"okay, won't you shut up for one damn minute?!" joshua snaps, finally, after about two weeks or so. jeonghan only grimaced at the pissed joshua, unfazed. "we're arriving soon! if you're going to be like this the whole time, then—"
"hey, mori and the others are still here. we're trying to waste as much of their time as possible. they've most probably discreetly notified jia-er about it already, so hurry." seungkwan spoke, through their earpieces. joshua looked back at the direction where they came from, to check if the others needed help, but they didn't—so it was final: joshua and jeonghan are going to find jia-er alone.
"joshua... if i die, i want you to kno—" jeonghan was cut off immediately by joshua. usually, in these situations, he is unperturbed; this is something new.
"what? how will you die? you're literally imperishable." joshua says, eyes fixated on the road. "he can't kill you."
"i want you to know that i still remember that you told me that i was the very very most bestest person you've ever met!" jeonghan teases, poking joshua's sides as he drove. joshua grunted, while jeonghan only laughed. "anyway, i know i won't die. nobody from seventeen has died yet from jia-er, too, so i think i can handle it as much as you guys did."
"not really," said joshua, bitterness lacing his voice. jeonghan is intrigued. "jia-er once brainwashed an intern."
"an intern in seventeen?! you guys had interns before?!"
"yeah, only one. seungcheol favored him. like a little brother."
"what happened to him?"
joshua paused. "jia-er took him. we don't know where he is right now, but i know that he's doing fine. he's got an ability."
jeonghan knew where his boundaries were, and this seemed like one of those topics that are off limits. joshua was surprisingly open to him, though, so jeonghan still asked. "what's his ability?"
"oh, like jihoon's. but he can only move small things, yet you can't underestimate him. he can pull out all of your teeth, de-attach your cells and atoms at once, pull out your hair." in joshua's story, this intern seemed like a very formidable candidate, so why bother making him an intern when he can be a full time seventeen member at once? maybe that intern still had school.
"name?"
"oh," joshua halted the car. they had just arrived in the hotel. "kim samuel." joshua fished out his phone immediately, typing away. jeonghan peeked in excitement, pushing himself to get nearer to joshua.
"jia-er's using a burner phone, but i can tell that he's still in the hotel." footages of random cameras in a hotel appeared in joshua's phone, and joshua pointed to one of the frames. "see that? he's still in his room." joshua looked up to face jeonghan back again—and his face was too close.
but jeonghan wasn't looking at joshua's eyes, or face. his eyes was set on joshua's exposed skin, like he was a predator marking his prey. this is not the time, jeonghan.
joshua, surprisingly, took jeonghan's chin with his index and thumb to make jeonghan look at his face. "hey, eyes up here, angel." joshua raised an eyebrow. jeonghan thought that angel was such a suggestive name—but he realized that his codename was angel after all.
"alright...." jeonghan trailed off, as joshua lets go of his chin. jeonghan was tempted to say daddy, but they were at work. "joshua. let's go!" jeonghan kicked the door open, making joshua sigh. the mood had been ruined—not like joshua liked it though!
"don't destroy my car!" joshua said and stepped out of his vehicle. "alright, ready?" joshua asked, walking towards the hotel's entrance without looking back. when jeonghan doesn't answer, though, joshua halts and looks back. why isn't jeonghan answering? why can't joshua hear another set of footsteps? something got stuck?
could it be...?
a different voice answers joshua for jeonghan, as the owner of the voice holds jeonghan's wrist. "ready."
joshua's glare burned a hole into jia-er's skull. "i knew you'd show yourself sooner or later." joshua walks near the two, while jeonghan only smiles. joshua could see jeonghan's free hand reaching for the exhaust pipe of joshua's car.
joshua facepalmed, realizing that jeonghan knew all along. "so? you're not going to fight? just going to hide like always? maybe if your leader was here, we'd have a more exciting duel. he's so mad at me, you know why?"
"because you're evil, fuckass." joshua replied. joshua's eyes strayed to jeonghan for a second, checking if jeonghan had already successfully pulled out the exhaust pipe. "you like seungcheol because you're direct opposites. your abilities are contrasted, and your chances of winning against each other is fifty-fifty. while me?"
"you're no fun!" jia-er exclaims, laughing. jeonghan's pitched scream makes joshua worry for a minute—is jia-er's ability still working on jeonghan? maybe jia-er just tightened his grip on jeonghan. "so, what? i'm waiting for one of your other members to come and fight me. you look like you're not really planning on fighting me. should i take this new member of yours instead?"
"now, joshuji!" jeonghan nods behind him, and joshua complies. he makes himself invisible, before he runs to both jeonghan and jia-er's backs. jeonghan pulled out the exhaust pipe at once, flying out before joshua caught it. joshua becomes visible again, and he shoots jia-er with the 'exhaust pipe'.
that exhaust pipe wasn't what it looks like. it was joshua's newly made weapon, a vortex with a compressed star as its power outlet. the power ranges from one to fifty, and choosing fifty is basically destroying everything within a 400 mile radius. where did joshua get a goddamn star? nobody knows.
it was the very powerful weapon that joshua has ever made, and he was sure that it would atleast kill jia-er at a range around 15-20. wonwoo made a powerful weapon, too, but joshua doesn't know how it works exactly.
"fuck! that was amazing! we won! we won! he's fucking injured!" jeonghan ran to joshua and clung to his arm. jia-er? well, half of his body is singed off. jeonghan got a minor burns as well, but he can heal himself. "what should we do now? should we go back and help the others?"
"we should call the police first to take care of this mess."
wait, wait, i killed jia-er?! joshua asked himself, surprised. he wasn't good at hand-to-hand combat unlike jia-er, so joshua used a long range attack. and it worked! it fucking worked! "joshuji, you surprise me."
"i know. i-i... i can't believe it. all it took was an illusion and a vortex!" joshua laughed, looking down on jia-er's corpse. and ashes. "you did great as well. good job."
jeonghan freezed as joshua suddenly engulfed him in a hug. jeonghan sighed and melted on the spot, satisfied with everything. they just won, and he gets to hug joshua comfortably, and he just gets to be happy! how amazing is that?
jeonghan loves his life.
soon, the police arrived and joshua was conversing with the other seventeen members left in the hotel. to relay the news, maybe. jeonghan was told that they were still fighting deokhwa and the goons. joshua said that they have to go back to the hotel to help the other seventeen members.
while they were in the car, jeonghan found the courage to speak. "joshuji?" jeonghan starts, nervously fumbling. "i have something to tell you."
"well, hurry, because we're near to our destination." joshua said, speeding.
"don't interrupt!" jeonghan said. "it's just that... if you haven't noticed, i really, really like you. beyond your looks, your appearance and all. it's really obvious, but it often comes off as a joke because i'm too flirty. i don't think you know though."
joshua doesn't answer. jeonghan continued. "you don't have to answer, okay? just let me admire you from afar. i know, i know, i'm always so close to you so we're not actually far, but i know that you get what i mean. even if you don't give me an answer, i'm still happy with what i've got."
joshua drives even faster and doesn't answer.