Chapter Text
Kim Doyoung was normal. Mostly. He lived in a one bedroom studio apartment in the city, he woke up at seven in the morning so that he could shower, eat leftovers from two days ago, get dressed, head to the convenience store downstairs to buy a canned coffee and took the train to the outskirts of the city.
This is where it stops being normal, and begins to tread dangerous territory.
Doyoung takes a train to the very last station, until he’s almost out of the city and has entered an area which was not even suburban, no, it was empty, isolated and quite run down.
It was a little bit dirtier, and a little bit poorer. This part of the city was notorious for gangsters and thugs, where crime rates were higher than average and where everything just seemed a little bit darker, a little bit colder.
And if he took a smooth, ten minute walk from the station in the direction of the shabby motels and butcher shops with small, abandoned buildings soiled with soot here and there forming his path, eventually Doyoung will find a empty, bumpy road that barely has any cars on it, and opposite, is a large, old building.
Upon first glance, it looks like a shoddy old goshiwon, but if when he enters, even now, four years later, he’s still taken aback by just how lavish it is on the inside.
Chandeliers were on almost every ceiling and the interior with all it’s expensive portraits and marble statues was impeccably clean. The wooden floor was polished to a shine and all the furniture was made with gold and cushioned with silk, or at least it looked and felt that way.
The old building that looked like a shitty dorm was actually the office and headquarters of a powerful gang. Doyoung had to give the leader credit where it’s due, this place was a very good coverup indeed. Apparently the leader and his son lived on the third floor while their men lived on the second, but he wasn’t too sure himself, as he’s never been anywhere except the first floor before.
The first floor was kind of just... there. It was mostly for show and it was also where Doyoung worked, in a small office where he simply wrote numbers, checked numbers and records, whether it was on paper or on the desktop computer. He did his work efficiently and stealthily, showing minimal evidence and he always hid important information carefully.
Now, you might be wondering, this all still rather normal, shady business men are nothing new, but this, this was something else entirely. This was equivalent to the Italian mafia, this was literal organised crime.
And recently, it’s starting to make him feel wary.
At first, Doyoung didn’t mind the fact that his job was slightly out of the way, or the fact that the people he was working for are basically criminals, mostly because the pay was more generous than any other offer he’s seen. He simply assumed that money will soothe any worries he had and he was correct, but only for a while.
While he was okay with the gang doing it’s usual nightclub and motel stuff, once they started to involve themselves with assassination and drugs, and once Doyoung had to start dealing with all that dirty money, soon, his fat paycheque wasn’t going to cut it anymore.
Eventually, he began to fear for himself. He grew anxious over the thought that police may barge into his office or into his home and arrest him. He grew nervous on his way to work, worrying whether or not him going to the outskirts everyday was suspicious or not and the strange, cold glares that the people gave him only ate away at him even more than before. What if they knew? What if they think I’m a criminal?
He asked himself those questions everyday. He grew restless but of course, like any professional, he kept it hidden. Doyoung continued to work hard and keep his mouth shut. Though it became harder and harder to, once the numbers got bigger and more frequent. He just had to hope it was only really bad people getting killed, and that it was really bad people getting involved with illegal drugs.
He isn’t quite sure what to do anymore. Despite it, he still does he usual, daily routine and takes the train and that short walk to the headquaters, where he’ll simply sort through numbers and records, until his fingers tremble, either out of stress or tiredness, or maybe even both.
But Doyoung isn’t completely alone everyday. He is alone for most of the day, but usually by the end of lunchtime, he’ll be done so instead of going home and doing nothing, he mooches around in the first floor of the building instead. There’s a nice garden filled with topiaries that he walks around in sometimes, and when the boss has a cup of tea for the afternoon, he lets Doyoung take a bit and drink it outside when the weather isn’t too hot.
He has Mother Nature to keep him company most of the time. Though he does have some (mostly dreaded) human interaction. First would be the boss, and that was only because he had to, whenever he had to submit reports, take his leave or ask a question. They were employer and employee but not really friends.
His son, Jaehyun on the other hand, was much friendlier (and much cuter) than his father. At first glance, this tall, sturdy, tattooed gangster nearly made Doyoung shit his pants when he started making his way over to him, but he was more taken aback at how gentle he was. Jaehyun was quite soft spoken, and he was very polite. Doyoung might even say he was princely, even with all those tattoos and piercings.
Even though they were of a few words most of the time, Jaehyun would find time to come outside into the garden and sit with him, offering him sweat treats and little sandwiches that were meant for the Jung family.
It started off only every once in a while, when Jaehyun had spent a few minutes peeking through the glass, sliding door leading out to the garden, before standing straight and walking towards Doyoung, a cup of tea and a piece of cake in hand.
Slowly, it grew from that, into once a week and now, Doyoung and Jaehyun sit together in the garden almost everyday. Sometimes they’re silent, but sometimes they talk. They talk about a lot of things, whether it’s their similar birthdays, Doyoung’s experience in college or Jaehyun’s coming of age ceremony.
Although it’s quiet, it’s comfortable and Jaehyun makes good company (and he’s very easy on the eyes) , especially since nobody else who works there, or is a part of the gang wants to talk to him that much, unless absolutely necessary, although he isn’t so sure why exactly, but he guesses that it’s probably a hierarchy sort of thing. They all ignore him, except for the old lady who comes around and cleans the building once a week. She’s docile and kind and she always makes sure Doyoung doesn’t feel too lonely or stuffy inside of his office. He appreciates it greatly.
After Doyoung and Jaehyun have their tea together and have a small chat, he heads back into his office to double check anything and to make sure all of his work is complete before leaving. Afterwards, he’ll thank the boss with a bow and make his way home, sliding through the dim alleyways, hands clutching the small penknife he keeps inside of the pocket of his overcoat.
Why does he have a knife? He’s witnessed a couple of muggings here before. As well as the fact that when Jaehyun found out he walked home alone every evening, he freaked out, insisting that it wasn’t safe and gave Doyoung a knife, telling him with a smile and bright eyes, that “The power of our ancestors will protect you.”
It was a little strange, perhaps even a tad bit threatening, but he appreciated the gesture and made sure to make good use of the gift, especially since Jaehyun had looked so endearing.
When Doyoung got back home, he takes a nice, long shower and makes himself some dinner, whether it was his mother’s defrosted side dishes or his own cooking.
Then, he’ll sit down on his sofa and watch a movie, or maybe he’ll sit on his balcony and stare off into the distance drowning in vodka. Either way, he finds himself waking up at three in the morning, either on his couch with the computer screen beaming light into his eyes or outside on the floor next to empty bottles and a shot glass.
Doyoung then crawls on the floor and climbs his way onto his bed while managing to turn on the air conditioning and blacks out until his alarm clock rings shrilly and he slaps it until it shuts up.
Then it’s rinse and repeat.
This is basically how Doyoung had been living his life, for the past four years. He supposed it had it’s perks, for example, this job managed to get him a nicer apartment. A con was maybe he felt bad working for what you could call a bunch of criminals. No offense to them but each day, Doyoung feels his hands get dirtier as he deals with more money. Jeez, maybe he wasn’t cut out to be an accountant after all.
Doyoung squeezes his eyes and opens them, grunting softly when he feels his head hit against something hard and cold.
He blinks. Ah right, he’s still in the train. All that thinking must’ve sent him to sleep. He looks up to the signs inside the train and sees that he has a few more stops left until his station. Great.
-
Jaehyun has probably grown so comfortable with him, that recently, he’s been spewing every single little thing that’s been happening, specifically the fact that Jaehyun’s been having second thoughts about inheriting this mafia empire, for his entire life apparently.
Doyoung isn’t sure what to do with this information but considering that Jaehyun’s been telling him these issues for the past two weeks is enough to tell him, that he might want Doyoung to do something about it. Though, he isn’t quite sure what he can do. Jaehyun’s the only child of Mr. Jung, thus the only person who can be next in line.
But today, Jaehyun tells him that he plans on running away, which cause him to choke on his tea and biscuits.
“What?” He says, after Jaehyun gives him a few heavy pats on the back.
He nods. “Yeah, I’m not sure what else to do. I simply hate it here, so I must go.”
“Okay, but where? Where will you go?”
“Ah. I... I don’t know.”
“Well.” Doyoung sighs. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m thinking about leaving too.”
Alright, so that statement wasn’t completely true, he wants to leave, but he probably won’t.
“Really?” Jaehyun leans closer, almost too close. Doyoung can see the stars light up in his eyes. “We can runaway together.”
“Um-“
“We can leave together for Seoul and start a new life. I’ve always wanted to own a cafe, or maybe a grocer.”
Jaehyun smiles and damn it, if only Doyoung weren’t so weak hearted for beautiful and personable men. Jaehyun looks much too charming with his rosy cheeks and soft hair and dimples that made his heart spin.
No, this isn’t the time to ponder about how good looking or how nice he thinks Jaehyun is! Doyoung has to at least try and convince this grown ass man, not to throw his whole life away.
“Jae-“
“Won’t you join me? Please? Isn’t Seoul better than this dump? You’re from there aren’t you?”
Doyoung closes his eyes and sighs again. He supposes his apartment has room for one more person.
“Jaehyun. You want to run away? Why?”
“Because, I don’t want to be affiliated with this gang, or any gang ever. I can’t deal with this anymore.” Jaehyun holds onto his hands gently and Doyoung is startled, but he allows it. “This organisation, they kill mercilessly and deal with shit like meth and cocaine, it’s too violent, it’s too much.”
Jaehyun begins to tear up, upper lip trembling and the grip on Doyoung’s hands tightened. “If you hate it now, then you better leave. It’ll only get worse. Please Doyoung.”
He realises that despite knowing him for a few years, be barely knows Jaehyun at all. Doyoung’s not sure if he should take him in but once he starts sobbing, using one of Doyoung’s hands to wipe the tears of his face, he blushes and knows he’s been defeated.
After all, he’s always been weak for Jung Jaehyun.
-
Their plan starts out slow, but steady. Each day, Doyoung takes a different suitcase, each filled with Jaehyun’s numerous belongings until he gets mad, mostly at the fact sic suitcases were heavy and were taking up too much space at his apartment.
Jaehyun just chuckles nervously and apologises, reassuring him that there’ll be no more luggages but that within a week, he’ll finally move into Doyoung’s apartment, and he asks for the address and for directions.
It’s another sunny afternoon and they’re sitting by the topiaries, on the ledge of the small water fountain as usual. Doyoung asks Jaehyun if he’s sure about this for the nth time, eyes skirting about.
Jaehyun puts a hand on his shoulder, forcing Doyoung to look at him. “I’ve never been more sure in my life. As I’ve said before, I hate the mafia and everything else about and related to it. You’re doing me the biggest favour ever, so thank you.”
Doyoung blinks, his face heats up and his mouth curls, and an attempt to stop a grin forming on his face is made. “No problem. But if you get in trouble it’s your fault, not mine.”
“Perfectly understood.” Jaehyun stands up and walks away, but Doyoung doesn’t know why, he’s probably got work to do anyway.
Then he stands up himself and heads back into his office, where he does one crucial thing - his letter of resignation.
God, he hopes the boss accepts it.
-
“So, let me get this straight? You’re quitting because you need to go back home to take care of your sick mother?”
The boss, otherwise known as Jung Taeho, or just Mr. Jung, asks him sternly, mouth formed into a thin line.
“Ah, yes.” Doyoung says softly and tips his head down slightly. “My mother is on the verge of death, and nobody else can take care of her. I need to go home.”
Okay, so maybe lying was bad, but if your boss told you that you’d never get leave unless you died, he doesn’t think a simple “I just feel like leaving” would work. So Jaehyun and Doyoung whisked up this little story, so that he could sneak away.
“Ah, then I suppose there is no choice.” Mr. Jung smiles, yet he still looks intimidating. Kind of like Jaehyun, but without the dimples and the charm. “I must reluctantly let you go. It really is such a pity, you’re the best I’ve ever had.”
Doyoung smiles awkwardly. “Thank you sir.”
“If you ever feel like coming back, you’re more than welcome. I’ll kill however many men I’ll have to, just to bring you back if I had to.” He gives Doyoung an envelope. “Here, take it boy, use it wisely.”
Doyoung takes a peek inside and nearly drops the packet. Inside were wads of cold, hard cash. It’s definitely dirty money, but he accepts it graciously and bows ninety degrees. He supposed a little dirty money every once in a while wasn’t too bad.
“Make sure you just finish up for this month and clear your things, then you are free to go, I promise you.”
“Yes sir, thank you sir.” Doyoung supposes this was good enough since his resignation was a little sudden and he didn’t mind so much because as a matter of fact, his mother was doing perfectly alright back in the countryside where she is happily retired, content with cooking, gardening and flowing through her days like a breeze. Sometimes Doyoung wished he lived like that, easy and free.
Though he figures he’d just end up working as an accountant for at least another forty years, in some boring stuffy office, where the hours are longer, the rules are stricter and where the people are tighter. Doyoung thinks he might even miss it here, even with the fact that it was a mafia empire run by a criminal who made business from highly illegal substances and activities.
He leaves the building and walks through the dark, gritty alleyways and through all the shady stores and butcher shops, watching the bugs gather around the dim light of the lamp posts and snickering when they get burnt. Doyoung hates bugs.
He rides the train quietly, wondering when he’ll ever have to commute so far again, and when takes in the stark contrast the two stations have with each other. The polished, clean building in the city and the dirty, roughed up station in the outskirts.
He takes the five minute walk home, buying a bowl of instant noodles, a packet of gummy bears, a box of cigarettes and a bottle of vodka. The cashier who works in the convenience store down below his apartment already recognises him and vice versa, although with the things he buys, Doyoung isn’t sure if the cashier views him in a good light or not.
-
This was it. This was officially the last day of work. Doyoung had finished sorting through the last of the numbers and records already, so now, all he had to do was clear his office, organise the materials and take back what was his.
He’s too busy deciding whether or not he should organise the files by colour or alphabetical order to hear the door open and shut.
He whips his head around immediately but relaxes once he sees it’s Jaehyun, holding a tray with two teacups and a plate of fruit tarts.
“I couldn’t find you outside, so I looked around in here.” Jaehyun says, noticing how Doyoung had flinched.
“It’s alright. Take a seat I guess, I’m still a little busy.”
Jaehyun sits on the chair by his desk, fiddling around with his penknife and a few paper before quickly growing bored. “What are you doing?”
“Sorting the files. These are all the financial records of the organisation. They’re pretty important.”
He decides to sort them by year, which honestly, was a much smarter idea than the other two he previously had in mind. Doyoung finishes the job fast, and soon enough is leaning over the other side of his desk, sipping his tea as he observes Jaehyun traced random patterns into the desk with his finger.
Again, Doyoung takes the time to think about just how wonderful he thinks the man is. Not only is he a tall, attractive man, but he’s also charming and surprisingly easy to get along with. He’s just... really nice, something that Doyoung could use more of, especially since most people tell him that he’s quite mean sometimes.
He wonders why Jaehyun has taken such a liking to him. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t know anyone else so he doesn’t have a choice. After all, Doyoung isn’t as tall and well built as he is, nor does he have the charm and warm gentleness that Jaehyun has. He finds himself rather boring so how could this gorgeous person like Jaehyun enjoy himself around him so much.
Doyoung probably knows more about him than the other way around. That should already make it clear who is more interesting. Well, it doesn’t matter now, they’ll be living together so Jaehyun will simply have to get to know him, like how Doyoung cleans the whole house every two weeks and how he gets drunk and passes out on his balcony at night.
He furrows his brows, and wonders just how different his life would seem to Jaehyun, who is rich beyond imagination and who could get anything he wanted with a snap of his fingers.
“Doyoung.”
“Hm?”
“Do you mind if I come tonight? I’m running out of clothes here.”
He shrugs. “Sure. Will you follow me home tonight then?”
Jaehyun grins, showing off those dimples and rosy cheeks that look so soft and squishy, that Doyoung absolutely adores, but will never tell him so. “Definitely. Wait on me then.”
Then they continue to drink their tea and Doyoung eats a tart, enjoying the way the filling was creamy, pastry crumbly and buttery and the fruits bursting with freshness.
-
Doyoung leaves the building and walks through the winding alleys and dimly lit streets and makes his way to the station, and it’s just like every other time that he’s walked through this path, only this time, he has Jaehyun by his side, holding onto his arm protectively as the sky began to grow dark.
The grip on his arm is almost too tight, and Doyoung wants to tell him that but he sees how determined Jaehyun looks and how eager he seems to do this, whether it was to begin his new life or to protect him, he didn’t know, but it was a little admirable and very cute, so Doyoung let him do it.
He’s weak for Jung Jaehyun as it turns out.
They take the long train ride into the city, Jaehyun asking him numerous questions about why there were so many stations and what each of them were for, to which Doyoung could only answer a few.
He decided to make good use of the time and told Jaehyun about the rules of his apartment and how he wants things to be done, everything from the twice a month deep cleaning and how they’ll have to do a bit of shopping for some new furniture and that Jaehyun will have to deal with sleeping on the sofa.
“Sofa..?”
“What? You complaining? Rather sleep in some motel?”
“What? No, no.” Jaehyun stutters, a little taken aback by his sudden outburst. “I’m just saying I don’t mind if I slept on the floor.”
“Oh no, the floor is really, really uncomfortable.” Doyoung says firmly. “Trust me.”
He sighs, oh only if Jaehyun knew, just how many backaches have been cause by that cursed balcony.
The walk back from the station to Doyoung’s apartment is short and simple, so nothing really happens, but he enjoys Jaehyun’s excitement when he sees the city lights, probably for the first time in quite a bit as he smiles and points here and there excitedly.
Of course Jaehyun garners a little bit of attention from passing people, whether it’s because of his good looks or his many tattoos. They’re mostly just not so subtle, blatant stares and hushed whispers, although when they cross a small, dark alley, literally less than fifty meters in length, the last thing Doyoung expects is an attempted mugging, which is, exactly what happens.
Sure if this is the outskirts, he won’t be too surprised but right in his fucking turf, he’s outraged. It happens quickly, someone latching onto him, aiming for his briefcase and before Doyoung can panic and think of his last words, Jaehyun pulls the mugger away and shoves him down onto the floor with an audible thud.
Doyoung blinks and tries to regulate his breathing as he watches Jaehyun hold the robber by the neck, using his body weight to trap him down and that’s when he notices, the man Jaehyun is holding down is very skinny, and the clothes he wears are all tattered.
“Should I kill him?” Jaehyun asks, hands still around his neck.
Doyoung looks at the two of them and sees that the mugger looks really young, too young to do something like this.
“No, don’t kill him, are you crazy?”
Doyoung walks over, trying to get a closer look at the mugger, who looks thin, wary yet youthful. He also looks frightened, which he can understand. The mugger can’t be any older than a high school student.
Then he winces and Jaehyun moves, to reveal that his knee has been busted up pretty badly. Now, Doyoung could simply leave him there, he did sort of deserve it for trying to steal, but this guy looked so young, and seemed so frail, he would’ve felt bad to leave him there.
“Jaehyun, get up, and pick him up too.”
“Uh, sure.” He does as he’s told, ignoring the shouting of the mugger.
“Do shut up. Don’t worry, we’re taking you to a clinic, not the police.” Doyoung says dryly, not bothering with the protests.
Eventually, the kid has to settle peacefully between the two grown up men, and let himself he dragged away into a clinic, where a professional nurse tells them that the knee has only been scraped up badly with a lot of blood and dirt, and that nothing bad has come out of it.
Doyoung doesn’t have to, and really, he shouldn’t, but he feels a breath of relief leave his lungs when he hears the words.
“Are you feeling okay now kid?” Jaehyun asks, and the boy who’s name turned out to be Jeno nods. They only found out because the nurse managed to coax it out of him.
“Okay, that’s good.” Doyoung takes a seat next to him, and is surprised when he doesn’t move away. “We’ll pay for the treatment, but I must ask - what the fuck were you doing attempting to steal like that?”
Jeno stays silent. Doyoung holds in his sigh and tries again. “What will your parents say when they find out? You are still a teenager aren’t you?”
Jaehyun decides to step in now. “We won’t tell your parents, so just go home for now, and don’t ever do this kind of thing again. Doing illegal things is never okay, understood kid?”
Jeno looks at the both of them, with a look in his eyes that Doyoung can’t understand, but the boy nods, fingernails digging into the skin of his palms.
He sees this. “Hey, Jeno, don’t do that.” He gently pulls his hands apart. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Jeno clears his throat, finally making some kind of verbal noise. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll go now. Thanks.”
“Jaehyun, I’ll go pay first then.”
He nods. “Sure, I’ll walk him out.”
Doyoung and Jaehyun may not be super close but helping this teenager seemed to push them that little bit closer. Looks like they both really cared about the well being of others. He smiles as he walks toward the exit, Jaehyun had looked so kind when he tried to comfort Jeno. Then he scoffed at himself and stood up straight. He shouldn’t be thinking like this about Jaehyun, especially since they’ll be living together.
He sees the man outside the door and they begin walking, Jaehyun’s grip on his arm even tighter than before, but as usual, he won’t tell him off.
“Where did you live again?”
“Sunshine apartment complex, level twenty two, room six. Remember it.”
“Alright sure, thanks.”
The little detour didn’t cost them that much time or distance, just ten minute walk back to his apartment. They take the lift up and Jaehyun talks to him about just how nice the building and the area looked.
Doyoung’s in the middle of telling him that it might be a little messy and hoping that there’s no alcohol lying around carelessly somewhere when suddenly, there’s something infront of his front door that nearly gives him a heart attack and it makes him cling onto Jaehyun, hands clutching onto him desperately.
It scares Jaehyun too, his arms going around to cling onto Doyoung too. They shout but once they realise who’s standing by the front door their faces go from terrified to relaxed to confused.
Why the hell was that Lee Jeno kid from earlier standing here?
-