The Unbreakable | An ATEEZ Sci-Fi AU | Part 1 Of The Peculiar Saga

Business As Usual

Hongjoong discarded the empty chewing gum wrapper into the nearby dustbin. Glancing at his watch for the fifth time, he sighed deeply, slightly annoyed at the time. The sun was high in the sky and not a single spec of cloud hovered above, making it a rather warm day to wait about in the open. Still, he had to stay in place. 

Heavy footsteps came to a stop next to him, yet he kept his eyes on the Seoul skyline across the river. 

"You're late," Hongjoong clicked his tongue, not even bothering to spare a glance at his brother. 

"Sorry," Namjoon sighed, "Everything a mess at the Bureau ever since the whole Jang Do Hyun shit happened."

"Any word on what's her name--"

"Hyuna?" he raised a brow, then poked his tongue in his cheek, "Yeah, nope. Still in the wind. It's safe to assume that she's working for Compound X now. Or maybe she always was, because we're missing a few Peculiars from the Detention Center."

Hongjoong scoffed, "Detention Center?"

"It's better than Peculiar Prison," said Namjoon.

"At least it's the truth."

Namjoon ran his fingers through his dark hair, shaking his head in dismay, "You know I didn't ask to meet you to talk about label appointments in the Beaurea."

Rolling his eyes, the mercenary turned to look at his brother, "Yeah, why did you ask to meet?"

"I uh..." rubbing the back of his neck, Namjoon drawled on his words, "I wanted to apologise to you."

At that, Hongjoong's eyes softened. Though he had always wanted to hear it, he never thought it would happen. He knew Namjoon was too proud for that. Yet here they were, two estranged brothers, actually starting a conversation about it. 

Above their heads, seagulls squawked as they flew, making their sudden silence even more awkward. 

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you years ago. And I'm sorry I didn't do anything to stop them from taking our sister. But most of all..." Namjoon sighed, "I'm sorry for pushing you away, little brother."

Hongjoong sniffed lightly, rubbing his nose, "It's um...It's all in the past. I'd rather we look towards the future."

Namjoon chuckled and raised his arm to Hongjoong's head, giving him a light pat.

"Yeah, I didn't expect anything else out of you."

Hongjoong shrugged him off, slightly annoyed, "Stop that."

Namjoon patted him again, "What? You used to love that!"

Hongjoong slapped his hand away, "Stop!"

Namjoon continued laughing, slight delight lighting up his serious eyes. 

Once they calmed down a bit, they grabbed a coffee and continued walking along the river bank.

"What's going to happen to Jang Do Hyun then?"

"Both him and his wife are in custody and they're going away for a long, long time. I'll make sure of that," Namjoon explained, "The son, Minhyuk, may not be without sin, but since he helped us...he's getting out of the whole thing scott-free. Plus, he naturally inherits the family business, so that worked out for him."

"How convenient," Hongjoong mumbled with disdain, "And what of Jang Minhee?"

Taking a sip of his coffee, Namjoon looked ahead a bit confused. However, his eyes lit up slightly, as if he remembered something, "Oh yeah...I don't really know. But now that you've mentioned it, I'll have Jimin look into it."