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Hearthome City may have been one of the most populated cities in Sinnoh, but it was far from the loudest, and unfortunately, Jisung’s poketch ringtone was even more jarring in the silence of the cathedral. Jisung winced apologetically at the other attendees, edging towards the aisle to hurry outside.
“Pii,” Jisung’s Happiny piped up reproachfully. She had been enjoying the quiet sermon. He hushed her gently as he answered the call.
“Oh, Seungmin. Did you need something?”
“Jisung.” The familiar voice sounded scratchy through the speaker, but it made sense that the researcher was probably not getting very much service down in the ruins. “We might be getting back a little earlier than expected.” Jisung hurriedly turned the volume down as Seungmin began to speak louder, over some kind of argument in the background.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, Chan’s stumbled across an old friend here and he’s a little beat up. I think we’re going to stop here today and get back to the Pokemon Center.”
Jisung hummed in concern, absently letting Happiny grab his free hand with her short arms. “Are they injured that badly?”
“No.” Seungmin heaved an irritated sigh. “But Minho has been lost down here for days without a single escape rope on him. At least he had a decent food supply, thank Arceus.”
“Oh no… How are his pokemon?”
“Better off than he is. At least there aren’t wild pokemon down in the ruins, although the Unown didn’t want to let him leave either.”
Seungmin scoffed at someone on his end. “Yes, you were being an idiot, hyung,” the researcher scolded someone Jisung can’t see. “They can hibernate in their pokeballs. You can’t.”
Jisung blinked in slight surprise. That was more outward concern Seungmin had shown for people not his husband in years. Either this Minho was in poorer health than Seungmin implied, or he was a close friend indeed. Probably the latter, since Seungmin hadn’t sounded like he was in a rush, although Jisung thought he already knew everyone Seungmin was acquainted with. Jisung was intrigued despite himself: it was pretty novel for someone to be close to both Seungmin and Chan without ever having met Jisung and the rest of their friends.
“Jisung.” The sound of his name pulled the pokemon breeder out of his thoughts. “Would you mind setting out an extra plate for dinner? Minho will probably come home with us tonight. I don’t trust him to run off if we leave him alone in Solaceon.” Indiscernible bickering sounded from the other end of the line. “Yes, you definitely would, and leave Chan with the bill, too.”
“Uh, yeah, I don’t mind!” Jisung laughed nervously, thinking about the meal he hadn’t started prepping for yet. “Just bring him over with you, I can’t wait to meet him.” Hopefully Hyunjin could close the gym early today. Jisung might bake the most luxurious poffins this side of Sinnoh, but his human food culinary skills were an entirely different story.
“Perfect. See you this evening then.”
“Piin?” Happiny looked up questioningly at him, and Jisung could only shrug in response.
“You wanna go visit Hyunjin-oppa now? Play with his hat?” Jisung cooed at her, hitching her harness up a little higher on his shoulders. If he were going to bribe Hyunjin into helping him cook again, Happiny’s puppy eyes would be his greatest weapon.
“Happii~” Happiny cheered.
“Yes you are, sweetie. The gym it is.”
They’d been having these dinner parties together for years now. Well, ‘dinner party’ made the event sound much more formal than it actually was. For the most part, they all just wanted an excuse to drink together, let their pokemon out of their confines and enjoy each other’s company. Jisung forgot who had suggested doing this in the first place. Probably Chan, with his need to take care of everyone, human and pokemon alike.
They took turns hosting, although more often than not, the entire gang found themselves at Jisung’s place, an old chalet on the grounds of the breeding facility where he worked. The large property had once been Mr. Backlot’s, before Chan converted it into a second lab and hired Jisung to oversee the artificial habitats inside, and as such, Jisung’s residence was more than large enough to accommodate all their friends and then some. He’d fallen in love with the roomy cottage at first sight and convinced Chan to let him redecorate without tearing the entire thing down, to which Chan had readily agreed. Seungmin and Chan had rooms up at the lab whenever they couldn’t leave their workspace, but Jisung knew that they too preferred the cozier trappings of his guest room, and he didn’t mind the company. It was like having part-time roommates.
These days, the facility barns were more often empty than not, since Seungmin and Chan were chasing leads around Sinnoh, most of the academic research left to their assistants down in Sandgem, but Jisung didn’t particularly mind. Free time meant more time to help Felix out at his pokemon shelter in Solaceon, where Jisung had worked before Chan hired him. It still wasn’t too much work, nothing hectic like the months leading up to Seungmin’s and Chan’s publication deadlines. Beyond training a few new farmhands to handle the tetchy Rapidash herd Felix looked after, Jisung actually spent most of his time these days thinking about how to train his own team again.
It had been years since Jisung officially retired from the League circuit, finding more joy dabbling in research and raising baby pokemon than battling. Even when he had been a competitive trainer, he was more than ready to settle down by the time he had received the Relic Badge in Hearthome. It meant Jisung was no stranger to the gym, and he easily navigated to the employee entrance tucked away in the back of the building.
Jisung unstrapped Happiny from his chest as she began to wriggle impatiently, bouncing out of his arms and tottering down the familiar hall. They passed a few gym trainers along the way, all of whom brightened up at the sight of the familiar pink pokemon. It was far from the first time they had come here.
“He’s taking a nap right now,” Molly called out cheerfully as she jogged past, chasing her Misdreavus. “But he won’t mind getting woken up. There were lots of challengers this morning.” Hearthome Gym had one of the earliest opening times of any Sinnoh gym but also one of the earliest closing times. Turns out not many people were willing to face Ghost-types at night if they could avoid it. The schedule sucked for Hyunjin though, who was as far from a morning person as one could possibly get and only survived on a diet of iced americano and Red Tauros.
Sure enough, Hyunjin was knocked out on the couch in the break room, long legs hanging off the end. Jisung laughed as Happiny clambered up his robe to sit triumphantly on Hyunjin’s chest and bat at his face. If only she could learn Wake-Up Slap.
“Pinii. Pii!”
Hyunjin groaned, yanking Happiny off his face and tucking her into his chest as he rolled over, burrowing into the cushions. “Five more minutes, baby.”
“No time for that,” Jisung replied with a smirk, quietly snapping as many pictures as he could. “Seungmin and Chan are getting back early tonight and you know I can’t feed you all on my own.” When he received no verbal response, Jisung continued. “They found an old friend in the ruins, too, so we’ve got a guest tonight. Someone named Minho, I think.”
Hyunjin rolled back over at that, eyes wide open for once. “Mm. Wait. Minho? Chan’s friend Minho?”
Jisung raised an eyebrow. “Why, you know him too?”
“Only by reputation.” Hyunjin gaped. “You mean you don’t know who Minho is?” He dropped the exaggerated expression, reconsidering. “Oh, this should be fun.”
Jisung shrugged nonchalantly. Chan was acquainted with everyone from the Snowpoint Temple keeper to obscure village leaders who lived even further south than Dewford Town in Hoenn. It wouldn’t be surprising if Minho turned out to be some bigshot celebrity, and Jisung was sure he’d find out eventually.
“So can you come early then? I’m fully stocked up on groceries and everything.”
“You just want me to make you cheesecake again,” Hyunjin quipped, sitting up and ruffling Happiny’s bangs when she tried to reach for his hat. His gym outfit was a little ostentatious, what with the deep purple robe and the wide-brimmed hat and, god, the heels, but even Jisung had to admit that no one else could quite pull it off like Hyunjin did. Perks of having a fashion designer boyfriend, he supposed. Or just from being born drop-dead gorgeous, although if the rumors were true, his sister in Unova was even prettier.
“You got me there,” Jisung agreed easily, letting Hyunjin buckle Happiny back into her harness on his chest.
“Then I’ll change now. Could you let Allen know I’m leaving? I don’t think anyone else is making it out of the third floor tonight.” Before trainers could face Hyunjin directly, they had to battle against the other gym trainers, oftentimes type specialists who wanted to hone their techniques working with specific pokemon. These gym trainers were as responsible for taking care of the facility as Hyunjin was. After Fantina had announced Hyunjin as her successor, he had immediately remodeled the entire gym into various levels of mazes in the dark, adding another level of difficulty to any trainers who wanted to challenge the Hearthome gym.
Jisung was just grateful that he had been able to receive his Relic Badge before Hyunjin took over. He didn’t think he could survive battling Ghost-types while lost in the dark.
By the time they arrived back at Jisung’s place, the shadows were growing longer, although the sun had yet to descend. Jisung was manning the grill while Hyunjin’s Gengar cheerfully flitted from tree to tree behind him, chased by Jisung’s equally playful Arcanine between his Tropius’s legs. The rest of his pokemon had been let out of their pokeballs too, although only Happiny was content to accompany him on the veranda, nibbling on a poffin and curled up in Hyunjin’s hat. The others were most likely inside, getting spoiled for dinner by Hyunjin the way they always did whenever he visited.
“Incoming!” Someone hollered from the front of the house, and Jisung snorted quietly as the pokemon perked up, scattering to go look for the new arrival. He finished plating up the last few skewers, setting it aside for Hyunjin to figure out how to arrange nicely before scooping Happiny up in his arms to greet whoever had landed in the front yard.
Just as expected, the young man bowled over in the grass by his apologetic Crobat was a rather dusty Felix. As Jisung approached, the freckled young man looked up, although he made no move to actually stand up.
“I guess training’s going well then?” Jisung teased, although the grin he couldn’t entirely prevent from stretching across his cheeks countered any bite his words may have held.
The owner of the Sinnoh Pokemon Daycare smiled back just as widely, taking Jisung’s proffered hand to pull himself to his feet as Crobat flapped in lazy circles around their heads.
“One of my customers brought me the HM last week as a thank-you gift,” Felix replied happily. “Now I don’t need to save up for it anymore, which means we can probably afford that second PC.”
Before Jisung worked there himself, he would have assumed that running the only daycare service in Sinnoh was a lucrative business. But with the shelter for abandoned pokemon that Felix had added to his family’s daycare (purely out of the goodness of his own heart, mind you), Jisung knew Felix was lucky to break even some months. The Ranger grants only stretched so far, after all.
“That’s a pretty pricey gift, huh,” Jisung noted casually, but Felix immediately flushed disproportionately red. “Oh my god, it was the cute guy again, wasn’t it?”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it,” Felix immediately protested as they walked into the house. “He just needed me to take care of his Sneasel again for a few days.”
“And before that it was the Mightyena, and before that was the Bibarel…”
Hyunjin looked up with interest from the kitchen, where he was stirring batter with one hand and fending off Jisung’s Skwovet with the other. “Felix bagged a sugar daddy?”
Jisung howled with laughter as Felix sank into the couch in beet-red mortification, doing his best to blend in with the throw pillows. “He’s younger than me!”
Hyunjin shrugged unsympathetically. “More time for you to milk him of all his money before he kicks the bucket, then. Sungie, the cake’s in the fridge.”
“Oh Arceus, thank you,” Jisung moaned in relief as he plopped down next to Felix, tipping sideways so the rancher could brush his bangs off his forehead. “You’re a godsend.”
“You won’t be saying that when your pokemon get into dessert before everyone arrives and then Minho starves for real this time.” Hyunjin stared pointedly at Skwovet, who blinked innocently back, swishing his tail back and forth like a predator waiting to pounce.
“Skwo.”
“You heard me, mister.”
Felix tilted his head curiously. “Who’s Minho? You invited a new friend?”
“An old friend, apparently,” Jisung replied absently, letting Happiny hop out of his arms and onto the floor to tug playfully at Hyunjin’s patient Drifblim. “Seungmin and Chan found him lost in the ruins earlier, so they’re bringing him over.” Jisung didn’t mention how he suspected they’d be asking him to let Minho stay in his guest room, if he still needed to recuperate. Jisung also didn’t mention that he himself would probably agree to the request, no questions asked.
As often as he got to see his friends, as surrounded as he was by pokemon and the work he enjoyed, there was still a small part of Jisung that had never stopped yearning for adventure, for the thrill of the unknown and the heady solitude of the road. If Minho weren’t from these parts, Jisung was sure the mysterious man would have some interesting stories to tell, stories Jisung was absolutely dying to pry out of the other man.
Felix made a soft sound in understanding before his hand stilled in Jisung’s hair. “Wait, Chan’s old friend Minho? That Minho?”
Hyunjin cackled gleefully. “That’s exactly what I said. And you know what the best part is? Jisung has no idea who we’re talking about.”
Felix blinked down at the man in his lap, who only made a kissy face at him in return. “You didn’t know that Minho’s actually the—”
“No, don’t tell him,” Hyunjin whined. “I want to see how long it takes for him to figure it out.”
Jisung shrugged. “I’ve met so many celebrities and famous experts through Chan now that it doesn’t faze me at all anymore. Hyunjin, you’re literally a gym leader yourself. And I’m not that dumb, I’m sure I’ll figure it out when he gets here.”
“He’s different. You’ll see,” was all Hyunjin said in reply, eyes glittering.
The sunlight angling through Jisung’s gauzy curtains was markedly more orange by the time they had finished setting out all the food on the back patio. The pokemon had all been let out of their pokeballs, playing together in the yard or trying out the piles of poffins Jisung had arranged for them. Seungmin and Chan and their mysterious guest had yet to show up, and it made Jisung restless, although he wasn’t the only one.
“Maybe they got caught up in something,” Felix commented worriedly, looking towards the horizon, still blissfully clear of any flying pokemon.
“Probably not. You know how Seungmin hates to ruin dinner plans. He would’ve called if they were waylaid.” Changbin had let himself into the house sometime around an hour ago, and now he was sprawled in the doorway, Hyunjin’s head in his lap and Glameow draped across his shoulders like the measuring tape that usually rested there. Her eyes never left Jisung’s Skwovet, and if Jisung hadn’t seen the vigilant twitch of his rascal pokemon’s tail, he’d be more concerned. As things stood though, Jisung was utterly unsurprised when Glameow finally made good on her promise to pounce, diving off of Changbin’s shoulders with a triumphant yowl.
Her cry was drowned out by an even louder metallic screech ringing from the distance, and Jisung looked up to the sight he had been anticipating for so long.
Seungmin’s Skarmory descended from above with her usual grace, although the impact of her landing sent a mild shockwave rumbling through the ground. Happiny seemed delighted to be bounced upwards by the earth itself, although she certainly wasn’t pleased with tipping over her own feet until Hyunjin caught her and scooped her up again. But it was hard for Skarmory to be careful, after all, when she had three riders on her back.
“I hope we didn’t keep you waiting for too long,” Seungmin called out, slipping off Skarmory’s back with ease. “We had a few… travel complications.”
“You can just say Minho’s afraid of heights, you know,” Chan added cheerfully, patting Skarmory on the flank with one hand as he supported an unfamiliar brunet with the other.
“I know Alakazam can Teleport. Seungmin just wanted to humble me while I’m still too nauseated to get revenge,” Minho snapped back, the irritation undercut by the genuine queasiness on his face.
Jisung barely heard Seungmin’s retort, too busy trying to remember how to breathe. Despite dark eye bags and a pallor that suggested the lack of a full night’s sleep for far too long, Minho was beautiful. All thoughts of interrogating the man evaporated from his mind. Oh god, Jisung would swoon if he got any attention at all from him.
With a baleful sniff, Minho finally looked up from his unsteady feet to meet Jisung’s eyes, curious gaze freezing the breeder in his place even as Felix rushed forward to help him into the house. “Oh, who’s this?”
“Ah, hey Jisung,” Chan greeted warmly, striding forward once Minho was freed from his grasp to embrace his long-time friend and employee. He smelled familiarly of sun-dried leather and burnt pine, and Jisung had no qualms about sinking into the arms of one of his closest friends.
Over Chan’s shoulder, Minho steadily held Jisung’s gaze, neither of them able to look away. Jisung wasn’t sure why his stomach was twisting itself into knots, didn’t want to acknowledge the suddenness of his emotions, but suddenly he was just as eager to shepherd Chan towards the door, closer to the others.
The other man was far from what Jisung had been expecting. For one, Minho was young, probably around the same age as Seungmin or himself, a far cry from the middle-aged academics Chan usually hung around. For another, although Minho’s eyes shone with the sharp competence of a seasoned trainer, there was something weightier about the set of his shoulders, and Jisung couldn’t decide if it’s Minho’s aura or his looks that have ensnared his attention. Maybe it was both.
For now, Jisung remained silent, admiring the defined lines of Minho’s side profile as he turned to greet Hyunjin. He didn’t need the damning warmth of Ralts by his side to make him aware of just how struck he was.
“You never told me he was going to be cute,” Jisung bemoaned quietly to Seungmin later, between courses, when everyone else was distracted by whatever story Hyunjin was telling with exaggerated hand gestures. Evening had come as the sky darkened, but reflected light flashed by the windows every so often as Chan’s Ampharos happily roughhoused with Jisung’s Arcanine outside.
Seungmin paused in his unsubtle attempts to pile more food on Chan’s plate as he tried to figure out who Jisung was talking about. “Cute? Who… Minho?” The scientist glanced down the table, where the trainer in question appeared to be bargaining with Skwovet for his fork. And losing. “Really?”
Jisung did his best to keep the pout off his lips. “This is why Hyunjin kept laughing at me earlier, huh?” Because out of all his friends, the gym leader was usually the first to find out whenever Jisung needed romantic advice, and as a one-time target of Jisung’s affections himself (luckily for all of them, he’d long since grown out of that phase), no one else knew Jisung’s type as well either.
On Jisung’s other side, Felix leaned in, intrigued by the conflicted expression on Jisung’s face and the mild disgust on Seungmin’s. “And what secrets are you two keeping?”
“Hyunjin was making fun of me,” Jisung whined, always eager for a sympathetic ear. Felix patted him comfortingly on the hand, although his eyes darted questioningly to an oblivious Hyunjin still gesticulating on the far side of the table, and back to Seungmin.
“Believe me, Hyunjin most definitely wasn’t mocking you for finding Minho… attractive,” Seungmin replied mildly, nose wrinkling. “He told me you didn’t know who Minho was, right?”
“You married Chan, you don’t get to judge me,” Jisung grumbled with no heat whatsoever. Everyone had sighed in relief when those two stopped dancing around each other. “And no, I still don’t. But now I’m not sure how to introduce myself either, not when he looks like that.”
“Oh,” Felix says, realization dawning on his face. “Well, why don’t you just get to know him slowly then? Just talk to him tonight, I’m sure he won’t mind.”
But that was easier said than done during dinner, sitting so far apart with so much company between them. At times, when Jisung looked up, he thought he could see Minho staring back at him, but he wasn’t confident enough to stare back, dipping his head back down to concentrate on the food. There were eyes on him though, this he knew for sure.
It wasn’t until the others were finally clearing the table of empty glasses and peanut shells that Jisung was finally left with no buffer between him and Minho. It was a tradition, no, a rule, that whoever hosted didn’t have to clean up, and Seungmin refused to let Minho pitch in, so they were the only ones left seated. But now Jisung had no idea what to say, and the muffled chatter from behind them couldn’t entirely suppress the rising awkwardness.
Finally, Jisung stood up abruptly from his seat, cringing at the loud screech of his chair dragging against the tiles. It was partly his own impatience, partly the mago berry wine he had been sipping all night, but regardless of the instigator, Jisung sat down stubbornly in Chan’s recently vacated seat, next to a rather amused Minho. And despite the flush in his cheeks, Jisung says, “Just thought you looked a little lonely over here all on your own.”
To his credit, Minho laughed. “From a whole six feet away?” But his gentle smile told Jisung he was just teasing. “I’m Minho.”
“Hey, you never know what could happen in that distance,” Jisung retorted lightly. “I’m Jisung.”
Minho turned in his seat to face Jisung more fully, holding out a hand for Jisung to shake. “Nice to finally meet you, then.” He arched a brow as Jisung held on to his hand just a moment longer than was strictly necessary. “You sure six feet is far away enough for a cute guy like you to stare all night?”
Jisung wasn’t expecting Minho to turn the tables on him so soon and call him out like this, but part of him was delighted nonetheless at his observation anyway, if only because it meant that Minho had paid a startling amount of attention to him, too. He tells the other man as much, receiving the prettiest blush in reply.
“I guess I have,” Minho laughed, admitting it freely. “It’s probably because of how much I’ve already heard about you from Chan whenever he calls. I mean, he talks about everyone, of course, but he’s really proud of the work you do, you know.” And now it was Jisung’s turn to flush red, because light flirting was one thing, but the genuine admiration in Minho’s voice was another.
They relocated to the living room, where Felix was setting up an overly elaborate charcuterie board and fending Skwovet off at the same time. He gave them a curious look at Jisung’s arm wrapped tightly around Minho’s waist in support, eyes lighting up in delight, but before Felix could say anything, Skwovet succeeded in cramming all the pinap berries into his cheeks, and Felix was promptly distracted once again.
With only a bit of maneuvering, Minho and Jisung fell successfully onto the loveseat, a judgmental glance coming from Seungmin’s Alakazam for briefly blocking its view of the TV. It had Happiny and Ralts in its lap, both avidly watching whichever trashy reality show was currently broadcasting. The other pokemon were nowhere to be found, although the tip of a fluffy brown tail could be seen peeking out from underneath the couch. Felix's Eevee, no doubt, who would emerge after her nap with a face full of lint. It had been a while since Jisung last vacuumed.
As their friends settled around them, still chattering, Jisung felt a weight drop onto his shoulder and realized he had never actually let go of Minho’s waist the entire time. The other man was all but in his lap as Hyunjin wedged himself in beside them, cheerfully trading quips with Seungmin across the room. To Jisung’s surprise though, no one had commented so far on their closeness, or paid them much attention at all. It settled his nerves, somewhat, that no one felt they were acting out of character.
“Is this okay?” Minho asked quietly, breath tickling Jisung’s neck. A pause, before: “I… I can try to move if I’m making you uncomf—”
“N-no, you’re good,” Jisung stammered back, wriggling around so Minho could sling his legs across his own, trying not to focus on how nice it felt to have Minho’s head tucked against his own. “I know how much PC healing can take out of a guy.” The machines had been optimized for pokemon care, after all, and were only used in the most dire of cases on humans. Minho must have been in a terrible state when Chan and Seungmin found him. “I’m surprised you made it through dinner without collapsing, honestly.”
“The food seriously was that good. I’m crashing now, though.” Minho huffed out a soft laugh. This time, Jisung couldn’t entirely tamp down the full-body shiver. “Oh, sorry. You’re ticklish, huh?”
“No,” Jisung denied lightly, arm tightening momentarily around Minho.
“That’s a shame. It’s very cute.”
“In that case, I’m very ticklish. Touch me again and I’ll collapse like a puppet without strings.”
“Mm, I’m not sure that’s the reaction I’d want from touching you.” When he didn’t receive a verbal response, Minho slowly tilted his head back to observe Jisung’s reaction and immediately noticed the spots of pink on his cheeks. “Oh, um.” He supposed they had just met tonight.
“It’s okay. You’re very forward, aren’t you?” Jisung murmured quietly so the others couldn’t hear, still not looking at him, still blushing. He wasn’t used to this much attention focused solely on him, let alone from someone so handsome.
“Maybe it’s the meds making me say everything I’m thinking out loud,” Minho confessed. “But you only live once, or whatever, right?” He blinks sweetly up at Jisung. “Everything looks a little different after a near-death experience.”
Jisung arched an eyebrow at him. “It takes a near-death experience to find me attractive?” He paused, watching Minho’s eyes widen in realization at what he had inadvertently implied before laughing quietly. “I’m just kidding, I know what you meant.” Jisung patted Minho on the leg, this motion finally drawing everyone else’s attention.
“Well, don’t you two look close,” Hyunjin declared, hiding a smirk behind his wine glass. He was looking particularly smug, canary feathers practically visible on his lips.
“He’s too tired to move, and your fat ass is taking up the other half of the couch,” Jisung retorted, pleased that his voice didn’t quaver at all.
“My ass is not fat!”
“It is,” Changbin cut in, looking bored but for the challenging glint in his eye. “That’s what I like about it.” The conversation only devolved from there.
“So why are you in Sinnoh?” Chan asked blandly as Hyunjin launched himself over the table at his boyfriend. “I haven’t heard of any national-level collaborations lately, at least not any that could’ve pulled you away from your responsibilities.”
“Mm… Jeongin ran away from home, and I heard he was here somewhere.”
Chan looked surprised. “Your younger brother? He hasn’t contacted me at all.”
Minho shrugged. “It’d make sense if he was running away from me. He knows you’d snitch.”
Chan frowned. “Maybe… But I still haven’t heard anything about him challenging the League.”
Jisung cleared his throat, bringing all eyes to him. “Maybe we could help? Between everyone in this room, we have a pretty vast network across the entire region. Someone’s had to have seen him.”
“That sounds like a great idea!” Felix piped up, cheerfully ignoring the way Alakazam had Changbin and Hyunjin in full telekinetic body binds behind him. “I get a lot of trainers from all over who come to the daycare. I can tell them to keep an eye out.”
Seungmin nodded. “We’ll have to be a bit discreet, if he already knows you’re coming for him. What does he look like?”
But Minho’s attention wasn’t on their friends anymore, shifting in Jisung’s lap to point at the TV. “Like that, actually.”
Jisung follows his gaze, all nervousness forgotten as his jaw went slack. “That’s Jeongin?”
The young man in the emergency PSA had icy blond hair, a sharply defined jawline, and a killing glare. The only resemblance to the man in Jisung’s lap was in Jeongin’s cheekbones, maybe, but Jisung’s attention was caught by something much more pressing.
Red letters scrolled across the bottom of the screen, searing themselves into his retinas: TEAM GALACTIC BOSS: IDENTITY UNKNOWN. DO NOT APPROACH.