Super Junior AU; Various Pairings; Love/War
Title: Love/War (19/?)
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: Tablo/Eunhyuk, Hankyung/Heechul, Yehsung/Ryeowook
Word Count: 3,423
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: Sigh. I haven't even made a dent in chapter 21, but I'm going away for a week soon and so should be able to get a chunk done :D Hence why I'm posting this \o/
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / Chapter 19
The silence in the room was so tense that Yehsung almost snapped, and only the fact that he knew it would upset Ryeowook stopped him. Eeteuk was just staring at Tablo like he couldn’t quite believe it; Kangin looked very much like Yehsung felt, something along the lines of wanting to punch the guy’s lights out.
“So, you’re Tablo,” said Eeteuk, as if he was confirming it in his own mind. Kangin rolled his eyes - probably he felt, again like Yehsung, that Eeteuk wasn’t coming across as a family leader at all - and took over the interrogation.
“Where’s Eunhyuk?” he asked sharply. Tablo looked at him with a clear gaze, straight, and Kangin had to remind himself that Tablo was an officer, that he was used to dealing with Choi family members - he probably had no fear of the lenient, peace-loving Kim family.
“He’s at my flat,” said Tablo. “He doesn’t know I’m here.”
“Why are you here then?” asked Yehsung sharply, and Ryeowook’s fingers curled around his wrist, calming.
“Eunhyuk’s afraid-”
“Of course he should be, you stole him away from us.”
Tablo looked at Yehsung, and for the first time there was something akin to annoyance in his eyes. “That isn’t true,” he said. “I had nothing to do with any of this. I certainly didn’t want Eunhyuk to leave this family.”
“Of course you didn’t,” sneered Yehsung. “If Eunhyuk was still part of this family, he’d still be in the thick of it, you’d still be getting valuable information.”
Tablo shook his head firmly. “I never thought of Eunhyuk that way,” he said. “In terms of what information he could gain me? I’m so unpopular with the Choi family that every day I’m alive is another day that I haven’t been shot.”
The quiet recognition of his situation made Kangin suddenly take note. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“I’m not just a pawn for the Choi family,” said Tablo, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table. “I have no doubt that if I continue the way I’m going, speaking out against what they do, that I’ll be silenced. I’m not afraid for myself, I’ll have brought it on myself - but I am worried for Eunhyuk.”
“What does Eunhyuk have to do with any of this?” asked Yehsung, unable to accept what he was hearing. “He’s part of this family, not anything to do with you.”
Tablo, rather than looking scared or deflated by Yehsung’s statement, in fact looked rather relieved. “Really?” he asked. “He’s part of this family? Still?”
Kangin exchanged glances with Eeteuk. “Well,” he said. “We haven’t discussed it, but-”
“Thank god for that,” said Tablo quietly, slumping back in his seat. “I was - worried.”
“Worried?” Kangin was getting the distinct feeling that he didn’t understand what was happening. This feeling of being out of his depth, out of the loop, was one that he had been suffering under a lot lately, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Eunhyuk isn’t happy living with me,” said Tablo. “I knew he wouldn’t be. The guilt is killing him, he can’t live with what he did. He misses you all so much, his cousins - you’re his family. He told me about you all - no, nothing about the actual family,” he added, seeing Yehsung open his mouth with a dark scowl on his face. “He told me your names and a little about your personalities, but that was enough - the way he spoke about you, it was obviously how much he loved you all. I - I would never have taken him away from that, never.”
“Tell us what happened,” said Kangin. He knew from looking at Eeteuk that he was beginning to think that perhaps they had got the situation wrong. Kangin wasn’t too sure, but he needed the full story before he could pass judgement (although Yehsung looked like he was already sure of the conclusion). Tablo nodded and stood up a little straighter.
Tablo sat flicking aimlessly through the television channels, not even noticing as he skipped past a couple of his favourite shows. He had been sent home early from work after interrogating a Choi family member with serious intent, although his boss had told him that he looked tired and he should get some rest. An excuse for getting rid of him. Tablo snorted and switched the television off, before he stretched, back aching from sitting still for so long.
He sat in the silence for a short while. Perhaps, if this had been like before, he could have rang Eunhyuk, he could have come over if he had spare time of his own, they could have sat and listened to music and talked - it was a strange feeling, thinking back on that, and not one that he was sure he wanted to feel.
There was a loud banging on his front door. Table had heard tale of neighbourhoods over in Kim territory where people left their doors unlocked even when they were out. In Choi territory, doors were locked even if you were in the house - members of the family were not above just walking in and taking what they liked; there was a reason no woman lived on her own in Choi territory.
Sighing, Tablo stood up and made his way to the front door of his apartment, looked through the peep hole to see who was at the door - and froze. Then he wrenched the door open to stare at Eunhyuk, who looked back nervously, two suitcases at his feet.
“What are you doing here?” asked Tablo, voice slightly hoarse.
Eunhyuk’s face seemed slightly flushed, one hand holding another bag. “Can I come in?” he asked.
“Um,” said Tablo, and finding that words had failed him for the first time that he could remember, he just stood back and let Eunhyuk in the apartment. He picked up the one case that had been left outside the door and brought it in himself - looking back on it, he had probably already worked out what was going on.
“I’ve left,” said Eunhyuk, and his voice was tight and strained and held nothing of his usual light heartedness. “I had to make a choice, and I-”
“God, Hyuk,” said Tablo, as Eunhyuk dropped the bag that he held in his hands. “Why would you - you can’t just leave.”
“I can,” said Eunhyuk, face white. “I can, and I did. I couldn’t keep deceiving them but - you - and I, and I had to because-”
Tablo stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Eunhyuk’s shoulders, pulling him forward so that Eunhyuk’s chin was resting on his shoulder, and Eunhyuk’s hands fisted in the material at the side of Tablo’s t-shirt, desperate. “I made a choice,” he whispered, and while Tablo couldn’t feel them, he could hear the tears in Eunhyuk’s voice.
Yes, thought Tablo, fingers shaking. But have you made the right one? And Eunhyuk just sobbed.
Silence reigned supreme over the room for a few minutes before Eeteuk said softly, “He chose you over his family?”
Tablo shook his head. “He didn’t do that at all,” he said. “He made a rash decision. He’d been backed into a corner and he couldn’t see any escape that didn’t involve running to me. He regrets it so much - he just sits there, when I go out, when I come back in, just sitting on the sofa and staring. When he talks, it’s only ever to wonder about what the Kim family is doing. At night he lies awake most of the time - because when he sleeps, he has nightmares. His guilt is stalking him.”
“I couldn’t live like that,” murmured Ryeowook; the others turned to him with some shock. He had been so quiet throughout the story that they had forgotten he was there. Yehsung reached out and took hold of his hand again. He didn’t like that Ryeowook had almost gone back in time there - so quiet that he wasn’t noticed. Tablo smiled weakly at him.
“He can’t live like that,” he said. “It’s tearing him apart. That’s why I’m here. I need - I’ve come to formally introduce myself, and to ask for you to take him back into your family.”
Kangin was hesitant. “Eunhyuk ran away from us,” he said. “He risked everything that this family stands for, just to be with someone who we had never heard of. How can we be certain that that won’t happen again?”
Tablo’s smile grew a bit stronger. “That’s what the introducing myself is for,” he said. “If you accept me, Eunhyuk has no need to sneak around or risk anything.”
“You’re a police officer,” said Yehsung, sounding like he was completely astounded. “Not only that, you’re a police officer for the Choi territory. All we have is your word that you’re not as corrupt as every other officer over there. What makes you think that we’re going to accept you?”
Tablo shrugged. “Sheer hope was my first answer,” he said. “But then I thought about it. What if I wasn’t a police officer? What if I didn’t live in Choi territory?”
Eeteuk leant forward, intrigued. “Explain,” he said.
“I joined the force because my father was a police officer. It was expected of me - I’m the only son, after all. It was expected that I follow in my father’s footsteps, so I came to Korea and I trained and I joined the force. I was supposed to join the force in the Kim territory but I was accidently assigned the Choi territory - it’s a move that makes me think that fate is laughing at me sometimes.”
“I never wanted to be a police officer. Everything about the job disgusts me, especially how it’s done in Choi territory. I have a Stanford degree, for Christ’s sake, but every day I’m having to fight against the blatant corruption that’s rife where I work. I can’t take it anymore. I harboured thoughts at first of fighting against the system one-handed, doing my best to get justice for those who needed it, but it’s just pointless. I’m wasting my energy. My life is passing me by in a haze of anger and I can’t live like that anymore. Something needs to change - maybe this is the push I needed.”
“A push to where?” asked Ryeowook, who found himself liking the man in front of him despite Yehsung’s frown, which was still rather ugly.
“I want to write,” said Tablo simply. “Ever since Eunhyuk turned up, I’ve been making plans to leave my job, to leave where I live. I have a sister who lives in your territory, and I plan on moving in with her as soon as possible. I’ll become a writer.”
“You make it sound so simple,” said Eeteuk faintly.
Tablo laughed softly. “I know it won’t be,” he said. “I know that I’ll struggle for money and that it will be difficult, and I understand that perhaps you won’t be able to forgive Eunhyuk for what he did. All I’m asking is that you try. If he regrets what he did, isn’t that enough?”
“I think it is,” said Ryeowook suddenly. “Eunhyuk is part of this family, and haven’t we always said - people make mistakes?” He turned to Eeteuk. “Hyung, we know Eunhyuk, we know exactly how he must be feeling right now. He loves us, hyung, and we - I love him.”
“I know, Ryeowook,” said Eeteuk, voice weak. “But he - he could have ruined us, if the situation had been different.”
“But it wasn’t,” said Ryeowook firmly.
“He panicked,” said Yehsung, shrugging slightly. “We all do it. We all do stupid things when the situation gets too much for us. We saw the state of his room afterwards, the state of his writing on that note he left Sungmin. It was rushed - he wasn’t thinking straight. All the things that I’ve done when I haven’t been in my right mind, all the things I did when I was younger - you forgave me, hyung.”
Kangin cleared his throat. “My father never gave second chances,” he said.
“Your father was a great man,” said Eeteuk softly. “Perhaps you are a greater man.”
“Is this how we do this now?” asked Kangin, scowling a little. “Everyone just gangs up on the boss until he changes his mind?”
Ryeowook smiled at Tablo. If Ryeowook knew his family, then Eunhyuk would be back with them before long.
***
“Have you heard?” asked Zhou Mi, glancing nervously at Donghae. “That guy, Tablo-shi, he was here earlier today.”
Donghae was leant over the table, scribbling something on a piece of paper, and he didn’t look up. “I know,” he said, and his voice was neither happy nor depressed - in fact, he just sounding like he was concentrating. Hard. “Kangin and Eeteuk called me into the office to talk about it.”
“Really?” Zhou Mi raised an eyebrow. That was weird. Donghae knew something before Zhou Mi did, and only Heechul and Sungmin knew more gossip than Zhou Mi did. “What was he here for?”
Donghae finished whatever he was writing and sat up, looking critically at the paper as he lay his pencil down. “I can’t tell you,” he said, and then he turned and smiled and Zhou Mi knew anyway that it was something good. It wasn’t hard to read between the lines.
“You’re being - quiet about it,” he said, feeling slightly worried. He had not thought that Donghae would have been able to keep good news to himself.
“I am, aren’t I?” said Donghae, almost thoughtfully, staring unseeingly at his paper. Zhou Mi opened his mouth to ask if he felt okay when suddenly the door to the meeting room was thrown open and Heechul stormed through.
“Well, I don’t know what you want me to say!” said Hankyung, shutting the door after him after he too came into the room. He looked both amused and exasperated.
“Oh, don’t even bother,” said Heechul angrily, throwing himself down into the chair next to Donghae. “I’m sure I’ll find something to do with myself without you, while you go gallivanting off.”
“For the love of god, Heechul!” said Hankyung, and only the fact that he looked like he was on the verge of laughing stopped Zhou Mi from getting too worried about the argument - he was still looking nervously at Heechul though. “It’s just a job! Eeteuk asked me to do it.”
“Yeah,” spat Heechul, and he snatched the piece of paper that Donghae had been writing on from his hands. “What’s this?” he asked.
“My plan,” said Donghae, apparently completely unperturbed by Heechul’s bad mood.
“What’s wrong?” Zhou Mi asked Hankyung in Chinese. Hankyung just shook his head.
“There’s a strip club just opened up in the entertainment district. According to some of our sources, the girls are basically being marketed as cheap prostitutes, so we think some sort of brothel has been set up. Eeteuk has asked Sungmin to go there as a potential buyer to find out what’s going on, and I’m there as back-up in case something goes wrong. Heechul’s got the wrong idea.”
“Stop talking about me when I don’t know what you’re saying!” shrieked Heechul from across the table. Hankyung sighed heavily.
“I think he’s just jealous,” he said, grinned at Zhou Mi and then turned to Heechul and Donghae. “So,” he said, in Korean this time. “What’s the plan?”
“Fuck you,” muttered Heechul under his breath, and he slumped down in his seat.
“I think,” said Donghae.
“You do?” asked Heechul.
“Shut up, Heechul,” said Hankyung. Heechul’s mouth fell open in an expression of complete disbelief, but all three in the room knew exactly how to deal with Heechul and so just ignored him.
“I think that we’re going to have to go in and do it,” said Donghae.
“Go in and do it?” asked Hankyung. “You mean, go into the Choi estate?”
“How else will we get him out?” asked Donghae. “He’s being held there, he’s just a prisoner. There is no other way of getting at him.”
“Yeah, but,” said Hankyung. “We can’t just stroll into the Choi estate, that’s like suicide.”
“Not stroll,” said Donghae. “We simply pay them a visit.”
“Pay them a visit?”
“We’ll take the heir with us,” said Donghae. “We’ll say that we want to talk to the head of the family about what is going to happen with regards Siwon. We claim that we’re worried about the information he may have gotten hold of. While that happens, someone else sneaks to Siwon’s room and frees him.”
“And then what?” asked Hankyung. “We just drive away? Look, Donghae, I can see that you’ve put some thought into this but there are so many things that could go wrong.”
“And I thought we weren’t rescuing him,” said Heechul. “I thought we were just going to try to find out what his story was.”
“How do we do that without rescuing him?” asked Donghae. “Hyung, you need to know this. I know that you need to know why. You’ve already told me that.”
“Donghae,” said Heechul. “I love you. I really do. But you’re not exactly known for thinking things through. You are not known for your great plans.”
“I have thought this through,” said Donghae.
There was a knock at the door, and everyone froze. Donghae quickly hit the piece of paper in his lap before Heechul called out a semi-welcome. The door opened slowly and Kibum stepped into the room, looking at them curiously.
“Hi,” he said. “Sorry, I was just wondering who was in here.”
Donghae’s hands were shaking so hard that he dropped the piece of paper - it floated to the ground, Donghae’s handwriting visible, and Heechul snatched it back up. That was a mistake, he realised. Kibum probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought - he was used to Donghae dropping things around him - but the fact that Heechul had picked it up so quickly alerted him to it, and let him know that it was something he shouldn’t see.
“What’s that?” he asked casually.
“Nothing,” said Heechul, and he injected just the right amount of why are you even asking? that Kibum just shrugged and turned to Donghae.
“Sungmin was wondering where you were,” he said. “I think he wants to go out somewhere with you.”
“Okay,” whispered Donghae, and didn’t look up. Kibum rolled his eyes at the ceiling and then said his goodbyes before leaving. Donghae let out a breath of air and then sat up straighter. Heechul whistled under his breath.
“That will never fail to surprise me,” he said. Donghae looked at him, confused.
“What will?” he asked.
“The way you can change so quickly around Kibum,” said Heechul. “You know I don’t want to take sides but Kibum is my brother and if even I find it weird, he’s probably really freaked by it.”
“I know that,” said Donghae. “I don’t - does he - I’m going to go apologise.”
“Apologise?” Hankyung turned, confused, to Heechul, as Donghae left the room too quickly for anyone to stop him. “I thought Donghae couldn’t talk around Kibum.”
Heechul shrugged. “You think I understand anything that Donghae says?” He smoothed out the slightly crumpled piece of paper he held in his hands. “You know, this is actually quite well thought out.”
“Let me see,” said Zhou Mi, and took the plan from Heechul before he paused and turned sheepishly to Hankyung. “What does this say?” he asked. Hankyung took it from him and translated it for him.
“Oh, look,” said Heechul, spotting something on the floor underneath what had been Donghae’s chair. He bent down and picked up another piece of paper which had been rolled into a ball before being dropped. He smoothed that out too, and then paused. “What is this?” he asked. “It looks like Donghae’s writing.”
Hankyung stood up and went around the table to look at it. “It looks like a plan of some sort,” he said. “Of a house?”
“The Choi building, perhaps?” interjected Zhou Mi. Heechul and Hankyung exchanged glances.
“I suppose Donghae would know the general layout,” said Heechul softly. “He’s not going to forget it in a hurry in any case.”
“Look,” said Hankyung, pointing to one of the rooms. “It’s been blacked out.”
“Huh,” said Heechul. “Weird.”
“You don’t think it was that room that he was-”
Heechul, realising what Hankyung was trying to say, quickly screwed the paper back up and threw it over his shoulder. “I don’t want to think about that,” he said.
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: Tablo/Eunhyuk, Hankyung/Heechul, Yehsung/Ryeowook
Word Count: 3,423
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: Sigh. I haven't even made a dent in chapter 21, but I'm going away for a week soon and so should be able to get a chunk done :D Hence why I'm posting this \o/
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / Chapter 19
The silence in the room was so tense that Yehsung almost snapped, and only the fact that he knew it would upset Ryeowook stopped him. Eeteuk was just staring at Tablo like he couldn’t quite believe it; Kangin looked very much like Yehsung felt, something along the lines of wanting to punch the guy’s lights out.
“So, you’re Tablo,” said Eeteuk, as if he was confirming it in his own mind. Kangin rolled his eyes - probably he felt, again like Yehsung, that Eeteuk wasn’t coming across as a family leader at all - and took over the interrogation.
“Where’s Eunhyuk?” he asked sharply. Tablo looked at him with a clear gaze, straight, and Kangin had to remind himself that Tablo was an officer, that he was used to dealing with Choi family members - he probably had no fear of the lenient, peace-loving Kim family.
“He’s at my flat,” said Tablo. “He doesn’t know I’m here.”
“Why are you here then?” asked Yehsung sharply, and Ryeowook’s fingers curled around his wrist, calming.
“Eunhyuk’s afraid-”
“Of course he should be, you stole him away from us.”
Tablo looked at Yehsung, and for the first time there was something akin to annoyance in his eyes. “That isn’t true,” he said. “I had nothing to do with any of this. I certainly didn’t want Eunhyuk to leave this family.”
“Of course you didn’t,” sneered Yehsung. “If Eunhyuk was still part of this family, he’d still be in the thick of it, you’d still be getting valuable information.”
Tablo shook his head firmly. “I never thought of Eunhyuk that way,” he said. “In terms of what information he could gain me? I’m so unpopular with the Choi family that every day I’m alive is another day that I haven’t been shot.”
The quiet recognition of his situation made Kangin suddenly take note. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“I’m not just a pawn for the Choi family,” said Tablo, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table. “I have no doubt that if I continue the way I’m going, speaking out against what they do, that I’ll be silenced. I’m not afraid for myself, I’ll have brought it on myself - but I am worried for Eunhyuk.”
“What does Eunhyuk have to do with any of this?” asked Yehsung, unable to accept what he was hearing. “He’s part of this family, not anything to do with you.”
Tablo, rather than looking scared or deflated by Yehsung’s statement, in fact looked rather relieved. “Really?” he asked. “He’s part of this family? Still?”
Kangin exchanged glances with Eeteuk. “Well,” he said. “We haven’t discussed it, but-”
“Thank god for that,” said Tablo quietly, slumping back in his seat. “I was - worried.”
“Worried?” Kangin was getting the distinct feeling that he didn’t understand what was happening. This feeling of being out of his depth, out of the loop, was one that he had been suffering under a lot lately, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Eunhyuk isn’t happy living with me,” said Tablo. “I knew he wouldn’t be. The guilt is killing him, he can’t live with what he did. He misses you all so much, his cousins - you’re his family. He told me about you all - no, nothing about the actual family,” he added, seeing Yehsung open his mouth with a dark scowl on his face. “He told me your names and a little about your personalities, but that was enough - the way he spoke about you, it was obviously how much he loved you all. I - I would never have taken him away from that, never.”
“Tell us what happened,” said Kangin. He knew from looking at Eeteuk that he was beginning to think that perhaps they had got the situation wrong. Kangin wasn’t too sure, but he needed the full story before he could pass judgement (although Yehsung looked like he was already sure of the conclusion). Tablo nodded and stood up a little straighter.
Tablo sat flicking aimlessly through the television channels, not even noticing as he skipped past a couple of his favourite shows. He had been sent home early from work after interrogating a Choi family member with serious intent, although his boss had told him that he looked tired and he should get some rest. An excuse for getting rid of him. Tablo snorted and switched the television off, before he stretched, back aching from sitting still for so long.
He sat in the silence for a short while. Perhaps, if this had been like before, he could have rang Eunhyuk, he could have come over if he had spare time of his own, they could have sat and listened to music and talked - it was a strange feeling, thinking back on that, and not one that he was sure he wanted to feel.
There was a loud banging on his front door. Table had heard tale of neighbourhoods over in Kim territory where people left their doors unlocked even when they were out. In Choi territory, doors were locked even if you were in the house - members of the family were not above just walking in and taking what they liked; there was a reason no woman lived on her own in Choi territory.
Sighing, Tablo stood up and made his way to the front door of his apartment, looked through the peep hole to see who was at the door - and froze. Then he wrenched the door open to stare at Eunhyuk, who looked back nervously, two suitcases at his feet.
“What are you doing here?” asked Tablo, voice slightly hoarse.
Eunhyuk’s face seemed slightly flushed, one hand holding another bag. “Can I come in?” he asked.
“Um,” said Tablo, and finding that words had failed him for the first time that he could remember, he just stood back and let Eunhyuk in the apartment. He picked up the one case that had been left outside the door and brought it in himself - looking back on it, he had probably already worked out what was going on.
“I’ve left,” said Eunhyuk, and his voice was tight and strained and held nothing of his usual light heartedness. “I had to make a choice, and I-”
“God, Hyuk,” said Tablo, as Eunhyuk dropped the bag that he held in his hands. “Why would you - you can’t just leave.”
“I can,” said Eunhyuk, face white. “I can, and I did. I couldn’t keep deceiving them but - you - and I, and I had to because-”
Tablo stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Eunhyuk’s shoulders, pulling him forward so that Eunhyuk’s chin was resting on his shoulder, and Eunhyuk’s hands fisted in the material at the side of Tablo’s t-shirt, desperate. “I made a choice,” he whispered, and while Tablo couldn’t feel them, he could hear the tears in Eunhyuk’s voice.
Yes, thought Tablo, fingers shaking. But have you made the right one? And Eunhyuk just sobbed.
Silence reigned supreme over the room for a few minutes before Eeteuk said softly, “He chose you over his family?”
Tablo shook his head. “He didn’t do that at all,” he said. “He made a rash decision. He’d been backed into a corner and he couldn’t see any escape that didn’t involve running to me. He regrets it so much - he just sits there, when I go out, when I come back in, just sitting on the sofa and staring. When he talks, it’s only ever to wonder about what the Kim family is doing. At night he lies awake most of the time - because when he sleeps, he has nightmares. His guilt is stalking him.”
“I couldn’t live like that,” murmured Ryeowook; the others turned to him with some shock. He had been so quiet throughout the story that they had forgotten he was there. Yehsung reached out and took hold of his hand again. He didn’t like that Ryeowook had almost gone back in time there - so quiet that he wasn’t noticed. Tablo smiled weakly at him.
“He can’t live like that,” he said. “It’s tearing him apart. That’s why I’m here. I need - I’ve come to formally introduce myself, and to ask for you to take him back into your family.”
Kangin was hesitant. “Eunhyuk ran away from us,” he said. “He risked everything that this family stands for, just to be with someone who we had never heard of. How can we be certain that that won’t happen again?”
Tablo’s smile grew a bit stronger. “That’s what the introducing myself is for,” he said. “If you accept me, Eunhyuk has no need to sneak around or risk anything.”
“You’re a police officer,” said Yehsung, sounding like he was completely astounded. “Not only that, you’re a police officer for the Choi territory. All we have is your word that you’re not as corrupt as every other officer over there. What makes you think that we’re going to accept you?”
Tablo shrugged. “Sheer hope was my first answer,” he said. “But then I thought about it. What if I wasn’t a police officer? What if I didn’t live in Choi territory?”
Eeteuk leant forward, intrigued. “Explain,” he said.
“I joined the force because my father was a police officer. It was expected of me - I’m the only son, after all. It was expected that I follow in my father’s footsteps, so I came to Korea and I trained and I joined the force. I was supposed to join the force in the Kim territory but I was accidently assigned the Choi territory - it’s a move that makes me think that fate is laughing at me sometimes.”
“I never wanted to be a police officer. Everything about the job disgusts me, especially how it’s done in Choi territory. I have a Stanford degree, for Christ’s sake, but every day I’m having to fight against the blatant corruption that’s rife where I work. I can’t take it anymore. I harboured thoughts at first of fighting against the system one-handed, doing my best to get justice for those who needed it, but it’s just pointless. I’m wasting my energy. My life is passing me by in a haze of anger and I can’t live like that anymore. Something needs to change - maybe this is the push I needed.”
“A push to where?” asked Ryeowook, who found himself liking the man in front of him despite Yehsung’s frown, which was still rather ugly.
“I want to write,” said Tablo simply. “Ever since Eunhyuk turned up, I’ve been making plans to leave my job, to leave where I live. I have a sister who lives in your territory, and I plan on moving in with her as soon as possible. I’ll become a writer.”
“You make it sound so simple,” said Eeteuk faintly.
Tablo laughed softly. “I know it won’t be,” he said. “I know that I’ll struggle for money and that it will be difficult, and I understand that perhaps you won’t be able to forgive Eunhyuk for what he did. All I’m asking is that you try. If he regrets what he did, isn’t that enough?”
“I think it is,” said Ryeowook suddenly. “Eunhyuk is part of this family, and haven’t we always said - people make mistakes?” He turned to Eeteuk. “Hyung, we know Eunhyuk, we know exactly how he must be feeling right now. He loves us, hyung, and we - I love him.”
“I know, Ryeowook,” said Eeteuk, voice weak. “But he - he could have ruined us, if the situation had been different.”
“But it wasn’t,” said Ryeowook firmly.
“He panicked,” said Yehsung, shrugging slightly. “We all do it. We all do stupid things when the situation gets too much for us. We saw the state of his room afterwards, the state of his writing on that note he left Sungmin. It was rushed - he wasn’t thinking straight. All the things that I’ve done when I haven’t been in my right mind, all the things I did when I was younger - you forgave me, hyung.”
Kangin cleared his throat. “My father never gave second chances,” he said.
“Your father was a great man,” said Eeteuk softly. “Perhaps you are a greater man.”
“Is this how we do this now?” asked Kangin, scowling a little. “Everyone just gangs up on the boss until he changes his mind?”
Ryeowook smiled at Tablo. If Ryeowook knew his family, then Eunhyuk would be back with them before long.
***
“Have you heard?” asked Zhou Mi, glancing nervously at Donghae. “That guy, Tablo-shi, he was here earlier today.”
Donghae was leant over the table, scribbling something on a piece of paper, and he didn’t look up. “I know,” he said, and his voice was neither happy nor depressed - in fact, he just sounding like he was concentrating. Hard. “Kangin and Eeteuk called me into the office to talk about it.”
“Really?” Zhou Mi raised an eyebrow. That was weird. Donghae knew something before Zhou Mi did, and only Heechul and Sungmin knew more gossip than Zhou Mi did. “What was he here for?”
Donghae finished whatever he was writing and sat up, looking critically at the paper as he lay his pencil down. “I can’t tell you,” he said, and then he turned and smiled and Zhou Mi knew anyway that it was something good. It wasn’t hard to read between the lines.
“You’re being - quiet about it,” he said, feeling slightly worried. He had not thought that Donghae would have been able to keep good news to himself.
“I am, aren’t I?” said Donghae, almost thoughtfully, staring unseeingly at his paper. Zhou Mi opened his mouth to ask if he felt okay when suddenly the door to the meeting room was thrown open and Heechul stormed through.
“Well, I don’t know what you want me to say!” said Hankyung, shutting the door after him after he too came into the room. He looked both amused and exasperated.
“Oh, don’t even bother,” said Heechul angrily, throwing himself down into the chair next to Donghae. “I’m sure I’ll find something to do with myself without you, while you go gallivanting off.”
“For the love of god, Heechul!” said Hankyung, and only the fact that he looked like he was on the verge of laughing stopped Zhou Mi from getting too worried about the argument - he was still looking nervously at Heechul though. “It’s just a job! Eeteuk asked me to do it.”
“Yeah,” spat Heechul, and he snatched the piece of paper that Donghae had been writing on from his hands. “What’s this?” he asked.
“My plan,” said Donghae, apparently completely unperturbed by Heechul’s bad mood.
“What’s wrong?” Zhou Mi asked Hankyung in Chinese. Hankyung just shook his head.
“There’s a strip club just opened up in the entertainment district. According to some of our sources, the girls are basically being marketed as cheap prostitutes, so we think some sort of brothel has been set up. Eeteuk has asked Sungmin to go there as a potential buyer to find out what’s going on, and I’m there as back-up in case something goes wrong. Heechul’s got the wrong idea.”
“Stop talking about me when I don’t know what you’re saying!” shrieked Heechul from across the table. Hankyung sighed heavily.
“I think he’s just jealous,” he said, grinned at Zhou Mi and then turned to Heechul and Donghae. “So,” he said, in Korean this time. “What’s the plan?”
“Fuck you,” muttered Heechul under his breath, and he slumped down in his seat.
“I think,” said Donghae.
“You do?” asked Heechul.
“Shut up, Heechul,” said Hankyung. Heechul’s mouth fell open in an expression of complete disbelief, but all three in the room knew exactly how to deal with Heechul and so just ignored him.
“I think that we’re going to have to go in and do it,” said Donghae.
“Go in and do it?” asked Hankyung. “You mean, go into the Choi estate?”
“How else will we get him out?” asked Donghae. “He’s being held there, he’s just a prisoner. There is no other way of getting at him.”
“Yeah, but,” said Hankyung. “We can’t just stroll into the Choi estate, that’s like suicide.”
“Not stroll,” said Donghae. “We simply pay them a visit.”
“Pay them a visit?”
“We’ll take the heir with us,” said Donghae. “We’ll say that we want to talk to the head of the family about what is going to happen with regards Siwon. We claim that we’re worried about the information he may have gotten hold of. While that happens, someone else sneaks to Siwon’s room and frees him.”
“And then what?” asked Hankyung. “We just drive away? Look, Donghae, I can see that you’ve put some thought into this but there are so many things that could go wrong.”
“And I thought we weren’t rescuing him,” said Heechul. “I thought we were just going to try to find out what his story was.”
“How do we do that without rescuing him?” asked Donghae. “Hyung, you need to know this. I know that you need to know why. You’ve already told me that.”
“Donghae,” said Heechul. “I love you. I really do. But you’re not exactly known for thinking things through. You are not known for your great plans.”
“I have thought this through,” said Donghae.
There was a knock at the door, and everyone froze. Donghae quickly hit the piece of paper in his lap before Heechul called out a semi-welcome. The door opened slowly and Kibum stepped into the room, looking at them curiously.
“Hi,” he said. “Sorry, I was just wondering who was in here.”
Donghae’s hands were shaking so hard that he dropped the piece of paper - it floated to the ground, Donghae’s handwriting visible, and Heechul snatched it back up. That was a mistake, he realised. Kibum probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought - he was used to Donghae dropping things around him - but the fact that Heechul had picked it up so quickly alerted him to it, and let him know that it was something he shouldn’t see.
“What’s that?” he asked casually.
“Nothing,” said Heechul, and he injected just the right amount of why are you even asking? that Kibum just shrugged and turned to Donghae.
“Sungmin was wondering where you were,” he said. “I think he wants to go out somewhere with you.”
“Okay,” whispered Donghae, and didn’t look up. Kibum rolled his eyes at the ceiling and then said his goodbyes before leaving. Donghae let out a breath of air and then sat up straighter. Heechul whistled under his breath.
“That will never fail to surprise me,” he said. Donghae looked at him, confused.
“What will?” he asked.
“The way you can change so quickly around Kibum,” said Heechul. “You know I don’t want to take sides but Kibum is my brother and if even I find it weird, he’s probably really freaked by it.”
“I know that,” said Donghae. “I don’t - does he - I’m going to go apologise.”
“Apologise?” Hankyung turned, confused, to Heechul, as Donghae left the room too quickly for anyone to stop him. “I thought Donghae couldn’t talk around Kibum.”
Heechul shrugged. “You think I understand anything that Donghae says?” He smoothed out the slightly crumpled piece of paper he held in his hands. “You know, this is actually quite well thought out.”
“Let me see,” said Zhou Mi, and took the plan from Heechul before he paused and turned sheepishly to Hankyung. “What does this say?” he asked. Hankyung took it from him and translated it for him.
“Oh, look,” said Heechul, spotting something on the floor underneath what had been Donghae’s chair. He bent down and picked up another piece of paper which had been rolled into a ball before being dropped. He smoothed that out too, and then paused. “What is this?” he asked. “It looks like Donghae’s writing.”
Hankyung stood up and went around the table to look at it. “It looks like a plan of some sort,” he said. “Of a house?”
“The Choi building, perhaps?” interjected Zhou Mi. Heechul and Hankyung exchanged glances.
“I suppose Donghae would know the general layout,” said Heechul softly. “He’s not going to forget it in a hurry in any case.”
“Look,” said Hankyung, pointing to one of the rooms. “It’s been blacked out.”
“Huh,” said Heechul. “Weird.”
“You don’t think it was that room that he was-”
Heechul, realising what Hankyung was trying to say, quickly screwed the paper back up and threw it over his shoulder. “I don’t want to think about that,” he said.