↤P A R A D I G M↦

二十七

Late happy pride month my gays and lesbos and pans and aces and inters and trans and queer  and etc etc bitches

RMBR TO SHEESH

(Stay Homo, Eat Eden, Stay Homo)

-Scarlet/Rain<33

Hongjoong hopped from rooftop to rooftop with an air of leisure, Jiwoon's lost tooth rattling in his pocket along with the coins and extra stuff he had nicked from the castle. The night was still young by Hongjoong's standards, so he decided to patrol and pick up new instructions for his new target.

He swung into Nightingale Avenue, knocking on a brass door and picking up the slip of paper that was slid under the door.

He sighed as he read the name written in thin neat handwriting, "𝑅𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒟𝒶𝓎𝓈𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀."

Rain Dayslock was an influential man, people said that because of his enigmatic and cold nature, people feared him though nothing has been done to make that happen. But, he held a lot of power in the southern tip of Lanaria,  and the border of the northern tip of Florastin, which was dangerous to certain people.

Influence wasn't a good thing to have in Lanaria, because it meant at least one person wanted you dead, and the man for that job was Kim Hongjoong. 

Hongjoong sighed and climbed back onto the rooftops, making his way home to plan before Jessica could come back from the Midnight Markets and he could finally relax for the day.

As Hongjoong traversed the rooftops, the city sprawled beneath him like a patchwork quilt of lights and shadows. Nightingale Avenue faded into the distance behind him as he navigated the labyrinthine streets towards his hideout, hidden in the heart of the Old Quarter.

The slip of paper in his pocket fluttered as he moved, Rain Dayslock's name etched into his mind. Rain was a mystery, even among the city's elites. He was someone that people knew, but no one knew, if you catch my drift.

As he approached the crooked alley that led to where he desired to be the most, he sensed something amiss. The usual calm of the night was disrupted by a faint murmur of voices and the telltale clink of metal against stone. Instinctively, Hongjoong scaled the nearest building and crouched on the edge of the roof, scanning the alley below.

There, illuminated by a deadening street-lamp stood two figures—a man and a woman—both clad in the dark robes favored by the city's underworld. The man was tall, seemingly 6'2, with a scar running down his cheek like a permanent sneer, while the woman was shorter and had an aura of motherly attitude masked by the current situation.

Jessica?

What was she doing here?

And why was she wearing that??

Without a sound, Hongjoong hid away, stalking closer to listen into their chatter.

The snippets of their conversation reached Hongjoong's ears as he focused on maintaining his stealth.

"...should have been a straightforward job. What went wrong?" The man's voice was gruff, carrying an edge of frustration.

Jessica's response was measured but laced with defiance. "I don't know. Someone must have tipped them off. But I'm telling you, Rain doesn't suspect a thing."

The man grunted skeptically. "You better be right about that. Rain won't tolerate mistakes, especially not from you."

Hongjoong's mind raced. Jessica, his trusted ally, his only mother figure, was intertwined in something risky. Rain's name resurfaced in their conversation, tying together pieces of a puzzle Hongjoong had not anticipated. Rain Dayslock's influence evidently reached deeper into the city's underbelly than he had initially thought.