XII

      The bag on his head was smelling awfully bad, but he did not comment on it and just waited. He did not know who these people taking him were, and even less where he was now. It was cold, and even more without his coat these men had taken from him. His knees were starting to hurt, but he did not dare to move and just kneeled on this hard ground with his hands tied by rough ropes in his back.

He was lucky so far the worst these men had done to him was a punch in the face and deprived him from the warmth of his coat in this too cold place. He did not know what to expect, and he was not sure if all this had anything to do with Mun or not. He guessed it had, considering the detective's partner had flew the scene without a second though. He wondered if these people were working for Dongwan, but then, he did not want to believe his friend would let such thing happen to him.

Hyeri imposed herself in his mind then, and all he could think about was he would be late at school to pick her up. Imagining her waiting for him in the cold, alone made his heart ache and stomach twist, but then a more worrying thought crossed his mind.

What if these people were hurting her ? What if Mun and his team had her ?

He could not help panic at the thought, and shifting on his knees, he was tempted to just sit down, but he was too afraid of what would happen to him if he was letting his presence known. It was stupid, because these people already knew he was here -they were the ones taking him here after all- but with this smelling bag on his head and the silence surrounding him he had the illusion to be alone or forgotten.

　

      Too much time passed like this, and at some point his legs numbed and the headache started pounding once again. He was tiring, and his breathe echoed loudly against his eardrums, but despite his miserable state, no one took pity on him. It was like he was abandoned wherever he was, and the thought made him contemplate moving.

If everyone was gone, what was preventing him from sitting and taking this bag off ?

He was slowly deciding to do something when he heard a door creak open and several footsteps enter the place he was kept at. He listened attentively and panicked at how many people he presumed were coming to him. He could hear too many soles slap the concrete and hear too many breathes.

What was going on ? He had no idea, which scared him. Nothing like that had never happened to him before. He was just a peaceful single father doing his possible to raise his daughter and enjoying what life had to offer to him. Never he would have imagined himself in such kind of situation.

All this was Mun's fault, and this fact only made him hate the man even more and clench his fists in growing annoyance.

The people now close to him distracted him from his thoughts though, and tensing him, he held his breathe and listened. No one was talking yet, and all he could hear was the respiration of some people and the scrubbing of shoes on the ground.

He waited and felt like this situation would never change, but then the bag was snatched off his head and light blinded him. His first reflex was to squeeze his eyes shut and take deep breathes. He realized only now how this bag on his head had been suffocating, and remembering the people around him, he cracked open his eyes and looked up.

The one in charge standing in front of the group of men was tall, built and wearing a derisive smile on his not so bad looking face. In fact, he could be called an handsome man, but the reptilian smirk on his face had an ugly feeling to it and spoiling his overall good looking appearance -at least in Minwoo's eyes.

Then he met this man's gaze, and it was like cold water washed over him. The look in this elegant man's eyes was chilling, and he was not sure what it was, but something coming from this guy made his skin crawl and his heart beat faster in fear.

"So it's you." Spoke the man for Minwoo's greatest confusion, then he added. "Kim Dongwan's pet." The man eyed him -which he hated- and smirked. "Tell me, boy." He resumed, crouching in front of him slowly, and if he could have, Minwoo would have backed away from the man. "How much do you know about your dear friend Kim Dongwan ?"

He was confused, so confused that no matter how much he blinked and tried to think, nothing coherent came to his mind.

"Look at me !" He ordered with a hand suddenly clamping around his jaw to force him to stare at the man.

Panic was trying to take control over him and making him breathe heavily, and looking straight at this man in front on him, Minwoo realized how dear his situation was. There was something in this man's gaze letting him know nothing good would happen because of him, and the fact he was the main focus of such person made him shiver in apprehension.

"You have a daughter, don't you ?"

At the words, he drew on a breath stopping short in his throat. His pulse quicken and cold sweat pooled out of his skin. He could deal with Mun threatening his baby girl, but this man… this man was frightening and he could only imagine the worst if he was getting close to his daughter.

"What would you do for her ?"

"Anything." He answered instinctively, and the man's lips stretched predatorily.

 

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      When Hyesung arrived at the safe house, Junjin was still asleep and recovering from his horrible experience in the adjacent room. He thanked their doctor friend mentally and hoped the younger man would be alright. He could not help hate Eric for what had happened to Junjin, and throwing the bag containing the laptop on the couch, he crashed beside it, shut his eyes and let a deep breath out.

This case was getting worse and worse, and he could not believe he had nearly been caught by these men. He did not even know who they were, but he presumed they were working for Kim Dongwan.

Frustration grew on him at the thought he had not spotted them, and hitting the couch, he grabbed his cap, pulled it off and ruffled his hair.

All this was Eric's fault.

None of this would have happened if he had not insisted to work on this damn case. Junjin had told him something was fishy, he himself had told him they should think twice about it. But no. Eric wanted to work on this case, just because a good amount of cash was shown on the table. How he hated Eric sometimes -most of the times-

If he did not have such debt towards the bastard he would have quit this job a long time ago and walked away with Junjin. But he could not. He was a man keeping his promises, and he owed Eric big time, which was explaining why he was still working with him even if he hated his guts half of the time.

      Hearing a low whimper, he sat up then hurried at Junjin's side. The younger man was waking up and still sweating profusely. Wiping some of it with the clothes on the bedside table, he opened the water bottle and presented it at his younger's lips. Junjin drank slowly with his eyes squeezing shut, and he felt so pained to see his friend in such state. They were lucky he was still alive, and the fact Eric could not even understand how serious this was made his blood boil.

Eric was such an egoistic bastard only doing as wanted and never caring about what could happen to others. Everything was a game to him, and Hyesung hated the man because of that.

Junjin and him knew perfectly one day such carefree behavior would get them killed, but they could not leave either. Junjin did not want to leave him alone with Eric, and Hyesung did not want to leave without repaying his debt. All in all, they were stuck with the man, and they could only hope they would still be alive the day they would have the chance to quit this damn job.

Looking down at the whimpering younger man now stirring in bed, he started his sweaty hair. Junjin was in pain, and he hated the fact he could not do anything about it.

"It's okay Jinnie." He murmured in hope to appease the man moving in bed. "It's okay, shh." He said close to him, and after several soft caresses of his head and comforting words whispered at his ear, he eventually calmed down and resumed a peaceful sleep.

Sighing, Hyesung watched over his younger another couple of minutes before standing up and heading to the fridge where he grabbed a beer before sitting in front of his computers. He needed to know who these people were and where they were coming from. He could not accept the fact he had missed them, and hacking the CCTV system around Lee Minwoo's building, he rewind the tapes and played it a couple times before spotting these men.

He found them appearing in a car from some alleyway before running to them and grabbing the shorter guy. He tried to find more about these people's car, but it quickly disappeared in the mass. It was too average for him to isolate it, and in the end he just lost it. He could try with the license plate, but he realized the used car did not have one. He tried to look for the car missing a license plate, but he found nothing.

Sighing, he rewind the tape and watched attentively as Lee Minwoo was taken away. These men were effective and did not waste time. At the second as he escaped the place, they were all over the shorter guy and punching him without hesitation at his attempted resistance. Once in the car, he could not see what happened to Lee Minwoo -because the windows were tinted.

Scratching his head in irritation, it was at this moment Eric eventually showed up.

"Here you are." He commented, glaring up at the man entering the dark room only lighten by the computers' screens and a small bedside lamp.

"This guy was good. I thought I was never going to lose him." He answered with a grin before spotting the laptop. "Good, you've got it." He said, stepping to the couch where he grabbed the bag and took the laptop out. "What are you doing ?" He asked, noticing he had not touched Lee Minwoo's computer yet.

"There was a problem." He answered, and Eric was at his side the next second to watch the computer screen on which Lee Minwoo's kidnapping was replaying.

"What the hell ?" He breathed, his eyes opening wide.

Hyesung glanced at him and was surprised by the reaction. Eric was not one to care much about people, and even less the ones they were using for cases. But at this right moment the older man looked... concerned. It felt even more weird than what their actual case was becoming.

"He was jumped. If I'd knew these people were around…" He said flatly, and straightening up, Eric passed an agitated hand in his hair.

"." He snapped, visibly bothered. "Where is he ?" He asked then, suddenly back beside Hyesung.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know ? You've them on tape, just follow them !" He snapped back, and it was enough for Hyesung to be now annoyed.

"How ing genius mister know it all." He answered, irate. "Because you think I didn't try ?" He snapped back with a glare. "I can't find them. I need more time."

" ! , , ." He repeated, pacing right and left in agitation. "What about these guys. Who are they ?" He resumed, leaning back against Hyesung's chair.

"I don't know. I thought this guy following you was the only one. I guess they works together."

Eric's gaze turned dark, and Hyesung knew perfectly he was in for revenge and was ready for everything to get what he wanted.

"Find me this guy !" He ordered, pushing himself away. "I want to know everything about him."

Listening to where Eric had lost the man, he started looking for the CCTV cameras and quickly spotted Kim Dongwan's man's car. He followed it and quite easily found it. He gave the localization to the older man who did not even wait for him to look up this guy's background and disappeared from their underground hideout.

Sighing, Hyesung could not understand why Eric was so concerned about this Lee Minwoo. He was a man like any other else. Just a guy they had used to get what they wanted. What was so special about this Minwoo ? Why was Eric so worried about him. It had been anyone else, he would not even have blinked at the fact they were kidnapped because of them. It had been anyone else, Eric would have ordered him to just start working on the stolen data and get it back from the laptop.

Hyesung was really curious and annoyed at the same time. If Eric was being so concerned about him and Junjin, their younger would not be in such state right now.

Eric was a ing .

 

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      Hyesung sent him Kim Dongwan's man's information on his way to his localization. The hacker was keeping him update on his position and guiding him through the city. He even gave him a resume on their target.

Andy Lee, better known for working as a security manager for Kim Dongwan, was thirty-one and working for the attorney for the past five years. He had served in the special forces and fought in different part of the world before becoming a spy in North Korea. After being injured in a mission, he had to quit and Kim's firm recruited him. It was no surprise the Kims were surrounding themselves with such skillful and shady people. It was not mentioned on Andy Lee's file, but there was holes in his life.

For example, nothing was said about his missions in North Korea, and there was a gape between two-thousand-four and two-thousand-six -when he was eventually recruited by Kim's firm- The man on the file was the perfect well trained and effective soldier with only good appreciation about his work. Even after being injured in North Korea the report was saying he had bravely fought against the communist enemy and courageously risked his life for his country.

Eric could not understand how such guy could be working for Kim's firm. But he was too blinded by the fact Minwoo's was taken by these people to care much about Andy Lee. All he wanted was to find this guy and get Minwoo back. He could not let the younger man get hurt because of him. He had a daughter to take care of, and Minwoo was a good man he liked maybe more than he should. After looking into his life for so long it was like he knew this guy since forever, and he had got attached to him -as crazy as it could sound coming from him-

Everyone close to him would say he was not one to get concerned about others -and it was mostly true- but Minwoo was different, and he could not abandon him at his fate like anyone else. He was feeling responsible for what was happening to him, and he could not let him die without doing anything.

 

      When he eventually found this Andy guy, he started following him around waiting for an opportunity to get him alone. He presumed Andy had spotted him in the end because he just kept driving around and never stopped.

Hyesung cursed him over the phone and told him to just drop it and come back, but he ignored the hacker, hung up and kept following Andy.

The latter leaded him to a deserted area in the old neighborhood. He eventually got out of his car and entered a two stairs building where he did not hesitate to follow him. He was careful on his way, with his hand never leaving his gun and an eye glued on Andy's figure walking further inside the building before stopping in a big empty room with windows missing their frames and letting the cold air blow inside. Furrowing his brows, he wondered what the guy could be doing, but then he jumped on the opportunity and aimed his gun at Andy's head.

"Where is he ?" He asked threateningly, and not answering, Andy slowly turned around with his hands in sight before staring back at him coldly.

"You should lower your weapon." He told him, and Eric snarled, feeling like shooting this guy.

"Tell me where he is !"

"I've been looking for you." He answered calmly with his hands still up at his sides. "Mister Kim Dongwan would like to recover his personal data."

Scoffing, Eric cocked his gun and said, "You can forget about it man, they're mine now."

Andy did not budge and looked at him blankly. It was unnerving, and Eric almost shot him just because of that.

"Then we have a problem." Spoke another voice in his back, and turning around, he was met by three armed men pointing their guns at him and threatening to shoot him if he was doing anything stupid.

Standing between them, Kim Dongwan smirked.

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Well, I'm almost sure a certain person's gonna be frustrated Minwoo wasn't much in this chapter (but he was the main focus despite it ^^).

Anyway, I hope you liked it and enjoyed the little JinSung moment and RicSyung Oil&Water one =))

Well, next chapter will have more Minwoo (and you'll know what this man want from him ^^)

See ya !