⚔︎ Double Edged Swords ⚔︎

Say Yes

Meet me at the park at noon tomorrow.

   Minghao is making his way to the city's park, looking for two people. Eventually, he presumes that Joshua and Jihoon are standing in front of the pond. The Chinese man clears his throat, Joshua and Jihoon turning to the younger. Minghao has never seen these two omegas ever, the first time he's seen two revealed Ataraxia members. Joshua has a calm look and very soft features which don't surprise the omega genes impacting his appearance. Then there's Jihoon. He never expected the lead omega to have a limited stature. Those sharp eyes of his are very intimidating, anyone would mistake him as a beta at least, but his scent and natural pheromones tell otherwise.

"I know what you're thinking, Xu." Jihoon glares at the alpha, but his pheromones remain calm, trying to not drag attention from any pedestrian.

"Well, it's a first to see secret hidden faces for all these years. Could you blame me?"

   The two nod their heads and face the pond again, Minghao standing next to Joshua. He stares off into the reflection of the blue water and sees his empty expressions. He looks unrecognizable if Junhui saw what he's become. The old him would have never expected himself to be standing next to his gang's rivals and his best friend's murderer. But here they are, all with the leads from his boss.

"Seems that you're healing." Minghao starts.

"Indeed." Joshua agrees, still staring off with a blank stare. But he seems restless.

"So tell me, why should I entrust you? Risking my team that has lost too much to my enemies will put us to an end." Jihoon gets straight to the point.

Minghao doesn't miss a beat, knowing that the shorter would demand reasons. "I'm only a single man who's fighting for his partner's freedom. Not only me, but all of you have been in the darkness of—Junhui's death..." Hearing the name of his lover coming from his voice sounds so foreign. The memories are so bittersweet. "If you're willing to save Junhui, you have to let me come. I have more information than you could gather."

That's all it takes to convince the older. "I also want you to consider that I trust Minghao..." Joshua admits to the leader. "He's given me the biggest key evidence about Junhui's whereabouts."

"I see... I'll accept it." Jihoon looks down with a light sigh but notices something in Minghao's hand. "Mind telling us what's in your hand?"

"Oh, this?" The Chinese male raises a thick envelope. "It contains... some things that perhaps you'd want to see. I couldn't bring myself to look at any of the photos and see the cds however. We all know how the O.W.E. is..."

"Who gives you these secrets anyway? Were you keeping this all this time?" The second oldest is skeptical of all these sudden changes.

"My boss said I was rewarded..." The youngest answers.

"Rewarded for what?" Joshua pushes on.

   Minghao grips tightly on the item. "I... told my boss what happened to Seungcheol. The possible whereabouts of the runaways."

   Right then and there, Joshua's eyes flash purple, about to burst in anger. Minghao's heart nearly skips a beat, a rush of powerful and angry pheromones overpowering his senses that he's never experienced ever. He feels like he's being choked, but no one is touching him. It's terrifying.

"I'll take it." Jihoon reaches out for the envelope with trembling hands. The leader's interruption stops the intense atmosphere, and Joshua regains his composer when the shorter grabs his shoulder.

"I can't believe you're trying to get them killed..." Joshua wants to scream. But that will only bring more attention to them now that he's lost his composer just mere seconds ago. Everyone in the park ranging from the radius of the park looks terrified and tensed. They're possibly wondering what they just felt. Some kids are crying while some other omegas look around in paranoia.