Luhan had never heard of the man -perhaps that was the point. Pushing open the door he paused for a moment as he took in the sight. The front room was not decorated as he would expect. In fact it looked to be in the style of a rather shabby lawyer’s office or another professional man of business lacking in good taste. He took a deep breath as he approached the office door, noting the sign.

Lee Soo Man, Barrister.

Luhan knocked, not sure if the man would be in his office or not. Heechul, ever useful Heechul, was the one who told him to find the man. After learning that Yunho was not to be trusted, Luhan needed someone else to inform. Yunho reported to Lee Soo Man, so he was a step above Jongdae’s uncle. He was, apparently, someone who could be trusted even if you were to accuse his subordinate, such as Yunho. Providing you had evidence to support your claim, that is.

“Come in.”

Luhan pushed the door open, surprised to see what Lee Soo Man looked like. He had expected a grim, imposing man not a kindly grandfatherly man.

“May I help you?” The man asked. He was seated behind a desk. Luhan noticed that his office was impeccably clean and neat.

“I am the Earl of Easton, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir” Luhan bowed deeply. The man stood, walking out from behind his desk.

“Lee Soo Man. I was wondering when I would be hearing from you.” He smiled, gesturing towards one of the chairs that faced his desk, “Please, sit.”

“You…you were expecting me?” Luhan sat, surprised.

“Well, not exactly. I was hoping you would be privy to events prior to your wedding, seeing as how you are in the thick of things.” Soo Man sat back down behind the desk. “Now what have you come to discuss with me?”

“You know who is guilty of the jewelry thefts, then?” Luhan couldn’t believe it. Yunho’s boss had known the whole time?

“I have suspects, unfortunately I do not have enough evidence to arrest them at this time.” Soo Man answered.

Luhan pulled the packet of papers from his coat pocket, laying them on the desk. “You do now, sir.”

Soo Man reached forward, picking up the papers he began reading. His face broke into a broad smile as he perused the document “By god, you have the missing piece.”

“Will you help me?” Luhan asked, feeling a sliver of hope that all would work out in the end.

“You couldn’t stop me if you tried.” Soo Man answered, relishing in the fact one of the most high profile cases of late would soon be closed.

***

The problem of finding transportation back to the city was solved rather uneventfully. Kyungsoo and Jongin visited the nearest inn and hired a coach, while Minseok very carefully tried to make himself look the part of a servant. Somehow it worked and before long the seven men were piled into a hackney carriage, preparing for the long road back to the city.

“Minho should know a place where we can stay.” Jongin announced that morning “I am certain we can find another hiding place in the East End.”

They were returning, returning to the fight again, hopefully this time to catch the criminal.

“I am afraid we won’t be hiding with you.” Jongdae had explained to Minseok, who nodded in agreement. He knew that Sehun, Tao, Jongdae, and Junmyeon had homes they could return to. Of course they would have to deal with Yunho’s wrath, but Jongdae and Junmyeon could likely get out of any criminal charges. Tao was likely to be hunted by Yunho, but as long as he stayed well inside the Pressley family home there was little chance Yunho would find him. And Sehun had the protection of his title and family, Yunho could threaten him, but he wouldn’t have to comply with any more requests as long as he was willing to make the sacrifice and tell his Father of his gambling debts.

Kyungsoo and Jongin would follow Minseok back into hiding. Jongin could probably return to the Hayden estate now that Luhan had supposedly returned, however he dismissed the idea.

“I can’t leave, sir. Not when you are still wanted.” Jongin had said with conviction, earning an appreciative gaze from Kyungsoo. Minseok had started to notice that Kyungsoo stared at Jongin like that a lot. Hopefully, when this entire mess was over, he would see his valet find some happiness.

The carriage rolled down the uneven roads, jostling the occupants. Sehun complained that it was difficult to sleep with so much movement but one look from Tao shut him up. Minseok couldn’t sleep even if he wanted to, there was still the threat that the carriage may be stopped by Home Office agents searching for him. If that occurred he would need to fight his way out.

Jongdae and Junmyeon fell into an easy sleep, as did Jongin. Kyungsoo remained awake, staring out the window diligently.

As the hours passed, the night turning into early morning, they neared the city, Minseok’s thoughts of Luhan became more hurried, more dominant in his mind. He wished he knew what had happened when Luhan returned home. He dared not hope that Luhan had gotten a confession out of Baekhyun, if indeed Baekhyun was guilty. He didn’t want to hope for something with such a remote possibility. No, he needed to resign himself to the fact Luhan was gone.

As the sun began to rise, another carriage approached. Minseok listened as the driver grumbled about the approaching vehicle taking up most of the road. “How’s a man supposed to navigate past that monstrosity.”

Minseok peeked his head out of the carriage, taking note of the luxurious vehicle approaching. Minseok recognized it as one of the more expensive travelling options, a hulking vehicle that did in fact take up a large part of the road.

“Move!” The driver hollered, “I can’t pass ye if ye don’t move!”

“You move!” The other carriage driver shouted back.

Minseok felt the carriage he was riding in come to a stop. Apparently the two vehicles were in a showdown, both drivers hurling insults at each other as neither decided to let the other pass. Minseok hoped they would figure out their transportation issue soon, he hated being stopped along the road like this.

“Do you know who I am?!” A voice bellowed from the other carriage, a voice that Minseok recognized. It was not the driver - that was certain. No…it was…

“I am Kim Heechul, one of the wealthiest men this country has ever known. Now move before I buy and sell you into the ocean!”

Kyungsoo stiffened, glancing at Minseok with surprise. Minseok made the decision quickly, hanging his head out the carriage he shouted back “Heechul?”

“D’adde-“Heechul stopped himself before yelling his entire name. “What a fortuitous meeting.”

Minseok looked on as Heechul exited the carriage, ordering the driver to get his traveling trunk. “I think I shall actually take that carriage. After such a colorful bit of yelling I realize this man over here is a man much more worthy of my patronage.”

Minseok wanted to laugh as Heechul ordered the flustered driver to move his carriage aside and then deposit Heechul’s things in the carriage that Minseok was riding in. He didn’t laugh, however, because he didn’t know if Heechul’s appearance was for the better or for the worse. Thankfully, as he quickly found out, it was for the better.

***

“Now that you are awake, I can speak freely.” Heechul crossed his legs, smiling at Jongdae.

Minseok didn’t bother asking why Heechul refused to talk until Jongdae was awake to listen, partly because Jongdae woke up a few seconds after Heechul sat down in the carriage.

“Hee..chul? Why are you here?” Jongdae rubbed his eyes “Wait! I don’t know if it is safe. If we can trust him. Minseok…”

“Oh, you can trust me all right. In fact, you are going to owe me a date.” Heechul winked at Jongdae, who subsequently cringed.

“How did you know where to find us?” Jongdae asked, cocking an eyebrow in suspicion.

“It doesn’t take much deduction skill to figure out the only place a bunch of rich men would run off to is one of their estates – preferably the one that is sans parents.” Heechul explained, Jongdae forced to agree that it made the most sense for them to flee to D’Adderleigh’s home.

“Did you find something out? How is Luhan?” Minseok blurted out, realizing that Heechul would likely have seen Luhan since his return.

“I shall get to that idiot very soon. First I need to tell you a story, about a very badly behaved young man, his very badly behaved friend, and his horribly corrupt Father.”

Heechul began to lay out what he had learned, everyone hanging on his every word with mixtures of shock, gratitude, and awe. Kim Heechul had figured out a mystery that had been the foremost issue in their lives of late. A mystery they had not been able to solve. A mystery that Kim Heechul could solve rather quickly, thanks largely in part with his infatuation with Kim Jongdae. Lust was a very powerful motivator indeed, it seemed.

***

Baekhyun pushed the key into the lock, turning it he heard a click, the door of the safe springing open. He smiled as he surveyed the contents. Pulling out one necklace, than a bracelet, he marveled at how they shone in the candlelight.

It wasn’t easy. It had never been easy. Not when his Father had pulled him into library at his family’s home and laid it out, a detailed plan that would certainly be foolproof.

“The money is all gone, son.”

“What do you mean gone?” Baekhyun had sat in stunned silence. They would be ruined. No money, no prospects. He would be relegated to poverty, his life of glamor taken away. Society would shun them in no time, the fickle monster it was.

“You have as much of a part in this as I do.” His Father had answered “You and that friend of yours.”

Baekhyun didn’t want to remember how many times he had stumbled into a gaming hell, Chanyeol by his side. Or alongside his Father, laughing as they gambled well into the night. Gambling wasn’t new, no, his father had always gambled. Though he had usually won. Not anymore, and Baekhyun’s love of gambling plus his loans to Chanyeol had apparently nearly bankrupted him. No, they had bankrupted him.

“What do we do?” Baekhyun asked, starting to panic. Luhan would surely no longer talk to him. No one would. Not when word got out that the Baron of Overton’s family was no more than a pack of gambling cads, losing everything due to their own weakness for the gaming tables.

“Vic has a plan.” His Father stated, using that nickname, the name that he called the owner of Herringwoods, a place that neither man dared visit because surely such a visit would attract attention. No, they gambled in private homes, in more discreet places “You must promise me you can commit to this, son.”

Commit? “What am I committing to?”

“We are going to steal jewels.” His Father answered coldly.

Thievery? What was the alternative? A life with no meaning, everyone and everything he cared about taken away from him. He would have to find a job, maybe even as a manual laborer. And his Mother would surely suffer from the downfall the most, falling into poverty as she had never before experienced. Could he steal to keep his life, keep his friends? “I can commit, Father.”

He sealed the deal then, a deal which had become a twisted web of crimes.

Sitting on the floor, the large diamond necklace, he thought about how it had all escalated.

The jewelry thefts were easy. Who would suspect someone like him? Someone with money, with social connections? No one, no one would suspect him. And Vic – no Jaejoong was his name – had the perfect network to dispose of such jewelry and multiply their earnings, as long as he was given a healthy chunk of the profits, of course. Not to mention he boasted of protection from the Home Office itself, in the form of a longstanding romantic relationship with a certain Yunho.

They would steal the jewelry and turn it over to Jaejoong’s men – the dealers, hired strong-arms, and other associates who could be trusted with such important matters – men who would then have copies made. Flawless copies that would be sold as real jewels. They could make their money back time and time again as poor ers bought fakes. All the while the real jewelry would be broken down and sold as needed. The jeweler would return the real jewels to a certain place, alongside any funds collected from selling forged jewelry, funneling it back to Baekhyun, his Father, Chanyeol, and Jaejoong. Only later did he find out it was his half-sister that was acting as that middle man, taking the funds, giving them to his Father. She had worked using the same cryptic code the rest of them did, passing messages using the carefully constructed coded language they had developed.

He did feel guilty about that. Her death. The look on her face when he plunged the knife into her, the life draining from her as she collapsed to the floor. He hadn’t wanted to do it, but he had to. His Father said she would talk soon, that she was growing afraid.

And Chanyeol – he was still hung up on murdering that poor baroness. Though she recognized him, so it was his only course of action. All necessary actions considering everything. Poor Chanyeol, who would do anything for him. Baekhyun knew very well Chanyeol was in love with him, he had been since their school days. Perhaps a part of him loved Chanyeol back, after all he knew everything about Baekhyun and still stood by him. Yet he would never act on it, no, he didn’t want a romance with Chanyeol, he wanted a marriage to Luhan.

Baekhyun placed the necklace back in the safe, pulling out another piece of jewelry. They were certainly pretty. He had never truly appreciated gemstones until the thefts had begun, until it was his prerogative to notice such things.

He thought of Luhan. Yes, Luhan had come at such a perfect time in his life. Rich, wealthy beyond imagination, willing to marry him. He couldn’t lose Luhan because he needed Luhan’s money. And then that Viscount showed up and ruined everything.

Baekhyun laughed. But that Viscount hadn’t ruined everything. No, he had actually made it possible for Baekhyun to marry Luhan and secure his wealth. Luhan’s parents didn’t trust Baekhyun until D’Adderleigh had been the one to turn Baekhyun into the lesser of two evils.

Ah, D’Adderleigh, Baekhyun snickered. Poor, poor D’Adderleigh. So close yet so far from finding out the truth. It had been far too easy to have one of Jaejoong’s men plant some of the stolen jewels in his house, one night when he wasn’t at home. It had been too easy to slip the jewelry into D’Adderleigh’s pocket when he was busy staring at Luhan, dancing, so in love he was made a fool by it.

And now, he had only to wait less than a day and he would be married. He would be married to the Earl of Easton, an impossibly large fortune soon at his disposal. Then he wouldn’t have to steal any more. He wouldn’t have to worry that he would be kicked out of society to live on the streets. He wouldn’t have to stab anyone or plant jewels. No, he would finally be free.

Baekhyun put the jewelry back in the safe, closing it he turned the key. Very soon his life as a wealthy, protected member of society would begin. He couldn’t wait.