs that could explain the peculiar behavior just a moment ago.
He could hear a soft “shit” escaped Jaejoong’s lips, followed by a clearer, bolder voice: “We don’t have any plan for today, so just-just go do some training. You’re still a weak little brat, rich bo-Changmin.”
Jaejoong left without another word, leaving Changmin to muse over his strange behavior, particularly the sudden change in the way he addressed Changmin.
“What a weird guy,” Changmin muttered to himself as he headed back towards the bed, deciding sleep was better than what Jaejoong had suggested.
Jaejoong stood in his room, staring at the mirror occupying the wall. He adjusted the slicked-back blond wig he was wearing, making sure not a single dark strand of hair had slipped. He carefully applied a fake scar under his left eye, to further distinguish himself from his usual appearance. Picking up the faux glasses on his dresser, he put it on, and made one last examination over his new appearance. He exhaled slowly, readying himself for his latest mission.
9:15 p.m.
It was almost time. He started to leave the base, heading for the new car he would be using in place of his own. As he pulled out into the road, his mind raced back to his earlier conversation with Yoochun.
(“We’ve got words on Yunho’s recent activities,” said Yoochun, his finger traveled around the rim of his snifter absentmindedly. He paused in the distracted action to pick up the glass, breathing in the scent of cognac slowly before taking a sip. “It seems he has aligned himself with the Tri-Angle.”
“Tri-Angle?” Jaejoong stepped closer to Yoochun’s desk. “Didn’t we deal with them before?”
“Yes, I believe so.” Yoochun closed his eyes, trying to remember the incident Jaejoong was referring to. He opened his eyes, frowning. “They intercepted our business with the Triad and stolen our firearm supplies in the process.”
“Well, what is that bastard doing with them now?”
“Most likely he’s using them to strengthen his company.” Yoochun snapped his fingers, and suddenly his door burst opened with two men carrying in another, this one a blond-haired man. Yoochun nodded, and the goons threw the struggling captive to the floor.
“We have one of his moles here.” Yoochun gestured to the captive.
“I’m not telling you a single fucking thing,” the captive yelled back, eyes glaring at Yoochun. “You’re dead, you’re fucking dead, Park Yoochun!”
One of the goons swiftly struck the captive for his insolence. He looked up, seemingly unfazed in spite of his bruised face and the blood trickling down his nose. His unhinged laugher resonated in the room. “Soon, Tri-Angle will take down YJ Mob, Yoochun! Death to YJ! Death to YJ!”
Yoochun’s eyes narrowed, though his voice remained cool as always. “Get that piece of shit out of here. Dispose him.”
The door closed, but both Yoochun and Jaejoong could still hear the maniacal laughter echoing down the corridors. Yoochun’s hand trembled slightly as he tried to pick up his glass. “We’ve managed to find three different messages sent to the mole, each one ending with 9095.”
“9095? What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” Yoochun whispered, his hands clasped together in front of him in deep contemplation.
“Could it be an alias?”
“Perhaps, or it could even be some sort of code. We’ve tried to get an answer out of him, but nothing worked.” Yoochun stood up and walked towards Jaejoong. He twirled a strand of Jaejoong’s dark lock around his finger. “One of the messages mentioned tonight’s meeting at Yunho’s main home.”
“You’re asking me to go undercover?” Jaejoong carefully moved Yoochun’s hand away from his face, but he could feel the other man grasping onto it. Yoochun tightened his hold on Jaejoong’s hand.
“Be careful.”
Jaejoong closed his eyes, feeling the familiar cold lips brushing over his own.
“Of course.”)
Jaejoong parked his car a mile away from Yunho’s property, careful to not reveal himself. He raised his arm, speaking into one of his cufflinks. “I’m here. Can you hear me?”
“Perfectly, sir,” One of Jaejoong’s subordinates answered back on the other end.
“Good. I’m heading in now. Make sure backups are ready in case of an attack.”
“Yes, sir.”
As he walked up to the gated home, he could see three blond-haired men waiting outside the entrance. Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed when he noticed an approaching black car. Promptly the men quickly rushed over to open the door, bowing in reverence.
There he is, Jaejoong thought, recognizing Yunho instantly.
By his side was a tall dark-haired woman, dressed in a luxurious dark blue evening dress. Her arm instinctively linked with Yunho as they walked, talking amongst themselves. Several more blond-haired men followed the duo, and Jaejoong quickly and carefully made sure to mix himself in with the group.
“So Yunho, Papa has been telling me how happy he is with the recent alliance you two have made.”
“KyungMi, the pleasure is all mine.” Yunho held up KyungMi’s hand, placing a chaste kiss on it. “As I’ll be helping with future funding and supplies for your father, I hope he’ll offer me the ‘strength’ I’ll need in the future.”
“Of course, darling.” KyungMi motioned for one of her underlings. She whispered in his ears before signaling him to carry out her task.
“Were you speaking ill about me? In front of me?” Yunho flashed his usual crooked smile.
“No, dear, of course not. I was just telling him to keep a lookout for trouble.”
Yunho chuckled. “My home is perfectly secured by my own men in addition to yours. You worry too much, KyungMi.”
“Perhaps,” she murmured uncertainty, “but I need to make sure our business is kept confidential, especially…” She waved the topic aside, “You’re right, I am worrying too much.”
“Now, you sent out copies of 9095 to the provided contact list, right?”
Jaejoong’s ears perked up at the mention of the cryptic number. He peered pass the man in front of him, staring at Yunho and KyungMi sitting on the sofa together. He could see KyungMi nodding, and then reaching into her evening purse, pulling out a black flash drive.
KyungMi smirked. “Yes, I have the original right here. As for the copies, they should activate right about…”
Jaejoong’s body tensed up when he heard screaming and yelling in his earpiece.
“It’s a fucking virus!”
“We were tricked. Jaejoong, get out now!”
“Shit, we’re being ambushed! Abort mission, Jaejoong, abort mission!”
He could hear gunshots firing off as his men fought for their lives in the sudden attack.
“Now.”
Jaejoong turned and stared straight into KyungMi’s eyes.
“Who are you?” KyungMi’s finger lifted Jaejoong’s chin, examining his features with a bit of interest. Her eyes widened slightly as she touched his skin tentatively, slowly peeling away the fake skin Jaejoong had applied earlier that night. She then lifted his faux glasses away, revealing his true face.
“Jaejoong!” Yunho quickly rose, making his way closer to the smaller man. He paused, watching as KyungMi backed away from Jaejoong.
“Jaejoong? You know him, Yunho?”
“This is the one I warned you about.” Yunho turned to smirk at Jaejoong. “Park Yoochun’s right hand man, Kim Jaejoong. You’re getting rusty, love, falling into a trap and all.” Yunho glanced around Jaejoong with a slight surprise look on his face. “Where’s that kid that was with you last time? The tall, lanky kid.”
Jaejoong remained silent, keeping alert as his eyes traveled around the room at the different underlings ready to shoot him on the spot. He slowly backed away as Yunho tried to close their distance. “So you’ve aligned yourself with Tri-Angle, Jung?”
Yunho chuckled. “I tried doing business with YJ Mob, Jaejoong, but you and Yoochun made things difficult for me. You know with the whole trying to castrate me when I tried to rap-”
“Shut the fuck up, you son of a bitch!” Jaejoong’s hand was itching for his gun, but it would be extremely difficult to reach for it in this precarious situation. He growled softly, glaring at each one of his enemy.
“You’re still as short-tempered as always, love.” Yunho smiled, walking around Jaejoong in circles, taunting him to no end. This time, he managed to close his distance with Jaejoong. He cupped Jaejoong’s chin, kissing him roughly as to cause the slenderer man to struggle.
Within moments, a dagger slipped from Jaejoong’s right sleeve, its apex already finding its target at Yunho’s throat. Yunho’s security team as well as KyungMi’s underlings tried to get close, but they backed away hesitantly when they saw the dagger digging deeper into Yunho’s skin, drawing a small trickle of blood.
“Yunho!” KyungMi tried to get closer, but one of her underlings blocked her path. “Let me go!”
“It’s dangerous, Miss, we need to get you out of here,” he answered, signaling for two other men to guide her out in spite of her resistance.
“Now,” Jaejoong began in a hushed tone, “You will help me leave, Jung, and if any one of you-“ his voice raised to indicate the other threats in the room, “Your beloved leader, Jung Yunho will die tonight.”
Yunho closed his eyes, knowing full well that Jaejoong was a man of his words. His hand made a slight motion to indicate the others hold back their retaliation. The men backed further away, growling and glaring at Jaejoong all the while.
“Drop your weapons!” Jaejoong ordered, eyes once again scanning the room and making sure his command was met. “Let’s go, Jung.”
Jaejoong walked out slowly, his hold on Yunho was surprisingly strong despite being the smaller of the two. The walk to the gate was relatively quiet, except for the occasional struggle from Yunho. They made it to the entrance, but there were other guards there to greet them with guns aimed at Jaejoong. He pushed Yunho forward, using him as a shield.
“Go ahead! Kill me and he will die too!”
The guns slowly lowered, and Jaejoong walked by with Yunho in tow. They walked a few feet away from the home before he heard statics in his earpiece. After a few more seconds of statics, a low, rough voice came through: “You’re a piece of work, Kim Jaejoong.”
Jaejoong stopped in his track, shocked. He adjusted his hold on Yunho to reach for his microphone that was masquerading as a cufflink. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Your men put up quite a fight. Some escaped and some…met their maker.”
Jaejoong growled, “Answer me! Who the fuck are you?”
Yunho tried to struggle amidst Jaejoong’s confusion, but his captor tightened his hold on him.
“As the leader of Tri-Angle,” the voice began. Jaejoong could sense that the other man was probably smirking on the opposite end. “You may only know me by my public name: Rising Dragon. Don’t worry, we’ll meet again, Kim. Oh and before we part ways, I would suggest you let go of my future son-in-law before something happens to you.”
The earpiece disconnected. Jaejoong’s eyes widened when he realized that he had once again fallen into a trap. Around him in trees were different dark-suited, blond-haired men with guns aimed at him. Only this time, they did not wait in their attacks, firing immediately at Jaejoong.
He pushed Yunho in front of him, with the latter receiving minor grazes of the bullets. Jaejoong reached inside his suit, pulling out his own gun and firing at his targets immediately, managing to hit them one by one. As they fell from their heights, he knew he was still at a disadvantage when he noticed the approaching backup group in the distance.
He started to make his escape, running as fast as he could to his waiting car, but one gunshot managed to hit him in the left side. “Fuck!” Groaning, he clutched the wound, trying desperately to slow down the rushing blood loss.
He stumbled for a bit before regaining his balance. Out of sheer will, he continued running, showing no sign of slowing down in spite of his injury.
“Let him go,” he heard one of the men say. “We need to tend to Leader Jung immediately.”
Another laughed, “Looks like Heaven is getting another ‘angel’ tonight.”
Jaejoong settled into his car, breathing deeply as he tried to regain his composure. He ripped off the blond wig he was wearing, placing it close to his wound. Hoping it could help slow the blood loss a little. He gripped the steering wheel with one hand while the other was still placed on the wound.
He drove back to base slowly, his vision shifting in blurriness.
He didn’t know what time it was when he returned to base, but he was sure it was well after midnight. He limped down the corridors, using the wall as a crutch. He stopped momentarily in front of Yoochun’s office, seeing the door was slightly ajar with lights streaming out.
He pushed the door opened further, leaning on the threshold. “I’m back.”
“Good,” Yoochun softly answered back, eyes averting Jaejoong. “Get yourself cleaned up. We’ll talk when you’re better.”
Jaejoong nodded, despite not knowing whether or not Yoochun even noticed the action. He limped out of the room to take care of his injury.
3:48 a.m.
Jaejoong’s vision kept slipping in and out of focus as he stared at the clock on the wall in the infirmary. He groaned slightly as he felt the bullet being pulled out of his wound. “Shit…”
“You got lucky, hyung. A few inches closer and you’d be dead.”
“I know, Junsu,” Jaejoong groaned irritably at his doctor. “Just patch it up already.”
Junsu rubbed some alcohol on the wound, surprised that Jaejoong didn’t hiss from the sting like his other patients. As he wrapped a bandage around Jaejoong’s torso, he gave his orders to the injured man, “Hyung, you should take it easy for the next week or so.”
“A week?” Jaejoong turned to glare at Junsu, who waved the look aside. “I can’t, not when Tri-Angle is acting up. They were expecting us, they were-Shit, how could we have fallen into such a fucking stupid trap like that! Goddammit!” He slammed his fist on the mattress he was sitting on.
Junsu shook his head. “I know you’re angry, hyung, but it is vital that you rest up or the wound will-”
“How many men did we lose?”
Junsu was taken aback by the question. He continued placing his focus onto the bandage he was wrapping. “I-I don’t know. Two came back,” Junsu gestured to the two other occupied beds in the room, “but we’re not sure how many are still out there, and-”
“It’s my fault, I was careless.”
“Hyung…”
Junsu cut the bandage, but he continued to look at Jaejoong’s distressed face. He had only seen this face two other times in his life, and both times Jaejoong punished himself severely for his mistakes. Junsu placed a gentle hand on Jaejoong’s shoulder. “Get some rest, hyung. Doctor’s order.”
He left the room, flicking the lights off.
But Jaejoong couldn’t rest, not when his mind replayed the night’s event over and over again, trying to make sense of what was going to happen next. Yunho, KyungMi, the 9095 virus, and Rising Dragon. They were all key subjects in what would potentially be the downfall of YJ Mob, but how? What were they going to do?
Jaejoong punched the mattress again, unable to get his mind to rest. He stood up, making his way out of the infirmary and down the halls. He walked past several doors, struggling to keep up straight as his vision continued to fail him. He didn’t know how long he was wandering through the empty halls before he finally stopped.
It was Changmin’s room.
He was unsure of why his feet had led him here. Even so, he still felt a strong inclination to step inside. Hesitantly, he reached for the doorknob and turned. As he made it into the room, he noticed an untouched tray of food was left on the table, but he dismissed it immediately.
Jaejoong walked to the bed where Changmin lay sleeping with his face to the wall. He watched the younger man’s face furrow in anguish, occasionally hearing a soft plea and whimper. He could guess what Changmin was dreaming about, but he would prefer not to.
Unsure of his action, Jaejoong slipped into the bed, lying down on his right side to stare at the weary back. His hand was instinctively holding the wounded area. He waited for Changmin to notice the sudden weight shift in bed, but like always, the other man was oblivious to the outside world once he was asleep.
“Deep sleeper as always,” Jaejoong murmured, staring at Changmin's back.
He closed his eyes, ready for sleep to claim him as well.
He waited.
And waited.
And waited…
And then he reopened them, knowing sleep would not be on his agenda tonight.
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