The Gadget Boy (JJK x KTH)

Chapter 14

"I don't understand it," Namjoon muttered to himself. He'd been in his room - which he shared with Seokjin and Yoongi - all day trying to figure out what the Z34 and Z35 were. He'd been unsuccessful in cracking the encryption codes and had no way of discerning the device type. He had very little to work with. But he knew it had to be linked to the voice that had congratulated them on their last mission in their comm system. It had been online at the time. However, without the device actually being online, he had a very slim chance of being able to crack into it. It was nearly impossible. He needed it to be online to be able to get a strong enough signal to follow. As soon as the device was turned off, the signal became virtually a memory. The only thing saved into his computer was a history of its presence and an encryption code which, annoyingly, he couldn't crack.

He thought logically for a while. The Z34 and Z35 were likely the same thing, but different pieces. That much he could work out. They came online when the gang were on a job or sometimes just together. Even when they were at school together the Z34 had been online. Suddenly he cursed himself.

"How did I not realise?" He hissed, raking a hand through his thick black hair. "Jin!" He called out, and he heard footsteps coming quickly towards the bedroom.

"What's up?" Seokjin poked his head around the door with an interested expression. He'd had nothing to do all day and was hoping this would be interesting.

Namjoon beckoned to him to come look at the laptop screen. "See this?" He asked, pointing to the screen. "It's a list of times the devices have been online. Look. Both of them were online during our last two outings. But the Z34 turns on at other times too. And that time I showed you guys in the music room? It turned off not long after I mentioned it."

Seokjin paused to think about it. "So you think it's tracking us?"

"I'm not sure it's tracking us, per se. But I think it could be some sort of monitor," Namjoon concluded, tapping buttons to bring up a map and location zone. "And this monitor is always within this radius. The wavelength of our scanner won't reach outside this radius that's how I know. I think it's a listening device. It can tune into our frequencies and somehow hold them."

Seokjin leant back on his heels, struggling slightly to comprehend what Namjoon was saying. But he'd understood his penultimate sentence. A listening device.

"Is Yoongi here?" Namjoon asked.

"No," the elder replied. "He went to practice his hand to hand combat with Hoseok."

"I suppose it's best he's not here to hear this yet. And Taehyung?"

Seokjin sighed. "I have no idea. He doesn't seem to like replying to my messages."

"That's because you're too soft on that idiot. He needs someone to talk some sense into him. Harshly, if necessary," Namjoon growled. He didn't dislike Taehyung at all, that wasn't the issue. The issue was how much trouble Taehyung was always in with the Boss. He'd threatened the gang's cover before during his drunken street brawls and his own life was at stake. The most hurtful thing for BTS was that Taehyung knew his life was in danger from the Boss. But he didn't seem to care. It was like he wanted to die.

"If we're harsh on him then he'll hate us too, you know he will," Seokjin smiled sadly. "But I understand. I'll talk to him about it soon."

"Thanks, Jin," Namjoon said and closed his laptop. "Now I think we've got to tell the Boss about these devices before anyone tells him."

*****

The warehouse was virtually empty, as usual. Just a few of the Boss's lackeys off to do his business bidding and his primary protection gang known as BAP. As soon as Yongguk noticed the two BTS members walking through the large entrance towards the side corridor where the main route to the Boss's office was, he stopped what he was doing and made his way over to the two.