(no subject)
Title: Apologia Pro Vita Sua (Chapter 17)
Authors: Scorpions angelinaii, murasaki_plum, nemesis_cry
Characters/Pairings: All (kangteuk, shichul, kihae; potential kyuwook, eunkihae, shihanchul, yeshdong, yewook, minry)
Rating: PG-13 to R
Genre: AU, organized crime, postcyberpunk
Summary: In a world where money and crime go hand and hand, survival is not determined by the fittest, but the ones who will fight to live.
Warnings: violence, swearing, sexual situations
Introduction and Chapter 1 | Chapters 2 & 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16
Banner by angelinaii
Out of everyone in the gang or in the Bottoms in general, Sungmin was the only one to have ever heard Henry speak. At first, when the kid had just showed up with a sword that was about as tall as he was, they'd thought Sungmin was making it up. A child's imagination projecting speech into a mute's mouth. Not that anyone could know for a fact that Henry was mute. Maybe he just chose not to speak. Maybe it was for the best.
What little he said, though, was only for Sungmin's ears, or else the boy was psychic. Not a bad skill to have, in a place like this, but rare nonetheless. Henry's voice went unheard, but like his sword it was there: invisible and deadly. Especially when it remained as sharp as this.
"Say that again," Eeteuk ordered, his hand on Sungmin's arm. "Slowly." Behind him, a click sounded through the room, hollow and sharp all at once as Kangin dispassionately loaded an automatic. Eeteuk didn't spare him a glance, aware that despite apparent cool, level-headed calm, his lover would be aching to cause some serious damage.
Sungmin drew a deep breath, fists clenching and unclenching rapidly, belying the man's eagerness to betray Eeteuk's command. "The faceless man? The one you showed me in that picture--he's in the Bottoms. Henry's been tracking him since he arrived."
Eeteuk narrowed his eyes, seeing past the boy in front of him, past the immediate situation. There was no real urgency, not with Henry keeping an eye on things.
"Where?"
"Close to Taboo's place," Sungmin breathed in a rush. "Said he saw Siwon around there too."
"Relax," Eeteuk advised gently, grabbing his gun. "They've got this covered."
"But we're going, right? I don't want to be left out of this one, please tell me we're going!"
Kangin strode past them, lifting Eeteuk's arm in passing to check the charge on his gun. Satisfied, he nodded. "Can't have a trial without a jury."
"You're driving, right?" Sungmin asked Kangin and ignored the look Eeteuk gave him at that. As eager as Sungmin was to get there, he would like to get there in one piece.
***
Yesung spotted him first, the silent figure moving along the rooftops clearly stalking someone or something below.
"What do you think he's up to?" He tapped Shindong's shoulder and nodded in Henry's direction. The boy seemed so caught up in what he was doing that the two of them were able to see him and take notice of his movements.
"Getting our attention." Shindong answered when Henry stopped to look in their direction before he disappeared down someone's fire escape.
"Isn't that a fact?" Yesung mused, leaning down with a hand on the stone wall. "Think he's gotten tired of playing in the shadows?" Unlikely, considering the boy was Eeteuk's eyes where Eeteuk couldn't possibly see. And he seemed to like it that way, silent and unreadable as he was.
Shindong was shaking his head long before he'd finished speaking. "That's like saying Heechul's gotten tired of setting things on fire. He's doing it on purpose."
As if on cue, a door at the foot of the building opened with a startling sound in the near-silent night, Sungmin bounding out, his hands flitting from his hips to his sides to crossing over his chest restlessly.
"Heads up, something's going down," Yesung muttered.
***
By the time Yesung and Shindong made it downstairs to the street, Sungmin, Kangin, and Henry were nowhere to be seen. The only one left waiting for them was Eeteuk.
"You two are with me." Eeteuk greeted without his usual chipper smile. "Yesung, I'm sorry, I forgot. Shindong can drive. We can still catch up, they're only half a block ahead."
Can translated to will, Shindong changing from his role as bodyguard to being into Eeteuk's employ first and foremost. He moved fast, pulling up the car with a screech of tires on the pavement. Not a problem, cars and car parts were a dime a dozen in the Bottoms, for the right money.
Yesung slipped into the back, vaguely anxious without quite knowing why.
"The H&E can't see me here," he shot uneasily, assuming the worst: another attempted take over that they hadn't seen coming. Unlikely, but possible.
Hell, anything was possible with those bastards.
"It's not the H&E," Eeteuk replied almost calmly. "Henry eyeballed your killer."
Shindong stepped on it. Yesung dug his fingers into the leather backseat. "Not that I'm not appreciating the adrenaline rush, but why aren't we tackling this like reasonable adults?"
Eeteuk's eyes found his in the side mirror. "Because Henry saw him with Siwon." His gaze flashed cold silver before slipping to stare straight ahead as the car swerved around corners, always a few seconds behind Kangin's.
Speed was a quick fix for deeper qualms. Yesung couldn't believe for a moment that Siwon was in any danger or that Eeteuk actually thought so, but the underlying feeling remained that the sooner this was settled, the sooner they could let Henry and Hankyung do some carving of their own: an eye for an eye, like the good book said. The sooner they could put those hideous images out of their minds and pretend the Bottoms was far less screwed up than it really was.
Smoke and the smell of burning wood blew through the streets, a miasma belying the fable before Yesung bought into it.
"Might want to tell your liaison what's going on," he suggested, "Wouldn't want him spitefully setting the curtains on fire while you're sleeping."
Shindong snorted, his amusement stark counterpoint to the precise, race car skills he exhibited without a second thought.
"It's being handled." The first and last thing they needed was Heechul's contribution; either or, Yesung couldn't decide. Mercifully, that wasn't his business.
***
Footsteps carried him faster over the rooftops than through the streets, his blade an only glimmer for the others to follow. He jumped from one balcony to the next, swung low to another level and then set off again, memory tracing an invisible map and instinct doing the rest.
Cold air brushed his face, the taste of ash on his tongue. Something was about to happen, the danger of ice-cold flames as sharp as his sword when it cut through human flesh. Something was pending, he could feel it in the arhythmic beatings of his heart.
A jump from one building to the next had him holding his breath, current rushing up to meet him from below, from above, as if he were a soaring bird. One knee hit the broken shingles of a rooftop, his form crouching soft and slow; cautious.
He stood easily, inhaled to calm his speeding pulse, and jumped off the opposite side, hands reaching out for the fire escape ladder. He caught it and felt the give in its metal rods slowing the pull of gravity. A jump off before it hit the ground and broke his wrists had him on his feet and tilting his head expectantly, four seconds before the first of the two cars appeared around the corner.
Neon letters spelled 'O_sis' in flickering pink light, shining bright and unnecessary against the backdrop of a dilapidated building. To anyone just passing by, the place would have escaped notice, hidden, as it was, at the end of a back alley.
Henry glanced at the register, a small blue console with buttons for every room and and 'occupied' sign for only one.
Sungmin disembarked without bothering to open the car door and followed his gaze, understanding obvious in his eyes.
***
"This way, 1237." Sungmin called behind him, climbing up the steps of the love ho without waiting. Kangin pulled on his gloves once he was outside of the car, unlocking the trunk as Eeteuk's car pulled up close to their vehicle.
Shindong threw a black cap and a heavier jacket to the companion seated next to him. "Wouldn't want to show off that petite figure on camera."
A flicker off doubt in Yesung's eyes was quickly replaced with urgency. Something he wasn't being told, again, but something that would have to wait, under the circumstances. Drawing out his gun, he followed their leader up the steps, no real difference between an intervention here and one with the SWAT team in Judoh.
Footsteps soft on the steps, they passed under flickering lamps and torn wallpaper into a first floor corridor that smelled strongly of mold. Sungmin pressed a finger to his lips, the action almost comical if not for the switchblade in his fist.
Behind the faded numbers of the door, the muffled scrape and thump of furniture moving against thin carpet could be heard, along with the familiar noise that could only come from a blunt object contacting with something malleable. No groans of pain or otherwise, though, and that if nothing else was slightly disturbing.
Sungmin flattened his back to the wall, ear pressed against the grimy surface, leaving Kangin to take center stage. Someone swore softly on the other side and he nodded, adrenaline pumping through his veins.
A vicious kick shattered the wood, cheap doorknob giving way easily under Kangin's boot.
Yesung followed in behind Shindong, biting hard on his tongue to keep himself from issuing out commands and taking charge of the situation. Though they invited him to help, he had to follow their protocol. It was hard enough not knowing what they were dealing with, fact which put his nerves on edge, but to hear a cry of surprise echo from inside the room, there was only so much he could do not to spring into action.
There was no need. The scene that came into view was the very definition of anticlimactic. Which wasn't to say he didn't cock and aim his gun, out of habit if not necessity.
Siwon stood from his crouched position and took in the scene. Blood dripped from a gash in his shoulder, but by the adrenaline-fueled grin the tall man gave them, it was clear the pain hadn't registered.
"Hey, Boss," he nodded to Kangin, stepping aside from the person on the floor who was curling up into a fetal position. "Got you something."
"And it's not even my birthday." Kangin nodded, without even cracking a smile, gun trained on the man at their feet.
Sungmin had no such qualms, bounding into the room and heading straight for the briefcase by the bed. Eeteuk stopped him with a glance. "It's not polite to go through people's things without permission," he commented, kicking a scalpel from a lax hand and taking a seat on the bed, elbows on his knees. "So how about it? Sorry to interrupt your little one to one, but don't worry." He smiled. "Instead of one guy you get six. Aren't you lucky?"
Yesung frowned, holstering his gun. Was that it? Was it just that easy? He shot Siwon an appraising glance. All in one piece; organs, as far as he could see, intact.
***
Heechul climbed the steps two by two, not that he was in a hurry. Not at all. Nor was he concerned; Sungmin's message had been clear enough to assuage any immediate anxiety. Six of them could take care of one sad little serial killer easily. It didn't mean Heechul didn't want a part in that particular game, but he didn't have to hurry. He only felt breathless because of the possibility; the slight, unlikely possibility that something of his had been bargained off in the hunt. All the more unnerving considering the something, according to Sungmin, was his lover.
Room 1237 awaited him with open arms and door ajar, a scene out of some Lifetime movie gone horribly wrong inside. Eeteuk sat with legs folded under him on the bed, a mess of blood and tears at his feet. He waved.
"What took you so long?"
"Church fire." Hankyung answered for him, stepping into the room to take a good look at the man curled up on the floor. There was no disguising the disappointment in his expression. "This your guy?"
"Looks like it." Kangin answered for Eeteuk, cleaning the edge of a pocketknife on the man's sleeve before handing it back to Sungmin. He smirked, nodding toward the adjacent bathroom. "Your boy's just freshening up."
Heechul gave a dry 'thanks' in reply and crossed over to the bathroom, leaning against the doorframe as he took sight of Siwon sitting on the sink. Henry was standing next to Siwon, running a thread through a laceration just below the man's shoulder. The boy gave a nod to someone over Heechul's shoulder and Hankyung slipped past him, trading places with the other assassin.
"Not bad." Hankyung said as he inspected the handiwork. Heechul could hear the sounds of someone being forced into a chair, the interrogation almost ready to start.
"Just make sure he lives long enough to get him home," he snorted, darting a look into the other room and sighing. To Siwon, he added: "Can't believe you'd leave us out of all this fun..."
"I knew you'd get here eventually." Siwon said, wincing when the needle pierced his skin.
He licked his lips, gaze travelling from Hankyung's busy hands to Siwon's closed fists. "Is that his blood?" he asked, slipping between parted thighs to take a closer look at the bloodied knuckles.
Siwon nodded. "Most of it. I didn't realize he had a knife concealed in his sleeve until he got me."
A smirk. "No, because he obviously cuts his victims with his nails." Lips pressed against the back of his hand, Heechul's face turning into a grimace before he spat into the sink. "Ew, disgusting. I wonder if he eats the organs." His eyes glimmered, playfulness covering a primal need to pull the wings off of an insect. "I know! I should go ask him."
"Okay, but let them finish asking their questions first." Siwon wiped blood off of Heechul's bottom lip. "I doubt there'd be anything left after your turn."
"There won't be anything left after they're done with him, either," Heechul countered, warmed by the simple touch. "I don't like blood on you. You look like shit in red." Close enough to sounding remotely affectionate.
"I'll remember that." he smiled, leaning back against Hankyung instead of the wall.
Someone cried out in pain in the other room and Heechul bit his lip, considering. "They seem to be asking all the right questions. Guess they don't need me."
Hankyung arched an eyebrow. Siwon chuckled. "I'm fine. We'll be right behind you."
"Fine," he sighed, fingers already itching to push down on round, fragile eyeballs. There would be a mess, but it was worth it. "Try not to keep Doctor Jeckyll waiting." He slipped from the room with the dull clank of shoes on the tile, a spring in his step.
Eyes focused on Siwon's shoulder, Hankyung cleared his throat. "In your code, what does that mean?"
Authors: Scorpions angelinaii, murasaki_plum, nemesis_cry
Characters/Pairings: All (kangteuk, shichul, kihae; potential kyuwook, eunkihae, shihanchul, yeshdong, yewook, minry)
Rating: PG-13 to R
Genre: AU, organized crime, postcyberpunk
Summary: In a world where money and crime go hand and hand, survival is not determined by the fittest, but the ones who will fight to live.
Warnings: violence, swearing, sexual situations
Introduction and Chapter 1 | Chapters 2 & 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16
Banner by angelinaii
Out of everyone in the gang or in the Bottoms in general, Sungmin was the only one to have ever heard Henry speak. At first, when the kid had just showed up with a sword that was about as tall as he was, they'd thought Sungmin was making it up. A child's imagination projecting speech into a mute's mouth. Not that anyone could know for a fact that Henry was mute. Maybe he just chose not to speak. Maybe it was for the best.
What little he said, though, was only for Sungmin's ears, or else the boy was psychic. Not a bad skill to have, in a place like this, but rare nonetheless. Henry's voice went unheard, but like his sword it was there: invisible and deadly. Especially when it remained as sharp as this.
"Say that again," Eeteuk ordered, his hand on Sungmin's arm. "Slowly." Behind him, a click sounded through the room, hollow and sharp all at once as Kangin dispassionately loaded an automatic. Eeteuk didn't spare him a glance, aware that despite apparent cool, level-headed calm, his lover would be aching to cause some serious damage.
Sungmin drew a deep breath, fists clenching and unclenching rapidly, belying the man's eagerness to betray Eeteuk's command. "The faceless man? The one you showed me in that picture--he's in the Bottoms. Henry's been tracking him since he arrived."
Eeteuk narrowed his eyes, seeing past the boy in front of him, past the immediate situation. There was no real urgency, not with Henry keeping an eye on things.
"Where?"
"Close to Taboo's place," Sungmin breathed in a rush. "Said he saw Siwon around there too."
"Relax," Eeteuk advised gently, grabbing his gun. "They've got this covered."
"But we're going, right? I don't want to be left out of this one, please tell me we're going!"
Kangin strode past them, lifting Eeteuk's arm in passing to check the charge on his gun. Satisfied, he nodded. "Can't have a trial without a jury."
"You're driving, right?" Sungmin asked Kangin and ignored the look Eeteuk gave him at that. As eager as Sungmin was to get there, he would like to get there in one piece.
***
Yesung spotted him first, the silent figure moving along the rooftops clearly stalking someone or something below.
"What do you think he's up to?" He tapped Shindong's shoulder and nodded in Henry's direction. The boy seemed so caught up in what he was doing that the two of them were able to see him and take notice of his movements.
"Getting our attention." Shindong answered when Henry stopped to look in their direction before he disappeared down someone's fire escape.
"Isn't that a fact?" Yesung mused, leaning down with a hand on the stone wall. "Think he's gotten tired of playing in the shadows?" Unlikely, considering the boy was Eeteuk's eyes where Eeteuk couldn't possibly see. And he seemed to like it that way, silent and unreadable as he was.
Shindong was shaking his head long before he'd finished speaking. "That's like saying Heechul's gotten tired of setting things on fire. He's doing it on purpose."
As if on cue, a door at the foot of the building opened with a startling sound in the near-silent night, Sungmin bounding out, his hands flitting from his hips to his sides to crossing over his chest restlessly.
"Heads up, something's going down," Yesung muttered.
***
By the time Yesung and Shindong made it downstairs to the street, Sungmin, Kangin, and Henry were nowhere to be seen. The only one left waiting for them was Eeteuk.
"You two are with me." Eeteuk greeted without his usual chipper smile. "Yesung, I'm sorry, I forgot. Shindong can drive. We can still catch up, they're only half a block ahead."
Can translated to will, Shindong changing from his role as bodyguard to being into Eeteuk's employ first and foremost. He moved fast, pulling up the car with a screech of tires on the pavement. Not a problem, cars and car parts were a dime a dozen in the Bottoms, for the right money.
Yesung slipped into the back, vaguely anxious without quite knowing why.
"The H&E can't see me here," he shot uneasily, assuming the worst: another attempted take over that they hadn't seen coming. Unlikely, but possible.
Hell, anything was possible with those bastards.
"It's not the H&E," Eeteuk replied almost calmly. "Henry eyeballed your killer."
Shindong stepped on it. Yesung dug his fingers into the leather backseat. "Not that I'm not appreciating the adrenaline rush, but why aren't we tackling this like reasonable adults?"
Eeteuk's eyes found his in the side mirror. "Because Henry saw him with Siwon." His gaze flashed cold silver before slipping to stare straight ahead as the car swerved around corners, always a few seconds behind Kangin's.
Speed was a quick fix for deeper qualms. Yesung couldn't believe for a moment that Siwon was in any danger or that Eeteuk actually thought so, but the underlying feeling remained that the sooner this was settled, the sooner they could let Henry and Hankyung do some carving of their own: an eye for an eye, like the good book said. The sooner they could put those hideous images out of their minds and pretend the Bottoms was far less screwed up than it really was.
Smoke and the smell of burning wood blew through the streets, a miasma belying the fable before Yesung bought into it.
"Might want to tell your liaison what's going on," he suggested, "Wouldn't want him spitefully setting the curtains on fire while you're sleeping."
Shindong snorted, his amusement stark counterpoint to the precise, race car skills he exhibited without a second thought.
"It's being handled." The first and last thing they needed was Heechul's contribution; either or, Yesung couldn't decide. Mercifully, that wasn't his business.
***
Footsteps carried him faster over the rooftops than through the streets, his blade an only glimmer for the others to follow. He jumped from one balcony to the next, swung low to another level and then set off again, memory tracing an invisible map and instinct doing the rest.
Cold air brushed his face, the taste of ash on his tongue. Something was about to happen, the danger of ice-cold flames as sharp as his sword when it cut through human flesh. Something was pending, he could feel it in the arhythmic beatings of his heart.
A jump from one building to the next had him holding his breath, current rushing up to meet him from below, from above, as if he were a soaring bird. One knee hit the broken shingles of a rooftop, his form crouching soft and slow; cautious.
He stood easily, inhaled to calm his speeding pulse, and jumped off the opposite side, hands reaching out for the fire escape ladder. He caught it and felt the give in its metal rods slowing the pull of gravity. A jump off before it hit the ground and broke his wrists had him on his feet and tilting his head expectantly, four seconds before the first of the two cars appeared around the corner.
Neon letters spelled 'O_sis' in flickering pink light, shining bright and unnecessary against the backdrop of a dilapidated building. To anyone just passing by, the place would have escaped notice, hidden, as it was, at the end of a back alley.
Henry glanced at the register, a small blue console with buttons for every room and and 'occupied' sign for only one.
Sungmin disembarked without bothering to open the car door and followed his gaze, understanding obvious in his eyes.
***
"This way, 1237." Sungmin called behind him, climbing up the steps of the love ho without waiting. Kangin pulled on his gloves once he was outside of the car, unlocking the trunk as Eeteuk's car pulled up close to their vehicle.
Shindong threw a black cap and a heavier jacket to the companion seated next to him. "Wouldn't want to show off that petite figure on camera."
A flicker off doubt in Yesung's eyes was quickly replaced with urgency. Something he wasn't being told, again, but something that would have to wait, under the circumstances. Drawing out his gun, he followed their leader up the steps, no real difference between an intervention here and one with the SWAT team in Judoh.
Footsteps soft on the steps, they passed under flickering lamps and torn wallpaper into a first floor corridor that smelled strongly of mold. Sungmin pressed a finger to his lips, the action almost comical if not for the switchblade in his fist.
Behind the faded numbers of the door, the muffled scrape and thump of furniture moving against thin carpet could be heard, along with the familiar noise that could only come from a blunt object contacting with something malleable. No groans of pain or otherwise, though, and that if nothing else was slightly disturbing.
Sungmin flattened his back to the wall, ear pressed against the grimy surface, leaving Kangin to take center stage. Someone swore softly on the other side and he nodded, adrenaline pumping through his veins.
A vicious kick shattered the wood, cheap doorknob giving way easily under Kangin's boot.
Yesung followed in behind Shindong, biting hard on his tongue to keep himself from issuing out commands and taking charge of the situation. Though they invited him to help, he had to follow their protocol. It was hard enough not knowing what they were dealing with, fact which put his nerves on edge, but to hear a cry of surprise echo from inside the room, there was only so much he could do not to spring into action.
There was no need. The scene that came into view was the very definition of anticlimactic. Which wasn't to say he didn't cock and aim his gun, out of habit if not necessity.
Siwon stood from his crouched position and took in the scene. Blood dripped from a gash in his shoulder, but by the adrenaline-fueled grin the tall man gave them, it was clear the pain hadn't registered.
"Hey, Boss," he nodded to Kangin, stepping aside from the person on the floor who was curling up into a fetal position. "Got you something."
"And it's not even my birthday." Kangin nodded, without even cracking a smile, gun trained on the man at their feet.
Sungmin had no such qualms, bounding into the room and heading straight for the briefcase by the bed. Eeteuk stopped him with a glance. "It's not polite to go through people's things without permission," he commented, kicking a scalpel from a lax hand and taking a seat on the bed, elbows on his knees. "So how about it? Sorry to interrupt your little one to one, but don't worry." He smiled. "Instead of one guy you get six. Aren't you lucky?"
Yesung frowned, holstering his gun. Was that it? Was it just that easy? He shot Siwon an appraising glance. All in one piece; organs, as far as he could see, intact.
***
Heechul climbed the steps two by two, not that he was in a hurry. Not at all. Nor was he concerned; Sungmin's message had been clear enough to assuage any immediate anxiety. Six of them could take care of one sad little serial killer easily. It didn't mean Heechul didn't want a part in that particular game, but he didn't have to hurry. He only felt breathless because of the possibility; the slight, unlikely possibility that something of his had been bargained off in the hunt. All the more unnerving considering the something, according to Sungmin, was his lover.
Room 1237 awaited him with open arms and door ajar, a scene out of some Lifetime movie gone horribly wrong inside. Eeteuk sat with legs folded under him on the bed, a mess of blood and tears at his feet. He waved.
"What took you so long?"
"Church fire." Hankyung answered for him, stepping into the room to take a good look at the man curled up on the floor. There was no disguising the disappointment in his expression. "This your guy?"
"Looks like it." Kangin answered for Eeteuk, cleaning the edge of a pocketknife on the man's sleeve before handing it back to Sungmin. He smirked, nodding toward the adjacent bathroom. "Your boy's just freshening up."
Heechul gave a dry 'thanks' in reply and crossed over to the bathroom, leaning against the doorframe as he took sight of Siwon sitting on the sink. Henry was standing next to Siwon, running a thread through a laceration just below the man's shoulder. The boy gave a nod to someone over Heechul's shoulder and Hankyung slipped past him, trading places with the other assassin.
"Not bad." Hankyung said as he inspected the handiwork. Heechul could hear the sounds of someone being forced into a chair, the interrogation almost ready to start.
"Just make sure he lives long enough to get him home," he snorted, darting a look into the other room and sighing. To Siwon, he added: "Can't believe you'd leave us out of all this fun..."
"I knew you'd get here eventually." Siwon said, wincing when the needle pierced his skin.
He licked his lips, gaze travelling from Hankyung's busy hands to Siwon's closed fists. "Is that his blood?" he asked, slipping between parted thighs to take a closer look at the bloodied knuckles.
Siwon nodded. "Most of it. I didn't realize he had a knife concealed in his sleeve until he got me."
A smirk. "No, because he obviously cuts his victims with his nails." Lips pressed against the back of his hand, Heechul's face turning into a grimace before he spat into the sink. "Ew, disgusting. I wonder if he eats the organs." His eyes glimmered, playfulness covering a primal need to pull the wings off of an insect. "I know! I should go ask him."
"Okay, but let them finish asking their questions first." Siwon wiped blood off of Heechul's bottom lip. "I doubt there'd be anything left after your turn."
"There won't be anything left after they're done with him, either," Heechul countered, warmed by the simple touch. "I don't like blood on you. You look like shit in red." Close enough to sounding remotely affectionate.
"I'll remember that." he smiled, leaning back against Hankyung instead of the wall.
Someone cried out in pain in the other room and Heechul bit his lip, considering. "They seem to be asking all the right questions. Guess they don't need me."
Hankyung arched an eyebrow. Siwon chuckled. "I'm fine. We'll be right behind you."
"Fine," he sighed, fingers already itching to push down on round, fragile eyeballs. There would be a mess, but it was worth it. "Try not to keep Doctor Jeckyll waiting." He slipped from the room with the dull clank of shoes on the tile, a spring in his step.
Eyes focused on Siwon's shoulder, Hankyung cleared his throat. "In your code, what does that mean?"