The Mafia's Dove (Hyunjin centric)

Red Sparrow

Updated: 12/18/23

It had been a couple of hours since I found out that everyone in SKZ were dating each other, and I stared blankly at my bedroom ceiling, sprawled out on my bed as I questioned my existence.

Don't get me wrong, I had nothing against poly relationships. However, the fact I didn't notice until it was spelled out for me was a hit to my pride.

I've always been good at noticing things about people. I figured out that one of my fight club members had been in a car accident years back simply by the way they walked. I figured out that a bartender at the place I usually frequented had anxiety simply by the state of her nails. I even managed to figure out the previous profession of a delivery guy because of the type of calluses on his hand.

Reading people was something I prided myself on. Knowing things I shouldn't is one of my favorite pastimes. So to not notice all seven of them being in a romantic relationship? Humiliating. Of course, now that I knew I seemed to realize all the clues they had unintentionally given me.

The fact that Chan seemed disgusted when I said the others were like his children. The way Jeongin acted when he told me the others knew about him and Minho. Lingering eye contact, seemingly innocent touches dripping with subtext, and a whole slew of other indicators I would have usually taken note of much sooner. So why didn't I?

I'm really good at reading other people, but sometimes I wish I was just as good at reading myself. Because surely there was a psychological reason and I wasn't just getting sloppy. I've been training every day in the training room to keep my physical skills sharp, but how do I go about maintaining my mental abilities? Observational skills aren't something you just lose, right?

I sat up before swinging my legs off the bed, determination filling me as I headed towards my bedroom door and down the hall.

Surely the others would be able to help. Perhaps an observational game? A bit of mental torture to strengthen my resolve? Anything to help sharpen my possibly dulling senses. But who would be best for that?

Felix and Jisung certainly weren't dumb, but mental fortitude definitely wasn't their specialty. Jeongin and Minho both seem to hate me now for some reason, so they're out. Changbin prefers physical training over mental, so he probably won't be helpful.

So my options are either Chan or Seungmin. Chan will definitely be more willing to help, but Seungmin seemed to be the sharpest out of all of them.

So I guess Puppy it is. That is, if I could convince him.

I made my way down the hall and towards Seungmin's room, and this time I actually intended to knock. Funny how people changed, huh? My knuckles rapped against the surface of the mahogany door, the sound echoing down the hallway as I strained my ears to hear a reply.

I wasn't certain where Seungmin was, but I thought his room would be a good place to start. A few seconds of silence passed before I concluded he wasn't in his room, and I turned on my heel and began walking towards the main room.

I sighed in disappointment once I reached the now empty space, and I walked through it and down another hall towards the training room. Seungmin may not train as much as the others did, but there have been a few times where I've seen him sparring the others. He was surprisingly agile for someone who rarely ever stopped staring at a screen, and his skill in Boxing suggested he had been practicing the art for at least a couple years.

Once again I was met with the sight of an empty room, and I closed the door behind me as I racked my brain for other possibilities.

I spent the next twenty minutes searching everywhere in the house, including the kitchen, the dining room, the member's rooms which I once again had to lockpick, Chan's office, the yard, the pool, and even the armory. But Seungmin was nowhere to be found, and neither were any of the others.