"Rescue me, baby. Only your touch can rescue me."
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Hyungwon stared at the empty space on the other side of the bed. "He said he'd come back..." The man whispered under his breath, picking at his cuticles.
A knock on the door caught his attention. Hyungwon turned his head right as the door opened and Changkyun entered. "How are you doing?" The younger asked, making his way to the bed. Hyungwon looked away from the man, keeping his mouth shut.
"Is there anything new on him..?" he then decided to ask, ignoring the question about his well-being. That didn't matter right now. At least not in his own head.
It had been three days by now but there had been nothing on Hoseok. His phone was turned off so they couldn't track him that way.
Changkyun sighed. "Nothing.. I'm sorry." The man said, carefully sitting down on the bed. Hyungwon took a deep breath. "I... What if he's hurt? Dead even?" He mumbled out breathily. "This is my fault. I.. He's hurt because..."
Hyungwon felt his hand being grabbed but he pulled away immediately. He didn't deserve the comfort the other man was offering. "Of course it happens when I'm hurt... I should've just ignored the pain..."
"Hyungwon. Speak any more and I will rip out your tongue." Changkyun threatened, sounding serious. So Hyungwon, for once, decided to listen and closed his mouth giving the younger a chance to continue. "What would you have done to prevent this?" "I don't fucking know. Anything!" Hyungwon argued back, squeezing his palms into fists.
"You're unbelievable. How many times does it need to be said? You aren't the fucking problem here!" Changkyun hissed, frustrated.
Hyungwon pulled his lips into a tight line. "It sure does feel like it... Wouldn't it be better if I had just gone there the first chance? Kihyun would still be here with you and hell, maybe you wouldn't be their only target right now." He said lowering his voice, chuckling sadly. He felt bad for lashing out.
He was pathetic.
"While I miss Kihyun, I really do and I'd do anything just to have him back here, it's odd to think about us without you here." Changkyun sighed and stood up. Hyungwon lowered his gaze down to his lap. "You should rest, Hyung. Let's hope we get something tomorrow."
Hyungwon lied in bed awake. He couldn't fall asleep once again. No matter how hard he had tried. It was only 12 am, but he knew should have been sleeping as his body was screaming for rest.
His mind was clouded with fear and worry over Hoseok.
The man picked up his phone and opened it, eyes squinting due to the bright screen. Before he could click on anything on the screen, it started ringing.
"Won..." he mumbled, eyes widening as he registered the caller ID. The man shot up from his lying position and answered the call. "That was fast." Mr. Chae's voice came through the phone, crushing the man's hopes of Wonho being safe.
"You mother fucker..." Hyungwon started, scrambling out of bed. Moving still hurt, but the pain was setting slightly better and the tall man would have ignored it even if it wasn't getting better. "We have to work on those manners of yours..."
"Where is he?" Hyungwon spat angrily, heading out of the bedroom despite his body wanting to go and crash under him. The hitman got into the hallway, to be met with Jooheon leaning on the wall outside his room.
He knew the guys were keeping an eye on him... Just not to this extent.
The blond man raised an eyebrow at the man who had emerged from the bedroom. Hyungwon broke eye contact almost immediately."He's right here... Still wasting air. He's one hell of a guy, you know." Mr. Chae commented, making Hyungwon clench his teeth. He closed the bedroom door and headed past Jooheon who instantly started following him.
Hoseok wasn't wasting air; Mr. Chae was.
Jooheon was asking questions, but Hyungwon ignored him, too focused on the shit going on on the other end of the line.
"He's even coming back to his senses." The bastard stated followed by a slapping sound. "Don't you.." He started, but the words went unheard by the older man as he started speaking again.
He had laid a hand on Hoseok... How fucking dare he? Hyungwon held back all the possible insults he could come up with, knowing they wouldn't help and the worst-case scenario: would make things even worse.
"You have until sunrise to get here, Hyungwon. Don't show up and I'll kill him." If it already hadn't at this point, Hyungwon's blood started to boil at the statement. He snarled, hitting the closest wall probably waking up the rest of the residents in the house. "Don't you fucking dare to hurt him! Where the hell are you?" He hissed, trying to keep his voice down but failing miserably.
Jooheon grabbed him by his arm in an attempt to stop him from leaving the house. "Too late for that now, isn't it? Anyhow, I'll send you the location. See you soon.." The man chuckled mockingly before the call ended, leaving Hyungwon clenching the device.
He lowered it only after feeling it vibrate, indicating the fucker had sent the location. Hyungwon clicked open the message, immediately recognizing the address. That mother fucker...
They were in fucking Gwangju. That would... That would take forever to get there.
"Was that..?" Jooheon asked, not feeling the need to finish the question. Hyungwon stared at the screen for a moment before ripping his arm from Jooheon's grasp. "I'm going," he muttered and headed for the front door.
"You're not going alone." The younger hissed, trying to grab onto the pissed-off man. Hyungwon shoved the guy back. "None of you are coming with me. He... That fuck will kill all of you." He spat and started to pull on his shoes.
"And you think he'll let Wonho go, just because you go there? He'll just kill him once you agree to whatever he'll shove in your face... Once he fucking hits you over the head so you can't escape or whatever the fuck! That's Wonho's end and.." Jooheon stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath before grabbing Hyungwon's wrist tightly. "Hate to say this but if that happens, then it will be your fault."
Hyungwon avoided looking at the man, feeling sick at the words that had fallen out of his mouth. It would be his fault. If it already wasn't; it would be in a few hours. He dug out one of the cars' keys from a jacket that was hung up on the wall "You'll stay in the fucking car..." He muttered, heading out of the safe house and ran.
The two got to the car and Hyungwon got into the driver's seat even if the other had tried to argue with the choice. "I know where they are... It'll be faster." Hyungwon grumbled, starting up the vehicle.
You're going on a suicide mission. Is Wonho really worth all of this?
Yes. Yes, he was. Wonho deserved everything and more.
"Where are we going?" Jooheon asked, finally daring to open his mouth a bit over an hour into the drive. Hyungwon tightened his grip on the steering wheel, at first considering not replying to the younger male but decided to open his mouth. Since he was coming along, he should know in case something bad happens. "Gwangju." He simply responded.
They had a little under four more hours to get there so that was almost an hour hours to spare. Hyungwon's fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
"I'm texting the others..." Jooheon muttered quietly. Hyungwon ignored the statement. As long as they didn't come after them. No one else needed to get hurt anymore.
Even if they did, they were an hour behind. They wouldn't make it in time for the action.
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Minhyuk snapped awake by the sound of the front door closing loudly. But other than that nothing else echoed in the silent building.
The silver-head climbed out of his bed tiredly and made his way to the hallway outside the room. Changkyun had seemed to be awakened by the sound too as he came out almost immediately after the older.
"Did you hear that too?" Minhyuk asked in an attempt to confirm that he wasn't hearing things. Changkyun nodded a little. "Yeah..."
The older of the two looked around the hallway, not seeing Jooheon outside Hyungwon and Wonho's room like he was supposed to be. "Check the rest of the house. I'll go wake up Hyunwoo." Minhyuk commanded the still half-asleep man. "Yeah.. Sure."
Before making his way to Hyunwoo's room, Minhyuk walked to the couple's room opening the door. His eyes landed on the empty bed, worry instantly growing on his features. The covers were haphazardly thrown to the side, implying Hyungwon had gotten up all of a sudden.
"Fuck.." The man whispered under his breath before rushing to Hyunwoo's room and walking in without knocking. "Hyung. Get up. We have a problem." He raised his voice, walking to the older's bed.
Minhyuk shook the sleeping man by his shoulder, trying to wake him. "Yah! Son Hyunwoo!" MInhyuk yelled, finally getting a reaction from the other. "Wha... What are you yelling for..?" The man groaned tiredly, rolling onto his back.
"Hyungwon's gone somewhere. Along with Jooheon. Get your ass up." The younger hissed, slapping the sleepy man on the cheeks a few times.
"He... What? When..?" Hyunwoo muttered, sitting up trying to adjust to being awake. "I heard the door slam just a moment ago..."
The older sighed, turning his head to the other man. "They might have just gone out for a walk..." The guy spoke, before realizing how dumb it sounded. "Wait.. Hyungwon's not... Jooheon wouldn't let him."
"Yeah, exactly. Now get up and come to the kitchen or where ever Changkyun is."
The three had gathered in the kitchen, trying to wake themselves up. Hyungwon kept declining their calls and so did Jooheon. "They must be together.." Changkyun stated quietly.
Minhyuk ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated manner. "Changkyun get your laptop thing. Let's check Hyungwon's call history." He sighed, earning a confused look. "It doesn't work like that, sorry." the guy sighed, leaning back in his seat. "We'll have to wait for one of them to contact us."
Being awake was hard for all of them. No one had been sleeping well in the past days and avoiding even more sleep definitely was not doing any good for them.
Changkyun's phone was the first one to go off, The man instantly reached for it. It had been an hour since the two men had left and no matter how many times they called them, neither would respond.
The two others' phones went off too and everyone read the message Jooheon had sent them. "Let's go," Shownu said, standing up. The younger two were quickly out of the room.
Jooheon
We're going to Gwangju.
I'll text the exact location when we get there...
Mr. Chae called Hyungwon through Wonho's phone.
I'm scared he'll do something
They were an hour behind the other two but hopefully, nothing extreme would go down. Though knowing Mr. Chae; shit would happen.
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After three hours of driving, Hyungwon turned the car onto the familiar road. It was overgrown and unkept ut at least nature had its chance to shine. Jooheon could sense Hyungwon's uneasiness. It was basically pouring out of him.
"Where are we going?" The younger asked carefully. Hyungwon gave him a quick glance before turning his eyes back to the rocky road. "Doesn't matter. Don't come out of the car.. Not until they leave... Whether it's with or without me." He commanded and stopped the car further away from the end of the road.
Hyungwon leaned back in the seat, shutting off the vehicle and throwing the keys to Jooheon. "I'll find my way back... One way or another. Tell the others to not worry too much." He spoke calmly, trying to keep his voice stable. He was clearly nervous as seen from his shaking hands.
"You... Hyungwon, you're not actually considering..." Jooheon started and Hyungwon lowered his gaze to his hands. The man swallowed slightly before raising his head a little. "If it's the only way to get them off of you guys... Losing me is better than losing the five of you." He said, letting out a sigh and opening the car door.
"Stay safe. You should be able to hear gunshots from this distance. They echo well in the area." Hyungwon said, climbing out of the seat. Jooheon stared at the older man, clearly hesitant on letting him go even if he must have been aware that Hyungwon wasn't going to stand down. "And how do you know that?" Jooheon asked, voice displaying confusion and uneasiness. Hyungwon chuckled in an attempt to calm the other down. "I used to live here." He admitted, licking over his lips.
"Closest hospital is twenty or so kilometers away... They aren't... They aren't exactly legal, but they're good..." Hyungwon stated next, not giving Jooheon a chance to respond by closing the door and turning his back.
Hyungwon took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air before he started making the rest of the way down the road, anxiety growing which each and every step.
Why would Mr. Chae bring Hoseok here?
Hyungwon arrived at the opening in front of the burnt building sooner than he wanted. His eyes landed on his father and a slouched-over figure on the ground. It took all of his will to not run over to Hoseok that second, cradle the older in his arms. There were a few other men around too, probably for backup.
Hyungwon stood there in silence, watching the ruins of his old home, hiding the burnt remains of his past. It felt awful to be there like this. Almost disrespectful. This wasn't the way he wanted to come back here. Definitely not.
He wanted his return to be a way to pay his respects after eight years.
And to think he, right now, could lose another person on the same grounds he had lost everything on before.
The man took a shaky breath, shoving his thoughts into a corner of his mind. He had time to mull over them later. "I'm here. Step away from him." Hyungwon then spoke up, voice shaking slightly as it echoed in the open air. Mr. Chae's head turned to him, an amused smirk growing onto his face.
"You didn't waste a single second." The old man laughed, raising his hands a little before taking multiple steps away from Wonho. Hyungwon sent a glare the fuckers way before rushing over to his lover.
"Wonho.." He whispered, grabbing the older's chin and turning his head up gently. His chest started to hurt once he saw the state the older man was in but the anger boiling with him was stronger.
"Why are you alone..?" Wonho asked silently. Hyungwon smiled at the man softly, shaking his head. "Joo's here... He'll come if shit goes down," Hyungwon whispered, running his finger crossed the man's bruised cheek. At first, he held back the urge to lean in and kiss the older on his lips but ended up doing it anyway. It might have been his last chance. He tried to be careful, but a soft wince came out of the older making him pull away instantly
"I'm so sorry.." he then said quietly, detaching his hand from the man and standing up straight.
He was apologizing for everything that had happened up to this point. For letting things come this far. For things, he couldn't have prevented, like Wonho contacting him in the first place. They wouldn't be here had they never met.
For lik... Loving him.
Hoseok tried to grab onto the younger but his movement restricted by the handcuffs. Hyungwon glanced at the older man but looked away almost immediately, guilt building up in his ribcage. Hoseok was like that because of him. Because he refused to just give up.
"How adorable." Mr. Chae scoffed, disgust evident in his tone. Hyungwon snarled slightly and pulled out his gun, aiming it at his father before pulling the slide back. The action caused the man's subordinates to pull out their weapons too. The ex-hitman ground his teeth together, regretting his action but he didn't let it show. "Just know, shoot me and they'll kill him." Mr. Chae warned, a smirk plastered onto his face.
Hyungwon gripped his gun tightly, his hair flowing along with the small night breeze. He then hesitantly lowered his firearm, still holding onto it.
He wanted to finish this, there and then. But if it could lead to death other than his own along with the old man... It wasn't worth it.
"I'm here now so you can let him go." He stated coldly. A manic laugh came from the older leader, making Hyungwon's eyes widen slightly. "You... You're an idiot!" The man's voice echoed in the open air. Hyungwon felt shivers run down his back and his fingers tightened around the handle of the gun. "Did I ever say I wouldn't kill him even if you came?" The man asked, walking up to the two younger men.
"But.." Hyungwon started but he was rudely interrupted by Mr. Chae grabbing him by his throat, making him fall silent. It was the only way to register his vocal cords completely useless even if the hold wasn't tight, and Mr. Chae clearly remembered that. "He'll fit in with the rest, don't you think Wonnie?" The man asked, nodding with his chin at the burnt building. Hyungwon's brown eyes slowly moved to the building, parting his lips a little.
"No.." Hyungwon mumbled, shaking his head. His stomach had dropped when the old man had with his words inserted the image in his head. "I'll.." He started, licking at his lips trying to compose his thoughts. Mr. Chae harshly ripped the gun, that Hyungwon was holding onto for dear life out of his hand, pointing it at Hoseok. "I recommend you talk now, Hyungwon." He stated.
"Hyungw... Hyungwon don't you f-fucking.." Wonho spoke weakly, voice slightly giving out. Mr. Chae's grip detached from his throat and Hyungwon drew in a sharp breath, bringing his hand up to his throat. His internal conflict was interrupted by the sound of his lover groaning in pain. "You, shut the fuck up." Mr. Chae spat at the wounded man.
Hyungwon froze momentarily when his father pulled Hoseok up by his hair and pressed the gun in his hand against the beaten man's temple.
Hyugnwon then clenched his jaw, angered by the action. The fear enclosing his head was shattered to bits by the hatred. "Don't. Fucking. Hurt. Him!" he growled, taking a few steps towards his father before punching the old fucker in the face. Inha stumbled back slightly holding his face. Hyungwon glared at him, shaking his hand a little bit.
"Just say the words, Hyungwon." The man scoffed. Hyungwon's eyes darted between the two opposite parties. "It'll stop all of this."
Would it really? Or was it a way to fuck with his head? Maybe the latter but...
He could hope.
"Don't..." Hoseok muttered out. A gunshot flew across the yard and a pain-filled cry escaped from the already wounded man.
Hyungwon's eyes widened, horrified. His gaze dropped to the older on the ground, now on top of all the bruising and cuts he could see was bleeding from his shoulder. "I told you to shut up." Mr. Chae hissed, ready to pull the trigger again.
"Stop!" Hyungwon yelled out, panicked. His head hurt along with the pain in his chest. The guilt, the anger, and even the physical pain from the sudden moving. "Just please!" He pleaded, parting his lips next. His head was a mess and he couldn't form a single coherent thought.
The chaos he had already managed to somewhat round up was thrown back into the mess it had been. Somehow it felt even worse.
Say it. Hoseok will die if you don't do it.
"I'll come with you... Hell, I'll fucking stay with you! Just don't... Don't kill him. Please." The words flooded out like water from a brand new tap. "Please..." He then let out weakly.
Mr. Chae's face formed a grin, but it didn't feel right. It was tormenting. Hyungwon regretted having said what he did but if it meant Hoseok would live... He'd do it. He would do anything.
Would the sacrifice, in the end, be futile?
Hyungwon lowered his gaze, raising his arms. "I give up... Just let him and the others live..." He said, lowering his tone. Mr. Chae chuckled, nodding his head a little. "You... You're still an idiot." The man let out, his voice mocking yet amused before breaking out into a fit of laughter.
Hyungwon felt someone kick him in the back of his knees making him fall onto the gravel. He kept his eyes glued to the ground until his head was forced up by his hair and tilted to the side. "I'm glad we came to an agreement. But you should know it by now..."
A gasp escaped from between Hyungwon's lips when something pricked at his neck. "...I don't keep my promises." Mr. Chae chuckled, letting go of his black strands. Hyungwon felt his body get weaker in a blink of an eye.
Hyungwon's eyesight almost immediately went blurry and his ears caught the sound of the gun slide being pulled back. "n-No..." He weakly let out, trying to reach out but his body refused. "I.. Pl-Please, stop..." he stuttered, feeling his body crash under himself. He could hear Hoseok calling his name, voice desperate.
You failed.
Before blacking out the man registered multiple gunshots but they faded into nothingness.
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To be continued...
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and thus, this part of the story has come to an end.
(wattpad didn't want me uploading this as it went down right as i was going to.)
but don't worry my friends, I'm releasing chapter 00 on friday but the first chapter of sequel is coming *drumroll* next tuesday, on the 15th of june. bc i feel like taking a week to just to sleep & plan out the sequel (and other possible stories wink wink).
but our boys' story is far from over.
but i will post an update when it comes out so you won't miss it :)
i hope you enjoyed the story so far and i'm thankful for all the support on this book and thank you to everyone who voted and commented! i really didn't expect it to have such positive feedback so i'm really glad it did.
and i really do hope you will return for the sequel. i'll try to make it even better!
but now, enjoy the rest of your week, and possibly the start of your summer as it's for me and as per usual...
'til next time.