nytis
jihoon got it.
it took hours of rummaging through his house and jeonghan's bakery but he finally got it. collecting together a whole bunch of past news articles, he worked late into the night seeing what was connecting them all and when he finally did, a realization swept over him. minghao was not (as much as he looked like it) a mindless murderer.
"and then cheol told me that the kids were going to throw him crutches down the well! he said that they were all working together to chase him down," jeonghan laughed out to soonyoung. it was eight in the morning and the two people were talking amicably about their stories and experiences from the orphanage.
"-and then ji and i put the children to bed," soonyoung sighed happily, "it was adorable."
"speaking of jihoon, since he's not here yet... " jeonghan shot a sly look in soonyoung's direction, "how's it going with him? you two have made some progress i hope? i didn't send you to deliver bread for nothing to happen."
now mentioning jihoon... soonyoung leaned on the counter and covered his face with his hands. his burning red ears didn't go unnoticed by jeonghan. the man immediately slid over and gripped his shoulder.
"i knew something would happen," he said in a singsong voice, "you've got to tell me pup, come on..."
for the past couple days, soonyoung just could not get that chaste kiss out of his head. it was supposed to be nothing, just a kiss on the cheek to please a child. so why couldn't soonyoung let it go? "jihoon... jihoon he..."
there was a long pause, "the suspense is killing me! soonyoung, you've gotta speak faster!" jeonghan said, shaking him back and forth violently.
"he kissed me..."
jeonghan's eyes widened to the size of saucers, he covered his mouth to prevent any noise from escaping.
"..on the cheek."
jeonghan dropped his hand and looked at soonyoung unamused, "not even on the lips? no tongue? no steamy make out session?" jeonghan's words floated into soonyoung's mind... purethoughtsonlypure-
the man sighed, "well i suppose it's still progress. anything else?"
soonyoung thought back... definitely something else. jihoon revealing his past to him meant so much. the fact that jihoon trusted him enough to tell him something so private truly warmed soonyoung to the core. "jihoon told me about his childhood and past."
that left jeonghan very surprised. jihoon never tells people about his past... "soonyoung... oh wow." jihoon must really like you then. "you make a move pup, take him out or something."
"i know," the guy mumbled, "i wanted to last weekend but i couldn't find him..."
jeonghan let out a little snort, "y'know, if you two both get invites, you should consider taking jihoon to the ball. i think he would really like that-
the door jingled open revealing a tired looking jihoon with a handful of newspaper clippings.
"look who's here," jeonghan called out. "and.. three minutes later than usual."
"sorry, dojin kept trying to make small talk with me." he muttered, "god is he annoying. i hope you remembered today's tax day."
"jihoonie!" soonyoung waved him over. any redness from earlier was long gone. "where were you for the last two days? i was looking for you on saturday but you were nowhere to be found.."
"ah.. that?" jihoon briefly looked down at the paper in his hands. "i was... with minghao." jihoon sucked in a breath, "nothing happened so don't panic!" he added quickly after seeing soonyoung tense up.
"are you sure.." jeonghan raised a brow, "i mean he was the one who painted dicks on the castle walls right?"
"yes.. but that's not important. he answered my questions and i've figured some stuff out. i think we're looking at minghao wrong."
"alright detective, keep talking."
"look. minghao is indeed in charge of the shop robberies but look at the shops. they're all run by nobles and the rich people. last weekend i saw minghao drop money in front of people's houses, especially the poorer ones. he's giving the poor money so they won't get in trouble with dojin."
"now look at the deaths. haven't you noticed that he has never killed a regular citizen? everyone who has died are criminals." jihoon spread out the articles in front of the two people. "minghao's just cleaning up nytis. i got the chance to meet with some of the people living in the alleys and they all.. love minghao. a woman there told me that he's gone through some shit which explains why he's not exactly... normal."
"so.. robin hood killer who has gone through some traumatic stuff." jeonghan said, finally speaking up.
jihoon scowled, "i'm not lying."
"no, no.. i believe you.." he murmured, "i need to invite him over for some more strawberry strudels." jeonghan looked at jihoon, "if you see him again, tell him that the funny man wants him to come back to the bakery for yummy food."
"so he's... not actually.. bad?" soonyoung kept on looking over the articles. jihoon let out a short laugh and headed to the sink.
"he's not so give him another chance."
dojin rolled around to the bakery late afternoon. whistling a tune while holding a bag full of gold he strolled up to the counter. "jeonghan! how's business? i see you've hired another boy."
sliding over a small pouch full of gold, jeonghan gave the tax collector a tight smile. "ah yes.. another person has been added to the team. his name is soonyoung." dojin took a good look at soonyoung.
"soonyoung..hmm?" he mused, "why does that name sound so familiar..."
a nervous sweat formed on the back of soonyoung's neck. this was not good.
"well i'm sure you've still got plenty of stops to make," jeonghan cut in quickly, "you should probably... head on out now." dojin waved his hand.
"don't worry. i'm quite tired actually.. i hope you don't mind me taking a short break here.." all three of the bakers died a little. jeonghan forced a smile on his face, he had never wanted someone out of his bakery more than now.
"good to see that you three-
dojin stopped in mid sentence and turned around to look out the window. he mumbled something under his breath before turning his attention back to the desserts on display. "i would like-
dojin turned around again. "did you feel that?" he asked, "like there's someone watching-
the tax collector tsked. "nevermind boys.. i think i'd better get going." unhappily, dojin headed out the door waving at the two guards waiting outside to follow him. only when the man was out of sight did jihoon laugh.
"i guess minghao's lurking around," he giggled.
"thank god that guy left." soonyoung said with a sigh.
there was a sudden light tapping on the glass window. the door opened and minghao bounced into the shop with a wide grin. "strawberry strudels?"
jeonghan smiled at the man, "was that your doing minghao?"
" me?"
"chasing off dojin." he explained.
minghao nodded, "hmm.. he was stinking up the whole bakery. making him leave was good..."
jeonghan laughed, "one strawberry strudel today?" minghao quickly shook his head.
"one and one half." he said, raising his fingers to show. "a little extra because im going to have some fun tonight." his grin widened like a crescent moon.
