【Ａｓｐｈｙｘｉａ】 seongjoong

Closure

*Not beta read.

Seonghwa sighed as he pulled the car in park and laid his head down on the steering wheel, desperately trying to pull himself together for work, even though he knew he was already late. He had tried to get some rest before work but every time he closed his eyes he saw pictures of Hongjoong on the ground staring up at him with a tearfilled face. His mind hadn't stopped running since the whole altercation. He didn't even know what to make sense of anymore.

It was like Hongjoong existed in two entities in his head; his sweet Joongie that wrinkled his nose whenever he said something cheesy or laughed. The man that had come to his house for comfort when he was upset and the man whose eyes lit up like stars when Seonghwa returned the little Minion plush toy before trying to bush away his reaction as cool indifference. The man who loved music with everything he had and was working hard to put himself through school to become a producer. That was the man he had a soft spot for. The man he most likely loved.

Then there was Hongjoong, the Ghoul. Or Pirate King as Hwanwoong had aptly named him. The one-eyed Ghoul. Ever since he had been a small boy, he knew that Ghouls were nothing but monsters that took for their own pleasure. That wanted to cause fear in everyone they ran across. They were ruthless killers that didn't care that they ripped families apart. Ghouls were the reason Maddox was no longer with him. Hongjoong was one of those monsters. He was that one-eyed Ghoul that had...saved him? The Ghoul that had covered himself with his own body when he was out of weapons.

No, Seonghwa couldn't think of that night. He was only there to help out his other friend that had shown up, the Shiba. If anything, he might have been in cahoots with the Lady Red group and the reason they had lost Xion. He was a plant, meant to distract the agent and get information and cause chaos; To throw him out of the game.

But the look in his eyes that night told him something different.

I love you.

The agent grit his teeth hard enough to hear them creaking as he tried to stave off a fresh wave of tears. He had done too much crying already. He just needed to go in and get some work done. Hopefully it would take his mind off of everything.

Seonghwa sniffled as there was a tap on his car window. Turning his head he saw the brief flash of a suit sleeve before the door was pulled open. The agent looked up as Ravn propped his arm on the door and gave him a once over.

"You look like shit." The co-leader said bluntly and the sulking agent, despite wanting to fight it, gave a small derisive snort. He didn't doubt he probably did. Catching his reflection briefly in the rear view mirror, he noticed his lip unstyled hair that was a bit messy from constantly running his hands through it. His eyes were red-rimmed from tears and lack of sleep and his normally impeccable suit was rumpled as if he had pulled it straight out of the hamper.

In other words, he looked a wreck.

Instead of responding, Seonghwa just sighed and pulled his keys from the car ignition. Ravn stood back to allow the other room to exit his car. Closing the door, he pressed the button to lock it.

"What are you doing down here, Ravn?" The other agent asked, pocketing his keys.

"You're late." His dark haired companion just responded in lue of an answer. "You're never late."

"Yeah well," Seonghwa just shrugged as the two made their way towards the elevator and out of the parking garage. He didn't really have the energy to give a proper answer.

Ravn raised an eyebrow. "Anything I can do to help?"

The other agent just shook his head as he entered the elevator, signalling he didn't really want to talk about it at the moment. Ravn took note of this and just followed his co-leader. He hit the button to their floor and together they rode in silence.