Fic: In the line of fire (M)
Title: In the line of fire (M)
Author: Sev-chu
Pairing: Jaejoong x Changmin, Yunho x Junsu (Yunho x ofc) Yoochun x ofc(s)
Rating: Pg
Summary: Mob wars are painting the streets of Hong Kong and Japan red with blood ensnaring the rogue cop in its wake. Can Yunho find him in time to save him and is he ready for what he finds? Can the gangs unite to stop the violence or will they tear each other apart with their greed?
With his feet in the elevator and his stomach in his feet Yunho pressed the circle with a large B on it. A ring of green lit up from underneath to confirm his selection. His mind was so crammed full of stuff that he was surprised it hadn’t imploded.
The Angel kissing his boss didn’t really seem out of the realm of possibilities considering the way the man dripped sexuality, but the purr Changmin wasn’t quite able to smother truly threw Yunho off guard. He was annoyed that Mickey seemed to be in on the little secret speculating, by the way the other man smiled, that the two leaders had already been intimate. Yunho was also annoyed by the fact that his Intel hadn’t been accurate. Details like the building’s basement were details he needed to know. They were integral to his finding out what exactly the syndicate was involved in and his uniformed state made him look like a fool in-front of the others.
Caught up in his brooding, Yunho hadn’t realized he had reached the basement until the elevator doors slid open, a large concrete wasteland set out before him.
The underground level looked like an abandoned parking garage. There were strong concrete pillars keeping the structural integrity and what appeared to be pavement underneath his feet. Letting his eyes adjust to the dimly lit expanse Yunho was able to see stockpiles of wooden crates lining the walls some displaying languages he didn’t know how to read. Farther down he could make out rows of automobiles, high end luxury cars and bikes, some of them appearing as though they were ready to be shipped out on the next boat.
Yunho swallowed hard. He had always assumed that all of the Rising Sun’s goods were exported from the warehouses he had seen on the other end of town. He never dreamed that they would have a second storage facility right at the heart of the empire. It made his head spin.
A muffled explosion shifted Yunho’s attention in the opposite direction and when he squinted into the distance he could just make out a figure hunched over a long-running table.
Steeling his resolve the cop made steady steps towards the table, Junsu coming into focus as he neared. The surface of the table was covered in a vast array of wires, plastics and everything else necessary to make any kind of bomb imaginable. There were even detailed drawings of some of the more intricate, high-tech bombs tapped to the table’s surface. Lying not too far off Yunho caught the same scaled plan of the building he had explained in his briefing; the suspected headquarters of the Golden Dragon.
With his fingers touching the side of the metal table Yunho watched, un-noticed, as Junsu hummed a sweet melody to himself. He was working on mixing chemicals into tiny little containers, recording how each one made a little explosion after the addition of the final compound. Finally noticing a shift in the air, the smaller man looked up eyes blinking through the safety glasses perched on his face.
“Did Changmin tell you I was here?” The question was quiet, like he had just been discovered hiding in the closet after doing something naughty.
“Yes. Look, Junsu we need to talk. I…”
“Here, put these on,” Junsu cut him off pushing a second pair of glasses at Yunho. “I’m going to punch that kid.”
Slipping the elastic over his head and adjusting the glasses Yunho flinched as a particularly loud bang echoed through the basement and he caught Junsu putting a big star beside his note on the particular incendiary.
“Um, so I wanted to talk to you about the last time you were actually speaking to me,” Yunho ventured.
He reached out his hand hopping to get Junsu to focus on him instead of his experiments.
“I know you’re a cop Yunho.”
Junsu finally looked at him, trying to stave off the quiver of his lip and the glossy sheen that was coming to his eyes.
“Look, I know Donghae said but,”
“No Yunho, I know you’re a cop, but I won’t tell anybody because I don’t think you really like being one. I’ve been watching you for a while now. I can see you fighting to get out from under the lie. It hurts doesn’t it? That no one will love you for who you are.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Yunho was suddenly angry. He was angry with himself for letting the job get to him and for blurring the lines between what he was supposed to be doing and what he wanted to do which was to just run away from all of it. Run screaming from family and life’s obligations, reclaim who he was and what he really wanted, which was the man standing in-front of him.
To hell with right and wrong.
“What do you know, Junsu? You think you know who I am, well then who am I?”
“You, you’re just a man Yunho, a man who wants to be accepted and loved, and a man who doesn’t want to hide any more. So don’t hide anymore, don’t hide from me.”
“And do what, be a criminal when I’ve devoted my life to putting away people like you? That’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Just because you did it doesn’t mean it’s the truth. I used to be a cop too. I’ve lived that lie.”
“It is not a lie.”
“Telling yourself you’re happy sitting behind that desk everyday isn’t a lie? Fucking your wife while you think of some guy’s cock isn’t a lie? Telling your family nothing would make you happier than having oodles of children isn’t a lie? You’re in more denial than I thought you were.“
“Listen Junsu please." Yunho shook his head, knowing Junsu was right. "I care about you a lot, more than I have for anyone else but it’s complicated. My family is very traditional and I’m their only son.”
“You, you care about me?” Junsu stared, mouth open instantly throwing Yunho off track.
The smaller man had given up on mixing compounds and jotting down notes, had already pulled the goggles off of his face to stare at the taller man standing at the edge of the table.
He watched intently as Yunho fidgeted with a seemingly interesting spot on his shirt. Most of him wanted to shake the other man until his brains were scrambled eggs in his head. He would not give up his anger Junsu told himself, would not give in at the first sign of Yunho letting his walls down. If anyone knew how concrete they were, it was Junsu.
“I do.”
Shit. He could see Yunho physically shake and his walls began to crumble.
“And, my wife, we don’t,” Yunho made an awkward series of hand gestures. “I mean, I’m just so confused. I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve never felt like I was standing in a crowded room screaming until I met you.”
From the shift of his tone Junsu thought he would meet with a look of defeat when he looked into Yunho’s eyes, but what he saw instead frightened him. A mixture of weariness and determination glinted in the taller man’s eyes and Junsu thought if he looked really deeply into the dark-chocolate orbs he could also see a deep sense of caring. Maybe not love, but something that could easily bloom into love.
“I understand,” a smile quivered along Junsu’s top lip. “We’re not so different Yunho. I used to be like you. I tried so hard to make my family proud of me, to be the perfect son like my brother, but no matter how hard I tried I failed. I had a father that saw only my brother following in his footsteps to the family fortune. Never the son making top marks at Tai Po’s police academy fighting to be in the elite bomb squad. I had a mother who saw only my brother as he courted a cute wife, not the son who kissed the bank manager’s son at the company picnic when he thought no one was looking.”
Junsu paused, taking in a deep breath. He had only ever spoken those words to one other person; the man who had given him everything. Yunho was standing in the same spot he had been at the beginning, at the opposite end of the table. He looked like he was trying to make all of the pieces fit together. Junsu could see Yunho’s eyes scatter back and forth as if processing all of the data at a rapid-fire pace. The detective in him demanded all of the answers, all of the pieces and Junsu felt that if he were going to give the older man one more chance to hold his heart Yunho needed to know everything.
Skirting the table Junsu slid close, reaching up to pull the goggles from Yunho’s head.
“You look really silly.”
“I don’t understand,” was Yunho’s reply, but there was a smile that played at the corners of his mouth. “What about the fires, Narc, the undercover operation? I don’t understand how the hell you did it. Why are you still here and why is Changmin going to kill me?”
The giggle threw Yunho off step. “You ask a lot of questions don’t you?”
“After the academy I wasn’t admitted into the bomb squad like I wanted. They said it had to do with my personality but I knew it was because I wasn’t good enough. It was just another disappointment in the eyes of my family. So when a promotion opened up with Narc I took it. I thought it would make my parents proud but they didn’t even notice. I was so sick of pleasing everyone, of sneaking around to be me.”
Junsu took another pause, and Yunho watched as the man fished in his pocket. Pulling out his lighter he began to flip the lid, the small flame burning brightly.
“There’s just something about the tiny flame. It’s soothing, trance like. But explosions are something else, the way the explosions go off. It’s like magic if you do it right. I can’t explain it any other way, there’s just this little voice inside my head, mostly when I’m upset, and I know if I can just touch that magic it’ll be better. A painter is inspired to paint, and I get inspired to create the most beautiful explosions people have ever seen,” Junsu’s voice went distant, Yunho chewing on his bottom lip as he watched Junsu’s face take on a rather large smile.
“I worked on three of those cases. I recognized the newspaper clippings in your bedroom,” Yunho watched Junsu’s flame flicker before he reached out his hand to run a finger through the little fire. “You’re really good.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice,” Junsu blushed.
“How did you meet Changmin?”
“When the undercover position opened up I was the only one who volunteered. To me it was a door towards freedom. It was somewhere where people wouldn’t spend a lot of time judging me, a safe place for social outcasts and deviants. I met Changmin after the third building I blew up for him. He was impressed by my knowledge of explosives and my eye for not getting caught. He was struggling under his father’s control; their visions of what the Rising Sun should be were completely different. “
Junsu stopped, swiping his tongue over his lips to take away the dryness. He had been watching the confusion slowly lift from Yunho’s handsome features. He knew the man was going to be his downfall. After all of the time they had spent apart, and no matter how angry he made himself he could not push the man out of his thoughts. The way Yunho smiled, the way he always tilted his head when he was confused. They way he curled into Junsu’s side when he slept.
Suddenly needing to be closer, Junsu stepped into Yunho’s personal space.
“Please tell me you didn’t kill Changmin’s father.”
“No, the Golden Dragon did that.” Junsu dropped his head but not before Yunho could see the pain flash in his eyes. “ They had set up an elaborate scheme and we couldn’t get back in time. Changmin may act like he’s a murderous idiot but he would never hurt the people he likes, and I promise he likes you Yunho.”
“Yeah, but he likes you more,” Yunho let out a forced laugh, the thought of Changmin making him jittery from being mock shot at by the leader.
“He’ll let you in eventually. When I first joined the Rising Sun’s inner circle Changmin was too quiet and too polite. Being the boss’s son no one wanted to be his friend so I made it my mission to make him smile. Now the freak won’t leave me alone.”
Junsu’s trademark giggle was back, warm air brushing along Yunho’s cheek.
“I gave Changmin my friendship and he gave me a new family. The Rising Sun are my family now Yunho. I won’t leave them and I won’t betray them but there’s always room for one more. Stop pretending you’re that person you hate so much Yunho. I can tell you’re tired of being that person, of pasting that fake smile on your face. Please let the Rising Sun be your new family Yunho, let me fall in love with you because I won’t give you my heart until I know it’s the real you.”
Author: Sev-chu
Pairing: Jaejoong x Changmin, Yunho x Junsu (Yunho x ofc) Yoochun x ofc(s)
Rating: Pg
Summary: Mob wars are painting the streets of Hong Kong and Japan red with blood ensnaring the rogue cop in its wake. Can Yunho find him in time to save him and is he ready for what he finds? Can the gangs unite to stop the violence or will they tear each other apart with their greed?
With his feet in the elevator and his stomach in his feet Yunho pressed the circle with a large B on it. A ring of green lit up from underneath to confirm his selection. His mind was so crammed full of stuff that he was surprised it hadn’t imploded.
The Angel kissing his boss didn’t really seem out of the realm of possibilities considering the way the man dripped sexuality, but the purr Changmin wasn’t quite able to smother truly threw Yunho off guard. He was annoyed that Mickey seemed to be in on the little secret speculating, by the way the other man smiled, that the two leaders had already been intimate. Yunho was also annoyed by the fact that his Intel hadn’t been accurate. Details like the building’s basement were details he needed to know. They were integral to his finding out what exactly the syndicate was involved in and his uniformed state made him look like a fool in-front of the others.
Caught up in his brooding, Yunho hadn’t realized he had reached the basement until the elevator doors slid open, a large concrete wasteland set out before him.
The underground level looked like an abandoned parking garage. There were strong concrete pillars keeping the structural integrity and what appeared to be pavement underneath his feet. Letting his eyes adjust to the dimly lit expanse Yunho was able to see stockpiles of wooden crates lining the walls some displaying languages he didn’t know how to read. Farther down he could make out rows of automobiles, high end luxury cars and bikes, some of them appearing as though they were ready to be shipped out on the next boat.
Yunho swallowed hard. He had always assumed that all of the Rising Sun’s goods were exported from the warehouses he had seen on the other end of town. He never dreamed that they would have a second storage facility right at the heart of the empire. It made his head spin.
A muffled explosion shifted Yunho’s attention in the opposite direction and when he squinted into the distance he could just make out a figure hunched over a long-running table.
Steeling his resolve the cop made steady steps towards the table, Junsu coming into focus as he neared. The surface of the table was covered in a vast array of wires, plastics and everything else necessary to make any kind of bomb imaginable. There were even detailed drawings of some of the more intricate, high-tech bombs tapped to the table’s surface. Lying not too far off Yunho caught the same scaled plan of the building he had explained in his briefing; the suspected headquarters of the Golden Dragon.
With his fingers touching the side of the metal table Yunho watched, un-noticed, as Junsu hummed a sweet melody to himself. He was working on mixing chemicals into tiny little containers, recording how each one made a little explosion after the addition of the final compound. Finally noticing a shift in the air, the smaller man looked up eyes blinking through the safety glasses perched on his face.
“Did Changmin tell you I was here?” The question was quiet, like he had just been discovered hiding in the closet after doing something naughty.
“Yes. Look, Junsu we need to talk. I…”
“Here, put these on,” Junsu cut him off pushing a second pair of glasses at Yunho. “I’m going to punch that kid.”
Slipping the elastic over his head and adjusting the glasses Yunho flinched as a particularly loud bang echoed through the basement and he caught Junsu putting a big star beside his note on the particular incendiary.
“Um, so I wanted to talk to you about the last time you were actually speaking to me,” Yunho ventured.
He reached out his hand hopping to get Junsu to focus on him instead of his experiments.
“I know you’re a cop Yunho.”
Junsu finally looked at him, trying to stave off the quiver of his lip and the glossy sheen that was coming to his eyes.
“Look, I know Donghae said but,”
“No Yunho, I know you’re a cop, but I won’t tell anybody because I don’t think you really like being one. I’ve been watching you for a while now. I can see you fighting to get out from under the lie. It hurts doesn’t it? That no one will love you for who you are.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Yunho was suddenly angry. He was angry with himself for letting the job get to him and for blurring the lines between what he was supposed to be doing and what he wanted to do which was to just run away from all of it. Run screaming from family and life’s obligations, reclaim who he was and what he really wanted, which was the man standing in-front of him.
To hell with right and wrong.
“What do you know, Junsu? You think you know who I am, well then who am I?”
“You, you’re just a man Yunho, a man who wants to be accepted and loved, and a man who doesn’t want to hide any more. So don’t hide anymore, don’t hide from me.”
“And do what, be a criminal when I’ve devoted my life to putting away people like you? That’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Just because you did it doesn’t mean it’s the truth. I used to be a cop too. I’ve lived that lie.”
“It is not a lie.”
“Telling yourself you’re happy sitting behind that desk everyday isn’t a lie? Fucking your wife while you think of some guy’s cock isn’t a lie? Telling your family nothing would make you happier than having oodles of children isn’t a lie? You’re in more denial than I thought you were.“
“Listen Junsu please." Yunho shook his head, knowing Junsu was right. "I care about you a lot, more than I have for anyone else but it’s complicated. My family is very traditional and I’m their only son.”
“You, you care about me?” Junsu stared, mouth open instantly throwing Yunho off track.
The smaller man had given up on mixing compounds and jotting down notes, had already pulled the goggles off of his face to stare at the taller man standing at the edge of the table.
He watched intently as Yunho fidgeted with a seemingly interesting spot on his shirt. Most of him wanted to shake the other man until his brains were scrambled eggs in his head. He would not give up his anger Junsu told himself, would not give in at the first sign of Yunho letting his walls down. If anyone knew how concrete they were, it was Junsu.
“I do.”
Shit. He could see Yunho physically shake and his walls began to crumble.
“And, my wife, we don’t,” Yunho made an awkward series of hand gestures. “I mean, I’m just so confused. I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve never felt like I was standing in a crowded room screaming until I met you.”
From the shift of his tone Junsu thought he would meet with a look of defeat when he looked into Yunho’s eyes, but what he saw instead frightened him. A mixture of weariness and determination glinted in the taller man’s eyes and Junsu thought if he looked really deeply into the dark-chocolate orbs he could also see a deep sense of caring. Maybe not love, but something that could easily bloom into love.
“I understand,” a smile quivered along Junsu’s top lip. “We’re not so different Yunho. I used to be like you. I tried so hard to make my family proud of me, to be the perfect son like my brother, but no matter how hard I tried I failed. I had a father that saw only my brother following in his footsteps to the family fortune. Never the son making top marks at Tai Po’s police academy fighting to be in the elite bomb squad. I had a mother who saw only my brother as he courted a cute wife, not the son who kissed the bank manager’s son at the company picnic when he thought no one was looking.”
Junsu paused, taking in a deep breath. He had only ever spoken those words to one other person; the man who had given him everything. Yunho was standing in the same spot he had been at the beginning, at the opposite end of the table. He looked like he was trying to make all of the pieces fit together. Junsu could see Yunho’s eyes scatter back and forth as if processing all of the data at a rapid-fire pace. The detective in him demanded all of the answers, all of the pieces and Junsu felt that if he were going to give the older man one more chance to hold his heart Yunho needed to know everything.
Skirting the table Junsu slid close, reaching up to pull the goggles from Yunho’s head.
“You look really silly.”
“I don’t understand,” was Yunho’s reply, but there was a smile that played at the corners of his mouth. “What about the fires, Narc, the undercover operation? I don’t understand how the hell you did it. Why are you still here and why is Changmin going to kill me?”
The giggle threw Yunho off step. “You ask a lot of questions don’t you?”
“After the academy I wasn’t admitted into the bomb squad like I wanted. They said it had to do with my personality but I knew it was because I wasn’t good enough. It was just another disappointment in the eyes of my family. So when a promotion opened up with Narc I took it. I thought it would make my parents proud but they didn’t even notice. I was so sick of pleasing everyone, of sneaking around to be me.”
Junsu took another pause, and Yunho watched as the man fished in his pocket. Pulling out his lighter he began to flip the lid, the small flame burning brightly.
“There’s just something about the tiny flame. It’s soothing, trance like. But explosions are something else, the way the explosions go off. It’s like magic if you do it right. I can’t explain it any other way, there’s just this little voice inside my head, mostly when I’m upset, and I know if I can just touch that magic it’ll be better. A painter is inspired to paint, and I get inspired to create the most beautiful explosions people have ever seen,” Junsu’s voice went distant, Yunho chewing on his bottom lip as he watched Junsu’s face take on a rather large smile.
“I worked on three of those cases. I recognized the newspaper clippings in your bedroom,” Yunho watched Junsu’s flame flicker before he reached out his hand to run a finger through the little fire. “You’re really good.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice,” Junsu blushed.
“How did you meet Changmin?”
“When the undercover position opened up I was the only one who volunteered. To me it was a door towards freedom. It was somewhere where people wouldn’t spend a lot of time judging me, a safe place for social outcasts and deviants. I met Changmin after the third building I blew up for him. He was impressed by my knowledge of explosives and my eye for not getting caught. He was struggling under his father’s control; their visions of what the Rising Sun should be were completely different. “
Junsu stopped, swiping his tongue over his lips to take away the dryness. He had been watching the confusion slowly lift from Yunho’s handsome features. He knew the man was going to be his downfall. After all of the time they had spent apart, and no matter how angry he made himself he could not push the man out of his thoughts. The way Yunho smiled, the way he always tilted his head when he was confused. They way he curled into Junsu’s side when he slept.
Suddenly needing to be closer, Junsu stepped into Yunho’s personal space.
“Please tell me you didn’t kill Changmin’s father.”
“No, the Golden Dragon did that.” Junsu dropped his head but not before Yunho could see the pain flash in his eyes. “ They had set up an elaborate scheme and we couldn’t get back in time. Changmin may act like he’s a murderous idiot but he would never hurt the people he likes, and I promise he likes you Yunho.”
“Yeah, but he likes you more,” Yunho let out a forced laugh, the thought of Changmin making him jittery from being mock shot at by the leader.
“He’ll let you in eventually. When I first joined the Rising Sun’s inner circle Changmin was too quiet and too polite. Being the boss’s son no one wanted to be his friend so I made it my mission to make him smile. Now the freak won’t leave me alone.”
Junsu’s trademark giggle was back, warm air brushing along Yunho’s cheek.
“I gave Changmin my friendship and he gave me a new family. The Rising Sun are my family now Yunho. I won’t leave them and I won’t betray them but there’s always room for one more. Stop pretending you’re that person you hate so much Yunho. I can tell you’re tired of being that person, of pasting that fake smile on your face. Please let the Rising Sun be your new family Yunho, let me fall in love with you because I won’t give you my heart until I know it’s the real you.”