Hello, everyone!

This is not a new chapter, but rather a notice that this story will not be updated, probably ever. (Keep reading, there is a surprise)

I stopped writing because my closest friend took her own life. Even though I have written some short stories since then (posted anonymously on AO3 and for the Haikyuu fandom, specifically SakuAtsu), I have been placed in situations where updating a story had become impossible.

I am currently in my senior year of college. I am studying electrical engineering and getting a minor in computer engineering and business Spanish. This semester I am taking the hardest class of my entire degree. On top of this, I am working as a student at a local electronics company. I have various social and religious responsibilities as well.

All in all, I am very busy. And while I feel ready to start updating again, I probably will not be able to.

As an apology and surprise, I have decided to outline the rest of what I had planned below. Some are summaries, some are dialogues. These would have been either individual chapters or important plot points in the story. You can ignore these if you have already imagined your own ending to this story.

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- [ ] Jeno and Jaemin get sent on another mission. This time it is just stealing something that Jeno's father wants. Unfortunately, they get spotted and get chased. They're running through alleys and on rooftops. Parkour?

-[ ] Trying to lose their chasers, Jeno and Jaemin make a risky leap from one rooftop to the other. Jeno does not jump far enough to the next building. He hangs from the ledge. It had started sprinkling/raining as they were running, so the ledge of the building is slippery. Jeno is about to plummet to his death and is terrified. Jeno asks Jaemin to pull him up, but will Jaemin take the chance to save him? Will he get revenge or let Jeno live?

- [ ] Jaemin pulls Jeno from the ledge. Jeno asks "why did you let me live?". He knows that Jaemin hated being under his control and having to work for Jeno's father. He knows Jaemin wants revenge for his own father. This scene is supposed to mirror Jaemin and Jeno when Jaemin was captured. This time, however, the roles are flipped.

- [ ] Jaemin refuses to look him in the eyes, "I don't know." Jaemin still hates the gang, but something had changed.

- [ ] Later that night, in a crappy hotel after the mission. As Jeno comes out of the bathroom from taking a shower, he notices Jaemin is on the fire escape right outside the window. Jaemin is thinking of why he let Jeno live. He realizes that even if it came down to it, he would never let Jeno die. Even if it meant missing out own his revenge or dying himself.

- [ ] Jeno joins him on the fire escape. They climb up the fire escape to the roof to look at the stars. It is a clear night. They don't get many opportunities to be outside of the gang territory and compounds like this.

- [ ] Together they sit on the roof ledge. They sit quietly until Jaemin whispers, "my dad always took me stargazing. He taught me all of the constellations."

- [ ] Jeno ponders this. He never experienced any sort of affection from his father, he doesn't know what parental love is. He asks, "did your dad love you?"

- [ ] Jaemin thinks of how the closer his dad got to being able to put Jeno's dad behind bars...the closer he got to getting killed...the more insane he became, the more his mental state went down the drain. Jaemin's dad started making Jaemin learn life survival skills. How to survive in the wilderness, how to defend himself, how to shoot a gun, minor medical knowledge....anything that would keep Jaemin safe. Jaemin responds truthfully, "My dad was harsh and stric, but he cared. He cared enough."

- [ ] Jeno scoffs, "That's what my dad always says. He puts food on the table, gives me a place to sleep. Yet, I never felt he cared." Jeno tilts his head up further to look at the stars more, "Instead he sends me on death missions, bangs another lady every day. I guess I should be comforted by the fact that all of the other gang members don't get treated any better, huh? We're all just dirt under his shoes. Fucking piece of shit."

- [ ] Jaemin and Jeno sit in silence for a few moments. Jeno whispers, as if admitting it out loud will change the world "I hate him. I will kill him" These words do change the world. Their world.

- [ ] Jeno admitting he hates his dad just solidifies Jaemin's self-revelation that Jeno means more to him that a friend or torturer. Jeno talks more and reveals some of his plans to get rid of his father. To erase him and his influence in the gang. To take over and start anew. He tells Jaemin he wants his help. He promises to introduce him to the rest of his team.

- [ ] For both of them, they are now united in a goal. They are now equals. They have found each other to confide in. They promise to make it to the end, together.

- [ ] The scene cuts to a few days later. Jeno leads Jaemin to an abandoned part of a neighborhood that is right outside the gang's territory. Jeno brings Jaemin inside an old restaurant, no longer in business. There they see five people. Jeno introduces them. First is Mark, Jeno's father's "bodyguard/assistant". Then comes Renjun, a spy for the gang. Then comes Chenle, a tech specialist. Donghyuck and Jisung are introduced as higher ups in the gang, both having worked their way up in the ranks. All 7 of them work for the gang, but all 7 have the same goal of eradicating Jeno's father and letting Jeno take over.

- [ ] At this abandoned restaurant they discuss the plans to eradicate the gang leader. The team has successfully stolen and safely stored information taken from Jeno's father's private computer. These files contain blackmail on every member of the gang (100s of ppl), keeping them under Jeno's father's rule. It also contains records of the heinous crimes committed by Jeno's father: rape, murder, extortion, trafficking, child pornography, etc. Most are accompanied by videos or pictures taken as trophies of said crimes.

- [ ] Slowly, over the course of the next 2 years, the files blackmailing most gang members (like 100s of ppl)  are deleted and influence is shifted to Jeno. People once under Jeno's father's tyranny only continue to serve him as a pretense. Most have become loyal to Jeno through a life debt. Those they have found to be not loyal or wanting out of the gang life have been eradicated or set free. Jeno's father is unaware of this happening. But for how long?

- [ ] For his birthday, Jeno's father throws himself a celebration. While no one shows that they do not follow him anymore, Jeno's father becomes suspicious. He isn't the leader of the most notorious gang in all of Asia for no reason. He personally recruits new gang members and gathers those he knows are still under his control. He will find out what is happening.

- [ ] The situation starts to escalate. Things become more tense. Everybody is on edge as nobody knows the moment the fight will begin. It is the calm before the storm.

- [ ] Jeno and Jaemin are sent on another mission. This time to receive a shipment of drugs. Fearing of something happening, Jaemin asks the other five dreamies to follow them or be nearby. Mark must still pretend to be the father's bodyguard.

- [ ] Together, Jeno and Jaemin enter the warehouse where the shipment handover will take place. Upon entrance, they are surrounded by men pointing guns and with other weapons raised. In the center of the mostly empty, sans some boxes and crates, wear-house sits Jeno's father. He's smiling, showing all his teeth. Threatening. Mark stands next to him, masking how disgusted he feels.

- [ ] Jaemin, whose hand was around his car keys, presses the lock button of said keys, activating the horn on his car to go off once. Donghyuck, Renjun, Chenle, and Jisung who were waiting for the signal that something was wrong, quickly leave their hiding locations and form a plan to get into the warehouse and save Jeno and Jaemin.

- [ ] Renjun and Donghyuck enter through the ceiling, landing on the steel beams supporting the roof. They position themselves such that they are hidden and have optimal view of the entire warehouse. They start picking the men off one by one. Chenle throws some smoke bombs to allow for more cover.

- [ ] During this commotion, Jeno and Jaemin pull out their own weapons, quickly escaping from where they were trapped by the other men. A fight ensues, the dreamies narrowly avoiding being killed as they lessen the numbers of the opposing side.

- [ ] In a desperate attempt to gain the upper hand, Jeno's father sets fire to the warehouse. The fire starts wearing away at the structure of the wearhouse. The dreamies and Jeno's father are trapped inside. They know that they won't all survive. Jeno tells the others to escape and he will take care of his father. Jaemin does not let him.

Jaemin pulls him close. He kisses him. Deeply. With all the emotions of a hurricane and monsoon combined in one. He needs Jeno to understand what he means without words. He needs Jeno to know.

When Jaemin starts to become lightheaded from the kiss or the fire (he does not know), he pulls away. Jeno's eyes are wide, dark, and angry. "Jaemin, no. Don't do this to me. You promised me."

Jaemin avoids his eyes. If he looks he fears his heart would burst into a million pieces and he wouldn't be able to do what needs to be done. Jaemin turns and signals for the Mark and Jisung to hold Jeno back.

"I'm sorry, Jeno. You're much more important than I am. These last few years would have been for nothing if you die. I could not breathe if you die."

As Jeno yells at him, he check his guns for bullets. He tell the five others, "Get him out of here."

And all Jeno could do was struggle against Mark's and Jisung's hold and watch as his love left him, his heart shattering with each step.

As he is pulled away, Jeno hears one gun shot go off. He feels numb.

Moments after Jeno and the other five manage to exit the burning warehouse, the structure collapses. Jeno screams and rages against the hold the others have on him. Jaemin is dead, Jeno might as well be, too.

- [ ] Months pass. Jeno is a shell of the person he had become around Jaemin. He is now the leader of the gang his father ran. He has changed the structure and has further gained more loyalty from his members. His gang, while still illegal, becomes the protectors of Asia. They take care of business the law would not and the justice system would fail.

- [ ] Yet, Jeno is merely surviving. He is not living like he did when Jaemin was here.

After a long night, Jeno wanders around his office, holding a whiskey glass in his hand. It is late, nobody but him is in the building. He sets the empty glass on his desk.

Jeno is tired. He has worked himself to the bone to distract himself from his thoughts. It has been months and he still can't let Jaemin go. He thinks he might even be seeing him.

He's hallucinating Jaemin is leaning against the entrance to his office, gazing at him softly. Jeno blinks. Then he blinks again.

When Jeno registers that Jaemin is truly there, he feels red-hot anger pulse through him. He stalks over and punches Jaemin in the jaw. He grabs him by the collar and they tumble to the ground, Jeno straddling Jaemin.

"You asshole! How could you just show up after everything you've done?" He hits Jaemin's hand that was reaching out to him. "How could you just leave me?"

He's crying now.

Jaemin's eyes soften. He caressed Jeno's face. "I love you."

Jeno's eyes go wide, tear tracks on his face.

Jaemin says it again, voice cracking. "I love you."

Jaemin sits up, forcing his and Jeno's chests to touch. He says it a third time. "I love you."

He leans forward, pressing his forehead to Jeno's. "I'd live and die for you. I'm sorry, my angel."

Their noses are touching. If Jeno leans forward, he would feel Jaemin's lips against his.

Jaemin's hands go to caress Jeno's jaw. "Tell me to stay. This time I won't leave."

"Never again?"

"Never again."

- [ ] Jaemin and Jeno make up. Smut?! Idk.

- [ ] Jaemin explains that he hadn't killed Jeno's father, but injured him instead. He had managed to drag them both out of the warehouse right as it collapsed. Jaemin had tied him up, knocked him out, and then tied him to some posts outside a local poultice office. Taped to his forehead was a USB drive containing all of the evidence of his crimes, the information Jeno's father had himself kept as trophies.

The end

Again, sorry but I will not be updating. I hope this sates your curiosity.

Thoughts?

Love,
AKD