-•☆•-

At that slender glimpse of Kiara, Chris vaulted over the street nearly causing Sehun to lose his equilibrium, 

"Chris hyung!!" Owing to Sehun's efficient grips, he himself and Daeseong could be banned from the face-on fall,

"What are you even doing??" He put his feet down post-haste, imposing limits on the motorbike's swaying. 

Chris took no account of anyone or anything at that instant— his eyes fell on Kiara and he let slip of the rest of the world. "Kiara!!" He exclaimed, incarcerating the woman's attention, 

"Kiara!! I am here."

Hitherto, Chris has only heard about what happens in love— exertions become slow, adapting to a sedate motion. A wind of domestic felicity blows around the person who has fallen in love. Every hideous thing suddenly begins to appear ravishing. 

On this day, however, Chris could find himself heading towards Kiara, in that sedate exertion; he could find a wind of delight girdling him as he witnessed Kiara turning around with her black curled fringes falling over her eyes, while a non existent music played in the background.

The aforementioned woman removed those few bangs falling over her eyes, giving her assent to the eyes to be meshed with the boy's, for whom Kiara's sole existence felt like a benevolence— as if he would choose to be with her anyday, over attaining Paradise. 

"Chris!!" Kiara beamed, alleviating herself from her peers, "It has been so long!" Without awaiting Chris's 'slow motion' arrival, she herself picked up the courtesy and hastened to the older man, embracing his nape with her dainty arms tightly, "I- I missed you, baby!"

"Me too, baby!" Chris reciprocated the deed, tousling through Kiara's black curls.

Kiara's grin reached from her right ear to her very left, when she kept her eyes closed to be in that moment— in the forthcoming minutes she abruptly pulled herself back sheerly and turned away, creating a distance between herself and the man before her.

"Kiara?" Chris's smile began to dwindle at the end after it came to his notice that Kiara's face which was illuminated just one moment ago, has now been blurred with grey clouds, "What happened, Kiara?" As soon as he took a step closer, Kiara forbade the elder man's advent any closer. She rather turned to the acquaintances accompanying Chris, and welcomed them to be with her own group.

Holding the cigarette between his lips, for the duration of Sehun driving back to their fateful location, Chris only wanted to decipher why Kiara behaved so absurdly back in the restaurant— if she was hiding anything from Chris! Such thoughts kept bothering him. 

"Chris hyung, get off!" After Daeseong had already leaped from the motorbike, Sehun turned to Chris, asking him to get down from that vehicle. 

"Huh? Oh," puffing his lungs with another pull of the cigarette, Chris got off— the blackish-brown hairs was not a chainsmoker, nor was he a fan of smoking, but whenever he felt distressed, those nicotine filled cancer sticks proved to be his only refuge.

"I will return the bike, meanwhile Daeseong hyung, you should take a look to assess if those labourers have left the place," the youngest then turned to the immigrant who kept smoking without necessarily letting the smoke reach his lungs, "This is the place right, Chris hyung?"

No fitting response came— in fact no response came. 

"Chris hyung??" Sehun called again, only to be received by another wave of silence. 

"Chris hyung!!!!!" The younger tapped over Chris's shoulder vehemently, "Can you hear me????" 

Chris recoiled, shrinking "Huh??? Oh- y-yeah!! What are you saying??" He dropped the cigarette butt, smashing it under his feet. "I'm sorry, I was not paying attention!" 

"Ah! Nevermind," Sehun blew the bangs falling on his face and pointed at the bike with a sardonic snigger, "Go return it at least!"

Chris took the motorbike to his guardianship "Okay," and with that lone word he left to put it back in the rental. 

"We really lost him, right bro?" Daeseong stepped ahead, resting his elbow over Sehun's shoulder, tilting his head with an unflattering stare.

"We surely did," Sehun remained tilting his head. 

"Anyway, the labourers are gone."

Some minutes ticked by— Sehun, Daeseong and Chris had now reached exactly the place where Chris was deceived into coming.

"Here! Right here!" Chris pointed a finger at the arid grasses, "I was standing right here, talking over the phone when Joon hyung tossed over me and slinked away, letting the bullet pass right- right in front of our sight," a ravelled sensation stroke at the middle of Chris's chest while he recalled those appalling episodes— "Ahh, look at me Eve! I am still getting goosebumps from even mentioning those occurrences."

"Hmm, you were standing there. Then…" Sehun spun the other way, "That abandoned hedge is the only possible spot for hiding."

"Then, should we go there and look for clues, if the malefactor left any?" Daeseong counselled. "But, one thing is kind of bothering me, you can say. Eve, this place is usually accessed by those who work or live around this area. Actually, this place is not very well-known around this town. So…"

"So, there could be two possibilities!" The youngest persistently kept an eye over the hedge, "Either the offender lives somewhere nearby. Or the offender probed into this city a little too well." 

Daeseong and Chris swapped their stares between them, and shrugged simultaneously.

"In both the cases, I am sure that the offender left no stone unturned," Sehun turned around, "which means, while we will be searching for non-existent clues, the offender will be preparing their next ambush."

"But, but how are you so sure?" 

"Daeseong hyung, if they indeed left any clue, don't you think at least one person would have noticed something odd? Anything odd? This place might be a less visited one, but this is not yet deserted."

"That's true. I did not think much about it," Daeseong concurred.

"Such a vigilante offender reminds me of only one woman. Her approaches were very, scarily similar to what the woman did to Chris hyung!! In fact that woman had always known how to operate a gun…skillfully!" Sehun puts his hands in the pants pockets, an air of despondency swathing him.

Chris exhibited his curiosity, "Who is it, Eve?"

Sehun ejected a sigh before answering,

"My mom."

-

His face, a perfect one— it beheld so much magnetism notwithstanding its portable size. His soft black hairs brushing against Jihyo’s forearm felt like quills. His dark chocolate brown eyes were so inviting; and his kissable cupid's bow seemed so alluring. 

Jihyo could not be any more beholden to Nani for making that juncture possible— Jihyo hung onto a big sized teddy bear,  painted in mauve hue, surmising it to be the younger boy he met just that noon. He lied against his velvety bolster, with an unconscious smile on his lips. It was imprinted in his memory, how he lost himself at that moment; only if Sehun did not snap his fingers before his face to bring him back to verity, he would have made a fool of himself, since Daeseong had long woken up from his embosom. 

Jihyo opened his eyes, prodding the red fur of the teddy bear he was holding, "Hey you! You were so ugly to this day. Why are you suddenly so pretty today, huh?" He bit his lower lip, after sitting up with his spine straight over their bed— "What was that cutie's name again? Uh- it was something with D, right, fuzzball?" He pulled out his phone, hitting Kiara up with a text, wary of not waking his roommate up, who slept like a log beside him. 

-

"Hey Kiara. Emergency!!"

"???"

"What was that cutie's name? I can't recall, sowwy :("

"Daeseong."

"Oh, right!! I love you, sister. Thank you! <4"

"3* Good night."

"Hey wait!! Do you maybe know if cutie has any social media accounts?"

-

For some moments there was a return text from the lady on the other side; which was to Jihyo’s keenness, a threat. His face almost began to hang low, thinking Kiara would not text him back and had gone into the land of 'nightmares' in his words— just when his phone lit up, equivalent to Jihyo’s sullen face. 

'You have received a notification from Kiara'

Jihyo picked the phone up zealously, "Something good please," he prayed to the Heavens.

"Instagram: latenighter_daeseong
Facebook: Daeseong Park
Discord: Daes#4519
Phone number: 7012xxxxxx
Email: latedaes@//gmail.com"

Jihyo joined his hands, thanking the Heavens for making his dream come true. Nonetheless, it would be a deception if Jihyo said that he did not become puzzled about where Kiara would collect those information from, but then again she is 'The Kiara Kim'; also known as the social media butterfly.

Arbitrarily, going against wasting any time, Jihyo puts the username sent by Kiara in his Instagram search bar, at the very top, he could perceive Daeseong— despite the profile icon being that of a size of s grain, Jihyo knew the profile owner is his cutie.

"Wh- wha- what??? 2M followers?? With  only 2 posts, huh??" The hotness creeped up on Jihyo’s ears, "Indeed people go crazy over his cuteness. But the thing is…"

"Do I even have a chance?" 

He chucked the phone, and looked to his left— Jihyo used to play guitar once upon a time. 

"I sure do, cutie!" He winked at the acoustic guitar, and kept the notepad beside it— "Time to put these to use again, yaayyy!" He clicked the pen few a times before placing it on the paper,

"My first ever composition, for my first ever love. Ahh cutie, I love you so much!!" Jihyo announced loudly, squealing to himself, maximising his phone screen and putting it beside him— the frame captured its subject a little too well. The M-1965 field jacket with hood sat at the airy esse of Daeseong, as his smile accentuated by the sharp jawline he owned, radiated a buoyant flavour. His black hairs were all dishevelled due to the wind, making it almost impossible for Jihyo to take his eyes off.

-

Biting his lips, Sehun stood in the sight of their gangway— in front of his eyes, Lee Wooshik stood in an all black satin shirt worn in his olive green cargo pants, with his collarbone exposed, flattered by the rimless glasses he put on. Sehun had never come across anyone who could surface as a homme fatale while doing literally nothing.

"Bro, and here we lost our Eve," Daeseong said, trafficking another peek with the immigrant. 

"Indeed," Chris opined. 

Sehun pounced back to the present, "Heyy!! It's not like that, what are you even saying?" All his ventures on tucking away his shyness were condemned useless. 

"Let's get in, before Captain catches sight of us!!" Daeseong said, setting his foot in, Chris and Sehun following, "Although I don't think he would, since anytime he is preoccupied with work, he would not stray from the work!" 

"But Daeseong, that does not mean he turns a deaf ear or a blind eye to his surroundings. He keeps record of everything that goes around, and assembles them to be taken care of for later," Chris closed the door behind him, and squatted, putting his Adidas sneakers off, borrowed from Minhyuk's collection. 

Daeseong pioneered to Wooshik with a loitering Chris behind him, howbeit Sehun kept standing awkwardly at the entrance, taking his shoes and socks off larghetto. 

"Captain," Daeseong, a shade on the edge, stood before the taller man, lying in wait for their foreman's commands to follow. 

Wooshik brought an end to the call he was on, and laid down his cellphone, "Oh! Daeseong!!" He took a quick look at the clock, "This is late! What were you doing outside for so long?"

"Captain, we, I mean me, Eve, and Chris went t-"

"To assess the place where Chris was hoodwinked into believing the caller actually had some useful information about Siwoo. I know."

Daeseong began shifting weights among his feet, "H- how, how d- do you know?" As his jittery nerves flickered like a 'danger' sign board. 

"Daeseong…"

"Y- yes?" Daeseong swallowed a good amount of his own saliva, "Sorry for stuttering, I actually…actually I…I mean…" he sighed at the end, unable to pick up expressions to convey his truest feelings— of trepidation. 

Wooshik took off his glasses, pausing his arms over Daeseong’s fluttering shoulders, "Daeseong…how many years do you think I am working in this industry?"

"I…don't remember."

"Forget it, then. That is not the point. What I wanted to say is that it is not just a month or just only one year that I have been working here. I can tell from only a look at my attendants what they planned, or what their next step will be. We, the leaders of such secret gangs, have to live in the brains of our workers," he retrieved his arms, "Good job Daeseong!! You guided them throughout the day without a lump on their skin. Keep it up!" Their elder trapped the younger boy, who had black hair, patting his back, with arms locked around Daeseong’s neck, in an affectionate manner— affection of a proud preceptor.

Far-flung, Sehun quietly stood, introspective—  his lips curved into a sullen pout, exhales became hoarse, hands clenched; he could not veritably understand why he did not like to watch Lee Wooshik hugging another boy who was of the same age as Sehun's, older by only two months. 

Sehun advanced onwards, stomping his feet, to separate his elder from Lee Wooshik. "Daeseong hyung, can you give me your phone? I have to log into my email. Kiara asked me to send the essays."

"Oh! Of course," Daeseong said with a teasing smirk, shedding sly looks both at Sehun and Wooshik, before returning to get his mobile phone. 

After Daeseong's face had already been ceased to be visible, Sehun moved to the older man, "Captain…"

Wooshik looked the other way, turning a deaf ear to Sehun's greetings. He collected his laptop and phone and led to the detention room instead. 

"Captain??" Sehun was addled at Wooshik's strange behaviour. 

Their Captain closed the door without any well grounded defence. 

Sehun's face contorted with confusion "What did I do?? Why is he avoiding me now?" He did not deceive himself, but that saddened him a little— he looked forward to seeing his Captain for the entire day, only to be met with such an event. 

Chris and Daeseong stood, caching themselves away behind the dark blue drapes, relishing the warm-hearted scene that was yet to come— but did not. 

"Well," Daeseong took hold of his android, "I shall go and give this to Eve."

"I shall go and give a brief account about our day to Minnie and Joon hyung then," Chris prepared to leave, "They are upstairs, right?"

"Of course. If they could not be found here, they are indeed upstairs. Why do you keep forgetting it??" After Daeseong dissolved into the first floor, Daeseong made his way to Sehun and gave him his phone,

"Eve, I will go and get some rest…right here on this couch, alright? If you need anything, feel free to wake me up," saying he reclined on the couch, cloaking his own blue woolly overcoat around his little frame.

"Sure, Daeseong hyung!" Sehun was ergo in a trance, trying to figure out why Lee Wooshik would behave like that to him for apparently no reason, "You are an idiot!" He scrunched his nose and plunged at a little corner of the couch where Daeseong slept beside him, logging into his email.

-No Subject-

'From Kiarajazz@//gmail.com
To Hunnie@//gmail.com

Date XXth September 20xx

Hey bro, send me the essays on neo-classical period, fast! My cousin bro needs them for his next semester. I have lost all my notes. But since you are a human computer, dig into your brain, excavate all about neoclassicism and send them to me. You better be quick. Bye!'

Sehun minimised the screen, putting the work off for some other time and proceeded to get an access to the chrome instead. The web page took some minutes to reload, and once it did Sehun immediately typed out, 

"If someone likes me, will they ignore me on purpose?"

-•☆•-