itâs often that mingyu finds himself wondering if he is really goddamn stupid or just really goddamn brave. maybe he was a bit of both. either way, he wasnât a total idiot, so at least all wasnât lost. his reckless tendencies didnât come from the same place within him as they once did. at least at this point, he sizes up a situation before diving in head first. he may not be invincible, but he takes the precautions that he feels he needs to.
heâs intelligent and careful, and that keeps him alive. sometimes, he thinks that if he could predict the future that all of this would be so much easier and he wouldnât have to even take a hint of a gamble, but he also isnât living in such a fantasy that he believes that kind of thing to be possible. now that would be idiotic.
still, the gamble is one that he has to take. truthfully, he isnât sure he would be able to sleep at night knowing that he allowed one of his gang members to be in danger. even the ones he trusted the least were people that he trusted more than anyone on the outside. he promised himself he would look out for them and do whatever he could to keep them breathing. theyâre his family⊠and thatâs the only fucking thing that this world has to offer to anyone. without that, itâs all utterly pointless. he has a lot of willpower and when his loved ones are in danger, heâs merciless. thatâs why he wasnât worried about himself. he was going to be just fine. now he had to ensure that the same could be said for image.
locating him was difficult, though made possible since he was aware of the last place image was sent to clean and clear out. he would have hated it if he arrived too late but, thankfully, he didnât. he managed to locate his captured gang member, taking out a few of his captors on the way there. however, he made the horrible mistake of underestimating the number of their enemies and landed himself a cozy spot right there next to the other⊠trapped.
shame. guilt. rage. all emotions that he felt as his brain tried to process what move to make next. briefly ignoring their dire need to escape as soon as possible, ghost mingyu faced his friend and gave him a sympathetic look. âare you hurt?â
there were a lot of things seungcheol didnât realize heâd signed up for when he went undercover. it was such an impulsive decision, the officer not even stopping for a second to think about the consequences. he just needed an out. an escape from the ridicule he faced under his own home base.
he didnât sign up for the friendships heâd gain under phoenixâs care. who would have thought a hitman and a police officer could get along? not seungcheol. if he werenât trying so desperately to keep on the good side of the gang, and make connections to get information, he still doesnât think he could have ignored mingyu in particular. they get close rather fast, but that might also be because of seungcheolâs facade as âcheolâ. either way, he finds himself enjoying mingyuâs company when heâs around, and somehow keeps his stomach from rolling at the image of the man murdering people. itâd been hard. his first few weeks were spent in agony, nauseous at every waking moment. the sights heâs seen since joining phoenix were not pretty.
still, heâs here on a job. a very important one, in fact. clean up crew sets him in the perfect spot to finish his job, but itâs still been slow going. usually heâs not alone for the task. and of course one of the only times is--he gets kidnapped ( just another thing he didnât sign up for ).
cheol has never been much of a fighter, with his unassuming oblivious look on his face, and lack of observation of his surroundings. seungcheol hates how much of cheol has seeped into his real being, dulling his senses heâd been working on for years.
he loses track of time quickly, waking to find himself tied down to a chair, wrists bound to each arm and ankles bound to the front legs. thankfully, these guys donât seem all that creative in their torture methods, resorting to punching him rather than slicing at his skin, or taking any body parts. he can take a beating. his time with jeonghan made sure of that.
it seems theyâd wanted to lure out more important members of the gang, using their âweakestâ member. questions about the locations of their hitmen go deaf to his ears, cheol eventually pulling out the waterworks in an attempt to make them stop wailing on him. his head lolls forward, and thatâs not an act--seungcheol doesnât have the strength to keep it lifted anymore, exhaustion and soreness taking over. the sniffles come first, and then the crying, small whimpers and coughs until his captors grow annoyed, and leave him alone. they seem convinced someoneâs coming for him.
seungcheol wants to laugh, because he doesnât think thatâs the case. not until someone actually shows up. image misses most of his heroics, eyes barely open until mingyuâs tied up next to him in a similar fashion. cheol turns his head to the other at the sound of his voice with a pained noise, and tries his best to smile anyways. heâs still got a mask to pull off, and he tries to keep his surprise down to a minimum. âjust some bruises... i donât suppose you decided to get captured on purpose, did you? this is the part where youâre supposed to houdini our way out of here.â
