Disappeared
Behind the Mask
“Doo Joon?” Hyun Seung had said his name once more but didn’t get a response from the other man. Instead Doo Joon pushed himself back a little bit so Hyun Seung could see his face but he said nothing more.
Hyun Seung lightly pushed on Doo Joon’s chest but he kept his ground. A look of anger masking another emotion that Hyun Seung couldn’t quiet place. “Is there something you need from me?”
“I just want to know why I had to hear about you being in danger from Jun Hyung,” he finally spoke and his words made the other frown, “We’ve known each other for three years, Seung. So please do inform me as to why you’ve never mention being chased by a mafia leader in all the time we’ve known each other...”
Jun Hyung...I’m going to kill him for this.
“My life isn’t in danger,” Hyun Seung lied, “You said it yourself...we’ve known each other for three years, so why wouldn’t I tell you if my life was in danger. You’re one of the few people that I trust, so why do you think I’d keep that information from you.”
“Jun Hyung said that you wouldn’t willingly tell me of your troubles.”
Damn it Jun Hyung.
“Why would I lie to you though,” he asked and Doo Joon paused to think about it but before Doo Joon could say anything Hyun Seung kept speaking, “I mean if you don’t believe me, who you’ve known for three years, over Jun Hyung, who you’ve known for a few months, then use the F.B.I. database. Because I’m sure that if a big bad mafia boss was after me it would be in the database, right?”
“Right...”
“See,” he smiled at Doo Joon before lightly pushing his chest again, this time the other moved back enough for Hyun Seung to move around him, “You tell me how well your search has gone when you finish it. I’m off to go to sleep.” He gave Doo Joon a light pat on the shoulder before turning away from him and heading back to the lobby of his apartment building.
When he was only a few feet from the entrance Doo Joon screamed a question after him. “Wait! Who was that man with you, I’ve never seen him before!” He decided to act like he didn’t hear the other as he walked inside, he didn’t feel like thinking up a lie to explain Ki Kwang’s presence.
As he made his way up to his apartment many different things were running through his mind, most of them revolving around how he was going to kill Jun Hyung when he visited the other at the hospital the next day. But even with all those ideas in his head the first thing he did when he entered his apartment was go into his room and collapse into his own bed. Hoping that sleep would come easy.
He turned his eyes to the digital clock that sat on his bedside table, the numbers 3:45 glowed bright red. He couldn’t help but to let out a sigh, he was hoping to sleep fast and easy but, five hours later, he still laid wide awake in his bed. He finally pushed himself up off the bed and headed towards the kitchen. The only thing he could think of to put him to sleep was a nice glass of warm milk, it had always worked when he was little.
He didn’t even bother turning on the lights as he made his way to the kitchen, occasionally tripping over pieces of furniture before thinking, when did I put that there, or, where did you come from. Needless to say he would probably find new bruises on his shins in the morning.
A soft knock seemed to echo through the darkness and he found himself stopping in his tracks. He looked towards the general direction of the front door and listened for the sound once more, it came again. He blindly, as quietly as he could, felt around for something he could use as a weapon. Luckily he found the handle of either a broom or a mop nearby without making too much noise.
He made sure that he had a firm grip on the handle as he held the weapon over his head, before carefully making his way towards the front door. The first thing that ran through his mind was that it was one of Seung Hyun’s men there to kill him. He didn’t think about the fact that if it was someone after his life they wouldn’t have knocked first.
Once he was in front of the door he carefully leaned forward so he could look through the peephole on his door. What he saw on the other side of the door through the peephole made him drop the weapon to his side. His free hand went down and unlocked the door before he moved so he could pull it open.
“Dae Sung?”
“Good you’re still awake,” the other said with a smile.
“You do know what time it is right?”
“It’s three something in the morning,” he said cheerfully as he hid something behind his back, “But I thought you’d already be asleep so I’m glad you’re up.”
“Right...” Hyun Seung said with a cocked eyebrow, “Is there something you need?”
“I came to deliver your present.”
“Ki Kwang said that your present was coming in the mail...”
“They wouldn’t mail it,” Dae Sung said with a frown, “They said something about animal abuse...”
“Animal..abuse...” Hyun Seung repeated the words slowly to make sure he heard the other correctly. Dae Sung just nodded.
“Yup, so I had to come deliver it personally.” He smiled as he moved the thing he was hiding behind his back so it was in the open. He raised the present high enough so Hyun Seung was staring at it, face to face.
It took him a couple of seconds to register the fact that he was staring at a real life cat, one that wore the look of boredom mixed with annoyance. “A cat...?”
“Yup,” Dae Sung said as he lowered the cat so he could see Hyun Seung’s face, “I found him abandoned in a box and took him home with me. But since he looks so much like you I thought you’d like to have him.” He smiled.
Hyun Seung looked down at the cat before looking back up at Dae Sung. “Looks like me...says who?”
“Ji Yong, Young Bae, and Seung Ri,” he answered with a smile, “They all said that he looked like you and I agree with them.”
“...that aside,” Hyun Seung said with a sigh even though a smile was placed on his lips, “I don’t have anything to take care of a cat...”
“I have everything you need,” Dae Sung said happily as he handed the cat over to Hyun Seung and grabbed something that was beside him. He now held a litter box, cat food, cat bowls, and cat litter in his hands. “We bought it together for you,” he said before pushing past Hyun Seung to enter his apartment, “Ji Yong said that if we didn’t you wouldn’t have taken the cat.”
Hyun Seung closed the front door shut with his foot as he awkwardly held the cat in his hands. He was honestly surprised that the animal hadn’t scratched him yet.
“I don’t know how to care for a cat,” he said as he followed Dae Sung through the house. Which was easy since Dae Sung had the lights of each room that he went through.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Dae Sung said as Hyun Seung found him in the bathroom setting up the litter box, “Didn’t I tell you he’s just like you? He mostly likes to sleep and eat, a very low maintenance cat. All you really have to do is feed him, give him water, and either change the litter or just use the scooper on his box every once and a while. And if it’s one of the rare moments where he’s craving human touch you pet him.”
Hyun Seung nodded as Dae Sung finished setting up the litter box and stood with the cat food and double bowl in hand. Hyun Seung followed Dae Sung into the kitchen. “May I know how you know your way around my house,” he asked as they entered the kitchen, “Because I don’t remember you even coming inside of my apartment.”
“Ji Yong didn’t tell you,” Dae Sung asked as he filled one side of the double bowl with water before setting it down on the floor and opening the cat food, so he could fill the other side, “When Seung Hyun found out about your where-a-bouts he sent Young Bae and I inside to bug your house...”
“My apartment is bugged?”
“Not anymore,” Dae Sung said as he filled the other side of the bowl with food, “While the C.I.A. agents were here we sneaked back and put in equipment so it would interfere with the bugs we put up in the beginning. When Seung Hyun asked why his precious bugs weren’t working we told him that we suspected that the C.I.A. agents put up interference equipment.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Even though we stayed with Seung Hyun because he saved each of us from horrible situations and took us under our wings a little part of use doesn’t want you to go back to him, even if it would mean his happiness,” Dae Sung said as he put the food under the counter and took the cat from Hyun Seung’s arms, placing the animal on the ground, “Because even though he was our savior all he did was drag you down into hell.”
Hyun Seung didn’t know what to say to that, he was kind of speechless as he felt the cat rub itself against his leg. “I’ll see you later,” Dae Sung said as he headed for the front door, “Oh and we named him Joon.” The sound of the door closing brought Hyun Seung out of his strange trance that he had fallen into before he looked down at the cat for a few seconds.
“Joon, huh?” He bent down and rubbed the cat lightly behind its ear before standing and heading towards the door to lock it. Once he did that he moved around the house and turned off all the lights that the other had left one in his wake before heading back to the kitchen and making himself a tall glass of warm milk. He still hadn’t forgotten why he was up in the first place.
When he reentered the kitchen the first thing he noticed was that Joon was no where in sight, he had to remind himself to be careful on his way back to his room.
Pulling out a glass and the milk he filled it almost to the top before he was satisfied. Sticking the glass in the microwave he typed in the time before turning to put the milk away. As he waited for the milk to heat up in the microwave his thoughts, once again, filled up with ways of killing Jun Hyung tomorrow.
When the microwave beeped he was thrown out of his violent thoughts and moved carefully as he pulled the hot milk out. He placed it one the counter and gently blew on it so it would cool down a bit. He would’ve burned his tongue if he had drank it right out of the microwave.
After several minutes of just leaning on the counter and blowing on his milk he finally decided that it had cool down enough to drink it, so he took the drink in both hands and brought it to his lips. The warmth that traveled down his throat made him smile, it was just what he needed to fall asleep.
Several more sips later his cup was drained of all the warm milk and he placed the cup in the sink before heading back to his room, without tripping over anything. He couldn’t help to think that he was probably more aware of his surroundings when he was relaxed, which was the exact opposite of normal people. But who wants to be normal anyways?
Once in his room he collapsed onto his bed face first, but before he could close his eyes and sleep a horrible screech filled the room. He shot up and scrambled to go turn on the lights to his room. Turning his heel once the light was on he saw a very annoyed cat sitting in the bed and he frowned at him. “Joon! This is where you disappeared too,” he said as he moved towards the bed and pushed the cat off it, “This is where I sleep not you.” He watched as the cat ran out of the room before moving over to the switch and turning it off.
He searched the bed with his hands before climbing into it. He couldn’t handle anymore surprises for the night. Once he was sure that the bed was empty for everything but himself he climbed under the blankets and got comfortable before closing his eyes and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
“You know this isn’t the best idea,” Ki Kwang said as he followed Hyun Seung up to the nurses desk in the hospital.
“I told him not to talk about it but he did,” Hyun Seung said stubbornly, “So he’s getting a peace of my mine.”
“I know,” Ki Kwang said desperately, “But there has to be a better way of dealing with this...”
“Nope,” he said before turning his attention to a nurse as the approached the station, “I’m sorry but I would like to know if Yong Jun Hyung is still in his room.” She looked at him for a second and then back at Ki Kwang before a blush broke across her face like a school girl. She had to turn her head away and fumble for a chart so she could hide the blush from them.
“Um...” she said quietly, “Yes...Yong Jun Hyung is still admitted here...in room 628.”
“Thank you,” Hyun Seung said with a smile and a small bow before heading off in the direction of the elevator with Ki Kwang following. Once they were alone in the elevator Hyun Seung turned towards the other, “Do you always have this effect on women? As soon as they look at you they turn into embarrassed teenagers...”
“You could’ve been the reason she did that,” Ki Kwang said back, “You not bad looking yourself.”
“Well thank you for that,” he said with a small smile, “But she probably thought I was a girl, many make that mistake.”
“Highly doubt it.”
“I bet when you first saw me you thought I was a girl.”
“I did not,” Ki Kwang said as he looked away from the other.
“Liar,” Hyun Seung smiled at Ki Kwang as he saw a touch of embarrassed blush go all the way to the other’s ears, “It doesn’t matter anyways. I’m used to it, though it still annoys me from time to time I’ve learned to live with it.” Ki Kwang was going to open his mouth to say something but closed it almost immediately because the elevator had stopped and opened up on their floor.
“Isn’t it more empty then a typical hospital,” Ki Kwang asked as they walked down the nearly deserted hallway, looking for Jun Hyung’s room.
“Now that you mention it, it’s rather empty for a fully functioning hospital...” His voice trailed off as they found Jun Hyung’s room.
Pulling the door open they were greeted by an empty white room. “The nurse said he was still here right,” Hyun Seung asked but instead of answering him Ki Kwang grabbed his arm and started to pull him back towards the door.
“Let’s go,” he said as he kept pulling the other, “I have a bad...” Before he could finish his sentence the vase that sat next to Jun Hyung’s, now empty, hospital bed burst into a million tiny pieces. The flowers it held flying into the air before falling onto the ground.
Ki Kwang automatically pulled Hyun Seung to the ground just before the barrage of bullets hit. Everything around them in the hospital room was exploding around them as the bullets went right through them. They had to keep close to the ground and crawl out of the room to avoid the bullets and flying debris.
They had somehow managed to escape the room with only a few scratches from the glass shards that they couldn’t avoid. But once they were out of the room and hidden behind a wall Ki Kwang pulled Hyun Seung too his feet and they just started running. They couldn’t afford to stay there because they would either get shot and die or get captured by the police.
They made their escape through one of the back exits, triggering an alarm that rang throughout the whole hospital. All they could do was ignore it as they tried to escape.
On their way down the backstair of the hospital they were greeted by some of Seung Hyun’s men. Hyun Seung could automatically tell that they were in the lower ranks, the type that Seung Hyun only used for their muscles. “Our orders were to bring in the red...” Before the man in the front could finish talking Ki Kwang landed a round-house kick to the side of his head. Sending the men over the edge of the stairs. A sickening crack was heard and Hyun Seung automatically knew that he was dead.
The two that were behind the man lunged forward and Ki Kwang didn’t react fast enough. Hyun Seung pushed him out of the way and landed a drop kick in one of the men’s chest. Sending him down the stairs where another crack was heard when the man’s head hit the pavement. He didn’t look at the blood leaked from his broken skull and stained the concrete stairs.
The other man lunged towards him but Hyun Seung quickly ducked from the attack and swept his feet out from under him. He fell backwards on the stairs landing on his friend. Hyun Seung saw his head his the ground but no sound followed so he wasn’t sure if he was dead or just unconscious, but he didn’t have time to pounder. He quickly turned around and helped Ki Kwang to his feet before continuing their escape. Making sure to jump over the two bodies as they rushed down the stairs.
“Damn,” Ki Kwang said as he passed Hyun Seung on the stairs, “I didn’t know you could do that much damage.”
“I’ll explain later,” Hyun Seung said as he followed the shorter male, “Maybe when were somewhere safer.”
“Well for now we can’t go back to your apartment,” Ki Kwang said as he ducked into a nearby alley way with Hyun Seung right behind him, “So we need to find a place to crash for the night...”
“Why can’t we go to my apartment?”
“It’s not safe.”
“It’s very safe,” Hyun Seung smile as he started to use the back way to get to his house without being seen, Ki Kwang following him, “I’m sure that Dae, Ji, Bae, and Ri are watching it now. So it’s safer then any other place you can think of.”
“What if that F.B.I. agent comes to visit?”
“You mean Doo Joon?”
“He won’t be anytime soon,” Hyun Seung said with a smile, “He’s too busy trying to find out if I lied to him or not. But just to be on the safe side I have a thing of black hair die under my sink, since red is a obvious color I dye it black as soon as we get home.”
“Deal,” Ki Kwang said before they both fell into silence so they can concentrate on keeping to the shadows. Which was a hard task to do when the sun was still up.
It took them almost an hour to reach Hyun Seung’s apartment and by some sort of miracle they had reached the inside of his of his apartment without being seen by anyone else. “This is usually the time where everyone is at work or sleeping,” he explained as he quickly closed the door behind them. Ki Kwang nodded as he let Hyun Seung lead him to the living room where Joon slept on one of the couches.
“When’d you get a cat?”
“Huh,” he asked as he caught sight of Joon on the couch, “Oh him...it was Dae Sung’s present...”
“They delivered a cat through the mail?”
“Nope, they wouldn’t let him,” Hyun Seung said with a smile as he sat down on the couch, “Dae Sung delivered it too me at three in the morning.”
“He woke you up for a cat?”
“I wasn’t even asleep.” He let his hand gently fall on the cat before petting it gently, “He just knocked lightly when I was up wondering the house and he gave me a cat. Ji Yong, Seung Ri, and Young Bae said that the cat reminded them of me so by unanimous decision it somehow became mine.”
“How’d it remind them of you?”
“They gave me many different reasons but I think it’s because this cat sleeps a lot and can fall asleep anywhere,” he gave a fond smile as he looked down at the sleeping Joon, “And I’m the type of person who can sleep anywhere...I love my sleep.”
“Ah,” Ki Kwang nodded his head in understanding, “So...um...how’d you learn to fight? No one ever told me that you could?”
“Seung Ri and Ji Yong taught me,” he said as he slowly stopped petting Joon and looked at Ki Kwang, “Though I say it was the both of them it was mostly Ji Yong because Seung Ri was still learning at the time. I guess it was around the time that they found out about how things really were when me and Seung Hyun were alone. The only people who knew about how my parents were killed were killed off by Seung Hyun as time passed so I’m not really sure how they found out about that but after learning about what I had been through they dropped their cold ways and started treating me like a real family. Young Bae taught me some electronic tricks, Dae Sung helped keep my spirits up when times got hard, while Ji Yong and Seung Ri taught me how to fight. After two years of cold treatment by those four I found a second family within them.”
Ki Kwang listened and nodded after Hyun Seung finished speaking. He wasn’t sure on what to say after that so he changed the subject once more. “Should we get to dying your hair?”
“Oh yes,” he said as he stood, accidentally waking Joon up in the process, “I nearly forgot about that.”
“Let’s go,” Ki Kwang said, “I’ll help you and when we finish we can figure out what happened to Jun Hyung.”
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