Blood Brothers II Chapter 14
Title: Blood Brothers II
Pairing: KyuTeukChul, HanChul, YeWook, EunHae, SiChulfriendship, MiMin, possible other pairings in the future.
Rating: M
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Genre: romance, action, thriller
Summary: The cycle of revenge is never-ending, unless someone learns to forgive.
Chapter 13 < ------- > Chapter 15
---
Kyuhyun looked on from where he stood with Siwon. Siwon was holding him in a protective embrace, not letting him move even though he wanted to. He needed to, because the man had his ball. He saw his hyung hold out his hand, “That’s my ball. I’m Cho Kyuhyun.”
Why was Heechul hyung saying he was Kyuhyun?
The men moved. One of them shoved Leeteuk to the side and his head hit the sidewalk. He didn’t get up. Kyuhyun screamed, because the other men had grabbed Heechul and were pulling him toward a waiting car.
“HYUNG!”
Siwon had rushed to Leeteuk’s side and was shaking him, “Hyung! Hyung! Wake up!”
Kyuhyun had begun running after the car that was pulling away from the curb with a screech of its tires. “HYUNG!” He screamed as loudly as he could. He couldn’t see much because the windows were tinted, but the outline of his hyung was unmistakable, fists pounding at the glass as he struggled.
“HYUNG!” Kyuhyun tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and fell. He felt the skin on his knees tearing as they scraped against cement. He didn’t pay attention to it. He was crying, sobbing as he wheezed from so much running. “H-hyung!”
The scene faded as Kyuhyun continued to cry, and suddenly he was at Leeteuk’s house. Siwon was sitting next to him. Leeteuk was sitting on a chair across from the coffee table. There was a bandage wrapped around his head and he was looking around as if in a daze.
There were cookies on the table but he didn’t feel like eating. His stomach felt funny…like he had a stomach ache and the flu at the same time. There were bandaids on his knees. He looked up at the sound of yelling.
“How could she let the children go off on their own?” It was Heechul’s mother. She was yelling at Leeteuk’s mother in the room just across from the parlor. The double doors were open, so Kyuhyun could see everything. “They’re just four little children! How could she not watch four children!?” Heechul’s father had reached out to grab his wife, but she pulled away and continued crying.
Siwon’s mother was trying to placate them all. “Calm down, we need to stay calm. Everything will be alright. We’ve contacted the police. They won’t hurt him.”
“They were after my son in the first place!” Kyuhyun’s mother-his mother-finally screamed. “What did they want with my son?” she looked helplessly to her husband. She was sitting in her wheelchair like he remembered, her blanket wrapped around her legs to keep her warm. The house was always too cold.
“They took my son instead!” Heechul’s mother shrieked. “Don’t try and make yourselves the victims!” She broke down into sobs, falling to her knees.
Heechul’s father knelt down beside her, rubbing her back as she continued crying. “What will they do when they realize they have the wrong boy? What will they do?”
Kyuhyun’s eyes flickered open and he let out a choked gasp. He coughed, ignoring the ache at the base of his skull as his brow furrowed in confusion. What had that dream been about?
It had all seemed so real… he shook it off, trying to ignore the lightheadedness that was creeping up on him. Why was he in his room sleeping anyway? The last thing he remembered was being at Hong Kong Trading’s new company building. That crazy Chinese man-Heechul’s lover, a sinister voice hissed in the back of his mind-had shot the glass and people were screaming. Sungmin had grabbed him and dragged him out of the room and…
Kyuhyun’s eyes darkened angrily.
Sungmin had knocked him out. He’d hit a fucking pressure point and dragged him out of the building, hadn’t he? How long had he been unconscious?
He needed to talk with Sungmin. Now.
---
Zhou Mi wasn’t sure how it happened, but the chaos ended as soon as it began. Security had rushed inside at the sound of gunshots but Zhou Mi had waved them off, saying that Hangeng’s gun had misfired and that there was nothing to worry about. He didn’t want the police involved in all of this…and he was hoping that Cho Kyuhyun and Park Jungsu would take this as a warning and then not come back. It would be better for everyone if they left and never tried to contact Heechul again.
Cho Kyuhyun was a loose cannon. He’d be dangerous around Heechul in this state, more so than usual.
Zhou Mi had finally finished calming down the secretaries. They were frazzled, and were jumping at every movement and sound, so Zhou Mi sent them home for the rest of the day and had their workload sent down to the second floor.
As soon as that was over and he was watching the janitors clean up the shattered glass, he finally turned to Hangeng. The other man had gone silent after the incident, looking a bit guilty and shaken.
As if he was scared of how violent he’d gotten.
Good, Zhou Mi thought tiredly, maybe he’ll calm himself down and try to think things through now. He noticed that Hangeng had placed his gun on Zhou Mi’s desk, the cartridge sitting beside it and the safety on, just for good measure.
Zhou Mi walked over and grabbed the gun, placing it in his briefcase along with the cartridge. He cleared his throat. “Ge, let’s go outside now.”
Hangeng nodded numbly and the two headed out the door, Zhou Mi nodding at the janitor as they closed the door. Once they were alone in the hallway, Zhou Mi turned to face Hangeng squarely.
Hangeng knew what was coming before it happened, and he didn’t try and stop Zhou Mi when the punch landed squarely on his jaw, sending him into the wall. He winced at the pain, but remained silent. He’d deserved it.
Zhou Mi was looking at him coldly-desperately, the cold look wasn’t strong because this was his ge and Zhou Mi wasn’t mad as much as he was scared-and he ended up dragging a hand through his hair before reaching out a hand to Hangeng. “Come on…does it hurt that much?”
“You’ve gotten stronger.” Was Hangeng’s gruff reply, before he pushed himself off of the wall and headed down the hall.
Zhou Mi followed behind quietly.
Hangeng heard Zhou Mi’s soft footsteps behind him and it comforted him. In the end, he knew that no matter what happened, Zhou Mi and Heechul would always be there for Hangeng…no matter what. It was a thought that had always given him strength, but now he was a bit frightened.
They forgave everything he did. He’d almost killed Heechul and in the end it had been brushed aside. Was their forgiveness making him bolder? Was it feeding some dark part of him-deep down inside, it was clawing its way out, trying to get free-that would eventually break free and end up destroying everything?
What if next time, he didn’t miss?
He fumbled for his phone, fingers moving unconsciously. He felt the cool surface of his cell phone and pulled it out, going for the first speed dial. He needed to hear Heechul’s voice. Just hearing it-even if he yelled at him for calling and interrupting a lecture or his office hours or his lunch break or whatever the hell he was doing-would make him calm again, make him remember that Heechul was alive and well and everything was fine…and that it would stay that way if he calmed the fuck down.
The phone rang a few times, the monotonous ringtone grating at his ears. Finally the other end picked up and there was a shaky inhalation of breath before a voice-it was not his, oh god, who was it?-spoke on the other end.
“Hello?”
Hangeng had stopped walking the moment the unfamiliar Korean had drifted through the phone’s speakers. Zhou Mi almost walked into him but managed to side step him, sending him a confused glance. He stiffened in worry when he saw the sickening pallor of Hangeng’s voice and the panic in his eyes.
“Who is this?” Hangeng all but yelled, gripping the phone tightly. “Where is Heechul?” He hadn’t used Korean in so long, it was stilted and even more incoherent because fear was making it difficult to remember all that Heechul had taught him about the language in the first place.
“Oh,” There was a relieved sigh. “You speak Korean.”
“Where is he?” Hangeng shouted, “Where is Heechul? Who are you? Why do you have his phone?” Oh god who was it? Someone had got him. Who was it?
“This is Park Jungsu.” The voice continued, a little shaky. “Heechul dropped his phone so I picked it up. Who am I talking to-”
“Park Jungsu?” Hangeng growled. “Fucking…where is he? Where the hell is he, you fucking bastard? If you did something to him I’ll kill you.”
There was a growl on the other end-not from Park Jungsu, but from his bodyguard who had been listening in on the conversation-but Jungsu continued on bravely, his voice steady. “I need to talk to you. Come to the Four Seasons Hotel, room number 1330.” The line went dead.
Hangeng stared at the phone in his hands, “Ya! Ya! Where is Heechul?” But no one answered, only the buzzing of the dial tone, and he resisted the urge to throw his phone against the wall in frustration.
Zhou MI gripped his arm tightly, “…why does Park Jungsu have Heechul’s cellphone?” His own voice trembled slightly.
Hangeng swallowed. “I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.”
---
Eunhyuk had gone out to get them something to eat by the time the files arrived. Donghae and Henry had been sitting in the living room, sipping some lemonade-because Eunhyuk’s strawberry milk was apparently off limits-and staring boredly at the infomercial on TV as they waited for the e-mail.
Donghae shifted nervously. Henry had seemed so determined to discover who it was that had shot Heechul. It wasn’t that Donghae didn’t want to-he wanted his hyung to be safe and for that to happen, he needed to know his hyung’s enemies-but unlike Henry, he didn’t want revenge.
He knew that was Henry’s reason for this.
Donghae was sick of revenge. It had almost cost Heechul his life…he wasn’t willing to bet anyone else’s.
The file was a simple one-large, encrypted, but one that Henry knew how to decode and unlock. It had a small message from Yesung: Too busy to look them over myself, but here are the files from the building you requested.
Donghae remembered how Henry had stood at the spot where Heechul had fallen and had told Donghae how to calculate the trajectory of a bullet. He’d stared at a building at an angle to Yumyeong Industries and had given a triumphant smirk-didn’t you come to Korea for a concert? Donghae had wanted to ask him, but he’d simply nodded.
Henry’s gaze was fixated on the screen as he opened the file and began scanning the contents. “I’ll just go to about an hour before gege was…shot.” It seemed difficult to say it aloud, but Henry merely shook it off and continued, “A sniper wouldn’t want to draw attention to himself by getting their any earlier. An hour is already pushing it.”
Donghae nodded. He knew this. Despite the fact that he’d lived a relatively simple and non-violent life, he was the son of Kim Chanho’s bodyguard. When he was younger he’d been trained to take over his father’s job. When Heechul had moved escaped to China, Donghae had continued his training, despite Heechul’s and his mother’s protests.
He’d wanted to be useful to his hyung. He’d wanted to be able to protect him. And a part of him had wanted everything to go back to the way it had been-the way it was supposed to be before Heechul’s father had died. He’d naively thought that Heechul would return from China with his mother and Donghae would take his place at his side where he belonged and everything would be alright.
He blinked, trying to hide the fact that he was tearing up from Henry as he tried to focus on the computer screen. Henry didn’t notice. He’d been staring at the screen intently the moment he’d begun playing the video feed.
Henry’s eyes darted back and forth from the two feeds on the split screen. One was the camera feed for the front door. The other was for the stairwell that led to the roof. The sniper wouldn’t have taken the elevator. That made it easier to get caught and any well trained killer would know better.
His grip tightened on the edge of the couch, nails digging into the fabric as his gazed desperately at the screen, trying to see anyone that looked remotely suspicious.
There.
His gaze flickered to a man walking in on the first half of the screen in a baseball cap, carrying a box. He looked like he was a simple deliveryman, there to drop off lunch orders. He wouldn’t have seemed suspicious at all. But there was something about his steady gate, the way he moved that told Henry he wasn’t a deliveryman.
The fact that he kept his hat down and his face away from any security cameras showed that he knew where they were and was avoiding them. The man got into the elevator, which surprised Henry until he saw him get off a few floors up. A nice tactic, in case security thought it was odd that he was heading for the stairwell right from the first floor.
He looked around, face still covered by his hat, before slipping into the stairwell, appearing on the second feed. Henry’s gaze locked on him, just as the man turned his head slightly and his face came into view.
Henry could only stare, because nothing prepared him for the sight in front of him. He let out a small, choked gasp as he continued to look on in confused horror.
It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. The picture was grainy. It couldn’t be him. “…hyung…”
Donghae stared at the face that showed clearly on the screen, carrying a delivery box-it could hide a rifle easily-up a flight of stairs. He turned back to Henry just as the other boy let out a scream.
---
Siwon had not expected for Heechul to take him to a park. The walk there had been made in silence, and Heechul had refused to follow any of Siwon’s crafty-poorly executed-leads to topics such as Kyuhyun and Leeteuk and another one of his ‘talks’.
As they’d walked Siwon had simply wondered at how comfortable Heechul seemed with well, being gay. When he’d heard Heechul tell the young student that he liked boys, Siwon had been surprised at Heechul’s honesty and lack of embarrassment.
And now here they were, walking in the park, Heechul’s grip on his arm firm as he dodged stares and disapproving looks with a cool smile.
Then again, Heechul had always been comfortable with himself. In those years that Siwon had known him, he’d never cared much about what others said-if he did, he never let it show-and he’d danced to his own tune. A tune that he’d orchestrated and made everyone else dance too when it pleased him.
Not that Siwon hadn’t gone willingly enough back then. And, if he thought about it, now as well. The familiarity of it comforted him, and the odd stares were forgotten as he reveled in this moment with his hyung.
He’d missed this in the years that Heechul had been gone.
They found a park bench, relatively secluded from the rest of the park, but with a nice view of most of it. No one would sneak up on them without them noticing first. The perfect spot for a man worried that someone was out to get him.
Heechul sat casually, leaning back against the wooden bench with a soft sigh. He pulled out his sunglasses and slipped them on, turning to Siwon with a small smile. “Gonna sit? Or should we get some ice cream first?”
Ice cream. The park. They were things that Siwon didn’t like thinking about. They brought about more memories. Screams. Blood. Crying.
A broken boy found fourteen days later, tight-lipped, bruised, and cold.
Heechul had never been the same after that, despite how he’d tried to act normal. Siwon felt that it was for his and Kyuhyun’s sake that Heechul had forced himself out of his catatonic state after the incident.
Kyuhyun didn’t remember anything. Situation specifice psychogenic amnesia, the doctors had said back then when Siwon hadn't understood his father's medical talk. Kyuhyun had forgotten everything about Heechul's kidnapping or rather, he’d shoved it all deep down. Siwon didn’t know if Leeteuk remembered or not. He’d never spoken of it. He’d simply clung to Heechul when they'd found him, even when the other had flinched at the contact, and told him that he would be a better hyung from now on and protect him.
Was that why Heechul had wanted revenge? Because Leeteuk hadn’t kept his promise? Not only had he not been able to protect him or his family, but it had been Leeteuk’s own father that had wanted him dead.
No, that couldn’t have been it. Heechul had said the revenge wasn’t against Leeteuk and Kyuhyun directly. It wasn’t that. It couldn’t be because Leeteuk had failed to protect him and Kyuhyun had forgotten the sacrifice that Heechul had made for him.
It couldn’t be that.
“I just asked if you wanted ice cream, you don’t have to cry about it.”
Siwon blinked, looking over to see Heechul eyeing him warily. His gaze was flickering between amusement, confusion, and worry. Siwon reached up a hand and brushed a tear from his cheek, only then realizing that he’d been crying.
“I…I’m sorry.”
Heechul turned back to the playground, watching as a young boy threw a frisbee for his dog to catch. “Wear sunglasses.” He murmured, “People can’t tell you’re crying that way.” He pulled his own off, blinking at the change of brightness even under the shade. “Here,” He handed them over without another word.
Siwon took them wordlessly, slipping them on. The world became darker, and as he turned to look at Heechul again, he saw that it made the lines on his face sharper. The hollows of his cheeks were deeper. His eyes were more tired.
Instead of blocking things out, the sunglasses seemed to make everything much more prominent.
The silence continued, and while Heechul seemed comfortable with it, Siwon was not. He felt as if the air was thickening around them. It was harder to breathe. The humidity of the summer seemed worse than before. Unbearable.
He said the only thing he could.
“You have a lover.” Because that was the reason he was there, right?
Heechul turned to him quickly, his gaze shocked. The surprise-and was that fear?-was quickly masked with a cool smile. “Who told you that?”
“Kyuhyun and Sungmin went to the new Hong Kong Trading building and met him.” Siwon continued, feeling better now that he was finally able to talk. This was why he was here. He needed to talk to him now and maybe get all of this sorted out before it was too late.
Heechul paused. “…they met Hangeng?”
Siwon wanted to pull off the sunglasses, because they made everything so strikingly clear. The look in Heechul’s eyes, the way his mouth twitched in a sardonic smile as he tried to come up with something witty and sharp to say to hurt and jibe and distract like he always did. Siwon would not be deterred. “That’s his name?”
“Yeah.” Heechul said simply, and Siwon could see the resignation there, the acceptance that they needed to talk about this. It almost made Siwon laugh. This was a topic Heechul would talk about. Not Kyuhyun and Leeteuk, but the man that Heechul loved.
“…so you really don’t love them then?” Siwon sounded broken.
“Nothing is as easy as you seem to think it is.” Heechul shot back angrily, miffed and a little flustered, but still trying to remain cool and uncaring on the outside. “What more do you want from me?” Because he couldn’t say that yes, he didn’t love them. The words stuck in his throat and wouldn’t go any further. For once a lie wouldn’t form.
“…is he nice to you?” Siwon finally asked into the silence that had followed Heechul’s question.
“…too nice. I don’t deserve him.” Heechul laughed softly. The sound was hollow, not the sound of someone happily in love. It made Siwon curious, but he didn’t speak. He simply watched his hyung, who was looking at everything but him.
…
…
…
“…can I…talk to you about him?” Heechul finally ventured, leaning back against the park bench and resting his hands on his knees, knuckes white and fingers rigid and tense.
Siwon looked mildly surprised. “Why do you ask?”
“I haven’t been able to talk like this in a while. You make it easy to talk. I don’t have to worry about saying anything bad around you like I do with Donghae. It’s easier to open up about things…maybe because we’ve been away from each other so long that I’m not afraid that you’ll worry about me afterwards?” He laughed to himself, trying to lighten the mood and make everything seem happy again.
Siwon wasn’t fooled, but somehow, he felt that this was needed. He smiled as well. “Go ahead and tell me about him hyung. I’m listening.” Because maybe this was what Heechul needed the most. Someone to just sit and listen.
Heechul nodded, but he didn’t speak for a while. He stared at the children playing at the playground and their mothers and the dog running around after the frisbee. It was several minutes later that he finally spoke. “…actually, we really aren’t compatible at all. We dance around each other like we’re both made of glass and afraid that the other is going to break one day. I don’t want to break him, Siwonnie.”
“You do love him.” Siwon’s heart ached at the thought. What would Kyuhyun and Leeteuk do now?
“Yeah. But not the same way he loves me.” Heechul closed his eyes. “…and that’s the problem.”
“What?”
“There are different kinds of love, Dr. Choi.” Heechul continued, his tone condescending before softening again. “I would die for Hangeng. He’s a brother and a best friend and a confidant and more that I don’t know how to explain, but he’s not a lover. But he wants to be and I want him to be happy. What am I supposed to do?”
“Talk to him.”
“You seem to think that talking is going to solve everyone’s problems.” Heechul laughed softly. “…tonight…I’m supposed to go out with him. To talk. I was planning on it…I’m kind of glad that all of this happened because it made it easy to forget that.”
“Hyung…”
“If I tell him that I don’t love him, he’ll die.” Heechul whispered. “…don’t you understand why I can’t? Don’t you understand why I can’t tell Kyuhyun or Leeteuk that I love them? Because they hate me and I can stand that. I can. I can’t take it if I knew they loved me.”
“They do!” Siwon replied earnestly, because they were getting somewhere now. Heechul had admitted he loved them, whether he realized it or not. He loved them. He did. But what about Hangeng?
“Shut up!” Heechul snapped, standing. His entire body was ramrod straight: angry, defiant, defensive. Siwon stood as well, fearing that maybe he’d said something he shouldn’t have. He needed to get Heechul closer, not push him away.
“Hyung…I’m sorry.” Siwon finally whispered.
He saw the tension ease slowly from Heechul’s shoulders. The other man didn’t look back at him though. He simply nodded. “Yeah. I know. When you talk with Leeteuk again, tell him that I want that charm from my cell phone back. He can keep the phone, it’s going to get discontinued in a day or so anyway.” And he walked off, leaving Siwon to stare at his retreating back in shock.