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"You'll be fine."
The carriage is relatively small, and although Hyunjin keeps his voice low, there's no way for Jisung to pretend that he didn't hear. His voice is easily audible, even with the sound of the train rumbling over the tracks below them.
Still, Jisung keeps his eyes trained on the window.
The world outside seems to be getting faster. He stares at every other tree that passes by, watching until the branches whip out of existence, merging into the blur of muddy greens and browns. There's a field visible just behind the line of twisting branches. Just as green, and practically melting into the bright blue of the sky above it.
The sun must be on the other side of the carriage. There's barely a shadow, though, due to the position of the mid-day light. If Changbin were here, he'd entertain them all by sticking out his thumb. He'd squint into the sky, reaching out towards the clouds, and then make a guess at exactly what time it is.
Jisung's been working with him for far too long to be impressed, but Felix and Hyunjin always whoop with delight. Seungmin looks less amazed, but he's asked Changbin the secret to the trick more than once. Jeongin probably wouldn't have looked up from the laptop resting on top of his thighs.
"Jisung," Hyunjin repeats.
The view is nothing particularly exciting, but Jisung still can't bring himself to look away. This isn't a conversation he is looking forward to having. Although Hyunjin only boarded the train three stops ago, it's been hanging over both of their heads.
Heavy as the sky over the fields, he thinks. Maybe the clouds are falling down right now, just as he watches. What would that look like? Would the white be stained with blue, and would it wash away the endless green?
He's not here to watch the fields go by. He definitely isn't here to think about the impossibilities of falling clouds.
But he isn't being paid to have painful conversations either.
"I know you can hear me, idiot," Hyunjin says, leaning back into his seat. He kicks one of his feet up, resting it comfortably next to Jisung's left leg. The tip of his shoe reaches out to brush the edge of the seat, and Jisung just knows that he's wiggling his toes from within his stupid sneakers. "You flinched."
Shit.
Jisung gives up pretending, finally turning his head from the window. His neck clicks as he does so, and - okay, so maybe he had been stuck in that same position for a little too long.
"Put your foot down," he says, grabbing Hyunjin's shoe and wrestling it to the floor of their carriage, "You're going to blow our cover. What kind of person starts kicking up their feet next to someone they only met twenty minutes ago?"
Hyunjin raises an eyebrow. He purses his lips a little, but he doesn't move to kick his foot up again. "Saints, Sung. You really are a little wound-up today, huh."
Jisung groans. He knows that he's more than a little stressed. Usually, him and Hyunjin spend the entirety of reconnaissance missions chatting and messing around. He might supply a card game, for the breaks between scouting out the security system, and they'll pass the time that way instead.
This mission is a little different, in more ways than one.
First, it's big.
They get commissioned to steal valuable items all the time, but this job is a class higher than Jisung had even dreamed of, before. Chan had been insane to even consider taking it, but that's what Chan is best at. Shaping even the most risky missions into ones that are achievable, gathering all the right people and sending them to the right places, at the right times.
There's a reason why Jisung stuck with him, even with his previous track record of skipping between teams.
Second, it's different .
They've broken into over a hundred luxurious mansions by now. Jeongin can skip around those security systems in his sleep, with Changbin and Seungmin needing to do nothing more than keep watch from outside. Hyunjin - graceful at first, but so easily flustered that he's never been useful for more than information collection - has even begun to join Jisung inside.
He doesn't do much but watch, as Jisung cracks open the safe, smashes the glass of the exhibit - whatever the job requires them to do. But he's learning, and he's certainly much better at dodging salt lines than Jisung is.
Which is why - despite the fact that the heist is taking place on a train, despite the value of the object, despite the copious amount of inside information needed to even think about blending into a Fae party - their usual team is just fine on its own.
They certainly don't need Lee Minho.
"I just-" he starts, but he's complained enough about this already. Hyunjin sits back as he opens his mouth, raising an eyebrow. Rubbing it into Jisung's face, that no matter how much he whines and begs Chan, the deal has already been agreed.
"You just?" He asks. And then, when Jisung just glares at him in lieu of an actual response, he grins. "C'mon. You'll be fine, Jisung. It's not like you're going to be stuck together for weeks, like Changbin and Seungmin in the mountains last year. It's an evening max, and that's the worst case scenario."
"An evening," Jisung tells him, "Is still an evening too long. I'd prefer not to stay in his company for more than three seconds, thank you very much."
"You're being dramatic."
"That's rich coming from you ."
"Why do you even hate him so much?" Hyunjin counters, leaning even further back and folding his arms. He looks much too comfortable on the hard leather train seats, shoes tapping against the floor. "What's up with you two? No one ever actually told me."
"Good," Jisung tells him. Talking to Hyunjin, as much as he hates to admit it, is taking his mind off the future. He's finally relaxing, slipping into his normal mannerisms and light-hearted jokes. "I hope it stays that way." He sticks his tongue out for good measure.
Hyunjin just huffs in frustration. "No one tells me anything . I hope you know that. You're just as bad as the rest of them."
The smile on Jisung's face grows a little wider. Hyunjin doesn't mean it, of course. He's just playing around. "Oh yeah? You think there shouldn't be any secrets between the team?"
"Yeah," Hyunjin says, "That does sound good, actually."
"So you're fine with me telling 'lix that you were the one who ate his cookie batter?"
Outside of the window, the fields are beginning to slow down. Jisung can make out individual branches of the trees whipping past. There are just enough houses beginning to peak out between the hills in the distance that they could be nearing a station.
Shit.
Jisung hadn't heard the brakes, the sound much too low. He hadn't realised that they were even beginning to slow down - and yet, as he watches the world from behind the glass pane, now it appears that they're coming to a stop. He hasn't had the time to prepare himself. He hasn't even had enough time to complain about it.
Slowly, he tears his eyes away from the window.
Considering how good Jisung's come-back had been only a few seconds ago, Hyunjin's grin is taking up a good half of his face. He looks more smug than anything.
It all comes a little further into focus. Hyunjin hadn't just been chatting to Jisung because he was bored, or to take his mind off the impending doom that was Lee Minho. He'd purposefully kept his eyes off the window, so Jisung wouldn't realise they were slowing.
"You absolute-" Jisung starts, but the train is so obviously slowing down now, and he lurches forwards in his seat. The grass outside the window is replaced by the brick and metal of the train station. Across the rails, Jisung can already see the crowd of bored-looking people, all waiting to board.
He wonders if Minho is among them.
(He should be, of course. It would be more of a disaster if he wasn't, and their whole plan would be thrown out of the window. But still, Jisung can't help but hope.)
Hyunjin's grin grows a little wider. "You'll be fine," he says, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.
Jisung doesn't respond. His mouth opens to say something, but his mind is a couple of paces too slow.
"We don't know each other, remember?" Hyunjin reminds him as he crosses the compartment to slide open the door, "Good luck!"
With that, he steps outside. There's already a line of people forming, and Hyunjin disappears into the crowd. He's graceful enough to slip in-between even those that are standing the closest together.
Jisung presses his face up to the window, hoping to catch one last glimpse of him. He plans to make a rude gesture, something to convey the bubbling anger in his stomach, but Hyunjin is good at his job. As soon as Jisung loses sight of him, he doesn't appear again.
The station is busy. There's only a brief moment after the last of the passengers leaving, before the carriages begin to fill with new faces. They'd chosen today as it was the quietest, but that still didn't mean it was empty.
Hopefully, everyone will pass Jisung's compartment, leaving him be.
They'd made sure to choose a time of the day when, although a couple of people may have had to sit with strangers, it certainly wouldn't be commonplace. He had chosen a seat far enough away from the doors that it simply wouldn't be convenient for most people, just to make sure that someone wouldn't accidentally blow their cover.
All that needs to happen is for Minho to board.
He'll look up and down the train briefly, under the guise of looking for a relatively empty place to sit. He'd have entered relatively late, so there won't be any available, and then when he joins Jisung, it'll simply appear as if he chooses the compartment with the least amount of people.
They'll swap information that they've picked up whilst boarding. Hyunjin had told Jisung everything about the style and mannerisms of the boarding passengers, whilst Jisung had made note of any changes to the design of the carriages.
All he needs to do is pass this onto Minho.
Together, they'll work out any gaps in their knowledge. Jisung might head to the talisman seller if there's anything gapingly large, and then they both exit at the next stop.
It's such a simple plan, and really, he shouldn't have to interact with Minho much at all. They should only appear as if they've having a polite conversation between strangers anyway.
Jisung can hear the muffled hum of voices passing his carriage. He can't make out any words in particular - even if his hearing was perfectly fine, the walls are soundproof enough that conversations can't quite be picked up. But the hair on his arms still stands on end a moment before the carriage door opens.
"Can I sit here?"
Minho's voice is as smooth as ever. His question barely even sounds like a question; more like a statement, something impossible to deny.
Jisung turns to face the door. He's practiced this look of nonchalance so many times that it should come like a second nature at this point. The quick up-and-down of the person in front of him, the absent-minded nod, the somewhat apathetic tone of his reply. "Of course."
Minho smiles back, equally as perfect and practiced. He slides the door shut behind him, and makes his way to sit in the same place that Hyunjin had been, only a couple of minutes ago.
There's a high-pitched screech as the train starts to move again. The hum of the engine escapes Jisung, but he's more than used to using the window as a reference at this point. They begin to pick up speed.
It'll be at least another twenty minutes until they make the next stop.
It's only natural that he pointedly ignores making any eye-contact with Minho. The view outside is more than enough to blur into a familiar stream of colour. Jisung allows his eyes to unfocus. He's not sitting close enough to the wall to rest his head, and the vibrations would likely make it impossible to actually get to sleep.
It's beside the point that he's not supposed to be sleeping in the first place.
The only reason he's still here is to make Minho's presence a little less suspicious. He's finished with his job already - the chances of there being something that he's managed to miss are so tiny that they're laughable.
"Can you watch my bag?" Minho says, keeping his tone polite.
Jisung feigns ignorance of the plan. He shakes himself out of his thoughts, looking Minho and his bag up and down. To anyone watching, the gap between him realising that he was being spoken to and his reply is as natural as it comes. "Uh, sure."
Minho shoots him a smile. "Thanks."
And off he goes. Off to make his way down the carriages, hopefully making mental notes of any additional charms that might have been placed inconspicuously. Jisung would argue that there's no point - any charms strong enough to impact their mission would need more than a week to settle in.
Chan hadn't quite agreed with that line of thought. He'd simply raised an eyebrow, patting Jisung on the back and completely ignoring his protests. Jisung is actually pretty sure that he'd laughed to himself as soon as he'd ushered him out of the door. He folds his arms, sinking back into his seat.
A couple of minutes, Minho is sliding the doors back open. "Thanks," he says, as Jisung nods in acknowledgement. He's supposed to search his bags discreetly after that exchange - in case Jisung has stolen anything - but instead, he stays completely still.
His eyes don't look away.
It's rather uncomfortable. Jisung shifts in his seat; trying to stare grumpily into the distance doesn't quite have the same effect when the person sitting opposite won't stop staring at your back.
It also doesn't quite fit into their charade of being complete strangers. Minho won't stop watching him. Unless he's hoping that Jisung just hasn't noticed his strange behaviour, and that no one walking past would pay any attention either.
Then again, they're on a train. Being stared down by a complete stranger isn't out of the question of a normal passage. In fact, with his cat-like smile and brown fringe falling perfectly into his eyes, most people would probably take the prolonged eye-contact as a chance to get something going.
Jisung almost balks at the idea.
"Stop staring," he snaps. Anything to get the thought of Minho - and Minho flirting, nonetheless - out of his head. Yes, he's objectively very attractive, Jisung isn't blind. He just doesn't want those mental images anywhere near his mind. "You look weird."
Minho's lip quirks up. "Aren't we supposed to be discussing whether I noticed anything?"
Shit.
They are. Of course, Jisung had taken that at an understanding that they would very much not be talking to each other. He'd assumed that it would be more of a 'we're both competent, let's just ignore each other until we get back to base and then lie to Chan' kind of situation. Apparently, Minho hadn't been on the same page.
"Well?" He says, biting back another swear word. "Did you see anything?"
Minho's quirked lip blooms into a full-grown smile. He sits back, mirroring Jisung's own position. "Nope. It doesn't appear that anything's changed since the original plans of the train were obtained."
What?
If nothing's changed, then why'd he make such a big deal of them actually talking about it? Jisung must show his disbelief on his face, because Minho's smile only grows wider still.
Ah. It's suddenly a lot clearer.
"You're a dick," Jisung tells him - simply because there's no one else here to tell him not to. He then turns his head to the window again, and vows not to speak again for the rest of the journey. They've got to be at least a third of the way through by now. He's sure that he can make it through, albeit a little bit less sane than when he'd boarded.
Minho seems to be relatively content now that he's antagonised Jisung. He also stays in relative silence, fingers fiddling with the latches on his bag.
They sit like that for a couple more minutes, ignoring each other's presence. It's actually pretty calm, the air still. The tension has faded now that neither of them have opened their mouths for a little while. It's almost... nice.
Then the silence shatters into roughly a million pieces.
Minho jumps at the sound of the alarm, and Jisung spins to turn to face the source of the noise. His own heart is racing as well, thundering against his ribs. A hand comes up to press at his chest without him even realising, and Minho's shot to his feet just as absently.
Two pretty extreme reactions. Any normal person would also be shocked, maybe startled by the sudden whine, but it's not overly loud or anything. Not enough to drain the colour from their face, or to send them stumbling to their feet.
This is why Lee Minho is bad news.
Sure, Jisung is used to sudden, unfamiliar sounds, but that's hardly an excuse for the way Minho's cheeks are now an ashen grey.
Luckily, it seems like he'd managed to catch himself rather quickly after the initial shock. Instead of trying to cover up his mistake by sitting back down as quickly as possible, Minho plays it off. He turns the movement into checking the window to the corridor outside the compartment. It's just languid enough that it's almost unnoticeable that he stood up a little too quickly.
Jisung shapes his own face into one of confusion, adjusting the frequency behind his ear until the wail of the alarm comes a little more into focus.
Whatever this is, it can't be good news.
He'd taken note of the alarm system before even boarding the train. Jeongin had looked up conventional train designs, and then been able to get into the overall system well enough to find any possible hazards.
The system of wires and bells, connecting to speakers not powered by electricity, had been one of the first things Jisung had been tasked to locate. Going by the assumption that each carriage had the same layout, every other compartment was fitted with an alarm bell.
It wasn't high capability, thankfully. They had the Fae to thank for that. By not integrating modern technology into their systems quite as quickly as other species, they were limiting themselves in monitoring capabilities. They didn't think they even needed the ability to track the conversations of their passengers. In their eyes, no one would be foolish enough to cross either of the Fae courts.
The alarm system was simply that - an alarm, and nothing more. Him and Hyunjin would not have been able to have such a liberal conversation earlier, had that not been the case.
It's also exactly why the alarm sounding now is so concerning.
The Fae are arrogant. They wouldn't risk muddying their image with false alarms, with systems going off without proper basis behind any accusations. Minho and Jisung had been so shocked when it first sounded - not just because of the suddenness, but because it could only mean a couple of things.
"What's going on?" It's a fair question, considering how shaken Minho looks. He's the Fae around here - surely he should know a little more than Jisung.
Minho simply shoots him a look in response. "I don't know."
Have they changed the security system since Jeongin hacked in? Surely Chan would've known about it, if that was the case. It's unlikely that anyone has specifically handed them in, so there's not much need for Jisung to actually panic. No one apart from their team actually knows about the heist in the first place. And they're all much too close to ever think about betraying each other.
The exception to that is Minho. He's the only one that isn't on Chan's usual rota, he's only included for the inside knowledge, and-
Jisung forces himself to take a step back, and think logically about it. If Minho had handed them in, he would be rather foolish to do so when he's also on the train. It would have been much more sensible to alert the Fae Courts when it was Jisung and Hyunjin. By placing himself in the compartment, he's also cleared himself of all suspicions.
As much as Jisung hates to admit it.
It would be rather lovely to see Hyunjin's face when he proved that Minho really wasn't worth trusting. He'd also have an excuse to punch Minho right in his perfectly straight teeth, finally get that smug smile wiped off of his lips.
That turn of events would also likely end in Jisung being captured by the authorities, since there's no real way he'd have managed to escape a moving train if it were a set-up. But still, it's nice to consider.
"Maybe you should!" He finds himself saying, also standing up to face Minho properly. There isn't much room in between the two rows of seats, and they're awkwardly pressed up against each other for a few moments too long.
Minho takes a quick step back, edging both closer to the door and further from Jisung. "There's nothing that I can see in the corridor. It doesn't look like anything's up, but-"
It's a little hard to hear him over the noise, but that soon isn't a problem. Minho's voice is cut off by a crackle coming from the alarm. It's got the grainy effect of a voice-projecting charm not originally designed to mesh with an electronic system, and Jisung has to focus all his concentration on working out exactly what's being said.
Minho trails off, luckily, not going to attempt to speak over the blaring words. Even if he hasn't realised that Jisung's stopped paying attention, this is far too important for either of them to miss.
"Attention passengers," the speaker crackles. The quality is appalling, although that's to be expected when considering the Fae's distrust of technology. "It has come to the attention of the authorities that there may be several criminals on board . A routine search of all carriages will proceed shortly."
If Jisung had thought that it couldn't have gotten any worse, he'd just been proven incredibly wrong. The speaker pauses its static message, presumably to let the words sink in, and he looks to Minho somewhat desperately
"Please tell me I misheard that," he says. And then, with a rather panicked laugh, adds- "Criminals? It definitely said... noodles , right?"
Even with the crackle of the speaker, and Jisung's hearing causing him to work out the context through words that 'sound like', he's pretty sure that he hasn't gotten this wrong.
"It said criminals," Minho says. He still hasn't moved from the window looking into the corridor, and doesn't even flinch when Jisung comes up behind him. He cranes his head over the Fae's shoulder, hoping for a glimpse of something when he looks out. It's quite possibly a good thing that the corridor stays empty, but that does nothing to settle the churning of dread in his stomach.
"Please remain calm, and stay seated." The speaker bursts into life again, "Refusing to comply is a criminal offense, as of Integration Law 1688. Any and all definence will result in-"
At the same time, two things happen. The door in front of them hisses with what must be the distinct sound of locks sliding into place. It pushes backwards a little, and Jisung is hit with the sudden realisation that they don't have any tools on them. Chan had advised them to travel light, in case of spontaneous searches. It was a simple reconnaissance mission, after all.
Now that the doors are very firmly locked, there's no way of getting them back open without immediately giving away their intentions.
The second thing that happens is the alarm exploding into a cloud of black smoke and sparking wires.
"What?" Jisung is already facing Minho, so he takes a step forwards to emphasise his point. "What was that for? Now they all know we're here!"
"Let's be real; they knew we were here anyway." Minho is already turning away, sliding past Jisung in order to get to the window facing the outside of the train. Despite the interior being in complete lockdown, they've kept moving. There are no longer any trees, but the fields blur past at an alarming speed.
"But now they know exactly where we are!"
Minho's pressing his hands up against the glass, judging its strength, but he pauses in order to look behind him and glare at Jisung. "I thought that the ability to actually hear each other was a little more important."
He... knew about that? Jisung's not sure how he feels, and there isn't exactly much time to think it over. He does have a point, after all, and now it's even more important for them to get moving.
Luckily, when Chan had told them to travel light, Jisung hadn't actually listened.
"You okay with this distance?" He asks more out of courtesy than anything else. The large pair of iron scissors he's been keeping on the inside of his jacket would have been noticed by Minho way earlier if that were the case, but he's also not an expert on how they affect Fae. Opening the scissors to a cross should make their effect more powerful, so maybe it would bother him then.
"I won't be able to stay in here for too long," Minho admits, still tapping around the edge of the window, "But I don't think that's the plan anyway."
"Not unless you plan on getting caught."
He doesn't have an iron nail on him, so the random piece of wire he'd found in a pocket will have to suffice. Using the seats on either side to lift him a little higher, he drives into the wall, twisting it upwards and then attaching the scissors. They're stiff - rusted enough as to not immediately close once his fingers leave the cool metal - and stay where he'd hung them.
"There."
With the scissors in place, he jumps down off the seats, turning to face Minho. The Fae appears to be struggling to open the window. There isn't a clasp - they aren't designed to be opened, and the glass must be rather thick.
"I'll get there," he says, when he notices Jisung watching. His cheeks go a slight shade of pink, and Jisung revels in the feeling of knowing that Minho must feel inferior. It probably isn't often that he gets a taste of his own medicine, and it's definitely worth the few seconds he spends savouring the moment.
He can't waste too long, though. "Can't you do what you did before?"
Minho shakes his head. "It's not charmed. If there's nothing to twist, there's nothing to break."
Huh. Is that how it works? Jisung hadn't known that before, and despite a tiny voice inside of him telling him how interesting it is, he refuses to show it. This is Minho . He isn't interesting or helpful or nice, he's simply another person who thinks Jisung's entire existence is just 'getting in the way'.
"It's a window," he says, "It's supposed to break. Get out of the way?"
It's an order that turns into a question halfway though - he wouldn't have listened to anything Jisung would tell him directly, would he? It's not worth testing out right now. And Minho obeys anyway, climbing onto the seat and pressing his body to the wall.
Jisung crouches down slightly.
"Whatever you're about to do-" Minho says, "There are people coming. Make it quick."
Did he even need to ask? Jisung is already in motion as the last syllable leaves his mouth. One leg swings up, cutting through the space that had been cleared only a few moments ago, and letting his heel collide with the window.
As expected, it shatters.
"What was that ?"
Jisung can't quite keep the grin off his face. "Iron heeled boots, baby!"
"How did you get those past security?" Minho's- also grinning? They've moved forwards at the same time, both using the thick material of their sleeves to push off the largest remaining shards. He shrugs off his jacket to lay over the sill. "Someone definitely should have noticed the fact that you're covered in iron."
There's a hint of laughter in his voice. Jisung - still running high with the burst of adrenaline - can't find it within himself to care. Without realising it, he's laughing as well.
"How do you think?"
He taps the device behind his ear. They don't even set off metal detectors, but it was typical of the Fae to not actually know that. He'd simply been ushered through without having to go through any of the usual checks, and boarded the train with no one any the wiser.
Someone bangs on the door behind them.
Jisung freezes in place. Tempting though it may be, he doesn't want to look behind him. Although it would give him a better idea of exactly what they're up against, it would also reveal his identity.
Luckily, Minho also seems to have had the same thought process. "To the roof?"
"Sounds good to me." He's been in enough hair-raising situations that swinging himself over the window sill is a relatively easy maneuver. He twists his legs to face inwards, and then uses the grip just above the window to pull himself higher.
It's much windier than he'd expected.
As soon as his head is outside of the train, he's hit with wind so strong it feels like a bag of rocks. His hair ends up getting caught in his eyes and he has to attempt to blink it out. It's also a lot louder without the protection of the walls. The train roars over the tracks, clattering across the rails and combing with the swirl of the wind to create a deafening thunder.
This is almost what he imagines sticking his head in a blender would sound like. Or, alternatively, Chan's snoring on a bad day.
The wind also makes it a lot harder to find good handholds. He's still searching for something to pull him up when Minho frantically starts tapping his ankle; they're out of time.
There's no longer any time to think. Whatever he's already holding will have to do, and as Jisung pulls himself up onto the roof, he thanks whatever deity out there that it did.
Only a few moments later, Minho's own hand sticks up. The top of his head is just visible from where Jisung's pressed himself up against the train, brown hair flying out in all directions. Without hesitating, Jisung wedges his foot against a ridge and grabs Minho's hand, pulling him up.
"What now?"
He has no idea if Minho can even hear him over the wind, but he doesn't exactly have another choice. They're somewhat in the middle of the train - carriages on either side - and now they're very much running out of time.
The iron scissors might have stopped any Fae from entering the room, but as soon as someone from another species was brought in, they'd become completely ineffective. They'd been watched as they'd climbed through the window, as well. It's not unreasonable to assume that there's more than one way onto the roof.
"I wish I'd asked Seungmin" he yells, "What the best way to jump off a train was."
"Are they monitoring us?" Minho yells back. It seems a little silly, considering their close proximity, but it's the only way that they're going to be able to hear each other over the din. Jisung is mostly relying on lip-reading at this point.
Minho has very nice lips.
"They better be."
"Then-" Minho looks down the compartment they're on. He has to shuffle on his stomach a little, to get a better view, and the way he tilts his neck suggests that he's heard something that Jisung hasn't. "We've just got to trust that they are."
He's climbing to his feet right as the hand of someone appears on the edge of the carriage. Jisung isn't far behind him - they need to move, and now.
It's surprisingly easy to stand up on the train. Despite the wind, and the knowledge that they're moving quite a bit faster than the ground below them, he manages to make it to his feet quickly. His hair is still being blown into his face, and the air resistance certainly makes it a little harder to move, but other than that it's just like being on the ground.
The roof is levelled off right at the very centre, so he sticks there, concentrating on keeping his balance. Minho is hopefully only a few paces behind.
This is not how he'd expected today to go.
There's a grip on his shoulder. He almost throws them off, practically jumping out of his skin from the shock, but turns around just in time to realise that it's only Minho. He's walking a little slower than Jisung himself, as if he's completely oblivious to the fact they're being chased.
Is he an idiot? Why would he grab his shoulder, is he asking to be pushed off the train? There's no reason for him to be acting so carelessly. Jisung had almost forgotten that the man behind him was the same Minho that he hated so much. The adrenaline, and the series of terrible events had distracted him, forcing them to work much closer together than he'd ever have liked.
Feeling his hand against his shoulder, skin only separated by a few layers of thin cotton, Jisung is instantly reminded of why he hates Minho so much in the first place.
His stupid perfect face, and that smug smile. His hand feels like it's searing through his clothes, fingers burning up to match the flush creeping across Jisung's cheeks. It causes his stomach to do a flip, although that's probably due to fear of the drop on either side of them.
"What are you doing?" He screams, hoping that his voice won't be drowned out by the wind. Not when they're so close, it's so unlikely, but the only other tone he thinks he can manage right now is something much softer. And that would be far, far worse.
Minho doesn't reply. He pushes Jisung a little, urging him to hurry up, but doesn't remove his hand from his shoulder. In fact, his grip only gets stronger. His fingers dig into his skin, so tight that Jisung is sure he'll leave bruises. When he glances back a final time, Minho's cheeks are pale.
Is he scared?
There's no way he's scared of heights. No way, absolutely no-
But that seems to be the case. "Keep going!" Minho's lips say. His other hand had been stuck out for balance, but he now moves it to jab fingertips in between Jisung's shoulder blades.
"I-" Something dies on his lips, but he's not quite sure what he'd been about to say anyway. The wind has made his mouth dry. He swallows thickly, and then yells back, "Don't look down!"
He takes Minho's hand when it's time to jump to the next carriage. Without thinking, they slot together. When they land, it's only a few seconds apart. There's no time to think about what that might mean - whether it means anything at all. He pauses just long enough for Minho to take his shoulder again, and then they're off.
If he catches a glimpse of Minho's hesitation - the easier grip of his waist, fingers so close, brushing the edge of the soft fabric - he doesn't think too much about it.
The train doesn't seem to be slowing down, which he'd half-hoped would be the case. It makes actually getting off and away a lot more difficult, but there's a significantly smaller chance of their pursuers being insane enough to try to follow.
The fields on either side blur into one long stretch of green, sun-bleached to yellow in parts, and they reach the final carriage.
There's nowhere else to run.
"Shit." Jisung curses out loud, as if that'll do anything to improve the situation. "Where are they?"
Their only hope, at this point, is for the rest of the team to miraculously appear. They'll have been watching the comms and monitoring the events aboard the train throughout the entire journey, and Jisung trusts Jeongin enough to know that he'll have immediately spotted something wrong.
But even then, how could they possibly extract them from such a perilous situation?
"We've got to keep going," Minho says. He's still not looking down, not taking his eyes off Jisung's face, but he has angled his body to the side. "There's a lake. We're going to have to jump."
Sure enough, there's a large body of water rapidly approaching. The railway tracks run over what appears to be an almost-bridge, suspended a couple of metres over a large lake. It's not stupidly high, decreasing the chances of smashing their ribs upon impact, and the water extends far enough below the bridge that the water is likely to be deep.
He's not naive to think they'll be getting out of this injury-free. It's far better than the alternative of getting caught, but the anticipation still makes his chest tighten a little. At most, he can hope that Felix and Seungmin will be there to fish them out almost immediately. As long as it's not too bad, Chan'll be able to heal them soon enough that they'll still be able to pull off the heist.
It's certainly not safe. Jisung's hand comes up to brush against his ear - but there's nothing that can be done about it.
"You're right."
Minho shoots him a smug look. It's out of place for the situation, and Jisung would be holding himself back from knocking in his pretty teeth if it weren't for the current situation. "I'm always right."
"And yet you're still scared of heights?" Jisung counters right back.
It certainly wipes the smile right off his face. "Shut up."
He takes his hand from his shoulder, but Jisung moves without thinking. Before he can fully pull away, he grabs Minho with his own hand, interlocking their fingers. They're going to have to jump near the same time if they want to stay close together.
"The actual heist better not end up like this," he says. The lake is getting closer and closer. They don't want to jump too close to the shore - the water might not be deep enough there, and full of hidden rocks. Every passing moment just causes his stomach to do backflips, and Jisung can't help but do what he does best when he's nervous - running his mouth.
"The actual heist?" Minho says. He grips Jisung's hand a little tighter. "It's still going ahead? Did you miss the angry crowd pursuing us?"
Jisung grins. "That just means they won't expect us to come back. Reverse psychology."
"Your team is insane," Minho tells him.
"And? You're still up for it, aren't you?"
The lake is beneath them now. Jisung is very pointedly ignoring the fact that he can see people heading down the train, only a few carriages away by now. They're going to have to jump sooner, rather than later. His fingers involuntarily grip Minho's. They're both squeezing each other so tightly that he's beginning to lose feeling.
The sun glints over the water. The wind isn't quite as strong here, he realises. It's almost peaceful.
Minho grins at him. "Of course."
And then they're sprinting forwards, leaping into the air and plummeting down to the cool water below.