Chapter Text
You have to be willing to take hits. It’s hard. Being the center of negative attention sucks, but this is why you must be in a strong mindset when you are on the path to revenge. Things won’t always go your way, but you must realize the end goal, that it will work out for you in the end so the hardships will be worth it.
My revenge is sweet, diabolical, but it took a year for me to set everything up. The patience that was required of me was astronomical, but worth it in the end. I wanted my Minho back, I wanted to run off into the sunset with him, but that doesn’t just happen overnight. He was obsessed with Jisung at one point, and those feelings needed to be crushed completely. I was willing to put in the time and the effort that was required to extinguish those feelings of his, and that’s why I succeeded.
Revenge takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. Some of you may think you’ve gotten revenge super fast before but you haven’t. Karma may have blessed you, but that’s all it was; karma, not revenge.
Karma works hard, revenge works harder because it’s you who is doing the work.
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He’s been ignoring his calls.
Minho knows it’s bad, but he is sitting in the interview room of the police station once again, his foot tapping anxiously as he waits for San to return. Jisung’s contact keeps popping up on Minho’s phone, call after call coming in but despite this, Seungmin is the only thing on Minho’s mind. It used to be the opposite. Minho would go to bed thinking of Jisung, wake up after a night of dreams filled with Jisung, anticipate the next time he gets to see Jisung. He used to be so miserable, his husband not giving him any attention, always leaving when Minho needed him most, and never listening to him. Jisung was always there. Jisung was the one who picked up the pieces that Seungmin broke. Seungmin was a terrible husband, but did he deserve all of this?
Minho startles when San opens the door abruptly, walking back in holding a bag with a small book in it, and a manila folder. Minho observes the items curiously, San setting the plastic wrapped book on the table first.
“Minho, have you ever seen this?” San asks.
Minho looks over the book, his face shadowing how he feels: confused. “No… No, I don’t believe I have.”
“Well,” San sighs, “we found this in your house. Or… I should say Seungmin’s house. It was under the mattress of the master bed.” San explains. Minho nods slowly, trying to figure out where all of this is going. “It appears to be a gift journal. Seungmin wrote quite a few letters over the last year of your relationship… dedicated to you. It seems he planned to gift this to you for your 10 year anniversary. I can’t let you take the book out of the bag because it’s evidence, but we’ve copied every page, and printed them off here.” San sets the manila folder down directly in front of Minho.
“He…” Minho stares at the folder with wide eyes, unsure how to feel. His stomach is heavy, as if he just swallowed a ton of cement and it’s hardened inside of him. San says something else to him, but Minho doesn’t catch what exactly the words were, too distraught by what this means. Minho hesitantly reaches forward and opens the folder, revealing the first page covered with Seungmin’s pretty handwriting. That was something Minho always thought was nice of Seungmin; his handwriting.
“Dear Minho,”
Seungmin’s hand reaches out and wraps around Minho’s heart, grasping hold and refusing to let go as Minho continues reading.
“I’m writing this the day after our nine year anniversary. We don’t get too much time together anymore and as you know all too well, I’m horrible with expressing my feelings out loud, so I thought I would write in this little book. I’ll write about you, how you make me feel, how much being with you makes me happy, the joy you bring to my life and whatever else I may be thinking. I needed something spectacular for our ten year anniversary because I know you’ll be bringing out all the stops. I cannot wait to celebrate ten years with you…”
Minho frowns. They never got to celebrate their ten year anniversary together. It would have happened about a week after the court meeting that Seungmin never showed up to. Minho gulps, ignoring San’s calming presence in the room as he continues to read. Seungmin puts his entire heart into these pages, lies upon lies that he fabricated within a short amount of time so that Minho would read them, get emotional, then feel bad. It’s working; Minho feels absolutely crushed. To Minho, these are all the words Seungmin never said during their relationship; how much Seungmin loved him, how much Minho meant to him, how Seungmin truly felt and so on. And truthfully, Seungmin did love Minho, he did feel all these things about him. That was the only factual thing about the book.
“You’re cheating on me.”
Minho stomach shoots up to his throat, tears filling his eyes.
“I should have known. Am I silly for not knowing? Am I a fool?”
“No, no, why would you think that?” Minho says to no one, San observing him quietly.
“It makes sense, Jisung was always there when I wasn’t. You deserve someone who will always be there for you, someone who will always take care of you, and yet a part of me still wants to hold on. I still love you.”
“I love you. I still love you.” Minho darts through a few more letters, consuming every word like a middle aged woman watching a finale of a soap opera.
“I think something is wrong.”
Minho’s eyes narrow, his mind running a thousand miles per second and unable to comprehend the words.
“Ever since my argument with Jisung, I feel like I’m being watched. Perhaps it’s just me being paranoid. It’s a bit too obvious, isn’t it? He steals my husband then tries to have me killed? How ridiculous, how very telenovela. But still… I can’t shake the feeling. Like… I know what’s going to happen but at the same time I don’t. Maybe I should drop it. I’m just being silly, and once the divorce is finalized this will all be over.”
“No… tell me what you were thinking. Tell me so I can find you.” Minho frowns, flipping the page only to be crushed by a single paragraph.
“If anything happens, I want you to know that I love you, and will always love you. No matter where we are, what happens between us, what our status is, Lee Minho you will always be mine. I love you.”
Minho flips the page but it’s blank, and there are no more copies.
“That’s it.” San explains, gently closing the folder and pulling it back.
“T-That can’t be it.” Minho shakes his head, “he… I love him.”
“I know.” San gives Minho a sad look.
Minho’s phone lights up once more, Jisung’s contact comes through with another call. Minho wants to throw his phone, wants to scream and cry and demand for answers. What happened to his Seungmin? “I-I didn’t know about… any of this. The book.” Minho clarifies, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“That much is obvious. I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” San collects all the items on the table. “You should take some time to yourself, get some rest. We’ll contact you if we hear anything.”
Minho nods in agreement, but he knows he won’t be resting. He exits the police station and immediately heads to Seungmin’s— their home. It is their home, always. Instead of going inside, Minho takes off on foot into the woods behind their house. He runs around blindly, calling out for Seungmin and looking for clues. Was he dragged out of the house? Did someone point a gun at him and force him out the door? The police already said they trailed the woods, but they don’t know Seungmin like Minho does. Nobody knows Seungmin like Minho does.
Minho runs around the woods for hours, crying and screaming and begging Seungmin to come home. He eventually gives up when it starts to get dark, his phone flashlight not helping much. Minho reemerges from the woods feeling defeated, and contemplates spending the night in their home when he spots Jeongin out on the balcony of his and Hyunjin’s home. Minho had forgotten that they were neighbors. Minho and Jeongin stare at each other for a few moments, then Minho slowly makes his way up to the gate. He stops, hesitating, but Jeongin nods and gives him a wave so Minho opens the gate and steps into the yard.
As Minho walks through the yard, Hyunjin steps out of the house and locks eyes with Minho. “Hey—” Hyunjin frowns, but Jeongin stops him.
“It’s okay.” Jeongin looks at Hyunjin, who appears surprised. Hyunjin shoots a glare at Minho, but sighs and nods. Minho walks up the steps to the second floor balcony, then stops in front of the pair. He slowly turns, looking out into the woods, only then realizing how much you could see from this position. Their woods aren’t very dense, and Minho briefly wonders if Jeongin had been watching him make a fool of himself, running around and screaming for Seungmin. No words are exchanged, but Minho feels like an entire conversation is had. He slowly kneels down, unable to stop the tears from flowing as he begins to cry. He isn’t sure who it is, but someone begins patting Minho’s back which only makes him cry harder.
This is his lowest point, Minho decides. Through this entire process beginning with the divorce till now, this is the point that Minho feels he is truly broken.
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“I can feel it…” Seungmin whispers into the phone. He’s knelt down next to the bed on the floor, a natural tremble now a part of his daily routine. He’s in what was once his room, but no longer is. He likes coming in here when Johnny isn’t here, but Johnny has Seungmin sleep with him now so Seungmin stares at pictures of Minho and Jisung all evening, reminding himself of why he’s here.
“Feel…” Chan prods.
“Him. You said I’d know when he’s about to… I think…” Seungmin gulps. His throat is sore and Seungmin isn’t sure he could cry any more if he wanted to.
“Excellent.” Chan grins.
Seungmin nods, a slight feeling of excitement keeping him going. “Lately, he’s been so angry. He used to love everything I did no matter what it was, he even thought my mistakes were cute. Now, he gets so, so angry at every little thing. If his napkin isn’t on the correct side of his plate, he’ll start screaming.” Seungmin explains.
Chan chuckles, “sounds like him, the prick. He’s always gotta have his way no matter what.”
“I know that now.” Seungmin scoffs.
Chan grins, “remember what I told you. When it happens, don’t even think about it. Just do it then run. Don’t try to clean up, don’t run around and grab anything, don’t do anything else except run. Like I said in the beginning, we are tapped into the cameras, so we will see when you leave the house. That will be our sign to come in and pick up the pieces. We will get rid of the phone, and also leave a few details that will help your case. By the time the police get there, any trace of us will be long gone.”
Seungmin feels fidgety and he isn’t sure if it’s from Chan’s words, or how many beatings he has taken lately. “Got it.”
“Before I let you go, do me one favor…”
“What is it?”
“When it happens, don’t just knock him out. Make sure he is dead.”
Seungmin doesn’t blink or flinch, “understood.” They hang up, and Seungmin moves robotically to the kitchen. It’s time to start on dinner.
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Minho sits at the table in his apartment staring off into the distance. The apartment actually belonged to Jisung, but Jisung let him stay there after Minho moved out of his and Seungmin’s place. Minho didn’t even know Jisung had this apartment, but he wasn’t complaining. It was a place to stay, and he couldn’t stay at Jisung’s house. They didn’t want anything to look a certain way before the divorce was finalized, but now Minho wishes he would have just run away by himself.
Or perhaps never had an affair in the first place.
“Minho!” Said man flinches, looking up at Jisung, who is giving him worried eyes.
“I’ve been calling your name… is everything okay?” Jisung asks.
Minho feels like he could be sick just looking at the man. “Yeah, just… in my head.”
Jisung frowns, “is it because of the police? Those bastards have been turning our lives apart, trying to make it seem like one of us had something to do with his disappearance but we didn’t. I’m telling you, Min, he probably pissed someone else off, or ran away himself. Didn’t he talk about not living here forever anyways?”
No, no, and no, Minho thinks. Seungmin is a great lawyer, he won the majority of his cases and was notorious in his field. There’s no way he pissed someone off when all he has been doing is winning his cases, and getting reduced sentences for criminals who deserve a lot worse than they get. If there are families involved, they usually get angry at the criminals, not Seungmin, so that doesn’t make sense. Seungmin wouldn’t have run away. Minho was the one who always talked about moving, but Seungmin had stamped his print into the concrete. He had made a name for himself, fought tooth and nail to do so, and was not keen on leaving any time soon. Despite how often Minho used to bring it up, Seungmin always shut it down, and once Seungmin brought up the studio, Minho dropped the subject and never mentioned it again.
“Something like that…” It’s dark out, and the television is the only source of light in the room. It’s on some soap opera that Jisung used to be obsessed with, but Minho hasn’t paid too much attention to it or him lately.
“Baby…” Jisung kneels next to him, “I’m worried. We need to get your mind off of everything that’s going on.” Minho finally looks at Jisung, and the first thought that pops into his mind is a question: Did you kill Seungmin?
“Yeah,” Minho closes his eyes and rubs them furiously, “I do, you’re right. I’m sorry I’ve been so distant lately.”
“No, you don’t have to apologize.” Jisung places a comforting hand on Minho’s thigh. “You’ve been through a lot, I just want you to know that I’m here for you, and I’m sorry.”
Minho freezes, “sorry?”
“It’s just… I wish I had asked you out sooner. I wish I had gotten to you first so none of this would have ever happened. Maybe we would be traveling the world like we talked about, happy and without a care in the world.” Jisung explains.
Minho deflates, “yeah… it’s okay. We couldn’t have known.” Minho takes Jisung’s hand, the other hand still covering his eyes. His hands are small, so they don’t feel like Seungmin’s much larger ones. Minho craves it, craves Seungmin’s presence. Something deep in his core is begging for the fleeting feeling, and Minho startles when he realizes that he isn’t sure he remembers what Seungmin feels like anymore. The hand Minho isn’t holding caresses Minho’s thigh, and Minho knows it’s supposed to be comforting but…
Minho tugs Jisung into a kiss, the younger man seeming surprised but reciprocating immediately. They makeout for a few moments, but Minho pulls away and gazes into Jisung’s eyes with a barely there stare, “gonna take care of me, baby?”
Jisung’s eyes glaze over, the younger one nodding as he makes quick work of Minho’s belt and jeans. Minho leans his head back against the chair and Jisung tugs his dick out of his pants, his eyes fluttering shut when Jisung begins jerking him off to get him hard. It doesn’t work very well, Jisung’s hands far too distinctive for Minho to pretend. Minho grips the back of Jisung’s head and tugs him forward without looking, Jisung getting the message and wrapping his lips around Minho’s co*ck.
“Hands behind your back.” Minho comments, and as soon as Jisung removes his hands Minho is plummeted into the world of pretend. It’s Seungmin knelt between his legs, head bobbing up and down as he allows Minho to completely fill out his mouth. Seungmin is so good, taking everything Minho gives him and knowing exactly what to do with it. He’s beautiful, always has been, that’s why Minho pursued him in the first place. He has always been different, and that’s what Minho has always craved.
“Seung, baby… I’m gonna…” Minho groans, feeling his org*sm quickly approaching. Seungmin hums around his co*ck and it’s him, Minho can hear his voice. Minho can feel him, and wants nothing more than to lift Seungmin up and show him how much he still loves him, and show him that he belongs to Minho. Seungmin would moan so prettily for him, his large puppy eyes glassy, Minho’s name tumbling from his lips, pale skin tinted pink from exertion. Minho needs it, he craves it.
His org*sm hits him like a truck, a vivid image of Seungmin with his mouth wide open whilst knelt in front of Minho being what kicks him off the edge. “Seung—!” Minho releases into Seungmin’s mouth, moaning as he’s milked until he’s shaking with oversensitivity. His co*ck is released, and Minho takes a few heavy breaths, allowing himself to lay with Seungmin and comb his fingers through his hair before he opens his eyes. Leaning his head up to view Jisung wiping his mouth.
Disappointment crashes into Minho like a landslide, Minho quickly tucking himself back into his pants and standing up.
“Apologies for interrupting the current program, but we’ve got a sudden development in the missing person’s case of Kim Seungmin. You’re not gonna believe this, folks, but the mistress had a mistress!” Minho and Jisung freeze at the news reporter’s words, both locking eyes with each other as Felix’s voice suddenly fills the apartment, his cries and pleas for forgiveness echoing off the walls. His words fill Minho’s ears and for some odd reason, Minho isn’t upset. He isn’t angry, he doesn’t feel betrayed, he actually feels… elated. Minho is confused at the feeling, but tries to ignore it.
“M-Min…” Jisung starts.
“Did you…” Minho gulps, unable to stop the words from coming out, “did you… have anything to do with Seungmin…”
Jisung looks crushed at the words, “no, Min. No, I didn’t.” Jisung tears up, “Please… I can’t lose you. You’re the last good thing I have left. I don’t care what happens to me, if they accuse me of doing something, if they lock me up and throw away the key, if I’m beaten and bruised, it all doesn’t matter as long as I have you by my side. As long as you’re with me, I can keep going. But please… don’t start doubting me now. I can’t do this… I can’t do life without you. I won’t.”
Minho swallows hard, the back of his throat tensing up. He wants to cry so badly, but he refuses to shed any more tears. Not right now. Minho nods despite not believing a word out of Jisung’s mouth, taking a deep breath to steel himself. “Should we eat dinner? I’m starving.” Minho moves on, turning and walking further into the kitchen. They don’t talk about Felix or dive deeper into what Minho asked. They don’t talk about it that evening, or the next day, or the one after that, or the week after, or a couple weeks after. They pretend as if it never happened, and Minho continues to ignore the feeling of happiness inside of him surrounding the fact that Jisung had someone else.
Jisung kept another option just in case it didn’t work out, and Minho knows this. Unfortunately for Jisung, deep down, Minho never gave Seungmin up as his first option. He just never wanted to admit it. But as more time passes without Seungmin, Minho feels an odd sense of resentment bubbling towards Jisung, and a desperation blooming for Seungmin. He feels like he’s going crazy, but Minho isn’t sure he will survive much longer without his husband returning home.
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Jeongin walks into Hyunjin’s open arms, accepting the strong hug that is so desperately needed. He has just finished another interview, pleading with the public for any information regarding Seungmin, hoping that someone will come forward with something. Jeongin is getting desperate. It’s been almost five months since Seungmin went missing, and the police don’t have a damn clue about anything.
“Let me hold your thoughts for you.” Hyunjin comments, making Jeongin smile. It’s a little saying they have. Hyunjin started it towards the beginning of their relationship, saying it to let Jeongin know that he can talk to Hyunjin, allow Hyunjin to help him and carry some of whatever is burdening his mind. It’s sweet, and it never fails to cheer Jeongin up, even a little.
“I’m just frustrated…” Jeongin sighs. “The police have nothing, nobody has seen anything, and I feel like people are beginning to give up…”
“So we need something new to liven them up, make them keep talking about the case so that they don’t forget about Seungmin.” Hyunjin offers.
“Exactly.” Jeongin is happy that Hyunjin can read his mind so well.
“So what are you thinking, love bug?” Hyunjin looks into Jeongin’s eyes, so captivated and in love despite the current situation being desperate and somewhat sad, their feelings for each other never waver.
Jeongin bites his lip. Truthfully, he only has one real idea, but he is sure that Hyunjin won’t like it very much. “Minho…”
Hyunjin frowns, “What good is he going to do?”
“You saw him on our balcony.” Jeongin reminds him, “I think… I’m not sure he had anything to do with it anymore.”
“Yeah? And what if he did?”
“I just don’t think so.” Jeongin presses. “I know it sounds dumb, but I have a gut feeling that he had nothing to do with it, and I think letting him speak to the public and help us bring more attention to the case will help a lot. We convince him to speak, we set up a conference maybe at the park so it’s in a public place, and we bring back the attention that we had at the beginning of all of this. Seungmin deserves everyone’s attention, and I won’t stop until he is found. I know he’s alive, he’s my best friend and I can feel it. I’m not giving up on him.” Hyunjin doesn’t look too convinced, but he’s willing to do anything for Jeongin. “At this point, I’m willing to try anything. Even if he did have something to do with it, he’ll still be helping renew the public’s vigor. That’s the goal here.”
Hyunjin is silent for a few moments before sighing, rolling his eyes and pulling his phone out, “fine, but I’m gonna be the one to talk to him. And I don’t want you alone with him, got it?”
“Got it!” Jeongin beams.
“I’m serious, Innie.” Hyunjin looks Jeongin in the eyes with a frown, “I don’t want you alone with him. Any time he is around, I will be by your side. If I’m not around, you make sure someone else is, okay? I’m agreeing to do what you want, but I would feel better if you compromised with me.”
Jeongin nods, “you are setting a boundary and I will follow it, I promise. There is no reason for me to be alone with him, anyways, but I will be extra careful. And I love you.”
Hyunjin sighs, staring at Jeongin for a few moments and weighing the options. He rarely says no to Jeongin, and it isn’t like he can’t trust the younger man. With a smile, Hyunjin leans down to press a kiss to Jeongin’s lips, “I love you.” There’s no turning back now.
Jeongin watches as Hyunjin dials Minho’s number then puts the phone up to his ear, a look of distaste on the older man’s face, “Hey Minho… got a second to talk?”
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Seungmin can feel it. Johnny keeps glancing up at him from his dinner plate, and Seungmin knows it’s because he doesn’t like dinner. He originally asked for spaghetti, but after coming home Johnny decided he wanted tacos, and went back out to the store to get all the items. He never told Seungmin what he wanted the older man to do with the spaghetti he had already prepared, so Seungmin put it in a container to save it, thinking Johnny could take it to work for lunch. Seungmin is pretty sure that is not at all what Johnny wanted him to do.
Dinner is eerily quiet, Johnny slinking off afterwards to shower. Seungmin makes quick work of washing the dishes, not liking having his back towards the hall that leads to Johnny’s room. Once he’s finished, Seungmin stands in the kitchen and stares into the hallway. His ribs hurt, his head hurts, most of his body is sore from all of the beatings he has taken recently but Seungmin still isn’t scared of that. No, Seungmin is scared of failure. Seungmin is scared that the plan won’t work, that he will end up killed or locked up or he’ll become Chan’s bitch for the rest of his days, and he will never see Minho again. That’s the goal, that’s always been the goal: be back at Minho’s side.
Seungmin takes a shuddery breath and slinks into Johnny’s room. The older man is still in the bathroom, so Seungmin takes the time to turn down the bed, get it ready for Johnny to just climb right into, which he does. Johnny gets out of the shower and gets into bed, allowing Seungmin to take his turn in the shower. Seungmin showers quickly, Johnny not liking him to take too long. Once Seungmin is finished and climbing into bed, Johnny takes him from behind just like he does nearly every evening, then Johnny goes to sleep while Seungmin tosses and turns most of the night.
The next morning, Seungmin finds some bacon in the back of the fridge, and decides to fry up a pan to go with Johnny’s pancakes. That, Seungmin will find out, was not a good idea. This decision coupled with Seungmin deciding to cook the pancakes in the bacon grease to add extra flavor, sets Johnny off.
“Everything is so greasy.” Johnny grumbles as he shoves a piece of pancake into his mouth.
Seungmin turns slightly, flipping some bacon over in the pan but letting Johnny know that he has his attention, “I’m sorry, did you want something else, darling?”
“No, it’s fine.”
It is not fine, and alarm bells are beginning to sound in Seungmin’s chest. His body stiffens, standing on alert as he pulls the bacon out of the pan preemptively, then cranks the heat up without Johnny seeing.
“You knew I had a conference today.” Here we go. “It’s an important meeting, so I needed something healthy to get me through the day. Why on Earth would you make such greasy food? Did you think I would like it? I literally told you I had an important day today, and you’ve ruined it!” His voice gets louder and louder, but Seungmin isn’t at all prepared for Johnny to grab the back of Seungmin’s head and toss him across the room. Seungmin attempts to pull himself up, but Johnny’s foot meets his chest causing Seungmin to crumple back down. At first it seems like that is all Johnny will do, but he must work himself up again.
“God… you’ve ruined my entire f*cking morning. Why can’t you do anything right!?” Johnny screams before unleashing himself onto Seungmin. He begins kicking Seungmin, then kneels down and punches him over and over. Seungmin screams, trying to hold his arms up to protect himself but it’s no use; Johnny is much bigger than Seungmin in every aspect.
“Please, stop—!”
“Shut up!” Johnny manages a punch directly against the side of Seungmin’s head, causing the lawyer’s vision to go spotty. Johnny keeps hitting him, and Seungmin feels like he might pass out. His adrenaline finally arrives in battle as Seungmin realizes how horrible it would be to pass out in this moment, sending his legs up to kick Johnny in the groin. There isn’t much force to it and it’s more his calve against Johnny’s groin than anything, but it’s enough to pull a grunt from the younger man and give him pause. It’s an opportunity and Seungmin takes it, sending his fist flying to the side of Johnny’s face. It’s an awkward angle and Seungmin is sure his wrist hurts way more from that hit than Johnny’s face does, but a hit is a hit.
Johnny is knocked to one side from the force of the punch, Seungmin able to completely push him off to stand on shaky feet. The room spins but Seungmin bolts directly for the pan.
“Come here, you.” Johnny says angrily from right behind him. Seungmin was startled at how fast Johnny recovered, but it wasn’t fast enough. Seungmin grabs ahold of the now smoking pan, spins around and tosses piping hot bacon grease directly into Johnny’s face. Johnny lets out a blood curdling scream, hands immediately shooting up to cover his face. Seungmin reaches over and shuts the heat off, then turns and looks at Johnny with shock in his eyes. There is a horrifying sizzling sound, and Seungmin watches as steam begins to come off of Johnny where he is being burned. Seungmin gets distracted with the fascination of it all, but quickly steps back into action when he realizes what he is supposed to do.
Seungmin screams as he goes after Johnny with the pan, smashing it on the very top of Johnny’s head. Johnny falls to his knees before Seungmin delivers another hit in the same area, knocking him fully onto the ground. After this, Seungmin must black out. He doesn’t remember how many more hits he dealt, or when Johnny went from a regular man to a piece of twitching mush on the floor. Seungmin hits and hits and hits until Johnny’s head is so smashed that there is nothing but bone and brain spread everywhere. Seungmin gives one final smash and only stops when he realizes he is still screaming. The lawyer stares at the unmoving form on the ground. He was told to make sure Johnny is dead and Seungmin is positive that, due to the fact that this man’s head is literally caved in and turned to chunky confetti, Johnny is in fact dead.
Seungmin drops the pan as if he had been burned, running past Johnny and slipping and falling in the living room. Seungmin hadn’t been paying attention to how much blood had spread everywhere, especially how much was currently on him. He rips the front door open, not even hearing the automated voice saying ‘front door open’ as he nearly leaps off the porch, falling once more in the yard. Seungmin picks himself up once again and runs down the driveway before finding a road. He looks both ways, unsure which way to go before simply picking right and turning that way.
Seungmin runs until it feels like his lungs might burst, running through completely unfamiliar territory and briefly wondering if he was taken to a different city but no… He finally comes across a neighborhood that he actually recognizes. He’s still in town, just out in the far country. Seungmin begins running up and down the streets until he finds someone walking out to their car.
“Help!” Seungmin yells, startling the poor man.
The man turns and looks at Seungmin with wide eyes, “is everything— holy sh*t.” The man observes the blood all over Seungmin.
“Please help me, I-I was taken.” Seungmin doesn’t realize he is crying until he notices how hard it is to talk. The man looks closer at Seungmin and he gasps.
“Holy sh*t, you’re the guy from the news! Dear! Dear, call the police!” The man calls out to his wife who must be inside their home. “Now why don’t you come sit over here? I don’t wanna touch you in case there is evidence on you, but rest assured, you’re safe now.” The man reassures, gesturing to Seungmin to sit on the curb next to his car. The man’s wife rushes outside, takes one look at Seungmin who is still covered in blood, then runs right back into the house to grab her phone.
Seungmin walks over and collapses onto the ground, and begins to bawl his eyes out. To this man, it probably looks like Seungmin is happy to have finally been rescued, but in reality Seungmin is crying tears of joy: he’s going to see Minho again. This is all he thinks about as the man attempts to distract him with funny stories, when the police arrive and are shocked that Seungmin is actually alive, when right before Seungmin is put into the ambulance where he finally, mercifully passes out.
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It’s getting worse. San stopped calling Minho with updates, and now Minho is forced to call the station each and every day, begging for updates or any kinds of signs. He’s disappointed each time, of course. Minho begins to lose sleep, closing his eyes and imagining Seungmin being killed in every which way by Jisung. He’s begun to avoid Jisung once more, but this time it’s hitting him full force.
He feels sick when he sees Jisung. Minho had to change his contact picture in his phone because the mere image of Jisung made Minho want to rage, trash his place and demand for answers.
No… he couldn’t have had something to do with it.
Something small nags at the back of Minho’s mind, but the majority believes it to be a lie. There’s no way Jisung didn’t have something to do with it. He weighs his options, which only sends his mental health skyrocketing even further. Minho briefly considers blocking Jisung, but decides against it. He isn’t sure why, and couldn’t tell you if you asked, there was just something in his head that told him not to.
However, Minho is considering it more and more now that Jisung won’t leave him the f*ck alone. Minho gets it, technically they are dating. They never officially broke up so Jisung is definitely still under the assumption that they are in a relationship, despite the fact that even thinking about being with the younger man romantically has Minho feeling ill at the moment. When you’re in a relationship, you’re supposed to talk to your significant other. It’s how things are. So why does Minho feel like a sinkhole being held up by mere grains of sand every time he receives another call from Jisung?
Minho’s phone buzzes once more early in the afternoon right after he has hung up with the police, no leads once again sending him into a spiral. He may have thrown a chair against the wall and smashed a vase, but he cleaned it up immediately. Progress, right? Minho grabs his phone, prepared to add it to the mess in the bin, but freezes when he sees Hyunjin’s contact on the caller ID. Minho frowns, hesitantly answering the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey Minho… Got a second to talk?”
Minho glances at the scuff marks on the wall where he threw the chair, “yeah… what’s this about?”
“Well,” Hyunjin sighs, “Jeongin thought it might be a good idea for you to speak at a press conference.”
Shock courses through Minho’s veins, and he takes a few moments to gather himself as he isn’t quite sure what to say in response. “Wants… are you sure that’s a good idea? Most people think I had something to do with it. Doesn’t he also think I had something to do with it?”
“He did, and so did I.” Hyunjin admits. “But he isn’t so sure now.”
“What changed his mind?” Minho knows the answer, but he has to hear the words come from someone else’s mouth, has to hear that he isn’t crazy.
“Honestly… with everything regarding Jisung coming out, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did it. I know you love him, but you need to be careful around him. And he technically cheated on you, too.” Hyunjin adds.
“Yeah.” Minho affirms, uncaring, “what about you?”
“What about me?”
“What do you believe?”
“Does it matter?”
Silence for roughly ten seconds, Minho weighing his options, “I guess not.”
Hyunjin scoffs, “So are you agreeing to do it or not?”
Minho shrugs though he knows Hyunjin can’t see it, “what would I even say, Hyunjin? The public trusts me every bit as much as you do. Probably less, actually. What could I possibly say to sway them, or anyone who might have Seungmin? If Jisung did it, what could I say that would make him suddenly want to turn himself in or let him go, let me go?”
“As much as you like to parade around and act like you didn’t give a sh*t about Seungmin, he’s your husband, Minho.”
A chill runs down Minho’s spine, something cementing itself heavily in his bones. Seungmin is his husband. They never finalized their divorce, and Minho decides right then and there that not only will he continue searching far and wide for his husband, but when he gets Seungmin back, he won’t be letting him go. Never again. This decision is how he ends up standing on a small stage in the park with Hyunjin and Jeongin late one evening. There’s a small crowd, too small in Minho’s opinion, but Jeongin explained things pretty well. There hasn’t been enough excitement surrounding the case lately, so people have stopped caring. It makes sense, dumb as it may be. The stage they are on is usually used for small town summer festivals, or fall talent shows. There’s a camera crew finishing setting up nearby, and Minho feels like his nerves are on fire.
“Everything will be okay. I have a feeling that this will work!” Jeongin reassures.
Minho shakes his head disapprovingly, “what if this just… I don’t know. If the belief is that Jisung had something to do with it, what if this just pisses him off and he kills Seungmin?”
Jeongin shrugs, looking directly at Minho as Hyunjin watches carefully close by, “at this point, it doesn’t really matter who did it, Minho, what matters is getting him home. I believe he’s alive somewhere. He’s my best friend, and I feel like I’d feel it if he was no longer with us. I know it sounds dumb and cliche, but I have a strong gut feeling that he’s alive, and I’m going to continue fighting until he is home safe and sound. I think you want to do the same, which is why I wanted you to be here. Was I wrong?”
Minho shakes his head, never really having spoken to Jeongin before. Sure, they’ve exchanged pleasantries here and there, but nothing too serious. Minho is happy that Seungmin has someone in his life who cares about him so much, someone who cares about him way more than Minho ever did. However, Minho thinks he is ready to change that.
“Alright, we’re ready.” The newswoman informs them, the trio making their way to the center of the stage where a microphone sits.
“Hello everyone. Thank you to all of you who came out on a rather hot evening, it means a lot to us and I’m sure it means a lot to Seungmin as well. We are actually holding this conference today because someone close to Seungmin has a few words he would like to say, and I think they are important. At the end of the day, the goal has always been to bring Seungmin home safe and sound, and that will never change. Please welcome Seungmin’s husband, Minho.” Jeongin finishes speaking, taking a few steps aside to stand next to Hyunjin while Minho hesitantly walks up to the microphone. A few people in the audience gasp, some boo, and exactly two people begin to clap before awkwardly stopping when people turn and glare at them.
“Uh… thank you, Jeongin. Um…” Minho glances at the camera, then back out at the audience. Nobody looks like they trust him, and Minho’s heart feels like it could beat out of his chest. But he has to remain focused, he has a goal here. “My name is Minho, and as most of you know, I am Seungmin’s husband. Yes, we were in the process of divorce, but it was never finalized and I… I’m uh…” Minho bites his lip, gathering his thoughts. He thinks of his husband tied up somewhere, or beaten up in the back of an alley, or buried in a concrete drum thousands of miles away. Nobody was ever supposed to hurt Seungmin, nobody else was.
Tears fill Minho’s eyes and he is quick to attempt to blink them away, “Um… baby,” He decides to change it up, “if you are out there and you can hear me, I just want you to know how sorry I am. No words will ever be able to prove to you how sorry I am, and I don’t think I will ever be able to show you, but I at least want the chance. If you’re out there and you can do it, I want you to fight. Fight your way to safety, and fight your way back to me. Even if you decide to leave me in the end, I don’t care. I just want you home safe and sound. And if you’re the one who has my Seungmin, please have mercy on him. He likes old style band music, and he’s tall which makes him a bit clumsy, and I swear if I named every little thing he couldn’t do by himself we would be here for hours.” Minho chuckles at the thought, “he loves cooking, reading, and he really loves work. He is such a hard worker, and his success in his career shows that. He’s a thorn in my side, always nagging me to take care of myself but I was a better person because of it. He is one of the kindest, gentlest souls I have ever met, and I was the one who screwed us up. If anyone deserves to be punished, it’s me. Please give him back to me… Please. Nothing else matters, I’ll do whatever you want. If you want money, a house, a car, whatever it may be… Just give me back my Seungminnie, and I’ll give you what you want. And Seungmin… I love you.” Minho nods, startling when he realizes he has tears streaming down his cheeks. He steps back, turning to stand next to Jeongin when the crowd erupts into applause. Minho turns to look out, the camera also panning to the audience and it seems like everyone is crying too.
Minho smiles when Jeongin gives him a hug, Hyunjin patting his shoulder with a weak smile. Above all else, Minho at least hopes that Seungmin heard him.
Early the next morning, Minho sits in his apartment and knows. He knows it’s coming. There’s a knock on the door, Minho standing and staring at it but not moving to open the door. He can’t face him, he won’t.
“Min? I know you’re in there…” Jisung’s voice is heard from the other side. Minho slowly and silently walks over, eyes not leaving the door. “I have a key, I could just open it but… I have a feeling that you don’t want that.” Minho’s heartbeat picks up for a brief moment, coming back down ever so slowly. How is it that someone he felt so passionately about just a year ago, he now wants nothing to do with?
“I saw the broadcast… is it… is it true? Do you love him?” Jisung’s voice breaks, and he sounds hurt. He sounds so f*cking hurt, and Minho has the brief urge to open the door and cradle Jisung in his arms, but there’s a darker side of him… Something sinister tells Minho that this is certainly the man who had something to do with Seungmin’s disappearance. Perhaps Minho should hurt him instead? Perhaps that’s why Minho did the broadcast at all?
A sniffle, “I get it… you don’t have to respond. I meant what I said before, I don’t care if we are together or not, just as long as I still have you by my side. As long as you believe in me, I’m fine. I just want you to be happy. I’ve always just wanted you to be happy. I love you.”
Liar, Minho’s mind chants. He clenches his fists. How dare Jisung come to this apartment and try to tempt Minho? He hurt Seungmin. He took Seungmin and chopped him up into little— no, Jisung always wanted to make Seungmin feel it. He definitely tortured him first. Probably tied him up, took a knife to fire then sliced different parts of Seungmin’s body. Probably yelled and cursed and hit and spit and broke every piece he possibly could, then threw away all the evidence as if Seungmin were nothing.
Fire ignites behind Minho’s eyes, moving forward to throw the door open and— Jisung is gone. Minho breathes heavily, molten lava pumping through his veins. Perhaps it’s for the best… who knows what he would have done had Jisung stuck around any longer.
Minho slowly closes the door and locks it, hands trembling with unfounded rage. The birds are chirping and it is once again, a hot lovely day. Minho detests it. He wants nothing more than to scream at the sun, berate it for continuing to turn and force Minho to live as if everything is normal. Minho growls loudly, running his fingers through his hair and tugging painfully. He hasn’t gotten a haircut in a while, a few of the longer strands tangled amongst one another: a metaphor for Minho’s heart and mind at the moment. Tears fill Minho’s eyes, frustrated that he can’t seem to gather his thoughts. He pads across the entryway, deciding to lay in bed for the rest of the day in the hopes that maybe his mind will stop confusing him. His phone vibrating loudly on the counter startles Minho, the man whipping around and regretting it when his back pops and head swims. He hasn’t been keeping up with his health as of late, but Minho doesn’t think about that. He briefly contemplates ignoring it, staring at his phone a moment too long until it stops. It’s upside down so he can’t see the caller ID, but Jisung has been calling him nonstop for the past week and a half, and if Minho wasn’t waiting to hear back from San or anyone at the police department, he would have smashed his phone by now.
Minho has just barely turned when his phone begins to vibrate again, causing him to freeze. A cold chill runs through his body, causing him to quickly walk over to the table and pick up his phone. Seeing San’s ID has Minho gasping, answering immediately, “San? Finally, I have been trying to get ahold of someone—”
“Minho! There’s no time to explain, they found Seungmin and he’s alive! Meet me at the hospital, in the emergency department. I’ll be waiting for you right by the doors. Come quickly!” San hangs up, and Minho’s entire world tilts. He goes into autopilot, legs carrying him faster than he thought he could go. He doesn’t speak or think, barely remembering to grab his wallet and keys by the front door as he rushes out. This is it, Minho thinks, his Seungmin is finally home.
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Believe it or not, your real challenge has just begun. You’ve laid the playing field, now the game actually begins. Did you think it would be over just because they called time? Oh no, no no no… You’ve won! Now there is a victory tour to be had, and several interviews. They’re going to want to see your bright, shining, annoying, alive face for months and months until they get sick of you and wish you had simply died.
It sounds easy enough… to play a part, right? You’ve already set the rules of the game, played the game to fruition, and have now won. All you have to do is act as the character you already are: a winner.
But this isn’t about winning or losing, this is about how to get away with murder. Believe it or not, the answer isn’t as obvious as you may think it is, and Johnny isn’t who I am teaching you about. Lean in closer… we have one more lesson.
:)
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Seungmin’s eyes slowly open, the first thing he feels being his throbbing head. The second feeling is the wooziness, probably from the morphine they surely have him on. It’s bright as hell in this room, Seungmin squinting as he attempts to shade it even a little. His throat is sore from how dry it is, but Seungmin isn’t sure he could attempt to drink any water at the moment. Once the momentary blindness from the lights goes away and his vision clears up, Seungmin is met with the ceiling of a hospital room. He stares for a few moments, lying in ignorant bliss before his blood pressure cuff automatically goes off— probably set on a timer. Seungmin glances down at the cuff, startling when he sees Minho looking right back at him.
“Seungminnie? You’re finally awake…” Minho smiles.
Seungmin looks terrified, immediately trying to get away from Minho and shaking his head, “P-Please don’t—”
Minho’s eyes widen in horror, “No! No, baby, I-I swear, I promise you I had nothing to do with this.” Minho holds his hands up, “I never did this, Minnie, you’ve got to believe me. I had no idea that any of this was planned, I swear to you on my grandmother’s grave.” Minho’s eyes fill with tears at the same time Seungmin’s do. Seungmin looks broken, slowly deflating as he lets Minho think that he believes him. Minho shuffles onto the bed, gathering Seungmin delicately into his arms so as to not disturb any of his injuries, and holding him close as they both cry.
“It was Jisung, wasn’t it? They found the evidence on his phone. Seungmin, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I brought him into our lives. I’m so sorry…” Minho cries quietly, repeating himself over and over again as Seungmin curls into his husband’s side.
And find it, they did.
Jisung gets gullible in times of need. Right before Felix went live on television and performed his little stunt, he sent Jisung a text telling him he missed him, asking if he was doing alright amidst all the stress. Jisung fell into his trap readily, inviting Felix over for ‘dinner’ that night. ‘Dinner’ was actually just them f*cking in a hotel room and ignoring the room service they ordered. While Jisung lay passed out in bed after rearranging Felix’s guts— what? Just because they’re trying to frame him doesn’t mean Felix can deny the truth: Jisung’s good in bed, Felix connects a USB to Jisung’s phone and downloads some software. Once Felix receives the O.K text from Changbin, Felix ejects the USB and places Jisung’s phone right back where it was, then gets dressed and exits the room as if he was never there.
Two days later sees Felix bawling his eyes out on live TV.
Once the motion alert for the front door camera of the Love Lee Escape goes off at an odd time of the morning, Changbin confirms his suspicions and they all get to work. They briefly freeze all frames of each camera, a team of Chan’s best clean up experts descending upon the home and ensuring that no trace of them was ever there— the phone under the mattress, but also planting a few rose bushes— Jisung’s flat tire amongst other things. No one touches Johnny’s body, but they work quickly knowing the police will arrive soon. Despite the home being in the middle of nowhere, Chan is sure the high profileness of this case will force them to move quicker than usual.
After a final check, a remote signal is plugged into each of the cameras, then the team disappears as if they were never there. Hyunjin makes quick work of hacking into Jisung’s phone using the software that Felix installed. Once he’s in, he downloads a hidden app that looks like a calculator on the outside but when you click on it, it is password protected with none other than Minho’s birthday. After gaining access, a log opens up of hundreds of saved video footage from inside the Love Lee Escape.
“Excellent.” Chan compliments, Hyunjin responding only with a smirk.
The police descend upon the scene, shouting obscenities and throwing flashbang’s into the home. Once they realized there was no one alive in the house, police made quick work of tearing everything apart from top to bottom. It didn’t take them long to find the cameras, then the remote connection, and it was only a matter of time before they traced it back to Jisung's phone.
The evidence against Jisung coupled with Seungmin’s tearful account of the events, claiming that he was supposed to die, Johnny was ‘ordered’ to kill him immediately but Seungmin seduced him, distracted him with pretty words and battings of eyelashes to survive the torture he endured. Once he built up enough trust, he made his move.
“Did he ever mention any other names? Did he say who hired him to kill you?” San questioned Seungmin in the hospital with a couple other cops in the room, Minho looking furious that the police won’t let his darling husband rest but Seungmin swatted him away, assured him that he was okay enough to talk.
“He… Well…” Seungmin’s eyes fill with tears and he glances at Minho before looking down into his lap.
“Hey, no…” Minho takes Seungmin’s chin in his hands and makes Seungmin look into his eyes. “Don’t protect him for me. You are all I care about right now.” Seungmin bites his lip at Minho’s words and nods, turning his gaze back to San.
“He never mentioned Jisung by name to me, always just condescending words… ‘I can see why he wanted to kill you and run off with your husband.’ At first, I didn’t think he could possibly be talking about Jisung. Sure, he had an affair with my husband but… I’ve known Jisung for years and…” Seungmin shakes his head, looking sorrowful, “but one night I heard him on the phone… I didn’t hear the entire conversation, but he said Jisung’s name. He was talking to Jisung, assuring him that the ‘job’ would be done soon. Specifically, ‘just relax, Jisung’ and that’s when I knew…”
San nods, writing down all the information. He begins to say something else, but Seungmin yawns which tapers down into a harsh cough. Minho glares, “I think you’ve asked all the questions. You know who it is, now go arrest him and let Seungmin rest.”
San raises his hands, “you’re right. Sorry for disturbing you, Seungmin, we’ll leave.” San and the other two officers that Minho had never seen before stand and take their leave, Seungmin relaxing back into the bed as Minho takes his hand.
It’s silent for a few moments, but Seungmin can’t help himself. He slowly turns to look at Minho, something indifferent in his eyes, “The clothes…”
Minho raises a brow, “what clothes?”
“My clothes. I saw them… in the closet.”
Minho blinks a couple of times, “oh.”
Seungmin takes a few breaths, “you bought him my clothes?”
“I did.” Minho doesn’t deny it.
“My clothes?”
“Your clothes.” Minho and Seungmin stare at each other, a look of recognition flashing between the both of them, and it’s then that they both realize that they will never separate from one another ever again, whether they like it or not. Minho climbs into the bed, Seungmin snuggling up to him. The pair breathe in tandem, but don’t say a word. Despite the silence, their message to each other has been received loud and clear.
Hyunjin and Jeongin come to visit the next day, Jeongin hugging Seungmin tightly and sobbing loudly. Hyunjin shakes Minho’s hand and apologizes for misbelieving him, to which Minho just waves him off. Seungmin holds Jeongin extra tight, locking eyes with Hyunjin for a moment before looking away. Jeongin is one that, no matter where Seungmin goes, he will never let go of.
Seungmin gets a get well soon fruit basket from Chan, amongst many other clients that send well wishes gift baskets. Aside from that, Seungmin doesn’t hear from Chan, but he doubts that will be a permanent fixture. No, he will call someday in maybe a few years when Changbin gets himself into more trouble, and Seungmin will look Minho in the eyes once more and tell him that he has to go… Or perhaps he will convince Minho to join him. In the meantime, Seungmin moves about life now with the understanding that he is being watched, and he’s okay with that.
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Jisung was arrested soon after that. I only wish I had gotten to see the look on his face when they showed him an app on his own phone, footage of me being tortured and assaulted, and informed him that I had confirmed he was the mastermind behind all of this. The amount of money I would pay to have been able to witness that… but it’s alright.
Things moved rather quickly after that, including us. Minho wanted to move as far away as possible almost immediately after I was released from the hospital, but San informed him that I may be called upon as a witness. I knew this much, and I was happy to sit on a stand and bawl my poor little abused eyes out in front of a jury. I didn’t expect Jisung himself to throw a wrench in my plans.
He called late one evening and I’m not entirely sure what was said. Minho answered the phone, listened without saying a word, then hung up. When I asked who it was, he told me it was Jisung and that was that. He wouldn’t answer a single other question I had, but he did go and visit Jisung the next day. This is where befriending Chan comes in handy, I was able to find out through the grapevine aka San that Minho went off on Jisung.
“How dare you call me… after everything you’ve done!”
“I didn’t do this, Minho, I swear! Someone is framing me.”
“LIAR. I should have known… from the moment I met you, you tried to get closer and closer to me but I bet you had some sick fascination with Seungmin, didn’t you? From the very beginning I bet you really wanted him. So what, you decided to kill him? Well, it didn’t work, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you regret this. God, I trusted you. I slept with you.” Minho spits in disgust. “It’s crazy how I can even look you in the eyes right now because I’m not even sure I can look at myself. I should have told you to piss off, gone home to my loving husband and lived my life but NO!” Minho slams his hand down on the table making Jisung flinch, “I trusted a monster.”
Jisung begins to cry, looking at Minho with a far off stare, “M-Min… What is this? I-I don’t even know who you are anymore…”
Minho cackles, “did you ever know me? Truthfully?”
“Min—”
“Don’t call me that. You tried to murder my husband, you have a lot of audacity right now.”
“You said you’d always believe in me.” Jisung looks broken, fully and officially.
Minho looks Jisung in the eyes and shrugs, “guess you weren’t the only one who lied, huh?”
According to San and Yunho, Chan and the others involved thought it was funny— so did I to be quite honest. This is what we have been working towards. This buildup until this final moment, Minho running back into my arms and tossing Jisung to the curb, but no sundae is true without a cherry on top. That cherry came in the form of Yunho knocking on our door early one morning, the majority of our items already in boxes. Minho decided that since I have always wanted to live by the sea, we would finally be doing it. To say I’m excited is an understatement, but back to Yunho’s presence.
There was a false sense of solemnness in his eyes. He was holding a piece of paper and looking directly at Minho before saying it, “Jisung has killed himself… we found him hanging in his cell late last night. He left a note for you…” Yunho holds out a letter towards Minho, and to say that I’m shocked would be far from the truth. I never in a million years would have thought that Han Jisung would have taken his own life, always far too proud of himself for such an act. Nevertheless, elation fills my being. Minho doesn’t flinch, just looks at Yunho as if he is bored. Perhaps I should be scared or worried, nervous that Minho seems to have lost all feeling for anything he, at one point, found important in his life. He doesn’t even bring up the studio anymore, not a peep about dancing or cooking.
However, I’m simply content.
The letter, you might be wondering, didn’t detail much. Minho reads it, then uses it to start a fire.
“Does this mean we can move now? Minnie won’t be called as a witness anymore, correct?” Are the first words out of Minho’s mouth. Yunho nods, confirming that we can in fact leave, and Minho books the first flight out in the morning and phones the moving company to make arrangements.
It’s been several months now and I think about that letter sometimes… think about how much my darling husband has changed, and wonder if it would have been better if I had just died or simply ran away. The answer I always come up with is the same: hell no. This is how you do it. This is how you get your life to be exactly how you want it, as is mine. I worked my ass off for over a year and now I am at my happiest. Work. You want revenge? You want everything you deserve? Work. For. It. I got on my hands and knees with a toothbrush and look at me now; I have the shell of my husband back, he is more devoted to me now than ever and I managed to rid myself of a roach. Speaking of the squashed pest, I bet you’re itching to hear about the letter. It’s hilarious, truly, have a laugh with me:
“I told you I can’t do this without you, and I won’t. Lee Minho, I will always love you. Goodbye.”
And that is how you get away with murder.
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Seungmin shuts his journal, staring at it for a few moments before picking it up, pressing a kiss to the spine, then tossing it into the fire blazing in the fireplace. Minho kept true to his promise; moving Seungmin to a lovely two-story seaside home equipped with a decent size kitchen, plenty of natural lighting, and a gorgeous fireplace. Seungmin watches as his confession burns to a crisp before turning into ash and nothingness. A brief smirk toys with his face before a voice snaps him out of it.
“So it worked exactly how you wanted, huh? That easy?”
Seungmin nods, looking over at Jeongin who is sat across from him, “that easy.” He nods.
“Wow…” Jeongin covers his mouth, not in shock but in awe. “I would have never guessed… but…”
“Don’t be mad at Hyunjin—” Seungmin begins.
“Oh, I’m not mad at him, if anything this makes me even more in love with him, but of course I can’t ever tell him I know. It’ll have to be my own dirty little secret, just like he thinks he has his.” Jeongin admits, Seungmin smirking at the admission. He always knew there was a more sinister reason why he got along so well with Jeongin. Ever since Jeongin confessed his admiration for true crime on a more… personal level, Seungmin knew they would be chummy.
“It’s understandable. He’s willing to do literally anything for you. If this had all gone south, he probably would have thrown me under the bus in an instant if it meant saving your ass.”
“To be honest… I kind of knew something was up. Our finances were not adding up, but I guess this is better than him being the one to sling cocaine around.” Jeongin shrugs. Seungmin suspects that Jeongin knows a lot more than he is letting on with how calm his demeanor currently is, but he doesn’t comment on it.
“Hyunjin is a good man. He helped me when I needed it most, and look where I ended up.” Seungmin gestures around the room.
“I’ll have to call you up whenever I need my own revenge.” Jeongin’s words shock Seungmin, wondering what he could possibly need revenge for. It couldn’t be for Hyunjin. But if not for Hyunjin, then who… Seungmin’s surprise must show clearly on his face because Jeongin grins, opening his mouth to say something when the door bursts open, “Minnie?”
Seungmin and Jeongin stand, turning to look at Minho who appears a bit flustered. “Is everything okay, honey?”
“Didn’t you hear me calling you?” Minho’s brows furrow, Seungmin gulping as Jeongin shifts awkwardly on his feet.
“No…” Seungmin frowns, “I didn’t hear you, I’m sorry. We must have gotten carried away.”
“Yeah well, it’s past your usual time and Hyunjin is downstairs.” Minho looks at his watch, not even glancing in Jeongin’s direction. Jeongin gets the hint, giving Seungmin a hug.
“Thank you.” Jeongin says mid hug, squeezing extra tight at the end before letting go. Jeongin winks at Seungmin before turning and walking out of the room. Seungmin wishes he could call him back, pin him down and demand some answers. But he turns, locking eyes with Minho and realizing that… sometimes one doesn’t get all the answers for a reason; one simply doesn’t need them. What Seungmin needs is right in front of him, and he worked hard to make sure that is a fact he can live with for the rest of his life.
Minho sighs, “we’ve talked about this. Your schedule is strict for a reason, I need you to come tell me if you want to change it at all for any reason. You were supposed to be downstairs already, you scared me, love.”
His paranoia is suffocating… but Seungmin is into breathplay, “I’m sorry, honey, you’re right.” Seungmin wraps his arms around Minho’s neck, “I’ll let you know next time. How about I nap in the living room while you fix dinner, that way you can see me?”
Minho rolls his eyes but there’s a grin on his lips, “I can never stay mad at you.”
Seungmin giggles and presses a kiss to Minho’s lips. They make their way downstairs and Seungmin sets up a few blankets to snuggle with while he naps. He glances towards the kitchen and spots Minho observing him intently, something eerie pricking at Seungmin’s skin. It’s gotten a lot worse… it will continue to get worse… and Seungmin loves it. Seungmin craves it. After all, he got exactly what he wanted.
Seungmin lays down for a nap and falls asleep with no problem, cascading into a deep, dreamless rest. Here, he is at peace and nothing else matters. Occasionally, Minho stops what he is doing and stares at Seungmin for a few seconds, watching his chest rise and fall to assure that he is still breathing. This is enough for Minho for now. Eventually, it won’t be enough.
Eventually.
