Chapter 6

Himchan tugged on Yongguk’s shirt, trying to get his attention. “Let’s go.”

“I have to see her go,” Yongguk said in a pain filled voice. He wiped at his eyes and cleared his throat. He did everything that he could to make it look like he wasn’t dying inside. Himchan watched his leader, his friend, struggle with deep and profound sympathy. It hurt him to see it, so he made a decision.

“Hey Z!” Himchan yelled at the pirates back. Jiho turned back to look at him. “You have room for one more on there?”

All heads snapped in his direction. Yongguk looked too stunned to speak, but after a few tries he finally said, "You want to leave me too?"

Himchan shook his head and gripped his friends shoulder tightly. "I'm not going anywhere. You are."

"What? Why would-"

"I remember what it was like the last time Jimin left. You were no use to anybody for over a year. After that, you changed," Himchan said heatedly. "Yongguk, I swear I'm not saying this because I want your job. I have never wanted to be leader. Being your Second is more than enough for me. But if you're going to check out for another two years to nurse your broken heart, I would rather you just go now.”

Yongguk looked at him with disbelief written all over his face, and just a hint of anger. “I’ve been through this once with her. I’ll survive it.”

“Yeah, you might, but you won’t live through it,” Himchan argued.

“I’ll be fine.”

“No you won’t,” he argued further. “I know that you won’t.”

“You don’t know ,” Yongguk sneered. With a shake of his head, Himchan pushed Yongguk back slightly. Away from the others.

“I know what they don’t,” Himchan whispered and nodded to the other guys. “I know that you never really wanted this job. Z took to the water so the old man came to you. You were in love with his daughter, how could you tell him no?” He took a deep breath and looked his leader in the eye. “I know that you were looking into colleges before he promoted you. I know you don’t really want this life, just like she doesn’t.”

Yongguk looked at him with his eyes wide. “How do you know--”

“Ah, hyung. You know it’s my job to know everything,” Himchan told Yongguk with one of his endearing smiles. His smile turned sad, sentimental. “Go have a life, hyung. Go and live.”

“I can’t just leave, Him--”

“Hey guys!” he yelled loudly and gestured for the others to join them.

“We really need to leave,”Jiho reminded them with a stern look.

“I know. Just one more minute?” Himchan asked and Jiho nodded. With the other crew members looking on, he asked them a very simple question. “Do you love Yongguk enough to want him to be happy?” They looked around at each other, but all agreed in some way. “If he got on that boat with Jimin, would you follow me?”

“I would,” Jongup answered immediately.

“Same here,” Youngjae and Daehyun spoke together.

Junhong kicked his toes against the worn wood at his feet. He looked up, knowing they were waiting on his response. After a few tries and nervous of his lips he finally said, “Go and don’t look back, hyung.”

As leader of their organization, Yongguk knew that he shouldn’t cry. But he couldn’t seem to stop. Looking around the circle of men who had followed him, bled for him, done everything that he asked--he was overcome with emotions. Gratitude and regret.

“How can I just leave? What about the rest of the guys? The clubs? Our contacts? We’ve got deals going down with China next week. People depend on me. I can’t drop that for her,” Yongguk argued.

“Look, it’s now or never,” Jiho said, breaking into their circle. He looked between Himchan and Yongguk, waiting for a reply.

“It’s now,” Himchan answered for them both and shoved Yongguk towards Jiho. “We’ll figure this out. Go before you get her caught.”

Yongguk looked at the faces around him and nodded one last time. They all moved together to wrap him in one last hug.

“Thank you.”

In the cargo hold, Jimin cried as she could feel her heart breaking. Leaving Yongguk had been hard for her the first time. The pain of the second parting had the potential to kill her. She had curled herself into a tight ball, trying to push all the pain into just one place. Vaguely, Jimin heard the sound of the engine start and the ache doubled in intensity. As the boat started moving, she just knew she wouldn’t survive the pain. With her head on her knees, she cried her heart out.

The door opened to her left and she wiped her cheeks futilely. “Not now, Jiho.” Footsteps came towards her and she sighed in frustration. “Can you wait? You said we’d talk on the ship.” A hand touched her shoulder and she stood up quickly. “Dammit, kid! I said--”

The words stopped as she saw who was in the room with her. Of all the things she could have said, her mind first settled on the obvious. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”

“True, but I don’t have anywhere else to go,” Yongguk answered, scratching the back of his neck.

“What?”

“Himchan usurped me.”

“WHAT?!”

Yongguk shifted a crate and sat. “It wasn’t a hostile takeover, or anything. Either way, I'm out.”

Jimin ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head. “I don’t understand any of this.”

Yongguk caught hold of her shirt and tugged her to stand between his legs. “I’ll make this simple.” He gripped her cheeks and kissed her thoroughly. “I’m not leaving you, and you are never leaving me again.”

One Year Later

Himchan waves to the waitresses and bartender of ‘The Shady Lady’ on his way to his office. He types out a quick text to Junhong and runs up the steps with mail tucked under his arm. Once inside, he throws it on the desk and slumps into his chair.

“Boss?” a voice calls after brief knock.

It takes Himchan a minute to respond. He still isn’t used to the title. He sits up and lets his ‘Boss’ mask slip back into place. “Yeah?”

“A few of the girls are going to make a coffee run. Do you want the usual?” the bartender asks.

“Yeah, and take this.” Himchan reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small stack of bills. “It's on me.”

The young lady grabs the cash with a pleased smile. “You’re too good to us, Boss.”

“Just don’t tell anyone,” Himchan orders with a flirtatious grin, letting his mask drop for a minute. The girl smiles back at him before rushing out of the room.  

A lot had changed in the space of a year. Running the organization between the five mes was tough at times, but they made it work. There had been a lot of questions about Yongguk’s disappearance, as they had anticipated. They talked for a long time after Yongguk got on the boat, trying to figure out the best way to handle the situation. The men finally settled on spreading the rumor that Himchan had killed Yongguk to take control. In all honesty, Himchan thought it was hilarious that anyone would believe the lie. But they did, and his transition to ‘Boss’ was smooth. Daehyun became his Second.

Through Zico, Himchan was able to send money to Yongguk and Jimin from time to time. Zico always told him it wasn’t necessary, they were fine. Working and living well. Himchan insisted, though. It was the least he could do.

As he sat there, he let his mind wander back in time. He remembered the crisis his nation had faced when the video surfaced. The BBC was given the tape exclusively and it rocked both the U.S and Korea. Even though Himchan watched the reporting as closely as everyone else, and watched as much of the tape as was deemed appropriate to release, he still couldn’t believe what he had seen.

The video had been made by an American soldier. It showed graphic images of torture being done by both American and Korean personnel. The part that still made Himchan shudder was the laughter. He listened to his countrymen laugh as they drug men across the floor, all while they kicked and beat them. He completely understood why Jimin hadn’t wanted to talk about it.

There was another knock and he jerks, realizing how much time had passed while he daydreamed. “Come in.”

The bartender comes in and sets his Americano beside the phone, along with his change. That was one of the things Himchan liked about her. Honesty was in short supply in his line of work.

“Are you going to open the mail? Bills don’t pay themselves, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah. I also know you should get out of here before I fire you,” he threatens. The girl looks at him, then lets out a peal of laughter before she walks out. That was another thing he liked about her; she was fearless.

With a resigned sigh, Himchan starts sorting the mail. Water bill, electric bill, alcohol delivery bill . . . . post card? From Melbourne?  Himchan flips it over and reads it quickly. He immediately recognizes Yongguk’s messy scrawl.

Chingus!!!

Just want to let you know we love it here. We’re good. We miss home, but this weather is so much better ㅋㅋㅋ  We love and miss you all.

Love,

    YG, JM, and YN

Himchan stares at the last line for a while until ‘YN’ makes sense. He smiles like a fool and sends a mass text to the other guys.

Himchan: I think we need to go on vacation.

The End.  

I really hope you all enjoyed this brief ride. It was fun to write. Please leave your comments below so I'll know what you thought. (Votes don't hurt either, *wink*) Thank you so, so much for reading! Until next time....