Crime, Betrayal, and Love (A Seventeen Street Racing AU)

LXXX | Start of the End

"Aww, you said his name so nicely. I was scared you'd try to kill him." Jeonghan claps his hands. "Or worse, kill me!"

"It's tempting," I grumble. How does he always manage to be a nuisance?

Behind him, Minghao rolls his eyes.

"Welcome on the revenge train. Minghao is just here for help because his old friend Kun is—as I'm sure you know—a bitch." Jeonghan seems almost giddy about this. If it weren't so frightening, I'd find it humorous. "I'm sure between the two of you and your shared past, we can come up with a great plan to uncover how they pulled their little scheme off."

I deeply regret telling Jeonghan about Minghao's and my past, and it still angers me that Minghao threw more on the fire that is nosy Jeonghan. And I hate how revealing it to Jeonghan and his continued entanglement has led to a life I'm starting to like. Perhaps one I would already love if it wasn't for the people I love ending up hurt.

"How certain are we that it is Kun who pulled this off?" Minghao asks, crossing his arms. "Couldn't it be someone else?"

"Yeah. Got7. But they're clearly working together. It's the perfect scheme."

"I agree," I sigh. "It's exactly the type of thing Kun would do."

Jeonghan nods. "He's trying to get back with Rosé."

Minghao purses his lips, shaking his head. "I'm not so sure."

"Oh? Kun wouldn't use somebody close to Rosé to destroy her race and get what he wants?" I stare into Minghao, anger fueling my vision.

"I mean, Rosé did blacklist him, but how does ruining her race get him back in her good graces." He shakes his head. "Perhaps he just wanted to see how the race turned out."

All the progress I have made with Minghao is seeping away. All these years later, after claiming he feels guilty and hates Kun, Minghao defends him. I suppose it's my own fault. History repeated itself, and I've fallen for it again.

"Rosé is all about money. Kun is all about money. This is fairly simple. Rosé will find a way to milk money out of the excitement and shock of the explosion, and Kun will help her profit from it. Even if she knows he did it, if it can make her a profit, she'll go along with it," Jeonghan scoffs. "That's why we need proof he did it and that Got7 helped. No amount of money can erase the scandal that will happen if she continues working with them after they did that."

Minghao looks off into the city, silently accepting Jeonghan's words.

I try to shake the feeling floating over me. The hate I feel at everyone involved in this is oozing over to Minghao as well. If I plan to stay with Seventeen, at the very least, I'll need to tolerate him. For Mingyu, it's worth it, no matter how hard my heart is telling me to hate his guts.

Jeonghan and I join Minghao's gaze. The sun is starting to set behind the blockade of buildings. Orange and pink dance through the sky. I wish I could appreciate its beauty.

A soft whisper breaks through our silence. "There's only one place Kun would keep his important files. If he's still the same Kun from eight years ago, there's only one place he'd trust to store anything that would prove what he did."

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I am grossly underdressed and unprepared for this. But Jeonghan insisted we start tonight and at this very moment. Not even dinner could happen before this, and for the first time all day, I realize how hungry I am.

Minghao complained and pointed out the very obvious flaw in this plan—us failing to make it to dinner on time, or at all, and S.Coups becoming wildly angry with us. After that, Jeonghan immediately fired back that we are more limited on time than he realizes. S.Coups is only willing to stay here for a few days. Even if Mingyu still needs to stay in the hospital, the leader will gladly pay for him to be moved to a hospital in the city. Plus, the longer we wait, the more likely it is that Kun and Got7 will erase all proof that leads to the crime. We don't have much time to gather everything we need and show it off to Rosé.