R/N: Shifting the focus back onto Chanhee and Byunghun, getting more in control of the story. Lots more to come. Thank you for all the support and love for this story ;; <3 Updates will be more frequent, as will updates on my other stories. Enjoy!

A few days had went by. Byunghun was practically nowhere to be seen. He spent so much time with Chorong and Joohyun that the rest of the house had begun to wonder just what was going on with those two. It took the hardest hit on Chanhee, and Niel’s undoubtedly crazy theories weren’t doing much to help the situation.

Chunji, which came to a surprise to Chanhee, Niel and Miyoung, also spent increasingly more time with Chorong and Byunghun. Joohyun hadn’t been introduced to the rest of the housemates.

“I hope you realize that’s not how you use a microwave. This is your goddamn house.” Byunghun snorted, pushing Chunji aside and leaned over on his elbows on the counter, pressing a few buttons before the microwave came to life.

“…This…this is a contraption. I never have to do all this crap, that’s what wait staff are for. I’m sure you know a lot ‘bout that, don’t you, Byunghunnie?” Chunji asked, his tone mocking and condescending.

What else was new?

Neither of them knew that Chanhee was right behind them, listening in one their conversation from the other side of the door.

It was simply what he had recently observed, but it seemed as if Byunghun and Chunji were actually friends. Even the mere thought of that, Chanhee couldn’t understand. Chunji had purposely made Byunghun’s life a living hell, threatened him, blackmailed him, destroyed him…and yet, there he was, playing all buddy-buddy with him. Chunji remembered how torn up Byunghun had been, how scared and mentally scattered Chunji made him, how terrified he had been. Byunghun used to have nightmares, would wake up screaming or in tears, and Chanhee had always been there to comfort and reassure him.

He couldn’t help but think that he had been a temporary release. Once something better came around, once something more intriguing came along, Chanhee no longer became relevant. His heart ached at the prospect of it.

Ever since Chunji came along, the dynamic of their relationship had changed. Byunghun was…different. He wasn’t as affectionate with him anymore. He spent more time with other people, strangers and killers, and not a single second with him, his boyfriend. He thought it was unfair. Chanhee had paid the price for what he had done in New York, he had cried for days, he couldn’t get himself to eat, he had begged Byunghun to stay. Maybe he had misjudged the entire situation.

Maybe Byunghun had never really forgived him. Maybe Byunghun chose only to forget, not to forgive.

The more he thought of it, the harder he found it was to breath.

He needed his friends. He needed Woohyun, he needed Jonghyun or even Changhyun. Niel was no help, Byunghun had chosen Chunji’s side, and there was no way he could get any sort of relief from Miyoung or Chunji.

“Stop!” A voice laughed, followed by a bang and a shatter. Chanhee gripped at the fabric of his shirt and pulled himself away. 

****

“Byunghun…” Chorong said, in her lap Joohyun. She played with the baby girl’s hands, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Byunghun had noticed how much Chorong seemed to care about him. She was Chunji’s friend, but he couldn’t find any resemblance, any traces of Chunji in her. She seemed to genuinely worry about him. Although, he couldn’t say that he minded it. He needed all the support he could get, and as many distractions as he could get his hands on.

Things had taken a turn for the worse. Him and Chanhee weren’t speaking, he was allies with his own personal torturer, and was even on speaking terms with Miyoung. Of course, if circumstances had been different, he would have never even thought about reconciling with neither Chunji nor Miyoung. But he cared about his life. He wanted to keep it. As selfish as it sounded, he was willing to do what he could to get himself on the stronger side.

His feelings about Chunji and Miyoung hadn’t changed. But he knew that they could protect him. And after all, he was the one that was being targeted, wasn’t he? It was better not to involve Chanhee.

Cameras, spies, insiders…they could be anywhere. Byunghun, for all he knew, could be watched every second of the day by Chunji’s boss. His filthy, disgusting, animal of a boss, waiting for the right time to strike. But strangely…as fearful as he was at the prospect that literally at any second his life was in danger, he thought he was on pretty good terms with Chunji. Chunji could protect him. And by Byunghun breaking all ties with Chanhee, he was protecting him too.

But ,God, how much he wanted to talk to Chanhee again. How much he wanted to feel him, to be like they were. His paranoia kept him from doing anything, however. Who knew who was watching him…he didn’t want to drag Chanhee into this mess more than he had. Dragging him out here, involving him in the whole Chunji mess…what was he thinking?

There was no one in the world he wanted to protect more than Chanhee. And if that meant fights, ignoring and the cold shoulder…He was willing to repair any damage after they were safe again.

“What?” He asked mindlessly, laying on the carpet of Chorong’s room.

He was only half-hearted in his involvement in the conversation. Byunghun couldn’t stop thinking about Chanhee. Byunghun had really hurt him with what he had said. And what scared him most was that his words weren’t forced—he didn’t need to get himself to say them. They had come out before he could stop them.

Byunghun’s mind was all over the place lately. He didn’t want to believe that he meant anything he said. And he knew how much Chanhee was hurting because of him. He just didn’t want to danger anyone else that he loved. Chunji wasn’t going to protect Chanhee, and neither was Miyoung. Byunghun didn’t know how capable Chorong was in combat, and he himself wasn’t exactly worthy of Chunji’s combat status, despite taking very brief training sessions when he could.

Byunghun always used to snicker at those couples who felt the need to be with each other every second of every day, who clung to each other and loved each other to the point where they were physically inseparable. He thought it laughable.  Why? Because back then, he thought that there was so much more to life than being in love, being in some petty relationship that was likely not to last.

But here he was, doing the exact thing that he had laughed at.

He had a lot of damage control to do once this was all over.

“What are you doing?”

The question wasn’t a question of what he was doing. The question had a strange, suspicious and disappointed undertone.

“What are you talking about?”

Chorong, with Joohyun in her arms, moved to sit beside the boy with a sigh. “I don’t know what kind of drama is going on in this house…Since I don’t know you all well enough to be involved in it. But Chunji and Miyoung are plotting with each other, your friend Niel and Chanhee, whoever he is to you now, hate them—me and you are in the middle of a mess. Well, you are. What are you doing with Chunji? And what is up with you and Chanhee? Chunji said you two were together.”

Typical Chorong. She had been curious about what had been going on for quite some time now, but Byunghun just didn’t have the energy to explain everything. To explain himself in a way that would redeem himself from his actions.

“Chanhee is mine. I love him. I don’t want him involved in any of this, and because of that I’m not going to involving myself with him until this is over. As for everything else…I’m just doing whatever will guarantee my safety. Chunji can protect me, if I play nice for a while. Miyoung…god, maybe I’m hoping she’ll beg her dad not to kill me or anyone I love. I don’t know. All this happened over night, Chunji appeared out of nowhere and ruined my ing life, and now I’m here in this house held hostage with two people I treasure most in my life, one psychopath killer, one ex girlfriend and some stranger that has a baby—I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, her hand reaching out to touch Byunghun’s shoulder in what he thought she assumed was an act of consolation.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong…I don’t know anyone in the house that well besides Chunji, but even I can tell from what I hope were subtle glances that Niel and Chanhee care about you, especially Chanhee, and it hurts him that you’re pushing him away—Seriously Byunghun…Are all boys this stupid? Don’t you know how you and Chunji look like lately? You two look like you’re the couple. And I appreciate everything you do for my little girl, and for me, but you need to get your life sorted. Yeah, we’re in war. Yeah, we’re in danger. But I know Chunji, and Chunji wants to protect everyone here as much as you do. He’s not a bad person at heart…But you can’t accommodate to him.”

“I don’t want anyone to die. I don’t want to talk about this anymore—“

Chorong sighed, clearly frustrated with the situation. Joohyun outstretched her arms towards Byunghun, and after a few whines, Chorong gave in and gently placed Joohyun into the boy’s lap.

“You don’t worry about what’s going on; or at least, not too much. Chunji has people, he has allies too, insiders. I didn’t even think that this was necessary to say. He was everything handled, and if there is something that he isn’t doing I’ll take care of it. You handle your own life, and decide what you’re going to do once we get out of here. Everything in your life is hanging by a thread, Byunghun. If I even have to say that, too. Call your friends back home, reconcile with Chunji. If I had a boyfriend in this situation, the last thing I would do is ignore him and use the excuse that I’m trying to protect him. Why are you so stupid?”

Byunghun couldn’t meet her eye. He idly played with the little girl’s fingers. But, Chorong was glad to observe the fact that he seemed to be in thought about the situation. The last thing she needed was people, who were all supposed to be on the same side, fighting.

“Go talk to him. Get your life sorted, man, stop being depressed and all emo because it’s so obvious you’re missing him and you and Chanhee are both idiots for not seeing that. Ugh.”

Byunghun only snorted, shaking his head. “Alright, alright. Let’s talk about something else.”

****

Chunji walked into his room, exhausted from the day’s schedules. The amount of crap he had to deal with because of his current situation was tiring him out, and it was getting harder everyday to remind himself that for once, he was on the good side.

Another day of meeting with his allies, getting information, figuring out the best tactic to annihilate and then get everyone out of his house. It was a bit more serious than he had originally assumed, and the complications were piling on top of each other to the point where they threatened to topple over with one wrong move.

Only one thing kept him stable. Or, at least, as stable as someone in his situation could possible be.

He didn’t know what it was. Secretly, he didn’t care. He remembered what he had thought a few months back about his developing…feelings. The word made him cringe. But he had reminded himself that this was business. He was taught to be cold, to be heartless, to not care. He wasn’t supposed to care. But somehow, being on the same side as Byunghun, and not having to worry about how he was going to kill him…it gave him a motivation he never knew he could get from someone other than his boss.

Chunji was officially going insane.

It didn’t help that lately, Byunghun was being more friendly with him than usual. Dare he say it, it actually seemed as if Byunghun liked him. Not anything more than a friend, a mere acquaintance at the least, but…

His head shook vigorously. No. He couldn’t think like that.

He was so disgusted at himself lately, at what he had become. And for what? Some boy? His target that he was supposed to kill, but then decided to not and instead protect him and his entire herd of pathetic friends?

For what? Recognition? To be thought of as the good guy to Byunghun?

He was scared. He was terrified. The second he even let himself slip, then things were really going to get messy. Because the second he let himself slip, he would no longer throw himself into his battles for himself. It would be for someone else. It would no longer be about his own safety and wellness. It would be for someone else. Someone else who wouldn’t do the same for him.

Thinking now, Chunji almost missed the way he had been at the beginning of Byunghun’s mission. He didn’t care about the boy, he just wanted him dead. That would have resulted in cash, Chunji would have gotten himself a nice beach house in America (another possible place to flee to if things got bad), and then he would have moved on. Those nights in the alley, purposefully torturing Byunghun in the best way he could…He didn’t care then.

But he did now. For a mere second he let himself come to terms with the fact that if anything happened to Byunghun, if anyone so much as laid a hand on him, the first thing that would be gone would be their heads.

And boy, did that scare him.

****

“Go talk to him. Get your life sorted.”
 

Chorong’s words rung in Byunghun’s head. His fingers were balled into fists, nails digging into his palms to remind himself that this was real, he couldn’t escape.

He never thought that standing in front of a door would be terrifying to him. But the truth was, he didn’t know how Chanhee would react to him just dropping by. This didn’t feel like his room anymore, and with no doubt, him and Chanhee didn’t have the same relationship as they had before.

If what they had could even be classified as a relationship anymore.

Very faintly, he could hear conversation b in the other room. Niel and Chanhee, most likely.

In the spur of the moment, his hand flew to the handle and opened up the door. He knew if he thought too hard about it, he would be standing in front of the door all night.

Niel and Chanhee both looked up from something that Byunghun couldn’t make it, since it was mostly covered by the blankets.

Niel looked genuinely surprised to see the other male. He wore an expression of disbelief, like he couldn’t believe Byunghun was there. Chanhee, on the other hand, didn’t have that much of a comical expression. Byunghun could tell almost immediately that Chanhee was tired. Chanhee obviously hadn’t been sleeping very well, and there was no life to him anymore.

It took a lot to realize that Byunghun was the cause of it. Before they got together, Chanhee acted tough, like he was too good for anyone. He was mischievous, scheming, sarcastic, witty. Then they got together, and Chanhee’s personality—what Byunghun thought was Chanhee’s true personality—shone. He was softer, more gentle. Byunghun had changed him, dragged him through a continuous, emotionally-draining cycle. And now the result was…this.

Chanhee looked so tired, it made Byunghun’s heart ache.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Chunji?” Niel asked, the words themselves a lot more menacing than their tone.

Chorong was right. Niel, and probably Chanhee, thought that him and Chunji were actually…on good terms.

“I’ll deal with you later. I came to see Ch-Chanhee.” The stutter. Way to sound confident, Byunghun. Just—way to go.

Chanhee raised a brow. “What do you want with me?”

Byunghun redirected his gaze to Niel. Niel, thankfully, got the message, and after muttering a few words to Chanhee, he left the room. Briskly. Coldly. Meanwhile, Chanhee got up from his spot, and stood quite a distance away from Byunghun.

Byunghun awkwardly cleared his throat, and faced the male again. “Chanhee, I—“

“Whatever you have to say, just save it. If you’re here to fight with me again, leave. I don’t have the energy to deal with it. If you’re hear to try to convince me that the bastard is good and that we should trust him like you obviously do, leave. If you’re here to try to coax me into thinking that what you’re doing has some greater purpose, leave. “

Well, that wasn’t a good start. Byunghun chose not to dwell to much on the words Chanhee had said, for he didn’t want to be discouraged from what he came to say.

“I love you.”

Byunghun’s response took Chanhee by surprise. Not a good kind of surprise.

“You expect me to believe that? Really, Byunghun?”

The said boy was speechless. Things had played out differently in his head when he imagined this scenario taking place. “I know I said some things that…I shouldn’t have. I can’t explain everything I did. But please, don’t misunderstand me and Chunji. It isn’t what you think.”

Chunji just scoffed. “And here I thought you were going to say something actually important.” 

"This is important. Just listen to me, please Chanhee--"

"I'm so sick of this. Of crying over you. Of being sad. I don't understand what's happening anymore, and I don't want to care. Just leave me alone Byunghun, leave me alone and go to Chunji. I'm tired of this." 

At that moment, Byunghun knew what he had to do. He thought about it for a quarter of a second, figured that there would be more positives than negatives, and then proceeded to hold Chanhee's face in his hands, as gently as he possible could, and pull him in for a kiss.