light a flame || seventeen

two ; do re mi.

WONWOO

it's halfway through the next week, and perilous hasn't committed any new crimes. instead, they've been cooped up in their warehouse trying to find connections between the nine police detectives and investigators.

vernon is pretty sure he and hong ji soo—or joshua, as he's also called—attended the same summer camp back in america. wonwoo learns that lee chan comes from a long line of cops and recognises his grandfather's name. mingyu recalls wen jun hui conversing with one of the white stars at some point, and they eventually learn that the white stars operate on and off of the mainland.

"well, none of this really helps us find out what they know or whose identity they might have discovered, but it's definitely interesting to see all of these connections they have." seungcheol sighs, exasperated.

"that just means we have to watch them more closely," says wonwoo, a little grimly, casually cleaning the lenses of his glasses. he's determined to find out what the cops know and figure out how to keep working while avoiding capture.

they go over their options, making sure to counter all of the new factors—mainly yin and yang's absence and the possibility of having one of their identities found out—and devise a plan. they're to only work in pairs, with the other two as backup, and when they have spare time, they'll observe their pursuers.

seungcheol doesn't let wonwoo and mingyu work together, and wonwoo knows it's for the best because they'll just fight the whole time. wonwoo happily takes the ruling and chooses vernon as his partner. he thinks their energies match well due to being similar—they're both generally subdued and quiet, more watchers than action-takers—and the best part is that wonwoo doesn't want to scratch his own eyes out every time the other speaks.

they're thrown for a loop when yin and yang show up at their warehouse unannounced once again. wonwoo can't help but laugh at the stunned look on mingyu's face, which slowly turns to excitement. he looks like an oversized puppy. but he doesn't understand why mingyu's excited to see them now when he was so disgruntled before. he's truly hard to understand.

"change of plans," yin announces. "you'll be on your own for longer than a week."

mingyu reacts quickly. "what? why?"

"well, it's kind of a long story, but the short version is that we're getting married," yang replies, a little sheepish. the hand that's not entwined with yin's is rubbing the fabric of her shirt.

wonwoo's eyes widen, along with everyone else's. he most certainly wasn't expecting that. he reaches over and taps on mingyu's chin, and it closes after another moment.

"that's—wow..." seungcheol tries, failing a few times to form a proper sentence. "congratulations, you two. that's exciting."

"will you be gone to plan everything?" wonwoo asks.

"yes. again, kind of a long story, but we're in a bit of a time crunch. we have about a month to plan and carry out everything, which means our activities and aid will have to halt until after," yin explains.

"you're still going to help us? you don't want to, i don't know, stop?" mingyu wonders, a little incredulous.

"what do you mean?" yang returns with a head tilt and a frown.

"i just mean that if i had found someone i wanted to spend the rest of my life with and was marrying them, i would probably change up my lifestyle to some degree. i don't think i would continue this life."

yang hums. "well, my parents aren't dead yet, so they're still there to take care of everything. and they have so many people who would gladly take over for me that i'll let them sort those things out."