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It wasn’t the worst situation Eui Sung had ever been in. Definitely wasn’t the best, but he would be fine… probably.
He’d been sneaking around a warehouse owned by their mark, trying to find a place where he could hack into their security system so they could keep an eye on the building while Soo Kyung came by later as part of their con.
But of course he had to get caught by the guards instead.
Which was how Eui Sung found himself bound to a chair, duct tape wrapped tightly around his wrists and ankles to keep him from moving. Two guards kept watch over him, and no matter how much he pulled he couldn’t get the duct tape to loosen.
All Eui Sung could do was wait for the team to rescue him. They were nearby, so hopefully it wouldn’t be too much longer. It was annoying that as soon as the guards caught him as an intruder they turned on a signal jammer, so the earbuds no longer worked. Oh man, Na Byeol was going to taunt him so much about getting kidnapped… again.
It wasn’t long before the sound of a door opening echoed through the warehouse, and the two guards snapped to attention. A figure rounded the side of a crate, who Eui Sung recognized as Park Si Yoon, the mark. Right, of course he was called when someone was found sneaking around his warehouse full of highly illegal weapons. Eui Sung shifted in his seat, he really hoped the others would hurry up with whatever their rescue plan was.
“What’s this?” Park asked, barely sparing Eui Sung a glance.
“We found him sneaking around. He had this on him,” the guard held up Eui Sung’s backpack with all of his tech. He really hoped they weren’t going to destroy it, that stuff was expensive. Park looked at the bag for all of three seconds before he shrugged.
“Kill him,” Park said casually. Eui Sung’s blood turned to ice in his veins, his breath catching in his chest. “An important guest is coming by later and everything needs to be perfect. Clean this up before she gets here,” Park said, waving his hand in Eui Sung’s general direction. He turned on his heel and left the same way he came, one of the guards following after him. The remaining guard dropped the backpack and pulled out his gun, turning to face Eui Sung.
“Wait- wait- there’s a misunderstanding, you don’t have to do this-” Eui Sung protested, finally finding his voice again. His heart was beating like a jackhammer in his throat and he pulled desperately at his bindings. “I- I won’t cause any trouble, please just let me go you don’t want to do this-”
The guard looked at him in amusement. “Don’t I?” Eui Sung’s mouth went dry as the guard pointed his gun directly in his face.
“I can pay you! I- I can pay you anything, I’ll- whatever you’re getting paid now I’ll double it, just let me go and I’ll double it, I swear,” he rambled.
“You make a compelling offer, but unfortunately for you I’m getting paid a lot,” the guard said with a smirk. Eui Sung wanted to protest more but his mind had gone completely blank. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t move. He couldn’t die, not like this, he was too young to die-!
BANG.
Eui Sung flinched backwards, nearly toppling over in his chair as something warm and wet sprayed across his face. It was like time stopped. Eui Sung wasn’t sure if he was even breathing anymore, his eyes fixated on the guard in front of him, who swayed for a second before toppling sideways. It took an eternity for him to hit the ground, a gaping hole now in the side of his head
Eui Sung couldn’t get himself to move or react, for all he knew he was dead too because he couldn’t do anything but stare, unblinking, at the body in front of him. The body that only a few seconds ago was a living, breathing human. Who now had a hole in his head with blood going everywhere and that could’ve been him and-
Something moved in front of him, cutting off his view of the body, and it took a long moment for Eui Sung to refocus his eyes on the person now in front of him. He knew the person, he knew he knew them, but his mind refused to connect the dots, his brain was nothing but static. They were saying words, he could see their mouth moving, but no sound reached his ears. It was like he was underwater, everything was distorted and muffled and fuzzy.
A light slap across his cheek forcefully jerked Eui Sung into the present. He pulled back automatically from the figure in front of him, gasping for breath as his mind raced to catch up with the present. He blinked hard, willing himself to focus on his surroundings.
“Are you hurt?” Eui Sung looked up to see Roy kneeling in front of him, looking at him intensely. Eui Sung wanted to respond, to say something, but all he could manage was a slight shake of his head. He wasn’t hurt - at least, he didn’t think he was hurt, but his entire body was numb so who was he to say. Roy nodded one and quickly cut through the tape binding him to the chair.
The second Roy moved, Eui Sung got a clear view of the guard again and he felt all the air leave his lungs, the rest of the world fading out of existence as his vision crystalized on the body. The smirk was still present on his face, but his eyes were glassy and empty. The hole in his head was still oozing blood and- that could’ve been him. That would’ve been him if Roy hadn’t-
A hand grabbed his shoulder and forcefully dragged him to his feet and away from the body. Not that it mattered because the image was forever burned into his mind.
Eui Sung wasn’t sure how they made it back across the warehouse, but the next thing he knew he was sitting in the back of the van as it drove off. He was vaguely aware of the way the others were all staring at him, and he knew he should do something, say something, even if it was just to apologize for messing up the con - but he couldn’t. The words wouldn’t form in his mouth and every time he blinked all he could see was the dead guard and that could’ve been him-
Something moved towards his face and Eui Sung flinched back instinctively, his mind still replaying the long seconds when a gun had been pointed at his head. He took a second to blink and focus and realized that Roy was standing in front of him, holding out a small package of cleaning wipes. Eui Sung stared at Roy, unsure what the purpose was.
“You should clean yourself up,” Roy said softly, and placed the wipes in Eui Sung’s lap. He moved away, leaving Eui Sung staring dumbly down at the wipes. He couldn’t will himself to pick the package up, his hands little more than numb unmoving bricks at the ends of his arms.
Something poked his shoulder forcefully, and after a moment he lifted his gaze to see Na Byeol had taken the seat next to him. She was frowning slightly, chewing on her lip as she pulled out a wipe. He wanted to say something, wanted her to tease him for getting kidnapped again, wanted anything but this heavy silence that descended over them. Instead she lifted the wipe and carefully brought it to his face.
He blinked when she made contact, more out of surprise of the wipe being cold than anything else. He didn’t move as she cleaned his face, sitting close enough that in any other situation he’d be stammering and making excuses to move away. But he couldn’t even bring himself to care.
It was only when she dropped the used wipe in the trash bin and pulled out a clean one that Eui Sung realized the old one was pink with blood.
Which meant there was blood on his face.
The realization hit him suddenly, his stomach twisting itself into a knot, his breath catching in his throat. He gagged, unable to control himself because there was a stranger’s blood on him and on his face and-
His entire body started to shake and the trash can was hurriedly shoved in front of him, not a moment too soon. Eui Sung doubled over it, trembling hands holding onto the rim desperately as he vomited up whatever food had been in his stomach from that morning. He puked until there was nothing but bile coming up, and then some.
Voices were talking around him, and he knew they were calling his name but he couldn’t focus enough to make out anything past that. It was too much, all of it was too much. He didn’t want to be there anymore, didn’t want to have a stranger's blood on him, didn’t want to have made Roy kill for him. He wanted to go back to that morning when everything was simple and he could crack jokes and act like nothing was wrong.
Eui Sung eventually sat back in his seat and let his eyes slip shut, curling up in a ball like that could somehow protect him from everything that happened.
It had been 72 hours since Eui Sung was kidnapped. Not that Roy was counting. He only knew because they hadn’t taken another job since then. And he didn’t think they should. Eui Sung needed rest and needed time to recover. Even if he hadn’t been physically hurt, Roy remembered the first time he saw someone die in front of him, and couldn’t shake the guilt over the fact that he made Eui Sung go through the same thing.
Not that Roy was worried about the hacker, definitely not that.
Though Eui Sung had yet to leave their base again in the past 72 hours. So Roy wasn’t surprised when he came across Eui Sung passed out on the couch in their base, tablet laying forgotten on his lap. Roy planned on walking by quietly when he noticed that the hacker wasn’t sleeping peacefully.
His knees were tucked up, arms crossed tightly against his chest, and he kept twitching. There was a slight frown on his face as he slept, making the occasional small sound of unease.
Roy glanced around the room. He wanted to wake Eui Sung from what looked like a nightmare, but he didn’t think his face was what the hacker would want to see. Not after everything that happened. There was a reason he’d been giving Eui Sung space the past few days.
Unfortunately, no one else was around, and Roy couldn’t just leave him. So he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and approached the couch.
“Eui Sung,” Roy said, loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to startle. Eui Sung twitched but otherwise didn’t react. Roy took a step closer so he was standing next to the couch. “Eui Sung,” he repeated, louder this time. The hacker flinched, curling up tighter into a ball, but still didn’t wake. Roy frowned and leaned down, cautiously grabbing Eui Sung’s shoulder and giving it a gentle shake. “Eui Sung.”
Eui Sung’s eyes flashed open as he jerked awake, flinching back into the couch. His eyes were wide and unfocused, darting around the entire room before landing on Roy.
“Ya!” Eui Sung let out a surprised shout and flailed. Roy barely managed to step out of the way as Eui Sung rolled off the couch and hit the ground with a crash.
“Are you alright?” Roy asked, half of him wanting to help Eui Sung to his feet and half of him not wanting to scare the hacker any more than he already had.
Eui Sung scrambled up and made a show of brushing himself off. “Gosh, what was that for? Scared me half to death,” he mumbled, not quite making eye contact.
“Are you alright?” Roy repeated. Eui Sung scoffed.
“I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked, but he wouldn’t stand still, shifting his weight from foot to foot as his eyes darted around the entire room. Roy waited until Eui Sung looked at him again to respond.
“You were having a nightmare.”
“What? No I wasn’t. Only- only little kids have nightmares, I’m fine,” Eui Sung forced a laugh. Roy watched him for a moment, noting the way he puffed out his chest, head held high even as the nervous energy wouldn’t quite leave his frame.
“I have nightmares,” Roy said softly. Eui Sung froze, eyes going wide.
“Oh,” he stared at Roy for a moment, then visibly deflated, shoulders hunching as he reached up to run a hand through his hair. “It- it was nothing. I’m fine,” he insisted. They stood there for a moment, Eui Sung not able to look at him for more than a second at a time. “Anyway, Boss gave me some work to do so I should really get back to that.” He bent down to pick up the table that had fallen to the floor, and Roy pretended not to notice his hands shaking.
“Tae Joon gave you work?” Roy questioned. What work could Tae Joon possibly want done when they weren’t even on a job?
“Yeah, looking into a few potential clients for our next job. Stuff that only I can do so,” Eui Sung made a shooing motion with his hands and took a seat on the couch again, directing his focus back to his tablet.
Roy stood there for a moment, torn between wanting to force the hacker to take a break while also knowing that trying to relax after a nightmare never worked. He stood there for too long, because Eui Sung shot a cautious glance up at him out of the corner of his eyes. Roy forced himself to nod once and then turn to leave the room. He didn’t want to leave Eui Sung along but knew that his presence likely wouldn’t help whatever nightmare he’d just had.
Instead, Roy set off to find Tae Joon.
He wasn’t hard to spot, sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and looking at something on his phone. Roy took the seat opposite, slamming his fist against the table with slightly more force than was necessary. Tae Joon raised his head sharply, a look of not-quite-fear flashing across his face before he hid it, and Roy mentally cursed himself for forgetting that the others saw him now for what he was. That they knew what he could do, what he did do for the right amount of money.
“You gave Eui Sung work,” Roy said. It wasn’t a question, and he could see Tae Joon trying to figure out his angle.
“He asked for something to do,” Tae Joon said evenly.
“He should be resting,” Roy countered. Tae Joon sat back in his chair and regarded Roy for a moment.
“He is,” Tae Joon said. “But he needed something to do in the meantime, so I gave him an easy job.” Roy looked away sharply, trying to find a way to say what he wanted without sounding like he was worried. “Eui Sung is not the type of person to sit around and do nothing. Surely you can understand.”
And Roy did understand. It was why he never let injuries keep him down long, why he was always doing something. But he was the one who was supposed to keep Eui Sung safe, and he’d failed that. And now Eui Sung was acting weird and Roy had no idea how to fix it.
Roy stood up and left the room, not bothering to turn and see the look Tae Joon was giving him.
Eui Sung really wished the rest of the team would treat him normally again. He was fine! Yeah he freaked out for a few days but that was expected after almost getting killed. It had been a whole week since then, and he was fine.
He wished they would accept that.
Soo Kyung was the only one who treated him normally. Tae Joon kept shooting him concerned looks out of the corner of his eyes when he thought Eui Sung wasn’t watching. Na Byeol almost refused to let Eui Sung do anything by himself, including staying in the van alone. Roy avoided any situation that could possibly end with the two of them alone, but anytime the whole team was together he wouldn't take his eyes off Eui Sung.
It was driving him up a wall.
They finally started another job at least, though Eui Sung knew Tae Joon picked this one specifically because he could stay in the van the entire time. But he found that he didn’t particularly mind. He did finally leave the base a few times, even slept in his apartment one night, but he definitely didn’t feel as safe outside of it.
“Everyone okay with that?” Tae Joon asked, looking back at all of them. They were gathered at the briefing table as he explained the set up for their next con.
“Why can’t we just kill him?” Na Byeol asked. Everyone froze, all eyes snapping to her. “What?” She met their gaze defiantly. “It’d be easier than all of this,” she waved at the screen. When no one spoke she turned to look at Roy. “Could you do it?” Eui Sung risked a glance at Roy, only to find him looking back impassively at her.
“I only kill for the right price,” Roy spoke eventually, his voice monotone. “You couldn’t afford my services.” Eui Sung couldn’t tell if that was a joke or not, but Soo Kyung chuckled, breaking the tension, and Tae Joon took that as his cue to continue explaining the plan.
But Eui Sung couldn’t get what Roy said out of his head.
“For the right price.”
Was Roy expecting Eui Sung to pay him for killing that guard? Was that why he’d been acting all weird?
Well tough luck, because that wasn’t something they’d agreed upon beforehand. Eui Sung definitely hadn’t asked Roy to do that, so he could get over himself.
…still, if Eui Sung could do anything to make things go back to normal, he would. If paying Roy would help, then he might have to suck it up and do it. Except that Roy already said his services were too expensive. At the very least Eui Sung could ask Roy about it, he just wanted things to be normal again.
It took a few days for Eui Sung to catch Roy alone. If he thought he’d been imagining the hitter avoiding him before, he knew that wasn’t the case now. Roy had a knack for disappearing right as Eui Sung showed up.
Finally Eui Sung spotted Roy by himself in the kitchen, staring pensively at his cup of coffee. Eui Sung took a deep breath and tried to stand up taller, he wasn’t going to let Roy bully him into paying an exorbitant amount, even if he would do just about anything to make things go back to the way they were.
“How much?” Eui Sung asked, stopping a little ways away from the table where Roy was sitting. Roy’s head snapped up, his gaze landing on Eui Sung and pinning him in place. It was a long time before he responded.
“What?”
“How much?” Eui Sung repeated. Roy tilted his head slightly, narrowing his eyes like he was trying to figure out what Eui Sung was asking. He shifted on his feet, trying to figure out how to say it without… saying it. “For your- for your services,” he landed on eventually. “How much?” A mask settled over Roy’s face, and Eui Sung didn’t miss the way his fists clenched on the table.
“I’m not killing anyone for you,” Roy said sharply. Which was an odd thing to say considering he already had.
“What? No, I’m not asking you to-,” Eui Sung sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “The guard that you killed. How much?” Roy blinked.
“You don’t owe me for that,” he responded slowly.
“You said you only kill people for the right price. And you killed that guard for me. So what’s your price?” At this point Eui Sung would be willing to pay just about anything, so long as it meant they’d act normally again. Roy - damn him - just shook his head.
“You don’t owe me for that,” he repeated. “I chose to do that, it’s my job. You don’t owe me,” he said, face twisting briefly into disgust.
“Then what is it you want!?” Eui Sung exploded, throwing his hands in the air. “You’ve been avoiding me ever since it happened! And don’t say you haven’t been because you have and just- tell me what you want so we can go back to normal!” He was aware he was shouting, and that the others in the base could likely hear him, but at this point he didn’t care.
“I thought you wanted that,” Roy said. Eui Sung let his hands drop to his side because now he was confused. “I thought you didn’t want to be around me.” Eui Sung stared dumbly at Roy, unable to comprehend what he said.
“Why would I want you to avoid me?” Eui Sung asked incredulously.
“Because I killed a man,” Roy responded evenly. On cue, the image of the guard with his brains blown out flashed across Eui Sung’s mind.
“I know,” Eui Sung said once he banished the image from his mind. “But I don’t want you to- to avoid me because of that. You saved my life!” Roy looked at him curiously.
“Aren’t you afraid?”
“Of what? You?” Eui Sung laughed like the concept was ridiculous, even though at one point it had been true. For a while, Eui Sung had been scared of Roy. Scared of the mercenary who joined them solely because his previous employers fired him. The hitter who had no official ties to Leverage Inc, who refused the paperwork that would make him a proper employee.
But then there was the job at the nursing home, and Eui Sung saw how gentle Roy was with all of the patients. Saw how he stood up for In Sook, even after that jerk of a team leader tossed Eui Sung aside. Saw all the times Roy comforted a scared kid, or taught them how to fight off bullies. Saw how much of a dork he was about Elliot, the tiniest and fluffiest dog Eui Sung had ever seen, how he insisted on putting Elliot in a little vest every time it was the slightest bit cold outside.
“Who could be afraid of you?” Eui Sung said, forcing his tone to be light. He didn’t miss the way the tension bled out of Roy’s frame.
“You should be,” Roy said quietly, meeting Eui Sung’s gaze for a second before looking away.
“Are you kidding me? I’ve seen you with Elliot, you’re as soft as I am,” Eui Sung scoffed. A small smile flashed across Roy’s face and he shook his head.
“I’m sorry for avoiding you,” he said quietly. Eui Sung hesitated for a second, trying to figure out how he was meant to respond to that.
“You saved my life,” he said eventually, offering a one-shouldered shrug. “I don’t know why you’d think I’d be mad about that.”
“You shouldn’t have been caught in the first place. I should’ve kept you safe,” Roy insisted.
“You still saved me.” Roy didn’t look convinced. “Buy me a coffee and we’ll call it even,” he added with a grin.
Roy smiled then, really smiled, in a way that made all his features soften. “Deal,” he said with a wink, then left, leaving Eui Sung red faced and sputtering in the kitchen.