Tahyeok knows this the moment he steps outside without lenses, the world sharpening around him in ways both literal and cruel. Red eyes draw attention, unwanted attention, bad attention. Guards linger longer, cameras adjust their focus, strangers decide who you are before you open your mouth.
He's learned to live with it.
The underground studio is quiet,still. The air seems suffocating, filled with anticipation. Jin sits in his chair, watching his assistants with a careful, calculated gaze. ''Stop staring.'' Kang jisoo grumbles as his black eyes flick briefly up towards him. Then they return to the circuitry they're rewriting. ''They flagged one of the designs.'' Tahyeok says, ignoring what his best friend had just said, he kept starring unapologetically. Jisoo stills. Just for a mere second. ''Flagged how?'' he grumbles before continuing. ''Soft inquiry. No raid. Not yet atleast.'' he says. Taehyok flexes his hands, grounding himself ''Which means, someone important noticed.'' he sighs and runs a hand through his hair. ''Someone dangerous.'' Jisoo corrects ''you told me, you'd stay low.'' he growls.
''I did stay low.'' Taehyeok snaps, followed by yet another sigh ''I just didn't disappear.''
Jisoo looks up, his expression flat but eyes sharp ''Golds don't like reminders that we exist.'' he grumbled. I raised an eyebrow, my shoulders tensing ''Like you know shit, Ash-eye. Don't try to relate to me.'' He snarled.
Ash-eye is a slur used against black eyes. It suggests that their burnt-out,leftovers, good only after everything else is destroyed.
Taehyoke's shoulders slump down. ''Im sorry — I just..'' he murmured. Jisoo looked onto the ground ''no i get it, i wont understand what its really like being a red-eye'' he said, determined to move past Jin's outburst.
''They like us just fine, when they're stealing our work.'' Jin continued. Jisoo doesn't argue. He never does. Instead he steps closer,lowering his voice.
''If a Gold took interest, thats not curiosity. That's a threat.''
Taehyoek knows. He's always known. That's why he never uses names. Never leaves trails. Never lets anyone get close enough to ruin him. Not even Jisoo, not even Min-Ho, not even fucking Shin Soo-wi. He pushes off the table and reaches for the long, black fur coat hanging nearby. The fur envelopes his body,like a second skin. ''I'll move the operation deeper.'' he says, cold, calculated. Jisoo watches him carefully. ''This isn't about survival anymore,is it?'' he murmurs.
Taehyoke's gaze flickers between jisoo and the wall next to, hesitation. Just long enough that Jisoo already knows the truth without hearing it. ''No'' he grumbles, he crosses his arms over his chest. Jisoo doesn't press. He never does.
At around midnight, Jin is still buried in his work. He's in the quieter section of the studio. Taehyeok pulls up the intercepted report – distorted, incomplete, but enough. A gold authority has overridden initial dismissal. Requested a personal review.
that's new.
The seal flickers briefly before vanishing— too fast to record— but not fast enough to miss. Lee. Just one name. Taehyeok leans back, heart slow and steady in his chest. He's dealt with golds before– enforcers, mouthpieces, faceless judges hiding behind policy.
But this feels different, somehow.
He repeats the name slowly, testing it like a blade against his tongue. Yujin Lee. If he's gold, he must be famous. Jin opens up his computer, the dimly lit computer being the only light in the empty studio. The face pops up everywhere, he looks like he has jerk written all over him.
Tahyeok closes his file and exhales through his teeth. ''So.'' he murmurs to the empty room, red eyes somehow glowing in the dark. ''That's who wants to see me''