Sometimes Taeil wondered why he still bothered after all the trouble he would get himself into every single time someone couldn’t get his together. Being the kindhearted idiot he was he would always cover others asses and today again was such a day. Well, he didn’t have a choice really.

It was currently in the middle of the night and too freaking cold to his liking as he ran to an abandoned playground, a creepy place far from civilization and he would never go there anyway, because for him it was forbidden territory. But he had to be there as soon as possible and he probably didn’t have much time left as he got a call from his mate Yukwon, telling him his own gang got in trouble with the one from the south - probably the only gang that existed Taeil never wanted trouble with. Never!

And yes, Taeil was the leader of the east gang, though aside from s nobody really knew about it. He was more like the hidden leader, pulling strings in the back, barely ever giving away his identity and only fighting if he couldn’t avoid it. That’s also what he’s taught his followers.

Don’t misunderstand though. He’s strong, really strong and he also doesn’t hate fighting per se. But he hates hurting people and taking advantage of the situation. Sadly not everyone of the group thinks like him and unfortunately this leads to disputes with other gangs when he is not around. 

Like this very night. 

The small man arrives at the barely lit playground, already hearing the shouts and insults from afar, not even seeing those damn troublemakers yet.

He stopped for a moment, catching his breath, and let out an annoyed sigh. Pulling his scarf over his mouth and readjusting his glasses he started walking again. Yukwon, who saw him in the distance, waved him with a distressed expression, a sign to hurry.

The small man sighed once again and ran over to the crowd of maybe 50 men, screaming, not far from actually beating each other up. The leader got into the group of people unnoticed, face showing no emotions whatsoever. He was glad to realize that even though it seemed like a big chaos, both gangs were at least still neatly split in the middle, facing each other instead of already being mixed up and a mess. 

Just when Taeil wanted to shut everybody up he saw a tall man with fierce eyes, face just as emotionless as his own and not showing any intention of ending the argument. Brown wavy hair was peeking out under his hood. He watched quietly, observing every movement. 

That guy was the leader of the south gang for sure.

¨SHUT THE UP! EVERY - SINGLE - ING - ONE!¨ Taeil screamed and it got quiet immediately. He wasn’t a person to curse easily but sometimes his impatient side got the better of him. No one noticed him before, some were even searching for the source of the sudden noise, not seeing him due to his small height.

¨I want to know what happened. I want a report. Now.¨ He continued calmly but determined, slowly walking to the center.

¨Those bastards attacked us out of no-¨ Started Jonwoo, the troublemaker in the east gang.

¨Shut up Jonwoo, I want a reliable source. Yukwon, you tell me what happened.¨

Yukwon, who never talked much, was startled by the sudden mention of his name but knew better than to refuse to obey when Taeil was in a bad mood. He cleared his throat and began to explain.

¨Uhm… some guys from our group entered this playground… about an hour ago maybe?¨ 

You could hear Jonwoo growl in disagreement. 

¨And a few members of the south gang noticed them, I guess they started to argue.¨

¨So with other words: it’s our fault. Right?¨ The short leader asked.

¨Yeah, you could say that.¨

Taeil rolled his eyes and turned around to his followers. He shoved his cold hands in his pockets, shivering under the air of this freezing night. 

¨Is that true?¨ He asked his fellow members.

Nobody answered, some were avoiding his strong gaze. He took it as a yes.

Again, he turned around to face the man with the sharp eyes.

¨We’ll take the punishment.¨ He simply stated, causing an explosion of outrage behind him.

Now he’s had it. He was so pissed, he could beat up his own men.

¨Quiet!¨ He whispered dangerously, making everyone fall silent.

¨Why are you the ones getting mad, huh? You caused this whole situation and I’ll be the one taking your again. I am the one who has to deal with the consequences so stop crying, are we in kindergarten?!¨

He looked at the other leader.

¨So, what’s the punishment?¨

Taeil heard some guys from the south gang mumbling.

‚He is the leader?‘ ‚he looks like a 14 years old‘ ‚Look at how mighty he feels, I want to teach him a lesson.‘ ‚Wanna beat him up? Haha‘

Their leader remained silent, not uttering a word. Instead he stared at Taeil, he stared right into his eyes, right through his eyes.

¨Jiho?¨ A smaller man asked him. Taeil knew that guy, Park Kyung, he went to the same university as him.

Finally the taller one decided to say something.

¨Hmm… It’ll be enough if you give us back what was ours to begin with. The park near the station will belong to us from now on. You are forbidden to enter it.¨

¨Deal.¨ Taeil replied shortly without hesitation.

Again his group started a commotion.

¨What the , we fought for this territory!!!¨ Someone shouted at him.

¨I told you it’s your fault. I don’t want to hear any complain or I’ll ban you.¨ The short male spat out, leaving them no choice but to obey.

Taeil already intended to walk away, forcing his gang to retreat as well. He didn’t know why exactly but he lingered in his movement and turned around once more, feeling a heavy gaze on him.

Jiho, the leader, was still stabbing him with his stare, while his own group was wandering off. No one seemed to notice as they were the only ones left after a few minutes.

¨What¨ Taeil asked, not wanting to deal with this anymore. Though, he was a bit curious about the man in front of him.

¨You don’t look like someone, who enjoys this kind of life.¨ The taller man eventually stated, exposing a rough, deep voice.

¨You mean taking care of those fools? They need me, if I were to leave… all of them had a terrible past, including me, so I know how they feel…¨ He said, remembering his fathers hands, and how they beat and punched him, until he couldn’t feel the pain anymore, only to be replaced by a numb feeling und the sight of his own blood covering the floor he slumped onto.

¨I’m not teaching them how to fight, him teaching them how to stop fighting and how to solve problems without hurting someone. It may sound stupid but I’m only fighting to prevent them from getting harmed. I even forced every one of them to join some kind of sport, like soccer or basketball.¨

Taeil let out an uncharacteristic chuckle causing Jihos eyes to widen in surprise. He regained his composure quickly.

Taeils smile vanished.

¨Don’t underestimate me, just because I have this kind of attitude doesn’t mean I can’t send somebody to hospital.¨ He ended his sentence sharply and left. He was tired and he had to work at the pet shop early in the morning. it was probably around 2am and he had to get up at 7am already - life officially .

~

Usually people say you look older when you get no sleep. Dark circles, swollen eyes, wrinkles… Some even say you start to grow grey hair. It’ll make you look old.

Of course this wasn’t the case for Taeil. Of course not.

He doesn’t understand why himself but whenever he’s suffering from lack of sleep, it makes him look like a child. Maybe it’s the way he yawns or his tiny high-pitched sneezes that magically appear when he’s tired. Or maybe it’s because he always forgets to act like an adult out of exhaustion but fact is, he was asked three times today, if he was already allowed to work and if he wasn’t still too young. In moments like this he wants to shove his covered tattoos in those peoples faces and show them his well built body to prove just how adult he is. 

Very mature of him.

He ended his shift, waving his co-worker goodbye as he left the store when he saw the massive amount of people technically crawling through the city.

Ahhh, damn, I forgot. Today is Saturday… and it’s afternoon too…

Taeil rolled his eyes in annoyance. He had enough of human interaction for now and he didn’t want to squeeze himself through this endless crowd, so he decided to take another route for once. It would take a little longer but he didn’t mind. He turned into a small alleyway that had a dead end. Since he knew this way he also knew he could walk up the rusty metal ladder, walk over the roof of the small building, jump on the big garbage can, continue walking another cramped alleyway and end up on an old street that would lead him to the side of a tiny forest.

He followed the bumpy, broken down street. Weed was growing in between the broken pavement and old signs and houses were falling apart. It wasn’t ugly, it was nature taking back what it once owned. He though it was a pretty sight.

Taeil reached the forest and smiled happily at the scenery. It was autumn and the formerly green leaves were starting their play of colors like every year.

He forgot about the time while strolling around, trailing a broad path through the forest as the sun light shone through the already sparse trees. it was then that he noticed that the sun began to set, leaving the sky tinted in a beautiful orange and pink. 

Totally lost in thoughts Taeil stared at the sky, not realizing that he kept walking without looking what’s in front of him. Suddenly he felt a familiar, piercing sensation. He rapidly turned his gaze to the source of the feeling and he didn’t even need to see to know, what the cause was.

The young man met a pair of sharp eyes, shamelessly glaring at him. Taeil stopped walking and observed the other man.

Jiho, the leader of the south gang, sat on an old bench on the right from the path, legs pulled up to his chest and his cheek resting on his knees. Even in this innocent position he still looked scary and dangerous.

But somehow, maybe because of the pretty sunset and the colorful leaves or maybe because of the whole atmosphere, Taeil thought that the taller male looked really gorgeous. Jiho could stare as much as he wanted but he couldn’t intimidate him.

Just when the small man thought he’d gone crazy for thinking this way, said one stood up and approached him without a word. Taeil didn’t move and watched him in puzzlement, though, as an experienced gang leader, he knew how to cover up emotions by simply not showing them. Good leaders had to be good actors.

Suddenly Jiho pressed him harshly against the next best tree making Taeil gasp, already preparing himself for a difficult fight. He glared at his opponent suspiciously. 

They were so close, they could feel each others breath on their skin. The atmosphere was tense, every normal human would have run for their life by now, not turning back. Well, every normal human.

Taeil was just seconds away from shoving the other man and attacking him when he unexpectedly felt a pair of lips tightly pressed on his own. He was too confused to keep his composure when he felt Jiho his lower lip. He opened his mouth in shock and he probably should have known that Jiho would use this opportunity to slip his tongue in.

He really didn’t mean to but this surprising action made him moan slightly, only encouraging the taller one to press his own body weight against the other and to deepen their kiss.

When Jiho finally broke it Taeil could only stare at him breathlessly, eyes wide open.

What the did just happen?!

Jiho, who still didn’t move the slightest millimeter only shrugged.

¨It’s not my fault, you practically invited me.¨

¨Which part of me?!¨ Taeil asked, still shocked.

¨Excuse me? You moaned into my mouth. You could’ve just pushed me away y’know.¨

Taeil was lost for words at his bluntness but even more at his own reaction. He could make up as many excuses as he wanted but he couldn’t deny that he actually enjoyed it a bit. 

What the heck was was wrong with him?

Jiho looked around quickly until he faced the other male again.

¨Well then¨ he only murmured before he put his lips back on Taeils, who kind of accepted his fate to his own surprise and closed his eyes. This totally wasn’t like him at all but damn - those lips. He couldn’t really resist, even if he tried.

Jiho didn’t stay at his lips for long though, he slowly worked his way down Taeils jaw to his neck, where he his skin a little, leaving behind a red mark to claim his territory. He continued until he arrived at his collarbone and slightly bit it which got him a shaky moan in response.

Jiho hummed happily, content to have found the other mans weakness. He pressed his leg between the other leaders, earning a groan and let his hand slide lower.

¨We are not done yet.¨ He whispered in Taeils ear before nibbling on it.

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new chapter with a teenytiny bit y time xD

hope you liked it ❤