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As Donghyuck walked through the unfamiliar streets with his hands deep inside his pockets, hood up and shadowing his face along with thick boots to slosh through yesterday's rain in, his mind was cluttered with all sorts of thoughts.
Pedestrians wandered past with absolutely no care as he took sneaky glances at their faces to start his recognition of locals. The sky was as grey as the murky, polluted puddles, and the wind tasted of the river somehow. A river he was sure to walk along for years to come.
As a young twenty-one-year-old, he had a lot to learn and a lot to see. His history of arguing and fighting over stupid reasons led him to believe he wasn't fit for college, but for something else. The more his teenage self pondered and stewed over his seemingly hopeless future, the harder it was to figure out where he fitted in.
Actually, had he not watched the news one day through a shop window and saw the most amazing blurry, rain-trashed footage of an infamous gang leader 'Mark Lee', he'd have never had a set plan in his head for what it was he needed and wanted to do. The face in the video was completely obscured and impossible to define, but he had it in his head he'd be handsome.
So, sixteen year old Lee Donghyuck told himself he'd join Jupiter. He, quite begrudgingly, read newspapers to find out more about the group, watched television in his messed up household, and asked questions to those who were pretty reluctant to answer.
Seoul was the city to be in, apparently. That's where crime was most rampant due to its sheer size, and where he believed his new life of villainy would begin.
So, years later when he had saved enough, grown enough, and trained enough, he stormed through the wet streets with a goal in mind and a name he'd use to start anew.
Haechan.
Unfortunately, what he didn't find was a working, dominant gang of ruthless people with bloodlust and criminal records. Instead, there stood a battered collection of members who'd seen better days, had lost a leader, and had suffered possibly the biggest betrayal of their lives.
"What happened?" Was his simple question after years of searching, years of wanting, just to find a dilapidated base with a stupid self destruct sequence that only Mark knew how to disengage.
In the end, he was the only one who hadn't suffered from immense shock and found himself much more able than the others. Therefore, Donghyuck took it upon himself to rebuild a once brilliant name and return it to its former glory.
It took a while, he'd admit. The members had been essentially 'lost' for an entire year before his angelic rescue arrived. Earning trust, learning leadership skills and even attempting to fill in Mark's boots was the hardest form of hazing he had ever endured....but he made it. He succeeded.
"These won't be strong enough," the now eleven-month-old leader sighed, picking up various weapons and essentials that had seen better days. "Can't we, I don't know....restock?"
"That's expensive right now," Taeil informed him. "We'd have to cut back somewhere else in order to fix all this, or replace it."
"Well, do we have someone who's good with metal? Or...construction?"
Renjun, beside him, nodded his head blankly and picked up an old dagger. "Our man for that is Johnny, but he's more focused on fixing this base up. It'd be an unnecessary distraction to ask him for more-"
"I'm pretty good at engineering," the oldest admitted. "But you'd be down an offensive attacker. I'll either deal with armour and defences, or field work."
Donghyuck groaned, leaning down on the table tiredly and running his fingers through his hair anxiously. "God, I don't know what to do. Can't someone else take the leader position? I don't like it...."
"No one else is fit," Renjun muttered bitterly. He hadn't, and apparently would never get over Mark. His snippy, sharp tongue was helpful and wise, but sometimes along the annoying line.
"We need more members," the youngest eventually sat back in his chair, rubbing his hands together as he figured out another plan. He was pretty good at that, actually; devising plans.
"Before we start rebuilding and getting bigger, perhaps we should deal with the nasty little shit running around loose out there," Taeil sighed, "I wouldn't put it past Nana to come back here and ruin this group all over again."
"He wouldn't show his face," Renjun scoffed.
And I'm sick and tired of hearing his name, but let's pretend I care, the newest boy thought inwardly. To fit in, he'd have to 'blend' and save his arguments for later.
Usually, most days would carry on like this. Constant bickering, the need to define the future, recruiting new members and assigning proper roles for those who needed them. Eventually, they'd created a pretty formidable team together, and it was all thanks to Lee Donghyuck's gutsy willpower and stubbornness.
Renjun could sometimes see an awful lot of Mark in him, usually when the younger was thinking hard and staring off into space. He had amazing battle techniques and a brilliant mind....but really, it was the caring side to someone who shouldn't have had one that matched.
Stories of Nana and his traitorous act started to bend and get completely warped out of shape as more time flowed by. The facts, such as the male shooting Renjun's shoulder, turned into 'guys, he totally shot Huang Renjun in the chest and that legend survived' or the way Mark had lasted an amazing twenty minutes as a mouse against an evil cat became 'Mark Lee was battling Nana for three hours before he went down'. Bullshit, really.
Donghyuck knew what to believe, for his trusted partner in crime had been through it all. Renjun was a perfect friend, a brilliant companion, and a trustworthy ally on the 'field of war'.....but things escalated to more than that over the course of a few months; perhaps more than they should've.
"Hyuck," the Chinese adult hummed softly as they sat alone in the 'Plan Room', around a circular table where mature members shared ideas for further development. Currently, the pair were discussing the need to take down a specific enemy, and Renjun had his mind somewhere else.
"What?" The younger responded while reading over a journal from about ten years prior that Duchess had left behind for Mark. The diaries were no secret to Jupiter, and actually acted as brilliant food for thought.
"Aren't you...tired? You've been running yourself to the ground for ages now. You can ask for a break, y'know."
"I'll take a break when most of the work is done," he mumbled, barely sparing a glance to the older. His skin was paler than when he'd arrived, and Renjun could see this. Nobody else was taking notice of the fact that he was dead on his feet.
"Come to bed."
"Hm?" He looked up. "It's only nine."
"And you've been staying up until three every night. Let's go," the shorter stood up, extending his hand to help Hyuck to his feet. "The plans can wait until tomorrow. We're ahead of schedule, anyway."
"Jun, I can handle myself."
"And I'm saying you need a break. Come with me."
The younger knitted his brows like a child and folded his arms, "No," he turned his head immaturely.
Renjun gritted his teeth before using what Mark had always used on him when he was a brat. The old 'grab and push'. He took Donghyuck's shoulders and pulled him up, pushing him down to sit upon the table where he was now able to stand between his legs. This always worked before....yet then again, this wasn't the old leader.
"You're so insufferable," he murmured, their faces closer than he'd intended, though not that he disliked the proximity. In fact, he liked how the boy's eyes nervously flicked to his lips out of reflex. He felt he had the control he desired.
"I'm not insufferable," Hyuck whispered. "I don't know what that means, but I'm not."
"Sure."
They somehow managed to stay like that for a while, the whole atmosphere of the darkened room shifted into something different. Something warmer.
Donghyuck leaned back a bit with flushed cheeks when he realised what he probably looked like. He knew this person's story, and he didn't want to impose or make life awkward between them. They were friends-
Or perhaps not. Renjun assumed far more dominance and yanked him closer by his shirt, crashing their lips together as if he'd been waiting aeons to do it. His arms then slid around Hyuck's waist as he tried to create a little movement.
The younger hadn't done this very often, and wasn't at all able to say he was a 'pro'. Instead of coming off as shy as he felt though...he returned the gesture. He placed one hand behind the older's neck and brought their faces so close they had to tilt to the side to deepen the angle, and the other hand upon his cheek.
It was so warm, so soft. He liked it a lot...but he was certain that this was a 'Mark isn't here, so I need you instead' sort of action. It didn't matter though...mafias weren't built with love in the equation, were they?
"Come to bed," Renjun had repeated that night, living for the sensation.
Neither realised they'd grow to love one another....and of course, neither predicted the inevitable downfall they'd face when outlaw Nana stuck his hand back into the mixture.
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We're coming to the climax, guys. I'm sorry about how ridiculously long this book is - I wasn't planning on it if I'm honest 😳
-lily