A/N: Only 1 chapter this week, and that is this side chapter. Don't worry, folks. I promise, this is the last side chapter in the series.

Side Chapter 6

[Heart of Tin]

If life was a drama, then Choi Siwon would probably be the award-winning top actor.

It was yet another gala dinner his father held –this time, it was held to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Choi Corporation. The gala dinner was held in the ballroom of the most expensive hotel in Seoul, and Siwon knew it was where his stage would be.

The 13-year-old boy bowed in a perfect angle –not low enough to imply insecurity, not curt enough to signify arrogance. The next gesture, an acknowledging polite smile, came out in a reflex –oh, he had been so used of it. The men that were his father’s business partners saluted him; their wives giggled (“oh, how handsome!” or “I’d love to have you as my son-in-law someday!” or the other similar compliments); their sons stared up at him in male inferiority; their daughters bashfully introduced their names.

It was predictable, but not necessarily boring. He liked this monotonous lifestyle anyway. There was always a thrill whenever the adults complimented him, whenever his peers were jealous of him, whenever the society praised him, and mostly… when his father acknowledged him.

“That’s Choi Siwon, my son,” Choi Myungsoo commented proudly.

How Siwon would live to hear that everyday.

(In the glamour world where everyone praised the King. And ah! The King he was!)

They said pride was human’s vilest sin.

He dared not say he committed such sin. Pride would be a sin if it was committed by someone undeserving. Or worse, committed by someone who did not know how to play the roles right. It came undisputed that the Choi was not the only respectable multi-billion-dollar-worth family empire. But Siwon knew some people could not play the role well enough.

Kim Kangin had been born in a fine lineage, smart, handsome, and courageous as well. But his arrogance and over-confidence were too obvious –how could people accept such a blatant tyrant as a King? Humbleness shall always be maintained –but not overly used. He wouldn’t want to endure the same fate as Kim Ryeowook or Lee Hyukjae –known for being the wallflowers hiding behind their family names.

Choi Siwon claimed that he was the perfect formula. If his world deserved a king, then he would be one.

There was one, in Siwon’s junior high school year, a man whom he considered to be beyond ridiculous.

“So this is the new kid they are all talking about? Make way peasants! He’s going to pass through!” loudly exclaimed someone cynically him. It was after school, and Siwon had only gotten out of the school’s entrance door and walked his way through the school yard when he heard such obnoxious yelling from above.

Siwon halted his steps, turned around and glanced upwards. There, leaning on the first floor classroom’s windows railing, peeking his head out, was another boy –his senior, from the look of his uniform – hair dyed in deep red and a smug smirk was pasted on his face.

That man looked different from the last time Siwon had seen three years ago, but it was Kim Heechul, no mistaking it. Siwon was a first-year student in the junior high school, and Heechul was supposed to be an alumni of the school already with their three years gap. But he knew that Heechul had to repeat the class because he failed on too many subjects (what a big-mouth loser) and in the end they were stuck together as junior and senior in the same junior high school. Sometimes Siwon thought Heechul decided to repeat his class on purpose. There was no way the Kim could not have influenced the school principal to make Heechul pass through the class. If Heechul still decided to hang around in the junior high, Siwon supposed, it was his entire decision –for some unknown reason.

Perhaps to annoy him.

And like the usual show-off guy Kim Heechul was, he stepped on the windows railing. Using the big tree near the window, he climbed his way down to the school yard. Siwon rose an eyebrow in a mild amusement. Kim Heechul must have wanted to look cool in front of the entire school population by being a delinquent –acting all tough by climbing down the school’s building. In reality, his supposedly astonishing act turned out to be rather idiotic. Not only that Heechul got momentarily strangled by the tree’s branch, he also let out a nearly feminine yelp when he saw whatever animal was there behind the tree’s leaves.

Even some of the other students forgot their fear to the oldest heir of the Kim and chuckled at the heir’s showcase of idiocy.  Heechul scowled and yelled back to some of the students who dared to laugh at him before the Kim heir bravely made his way (with leaves on his red hair) to approach Siwon on the yard.

Ridiculous, plainly ridiculous.

“Long time no see, Choi Siwon,” Heechul remarked with a smirk once he bridged the distance between Siwon and him.

There was always something so irritating about Kim Heechul. He knew that being a Choi, for granted, would always make him see the Kim in a rather cynical point of view. But Heechul always took everything to the next level. Siwon did not remember he was ever this pissed towards anyone from the Kim. Kim Kangin might have been equally as arrogant as Heechul, but the younger Kim still showed some level-headness whenever they met. Kim Kibum was… a scary species, but would forever be harmless unless invoked. Kim Hyoyeon was merely a girl (oh yes, Siwon couldn’t deny that he was a ist), and Kim Ryeowook…that man did not even deserve holding the grand Kim name.

Siwon knew that he beat Kim Heechul in all aspects. –school studies, sport, girls interest, everything. He could rationalize why Heehcul was extremely jealous of him, but what Siwon could not understand sometimes was his own reaction. He was not supposed to feel this irritated with someone who did not even meet his par.

“Oi, aren’t you supposed to respond to your senior’s greeting? Didn’t they teach you that basic manner in the Choi household?” Heechul questioned when Siwon made no act of acknowledgement.

It ticked Siwon, really. Heechul fought like a girl –with all of these verbal attacks and obsession with seniority. Clearing his throat, the Choi heir then made his response, “Forgive me, Heechul Hyung. I just did not expect you to be here. I thought you were supposed to be in the high school already.”

The mockery ignited Heechul’s temperament again. “Well for your information, it’s my own choice to stay in this school! It’s not that I’m not qualified to pass or anything, you arrogant –“

“Ah, my driver is here. I’m sorry, Hyung, I have to go,” Siwon announced suddenly before he turned his body around. Siwon could hear Heechul’s rant behind him, how the other Kim heirs approached the oldest one and calmed him down before a stupid fight occurred, how the other students laughed again at Heechul. Heechul snapped back but in response, some of the students only playfully punch his shoulder or lightly slap his temples.

How pitiful, Kim Heechul. You let those peasants do that to you?

There was laughter coming from Heechul and his crowd’s direction before the Choi chauffeur closed the limousine door next to him.

How loved, eh?

“I’m not even jealous,” Siwon murmured.

“You were saying something, Siwon-sshi?” asked his young bodyguard, Park Jung Soo.

“Nothing.”

Choi Siwon had the biggest shock in his life when he was 18 years old.

No.

Siwon had the biggest shock in his life when he was 18 years old.

He had just graduated high school with flying colors, chosen as the valedictorian, having his name announced as the main heir instead of his cousin, Choi Sooyoung, having been accepted to one of the most prominent college in United States–everything had been perfect, so perfect that one instance crumbled his world.

His mother died that spring.

Choi Jinri, the woman Siwon had been calling mother for his entire life time, died due to her brain cancer. The cancer itself was something that the Choi had known of since six years prior. The brain cancer already reached the fourth stadium when the doctors finally discovered it. Truth be told, even Siwon had prepared himself for the worst –for his mother to leave him suddenly one day.

What he did not expect was her mother’s death message that she whispered minutes before she released her last breath.

“Even though you don’t carry the Choi blood, I still love you, my Siwon…”

Jinri’s trusted lawyer came in the funeral to bring him a letter handwritten by Jinri herself. It was sealed, and came with a message to be read alone.

So, in the situation of inner frantic from his mother’s death, Siwon read the letter.

It told him a lot. It told him all.

That he was a child born from the affair her mother conducted with her mother’s past lover. That her mother had secretly been using Choi Myungsoo’s business trip to make chances to meet her secret lover, that Siwon was a child of affair who owned not a single drop of the Choi blood in his vein, that Choi Myungsoo had been forever oblivious, that Myungsoo had hated Siwon’s biological father for years. Jinri, in her death message, told Siwon to keep this a secret, because she was certain Siwon would be written off from the list of the Choi heir if the secret leaked out.

Siwon tried to deny it. The DNA test he secretly took denied his hope, but it did not mean he would settle with that. Because everything was supposed to be perfect, like a perfect child he was: the smartest, the most handsome, the richest, the most charismatic, the most powerful, the only legit heir of the Choi. He knew he suited the role much better than Choi Sooyoung –that girl was nice, really, but she did not meet a Choi heir’s standard. And, oh, what would that bastard Kim Heechul say if he found out that Siwon was not an heir to the Choi Empire? To imagine Heechul’s mocking laugh or pitying remark angered him beyond anything. 

Siwon was fortunate enough that his mother, though being such a lying vixen, was smart enough in hiding the truth. All hospital records were taken care of, all witnesses were bribed, everything was concealed. Siwon only needed to make sure everything would remain the same.

It was not.

Siwon could predict it already. He only did not predict it would come to him this soon.

His biological father came to him one day. The name was Geung Seuk or something, he did not even want to remember (but the name would still haunt him forever). Siwon had just finished taking care of the administrative matters from his high school for his submission to the college, when the man came in front of the gate.

Geung Seuk was young, probably three or four years younger than Siwon’s mother. Geung Seuk fit the image Siwon had in his head, somehow. His hair was long and messy, his choice of clothing was distasteful, he reeked of tobacco and his eyes were drowsy enough that Siwon was sure his father had just smoked pot or something. Geung Seuk was casually leaning to the school’s gate and Siwon somehow already knew that this was the person who claimed to be his father. Having every intention to conceal the secret, Siwon told his bodyguards off and he agreed to have this ‘discussion’ with Geung Seuk.

It was so predictable that he just wanted to give a disbelief laugh.

Siwon and Geung Seuk decided to have a talk in a secluded coffee shop nearby. After making sure that the bodyguards were not around, Geung Seuk opened the conversation.

“So, you might not know this. Jinri probably hid this from you, but long story short, you are kind of my son,” Geung Seuk announced.

Siwon only returned the statement with the script he had secretly planned. “I know.”

At the very least, Geung Seuk was the type to go straight-to-the-point.

“Good. This will save a lot of our time. So you know, my son, I kind of lost a bet and now I need money.”

Predictable, so predictable that it bored Siwon.

Without missing an inch of calmness, Siwon only took a check book from his bag. Choi Myungsoo had trusted Siwon not to meddle in his non-blood-related son’s choice of financial management. Siwon quickly wrote an enormous amount on the check, signed it, and gave it without much reluctance to Geung Seuk.

“Cool,” muttered Geung Seuk once he saw the amount.

There was not even the slightest sentiment or melancholy Siwon felt when he decided to stand up. “Good. I shall be leaving then. Please do not ever show up in front of me or the Choi and –“

“How cold,” muttered Geung Seuk as he sniffed on the check. “I’m the father you have never met and you don’t even want to share a father-son hug?”

Siwon narrowed his eyes and slowly sat down again. The worst part of the scenario was coming, he knew it. “You don’t even want a son.”

Geung Seuk laughed at his comment. “Nice one, my boy. I thought living in luxury would make you oblivious to the cruel world. You’re not as naïve as some of those rich kids are. You make Papa proud, boy.”

Siwon grew to dislike his biological father more every minute he spent together with him. “I will never call you ‘Father’. I suppose the amount in the check will make it clear to you what I expect from you in return. Don’t even try to –”

“Do you know the worth of a family bond, Siwon?”

Siwon was silenced.

Geung Seuk smirked as he leaned closer to Siwon in that small table. “It’s priceless. Something that you cannot value with any of these amounts you write in the check. And thus, you should realize that this…” he said as he waved the  check in front of his face. “…will not be able to fully compensate the bond.”

“I’m astounded with the logic,” Siwon replied. “If that is the case, shouldn’t you be paying me instead? It’s a parents’ duty to feed their children, right?”

Geung Seuk laughed loudly. “My son, you know you have not an inch of a bargaining power here. But nice try,” he paused to carefully put the check inside his pocket. “I expect this same amount every month,” Geung Seuk declared in a final tone.

Siwon widened his eyes. “You’re an .”

The laugh came out again. Siwon learned that Geung Seuk might actually be a humorist –only in the most shameless way possible. The older man tucked the long hair behind his ear before he asserted,“I bet that was your first time swearing upon something, eh? Good boy, good boy!”

“I can report you to the police for blackmailing me.”

“I can tell your father that you are not eligible for the Choi throne.”

Below the table, Siwon clenched his fist tight.

“I’ll think of it first,” Siwon announced.

“You’d better be a quick thinker. Jinri always forbid me to meet you. But now that she’s gone, there’s no stopping me. And, ah. You’re going to study abroad in a few months, right? If you are reckless, you know what I’m capable of doing when you’re not in Seoul.”

Siwon did not make a retort to that. He only laid an amount of cash in the table to pay the bill and exited the coffee shop without giving his biological father another glance.

“Just get rid of him. That bastard father of yours,” Jung Soo commented casually. “I can do that for you.”

Siwon lifted his eyes from the documents he was reading to look at his only confidante. Jung Soo had been assigned to be Siwon’s private bodyguard. Being only some years apart, Jung Soo was probably the only person Siwon could call as comrade.

No, assistant would do. Comrade signified too much attachment.

Jung Soo had always been smart and cunning. It would not surprise Siwon much if Jung Soo had already known Siwon’s background even before Siwon himself did. Jung Soo was not entirely trustable, but he was reliable. Keeping Jung Soo around would be reasonably profitable.

“I can negotiate with Geung Seuk,” reasoned Siwon. He would not allow himself calling the man his father.

“That won’t do, you know it,” argued Jung Soo. “I read people well, Siwon-sshi. That man would not stop until he gets what he wants. He’s not the type of person that you can have a heartfelt conversation about father-son bond and all.”

The notion itself had been absurd. “I don’t even want to have a father-son talk with him.”

“Good. Then, just instruct me, and I can do the job for you anytime you wish,” offered Jung Soo with a smile.

“Just wait for the situation for a while, Teuk Hyung.”

Jung Soo chuckled softly. “You’re still soft, Siwon-sshi.”

Siwon had never truly lived in fear. He controlled the fear itself. Everything that was his life, he planned it out in an accurate precision. He had tried to study Geung Seuk’s background through Jung Soo, nearly wishing that Geung Seuk was only a usual con artist and not his biological father. Unfortunately for Siwon, evidences showed that Geung Seuk indeed shared the same blood with him.

Geung Seuk appeared in front of the Choi manor every now and then. There was also one instance where Siwon caught Geung Seuk talked to one of the Choi buttlers. Paranoia became Siwon’s symptoms. He had ensured to pay Geung Seuk’s allowance that month! How dared Geung Seuk was to even show himself near his house?

“I told you he won’t stop,” coaxed Jung Soo in his master’s private library.

Siwon had been restless lately. Too tired he was to argue back in Jung Soo’s definite theory. The only reply Siwon managed to make was of another matter.

“I hate him.”

Jung Soo blinked for a moment, before a burst of laughter erupted from his mouth. Mirth was reflected on his eyes as he exclaimed, “Finally! I’ve kinda been waiting when that statement will come from your mouth!”

“It’s not funny, Teuk Hyung.”

“But it is to me!” Jung Soo snickered. “Ah, pardon me, Siwon-sshi. Where is my manner? I should have sympathized with you more, shouldn’t I? Pardon me, pardon me. What do you want me to do? Tell me, and I’ll grant your wish.”

The maniacal glint in Jung Soo’s eyes did not go undetected. Siwon closed his book and stood up –approaching the windows of his private library. He “There’s nothing you can do, Teuk Hyung. I know you’re capable of devising a good strategy, but you still need people to execute the plan. The Choi… though I can instruct them to follow your order, I don’t want to risk them smelling anything funny from –“

“Ah, even you begin to doubt the Choi, eh?”

“…I cannot let them find out. I cannot even let them have the slightest suspicion.”

“But you know some of them already do. Your other bodyguards, I mean. Geung Seuk has been visiting the manor quite often.”

Siwon sighed and Jung Soo shrugged. Geung Seuk’s appearance had indeed spiced things up a bit. The sight of a desperate Choi Siwon (ah, just Siwon) was not something Jung Soo could even picture before Geung Seuk came into the picture. It was kind of amusing, but Jung Soo was not that cruel to be happy over his master’s depression.

“What do you propose, Teuk Hyung?" Siwon inquired --his tone was nearly devoid of any desperation, but Jung Soo knew him better than that. In a casual tone, the assistant replied.

“There are numerous scenarios. I have a friend in the police and I can get the police involved. We can give him false indictment, throw him to the jail, banish him out of the country, blackmail him, hamper his business –“

“ –he won’t stop.”

“Or, we can just kill him,” Jung Soo finished idly.

The look on Siwon’s face was so precious that Jung Soo couldn’t even help but to shudder in excitement.

Ah, this is getting good…

Siwon turned his face and walked to the other side of the library. “I may hate him. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to be a killer.”

“You won’t be the killer.”

“I can’t let the Choi bodyguards’ hands to be dirtied by –“

“Whoever said about involving the Choi bodyguard? They’re there to take care of the noble things. You know you have me for the less noble ones. And I can get help from my fellow friends to settle the problem. Like you said, I can’t exactly do this myself and –“

“Still,” Siwon argued. “Killing is not an option.”

“Because he’s your biological father and you are actually attached to him?”

“No," insisted Siwon. There was a mild irritation evident on the tone of his voice. Why did people seem to expect him to silently even like that gold-digger? "Because killing is still wrong. No matter how much I hate Geung Seuk, I cannot order anyone to kill him or anyone else.”

Jung Soo shrugged. “Well, whatever you say, Siwon-sshi.”

“Just think of something else, except killing him. And can you please leave me alone?”

“Of course, Siwon-sshi,” obeyed Jung Soo as he bowed down and hopped out of the cushion –walking out of the private library. He closed the door behind him and took some happy leaps towards his own room. Jung Soo could still feel the excitement bubbling inside him and he knew the reason behind the sudden thrill.

It would not surprise Jung Soo if people like him, Sungmin, or Taeyeon had the monster in them –they were, after all, raised to be one. He could still remember the years of brutality they all had to endure before Daddy Long Legs carried them to Seoul and created a new life for them all: Taeyeon in the asylum, Sungmin as the police man, and him as Choi Siwon’s bodyguard. Monsters were either born as one or raised to be one. He knew that they were all raised to be one.

Siwon had been raised in gold and all that glittered. He was not a neglected child –Jung Soo knew how much Myungsoo and Jinri cared for Siwon. Siwon was never directly exposed to any inhumanity –unlike what the Oryu assassins were forced to face since young age. Siwon was supposed to be pure, to be taintless…

Jung Soo knew his eyes were not deceiving him when he saw that. His memory drifted back to the even that had just unfolded back then.

“ –he won’t stop.”

“Or, we can just kill him.”

            Siwon’s lips tugged slightly upwards to form the smallest of smile.

Jung Soo laughed, and at the same time felt a tingle of fear running through his spine.

“What a monster.”

Jung Soo thought he needed to wait for a year or two longer to witness the monster completely grow.

But, then again, a true monster was awakened faster than that.

It was only a day before Siwon’s departure to United States for college when he finally made up his mind.

“Just finish him off,” Siwon finally said.

Geung Seuk blinked –undoubtedly was never prepared for this. After all, he came for money –and certainly not for death. Not for betrayal. Not for this.

Do I make you proud, Father?

“W-what? S-Siwon, we c-can talk t-this out, okay? We can –“

Siwon only cleared his throat --having every intention to ignore the pathetic excuse of a man. “My instruction wasn’t clear enough?” he spoke to a young man who was Jung Soo’s secret comrade instead.

Sungmin did not waste his time. The bulletproof gun was ready, and Jung Soo had taken care of all other preparation –possible witnesses, alibis, and all. Sungmin leaped forward to Geung Seuk, and nearly faster than the bullet itself, Sungmin forced the gun inside Geung Seuk’s mouth –

– and he blew it.

Siwon watched as his biological father’s body slowly descended down to the concrete ground in that dark alleyway. He was nearly not surprised that he could barely feel anything upon seeing the man's dead body. He felt the slightest of worry for the aftermath, but considering Jung Soo must have taken care of it, he allowed himself to relax.

Relax? That was your own father that you murdered, you fiend.

(No. My father is Choi Myungsoo. And I am Choi Siwon, the legitimate heir of the Choi. As it had always been and would be).

The trail of thoughts was momentarily cut off when he heard the sound of a rubber snapped. Sungmin wore his latex gloves before inserting his hand to Geung Seuk’s pockets. He took off Geung Seuk’s watch, emptied his wallet, and laid some punches and kicks to the already-dead body. Siwon only saw in mild amazement at how Sungmin tried to blur the evidences. With Geung Seuk’s valuable goods gone and his beaten up condition, it would be easier to fabricate a gang fight story.

The night went still again once Sungmin finished re-creating the crime scene.

“No hugs and kisses? Teuk Hyung told me that he’s your father,” Sungmin asked calmly to Siwon.

“I am not a necrophilia,” answered Siwon. “Everything after this will be taken care of right? Nothing will point out to me?”

“Teuk Hyung and I will take care of it,” Sungmin replied and at that moment, Jung Soo came back from his patrolling. Jung Soo watched the dead body lying on the ground, Sungmin’s impassive face, and Siwon’s equally ignorant one.

“That was quicker than I expected.”

Siwon only glanced at his wristwatch. “I have to go back. My flight to States tomorrow is an early one,” he said as he turned around –not sparing a single unnecessary glance to Geung Seuk anymore. “Is the car ready, Teuk Hyung?”

“Yes. You might have to walk a bit though. I cannot risk having the car too near the crime scene,” informed Jung Soo.

“No problem,” Siwon muttered as he became the first person to leave the crime scene.

Jung Soo couldn’t help but to feel the similar mixture of fear and excitement in his body upon watching Siwon’s cold shoulders.

Sungmin walked beside Jung Soo and commented, “If Daddy Long Legs was still alive, he would certainly take a liking on that man.”

Jung Soo softly smiled, reminiscing the man who found pleasures from discovering monsters. For the rarest time, he couldn't help but to agree with Sungmin.

“Yes, he definitely would have.”

Siwon’s life as a university student in New York passed according to his plan. Despite being a foreigner in such a big city, it did not even take him a sweat to become the king that he knew he was. He was the smartest in their batch; he was elected a