𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒

20; 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡

chan pointed to his leather choker. vernon stood up and inspected it, seeing a little device blinking red at the nape. chan shivered, probably feeling cold as the room was air conditioned very well.

"what is this?" vernon asked, pulling away. he removes his suit jacket and makes chan wear it. chan grabbed a pen from vernon's suit jacket, and wrote on his palm. "oh my god, i'm scared shitless. what's happening, why are you working for this club?"

chan showed his palm to vernon.

i was a marketing employee. they attacked my previous office and kidnapped us. we're sex slaves.

vernon nodded, with a face of confusion. the others who watched through the body camera on vernon were also confused. "so, why can't you speak? did they do something to you?"

chan rubbed his palms together to erase the previous writing on his left palm. when it was gone, chan wrote again.

before, we tried to escape and talk rudely to their customers. so, they placed these leather chokers with tasers on our necks to electrocute us whenever we speak or escape. they never hear what's happening in rooms, so to be 'sure' they just electrocute us whenever we speak or try to take the choker off. don't touch, there are lots of sensors.

vernon nodded, sighing as chan rubbed his palms together again. vernon took out one of his guns, giving it to chan. the younger took it reluctantly. "you still know how to use that, yes? oh, by the way.... you know you can escape and beat them, right?"

chan wrote, no. it's hard to escape. they're everywhere. when you're caught, they place you inside a bathtub half full of water and electrocute you until you're almost dead. for punishment.

"i see." vernon nods, opening the door. he pokes his head outside and looks at the huge guards outside the rooms. he turns to look at chan. "hey, can you do me a favour? can you speak once?"

chan gave vernon a look of disagreement. he wrote on his palm, are you dumb? and vernon nodded. anywho, should chan do it? he trusts vernon, but the taser thing on his neck hurt a lot. "okay." chan spoke.

immediately, the younger is wincing, trying to take the choker off. "sorry." vernon nodded in apology and gratitude, before walking outside to meet the guards that are about to come.

common sense, really; if they get notified that chan spoke and they electrocuted him, it means that there are people that are about to barge in their room and check what's happening. vernon's fully aware of that.

"sir, please let us in. what did the slu—sorry, what did your attendant do?" a guard comes close, and vernon punches him. the hotelier only crossed his arms to shield his face, and he kept on doing that until he caused a ruckus— now he was being beaten up by men three times bigger than him. yeah, it hurt a lot. vernon didn't expect all the guards on the second floor to beat him up.

ability time! "you all lose in the end anyway." vernon says, smirking as the guards kept on punching and kicking him. "have you ever heard of 'ability'? no, the supernatural one. i have a poison kind of ability."

once the guards lost their vigor and energy, vernon knew that he won(i mean, he always does). "have fun dealing with my poison. okay, soonyoung hyung?" vernon stood up from the ground, pressing on his earpiece. he enters the room again, where chan patiently sat and watched. "can we go down now?"

"yeah, i have them under control." soonyoung watched the preoccupied customers(watching the strip show, obviously), then turning to look at the brainwashed guards. "you can come out now and take chan." vernon implied and grabbed chan, but the younger shook his head. he points to the stage.

chan wrote, i want to save the others too.

vernon's expression softened, before ruffling chan's hair. "you're still lee chan, for sure."

"okay, what should i turn this into?" mingyu asked, looking at the leather choker. "maybe a pen. that's all i could do with the length and width anyway." mingyu muttered, leaning close to write on chan's choker. once he was finished, the choker on chan's neck was gone. it turned into a pen, falling on the floor as it had nothing to hold on to.

finally. chan sighed, touching his neck that was now free from any restriction. how long has it been? months? a year? years?

"here." koushi approached chan, giving him clothes. chan looked at him suspiciously, and he introduced himself again. "hello! i'm koushi alexandersson, the president of pyxis armed forces based in los angeles! you're in my hq!"

chan nodded, quickly putting on the pants and shirt provided. "h-hello..." chan spoke, looking at the thirteen faces in front of him. he was kind of expecting to see wonwoo, but he remembered that the cat-eyed man was gone eons ago.

"you don't have to talk if you're too tired," seungcheol says. "we won't force you to say anything."

this 'bring wonwoo back' mission didn't have only one objective; along the way, they also accomplished a few more objectives that they didn't forsee(example: chan and soonyoung). seungcheol would rather have this mission instead of solving about twenty cases a day, not because this is more exciting or whatever, but because saving these people is something that seungcheol needs to do. he'd be happy to help in every way.

(seungcheol doesn't even like being a detective that much.)

"thank you." chan muttered, looking at the people with a small smile. this reminded jeonghan of the times they were in the orphanage.

"channie, that's nothing." jeonghan took the initiative to step forward, placing a hand on chan's shoulder. "hey, do you want to go home?"

chan nodded, looking straight into jeonghan's eyes. his soft gaze felt like a mother's, even though chan never knew how having a mother felt like because he never met his own. unfamiliar, but comforting. "y-yes... i want to go home."

jeonghan nods in sympathy, sighing as he wrapped his arms around chan. chan's eyes widened, taken aback at the sudden contact. he became jumpy ever since he was forced to become a prostitute, all sorts of people touching him in his nether regions or kissing him. jeonghan didn't have a bad intention, though.

"i'm joining!" seokmin said excitedly, hugging chan as well. chan was still unable to process everything as the men hugging him added up, trying to comfort him and make him feel better. it'd been a long time since chan felt like he had something to hold on to, like family. it was almost unrecognisable.

"feeling good now?" jeonghan asked. chan nodded a little. his eyes welled up with tears, slowly snaking his arms around jeonghan. ten other men spoke comforting words in unison, resulting to chan letting out a chuckle. he couldn't understand anything because they were so synchronised.

"you know what? when we get back to korea, i'll get jinha to meet you." seokmin says. "also, my son for you and seungcheol to steal again. sounds good?"

chan nodded, sniffling. "yeah. sounds good."