Running (Chapter 27)
Title: Running
Pairing: Yoosu, ChangKi, Yunjae
Rating: PG-15
Genre: Angst, Comedy
Quotes:
"There is no such thing as [running] forever."
Xiah sat on the floor of his room. The luggage was open and exposed to his eyes, to his memories.
Next to the luggage were Mr. Bunny, the box encasing the homemade Bunny-shaped lollipop, Micky (the large bunny Changmin had won at the amusement park), the big Superman figurines, and Micky Mouse (from Heebon). Micky (the large bunny) was wearing the friendship bracelet that Kibum had given Xiah.
Xiah closed his eyes, as if wanting to shut out the memories from the past. What else is he supposed to do?
He heard the knock on the door and immediately masked his emotions. “Come in.”
Jaejoong and Yunho opened the unlocked door and walked in. “Xiah, are you okay? It’s pretty late and we saw that your lights are still on.”
“Yeah, I was just…trying to see if I can remember anything that might help us find Micky Park,” he lied.
The two older men glanced at the luggage and the toys that they had helped carry out of the apartment complex. “He treated you pretty well,” Jaejoong murmured.
“To gain my trust,” Xiah immediately added. “I would assume.”
Yunho found the reaction to be weird, but he figured it was from all the stress Xiah has been suffering. He was probably still jittery about everything that had happened.
Jaejoong knelt down next to Xiah so he could get a better look at the stuff animals. “These are cute. Did you name them?”
Yes.
“I can’t remember,” Xiah lied again. Jaejoong’s encouraging, warm smile was a like a punch to his guts.
“It’s okay, Xiah. It takes time. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
“It’s late. Get some sleep. They shouldn’t be able to find us here,” Yunho tried to ease the fear. Xiah nodded obediently.
=====
Yoochun stood under the moonlight, hands in his pockets and emotions hidden behind his dark eyes. A silver necklace dipped into a V around his neck and a ‘J’ shaped pendant was hidden under his black scarf.
He silently watched the transaction.
Geun Suk and Kangin were inspecting the packets of white powder. The partner (and provider) waited patiently, along with other men that they had brought along.
The partner glanced at Yoochun and Yoochun knew what he was thinking. He was wondering why Yoochun was even there in the first place. Yoochun was known as Bae’s best assassin, but he never had a part in trades.
But at least this told Yoochun that Bae had kept everything about Yoochun’s betrayal under a blanket of secrets. He didn’t want his partners knowing that he had been betrayed by his best assassin and that there was a microchip floating around that could land his partners in jail.
Tearing his gaze away from the partner’s eyes, Yoochun pulled out a cigarette box from his pockets. He pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his lips. He searched his pockets for a lighter, but couldn’t find one.
Geun Suk and Kangin stopped inspecting for a few seconds to watch the partner order one of his men to bring Yoochun a lighter. Yoochun wasn’t in trades, but many people in the illegal industry knew and respected the intelligent, capable man.
Yoochun smirked and accepted the lighter. After lighting the cigarette, he made no effort to return it immediately. He examined the expensive silver coat and nodded slightly to approve of the material. Having finished expressing his appreciation for expensive materials, he returned the lighter to the partner’s right hand man.
“Everything looks good,” Geun Suk finished inspecting the cart of drugs. He ordered for one of the lower status men to hand him a suitcase.
The partner checked the large amount of money in the suitcase before nodding in approval. “The amount is correct. We hope to continue doing business with Mr. Bae in the future.”
“We hope to see you again, Mr. Hwang,” Kangin spoke in place of their boss. Bae didn’t like coming to these trades, to avoid risk and to express his high status as being too good to work with his own hands.
The partner, Mr. Hwang, nodded before signaling for his men to leave. He gave Yoochun a small bow of his head before walking away.
Yoochun did not move to respond. He turned his eyes to Geun Suk and Kangin when one of those spoke, “You’ve seen the inspection. There are exactly sixty packets, one kilo in each. You also know the price of each packet so we cannot lie about the profits.”
Yoochun didn’t respond. He threw his half-finished cigarette into the sand and walked away without crushing it.
Another successful trade.
=====
“Inspector! We just received this packet addressed to you. It’s been cleared for suspicion and inside is supplies for a listening device…minus the listening devices.”
“Any fingerprints?”
“No.”
Cho Kyuhyun’s brows furrowed. “Who could have sent us these?”
His team member who had brought him the packet was hesitant, but suggested, “Perhaps it’s Yunho.”
Kyuhyun blinked at the mention of the former Inspector. He had been under Yunho and was promoted to Yunho’s seat after the older man had been suspended.
Yunho seems to have disappeared after his suspension. He’d been warned to stay away from the Kim Junho case, but Kyuhyun knew that his team leader wouldn’t give up so easily…or at all. Was Yunho sending Kyuhyun all these clues so he can help find Micky Park and arrest them? Of course he’d have to do it secretly, because if the Chief found out about his involvement, then Yunho may lose all chances of becoming a cop again.
“Donghae, go pay Eunhyuk a visit in the lab. Have him set up these devices and track the listening devices.”
Lee Donghae nodded. “Yes, sir.”
=====
“I found a job,” Xiah informed. “It’s at a floral shop.”
“Xiah, are you sure you want to work?” Jaejoong inquired. “It’s okay, you know? We don’t need the money.”
They didn’t need the money. Jaejoong used to be a business man and had inherited a large sum from his deceased grandparents. He’d met Yunho and Xiah when his ungrateful father returned in attempt to claim the inheritance. Xiah had just gotten his degree and had been shadowing the experienced lawyer that Jaejoong had hired.
Befriending Jaejoong and introducing him to Yunho may be the only good thing Xiah has ever done in his life. But he wanted to do more.
“It’s just a small shop down the streets. We’re not too close to the previous location so they might not find us. I’ll be careful. I even applied with the fake I.D. that…Micky Park had made for me.”
With this job, he’d be living a part of his life as ‘Kim Junsu’ again.
Jaejoong bit his lower lip. He knew Xiah didn’t like staying at home all the time. It was like he was suffocating. And perhaps working would take his mind off all the horrible things that have happened.
It was too dangerous for Xiah to keep pursuing his dreams to become a lawyer, but a small floral shop couldn’t hurt too much. They still didn’t know how long they would be hiding for.
“If you’re sure…” Jaejoong began.
“Junho liked flowers,” Xiah suddenly murmured, and that broke down Jaejoong’s entire defense. “He started really liking flowers three weeks before he was killed. I saw him reading about flowers, what types there are and what they symbolize.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to Yunho about this…as soon as he comes back.”
“Thank you, Jaejoong. I’ll be careful. I promise. I’ll even be wearing a hat when I’m on the job.”
Jaejoong raised his hand to place a strand of hair behind Xiah’s ear. “I understand. Now go get some sleep. I’m going to wait up on Yunho.”
Xiah nodded and stood up to leave the small living room. Jaejoong picked up a magazine and began to skim through it. It was nine and Yunho should be getting back in another half hour.
They currently lived an hour away from the original location. Yunho had been taking the hour drive back to the place in effort to find Micky Park. He wasn’t confident that Park would still be in the area, but he didn’t have any other source to follow.
And Yunho had his whole heart set on making sure Micky Park is punished for his deeds.
=====
“In the past two months only, five groups have been arrested and the police have closed down all their headquarters. Two of them had to burn their storage rooms just to prevent the police from finding information about their past business transactions,” Geun Suk informed the man sitting in the leather chair.
“At least none of our trades have been found out by the police,” Kangin noted.
Bae released a breath of smoke. “Who is leading the chase?”
“Cho Kyuhyun is the Inspector of the department. He succeeded Jung Yunho,” Geun Suk recited the information.
“So the successor is better than the previous inspector,” Bae analyzed. “What do those five groups have in common?”
Geun Suk was quick to answer, “I’ve analyzed each of them. A similar point that deserves attention is their trades with Hwang. He was their biggest supplier for cocaine and meth.”
Bae frowned. “Don’t we trade with Hwang?”
“Yes, the last time was two month ago,” Kangin recalled. “Do we want to risk trading with him again?”
“We don’t know if he’s the traitor yet and besides, without those five sects, I’ll be making more money. Just be more careful with Hwang,” Bae took another drag on his cigarette. “And if the police ever track us down on a trade, make sure they have all the evidence they need to convict Micky Park.”
Chapter 28 // “You don’t have his picture?”