Chapter Text
The convoy arrived precisely on time.
The restaurant chosen for the meeting stood on the quiet edge of the city, hidden behind tall stone walls and carefully trimmed bamboo. It was a private establishment reserved exclusively for influential guests who valued discretion above all else. No signs welcomed ordinary customers. No unnecessary staff wandered through the entrance. Even the parking area had been emptied hours in advance.
Black sedans rolled silently through the gates before coming to a stop beneath the covered entrance.
Jaehyun was the first to step out.
His large puppy-like eyes swept across every rooftop, every window, every parked vehicle with practiced caution. Nothing appeared unusual.
Too normal.
That alone bothered him.
Dongmin stepped out next, adjusting the sleeve of his black VELOURS suit before instinctively glancing around the property. His expression remained unreadable, but the uneasy feeling he'd carried since morning hadn't disappeared.
Kim Seojun exited the lead vehicle last.
He looked toward the restaurant entrance.
"...Remember."
His calm voice carried authority.
"Our objective tonight is peace."
Dongmin nodded once.
"Yes, Boss."
The chairman turned toward the security detail.
"You all remain outside."
Several guards looked surprised.
"Chairman!???"
"No."
Kim Seojun raised one hand.
"If too many armed men enter with us, this meeting begins with distrust."
Jaehyun frowned.
"I don't like leaving you without close protection."
Kim Seojun looked at him.
"I know."
A brief silence followed.
"If something feels wrong...
His eyes sharpened.
"You come inside."
Jaehyun bowed his head.
"Understood."
The three men entered alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inside, the restaurant was almost eerily quiet.
Soft classic music drifted through hidden speakers.
Golden lanterns cast warm pools of light over polished wooden floors.
Only one dining room had been prepared.
At its center stood a long table already set for the meeting.
Waiting beside it...
...stood Wang Châu.
The head of the Wang Family appeared to be in his late fifties, dressed in an impeccably tailored navy suit. His salt-and-pepper hair was neatly combed back, his posture composed, his smile polite without ever reaching his eyes.
Beside him stood a younger man.
'Wang Yixiang"
His only son.
The moment Dongmin saw him...
Recognition flashed across his face.
Yixiang.
Of course.
They had crossed paths years ago during university events and business gatherings connected to influential families. Dongmin had always remained in the background then, serving as Donghyun's bodyguard.
Yixiang, however...
Had never looked at Donghyun as merely another student.
Dongmin remembered those lingering glances.
He remembered how often Yixiang found excuses to approach Donghyun.
He remembered quietly stepping between them more than once.
The memory settled uneasily in his chest.
Wang Châu stepped forward with open arms.
"Welcome, Kim Seojun."
A courteous smile appeared.
"It's been a long time."
Kim Seojun accepted the handshake.
"It has."
"I appreciate you accepting my invitation."
"I appreciate the opportunity to hear what you have to say."
Wang Châu turned slightly.
"And this must be Han Dongmin."
Dongmin bowed his head politely.
"It's an honor."
"So..."
Wang Châu smiled.
"The famous Underboss."
Dongmin answered simply,
"I'm only here to support Chairman Kim."
"Modest."
The older man gestured toward the table.
"Please."
Everyone took their seats.
Throughout the introductions...
One person barely spoke.
Wang Yixiang.
He remained silent, fingers loosely wrapped around his untouched glass.
His gaze stayed lowered.
Yet every few minutes...
His eyes lifted.
Not toward Kim Seojun.
Toward Dongmin.
Cold.
Sharp.
Filled with something far stronger than simple dislike.
Hatred.
Dongmin noticed every single glance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The discussion began formally.
For nearly an hour they revisited decades of conflict.
Shipping routes.
Territorial disputes.
Broken agreements.
Retaliatory attacks neither family could fully justify anymore.
Kim Seojun spoke with measured calm.
"Our organizations have buried enough men."
Wang Châu nodded slowly.
"I agree."
"Continuing this cycle benefits no one."
"It only creates more widows."
"And more fatherless children."
For the first time that evening...
The room almost felt hopeful.
They discussed neutral trade zones.
Communication channels.
Ways to prevent misunderstandings before violence erupted.
Everything appeared civilized.
Reasonable.
Constructive.
Only Yixiang remained detached.
His fingers tapped slowly against the table.
His jaw stayed clenched.
Whenever anyone mentioned peace...
His expression darkened.
Dongmin caught another hateful stare.
This time...
It lingered.
Eventually...
Kim Seojun placed his teacup onto the table.
"I believe we've made progress."
"So do I."
Wang Châu extended his hand once again.
"Perhaps this is the beginning of something better."
Before Kim Seojun could answer
A quiet voice interrupted.
"...And how's your arrogant son doing, Mr. Kim?"
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Every pair of eyes turned toward Wang Yixiang.
He hadn't looked away from his drink.
He asked the question as though commenting on the weather.
Kim Seojun's brows slowly drew together.
"...Excuse me?"
Yixiang finally lifted his head.
His gaze was fixed directly on Kim Seojun.
"I asked..."
His voice remained low.
"...how Kim Donghyun is."
Even Wang Châu looked stunned.
"Yixiang."
The older man discreetly pressed a hand against his son's thigh beneath the table.
"Enough."
Yixiang immediately glared at him.
"No."
His voice became harder.
"Stop, Father."
The room's temperature seemed to drop.
Yixiang looked back toward Kim Seojun.
"Your son..."
His lip curled slightly.
"...is malicious."
A pause.
"...An imbecile."
Another.
"...A bastard."
The chair beside Kim Seojun screeched violently across the wooden floor.
Dongmin was already standing.
His eyes had gone completely cold.
Not angry.
Past anger.
He crossed the room in seconds.
Before anyone could react
His hand seized Yixiang by the collar, lifting him partly from his chair.
The Wang bodyguards instantly reached for their weapons.
Several stepped forward.
But Wang Châu raised a commanding hand.
"Stand down."
The guards froze.
Dongmin's voice came out low.
Controlled.
Dangerously controlled.
"...How dare you."
His grip tightened.
"...Speak about my husband like that."
Yixiang laughed.
Not happily.
Bitterly.
Almost broken.
"Of course."
He shook his head.
"The bodyguard."
His eyes locked onto Dongmin's.
"Who became the husband."
A humorless smile appeared.
"I still don't understand."
His breathing became uneven.
"...How..."
"...did he choose you..."
"...over me?"
Everything stopped.
Dongmin's expression emptied.
No sound reached him anymore.
Not Wang Châu.
Not Kim Seojun.
Not the music.
Nothing.
Only those words.
His fist moved before anyone could stop it.
CRACK.
His knuckles collided squarely with Yixiang's cheekbone.
The impact threw him sideways.
Blood immediately appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Before he could recover.
A second punch landed.
Straight across his nose.
Another sickening crack echoed through the room.
Blood spilled down Yixiang's face onto his white shirt.
Dongmin stepped forward.
"If you ever..."
His breathing had become heavy.
"...mention my husband again...."
Yixiang, despite the blood running freely from his nose, looked up and smiled.
Defiantly.
"I will."
Dongmin froze.
"I loved Kim Donghyun."
His swollen lips curled.
"And I still...."
The sentence never finished.
Dongmin drove a hard punch into his stomach.
The air exploded from Yixiang's lungs.
He collapsed onto the floor, coughing violently.
Chaos erupted.
Chairs overturned.
Men shouted.
Outside the room.....
One of the Wang Family security men, startled by the fight and believing his employer was under attack, rushed through the doorway with his sidearm already drawn.
The moment happened in a heartbeat.
Another guard shouted.
"No!"
The shot rang out anyway.
BANG.
The deafening crack echoed through the restaurant.
"NO!"
Kim Seojun's voice tore through the room.
"DONGMINA !!! GET DOWN!"
Too late.
The bullet struck.
Dongmin's body jerked violently.
For a brief second...
He remained standing.
He looked slowly toward his left shoulder.
A dark stain spread rapidly across the black fabric of his VELOURS suit.
Blood.
More and more of it.
He stared at it almost in disbelief.
Then...
He looked toward Kim Seojun.
His vision blurred.
The room tilted.
His knees finally gave way.
He collapsed.
"Dongmin!"
Kim Seojun reached him before he hit the floor completely, dropping to his knees and catching him in his arms.
Blood immediately soaked into the chairman's expensive suit.
"Dongmina!"
His usually commanding voice trembled.
"Dongmin, look at me."
He cupped the younger man's face.
"Open your eyes."
Dongmin struggled to focus.
Everything sounded distant.
Muted.
"Dongmina !"
Kim Seojun's hands pressed desperately against the wound.
Warm blood poured between his fingers.
"No..."
His breathing became frantic.
"No, no, no..."
He looked toward the entrance.
"JAEHYUNAAA!"
His shout echoed through the restaurant.
"CALL AN AMBULANCE!"
The doors burst open.
Jaehyun sprinted inside, stopping dead the instant he saw Dongmin lying in a widening pool of blood.
His face drained of color.
He was already pulling out his phone.
"The ambulance is on its way!"
As the call connected, he barked the address and demanded immediate emergency response.
Across the room, Wang Châu slowly approached.
He looked down at the wounded underboss.
Then at Kim Seojun.
His face was unreadable.
"...He shouldn't have laid hands on my son."
Kim Seojun slowly lifted his head.
The disappointment in his eyes cut deeper than any shouted threat.
"...You will pay a heavy price for this, Wang Châu."
The older man gave a faint smile.
"We'll see."
He turned.
Yixiang, still clutching his bleeding nose, paused before following.
His eyes found Dongmin one last time.
Then Kim Seojun.
Finally...
He spoke.
"...Your man..."
His voice was hoarse.
"...will be mine."
Kim Seojun's eyes narrowed.
"I'll make him mine."
A bitter laugh escaped him despite the blood on his face.
"He never gave me a single chance..."
"...not since college."
His gaze darkened.
"But one day..."
"...I'll force him."
Without another word...
He followed his father out of the restaurant.
The silence they left behind felt suffocating.
Kim Seojun stared after them with undisguised fury.
"...Fucking cowards."
His voice shook.
"...Every one of you will regret this."
He looked back down immediately.
"Dongmin."
The younger man's breathing had become shallow.
Blood continued seeping through Kim Seojun's hands despite all the pressure.
Dongmin's eyelids fluttered weakly.
"...Don..."
His lips barely moved.
"...Donghyun..."
Kim Seojun leaned closer.
"I'm here."
"...Tell..."
Dongmin swallowed painfully.
"...him..."
His voice was almost gone.
"...I..."
A tiny breath.
"...love him..."
Panic overtook Kim Seojun completely.
"No."
His voice cracked.
"No!"
He shook his head desperately.
"Don't say that."
His own eyes filled with tears.
"You'll tell him yourself."
His blood-covered hand gently supported the back of Dongmin's head.
"Do you hear me?"
His voice trembled.
"You're going to live."
"You'll go home."
"You'll hug my son."
"You'll tell him yourself."
Tears finally spilled freely down Kim Seojun's face.
"I can't..."
His shoulders shook.
"I can't lose you too."
"Please..."
He pressed harder against the wound, uncaring that his hands, sleeves, and the floor beneath them were soaked crimson.
"Please stay with me..."
"...Dongmina."