Blood Brothers Chapter 4
Pairing: KyuTeukChul (yeah, you read that correctly), other pairings will appear later. The story also focuses on the bond between Heechul, Zhou Mi, and Hankyung as blood brothers.
Rating: M for violence and mature scenes
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, suspense, romance, thriller
Disclaimer: fanfiction…speaks for itself. As much as I would love to own them, owning a human being is kind of morally and ethically wrong, so let’s not go there.
Summary: Revenge is a bittersweet fruit. Once you have taken a bite, the taste never leaves. It lingers in the throat, under the tongue, on every taste bud. Kim Heechul became used to the taste long ago.
Chapter 3 ---- Chapter 5
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Chapter 4
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“I’m sure you’ve heard about our latest agreement with Tokyo Raijin. Prices have escalated, and the new import tax called for a change in directions. I hope you aren’t offended in our taking the deal. Yumyeong will always be open to Hong Kong Trading.” Director Park laughed a bit forcefully as he led Zhou Mi down the hallway toward his office.
The two had gone out for lunch before discussing business plans, and it had taken all of Zhou Mi’s willpower to eat the food in front of him. Just watching this man made him want to puke. The expensive food had tasted like dirt and all he’d wanted to do was stab his fork into the other man’s throat.
But he remembered the words he’d said to Hankyung. They couldn’t just kill everyone. They had to follow through with Heechul's’s plan. And besides…everything would be much more satisfying the way he had it planned.
Their elder brother was meticulous with his revenge, after all.
So Zhou Mi allowed a wan smile to grace his face, “Of course, Director. No offense was taken. Business is business, and with this economy…” He simply checked his watch and then turned to Hankyung, “Han Geng, how much time do I have left before the next meeting?”
“Your next meeting is at 4, Director.” Hankyung nodded, eyes darting around the room from behind his shades.
“So he’s your secretary as well as your bodyguard?” Director Park eyed Hankyung skeptically.
“He’s very capable.” Zhou Mi intoned smoothly, “And it costs less this way as well. It’s a pity that the only bodyguards I’ve seen in Korea are all muscle and no brains. We like to mix the two in China.” His smile stretched when a brittle grin tilted at Director Park’s lips. He figured the other man had understood the insult, but he didn’t seem it important enough to retort.
The bodyguard behind him, however, stiffened in anger. Zhou Mi’s smile widened.
Hankyung looked away from Zhou Mi and Park Jung-Oh’s banter as they continued talking business. He never lost sight of the bodyguard trailing behind Director Park, however. He knew very well that the man would be ready to pull the gun that Hankyung knew was hidden in his jacket at any moment.
Hankyung’s gaze drifted down the hallways, across doorways and windows. The place was well guarded, with security cameras in almost all available areas. His eyes flickered to the few spots that their informant told him had hidden cameras. He began mapping the area out, looking for blind spots.
He pulled out his cell phone the moment it began vibrating in his pocket. He flipped it open. Cho Kyuhyun=Success! Was written in Chinese, with a smiley face. Hankyung snorted at the childishness of the message. Really, sometimes Hankyung wondered how he could be the oldest of their trio. He raised an eyebrow at the second message. Thanks for the mace. It came in handy. Hankyung blinked, staring down in confusion, before he paled and quickly dialed a number.
“Heechul!” He whispered furiously in Chinese, “What is going on? What happened?” He saw Zhou Mi cock his head and give him an odd glance before turning back to his conversation with Director Park.
“What do you mean?”
“The pepperspray. Why did you use it? On who?” The image of Heechul pulling Cho Kyuhyun’s body into an alleyway made him pale further, and he tried to keep the panic out of his voice so that no one else would think anything was wrong.
Zhou Mi’s gaze had flickered toward him in shock, having understood what Hankyung was saying, and Hankyung knew that he needed to get answers so he could explain to Zhou Mi as well. But wait, Heechul was too weak to drag a body into an alleyway, especially an unconscious famous person that would have a bodyguard with him.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Heechul asked teasingly.
“Heechul!”
“Ok, ok. Nothing bad happened, if that’s what you’re wondering. It was an accident, but it all worked out in the end. I have to go now, don’t you have a job to do?”
“Heechul, where are you?”
“At the apartment-” Heechul’s voice suddenly changed tones, a soft, worried whisper. “…Hankyung…”
Hankyung heard the soft tremor and froze, “Heechul? What is it?”
“…did you lock the door when you left this morning?”
“Yes.”
“It’s unlocked…” Heechul sounded panicked. “Hankyung, someone’s inside.”
That was all it took for Hankyung to burst into a run in the direction of the elevator.
Zhou Mi was confused at this point, worried, and when Hankyung bolted for the elevator he knew that something had happened to Heechul. His eyes widened in shock, and everyone else turned to watch Hankyung run to the elevator and slam on the buttons furiously.
“Han Geng!” Zhou Mi called in Chinese, “What’s going on?”
“Someone broke into the house! Stay here!” Hankyung called back and the elevator doors slid closed, giving Zhou Mi no say in the matter.
“Director Gam? What’s wrong?”
Zhou Mi swallowed, his smile stretching a little weakly, “My sister seems to have gotten herself into a predicament. Hankyung went to go and make sure everything was fine. It’s probably something trivial, she overreacts sometimes.”
“He was running rather quickly, are you sure it’s something minor?” Director Park’s gaze was worried, “We wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to the lady…”
Zhou Mi’s gaze darkened and an angry burn traveled up his chest. Director Park worried about Xi Che ge? How funny. It was disgustingly ironic and it made Zhou Mi want to vomit even more than the earlier meal. What right did this man have to worry about Heechul? If he knew who he really was, he’d probably be wishing for his death right now.
Would you send someone to ‘take care of him’ like last time, bastard?
As Zhou Mi tried to morph his face into a semblance of cordiality, a skinny man ran up to where they stood in front of Director Park’s office. He was thin, terribly short as well. His hair was meticulously slicked back with some kind of hair gel, and he wore large dorky glasses. His suit was trim, clean, and meticulous.
Zhou Mi could have snapped him like a pencil.
“Ah, what is it, Ryeowook?”
“Sir, your wife just called…she’s on line three.” The small man named Ryeowook replied, his voice not aiding in Zhou Mi’s belief that he was a ten-year-old trapped in a twenty-year-old’s body. His baby face rivaled Henry’s!
“My wife?” The Director sighed in annoyance, “What is she calling about this time? I’m busy, Ryeowook. Tell her I will call her back when I have a chance.”
“Yes sir.” Ryeowook nodded, “And here are the files you requested.” He handed them over and headed back to his own office, fiddling with his glasses.
“That was Kim Ryeowook.” Director Park nodded at Zhou Mi as he opened the office door. “He’s a competent secretary, and he can handle my wife when she has one of her fits.” Zhou Mi nodded and followed the older man into his room. His gaze went to the orderly desk, to the family picture on the wall opposite a large fish tank filled with exotic specimens.
A man and his son, smiling. The son was holding up a large fish, dimpled smile endearing. A moving picture.
It only made Zhou Mi wonder if behind the smile on the older man’s face, he was plotting the demise of Heechul’s family. Disgusting.
“Please, take a seat.” Director Park motioned to the chair on the other side of the large table. Zhou Mi nodded, taking the offered seat. The bodyguard stood at the door, and Zhou Mi was left on edge. Without Hankyung there he would be outnumbered if there was an attack, and he still had no idea what had happened with Heechul.
Calm down, this man isn’t going to kill you. All he wants is to sign a business contract. He doesn’t know the truth. Zhou Mi forced his muscles to relax as he leaned a bit further into his chair, maintaining an air of cool indifference.
“We’re planning on opening a new factory in Hong Kong, but as you know, we’ll need special permits and well…taking over an already existing company would cause some strife between us and Chinese civilians. That would hamper business.”
Zhou Mi nodded, “You want our backing?”
“If it was known that Hong Kong’s largest corporation welcomed Yumyeong Industries and legitimized our right to be there…”
“It’s all a matter of government permits, isn’t it?” Zhou Mi asked with a smile, “Our country doesn’t allow for monopolization of business.” At least, outwardly.
Director Park cleared his throat, “Yes well,” He smiled, “We all know that there are ways to gain…entry. A Japanese company was allowed in Shanghai a few years back, with your protection, so I assumed that-”
The door to the office burst open, and Jungsu stumbled inside. “Father! I wanted to ask…” he stopped, seeing who else was in the office. He grinned awkwardly. “Ah, Director Gam!”
“Ah…hello…Park Jungsu-ssi?” Zhou Mi asked with a small smile. Jungsu nodded enthusiastically, pleased that Zhou Mi had remembered him.
How could Zhou Mi forget? His face was plastered all the walls in their office.
Director Park looked extremely disgruntled that his son had just barged in on their meeting. He cleared his throat, standing, “Jungsu, what is the meaning of this? This was an important meeting.” He turned to Zhou Mi, “Forgive my son for his rudeness. He usually knows not to do such things.”
Jungsu nodded, bowing hurriedly. “I’m sorry for interrupting! I was looking for Director Gam and I thought you would know where he was father and well…” Jungsu trailed off, looking sheepish.
Zhou Mi raised an eyebrow. “Why did you want to see me?” What could this be about? Xi Che ge? Dammit, where’s Han Geng ge when you need him? He tensed, waiting for Jungsu to speak.
“I wanted to ask you…if it would be alright if I visited your sister?” Jungsu tried to fight the blush rising to his cheeks as he waited for a reply.
Zhou Mi blinked. Had Park Jungsu…just asked Zhou Mi’s permission to date his Xi Che ge? If Zhou Mi weren’t playing the role of cool, collected Director Gam, he would have laughed. Or, well, giggled. It seemed like something to giggle over. Really, this was just absurd. But just what Xi Che ge wants…
Zhou Mi looked from Jungsu to his father who was staring in shock. He looked pleased, however, and Zhou Mi figured that Director Park thought a relationship between the two companies would aid him in his current pursuit in Hong Kong.
“I…am flattered that you asked for my permission. You must have learned that my sister and I are orphans.” Zhou Mi began. After all, Jungsu wouldn’t have asked for his permission unless he’d known they didn’t have parents, right? Well, we have mama Han, but she doesn’t exactly count in this situation.
“My son is a very attentive young man.” Director Park cut in, hoping to strengthen the bond between the two companies any way he could. “Very kind and gentle as well, your sister would be in good hands.”
Zhou Mi smiled softly. Good hands? I beg to differ, you murdering bastard. “I’ll speak with my sister. Perhaps…dinner on Friday night?”
Jungsu beamed.
Zhou Mi wasn’t liking how this plan was going. A small pit of anxiety was forming in his stomach, and the empty feeling it gave him was unpleasant. He felt as if he were putting Xi Che ge further and further in danger by continuing with this plan.
After all…Park Jungsu could be just as dangerous as his father.
“I dislike him.”
“Of course you do. His father ruined Xi Che ge’s life. I don’t like him either.” Zhou Mi muttered, “But this is all a part of Xi Che ge’s plan.”
“…I’m hating his plan more and more.” Hankyung hissed under his breath as the sliding glass doors opened and he slipped on his sunglasses.
Zhou Mi was hating this plan as well, but he simply continued to smile as he stood. “Now if you will excuse me, I have to go and see what happened with my bodyguard before my next meeting.”
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Heechul stood in front of the door in shock. Had someone broken in? It shouldn’t have been unlocked. Hankyung said he and Zhou Mi had locked it on their way out that morning. It shouldn’t have been unlocked!
He slowly placed his cell phone back in his purse and took a deep breath. His fingers curled around a heavy, solid object. Familiar. Safe. Heechul gripped the gun tightly as he slipped into the apartment. He stood in the main hallway, barely breathing, trying to catch any distinct sound that would lead him to the intruder.
A clang of pots.
Heechul’s head jerked in the direction of the kitchen, so fast he was afraid his neck would snap. His grip on the gun tightened.
Intruder…someone had come…someone was there..Hankyung and Zhou Mi weren’t…he was all alone.
Hand tightened around his throat as he struggled, kicking out. He gritted his teeth, feeling the air being squeezed from his lungs as hot tears ran down his cheeks.
Heechul could feel his breath becoming short, his heartbeat erratic as he tried to swallow the fear that was slowly taking over. His finger trembled on the trigger but held as he stopped outside the kitchen, before wheeling through the open doorway, pointing his gun from inside his purse and-
And he jerked his hand back immediately in shocked horror as the person standing at the kitchen counter turned around with a bright smile. “Hyung! Someone was calling for you and-you’re pretty!”
“Ya!” Heechul’s angered yell wavered as he leaned back against the bar, purse sliding to the floor from his lax grip. “What are you doing here? How can you just barge in without telling anyone?”
Donghae blinked in confused worry. “But…hyung…you gave me a key so I could come in when I wanted to.”
“That was for emergencies only!” Heechul didn’t mean to yell, but he saw his words hit Donghae like physical blows and the younger boy clutched the bowl of batter he’d been preparing tightly to his chest. “…h-hyung…”
Heechul realized his mistake a second later. “Aish…Donghae, I didn’t mean it.” He lifted a hand and brushed some hair out of his face, letting out an irritated sigh. No further apology was given, because he was Heechul and Heechul didn’t have to apologize to anyone. Not even his favorite dongsaeng that he’d almost made cry. I almost shot Donghae...
But Donghae understood the hidden apology-he hadn’t known Heechul for his entire childhood for nothing-and smiled back meekly. “I’m making cake.”
“Cake?” A pause. “What kind?”
“Red velvet.” Donghae grinned proudly, holding out the crimson batter. He paused again. “…but hyung…what are you doing? I mean, why are you so pretty?”
“You mean why am I drop dead gorgeous rather than smoking hot?” Heechul leaned against the counter. “It’s a secret.” He grinned, even though it was still a tense movement.
Donghae’s eyes widened and he lowered his voice. “Heechul hyung you aren’t…into prostitution are you? Is that how you’re getting all this money?” And his face crumpled in worry, “Hyung, you can’t do that! You’ll never survive! I can’t let someone be your pimp!”
Somehow it turned into Heechul holding a crying Donghae as he tried to get the younger boy to calm down.
And that was how Hankyung found them.
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Kyuhyun had known the moment he answered his phone and heard that furious voice that he was going to die. He hadn’t, however, expected Sungmin to be standing behind him and to throw him over his shoulder and into the car waiting on the curb.
He had screamed like a little girl. He’d been tempted to scream rape but figured that no one would have stopped the pink clad killer from dragging Kyuhyun away. Life was not going well for Cho Kyuhyun. Actually, life seemed to go very badly for him when his Fish Girl-Kim Cherry, or whatever her real name was-wasn’t around.
When he’d been stuffed into the back of the car-he’d been afraid that Sungmin would throw him in the trunk, he looked that angry-Sungmin had gotten into the driver’s seat and took off. He hadn’t spoken and Kyuhyun had really thought that maybe Sungmin was driving him someplace to kill him and dump the body. They didn’t head home. They didn’t head to the college. They headed to the outskirts of a construction site and Sungmin finally stopped the vehicle.
“How many times are you going to do this?” Sungmin refused to look up from where he stared at his hands on the steering wheel. “Do you not understand how dangerous that is?”
Kyuhyun slumped back, frowning. Here it came…the lecture…it wasn’t anything new. Kyuhyun tended to do stupid things a lot, things that made his father, Jungus-and Sungmin-yell at him for hours afterwards. This was probably one of those things.
He rubbed his eyes, which still stung from the pepper spray. He knew that the lecture was probably needed and that yeah, he deserved this. A pang of guilt built up in his chest as he saw the tight grip Sungmin held on the steering wheel. “What if someone had wanted to kill you?” Sungmin snapped. “Running off like this, are you an idiot? Do you really not understand who you are? Why I’m here?”
Kyuhyun’s frown deepened, becoming more uncomfortable. He disliked the cold, angry Sungmin. He preferred the chipper man who liked pink and bunnies and had a pair of kittens in his apartment. He just wanted to have a little fun, was that a crime? Just because he was the son of Director Cho meant he couldn’t live a normal life, was that it? That wasn’t fair.
Sungmin sighed, running a hand through his hair and finally turning to look at Kyuhyun. His gaze went to Kyuhyun’s face and he paused. “What the hell happened to you?”
“Shut up.”
Sungmin raised an eyebrow at Kyuhyun’s sharp reply. He leaned forward, peering straight into the younger boy’s eyes. “Kyuhyun-ssi…where were you and what happened to your eyes?”
“I…” Kyuhyun didn’t really want to explain what had happened. He didn’t know if he wanted to tell Sungmin that he had found a girl, or that he’d gotten her phone number. Sungmin would tell his father…and his father would find her, do a background check, find her inadequate, and never let him see her again.
He couldn’t let that happen.
“I was attacked by an old lady who thought I was a mugger. She sprayed me with mace.”
Sungmin burst into laughter. It took several minutes for him to catch his breath as Kyuhyun glared at him from the back seat. Still, even though he was embarrassed, Kyuhyun was glad the air had changed. As strong-willed as he was, he really hated making Sungmin worry. Sungmin breathed in deeply, clearing his throat as he turned on the ignition and began backing the car up to get back on the road. “Look, we’ll tell your father that you’re sick.”
“Sick? That means I have to stay at home!” Kyuhyun whined. What about Kim Cherry? He had promised to buy her coffee. True, he didn’t know when but he suspected sometime soon. Sometime before he got ‘better’ from whatever ‘sickness’ ailed him. He slipped on his sunglasses. “Can’t I just not let my dad see me until the swelling and redness goes away?”
“Are you going to wear your sunglasses for the next three days?”
“What?”
“That’s how long it’s going to take.”
Kyuhyun pouted. “I don’t want to.”
“Do you want to tell your father you were maced in the face by an old lady after ditching class?”
“…point taken.”
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Ryeowook let out a soft sigh as he headed back into the main office with a gigantic stack of files. I need to get these to the Director, call up Director Cho and give him his schedule for tomorrow, make an itinerary for Park Jungsu to visit the Busan company...Ryeowook quickened his pace, staring down at the files in his hands. He hit the edge of one of the desks and let out a yelp, the folders sliding from his arms and to the floor in a gigantic mess.
“Aish…” Ryeowook hissed out, rubbing his hip as he bent down to begin picking them up. He saw a pair of feet come into his view and someone bent down, helping him to pick up the files.
Ryeowook blinked, “Ah, thank you-” He paused when he saw who it was. “Kim Jongwoon-ssi?”
The object of his attention gave a slow smile. “I told you to call me, Yesung.”
Ryeowook shook his head, “That would be inappropriate, Kim Jongwoon-ssi.” Ryeowook grabbed another handful of papers and stuffed them in a manila envelope hurriedly. “I need to get these papers to the Director and now I have to reorganize them…” He stood, face pinched up in anxiety. He had so much he needed to do…
Yesung watched the shorter, thinner boy flit around the office, pulling out papers from the jumbled mess on the floor and putting them in orderly piles. Yesung may have only been a computer technician that Yumyeong hired to do routine checkups on their internal systems, but he felt that he’d been a part of the ‘company’ long enough to have at least a camaraderie with the other man.
They had, after all, spent several all-nighters together working on the systems and making sure everything was perfect. Ryeowook’s job seemed to be to whatever needed doing, he did, and he never complained. Sometimes it annoyed Yesung, because he could tell the skinnier boy was close to his breaking point even if he didn’t complain. Yesung turned to see the other man fiddling with his glasses, letting out a tired sigh. He reached into his jacket for something.
Yesung frowned. “You look tired.”
“I’m fine.” Ryeowook chirped, downing a small bottle.
“What was that?”
Ryeowook looked hesitant, eyes darting as he tried to come up with an adequate explanation as he tried to put the bottle back into his jacket. “…heartburn medicine…?”
“You sound as doubtful as I am. Let me see-energy shots?” Yesung had snatched the bottle and stared down at the label in building horror. “Ryeowook-ssi-”
“Give me that.” Ryeowook snapped, grabbing the bottle and stuffing it into his pocket, stacking the files he’d reorganized. He headed to the door, not looking back. It slammed shut a second later and Yesung was left alone with the blinking computer screen he’d been working on.
“Why does he overwork you so much?”
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