Blood Brothers Ch 1
Title: Blood Brothers
Pairing: KyuTeukChul (yeah, you read that correctly), other pairings will appear later. The story also focuses on the bond between Heechul, Zhou Mi, and Hankyung as blood brothers thus the title.
Rating: M for violence and mature scenes
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, suspense, romance, thriller
Disclaimer: fanfiction…speaks for itself. As much as I would love to own them, owning a human being is kind of morally and ethically wrong, so let’s not go there.
Summary: Revenge is a bittersweet fruit. Once you have taken a bite, the taste never leaves. It lingers in the throat, under the tongue, on every taste bud. Kim Heechul became used to the taste long ago.
Prologue ----- Chapter 2
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Chapter 1
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“Young master…young master please wake up.”
He heard the maid pleading from where she stood at the foot of the bed. He could feel her pressed against the edge of it, nudging the bed enough to make it noticeable as she tried to figure out whether or not she should use force to wake him up.
She never did, so he knew she wouldn't start now.
He simply shoved his head further beneath his pillows and the large stuffed Selendis plushie he’d gotten for his birthday. It was a Wednesday, wasn’t it? That meant he didn’t have classes until four which meant he could sleep until two, so why was the maid trying to wake him up now?
He’d spent the entire night eviscerating noobs on Starcraft and he’d gotten to sleep at around six in the morning. He cracked one eye open and peered through the space between his pillow and his bed at the alarm clock on his bedside table: 8:02.
Yeah, he wasn’t waking up anytime soon.
He pulled his blanket more securely around his body, let out a soft sigh, and prepared himself for several glorious hours of sleep before he woke up to do the homework that was due in advanced calculus that day.
Kyuhyun’s plans were violently torn to pieces as he, and his bedspread, were pulled from the bed and landed on the floor with a loud crash. The maid let out a small scream of fright but Kyuhyun was too angry to notice her as he flailed within the cocoon of his comforter and finally managed to sit up, glaring at the offending attacker.
“Ya! Sungmin! What the hell?”
Sungmin raised an eyebrow at him, his usual cheerful smile a bit forced. “Kyuhyun-ssi, it’s time to get up. You’re holding up the maids’ work.”
Kyuhyun’s eyes narrowed, going from the man’s impeccable suit to the pink tie sticking out against the white dress shirt. “You know that no one is supposed to wake me up before twelve.”
“Your father requested your presence at the office for a meeting.”
Kyuhyun scoffed, standing and heading to the bathroom attached to his room, leaving the blanket for the maid to pick up and fold. He scratched the back of his neck, stretching before he stopped at the bathroom door. “Why should I care?”
“It’s an important meeting with the representatives from Tokyo Raijin Industries about a possible partnership on the Seolbum project.” Sungmin continued, pulling his smartphone out of his pocket and checking a new file. “You’re supposed to be at the office by ten thirty. That gives you time to shower, eat, get dressed, and be debriefed on the entirety of the meeting before we get there.”
Kyuhyun pulled his shirt off and threw it underneath the sink, causing the maid to cover her mouth with her hands and try and hide her blush by straightening out the comforter on the bed with trembling hands.
“I’m not going.”
“Don’t make me throw you over my shoulder and carry you like last time.” Sungmin smiled cheerfully at him, looking every inch the adorable, harmless assistant that Kyuhyun knew he wasn’t. There was nothing at all harmless about his bodyguard and the cheerful smile just made it creepier. Kyuhyun wouldn’t doubt Sungmin had killed people with that same cheerful smile that he used to order hot chocolate and help grandmothers across the street.
He also knew that Sungmin would go through with his threat. It had, after all, happened the last two times his father had ordered him to come to the office. He simply sighed, resigned himself to the fact that he would have to take a shower and get dressed and at least pretend like he was cooperating until he could find a way to escape.
He trudged into the bathroom, slipping off his boxers.
“At least shut the door.” Sungmin chided as the maid let out a small squeal. He kicked the door shut, seeing Kyuhyun send him a snarky grin before it closed. Truthfully, Sungmin wasn’t focused on much else but the large scar that stood out starkly on Kyuhyun’s back. He remembered the incident that had caused that scar clearly…
“…we need another pint of blood! Hurry! He isn’t going to last much longer!”
“He’s hemorrhaging!”
“S-Sungmin-ssi?”
Sungmin blinked, turning to see the maid looking at him worriedly, clutching the basket full of Kyuhyun’s dirty clothes to take them to get washed. He smiled at her cheerfully, “What is it?”
“The young master…what outfit should I set out for him today for the meeting?”
Sungmin paused, thinking, before his phone rang. He sighed, quickly picking it up and heading to the door to answer it. “The double-breasted Tom Ford suit from the latest spring collection. The light pink one.”
The maid nodded, hurrying to the large walk-in closet on the other side of the room to pick out the required garments as Sungmin walked out of the room, slipping on his headset. “Yes? Ah, Director, yes, yes, he’s out of bed…”
---
In the two hours it took Kyuhyun to shower, dress, eat, be debriefed, and drive to Yumyeong Industries, he still hadn’t found a chance to escape. At this point he was getting rather anxious as they walked inside and headed toward the elevator.
Kyuhyun shifted a bit, grinding his shoe into the tiled floor and making it squeak. Sungmin cast him a weary glance from his right but Kyuhyun ignored it. He continued to scuff his shoes against the marble, frowning.
The elevator door dinged and slid open a few moments later and people hurriedly stepped aside to let Kyuhyun and Sungmin enter, bowing their heads as they murmured greetings. Sungmin nodded, while Kyuhyun simply continued to pout.
He took a step forward and paused, turning to Sungmin, “I think I have to go to the bathroom.” He turned, ready to bolt for the doors but was stopped by Sungmin grabbing him and jerking him back into the elevator. He pushed him up against the wall and pressed the button for the 57th floor with his free hand.
“That isn’t going to work this time, Kyuhyun-ssi.” Sungmin drawled, casting him a level glance. “Can’t you just come quietly for once? You’re causing your father a lot of trouble by being so stubborn.”
“No one asked him to make me the heir.” Kyuhyun grumbled under his breath, but he knew that Sungmin heard it when he gave an exasperated sigh, as if he were dealing with an unruly child. That just annoyed Kyuhyun even more. Why did everyone have all these stupid expectations for him anyway?
He knew that Sungmin wasn’t going to be much for conversation at the moment, and his eyes traveled to the quickly ascending floor numbers as they continued climbing higher and higher. He was getting closer and closer to a horrible date with destiny. He could feel the boredom rolling off of the meeting room in waves all the way from the 40th floor where their elevator had slowed to a stop.
The door slid open and suddenly, an escape route made itself available.
It took only a second for Kyuhyun to shove past the secretary, sending papers flying as she screeched and landed on the ground, blocking the way for Sungmin as he reacted a millisecond later, reflexes taking over as he leapt over the woman and landed in the hallway.
“Ya! Kyuhyun-ssi! Stop!”
But Kyuhyun had darted into a closing elevator, sending a furious Sungmin a victory sign through the small crack in the closing elevator doors.
“Dammit!” Sungmin’s eyes darted to where the numbers above the elevator door told him that the elevator was going down, and quickly. It took only a second later for him to charge toward the stairwell, throwing the door open and taking the stairs three at a time, pulling out his headset at the same time.
“He’s escaped again!”
---
“…and Tokyo Raijin’s import rate will increase 10% with the partnership…”
Slim hands nervously fiddled with the edge of a pristine, light-gray, double-breasted suit, brushing gingerly over silver cufflinks. The hands went to the pockets of a pair of pinstripe slacks, before heading up to check the dark blue tie.
“Will you stop fiddling with everything?”
The hands paused, trying their best to control the effort, before reaching up to push slim framed glasses further up a long nose.
Kim Youngwoon sent the man a tired glare. “Are you done yet? You weren’t even listening to what I was saying at all.”
“I was listening!” The stylish fidgeter replied in all earnestness, “I was just…” he paused, “What was that last thing?”
Youngwoon sighed, and the other man smiled in apology, large, endearing dimples appearing on his slim face. Youngwoon checked his watch, “Jungsu-ssi, we have ten minutes to get to the meeting.” He looked to the driver, “How much longer until we arrive?”
“We’re here sir.” The car pulled to a stop and Youngwoon opened the door, getting out first and surveying the area through his sunglasses before taking a step back and letting Jungsu exit the vehicle. “Come on,” He put his hand on Jungsu’s back and led him up the steps of the conglomerate building. “We don’t have time to waste. Your father is already waiting.”
“Ah, right,” Jungsu nodded with another uneasy grin, “Do you think I look alright?”
Youngwoon rolled his eyes beneath his shades. “Leeteuk,” He turned to him as they entered the large doors and walked toward the elevator, calling him by his childhood nickname in a moment of forgetfullness that they were in the company and he wasn't supposed to call him that here. “Will you calm down? You do this before every meeting. Everything is fine. You’re not Kyuhyun, you won’t mess up.”
“Kangin!” Jungsu gave him a reproving look, using his nickname for the other as well, “Don’t talk about Kyuhyun like that. He’s trying, he really is.”
And that was when Sungmin came bursting out of the stairwell to the side, shoving past them.
“Hey! Sungmin!” Youngwoon yelled after him, but the other man didn’t stop. “…where the hell could he be going…?”
Several other men in suits bustled past, pausing only when Jungsu reached out and grabbed one by the sleeve, “Excuse me, what’s going on?”
“Cho Kyuhyun-ssi disappeared before the meeting again.” The man bowed hastily to Jungsu. “I was sent to go and catch him…”
Youngwoon snorted, “Yeah, I can see that he’s trying really hard.”
Jungsu ignored him, frowning as he quickly dialed a number on his phone. “Appa?”
“What is it!?” His father sounded irritated, but Jungsu knew it wasn’t at him. He rather had a good idea what the annoyance was, because he could hear Kyuhyun’s father yelling.
“Kyuhyun ran off?”
“Sungmin is trying to find him as we speak, sir.” That was one of the guards, most likely. “I’m sorry, this won’t happen again-”
“That’s what you said the last 14 times!”
Jungsu winced at the harshness of his tone, before speaking, “Father, I’m going to go and find him. I’ll bring him back before the meeting ends.”
“Wait, Jungsu, what are you-” Jungsu hung up before his father could continue, shoving his phone into his pocket and heading toward the door.
“Jungsu-ssi, what are you doing?” Youngwoon hurried after him.
“Come on, we need to get the car.” Was all Jungsu said as he hurried out the door, hearing the screeching of tires on pavement that told him Sungmin had finally gotten to his vehicle.
---
The aquarium was largely empty when they arrived, save for a few teenagers who looked like they’d skipped class to come on a date and a gaggle of middle-schoolers on a field trip that had headed down the hall to the shark exhibit a few minutes earlier.
Zhou Mi found himself standing at one end of the tropical coral reef exhibit, leafing through the pamphlet he’d gotten from the front desk only half interestedly. Hankyung leaned against the railing beside him, practically glowering behind his sunglasses.
Zhou Mi smiled slowly, “You’re going to scare the children.” He motioned to the middle-schoolers, some of whom had headed back in their direction to look at the lionfish.
Hankyung shrugged, but his gaze became less fierce and he lifted his hand to take off his sunglasses, slipping them into his jacket pocket. Zhou Mi knew that Hankyung was just on edge from the entire situation. Zhou Mi wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t also a bit tense, but he’d learned that trusting Heechul during these times was the best thing to do. Besides, he figured it was Hankyung’s jealousy over a certain favored dongsaeng of Heechul’s that was causing most of the irritation.
Still, he knew that Hankyung’s worry over Heechul’s contact with other people at the moment was justified, especially if Heechul was attached to the boy.
“We should distance them as much as possible.”
Hankyung turned at the sound of Zhou Mi’s voice, surprised that the younger man had spoken first. They leaned against the railing casually and Hankyung nodded for him to continue.
“Xi Che ge doesn’t want him involved, but the closer he is to him the more he interferes.” Zhou Mi murmured, gaze going to where the two were standing at the other end of the aquarium dome as Donghae pointed out a fish to Heechul, who laughed. “I can tell he’s important to Xi Che ge…so we should try and protect him from finding anything out.”
“Che.” Hankyung grunted, arms crossed over his chest, “He hasn’t even seen him for fifteen years…how can they be so close all of a sudden?”
“He’s kept in touch. He needed contacts in Korea, you know that.” Zhou Mi conceded, wondering at Hankyung’s anger. Hankyung was usually soft-spoken and gentle. Then again, he supposed that when Heechul was involved, it didn’t take much to make Hankyung snap. Their ge was very important to them and anyone who got between the three of them wouldn’t last long.
Especially not now, when they were so close to hatching Heechul’s plan. “Without Donghae’s help, we wouldn’t have gotten an apartment so quickly, or the necessary items and files…”
“He already knows too much.” Hankyung ground out. “From getting us all of that…don’t you think he’ll start asking questions? If he does…”
“If he does, we’ll just have to stop him from asking questions.” Zhou Mi smiled, and Hankyung was reminded of how chilling that smile could be. “We’ll just have to find a way to make sure Xi Che ge doesn’t find out.”
Hankyung nodded. “…we’ll start by keeping him busy, then.”
---
Kyuhyun didn’t know where he was going, but he knew that sooner or later Sungmin was going to catch up and when that happened, he would be lucky to get out of the situation with only a few broken bones. Well, he knew that Sungmin wasn’t allowed to actually hurt him but he figured his father would turn a blind eye if Sungmin decided to ‘beat some sense’ into him.
Sense would hurt. It would hurt badly, like a roundhouse kick to the face.
He’d taken a bus, the first form of transportation that had presented itself to him, and had ridden halfway around town in hopes that he would keep Sungmin and anyone else his father sent off his trail. On his second tour of the bus route he got off at a familiar stop and had found himself standing in front of the aquarium he’d visited with his little sister the week before for her birthday. He didn’t figure anyone would look for him here, and he’d rather enjoyed looking around the first time. And this time he’d be able to spend as much time as he wanted looking at the fish he liked. Like the moray eels that reminded him of Zerg hydralisks….
He’d spent the last fifteen minutes trying to find his way around-because he didn’t need a map of the place, he could find his way by himself dammit-and was hopelessly lost and nowhere near the Starcraft-species look-alikes.
And that was when the intercom system crackled to life. “Could Game Kyu please come to the front desk? Your family is looking for you.”
Kyuhyun froze. There were very few people who knew that nickname for him and would have used it in public. Whoever it was, it meant that somehow they’d found him. Shit. How could they have known he’d come here!? He hurriedly ran down a side corridor. He needed to find an emergency exit or a bathroom or something! An emergency exit would probably be better, because they’d search the bathrooms.
Sungmin would, and he’d have no problems with kicking down the door of a stall in the women’s restroom and pulling Kyuhyun out by his ankles screaming like a little girl.
Kyuhyun ran faster.
He shoved roughly past a group of kids, not caring that one of them hit the aquarium wall. They shouldn’t have been in his way, he was running for his life here! Obviously his life was more important than some little kid’s face. He ducked into one of the smaller viewing rooms to catch his breath, hoping that Sungmin or whoever else was out there hadn’t caught sight of him yet. He leaned against the wall, running a hand through his hair as a particularly annoying piece kept sliding into his face.
He looked up, scanning the room for any sign of the enemy. And that was when he spotted her. The most beautiful person he’d ever seen. Time seemed to slow, freezing, and he suddenly felt out of breath for a completely different reason.
…and then he was tackled to the ground by Sungmin and three aquarium security guards.
---
“And look, look at those ones!”
“Ja, they all look the same. What’s the difference except the colors?” Heechul asked, peering closer at the glass.
“Hyung!” Donghae whined exasperatedly. “How can you say they’re all the same? They’re totally different!” He grabbed his arm and pulled him over to a small section of the tank. “See? Look at those small ones. The orange and white and black striped ones there. Those are clownfish.”
“Clownfish?” Heechul’s lips pursed in thought. “What about that one? The orange one.”
“A parrotfish.”
“Mmm.” Heechul nodded, “I like that one best…” He was too busy looking for more colorful fish for Donghae to identify to hear the ruckus behind him. In fact, he probably wouldn’t have known anything was happening until he felt someone grab his arm.
He tensed, instantly on edge, reaching into his jacket for some kind of weapon until Hankyung spoke. “We need to go.” Hankyung’s grip on Heechul’s arm was tight. “There are police nearby.”
Heechul looked toward the growing crowd to his left and nodded, turning to Donghae who hadn’t been listening to the exchange. “Come on Donghae, we have to go. We need to move everything into the apartment so I can go and buy new shampoo.”
“Aish, you and your shampoo, hyung…”
Zhou Mi came up on Heechul’s left, flanking him, and Donghae followed along/was pulled as the four headed to the main exit. As they did so, several men were just coming in. They didn’t pay them much attention as Zhou Mi angled his body so no one would be able to see Heechul’s face until they were well away from the crowd.
Heechul frowned, casting a look back, “Wait…” He blinked, laughing softly, feeling foolish. “…nevermind…” He looked to Hankyung, “Let’s go.”
---
“Why did you use my nickname?”
“You were without a bodyguard, we couldn’t tell anyone you were there.” Jungsu pointed out, sending Kyuhyun a reproving stare. “Why did you make everyone worry like that?”
Kyuhyun shrugged, not really paying attention. He’d been zoning out of Jungsu’s lecture for the past ten minutes after Sungmin had dragged him into his car. It had taken a few minutes to convince the aquarium security that no, Kyuhyun was not a terrorist planning to plant bombs in the aquarium to blow up the rest of the mall attached to it and that he was indeed the heir to the Yoo-Seong Group. It had taken another few minutes to pay for the damages, including the little girl whose face Kyuhyun had slammed into the aquarium glass.
It was Jungsu who had called Sungmin and told him that Kyuhyun would probably be at the aquarium. Sometimes Kyuhyun hated Jungsu for being so observant and seeing how much Kyuhyun had enjoyed the aquarium during their first visit. Other than zoning out because well, he did this every time Jungsu lectured, Kyuhyun found himself preoccupied with more important things.
…like the woman of his dreams that he was already planning on marrying. “Did you see her?” He asked dreamily, leaning back in the leather seat.
“Hm?” Jungsu stopped mid-sentence at Kyuhyun’s question. The other boy was looking out the window with a faraway look, not paying attention to Jungsu’s words at all. That made the older boy sigh. When was Kyuhyun going to grow up and take his family’s business seriously?
“The woman. Did you see her?” Kyuhyun finally asked, more firmly this time, actually focusing on his friend. “You couldn’t have missed her she was just…” and he trailed off, eyes glazing over a bit.
Jungsu turned to Kangin, who shrugged, and then to Sungmin who was glaring daggers at Kyuhyun through the rearview mirror before shifting his attention back to the road. Jungsu hadn’t thought Kyuhyun was interested in girls. He’d been afraid the boy would try to legally marry Blizzard Entertainment.
Jungsu sighed, “Kyuhyun…how are we going to explain this to your father?”
---
“This is it!” Donghae announced, throwing open the door. Hankyung went first, Heechul following, and Zhou Mi bringing up the rear. They entered into a large, spacious living room with an entire wall covered in glass windows and a sliding door that led to a balcony.
“This is just my style! You know me best, don’t you, Donghae?” Heechul grinned, leaving his suitcase in the middle of the bare living room to check out the balcony. “A hot tub?”
“I know that you like to soak and relax, hyung.” Donghae grinned sheepishly. Heechul grinned back, and Hankyung merely sighed, grabbing Heechul’s suitcase and heading down the hall to where he suspected the bedroom was located.
Zhou Mi had gone to check out the kitchen.
Hankyung opened the door to the large master bedroom a moment later, surveying it. A bed had already been delivered, as they’d ordered, one of the only pieces of furniture that they had at the moment. There was a large window to the left, and a plasma screen TV on the wall opposite the bed. Hankyung raised an eyebrow at that. They hadn’t ordered a TV…
“…and I got you this as a welcome-home present!” Donghae had pulled Heechul into the bedroom and was pointing at the TV in question.
“Donghae…” Heechul frowned, “Ya, how can you waste so much money on something like that?” But he was inwardly pleased because he was Kim Heechul and Kim Heechul liked expensive gifts.
Donghae continued to smile from ear to ear, knowing he’d pleased his hyung despite the glare. He looked around the bedroom and it seemed to jog his memory as he turned to Heechul, “I wanted to ask…Hyung, where are Hankyung hyung and Zhou Mi hyung going to be sleeping? Do they have their own apartments?”
Heechul raised an eyebrow, “No. Why?”
“But there’s only one bed.”
“…so?”
“HYUNG! If that’s the case, why couldn’t I have moved in with you?” Donghae whined, clinging to the slimmer man.
Zhou Mi swore he could hear Hankyung’s aggravated growl from the kitchen, and merely smiled as he opened the refrigerator door and grabbed a bottle of water.
Korea…was certainly going to be an interesting place to live.