crosshairs
title: crosshairs
fandom: monsta x
pairing: changkyun/wonho, not-so-ninja!shownu/wonho
genre: angst, gang!au + genderswap!kihyun
rating: pg13
description: so it was a test. it was a test this whole time, and he failed.
wonho's new assignment comes to him in a manilla folder. he flips it open with a yawn, expecting to see the name of some sort of drug lord or company head that he's never heard of. but the name printed in bold lettering across the top of the page isn't either of those things. it's a name that brings back way too many memories of a certain gun in his hands. back when he was a sharpshooter that went by shin hoseok.wonho's new assignment comes to him in a manilla folder. he flips it open with a yawn, expecting to see the name of some sort of drug lord or company head that he's never heard of. but the name printed in bold lettering across the top of the page isn't either of those things. it's a name that brings back way too many memories of a certain gun in his hands. back when he was a sharpshooter that went by shin hoseok.
s o n h y u n w o o
is spelled out in italics over the top of the page and wonho almost drops his coffee.
"shit," he hisses, just as changkyun walks in, an identical manilla folder in hand. the guy looks more like someone that should be on the front cover of a magaze than someone most comfortable with his finger on the trigger, but changkyun's covered him on missions plenty of times before so wonho supposes this is just proof that looks don't matter at all.
"who'd you get?" changkyun asks him, the same way he'd ask 'what's for lunch today,' or 'nice weather, huh?' as if killing someone was just as simple as lunch or weather. and maybe that's how changkyun sees it. the younger takes a seat on wonho's desk, crushing papers and an origami crane - the product of wonho's boredom.
wonho flips the folder over to show changkyun the name and picture of his old boss (but changkyun doesn't know that) while he sets his coffee down with his other hand because it's still burning hot and he doesn't need to have an accident.
raising his eyebrows, changkyun turns his own folder around and wonho decides that putting his coffee down was a good idea because he would've dropped it right then. across the front page of changkyun's assignment is the same name that's typed onto his own. "looks like we're together for this one," the brunette says, taking wonho's coffee before he can protest. the younger downs the entire thing in one go while wonho watches with a shocked sort of fascination because that coffee was hot enought to singe wonho's tongue off and yet this idiot doesn't even flinch. at least he has the decency to throw the empty cup in the trash from across the room, completing the feat with a whoop and a fist pump.
changkyun leaves right afater that. wonho's pretty sure that the coffee is what he actually wanted.
the folder doesn't contain much more information than the stuff wonho already knows. the usual useless bit of profiling that includes things like weight and height and how does jooheon know all that stuff anyways? although it's actually kihyun, that devil in disguise, who knows computers like the back of her hand and puts all these profiles together.
so wonho skips past the info and finds the assignment itself. hyunwoo is said to be attending a meeting in three days. wonho and changkyun are going to set up across the street and wait for the right time to strike. what wonho doesn't understand is why both of them are on this job. assignments are usually solo - that way, if they screw up, it doesn't domino effect into a bigger problem. and anyways, wonho's known for being capable of taking care of things on his own.
he heaves a sigh and gets up, in need of another coffee. he switched gangs for a good reason, but that doesn't mean he wants to kill anyone off from his old crew. hyunwoo is cold when it comes to business and has no qualms about blowing a person's head off if the time calls for it, but wonho was one of the special few that saw the quirky artist side of him that would hide in the darkest corners of their warehouse base. wonho has distinct memories of his old boss, bandaging the wounds he came back home with after getting caught in the line of fire. hyunwoo had this subtle way of caring - it only showed when it was safe to be a little vulnerable.
even though he willingly made the pledge to jooheon, cutting off any connections to hyunwoo, this almost feels like a test. he wouldn't put it below his new leader; the man is as cruel and calculating as they come.
this time around the coffee is too cold.
*****
opening the gun case has always been changkyun's favorite part of the job. the two have done assignments before, and he would always talk about it; how he likes to click the case open and say hello to his children, how he likes to run his fingertips over the barrel before lifting them off the padding like a baby out of its crib.
for wonho, though, opening the case today just makes him kind of sick. it usually does, though the wave of nausea that hits him is stronger this time around. he's really not cut out for this line of work. he's good at it, sure, but he doesn't want to be good at it. if he had any say he'd still be in school and jooheon is sweet about it on the outside. but if anyone leaves this crew, all the man has to do is snap his fingers and that tracker kid, hyungwon, will hunt them down. no one wants to know what he does when he finally finds them but it isn't hard to guess.
so wonho can't leave. it'd be different if he'd wanted this, but he was dragged onto the wrong side of the tracks and now he can't seem to pull himself back to safety.
"what's that look for?" changkyun asks, smirking at him from over the lid of his case. he's busy clicking a silencer onto his gun, an imported savage 110 ba. it's his favorite. wonho wonders how many people he's killed with it.
shoulders lifting into a shrug, trying to stay casual even though he thinks his heart might beat right through his chest, he begins to piece together his own t93, something he'd bought back in china. actually, it was hyunwoo who bought it for him, and it was a bitch and a half to smuggle it over into korea. "just thinking."
"well," changkyun chuckles, "we aren't being paid to think. i want to be in place ten minutes before his car rolls up. let's get moving."
the two of them crouch low and watch, as hyunwoo's car pulls up with all the glory and finessse a sleek body, tinted windows (bulletproof, probably), and a fresh paintjob can provide. first out the door is minhyuk, martial arts specialist and hyunwoo's right hand man. he joined the gang just after wonho did, but he and hyunwoo clicked like puzzle pieces and well, that was that. and there's someone new, someone wonho doesn't recognize - most likely his replacement. he can't help narrowing his eyes a little. wonho was the one that wanted to leave in the first place but being replaced still hurts like a bitch.
it amazes him how much they haven't changed. he can't help feeling disappointed that they'd recovered from his disappearance so quickly, but maybe he shouldn't be surprised. it's not like they could afford to falter when anyone else left. the rule is to just pick up the pieces and go before you think about them too hard.
and then comes hyunwoo.
he's just as good looking as wonho remembers him to be, tall and built, dark eyes and hair messy in that perfect sort of way. a white button up shirt strains over the muscles of his chest and biceps, struggling to cover skin and for a moment wonho is completely distracted by it.
he forces himself to shake the memories way. like changkyun said, he isn't being paid to think. he just has to go and get it overwith, deal with it in his own way. this is good money and he can't back out on the job if he wants to live.
but being paid to murder someone he never really stopped caring about isn't much of a good alternative.
the plan was to take hyunwoo and minhyuk out before they even make it into the building. with guns already cocked against shoulders, resting atop the windowsill, wonho waits and holds his breath until his old friend comes into view. his lungs are shaking but he can't even feel it. the burning is numb to what his head is going through, desperately trying not to let this affect him the way it's threatening to affect him.
it happens too fast.
before the storm there is a moment that seems suspended in time, like the air is thick as corn syrup and everything slows down to a crawl. then suddenly, hyunwoo is in his crosshairs and that's the moment he's supposed to pull the trigger. instead, he hesitates because the man has turned around, and he seems to be staring straight down the barrel of the gun. there's this expression on his face that wonho can't really decipher. a small smile. but is it smug, or fond? wonho can't tell.
and then he is gone, door shutting tight behind him.
"the hell was that, wonho?"
stunned, shock-slow, wonho blinks and pulls away from the scope. turns to changkyun and jumps, because changkyun's gun is right in his face, and he knows the safety is off. "what--"
"look man, i don't want to do this. i didn't want to do this. i know - knew - that you wouldn't back out on this assignment, i thought you were for real. but jooheon was right; you're not committed. and it's a damn shame becasue i liked you, man. i liked doing these things with you. but i have to do this, jooheon told me to. it's either you or me right now and i'm sorry but i'm not gonna let it be me."
wonho is shaking a little, but he's not sure why. fear? or guilt? some twisted sense of relief? "changkyun, i don't understand what's--"
"you, you idiot. i wasn't ordered to kill minhyuk, he isn't even on the bottom half of jooheon's list. it was you i was supposed to watch, to make sure. and you let me down, you ass. this was the one assignment i didn't want to carry through, but if it wasn't going to be me doing it, it was going to be somebody else. probably kihyun, because she's heartless and she would have shot you anyways. i at least wanted to give you a chance. but you ruined it, you dumbfuck, i liked you and now i have to kill you."
"i'm sorry," is all wonho can really say now because changkyun looks so wrecked, finger unsteady on the trigger, barrel of his gun shaking against wonho's forehead. "i'm sorry i let you down."
at the sound of a gunshot, hyunwoo's guards peer out from between the blinds while someone on top of the roof scans down the street, looking for the source of the sound. but, there is no glint of a scope, no pale fingers against dark metal, and eventually, they relax and leave it alone.