HIT

15: hideout

When Jimin woke up he was surrounded by warmth and the nice smell of coffee and pancakes. He had a heavy arm and leg draped over him and someone was breathing against his neck, but in his half-awake state he felt like he could stay like this forever. After the days of constant tension and fear for his life, it felt like a safe haven.

Only slowly the pain seeped back into his body, the burn at his temple and the scratch marks along his hips. And with it came the memories and a feint echo of the panic of last night. He also remembered that it was Taehyung who was wrapped around him, for which he was immensely grateful since he did not want the Hawk anywhere close to him.

They were lying on the couch of the living room in a house in Daegu that belonged to some pre-hitman-life friend of the Hawk, an actor who only spent vacation here, if he remembered correctly. The house was spacious and modern and although the kitchen had been empty when they had arrived, it smelled like food.

The Hawk must have gone grocery shopping already. It was in hard contrast to his brutal actions from last night and Jimin wondered whether he could ever be sure of the man's personality. Maybe the being nice was all for show. Just a show to play with the dumb cop's mind. He did not dare to trust it anymore.

Taehyung stirred next to him, and after some rumbling in his chest he opened his eyes and lifted his head with a groggy look. "Pancakes," he noted and took a deep breath to inhale the sugary smell. Jimin felt himself smiling. His old friend was still the same.

"Breakfast is ready," the Hawk said bored and Jimin heard a plate being placed on the kitchen table.

"I love a man who can cook," Taehyung hummed and got up, effectively stripping Jimin of the blanket and exposing him to the cold. With a grumble he grabbed the fabric back and slung it around his body while he followed his friend to the kitchen.

The building had a window front on one side which allowed to look over the city down below. Last night it had glowed orange with the streetlights, now it was glistening in the sun. With the trees that had grown up to the floor of this level, it looked like the house had been built on a green cloud, hovering over the city. It felt like they were in a space out of this world.

"Dig in," Ahn told them and began to load his own pancake with fruits and some cream Jimin could not identify. He had never had breakfast like that. It was like waking up in a luxurious hotel in another country and only made the feeling of being detached from normalcy more prominent.

"Fuck, this 's good," Taehyung moaned after he had dipped his finger into the cream and licked it off. Yes, definitely still the same, Jimin thought and smiled, remembering how his old friend's nonchalance had always caught him off-guard.

After one testing look at the Hawk on the other side of the table, who seemed not to notice him at all, he slipped into the chair next to Taehyung and began to prepare his own pancake roll, trying to blend into the background while Taehyung and the hitman were talking.

"We need to bring the equipment inside and set it up. Then I'll need a few minutes to disguise my position and we're good to go," his old friend said.

"How do you want to go about it?" Ahn asked.

"Follow the money," Taehyung answered. "The money flow'll lead us to the very top of this. There must be fronts and figureheads, maybe even police intel." Jimin perked up at that. "The data base I worked with? Not my hack. Was offered that by the organization, so they must have their fingers in the right places of law enforcement."

Ahn hummed in agreement and Jimin felt his heart sink. The hitman organization was supported by police. Law enforcement was playing into the hands of killers. Did they also use its service?