together or not at all
infinite
hoya-centric, multiple pairings +nc17
Sunggyu gives Hoya a mission that he can’t refuse.
explicit mentions of blood, gore,
multiple character deaths, both onscreen and off
(if you want to know who lives and who dies,
scroll to the bottom of the fic. spoiler alert!!)
Quote: "I looked for a I'm-sorry-I-got-you-shot card,
but they were all out." -Joss Carter (Person of Interest)"
Image | Lyrics
thanks to celine and t for looking over this fic!
I debated a long time over posting the orginal or the edited version
(now on season three comm) on here, and chose to go with the story I originally planned to tell,
whatever that means.
Hoya taps his fingers against the side of his thigh, and releases the breath that he’s been holding. In front of him, a man is strapped to a chair and straining at his bonds. He’s gagged, but he looks at Hoya so intensely that Hoya knows exactly what he’s trying to say: Please, Hoya. The tiny holding cell is vibrating in its own silence.
Sunggyu gets up from where he’s leaning on the wall. With one smooth motion, he hands Hoya a Glock. “You know what to do.”
The man in the chair is still looking at him.
Please.
Hoya lifts the gun and takes aim.
*
The steel construction that houses Woohyun’s empire of a company is impressive, even after all the times that Hoya’s stepped foot into it. The metal reflects the early sunrise just right, and it makes the entire structure shine like a beacon. Hoya shakes his head to clear it. He doesn’t have the time to be marvelling at Woohyun’s office, not when he knows what’s going to be done to it.
Sunggyu’s waiting for him inside, but Hoya makes a quick detour first. He barely has to knock before the door’s been opened, and Woohyun takes him in with a gentle hand on his wrist. Hoya hides the urge to roll his eyes; even hired hitmen feel fragile to the most powerful man in South Korea, he supposes.
“Hey baby,” Woohyun says, his greeting muffled against the skin of Hoya’s neck. Hoya hums, bumping his head against Woohyun’s shoulder in response. He’s still mulling over what’s happened in the morning. He hasn’t opened Sunggyu’s latest text, but Hoya knows what’s in it. “What’s wrong?”
Hoya steps back to see Woohyun frowning. “Nothing, I’m just tired,” he says, and kisses Woohyun, licks his lover’s bottom lip before he draws away for good measure. Woohyun’s hands squeeze at Hoya’s hips before he lets go.
“What’s up? It’s almost lunchtime, I’ll treat,” Woohyun says in rapid succession, bright-eyed and smiling. Hoya hates what he has to do next.
“Ah, no. Something’s wrong.” Hoya watches as Woohyun’s expression changes from cheery to serious. “You need to come with me.”
“Where?” Woohyun’s hand drifts to the side of his desk, towards his emergency button. One click, and it’ll be game over for Hoya. “What’s going on,” Woohyun asks.
Hoya shakes his head. “Not now, I’ll explain on the way.”
“Hold on, I’ll just call my guards.”
“Don’t!” Hoya cringes as the word comes out of his mouth in a shout. “Don’t do that. You’ll alert them. You have to come with me now.”
Woohyun’s frown is deep now. “Alert who?”
Hoya shakes his head. “There’s no time.” The new phone in his back pocket is blowing up. Sunggyu’s been waiting for far too long already.
*
Hoya hates to see Dongwoo like this, shoulders slumped. It makes him look so small.
"You have to come with me," Hoya whispers.
"Why?" Dongwoo looks up at him with a small sad smile playing on his lips. "Why? Or else what's going to happen?"
Hoya swallows heavily. His hands are shaking, and he has to clasp them together to stop the tremors. "It has to be done." Sunggyu’s already waiting for them.
Dongwoo shakes his head. "Can I just go? I swear, I won’t breathe a word about our business. Isn’t that enough?"
"You can't leave." Dongwoo snaps his mouth shut and looks up at the ceiling. Hoya follows his gaze. It feels easier like this, when he doesn't have to look at Dongwoo and his own betrayal. Hoya wills himself to think of yesterday, before the phone call, of the cheery pearlescent sky. Perhaps he, too, should have ran away that day. "You know it’s not enough. Sunggyu needs you quiet,” he says.
"What do I know?" Dongwoo chortles. “I’ve only been listening to what you’ve been telling me. I can’t even tell when I’ve been lied to.” He turns to look at Hoya. “Have I been lied to?”
"Yes." For once, Hoya answers him honestly. The small burn of guilt eats at his insides. The fire is small, but Hoya can feel it, nevertheless. Will he come out of this intact? Will everything truly be alright? Perhaps he should have asked Sunggyu. "I need to bring you out now," he tells Dongwoo.
Dongwoo is silent for a long while. “Is this it?" Hoya looks back down from the ceiling to see Dongwoo stepping away from him, and his throat feels dry.
"I don’t want to lie to you,” Hoya tries, and reaches for Dongwoo. He rests his palm against Dongwoo’s shoulder, and Dongwoo turns to track the motion with his eyes.
"That's not the answer I was looking for,” Dongwoo says.
"I can't give you that answer, you know that,” Hoya says, and draws himself away from Dongwoo.
Dongwoo fiddles with his shirt sleeve, right where Hoya has just touched him. “I just wanted to see if you love me enough to lie to me again."
*
Hoya opens the door to Sunggyu’s apartment to Sunggyu working on the couch, his spectacles perched delicately on his nose.
"I've got Myungsoo to get a new phone for you. You'll get it tomorrow," Sunggyu says, his voice monotonous.
Hoya shuts the front door behind himself carefully. "You act as though you didn't just ask me to kill the man I'm dating,” he says, his voice barely even.
Sunggyu finally looks up from his laptop to Hoya. "Which one," he asks, cocking his head. His mouth curls upwards in a smile that makes his eyes glint.
The white hot fury that’s been bubbling inside Hoya finally spills over, and he strides forward to put his hands against Sunggyu's throat, just because he can. Sunggyu looks at him dead in the eye and doesn't even flinch. It chills him, and he presses down harder. "I could just leave, right now, and you will have nothing," Hoya spits at him.
Sunggyu’s still smirking. "Ah,” he says, his voice even. “But you can never leave me."
Hoya stills, and then squeezes hard at Sunggyu's windpipe just for effect, and then lets go. He withdraws to the other side of Sunggyu’s room, and props himself against the wall. “I can do it again,” he says. “If that’s what it takes for you to stop.” He waits for Sunggyu’s next step.
"If you want me to stop, then you’ve forgotten our ‘original place’," Sunggyu says. His voice is thin and reedy, as he massages at his throat, trying to get the blood flowing.
Hoya puts his head between his hands, and sinks to the floor. "It doesn’t matter,” he says. “You told me-”
“What I told you was that we need to do this because no one else wanted to. We’re creating peace so Korea can flourish,” Sunggyu says. The tapping sounds of the keyboard starts. “Is one person more important than an entire race?”
Hoya folds his arms around his chest.
“Don’t tell me you’ve grown attached.” Sunggyu chuckles.
“You.” Hoya worries at his bottom lip. “You should tell yourself that.”
The tapping stops. “Should I,” Sunggyu mutters so softly that Hoya almost doesn’t catch it. He takes this as his cue to leave.
*
The sky that whisks past Hoya's vision is a deep pearlescent blue. He taps his fingers against his thigh, and leans against his train seat. He’s on the train home from his last assignment, more than ready to wash off the blood that he knows he’s technically already removed from his hands. His phone starts ringing.
Hoya sees the caller Sunggyu on his screen, and unlocks his phone with a lurch in his stomach. "Hello?”
"You can't tell anyone,” Sunggyu greets.
Hoya straightens in his seat. "Is this about Woohyun?"
"Not really.” Sunggyu chuckles, his laughter so easy over the phone. “It's Dongwoo." Hoya clenches the phone so hard in his fist that it gives an odd cracking sound. "I heard that he's trying to leave again.” The train’s rattling is loud, but Hoya is so concentrated on Sunggyu’s words that the sound is just a distant roar. “You know what you have to do."
Hoya’s voice catches, and it takes him two tries before he comes through. “He’s not important, he can leave if he wants to. Sunggyu, we’ve got better things to worry about. Woohyun’s-”
“I know.” Sunggyu’s veneer of calm cracks, as it usually does when someone reminds him about pain-in-the-ass Woohyun. “I fucking know about Woohyun, okay. I’m going to do something about him, but later. A cabinet member has already called for his termination. We have time for both of them tomorrow.”
Hoya leans forward so far in seat that he can feel himself struggling to stay upright. The press of his feet is punishing, and he squeezes his eyes closed. If only he didn’t pick up his phone, he would still be looking at the sky, thinking the day has already ended. “Dongwoo’s not a threat,” he says.
Sunggyu sighs. “He’s planning to take the next plane to the Middle East. I had Myungsoo look it up.”
Hoya has to force himself to let go of the phone, so it won't shatter into pieces. “What does that have to do with him being a threat?” Sunggyu is silent. Hoya tries again. “He’s just a mole.”
"Get both of them to building F tomorrow. Remember the security clearance measures." Sunggyu hangs up.
The train stops at the next station, and Hoya, in blind fury, throws his phone out through the door, and presses his fists hard against his face.
Tomorrow, Sunggyu will be ringing his doorbell first thing in the morning with a new phone for him. Hoya will take that phone and get blood all over his hands again.
*
“I’m sorry I got you shot” is the first thing that Sunggyu says to Hoya when he finally wakes. There’s the telltale sounds of a bleeping monitor, which means Hoya is in a hospital. He’s also most likely strapped down to the bed. He moves to get up, and only manages to rattle the bed. The cloth ties dig into his legs.
Hoya swings his gaze to the side of the bed, where Sunggyu sits with a smile behind his folded hands. Hoya exhales, pressing his head back against the pillow. “I guess I deserved it,” he mutters.
“Does it hurt?” Fingers trail over where the stinging sensation is the most concentrated, and Hoya huffs and jerks away. There’s a beat, and then Sunggyu presses his hand over Hoya’s brow, smoothing the lines on his forehead. Hoya lets him.
Perhaps emboldened by Hoya’s passiveness, Sunggyu leans forward, and kisses him on the edge of his mouth. He hovers an inch over him after, with a hand tucked into the bend of Hoya’s injured arm. “Don’t you ever leave me again,” he murmurs, tracing a thumb over the bandages.
*
Hoya has to crawl out of the wreckage that was his car five second ago. His legs are throbbing; he probably has shrapnel embedded in his ankle.
“Hey hey Hoya,” Sungyeol whoops, and Hoya hisses and curses under his breath as he struggles to right himself. “You alright there? Boss-man said we had to bring you back alive. We don’t want you beaten up too badly.”
His entire team’s lined up in a row with their guns aimed at him. Sungyeol stands in the middle, his hips cocked to one side and his mouth lit in a maniacal grin. It makes Hoya’s mouth curl in disgust. He’d took care of them, but Sunggyu had so easily sent them after him. And like a pack of well-trained dogs, they went for Hoya’s throat, staked and smoked him out of his hiding spot. All protocol.
Either he was in, or he was out.
Hoya closes his eyes, and his lungs burn from the smoke pouring out around him. His hand finds the handle of his gun, and it takes him two tries to grasp it correctly.
“Is Lee Sungjong really worth leaving your brothers for,” Sungyeol calls. Hoya’s fingers twitch, and his gut twists at the flare of remnant anger inside. “He sure screamed like a bitch when I killed him-”
Hoya raises his gun, and a shot sounds out, blowing out his right arm. He goes down hard, and the pain eases him into unconsciousness.
*
Months after the party, Hoya and Sunggyu reintroduce themselves.
Turns out, Kim Sunggyu runs the biggest criminal syndicate in South Korea.
“Really?”
“Really.” Sunggyu nods, smiling. “Hey, I’ll tell you a secret. There’s going to be a coup in Busan in two days. That’s where your family lives, right?” Hoya feels a chill trickling down his spine. “Help me stop this.”
Hoya swallows hard. Sunggyu’s still smiling. “How?”
Sunggyu takes his hand, stretches it out between the two of them, and places a gun on his palm.
Hoya takes a moment to register it, and then promptly drops the gun on the ground. “What the fuck, Sunggyu,” he hisses. Sunggyu bends to pick it up. “I’m not touching that.”
Sunggyu shrugs and pockets it. “You served in the Navy, you know how it’s like. We have to defend what’s ours. Isn’t peace a wonderful idea for this war-torn nation?”
Hoya is silent for a beat. “You mentioned peace. There’s nothing peaceful about killing.”
“There’s no such thing as peace,” Sunggyu counters easily. “We can only contain violence, keep it out of sight from the masses.” He cocks his head at Hoya. “Did you think Kim Hwangsik really became prime minister without help? He’s not the change-maker, we are.”
Hoya’s mouth feels like dry cotton. “Why me?”
Sunggyu chuckles. “Why? Does that matter?”
*
The first time Hoya meets Sunggyu, Sunggyu’s has his fist in another man’s chest.
The year is 2017, five years before Hoya meets Dongwoo, Woohyun, Myungsoo, and he’s attending an invitation-only conference. He is perhaps the youngest person in the room, and he’s just a captain in the Navy, to boot.
When he opens a door on the second floor, he doesn’t expect to see a man lying in the middle of the room with his chest flayed open. Sunggyu looks up at him, and their eyes meet. Hoya turns around and throws up on the sheep-skin carpet.
As he pukes and heaves with his fringe matted with cold sweat, he vaguely registers a hand snaking up to pat the back of his neck.
“Lee Hoya, is it?” Hoya turns around blearily to see Sunggyu stretch out a hand. “I’m Kim Sunggyu. It’s nice to finally meet you.
“You can’t tell anyone about this.”
> > > Forward > > >
Please.
Hoya’s hand trembles as he puts the barrel against Dongwoo’s forehead.
Dongwoo’s eyes are so wide.
“Hoya,” Sunggyu says, his one word weighing down the entire room. It’s hard to breathe.
Hoya turns away from Dongwoo, and pulls the trigger.
The blood splatter is at the periphery of his vision, and Hoya’s feet gives. He collapses onto himself, shaking and dry-heaving against the cement floor.
“Hoya.” Sunggyu croons his name like a song. Soft fingers card through his matted hair, and Hoya shakes his head, working his throat to speak.
“You never let me keep-” And here his voice becomes rough and choked. “Anything- I just want someone of my own and you never let me-”
“Hey.” He has to bite hard on his bottom lip to reel himself back in, and he turns to see Sunggyu frowning at him. “I am sorry. Can we-” Sunggyu starts and stops. “Can we please start over?” His eyes are hopeful and desperate. Hoya knows, because he's all Sunggyu’s got left.
Five years ago, the man whom Sunggyu killed was his own husband.
“No.” Hoya can feel his hands shake so hard they’re curling into his palm. He tries to flex them, but they remain frozen and numb. The sound of dripping blood rings in his ears. “I won’t do this again-fuck. This is fucked up.” He puts his hand against his chest and thumps hard at his ribcage.
“I know.” Sunggyu puts his small pinky out to brush against Hoya’s arm, reaching for him. Hoya jerks away. Sunggyu doesn’t reach for him again.
Blandly, Hoya asks, “Are you going to kill me?” His body loosens from that sentence, all the fight draining out from him. He knows that this is it; Sunggyu will point the Glock on his forehead and everything will be over.
Instead, Sunggyu’s mouth opens and closes as he works up an answer.
Hoya jerks away from him. “Don’t tell me you’ve grown attached.” He wants to laugh and laugh until he can’t feel himself think.
Sunggyu looks at him, beseeching.
Hoya wrenches open the holding cell, and stumbles out of the room. Sunggyu doesn’t follow after.
Notes:
Dongwoo, Woohyun, and Sungjong die.
Sungyeol, Myungsoo, Sunggyu, and Hoya live (at least at the end of this story).
hoya-centric, multiple pairings +nc17
Sunggyu gives Hoya a mission that he can’t refuse.
explicit mentions of blood, gore,
multiple character deaths, both onscreen and off
(if you want to know who lives and who dies,
scroll to the bottom of the fic. spoiler alert!!)
Quote: "I looked for a I'm-sorry-I-got-you-shot card,
but they were all out." -Joss Carter (Person of Interest)"
Image | Lyrics
thanks to celine and t for looking over this fic!
I debated a long time over posting the orginal or the edited version
(now on season three comm) on here, and chose to go with the story I originally planned to tell,
whatever that means.
Hoya taps his fingers against the side of his thigh, and releases the breath that he’s been holding. In front of him, a man is strapped to a chair and straining at his bonds. He’s gagged, but he looks at Hoya so intensely that Hoya knows exactly what he’s trying to say: Please, Hoya. The tiny holding cell is vibrating in its own silence.
Sunggyu gets up from where he’s leaning on the wall. With one smooth motion, he hands Hoya a Glock. “You know what to do.”
The man in the chair is still looking at him.
Please.
Hoya lifts the gun and takes aim.
*
The steel construction that houses Woohyun’s empire of a company is impressive, even after all the times that Hoya’s stepped foot into it. The metal reflects the early sunrise just right, and it makes the entire structure shine like a beacon. Hoya shakes his head to clear it. He doesn’t have the time to be marvelling at Woohyun’s office, not when he knows what’s going to be done to it.
Sunggyu’s waiting for him inside, but Hoya makes a quick detour first. He barely has to knock before the door’s been opened, and Woohyun takes him in with a gentle hand on his wrist. Hoya hides the urge to roll his eyes; even hired hitmen feel fragile to the most powerful man in South Korea, he supposes.
“Hey baby,” Woohyun says, his greeting muffled against the skin of Hoya’s neck. Hoya hums, bumping his head against Woohyun’s shoulder in response. He’s still mulling over what’s happened in the morning. He hasn’t opened Sunggyu’s latest text, but Hoya knows what’s in it. “What’s wrong?”
Hoya steps back to see Woohyun frowning. “Nothing, I’m just tired,” he says, and kisses Woohyun, licks his lover’s bottom lip before he draws away for good measure. Woohyun’s hands squeeze at Hoya’s hips before he lets go.
“What’s up? It’s almost lunchtime, I’ll treat,” Woohyun says in rapid succession, bright-eyed and smiling. Hoya hates what he has to do next.
“Ah, no. Something’s wrong.” Hoya watches as Woohyun’s expression changes from cheery to serious. “You need to come with me.”
“Where?” Woohyun’s hand drifts to the side of his desk, towards his emergency button. One click, and it’ll be game over for Hoya. “What’s going on,” Woohyun asks.
Hoya shakes his head. “Not now, I’ll explain on the way.”
“Hold on, I’ll just call my guards.”
“Don’t!” Hoya cringes as the word comes out of his mouth in a shout. “Don’t do that. You’ll alert them. You have to come with me now.”
Woohyun’s frown is deep now. “Alert who?”
Hoya shakes his head. “There’s no time.” The new phone in his back pocket is blowing up. Sunggyu’s been waiting for far too long already.
*
Hoya hates to see Dongwoo like this, shoulders slumped. It makes him look so small.
"You have to come with me," Hoya whispers.
"Why?" Dongwoo looks up at him with a small sad smile playing on his lips. "Why? Or else what's going to happen?"
Hoya swallows heavily. His hands are shaking, and he has to clasp them together to stop the tremors. "It has to be done." Sunggyu’s already waiting for them.
Dongwoo shakes his head. "Can I just go? I swear, I won’t breathe a word about our business. Isn’t that enough?"
"You can't leave." Dongwoo snaps his mouth shut and looks up at the ceiling. Hoya follows his gaze. It feels easier like this, when he doesn't have to look at Dongwoo and his own betrayal. Hoya wills himself to think of yesterday, before the phone call, of the cheery pearlescent sky. Perhaps he, too, should have ran away that day. "You know it’s not enough. Sunggyu needs you quiet,” he says.
"What do I know?" Dongwoo chortles. “I’ve only been listening to what you’ve been telling me. I can’t even tell when I’ve been lied to.” He turns to look at Hoya. “Have I been lied to?”
"Yes." For once, Hoya answers him honestly. The small burn of guilt eats at his insides. The fire is small, but Hoya can feel it, nevertheless. Will he come out of this intact? Will everything truly be alright? Perhaps he should have asked Sunggyu. "I need to bring you out now," he tells Dongwoo.
Dongwoo is silent for a long while. “Is this it?" Hoya looks back down from the ceiling to see Dongwoo stepping away from him, and his throat feels dry.
"I don’t want to lie to you,” Hoya tries, and reaches for Dongwoo. He rests his palm against Dongwoo’s shoulder, and Dongwoo turns to track the motion with his eyes.
"That's not the answer I was looking for,” Dongwoo says.
"I can't give you that answer, you know that,” Hoya says, and draws himself away from Dongwoo.
Dongwoo fiddles with his shirt sleeve, right where Hoya has just touched him. “I just wanted to see if you love me enough to lie to me again."
*
Hoya opens the door to Sunggyu’s apartment to Sunggyu working on the couch, his spectacles perched delicately on his nose.
"I've got Myungsoo to get a new phone for you. You'll get it tomorrow," Sunggyu says, his voice monotonous.
Hoya shuts the front door behind himself carefully. "You act as though you didn't just ask me to kill the man I'm dating,” he says, his voice barely even.
Sunggyu finally looks up from his laptop to Hoya. "Which one," he asks, cocking his head. His mouth curls upwards in a smile that makes his eyes glint.
The white hot fury that’s been bubbling inside Hoya finally spills over, and he strides forward to put his hands against Sunggyu's throat, just because he can. Sunggyu looks at him dead in the eye and doesn't even flinch. It chills him, and he presses down harder. "I could just leave, right now, and you will have nothing," Hoya spits at him.
Sunggyu’s still smirking. "Ah,” he says, his voice even. “But you can never leave me."
Hoya stills, and then squeezes hard at Sunggyu's windpipe just for effect, and then lets go. He withdraws to the other side of Sunggyu’s room, and props himself against the wall. “I can do it again,” he says. “If that’s what it takes for you to stop.” He waits for Sunggyu’s next step.
"If you want me to stop, then you’ve forgotten our ‘original place’," Sunggyu says. His voice is thin and reedy, as he massages at his throat, trying to get the blood flowing.
Hoya puts his head between his hands, and sinks to the floor. "It doesn’t matter,” he says. “You told me-”
“What I told you was that we need to do this because no one else wanted to. We’re creating peace so Korea can flourish,” Sunggyu says. The tapping sounds of the keyboard starts. “Is one person more important than an entire race?”
Hoya folds his arms around his chest.
“Don’t tell me you’ve grown attached.” Sunggyu chuckles.
“You.” Hoya worries at his bottom lip. “You should tell yourself that.”
The tapping stops. “Should I,” Sunggyu mutters so softly that Hoya almost doesn’t catch it. He takes this as his cue to leave.
*
The sky that whisks past Hoya's vision is a deep pearlescent blue. He taps his fingers against his thigh, and leans against his train seat. He’s on the train home from his last assignment, more than ready to wash off the blood that he knows he’s technically already removed from his hands. His phone starts ringing.
Hoya sees the caller Sunggyu on his screen, and unlocks his phone with a lurch in his stomach. "Hello?”
"You can't tell anyone,” Sunggyu greets.
Hoya straightens in his seat. "Is this about Woohyun?"
"Not really.” Sunggyu chuckles, his laughter so easy over the phone. “It's Dongwoo." Hoya clenches the phone so hard in his fist that it gives an odd cracking sound. "I heard that he's trying to leave again.” The train’s rattling is loud, but Hoya is so concentrated on Sunggyu’s words that the sound is just a distant roar. “You know what you have to do."
Hoya’s voice catches, and it takes him two tries before he comes through. “He’s not important, he can leave if he wants to. Sunggyu, we’ve got better things to worry about. Woohyun’s-”
“I know.” Sunggyu’s veneer of calm cracks, as it usually does when someone reminds him about pain-in-the-ass Woohyun. “I fucking know about Woohyun, okay. I’m going to do something about him, but later. A cabinet member has already called for his termination. We have time for both of them tomorrow.”
Hoya leans forward so far in seat that he can feel himself struggling to stay upright. The press of his feet is punishing, and he squeezes his eyes closed. If only he didn’t pick up his phone, he would still be looking at the sky, thinking the day has already ended. “Dongwoo’s not a threat,” he says.
Sunggyu sighs. “He’s planning to take the next plane to the Middle East. I had Myungsoo look it up.”
Hoya has to force himself to let go of the phone, so it won't shatter into pieces. “What does that have to do with him being a threat?” Sunggyu is silent. Hoya tries again. “He’s just a mole.”
"Get both of them to building F tomorrow. Remember the security clearance measures." Sunggyu hangs up.
The train stops at the next station, and Hoya, in blind fury, throws his phone out through the door, and presses his fists hard against his face.
Tomorrow, Sunggyu will be ringing his doorbell first thing in the morning with a new phone for him. Hoya will take that phone and get blood all over his hands again.
*
“I’m sorry I got you shot” is the first thing that Sunggyu says to Hoya when he finally wakes. There’s the telltale sounds of a bleeping monitor, which means Hoya is in a hospital. He’s also most likely strapped down to the bed. He moves to get up, and only manages to rattle the bed. The cloth ties dig into his legs.
Hoya swings his gaze to the side of the bed, where Sunggyu sits with a smile behind his folded hands. Hoya exhales, pressing his head back against the pillow. “I guess I deserved it,” he mutters.
“Does it hurt?” Fingers trail over where the stinging sensation is the most concentrated, and Hoya huffs and jerks away. There’s a beat, and then Sunggyu presses his hand over Hoya’s brow, smoothing the lines on his forehead. Hoya lets him.
Perhaps emboldened by Hoya’s passiveness, Sunggyu leans forward, and kisses him on the edge of his mouth. He hovers an inch over him after, with a hand tucked into the bend of Hoya’s injured arm. “Don’t you ever leave me again,” he murmurs, tracing a thumb over the bandages.
*
Hoya has to crawl out of the wreckage that was his car five second ago. His legs are throbbing; he probably has shrapnel embedded in his ankle.
“Hey hey Hoya,” Sungyeol whoops, and Hoya hisses and curses under his breath as he struggles to right himself. “You alright there? Boss-man said we had to bring you back alive. We don’t want you beaten up too badly.”
His entire team’s lined up in a row with their guns aimed at him. Sungyeol stands in the middle, his hips cocked to one side and his mouth lit in a maniacal grin. It makes Hoya’s mouth curl in disgust. He’d took care of them, but Sunggyu had so easily sent them after him. And like a pack of well-trained dogs, they went for Hoya’s throat, staked and smoked him out of his hiding spot. All protocol.
Either he was in, or he was out.
Hoya closes his eyes, and his lungs burn from the smoke pouring out around him. His hand finds the handle of his gun, and it takes him two tries to grasp it correctly.
“Is Lee Sungjong really worth leaving your brothers for,” Sungyeol calls. Hoya’s fingers twitch, and his gut twists at the flare of remnant anger inside. “He sure screamed like a bitch when I killed him-”
Hoya raises his gun, and a shot sounds out, blowing out his right arm. He goes down hard, and the pain eases him into unconsciousness.
*
Months after the party, Hoya and Sunggyu reintroduce themselves.
Turns out, Kim Sunggyu runs the biggest criminal syndicate in South Korea.
“Really?”
“Really.” Sunggyu nods, smiling. “Hey, I’ll tell you a secret. There’s going to be a coup in Busan in two days. That’s where your family lives, right?” Hoya feels a chill trickling down his spine. “Help me stop this.”
Hoya swallows hard. Sunggyu’s still smiling. “How?”
Sunggyu takes his hand, stretches it out between the two of them, and places a gun on his palm.
Hoya takes a moment to register it, and then promptly drops the gun on the ground. “What the fuck, Sunggyu,” he hisses. Sunggyu bends to pick it up. “I’m not touching that.”
Sunggyu shrugs and pockets it. “You served in the Navy, you know how it’s like. We have to defend what’s ours. Isn’t peace a wonderful idea for this war-torn nation?”
Hoya is silent for a beat. “You mentioned peace. There’s nothing peaceful about killing.”
“There’s no such thing as peace,” Sunggyu counters easily. “We can only contain violence, keep it out of sight from the masses.” He cocks his head at Hoya. “Did you think Kim Hwangsik really became prime minister without help? He’s not the change-maker, we are.”
Hoya’s mouth feels like dry cotton. “Why me?”
Sunggyu chuckles. “Why? Does that matter?”
*
The first time Hoya meets Sunggyu, Sunggyu’s has his fist in another man’s chest.
The year is 2017, five years before Hoya meets Dongwoo, Woohyun, Myungsoo, and he’s attending an invitation-only conference. He is perhaps the youngest person in the room, and he’s just a captain in the Navy, to boot.
When he opens a door on the second floor, he doesn’t expect to see a man lying in the middle of the room with his chest flayed open. Sunggyu looks up at him, and their eyes meet. Hoya turns around and throws up on the sheep-skin carpet.
As he pukes and heaves with his fringe matted with cold sweat, he vaguely registers a hand snaking up to pat the back of his neck.
“Lee Hoya, is it?” Hoya turns around blearily to see Sunggyu stretch out a hand. “I’m Kim Sunggyu. It’s nice to finally meet you.
“You can’t tell anyone about this.”
> > > Forward > > >
Please.
Hoya’s hand trembles as he puts the barrel against Dongwoo’s forehead.
Dongwoo’s eyes are so wide.
“Hoya,” Sunggyu says, his one word weighing down the entire room. It’s hard to breathe.
Hoya turns away from Dongwoo, and pulls the trigger.
The blood splatter is at the periphery of his vision, and Hoya’s feet gives. He collapses onto himself, shaking and dry-heaving against the cement floor.
“Hoya.” Sunggyu croons his name like a song. Soft fingers card through his matted hair, and Hoya shakes his head, working his throat to speak.
“You never let me keep-” And here his voice becomes rough and choked. “Anything- I just want someone of my own and you never let me-”
“Hey.” He has to bite hard on his bottom lip to reel himself back in, and he turns to see Sunggyu frowning at him. “I am sorry. Can we-” Sunggyu starts and stops. “Can we please start over?” His eyes are hopeful and desperate. Hoya knows, because he's all Sunggyu’s got left.
Five years ago, the man whom Sunggyu killed was his own husband.
“No.” Hoya can feel his hands shake so hard they’re curling into his palm. He tries to flex them, but they remain frozen and numb. The sound of dripping blood rings in his ears. “I won’t do this again-fuck. This is fucked up.” He puts his hand against his chest and thumps hard at his ribcage.
“I know.” Sunggyu puts his small pinky out to brush against Hoya’s arm, reaching for him. Hoya jerks away. Sunggyu doesn’t reach for him again.
Blandly, Hoya asks, “Are you going to kill me?” His body loosens from that sentence, all the fight draining out from him. He knows that this is it; Sunggyu will point the Glock on his forehead and everything will be over.
Instead, Sunggyu’s mouth opens and closes as he works up an answer.
Hoya jerks away from him. “Don’t tell me you’ve grown attached.” He wants to laugh and laugh until he can’t feel himself think.
Sunggyu looks at him, beseeching.
Hoya wrenches open the holding cell, and stumbles out of the room. Sunggyu doesn’t follow after.
Notes:
Dongwoo, Woohyun, and Sungjong die.
Sungyeol, Myungsoo, Sunggyu, and Hoya live (at least at the end of this story).