Chapter Text
It had been a few months since their time in Hawaii, and sometimes Joongi still couldn’t quite believe how fast things had changed for him since he finally allowed himself to pursue what he wanted. The loneliness that had gnawed at him was gone, filled instead with the friendships he had denied himself and a connection he hadn’t previously thought possible. Sure, Seonhee seemed to take pleasure in teasing him over his new relationship, and Saeko had wasted no time in cornering him upon their return to find out exactly why he and Adachi had been a week later than everyone else in returning to Japan.
Joongi couldn’t recall a time in which he had felt so content. Happy? That alone was still a foreign thought to him, that he could be happy, and not simply pleased to be of service or useful. Life was still busy for the both of them, Joongi still having his role to fill within the Geomijul and Adachi attempting to get back his business back on its feet after the damage done by the Tatara channel, but they still took the time to see each other as often as they could. They even managed to carve out time for the occasional date.
The night had been idyllic; a delicious meal in a cozy cafe overlooking Yokohama Bay, then a pleasant walk over to Cosmo Clock 21. In all the years he had been in Ijincho, he had never once actually been on the ferris wheel that dominated the Yokohama night skyline, despite it being so close. Sure, they got some strange looks as they waited in line, but as their gondola started to climb Adachi took his hand in his and Joongi couldn’t have stopped the smile that spread across his face if he tried. The kiss they shared at the apex only served to deepen the feeling of bliss that had grown through his chest.
Not wanting the night to end just yet, they had ended up back in Hanakita park, looking out over the water at the dancing lights of the park they had just left.
“Hey, Joongi” Adachi was the one to break the quiet moment, eyes still carefully trained out at the city as though he dared not look at his partner. “What’d you even see in me?”
The younger man stared at him for a moment, brain struggling to process the sudden shift in their evening together. “Excuse me?”
“I mean, I'm almost twice your age. And you, I’ve said it before that you're basically a modern day prince. You could certainly do better.”
He couldn’t be serious? Could he? Was Adachi really choosing that moment to lay out his doubts? Joongi could only gape incredulously at him. “You’re kidding me.”
Adachi raised a brow with a confused look, shaking his head slightly. “No? Why would I be joking?”
He was serious, and Joongi didn’t want to have this conversation. Certainly not in the middle of the park. He stood up from the bench quickly, his posture stiff as he smothered the anger that had sparked in him. “Thank you for the evening, Adachi, I very much enjoyed myself. However, it's getting late, so I think I should head back now.” With that he turned sharply on his heel, ignoring Adachi’s confused shouts after him.
—
It was a near thing, catching Yan’s knife before he buried it between the old man’s ribs. His instructions from Seonhee had been clear: get Kasuga and his friends out alive, and to try and be subtle enough with it to not tip off that Geomijul was interfering. Slipping in with the crew sent to deal with them was simple, and ideally he would have quietly dealt with the two watching while Yan was distracted before moving onto him. But for all of Yan’s talk of ‘taking his time’, he seemed to escalate quickly. Would the stab wound have been fatal? Not immediately, but it wasn’t something Joongi wanted to risk.
The old man - Adachi Koichi, formerly of the Yokohama police department, he reminded himself - hadn’t made a sound as he braced for the blade, and looked just as puzzled as Yan at his intervention. Luckily the confusion bought him half a moment to formulate something of a plan, pull out some line about new orders from Lao Ma while he got Kasuga freed from his chains. It was fine, Joongi was good at adapting to what a situation needed.
Joongi regretted not being able to get the others freed as well, but he couldn’t risk lingering, couldn’t risk failing the second part of his directions. He’d have to trust that the motley crew was as tough to kill as they had seemed in surveillance.
That trust would prove to be well founded as he watched them all fight their way through his tests at the headquarters. From observation of the group he knew that they were all competent in their own rights, but something about watching it so closely was fascinating. One thing that did surprise him though that of them all Adachi was the first to understand his explanation of how the Geomijul functioned, a level of comprehension he did not expect from the disgraced officer who otherwise seemed to be all brawn with little brain.
And even while struggling with Kasuga, Joongi was still aware of Adachi’s ability to blindside and disarm Seonhee in a smooth, practice move - yet another surprise and no easy feat. Definitely something he would have to keep in mind to avoid underestimating the older man should he find himself at odds with Kasuga’s group again.