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Chapter 5: Catching Lies

Properly proofread this time! By the amazing _multistan_problems_

Jeongin was walking with Chan, Byungho and Jisung around the medical station when he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He got it out while Jisung was continuing to explain that most of the meetings he had to attend as the Vampire Prince were incredibly boring. He complained about almost falling asleep multiple times within half an hour of listening to some ancient vampires argue about unimportant stuff.

"I swear to everything magic those old vampires just love to hear themselves talk. They bring nothing important on the table and then they talk about what could be done with magic when they do not even have an inkling of an idea what the limits of magic are," Jisung complained while Jeongin was already typing a reply to the text he had gotten from Felix.

"Felix and Minho will stay the night at the cat hybrid orphanage with Sue," Jeongin reported as he wrote his boyfriend a good luck message with one too many silly smile emojis. Chan visibly perked up at that.

"Did something happen with her?" Chan asked while Byungho got the wolf hybrid's phone out of not his own but Chan's back pocket to look at the group chat. Jeongin had half a mind to comment on that disgusting display of blind trust. Though, maybe he should dial that down a bit considering that those two were engaged and with the plan to marry during a time of war. Trust was necessary for that.

"Pretty sure not. She's most likely just too scared to let them leave," Jeongin answered easily. It was not necessarily something Felix had written in the group chat directly, but more Jeongin's interpretation of the situation. Chan's whole face softened in sympathy. Jeongin could not relate much to the amount of empathy Chan seemed to just possess naturally. He cared so much for Sue despite only recently learning her name. It was simply astonishing to him.

"Chan, Mark is calling," Byungho spoke up and handed Chan's phone to him. Jeongin wanted to ask which Mark, but he kept his mouth shut when Chan picked up the call with a polite, "Hey, Mark."

"He should be at Changbin's if I had to guess," Chan said into the phone. It at least answered the question of which Mark. The one from NCT. The siren. Mark and Hyunjin as well as a bunch of other sea creatures such as merfolk and nymphs were the first line of defense for Atlantis. They had become a sort of task force as calling it an army would highly overestimate the size of the group. People had taken to creatively calling them the "Water Guard". Their primary task was patrolling outside of Atlantis barriers to make sure there were no magical interferences from outside or human submarines. If Atlantis was attacked, they would be the first one to fight in hopes of utilizing their water advantage as much as possible. Jeongin thought that to be hilarious because now his aunt and cousin were among the most valued supernaturals in all of Atlantis for their ability to breathe underwater. He really wished he could rub that into the face of the people who had always reduced Hyunjin to his looks or thought he would make them fall in love with him via his siren song.

"Yeah, alright. I will get him, Thanks for the heads up, Mark. Bye," Chan said before he hung up the phone. He sighed deeply and rubbed a hand over his face. Apparently, Hyunjin had been called in for a shift and the idiot had not picked up his phone.

"Let me guess. I should teleport you to Changbin-hyung's house," Jeongin teased his hyung with a smile on his lips.

"If you don't mind, yes," Chan huffed with a little humor.

"Aw, man. I thought I could continue to complain about century-old vampires," Jisung whined. Byungho gently punched his shoulder. Jisung still pretended he had been hurt.

"I should get to helping around the medical station anyway," Byungho chuckled, "Would you like to join me on that, Jisung?"

"Only if you watch me closely. I really do not want to cause more harm to someone," Jisung cautioned. Byungho agreed with one of his pretty smiles. When Byungho went to press a kiss to Chan's cheek as a goodbye, Jeongin and Jisung were pulling a face. After all, Byungho and Chan were the 'parents couple'. Therefore, it was necessary for everyone to react to their open displays of affection with disgust.