The Scattered Stars Effect part seven
Pairing: HimUp
Rated: PG13
Length: 6.2K
song
part six
“You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Jongup rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes and steeled himself before he could respond.
“I thought I would be getting a cab. Why’d they send you?”
Youngjae grabbed Jongup’s bag as soon as they were out of the airport and opened it without asking. He had no reason to ask permission. Jongup could play by their rules or he would be destroyed, that was really all there was to it.
“Just making sure you didn’t sneak a tracker in.” He ran a tiny wand that he had pulled out of his pocket over the bag, listening for a beep. “Can’t trust someone who runs away.”
“I finished my last job just like I was ordered to. I even trained a replacement for them.” Jongup took his bag back with annoyance. They should have known he wouldn’t risk himself when his life was on the line. And he had no doubt that they knew all about what he had been up to in his time away. So not only was he there for his own freedom but he had to protect Himchan and Hayoung as well.
Wincing, he pushed those names out of his head. He would never make it out of this in one piece if he kept thinking about what he had left behind.
“They’re cute.” His picture, the only thing from home he refused to leave behind, was waved in front of him. “Must be pretty important to you.”
“If anything happens to them I will tear you apart, limb from limb.” Jongup kept his voice calm but grabbed angrily at his picture.
Youngjae laughed loudly as he willingly let the picture go. “You came back feistier. Seongwook is going to love that. Oh and that ‘replacement’ you trained? Worthless. The only thing he has working for him is that he’s small and good with locks. He was caught twice and barely made it out of the police cars. Boss refuses to give him a job this big.”
So that’s why they were searching for him so strongly. Jongup was the best at his job, of that he had zero doubt, but he had hoped that with a dependable replacement they wouldn’t waste so much time and money trying to find him.
Apparently Daehyun wasn’t as talented as Jongup had hoped he’d be.
“I don’t know what you thought you were doing back in Korea.” Youngjae pointed towards a car idling on the curb where the shapes of two oversized men could be seen through the back window. “Thinking someone like you could have a normal life. Did you tell them what you are? Do they know the things you’ve done?”
No, but if this was as big of a job as Jongup was under the assumption it would be, then they would probably know before too long. He had no expectations that he would make it out of this as a free man.
He just hoped that they would remember the man they had known and cared for and not the one they would soon be reading about in the papers.
Just Jongup.
Just papa.
---
The warehouse he was taken to wasn’t the one he was familiar with so they must have been discovered at some point while he was away. This one was outside the city with a gated entry that required Youngjae to scan his retina for it to open.
“You guys have moved up in the world.” Jongup remarked, staring at the two story building. He could see bars on the windows and a reinforced door that would give them more time for escaping if the situation came up. “Where’d you find this place at?”
“Seongwook won it in a poker game. He’d had his eye on it for years. The Swedish branch had bought it about ten years ago and had no use for it.” Youngjae waved up at the camera mounted above the door until a click sounded and let them inside.
Jongup followed him through the empty rooms and into the maze of hallways in the back. He walked past so many identical closed doors that he figured he would never be able to make it in and out of this place on his own which is exactly what they were going for.
“Hey stranger.” A grinning face popped out of one of the rooms. “Sorry they dragged you back. I offered to do it for them but,” Daehyun shrugged in embarrassment. “They said I wasn’t good enough.”
He had kind of liked Daehyun. He was loud sometimes but it was always with laughter or a joke to break the tension their work always surrounded them in. Of course Jongup had no problem throwing him to the wolves so that he could make his escape. That was how they had taught him after all. You were a team until you had to save yourself. Then you were on your own.
“It’s good to see you, Daehyun.” Jongup allowed the awkward hug the older boy pulled him into. “Heard you got into a bit of trouble while I was gone.”
“I had it under control.” A tiny piece of wire slid out from between Daehyun’s teeth. “It took a long time to get used to it but keeping this inside my cheek has saved my ass more times than I can count.”
Youngjae shoved Daehyun playfully out of the way. “He just needs something to save himself when he screws up. I told him none of us are going out of our way to bail him out of jail and if he rats us out then he’s done for so he took matters into his own hands.” The smile on his lips indicated humor but Jongup knew there was nothing joking about his words at all. They would leave you to rot in a jail cell for the rest of your life. Youngjae was the one to be the most worried about and he hoped Daehyun had figured that out for himself already. You never trusted a man who grinned at you with a knife held up behind his back.
“So how long is this going to take?”
“As long as we need it to.” A booming voice made them all jump as their boss walked purposefully towards them. His eyes were boring holes into Jongup and a small smile quirked up the corner of his thin lips. “Welcome back. Sorry to force you here against your will, but well…” He reached the small group and made the already tiny hallway feel miniscule. “When you abandon your family you should know we’ll do whatever it takes to get you back, Moon.”
He bowed his head politely and tried to calm down the tremble in his jaw as he raised back up. “Hello Seongwook.”
A large hand stroked through his hair gently but Jongup wasn’t fooled by the tender touch. It only served to make him on his guard even more and he braced himself for what had to be coming next.
“You know what happens when I’m not pleased.” The soft voice whispered across his ear making disgust and bile fill Jongup’s throat. “You know what happens when you disobey me.”
Jongup expected the blow across his cheek but the ring on his middle finger was new and brought a whole new aspect of pain to the punishment he was used to receiving when he messed up. He dropped to the floor with a gasp, hand cupping the pounding wound already stained a bright red on his skin. The square ring had sliced a cut across his cheekbone and he could feel warm blood sneaking through his fingers.
“Get him cleaned up.” Jongup was too dizzy to push Youngjae and Daehyun’s help away as they lifted him to his feet. “We have a lot of work to do.”
---
Every step he took on the way back to his apartment he felt dozens of eyes on him. This treasure he held was worth more than gold to him and every person he passed he worried they would grab for it and it would be gone. He couldn’t lose another piece of Jongup. His last piece.
The final few feet to his apartment were the hardest. It took him three tries to get his key inserted correctly and by the time he had it entered the right direction he was ready to tear the door off its hinges with his bare hands.
“What were you hiding Jongup?” He murmured, beginning to unwind the tape from around the box. It piled up beside him as he removed more and more of it. Whatever Jongup had put in here, he wanted it to stay shut tight.
The expression on his face when he carefully lifted the lid was a cross between trepidation and relief. Newspaper clippings and a bundle of black zip-top bags were thrown haphazardly into the bottom of the box. Why he had been expecting a severed head or vials of blood, Himchan didn’t know.
He pulled the pile of newspapers out and spread them on the floor so he could see what was so important about them that Jongup had wanted to keep them locked up and hidden from his eyes.
Four-hundred year old painting stolen from the Louvre
Art heist at Osaka National Museum
Byzantine painting found to be forgery
Himchan read through the dozens of articles with growing awareness. Why Jongup was so interested in art. Why Jongup refused to go to the museum with them. Why he never wanted to talk about where he came from.
Every scene is signed with a stamp of a crescent. Officials have informed us that they have all been verified to be from the same criminal. Nothing about the thief is known except for this tiny signature so they are referring to him as Moon until further information is discovered.
“Oh god, Jongup.” Himchan picked up the black bag on top with terror. He thought he knew what was inside them now and even though he didn’t want to look he couldn’t turn away if his life depended on it. “What have you done?”
Bundles of money spilled out of the bag onto the floor. There was more than he could possibly count and if this was only one bag then between all of them there had to be close to a half a million dollars.
He shoved the bills back into the bag, his heart racing so rapidly that he halfway wondered if the neighbors could hear it. Guilt poured through him at what Jongup had done. This was why he left. He had left them for another job. But why? There was more enough money here and in his bank accounts to last Jongup the rest of his life. If he had all of this money there was no reason for him to live like a pauper. Himchan was so confused that his head throbbed.
A phone number hastily scrawled across the bottom of the lid caught his attention. His fingers pushed the numbers into his phone without a second thought on what would happen if the other party picked up.
“Took you long enough.”
Himchan tried hard to forget all of his worries at the sound of Jongup’s voice on the other end of the line. The soft, gentle tone that made his bones melt and his chest flutter.
“She didn’t tell me about the key until today. Whose number is this?”
Jongup laughed, the vibrations traveling through Himchan’s ear and straight into his heart. No matter what happened, no matter what this was between them, he shouldn’t have doubted him. Jongup always fixed things.
“I had to throw my old one away so I packed a burner phone in my boot. How’s our princess?”
Himchan needed him home, Hayoung needed him home.
“She misses you like crazy.”
Jongup hummed in reply. “I miss her, too. Every night I wonder if you’re reading to her and I forgot to tell you she liked strawberry jelly on her toast, not that disgusting apple jelly you bought. And she has a play at school next month so you really need to have her costume done a couple of weeks in advance because the teacher said they have to approve it and-“
“Don’t.” His voice cracked and he couldn’t listen anymore to Jongup talk about their daily lives because he wasn’t here anymore, he didn’t deserve to know what Hayoung was doing. He left them.
“Aren’t you going to ask?”
Are you eating well? Do you miss us so badly that you can’t breathe? Why can I still feel your fingertips on my skin? Himchan had so many questions he could have asked that the one Jongup was looking for stayed far back in his mind.
He sighed as he lay on his back, reaching his arm to the side to keep a grip on the box. Jongup’s hands had held this and he didn’t know how he would ever let it go. “Do I really need to?”
“I told you I wasn’t a bad guy, Himchan. Just that I’ve done bad things. But I’ve never hurt anyone that didn’t deserve it and I don’t even like to touch that money. Please don’t think of me as something horrible now. I couldn’t live knowing that you were ashamed of me.” Jongup’s voice faltered over the phone making Himchan close his eyes because he was too far away to touch him. “Himchan, my life with you and Hayoung is real. I tell you this all the time because it’s the truth and I would never lie to you. You’re the only honest thing I’ve ever had. You’re my family. You’re everything. I only want to come home to you.”
“Why did you leave us then?” He was growing desperate to have Jongup home, in his apartment, where he could tell him everything that he wasn’t brave enough to say before. “Come home. If we’re so important to you then why did you abandon us?”
Jongup was quiet for a while on the other end. “I had two options given to me. Come back for one more job or there would be an anonymous tip sent in about Moon’s real identity. If I do this last one then I’ll have enough money for us to disappear. You, me and Hayoung. We can go anywhere you want, just the three of us. I left you that money so that you could meet me. Pack Hayoung up and just fly wherever you want and I’ll be there waiting. I don’t care where it is I just need to be with you two. Nothing else matters.”
“I can’t, Jongup.” Come home, just come home. “You know I can’t leave. I have a job and she has school and my parents-“
“We can move to America. Or Tokyo. You said you’ve always wanted travel to Italy. We can go there and buy a farm or a vineyard; I don’t care, just…” This time Jongup did break, his voice thick with tears and promises. “Please.”
The sound of Jongup’s sobs tore his soul apart. They were miles apart and he couldn’t wipe his tears, couldn’t fix him like Jongup had always fixed them.
Himchan suddenly realized that besides Hayoung he had never wanted to be the one to comfort someone before. The sound of crying had never tugged at him like it did with Jongup and he wasn’t naïve enough to not recognize the feelings of need Jongup always brought out in him. Things between them were muddled and blurry but he was okay with that for now. Sometimes clarity came over time and he would have waited. But Jongup running away put everything out in the open and Himchan wasn’t okay anymore. “I can’t.”
“But I love you.”
The confession was whispered from an unknown distance but Himchan could have sworn he felt the warm breath on the shell of his ear from Jongup’s lips.
He had known for months now. He had known and had pushed it to the side to think about later. There was supposed to always be a later. Every day Jongup was showing him in actions rather than words, but Himchan always thought there would be more time. That things would happen slowly to let him adjust bit by bit by bit. Throwing away almost thirty years of your life believing you were one thing and then finding out you were something completely different wasn’t something he could do in a moment’s notice. He needed time. He needed Jongup.
“Just come home.” He gripped the phone tighter in his fist and hoped Jongup could hear the words he wasn’t saying. “Come home and we can talk, okay?”
The only sound was Jongup’s ragged breathing for a few more seconds before the phone beeped in his ear telling him that the call had been disconnected.
He felt tears slip from the corners of his eyes and deep down he knew he had answered wrong and that it would come back to haunt him.
---
I’m sorry, but the number you have dialed has not managed their voice messaging system. Please try again later.
Himchan threw his cell phone against the wall, not caring if it shattered. It had been three days since Jongup had hung up on him and he’d tried calling every few hours since then but Jongup had turned his phone off. He had no idea if Jongup was in the middle of whatever heist he was planning or if he just didn’t want to talk to Himchan. Probably the latter, Himchan thought with a growl.
“Is papa coming home soon?” Hayoung tiptoed into the room holding the stuffed animal Jongup had won her at the fair they had gone to three months earlier. “He promised to start reading a new big girl book before bed with me when he came home. One with no pictures.”
He could feel every ounce of strength leaving him as he looked at his daughter’s worried face. Ever since Jongup had left she would barely talk and had refused to smile no matter what Himchan did to make her laugh. The jarring way she referred to Jongup as papa took him a while to get used to but now he wondered why he had ever resisted it. Jongup was her papa just as surely as he was daddy.
“Not yet, baby.” He took her hand and led her back to her bedroom. “Daddy’s working on it. Do you want me to read you a book instead?”
Hayoung shook her head as she climbed back into her bed. “You don’t do the voices right. Goodnight daddy.”
He had to get Jongup back. That was a given. Not only for his sake but for hers. And he knew exactly who to ask for help.
---
Himchan waited expectantly by Yongguk’s desk the next morning with a cup of coffee that he hoped would act as a thank you for helping him out a few days earlier.
“Hey there.” Yongguk grinned when he saw Himchan waiting for him. “Good morning.”
He shoved the coffee towards him and rambled a quick thanks for covering him a few days earlier followed with a mumbled I need another favor.
Yongguk took a quick sip of the drink before he answered. His eyes were wary as he took in Himchan’s disheveled appearance. “Go on.”
“You said once that you had a friend. One that was really good with computers.” Yongguk nodded, not sure where this was going. “I need to find someone. I have a name and a phone number and that’s it. He could be anywhere in the world for all I know.”
The friendliness in Yongguk’s face disappeared at his words. “You want me to help you look for someone?”
He didn’t notice the change in Yongguk’s voice. “He’s in trouble and he needs me.”
Yongguk’s jaw clenched, but he nodded anyway. “Give me the name and number and I’ll pass it along.”
“No.” Himchan shook his head. “I want to be there to see what they find. I’ll pay whoever it is whatever they want.” He flinched as he remembered the box hidden at the very back of his closet. “I have money.”
“I’ll call Junhong on my lunch break then.” Yongguk shook his head, but kept quiet as he walked stiffly towards his desk.
Himchan could barely pay attention to the folders piling up on his desk, his mind was consumed with where Jongup was right this moment and if he was okay. The browser on his computer was set to the world news and every few minutes he would refresh to check the headlines. If Jongup was hunted down and forced to come back then this job had to be a big one. Maybe the biggest he’d ever done. Himchan had no idea what went on before a heist but he hoped it wasn’t a quick process so that he had more time to find him.
Was Jongup eating right? He always complained to Himchan that the take-out meals he brought home every other night were disgusting until Himchan agreed to let him do all the cooking. Was he still trying to keep himself healthy or was he eating quick and easy to find junk food? His stomach hurt when he ate greasy meals, Himchan had learned that months ago.
Did the person who was in charge have somewhere for him to stay? Was he living in squalor again? His jaw tensed at the mystery employer who had Jongup dangling like a puppet under his strings. If Jongup stepped one inch out of line he could be put in prison and then everything would be all over.
By the time lunch rolled around he was wound up and stiff, his eyes locked onto his computer, the refresh button constantly being pressed.
“Junhong can meet us tonight after work.” Yongguk slid a piece of paper across his desk, his lips pursed in annoyance. “Here’s his phone number. He said to text him everything you know about the person you’re looking for. Name, birthdate, former addresses, jobs, anything you can think of that’s searchable. He should have something by the time we get off.” He laid a hand carefully on Himchan’s shoulder, his forehead furrowed in concern. “Are you okay, Himchan? I don’t want to help you do something that you maybe shouldn’t.”
“Hayoung needs him. I need him.” Himchan had already pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and was pressing in the characters for Jongup’s name. “He has to come home.”
Yongguk had firsthand experience in need. He knew what a desperate man looked like and Himchan with his shaky hands and wild eyes was the picture of a man trying his hardest to keep his head above water. “Just don’t put yourself into any danger, okay?”
“No promises.” The mumbled reply barely made it to his ears, but Yongguk could see that no matter what it took from him, Himchan wasn’t going to let this go.
---
Junhong was a skinny kid with eyes that were too big for his face and a smile that stretched from ear to ear when he saw Yongguk.
“I haven’t seen you in months and you call me out of the blue to help hunt down a missing person?” His laughter betrayed him and he pulled Yongguk into a hug. “You’re making me think you don’t care about me, big brother.”
“This is your brother?” Yongguk had only referred to him as a friend but now that he knew to look he could see the similarities in the way they moved and the cadence of their voices. “Thank you for helping me. I’m sorry if it was a hassle.”
Yongguk waved off Himchan’s apologies. “Junhonggie lives for this kind of stuff. He was kicked out of community college for hacking the main website and changing all of the links to go to porn sites and information about anarchy.”
“I was put on three government watch lists.” Junhong told them proudly as they entered his tiny apartment. “Something I have in common with your little friend.”
The mention of Jongup had Himchan’s nerves shooting straight up again. “You found him? Is he okay? Did they catch him yet?”
“Catch him?” Yongguk’s worried furrow in his brows grew deeper. “Who exactly did you make my brother search for?”
“Moon Jongup.” Junhong held up a stack of papers and rifled through them. “At least that’s one of the names he goes by. Not sure what his legal one is but I found enough to track him for the last few years.” A piece of paper was slipped out and handed over to Himchan. “This him?”
He bit down on his tongue hard enough to hurt when he saw a younger version of Jongup staring back at him. The shape of his eyes and the freckle on his nose were constants, something that would always be purely Jongup and beautiful. But this boy had white-blond hair and bruises down his jaw and none of the wonderful spark his own Jongup had.
“When was this taken?”
“Three years ago. He was arrested for trying to break into a supermarket. Couldn’t find much about him before this. Went to a community college for an art degree but dropped out after two semesters. Lived on the streets and in and out of shelters until two weeks after this mug shot was taken. Then all of a sudden he has an apartment and a credit card and a new name. Peter Moon.”
He could only imagine what had happened that would give Jongup the means to live more comfortably. Someone must have seen the potential in him and taken him under their wing, grooming a master thief for the next big heist.
“And then everything stopped. Peter Moon’s passports were cancelled and all of his accounts frozen. I last had him living in Paris fourteen months ago until he popped back up here in Korea living in the slums as Moon Jongup again.”
Himchan didn’t know how much Junhong knew of the truth behind why Jongup came home and tried to live a normal life. A normal life with them as a family, a happy family that Himchan couldn’t breathe without.
“Where is he now? I need to know how to find him.”
Yongguk had stood to the side and listened to Junhong delve more and more into this mystery boy’s past and he hadn’t like what he’d heard.
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” He interjected. “Himchan, this boy sounds like he could be a mass murderer. You have your daughter to think about before you go flying off to God knows where looking for him.”
He ignored Yongguk and kept his eyes on Junhong. “Where is he?”
“Paris. Whatever he’s doing must be headquartered somewhere near there because it’s the city he’s flown in and out of the most over the last three years. His passport shows him as flying in and not leaving.”
Himchan kept the picture of Jongup in front of him and memorized the broken look in his eyes because the anger it made him feel would be what fueled him to act.
“Do you know how to speed up the passport process?”
With a dimpled grin Junhong cracked his knuckles and turned back to his computer. “I know a guy.”
---
Stepping off the plane and into France made Himchan’s stomach roll with anxiety. He didn’t understand a single word of the language and the sights and sounds had him cowering in fear. Thankfully, Junhong had written down a few phrases for him to use and the address to his hotel was written neatly on a piece of paper that he thrust towards the taxi driver he had hailed outside the airport.
I’m in Paris, he texted Jongup on the way to the hotel. Even if he kept his phone off so that he could screen Himchan’s calls he surely was checking it for emergencies. He wouldn’t cut himself off completely just in case something happened. Call me or I’m going to every museum I can find and flashing your picture.
An empty threat, and Jongup would realize that, but Himchan knew without a doubt he would contact him immediately after he read it. Jongup cared about him, he told himself. Jongup wouldn’t let him wander aimlessly through the city looking for him.
Junhong had booked him a tiny room barely the size of his kitchen back home. The hall shared a communal bathroom and the bedspread looked like it hadn’t been changed in weeks but it was cheap and it was only temporary anyways. He didn’t mind discomfort if it meant being in the same city as Jongup. The only thing he was here for was to find Jongup and drag him back home with him.
“I’m at the hotel.” He listened to his mother repeat his words to Hayoung and smiled at her loud screech of happiness over the line. “Tell her I’m going to talk to Jongup as soon as possible.”
His mother shushed Hayoung’s cheers and he heard a door shut from the other end. “I wish you would tell me what was going on. If that boy’s in trouble then he shouldn’t be dragging you down with him. You’ve got a daughter and he-“
“Is her papa.” Himchan interrupted. “She needs him just as much as she needs me. I’m not coming home unless he’s with me.”
“What if he gets you into trouble?” She sniffed over the phone and if Himchan wasn’t running on eight cups of coffee and adrenaline he would have been swept away with guilt for putting her through all of this. She would never forgive him if she knew what was really happening. “What if you don’t come back at all?”
“Then Jongup will come for her.” If something happened to him then Hayoung belonged to Jongup. Himchan didn’t want anyone else raising their daughter. “I’m not leaving without him.” He repeated.
She hung up without voicing any more concerns and Himchan was grateful. Right now he had a map of the city in his hands and a whole lot of circles to make on it.
Hopefully he wouldn’t need to investigate every museum in the city. But he would if he had to.
---
The bright light coming in through his window the next morning made Himchan squint and bury his face in the pillow. He remembered the clock saying two am, then three, and that was the last time he had looked up from his map and guidebook.
He yawned, stretching his legs and reaching for the cell phone on the nightstand beside him. The phone showed zero missed calls which shocked him. He knew Jongup would check in every night, he had been so sure of it.
“You messed up, Himchan.”
Himchan snapped his head to the side at the quiet voice across the room.
“You messed up so badly that I can’t even start to explain to you what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
Jongup sat rigidly in the chair by the dresser, his head in his hands and shoulders tight.
“How did you-“
“Do you really think I don’t know how to track a phone?” Jongup lifted his head, but kept his hands covering his mouth. His eyes were smudged with black circles that could be either fading bruises or tiredness. Himchan was afraid to ask which. “Where’s Hayoung? Tell me she’s not in Paris.”
Himchan placed his feet on the ground and carefully made his way towards him. Jongup looked like a caged animal ready to bolt and he wanted to tread cautiously. “She’s with my mom. I told them I wasn’t coming back without you.”
He lowered himself to his knees so that they could talk face to face. His hands reached for Jongup’s and he slowly unlaced them and pulled them away. Jongup was trembling and his bottom lip was cut and bruised down to his chin.
“I wasn’t coming back.” Jongup mouthed against the finger smoothing down his sore flesh. “I knew I wasn’t but I didn’t want you to worry. What’s going on Himchan, why are you here?”
“To help.” Himchan answered simply. “We’re a family. You don’t get to decide everything by yourself, that’s not how families work.”
Jongup closed his eyes and let Himchan’s arms encircle his neck to tug him closer. Himchan could feel him shaking in his arms and he held him tighter and tighter until there was no space between them for Jongup to move.
“Italy.” Himchan smiled into Jongup’s hair, fists clenching into the back of Jongup’s t-shirt and holding him so hard that he could feel the rapid heartbeat clambering against his own. “But in the country, not the cities. I want a farm where Hayoung can run around and climb trees. And a dog. She’s always wanted a dog.”
“Himchan stop.” Jongup started to sob against his neck. “I can’t do the job if I think you’re out here waiting for me. You’re all I think about and I get so distracted that I do things wrong.”
“I’m not going home unless you’re in the seat next to me on the airplane.” Himchan wanted to look him in the eyes when they talked because he had missed the way they curled under when he smiled and all Himchan wanted to do was make him happy again. Jongup was supposed to be smiling every second and Himchan thought he’d like to strangle whomever was putting this fear into him. “You can either let me help or I’ll do things my way and mess them all up.”
Jongup’s laugh came out more like a choke but Himchan would take it for now.
“You existing has already messed me up.” He pulled away and scrubbed his face clean before clearing his throat of all the words he had held back. “I can’t tell them you’re a new teammate. Youngjae already knows about you.” Jongup’s eyes narrowed and he stood up and pulled his new phone. “I’m willing to bet he never told Seongwook though. Youngjae likes to keep information to himself until it becomes beneficial to him to let others in on it.”
Waiting for Jongup to come back in from the hallway felt like it took hours. He could hear the soft voice from through the door and knowing he was talking to one of the people who had dragged him here made his blood thrum murderously.
“I can get you in as a trainee.” Jongup frowned at him from the doorway. “But I don’t like it. I can’t protect you in there, Himchan. Youngjae knows that as long as he keeps you dangling in Korea that I’ll do whatever he asks. Having you here is only going to make him feel ten times more powerful.”
“Is Youngjae your boss?”
Jongup rolled his eyes. “He wishes. He’s just the finder. Seongwook is the head of the organization. What Seongwook asks for, Youngjae finds.”
“Youngjae finds it and you go do all the dangerous work to get it.” Himchan didn’t know how many people were in on this but he hated them all. They had forced Jongup away from his family and Himchan was going to make damn sure he made it back to them in one piece. “That doesn’t seem fair.”
“I’m the best.” Jongup said the words without any trace of ego but Himchan could see the weight they held on him. “I bragged to everyone that I could steal anything and Seongwook took me up on it.” He tried to lift his lips up to smile at Himchan but couldn’t quite make it. “I used to be pretty full of myself, if you can believe it.”
He couldn’t. Not because it wasn’t true. Jongup was generous and kind and gentle and sometimes just looking at him made Himchan feel like he had fallen into the sun, burning alive and with no chance of salvation.
Himchan just never figured Jongup to be the cocky type. All he knew was the soft-spoken and shy boy who they had latched onto and refused to let go.
“How did you find me?” Jongup wrinkled his nose up at him. “I mean, you’re not the most internet-savvy person around.”
He would have been offended if it wasn’t true. The computers at work were mainly used to crunch numbers and type reports. Hacking and sleuthing skills were above his pay grade.
“I know a guy.” Himchan grinned, repeating Junhong’s words. “He traced you to Paris and somehow managed to get me a fake passport. A real one would have taken too long to come in.”
Jongup burst into laughter and it was the best sound Himchan had heard in days. “You’re a real rebel.” His shoulders finally started to loosen and the smile when he looked up at him through his messy bangs. “I’ve missed you. I miss Hayoung.”
“She wanted to come. Said as soon as she told you to come home you would do it because you never tell her no.” Himchan rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and took a deep breath. “What are the chances we make it out of this together?”
“Slim to none.”
Even though he wanted honesty the blunt answer made him flinch.
“But I have enough motivation to protect both of us.” Jongup picked up the duffel bag Himchan had thrown down the night before. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
part eight
Rated: PG13
Length: 6.2K
song
part six
“You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Jongup rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes and steeled himself before he could respond.
“I thought I would be getting a cab. Why’d they send you?”
Youngjae grabbed Jongup’s bag as soon as they were out of the airport and opened it without asking. He had no reason to ask permission. Jongup could play by their rules or he would be destroyed, that was really all there was to it.
“Just making sure you didn’t sneak a tracker in.” He ran a tiny wand that he had pulled out of his pocket over the bag, listening for a beep. “Can’t trust someone who runs away.”
“I finished my last job just like I was ordered to. I even trained a replacement for them.” Jongup took his bag back with annoyance. They should have known he wouldn’t risk himself when his life was on the line. And he had no doubt that they knew all about what he had been up to in his time away. So not only was he there for his own freedom but he had to protect Himchan and Hayoung as well.
Wincing, he pushed those names out of his head. He would never make it out of this in one piece if he kept thinking about what he had left behind.
“They’re cute.” His picture, the only thing from home he refused to leave behind, was waved in front of him. “Must be pretty important to you.”
“If anything happens to them I will tear you apart, limb from limb.” Jongup kept his voice calm but grabbed angrily at his picture.
Youngjae laughed loudly as he willingly let the picture go. “You came back feistier. Seongwook is going to love that. Oh and that ‘replacement’ you trained? Worthless. The only thing he has working for him is that he’s small and good with locks. He was caught twice and barely made it out of the police cars. Boss refuses to give him a job this big.”
So that’s why they were searching for him so strongly. Jongup was the best at his job, of that he had zero doubt, but he had hoped that with a dependable replacement they wouldn’t waste so much time and money trying to find him.
Apparently Daehyun wasn’t as talented as Jongup had hoped he’d be.
“I don’t know what you thought you were doing back in Korea.” Youngjae pointed towards a car idling on the curb where the shapes of two oversized men could be seen through the back window. “Thinking someone like you could have a normal life. Did you tell them what you are? Do they know the things you’ve done?”
No, but if this was as big of a job as Jongup was under the assumption it would be, then they would probably know before too long. He had no expectations that he would make it out of this as a free man.
He just hoped that they would remember the man they had known and cared for and not the one they would soon be reading about in the papers.
Just Jongup.
Just papa.
---
The warehouse he was taken to wasn’t the one he was familiar with so they must have been discovered at some point while he was away. This one was outside the city with a gated entry that required Youngjae to scan his retina for it to open.
“You guys have moved up in the world.” Jongup remarked, staring at the two story building. He could see bars on the windows and a reinforced door that would give them more time for escaping if the situation came up. “Where’d you find this place at?”
“Seongwook won it in a poker game. He’d had his eye on it for years. The Swedish branch had bought it about ten years ago and had no use for it.” Youngjae waved up at the camera mounted above the door until a click sounded and let them inside.
Jongup followed him through the empty rooms and into the maze of hallways in the back. He walked past so many identical closed doors that he figured he would never be able to make it in and out of this place on his own which is exactly what they were going for.
“Hey stranger.” A grinning face popped out of one of the rooms. “Sorry they dragged you back. I offered to do it for them but,” Daehyun shrugged in embarrassment. “They said I wasn’t good enough.”
He had kind of liked Daehyun. He was loud sometimes but it was always with laughter or a joke to break the tension their work always surrounded them in. Of course Jongup had no problem throwing him to the wolves so that he could make his escape. That was how they had taught him after all. You were a team until you had to save yourself. Then you were on your own.
“It’s good to see you, Daehyun.” Jongup allowed the awkward hug the older boy pulled him into. “Heard you got into a bit of trouble while I was gone.”
“I had it under control.” A tiny piece of wire slid out from between Daehyun’s teeth. “It took a long time to get used to it but keeping this inside my cheek has saved my ass more times than I can count.”
Youngjae shoved Daehyun playfully out of the way. “He just needs something to save himself when he screws up. I told him none of us are going out of our way to bail him out of jail and if he rats us out then he’s done for so he took matters into his own hands.” The smile on his lips indicated humor but Jongup knew there was nothing joking about his words at all. They would leave you to rot in a jail cell for the rest of your life. Youngjae was the one to be the most worried about and he hoped Daehyun had figured that out for himself already. You never trusted a man who grinned at you with a knife held up behind his back.
“So how long is this going to take?”
“As long as we need it to.” A booming voice made them all jump as their boss walked purposefully towards them. His eyes were boring holes into Jongup and a small smile quirked up the corner of his thin lips. “Welcome back. Sorry to force you here against your will, but well…” He reached the small group and made the already tiny hallway feel miniscule. “When you abandon your family you should know we’ll do whatever it takes to get you back, Moon.”
He bowed his head politely and tried to calm down the tremble in his jaw as he raised back up. “Hello Seongwook.”
A large hand stroked through his hair gently but Jongup wasn’t fooled by the tender touch. It only served to make him on his guard even more and he braced himself for what had to be coming next.
“You know what happens when I’m not pleased.” The soft voice whispered across his ear making disgust and bile fill Jongup’s throat. “You know what happens when you disobey me.”
Jongup expected the blow across his cheek but the ring on his middle finger was new and brought a whole new aspect of pain to the punishment he was used to receiving when he messed up. He dropped to the floor with a gasp, hand cupping the pounding wound already stained a bright red on his skin. The square ring had sliced a cut across his cheekbone and he could feel warm blood sneaking through his fingers.
“Get him cleaned up.” Jongup was too dizzy to push Youngjae and Daehyun’s help away as they lifted him to his feet. “We have a lot of work to do.”
---
Every step he took on the way back to his apartment he felt dozens of eyes on him. This treasure he held was worth more than gold to him and every person he passed he worried they would grab for it and it would be gone. He couldn’t lose another piece of Jongup. His last piece.
The final few feet to his apartment were the hardest. It took him three tries to get his key inserted correctly and by the time he had it entered the right direction he was ready to tear the door off its hinges with his bare hands.
“What were you hiding Jongup?” He murmured, beginning to unwind the tape from around the box. It piled up beside him as he removed more and more of it. Whatever Jongup had put in here, he wanted it to stay shut tight.
The expression on his face when he carefully lifted the lid was a cross between trepidation and relief. Newspaper clippings and a bundle of black zip-top bags were thrown haphazardly into the bottom of the box. Why he had been expecting a severed head or vials of blood, Himchan didn’t know.
He pulled the pile of newspapers out and spread them on the floor so he could see what was so important about them that Jongup had wanted to keep them locked up and hidden from his eyes.
Four-hundred year old painting stolen from the Louvre
Art heist at Osaka National Museum
Byzantine painting found to be forgery
Himchan read through the dozens of articles with growing awareness. Why Jongup was so interested in art. Why Jongup refused to go to the museum with them. Why he never wanted to talk about where he came from.
Every scene is signed with a stamp of a crescent. Officials have informed us that they have all been verified to be from the same criminal. Nothing about the thief is known except for this tiny signature so they are referring to him as Moon until further information is discovered.
“Oh god, Jongup.” Himchan picked up the black bag on top with terror. He thought he knew what was inside them now and even though he didn’t want to look he couldn’t turn away if his life depended on it. “What have you done?”
Bundles of money spilled out of the bag onto the floor. There was more than he could possibly count and if this was only one bag then between all of them there had to be close to a half a million dollars.
He shoved the bills back into the bag, his heart racing so rapidly that he halfway wondered if the neighbors could hear it. Guilt poured through him at what Jongup had done. This was why he left. He had left them for another job. But why? There was more enough money here and in his bank accounts to last Jongup the rest of his life. If he had all of this money there was no reason for him to live like a pauper. Himchan was so confused that his head throbbed.
A phone number hastily scrawled across the bottom of the lid caught his attention. His fingers pushed the numbers into his phone without a second thought on what would happen if the other party picked up.
“Took you long enough.”
Himchan tried hard to forget all of his worries at the sound of Jongup’s voice on the other end of the line. The soft, gentle tone that made his bones melt and his chest flutter.
“She didn’t tell me about the key until today. Whose number is this?”
Jongup laughed, the vibrations traveling through Himchan’s ear and straight into his heart. No matter what happened, no matter what this was between them, he shouldn’t have doubted him. Jongup always fixed things.
“I had to throw my old one away so I packed a burner phone in my boot. How’s our princess?”
Himchan needed him home, Hayoung needed him home.
“She misses you like crazy.”
Jongup hummed in reply. “I miss her, too. Every night I wonder if you’re reading to her and I forgot to tell you she liked strawberry jelly on her toast, not that disgusting apple jelly you bought. And she has a play at school next month so you really need to have her costume done a couple of weeks in advance because the teacher said they have to approve it and-“
“Don’t.” His voice cracked and he couldn’t listen anymore to Jongup talk about their daily lives because he wasn’t here anymore, he didn’t deserve to know what Hayoung was doing. He left them.
“Aren’t you going to ask?”
Are you eating well? Do you miss us so badly that you can’t breathe? Why can I still feel your fingertips on my skin? Himchan had so many questions he could have asked that the one Jongup was looking for stayed far back in his mind.
He sighed as he lay on his back, reaching his arm to the side to keep a grip on the box. Jongup’s hands had held this and he didn’t know how he would ever let it go. “Do I really need to?”
“I told you I wasn’t a bad guy, Himchan. Just that I’ve done bad things. But I’ve never hurt anyone that didn’t deserve it and I don’t even like to touch that money. Please don’t think of me as something horrible now. I couldn’t live knowing that you were ashamed of me.” Jongup’s voice faltered over the phone making Himchan close his eyes because he was too far away to touch him. “Himchan, my life with you and Hayoung is real. I tell you this all the time because it’s the truth and I would never lie to you. You’re the only honest thing I’ve ever had. You’re my family. You’re everything. I only want to come home to you.”
“Why did you leave us then?” He was growing desperate to have Jongup home, in his apartment, where he could tell him everything that he wasn’t brave enough to say before. “Come home. If we’re so important to you then why did you abandon us?”
Jongup was quiet for a while on the other end. “I had two options given to me. Come back for one more job or there would be an anonymous tip sent in about Moon’s real identity. If I do this last one then I’ll have enough money for us to disappear. You, me and Hayoung. We can go anywhere you want, just the three of us. I left you that money so that you could meet me. Pack Hayoung up and just fly wherever you want and I’ll be there waiting. I don’t care where it is I just need to be with you two. Nothing else matters.”
“I can’t, Jongup.” Come home, just come home. “You know I can’t leave. I have a job and she has school and my parents-“
“We can move to America. Or Tokyo. You said you’ve always wanted travel to Italy. We can go there and buy a farm or a vineyard; I don’t care, just…” This time Jongup did break, his voice thick with tears and promises. “Please.”
The sound of Jongup’s sobs tore his soul apart. They were miles apart and he couldn’t wipe his tears, couldn’t fix him like Jongup had always fixed them.
Himchan suddenly realized that besides Hayoung he had never wanted to be the one to comfort someone before. The sound of crying had never tugged at him like it did with Jongup and he wasn’t naïve enough to not recognize the feelings of need Jongup always brought out in him. Things between them were muddled and blurry but he was okay with that for now. Sometimes clarity came over time and he would have waited. But Jongup running away put everything out in the open and Himchan wasn’t okay anymore. “I can’t.”
“But I love you.”
The confession was whispered from an unknown distance but Himchan could have sworn he felt the warm breath on the shell of his ear from Jongup’s lips.
He had known for months now. He had known and had pushed it to the side to think about later. There was supposed to always be a later. Every day Jongup was showing him in actions rather than words, but Himchan always thought there would be more time. That things would happen slowly to let him adjust bit by bit by bit. Throwing away almost thirty years of your life believing you were one thing and then finding out you were something completely different wasn’t something he could do in a moment’s notice. He needed time. He needed Jongup.
“Just come home.” He gripped the phone tighter in his fist and hoped Jongup could hear the words he wasn’t saying. “Come home and we can talk, okay?”
The only sound was Jongup’s ragged breathing for a few more seconds before the phone beeped in his ear telling him that the call had been disconnected.
He felt tears slip from the corners of his eyes and deep down he knew he had answered wrong and that it would come back to haunt him.
---
I’m sorry, but the number you have dialed has not managed their voice messaging system. Please try again later.
Himchan threw his cell phone against the wall, not caring if it shattered. It had been three days since Jongup had hung up on him and he’d tried calling every few hours since then but Jongup had turned his phone off. He had no idea if Jongup was in the middle of whatever heist he was planning or if he just didn’t want to talk to Himchan. Probably the latter, Himchan thought with a growl.
“Is papa coming home soon?” Hayoung tiptoed into the room holding the stuffed animal Jongup had won her at the fair they had gone to three months earlier. “He promised to start reading a new big girl book before bed with me when he came home. One with no pictures.”
He could feel every ounce of strength leaving him as he looked at his daughter’s worried face. Ever since Jongup had left she would barely talk and had refused to smile no matter what Himchan did to make her laugh. The jarring way she referred to Jongup as papa took him a while to get used to but now he wondered why he had ever resisted it. Jongup was her papa just as surely as he was daddy.
“Not yet, baby.” He took her hand and led her back to her bedroom. “Daddy’s working on it. Do you want me to read you a book instead?”
Hayoung shook her head as she climbed back into her bed. “You don’t do the voices right. Goodnight daddy.”
He had to get Jongup back. That was a given. Not only for his sake but for hers. And he knew exactly who to ask for help.
---
Himchan waited expectantly by Yongguk’s desk the next morning with a cup of coffee that he hoped would act as a thank you for helping him out a few days earlier.
“Hey there.” Yongguk grinned when he saw Himchan waiting for him. “Good morning.”
He shoved the coffee towards him and rambled a quick thanks for covering him a few days earlier followed with a mumbled I need another favor.
Yongguk took a quick sip of the drink before he answered. His eyes were wary as he took in Himchan’s disheveled appearance. “Go on.”
“You said once that you had a friend. One that was really good with computers.” Yongguk nodded, not sure where this was going. “I need to find someone. I have a name and a phone number and that’s it. He could be anywhere in the world for all I know.”
The friendliness in Yongguk’s face disappeared at his words. “You want me to help you look for someone?”
He didn’t notice the change in Yongguk’s voice. “He’s in trouble and he needs me.”
Yongguk’s jaw clenched, but he nodded anyway. “Give me the name and number and I’ll pass it along.”
“No.” Himchan shook his head. “I want to be there to see what they find. I’ll pay whoever it is whatever they want.” He flinched as he remembered the box hidden at the very back of his closet. “I have money.”
“I’ll call Junhong on my lunch break then.” Yongguk shook his head, but kept quiet as he walked stiffly towards his desk.
Himchan could barely pay attention to the folders piling up on his desk, his mind was consumed with where Jongup was right this moment and if he was okay. The browser on his computer was set to the world news and every few minutes he would refresh to check the headlines. If Jongup was hunted down and forced to come back then this job had to be a big one. Maybe the biggest he’d ever done. Himchan had no idea what went on before a heist but he hoped it wasn’t a quick process so that he had more time to find him.
Was Jongup eating right? He always complained to Himchan that the take-out meals he brought home every other night were disgusting until Himchan agreed to let him do all the cooking. Was he still trying to keep himself healthy or was he eating quick and easy to find junk food? His stomach hurt when he ate greasy meals, Himchan had learned that months ago.
Did the person who was in charge have somewhere for him to stay? Was he living in squalor again? His jaw tensed at the mystery employer who had Jongup dangling like a puppet under his strings. If Jongup stepped one inch out of line he could be put in prison and then everything would be all over.
By the time lunch rolled around he was wound up and stiff, his eyes locked onto his computer, the refresh button constantly being pressed.
“Junhong can meet us tonight after work.” Yongguk slid a piece of paper across his desk, his lips pursed in annoyance. “Here’s his phone number. He said to text him everything you know about the person you’re looking for. Name, birthdate, former addresses, jobs, anything you can think of that’s searchable. He should have something by the time we get off.” He laid a hand carefully on Himchan’s shoulder, his forehead furrowed in concern. “Are you okay, Himchan? I don’t want to help you do something that you maybe shouldn’t.”
“Hayoung needs him. I need him.” Himchan had already pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and was pressing in the characters for Jongup’s name. “He has to come home.”
Yongguk had firsthand experience in need. He knew what a desperate man looked like and Himchan with his shaky hands and wild eyes was the picture of a man trying his hardest to keep his head above water. “Just don’t put yourself into any danger, okay?”
“No promises.” The mumbled reply barely made it to his ears, but Yongguk could see that no matter what it took from him, Himchan wasn’t going to let this go.
---
Junhong was a skinny kid with eyes that were too big for his face and a smile that stretched from ear to ear when he saw Yongguk.
“I haven’t seen you in months and you call me out of the blue to help hunt down a missing person?” His laughter betrayed him and he pulled Yongguk into a hug. “You’re making me think you don’t care about me, big brother.”
“This is your brother?” Yongguk had only referred to him as a friend but now that he knew to look he could see the similarities in the way they moved and the cadence of their voices. “Thank you for helping me. I’m sorry if it was a hassle.”
Yongguk waved off Himchan’s apologies. “Junhonggie lives for this kind of stuff. He was kicked out of community college for hacking the main website and changing all of the links to go to porn sites and information about anarchy.”
“I was put on three government watch lists.” Junhong told them proudly as they entered his tiny apartment. “Something I have in common with your little friend.”
The mention of Jongup had Himchan’s nerves shooting straight up again. “You found him? Is he okay? Did they catch him yet?”
“Catch him?” Yongguk’s worried furrow in his brows grew deeper. “Who exactly did you make my brother search for?”
“Moon Jongup.” Junhong held up a stack of papers and rifled through them. “At least that’s one of the names he goes by. Not sure what his legal one is but I found enough to track him for the last few years.” A piece of paper was slipped out and handed over to Himchan. “This him?”
He bit down on his tongue hard enough to hurt when he saw a younger version of Jongup staring back at him. The shape of his eyes and the freckle on his nose were constants, something that would always be purely Jongup and beautiful. But this boy had white-blond hair and bruises down his jaw and none of the wonderful spark his own Jongup had.
“When was this taken?”
“Three years ago. He was arrested for trying to break into a supermarket. Couldn’t find much about him before this. Went to a community college for an art degree but dropped out after two semesters. Lived on the streets and in and out of shelters until two weeks after this mug shot was taken. Then all of a sudden he has an apartment and a credit card and a new name. Peter Moon.”
He could only imagine what had happened that would give Jongup the means to live more comfortably. Someone must have seen the potential in him and taken him under their wing, grooming a master thief for the next big heist.
“And then everything stopped. Peter Moon’s passports were cancelled and all of his accounts frozen. I last had him living in Paris fourteen months ago until he popped back up here in Korea living in the slums as Moon Jongup again.”
Himchan didn’t know how much Junhong knew of the truth behind why Jongup came home and tried to live a normal life. A normal life with them as a family, a happy family that Himchan couldn’t breathe without.
“Where is he now? I need to know how to find him.”
Yongguk had stood to the side and listened to Junhong delve more and more into this mystery boy’s past and he hadn’t like what he’d heard.
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” He interjected. “Himchan, this boy sounds like he could be a mass murderer. You have your daughter to think about before you go flying off to God knows where looking for him.”
He ignored Yongguk and kept his eyes on Junhong. “Where is he?”
“Paris. Whatever he’s doing must be headquartered somewhere near there because it’s the city he’s flown in and out of the most over the last three years. His passport shows him as flying in and not leaving.”
Himchan kept the picture of Jongup in front of him and memorized the broken look in his eyes because the anger it made him feel would be what fueled him to act.
“Do you know how to speed up the passport process?”
With a dimpled grin Junhong cracked his knuckles and turned back to his computer. “I know a guy.”
---
Stepping off the plane and into France made Himchan’s stomach roll with anxiety. He didn’t understand a single word of the language and the sights and sounds had him cowering in fear. Thankfully, Junhong had written down a few phrases for him to use and the address to his hotel was written neatly on a piece of paper that he thrust towards the taxi driver he had hailed outside the airport.
I’m in Paris, he texted Jongup on the way to the hotel. Even if he kept his phone off so that he could screen Himchan’s calls he surely was checking it for emergencies. He wouldn’t cut himself off completely just in case something happened. Call me or I’m going to every museum I can find and flashing your picture.
An empty threat, and Jongup would realize that, but Himchan knew without a doubt he would contact him immediately after he read it. Jongup cared about him, he told himself. Jongup wouldn’t let him wander aimlessly through the city looking for him.
Junhong had booked him a tiny room barely the size of his kitchen back home. The hall shared a communal bathroom and the bedspread looked like it hadn’t been changed in weeks but it was cheap and it was only temporary anyways. He didn’t mind discomfort if it meant being in the same city as Jongup. The only thing he was here for was to find Jongup and drag him back home with him.
“I’m at the hotel.” He listened to his mother repeat his words to Hayoung and smiled at her loud screech of happiness over the line. “Tell her I’m going to talk to Jongup as soon as possible.”
His mother shushed Hayoung’s cheers and he heard a door shut from the other end. “I wish you would tell me what was going on. If that boy’s in trouble then he shouldn’t be dragging you down with him. You’ve got a daughter and he-“
“Is her papa.” Himchan interrupted. “She needs him just as much as she needs me. I’m not coming home unless he’s with me.”
“What if he gets you into trouble?” She sniffed over the phone and if Himchan wasn’t running on eight cups of coffee and adrenaline he would have been swept away with guilt for putting her through all of this. She would never forgive him if she knew what was really happening. “What if you don’t come back at all?”
“Then Jongup will come for her.” If something happened to him then Hayoung belonged to Jongup. Himchan didn’t want anyone else raising their daughter. “I’m not leaving without him.” He repeated.
She hung up without voicing any more concerns and Himchan was grateful. Right now he had a map of the city in his hands and a whole lot of circles to make on it.
Hopefully he wouldn’t need to investigate every museum in the city. But he would if he had to.
---
The bright light coming in through his window the next morning made Himchan squint and bury his face in the pillow. He remembered the clock saying two am, then three, and that was the last time he had looked up from his map and guidebook.
He yawned, stretching his legs and reaching for the cell phone on the nightstand beside him. The phone showed zero missed calls which shocked him. He knew Jongup would check in every night, he had been so sure of it.
“You messed up, Himchan.”
Himchan snapped his head to the side at the quiet voice across the room.
“You messed up so badly that I can’t even start to explain to you what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
Jongup sat rigidly in the chair by the dresser, his head in his hands and shoulders tight.
“How did you-“
“Do you really think I don’t know how to track a phone?” Jongup lifted his head, but kept his hands covering his mouth. His eyes were smudged with black circles that could be either fading bruises or tiredness. Himchan was afraid to ask which. “Where’s Hayoung? Tell me she’s not in Paris.”
Himchan placed his feet on the ground and carefully made his way towards him. Jongup looked like a caged animal ready to bolt and he wanted to tread cautiously. “She’s with my mom. I told them I wasn’t coming back without you.”
He lowered himself to his knees so that they could talk face to face. His hands reached for Jongup’s and he slowly unlaced them and pulled them away. Jongup was trembling and his bottom lip was cut and bruised down to his chin.
“I wasn’t coming back.” Jongup mouthed against the finger smoothing down his sore flesh. “I knew I wasn’t but I didn’t want you to worry. What’s going on Himchan, why are you here?”
“To help.” Himchan answered simply. “We’re a family. You don’t get to decide everything by yourself, that’s not how families work.”
Jongup closed his eyes and let Himchan’s arms encircle his neck to tug him closer. Himchan could feel him shaking in his arms and he held him tighter and tighter until there was no space between them for Jongup to move.
“Italy.” Himchan smiled into Jongup’s hair, fists clenching into the back of Jongup’s t-shirt and holding him so hard that he could feel the rapid heartbeat clambering against his own. “But in the country, not the cities. I want a farm where Hayoung can run around and climb trees. And a dog. She’s always wanted a dog.”
“Himchan stop.” Jongup started to sob against his neck. “I can’t do the job if I think you’re out here waiting for me. You’re all I think about and I get so distracted that I do things wrong.”
“I’m not going home unless you’re in the seat next to me on the airplane.” Himchan wanted to look him in the eyes when they talked because he had missed the way they curled under when he smiled and all Himchan wanted to do was make him happy again. Jongup was supposed to be smiling every second and Himchan thought he’d like to strangle whomever was putting this fear into him. “You can either let me help or I’ll do things my way and mess them all up.”
Jongup’s laugh came out more like a choke but Himchan would take it for now.
“You existing has already messed me up.” He pulled away and scrubbed his face clean before clearing his throat of all the words he had held back. “I can’t tell them you’re a new teammate. Youngjae already knows about you.” Jongup’s eyes narrowed and he stood up and pulled his new phone. “I’m willing to bet he never told Seongwook though. Youngjae likes to keep information to himself until it becomes beneficial to him to let others in on it.”
Waiting for Jongup to come back in from the hallway felt like it took hours. He could hear the soft voice from through the door and knowing he was talking to one of the people who had dragged him here made his blood thrum murderously.
“I can get you in as a trainee.” Jongup frowned at him from the doorway. “But I don’t like it. I can’t protect you in there, Himchan. Youngjae knows that as long as he keeps you dangling in Korea that I’ll do whatever he asks. Having you here is only going to make him feel ten times more powerful.”
“Is Youngjae your boss?”
Jongup rolled his eyes. “He wishes. He’s just the finder. Seongwook is the head of the organization. What Seongwook asks for, Youngjae finds.”
“Youngjae finds it and you go do all the dangerous work to get it.” Himchan didn’t know how many people were in on this but he hated them all. They had forced Jongup away from his family and Himchan was going to make damn sure he made it back to them in one piece. “That doesn’t seem fair.”
“I’m the best.” Jongup said the words without any trace of ego but Himchan could see the weight they held on him. “I bragged to everyone that I could steal anything and Seongwook took me up on it.” He tried to lift his lips up to smile at Himchan but couldn’t quite make it. “I used to be pretty full of myself, if you can believe it.”
He couldn’t. Not because it wasn’t true. Jongup was generous and kind and gentle and sometimes just looking at him made Himchan feel like he had fallen into the sun, burning alive and with no chance of salvation.
Himchan just never figured Jongup to be the cocky type. All he knew was the soft-spoken and shy boy who they had latched onto and refused to let go.
“How did you find me?” Jongup wrinkled his nose up at him. “I mean, you’re not the most internet-savvy person around.”
He would have been offended if it wasn’t true. The computers at work were mainly used to crunch numbers and type reports. Hacking and sleuthing skills were above his pay grade.
“I know a guy.” Himchan grinned, repeating Junhong’s words. “He traced you to Paris and somehow managed to get me a fake passport. A real one would have taken too long to come in.”
Jongup burst into laughter and it was the best sound Himchan had heard in days. “You’re a real rebel.” His shoulders finally started to loosen and the smile when he looked up at him through his messy bangs. “I’ve missed you. I miss Hayoung.”
“She wanted to come. Said as soon as she told you to come home you would do it because you never tell her no.” Himchan rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and took a deep breath. “What are the chances we make it out of this together?”
“Slim to none.”
Even though he wanted honesty the blunt answer made him flinch.
“But I have enough motivation to protect both of us.” Jongup picked up the duffel bag Himchan had thrown down the night before. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
part eight