Key scowled and stared at his (ex-)boss who was leaning to his desk.

 

“Are you two alright?” Minho asked in a worried tone.

 

“Don’t ‘are you alright’ me,” Key glared. “Just tell us what you want.”

 

Minho rolled his eyes. “Really? No thank you or something? I think you’ll behave better to the savior of your life.”

 

“Savior of my life?! I’m sorry, Mr Choi Minho, but I don’t recall you saving my life. You and your bodyguards only pulled me from the wrecked car. Correction, the car only hit the pole and now it has a big dent on the front but we’re not in grave danger nor injured aside from a few scratches here and there. If that counts, well, thank you very much!”

 

“Listen, Key, I’m saving you fr-“

 

“You kidnapped my brother, sent me to be used as a punching bag by some kind of purple-haired eyeliner diva, even tricked my clueless boyfriend (“I’m not clueless!” Jonghyun huffed indignantly, only to be ignored by Key) into bringing me here, and then claimed to save my life?! Could you get any worse?!”

 

“Kibum…”

 

“What is your reason to do all this anyway?! I didn’t do anything! Is it because I wanted to resign? Well, if this is your way to get me to work with you again, Choi Minho, I can assure you I’m not doing th-“

 

“For God’s sake, Kim Kibum, could you just shut it down?!” Minho finally exploded, eyes glaring at Key’s menacingly. “Don’t you realize your position?! You’re in my office, stripped from any weapons, a bunch of bodyguards surrounding you! In any means, you’re not in the position to talk rudely to me! Your attitude won’t bring you anywhere. So shut up and listen to me while I explain everything, and I promise you, it’s not like what you think!”

 

Key’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Minho rarely raised his voice on him, so when the frog-eyed man finally did, Key knew he had gone too far. So he leaned back on his chair. “Fine then,” he said, making sure to add as much sarcasm in his voice as possible. “Tell me your story.”

 

“Well, first of all,” Minho started, “I didn’t kidnap your brother.”

 

Key’s lips twitched. “Liar!”

 

“I really didn’t, Key. Also, I’m not the one who wants you dead.”

 

“Then who is it?!”

 

Minho sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Kim Youngmin.”

 

Silence enveloped the room for a few seconds like a cold blanket.

 

“Kim Youngmin?” Key finally repeated, eyebrow raised skeptically. “But I’ve met him just once. Why does he want to kill me?”

 

“Because you wanted to resign,” Minho answered curtly.

 

“So? Is it a sin or what?”

 

“It’s a long story, Key.”

 

Key crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I’m listening.”

 

Minho inhaled. “Fine,” he said, taking a seat behind his desk. “Well, it all started when the business of your stepfather – Lee Jinki – almost went into bankruptcy. That’s when Youngmin stepped in. He offered to help, and your father, desperate to save his company, accepted it.”

 

Key nodded to show he’s listening.

 

“However, there was a catch. Youngmin wanted one of your father’s sons to work for him when he reaches adulthood. At first your father saw no problem with that. Youngmin was – and is – a successful businessman and owns many big companies, who wouldn’t want to work for him? That’s what your father thought until he found out who Youngmin actually is.”

 

Key frowned. “Who is he actually, then?”

 

“You don’t know? He’s my boss. The leader of the biggest mafia organization in the world.”

 

Key’s eyes were wide as saucers. “H-he is?! B-but I thought you’re…”

 

“The leader of the biggest mafia gang in South Korea?” Minho laughed dryly. “Yes, that’s probably true. However, SHARP is only a branch of a big organization, even bigger than you can ever imagine. That’s why no one can ever take us down. To do so, you have to destroy a massive conspiracy that has taken over almost the whole world.”

 

Jonghyun fidgeted in his seat.

 

“Okay, where was I before? When your father found out about Youngmin? Well, let’s say he wasn’t too pleased with that. He came to Youngmin, stating he wanted to do business with Youngmin no more. He broke the deal. He thought he was saving you and your brother. He had no idea that the next day would be the last time he saw you two. As he drove with your mother to his office, Youngmin’s assassins ended their lives.”

 

“Wait.” Key rose on his feet. “You’re saying that…that my parents were killed?! But…the car accident…”

 

“Made by the assassins to cover the actual cause of their death. That’s why you’re not allowed to see their bodies. The forensics were paid by SHARP to spread about the car accident only.”

 

Slowly, Key dropped back on his seat, burying his face inside his hands. “I…I can’t believe this,” he whispered, tears starting to gather on his eyes. “M-my parents were killed… And I worked for the bastard who killed them…”

 

Jonghyun pulled the feline man into his embrace and rubbed a circle on his back to sooth him. Key buried himself inside Jonghyun’s chest and cried silently.

 

“Are you done?” Minho asked almost boredly. “We’re on a limited time here.”

 

Key glared at the seemingly heartless frog-eyed man as he wiped his tears. “You don’t even know what I feel, Choi, so shut the up. And speaking about working here, why did you recruit me in first place?”

 

Minho raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it clear already? Youngmin’s order. Remember the initial agreement between him and your father? He figured that with the death of your parents, you and your brother would struggle to feed yourself and pay their debts. So he arranged for me, who happened to be your old friend, to meet you in the coffee shop where you worked at. You were desperate for money so you couldn’t refuse.”

 

Key’s hands slowly balled into fists. “But…my father had broken the agreement right? And Youngmin had killed him as well? So why…?”

 

“Key, I think you’ve gotten the hang about what kind of man Youngmin is,” Minho sighed again. “He thinks it’s a game. He did business with your father, stole his profit secretly, killed him, and then made you an employee of his just to mock your late father. He hates it if someone messes his game up. That’s why he wants to kill you now.”

 

“That’s really awful,” Jonghyun grimaced beside Key.

 

Minho gave the dino man a look. “I think ‘awful’ is even an understatement.”

 

“Well, do you have a better word then?”

 

As the two men bickered, Key fell silent, eyes staring into nothing as the puzzle pieces starting to form themselves inside his head. All the mysteries surrounding his parents’ death, his recruitment to SHARP, Jonghyun’s involvement to this matter…everything started to make sense now, in a sick and twisted turn of event.

 

“Why did you tell me this?” Key suddenly blurted out, successfully shutting both Minho and Jonghyun.

 

The former looked confused. “Sorry?”

 

“Why did you tell me this?” Key repeated. “I mean, you’re going to bring me to Youngmin in the end, right? Do I need to know all of this before I die?”

 

“I’m not going to bring you to him, Key,” Minho said in a patient tone.

 

Key narrowed his eyes. “Then, why did you ask Jonghyun to bring me here?”

 

Minho opened his drawer and took out a white envelope which he gave to Key. Key accepted and ripped it open. Inside, there were two passports and plane tickets to Japan.

 

Key stared at Minho for a while, then to the tickets and passports, then to Minho again, confusion written all over his face.

 

“For the two of you,” Minho explained. “You’re no more safe here. Youngmin and his minions will come after you. I’ve contacted someone I know there, and he will keep you safe. I will fake your death or something, but you two have to hide until Youngmin believes you’re truly dead.”

 

It took Key a few seconds to process this. “You mean...Jonghyun and I have to run away? And hide in a foreign country?!”

 

“A very clear insight, thank you Key,” Minho said sarcastically.

 

“But why?! You work for Youngmin. You have no reason to do this.”

 

Minho pursed his lips. “Because you’re my friend and I trust you. In fact, if there weren’t Youngmin in my office when you asked for a resignation, I would’ve immediately permitted you.”

 

Key still looked unconvinced. “How do we know this isn’t a trap?”

 

Jonghyun put a hand on Key’s. “I trust him, Key. I was also trained to be a profiler in SME. I know well when someone’s lying or not.”

 

Key squeezed Jonghyun’s hand for a second. “But...what about our jobs?”

 

“You worked for me, Key, and you’ve resigned so technically you have no obligations here anymore,” Minho rolled his eyes.

 

“A friend of mine will take care of my cafe when I’m gone,” Jonghyun assured.

 

“And Taemin? Where is he?! I can’t leave him...”

 

“The dance competition, probably throwing a small tantrum because you’re not there,” Minho said, and Key gasped as he just remembered about that. “But he’ll be okay.”

 

“Then why was there a note telling me he’d been kidnapped?”

 

“Well, actually Youngmin assigned me to do so,” Minho admitted. “But after a few days following him...I couldn’t do it. So I just messed up the room to make Youngmin believe I’ve done so…”

 

“Why do you care so much about him?”

 

Minho looked away. “Your brother’s...special.”

 

There was something in Minho’s voice and the way his cheeks were slightly tinted with blush when he talked about Taemin, and Key didn’t like it. He had the slightest idea about what Minho might’ve felt towards his brother, and despite feeling thankful of his help, Key still wasn’t sure he’d permit the frog-eyed man to get close with Taemin. However, it seemed like Minho’s the only one he could trust to take care of his brother right now.

 

“Come on, you have to go now, the plane’s leaving soon and Youngmin might’ve found out about Baekhyun’s failure now,” Minho urged.

 

Key nodded and took Jonghyun’s hand. “Promise me you’ll keep my brother safe.”

 

Minho nodded. “I promise. And I will tell him everything.”

 

With one last look around the room, Key let Jonghyun dragged him to the basement of the building, where a car and a driver had been waiting to take them to the airport.

 

-

 

The plane ride was silent. Minseok, a bodyguard Minho had assigned to accompany them, kept looking around to make sure no one followed them, while Key didn’t dare to turn his head at all, choosing to lean himself onto Jonghyun. The dino man Key’s cheek softly, but his grab on the younger’s hand was quite tight, indicating that he would do his best to protect Key.

 

Slowly, Key raised his head to stare at Jonghyun. “What will happen to us after this?” he whispered.

 

“I don’t know,” Jonghyun answered. “But as long as we’re together, we can do everything, right?”

 

Key inhaled. Yes, Jonghyun was right. The upcoming road wouldn’t be easy, but he knew, as long as he had Jonghyun beside him, everything would be okay and he shouldn’t be afraid. Scooting closer to Jonghyun, the feline man closed his eyes, letting himself fall into a deep sleep.

 

The plane kept on flying, bringing them to an uncertain but hopeful future together.

 

/end

 

 

 

A/N:

So, that concludes my very first mafia!au fic.

Once again, subscriptions and comments are greatly appreciated!

I'm thinking of writing an additional note, to explain the relationships between the characters, to add some trivias, and to clear up some things you may be confused. What do you think?

Thanks for reading my story, and hope you get a happy New Year! :)