Amor Vincit Omnia (Chapter V)
Title: Amor Vincit Omnia (Love Conquers All)
Pairing: Yoosu, Jaesu, Yunjae, Minsu, brief mention of Hyukhae
Rating: PG/PG-13
Genre: Angst, action, drama, romance.
Length: Chaptered
Summary: In this world, there has always been a wide margin between the rich and the poor. Kim Junsu, second son of the rich Kim Corporations and Park Yoochun, a penniless young man with a warm and loving heart who is forced to join an illegal gang, are seemingly on opposite sides of the Earth. However, Fate plays a trick on both men and their paths cross in an unexpected twist of events.
A/N: Originally posted here at winglin. Reposted here at LJ for the benefit of all Yoosu fans :D
Chapter V: Kidnap
“Yoochun! Where the hell did you go? Your mother’s awake and she’s looking for you!” Yoochun heard Yunho’s loud shout even before he saw the said person himself. Hurriedly, he dashed to his mother’s bedside and grasped her frail hand gently in his warm ones. “Umma, how are you feeling now?”
His mother’s eyes fluttered open slowly, and a small attempt at a smile was made. “My dear son …Chun … Don’t worry about me. I am fine.” Yoochun felt tears collect in the rims of his eyes again … and cool fingers brushing them away for him.
“Yoochun, don’t cry. You must be a strong boy and smile. Smile for me.” Automatically, a cheeky grin stretched itself across Yoochun’s face in spite of the tears running down his cheeks.
“Rest, Umma. You need your rest. When you wake up, I will make you your favourite healthy fish and grain porridge, okay? Sleep.” Yoochun coaxed his mother to sleep, tucking the blankets securely around her.
“Mmmm … I can almost taste it now … My good son …” His mother’s eyelids gradually closed and her breathing became regular. Yoochun gazed at his mother’s face. If only she knew what he had consented to doing, she would have spanked him so hard he was unable to walk. If only she knew what he had consented to doing, she would have cried so hard Yoochun would give in to her eventually. If only … If only his mother was well … Yoochun would give anything in the world.
And that was all he wanted, for now.
* * *
A few days later, Yoochun received a message from Siwon, asking Yoochun to meet him and the others at the ‘O’ Phantom pub with the given address at midnight. After making Yunho swear that he would not leave Yoochun’s mother, Yoochun pulled on a cap and left the hospital stealthily.
Siwon was already there, waiting for him with a small group of men. Donned in his usual dark black suit, he raised an eyebrow at Yoochun as the latter ran up to him, panting slightly. “I’m sorry.”
“Tardiness is never excused in our gang, Micky. Remember that. I will let you off this once.” Siwon turned away from him to face the rest of the serious-looking men. “Let’s go, my brothers. We have a target tonight.” Yoochun adjusted his cap nervously and followed. It seemed like these guys weren’t normal punks or hooligans; and somehow, his respect for Siwon was heavily mingled with fear.
The group of men set off into the night, their quietly moving figures hidden by the dark shadows of the alleyways. It was a good half an hour brisk walk before Siwon stopped abruptly in front of a bar blasting heavy rock metal music, its noise shattering the silence of the night. Through its open doors, Yoochun could see several clubbers drinking and dancing under the dim lights, their bodies swaying dangerously in time to the beat.
“S-Siwon, what are we doing here -” Before Yoochun had even finished his sentence, a hard cuff sent him flying to the ground. “Impertinence. You do not address Mr. Choi by his name, boy.” Yoochun was frightened by the fierce look that Siwon’s right hand man shot him. He held his swelling cheek, trying to stop himself from shivering.
“Calm down, Yesung. The boy is still new. Stop frightening him.” Siwon held out a hand to Yoochun. “Come, we have no time to waste.” Taking Siwon’s hand, Yoochun stood up and did not dare to look at the others as they filed into the bar, weaving through the dancing crowd.
With a whispered order, Siwon had two men blocking the entrance, and the rest followed him submissively as they entered deep into the guest rooms, finally stopping before Room #64. At his command, Yesung battered the door down swiftly but silently and had the people in the room at gun point in a flash. Siwon stepped in powerfully and the others closed the door behind them. Only then did Yoochun dare to lift his head and glance at the two people inside. There was a rather large-sized man who had obviously been enjoying himself with the hooker who was now trying to get off his lap in terror, pulling up the thin fabric of her revealing silk dress to cover her exposed chest.
“Si-Si-Siwon …” The man had broken out in a cold sweat after recognising who he was. Gathering all her clothes, the hooker left the room … and leaving them alone.
“Long time no see, Shindong, my old friend. I see you are doing quite well?” Siwon’s voice had turned metallic and cold. Yoochun could see the horror reflected on the man’s face as he gulped and wondered what Siwon had done to make this man so frightened of him.
“Siwon … Please …” Yoochun gasped as Siwon pulled the man into a hug … but when he released Shindong, Yoochun could see the glint of a dagger as it embedded itself deep into Shindong’s gut. “I’m sorry. Mr Kang wanted this. You shouldn’t have crossed him.” He whispered to the now-dying man with no remorse in his tone. Shindong writhed in immense pain, his eyes already starting to glaze over. “Let’s go,” Siwon murmured to Yoochun and the others. Yoochun had not fully recovered from the shock of seeing the man die in front of him before he was tugged away forcefully by Yesung and the room door closed, shutting the man and his life away.
* * *
Once they were outside, out of earshot, Yoochun rounded on Siwon, arms held out, stopping him in his tracks and not caring whether or not he would earn a cuff from Yesung again. “You said you would not do any killings!”
“I did say that. Shindong will not die for now, but he will be, if no one finds him, which is highly possible.” Siwon replied calmly.
“I don’t see the difference, Siwon. You have murdered a man for no reason.” Yoochun retorted, his anger fuelling his courage.
“Micky, I have not murdered him. He has killed himself, or will kill himself, by bleeding to his own death. And there is one more thing you must understand, we kill for only one reason: on our client’s wishes. Now quit rattling on like a bitch or you’ll have your guts blown out of you in a second.” Siwon’s voice now had a dangerous edge to it, and Yoochun did not dare to speak further.
“Get in line.” He felt a rough push from Yesung and he stumbled, falling back in place at the last row. He spotted the signs of a victorious smirk from the elder’s face and could almost read his thoughts. Yesung, who had utterly disliked Yoochun from the very beginning, was glad that Siwon had finally stopped giving him chances.
And last place in the gang was where Yoochun stayed permanently.
* * *
The words on the page were beginning to blur in front of Junsu’s eyes. Squeezing them shut, he opened them again, hoping to clear his vision, but it did little to help his tired eyes. A sudden wave of irritation that arose from exhaustion overwhelmed him. Junsu threw the file together with its vile contents onto the desk and leaned back in his chair, deciding to take a break for a few minutes.
Unfortunately, he only had a few peaceful seconds of rest before his office door was thrown open by a very excited Jaejoong.
“Junsu! Did you hear the - Oops. Sorry.” Jaejoong realised that his younger brother had just been woken up irritably by his actions.
“Close the door behind you, Jae, then tell me the news. I’m sure you don’t want half the female population out there spazzing over this keyed up gorgeous side of you.”
“Gosh, Su, what have you been doing? You’re looking ten years older. Look at those bags under your eyes. You seriously need to get some sleep.” Jaejoong did as his brother said before falling into the seat before him.
“Slaving over the proposal,” Junsu answered resignedly. “Appa wants a perfect one but so far I’ve only got the first draft done and trust me, it’s not pretty.”
“Well, I’ve got some good news for you. I heard that Eunhyuk’s father is planning to work with us regardless of whether or not we have a better proposal than the Kangs.” Jaejoong whispered excitedly, leaning forwards.
Junsu raised an eyebrow. “Is this a result of Appa’s convincing acting skills? I heard he went to tea with the Lees earlier on.” He looked back down at the file, not at all surprised that his father had managed to score a point with the Lees thanks to using his relationship with Eunhyuk.
“No.” Jaejoong shook his head firmly. “Mr Lee was already planning to do so once he’d gotten wind of Kang-In’s close ties with the underworld. He didn’t want to run a dirty business, you see. So he chose us. Naturally.” Jaejoong had a triumphant grin on his beautiful face.
Junsu could not help sighing. As much as he knew that this was a piece of good news, winning the deal with the Lees only meant one thing to him - more work and no play.
* * *
Yoochun was starting to hate this life of his.
“You. Clean up the place before we leave. I don’t want the owner of this place to complain about all his split wine. Make sure he doesn’t catch a single whiff of it … Or you’ll be punished.” Siwon threw a rag at Yoochun and left the room, flanked by Yesung. Yoochun noticed bitterly that Siwon had stopped bothering to address him by his name after he had offended him.
It had been similar to the last time they attacked a man at a pub; after drugging the unknown victim with a lethal poison and causing him to spill his still half-filled glass of wine all over the floor, Siwon and the others left him there to die slowly in his unconscious state. Yoochun got down on his hands and knees, wiping the floor vigorously, trying to work out the rage and contempt in his heart that he had for these filthy assassins. He cursed himself for being so stupid to believe that Siwon would actually have been a different person from all the usual punks he saw on the streets. Yoochun wanted so badly to stop being involved in all this immoral activities, but he knew he was in no position to, considering his financial status.
After he was done, Yoochun reluctantly joined the others in another private room to which Siwon had access to, owing to his mystery boss’s privileges. He could tell that the atmosphere was definitely more tensed that it already was a few moments ago after the poisoning. Positioning himself at the door, Yoochun half-hid in the shadows as Siwon began to address the group.
“I have received a special order from Mr Kang himself, who instructed me personally to order this mission,” Siwon began smugly and loyally, “We will be masterminding the kidnap of a man who has threatened the position of our beloved Mr Kang in his business world. As you all very well should know, the Kim Corporations have constantly been a strong rival of the Kang Enterprises which has made Mr Kang very unhappy indeed. Hence, we will be doing the honours for him by getting rid of the key figure of the Kim Corporations - Kim Jaejoong. This time, the mission will be much more difficult to achieve as he is a media favourite and it is not easy to track him down alone, but it is still within our means. As far as I have heard, Mr Kang has no further instructions yet, but I believe that once the time is right, we will be performing a clean and quick murder as usual. It is highly important that we succeed in this mission, or it will cost you your lives. Have I made myself clear?” Siwon’s tone was menacing once again, sending chills down everyone’s spines.
“Yes, Mr Choi.” The men chorused, although Yoochun kept silent.
“Yesung will be giving you further instructions.” Siwon threw a brown envelope onto the table and disappeared into the side room, leaving Yesung to inform the others of further details of the mission.
In an orderly fashion, the remaining group of men moved towards the table and scanned through the papers in the envelope. Yesung started giving out commands to each man as he passed him, and soon, it was Yoochun’s turn. He picked up the papers and flipped quickly through it, the man’s personal data of no interest to him. However, a photograph of the targeted man caught his eye. “Kim Jaejoong” - the familiar stunning features of the man struck a chord in Yoochun’s mind, but he could not remember where he had seen him.
“Yah, Micky Park!” Yoochun was brought back to reality and met Yesung’s cold, leering eyes. “You will be in Group V, in charge of the actual kidnapping itself, together with Donghae. He will tell you more about what to do and how to react fast in the situation. Remember … If you screw this up …” Yesung leaned in closer to Yoochun and the latter gulped nervously, “It won’t be just your life on the line, even your mother will not be spared as well.” Yoochun’s eyes grew wide and he knew that he had to commit this sin at all costs.
“I - I - I understand.” Yoochun gasped out, his throat and stomach tightening.
“Good to see that you have. Now get moving to Donghae’s side. You’ll need all the information you can get.” Yesung smirked. Stumbling over numbly to Donghae who gestured to him, he barely heard a thing as the former inculcated the crucial steps in the mission and the weapons and gadgets used to him. Yoochun turned his vision inward towards the raging battle in his mind: His mother, or his morals?
“Park. Take these.” Yoochun felt strong fabric material, a syringe and a sharp object shoved into his palms. “Once we get hold of the victim, you will gag him while I tie him up and we will drag him to meet Yesung and the others in a van. Sungmin will be on standby to look out for anyone else,” Donghae motioned to a blond man with smiling lips. “If need be, use the tranquilizer in the syringe to shut him up. The neck area is preferred as the drug will spread faster within the victim’s body.”
Yoochun looked down at the needle in his hands. He felt like he was a to-be murderer, but for his mother ... He’d kill to help her stay alive.
* * *
The exultant jubilance could be felt within the Kim household, although Junsu remained morose. Jaejoong and their father could be seen discussing future business possibilities with the Lees even over tea, and their mother would constantly praise Jaejoong for his competence and abilities, to which he modestly denied so, while Junsu would sit and stare blankly out of the window, wondering when his days of freedom would come.
Little did he know, his freedom came in the strangest disguise ever possible.
* * *
On the day of the deal, old Mr Kim and Jaejoong were in the utmost state of anticipation ever. Junsu could never have imagined such an expression of enthusiasm to appear on his father’s weathered face. Donned in his usual formal black dress suit with a red bowtie around his neck, he followed Jaejoong into the limousine as their father stepped into the one before theirs.
“It’s going to be a long car ride to the Lee’s, Su, so take a nap along the way.” Jaejoong patted his brother’s hand.
Junsu nodded slightly and replied, “Mmmm.”
“Su ah, why do you look so glum? What’s bothering you?” Jaejoong chirped. The younger man shifted uncomfortably in his seat beside his brother.
“I don’t know, hyung … I have this bad feeling. Like something is going to happen.” Junsu tried to vocalise his feelings into words.
“Relax, Su. Nothing bad is going to happen to you with me around. Even if Kang-In is going to storm into the room with a dozen gangsters I will protect you and fight out way out. If you don’t trust me, at least trust my muscles.” Junsu cracked a smile at seeing his elder brother flex his perfectly-shaped arms.
Time passed slowly even though the scenery flashed by quickly outside the window. The car stopped to a slow halt at a traffic light. Jaejoong had dozed off sleepily on Junsu’s shoulder, while the bothered young man who could not seem to get to sleep at all, chose to stare out of the window at all the random people walking on the streets, wishing he could be part of them and have some normality in his life.
His mind must have been exhausted, because when Junsu opened his heavy eyelids again, it was late afternoon and the scenery outside the window had changed. Feeling a sense of ominous dread rising up in his stomach, Junsu woke Jaejoong who was still leaning on him.
“Hyung. Wake up.” Junsu whispered urgently in his brother’s ear.
“Mmmm … Su? What’s wrong?” Jaejoong murmured groggily, rubbing his eyes.
“Hyung … This doesn’t look like the way to the Lee’s company, does it?” At the sound of Junsu’s words, Jaejoong opened his eyes fully to stare past Junsu out of the window. Tall skyscrapers and man-made concrete paths had vanished; and before their eyes were fields and decidedly-deserted, isolated huts and worn-down old factories. Both men felt the tendrils of fear curling icily in the pits of their stomachs as they unanimously turned their gazes towards the driver in the front seat. The driver stared back nervously at them from the back mirror, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down in his throat.
“Who was it? Tell me, who instigated you to do this to us?” Jaejoong could barely mask the fury in his voice.
“K - K - Kang - Mr Kang-In s-said he would k-kill my family i-if I d-didn’t do this - I - I’m sorry, Mr Kim -” The man in the front seat started to babble incoherently.
“Shit, I should have known Kang-In would resort to dirty tricks like these -” Jaejoong broke off as they saw a van coming from the opposite direction rapidly approaching their limousine. In a split second, Jaejoong made a decision and yelled, “Junsu, open the door and run! I’ll hold them off. Run, now, before it’s too late!” He pushed at the younger man who didn’t want to move.
“No, hyung, I am not leaving you alone to die in their clutches. If we must run, we run together!” Without waiting for Jaejoong’s answer, Junsu latched his hand firmly with his brother’s and tugged open the door as a gush of fresh afternoon air rushed into the limousine. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see three men getting out of the van and dashing towards them, and he changed course mid-way, rushing through the barren fields with Jaejoong right beside him.
As he ran, Junsu’s mind was processing the situation quickly. He knew very well that the two of them would be not be able to escape together. Only one person alone could make it back, and without thinking, he knew that it had to be Jaejoong. The one who could handle matters and work at his very best and make their father happy, and the one he loved and respected so much he could not afford to let him fall into Kang-In’s hands. There was no more time to ponder over whether or not he had made the right decision. Immediately, he carried out his plan.
Junsu let go of Jaejoong’s hand, to which the elder man turned back to look at him in fright. “Junsu, what the hell are you doing -” and gave him a push with all the strength he had, forcing Jaejoong to stumble a few steps forward. He could see in Jaejoong’s eyes that he had understood what he was going to do. “No, Junsu -!” Panic gripped Jaejoong’s heart. Too late, Junsu had broken the eye contact and sped back towards the three men with outstretched arms, tackling one of them down to the ground.
Jaejoong knew why Junsu had done this. With tears running down his cheeks, he staggered onwards, his heart breaking to leave his brother behind. But he knew, he knew the responsibility on his shoulders, he knew he had to get back to sign the deal with the Lees, or witness the collapse of their company. Jaejoong’s tears blurred his vision, but his legs did not stop, until his foot caught in a bramble and the next step sent him sprawling onto the ground and tumbling sideways down a steep slope.
* * *
“Damnit, little bastard, Kim Jaejoong got away because of him!” Junsu could hear a man curse violently and felt an iron fist at his gut, which resulted in great pain and chokes on his part. Struggling against the arms of another man who had him pinned down onto the ground, he saw the first man start to chase after the disappearing Jaejoong in the distance. Instinctively, Junsu stretched his arm as far as it could go and yanked on his ankle, successfully tripping the first man over in a heap. By the time he got up to his feet, Jaejoong was nowhere to be seen.
“Bastard, you thought that you alone could stop us?” He felt a hand push him over roughly and a punch sent to his jaw, then another, and another, causing him to gasp and spit out unknown substances from his mouth. Junsu could feel taste blood as the second man tugged him up by his collar, but he refused to submit to them and continued to fight against the strong grip. “Yah Micky! Get your ass over here and stab him with the sedative before the bastard gets pushy!” The name only dimly registered in Junsu’s mind as he caught a glimpse of another man under his flickering eyelids. He saw a wavering hand at his neck and felt a sharp jab at his skin - before raising his tired eyes to meet the familiar warm liquid-brown ones.
Surprise mingled with shock was the last thing Junsu felt before he collapsed into nothingness.
* * *
Chapter VI
Pairing: Yoosu, Jaesu, Yunjae, Minsu, brief mention of Hyukhae
Rating: PG/PG-13
Genre: Angst, action, drama, romance.
Length: Chaptered
Summary: In this world, there has always been a wide margin between the rich and the poor. Kim Junsu, second son of the rich Kim Corporations and Park Yoochun, a penniless young man with a warm and loving heart who is forced to join an illegal gang, are seemingly on opposite sides of the Earth. However, Fate plays a trick on both men and their paths cross in an unexpected twist of events.
A/N: Originally posted here at winglin. Reposted here at LJ for the benefit of all Yoosu fans :D
Chapter V: Kidnap
“Yoochun! Where the hell did you go? Your mother’s awake and she’s looking for you!” Yoochun heard Yunho’s loud shout even before he saw the said person himself. Hurriedly, he dashed to his mother’s bedside and grasped her frail hand gently in his warm ones. “Umma, how are you feeling now?”
His mother’s eyes fluttered open slowly, and a small attempt at a smile was made. “My dear son …Chun … Don’t worry about me. I am fine.” Yoochun felt tears collect in the rims of his eyes again … and cool fingers brushing them away for him.
“Yoochun, don’t cry. You must be a strong boy and smile. Smile for me.” Automatically, a cheeky grin stretched itself across Yoochun’s face in spite of the tears running down his cheeks.
“Rest, Umma. You need your rest. When you wake up, I will make you your favourite healthy fish and grain porridge, okay? Sleep.” Yoochun coaxed his mother to sleep, tucking the blankets securely around her.
“Mmmm … I can almost taste it now … My good son …” His mother’s eyelids gradually closed and her breathing became regular. Yoochun gazed at his mother’s face. If only she knew what he had consented to doing, she would have spanked him so hard he was unable to walk. If only she knew what he had consented to doing, she would have cried so hard Yoochun would give in to her eventually. If only … If only his mother was well … Yoochun would give anything in the world.
And that was all he wanted, for now.
* * *
A few days later, Yoochun received a message from Siwon, asking Yoochun to meet him and the others at the ‘O’ Phantom pub with the given address at midnight. After making Yunho swear that he would not leave Yoochun’s mother, Yoochun pulled on a cap and left the hospital stealthily.
Siwon was already there, waiting for him with a small group of men. Donned in his usual dark black suit, he raised an eyebrow at Yoochun as the latter ran up to him, panting slightly. “I’m sorry.”
“Tardiness is never excused in our gang, Micky. Remember that. I will let you off this once.” Siwon turned away from him to face the rest of the serious-looking men. “Let’s go, my brothers. We have a target tonight.” Yoochun adjusted his cap nervously and followed. It seemed like these guys weren’t normal punks or hooligans; and somehow, his respect for Siwon was heavily mingled with fear.
The group of men set off into the night, their quietly moving figures hidden by the dark shadows of the alleyways. It was a good half an hour brisk walk before Siwon stopped abruptly in front of a bar blasting heavy rock metal music, its noise shattering the silence of the night. Through its open doors, Yoochun could see several clubbers drinking and dancing under the dim lights, their bodies swaying dangerously in time to the beat.
“S-Siwon, what are we doing here -” Before Yoochun had even finished his sentence, a hard cuff sent him flying to the ground. “Impertinence. You do not address Mr. Choi by his name, boy.” Yoochun was frightened by the fierce look that Siwon’s right hand man shot him. He held his swelling cheek, trying to stop himself from shivering.
“Calm down, Yesung. The boy is still new. Stop frightening him.” Siwon held out a hand to Yoochun. “Come, we have no time to waste.” Taking Siwon’s hand, Yoochun stood up and did not dare to look at the others as they filed into the bar, weaving through the dancing crowd.
With a whispered order, Siwon had two men blocking the entrance, and the rest followed him submissively as they entered deep into the guest rooms, finally stopping before Room #64. At his command, Yesung battered the door down swiftly but silently and had the people in the room at gun point in a flash. Siwon stepped in powerfully and the others closed the door behind them. Only then did Yoochun dare to lift his head and glance at the two people inside. There was a rather large-sized man who had obviously been enjoying himself with the hooker who was now trying to get off his lap in terror, pulling up the thin fabric of her revealing silk dress to cover her exposed chest.
“Si-Si-Siwon …” The man had broken out in a cold sweat after recognising who he was. Gathering all her clothes, the hooker left the room … and leaving them alone.
“Long time no see, Shindong, my old friend. I see you are doing quite well?” Siwon’s voice had turned metallic and cold. Yoochun could see the horror reflected on the man’s face as he gulped and wondered what Siwon had done to make this man so frightened of him.
“Siwon … Please …” Yoochun gasped as Siwon pulled the man into a hug … but when he released Shindong, Yoochun could see the glint of a dagger as it embedded itself deep into Shindong’s gut. “I’m sorry. Mr Kang wanted this. You shouldn’t have crossed him.” He whispered to the now-dying man with no remorse in his tone. Shindong writhed in immense pain, his eyes already starting to glaze over. “Let’s go,” Siwon murmured to Yoochun and the others. Yoochun had not fully recovered from the shock of seeing the man die in front of him before he was tugged away forcefully by Yesung and the room door closed, shutting the man and his life away.
* * *
Once they were outside, out of earshot, Yoochun rounded on Siwon, arms held out, stopping him in his tracks and not caring whether or not he would earn a cuff from Yesung again. “You said you would not do any killings!”
“I did say that. Shindong will not die for now, but he will be, if no one finds him, which is highly possible.” Siwon replied calmly.
“I don’t see the difference, Siwon. You have murdered a man for no reason.” Yoochun retorted, his anger fuelling his courage.
“Micky, I have not murdered him. He has killed himself, or will kill himself, by bleeding to his own death. And there is one more thing you must understand, we kill for only one reason: on our client’s wishes. Now quit rattling on like a bitch or you’ll have your guts blown out of you in a second.” Siwon’s voice now had a dangerous edge to it, and Yoochun did not dare to speak further.
“Get in line.” He felt a rough push from Yesung and he stumbled, falling back in place at the last row. He spotted the signs of a victorious smirk from the elder’s face and could almost read his thoughts. Yesung, who had utterly disliked Yoochun from the very beginning, was glad that Siwon had finally stopped giving him chances.
And last place in the gang was where Yoochun stayed permanently.
* * *
The words on the page were beginning to blur in front of Junsu’s eyes. Squeezing them shut, he opened them again, hoping to clear his vision, but it did little to help his tired eyes. A sudden wave of irritation that arose from exhaustion overwhelmed him. Junsu threw the file together with its vile contents onto the desk and leaned back in his chair, deciding to take a break for a few minutes.
Unfortunately, he only had a few peaceful seconds of rest before his office door was thrown open by a very excited Jaejoong.
“Junsu! Did you hear the - Oops. Sorry.” Jaejoong realised that his younger brother had just been woken up irritably by his actions.
“Close the door behind you, Jae, then tell me the news. I’m sure you don’t want half the female population out there spazzing over this keyed up gorgeous side of you.”
“Gosh, Su, what have you been doing? You’re looking ten years older. Look at those bags under your eyes. You seriously need to get some sleep.” Jaejoong did as his brother said before falling into the seat before him.
“Slaving over the proposal,” Junsu answered resignedly. “Appa wants a perfect one but so far I’ve only got the first draft done and trust me, it’s not pretty.”
“Well, I’ve got some good news for you. I heard that Eunhyuk’s father is planning to work with us regardless of whether or not we have a better proposal than the Kangs.” Jaejoong whispered excitedly, leaning forwards.
Junsu raised an eyebrow. “Is this a result of Appa’s convincing acting skills? I heard he went to tea with the Lees earlier on.” He looked back down at the file, not at all surprised that his father had managed to score a point with the Lees thanks to using his relationship with Eunhyuk.
“No.” Jaejoong shook his head firmly. “Mr Lee was already planning to do so once he’d gotten wind of Kang-In’s close ties with the underworld. He didn’t want to run a dirty business, you see. So he chose us. Naturally.” Jaejoong had a triumphant grin on his beautiful face.
Junsu could not help sighing. As much as he knew that this was a piece of good news, winning the deal with the Lees only meant one thing to him - more work and no play.
* * *
Yoochun was starting to hate this life of his.
“You. Clean up the place before we leave. I don’t want the owner of this place to complain about all his split wine. Make sure he doesn’t catch a single whiff of it … Or you’ll be punished.” Siwon threw a rag at Yoochun and left the room, flanked by Yesung. Yoochun noticed bitterly that Siwon had stopped bothering to address him by his name after he had offended him.
It had been similar to the last time they attacked a man at a pub; after drugging the unknown victim with a lethal poison and causing him to spill his still half-filled glass of wine all over the floor, Siwon and the others left him there to die slowly in his unconscious state. Yoochun got down on his hands and knees, wiping the floor vigorously, trying to work out the rage and contempt in his heart that he had for these filthy assassins. He cursed himself for being so stupid to believe that Siwon would actually have been a different person from all the usual punks he saw on the streets. Yoochun wanted so badly to stop being involved in all this immoral activities, but he knew he was in no position to, considering his financial status.
After he was done, Yoochun reluctantly joined the others in another private room to which Siwon had access to, owing to his mystery boss’s privileges. He could tell that the atmosphere was definitely more tensed that it already was a few moments ago after the poisoning. Positioning himself at the door, Yoochun half-hid in the shadows as Siwon began to address the group.
“I have received a special order from Mr Kang himself, who instructed me personally to order this mission,” Siwon began smugly and loyally, “We will be masterminding the kidnap of a man who has threatened the position of our beloved Mr Kang in his business world. As you all very well should know, the Kim Corporations have constantly been a strong rival of the Kang Enterprises which has made Mr Kang very unhappy indeed. Hence, we will be doing the honours for him by getting rid of the key figure of the Kim Corporations - Kim Jaejoong. This time, the mission will be much more difficult to achieve as he is a media favourite and it is not easy to track him down alone, but it is still within our means. As far as I have heard, Mr Kang has no further instructions yet, but I believe that once the time is right, we will be performing a clean and quick murder as usual. It is highly important that we succeed in this mission, or it will cost you your lives. Have I made myself clear?” Siwon’s tone was menacing once again, sending chills down everyone’s spines.
“Yes, Mr Choi.” The men chorused, although Yoochun kept silent.
“Yesung will be giving you further instructions.” Siwon threw a brown envelope onto the table and disappeared into the side room, leaving Yesung to inform the others of further details of the mission.
In an orderly fashion, the remaining group of men moved towards the table and scanned through the papers in the envelope. Yesung started giving out commands to each man as he passed him, and soon, it was Yoochun’s turn. He picked up the papers and flipped quickly through it, the man’s personal data of no interest to him. However, a photograph of the targeted man caught his eye. “Kim Jaejoong” - the familiar stunning features of the man struck a chord in Yoochun’s mind, but he could not remember where he had seen him.
“Yah, Micky Park!” Yoochun was brought back to reality and met Yesung’s cold, leering eyes. “You will be in Group V, in charge of the actual kidnapping itself, together with Donghae. He will tell you more about what to do and how to react fast in the situation. Remember … If you screw this up …” Yesung leaned in closer to Yoochun and the latter gulped nervously, “It won’t be just your life on the line, even your mother will not be spared as well.” Yoochun’s eyes grew wide and he knew that he had to commit this sin at all costs.
“I - I - I understand.” Yoochun gasped out, his throat and stomach tightening.
“Good to see that you have. Now get moving to Donghae’s side. You’ll need all the information you can get.” Yesung smirked. Stumbling over numbly to Donghae who gestured to him, he barely heard a thing as the former inculcated the crucial steps in the mission and the weapons and gadgets used to him. Yoochun turned his vision inward towards the raging battle in his mind: His mother, or his morals?
“Park. Take these.” Yoochun felt strong fabric material, a syringe and a sharp object shoved into his palms. “Once we get hold of the victim, you will gag him while I tie him up and we will drag him to meet Yesung and the others in a van. Sungmin will be on standby to look out for anyone else,” Donghae motioned to a blond man with smiling lips. “If need be, use the tranquilizer in the syringe to shut him up. The neck area is preferred as the drug will spread faster within the victim’s body.”
Yoochun looked down at the needle in his hands. He felt like he was a to-be murderer, but for his mother ... He’d kill to help her stay alive.
* * *
The exultant jubilance could be felt within the Kim household, although Junsu remained morose. Jaejoong and their father could be seen discussing future business possibilities with the Lees even over tea, and their mother would constantly praise Jaejoong for his competence and abilities, to which he modestly denied so, while Junsu would sit and stare blankly out of the window, wondering when his days of freedom would come.
Little did he know, his freedom came in the strangest disguise ever possible.
* * *
On the day of the deal, old Mr Kim and Jaejoong were in the utmost state of anticipation ever. Junsu could never have imagined such an expression of enthusiasm to appear on his father’s weathered face. Donned in his usual formal black dress suit with a red bowtie around his neck, he followed Jaejoong into the limousine as their father stepped into the one before theirs.
“It’s going to be a long car ride to the Lee’s, Su, so take a nap along the way.” Jaejoong patted his brother’s hand.
Junsu nodded slightly and replied, “Mmmm.”
“Su ah, why do you look so glum? What’s bothering you?” Jaejoong chirped. The younger man shifted uncomfortably in his seat beside his brother.
“I don’t know, hyung … I have this bad feeling. Like something is going to happen.” Junsu tried to vocalise his feelings into words.
“Relax, Su. Nothing bad is going to happen to you with me around. Even if Kang-In is going to storm into the room with a dozen gangsters I will protect you and fight out way out. If you don’t trust me, at least trust my muscles.” Junsu cracked a smile at seeing his elder brother flex his perfectly-shaped arms.
Time passed slowly even though the scenery flashed by quickly outside the window. The car stopped to a slow halt at a traffic light. Jaejoong had dozed off sleepily on Junsu’s shoulder, while the bothered young man who could not seem to get to sleep at all, chose to stare out of the window at all the random people walking on the streets, wishing he could be part of them and have some normality in his life.
His mind must have been exhausted, because when Junsu opened his heavy eyelids again, it was late afternoon and the scenery outside the window had changed. Feeling a sense of ominous dread rising up in his stomach, Junsu woke Jaejoong who was still leaning on him.
“Hyung. Wake up.” Junsu whispered urgently in his brother’s ear.
“Mmmm … Su? What’s wrong?” Jaejoong murmured groggily, rubbing his eyes.
“Hyung … This doesn’t look like the way to the Lee’s company, does it?” At the sound of Junsu’s words, Jaejoong opened his eyes fully to stare past Junsu out of the window. Tall skyscrapers and man-made concrete paths had vanished; and before their eyes were fields and decidedly-deserted, isolated huts and worn-down old factories. Both men felt the tendrils of fear curling icily in the pits of their stomachs as they unanimously turned their gazes towards the driver in the front seat. The driver stared back nervously at them from the back mirror, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down in his throat.
“Who was it? Tell me, who instigated you to do this to us?” Jaejoong could barely mask the fury in his voice.
“K - K - Kang - Mr Kang-In s-said he would k-kill my family i-if I d-didn’t do this - I - I’m sorry, Mr Kim -” The man in the front seat started to babble incoherently.
“Shit, I should have known Kang-In would resort to dirty tricks like these -” Jaejoong broke off as they saw a van coming from the opposite direction rapidly approaching their limousine. In a split second, Jaejoong made a decision and yelled, “Junsu, open the door and run! I’ll hold them off. Run, now, before it’s too late!” He pushed at the younger man who didn’t want to move.
“No, hyung, I am not leaving you alone to die in their clutches. If we must run, we run together!” Without waiting for Jaejoong’s answer, Junsu latched his hand firmly with his brother’s and tugged open the door as a gush of fresh afternoon air rushed into the limousine. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see three men getting out of the van and dashing towards them, and he changed course mid-way, rushing through the barren fields with Jaejoong right beside him.
As he ran, Junsu’s mind was processing the situation quickly. He knew very well that the two of them would be not be able to escape together. Only one person alone could make it back, and without thinking, he knew that it had to be Jaejoong. The one who could handle matters and work at his very best and make their father happy, and the one he loved and respected so much he could not afford to let him fall into Kang-In’s hands. There was no more time to ponder over whether or not he had made the right decision. Immediately, he carried out his plan.
Junsu let go of Jaejoong’s hand, to which the elder man turned back to look at him in fright. “Junsu, what the hell are you doing -” and gave him a push with all the strength he had, forcing Jaejoong to stumble a few steps forward. He could see in Jaejoong’s eyes that he had understood what he was going to do. “No, Junsu -!” Panic gripped Jaejoong’s heart. Too late, Junsu had broken the eye contact and sped back towards the three men with outstretched arms, tackling one of them down to the ground.
Jaejoong knew why Junsu had done this. With tears running down his cheeks, he staggered onwards, his heart breaking to leave his brother behind. But he knew, he knew the responsibility on his shoulders, he knew he had to get back to sign the deal with the Lees, or witness the collapse of their company. Jaejoong’s tears blurred his vision, but his legs did not stop, until his foot caught in a bramble and the next step sent him sprawling onto the ground and tumbling sideways down a steep slope.
* * *
“Damnit, little bastard, Kim Jaejoong got away because of him!” Junsu could hear a man curse violently and felt an iron fist at his gut, which resulted in great pain and chokes on his part. Struggling against the arms of another man who had him pinned down onto the ground, he saw the first man start to chase after the disappearing Jaejoong in the distance. Instinctively, Junsu stretched his arm as far as it could go and yanked on his ankle, successfully tripping the first man over in a heap. By the time he got up to his feet, Jaejoong was nowhere to be seen.
“Bastard, you thought that you alone could stop us?” He felt a hand push him over roughly and a punch sent to his jaw, then another, and another, causing him to gasp and spit out unknown substances from his mouth. Junsu could feel taste blood as the second man tugged him up by his collar, but he refused to submit to them and continued to fight against the strong grip. “Yah Micky! Get your ass over here and stab him with the sedative before the bastard gets pushy!” The name only dimly registered in Junsu’s mind as he caught a glimpse of another man under his flickering eyelids. He saw a wavering hand at his neck and felt a sharp jab at his skin - before raising his tired eyes to meet the familiar warm liquid-brown ones.
Surprise mingled with shock was the last thing Junsu felt before he collapsed into nothingness.
* * *
Chapter VI