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Ilay’s last mission with his team hadn’t exactly gone well.
He had come home at a later date than expected with an enormous gash on his back.
Taeui had hated it.
He didn’t mind taking care of Ilay, quite the contrary. Despite the fact that he’d rather not see him in pain, ever, it was nice to finally see this big scary man vulnerable.
The fact that Taeui would be the only one who would ever see him like that made it even better.
But Ilay didn’t deserve to be hurt.
At least in Taeui’s opinion.
Rationally, he knew Ilay had it coming, he was far from being an angel.
Still. No one was allowed to touch his husband.
Ilay had tried to stay in shape by doing exercises but Taeui had hit him every time he had caught him. So he had given up on such exercises preferring spending time cuddling his husband.
Thus, during Ilay’s recovery, Taeui had often found himself reading a book and petting Ilay’s hair while said husband rested with his head on Taeui’s chest or lap.
Ilay had also resumed working, remotely, taking care of documents he was sent to review for T&R.
It had been peaceful.
Until Ilay had arrived with news.
He was going away on another job.
‘‘I refuse. You’re staying here.’’ Taeui’s tone was firm, he wouldn’t budge on this.
Ilay looked surprised for a second before chuckling. ‘‘You’re cute. Don’t worry Taeui, there won’t be any mistakes this time.’’
‘‘As you said, you made a mistake. Ilay Riegrow never makes mistakes on the job. You’re not going if there’s a risk.’’
Ilay sighed, looking away before redirecting his gaze on Taeui. ‘‘It won’t happen again.’’
‘‘How can you be so sure ?’’ Taeui was frowning now and doing his best to look pitiful, maybe Ilay would listen to him then.
The German sighed in something that sounded like resignation.
Taeui really hoped it was resignation.
He had never been a lucky person.
Ilay simply approached him, kissing him softly before answering. ‘‘I will be careful, I promise.’’
Caressing Taeui’s face, he continued, ‘‘I’ll have to go in two days, you can help me prepare everything to make sure to limit the risks, if it reassures you.’’
Taeui couldn’t answer. He was terrified. He had always seen Ilay as someone untouchable, but he had been hurt. Last time it had been an injury, what if this time the only thing coming back was Ilay’s corpse ?
‘‘Taeui ? You’re overthinking. I will be fine.’’
He still didn’t answer.
Ilay let go of Taeui’s face to put his arms around him. Hugging him.
Taeui answered by hugging Ilay back.
Ilay’s right hand slowly went up his back before resting on his head.
He kissed the top of Taeui’s head. ‘‘Will you help me pack my things, Taeui ?’’
He only nodded in answer.
He’d help Ilay pack.
But that didn’t mean he’d let him go.
In his head, he was already going through all the scenarios that could help him keep Ilay by his side.
Still thinking he didn’t notice Ilay letting him go, looking worried and taking his silence for reluctance.
It was reluctance, but he wouldn’t be defeated like that. Ilay wasn’t going anywhere without his agreement.
—————
That night, in their shared bed, while Ilay was peacefully sleeping, Taeui admired his features, wondering how he’d get his husband to stay with him.
Pleading ? He had already tried and it hadn’t gotten him very far.
Bargaining ? He could use his body but then he wouldn’t be able to walk correctly and Ilay would have no difficulty leaving.
Faking an illness wasn’t an option either. Ilay would either find out right away that he was lying or panic and threaten the whole hospital when they ended up being unable to find the source of Taeui’s state. The poor medical staff already had a lot to deal with. He wouldn’t add a mad Ilay Riegrow to the list.
He had thought of committing a crime and going to prison but Ilay would probably burn the whole facility down, helping real criminals escape and letting Kyle deal with damage control.
That left him with kidnapping.
Not his most brilliant idea, but he was desperate. And he had a good enough plan.
—————
Step 1 : Ask him out on a date.
After breakfast, they found themselves in their bedroom, Taeui rummaging through their shared closet to find clothes for Ilay while said man was hugging him from behind. Not helping.
‘‘I thought you wanted to leave, shouldn’t you help me or have you changed your mind ?’’ Taeui asked, amused.
Ilay, nuzzling Taeui’s neck, didn’t bother answering right away.
‘‘If you take care of my clothes then I’ll always be wearing something you chose for me. You’ll always be with me.’’
That made Taeui blush.
He turned to look, as well as he could, at his husband and kissed Ilay’s forehead.
Ilay smiled softly in return.
God, Taeui was whipped.
He’d do anything for this stupidly dangerous and beautiful man.
Including kidnapping him.
Right.
He had a mission.
‘‘Would you like to go on a date with me tonight ? I already booked everything.’’
Ilay lifted his head from Taeui’s shoulder, looking at him in wonder.
He then proceeded to turn Taeui’s body so they would face each other and kissed the smaller man breathless.
‘‘Let’s go on date.’’ Ilay was smiling when he answered.
Taeui’s smile became brighter at this sight.
He kissed Ilay in return.
Step 1 complete.
—————
Step 2 : Find a drug to put him to sleep that he won’t taste, smell, and that he preferably doesn’t already know about.
Finding the drug probably should have been the most difficult step, even more so since Ilay knew a lot about poisons, drugs and had great resistance to those.
But Jaeui, his overprotective brother, had gifted Taeui a drug he had created, using Ilay’s DNA to make sure it would work on the other man.
According to his Hyung, the drug neither smelled nor had any taste.
One more benefit of this drug was that since Jaeui had developed it specifically to help Taeui and hadn’t really documented anything, no one except for the twins knew anything about this product.
At first, when Jaeui had given him this gift before Taeui and Ilay’s marriage ceremony begun, Taeui had been horrified and tried to reject his brother’s gift.
Jaeui had then threatened to object to their marriage if Taeui didn’t accept his gift.
He had taken it.
Jaeui had probably intended for Taeui to use it to be able to escape Ilay, but well… At least he’d use it.
When this whole ordeal was behind them, Taeui would call his brother to thank him.
—————
Step 3 : Put the drug in his drink during the date, and have a vehicle and place ready to welcome him. (Do not repeat at home, you should always ask for consent).
The place Taeui had chosen for their date was a restaurant where you had to go to the counter to command as well as retrieve your order, drinks included.
He had waited for them to finish dinner and to be at their fifth drink to finally slip the pill in Ilay’s glass on the way to the table. That way it wouldn’t look too suspicious if he had to carry this big man outside, passed out.
However, he hadn’t expected Ilay’s almost panicked look when the drug began to kick in.
He glared at Taeui. ‘‘Taeui Riegrow, what are you doing.’’ It wasn’t a question anymore, He was almost ordering him to answer.
Ilay was furious, but more than that, he was confused, desperate and terrified.
Taeui saw him getting up, trying to reach him but his movements were already slower and he ended up collapsing on the table near the spot where Taeui was sitting.
Thankfully, Taeui did have some reflexes and managed to stop Ilay from hitting his head anywhere.
He then put the other man in his seat and went to pay, leaving a generous tip.
When he came back to the table, Ilay was definitely sound asleep, not responding to anything.
Taeui carried him to the car, installing him in the passenger seat.
He drove through Berlin, left the city behind him and only stopped when they arrived at a cabin in a forest.
The owner had accepted to let him book it for two weeks and to leave the keys outside since they couldn’t arrive earlier in the day.
Taeui found the keys in a plant pot sitting on a windowsill.
He opened the door before going back to the car to carry Ilay to the bedroom.
After putting Ilay on the bed, he took the luggage he had prepared for their impromptu trip and locked the door behind him.
Not intent on taking any risks, he attached Ilay’s wrists and ankles to the bed so he wouldn’t be able to leave.
He then called Kyle, telling him that Ilay and him had chosen to take a trip.
He also asked the blonde-haired man to explain to Ilay’s teammate that he would’t take part in this mission.
When the call ended, Taeui finally allowed himself to breathe correctly.
He had been awfully tense since Ilay’s announcement.
—————
Step 4 : Explain yourself.
‘‘TAEUI RIEGROW !’’
Taeui woke up with a start hearing his name shouted from the bedroom.
Ilay being tied to the bed, it wasn’t exactly comfortable for him to sleep beside him so he had taken the couch for the night.
He quickly got up and walked towards the bedroom.
After entering the room, he went to sit beside Ilay on the bed and began petting his hair, perhaps hoping to calm him down. He wasn’t too sure what he was trying to do himself, he was tired as fuck.
‘‘Tell me Taeui, what do you think you’re doing ?’’ Ilay was obviously enraged. ‘‘It’s just like that time at the UNHRDO, do you really think you can escape from me ? You can’t run away. You’re mine Taeui. Better yet. Taeui Riegrow. You’re mine.’’
It was rare to hear Ilay ranting, and listening to his husband, Taeui realized he hadn’t exactly thought things through.
Taeui’s hand left Ilay’s hair.
He laid down on the bed, putting his head on Ilay’s chest. ‘‘I’m not leaving you.’’ His tone was calm, composed. ‘‘Ilay, I’m yours just as much as you’re mine. You’ll have to deal with me ‘till death do us apart. Even longer than that according to our vows.’’
‘‘Then let me go.’’
‘‘I can’t.’’
‘‘Taeui.’’
He raised his head. ‘‘You’re trying to leave me.’’
Ilay looked stunned.
‘‘Leave you ? Are you out of your mind ?’’
He didn’t answer, choosing to glare at his still-tied husband instead.
‘‘Is this about the mission ?’’
Taeui nodded.
Ilay still had that bewildered look on his face. ‘‘And your grand plan was… ?’’
‘‘To kidnap you.’’
They looked at each other for a few minutes Ilay’s face going through about 25 different emotions before he burst out laughing.
When he finally calmed down, he tried again, voice soft. ‘‘Taeui, unbind me.’’
‘‘No.’’
‘‘I’m not going on that mission.’’
He scoffed in reply. ‘‘Sure you aren’t.’’
‘‘Taeui, I promise I am not going anywhere. Not with my adorable husband practically begging me to stay.’’
‘‘You’re saying that and yet it didn’t work two days ago.’’
‘‘But now it does.’’
Ilay looked sincere.
Taeui ended up giving in, he started with Ilay’s ankles and finally undid the knots around the other’s wrists.
When he was finally done, Ilay wasted no time reversing their positions to press Taeui into the mattress and devouring his mouth.
When Ilay finally pulled back, Taeui was feeling lightheaded and didn’t have all of his cognitive capacities.
That’s why he didn’t notice right away that Ilay had gotten up, taken his phone and left the room.
When he did, however, he scrambled to his feet, running after his husband, who had left the house in the meantime.
‘‘ILAY !’’
Thankfully, the other man hadn’t been able to go really far which meant Taeui didn’t really have to run to catch up to him.
Nevertheless, Ilay was already on the phone. And when he arrived, all Taeui heard was ‘‘Where is the helicopter ?’’ And, ‘‘Good, then turn the helicopter around and go west.’’
Worse. He recognized Alain’s voice on the other side the line.
Taeui felt cold. Empty. He had pleaded for Ilay to stay, not to put himself in the line of danger, he even went as far as kidnapping him !
Okay, maybe kidnapping someone wasn’t the best way to obtain what you wanted from them.
But this was Ilay !
So yes, he had hoped that after all that, Ilay would choose to stay with him, his husband, instead of going on a dangerous mission.
How stupid could he be ?
Exhausted and disheartened he walked back towards the cabin and let himself fall headfirst on the couch.
He felt like crying.
But what was the point ?
He sighed into the couch.
That’s when he heard steps approaching.
‘‘Taeui.’’
He turned his head towards the voice. Ilay looked apologetic.
Fuck him.
‘‘Just go. Since going on missions and risking your life is so important, please. Don’t let me stop you.’’ His tone was bitter and he made absolutely no effort to hide it.
‘‘I already told you Taeui, as long as you’re alive, I’ll always find my way back to you.’’
‘‘You told me that when we were a few years younger and when you never got injured !’’
‘‘You saw me injured a few weeks after meeting.’’
‘‘That doesn’t count !’’ Taeui knew he wasn’t being rational, Ilay’s points made sense but all Taeui had for himself was the silent terror he felt every time he saw Ilay hurt.
He expected Ilay to tease him or give an excellent counter argument.
Instead, Ilay sat down on the space left on the couch.
‘‘Why don’t you want me to go on missions ?’’ He asked, taking Taeui’s hand in his
Taeui hesitated before answering, playing with the perfect pale hand that had been offered to him.
‘‘Because I love you.’’
Ilay froze. It wasn’t unusual for them to say this but Ilay always seemed to stop working correctly when Taeui said it.
‘‘I told you a few years ago that I’d take responsibility for you and take care of you. I already have a few ideas that I need to develop more but Jaeui said they were promising.’’ He took a breath before resuming. ‘‘I don’t want you to keep getting hurt. I hate not knowing if you’ll come back or in what state. I hate it when you’re in pain.’’
Ilay stayed silent.
‘‘Not everyone sees this but you deserve to be happy and I’ll do my best to protect you and your beautiful smile.’’
Finally, Ilay leaned down and softly kissed his lips.
‘‘Taeui.’’
He didn’t answer, choosing to keep playing with Ilay’s hand.
‘‘I’m not going anywhere.’’
He scoffed. ‘‘And I’m the matriarch of the Riegrow family.’’
‘‘I can make that happen if that’s what you want.’’
Ilay only chuckled in front of his glare.
Still smiling, he started caressing Taeui’s face. ‘‘I mean it, I’m not going on any mission anymore.’’
‘‘You asked Alain where the helicopter was.’’
‘‘And I reminded him of the direction to go to the location of the mission.’’
Taeui stared, surprised. Ilay’s blue-grey eyes looked back fondly, a trace of amusement present in his gaze.
‘‘…Really ?’’
He bent down again to kiss Taeui’s forehead. ‘‘Really.’’
Before Ilay could straighten up, Taeui grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him.
Sliding his arms around the smaller’s waist, Ilay deepened the kiss.
It soon became messier, almost desperate. Taeui kissed him as if he was still afraid he’d change his mind. And in a way, he was.
And Ilay welcomed it.
—————
Step 5 : Have fun.
In the following two weeks, Ilay made sure they tried every available surface, explaining that it was really necessary to leave a complete review.
Taeui’s ass disagreed with this claim.
Because of that, they didn’t really leave the cabin, simply enjoying the comfortable place.
Except when they needed to buy groceries.
Something Ilay had once decided he could do alone to let Taeui rest.
Which, unsurprisingly, ended with Ilay coming back to Taeui sitting against the exterior wall, eyes red as he hugged his knees.
Ilay had just rushed to him forgetting the groceries in the trunk, and carried him inside.
Feeling Taeui’s body tremble against him, he had promised to never leave again without Taeui.
For the next two months or so, Taeui didn’t leave Ilay’s side, always following him when he left the house or asking Ilay to come with him when Taeui had to leave.
Kyle, for once somewhat worried about his brother, had told Taeui that he might be overreacting and that Ilay needed space too.
Taeui had only chuckled awkwardly.
That same night, the doors leading to Kyle’s office were thrown open by a furious Ilay who very clearly (and threateningly) told him to mind his own business.
Rita, who hadn’t been far when it happened told Kyle that earlier in the day Ilay had intended to go for a swim, and told Taeui that.
But Taeui hadn’t followed him.
When Ilay had asked why, Taeui had apologized for his recent behavior and selfishness, explaining that he would give Ilay some space.
Of course Kyle had been stupid to believe Ilay would mind a worried Taeui following him 24/7.
When Alain came back from the mission to talk with Ilay, uninjured except for a bruises, Taeui had half-expected Ilay to raise an eyebrow and say that he had, in fact, overreacted.
Except he didn’t, Ilay looked at Alain and told him to never contact him again for this kind of assignments.
Everybody in the room stared in shock.
But Ilay was done.
So he grabbed Taeui’s hand and led him to the library where they spent the next few hours reading with Ilay’s head on Taeui’s lap.