Please refer to the end of the chapter for the trigger warnings.
Thursday, August 10th 2161, 13:02.
Cheongnam, South Korea.
Frankly, it wasn't an ideal circumstance that Doyoung found himself in.
He hadn't prepared for the day to go the way that it did. It wasn't often that he did, but it was particularly unbearable that he was running around in a black turtleneck in the unbearable August sunshine, as the temperature was climbing close to 33℃, despite the weather being murky all morning. He was drenched in sweat and desperate for a nice cold beer.
Doyoung panted as he practically stumbled around a corner. He shoved an innocent civilian aside in his rush, sending him into a wall. He didn't have time to dawdle or apologise. His black cardigan fluttered in the breeze as he sped through a narrow street, dodging passersby with ample skill. His feet were beginning to ache from the prolonged pursuit, but he pushed onward. He knew what he had to do, and he wasn't going to give up, even if it meant he was going to be aching the next day.
His target—a twenty-something year old thug that had been prowling around Neo City like a lion searching for its prey—ducked beneath a low-hanging tarp and shot into an even tinier alley. It was linked to Chinatown, Doyoung deduced, due to the many Chinese signs blinking down the narrow path. He could hear sizzling, and the hum of a gas generator remained as ambiance blaring into his ears. A cart of vegetables was pushed into his path, and Doyoung contended with it, throwing it aside and sending precious resources splattering onto the jagged brick path.
It was dangerous for Doyoung to be seen in Chinatown, but he couldn't turn back. It'd be social suicide for him to fail such a simple job. All he had to do was get his target cornered, that was all.
However, it was easier said than done.
Doyoung had hardly stepped foot in Chinatown, even during his Special Agent days. It was even harder to navigate than Neo City, with so many twists and turns that it could give even the more intricate navigators a run for their money. He could only recognise the main artery of the district, but he'd definitely be seen if he was to show his face there.
He was rapidly running out of energy, but so was his target. The younger man was stumbling and mis-stepping, almost tripping over every loose brick beneath his feet. They shot down another road. The light hardly reached the area, leaving it dull and eerie. Trash was scattered along the narrow path, leaving no option but to run through it. Doyoung scowled, but proceeded nonetheless. He was well and truly not prepared for the abrupt callout.
They reached the end of the narrow alley. A dead end.
Doyoung had never been so happy to see a trash dump in his life. Panicking, his target glanced around. The only way that he could escape was to climb over the wall, but before he could find a steady footing to climb onto a rotten dumpster, Doyoung kicked him in the back of the knee and watched him crash to his knees with a groan. A gun fell out of his pocket, and was kicked aside and out of reach.
"Well, that was a pointless chase, wasn't it? You've just wasted at least fifteen minutes of my time, and now you've made me crawl into this dump. This could have been over and done with fifteen minutes ago, and we'd have both been on our way elsewhere," said Doyoung, crouching in front of the man, who backed himself against a bag of trash. "I believe you owe Noctis a week's salary."
"Fuck you!" the man yelled, clenching his jaw. "I don't owe you shit! Even if I had the cash, I wouldn't be giving you a penny!"
Doyoung clicked his tongue, raising his hand against the younger man. He slapped him on the cheek—not too hard, but enough to discolour the flesh—and reached into his pocket to find his wallet, finding it empty. He tossed it aside. "You entered Neo City without paying the toll, and you also brought a weapon inside without paying the weapons' fee. You owe us at least $150, but if you don't hand it over, I might have to apply some inflation and beat the cash out of you."
"Do you think I'm scared of you? You might be from Noctis, but you're not the hot shit you think you are," said the man, and he looked down at the cross and bullet hanging around his neck and snickered, his lip lifting into a smirk. "You'd better back off if you wanna get into your little Heaven. Do you think your God would support what you do?"
"Enforcing the law in Neo City? Sure. It's exactly what the cops do when they bust into somebody's house and gun them up, isn't it? Law enforcement," said Doyoung. "I'm not scared of you, and I'm not scared of God, either, so I'd suggest coughing up some cash before it's blood that you're choking on."
"I ain't giving you anything."
Doyoung nodded, laughing to himself. He'd half expected that response, given the earlier pursuit which had cost him his lunch. He reached out for the Glock 22 laying on the filthy ground among trash and picked it up. He pressed it against the man's chest and cocked the gun, smiling as the younger man gulped, glaring at him with great hatred. "Are you going to do as I say, or are we doing this the hard way?"
"If you'd tried any harder, you might have given him a heart attack."
With wide eyes, Doyoung peered over his shoulder and in the direction of the familiar voice. He wasn't expecting company from anybody, let alone him. A scowl tainted his lips before he could stifle his dissatisfaction. Standing before him was the familiar figure of Taeyong, very much alive and kicking. Doyoung didn't know what to think about that fact. "Where the fuck have you been for the last two weeks, Taeyong? Did you not think to tell me before you left? I thought you'd been kidnapped and killed!"
"I'm not that prone to being kidnapped, Doie. If somebody had tried to nab me, believe me, you'd know. It'd be all over the local news," said Taeyong, and he snickered. "I suppose they'd have the upper hand if they trapped me in an alley like this though."
Doyoung looked up at the older man with his lips pressed tightly into a line. It was no secret to Cheongnam that he and Taeyong were acquainted, at the very least, but given the older man's incredibly public sexuality, people believed more. If either of them were to be kidnapped, it'd probably be to get to the other. Doyoung's paranoia wasn't unfounded. Neither of them were particularly popular.
"Though, I must say that I was under the impression that Kun had instructed you to keep this poor soul alive, but it seems to me like you have a plan of your own," said Taeyong, crossing his arms as he glanced down at the target, smirking. "Be careful. If you get too flashy, I might have to give you a blowjob in a horrible place like this."
"Speak for yourself, Taeyong. I don't get a kick out of doing my job."
Unlike Doyoung, Taeyong was actually dressed appropriately—or, at least more appropriately, but dressing for an alley of trash wasn't something either of them did—and he was more often than not. They both worked as what Kun called a "Fixer", quite simply somebody who was hired by the civilians of Neo City to do jobs often more dangerous or illegal than they could handle themselves. They fixed people's problems, and often, those problems were other people.
Taeyong had taken to almost always wearing a three-piece suit since he'd returned from prison, though in the 33℃ heat, he'd abandoned his blazer and left his equipment highly visible. He was armed with his dagger, like usual, but that wasn't all. A leather holster held a well-maintained Colt Anaconda on his waist, and a set of knives on his left thigh.
However, Doyoung was less of a Fixer than he was an apprentice under Taeil, learning various medical procedures and methods. He spent more time cleaning the apparatus and organising the storage room than he did contributing, but he couldn't complain. It was easier than chasing people around Neo City, or even worse, Chinatown. Kun only asked him to work with Noctis when he was desperate, and frankly, Doyoung didn't mind.
"Why are you here? I don't need your help now, and I never will. I'm not as inexperienced in this kind of work as you think I am. I just thought that I'd try the quick way rather than throwing punches, but clearly that isn't going to cut it," said Doyoung in a last-ditch attempt to assert that the elder's presence was more harmful than helpful.
"I'm here because you missed your hourly call-in with Kun. You're doing a job for Noctis, so you need to contact him every hour to make sure that you're not dead in a ditch somewhere. You should know that. That's why you have the pendant—" he grabbed his own chain from around his neck and pulled the bullet from beneath his partly unbuttoned shirt, trailing his thumb across the engraved number on the side for a moment, "—you're no good if you're dead, are you?"
It was a fair point, and Doyoung was aware of the hourly call-in, but it had completely slipped his mind during the chase. He didn't even realise the hour had passed. Still, he furrowed his brow and scowled at the older man. "You know that I'm alive, so you can go park yourself back inside of Kun's ass now. I don't need somebody who might disappear without a word to help me."
"I can appreciate you being angry at me for disappearing, but this really isn't the time, Doie. We can talk about it later," said Taeyong, reaching out for the younger man's arm, only for him to step back. "I can't leave, either. Kun told me to ask your target some questions."
Taeyong reached down to his holster and pulled a small black knife loose from his thigh, which he spun around his silver and black-plated index finger and smirked. While watching, Doyoung rolled his eyes. Taeyong made his way toward the target and knelt beside him after brushing trash aside.
"What were you doing in Neo City, and who sent you?" he asked as he hooked the man's chin with the tip of his knife. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You caused a power outage that malfunctioned our camera system, the only reason you got caught is because you were being tracked by another organisation. You must have somebody behind you if you're able to pull off something like that."
"I was looking around, that's all! I don't know why your power messed up, I don't know how to do anything like that. I slipped straight by because nobody was guarding the entrance, it's not my fault that nobody was there!" he yelled. "I don't belong to an organisation, I was just looking for somewhere to stay!"
Taeyong pushed the knife slightly into the flesh on the underside of the man's chin, creating a small nick that allowed a small bead of blood to form. It ran down his neck and dripped onto his collar, soaking into the white fabric and ultimately staining it. "Don't lie, I don't like it when people lie to me. You know who I am, right? You wouldn't be sitting there shaking like a damned leaf if you didn't."
"Of course I know who you are! Everybody in Cheongnam knows who you are. But—you shouldn't have left the Namjeong Clan. You're going to become a nobody while you're working with these burrowing rats beneath the surface. Noctis is just a bunch of wannabes trying to reap the benefits of being feared in this disgusting city," the man spat.
Taeyong dragged the blade down the man's neck around half an inch, watching closely with a slight grin as it trickled down in the same path as the bead from earlier. Doyoung gulped, furrowing his brow as the older man took the knife away. They could both hear the man's heavy breathing and see how he took short, sharp breaths as his chest heaved. That wasn't what captured Doyoung's attention, however, as Taeyong glanced down at the blood that reached the tip of his thumb, and let the blade spin downward on his index finger once again. He then dragged his tongue across his thumb, licking the blood clean from his skin.
Doyoung didn't know what to feel as the older man slipped his whole thumb into his mouth for a moment, making sure that he collected every last drop of the liquid. It was a dangerous line between disgust and arousal that the younger man was lurking on, and he looked away, clearing his throat.
"Are you going to kill me?" asked the man, his voice shaking as he stared at them with wide eyes.
"I'm not gonna kill you," said Taeyong, finally separating his mouth from his thumb, and wiping it dry on the back of his dagger cloth. "I'm gonna make you wish I would, though."
Taeyong's blade approached the man again, but that time, he pushed it into an opening on the latter's button-up shirt and severed the string holding the button in place. His eye was serious and concentrating as he pushed the fabric apart and poked the man's chest strongly enough for him to feel the scratch, but not to bleed. He repeated it a few more times, as though he was trying to find the place that'd be best to make his incision. It was an intricate search, but eventually, he landed on the man's pectoral muscle and let out a quiet "there will do" under his breath.
"Have you ever been cut on a muscle before? It's like cutting into fabric—you sever each little stretchy thread until it's entirely separated—but the difference is that your clothes can't feel a thing. It's painful to sever a part of your muscle," said Taeyong, talking quietly as he made a shallow incision on the man's chest. "But you'll know in a moment. You'll feel it."
"Wait, wait! I'll talk, just... don't cut me again. Please, I'll tell you everything you need to know!" the man yelled, bringing a smirk to the gangster's face. "I'll pay the fine, too!"
Doyoung sighed and shook his head, less than amused by the older man's hijacking of his time to prove to Kun that he's more than just an ex-agent, and that he had worth to the organisation. He could've finished the job fine without Taeyong's interference, and he'd have delivered the man alive back to Neo City. He hated being taken for granted.
"Smart choice. It's an interesting part of the human body, muscle. That being said, it's not as impressive as people like to claim. It'd heal, sure, but it wouldn't be the same. Until then, well, it'd hurt like a bitch and you'd be out of work," said Taeyong, and he chuckled. "I'd get talking if I was you, unless you want to sacrifice more than your chest."
"I'll answer everything, whatever you want to know, but not here. I don't want to disgrace my people on their own land! We have to leave Chinatown. They'll know, anyway. They'll know that we're here! If we stay here, they'll kill us all before I can finish talking," said the man.
"I'd like to see them try," Taeyong snickered, scowling. "Fine! You brought a vehicle here, didn't you, Doie? We'll haul his ass there. I'll get him talking while you get us back to Eclipse. But I swear to God, if you try anything, I'm going to give more than just your chest to the stray dogs."
Doyoung pulled the man up by the wrist, allowing him to get to his feet, ignoring the latter's hesitance to abide. "I parked on the street, near that storefront. If either of you get any blood in there, you'll be sorry."
Though Doyoung's hand remained firmly on the man's wrist, they began to walk toward the entrance of the alley. People were walking past on the other side, but nothing was out of the ordinary. An elderly woman looked their way and almost gasped, picking up in pace, likely fearing the three men. Doyoung didn't know what to think of it. Since he'd resigned from his job with the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, he'd felt like everybody immediately read him as a criminal, even though he tried to show otherwise through his clothing.
It wasn't working. Especially not when he was in Taeyong's company. The older man was practically infamous, and if people didn't know him? Well, nobody else in the whole of Cheongnam wore an eyepatch and carried around as many weapons as he did.
"Can you get off me? We look suspicious. Somebody will alert them—and you really don't want to cross them," said the man as they edged ever so closer to the busy street. "I promise I won't try to run away, it's no use anyway."
Taeyong clicked his tongue, turning to face the man. "You're really testing your luck there, kid. I'll be watching you like a hawk. Get in front of us."
"How is he supposed to know where to go?" asked Doyoung, furrowing his brow. "He never saw me getting out of the van. I parked a few streets away so I wouldn't alert him too much, since the sneaky bastard got into a taxi."
"I know! We can walk in a line. It'll look less suspicious, and then you can watch what I'm doing, right?"
Doyoung didn't trust his target. He seemed too enthusiastic to be about to sell out his organisation; as though he had some kind of an alternate plan of how it was going to unfold. He knew Chinatown like the back of his hand, too. He'd have an advantage if he decided to make a run for it. "Taeyong, you walk ahead. You'll have seen the van on your way in, right? Kun must have sent you my tracking information for you to get here so quickly."
"Of course he did. But... are you sure about me going ahead? You've gotta keep your eyes on him, so no sightseeing. You get me?"
"I'm not going to be distracted on the job, Taeyong. Just get walking before we draw even more attention to ourselves," said Doyoung, pushing the older man ahead, and out into the narrow road. "I'm good at tailing people. It's one of my talents."
He heard the older man mutter as he began to walk, and then turned to his target, who looked away sheepishly before following Taeyong into the street. It was busy, but not too crowded. Doyoung still had a good sightline. He soon exited the alley, trailing behind the other two men at a distance that at least allowed them to blend into the bustle. It looked nothing out of the ordinary.
Doyoung's eyes were pinned to his target the whole time. He watched his every move—every nervous glance, every forced cough, and every abrupt swig of what he assumed was alcohol from his hip flask—searching for anything suspicious. He was most certainly planning something, but he just didn't know what.
After a while, Doyoung grew slightly more distant from the other two men. It was busier than he'd have liked around the market area, making his job just a little bit harder than it should have been. People stepped into his way, diverting his view and obstructing his path, and earned an irritated side-eye from him. He fought through the huddle of civilians to regain his sightline, and was relieved to find his target still in place. However, his hand was in his pocket, fumbling around for something.
Doyoung picked up his pace, and eventually broke into a sprint as the man brandished a small bottle. Three or four white pills shifted around inside, knocking against each other as he shook it. Pushing past people in the process, Doyoung rushed toward him. However, he only reached out for the man as he'd thrown his head back and tipped the pills into his mouth. He threw the container aside and reached for his hip flask. He managed to take a big gulp before Doyoung snatched the metal flask out of his hand. But it was too late.
People were staring at them. Taeyong had turned around, seemingly sensing that something was wrong or seeing the commotion around him with his one remaining eye. He jogged over, his brow furrowed as he looked down at the pill container on the ground and the flask in Doyoung's hand. He cursed under his breath.
"What the fuck was that? Are you fucking kidding me? What, you'd rather die than deal with the situation that you got yourself into?" asked Taeyong, his silver fist tightly gripping the air as he reached out and shoved the man harshly, making him stagger backward. "Is that what kind of a man you are? A fucking coward?"
Doyoung couldn't help but gawk at the older man, his mouth hanging slack and his eyes pinned open wide. Taeyong gripped onto their target's shirt with an unyielding grip. He could almost feel the raw, unfiltered emotion in Taeyong's voice. His lip had quivered as he spoke, as though he was fighting to regain his composure. Doyoung had never seen such a look in the older man's eye as the one he had in that moment. He took in a deep breath as the man snatched his hip flask back out of his grip and took another swig, bringing his trembling hand into Doyoung's view.
"It's fentanyl. 250mg per pill. It's strong shit, and I've never touched a drug in my life. I guess there's a first and last time for everything," said the man confidently, greatly contrasting how he was presenting himself. "I'm not scared of dying, and I'd rather end it all than to disgrace my people by betraying them. I promised to defend the integrity of the organisation and betray them under no circumstance, not even torture or death."
"Do you hear how ridiculous you sound? Is an organisation more important than your life? You sold yourself to an organisation and promised you'd kill yourself if somebody caught you. That sounds awfully like a cult," Taeyong spat.
"I want to die with honour and dignity, rather than becoming a disgrace to my people. It's not a concept you'd understand, I get that," said the man. "It's not as though you've got any dignity left to preserve. You'd have killed yourself a long time ago if you had any sense of respect for yourself."
Doyoung saw Taeyong tense. He reached out to grab the older man—not wanting a fight to start in broad daylight, right in front of twenty or thirty people—but he was quicker. Taeyong grabbed their target by the arm and began to run in the direction that they were originally walking. Doyoung followed behind them, sprinting through unnerved passersby who pointed and whispered about them. It was impossible that one of the gangs in Chinatown hadn't become aware of their presence.
By the time they had reached the narrow back road that led them out of Chinatown, their target was stumbling in his step. Taeyong never slowed down for him, though, as they grew ever so closer to the van. It came into view soon after, and Doyoung took the remote key out of his pocket and unlocked it. Taeyong shoved the man forward as he pulled the back door open. He hauled the man inside and shut the door with a slam, rattling the small vehicle.
Doyoung didn't hide his irritation at the act as he climbed into the driver's seat, and he looked over his seat and into the back where their target was laying on the floor. It hardly looked as though he was breathing, but he was still trembling, whether that was due to the drug or Taeyong's presence was uncertain. The older man was sitting beside him, looking down at the other man. "Fuck, he's going blue already. Get him to Eclipse, I'll contact Kun."
"We should take him to Taeil, not Kun—"
"Taeil is in Neo City today! He's doing community work, you know, dealing with the residents' problems. I think Kun said that he's treating the people with infections," said Taeyong. "Just step on it, would you? He's gonna die if we don't get him to Taeil, and we'll lose our information!"
Doyoung bit the inside of his lip, putting his key into the ignition. It wasn't a long drive, but Cheongnam's traffic was horrendous on the best of days. He blurred out the older man's conversation with Kun as he drove, joining onto the main arterial that led through the city. It'd be the fastest and most direct road, but it was at a standstill, only occasionally moving an inch or so forward.
"This isn't painful at all, I'd expected to at least be suffering a little bit," said the man, and he forced a laugh, turning to look at Taeyong with a furrowed brow. "Everything's moving, though. It's a bit cold, too. Can you feel it? I guess it's just me, right?"
Doyoung looked in the rear view mirror to see the man holding his hand up to Taeyong's face, not touching, but close. On the other hand, the older man was staring at him with his eye wide, completely silent. Taeyong's face was completely flat and unmoving, but he still seemed so uncharacteristically gloomy. His eye followed the other man as he lowered his hand, rolling his head back to face head on.
"You're a fucking idiot," said Taeyong, his voice monotone as he muttered. "Yeah. Maybe you were right, I don't have any respect for myself. But at least I have enough self-preservation in me that I've survived the last thirty-six years of my life without dying of a fucking overdose, or throwing myself off the top of the Namjeong Clan Headquarters."
Turning to look back at the road ahead of them, Doyoung let out a quiet sigh. It felt as though the older man's words weren't meant for him, that he shouldn't have been listening in. They were close, but Taeyong had begun to distance himself a while before he'd disappeared for two weeks. He'd worried, for a while, that he'd done something wrong, and that the older man left because of him. But his abrupt reappearance seemed to indicate otherwise.
Finally moving significantly, Doyoung focused on the road. Sure, the van was self-driving, but it was also old. He'd never trusted it, but it was the cheapest vehicle that he could find after losing his work car from the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. He couldn't exactly keep it. It was too advanced for a member of the public to own.
"Hey! Are you listening to me?" Taeyong yelled, snatching Doyoung out of his trance. "He's falling unconscious. We need to be quick. Can't you go any faster?"
"Taeyong, we'd be arrested by the time we got there if I drove any faster. Just sit down and make sure that he's breathing. Keep him flat on the ground and don't let his head move around too much."
Taeyong sat back down with a sigh, and Doyoung saw him shift out of view. After a glance over his shoulder, he found him leaning against the back of the passenger seat. He seemed stuck in his thoughts. Doyoung wanted to ask him what had happened while he was gone, but he didn't want the older man to confirm his suspicions that they were drifting farther and farther apart. He looked away as Taeyong noticed his staring.
"It was a relapse."
Sometimes Doyoung felt like Taeyong could read his mind.
"I was staying with Johnny. You know him, he's one of Kun's men. He's the bouncer for Eclipse's event nights, and he fights in the ring too," said the older man as he glanced down at his metallic hand as he moved his fingers slowly. "I didn't want you to see me in that state. It was... pretty bad. I'd gone through about 35g in the three days before, and maybe around 100g over about a week, so... the withdrawal was pretty intense."
"Right," said Doyoung, followed by a bitter moment of silence. "I could've helped you, though. I appreciate you not wanting to involve me in your withdrawal period, but I'd have been willing to help out. Or, you could've at least told me where you were going. I was worried."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I was pretty out of it when Kun found me, so I never considered that you'd notice. Or care, I guess."
It hurt him, honestly. Taeyong didn't think that he'd care about the fact that he was using drugs again, even though Doyoung was the one who'd stopped him from using them again following his release. It worked for a year, given that the older man was forced to go cold turkey in prison. Though, Doyoung had heard from the warden that it wasn't a pretty process.
"I get it. It's an overwhelming experience, and you wouldn't want everybody to see you or know what is going on. I'm not angry at you, I just wish that somebody would have at least given me a head's up that you were safe," he explained, and he let out a sigh. "We're almost at Eclipse."
"Kun told us to bring him in through the back entrance. He's collected Taeil from Neo City and they should be ready to see him straight away," said Taeyong. "He's still breathing, but it's slow. He looks like a living corpse already, I don't think he's going to last much longer."
"Slow breathing and cyanosis is normal for a fentanyl overdose. Is he responsive? Shake him a little bit, you should be able to wake him up. If not, then he might have fallen into a coma," said Doyoung, turning off the navigation system and restoring manual control to the van. "Shit, though. He said it was 250mg, right? He's probably got around 1000mg in his body. That's a lot, especially for somebody who's never touched a drug in his life."
He couldn't look over his shoulder, as he turned into a small alleyway with the van. It was a tight fit, and he felt the vehicle bump against a sidewalk. Doyoung scowled, hearing the bumper scrape against the ground. If there was one thing in Cheongnam that he hated more than the abundance of mafia-style organisations, it was the city layout.
"He's awake, but I'm not sure how long for," said Taeyong.
The back entrance of Eclipse soon came into view, and Doyoung found the door already open. It was populated by Taeil, Kun, and one of Noctis' younger members—Renjun, an interesting young man who was raised in Chinatown by his immigrant mother, and who led his own street gang before joining them—who were all eagerly awaiting their arrival.
Doyoung parked the van beside a row of dumpsters, acutely aware of the lack of space surrounding the vehicle as he opened the door and stepped onto the filth-ridden and brittle concrete, hardly dodging stepping on a small mass of fur and pink flesh which he assume once belonged to a mouse or a rat that was living in the area. He scrunched up his face, stepping onto the thin sidewalk before rushing to the back of the van, which had already been opened. Kun and Taeil helped the man to his feet and got him out of the vehicle, leaving Taeyong behind.
"So, what do you think? You've seen his face, haven't you?" asked Doyoung, turning to Renjun. "He doesn't look that much older than you. A few years or so."
"I'm not sure, but if there's one thing that I know, he wasn't a member of Iron Lotus. I'd have recognised him immediately if he was, I remember everybody who ever even scraped our ranks. If I'd have led him, I'd have recognised him," said the younger man. "If I had to take a guess, though, I'd say he isn't petty street scum."
"You think he might be something more?"
"I know he is. He doesn't give off the right aura. Chinatown is full of small-time street gangs, but that doesn't mean everybody was crawling the streets. I'd say he's a Triad man. Either the Ziyhou Triad or the Tengzhi Mafia. He might've started on the streets, but he's definitely climbed the ranks to one of those organisation's now."
Doyoung glanced into the doorway as the man was lowered onto the floor by Taeil and Kun, who'd already thrown an old bed-covering on the floor to protect it. Almost immediately, Taeil was checking his pulse, his pupils, and requesting something from those standing nearby. "But... Chinatown has never been the territory of the Ziyhou Triad or the Tengzhi Mafia. All of those small-time street gangs have kept them out all this time, right? Even Iron Lotus."
"Us? No way! We were just a bunch of kids treating Chinatown as a playground and stealing from local businesses, we weren't that strong. If either organisation had taken over, I'd have dissolved Iron Lotus immediately. I never wanted to mess with the real gangsters."
"I guess that makes sense. I think the last thing any child wants is to get caught up in the business of a bunch of intimidating adults with guns and martial arts at their backs," said Doyoung, and he sighed, sitting on the edge of the van. "You should probably see if Kun needs you to do anything else."
"You're right. Keep me updated with what's going on, though. Kun doesn't tell any of us anything," said Renjun, and he held his hand up in a low-effort wave. "See you."
He'd disappeared into Eclipse before Doyoung could even respond to his parting words, and he found himself sighing at the younger man's youthful high energy. He wasn't even that old, but he still found it impossible to keep up with the younger members' and their hyperactivity.
Doyoung turned around, shuffling himself into the back of the van where Taeyong remained, sat against the back of the passenger seat and slumped over. They shared a glance, but the older man's eye soon darted away, staring anywhere but in his direction. Doyoung sighed. He didn't know what was going on inside of Taeyong's head, but for once, he wished that he did. Doyoung stood up and made his way over to the back of the van and took a seat beside the older man. He reached for his knee and placed his hand on it, rubbing small circles soothingly through the older man's trousers.
It didn't take long for Taeyong to reach out and place his hand on top of Doyoung's, intertwining their fingers in the process. Being sat inside of a rickety old van down a filthy alleyway wasn't particularly pleasant, but it still wasn't the worst environment either of them had endured.
"Hey, are you alright? You seem a little bit down," said Doyoung. "Is it about the relapse? We can work through this together, if you still feel reliant—"
"It's not about the relapse. I'm fine, but I guess what that guy said just got to me a little. I know what it's like to be expected to pass my life away like it's nothing for an organisation, and I definitely know what it's like to feel like kicking the bucket is the only way out of my shithole of a life," Taeyong replied, and he let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm usually good at burying my emotions, but today... I don't know. I guess I'm just feeling like shit now."
"You're human just like the rest of us, Taeyong. You're allowed to feel. It doesn't matter what the Namjeong Clan or Lim Kangdae demanded of you—you can be yourself now. Kun told you, didn't he? Noctis is different. You're allowed to embrace your humanity, and you don't need to live a lie anymore."
Taeyong didn't utter a word in response, but Doyoung knew the former was listening. He'd removed his hand, and instead, he turned around and wrapped his arms around the younger man. Doyoung hugged him back, feeling Taeyong lean into his embrace. They occasionally found themselves relying on each other for emotional support. They'd act like nothing had happened afterward, but it wasn't as though they never appreciated each other.
"That bastard really left a graze, didn't he? Fuck, I need to start knocking people unconscious instead of letting them do what they want to and run their mouth," said Taeyong, his hand firmly resting on Doyoung's shoulder as he spoke. "I'm not sure if there's much humanity left inside of me, Doie. I don't know what you're all expecting of me, but if you're waiting for the day that I start going around, handing out flowers and kissing people's asses, you've got a surprise coming your way."
"You know that nobody is expecting that. A little hesitance in your violent jobs and some respect for Kun's rules, but no flowers or asses. You might be the most capable Fixer, but you still like to ignore all of his input," Doyoung replied.
Taeyong forced a laugh, separating himself from the younger man. "We'll see. It's not as though I'm allowed to use a gun anymore, unless it's the most logical solution, so you already get a little bit of hesitance. But if you're expecting me to drop the knives, you'll have a long wait. There's only so much that a pair of fists can do."
"Your fists are more than capable, you'd be fine. But I'm not expecting you to wander around Cheongnam unarmed, especially in this line of work," said Doyoung. "All it takes is a stray bullet, and you could be incapacitated like you were in the warehouse. You're more than fucked if you get knocked out on the job. Nobody will be there to help you."
"It's not gonna happen again, though, is it? Sicheng insisted that this is a stronger metal. A bullet should deflect straight off of it. And if it doesn't, well, then it's supposed to shut off on its own. No bullet is gonna knock me down."
"You shouldn't be so sure. It's happened once, so it can happen again. You were distracted," he said, watching as the elder rolled his eye. "Don't get too cocky, or we could lose you for real next time."
The tense atmosphere was soon shattered, as Renjun ran back outside. He looked around the area briskly, his eyes darting around the narrow alleyway, clearly searching for them. His attention soon shifted to the van and he jogged up to the open door. "That guy's heart has stopped! Taeil is trying to resuscitate him, but he seems unresponsive."
"Shit, so he throws himself into hell and takes his information with him. I can't say I blame him, betrayal is never going to end kindly where crime is concerned," said Taeyong. "Come on, if he starts breathing, we might get a word or two out of him."
Doyoung rushed out of the van after Taeyong, both hopping down onto the damaged and crumbling concrete beneath them. It was a slight chance that Taeil would manage to save the man's life—especially considering the opioid overdose currently ravaging his body—but they couldn't risk losing out of their final attempt to gather the information they needed to keep Neo City safe. It was clear that the man was somehow connected to the loss of power that they had experienced upon his arrival, which meant that somebody must have been planning something.
There were few organisations willing to risk such a direct attack, which meant that he had to be from one of the large organisations. His connection to Chinatown narrowed it down to the Tengzhi Mafia or Ziyhou Triad. But neither of those were supposed to have any control over Chinatown, so it complicated the whole situation much more.
Inside of Eclipse, Kun stood over the man and Taeil with his arms crossed and a firm scowl tainting his lips. He shook his head and sighed as the man failed to regain consciousness. Taeil was still undertaking CPR, but it wasn't helping.
Observing the man's pale face and blue-tinted lips, Doyoung's mind drifted. It wasn't as though the man was a drug addict, or anything of the sort, but he couldn't help but think of Taeyong, and the many deaths inside of Neo City attributed to drugs. They were running rampant, and that was no secret. Even Noctis struggled to contain the trade. He tried to avoid thinking about it, but the truth was that perhaps in another version of the present, Taeyong could have been that man.
He could have been laying dead on the ground in Eclipse, his body already losing its warmth even in the scorch of summer in Cheongnam. He could have died of an overdose, whether it was purposeful or not, and they would never see each other again.
Doyoung sighed, leaning against the back of one of the drinking booths as Taeil removed his hands from the centre of the man's chest. He looked over to Kun and shook his head. "This isn't going to work out. He's gone."
"You tried your hardest. Some people just aren't made to be saved," said Kun. "I'll have him taken into Neo City, and we'll lay him to rest there. It's dangerous to dump his body back in Chinatown, they'll see it as a threat, so he can stay here."
"I'll get my crew—"
"No, Renjun. I won't allow you or the others to do this job. I know you want to be helpful, but it will trample your morale, and we need to stay productive. We can't mourn a stranger's death, he's not one of us," Kun interjected. "You're only young, I take it that you've never witnessed a death before, right? This is your first. You can return to Neo City and take the day off."
Renjun furrowed his brow, but still nodded. He looked disheartened as he walked away, making his way over to Neo City's Eclipse entrance, but they all knew it was for the best. Doyoung hated how so many young people had been thrown into the criminal lifestyle so young, but Kun made it as easy on them as he could. Though Doyoung still disliked him, he had to give him credit where it was due.
"You two can go home, too," said Kun, turning to Doyoung and Taeyong, but his eyes immediately shifted to the older of the two. "I know you're going to try and argue with me on this, but just accept my kindness for once, yeah? You've just gotten back, you can't throw yourself head-first into work."
"It's a bit too late for that, don't you think?"
"Just go home, Taeyong. Why don't you both go and have a decent meal somewhere? Get some rest, too. Just don't come back to Neo City tonight or I'll have one of the others throw you back to the surface," he said, earning a snicker from Taeyong. "You should probably talk alone, anyway. I don't want any of your personal endeavours to bleed into Noctis."
"You're so uptight, Kun. You don't need to worry about us causing trouble," said the older man. "Fine, we'll leave. But, whatever you say, the majority of your underlings wouldn't dare to throw me anywhere."
Kun rolled his eyes, but turned his attention elsewhere. A sigh of relief left Doyoung as he stepped out of Eclipse. Taeyong followed shortly afterward, though he didn't fail to glance over his shoulder in an aggravated manner and click his tongue at their Chairman's—though he hated to be regarded in such a manner, it was ultimately his role—arrogance.
Noctis wasn't anything like the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, but Doyoung was never ashamed of what he'd become. It was a role less scheming and dishonest, and most of his time was spent making the residents of Neo City's lives easier.
Ironically, it was the most honest way he'd ever lived his life.
☆ ☆ ☆
A/N: TW: Minor character suicide (overdose).
So, here's to the start of part two! I'm actually really looking forward to this! I hope this first chapter sets the (undeniably dark) tone of this story. I will say that this entry to the series will be slower than the last, because I don't want to keep throwing plot at you all like last time. I am happy with "Used to the Darkness" turned out, but I do want to take this one slowly.
I will update this story every Wednesday! I'm a little bit late on this one because I had a very busy day yesterday, but I promise from now on I'll be on time!