The Heist (BOOK 1)

The Protector

"Any luck?" Mingi nervously asked.

"Not exactly, but I got San." Wooyoung sighed as he walked into the hotel room. "He gave the key back to Seonghwa."

"How was that?"

"This just got...a whole lot worse. But honestly, I don't think anything can top this so that's good."

"First and foremost, is Minho alive?" Felix was eager to hear the horrifying news.

"Yes but barely. Hongjoong loaded him up with Miraclo so now he's just unconscious."

"How is that even possible?"

"He's missing an eye if that makes you feel better."

"No. I don't think it does."

"Two other things: where is Yeosang?"

"I told him to stay at the apartment to have eyes on Yunho's heart rate at all times." Mingi replied.

"From the looks of it, he's nowhere good." Jongho added.

"He wasn't at the bunker with Hongjoong like we thought." Wooyoung sighed.

"I guess that shits on Yeosang's Frankenstein theory." Mingi smiled at Jongho.

"Wait, what Frankenstein theory?" The leader asked, feeling like he may be onto something.

"Yeosang wondered if Hongjoong was using more than just Miraclo to bring Minho back."

Wooyoung instantly thought about Jisung. He had absolutely no context whatsoever, but he knew there had to be more involved. Then again, he didn't know all the properties Miraclo had, but could it be enough to bring back someone from the dead?

"Felix." If anyone needed to hear this news, it was him.

"Yeah." The blonde replied.

Hyunjin noticed the pain in his best friend's eyes so he wrapped a supportive arm around his boyfriend.

"So on the way here, I kinda thought about it a lot. In order for the Miraclo to work, you need to be seriously injured. The more you are, the greater the outcome. You know how Seonghwa told us Minho is addicted to it?"

"Yeah?" He slowly replied.

"I have two theories. The first is that he's slowly killing himself with it so that it'll eventually have a positive effect. The second...you just did exactly what he wanted."

"What, how?"

"A positive and a negative make a negative. But a negative and a negative make a positive."

"Who would the other negative be?"

Wooyoung braced himself for a heart shattering reaction so he held San's hand.

"Jisung."

The room was silent. News like that was hard for anyone to hear.

Hyunjin held Felix close as subtle tears streamed down his cheeks. He kept his straight face, but he was so exhausted. It seemed like everything just kept getting worse.

"Did you see him?" Felix quietly asked.

"When Seonghwa was talking to Hongjoong, I kinda wandered off and found a restricted room. I got curious so I went inside, and there he was."

"Did you talk to him?"

"No, he's fully unconscious."

"How's his face?"

"Felix, I'm gonna be honest with you. Jisung definitely didn't shot in the head like you remember."

"Are you calling me a liar?"