Chapter 27 

Hyuk sent a message to the dealer as he packed his bags.
“Done packing?”
Hyuk turned to see Hongbin standing at the doorway, smiling.
“Lee Hongbin is smiling at me...is this heaven?” He said in a cheesy tone, hand clutching his chest.
Laughing Hongbin came over, “You’ll never stop will you?”
“Depends...” Hyuk said coming closer. 
“On what?” With less than a foot’s distance he stopped. An odd emotion behind his smile, making Hongbin uncomfortable. He was smiling as if this was the last-God forbid-time and it made Hongbin uneasy. 
“You still won’t tell me?” Hongbin said, voice low, filled with disappointment he couldn’t hide. It was as if he was walking on cracked ice. Hyuk stopped smiling, Hongbin now doing the same.
There was silence. Until Hongbin spoke up again, “I may not know you well enough Hyuk, but anyone could see that you were lying…Mr. Cha hasn’t really called you has he?” Hyuk looked up at that, he was honestly surprised that Hongbin could tell. He stepped back, looking down...contemplating, Hongbin could tell. If it was something that the younger had cried over and was in so much pain, Hongbin just wanted him to share it with him. He didn’t know if he’ll be able to take the pain away but he wanted to lessen it at least. He was thinking so hard he almost missed the sentence that left Hyuk’s mouth, hanging in the air heavily between them,
“I’m not one of the Cha’s…”
“W-what?” Hongbin’s eyes widened, he was expecting…something else but never had he imagined that it had been this… He stayed quiet though, letting the younger continue.
“I always had a feeling that I didn’t fit in, considering I don’t look anything like Mr. and Mrs. Cha or even N-hyung. But I...one day while going through the records of the company, I saw a glitch. From the early 90s to around the time of my birth. It was as if…it was wiped out…nothing for the five years in between. So I looked into it. Finally found out that The Cha Industries merged with Han Enterprise. That...sort of didn’t end well. My--my father’s board apparently had plotted against him, stealing much of the profit, while keeping him in the dark. When he finally found out…they were going bankrupt….Mr. Cha, being his bosom friend saved him from the humiliation and although the Han Enterprise had fallen, my father was under the shadow of the Cha industries now…until he was asked to look over Mr. Cha’s black money. All his illegal activities were supposed to be handled by my father. My father had no choice but to do it, we were completely broke and at his mercy...if father didn’t do it, we would be left on the streets to starve to death...so he did it, but one day...the police caught them...all the blame was put on my father. They made it seem like one bad employ did it…..dad was caught and taken away.”
He didn’t realize it until Hongbin wiped his cheek that he was crying. Hongbin although smaller, wrapped his hands around him, murmuring stuff to calm him but Hyuk continued, “Mr. Cha then took me in, on the condition that my father would keep his mouth shut….and the rest after that is history my mother was sent away…I don’t know where but at that time, dad wasn’t in a position to question.…..my men told me that my father just got out of prison…I have to go back and confront them.”
Hongbin enveloped him in a much needed hug, tight...too tight in fact…how did he even do that? With his small body... Hongbin leaned down, leveling his face in front of Hyuk’s, placing his hand on either side his face, smiling; eyes glistening.
“Thank you Hyuk, for trusting me.” He kissed Hyuk’s forehead. And Hyuk wrapped his arms around him, burrowing himself in the latter’s neck. Seeking comfort as he was feeling more raw emotions repeating that story (and partially because Hongbin smelled like fresh lemons with sprite, refreshing but he’ll keep the creepiness to himself, for now.)

…The anger was back and so was the feeling of over-whelming sadness. Hongbin pulled back and said, “I’m with you…I trust you and I also fancy you enough so don’t lock yourself in and torture yourself. We all care about you. Does N-hyung know? About…all this…” Hyuk shrugged, “I don’t exactly know, but I assume he knows that I’m….adopted. But I don’t think N-hyung will hide anything else from me if it could cause me any harm or pain. He’s too much of an eomma to do that….” Hongbin chuckled making Hyuk smile too. His smile made a surge of relief rush through Hongbin, glad he wasn’t crying anymore. But this vulnerability of the younger made him want to protect him from everything. He reminded Hongbin of an innocent puppy. He just wanted to squish his cheeks but Lee Hongbin was sna