“What the is this?” Hyunsik asked, his vein pulsating at his temple, “What the is this?  Tell me what I just read.”  He waved the electronic tablet in the air dangerously before setting it down on the table with a loud clunk.  “Please, enlighten me,” he snarled, “What the is this?”

Joon bit his lip and shifted in his seat uncomfortably.  He glanced at Seungho, who was leaning against the wall with a frown on his face as he gripped his coffee mug tightly.  What was this?  Good question; he had no idea.  Though, as Joon sighed, he had a good idea who was behind this.  If his guess was right, this was Jin’s way of responding to his rejection the night before.  He hadn’t expected in the least that Jin would go to the media.  Did he want Joon to go back to Lee-Song that badly?  So badly that he would risk everything Joon had worked for?

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Joon said but was interrupted when Hyunsik stopped pacing abruptly and turned to him.

“Really?  Because I feel like I’m always the last person to know anything,” he said angrily, “What?  You’re the long lost son of a ilionaire?  Why, I had no ing idea!”  He threw his arms up in a rage and resumed his angry pacing.  “What were you thinking?” he said, “If you’d told me, I could’ve done something to prevent the media from having a field day with this!”

“It’s not confirmed,” Joon said, “Nothing’s been confirmed-”

“Oh it doesn’t matter now,” Hyunsik snapped, “The media’s already painted you as the heir to a fortune; it won’t matter if you really are or not.”

“I…” Joon replied, frowning, “I didn’t think the media would find out about this.”

“You-” Hyunsik stuttered, looking at him in exasperation, “You didn’t think-”  He cut himself off as he stopped pacing and leaned forward to gape at Joon.  “Let me explain something to you.  The media,” he said slowly as if speaking to an infant, “Can find out what you had for breakfast in the morning by analyzing the that comes out of your at the end of the day.”  He shook his hands like he was trying to make Joon understand.  “Do you understand?  They will do anything to get a story,” he asked, standing straight again and resuming his pacing, “And you didn’t think… Jesus ing Christ and all his in sheep.”  Throwing his arms up in the air, he resumed pacing in their tiny dorm.

Joon dropped his gaze as he stared at his cup of coffee.  Although he knew he probably would have never told Hyunsik unless he had to, he felt sorry that he was once again bringing trouble to him.  It seemed like all he did was bring trouble to Hyunsik, who had given him so much.

“And you,” Hyunsik said as he rounded on Seungho, “You knew about this?” 

When he actually waited for an answer, Seungho sighed and nodded.  “We didn’t think it was something that we should involve you in-” he started but was cut off when Hyunsik raised his eyebrows and snorted.

“Something I shouldn’t get involved in?” he asked, “Well I’m involved now.  In fact, all of KTA’s involved now.  Happy?”  Taking his glasses off roughly, he sat down in the chair beside Joon and sighed loudly.

“I didn’t think Jin would go to the media,” Joon said quietly, looking at Seungho with confusion, “Why would he do that?”

“I told you,” Seungho sighed, “He’s going to force your hand.  I just… didn’t expect him to do it this way.”

“Okay,” Hyunsik interrupted, putting his glasses back on, “Who the is Jin?”  He looked from Joon to Seungho as he waited.  Although he seemed still angry, he was no longer breathing fire and seething like a dragon.

“He’s the one that told me about my past,” Joon said timidly, worried that Hyunsik will start ranting again, “That’s how I found out about… who I am.”

Hyunsik frowned and squinted his eyes at Joon as if he was trying to recall something.  After a few seconds of silence, his eyes widened behind his rectangular glasses and recognition flashed across them.  Snapping his fingers, he pointed at Joon and asked, “That old guy with grey hair?  Young looking I guess, but a head of grey?”

Joon looked up in surprise and nodded.  Now that he thought about it, Hyunsik had seen Jin before.  The first time Joon had met Jin, Hyunsik had stepped in between them; he’d only just remembered that.

“I met him that one time when he grabbed you,” Hyunsik said, frowning, “I caught him wandering around outside the front doors again sometime later.”

“He grabbed you?” Seungho interrupted, frowning at Joon, “When did that happen?”

“Before we moved in here,” Joon replied, “When we still lived at the apartment.”

“You didn’t tell me about that,” Seungho said, his frown deepening as he gave Joon an accusing look, “That’s important.”

“I’d forgotten about it by the time I got home,” Joon tried to explain.  He could tell Seungho was annoyed that he hadn’t know about such a thing.

“You shouldn’t forget things like that-” Seungho said but was interrupted by a loud and dramatic sigh from Hyunsik.

“Ugh,” Hyunsik said, rolling his eyes, “Please keep the cheese for when I’m not around and mad at you, okay?”  Shaking his head, he sighed and turned to Joon.  “So,” he said shortly, “I want to know what’s going on in one sentence.  Summarize that like it’s going out of style.” 

Joon bit his lip; he knew Hyunsik was still hopping mad.  Even though he seemed to have settled down somewhat, Hyunsik was still looking at him as if he’d been betrayed.  “I… might be the missing son of the late Lee-Song CEO because my step-mother tried to kill me when I was little and Jin kidnapped me to save my life…” he said in one breath, glancing at Hyunsik warily.

Hyunsik was silent as he gazed into the distance with a frown.  He drummed his fingers against the table, his leg tapping with impatience.  After a brief moment of tense silence, he stood and straightened his clothes.

Joon waited with bated breath; it felt like he was staring at a time bomb that was about to go off at any minute… again.  To his surprise, however, Hyunsik didn’t fly into another episode of rage.  Instead, Hyunsik sighed and took a few steps towards the door.

“I’ll do what I can to control the media,” he said quietly as Joon and Seungho followed him, “You stay inside for now.”  Joon’s relief was short-lived however; the look that Hyunsik gave him was quite different from the usual resignation and concern.  It was one of irritation, betrayal, and anger.  “I’m done with this,” Hyunsik said quietly, “I haven’t had a single peaceful day since you came to KTA and I’m sick and tired of always cleaning up your mess.  This time, you figure it out on your own or you get the hell out of here.”  With those final words, he stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him with a firm click.

Stunned, Joon stood rooted to the spot.  He hadn’t expected Hyunsik to throw his hands up in the air and stay out of this.  Every time he had been in trouble, Hyunsik had stepped in like a fairy godmother and magically got him out of trouble.  Although he had never intended to get Hyunsik involved in this, Joon had almost expected Hyunsik to lend him yet another helping hand.  But after everything that’s happened, Hyunsik had finally had enough…

“He’s just upset that he wasn’t told about this before the media found out,” Seungho murmured, placing a hand on Joon’s shoulder to comfort him, “It’s understandable considering everything he’s done for us.”

“I know,” Joon said softly, guilt eating away at him, “I wish… things didn’t happen like this.”

“Yeah,” Seungho said, tugging Joon over to him, “Me too.”  Sighing, he wrapped his arms around Joon and gave him a warm hug.

“Do you think he meant it?” Joon murmured, wrapping his arms around Seungho’s waist, “About us fixing this or leaving KTA?” 

“Maybe,” Seungho said, “But he’s right; there’s nothing he can do to help with this mess this time.  It’s up to us to fix it.”

“How?” Joon asked, pulling away and looking at Seungho with worry, “How do we do that?”

“I think,” Seungho said as he bit his lips, “We need to talk to Jin.”

Cheondoong woke to the sound of Yongjae’s irritating laughter.  Throwing a pillow over his head, he tried to ignore the sounds of surprise coming from his annoying roommate.  Unfortunately, the latter noticed that he was stirring.

“Yah,” Yongjae called to him from the other side of the room, “Come check this out.”

Doing his best to ignore him, Cheondoong tried to let sleep take him away again.  He hadn’t had a good sleep in days and he was exhausted, despite having just woken up.

“Yah,” Yongjae called again, “Park Cheondoong, you’re going to want to see this.”

Again, Cheondoong tried to ignore the irritating sounds of his roommate.  Squeezing his eyes shut, he could feel sleep fading into the background as his conscious mind took over.  Growling in annoyance, he pulled the pillow closer on top of his head and tried to drown out everything.

“It’s about your friend Lee Joon,” Yongjae sneered, “Or maybe I should be calling him Lee Changsun?”

Cheondoong’s eyes snapped open at the name, his mind now alert and alarmed.  What did Yongjae just say?  Sitting up, Cheondoong looked over at Yongjae, who was holding onto an electronic tablet and peeking out the window with a disgustingly gleeful expression on his face.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cheondoong asked, both irritated and suddenly concerned.

Without moving from his spot at the window, Yongjae held out the tablet for Cheondoong to read. 

Cheondoong paused for a brief moment before rolling out of bed and grabbing the tablet from Yongjae.  Scrolling through with irritation, Cheondoong felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as he scanned the headlines.  Article after article, the headlines read about the sudden re-emergence of Lee Changsun in the form of Lee Joon.  The internet had practically been taken over with news feeds about this discovery and forum boards had blown up with both excitement and skepticism. 

Looking up, Cheondoong walked over the windows and peeked outside.  The street between the dorm and the KTA building was swarming with media representatives.  Like a scene out of a movie, news vans, cameras, and reporters flocked the streets, nearly blocking traffic. 

Reeling from the news, Cheondoong sat down on his bed and tried to process everything.  What the hell happened?  Last night had been peaceful and then… this.  How did the media get wind of this?  Who else knew about this secret except for Soyun?  Was it possible Lee-Song leaked this out to the press?  But… why would they do that?  There was no way Seungho and Joon would do this; it was way too risky.  So… who?

Throwing down tablet, Cheondoong grabbed his phone and threw on some clothes.  Running a hand through his hair, he slipped on his shoes and stepped out into the hall.  As he thundered down the stairs, he dialed Soyun’s number.  He froze, however, when security stopped him at the door.

“Excuse me,” the personnel said, “No one is allowed through the main entrance.  If you have a schedule, please exit through the back door.”

“Back…” Cheondoong repeated before the line picked up on his phone.  Nodding to the security personnel, Cheondoong stepped back into the stairway and took the call.

“What the hell is going on?” Soyun asked as soon as they connected, “Have you read the news reports?!”

“I guess it wasn’t you,” Cheondoong sighed, leaning against the wall, “I was just calling to ask you the same question.”

“I have no idea,” Soyun said, her voice both panicked and excited, “I woke up this morning and saw the news.  I can’t believe this got leaked to the press!”

“Yeah,” Cheondoong said, sighing, “Who else knows about this?  Besides you and me?  Not including Joonie-hyung and Seungho-hyung.”

“Seungho-hyung?” Soyun asked, sounding confused, “Who…?”

“He’s… a close friend of Joonie-hyung,” Cheondoong said slowly, “I’m assuming he knows; I haven’t actually confirmed it.”

“Other than you and me,” Soyun said, hesitantly, “There’s Kang Sangki-samchon…”  She trailed off and fell silent.

Cheondoong could sense it; she was hiding something.  “And…?” he asked, his voice calm and reassuring, “Who else, noona?  There’s someone else right?”  Who was this person that Soyun was trying to protect?  When all he received was silence, he sighed and said, “Noona, if I don’t know then I can’t-”

“My dad,” Soyun interrupted with a soft whisper, “My dad, Cheondoong-ah.  I… I think my dad was involved.”

Stunned, Cheondoong blinked away his surprise and replied, “Involved… in what?”  His heart raced in his chest as he thought of Kim Dongmin’s jolly face.  But even before he heard her answer, he knew…

“The kidnapping,” Soyun said weakly, “I think he was involved in the kidnapping… the hwajangnim too.”  She sounded breathy as if she was whispering; it was clear she was both upset about the secret and scared of being overheard.

Cheondoong leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.  The hwajangnim too?  How far did this conspiracy extend?  Now at least he knew what Soyun had been hiding from him.  She omitted the idea that her father was a part of the kidnapping to, no doubt, protect him from the law.

“There’s nothing we can do right now,” Cheondoong said, feeling overwhelmed, “Except to wait and see what happens next.”

As he bid Soyun farewell and hung up the call, Cheondoong lowered himself into a crouch and sighed.  Things were getting more and more complicated.  Soyun’s warning about Joon’s safety rang in his head.  Things were about to get hairy; more so than they have been thus far.  He just wished that at the end of the day, they would all come out safe and sound.

Author's notes:

Weird ending but I wasn't sure how to to do it lol.  We're entering into a state of limbo as everyone tries to figure out what to do next!  Stay tuned!