❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

Seokmin eyes opened as he yawned, stretching his arms. He looked around, noticing that Joshua was not in the room.

He sat up as he spotted a note on Joshua's pillow, which had been written on a tiny, white sheet of paper. "If you're reading this, I'm already at work, don't come, you get a day off." Seokmin read the words and rolled his eyes, tossing the paper away.

He wasn't going to take any more days off, he'd already taken enough. He stood up when his eyes came into contact with another note on the bedside table.

"Please just rest, Dokyeom, I'm begging you." Seokmin thought for a bit before sighing. Guess he would be staying in Joshua's house today. Seeing as there was nowhere else for him to go.

Seokmin walked into the bathroom, the folded up clothes on the sink being the first thing he saw as he went in. 'For you' was written on a note which was placed on top of the clothes.

Joshua was quite... sweet. It was shocking, a little off-putting as well.

He had done a whole 360 when it came to his personality in the past two months. But remembering that it had already been two months, almost three, scared Seokmin.

They would soon go into the new year and the deadline to kill Joshua was approaching faster. Seokmin didn't think he could kill Joshua anymore, he didn't want to, he really didn't want to.

But he was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if he didn't. He was a coward, he knew that and he had no plans on changing. He didn't believe he could change anyways, he believed he would always be a monster. No matter what he did or how hard he tried to turn over a new leaf.

Seokmin finished showering and got dressed, taking a personal tour of Joshua's house. It was very minimalist with zero to no decorations, not even a personal flare to the home.

While the space was neverending, there actually wasn't much interior and not many rooms. It was a perfect home for a single man. It felt like it had been custom-built for Joshua.

Seokmin put on one of the coats on Joshua's coat rack and wore one of Joshua's glasses and masks, ready to go buy some groceries for Joshua's fridge. Seeing the fridge empty was a real punch to Seokmin's gut.

He couldn't help but wonder if Joshua truly took care of himself well. Not only did he have insomnia, he was a huge workaholic who had been hurt many times in the past. He didn't deserve to go through all that. No one did.

That was why the urge to take care of him was so strong. It was exactly why Seokmin would always choose to hurt himself as long as him doing that would equate to Joshua being safe.

That was all that mattered to him.

.............

Seokmin put more items in his shopping cart, but with each item, he remembered Wonwoo and it only made him ponder how and why Wonwoo was there yesterday and what he was even doing here after everything.

Seokmin didn't want to face his past because he knew it was the only way he could become a better person, and after all those people who he'd indirectly and directly killed, he didn't think he merited the grace of being a good person.

The guilt weighed on him like an immovable force and held him down with constant reminders of just how cruel and inhumane he was. It reminded him that he was worse than Joshua. He was worse than the devil.

So what did that make him?

Seokmin checked the time on his watch only to find out it was already 2pm. Had he really woken up that late?

Sleeping in Joshua's arms had made him forget all his worries, even though the owner of those arms was the bone of his problems and the solution all at once.

Seokmin paid for the groceries and left the store with around 4 bags of groceries in his hand. He called a taxi and got in reaching Joshua's house in a short amount of time.

He unlocked the door using the code and went in, closing it behind him. As he placed the grocery bags on the island, his phone start to vibrate in the pocket of the coat.

'VERNON' flashed on the screen and Seokmin swiped right, answering the call. "Hello?" He tapped on the speaker button and lifted the phone up to his ear.

"Mr. Lee, I-I think B-B-Boss is in dan-d-danger." He was panicking and his breaths were irregular while he stumbled on some words.

"Vernon, calm down and tell me what happened as fast as you can." Seokmin instructed as he started to look around the house for weapons. He had his gun but it wasn't loaded.

Vernon took in an unstable breath before starting to explain.

"Around 1:30, he said he was going home and that once he got home he would text me the details of a merger document to finalise it and I met his main bodygaurd and they said he'd gone home so usually when he goes home early, everyone is allowed to leave so I told everyone to go home and locked up the company."

Seokmin listened intently as he ransacked Joshua's home for any sort of weapon. Anything he could use to demolish anyone who had dared to put their hands on Joshua.

"So it's only the security that stay there after everyone leaves and I got home and waited for him to send the documents but he never did, then I called his number but it was unreachable, I don't know what's going on."

Seokmin finally found where Joshua stored his guns and put two in his pocket while he carried his pocket knives with him as well.

"Did you ever see Joshua leave the building?" Seokmin asked as he rushed down the stairs, opening the door to leave the house.

"...No, b-but I did ask his bodyguard and he said he'd left."

Seokmin stopped as it all came to his head, his own voice shaky as he asked, "Vernon, why would they leave without the main bodyguard?"

Vernon silence helped him out the pieces together, figuring it all out.

Joshua was still at the company. He had to be.

"Go back to the building Vernon, don't let anyone know you're there and call all the trustworthy bodyguards then when I get there, call 911, okay?" Seokmin ordered and Vernon's sniffles were enough to make him anxious, to make him paranoid.

But he had to stay strong. If he wanted Joshua to live, he had to believe that he was still at the company, alive and breathing.

Seokmin took the first taxi that stopped and gave the company address, urging the driver to speed up. The tires ran across the bumpy road and past the speed limit as Seokmin loaded the second gun, trying to stay as calm as he possibly could.

In about 10 minutes, the taxi halted and pulled back before stopping and Seokmin paid quickly and got out of the car.

He scanned the building before noticing the 15th floor lights had just turned on. Joshua was there. He had to be there. Seokmin closed his eyes and clasped his hands, praying to whoever was listening. Whoever deemed him important enough to hear out.

"Please, let Joshua be there."

"What do we do Sir?" Vernon rushed to Seokmin, his eyes red and his cheeks stained by his tears. Seokmin didn't know Vernon cared about Joshua so much, he didn't think Vernon was capable of caring for people.

Although it was unclear if he was crying for Joshua or if he was crying because this could get him fired.

"Call 911." He reminded Vernon before turning to the 10 bodyguards. "Follow me." He demanded as the security unlocked the door, granting them access into the building.

"Stairs." He whispered and they all started to climb the stairs as quietly as they could, the soles of their shoes making dashes against the marble.

As they reached the 15th floor, Seokmin put out his hand making them stop then he took out his gun, unlocked the first door and rushed to Joshua's office.

The door was open.

He tiptoed into the room and surveyed the area. It was completely empty. Allison wasn't there and neither was Joshua.

As Seokmin was about to lose hope, he heard the stomping of feet above him. However. It didn't seem like it came from the floor immediately on top of this one.

It was the rooftop!

Seokmin ran out of the office and met the bodyguards. "Rooftop." He whispered with urgency and they all began to rush uo the stairs, their steps still as light as they were before.

The aluminium door leading to the rooftop was slightly open and Seokmin put his eye through the space, trying to see if Joshua was there.

As he peeped through, his eyes narrowed, immediately noticing Joshua who was on the ground, being choked to death.

Seokmin's jaw hardened and his eyes glimmered with fury as he turned to the bodyguards.

"I'll go in there first. When you hear a knock on this door, open it." He informed the bodyguards who nodded as he stepped in, trying not to alert the person.

But as he put his second leg, he almost slipped and his shoe made a noise against the rocky roof. The attacker turned around swiftly, letting go of Joshua and that was when Seokmin recognised who it was.

Tom, from the masquerade ball.

Seokmin rolled his eyes, his obvious annoyance and hatred displaying in his features and his rage only multiplying by the second. "What the fuck are you doing he-"

Seokmin didn't waste time to shoot Tom in the leg, however he didn't want to kill him, he wanted to be able to plead self defense.

Tom wailed in pain as he fell to the ground, keeping his hand on his knee. Seokmin dashed towards Joshua, trying to wake him up. He checked his pulse.

Luckily, he was still alive.

He tapped Joshua until his eyes opened and when they did, they widened as he came back to reality. His breathing was heavy and his hands naturally moved to his neck, touching the huge bruise that had now decorated it.

As Seokmin helped Joshua stand up, he was pulled by a hand and kicked right in the stomach, right where his wound was.

"FUCK!" He screamed in pain as he fell down, his body making contact with the ground and his arms being scratched against the surface.

"Dokyeom!" Joshua yelled, running up to Tom and giving him a sharp punch to the jaw. As Tom stumbled backwards, Seokmin tossed the gun to Joshua who cocked it back aiming for Tom's head.

"I'll give you a chance to live, now get the fuck out of my company, right now!" Joshua ordered and Tom stared right at him with a smug look on his face.

In a span of a second, Tom bent down, ran towards Joshua and wrapped his arms around his waist, throwing him down.

The gun slipped out of his hands and Tom used that as an advantage to pin one hand down and punch Joshua repeatedly.

Seokmin, who was still in pain but had fortunately survived the kick, got up and moved towards the two, dragging Tom off Joshua.

Tom managed to turn around, with his fractured knee and grip Seokmin's collar pushing him to the end of the roof.

"Give me the file Joshua, give me the fucking file or he dies!" Tom pushed Seokmin down more and his breaths became shorter as he closed his eyes, still not ready to die.

"Knock on the door Joshua, run!" Seokmin yelled and tears started to stream down Joshua's face. "No! I'm not leaving you! I can't leave you here!" He shouted, his voice muffled by the sound of the thunder.

Joshua looked back and forth frantically, conflicted and addled, but as he looked at Dokyeom, his eyes gestured to the gun in front of him.

He had to distract Tom to help Joshua to pick up the gun.

"You can't do it!" Seokmin yelled at Tom to save time as Tom turned back to look at him. "What the fuck are you talking about?!" Tom unknowingly pulled Seokmin up, making their faces meet, just inches apart.

"You're too fucking dumb." Seokmin pushed Tom with all his strength, Tom's grasp on his collar weakening before kicking him in the balls, making him fall to the ground in pain.

Then, with a shot to his other leg from Joshua, he stayed paralysed on the ground with no way to move as blood fled out of his legs.

At that moment, the sound of thunder could be heard again and the door to the rooftop burst open with a loud bang as it hit the concrete walls. The police came in pointing guns at both Joshua and Seokmin who dropped their weapons, raising their hands up.

Seokmin glanced at Joshua, a smile fully formed on his face as rain started to pour on them. Joshua smiled back before closing his eyes and looking up to the sky.

They were safe.

Joshua was safe.

❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

Ⓒ︎𝐎𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐎𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐎𝐇
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 - 06/10/2024
𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 - N/A