ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

"Where is Jihoon?" Soonyoung barged into the company with huge, heavy strides and a loud voice which stripped the attention of the staff away from their work.

He looked at them, walking over to the receptionist. "Where is my husband? Lee Jihoon?" He questioned, his impatience displayed in his attitude as the lady handed over a keycard to him.

"Te-tenth floor Sir." She stuttered as Soonyoung retrieved the keycard. Soonyoung nodded, a thank you following before he rushed to the elevator.

He was worried and rightfully so. His husband had called him randomly, sounding like he was wallowing in his own tears and shaking in fear. What the hell had happened?

He got into the elevator with Seungcheol and his other bodyguards, scanning the keycard before the buttons lit up and he pressed the 10th.

His hands locked together and his jaw hardened, a shade of blood red in his eyes as he thought about what he would do to whoever hurt Jihoon.

He just had to find Jihoon first.

Soonyoung tapped impatiently against the walls of the elevator, his worry rising, fueling his anger. The doors of the lift slid open and Soonyoung dashed out of the elevator with a rapid speed.

He scanned the keycard, giving him access to the floor although he was stopped by security as he stepped into the main floor. "Excuse me S-"

"Where is my husband?" He asked, pushing the security officers' hands off him with a sharp, strong force. Their facial expressions changed, fear enveloping them as they pointed to the strange figure down the hall, standing outside a room with his legs crossed.

Soonyoung pushed them aside, walking down the hallway. He opened the door barricading the man from him without a second to waste, pinning the man to the wall by his neck as he caught up to him.

"I'll ask you only once, where is my husband?" His words came out calmly but the fiery aftermath of his tightening grip made his stance clear.

Minho began to choke on his on words as he tried to get them out, "He...h-here." He tried to catch his breath as he pointed to the door which was still open. Soonyoung let him go immediately and he fell to the floor, gasping.

"Jihoon-ah!" Soonyoung yelled as he rushed into the room, closing the door behind him. As he walked in, he saw a room much bigger than be expected with multiple bookshelves and cases and files.

Soonyoung eyes anxiously dashed around the room before falling to the floor where he saw Jihoon, his eyes teared up, his face stained and scattered papers littered around him.

"Baby." The nickname left his mouth so naturally, Jihoon almost couldn't believe what he'd heard. He looked up, brought out of his trance, his eyes still teary as he stared at Soonyoung's blurry eyes.

Soonyoung ran towards Jihoon, embracing him in a hug that needed no words. A comforting, consoling silence that needed no additional statements.

Soonyoung didn't care to know what had made Jihoon cry, Jihoon may have not even wanted him to know. What he cared about was Jihoon being safe, here, in his arms.

"Thank you... for coming." Jihoon's muffled words still reached Soonyoung's ears but he shook his head lightly, holding Jihoon closer. "You're my husband, Jihoon... do you know how worried I was?"

He patted Jihoon's hair down, helping to soothe him. "I'm... sorry." Jihoon replied and Soonyoung pushed him out, their eyes coming in contact. "Never say that again." Soonyoung warned Jihoon who managed to get a laugh out, chuckling at Soonyoung's serious expression.

"What happened? You said you were scared." Soonyoung inquired, the worry still in his tone although he tried to conceal it. Jihoon nodded with a smile on his face which Soonyoung knew was only there to mask his pain.

He gestured the paper littered on the floor, gathering them and handing it over to Soonyoung. Soonyoung opened the remade file, scanning the document to try and understand why Jihoon was crying.

Then everything clicked as he put two and two together. Had Mr. Lee really planned the killing of 6 of the biggest businessmen in Korea in the crash that happened 4 years ago?

Damn. Lee Hyunmin was way worse than him. Then again, he couldn't even complain. Their deaths had increased the revenue of their company and they had acquired a few businesses too.

His eyes narrowed to Jihoon then to the file again. He knew exactly why Jihoon was in tears. He didn't know. He didn't know the reality of his father. The man behind the mask.

And Soonyoung couldn't help but feel bad for him.

"Aren't you going to call me a hypocrite for hating you and not my dad when my dad is probably... no, actually way worse?" He looked at Soonyoung, a bit out of breath as he talked. Soonyoung sighed, Jihoon looked defeated.

He shook his head, pulling him closer again, "No, I'm not going to do that. It doesn't help." He rubbed Jihoon's back but the man pulled himself out of the hug, his brows furrowed as he pointed out, "You aren't disagreeing though?"

Soonyoung's lips drew up into a smirk as he shrugged and Jihoon burst into laughter, real laughter that made Soonyoung laugh too.

As the laughter died down and what was left in the air was lingering sadness and gratefulness, Jihoon, without thinking, pushed himself forward, his lips meeting with Soonyoung's.

Soonyoung's eyes widened, his body locking in place, drenched in surprise. He couldn't believe what was happening but his heart certainly could as he felt his heartbeat getting faster and his face turning red.

Jihoon pulled himself back, covering his mouth in shock. Baffled at his own actions. Soonyoung blinked while Jihoon turned away, standing up.

The atmosphere quickly filled with an unresolved tension and held back tongues. As Soonyoung opened his mouth to say something, anything, Jihoon ran towards the door.

"Let's go, Soonyoung," He pulled down on the door handle with his eyes shut from embarrassment, "I want to go home."

•••••••••••••

Wonwoo took off his glasses, about to throw them before he came to his senses and he instead, angrily placed them on the table.

He still hadn't found Yoon Jeonghan. Where the hell could his sneaky self be hiding? He had to be in Seoul, it would make no sense for him to run to another city and as Wonwoo said that, he realized he just didn't want to broaden his search horizon.

Maybe he did need Mingyu but he would never call the man back again. He didn't care how long it took him to find Jeonghan, he didn't want Mingyu's help. He would have gladly taken the information if it didn't come with that ridiculously large brat.

He was a bit relaxed and also very tense. He didn't know why Soonyoung hadn't called him yet and the wait was actually, slowly killing him. Maybe he had to do a deep dive into Yoon Jeonghan.

Sure, his parents were dead but there was no way he didn't have any other relations, any other person... or people that he talked with or even worked with.

That was it. He needed to get his own info on Jeonghan. Maybe the location wasn't what they needed right now. Maybe they needed to win Jeonghan at his own game.

Manipulation and deceit.

He sat down at his desk, switching on his computer, the blue light illuminating his face. He was going to check every crack and crevice of the Internet to get as much data as he possibly could on Yoon Jeonghan.

He wasn't just doing this for Soonyoung anymore. He was doing it to prove to himself and to that annoying 6 feet rat, Kim Mingyu, that he could do amazingly well on his own just as he had been all these years.

Just as Wonwoo began his research, the phone in his office rang. Wonwoo let out a sigh, standing up and moving towards the telephone hung on the wall.

He picked it up, putting it to his ear. "Hello." He heard the person on the other line say. "Hello, who is this?" He asked, the voice sounding familiar but his brain unable to decipher who.

"Wonwoo-ya, it's Eunbi. Tell Soonyoung I'm going to be coming in tomorrow, by 8am and I need him to pick me up."

Wonwoo's jaw dropped in shock. Eunbi noona? Soonyoung's sister who nobody had seen or heard from in so long was randomly coming back to Korea?

Why? "Noona, what's going on? Wht are you coming back?" Wonwoo asked, unsure why he was so worried.

Although her next words confirmed his fears.

"Don't tell Soonyoung this but I'm being threatened and targeted, I just need a safe place to stay... for the meantime."

Wonwoo gulped, swallowing the huge lump in his throat. "Noona, what the hell?"

He heard Eunbi sigh, her voice getting tinier and tinier, "Wonwoo-ya... do you know a Yoon Jeonghan?" She asked and the phone almost dropped from Wonwoo's hand, his face draining of all colour, turning pale.

"Noona, is Yoon Jeonghan the one threatening you?" He felt himself getting more worried and scared on her behalf. How the hell had Yoon Jeonghan located Eunbi and found enough dirt on her to scare her into running away?

"Wonwoo-ya, I can't talk right now, just do what I asked you to." The call ended abruptly, a cold breeze brushing past Wonwoo's skin. The mere thought giving him goosebumps.

Maybe Yoon Jeonghan was a lot more powerful than they thought.

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

Ⓒ︎𝙾𝙷𝚆𝙰𝚈𝙾𝙷𝚆𝙰𝚈𝙾𝙷
𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙴𝙳 - 11•01•2025
𝙴𝙽𝙳𝙴𝙳 - 𝙽•𝙰