The Trials and Tribulations of Pathos - Jikook

Chapter 12

The trio finally come to a stop in front of a small room, Yong shakily opening the door and beckoning them inside. It seems to be a storage room/break room, shelves littered with boxes labeled mugs, teacups, extra teas, and coffee blends. In a corner of the room is a small lounge, a petite circular coffee table surrounded by four folding chairs. Yong gestures towards the area, hurriedly inviting the pair of assassins to sit down.

Yoongi and Jimin oblige, settling themselves on one side of the table while Yong stands nervously across from them. Jimin crosses his legs, hands coming up to support his chin as his elbows rest on his knees. "Let's get started, shall we?" he asks, eyes drifting up to hold Yong's in a cold gaze. "Tell me everything that happened."

Yong nods vehemently, hands coming up to twiddle and fidget at the sides of her apron. "Well, I was cleaning up the c-cafe the night before last when the pair s-stumbled in. They looked- looked pretty apprehensive and were covered i-in bruises and cuts. I offered them my first a-aid kit to which they accepted gratefully, and when I w-went to grab it I could hear them talking to each other excitedly. I c-couldn't hear exactly what they said, but they sounded tired. I a-asked them for their names after they got cleaned up, and then t-told them they could spend the night here since they didn't h-have any other place to go."

"I bid them farewell and l-left my shop, locking the door from the outside so they c-could leave whenever they wanted to. I came back yesterday m-morning to find them gone and my emergency bag t-taken as well."

"And what exactly was in the emergency bag?" Jimin questions, mind soaking up the new information as he stores it away for later examination in his mental files. "N-nothing much, just a small first aid kit and a couple b-blankets along with some cans of emergency food."

Jimin nods, thoughts awhir with hunches and explanations and speculations. It really sounded more and more suspicious the more information they got. Why rob the cafe to only take insignificant things? You can buy a first aid kit for three thousand won at a corner store, why steal one when you can buy a fresh one for so cheap? And cans of food, which Jimin is guessing contain tuna, chicken salad, and other cheap proteins, which you can also get for not much money. Why steal those?

"Is there anything else you remember them taking? Anything else you're missing?"

"Other than the bag and its contents, s-several water bottles, one of my aprons, a couple of shirts, and a k-knife. Some other things might be missing as well, but I h-haven't noticed them yet." Jimin sighs in relief. A knife, he can work with a knife. Now there's something to steal. Knives are more expensive, especially one that can do some damage, and it's hard to just buy one or two without it looking odd. He doesn't know what to make of them taking the apron and shirts, as plain t shirts are cheap and an apron is an odd item to take.

The young assassin files the information into his mind's cabinets, glancing over at Yoongi to see him writing on his phone. Jimin assumes he's taking notes in his rolling multi-colored code, and he feels a jolt of appreciation that at least one of them is writing stuff down. Jimin normally has to ask his partners to take notes, but forgot this time due to zoning out and being wrapped up in his own thoughts. Gratitude is a feeling that he almost never has, so it surprises him that that's the word that pops up first to describe this strange emotion. It feels good to have someone understand the situation so well that they do stuff without Jimin having to ask.

"There was one m-more thing," Yong manages to stumble out, breath hitching and a tiny whimper falling from her dry lips when Jimin's ice cold gaze returns to her, eyebrows drawn down in annoyance. He doesn't like it when people interrupt his thoughts, and she's ruined whatever feeling of gratitude was barely bubbling in his stomach.