Ryeowook was running; it was the only thing registered in his mind. Besides the constant motion over and over again, keeping one foot in front of the other, everything else was a blur.

His lungs burn, his feet hurt as he tried to keep the pace he was going at. He had been running for two days straight with only stopping for quick rest now and then before took off again. He knew it was foolish to travel from Incheon to Seoul by foot, but he didn’t have any money with him. He was too afraid to come back inside the house to take some; that man was still inside after all.

Two days ago Ryeowook was still at his home –if it could be called that. The small two-story dwelling had only two people inhabited in it. There used to be a third, but that person –his mother– left when he was a mere three years old baby. Why she left, Ryeowook never understood, he didn’t even bother trying to. The only thing he knew was that it was the trigger why his father turned to be so abusive.

At first he thought all fathers were like that but then in elementary school he saw a couple of fathers picked up their son/daughter and Ryeowook saw how the relationship between father and son supposed to be. His teachers never said anything, or maybe they just didn’t want to he never knew. There was nothing he could do about it though, so he just did what he knew best: stay quite when his father hit him and then cried –preferably in silent– curled up on his bed later.

Until one day one of his father’s friends visited their house. The man was taller than his father and with him he brought a son. Ryeowook was never good with strangers so he usually hide in his room whenever there were other people in the house. Guests seldom stayed long, but this time they stayed until dark and it was already the time to prepare dinner; his father would be mad if the dinner was late so Ryeowook went out to the kitchen.

He saw the son there, opening a fridge obviously looking for something to eat. Ryeowook cleared his throat, because it was rude to just open somebody’s fridge without asking for permission. The son then turned, turned out he wasn’t much older than Ryeowook was. Interestingly the guest didn’t even look embarrassed at being caught, his expression remained blank.

Feeling a little bit awkward, Ryeowook introduced himself and the other boy walked over to him. He stopped in front of Ryeowook and said his name was Yesung. After staring at the outstretched hand a bit too long, Ryeowook finally shook it.

The first thing that crossed his mind was how small Yesung’s hand was.

Yesung was young, but he was a very smart observer. From the brief twenty minutes awkward small talks in the kitchen, he knew Ryeowook was being abused and by whom. He wasn’t much into pleasantries either, because he told Ryeowook right of the bat that Ryeowook should run away.

Ryeowook was surprised to say the least because no one had ever bothered before. But Yesung surprised him even more by giving his address and phone number and told Ryeowook that he could always call him up whenever he needed something. He was still clutching the little piece of paper when Yesung’s father came into the kitchen and announced it was time to go home.

Yesung didn’t even said goodbye that night but for Ryeowook, he was the kindest person he had ever met.

The little piece of paper remained hidden underneath a thick book in his room, carefully placed there so that his father couldn’t find it. He spent so much time staring at it and somehow he had memorized both the address and the phone number. He still kept it though, as a memory that somehow actually cared about him. Ryeowook never called Yesung, mostly because he didn’t know what to say and he didn’t need anything, but also because he wanted to keep remembering Yesung as the kind person he was. Ryeowook didn’t think he could take it if he called Yesung and the other wouldn’t remember him. After all, Ryeowook was just a stranger to Yesung and maybe he gave his number to a lot of strangers before.

Time passed and Ryeowook’s father grew more abusive. He hit him more now, he got drunk more often and the drunker he got, the more violent he would be.

And at one night, Ryeowook was in his room doing his homework when his father came home. The man was clearly drunk, and as soon as he saw Ryeowook, he began to hit him. At first Ryeowook thought he would stop after just few beatings, but his father didn’t stop. It got so bad until unconsciously Ryeowook began to get angry somehow, usually he was just scared and tried to hide. This time though, he felt a sudden anger running through him and he began to fight back.

His father got angrier by the second seeing Ryeowook trying to fight him, and the beating grew harsher. He pinned Ryeowook down, choking him by the neck and Ryeowook couldn’t get him off. Desperately he d his surroundings and his fingers found a lamp that previously sat on the table. It got knocked down during their struggles and he didn’t think anymore, he just grabbed the lamp and hit his father with it.

The man immediately became unconscious, and Ryeowook did the first thing he could think of. He needed to get away from his father as far as possible.

He didn’t know where to go and Yesung’s address was the only thing he remembered. And so, here he was, running on foot from Incheon to Seoul like a homeless man. In a sense, he was a homeless man, he couldn’t possibly go back home.

Yesung was reading when there was a sudden knock on the door. Rain was pouring outside and although his father hadn’t gotten home yet the man had his own key and so it couldn’t be him. He was surprised seeing Ryeowook stood there, but the boy was definitely in poor state. He was soaking wet from the rain, his feet was bleeding and the shoes he had been wearing had torn off. There was scratches and bruises all over his body and face and Yesung thought he figured out what happened.

He stepped aside to let Ryeowook in and called out his mother. The woman was freaking out seeing Ryeowook’s state, although she hadn’t seen him before but she was a very kind woman and was more than willing to patch Ryeowook up. She cleaned and treated his wounds as best as could while ordered Yesung to reheat some leftovers from dinner. All the while Ryeowook looked stunned seeing such kindness from strangers and Yesung’s heart clenched involuntarily.

His father came home then, and with a bit of gentle persuasions Ryeowook told them what happened. He didn’t cry though but Yesung thought it might be because he didn’t have any tears left. It was understandable and somehow painful. His father was furious to say the least, he had always known his friend was an alcoholic, but he didn’t know he would abuse his own son into such state. Yesung now felt guilty not telling his father about Ryeowook earlier, they might be able to prevent this if he had told the man.

His mother suggested taking this problem further to the Don seeing that they couldn’t deal this directly as it would caused a fraction with the Family and his father readily agreed. Ryeowook was confused and Yesung explained a bit about the whole situation.

The road to the Don’s mansion didn’t take long. Yesung tried his best to calm Ryeowook down and he felt butterflies when he grabbed the other’s hand. Ryeowook didn’t seem to mind, in fact he was grateful and they continued holding hands along the way to the Don’s office.

As expected, the Don was just as furious as his father had been. He immediately ordered few men to bring him Ryeowook’s father. Later Ryeowook learned that the Don had shot his father personally and he help but feeling guilty for not experiencing at least a hint of sadness.

The Don then took care of him. He requested that Ryeowook stayed in the mansion where he could supervise the boy directly. He had a son called Kangin, who was still a young man back then, but he already formed a deep friendship with another young man called Siwon.

 Ryeowook always stayed clear from both of them, they were too intimidating for him. He preferred to stay in front of a computer rather than shooting guns like them. He began to get along with one other boy named Kyuhyun, the only one who shared the same interest as him.

He didn’t see Yesung again until years later and he had grown into a fine young man and Ryeowook was glad Yesung still remembered him. He visited frequently after that and within no time he had been promoted into a mid circle within the Family and chose to stay in the mansion. Ryeowook was happy because it meant that he could see Yesung more now. They grew closer despite their differences and Ryeowook thought it might be because Yesung was the first person who had ever cared about him. In a way Yesung had changed his life, much better than he had ever imagined.

Their first kiss wasn’t unexpected; they both knew they were attracted to each other. But the feeling of Yesung’s lips on his own felt so wistful and wonderful until Ryeowook had to ask Yesung, “Am I dreaming?”

Yesung only chuckled before capturing his lips once again, “I don’t think it is.”

******************************************

Yunho’s prediction that Jungsu would have every formidable members of the Kim Family wrapped in his little fingers in less than three years turned out to be a mistake. The kid achieved it in the first eight months he lived in the house. And by the first year was over, he had perfected every imaginable way possible to make them danced on his palm every time he wanted something. Heechul had fittingly dubbed Jungsu ‘the little dictator’ from how everyone practically adored him; including Kangin –although the Don stubbornly refused to admit anything.

Jaejoong was definitely surprised when he saw Jungsu trailed behind Kangin like a curious cat one day. His boss didn’t explain how it became like that, but Yunho suspected it got to do with the heavy thunderstorm last night, he knew how Jungsu was particularly terrified of thunderstorms.

Nevertheless, Jaejoong was glad that Jungsu finally grew comfortable around Kangin. Predictably the Don wasn’t thrilled at having Jungsu around him 24/7, but he allowed it for a few days before Jungsu got bored and find something else more fun to do. His curious little mind might found it terribly amusing to see and learn everybody’s behavior towards him.

And now, the kid had turned into a little dictator.

Jaejoong didn’t mind it. It wasn’t like Jungsu was a spoiled kid, he and Yunho still raised their voice at him a bit when things gotten out of hand on rare occasions; but it was necessary to reprimand every child about the do’s and the don’ts.

The author had to admit it was quite challenging to juggle between his duties as a Family member once again, keep writing his books and had to take care of Jungsu. However he tried to enjoy it as much he could; realizing that Jungsu would grow up soon and Jaejoong would miss these times by then.

Currently Jaejoong was talking to Kangin, updating him about his latest trip to Jeju. Nothing major happened there, only the usual monthly trip to oversee the situation a bit and making sure everything was in order. However Jaejoong felt that something was wrong, he didn’t know what for sure, but it was somehow too calm for his taste. Or maybe he was beginning to become freak paranoia like Siwon. But Kangin trusted Jaejoong’s instincts, he had learned not to ignore them ever since he was just a little boy and Jaejoong worked for his father and so he asked the author to give him more detail on the matter.

However, apparently the Don was feeling fed up being coped up in his office and had requested to continue their talk in the front porch, claiming that he needed some fresh air. And so here they were, on their way to the terrace when they heard an unmistakable shrieking laughter that could only belong to one child currently living in the mansion.

Jungsu was riding the titanium tricycle Yunho bought him, with the surgeon watching him nearby. Yunho gave a small wave seeing Jaejoong and Kangin, but he kept his eyes on Jungsu; knowing the boy was in hyper mode and he might do things that were dangerous.

“So are you sure there was nothing else?” Kangin asked.

Jaejoong shrugged his shoulders, “I can ask our men to dig up few things, asking for some information, but I don’t think there’s much that we can do. Right now the best course to do is just wait and see.”

The Don sighed. “Sometimes I don’t even know who our friends are anymore. Look at what happened the last time with Kang Family. They used to be our allies,” he scowled remembering the entire ordeal with Jungsu being kidnapped. It had been eight months but the thing was still fresh on his mind. “Speaking of the Kang Family, what are they doing these days?”

“They have elected a new Don few weeks back, the second son of the previous one. Apparently the first son was too shocked with the whole things and committed suicide,” Jaejoong replied. “It was still too early to tell what they would do next, they might want to go for revenge to us once they got their own problems settled a bit. They keep real quite right now.”

Kangin nodded. “Siwon suggested we send people for undercover mission to infiltrate Kang Family, but I don’t think we can do that; they must be extremely vigilant and keep their ranks tight.”

Jaejoong mumbled to show that he was listening; his eyes were following Jungsu’s movement. The boy had sped up a bit and now was riding his tricycle in dangerous speed. Yunho seemed to notice the same thing as he began to walk over towards Jungsu.

“Anyway, good job in Jeju. You might want to stay here for a couple of weeks, focus on your book. I don’t want anyone to be suspicious why the great Kim Jaejoong hasn’t released any next best-seller,” Kangin said with a teasing smile.

The author chuckled in response and nodded to confirm. “By the way, Jungsu’s birthday is next week. We always celebrate his birthday every year back at the apartment; nothing big though, just small dinner and giving him few gifts. Do you think we can do the same here?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.”

Jaejoong hid a smile, there was no hesitation at all in Kangin’s answers. “You really have grown soft on him, haven’t you?”

The Don opened his mouth to say something back, but before he could utter a single word, a loud crashing came from the yard. Jungsu had crashed into a tree and Yunho was helping him, trying to calm the now crying boy. Jaejoong immediately rushed towards the pair and Kangin raised an eyebrow seeing the poor vehicle now lay forgotten on the ground. There goes the three thousand dollars pure titanium tricycle.

**************************************

“Kangin-hyung, what is a cockring?” 

Kangin sputtered the coffee he drank. “Where the hell did you hear that?”

Jungsu swallowed the cereal he had been chewing (yes, Kangin-hyung was feeling extra nice this morning and poured Jungsu a bowl of milk and cereal –the only breakfast he could manage without burning down the kitchen), and turned a pair of innocent eyes on Kangin. “I heard Hangeng-hyung said it to Heechul-hyung last night.”

The older man raised an eyebrow. “Where?” As extrovert as those couple were, there was no way they would say something like that in front of Jungsu. Sure enough, Jungsu turned a bright red before looking down. Shuffling his feet, he answered quietly, “In their room.”

Kangin raised the other eyebrow. “So you were eavesdropping.”

“No!” Jungsu scoffed indignantly, a gesture he mimicked perfectly from Jaejoong. “I did not. I went to the bathroom and I heard some thumping from Heechul-hyung’s room. I thought they were playing and I wanted to join. And it was not my fault that the door was open!” the boy defended himself.

“So not only you were eavesdropping, you were also peeking.”

Jungsu had the decency to blush deeper at Kangin’s accusation. “I’m sorry.”

The Don hoped it would prevent the boy from asking further questions, but his luck run out when after a few minutes of awkward silences, a small voice asked again, “So what is a cockring?”

Kangin silently contemplated his choices: a) he could answer it himself and be the first one to talk to Jungsu about ; b) he could about lie and therefore left Jungsu with misconception about ; or c) he could leave Jaejoong to talk about “the bird and the bees” and let Jaejoong unleashed his fury on Heechul and Hangeng. It didn’t take long for him to decide on the third option, and hey, seeing his cousin being yelled at was always a definite bonus.

“You might want to ask that to Jaejoong,” he answered with a wise nod.

“Why can’t you answer it?”

“Because Jaejoong can explained it to you better.”

“Oh, okay,” Jungsu settled. Taking another mouthful of cereal, he quietly chewed them. Finally Kangin’s curiosity took the better of him. Clearing his throat, he opened the newspaper and asked as nonchalantly as possible. “What did you see last night?”

Jungsu scrunched his eyebrow, concentrating to remember what he saw. “Heechul-hyung was tied up on the bed and Hangeng-hyung was over him. They were playing and it seemed like fun. I wanted to join but they didn’t hear me. And then I heard Heechul-hyung said something about cockring and Hangeng-hyung answered that the cockring actually make Heechul-hyung feels good.”

The Don took a deep breath before closing his eyes. Counting to ten, he summoned every will not to murder his front liner and his cousin. So it was not only that Jungsu was now exposed to, but also ?

Footsteps of people coming closer gave a breath of relief for Kangin. He now didn’t have to have this awkward chit-chat with Jungsu, and he decided to ignore the nagging guilt of the fact that he was the one who actually re-started it. But in his defense, it was the kid who started by asking the weird questions, so Kangin felt a little bit better.

Jaejoong entered the kitchen with Yunho in tow. The author threw a disgusted look at the cereal Jungsu was eating and at Kangin who shrugged in reply. He then walked to the counter and asked, “Do you want to eat anything else, Jungsu?”

The boy nodded enthusiastically, “Chocolate cream pie!” Jaejoong chuckled and ruffled Jungsu’s hair, “It’s still too early for chocolate cream pie, sweetie. But I can make you chocolate chip muffin if you want.” He smiled at Jungsu’s huge grin and proceeded to open the cupboard, looking for ingredients to bake his muffin.

“Jaejoong-hyung, what is a cockring? And why would it make you feel good?”

The author dropped the pack of flour he was holding, and the white powder spilled everywhere across the counter. His black eyes widen in disbelief as he gasped echoing what Kangin had said earlier, “Where the hell did you hear that?”

Kangin then sensed a déjà vu and wisely announced that he needed some paperwork to be done with. Nearly running from the kitchen, he glanced back just in time to see Jaejoong’s face contorted into horror as Jungsu gleefully explained once again what he saw last night. Sure enough, not five steps later, he heard the author shrieked, “Heechul!”

Three days later, Kangin was awoken up by Siwon who looked particularly worried. The Don grudgingly noticed that the sky was still dark outside; it couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4 A.M.

Realizing that his boss was now awake, the Consigliere broke the news. “Heechul and Hangeng were shot last night.”

Author's Note: Okay, this chapter was much shorter than the previous one and I probably leave a cliff-hanger by the end XD but I have make another side companion of this fic. It's a one shot and focus on WonKyu pairing with a scene included. Please find the link below and tell me what you think of this new chapter! :)

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/299236/stick-and-stones-comedy-kangin-leeteuk-ryeowook-wonkyu