CHAPTER SIX:Finding

He was more than thrilled. He was amazed. HoWon had seen many interesting things in his life, from the Great Canyon to his son’s birth - well that really didn’t count since he fainted in the middle of the act, leaving his poor wife, at that time girlfriend, alone to bring their cute Joon to the world, but that’s another story – so let’s just say from the Great Canyon to… SungYeol. Yeah, Lee SungYeol; his high school best friend and coworker. People could say SungYeol was just another person in the world, but for HoWon, nu-huh.SungYeol was like a pretty box that held gazillions of interesting stuff, and its new item, a certain biracial teenager, made ten times better his friend’s already interesting life.
 

So there he was, the twenty-eight year old man next to his six, almost seven year old, boy. Analysing how the teenager and younger man interacted. They just seemed like a perfectly weird married couple. Neither a new one where honey and utopie overflowed the place nor an old one where fights and continuous rants always took place, but like a perfectly portrayed one. MyungSoo was just perfect at guessing what SungYeol needed and making him feel at ease and comfortable just like a good wife, and SungYeol tried hard to pamper the boy’s carves whenever he noticed the teenager got one although this was really rare.
 

But sometimes, and just by moments, they made the oldest man remember his relationship with his son, like a father and son. Or even siblings. Yeah, it just really depended when SungYeol acted mature or when MyungSoo showed his innocence. Right, talking about that pretty long word ‘innocence’, HoWon thought that it could be the perfect middle name for that young boy with skin as bright as the sun. It sounded just perfect.

“Why am I not gay?” Hoya couldn’t stop himself from wondering after he saw his son giggling next to the high schooler. The laugh of the older boy was just perfect, so soft and delicate. And his features seemed ten times better when the smiles appeared on it. Real ones.
 

“Because you are five years married and have a cute kid?” SungYeol stated the obvious.
 

“Does that even stop people from being one?” HoWon pointed out somehow still under the golden effect, as SungYeol liked to call it now. MyungSoo didn’t wear contact lenses inside the flat after the little encounter. “Have you never thought about it?”
 

“Nope. That’s called , HoWon,” SungYeol hissed as his eyes sent daggers to his old friend.
 

“Not like you are brothers. Or relatives to leave it clear.”
 

“Can’t one dream for a while?”
 

“When do you ever stop?”
 

“Oh fu—”
 

“Language,” HoWon said louder.
 

“—ck off,” SungYeol still finished his phrase, grinning at the shorter man’s expression. Yeah, another thing the businessman loved to do was bother people, aka HoWon.

Time passed and soon the Lees had to leave creating a soft yet painful feeling inside both flatmates. SungYeol simply hated it. It was so normal in his life now, to feel that lonely. He loved to have visit, to talk and just have fun, but when it came to farewells, well, he just couldn’t stand them since they always reminded him how lonely he was. How empty his flat in reality was. But now that he had MyungSoo by his side, things were a bit different. Now he felt he wasn’t that lonely… for now. Yeah, ‘for now’ were the two words SungYeol was starting to hate. Why? Because ‘for now’ he felt better. ‘For now’ he had MyungSoo by his side. ‘For now’ he got no work. ‘For now’ way too many things. But later? What about ‘For later’? Huh? In about a month the teenager was going to leave. Great! Another farewell. Couldn’t SungYeol’s life be more depressing than it already was?
 

“I feel all emo…” SungYeol whined letting his body spread all over the couch as the young blonde boy gave him a questioning look from the carpet. “Oh, don’t mind me, will you?”
 

“I could...” MyungSoo started to offer but as the words began to leave his lips their sound became lower.
 

“Listen?” SungYeol guessed before snorting. “I think first I should listen to you. Mom used to listen to all my whines when I was younger.”
 

Right, the family thing again. SungYeol couldn’t help it. If he felt like MyungSoo was his son, the best thing he could do was act like a good parent. Or at least try to be one. The businessman was trying to play games in his own head so he could work things out with the teenager. HoWon and him had decided MyungSoo’s fake smiles weren’t good at all for the boy’s health. That boy needs to express a bit more and having ‘normal SungYeol’ by his side made things just much more complicated so the deal was simple. SungYeol tired to act like ‘daddy Yeol’ and forget about his ‘normal SungYeol’ making MyungSoo express and feel better. What did the businessman get instead? Peace in his soul. Yeah, for him that was good enough.
 

“There is no need. Anyway I will leave in about a month.”
 

Nice way to kill the poor Jew, MyungSoo!
 

“Well, I don—”
 

Perfect, couldn’t he just say a ‘daddy Yeol’s phrase’ without being interrupted by a noise? Couldn’t the doorbell wait?
 

A stressed sigh flew from the tall man’s lips before he stood up and went to get the door.
 

One of SungYeol’s rules was. MyungSoo couldn’t open the front door. Why? Idiot if he let him! You just don’t know who is in the other side of the door. And SungYeol sure didn’t know when he opened the white door to meet a slightly shorter man with piercing small eyes.
 

“May I help you?” SungYeol asked in japanese even though the man didn’t quite seem from the country.0 It was something the young man was used to do. Even at work he first talked in japanese, then the language the other person wanted to talk, chinese, english, french, korean, he knew them all.
 

“Yes, you really could,” the man with sharp eyes said with a pretty diplomatic tone, not intimidated by the taller man in front of him. “May I suppose your name is Lee SungYeol?”
 

“You suppose right,” the businessman said a bit concerned with the man in sight. How did he know where he lived when he didn’t even know how he looked? And what about his name?
 

“Good,” he replied before stretching his hand. “I’m Kim SungGyu, and I suppose you got something that belongs to me.”
 

“What the—?”
 

There, again. This was seriously going to make the businessman scream in despair. Another noise had cut his glorious question, ‘what the ?’
 

Both older men turned their heads to the side to where the where the sound came from.
 

“SungGyu...”
 

And now that voice. Yup, there, standing all innocent with a fearful look in his deep blue eyes, was MyungSoo. And in the floor, SungYeol’s newest precious jar, broken. He got to find a good excuse for his uncle.
 

“You know him?” SungYeol asked incredulously in korean.
 

“Of course he knows me,” the called man said in korean too, entering the flat without further questions, reaching the teen that was slightly taller than him. A cold expression matched the surprised one of the younger before it changed into a painful look.
 

Nothing but the strong echo of a heavy hand hitting soft skin was heard—SungGyu had slapped MyungSoo.
 

“You bastard, I’ve been God knows how damn worried about your ed up ,” SungGyu said in a severe voice as the younger boy held his cheek, his eyebrows furrowed in pain.
 

“If we are talking about bastards, you are one too,” a feeble sound was released from the high schooler before a soft smile appeared on the hurt face.
 

Right now SungYeol was the only one feeling quite lost in this hatred-caring conversation both men were holding—correction, he was completely lost with the hug both, he supposed, mixed men were sharing.
 

What the was going on?!
 

“What the ’s going on?!” SungYeol couldn’t stop but ask harshly as he slammed his front door. “Who are you? Who is he, MyungSoo? Why did you enter here without my permission? And why the hell did you know MyungSoo was here?” Each question asked in a higher voice.
 

“Knowing where is h—”
 

“Hyung.”
 

Yes! At least now SungYeol  wasn’t the one interrupted.
 

“MyungSoo, you made a big mess back there, you know? It’s so ing stressing now,” SungGyu said giving his back to the businessman; all his attention given to the teenager.
 

Well, SungYeol could wait a bit.
 

“I’m sorry...”
 

Not.
 

“Okay enough of ignoring me. MyungSoo? Who is he and what’s going on?”
 

SungYeol and patience couldn’t really go in the same sentence.
 

“Ah, right. SungYeol, this is SungGyu, my big brother.” MyungSoo said as the other man stood proudly. SungYeol’s mouth got dry at that statement.
 

His brother...
 

How he was able to keep his thoughts, more precisely, ‘Well I am your father!’ in his mouth and not blurt them out? Well that was another question in his long unanswered questions’ list. It was pretty interesting how they were siblings. The only common thing they got between them was the partial height and the mother. Just. That.
 

While SungGyu was slightly more built and had milk like skin, MyungSoo was thin and his skin had a slight gold glow. Their features were completely different and so were their eyes. Yup, the oldest brother didn’t have those golden eyes, he got them small and dark. Not even their eyebrows were alike, nothing was the same, there was nothing that could say they were real brothers, but if the teenager said that, then SungYeol has got to believe him, right?
 

So there he was, poor SungYeol believing in his flat partner’s words, sitting in his living room, alone, his eyes watching some lame late show, and his mind trying to convince him to go sneak to the biracial boy’s door to eavesdrop the little conversation that was going on in there.
 

ing curiosity.

“Why’d you do that MyungSoo? The plan was going smoothly. I asked you for some time. To wait,” SungGyu said as his hands worked on his temples. A headache was starting to grow and that was something the older man wasn’t fond of.
 

“I’m sorry, Hyung. It’s just... it went too far—”
 

“I don’t care. You should have stayed!” After keeping trapped all his stress and worries the coolness he had been showed disappeared, just like his patience. Yet a big bucket filled with cold water fell on his body when a painful look conquered his brother’s face. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
 

“Sorry.”
 

SungGyu shook his head as he kicked himself mentally. “I know it is hard, MyungSoo.. all this . Even for me it is, but there’s nothing I can do. Not now, I need time.”
 

“I know... I should have called you instead of running away,” Tom murmured.
 

“No, it was good you didn’t. Kitagawa is checking everything I do, he does suspect of me.” SungGyu saw an alarmed look on his brother’s face and quickly added, “There is no way he would know I’m here. You know I can handle that man. I’m way smarter, remember?”
 

“He is giving you a hard time, right?” MyungSoo asked with a grimace.
 

“Nothing I can’t handle, I told you that already,” SungGyu smiled as he petted the younger boy’s hair. “Anyway, I’m glad I found you and that you’re okay... is that SungYeol man—?”
 

“No.” MyungSoo quickly cut his brother’s words. “He’s been good to me. And he doesn’t swing that way.”
 

“That’s good news.”
 

With that their conversation ended and a thick silence surrounded them. They could feel the other was nervous. Yeah, it wasn’t like a late evening where two brothers would meet to talk about life. They were in some serious problems, and they knew that if something went wrong they would both pay for it.
 

“You know you can’t hide here forever.” SungGyu decided to show the obvious to his younger brother who nodded even if he didn’t want to.
 

“I’ll leave in a month,” MyungSoo said looking at his brother with his deep blue eyes. SungGyu was the only one that never got affected by their mysterious colour.
 

“Good,” the elder nodded this time before adding. “It’s enough time for me to finish everything... You’ll be free soon Soo-ya.” The last part was said with a faint smile.
 

“...what about you?” The teenager dared to ask.
 

“It’ll take longer for me. But I want you out of this as soon as possible,” SungGyu assured getting a sincere smile from his brother who suddenly hugged him. Yes, for MyungSoo, his big brother was the perfect person to give bear hugs. “And also... you gotta go to class. I pay your studies, and you don’t show up.”
 

“Seriously, Hyung?” MyungSoo frowned. “Father would know.”
 

At that the older brother laughed.

“That man doesn’t even know which school you’re enlisted,” SungGyu snarled. “But I do.You’re almost done, and if you’re able to go to university, far from here. My will be able to rest in peace.”

At that the teenager couldn’t answer back.

“I’ll send your stuff here soon so you can go to school.”
 

After their mother’s dead the older boy started to take care of everything that happened to his brother. From school to food, from clothes to work. Everything.
 

Even his life.
 

“Thanks,” MyungSoo murmured letting his fingers reach the ones of his brother’s; his were rough while the younger ones’ were soft like silk.
 

“Sorry,” SungGyu answered back.

Their conversations always ended that way. MyungSoo thanking his brother for everything he was doing to give him a better life, and SungGyu asking forgiveness for the pain he let his brother feel. He truly hated his brother’s beauty, it just brought problems, ever since they were little kids. But the moment their step father set eyes on him, from then on everything went downhill, and pretty deep they both were falling...