STRANGER [SEONGJOONG]

CHAPTER XVIII

*+:｡.｡ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴇᴇᴛs ᴛʜᴇ ᴇʏᴇ｡.｡+*

The building stood tall upon its abyss, seemingly looming over their tiny figures in comparison to it's magnanimous size. They peeked out of the car window, scanning the area with a quick glance and then went back in, easing themselves against the seat, mind clogged in a confusion of a thousand disarrayed thoughts.

"Why did he sent us when it's actually Hwa hyung's job?" Mingi questioned, fingers trailing along the patterns of the pistol in his hand, gaze fixated at the weapon without a flicker. His question seemed to be more like an audible complain to himself, complete with a nose scrunch and a sigh. And nevertheless, no one would willingly volunteer themselves in indulging in some stupid paperwork on a bright Saturday morning instead of enjoying the weekend, unless they're forced to.

"Apparently," the other guy in the car began to explain, "He's busy with something important today-"

"More important than this?" Mingi interrupted him, raising a brow, his face exhibiting prominent signs of annoyance and disgust.

"Will you let me complete?" San retorted back, shutting up the other almost immediately, "So, according to Lucy, hyung has something important to do today and hence, he sent us to complete the initials of this thing. Hyung will do the rest from home I presume. But to be honest, I feel like he is trying to keep Hwa hyung away from something that might be present in the assembly today, or perhaps, hyung himself didn't urge to come 'cause he's probably trying to avoid something. Or rather, someone."

"Seriously?" Mingi questioned, not entirely believing the explanation, "Hwa hyung trying to avoid someone? In all these years that I've known him, I've never seen him being actually afraid of something or someone. Or to even avoid."

"Everyone has their own reasons to be petrified, Mingi," San explained with a sigh, "And in case of Hwa hyung, I'm sure it's something much twisted that what meets our eyes."

Mingi gazed away from San, his vision shifting to the scenery outside the transparent black screen of the car, thoughts scattered in an erratic pattern, forehead creased in contemplation of several questions and out of them all, the talk about Seonghwa's object of petrification poked him the most.

"Time to get out, boys," A voice called them. The door of the car was opened, and a man stood in front, asking them to come out. Mingi and San picked up their belongings and emerged out of the vehicle, instantly looking up at the gigantic structure. There were men from their gang around San and Mingi, and with a final word with the driver of their car, they made it for the entrance.

"Mingi," San called, walking beside the taller, eyes fixated in front with a seriousness in his gaze, a strong sense of purpose.

"Yeah?"

"Keep your whimsical ass out of my sight when I'm with them and when I'm working, I hope you keep your princess attitude completely suppressed," the warning was short and before the listener could protest, the main doors slid open and they had no more time for communication.