IMB/IBB 2013: The Flip Side
Working Title: The Flip Side
Pairing/Focus: Sunggyu/Woohyun, Myungsoo/Sungyeol
Rating: PG-13 (for cursing)
Current word count: 5,944
Summary: Nam Woohyun is rumored to be the most fearsome and merciless person within Seoul's underground society. Being the leader of the strongest mafia, various gangs from all parts of the city challenge him for the title and rank; however, they all fall into defeat without any effort. And from what word was spread around- not only is he an extraordinary fighter, but he also has the appearance of a god.
Who would've thought the actual Nam Woohyun is an affectionate, weak-limbed Casanova?
It's just like every other day.
All he ever does is walk around the city with his small close-knit group of friends, eating out and spending time with one another. Sometimes, when he's in a very good mood, he would offer to treat and everyone would tell him he's the best. He usually gets a laugh out of that but a compliment from them makes him rather proud of himself (because they're often used criticism against him. Good-hearted or not, it does make him sulky). It's until they reach a certain point of the area, however, that he gets unwanted attention from a group of rough-ended people. A city gang, usually.
The one that seems to be the most decently dressed steps up and gives them a feral grin and a narrowed, calculating gaze. He's pretty sure it isn't him he's staring at though. "We've been waiting a long time for you. Prepare to die!"
The person on his right scoffs loudly, looking unimpressed- the youngest in the group, Lee Sungjong. He can’t help to mentally agree to whatever the young male’s thinking, because he thinks the gang leader considers too highly of himself to behave as if everyone’s beneath him. That seems to set the gang off because before they know it, they charges straight at them with fists raised and teeth bared.
And it's just like every other day. He sighs and from his position a few feet away, eyes half-lidded and hands in his pant pockets, he observes the fight between their gang and his own. He doesn't participates, doesn't feel the need to because his friends are at a level of their own.
Within a few minutes, it's over.
The entire gang is thrown into the middle- battered and injured- with his own circling around them. The leader is clutching his side and spits the blood from his lips. "That's cheating! You were supposed to play the game."
He takes a few steps until he stands right in front of the injured male.
Upon seeing this, the other male instinctively scoots back in fear. When he stops, he stares down with an aloof expression marring his face. "Do you realize it was ten of you and three of them?" he swivels his finger left and right, gesturing to his generally unharmed friends. Sungjong, who's standing on the opposite end to him, has his back turned and mumbles incoherently to himself. Oh. He knows that gesture.
"What's up, Jong?" His eyes tilt over to the muscle-built male with dark cropped hair and narrowed eyes standing near Sungjong. Lee Howon.
Sungjong's shoulders begin to tremble and it's only after a tense moment of silence that he speaks up, his voice low and dark. "Those fuckers, they put a mark on me."
And he reacts quickly, swiveling back to the group to beat the daylights out of them. However, before he can raise his fist into the air, Howon grabs him by the hips and pins him in his position. The gang members are all startled by this and begin to edge away from the enraged male. Despite his delicate appearance, Sungjong is a pretty tough opponent when it comes to fighting.
Suddenly, the remaining member of his quad speaks up- Kim Myungsoo. He's scrutinizing Sungjong through one dipped eyebrow, his arms crossed over his chest. "Where? I see no mark."
All of the attention soon goes to him. Sungjong, still within Howon's secure hold, stares at him, disbelief clearly etched across his features. "Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me?" He then points hard to the area of his jaw line. "They nicked me right here!"
He, along with Myungsoo, has to squint his eyes to find anything because for one thing, there's nothing to see aside from the flawless pale skin. A few seconds later, he catches on. There a small, almost inconspicuous pink line about an inch long on side of the younger male's chin. It's more of a mild scratch than a scarring injury.
Straightening Sungjong up due to the fact that most of his weight is on him, Howon tilts the petite male's chin over to his view and takes a good look at it. "You barely notice it, Jongie. Overlook this one time, alright?” He gently rubs the scratch with the pad of his thumb. “Besides, I don't think it's a good idea if you send them to the hospital."
It seems like Sungjong's calming down, judging from the way his shoulders relaxes and his face slowly falling into a much milder expression. He has to congratulate Howon on this one; the male always has been the one who’s able to calm the youngest down. But that can only last for so long, because everyone can hear the careless comment from one of the gang members; apparently, he doesn’t take whispering into consideration.
"That chick's crazy strong, isn't she?"
A sharp gasp of shock rings out and suddenly, despite the warm spring weather, the temperature seems to drop down noticeably. Slowly, Sungjong cranes his head toward the perpetrator with a glare that can pretty much kill. They, he noticed, are absolutely intimidated.
And again, it’s Hoya who resolves with a firm glare of warning and says, “Leave if you don’t want me to let him go and beat you all up to the point where you do end up in the hospital.”
The group instantly takes the opportunity and runs for their lives. The leader, being the last to escape, turns around and cries out, "We'll get you for this, Nam Woohyun!"
Upon hearing this and watching them stumble off, all he can do before he turns around to leave is let a small smile tug at his lips.
--
As soon as he steps through the apartment door, he’s greeted with fluffy white feathers decorating the entire living room floor. How they got there and why, is a mystery and it still remains one until a dolphin-like shriek fills the air, followed by an echoing battle cry.
And it’s then that three bodies collapses to the ground from the next room over, groaning and laughing and cheering.
“I won!” the male on top cries out victoriously as he pumps his fist into the air. “In your face!”
“It’s because you cheated, Dongwoo-hyung.” The person lying flat on the floor beneath them groans out. “Get off of me, the both of you!” he flails his limbs weakly.
“But I need to cherish this moment. It’s not every day I get to defeat Lee Sungyeol at his own game.”
“You’re just too easy to defeat! You can’t blame me!”
“Uh, guys…” the remaining member of their dog pile speaks up, disregarding their bickering almost immediately. He’s the first to spot the group gaping at them from their front door. “They’re here.”
The two finally puts their argument to a halt and glances over to the others; while both their eyes lit up at the sight of them, one is more hopeful than excited, as if he has seen his savior in the flesh. “Oh god, Myungie! Save me!” The male on the bottom flails in another pathetic attempt to pull himself free from being squished flat against the floor. “Dongwoo-hyung and Woohyun wouldn’t relent and their enormous weights are killing me!”
Woohyun leers down to the tuff of red-tinted auburn hair with a raised eyebrow and wiggles an arm out to give Sungyeol an exaggerating pat on the head. Ignoring the indignant cry coming from the younger male, he hums innocently and grins, “Well then, guess you’re going to be staying down there for a while. Right, hyung?”
Dongwoo simply laughs in response, though when he sees one person in particular coming towards them with a stern look flashing across his face, he leaps up and raises both hands in surrender. “I didn’t do anything, Sunggyu-hyung. I swear!”
“I’m not angry with you or anything. Stop assuming that.” Said male shakes his head as he proceeds to pick Woohyun up by the elbow, much to the brunette’s dissatisfaction. Woohyun sees Sungyeol roll around to face him and offers him two peace signs of victory before he scurries off to Myungsoo and the others. “You seriously need to fix your eyesight.”
“My eyesight is perfectly fine…”
“Anyway, don’t you have a project to work on?”
Dongwoo blinks wide eyes in realization. He has completely forgotten about it since Sungyeol had been pestering him for fifteen minutes over how bored he was and he wanted him to play a game of tag. Woohyun invited himself a little later on once he found the youngest running and holding up a pair of thick white pillows. “Right, right. Time to go back then. Call me when dinner’s ready!” And with that, he disappears into the next room over.
Sunggyu then shifts his gaze over to Sungyeol, who’s hiding behind Myungsoo and Howon’s back. The younger knows what to come. “Sungyeol, come here.”
“No. I know what you’re going to make me do.” Is the child-like response he receives. Sunggyu swears, the kid needs to grow up and take responsibility. “Well, then, since you know, go do it then. Clean up this living room. I believe you were the one who started this.”
“But hyung-“
“Go. Or you won’t be having any more sugar in your system whatsoever for at least a month. And you won’t be able to play games during data control either. Don’t even deny it, I saw you plenty of times when you thought no one was looking.”
Sungyeol eventually trudges out from his hiding spot, looking so defeated that Woohyun discreetly elbows the older male in mild indignation. “You shouldn’t be so hard on him.” He mutters audible enough for only Sunggyu to hear. He observes as Myungsoo silently follows the tall male and picks up a broom and duster for himself. It was obvious enough that he has volunteered himself to help Sungyeol out.
“He needs to learn to keep his playful side under control.” Sunggyu reasons out before turning around and pulling Woohyun back into his room, but not before speaking up once more, “Howon, remember that you have practice with Sungjong over hand-to-hand combat. And Sungyeol?”
“…Yes, hyung?” Sungyeol grumbles dully.
The corner of Sunggyu’s lips twitches up and he turns his back to the younger to avoid himself from being seen when a look of mirth marred his features. “I’ll be checking on you in an hour.” He then gazes over Woohyun, who looks rather conflicted. “Come on. They can handle it.”
--
“Hey, I notice there’s a cut on Sungjong’s face.”
Sunggyu’s not surprised when the younger male said that; he’s the most perceptive out of the entire group, after all. So perceptive that it’s hard to keep secrets from him. “We had a fight earlier.”
“Another gang?”
“Yeah.”
He watches as Woohyun strides over to the door to his room, takes the knob, and pushes in. He follows soon afterwards. “I’m worried, you know. You taking on my identity and I yours is a big risk.”
Sunggyu can’t help but to exhale in mild frustration. “We’ve discussed this many times already. It’s my decision to take upon this and this way, at least I know you’ll be safe from harm. After all, I’ve been with you as your bodyguard for so many years that you should know the limit to my ability. Not to mention, I’ve been handling your enemies without a fault-“
Woohyun interrupts. “But you have Howon, Myungsoo, and Sungjong-“
“And it’s also them that I’m unharmed, I know.” It’s now the older male who interrupts as he gives him a look. He does know it. How could he not know when he’s the one who cast Woohyun’s father’s responsibilities aside and pulled his son into a life of secrecy? How could he not know when he was the one who brought those he knew he could trust to protect him?
He had it planned out to the point where the enemies of Woohyun’s father wouldn’t know anything about Woohyun physically. It was a good thing too- that the old man never revealed him as Woohyun grew up, only telling those that he had a son. Howon, Myungsoo, and Sungjong- they are the fighters alongside him. As for Dongwoo and Sungyeol, they are the techies and the doctors. They mend injuries and they keep watch over the residence in which they currently reside in.
It was all for the benefit of Woohyun, not his.
Woohyun sighs and takes a seat over at the edge of the bed. He was heavy with guilt, as he had always felt when they stray toward this particular topic. As much as he knows that the younger male tends to overreact and worry over the smallest of details, he also knows that it would take quite a bit of time to reassure him that everything would be alright.
Sunggyu grimaces and after a while, he goes down on his knees before the younger male and tentatively takes his hand into his own. Woohyun’s voice is caught in his throat out of astonishment. Sunggyu rarely ever shown a sign of submissiveness; usually, he is the epitome of a leader, firm and strong-willed. And right now, he was there staring right back at him, eyebrows furrowing together into a mild frown and voice tinged with an emotion that he can’t deduce.
“It’s been five years since that day” Mentally, Sunggyu starts to feel guilty because he can see Woohyun’s shoulders tense and the hand within his own rolls up into almost fist. He continues, this time in a softer voice, “You weren’t supposed to be involved in that incident…”
Woohyun chuckles bitterly. “You do realize that if it wasn’t for the fact that I witnessed my father being killed right in front of me” The older winces at that. “I would have never found out what he really did with his life. I always thought he was a good man, being the director of his own company and all. I mean, who knew he was actually an underground mafia leader? I found it so hard to believe…I still do.”
“Woohyun…”
“It makes sense, you know? I always wondered why I was sent off to a boarding school and was never allowed to see him, save for the very few occasions when he was not ‘busy keeping his business under control’.” He emphasizes with fingers quoting in mid-air. “As for you,…” his voice drops into a pained whisper. “You know how much it hurts when I realize that you were actually sticking to me on my father’s order and not on your own free will? That you are actually a bodyguard and not a friend?”
“I am your friend. We’ve discussed this before as well.” Sunggyu responds back softly as he holds Woohyun’s hand more firmly. “At first, that was the case but then I get to know you. You are the exact opposite of your father when it comes to personality, and I suppose that’s what drawn me to you.”
A pause and then, Woohyun hesitates. “Seriously?”
“I’m serious.” The older male reassures. “So don’t think about it anymore and take a nap.”
The male hums softly in contemplation. “Only if you stay by my side until I do.”
--
“Hey, Myung. Want to sneak off for a while?”
Said male shifts his gaze over to Sungyeol, an eyebrow quirking up just slightly. They had just finished clearing the feathers off the living room and are now simply taking a seat on the couch out of mild exhaustion. Well, Sungyeol’s exhausted but he happens to have enough stamina to breathe easily. When Sungyeol asks him if he wants to ‘sneak off’, he knows what the tall male insinuating. Usually, it’s an outing to the local café where he’s going to be the one treating to cup after cup of caffeinated beverages. It’s not the first time it happened, after all.
He doesn’t say no to the offer, though. Because he also knows that it means Sungyeol’s stressed about something (or maybe he just want to run from Sunggyu’s final verdict, he’s not sure). Pushing himself off of the couch, he extends a hand over to him and mutters, “Let’s go.”
A grin spreads across Sungyeol’s lips almost immediately as he takes the proffered hand and grips at it the entire way out.
Sungjong and Howon, who are lounging quietly in the kitchen without anyone’s notice after their short practice, catches them on the act and Howon gives the younger a small smile when he sees him shaking his head and exhaling audibly.
--
“What’s up with you?” is the first thing Myungsoo ask once he brings over two cups of coffee for Sungyeol, who picked out a table situated in a hidden corner within the café. The entire trip was surprisingly quiet and the younger male can’t help but to become a little concern over that matter, since Sungyeol was anything but quiet.
Sungyeol, who has been staring blankly over the window that takes up the majority of the opposite wall, peers up without moving and catches sight of the two cups in Myungsoo’s hands. Instead of responding to his question as Myungsoo expected, the older male simply takes a cup and ignores him.
This causes Myungsoo to frown in mild dismay. He takes a seat opposite to Sungyeol and leans forward. “Tell me. What’s wrong?”
“What makes you think there’s something wrong?” Sungyeol casually inquires back, not bothering to meet the younger male’s eyes. He takes a soft whiff of the coffee scent and quirks up a small smile before he blows at the visible steam rising from the cup. He’s enamored over the drink and the sight of it, for some reason, irritates Myungsoo a whole lot.
“It’s obvious. You’re not bouncing around throughout the entire trip like you usually do and…you’re ignoring me, to boot.” The last bit becomes more of a mutter to himself but Sungyeol hears it, nevertheless.
Sungyeol’s lips breaks into a wider smile, to the point of it being teasingly playful. “So I take it that you hate it when I ignore you?” When he gets silence as a result, a small pout takes over his features. “Answer me.”
“Only if you answer mine.”
This time, a sigh escapes Sungyeol’s lips. Myungsoo can hear it despite the loud murmurs of those sitting around them. It takes some time of patience but he’s nearly shown visible relief when Sungyeol speaks up. “It’s stupid, really…” Myungsoo gestures the other male to continue and Sungyeol ends up grimacing. “It’s stupid but it makes sense the more I think about it.”
The younger male quirks up an eyebrow. He’s intrigued and curious now. “What is?” When Sungyeol refuses to speak again, Myungsoo sighs in exasperation. “Yeol-“
“Tell me. Do you even like me?” Sungyeol interrupts, finally looking up to give him a meaningful frown.
Suddenly, it seems as if all the words died on Myungsoo’s lips. “What?” he questions weakly; however, his voice grows stronger as he continues, “What kind of question is that? Of course I like you-“
“Not as a friend!”
Sungyeol doesn’t realize that he had raised his voice out of frustration, earning himself a bit of an audience within the room. Myungsoo, on the other hand, blinks around and clears his throat before muttering out, “We’re still in the café, remember?” he reminds the other and that’s when Sungyeol gazes over to the many eyes staring back at him, though as soon as he does so, the customers eventually return to their conversations. Sungyeol ducks and buries his face into the crook of his arm out of embarrassment.
There’s a bit of silence between them and Myungsoo takes the time and opportunity to think over the older male’s words. Sungyeol wants to know if he likes him…more than friend, he suppose? He assumes that much but for some reason, Sungyeol doesn’t believe his words when he said it. After a while, he tries again, slow enough for the other to understand. “Sungyeol, listen to me carefully, okay?”
Sungyeol peers up a little, his eyes focusing up to him. Myungsoo leans down and speaks. “I like like you.”
It takes Sungyeol a moment but eventually, he raises his head up and gapes at the younger male. “So you do? Woohyun was right? Oh my god, how could I have been so clueless?”
“Wait, what does the boss have something to do with this?” Myungsoo inquires, perplexed. The question causes Sungyeol to frown and wags a finger at him. “If Woohyun hears you call him that, he’ll sock you into oblivion and I won’t be there to help you out.”
The younger slowly turns away and shrugs his shoulders. “Old habits die hard.”
“I can see that.”
Myungsoo sighs and waves a hand. “Back to the point. How does he know?”
Sungyeol props an elbow and rests his chin against his palm, looking down as he swirls the cup around. “Apparently, and I quote Woohyun ‘You two have been dancing around each other for months! It’s obvious and the sexual tension became too strong and I’m frustrated so both of you hook up before I kick you two out of the house!’…yeah.”
Myungsoo can’t help but to cough at that remark, his cheeks soon sporting a tinted red. “What sexual tension? He must be blind.”
The older male agrees with a short nod, taking another sip. “I know, right.”
“…How about the arcade after?”
“Great idea!”
--
One day, it just happens.
“The boss-I mean, Wo-Woohyun’s been kidnapped.”
“What?!” Sungjong’s the first to react, his eyes wide with panic. “How did this happen? Weren’t you two supposed to look after him?”
“Sungjong, shh.” Howon shushes the youngest with a grimace. Things aren’t looking good, especially for Sunggyu, who hasn’t uttered a word since their arrival. It’s the same as every other day- a challenge for the leader in order to pick up territory. “It doesn’t make sense though. Shouldn’t everyone be assuming that Sunggyu-hyung’s the heir they’re looking for? So how?”
There are murmurs of agreement.
Sungyeol hands the oldest male a slip of paper. “It says the location but there’s no ransom, which is also odd.”
Sunggyu can’t help but to agree; however, instead of waiting and planning it out as he knows he should be doing, he takes one glance at the address and charges out of the complex straight off- he knows where it is. He can hear his name being called out, soon followed by a stampede of shoes against the wood surface of the floor but he doesn’t care. He needs to save the idiotic heir he had tried so hard to look after. And because it’s Woohyun, anything could happen and he doesn’t want to think the worst.
--
An abandoned warehouse located at the secluded edge of the city- a common area where murders take place. That simply worries Sunggyu even more.
Being the one who took the car first to the location, he parks it a few meters away to avoid suspicion and sets off into the lit warehouse. There are people in there- that he’s sure about. He stops to check around the area for a moment before he wonders to himself, why is it so empty here? Surely, with Woohyun’s status (to those he assumes know of), there should be more people occupying the vicinity to block all intruders, like himself.
Upon hearing another vehicle coming from the distance, he hurries into the warehouse, entering through the opened window on one side of the complex. He’s ready to take on all opponents and as he tumbles in, gun in the air, he ends up blinking in surprise.
“Oh…hey, Sunggyu?” Woohyun gives the male an awkward smile and a slow wave. He’s sitting on a plush auburn couch at the end of the rather luxurious room and…eating cookies?
It doesn’t really make sense but Sunggyu doesn’t care because Woohyun’s before him and he’s still alive
Without another moment, Sunggyu comes over, wraps him into a tight hug, and mumbles into his ear, eyebrows furrowed together. “God, Woohyun. Don’t scare me like that. I thought you were really kidnapped and all these images of you…what could’ve happen to you…I don’t want to see them in reality.”
Slowly, Woohyun raises his hand and reciprocates the hug. Gripping onto the back of Sunggyu’s shirt, he responds softly, “I’m sorry but....”
The door opens and the rest of the gang enters in. Never mind that they forgot about being in an abandoned warehouse where there’s a chance that they might be at a disadvantage. “You guys too?”
“Sunggyu-hyung. They’re coming.” Howon announces suddenly as he grips tightly around his hand guns. Sungjong and Myungsoo are taking stance as well and it isn’t long until a group of boys stride in, looking anything but ruthless.
“Yo! You guys made it!” A tall male with large eyes and thick lips speaks up with a grin.
“Who are you people?” Sunggyu grounds out, tightening his hold around Woohyun; however, he isn’t sure why but the male in his arms begins to struggle, telling him to let go. He doesn’t want to.
“…Ahh. New people.” One male from the end steps forward and introduces himself. “Name’s Chanjo. And from my right are Chunji, Ricky, Byunghun, Minsoo, and Daniel. We’re known as Teen Top.”
Sungjong can’t hold his surprise when he exclaims, “Teen Top? I’ve heard of you. You guys are the secret squad of assassins.”
Sunggyu interrupts with a growl. “You’re not going to kill Woohyun.”
One male- Byunghun, he thinks, turns his head away to roll his eyes. The gesture itself irritates him for a couple of reasons and a second later, his hand reaches his own gun from his inner breast pocket.
“Wait. We’re not going to kill Sir Woohyun so get that thought out of your heads, all of you. “ Chunji quirks up an eyebrow, particularly at Sunggyu. “Didn’t you know? We’re pretty much your guards assigned by Sir Woohyun’s father shortly after you were assigned to him. We’re not supposed to show face, really, because it’s obviously risky. But since Sir Woohyun knows about us from the beginning, he tends to visit around once in a while. With someone to fetch him.” He later adds when he catches the stern glare aiming towards him. “We’re also the reason why there aren’t as many people running after you. Haven’t you noticed?”
Vaguely, Sunggyu does but he doesn’t say a word on it.
“Be happy. Woohyun’s only visiting us to catch up on some news. And maybe some tea and cookies to go with that.” Ricky pats said male’s arm gently. “By the way…Sungyeol and Dongwoo-hyung didn’t tell you? They already knew about this as well.”
Sunggyu freezes at the remark and slowly, he turns to the two traitors who are shushing harshly at the young oblivious male. They stopped, however, when they see the eldest narrowing his eyes on them, looking like deer caught on headlights. Dongwoo’s hiding behind Howon and Sungjong while Sungyeol’s clinging onto Myungsoo.
“H-Hyung-“
“Thanks for telling me.” Sunggyu ignores the shaky whimper as he inclines his head to Ricky, his face frighteningly void of emotions and his hands behind his back. The untold promise of dealing with it his own way is unsettling to the two who are cowering and staying as far from the eldest as much as they can. “So, shall we head home?” he continues, giving one last bow to Teen Top and turning around to head out without another word.
--
“I’m exhausted.” Sungjong loudly speaks up with a groan as soon as he unlocks the door and steps into their shared home.
“Sungyeol. Dongwoo. Both of you follow me.”
Said pair flinches at the low murmur and being the last ones to enter, they can see the intimidating aura Sunggyu’s emitting. They would run- oh, they would’ve done it the moment Sunggyu caught them, but the problem is the fact that their punishments would double, triple maybe by the time he finds them again. They don’t doubt his skills in locating people; Sunggyu had proven himself many times and it was him who taught Sungyeol that skill as well.
Woohyun refrains from speaking out; he’s never seen Sunggyu like that and instinct tells him to stop before he makes a careless decision. Instead, he looks guilty and sympathetic.
Eventually, they reluctantly followed after Sunggyu (Sungyeol looks frightened as he mouths to Myungsoo, ‘Save me!’) and as soon as they leave through the door, it’s as if the tension in the air vanishes with them.
“…Maybe I should go and save Sungyeol.” Myungsoo speaks up after a while.
“Don’t. You’ll be directly at the end of Sunggyu-hyung’s fist.”
--
“Were you too harsh on them?” Woohyun speaks up when Sunggyu enters his room minutes after their group dispersed and doing their own businesses, clapping his hands and sighing softly to himself.
The older male pauses a little and shakes his head. “Nothing I deem too hard.”
“What is it?”
Sunggyu takes a seat on the bed beside him. “Three months of physical labor plus a month’s absence of coffee for Sungyeol and a month’s absence of Dongwoo’s favorite green dinosaur plushie.”
“Wow, that’s harsh.” Woohyun comments with a bit of a grimace lingering on his lips. If that’s the case, how will the two handle their daily tasks?
“To you, maybe.” The elder responds back. “And I know what you’re thinking. This won’t affect anything they do-“
“The labor, yeah.”
Sunggyu pauses to give Woohyun a look before he continues as if he’s never been interrupted. “so you won’t have to worry as much.”
Woohyun snorts in response. “I’m blaming you if anything happens.”
“No surprise there.” Is the given reply. “My hair’s growing gray due to these irresponsible kids.”
“Well…maybe you should take a little vacation. That way you won’t have to worry about any trouble heading you’re way.” Woohyun jokes, laughing a little.
Sunggyu, however, quirks up an eyebrow and mutters in contemplation, “You know, it’s not a bad idea. That could be arranged in a short period of time” a smirk soon graces his lips. “…and I’ll be taking you with me.”
--
“So how do you like this place?”
“I love it!” Woohyun exclaims, wide eyes directing themselves to Sunggyu, who’s smiling in mirth. Taking another glance over to the beautiful scene of wild flowers and the vast ocean before them, he continues, “This is probably one of the prettiest areas to take a vacation spot and relax. By the way, how did you find it? It seems very secluded.”
The older male chuckles in response and raises a hand to gesture the large landscape encircling the cozy-looking cottage before them. “That’s because it is secluded by the thick forest surrounding us. No one would be able to locate us easily because of it…though, with an exception of helicopters and airplanes.”
“So I’ve noticed.” Woohyun gestures to the male’s personal helicopter parked nearby.
It’s been approximately four hours (minus the half an hour of coaxing Woohyun that yes, the rest could look after each other, yes, he’ll make sure they’ll do no harm, and yes, they’re going to the beach so he can bring his unused scuba set with him) since they decided to sneak out from home to spend some alone time with each other and Sunggyu’s rather contented with the amount of time he get to have without anyone bothering them every five seconds.
“Kim Sunggyu, I love you~” Woohyun suddenly declares as he turn around to face said male before raising his arms up to curve a heart and tilting his head to the side.
Sunggyu blinks and almost immediately after, he ducks to the side to hide his growing smile. In the past, he had been immune to Woohyun’s cutesy antics but now, now, it seems to be so difficult to keep a straight face every time he sees it. He eventually turns back but that seems to be a bad idea. Woohyun’s aegyo radiates from his entire being and he’s starting to get affected in a different way the moment his eyes cast down to Woohyun’s lips. “What…brought this up?”
He doesn’t even realize that he is leaning forward to the younger male, looking as if he’s hypnotized.
“Well, I thought it’d be a good time to say it, considering how good you’ve been to me and I also want to thank you for coping with me throughout the years. I know I’ve been a pain to you but…Sunggyu?” Woohyun’s smile falters as he watches with slightly wide eyes, his posture frozen when he sees the male moves closer. Just as Sunggyu’s about to lean in, very nearly tasting the soft, pliant flesh of Woohyun’s lips, a voice screeches out in the distance- one that’s so very (frustratingly) familiar.
“There they are!”
Fucking hell, they’re here. The first thing Sunggyu does is to grab the younger male’s hand and make a run for it, hiding away the small snicker escaping his lips when he hears Woohyun’s shout, “Hey, it’s you guys! How did you find us?”
“What do you mean ‘how did we find you’? Ask yourself why you ditch us! You don’t know how much it sucks to have Howon nag at us-ouch!”An audible, dull slap echoes the air and it is soon followed by a voice that only makes the two want to run faster.
“Never mind Sungyeol. We have some business to settle with you two for making us worry.”
--
One hour later
Woohyun rubs the back of his neck as he watches Sungyeol, Sungjong, and Dongwoo pester Sunggyu like kids whining over why their parent left them like that. Perhaps that is the case- Woohyun sometimes does feel like one; he’s not sure what Sunggyu feels over this, however.
“We really were worried when you two disappeared without a trace.” His gaze shifts over to Myungsoo, who’s smiling a little at the sight before them. “Those three panicked over it and Howon-hyung was the only one who took action once he got everyone to settle down. Why did you leave without telling us?”
Feeling the immense guilt pinching at him, Woohyun responds, “To tell the truth, we forgot to leave a note. I was the one who suggested we should have a vacation, just the two of us and Sunggyu just so happens to take that seriously. So here we are.”
“Hate to admit, but that’s not a bad idea, coming from you two. A vacation.” Howon takes the opportunity to enter the conversation, stopping beside Woohyun with hands shoved deep in his pockets. “I would, for once, like to take a break from work.”
Woohyun cracks a lop-sided grin. “So as long as you don’t interrupt, you’re all welcome to stay around.”
“Ugh, you sound as if you’re going to have some intense sex time with Sunggyu-hyung.” Myungsoo suddenly says and covers his eyes with a groan of disgust. Howon, in turn, shivers visibly and mildly punches the younger male’s arm. “Don’t say that. The visuals are terribly disturbing.”
On the other hand, Woohyun’s face grows a brilliant hue of red and proceeds to slap and kick and punch the two who are running away once the beating starts. The rest remains oblivious (ie. still whining, pulling at the eldest of the group), though Sunggyu does look their way out of mild curiosity as Woohyun shouts out. “You two, shut up!”
End.
Pairing/Focus: Sunggyu/Woohyun, Myungsoo/Sungyeol
Rating: PG-13 (for cursing)
Current word count: 5,944
Summary: Nam Woohyun is rumored to be the most fearsome and merciless person within Seoul's underground society. Being the leader of the strongest mafia, various gangs from all parts of the city challenge him for the title and rank; however, they all fall into defeat without any effort. And from what word was spread around- not only is he an extraordinary fighter, but he also has the appearance of a god.
Who would've thought the actual Nam Woohyun is an affectionate, weak-limbed Casanova?
It's just like every other day.
All he ever does is walk around the city with his small close-knit group of friends, eating out and spending time with one another. Sometimes, when he's in a very good mood, he would offer to treat and everyone would tell him he's the best. He usually gets a laugh out of that but a compliment from them makes him rather proud of himself (because they're often used criticism against him. Good-hearted or not, it does make him sulky). It's until they reach a certain point of the area, however, that he gets unwanted attention from a group of rough-ended people. A city gang, usually.
The one that seems to be the most decently dressed steps up and gives them a feral grin and a narrowed, calculating gaze. He's pretty sure it isn't him he's staring at though. "We've been waiting a long time for you. Prepare to die!"
The person on his right scoffs loudly, looking unimpressed- the youngest in the group, Lee Sungjong. He can’t help to mentally agree to whatever the young male’s thinking, because he thinks the gang leader considers too highly of himself to behave as if everyone’s beneath him. That seems to set the gang off because before they know it, they charges straight at them with fists raised and teeth bared.
And it's just like every other day. He sighs and from his position a few feet away, eyes half-lidded and hands in his pant pockets, he observes the fight between their gang and his own. He doesn't participates, doesn't feel the need to because his friends are at a level of their own.
Within a few minutes, it's over.
The entire gang is thrown into the middle- battered and injured- with his own circling around them. The leader is clutching his side and spits the blood from his lips. "That's cheating! You were supposed to play the game."
He takes a few steps until he stands right in front of the injured male.
Upon seeing this, the other male instinctively scoots back in fear. When he stops, he stares down with an aloof expression marring his face. "Do you realize it was ten of you and three of them?" he swivels his finger left and right, gesturing to his generally unharmed friends. Sungjong, who's standing on the opposite end to him, has his back turned and mumbles incoherently to himself. Oh. He knows that gesture.
"What's up, Jong?" His eyes tilt over to the muscle-built male with dark cropped hair and narrowed eyes standing near Sungjong. Lee Howon.
Sungjong's shoulders begin to tremble and it's only after a tense moment of silence that he speaks up, his voice low and dark. "Those fuckers, they put a mark on me."
And he reacts quickly, swiveling back to the group to beat the daylights out of them. However, before he can raise his fist into the air, Howon grabs him by the hips and pins him in his position. The gang members are all startled by this and begin to edge away from the enraged male. Despite his delicate appearance, Sungjong is a pretty tough opponent when it comes to fighting.
Suddenly, the remaining member of his quad speaks up- Kim Myungsoo. He's scrutinizing Sungjong through one dipped eyebrow, his arms crossed over his chest. "Where? I see no mark."
All of the attention soon goes to him. Sungjong, still within Howon's secure hold, stares at him, disbelief clearly etched across his features. "Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me?" He then points hard to the area of his jaw line. "They nicked me right here!"
He, along with Myungsoo, has to squint his eyes to find anything because for one thing, there's nothing to see aside from the flawless pale skin. A few seconds later, he catches on. There a small, almost inconspicuous pink line about an inch long on side of the younger male's chin. It's more of a mild scratch than a scarring injury.
Straightening Sungjong up due to the fact that most of his weight is on him, Howon tilts the petite male's chin over to his view and takes a good look at it. "You barely notice it, Jongie. Overlook this one time, alright?” He gently rubs the scratch with the pad of his thumb. “Besides, I don't think it's a good idea if you send them to the hospital."
It seems like Sungjong's calming down, judging from the way his shoulders relaxes and his face slowly falling into a much milder expression. He has to congratulate Howon on this one; the male always has been the one who’s able to calm the youngest down. But that can only last for so long, because everyone can hear the careless comment from one of the gang members; apparently, he doesn’t take whispering into consideration.
"That chick's crazy strong, isn't she?"
A sharp gasp of shock rings out and suddenly, despite the warm spring weather, the temperature seems to drop down noticeably. Slowly, Sungjong cranes his head toward the perpetrator with a glare that can pretty much kill. They, he noticed, are absolutely intimidated.
And again, it’s Hoya who resolves with a firm glare of warning and says, “Leave if you don’t want me to let him go and beat you all up to the point where you do end up in the hospital.”
The group instantly takes the opportunity and runs for their lives. The leader, being the last to escape, turns around and cries out, "We'll get you for this, Nam Woohyun!"
Upon hearing this and watching them stumble off, all he can do before he turns around to leave is let a small smile tug at his lips.
--
As soon as he steps through the apartment door, he’s greeted with fluffy white feathers decorating the entire living room floor. How they got there and why, is a mystery and it still remains one until a dolphin-like shriek fills the air, followed by an echoing battle cry.
And it’s then that three bodies collapses to the ground from the next room over, groaning and laughing and cheering.
“I won!” the male on top cries out victoriously as he pumps his fist into the air. “In your face!”
“It’s because you cheated, Dongwoo-hyung.” The person lying flat on the floor beneath them groans out. “Get off of me, the both of you!” he flails his limbs weakly.
“But I need to cherish this moment. It’s not every day I get to defeat Lee Sungyeol at his own game.”
“You’re just too easy to defeat! You can’t blame me!”
“Uh, guys…” the remaining member of their dog pile speaks up, disregarding their bickering almost immediately. He’s the first to spot the group gaping at them from their front door. “They’re here.”
The two finally puts their argument to a halt and glances over to the others; while both their eyes lit up at the sight of them, one is more hopeful than excited, as if he has seen his savior in the flesh. “Oh god, Myungie! Save me!” The male on the bottom flails in another pathetic attempt to pull himself free from being squished flat against the floor. “Dongwoo-hyung and Woohyun wouldn’t relent and their enormous weights are killing me!”
Woohyun leers down to the tuff of red-tinted auburn hair with a raised eyebrow and wiggles an arm out to give Sungyeol an exaggerating pat on the head. Ignoring the indignant cry coming from the younger male, he hums innocently and grins, “Well then, guess you’re going to be staying down there for a while. Right, hyung?”
Dongwoo simply laughs in response, though when he sees one person in particular coming towards them with a stern look flashing across his face, he leaps up and raises both hands in surrender. “I didn’t do anything, Sunggyu-hyung. I swear!”
“I’m not angry with you or anything. Stop assuming that.” Said male shakes his head as he proceeds to pick Woohyun up by the elbow, much to the brunette’s dissatisfaction. Woohyun sees Sungyeol roll around to face him and offers him two peace signs of victory before he scurries off to Myungsoo and the others. “You seriously need to fix your eyesight.”
“My eyesight is perfectly fine…”
“Anyway, don’t you have a project to work on?”
Dongwoo blinks wide eyes in realization. He has completely forgotten about it since Sungyeol had been pestering him for fifteen minutes over how bored he was and he wanted him to play a game of tag. Woohyun invited himself a little later on once he found the youngest running and holding up a pair of thick white pillows. “Right, right. Time to go back then. Call me when dinner’s ready!” And with that, he disappears into the next room over.
Sunggyu then shifts his gaze over to Sungyeol, who’s hiding behind Myungsoo and Howon’s back. The younger knows what to come. “Sungyeol, come here.”
“No. I know what you’re going to make me do.” Is the child-like response he receives. Sunggyu swears, the kid needs to grow up and take responsibility. “Well, then, since you know, go do it then. Clean up this living room. I believe you were the one who started this.”
“But hyung-“
“Go. Or you won’t be having any more sugar in your system whatsoever for at least a month. And you won’t be able to play games during data control either. Don’t even deny it, I saw you plenty of times when you thought no one was looking.”
Sungyeol eventually trudges out from his hiding spot, looking so defeated that Woohyun discreetly elbows the older male in mild indignation. “You shouldn’t be so hard on him.” He mutters audible enough for only Sunggyu to hear. He observes as Myungsoo silently follows the tall male and picks up a broom and duster for himself. It was obvious enough that he has volunteered himself to help Sungyeol out.
“He needs to learn to keep his playful side under control.” Sunggyu reasons out before turning around and pulling Woohyun back into his room, but not before speaking up once more, “Howon, remember that you have practice with Sungjong over hand-to-hand combat. And Sungyeol?”
“…Yes, hyung?” Sungyeol grumbles dully.
The corner of Sunggyu’s lips twitches up and he turns his back to the younger to avoid himself from being seen when a look of mirth marred his features. “I’ll be checking on you in an hour.” He then gazes over Woohyun, who looks rather conflicted. “Come on. They can handle it.”
--
“Hey, I notice there’s a cut on Sungjong’s face.”
Sunggyu’s not surprised when the younger male said that; he’s the most perceptive out of the entire group, after all. So perceptive that it’s hard to keep secrets from him. “We had a fight earlier.”
“Another gang?”
“Yeah.”
He watches as Woohyun strides over to the door to his room, takes the knob, and pushes in. He follows soon afterwards. “I’m worried, you know. You taking on my identity and I yours is a big risk.”
Sunggyu can’t help but to exhale in mild frustration. “We’ve discussed this many times already. It’s my decision to take upon this and this way, at least I know you’ll be safe from harm. After all, I’ve been with you as your bodyguard for so many years that you should know the limit to my ability. Not to mention, I’ve been handling your enemies without a fault-“
Woohyun interrupts. “But you have Howon, Myungsoo, and Sungjong-“
“And it’s also them that I’m unharmed, I know.” It’s now the older male who interrupts as he gives him a look. He does know it. How could he not know when he’s the one who cast Woohyun’s father’s responsibilities aside and pulled his son into a life of secrecy? How could he not know when he was the one who brought those he knew he could trust to protect him?
He had it planned out to the point where the enemies of Woohyun’s father wouldn’t know anything about Woohyun physically. It was a good thing too- that the old man never revealed him as Woohyun grew up, only telling those that he had a son. Howon, Myungsoo, and Sungjong- they are the fighters alongside him. As for Dongwoo and Sungyeol, they are the techies and the doctors. They mend injuries and they keep watch over the residence in which they currently reside in.
It was all for the benefit of Woohyun, not his.
Woohyun sighs and takes a seat over at the edge of the bed. He was heavy with guilt, as he had always felt when they stray toward this particular topic. As much as he knows that the younger male tends to overreact and worry over the smallest of details, he also knows that it would take quite a bit of time to reassure him that everything would be alright.
Sunggyu grimaces and after a while, he goes down on his knees before the younger male and tentatively takes his hand into his own. Woohyun’s voice is caught in his throat out of astonishment. Sunggyu rarely ever shown a sign of submissiveness; usually, he is the epitome of a leader, firm and strong-willed. And right now, he was there staring right back at him, eyebrows furrowing together into a mild frown and voice tinged with an emotion that he can’t deduce.
“It’s been five years since that day” Mentally, Sunggyu starts to feel guilty because he can see Woohyun’s shoulders tense and the hand within his own rolls up into almost fist. He continues, this time in a softer voice, “You weren’t supposed to be involved in that incident…”
Woohyun chuckles bitterly. “You do realize that if it wasn’t for the fact that I witnessed my father being killed right in front of me” The older winces at that. “I would have never found out what he really did with his life. I always thought he was a good man, being the director of his own company and all. I mean, who knew he was actually an underground mafia leader? I found it so hard to believe…I still do.”
“Woohyun…”
“It makes sense, you know? I always wondered why I was sent off to a boarding school and was never allowed to see him, save for the very few occasions when he was not ‘busy keeping his business under control’.” He emphasizes with fingers quoting in mid-air. “As for you,…” his voice drops into a pained whisper. “You know how much it hurts when I realize that you were actually sticking to me on my father’s order and not on your own free will? That you are actually a bodyguard and not a friend?”
“I am your friend. We’ve discussed this before as well.” Sunggyu responds back softly as he holds Woohyun’s hand more firmly. “At first, that was the case but then I get to know you. You are the exact opposite of your father when it comes to personality, and I suppose that’s what drawn me to you.”
A pause and then, Woohyun hesitates. “Seriously?”
“I’m serious.” The older male reassures. “So don’t think about it anymore and take a nap.”
The male hums softly in contemplation. “Only if you stay by my side until I do.”
--
“Hey, Myung. Want to sneak off for a while?”
Said male shifts his gaze over to Sungyeol, an eyebrow quirking up just slightly. They had just finished clearing the feathers off the living room and are now simply taking a seat on the couch out of mild exhaustion. Well, Sungyeol’s exhausted but he happens to have enough stamina to breathe easily. When Sungyeol asks him if he wants to ‘sneak off’, he knows what the tall male insinuating. Usually, it’s an outing to the local café where he’s going to be the one treating to cup after cup of caffeinated beverages. It’s not the first time it happened, after all.
He doesn’t say no to the offer, though. Because he also knows that it means Sungyeol’s stressed about something (or maybe he just want to run from Sunggyu’s final verdict, he’s not sure). Pushing himself off of the couch, he extends a hand over to him and mutters, “Let’s go.”
A grin spreads across Sungyeol’s lips almost immediately as he takes the proffered hand and grips at it the entire way out.
Sungjong and Howon, who are lounging quietly in the kitchen without anyone’s notice after their short practice, catches them on the act and Howon gives the younger a small smile when he sees him shaking his head and exhaling audibly.
--
“What’s up with you?” is the first thing Myungsoo ask once he brings over two cups of coffee for Sungyeol, who picked out a table situated in a hidden corner within the café. The entire trip was surprisingly quiet and the younger male can’t help but to become a little concern over that matter, since Sungyeol was anything but quiet.
Sungyeol, who has been staring blankly over the window that takes up the majority of the opposite wall, peers up without moving and catches sight of the two cups in Myungsoo’s hands. Instead of responding to his question as Myungsoo expected, the older male simply takes a cup and ignores him.
This causes Myungsoo to frown in mild dismay. He takes a seat opposite to Sungyeol and leans forward. “Tell me. What’s wrong?”
“What makes you think there’s something wrong?” Sungyeol casually inquires back, not bothering to meet the younger male’s eyes. He takes a soft whiff of the coffee scent and quirks up a small smile before he blows at the visible steam rising from the cup. He’s enamored over the drink and the sight of it, for some reason, irritates Myungsoo a whole lot.
“It’s obvious. You’re not bouncing around throughout the entire trip like you usually do and…you’re ignoring me, to boot.” The last bit becomes more of a mutter to himself but Sungyeol hears it, nevertheless.
Sungyeol’s lips breaks into a wider smile, to the point of it being teasingly playful. “So I take it that you hate it when I ignore you?” When he gets silence as a result, a small pout takes over his features. “Answer me.”
“Only if you answer mine.”
This time, a sigh escapes Sungyeol’s lips. Myungsoo can hear it despite the loud murmurs of those sitting around them. It takes some time of patience but he’s nearly shown visible relief when Sungyeol speaks up. “It’s stupid, really…” Myungsoo gestures the other male to continue and Sungyeol ends up grimacing. “It’s stupid but it makes sense the more I think about it.”
The younger male quirks up an eyebrow. He’s intrigued and curious now. “What is?” When Sungyeol refuses to speak again, Myungsoo sighs in exasperation. “Yeol-“
“Tell me. Do you even like me?” Sungyeol interrupts, finally looking up to give him a meaningful frown.
Suddenly, it seems as if all the words died on Myungsoo’s lips. “What?” he questions weakly; however, his voice grows stronger as he continues, “What kind of question is that? Of course I like you-“
“Not as a friend!”
Sungyeol doesn’t realize that he had raised his voice out of frustration, earning himself a bit of an audience within the room. Myungsoo, on the other hand, blinks around and clears his throat before muttering out, “We’re still in the café, remember?” he reminds the other and that’s when Sungyeol gazes over to the many eyes staring back at him, though as soon as he does so, the customers eventually return to their conversations. Sungyeol ducks and buries his face into the crook of his arm out of embarrassment.
There’s a bit of silence between them and Myungsoo takes the time and opportunity to think over the older male’s words. Sungyeol wants to know if he likes him…more than friend, he suppose? He assumes that much but for some reason, Sungyeol doesn’t believe his words when he said it. After a while, he tries again, slow enough for the other to understand. “Sungyeol, listen to me carefully, okay?”
Sungyeol peers up a little, his eyes focusing up to him. Myungsoo leans down and speaks. “I like like you.”
It takes Sungyeol a moment but eventually, he raises his head up and gapes at the younger male. “So you do? Woohyun was right? Oh my god, how could I have been so clueless?”
“Wait, what does the boss have something to do with this?” Myungsoo inquires, perplexed. The question causes Sungyeol to frown and wags a finger at him. “If Woohyun hears you call him that, he’ll sock you into oblivion and I won’t be there to help you out.”
The younger slowly turns away and shrugs his shoulders. “Old habits die hard.”
“I can see that.”
Myungsoo sighs and waves a hand. “Back to the point. How does he know?”
Sungyeol props an elbow and rests his chin against his palm, looking down as he swirls the cup around. “Apparently, and I quote Woohyun ‘You two have been dancing around each other for months! It’s obvious and the sexual tension became too strong and I’m frustrated so both of you hook up before I kick you two out of the house!’…yeah.”
Myungsoo can’t help but to cough at that remark, his cheeks soon sporting a tinted red. “What sexual tension? He must be blind.”
The older male agrees with a short nod, taking another sip. “I know, right.”
“…How about the arcade after?”
“Great idea!”
--
One day, it just happens.
“The boss-I mean, Wo-Woohyun’s been kidnapped.”
“What?!” Sungjong’s the first to react, his eyes wide with panic. “How did this happen? Weren’t you two supposed to look after him?”
“Sungjong, shh.” Howon shushes the youngest with a grimace. Things aren’t looking good, especially for Sunggyu, who hasn’t uttered a word since their arrival. It’s the same as every other day- a challenge for the leader in order to pick up territory. “It doesn’t make sense though. Shouldn’t everyone be assuming that Sunggyu-hyung’s the heir they’re looking for? So how?”
There are murmurs of agreement.
Sungyeol hands the oldest male a slip of paper. “It says the location but there’s no ransom, which is also odd.”
Sunggyu can’t help but to agree; however, instead of waiting and planning it out as he knows he should be doing, he takes one glance at the address and charges out of the complex straight off- he knows where it is. He can hear his name being called out, soon followed by a stampede of shoes against the wood surface of the floor but he doesn’t care. He needs to save the idiotic heir he had tried so hard to look after. And because it’s Woohyun, anything could happen and he doesn’t want to think the worst.
--
An abandoned warehouse located at the secluded edge of the city- a common area where murders take place. That simply worries Sunggyu even more.
Being the one who took the car first to the location, he parks it a few meters away to avoid suspicion and sets off into the lit warehouse. There are people in there- that he’s sure about. He stops to check around the area for a moment before he wonders to himself, why is it so empty here? Surely, with Woohyun’s status (to those he assumes know of), there should be more people occupying the vicinity to block all intruders, like himself.
Upon hearing another vehicle coming from the distance, he hurries into the warehouse, entering through the opened window on one side of the complex. He’s ready to take on all opponents and as he tumbles in, gun in the air, he ends up blinking in surprise.
“Oh…hey, Sunggyu?” Woohyun gives the male an awkward smile and a slow wave. He’s sitting on a plush auburn couch at the end of the rather luxurious room and…eating cookies?
It doesn’t really make sense but Sunggyu doesn’t care because Woohyun’s before him and he’s still alive
Without another moment, Sunggyu comes over, wraps him into a tight hug, and mumbles into his ear, eyebrows furrowed together. “God, Woohyun. Don’t scare me like that. I thought you were really kidnapped and all these images of you…what could’ve happen to you…I don’t want to see them in reality.”
Slowly, Woohyun raises his hand and reciprocates the hug. Gripping onto the back of Sunggyu’s shirt, he responds softly, “I’m sorry but....”
The door opens and the rest of the gang enters in. Never mind that they forgot about being in an abandoned warehouse where there’s a chance that they might be at a disadvantage. “You guys too?”
“Sunggyu-hyung. They’re coming.” Howon announces suddenly as he grips tightly around his hand guns. Sungjong and Myungsoo are taking stance as well and it isn’t long until a group of boys stride in, looking anything but ruthless.
“Yo! You guys made it!” A tall male with large eyes and thick lips speaks up with a grin.
“Who are you people?” Sunggyu grounds out, tightening his hold around Woohyun; however, he isn’t sure why but the male in his arms begins to struggle, telling him to let go. He doesn’t want to.
“…Ahh. New people.” One male from the end steps forward and introduces himself. “Name’s Chanjo. And from my right are Chunji, Ricky, Byunghun, Minsoo, and Daniel. We’re known as Teen Top.”
Sungjong can’t hold his surprise when he exclaims, “Teen Top? I’ve heard of you. You guys are the secret squad of assassins.”
Sunggyu interrupts with a growl. “You’re not going to kill Woohyun.”
One male- Byunghun, he thinks, turns his head away to roll his eyes. The gesture itself irritates him for a couple of reasons and a second later, his hand reaches his own gun from his inner breast pocket.
“Wait. We’re not going to kill Sir Woohyun so get that thought out of your heads, all of you. “ Chunji quirks up an eyebrow, particularly at Sunggyu. “Didn’t you know? We’re pretty much your guards assigned by Sir Woohyun’s father shortly after you were assigned to him. We’re not supposed to show face, really, because it’s obviously risky. But since Sir Woohyun knows about us from the beginning, he tends to visit around once in a while. With someone to fetch him.” He later adds when he catches the stern glare aiming towards him. “We’re also the reason why there aren’t as many people running after you. Haven’t you noticed?”
Vaguely, Sunggyu does but he doesn’t say a word on it.
“Be happy. Woohyun’s only visiting us to catch up on some news. And maybe some tea and cookies to go with that.” Ricky pats said male’s arm gently. “By the way…Sungyeol and Dongwoo-hyung didn’t tell you? They already knew about this as well.”
Sunggyu freezes at the remark and slowly, he turns to the two traitors who are shushing harshly at the young oblivious male. They stopped, however, when they see the eldest narrowing his eyes on them, looking like deer caught on headlights. Dongwoo’s hiding behind Howon and Sungjong while Sungyeol’s clinging onto Myungsoo.
“H-Hyung-“
“Thanks for telling me.” Sunggyu ignores the shaky whimper as he inclines his head to Ricky, his face frighteningly void of emotions and his hands behind his back. The untold promise of dealing with it his own way is unsettling to the two who are cowering and staying as far from the eldest as much as they can. “So, shall we head home?” he continues, giving one last bow to Teen Top and turning around to head out without another word.
--
“I’m exhausted.” Sungjong loudly speaks up with a groan as soon as he unlocks the door and steps into their shared home.
“Sungyeol. Dongwoo. Both of you follow me.”
Said pair flinches at the low murmur and being the last ones to enter, they can see the intimidating aura Sunggyu’s emitting. They would run- oh, they would’ve done it the moment Sunggyu caught them, but the problem is the fact that their punishments would double, triple maybe by the time he finds them again. They don’t doubt his skills in locating people; Sunggyu had proven himself many times and it was him who taught Sungyeol that skill as well.
Woohyun refrains from speaking out; he’s never seen Sunggyu like that and instinct tells him to stop before he makes a careless decision. Instead, he looks guilty and sympathetic.
Eventually, they reluctantly followed after Sunggyu (Sungyeol looks frightened as he mouths to Myungsoo, ‘Save me!’) and as soon as they leave through the door, it’s as if the tension in the air vanishes with them.
“…Maybe I should go and save Sungyeol.” Myungsoo speaks up after a while.
“Don’t. You’ll be directly at the end of Sunggyu-hyung’s fist.”
--
“Were you too harsh on them?” Woohyun speaks up when Sunggyu enters his room minutes after their group dispersed and doing their own businesses, clapping his hands and sighing softly to himself.
The older male pauses a little and shakes his head. “Nothing I deem too hard.”
“What is it?”
Sunggyu takes a seat on the bed beside him. “Three months of physical labor plus a month’s absence of coffee for Sungyeol and a month’s absence of Dongwoo’s favorite green dinosaur plushie.”
“Wow, that’s harsh.” Woohyun comments with a bit of a grimace lingering on his lips. If that’s the case, how will the two handle their daily tasks?
“To you, maybe.” The elder responds back. “And I know what you’re thinking. This won’t affect anything they do-“
“The labor, yeah.”
Sunggyu pauses to give Woohyun a look before he continues as if he’s never been interrupted. “so you won’t have to worry as much.”
Woohyun snorts in response. “I’m blaming you if anything happens.”
“No surprise there.” Is the given reply. “My hair’s growing gray due to these irresponsible kids.”
“Well…maybe you should take a little vacation. That way you won’t have to worry about any trouble heading you’re way.” Woohyun jokes, laughing a little.
Sunggyu, however, quirks up an eyebrow and mutters in contemplation, “You know, it’s not a bad idea. That could be arranged in a short period of time” a smirk soon graces his lips. “…and I’ll be taking you with me.”
--
“So how do you like this place?”
“I love it!” Woohyun exclaims, wide eyes directing themselves to Sunggyu, who’s smiling in mirth. Taking another glance over to the beautiful scene of wild flowers and the vast ocean before them, he continues, “This is probably one of the prettiest areas to take a vacation spot and relax. By the way, how did you find it? It seems very secluded.”
The older male chuckles in response and raises a hand to gesture the large landscape encircling the cozy-looking cottage before them. “That’s because it is secluded by the thick forest surrounding us. No one would be able to locate us easily because of it…though, with an exception of helicopters and airplanes.”
“So I’ve noticed.” Woohyun gestures to the male’s personal helicopter parked nearby.
It’s been approximately four hours (minus the half an hour of coaxing Woohyun that yes, the rest could look after each other, yes, he’ll make sure they’ll do no harm, and yes, they’re going to the beach so he can bring his unused scuba set with him) since they decided to sneak out from home to spend some alone time with each other and Sunggyu’s rather contented with the amount of time he get to have without anyone bothering them every five seconds.
“Kim Sunggyu, I love you~” Woohyun suddenly declares as he turn around to face said male before raising his arms up to curve a heart and tilting his head to the side.
Sunggyu blinks and almost immediately after, he ducks to the side to hide his growing smile. In the past, he had been immune to Woohyun’s cutesy antics but now, now, it seems to be so difficult to keep a straight face every time he sees it. He eventually turns back but that seems to be a bad idea. Woohyun’s aegyo radiates from his entire being and he’s starting to get affected in a different way the moment his eyes cast down to Woohyun’s lips. “What…brought this up?”
He doesn’t even realize that he is leaning forward to the younger male, looking as if he’s hypnotized.
“Well, I thought it’d be a good time to say it, considering how good you’ve been to me and I also want to thank you for coping with me throughout the years. I know I’ve been a pain to you but…Sunggyu?” Woohyun’s smile falters as he watches with slightly wide eyes, his posture frozen when he sees the male moves closer. Just as Sunggyu’s about to lean in, very nearly tasting the soft, pliant flesh of Woohyun’s lips, a voice screeches out in the distance- one that’s so very (frustratingly) familiar.
“There they are!”
Fucking hell, they’re here. The first thing Sunggyu does is to grab the younger male’s hand and make a run for it, hiding away the small snicker escaping his lips when he hears Woohyun’s shout, “Hey, it’s you guys! How did you find us?”
“What do you mean ‘how did we find you’? Ask yourself why you ditch us! You don’t know how much it sucks to have Howon nag at us-ouch!”An audible, dull slap echoes the air and it is soon followed by a voice that only makes the two want to run faster.
“Never mind Sungyeol. We have some business to settle with you two for making us worry.”
--
One hour later
Woohyun rubs the back of his neck as he watches Sungyeol, Sungjong, and Dongwoo pester Sunggyu like kids whining over why their parent left them like that. Perhaps that is the case- Woohyun sometimes does feel like one; he’s not sure what Sunggyu feels over this, however.
“We really were worried when you two disappeared without a trace.” His gaze shifts over to Myungsoo, who’s smiling a little at the sight before them. “Those three panicked over it and Howon-hyung was the only one who took action once he got everyone to settle down. Why did you leave without telling us?”
Feeling the immense guilt pinching at him, Woohyun responds, “To tell the truth, we forgot to leave a note. I was the one who suggested we should have a vacation, just the two of us and Sunggyu just so happens to take that seriously. So here we are.”
“Hate to admit, but that’s not a bad idea, coming from you two. A vacation.” Howon takes the opportunity to enter the conversation, stopping beside Woohyun with hands shoved deep in his pockets. “I would, for once, like to take a break from work.”
Woohyun cracks a lop-sided grin. “So as long as you don’t interrupt, you’re all welcome to stay around.”
“Ugh, you sound as if you’re going to have some intense sex time with Sunggyu-hyung.” Myungsoo suddenly says and covers his eyes with a groan of disgust. Howon, in turn, shivers visibly and mildly punches the younger male’s arm. “Don’t say that. The visuals are terribly disturbing.”
On the other hand, Woohyun’s face grows a brilliant hue of red and proceeds to slap and kick and punch the two who are running away once the beating starts. The rest remains oblivious (ie. still whining, pulling at the eldest of the group), though Sunggyu does look their way out of mild curiosity as Woohyun shouts out. “You two, shut up!”
End.