The Trials and Tribulations of Pathos - Jikook

Chapter 14

The four males finally come across a hidden, narrow alley, and Jimin takes a sharp right into the space. Now that they're out of the general public's eye, he throws the man he's holding against the wall, feeling a sense of satisfaction when he hears the thump of his back colliding with the brick painfully. The assassin glares at the man in distaste, approaching him with a look of disgust on his face as he inspects the brute from all angles, an easy thing to do as the man is frozen in fear.

As he should be.

Jimin wouldn't have hurt Yong, as he doesn't like to hurt innocent people. And elderly people. Especially innocent, elderly, kind people. He kind of just... snapped, and put fear into the woman to make her talk. It would have wasted both of their time if he hadn't, and what's one more person who hates him and fears him? Jimin has made so many enemies in his life that it's almost surprising that he hasn't been killed off by one of them yet, and for that he blames his skills, the KOABH's ability to track and dispose of threats, and his enemies' own fear that clouds their confidence in themselves to take him out.

It's honestly a little disappointing, as he wouldn't mind both being hunted (it provides a little extracurricular fun in his down time), or being killed off. He isn't afraid of much, the only two things coming to mind being human interaction and his own emotions, and he certainly isn't afraid of death. The only downside to dying would be the loss of adrenaline rushes, as when you're dead you don't have the functioning body parts to produce epinephrine. He admits that he's a bit of an adrenaline junkie, but he doesn't hate the term, deciding to embrace that label instead of facing the more probable reason: that he's at least a bit of a psychopath.

Jimin takes in the man's built quadriceps, eyes scanning over his toned body before taking in the scratches along his arms. "How did you get these?" he asks, pointing at them. The man opens his mouth, willing his vocal chords to work but getting nothing more than a small, wheezing outlet of air. "Speak up, I can't hear you," Jimin growls, kicking at the man's shins lightly. He won't punish the man any more than is acceptable for his crimes of harassment; if anything he's showing him mercy.

If he really wanted to, Jimin could kill the man in less than a second, just by putting a certain amount of pressure on one of his many pressure points. He could bring the man back to the organization and let Namjoon's people deal with him, the employees that are specially trained in the art of torturing. It's too much of an honor for Jimin to torture this man himself- the bastard doesn't deserve that kind of high treatment, doesn't deserve to be touched by a red hot rod brandished by Jimin's hand.

"It's from the guy I held up against the wall, the one who was carrying the duffle bag," the man whispers shakily, lungs and vocal chords barely able to work with each other well enough to produce sound from his mouth.

"Which guy? Explain the entire thing in detail, from the beginning" Jimin commands. "Me and my pal were looking for easy targets so we went into the local corner store. We saw two guys, both scrawny and beat up with a large duffle bag in the black haired one's hand. I jumped them to steal their stuff and shoved the black haired guy against the wall and told him to give me his bag. He started acting weird and his eyes glazed over and he started shivering and whimpering, so I gave up on him and tossed him aside. I went to pick up the duffle bag but the other guy punched me and grabbed his friend's hand and the duffle bag and they both ran out of the store," the man explains, voice still breathy and quiet, as if afraid to speak up and startle Jimin and make the ash-haired male use his dagger on him.

A good fear, Jimin thinks. He's already pissed with this guy and his inability to understand the word 'no'- any more provoking and Jimin might have another dead body on his hands.

"Then what?" Jimin prods. "They just... ran. That's it. My pal and I followed them out of the store to try and trace them down but they were fast and had a good head start. I saw them dart into one of the alleys but we couldn't find them after that." Jimin nods his head, thoughts fighting against each other to be heard. What other useful information could he pull from the man? He lets it rest for now, turning to Yoongi and raising his eyebrows as if to tell him to take his turn interrogating the men.

Yoongi gets the hint, handing the man in his grasp over to Jimin to step up to the bruised brute. "So, You saw them in the store. Did you happen to see what they were buying?" Jimin's eyebrows shoot up, surprised and impressed with Yoongi's question. He hadn't thought to ask about that at all, mind more occupied with thoughts of where the two could have run off to. He can finally see the importance of having a partner- Yoongi knows what to ask and when, and he's not afraid to ask it.

Jimin is starting to appreciate his partner in full, glad that he got paired up with a person as similar to himself as the older assassin.

"They bought a few boxes of hair dye, some glasses, and another small package. I didn't see what the last item was, but I did notice that the dye colors were red and blonde." Yoongi nods, pulling out his phone to write the new information down. Jimin makes a mental note to look for red and blonde hair instead of brown and black. It's smart- changing their hair colors. In the populated, touristy island of Jeju, you come across people with all different hairstyles and colors. Yoongi and Jimin's own unnatural hair colors prove this, just two odd shades in an island filled with a complete rainbow and more.

Blonde and rusty shades are definitely the trend nowadays, and though there are a lot of people with black and brown hair, it definitely makes it harder for them to be pointed out. The two targets also probably didn't expect their hunters to know of their hair change, which would have made it even more difficult if the two assassins hadn't found out this bit of information. More specifically, if Yoongi hadn't been there to think of and ask that question.

Yoongi checks with Jimin to see if the younger has any other questions, to which Jimin shakes his head. That seems about it, their need for the two brutes fading, and fast. "Jimin? Now that we're done with the questions, do you have any ideas about how to dispose of these two?"

The young assassin nods his head almost giddily, stepping up to the man with the bruised eye and pulling up his lowered head by his chin. "So, I seem to remember you telling me a story about a gang leader that you defeated. I see no reason to doubt its authenticity, so why don't we head over to the police station and file a report? I vaguely remember a law prohibiting gangs... you might be dangerous, I think I'll have to turn you in."

The man's eyes widen, mouth opening to beg for forgiveness, but Jimin places a finger over his lips to quiet him. "Ah ah ah, remember what I told you about punishments? Now be a good boy and don't say a word about our ordeal to anyone. You understand me? I can do worse things to you than hand you over to the police- at least they have civil methods of punishment. Me? Not so much," Jimin hisses, pulling out the larger dagger from his clothes once again and pressing it up against the man's Adam's Apple.

The man starts trembling, a plea in his eyes telling Jimin that he won't mention a word to anyone. The ash-haired male sheaths his knife, turning to the other male who's back under Yoongi's harsh grasp. "I don't remember you saying anything about being in a gang, but don't think I'm letting you off easy. Enjoy the guilt of not stopping your friend from being an asshole while he rots in prison. If you utter a single word about those two men or what happened today, there will be repercussions. So don't even think about it unless you want a knife through every one of your loved one's hearts and a nice couple months in a torture chamber before going down the same path as your family and friends."

The other man nods harshly, taking one more look at his friend before fleeing the scene as soon as Jimin shoos him away. Jimin probably wouldn't follow through with that threat either, as that might mean killing innocent people and children. But the threat does its job, as Jimin feels the man won't say a single word to anyone. Who knew these two bastards were such cowards? This is why Jimin doesn't get close with anyone- there's no one but himself for people to threaten to kill. No liabilities.

...Besides his last partner, that is, but we all know how that turned out, the young man's grave being a reminder to Jimin that he needs to keep his distance.

He pulls himself out of his flashback and dials the police. "Yes Officer, I've found a gang leader here. We're in front of the laundromat on 5th street, please come and take him away, he's already harassed people and hurt bystanders." Jimin hangs up with a click, a small, satisfied smile growing on his face.