The Mafia's Dove (Hyunjin centric)

Vent

(⚠Warning: Mentions of abuse, mentions of suicidal ideation ⚠)

-Chan's POV-

A week had passed since the Jaehyun incident, and while we successfully managed to complete two other missions without a hitch during that time, Seungmin still seemed to be stressed over his previous slip ups.

He was a prodigy from birth, one of the few in the country who could use technology like an extension of himself. His entire childhood was lived online, for the digital world provided him more comfort and interaction then his family ever attempted to. He was raised with minimal guidance, avoided interaction with his peers, and never stood out enough to acquire the attention of his teachers.

He was isolated, and thus turned to technology as an escape. He had an innate talent for it, an understanding that ran so deep that there was practically nothing he couldn't do with a computer at his disposal. And yet he had failed.

Twice.

And it was taking its toll.

Seungmin was the last member to officially join a few years back, and unlike the rest of us who were either born into it or formed a bond through some kind of tragic event, Seungmin wished to join simply because he was bored.

As a young teen he was skilled enough to hack into secret government platforms, and through pure chance, came across SKZ's file during one of his deep dives. Apparently he took an interest, because later that night, he hacked into all of our devices in order to tell us he wished to join.

It was startling to see a masked figure with a voice modulator suddenly pop up on our screens saying that he was going to track us down, but when a cute young man showed up on our porch the next day with an essay he had written about why we should hire him, we found it difficult to simply turn him away. Of course, joining a group as . . . particular as ours required a lot of steps, but his interest didn't fade even as we performed background checks, mental evaluations, and other forms of screening in order to make sure he was even a viable option.

With his skill, and with all the tests coming back with good results, it wasn't much of a question whether or not he would be of use. So of course, I let him join. And I'm so glad I did. Our missions had been much easier to complete with his aid, and he proved himself to be a valuable member time and time again. And when we all ended up falling for him, just like we had done with each other, life without him was no longer an option. I doubt it ever would be.

Yet despite all of his talents, he seemed to be struggling. He had never slipped up so much before. All of his information had always been accurate, and he acquired it with an impressive speed. But lately, he seemed to be making more mistakes. Being led astray by a murderer who framed Hyunjin for a crime, which, for what it's worth, was something we all fell for. Not realizing the real Euphoria was membership only, which once again, wasn't completely on him. Apparently only members were aware of this, and they protected the secrecy of the place with their lives. We got lucky that Hyunjin was an exception, but the fact Seungmin wasn't able to figure that out when he had discovered some of the government's most guarded secrets when he was still a teenager? It was an oversight he still hadn't forgiven himself for. But the most recent one had hurt him the most. Finding people's locations was a breeze for him in such a digitalized world, and yet a singular unpredicted move from the target had almost completely jeopardized the mission. He was certain he knew where the target would be, and he had been wrong.

It wasn't like him at all. Human error was something we all struggled with from time to time, but for it to happen to the most thorough out of all of us? Three times in the last two months? We would never question his abilities after how much he had accomplished, but he seemed to be doubting himself as of late. Even for the smallest of details he would double check his info over and over again, which slowed the process of mission prep down significantly. Even when he was a hundred percent certain of something he would still seem unsure, and it was clear how anxious he was starting to get whenever we prepared to go out on a mission.