𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘦 || 𝘫𝘪𝘩𝘢𝘯

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚘𝚗𝚎

   "You're such a hassle to deal with, you know?"

   Seungkwan huffed and turned away.

   "I could say the same about you"

   It was currently 7 in the morning, exactly 5 hours after the mission ended. The air around the building remained tense; after unwanted forces had visited the scene, Seungcheol’s agents were doing their best to fix whatever mess they’d left. However, the SVT leader cared little about that at the moment. He was more focused on the unwanted guest that currently sat in front of him.

   "Didn't I tell you to stay at Alhambra?Just what the hell are you doing here?"

   But instead of giving him a proper answer, all Suengkwan did was roll his eyes and then sip his Americano before he decided to even utter a word. His gaze challenged the older, knowing he wouldn’t- couldn’t do more than raise his voice and spout incoherences. "UNIT 143 finished our assigned mission faster than we thought they would. Besides! I was only sent there to make sure everything was operating properly! They really didn't need me at all, you know?"

   "Still, what will the upper officials say about this?"

   "Nothing I suppose," Seungkwan shrugged. "They must've already forgotten about this whole ordeal too. You should really begin to question their actions before you follow them blindly Cheolli"

   "Listen here-"

   The door suddenly opened. Hoshi came in holding papers and files, Chan followed closely behind with a laptop in his hand.

   "Good morning Cheol!"

   "...It's Mr. Choi"

   "Sup bro"

   "Chan, I swear to god.."

   "We brought the material gathered in yesterday's mission to go over it as quickly as we can" The youngest in the room sat down. "Hoshi here also has some papers the prison we gathered our beloved inmates from would like you to go over"

   Now this catched him off guard. "Huh? Why?"

   "Apparently the document the two of them signed mentioned they could exchange the service performed in missions to years they could reduce from their sentence" Hoshi looked at Cheol and then back down at the paper. "Does that sound familiar?"

   "God I forgot about that.." And he really had. With their first mission being a disaster and their second leading to one, the leader had forgotten about such important matters. He had to discuss them with the inmates soon. "You know what? Put them here, as soon as those two wake up I’ll make sure we go over it."

   "Great" Chan smiled. "By the way, I wanted to discuss something else regarding what we saw yesterday. At what time will the meeting be held?"

   "Probably around noon. Anything else?"

   "Yes" Another voice piqued in. "Why did everyone suddenly forget my presence?! Am I not wanted?!"

   Surprised, both agents turned to the other presence. Widened eyes soon became crescent moons once they met the familiar face of their long time friend. "Seungkwan!" Hoshi yelled in pleasant surprise as he jumped towards him. "It's been so long! How have you been?"

   "Better than ever" The younger one laughed. "I came to visit and joined the mission by accident" He turned to Cheol. "Which explains why I suddenly appeared out of the blue. Sorry about that"

   At his softened tone, the leader couldn't help but sigh in defeat. "It's ok." He moved his bangs back. "Notify me before you arrive next time. But, know that our conversation from earlier isn’t far from finished, Boo Seungkwan"

   "Yeah, yeah. Channi, meet us at the cafeteria, we’ll be waiting for you there" With a smile, Seungkwan turned to Hoshi and linked arms. "Let's go Hosh, we have so much to talk about"

   And after the other gave him an excited nod, both agents went out of the room, leaving behind their tired leader and a smiling Chan.

   "Finally.." Seungcheol closed his eyes. "God, he's such a mess…"

   Chan huffed. “Not as much as you"

   When the leader opened his eyes, Seungcheol was met with a frown and furrowed eyebrows, all these directed at none other than him.

   "...What is it?"

   "You fought with Minghao," Seungcheol scoffed. "You think I wouldn't find out about it?"

   "It was going to happen sooner or later Chan"

   "But now?! When there’s more important matters to discuss instead of personal ones?!"

   "HE was the one who brought the past into our conversation! I was merely scolding him for calling the police!" Seungcheol sighed. "Seriously, does he have no conscience?! The police do nothing but get in our way with their awful superiority complex!"

   "He was panicking! You out of all people know how much Hao hates throwing others into danger!"

   The leader couldn’t help but click his tongue. "That panic of his got our only source of information under police custody"

   Chan rolled his eyes. "We never planned to take the bartender"

   “Correction, we didn't, the upper officials did"

   The brunet widened his eyes. "What..?"

   "Look, I found out 20 minutes before the mission started, but from what I was told, the bartender held important information that could help us locate LUNA'S whereabouts once and for all. He's apparently very knowledgeable in that area, hears it all from his customers"

   "However, now that Minghao called the police and got that source of info away..and if we take in mind the events of the mission before this one..We'll more than likely end up in serious trouble with the Office." Upon receiving no answer, Cheol sighed. "Look. I couldn't tell anyone because the messages sent to me are confidential. After all, I am in charge of this building and therefore have to be the one who's responsible for every action my agents take"

   Chan flinched at the mention of this; the other read his expression like a book.

   "I..see."

   "Chan"

   He looked at him.

   "I can understand where Minghao's coming from. Heck, I know why he's been doing what he has. But," He hesitated. "Rash decisions can put everyone in danger. From what I heard from Mr. Lee, the police ended up blocking the entry of the bar seconds before Joshua and Jeonghan made it out"

   Cheol bit his lip. "Chan, I just…I just don't want the past to repeat itself again. Do you understand?"

   "I do hyung,” He sighed. “I..should apologize. You must have a reason for everything you do, I mean, you are Boss. It’s just that I..forget it sometimes."

   “That can happen, I’m too lenient on you after all” He pinched his cheek. "Go with Seungkwan and Hoshi. I'm sure they're waiting for you to join them"

   "Yes hyung"

   And with that, Chan left the room and closed the door. As the seconds passed and the silence began getting to him, more and more memories of the past dwelled in the head of the leader. From the corner of his eye he noticed a picture, a picture that had both Minghao and him smiling, laughing right next to their beloved friends.

   "What went wrong between us Hao..?"

   Seungcheol sighed.

   It was useless to ask questions that already had answers.

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thank you for reading!