The soft feel of paper against my fingertips' pads as I turned the page was soothing to the soul like a scalpel slowly slicing through warm flesh. The words were beautiful poetry that sang to my soul every single line, a piece of the author that could never be taken back.
"What are you reading now, Mingyu?" Soonyoung asked, effectively bursting the bubble around me.
He knew how to ruin a perfectly peaceful moment. I should be used to it working with my half-brothers for so long. Soonyoung's sense of personal space needed work.
I attempted to engross myself in the book once more to surround myself with the world of fiction, but no such luck. A shadow was cast over the pages obscuring the pure poetry I'd been reading. A heavy sigh slipped from my chest and out of my mouth.
"Let's se—" Soonyoung attempted to snatch my book away.
Don't touch my things.
Agitation settled in the pit of my stomach and fizzled out just as quickly. Holding onto anything was nearly impossible for me.
The moment his fingers came within an inch of the book, I had a knife out and pressed firmly against his exposed wrist. He went still as our gazes locked. One wrong move, and he'd be decorating our oldest brother's office in red. And after the last incident, I doubted Soonyoung wanted to pay for another renovation.
"Is that necessary?" Soonyoung asked through gritted teeth.
Is breathing necessary?
I blinked slowly at him before retracting my knife and placing it back in its hidden pocket.
"Why must you bother him, Soonyoung?" Seokmin waltzed into the office, and I promptly closed the book.
"I was bored."
"Don't have me send you back to the hospital. It's nothing but a call away," Seokmin said as he took a seat.
The paper on his mahogany desk was neatly organized. The moment his hand touched it, I forced back the urge to put a bullet in his head. Seokmin moved things around, ruining the perfect organization that I'd created.
I looked away from the ruined perfection and met my brother's hard gaze head-on. He knew what I'd been thinking. I glanced away and stood up, moving closer to his desk now that he was there. The Blues music that filtered through Seokmin's speakers was turned down, and the mild thumping of the club under us could be heard through the walls.
"You can go home and have your peace once you check on a few things," Seokmin said.
"Fine." There was no use arguing. I'd ultimately do it.
"I get to go home, too, right?" Soonyoung asked.
Seokmin didn't even look up from his paperwork as he answered. "No, you have been slacking off, and I'm not going to clean up your misdeeds."
"Neither will I." I shook my head at my brother as he tossed his arms up.
He acted like a child on a good day. Still, Soonyoung was the second to Seokmin in our family.
"Mingyu, there have been two busts lately of my warehouses. Find out who's leaking the information." Seokmin passed over two yellow folders, and I grabbed them.
He did everything the hard way, making it nearly impossible for the cops to keep track of our movements or even place anything on us. I opened it, and four cops' faces and addresses were on the papers. I scanned each one, committing them to memory.
"They were recently removed from the police force. Looks like they had a clean-out day. Take care of it," Seokmin said.
He never liked loose ends. Something close to excitement sent little sparks dancing over my fingertips. I'd get to touch a scalpel soon or, better yet, a saw this time. My shoulders dropped as I imagined what I'd do to my next project.
