Jonghyun crushed the cigarette with the sole of his shoe. Smoke rose up around his head, appearing light in the dark night. The alleyway was scarcely illuminated with orange. Scuttling footsteps interrupted his silent moment and then the messenger appeared through the haze.

There was a manila envelope tucked underneath one skinny arm. As the figure passed, he handed it off to Jonghyun, nodding his head discreetly.

Opening the backdoor of his current lodgings, he left the night and entered a well lit base. There were rooms lining either side of the hallway, occupied by various ranking members of the organization. After the thing with Kyuhyun, Jonghyun had been forced to take up residency back in that hell hole again.

It wasn’t particularly lavish or bare and perhaps that was the problem. Nothing made it stand out, leaving followers to lack any ambition to grow. Luckily for Jonghyun, he had more than his share of curiosity and imagination. It would be nearly impossible to keep him holed up for too long.

He walked into his room, shutting the door and sitting down on the edge of his bed. Without waiting any longer, he opened up the envelope, pulling out a packet of papers. The cover page was handwritten with curvaceous letters.

He isn’t yours to keep.

Don’t forget. -- S

Jonghyun set the note aside, pushing away the unease caused by those words. Skimming over the first page in the packet, his heart sank. It was immediate and frightening and completely out of place. This certainly wasn’t the first time he had seen the guy, but it never ceased to amaze him how such an effeminate figure held so much power.

“Kim Ryeowook…,” he muttered, shaking his head as he flipped the page, “why you?” Of all the people, why was this person the one Kyuhyun supposedly loved?

Smiling irritably, Jonghyun read the information absently. His mind was on Kyuhyun’s probably smug face. It really was impossible to harm the one he loves. How could anyone even get within seeing distance of Ryeowook? There were guards around him constantly and when they weren’t around, his business partner, Lee Donghae, was there to protect him.

Jonghyun’s eyes fluttered wide in surprise when he saw the next page. “Oh…not just business partners,” he smirked. Poor Kyu…

Sighing, he leafed through the rest of the packet before tossing it away. That was enough information. What could he do? It would be impossible to do anything remotely harmful to Kyuhyun through Ryeowook. Lying back on the bed, Jonghyun closed his hands behind his head, glancing at the note that had been set aside earlier.

Picking it up, he read the words again: He isn’t yours to keep. Don’t forget. — S

“Hmm…,” Jonghyun mumbled, closing his eyes.

Who does he belong to then?

***

“N-No, no, no, please—!” Kdunk… Donghae lowered the gun as the man fell to the ground, arms splayed and drowning in pools of blood both his and not.

Tchink! The flame rose from the metal lighter. Ryeowook sat on the top of a crate, legs dangling over the ledge as he ran the isolated flame over the edge of a paper. In a matter of seconds, it burst into flames, up the sides hungrily. Ryeowook dropped it, the curling sheet settling and dispersing in the scarlet splattered ground.

“They have a lot to clean up,” Donghae remarked, walking over to where the other male sat. He picked up the envelope that rested on the desk. There was a noticeable mark of blood on it, but other than that, the cover was clean. Leaning forward, he pressed a soft kiss to Ryeowook’s lips as he placed the evidence folder beside him.

Sighing into the kiss, Ryeowook wrapped his arms around Donghae’s shoulders, pulling himself closer as the latter tightened an arm around his waist. “We gave them the envelope for the conviction,” Ryeowook mumbled, “That’s all they need.”

“Convict a dead man? That’s silly,” Donghae chuckled, eyes trailing over to the corpses spread around the room.

In the back of the room, there were still a few shivering or cowering in fear. The others had been smart enough to stay out of the fight and in the safer areas. Donghae had pad locked the metal doors, sure that Kyuhyun and his entourage would arrive the next night to free them. One day of being in captivity wouldn’t be too painful.

“If you’re going to kill us, could you do it now?”

Ryeowook pulled away from Donghae, eyes finding a small figure standing a few feet away from them. His hair was dyed light brown and his skin was as smooth and supple as a baby. There was a dead light in his eyes, but light nonetheless. Thing ankles were drenched in blood from the puddles he had walked through to get to them.

“Do you want to die?” Ryeowook inquired, thoughtfully.

The boy shook his head.

“Why?”

“Because I’ve lived this long,” he responded quietly, “and I still don’t know what happiness is.”

“You don’t think you’ll find happiness in death?” Donghae leaned back against the crate, arms crossing over his chest.

The boy paused, but then shook his head again. “There’s a better possibility of finding happiness in life…because I know it exists. There’s a chance of no happiness at all in death.”

Ryeowook looked over at the still quaking and terrified people in the back of the room. “Why don’t you wait for someone to save you like those people?”

“Because I don’t want to spend another minute trapped in a cage.”

Stepping down from the crate, Ryeowook landed on the edge of still fresh fluids. “Take him with us.”

Donghae swept the boy up into his arms, not surprised to find that he was light as a feather. Just as he began walking, the boy piped up, eyes wide in disbelief. “You…you’re really not leaving me here?”

“You don’t want to be trapped in a cage anymore,” Ryeowook replied, pushing the door open and coming face to face with his waiting guards, “Being outside of the cage isn’t easy, but that is your decision.” He met the boy’s stare, “I’m complying.”

“I…”

“Hush,” Donghae whispered to the adolescent, “take it for what it means.” He smiled a little, but it soon disappeared.

The boy quietly nodded, letting his eyes drift shut.