Chapter Text
The city bled light into the rain.
Neon signs flickered over puddles, stretching red and violet into jagged shapes as if even the water wanted to run from this place. Key kept to the edges of the street, his boots silent on slick pavement, collar turned up against the chill.
The mark had been easy enough to track.
Choi Minho never did learn how to disappear properly.
Or maybe — Key thought as his gloved hand slid along the grip of his pistol — maybe he didn’t want to.
Through the haze of mist and cigarette smoke, Minho emerged from a side street. Tall, steady, a shadow in motion. The kind of man you could mistake for untouchable… if you didn’t notice the way his eyes searched every corner. He wasn’t just walking; he was scanning. Hunting.
Key stepped into the mouth of an alley, letting the light slice across half his face. From here, he could see Minho stop in front of a rusted iron door. A muffled cry from inside — faint, desperate — and then Minho’s hand on the latch.
The orders were simple: put a bullet in his heart before dawn.
But Key found himself hesitating.
Because instead of storming in to finish the job, Minho knelt beside the door, whispered something too low to catch. A moment later, the sound of the cry softened… like whoever was inside had been soothed.
The hunter in Key knew the opportunity was perfect. The man was off guard. One clean shot.
But something else — something far more dangerous — told him to wait.
Minho glanced over his shoulder then, eyes cutting straight through the shadows. Right into Key.
And he smiled.
It wasn’t a warm smile.
It was the kind that said: I’ve known you were there the whole time.