Here it is! I hope this will shed some light onto the story, I bet many of you are still confused OTL Is the revelation too fast? Too slow? Anyways more to come and comments are always loved <3 Have a merry merry Christmas and a blessed New Year everyone! I love you all okaes!!! Kisses :)

Doojoon watched Yoseob intently from the narrow foyer as the younger man sat on his makeshift bed – the couch – and stared forlorn into the faraway land outside the living room window. This was the second day Yoseob had been acting strange, eerily quiet with distant stares, a gloomy dark cloud hanging above his head. He spaced out a lot, not focusing in a lot of things going on around him – he gave out caramel frapuccino to a customer who wanted an espresso shot. He had also lost a little bit of his appetite, stabbing his rice instead of eating it, and jolted up from his seat when Doojoon told him to eat properly and stop playing with his food.

It started two days ago when they were walking home from another fun trip to the supermarket, teasing one another throughout their walk home. Yoseob were trying to snatch the remaining of the doughnut from Doojoon’s mouth when they saw a commotion right ahead. Thick smokes filled the sky as the fire the edges of the orange dusk sky. One of their neighbors’ houses had burned down.

Chaos was an understatement to describe the situation, a fire truck parked in the middle of the road, firemen courageously running inside to save anyone trapped inside the house while some were holding a huge hose shooting gallons of water in an attempt to put out the fire, a lot of people gathered to help the distraught family who had been saved, supporting them physically and mentally. There were loud cries and screams, desperate and hysterical, ear piercing and heartbreaking, and Yoseob was lost in the middle of it. He had subconsciously dropped all of his shopping bags and pensively walked towards the commotion. He stared right into the fire, everything was moving in slow motion, the firemen running, the mother crying, the kids screaming – everything was peculiarly silent, he could not hear anything, not any sound, not even the shouts of his name coming from a shocked Doojoon, he was deaf and numb to everything but the unbearable pain in his chest.

Doojoon stood frozen in his spot when Yoseob did not respond to the shouts of his name, not even turning back after suddenly letting go of his shopping bags. It was dangerous – the fire, the chaos, the commotion – and Yoseob was walking right into it. Quickly chucking his own shopping bags aside, he ran to catch Yoseob, confused as to why Yoseob was not responding to the shouts of his name, and successfully caught the younger man’s arm right before he was trampled alive in the commotion. Doojoon was supposed to feel relieved when he finally spun an unharmed Yoseob around, supposed to feel in one way or another comforted that all of Yoseob’s limbs were intact, but what he saw shocked him, frightened him, agonized him.

There were fire and unbearable pain in Yoseob’s eyes.

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

It was the third day and Yoseob’s condition did not seem to improve. Doojoon presumed that the earlier strange behavior was caused by the initial shock from witnessing such a horrible fire incident and he strongly believed that it would finally pass with time and a little patience. But no, Yoseob looked more depressed and distant as the days went by.

Doojoon observed the now-spacing-out Yoseob, who was blankly looking out from the living room window as the older man placed a pot full of hot kimchi jjigae, two rice bowls, two glasses of water and a few side dishes on the table for dinner. He sighed softly as he remembered his own predicament. Junhyung’s call had been plaguing Doojoon’s mind for a few days now, the last time Junhyung had updated him was four days ago, the day right before the fire incident.

“Are you sure? You know I don’t tolerate false information from anyone, even from you.” Doojoon’s hushed voice was harsh, indicating his seriousness.

“Yes, Hyungnim. This is all I have gathered at the moment. Kikwang and Dongwoon are asking a few people right now, we’ll continue the investigation and keep you updated.” Junhyung answered formally, aware of the importance of the situation on hand. “Good. Message me when you have more news.” Doojoon hung up after Junhyung confirmed his understanding to the command. Doojoon hid his phone whose existence Yoseob still knew nothing about and made sure it was on silent mode. He groaned in frustration and rubbed his face with his hands.

Mistress is dead.

The sentence repeated itself like a death sentence to Doojoon. He was hoping that Junhyung’s source was mistaken – which would be highly unlikely considering that the source was extremely reliable – or that the news was misleading. At that moment, he did not lament on the fact that his only link to finding the key was dead and gone forever, but instead he was taken aback by the fact that Yoseob was an orphan, alone without both of his parents in this world.

Junhyung had not updated him for any confirmation and so Doojoon stayed quiet, unable to voice out the question which was already on the tip of his tongue. And then the fire happened and Yoseob had been isolating himself, even from Doojoon, and at the moment it was impossible to get anything out of Yoseob when the younger man barely talked to Doojoon anymore.

There was something distinctly different with Yoseob since they witnessed the horrid fire. Yoseob’s eyes lost their spark, instead bearing the sadness and the pain of the world. There were hints of orange in his irises as if they absorbed the fire and the excruciating loss it had caused the victims. Doojoon was seriously worried.

“Yoseobah, let’s eat.”

Upon hearing the gentle voice, Yoseob jolted a little and turned around quickly to see a smiling Doojoon preparing chopsticks and spoons on the table. “Come on, let’s eat.” Doojoon repeated upon seeing a perplexed Yoseob. The younger man looked like a lost 5 years old and in that moment, Doojoon wanted nothing than to hug him and protect him forever.

Yoseob nodded softly and slowly padded to the small dining table, his mind a million miles away from his head, as he took a seat across Doojoon and held his chopsticks clumsily. “I will eat well,” he whispered to the older man and started taking a bit of rice in between his chopsticks. He did not eat it though, the chopsticks were put back down into its original position as he stared silently into the kimchi jjigae pot.

Yoseob was lost in his own thoughts and the next thing he knew, a spoonful of rice and side dishes was nudging on his lips. He jerked a little from the sudden touch and he turned around to see Doojoon had moved his chair so that the older man was seating next to him. Yoseob’s eyes focused on the bowl of rice – his bowl of rice – in front of Doojoon and his spoon in front of his mouth.

“Say ahhhh ~~” Doojoon cooed at the silent Yoseob and when the younger man slowly opened his mouth to receive the rice and side dishes, there was a smile blooming on Doojoon’s face. “Good boy, now chew properly. Do you want some kimchi, Yoseobah? Do you like kimchi with your bean sprout? Or should I separate these two and get you something else with the bean sprout… Or do you want some tofu?” Doojoon was busy mixing side dishes for the next spoonful of rice when he heard soft, almost inaudible sobs. He immediately turned around to see tears running down chubby cheeks while Yoseob’s mouth was busy chewing a mouthful of food.

“Doojoonah…”

Yoseob’s shoulders started shaking gently from the force of his cry.

“Doojoonah… I want my eomma.”

Doojoon did not know what he was supposed to feel at the moment. He was supposed to be elated that Yoseob was finally talking about his eomma, the Mistress Doojoon had been searching for. But strangely he did not feel too happy right now, especially seeing Yoseob in this broken state. Instead Doojoon hoped that Yoseob would never talk about his eomma if it hurt him this much, because it hurt Doojoon just as much.

“Doojoonie… I want my eomma.”

Doojoon tightened his grip on Yoseob’s rice bowl – his own bowl was neglected across the table – and started picking out side dishes to go with the rice, “Sure, we’ll go to get your eomma after you eat. You haven’t been eating well the past few days. Say ahhhh.”

Yoseob shook his head vigorously, refusing to eat another spoon of food as his fists balled up on his thighs to control his intense emotions, but Doojoon would not receive no as an answer. “Come on, open up.” And so Yoseob opened his mouth up for another spoonful of food.

“We can get your eomma after dinner, alright?” Doojoon spoke soothingly, coaxing the younger man to eat another spoonful. Yoseob shook his head again and looked down while he went a little hysterical, “No. We cannot get her, Doojoonah. We cannot get her anymore. We cannot get her…” Yoseob kept on mumbling the same words over and over again.

There was something terribly wrong going on and Doojoon was sure of it when he cupped Yoseob’s chin gently and looked at those frightened, wild, wet eyes. “Why can’t we get her, Yoseobah?” Doojoon maintained eye contact with Yoseob as he fed another spoonful of food into Yoseob’s open mouth.

And Yoseob started crying loudly at that. He sobbed and hiccupped and his body shook in grief, as he continued chewing on the food in his mouth. “Because she died. They killed her, they killed her…” Doojoon stopped scooping rice from the bowl as he tried to digest the words coming out of Yoseob’s mouth.

It was silent for a while, other than Yoseob crying, nothing moved or made a sound. When the full meaning of Yoseob’s earlier sentence sunk in Doojoon’s brain, he closed his eyes for a second to school his emotions and expressions, and continued scooping some kimchi jjigae for Yoseob to eat.

Yoseob hiccupped before opening his mouth for the kimchi jjigae and then he started rambling to Doojoon, not caring if he told the older man his deepest secret, the secret he had never breathed to anyone else, not even his best friend Hyunseung. He was a whirlwind of emotions and he’d rather die than feeling the way he felt now. “Doojoonah, do you know the Yoon clan? Of course you won’t know, even if you do, you should stay away from them. They are bad people, bad bad people, who use people for their own purposes without feeling anything towards their victims. And I hate them, I hate them. I hate them.” Doojoon furrowed his eyebrows as guilt washed over him, he had been lying all along to Yoseob, was he bad as well? Was he using Yoseob without taking into account the younger man’s feeling? , this is ed up.

“And you know what’s funny?” Yoseob started chuckling, before eating another spoonful of rice with tofu and kimchi from Doojoon, “Do you know what is so hilarious? I was their clan leader’s bastard child. Isn’t life a big irony? And what’s funnier is that my eomma was stupid enough to believe that the loved her with all his heart.” Doojoon chocked on his emotions when Yoseob started laughing and crying at the same time. He had never seen a more broken man than the one in front of him. So young, but so scarred for life.

“My eomma was the head chef in the Yoon mansion, where she met the clan leader and I finally happened. He was already married and when my eomma conceived me, his wife was also pregnant with a child. What bull was that about loving my eomma with all his heart when he was actually ing two women at the same time?!” By now Doojoon had stopped feeding Yoseob, he was clutching on the spoon so hard he almost bent it into two.

“Upon knowing that Madam was pregnant, my mom went away to Japan, heartbroken and disillusioned. I was too young to know what is going on, and I was teased mercilessly about not having a father. They called me a bastard child, an unwanted thing. I used to cry a lot to my eomma but now I know it was all true. No one wanted me in this world.” Yoseob scoffed as fresh tears ran down his chubby cheeks. His eyes were red and swollen, his cheeks were flushed with rage and sadness.

“And suddenly when I was five, there were men in suits coming to our house in Japan and we were whisked away to Korea in a private plane. We arrived at a beautiful mansion where I first laid my eyes on my supposedly father. He was nice and warm but I know it was all an act. I know that he wanted my eomma back because he had a daughter from his wife and he needed a son. They always needed a son. And so my eomma became precious once again because she had me. My eomma refused to come back and decided that we were going back home to Japan, just the two of us.” Yoseob looked down at his hands, trying to feel the warmth of his eomma’s hand holding his own smaller ones.

“We were given a small private bungalow to stay in for the night, away from the main compound of the mansion. It was secluded with big trees around us, as if we were the dirty little secret he was supposed to keep away from everyone. There were a few other workers who lived around the area – the ahjumoni and ahjussi who owned this building were one of them, they were the Yoon’s housekeepers for over a decade. And then that night, it happened.”

Yoseob looked up and Doojoon saw the tint of orange coming back to his irises, he could make out the glow of fire burning in Yoseob’s eyes. “The fire was sudden. My eomma and I were sleeping when the fire started. It was huge, spreading quickly throughout the small bungalow, burning everything on its way. My eomma jolted awake due to the heat and she carried me while running as fast as she could to the door. But there was something on the floor and my eomma tripped on it, shielding me in her embrace from the impact. She asked me to run to the door and get help, so I did.” Yoseob shook his head in regret, “And that was the worst decision of my life.”

“When ahjumoni and ahjussi came to rescue us, I was already near the door and ahjumoni came to get me while ahjussi tried to help my eomma. Everything was a messy blur, I could not hear anything other than the sound of fire swooshing, could not see anything other than the orange and the flame, could not feel anything other than the heat and the fear.”

Yoseob looked at Doojoon, who stayed quiet all this while, listening intently to the younger man’s story. Dinner was forgotten on the table. “When ahjussi came out of the burning bungalow, he was alone. My eomma was inside, burning with everything else. That night, they went to Seoul and brought me along with them. They raised me as if I was their own from that day onwards.”

There was a pleading look in Yoseob’s eyes as he hugged himself, “I should not have run away from my eomma, I should be with her… I should have died with her…”

Instinctively, Doojoon pulled Yoseob into a tight embrace as he scolded the younger man softly, “Shhh… Stop saying that. Stop saying you should die with her. You should live well for your eomma. Don’t ever say that again. Never say you should die because all the more you should live.”

“Doojoonah, all I can see is a sky of fire…”

Doojoon’s heart clenched as he felt Yoseob crumbling in his embrace. The pain was unbearable and he hugged Yoseob tightly. He whispered, “Don’t worry, Hyung is here and I will protect you.” Upon hearing the words, Yoseob howled with brand new grief and hugged Doojoon back, clawing at the older man’s clothed back, clutching tightly on his tee shirt. He sobbed, “Hyung… Hyung… Hyung…”

“Don’t worry, Yoseobah. Hyung is here and I will protect you.”

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

Doojoon tightened his hold on Yoseob’s waist as they both lay on the bed in the small bedroom, a chubby cheek nestled on Doojoon’s strong chest as the older man enveloped Yoseob in a secure hug. Yoseob was crying his eyes out for a long time and Doojoon hugged him the whole time, whispering soothing words and rubbing circles on the younger man’s lower back.

They had forgotten about dinner, bowls of side dishes and rice and a cold pot of kimchi jjigae abandoned on the small dining table as Doojoon scooped the smaller boy in his arms and made his way to the bedroom with Yoseob’s head on his shoulder. Yoseob’s legs instinctively wrapped around Doojoon’s waist as he was carried off, resting his cheek on Doojoon’s shoulder, his hands tightened on the older man’s shirt for security.

Doojoon felt so much grief and sadness for Yoseob, and also for the misunderstood former Yoon clan leader as he knew how much the older Yoon loved Mistress. The deceased Yoon leader had told a much younger Doojoon in his deathbed that the only happiness in his life was Mistress and Yoseob, and nothing else could ever beat that. He smiled in his death while Doojoon sobbed harshly, and Gayoon and his mother – the Madam – fainted across the room.

There was a soft buzz from the bottom drawer and Doojoon knew Junhyung had come back to him with some news or another. He gently rearranged their position on the bed, careful not to wake the exhausted bundle of nerves up as he tried to get his phone from its hiding place. Yoseob groaned a little, frowned a little, and wiggled in Doojoon’s embrace, but quickly went still when Doojoon pulled him closer into the embrace and his back soothingly, burying his face deeper into Doojoon’s chest.

From : Pari Pari

To : Doobong

Hyungnim, a source has confirmed Mistress’s death from a fire years ago. Another source said Madam was the brain behind the arson.

Doojoon quickly typed his reply, there was something missing in this puzzle, but he would think about it later. For now, Yoseob’s safety was top priority.

From : Doobong

To : Pari Pari

Keep those who know about Yoseob’s existence shut. Don’t let anyone know about Yoseob’s details.  

A quick reply was immediately received.

From : Pari Pari

To : Doobong

Yes, Hyungnim.

Doojoon hid his phone back to its original place, careful not to make too many movements. He sighed and looked down to the younger man sleeping peacefully in his arms. Doojoon tightened his jaws as he planted a soft kiss on Yoseob’s forehead. The most important thing was to keep Yoseob safe and sound.

Nothing else mattered.