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staysuki · 3 years ago

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🥦 SWEET LIKE CANDY (II) | h.hj smau

041—ENACTMENT.

warnings: underground crime, mention of death, killing, and pills.

word count: 4k

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“wait wait wait, what do you mean ‘take care of him’?” hyunjin piped as he tried to wrap his head around the words of the people around him, some people that he never even interacted with in the first place.

“stupid much?” jae muttered which earned him a warning glare from seungmin.

you were all huddled in the modest living room of the kim household—brian, wonpil, jae, you, seungmin, and then hyunjin. during the late hours of the night where the youngest kim is out for dance practice, his older brothers took this as a chance to reconvene and talk about the shady happenings without getting jake involved—too bad they didn’t know you were talking to him about it.

you thought things would be awkward at first, it was a room full of people that barely got along but it seemed like everyone was united on focusing against a common enemy. you thought jae would be more spiteful towards hyunjin but he didn’t really mind him much aside from a few passive aggressive remarks here and there. you also thought it would be more tense having him in the same room as you but seeing him walk through the door looking worse for wear made you feel a little guilty. he’s been going through so much and probably the last thing on his mind was your petty warring with him. he looked so sullen, sunken bags under his eyes resulting from constant paranoia and sleepless nights. he looked like he could barely keep himself standing, already slumping against the couch as he sat and listened to his friends talk about his situation, he barely even made eye contact with anyone—much less you. it was a bit off-putting, seeing him look so differently especially when the last time you saw him, he looked crisp and happy to be in the gallery.

“don’t fret, hwang.” brian quipped, “that was a crass way of putting it, all we meant is that we’re going to deliver some justice without going through the judicial system.”

“that is not a better way to phrase that at all,” wonpil said then looked towards hyunjin, “it’s nothing extreme, we’re getting them behind bars but we can’t rely on the government, i’m sure they have a lot of ties.”

hyunjin nodded, albeit apprehensively, trying to make sense of everything.

“d-do we have anything on felix..?” your eyes wide in curiosity as you laid your question to the group, a thin veil of silence had spread, making wonpil the first one to break it.

“i… might have something. but i can’t say for certain that it’ll work..” the oldest kim said.

“what is it?” your brother asked yet wonpil shook his head slightly.

“i can’t say what it is for now.. it’s a bit risky and outlandish. but just trust me on this one.”

“swear on a pill?” brian asked with an eyebrow raised towards wonpil and he nodded.

“swear on a pill.”

“what does that mean?” hyunjin asked.

“it’s just a thing we had back when we were partners. whenever we’d go for a dangerous job we had pills in our mouths so we don’t fall into enemy hands. it’s an insta-kill, it’s our way of saying that we swear on our life—we just gotta trust him.” brian explained, everyone nodded in understanding, even if it was a bit of a dark twist.

“so how’s this gonna happen then?” jae asked, putting the conversation back on track.

seungmin stood up straight, dusting of his pants as he stood up to explain, “well, since brian is a trusted lawyer—and a good mercenary—we already have plans laid out, and the sooner we can execute them, the better. we were thinking probably tomorrow.”

“tomorrow evening. i have actual work during the day.” brian clarified.

“alright, tomorrow when the sun sets.” seungmin repeated, “given the fact that it took us almost more than a week to get this set up, we’ve already given them a big leeway since the time hyunjin discovered about their schemes, it’s no doubt that they made reparations to their cover to make up for the loss of source. they had the time but we’re gonna hit them with the most dangerous weapon of all—information.”

“hwang hyunjin, do you know why han jisung is so revolved around you?” brian tilted his head as he placed his hands on the table, leaning over to hyunjin to stare him straight in the eyes. the younger one’s pupils shook, uncertainty and fear coursing through his veins as he shook his head slowly.

“once upon a time, there were two best friends, one was rich and one was poor. yet the rich one acquired their wealth through works of blood money, dirty dealings, and criminal activity. while the poor one, kept their dignity intact, worked their ass off and remained honest, a pure being. yet with a person so pure, they can only take so much suffering before they finally succumb to evil.” brian started, “the poor person finally gave into the rich guy’s offering—work for him and be wealthy together. and so they did. the poor person suddenly got a lot of money, but a piece of their heart remained untainted—feeling guilty of such crimes as regret and shame filled his veins. he moved up into a middle class citizen.. but at what cost?”

hyunjin listened intently, alongside everyone else. but the cloud of recognition was slowly filling his eyes as he carefully pieced the stories together, his eyes boring on the table in serious thought as brian continued.

“and so… the poor man did the unthinkable—he betrayed his very best friend for the sake of good. the rich man had always been under surveillance, a little push was all the authorities needed to get him behind bars, and the poor man gave them that push. the evidence they needed to nail him down— in exchange for a pardon, of course. the poor man went back to his old lifestyle, yet a little piece of him was already gone.. alongside his best friend, due to the world he dipped himself in. such a shame, truly.”

as the story finished, hyunjin looked up into brian’s expectant eyes, waiting for him to hammer it down.

“han jungho—jisung’s father—his partner..” hyunjin gulped, “his partner was my dad.”

brian gave him a small pat before standing upright, leaning off the table, “bingo.”

hyunjin felt sick, he felt like puking but at the same time, his throat felt dry. the room was spinning, it felt crowded yet there wasn’t even anyone near him. it was overwhelming, all to the point of convolutedness.

hyunjin always thought that after a certain period in time, his father became strange, no longer the diligent man that he had grown up with. ever since he was a kid, they didn’t have a lot, during school events, hyunjin was always the child that didn’t have anyone—always asking a teacher to stand by his side instead. but he understood, they needed the money, his dad needed to work. everything was alright because at the end, he knew he was raised with love.

even if he never get to see his mother, even if his father is always out for work, he knew that everything would be okay. until things started changing.

they could suddenly afford things they couldn’t before, he even started to have a babysitter for a while (which was definitely not needed, by the way, nine year old hyunjin would protest). but his father started growing more distant, cold… scary.

ever since then, their relationship started going array. the older hyunjin got, the more bitter he became, and soon enough, it was like they never loved each other at all.

“my guess is that jisung might be out for revenge, or perhaps it’s his father that is. earn enough money to make bail or at least, discreetly get jungho out of jail through illegal measures all the while striking the person that stabbed him on the back—or his son.” brian went on, continuing on his tangent of theories but hyunjin already muted everything off.

“i think i might need some air.” hyunjin said, breaking the conversation as he went out, asking permission from no one in particular.

seungmin gave him a few minutes, but he knew that his best friend needed noise. leave hyunjin alone with his own thoughts and eventually he’ll break himself. he knew that, and so, he followed his friend outside, finding him heaving deep breaths as he looked up at the moon with scorn, wondering what wrong he had done in his life to be wrapped up in such a mess.

“you alright?” seungmin asked, checking in on the welfare of his friend. hyunjin turned to face him, a weary expression on his face.

“at this point, i don’t know, but i know there’s nothing i can do about it either.”

“i know you crashed at nayeon’s place for a while, why didn’t you just tell me?”

hyunjin exhaled his sharp eyes mirroring those of seungmin’s, “because you’ve already helped me so much and there’s really nothing i can give back to you—”

“i’m not doing it because i want something in return, i’m doing it because we’re friends.”

“yeah but still.” hyunjin’s eyebrows were furrowed in frustration, not having any proper rebuttal aside from letting his manly ego talk.

“your pride will be the death of you, hwang hyunjin.” seungmin said, and he meant it with all his heart. after all, such pride was what made hyunjin be blind to a lot of things—betrayal was one of them—or perhaps it was the empathetic heart that he hides underneath all of his tough exterior.

“do you think all those years of “friendship” meant nothing?” hyunjin asked no one in particular, but seungmin took it upon himself to answer.

“questioning such motives will just lead to more questions and heartbreak, at this point, it’s better to just accept it and move on. lee felix and han jisung are scum, end of story.”

“do you think he targeted me because of our fathers’ past?” hyunjin continued, questions filling his head yet no one in the house had an answer—only jisung himself had them, he knew that, yet there was no way to attain them.

“maybe. maybe not. maybe he’s just working under the direction of his father, who knows. brian has ideas but they’re all just guesses.”

“what’s going to happen after… all of this? don’t you think it’s a bit hard to come back to normal after everything that had happened?”

seungmin simply shrugged, “we move on, hyunjin, we move on.”

“tonight?! seriously? what the hell is going on??” jake choked on his frappuccino as you recounted all the details of the meeting last night, agreeing to meet him in a quaint and cozy coffee shop to discuss discrete matters—probably not the best idea as you had to shush him from talking too loud.

you surveyed the surroundings, there weren’t many customers aside from boring corporate workers and stressed out college students wrapped up in their own tasks, you released a relieved sigh before turning back to glare at a sheepish jake who apologized for his lack of volume control.

“look, all i know is that they can take down han jisung for sure, but felix… is a little bit tricky. i dont know how they’re going to do it. it’s also mostly wonpil hyung and brian hyung talking about the plan in detail to themselves because they can’t risk getting everything exposed— jae oppa doesn’t want to be a part of it so he chose to excuse himself. even seungmin doesn’t know what they’re going to do.”

“maybe submit a case report?” jake stated and you shrugged.

“i don’t know, they said they won’t be able to take him down through straightforward ways.”

jake leaned on the table, getting closer to you as he lowered his hushed voice, “do you think they’re going to kill them..?”

your eyes widened in surprise, at this point, you were certain that they could be capable of such crimes, but you wanted to take such thoughts away for now, “jesus, i hope not.”

you cleared your throat, trying to swallow negativity along with it, as much as jisung and felix are bad people, you didn’t want to think about the people close to you committing such gruesome sins, “i think they’re going to corner jisung, cut his contact with felix and then take them down separately. although felix works best alone, jisung can’t function without felix—that’s probably the main core of the plan.”

jake nodded in understanding, “i see… maybe brian hyung is gonna recruit more people from his underground business to help.”

“maybe.”

“what do you think felix will do?” his eyes were filled with curiosity as the conversation went on. as much as he wanted to be a part of his brothers’ dealings, he couldn't help but be a simple, awed outsider as well. it felt like watching a series, or reading a mystery novel. all the juicy deets and the ‘what’s-gonna-happen-next’ excitement.

“i don’t know. he’s unpredictable, we don’t even know whether he’s going to stay loyal to jisung—seungmin thinks he wouldn’t, and their whole plan probably relies on that assumption…”

jake was in deep thought, although he looked like a simpleton, he was good at figuring out holes—as you pieced together the small details of the plan for him, his mind was wiring with thoughts of a performance.. a center stage choreographed as a heist. he can see all the movements of the plan—harsh, strong, and filled with desperation. it was a dangerous dance to witness yet it keeps you on the edge of your seat even when you know it’s going to turn out okay.

the grand finale of the performance, jake can tell that it’s messy—going awry as his mind envisions the gang trying to pin down felix… the dance becomes static, broken and almost puppet-like as felix takes control of the stage.

a wild card.

the plan needed to go smoothly but felix’s presence would prevent that from happening. jake can feel the massive blackhole in seungmin’s plan, he was risky, playing a dangerous game as he bet most of it into thinking felix won’t be loyal to jisung. maybe he would, maybe he wouldn’t, but that unpredictability is what makes him the most dangerous.

jake thinks of everything like it’s a choreography, and felix is the one thing that keeps the plan from being perfect. at that moment, he knew that he needed to tip the scales to iron out the mistakes.

all without nobody’s knowledge.

you two split ways, not knowing any better that your conversation with jake would change the wires of the plan as you gave him a lot of the crucial information he needed in order to put his hand into this situation. you left thinking that he was simply just the normal jake—but kims will be kims, and they wouldn’t be themselves without the hidden darkness that plagues their person.

wonpil has it, seungmin has it, and without anybody noticing, jake possesses it too.

and he's now yet to unleash it.

as you walked back home, you couldn’t help but appreciate the comfortness of familiarity it brings. it feels like everything was normal, the path back to your neighborhood, the faint barking of dogs in the afternoon, the shifting of trees in the wind.

it felt almost peaceful. a stop in motion as everything else around you is going crazy.

home feels life a safe haven.

too bad it’s a sanctuary that is now also disrupted.

“what the hell is he doing here…?” your eyes shifted to your brother’s, your voice filled with awkward uncertainty as you looked between him and hyunjin in the dining area.

“he—needed, ahem, a place to crash.” jae explained between spoonfuls of mashed potatoes as he tried to chew through his words.

“uhh what?” you responded, still feeling weirdly about it.

jae swallowed the last of his meal before turning back to you, “he needed a place to—”

“yeah yeah, i heard you the first time, you can’t just repeat things and expect me to get it without an explanation.”

this time, it was hyunjin that answered, “i needed a—”

“—place to crash! i get it, jesus christ, i swear to god you definitely just tried saying that on purpose to annoy me.”

“can you guys hate each other in private, this is getting annoying.” jae snapped, trying to silence the both of you but you just glared at him in disbelief, not comprehending how your brother could side with the enemy. “i can read your face, y/n, he’s not the enemy—right now.”

you and hyunjin both rolled your eyes at your brother’s words and you simply just gestured towards your brother to have a talk with him in private which he, snarkily, obliged.

you pulled him towards the kitchen, watching him wash his dish on the sink, “what the hell??”

“what do you want me to say, y/n? that wonpil and brian both talked me into housing him for a while for maybe a bit of cash and also because of legal jargon that i didn’t understand but basically he needs to be somewhere safe right now and living with you is the last place that anyone would ever think of in terms of looking for him?” he said in one breath as he rinsed the plate, not once ever making eye contact with you as he simply found the situation exhausting.

you groaned in defeat, already been given the exact rundown of the situation albeit in an annoying way. you hated how even though your brother is filthy rich from playing video games all day, he’s still a stickler with money and is easily swayed to do anything for some money.

as much as jae hated hyunjin for tormenting you during your childhood days, your older brother definitely started to gain more insight on the situation as he conversed with his old pals in private about hyunjin’s situation. he may be strict, but he has a heart, and it showed in how he cared for his younger ones—which was now slowly extending towards hyunjin, apprehensively. he also has a soft spot for helping people that were in dire need of it.

you went back to the dining room, glaring at hyunjin who just seemed so out of place under your own roof. he sat with his back straight, looking around curiously at the place even though there really wasn’t anything interesting to look at.

“how long are you staying here?” you asked, trying to level with him. you felt bad for him, and you didn’t want to dig up a long history of petty fights because of his current situation—but your house was supposed to be a safe haven, a place of peace outside the messy world, and having him within that space was less than desirable.

he simply shrugged at the question, not knowing himself when his life would be able to get back on track.

you huffed, not pressing any further. not that you cared, you were simply trying to be polite, perhaps offering a small olive branch in the form of a vaguely concerned question—again, not that you actually cared.

you fished out your phone, hoping to rant to someone available. maybe ryujin, maybe jake, or perhaps applaud seungmin because this is probably his brilliant idea (note: sarcasm).

as you scrolled through your contact list, unable to choose from the oh-so-many friends that you have, your fingers went on autopilot as you mindlessly clicked on instinct, not even realizing who you called until you heard a ringtone on the other side of the room, making you whip your head back in surprise.

hyunjin looked flustered as his fingers hovered over his phone, debating whether to answer an incoming call or not. your stupid brain started to malfunction as you looked between your phone and his and then decided to hang up, which also ended the call on hyunjin’s end.

of course.

it wasn’t seungmin.

it wasn’t felix.

everything clicked in your head, the truth that you had tried to deny for so long, hoping that it’ll eventually be false once you ignore it further.

“ca—” you sputtered over your words, accidentally choking on your own spit as you tried to utter the name, alerting hyunjin of your presence which he was trying to ignore.

though his face was still in a mild panic, but now for a different reason.

he definitely saw the contact name on your phone.

synopsis: long time rival hwang hyunjin has been the bane of your existence for as long as you can remember. thank god your secret anon textmate always has your back— sweet, caring, and good with words. definitely not like hwang at all.

taglist: @aubreymind @wedobevibingthough @rindomo @you-njinhwang @beaann @atinysparkle @envy-brr @sadgirlroo @mochisnlix @pikapikapikaachuu @boraha-e @97-bangchan @beomsunjun @yeonimii @stayarmy101 @tiinytete @yuakagi @starlosthyunjin @acciomylove

couldn't tag: @straystay2002 @4kwp @peachybum88 @tynnies @niniytin @97lovestay

mastertag: @geniejunn @leagreenly @90s-belladonna @fuzzylard @loveliebri @chimmybaek7 @todorokiskitten @lilacdreams-00 @starrylino @ninjaleeknow @trials--error @hey-i-really-miss-you

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#sweet like candy

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