Chapter Text
“So, you’re like,” Daniel munches away the bag of gummies placed haphazardly in the soft leatherette seat, chewing sounds conspicuously audible. “Rich?”
There is still a stray of disbelief laced in Daniel’s voice. Seongwoo had revealed everything to him hours ago, as they board on his plane that’s headed straight to Seoul. And he notes, it’s Seongwoo’s personal plane. His own fucking plane. Daniel’s head can’t seem to wrap around the thought, though the older male tries to calmly explain every single thing with the hope that the younger wouldn’t lash out on him.
“I’d say we’re well-off, Niel-ah,” he says calmly with a smile. Daniel knows it’s a bad attempt to sound calm and collective. “Besides, it’s not like we control the whole company, it’s a consortium between two families.”
“That’s exactly what a super rich person would say,” the younger giggles, hands still probing the pack of jellies. “Hmm, who’s the other one?”
Daniel doesn’t mean to pry, but given that he’s been with Seongwoo for a half a decade does mean he’s entitled to know everything what the elder had been keeping from him all this time. Surprisingly, he doesn’t feel a tinge of betrayal nor distrust towards Seongwoo, rather, he’s very curious about the whole stuff going on.
“The Hwangs. Minhyun’s family.” Seongwoo says curtly, snaking one of Daniel’s arm into a warm cuddle. He sighs, “I hope you don’t hate me. I’ve kept it for a very long time, after all.”
“Me? Hating you? Hyung, I couldn’t even get mad at you when you stole my Häagen-Dazs. How could I hate you, even?” Daniel wraps the elder in a warm hug, his lips jutting out to place a chaste kiss on his forehead. “You had your reasons, and I respect you for that.”
“This is why I love you so much, Daniel,” Seongwoo croaks, a hand placing over Daniel’s cheeks to usher him close to the elder. “God, I feel like shit for bringing you into this whole mess. When I left Seoul years ago, I left with the thought of leaving for good. I didn’t need all this stuff, I wanted to be free.” I wanted to love.
Technically, the plane is still halfway through the Pacific and a little over thirty-two thousand feet off the ground. It’s nothing but the endless stretch of azure waters leading towards them, but Seongwoo feels like his stomach had formed into dismal knots with the way he’s nauseated and anxious right now. He feels weird, really weird. Having to carry the burden he had once abhorred and abandoned, but with a single phone call, he’s back running, just like a dog being called by its master.
“Hey, hey. Don’t worry, bud,” the look on Daniel’s face puts Seongwoo’s growing fears to rest. Seongwoo is reminded why he’s so in love amidst of the brewing mess.
Daniel is just magical, his wonderful golden boy whom he had met the first time he had set foot on Koreatown. The man who never got tired of teaching him the ordinary ways of life as his ignorance of practicality had shown further during his blatant attempts to adjust into a life without the comfort of his butlers and maids.
And by god, Daniel was a patient man, he really was. “I’m here every step of the way. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, or a year from now--Heck, I have no idea, honestly. But the thing is, I’m with you and you’re with me. We’ll be fine. You’ll be fine, love .”
“You are my treasure, Kang Daniel.”
“I am always yours, Ong Seongwoo.”
With the hope of a better tomorrow, Seongwoo drains all of himself, melting into Daniel’s deep kiss.
Daniel notes the next time he asks Seongwoo questions, is that he should ask more than the question itself.
The plane lands smoothly in terminal seven, which was apparently, specifically exclusive for the high-ranking public officials and South Korea’s handful of primed elites. It’s been so long that Daniel has been to his country of origin that he feels like a complete stranger in comparison to the Incheon Airport’s glassy modernist facade. He felt like he shouldn’t be in here, if he were to be honest. But, that doesn’t deter him from facing anyone, a promise is a promise, after all.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” Seongwoo’s personal pilot, Mr. Kim, scoffs as he greets the two passengers through the PA system. “We have landed in Incheon International Airport in South Korea. I hope to see you both again, young master .”
“Always the pleasure, Mr. Kim!” Seongwoo shouts softly, a small smile forming in his mouth as the couple exits the aircraft and into the bridge, revealing the large runway filled with different kinds of commercial aircraft.
What greets them beyond the glass door completely shook whatever what’s left of Daniel.
A long line of women clad in black business suits are bowing on the left side, and another line of tall, burly men in suits are bowing on the right side. “We’ve been waiting for your arrival, young master!” They did scream in perfect nonchalance.
Perfect , just perfect for a grand opening of sorts. His hands are visibly shaking even though it is intertwined with Seongwoo’s. Way to go, Daniel. The younger male tries to breathe evenly, and look as unfazed as he could possibly be with such show of affluence. He looks at Seongwoo, and the older male doesn’t even flinch a single bit.
Obviously, he’s already used to this kind of welcome, and it makes him wonder how in the world did Seongwoo get used to their hustle and bustle kind of lifestyle back in LA. It’s completely paradoxical to the gravity of his opulent lifestyle in Seoul, and so far, Daniel hasn’t even scratched the surface yet. He shivers.
They were simple people, living uneventful lives while managing a chicken joint down the small duplex they had bought on their third anniversary — until now.
The couple walk over a red velvety carpet, contrasting the horrendous pair of worn out jeans and gray hoodie Daniel is currently wearing. Even his fiance looked real shabby next to the harem of males and female servants on the sides, only a call away, ready at his perusal.
This is just so new to Daniel’s eyes, to realize that someone actually lives like this on a daily basis, and that someone is actually his fiance. It’s just… too overwhelming - no, like, hella’ overwhelming .
As they draw nearer to the end, and by god it took them five minutes just to walk in the fucking aisle itself, Daniel spots a woman standing at the end with a cheery smile plastered on his face. She looks eerily familiar, like he had seen her on a daily basis.
“Seongwoo-ya!” the said female screams with glee as she wraps Seongwoo into a bone-crushing hug. “I missed you so much, dumbass! You could’ve left me a note that you were leav — and oh, who is this?” She looks at Daniel with an interested look. Daniel flinches, once again.
“Sujin-noona, this is Kang Daniel,” Seongwoo says to the woman, Sujin. The elder finds his hands intertwining Daniel’s larger ones, once more. “And he is my fiance ,” Daniel feels a bit of confidence as Seongwoo asserts himself in front of the girl.
“Oh, I see,” Sujin probes at him like she’s scanning inside the corners of his very being. Daniel surmises that she’s kind of a creep if it weren’t for her pretty face. “Hmm, you know how to pick the right man, Seongwoo-ya. He has celebrity potential in him, it’s as if he’s born to be a star.”
Sujin dashes nearer to Daniel, holding his hands, and looks at him like a curious cat observing a stranger, “Excuse me, are you willing to sign with Starmaker Ent —”
“Noona!” the older male shouts suddenly. “I know you’re one of the PR guys and you manage an entertainment company but that is my fiance right there.” Seongwoo pulls Daniel nearer to him, a threatened expression looming in his face. “This isn’t the right time for this, okay?”
“Geez, Seongwoo. I was just asking,” she scratches the back of her head, slouching discontentedly at the scene of things. The servants still stand on the sides astern, as if they’ve been trained not to hear a single thing about what just had happened. “It’s not like I want to steal your husband, but he could be a great asset for Sebyul , no? Young love, honestly.”
“Anyways,” Seongwoo huffs, looking at Daniel and then Sujin again. “This is Hwang Sujin, head of the PR department for Sebyul, and the CEO of Starmaker. And, I’m pretty sure you know that company, right?” He giggles while looking at Daniel’s flabbergasted face.
“Hyung, I literally worship their company, they literally created Wanna One ,” For someone who’s almost half-fifty, Daniel can’t seem to control his fanboy tendencies, gushing at Seongwoo for someone and the latter’s expresion is just pure fondness. “But… Hwang? Then, are you--”
“Minhyun’s older sister? Yes, she is,” Seongwoo interjects halfway, stating as a matter-of-factly.
“Oh my god,” Daniel widens his eyes in utter disbelief. “That’s why you look familiar, you two really look alike!”
“Ugh, don’t lump me with that irresponsible brother of mine!” Sujin looks veritably annoyed at Daniel’s comment. “That guy just left all of a sudden, for like what? 7 or 8 years? Where the hell is he, even?”
“He’s managing my chicken shop, Sujin-ssi,” his voice grows weaker as he replies the woman; he feels shy, feeling all puny from the way the two people are talking in front of him. They own the grand scale of things, it’s as if they don’t even live in the same wavelengths as ordinary people do.
“Oh, you’re quite the entrepreneur, aren’t you? Seongwoo, you really did choose him well,” Seongwoo feels smug all of a sudden at the compliment being given to him. Daniel feels his cheeks grow warmer too, at the indirect complement.
Seongwoo leans himself on Daniel’s wide chest, “Can’t help it, noona . I’m attracted to sexy boys with equally sexy brains. He’s also a healthcare specialist, himself.” He adds, boosting Daniel’s morale a bit. He can’t help but blush profusely in front of them.
“Hyung, stop,” Daniel shies away, one hand still clutching the heavy suitcase he brought out of impulse, thinking they’d run out of clothes (but they’re obviously not using these clothes).
“Sure, Seongwoo-ya,” Sujin’s tone gets serious, as if shit is about to go down a few moments from now.
She takes a deep breath, “First of all, I’ve managed to keep the issue away from the press for now, but who knows when they’ll be acquiring the news since even the walls have eyes, nowadays. I’ve prepared an official press conference in the airport’s function hall with our news affiliates, the maids will get you ready in a few minutes.”
Daniel is amazed at how she can transform herself into a real professional with the blink of an eye, truly the Hwangs are good at their craft. “And as for Daniel, you’ll be coming with me. I will brief you myself as what Seongwoo had requested earlier, and I will make sure Dispatch doesn’t catch a single shadow of you. We will only present you through official channels.”
Present through official channels? What is a dispatch? Why does Seongwoo have to do a press conference when he’s here to visit his mom? Daniel doesn’t have the slightest bit of an idea as to what she means, but left with no choice, he mindlessly complies to everything. He’s doing this for Seongwoo after all, and he loves his partner more than anything else in this world.
“I guess this is goodbye for now, Niel-ah,” Seongwoo says softly, a tiny sliver of fragility can be heard within his tone, and Daniel couldn’t help but worry for what his fiance has to face.
“Yes, but we’ll be fine,” He guides Seongwoo’s hand directly to his chest that’s been growing warm by the moment. Seongwoo hears the beating of Daniel’s heart, it’s calm and peaceful, just like the normal, uneventful life they once had back in America; they were free to do anything without any servant’s peering eyes attentively affixed to them, they were allowed to be themselves.
“I’m here, Seongwoo,” he reassures Seongwoo with a beautiful smile. “This time, you’re not alone.”
Also, this time, Daniel does wonder what he signed up for.