prompt: Gang AU
length: 8137 words

Lee Minhyuk
Thank you so much, Kihyun! I’m really sorry that I asked you to do this for me at the last minute!

Yoo Kihyun
You owe me, bro.

Lee Minhyuk
I know, I know. I’ll do all of the chores for the next month! You won’t have to worry about a thing!

Yoo Kihyun
Deal.

Lee Minhyuk
Are you on your way to the apartment right now?

Yoo Kihyun
Yeah. I’ll be back in around twenty minutes. Can you heat up some leftover pasta for me? I’m starving and there’s no time for me to actually cook when I get back.

Lee Minhyuk
Consider it done!

Yoo Kihyun
Thanks. See you in a bit.

He sighed as he locked his phone and placed it in his pants pocket. His backpack felt heavy with the gigantic stack of papers that had just come fresh off of the press at the print shop that he was now walking away from. An hour ago, Minhyuk had frantically texted him, thus interrupting Kihyun’s precious study time at the library. He had an exam coming up next week for his anatomy class, which was one of his most time-consuming classes as a first-year medical student. The sheer amount of knowledge that Kihyun had to ingest was overwhelming at times and the week leading up to an exam was always jam-packed with non-stop study sessions at the library.

So Minhyuk adding onto the huge amounts of stress that were already piling on his shoulders was quite irritating, but Kihyun had been gracious enough to hold his tongue as he responded to his roommate’s cries for help. And that meant unwillingly being roped into fulfilling the favor of printing Minhyuk’s entire master’s thesis report comprised of seventy pages detailing the development and aging of neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and other neural cells in mice pups that could be translated to human brain cells. And his roommate had insisted that Kihyun go to a print shop so that the report could be properly bound, since his professor was old-fashioned and preferred hard copies over electronic ones.

Minhyuk’s reason for being unable to do so was that he had lent his younger brother several thousand dollars this past month to go on a trip to Europe with his friends to celebrate getting hired for their first internships. He would be reimbursed by his younger brother in the coming months, but until then, Minhyuk was essentially close to broke and forced to live on the monthly checks that his parents sent him. He had almost no extra money to spend on frivolous things like professionally printing a seventy-page master’s thesis report, so Kihyun had been called in to save his roommate’s degree. His wallet was now much lighter and his backpack hung uncharacteristically low from the weight of the master’s thesis report.

The print shop had also caused him to take a detour back to his apartment, since it was out of the way from the library. There were scarcely any streetlamps in the area that Kihyun was currently walking through and his grip on his backpack straps tightened with each step he took. Walking alone late at night in a shady area wasn’t the brightest idea he had ever come up with and he was beginning to regret not calling a taxicab while in front of the print shop. His penny-pinching ways had immediately discarded the option at the time, especially after spending a hefty amount on Minhyuk’s master’s thesis report, but now…

It was a cold autumn night, so Kihyun pulled his coat closer around his small body as he briskly walked down the empty street. He tried to stay at the edge of the sidewalk near the asphalt road, avoiding any pitch-black alleys he passed.

As he walked, he gradually began hearing irregular patterns of heavy breathing behind him. Kihyun quickened his pace and hunched his shoulders, his thick scarf shifting to also cover his ears. But the breathing didn’t disappear. In fact, it increased in volume and the breathing became more ragged by the second. Kihyun wasn’t sure if whoever was following him was drunk or a predator of some kind, but he wasn’t going to look back to find out.

He cursed the lack of bystanders around him and if it weren’t for Minhyuk’s heavy report in his backpack, he would have made a run for it. But there was a high likelihood of his roommate’s thesis report getting crushed between Kihyun’s textbooks if he ran haphazardly, so he steeled himself and walked as fast as he could to get away from the ever-present breathing. After all, nothing bad would happen to him in public, right?

But no matter how fast he walked, the heavy breathing steadily grew louder and louder.

Then, a hand landed on his shoulder and Kihyun let out a shrill shriek before suddenly being pulled into an alley with an ice-cold hand clamped over his mouth to muffle his screams.

“Please quiet down! You’re going to attract attention like this!”

Kihyun struggled against the stranger’s grip for several seconds before opening his mouth to chomp down on the fingers clasped over him.

“Oi!” The hand immediately removed itself as the voice hissed loudly from the pain of being bitten.

Despite knowing next to nothing about combat or self-defense, Kihyun whirled around and held up his fists in a fighting stance—or what he thought looked like one—while his eyes raked over the stranger’s slightly bent form. “Wh-what do you want f-from me?” he asked, trying unsuccessfully to not let his voice waver. “I-if you want m-money, I don’t h-have any. My wallet is e-empty.”

“I don’t want money,” the stranger answered with a slight shake of his head. “You’re a medical student, right?”

Kihyun paled immediately. “H-how do you know that?” There was a slight pause before he choked out, “Oh my god, you—you’re a stalker, aren’t you? You’ve been stalking me. Oh my god, get—get away from me.” As he spoke, he gradually began backing out of the alley, even though all of his nerves were screaming at him to run away. But he didn’t know if the stranger was armed or not, so it took all of his self-restraint to move slowly to minimize the chances of being shot at, in case this stalker did have a gun on him.

“Wait, no, I promise I’m not,” the stranger said, one of his arms reaching out towards Kihyun. He winced and grunted loudly from the movement, causing Kihyun to yelp as he jumped backwards.

“S-stay away from me! I-if you don’t, I’ll c-call the police!”

“Wait, this is a misunderstanding,” the stranger said, his voice tight and his breath shallow. “Please, just let me speak for a minute. I don’t have much time.”

“A-and why should I l-let you?”

“You’re training to be a doctor. Saving human lives is what you do. All I’m asking is for you to save mine.”

Kihyun had no idea what he was talking about.

It showed in the puzzled expression that appeared on his face, so the stranger continued, “I need a place to stay temporarily. Preferably with someone who has medical expertise.” He bit his lower lip before adding, “I’m not in good shape. Please.”

“Wh-what if I r-refuse to?”

The stranger began to sound out of breath as he answered, “Please, I need help.” And then he promptly fainted, his long body slumping to the ground.

Kihyun let out another high-pitched yelp and tripped backwards over his feet, landing on the hard ground in an unflattering position. His eyes quickly scanned his surroundings, darting back and forth in panic, before landing on the stranger’s crumpled form. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Did he just die in front of me? Did a person just die in front of me? Oh my god, this isn’t happening. This isn’t real. How can someone just die like that? Oh no, what if someone thinks I killed him? Oh my god, I could go to jail. My life is over. It’s officially over. I’m ruined. I’m absolutely ruined. Oh my god, why me? Why is this happening to me?

While dozens of thoughts raced through his head, Kihyun crept towards the stranger, fervently praying that this was all just an illusion from spending so many sleepless nights studying for his exams. Once he was in front of the stranger, Kihyun knelt down, taking care to avoid the more gravelly parts of the ground, and placed his hand on the stranger’s chest. Upon feeling a steady—albeit weak—heartbeat, he exhaled loudly in relief knowing that the stranger was just unconscious.

But now, Kihyun knew that he definitely couldn’t leave the stranger here; nights were becoming increasingly frostier and the guy would freeze to death if Kihyun ditched him in the barren alley. The entire situation was already extremely shady and he didn’t know what he’d do if he woke up to news of an abandoned corpse being found in this alley. An involuntary shudder traveled throughout his body at the thought of it.

Even though he knew he’d regret it later on, Kihyun shifted his backpack to his chest before looping the stranger’s arms around his neck and balancing the unconscious male’s long body against his back. As he was hooking his arms underneath the stranger’s thighs, Kihyun let out an “Oomph!” when the stranger’s head abruptly knocked against the back of his neck. “Why am I even doing this?” he muttered out loud to no one in particular as he began trudging out of the dark alley.

Perhaps he had gone crazy from studying non-stop in the library for weeks.

--

It took Kihyun an extra fifteen minutes to reach the tiny three-room apartment that he and Minhyuk shared, and his back felt like it was about to give out from piggybacking the stranger for so long. He could feel bruises forming on his legs from the stranger’s leather shoes thumping against them as he walked. Despite already committing himself to the task, Kihyun had been very tempted to dump the stranger’s body on the sidewalk somewhere; this was going to be the last time he did a favor for a crazy stalker.

Upon Kihyun’s entrance, Minhyuk popped out of his bedroom, worry etched on his usually smiling face. “Where’ve you been? What took you so long? It’s been almost forty-five minutes since you left the print shop!” he rambled anxiously before finally seeing the long body draped over his short roommate’s back. Blatantly pointing at the stranger, Minhyuk asked incredulously, “Who’s this?”

“Some guy I met today,” Kihyun replied, exhaustion lacing his words. “It’s a long story.”

“Okay…” Suspicion painted Minhyuk’s features as he looked over the stranger’s slender form. “What’s his name?”

“Dunno.”

“So,” Minhyuk began slowly, “you brought home a strange guy, who you met for the very first time today and whose name you don’t even know? And he’s staying here for the night?”

“…Yeah?”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Minhyuk said, “I don’t even know how to respond to this.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve,” Kihyun grunted loudly as he unceremoniously dropped the stranger onto the small brown leather couch in the living room, “got it under control. For now,” he added under his breath.

“If you say so…” Minhyuk still didn’t look convinced, but decided it wasn’t worth pressing the issue any further. “Anyway, dinner is on the counter,” he jerked his thumb towards the kitchen, “but you might want to reheat it again, since it’s probably cold by now. And you have my thesis report, right?”

Kihyun nodded as he dusted his hands against his dark blue jeans. “It’s in my backpack. Let me get it for you.” He began riffling through his backpack after ping it, but before he could extract the report from between his anatomy textbook and his spiral-bound notebook, Minhyuk let out a strangled gasp.

“Um, Kihyun, why is there blood on your back?”

“Huh?” He twisted his neck to try and see what his roommate was talking about, but he wasn’t flexible enough to look past his right shoulder.

“It’s—it’s all over the back of your coat,” Minhyuk replied, now pointing at Kihyun’s back. “Take it off and look.”

He grimaced as soon as he saw the state of his coat. Streaks of dark red blood stained the usually pristine beige-colored fabric. Although some of it had dried, most of the stains were wet and fresh, lightly coating Kihyun’s fingertips when he touched the bloody area. “How…” And then he immediately dropped the coat and his backpack, dropping down to his knees as he began to carefully peel the stranger’s black shirt upwards. Now that he was looking closely, Kihyun could see the slightly darker patch on the shirt from where the blood had seeped through.

Underneath, there was a heavily blood-soaked bandage that was messily tied around the stranger’s abdomen. Crusty, dried up blood covered most of the bandage and streaks of fresh, bright red blood were gradually blotting the remaining areas of white. A putrid smell hit Kihyun’s nose and he recoiled as his fingers grazed the bandage, trying to find the ends of it.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Minhyuk, who was now standing behind Kihyun and staring down at the stranger. “Oh man, what happened? How’d he end up like this?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t know he was hurt,” Kihyun answered, half-distracted as he began to gently untie the bandage from stranger’s abdomen. “But I need to clean this up and re-wrap the wound. Can you grab the first aid kit for me, please? It’s in the kitchen cabinet above the microwave.”

“Got it.” Minhyuk returned with a large plastic box filled with first aid supplies and handed it to his roommate, who used his left hand to deftly unclasp the box’s lid while his right hand continued to unravel the soiled bandage.

Before he completely removed the bandage, Kihyun rummaged through the kit for a roll of gauze while asking, “Can you also get me a bowl of water from the kitchen?”

“Sure. What temperature? Hot? Cold?”

“Room temperature is good,” Kihyun answered. He then inwardly cursed as more blood began flowing out of the wound once the pressure of the bandage was gone. Working quickly, he unrolled the gauze and used his knee to slightly elevate the unconscious male’s body so that he could begin wrapping the stranger’s abdomen.

Setting the bowl of lukewarm water on the low table next to the couch, Minhyuk asked worriedly, “How bad is it?”

“Not bad enough to warrant a visit to the hospital, but still pretty serious,” was Kihyun’s verdict. “I’ll be able to patch him up, so he should be fine if he doesn’t move around too much and properly rests.”

“So I’m guessing he’ll be staying on our couch for the next few days? Weeks?” Minhyuk predicted with a wry smile as he watched his roommate dip a clean rag into the bowl of water before carefully cleaning the wound; the flow of blood had stemmed for the most part, so Kihyun was able to work without worrying about getting his hands or the couch dirty.

“Is that okay with you?”

“Well, at this point, I don’t think I can say no. He’s clearly in a bad shape,” Minhyuk sensibly pointed out. “Do you need more help?”

“Nah, I think I’m good. Thanks. And don’t forget your report. It’s in my backpack.”

Minhyuk nodded as he bent down to retrieve his master’s thesis report. Once it was safely in his hands, he turned to head back to his bedroom before adding over his shoulder, “Tomorrow, you better explain to me what’s happening. This isn’t something I can just pretend didn’t happen.”

“Yeah, I know.” Kihyun pursed his lips together in a thin line as he continued dabbing the wet cloth around the edges of the wound. “Thanks again, Minhyuk.”

“G’night, Kihyun.”

“Night.”

After Minhyuk shut the door to his bedroom, Kihyun exhaled loudly while his shoulders sagged downwards. It took him about another five minutes to finish cleaning and wrapping the wound with fresh bandages. The stranger’s skin had already shown signs of healing, so Kihyun wondered when he had been injured. The crude bandaging job had managed to keep the stranger out of the hospital and he was lucky that it hadn’t been infected. But his condition was still sub-par, especially if he was prone to fainting spells.

Kihyun hadn’t meant to be roped into this—all he had wanted was to return to his cozy apartment after an extremely long day of studying—and despite the stranger denying that he was a stalker, the medical student couldn’t help but feel suspicious about the stranger knowing that he was in medical school. Otherwise, how else would he have known to come to Kihyun for help?

--

Hyungwon felt bright light hitting his closed eyelids as he drifted into consciousness. His battered body was still aching, but his stomach didn’t feel as sticky as he remembered it feeling last night. All he could recall from the previous evening was the medical student’s terrified expression after pulling him into the alley.

There was a blanket draped over him, one that he didn’t recognize. It was light blue and decorated with white clouds. A small acorn-shaped pillow was underneath his neck while his head rested on one of the arms of the couch that he was currently lying on. As Hyungwon attempted to sit up, there was a dull pain in his abdomen, causing him to groan. He lifted up his shirt, raising an eyebrow when he realized he was wearing a white T-shirt that most certainly wasn’t his, and his eyes widened upon seeing fresh bandages wrapped around his stomach.

He didn’t remember anyone changing the dressing on his wound whatsoever, but clearly someone had gone through the trouble to tend to his injury while he had been down for the count. Hyungwon’s fingertips brushed against the bandages while he silently marveled over how neatly they were wrapped around his body. It was definitely an upgrade from when he had clumsily bandaged himself after that disastrous night—he frowned upon remembering it—and he wanted to thank whoever had taken the time out of their day to do this for him, since he hadn’t been able to do it himself.

After rolling the shirt back down to cover his stomach, Hyungwon finally became aware of soft snores coming from his left. With a slight turn of his head, his gaze fell onto the top of a head covered in fluffy brown hair; it was the medical student he had met last night.

The sleeping male seemed to be lost in dreamland for he hadn’t stirred, even with Hyungwon shifting around on the couch after waking up. He chuckled softly when he noticed a strand of drool hanging from the medical student’s mouth before he reached over to tap the other male on the shoulder, causing him to suddenly jerk awake.

“Hm?” Kihyun yawned loudly, stretching his arms and wiping away the drool from his mouth. “Why am I out here?” he mumbled, still half-asleep with his eyes barely open. When his gaze landed on Hyungwon, the medical student was suddenly flooded with memories of the previous night and he fell off of the chair that he had been sitting on, waving his right pointer finger wildly at the injured male. “You!”

Hyungwon nodded while smiling brightly. “Hi. Thanks for taking me in for the night. My memory is kind of fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure you were very adamant about not helping me yesterday night, so I really appreciate the change of heart.” He then gestured to his abdomen while adding, “And thanks for replacing my bandages. I don’t think I had a chance to mention my injury last night, so I’m very sorry if that shocked you.”

“What… When… Who are you?!”

“Chae Hyungwon,” he introduced himself, sticking his right hand out for a handshake. When the medical student didn’t respond, he prompted, “And you are…?”

“Yoo Kihyun,” he answered unsteadily.

“Nice to meet you, Kihyun,” Hyungwon said cheerfully while retracting his hand, since it seemed like the medical student had no intention of shaking it.

“Nice to meet—wait, hold up!” Kihyun sprang up and pointed accusingly at Hyungwon, who curiously stared at the medical student. “You haven’t explained who you are, how you got that wound, and why you approached me last night!”

“I promise I’ll get to that. But first, I wanted to ask—”

Kihyun immediately interrupted, still pointing at Hyungwon. “Wait just a moment. I’m doing the asking here first. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, unless you want me to kick you out.”

The commotion in the living room caused Minhyuk to stick his head out of his bedroom with a toothbrush in hand and he asked, “What’s going on?” His gaze then alighted on Hyungwon and he also pointed at the injured male in astonishment. “You’re awake!”

“I am.” Hyungwon bobbed his head up and down in affirmation. “I was just about to ask Kihyun if there was a table we could sit at to properly talk, since I’m sure he has a lot of questions to ask me. You probably do as well. What’s your name?”

“Lee Minhyuk.”

“Nice to meet you, Minhyuk,” Hyungwon cheerfully greeted while waving at Kihyun’s roommate. “I’m Chae Hyungwon.”

Minhyuk stared in awe as he waved back to the injured male. He then turned to his roommate and brandished his toothbrush at the smaller male, saying, “I have to meet up with my professor, since my thesis report is due today, but you’d better update me on everything when I get back!”

Kihyun just nodded dumbly while Hyungwon beamed brightly next to him.

--

“I guess I’ll start from the beginning,” Hyungwon said slowly.

He and Kihyun were seated around the small circular dining table that was near the kitchen. Plates of bacon and eggs were in front of the two males, courtesy of Minhyuk who had made breakfast before dashing through the door to catch the next bus. Kihyun nodded while chewing on a strip of crisp bacon, signaling for Hyungwon to begin.

“I know this might sound kind of crazy, but I’m actually part of a gang. Well, I was.”

“You what?!” Kihyun choked on the bacon and began coughing violently as the sharp ends of the meat dug into his throat.

Hyungwon immediately stood up from his seat to pat the medical student on the back and hand him a glass of water, which Kihyun gratefully took and drained in one gulp. “Sorry. I would’ve waited until you were done chewing to say that if I had known it would cause you to accidentally choke.”

Kihyun’s face was now red and his eyes were watery as he said in a raspy voice, “You’re kidding, right? You weren’t actually in a gang.”

“I’m not kidding. I’m a bona fide gangster,” Hyungwon answered. Kihyun still didn’t look convinced, so the tall male stood up and began pulling off his shirt.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing?!” Kihyun screeched while quickly covering his eyes.

“I’m showing you my initiation tattoos,” Hyungwon explained after freeing himself from his shirt. He then turned around and said, “I’m assuming you didn’t see them yesterday, but here they are on my back.”

Curiosity getting the better of him, Kihyun tentatively moved his hands from his eyes to look at the simple ink markings that decorated Hyungwon’s pale skin. There was a giant bear paw print just underneath his shoulder blades and in an arc under that tattoo was the word, H.ONE, printed in calligraphic font. A handgun—Kihyun didn’t know which make or model—was positioned to the right of the bear paw print, which was angled slightly to the left.

“Wow…” the medical student breathed out in amazement. “What do they mean?”

Hyungwon turned back towards Kihyun and began redressing as he said, “The bear paw print is our gang symbol. Our leader has a family history of bear wrestling and hunting for sport, so it’s the first tattoo we get inked onto our bodies during our initiations. And H.ONE is my nickname. We all have one to dissociate ourselves from normal civilians.”

“What about the handgun?”

“I use the M9 handgun for most of my assignments.”

“Oh.” Kihyun deflated when he remembered that the man sitting across from him wasn’t just an ordinary guy who had a few tattoos on his body; Hyungwon was a gangster, a criminal that had probably killed several innocent people for his own gain. The medical student’s stomach began feeling queasy and he pushed aside his plate of breakfast, his appetite now gone.

Hyungwon could see that the other male was becoming upset, so he smiled kindly at Kihyun while saying, “If it makes you feel any better, I no longer do anything that you’re probably imagining I do. Like I said, I was in a gang.”

“What do you mean?”

The taller male gestured to his stomach. “I got this for betraying my gang. I sabotaged our latest assignment and they found out I was the mole. So I got sliced open and thrown out to bleed to death.”

He said it so calmly that Kihyun almost didn’t believe him. “Why did you betray them?”

“I realized how much I hated being a criminal. None of the stuff we did brought me any happiness. I wanted to do something right for a change and the only thing I regret is getting caught by them.”

“How…did you survive such a fatal wound?” Kihyun then asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“Pure luck. I managed to haul myself to one of my personal hideouts that was nearby and bandage myself there, but I didn’t stay for long since I was too afraid that they’d raid the place and find me there. I’ve been trying to find a new place to hide since, so I began loitering by your school, in case someone could take me in.” Hyungwon sent the medical student a lopsided smile as he added, “I see you walking to class a lot, which is how I recognized you last night. I promise that I wasn’t stalking you.” There was a slight pause before he continued in a strained voice, “I know I scared you last night and I didn’t mean to do that. I was just so desperate and my stomach was in so much pain.” There was a slight voice crack at the end of his sentence.

The taller male’s words comforted Kihyun slightly—just slightly—in regards to his foolhardy decision to bring Hyungwon to the apartment, despite knowing nothing about him. The choice could have cost him his life, but luckily, it hadn’t. “So, uh, how long are you planning to stay?”

“If it isn’t too much trouble, could I possibly stay until my wound heals? I promise I’ll leave as soon as I’m well again.”

There was such an innocent, beseeching expression on the taller male’s face that Kihyun knew he’d feel evil if he denied Hyungwon. With a deep sigh, he nodded and said, “Okay. I’ll treat you until you’ve healed up completely. I can’t send you away in good conscience when you’re in this shape. But,” he held up his right pointer finger, “you promise that no one will come after me or my roommate, right? No one from your gang who wants revenge?”

Hyungwon nodded. “They think I’m dead.”

“Okay. You can stay.”

The taller male reached over to grab Kihyun’s hands and shook them vigorously, his wide smile lighting up the room. “Thank you so much! I’ll do everything that I can to help out around the apartment and not be a nuisance.”

The medical student sent Hyungwon a half-smile as he extricated his hands from the other’s grip and resumed eating his breakfast before it got cold.

--

Although Kihyun had been apprehensive at first about Hyungwon staying over, his wish to see the injured male recover had completely won over his paranoia. The former gangster didn’t seem like an inherently terrible person either; he did chores around the house whenever Minhyuk and Kihyun were too busy with their studies, and always greeted the two roommates with a sunny smile in the morning.

He refrained from speaking about his past unless Kihyun brought it up, which he did every so often out of curiosity. Hyungwon had no qualms about reliving his past, since he believed it was important to remember the events that made him who he was, even if they were unsavory. He answered every question that the medical student threw at him with patience and detail until Kihyun tired of the subject for the day.

They soon fell into a comfortable routine that composed of Hyungwon cooking meals for Kihyun and Minhyuk while the three males alternated between doing the laundry and cleaning the apartment every weekend. Now that Hyungwon was here, both Kihyun and Minhyuk found that a huge amount of stress had been lifted off of their shoulders, since they could focus more of their time and energy on studying. And whenever Kihyun finished taking an exam, he and Hyungwon would celebrate with dessert at a nearby shop and then binge-watch television shows in the apartment.

The former gangster’s wound had long healed, but Kihyun found that he didn’t mind if the taller male stayed longer and had persuaded his new roommate not to leave when the topic was brought up one day.

It was…quite nice having Hyungwon around.

One evening, the two males were walking back to the apartment, their arms laden with groceries from a nearby supermarket. The sun was already setting, causing the sky to bleed with reds and oranges. As they walked, they were animatedly discussing what to make for dinner that day. Minhyuk had already texted his roommate, saying he’d be working late at the research lab he was part of, so the two friends were arguing whether to have chicken or pork that night.

They were so engrossed in their conversation that Hyungwon almost missed the two shadows that crept up on them. “Kihyun, duck!”

A fist flew towards the medical student, who automatically dropped to the ground to avoid being socked in the face. Luckily, Hyungwon had moved fasted enough to parry the blow and was now in a defensive stance in front of Kihyun. Groceries began spilling out of the plastic bags looped around their wrists, but the smaller male paid no attention to the escaping food as he peered from behind the taller male to fearfully look at the person who had delivered the punch.

He was short and extremely buff, his muscular arms almost popping out of the tight sleeves of the shirt he was wearing. A lip ring was hooked onto his bottom lip and several piercings lined both of his ears. Parts of a colorful tattoo could be seen on the side of his neck, which had a black choker wrapped around it, and his hands were covered in ink as well. His skin was extremely pale, as if he had never been under sunlight before, and his eyes were rimmed with kohl. He was dressed in a black leather jacket over a tight charcoal gray shirt and ripped black jeans. A silver chain was looped around his waist like a belt and a maniacal smile painted his elf-like features.

“So his name is Kihyun, eh?” The man swiped his tongue across his bottom lip, lingering for an extra millisecond over his lip ring. “He looks like a good boy. You’ve gone soft, H.ONE.”

“Shut up, Wonho. If either you or I.M lay a finger on him, I’ll destroy you both,” Hyungwon hissed as he hovered over the medical student protectively.

“Fighting words for a snake like you. I thought you only knew how to slip away like the coward you are with your tail between those scrawny legs of yours,” Wonho jibed in a light, airy tone.

Another male stepped forward—Kihyun guessed he was I.M—and said in an emotionless voice, “Shownu says to bring you back to the headquarters. He wants to talk.”

“Tattled to him already?” Hyungwon’s gaze hardened as he glared at I.M.

“I do what I’m expected to,” I.M said nonchalantly while shrugging.

Wonho let out a derisive laugh before saying, “Unlike you, H.ONE, we’re loyal.” He then stepped forward to sling his arm around Hyungwon’s shoulders while whispering loudly, “But I might just forgive you if you hand over Kihyun to me.” He his lips again while hungrily eyeing the medical student. “I’ve been looking for a new pet.”

“Screw off, Wonho,” Hyungwon snapped as he reached around to grab hold of the buff male’s arm and slam him to the ground. “Keep your dirty hands away from Kihyun.”

But Wonho was faster and had already darted to Kihyun, placing the medical student in a chokehold. “Nice try, H.ONE. But we all know you’ve never beaten me in hand-to-hand combat. You may be an expert sharpshooter, but without your precious guns, you can’t hope to beat me. And I’m offended that you think my hands are dirty,” he added with mock distress. “If anyone’s hands are dirty here, they’re yours. It’s quite difficult to wash away the filth of betrayal, you know.”

“Enough chit-chat. Let’s return to the headquarters. Shownu is getting impatient,” I.M said as he read a text message from his phone.

“I’m not going back,” Hyungwon said firmly.

“Okay, that’s fine with me. We’ll just kill him instead.” I.M tipped his head towards Kihyun, who was beginning to sweat nervously. The medical student didn’t dare try moving even a millimeter, especially since Wonho had a knife raised to his throat.

“So, H.ONE, what shall it be? You can come pay your respects to Shownu or,” Wonho’s smirk widened dangerously, “you can say goodbye to cute little Kihyun here, which would be such a shame. I quite like him.” He used his free right hand to trail his fingers down the medical student’s smooth cheeks.

Hyungwon gritted his teeth and balled up his fists as I.M passively waited for his decision. The tall male glanced helplessly at Kihyun, whose face looked as if it had been drained completely of any blood. Wonho leered at him, slightly tilting the knife to show its sharp edge. “Fine,” Hyungwon curtly relented after several seconds of silence. “Release him and I’ll come with you.”

“Wonderful,” Wonho purred while petting the top of Kihyun’s head. “Then let’s skedaddle.”

“Let Kihyun go first.”

“Nuh-uh-uh,” Wonho sang while wagging his finger at Hyungwon. “This cute little one is coming with us.”

“But—”

“We can’t hand him over to you yet, in case you run off like you did before,” I.M cut in before Hyungwon could protest further. “The likelihood of you crossing us is much higher than the other way around. You only have yourself to blame for that.”

Hyungwon silently swore at himself for lowering his guard and allowing Kihyun to be caught. If only he hadn’t been so lax. He could have whisked the smaller male out of danger the moment he felt the ominous presence of the two gang members. Such negligence was how innocent people like the medical student were killed.

Knowing that his hands were tied at the moment, Hyungwon had no choice but to surrender, reluctantly following Wonho and I.M back to the dreaded dungeon that he had previously called home.

--

“How lovely of you to join us today, H.ONE.” Shownu stood up from his armchair while straightening his suit jacket.

Hyungwon refused to reply.

Ignoring the lack of response from his former lackey, Shownu continued in a lilting voice, “I certainly wasn’t expecting to be graced with your presence this evening. Imagine my surprise when I received a text from I.M stating that you were with him and Wonho. Alive and well!” He shook his head in amusement. “It’s a miracle that you’re standing in front of me right now. But then again, you always were my miracle worker.”

Hyungwon’s jaw twitched, but he still stayed silent.

“You really have nothing to say to me right now? What a shame. I thought that our ten years of friendship meant more to you than it seems it does.” Shownu then clucked his tongue when his eyes caught sight of a petrified Kihyun, who was being held in place by I.M. “Oh, who is this? A new friend of yours, H.ONE?”

Hyungwon held his tongue.

A stocky, small-eyed male, who was standing slightly in front of Shownu, barked at former gangster, “He asked you a question, scum. You’d better answer him before I force you to, you piece of filth.”

“Now, now, Jooheon, don’t pressure our slippery, snake-like friend,” Wonho said genially. “We all know that he’s rubbish at following directions. Luckily, I know enough to introduce our VIP for the day.” With a dramatic bow and large, sweeping motions towards the medical student, Wonho announced, “This is Kihyun, a person that H.ONE has apparently bonded with since leaving the Son Clan. And he seems to be quite attached to this cute little fellow. Enough to barter for his safety and sacrifice himself so that Kihyun wouldn’t have had to come here.”

“Interesting. Bring him forward,” Shownu commanded.

When I.M mercilessly shoved him towards the gang’s leader, Kihyun accidentally tripped over Jooheon’s foot and he immediately began to apologize, seeing the anger boiling in the young male’s eyes. “I’m very sorry, Hojoon! I didn’t mean to step on you!”

“Don’t call me that!” Jooheon whipped out a dagger and shoved it in Kihyun’s direction, stopping just centimeters from the medical student’s chest. “My name is Jooheon, not Hojoon!”

Hyungwon looked at the younger male with fire in his eyes and was about to retaliate when Shownu spoke. “Put that away, Jooheon. Let’s not be overdramatic.”

The young male grudgingly obeyed and retracted his dagger, but still glowered murderously at Kihyun, who was regretting opening his mouth at all. “How do you even know my birth name?” Jooheon asked bitingly.

“Isn’t it obvious? H.ONE told him,” Wonho drawled. “You know all of our birth names, don’t you, Kihyun?”

The medical student, too afraid to not respond to the gangster, barely moved his head in a nod. He had asked Hyungwon who his gang members were and the taller male had told him their birth names in addition to their nicknames, saying he no longer felt comfortable using their nicknames now that he was no longer part of their gang. So whenever he mentioned them thereafter, he strictly used their birth names and Kihyun had gotten used to those, which had clearly been a bad idea if Jooheon’s actions were any indication.

“It’s likely that H.ONE spilled more…important information to him as well.” Wonho’s eyes crinkled as his Cheshire Cat-like smile widened even further.

“Wonho is right. Kihyun most likely knows too much about us. He needs to go,” I.M stated coldly. His utter lack of emotion sent shivers running down Kihyun’s spine.

“G-go where?” the medical student couldn’t help but stutter, a foreboding feeling washing over him.

Jooheon sneered. “To the grave after we kill you.”

“Don’t you dare,” Hyungwon growled, instinctively moving closer to Kihyun to shield him from the hot-headed younger male.

“I don’t really care what happens to the small fry,” Shownu said, waving his hand as if to shoo away Kihyun. “Whatever H.ONE has revealed to him is most likely of no real importance, considering we only take on one assignment at a time, so there’s really nothing for him to leak. He has no idea what our current project is anyway. However, what I do care about is your fate, H.ONE. Now that I know you’re alive, I believe it’s high time that you rejoin us.”

“Why would you even want me back?” Hyungwon spat. “You didn’t hesitate to let me die before. What makes my life so valuable all of a sudden?”

“That’s precisely it. Against all odds, you survived what should have been a life-ending wound. Despite being a criminal, you’ve managed to convince a civilian to take you in. That kind of fiery will to live paired with your cunning and resourcefulness is beneficial to the Son Clan.” The gang leader placed his palms together and pointed his hands in Hyungwon’s direction. “I am willing to overlook your disgusting act of treachery if you return to us. The pros of having you outweigh the cons and I will make sure that you have no future opportunities to betray us.”

Hyungwon tilted his head downwards so that his fringe was covering his eyes while asking quietly, “And what if I don’t want to return?”

Shownu’s eyes narrowed as he answered in a venomous voice, “You know the consequences of choosing incorrectly. And this time, instead of leaving the task to these buffoons,” he jutted his chin towards Wonho, Jooheon, and I.M, “I shall oversee your punishment myself.”

“Aw, Shownu, we didn’t do that badly,” Wonho said as he folded his arms up and behind his back. “Jooheon was just so eager to throw out the trash that we neglected to perform the finishing blow. And I.M is a sadistic little fellow who decided that a slow death suited H.ONE, although I can’t say that I disagree.”

“Shut your mouth, Wonho! It’s not my fault that H.ONE survived!” Jooheon screeched while I.M glared at the buff male, who only snickered in delight at successfully aggravating the other two gang members.

“So what will it be, H.ONE?” the gang leader asked, staring expectantly at the taller male.

Hyungwon glanced at Kihyun, who sent him a pleading look. His heart slashed with pain; the medical student should have never been caught up in this mess. Kihyun didn’t deserve this.

Not one bit.

“One week,” Shownu stated after the bout of silence, his eyes dark as he stared up at Hyungwon, who then stared back with equal intensity. “I will give you one week to make a choice, H.ONE. And for your sake, I hope you make the correct one.”

“Don’t worry, Shownu. I will.”

--

“Are—are you sure about this?”

Hyungwon nodded resolutely. “I’m not going back to the Son Clan. Being in a gang isn’t the life I want anymore. I made that decision the day that I decided to betray Shownu.”

“Then…you’ll stay here?” There was a note of hope in Kihyun’s tone.

But the taller male shook his head, a sad smile painting his face. “You know that I can’t.”

“Why not? You’ve been living with us for the past few months already. It’s not like anything will really change,” Kihyun pointed out. “And Minhyuk will be fine with it if I ask him, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“It’s not that simple,” Hyungwon said, still looking sadly at the medical student. “Everything is different now that Shownu knows I’ve been hiding with you. He and the others won’t stop until they make me pay for what I did. Permanently.” His jaw tensed as he spoke.

“So? That doesn’t mean—”

“It means you and Minhyuk are in danger if they find out that I chose to stay with you two instead of returning to the Son Clan. Shownu may have been willing to bring me back, despite my initial betrayal, so that he could keep a closer eye on me the second time around. But rejecting his offer this time will completely sever any ties we had to each other and none of them will ever forgive me for this. Even if you’re willing to brave it out, Minhyuk most likely won’t be and we can’t force him to live in fear because of our selfish choices,” the taller male calmly explained with a hand on Kihyun’s shoulder to pacify the medical student. “If I leave, you and Minhyuk will be safe. Shownu won’t harm either of you as long as I’m not there.”

Kihyun immediately retorted, “How can you be so sure of that? He might still come after us.”

“He won’t,” Hyungwon said confidently. “I lived with him for ten years. I know what he’s like and he won’t waste his time attacking innocent bystanders if he can’t get anything out of it.”

“He might think we know where you disappear off to,” the smaller male argued. “What if he tortures us for information?”

“That’s only if you actually have that information.”

“Which I’ll have, so—”

“No, you won’t,” Hyungwon cut in.

Kihyun’s mouth dropped open. “What—what do you mean, I won’t? You’re…not telling me where you’re going?” His voice had become incredibly quiet.

“I’m not,” the taller male confirmed in an equally soft voice. “This…is probably the last time you’ll see me.”

“But—but you can’t just do this!” Kihyun exclaimed, his voice now rising in volume as he stepped forward to jab his right pointer finger at Hyungwon’s chest. “You can’t just suddenly appear in my life, make yourself at home, and then disappear like you were never here! That’s—that’s not fair!”

The taller male moved his hand from Kihyun’s shoulder to the medical student’s outstretched hand, but was knocked away. “Please, Kihyun, I’m doing this for your sake. You and Minhyuk have such bright futures ahead of you. If we try staying in each other’s lives, nothing good will come out of it.”

“That doesn’t mean you can make this choice for me!” the smaller male shouted indignantly, trying to fight the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes.

“I’m not going to let you risk your life for such a stupid reason!” Hyungwon roared, causing the medical student to freeze as he stared wide-eyed at the taller male. After a moment, Hyungwon continued in a calmer voice, “You were terrified last night. You’re putting on a brave front now, but if you face them again, this bravado might not be here with you.”

“I… I know what they’re like now and next time, I’ll—”

“You’ll be jeopardizing everything that you’ve worked for so far if you do this,” the taller male interrupted. “Even if you think you’ll be able to handle it next time, it’s not worth it, Kihyun. I’m not worth it. This friendship…will end after today.”

Unable to hold back any longer, fat teardrops began rolling down Kihyun’s distraught face as he choked out, “But I think you’re worth it. I want to stay friends with you.”

The cheerless smile reappeared on the taller male’s face as he responded, “I know you do. I want to as well. You don’t know how much this is killing me inside.” He paused to take a deep breath before continuing, “But we have to let each other go. Maybe one day…we can reconnect. When things are better for both of us.”

The medical student turned around and marched to the punching bag that Hyungwon had given him a month ago—to relieve stress when studying for exams became too overwhelming—before swinging his fist at it while crying out in frustration at the situation they were in. He continued striking it with raw intensity while Hyungwon watched silently; with every punch, his irregular, heightened breathing evened out into patterned panting and sweat dripped down his face, mixing with the tears that were hanging from his chin.

“I’m really sorry about this, Kihyun. I… I should have never approached you that night.”

“But you would have died if you hadn’t,” the medical student answered gruffly. “And I’m sorry for yelling at you just now and when we first met. I never apologized for how I treated you in the alley that night, so I hope you can accept my apology now, even though it’s late.”

“Apology accepted.” Hyungwon gently laid his left hand on the smaller male’s shoulder again and turned him so that they were facing each other. Using his right hand to tip Kihyun’s face upwards, he smiled while saying, “It was wonderful living here with you. No one has ever shown the same kindness that you and Minhyuk have. I’ll miss you a lot when I leave.”

Tears continued spilling from Kihyun’s eyes as he replied in a barely audible whisper, “I’ll miss you too.” The medical student then collapsed against Hyungwon, who readily held up the smaller male, while sobbing into his chest.

And they stood there for several minutes in each other’s embrace, unmoving and loath to separate, even though it was inevitable.

♈♈♈