Soul's Requiem (Chapter 16)
“Yeah, it’s also what happened to your brother.”
Yunho’s face stiffened noticeably as he faced forward in his chair, grip tightening on his armrests. “He’s not my brother.” He growled darkly, face stormy.Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed slightly, lips pursed as he glared at the side of Yunho’s face. “You’re a fucking bastard.” He snarled, refusing to turn his gaze away from Yunho’s ridged form. “Junsu is your brother by blood, you can’t change that.” He wanted Yunho to meet his gaze, wanted the other male to know just how much he hated him for doing that to his own flesh and blood.
Yunho looked pale, his eyes flickering towards Jaejoong with a look of dark malice. “Perhaps you shouldn’t speak about things you don’t understand.” He snarled back at Jaejoong’s angry face, his own features a picture of the perfect storm.
“Don’t try to say I’m stupid. I know that your father and mother got a divorce and then your father had the entire family killed, save for Junsu, who he decided to torture into insanity.” Jaejoong shoved the facts in Yunho’s face, clinging desperately to the sparks of angry fire he felt building in his chest. This was what he had been missing, that feeling of actually being alive and feeling anger and pain. Jaejoong felt alive.
“And who was it that told you that story?” Yunho’s face went from colorless to slightly red, his jaw clenching as he met Jaejoong’s fiery gaze.
“Boa told me. She told me how Junsu was kept alive on some stupid idea that it would continue to torture the soul of your dead mother. How could your father be such a bastard? Both of you are sick.” Jaejoong felt like standing up and letting his fists dig into Yunho’s face and stomach. He wanted to scream and kick and throw a tantrum that any five year old would be proud of . But he couldn’t do anything. He could feel the weakness in his leg that kept him from standing from his chair.
Yunho’s face darkened noticeably at the mention of Boa, his body shifting to face Jaejoong. “Is that what she told you?” He snarled, an unsympathetic sneer spreading across his solid features. “Did she fail to mention that my mother was having an affair with on of our gang members? Did she tell you how she tried to kill my father and me? Did Boa remember to mention how my father begged her to come back and be with us, but the bitch just couldn’t leave her affair, which was producing her another child. So she left in the middle of a night, like a cowardly thief. My father searched for her for years and when he found her, do you know what he found?” Yunho’s face was still stiff with anger, but there was something more there now, a sort of hardened sorrow. “He found he wallowing in a brothel, fucking a different man ever night while her own son sat in the corner, watching his disgusting mother. My father had intended to ask my mother to return and stay with him, but she was a mere shadow of the slut that she had been. She was just a hole for men to jerk off in. She was addicted to a variety of drugs and her addiction put her to the point of selling her own son as a prostitute in order to get the money she needed.” Yunho had to take a breath at that point, his eyes fluttering shut as he readjusted his voice to a softer growl. “My father couldn’t stand to see this happening. So after she’d gone home, he had her and her lover killed. He brought Junsu back because he thought he could mend the relationship with his half-son. But Junsu was already losing his mind and my father found himself seeing my mother in Junsu’s face. It hurt him, but he still wanted to bring Junsu into the family. He tried to get Junsu on medication, but he wouldn’t’ take it and he eventually started hearing voices and claiming to see things that weren’t there.” Yunho pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long breath before he turned and held Jaejoong’s gaze.
Jaejoong was shocked, unsure of what he was supposed to believe. Boa wouldn’t have lied to him like that. If she truly loved Yunho, then she would have done anything she could have to defended her future family. So was Yunho lying? Had he made up his story in order to clear his name? Did that story even clear Yunho’s name? After all, Junsu had grown up with such a terrible life and then seen his parents shot right in front of him. What kind of person would do that to a kid and then think that they would be just dandy? “So what, he went crazy and you locked him up in that cell, hoping that you could just forget about him?” Jaejoong snapped, refusing to believe that Yunho could have been innocent the whole affair. He had to be blamed for something.
Yunho stiffened, looking down at Jaejoong with dark eyes. There was something there, hidden beneath his anger. It was something that seemed tired and calling for a rest. It was gone almost as fast as it had arrived. “No one locked Junsu in that cell. He ran down there one day and refused to leave. We either let him stay in the cell, or locked him in his room, where he would scream and wail until we let him out. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but it was by his own desire that we let him stay in the cell.” Yunho’s gaze flickered away from Jaejoong, his voice slightly tighter now with a hint of emotion.
Jaejoong didn’t know what to say. He was trapped by the fact that he couldn’t seem to find anything that Yunho had done. Where was the fault that Jaejoong had seen so clearly just moments before? It was like the hallucinations he’d had during his fevered state. It was like Yunho’s wrongs had been a mere shadow of Jaejoong’s imagination, something that Jaejoong had created in order to hate Yunho.
“Why didn’t you call a doctor?” Jaejoong finally questioned, unable to keep an angry tone to his voice. He was too bewildered to be angry. Yunho was not allowed to be a good guy, not now.
“We can’t have doctors running around and sticking their noses in our business, Jaejoong. We have a trained medical staff on base, but none of them knew how to deal with Junsu’s behavior.” Yunho responded with a slight arch of his eyebrows, as if Jaejoong should have known this already.
“Oh, so just because you don’t want your dirty secrets uncovered, it’s okay for Junsu to go crazy?” Jaejoong latched onto the fault in Yunho, grouping in the darkness to find something that he would smash Yunho with. If he couldn’t physically harm Yunho, then he would do it emotionally.
A muscle in Yunho’s jaw jerked as he clenched his teeth and turned away from Jaejoong, his shoulder tense with the force of his anger. “I’m done talking about this, Jaejoong.” He growled softly, seeming to notice the many curious gazes that were being cast in his direction.
A woman to the left of them was whispering to her friend in a rather conspicuous voice, eyes pinned on Jaejoong and Yunho.
“Those two men over there,” The woman nodded her head towards Jaejoong and Yunho, who were doing their best not to look back at her, “do you think they’re lovers on some wild adventure?” She let out with a sigh full of longing for romance and adventure. Her eyes were dreamy as she looked at Yunho and Jaejoong, smile pulling her lips upwards. “What I wouldn’t give to be that pretty one with the dark hair.”
Jaejoong clenched his jaw and turned his head away from the woman slightly, his anger boiling within his gut at the thought of being Yunho’s lover. There was nothing romantic or loving between the two of them. The only thing that had in common was their hate for each other. How could they build love out of hate?
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They plane flew on for another hour before beginning its decent, the soft shake of the plan alerting the passengers of the flights end.
Questions of location rang out across the cabin as people peered out of windows and look towards the front of the plane, waiting for someone to come and tell them something.
Jaejoong could feel himself beginning to panic, his stomach clenching as he realized that his nightmares were about to be replayed once again. “Yunho,” He gasped softly, reaching out and clutching at the armrest, “isn’t there something you can do? Some way that you can warn your father?” He almost could speak from the force of his panic, his chest and throat feeling constricted to the point of being closed.
Yunho turned dark, guarded eyes on Jaejoong, his entire body tense. “No.” He responded simply, not seeming to grasp that Jaejoong was searching for a form of comfort…anything that would allow him to see a sparkle of hope on the horizon.
“Will they know who took you?” Jaejoong swallowed, trying to find enough saliva in his mouth to sooth his dry throat. What would the Jungs think when Yunho failed to arrive in America? Would they blame the Kims and begin and outright gang war? That seemed the most logical course of action, considering the events that surrounded Yunho’s disappearance.
“I’m pretty sure you already know the answer to that.” Yunho responded, confirming Jaejoong’s concern.
“I don’t know if there will be enough forces left, now that they’ve already had one fight…but we’ve got people all over the world, working for the Jung Organization.” Yunho sighed and sank further into his seat, eyes closing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jaejoong, I want…” He trailed of, brow twitching downward before he sighed and shook his head, “never mind.”
“Good afternoon, ladies and gents!” Kyuhyun’s voiced purred over the intercom, his sickly figure positioned towards the front of the cabin. “We’ll be making a quick stop here to pick up and drop off a few passengers, we do apologize for the trouble.” He flashed a slight smile that only managed to look like a skeleton with skin pulled tight across its features in a sort of grotesque grimace.
“Pick people up?” Jaejoong questioned, eyebrows lifting slightly as he turned to look at Yunho.
“They need someone that will fly the plane to America.” Yunho explained as he turned an icy gaze towards Kyuhyun.
“What’s he doing?” Yunho growled as he saw Kyuhyun position a gas-mask over his mouth and nose.
Jaejoong panicked slightly as he saw mask and Yunho’s reaction to it. Were they going to gas the cabin? He felt his breath hitch as his head snapped around in some futile attempt to search for an escape. He knew they were still thousands of feet in the air, trapped within the belly of a metal beast.
Loud murmurs began to spread across the cabin, as people began to slowly slump in their seats, completely unconscious. No one even had time to panic before they were all out cold, victims to the silent sleeping gas.
Yunho was reaching over to jerk Jaejoong’s shirt up over the smaller male’s mouth, when his hand fell limp and his vision began to swim. He let out a long groan, reaching out and gripping Jaejoong’s wrist before he fell into unconsciousness.
“Yunho!” Jaejoong panicked slightly, pulling in large gulps of air as he began to hyperventilate. “What’s happ…ening…” He trailed off, his words slowing as his entire body became heavy and he slipped into an unwelcome slumber. The last thing he was conscious of was Yunho’s warm fingers gripping his wrist in a secure manner.
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He was being jostled, his arms and legs aching from the rough pressure that was being exerted there. His fuzzy mind wouldn’t allow him to make the connection between the pressure on his arms and legs, telling him that he was being crushed beneath something.
He panicked slightly, opening his mouth wide in a attempt to scream. Nothing happened. A large gust of air exiting his body was the only sign that he had even made an attempt at a noise.
He felt his lungs expand as he drew in a long breath, his mind slowly returning to consciousness. He let his eyes flutter open and was greeted by nothing but darkness, he must have been blindfolded. He could hear murmured voices above him, maybe two or three…possibly four.
“Why didn’t the boss just let us throw him on the curb until he was awake enough to walk in?” Once voice griped, the tone distinctly male. “I mean, why should we have to lug him inside like this?” He seemed to be searching for support on his complaints by the way he paused after each sentence, as if waiting for someone to jump in and agree with him.
He wasn’t let down.
“The boss just wants him nearby so he can talk to the fucker as soon as he wakes up. But while that’s happening…” The second voice trailed off and a few suggestive laughs echoed in the silence. “That pretty one that the boss had us bring in, well he won’t be of much good. Maybe we could all help him wake up while this one’s getting questioned.” There were chuckles of amusement and some grunts of anticipation before the men fell silent again.
“You’re all a bunch of brainless fuckers.” Someone finally snapped, bringing a silence to the remaining chuckles. “The boss told us to bring both of them, so no one will get to fuck that kid’s ass until the boss is through with them.” The voice snarled again, voice full of contempt.
Yunho, having regained most of his sense, became aware that the presser around his wrists and ankles was probably due to the way the men were holding him. That also explained why his back kept brushing against something hard and cold. That’s when it hit Yunho full on that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. The skin of his back was bared to the cold ground he was being dragged against.
“I think I can walk.” He called into the silence that had fallen over the group after the last man had spoken.
The movement stopped and Yunho’s ankles were dropped to the ground. “Hello, Sunshine.” Someone snarled, his putrid breath ghosting across Yunho’s face. It smelled of stale alcohol and smoke; it smelled like decay and tobacco. Yunho flinched back slightly, wrinkling his nose at the man’s breath. He couldn’t see who it was that was speaking to him, but if the breath matched the face, then the man would have to be as ugly as a half eaten animal.
“Whatcha pulling away for? It’s not like I’m gonna hurt that pretty face of yours.” The voice breathed again, this time rough, calloused fingers gripped at Yunho’s jaw. “Just so you know, I like the boy’s I fuck to give me a challenge. Keep that in mind for when the time comes.” There were several dark chuckles as Yunho was jerked to his legs.
He immediately regretted saying that he could walk because it was absolutely not true. The moment his weight came to rest on his cotton-like legs, he tumbled to the ground, no one even making an attempt to catch him. It seemed that while his mind may have woken up, his body was still back in dreamland, trying to cling to the moments of peace that remained in Yunho’s life.
Truthfully, he was feeling fear beyond anything he had ever felt before. It was a tight, constricting fear that seemed to squeeze in closer every time Yunho let out a breath, only making it harder to get enough air when he took his next gulp of air. He was trying to keep himself from hyperventilating, telling himself that he could make it through whatever was shoved at him. He knew what was coming and would cope with it.
“That’s the son of Jung Jin-Baen for you, unable to stand on his own two feet.” Someone sneered as hands came out and wrapped around his back and under his arms in order to heft him off the ground.
Yunho wanted to snap at them for insulting his father, but what good would it do him? Why should he clinging to a sense of honor now? There was noting left for him to worry about but the time when he would die. Oddly enough, he accepted his death much easier than he imagined he would. Maybe it had something to do with the way he felt in control, as if he knew how everything was going to end.
The group half-dragged Yunho for another minute or so before the sound of a door clicking open greeted Yunho’s ears and he was shoved through the doorway into a room that was considerably warmer. He felt chill-bumps lift his skin as the warm air brushed across his nude chest, causing him to shiver slightly.
A rough hand brushed against his face as the blindfold was pulled off and he was left blinking into a dimly lit room.
He glanced around, eyes still squinted as he took in the fuzzy picture of golden walls and hardwood floors. There was a long conference table that spanned the length of the room, three figures sat at the table, all of them clad in richly and with noses lifted to offer the picture of rich snobbery.
All three of the figures were men, one of which was Lee Sungmin. Another was an elderly looking male, his had of thinning hair was completely white and his face was covered in aged wrinkles. His small eyes looked hard and unforgiving, though Yunho thought that he spotted something within those eyes that was akin to the look of greed and power-hunger that he’d seen on so many people before. At the sight of the third person, Yunho felt his stomach clench and anger roll over his body in waves. It was Lee Donghae sitting at that table. He knew that he probably shouldn’t have been surprised, considering that Henney had been the one that recruited Donghae in the first place.
Tearing his gaze away from the three figures, Yunho glanced towards one of the chairs to see Jaejoong sitting there, his eyes wide with unmasked fear and his body trembling slightly. He met Yunho’s gaze and almost seemed as if he wanted to beg Yunho for help. ‘So help me, if he starts begging me, I’ll ask them to kill him now.’ Yunho swore, turning a dark, stern gaze on Jaejoong.
Jaejoong looked away, a tear trekking down his trembling cheek.
“Have a seat.” The elderly man gestured to a chair on the opposite side of the table, next to Jaejoong.
Yunho twisted his mouth slightly as he forced his weak legs to carry him over towards the chair. He fell into a seated position, hardly managing to hold back his grateful sigh. Being seated was much better than being dragged across the ground or walking on legs that felt like wet noodles.
“How are you doing, Yunho?” Mr. Lee lifted his eyebrows as he spoke, his voice a rough gravel, as if his long years had also affected the tenor of his voice. It didn’t seem that he really cared how Yunho was doing, more that he was asking out of some ingrained habit.
“I’ve been better.” Yunho commented coolly as he folded his arms over the table and regarded Mr. Lee with a cold gaze. He would not beg and cower before his captors. He was in control of himself and would show them that he wouldn’t break so easily.
“How is your father?” The man questioned again, mirroring Yunho’s stance by folding his hands over the table.
“I wouldn’t know, since I have no way of getting in contact with him.” Yunho pointed out easily, forcing his manner to remain unaffected by the natural panic that was beginning to slowly nip at his resolve to stay calm.
“How are things back at the base, Donghae?” The man questioned the male sitting to his left.
Donghae’s brow twitched upwards slightly as he regarded the older male, his shoulders shrugging slightly. “There have been a number of deaths on both sides. The official count has yet to be known. According to an e-mail I found, the Jungs are gearing up for a counter attack on the Kims.” Donghae paused and his gaze flickered between Jaejoong and Yunho. “As for the Kims, it looks like they’re focusing on finding Jaejoong, rather than worrying about the Jungs at the moment. It doesn’t seem like something Mr. Kim would do…which leads me to wonder if he’s still in command…” His voice tapered off and he gave Jaejoong a long, meaningful stare.
“Are you saying that my father’s dead?” Jaejoong breathed weakly, eyes large with growing tears. He looked thin and pale, the shirt around his small form was far too big for him, which only caused him to appear even more malnourished.
“Can’t give you a sure answer.” Donghae shrugged his shoulders and relaxed into his chair, seeming totally unbothered by Jaejoong’s tears. “I know for sure that Siwon’s dead.”
Yunho turned his head as he heard Jaejoong let out a slightly shocked gasp. He felt like smacking the smaller male when he saw fresh tears begin to wash down his cheeks. Why was Jaejoong’s solution to everything crying? Crying fixed nothing and got nothing accomplished.
“Why did you do this, Donghae. How could you betray my father like that?” Jaejoong growled in an agonized voice, his fists clenching slightly as he glared across the table at an unaffected Donghae
Donghae’s lips pursed slightly as he sat up in his chair and mirrored Jaejoong’s glare. “Do you even have to ask why?” He snarled darkly as he leaned forward, as if his words would make more of an impact if he closed the distance slightly. “It’s all because of you. You were perfection, you were everything that Mr. Kim loved. You, the bastard child, was the one he chose to love. So what about me? The child that had his wife’s blood as well as his own? He sends me off to boarding school and tells me to behave. He gives me a dull smile and tells me that he doesn’t have a favorite child. All of it’s bullshit!” Donghae growled, slamming his fist down on the table. “He loved that woman who he fucked behind my mother’s back. He loved her and you far more than he ever loved me and my mother. He was a sick, adulterous bastard.”
Jaejoong sat shocked, his eyes open wide and his mouth hanging open slightly. His bewilderment was clear upon his frozen features. “But…how did I not know about this?” He whispered, thinking about the times during his childhood when he would hold that picture of his mother, his father and himself, thinking about how happy everyone looked. How could there have been another child that he didn’t know about? There was even another mother.
“You didn’t know because my own father sent me away after my mother committed suicide. He didn’t want me in his life anymore, nor did he want the memory of his past life to linger with him. He wanted to live happily with his son and new wife.”
“I…” Jaejoong trailed off and shook his head, unable to wrap his mind around the things Donghae was telling him. He remembered always having Donghae around during his youth. When he’d asked his father about Donghae, Mr. Kim had told him that he was simply the orphaned son of an old servant. Jaejoong had accepted that and even thought his father generous when Donghae was sent to Ireland to attend an expensive boarding school. It had all been a lie.
“I was the child that was born correctly. I birth didn’t arise from lies and unbridled lust! I was the one that our father should have loved! But you had everything! You had beauty and talent and you were graceful and you reminded him so much of his lover. You even have the friend that loves you beyond condition. I wanted to take him away from you, wanted to make you taste the feeling of being thrown off and forgotten.” Donghae snarled, eyes nearly red with his rage and unshed tears. He was standing from his chair now, leaning closer to Jaejoong as if he wanted to throttle him from across the able.
“I can’t believe this.” Jaejoong breathed, shaking his head slightly as if this simple action would remove the events of the past few moments from his mind. He didn’t want to know that his mother and father had been unmarried and that he had been conceived because of his father’s affair with another woman. He was a bastard child on top of everything else that was going wrong in his life. But how could Donghae even see love in the way Mr. Kim had treated Jaejoong? He treated Jaejoong almost like he would have treated a stranger.
“What about your name?” He finally breathed, not seeing how Donghae could have the last name Lee if Mr. Kim had been his father.
“I changed it. When I turned eighteen I came back to South Korea and changed my name. Then I came back and demanded that dad let me have a place in the gang. I was a computer genius, so he had no problem letting me take my place as one of his lackeys. But do you know what he told me, Jaejoong? When I came back, he told me that if I tried to get close to you, or gave you any hint about who I was, he would throw me to the curb with nothing but the clothes on my back. He threatened to disown me if I tried to get close to my own brother!” Donghae threw his hands into the air in a show of exasperation, as if the very thought of Mr. Kim made him tired.
“I don’t know what to say, Donghae.” Jaejoong confessed, head shaking slightly as he tried to wrap his mind around the things he had just learned. He, himself, had a half-brother that he’d never known about. His own father had treated his flesh and blood like a total stranger in favor of choosing a bastard son. How was he any different from Yunho now? Both of their lives had been twisted by lust, whether it was the lust for the body or the lust for blood and war. It was ruining everyone.
I believe that you can have this conversation at another time, Donghae.” The elderly man interjected smoothly, ending the conversation between Donghae and Jaejoong. “For the moment, I just wanted to see if Yunho had any questions.” His aged eyes flickered to Yunho, eyebrows lifting slightly.
Yunho regarded Mr. Lee for a long moment, his gaze flickering to Jaejoong briefly before he relaxed into his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “What exactly is going on here?” He questioned, wanting to know the plain and simple reason why he’d been kidnapped along with Jaejoong. He wanted to know why this war had started in the first place and why the real thieves were hiding away in Italy while the Kims and the Jungs tore each other apart.
Mr. Lee gave a slight chuckle, hand resting over his rounded stomach as he regarded Yunho with a long look. “Well that’s very easy to explain, my boy.”
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“What have you got on the computer system?” Changmin asked a pale looking Eunhyuk as he made his way into the kitchen.
“They’re fried. Completely and utterly fried. Donghae released one hell of a virus on the hard drive. The computers won’t even start now.” Eunhyuk reported as he slouched further into his chair and gripped his coffee mug. Surprisingly enough, the large plate of food that usually accompanied Eunhyuk when he was in the kitchen, was missing.
“You doing okay?” Changmin asked as he took a seat at the table, his own body feeling tired and abused from the constant strain he’d been putting it under. He hadn’t slept since they’d gotten back from the Jung Headquarters. He was too worried to sleep, too worried about what was going to happen to Jaejoong and what the Jungs were going to do. It would have been impossible for him to sleep.
“No.” Eunhyuk sighed, shaking his head as he spoke. “I miss Siwon.” His voice constricted around the words, his emotion obvious. “I just can’t seem to grasp that he’s really dead.” He shook his head as he muttered the words towards the table’s surface, his long fingers still gripped around the tepid cup of coffee.
Changmin twiddle his thumbs nervously, unsure of how he was supposed to comfort someone who was grieving. He may not have understood the grief that Eunhyuk was going through, but he did find himself missing the big ape. As much as they had picked at each other, Changmin had never really hated Siwon, nor had he wanted him to die. The thing that was really bothering Changmin was Donghae. How could he have been so blinded? Hadn’t there been even one sign of the boy’s disloyalty? There had to have been something. He couldn’t do anything but blame himself for not catching what Donghae had done. Had he been thinking clearly, Changmin felt sure that he would have seen Donghae’ s true character.
The door to the kitchen swung open and Junsu scuttled into the room nervously. He looked like a completely different person now that his hair had been cut short and cleaned and his beard had been shaved off. His skin, which had looked grey before, was now a soft pink-tan that glowed nicely underneath the fluorescent bulbs in the kitchen. His eyes were still manic and slightly crazed and he had taken to talking to walls in the absence of his friends. But he was getting better. He was able to stay lucid fro longer periods of times, especially after Hankyung had proscribe a medicine that would help him. He was extremely nervous around people and panicked whenever Changmin left the room. He was clingy and needy and was almost akin to a small child in the way he needed Changmin to help him do everything.
“Good morning, Junsu.” Changmin greeted, a smiling creeping across his face as the younger boy spotted him and hurried forward, a small cry escaping his lips. “Changmin.” He muttered as he wrapped his arms around Changmin’s neck and buried his head within the other male’s shoulder. “I thought you left.” He whimpered, strengthening his grip on Changmin.
“Don’t worry, Junsu. I’m not going to leave you.” Changmin assured as he wrapped his arms around the smaller male for a quick hug.
“Hey, do you want to help me make breakfast?” He questioned as he stood and gently detangled himself from Junsu’s bruising grip.
“Mmmhhmm.” Junsu nodded his head vigorously at Changmin’s suggestion, his eyes skidding across the kitchen as he scanned over the tan cabinets. He seemed to be looking for something, but Changmin couldn’t even begin to guess what it was.
“Alright then, lets get started.” Changmin turned apologetic eyes on Eunhyuk, who just shrugged his shoulders and offered a weak smile, his lean form lifting from the chair as he made his way towards the kitchen’s exit. “Can you make sure some of that gets to Hankyung?” He called back, referring to his friend that had been in his hospital wing for a week now, still recovering from his wounds.
Changmin nodded his head and tried to smile at Eunhyuk, but he found his lips unwilling to pull upwards. It was like his muscles didn’t even have the strength for that simple movement.
Changmin had been shocked to learn from Hankyung that he and Siwon had been lovers. It had almost come as a slap in the face, considering all the fights that Donghae and he had gotten into concerning Siwon and his feelings. In the end, it turned out that Siwon had been with Hankyung all along. So where did that leave Hankyung and Changmin? They were nothing but the guys that had been abandoned and betrayed by their lovers. They were the same. They were alone again.
Yunho’s face stiffened noticeably as he faced forward in his chair, grip tightening on his armrests. “He’s not my brother.” He growled darkly, face stormy.Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed slightly, lips pursed as he glared at the side of Yunho’s face. “You’re a fucking bastard.” He snarled, refusing to turn his gaze away from Yunho’s ridged form. “Junsu is your brother by blood, you can’t change that.” He wanted Yunho to meet his gaze, wanted the other male to know just how much he hated him for doing that to his own flesh and blood.
Yunho looked pale, his eyes flickering towards Jaejoong with a look of dark malice. “Perhaps you shouldn’t speak about things you don’t understand.” He snarled back at Jaejoong’s angry face, his own features a picture of the perfect storm.
“Don’t try to say I’m stupid. I know that your father and mother got a divorce and then your father had the entire family killed, save for Junsu, who he decided to torture into insanity.” Jaejoong shoved the facts in Yunho’s face, clinging desperately to the sparks of angry fire he felt building in his chest. This was what he had been missing, that feeling of actually being alive and feeling anger and pain. Jaejoong felt alive.
“And who was it that told you that story?” Yunho’s face went from colorless to slightly red, his jaw clenching as he met Jaejoong’s fiery gaze.
“Boa told me. She told me how Junsu was kept alive on some stupid idea that it would continue to torture the soul of your dead mother. How could your father be such a bastard? Both of you are sick.” Jaejoong felt like standing up and letting his fists dig into Yunho’s face and stomach. He wanted to scream and kick and throw a tantrum that any five year old would be proud of . But he couldn’t do anything. He could feel the weakness in his leg that kept him from standing from his chair.
Yunho’s face darkened noticeably at the mention of Boa, his body shifting to face Jaejoong. “Is that what she told you?” He snarled, an unsympathetic sneer spreading across his solid features. “Did she fail to mention that my mother was having an affair with on of our gang members? Did she tell you how she tried to kill my father and me? Did Boa remember to mention how my father begged her to come back and be with us, but the bitch just couldn’t leave her affair, which was producing her another child. So she left in the middle of a night, like a cowardly thief. My father searched for her for years and when he found her, do you know what he found?” Yunho’s face was still stiff with anger, but there was something more there now, a sort of hardened sorrow. “He found he wallowing in a brothel, fucking a different man ever night while her own son sat in the corner, watching his disgusting mother. My father had intended to ask my mother to return and stay with him, but she was a mere shadow of the slut that she had been. She was just a hole for men to jerk off in. She was addicted to a variety of drugs and her addiction put her to the point of selling her own son as a prostitute in order to get the money she needed.” Yunho had to take a breath at that point, his eyes fluttering shut as he readjusted his voice to a softer growl. “My father couldn’t stand to see this happening. So after she’d gone home, he had her and her lover killed. He brought Junsu back because he thought he could mend the relationship with his half-son. But Junsu was already losing his mind and my father found himself seeing my mother in Junsu’s face. It hurt him, but he still wanted to bring Junsu into the family. He tried to get Junsu on medication, but he wouldn’t’ take it and he eventually started hearing voices and claiming to see things that weren’t there.” Yunho pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long breath before he turned and held Jaejoong’s gaze.
Jaejoong was shocked, unsure of what he was supposed to believe. Boa wouldn’t have lied to him like that. If she truly loved Yunho, then she would have done anything she could have to defended her future family. So was Yunho lying? Had he made up his story in order to clear his name? Did that story even clear Yunho’s name? After all, Junsu had grown up with such a terrible life and then seen his parents shot right in front of him. What kind of person would do that to a kid and then think that they would be just dandy? “So what, he went crazy and you locked him up in that cell, hoping that you could just forget about him?” Jaejoong snapped, refusing to believe that Yunho could have been innocent the whole affair. He had to be blamed for something.
Yunho stiffened, looking down at Jaejoong with dark eyes. There was something there, hidden beneath his anger. It was something that seemed tired and calling for a rest. It was gone almost as fast as it had arrived. “No one locked Junsu in that cell. He ran down there one day and refused to leave. We either let him stay in the cell, or locked him in his room, where he would scream and wail until we let him out. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but it was by his own desire that we let him stay in the cell.” Yunho’s gaze flickered away from Jaejoong, his voice slightly tighter now with a hint of emotion.
Jaejoong didn’t know what to say. He was trapped by the fact that he couldn’t seem to find anything that Yunho had done. Where was the fault that Jaejoong had seen so clearly just moments before? It was like the hallucinations he’d had during his fevered state. It was like Yunho’s wrongs had been a mere shadow of Jaejoong’s imagination, something that Jaejoong had created in order to hate Yunho.
“Why didn’t you call a doctor?” Jaejoong finally questioned, unable to keep an angry tone to his voice. He was too bewildered to be angry. Yunho was not allowed to be a good guy, not now.
“We can’t have doctors running around and sticking their noses in our business, Jaejoong. We have a trained medical staff on base, but none of them knew how to deal with Junsu’s behavior.” Yunho responded with a slight arch of his eyebrows, as if Jaejoong should have known this already.
“Oh, so just because you don’t want your dirty secrets uncovered, it’s okay for Junsu to go crazy?” Jaejoong latched onto the fault in Yunho, grouping in the darkness to find something that he would smash Yunho with. If he couldn’t physically harm Yunho, then he would do it emotionally.
A muscle in Yunho’s jaw jerked as he clenched his teeth and turned away from Jaejoong, his shoulder tense with the force of his anger. “I’m done talking about this, Jaejoong.” He growled softly, seeming to notice the many curious gazes that were being cast in his direction.
A woman to the left of them was whispering to her friend in a rather conspicuous voice, eyes pinned on Jaejoong and Yunho.
“Those two men over there,” The woman nodded her head towards Jaejoong and Yunho, who were doing their best not to look back at her, “do you think they’re lovers on some wild adventure?” She let out with a sigh full of longing for romance and adventure. Her eyes were dreamy as she looked at Yunho and Jaejoong, smile pulling her lips upwards. “What I wouldn’t give to be that pretty one with the dark hair.”
Jaejoong clenched his jaw and turned his head away from the woman slightly, his anger boiling within his gut at the thought of being Yunho’s lover. There was nothing romantic or loving between the two of them. The only thing that had in common was their hate for each other. How could they build love out of hate?
=----------------------------------------------------=
They plane flew on for another hour before beginning its decent, the soft shake of the plan alerting the passengers of the flights end.
Questions of location rang out across the cabin as people peered out of windows and look towards the front of the plane, waiting for someone to come and tell them something.
Jaejoong could feel himself beginning to panic, his stomach clenching as he realized that his nightmares were about to be replayed once again. “Yunho,” He gasped softly, reaching out and clutching at the armrest, “isn’t there something you can do? Some way that you can warn your father?” He almost could speak from the force of his panic, his chest and throat feeling constricted to the point of being closed.
Yunho turned dark, guarded eyes on Jaejoong, his entire body tense. “No.” He responded simply, not seeming to grasp that Jaejoong was searching for a form of comfort…anything that would allow him to see a sparkle of hope on the horizon.
“Will they know who took you?” Jaejoong swallowed, trying to find enough saliva in his mouth to sooth his dry throat. What would the Jungs think when Yunho failed to arrive in America? Would they blame the Kims and begin and outright gang war? That seemed the most logical course of action, considering the events that surrounded Yunho’s disappearance.
“I’m pretty sure you already know the answer to that.” Yunho responded, confirming Jaejoong’s concern.
“I don’t know if there will be enough forces left, now that they’ve already had one fight…but we’ve got people all over the world, working for the Jung Organization.” Yunho sighed and sank further into his seat, eyes closing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jaejoong, I want…” He trailed of, brow twitching downward before he sighed and shook his head, “never mind.”
“Good afternoon, ladies and gents!” Kyuhyun’s voiced purred over the intercom, his sickly figure positioned towards the front of the cabin. “We’ll be making a quick stop here to pick up and drop off a few passengers, we do apologize for the trouble.” He flashed a slight smile that only managed to look like a skeleton with skin pulled tight across its features in a sort of grotesque grimace.
“Pick people up?” Jaejoong questioned, eyebrows lifting slightly as he turned to look at Yunho.
“They need someone that will fly the plane to America.” Yunho explained as he turned an icy gaze towards Kyuhyun.
“What’s he doing?” Yunho growled as he saw Kyuhyun position a gas-mask over his mouth and nose.
Jaejoong panicked slightly as he saw mask and Yunho’s reaction to it. Were they going to gas the cabin? He felt his breath hitch as his head snapped around in some futile attempt to search for an escape. He knew they were still thousands of feet in the air, trapped within the belly of a metal beast.
Loud murmurs began to spread across the cabin, as people began to slowly slump in their seats, completely unconscious. No one even had time to panic before they were all out cold, victims to the silent sleeping gas.
Yunho was reaching over to jerk Jaejoong’s shirt up over the smaller male’s mouth, when his hand fell limp and his vision began to swim. He let out a long groan, reaching out and gripping Jaejoong’s wrist before he fell into unconsciousness.
“Yunho!” Jaejoong panicked slightly, pulling in large gulps of air as he began to hyperventilate. “What’s happ…ening…” He trailed off, his words slowing as his entire body became heavy and he slipped into an unwelcome slumber. The last thing he was conscious of was Yunho’s warm fingers gripping his wrist in a secure manner.
=-----------------------=
He was being jostled, his arms and legs aching from the rough pressure that was being exerted there. His fuzzy mind wouldn’t allow him to make the connection between the pressure on his arms and legs, telling him that he was being crushed beneath something.
He panicked slightly, opening his mouth wide in a attempt to scream. Nothing happened. A large gust of air exiting his body was the only sign that he had even made an attempt at a noise.
He felt his lungs expand as he drew in a long breath, his mind slowly returning to consciousness. He let his eyes flutter open and was greeted by nothing but darkness, he must have been blindfolded. He could hear murmured voices above him, maybe two or three…possibly four.
“Why didn’t the boss just let us throw him on the curb until he was awake enough to walk in?” Once voice griped, the tone distinctly male. “I mean, why should we have to lug him inside like this?” He seemed to be searching for support on his complaints by the way he paused after each sentence, as if waiting for someone to jump in and agree with him.
He wasn’t let down.
“The boss just wants him nearby so he can talk to the fucker as soon as he wakes up. But while that’s happening…” The second voice trailed off and a few suggestive laughs echoed in the silence. “That pretty one that the boss had us bring in, well he won’t be of much good. Maybe we could all help him wake up while this one’s getting questioned.” There were chuckles of amusement and some grunts of anticipation before the men fell silent again.
“You’re all a bunch of brainless fuckers.” Someone finally snapped, bringing a silence to the remaining chuckles. “The boss told us to bring both of them, so no one will get to fuck that kid’s ass until the boss is through with them.” The voice snarled again, voice full of contempt.
Yunho, having regained most of his sense, became aware that the presser around his wrists and ankles was probably due to the way the men were holding him. That also explained why his back kept brushing against something hard and cold. That’s when it hit Yunho full on that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. The skin of his back was bared to the cold ground he was being dragged against.
“I think I can walk.” He called into the silence that had fallen over the group after the last man had spoken.
The movement stopped and Yunho’s ankles were dropped to the ground. “Hello, Sunshine.” Someone snarled, his putrid breath ghosting across Yunho’s face. It smelled of stale alcohol and smoke; it smelled like decay and tobacco. Yunho flinched back slightly, wrinkling his nose at the man’s breath. He couldn’t see who it was that was speaking to him, but if the breath matched the face, then the man would have to be as ugly as a half eaten animal.
“Whatcha pulling away for? It’s not like I’m gonna hurt that pretty face of yours.” The voice breathed again, this time rough, calloused fingers gripped at Yunho’s jaw. “Just so you know, I like the boy’s I fuck to give me a challenge. Keep that in mind for when the time comes.” There were several dark chuckles as Yunho was jerked to his legs.
He immediately regretted saying that he could walk because it was absolutely not true. The moment his weight came to rest on his cotton-like legs, he tumbled to the ground, no one even making an attempt to catch him. It seemed that while his mind may have woken up, his body was still back in dreamland, trying to cling to the moments of peace that remained in Yunho’s life.
Truthfully, he was feeling fear beyond anything he had ever felt before. It was a tight, constricting fear that seemed to squeeze in closer every time Yunho let out a breath, only making it harder to get enough air when he took his next gulp of air. He was trying to keep himself from hyperventilating, telling himself that he could make it through whatever was shoved at him. He knew what was coming and would cope with it.
“That’s the son of Jung Jin-Baen for you, unable to stand on his own two feet.” Someone sneered as hands came out and wrapped around his back and under his arms in order to heft him off the ground.
Yunho wanted to snap at them for insulting his father, but what good would it do him? Why should he clinging to a sense of honor now? There was noting left for him to worry about but the time when he would die. Oddly enough, he accepted his death much easier than he imagined he would. Maybe it had something to do with the way he felt in control, as if he knew how everything was going to end.
The group half-dragged Yunho for another minute or so before the sound of a door clicking open greeted Yunho’s ears and he was shoved through the doorway into a room that was considerably warmer. He felt chill-bumps lift his skin as the warm air brushed across his nude chest, causing him to shiver slightly.
A rough hand brushed against his face as the blindfold was pulled off and he was left blinking into a dimly lit room.
He glanced around, eyes still squinted as he took in the fuzzy picture of golden walls and hardwood floors. There was a long conference table that spanned the length of the room, three figures sat at the table, all of them clad in richly and with noses lifted to offer the picture of rich snobbery.
All three of the figures were men, one of which was Lee Sungmin. Another was an elderly looking male, his had of thinning hair was completely white and his face was covered in aged wrinkles. His small eyes looked hard and unforgiving, though Yunho thought that he spotted something within those eyes that was akin to the look of greed and power-hunger that he’d seen on so many people before. At the sight of the third person, Yunho felt his stomach clench and anger roll over his body in waves. It was Lee Donghae sitting at that table. He knew that he probably shouldn’t have been surprised, considering that Henney had been the one that recruited Donghae in the first place.
Tearing his gaze away from the three figures, Yunho glanced towards one of the chairs to see Jaejoong sitting there, his eyes wide with unmasked fear and his body trembling slightly. He met Yunho’s gaze and almost seemed as if he wanted to beg Yunho for help. ‘So help me, if he starts begging me, I’ll ask them to kill him now.’ Yunho swore, turning a dark, stern gaze on Jaejoong.
Jaejoong looked away, a tear trekking down his trembling cheek.
“Have a seat.” The elderly man gestured to a chair on the opposite side of the table, next to Jaejoong.
Yunho twisted his mouth slightly as he forced his weak legs to carry him over towards the chair. He fell into a seated position, hardly managing to hold back his grateful sigh. Being seated was much better than being dragged across the ground or walking on legs that felt like wet noodles.
“How are you doing, Yunho?” Mr. Lee lifted his eyebrows as he spoke, his voice a rough gravel, as if his long years had also affected the tenor of his voice. It didn’t seem that he really cared how Yunho was doing, more that he was asking out of some ingrained habit.
“I’ve been better.” Yunho commented coolly as he folded his arms over the table and regarded Mr. Lee with a cold gaze. He would not beg and cower before his captors. He was in control of himself and would show them that he wouldn’t break so easily.
“How is your father?” The man questioned again, mirroring Yunho’s stance by folding his hands over the table.
“I wouldn’t know, since I have no way of getting in contact with him.” Yunho pointed out easily, forcing his manner to remain unaffected by the natural panic that was beginning to slowly nip at his resolve to stay calm.
“How are things back at the base, Donghae?” The man questioned the male sitting to his left.
Donghae’s brow twitched upwards slightly as he regarded the older male, his shoulders shrugging slightly. “There have been a number of deaths on both sides. The official count has yet to be known. According to an e-mail I found, the Jungs are gearing up for a counter attack on the Kims.” Donghae paused and his gaze flickered between Jaejoong and Yunho. “As for the Kims, it looks like they’re focusing on finding Jaejoong, rather than worrying about the Jungs at the moment. It doesn’t seem like something Mr. Kim would do…which leads me to wonder if he’s still in command…” His voice tapered off and he gave Jaejoong a long, meaningful stare.
“Are you saying that my father’s dead?” Jaejoong breathed weakly, eyes large with growing tears. He looked thin and pale, the shirt around his small form was far too big for him, which only caused him to appear even more malnourished.
“Can’t give you a sure answer.” Donghae shrugged his shoulders and relaxed into his chair, seeming totally unbothered by Jaejoong’s tears. “I know for sure that Siwon’s dead.”
Yunho turned his head as he heard Jaejoong let out a slightly shocked gasp. He felt like smacking the smaller male when he saw fresh tears begin to wash down his cheeks. Why was Jaejoong’s solution to everything crying? Crying fixed nothing and got nothing accomplished.
“Why did you do this, Donghae. How could you betray my father like that?” Jaejoong growled in an agonized voice, his fists clenching slightly as he glared across the table at an unaffected Donghae
Donghae’s lips pursed slightly as he sat up in his chair and mirrored Jaejoong’s glare. “Do you even have to ask why?” He snarled darkly as he leaned forward, as if his words would make more of an impact if he closed the distance slightly. “It’s all because of you. You were perfection, you were everything that Mr. Kim loved. You, the bastard child, was the one he chose to love. So what about me? The child that had his wife’s blood as well as his own? He sends me off to boarding school and tells me to behave. He gives me a dull smile and tells me that he doesn’t have a favorite child. All of it’s bullshit!” Donghae growled, slamming his fist down on the table. “He loved that woman who he fucked behind my mother’s back. He loved her and you far more than he ever loved me and my mother. He was a sick, adulterous bastard.”
Jaejoong sat shocked, his eyes open wide and his mouth hanging open slightly. His bewilderment was clear upon his frozen features. “But…how did I not know about this?” He whispered, thinking about the times during his childhood when he would hold that picture of his mother, his father and himself, thinking about how happy everyone looked. How could there have been another child that he didn’t know about? There was even another mother.
“You didn’t know because my own father sent me away after my mother committed suicide. He didn’t want me in his life anymore, nor did he want the memory of his past life to linger with him. He wanted to live happily with his son and new wife.”
“I…” Jaejoong trailed off and shook his head, unable to wrap his mind around the things Donghae was telling him. He remembered always having Donghae around during his youth. When he’d asked his father about Donghae, Mr. Kim had told him that he was simply the orphaned son of an old servant. Jaejoong had accepted that and even thought his father generous when Donghae was sent to Ireland to attend an expensive boarding school. It had all been a lie.
“I was the child that was born correctly. I birth didn’t arise from lies and unbridled lust! I was the one that our father should have loved! But you had everything! You had beauty and talent and you were graceful and you reminded him so much of his lover. You even have the friend that loves you beyond condition. I wanted to take him away from you, wanted to make you taste the feeling of being thrown off and forgotten.” Donghae snarled, eyes nearly red with his rage and unshed tears. He was standing from his chair now, leaning closer to Jaejoong as if he wanted to throttle him from across the able.
“I can’t believe this.” Jaejoong breathed, shaking his head slightly as if this simple action would remove the events of the past few moments from his mind. He didn’t want to know that his mother and father had been unmarried and that he had been conceived because of his father’s affair with another woman. He was a bastard child on top of everything else that was going wrong in his life. But how could Donghae even see love in the way Mr. Kim had treated Jaejoong? He treated Jaejoong almost like he would have treated a stranger.
“What about your name?” He finally breathed, not seeing how Donghae could have the last name Lee if Mr. Kim had been his father.
“I changed it. When I turned eighteen I came back to South Korea and changed my name. Then I came back and demanded that dad let me have a place in the gang. I was a computer genius, so he had no problem letting me take my place as one of his lackeys. But do you know what he told me, Jaejoong? When I came back, he told me that if I tried to get close to you, or gave you any hint about who I was, he would throw me to the curb with nothing but the clothes on my back. He threatened to disown me if I tried to get close to my own brother!” Donghae threw his hands into the air in a show of exasperation, as if the very thought of Mr. Kim made him tired.
“I don’t know what to say, Donghae.” Jaejoong confessed, head shaking slightly as he tried to wrap his mind around the things he had just learned. He, himself, had a half-brother that he’d never known about. His own father had treated his flesh and blood like a total stranger in favor of choosing a bastard son. How was he any different from Yunho now? Both of their lives had been twisted by lust, whether it was the lust for the body or the lust for blood and war. It was ruining everyone.
I believe that you can have this conversation at another time, Donghae.” The elderly man interjected smoothly, ending the conversation between Donghae and Jaejoong. “For the moment, I just wanted to see if Yunho had any questions.” His aged eyes flickered to Yunho, eyebrows lifting slightly.
Yunho regarded Mr. Lee for a long moment, his gaze flickering to Jaejoong briefly before he relaxed into his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “What exactly is going on here?” He questioned, wanting to know the plain and simple reason why he’d been kidnapped along with Jaejoong. He wanted to know why this war had started in the first place and why the real thieves were hiding away in Italy while the Kims and the Jungs tore each other apart.
Mr. Lee gave a slight chuckle, hand resting over his rounded stomach as he regarded Yunho with a long look. “Well that’s very easy to explain, my boy.”
=-----------------------------------------------=
“What have you got on the computer system?” Changmin asked a pale looking Eunhyuk as he made his way into the kitchen.
“They’re fried. Completely and utterly fried. Donghae released one hell of a virus on the hard drive. The computers won’t even start now.” Eunhyuk reported as he slouched further into his chair and gripped his coffee mug. Surprisingly enough, the large plate of food that usually accompanied Eunhyuk when he was in the kitchen, was missing.
“You doing okay?” Changmin asked as he took a seat at the table, his own body feeling tired and abused from the constant strain he’d been putting it under. He hadn’t slept since they’d gotten back from the Jung Headquarters. He was too worried to sleep, too worried about what was going to happen to Jaejoong and what the Jungs were going to do. It would have been impossible for him to sleep.
“No.” Eunhyuk sighed, shaking his head as he spoke. “I miss Siwon.” His voice constricted around the words, his emotion obvious. “I just can’t seem to grasp that he’s really dead.” He shook his head as he muttered the words towards the table’s surface, his long fingers still gripped around the tepid cup of coffee.
Changmin twiddle his thumbs nervously, unsure of how he was supposed to comfort someone who was grieving. He may not have understood the grief that Eunhyuk was going through, but he did find himself missing the big ape. As much as they had picked at each other, Changmin had never really hated Siwon, nor had he wanted him to die. The thing that was really bothering Changmin was Donghae. How could he have been so blinded? Hadn’t there been even one sign of the boy’s disloyalty? There had to have been something. He couldn’t do anything but blame himself for not catching what Donghae had done. Had he been thinking clearly, Changmin felt sure that he would have seen Donghae’ s true character.
The door to the kitchen swung open and Junsu scuttled into the room nervously. He looked like a completely different person now that his hair had been cut short and cleaned and his beard had been shaved off. His skin, which had looked grey before, was now a soft pink-tan that glowed nicely underneath the fluorescent bulbs in the kitchen. His eyes were still manic and slightly crazed and he had taken to talking to walls in the absence of his friends. But he was getting better. He was able to stay lucid fro longer periods of times, especially after Hankyung had proscribe a medicine that would help him. He was extremely nervous around people and panicked whenever Changmin left the room. He was clingy and needy and was almost akin to a small child in the way he needed Changmin to help him do everything.
“Good morning, Junsu.” Changmin greeted, a smiling creeping across his face as the younger boy spotted him and hurried forward, a small cry escaping his lips. “Changmin.” He muttered as he wrapped his arms around Changmin’s neck and buried his head within the other male’s shoulder. “I thought you left.” He whimpered, strengthening his grip on Changmin.
“Don’t worry, Junsu. I’m not going to leave you.” Changmin assured as he wrapped his arms around the smaller male for a quick hug.
“Hey, do you want to help me make breakfast?” He questioned as he stood and gently detangled himself from Junsu’s bruising grip.
“Mmmhhmm.” Junsu nodded his head vigorously at Changmin’s suggestion, his eyes skidding across the kitchen as he scanned over the tan cabinets. He seemed to be looking for something, but Changmin couldn’t even begin to guess what it was.
“Alright then, lets get started.” Changmin turned apologetic eyes on Eunhyuk, who just shrugged his shoulders and offered a weak smile, his lean form lifting from the chair as he made his way towards the kitchen’s exit. “Can you make sure some of that gets to Hankyung?” He called back, referring to his friend that had been in his hospital wing for a week now, still recovering from his wounds.
Changmin nodded his head and tried to smile at Eunhyuk, but he found his lips unwilling to pull upwards. It was like his muscles didn’t even have the strength for that simple movement.
Changmin had been shocked to learn from Hankyung that he and Siwon had been lovers. It had almost come as a slap in the face, considering all the fights that Donghae and he had gotten into concerning Siwon and his feelings. In the end, it turned out that Siwon had been with Hankyung all along. So where did that leave Hankyung and Changmin? They were nothing but the guys that had been abandoned and betrayed by their lovers. They were the same. They were alone again.