warm like a gun | ot23 nct; ot5 red velvet

Chapter 10

A couple days after the launch party for UltraViolet's new arm, Jungwoo finally has a day to sleep in, and he takes full advantage, turning off all his devices so his sleep won't be disturbed. He wakes late, and takes his time getting out of bed and eating his breakfast. It's well past 14.00 when he's finished putting everything away, and it's only then he thinks to check his phone and bring systems back off Do Not Disturb. He finds a bunch of missed calls and text messages.

His stomach drops as he scans over them. Jaehyun is missing. Jaehyun is missing.

"Shit," Jungwoo mutters. "Shit, shit, shit." He knows he personally didn't leave any footprints on the security systems—nothing identifiable, anyway—but it wouldn't be too difficult for people to find out who Jaehyun met the night before the break-in. With Jeonghun locked away for good, and Jaehyun gone, Jungwoo is the only one that knows anything of the murder.

His phone rings again, making him jump. It's only Johnny, though, and he takes a breath and accepts the call.

"Hey, where are you?" Jungwoo is surprised to be met with Yukhei's voice; he sounds a little panicked. "I'm five minutes away from your place, and I hope you're there."

"I'm here, sorry. I had all my shit off, I just forgot to turn it back on when I woke up." Jungwoo looks around. "I'm gonna mess around with my security settings. Are you with Johnny?"

"Yeah, and Ten and Doyoung."

There's fumbling, and then Jungwoo hears, a little fainter, "You bitch, you had me worried!" It's Ten, of course.

"I'm fine, I'm so sorry. This is good, actually, I haven't put my leftovers from, uh, lunch away yet, so you guys can just eat them for me," Jungwoo says. "I'll see all of you soon, then."

They hang up, and Jungwoo sighs, pulling the food back out of the fridge and setting it to heat up in the oven. "Athena?" His AI dings in response. "Jam all my mics and enact a level one security protocol. I'll be having guests, but we're talking about something important."

Athena plays a little affirmative tone. His windows gain a tint, and soft music begins to play over the speakers. Athena continues to work quietly in the background while Jungwoo takes the food out of the oven and sets out bowls and chopsticks.

A tone plays. "Wong Yukhei, Li Ten, Kim Doyoung, and Seo Johnny are requesting access."

"Live video feed?" Jungwoo asks, turning around. The hologram pops up in the middle of the kitchen, and he sees his four friends, all wearing worried expressions. "Thank you, let them up."

What am I going to tell them? He promised Jaehyun he wouldn't breathe a word, and he'd intended to keep that promise. Why wouldn't he? It would put all of them in danger. He hadn't even told Yukhei; hadn't mentioned his meetings with Jaehyun to anyone, not even after Jaehyun had gone reclusive.

But clearly, the secrecy hadn't protected any of them, because now Jaehyun is gone. Jungwoo knows Jaehyun's not a bad person, and he knows the only reason he's gone is because he got too close to the truth. None of them are safe. It won't do any of them any good to keep the wool pulled over their eyes. At this point, the more people who know, the harder it will be for those in charge to stop them. Besides, everyone needs to be on guard.

The doorbell chimes. "Let them in," Jungwoo says, somewhat absently, wandering to the door to greet them.

"Jungwoo." Yukhei is first, and he kicks his shoes off and engulfs Jungwoo in a tight hug. "God, I was so worried."

"I'm sorry," Jungwoo repeats, rubbing his back. "I didn't know anything was going on."

"Is it—safe to talk?" Doyoung asks quietly.