What are we? (4)

With a subtle groan and the creaking of his old bed, Jin got up, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Still heavily groaning from fatigue, Jin retrieved the knife from his pillow and secured it on his belt after changing into his work clothes for the day.

A simple, black shirt and a blue jean.

Picking up his knife, handgun from the nightstand, and hunting rifle from the wall, he gathered a bunch of bullets in a special bullet pouch.

Exiting the room, he noticed Thirteen was still wide awake, illuminated mostly by the weak sunlight filtering in and partially by his monitors.

"Morning, Thirteen," Jin managed to utter through a big yawn as he picked up his white coat and began to put it on.

"Morning, Jin. Drink your morning coffee and get ready to start working. I found a good informant," instructed Thirteen, not looking back at Jin, his gaze fixed on the monitors before him, his blue eyes flicking from one screen to another.

"Okay, okay, just give me a minute. I need to clean up a bit more, I need to freshen up," Jin replied. His first goal was to head to the washroom, where he washed his hands and face with ice-cold water, helping him wake up in the morning.

'I'm still tired,' Jin yawned, even after the ice-cold water helped him to start the day.

Using the blue towel from underneath the sink, Jin patted off the water from his face and hands.

"Hurry up, Jin, we've got work to do!" shouted Thirteen, his voice strained but clearer than yesterday.

"Leave me alone, I still need my coffee," whined Jin, but he quickly turned sharper as he gazed directly at Thirteen.

"What is it? Why are you staring?" asked Thirteen, glancing back slightly. He wore a black mask covering most of his face, revealing only his ocean-blue eyes.

"I can smell that filthy cigarette. I asked you to stop; it's such a foul stench," coughed Jin, sensing the smoke lingering in the air as they had yet to ventilate the room.

"Calm down, you damn clean freak," Thirteen said, raising his hands in a sign of resignation.

"Anyways, did you eat today?" asked Jin, his tone suddenly serious as he studied Thirteen a bit closer. Thirteen appeared thinner than ever, and his skin was paler as well.

"I couldn't, but I'm going to… don't worry, Jin, I just wanted to find out a couple of things," reassured Thirteen.

"Okay, but make sure to eat today, or I'll straight up devour those slices before you even know what happened," Jin said before letting out a hearty belly laugh.

"I'm not even surprised by that. You would probably do that," Thirteen remarked, cutting Jin's laughter short.

"I was just kidding, no need to take it so seriously," Jin said, though he noticed Thirteen looking at him with eyes filled with doubt.

"Well, anyways, catch," Thirteen said, throwing a small item to Jin, who easily caught it.

"...Is this?" Jin asked, already dreading the answer..

"Yes, this is the next earpiece that you are going to ruin no matter how much I beg you not to," stated Thirteen matter-of-factly, turning back to the monitors before him.

"... I try not to," Jin said, his voice barely audible, but Thirteen could still discern it, prompting a small smile to appear under his black mask.

"Well, anyways, I uploaded the place where you are going to meet with the informant that I managed to find tonight," Thirteen said, while Jin inserted the earpiece into his ear before opening the holographic map on his watch.

"This is my usual restaurant," Jin remarked aloud, easily recognizing the place displayed on his watch, the very spot where he used to dine.

"Yeah, this is the place the informant chose, probably to ensure there are enough witnesses so you won't shoot him on sight," Thirteen explained, though it was mere speculation on his part. 

"He's cautious, and that's a good thing. But it's even better that he's willing to meet with us," Thirteen remarked, his fingers dancing across the keyboard.

"That's fantastic news," Jin replied, a wide smile spreading across his face.

"Let me guess, you want to have breakfast there?" Thirteen asked, already anticipating the answer.

"It is the most important meal of the day, after all," Jin said, rubbing the bridge of his nose in embarrassment.

"Just make sure to bring them a slice as well," Thirteen reminded Jin as he was already leaving the apartment. Jin didn't carry the hunting rifle this time, only the shocking handgun and the knife.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, there's a pouch with a bunch of ammo over there, and don't forget to wear a fake face and contracts." Thirteen added, pointing to a shelf next to the entrance door.

Jin opened the pouch to find two magazines filled with shock ammo, a weapon that became lethal only in Jin's hands, blending well with his electric Cypher ability.

Alongside the ammo were a terrifyingly detailed fake face and a pair of red-colored contracts. 

Jin stored the pouch of ammo and put on the fake face and contracts with precision, something he had grown accustomed to by now. 

Without saying a word, Jin waved backward as he walked out of the room, leaving the building behind. 

The pain from the wounds inflicted by the bullets during their Genesis break-in mission had faded, despite being worsened by his fight against the C-ranked Cypher.

Though the wounds remained, they no longer posed any real danger to Jin's health, nor caused him pain anymore, a great perk of a Cypher's body; quick regeneration—but not without a cost. 

Their bodies required significantly more nutrients, making sustaining themselves more challenging than for ordinary people. 

This was one reason for Jin's voracious appetite, along with his deep-seated love for pizza. 

'I'm hungry.' Jin thought, his stomach grumbling loudly. 

Descending the stairs, Jin glanced at his watch. It was still early in the morning, 6:20 AM. 

"If I can scrape together some more cash today, I'm treating myself to at least an 8 AN. sleep-in," Jin thought, longing for nothing more than a solid 10 hours of rest. 

After he left the apartment building, he did not even have to open his watch as he knew the way to his favorite restaurant like the back of his hand.

Looking around the streets in the morning, he saw that another couple of pairs of eyes were fixated on him, but he was already used to this.

"They probably know that I'm a Cypher," Jin thought, his reasoning not unfounded given how news spread like wildfire in the tenth district.

It hadn't even been a day since some of them attempted to rob Jin, only to end up as charred corpses.

"Can you hear me?" Thirteen's crystal-clear voice transmitted directly to Jin's ears through the earpiece.

"Yes, I can hear you perfectly. When did you buy this one?" Jin confirmed before inquiring about the earpiece.

"Last month, when I bought the other one. I already suspected that you were going to break it sooner or later, so I just decided to buy one in advance," Thirteen explained, prompting a frown from Jin. 

"You were that sure that I'm going to end up breaking it?" asked Jin, slightly offended.

"Jin… you already broke more than a dozen," said Thirteen, silencing Jin in an instant.

"Anyways, Thirteen, how does the guy that I'm going to meet look?" asked Jin, trying to derail the conversation from his destructive mistakes.

There was silence for a moment from the other side before Jin could swear that he could clearly hear a sigh from Thirteen.

"He is going to be wearing all black and a fedora of the same color. I don't know more than that, but he is probably wearing false contacts and a fake face just like you. Other than that, please be careful," warned Thirteen, his concern evident.

"Don't worry, I'm getting the info, and we are out," said Jin with a confident smile on his face, something that Thirteen couldn't see at the moment, but he still knew because he knew Jin by now.

"Okay, let's just get this over with and find out what the hell is going on," Jin muttered to himself as he approached the rundown restaurant he loved so much.