XV

      Dongwan's house looked as luxurious as Minwoo had always imagined. It was richly decorated and perfectly maintained. He could not see a trace of dust or a single object out of place. At first glance it only made the place more magnificent and beautiful, but after a closer look, all this perfection up to the cover on the bed neatly placed without the slightest wrinkle or corner misplaced actually made his throat tighten.

Everything looked too perfect, too controlled. It made him uneasy, but out of politeness he complimented the house and was not sure if what he saw on Dongwan's face was a small smile or grimace.

He decided to not waste time on such insignificant detail and just thanked his friend advising him to take some rest while he was taking care of everything else.

Minwoo wanted to protest and just get over with this madness as soon as possible, but he remembered he had a dead line and no way of contacting the man having his daughter. With the thought he had no other choice than wait for Sunday to arrive, he sighed and nodded.

The attorney smiled, stared at him for an unnerving second before taking his leave.

Looking around at the room he was assigned, he felt out of place and uncomfortable. It was beautiful though, with a big bed he was sure would be the most comfortable one he ever tried, but all this screamed fake to him. As if it was hiding something behind the perfection required. He wondered if it was Dongwan's wish to have his house maintained like this or if it was just the maid in charge who had OCD.

Too tired as much physically than mentally to think about it, he just crashed on the bed and opted for some sleep. He could not do anything for now anyway, and the best he could do was get some strengths back in anticipation to whatever would happen. He wanted to believe Hyeri would be given back without a problem, but somewhere deep down he knew there was more than chances for things to go south.

Was it because Dongwan knew everything about the deal ? Or because these people having his daughter were not trustful ? He could not tell and just hoped he would be back at home with his baby girl soon to forget about all this.

 

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      The wide room he was using as his office was filled with silence. Dongwan did not like this place, in fact, he hated it, but it was useful when he wanted to get some time away from everything and everyone. The thought Minwoo was thinking it was his actual home made him smile, but the little notebook on his desk quickly distracted him.

He could not believe ShiHoo was back, and even less he got his hand on Minwoo and Hyeri. The man was a bastard, one to deal with the worst of the worst black market had to offer. If one wanted an organ in the twenty-four hours to come, ShiHoo was the man to contact (but better be ready to pay the price for it). Most people desperate enough to get in touch with ShiHoo were ending badly.

Dongwan hated how the man had to work. It was messy and gruesome, without any kind of rules excepted his. ShiHoo was after money and power, and he was ready to everything to get it.

Thinking Minwoo was in contact with this bastard, that he was at his mercy made Dongwan's blood boil. It was making him sick in the stomach to imagine this man's dirty hands and presence on Minwoo. He knew the man too well, knew what horror he was responsible of and he could not accept this bastard got so close to the only person he wanted to keep safe.

      Taking the little notebook in his hand, he observed it longer and knew he did not have a choice. ShiHoo needed to be stopped, but Minwoo needed this little item to get the reason of his life back. Dongwan hated the fact Hyeri was entangled in all this, and he sincerely hoped she was and would be alright. But most importantly, he wanted to keep Minwoo safe.

 

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      Knowing Minwoo was now safe, Eric should be feeling better and forget about the man, but he could not. Something inside him was always reminding him about the man he had dragged into such mess. He knew before starting the mission that things could take a wrong turn, but never he had envisaged he would get so concerned about the man.

"Eric !" Hearing Hyesung, he snapped out of his thoughts and joined the man in front of his computers. "I've got your man." He announced before handing him a piece of paper. "The guy's a sick son of a ." He commented, and Eric did not need to ask why when he read the information.

Park ShiHoo was everything a criminal was supposed to be. He was the head of a particularly violent criminal organization dealing mostly with human trafficking. The man was doing ugly business, and Eric already wanted his head. From ion to child and organ trafficking, the man liked everything related to blood and making good money.

From what Hyesung found, Park ShiHoo was arrested once, for the assault of some woman who disappeared suddenly so the charges were dropped. Since then, he was out of the radar and nobody really knew where he was. Some reports were mentioning China, others USA or even Thailand. In some, no one knew where the guy spent the past eight years until recently.

Eric felt his stomach tighten at the thought Minwoo had to deal with such guy, and he sincerely hoped he would never have to face the man ever again. Who knew what this bastard would do this time.

The possibility sent Eric into action, and leaving the hideout, he headed without hesitation to the hospital Minwoo was resting at.

      Left behind without any kind of explanation, Hyesung could only sigh before looking over at the backroom Junjin was resting in. The younger man had been sleeping all this time, and even if he was still in pain, he looked slightly better now. Maybe it was all due to the poor lighting in the room, but Hyesung wanted to believe Junjin was better. He was blaming himself enough for not checking on his friend sooner, no need to be reminded of how badly hurt he was.

Joining his younger in the room, he realized he was waking up, and after coming back with some food, he watched Junjin eat eagerly the sandwich he handed him and gulp down the water bottle. Once done, he smiled to Hyesung and asked for some update. The hacker did not really want to fill in his friend right now, but Junjin was stubborn and clever. He would know right away something was up anyway if he was refusing to answer.

Considering Hyesung was such a bad liar, it would be just easier to tell everything to Junjin now.

      The younger man seemed as shocked as Hyesung was when he found Junjin on this bench earlier on. He did not seem that surprised though, but he was a bit confused about the turn the events had taken. Both of them had smelt something was fishy about this case, but they did not know it would become so ugly.

If Hyesung did not know much about this Park ShiHoo, Junjin seemed to know a lot more, or at least, to know enough to pale and feel sick.

"I've met him on one of Eric's infiltration plan. I was supposed to infiltrate a private club our target was going to very often. I didn't want to do it, but Eric didn't leave me a choice and said I would get in more easily. Why ? I've no idea, but apparently I'd better looks to get accepted. Which I can't argue about." He added with a grin to which Hyesung answered.

The hacker could remember this case Junjin was talking about. It was about some guy working at a company. His CEO was suspicious of him and suspecting him of selling private information to their concurrence. Their job was to follow the guy and get proofs of such sayings (which they did in the end, among a couple other ugly things).

Hyesung could not remember any Park ShiHoo at the time though.

"Well, long story short, I got in and found our target, took some pictures of him handing some envelop to a guy we identified later on as the CEO of a concurrent company. I followed him out of the club then. He took the back exit, which was in itself suspicious, so I decided to trail him. That's when I met Park ShiHoo."

The way Junjin swallowed and stared into space let Hyesung know he had not a good memory of the encounter. He started worrying something had happened to his younger, and this only thought made him so angry after Eric.

"Our target apparently had some business with the man, and when I stepped out of the club to the back alleyway, I found Park and our guy in a rather worrying situation. The guy's nose was already broken and blood was oozing out of it, but the worst was the ice pick ShiHoo was pressing under the man's eye. I swear Hyesung, I thought he was about to pop it out, which he threatened to do if the guy was not paying them real soon."

Junjin shifted on the little bed and took a breathe. "I didn't want to be spotted, but the exit door shut behind me and attracted these people's attention. I thought I was as good as dead, and when Park turned around to face me, I swear I almost pissed my pants. The guy was creepy. Full of predatory smiles and hawks like eyes. He made me feel like he was about to cut me in pieces, devour me and make me feel every second of it."

Hyesung shivered at the mental image. Junjin was not the bravest guy on earth, but he was not a coward either, which let the hacker know this Park ShiHoo must be something to scare the younger man so much.

"Our target was shaken and hurt, but he didn't hesitate to fly the place when the attention was diverted from him. I don't know if at this moment what scared me more was the threatening presence of the three in front of me or the look on Park's face as he watched the man run away. It was like… like… I don't know. Like he could have catch him in a snap of a finger if he wanted and make him regret even blinking while he was looking away."

Shivering, Junjin hid his face in his hands and calmed down.

"You've never told me that." Remarked Hyesung, and the younger man stiffened, glanced up at him, his lips before opening his mouth.

"Well, Eric told me to keep it quiet." 

Of course. Hyesung was not surprised but once again annoyed because of the older man.

"He didn't want you to get mad at him again."

Hyesung snickered and met Junjin's eyes. "Because he freaking knew he was putting you in danger by sending you in this club."

"That yes and…" Junjin suddenly bit his lip and shut up.

"What ?" Narrowed his eyes the hacker, but the younger man refused to answer. "Junjin !" He snapped, and flinching, Junjin knew he did not have a choice.

He had said too much already and knew he would have his kicked by Eric because of what he was about to say, but as crazy as it could sound, he rather have his kicked by Eric than Hyesung. The hacker was scary and dangerous when he wanted to, and he knew better than get the man's wrath directed towards him.

"Well, how do I put this ?" He began with a nervous smile and chuckle Hyesung did not find amusing at all. "Hum… Park he… he kind of tried to kill me."

"What ?"

Expected reaction from the hacker, but Junjin still flinched because of it.

"Hum, yeah. He… he stabbed me with this ice pick of his and threatened me to finish his work if I was uttering a single word about what I saw."

Hyesung could not believe it, and trying to swallow his anger, he never really managed to do so.

"Is that why you disappeared for a couple days back there ? You said you were taking some time away, Eric said you just needed some vacation." Hyesung's voice gained octaves as disbelieve grew on him. "Were you all this time hiding away the fact you were stabbed ?" At this point, the hacker was purely yelling, and Junjin did not dare to comment on it.

"Hum, yes. I was at the hospital in fact."

Hyesung thought he was about to kill someone. Not Junjin, because he liked the man and cherished him like a brother, but Eric…

Oh God ! Hyesung swore he would kill Eric himself when he would be back.

 

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      Sneezing, Eric rubbed his nose and looked around the hospital he had just entered. Finding the reception, he asked for Lee Minwoo and had the bad surprise to hear the man was checked out already.

How could this be possible ? Minwoo was signed in only a few hours ago, how could he already be out ?

"Did he leave alone ?" He asked, and showing his badge, he did not need anything else to get the wanted information.

"No. A certain Kim Dongwan actually signed him out. Do you want the man's information ?" She asked and he accepted just to cross check with the info he himself had about Kim Dongwan.

"By any chance, do you know where they went to ?"

The receptionist smiled tightly in apology and shook her head, "Sorry."

"It's okay, thank you." He smiled back charmingly before heading back to his car.

Once inside, he let a deep sigh out and wondered what could be going on. Despite everything Kim Dongwan was, he seemed to care enough about Lee Minwoo to not risk his health by taking him out of the hospital so soon. So, what could be the reason of it ? Was it Minwoo's will, or was it another event threatening his life ?

Gritting his teeth, Eric started his car and called Hyesung.

 

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      Minwoo was smiling peacefully in his sleep, until he jolt awake in panic with sweat running down his forehead and his heart beating madly. Looking around the room he was in, he realized he just had a bad dream and relaxed.

Passing a hand in his hair, he got out of bed, found the bathroom on the right and splashed some water on his face. He was feeling shaky after the worrying dream turning into a nightmare, and thinking his baby girl could be hurt made him feel like crying and screaming. He could not believe he had let these people take his daughter away from him, and he could not believe he was there, waiting for Sunday to arrive.

All he wanted to do was contact this bastard having his daughter to tell him he had what he wanted. He could not stand the fact Hyeri was away from him in some dangerous people's hands. It was making him sick in his stomach and utterly angry after himself. His only duty was to protect his daughter, he just had to protect her, had promised to always keep her safe, and here he was, unable to do anything to live up to his promise.

He ing hated this situation, and glaring at his reflect in the mirror, he swore he would kill anyone daring to hurt his daughter. He could forget and walk away with people threatening him, blackmailing him, hurting him, but he would never let go if Hyeri was hurt in any way.

No one was touching his baby girl, no one.

Determinate, the man staring back at him in the mirror looked foreign. He could not remember being so angry and looking so worrying before in his life, but with his daughter's life in danger, he was not feeling like himself anymore, and if this new man glaring back at him murderously would be the one getting Hyeri back home, then he would embrace his presence.

 

      Dongwan dined with him but did not say much. In fact, diner was pretty much silent, and Minwoo did not mind it. He barely had an appetite considering the situation, but his friend advised him to just eat and get some strengths back. Which he did.

Hours seemed to stretch forever, and when he stepped in the little garden in the middle of the house, he could not believe how good it felt to get some fresh air. It helped him clear his head and calm down a bit. He managed to get his rationality back and almost persuaded himself everything would be alright. Dongwan had the notebook this man wanted and would give it to him tomorrow for the trade. Everything was going smoothly, and there was no reason for things to go south.

Minwoo sincerely wanted to believe these people would play by the rules and just give him back his daughter, but the feeling in his stomach was still there, and he worried all night long about what was about to happen in a few hours.

Which prevented him to get any real sleep.

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Well, you'd the perspective of almost everyone ^^

I hope you liked it (even if I know some of you will complain about the lack of Minwoo xD)

This story started with Minwoo but it broaden its horizon and Shinhwa are 6 after all, and I've fun writing about them all.

I think it's the first time I manage to write a fic with ALL the Shinhwa members. And you know what's the best ? They all have a background story =D I've a distinct identity for all of them and it makes it so easier to write about them ^^