The next morning, Jeff was waiting in the hotel lobby, arms crossed, eyes sharp.
Rin leaned against a pillar, quietly scrolling through camera feeds from a contact downtown.
Neither had slept.
Jay and Jack strolled in just past 5am hoodies up, casual, but the guilt hung off their shoulders like wet clothes.
Jeff stepped forward immediately. "Where were you?"
Jay blinked. "Out. Walking."
"Walking for three hours?" Jeff asked, voice low but biting. "In a city crawling with possible enemies?"
Jack shrugged. "It was quiet."
"Not the point," Rin said. "You both disappeared. No texts. No heads-up. You could've been followed."
Jay sighed and looked at Jeff directly. "I needed space. We needed to breathe."
Jeff stared at him. Then his voice softened, just barely. "Breathe… or be alone?"
Neither Jay nor Jack answered.
Rin folded his arms, giving Jack a long stare. "Is there something we need to know?"
Jay looked at Jack. Jack looked at Jay.
Then Jay said it.
"I care about him."
Jack added, voice calm but certain, "And I'm not sorry."
Silence.
The lobby suddenly felt too still. Too quiet.
Jeff looked between them, then stepped back. "You're serious."
Jay nodded once. "We didn't plan for this."
"No one ever does," Rin muttered, eyes never leaving Jack.
Jack added, "We're not asking for your approval. Just your silence."
Jeff exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You two have a death wish, you know that?"
Jay smiled faintly. "Probably."
Rin broke the silence next. "Fine."
Jack blinked. "What?"
Rin looked at Jeff, then back at Jack. "We'll keep it between us. But if this gets dangerous, if it puts us in the crossfire.."
"We pull back," Jeff finished. "Understood?"
Jay and Jack both nodded.
Later that day, they split up, two and two.
Rin and Jack checked out the northern part of town, a strip of abandoned seafood markets said to host underground deals.
Jeff and Jay headed into a tech warehouse where Korean shipments were rumored to be repackaged.
Nothing.
No stash.
No documents.
No weapons.
Only silence.
And shadows.
That night, the four regrouped in the hotel's courtyard.
"We might be here a few more days," Jeff said. "We're missing something."
"We're being watched," Rin added. "But no one's moved against us. Yet."
Jay was barely listening. Jack kept glancing toward the side alley.
They needed air.
And something more.
An hour later, Jay and Jack stood at the check-in counter of a different hotel down the road, one much smaller, more anonymous.
No security cameras at the front. No questions asked.
"One night," Jay said, sliding cash across the desk.
The receptionist handed over the key.
They didn't speak as they entered the room, door locking behind them, shoes kicking off, jackets dropped.
Jay looked at Jack. "You sure?"
Jack didn't answer.
He walked forward, took Jay's face in his hands, and kissed him like he hadn't breathed since the last time.
Jay melted into him, hands gripping Jack's waist, pulling him closer.
The room smelled like clean linen and salt air. The curtains billowed slightly from the open balcony. But all either of them saw was each other.
Back at the main hotel…
Rin paced the hallway outside their shared room. "They're not in the lobby."
Jeff frowned. "They're not on the roof."
"You think they snuck off again?"
Jeff didn't answer.
Rin leaned against the wall. "You ever wonder what it feels like?"
Jeff blinked. "What?"
"To want someone that bad. That stupidly."
Jeff leaned beside him. "Yeah."
Rin looked at him. "Ever felt it?"
Jeff didn't respond at first. Then: "Once. Years ago. It ended badly."
Rin nodded. "Same."
Their eyes met in the soft yellow glow of the hallway light. The moment stretched.
Jeff glanced away. "They'll text. Eventually."
Right then, Jay's message came through.
Jay ➤ Jeff:
We're safe. Needed space. Be back before sunrise.
Jeff showed it to Rin.
Rin shrugged. "Let them be."
Jeff nodded. "Yeah."
They didn't go back to their room right away.
They stood in that hallway, quietly talking about old lives, old loyalties, old wounds.
Neither of them noticed how close they had gotten.
Back in the second hotel…
Jay lay flat on the mattress, shirt gone, hair damp from the balcony breeze.
Jack hovered above him, tracing the edge of his jaw with a finger. His eyes were softer now. Vulnerable.
"I used to think wanting someone was a kind of weakness," Jack murmured.
Jay smiled. "And now?"
Jack kissed him, slow and deep. "Now I think it's a fire I can't put out."
Jay flipped him over, straddling him, laughter in his chest. "You sound like you've been reading poetry."
Jack smirked. "Don't ruin the mood."
They kissed again, giggling against each other's lips, until the mood deepened.
Jack's hand slid under Jay's waistband. Jay arched slightly, breath hitching.
Clothes were lost between kisses and touches.
Soft gasps, shaky whispers, lingering hands.
Jay lay on top of him, their skin pressed together, foreheads touching.
"Are we really doing this?" Jay whispered.
Jack looked into his eyes. "We already are."
Jay smiled. "Then don't stop."
And he didn't.
They moved like waves, slow, crashing, rising, falling.
There was no rush. No shame. Only discovery.
They kissed between every touch, every breath, every tremble.
They laughed through the nerves.
Teased through the silence.
Clung through the intensity.
And when it was over, when they finally collapsed into each other, sweaty and breathless and alive, they didn't speak for a while.
Jay rested his head on Jack's chest, listening to his heartbeat.
Jack stroked his hair, fingers lazy, eyes half-closed.
"This doesn't change anything," Jay whispered.
Jack nodded. "No."
Jay looked up. "But it changes everything."
Jack smiled faintly. "Yeah."
They fell asleep that way, arms tangled, bodies warm, the war outside the room forgotten.
Just for one night.