Hostage {ℍ𝕐𝕌ℕ𝕊𝕌ℕ𝔾} -- DISCONTINUED

Chapter Fifteen

"So you found another building with the same layout as the one we were in?" Jisung raised a brow as he shifted around in his seat to look at Hyunjin. "And you didn't tell me?" Hyunjin's eyes strayed from the road just long enough to glare and scoff.

"It's almost like you forgot we're enemies."

Jisung tried – and failed – to withhold a snort. "I haven't forgotten shit. I just think that, for now, we could use each other to figure out who the fuck shot at us. We," he gestured wildly between them, "share an enemy. We both want to take 'em down. So," though his face was as mischievous as it always was, his eyes had dimmed, settling into a state of seriousness, "we should really work together from now on."

He got nothing but a huff from the gang leader, but he counted that as a victory. He leaned back in his seat. "On that note, I've eliminated the Bangs from my list of suspects." Hyunjin's eyes snapped towards him, eyebrows furrowed.

"What makes you think that? They're the prime suspects."

Jisung nodded, turning his stare out towards the road and trees zipping by them. "It's too obvious." His hands clenched into fists at his sides as he recalled the details of both the shooting and his capture. "We were attacked at an exchange meant to help us stop them, something they shouldn't have been able to find out under any circumstance. We took precautions to make sure it would be virtually impossible for them to find out until it was too late even if they did have a rat."

His eyes narrowed as he once again turned towards Hyunjin. "Besides, something doesn't add up." It had been on his mind since they'd first been captured and interrogated, clouding his thoughts, nagging at the back of his mind every passing day, only growing more intense as time dragged on.

"If it were the Bangs, why didn't we see their leader? I met Chris once before – he's not the type to hide behind other people, and he would know it would be impossible to get anything out of us with those idiots." Hyunjin bit his lip, remaining silent for several moments; he was thinking about it.

"What if he wanted to keep it anonymous? Not give us the chance to find out who was really behind it?" His voice was quiet – he already knew the answer; Jisung didn't even need to say anything. Even without seeing any known member of the Bang family, they'd still arrived at the conclusion that it was them.

"The Bangs are trying to take control while raising as little suspicion as possible – they would've known that we already knew about their plans by now. So why not just kill us when they had the opportunity? They'd be getting rid of two threats just like that. The others might have assumed we killed each other, or that we were both offed by smaller, vengeful gangs around the perimeter of the city. The Bangs are good at framing people for things like that."

Hyunjin's knuckles turned white from where he gripped the leather steering wheel, jaw clenched. "Then who?" His voice was taught with frustration, his entire body tense; Jisung felt the same way.

He sighed and shook his head, staring bitterly ahead.

"I don't know."

~#~#~#~#~#~

It took them a little while to reach their destination – wherever it was that Hyunjin and his men had found the similar building, it was isolated, even more so than the original compound. Nothing but empty fields stretched out around them, the building worn down and clearly abandoned.

They looked similar enough, but what really interested him were the locks; that would tell him all he needed to know. He swung open the door and slid out of the car, removing his gun from his waistband and flicking off the safety. Hyunjin mumbled something behind him as he, too, stepped out of the car, unclipping his own gun.