𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒 || 𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐍 ||🥀

19

Jeonghan

I was still pissed off over the breakfast ambush by the time I made it to the station. I didn't know who I was more angry with: Minghao for overstepping, Seungcheol for being a stubborn asshole, or Mina for still holding back on me when I'd been nothing but honest with her.

She'd texted three times saying she wanted to talk.

My guess was she was worried about what Minghao told me. Right now, I was in the mood to let her worry.

Or maybe this roiling inner rage was directed at myself.

At this point, it didn't really matter. Everyone was pissing me off.

"You're supposed to tell me where you're gonna be, Yoon."

I turned around and found an equally irate-looking TOP marshal storming up the sidewalk toward the station's side door.

I was not in the mood. "I'm already pissed off at two assholes who dragged me out of bed this morning. If I were you? I wouldn't be in a hurry to add your name to that list."

"Look, shithead. I'm not happy about this assignment either. You think I like camping out in Deliverance banjo territory watching your ungrateful back for some threat that probably doesn't even exist?" Wonwoo snapped back.

"Gee, I'm sorry you're bored, Jeon. Do you want a colouring book and some crayons? I'll pick some up when I go get you a thank-you card and fucking balloons."

Wonwoo shook his head. "Gosh, you're a dick. If I hadn't seen you dealing with those kids yesterday and making that fuckhead cop piss his pants, I'd think the condition was permanent."

"Yeah, well, maybe it is."

To illustrate my point, I didn't hold the door for him.

I acknowledged the round of "Morning, Chief," with a curt nod as I headed straight for my office where I could shut the damn door on the whole damn world.

No one said anything to Wonwoo when he stomped in after me.

"Where's Pip?" Chan asked, holding up a bag of the pet shop's gourmet kitty treats.

Fuck.

Mina had the cat. I might not have wanted the damn kitten, but I sure as hell wasn't going to let Mina keep her.

"She's with a neighbour," I replied.

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

I spent the next hour reviewing case reports, time-off requests, and budgets.

Maybe the dark was an empty, meaningless existence, but it was the light that could burn you. I needed something from Mina that she didn't seem willing to give. Something that was as essential to me as oxygen. Honesty.

Sure, she'd shared bits and pieces. But what she did share was shaded and spun to tell the kind of story she wanted. She'd made it seem like she'd run into Minghao and had a benign conversation with him. She hadn't told me that my oldest friend had hunted her down and threatened her over the time she'd been spending with me.

I was almost as pissed off about the fact that she'd decided to handle it on her own as I was over Minghao's overprotective, asinine actions.

But despite the fact that I knew for sure that Mina wasn't telling me the whole truth, I felt something I couldn't identify, something a hell of a lot like need. And the scales wouldn't be balanced unless she needed me back.

Something Lin Moonamina wasn't programmed to do.

Something I wasn't prepared to deliver on. Who would need me in this state? I was a fucking mess.