Hostage {ℍ𝕐𝕌ℕ𝕊𝕌ℕ𝔾} -- DISCONTINUED

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jisung peered at the pictures; none of them featured a necklace at all, which meant it must have been hidden inside his clothing. He'd also realized that they were all wearing black outfits of some sort. God dammit.

"We're just running around in circles." He ran a hand through his hair, glaring bitterly down at the photographs spread out before him. He'd known it had sounded like a fruitless endeavor at the start, but this was almost... ridiculous.

They should've been able to find something by now, the slightest hint. Who were these people to have left no trace of their very existence anywhere? His frustration must have been visible on his face because Hyunjin leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest as he shuffled all the pictures back into the folder.

"Let's take a break. We aren't going to get any work done worked up like this." He gave Jisung a pointed stare, who returned it with one of his own. They didn't have the luxury of time; how could they stop for a break—

Just then, his stomach growled, breaking the already brittle silence. Hyunjin chuckled under his breath, quirking an eyebrow at him, a smirk dotting his lips. Jisung's blood boiled; so that's how it felt to be fixed with that look. He'd keep that in mind for future reference, though it definitely wouldn't stop him from doing it himself.

"Go eat," Hyunjin said, nodding at the door in the corner. Jisung opened his mouth to protest only to receive a stern glare. With a sigh and mumbled curses under his breath, he stood from his spot on the floor, legs aching from the prolonged period of doing absolutely nothing but sitting, wincing as he took a step forward.

"Fine, but I'll be back." Hyunjin chuckled behind him, his voice cut off by the door closing as he left. He shoved his hands into his pant pockets, frowning softly as he walked along the barren manor halls.

He peered over his shoulder at the door he left behind for a moment before shrugging. He forgot to ask if Hyunjin wanted anything while he was in the kitchen. Oh well. Guess he'd have to ask when he came back. Or not. Hyunjin could get his own food.

~#~#~#~#~#~

Jisung gnawed on his sandwich, trotting along the halls back towards Hyunjin's office. His stomach was pacified for the moment, content with the food he was swallowing down. The sky was still dark beyond the many windows of this manor, and he cocked is head to the side.

It felt as though this night was long, endless. All the research had fried his brain, he was sure, but he had to keep going. They had to find something, and they had to find it soon. They were fighting an invisible opponent, which meant they were at a significant disadvantage.

Their only option was to keep going and find out as much as they could before their enemy made their move. He sighed, blinking slowly as he approached the office door. It was going to be rough. He should've made some coffee; his eyes were growing heavier by the second.

However, when he pushed open the door, he paused in the threshold, blinking at the sight before him. Hyunjin was hunched over his desk, laptop discarded, head resting over his crossed arms. From the steadiness of his breathing, it was obvious that he was sleeping.

Jisung continued to chew on his sandwich as he stared at the sleeping gang leader. He looked so soft and non-threatening like this – not that he'd ever really intimidated Jisung in the first place. He grinned, shaking his head. Peaceful. That's what made him look different; the typically tense lines of his face were all relaxed.

He looked almost normal like this. Almost.

As he stared, his smile turned into a soft frown. He'd noticed the dark bags lining Hyunjin's eyes these last couple of days; had he gotten any sleep lately? It didn't seem likely. He sighed, propping his hands on his hips, finished with his sandwich.

He supposed it seemed as good a time as any to call it a night. He wasn't about to wake Hyunjin up, and he was tired... somewhat. Well then. He shut off the bright lights in the room, leaving nothing but the pale glow of the lamp Hyunjin always seemed to have on in the room.

Good night.

~#~#~#~#~#~

Hyunjin's eyes cracked open slowly.

He sat up, wincing at the pain that radiated from his shoulders and neck in waves; had he fallen asleep? Rubbing the nape of his neck, he blearily glanced around the room. The lamp was still on, though the other lights had all been extinguished.

Had Jisung gone to sleep, then?

He glanced at the digital clock handing on the far wall of the room, squinting through the darkness to read what numbers it displayed. 4:07 AM. He leaned back in his chair, exhaling as he rubbed his eyes, still groggy from his impromptu nap.

He hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep to compensate for the past few sleepless nights, but he supposed it was better than nothing. There were more important things he needed to deal with, after all. Like finding out who those corpses were. And finding the rat.

Speaking of, he still didn't have the slightest clue as to how he would even begin searching for him. He could be anyone. It wasn't exactly a reassuring thought. Running a hand through his hair he leaned forward again, sliding open his laptop.

At least this provided him with a distraction compelling enough to ignore his personal problems.

It was open on a page of an old, archived news website that was slower than his gran. He wasn't quite sure how he'd stumbled upon this archive, the memories leading up to his eventual passing-out too blurry for him to make out the details.

A dull ache began between his temples and he groaned softly under his breath, his hand slipping against his keyboard. "Shit...!" He winced as a new page loaded, randomly clicked. "God dammit," he hissed, fidgeting to return to the page he'd had – there was a reason he'd clicked on it in the first place, but this website was so. Damn. Slow.

He paused when the new image finally loaded up on his screen, his eyes widening as his curses fell silent on his lips. There, standing in an old, grainy photo, was a man dressed in all black, a thick, intricate cross dangling from his neck.

His eyes slid over towards the picture's caption; new Moonbeam club opened Thursday, October 16th 1991. That fit into their time slot. The man he was looking at was one of the corpses, no doubt about it. Who are you?

Jaw slackened, he continued to stare at the door in utter disbelief. It didn't seem real, to have stumbled upon him so haphazardly, without even having meant to. Oh my god. His hands shook as he opened up a new tab, intent on searching for this Moonbeam club.

The door to his office swung open softly, the well-oiled hinges creaking only the slightest bit. Hyunjin, still staring intensely at his computer, knew who it was immediately; there was only one person who would venture into his office this early in the morning.

"Jisung, I found—" He looked up.

Except that wasn't Jisung. 

A/N: I did it, guys, you can't bully me hA I may be tired as shit but we pERSEVERE ON THIS GAY MINECRAFT SERVER 

Okay we're done with the boring part I swear

Lots of love,

~Emilie