After hours of flying from Japan to Australia and arriving at Melbourne airport, Suga felt like he was going to collapse, aches were felt in every joint of his body, it had been a long time since he had traveled this far. A man who was taller than him, Nakajima Yuki laughed as he saw Suga who was grumbling with a deep frown, the man looked fine, in contrast to Suga who looked like he was going to die from exhaustion.
Throughout the flight, Suga fell asleep, maybe that was why his waist felt a bit sore now.
A few minutes later, as the two of them stood waiting for someone to pick them up, a black shiny car drove by and stopped right in front of them. The windshield slowly rolled down, revealing a man with tired eyes and a permanent poker face.
The man stared at Suga, but he did not say anything, just looking at him with a straight face. Yuki opened the car door, they both went inside. Suga slumped his back against the soft car seat, letting out a long heavy sigh. His head was still throbbing so he massaged his forehead.
"So your habit is still the same." Yuki glanced at him while letting out a chuckle, as if remembering something from the past.
"What?"
"Your headache. From when we were little, you always massaged your forehead aggressively whenever you had a headache. Sometimes your forehead turned red from rubbing it too hard."
Suga clicked his tongue, how many years had he not seen this man? somehow his personality was still the same. Nakajima Yuki, a genius guy who always acted smart, well he was indeed smart, Suga could not deny that, but it pissed him how sharp and observant this man was. Perhaps that was also the reason why he entered IHPS and got promoted as a captain.
He did not expect that Yuki would work at IHPS, as far as he could remember Yuki had never shown any interest in this organization even though his father was also an instructor at IHPS.
They had talked about this before when they were little, and they both said that they did not like this organization created by the elite. He also remembered Yuki saying, 'Better to be unemployed than to be a slave to the elite.' But look at the man now, he became a captain in IHPS. Suga subconsciously laughed.
Yuki, who saw Suga leaning against the car window while laughing softly, tilted his head, he raised an eyebrow, "Why are you laughing all of a sudden? do you see anything interesting on the street?"
"No, it's just kind of funny to hear that you're a captain."
"Aha, right ..." Yuki joined in the laugh "Well, something happened."
Suga was really curious about why Yuki suddenly disappeared without warning, the house he lived in was also empty, he did not even leave a single letter or anything that could make Suga know his whereabouts. However, for now Suga did not have the energy to ask about it, not to mention this conversation might be better if they talk in private.
Leaning his head deeper, Suga took a breath, his eyes accidentally glanced at the mirror in front, for a moment Suga's eyes met the eyes of the driving man. Realizing that the driver occasionally glanced at him with curious eyes, Suga straightened his body. Intending to greet the man, but before he could speak, Yuki opened his mouth first.
"That man's name is Farrukh, he is my assistant."
Farrukh nodded, made eye contact with Suga through the front mirror, Suga also nodded to return his greeting.
After that the man did not speak at all, Suga thought maybe he was someone who was introverted and did not really like to talk. From his indifferent expression and tired looking eyes, Suga was a little surprised how a quiet man like that could stand being Yuki's assistant— someone full of energy and could not stay still. If he had been Yuki's assistant, he might have resigned.
Tilting his head to see the street view, Suga's eyes instead saw the reflection of his face in the car window. His eyes were red and swollen, and his nose was also red.
Today was the first time he cried so embarrassingly in front of Danny. Not expecting that he would get so emotional, he could not hold back his tears. Maybe because he was used to taking care of Danny since he was little. Suga was still hesitant about letting Danny go alone, but remembering that Danny went there to study, Suga was somewhat relieved.
"Here. Take this."
The voice from the man in the front seat drew Suga's attention to him. Farrukh, still looking ahead, one hand reaching behind, holding a cold compress. Immediately Suga realized that the man had been paying attention to his condition. Suga took the compress from his hand, and said thank you.
"I was a bit surprised when I saw you cry, you are usually a stubborn and hot-tempered guy, but apparently you are a crybaby too, huh."
"Shut up." Suga grumbled even though his voice was a bit hoarse, pressing the cold compress to his eyes.
"You don't treat Danny like a brother, you treat him like he's your son."
Hearing Yuki's comment, Suga removed the cold compress from his eyes, he then gave a glare to the man who was smiling casually. "What do you mean? What's the difference between a younger brother and a son anyway? family is still family. And it's also normal for me to feel sad. Danny has been with me since—...."
"You do not need to worry, he's safe with Arkan." Yuki reassured, saying it in a low soothing voice. Suga snorted and put the cold compress back on his eyes.
Their journey was filled with Yuki talking about their childhood, reminiscing about the fun things they did in the past; the time when they both rescued a dog that was abandoned in the middle of the road and they both took the dog to the vet, the moment when they used to hunt insects near the hill, or when they both almost got lost in the woods.
Yuki strangely remembered almost everything that happened in their childhood. Even though he disappeared suddenly as if he had been swallowed by the earth.
"Aha, I thought you had forgotten about me." Suga said that weakly. Yuki, who was talking, paused. He squeezed Suga's shoulder, then said.
"Haha. There's no way I can forget you, I will never forget my childhood in Yokohama."
"You suddenly disappeared without words, like a ghost, so I'm glad you're doing well at IHPS."
"Sorry, I've been really busy over the years."
Suga did not know how much longer their journey would take. Drowsiness made him yawn, so he closed his eyes. Fell asleep, but as time passed very quickly, Suga's eyes opened wide when he heard his name being called several times
"Suga, we have arrived."
Rubbing his blurry eyes, Suga blinked again and again, a familiar brunette haired man immediately filled his vision.
As he came to his senses, his eyes shot open. Suga quickly got out of the car and stood beside Yuki.
The building was so grand and majestic that it left him speechless. Suga was silent for a few moments observing the architectural details. The big 'IHPS' sign in the middle of the large courtyard near the entrance gate was quite intimidating.
"Are you nervous?" Yuki asked, drawing Suga's attention to him.
"Well, a little."
"Come on, you're not a coward, you're someone who beat up thugs in your teens."
Gritting his teeth, he stared at the man wearing an annoyingly relaxed face. "I'm not a coward yeah, I just feel guilty. People enter this organization through tests, meanwhile I easily got here without going through any tests, this feels like cheating."
"Then consider it lucky that you have me as a friend."
The two of them entered the building, people were seen wearing formal suit and uniforms, greeting Yuki with a warm smile. Suga was confused because the atmosphere in this place looked surprisingly normal, different from what he imagined.
The longer they walked in, Suga realized that people were stealing glances at him as if curious, at that attention, Suga realized that his current appearance was a mess. Eyes red and swollen, hair uncombed, and wearing casual clothes. Shit, he should've wear a suit or something.
"The first floor is the office." Yuki explained, "IHPS members live on the third, fourth, and fifth floors."
Well, no wonder the people on the first floor look normal. Apparently this floor was for offices only.
"There is a building behind this building near the field, that's the place where IHPS members train and study."
After Suga's eyes silently scanned the interior design of the first floor, they entered the elevator and stopped on the third floor. Ding— the elevator door opened, Suga's eyes were still amazed by the design of this building, Is this really the infamous den of madmen? This place looks more like a luxury apartment'
However.
Right after he thought that, —BANG— the sound of a loud explosion made Suga flinch in shock. He heard screams and filthy swear words being thrown out.
Yuki, who also heard that, paused for a moment. He then quickened his pace, Suga followed Yuki's steps towards the area with a questioning expression. Once they arrived, his eyes widened as he saw the condition of the room which was extremely in chaos, some of the white walls looked blackened and burnt, furnitures were scattered, two men tried to extinguish the fire that burned the sofa with a fire extinguisher, and there were several men lying unconscious on the floor.
"Fucking maniac! You are out of your mind Marcus, stop building your bombs in this room!"
The sound of grunts and growls drew Suga's attention to a group of men who had gathered at one point, between the crowds, Suga could see a blond man who was being strangled by a man much bigger than him.
The man who was being strangled, apparently his name was Marcus, his face turned blue. The larger man who was on top of Marcus seemed to tighten his grip, making him cough painfully.
"Captain Nakajima?"
One of the men in this room shouted as if in disbelief, hearing that, the big man quickly removed his hands from Marcus' neck.
"Excuse me."
Without any sign, Farrukh suddenly appeared from behind, making Suga flinch a bit astonished by his presence. Farrukh walked through the crowd and swiftly picked up two men who had collapsed on the floor, placing them on his shoulders. He quickly left the room like a ghost, as if he had never been here.
Now that he had seen this madness, Suga's headache was attacking him again, his head was throbbing violently, damn it.
The man, Marcus, was coughing, desperately trying to catch his breath. Yuki stood in the middle of the room, observing the damage done to this room, the pool table was broken, the television screen shattered, and a burnt wooden cupboard.
"Geez, Marcus how many times has this happened?" Yuki inhaled, his facial expression did not look annoyed or angry, more like tired as if this had happened too often. "Now, go to the detention room."
"Captain, please no! .... I beg you, I just got out of there 5 days ago!"
"And you're still building bombs even after being there so many times. You know the rules here, Marcus. Personal weapons are prohibited, that includes self-made weapons."
As if giving up, Marcus stood on his unsteady legs, he walked to the exit with a grim face, "It wasn't even a big explosion." Marcus grumbled in a low voice, but his voice was still audible, causing several men to hurled curses at him.
"That bastard!"
"Captain you must kick that maniac out from this building!"
"That guy is crazy, how many times has he set off a bomb here. You should have killed him Josh."
The big man who had strangled Marcus stood up. As he straightened his wrinkled clothes, the large muscles in his arms flexed. Suga, who was standing behind Yuki, had no idea what to do in an atmosphere like this.
However, for some reason Suga's eyes and that big man's eyes, who apparently named Josh, met. Suga swallowed hard.
Shit. What to do now?
Suga silently prayed that his days would go smoothly at IHPS. He had no desire to die yet.