It was almost a week before Yukwon felt ready to advance again.

 

It wasn’t particularly difficult, but it was nerve-racking, and the killer wasn’t sure he felt entirely comfortable now more things were out in the open. The mark knew his previous plan, every detail, right down to the method execution. That’s why, when Yukwon sent a text to Minhyuk, he was surprised when he got a reply. Or, more specifically, he was surprised the reply stated that the mark was willing to meet Yukwon.

 

Alone.

 

The Cat smiled to himself once he reached the small car garage- abandoned years ago due to insufficient funds- and spotted his mark already there. Minhyuk was leaning against a rusted metal workbench, head lolling back with boredom, and looking for all the world like had a thousand better places to be. Yukwon steeled his countenance, relaxed his gait, and walked in.

 

“You have courage, Mr Killer.” Minhyuk spoke, eyes still focused on the wires running the length of the ceiling and not even bothering to look Yukwon in the eye.

 

“It’s one of my more admirable traits.” Yukwon replied nonchalantly, lifting himself up onto the bench next to his target. The black-haired man smiled, before finally bringing his eyes down to meet The Cat’s.

 

“I’m beginning to see that.” The other man’s voice was so quiet for a moment, hardly a murmur, and Yukwon wondered for a second if he had heard that right. Scoffing internally, he brushed this away. He was a hitman; he could always trust his senses.

 

There was a pause of silence, before Minhyuk pushed himself away from the bench and turned, so that he was standing right in front of the killer. In the back of his mind, Yukwon realised that this felt akin to being cornered, but he disregarded this ridiculous notion.

 

“I’m beginning to wonder if you’ll ever actually kill me.” The arch of a delicate eyebrow, the crossing of arms over a designer-clad chest, the stare that threatened to pin Yukwon with its intensity. The killer smirked.

 

“Hm, don’t provoke me.” It was a joke, a lighthearted threat, but one that normally created fear in anyone it was directed at. Minhyuk, however, just smirked right back.

 

“Why? In case you get angry and stab me where I stand?”

 

The Cat shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Exactly, and then maybe you’ll stop asking about your execution date.”

 

The raven-haired man let out a laugh, light and melodic, that was certainly not something that should have been caused by an assassin.

 

“You know, I am curious, though. Not even your previous plan stated when you were planning on making the hit.” Minhyuk moved closer, just a fraction, but enough to get Yukwon’s brain racing about possible escape routes. The killer raised an eyebrow, half wondering about the apparent fearlessness his mark was displaying, half concerned with the slowly decreasing distance between them. 

 

“And you think I’ll actually tell you something like that? Why?” It wasn’t a dismissal, Yukwon was genuinely curious as to why this mysterious boy was so adamant. Perhaps it was an underlying fear of death, a willingness to be prepared, or perhaps Minhyuk was just a fool.

 

The target shrugged, “Maybe because you trust me now.”

 

Yukwon had to stop himself from balking at the statement.

 

“Where on earth did you get that idea?”

 

Minhyuk laughed again, softly, taking another step closer into Yukwon’s personal space. The killer fought to stand his ground and not go scrabbling back over the workbench.

 

“Think about it. You’re an assassin, a hitman, you should understand these things.” The raven-haired boy smirked. At the absence of an answer from the killer, Minhyuk rolled his eyes.

 

“You contact me, on a phone number where there’s no substantial proof that it belongs to me. By text, too. A text that, with the right technology, is all-too easy to trace.” He explained, cocking a head to the side. “Tell me again that you don’t trust me, and I won’t even try to believe it.”

 

Suddenly, a hand rested on Yukwon’s shoulder, lightly, the touch barely there, and he tensed up. This was physical contact, something Yukwon tended not to condone. It meant intimacy, it meant a relationship slightly more than just passing acquaintances. It indicated that he meant more to someone than Yukwon ever wanted to mean to anyone.

 

And somewhere, deep inside him, there was the smallest flicker of fear.

 

“You’re a hypocrite.” He reasoned back, attempting to extinguish the unwanted flame of terror, that was fanning itself inside his stomach, with an argument. “You agree to meet me at an abandoned building, alone, knowing full well that there’s every possibility I’ll kill you on sight.”

 

A chuckle, short and dangerous, escaped Minhyuk’s lips.

 

“How are you so sure I’m alone?” His fingers hooked around Yukwon’s shoulder, pressing ever-so-slightly into the bone.

 

Yukwon had an answer to this, and matched Minhyuk’s smirk with an equally malicious curve of his lips.

 

“I have my methods”

 

He had watched Minhyuk when he was gathering information for his now-useless plan. He knew the man was confident, or foolish, enough to go everywhere without some form of bodyguard. Seriously, this man was supposedly of great wealth, and his connections to the dark side of the city were obvious. A guy like him could have easily requested a bodyguard, or at the very least, a personal hitman.

 

The black-haired man laughed, and suddenly he was in Yukwon’s space entirely. Minhyuk’s other hand rested against the killer’s chest, and Yukwon tried not to flinch as the target leaned into his ear.

 

“Touché.” The word was drawled, honeyed, dark with what was either malicious intent or an attempt at seduction. Yukwon bit his lip hard to suppress a shiver.

 

Minhyuk pulled back, and a rush of cold air hit the front of Yukwon’s body as the other man’s heat was taken away. He had to stop this idiocy. He had to regain control.

 

He walked forward a pace, hand loosely in the front of the mark’s expensive shirt. The target chuckled as he was pulled forward once again.

 

“Calling it even already?” Yukwon usually saved this voice for the more stubborn of his marks, coating every syllable with sugar and hints to an ulterior motive. This seemed work on Minhyuk, as Yukwon found his lower back colliding hard with the edge of the workbench. He peered up at the target, eyes narrowed and eyebrow raised.

 

Suddenly, his mark’s face turned serious, and it returned to its previous proximity to Yukwon’s ear.

 

“Until we meet again.” Hot breath ghosted over his skin as Minhyuk practically exhaled the words against Yukwon’s neck.

 

The killer was all prepared to shove the invasive man back, when strong fingers fisted themselves in the back of his hair and, without warning, a soft touch was pressed against his jaw.

 

It took The Cat’s anxiety-soaked brain a few seconds to realise he’d just been kissed.

 

The soft laugh that filled Yukwon’s ears was low, relaxed, and as smoky as gunpowder, and when the killer regained his right mind, Minhyuk was gone.

 

 

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Apologies for the shortness, but if I included the next part, this chapter would have been far too long.

 

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