(no subject)
Title: Apologia Pro Vita Sua (Chapter 7)
Authors: Scorpions angelinaii, murasaki_plum, nemesis_cry
Characters/Pairings: All (kangteuk, shichul, kihae; potential kyuwook, eunkihae, shihanchul, yeshdong, yewook, minry)
Rating: PG-13 to R
Genre: AU, organized crime, postcyberpunk
Summary: In a world where money and crime go hand and hand, survival is not determined by the fittest, but the ones who will fight to live.
Warnings: violence, swearing, sexual situations
AN: Thank you for reading!
Introduction and Chapter 1 | Chapters 2 & 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6
Banner by angelinaii
Driving through the streets of Judoh in his black Sedan, Kangin always found the same thoughts crossing his mind as his vehicle reached the city limits. He wondered whether it was in the founder’s design that a person could tell the instant they had entered the Bottoms, the transformation apparent long before the bullet-hole ridden sign greeted you. From the decaying sidewalks and damaged roads, the abandoned warehouse buildings and littered gutters-even the sky seemed to change.
The blue and cloudless sky from the pristine and white courthouse never reached the Bottoms, where the view remained blocked by the gray smog that wafted from the plants that were still in operation. Even the residents carried themselves differently; upright and confident postures gave way to slumped shoulders and guarded looks. People who you caught the rare smile from didn’t seem as happy as those who could afford to live in Judoh. Judoh was a place he longed to return to, but the Bottoms still felt the most like home.
He pulled into the parking space to the apartment building and cut the engine. It was the same place where he lived since they had been sent into exile. Although Eeteuk amassed enough wealth to rival that of his late father's, the older man refused to live anywhere else.
And for good reason. You couldn't lead an empire from afar, or influence the growth of a dying city. Both things Eeteuk had learned the hard way.
Eeteuk smirked seeing his lover enter, the door opening with the familiar click.
"I thought you'd still be out. Was planning on making lunch before heading back to work." Kangin said with a sheepish grin, closing the door and making sure to have all of the locks and bolts in place. In the past month it had felt like his entire family lived at the building they bought for their growing organization. "Feeling alright?"
"Eunhyuk got hacked," the older man sighed, running a hand through blonde hair. "I had to come down as soon as I heard." Not that it had done any good. "Kyuhyun's looking into it, but it seems like we've got some serious issues." Despite it all, he managed a half smile. "Good to have you back, though."
"He really needs to get mods done on those legs before he finds himself hacked over a bridge. Your runner's more trouble than what you're paying for him." Kangin complained, the lament springing up every time this happened. On top of everything else that seemed to be going on that day, this was not the news he needed to hear. Stomping into the living room, he flopped down on the couch with a huff. "Did he run off a bridge?"
"Try not to sound too hopeful," Eeteuk cautioned, following at a more leisurely pace. Though it was barely mid-afternoon, he felt like he was about to collapse. "He hasn't yet and if Kyuhyun does his job, he won't. Have you heard from Yesung yet?"
"Yesung had me in for questioning. They were about to collar me when the guy who I was getting pinned for showed up dead...wonder why. I'm blowing up that fucker's car tonight." Kangin grumbled and pressed a throw pillow to his face. He knew that Yesung needed to posture and put on a show for his superiors, but it was still draining. "He mentioned that there was some nonsense about stuff going down in the Bottoms, but when isn't there?"
"Heard something about that," Eeteuk nodded but didn't elaborate on which. "You look tired. I hope Yesung didn't go overboard." There was posing and posturing and then there was creating animosity. They couldn't afford the latter. He drew the pillow away from his lover's face with a smirk. "I'm going to need you tonight. Get some rest."
"Define 'need'." Kangin couldn't keep the slow grin from appearing on his face, though the realist in him knew to expect work before pleasure. He couldn't help but hope, it had been some time since they had time for the latter.
Eeteuk smiled indulgently, rubbing a half-circle over the other man's back. "I want you on the streets if Yesung's tip turns out to be more than the usual disturbance."
Kangin groaned and let his head fall forward. "I'll want Sungmin with you, Siwon and Hankyung with me. Shindong can go blow up Yesung's car."
Fingers stroked the nape of his neck. "That bad, huh?"
"Wasn't bad at all." Kangin murmured with a sigh, as a small tremor ran down his spine from Eeteuk's touch. Of course at the station he got a few hits at the cops before Yesung's temporary partner hit him in the side with a taser, but it could've gone worse. "The car's insured and it'd be suspect if there wasn't retaliation. At least he won't be in the car."
"I'll let him know," Eeteuk smirked, taking the logic at face value and not delving deeper into his lover's motives. In a world like theirs, they couldn't allow resentment to breed and fester. Accounts had to be settled, one way or another. Preferably sooner rather than later.
"Have Ryeowook tag along." Kangin said absently, his mind already wandering to what the other boys were up to. "Heard from him lately? Yesung made a mention of him."
A pensive shake of the head. "I'll check in with him." One more thing that had to be dealt with. Eeteuk made a note, not ceasing the slow strokes even if they did nothing therapeutic for the other man, they calmed the leader. And he needed calm and focus. "I have to go make a trip to the morgue first. Manager of a love hotel called to say one of the Dallas girls was cut up and dumped in one of their rooms."
"Can't the manager go?" Kangin made a face and proceeded to remove Eeteuk's hand from his neck. "You need your rest too."
"Mutual courtesy," Eeteuk shrugged. "I have to at least pretend to be interested in our employees' fates. Besides, according to the tip, it was no ordinary slash up and murder. Someone's operating on our people."
"I doubt it'd be mutual courtesy if it was one of us on those tables." Kangin snorted, taking Eeteuk's hand and pulled the smaller man onto the couch with him and bound him in a hug. Morgues were places Kangin didn't intend to visit until he was dead himself. "You could just get the report back from the manager."
"I want to see for myself," Eeteuk placated, holding on tightly for a few moments before letting go. "I want to know what we're dealing with." Too many coincidences and he had a bad feeling lingering the pit of his stomach, as if instinct was trying to tell him something. "Besides, you know I believe the punishment should equal the crime. Call this research." Morbid, yes, but this kind of justice earned him respect.
"Well, if you're so insistent on going, I don't want you to give me a play-by-play at dinner." he kicked his legs up on the couch, intent on a nap with or without Eeteuk with him.
"I'll stick to the abridged, pg-13 version." A soft laugh and the older man laid down beside him. "For such a strong guy, you're surprisingly squeamish." Not that it was surprising, just another in a long series of contradictions.
"Am not." It was a half-hearted protest, no matter how imposing and violent Kangin could be, the sight of too much blood still unnerved him.
"Mmm-hmm," Eeteuk nodded, not even making an effort to feign agreement. "Right." With a strong squeeze to his shoulders, he drew back, standing gracefully. "Get some sleep. You've got cars to blow up later."
"Don't go alone." he said, taking hold of a retreating hand to give it a quick squeeze. It wasn't that he didn't trust that Eeteuk could handle his own if the situation called for it, but so did Heaven and Earth. It didn't hurt to be cautious.
A soft smile. "You know me better than that." And they both knew the risks.
"You know me well enough to know that I'll still worry." Kangin settled into the couch, his conscience clear enough to sleep. "Take Sungmin, he needs to spend more time in Judoh anyway."
"Go to sleep," came the repeated demand as Eeteuk lowered the blinds, effectively plunging the room into a sort of semi-darkness.
Kangin grinned and closed his eyes, crossing his arms dramatically. Though his body was exhausted, he knew his mind would not allow him to rest for long. Nonetheless, Eeteuk gave him an order and he intended to follow through with it. "Sleeping."
***
He knew the day would come even before it happened, he expected that the life he lived was a borrowed one--not the life he was made to lead. Kangin knew that his life was mapped out from the day he was born to his death, anything that happened in between was insignificant as long as he did not deviate far from his path. Every breath, every lesson, every decision rested on the whims of another, just as it had for every man and woman in his family. They lived to serve, they died protecting the founding family of Heaven and Earth.
It was this family that built Judoh, not the government who rested on it's accolades and federal money, without the organization, the experimental utopia would fall. At first, he resented his charge, a fail-looking boy with black eyes obscured by a fringe of light-colored hair. Kangin could not believe that this boy, Eeteuk was older than him, much less that he would be eventual heir of the empire. Upon their first meeting, Eeteuk barely spared him a glance and sent him away. It wasn't until years later that Eeteuk admitted he was frightened, but Kangin had interpreted it as distaste.
***
Months passed before they even spoke. Kangin would return from his training to the manicured lawn of the mansion's garden and find Eeteuk sitting on the rim of one of the sculptured fountains, staring away at nothing. With some pressing and reassurance that he had little interest in bullying him, Kangin got Eeteuk to share with him his thoughts. The boy spoke in a rapid, sotto voice, most of his thoughts whimsical and laced with deep idealism that would make Eeteuk's father blanche. It wasn't until Kangin gave up and called Eeteuk the idiot that he thought the other boy was did Eeteuk drop his guard and shared with Kangin his plans for the future.
Trust had been gained, and knowledge began to be shared. Eeteuk taught Kangin things that a human shield did not need to know, Kangin proved to Eeteuk that even a welterweight could hold his own. The power had shifted between them, and tongues wagged at how the master was often lead by his own servant. They had long been discouraged by their growing friendship and lack of proper decorum, but attempts to replace Kangin with a more suitable guard had been vetoed.
Kangin looked forward to the day that they would lead Heaven and Earth. Eeteuk long spoke of Kangin working alongside him as equals, but by then Kangin had long since abandoned the idea of doing anything but serving Eeteuk. Neither of them expected the succession to happen as soon as it did, both had barely reached their teens when Eeteuk's parents died. It was far from natural and it would've been a farce to say the death had been accidental. Eeteuk bottled up his grief and hid any vulnerabilities as he prepared the funeral arrangements and investigated his parents' murders. It wasn't until he began to take up issuing out edicts on his father's behalf that dissent among the once loyal clan became known. Kangin watched behind Eeteuk's chair as men twice their age scowled and talked down to them.
"Surely you do not wish for this to go out, at the time of your father's death he was not of his right mind." One man reasoned.
Another wringed his hands and agreed. "To allow this to go out would be disaster-"
Eeteuk smiled and merely waved a hand. "I hope you are not sullying the name of my father with these comments. These were his wishes, and for good reason. Heaven and Earth has too long rested on its windfall and taken advantage of the lower classes. Returning power to the government while abating the corruption that is rife between both is a good start, as is returning the protection money and increasing the pay to our indentured servants. No. I do not think that is your problem at all. Perhaps it is your unaccounted for financial transactions?"
"Of course not." the man paled and backed down. "If this is what the ladder to heaven wishes, we shall follow."
Eeteuk waited until the men had retreated from the office to slump back into his seat with exasperation. "Vultures. They'll probably want a promotion for support."
If only it had been that simple, but Kangin did not like the furtive glances he caught during the conversation.
***
Years passed and Kangin still blamed himself for what happened. Perhaps if he warned Eeteuk to keep a low profile, or that he didn't trust him blindly that they knew what they were doing. They were moving the edicts along faster than they should; they signed their own death warrant. Maybe if he did not rely on his father's insistence that loyalties were as strong for Eeteuk as any leader, neither of them would have had to run. Those that remained on their side died beneath a rain of bullets that were intended for one target alone, the rest in the car that was intended to be their getaway.
Kangin could recall the moment his heart stopped as one of the bullets struck Eeteuk's chest. While the vest he pressured Eeteuk to wear did its job, all the boy could do was stare up at Kangin as he tried to force air into his lungs. Picking the other boy up, he could only run, forgoing his own firearm to get them out of harm's way. They arrived at the Bottoms exhausted and covered with blood that mostly wasn't their own. There was nowhere to go, they had been left to fend against the real vultures of the world.
Once set in an unmarked building by sympathetic parties, they let their former gang believe that they were dead. Kangin tended to the wounds that could be seen, for weeks after the attack Eeteuk remained in a catatonic fugue. He merely existed, he sat on the worn mattress and stared aimlessly at the wall in front of him. Kangin often found himself desolate as tried to maintain his duty, but his tears were unseen. In small steps, just as Kangin felt himself giving up, Eeteuk began to care about his well-being again. He started to eat on his own, then bathe. It still took effort to get Eeteuk out of bed for more than that, but it was a start. Rescuing Sungmin was the catalyst Kangin needed, the small and energetic boy kept Eeteuk's mind off of his own troubles to focus selflessly on another's.
Kangin kept up with small odd jobs, making what he could through old family connections as Eeteuk played house. It wasn't until Sungmin had proudly announced that Eeteuk was his mother that did it; Kangin saw the most genuine smile from Eeteuk. He had long missed that smile, and thankfully it stayed.
***
Kangin drudged along the crumbling sidewalk, his head lowered as his pushed through the heavy wind. In his hand he tightly clutched a half-full plastic bag, their last amount of savings spent on food. He hoped it would feed three mouths until the storm broke and he could hit the streets again, but he was realistic. Shouts and cruel laughter automatically put him on guard, and he glanced over his shoulder toward the direction of the noise. At first, he thought it was the local thugs kicking around a dog, but the matted fur was also covered in rags. "Oi!"
The thugs merely laughed and went on about their business. Drunk from liquor and high off narcotics, they found cheap amusement in beating up the bums that littered the street at night. It didn't matter how young, old, big, or small the bums were. If they were on the bottom rung of the ladder, the bums were even below them. Trash. They never fought back, resigned to whatever was given to them.
Ryeowook cowered against the blows, trying to run away was a lost cause. They'd merely catch him and give him a worse beating. He only hoped they'd get bored with him and leave him alone, that they'd stop before they hurt him any more.
Nothing raised his blood faster than being ignored. Kangin stomped over to the largest deviant in the circle and shoved, forcing the man to pay attention. The man was over him in size and age, but such details never made a difference to him.
"What the fuck is your problem?" The man spun around and blindly swung a fist at the stocky looking kid. "Want a piece of this too, punk?"
Kangin merely ducked and brought his own fist into the man's gut.
"You alright, kid?" he asked, ignoring the man's reaction to set his groceries on the ground next to the boy. Once the shock wore off of the goon he shoved, Kangin would be in for a little fun. "You be good and keep an eye on this for me."
Ryeowook flinched and shied away from the other boy. He wasn't sure if he was there to help him or help them. It took another nudge and the bag placed directly in his grasp that he managed to nod weakly to the other's inquires.
The other men were shouting threats and circling in for the kill. Inflicting violence on those weaker than them was one thing, having violence inflicted on them was a different matter. Whoever interrupted their fun made the mistake of knocking down their leader with a single punch. That was an indignity they wouldn't tolerate.
Kangin didn't have time to get into a street brawl, Eeteuk was waiting for him to get home with dinner. The fact that the goons weren't smart enough to run off when they had the chance was really pissing him off. Not only was he going to get bitched at for being late, but he was going to be bitched at for fighting. Eeteuk specifically told him not to get into any fights or trouble.
"Fuck it, I'm doing what I have to do." Kangin rationalized to himself as he grabbed the arm of the nearest goon and threw himself into the violent melee. Even though he was outnumbered and outsized, the men who challenged him were simply weren't close to Kangin's league. He was sure he could beat them if they were armed and sober, not that he'd ever brag about anything like that to Eeteuk.
***
Kangin was late. Eeteuk sighed as he looked at his watch and then to the door. The convenience store was only a five minute walk at best, even if Kangin could afford all of the items placed on the list it shouldn't have taken him more than twenty minutes to grab all and walk back. It was already an hour since Kangin smiled in the doorway and said he'd be right back.
"He probably took the long way home," Sungmin suggested helpfully, the small boy cocooned in layers of blankets on the lone mattress the three of them had to share.
"He's making you stay up past your bedtime," Eeteuk pouted at the door and resumed his pacing. If it wasn't that he had a child to watch over, he would have grabbed his coat and braved the weather to go look for his errant Kangin.
Kangin rushed into their apartment within seconds, and kicked the door closed behind him. The teen's clothing was disheveled and torn, and his coat was missing. It was obvious that Kangin had been in a fight. Eeteuk shivered at the biting draft of air that entered the room with him and was stopped mid complaint when he saw what Kangin had brought in with him along with the groceries.
"I think his arm's broken, fuck if I know what else is wrong with him," Kangin grumbled, still visibly upset. "He keeps shaking, gave him my coat, but it just got worse."
The small child was badly beaten and was deathly pale, the only color to him was the bluish tint to his lips and the still wet blood from various cuts on his exposed skin. He was shivering violently, and much to Eeteuk's surprise was still awake, trying desperately to keep hold of the plastic bag with his uninjured arm.
"What happened?" Eeteuk asked as he took the bag from the boy.
"The usual, some crackheads picking on the homeless and I couldn't help myself and stepped in."
"Is she going to be okay?" Sungmin asked from his place at Eeteuk's side, wide-eyed and concerned for a child who looked smaller and younger than him.
"Here, help by putting the food away," Eeteuk placed the plastic bag in Sungmin's hands. "Then I want you to, look at me, I want you to go and start a bath. With warm water, not hot. Okay?"
Sungmin looked back to Kangin and the other child then nodded. "Okay."
"Kangin will check on you." Eeteuk said to both while he returned his attention to the injured child. It was clear that if Kangin hadn't found him, the boy wouldn't have survived the night. Even that was still in question.
Kangin began to protest as Eeteuk began to shift the boy into his arms, but was silenced from the look Eeteuk gave him. "What do you want me to do?"
"Check on Sungmin before he floods the bathroom again, and then come back with the first aid kit." Eeteuk ordered in a soft voice, smiling and sounding cheerful so not to scare the already frightened child. "Hi, what's your name? Can you tell me your name?"
Ryeowook could barely stutter out sounds remotely close to what his name was. He didn't know where he was or who this new person was, but he was cold, tired, and everything just hurt.
"First we'll get you warm, then do something about that arm, okay?" Eeteuk asked as he hugged the shivering boy close to his chest, he wasn't going to try to stop the boy's tears. There were times when a person should cry, and the boy had more than enough reason to do so.
It had been a few weeks since they had added their newest member to their family, and as much as Sungmin relished the role of big brother, there was still something that bothered him. He didn't mind losing some of his foster parents' attention, in fact he doted on little Ryeo as much as the others. He just couldn't stand Ryeowook's crying. Sungmin had never known someone who could cry so much. It seemed like Ryeowook cried all of the time.
Ryeowook was crying when Kangin first brought him home, he cried nonstop for the following three days, and even cried in his sleep. The crying stopped after Eeteuk and Kangin had enough money to take Ryeowook to a doctor. The simplest things would get him going again. He cried when Eeteuk left the house. He wailed when someone was kicking over trashcans outside and the noise scared him. Kangin got so mad about that he went outside and kicked the guy. When Eeteuk came home and brought everyone fancy pudding for dessert, Ryeowook cried because he was happy.
"Why does Crybaby Ryeowook cry all of the time?" Sungmin pouted as he walked alongside Kangin, the two of them were sent out of the apartment because they were roughhousing and set Ryeowook into a major fit.
"Remember when we found you and you hadn't eaten in a long time, and when we took you home you ate and ate and ate until you made yourself sick?" Kangin asked as he reached over to zip up Sungmin's coat.
"Yeah, I remember." Sungmin nodded and quickly pulled his mittens back on before Kangin did that too.
"I think that maybe he went through a lot of bad things but couldn't cry about them then," Kangin mused and stopped to eye an ancient television set in the window of the pawn shop, "now that he's in a safe place, he's letting out all of those bad feelings. He'll get better, it took you awhile to get better too."
"I didn't cry all of the time." The boy pointed out as he watched the fuzzy cartoon along with the older teen.
"But it was weeks before you stopped hiding food everywhere." Kangin countered with a grin. "Come on, let's go try and find a present to bring home. Maybe if we cheer up Ryeo, Umma will stop being mad at us."
***
Ryeowook was a harder challenge than Sungmin ever was. It was rehabilitating him that Kangin started to notice another facet of Eeteuk's former self returning.
At first it was rationalized away, of course Kangin should teach the boys how to defend themselves. What if they were ever put in a dangerous position? Certainly it was prudent to know how to talk to people and to gauge their intent, the world wasn't to be trusted. Especially in the Bottoms. Instigating small rivalries between the two boys to see how they'd handle it? It finally struck home what Kangin and Eeteuk were doing, even if their intent was good. They were preparing them, by the time Sungmin and Ryeowook became of age they held enough knowledge and experience to put any Heaven and Earth member to shame. It wasn't until Eeteuk began to leave the house to socialize that Kangin was sure why.
They didn't know anything beyond what they were, their new life in the Bottoms was borrowed, a fabrication. It had been no more than a decade since they had left Judoh barely in their teens. Now they were men who would one day take on gangsters who were twice their age. They had watched the city disintegrate from the fringe of society, they were aware of the potential that remained hidden on both sides.
His 'family' would help to restructure the Bottoms, for practice. It was only a matter of time before they would focus on their true purpose. Judoh would return to its rightful owner, and they now had the right people to make that happen.
Authors: Scorpions angelinaii, murasaki_plum, nemesis_cry
Characters/Pairings: All (kangteuk, shichul, kihae; potential kyuwook, eunkihae, shihanchul, yeshdong, yewook, minry)
Rating: PG-13 to R
Genre: AU, organized crime, postcyberpunk
Summary: In a world where money and crime go hand and hand, survival is not determined by the fittest, but the ones who will fight to live.
Warnings: violence, swearing, sexual situations
AN: Thank you for reading!
Introduction and Chapter 1 | Chapters 2 & 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6
Banner by angelinaii
Driving through the streets of Judoh in his black Sedan, Kangin always found the same thoughts crossing his mind as his vehicle reached the city limits. He wondered whether it was in the founder’s design that a person could tell the instant they had entered the Bottoms, the transformation apparent long before the bullet-hole ridden sign greeted you. From the decaying sidewalks and damaged roads, the abandoned warehouse buildings and littered gutters-even the sky seemed to change.
The blue and cloudless sky from the pristine and white courthouse never reached the Bottoms, where the view remained blocked by the gray smog that wafted from the plants that were still in operation. Even the residents carried themselves differently; upright and confident postures gave way to slumped shoulders and guarded looks. People who you caught the rare smile from didn’t seem as happy as those who could afford to live in Judoh. Judoh was a place he longed to return to, but the Bottoms still felt the most like home.
He pulled into the parking space to the apartment building and cut the engine. It was the same place where he lived since they had been sent into exile. Although Eeteuk amassed enough wealth to rival that of his late father's, the older man refused to live anywhere else.
And for good reason. You couldn't lead an empire from afar, or influence the growth of a dying city. Both things Eeteuk had learned the hard way.
Eeteuk smirked seeing his lover enter, the door opening with the familiar click.
"I thought you'd still be out. Was planning on making lunch before heading back to work." Kangin said with a sheepish grin, closing the door and making sure to have all of the locks and bolts in place. In the past month it had felt like his entire family lived at the building they bought for their growing organization. "Feeling alright?"
"Eunhyuk got hacked," the older man sighed, running a hand through blonde hair. "I had to come down as soon as I heard." Not that it had done any good. "Kyuhyun's looking into it, but it seems like we've got some serious issues." Despite it all, he managed a half smile. "Good to have you back, though."
"He really needs to get mods done on those legs before he finds himself hacked over a bridge. Your runner's more trouble than what you're paying for him." Kangin complained, the lament springing up every time this happened. On top of everything else that seemed to be going on that day, this was not the news he needed to hear. Stomping into the living room, he flopped down on the couch with a huff. "Did he run off a bridge?"
"Try not to sound too hopeful," Eeteuk cautioned, following at a more leisurely pace. Though it was barely mid-afternoon, he felt like he was about to collapse. "He hasn't yet and if Kyuhyun does his job, he won't. Have you heard from Yesung yet?"
"Yesung had me in for questioning. They were about to collar me when the guy who I was getting pinned for showed up dead...wonder why. I'm blowing up that fucker's car tonight." Kangin grumbled and pressed a throw pillow to his face. He knew that Yesung needed to posture and put on a show for his superiors, but it was still draining. "He mentioned that there was some nonsense about stuff going down in the Bottoms, but when isn't there?"
"Heard something about that," Eeteuk nodded but didn't elaborate on which. "You look tired. I hope Yesung didn't go overboard." There was posing and posturing and then there was creating animosity. They couldn't afford the latter. He drew the pillow away from his lover's face with a smirk. "I'm going to need you tonight. Get some rest."
"Define 'need'." Kangin couldn't keep the slow grin from appearing on his face, though the realist in him knew to expect work before pleasure. He couldn't help but hope, it had been some time since they had time for the latter.
Eeteuk smiled indulgently, rubbing a half-circle over the other man's back. "I want you on the streets if Yesung's tip turns out to be more than the usual disturbance."
Kangin groaned and let his head fall forward. "I'll want Sungmin with you, Siwon and Hankyung with me. Shindong can go blow up Yesung's car."
Fingers stroked the nape of his neck. "That bad, huh?"
"Wasn't bad at all." Kangin murmured with a sigh, as a small tremor ran down his spine from Eeteuk's touch. Of course at the station he got a few hits at the cops before Yesung's temporary partner hit him in the side with a taser, but it could've gone worse. "The car's insured and it'd be suspect if there wasn't retaliation. At least he won't be in the car."
"I'll let him know," Eeteuk smirked, taking the logic at face value and not delving deeper into his lover's motives. In a world like theirs, they couldn't allow resentment to breed and fester. Accounts had to be settled, one way or another. Preferably sooner rather than later.
"Have Ryeowook tag along." Kangin said absently, his mind already wandering to what the other boys were up to. "Heard from him lately? Yesung made a mention of him."
A pensive shake of the head. "I'll check in with him." One more thing that had to be dealt with. Eeteuk made a note, not ceasing the slow strokes even if they did nothing therapeutic for the other man, they calmed the leader. And he needed calm and focus. "I have to go make a trip to the morgue first. Manager of a love hotel called to say one of the Dallas girls was cut up and dumped in one of their rooms."
"Can't the manager go?" Kangin made a face and proceeded to remove Eeteuk's hand from his neck. "You need your rest too."
"Mutual courtesy," Eeteuk shrugged. "I have to at least pretend to be interested in our employees' fates. Besides, according to the tip, it was no ordinary slash up and murder. Someone's operating on our people."
"I doubt it'd be mutual courtesy if it was one of us on those tables." Kangin snorted, taking Eeteuk's hand and pulled the smaller man onto the couch with him and bound him in a hug. Morgues were places Kangin didn't intend to visit until he was dead himself. "You could just get the report back from the manager."
"I want to see for myself," Eeteuk placated, holding on tightly for a few moments before letting go. "I want to know what we're dealing with." Too many coincidences and he had a bad feeling lingering the pit of his stomach, as if instinct was trying to tell him something. "Besides, you know I believe the punishment should equal the crime. Call this research." Morbid, yes, but this kind of justice earned him respect.
"Well, if you're so insistent on going, I don't want you to give me a play-by-play at dinner." he kicked his legs up on the couch, intent on a nap with or without Eeteuk with him.
"I'll stick to the abridged, pg-13 version." A soft laugh and the older man laid down beside him. "For such a strong guy, you're surprisingly squeamish." Not that it was surprising, just another in a long series of contradictions.
"Am not." It was a half-hearted protest, no matter how imposing and violent Kangin could be, the sight of too much blood still unnerved him.
"Mmm-hmm," Eeteuk nodded, not even making an effort to feign agreement. "Right." With a strong squeeze to his shoulders, he drew back, standing gracefully. "Get some sleep. You've got cars to blow up later."
"Don't go alone." he said, taking hold of a retreating hand to give it a quick squeeze. It wasn't that he didn't trust that Eeteuk could handle his own if the situation called for it, but so did Heaven and Earth. It didn't hurt to be cautious.
A soft smile. "You know me better than that." And they both knew the risks.
"You know me well enough to know that I'll still worry." Kangin settled into the couch, his conscience clear enough to sleep. "Take Sungmin, he needs to spend more time in Judoh anyway."
"Go to sleep," came the repeated demand as Eeteuk lowered the blinds, effectively plunging the room into a sort of semi-darkness.
Kangin grinned and closed his eyes, crossing his arms dramatically. Though his body was exhausted, he knew his mind would not allow him to rest for long. Nonetheless, Eeteuk gave him an order and he intended to follow through with it. "Sleeping."
***
He knew the day would come even before it happened, he expected that the life he lived was a borrowed one--not the life he was made to lead. Kangin knew that his life was mapped out from the day he was born to his death, anything that happened in between was insignificant as long as he did not deviate far from his path. Every breath, every lesson, every decision rested on the whims of another, just as it had for every man and woman in his family. They lived to serve, they died protecting the founding family of Heaven and Earth.
It was this family that built Judoh, not the government who rested on it's accolades and federal money, without the organization, the experimental utopia would fall. At first, he resented his charge, a fail-looking boy with black eyes obscured by a fringe of light-colored hair. Kangin could not believe that this boy, Eeteuk was older than him, much less that he would be eventual heir of the empire. Upon their first meeting, Eeteuk barely spared him a glance and sent him away. It wasn't until years later that Eeteuk admitted he was frightened, but Kangin had interpreted it as distaste.
***
Months passed before they even spoke. Kangin would return from his training to the manicured lawn of the mansion's garden and find Eeteuk sitting on the rim of one of the sculptured fountains, staring away at nothing. With some pressing and reassurance that he had little interest in bullying him, Kangin got Eeteuk to share with him his thoughts. The boy spoke in a rapid, sotto voice, most of his thoughts whimsical and laced with deep idealism that would make Eeteuk's father blanche. It wasn't until Kangin gave up and called Eeteuk the idiot that he thought the other boy was did Eeteuk drop his guard and shared with Kangin his plans for the future.
Trust had been gained, and knowledge began to be shared. Eeteuk taught Kangin things that a human shield did not need to know, Kangin proved to Eeteuk that even a welterweight could hold his own. The power had shifted between them, and tongues wagged at how the master was often lead by his own servant. They had long been discouraged by their growing friendship and lack of proper decorum, but attempts to replace Kangin with a more suitable guard had been vetoed.
Kangin looked forward to the day that they would lead Heaven and Earth. Eeteuk long spoke of Kangin working alongside him as equals, but by then Kangin had long since abandoned the idea of doing anything but serving Eeteuk. Neither of them expected the succession to happen as soon as it did, both had barely reached their teens when Eeteuk's parents died. It was far from natural and it would've been a farce to say the death had been accidental. Eeteuk bottled up his grief and hid any vulnerabilities as he prepared the funeral arrangements and investigated his parents' murders. It wasn't until he began to take up issuing out edicts on his father's behalf that dissent among the once loyal clan became known. Kangin watched behind Eeteuk's chair as men twice their age scowled and talked down to them.
"Surely you do not wish for this to go out, at the time of your father's death he was not of his right mind." One man reasoned.
Another wringed his hands and agreed. "To allow this to go out would be disaster-"
Eeteuk smiled and merely waved a hand. "I hope you are not sullying the name of my father with these comments. These were his wishes, and for good reason. Heaven and Earth has too long rested on its windfall and taken advantage of the lower classes. Returning power to the government while abating the corruption that is rife between both is a good start, as is returning the protection money and increasing the pay to our indentured servants. No. I do not think that is your problem at all. Perhaps it is your unaccounted for financial transactions?"
"Of course not." the man paled and backed down. "If this is what the ladder to heaven wishes, we shall follow."
Eeteuk waited until the men had retreated from the office to slump back into his seat with exasperation. "Vultures. They'll probably want a promotion for support."
If only it had been that simple, but Kangin did not like the furtive glances he caught during the conversation.
***
Years passed and Kangin still blamed himself for what happened. Perhaps if he warned Eeteuk to keep a low profile, or that he didn't trust him blindly that they knew what they were doing. They were moving the edicts along faster than they should; they signed their own death warrant. Maybe if he did not rely on his father's insistence that loyalties were as strong for Eeteuk as any leader, neither of them would have had to run. Those that remained on their side died beneath a rain of bullets that were intended for one target alone, the rest in the car that was intended to be their getaway.
Kangin could recall the moment his heart stopped as one of the bullets struck Eeteuk's chest. While the vest he pressured Eeteuk to wear did its job, all the boy could do was stare up at Kangin as he tried to force air into his lungs. Picking the other boy up, he could only run, forgoing his own firearm to get them out of harm's way. They arrived at the Bottoms exhausted and covered with blood that mostly wasn't their own. There was nowhere to go, they had been left to fend against the real vultures of the world.
Once set in an unmarked building by sympathetic parties, they let their former gang believe that they were dead. Kangin tended to the wounds that could be seen, for weeks after the attack Eeteuk remained in a catatonic fugue. He merely existed, he sat on the worn mattress and stared aimlessly at the wall in front of him. Kangin often found himself desolate as tried to maintain his duty, but his tears were unseen. In small steps, just as Kangin felt himself giving up, Eeteuk began to care about his well-being again. He started to eat on his own, then bathe. It still took effort to get Eeteuk out of bed for more than that, but it was a start. Rescuing Sungmin was the catalyst Kangin needed, the small and energetic boy kept Eeteuk's mind off of his own troubles to focus selflessly on another's.
Kangin kept up with small odd jobs, making what he could through old family connections as Eeteuk played house. It wasn't until Sungmin had proudly announced that Eeteuk was his mother that did it; Kangin saw the most genuine smile from Eeteuk. He had long missed that smile, and thankfully it stayed.
***
Kangin drudged along the crumbling sidewalk, his head lowered as his pushed through the heavy wind. In his hand he tightly clutched a half-full plastic bag, their last amount of savings spent on food. He hoped it would feed three mouths until the storm broke and he could hit the streets again, but he was realistic. Shouts and cruel laughter automatically put him on guard, and he glanced over his shoulder toward the direction of the noise. At first, he thought it was the local thugs kicking around a dog, but the matted fur was also covered in rags. "Oi!"
The thugs merely laughed and went on about their business. Drunk from liquor and high off narcotics, they found cheap amusement in beating up the bums that littered the street at night. It didn't matter how young, old, big, or small the bums were. If they were on the bottom rung of the ladder, the bums were even below them. Trash. They never fought back, resigned to whatever was given to them.
Ryeowook cowered against the blows, trying to run away was a lost cause. They'd merely catch him and give him a worse beating. He only hoped they'd get bored with him and leave him alone, that they'd stop before they hurt him any more.
Nothing raised his blood faster than being ignored. Kangin stomped over to the largest deviant in the circle and shoved, forcing the man to pay attention. The man was over him in size and age, but such details never made a difference to him.
"What the fuck is your problem?" The man spun around and blindly swung a fist at the stocky looking kid. "Want a piece of this too, punk?"
Kangin merely ducked and brought his own fist into the man's gut.
"You alright, kid?" he asked, ignoring the man's reaction to set his groceries on the ground next to the boy. Once the shock wore off of the goon he shoved, Kangin would be in for a little fun. "You be good and keep an eye on this for me."
Ryeowook flinched and shied away from the other boy. He wasn't sure if he was there to help him or help them. It took another nudge and the bag placed directly in his grasp that he managed to nod weakly to the other's inquires.
The other men were shouting threats and circling in for the kill. Inflicting violence on those weaker than them was one thing, having violence inflicted on them was a different matter. Whoever interrupted their fun made the mistake of knocking down their leader with a single punch. That was an indignity they wouldn't tolerate.
Kangin didn't have time to get into a street brawl, Eeteuk was waiting for him to get home with dinner. The fact that the goons weren't smart enough to run off when they had the chance was really pissing him off. Not only was he going to get bitched at for being late, but he was going to be bitched at for fighting. Eeteuk specifically told him not to get into any fights or trouble.
"Fuck it, I'm doing what I have to do." Kangin rationalized to himself as he grabbed the arm of the nearest goon and threw himself into the violent melee. Even though he was outnumbered and outsized, the men who challenged him were simply weren't close to Kangin's league. He was sure he could beat them if they were armed and sober, not that he'd ever brag about anything like that to Eeteuk.
***
Kangin was late. Eeteuk sighed as he looked at his watch and then to the door. The convenience store was only a five minute walk at best, even if Kangin could afford all of the items placed on the list it shouldn't have taken him more than twenty minutes to grab all and walk back. It was already an hour since Kangin smiled in the doorway and said he'd be right back.
"He probably took the long way home," Sungmin suggested helpfully, the small boy cocooned in layers of blankets on the lone mattress the three of them had to share.
"He's making you stay up past your bedtime," Eeteuk pouted at the door and resumed his pacing. If it wasn't that he had a child to watch over, he would have grabbed his coat and braved the weather to go look for his errant Kangin.
Kangin rushed into their apartment within seconds, and kicked the door closed behind him. The teen's clothing was disheveled and torn, and his coat was missing. It was obvious that Kangin had been in a fight. Eeteuk shivered at the biting draft of air that entered the room with him and was stopped mid complaint when he saw what Kangin had brought in with him along with the groceries.
"I think his arm's broken, fuck if I know what else is wrong with him," Kangin grumbled, still visibly upset. "He keeps shaking, gave him my coat, but it just got worse."
The small child was badly beaten and was deathly pale, the only color to him was the bluish tint to his lips and the still wet blood from various cuts on his exposed skin. He was shivering violently, and much to Eeteuk's surprise was still awake, trying desperately to keep hold of the plastic bag with his uninjured arm.
"What happened?" Eeteuk asked as he took the bag from the boy.
"The usual, some crackheads picking on the homeless and I couldn't help myself and stepped in."
"Is she going to be okay?" Sungmin asked from his place at Eeteuk's side, wide-eyed and concerned for a child who looked smaller and younger than him.
"Here, help by putting the food away," Eeteuk placed the plastic bag in Sungmin's hands. "Then I want you to, look at me, I want you to go and start a bath. With warm water, not hot. Okay?"
Sungmin looked back to Kangin and the other child then nodded. "Okay."
"Kangin will check on you." Eeteuk said to both while he returned his attention to the injured child. It was clear that if Kangin hadn't found him, the boy wouldn't have survived the night. Even that was still in question.
Kangin began to protest as Eeteuk began to shift the boy into his arms, but was silenced from the look Eeteuk gave him. "What do you want me to do?"
"Check on Sungmin before he floods the bathroom again, and then come back with the first aid kit." Eeteuk ordered in a soft voice, smiling and sounding cheerful so not to scare the already frightened child. "Hi, what's your name? Can you tell me your name?"
Ryeowook could barely stutter out sounds remotely close to what his name was. He didn't know where he was or who this new person was, but he was cold, tired, and everything just hurt.
"First we'll get you warm, then do something about that arm, okay?" Eeteuk asked as he hugged the shivering boy close to his chest, he wasn't going to try to stop the boy's tears. There were times when a person should cry, and the boy had more than enough reason to do so.
It had been a few weeks since they had added their newest member to their family, and as much as Sungmin relished the role of big brother, there was still something that bothered him. He didn't mind losing some of his foster parents' attention, in fact he doted on little Ryeo as much as the others. He just couldn't stand Ryeowook's crying. Sungmin had never known someone who could cry so much. It seemed like Ryeowook cried all of the time.
Ryeowook was crying when Kangin first brought him home, he cried nonstop for the following three days, and even cried in his sleep. The crying stopped after Eeteuk and Kangin had enough money to take Ryeowook to a doctor. The simplest things would get him going again. He cried when Eeteuk left the house. He wailed when someone was kicking over trashcans outside and the noise scared him. Kangin got so mad about that he went outside and kicked the guy. When Eeteuk came home and brought everyone fancy pudding for dessert, Ryeowook cried because he was happy.
"Why does Crybaby Ryeowook cry all of the time?" Sungmin pouted as he walked alongside Kangin, the two of them were sent out of the apartment because they were roughhousing and set Ryeowook into a major fit.
"Remember when we found you and you hadn't eaten in a long time, and when we took you home you ate and ate and ate until you made yourself sick?" Kangin asked as he reached over to zip up Sungmin's coat.
"Yeah, I remember." Sungmin nodded and quickly pulled his mittens back on before Kangin did that too.
"I think that maybe he went through a lot of bad things but couldn't cry about them then," Kangin mused and stopped to eye an ancient television set in the window of the pawn shop, "now that he's in a safe place, he's letting out all of those bad feelings. He'll get better, it took you awhile to get better too."
"I didn't cry all of the time." The boy pointed out as he watched the fuzzy cartoon along with the older teen.
"But it was weeks before you stopped hiding food everywhere." Kangin countered with a grin. "Come on, let's go try and find a present to bring home. Maybe if we cheer up Ryeo, Umma will stop being mad at us."
***
Ryeowook was a harder challenge than Sungmin ever was. It was rehabilitating him that Kangin started to notice another facet of Eeteuk's former self returning.
At first it was rationalized away, of course Kangin should teach the boys how to defend themselves. What if they were ever put in a dangerous position? Certainly it was prudent to know how to talk to people and to gauge their intent, the world wasn't to be trusted. Especially in the Bottoms. Instigating small rivalries between the two boys to see how they'd handle it? It finally struck home what Kangin and Eeteuk were doing, even if their intent was good. They were preparing them, by the time Sungmin and Ryeowook became of age they held enough knowledge and experience to put any Heaven and Earth member to shame. It wasn't until Eeteuk began to leave the house to socialize that Kangin was sure why.
They didn't know anything beyond what they were, their new life in the Bottoms was borrowed, a fabrication. It had been no more than a decade since they had left Judoh barely in their teens. Now they were men who would one day take on gangsters who were twice their age. They had watched the city disintegrate from the fringe of society, they were aware of the potential that remained hidden on both sides.
His 'family' would help to restructure the Bottoms, for practice. It was only a matter of time before they would focus on their true purpose. Judoh would return to its rightful owner, and they now had the right people to make that happen.