Hunt

file two: ksg + kjn

"How?"

That was the first question that left Taeyong's mouth, after a long, unbroken silence that had led the group to the interior of the safe house. The redhead was sitting on one of the low leather couches, back straight, seemingly shaken, but his eyes never left Hwang.

"Canvas rolls, fire escape, blood collected into a bottle," Seulgi explained in an almost bored tone. Despite her very convincing act of nonchalance, it was still an act. Beneath her catlike lounging posture, she was just as tense as Taeyong. She simply chose not to show it. "She never hit the ground. It was easy enough."

"Blood from the gunshot wound," Taeyong realized, finally tearing his eyes away to look at her in reluctant acknowledgement. Then the spell was broken hardly seconds after his words, for his gaze simply swiveled back. "That's why you shot her in the arm. That's why she wouldn't say it was you."

"I didn't know if it was going to work," she explained, rubbing her leather-clad arms nervously. It was a habit Seulgi recognized from over two years of working together, along with many others. Her eyes jumped from Taeyong to Vernon awkwardly, lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but never managed to say it. "I didn't want her to be in danger because of me."

Taeyong glanced at Vernon, an action Seulgi noticed he reiterated every few seconds. It wasn't a glance looking for reassurance, like other racers looking to Vernon for leadership or approval like she remembered from many years ago, but a look of concern. Concern for him. Taeyong was worried after all—for Vernon.

Seulgi couldn't say she wasn't surprised.

Vernon, on the other hand, had been silent for the duration of the entire conversation, standing against the wall with his arms folded over his chest as he looked on blankly. His gaze was fixed on a point just next to the table, lips slack but jaw tensed, standing in position like a doll. Seulgi had never seen that look before. She knew Vernon—or at least, the Vernon from two years ago—and she knew that the years couldn't have been kind to him. She had been guarded around him then, and she was guarded now. Frankly, the look scared her.

"What have you been doing for—two years?" Taeyong started, almost sputtered, like an old CD that skittered at the beginning before playing properly. His fingers curled at his knees, and his shoulders were tense. He seemed to be trying to deflect the conversation towards a less dangerous topic, which she understood. Lee Taeyong, mediator. Another surprise.

"Cleaning out the clan, mostly," Seulgi replied, glancing sideways at her partner, who was still sitting frozen in place. "Same as you. Except we were a bit more subtle about it." Her cherry lips lifted into a smirk. "Single-handedly caused the massacre back then, didn't you? I could think of better ways to be secretive."

Vernon bristled, but said nothing. He didn't seem to care much about anything that was said, really, judging from the vacant expression. Seulgi knew she was playing a dangerous game by trying to get a reaction out of him, but she couldn't help it. It was in her nature, and besides, she hadn't seen these two in years. It wasn't hard to get curious about what had changed about them...and others.

"Your brother?" Taeyong asked lowly.

Seulgi's smile dropped. "First on the hitlist," she said, tone stiff despite her attempts to keep it nonchalant. "Some people you can't drag back from the hellfire."

She said it deceptively calm, but in truth, it was still a raw wound. One she had managed to control her reactions over. Most of the time.

"Is Hyunjin—" Y/N started, then pressed her lips together. "Is my brother okay?"

"Shouldn't you know that?" Vernon spoke up. Seulgi's eyes flicked to him, brow furrowing, but his gaze didn't lift from the table. His voice was calm, not cold, but the way he said it made her skin crawl, like there was the scent of a storm in the air. "Seeing as you've been keeping an eye on us for so long."