𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘦 || 𝘫𝘪𝘩𝘢𝘯

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

   Seungcheol was spiraling. He hated the fact that he was played, hated the fact that they'd treated him like a mere pawn in their game, but most importantly, he loathed himself so much he wanted to die.

   He knew the upper officials were the ones to blame: they'd played with his men and sent them to their deaths. And yet Cheol couldn't help but blame himself for all the suffering he'd caused to the agents and their families. After all, he'd been the one who told them to head into the battlefield, into that hell called war. Because the mafia carried guns and bombs and knives and used them all against them however they pleased. Encountering them meant they'd definitely end up with casualties; Cheol knew this, and he'd still sent them anyway.

  With a deep breath, the black haired male reached for his pocket and pulled out the overused stress ball he always made sure to carry. The stuffing had already seeped through cracks and the paint job was non-existent, but he didn't dare throw it away. It was a gift from one of the loved ones he had promised to protect, and yet he had failed them, once again, by committing the same mistake.

   God, he felt awful.

   The tears had ceased long ago and yet threatened to come out again. Cheol could do nothing but allow them to run down his cheeks and straight into his lips.

   Before a loud sob dared escape, the phone in his back pocket vibrated. He wiped the snot on his sleeve and reached out for the device, clearing his throat before he answered the call.

   “Yes?”

   “Cheol! Oh my god, I'm so glad you picked up!”

   It was Hoshi, the person he least wanted to interact with at the moment.

   “Look Hosh, let's talk later ok? I'm a bit occupied at the moment-”

   “Chan is in trouble!”

   Now that caught his attention. “What?”

   “Listen Cheol, we were in my dorm when I entered the shower and Chan somehow found the suit-” He sounded muffled, as if he was struggling with something. “I heard some commotion outside the bathroom and Chan and Minghao were fighting and now I'm taking Chan to the hospital and-”

   “What?!” Seungcheol immediately wiped his tears away and raised his voice as he spoke. “How?! Why??-”

   “I’ll send you the location in a bit. Make sure you bring Minghao’s sorry ass here because he went and shut himself in his dorm and I have no idea what the hell he's doing in there and I’m scared something happened to him!”

   “Ok..” Cheol took a deep breath. “Ok. I'll go ahead and do that. Soonyoung, please be careful, I’ll arrive as soon as I can” Before the other could respond, the black haired male hung up and immediately grabbed his jacket from the balcony’s rail. He ran back inside and headed to that dreadful meeting room in which he’d been minutes before.

   The slam of the door startled both inmates and sent Jeonghan’s snack bag into the floor.

   “Cheol what the fuck-”

   “Chan is being taken to the hospital,” Their expressions changed, brows furrowed and mouths went agape. “I need you to help me prepare the car while I go get Minghao”

   Joshua frowned. “What the hell is going on? Wasn’t he with them?”

   “I’ll explain on our way there, right now I need you two to cooperate and get me there because I know I won’t be able to drive, my hands are shaking and- fuck, everything is going wrong today I-”

   A steady hand was placed on his shoulder. Jeonghan was staring at him with a gaze so grounding he couldn’t help but feel protected. Joshua was running his hand up and down his arm in a very comforting manner that Seungcheol had to try very hard not to cry right there and then.

   “I’ll go get the car ready. In the meantime, Joshua, you get some supplies we can take to the hospital.” The mafioso turned to look at him. “Don’t worry boss, leave this to us”

   The leader couldn’t help but smile. “So reliable, the both of you”

   Joshua huffed. “We’re way better than you think” He said before he gave the older one a light nudge. “Now go, we don’t have much time and I’m sure there’s something you need to do before we leave”

   Right. He took a remote out of his pocket and clicked a button. A small beep came from the cuffs that rested in the inmates wrists.

   “You two are allowed to move freely” A small glint flashed in the prisoners’ eyes before it disappeared as soon as it’d come. “I trust you two on this, you hear me?”

   “Yes Sir!” They both shouted before they ran off to do their respective tasks. Cheol watched them go before he himself turned around to face his own challenge: 

   Have a one to one with Minghao, the one person who couldn’t stand his very existence.

  
  
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shorter chapter since the next ones are going to be very heavy on dialogue and backstory and all that so I didn't want to make things too overly complicated

hope you all enjoyed and thank you so much for reading! (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)♥️