𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄

39; 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 (𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜)

H O N G   J I S O O

oh, here she is. i see that sly smirk i recognize anywhere. teeth as white as pearls, eyes as cunning as a fox.

"park gumi." i say, to start things. jeonghan and i sit on the chairs opposite to her. as i see, she had already ordered foor for two.

"hong jisoo!" she exclaims. she eyes jeonghan, i see disgust in her eyes. "who's this?" then i turned to face jeonghan, who gave the favor back by glaring at gumi. i wanted to laugh, but i know i can't.

"yoon jeonghan." jeonghan waved once, not offering a hand for gumi to shake. jeonghan's actions made me think that bringing him along was the right choice.

pfft, how they look at each other? hilarious. but i should say, i feel jeonghan. that park gumi is a snitch, a liar, a son of a bitch. such glare would be fitting for her.

"so, what do you want?" i interrupt their staring contest. gumi turns to me and smiles.

"i want your archetype version of sands of time," gumi picks on her nails; something that she always does when she's impatient. "or else, i'm going to my.... connections."

gumi is a smart girl. she knows i can manipulate things online, heck, even in newspapers, i can manipulate stuff. so, her only chance left is to get help from the mafia organizations which we're trying to fight. gumi may be a person without abilities, but she's definitely not mundane. she's special, she's dauntless, she's a can-do type of girl.

let's just see who will lose between me and her. "why do you want the archetype?"

"because that's faster and i could.." gumi pauses, as a waiter places down two wine glasses on the table. i watch the waiter pour white wine on the glasses. "execute my personal mission faster. anyway, before that, would you like to toast? i'm sorry, jeonghan, we're short of another wine glass."

i could see jeonghan's eyes twitching, while gumi picked up her glass of wine. it's really hard not to laugh. "it's fine. i don't drink white wine." jeonghan excused. i knew it was a petty excuse, why? jeonghan chugged two bottles of white wine the night we went swimming.

"if you say so. oh, i was about to call a waiter." gumi smiled.

anyway, i pick up my glass of wine, and clink my glass with gumi. her glare was so dark and full of intent while she drank her glass of wine, why? i know there's something off here.

luckily, i didn't drink the wine yet. the wine may be the bad element in this setting, so i sniff the wine first. at first, i thought there was nothing wrong with it so i was about to drink it—but i catch a whiff of belladonna, a poisonus plant that could give you hallucinations, and a good chance at death.

should i drink it?

jeonghan's here, he could help me, right? maybe i should drink it and ask jeonghan to help me. it's—

"jeonghan!" i exclaimed, as jeonghan took the wine glass from my hand and drank the wine in one go. i was utterly speechless to even notice gumi's reaction. shouldn't be a big deal for jeonghan, but still! "excuse us, gumi." i grab jeonghan from his seat, then i dragged him in the bathroom.

"jeonghan, i hope you're aware that you just took in poison." i said sternly, in a voice that almost sounds like a mother's, scolding her little one.

jeonghan pouts. no, this is not the time to flirt. "i know that it had poison, basing it from your looks! but don't worry, i have an ability that could help me with that!"

hey, don't get me wrong, jeonghan's a strategic person; but jeonghan's pretty impulsive. what if that wasn't belladonna, and it killed him immediately, before he could even use his ability? i won't want to attend the very first funeral of a seventeen member. no. i don't want to attend a funeral of any seventeen member.

"jeonghan, that doesn't kill you easily. the effects happen slow, and painful. you get a headache, and hallucinations. you'll have to endure all that before you can heal yourself." joshua says. "so sometimes, other people use it recreationally because it's kind of an addictive drug."

jeonghan halted. like, he literally froze and just looked at me, before he said: "you go and talk to gumi. i'll take care of myself," jeonghan took out a swiss knife from his pocket, turning to get in a bathroom cubicle. "goodluck, joshuji! let's get married after this!"

i sigh and ignore the marriage comment. "i'll come back to pick you up later, jeonghan!" i hope you cope with the poison just fine. "th-thank you!" i don't want to attend your funeral.

so, i walk back to the dining area to talk to gumi. "so? have you made up your mind, genius?"

here's the thing.

when i used to be a conman (like her), i was cunning, evil and untraceable. you would never see any trace of me in the crime scene, usually taking place in the internet. cyber crime is my specialty, after all.

gumi found me and figured me out; which i hated. i wanted to work in peace. without anyone threatening to expose me, without distractions. so, i agreed to work with her. then you know the drill: we hate each other but we make a zealous partnership for my sake and her fortune, we get closer, we fall in love.

she destroyed my title, the 'untraceable' that comes first before my name, as a label. she tricked me after eight months of our relationship, calling me to meet a 'client' who was revealed to be the police. i was betrayed, and then seungcheol came to the scene, saving me. i became a seventeen member since then, and she didn't contact me until recently.

after i sat opposite of gumi, i take her hand, and stretch it all the way over the table to reach my torso. no, i'm not going to let her feel my heartbeat, if that's what she thinks. she probably was thinking that i was going to do that since she was all blushy. "gumi, not on my chest. on my side." i lead her hand back down to the left side of my torso.

"what's this, jisoo?" gumi asked curiously; the vulnerable face she showed me earlier was now masked with a face of 'bravery'. "what are you doing?"

"there are gun straps inside my coat and of course, guns placed in their slots. that didn't get detected by the resto's security management, because well, technology," i puff out my cheeks and laugh. "what your hand is indirectly on top of is a gun. it's a revolver."

gumi retracted her hand. "what are you trying to imply, jisoo? get to the point. your companion might be dying in the bathroom," gumi comments, laughing. oh, he is. but that's the catch: you try to harm him and he gets harmed. but if you try to kill him, he doesn't die. i thought you did your research, gumi?

as much as i didn't want to use the term boyfriend for jeonghan, i needed to use it to scare her. i'm sorry though, for using you, jeonghan. i hope you're having fun in the bathroom.

"i won't give you the archetype version of any of my creations, no matter how dark or dirty your blackmail might be. but, if you pull that off again, trying to poison me? harming me, or killing my boyfriend?" i pull out the gun from inside my coat and placed it on the table. "this will be used against you, gumi. one hit, one kill."

"y-you can't kill me!" gumi stuttered. "you're going to be a criminal if you do so. all i want is—"

"i was a criminal, gumi, and i never regretted any of the things i've done. maybe you." i slip the gun back in its place, and gave gumi one dirty glance before i stood up. the chair made a loud creaking noise, interrupting the serene aura of the resto. i continue to disturb the guest by running to the bathroom.

that should be enough. now, i need to go to jeonghan.