defunct callsigns → for rokeby (1/2)
Title: defunct callsigns
Recipient: rokeby
Pairing(s): xiuchen, xiusoo
Rating: r
Warnings: implied drug use, swearing
Word count: 11,476 words
Summary: jongdae is a fugitive sent to pirate radio dj kim minseok to be his new intern.
“Look alive, sunshine,” Minseok says, beginning his radio broadcast. His dreamy voice drifts through the airwaves, tempting every Killjoy to listen to what he has to say. It is another day for 109 FM, WKIL and - as usual - everyone is on their toes as adrenaline runs alongside the blood pumping through their veins, keeping them alert all day.
Scarecrows will be making their rounds along Zones Three and Six at random times today; so be sure to stay away from these areas, Killjoys. Also, monthly drug delivery is coming up; so be prepared to take down those trucks. In the meantime, here’s some good stuff for you all.
Minseok mutes his microphone as Broken Bells’ After the Disco begins to play, noting an interlude to his announcements. He’s been a disk jockey for this pirate radio station for years and yet he cannot think of anything else he could do to help his fellow Killjoys who risk their lives everyday trying to take down Better Living Industries (as well as some lurking Draculoids, but that’s a given).
The playlist was on its second song when a knock came on the door, Minseok had signalled the familiar face to come in and sit on the chair just opposite him. “Baekhyun, tell me you got tips today,” Minseok doesn’t have his eyes on Baekhyun, but the man opposite him hands him a folder which Minseok dismissively takes. “I nearly ran into a Scarecrow in Zone Two,” Baekhyun says, his eyes silently paying attention to whatever’s keeping Minseok busy. “She didn’t bother me; however she seemed preoccupied by the truckload of drugs she was dealing with.”
It seemed enough to get Minseok to stop writing anyways. “Stop,” Minseok’s eyes were piercing; Baekhyun didn’t seem to react much. “There was a Scarecrow with a shitload of drugs, in our territory?” Baekhyun nods, his eyes clearly uninterested in Minseok’s late reaction, “You might want to let the Killjoys know before something breaks out.”
A song was just about to finish playing as soon as Minseok had turned on his microphone; Baekhyun took this as his chance to grab the piece of paper Minseok had been so busy with. At the same time, he wanted to hear Minseok’s cool and calm persona permeate through the radio even though his intel was very much the opposite.
New intel, Killjoys. We have been informed of a Scarecrow in Zone Two. Take heed. Wherever this Scarecrow is hiding, she has a truckload of drugs with her. If any of you are planning to seize their whereabouts, be careful. We’ll be issuing more updates as they come in.
Baekhyun silently claps his hands for the smooth performance. He mentally notes this is what gives Minseok the spotlight; a fucking human bank of respectable sources. He thinks it’s a pain no one else can ever mimic what Minseok can do, and yet he’s proud it’s an art the disk jockey has mastered for himself.
A lone man wanders the desert. He’s still in his clothes from work and a part of his conscience is telling him if he remains a lone wanderer, he’s sure to lose his wits and his life if he doesn’t do anything. There is a dull throbbing pain at the back of his head and he wonders if this is something he sustained while he was trying to run away from the Scarecrows and Exterminators who had a tight hold on him for a while.
I need a place to stay in for a while, just to get away from this blistering heat. He’s right; the heat only adds to hisgrowing list of discomforts.
He’s unsure of which Zone he’s ended up in; but wasting more time just to make sure where he is could only land him trouble with the Draculoids roaming the area - he’s lucky he hasn’t ran into any just yet.
Soon he finds himself knocking on the door of a beaten-down home. Windows have been replaced by boards that have been haphazardly nailed onto the walls with small holes in between the planks serving as light source and an excuse to sneak a peek at the surrounding area.
As soon as the door opens, the person he faces with gives him a judging stare because of the clothes he’s wearing, “Who the fuck are you?” The lone man is on the brink of kneeling in front of the door, “My name is Jongdae and I’m in desperate need for a place to stay; I’m being chased down by BL/IND, please.”
It takes a minute for the man on the doorway to observe Jongdae’s appearance. He’s still in his BL/IND uniform, with a small magnetic tag showing his name on one side. The sweat that surrounds his face and the fact that his stark white uniform has been covered by mounds of sand from the desert is distinct. The person on the doorway thinks the strict disposition of the staff at BL/IND would simply never condone such an appearance.
“Quick, you better come in then,” The man on the doorway pulls Jongdae’s wrist, dragging the dirty employee in hastily. “I’m pretty sure there are Draculoids around the area; they’re just waiting for the perfect time to attack you.”
Everything that happens in the Zones is a gamble; whoever this man was, he’s risking a lot and yet he has no idea.
It is a few days later when MInseok receives a call from the station manager asking him to come to his office.
"What the hell did I do wrong now?"
It's rare enough that the station manager actually wants to talk to him, so he mentally prepares himself for what could be the longest conversation of his life. Of course, in his defense, he hasn't really done anything to merit a dismissal; he doesn't have any good reason to be freaking out at all,
After a few minutes of traversing the building, he ends up a few steps away from the door to the director's office. A couple of knocks and suddenly a voice from within beckon him to come in.
"Junmyeon, you called?"
Kim Junmyeon, the station manager. Overall, he's pretty kind, or so Minseok thinks. He hasn't really had much conversation with Junmyeon, so all he thinks is he's nice and has this radiant smile with him that makes him look like a model. Minseok still wonders what he did to merit a chat from him; still he enjoys his company so he drops the thought.
"Minseok, I wanted to talk to you about someone I’d like to pair you up with."
The disk jockey's mind immediately goes haywire. He's always worked solo for his entire career, so why ruin that now?
"Excuse me?" Minseok's voice is hoarse all of a sudden. It's probably the nerves or his disbelief that has caused this.
Junmyeon says nothing; only taking out a thick file folder that he hands to Minseok for viewing.
Minseok hastily views the contents, "A couple of days ago, one of our former employees took in a stray BL/IND employee who had wandered in the desert alone for a while," Junmyeon says, his voice calm and it eerily doesn't look as if he's scared at all.
One of the clipped pictures contains a lone man inside a nearly dilapidated house. The former employee of the radio station turns out to be Do Kyungsoo, a well-known name in their building. The boy was young but had much potential in his field of work. All of a sudden, he disappeared from view and people no longer considered him to be a common name. In fact, it became more of a negative connotation or even taboo, hence the perpetual silence.
He also sees a picture of the one Junmyeon refers to as the stray BL/IND employee, "He's probably wanted by now, that's for sure," Minseok whispers to himself. He thinks he never really knew there was a part of him that had so much repressed hate for BL/IND, and yet it slowly surfaces itself whenever rare occurrences like these actually happen.
In fact, they barely happen, all the more with Minseok involved, so he has every right to be confused.
On the other hand, Minseok thinks the employee was probably just lucky he had found a place to crash in before he actually died. He’s heard of countless tales of people who didn’t know where they had ended up in the desert for a few days. Looking for a safe place to stay in was hard enough if they thought traversing through the desert was.
"I don't get it, Junmyeon," Minseok smacks the folder closed with a small thud, "Why are you telling me this?"
Junmyeon's eyes are earnest; as if they knew Minseok would be asking these questions. He had most likely anticipated them before he called the disk jockey over for a chat.
"Minseok, we're pairing him up with you. He's your new personal intern."
There is a thick air of silence that draws between him and Junmyeon. At first, Minseok feels insulted; he can take care of himself; he's done that for years. There's no changing the fact that he doesn't need any help, let alone now.
"Out of all the disk jockeys to choose from, why me?" Minseok's close to handing back the file folder to Junmyeon; he thinks he might follow up with his resignation as well.
"Before you do anything rash," Junmyeon might have already suspected the fact that Minseok might pull something drastic like rage quit or just leave the office before Junmyeon gives him a proper explanation, "just remember where you first started."
Junmyeon's right, not many people are aware of the fact that Minseok used to be a Killjoy, Bulletproof Venom, he called himself. Years before he became a disk jockey and one of the biggest assets to the Killjoys, he was one himself. He's never told anyone else about his past except for Junmyeon, which is probably why he's the only capable candidate of handling this runaway.
"You want me to take care of this because you're aware that I've had multiple experiences with them, is that it?" By now, MInseok's eyes are stern, but he's not angry. There's still disbelief in his tone, but that's slowly ebbing away and being replaced by something else; something he can't exactly pinpoint.
Junmyeon nods, "This is different from the ones you usually encounter, Minseok. We're actually harboring a wanted criminal in the eyes of BL/IND. One word that gets out to them, and we're gone. If we're gone-"
"The Killjoys are gone as well," Minseok softly whispers in reply. He's massively aware how disk jockeys like him are the ones who get the word out to the Killjoys. Without people like him, the Killjoys are perpetually at a standstill. They are lost and vulnerable to defeat from the Draculoids and Exterminators that surround their area, without them even being aware of the situation.
It is from this conversation that Minseok slowly finds the words to that unknown emotion he feels; it's a mixture of adrenaline and fear that causes him to relieve his dangerous past.
When Minseok returns to his control room, he contemplates on the idea of harboring a runaway and treat him as an intern working for the station. It’s not hard; it only becomes a challenge when the Corporation finds them suspicious and takes the runaway away from them.
Before Minseok left Junmyeon’s office - his fit of confusion reduced to deep thoughts that merit him a headache - the latter insisted MInseok take the file folder with him, in case he was curious about the runaway - and actually use his name, if ever Kyungsoo gave it away.
Jongdae is revealed to be the name of the runaway; Kyungsoo mentions in a brief note that since he's currently being tracked down, it's probably safer for him to take on a different name. Jongdae himself suggested Chen, of course. Now that Jongdae isn't a BL/IND employee anymore it's probably safer to take on a different identity as well; they'll eventually reach that later.
After a few hours of Minseok diving himself deep into detail with all of the information Junmyeon and Kyungsoo have gathered, the former lets out a deep sigh. Harboring a fugitive like Jongdae would never be easy, let alone getting used to taking responsibility of an intern after so long he's practically lost his reach when it comes to dealing with people who have worked with him over the years. It's a fresh start for him, and it's probably about time he taught someone else the ropes too of being a disk jockey.
On the plus side, Minseok thinks this might be good for himself after all.
Kyungsoo paces around the living room; Jongdae is seated on a couch, wearing some of Kyungsoo's old clothes.
"Tell me again, how did you end up being a fugitive in the Corporation's eyes?"
Jongdae recounts the information he's known all these years of working in the medication department; he's one of the guys who supplies the pills to the people of Battery City. Not only that, he's been fully trained and taught to know the ins and outs of the medicine and the details of every delivery the company has ever done. Basically, he's the brain and if ever he's gone, the company's going to look for a new one to replace him; it won't be easy, however.
This was his main asset to the Killjoys; Kyungsoo doesn't seem surprised at all that Jongdae had been supplying the Killjoys with information. It's no wonder the Killjoys have been so succinct whenever it came to busting drug-operations; they had all the details coming from Jongdae himself.
"So that's how you got thrown out," Kyungsoo leans on the wall, his eyes staring holes onto the couch where Jongdae sits.
"Correction, I left before I was even thrown out," Jongdae says, clearing his throat, "now you know I'm not going to have you arrested, or something."
It was after Kyungsoo had introduced himself to Jongdae that the former employee felt that he was very lucky to have ended up at his place.
"You used to be a Killjoy yourself, right?"
Jongdae arrives at this conclusion based on the countless newspaper clippings on Kyungsoo’s walls. Some clippings depicted drug-bust operations that have been historical events in BL/IND as well as Killjoy history, others exploits done by other Killjoys whom Kyungsoo might have been familiar with - also popular amongst the common hearsays Jongdae gets in the department.
It takes a while before Kyungsoo answers Jongdae; the latter feels he's probably entered uncharted territory; a topic that should never be spoken about.
"It's none of your business to know what I had been doing in the past," Kyungsoo pushes himself off the wall and heads to the kitchen without even sparing Jongdae a glance to reconsider his actions.
Jongdae follows him blindly, "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have asked, it's just that I've heard so much about -"
"Heard so much about what?! Have you heard any of the Exterminators talking about me? That they think I'm already dead and every other Killjoy who looks up to me should also do the same?!" Kyungsoo faces Jongdae; the latter clearly sees the former Killjoy's bloodshot eyes and dark crescents forming beneath them. If these don't account for the kind of life he's been living, then Jongdae doesn’t know what else.
"N-no ... I didn't mean it that way," Jongdae stammers; his feet unconsciously moving backwards, slowly walking away from Kyungsoo.
Kyungsoo fixes his palms on an empty countertop as he heaves a heavy sigh, "I've sent word for you. You're not staying here for long."
It makes Jongdae stop in his footsteps, "Am I being arrested? I thought I could trust you!"
Kyungsoo looks back at him, his voice growing louder than his, "I never said I'd be betraying you. Trust me, this is good for you."
“How would you even know what’s good for me?”
Jongdae walks away, leaving Kyungsoo in the kitchen to reassess himself and his pain that surrounds his past.
A couple of hours later, a truck stops outside of Kyungsoo's home and as soon as Jongdae hears them talking by the living room, he knows. They're taking him away.
A myriad of questions surround Jongdae's mind; he can't seem to hear Kyungsoo telling him to trust the very person who had saved him from dying in the middle of the desert. However, his mind cannot comprehend what will be done to him. Could Kyungsoo be the very same person who will bring him to his eventual demise? If Jongdae never acquiesced to the demands of the people who picked him up, he would have never known.
The truck is the same classified vehicle Jongdae often sees hanging around BL/IND; the very same vehicles that are usually used when pills are being delivered into Battery City. It only confirms Jongdae's suspicions.
He finds it strange, still. The way he's being handled by these people isn't the same way a vigilante like him should be treated. He doesn't question their less-than-hostile treatment; he saves the thought for later when he gets the chance.
As soon as he's safely seated in the vehicle, he subtly asks the guy seated by the shotgun seat, "I know it's probably unwise to ask, but where are you guys taking me?"
The guy by the shotgun seat looks over to the one driving; the latter answers instead, "We didn't mean to be rude. I'm Wufan, and this guy beside me is Yixing. We're taking you to some place safe."
Jongdae takes a good look at Yixing; he's fit and lean but his eyes are kind and soft. Wufan, on the other hand, has an edge on his height, there's an air of confidence hanging around him that's clearly not obvious in Yixing's case. At the same time, Jongdae's probably heard the line "some place safe" several times in action films that might have never ended the way he would have wanted it to.
After what seems like an endless ride along the desert, the vehicle stops in front of an abandoned warehouse. Wufan and Yixing both alight and soon after Jongdae's assisted out of the vehicle. "It's going to be a long walk from here, I hope you can catch up," Yixing tells Jongdae. It's the first time Jongdae's heard him talk ever since they've met; Yixing's voice seems calm even though they're about to venture in something that's otherwise.
Jongdae never notices the amount of time they took in traversing the abandoned warehouse; it is deep into the night when all three of them reach the front doors of a decrepit building that he's never seen before.
After much insisting, Jongdae enters the building first, with the help of Wufan and Yixing. Both men greet Jongdae with a salute before they leave him alone. The building's interior looks very different compared to its exterior. Everything is stark clean and Jongdae has no idea where to begin.
While Jongdae looks around, he suddenly hears someone yelling out his name from a distance. "Kim Jongdae, is that you? We've been waiting for you!"
Jongdae almost gets the urge to run until the voice eventually catches up to him, "I'm sorry, this is very impolite of me," he has his hands on his knees as Jongdae can hear him exhaling loudly in exhaustion.
When he gets up, Jongdae reads the name "Byun Baekhyun" on the nametag. The guy notices and laughs meekly, "Well, you've seen my name, I guess. Welcome to your new home, Jongdae, you'll be working with us in here as an intern."
"Intern? Oh no, I think you're getting all this wrong," Jongdae raises both hands in resignation, his footsteps taking him slowly back to the front door until he has his back to them but the doors won't push open.
Baekhyun pulls Jongdae by the wrist, "We were the ones who had you sent here; Kyungsoo told us about you," he says, nodding, his enthusiastic eyes slowly filling Jongdae with relief.
"You know Kyungsoo?" It's all Jongdae could say in reply; he's been through a long day and meeting all these people clearly isn't helping him getting used to his new surroundings.
"Who doesn’t? The guy's a fucking genius. Then again, it is sad how he fell out though," Baekhyun's voice softens in resignation.
Jongdae almost gets the urge to ask what had happened to Kyungsoo, especially after the latter went into an outburst after he had abruptly asked about his past, until Baekhyun pulls Jongdae out of his reverie and soon he’s following his guide mindlessly throughout the building.
"Come on, Minseok’s been waiting for you," Jongdae could feel the happiness radiating from Baekhyun's voice. They end up in a small radio booth; the guy so-called Minseok is busy burying himself in a file folder, too oblivious to the situation.
As soon as Jongdae sees all the computers and gadgets that surround the room, he immediately realizes where he’s been sent to.
By impulse, Minseok looks up at the doorway, his eyes straining to see who Baekhyun came in with, "Where have you been?"
Baekhyun shoves Jongdae closer to where Minseok was sitting as he rattles Jongdae's shoulders in excitement, "This is the guy right? He's the guy Junmyeon told you about?"
Minseok takes a quick glance back at the file folder and compares the photo he's been provided with the real person standing in front of him, "That's Jongdae, alright," he says. He observes Jongdae's stature and immediately picks up the stench of sweat and the heat of the sun that has been beating him down all day.
Jongdae looks back to Baekhyun, the latter urging him to say something, and goes back to looking at Minseok, "He," while pointing at Baekhyun, "says I'm going to work here as an intern."
Minseok pushes his chair back against the large table, desperately seeking the distance from Jongdae, "He's not wrong, whether you like it or not," he says while playing with his fingers. "Technically, you’re working with me from now on. I’ve been assigned to guide you on the ropes of being a disk jockey, like me.”
There is a small thud as Jongdae immediately realizes Baekhyun has left him alone to deal with Minseok. After all, they'll be working together so they might as well create a stable foundation before anything else gets worse.
Minseok takes a small glance at Jongdae's side to make sure Baekhyun has gone off to do something else - probably to visit Chanyeol in the Editing Room. But, either way he isn't going to ask. He sighs in relief as he inches closer to Jongdae, "Grab a seat, we have a lot to talk about," he says, pointing to a swivel chair on the opposite side of the table.
The three hours Minseok and Jongdae spend together in the radio booth gets a note of approval from Junmyeon. It seems as if Baekhyun spent his time filling Junmyeon in with the details instead of wasting his time somewhere else; Minseok makes a mental note to give Baekhyun a pat on the back for that.
The next few days are rather grueling for Jongdae, so to speak. He sleeps in an unused radio booth that's being used for storage instead; Baekhyun reassures him countless times there are plenty of rooms in the building being used for storage - this being the least frequent. The minute Jongdae steps in the abandoned room, however, the room reeks of a stale stench that Jongdae can't distinguish as several dusty boxes surround a large couch in the middle of the room.
It takes a while for Jongdae to get used to the surroundings; he frequently compares them to the facilities at BL/IND that he's grown accustomed to all his life. Everything is kept clean and well-organized and rooms are actually being used for other purposes as opposed to storage.
Jongdae gets a strict 6AM call time from Minseok. Mornings are pretty easy as the two help each other sort out the papers and the anonymous tips that Minseok receives; in order of how the disk jockey will be broadcasting them throughout the day.
"We go on-air every 3 hours, starting from 9AM until 12MN," Minseok says, leaving a large stack of paperwork for Jongdae to take his time sorting through.
"Where do you get these anonymous tips?" Jongdae asks, barely being able to see Minseok from the mess of papers he has surrounding his side of the desk.
Jongdae hears nothing in reply, so he tries asking again, only in a louder voice. When Jongdae tries asking again for the third time, Minseok emerges from beside Jongdae; the later becoming too engrossed in the paperwork (which only means Minseok's plan of getting his mindset into the workspace is working), "I heard you the first time; you’ll get your answers soon."
As Minseok returns to his normal set of duties, Jongdae slumps down on the stacks of paper and sighs in annoyance. Back at BL/IND, other people always do these lame things for me, he thinks. At the same time, he reflects on Minseok's tone whenever Jongdae talks to him. Ever since they have met, Minseok has always gained a sense of professionalism, most especially when dealing with him. Nonetheless, the intern finds something to emulate in Minseok; it's one thing that keeps him going.
Meal times were no easy task for Jongdae. Minseok had reassured him that they have stock loads of food that's hard to get in the middle of the desert. The only problem Jongdae has to work on was making connections with the other people who work in the building. "Everyone has a share in the food, but you have to go out and find your way to get your share," Minseok reminds Jongdae before he leaves him alone in the radio booth.
Jongdae almost asks Minseok where he gets his food; however he'd hate to think he's trying to use his internship with Minseok as a cheap ticket to getting food without even trying.
So he tries getting through Baekhyun.
"I'm new here; you have to help me!" Jongdae pleads, desperately following Baekhyun fulfilling his errands around the building.
"Don't pull the 'I'm new' ticket with me, Jongdae," Baekhyun doesn't even spare Jongdae a glance, his feet trying to take him further away from Jongdae, "We were all new at a certain point."
"Yes, I know," Jongdae sighs hesitantly; he jogs only to make up for the distance between the two of them, "I'll make you a deal, how about that."
Baekhyun stops upon hearing the word 'deal'; finally taking a good look at Jongdae leaning on a wall in exhaustion, "I'm listening."
"I'll do your dirty errands," he says, intermittently between breaths, "and you help me get food in exchange."
Baekhyun softly taps his chin with a finger in contemplation, "Just the errands?" he says, observing his fingers and nails.
"Fine!” Jongdae yells, conceding easily to Baekhyun’s sly ways, “Dirty errands and helping Minseok.”
Baekhyun catches up in front of Jongdae only to trap the latter's face in between his hands, "Deal," he squeals in excitement. "Please tell me this isn't your lame plot to get closer to Minseok, though."
Jongdae slaps Baekhyun's hands as if it were a knee-jerk response, "No! Don't get any ideas."
Baekhyun skips along the corridor, away from Jongdae, "We'll see," he yells jovially.
Jongdae’s cheeks are flushed in a pale pink color without him even realizing it.
It is late at night when Jongdae wakes up and suddenly his thoughts are racing with images of the anonymous tips he had sorted through for countless hours. He props himself up on the couch as he starts to recall most of BL/IND's confidential events and information.
He remembers setting aside a stack of papers dedicated to information on the pills that were being expedited to various Battery City locations. It doesn't take him long to realize most - rather, all of the information he remembers reading through had been spot-on. That alone makes him wonder where Minseok really gets these information from.
"I heard you the first time; you'll get your answers soon," Jongdae remembers Minseok saying, his voice clear and almost reverberating in the abandoned storage room.
He reluctantly goes to bed knowing Minseok might have more secrets than he had initially assumed.
The next morning as well as the succeeding days are no different; Minseok goes through his daily radio programs and errands (both of which Jongdae barely has information about, ironically). Meanwhile, Jongdae sticks to his deal with Baekhyun; most of his time spent outside the radio booth and far away from Minseok looking over his shoulder as a guide.
It seems that the longer Jongdae spends running around the station's building, slowly getting to know everyone and eventually being known as the vigilante (it's no surprise that BL/IND already has him topping the wanted list; it was obvious that knowing too much information was enough to destroy them), that Jongdae longs to hear Minseok's professionalism radiate through his voice. There's no breeze around him; but the thought of learning how to speak like him brings shivers along his spine.
Then again, he's getting more and more connections that make it easy for him to seek favors from anyone else. It's inevitable at the same time when the people he meets often have a stereotypical notion of BL/IND, however. He gets questions such as:
"Do potential Scarecrows get brain-washed into working for BL/IND?"
"Is BL/IND in charge of creating the Draculoids?"
"What does the company do with the test samples of the pills? To whom do they test these pills to?"
"Is it true that the guys at BL/IND get high off the pills?"
The list goes on; but the questions get more preposterous as they come.
He sighs in relief at knowing the people who work here will never learn the shocking truth of life in the Corporation. The questions he gets are only a fraction of the despicable things BL/IND does. Nobody should ever have to expose themselves to such unspeakable horror, including the ones who work there and witness it every day of their lives.
As soon as Jongdae's finished Baekhyun's errands and has successfully eaten lunch thanks to his new connections, he returns to Minseok's office to see the latter hunched over the radio controls.
Jongdae shakes Minseok's shoulders vigorously, "Are you alright? What happened? Do you need anything?" Minseok only responds by pushing Jongdae's hands off of him and signals Jongdae to sit down somewhere far from him.
"Did you close the door?" Jongdae nods, even though he's unsure whether Minseok could see him moving or not. "Shut up and come close," Minseok says, voice toning down to a whisper.
Jongdae pulls his chair closer to Minseok as the disk jockey shows him a crumpled piece of paper, probably caused by Minseok's sudden burst of anger. "You might want to read that and think of a place to hide while you're at it," Minseok says, his back against the chair; his hair a mess and his headphones have been haphazardly thrown at the floor.
"We will be conducting a special inspection in your building in a few days’ time. This is to ensure everything is in proper working order and that there is nothing that the Corporation might deem suspicious. Nothing will be taken away unless they deserve to be. Please be sure to inform all your employees beforehand."
The note ends with a familiar symbol Jongdae believes he never wants to be affiliated with; BL/IND's logo.
"BL/IND has never initiated an inspection in this building," Minseok says with one hand covering his mouth and chin, his eyes in heavy contemplation, "This is Killjoy territory; they'd never interfere with our matters!"
Jongdae sets aside the note as his hands start to tremble and lose their warmth. Does BL/IND have any idea that he's hiding in the building? Has anyone told them that he's working against them now? Using their information against them?
"There's a snitch in this forsaken building," Minseok slams his palm down by the controls, the adrenaline he feels numbing the pain. He locks eyes with Jongdae, "You can't trust anyone from now on," his eyes slowly turning soft, rather unusual for someone like him who has to be brave from all the responsibilities he has to carry out.
There is a loud crack of lightning outside, in the middle of the desert. Jongdae could clearly see it by the windows for a split-second. It's an omen; a prelude to his demise.
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Recipient: rokeby
Pairing(s): xiuchen, xiusoo
Rating: r
Warnings: implied drug use, swearing
Word count: 11,476 words
Summary: jongdae is a fugitive sent to pirate radio dj kim minseok to be his new intern.
“Look alive, sunshine,” Minseok says, beginning his radio broadcast. His dreamy voice drifts through the airwaves, tempting every Killjoy to listen to what he has to say. It is another day for 109 FM, WKIL and - as usual - everyone is on their toes as adrenaline runs alongside the blood pumping through their veins, keeping them alert all day.
Scarecrows will be making their rounds along Zones Three and Six at random times today; so be sure to stay away from these areas, Killjoys. Also, monthly drug delivery is coming up; so be prepared to take down those trucks. In the meantime, here’s some good stuff for you all.
Minseok mutes his microphone as Broken Bells’ After the Disco begins to play, noting an interlude to his announcements. He’s been a disk jockey for this pirate radio station for years and yet he cannot think of anything else he could do to help his fellow Killjoys who risk their lives everyday trying to take down Better Living Industries (as well as some lurking Draculoids, but that’s a given).
The playlist was on its second song when a knock came on the door, Minseok had signalled the familiar face to come in and sit on the chair just opposite him. “Baekhyun, tell me you got tips today,” Minseok doesn’t have his eyes on Baekhyun, but the man opposite him hands him a folder which Minseok dismissively takes. “I nearly ran into a Scarecrow in Zone Two,” Baekhyun says, his eyes silently paying attention to whatever’s keeping Minseok busy. “She didn’t bother me; however she seemed preoccupied by the truckload of drugs she was dealing with.”
It seemed enough to get Minseok to stop writing anyways. “Stop,” Minseok’s eyes were piercing; Baekhyun didn’t seem to react much. “There was a Scarecrow with a shitload of drugs, in our territory?” Baekhyun nods, his eyes clearly uninterested in Minseok’s late reaction, “You might want to let the Killjoys know before something breaks out.”
A song was just about to finish playing as soon as Minseok had turned on his microphone; Baekhyun took this as his chance to grab the piece of paper Minseok had been so busy with. At the same time, he wanted to hear Minseok’s cool and calm persona permeate through the radio even though his intel was very much the opposite.
New intel, Killjoys. We have been informed of a Scarecrow in Zone Two. Take heed. Wherever this Scarecrow is hiding, she has a truckload of drugs with her. If any of you are planning to seize their whereabouts, be careful. We’ll be issuing more updates as they come in.
Baekhyun silently claps his hands for the smooth performance. He mentally notes this is what gives Minseok the spotlight; a fucking human bank of respectable sources. He thinks it’s a pain no one else can ever mimic what Minseok can do, and yet he’s proud it’s an art the disk jockey has mastered for himself.
A lone man wanders the desert. He’s still in his clothes from work and a part of his conscience is telling him if he remains a lone wanderer, he’s sure to lose his wits and his life if he doesn’t do anything. There is a dull throbbing pain at the back of his head and he wonders if this is something he sustained while he was trying to run away from the Scarecrows and Exterminators who had a tight hold on him for a while.
I need a place to stay in for a while, just to get away from this blistering heat. He’s right; the heat only adds to hisgrowing list of discomforts.
He’s unsure of which Zone he’s ended up in; but wasting more time just to make sure where he is could only land him trouble with the Draculoids roaming the area - he’s lucky he hasn’t ran into any just yet.
Soon he finds himself knocking on the door of a beaten-down home. Windows have been replaced by boards that have been haphazardly nailed onto the walls with small holes in between the planks serving as light source and an excuse to sneak a peek at the surrounding area.
As soon as the door opens, the person he faces with gives him a judging stare because of the clothes he’s wearing, “Who the fuck are you?” The lone man is on the brink of kneeling in front of the door, “My name is Jongdae and I’m in desperate need for a place to stay; I’m being chased down by BL/IND, please.”
It takes a minute for the man on the doorway to observe Jongdae’s appearance. He’s still in his BL/IND uniform, with a small magnetic tag showing his name on one side. The sweat that surrounds his face and the fact that his stark white uniform has been covered by mounds of sand from the desert is distinct. The person on the doorway thinks the strict disposition of the staff at BL/IND would simply never condone such an appearance.
“Quick, you better come in then,” The man on the doorway pulls Jongdae’s wrist, dragging the dirty employee in hastily. “I’m pretty sure there are Draculoids around the area; they’re just waiting for the perfect time to attack you.”
Everything that happens in the Zones is a gamble; whoever this man was, he’s risking a lot and yet he has no idea.
It is a few days later when MInseok receives a call from the station manager asking him to come to his office.
"What the hell did I do wrong now?"
It's rare enough that the station manager actually wants to talk to him, so he mentally prepares himself for what could be the longest conversation of his life. Of course, in his defense, he hasn't really done anything to merit a dismissal; he doesn't have any good reason to be freaking out at all,
After a few minutes of traversing the building, he ends up a few steps away from the door to the director's office. A couple of knocks and suddenly a voice from within beckon him to come in.
"Junmyeon, you called?"
Kim Junmyeon, the station manager. Overall, he's pretty kind, or so Minseok thinks. He hasn't really had much conversation with Junmyeon, so all he thinks is he's nice and has this radiant smile with him that makes him look like a model. Minseok still wonders what he did to merit a chat from him; still he enjoys his company so he drops the thought.
"Minseok, I wanted to talk to you about someone I’d like to pair you up with."
The disk jockey's mind immediately goes haywire. He's always worked solo for his entire career, so why ruin that now?
"Excuse me?" Minseok's voice is hoarse all of a sudden. It's probably the nerves or his disbelief that has caused this.
Junmyeon says nothing; only taking out a thick file folder that he hands to Minseok for viewing.
Minseok hastily views the contents, "A couple of days ago, one of our former employees took in a stray BL/IND employee who had wandered in the desert alone for a while," Junmyeon says, his voice calm and it eerily doesn't look as if he's scared at all.
One of the clipped pictures contains a lone man inside a nearly dilapidated house. The former employee of the radio station turns out to be Do Kyungsoo, a well-known name in their building. The boy was young but had much potential in his field of work. All of a sudden, he disappeared from view and people no longer considered him to be a common name. In fact, it became more of a negative connotation or even taboo, hence the perpetual silence.
He also sees a picture of the one Junmyeon refers to as the stray BL/IND employee, "He's probably wanted by now, that's for sure," Minseok whispers to himself. He thinks he never really knew there was a part of him that had so much repressed hate for BL/IND, and yet it slowly surfaces itself whenever rare occurrences like these actually happen.
In fact, they barely happen, all the more with Minseok involved, so he has every right to be confused.
On the other hand, Minseok thinks the employee was probably just lucky he had found a place to crash in before he actually died. He’s heard of countless tales of people who didn’t know where they had ended up in the desert for a few days. Looking for a safe place to stay in was hard enough if they thought traversing through the desert was.
"I don't get it, Junmyeon," Minseok smacks the folder closed with a small thud, "Why are you telling me this?"
Junmyeon's eyes are earnest; as if they knew Minseok would be asking these questions. He had most likely anticipated them before he called the disk jockey over for a chat.
"Minseok, we're pairing him up with you. He's your new personal intern."
There is a thick air of silence that draws between him and Junmyeon. At first, Minseok feels insulted; he can take care of himself; he's done that for years. There's no changing the fact that he doesn't need any help, let alone now.
"Out of all the disk jockeys to choose from, why me?" Minseok's close to handing back the file folder to Junmyeon; he thinks he might follow up with his resignation as well.
"Before you do anything rash," Junmyeon might have already suspected the fact that Minseok might pull something drastic like rage quit or just leave the office before Junmyeon gives him a proper explanation, "just remember where you first started."
Junmyeon's right, not many people are aware of the fact that Minseok used to be a Killjoy, Bulletproof Venom, he called himself. Years before he became a disk jockey and one of the biggest assets to the Killjoys, he was one himself. He's never told anyone else about his past except for Junmyeon, which is probably why he's the only capable candidate of handling this runaway.
"You want me to take care of this because you're aware that I've had multiple experiences with them, is that it?" By now, MInseok's eyes are stern, but he's not angry. There's still disbelief in his tone, but that's slowly ebbing away and being replaced by something else; something he can't exactly pinpoint.
Junmyeon nods, "This is different from the ones you usually encounter, Minseok. We're actually harboring a wanted criminal in the eyes of BL/IND. One word that gets out to them, and we're gone. If we're gone-"
"The Killjoys are gone as well," Minseok softly whispers in reply. He's massively aware how disk jockeys like him are the ones who get the word out to the Killjoys. Without people like him, the Killjoys are perpetually at a standstill. They are lost and vulnerable to defeat from the Draculoids and Exterminators that surround their area, without them even being aware of the situation.
It is from this conversation that Minseok slowly finds the words to that unknown emotion he feels; it's a mixture of adrenaline and fear that causes him to relieve his dangerous past.
When Minseok returns to his control room, he contemplates on the idea of harboring a runaway and treat him as an intern working for the station. It’s not hard; it only becomes a challenge when the Corporation finds them suspicious and takes the runaway away from them.
Before Minseok left Junmyeon’s office - his fit of confusion reduced to deep thoughts that merit him a headache - the latter insisted MInseok take the file folder with him, in case he was curious about the runaway - and actually use his name, if ever Kyungsoo gave it away.
Jongdae is revealed to be the name of the runaway; Kyungsoo mentions in a brief note that since he's currently being tracked down, it's probably safer for him to take on a different name. Jongdae himself suggested Chen, of course. Now that Jongdae isn't a BL/IND employee anymore it's probably safer to take on a different identity as well; they'll eventually reach that later.
After a few hours of Minseok diving himself deep into detail with all of the information Junmyeon and Kyungsoo have gathered, the former lets out a deep sigh. Harboring a fugitive like Jongdae would never be easy, let alone getting used to taking responsibility of an intern after so long he's practically lost his reach when it comes to dealing with people who have worked with him over the years. It's a fresh start for him, and it's probably about time he taught someone else the ropes too of being a disk jockey.
On the plus side, Minseok thinks this might be good for himself after all.
Kyungsoo paces around the living room; Jongdae is seated on a couch, wearing some of Kyungsoo's old clothes.
"Tell me again, how did you end up being a fugitive in the Corporation's eyes?"
Jongdae recounts the information he's known all these years of working in the medication department; he's one of the guys who supplies the pills to the people of Battery City. Not only that, he's been fully trained and taught to know the ins and outs of the medicine and the details of every delivery the company has ever done. Basically, he's the brain and if ever he's gone, the company's going to look for a new one to replace him; it won't be easy, however.
This was his main asset to the Killjoys; Kyungsoo doesn't seem surprised at all that Jongdae had been supplying the Killjoys with information. It's no wonder the Killjoys have been so succinct whenever it came to busting drug-operations; they had all the details coming from Jongdae himself.
"So that's how you got thrown out," Kyungsoo leans on the wall, his eyes staring holes onto the couch where Jongdae sits.
"Correction, I left before I was even thrown out," Jongdae says, clearing his throat, "now you know I'm not going to have you arrested, or something."
It was after Kyungsoo had introduced himself to Jongdae that the former employee felt that he was very lucky to have ended up at his place.
"You used to be a Killjoy yourself, right?"
Jongdae arrives at this conclusion based on the countless newspaper clippings on Kyungsoo’s walls. Some clippings depicted drug-bust operations that have been historical events in BL/IND as well as Killjoy history, others exploits done by other Killjoys whom Kyungsoo might have been familiar with - also popular amongst the common hearsays Jongdae gets in the department.
It takes a while before Kyungsoo answers Jongdae; the latter feels he's probably entered uncharted territory; a topic that should never be spoken about.
"It's none of your business to know what I had been doing in the past," Kyungsoo pushes himself off the wall and heads to the kitchen without even sparing Jongdae a glance to reconsider his actions.
Jongdae follows him blindly, "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have asked, it's just that I've heard so much about -"
"Heard so much about what?! Have you heard any of the Exterminators talking about me? That they think I'm already dead and every other Killjoy who looks up to me should also do the same?!" Kyungsoo faces Jongdae; the latter clearly sees the former Killjoy's bloodshot eyes and dark crescents forming beneath them. If these don't account for the kind of life he's been living, then Jongdae doesn’t know what else.
"N-no ... I didn't mean it that way," Jongdae stammers; his feet unconsciously moving backwards, slowly walking away from Kyungsoo.
Kyungsoo fixes his palms on an empty countertop as he heaves a heavy sigh, "I've sent word for you. You're not staying here for long."
It makes Jongdae stop in his footsteps, "Am I being arrested? I thought I could trust you!"
Kyungsoo looks back at him, his voice growing louder than his, "I never said I'd be betraying you. Trust me, this is good for you."
“How would you even know what’s good for me?”
Jongdae walks away, leaving Kyungsoo in the kitchen to reassess himself and his pain that surrounds his past.
A couple of hours later, a truck stops outside of Kyungsoo's home and as soon as Jongdae hears them talking by the living room, he knows. They're taking him away.
A myriad of questions surround Jongdae's mind; he can't seem to hear Kyungsoo telling him to trust the very person who had saved him from dying in the middle of the desert. However, his mind cannot comprehend what will be done to him. Could Kyungsoo be the very same person who will bring him to his eventual demise? If Jongdae never acquiesced to the demands of the people who picked him up, he would have never known.
The truck is the same classified vehicle Jongdae often sees hanging around BL/IND; the very same vehicles that are usually used when pills are being delivered into Battery City. It only confirms Jongdae's suspicions.
He finds it strange, still. The way he's being handled by these people isn't the same way a vigilante like him should be treated. He doesn't question their less-than-hostile treatment; he saves the thought for later when he gets the chance.
As soon as he's safely seated in the vehicle, he subtly asks the guy seated by the shotgun seat, "I know it's probably unwise to ask, but where are you guys taking me?"
The guy by the shotgun seat looks over to the one driving; the latter answers instead, "We didn't mean to be rude. I'm Wufan, and this guy beside me is Yixing. We're taking you to some place safe."
Jongdae takes a good look at Yixing; he's fit and lean but his eyes are kind and soft. Wufan, on the other hand, has an edge on his height, there's an air of confidence hanging around him that's clearly not obvious in Yixing's case. At the same time, Jongdae's probably heard the line "some place safe" several times in action films that might have never ended the way he would have wanted it to.
After what seems like an endless ride along the desert, the vehicle stops in front of an abandoned warehouse. Wufan and Yixing both alight and soon after Jongdae's assisted out of the vehicle. "It's going to be a long walk from here, I hope you can catch up," Yixing tells Jongdae. It's the first time Jongdae's heard him talk ever since they've met; Yixing's voice seems calm even though they're about to venture in something that's otherwise.
Jongdae never notices the amount of time they took in traversing the abandoned warehouse; it is deep into the night when all three of them reach the front doors of a decrepit building that he's never seen before.
After much insisting, Jongdae enters the building first, with the help of Wufan and Yixing. Both men greet Jongdae with a salute before they leave him alone. The building's interior looks very different compared to its exterior. Everything is stark clean and Jongdae has no idea where to begin.
While Jongdae looks around, he suddenly hears someone yelling out his name from a distance. "Kim Jongdae, is that you? We've been waiting for you!"
Jongdae almost gets the urge to run until the voice eventually catches up to him, "I'm sorry, this is very impolite of me," he has his hands on his knees as Jongdae can hear him exhaling loudly in exhaustion.
When he gets up, Jongdae reads the name "Byun Baekhyun" on the nametag. The guy notices and laughs meekly, "Well, you've seen my name, I guess. Welcome to your new home, Jongdae, you'll be working with us in here as an intern."
"Intern? Oh no, I think you're getting all this wrong," Jongdae raises both hands in resignation, his footsteps taking him slowly back to the front door until he has his back to them but the doors won't push open.
Baekhyun pulls Jongdae by the wrist, "We were the ones who had you sent here; Kyungsoo told us about you," he says, nodding, his enthusiastic eyes slowly filling Jongdae with relief.
"You know Kyungsoo?" It's all Jongdae could say in reply; he's been through a long day and meeting all these people clearly isn't helping him getting used to his new surroundings.
"Who doesn’t? The guy's a fucking genius. Then again, it is sad how he fell out though," Baekhyun's voice softens in resignation.
Jongdae almost gets the urge to ask what had happened to Kyungsoo, especially after the latter went into an outburst after he had abruptly asked about his past, until Baekhyun pulls Jongdae out of his reverie and soon he’s following his guide mindlessly throughout the building.
"Come on, Minseok’s been waiting for you," Jongdae could feel the happiness radiating from Baekhyun's voice. They end up in a small radio booth; the guy so-called Minseok is busy burying himself in a file folder, too oblivious to the situation.
As soon as Jongdae sees all the computers and gadgets that surround the room, he immediately realizes where he’s been sent to.
By impulse, Minseok looks up at the doorway, his eyes straining to see who Baekhyun came in with, "Where have you been?"
Baekhyun shoves Jongdae closer to where Minseok was sitting as he rattles Jongdae's shoulders in excitement, "This is the guy right? He's the guy Junmyeon told you about?"
Minseok takes a quick glance back at the file folder and compares the photo he's been provided with the real person standing in front of him, "That's Jongdae, alright," he says. He observes Jongdae's stature and immediately picks up the stench of sweat and the heat of the sun that has been beating him down all day.
Jongdae looks back to Baekhyun, the latter urging him to say something, and goes back to looking at Minseok, "He," while pointing at Baekhyun, "says I'm going to work here as an intern."
Minseok pushes his chair back against the large table, desperately seeking the distance from Jongdae, "He's not wrong, whether you like it or not," he says while playing with his fingers. "Technically, you’re working with me from now on. I’ve been assigned to guide you on the ropes of being a disk jockey, like me.”
There is a small thud as Jongdae immediately realizes Baekhyun has left him alone to deal with Minseok. After all, they'll be working together so they might as well create a stable foundation before anything else gets worse.
Minseok takes a small glance at Jongdae's side to make sure Baekhyun has gone off to do something else - probably to visit Chanyeol in the Editing Room. But, either way he isn't going to ask. He sighs in relief as he inches closer to Jongdae, "Grab a seat, we have a lot to talk about," he says, pointing to a swivel chair on the opposite side of the table.
The three hours Minseok and Jongdae spend together in the radio booth gets a note of approval from Junmyeon. It seems as if Baekhyun spent his time filling Junmyeon in with the details instead of wasting his time somewhere else; Minseok makes a mental note to give Baekhyun a pat on the back for that.
The next few days are rather grueling for Jongdae, so to speak. He sleeps in an unused radio booth that's being used for storage instead; Baekhyun reassures him countless times there are plenty of rooms in the building being used for storage - this being the least frequent. The minute Jongdae steps in the abandoned room, however, the room reeks of a stale stench that Jongdae can't distinguish as several dusty boxes surround a large couch in the middle of the room.
It takes a while for Jongdae to get used to the surroundings; he frequently compares them to the facilities at BL/IND that he's grown accustomed to all his life. Everything is kept clean and well-organized and rooms are actually being used for other purposes as opposed to storage.
Jongdae gets a strict 6AM call time from Minseok. Mornings are pretty easy as the two help each other sort out the papers and the anonymous tips that Minseok receives; in order of how the disk jockey will be broadcasting them throughout the day.
"We go on-air every 3 hours, starting from 9AM until 12MN," Minseok says, leaving a large stack of paperwork for Jongdae to take his time sorting through.
"Where do you get these anonymous tips?" Jongdae asks, barely being able to see Minseok from the mess of papers he has surrounding his side of the desk.
Jongdae hears nothing in reply, so he tries asking again, only in a louder voice. When Jongdae tries asking again for the third time, Minseok emerges from beside Jongdae; the later becoming too engrossed in the paperwork (which only means Minseok's plan of getting his mindset into the workspace is working), "I heard you the first time; you’ll get your answers soon."
As Minseok returns to his normal set of duties, Jongdae slumps down on the stacks of paper and sighs in annoyance. Back at BL/IND, other people always do these lame things for me, he thinks. At the same time, he reflects on Minseok's tone whenever Jongdae talks to him. Ever since they have met, Minseok has always gained a sense of professionalism, most especially when dealing with him. Nonetheless, the intern finds something to emulate in Minseok; it's one thing that keeps him going.
Meal times were no easy task for Jongdae. Minseok had reassured him that they have stock loads of food that's hard to get in the middle of the desert. The only problem Jongdae has to work on was making connections with the other people who work in the building. "Everyone has a share in the food, but you have to go out and find your way to get your share," Minseok reminds Jongdae before he leaves him alone in the radio booth.
Jongdae almost asks Minseok where he gets his food; however he'd hate to think he's trying to use his internship with Minseok as a cheap ticket to getting food without even trying.
So he tries getting through Baekhyun.
"I'm new here; you have to help me!" Jongdae pleads, desperately following Baekhyun fulfilling his errands around the building.
"Don't pull the 'I'm new' ticket with me, Jongdae," Baekhyun doesn't even spare Jongdae a glance, his feet trying to take him further away from Jongdae, "We were all new at a certain point."
"Yes, I know," Jongdae sighs hesitantly; he jogs only to make up for the distance between the two of them, "I'll make you a deal, how about that."
Baekhyun stops upon hearing the word 'deal'; finally taking a good look at Jongdae leaning on a wall in exhaustion, "I'm listening."
"I'll do your dirty errands," he says, intermittently between breaths, "and you help me get food in exchange."
Baekhyun softly taps his chin with a finger in contemplation, "Just the errands?" he says, observing his fingers and nails.
"Fine!” Jongdae yells, conceding easily to Baekhyun’s sly ways, “Dirty errands and helping Minseok.”
Baekhyun catches up in front of Jongdae only to trap the latter's face in between his hands, "Deal," he squeals in excitement. "Please tell me this isn't your lame plot to get closer to Minseok, though."
Jongdae slaps Baekhyun's hands as if it were a knee-jerk response, "No! Don't get any ideas."
Baekhyun skips along the corridor, away from Jongdae, "We'll see," he yells jovially.
Jongdae’s cheeks are flushed in a pale pink color without him even realizing it.
It is late at night when Jongdae wakes up and suddenly his thoughts are racing with images of the anonymous tips he had sorted through for countless hours. He props himself up on the couch as he starts to recall most of BL/IND's confidential events and information.
He remembers setting aside a stack of papers dedicated to information on the pills that were being expedited to various Battery City locations. It doesn't take him long to realize most - rather, all of the information he remembers reading through had been spot-on. That alone makes him wonder where Minseok really gets these information from.
"I heard you the first time; you'll get your answers soon," Jongdae remembers Minseok saying, his voice clear and almost reverberating in the abandoned storage room.
He reluctantly goes to bed knowing Minseok might have more secrets than he had initially assumed.
The next morning as well as the succeeding days are no different; Minseok goes through his daily radio programs and errands (both of which Jongdae barely has information about, ironically). Meanwhile, Jongdae sticks to his deal with Baekhyun; most of his time spent outside the radio booth and far away from Minseok looking over his shoulder as a guide.
It seems that the longer Jongdae spends running around the station's building, slowly getting to know everyone and eventually being known as the vigilante (it's no surprise that BL/IND already has him topping the wanted list; it was obvious that knowing too much information was enough to destroy them), that Jongdae longs to hear Minseok's professionalism radiate through his voice. There's no breeze around him; but the thought of learning how to speak like him brings shivers along his spine.
Then again, he's getting more and more connections that make it easy for him to seek favors from anyone else. It's inevitable at the same time when the people he meets often have a stereotypical notion of BL/IND, however. He gets questions such as:
"Do potential Scarecrows get brain-washed into working for BL/IND?"
"Is BL/IND in charge of creating the Draculoids?"
"What does the company do with the test samples of the pills? To whom do they test these pills to?"
"Is it true that the guys at BL/IND get high off the pills?"
The list goes on; but the questions get more preposterous as they come.
He sighs in relief at knowing the people who work here will never learn the shocking truth of life in the Corporation. The questions he gets are only a fraction of the despicable things BL/IND does. Nobody should ever have to expose themselves to such unspeakable horror, including the ones who work there and witness it every day of their lives.
As soon as Jongdae's finished Baekhyun's errands and has successfully eaten lunch thanks to his new connections, he returns to Minseok's office to see the latter hunched over the radio controls.
Jongdae shakes Minseok's shoulders vigorously, "Are you alright? What happened? Do you need anything?" Minseok only responds by pushing Jongdae's hands off of him and signals Jongdae to sit down somewhere far from him.
"Did you close the door?" Jongdae nods, even though he's unsure whether Minseok could see him moving or not. "Shut up and come close," Minseok says, voice toning down to a whisper.
Jongdae pulls his chair closer to Minseok as the disk jockey shows him a crumpled piece of paper, probably caused by Minseok's sudden burst of anger. "You might want to read that and think of a place to hide while you're at it," Minseok says, his back against the chair; his hair a mess and his headphones have been haphazardly thrown at the floor.
"We will be conducting a special inspection in your building in a few days’ time. This is to ensure everything is in proper working order and that there is nothing that the Corporation might deem suspicious. Nothing will be taken away unless they deserve to be. Please be sure to inform all your employees beforehand."
The note ends with a familiar symbol Jongdae believes he never wants to be affiliated with; BL/IND's logo.
"BL/IND has never initiated an inspection in this building," Minseok says with one hand covering his mouth and chin, his eyes in heavy contemplation, "This is Killjoy territory; they'd never interfere with our matters!"
Jongdae sets aside the note as his hands start to tremble and lose their warmth. Does BL/IND have any idea that he's hiding in the building? Has anyone told them that he's working against them now? Using their information against them?
"There's a snitch in this forsaken building," Minseok slams his palm down by the controls, the adrenaline he feels numbing the pain. He locks eyes with Jongdae, "You can't trust anyone from now on," his eyes slowly turning soft, rather unusual for someone like him who has to be brave from all the responsibilities he has to carry out.
There is a loud crack of lightning outside, in the middle of the desert. Jongdae could clearly see it by the windows for a split-second. It's an omen; a prelude to his demise.
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