Rush

file five: bbh

i know a lot of you (wth, ALL of you) were really pissed at baekhyun's death because his character had a lot of potential. but fear not—even in death, he is powerful because of all he's done when he had been alive...did you think the Hwang-Lee rivalry was all he contributed to?

let's see what everyone favorite informant has been doing behind the scenes ;)

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ONE WEEK PRIOR

Baekhyun held up the small square, careful to keep his face utterly blank as he faced the man standing before him.

"Have you seen him?" he asked, tilting his head to the side to add to his overall air of appearing uninterested.

The man opposite him frowned, squinting at the photograph as if he wasn't able to see it properly. His hands, which had previously been tapping away at the wooden arms of the chair, stilled in his lap. For a second, he hesitated, and Baekhyun raised an eyebrow.

"Well?" he prodded him again. This was the only lead he had found after the gun and the grave, and he wasn't intending to let go of it so easily. He knew what he had to do—he had been in this business for years, and was well-trained in the art of making even the most reserved man open his mouth, even if it was to scream.

The man fidgeted. He was tall and muscular in a lean way, with a five o'clock shadow and slightly hollow cheeks. Baekhyun guessed that the muscular layer coating his body had been acquired through working despite hunger. The sinewye cords that ran under the skin of his upper arms couldn't have been the product of a proper diet.

Good. Knowing that the man was probably dead anyway made his job much easier.

"I don't think so..." the man said, trailing off, but the minutest flicker of doubt that flashed across his face told the informant enough. "I haven't seen him. Not here."

Not here, huh? The blond allowed his lips to curl into a faint smile, the kind of smile that would be comforting to some and intimidating to others. "Then where have you seen him?"

A muscle in the man's jaw twitched. Baekhyun was beginning to get impatient now. He knew what he would have to do if this interrogation proved to be as fruitless as the others, though he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. It was messy business, especially if a trained killer was involved.

"I don't know," the man repeated, and Baekhyun rolled his eyes, lowering the picture and slipping it into his jacket's pocket.

He had heard the same excuse over and over, despite the levels of pain every person he had asked the question had been forced to go through so he could obtain a satisfactory answer.

Some had lied about knowing the boy in the picture, but they had been foolish, too easy for someone like him to see through. For some others, the easier way out had been lying about not knowing the boy. If only he knew which side the subjects he had interrogated were working for.

If the situation hadn't been so dire, he would have been able to carry out his job more efficiently, but he didn't have a choice but to hurry things up.

Even if that ended with the same pattern of bloodstains on his clothes.

"Well, then, Sanghyuk," he said placidly, leaning forward in his seat, the metal legs scraping against the dirty floor as he did so. He rested his elbows against his knees, clasping his hands and placing them under his chin. "Did your friend Hakyeon know? Is that why he's dead now?"

The man recoiled, as if he had been slapped. Baekhyun's eyes narrowed a fraction, head tilting ever so slightly to the side. He knew his call demeanor was disturbing enough for the man before him, but the fact that he had stayed silent through his bringing up the death of his co-worker showed that the organization behind him was formidable.

In reality, he had been the one to kill Cha Hakyeon. He guessed one less killer at the Lees' disposal was just as important as finding the person he had been looking for.

The man had blanched in shock, knuckles white with the force with which he clenched the arms of his chair. He didn't speak, swiping his tongue over his cracked lips and staring straight at Baekhyun, though his gaze trembled.

The blond sighed, pushing back his chair and getting to his feet. He flicked the lapel of his jacket before buttoning the front of it, pushing up the bridge of his glass with the tip of his index finger. "Alright, Sanghyuk, the thing is, I'm in a bit of a hurry." He flashed the man another frozen smile before slipping a hand into his jacket's breast and bringing out a gun. "So forgive me if I act...brashly."

The man's eyes widened, and he jerked backwards in the chair. The screech of the metal against the floor made Baekhyun wince, but he stood his ground, sliding his free hand into his pocket and bringing the weapon to his face, tapping his jaw with the gun's mouth. "What do you say? Should we get this over with?"

Not a contract killer after all. The man was too afraid of a gun to react properly. Which meant that not just killers knew about the boy. He filed that information away in his mind for later.

"I—" the man stuttered, closing the distance between his legs and shaking his head fervently. "I really don't know!"

Baekhyun raised a single platinum eyebrow. "Oh, don't you?" he questioned innocently. "Then, perhaps, you're a liability for me?"

"No!" The man shook his head again, clutching the arms of the metal chair, blinking rapidly. "I don't know where he is, but I know someone who might."

Baekhyun's eyebrows flicked upwards. He crossed his arms, motioning for the man to continue.

"It might be a little hard for you to find him, since he doesn't live in the country any more." The man swallowed. "His name is Jaehwan—Lee Jaehwan. He's an information dealer."

Baekhyun nodded slowly, turning the name over in his mind. Another Lee...but how is that possible? The boy should be dead. "Okay, then. Thank you, Sanghyuk."

Then he shot him anyway.