All Roads Lead Home 2/2

[kojafras]

The next night, Kris insists on cooking dinner again. He tries to bring up the dilemma with Park, but Sehun changes the subject each time, until the man finally gives up.

He's still wearing his ratty old clothes, and so Sehun spends two hours going through his old clothes with Kris until they find a good handful of outfits that fit the man. Sehun does his best to deny that Kris looks good in his oversized concert t-shirt and sweatpants-a makeshift pajama set-but he's lying to himself. Kris looks pretty good in almost anything, he's coming to find.

He still goes to work, sits in his office and goes over numbers, but now he has visitors. Jongin has come into his office every single day since the incident, inquiring about Kris' health. At the beginning, Sehun would give him a brief report before shooing him out, but then Taemin had started tagging along and now Sehun just glares until they leave. Soojung has come in twice, asking if Sehun found his answers, and Sehun had debated on telling her briefly before saying that yes, he had found his answers, but that he wasn't going to tell her. She'd smiled, said she understood, and left him alone. Joonmyun came in once, goaded by Jongin, and Sunyoung merely eyes him critically each time they run into each other.

So, Sehun goes to work only to be bothered about Kris, and then he comes home just to be bothered about Chanyeol. He grows sick of it after the first week, and welcomes change in the form of the town hall meeting.

Usually, he hates these things. They're a waste of time-it's just a bunch of rich businessmen and people who appear to fit in that category, like Sehun, having their way with the city for one day each month. In the end, money always talks the loudest, and Sehun's gotten exactly what he wants more than once by just saying the right words. Lately, though, it's just become meaningless bickering, and Sehun's been sending Taemin in his place. This time, though, he's more than happy to sit through a few hours of arguing if it's not directed at him.

He leaves at the normal time, but instead of heading further out of the city to go to work, he follows the traffic to the inner city. He looks around at the markers that denote turf possession, and absently notes the small differences. It doesn't pertain to him at all, but this is where he started out. It's fun to see how old rivals are faring.

Town Hall is located on neutral territory, and Sehun parks his Mustang (events like these are why he bought the thing) in the parking lot before heading inside.

He realizes his mistake when he steps inside, before he even takes his seat. Because there, sitting in the back, is Park.

Sehun feels stupid. How could he forget? Slowly, he takes his usual seat on the side and is relieved when he sees that their eyes do not follow him. Instead, Park's eyes stay rooted on the floor, and the older man beside him is leaning over, saying things into his ear. Sehun frowns inwardly. Is Park under surveillance? With a loud shout, the meeting begins session, but since Sehun could care less, he lets his attention drift, eyes moving to Park and then somewhere else around the room. Luckily, neither man seems to notice him and Park's eyes never move from the ground.

After the meeting, Sehun's a little taken aback. He was aware that it was bad, but he didn't know that it was this bad. Kris is going to have to act soon if he wants to get Park out before anything happens. Sehun's thinking about all of this as he wanders around the halls, delaying the drive home. He's heading down one of the empty halls when he sees something out of the corner of his eye.

He's not expecting it, and by the time he realizes the attack, it's too late. The man is taller than him, has a hand secure over his mouth, and the other arm wrapped around his waist, practically lifting him off the ground. Sehun struggles, but it's in vain. He can't get out of the hold, and his attacker quickly drags him into a room before letting him go and then locking the door behind them.

Sehun looks around, bewildered. The place he'd been brought to is the bathroom, and his attacker is... Park.

The man turns, back pressed to the door. He gives a weary smile and Sehun hadn't noticed the dark purple bags beneath the man's eyes. "Is he okay?" At Sehun's silence, Park moves forward. "Kris, is he okay?"

Sehun snaps out of his shock, squaring his shoulders. "What? Yeah, he's fine. I've got him back at my place." He narrows his eyes "How did you know I have him?"

Park gives a dry laugh. "I guess, um, I'm not as stupid as everyone thinks I am." He wilts against the door, his shoulders giving a great heave, like the movement of breathing is too much. "I know what's happening, Oh. Don't think that I'm oblivious to it."

Sehun tries to keep a straight face, disguise the mild surprise. "Then why don't you do something about it?"

Park smiles, and it's a sad, broken shell of a smile. It makes Sehun's gut twist uncomfortably. "What can I do? Get rid of them? I can't. If I tried to leave, I wouldn't have anywhere to go, and they'd track me down anyway, probably see me as a threat." He meets Sehun's eyes. "You were smart. You got rid of them all before they could do anything. I didn't know."

Sehun looks down, scuffs his toe against the floor. This is uncomfortable. "It's not your fault."

Park shrugs. "It was inevitable. I'm just upset that I didn't see it coming." It's silence for a beat more, and then he's taking a step forward. "Hey, can you give something to Kris for me?"

Sehun deliberates for a second before he nods. "Yeah, what is-" but he doesn't get to finish, because Park grabs him by the front of his shirt and presses their lips together. The kiss doesn't last long, but Sehun is breathless with surprise when they part.

"Thanks," Park says with a cheeky grin, face still sallow but a little more animated, now. "Take good care of Kris. He's very important to me." And then he leaves, door falling closed behind him.

Sehun takes a moment to collect himself, and then follows, stalking out to his car and angrily starting it, foot pressing much too hard on the gas. Screeches fill the air as he tears out of the parking lot. He drives dangerously, earning honks and shouts, but he reaches home in record time. He throws the door closed and marches upstairs. Kris is sitting on the couch, watching something on the tv when he comes in.

"Hey!" The man greets, tired smile on his face. He probably had a nap while Sehun was gone, and hadn't woken up that long ago, maybe just turned the tv on. "What do you want for dinner?"

"What's between you and Park?" Sehun demands instead of giving an answer. "What kind of relationship did you two have?"

Kris is on his feet in no time at all. "Did you see him?"

"Answer my question first!"

Kris doesn't back down. He comes closer, until their faces are a mere few inches apart. "Sehun, did you see Chanyeol?"

Kris' voice pulls at Sehun's chest, as does the desperate look on his face, and despite himself, Sehun gives in. "Yeah, I saw him today."

Kris is at Sehun in a moment, hand flying to the man's shoulders. "How did he look? Is he okay? Sehun, did he talk to you?"

Sehun looks away from Kris, all previous bravado gone. He clenches his hands into fists and then unfurls them, debating briefly before moving forward and placing a quick peck on Kris' lips. "That's, um, that's what he told me to give you, so." He's aiming for nonchalance, but ends up sounding a little more breathless than he'd like. It's safe to say that he's surprised when Kris places his hands on either side of Sehun's face and leans back in, pressing their lips together again. This time, the kiss is longer, more passionate, and Sehun finds himself melting into it a little bit, hands resting on Kris' back to pull him closer.

When they break apart, neither one can meet the other's eyes. Kris steps back, claps his hands together for lack of anything else to do, and clears his throat. "Alright. So. How about soup for dinner, then? I know you have a few cans in the cupboard." He walks away, busying himself with making dinner, and Sehun wanders over to take his customary seat on the counter.

He watches as Kris, who's practically more at home in Sehun's kitchen than Sehun himself, grabs one of the pots and sets to work. "You're a pretty good kisser."

Kris' shoulders shake with mirth, and he doesn't miss a beat before replying, "You're not so bad yourself. Although," he tilts his head to the side, moving to fill the pot with water, "you're a little bit sloppy. Might want to fix that."

Sehun gasps in outrage and Kris chuckles, turning on the burner and moving to wash the dishes leftover from breakfast and lunch while they wait. Sehun taps his fingers on the counter and sighs. "Well, that's not the only thing Park and I talked about. He seems to be," he frowns, searching for the right word, "well, he's well-aware of what's going on. And he knew where you were."

Kris turns to face him, expression no longer cheery, brows drawn together in thought. "If he knows about everything, then..." his head snaps up so fast that Sehun worries about the man's neck for a moment. "Sehun, do you have a phone I can use?"

Sehun gives a brief nod. "Yeah, just the one in the living room. It's untraceable." Kris nods in thanks and orders Sehun to watch over the soup while he makes a call. Ever obedient, he slides off the counter and stands in front of the burner, watching as the pot slowly comes to a simmer. He doesn’t really know what to do next-does he turn it off? But what if it’s cold by the time Kris comes back?-so he settles for just standing there.

Kris comes back and nudges Sehun out of the way with his hip, pulling two bowls from the cupboard. The reach pulls at his injury, but it’s only a small burn, most of it’s healed, so Sehun doesn’t yell at him.

Kris doesn’t say anything immediately, so Sehun waits. When they’re seated at the table, he watches Kris eat through narrowed eyes, but the man doesn’t react. He can’t stand him. “So, who did you call?”

“I had another worker who was in agreement with me while I was there,” Kris explains, monotonous. “It turns out that he’s still there. So now I’ve got an inside man. I’m going to call him tomorrow, and then we’ll try and figure out a plan.” He meets Sehun’s eyes. “I’m getting Chanyeol out of there.”

Sehun nods. He knows that. Of course Kris hadn’t changed his mind, he supposes he wouldn’t either. (Maybe he had hoped, though, that Kris was a little tired with the plan. The man’s a good cook.) Sehun finishes and heads to bed right after, although he just lies there for most of the night. He comes to a decision at some early hour in the morning, when the light of dawn is just starting to tint the sky, and he tries to get a few hours of shut-eye before he does anything.

//

Kris isn’t awake yet when Sehun leaves, or at least his door is still closed, so Sehun goes without breakfast. He makes the quick trip to work and greets the early-rising stylists before taking the elevator to the top floor. Everyone’s already gathered on the couches, which means less work on his part. Good.

“Oh, you’re here,” Jongin sounds a little surprised. Sehun supposes that it’s fair-lately, he’s been coming in around noon each day. “There’s been a problem.” That’s all Jongin has to offer before shooting a look to someone across the coffee table, so Sehun looks to Joonmyun for further explanation.

The man adjusts his tie nervously. “So, one of your shipments hasn’t come in yet. It’s two days late, and we can’t contact the seller.”

Sehun rolls his eyes. “Get someone else to take care of it. There’s bigger things to worry about.”

Soojung laughs, throwing her hair over her shoulder and leaning a little more onto Sunyoung, whose gaze is on her phone. “Oh? Like what?”

“Like rescuing Park.”

It takes a bit of explaining on Sehun’s part, but after a quick debrief, everyone else is on board with the idea. Soojung and Sunyoung are smiling wickedly, and Sehun can only blame himself-he’s kept them away from action for too long. Joonmyun immediately heads downstairs to look at their resources, and Taemin says something about taking a look at the area before following. Sehun retires to his office and closes the door behind him, turning his chair to look out the window.

Two minutes haven’t even passed when there’s a tentative knock on his door. Sehun, a little drained, calls whoever’s in the hallway inside, and he hears the door fall shut. It’s quiet, and then someone’s sliding onto the desk behind him, resting their hands on his shoulders.

“Hey,” Jongin says, voice soft, “any particular reason we’re going to save someone who’s part of an organization that’s trying to run us off the map? This… wouldn’t have anything to do with a guy, would it? Six foot something, tattoo on his bicep, you’d know him if you saw him.”

Sehun aims a poor jab backwards and is rewarded with laughter. He sighs. “I don’t know. I don’t want him to do this alone, and Park doesn’t seem like that bad of a person? He doesn’t deserve what’s going to happen to him.” He spins around to face his friend. “And, who am I to deny my girls some action?”

Jongin chuckles and flicks Sehun’s nose. “First of all, Sunyoung and Soojung aren’t your girls,” he mocks, trying to imitate Sehun’s slightly nasally voice, “they’d dump you in a second if they didn’t think that you were worth their time. We’re all more than willing to do this with you, I just wanted to make sure that this is what you wanted.”

Sehun nods very seriously, surprising even himself. “Yeah. This is right. We can worry about missed shipments later, after Park is safe.”

Jongin grins-a huge smile, one that shows every single one of his teeth-and pats Sehun’s head. “Oh Sehun, you are a sweetheart.”

Sehun swats the hand away, but Jongin just laughs and taps him on the cheek. Sehun retaliates by mussing the man’s hair, and if things lead to them wrestling on Sehun’s office floor, well, there’s no one to see.

//

He tells Kris when he gets home, and the man pulls him into an embrace. Sehun allows it for a few moments before struggling to be free, but Kris has a strong grip. Sehun is trapped for a good minute. And so, after an hour or so of negotiation in front of the tv, Sehun decides to bring Kris to work the next day.

The man makes little comments here and there, praising Sehun’s work on the keypad in the elevator, a code is needed for each floor, and on the decor. Sehun preens under the attention and isn’t even worried when he walks out with the man to where everyone is already gathered, Joonmyun jotting down notes.

He shouldn’t be worried, anyway. After a quick bout of silence, Kris joins them and they hit it off. He trades stories with Soojung and Sunyoung, explains the layout of the Park building in detail to Joonmyun who makes notes so that he and Taemin can come up with a 3D model, and he eats lunch with Jongin. It’s so bad that Sehun has to practically drag him home.

Kris asks about Sehun’s team while he makes dinner, and Sehun entertains him, in turn asking questions about Park. Kris answers each question carefully, and it makes Sehun a little upset, but when Kris gives him a plate of steak he’s easily forgiven.

The week progresses much the same, with Kris more or less leading the planning and Sehun approving each decision. It takes a little while, but finally they have a solid plan and a day to act on it. Kris has insisted on going in to get Chanyeol, since he knows the layout of the place, and Sehun okayed it with the condition that he have Taemin with him the whole time, and Soojung-and Sunyoung, who has insisted on sticking with Soojung-go ahead. He and Jongin are going to wait a little ways away, back-up on call and available at the press of a button. They’ll get there just as operations are shutting down, and get Park as he’s leaving. There’s problems with the plan, of course, but Soojung insists she’s happy with it-it’s no fun if there aren’t risks. And so, with little else Sehun can do to make the plan safer for his team, they finalize it. It’s going to happen three days from now.

Sehun manages to convince Kris to eat out, and they snag food at a chicken place before heading home. Sehun manages to convince Kris to get fried chicken, and the pleasurable feeling given by fried foods warms Sehun’s heart. When they get home, it’s well near midnight, but they watch tv on the couch for a bit before heading to bed.

Sehun can’t sleep. It’s not even the usual nothingness he feels late at night, closing his eyes until he finally drifts off, instead there’s a nervous thrum beneath his skin and he feels restless. After an hour of turning this way and that, he gives up and gets out of bed, quietly padding to the closed bedroom door. He gives the wood two quick knocks before he can doubt himself and opens it after hearing a grunt on the other side.

Kris is rubbing his eyes, leaning back on his elbow. “What’s wrong?”

Sehun shrugs, closing the door behind him and heading over to the bed. “Nothing. I can’t sleep.” He eyes the bed, and after a beat Kris lets out a breath, patting the space next to him. Sehun slides in, pulling the covers over himself and resting his head on the pillow. It’s nicer than his, he’ll have to look into that. “Maybe… I’m a little worried.”

In the dark, Kris smiles. “Don’t be. What kind of a leader doubts his own plan?”

“A bad one,” Sehun murmurs, but Kris hears and slings an arm around the slighter man, tsking and pulling him closer to the middle of the bed so that their knees knock together. Sehun doesn't resist, just closes his eyes and relaxes into the hold. He enjoys the silence and the warmth radiating off of Kris for a little bit, and then he opens his eyes, looking up to stare at Kris' face. He blinks when he sees that Kris is staring right back at him. Slowly, giving Kris time to stop him, Sehun reaches up and draws the tips of his fingers along Kris' jaw. "When we kissed," he whispers, "did you mean it?"

Kris nods, placing a hand over Sehun's. "Chanyeol is-he's my best friend, and I love him. And sometimes, we were more than friends. But we were never strictly together, if that's what you wanted to know. When Chanyeol kissed you, I think he was trying to tell me that, if I wanted you, it was okay." He slides his hand up Sehun's back, beneath his shirt. "And I do want you."

That's all it takes. All the nervous energy that Sehun didn't even know he was harboring has him surging forward, pressing his lips against Kris'. He moans when the man responds, fingers pressing into his spine while others come up to cup his chin. It gets heated quickly, and Sehun knows Kris is right, that he's a sloppy kisser, but he really can't help it. He just wants so much, and Kris lets him take, makes it easier for Sehun to deepen the kiss.

Pretty soon, they're both tearing off their clothes, and Sehun moves so that he's straddling Kris's broad stomach. His fingers roam once Kris' shirt is gone, and Sehun delights in running his fingers across the lightly defined skin, skimming over the scab leftover from the wound. He reaches lower, until his hand is hovering over Kris' clothed dick, and when he lightly presses down, Kris gives a low moan.

Sehun breaks away. "Are we doing this?" He asks, voice a little breathless. Kris nods and hungrily resumes kissing Sehun, moving his hips so that Sehun can pull his underwear down and off. With that done, Sehun slowly begins to fist Kris' length, lips pulling up in a smirk as whimpers fall from the man's mouth. He rubs his thumb over the tip and receives a high-pitched moan that tapers off into a whine. Sehun grins. Cute.

Sehun alternates between hard, fast movements and slow, small tugs on Kris' hard length, until the man groans and slaps his hand away. "Stop teasing," he says, voice not nearly as angry as it should be.

Sehun nods and moves his hand to Kris' inner thigh, keeping it there as he leans over and opens the bedside table drawer, pulling out a bottle of lube and a condom. Sehun is all about convenience-if someone stays at his house and wants to go at it, well then, they need only look around and they'll find everything they need. It's a good policy.

He squeezes a small amount of lube into his fingers, and when he looks up, Kris is supporting himself on his elbows, pupils blown. A delicious shiver runs down Sehun's spine and he gives Kris' thigh an encouraging squeeze before pushing the man's legs up and apart, kneeling between. He eases one finger into Kris and the man moans, throwing his head back. Sehun gets the urge to lick a stripe up his neck, but instead stays focused on the task at hand. When he pushes the second finger in, Kris keens low in his throat as Sehun works him open, alternating between scissoring his fingers and thrusting them in and out. When he adds a third, Kris' arms give out and he falls back onto the bed. Sehun leans up and kisses him, grinning when Kris kisses him back enthusiastically.

Sehun pulls his fingers free-pecking Kris on the cheek when the man whines-and rips open the condom packet, pulling it on. He positions himself and lays a hand on Kris' waist to steady himself.

"Hurry up," Kris commands, voice strung out and a little hoarse. He sounds absolutely wrecked, and Sehun loves it.

He pushes inside with a thrust and they both moan. Kris' hands fly to his back and stay there, pressing into the skin as Sehun settles into a steady pace. He moves Kris' thighs further apart and leans over, placing his hands near the man's shoulders as he continues pushing in and pulling out, grunting each time Kris rolls his hips to meet his movements. Kris is already worked up from earlier, and it doesn't take long until Sehun is breathing hard, movements growing erratic as he continues to slam into Kris. The sound of flesh meeting flesh fills the room and Sehun leans down, lips pressing at Kris' and earning a few sloppy kisses as the man beneath devolves into moans, fingernails digging into Sehun's back.

Kris cries out when he comes, head thrown back and breathing hard as he comes down from his high. Sehun grimaces when Kris' muscles clench around his length and he comes not long after that, riding out his orgasm with languid, slow thrusts.

When his breathing calms down a bit, Sehun looks down and sees Kris with his eyes still closed, skin flushed and tiny beads of sweat running down his skin. Sehun gives in and leans down, lightly nipping and kissing the skin, leaving marks that will last for a few days. He leans back when Kris begins to push at his shoulders and admires his handiwork for a moment before pulling out.

Sehun gives himself a moment before standing, slipping off the condom and tying a neat knot, gathering the pieces of the wrapper still on the bed and throwing them away as well. He grabs a few tissues from the bedside table and cleans up Kris' cum from his stomach, and tries to get at the excess lube, but Kris lets out a high-pitched noise and kicks him away. Sehun throws the tissues into the trash and settles back onto the bed, lying back beside Kris, facing the man. Kris turns so that their knees are lightly brushing.

"Any complaints?" Sehun asks, trying not to sound too pleased with himself.

"Yes," Kris grunts, voice scratchy. "You're a goddamn tease," he complains, kicking Sehun's shin lightly.

There's a few moments of silence, and Sehun wonders if the man has fallen asleep. He reaches up and tentatively works his fingers through Kris' sweat-dampened hair, smiling when Kris leans into the touch. "Was it better than," he swallows, fingers stilling, "was it better than him?"

Kris' eyes fly open and he gives a tired sigh. "Sehun," he says, voice small. Sehun realizes that he's trying to let him down nicely, and he snatches his hand back. "Hey." Kris places his fingers under Sehun's chin, pushing up so that he can meet his eyes. "I love Chanyeol, and I always will," he taps Sehun's chin lightly when the man tries to look away, "but, that doesn't mean that I can't care about you as well."

Sehun can't help the smile that pulls at his lips, or the grin that lights up his face when Kris leans in and gives his lips a chaste peck. He moves closer, throwing an arm around Kris' bare waist. Kris moves his hand to Sehun's hair and begins combing his fingers lightly through the strands, and that's how Sehun falls asleep.

//

They lay in bed until the morning is over with, and the only reason that Sehun moves is because Kris makes him, kicking him out of bed when he whines and tries to hold Kris down. They take a quick shower together and dress lightly, in just boxers, and Sehun merely smirks when Kris catches sight of his neck in a mirror and shoots him a glare.

Bacon and eggs are for breakfast, and Sehun adds some toast, making sure to lightly touch Kris each time he brushes past. They eat in relative silence, tangling their legs together beneath the table, and then decide what to do for the rest of the day.

It's too late to go into work, so Sehun may as well take the rest of the day off. Kris declines his offer of lying on the couch all day and watching tv, says he wants to get outside. His side doesn't bother him anymore, and he wants to get a little bit of exercise.

Sehun cocks a brow and asks Kris if the exercise last night wasn't enough for him, and earns a light punch to the gut. He watches Kris dress from the living room, and wishes the man well as he heads outside, wearing one of Sehun's favorite jackets-he'll let it slide, just this once.

Sehun entertains himself with reality tv, leg hanging off the edge of the couch as he texts Jongin. Apparently he's not the only one who had decided not to go into work today, but Jongin's still in bed. When Sehun sends him a grumbly text about it, Jongin responds with multiple selfies of himself and a shirtless Taemin. The texts taper off around an hour later, and Sehun assumes that Jongin has fallen back asleep.

Nothing interesting happens until a little after noon as the sky begins to darken. Then the phone rings.

It shocks Sehun enough to have him up and off the couch in record time, standing in front of the device with an odd look on his face. Sure, it's possible to call the phone, but no one has the number. It's written on the side of the phone in sharpie, but that's just because Sehun can't even remember the number. He doesn't think that even Jongin has the number.

He picks up after the fourth ring and presses the speaker to his ear. "Who is this?"

"Kris?"

Sehun frowns. "No."

"But-" The man on the other side sounds confused, worried, and his voice is breathless. "He gave me this number, if he's not here, how am I supposed to reach him? I have to tell him that-something's happening, he has to know-how am I going to tell him-"

Sehun cuts the man off. "Kris is here, just not right now." After a beat, he frowns, and feeling very silly, asks, "Can I take a message for him?"

"I shouldn't..." the man sounds far away now, and Sehun hears a quick intake of breath. "Look , you have to find him as soon as you can, okay? Chanyeol is in trouble-they changed the plan. It's happening tonight, in the harbor. They've got him right now, there's no time-" he breaks off with a choked gasp. "Tell Kris."

The line goes dead.

Sehun slams the phone back onto the receiver and sprints for his bedroom, grabbing a pair of jeans and a shirt and pulling them on, sending other pairs of clothes across the room as he does so. He yanks on a pair of shoes and grabs his set of keys, slamming the doors as he makes for the Hyundai. He tears out of the garage and down the street, eyes scanning the streets for Kris. The man really shouldn't be that hard to find, but Sehun can't find him anywhere.

As time goes on, and it gets darker, Sehun's heart jumps into his throat. What if someone else had found Kris before him, and he's with Chanyeol right now? What if Sehun doesn't get to either of them in time? He angrily blinks away the burning sensation in his eyes and takes a particularly sharp turn at a corner. It's stupid but he's never been this worried, not even when one of his workers had disappeared and Taemin had found out he was linked to the police. Sehun had searched for hours, and finally cornered the man in an alley. He was taken care of shortly after.

But Sehun is worried, much too worried, and it's not until after the sun has set that he heads home, to switch cars and call for backup.

He screeches to a stop in front of his house. There's a figure sitting on the front steps, elbows resting on his knees and head lowered, and Sehun barely takes the time to put the car in park before throwing open the door and racing up the stairs.

Kris grins when he sees him. "Hey! I didn't realize till I was halfway across town that I didn't know the password to get back in, and you weren't here when I got back-"

"Chanyeol is in trouble," Sehun interrupts, tone urgent, not even aware of the slip. Kris is, though, and his eyes widen. He stands too fast and drags Sehun back to the car, throwing the lanky man into the passenger seat and taking the drivers' seat himself.

"Where?"

"Harbour," Sehun answers, voice monotonous. "That's what your man said."

As Kris slams onto the gas, pulling onto the road, Sehun takes out his phone with slightly shaking hands. He calls the first contact on his list and holds the device up to his ear. It answers on the second ring.

"Sehun," Jongin sounds a little groggy. "What's up?"

"Something's wrong," Sehun says, voice just a little too low. "Chanyeol's been taken to the harbour. We're on our way there now."

"Okay," Jongin's voice is more alert, and Sehun hears him rustling through drawers in the background. "Jesus, okay. I'll call everyone. We'll be there soon."

"Jongin, if you get there and something's happened to me, I want you to quit." There's only silence. "Promise me."

"Sehun, I... no." The line goes dead.

Kris skids a little on the road when he turns. They're almost at the harbour. "What was that about?"

"Jongin doesn't belong here," Sehun says, voice solemn. "He needs to go back to school, actually become someone."

Kris' eyes are glued to the road as he speaks. "Jongin belongs just as much as the rest of your guys. You can't tell him what to be." Sehun nods, but doesn't say anything else. "Hey, what do we do when we get there?"

Sehun shrugs. "I really don't know."

Kris parks the car right before they reach the wooden docks, and then they're off, running down the wharf, eyes searching the area for anyone. But it's dark, and they can only see so much, and Sehun's pretty sure they're calling more attention to themselves, running across the harbour like this.

Kris, a little in front of Sehun, rounds a corner and skids to a stop. Sehun sees why as he reaches the corner.

On this particular stretch, there are five men standing crowded together, and another a little ways off, just a few mere feet from a length drop into icy, late-autumn waters. Sehun takes a second to read the situation, sees the gun in the man's hand, Chanyeol's hands in the air, and he marches closer.

"This is my fucking territory."

The men turn, and he can't see their faces. All of them have cloth pulled over to hide their faces-the decision to do this had clearly been pre-meditated. Behind them, Chanyeol sways a little on his feet. He doesn't look well. Sehun squares his shoulders and glares at the men in front of him. He has no respect for people who can't take care of their own, and these men are exactly that. They're old, bigoted, and Sehun can take them. He's been in worse situations.

"Well, isn't this perfect?" One of the men gathered pulls down the back cloth in front of his face and reveals the disgusting grin that had been hidden behind it. "Two for one. And Kris! How nice of you to join us, we were starting to wonder when you were coming back."

Out of the corner, Sehun sees Kris move. The man's eyes are locked on Chanyeol, and Sehun realizes that he's trying to think of a plan. Sehun grits his teeth. There's no time, and as the men in front of him move, he notices the slight bulges on their hips. They're all armed, and he has nothing. The best thing he can do is stall until the others get here. They wouldn't have been as hasty.

"Hey!" Chanyeol calls out, arms still raised. "I thought this was between us!"

The men laugh, and another speaks out. "Kid, we'd be stupid to let the only other person who has control over the southern block go free. But then, you wouldn't know that." He spits on the ground. "Goddamn softie."

Sehun feels it at the same time he hears the shot, but it takes a second to process. He was just shot at, and it was an intended miss. The older men chuckle, and Sehun sees red. He can't believe the impudence. He'll have Taemin shoot each one down, he won't even look twice as Soojung goes trigger-happy, and he's not going to hold back.

Kris makes a small noise of alarm that only Sehun hears, and he tries to focus back on the task at hand. His eyes widen as he witnesses Chanyeol stride forward and punch one of the men, sending his head back. He's quickly held back by two others, but the group is obviously shocked. So is Sehun.

"You were born under a goddamn unlucky star, kid," one of the men snarls as the last of the five goes to the man Chanyeol had hit.

"This is about your grudge against me," Chanyeol snaps, and he falls forward as the men holding him back let go suddenly. He coughs and pulls himself to his feet.

It's hard to watch. Sehun hears the sound of tires screeching. They only have to hold this up for a little longer.

With determination, Chanyeol reaches forwards and grabs what little he can of the gun that the man he'd punched is holding, guiding the muzzle to his chest. "Before you kill anyone else," he grounds out, "you'll have to get rid of me."

Sehun doesn't even see what happens next. One second, the men are laughing, and then the next, a gunshot is filling the air. Chanyeol's body hits the wharf with a sickening thud, and everyone gathered is staring at the gun that fired, in the hand of the man with the awful smile.

The sound of cars gets closer and the men call out in alarm, scrambling to leave. Sehun doesn't move. From where he's standing, he can see Chanyeol's lips move and can just make out what he's saying.

"Goddamn cowards."

Kris runs past Sehun and collapses by Chanyeol's side. He pulls the man onto his lap and his body shakes. Kris's sobs pull Sehun back, and the man slowly takes out his phone, dialing for an ambulance.

That's how Jongin finds him, phone to his ear but not answering any questions from the woman on the other line. Jongin shouts something at him, then rips the phone out of his hold, yelling directions to the woman. Sehun doesn't hear or see him-he can't tear his eyes away from the bloody body on the ground, or the heartbroken man who's holding the corpse to his chest.

//

"Hey, you wanted an update?"

Sehun looks up from his work to Sunyoung, who's lounging on the edge of his desk. He hadn't even heard the woman come in. He merely nods and reaches for the paper she's holding.

She gives it up willingly, and recites the paper from memory as he reads. "Minor concussion, three broken ribs, and almost three thousand dollars in hospital bills." She frowns, tapping a finger against her chin. "Not that I'm not glad you let Soojung go at it-it was pretty therapeutic for her, she felt great afterwards-but isn't that a little brutal? The guy only backed out on picking up a shipment."

Sehun shoots her a look.

"Okay, he didn't tell you until after you'd heard from the carrier, but you've done less damage to spies and they're," she makes a face, "well, spies."

"I respect spies. They're good at what they do. I only go after them because, sadly, they'd picked the wrong team." Sehun places the paper on his desk, voice matter-of-fact as he continues, "I don't tolerate cowardice. Now, make sure that his insurance doesn't cover him."

Sunyoung rolls her eyes, hopping off the desk. "Alright, but you have to talk to Joonmyun. He yelled at Soojung because he didn't believe the attack was an order."

Sehun looks down and shrugs. "Well, that's her fault. Maybe she should pursue more wholesome activities."

"Oh, make my girl happy or I'm not doing your dirty work." Sunyoung smiles angelically when Sehun acquiesces, and heads for the door. "Hey, you should head home soon. It's getting late." And then she leaves, closing the door behind her.

Sehun looks out the window. She's right-the sun has started to set. Slowly, he packs up and heads out, passing Taemin and Jongin napping on the couches as he leaves, but he leaves them be. They'd just had to deal with another dealer in the territory-they deserve a break.

The elevator takes him down to the shop, which has already closed, and he heads to the garage. The Hyundai is almost out of gas, so he stops on the way home. When he opens the garage, he parks beside the two cars already inside-his flashy Mustang and a Kia sedan-and heads upstairs.

There's someone sitting at the dinner table, sipping at a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. Sehun throws his arms over the man's shoulders and sags against his back. "Anything interesting?"

Chanyeol turns his head and gives his cheek a quick peck before answering. “Take a look at this.” He fold the paper, holding it up a little. Sehun narrows his eyes to make out the headline, Park Corp. Declares Bankruptcy. Sehun gives the man’s side a quick squeeze when he’s done and a satisfied Chanyeol goes to set the newspaper back on the table, but flinches halfway down and grits his teeth as he slows down even more, dropping the paper on the table and setting his hand gently in his lap.

Sehun bites his lip and ghosts his fingers up and down the man’s arm, feeling the indentations left over from the incident that will no doubt become scars. Chanyeol silently pulls him onto his lap and Sehun allows it, trying to balance his weight as he loses himself in thought.

The ambulance had arrived quickly, and it took everyone to convince Kris to let go of Chanyeol, let the paramedics take him. And then it had taken a team effort between Joonmyun and Taemin to heed Kris and Sehun home instead of allowing them to follow the ambulance to the hospital. Neither man had slept that night-Kris paced up and down the house while Sehun lied on the couch, heart racing. The next day, they had gone to the hospital as soon as it opened for visitors and found Chanyeol in the E.R., waiting to be admitted. The man was still unconscious and covered in his own blood, but far from dead.

As the doctor had explained it, the blood was nothing to worry about. It had all come from Chanyeol's shoulder, and due to the fact that he had been shot at point-blank range, there was a splatter effect. Also, Chanyeol's arm had been pretty much busted, so they'd had to go in and replace bones with metal. It would be a while before he could use it fully, but other that Chanyeol was right as rain (discounting a mild concussion from the impact with the wharf and the fact that he was malnourished).

Kris had cried. Sehun hadn't, but maybe he spent a little more time than necessary in the man's hospital room the next few days, fingers resting on his pulse point and head lying on the mattress. He'd developed a crick in his neck, but it was easily forgotten.

When Chanyeol woke, he was a little confused, but aware and more than willing to move in with Sehun (he hadn't even had to ask, Chanyeol had pledged to become his maid to pay off hospital bills, though the man had yet to clean a single thing). He explained during the car ride back that he'd realized his mistake when he felt the metal pressed against his chest, and had tried to backtrack, move out of the way, but then it had been too late. He was pleased to hear that the bullet had lodged in his shoulder instead of anything vital, but annoyed with the sling and cast. It had been maddening, trying to make Chanyeol keep the damn thing on. But now he doesn't have to wear it anymore, and it's been a few months since the incident and nothing as interesting has happened since, but Sehun's fine with that.

Sehun slings his arms around Chanyeol's neck and relaxes. "You know what is great? Watching something I hate fail." Chanyeol's staring at the newspaper. "Also, you should give me more money to play with. My shares are doing great and I'm bored."

Sehun sighs and presses their foreheads together. "If you lose any of my money, you're dead to me, Park."

Chanyeol leans down and kisses the scowl off of his face. "Wouldn't dream of it." Leaning around Sehun, he turns the page and continues where he left off with the crossword, Sehun still snug on his lap.

After a few moments, Sehun grows bored. "Where's Kris?"

Chanyeol hums. "Still in bed. He hasn't even gotten up for meals. I think we'll have to order out tonight," he reports sadly.

Sehun slides off the man, slipping under his arm, and heads towards the bedroom to investigate. Chanyeol stands and follows.

The door's closed, but Sehun eases it open. The bed is a mess, blankets strewn everywhere, but in the center lies a large lump. Sehun raps his knuckles on the door to get its attention.

The blankets rustle in time with a whine. "Don't touch me," orders a groggy voice. "You're monsters, the both of you. Let me be."

Chanyeol smirks and heads over to the bed, flopping down and beginning the search for the human beneath the covers. "Oh Kris," he tuts, using his baby voice. Both men hate it, but that doesn't stop Chanyeol. "If you couldn't handle both of us, you should have said something." He locates Kris' head and begins combing his fingers through the man's hair.

"It's not that," the man mumbles. "You both are too fucking eager. Give me at least a moment to adjust next time, goddamn." He moans when he tries to move. "I'm paralyzed. This is the end of me. And it's because of you two and your stupid dicks."

Sehun smiles and he has to hold a hand over his mouth to stop from laughing. A sleepy, cranky Kris is his favorite, he's not going to lie.

Chanyeol frees a little more of his face and plays with the man's nose, grinning when Kris swats him away. "Hmm. Then, how about I fuck Sehun while you watch? Would that cheer you up?"

Sehun learned quickly that Chanyeol loves dirty talk. Loves it. And the only one who loves it more is Kris. The man pokes his head up and pretends to consider the idea. "Maybe."

Sehun can't help the laugh this time. Kris shoots him a glare and disappears back beneath the covers. Trying to hide his smile, Sehun crawls onto Kris' other side and peels the blanket all the way off. "Hey, if it'll make you happy, I'll do it." He looks up to see Chanyeol's shit eating grin and he frowns. "You have to suck me off."

"Done!" Chanyeol chirps.

"But, first," Kris stops to yawn, and Sehun and Chanyeol meet eyes and nod in agreement. The man's adorable. "What's for dinner?"

"Takeout," Chanyeol and Sehun chorus, and Kris falls back onto the bed with a dissatisfied grunt. Sehun smiles and lies down beside him, throwing an arm around his waist. Chanyeol does the same, and reaches around with his good arm to run his fingertips up and down Sehun's rib cage.

Sure, work's a little less exciting, and Chanyeol and Kris have to be careful whenever they go outside, but the three of them live for moments like these. And Sehun knows that, if anything were to happen to him, he has two men who would be at his side in a second. And Sehun won't lie, he yearns for the day when Chanyeol's well and willing to come to work with him.

(But for now, he'll settle for the little things. Like Chanyeol's dopey grin after he comes and Kris' high-pitched moan when Sehun fucks him just right. Those will do.)