Infinite Space
Disclaimer: Not mine, not true.
Writer's Note: Occurs a couple of weeks after chapter 82.
073: black society - DongWoo, SungJong
Chapter List: Infinite Space
Chapter 83: In which YongSu has heard and wants to meet up with his son and the clan head
"… and you got a message from Kim YongSu," Woohyun said.
DongWoo looked up in surprise, not expecting the information. "A what?"
"A message."
"What does he want?"
Woohyun's shoulders shifted. "He wants to meet you. With L."
DongWoo snorted. "He didn't call him L, did he?"
"No, but I'm good at translating BS," WooHyun said, and SungJong snickered from his spot behind DongWoo.
DongWoo grinned. "Okay, when and where?"
"Are you thinking about it?" WooHyun asked, startled.
DongWoo sobered. "I don't know," he said softly. "I'd like this to be over with. What's he offering?"
"A chance to talk about our differences, to figure out how we will be interacting in the future."
"To figure out what it will cost him to get L back," DongWoo said, and smirked. "As if we'd give him up." He sobered again immediately. "Does he say anything about people with me?"
"No. But he wants it on his ship."
"That's a bad idea," SungKyu said, before SungJong could say anything, and DongWoo had heard him suck in a breath to do so.
"Yeah," DongWoo said. "Suggest somewhere more neutral."
SungJong snickered behind him, and DongWoo turned around. "What?"
"Something Hoya and I were talking about," SungJong said. "Seeing YongSu's face when L takes out the guards and everyone else if he tries to take him again."
"That would be amusing, but as there is no way we'd all get off safely, and the clan has just gone through a funeral, no." DongWoo turned back around. "Does it say anything about my father?"
WooHyun went back to the message, then shook his head. "No, not explicitly," he said.
"Call L in here. Maybe he can interpret his father's words where you can't."
WooHyun didn't show any sign that the words bothered him in his short handset call to L, and a few minutes later, L joined them. WooHyun explained shortly and L took the datapad as he sat down next to him. "Oh, he knows," L said after a while. "I don't know how he found out, but he knows. It's in his word choices, in the tone… he expects you to be easier to deal with. And this, about being on the ship. You're not going to, are you?"
"No," Dongwoo said, echoed by SungKyu and SungJong. He smiled wryly and rolled his eyes.
L smiled briefly as well. "Good. He'd kill you and anyone with you, and then hunt down the rest of the clan."
"I thought as much," DongWoo said, and he leaned back, thinking. "Let's meet on one of the stations we haven't fought on yet, because they'll probably let us land there, one that he doesn't have a foothold in yet. Or not as much of one."
WooHyun nodded and began to research it.
"I don't like it," L said. "I don't know what he expects to accomplish, especially if he agrees."
"I don't like it either," DongWoo said. "I'm not ready to abandon anyone."
"You won't have to," L said flatly.
"I won't," DongWoo said, and leaned back again. "When we go, it will be formal attire, and extra armor if we can manage it. I want all of us there, and SungYeol on L as close as he can be. Arms… knives, I think. He'll probably confiscate blasters or anything else, but the knives stay pretty hidden."
"Give them some to take away," SungKyu said. "They'll be more off guard."
DongWoo frowned. "Should we tell Xander about this?"
SungKyu frowned as well. "That… might be a good idea," he said slowly. "Because they're the next obvious target after us, and then on to the smaller clans until he wipes us all out."
"Would you ask your father about that?" DongWoo asked. "I'd like his input about this."
SungKyu pulled out his handset, and while they waited, WooHyun gave DongWoo a list of possible places to meet. He looked them over, and put together a list of his top three. "Ask him to choose one of those."
"Done," WooHyun said, and went back to his seat next to L. The two of them consulted together as Woohyun wrote.
"You asked to see me?"
Dongwoo looked up, and smiled. "Yes, please," he said, gesturing to Tablo to sit down. "We have a situation." He explained it tersely, both the request to meet and his answer (he felt better when Tablo nodded his agreement with his decision), and then relayed the question about Xander, and the reasons behind it.
Tablo frowned. "That's a good question," he said quietly. "No, I don't think you should. Let him know what's happening, and that you'll pass on the information, but if he decides he wants to go, you can't exactly say no. You can tell him you can't guarantee anyone he might send with you."
DongWoo bit his lip. "Do you think he'll want to?"
Tablo shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think so, but word any messages carefully to let him know you really don't think you can guarantee anyone's safety."
"Okay," DongWoo said, his lips twisting into a wry smile. He couldn't even guarantee his own safety, or that of his friends.
"Here's the message for YongSu," WooHyun said, "and one for Xander."
DongWoo thought he should stop being surprised about how efficient WooHyun was, but not today. "Thank you," he said, and quietly made a note to give them all a raise. They'd need it, and besides, their job load had increased. He looked them both over, and then nodded to WooHyun to send them. "Thank you," he said to Tablo. "I think we're done for now."
****
"Have you heard from YongSu yet?" Xander asked once they'd all settled around the table in a conference room on the Dawn.
DongWoo shook his head. "No, not yet," he said. "We're not sure what the hold up is, but whatever. The longer he waits, the better off we are."
Xander nodded, then rose and paced along the table. From AJ's expression, this was normal. "I'd like to be able to send someone with you," he said, but then stopped pacing and looked at Dongwoo. "But I think no matter who I sent, they'd get in your way. Kevin tells me that WooHyun is very good at keeping in all important necessities in reports, and he trusts him. I trust Kevin."
Woohyun turned an interesting shade of red. "Thank you," he said, and Dongwoo smiled because he seemed at a loss for words, something that didn't happen to WooHyun often.
"Let me know if there is anything else we can do," Xander said.
"I'll get in contact with you as soon as we hear anything," Dongwoo said, and stood. "Thank you. For being a buffer for us, for helping out during all that… mess."
Xander smiled at him. "You're welcome," he said easily. "I'm glad we could help."
Dongwoo nodded.
The meeting had started to break up, a few minutes later, when WooHyun nudged DongWoo. "We got a message back from him," he said, and the whole room went quiet.
"Go ahead," DongWoo said.
"He agrees to the second choice, and there's a lot of mocking going on, but he'll be there. His only requirement is you and L, but "bring as many of your security forces as will make you feel safe," he says."
DongWoo chewed on his lip, thinking. "Okay. When." He glanced at L, who looked blank, the kind of blank that meant he wanted all this to be over. He didn't look at Dongwoo, though, and kept his thoughts to himself.
"Three days."
When Xander and his party had gone, Dongwoo sank down in one of the chairs and sighed. "That sounds ominous," he said.
"Send someone," SungKyu said immediately. "Send them now, to scout out the place, see what's going on, see what he's planning, find out anything you can."
Dongwoo looked at him. "Take care of that. I want mine with me, but send anyone else willing to go."
SungKyu nodded and got up, his handset already in his hand by the time he left the room.
"Yours with you?" Woohyun asked, looking up from the data pad.
"Yes," Dongwoo said with a smile. "You. L. Hoya. SungKyu, SungJong, SungYeol. You're all mine."
WooHyun looked at him, head tilted to the side. "Why is that?"
"Because I trust you. I know you. And I want all of you around me during this." DongWoo didn't want them all to know just how much it scared him, this confrontation. It would have been easier if he'd had his father to back him up, and as ever, the thought made his heart ache, just a bit. His mother still hadn't emerged, except for the small ceremony they'd held to say good bye. But he couldn't linger on that, not yet.
"We'll be there," WooHyun said, and brushed his shoulder. "All of us."
DongWoo nodded and stood up. "Let's go tell them to be ready, then, and exactly who is going with us." He looked at L. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
L sighed and stood as well. "I wish I didn't have to say it was okay," he said softly. "But he won't stop if we don't stop him, so…."
DongWoo touched his shoulder. "I wish you didn't have to, too," he said, and smiled at the disbelieving look L shot him. "I do," he said. "I can't imagine what it must be like for you, even though you don't care for him any more."
L shrugged. "But the reality is different."
"It usually is. You didn't go and paint your quarters without me, did you?"
L cheered up, at least a little, as they left the conference room. "No, of course not! I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do."
"Hoya said you were drawing on your walls."
WooHyun laughed, and laughed harder when L shot him a quelling look that didn't work.
****
SungKyu refused to believe the information they got, at least not in total, and L agreed with him. SungKyu's people had done what they could, but the station didn't know them, and they couldn't be everywhere. He didn't let them know, but he trusted the men more just by what they'd said, or so he told DongWoo. DongWoo nodded, distracted, and didn't miss SungKyu's knowing look. He'd hear about it after, if there was an after, and that was good enough. Right now, he focused totally on the coming meeting.
"It's all taken care of," L told him as they walked down the hallway, armored and armed, even if their more visible arms had been removed. The station had tightened security when they'd heard about the meeting. "If anything happens, get out."
DongWoo glanced behind him to where L walked behind him, eyes narrowed. "I'm not leaving…."
"Yes, you are," SungKyu said flatly, and DongWoo looked at him. "Of everyone here, you are indispensable."
DongWoo stopped walking, bringing everyone else to a stop. "No."
"We've been through this," SungKyu said quietly. "And it's even more true now. You have the whole clan depending on you."
DongWoo leaned toward him, pressing on his shoulder. "I don't like this," he muttered. "I don't like it."
"I know," SungKyu said gently, and DongWoo knew he did understand. "But it's the way it will be the rest of your life."
That had never occurred to DongWoo and he drew back, staring at his oldest friend. "But…." He sighed, realized the futility of protesting, and gave in. "Okay," he said quietly. "If it gets bad, I'll go."
He turned back toward their destination and strode forward, hoping no one could see how much he hated this. Of all the things he wanted to talk to his father about, this had never come up, and he wished he knew how Mithra had dealt with it.
When this was over, he'd have to talk to Tablo and see if he knew. With that thought in mind, he felt at least a little better.
That faded, though, when SungJong slipped around him to take up point because the men in black uniforms stepped out of a room ahead of them. He felt the others tighten up around him, and felt marginally better. He really didn't like this, didn't like the idea, but he didn't think he could back out, either.
The soldiers spotted them and went back in, one of them holding the door open for DongWoo. He nodded his thanks and followed SungJong in. SungJong stepped out of the way, and DongWoo almost wished he hadn't. SungKyu's sharply indrawn breath meant he'd caught it, too.
The two men flanking YongSu, obviously his guards, were the men who had spent the most time with them when YongSu had them. But this would not distract him, and when he glanced at SungJong, SungJong winked at him, cheeky and confident, and with a glint of steel in his eyes. Behind him he could feel L's hate brushing past him toward the man that faced them. "Thank you for agreeing to meeting here," DongWoo said, his voice steady. He had the utmost confidence in the men around him.
"Thank you for meeting with me. Please, have a seat."
DongWoo did, watching the man. He caught his grimace when L sat as well, obviously not in charge and just as obviously not upset about it. WooHyun sat on his other side, and SungKyu stood behind him, SungJong and SungYeol on either side of him. SooHyun sat next to L, and Hoya stood against the wall by the door. It didn't surprise him when YongSu completely ignored him, either, turning his attention to L. "It is time for you to return," he said flatly.
L looked up at him, meeting his eyes. "I'm happy where I am, and I have no reason to come back," he said, just as flatly. "Your conversation is with DongWoo."
YongSu looked at DongWoo, and DongWoo lifted his head. "Or is it?" he asked.
"I want my son back."
DongWoo sighed. "You don't get it," he said. "When he chose a new name, he shed everything you tried to make him. All that time you thought he was dead? He worked hard to be the exact antithesis of what you are." He spread his hands on the table. "Are you here to discuss this fight you've dragged us into?"
YongSu narrowed his eyes. "I am willing," he said, although he didn't sound it. "But I'll warn you now. Any cease fire will have a condition of MyungSu's return."
"You aren't listening," L said, standing up, looking for once like one of the clan, eyes wild and fists clenched in fury. "MyungSu is dead. He was dead long before I found a way free of you. The only person here is L, and you will never get your son back. Never. You have only one son. The oldest is dead. Let him go."
DongWoo stood up as well, resting his hand on L's shoulder. "That's very clear," he said softly. "You should reconsider, or this meeting is over."
That went over about as well as DongWoo had expected. YongSu's eyes went colder than he'd ever thought possible. "I do not give up on my sons," he said.
"You have one," L repeated. "Stop using plural."
YongSu's eyes narrowed further, and he stepped back away from the table, freeing himself from the confines of the chairs. "Not until one of them is dead, and I see his lifeless body."
L looked at DongWoo. "It was a mistake to come here," he said. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," Dongwoo said, but he and SungKyu both stepped back as well. "It appears we have nothing to discuss," he added to YongSu, who scowled harder at him. "We'll leave first."
And although he turned his back on YongSu, he knew that SungKyu, SungYeol, and SungJong did not.
Writer's Note: Occurs a couple of weeks after chapter 82.
073: black society - DongWoo, SungJong
Chapter List: Infinite Space
Chapter 83: In which YongSu has heard and wants to meet up with his son and the clan head
"… and you got a message from Kim YongSu," Woohyun said.
DongWoo looked up in surprise, not expecting the information. "A what?"
"A message."
"What does he want?"
Woohyun's shoulders shifted. "He wants to meet you. With L."
DongWoo snorted. "He didn't call him L, did he?"
"No, but I'm good at translating BS," WooHyun said, and SungJong snickered from his spot behind DongWoo.
DongWoo grinned. "Okay, when and where?"
"Are you thinking about it?" WooHyun asked, startled.
DongWoo sobered. "I don't know," he said softly. "I'd like this to be over with. What's he offering?"
"A chance to talk about our differences, to figure out how we will be interacting in the future."
"To figure out what it will cost him to get L back," DongWoo said, and smirked. "As if we'd give him up." He sobered again immediately. "Does he say anything about people with me?"
"No. But he wants it on his ship."
"That's a bad idea," SungKyu said, before SungJong could say anything, and DongWoo had heard him suck in a breath to do so.
"Yeah," DongWoo said. "Suggest somewhere more neutral."
SungJong snickered behind him, and DongWoo turned around. "What?"
"Something Hoya and I were talking about," SungJong said. "Seeing YongSu's face when L takes out the guards and everyone else if he tries to take him again."
"That would be amusing, but as there is no way we'd all get off safely, and the clan has just gone through a funeral, no." DongWoo turned back around. "Does it say anything about my father?"
WooHyun went back to the message, then shook his head. "No, not explicitly," he said.
"Call L in here. Maybe he can interpret his father's words where you can't."
WooHyun didn't show any sign that the words bothered him in his short handset call to L, and a few minutes later, L joined them. WooHyun explained shortly and L took the datapad as he sat down next to him. "Oh, he knows," L said after a while. "I don't know how he found out, but he knows. It's in his word choices, in the tone… he expects you to be easier to deal with. And this, about being on the ship. You're not going to, are you?"
"No," Dongwoo said, echoed by SungKyu and SungJong. He smiled wryly and rolled his eyes.
L smiled briefly as well. "Good. He'd kill you and anyone with you, and then hunt down the rest of the clan."
"I thought as much," DongWoo said, and he leaned back, thinking. "Let's meet on one of the stations we haven't fought on yet, because they'll probably let us land there, one that he doesn't have a foothold in yet. Or not as much of one."
WooHyun nodded and began to research it.
"I don't like it," L said. "I don't know what he expects to accomplish, especially if he agrees."
"I don't like it either," DongWoo said. "I'm not ready to abandon anyone."
"You won't have to," L said flatly.
"I won't," DongWoo said, and leaned back again. "When we go, it will be formal attire, and extra armor if we can manage it. I want all of us there, and SungYeol on L as close as he can be. Arms… knives, I think. He'll probably confiscate blasters or anything else, but the knives stay pretty hidden."
"Give them some to take away," SungKyu said. "They'll be more off guard."
DongWoo frowned. "Should we tell Xander about this?"
SungKyu frowned as well. "That… might be a good idea," he said slowly. "Because they're the next obvious target after us, and then on to the smaller clans until he wipes us all out."
"Would you ask your father about that?" DongWoo asked. "I'd like his input about this."
SungKyu pulled out his handset, and while they waited, WooHyun gave DongWoo a list of possible places to meet. He looked them over, and put together a list of his top three. "Ask him to choose one of those."
"Done," WooHyun said, and went back to his seat next to L. The two of them consulted together as Woohyun wrote.
"You asked to see me?"
Dongwoo looked up, and smiled. "Yes, please," he said, gesturing to Tablo to sit down. "We have a situation." He explained it tersely, both the request to meet and his answer (he felt better when Tablo nodded his agreement with his decision), and then relayed the question about Xander, and the reasons behind it.
Tablo frowned. "That's a good question," he said quietly. "No, I don't think you should. Let him know what's happening, and that you'll pass on the information, but if he decides he wants to go, you can't exactly say no. You can tell him you can't guarantee anyone he might send with you."
DongWoo bit his lip. "Do you think he'll want to?"
Tablo shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think so, but word any messages carefully to let him know you really don't think you can guarantee anyone's safety."
"Okay," DongWoo said, his lips twisting into a wry smile. He couldn't even guarantee his own safety, or that of his friends.
"Here's the message for YongSu," WooHyun said, "and one for Xander."
DongWoo thought he should stop being surprised about how efficient WooHyun was, but not today. "Thank you," he said, and quietly made a note to give them all a raise. They'd need it, and besides, their job load had increased. He looked them both over, and then nodded to WooHyun to send them. "Thank you," he said to Tablo. "I think we're done for now."
****
"Have you heard from YongSu yet?" Xander asked once they'd all settled around the table in a conference room on the Dawn.
DongWoo shook his head. "No, not yet," he said. "We're not sure what the hold up is, but whatever. The longer he waits, the better off we are."
Xander nodded, then rose and paced along the table. From AJ's expression, this was normal. "I'd like to be able to send someone with you," he said, but then stopped pacing and looked at Dongwoo. "But I think no matter who I sent, they'd get in your way. Kevin tells me that WooHyun is very good at keeping in all important necessities in reports, and he trusts him. I trust Kevin."
Woohyun turned an interesting shade of red. "Thank you," he said, and Dongwoo smiled because he seemed at a loss for words, something that didn't happen to WooHyun often.
"Let me know if there is anything else we can do," Xander said.
"I'll get in contact with you as soon as we hear anything," Dongwoo said, and stood. "Thank you. For being a buffer for us, for helping out during all that… mess."
Xander smiled at him. "You're welcome," he said easily. "I'm glad we could help."
Dongwoo nodded.
The meeting had started to break up, a few minutes later, when WooHyun nudged DongWoo. "We got a message back from him," he said, and the whole room went quiet.
"Go ahead," DongWoo said.
"He agrees to the second choice, and there's a lot of mocking going on, but he'll be there. His only requirement is you and L, but "bring as many of your security forces as will make you feel safe," he says."
DongWoo chewed on his lip, thinking. "Okay. When." He glanced at L, who looked blank, the kind of blank that meant he wanted all this to be over. He didn't look at Dongwoo, though, and kept his thoughts to himself.
"Three days."
When Xander and his party had gone, Dongwoo sank down in one of the chairs and sighed. "That sounds ominous," he said.
"Send someone," SungKyu said immediately. "Send them now, to scout out the place, see what's going on, see what he's planning, find out anything you can."
Dongwoo looked at him. "Take care of that. I want mine with me, but send anyone else willing to go."
SungKyu nodded and got up, his handset already in his hand by the time he left the room.
"Yours with you?" Woohyun asked, looking up from the data pad.
"Yes," Dongwoo said with a smile. "You. L. Hoya. SungKyu, SungJong, SungYeol. You're all mine."
WooHyun looked at him, head tilted to the side. "Why is that?"
"Because I trust you. I know you. And I want all of you around me during this." DongWoo didn't want them all to know just how much it scared him, this confrontation. It would have been easier if he'd had his father to back him up, and as ever, the thought made his heart ache, just a bit. His mother still hadn't emerged, except for the small ceremony they'd held to say good bye. But he couldn't linger on that, not yet.
"We'll be there," WooHyun said, and brushed his shoulder. "All of us."
DongWoo nodded and stood up. "Let's go tell them to be ready, then, and exactly who is going with us." He looked at L. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
L sighed and stood as well. "I wish I didn't have to say it was okay," he said softly. "But he won't stop if we don't stop him, so…."
DongWoo touched his shoulder. "I wish you didn't have to, too," he said, and smiled at the disbelieving look L shot him. "I do," he said. "I can't imagine what it must be like for you, even though you don't care for him any more."
L shrugged. "But the reality is different."
"It usually is. You didn't go and paint your quarters without me, did you?"
L cheered up, at least a little, as they left the conference room. "No, of course not! I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do."
"Hoya said you were drawing on your walls."
WooHyun laughed, and laughed harder when L shot him a quelling look that didn't work.
****
SungKyu refused to believe the information they got, at least not in total, and L agreed with him. SungKyu's people had done what they could, but the station didn't know them, and they couldn't be everywhere. He didn't let them know, but he trusted the men more just by what they'd said, or so he told DongWoo. DongWoo nodded, distracted, and didn't miss SungKyu's knowing look. He'd hear about it after, if there was an after, and that was good enough. Right now, he focused totally on the coming meeting.
"It's all taken care of," L told him as they walked down the hallway, armored and armed, even if their more visible arms had been removed. The station had tightened security when they'd heard about the meeting. "If anything happens, get out."
DongWoo glanced behind him to where L walked behind him, eyes narrowed. "I'm not leaving…."
"Yes, you are," SungKyu said flatly, and DongWoo looked at him. "Of everyone here, you are indispensable."
DongWoo stopped walking, bringing everyone else to a stop. "No."
"We've been through this," SungKyu said quietly. "And it's even more true now. You have the whole clan depending on you."
DongWoo leaned toward him, pressing on his shoulder. "I don't like this," he muttered. "I don't like it."
"I know," SungKyu said gently, and DongWoo knew he did understand. "But it's the way it will be the rest of your life."
That had never occurred to DongWoo and he drew back, staring at his oldest friend. "But…." He sighed, realized the futility of protesting, and gave in. "Okay," he said quietly. "If it gets bad, I'll go."
He turned back toward their destination and strode forward, hoping no one could see how much he hated this. Of all the things he wanted to talk to his father about, this had never come up, and he wished he knew how Mithra had dealt with it.
When this was over, he'd have to talk to Tablo and see if he knew. With that thought in mind, he felt at least a little better.
That faded, though, when SungJong slipped around him to take up point because the men in black uniforms stepped out of a room ahead of them. He felt the others tighten up around him, and felt marginally better. He really didn't like this, didn't like the idea, but he didn't think he could back out, either.
The soldiers spotted them and went back in, one of them holding the door open for DongWoo. He nodded his thanks and followed SungJong in. SungJong stepped out of the way, and DongWoo almost wished he hadn't. SungKyu's sharply indrawn breath meant he'd caught it, too.
The two men flanking YongSu, obviously his guards, were the men who had spent the most time with them when YongSu had them. But this would not distract him, and when he glanced at SungJong, SungJong winked at him, cheeky and confident, and with a glint of steel in his eyes. Behind him he could feel L's hate brushing past him toward the man that faced them. "Thank you for agreeing to meeting here," DongWoo said, his voice steady. He had the utmost confidence in the men around him.
"Thank you for meeting with me. Please, have a seat."
DongWoo did, watching the man. He caught his grimace when L sat as well, obviously not in charge and just as obviously not upset about it. WooHyun sat on his other side, and SungKyu stood behind him, SungJong and SungYeol on either side of him. SooHyun sat next to L, and Hoya stood against the wall by the door. It didn't surprise him when YongSu completely ignored him, either, turning his attention to L. "It is time for you to return," he said flatly.
L looked up at him, meeting his eyes. "I'm happy where I am, and I have no reason to come back," he said, just as flatly. "Your conversation is with DongWoo."
YongSu looked at DongWoo, and DongWoo lifted his head. "Or is it?" he asked.
"I want my son back."
DongWoo sighed. "You don't get it," he said. "When he chose a new name, he shed everything you tried to make him. All that time you thought he was dead? He worked hard to be the exact antithesis of what you are." He spread his hands on the table. "Are you here to discuss this fight you've dragged us into?"
YongSu narrowed his eyes. "I am willing," he said, although he didn't sound it. "But I'll warn you now. Any cease fire will have a condition of MyungSu's return."
"You aren't listening," L said, standing up, looking for once like one of the clan, eyes wild and fists clenched in fury. "MyungSu is dead. He was dead long before I found a way free of you. The only person here is L, and you will never get your son back. Never. You have only one son. The oldest is dead. Let him go."
DongWoo stood up as well, resting his hand on L's shoulder. "That's very clear," he said softly. "You should reconsider, or this meeting is over."
That went over about as well as DongWoo had expected. YongSu's eyes went colder than he'd ever thought possible. "I do not give up on my sons," he said.
"You have one," L repeated. "Stop using plural."
YongSu's eyes narrowed further, and he stepped back away from the table, freeing himself from the confines of the chairs. "Not until one of them is dead, and I see his lifeless body."
L looked at DongWoo. "It was a mistake to come here," he said. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," Dongwoo said, but he and SungKyu both stepped back as well. "It appears we have nothing to discuss," he added to YongSu, who scowled harder at him. "We'll leave first."
And although he turned his back on YongSu, he knew that SungKyu, SungYeol, and SungJong did not.