THE8 | Junhao

TWENTY - FOUR

| CHAPTER TWENTY - FOUR |

Minghao walks along the hideout hallways, letting out sighs after sighs, taking his last looks around before departing.

He's come back to say his goodbyes to his friends, having to hear Seokmin and Vernon recreate Jeonghan's breakdown, his heart heavy at their tears, but he promised them he'd be back, just as he had to Jeonghan.

"The8." Minghao stops in his tracks when someone calls his name. He turns his head, immediately looking down with folded lips.

He bows a bit, "Sir."

Seungcheol smacks his lips, walking over with clasped hands, "We need to talk." Minghao watches the older look around, swallowing, "Alone, if you may."

Minghao tells himself he shouldn't, but finds his feet taking him down the hall, body eventually sat in one of the many chairs in Seungcheol's office. It was cold, and he felt the chills reach his bones.

He looks up at Seungcheol, the man leaned on his desk, looking rather blank.... deep in thought, maybe.

"So," Minghao looks around the room awkwardly, hands under his thighs, "What did you want to talk to me about?" He asks, brows raised in genuine question.

Seungcheol sighs, removing his glasses. He sets them on the table, and Minghao watches him pull back one of the drawers on his desk.

He pulls out a clear bag, and Minghao widens his eyes at what's inside.

Seungcheol takes in Minghao's look, a deep frown on his face as he sets the bag on the desk. The tip of his fingers lie on top of it, and he lightly pushes it forward, gesturing for Minghao to look.

Minghao gulps, glancing at Seungcheol before moving closer, examining the bag.

There was a weapon inside, presumably a gun.

By glance, Minghao couldn't tell what type, but his eyes could definitely catch on that it was extremely dangerous. The trigger was curved just right, and the end of the gun felt like it was staring into his soul.

"Why are you showing me this?" Minghao asks Seungcheol, eyes not moving from the gun.

Seungcheol hesitates before continuing, "Take a deep breath, alright?" Minghao's eyes flicker up as soon as the words fall from Seungcheol's mouth, the warning getting to him, making him even more nervous and confused.

"This..." Seungcheol sighs, "This was the gun used to kill your father that night."

A bombshell.

Minghao snaps his eyes back to the gun, eyelids horribly widened, shock overwhelmingly flooded.

He swears he's trembling slightly, and he can almost hear the way his heart goes erratic, the beating the only thing running through his ears.

"Let me see." He says, tone chipped and cold.

Seungcheol nods in understanding, unzipping the bag to pull out the gun. He pauses before handing it to Minghao, eyes glued onto his face for any type of reaction.

When the gun makes contact with Minghao's skin, immediate tingles run down his body. He feels himself chill horribly, and he has to close his eyes to gather it in.

"How did you find this." It doesn't even sound like a question. Minghao keeps his eyes closed, fingers running over each and every detail of the dangerous weapon.

Seungcheol smiles, hands clasped. He shrugs, "I promised you I would help you, didn't I?"

Minghao opens his eyes, blinking.

"I did everything in my power to find that for you, Minghao." Minghao's taken aback at his name being called. He hasn't heard it in two years, "When I make promises, I'm not one to break them."

Minghao looks back down at the gun, hissing internally at the feeling. This was his father's murderer's weapon in his hands.

"Your father was my friend, Minghao." Seungcheol sighs, looking down, "He was almost a 2nd father figure to me, apart from my old man. Like you, I won't rest until we find the person who took him from me," He looks at Minghao, nodding, "From us."

Minghao feels his eyes gloss, and he spares Seungcheol a glance, "This," He looks back down at the weapon in his hands, so many emotions piled, "This means.... so much to me."

Seungcheol smiles, "I'm glad."

Minghao takes a breath, examining the gun. He looks it over... every indent and spiral of black he can lay his eyes on, attention suddenly caught on a series of numbers and one letter engraved near the bottom of the handle.

He furrows his brows.

It takes a good minute for him to realize what it means, and he almost feels his heart burst out of his chest when it catches up to him, his breath stopped and frozen, eyes almost fully white.

Minghao keeps his attention focused on the computer, watching Dino type password after password, trying to log him into whatever website this station owned.

"Jun hyung, i am in need of assistance." Dino pouts, cursing at the computer, "Come help me, I can't remember the code for 282d."

"You always forget it." A groan.

He almost drops the fucking gun right there.

282d.

"I see you've noticed." Seungcheol looks over every inch of Minghao's expression, sighing at the morph of realization, "You know... don't you?" He asks, brows raised.

Minghao doesn't look away, just shakes his head in disbelief, trembled lips parted.

"I..."

"It's a gun that belongs to Seoul PD." Minghao's wide eyes meet Seungcheol's, his heart hurting, brain wiring and spinning from all the shock.

He's surprised he hasn't passed out from all this adrenaline.

"Someone who works there killed your father, Minghao." Seungcheol clenches his jaw, a hand on his desk. He leans forward, eye contact hard.

"The person who murdered your father, Minghao... was an officer."