13th October
2014
Ever since the tragedy from two years ago, the SS house has been so empty. The only people that now occupy it are Hongjoong, Seonghwa and Yeosang.
At first it did hurt for Seonghwa to have to roam the hallways in silence, no more booming voices filling up the empty atmosphere. He couldn't bring himself to go near Jaehyun's office for the first few months, and even now it pains him to see the desk clear and the office chair empty.
Him and Hongjoong no longer have to share their bedroom, since there's way more space now. Although things are still way lonlier than before, the fact that he still has Hongjoong by his side provides Seonghwa with the comfort he needed.
Jaehyun kept his word and all of his money and anything he owned went to Hongjoong and Seonghwa equally. Of course the boys still decided to share everything with each other, and now they automatically hold much more power than ever before.
However, although they may technically be gang leaders at this point, but have no more gang to lead.
Yeosang lived the first year with a mixture of excitement and fear at the same time, more so fear after he grew to learn everything that the boys have done. He's still been carrying out his own training for medicine, Seonghwa and Hongjoong happily providing the money for their new gang doctor. He's gotten used to life with them at this point, and no longer lives in fear. For the most part.
All in all, the trio grew closer throughout all the lonliness.
As for their future plans: Hongjoong has thoroughly discussed his ideas with the two boys.
His thirst for control and power has not yet been quenched. He wants more, and Seonghwa couldn't find himself disagreeing. It warms him on the inside to see that he still has similar goals as his closest friend.
"I want us to go beyond being a gang. Let's take control over this whole country and make it ours," Hongjoong said. Seonghwa and Yeosang shared a glance, except Yeosang's was a concerned one and Seonghwa's was impressed.
"How will we do this?" Seonghwa asked. Hongjoong visibly prepared himself for his next words, knowing how ridiculous he sounded. "Let's try to invent something to control a person's mind and physique to make a little army," he suggests.
The laughter that left Seonghwa and Yeosang made his eyebrows furrow, and while Yeosang stopped laughing, Seonghwa continued.
"Do I have to remind you of your grades in science to tell you that this idea won't work?" Seonghwa wheezed. Hongjoong huffed and rolled his eyes. "That's why we'll look for the most genius scientists we can find and then bring them to our group, just like we did with Yeosang," Hongjoong explained, causing Yeosang to let out a bitter chuckle.
"So basically you're going to kidnap them?" Yeosang blurted. Hongjoong gasped. "No! We will just employ them fairly and-"
"Yeah, he wants to kidnap them," Seonghwa interrupted his friend, biting back another laugh when he saw Hongjoong's face twist in rage.
After joking around some more, the three boys calmed down and got serious again.
"Are we still going to stay as SS then?" Seonghwa wondered. Hongjoong confidently shook his head. "We are no longer SS. We have a new goal and will dedicate our full time to achieve our bigger goal as well as looking for Jangmi. We don't have time to waste on petty gang crimes anymore, but don't forget to keep in touch with our connections. We'll need them," Hongjoong announced.
Seonghwa smiled to himself at the mention of Jangmi, finding it admirable that even after all these long years, his friend is still keen on finding his sister.
"And what about money?" Yeosang asked, wary of the fact that he drains a lot of money for his training already. "Don't worry about that, we still have plenty left from Jaehyun. We have connections to help us, we can do favours for them to get more. And I was thinking of maybe growing and selling drugs just as a steady source of income in the background in the future when we have more people in our group," Hongjoong casually declared.
"Drug trafficking...as a background job? Joong, you have officially lost your mind," Seonghwa scoffed. "I thought he already lost it long ago..." Yeosang mumbled under his breath.
"For now let's concentrate on building our team while looking for Jangmi," he shouted one last time, having heard both remarks made by his teammates but choosing to ignore them for once.
And that brings the three of them to the present day.
"Hwa! I got a lead! I got a lead!" is the screaming which snaps Seonghwa out of his concentrated state. He lifts his eyes from his book and his eyes focus on the sight of Hongjoong leaping into the room with the most bright and genuine smile.
This is something Seonghwa knows is rare and he doesn't hesitate to put his book down.
"A lead?" he questions while standing up too. His friend jumps in his spot, also attracting the attention of the curious Yeosang who walks in after.
"I was talking around to people and one of them said they go to school with a girl that is Jangmi's age and is known to move houses very often," he excitedly speeds. "She didn't tell me the girl's name but I found where she lives by wandering around that town and I think I know where her house is!" he exclaims.
Seonghwa's eyes widen and he instantly rushes to his shoes. "What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" he laughs too, growing excited with his friend. Hongjoong doesn't waste any more time and also shoves his feet into his shoes.
"You mean to tell me that you stalked your lead?" Yeosang gasps from the side. Seonghwa giggles. "Hongjoong will do anything to find his sister," he reminisces. Hongjoong doesn't even notice anything around him and rushes out the front door, Seonghwa following.
"Lock up the house! We'll hopefully be back before tomorrow," Seonghwa calls out to Yeosang before jumping into the car. Yeosang feels a little shaken by the sudden energy in the house, but shrugs it off and locks the door.
Seonghwa drives the two of them carefully, and Hongjoong won't stop talking beside him about Jangmi. Seonghwa is all too used to these little rants, finding it adorable in a weird way.
"What if she's taller than me now? No it can't be, she's only sixteen. But what if she forgot me? No, she wouldn't..." he worries. "Don't stress, the drive is three hours and you'll tire yourself out with all that worrying," Seonghwa shakes his head.
The boys listen to music for the entire drive, having small conversations in the middle as well before they arrive to the town.
Seonghwa parks and raises an eyebrow. "When did you come all the way here before?" he wonders. "That day you were training Yeosang, I didn't want to disturb you so I came here myself."
Seonghwa's heart warms and he smiles. Perhaps Hongjoong doesn't know how much his words mean to Seonghwa right now but he still feels warm.
They get out of the car and Seonghwa looks around at all the identical houses, wondering how Hongjoong even found the right one.
But still, Hongjoong dashes to the front of one house with certainty and gets hyper. "Wait in the car, I'll return after meeting with her," he whispers to his friend. Seonghwa shakes his head again with a laugh and walks back to the car.
Hongjoong's explosive excitement comes to a temporary halt as he approaches the front door, seeing as it's opened a tiny bit. He shrugs it off and decides to knock anyway, not wanting to disturb his sister out of the blue.
He knocks on the door, his energy returning to him speedily. But what happens next causes his excitement to come to a permanent and abrupt stop.
"You're home from school? You can just come in!" a man's faint voice shouts from far inside the house. Hongjoong freezes in his tracks, recognising this deep voice from his nightmares any day.
It's his father.
Unmistakable panic rises through his body and he can't bring himself to move. But then, it hits him.
This is his first time seeing his father in nearly ten years. A smirk forms on his lips as he pushes the front door open. Time to greet him warmly.
He tries not to sound suspicious while he walks slowly through the hallway of the house, but his eyes frantically roam around all the walls. Why aren't there any pictures? He was hoping to catch a glimpse of how his sister looks...
He glances through every door he passes, finding them all empty. There's only one door at the end of the hallway left. The boy approaches it and lightly pushes the door open, taking a swift step into the room.
There he is. Right in front of Hongjoong stands his father with his back turned, seemingly chopping vegetables. Hongjoong feels a hurricane of negative emotions flurry through his mind in that moment and stands still.
"Hey, now that you're back we can finally talk," he utters in a serious tone while turning around. But then as soon as he turns around, he also stops all movement and his breath gets stuck in his throat. The father and son stare at each other intensely, neither of them knowing what to say. It's clear that his father recognises him and his unmistakably sharp features, most likey having seen a picture of him recently somewhere.
"Dad...how lovely to see you again!" Hongjoong begins with a bright voice and beaming grin. Not one ounce of positivity lurks behind the smile.
"How did you find us? I think it's best for everyone if you leave quietly and never return," is all his father says, unable to hide the tremor in his voice. "I'll leave after meeting Jangmi, I pinky promise. Why don't we catch up for now?" Hongjoong offers while taking a seat by himself at the dining table. He will leave once he at least finds out more about his sister.
Hongjoong doesn't even notice his father's arm creeping up to the chopping board behind him.
"I don't want to talk to something like you, so why don't you leave now before I call the police?" he barks as his fingers wrap around a handle. Hongjoong swallows back his anger and tries his best to not snap. "You think I'm scared of your futile threats? You would never do such a thing to your son, you've always been a great dad to me," he smiles sarcastically.
He hesitates for a moment, Hongjoong's words stinging a little for some reason. Whatever, what he's about to do is for the best. It's to protect his daughter, his last remaining family in his eyes.
All of a sudden, his father pounces at him after whipping his arm out from behind his back, a knife blade slashing in Hongjoong's direction. The younger's eyes widen out of shock and he manages to leap up and back quickly to dodge the attack. He was expecting aggression for sure, but attempted murder? He didn't expect that from yet another member of his family. He's starting to think that maybe he genetically inherited these traits from his dad.
Adrenaline starts to pump through Hongjoong's veins and he starts laughing maniacally. Maybe he should play around with him for a bit?
He lets out a giggle after each and every slash, enjoying the way his father's face grows more and more enraged by the second. "Didn't prepare for this day well enough, I see," he comments while effortlessly dodging every attack.
"Die and leave us alone!" his father screams while lunging the blade forward. At last, Hongjoong grows a bit impatient. He grabs his father's hand with ease and sharply twists his wrist, releasing a deafening screech into the room as well as the knife from the older man's grip. Hongjoong sighs as he picks the knife up from the ground after pulling his sleeve over his fingers.
"You and mommy are both idiots. How could an angel like Jangmi be born from you?"
His father continues to scream on the ground, and that's when Hongjoong realises that he's trying to alert their neighbours. His eyes turn dark and he kneels down until his eyes meet his father's.
"I'll come back for Jangmi, and there's nothing you can do about it from now on," he threatens. Finally, Hongjoong can do what he's been dreaming of doing since he was a young child.
He suddenly plunges the knife deep into his father's chest, whose eyes largen and screams grow louder. Hongjoong grunts as he pushes the knife deeper, squinting so that the squirting blood doesn't enter his eyes.
"I'll treat her better than you ever could," he whispers one final time as all life leaves his father's eyes. Hongjoong blinks blankly at the corpse at his feet and takes a few steps away from the blood.
A shiver travels through his spine to see his strict and uptight father in such an unnatural position. He feels so uncomfortable, while with his mom he couldn't care less.
He decides to grab two towels and approach the body. He lies him down on his back, arranging his arms and legs to point straight. There, now he looks as disgustingly stern as he always was.
Hongjoong's heart lurches forward at the sound of the door bell. "Is everything okay in there? I heard screaming from next door," an old woman's voice croaks from the front door. Hongjoong gulps and looks down at the mess under him.
"It was just the tv!" he screams back, trying to make his voice sound deeper to match his father's. The advantage of being related to that monstrosity is that he actually sounds like just him.
"Oh, that's good," she shouts again before leaving at last. Hongjoong decides that he must rush home before more neighbours start to investigate. He throws his hood on and ducks his head while speeding out the house, not even closing the door properly to keep his face concealed from anyone passing by or any cameras.
Seonghwa hums to himself and taps the steering wheel to the rhythm of the song he's listening to and nearly jumps out of his skin when the passenger door flies open and Hongjoong jumps in. "We need to leave. Now."
Seonghwa turns to face Hongjoong with a smile, but the smile drops immediately when he notices the blood on Hongjoong's sleeves and face.
He doesn't waste any time and speeds the car away as fast as he can until they're a safe distance away.
"Joong, what happened in there?" Seonghwa asks, voice full of concern.
"I didn't meet Jangmi but at least my father's dead now," Hongjoong smiles. Seonghwa looks a little astonished for a second before smiling too. He knows how badly Hongjoong wanted this.
"How do you feel after that?"
Hongjoong lets out a breathy laugh.
"I feel great."