Since parting with JaeJoong earlier that morning, Yunho was finding it difficult to focus. The entire day seemed to be moving in slow motion and every appointment seemed to last for ages. He glanced at the clock that only read 6:30pm and sighed. Deciding that pouting at the time wasn’t going to get him through the rest of his day any faster, he began to read through his work emails. There were a ton of reminders from his nurses, but among them was one from the Department Chair for the Cardiology department. Expecting it to be another request to attend a conference, he opened it with low expectations.

Dr. Jung,

I would like to personally thank you for your work and continued dedication to Seoul Memorial. Your recent attendance to the Jeju conference last weekend was a great contribution to our hospitals image which in turn has promised a longer and more prosperous future for our hospital. It was with great pleasure that I announce that you have been named the new Head of the Cardiology department. There will be administrator’s meeting held in the next two weeks where we go over your duties. Congratulations.  

Yunho read the email again trying to process the words. After the third time of reading it, he found it hard to breathe. Without taking his eyes off of the computer screen, he blindly felt across his desk for his cellphone. When he finally grabbed it, he glanced down at it long enough to enter JaeJoong’s number and held it up to his ear as it started to ring.

“Hello?” When JaeJoong’s smooth voice coming through from the other end, Yunho could feel his face begin to hurt from the smile he was sporting.

“Hello, love. Are you on your way home?” JaeJoong’s chuckled sweetly.

“I am. I actually was going to stop at the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. Do you have anything in particular that you want?” JaeJoong asked and Yunho shook his head even though he couldn’t be seen.

“Whatever you make will be perfect so chose anything. My only request is that there be champagne.” Yunho couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice as he spoke. Unable to sit, he got up from his desk and started to pace across the room.

“Champagne? What are we celebrating?” JaeJoong asked and Yunho practically squealed before he calmed himself enough to speak.

“I’ve been promoted to department chair! I just got the email and couldn’t wait until tonight to tell you.” Yunho waited patiently for JaeJoong to respond, but instead of JaeJoong’s voice, he could hear another man’s voice on the other end. Frowning, Yunho pressed the phone closer to his ear to listen. He couldn’t make out what was being said but the next thing he heard was what sounded like the phone hitting the ground.

“Jae? You still there?”  Instead of a response, there was more commotion from the other end. He continued to call JaeJoong’s name, getting louder each time until he was shouting.

“Jae! JaeJoong, answer me.  Plea-” A loud bang that sounded a lot like a gun being fired interrupted him and then it was eerily quiet. Yunho could feel the tips of his fingers get numb as the blood flow to them stopped. He was gripping the cellphone so tight he could have nearly snapped it.

Without allowing himself too much room to panic, Yunho left his office and headed to the elevators that would take him to the side of the hospital that housed the pediatrics department. When he arrived at the nurse’s station, he began to look for JaeJoong’s nurse. When he spotted the short young woman, he waved to get her attention.

“Has Dr. Kim already left for the day?” He asked her after getting her attention. She looked down at her watch and nodded.

“His last appointment was 15 minutes ago. He said he was going to go home and finish charts.” Her words had Yunho’s stomach flipping. If JaeJoong had just left, that meant when he had been on the phone with Yunho, he was in the parking garage. Without saying anything else to the confused looking nurse, Yunho turned and made his way back to the elevators so that he could head to the parking garage. When he got to the floor, he and JaeJoong had parked their cars on earlier that morning, his mouth went dry. There were several nurses and one of the ER doctors Yunho recognized surrounding JaeJoong’s car. He ran over and nearly threw up when he saw JaeJoong being lifted onto a gurney. His boyfriend was awake, but he looked confused and he was a ghostly shade of white. Yunho’s eyes dropped to where one of the nurse’s hands were pressed. Blood spread out around her hands and dripped onto the ground.

“What happened!” He managed to speak, or maybe yell, once he was close enough. The doctor looked at him briefly before gesturing to one of the male nurses to help him lift the gurney now that Jae was settled on to.

“It looks like he was robbed. He’s been shot in the abdomen, but I’ve got no idea about the damage.” The doctor informed him calmly and Yunho’s stomach rolled with nausea. JaeJoong’s glazed over eyes found him and he smiled drunkenly at Yunho. But when he opened his mouth, no words came out. Not wanting to waste any more time, Yunho took the place of the nurse who was putting pressure on JaeJoong’s womb as they all started moving to the elevators. Thankfully the Emergency Room was only one floor away from the parking garage, so the trip was quick. Yunho stared down into JaeJoong’s pale face and wanted to cry. Why was this happening? Why could they just find peace?

When they entered the loud and busy ER, the doctor called for a code blue to signal that they had a gunshot victim and soon JaeJoong was being whisked away. Yunho had to move out of the way as they raced JaeJoong into one of the patients in-take rooms. He watched from entry way as they cut JaeJoong out of his shirt and prepared to take his vitals. JaeJoong, still awake and mostly alert, was able to shake his head in response to questions, but Yunho knew that soon that would end because the shock was going to wear off. And when it did, JaeJoong was going to be in so much pain. Yunho glanced down at his blood covered hands and shirt and felt his face get hot. He was on the verge of have a full-on breakdown in the middle of the ER. Shakely, he reached into his pants pockets and with bloody fingers, he dialed the number of the one other person who could help him keep himself from losing it. It only rang for a moment before he got an answer.

“Mom? Mom, c-could you please come to the hospital?”

–

Hyun Gi angrily tossed his keys onto the table beside the entrance and kicked off his shoes. Damn, he couldn’t remember the last time he had been so furious. He snorted at that thought because that wasn’t true. He knew exactly the last time he had been this angry and it had only been a few days ago when Yunho had decided on his own that he wanted to end their relationship because he couldn’t let go of childish teenage love.

And because of that anger, Hyun Gi had gone and done two things completely out of character and gotten himself even more worked up than he wanted to be. Heaving a long sigh, he walked into his living room and stopped cold when he found that he wasn’t alone. Kang Ho Dong sat on the couch, his legs crossed at the ankles as they rested on the coffee table. He smiled at Hyun Gi.

“Finally, you’re here. I was starting to get bored. How was your day, prosecutor Song?” To an outsider, Hong Do’s casual tone may have signaled that the two of them were friends. But that was the farthest thing from the truth.

“What the hell are you doing in my apartment, Kang?” Looking unphased by the question, Hong Do simply shifted on the couch and lowered his feet to the floor.

“I was waiting for you of course. I figured you’d be in the mood to celebrate tonight.” Still glued to his position near the entrance, Hyun Gi kept his hands at his sides as Hong Do spoke.

“Why the hell would I want to celebrate? Specifically, why would I want to celebrate anything with you?” Hyun Gi asked, and Hyun Gi laughed.

“Well you see I thought about how you mentioned that I was too much of a coward to get rid of JaeJoong when we were younger on my own. You’re right, I was a coward. But I also hadn’t gotten good at developing strategies. When I found out that JaeJoong wasn’t dead, I should have stepped in a lot sooner to get rid of him on my own terms.” As Hong Do spoke, Hyun Gi could feel his heart rate triple.

“What the ever, Kang. Why are you in my apartment? How the hell did you even get in here?” The other man chuckled at the question and reached in his pocket to pull out his wallet. He held it up to Hyun Gi and smiled.

“Everyone has a price even doormen at fancy condos.” Hong Do answered easily. Sighing, Hyun Gi closed his eyes.

“Why are you here?” When he opened his eyes again, the other man was looking at him curiously as if Hyun Gi was supposed to already know what was going on.

“You’re going to get your boyfriend back and my fortune and family name is safe. I took care of everything for real this time.” At Hong Do’s calm explanation, Hyun Gi felt like the ground had fallen away beneath his feet. He staggered slightly.

“W-what are you saying?” Looking impatient, Hong Do stood up and walked over to Hyun Gi without answering the question. When they were only a couple of feet between them, he leaned in and smiled.

“If he doesn’t make it through the night, I’ve got someone at the hospital to make sure that he won’t bother us ever again.” Hong Do’s words sunk into Hyun Gi like the blunt head of knife. He took a shaky step backwards.

“What have you done?” Hong Do shrugged and stuck his hands in the pockets of his suit pants.

“I had him robbed and shot. The robbery of course was to stage it. I instructed it be a close range shot so hopefully it does the trick. If I were you, I’d get to the hospital and comfort your boyfriend. He’s going to need you a lot more than he’ll need a dead person.” Hyun Gi swallowed hard and took a deep breath in through his nose. He felt like he was going to be sick.

“Do you realize what you’re saying to me, right now?” Hong Do nodded in response.

“Yes, I do. I’m telling you that I’ve solved our problem the way you asked me to.” Before Hong Do could finish, Hyun Gi was shaking his head no.

“I didn’t ask you to do anything. You provided me with the information I needed regarding JaeJoong’s mother and that’s it. Whatever the hell you’re talking about, I want no parts of so get out of my house.” Hyun Gi stepped back and gestured to the door for Hong Do to leave. The other man didn’t move.

“You can’t just get rid of me, prosecutor Song. You above anyone else should know how the law works. If I decide to go to the police and confess, then things wouldn’t look very good for you either.” Hong Do sounded like an idiot even when he thought he was being smart.

“I know more about the law and a hell of a lot of other things than you do, Kang. Now get the hell out of my apartment.” It was getting harder and harder to keep his composure, but when the big idiot finally left him alone, he didn’t feel any calmer.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cellphone and stared at the screen. He needed to call Yunho and let him know what JaeJoong’s brother had done. But not without revealing exactly how he knew that. He slowly put his phone back into his pocket and went over to couch and sat down. For the first time in his life, he bowed his head and said a prayer. JaeJoong needed to survive this so that Hyun Gi could reset this mess before it ends ruining not just Yunho, but him as well.

–

Yunho stared down at the blood that had dried on his hands trying to figure out how the hell his wonderful morning had led into such a hellish night. JaeJoong had been warm and perfect in his arms earlier that day and now he was laying on cold table in the operating room fighting for his life. The way life seemed to contrast so quickly around them, the push and pull, was maddening. All he wanted was for them to have a chance at being happy.

“Yunho, honey?” The softness of his mother’s voice broke through his thoughts causing him to look up. She hovered over him with a worried look on her face.

“Hi mom.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead.

“Sweetie, you need to go get cleaned up. Do you have a change of clothes in your office?” Her concerned voice cracked the remaining pieces of his armor. He leaned into her and pushed his face into her stomach. Her arms wrapped around him immediately.

“Mom, it was just like that day. He was bleeding and I couldn’t get it to stop. And now he’s hurt again, and I don’t know if he’s going to make it this time.” He knew he was babbling, but every last pint up emotion and worry was finally surfacing. She held him tight and hushed him until he was calm enough to take deep breaths. She sat down next to him and gripped his arm.

“Honey, Jae is a fighter. He is going to be okay. You have to belie