"We've arrived," announced the drive with his voice as low as possible, seeing Taemin had fallen as sleep in the back seat. Minho was dead tired as well, still he kept his eyes open. Having Taemin back in his arms was enough for the moment.
The drive opened the door and Minho carried Taemin to their bedroom. Sure, it wasn't easy – even for someone like Minho – to pick up Taemin. After all Taemin wasn't a child. But how could Minho wake up the younger when Taemin finally got some sleep after such a day?
Laying his husband down, Minho made sure the room was warm enough for Taemin was still shivering. The more Minho knew Taemin the more fascinated Taemin appeared to him. Less than an hour ago, he was crying, his hand was broken, and his life was threatened. Nevertheless, now the younger was already sleeping like it was just another day. Minho acknowledged Taemin might look innocent, yet he was tougher than anybody might think of him. If you couldn't judge a book by its cover, then Taemin was a great book with the most unexpected plot twist.
While he was treating Taemin's wounds, his phone vibrated.
"Woobin and some of his men escaped. We're still looking for them. But the rest, we got them," said the voice at the other end.
"Good," replied Minho, leaving the room to not disturb Taemin.
"Keep it quiet. My father shouldn't know about any of this. And find that rat Woobin."
"What do you want to do with his men?"
"Interrogate them. Find every single traitor... and eliminate them all. Show no mercy."
"No mercy," repeated the man, hanging up.
Next morning, Minho was roughly woken up by the noise of shattering glass. Noticing Taemin wasn't next to him, Minho rushed towards the source of the noises without putting on his slippers.
"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up. It's hard with only the left one," Taemin said, showing his bandaged hand. It was nearly magic how fast Taemin's voice erased Minho's panic.
"Fuck," exclaimed Minho, breathing out as he pulled the younger in for a hug.
"Stop giving me heart attacks," he added.
"Minho, I can't breathe." Taemin said, softly pushing on Minho's chest.
"Just a little more," whispered the older, resting his head on Taemin's shoulder. With his sound hand, Taemin stroked Minho's back. He too enjoyed being in his lover's embrace. Minho's shoulder was wide. Minho's body was warm, and his grip was strong. Taemin felt safe when Minho was around.
As said, Minho let got after a while. With care he took Taemin's broken hand. "Who did this?" he asked, "I'll skin him."
"Please don't. It was me," Taemin answered.
"You?"
"Woobin's right hand, I punched him in the face. He lost a tooth, but I broke my hand," Taemin explained with a shy smile.
"Are you trying to turn me on?"
"Ok, Mister. Just let me clean this mess first," pointed Taemin at the shards.
"No time for that," shouted Minho, picking up Taemin. Impatiently, Minho threw the younger on the couch. Their lips locked and next thing Taemin knew, he was gasping for air.
"Wait, Minho," he said breathless, but the gang leader didn't listen.
"Minho, stop," Taemin repeated without success. Normally Minho was a gentle lover who always made sure Taemin'd feel good, but today he was different.
"I said 'Stop'," yelled Taemin before kicking his husband, using just as enough force as needed for Minho to fall down the bed. He thought. However, Minho's crash landing sounded harder than it should be. The older whined as his head bumped against the floor.
"Déjà-vu," he thought, "am I dreaming again?"
"I told you to stop." Taemin explained.
"Damnit, what the hell?" Minho growled.
"I want to talk about yesterday first."
"Talk? Right now? Are you kidding me?" Minho asked in disbelief, rubbing his head.
"I'm sorry... but I can't," Taemin shook his head with guilt, "I can't with the elephant in the room... Wow, that sound weird."
Slowly Minho approached Taemin again, beware of another kick.
"What's there to talk about? It's over. I'll take care of the rest and I'll make sure something like that'd never happen again. You don't have to be afraid."
"That's not what I'm worry about. Minho, you almost die because of me," Taemin pointed out the fact, something M was fearing. Neither talking nor feelings was one of his strengths. Talking about feelings was his nightmare.
"And you almost die because of me. We're even." Minho argued.
"This isn't a race. You literally shot yourself for me. What should I do, if you really have died, you idiot?" Taemin broke into tears. Touching his face, even Taemin seemed surprised by his outburst. By that Minho pulled the younger in for a hug one more time.
"Don't be silly, Kibum. I know Woobin, I knew it wasn't real. I wouldn't be a use for him, if I'm dead," Minho explained, pressing Taemin again his chest as if he wanted Taemin to feel his heartbeats, showing the younger he was alive.
"Liar, you pulled the trigger," Taemin said through his sobbing. Naturally, Minho hated seeing his husband crying. Still, he was relieved that Taemin finally react "normally" to a trauma. Because Taemin's calmness was like ticking bomb. Minho hadn't known sure when or what would happen.
"I was sure Woobin wouldn't kill me. As much as I hate our old man, he is good for something. He would disinherit us, if we go after each other. Otherwise we'd have kill each other years ago." Minho wiped away the tears on Taemin's face.
"But you couldn't know that revolver wasn't loaded."
"I did have a clue. I thought it was kind of Russian roulette." By that Taemin frowned.
"Russian roulette?" He screamed and another tear fell. "You risked your life on a 1:6 chance?"
"That's a 5:6 chance to live," Minho said jokingly despite the fact.
"You're crazy. You're a stupid lunatic," Taemin yelled again, pushing Minho away. Yet the older only held him tighter.
"I'm sorry I made you worry. It won't happen again. I promise." The gang leader told his lover. He didn't make promises often, but he surely always kept his words. Still, if there were one single promise he could keep, he prayed to God, let it be this one. As cheesy as it sounded, he couldn't figure out how he'd survived daily life before this small human came along, as if Taemin had woken him up from a long-term coma. Never would he let go of Taemin.
For a while Taemin didn't react, until he wrapped his arms around Minho's waist.
"If you ever risk your life again, I'll kill you," Taemin warned.
"That doesn't make sense at all."
"Shut up."
"Do you know you're the only one who can talk to me like that?"
"Shut up," Taemin repeated with a slight laughter.
_________________________________________
19: 11
„You have reached your destination," said the female computer voice and Kibum stepped on the brakes. Confused, the young man got out of his car, finding himself in the parking lot of the centre post station. Taking out his phone, Kibum checked one more time to make sure he had arrived at the right GPS coordinates. He was. But this wasn't how he had imagined it. This place wasn't fit for a secret meeting with an undercover cop at all. There were cameras, security guards and way too many people.
19: 13
Too more minutes. Onew should be here soon. Yet, a strange feeling told Kibum Onew wasn't coming.
He was right.
At 19: 15 – not one second later – Kibum got another message with nothing but seemingly random numbers: 36718 2931.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kibum mumbled. Instead of feeling annoyed, he enjoyed the code cracking game and he blamed it on Jonghyun, the nerd who had turned his life upside down. Another look at the code Kibum immediately noticed that it wasn't one but two separated numbers. The first one had five digits and the second had four. It took Kibum a few minutes thinking before a smirk appeared on his face while he walked towards the automated booths for parcels. As expected, box number 36718 was opened with the PIN 2931. Finally having the package in his hands, Kibum raised his head like he wanted to praise himself. As soon as he was back in his car, Kibum couldn't fight his curiosity anymore. He opened the small package and found a burner phone with exact one saved number. Now, he knew exactly what to do.
"That was fast," answered Onew after Kibum had dialled the mysterious number.
"You do know, you have my number, right?" Kibum asked with sarcasm.
"I'm not calling you on an unsecured phone, Kim Kibum," replied Onew, emphasised Kibum's name.
"Paranoid, are we?" Kibum joked, not earning a laughter from the policeman.
"Don't forget whom you're married to. Jonghyun's father is public person and so is he." Onew warned.
"Touché."
"Sorry, I've got too much to handle right now. I can't see you personally." Onew explained.
"It's fine. You own me nothing." Kibum got serious.
"I talked to Jonghyun today," said Onew and immediately Kibum struggled holding his phone. He hadn't seen Jonghyun since the older left in the morning. How was he facing Jonghyun now? Could he even go home to Jonghyun again? He knew he didn't have the right to be mad at Onew for not warning him, but damnit. He was.
"You... did?" Kibum stuttered. This wasn't how it should be. He wasn't ready.
"I know I should have told him the truth. I just... I couldn't. How did he...? What did he s..."
"I didn't tell him," Onew interrupted, noticing Kibum's uneasiness.
"You... didn't?" Kibum doubted.
"I didn't and I won't. Tell him when you're ready."
"What?"
"I said tell him yourself when you're ready."
"Why?"
"I trust you. I know you wouldn't harm Jonghyun." Onew replied honestly.
"How can you trust me after knowing me for one day?" Kibum doubted.
"I've seen enough in one day. I believe someone who threw himself in front of a gun for Jonghyun wouldn't hurt him."
"That... I knew the gun was on safety."
"No, you didn't."
"I did," Kibum insisted.
"That was what you told Jonghyun. But I saw it on the CCTV. From your position, you couldn't have seen it." Onew exposed Kibum's lie. And after a deep breath Kibum gave in.
"You're right. I couldn't. I didn't want to lie but he was so worried."
"But please don't tell Jonghyun, ok?" Kibum begged.
"About your real identity?"
"About the gun. Jonghyun would only be mad at me again."
"Whatever, all your secrets are safe with me." Onew asserted, laughed.
Back home Kibum was glad Jonghyun worked longer today, since he couldn't stop thinking of his conversation with Onew. Of course, he was relieved that Onew didn't tell Jonghyun. Still, he realised he needed to tell Jonghyun himself. But how? And when? This wasn't a topic for dinner.
"Babe, how was your day? Oh, by the way, I'm not Lee Taemin who you're supposed to marry. But don't worry, I'm just the son of a syndicate leader your father brought to jail."
Kibum couldn't say that, could he? Deep in his thoughts, Kibum hadn't even notice when he landed in the kitchen.
"You cooked?" Jonghyun's voice almost cause Kibum a heart attack as the older entered the kitchen.
"You're home," Kibum greeted after calming down mentally, "and yeah, I was in the mood today."
"Is everything ok?" Jonghyun came closer to place a soft kiss on Kibum's lips.
"Sure," lied Kibum, unbutton his apron, hanging it back on the wall.
"You only cook when you're feeling down," Jonghyun stated, looking at all the foods on the kitchen counter. If someone saw this, they would think Kibum wasn't feeding his husband but also their non-existing 7 children.
"That's not true."
"Hey, I know you. Tell me," Jonghyun laid his hand on Kibum's cheek, causing Kibum to back away. Kibum loved the way Jonghyun caressed him. He would love to bury his face in Jonghyun's chest right now. He'd love to feel Jonghyun's warmth. But he couldn't.
"That's the problem. You don't know me, and I can't tell." Kibum thought as he turned his back on Jonghyun.
"It's nothing. I was just bored, and I wanted to try some new receipts."
"Then we should eat before it's cold," Jonghyun gave in.
"Yeah, we should."
In the end, Kibum had to admit he cooked too much. They both had never eaten so much in their lives; still half of the foods were left. Only wrapping the leftover and putting them in the fridge took them almost twenty minutes.
"How was your day?" Kibum asked as they both let themselves fall on the couch after cleaning up. Dinner was more quiet than normal. Kibum wasn't talkative as usual. Though Jonghyun hadn't noticed for he was deep in his thoughts as well.
"Good. But something weird happened at the university hospital today. I didn't want to tell you that when we're eating."
"What happened?" Kibum asked curiously.
"You won't believe it. Someone broke into the morgue last night and a corpse is gone."
"Seriously? Who would do steal a corpse?"
"It turned out that man was a gang member. The police think it's either his own or a rival gang trying to cover up something before they obduction was done."
"A gang member?" It wouldn't be someone he knew, would it? No one from his gang would be so far from home. Except for Kibum himself.
"I'm sorry for him. Everybody deserves respect. They couldn't even let him die in peace," Jonghyun shook his head in disagreement, unaware of the effect his statement had on Kibum. Only as Kibum's silence reached an awkward length of time, Jonghyun realised the younger was staring at him.
"Did I say something wrong?" Jonghyun worried.
"No, you didn't." Kibum replied. How could he forget the fact that Jonghyun was Jonghyun? Kim Jonghyun was someone who could feel empathy for a criminal. He was someone with a heart that was free of judgment... free of hatred. Jonghyun was someone who could understand, someone who could forgive. And all of sudden, his fear were gone; Kibum felt like he could do it.
"Jonghyun," Kibum gathered all his courage, "I am... I am not the person you think I am."
Jonghyun narrowed his eyes without saying a word, as if he'd notice how hard it was for Kibum to continue. Instead he gently held Kibum's hand, making sure the younger knew he was there. He wasn't running away.
"My real name... it's not Lee Taemin," Kibum confessed.
_______
[AN] Thank you for all the encouraging comments. I feel like I have the sweetest readers ever.
About this chapter all I can say is
And about the next chapter: