IMB 2012: Dead Man's Chest (1/2)
Working Title: Dead Man’s Chest
Pairing/Focus: Sunggyu/Woohyun
Rating: PG-13
Summary: When Sunggyu’s past comes back to haunt him, he finds himself in a dangerous situation.
Final word count: 12,521
“I’m back!” Woohyun’s voice rang through the apartment as the door slammed behind him. Grocery bags hung from his arms as he stumbled his way into the kitchen, tripping on a random shoe and what looked like a huge stack of bubble wrap.
“Sunggyu?” he called.
Silence.
He closed a cabinet door with his foot and shifted a bag higher up on his arm. “Yah! Lee Sunggyu!”
When there was still no answer, Woohyun dropped the bags onto the counter and marched down the hallway. “Wow, thanks for answering when your best friend is calling you, asshole,” he said, leaning against the doorway to Sunggyu’s room where said man was sitting in front of his computer with an expression of deep concentration.
“Hi, Woohyun.” Sunggyu kept his eyes trained on the screen, fingers flying over the keyboard.
“What’re you doing?” Coming to stand behind him, Woohyun poked Sunggyu in the head, hard, and Sunggyu punched him in the arm in retaliation.
“Working. Can you please leave me alone?”
“You know, for someone who eats my food and sleeps in my house and has me wash his clothes, you really are a bitch sometimes, you know that?” Woohyun jabbed him in the head again.
Sunggyu sighed, swiveling around in his chair as Woohyun dropped onto Sunggyu’s bed, folding his arms behind his head. “Sorry, Woohyun, I’m just…stressing out.”
Woohyun rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “How unusual.”
“Woohyun.” Woohyun looked over, alerted at the serious tone. “I saw someone waiting outside the apartment this morning.”
Woohyun froze. The two looked at each other for a moment. “Like, outside our door or outside the building?”
“Outside the building. The receptionist told me that a guy asked if a man named Lee Sunggyu lived here.”
Woohyun bit his lip, eyes still locked on Sunggyu’s face. “Lee? Well, maybe it wasn’t them, then, if they didn’t even know your full name…right?”
Sunggyu turned back around in his chair, hiding his expression. He unconsciously fingered the chain hanging around his neck. “Maybe. But I’m checking the security footage just in case.”
Woohyun got up and leaned over Sunggyu’s shoulder, placing a warm hand on the other shoulder. “You hacked the security cameras?”
“Of course. It’s not like it’s hard.” Woohyun just laughed, ruffling Sunggyu’s hair affectionately.
“Alright, you check into that and I’ll make us some dinner.” With that, Woohyun squeezed Sunggyu’s shoulder and slipped out of the room.
Sunggyu squinted at his computer screen. His fingers tapped a few more keys and then “Hah! Gotcha.”
A fuzzy picture appeared on the screen. A few small numbers in the corner read “10:42 am”. The lady at the receptionist counter, Mrs. Jung, was reading a book. Sunggyu waited with bated breath, watching as she flipped a page, then another. Suddenly, someone walked up to the counter, their back to the screen. Sunggyu straightened up, narrowing his eyes. Mrs. Jung looked up and smiled, talked a little bit, and laughed. Then she shook her head, a confused look on her face. After about a minute, the figure bowed to her and turned to leave. Sunggyu quickly hit the pause button and stared. The person, now facing the camera, was young, about his age. He was tall and pale, with big eyes and long hair that brushed the back of his neck. He was dressed inconspicuously, wearing a simple black t-shirt and jeans. The only thing that really stood out about him was the multiple piercings outlining his left ear. It seemed like there were at least six, if not more.
“Woohyun?” Sunggyu called, eyes still on the screen. He stared at the man’s face, trying to make a connection.
A second later, Woohyun poked his head in, a spatula in his hand. Sunggyu pointed to the screen. “Do you recognize him?”
Woohyun leaned over Sunggyu’s shoulder, squinting at the screen. “I…don’t think so. He doesn’t seem familiar. Is he…?”
Sunggyu frowned. “I’m not sure yet. Mrs. Jung said that he didn’t leave his name.”
Woohyun was silent for a long moment. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“Hey,” Sunggyu said, nudging Woohyun with his head, “let’s not assume anything, alright? This could be nothing.”
Woohyun nodded, turning to leave. “Let’s hope so,” he said, before closing the door behind him.
-
The next day saw no progress in figuring out the identity of the mysterious man. Sunggyu searched every resource he knew, only to come up empty. And because Sunggyu was a bit of an expert in this type of thing, he began to get worried. Worried enough that he spent most of the day in his room, trying and re-trying to match the man’s face to any records.
About an hour after dinner (which Sunggyu ate in his room, in front of the computer, much to Woohyun’s annoyance) Woohyun shouted his name. “Hey, someone’s calling for you!”
Sighing, Sunggyu dragged himself away from his computer and into the kitchen and carefully took the phone from Woohyun’s waiting hand. “Hello?”
“Sunggyu?” The voice was tense and breathless, but familiar.
Sunggyu straightened up instantly. “Myungsoo?” From the corner of his eye, he could see Woohyun tense up too, the line of his shoulders snapping into a straight line. He turned his back to the other boy. He should probably hide his expression, just in case.
“Sunggyu, man, something’s happened. You’ve got to get out of there.” Myungsoo’s voice was quiet but laced with a panic that immediately struck fear in Sunggyu’s heart.
Myungsoo never panicked.
“What? What are you saying? Did something happen?”
“They’re gone. The files. Sunggyu- all my files are gone. I think I’ve been robbed.”
Sunggyu choked, reaching out to grab the counter and steady himself. “G-gone? What do you mean gone? Gone as in…stolen?”
Myungsoo let out a long breath, loud against Sunggyu’s ear. “Yes. They’ve been stolen.”
Sunggyu closed his eyes, swallowing the lump in his throat that had formed as a result of Myungsoo’s words. His hand automatically went to his chest, pressing on his shirt until he could feel the line of his necklace under his palm. He could feel Woohyun’s concerned and questioning gaze on him but he ignored it. There was one more thing he needed to know.
“Myungsoo. Who…who stole them?”
There was a long silence where Myungsoo panted against the receiver. When he finally answered, Sunggyu’s eyes snapped open.
“I think you know.”
Then the line went dead.
“Sunggyu?” Woohyun placed a hand on Sunggyu’s arm timidly. “Is…everything okay?”
Sunggyu turned to look at him, eyes still wide. He stared at Woohyun’s confused expression before blinking a few times. “No. No, everything is not okay. We need to leave. Now.” He started to head down the hallway, grabbing everything he could reach.
“Sunggyu, wait-” Woohyun followed him into his bedroom where he yanked a suitcase out of the closet and started filling it with everything he could lay his hands on. “What-”
“Please, no questions, Woohyun,” Sunggyu practically begged. He turned to Woohyun with a hard expression on his face. “We’re both in danger and we have to leave.”
“Leave? Like for good? Why? What did Myungsoo say?” Woohyun grabbed Sunggyu’s arm to stop him from his haphazard packing. “Answer me!”
“Woohyun, listen to me!” Sunggyu demanded, raising his voice. Woohyun froze. Sunggyu never raised his voice at him. Sunggyu grabbed his shoulders and shook them slightly. “Woohyun, I know that this seems crazy, but you’re going to have to trust me on this. What Myungsoo told me is very serious, but I don’t have time to explain it to you. I promise I will explain it all later. But right now, we have to leave this place. I want to keep you safe and this is the only way. Just- trust me. Please.” He kept his eyes steady, locked with Woohyun’s until the other man dropped his eyes and nodded slowly. Sunggyu exhaled, surprising Woohyun by pulling him into a tight hug and pressing his face against his head. He might’ve even pressed his lips to Woohyun’s hair, but maybe that was just Woohyun’s imagination.
Ten minutes later, the two walked out of the apartment, suitcases in hand. Sunggyu punched the button for the elevator. When Woohyun glanced at him, his jaw was tightly clenched.
Keeping his eyes on Sunggyu, Woohyun voiced a thought he had been considering while they were packing. “This is about them, isn’t it?”
Sunggyu just pressed his lips together.
-
Sungyeol’s shoes clicked on the linoleum floor as he walked down the hallway, folder in hand. He pushed open a huge wooden door and was greeted with the sight of two men seated at a long wooden table, shined to perfection. He tossed the folder so that it slid along the entire length of the table and stopped right in front of the man at the other end. He smirked. “I got your file.”
The man stared at the folder for a moment then reached for it with long, slender fingers. He opened it a fraction, rifling through the papers inside. “Are you sure this is the right one?”
Sungyeol smirked again, picking an invisible speck of dirt from his black t-shirt. “Kim Sunggyu, age 24, Type A, 178 cm tall, formerly a scientist that worked for this agency, was working on top secret project, X17, when he mysteriously disappeared. Our files end there, pronouncing him dead after a ten month search.” Sungyeol smiles dangerously. “This file, however, does not. Kim Sunggyu has a connection within the government that has kept him hidden. He has been living under a fake surname, Lee, and lives in an apartment in Seoul with a man named Nam Woohyun, assumed to be his accomplice.”
“A connection?” The man questioned curtly.
“Kim Myungsoo, sir.”
“Myungsoo? A double agent?” His eyes narrowed but he nodded slowly, flipping through a few of the documents. “Is that all?”
“I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.” The man raised his head, intrigued. “Our files state that X17 failed and was destroyed in a laboratory fire the day of its scheduled test run. This file, however, states otherwise. X17 was not destroyed. It was used.”
The man’s eyes widened. “Used?” he snapped.
Sungyeol nodded. “Kim Sunggyu put X17 into effect the day of the fire. It was successful.”
The man froze, his voice full of wonder. “It was successful?”
“Project X17 was successful. Kim Sunggyu is living proof.”
The man ran a hand through his hair, eyes wide. “Kim Sunggyu put X17 into effect…on himself?”
Sungyeol nodded again.
“Well. This mission seems to be bigger than I initially anticipated. Project X17 was a top secret Agency X project and should not be anywhere other than a guarded laboratory with extensive surveillance. If it ends up in the wrong hands, we could have a huge problem. ” He glanced to his right, where the other man was sitting, silent throughout the entire exchange. His hair, which was a strange shade of blue, hung in front of his eyes. “First, Kim Myungsoo must be eliminated. Sungyeol, you are in charge of that.”
“Yes sir.”
“Make it quick. We have enough to handle as it is.”
“Yes sir.”
The man then looked at the blue haired man beside him. “Dongwoo, find this Kim Sunggyu. I want him tracked down. Then,” the man stood up and smoothed the wrinkles out of his suit jacket, “destroy X17.”
Dongwoo lifted his head, a confused look on his face. “D-destroy it, sir? But it could be useful-”
“X17 is a highly dangerous experiment. It is the only one of its kind as of right now and, thanks to Kim Sunggyu, we have no idea how it works. It must be destroyed.” The man interrupted with a voice as sharp as glass.
Dongwoo dropped his head and nodded quickly. “But if we destroy X17…we kill Sunggyu.”
The man walked over to the door, placing a long-fingered hand on the doorknob. “Then kill him. Kill anyone who gets in your way. X17 must be terminated.”
With those words, he left the room, the door slamming behind him.
-
Sunggyu rapped his knuckles on the door once, twice, three times. He waited for a moment before knocking again, once, twice, three times, then once more.
He took a step back, glancing at Woohyun, whose face was impassive. After a few minutes Sunggyu stepped forward again, raising him arm to knock when the door flew open. A young man stood in the entryway, shorter than the both of them. His hair was messy and his eyes were drooping, looking every bit like he had just woken up from a nap. He wore only pajama pants, slung low on his hips, the black waistband of his underwear showing. He regarded them with sleepy eyes. After looking them up and down, he grunted and retreated back into his room, leaving the door open.
Woohyun gave Sunggyu a look, but Sunggyu just followed the shirtless man back into the hotel room.
Sunggyu took a quick look around the room, which was quite messy, then parked his suitcase next to one of the two beds. “Myungsoo. Nice to see you.”
Myungsoo plopped down on the edge of the other bed. He grunted again, and Woohyun supposed that was just his way of communicating.
“You doing okay?” Sunggyu asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
Myungsoo turned to him with a hard stare, eyes as deep and dark as the night sky. “Do I look like I’m doing okay?” Now that he was actually talking, Woohyun noted that his voice was smooth but quite unique, almost nasally- but not unpleasantly so.
Sunggyu just blew out his cheeks and perched lightly on the bed. “Look, this is my fault, I-”
“Don’t.” Myungsoo’s eyes were still dark, but there was a slight softening of his gaze. “I don’t blame you, okay? I got careless. It had been so long since I had heard anything about my files that I started to get lax. I wasn’t checking and double-checking the security, I stopped looking out for signs that anyone knew at work. That’s probably how it slipped past me. I had just run out to get some groceries, and when I came back, all of my files were all gone. It was someone at work, Sunggyu, I’m sure of it. Nothing was touched expect for the vault where I kept the files. Not a single thing was out of place. They’re the only ones that could figure out how to get through my security.” He placed his palms on the bed underneath him, leaning back on his arms. “But we better hope that it’s not them. Because if it is, we don’t have much of a chance of out-smarting them. Once they read the file, they’re gonna come after you. And once they find you,” Myungsoo shook his head slightly, “they’re gonna have to kill you.”
“Kill him?” Woohyun questioned. He hadn’t moved from his place right inside the doorframe, listening to the whole conversation with a mix of confusion and a little bit of fear. “I know that he’s supposed to be dead and all, but wouldn’t they just- I don’t know- capture him or put him in jail or something? Why would they kill him?”
Woohyun’s question rang in the silence that followed. Sunggyu’s head was bowed, his hands resting in his lap. Myungsoo stared at Woohyun with the strangest look on his face, something like confusion, or maybe disbelief. He stared long enough to make Woohyun feel uncomfortable, and he shifted awkwardly on his feet. Myungsoo glanced at Sunggyu (quickly, but Woohyun caught it) before suddenly rubbing his palms on his pants.
He awkwardly cleared his throat and stood up, grabbing a card from the nightstand. “Well! I booked the room next door for you two for tonight, so here you go.” He handed the card over to Sunggyu, who also stood up. “We can’t stay in the same place for more than one night if we want to avoid being caught. Now get your asses out of here; you interrupted my beauty sleep.”
While Woohyun was distracted with gathering up their stuff, Myungsoo gripped Sunggyu’s arm and pulled his close. “He doesn’t know about X17, does he?”
Sunggyu swallowed, shaking his head. “No,” he whispered.
Myungsoo clenched his jaw. “Sunggyu,” he said, his voice hard even in a whisper, “you need to tell him. How can you expect to drag him along into this mess if he doesn’t know the whole truth?”
Sunggyu dropped his eyes to the floor. “I can’t. I can’t tell him. I just can’t.”
“Why?” Myungsoo hissed, jerking Sunggyu’s arm slightly.
Sunggyu glanced over his shoulder at Woohyun. The other boy, oblivious to their entire conversation, was struggling with the suitcase whose wheels had somehow gotten caught in the bed sheet. When he looked back at Myungsoo, something in his expression must have tipped Myungsoo off because the man was staring at him with deep eyes and a dawning comprehension. He shook his head. “You’re in some deep shit, Kim Sunggyu.”
Sunggyu sighed. “I know.”
“You know it’s going to come down to it, though, don’t you? You’re going to have to tell him.”
Sunggyu pressed his lips together. “I know. I’m just going to put that day off as long as possible.”
“Sunggyu?”
Both men looked over at Woohyun, who was standing at the door with both suitcases in tow. “Are you coming?”
With a quick squeeze of Myungsoo’s arm, Sunggyu nodded, following Woohyun out the door and into their own hotel room.
-
Once inside their own room, both men began to unpack their suitcases in silence. They were both exhausted, and Sunggyu volunteered to take his shower first. Woohyun agreed, and Sunggyu gratefully slipped into the bathroom. He turned on the water and stripped off his clothes, everything except for the thin chain around his neck. As the hot streams of water ran down his body, he stuck his face into the spray and tried not to think about his current situation. Which, of course, failed. So he leaned against the smooth walls of the shower and made a mental list of all the problems he was now facing.
One: he was technically not alive- according to the Agency X records, anyway. He has been living under Woohyun’s roof for two years, staying out of public view most of the time. As a precaution, he dyed and cut his hair and spent a lot of his time hiding indoors at the gym. His new hair and physique lessened the chances of being identified. He had assumed a fake surname- Lee. Myungsoo has helped him out in more ways than one: finalizing his file on the Agency X records, refuting any suspicions about him, helping him cover up the whole laboratory incident. While all this was extremely helpful, it also makes it extremely hard to be on the run because he absolutely could not be recognized.
Two: the project. X17. Someone is after the project and he knows it. Myungsoo’s been keeping records on its progress since Sunggyu put it into effect, and now that someone has their hands on those records, they might be able to figure out what really happened. Which, Sunggyu knows, is a very very bad thing, precisely the reason why the laboratory fire was staged in the first place.
Three (probably the thing that is taking up most of Sunggyu’s thoughts): Woohyun. When Sunggyu came to live with Woohyun, he told him all about his situation- how he used to work for the government and went “missing” and supposedly died. He did not mention, however, X17. Woohyun knew that there was a laboratory fire, set up to mask Sunggyu’s escape, but did not know what he was working on. He did not know that Sunggyu had escaped with the project, had used it on himself. Sunggyu had decided it would be much safer to keep Woohyun in the dark about that particular subject, but he couldn’t help feeling guilty. The project was such a huge part of the problem, so shouldn’t Woohyun be informed? But then Sunggyu pictured Woohyun’s face if he told him, the disgust and revulsion plain in his eyes. He pictured Woohyun being tortured for information by the people that were hunting him.
Sunggyu’s fist slammed against the tile with a loud thud. No. Nothing will happen to Woohyun; he will be sure of it.
When he finally emerged from the shower, Woohyun was already asleep, sprawled out on top of the covers, still in his clothes. His chest rose and fell in a slow rhythm. Sunggyu paused for a moment, tracing the lines of Woohyun’s face with his eyes. Woohyun’s lips were curled into a smile; maybe he was having a good dream. Not having the heart to wake him up, Sunggyu gently untied his shoes and slipped them off of his feet, pulling the covers up to Woohyun’s chin. After a moment’s hesitation, he carefully bent down and fleetingly pressed his lips to the other man’s forehead.
“I’ll keep you safe, Woohyun. I promise.”
-
The next day started early for the three men on the run. They got up with the sun and left the hotel within half an hour. When they reached the main entrance to the hotel, a sleek, nondescript black car pulled up in front of them. Sunggyu threw Myungsoo a questioning look.
Myungsoo replied with a smirk, opening the door on the passenger’s side. “I have my connections.”
The inside of the car smelled like leather. Sunggyu and Woohyun settled themselves in the backseat while Myungsoo rattled off directions to the driver with a quick tongue that neither Sunggyu nor Woohyun understood. Woohyun raised an eyebrow and caught Myungsoo’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
“What?” Myungsoo asked.
“You speak Japanese?”
Myungsoo smirked. “Doesn’t everyone?”
Woohyun just snorted, rolling his eyes.
“Where are we going?” Sunggyu questioned, watching the buildings of Seoul flash by.
“I have a friend that lives near Incheon that we can stay with for a little while.”
“Is he…” Sunggyu furrowed his eyebrows “safe?”
Myungsoo just laughed. “Let’s just say that the truth is not written on his government records either.”
A few hours later, the car pulled up to an apartment building in the middle of a peaceful neighborhood. From the window, Sunggyu could see a family with two kids playing in the park, a young girl walking her dog, and an older man riding a bicycle. This surely doesn’t seem like a place a fugitive would live.
When the car stopped, Myungsoo glanced back at the two of them, Woohyun sleeping soundly with his head on Sunggyu’s shoulder. “I’m going to go in and check,” Myungsoo said. “We need to make sure he’s here before we go barging into his house, even though I already have a key.” With that he swept the door open and sauntered up to the door, disappearing into the building.
Left alone with a driver that spoke only Japanese and a drooling Woohyun, Sunggyu leaned his head against the window. He closed his eyes and briefly prayed that Myungsoo’s friend, whoever he was, was home so that they could finally rest. He was just about to nod off when a loud shot rang through the quiet neighborhood. He straightened up instantly, Woohyun’s head slipping off of his shoulder. The sleeping man woke with a grunt, falling over into Sunggyu’s lap. Sunggyu barely had time to react when someone came bolting out of the front door of the apartment building.
In a flash Myungsoo was yanking the car door open, jumping inside and yelling at the driver to drive. He was so rushed that he was yelling in Korean, but thankfully the driver figured it out from his wild hand gestures and urgent tone. The driver pressed a heavy foot on the accelerator and the car shot forward, speeding out of the lot and back onto the road. Myungsoo was turned almost completely around in his seat, craning his neck to see out of the back window. He was breathing heavily, chanting a mantra of “shit shit shit shit shit” under his breath. When the apartment building was finally out of sight, he slumped against his seat, running a shaky hand through his hair.
“Myungsoo!” Sunggyu practically yelled. “What the hell just happened?”
Myungsoo closed his eyes, his chest still heaving, breaths still coming quick. “They…found…him. They knew…that we were…coming.”
“Wait, they found him? Did they try to shoot you?” Sunggyu asked, suddenly concerned. He leaned forward, trying to look for any injuries on Myungsoo’s body.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I knocked on his…door, and when he didn’t answer…I went inside. He was sitting on the chair with…a bullet through his head.” At these words, Myungsoo’s face turned dark and Woohyun gasped. “There was a note in his lap. I barely had time to read it…before someone jumped out from behind the couch and fired at me. I threw a lamp…at him and ran.”
“What did the note say?” Sunggyu asked, but he wasn’t quite sure that he wanted to hear the answer.
Myungsoo turned to look at him with deep eyes, trying to send him a message. “It said ‘Keep running, Kim Sunggyu. We’ll find you.’”
The silence after those words filled the small space inside the car. It felt like it was crushing Sunggyu’s chest. He struggled for air. “They know where we are.”
“Not only that,” Myungsoo cut in, leaning his head back against the seat and closing his eyes again, “they were one step ahead of us.”
Sunggyu swallowed a lump in his throat. He glanced at Woohyun, only to see the other man staring wide-eyed at Myungsoo’s lap. Confused, Sunggyu followed his gaze and- ah. It was only then that Sunggyu noticed the shiny black gun resting in Myungsoo’s palm. He looked between Woohyun and the gun for a moment before deciding to stare out the window, his chest tightening as the silence pressed down on them all.
-
Sungyeol kicked a piece of a fragmented light bulb angrily. The shattered remains of a lamp lay scattered around his feet, strewn across the floor of the living room. Sungyeol was breathing heavily, having watched his target escape in a car from the window of this guy’s apartment.
Sungyeol turned to the figure in the armchair. The man’s eyes were still open. A small trickle of blood ran down the center of his forehead from an angry bullet hole near his hairline. Sungyeol’s bullet. There was even an open book in his lap. Sungyeol picked up the book, curiously peering at the title, then snorted. “Shakespeare.” He tossed the book aside carelessly.
“How did he get away, huh?” Sungyeol asked the dead man as he started to pace the length of the room, broken glass crunching under his feet. “I was so close, so close. He’s quick, I’ll give him that, but I’m quicker.”
He gave the room one last look before heading for the door.
“I’ll find you again, Kim Myungsoo. And when I do…I swear I’m going to kill you.”
-
Sunggyu emerged from the bathroom to find Woohyun perched unmoving on the foot of his bed. His eyes were blank, staring at the opposite wall, and his legs were crossed. It scared Sunggyu a little bit, to be honest.
“Woohyun?” He asked tentatively. “…are you alright?”
Woohyun jerked his head in Sunggyu’s direction, emotionless eyes suddenly connected with his. “Sunggyu,” he said, still unmoving. “What’s going on.”
“Sorry?” Sunggyu swallowed, taken aback by Woohyun’s attitude. This was something he had never seen in the two years spent living with the man.
“You heard me. I want to know what’s happening. There’s obviously something you’re not telling me, and apparently everyone knows about it but me.”
“I don’t know what you’re-”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Kim Sunggyu!” Woohyun’s emotionless façade broke and his fist clenched as he screamed at Sunggyu, his eyes huge and angry. Sunggyu unconsciously took a step backwards. “I’m so fucking tired of this ‘oh Woohyun, I just want to protect you’ shit. You’re not being honest with me, and I know it. So you better fucking sit down and tell me what’s going on, or so help me God.”
“Woohyun, I know you’re angry, but-”
“Angry? Angry? Yes, I’m fucking angry, Sunggyu! Did you see what happened today? Myungsoo almost got shot in there. And he had a gun, Sunggyu. A gun. Wait, don’t tell me, you have a gun too, don’t you? Everyone has a gun but me, because apparently we’re in a shitload of danger and I have no idea how big of a mess we’re in.” Woohyun was practically hysterical by this point, moisture building in the corner of his eyes as he rambled on and on, face flushed. He was wringing his hands, eyes darting to the sides. Now this side of Woohyun Sunggyu knew.
“Hey hey hey, come here,” Sunggyu said softly, taking a seat next to Woohyun and carefully wrapping his arms around him. Woohyun resisted for a moment before going limp, clutching Sunggyu’s shirt and burying his face into Sunggyu’s neck. “Listen, I know that you’re really scared. I’m scared, too.” The shaking of Woohyun’s shoulders and the sudden wetness against his neck make Sunggyu rub small circles onto Woohyun’s back. “I honestly don’t know how big of a mess we’re dealing with either, but I know that it’s pretty big. And trust me, I hate myself so freaking much for dragging you into this. And I know you’re going to hate me for saying this, but there really are some things I can’t tell you right now.” He felt Woohyun stiffen in his arms but before the other boy could raise his head Sunggyu slipped a hand into his hair. “Wait, wait. I said that I can’t tell you right this moment, not that I can’t tell you ever. I am going to tell you, probably in the near future. But just…not now.” Sunggyu pulled away and took Woohyun’s face into his hands. Woohyun’s eyes were still watery, but the anger seemed to be gone. “I know I’ve said this a million times before, but I need you to trust me. Please.”
Woohyun stared at him for a while, blinking rapidly. Then he pressed his lips together and gave a small nod. He raised a hand and gently slipped it over Sunggyu’s hand pressed against his cheek. They stared at each other for another moment, breaths caught in both of their throats, before Sunggyu slowly slipped his hands away. He whispered a quiet “goodnight, Woohyun” before climbing into his own bed. Woohyun fell asleep to the sound of his racing heartbeat.
-
The light was what Sunggyu up. Bright sunbeams covered his bed and the bed sheets were illuminated by the yellowish morning light. He squeezed his eyelids tight before opening them, blinking rapidly to get used to the brightness. Heaving a deep sigh, he started to sit up when suddenly his wrist was met with a strange resistance. Startled, Sunggyu fell back against the mattress, eyes flying open. His head snapped up to glance at his wrist.
And then his mouth fell open.
A shiny, heavy pair of handcuffs was circled around his wrist, the other end fastened to the headboard. He instinctively pulled his wrist forward, testing, but the metal wouldn’t budge.
They found me, was the first thought that popped into his head.
Shit, was the second.
His other hand, free of handcuffs, pushed on the bed underneath him as he struggled to get upright. “What the hell,” he murmured under his breath, his non-cuffed hand already starting to pull at the metal around his other wrist. He breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed the thin chain still around his neck.
He looked to his right, to Woohyun’s bed.
Empty.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no, shit.” He pulled on the metal again, over and over, the clanking of metal on metal filling the room. “Woohyun!” he called. “Woohyun!”
No answer.
A heavy ball of fear settled itself in Sunggyu’s chest, expanding with each unsuccessful tug of his wrist. There’s gotta be a way to get out of this, there’s gotta be a way, he chanted inside his head. Oh God, where was Woohyun, what if they took him, and Myungsoo, and what if-
“It won’t open without the key.”
Sunggyu jerked his head in the direction of the voice. Woohyun leaned against the wall right outside the bathroom, his expression impassive.
“Woohyun!” Sunggyu gasped, a wave of relief washing through his body. “Oh, Woohyun. Thank God you’re okay. Did you escape? Were you handcuffed too? Oh crap, help me out of this so we can leave, I can’t believe they found us again-”
“They didn’t find us.”
Woohyun’s soft voice cut through Sunggyu’s rambling and the elder stopped his struggling to stare. “What? What do you mean they didn’t find us? What’s going on?”
Woohyun didn’t respond. It was only then that Sunggyu realized the curiously expressionless face and blank eyes. Woohyun wasn’t even looking at him; he was too busy fiddling with a small object in his hands, flipping it between his fingers and over his palm, again and again.
“Woohyun!” Sunggyu growled, suddenly angry. “Stop playing with that- that whatever-it-is and help me out of this!” He jerked his wrist a few times, the jangling of the metal loud against their ears.
“Playing with what?” Woohyun asked, his voice still soft. “This?” He held up the item between his thumb and forefinger, letting it catch the light. Sunggyu squinted at it, furrowing his eyebrows until he could clearly see the outline of….a key.
“What the- Woohyun, what the hell is going on? Did you handcuff me to the headboard?” Sunggyu demanded. He yanked his wrist again, wincing as the metal cut into his skin.
“Yes.” Woohyun still wasn’t meeting Sunggyu’s eyes.
“Why?” Sunggyu hissed.
Woohyun raised his eyes then, meeting Sunggyu’s angry gaze with his carefully blank one. “Why? Why, you ask?” Woohyun walked over to the table beside his bed, opening the top drawer. “I woke up early this morning- not that I slept much last night anyway- and was looking for my toothbrush after I got dressed. I couldn’t find it in my bag, so I thought that maybe you had grabbed it.” There was something oddly unsettling about Woohyun’s voice. His voice was monotone, noticeably devoid of any emotion, and it sent a chill down Sunggyu’s spine. “I didn’t want to wake you up, so I decided that I’d look for it myself. I was halfway through your bag when I saw this.” Woohyun reached into the drawer and pulled out a pistol, setting in on top of the table.
The room was silent.
Sunggyu swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. His mind raced, trying to formulate an excuse for why he was carrying a gun, anything that would make sense. Anything but the truth.
“I- I’m not sure what exactly is going on here, but I know that you haven’t told me everything.” Woohyun’s emotionless façade was cracking, and Sunggyu could see the fear in his eyes. “I’m not letting you go until I get some answers.”
“So you handcuffed me to the bed?”
“I just want answers, Sunggyu.” Woohyun’s eyes were intense, burning into Sunggyu’s.
Sunggyu sighed, jangling the metal around his wrist once more. “You don’t know what you’re asking for. You don’t want to know the truth.”
Woohyun huffed, his jaw tightening. “This is obviously a dangerous situation. How the hell am I supposed to help if I don’t even know what’s happening or why?”
“You’re not supposed to help!” Sunggyu cracked. His angry yell took both of them by surprise and Woohyun’s eyes flew wide. “You’re not supposed to help, you’re supposed to be safe, Woohyun! Not knowing the truth is supposed to save your life!”
“Save my...life?”
“Yes! Your life is in danger. If they find you…Woohyun, they could kill you. My old agency probably knows who you are and that you have been with me. They could capture you, and t-torture you, and- I can’t, Woohyun, I can’t. I can’t let that happen.” Sunggyu breaths were becoming shallower as his voice filled with desperation.
Woohyun looked terrified, his breaths just as short. But he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and carefully constructed a brave face. “I don’t care. Sure, they can hurt me, but they can hurt you, too. And Myungsoo. I just want to know what’s going on so that I can help look out for you. Please.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, wide eyes connected with determined ones. Finally Sunggyu let out a long breath.
“If you’re sure.”
Woohyun nodded vigorously.
“Unlock me first.”
Woohyun stepped closer and fit the small key into the handcuffs, opening them with a clink. Sunggyu extracted his wrist and rubbed the pink skin, glaring at Woohyun. “Where did you get these, anyway?”
Woohyun averted his eyes, clearing his throat. Were his cheeks turning pink? “Um…Myungsoo lent them to me. I told him I needed them for you and I- I think he got the wrong idea.”
Oh. Sunggyu felt his cheeks heating up, too, so he sniffed loudly and patted the mattress next to him. “Sit.”
Woohyun obeyed, settling on the bed with his thigh pressed against Sunggyu’s.
“I was afraid to tell you the whole truth when I came to live with you. I didn’t want to scare you away, or gross you out, or make you hate me.” Woohyun opened his mouth, but Sunggyu hushed him. “No, listen. I was really confused and I hated myself for what I had done. I- I really did work for the government. I was a scientist, and I worked on top secret projects under a secret agency called Agency X. I had to go through spy training, just for safety measures, to learn how to keep my job a secret and to cover up my tracks if some experiment went awry. Two months before I escaped, I was assigned a project. X17.” Sunggyu glanced at Woohyun’s face. He was listening with complete concentration. “X17 was something we had never tried before, something no one had any confidence in. But I was interested. I started spending all day at the lab, working overtime- coming in early and leaving late. I became obsessed with this thing- this X17. My partners began dropping out of the project until I was the only one left. I was getting close to completing it, it was almost ready to be activated, but no one knew. The guy in charge stopped checking up on it, and no one asked me about it anymore. I guess they forgot. I didn’t remind them.”
“So, it was like it had just…disappeared?”
Sunggyu shrugged. “I guess people just thought that it would never work. And I was too selfish to say anything. X17 became my creation, my child. I and I alone was the brainpower behind it. I wanted it for myself. One night, I was the only one left in the lab. I had somehow misplaced one of my log papers and I was searching around for it. I don’t know how, but I ended up in the office of the lab’s head scientist. I was rifling through his papers when I saw it. ‘The Plan for X17’.” Sunggyu’s voice became weary and his hands lifted to cover his face. “It was horrible, Woohyun, just horrible. They were going to use it on soldiers and secret agents…they were going to make it a required part of training…they were going to create a special group of prisoners to use as a test round, and I- I couldn’t. I saw the plan and I couldn’t believe the government could do something so…so evil. Sure, X17 was innovative, but you weren’t supposed to use it on a group of people- just one person, two at the most. It was supposed to be for health reasons only. It was too dangerous.” Sunggyu inhaled sharply, sitting up straight again. “I panicked. I was obsessed with X17 and thought of it as my own creation, remember. So…I decided to activate it.” Woohyun gasped, his body going still. “I didn’t want to, really I didn’t, but I couldn’t let Agency X have it, not after what I’d seen. So, I decided to stage a laboratory fire. I contacted Myungsoo, and he agreed to help me. We planned for a week and when the day finally came, I put X17 into effect. I didn’t want to test it on someone else, so I just did it on myself. I used some of the chemicals that I used on X17 to set the lab on fire to make it seem like X17 was destroyed. But that’s not even the worst part. X17…malfunctioned. It stopped before the process was completed, and it exploded. I almost died.” Sunggyu’s eyes were fixed on the carpet. “Somehow, Myungsoo was able to rescue me and patch me up, and I survived. He’s been checking on me ever since, making sure I’m okay and recording my progress. He never recorded the fact that X17 was destroyed in case the files were stolen, which was obviously a good choice. So hopefully, that means that the people chasing me are spending more time looking for X17 than they are looking for me.”
Woohyun was quiet, his eyes staring unfocused across the room. “But….what did it do? X17, I mean. What was the purpose of it?”
Sunggyu swallowed, closing his eyes for a brief moment. “You don’t want to know.”
Woohyun narrowed his eyes, his muscles tensing. “Sunggyu-”
“I know, I know. I’ll tell you. But believe me, you don’t want to know.”
With those haunting words, Sunggyu leaned over and whispered into Woohyun’s ear, his words low and quick. After a few moments of whispering, Sunggyu pulled back. Woohyun’s face was frozen, his eyes wide. He let out a strangled breath, struggling to control his expression. “Really?” he breathed, his voice incredulous.
Sunggyu only nodded.
Woohyun leaned back. He blinked several times. “Wow. That’s- that’s unbelievable. So, where do you keep your…you know…”
“It’s in a vault in a secret government warehouse. Very safe. I hid it with the files on how to rebuild X17.”
Woohyun nodded, blowing out his cheeks. His expression was still a little dazed. He glanced at Sunggyu hesitantly. “Can- can I see it?”
Sunggyu raised his eyebrows. “See what?”
“The scar.” Woohyun’s eyes were timid and unsure.
Sunggyu stared for a moment. Then he nodded, gripping the hem of his t-shirt. He pulled the shirt over his head in one swift motion, the shirt landing softly at his side. It was suddenly silent, and Sunggyu felt very, very naked under Woohyun’s searching eyes.
“Wow,” Woohyun breathed again, his eyes fixed on Sunggyu’s chest. “So this is why you never took off your shirt around me.” Woohyun unconsciously raised a hand and pressed light fingertips to the long, pink scar that ran straight through the left side of Sunggyu’s chest. It started thin, just below the collarbone, and ran all the way down until it stopped right above the place where his ribcage splits, some distance above his bellybutton. It was ugly and jagged, obviously not performed by a professional’s hand. Sunggyu tried not to look, tried not to remember the terror and the blood and the literal heart-stopping pain. Woohyun’s fingers found the chain that was hanging around his neck. He held the object attached to the chain in his palm. “Is this…?”
“The key to the vault? Yes. I keep it with me at all times.”
Woohyun nodded slowly, dropping the small silver key. He then started to trace the raised skin of Sunggyu’s scar with two of his fingers, running them down Sunggyu’s chest, then back up. Sunggyu tried not to shiver; Woohyun’s fingers were cold. He focused instead on Woohyun’s face. His eyes were open wide in wonder and maybe a bit in fascination, his lips parted. Sunggyu felt his cheeks heat up while he stared at Woohyun’s lips, his lips that were a bit too close to Sunggyu’s face as he leaned forward to trace the scar.
When his eyes finally flickered back up to Woohyun’s, he found that the other man was staring straight back at him. Sunggyu blinked, startled and maybe a little embarrassed, hoping he hadn’t been caught staring at Woohyun’s lips. One look at Woohyun’s eyes, though, told him that he had. He held his breath, staring. He watched in anticipation as Woohyun’s teeth suddenly appeared, biting into the flesh of his lower lip, his eyes still connected with Sunggyu’s. Sunggyu held back a gasp as Woohyun’s eyes flickered down to Sunggyu’s lips, then back up to his eyes. Sunggyu froze, his breath catching as Woohyun’s eyes flickered down again. He started to lean in closer, slowly, his fingers still on Sunggyu’s bare skin.
It was only when Woohyun was centimeters away, his eyes sliding shut, that Sunggyu let out his breath and pulled away sharply, turning his head to the side as Woohyun’s fingers fell from his chest. Woohyun’s eyes snapped open as he sat back, his expression confused and hurt. Sunggyu kept his eyes on the carpet as he cleared his throat. “Um. I’m going to go shower now.” He stood up and hurried into the bathroom, closing the door and leaving a very confused Woohyun behind.
2/2