Instead of throwing Jun off of him, Juto decided to just stay put and see what he can do to ease the situation. “Look, I didn’t mean to-” He started, raising his arms to eye level in a surrendering gesture.

“Where’s my phone?” Jun stopped the shaking for a moment and leaned closer.

“I…” Juto blinked, realizing that he hadn't had it on him for a while. “I think I left it at-”

“Frank’s!” His grip tightened, making his hands tremble. “The fucking nerve of you to assault and abandon me, and for what!? A fucking cancer stick!” He was fuming.

“Maybe if you hadn’t provoked me, this wouldn’t have happened.” Juto said unphased.

“Oh, so it’s MY fault now!?" He raised his voice, shaking Juto some more.

“Jun, no! Don’t hurt him! I asked him to help you out!” Cas, who was watching the whole affair from around the corner, ran over to them and stopped in his tracks when Jun shot him a deathglare.

“Don’t interfere!” He pointed menacingly in his direction.

Cas felt a shiver run down his spine and did an immediate U-turn, almost tripping over his own feet.

“Wait!” Juto shouted, reaching after him as if to pull him back, but all Cas could do was quietly apologize in his mind, refusing to be involved any further. “Don’t leave me alone with him…” Juto’s voice faded as his arm limply dropped to the ground.

“Seems like your first hand experience with Cas’ bad luck worked to my advantage. What do they call it? A blessing in disguise? Hey, I’m talking to you!” Jun grabbed Juto’s jaw and turned to face him. The soldier sighed.

“I have to give it to you. I beat up three grown men in front of your very eyes, and you still have the gall to go against me.”

“Hah, you think I’m going to forgive and forget, just because you decided to step in after pretending like you don't care?”

“A simple ‘thank you’ would be nice, because I could’ve just left you there.”

“So, why didn’t you?”

Juto closed his eyes, calmly intertwined his fingers after resting his hands somewhere above his abdomen, realizing this may be the opportunity to smooth things over. He just needed to choose his words carefully. “Because for one, I can’t stand bullying, and second…” He paused, opening his eyes. “I need you.” His demeanor shifted to soft, almost pleading, which had a visible effect on Jun as he leaned back in surprise, alas very briefly.

“Oh, now you need me!” Jun shook him again. Juto grabbed his wrists to stop him.

“Let’s stick to the original plan. Please, Jun. You’re my only hope.” He kept staring. Jun averted his eyes. It seemed like he was weighing his options as he bit on his lips absent-mindedly.

“Also, will you kindly get off of me? Not that I’d mind you up there under different circumstances…” Juto smiled, gently rubbing his thumbs on the insides of Jun’s wrists. The guerrilla grit his teeth and yanked his hands out of his grip.

“I’m done! With you, with the plan, with everything! I’m calling reinforcements, you’re going to jail!” He took the phone out of his pocket. Juto went pale and instantly reached for it, at the same time rolling over to the side and pulling the guerrilla with him. “The only place I’m going is home!”

Trapping Jun underneath his weight once more, he started to mess with the lock screen. It had a numerical pad to put the password in, so he started to tap the number 1 over and over again until he failed a few times on purpose.

“S-stop! What are you dooooing!?” Jun wailed, reaching out with his free hand, but Juto’s arm was obviously out of reach. The device buzzed and the screen informed them that it’s now locked for eight hours.

“Here.” Juto stood up and nonchalantly threw the phone at the guerrilla.

“You… BASTARD!” Jun scrambled up staring at the screen in disbelief. “I’ll kill you!”

“That’s MY line!” A voice shouted behind them.

They immediately turned around. Dandy stood there with Jun’s rifle pointed at them, his knees shaking, his face swollen. “I’ll kill you both, and dad will help me get away with this!” He laughed awkwardly, his pearly whites looking odd against the bruised face. The laugh caused him to wince from pain. Two of the henchmen regained their consciousness as well, one of them wanting to stand up, but the other pushed him back on the ground, intending to wait this out, lest they get caught in the crossfire.

Juto instinctively shielded Jun, standing in front of him, his arm outstretched. He glanced at the guerrilla over the shoulder. “Did you reload the gun?”

“What?” He blinked at him, snapping out of the fight or flight mode for a moment. “No, I didn’t, why?”

With a silent nod, the soldier confidently stepped toward the aggressor.

“Die, you fucker!” He pulled the trigger, Jun went pale, but all they could hear was a series of empty clicks. “Wha-?” Dandy whined in surprise. He looked at the weapon and smacked it with his palm a couple times, not realizing in his panicked state that the magazine was empty. When he looked up, Juto was already standing face to face. The stern glare he gave him would make any man lose all his color. The snob gulped, feeling weak in the knees.

“You really pulled the trigger on me…” His expression darkened.

“Look, I-” Dandy immediately dropped the rifle and put his hands in the air, taking a step back. “I’m sure we can talk thi-” He couldn’t finish when Juto’s fist hit the liver with the speed of a lightning bolt, making Dandy inhale sharply and collapse yet again. He sprawled on the floor like a frog on ice. The henchmen decided it’s best to just pretend to be still out, and closed their eyes, praying that the duo from hell will leave soon.

“How did you know…?” Jun asked when Juto collected the rifle from the ground.

The man hung it over his shoulder and pulled out the vape, taking a quick puff. Dandy’s bold move really pissed him off. He didn’t want to know what would happen if the rifle was loaded. He heard that his suit’s fabric was thick enough to possibly stop a regular bullet from penetrating the body, however it couldn’t stop the pain of bruising or broken bones. And Juto wasn’t eager to find out, ever.

The vanilla scent filled the air.

“I didn’t tell you, for obvious reasons, but ever since you cut that rope I was hanging from, I could hear the magazine run empty for a couple more clicks.”

“You sly…” Jun couldn’t believe a mere soldier could be that perceptive. “Give me that!” He opened his palm.

“Beg.”

Something snapped in the soldier’s mind. Punching Dandy and smoking didn’t ease his frustration. He leaned back, securing the rifle behind him with cold glare. Maybe he would have progressed in his goal further if he wasn’t so soft towards Jun before. But that was about to change.

“E-excuse me?” It took Jun by surprise, so it was all he could blurt out.

“You heard me.” He took another puff. “On your knees.” He gestured with his head.

Jun glanced over at the unconscious thugs around them and decided not to take any chances. He lowered himself on one, then another knee. He rested his hands on his thighs. It felt like a deja vu, except the scenery has changed.

Jun grit his teeth but caved in with a sigh. “Please.” He mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

“I can’t hear you.”

“I said PLEASE.”

“One more time…” Juto took the rifle off his shoulder and used the muzzle to lift Jun’s chin. “And look me in the eyes.”

Flustered at this bold move, Jun’s cheeks flushed red. Not the book villain thing… he thought, but in that moment he had to agree with the book girlies. As corny as it was, the intensity of the moment was doing things to him. He shut his eyes, clenched his fists and took another deep breath. If the man wants to play this game…

“Please… daddy?” He said in a sultry tone and bit his lip, with bedroom eyes looking up at his captor. “Give it to me~” He moaned.

The man almost choked on his own smoke. “Ok, fine, nevermind, whatever!” Caught off guard, he quickly shoved the rifle in Jun’s hands. The guerrilla couldn’t help but cackle. He stood up and proceeded to replace the cartridge. “Oooh, what’s wrong? You didn’t like that, daddy dearest?” He teased, puckering his lips.

“Please, for the love of… don’t call me that.” Juto rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling his cheeks burning red.

“The fuck was that was that supposed to be, anyway?” He shoved the cartridge, and it clicked in place. “You think you can intimidate me, after what we’ve been through?”

“Eh, that fancy-pants pissed me off…” He sighed. “And I guess I took it out on you.” He hid the vape in his sleeve, refusing to elaborate further.

“You mean punching Dandy wasn’t enough and you still had to take it out on me?”

Juto didn’t want to comment on how Jun did the same to him. “I’m sorry. It's been a day.”

“Mhmm, you can say that again.” Jun nodded and hung the rifle on his shoulder. He thought back at the intimate moment and how it felt. I hope this doesn’t awaken something in me… He shuddered, suddenly remembering that the tip of that barrel was in Dandy’s mouth when Juto was threatening him, and he quickly wiped his chin in disgust.

“What do we do with them?” Juto gestured to the aftermath at their feet.

“Leave them. They’ll come round.” Jun started to walk away in the direction of the staircase.

“You don’t want to tie them up or something?”

“Are you coming or not? We have places to be.” Jun hurried him, to Juto’s surprise.

“You’re not angry at me anymore?” He matched the pace.

“Oh, I’m still angry. I just want to get out of here.”

“And then…?”

“We’ll see.”

Their voices faded as they climbed the steps.

The defeated henchmen, who witnessed everything against their will, couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong with those two.