The next day, Seonghwa was sitting at his desk with his face buried in his laptop as he went over the details of the case that Samuel had given him. He was trying to set all the details into place so he knew exactly how to handle it.

Soft footsteps entered the room as he was working. He didn't even bother to look up from the screen of his laptop, but he knew it was Hongjoong just by the very familiar presence filling the room.

"I'm very busy right now, whatever it is, I don't have time for it," Seonghwa said as he sighed out softly, reaching out with his hands and typing something on the keyboard.

"Is there anything that I can help you with? I am your appointed assistant, so..." Hongjoong said as he approached Seonghwa at his desk.

"No, there isn't. If you want to assist me with something," Seonghwa began as he glanced at Hongjoong. "Get me a drink and leave me alone."

Hongjoong frowned slightly, then slammed his hands on the edge of Seonghwa's desk. The smaller male leaned in, tilting his head.

"I don't know the Hongjoong you seem to remember, but that part is gone. I am NOT your maid, I WILL NOT get you a drink. I just want to help you with this case." Hongjoong sighed out. "Quit acting like a pouting child."

Seonghwa let out a bitter chuckle before he slowly shut his laptop. The black-haired male also leaned forward, folding his hands on his desk.

"It's so rich that Samuel believed you had the capability of knowing your place. The only one who's acting like a pouty child is you, throwing a fit because I won't let you assist me with my work. I don't have time for your unnecessary impudence, Hongjoong." Seonghwa said with poison on the tip of his tongue as he smiled. "As I said, if you want to assist me with something, get me a FUCKING drink."

"Yah! Who the hell-" Hongjoong raised his voice in protest but was cut off by a firm hand grabbing his face.

"I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth, Hongjoong. If you so much as utter a single curse word under your breath, I AM going to lose my temper with you." Seonghwa warned in a low tone, the smile still plastered on his lips. "And you've seen me lose my temper so many times... Do you really want that?"

Seonghwa tightened his grip on Hongjoong's face, causing him to grunt uncomfortably before Seonghwa let go of him. Hongjoong frowned deeply as he rubbed his cheeks softly.

"Now, get the hell out," Seonghwa demanded, opening his laptop back up.

Seonghwa immediately went back to what he was doing before, acting as if Hongjoong wasn't in the room anymore. The white-haired male let out a soft sigh, then turned on his heels to walk out of the room. The attitude that Seonghwa had with him was way more cold than the attitude he'd had when they'd first met. Instead of the playfully twisted man Hongjoong knew, he was more serious and cold-hearted.

___________________

Later in the day...

___________________

Hongjoong had a silver platter in his hands as he walked into Seonghwa's room later in the day. Upon it was a large, glass decanter filled with a caramel-colored liquid inside, two small glasses, and a silver bowl filled with ice.

Seonghwa looked up from the papers that he was studying, raising a brow when he saw Hongjoong approaching his desk with the platter.

"What are you doing in here? Didn't I tell you earlier today to get the hell out?" Seonghwa said with a displeased tone.

"Yes, but you also told me to get you a drink, and here I am doing as was asked of me," Hongjoong replied, setting the silver platter down gently. "I figured whiskey would do the trick for you."

"Why are there two glasses? You don't really think you can have a drink with me, do you?" Seonghwa made a weird face, sitting back in his chair as he let out a scoff.

"Actually, I do. Lose your temper on me all you want, go ahead." Hongjoong flashed a subtle smile, uncapping the glass decanter.

Seonghwa just stared intensely at the smaller male, trying to keep his composer despite being consistently tested. Hongjoong put a couple of ice cubes into each glass, then picked up the decanter in his hand before he poured equal amounts of the caramel-colored liquor into each glass. Hongjoong picked up one of the glasses and set it in front of Seonghwa. He grabbed the other glass in his hand, then sat down in the leather chair adjacent to Seonghwa.

Seonghwa took in a deep breath, quickly tossing back the whiskey like it was water and returning his attention back to the paperwork.

"So if you won't let me help, will you at least share the details with me?" Hongjoong questioned, taking a drink from the glass in his hand.

"Why do you keep shoving your nose into places it doesn't belong, Joong?" Seonghwa looked at Hongjoong as he realized what he'd just said, then cleared his throat. "Pardon me... Hongjoong." 

Hongjoong blinked a couple of times as he noticed the little slip, but decided to ignore it. "Well, it has to do with the Choi family, which I just so happen to be unfortunately related to. That's why I want to help."

"You should be grateful that you're still alive because if the Choi family couldn't get their hands on you, Samuel would've surely snapped off if he knew you were related to the death of Mr. Choi's eldest son." Seonghwa rolled his eyes with a slight frown.

"Well..." Hongjoong paused before he tossed back the rest of the whiskey. "Samuel already knows about it, more like he already knew about it when I came to them. I don't know how but..."

"Wait, what do you mean he already knew about it?" Seonghwa tilted his head. "And you came out unscathed."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that I came out unscathed," Hongjoong said softly as he reached for the decanter, pouring them both another glass and setting the decanter back on the platter.

Seonghwa swallowed a bit dryly, but he tried to not let his concern show as he stared the smaller male down.

"What are you talking about? You seem to be in one piece to me." Seonghwa was curious as to what Samuel had done to Hongjoong.

Hongjoong suddenly dropped his head as he looked at his feet. He wasn't haunted by the things that happened to him, but he just didn't like talking about them.

Seonghwa suddenly got up from his chair, rounding to the other side in front of Hongjoong, then sat on the edge of his desk. The black-haired male reached out a hand as he lifted Hongjoong's face by his chin, making him look up at him. 

"Hongjoong... What did Samuel do to you?" Seonghwa could no longer hide his concern, he knew how brutal Samuel could be, and he needed to know.

"I... I can't tell you. It's best to show rather than trying to explain it." Hongjoong said as he slowly stood up out of his chair.

Hongjoong began unbuttoning each individual button on his shirt, clenching his jaw as he took in a deep breath through his nose. Once he was done with the buttons, he turned around and pulled his shirt back, allowing it to fall down to his waist as he revealed his back. Hongjoong's back was covered in scars from lash marks, clearly made by some sort of whip or riding crop.

Seonghwa could feel his heart tighten in his chest at the sight before him. He reached out a hand slowly, touching the scars on the smaller male's back softly. Hongjoong flinched slightly in response, then suddenly lifted his shirt back up. He didn't waste any time buttoning the shirt as he turned back around.

"I want you to know that going to them didn't come without a price. I definitely paid for the problems that I had caused in more ways than one. So when you asked me if I was just stupid or suicidal yesterday, it was just me being utterly stupid. I didn't expect that kind of welcome, but at the same time I knew better." Hongjoong chewed on his lip slightly as he looked at Seonghwa. "Now here I am again, placed in your fucked up little world."

Seonghwa sighed deeply and grabbed his glass, tossing back the second round of whiskey as he tried to chase the guilt in his chest with the burn of the liquor.

"I'm sorry you can't evet get away from me. I'm sorry that I've caused you so much tragedy and pain." Seonghwa said as he rubbed his face. "To be honest... In the beginning, I was only using you as an asset. The beginning of our relationship was just purely business to me, but I knew it was so much more to you. But that changed after everything that had happened with San Choi. I needed to protect you, I needed to hold you close, I needed to give you the world..."

Hongjoong frowned slightly as he listened. "What are you-"

"Please, just let me finish, alright? I need to tell you the complete and honest truth because if I don't do it now then I'll never have the courage to tell you later on." Seonghwa cut Hongjoong off, making the smaller male go silent. "I know to you it seemed like I was just holding you down and drowning you in this world I call my own, but I wasn't. I couldn't let go of you because you were the best thing that had ever happened in my life. I've been with the Nims family for so long, ever since I was 18 years old, so all I've ever known is cons, hits, drugs, every bad fucking thing you can think of. When I met you, you seemed like the answer to my problems. You changed who I was more than you think. You took this dark, suffocating world I live in, and you paved a way for me to crawl out. Yet, in the process, it damaged you more than it did myself, and I was so selfish that I ignored it until it was too late. Throwing you out of my life was the worse thing I've ever done, but bringing you into my life in the first place was the first domino in this whole fucked up chain of events. This is me admitting my faults to you, this is me apologizing with every ounce of my being. You deserve so much better than this life, Hongjoong. I'm so sorry for everything."

Hongjoong blinked a few times as he was completely taken by the words Seonghwa had said. He didn't know how to react to this, nor did he know what to say.

"Seonghwa... Do you really mean all of that?" Hongjoong questioned with a slight tilt of his head.

"Every single word. I've come to understand why you secretly hated me so much, and it took two months alone to realize it." Seonghwa ran a hand through his hair before shaking his head. "I've destroyed every person that has come into my life. I guess that's apart of the bad guy description."

"What if..." Hongjoong hesitated for a moment before he continued. "What if I told you that I accept your apology? What if I told you I want to put the past behind us and move on?"

Seonghwa raised a brow slightly as he looked the smaller male in the eyes. "What do you mean? You mean just act like none of these things ever happened and just carry on? How are we supposed to do that?" 

Hongjoong swallowed hard as he came closer to Seonghwa, making the black-haired male frown a bit. "You don't understand how lost and empty my world has been without you, Seonghwa. I don't care how angry or upset I am with you. I made a promise months ago that I would be at your side regardless of what you've done, and I want to keep fulfilling that promise."

Seonghwa looked down at his feet as he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Hongjoong, but I can't do it. As you said, our relationship is only on a business level, and it can never be anything more than that."

"Bullshit. I'm willing to move on and work past the differences we've had in the past. I KNOW that deep down you want the exact same, you're just afraid of hurting me or breaking me again." Hongjoong grabbed Seonghwa's cheeks with both hands as he looked the black-haired male in the eyes. "Stop acting like I'm fragile. I think I've gone way past the point of fragility. You can't break something that's already been broken before.

"Hongjoong, I couldn't bring myself to-" Seonghwa's protest was suddenly cut off.

Hongjoong had leaned in without warning, interlocking his lips with the soft flesh of Seonghwa's lips. The same spark that both of them had felt during their first kiss ignited like a blue flame. Seonghwa missed that feeling so much and longed it for so long, he couldn't even bring himself to pull away.

Seonghwa wrapped his arms around Hongjoong's waist and pulled him even closer against his chest, deepening the kiss as it lingered for the longest time.

After a passionate moment, Hongjoong pulled his face away slightly. "I don't care how fucked up your world is. I can't see myself anywhere else right now, and I know you can't see a world without me in it. Please... We can move past it all, come out even stronger than before."

Seonghwa stared down at Hongjoong for the longest time as he contemplated the whole thing. He didn't want to drag Hongjoong back into his personal world, but at the same time, the kiss reminded him of how desperately he needed Hongjoong. He was basically nothing without him.

"Alright... Fine. We'll try to work past this..." Seonghwa said in a soft tone as he nodded his head. "Only if you promise that we'll never bring the past up again. If you won't, then I won't."

Hongjoong gave a gentle smile, nodding in response.

"Never again, Seonghwa... Never again."

(A/N: hahahaaaa you thought I was going to leave them separated. of course not)

****THE STORY WILL CONTINUE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. THANK YOU FOR READING****