Super Junior AU; Various Pairings; Love/War
Title: Love/War (23/?)
Fandom: Super Junior AU (Mafia)
Pairings: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul (Hankyung/Heechul), Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Kibum/Donghae, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Kangin/Eeteuk, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Pairings in Chapter: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Word Count: 3,989
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Kim family and the Choi family are the two oldest families in Seoul: where other families have been born, grown, and then fell apart, they remain strong. Unfortunately, they are mortal enemies, and where one lives alongside the law, the other is beyond any control. It's up to the new generation of members to destroy the violence between them - even if it means destroying one family in the process.
A/N: lulz I have been teasing my flist with this so much recently ♥ Sorry guys!
You would not believe how much backstory manages to fill out chapters :O
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / Chapter 19 / Chapter 20 / Chapter 21 / Chapter 22 / Chapter 23
Heechul left one hand on Hankyung’s neck and fumbled in his pocket for his mobile telephone, flicking it open and trying to dial Eeteuk with his one hand. It seemed to take him too long, the silence from everyone in the back ringing in his ears, before he managed to hit the call button and held it to his ear.
“Eeteuk? It’s Heechul. Listen, something’s - gone wrong.”
“Gone wrong?” Heechul could practically hear the frown in Eeteuk’s voice. “What do you mean, wrong, you’re not even on a job.”
“We - we were doing something and - listen, I don’t have time to explain, I just need you and Kangin to get to the hospital and meet us there, we’ll tell you everything then.”
“The hospital?” Eeteuk now sounded fearful and apprehensive.
“Bring the insurance forms with you,” said Heechul darkly. “Also, you might need some back up.”
“Heechul, what-”
“Not now, Eeteuk, just do it.” And Heechul hung up.
There was no more noise from behind them other than Kibum fumbling around, and soon the sound of the bullets were getting fainter and less, as either the speed which Hankyung was forcing from the engine pulled them away from the Choi cars behind them, or they began to run out of ammunition. Then, without warning, the shots stopped - they had passed into Kim territory.
The Choi cars stopped chasing and merely followed. The other members of the family might have been daring enough to attempt to continue, territorial claims be damned, but Choi Sikyu wasn’t willing to take that risk, and so after that Hankyung focused simply on getting them to the hospital as quickly as he possibly could, his face white.
Soon they were screeching with clichéd abandon into the parking lot of the Kim hospital, where most of their family were waiting, Eeteuk and Kangin leaning against their car. They both looked up as they burst through next to them, and then their faces turned shocked as they spotted the Choi cars braking quickly behind them, staying just outside the grounds of the hospital. Hospitals, after all, were considered more neutral that any part of the center.
Heechul got out of the car and slammed the door shut after him - Eeteuk was suddenly shrieking. “Heechul! What the fuck is going on!”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, Eeteuk!” screamed Heechul, as Hankyung too got out of the van and ran around to the back to pull the doors open. “Don’t ask questions and get a fucking stretcher and someone to run with it, okay?”
That made Eeteuk pause; Kangin took over. “Heechul, tell us what is going on.”
“Look, we don’t have time,” snapped Heechul. “Seasoning’s been shot, we need to get him some help.”
“Shot?” Eeteuk blinked, and then there was a flurry of the movement that Heechul had wanted, as Shindong and Yehsung shot off into the hospital to spread the word and Kangin came forward to help Hankyung with the doors. “What’s been going on?” Eeteuk asked weakly.
“We - we’ll explain later,” said Heechul. “It’s a bit of a long story.”
“Why are the Choi family here?” asked Eeteuk, mind still whirring, barely even hearing Heechul’s response. “What have you done now, Heechul?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” said Heechul.
“What the fuck,” came Kangin’s angry voice from around the side of the van, and when Eeteuk looked over it was to see him holding Siwon by the scruff of the neck. Heechul stormed over and tried to get him to let go. Kangin pushed him away and Heechul screamed in annoyance.
“Let him go,” he said loudly. “We rescued him, okay. That’s what’s happened. We - we rescued Siwon.”
“You rescue-“ Eeteuk stopped and sighed. “Okay,” he said. “Okay, whatever. We can discuss this later on.” By this point, a stretcher had been brought out, and Zhou Mi, still unconscious, was being loaded onto it. “Kangin,” he said. “Come on, we have to - sort out the paperwork.”
Kangin scowled. “I’m not letting go,” he said.
“I’ll come with you,” said Siwon quietly, and shook his head when Heechul protested. “I owe them - and you - an explanation.”
“That’s right,” said Kangin. “You certainly do.”
Donghae clambered out of the van at that point, and he froze when he saw the Choi cars and members standing around them. Choi Sikyu picked him out and glared at him. Donghae straightened upright; Kibum, behind him, could see the tension in his spine. Sikyu motioned for Donghae to move forward, to go to him, and Donghae turned his back onto him and started walking towards the hospital where Zhou Mi was quickly being wheeled through the doors.
***
Eunhyuk sat up as his mobile phone vibrated against his leg. He fished it out of his pocket and held it to his ear before saying cheerfully; “Yeah?”
“Eunhyuk?” Shindong’s voice was strangely solemn. “I need you to come to the hospital.”
Eunhyuk sat up a little straighter, tensing up. Tablo noticed and took his gaze off the television to look at him. “The hospital?” Eunhyuk repeated. “But - why would I have to go there?”
“There’s been an - incident,” said Shindong.
“Is it Donghae?” Eunhyuk couldn’t think of anyone else who the word ‘incident’ could be applied to, and he wasn’t even sure of whether he thought it was something stupid like he’d cut himself with a knife cooking, or something much, much worse.
“It’s not Donghae,” said Shindong heavily, as Tablo touched a hand to his waist. “It’s - I’ll explain when you get here, but I don’t think you should worry.”
Eunhyuk’s hands shook when he hung up - Shindong not thinking that he should worry was not enough for Eunhyuk. Shindong needed to be certain. Shindong needed to reassure him, that everything was fine, not explain later. Eunhyuk stood up.
“What’s going on?” asked Tablo, standing up also.
“I-” Eunhyuk faltered. “I’m not sure. I’m not sure if I can tell you anything.”
“Oh,” said Tablo.
“I’m sorry,” said Eunhyuk, hugging him tightly, trying to ignore the pounding in his chest at the thought of going to the hospital. It was not a place that anyone liked going at the best of times, but in this family, only extremities took you to the hospital - severe illness or shootings. He tightened his grip at that. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more, I-”
“Hey,” said Tablo, rubbing his hand comfortingly on his back. “You know that I understand. Your family loyalty comes before me.” He didn’t mention the one time that it hadn’t. That had been forgotten. “Where do you need to go?”
“The hospital,” whispered Eunhyuk.
“Is it your cousins?”
“Shindong said it wasn’t Donghae,” said Eunhyuk, fear suddenly gripping his chest. “But I - I didn’t think Sungmin would - what if it’s Sungmin?”
Tablo pressed his mouth to his temple and then pulled away. “Do you want me to drive you?”
“I’ll be-” said Eunhyuk, trying to pick his car keys up, but Tablo interrupted him.
“Don’t say fine. Hyuk, your fingers are shaking too hard to pick your keys up. I’ll drive you there and wait in the car park.”
There was silence in the car from Tablo’s sister’s house to the hospital, and they slowed down outside the gates at the sight of the Choi members. They were blocking the entrance. “What the fuck is going on?” asked Tablo, voice quiet and confused.
Eunhyuk didn’t know, but he didn’t think it would be anything good. There was no way of getting into the hospital, not without making all of the Choi members move. The only thing he could do was tell Tablo to park outside and walk in himself.
He doubted that any of the Choi members had ever seen him before, but it wasn’t hard to pick out a member of a family. Their suits tended to be made of visibly more expensive material, their shoes made from real leather, everything tailored to perfection - and the gun constantly at their side was a clear give away. They were on Kim territory, and so couldn’t physically do anything, but they certainly could mentally torment Eunhyuk as he walked past. “I hope your friend dies,” one hissed.
“There’s no need for hope,” laughed the man standing next to him. “I saw him getting wheeled off, he was dead as the old Kim bastard.”
Eunhyuk, in spite of the growing horror he felt, and the anger at the disrespect shown, forced himself to continue walking forward until he was through the open gates and Yehsung, waiting there for him, began to explain what had happened.
“Is he going to be okay?” whispered Eunhyuk.
There was a pause, and then; “I don’t know,” admitted Yehsung.
***
There was complete silence in the room as Heechul and Hankyung finished the story of what had happened. Eeteuk had his head in his hands; Kangin looked like he was about to explode. “What the fuck have you done?” he yelled at the end.
Heechul looked remarkably unconcerned by this. “Like you wouldn’t have done the same,” he said. That made Kangin pause.
“What on earth do you mean?”
“If Eeteuk was being held against his will, you’d want to go get him, wouldn’t you?” Heechul leant back slightly as if that was the matter dealt with.
“That is completely different, Heechul!” said Kangin after a moment of stunned silence.
“How so?” asked Heechul, leaning forward again. “Siwon was just as important to us as Eeteuk is to you.”
“Eeteuk,” said Kangin through gritted teeth, “has never lied to me nor pretended to be something he’s not. Not to mention the fact that Eeteuk is not the only son of our enemy family. What the fuck were you thinking?”
“We were thinking,” said Heechul, sounding annoyed, “that he deserved to be heard out, that he deserved a chance to give his side of his story. Look, Kangin, you wouldn’t even have spoken about it, we had to take matters into our own hands.”
“No, what you’ve done is kidnap the Choi heir,” said Kangin, seriously angry now.
“It wasn’t kidnap,” said Heechul. “It was simply taking back what was ours.”
“He wasn’t ours,” said Kangin. “He belongs to the Choi family.”
“And then he belonged to the Kim family,” said Heechul. “And then he belonged to me.”
“This is not about you, okay,” said Kangin. “This is - do you know what you could have done?”
“We know perfectly well what we’ve done,” said Heechul calmly. “Hankyung’s instincts told him to trust Siwon, and so we did. I have. I don’t know his story yet - none of us do. Shouldn’t we listen before we jump to conclusions?”
Kangin opened his mouth but Eeteuk spoke then. “You’re right,” he said heavily. Kangin turned to him, mouth hanging open in shock. “He’s right, Kangin. We can’t just ignore what happened now, we’re going to have to confront it.” Kangin made a disgusted noise. “Siwon is there. Why don’t we listen to what he has to say?”
Kangin still looked angry, but acquiesced. “Go tell him to come in,” he told Hankyung. Hankyung nodded and went to get Siwon from outside, where he was being watched by one of the guards who worked in the Kim household. Siwon entered, white and nervous in spite of Hankyung’s comforting hand on his back.
“Sit there,” said Kangin sharply, pointing to a chair. Siwon took it slowly; Hankyung sat down next to Heechul, who looked defiant but took hold of his sleeve almost frantically.
“We want to know the truth,” said Eeteuk, sounding gentle. Kangin had often joked that it was Eeteuk’s curse that he sounded kind and gentle with almost all that he said. Eeteuk saw Siwon relax a little, and frowned; a curse indeed, he didn’t want Siwon feeling comforted. “We want to know your story.”
“I’m not too sure where to start,” said Siwon, looking desperately at Eeteuk. “It’s all so - convoluted and mixed in on itself.”
“Why don’t you start from the beginning,” said Kangin in a hard voice. Siwon glanced at him, looking nervous, before glancing at Heechul and Hankyung and taking a deep breath.
“I’m like my mother,” he said abruptly, and then blinked, as if he couldn’t quite believe that he’d started. “I’m not - cruel or sadistic or anything like my father, except I wanted to be like him so much. My mother had been handed over to him as a sweetener from an old country family and she died when I was ten. I loved her so much, but I wanted to be like my father.”
“I was a constant disappointment to him. I looked the part, certainly, and as I grew up I became as - good looking, as strong, as tall as him, but I never became exactly like him. I could never order the murder of a man like him, or oversee a torture or run a slave trade. He tried to get me involved, and once I realised what was being expected off me, I refused.”
“I became an exile in my own household. He wouldn’t throw me out because he still held hopes for me, he still thought I could have my place in the family. I would spend endless amounts of time in my bedroom when I was a teenager, from the age of fourteen onwards, but once I turned eighteen, I was more out of the household than I was in. I guess that worked for me.”
He looked across at Heechul and Hankyung again and when he continued his voice was softer. “I was out one night when I ran into - I wasn’t sure, but I thought they were Kim members. I’d never met any, and my father had told me stories about them. He said that the only reason the Choi family had to do what they did was because the Kim family forced them too. The Kim family was so deeply disturbed that the Choi family had to be harsh and cruel to stop them from attacking us. Look at the Park family, he said. The Kim family had stolen their heir and then they had been destroyed.”
“It had been pushed onto me, the mantra of ‘hate the Kim family’, the belief that what we did was necessary, but when I saw the two men in suits sitting in the corner of the bar, I wondered. They weren’t anything like what I had been told. They were quiet, for one. They just sat there and drank together and didn’t disturb anyone, and I knew that if that had been Choi members, they would have been loud and demanding free drinks and waving their guns around. But they didn’t.”
“I thought they were good looking. I thought they looked nice. Nice in my family is something to be exploited, so I made a choice. I was going to go over there and work on them and try to get some information.”
There was silence for a moment or two while he seemed to gather his thoughts together. “I wanted to please my father still. You - It killed me that I was such a disappointment to him, and if I couldn’t follow his teachings, so to speak, maybe getting information on the Kim family would help him to look at me in a light that wasn’t completely tainted with disappointment, and so I went over to talk to them.”
“They were impossible to get information out of. They gave nothing away and distracted me from my questions with humour and misdirection. It was intriguing, they were amusing, I liked them. When they left, I had found out nothing, but that wasn’t a problem then, because I hadn’t lost anything either.”
“The second time took me by surprise. I don’t even know why I was in that bar that day, I had just ended up there, and then they came in and started talking to me. I had to struggle to remember what I’d said and what story I’d given. I’d chosen, quickly, to give the name of a childhood friend as my own, who had died and who couldn’t object to it. I used what should have been his life story as my own. I did all I could to get anything out of them, and yet, they didn’t yield.”
“I yielded. I couldn’t do it any more, I was - attracted to both of them, I liked the way they worked. They were amusing and witty and good looking and I was interested in their family. I knew exactly who they were, that they were members of the Kim family, and it wasn’t hard to find out what I needed to know. With Heechul, it was matter of asking around; with Hankyung, well, my father has a file on him. I simply took a look at it when he wasn’t there.”
“I asked to join the family eventually and I enlisted the Han family to help me. They owed a lot to me, they were willing to help me in whatever way I wanted. You know how it happened, I joined your family, but - and I can admit it - I still harboured thoughts of gaining information and taking it to my father so he could use it against you.”
“I don’t know when that changed. Maybe once I saw how much of a family you were, rather than a hierarchy like in the Choi family. You got on so well, you would have died for one another, rather than killing each other to raise yourself up. You were everything different to the Choi family, and I was welcomed and I loved it.
“I learnt things that had previously been kept from me. I heard your stories, of Donghae-hyung who had almost had his life destroyed by a Choi member, of Sungmin-hyung who had been enslaved. There was nothing in the Kim family that the Choi family had to protect themselves against to the extent of cold-blooded murder and everything else that they get up to. I realised that my father had lied to me, and I began to talk back to him and confront him more. He didn’t like it and so I avoided him wherever I could, so that I wouldn’t be in a position to anger him. And then, I fell in love.”
He fell silent again for a minute, looking at his hands gripping his knees. “It killed me,” he said finally, looking up to look Kangin in the eye. “Knowing that I was lying to - not only to them but to the entire family who had taken me in. I loved everyone, but it was different with them, I - I can’t begin to describe how I felt when they welcomed me into their relationship, and what was I supposed to do, when they thought I was someone I wasn’t, when I was the son of their worst enemy? I couldn’t deny my feelings, they knew them as well as I did, and they wanted - I wanted it too bad, so I just gave in.”
“I hoped so hard that I wouldn’t get found out - impossible, but I was in too deep. I would lie awake in my bed in the Choi estate, listening to the men shouting out in the yard, listening sometimes to the screams of the girls down in the servant’s quarters when the men got bored, and wonder how I could get out of this life without making it obvious who I was. I put off confessing and then it was too late and I’d ruined everything. My father told you who I was, and I lost everything.”
“You asked for the truth, and that’s it. I started off, yes, with hopes of pleasing my father and so I worked on the two men that I had met to see if I could break one of them and get some information that I could use. When I joined the family, that was even better; the work I was given wasn’t much but soon, I reasoned, I would be given so much more and be able to take it to the Choi family. That changed, I ended up believing in the Kim family so much that I gave you information on the Choi family instead, on my own father, but I don’t believe that it’s enough to make up for what I did to begin with. I haven’t been able to forgive myself for lying to you, so I don’t expect you to. I just wanted a chance to tell you the full story.”
There was silence when he finished, silence that seemed to go on forever to Siwon. Then, sighing, Kangin turned to Eeteuk and raised an eyebrow. Eeteuk nodded. “Hankyung,” he said. “Could you take Siwon back outside - and stay with him? We want to talk to Heechul.”
“Of course,” said Hankyung, the first thing he had said since they had arrived at the hospital. His fear for Zhou Mi was almost as bad as Kyuhyun’s - the other Chinese man was still in surgery, and there had been no word yet on his condition. Hankyung stood and held the door open for Siwon, who glanced back at Heechul before walking out. Before the door shut, they could see Siwon touch Hankyung on the shoulder, and Hankyung hug him briefly.
Kangin sighed again. “Well, I don’t know what you want us to do now, Heechul,” he said.
“Forgive him,” said Heechul promptly.
“It’s not that easy, Heechul,” said Eeteuk, a lot more patiently than Kangin could have managed at that point. “He still lied to us, and he’s still the son of our enemy.”
"We trusted him," said Kangin. "And he totally betrayed us."
"But then - but then he didn't, did he?" Eeteuk looked like he was talking himself into confusion.
"He did," said Heechul. "He did betray us, but then he changed. He's a member of the Choi family, but he's already pledged his allegiance to the Kim family. He wants to be forgiven. Is there any way that he can ever go back to the Choi family now? You didn't see it, Kangin. He shot at his own family when they tried to shoot at us."
Kangin was silent for a moment. "Heechul, I don't know."
Heechul, Kangin knew, only ever looked angry, amused, or blank, but now he looked serious and sincere, and that meant something. "Kangin, he loves this family, and you know that he does. He has nowhere else to go, and if - if you take him back, if you allow him to return to this family, I will - take full responsibility for him. He’s a Kim, because he - god, Kangin, don’t make me say that I love him in order to get him to stay.”
“I know how you feel about him, but I don’t-” Kangin stopped, a thought striking him. “Heechul,” he said. “Could you leave for a minute or two? I need to talk to Eeteuk for a moment.”
Eeteuk looked at him with some confusion, but Heechul just stood up and tossed his hair back angrily. “Fine,” he said. “But just know that if you don’t forgive him, I’ll run away.”
“It will be good riddance,” said Kangin absent-mindedly, and Heechul just glared at him before walking out of the room and closing the door after him. Siwon, sitting on a chair next to the opposite wall, stood up suddenly as he came out, and Heechul walked up to him, wrapped his arms around him waist and buried his face in his neck. Hankyung also stood up and rested his head on Siwon’s shoulder.
“God,” said Heechul, and he would later claim that his voice was thick only because he was speaking through the material of Siwon’s shirt. “Do anything like this again and I will murder you, not rescue you.”
“Thank you, hyung,” said Siwon softly.
Fandom: Super Junior AU (Mafia)
Pairings: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul (Hankyung/Heechul), Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Kibum/Donghae, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Kangin/Eeteuk, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Pairings in Chapter: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Word Count: 3,989
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Kim family and the Choi family are the two oldest families in Seoul: where other families have been born, grown, and then fell apart, they remain strong. Unfortunately, they are mortal enemies, and where one lives alongside the law, the other is beyond any control. It's up to the new generation of members to destroy the violence between them - even if it means destroying one family in the process.
A/N: lulz I have been teasing my flist with this so much recently ♥ Sorry guys!
You would not believe how much backstory manages to fill out chapters :O
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / Chapter 19 / Chapter 20 / Chapter 21 / Chapter 22 / Chapter 23
Heechul left one hand on Hankyung’s neck and fumbled in his pocket for his mobile telephone, flicking it open and trying to dial Eeteuk with his one hand. It seemed to take him too long, the silence from everyone in the back ringing in his ears, before he managed to hit the call button and held it to his ear.
“Eeteuk? It’s Heechul. Listen, something’s - gone wrong.”
“Gone wrong?” Heechul could practically hear the frown in Eeteuk’s voice. “What do you mean, wrong, you’re not even on a job.”
“We - we were doing something and - listen, I don’t have time to explain, I just need you and Kangin to get to the hospital and meet us there, we’ll tell you everything then.”
“The hospital?” Eeteuk now sounded fearful and apprehensive.
“Bring the insurance forms with you,” said Heechul darkly. “Also, you might need some back up.”
“Heechul, what-”
“Not now, Eeteuk, just do it.” And Heechul hung up.
There was no more noise from behind them other than Kibum fumbling around, and soon the sound of the bullets were getting fainter and less, as either the speed which Hankyung was forcing from the engine pulled them away from the Choi cars behind them, or they began to run out of ammunition. Then, without warning, the shots stopped - they had passed into Kim territory.
The Choi cars stopped chasing and merely followed. The other members of the family might have been daring enough to attempt to continue, territorial claims be damned, but Choi Sikyu wasn’t willing to take that risk, and so after that Hankyung focused simply on getting them to the hospital as quickly as he possibly could, his face white.
Soon they were screeching with clichéd abandon into the parking lot of the Kim hospital, where most of their family were waiting, Eeteuk and Kangin leaning against their car. They both looked up as they burst through next to them, and then their faces turned shocked as they spotted the Choi cars braking quickly behind them, staying just outside the grounds of the hospital. Hospitals, after all, were considered more neutral that any part of the center.
Heechul got out of the car and slammed the door shut after him - Eeteuk was suddenly shrieking. “Heechul! What the fuck is going on!”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, Eeteuk!” screamed Heechul, as Hankyung too got out of the van and ran around to the back to pull the doors open. “Don’t ask questions and get a fucking stretcher and someone to run with it, okay?”
That made Eeteuk pause; Kangin took over. “Heechul, tell us what is going on.”
“Look, we don’t have time,” snapped Heechul. “Seasoning’s been shot, we need to get him some help.”
“Shot?” Eeteuk blinked, and then there was a flurry of the movement that Heechul had wanted, as Shindong and Yehsung shot off into the hospital to spread the word and Kangin came forward to help Hankyung with the doors. “What’s been going on?” Eeteuk asked weakly.
“We - we’ll explain later,” said Heechul. “It’s a bit of a long story.”
“Why are the Choi family here?” asked Eeteuk, mind still whirring, barely even hearing Heechul’s response. “What have you done now, Heechul?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” said Heechul.
“What the fuck,” came Kangin’s angry voice from around the side of the van, and when Eeteuk looked over it was to see him holding Siwon by the scruff of the neck. Heechul stormed over and tried to get him to let go. Kangin pushed him away and Heechul screamed in annoyance.
“Let him go,” he said loudly. “We rescued him, okay. That’s what’s happened. We - we rescued Siwon.”
“You rescue-“ Eeteuk stopped and sighed. “Okay,” he said. “Okay, whatever. We can discuss this later on.” By this point, a stretcher had been brought out, and Zhou Mi, still unconscious, was being loaded onto it. “Kangin,” he said. “Come on, we have to - sort out the paperwork.”
Kangin scowled. “I’m not letting go,” he said.
“I’ll come with you,” said Siwon quietly, and shook his head when Heechul protested. “I owe them - and you - an explanation.”
“That’s right,” said Kangin. “You certainly do.”
Donghae clambered out of the van at that point, and he froze when he saw the Choi cars and members standing around them. Choi Sikyu picked him out and glared at him. Donghae straightened upright; Kibum, behind him, could see the tension in his spine. Sikyu motioned for Donghae to move forward, to go to him, and Donghae turned his back onto him and started walking towards the hospital where Zhou Mi was quickly being wheeled through the doors.
***
Eunhyuk sat up as his mobile phone vibrated against his leg. He fished it out of his pocket and held it to his ear before saying cheerfully; “Yeah?”
“Eunhyuk?” Shindong’s voice was strangely solemn. “I need you to come to the hospital.”
Eunhyuk sat up a little straighter, tensing up. Tablo noticed and took his gaze off the television to look at him. “The hospital?” Eunhyuk repeated. “But - why would I have to go there?”
“There’s been an - incident,” said Shindong.
“Is it Donghae?” Eunhyuk couldn’t think of anyone else who the word ‘incident’ could be applied to, and he wasn’t even sure of whether he thought it was something stupid like he’d cut himself with a knife cooking, or something much, much worse.
“It’s not Donghae,” said Shindong heavily, as Tablo touched a hand to his waist. “It’s - I’ll explain when you get here, but I don’t think you should worry.”
Eunhyuk’s hands shook when he hung up - Shindong not thinking that he should worry was not enough for Eunhyuk. Shindong needed to be certain. Shindong needed to reassure him, that everything was fine, not explain later. Eunhyuk stood up.
“What’s going on?” asked Tablo, standing up also.
“I-” Eunhyuk faltered. “I’m not sure. I’m not sure if I can tell you anything.”
“Oh,” said Tablo.
“I’m sorry,” said Eunhyuk, hugging him tightly, trying to ignore the pounding in his chest at the thought of going to the hospital. It was not a place that anyone liked going at the best of times, but in this family, only extremities took you to the hospital - severe illness or shootings. He tightened his grip at that. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more, I-”
“Hey,” said Tablo, rubbing his hand comfortingly on his back. “You know that I understand. Your family loyalty comes before me.” He didn’t mention the one time that it hadn’t. That had been forgotten. “Where do you need to go?”
“The hospital,” whispered Eunhyuk.
“Is it your cousins?”
“Shindong said it wasn’t Donghae,” said Eunhyuk, fear suddenly gripping his chest. “But I - I didn’t think Sungmin would - what if it’s Sungmin?”
Tablo pressed his mouth to his temple and then pulled away. “Do you want me to drive you?”
“I’ll be-” said Eunhyuk, trying to pick his car keys up, but Tablo interrupted him.
“Don’t say fine. Hyuk, your fingers are shaking too hard to pick your keys up. I’ll drive you there and wait in the car park.”
There was silence in the car from Tablo’s sister’s house to the hospital, and they slowed down outside the gates at the sight of the Choi members. They were blocking the entrance. “What the fuck is going on?” asked Tablo, voice quiet and confused.
Eunhyuk didn’t know, but he didn’t think it would be anything good. There was no way of getting into the hospital, not without making all of the Choi members move. The only thing he could do was tell Tablo to park outside and walk in himself.
He doubted that any of the Choi members had ever seen him before, but it wasn’t hard to pick out a member of a family. Their suits tended to be made of visibly more expensive material, their shoes made from real leather, everything tailored to perfection - and the gun constantly at their side was a clear give away. They were on Kim territory, and so couldn’t physically do anything, but they certainly could mentally torment Eunhyuk as he walked past. “I hope your friend dies,” one hissed.
“There’s no need for hope,” laughed the man standing next to him. “I saw him getting wheeled off, he was dead as the old Kim bastard.”
Eunhyuk, in spite of the growing horror he felt, and the anger at the disrespect shown, forced himself to continue walking forward until he was through the open gates and Yehsung, waiting there for him, began to explain what had happened.
“Is he going to be okay?” whispered Eunhyuk.
There was a pause, and then; “I don’t know,” admitted Yehsung.
***
There was complete silence in the room as Heechul and Hankyung finished the story of what had happened. Eeteuk had his head in his hands; Kangin looked like he was about to explode. “What the fuck have you done?” he yelled at the end.
Heechul looked remarkably unconcerned by this. “Like you wouldn’t have done the same,” he said. That made Kangin pause.
“What on earth do you mean?”
“If Eeteuk was being held against his will, you’d want to go get him, wouldn’t you?” Heechul leant back slightly as if that was the matter dealt with.
“That is completely different, Heechul!” said Kangin after a moment of stunned silence.
“How so?” asked Heechul, leaning forward again. “Siwon was just as important to us as Eeteuk is to you.”
“Eeteuk,” said Kangin through gritted teeth, “has never lied to me nor pretended to be something he’s not. Not to mention the fact that Eeteuk is not the only son of our enemy family. What the fuck were you thinking?”
“We were thinking,” said Heechul, sounding annoyed, “that he deserved to be heard out, that he deserved a chance to give his side of his story. Look, Kangin, you wouldn’t even have spoken about it, we had to take matters into our own hands.”
“No, what you’ve done is kidnap the Choi heir,” said Kangin, seriously angry now.
“It wasn’t kidnap,” said Heechul. “It was simply taking back what was ours.”
“He wasn’t ours,” said Kangin. “He belongs to the Choi family.”
“And then he belonged to the Kim family,” said Heechul. “And then he belonged to me.”
“This is not about you, okay,” said Kangin. “This is - do you know what you could have done?”
“We know perfectly well what we’ve done,” said Heechul calmly. “Hankyung’s instincts told him to trust Siwon, and so we did. I have. I don’t know his story yet - none of us do. Shouldn’t we listen before we jump to conclusions?”
Kangin opened his mouth but Eeteuk spoke then. “You’re right,” he said heavily. Kangin turned to him, mouth hanging open in shock. “He’s right, Kangin. We can’t just ignore what happened now, we’re going to have to confront it.” Kangin made a disgusted noise. “Siwon is there. Why don’t we listen to what he has to say?”
Kangin still looked angry, but acquiesced. “Go tell him to come in,” he told Hankyung. Hankyung nodded and went to get Siwon from outside, where he was being watched by one of the guards who worked in the Kim household. Siwon entered, white and nervous in spite of Hankyung’s comforting hand on his back.
“Sit there,” said Kangin sharply, pointing to a chair. Siwon took it slowly; Hankyung sat down next to Heechul, who looked defiant but took hold of his sleeve almost frantically.
“We want to know the truth,” said Eeteuk, sounding gentle. Kangin had often joked that it was Eeteuk’s curse that he sounded kind and gentle with almost all that he said. Eeteuk saw Siwon relax a little, and frowned; a curse indeed, he didn’t want Siwon feeling comforted. “We want to know your story.”
“I’m not too sure where to start,” said Siwon, looking desperately at Eeteuk. “It’s all so - convoluted and mixed in on itself.”
“Why don’t you start from the beginning,” said Kangin in a hard voice. Siwon glanced at him, looking nervous, before glancing at Heechul and Hankyung and taking a deep breath.
“I’m like my mother,” he said abruptly, and then blinked, as if he couldn’t quite believe that he’d started. “I’m not - cruel or sadistic or anything like my father, except I wanted to be like him so much. My mother had been handed over to him as a sweetener from an old country family and she died when I was ten. I loved her so much, but I wanted to be like my father.”
“I was a constant disappointment to him. I looked the part, certainly, and as I grew up I became as - good looking, as strong, as tall as him, but I never became exactly like him. I could never order the murder of a man like him, or oversee a torture or run a slave trade. He tried to get me involved, and once I realised what was being expected off me, I refused.”
“I became an exile in my own household. He wouldn’t throw me out because he still held hopes for me, he still thought I could have my place in the family. I would spend endless amounts of time in my bedroom when I was a teenager, from the age of fourteen onwards, but once I turned eighteen, I was more out of the household than I was in. I guess that worked for me.”
He looked across at Heechul and Hankyung again and when he continued his voice was softer. “I was out one night when I ran into - I wasn’t sure, but I thought they were Kim members. I’d never met any, and my father had told me stories about them. He said that the only reason the Choi family had to do what they did was because the Kim family forced them too. The Kim family was so deeply disturbed that the Choi family had to be harsh and cruel to stop them from attacking us. Look at the Park family, he said. The Kim family had stolen their heir and then they had been destroyed.”
“It had been pushed onto me, the mantra of ‘hate the Kim family’, the belief that what we did was necessary, but when I saw the two men in suits sitting in the corner of the bar, I wondered. They weren’t anything like what I had been told. They were quiet, for one. They just sat there and drank together and didn’t disturb anyone, and I knew that if that had been Choi members, they would have been loud and demanding free drinks and waving their guns around. But they didn’t.”
“I thought they were good looking. I thought they looked nice. Nice in my family is something to be exploited, so I made a choice. I was going to go over there and work on them and try to get some information.”
There was silence for a moment or two while he seemed to gather his thoughts together. “I wanted to please my father still. You - It killed me that I was such a disappointment to him, and if I couldn’t follow his teachings, so to speak, maybe getting information on the Kim family would help him to look at me in a light that wasn’t completely tainted with disappointment, and so I went over to talk to them.”
“They were impossible to get information out of. They gave nothing away and distracted me from my questions with humour and misdirection. It was intriguing, they were amusing, I liked them. When they left, I had found out nothing, but that wasn’t a problem then, because I hadn’t lost anything either.”
“The second time took me by surprise. I don’t even know why I was in that bar that day, I had just ended up there, and then they came in and started talking to me. I had to struggle to remember what I’d said and what story I’d given. I’d chosen, quickly, to give the name of a childhood friend as my own, who had died and who couldn’t object to it. I used what should have been his life story as my own. I did all I could to get anything out of them, and yet, they didn’t yield.”
“I yielded. I couldn’t do it any more, I was - attracted to both of them, I liked the way they worked. They were amusing and witty and good looking and I was interested in their family. I knew exactly who they were, that they were members of the Kim family, and it wasn’t hard to find out what I needed to know. With Heechul, it was matter of asking around; with Hankyung, well, my father has a file on him. I simply took a look at it when he wasn’t there.”
“I asked to join the family eventually and I enlisted the Han family to help me. They owed a lot to me, they were willing to help me in whatever way I wanted. You know how it happened, I joined your family, but - and I can admit it - I still harboured thoughts of gaining information and taking it to my father so he could use it against you.”
“I don’t know when that changed. Maybe once I saw how much of a family you were, rather than a hierarchy like in the Choi family. You got on so well, you would have died for one another, rather than killing each other to raise yourself up. You were everything different to the Choi family, and I was welcomed and I loved it.
“I learnt things that had previously been kept from me. I heard your stories, of Donghae-hyung who had almost had his life destroyed by a Choi member, of Sungmin-hyung who had been enslaved. There was nothing in the Kim family that the Choi family had to protect themselves against to the extent of cold-blooded murder and everything else that they get up to. I realised that my father had lied to me, and I began to talk back to him and confront him more. He didn’t like it and so I avoided him wherever I could, so that I wouldn’t be in a position to anger him. And then, I fell in love.”
He fell silent again for a minute, looking at his hands gripping his knees. “It killed me,” he said finally, looking up to look Kangin in the eye. “Knowing that I was lying to - not only to them but to the entire family who had taken me in. I loved everyone, but it was different with them, I - I can’t begin to describe how I felt when they welcomed me into their relationship, and what was I supposed to do, when they thought I was someone I wasn’t, when I was the son of their worst enemy? I couldn’t deny my feelings, they knew them as well as I did, and they wanted - I wanted it too bad, so I just gave in.”
“I hoped so hard that I wouldn’t get found out - impossible, but I was in too deep. I would lie awake in my bed in the Choi estate, listening to the men shouting out in the yard, listening sometimes to the screams of the girls down in the servant’s quarters when the men got bored, and wonder how I could get out of this life without making it obvious who I was. I put off confessing and then it was too late and I’d ruined everything. My father told you who I was, and I lost everything.”
“You asked for the truth, and that’s it. I started off, yes, with hopes of pleasing my father and so I worked on the two men that I had met to see if I could break one of them and get some information that I could use. When I joined the family, that was even better; the work I was given wasn’t much but soon, I reasoned, I would be given so much more and be able to take it to the Choi family. That changed, I ended up believing in the Kim family so much that I gave you information on the Choi family instead, on my own father, but I don’t believe that it’s enough to make up for what I did to begin with. I haven’t been able to forgive myself for lying to you, so I don’t expect you to. I just wanted a chance to tell you the full story.”
There was silence when he finished, silence that seemed to go on forever to Siwon. Then, sighing, Kangin turned to Eeteuk and raised an eyebrow. Eeteuk nodded. “Hankyung,” he said. “Could you take Siwon back outside - and stay with him? We want to talk to Heechul.”
“Of course,” said Hankyung, the first thing he had said since they had arrived at the hospital. His fear for Zhou Mi was almost as bad as Kyuhyun’s - the other Chinese man was still in surgery, and there had been no word yet on his condition. Hankyung stood and held the door open for Siwon, who glanced back at Heechul before walking out. Before the door shut, they could see Siwon touch Hankyung on the shoulder, and Hankyung hug him briefly.
Kangin sighed again. “Well, I don’t know what you want us to do now, Heechul,” he said.
“Forgive him,” said Heechul promptly.
“It’s not that easy, Heechul,” said Eeteuk, a lot more patiently than Kangin could have managed at that point. “He still lied to us, and he’s still the son of our enemy.”
"We trusted him," said Kangin. "And he totally betrayed us."
"But then - but then he didn't, did he?" Eeteuk looked like he was talking himself into confusion.
"He did," said Heechul. "He did betray us, but then he changed. He's a member of the Choi family, but he's already pledged his allegiance to the Kim family. He wants to be forgiven. Is there any way that he can ever go back to the Choi family now? You didn't see it, Kangin. He shot at his own family when they tried to shoot at us."
Kangin was silent for a moment. "Heechul, I don't know."
Heechul, Kangin knew, only ever looked angry, amused, or blank, but now he looked serious and sincere, and that meant something. "Kangin, he loves this family, and you know that he does. He has nowhere else to go, and if - if you take him back, if you allow him to return to this family, I will - take full responsibility for him. He’s a Kim, because he - god, Kangin, don’t make me say that I love him in order to get him to stay.”
“I know how you feel about him, but I don’t-” Kangin stopped, a thought striking him. “Heechul,” he said. “Could you leave for a minute or two? I need to talk to Eeteuk for a moment.”
Eeteuk looked at him with some confusion, but Heechul just stood up and tossed his hair back angrily. “Fine,” he said. “But just know that if you don’t forgive him, I’ll run away.”
“It will be good riddance,” said Kangin absent-mindedly, and Heechul just glared at him before walking out of the room and closing the door after him. Siwon, sitting on a chair next to the opposite wall, stood up suddenly as he came out, and Heechul walked up to him, wrapped his arms around him waist and buried his face in his neck. Hankyung also stood up and rested his head on Siwon’s shoulder.
“God,” said Heechul, and he would later claim that his voice was thick only because he was speaking through the material of Siwon’s shirt. “Do anything like this again and I will murder you, not rescue you.”
“Thank you, hyung,” said Siwon softly.