Blood Brothers II Chapter 8
Title: Blood Brothers II
Pairing: KyuTeukChul, HanChul, YeWook, EunHae, SiChulfriendship, MiMin (Is that the name for Zhou Mi x Sungmin pairing?) possible other pairings in the future.
Rating: M
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Genre: romance, action, thriller
Summary: The cycle of revenge is never-ending, unless someone learns to forgive.
Notes: Oh MiMin...
Chapter 7 ---- Chapter 9
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Heechul woke up to the feeling of being carried. He opened his eyes wearily to see Hangeng carrying him to the bedroom. He blinked sleepily up at the Chinese man but didn’t protest as he was carried down the hall. “…you smell like dumplings. You and Seasonings went out without me, didn’t you?”
“Something like that.” Hangeng replied, and his voice sounded much too high above Heechul to be only a foot away. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“That’s a tall promise-tall, you’re much too tall. I can’t hear you very well.”
“You haven’t slept in days, Heechul.”
“Xi Che.”
“XI Che.” Hangeng corrected with a sigh, pushing open the bedroom door. “You haven’t slept in days, I’m surprised you haven’t started hallucinating by now.”
“Does having a full-length conversation with a talking Baengshin count?”
“…yes…”
“Then I’m past that point, thanks.” Heechul groaned, “Dammit, I’m so tired. If you hadn’t woken me up I’d still be sleeping. Now I’ll never get to bed.”
“I’ll get you something to help you sleep.” Hangeng promised, laying him out on the bed. Heechul sleepily grabbed for the blankets and pulled them up to his shoulders.
“Don’t drug me.” He grunted, “If you do I’ll castrate you, Hannie.” He hadn’t even realized that in his sleep-induced state, he’d switched back to Korean. It took Hangeng a few minutes to process what he was saying.
Hangeng sighed, reaching out and brushing a few locks of hair out of his face. His fingers paused over Heechul’s forehead. “…you’re hot.”
“I know.” Heechul grinned, but didn’t open his eyes. “I’m the nicest piece of ass in China. I thought we’d already been over this.”
“You have a fever. I’m going to get the thermometer.” Hangeng headed out of the bedroom and into the adjoining bathroom, pulling out drawers and searching frantically. This was his fault, wasn’t it? Heechul had been out in the rain all day earlier. Hangeng shouldn’t have let him stay out without him. He knew he was fragile. His body wasn’t as strong as Zhou Mi or Hangeng’s and ever since he’d been shot he’d gotten sick easier than usual.
It was his fault. His fault…dammit…
And how was he going to tell him that Park Jungsu and Cho Kyuhyun were there? Because he would have to tell him. It would be dangerous for Heechul to be unaware of their appearance in China. He would have to wait for Zhou Mi to get back. The two would talk and come up with a plan. Right now getting Heechul better was more important.
He grabbed the thermometer and hurried back into the bedroom. Heechul hadn’t moved, except to pull the blankets down to his ankles. Hangeng pulled them back up, ignoring Heechul’s protests. “It’ll help you sweat off the fever. Keep the blanket up.”
“You don’t even know if I have a fever.” Heechul groaned, trying to slap his hand away but Hangeng placed the thermometer on his forehead, swiping it. He’d never been quite certain if the readings on this thing were accurate but this was the kind used at the hospital, so he supposed he needed to trust it just a little.
“40 degrees. Idiot.”
“That bad huh?” Heechul teased, before turning his head. “Just get me some fever reducers. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll call the University. You aren’t going anywhere tomorrow.”
Heechul grabbed Hangeng’s hand before he could leave. His grip was sweaty and a little weak. “Hangeng, the fever will be gone by tomorrow. Just get me the medicine and let me sleep.” His grip tightened, nails digging into Hangeng’s wrist.
Hangeng finally nodded. “…alright. I’ll go and get the medicine. Keep the blanket up.” He tucked Heechul in tightly, wrapped in a down-feather cocoon. He left the bedroom but didn’t close the door, incase Heechul needed him.
When he searched through the medicine cabinets he realized that there were no fever reducers. The only medicines they had were for colds and, of course, Heechul’s prescription pain medication that was much too full for Hangeng’s liking.
Hangeng needed to go to the pharmacy to get some medicine but…that meant leaving Heechul alone with his fever. He couldn’t leave Heechul alone. He swallowed, before he grabbed his cell phone and dialed. It took a few moments for someone to answer.
“What is it?” Zhou Mi sounded in pain.
“Zhou Mi? What’s wrong?” Hangeng paused in the kitchen where he’d begun to pull an icepack from the freezer.
“What do you need?” A hiss of pain, and Hangeng heard him cursing quietly.
“Heechul has a fever. Could you pick up some reducers at the pharmacy on your way home? And some sleeping pills.” Hangeng wanted to ask what was wrong but he figured that Zhou Mi wasn’t going to answer. Even if it was only a few words, Hangeng could hear the anger in them. He’d never heard Zhou Mi sound that frustrated.
“Yeah.” Zhou Mi grunted. “I’ll be back home soon.”
“But what about Lee Sungmin-”
“He got away.” Zhou Mi groaned out. “Fucking bastard got away…” And the phone went dead.
---
Siwon bowed his head at the older couple as he hurriedly tried to remember what he was supposed to ask. “Excuse me, I’m sorry for taking your time but have you seen this man?” He pulled out a photo.
The couple looked extremely confused at the Korean man shoving a picture under their noses-or maybe they were confused because the man in the picture was wearing a pink feather boa around his neck. Either way they looked at it warily before shaking their heads, edging around the tall man and down the street.
“Dammit!” Kangin growled from behind Siwon. “This is taking too long! We’re never going to find him.”
“We have to.” Siwon rubbed the back of his neck and was annoyed to find sweat sticking the collar to the skin. “If we go back to the hotel without Sungmin then Kyuhyun will eat us alive.”
“Hopefully he’ll at least use a fork. Think of how uncomfortable it would be with a spoon.” Kangin murmured, starting back down the street. His gaze became serious again when Siwon caught up with him, “Just because I said we’d never find him didn’t mean we’ll stop trying. If I have to personally knock on every door in Hong Kong I will.”
Siwon hadn’t ever dwelled on the relationship between Kangin and Sungmin, but he began to see how deep it ran now. Being the two personal bodyguards of the heirs of Yumyeong Industries meant that a social life was rather impossible. When they weren’t guarding Leeteuk and Kyuhyun, they had only each other; they had trained together, they had learned everything together. They risked their lives and were with one another when the going was tough. They could rely on one another in a way they could not rely and trust Leeteuk and Kyuhyun.
A deep kind of brotherhood that was just now breaking the surface for others to see.
“He couldn’t have gone much farther.” Siwon slumped against a bus stop bench. Kangin followed behind shortly after, but he didn’t seem quite as content to be sitting on a bench and waiting. Siwon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “If we can’t find him in a few hours…” A part of him wanted to complain about his lecture the next day and a need for a good night’s sleep but he felt guilty for the thought a second later.
He really was worried for Sungmin. He was also worried that his Heechul hyung somehow had something to do with it. He wished he knew Heechul’s number so he could call and demand an answer. But it was-he looked down at his watch-2 in the morning and he doubted Heechul was even awake.
“What did you say about the Chinese Mafia?” Kangin broke the silence, staring at the relatively empty street in front of them. “Do you think they got him?”
“I don’t know much about them.” Siwon shrugged. All he’d learned was from in-flight magazines and documentaries he’d seen on TV about international gangs. He was Siwon, so how would he know anything in-depth about crime? “But there’s a large group in Hong Kong.”
“He wouldn’t have been mugged.” Kangin continued. “…so it had to be the mafia. Is there any way we can contact them? If they hurt him I’ll-”
“I don’t know how to contact the mob.” Siwon acquiesced, “Let’s focus on just finding him. I’m sure he’s just wandering the streets. Maybe he got distracted by something pink…or bunnies.” He really hoped it was that, but he knew full well that Sungmin wouldn’t get distracted in such a dangerous place where he knew he needed to stay aware.
Siwon was not going to be getting any sleep that night, he could already tell.
---
Twenty minutes into the interrogation, Zhou Mi realized that Sungmin wasn’t going to talk. Zhou Mi knew that violence and pain probably wouldn’t work on the pink-loving martial artist, so he’d gone to mental torture instead. They’d danced around each other with inadvertent questions and answers the entire time. Zhou Mi was getting more and more inclined to use the knife he’d been manhandling since the beginning of the interrogation.
He knew, however, that if he hurt anyone involved with Park Jungsu and Cho Kyuhyun that his Xi Che ge would kill him. Quite literally and probably extremely painfully as well. No doubt it would be slow and excruciating.
So the knife was simply for show. But Zhou Mi was going to get the information he wanted out of Lee Sungmin if he had to literally wring it out of him. “Why are all of you in China?”
“Yumyeong Industries has economical ties with many other Asian countries.” Sungmin retorted. “It’s a business venture.”
“A business venture that leads you to Hong Kong?”
“The laws are more lax for international companies.”
“How very clever.” Zhou Mi sighed, twirled the knife around between his fingers, resting it on his knuckles as he paused. The sound of traffic in the distance showed that civilization wasn’t that far off, but it taunted Sungmin with its proximity. He was so close to safety and yet so far away… “Tell me what I want to know and I won’t have to scar that cute face of yours.”
“I’m flattered, but I’m not telling you anything.”
“That’s what you said five minutes ago.” Zhou Mi let out a weary huff, almost a pout, and the look was oddly creepy on the tall man. He continued circling the chair that Sungmin was tied to, like a shark closing in on its prey.
Sungmin swallowed, feeling himself begin to panic. The look in Zhou Mi’s eyes was becoming darker and more feral-even in the faint, crappy lighting Sungmin could see that much-and it was much more frightening than the prospect of physical torture from the man.
It was also much more intriguing, and, if he wanted to be honest, exhilarating.
Why the hell did he get turned on by being tied roughly to a chair and interrogated by an attractive Chinese man in an abandoned underground car lot? Something was mentally wrong with him, obviously. But he needed to try and bide time and the only way to do that was to distract Zhou Mi. “What did Director Park and Director Cho do to make Kim Heechul like that?”
Zhou Mi didn’t seem to be expecting Sungmin to begin interrogating him. “What?”
“Did they kill Director Kim Chanho?”
The table had begun to turn. It was no longer simply Zhou Mi interrogating Sungmin. Zhou Mi was beginning to get angry. This was already taking longer than it should have. He’d sent Hangeng home to check on Heechul and apologize for not eating out for dinner. He’d been up later than was healthy trying to transfer all of their funds to their new company. He needed to be sleeping right now. Not dealing with this. “When did that ever become your business?”
“It affects Kyuhyun and that damn well is my business.” Sungmin answered back. “I need to know why Kim Heechul wanted to kill Kyuhyun.”
“He never wanted to kill him. If he did, he certainly wouldn’t have taken a bullet for him, now would he?” Zhou Mi growled out, “A waste of medical bills, of course. He should have let your ward die.”
“Fuck you-”
“After all, he almost died before, didn’t he?”
Sungmin stilled completely. His visage-he’d kept up a cheerful smile through most of the conversation-had turned cold. “What are you talking about?”
The man was hard to crack, but Zhou Mi had one card left to play. He let out a small sigh and pulled out a photograph from his pocket. He unfolded it and held it in front of Sungmin’s face. He watched the myriad of expressions that presented themselves, ending in blinding fury as the Korean man let out a hiss.
“Why the fuck do you have that?”
“It must have hurt.” Zhou Mi’s eyes rested on the photo. “Fractured hip, pneumothorax from multiple fractured ribs, trauma to the face…there was a 20% success rate for his surgery, right?” Zhou Mi smiled softly. “It’s a good thing his pretty face doesn’t have any scars, isn’t it?”
“Go to hell!” Sungmin growled. “Where did you get that?”
Zhou Mi continued to smile. “…I had a very good inside informant at the time. You really should have checked the breaks.”
Sungmin let the implications of Zhou Mi’s statement sink in and then he was thrashing against the ropes. “I’ll kill you! You fucking-I’ll kill you, I swear!”
Zhou Mi let out a low laugh, before stepping forward. He twirled the knife between his fingers as he neared.
He bent his head down so that his lips almost brushed the shell of Sungmin’s ear. Sungmin could feel his breath-hot-on his jaw as he whispered in a voice that made Sungmin shiver, and not from fear. The knife blade was cool against his cheek, a dangerous warning.
“How much are you willing to sacrifice to save someone who doesn’t deserve it?”
Sungmin raised up his leg and kicked Zhou Mi directly in the stomach. He felt the blade slice against his cheek as Zhou Mi was thrown backwards but he didn’t have time to think about the pain. He’d gotten his hands free during the interrogation and had loosened the bindings around his chest well enough to escape now.
He threw the ropes off and stumbled into the darkness, hoping he was running in the direction of the exit.
---
“Get away from the door, hyung.”
“No.”
“If you don’t move I’ll-”
“Kyuhyun, get in bed and go to sleep.” Leeteuk leaned against the door of the bedroom and refused to budge. He watched as Kyuhyun paced back and forth in front of the bed angrily, unable to sit still as they both wondered what had happened to Sungmin.
They hadn’t gotten any word from Kangin or Siwon and Leeteuk was beginning to fear the worst. He couldn’t show that to Kyuhyun, however. The boy was panicked nearly to the point of tears, despite how he masked it with anger.
If Sungmin didn’t get back soon, Leeteuk wasn’t certain what was going to happen. Kyuhyun continued to pace back and forth and Leeteuk remained silent as he blinked wearily, trying to stave off his fatigue. He wasn’t certain when the last time he’d slept was, but he could feel the lack of it weighing down on him.
It was only his worry for Sungmin that was keeping him upright and conscious. Well, that and the fear that if he fell asleep Kyuhyun would escape and start roaming the streets of Hong Kong in search of his bodyguard and get himself raped.
So Leeteuk pressed his forehead against the doorframe and leaned against the doorknob so that it poked into his back. The pressure was just uncomfortable enough to keep him from falling asleep standing up. He wasn’t sure how Kyuhyun had the energy to continue pacing.
“Why haven’t Kangin-ssi or hyung called? And why won’t they answer when I call them?” Kyuhyun held out his phone and swallowed, letting out a shaky breath.
Leeteuk was having a hard time focusing on Kyuhyun’s words. He had to hold his eyes open to keep his vision from blurring with sleep. He rubbed them for good measure and pinched his arm. The small jolt of pain made him feel a bit more awake, but he didn’t hear Kyuhyun’s next words.
Apparently his lack of response had only fueled Kyuhyun’s fears, because he began to break down at that moment.
“H-hyung.” Kyuhyun choked out, and Leeteuk watched as Kyuhyun finally buckled beneath the strain. He caught him before he fell, pulling him up onto the bed. He didn’t know how he’d gotten to Kyuhyun so fast when his entire body felt like it was filled with lead.
He wrapped his arms tightly around Kyuhyun’s waist. Kyuhyun’s back was warm against his chest, and he could feel his spine rub against him when Kyuhyun breathed in raggedly. Had the boy now been eating properly? Leeteuk made a mental note to force food down his throat in the morning but simply tightened his hold on him as he leaned against the headrest. He rested his chin on Kyuhyun’s hair and closed his eyes. “It’s ok, Kyuhyunnie…it’s ok.”
“It’s not ok! Sungmin doesn’t even speak Chinese! He shouldn’t even be here!” Kyuhyun raged, but his voice was filled with tears. “It’s all my fault. He only came because of me and-”
“Kyuhyun-ah…” Leeteuk murmured softly, leaning his head down a bit so that his cheek rested against Kyuhyun’s. “Sungmin-ssi is going to be alright. He’s strong, and talented, and he’ll never let himself die knowing that you’d be sad about it. It’s his job to protect you and make you happy, so he has to make sure to never die to make that happen.”
“Stupid, that’s impossible. No one can keep themselves from dying.” Kyuhyun huffed, and silent sobs racked his body. He relaxed into Leeteuk’s grip and the two remained silent for a few more moments.
That was when the sound of the front door of the suite crashing open echoed through the hallway. Leeteuk’s grip on Kyuhyun tightened, this time in fear. It couldn’t have been Kangin and Siwon. They wouldn’t have thrown the door open so violently. The footsteps were hurried, frantic, and clumsy as they made their way down the hall toward the bedroom. Leeteuk felt Kyuhyun stiffen in his arms. Leeteuk swallowed and began shifting Kyuhyun behind him. He had to protect Kyuhyun at all costs-
The door to the bedroom was flung open and Sungmin stumbled inside, holding the doorframe for support.
“Sungmin!” Kyuhyun was scrambling off of the bed and heading for his bodyguard. Leeteuk let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding as he leaned back against the headboard once more, trying to calm his frantically beating heart. He'd really thought they were going to die. Maybe his paranoia was getting the better of him.
“Sungmin! What happened?” Kyuhyun looked from his disheveled appearance to the cut on his cheek.
“I met Director Gam.” And then Sungmin’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell forward, unconscious.
---
Siwon stifled a yawn with the back of his hand as he walked onto the large stage. He was waiting for the two cups of coffee he’d downed on the car ride to the University to kick in. He really hoped it happened in the next ten or so minutes. He hadn’t realized he’d slept in late until someone had knocked on their door to complain about how their alarm had been going off for an entire hour.
He’d stumbled out of bed around twelve, threw on some clothing, gathered his notes, and sped over to the University. He hadn’t even eaten anything yet, and his stomach felt like it was gnawing at him from the inside out.
He and Kangin had gotten home at around five in the morning after getting a call from Leeteuk saying that Sungmin had arrived at the hotel. Then he, Kangin, and Leeteuk had spent the next hour discussing what Sungmin had meant before he’d fallen unconscious. Siwon, of course, had remained tight-lipped about Heechul. But his fears seemed to have been confirmed. Had Heechul sent his ‘brother’ to take care of Sungmin? But then again, how had his brother found the others anyway? And why would he have gone for Sungmin first?
They’d decided that they were too tired and stressed to think clearly and they’d finally gone to bed. Leeteuk had crawled into Kangin’s bedroom because the room he’d been sharing with Kyuhyun now had Sungmin in it. Kyuhyun had refused to be separated from Sungmin until he regained consciousness.
Siwon had been the first to wake up. The entire suite had been deathly silent when he’d left, leaving a note that said he’d be back later that afternoon after his lecture. He was still feeling a bit guilty over not telling them about Heechul but after seeing how worked up they’d gotten over the mere mention of Heechul’s supposed brother, he knew that it would be chaos the moment they learned his hyung was teaching at the same University Siwon was lecturing at.
The fatigue was starting to wear off with the help of the caffeine, but it was being replaced with nervousness as he looked around to see that the auditorium was quickly filling up with students and faculty alike. This would be his first lecture completely in Mandarin and he was silently praying that he didn’t screw up. Lectures had never been his thing. Despite everyone’s belief that he was perfect, he wasn’t-ok, no, he’d still pull this off flawlessly, he’d just be nervous as hell while doing it.
Still, he would much rather have been performing a surgery in front of them than giving a lecture. Were all of his notes in order? He looked down and began checking his cards. Shit, what if he forgot something? What if he mistranslated something? It would be horrible. He’d never live down the embarrassment!
He looked up again to see that almost the entire lecture hall was filled now. He swallowed back a nervous laugh. Oh shit, what if his stomach started growling in the middle of his lecture? He still hadn’t eaten anything! And that was when he noticed someone waving. His eyes caught the movement and he looked up to the back of the auditorium.
Kim Heechul was waving at him-a lazy flick of his fingers-as he smirked. He winked when he saw that he’d caught Siwon’s eye.
Siwon suddenly didn’t feel so nervous.
---
The lecture went flawlessly, as he should have expected. He’d finished within the time limit, had answered a few questions, and then dismissed them all. They were all leaving now as Siwon gathered his notes and tried to stuff them hurriedly into his briefcase. His fingers trembled from nerves that were just now making him realize how lucky he’d been to have not screwed up.
His stomach let out a loud growl and he looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Everyone was too busy shuffling to the exits. He thanked God that it hadn’t happened earlier when he’d been talking.
“That was the most boring lecture I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to.” Heechul teased as the students began filing out of the auditorium, chatting excitedly. He had pushed past them and hopped up onto the stage.
“You fell asleep halfway through.” Siwon muttered, gathering his notes together. He glanced up to look Heechul over. His hyung was dressed smartly in a white button down shirt, vest, and tight jeans. A pair of professional looking glasses hung off of his nose, and his hair was pulled back into a small ponytail. He hadn’t really looked at his hyung the day before, but he certainly looked different then when he’d come in bleeding out of the chest from a gunshot wound. His hair was much shorter-around the same length as Leeteuk hyung’s, if he had to compare it to something. Also, the fact that he was dressed in men’s clothing instead of a pair of girl’s jeans and a blouse made a difference.
This was definitely the hyung from his childhood. Confidence, cocky, and beautiful in an oddly masculine way.
“Yeah, you lost me completely at Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt but I began to doze at, ‘I’m Doctor Choi Siwon, thank you for inviting me here’.”
“That’s cruel!” Siwon whined, and then felt guilty. When he talked with Heechul he felt like the two had always been friends. Like there hadn’t been years of absence and separation and revenge between them. But he felt guilty because he knew what Heechul had done to Leeteuk and Kyuhyun, knew that they were in pain because of this man and here he was, joking and laughing with him.
“Come on, I’ll take you out to lunch. I know a great restaurant.” Heechul grabbed Siwon’s briefcase, leaving no room for argument.
Siwon’s guilty eased a bit as he saw the smile finally reaching Heechul’s eyes as the two headed out of the auditorium together. Maybe, just maybe, he could begin healing this problem between his three childhood friends by first healing Heechul and making him see that he needed Leeteuk and Kyuhyun.
Choi Siwon wasn’t a doctor for nothing, after all.
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