See What I See (A GTOP Fanfic)

| Chapter Seven |

Jiyong laid in the unfamiliar bed that night, silently staring up at the blank, white ceiling above him. The questions that were running through his mind had nearly tripled in number ever since he got in that car with the man who wanted to be called Seunghyun. The more he asked himself those questions, the more suspicious he felt. He knew from the moment this guy said he didn't want to have sex with him that something strange was up.

But why did he trust him?

As the red flags were being thrown all over the place in his mind, the one question that was still holding on to a prominent position was why. Why was this complete stranger trying to help him? He knew absolutely nothing about Jiyong or his personality, so what was his real motive? Maybe he was just a really nice person, but Jiyong quickly ruled that out as a possible explanation. There were no people like that in this world, people who helped people for the mere sake of helping, people who didn't expect anything in return. This guy must have wanted something from him. 

But what was it?

He didn't know, but he didn't think he wanted to stick around and find out what it was. He decided that while this Seunghyun was still being nice to him, he would just kindly thank him and leave in the morning regardless of whether or not he got paid. But for now, he wanted to enjoy one night in a comfortable bed.

~~~~~~

Seunghyun gulped down the remaining liquid that was in the small, crystal glass before setting it on the counter with a soft slam. He didn't expect his job or this mission to be this hard and mentally draining. He thought he could just pick the kid up, keep him for a while, and then hand him over to Chaerin. But now that he had met and talked to this person, Seunghyun suddenly felt like it would not be that simple.

After downing his third and final glass of whiskey for the night, Seunghyun placed the glass in the sink, telling himself he'd wash it in the morning. As he was on the way to his bedroom, his phone started to sing from his pocket and he quickly pulled it out and answered it so he wouldn't wake Jiyong up.

"Hello?" he said in the form of a half-whisper.

"Seunghyun, it's me Chaerin," Chaerin said. "I was just calling to make sure everything went well."

"Yeah, he's here," Seunghyun replied, his voice still low as he walked away from the guest room door. He couldn't risk blowing his cover this early into the mission. "He's sleeping right now."

"Okay, that's great," she said. "Keep him with you for a few days until we know it's safe to bring him in for questioning. Also, make sure to keep him out of contact with anyone if you can. My guess is that he's already suspicious of a man who picked him up and didn't want to sleep with him, so if that's the case, he may try to call his pimp or someone else who could blow this whole operation. It shouldn't be longer than a week if all goes well, though."

"Okay, I'll do my best. I'll let you know if anything comes up," Seunghyun said.

"Alright. Goodnight."

"Yeah, same to you," he said before the other line clicked off. He turned off his phone and then proceeded toward the small corridor where his room and the guest room were. A sudden strike of curiosity hit Seunghyun as he was headed to his room, though. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Seunghyun opened the guest room door and his eyes instantly fell upon a sleeping Jiyong.

He was laying on his stomach with one of his legs hanging off the edge of the bed, liberated from the dark shade of the blanket that was covering the rest of his small frame. His free arm was bent at the elbow and his hand was balled up into a loose fist, placed directly in front of his face. Seunghyun found himself put in a trance by him as his chest continued to rise and fall in perfect time with his soft breathing. 

He exhaled, temporarily laying his head against the door frame. Could he really do this? Could he really lie to this kid and keep him locked in a stranger's apartment? He couldn't imagine that prostitution life was a kind one, but still, he felt guilty for taking him away from something he was familiar with. Sure, it was to help him and others like him, but did the means justify the ends or was he just putting himself and this kid in more danger?

Finally forcing himself out of his trance-like state, Seunghyun realized just how late it was getting and decided that he needed to get to bed, too. So, before leaving, he carefully tip-toed in the room and gently lifted Jiyong's leg off the bed, tucking it back under the warmth that the blanket would provide. He pulled it up a little further, so that it was covering more of his body, and took a step back from the bed, letting out a small sigh.

As he headed for the door, placing his hand on the doorknob, Jiyong let out a small groan and switched positions, which startled Seunghyun slightly. He had moved so that he was laying on his side and had tugged the covers up even more, hugging them closer to his body. The sight made Seunghyun crack an unconscious smile as he took one last look at the younger.

Then, he finally went back to his own room, setting his phone on the nightstand once he entered and closed the door. He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his face with his hands, feeling distressed. But he forced himself to brush off the feelings of conflict and guilt. This was his job. He couldn't let his feelings get in the way of him performing the best job he could because he never did before. Even when Minzy first left, Seunghyun never let his broken heart affect his work, so why should things be any different? He figured if he just tried not to get too close to him, he could send him off at the end of one week with no problems.

God, he really hoped that would be the case.