Egotistic - J.JK.

Eighteen

I slapped down the paper on the table, sliding into the booth across from Jungkook.

His hair was disarrayed, casual attire covering him with a comfortable sweatshirt and some jeans and sneakers. He had been sipping at some soup, it still steaming but half full. He seemed like a normal customer with a crazy person handing him a piece of paper.

He looked at the loose piece of paper, an eyebrow raising at the contents. He peered back up at me, saying, "An address? That's it?"

"I have a short story. Don't worry," I reassured him, grabbing the paper again for safekeeping. "My friend told me this is a warehouse where they've been sending goods. The odd part it, though, that they're asking for something that only a few people have asked for."

This seemed to catch Jungkook's attention. He leaned in a little closer, asking, "What is it?"

"They've been asking for appendixes," I raised my eyebrows, placing my hands on the table while leaning back. "I've worked in my friend's business before, and that's the one product that barely anyone wants. And Taehyung is asking for a lot. Why would he be doing that?"

Jungkook's face had been drained of its color, himself looking completely pale. My fast going mind suddenly came to a halt, my eyes widening. I reached across the table to grab his hand, questioning quietly, "What's wrong?"

"What are we going to do?" he murmured, placing his head in his free hand. His hand felt like it was starting to clam up a bit.

"Hey, talk to me," I squeezed his hand. "We can't do anything if you don't tell me."

Jungkook raised his head from hand, his eyes darkened. He didn't seem himself. "He's going to turn all the Defenders into normal humans."

My eyebrows furrowed for a moment, not understanding a word that was coming out of his mouth. "Come again?"

"I . . . " he started for a moment, but it seemed like he was trying to catch a breath. He continued after a second. "I'm not the price of a natural genetic mutation. I was a test to see if the new genetic material Bangtan Services had would work. It did, but over the years, they recognized it was all surrounding the appendixes."

I froze for a second, the words coming out of Jungkook's mouth sounding unbelievable. He wasn't a natural mutation like I was? He was purposely made the way he was? "There has to be Defenders that are natural, right?"

Jungkook didn't answer, only staring down at the table in a paralyzed shock. I yanked his hand a little this time to snap him out of it. "Kook? Right?"

He turned his eyes up towards me, giving a small shake of his head. He looked like he was about to be sick finally. "All the ex-Egos are natural. The rest of us are artificial."

"The ex-Egos could be still out there," I tried to be hopeful, but it didn't seem right. "They would be able to resist it, right?"

"We all knew how much they hated us," Jungkook murmured to himself some. "That we were purposefully made the way we were. They always thought it was a curse, that we were wrong. They would do anything to turn on us."

My hand loosened from Jungkook's a little, the hope in me falling to a pit. If Taehyung had all the Defenders, it was just me and Jungkook left. We were the possible last hopes that could take Taehyung down and gain everyone back, hopefully unharmed.

"Are you angry at me?"

I turned my attention back to Jungkook, finding the darkness of his eyes to fade slightly to sadness. My eyebrows furrowed together while I shook my head. "Why the hell would I be mad at you?"

"With the ex-Egos not liking us because of our . . . past," Jungkook hesitated for a moment, "are you angry about my powers' origin?"

I sat there for a second, thinking to myself. Was I angry that they purposely gave the Defenders powers? It was a little angering that they would lay that kind of responsibility on kids to make them grow up to be these perfect figures, but I wasn't angry at Jungkook in particular. It wasn't something that was completely consuming me with fury.

"I'm not angry," I half lied through my teeth, pulling my hand away from Jungkook. I looked down at the paper in my hand. "So they're getting all these regular appendixes . . . Will the powers be able to be restored at all?"

"No," Jungkook breathed, adjusting in his seat a little. He appeared to be looking a little better than before, but his face was still grim. "Taking them out will ultimately end the Defenders' careers. We won't have anymore Defenders left except us for a long time."

"We really are the last hope," I murmured, running my free hand through my hair while looking at the paper with widening eyes. "If we don't stop this . . . "

"We need to make a plan. Like, now," Jungkook emphasized. I watched him slip his hand into one of his pocket to reveal a wallet.

"I don't even know where to begin!" My mind was starting to become cluttered with the new information and pressure being put on me and Jungkook. Panic was starting to kick in a little, which was never something I did. "I don't know how much time or resources we have to stop this!"

"Warehouse," Jungkook pointed out to me, slapping some money down on the table. He slipped up from his side of the booth and shoved his wallet into his jacket. "First things first, we have to see what we're dealing with. I don't think Taehyung would make it that easy for anyone to find him, especially him hiding out at some warehouse."

I hurried out from my bench, crumpling the paper into my hand again. "Someone has to be there, though, right? Knowing my friends, they send the most recent products to the consumer immediately. They have to have someone there on guard."

Jungkook grabbed onto my hand and started dragging me out of the restaurant from the few prying eyes that were there. We didn't start speaking again until we were back on the street.

Hurrying down the sidewalk, Jungkook's hand still hugged mine while his eyes peered around cautiously. "We were born the way we were to do something, right?"

"I can't just get angry so suddenly," I slightly hissed, not liking where this path was going. "You know my powers don't work like that."

Jungkook stopped for a second, turning to face me fully. I was met with his hands falling on my shoulders while he peered down at me with a determined look. "Mine do. I can sneak around in there for as long as I can before it starts to wear off. Trust me, you don't have to use your powers unless it's really needed."

"I'm going in there, too," I insisted, giving a stone face towards Jungkook. I was being held back so easily. "You're not going in there alone. I may understand some of those shipments if they still have them there. Please."

"If we can find a safe way in for you, yes," Jungkook said with a nod. "We're not leaving each other's sides until it's necessary."

"Alright then," I gave him a faint smile, but it having no meaning of positivity behind it. "Let's go find the Defenders."