“What do you want to talk about?” Joshua’s voice was flat, almost mechanical, as he shoved the glass of water aside. His eyes remained locked on James, whose face was a grotesque canvas of bruises and swelling.
The sight made Joshua’s stomach churn. He adjusted his face mask, feeling a prickle of dread crawl down his spine. This whole situation felt deeply wrong—unnervingly, unmistakably wrong.
“Do you want to eat something—”
“Cut the formalities. I don’t have time for this,” Joshua snapped, his impatience clear.
James’s eyes darted anxiously towards the bodyguard standing imposingly behind Joshua, a silent enforcer of the lethal stakes.
The atmosphere crackled with an undercurrent of threat, the dangerous edge of their situation weighing heavily on Joshua’s shoulders.
James swallowed hard, trying to compose himself. “At least have a coffee?” His plea was laced with desperation, and he gazed pleadingly at the bodyguard, as if seeking a reprieve from the mounting tension.
Joshua’s resolve nearly crumbled. The oppressive atmosphere gnawed at him, but he forced himself to remain steady. “I don’t want—”
“Please, just this once. It’ll make me feel better,” James’s voice was soft, almost pleading. Joshua’s frustration simmered, but he gave a reluctant nod.
“One regular,” he agreed, his voice tight with reluctant resignation. James swiftly placed the order, and Joshua’s heart pounded in his chest.
It was Saturday—a day that should have been filled with light and celebration. Instead, he found himself enmeshed in this murky, unsettling encounter.
He had sent a terse message to Jeonghan before leaving, receiving only a simple heart emoji in return.
Now, as he faced James across the table, every instinct screamed that he was plunging deeper into a darkness he barely understood.
Joshua’s fingers fidgeted with the edges of his mask, the weight of the conversation pressing heavily on him.
Across the table, James sat hunched, nursing his coffee, his bruised face still showing the aftermath of a violent encounter. Joshua could barely look at him, the guilt gnawing at his insides.
He wasn’t sure why he had agreed to come—every instinct told him to turn back, to not involve himself—but now, sitting here, he had no choice.
"What do you want to talk about?" Joshua’s voice was low, laced with tension as he pushed the coffee cup aside.
James hesitated, his eyes flickering nervously between Joshua and the bodyguard stationed at a distance, watching their every move.
The air between them felt thick with unspoken words, suffocating and heavy. Joshua could sense the fear radiating from James, his swollen lips trembling as he struggled to find his voice.
“It’s Seokmin,” James whispered, his voice trembling as if the very name was cursed. Joshua’s heart slammed against his chest, his fingers gripping the edge of the table so hard they turned white. He leaned forward, eyes wide, his breath suddenly shallow.
“Seokmin?” Joshua repeated, the word feeling foreign on his tongue. He couldn’t quite believe it, didn’t want to.
James nodded, tears welling up in his eyes, but there was a desperation in them, a fear Joshua had never seen before.
“What do you mean—?”
“He sent them,” James’s voice cracked, his hand slamming down on the table, the loud thud echoing through the air. Joshua flinched, recoiling as the sound seemed to reverberate inside his skull.
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Arrange Devotion | SS
FanfictionBOOK #2 They say love heals scars, but Seokmin's scars were lessons-bitter reminders that twisted him into a creature of darkness. His life was a series of brutal lessons that shaped him into someone who burns with an unquenchable fire. Protecting...
