The Trials and Tribulations of Pathos - Jikook

Chapter 9

The tesla pulls into the vast airport parking lot an hour after leaving the Min residence, at exactly 5:00 a.m. Jimin stretches out his arms, sighing contentedly when he feels his elbow pop. With a yawn, he leans back and cracks his spine, slouching down in bliss as his joints loosen up. Jimin leans over and shoves Yoongi's shoulder, causing the older male to curl up on himself, shrugging away his partner's hand with a grunt.

"Go away, it's too early. You had me wake up at four. It's not like Taehyung and Jungkook would've vanished into thin air if we waited one more hour."

Jimin chuckles at Yoongi's whining, glad his partner isn't a completely strict stick-in-the-mud. The higher up you get in the ranks, the weirder people are- these are the emotionless psychopaths that are blank-faced and a little too fucked up in the head to make you feel safe sitting in the same room alone with them.

All in all, Jimin can't say much criticizing them. He is, after all, a borderline sociopath. But at least he knows how to have fun and show emotion, and he appreciates that Yoongi isn't a complete straight-faced jackass.

Jimin sits back up and opens the car door, stretching out his legs before jogging around to the passenger side and opening the door to slap his partner's shoulder. "Get up, this is where the fun starts- well, almost. We have to get to Jeju first, but we're super close!" he squeals, yanking Yoongi's arm and dragging the older hitman out of the car.

They open the trunk and lug out their suitcases, pulling out the handles and rolling them across the parking lot after locking the car. The pair hurry into the airport and take a seat by the boarding entrance to their plane, settling down to wait until the plane's ready for boarding.

Jimin's leg bounces next to Yoongi's, the young assassin's excitement barely contained as his eyes roam the airport. One of his favorite things to do in crowded spaces is to find out as much about a person as humanly possible. It helps calm him down and focus on one thing, as he's not great with a whole bunch of people. It makes him feel slightly claustrophobic, and as for someone who works in the shadows and isn't meant to be seen at all, slightly exposed as well.

He chooses his target, an older man in his 60's who's sitting just a couple seats away from them and wearing a deep red flannel and creased black slacks. Jimin immediately notices the man's slightly matted hair, taking in the attempted clean up of a coffee spill on the dark flannel. The laces of his tennis shoes are loose and slightly undone, and Jimin guesses the man was in a rush this morning. In his pocket is his flight ticket, but Jimin can only see the beginning of his name, "Kim Do-"

The man's clothes are all ironed and pressed, contrasting greatly to his ratty hair and disheveled look. A quick glance at his left ring finger shows that he is indeed married, an older-looking silver band adorning his hand. Jimin guesses that his spouse cleans the man's clothes and irons them.

The ash-haired male is startled out of his close inspection by a small child running across the room, calling out to the young man in front of her, who Jimin guesses is her older brother. "Donghyunnie! Wait for me!" she giggles, clapping as she catches up with him and tugging on his shirt excitedly.

In the commotion, Jimin almost misses the way the man he's inspecting glances up expectantly at the name the little girl called. "Ah," Jimin whispers quietly to himself. "Kim Donghyun." The old man stands up abruptly, looking around before heading off in the general direction of the small airport shopping center. Jimin gets up, glancing back at a sleeping Yoongi before following his target.

He trails Donghyun into a small sandwich shop, standing in the corner as he watches the older man order. When he pulls out his credit card to pay, Jimin slinks over to stand behind him at an angle, eyes glancing over his card as he inserts the chip into the machine. It doesn't work the first time, and Donghyun pulls it back out, hovering the plastic over the card machine for several seconds before inserting it back into the slit.

In those few seconds, Jimin's already memorized his information.

The man slips the card back into his wallet, and Jimin notices several pictures of what appears to be a younger version of Donghyun with a woman of around the same age, presumably his wife, holding a young girl of around the age 17 who looks like the exact combination of the two. A couple more pictures show the girl with edited pink wings and a halo, and a breast cancer awareness band settled around Donghyun's right wrist suggests the cause behind his daughter's death.

By then, he's done paying for his food. He gets his receipt and tosses it in the trash after taking a brief glance at it. Jimin discreetly picks it out of the bin, smoothing it and looking at its contents. One turkey sub, no tomato and added jalapeños and carrots, along with one large soda.

Jimin gags slightly.

He continues reading, noticing that the man got a 20% discount on his sandwich and one dollar off his drink. A quick internet search later reveals that Donghyun is about 62-64 years old. At this particular shop, a 62 year old Senior discount gets you 20% off if you buy a classic turkey sandwich. A Senior discount at 65 years old gives you the same offer except for an extra-turkey club. Another search tells that he's a coach- one dollar off any large soda for school coaches.

Jimin tosses the receipt back in the trash, pulling out some wipes from his messenger bag and cleaning off his hands. He trails Donghyun back to their seats, a grin prominent on his face as the young assassin mentally pats himself on the back. There are a lot of things you can learn just by observing, and Jimin has mastered this skill in his years as a trainee and eventual assassin.

He plops himself back down next to Yoongi, leaning back into his seat and pulling out his phone. He searches up 'Kim Donghyun, school coach', and scrolls through a few articles before finally finding a picture that matches the man a couple seats away from him. From there, he finds all of the man's records- from school fights to college grades to address and family tree. His criminal records prove interesting, showing that he'd spent half a year in jail for assault.

Too soon, the airport speakers announce the departure of their flight. Jimin shakes Yoongi awake, grabs their stuff, and trotts over to the boarding line. "Oh thank fuck, a two hour long flight. I can finally get my last couple hours of undisturbed sleep," Yoongi groans as they near the entrance to the tunnel leading to the plane. "First class, too. You better let me use your neck pillow- I know for a fact you won't be sleeping, therefore I need it more than you. You're too energetic to stand still. Control yourself bitch, you're not five."

Jimin rolls his eyes at his partner's grumbling, shutting him up with a promise to let him have his neck pillow. It's the first time Jimin sees Yoongi smile, gums showing as his eyes scrunch up in excitement about his two hours of more nap time.

Who's the five year old now?

Just as Jimin steps into the tunnel, he turns around and whispers a small "Bye Kim Donghyun, age 63, assaulter and school coach. I'm terribly sorry about your daughter." Jimin offers a lopsided grin, fingers wiggling in farewell to the old man sitting across the room, back turned to the ash-haired male and unknowing to the young man offering him a sincere goodbye, calling to him as if reading off a court description as his soft voice lilts with sincere fondness, as if sending off an old friend.