CHAPTER 15

BY HOOK OR BY CROOK

Whispers welcomed Haechan as he entered his high school. Look of disgusts, pity, and understanding flooded his vision as soon as he stepped through the gates. He was scared, but he couldn't turn his back now. He needed to gather his courage so he could face the day like any other day like before. He was Lee Haechan, the most intelligent student after all, and he will not let others stepped on him as that Jung did. He gathered what was left of his courage and held on to the strap of his back bag tightly. He sighed and held his head up high.

"Haechan!" Haechan looked around to find the voice owner, and he smiled the moment his eyes met his two best friends, Jungwoo and Yeri.

"Hi," he happily said, and his friends welcomed him with a tight hug. Haechan smiled in relief. He missed the two so much. 

"Let's go to class now. Mr. Byun hates latecomers." Yeri tugged his arm and tried to lead him into the building, but there was something wrong with what Yuri said.

"Wait, Mr. Byun is our teacher now? I thought we have Math, and Mr. Shin is in charge of that class?"

Yeri looked at Jungwoo and told him to explain, and the guy gladly did. He also tugged Haechan's free arm and led him into the building as he started to explain. "We told the principal to transfer us to another class without that Jung monkey in them."

"Really?" For the first time in a while, Haechan felt happy. He Planned to do that, and he was glad that his friend did it for him.

Jungwoo and Yeri smiled in satisfaction, proud that they made their friend happy again. "Of course," Jungwoo continued. "We moved heaven and Earth to convince the principal that Jung monkey is dangerous to humanity. We managed to convince him, not that he believed that Jung is a monkey, but a least we convinced him, right?"

"Right," Haechan smiled at Jungwoo, who also hated Mark like a plague. "Thank you."

***

Desperate. 

Jaehyun was desperate and hopeless at the same time. In his hands were the documents of the biggest toy company in the country that he managed to save from bankruptcy because the CEO was a scoundrel and embezzled a massive amount of money. It was now under the NCT Corporation. The following month they were scheduled to open up another company that will reproduce and manufacture their games. From a small gaming company, NCT was on its way to being an umbrella corporation to different companies, but Jaehyun was far from happy.

Alone in his office, he sat and stared at nothing. His mind refused to work and think of ideas that will benefit the company or even think of simple codes to improve their games. 

Nothing. 

A single person occupied his mind. A single person managed to capture his heart in a record amount of time and invaded his whole being without warning, and left him shattered. He lost even before he started. Taeyong was a prize he was willing to bet everything on, but he lost at the very start.

All his life, he did nothing but support his brothers and best friends. He swore to give them the best life he could offer and be constantly on their back at all times. He defied his father to provide Taeil with the security he needed. He studied so hard so he could give Mark everything he needed. Cracked his brain for codes to develop a game that would change their life and the life of his best friends. He did it remarkably. But why can't he do the same with Taeyong? 

Jaehyun was ready to give everything, to move mountains and heck even the moon to have Taeyong. He did everything he could and took everything slowly not to overwhelm the other. His small actions to make Taeyong feel unique to Jaehyun took a lot of effort and courage from the latter. Every move was calculated carefully so the others won't take it differently and be scared. He put Taeyong's fragility and naiveté into consideration and treated him like a fragile glass ready to break if treated with force. But the truth remains, he still lost him.

For the first time in his life, Jaehyun felt defeated. He knew there was no way Taeyong would want to be with him anymore after what happened to Winwin. He regretted that he couldn't tell him what was inside his heart, and he let the man fade away for him.

For the first time, he fell in love, and it left him crushed.

***

Lunch Break.

Jungwoo and Yeri decided to eat at their new homeroom, so malicious students won't be able to see Haechan, not that they couldn't handle them. Still, the stress was the last thing Haechan needed. So they decided to go to the cafeteria to buy their lunch and left Haechan alone, after making sure that he was alright and Mark was nowhere in sight.

Wrong move. 

The moment they left the classroom, Mark entered with Lucas. Their presence startled Haechan, who was busy updating his notes. Mark stood in front of his desk while Lucas stayed at the door and looked out for Jungwoo and Yeri so he could alert his friend.

Haechan stood up abruptly and stepped back. He reached for a desk and pulled it in front of him, hoping that it will serve as a barrier between him and Mark.

Mark chuckled at his actions, and Haechan even heard Lucas did the same, but he stayed defensive. This guy hurt him once, and he won't hurt him again. He won't allow him anymore. 

"W-what are you doing here?" Haechan tried to make his voice firm, masking his fear.

"Why don't you sit down. I won't hurt you. I came here to apologize."

"Well, you don't look like it."

Mark sighed. He sat on one of the desks in front of Haechan and raised both his arms in surrender.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I want us to talk."

"Winwin and I can talk three languages. Monkey is not one of them, so leave me alone."

"What?" Mark frowned, and Lucas laughed out loud.

"Just return where you belong."

Mark asked he asked, "Where?"

"At the zoo."

"Oh god, this is amusing," Lucas muttered in between laughter.

"I can see that you're still feisty."

Haechan looked at him with great disgust. "And you're still ugly!"

"What the…" Mark was about to stand, but Lucas reminded him of the reason why they were there. "Look, whether you believe me or not, I came here to apologize, and I promise not to do the things I did ever again. Not to you and not to anyone else who is a ."

Haechan hissed in anger. "You're still the same. You still hate us, so why bother to apologize? Whether you apologize or not, I will remain gay, and nothing would change that!" He said, emphasizing the word gay so Mark could know the difference.

"Well, I still don't like them, but at least you can be sure that I won't hurt them."

"Tell that to someone willing to believe you. Maybe your uncle would believe you."

And Mark had to ask again. "Uncle?"

"Yes, the orangutan. You speak the same language in the first place, so it will surely understand you."

Once again, Lucas laughed out loud, clutching his stomach in pain.

It was Mark's turn to hiss. "You are obsessed with monkeys, huh?"

"Wrong, I don't like them, but my brother said to be kind to animals, so I'm trying hard to be kind, and you're the first one to experience that kindness."

Mark gritted his teeth and closed his eyes tightly. He quietly reminded himself that he needed to apologize. He will not leave the room without getting the required forgiveness from Haechan.

"Haechan, will you please shut up for once and hear me out?"

"No!" Haechan blurted out, "Can't you see what you did to my face? You beat me black and blue, but the pain of these wounds wouldn't even match the pain of the words you threw at me. I felt accused of something that I didn't do just because you hate gays. You don't know the pain me, and my brothers have been through just because you decided you hate me for being gay!"

Mark and even Lucas fell silent for a while. Mark expected that Haechan would give him a hard time, but after he heard what he said, it felt like he was listening to his brother Taeil. 

It was just last night since they made up, and seeing his brother hurt that way because of his words brought the pain to him two times. That was the very reason he decided to apologize to Haechan. If apologizing would lessen the pain Taeil felt, then so be it. He swallowed his pride.

"Haechan, I know I hurt you, and my words hurt you the most, but I couldn't take them back anymore. The least I can do is to apologize, and whether you like it or not, I won't stop until you forgive me."

"Then you won't get it from me." Haechan then took his bag and went out of the classroom. He bumped into his friend on his way out, and their expression changed from excitement into worry when they saw Mark running after Haechan.

"Hey, Jung, what do you want? We changed our class already. Why are you still here?" Yeri looked at Mark like she was ready to eat him alive, same as Jungwoo. But Mark just ignored them and ran after Haechan, who was about to run down the stairs. 

And just like in a movie, Mark tried to stop Haechan by grabbing the strap of his bag and pulling him back. Haechan squirmed, trying to free himself from Mark's grasp, and twisted his body away from the stairs. Mark didn't anticipate the action, so he was thrown away, still grabbing Haechan's bag. He accidentally stepped down the first step of the stairs and lost his balance, and tripped over. Mark tried to free his grasp from Haechan's bag, but his hand was stuck, so Haechan came tumbling down along with him. All he could do was to hug the other boy's boy to prevent him from hurting.

Lucas, Yeri, and Jungwoo could only watch in shock as their friends fell down the stairs, their limbs tumbling over one another, twisting and hitting against the rise and runs of the stairs.

Mark hit bottom with Haechan landing on top of him. He felt like his head cracked open, and his vision slowly became blurry. Before his consciousness left him, he still managed to ask Haechan, "Are you okay?"

***

Haechan was shaking and crying as he and his friends and Lucas sat in the hospital corridor where they took them. He's fractured his ankle, and the doctor already took care of him. Nothing serious happened to him, but it was another story for Mark. He was still in the emergency room, and he had been there so quite sometime now. 

Everything happened in a blur. Haechan couldn't even remember what exactly happened. The last thing he remembered was he was running away from Mark, and the next thing he knew, they were on the floor, and Mark's head was bleeding. 
The guy cushioned his fall. Haechan didn't even know how to react. Will he be thankful that Mark cushioned his fall and practically saved him from worse injuries, risking his life in the process? Or will he be pissed because it was Mark's fault after all?

His friends' words of encouragement did not affect him. Even Lucas was telling him not to worry, but he couldn't stay calm.

A few moments later, Mark's two brothers came. Both sporting a worried face at the same time, the doctor came out. All of them stood up except for Haechan because of his sprained ankle. Everyone listened to what the doctor had to say.

"The patient fractured the middle part of his femur. We need to put a metal rod down through the center of the bone. We also need to do this as soon as possible and check his spine for any injuries. He also has a concussion. We are still waiting for the result of the CT scan before we can say if it's a minor or major one that also needs an operation."

Everyone froze when they heard what the doctor said about Mark. Haechan, who had been trying to fight his fear, broke down and cried on Jungwoo's chest. He hated Mark, but that didn't mean he wished him bad. He couldn't believe that even at times like this, Mark never failed to torment him.

Soon Taeyong came and took him home, and he never heard about Mark again.

***

It had been a week since Mark's incident, and Taeyong was back at the NCT Tower. This time, Jaehyun told him to come so they could talk about Mark. Taeyong hadn't been sleeping and eating well since what happened to Winwin. Haechan wasn't even fully recovered yet, and something like this happened again. He was about to lose his mind.

He sat in front of Jaehyun's table. A place he grew familiar with but not in an excellent way. Jaehyun talked to someone on the phone, so Taeyong waited until he was finished, and they started to speak.

Jaehyun noticed the weight loss and the dark circle under his eyes, almost lifeless, but he ignored them.

"I believe you know what happened to Mark."

Taeyong nodded.

"So you know why you're here?"

Taeyong nodded once again.

"I don't know if a cat bites your tongue. You were so aggressive before, threatening to press charges against us, but now, here you are, meek and so quiet."

Taeyong looked at him and sighed, "Just go straight to the point so I can leave."

'Still the same Taeyong I knew and I love,' Jaehyun thought.

Jaehyun didn't say another word and slid a piece of paper in front of him. Taeyong took it and almost fainted when he saw the figures. 

₩ 53 130 600.00

"That is Mark's hospital bill. It does not include his therapy and medicines. He needed another operation on his legs next month so expect that amount to double."

"Why are you saying this to me? Haechan also fractured his ankle and still recovering."

"Maybe your brother forgot to tell you that he's the reason why Mark is still in the hospital, fighting for a chance to recover."

Taeyong looked at him in surprise. Jaehyun just practically told him that everything was Haechan's fault.

"My brother told me everything, and it was not his fault why your brother is injured."

Jaehyun smirked, and Taeyong swore he couldn't recognize the Jaehyun sitting in front of him. The Jaehyun he knew had a strict but kind and understanding aura. His eyes were soft, but the Jaehyun in front of him showed pure cruelty. He couldn't help but think that maybe this was the real Jaehyun. Everything he showed him when Taeyong was still his employee was fake, masking his real ruthless character.

"You know I can twist the truth, Lee-sushi." And then there was the sudden formality and business-like attitude and atmosphere. Taeyong felt suffocated. "And since your brother is still a minor, he can be taken away from your custody and be sent to child welfare to serve his sentence if I decided to press charges."

Taeyong's eyes widened in disbelief. "You won't. Haechan is innocent. How can you sue someone innocent?"

"Then you can take his place instead, I will make sure you'll be sent to jail, and Yuta will be free to do what he wants to your brother."

Monster. 

Taeyong saw a monster in front of him. Behind that angelic face was a beast. Taeyong tried hard not to cry and give the monster in front of him the satisfaction of witnessing his defeat.

"Why are you doing this to us? What did we do wrong? It was your brother who hurt my brother first."

"And your brother decided to take revenge and pushed Mark into the stairs."

"No, he didn't. His friends saw what happened. They will be our witnesses."

Jaehyun laughed. "You don't know what money can do, don't you?"

Taeyong shivered at those words, and he was lost for words.

"There are only two things that you can do. One, pay all the bills and face us in court, and I promise you, I will use everything I have to win this case and put you or your brother in jail."

Finally, a tear fell out of Taeyong's eyes. He felt like a complete failure, failure to give the best for his brothers like he promised their father, and failure to protect them from monsters like Jaehyun.

"Or we can always compromise. You won't have to pay anything, and I won't press charges anymore if you-"

Taeyong looked at him, waiting for his last words that will decide his fate. 

Jaehyun smiled. It was the opportunity he was waiting for. For once, he will be greedy, and he will get what he wanted by hook or by crook.

"Marry me."

aejae22

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Hi, sorry for the late update. It's holy week so I tried to stay away from my gadgets but I failed.

Here's an update and please dont forget to tell me what you think about Jaehyun's action.