× locker room

@j jeongguk β The fact that the other beta was even telling him about his - up until now - very secretive job, made Seonghwa feel honoured in such an odd way. He couldn't say that he was all for such a violent job, but he knew that no matter where in the world you went, there was some sort of society, some group of people who thought it necessary to keep societies running by, for a lack of a better word, maintaining a balance, whether it be from the shadows or out in the open. He knew that Jungkook had purposely turned his head away, and Seonghwa never pushed the other beta to reveal his face, no matter how much curiosity was clawing at his mind. He respected the other's privacy after all. He welcomed the hug, bringing the other into his own embrace, though he shook his head a bit at the other's words. "You don't owe me a thing. Just... even though I haven't known you very long... please do make sure to... come back safely," he nodded.

He couldn't hold back the chuckle when the other suddenly mentioned his hair and pulled back a bit from their hug. "What if I want to change it to black? Would you still prefer me blond?" he asked curiously. He let the other continue after a few moments and listened carefully. He gently lifted his hands to hold the other's shoulders. "You don't need to explain it to me, okay? Only if you want to. Don't force yourself if you prefer not to talk about it. Whatever you're doing to survive, you know it best. I have no right to stop you or intervene," he said and lifted one of his hands to gently pat the other's head. "This club is the place you come to to wind down, maybe do some people watching, get your mind off of things. I want to keep it that way for you," he smiled. He pulled the other into his embrace once more and let out a soft sigh.

@p seonghwa β He didn't think he had to tell Seonghwa at all about his life, he didn't want anyone knowing he did it to survive. It wasn't anything crazy at all to him. But to others... who knew what he actually thought until the soft spoken words came out of the even softer blond haired beta. He took a sip of water and it felt crisp to his lips but he turned away so Seonghwa couldn't see his face, after all this time. He sighed and stood up as if he wasn't weak anymore and hugged Seonghwa lightly, "Thank you, I owe you money for everything that you have done for me. You have helped me so much, and I have no way to repay you for all the kindness you have shown me." He placed his hand on the beta's hair and played with it lightly, "I like blond on you, never change it." Jungkook had this tendency to ignore main problems at hand or main conversation points and he never did it with Seonghwa until now, because he didn't want to talk about work.

Jungkook could tell by the way how Seonghwa reacted that he didn't really approve in his eyes, "It was because I had nothing else left, and the government and someone's dad who I can't say, trained me to do this. I won't ever harm our kind though, that isn't what this is about. I have faked the deaths of wolves that were targeted. There were many that were targeted. It is stressful, its like a winter day that is red hot in November but the snow is still falling, a contradiction of sorts no?" He laughed to himself as his words sometimes made no sense to anyone, but maybe Seonghwa can understand him.

@j jeongguk β [lol you forgot to tag me xD]

Seonghwa knew by now not to really get the most clear responses, nor the ones he necessarily wanted or needed to hear from the other beta. But at this point, after knowing one another for this long, Seonghwa was used to it, and if it made the other beta feel better, then so be it. If Jungkook couldn't tell him what he did then so be it. "Water? Okay, wait right here," he said and got up, going out to the dressing room and grabbing a bottle of water before returning very quickly, almost as though he had never left the other's side. He cracked it open and handed it to the other beta, knowing that the other could have done that himself, but Seonghwa had his own habits.

The owner of the club was indeed a very kind man to those around him. A good person. It was why Seonghwa had taken up this job so easily and had kept it for more than a year. Before he could really comment on the other's hair, the beta continued. The words initially didn't register in his head. But after a moment, they did and all Seonghwa could do was sigh. "And I thought I had seen it all," he said jokingly before clearing his throat slightly. "I won't lie... I have to say that I didn't want it to be something like that... but I had my guesses that you were involved in something of the like," he said. He looked up into the other beta's eyes. "Does anyone else know what you do?" he asked softly.

Jungkook rolled his eyes playfully at Seonghwa and laughed a bit, "I ate before I came back here about eight hours ago, I am fine for now. Just, confused and conflicted. I have been doing a lot but I feel like I am not happy anymore with what I do." He looked down at his hands and saw some bloodstains on them, he quickly put his hands in is sweatshirt and felt for the cotton inside of it. It felt nice and soft like his mother's skin whenever she would cradle him, he cried another single tear, but couldn't feel anything due to his horrid scars. He looked away from Seonghwa and shook his head, "I.. could use some water maybe." He bit his tongue, he hated asking for help from anyone, especially someone he owes most of his life to now after helping him.

Nodding remembering what he said about Ten. "Ten is the person who saved my life, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. He is a really good friend, he is like family to me." Looks over at Seonghwa and fixes his brown hair, he got bored of his color of hair and wanted to change it. "Maybe I should change my hair color, make me look better?" Quickly shaking his head, he realized he couldn't do that, his employer wouldn't like that. "Seonghwa... I kill people for a living." He said it so calmly and in a monotone manner as to not raise suspicion to anyone else in the club.

@j jeongguk β Seonghwa hummed softly and nodded at the response, knowing that even if it felt like a long time to him, to Jungkook, it really wasn't that long. Whatever the reason was for that, Seonghwa was sure that he would never truly find out, but so long as Jungkook returned eventually, Seonghwa wouldn't feel terrible. Something about the other beta made him want to look out for him even just a bit. Perhaps it was the lack of other people around Jungkook that made the blond beta want to do those sorts of things for him - he hadn't really figured it out.

He looked up at the other beta and looked directly back into his eyes, his gaze unwavering, "Of course I've been treated well. Ten-hyung wouldn't let something bad happen in here," he reassured. Once the other was sat back down, he let out a soft sigh and looked at Jungkook. "Have you been eating? Did you want some water?" he asked. The other beta probably wanted to sleep for a bit, but Seonghwa wanted to make sure that he wasn't gonna go to sleep hungry or thirsty.

@p seonghwa β Jungkook shook his head at Seonghwa's questions, "It wasn't that long, I had stuff to do." That is how he would normally answer Seonghwa, he didn't know why Seonghwa was so helpful to him. He helped him a lot in his life and didn't want to push him away, like he pushed others away. He wanted to stick around maybe this time for a while longer than he normally does. Sighing he rose to his feet, "Has everyone here been treating you nicely, do I have to hurt anyone?" He looked directly into Seonghwa's eyes like a bullet from fully loaded gun, he didn't want anything getting past him.

Thinking to himself, he shook his head and sat back down wondering what was going on with Seonghwa, always wanting to know things about himself, never asking for anything in return, he is like a protector for him. But that is the last thing he needs, is someone getting close to him like this. He can't lose anyone else than what he has lost in his life.

@j jeongguk β Seonghwa swore that he smelled and sensed the other and he even popped his head outside. He frowned to hismelf and pouted slightly before he decided to head back into the locker room, away from the main crowds since he really didn't need to deal with the crowds right at the moment. As he made it back into the locker room though, he paused since there was obviously someone else in there who hadn't been before.

His eyes widened and he in a breath as he ran over to a little area of the locker room that most of the employees never ventured into. It was a private little spot for a certain someone after all and as Seonghwa rounded the corner, he let out a sigh of both relief and tiredness as he saw the one and only Jungkook sitting there on the bed. The blond beta shut his eyes for a moment before walking over to the other and plopping down - still rather gracefully - beside the other beta and looking at him with obvious concern on his face.

Any normal person would ask things like 'where have you been' 'why didn't you call or text', but Seonghwa knew better than that by now. "You were gone for a while this time, Jungkook," he commented and looked into the other's eyes, trying to find any signs that he was hurt in any way. "Anywhere that you're hurt? Are you okay?" he asked softly and waited for some kind of response from the other beta.

@p seonghwa β Jungkook was away from the club on official, “GOVERNMENT BUSINESS” he loved going to the club when he came back because he would always see Seonghwa. He felt safer around Seonghwa for some reason but he didn’t know why. Maybe it was become he integrated him into the real life that he had been missing all this time.

Nonetheless, he was coming back from a cross-country trip that made the travelling worse for him in the long run because of the conditions that he was in. He was a bit sick with some sort of virus but he put it behind him, he was able to go because it was cold where he went. Due to his burns the cold never bothered him where he went as he lost all feeling his face and neck. Only one person has ever seen his face without his mask on, his name was… No. Can’t even think about it right now, he has to go deal with his “Mom” Seonghwa, who probably was going to yell at him for being gone for this long, but he would maybe understand.

Coming up to the club he took his jacket off and snuck into the locker room where he had made a makeshift bed for himself whenever he came back from his adventures. He smiled coming here and smelled scents that made him feel at home. He sat down after taking his jacket off and his mask off and looked at his face in the mirror, sighing. “Coulda been a model at 7 they said, look what happened after that.” He cried a single tear and heard a door open as he hid behind a locker putting his mask back on. Hiding in fear and slightly caught off guard he recognized the man’s scent. it was Seonghwa, had he been coming here all the time waiting for me?

@j jeongguk β Seonghwa knew lots of people, specifically those who were the employees or the patrons of the club. Sure, he had seen plenty of faces come and go, but it was the one young man who he didn't truly know the face of that was on his mind that night. It was a little quieter at the club, though it was still kind of early and it was a weekday. But even so, Seonghwa couldn't help it as he was back in the locker room, putting his things in a locker to keep it safe there until he would leave much later in the night.
He wasn't dancing, but over the last couple weeks, he had been coming to the club every night almost religiously, which even for him was a lot compared to normal. It was because of Jungkook. The masked man who never showed his whole face. Seonghwa didn't even know how long they had known each other for, but it was probably close to the amount of time he had been working at the club. Jungkook had a habit of disappearing for days at a time without a word and would come back mostly intact. The few occasions that he had come back with an injury or with some kind of ailment, Seonghwa had fussed over him like a mother. Something about Jungkook made him do that. Seonghwa had never questioned what the other beta did for a living. It was none of his business. He just... cared.
And because he cared, he was getting more antsy with each day that passed without Jungkook showing up at the club, when he would usually drop by even for a quick look around and leave-
Seonghwa stopped just as he was about to leave the locker room and sensed a familiar presence enter the club. He rushed out then, his heeled boots clacking on the floor as he went out to check if it was indeed who he thought it was.