Blood Brothers Chapter 8
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.
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.
Chapter 7 ---- Chapter 9
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Chapter 8
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Henry and Zhou Mi had been asleep when Hankyung and Heechul finally returned home. Heechul went straight for the bathroom to change in case Henry woke up and Hankyung was left standing in the doorway of the bedroom with no idea what to do.
He could only stare at the bathroom door and hope that when Heechul came out, he would be different then the person that had ridden with him in the car.
“My mother’s necklace, that bitch was wearing it. A gift she says. From her husband.” Heechul wiped angry tears from his face. “I can’t believe it. Do you know that my dad gave that necklace to Director Park so that Director Park wouldn’t fire some of the company workers when he took over? Because that woman wanted it. And now she’s flaunting it. She might as well have ripped it off my mother’s corpse herself, the bitch.”
“Heechul…”
“I hate her. I hate him. I hate that entire family. I’m going to do this, Hankyung. I’m going to get revenge and I’m going to laugh in their faces. I’ll show them all that this is what happens when you mess with Kim Heechul.”
When they’d been in that car, Heechul had become the person that Hankyung feared the most, the person he had discovered one night standing over a dead body who told him calmly, “This man killed my mother. I returned the favor.”
He knew that Heechul channeled anger to push out sadness. He’d once laughed it off and told Hankyung that he didn’t have time to battle depression and plot revenge at the same time. Heechul yelled and raged when he wanted to cry.
And when he was quiet, when his voice lowered, it meant that he was beyond rage and had reached the deep part of him that was capable of killing.
Hankyung didn’t want that part to ever surface again. He’d take that burden because he knew he could handle it. Heechul could not. Heechul was too fragile, no matter how much he liked to pretend otherwise. It was why Hankyung really just wanted to kill them himself and end this now.
Because as much as Heechul liked to say he was torturing them…he was also torturing himself; being around them every day. Being near the people that had destroyed his family, killed his parents…forcing himself to smile and laugh and pretend that he liked them when he was really dying inside as he thought this was what my life was supposed to be like. I was supposed to be this happy.
Sometimes Hankyung wondered if Heechul were punishing himself for being unable to save his mother, for the way she’d fallen into madness after her husband’s death. But it wasn’t his fault, why didn’t he see that?
Hankyung leaned against the wall, wiping sweat from his brow. He winced, hand going to his stomach. God, it felt like it was on fire! His face twisted in pain but eased forcefully into a calm smile as Heechul walked out of the bathroom.
“Are you alright?” Hankyung asked softly, reaching out a hand. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it: pull Heechul closer? Touch his hair? His face? In the end he simply let it fall to his side again.
Heechul smiled slowly and nodded, eyes red and puffy from crying the entire way home. “…I’m going to go and sleep on the couch with Henli…” he whispered, “We have a lot to do tomorrow before our meeting with Kim Kibum. Get some sleep.” And he walked passed, leaving Hankyung alone in the room with a softly snoring Zhou Mi.
Hankyung watched him go before sliding down the wall, clutching his stomach and gasping in pain.
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“Xi Che ge ge, are you sure this is ok? You’re not busy?”
“Of course not, Henli. I pushed a few things aside to make time.” Heechul grinned at the younger boy. The two headed into the large mall, slipping easily into the crowd.
Henry hadn’t been able to have a day out with his Xi Che ge ge for ages. He’d thought that they’d all end up flying back to China before he got a chance alone with him. Well, apparently he’d been alone with him the night before but he really didn’t remember it. He simply woke up with Heechul pressed between him and the back of the couch, mumbling something about teddy bears.
If Henry wasn’t sure that the moment he tried Heechul wouldn’t smack him down he would have grabbed his hand and begun skipping through the mall. “We should buy matching hats.” Henry finally concluded as he looked around the store entrances, “Hm…which way should we go?”
“HYUNG!”
Henry froze, before turning to look in infuriated shock as Donghae ran over to the two, grinning like mad. “I’m so glad you invited me to come, I haven’t been able to hang out with you much since you came back to Korea.”
Heechul nodded. “Now I can spend time with my two favorite little brothers.” He was happy.
Donghae was happy.
Henry was not.
Henry wanted to throw a tantrum but he knew that his Xi Che ge ge was trying to spend time with his Korean dongsaeng because they would be going back to China eventually-that’s right, Donghae, because he belongs in China! Ha!-but that didn’t mean he couldn’t pout. This was supposed to be their time! Henry never got to see his Xi Che ge ge because he was always at school. He didn’t like Vienna…it wasn’t enjoyable when his ges weren’t there…
But he would let it pass. He’d just make sure that he got to spend time with Heechul later that night. He’d monopolize his time away from Zhou Mi and Han Geng. It wouldn’t be too difficult if he pouted enough.
“What should we do first?” Heechul asked, smirking to himself as a group of girls pointed at the three and burst into squeals.
Finally…he was a man again. He breathed in deeply and then let out a sigh, “This…” He wrapped an arm around Henry’s and Donghae’s shoulders, “…is what it should feel like everyday…”
“Hm?” The two both seemed a bit confused.
“Alright!” Heechul started dragging them towards a store entrance before they could ask any more questions. “I need a new pair of sunglasses!” As he began directing them around he paused, catching a glimpse of two people walking between shops.
“Brother, I don’t want to go look at computer games! You’re supposed to have come with me to help me pick out a dress for my recital!”
Fuck.
Heechul grabbed Donghae and Henry and practically shoved them into a shop and slipped behind a rack of clothing. He looked out the window and watched as Kyuhyun and a young girl that Heechul recognized as Kyuhyun’s little sister walked past the storefront.
Dammit, why was Kyuhyun here when Heechul was here-and not looking like a girl? His one day of vacation…ruined by Kyuhyun’s obsessive need for video games…damn you, Cho Kyuhyun…fucking ruining my day off…
“Xi Che ge, is something wrong?” Henry asked, still not quite sure why he’d just been dragged into a woman’s clothing store.
Heechul blinked, just then noticing that both Donghae and Henry were staring at him with worry. He grinned, “Right, sorry about that. Would you like to go to the pet shop instead?”
“No.”
“YES!”
“Pet shop it is.”
Henry really, really, really hated Donghae.
It didn’t take them long to reach the store, and Donghae immediately went toward the fish. Heechul followed, with Henry glowering behind them, angry that his day with Xi Che was getting ruined by Heechul’s ‘favorite dongsaeng’.
The pet shop was crowded with an assortment of people and it was loud. Heechul reached up a hand to rub the side of his head. He was going to get a headache before the day was out…
He slipped off his sunglasses and tucked them into his jacket pocket, leaning against the wall and waiting with Henry. Donghae was ooing and aweing over some fish in a tank nearby. Heechul figured he’d buy some for the younger boy after they went to eat. He tried to make mental note of the ones that Donghae seemed to like the most.
Henry was checking his texts, “I’m hungry, can we get lunch after this?”
Heechul nodded, “How about pizza?”
Henry grinned, before reading a text and giving a small laugh. Heechul leaned over his shoulder to read, “Who is that from? A girlfriend?”
“Ge!” Henry whined, covering the message. “I don’t have a girlfriend! They get in the way of music! An artist doesn’t need a girl as his muse if he’s a true musician!”
Heechul laughed, “Ok, ok, aish, little rascal, calm down will you?” He reached out to ruffle Henry’s hair and stopped as he heard a familiar voice.
“Let’s go look in there.”
“Shit…” Heechul turned, pretending to be as inconspicuous as possible as he surveyed a shelf of aquarium decorations.
Kyuhyun walked into the pet shop with his sister, heading over to where the cats and dogs were kept. “This one’s cute, right?”
“You’re buying me a cat?” Kyuhyun’s sister-her name was unimportant, she hadn’t made it into his revenge plans directly because she was so young-pressed her face against the glass, staring down at the furry animals in the case.
“No, idiot. You already have a puppy. You don’t need anything else.” Kyuhyun muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets and trying to look cool in the middle of a pet shop filled with loud screaming children and parents.
“Then why are we looking?” His sister asked curiously, moving her finger against the glass and giggling as one of the kittens tried to paw at it.
“Do girls like kittens?”
His sister looked up at him in surprise. “I’ve never had a kitten. I don’t know.” She paused. “Sungmin has kittens.”
“He’s not a girl, not biologically, anyway.” Kyuhyun grunted, “Do girls like them?”
“Most girls do, I guess. Kittens are cute.” She went back to playing with the kitten that had caught her attention earlier.
Out of the corner of his eye, Heechul watched a small smile form on Kyuhyun’s face, “…I see…”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out who the kitten was for, unless Kyuhyun was somehow cheating on him. He doubted that, because Heechul knew where Kyuhyun was at all times. That made cheating rather difficult.
He watched Kyuhyun look the cats over and begin asking one of the shop assistants which ones had the best temperament.
He shouldn’t have felt touched. He shouldn’t have cared at all. And he knew that now was a good time as any…to test the depth of Kyuhyun’s love for him.
He simply grabbed Henry and Donghae’s hands and led them out of the pet store to the food court.
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Jungsu absently flipped a page of sheet music and sighed softly. He shifted a bit on the piano bench and it creaked at the motion. It was an old bench, he’d need to get a new one soon. But he’d had this one since he’d begun learning the piano…it was too precious to him to part with.
Maybe he should have stopped being such a sentimental packrat. His closet was already full to the brim with stupid things he didn’t need any more. He was running out of room.
He let out another melancholic sigh and turned another page, giving a small hiss as it slit his finger. The paper cut stung and he put the bleeding appendage into his mouth before pausing, remembering the incident with Xi Che.
He rolled his tongue along the cut.
His blood tasted different than hers had…
He quickly pulled his finger out and headed for the bathroom to wash it off. He wouldn’t need a band-aid or anything since it wasn’t bleeding that badly but the moment the soap came in contact with the wound it began to burn. He winced at the small pain. As he stared down at the water rushing down from the faucet and swirling down the drain beneath his hand, he couldn’t help but think that somehow this entire situation was wrong. It wasn’t possible for someone like Xi Che to like someone like him.
He couldn’t understand what she saw in him. As far as he figured, his personality was a bit lacking.
He was a rather boring person. He wasn’t quick-witted like Kyuhyun. He wasn’t fashionably sensitive and bubbly like Sungmin. He wasn’t tough and strong like Kangin. He was simply Jungsu…and despite his childhood nickname, there really wasn’t anything at all that special about him.
He walked back into the parlor and sat down on his old, creaky piano bench and stared at the music for 3 Movements from Petrushka by Stravinsky. His fingers danced over the keys as he began playing, bouncing and jumping to the tune that he had memorized long ago in childhood. But even as he played the piece that had been close to his heart since a young age, his thoughts wandered to his current predicament.
He didn’t see how anyone could find him interesting. He didn’t even know why Kyuhyun and Siwon befriended him aside from the fact that their families were close.
He was a mama’s boy who just wanted to please his family. Who wanted to go through life as if it were a simple picture-book and everything happened in a specific order and sequence. Nothing was different. Nothing out of the ordinary. He would get married, have children, run his father’s company, and die of old age in his bed one night.
That had been his plan.
Then he’d spilled champagne all over Gam Xi Che…and things had changed.
He hit a wrong key and winced at the jarring sound, lifting his hands from the keys. He’d allowed himself to become too distracted, it seemed…he sighed again and slipped off of the bench, leaning his back against it as he sat on the floor.
He lifted a hand up and tapped a few keys but didn’t move from his spot.
Gam Xi Che was really messing with the way he’d planned his life. Usually the idea of something not being planned, of something going wrong, frightened Jungsu. But no, now he could only grin stupidly to himself and think that maybe it was better when things got a little chaotic.
He reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone, dialing a number.
“Leeteuk hyung?” Siwon sounded breathless over the receiver. “What is it?”
“Are you busy?”
“I’m getting ready to prep for surgery.”
Jungsu could hear the sound of nurses and other doctors shouting in the background, ordering pints of blood and asking for scalpels and other things that Jungsu couldn’t name.
“Sorry to have bothered you. I just have a quick question.”
“Shoot.” Siwon murmured, before Jungsu heard him call out, “Where is that O negative?”
“You know latin because of medical school, right?”
“Of course.” Siwon was beginning to sound impatient, but Jungsu knew it wasn’t at him. Still, it made him hurry in his next words. “What does Nemo me impune lacessit mean?”
“Hm?” Siwon seemed to think it over and translate it in his head. “It means No one attacks me with impunity. Where did you hear it?”
“Nevermind.” Jungsu cleared his throat, “Well, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Alright. Goodbye hyung!” The call ended and Jungsu was left staring down at his phone’s screen. “…no one can harm me unpunished, huh? That’s an odd saying to have tattooed on your back…” He shrugged, leaning back further against the bench and closing his eyes, letting out a soft sigh.
“…Xi Che-ssi…I really don’t understand you at all…”
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The black Lincoln pulled to a slow stop in the abandoned parking lot and Hankyung stepped out, hand in his jacket and securely around his gun as he surveyed the area before stepping back and nodding.
Heechul came out next, slipping on his sunglasses and fixing his jacket as he looked around the lot with an air of detachment. Zhou Mi stepped out of the driver’s seat and followed, flanking Heechul’s left. The three headed toward where the other car waited, several men leaning against it.
As soon as they neared, the man sitting in the back looked up through the open car door and smirked from behind his sunglasses. “You must be Kim Heechul.”
“You must be Kim Kibum.” Heechul drawled back, visage stony.
Kibum gave a small sneer and a nod, getting out of the car and slipping off his jacket in one smooth motion, handing it to the man to his left. “I would tell you to come inside so we can talk privately, but as you can see, it’s a bit cramped in there.”
“No one will overhear us out here. We can drop formalities.” Heechul’s voice took on an icy edge.
“Still mad that my father killed your parents?” Kibum asked innocently.
“Still mad that I killed your father?”
“Touché.” Kibum’s smirk widened, even as his men stiffened beside him. He closed the car door and leaned against it. “But unlike you, I was never very close with my father.” Kibum sighed, lifting up his leather-glove covered hands as he gave a shrug. “You simply helped me secure this position before I offed the old man myself.”
Heechul didn’t look quite as amused as Kibum.
“Anyway,” Kibum slipped his hands into his pockets. “Your man called yesterday to secure this meeting. I assume there was a reason for it? I’m a busy man, Mr. Kim, I would really hate to have been called here simply for a chat about your love for you father and my hatred for mine.”
“I’m taking out Yumyeong Industries.”
Kibum blinked, and his smirk turned into a shocked, emotionless mask. “…go on…” He murmured softly.
“While my resources are nowhere near limited, I would prefer to keep my business in Korea…connected to Korea.”
A nod to continue.
“That is why I would like to hire you and your men when the time comes and I need a bit of extra firepower and protection.”
“Yumyeong Industries has some of the best security in Korea.” Kibum cut in, “Their guards are all trained in multiple martial arts and firearms. Most of my men can’t piss straight after a few bottles of soju, Mr. Kim. What makes you think that I could help?”
Heechul laughed softly. “We both know…” He slipped of his sunglasses and looked Kibum straight in the eyes. “That your men are far more talented than that, Mr. Kim. Not just anyone could have avoided the arrest of several of Korea’s top national security agents or taken out a prominent politician with no leads to the killer.”
Kibum grinned. “No leads, huh? Then how did you know?”
“I happen to know your father’s work. You two share similar habits.” Heechul’s voice was bitter, and Kibum nodded, resisting another nasty smile and settling for a nod.
“So you want my help in getting your revenge then.” Kibum paused, before turning to the man to his left. “Donghee, get the case.” The stockier man reached into the car and pulled out a briefcase, opening it to reveal several sets of paper.
Kibum smiled. “I like to keep a contract of everyone I…help.”
Heechul scoffed, reaching forward and grabbing the pen out of Donghee’s jacket pocket and resting the tip on the paper in front of him.
“Xi Che ge.” Zhou Mi began in Chinese, making the older man hesitate and look back at him, “A paper trail could lead people back to us…”
“The only reason I know about them is because I didn’t die when his father tried to kill me.” Heechul drawled, “There won’t be a trail. No worries.” And he signed the paper after reading it, even as Zhou Mi and Hankyung shifted behind him restlessly.
Kibum smiled as Donghee placed the contract in a sealed envelope. “We will be discreet, and no one will trace this back to you, you have my word. Have your men send me the details.” He nodded, before Donghee handed him his jacket and he slipped it back on. “It was nice doing business with you.”
“You as well, Mr. Kim.”
He turned to see Heechul walking away with his two bodyguards. “Are you planning revenge on me as well?” Kibum called after them with a dry smile.
Heechul gave a short laugh, “You’re a small fish in a big pond, Kim Kibum. I can’t waste my time with everyone who nibbles on my line.”
Kibum’s smile widened as he gave a small laugh, slipping into the car. “Let’s go.”
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The car was silent as Zhou Mi pulled out of the now empty lot. They’d waited for Kim Kibum to leave first. Heechul had remained silent in the back seat, looking over some files that they’d been sent about a recent transaction between Yumyeong Industries and a company in the Philippines.
“If you were going to hire contract killers…Zhou Mi and I could have done it.” Hankyung finally voiced his opinion, staring out the window. “Involving criminals like them…” He trailed off uncertainly.
Heechul continued flipping through the files, not looking up at the Chinese man. “We’re criminals too. But I’d like to keep you and Seasonings from doing any actual killing if I can.” He flipped another page and frowned, scanning the lines. “Killing isn’t something you can take back after you’ve done it. Leave it to the professionals.”
Hankyung shifted in his seat. It was true he hadn’t taken a life before. He knew how to kill. He was proficient in his lessons. But to see the life drain out of someone’s eyes…only Heechul had done that so far. But Hankyung knew he could handle it. He had mentally prepared himself for the death of others the moment he’d accepted Heechul’s revenge as his own.
Zhou Mi remained silent in the driver’s seat but Hankyung looked up and met his gaze in the rearview mirror. The look stated that he agreed with Hankyung. He’d much rather do the killing himself. Now that Hankyung thought about, Zhou Mi had killed before, hadn’t he?
Hankyung silently laughed. He was the only one who hadn’t had the chance. It was as if Heechul had always made sure he was somewhere else if it needed to be done. Not many people knew that before they’d taken over Hong Kong Trading, they’d done dirty work for Chinese gangs in order to gain enough money for college and buying out smaller businesses to continue their enterprise.
Heechul told him that when he dissppeared for days at a time that he was just helping with drug trafficking…but Hankyung new better. There was always something different about Heechul’s eyes when he came back from those kind of jobs.
Zhou Mi as well, after he’d finally forced Heechul to let him take some of the burden. Their claim for Hankyung’s continued absence from the job was that he could be connected to Mama Han and Henry and they couldn’t let anything happen to the two, so Hankyung had to stay clean no matter what.
Hankyung hated it, especially because he knew that he would be the best at killing if he was given a chance. He wanted to eleviated that burden on Heechul’s shoulders…
“I still think signing the contract so quickly may have been a bad idea.” Zhou Mi’s words brought Hankyung out of his thoughts and he turned to Heechul to see his reaction.
Heechul snorted, “We have to move quickly. If we had met with him and not signed the contract, he would have disappeared before we could contact him again. He’s an elusive man and he’s wary of anyone being a cop or agent. If you don’t work quickly you’ll be left behind.”
“But-”
“And besides…it’s almost time.” Heechul smirked to himself. “They’re both rather in love with me at this point. It won’t be much longer.”
“I’ll begin taking over the company’s assets then.” Zhou Mi nodded.
“When they both fall that much in love with me, to the point that they’d risk their lives for me. When they can no longer live without me. That’s when we’ll reveal it.” Heechul smirked. “How cruel would it be, you think, to destroy not only their hearts, but the friendship between them as well? It won’t be too difficult.”
“…Heechul…” Hankyung whispered hoarsely, frightened of the cold creature sitting beside him.
“I said I’d destroy their lives…all of Yumyeong Industries…I’ll raze it to the ground.”
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