THE8 | Junhao

TWELVE

| CHAPTER TWELVE |

| 2 years later |

2 years. It goes by in a blink.

Minghao doesn't even recall it going by that fast. It felt like yesterday he was getting pushed around and punched for being a clumsy idiot on his first day.

He's far beyond intelligence and strength now.

He's been on missions and such. Mostly to catch drug dealers and deal with them.

He'd torture them a little, that part was always fun. The screams and desperate cries for him stop as he dragged the knife slowly across their skin, smiling at the blood that dripped down.

It was riveting.

He's known around here for being the craziest. That doesn't mean people didn't like him, though. He was actually the most popular one around Pledis now. everyone wanted to befriend him.

Being crazy was good here.

He's cold now, he's shivered off the fear and clumsiness he once betrothed. He's a different person now, he can promise you that.

After that talk with Jeonghan, he decided he'd try harder. Even though he worked his ass off every single day, he still wanted a better challenge, one he would have trouble facing.

So, he asked for Jeonghan's help.

The boy taught him everything, from fighting all the way to intelligence.

He taught him how to tell the opponent's view, he taught him how to fight and showed him the places the opponent would react to them most if shot or in pain.

Then, a friendship bloomed.

He can even remember when it happened.

Jeonghan points at the body chart, "And if you're looking for a weak spot, and not to kill them," He gestures towards the neck, "Jab them in the throat, they'll stumble and you'll have even more of a chance to attack."

Minghao nods, writing it down.

Jeonghan looks a him, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm taking notes." Minghao says without looking up. He peeks a tongue out, swiping his bottom lip, focused. Jeonghan smiles.

Minghao finishes writing after a moment or two, and Jeonghan tries not to laugh at his determination to learn, folding his lips together to refrain a grin.

"Okay." Minghao nods, looking at Jeonghan again, "What now?"

Jeonghan looks at him for a second before continuing, letting him know the other parts of the body that would trigger the nervous system, in other terms, a good target of attack.

"That's it."

"Thank you." Minghao smiles at him, closing his notepad, "That helped me a lot. I'll make sure to look back at this."

Jeonghan nods, sighing, "No problem."

Minghao smiles.

Jeonghan's eyes flicker to Minghao's neck, lingering there for a small moment, "Is.." Jeonghan gestures around his own neck, "Is your throat okay?"

Minghao raises his brows, "My throat?" His own hands go to touch it in worry.

Jeonghan nods, "I, uh— I grabbed you pretty hard." He frowns at himself, glancing over Minghao's neck, "I'm sorry about that. I really am."

Minghao looks at him for a moment before shaking his head, smiling softly, "Ah, it's alright." He shrugs it off, sighing, "It doesn't hurt that much anymore. I'm fine."

Jeonghan nods, averting eye contact, "Good. That's good."

It was a smooth ride after that. Minghao would even call Jeonghan one of his best friends, aside from Seokmin and Vernon.

He loved his friends, they meant so much to him.

Each and every one of them had helped him when he was at his lowest, and he feels as if he'll never be able to return the favor.

Seungcheol stands in front of Minghao, as well as the rest of his team, eyeing them down as he points at the powerpoint.

"So we're going after another druggie?" Minghao smiles, clasping his hands together excitedly, "This'll be fun. I wanna play with them first."

"Pipe down, The8." Seungcheol raises a brow, "But yes, you're going after a drug dealer." He slaps the pointer on the projected map, "You'll be heading down 909, there's a club a few blocks down. You'll go inside and try to find the man." Seungcheol opens a folder, "I have his description here."

Seungcheol hands pictures to Minghao, the boy passing them around as if they were taking a test in school.

"He looks ratchet." Vernon agrees with Seokmin, fist bumping him.

"Don't they all." Minghao breathes with a grin.

"Okay, find him and bring him back here. We need to get answers out of him." Seungcheol orders, nodding for everyone to leave.

"Sir." Jeonghan waddles over to Seungcheol. He smirks like a child, "Do we get to... Play with him after?" His cheeks blush.

Seungcheol grins back, leaning closer, "Only if you behave."

"Jesus Christ," Seokmin rolls his eyes, pulling Jeonghan out of the room by his arm, "Come on, you sicko."

Eventually, everybody leaves to head into the game room.

And sure, when you hear game room, you think of an arcade, don't you? A shiny, bright room filled with fun games? But no.

Instead, the games in here were reality.

"Weapon up, guys. Hide 'em well." Minghao nods at Vernon's order, sliding a knife in the back of his belt loop, covering it with his shirt.

He tucks a gun in his back pocket as well, making sure to hide it well, yet also making sure it's in arms reach.

Even though he could most likely kill someone with his hands, he's not taking any chances.

"Alright," Jeonghan says, blowing his blonde hair from his eyes, "Let's head out." He fixes his ear piece, making sure everyone else's is in place before they leave.

Minghao switches on his ear piece, adrenaline pumping.

Each mission was more thrilling than the last.