There is this upvote button next to the title!!! WOW! i have been on hiatus for too long and all of these new features amaze me (the reply comment button, etc) and now they have upvote button and SOMEONE ALREADY UPVOTED FOR ME YAYYYY WOWWWW! thank you very very much this is so cool. upvote me people! but anyways, how does the upvote work? as in what does is affect though? hahaha i'm old and i've been missing for too long. it's a nice surprise to see all of these :)

So here's chapter two, let me know if i'm going tooooooo fast or if it's toooooooo slow or if it's perfect ( hohohohoho :) la la la la la la.....) i'm so out of the game already with the other super super talented writers <3333 (i love you guys). i am so excited right now. lol XD

There was a crick on Doojoon’s neck when he woke up. , he missed his king-sized bed with fluffy pillows and warm comforters, and that cinema-sized television perched on the wall, and the complete set of his Xbox and Wii, and wait… had he saved his latest level yet? Doojoon cradled his head in his hands, willing his brain to stop thinking because it hurt. If he missed his bed, imagined how Yoseob would feel. The poor guy was now sleeping on his tiny couch in his tiny living room, he had given up ownership of his bed for Doojoon because the older guy was beaten up and he needed some proper place to sleep. And Doojoon was here complaining. Blah… what an ungrateful brat Doojoon has become.

It’d been five days since Doojoon started imposing on Yoseob’s life, and truthfully Doojoon had been much, much better, his muscles had stopped hurting and his bruises had lessened marginally. But Yoseob insisted that he should have the bed, because “you almost died, Doojoonah.” The older man realized that laughing behind someone’s back was just downright mean and cruel and heartless, but he could not hold a chuckle when Yoseob was so concerned. Partly, he was basking in all of the attention he got from the kind soul, it was endearing and nice, leaving a fuzzy, warm – basically foreign – feeling in his chest and tummy. But partly, it was because he knew Junhyung and Kikwang and Dongwoon would never hurt him. He wondered what would happen if Yoseob found out the truth, well... Doojoon should be out of the poor guy’s life even before he knew of anything.

But really, it was not all Doojoon’s wrongdoings, mind you. He had insisted on taking the couch at first, he really insisted (if he insisted more, there would be some sort of violence involved which would not be very pleasant for the both of them) but it failed so he insisted on sharing the bed instead. In the most innocent sense of the word, of course.

It was the perfect solution – for Doojoon – and there was no way Yoseob could refuse the offer – according to Doojoon – but Yoseob surprised him yet again when he rejected the second it came out of the older man’s mouth. Come on, Doojoon rolled his eyes mentally, what could have happened anyways? They were both guys, they were not lusting over each other, and honestly – honestly – women and men would kill to be able to shared beds with him. He smiled to himself when he remembered the he had with that undeniably voluptuous woman and that young man with the considerable size of –

“Doojoonah, you are awake.”

Yoseob blinked as he sat up groggily from his sleep and Doojoon slipped a little when his train of thoughts was interrupted. He was already perched on a stool in the kitchen with a bowl of cold cereal and leftover milk, reading some mangas Yoseob borrowed from a renting place nearby. He was still on his way adjusting life without his daily newspapers, he should tell Junhyung to bring him some when they were meeting next because he obviously needed the updates on current happenings.

Yoseob rubbed his fists over his eyes to wipe the drowsiness away, and Doojoon had never seen anything cuter in his life before. Bathed in the glow of the morning light, hair soft and messy from sleep, eyes blinking and adjusting to the bright light, lips slightly pouting, Yoseob looked nothing short of adorable and lovely and cute and just –

Perfect.

Doojoon shook his head from the sudden invasion inside his brain and struggled to remember what Yoseob was saying to him previously. He cleared his throat, “Good morning. Cereal?”

Yoseob smiled and shook his head no as he walked and plopped down on the stool next to Doojoon. Burdened with drowsiness still, the younger man swayed sideways and leaned on him. His head fitted perfectly at the crook of Doojoon’s neck, while his body relaxed against the older man’s side.

“Yoseobah, if you are – “

“Hmmm… five more minutes, just five more minu…” Yoseob mumbled incomprehensibly against the sensitive skin of Doojoon’s neck before falling asleep comfortably against him at the kitchen counter.

Doojoon turned his head to watch Yoseob sleeping when the smell of kiwi – and maybe mint or something else – hit his nose. Being in the clan for so long already, Doojoon was used to manly smell – manly cologne, toiletries, room freshener, soju and sake, the smell of sweat and determination, malice and debauchery. Nothing ever smelled like Yoseob’s hair right now, Doojoon buried his nose deeper into the younger man’s hair and inhaled. It was refreshing, not like all of the smell he was used to, this was addicting, it was childlike, something lively and vibrant. Doojoon wondered how the rest of Yoseob’s skin smelled like.

The older man gently pulled the stool nearer and rearranged Yoseob against him for a more comfortable position (one that would not leave a crick in his neck and a pull in his muscle). Doojoon slid his arm around Yoseob’s waist and cradled him tightly – the younger man whimpered and curled up against Doojoon in his new (and more comfortable) position. It was already past the five minutes Yoseob was asking for, but Doojoon decided not to wake him yet and let him sleep more, Yoseob’s class started in another three hours anyways. So, Doojoon opened up his half-read manga with his unoccupied hand and started reading again.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O

“Doojoonah, do you need me to borrow the next volume for you?” Junhyung asked curiously as he watched Doojoon concentrating on the manga in his hands. The clan leader looked up at Junhyung briefly and shook his head, “Nope, Yoseob borrowed the next volume already.” Before he continued reading and laughing at one scene in the manga. The second-in-command raised his eyebrows and answered curtly, “Okay.”

After a few minutes of silence, Doojoon looked up again and asked seriously, “Have you read this series before?” Junhyung stared incredulously at Doojoon before he shook his head, “No. Should I?” The older man nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, of course! This story is almost like us, but not quite because they almost lived in poverty and their ship is practically a wreck. The pirate leader and his nakamas, it’s like me and all of you. And you can be this swordman over here, he is the second nakama….”

Doojoon rambled as he showed the drawing of the swordman to Junhyung, who nodded dumbly. There was something wrong with his leader. If five days with Yoseob turned him into this lunatic, Junhyung wondered what a month would turn him into. A month or six months or one year or two years, Junhyung shuddered.

Junhyung cleared his throat which suddenly felt really dry, “Doojoonah, what do you need now? You have almost nothing, not even your phone or any communication devices.”

Doojoon looked up from his manga, a serious expression on his face, an expression Junhyung knew too well. “I need newspapers, I need updates on what is happening outside. We need to watch out for any troublemakers, especially since I am here and not in the headquarters, I need your full attention on every movement the clan makes.” Junhyung bowed his head slightly in understanding towards Doojoon. The older man continued, “I need to get a job, a decent unsuspicious job, maybe in the neighborhood. I need money.” Doojoon contemplated for a while before he continued, “And my phone. Bring my phone so that I can keep track on everything and get updates from you. I’m too poor to buy a phone right now.” Doojoon chuckled at the irony of his words while Junhyung was mentally jotting down every necessary arrangement in his head.

This was their second meeting since Doojoon moved in with Yoseob – freeloading to be exact – and this time they met in a secluded area of a park twenty minutes away from Yoseob’s tiny apartment. They were to meet every five days in new designated places, one permanent meeting location was too dangerous for men of their caliber. It was a dark moonless night, the only yellow light on them originated from the lamp post above, just because Doojoon needed light to continue reading his manga.

“How much do you have now?”

It was silent before Junhyung frowned in confusion at the abrupt question, “Come again?”

“How much do you have now in your wallet?”

Doojoon was never one to ask for money from Junhyung because he had plenty of it, hence this socked Junhyung a little bit in his shin. He took out his wallet and grabbed all of his cash out for Doojoon to see. “I only have around ₩ 1,000,000 (around 900 USD).”

“Good, I’ll take all of this and you can take twice as much from my safe for your compensation.” When Junhyung was about to complain, he continued, voice chilling and dead serious, “I mean it, take twice as much and I don’t take a no. I’ll have Kikwang and Dongwoon check on it.”

Junhyung bowed his head, “Yes, hyung-nim.”

There was a satisfied smile on Doojoon’s face as he patted on the younger man’s back.

“Do you need more money next time, Doojoonah? Should I bring more for you?”

Doojoon shook his head, “I need to get a job. I am a burden to the poor thing. He is slaving his life away after classes just to keep going.” He shook the money in his hand and smiled, “And this money will put the rice in the rice cooker and milk in the fridge. I’ll inform you when I need more. It’s going to be suspicious when I suddenly have lots of money, but I’ll manage with some lies.” He grinned and Junghyung could see the uneven and crooked pearl-white teeth.

The younger man once again frowned in confusion, “Yoseob is slaving away? Why? He is his only son, he should inherit at least three quarter of his wealth. And mistress? Did you meet her already?”

Doojoon shook his head, “I have no idea what happened to them, Yoseob and mistress. His apartment is even smaller than my bathroom and mistress is not living with him. Yoseob lives alone. I need to find out what is going on, what has befallen them.” Junhyung too shocked to reply as he stared at Doojoon dumbly.

There was a low chuckle from the older man when he stood up and dusted his pants, “Anyway, I need to go back. Yoseob finished his shift at ten. I need to be home before that.” Junhyung smiled inwardly when he realized Doojoon just referred Yoseob’s place as home but decided to say nothing of it.

Doojoon tightened the flimsy jacket around his muscled frame, trying hard to fight the cold autumn wind. “We’ll meet five days later at the market. If I’m unable to find out anything by then, you need to get some investigation going. I have a feeling something terribly wrong is happening.” Junhyung nodded his understanding.

He stood up and bowed as Doojoon walked away. “Be safe, Doojoonah.” The older man waved back.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O

It was past midnight when Doojoon was up for a drink. He went to the kitchen for a glass of cold water, passing by the living room – which has turned into Yoseob’s bedroom after his invasion, and saw an adorable blanketed lump sleeping deeply on the couch.

The moon was high in the sky and the light filtered in through the window, illuminating Yoseob’s sleeping face. Doojoon was sure that Yoseob forgot to draw the curtain again tonight due to exhaustion, the younger man had been working twice as hard since Doojoon had moved in, and never once had he raised any complaint. Honestly, Doojoon was far too perplexed to come into any conclusion about the younger man right now. In a world of clans that he lived in, everything had a price to pay, everyone had to work extra hard to get something. There was nothing free, there was nothing given. But here, with Yoseob, it was like Doojoon was transported to another world – a world of kindness, of sincerity, of things and emotions the older man had never experienced before.

Drawn like a ship of sailors to the voice of a siren, Doojoon walked towards the couch and knelt down beside it. Yoseob was sleeping in an awkward position – the couch was too small even for his tiny frame – there was a frown on his face (Doojoon itched to smoothen it and caress the skin in between his eyebrows), while his lips opened slightly as he breathed. There was something bothering Yoseob, and Doojoon needed to know what. He needed to know things, everything. Junhyung had to get the investigation going because he was sure he could not get anything out of the smaller man in the next five days. It was too soon for Yoseob to open up.

A smile filtered into Doojoon’s face at the adorable sight in front of him and his hand was halfway to caress Yoseob’s cheek, when he noticed an open book with messily scribbled numbers on it and a bank account book lying exactly beside it. Just with a quick glance, Doojoon knew that Yoseob was having financial problems and he was adding the burden, without having any job or income.

Doojoon covered his face with his hands in frustration. , he had money. He had lots of it, but how could he even help with this? He had ₩ 998,800 (yes, Doojoon counted) at the moment but it did not go well with his current façade of a penniless, extremely poor, kicked out and disowned gay son. He could do anything as a clan leader but at the moment, he just felt… oh well, he would take care of everything.

There was a slight movement, followed by some incoherent mumbles as Yoseob rearranged his awkward position to another awkward position. Doojoon chuckled softly, the sleeping man in front of him was just too adorable and he wondered when was the last time he had ever felt such affection for another human being, that was not brotherly.

Ah, Doojoon remembered, he had never felt this way before.

Oh well, Doojoon mentally shrugged, he would take care of Yoseob from now on.