Chapter Text
The doors to the front building opened and, just as he thought, one searched for weapons of any kind on him while the other two kept their guns aimed at him. Once deemed clear, his hands were tied on his back and he was then dragged through the front building and past the patio between the buildings.
He was escorted to the building directly opposite to the main one, Bangtan’s men shoving him whenever he would slow down his pace while going up the stairs.
His heart skipped a beat when he entered the third room on the right and the first he saw was his son in the middle of it, strapped to a chair. There was quite a distance from the door to where the boy was but he could nonetheless distinguish tape over his son’s mouth and a bruise on his left eye. He averted looking at him, not confident on being able to keep his emotions in check otherwise, and instead scanned the rest of the room while being led to the chair in front of Chin Hae. There were large windows in the far back but the curtains were drawn, the room being lightened by the lights on the ceiling. There were the four columns he had seen in the blueprints and Haejin hummed to himself (low enough so he wouldn’t be heard) because those were one of the places he had marked for Jihun as options. There were also a couple of chairs piled up on the far right corner, gray from the years of dust that had fallen upon them.
Abandoned.
He remembered the place being one of Seokjin’s father's newest projects. He wasn’t sure if it was a hotel or if it was for offices, but it was a big project nonetheless. One that was still missing, at least, a year but never came to fruition. The man died here, or somewhere on this property. One hell of a fight, or so he heard, since he had been on his way to Thailand by then. A fight that cost them their leader as well.
It was poetic, in a way, that the remaining man of the founding members had also met his demise on this very place.
He blinked his reminiscence away and focused on Bangtan’s current leader, standing near a table about a meter to Chin Hae’s right, and holding a tablet, blatantly ignoring his arrival. Next to him was Kim’s son who, unlike Yoongi who was now typing something on the device in his hands, was staring right at him. Of concentrating enough, he might have been able to read his mind because he recognized that look. He had sported such a gaze many years ago.
Rage, pain and resentment, all combined together and barely being contained, waiting for the opportunity to unleash it all. Haejin wondered if the patience was burning him inside, having to wait before being able to launch himself at him. He let the corners of his lips turn slightly upwards, enjoying the reaction he got out of Seokjin: the furrowing of his eyebrows, the clench of his jaw, the almost imperceptible twitch of his fingers to try and reach for the gun on his belt.
The staring competition was abruptly interrupted when Haejin was pushed to sit on the chair, the men that had escorted him not wasting a second to wrap ropes around his chest. He winced when they tightened them but he knew that as long as he could breath, they didn’t care.
A door opened to Haejin’s right and from there, their dear protege emerged: Jeon Jungkook. Haejin had heard a lot about him through Chin Hae and most of it was good. Jungkook was a stand-up kid, loyal to a fault, and he could understand why he was given command of his own division at such a young age. He would have done so himself but unfortunately, they were enemies as Jungkook’s sneer as he strided to Seokjin’s side reminded him.
Jungkook whispered something into Seokjin’s ear. Haejin couldn’t hear from where he was nor could he get a good reading of Seokjin’s facial expression either.
It didn’t matter anyway. The thud of the tablet that was previously in Yoongi’s hands against the table was louder than it normally would be due to the quietness in the room, and it got Haejin’s attention. Yoongi reminded him so much of his father at that moment, searing rage concealed under a mask of aloofness. But he hadn’t perfected it as much as his father had. There were cracks there that Haejin could see right through.
“Park Haejin.”
Two words. Two simple words that held months worth of piled up fury, wrapped in venom and delivered with spite. Two words that must’ve haunted the young one’s every thought. Words that Yoongi must’ve most definitely cursed while pursuing him and failing to capture him.
“Care to share the reason you decided it was a good idea to return here and stir up problems?”
Haejin didn’t bother to answer the question. Not yet at least because he had a more concerning matter at the front of his mind.
“I’ll be more than happy to cater to all your inquiries once you’ve released the boy.”
Yoongi glanced towards Chin Hae and back towards Haejin, crossed his arms and uttered a single word. “No.”
“You said-”
“I said that if you didn’t get here in fifteen, he would pay for it.”
Haejin took a slow, deep breath, careful to not let his annoyance manifest on his features. He didn’t want to give Yoongi or anyone the pleasure of getting under his skin. Being captured was already enough. Besides, he didn’t know if Bangtan knew who exactly was Chin Hae –or, more precisely, his relationship to Haejin. He was almost certain they at least suspected of it. Why else would they keep him alive and use him as a bargain chip?
“Answer my question.”
Haejin wanted to snap at the younger, wanted to get out of his bind and knock him out cold with a single punch for daring to speak to him in such a demanding tone. Regardless of his growing fury, he needed to stall, gain enough time for Jihun and the rest to gather and execute his plan of sorts.
“Revenge.”
His words were received with various answers: some sighed, some groaned. Jungkook scoffed and grumbled something under his breath but stopped with a single look from Seokjin. Yoongi, though, didn’t react at all. He was most likely expecting the answer as much as Haejin expected the question that followed.
“Revenge for crushing you and your gang ten years ago?”
Haejin had to take another slow, deep breath at the mocking tone used in the question. “They were like my family. But your father and his friends ripped my actual family away from me so I thought, why not repay the favor?”
He saw it then, the cracks under his mask letting through the anger they were trying to conceal. What he also saw was the glance he took in Chin Hae’s direction. It lasted no more than two seconds, at most, but they were two seconds that had his heart spiking up. As far as he knew from the information he had collected, when interrogating, Bangtan had never tortured a loved one from the person in question. But that was as far as he knew, he wasn’t completely sure. Desperate times come with desperate measures and Haejin was sure this situation qualified as “desperate”.
“Is he your son?”
In one of the many scenarios he had played out in his head, that question had come up quite a number of times but that didn’t make it any easier to actually hear it. He didn’t answer right away, and that was a mistake. He could have denied it, tried to convince them that he had simply persuaded the kid to work for him and therefore, he should be released. But he didn’t because he was still fighting down the surge of panic he had experienced.
“Let him go.”
A non-answer was an answer in itself. Yoongi turned to look at Seokjin who grimaced and grabbed the tablet that Yoongi had previously slammed on the table. Haejin watched how Jungkook’s eyes widened with the revelation that not only his friend had been a spy, but was also the son of the man who had been hellbent on destroying them for the past months.
“Well,” Yoongi sighed and started walking. He stopped behind Chin Hae and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I guess that confirms the suspicion that you had both a wife and a son.”
Haejin couldn’t help to react at Yoongi being so close to his son, couldn’t help to trash against his restraints and bristle at Yoongi’s aerious comment about just then confirming the existence of his wife. What made them think they could fool him?
“Suspicion? Don’t patronize me. Your father and his friends knew! They killed her just like they killed my brother! And for what?! What threat was she to them?!”
Haejin didn’t care about the men that raised their guns at him the second he started trashing, his gaze was locked on two people only –people who appeared to be having a silent conversation going on. Yoongi’s eyes were narrowed while Seokjin’s just seemed confused.
Just great, he thought. They had no idea what their fathers had taken from him. They didn’t know how they hadn’t settled with almost literally burning them to the ground, no. They had teared apart from him what mattered the most and forced him to flee, to leave his son to be raised by another family. He trusted said family (wouldn’t have left his son with them otherwise) but it didn’t make him feel any better about it. He had only been able to breathe when his best friend started sending him reports about his son, promising that both him and his son were safe and that he would protect Chin Hae with his life.
Yoongi turned to him, his expression a mix of disbelief and irritation. “Did you see my father or his friends, or anyone from Bangtan for that matter, pulling the trigger and killing her?”
It wasn’t only him squirming in his seat now. His son had started fighting against his restraints when he heard Yoongi imply that Bangtan had nothing to do with his mother’s death, physically showing all the rage he couldn’t express verbally.
“I was busy elsewhere, you little–”
“So, how the hell are you sure they were responsible?”
“My right hand man told me about it! He found her lying on the street, abandoned and you have the gall to–”
“Abandoned where?”
They were yelling at each other and Haejin didn’t understand what was the point of knowing where his wife had been killed. Why did it matter? Bangtan had been attacking that day, they had been in the city, so what excuse could he come up with that would, somehow, offer an alibi on her death? He saw nothing but stubbornness in Yoongi’s expression so he knew that he wouldn’t relent until Haejin answered his question.
“Near the park in Baekseok.”
A beat of silence where Yoongi looked elsewhere, thoughtful, probably trying to pin Baekseok in a mental map. He snapped his gaze back to Haejin and clicked his tongue. “That’s nowhere near where your base was located which is where they attacked! You don’t even have to take my word for it,” he added, when he saw Haejin open his mouth to protest. “Just look up the news from back then. Or just ask yourself, even if they had known she was your wife and that you had a son, how the hell did they even know your wife was there?”
Haejin was taken aback by the statement, the implications behind it. So, what? Was he supposed to believe Bangtan had nothing to do with his wife’s death? That his friend had lied? Why would his friend even lie? What would he get from claiming Mi Rae’s death to be the doing of Bangtan? They were already at war with them so, as much as he hated to admit it, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
But that detail had always bothered him. How did they know that his wife was in the city?
He shook his head along with the small voice that whispered “what if...”. He wasn’t going to let the son of a scumbag plant seeds of doubt in his head about his best friend, about the guy he’s known for the majority of his life.
Haejin’s counter argument never left his mind, interrupted by a voice sounding through the radio left atop the table.
“Boss! Black Gauntlet’s here and–”
The man’s frantic yell was interrupted by the booming sound he recognized belonged to an explosion and the noise seemed to be coming from behind Haejin– where the main building was located. They were executing his plan.
While Haejin was revelling in the knowledge that his plan was being carried out, Yoongi had made it to the table and was shouting orders through the radio while Seokjin was directing the men that were in the room. Jungkook walked towards Chin Hae and released him from the restraints tying him to the chair but his hands were still bound against his back. Haejin yelled at Jungkook when he saw him pulling his son up but stopped when he noticed his own restraints were being cut as well while a man to his right pointed his gun at him to keep him from retaliating.
The last rope fell at the same time another explosion went off, closer this time. Dust fell from the roof as a third explosion was heard, followed by the distinct sound of guns firing. The floor shook with its force and had everyone struggling to remain standing.
Haejin took advantage of the chaos and, with one swift jump, his hands were no longer behind his back. The man that had been pointing a gun at him was coughing and covering his eyes, which worked in Haejin’s favor. One bang later and he was now armed. The one that had set him free was screaming at him, something along the lines of “stop”, but Haejin had immediately aimed for him next after he killed the first one.
“Dad!”
Haejin heard his son’s strained voice calling for him and he turned to where he had last seen him. The dust was still clearing but he could outline the figures of Chin Hae and Jungkook; the former trying his best to evade Jungkook’s knife.
He needed to get them out of there, and fast. He had used –well, his underlings had– part of the C-4 earlier in the day to serve as a distraction. There were only six blocks left and half of them had already been used. He needed to get to his son and flee or otherwise risk getting caught in the blasts.
He took the switchblade used to cut his strings that was lying on the floor and managed to take one step towards his son when he saw Yoongi to his left, armed and running towards him. He saw Yoongi raise his right arm and Haejin was about to raise his own when the building shook once more. Those that remained in the room fell from the force of the blast. If he had counted well, they were on the eighth floor which wasn’t good news for them.
He reached where his son was sprawled on the floor in time to see him throw a kick at Jungkook’s face. Chin Hae took the few seconds it took for Jungkook to recover, to stand up and run towards the door on the right side of the room, Haejin following right behind.
Haejin closed the door and turned to his son, to ask him if he was okay, but a coughing fit held him from it. Only then did he regret all his years of stress-smoking which, combined with the dust, weren’t painting a good picture for his lungs. Luckily, Chin Hae had acted quickly and had jammed one of the chairs that were lying around on the door. It wouldn’t stop them since there were other entries to the room they were in, but it did give them a head start.
With his coughing fit subsiding, Haejin used the switchblade to cut his son’s restraints who then did the same for his father. Hands free, they resumed their escape and ran towards the door on the opposite wall.
*****
It hadn’t been easy, but they had managed to avoid Bangtan members on their way down the stairs. They used one of the mirrorless windows on the back of the building to escape, since the lobby –or what it should've been the lobby– was crowded with men firing at each other.
Once out of the building, Haejin looked back and stopped for a moment to observe the damage caused by the explosions. Whether it was calculated or sheer luck, the detonations had taken place on the west wing whilst he and his son had been held on the east wing. Part of the lower floors on the west wing were no longer there, reduced to rubble. He could see a billowing cloud of smoke rising over the top of the building –a result of the first two blasts, he presumed.
“Where to now?” Chin Hae questioned and Haejin was reminded that they were still out in the open and could be spotted at any moment.
He left the question unanswered and tugged his son’s arm into the opposite direction of where the shooting was happening. He had never been in this part of the city before but he had studied a map of the area. Hopefully, they could put enough distance between them and Bangtan to reach somewhere safe.
*****
They had run for so long that their legs were burning, demanding they stop and rest.
Haejin spotted a factory about two blocks from their position and headed in its direction. Luckily for them, night had fallen some time ago so all workers were already at their homes. Getting in was fairly easy, even with the presence of an alarm and all. Moonlight was all they had to guide them through the inside and even that didn’t stop them from tripping a few times.
Walking upstairs, Haejin found what he assumed to be the manager’s office, but that bit of information didn’t matter to him as much as the landline phone sitting atop the desk did. While Haejin sat on the desk chair and made a phone call, Chin Hae plopped on the couch across the desk with a groan. He was massaging his sore legs when he noticed a mini fridge to his right. With a small cheer, he pulled a water bottle and threw it in his father’s direction who glared at him because he almost hadn’t caught it, what with not having turned the lights on when they walked in.
With a whispered “oops”, he drank almost half of his own water bottle along with a few bites of a cereal bar he had found inside the fridge. They weren’t completely out of harm’s way but he allowed himself to lay down on the couch, exhaling as he felt his body complain from the long day of exertion he had been through.
They sure could grant themselves some rest for at least half an hour, at least.
*****
The last thing Haejin wanted to do was to interrupt his son’s well deserved sleep, but their ride was here and so, they needed to leave.
Chin Hae kept yawning through the entire car ride and Haejin felt awful about it, but he kept reminding himself that at least they were still alive. He had no idea about the rest, though. Black Gauntlet had probably been decimated, but he had never cared about them so he wasn’t about to cry for them. They were merely means to an end. He would tip his hat if they had managed to take some of Bangtan’s men with them, but that was it.
Bangtan…
It was something he had avoided thinking about after he had ended the phone call to his best friend. Every time his brain decided to bring up the memory of his discussion against Min’s kid, he would immediately start looking at random files in the office. Anything to stray his mind from the implication, the possibility–
It wasn’t true. Couldn’t be. Under no circumstances would he let himself believe that his friend had… betrayed him.
No. No way. They were simply trying to mess with his head, and that was it.
It was his fault for wanting to execute such an elaborate plan to bring down the entirety of Bangtan, to make them suffer like he did, when he should have simply gone for the head in the first place.
It was fine, he convinced himself as the car stopped in the parking lot of an apartment building. He would reunite with his friend, they would get some rest and afterwards they could think about their next steps with their minds more clear.
Chin Hae was practically sleep walking as he entered the apartment. Hyun Sik ruffled his hair and pointed him to the room he could use to sleep. Not many words were exchanged between himself and his friend. Partly because he was also dead tired and partly because that damn conversation was still playing in his mind. It was nearing midnight anyway, so Hyun Sik directed him to his room where a really soft looking bed was waiting for him.
The sight of his dear Mi Rae on that hideous day was the last image he saw before falling asleep.
*****
The sun filtering through the half closed curtains rose him from slumber. He felt rested but not at the same time. Not when all the events of the prior day came rushing back. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and continue sleeping, to ignore the looming threat that was Bangtan and the poisonous thoughts they had implanted in him.
But he couldn’t. Not yet, at least. Not as long as they were still in the country.
He forced himself to get up from bed and change into the set of fresh clothes Hyun Sik had told him last night were on the dresser. His muscles still ached and his head was pounding. Slightly, for now, but he knew it would get worse if he didn’t take anything for it.
Walking out of his room, he caught voices from nearby. He recognized them to be from his son and his friend so he headed in their direction. As he neared what appeared to be the kitchen, the voices became much clearer.
“-and then he had the fucking nerve to say that Bangtan had nothing to do with mom’s death!”
Haejin heard his son exclaim, enraged, but his eyes weren’t on him. They were on his best friend and he didn’t like what he saw. When the words left his son’s mouth, he saw him wince. Chin Hae continued to talk, ranting about the preposterous claims Min’s kid had done, while going through the fridge (he hadn’t eaten much the day before) so he couldn’t see the reaction to his words.
But Haejin could. And that damned conversation was once again at the front of his mind.
Why wasn’t Hyun Sik reacting like his son, with rage at the absurd nonsense those bastards had pulled? Why had he winced? Why was his head slightly down? Why was he biting his lip? Why did his expression change completely once Chin Hae turned back to him, nodding along with whatever his son was saying? Why was his friend reacting like this? Didn’t he know he was making it even more hard for him to shake away the doubts that had taken root and refused to do anything but grow?
Chin Hae took notice of him first and called him out. He was babbling about the breakfast Hyun Sik had prepared for them and how good it was, but his eyes were fixed on his friend.
Hyun Sik smirked while he praised himself and his culinary abilities. Chin Hae dismissed him saying he wasn’t that great to which Hyun Sik responded by throwing a breadcrumb at him. It was the usual, playful banter between them, and yet it didn’t feel right. He went along with their antics as he took a seat next to Chin Hae on the kitchen island, not wanting to worry them about his thoughts that were most definitely not true.
And yet, it didn’t feel right.
Was he projecting? Was he overthinking things? Was he just imagining that the smile on his friend’s face seemed strained? Was he going mad? He surely felt like it if he was doubting the punk that had been with him almost his entire life, through thick and thin, on the words of a good-for-nothing scumbag like Min’s kid.
“How ya feeling, dad?”
He looked at his son, a boy that reminded him so much of his little brother with his personality and mannerisms. If they had grown up together, Haejin was sure they would have been an extremely chaotic duo that would for sure get in trouble twice a day. He always smiled when such thoughts crossed his mind.
“A bit of a headache, but I’m fine. What were you two talking about?” He asked over the rim of his cup of tea. The food looked and smelled appetizing, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to swallow even a bite of it.
“Was telling about the bullshit we heard yesterday.”
“Can’t begin to imagine what that must’ve been,” Hyun Sik said with a shake of his head. There was sadness in his eyes, the same expression he wore all those years ago. It had affected him greatly back then, to be the one to find her and to deliver the news. Hyun Sik cared deeply for Mi Rae, there was no denying that, so there was no reason to think he had snitched on her location, right? Haejin took another sip of tea to swallow that uncomfortable lump on his throat and Hyun Sik continued talking. “To ambush her, stab her, leave her to die, and then deny the whole thing? Not even admit it to their sons?”
Yes, he thought. That Min bastard had simply refused to tell his son the truth, concealing it and taking it to his grave. Did it bring him shame to have killed a person that had nothing to do with the whole ordeal? To have shot someone that posed no threat to him or–
No. She was stabbed, not shot. Why had Min’s kid said shot? Right, the concealing part. The brat was none the wiser to the entirety of what had transpired those days. That seed of doubt was really screwing with his mind.
But, in any case, why stab her? More so, why kill her in the first place? To hurt or provoke him? Or both? But of that being the purpose, why leave her lying there? As sickening as it sounded, to actually wound him, wouldn’t it have been “better” to bring her body to him or even use her to have him surrender? What was the purpose if not? It made no sense to simply… leave her there with no chance of him finding her.
It made no sense.
And the stab wound… How was it? It had been between her ribs on her left side, piercing her heart, but the direction of it… It was upwards, wasn’t it? Whoever had done it, had had to be really close to her… and in front of her–
Stop, he ordered himself. Don’t go down that road.
But… If whoever killed her confronted her, she would have put up some resistance. He had taught her basic defense skills which she then continued on her own. She knew how to fight and had sucker-punched a guy or two that had gotten too handsy with her. But she didn’t even have skin or blood under her nails, no bruised knuckles or anything that would indicate she tried to resist–
Seriously, stop it, he yelled at his spiralling thoughts because they were taking a turn down a path very different to the one that had started the mess in his head, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Haejin blinked and realized he had been staring at his mug all this time. How long had it been anyway? Could have been a couple of minutes, judging from his son and his friend’s worried looks. That plus the fact that his left hand was burning from how hot the tea was and how hard he was gripping the mug. He put the mug down and flexed his hand a couple of times, the stinging slowly fading away.
“Is it what those assholes said yesterday?” his son asked with nothing but pure concern on those eyes. Eyes that he had definitely gotten from his mother.
He needed to get those doubts out of his head.
“Just… It bugged me, something he said,” he drawled out, gauging their reactions. Chin Hae was patiently waiting for him to continue while Hyun Sik… he didn’t know. His head was too compromised to make a proper evaluation to his friend’s expression. Or was that just something he was trying to convince himself of? His head was jumbled. “How did they know where to find her? Why kill her and just… leave her? It was a kill with no purpose. And Min always had a purpose for everything he did. It just… doesn’t make sense…”
He’d glanced towards his son once while talking but his focus had been mainly on Hyun Sik. He needed reassurance. He needed to know that his mind had simply gone haywire and that with proper rest, it would all go back to normal.
Except Hyun Sik wasn’t helping. He was trying to maintain his poker face, but Haejin had known him since almost forever. Hyun Sik flinched at the first question, but Haejin gave him the benefit of doubt on that because his friend could simply be remembering how he’d gotten late and hadn’t been able to save her.
But even without that, there was the leg bouncing. He couldn’t see his leg, but he could see the effects on his upper body. He’d known plenty of people that would bounce their legs out of boredom or simply as the result of a tic, a habit, but not Hyun Sik. Hyun Sik took notice of his own bouncing and slowly lowered his left hand, placing it over his knee. His best friend was nervous.
With his hand hidden under the table, he was willing to bet money that if he dared look under, he would see him picking the nail of his middle finger with his thumb nail. And the more they stared at each other, the more uncomfortable he seemed. He was behaving similarly to the first time they had screwed up a mission and had to deal with Haejin’s father who had been very upset because men’s lives had been lost. Hyun Sik wanted to be anywhere but under old Park’s glare back then, and Haejin was seeing that same man right now.
The little shit was nervous.
“Hyun…” he called out. A warning? A plea? Maybe both, he didn’t know anymore.
“Hyung, look…” Hyun Sik started, right hand raised as if attempting to placate the impending rage storm.
His attempts didn’t matter because in the next second they heard footsteps and next thing they knew, an extremely furious Bangtan leader was standing on the kitchen’s threshold and just behind him was Seokjin with an equal matching expression.
They couldn’t make a run for it seeing as their only exit was being blocked. Resisting to being escorted to the living room was useless as they were outnumbered and, frankly, Haejin didn’t care. There was a conversation going on, something about being tracked by a device planted on Chin Hae’s snickers while he was passed out. He heard it but it didn’t register in his mind. He was still trying to process his friend not denying, not doing or saying anything about his doubts.
A simple “because they are soulless assholes” would’ve done the trick for him. A simple shrug accompanied with a dismissive “the power went to their heads” would’ve eased his conflicted mind. Anything other than the possibility of his friend, his brother from another mother, backstabbing him.
His hands were, once more, tied up after sitting him and his son on the couch. Hyun Sik was once again in front of him, also tied up but with Min’s kid next to him.
Min’s kid... He had started all of this as revenge for what they did to his men, yes, but the definitive trigger had been the need to seek out retribution for his beloved brother and his dear Mi Rae and if Hyun Sik had lied… He needed to know.
“Did you do it?”
All conversation in the room ceased when he spoke, confused by both the icy tone used and the fact it wasn’t directed to any of Bangtan’s people, but to the one who was supposed to be his best friend. Needless to say, he was surprised as well. Over the years, they’ve had their fair share of arguments, either because one of them would screw up or because they didn’t agree on something, but they would always make up. They would sometimes ignore each other’s presence for a couple of days, but it was always to cool off so they could see things more clearly. They were best friends, brothers, and would always go back to each other. It was proof of how strong their friendship was –but neither had ever used on the other the tone he was using now.
“I asked you a question, punk. Did you do it?”
His focus was entirely on Hyun Sik so he had no idea how the rest were reacting to this… turn of events. Confused, most likely. Well, Haejin thought, they could join the club.
“Look, I– It wasn’t like that, okay? It wasn’t supposed to be like that, I…”
Haejin was getting fed up with the babbling and poor attempts at excusing himself. He only realized he had gotten up when he felt hands gripping his arms, holding him back.
“Stop with the fucking excuses! Did you or did you not do it?!”
The room fell silent, but not completely. His labored breath could be heard by everyone in the small living room. Maybe even his heartbeat could be heard too as it was dangerously accelerated and threatening to burst out of his chest. But it stopped, or it slowed down (or had it actually stopped? He sure felt like it), when Hyun Sik’s expression changed from nervousness to anger.
“I wouldn’t have been forced to do it had you been out of the picture sooner! All you had to do was die! All they had to do was kill you! But you, being worse than a cockroach, managed to survive each and every fucking time!”
He couldn’t believe his ears. His friend. His best friend. His brother in arms, had wanted him dead. Facing Bangtan was inevitable as they wanted to expand their territory control, but it had happened sooner than they were expecting. Haejin had even considered making a deal with them so as to not completely lose control, but the plan had gone to shit. All because he had retaliated for the death of his brother.
Hyun Sik wasn’t responsible for that as well, was he?
What even was going on anymore? All those confrontations in which he had barely managed to get out alive, had been his friend’s doing? Had he been snitching on his location each and every time in an attempt to get rid of him? Why? Why was his death necessary? What was in it for him if he disappeared? Why did he need to “get out of the picture”?
“You wanted her…” He said it in a whisper but he had been heard. Hyun Sik was practically snarling at him. His friend– No, this stranger, was yelling at him. Something about love and knowing he would be able to do a better job than Haejin at taking care of his family.
Whatever he continued to say fell on deaf ears. He slumped on the couch, his eyes on the coffee table, but his mind lost elsewhere. His best friend had been in love with his wife and he had been too blind to see it. Or had Hyun Sik simply been extremely good at concealing his emotions? He didn’t know. When had it started? When did he fall for Mi Rae? When had he decided that the best course of action was to remove him completely? When and how had he been able to tip off Bangtan?
And he had left Chin Hae, his precious son, under his care?! He had left the most important person for him under the guard of his wife’s murderer? The boy’s mother’s killer?!
All those years of grief, of blaming himself for not being there when she had needed him the most, for what? All that planning to get back at the evil Bangtan that had ripped him from his brother and his wife, for what?
He left his trance-like state when he heard his son screaming. Snapping his head to the left, he was met with the image of how he felt on the inside: fooled, betrayed, enraged, heartbroken. His son was devastated, spouting profanities while tears ran down his face and with only Seokjin keeping him from ripping Hyun Sik’s throat as he threatened to do.
All the years he could have spent with his boy, watching him grow… wasted. All he had done the past months… for naught.
He stood up once again and turned to face his son. Each tear that kept rolling down his face was another stab to his already broken heart. Some conversation must’ve happened while he was focused on Chin Hae because then his hands were being freed. He didn’t need to ask what the purpose was, nor did he want to, for he immediately brought his son close to him. He held him close and let him cry, all while stroking his hair –god, when had his brat gotten as tall as him?
They were given a couple of minutes that he wished could be transformed into eternity, but…
He told Chin Hae that he loved him, that he was proud of him, that it was okay to hurt but to not let it consume him like he had. He wondered if that last bit mattered, if Chin Hae would even be around by lunchtime to heed his advice. He sincerely hoped so. He had screwed up so badly, letting his grief blind him and only resulting in endangering his son. It wasn’t supposed to end this way, they were supposed to hit and run for then live in peace elsewhere.
Shortly after, Seokjin escorted Chin Hae out of the apartment –not without a fight, of course. He offered his son one last smile before he disappeared out of sight.
They owned him nothing, had every right to tell him to shut it, to kill him where he standed, but he tried anyway. Hyun Sik had betrayed him like no had before. Not even his enemies, when he was still a mafia leader, had done such despicable things. So he asked for permission. Time ago –hell, even an hour ago– it would have wounded his pride to find himself asking for permission to anyone, but that was before his world and what he believed in was shattered.
He was greatly surprised when he was allowed to end the life of the man he had trusted with his, his brother’s and his family’s life. He didn’t enjoy it. It was the revenge he wanted, the one he had seeked out and had started all this mess for, but it was bitter.
After he was done, he went back to his previous spot on the couch and resigned himself to his fate.
“We’ll take care of him, Chin Hae, I mean,” Yoongi said. His face was hard to read or maybe Haejin was too tired to do so. He seemed to be battling himself. It made sense, he thought. Tracking and trapping the instigator for so many troubles to them to then witness such a… pathetic show and learn he had been misled all this time. And yet, he was offering to let his son live. “But know, that if he tries going against us once more, he will die.”
Haejin nodded with relief that Chin Hae could live to see another day.
“He will be a handful at first, he… All of this, all of a sudden, it’s–”
“I know,” Yoongi interrupted and Haejin was sure it wasn’t just words. There was some sort of actual understanding to the situation. “I know,” he repeated before signaling to his men to leave the room.
He didn’t see his life flash before his eyes, just snippets of it. The most important moments. He chose to focus on those instead of all the mistakes he’d made that had led him to where he was.
He saw Yoongi pull out his gun and that was his cue to close his eyes. He wasn’t ready to die, nor did he want to, but he had endangered Yoongi’s family and had been the cause for Seonghwa’s death.
Up until the final moment, a picture of his entire family was all he had in mind. Maybe he would be able to see them on the other side. What else could he do but hope…
*****
Yoongi's head was... in disarray. He had felt nothing but rage coursing through his veins while on the road to the apartment building, but then he had witnessed that… scene. Apparently, Haejin had been deceived all this time, thinking it was Bangtan that had killed his wife when in reality, it had been his best friend. He was having some trouble processing the information so he couldn’t start to imagine what Haejin must’ve been feeling.
It was an absolute clusterfuck. There was no other way to put it.
Still, as sorry as he felt for the man, he wasn’t going to let him walk away scott-free. If not him, then for sure those few rats from Black Gauntlet that had fled the day before would for sure make it their mission to find him and make him pay for using them. Well, that was assuming they could escape Bangtan since they knew who exactly were the ones that ran away.
Besides, it wasn’t Haejin’s fault they were stupid enough to follow through with his commands.
It didn’t matter, it was over.
He took deep breaths as he walked out of the apartment and leaned on the closed door. It was a cold morning and every intake of fresh air was deeply appreciated by his swirling thoughts because it wasn’t over. He had simply solved one problem out of one-hundred, and one of those remaining ninety-nine was Chin Hae.
He didn’t know what compelled him to make such a decision, to let him live –for at least one more day. But he did and he never was and never will be known for going back on his word.
Yoongi sighed as he headed towards the stairs. He would discuss the matter with Seokjin later. And Namjoon provided nothing went wrong until his discharge, which was to happen before dinner time.
He reached the parking lot and saw most of his men were inside their vehicles. He knew no one would call the police just yet, not until they left, so instead of going to his car, he headed towards Jungkook’s black SUV to check on their… prisoner but not prisoner? Maybe he should add ‘figure how to label Chin Hae’ as one of his problems.
Jungkook hadn’t rolled up the windows so he was able to get a look at Chin Hae on the back seat. His hands were still tied but Yoongi doubted he would try anything. He would have thought the kid to be dead from how unresponsive he was if it weren’t for the occasional tear rolling down his cheek. Chin Hae reminded him of himself, many years ago. Maybe that was the reason he had decided to spare him…
He nodded at Jungkook who rolled up the windows and started the car. Yoongi then made his way towards his own while indicating the rest to start driving away. Once settled inside the vehicle, he nodded to Yugyeom through the rearview mirror to start driving.
“Yoon.”
He locked eyes with Seokjin who was sitting on the front and, by the look on his face, he was probably thinking the same Yoongi was while he checked on Chin Hae. He leaned back on the seat and closed his eyes.
“I need a drink…”
“What? It’s barely eight in the morning!”
Yoongi fought back a grin at the scandalized tone on his friend’s voice. “I don’t see how that’s a problem.”
“It is, it’s called being an alcoholic!”
Seokjin continued grumbling under his breath but loud enough for Yoongi to hear. Seokjin knew Yoongi didn’t really want a drink (not this early, at least) but he rolled with it because he knew what it really meant: my head’s a mess and I just want a distraction right now.
Their most pressing problem had been dealt with and he wanted nothing but to rest. He wouldn’t –couldn’t– just yet, but…
He rubbed the bridge of his nose at his jumbled thoughts. The lack of proper rest and food along with the stress that had been piling up non-stop were all crashing on him at once. His eyes were still closed but he just knew his friend was sending him worried glances.
“We’ll deal with everything,” Seokjin said in that serious tone which Yoongi knew meant that whatever he would say next wasn’t up for discussion. “We’ll deal with it but one step at a time. We all need to rest first, okay?”
Yoongi sighed, loudly, because while he knew Seokjin was right, that didn’t mean he was going to simply admit it to him. It wasn’t about pride (not entirely), but just for the sake of bickering and pissing him off.
“I mean it, Yoongi.”
And it worked. What didn’t work was stopping himself from smiling, but it made Seokjin click his tongue and call him a brat so it still counted as a win. One more win. Step by step.