PLUGGED IN | minsung

part 19

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Content warning: long chapter, gets violent. Consider yourself warned.

"You're stupid if you think I'm not coming with you." Jisung was running to keep up with Minho as he stormed back into the restaurant. "That's my friend in there, too."

There was a wild look in Minho's eyes, a mirror back to when they'd picked up a broken Jeongin from the side of the street. He gripped Jisung's arms in his hands.

"Do I have to beg?" His voice was shaking. "Do I have to beg you not to get involved?"

Jisung frowned and shook himself free. He started walking further into the restaurant. Minho let out a groan and gave up. He didn't have time to explain how dangerous it was to Jisung. Instead, he just pushed past the younger boy, stretching out one arm to keep him behind him.

They reached the table where they had all been sat together only minutes earlier. There was no sign they had been there at all; the plates and glasses had all been cleared away and the stained tablecloth replaced. Hyunjin and Felix were nowhere to be seen. A tall man dressed all in black spotted the two boys walking towards him.

"Good," the man said. "Follow me."

Jisung was expecting Minho to hit him. He was surprised when the older boy just grunted and followed the man through a curtain that Jisung thought was just for show. The thick fabric moved and revealed a dark staircase.

Minho and Jisung followed the man up the stairs. The curtain plunged them back into darkness as it settled over the doorway, cutting off the sounds from the restaurant into little more than a muffled buzz. Before they could reach the top, Minho turned suddenly to stare down at Jisung.

"Please, Jisung, please go back down. You can wait for me in the car, I'll get Hyunjin and Felix and be out in a moment..."

It was too late. Another man had materialised in the space behind Jisung and he prodded him sharply in the back with one outstretched finger.

"Move."

The boys moved.

The staircase opened out into a large room, the floor and walls made from bare stone, a million miles away from the luxury of the restaurant downstairs. The room was empty aside from a man sitting in a chair in the very centre. He smiled hungrily as Minho and Jisung stepped into the room. The two men who had come up the stairs with them settled into place on either side of the door and pulled it closed.

"You must be the kingpin," said the man in the chair. He spoke softly in a thick accent that Jisung struggled to understand. "What a pleasure."

Minho glared at him and stepped forward to cover Jisung's body with his own.

"What is this?" Minho snarled. There was an icy undertone to his voice that sent shivers crawling down Jisung's spine. The man in the chair's smile widened.

"This is repayment."

Jisung noticed a door behind the man, thick dark wood covered in metal panels. Is this where Hyunjin and Felix were?

"You have pretty friends," the man continued when Minho stayed silent. "I was hoping you'd bring the one from the party. I would've liked to have done some damage to him."

Realisation dawned on Minho's face. The man noticed and spoke again.

"So you do know who I am. Good. But I'm not sure of your name. You've done well to slip under my radar in this city."

"Do you need to know my name?" Minho asked. "Are you hoping to put me on your Christmas card list?"

The man seemed delighted at this. He laughed, a loud sound that boomed and echoed around the empty room. He glanced over at the men still standing by the entrance and cocked an eyebrow. As if they had been silently instructed, the men laughed, too.