Chapter 16

A few weeks ago

It's after 12 when Sungjong finally decides to leave his room and to show himself to the world again.

Not by choice.

He might would have stayed hidden for longer if it wasn't for the curtains he left open last night that let the sunrays hit his head unhindered. He wants to give himself a good scolding, but last night it had just  gotten too late so he forgives his head this one time.

Around 11 pm Woohyun appeared in his room and got under the blanket with him, telling him something about Sunggyu and one of his Martial Art dreams that kicked him out of bed. Sungjong didn't mind at all, even though he would never admit it to anyone and only let Woohyun stay after an appropriate amount of nagging.

Actually he was glad.

Woohyun became another brother for him, but it's not easy to get enough attention because of the shere  amount of people around him. And as soon as Sunggyu comes back he can give up either way.

So he enjoys the unexpected closeness.

They tried to sleep but it just didn't work. So they the television and watched an old rerun of Boys over flowers until both of them finally fell asleep.

When Sungjong awoke in the morning, Woohyun was already gone.

Nothing unusual.

Maybe he sneaked back into bed with Sunggyu.

Lost in his thoughts he doesn't hear the silent sobs first, but when he does he hurries to enter the kitchen.

There is no one, he thinks, when there is another suffocated sob from behind the kitchen island that sounds suspiciously like Woohyun.

He is right.

There he is, sitting at the ground, in the middle of shards.

"Woohyun...", Sungjong carefully gets down next to him. " What happened?" he pauses when he sees the red marks around his neck... as if someone tried to choke him.

" Woohyun..." he slowly wants to reach out for him but Woohyun stops him halfway, a sad smile plastered on his face. " I need to get out for a moment."

" But..."

" Just for a moment."

He ruffles through Sungjongs hair and the younger realizes with a sting to his heart how much his hands are shaking.

Then he is gone. And everything goes the way Sungjong feared it would.

Because Sunggyu wakes up and there is no Woohyun next to him which is enough to make him moody.

Then he walks into the kitchen the moment Sungjong tells Hoya about what he saw that morning and the only thing he hears is - of course- Woohyun, choked and outside alone and the fiasco is perfect when Woohyun doesn't answer his phone soon enough and only after 5 seconds.

" Where are you?... I heard that............. No.............. No............. Tell me where you are. I will come and get you...................... Woohyun! You know I'm worried................ What does that mean you don't want to see me?!.....................................Ya! Don't you dea----"

And he successfully explodes the second time that day when Woohyun ends the call. Sungjong thinks about hiding behind Hoya but there is no time for being afraid because Sunggyu already knows where his missing boyfriend hides himself.

And so he prances into the bookstore twenty minutes later, followed by Sungjong that still questions himself why he is there only to find Woohyun in the darkest, most abandoned corner, next to the books about gynaecology.

Sunggyu bends down and presses a fleeting kiss on his hair.

" Found you."

He takes a seat next to Woohyun, and the black haired one that still hides his face moves a little closer to his side.

" What happened?"

Woohyun lifts Sunggyus arm, only to put it around him and snuggles closer.

That is when Sungjong leaves them alone and until today he never got to know what really happened.

Today

Woohyun

I need to eat.

For Sunggyu and all the others that gathered around me this morning.

Maybe for my bad conscience, because I think I most probably gave them the shock of their lives when I told them about everything yesterday night. There are dark circles around Myungsoos eyes but he still looks as good as ever and I feel a tiny bit if jealousy inside. When I looked into the mirror for the first time I nearly let out a scream. Pale, unhealthy skin, chapped lips.  

Dongwoo made pancakes especially for me and I feel... kind of hungry but the thought of eating makes me a bit too sick to try.

" Eat a bit." Sungyeol pushes the plate a little closer, a reassuring smile on his face.

He tries his best, I can see.

Sungyeol has never been the one to push away thoughts he can't understand.

He listened and he decided for himself how he wants to handle the situation.

Hoya and Myungsoo kind of keep a distance to me, but that is alright. They didn't run away from me and that's what matters the most now. And Sunggyu is next to me, his hand on my thigh, how could I be too scared about everything?

" Don't just stare at your food. " Sunggyu says and I want to give him a fitting answer because he's the one who's only sipping on  a cup of coffee.

I slowly take a fork and bring a piece of pancake to my mouth.

It smells good.

Of course. Dongwoo made them.

But still, I can't bring myself to eat. Slowly, I put the fork back on the plate. " Sorry..." I feel ashamed and can't help but to avoid their gazes.

Dongwoos laughter brightens the room. " No need to worry. I'll put them in the fridge for later, okay?"

He tries so hard.

" Thanks, Dongwoo.", I say, proud that I'm able to control my voice. " I'm going to eat them later. Promise."

" Sure. I didn't expect you in your condition to be hun--", he stops in his tracks, seemingly realizing what he just said. " Sorry. I didn't mean to talk about it like that."

Silence fills the room.

I laugh uneasyily. " No need to be sorry."

Sunggyu interlaces our fingers under the table. " Let's go to the meeting room later and discuss some things."

I give him a thankful look and he just tightens his grip around my hand.

Nods from the others and my chest feels a bit warmer all of sudden.

I never wanted to depend too much on Sunggyu... but it feels good to know that he seems to know what he is doing.

At least a bit which is already more than I do.

Sunggyus mobile rings. He pulls it out of his pocket and answers the call without saying anything. His subordinates know that they should just talk. I always tried to tell him how impolite he acts but he never really cared and I was so pissed off all the time. Now that I think of it I would give a lot to go back to those times were my only worries were the withdrawal I gave him as a payback for his rudeness.

" You have him?"

I prick up my ears.

" Bring him here."

I stare at him with wide eyes when he hangs up. " You mean... Sungmin?"

" Yes."

I'm at my feet before anyone can react and out the door when the changing number above the elevator doors  shows me that they made it halfway up here.

" Don't run away like that." Sunggyu approaches me slowly.

I kiss his cheek. " Thanks for finding him."

 He just smiles, still that sad edge to it.

" Just be careful."

The arrival of the elevator pulls me out of my thoughts and as soon as the door opens I jump at the blonde man inside.

" Sungmin!"

He hits my head with full force and every other day Sunggyus subordinates would have killed him right on the spot but their to busy having the shock of their lives because of seeing me. Sungmin grabs me by the collar. " Where the did you go?!"

" I'm sorry... There was Myungsoo all of sudden..."

" I don't care who was there all of sudden! I thought you left me there!"

" How could I. We only can do this together."

" Get  back down." Sunggyu pushes the still speechless men further into the elevator while I pull Sungmin out and pushes the button until the door closes.

Sungmin eyes Sunggyu from head to toe, his features darken by the second. Not like it would mean anything to Sunggyu. He stares back, his perfectly trained face... and in that moment I have the feeling of at least a bit of acceptance between them.

Sunggyu wrinkles his nose. " You stink."

Which is actually more like Can I give you some clothes?

Sungmin scoffs. " Who would take your clothes?"

            I'm embarrassed to accept your help. It would hurt my pride.

" Then keep yours. Its not like I cared."

            No need to worry. I'll give them to you later.

" Bastard."

            Thanks.

"."

            No problem.

OOO

We meet in a meeting room on another floor.

The room is too big for us, but there is a huge whiteboard where Sunggyu waits in front, a marker in his hand.

" Guys. Right now there's nothing we have that will help us to solve this. I have send the man out to gather information but still we have to try to find a clue by ourselves. So think and tell me who could be responsible for this."

He turns to Sungjong first.

" If you ask me, I think the Kangs might be involved in this."

" Why?"

" I don't think they were that happy about the fact that we started to establish connections to the Lees."

" But that's not enough to go to that extent." I object but Sunggyu nods slowly. " They have done worse for less."

He writes down the name on the whiteboard.

Slowly the lump in my throat grows. It isn't... a nice feeling to talk about the own murderer.

" But why killing both of them?", Dongwoo says. " We had connections to them but I can't remember the Chos working with them."

" Kyuhyun contacted them a few months ago, just to work with the Chois later on." Sungmin answers.

He is wearing Dongwoos clothes. They're about the same height.

" What do you think, Dongwoo?" Sunggyu asks the other.

He thinks for a moment.

" Woo Jiho."

I pick my ears up when I hear the prosecutors name. " You're playing games with him for years now. That thing with the illegal weapon delivery... some contact persons told me he keeps struggling in his job... and...", his eyes seem to be on me for a short moment. " I still don't think he's alright with what you did that time."

" Later, Dongwoo."

They awoke my curiosity but when I try to catch Sunggyus gaze he looks away a bit too fast and writes the name down.

" Sungyeol?"

The boy seems to wince. He takes a glance at Myungsoo.

Is he shaking his head?

Sungyeol starts talking nevertheless. " Park Moon Ey."

" Sungyeol." Myungsoo hisses, but he ignores it. " Woohyun. Do you remember the phone call?"

"Phone call?"

" That day you found me on the balcony... talking to someone on the phone. And you took it and talked to that person."

I think about it. " By chance... do you mean that crazy woman?"

" Yes.", he takes a deep breath. " I don't want to say any more things at the moment. But I think she could definitely be the culprit. I know her well."

" Tell me more about it later." Sunggyu says and writes her name down. He seems to know that Sungyeol won't tell more at the moment, not with Myungsoo next to him.

And so there are names and clans.

Some of them get rejected, others get written down on the whiteboard.

And I can't help it but to take Sungmins hand under the table. I think Sunggyu saw, but he doesn't say anything and I'm thankful for that.

" What's the strangest thing about all is the fact that Sungmin and Woohyun are the victims of this.", Hoya says after a while. " I still can't find any connections between them. Aside from the fact that their close to Sunggyu and Kyuhyun."

" I think Kyuhyun could be of help and give you some more names to the list." Sungmin adds quietly.  "But... I still don't know how to contact him."

" He's in Busan so that's a bit of a problem.", I worry slightly. " Do you think you might be able to call him?"

He avoids my gaze.

" Just try it out. He might cut you off the first time but you can try again."

" I don't think it will work that way..."

" Why? You haven't even tried."

His hands clenched to fists. " Yesterday... I... was in that place all of sudden. With Donghae... and Kyuhyun...", tears glister in his eyes. " He didn't believe it until the end...and just disappeared. I thought I knew him. All those years."

Silence after his words.

I'm lost for words and my gaze automatically wanders to Sunggyu.

How lucky I was to meet that man.

How unbelievably lucky.

He catches me staring at him and our gazes meet for a second.

Maybe five.

Or longer.

            So lucky...

But there's something in his eyes all of sudden. Sungmins words seem to have hit him a lot more than he shows.

Such a sadness that I want to get up and run over to him and fight it off because nothing like that is allowed to stay in him for too long.

He takes the pen again and writes something on the wall.

Slowly and unsure.

Father.