Conceal

24. Consequences

Despite the many voices in his head that were telling him to do otherwise, Jooheon stepped into the alley once again and headed straight for the door he thought he would never see again. But the closer he got, the harder it became to place one foot in front of the other, until he stopped walking completely.

He stared at the door and the two guards in front of it. The two muscular man was staring straight ahead, but Jooheon knew that his presence was known. The only reason why they still haven't made any action to remove the intruder was because it was a serious breach of rules to even move while on duty.

Looking at the destination he was clearly not authorised to enter, he thought about the previous visit he made. The guards had rejected him coldly, so what made him think it would be any different this time? In fact, the consequences would probably be ten times worse if he actually decided to walk up there. His other name didn't matter anymore. Neither was the password. Nor was the robe. Everything was meaningless, except for his friends that needed saving.

Just when Jooheon was about to walk forwards, the door opened, and out came five black figures. Jooheon halted and sidled up to the wall. The objective of this visit was so clear and profound he wasn't scared of anything or anyone. He just felt too exposed without something to press himself against when the alley looked crowded with five additional people.

Under the dim moonlight, all Jooheon could see were the shadows and silhouettes that were slowly shuffling out the narrow doorway. Four identical figures of similar heights stepped out first, and seemed to stand in a certain formation before bowing to the fifth person. With his poor eyesight and lack of light, Jooheon could only guess what was happening at the door. All he could make out was a blob of black, so he guessed they were talking to the guards or among themselves in a tight circle.

The fifth person intrigued Jooheon with the seemingly high status, but there was no way he could make out any distinguishable features with the other shadows in front of him. Nevertheless, Jooheon knew that that person was probably the best shot for him to fix his mistakes. That person was probably the only one powerful to make any important decisions, and now that he was out here there was no need for Jooheon to find a way inside.

Jooheon didn't expect much to happen, which was why he gasped and almost ran away when the five figures started walking towards him, with the fifth person in the very front. Jooheon knew that because with no one obscuring his view, the glowing orange-red insignia on the front of the black robe was like a beacon in the dead middle of the night.

Out of all 17 members of The Flaming Tongue, only one person had the right to wear such a specially designed robe.

Jooheon's lips were trembling involuntarily by the time the insignia stopped moving, only a few centimetres away from his chest. But Jooheon bit the inside of his lips and kept a stern face before anyone could spot the tremors. This was the very first time he got to see this robe, as well as the person who was permitted to wear it. The person was shorter than Jooheon had expected him to be, and a bit slimmer too. At first glance he didn't look all that intimidating.

But instead of the body heat Jooheon would normally feel radiating off of the person standing in close proximity, Jooheon felt like the air around them had chilled and froze. The mask on the person's face covered everything but his eyes, but that was more than enough to show the power he held. It was impossible to linger on the pupils that were as dark as the night sky above their heads, or the gaze that was as piercing as freshly sharpened daggers.

Jooheon's heart beats per minute didn't increase at all. In fact, Jooheon felt like his heart knew there was no point in pumping more blood to his body, and decided to give up and shut off instead. There was barely enough air in between Jooheon and the person in front of him for him to breath properly.