𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘦 || 𝘫𝘪𝘩𝘢𝘯

𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

   It'd been 40 minutes since the mission had begun; 35 minutes since Jeonghan had left his side and disappeared into the darkness, and almost 10 minutes since his senses entered overdrive.

   The odd figures that would appear from the corner of his eyes were intimidating. The clinks and the clanks of the night were more than enough to make him paranoid. To add, everytime the wind blew his body would vibrate, shiver continuously like a leaf. Of course, Joshua had no other option than to hug himself, not only as a way to protect his body from the cold, but also as a way to bring comfort to his growing anxiety.

   As the seconds continued to pass, his heartbeat decreased and increased in odd patterns. His hands shook, and his legs felt weak. Joshua felt a very familiar lump reside in his throat. However, before he decided to fuck it and just let it all out, a soft beep sounded from his in-ear, completely startling him out of his thoughts.

   "Hey Joshua,” Said the voice that followed. “How's it going over there?"

   "...Great"

   "Good to know" The inmate heard Minghao sigh. "You seemed very anxious earlier, glad to know it wasn't anything serious"

   At this, Joshua grimaced. 'The lump in my throat would like to say otherwise.'

   "Anyways, we just received great news from Jeonghan's side. Apparently, he was able to get in with just a small amount of suspicion from the bartender. Turns out the man is more reserved and willing to cooperate than we'd initially been told." Minghao laughed. "And here I thought he was another menace like you two"

   "We're not..a menace, Hao" Joshua managed to let out. "Just, high class troublemakers…"

   “Yeah right” He heard Minghao groan. “By the way, you sound sick as hell. Are you sure you haven’t turned into a zombie yet or something?”

   “The sleep deprivation is just getting to me, that’s all” He muttered. “I’m sure it’s nothing to get worried about”

   “It better not be…After all, there’s no going back.” Minghao spat. “Either you get your shit together or Jeonghan gets into serious trouble”

   “Damn. Way to state the obvious Sherlock”

   “Just making sure you know how important it is for you to hurry it up and get in there. However, in case you do end up feeling like crap and are unable to go on, I’ll take over and get you out of there immediately. Understand?” He sighed. “It’s…better to save your life than give you a meaningless death”

   With a fond expression, Joshua smiled. “...Thanks Hao,” He uttered.

   At this, the secretary only responded with a hum. The man truly wasn’t as cold and demanding as he appeared to be.

   “Ookeey then. Begin by heading forward and then giving a turn to the left. Then you’ll walk straight and stop until I tell you to stop. Jeonghan messed around with me earlier and I seriously thought he’d gotten lost only to find out the man was just running around in circles when I re-checked his location.”

   ‘Of course he would’ The inmate laughed. Leave it to Jeonghan and his shenanigans to finally make him relax. 

   As he then continued walking (following Minghao’s directions of course), Joshua’s heart finally seemed to have gotten tired of ringing in his ear. And although his hands were still shaking, the weird feeling in his throat had subsided. To say he was relaxed would be considered an overstatement, however, but Joshua could finally feel more at ease now that there was a familiar voice guiding him in the dark.

   After all, to him, the darkness only served as a constant reminder of his past loneliness.

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   Been a while since I've uploaded, so I'm sorry for that ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ
   Today's a short chapter but I'll make sure to make the next one longer