of flaws and lies [4.2/?]
The Shadow Dragon Headquarter, early April.
The day finally came in the form of a chilly morning. And he had a bad feeling. He just had.
And it didn't help to realize that everytime he had it, most of them always came true.
Kibum took his fingers off the blind. Just watching the greyness outside the window made him more queasy.
He pulled both of his hand to cross in front of his chest, warming himself.
"Kibum?"
Kibum turned his body slowly upon hearing the call, smile pasted in his face even before he got to see who it was. Because he just knew, there's only one person that called him with his real name beside Jiyong.
"You're up already?" he asked to Jonghyun.
Jonghyun nodded, his eyes still half closed "Just have to pee."
Kibum chuckled and slowly tilted his head when Jonghyun came closer to him, his toned hand came up to fix his bangs.
"Is there anything bothers you?" Jonghyun asked.
Kibum took a deep breath before half-nodding then half-shaking his head and finally just shrugged in the end.
"You just don't usually wake up at this hour unless you couldn't sleep and that means there's something."
"I'm just thinking about that idiot hacker and his ability to mess up this mission." Kibum answered, putting one of his hand on Jonghyun's elbow.
Jonghyun just raised his eyebrows, suspecting something else behind the sentence.
"And who are you calling idiot?"
Kibum turned his head around and almost got a heart attack when he saw Jinki came with his rucksack just landed on the living room's couch, seemed checking his final preparation because Jinki had looked ready with his outfit.
"And your public display of affection is giving me eyesore." Jinki said again as he glanced for a second to the pair.
Kibum looked back to Jonghyun and quickly unattached his hand from the other's elbow, but at the same time Jonghyun had casually moved his hand to circle his waist.
"I'll do the display affection as much as I want to. Thank you."
And because, yes, being close with Jonghyun and skinship always went hand in hand.
Jinki looked up again, a second to Jonghyun while saying, "Whatever." and moved to lock his gaze with Kibum after.
Kibum was under the impression Jinki was unhappy with....something? He didn't even know for sure.
"Ready?" Jiyong suddenly came out behind Jinki, along with Chansung that would also join the mission.
Jinki nodded after turning his head to look at Jiyong. He honestly didn't even know that they would start so early and he hoped the police had guarded the lodge as well.
"Good luck!" Jonghyun said, more to Jiyong and Chansung only.
"Do you have your tracker with you, Jiyong?" Kibum suddenly asked.
He nodded, "Why? Do you want to join to hear?"
"I'll use your computer to listen and watch over."
"It doesn't like something will happen? I don't think the mission is even the risky one?" Jiyong frowned, Kibum had never asked to watch his beeping red button that could locate his position and to listen what was happening in his battlefield again almost for two years. "Or you just worry over..."
"I just have a bad feeling, Jiyong." Kibum said.
"And you just won't brush away Kibum's premonition over something like this." Chansung reminded.
"Okay." Jiyong shrugged "I'll turn the voice on once I get there."
Kibum nodded "Be careful." he said, eyes straight to Jiyong while he actually meant it for the guy beside the leader.
"Bye guys!" Chansung happily waved as they all set to off.
"Don't burn the house down!" Jiyong warned cheerfully.
It sent all of them to laugh.
*
It's almost five hours. Kibum frowned as he glanced to the clock. And Jiyong's red button was still on the same place. The lodge.
Kibum then decided to wave away the first two hours because it was just the time the trio needed to get to the lodge.
But three hours? What took them so long? Kibum asked as he circled his hands around his legs that were lifted on Jiyong's comfy chair and he put his chin on the top of his knee.
And Jiyong must'd been forgotten to turn the voice recorder on his tracker on because Kibum could only hear nothing.
"Shit! Forgot to turn this on."
Kibum almost sighed in relief as he finally heard Jiyong's hushed sound.
"How long should we wait?"
It's Chansung.
"I don't know. How could they know.. Just.. Shit!"
Kibum frowned, frozen in place. Who knew what? He got the feeling his bad premonition was right. He sighed as he felt the urge to contact Jiyong but he didn't want to risk their whereabouts.
"Onew!" Kibum gasped at the name "Say something! What should we do?"
"I.. I don't know, Jiyong."
Jiyong sounded like he was taking a deep breath "Just think of how could we pass the lodge door secured by those three guards with guns on their hands.."
Guards with guns ?
"How about.." Jiyong said "One of you distract them. I saw a window on the other side. I'll try to get in and get the package."
"Because it's only you know which box." Chansung said.
"Right and it'll just take few minutes. There's no need to open the box carefully because they already know about the smuggle."
A moment of silence.
"Onew, you have to hide right near the window. I'll pass the package to you and you just have to run as fast as you can back to the car. Don't look back. If me or Chansung don't show up in five minutes just leave us, bring the package home. Kibum will know what to do."
He should hand it to the righthand of the boss, in the usual place, tomorrow noon. A second late and they'll have the worst fine to pay. Kibum thought as he rubbed his arm that somehow turned cold. He knew something would happen. He just knew.
"Chansung, go!"
Kibum held his breath.
"Kibum-ah.."
He almost fell from where he sat, thinking Jiyong or someone just called him. It turned out that Jonghyun just unplugged one of his earphone and talked to him.
"You haven't moved from this seat since this morning." Jonghyun said, handing Kibum a warm cup for him to drink.
Milk? Kibum frowned up to Jonghyun.
"Don't protest." Jonghyun warned, patting the other's hair before turning around to pull another chair closer to Kibum.
Kibum sipped the milk while offering one of the earphone to Jonghyun and they listened together.
They could only hear Jiyong's panting and some careful dragging sound this time. He must'd been gotten inside the lodge.
Then there's a sigh of relief before a ripping noise came after. Jiyong sounded hesitant to rip the package at once because of the noise that he decided to came to a halt after every five seconds.
Kibum held his breath again when Jiyong sounded had gotten everything he's searching for and he walked again. To the said window?
"Onew! Onew! What? Chansung?!"
"WHO'S THERE?!"
"Catch it! Fuck! Catch it and run! Now! Chansung.. No.. Leave him! Let's run! Move your feet, idiot!"
"STOP THERE !"
Then there's a loud shooting sound.
Kibum couldn't breath. And he didn't know since when Jonghyun had got a hold of his sweating hand.
There were a restless running sound, panting breaths mixed with a muffled sob after.
And at the time he could finally hear a car engine started, he could even felt someone's shaking from his earphone.
"He's dead." Jiyong said "It'd be better if he's dead."
Kibum gripped Jonghyun's hand tighter.
*
The news of lost was not unfamiliar for Kkangpae.
They knew they had signed a contract of death in hand once they got in.
That's why most of them trying not to get too emotionally close with each other in the gang. Because they just didn't know when they would lose each other.
But living in a same headquarter made the friendship somehow irresistible, and still being a human that would always had the thirst of another person's contact and how the community had already despised them, they didn't have much choice unless to befriend the other members.
And so Jonghyun decided to play the record back in the living room, after transferring the data to his laptop for the others to hear.
Kibum had turned so pale, hugging Jonghyun's arm that was sitting on the armrest while he was on the couch.
He didn't want to think who might be dead. He honestly didn't want to hear the nightmorous recording again.
But on the other side, he wanted to get a hint who was surviving beside Jiyong. Why didn't he speak even a word to let him know.
"...better if he's dead."
When the gasps around him started multaneously, Kibum was in the verge of breaking down again. But he had learned how not to look weak, though his face was still as pale as a corpse.
Kibum closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to shut out the discussion of speculation around him.
He didn't want to hear. He didn't want to think. He didn't want to guess.
He could feel Jonghyun pulled his arm from his grasp and it moved to carress his hair instead.
Kibum just stared absentmindedly to the window which the blind had been pulled up. It was still grey. Grey.
And after some time, someone finally came to announce "Jiyong's here."
Everyone on the living room turned their heads to the door, some of them stood up to get a better sight.
Jonghyun slowly looked down to the guy beside him that was still blinking to the window, undisturbed.
An eerie silence fell upon the room as everyone was expecting the surviving people's arrival, until two heavy steps slowly echoed from the hallway and everyone was holding their breath.
They could see the first shadow was stretched on the tiles in the bottom of the doorframe in front of them, before someone(s) they knew too well finally appeared after one another after stepping inside the room. They were Jiyong.
And Jinki.
Both bathed in sweats and sprinkles of dirt.
Jinki swept his gaze across the room, pretty surprised to see everyone was gathered to welcome them or something. From what he observed so far, this didn't usually happen when the others got home after a mission.
Receiving worry and sorry stares from everyone, Jinki didn't know what to feel himself.
He thought he should get all the blame from Chansung's death. Because he was the betrayer.
But Chansung was a criminal, his rational side said.
And your new made friend as well, another side chimed in.
Joon came over to approach him, hugging him then saying it's okay when he himself knew that this wasn't okay, not at all. He lost his first friend on his first day of work. Should he be sad ? Or shouldn't he for he was just eliminating an enemy down ?
Jinki could only shake his head, trying to put the thought aside, trying to search for something, anything that could make a logical reason out of all that was happening.
On the other side, Kibum was still staring absentmindedly to the window, until Jonghyun finally decided to nudge him and pointing to the door by his chin, knowing who stood there was who his bestfriend longed for.
Kibum only frowned to Jonghyun after seeing the subtle gesture but he turned his head to the given direction anyway. And that was when their stares met, his own feline eyes blankly widened in pure shock.
Jinki gulped at their crashing stares, didn't know if he should probably try to smile or instead showing that he's breaking apart in front of the owner of those eyes.
But at the time Kibum finally struggled to get up from the couch, walking dazedly to him with a blank stare like he was on an auto-pilot mode, before stopping right in front of him just to slip his thin arms around his waist and bury his pretty face on his chest, Jinki suddenly realized the only thing that mattered at the second.
That criminal on his arm and how he just took his breath away.