Answer ||| Ateez

12

Jongho had no intention of letting the two strangers in front of him leave without some kind of answer. He had a feeling the were there to attempt to collect a debt, which would be completely made up because he had paid off the warehouse a long time ago.

With his income and Yeosang's hacking ability they didn't have to worry about money. But this wouldn't be the first time some random person showed up wanting to talk to him about something important.

And he wasn't afraid to kick their ass if he needed to.

"Well?" He asked.

The pair looked at each other. It was obvious that they were nervous, which was why he had signaled to Yeosang early to keep an eye on the cameras. They had a who system set up with secret signs so that Yeosang was aware of what was going on. No one knew that someone was always watching, they didn't even know that Jongho was in a relationship. And he planned to keep it that way.

Lights above him flicked twice. Yeosang was telling him to stay cautious.

The redhead rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "I guess there's no better way to start so I'm just going to jump right into it. I know who you are, Jongho."

A red flag instantly went up in Jongho's mind and he froze. He never gave out his name...

"I know who you are, and you used to know who we are. My name is Mingi, and this is Yunho. We used to be on a team with five other people."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jongho asked. "I don't know either of you and I have never met you before."

"Not in this life." Mingi added softly.

Before Jongho could say anything, Yunho held up his hands. "I know it sounds crazy. I just met Mingi earlier today and he's told me everything. It's still crazy, but... he knows things about me that I've never shared with anyone. If you take the time to listen, I promise it will make sense. Kind of."

Mingi shot Yunho a look of disbelief and Yunho shrank into his shoulders a little.

"Leave." Jongho said. He didn't have time for this.

"Please, we need you." Mingi stepped forward. "You're a fighter, right? Did you grow up getting bullied in school?"

Jongho scoffed and shook his head. "Who didn't? Everyone is looking out for themselves and trying to show that they are bigger and badder. I'm serious. I want you to le—"

"To the point where you killed your bully with a brink?"

Jongho paused at Mingi's words. Yeosang was the only person he had ever told about that. Not even his parents knew before they died. They just assumed that his bully had moved on to a different kid and left Jongho alone.

"See?" Mingi said hesitantly. "Please, Jongho, if you'd just listen to me, I can explain everything."

The desperation in Mingi's voice had Jongho grinding his teeth. This could be a trap and he could be walking into something dangerous. And yet... for Mingi to know something so personal about his past...

His eyes flicked to Yunho. "What did he have on you?"

"He knew that my sister heard voices. She was sick for a long time." Yunho answered quietly. Jongho knew enough about reading people to see that there was no trace of a lie in Yunho's eyes. "He also knew that she died, although the cause of death is a little different this time."

Jongho cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" He started tapping his shoulder, telling Yeosang to stay hidden just in case they came upstairs.

"This..." Mingi sighed. "this life isn't want it used to be. In our other life, we faced a powerful enemy who managed to create a time machine. I'm the only one who remembers what happened because I was touching the machine, but things used to be different."