Nadir ◈ Seungjin

21 ◈ Easy To Break

By the time Seungmin had his opportunity to sock Hyunjin in the jaw again, hard enough for the imprint of his fist to cast an irritated glow of scarlet on his cheekbone, hard enough for the vampire to shove the cool glass of cocktail against his cheek to calm the throbbing down and keep it against his skin as they chased after the shadow, hard enough for his own knuckles to be bruised in their own furiousity as they stung with the threats of broken skin over the bones; The Mimic was long gone. Slipped between the crowds, the shadows that melted and bent with one another into a glob of unrecognizable gloom. Even as they split off and searched the floors, neither of them were able to turn up with results.

Resolving to calling it quits for now and reporting to the other two what happened, they found Jisung and Minho having a dance battle on the dance floor. Though they seemed to be enjoying themselves instead of investigating, the scowls on their faces spoke the truth of them both being about five seconds away from killing one another then and there. They quickly blamed one another, arguing with boisterous roars to who distracted who when they were both supposed to be focusing, their bickering going as far as starting a shoving match as the four impromptu detectives left the walls of the nightclub behind them. About an hour before it would close for the sunrise anyway.

They parted ways; Jisung laughing at the solid bruise beginning to form on Hyunjin's face; Hyunjin tossing more of those silent stares to Seungmin, wordless, timid darts from him to the ground, him, the ground, him, the pebbles beneath his feet; Seungmin hurriedly informing Minho of what happened, including why his knuckles were now a bright red against his pale skin; Minho sending scowls and insults to the oblivious Jisung underneath his breath.

Followed by Minho and him subsequently flopping down in the apartment and knocking out as soon as they hit their pillows. Forgoing changing, showers, or anything of the type. Leaving their responsibilities for when they stirred in the morning.

And Seungmin, for the first time in a long while, slept through the night.

Whether it was the ease of the busted blood vessels in his knuckles throbbing in a rhythmic pattern like a lullaby, the exhaustion of the past few sleepless nights finally catching up to his trembling hands and pounding heartbeat, the exertion of being alert against the smallest twitches hiding in the dark of the night, or the weight of the revolver against his waist dragging after his steps to slow him down and the power it strangled out of his muscles bit by bit, he couldn't tell. All he knew was when he woke, his hand was bruised up, and the hour was much later than it had even been before. Even if he woke long before Minho or Felix did and was forced to wander the apartment by himself in the early morning, shuffling around as he covered up his knuckles and reapplied the concealer starting to smudge off.

As the evening came again, Seungmin fitted himself again with his revolver. He pulled the windbreaker back over his shoulders. Slotted his phone down into his pocket. Resolved himself to what waiting in the dark as he and Minho prepared to meet those two devils.

"Again? You two are going out? Are you going to the nightclub again?" Felix popped his head into the first room as he was meandering by. He glanced them both over, taking them in as Pants did circles behind him. Knocking into the back of his knees, tail smacking him happiky, tongue splayed out of the dog's mouth while it pranced around him. He patted the golden retriever's head as he asked, lips pulled into a wide grin, "Can I come?"

Minho turned to him, offering Felix his own head pat as he fumbled with his car keys, "This is for police business. Maybe next time."

"Alright. I'll hold you to that, though," The younger accused with a pointed finger. A seriousness pouting his lips before he and Minho exchanged a fast smile between one another, plus a fast hug from the smaller; His hands slipping into the bomber jacket for an extra bit of warmth and cuddles. A gesture the older happily accepted with a tight squeeze.