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“Yuno, come downstairs for dinner.” Buddha’s loud voice boomed through the halls as he awaited the hacker.
The manor was filled to the brim, and each and every one of them winced as soon as they were interrupted by the loud shout. A feisty and lively aura was suddenly flattened as they swiveled their heads to look at Lang.
Lang frowned as there was no answer from upstairs. “Where the fuck is he?”
The crew had been flowing through the casino daily. Despite the many snack breaks and resting periods, they would stay in the tunnels for hours to no end to try to wander into the vault.
Exasperated groans and protests would erupt as soon as Buddha insisted they headed back home, yet all of them passed out as soon as their feet stepped into the manor.
All but Yuno, who would still pull all-nighters studying hacks. Hell, even pulling the internet couldn’t stop him. He was a hacker after all. Ray and Tony practically wrestled him to bed the other night.
Tony sighed as he set the dinner table. “Buddha, go check on him. He’s still on that fucking computer… It hurts to watch him.”
“When did he start?”
“Ever since we came back,” Mickey says beside them. “I tried to drag him away but he just asked for some omu-rice.”
“We should sedate him, or something.” X offers from behind. Buddha wanted to reprimand him, but the man’s eyes had been glued to the blueprints for 8 hours. Perhaps he should loosen up.
“X, if you touch a hair on Yuno’s head I will fucking kill you.” Ray says, seriously.
X looks up.
“Go ahead brother.”
“You do understand how Yuno feels right?” Buddha says, frustrated as if his feelings mirrored his hacker’s. “That man hates letting us down, far too kind hearted.”
“He’ll only listen to you, brother.” Tony smiles sadly at the older man. “Our words don’t mean as much. Light reminders don’t do shit.”
Buddha turned towards the staircase.
He himself had been exhaustingly standing there as well. Heavy runs occurred repetitively on a schedule, and no one was there to tell them to calm down, take a break. The constant barricaded stress that weighed onto that singular person, being Yuno.
“Fuck…” Buddha began to trudge upstairs, his heart heavy. Mickey and Ray silently watched him go from the dinner table, frowns burning into his back.
The hacker’s health was important to them, yet Yuno was ruining himself inside and out. Yuno stood in the casino the longest, even surpassing X in hours. Until his lungs almost collapsed from the filth in the tunnels and Buddha had to drag him out.
Everyone could see the hacker’s coil winding up in his stomach, and the frustration was bare on his face. He was exhausted, yet miserable. A painful feeling for them all.
Buddha knocked on the door of Saab’s room softly before he opened it.
“Yuno?”
Instead of a reply, keyboard clicks filled the room.
The stench of disparity and loss, the ones that Lang was far too familiar with when he buried himself into betrayal. The piles of cans and clothing, and a lonely figure seated in the darkness of the room with the brightness at full blast.
Lang felt his legs waver for a second.
Yuno had earphones plugged into both ears, and his tired eyes were focused on the three monitors in front of him. He was crouched on the computer seat, fatigue clear on his face.
“Yuno,” Lang spoke louder this time, stepping towards the hacker. “Stop this. Stop. Please.”
As soon as his rough hands touched the hacker’s shoulder, Yuno jumped and swiveled around his chair.
His surprised eyes quickly flashed exhaustion as he looked at Lang, yet he covered it up with fake joy, as if to mock him.
The hacker’s smile quickly slipped as he realized that Lang wasn’t looking at him, but at the multiple hacking tabs he had opened all over the monitor.
But instead of the awe he yearned, Buddha looked mortified.
“What are you doing?” Buddha croaked, his hands reaching for the hackers. His voice was far too hoarse for him to recognize. “Why are you hurting yourself?”
Yuno chuckled nervously as he avoided his grasp. Lang wasn’t blind, he could see the hacker’s hands shaking.
“I don’t know what you mean…”
“Yuno you need rest.”
Yuno could tell where this conversation was going, and he hated it. “We need progress.”
“Progress means jackshit to me.” Buddha could feel the initial surprise being replaced by anger. He kneeled down below the hacker. “Yuno, you being healthy is the most valuable thing in the world.”
“That’s not true.”
“What’s not true? Do I not care for you enough?”
“Would you have brought me if I couldn’t hack?” Yuno’s voice had a certain edge to it that Lang couldn’t decipher. “That paleto. Would you have still brought me?”
“Does that matter? Why does that matter?” Buddha felt like crying as he examined Yuno’s face, torn with anxiety.
“Hacking is what keeps me going Mr. Lang. The thing that sets me apart from others, the thing that you love me for-”
“By god Yuno, please don’t say that.” Buddha clutched his shoulders in weariness. “Fate brought us together, it was quite literally destiny. That paleto to the vault to the lower and now here. We’re still next to each other. I love you for you.”
Yuno stayed silent.
“Please get some rest, it’s been 3 days.” Buddha begged. “I can’t see you in these conditions.”
“I can’t Mr. Lang.”
“Can’t rest?”
“I can’t do it.” Yuno’s voice slowly broke as he stared at the man he trusted the most. “Everyone believes in me, yet I still can’t do it.”
This time, Lang stayed quiet. He could feel the cold that covered the hacker, and lethargy weighed him down. A huge pressure rose to his best friend’s shoulders, but he couldn’t do anything to remove it.
Yuno leaned into him, and Buddha gingerly picked him up. The hacker hid his face from him, but he could feel his shivers.
“Sadness doesn’t look on you, Yuno.” Buddha says helplessly as he brushes pieces of hair off Yuno’s face. “Please don’t frown.”
“I’m a let down, Mr. Lang.”
“Don’t say that. Never say that.” Buddha clutched him desperately as if it hurt. As if the hacker would disappear from his grasp any second.
“I can’t thermite, I can’t type. For god's sake I can’t even shoot, why do you bring me?” Yuno lifted his head to stare at Lang.
“That doesn’t matter to me.”
“We keep losing money.”
“That doesn’t fucking matter to me.”
Yuno suddenly withdrew from his embrace, standing up. Although he was on his feet, Buddha could still meet the hacker’s eyes even though he was sitting on the bed.
“Then what does matter to you Mr. Lang?”
“You.”
“Mr. Lang,” Yuno’s voice had that edge to it again. “Do you not see the millions of dollars stored behind that vault? Fingertips away? We were almost there, do you understand?”
Yuno seemed to be almost delirious. He waved his hands across the air as Buddha stared into his eyes. He was losing himself, to this passion, to this obsession.
“Yuno.” Lang gently tugged at his fingertips to pull him closer. “What do I tell you at the beginning of every heist?”
“That you believe in me?”
“That it doesn’t matter whether or not you do it.”
Yuno stared at him, stunned. He didn’t speak for a second, as if he didn’t expect Buddha to say so. The enervation filled his gaze, and his eye bags grew heavier as he stared at the man.
“Why don’t you understand?” His voice whispered. “I’m really tired Mr. Lang.”
Buddha had never seen Yuno express his feelings so rawly.
He was a leader no matter how much he refused to, and each member in the team had desires and feelings that he had to keep control of. But he had never realized how bad Yuno’s stress had gotten, and he blamed himself.
“You are one of my best friends Yuno,” Buddha spoke delicately. “Do you know what being my friend means?”
“Hmm.” Yuno hummed quietly as he fiddled with Lang’s watch.
“It means no one has the right to expect anything of you. No one will insult you, no one will be upset with you. Everyone’s feelings are mine, and I’m proud of you Yuno. I’ve never had enough time to tell you this, but I’m so fucking proud of you.”
Yuno laid his head on Lang’s shoulder, sagging into relief. He never understood it, but the millionaire always had an aura of comfort, even though he had killed many. A comfort he had never felt before, delicately touching him.
“I’m not afraid of letting them down, Mr Lang.” Yuno says softly.
“What are you afraid of?”
Yuno murmured something that Buddha couldn’t hear.
Lang shifted closer to him, playing with his hair strands. “Say that again.”
“I’m afraid of letting you down.” Yuno’s voice was faint, as if he was speaking to ghosts deliriously. Perhaps he wasn’t even conscious, falling asleep in Buddha’s grasp.
“Do my words mean nothing to you Yuno?” Lang scolded lightly. “You could never let me down.”
“I’ll make you proud, Mr. Lang.” Yuno carried on as if he hadn’t even heard him. “I’ll make you celebrate until the city parties with you. You will love me even more after this.”
And the next day, Yuno did just that.