Super Junior AU; Various Pairings; Love/War
Title: Love/War (4/?)
Fandom: Super Junior AU (Mafia)
Pairings: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul (Hankyung/Heechul), Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Kibum/Donghae, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Kangin/Eeteuk, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Pairings in Chapter: Hankyung/Heechul, Yehsung/Ryeowook, slight Sungmin/Henry
Word Count: 3,601
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Kim family and the Choi family are the two oldest families in Seoul: where other families have been born, grown, and then fell apart, they remain strong. Unfortunately, they are mortal enemies, and where one lives alongside the law, the other is beyond any control. It's up to the new generation of members to destroy the violence between them - even if it means destroying one family in the process.
A/N: If this was still November and I hadn't finished, I'd be screwed - I've written maybe 500 words in as many days XD
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4
Hankyung slowly unrolled a pair of socks, watching Heechul attempt to pick a shirt to wear out of the many in his wardrobe. “Are you sure about this?” he asked.
Heechul pulled a black shirt and a pale pink tie. “This, I think,” he said, and started pulling off the vest he had worn in bed.
“Heechul,” said Hankyung warningly.
“Of course I’m sure about this,” said Heechul, voice muffled by the material that he was still pulling over his head. “I wouldn’t be doing it if I wasn’t sure of it, you know that, Hankyung.”
“It’s just that we-”
“It means nothing,” said Heechul. “We’re probably never going to meet him ever again.”
“You know as well as I do that it doesn’t work like that,” said Hankyung. “We said that we’d never see him again each time we left him - we always met him again.”
“Meet him again or not,” said Heechul, “we need to do this.” He paused in fastening his buttons on his shirt and turned to face Hankyung. “He knows about us, Hankyung. He found out our names, our family history, without any sort of trouble whatsoever. We have to find out exactly who he is, to protect ourselves.”
“I just don’t see why we can’t tell Eeteuk now,” said Hankyung, swinging his legs back onto the bed and stretching out, his back against a pillow.
“Because Eeteuk worries,” said Heechul. “And Kangin would have our fucking guts for garters if he knew that we’d went into Choi territory more times than strictly necessary.” He turned back to the mirror. “This is just covering our own backs.”
“Well, I wish we weren’t in a position of having to cover our own backs,” muttered Hankyung.
“What are you going to do today?” asked Heechul, fastening his tie around his neck, voice slightly bitter. “You know, on your extra special day off that I don’t have.”
“I’m going to do absolutely nothing,” said Hankyung, smiling lazily. “Prepare myself for tonight.”
“I only wish that ‘tonight’ entailed what I wished it entailed,” said Heechul sadly. He walked past the side of the bed to reach into one of the drawers, and Hankyung caught him around the waist and pulled him on top, kissing him hard. Heechul made a muffled sound - probably protesting the creasing of his clothes before he had even left the room - and huffed a little when Hankyung let him go. He knelt either side of Hankyung’s thighs and pushed him down, hands on his chest, as Hankyung wound his tie around his hand and pulled him down to kiss him again - Heechul avoided it.
“That hurt,” he said, smirking. “The way you pulled me down before.”
“Sorry,” said Hankyung, stretching his head up in an attempt at kissing him.
“You will be,” murmured Heechul with a smirk.
***
Henry had been walking down the corridor to the dining room for breakfast when he noticed someone standing looking out of one of the doorways into the main hall; it was a concealed doorway, only noticeable on the other side by someone who knew exactly where to look. He could hear shouting coming from the hall, one voice angry, the other attempting to calm whoever was screaming down. “What’s going on?” he asked of the body who was spying.
The body jumped, and spun around. “Oh,” said Sungmin, with some relief. “It’s just you, Henry. Look!” He pulled Henry forward by the hand into the doorway so that he could see what was happening for himself. By the way Sungmin was giggling, it was hilarious.
Ryeowook was standing in the middle of the hall, clothes rumpled, obviously those he had worn the day before, being held back by Shindong and screaming at Yehsung, who stood near the stairs, looking a little lost. Ryeowook’s Korean was too fast for Henry to understand, but he could pick out a few choice insults, and judging by the way Yehsung kept trying to yell over the top, soothing comments and attempts at making Ryeowook be quiet, the rest of whatever Ryeowook was saying wasn’t particularly nice either.
“What’s happened?” he asked, turning his head to the side to look at Sungmin, who had squeezed into the doorway next to him to watch.
“I’m not sure,” said Sungmin. “I wasn’t here when it all started. I think Ryeowook’s just come from Yehsung’s room.”
“Ah,” said Henry. Now that, he understood.
“And from what I can tell,” continued Sungmin with a grin, “I think that this time, Yehsung’s used the age card.”
Henry winced. It never went down well with Ryeowook whenever Yehsung tried to use Ryeowook’s being younger than him against him. Then again, it never went down well with Ryeowook whenever Yehsung tried to use anything against him.
The problem was this - Ryeowook and Yehsung would pretty much be married if it wasn’t for Yehsung, and Yehsung’s apparent problem with Ryeowook. Their relationship seemed to consist of three stages: the build up, the sex, and then the fall out. Then it would start all over again. The build up took the longest, sometimes stretching on for months of unbearable tension and rather sickening flirting, and Henry thought that the quickest it had ever been was one week of heavily condescended sexual tension because Yehsung thought that he was going away for two months and Ryeowook didn’t want him to go before they managed to get to the next stage, the sex.
Usually, it got too much for Yehsung, the way Ryeowook was coming onto him, and at some point, usually at night, but it had been known to happen during the day, he would kiss Ryeowook. Ryeowook, far from being the innocent person he liked to portray (and Henry was one of the few people who were actually able to see through the persona, though Ryeowook can be quite naïve sometimes), understood a lot about life, and most importantly, knew a lot about Yehsung, had gained the knowledge through years of watching and practise. It didn’t take long, merely a couple of hours, for him to have Yehsung in bed with him, and for a few hours afterwards, everything was fine.
And then came the fall out.
After the (incredibly short) honeymoon period, normally either the next morning or just two hours later, Yehsung would remember quite a few things. Firstly, that Ryeowook was younger than him. Secondly, that he hadn’t known him that long. Thirdly, that they were related. And lastly, that their relationship could interfere with their work.
Ryeowook had very good counter arguments to these things: Ryeowook was only four years younger, and was, after all, twenty years old; they had known each other for six years; Ryeowook was only his second cousin twice removed; and that what they currently had for a relationship, that unstable thing, interfered a lot more than any actual relationship ever could. Unfortunately, Yehsung never listened, and they were usually left with a situation like the one that Henry was witnessing.
“But Ryeowook,” called Yehsung worriedly. “You’re so much younger than me!”
“It’s four years, Yehsung!” screamed Ryeowook, pulling against Shindong’s hold. “God, why are you such a moron?”
There was a bang, and the large doors near the stairs that Yehsung was not standing on flew open. Kangin stormed through, and took in the scene with one quick glance. “What the fuck is going on?” he asked through gritted teeth. “We’re supposed to be a ruling family, not a bunch of hooligans.”
“He,” spluttered Ryeowook, going limp in Shindong’s arms. “He is such a - a moron, why do you even let him-”
“Yehsung,” said Kangin with a sigh, turning to glare at Yehsung. “What did you do to Ryeowook this time?”
“I’m sure there are many answers to that question,” whispered Sungmin, and Henry had to bite down on his sleeve to hide his laughter.
“I didn’t do anything!” said Yehsung, throwing his hands up in the air.
“He did it again, hyung,” said Ryeowook hysterically. “Again! I can’t live like this, with him around; it’s going to drive me crazy.”
“I think it’s a bit late for that,” said Heechul, on his way through to the main door. He paused, and then tutted at Yehsung. Yehsung blinked at him, Heechul smirked, and then he was gone, before Yehsung could ask him what he had made the noise about - Yehsung never saw that what he was doing was wrong, even if everyone else knew, and even if Ryeowook told him a thousand times.
“You’ve got to understand my side of the situation, hyung,” said Yehsung plaintively to Kangin. “It’s just impossible.”
“Then stop fucking sleeping with Ryeowook,” said Kangin. “And Ryeowook, you stop sleeping with him too. Both of you go away, or at least take this out of the main lobby. We’re a business as well as a deeply dysfunctional family, remember?”
“That’s okay,” said Ryeowook angrily, wrenching himself out of Shindong’s hold. “I don’t have time for this; I’m spending the day in the shopping district today.” He stormed off up the stairs, fists clenched by his side. Yehsung waited until he had disappeared down the corridor down to the left, glanced nervously at Shindong, who was just laughing at them now, and then went up the stairs himself - he turned off to the right.
“Well,” said Sungmin, pulling out of the doorway and leaning against the opposite wall, “that was fun!”
“You-” said Henry, and couldn’t work out how to go on any further. “You have a weird sense of entertainment,” he said in English, awkward and unsure, and Sungmin smiled at him.
“I don’t understand,” he said, eyes crinkling in a way which showed that he wasn’t bothered by it, truly.
“Sorry,” said Henry.
“That’s okay,” said Sungmin, and pushed himself off the wall. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I actually have to make it to my room before Kangin comes to get me to give me my rounds for the day and realises that I’m not in my room and realises that I’m probably here, watching what just happened.”
He walked off down the hall, or, it was more like a half-run, half-skip, which made Henry laugh to see it. Then he shook his head fondly, and proceeded cautiously to Ryeowook’s room - he had forgotten, while he was watching, that he was the one who had to go to the shopping district with Ryeowook today.
***
The Han family home was a large house in a private estate in the Choi territory, set in a street lined with leafy green trees and gates at the end, which were clearly locked at night - rare for an inner-city street, especially so in the Choi area, but then money always did speak, even in their own territory. They drove down until they came to the address that Heechul had found on the internet after a single minute’s searching, and they pulled up outside and looked at the house.
It was fairly modern, made from some sort of light stone, with large windows and an extensive drive leading down to the road that they were sitting on. Heechul turned off the engine and said, “Well, it looks like it did when I researched it.”
“What are we supposed to say?” asked Hankyung tensely. “’Hi, we’re friends of your son’s, and we’d just like to know - is he actually who he says he is’? They’re going to think we’re mad either way, when we don’t give our names.”
“We can’t give our names, I’ve told you,” said Heechul forcefully. “Not until we see what kind of people they are.”
“But Siwon said that they weren’t connected with the Choi family,” said Hankyung. He rather felt like he was playing Devil’s Advocate - he agreed with Heechul, but they needed to have their stories straight, they both needed to know what they were going to do.
“If we give our names, they’ll notify the Choi family, you know that as well as I do,” said Heechul with a sigh. “And then what do we do, when we’ve got Choi family members blazing in and we’ve got to get out and then explain to Kangin what we were doing there in the first place?”
“This entire situation is just ridiculous,” said Hankyung.
“Tell me about it,” said Heechul, and he opened the door and stepped out. The only fortunate thing that Hankyung could come up with, the only cloud on the silver lining, was that their car didn’t stand out like it had done in the normal streets, the black paintwork and tinted windows fairly par-for-par in this estate.
The set up wasn’t so elaborate as to include a doorman; after a security camera had passed its gaze over them, the gates were quickly opened, and they stepped through, exchanging glances at how easy it had seemed; although, Hankyung had to note grudgingly, with their expensive black suits, leather shoes and carefully styled hair, they couldn’t be anything other than members of some ruling family, and no one said no to people like them - they probably just weren’t members of the same family that the Han family thought they were from.
A woman came rushing out of the main doorway as they stepped through the gates, which closed automatically afterwards. A look of expectant dismay on her face, she called out to them before she could meet them; “My husband isn’t home, please, could you wait until he comes back? He’ll get you your money then.”
Hankyung and Heechul exchanged glances - on the one hand, a debt laden family could sell them out, but Hankyung could see the dislike at the sight of them on the woman’s face. He nodded to Heechul, just enough for Heechul’s trained eye to catch it.
“Don’t worry,” said Heechul, turning to the woman who was now standing in front of them, wringing her hands together. “We aren’t from the Choi family.”
“You aren’t?” The woman looked apprehensive. “May I have your names?”
“I’m Kim Heechul,” said Heechul, and the woman’s eyes grew wide with shock. “I think you understand now.”
“Yes,” she said, voice filled with awe. “Yes, I thought you would be - please, come in.”
Sitting in the room that was clearly used to receive guests, filled with expensive drapes and soft cushions around a dark wood, low traditional table, Hankyung was struck with how surreal their situation actually was. For now, this meeting was a secret, to be kept under wraps, because Heechul was right, if either of their two leaders found out where they were, they would be lucky to escape with their jobs, for all Heechul was now heir. Depending on the way this meeting went, they could be looking at one of two options.
The first was that they forgot ever meeting Han Siwon and attempted, in the future, to avoid him even more implicitly than they had been trying to up until now. If he turned out to be someone other than who he claimed, or if they were able to work out that he wouldn’t be someone suitable for the family, then they would forget that they had ever been acquainted with him, forget about his request, and leave him; technically, he was part of Choi influence, nothing to do with their family.
The second was something that seemed far more likely, but also something that had the potential to get them into no end of trouble, and that was to go to Eeteuk and Kangin and present Siwon as someone who was willing to join their family, to be sworn in forever. If they chose to go down the second route - and Hankyung was hoping that they wouldn’t - then they would have to explain to Kangin and Eeteuk how they had met Siwon in the first place, and while they knew about the meeting in the nightclub the first time being cancelled, they had failed to inform them about the other times that they had gone back there. The most they would be able to hope for in that situation would be a kindly overlooking in the face of finding a new addition.
Mrs Han came through after a few minutes with a tray of tea, which she set down in costly looking cups in front of them, and then she sat demurely down, holding the tray against her stomach. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said.
Heechul looked quickly at Hankyung. “What sort of things?” he asked, seriously; Heechul knew how to play, but he knew how to do his work as well.
The woman seemed to realise that she had said something that was perhaps not the best thing she could have said, as she blushed. “No,” she said reassuringly. “It’s just something you say. S-Siwon has mentioned the two men that he met once day, and has already expressed his interest in joining your family to us.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” said Heechul. “Before we allow him to do that, before we even think about it, we need the necessary information.”
“Like what?”
“Siwon-shi’s birth certificate,” said Heechul. “Your marriage certificate, the birth certificates of any siblings, and anyone else who might be living in this household. We will require any and all information that will help to prove that Siwon is exactly who he says he is.”
Hankyung saw Heechul glance at him out of the corner of his eye and took it as permission to speak, to talk about anything that Heechul had forgotten. “We’d also like any certificates of education that you might have,” he said. “I understand that Siwon-shi was home-schooled, but anything that helps to prove his intelligence or worthwhile skills will help.”
“Oh,” said the woman, brightening up. “Oh, there are plenty of those sorts of things, he’s so clever!”
“And the other things?” prompted Hankyung.
Her face fell slightly. “When do you need them?” she asked, sounding slightly worried.
“Why?” asked Heechul sharply. “Will it be a problem?”
“No,” said the woman slowly, and then she smiled. “It’s just finding them,” she said. “It could be a problem only with regards the state of our organization of such things. I simply wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“We’d like them as soon as possible,” said Hankyung. “We need them as soon as possible. If this drags on, there’s a chance that it could become known to certain people that we would prefer to remain in the dark.”
“I think you understand,” said Heechul, leaning forward to look the woman in the eye. “You don’t live on our territory, and so we can’t offer any sort of help against the Choi family if they find out that your son is hoping to join us. It’s dangerous, and I’m not sure that Siwon-shi understands truly what is being asked of him.”
“He understands,” said the woman. “Believe me, he understands.”
Looking carefully at her, Hankyung saw that, actually, she understood perfectly as well. It was a risk for her family too - the Choi family was not known for its leniency. If it came out that a son from a family that lived in their area had joined the Kim family, it was likely that the family would become the target, especially so for a family that apparently had a debt to be paid. If she was willing to let her son put their family in danger, then perhaps they could consider Siwon a lot more seriously that they previously had been.
“I want him to join,” she said firmly when she noticed Hankyung’s gaze on her. “He deserves to take this chance.”
Hankyung wasn’t sure which part of himself it came from, which piece of him had secretly always felt this way, but that part overtook him and he couldn’t stop himself when he said, “I want him to join too.”
Heechul gave a nod next to him.
“I don’t understand,” Hankyung said as they walked down to the gates later, the gates sliding smoothly open to reveal their car, still in the position they had left it in. “We barely even know him, so why do we feel like this?”
“I want to trust him,” said Heechul, and Hankyung looked at him sharply. Heechul looked back, not breaking the eye contact, not backing down. Heechul only trusted those he worked with, nobody else. Those in his family, he would trust with his own life and beyond, but to be willing to put his trust in someone not of the family was unheard of for Heechul.
Heechul turned away and got into the car; Hankyung followed suit, leaning forward to tap his nails thoughtfully on the dashboard. “We want him to join,” he said, as Heechul started the engine but made no move to actually move the car. “From what I’ve seen, the way he took his own initiative, and from what I’ve heard today, he’d be perfect for our family.”
“We need to speak to Eeteuk as soon as Mrs Han gets that information to us,” said Heechul.
Hankyung circled Heechul’s wrist with his fingers, as Heechul started out in front of him, out of the window. “We didn’t prepare for this situation, did we,” he said, more of a statement than a question. Heechul turned to him then, and smirked.
“That’s because you didn’t want to have this situation,” he said. “You wanted to bury your head in the sand and forget about him.”
“It would have been easier,” said Hankyung with a sigh. Heechul laughed slightly. “I didn’t want this to happen,” he admitted. “But you know what - it has.”
Fandom: Super Junior AU (Mafia)
Pairings: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul (Hankyung/Heechul), Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Kibum/Donghae, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Kangin/Eeteuk, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Pairings in Chapter: Hankyung/Heechul, Yehsung/Ryeowook, slight Sungmin/Henry
Word Count: 3,601
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Kim family and the Choi family are the two oldest families in Seoul: where other families have been born, grown, and then fell apart, they remain strong. Unfortunately, they are mortal enemies, and where one lives alongside the law, the other is beyond any control. It's up to the new generation of members to destroy the violence between them - even if it means destroying one family in the process.
A/N: If this was still November and I hadn't finished, I'd be screwed - I've written maybe 500 words in as many days XD
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4
Hankyung slowly unrolled a pair of socks, watching Heechul attempt to pick a shirt to wear out of the many in his wardrobe. “Are you sure about this?” he asked.
Heechul pulled a black shirt and a pale pink tie. “This, I think,” he said, and started pulling off the vest he had worn in bed.
“Heechul,” said Hankyung warningly.
“Of course I’m sure about this,” said Heechul, voice muffled by the material that he was still pulling over his head. “I wouldn’t be doing it if I wasn’t sure of it, you know that, Hankyung.”
“It’s just that we-”
“It means nothing,” said Heechul. “We’re probably never going to meet him ever again.”
“You know as well as I do that it doesn’t work like that,” said Hankyung. “We said that we’d never see him again each time we left him - we always met him again.”
“Meet him again or not,” said Heechul, “we need to do this.” He paused in fastening his buttons on his shirt and turned to face Hankyung. “He knows about us, Hankyung. He found out our names, our family history, without any sort of trouble whatsoever. We have to find out exactly who he is, to protect ourselves.”
“I just don’t see why we can’t tell Eeteuk now,” said Hankyung, swinging his legs back onto the bed and stretching out, his back against a pillow.
“Because Eeteuk worries,” said Heechul. “And Kangin would have our fucking guts for garters if he knew that we’d went into Choi territory more times than strictly necessary.” He turned back to the mirror. “This is just covering our own backs.”
“Well, I wish we weren’t in a position of having to cover our own backs,” muttered Hankyung.
“What are you going to do today?” asked Heechul, fastening his tie around his neck, voice slightly bitter. “You know, on your extra special day off that I don’t have.”
“I’m going to do absolutely nothing,” said Hankyung, smiling lazily. “Prepare myself for tonight.”
“I only wish that ‘tonight’ entailed what I wished it entailed,” said Heechul sadly. He walked past the side of the bed to reach into one of the drawers, and Hankyung caught him around the waist and pulled him on top, kissing him hard. Heechul made a muffled sound - probably protesting the creasing of his clothes before he had even left the room - and huffed a little when Hankyung let him go. He knelt either side of Hankyung’s thighs and pushed him down, hands on his chest, as Hankyung wound his tie around his hand and pulled him down to kiss him again - Heechul avoided it.
“That hurt,” he said, smirking. “The way you pulled me down before.”
“Sorry,” said Hankyung, stretching his head up in an attempt at kissing him.
“You will be,” murmured Heechul with a smirk.
***
Henry had been walking down the corridor to the dining room for breakfast when he noticed someone standing looking out of one of the doorways into the main hall; it was a concealed doorway, only noticeable on the other side by someone who knew exactly where to look. He could hear shouting coming from the hall, one voice angry, the other attempting to calm whoever was screaming down. “What’s going on?” he asked of the body who was spying.
The body jumped, and spun around. “Oh,” said Sungmin, with some relief. “It’s just you, Henry. Look!” He pulled Henry forward by the hand into the doorway so that he could see what was happening for himself. By the way Sungmin was giggling, it was hilarious.
Ryeowook was standing in the middle of the hall, clothes rumpled, obviously those he had worn the day before, being held back by Shindong and screaming at Yehsung, who stood near the stairs, looking a little lost. Ryeowook’s Korean was too fast for Henry to understand, but he could pick out a few choice insults, and judging by the way Yehsung kept trying to yell over the top, soothing comments and attempts at making Ryeowook be quiet, the rest of whatever Ryeowook was saying wasn’t particularly nice either.
“What’s happened?” he asked, turning his head to the side to look at Sungmin, who had squeezed into the doorway next to him to watch.
“I’m not sure,” said Sungmin. “I wasn’t here when it all started. I think Ryeowook’s just come from Yehsung’s room.”
“Ah,” said Henry. Now that, he understood.
“And from what I can tell,” continued Sungmin with a grin, “I think that this time, Yehsung’s used the age card.”
Henry winced. It never went down well with Ryeowook whenever Yehsung tried to use Ryeowook’s being younger than him against him. Then again, it never went down well with Ryeowook whenever Yehsung tried to use anything against him.
The problem was this - Ryeowook and Yehsung would pretty much be married if it wasn’t for Yehsung, and Yehsung’s apparent problem with Ryeowook. Their relationship seemed to consist of three stages: the build up, the sex, and then the fall out. Then it would start all over again. The build up took the longest, sometimes stretching on for months of unbearable tension and rather sickening flirting, and Henry thought that the quickest it had ever been was one week of heavily condescended sexual tension because Yehsung thought that he was going away for two months and Ryeowook didn’t want him to go before they managed to get to the next stage, the sex.
Usually, it got too much for Yehsung, the way Ryeowook was coming onto him, and at some point, usually at night, but it had been known to happen during the day, he would kiss Ryeowook. Ryeowook, far from being the innocent person he liked to portray (and Henry was one of the few people who were actually able to see through the persona, though Ryeowook can be quite naïve sometimes), understood a lot about life, and most importantly, knew a lot about Yehsung, had gained the knowledge through years of watching and practise. It didn’t take long, merely a couple of hours, for him to have Yehsung in bed with him, and for a few hours afterwards, everything was fine.
And then came the fall out.
After the (incredibly short) honeymoon period, normally either the next morning or just two hours later, Yehsung would remember quite a few things. Firstly, that Ryeowook was younger than him. Secondly, that he hadn’t known him that long. Thirdly, that they were related. And lastly, that their relationship could interfere with their work.
Ryeowook had very good counter arguments to these things: Ryeowook was only four years younger, and was, after all, twenty years old; they had known each other for six years; Ryeowook was only his second cousin twice removed; and that what they currently had for a relationship, that unstable thing, interfered a lot more than any actual relationship ever could. Unfortunately, Yehsung never listened, and they were usually left with a situation like the one that Henry was witnessing.
“But Ryeowook,” called Yehsung worriedly. “You’re so much younger than me!”
“It’s four years, Yehsung!” screamed Ryeowook, pulling against Shindong’s hold. “God, why are you such a moron?”
There was a bang, and the large doors near the stairs that Yehsung was not standing on flew open. Kangin stormed through, and took in the scene with one quick glance. “What the fuck is going on?” he asked through gritted teeth. “We’re supposed to be a ruling family, not a bunch of hooligans.”
“He,” spluttered Ryeowook, going limp in Shindong’s arms. “He is such a - a moron, why do you even let him-”
“Yehsung,” said Kangin with a sigh, turning to glare at Yehsung. “What did you do to Ryeowook this time?”
“I’m sure there are many answers to that question,” whispered Sungmin, and Henry had to bite down on his sleeve to hide his laughter.
“I didn’t do anything!” said Yehsung, throwing his hands up in the air.
“He did it again, hyung,” said Ryeowook hysterically. “Again! I can’t live like this, with him around; it’s going to drive me crazy.”
“I think it’s a bit late for that,” said Heechul, on his way through to the main door. He paused, and then tutted at Yehsung. Yehsung blinked at him, Heechul smirked, and then he was gone, before Yehsung could ask him what he had made the noise about - Yehsung never saw that what he was doing was wrong, even if everyone else knew, and even if Ryeowook told him a thousand times.
“You’ve got to understand my side of the situation, hyung,” said Yehsung plaintively to Kangin. “It’s just impossible.”
“Then stop fucking sleeping with Ryeowook,” said Kangin. “And Ryeowook, you stop sleeping with him too. Both of you go away, or at least take this out of the main lobby. We’re a business as well as a deeply dysfunctional family, remember?”
“That’s okay,” said Ryeowook angrily, wrenching himself out of Shindong’s hold. “I don’t have time for this; I’m spending the day in the shopping district today.” He stormed off up the stairs, fists clenched by his side. Yehsung waited until he had disappeared down the corridor down to the left, glanced nervously at Shindong, who was just laughing at them now, and then went up the stairs himself - he turned off to the right.
“Well,” said Sungmin, pulling out of the doorway and leaning against the opposite wall, “that was fun!”
“You-” said Henry, and couldn’t work out how to go on any further. “You have a weird sense of entertainment,” he said in English, awkward and unsure, and Sungmin smiled at him.
“I don’t understand,” he said, eyes crinkling in a way which showed that he wasn’t bothered by it, truly.
“Sorry,” said Henry.
“That’s okay,” said Sungmin, and pushed himself off the wall. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I actually have to make it to my room before Kangin comes to get me to give me my rounds for the day and realises that I’m not in my room and realises that I’m probably here, watching what just happened.”
He walked off down the hall, or, it was more like a half-run, half-skip, which made Henry laugh to see it. Then he shook his head fondly, and proceeded cautiously to Ryeowook’s room - he had forgotten, while he was watching, that he was the one who had to go to the shopping district with Ryeowook today.
***
The Han family home was a large house in a private estate in the Choi territory, set in a street lined with leafy green trees and gates at the end, which were clearly locked at night - rare for an inner-city street, especially so in the Choi area, but then money always did speak, even in their own territory. They drove down until they came to the address that Heechul had found on the internet after a single minute’s searching, and they pulled up outside and looked at the house.
It was fairly modern, made from some sort of light stone, with large windows and an extensive drive leading down to the road that they were sitting on. Heechul turned off the engine and said, “Well, it looks like it did when I researched it.”
“What are we supposed to say?” asked Hankyung tensely. “’Hi, we’re friends of your son’s, and we’d just like to know - is he actually who he says he is’? They’re going to think we’re mad either way, when we don’t give our names.”
“We can’t give our names, I’ve told you,” said Heechul forcefully. “Not until we see what kind of people they are.”
“But Siwon said that they weren’t connected with the Choi family,” said Hankyung. He rather felt like he was playing Devil’s Advocate - he agreed with Heechul, but they needed to have their stories straight, they both needed to know what they were going to do.
“If we give our names, they’ll notify the Choi family, you know that as well as I do,” said Heechul with a sigh. “And then what do we do, when we’ve got Choi family members blazing in and we’ve got to get out and then explain to Kangin what we were doing there in the first place?”
“This entire situation is just ridiculous,” said Hankyung.
“Tell me about it,” said Heechul, and he opened the door and stepped out. The only fortunate thing that Hankyung could come up with, the only cloud on the silver lining, was that their car didn’t stand out like it had done in the normal streets, the black paintwork and tinted windows fairly par-for-par in this estate.
The set up wasn’t so elaborate as to include a doorman; after a security camera had passed its gaze over them, the gates were quickly opened, and they stepped through, exchanging glances at how easy it had seemed; although, Hankyung had to note grudgingly, with their expensive black suits, leather shoes and carefully styled hair, they couldn’t be anything other than members of some ruling family, and no one said no to people like them - they probably just weren’t members of the same family that the Han family thought they were from.
A woman came rushing out of the main doorway as they stepped through the gates, which closed automatically afterwards. A look of expectant dismay on her face, she called out to them before she could meet them; “My husband isn’t home, please, could you wait until he comes back? He’ll get you your money then.”
Hankyung and Heechul exchanged glances - on the one hand, a debt laden family could sell them out, but Hankyung could see the dislike at the sight of them on the woman’s face. He nodded to Heechul, just enough for Heechul’s trained eye to catch it.
“Don’t worry,” said Heechul, turning to the woman who was now standing in front of them, wringing her hands together. “We aren’t from the Choi family.”
“You aren’t?” The woman looked apprehensive. “May I have your names?”
“I’m Kim Heechul,” said Heechul, and the woman’s eyes grew wide with shock. “I think you understand now.”
“Yes,” she said, voice filled with awe. “Yes, I thought you would be - please, come in.”
Sitting in the room that was clearly used to receive guests, filled with expensive drapes and soft cushions around a dark wood, low traditional table, Hankyung was struck with how surreal their situation actually was. For now, this meeting was a secret, to be kept under wraps, because Heechul was right, if either of their two leaders found out where they were, they would be lucky to escape with their jobs, for all Heechul was now heir. Depending on the way this meeting went, they could be looking at one of two options.
The first was that they forgot ever meeting Han Siwon and attempted, in the future, to avoid him even more implicitly than they had been trying to up until now. If he turned out to be someone other than who he claimed, or if they were able to work out that he wouldn’t be someone suitable for the family, then they would forget that they had ever been acquainted with him, forget about his request, and leave him; technically, he was part of Choi influence, nothing to do with their family.
The second was something that seemed far more likely, but also something that had the potential to get them into no end of trouble, and that was to go to Eeteuk and Kangin and present Siwon as someone who was willing to join their family, to be sworn in forever. If they chose to go down the second route - and Hankyung was hoping that they wouldn’t - then they would have to explain to Kangin and Eeteuk how they had met Siwon in the first place, and while they knew about the meeting in the nightclub the first time being cancelled, they had failed to inform them about the other times that they had gone back there. The most they would be able to hope for in that situation would be a kindly overlooking in the face of finding a new addition.
Mrs Han came through after a few minutes with a tray of tea, which she set down in costly looking cups in front of them, and then she sat demurely down, holding the tray against her stomach. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said.
Heechul looked quickly at Hankyung. “What sort of things?” he asked, seriously; Heechul knew how to play, but he knew how to do his work as well.
The woman seemed to realise that she had said something that was perhaps not the best thing she could have said, as she blushed. “No,” she said reassuringly. “It’s just something you say. S-Siwon has mentioned the two men that he met once day, and has already expressed his interest in joining your family to us.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” said Heechul. “Before we allow him to do that, before we even think about it, we need the necessary information.”
“Like what?”
“Siwon-shi’s birth certificate,” said Heechul. “Your marriage certificate, the birth certificates of any siblings, and anyone else who might be living in this household. We will require any and all information that will help to prove that Siwon is exactly who he says he is.”
Hankyung saw Heechul glance at him out of the corner of his eye and took it as permission to speak, to talk about anything that Heechul had forgotten. “We’d also like any certificates of education that you might have,” he said. “I understand that Siwon-shi was home-schooled, but anything that helps to prove his intelligence or worthwhile skills will help.”
“Oh,” said the woman, brightening up. “Oh, there are plenty of those sorts of things, he’s so clever!”
“And the other things?” prompted Hankyung.
Her face fell slightly. “When do you need them?” she asked, sounding slightly worried.
“Why?” asked Heechul sharply. “Will it be a problem?”
“No,” said the woman slowly, and then she smiled. “It’s just finding them,” she said. “It could be a problem only with regards the state of our organization of such things. I simply wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“We’d like them as soon as possible,” said Hankyung. “We need them as soon as possible. If this drags on, there’s a chance that it could become known to certain people that we would prefer to remain in the dark.”
“I think you understand,” said Heechul, leaning forward to look the woman in the eye. “You don’t live on our territory, and so we can’t offer any sort of help against the Choi family if they find out that your son is hoping to join us. It’s dangerous, and I’m not sure that Siwon-shi understands truly what is being asked of him.”
“He understands,” said the woman. “Believe me, he understands.”
Looking carefully at her, Hankyung saw that, actually, she understood perfectly as well. It was a risk for her family too - the Choi family was not known for its leniency. If it came out that a son from a family that lived in their area had joined the Kim family, it was likely that the family would become the target, especially so for a family that apparently had a debt to be paid. If she was willing to let her son put their family in danger, then perhaps they could consider Siwon a lot more seriously that they previously had been.
“I want him to join,” she said firmly when she noticed Hankyung’s gaze on her. “He deserves to take this chance.”
Hankyung wasn’t sure which part of himself it came from, which piece of him had secretly always felt this way, but that part overtook him and he couldn’t stop himself when he said, “I want him to join too.”
Heechul gave a nod next to him.
“I don’t understand,” Hankyung said as they walked down to the gates later, the gates sliding smoothly open to reveal their car, still in the position they had left it in. “We barely even know him, so why do we feel like this?”
“I want to trust him,” said Heechul, and Hankyung looked at him sharply. Heechul looked back, not breaking the eye contact, not backing down. Heechul only trusted those he worked with, nobody else. Those in his family, he would trust with his own life and beyond, but to be willing to put his trust in someone not of the family was unheard of for Heechul.
Heechul turned away and got into the car; Hankyung followed suit, leaning forward to tap his nails thoughtfully on the dashboard. “We want him to join,” he said, as Heechul started the engine but made no move to actually move the car. “From what I’ve seen, the way he took his own initiative, and from what I’ve heard today, he’d be perfect for our family.”
“We need to speak to Eeteuk as soon as Mrs Han gets that information to us,” said Heechul.
Hankyung circled Heechul’s wrist with his fingers, as Heechul started out in front of him, out of the window. “We didn’t prepare for this situation, did we,” he said, more of a statement than a question. Heechul turned to him then, and smirked.
“That’s because you didn’t want to have this situation,” he said. “You wanted to bury your head in the sand and forget about him.”
“It would have been easier,” said Hankyung with a sigh. Heechul laughed slightly. “I didn’t want this to happen,” he admitted. “But you know what - it has.”