Next day...

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After the meeting that Seonghwa had the day prior, he'd been acting a bit off, more than usual. Hongjoong wasn't there for the meeting, his services weren't needed, so he did as he was told and stayed in his room while the meeting commenced. He didn't even see who it was, he was supposed to stay in his room before and after the meeting for privacy purposes, which was strange to begin with. Seonghwa always had Hongjoong in the room regardless of who was coming to see him, but this time was different.

Seonghwa acted as if everything had gone well, but he seemed to be stuck with one foot in his train of thought and the other in reality. He was more spacey, hardly paying attention to Hongjoong when he would try to interact with him.

That morning, the consistent tapping of keyboard keys had somehow woken Hongjoong up from a deep sleep as he laid curled up in Seonghwa's bed. Rubbing his face, Hongjoong drew a deep breath while rolling over to face the other side of the room. He opened his eyes, seeing his lover neatly dressed and finely groomed while he worked at his desk.

"Seonghwa? You're already working? This early in the morning?" Hongjoong asked in a raspy, tired tone as he sat up slowly in bed.

Seonghwa glanced at Hongjoong for a brief moment before he turned back to his computer screen. "I have some things to set in place, time to clean up a few things..."

Hongjoong furrowed his brows slightly and cocked his head. "What are you talking about? What do you have to clean up?"

"Come here..." Seonghwa signaled towards himself with two fingers before sitting back in his chair. "I want to tell you something important, and you're probably not going to like it."

"O..kay?" Hongjoong said with slight suspicion in his voice.

The smaller male crawled over the bed slowly, getting up off the bed to walk over towards Seonghwa's desk. He brushed some of the messy white hair from his face as he stood at his lover's side.

"What is it?"

Seonghwa turned in his computer chair to face Hongjoong, then grabbed his hand gently and pulled him down into his lap. Hongjoong draped his arms loosely around the taller male's neck while Seonghwa held onto his waist.

"First of all, good morning," Seonghwa said with a warm smile, placing a subtle kiss upon Hongjoong's cheek.

"I know what you're doing... Don't kiss my ass, just tell me what's going on." Hongjoong huffed out softly as he raised a brow at Seonghwa.

Seonghwa pursed his lips together, a heavy sigh escaping through his nose. "Yesterday, I had a meeting with Hana, and-"

"Hana?!" Hongjoong exclaimed with widened eyes. "Why did you meet with Hana? Why didn't you have me there?"

"Relax, calm down." Seonghwa shook his head a bit. "It's not as serious as you think it is."

"What do you mean it's not serious? May I remind you of the events that happened on our WEDDING DAY? Do you even recall the things that happened?"

Seonghwa clenched his jaw slightly, shooting a look at Hongjoong. "Yes. I remember everything very clearly. I'm VERY aware of what happened, Hongjoong." Seonghwa's tone was snappy, a warning to Hongjoong to not step any further over the line.

Hongjoong suddenly looked down into his lap. "I-I'm sorry... Too far, I know. It's just... What does Hana want with us now? I mean it's been WEEKS since hell broke loose. Why is she just now reaching out after all this time?"

"Samuel's will was released by his lawyer last week..." Seonghwa began as he licked the inside of his cheek. "According to the will, I've been left everything. The money, the whole operation... And Hana is trying to convince me to take over."

Hongjoong looked back up at Seonghwa slowly, then started to shake his head. "Please tell me that you're not considering it..."

"I am, Joong..."

"You CANNOT be serious." Hongjoong let out a scoff with a look of surprise plastered on his face. "Why can't Hana continue to run the operation?"

"It's not as simple as you think. I already knew that when Samuel passed, I would take over his spot and the company would be all mine, I made a vow that I would." Seonghwa replied with a simple shrug.

"You're going to take over a WHOLE criminal organization? An organization that was run by the very man that killed your father?" Hongjoong said before he got off of Seonghwa's lap. "Have you gone absolutely mad?"

Seonghwa sat forward in his chair, pointing a finger at Hongjoong with a brewing look of anger in his eyes. "Don't fucking go there... I've told you many times before not to mention that in front of me."

"What happened to trying to work your way out of this business, Seonghwa? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Hongjoong persisted with a frown deepening on his brow.

Seonghwa stood up from his chair slowly, adjusting his dress shirt as he stared down into Hongjoong's eyes. "You may not know this, even though you should by now, but there's no way of getting out of this, even as head of the operation, I can't just abandon everything."

"Why not? You could easily sign the company over to Hana and live a normal life as we had planned! Are you just going to throw all of that away?" Hongjoong raised his voice, clearly upset upon hearing that Seonghwa would possibly take over the operation.

"Even if I were to do that, it wouldn't be that simple. Once you try to leave this kind of lifestyle, once you've learned more than you're supposed to, you paint a huge target on your back. Besides, I can turn the operation around if I'm the head, make it something better. The kind of power I will have, I can still provide for us and our lives won't be too jostled." Seonghwa tried to reason with his lover in the calmest way possible.

Hongjoong let out another scoff, a bitter laugh following soon after. "It's all about the fucking business matters, it's all about the fucking money and power, isn't it?"

"No, it's not-" Seonghwa started as he reached a hand to touch Hongjoong's face, but the smaller male backed off and cut him off.

"Clearly, it is! How are you going to turn around a whole operation that has made BILLIONS of dollars off of illegal drug trafficking and hits? You can't just do something like that and expect it to work out!" 

"Joong! You're not seeing this from my point of view! You don't know the things that I do, I can't just turn this down!" Seonghwa protested with a raised voice. "This is MY work, this is how I provide for both of us!"

"This is not work! It's dangerous, it's illegal, and if you somehow fuck up, that's a bullet between your eyes! You're really trying to go out the same way that your father and Samuel went! As if holding your father's dead body in your arms wasn't enough!" Hongjoong exclaimed with his tongue dipped in poison.

Seonghwa gritted his teeth together, closing his eyes to try and keep his composure through the throbbing anger in his chest. "Joong... Please, I'm just trying to do everything I can here, you have to understand that. You have to see this from how I see it..."

"Fuck your point of view, keep me out of it." Hongjoong spat with a displeased look on his face, turning to walk away.

Seonghwa reached out and grabbed Hongjoong by his wrist, pulling the smaller male back to him. "You can't just say "fuck you" and walk away every time you don't agree with me. I'm tired of you acting like a temperamental toddler. I know what I'm doing isn't going to be easy, I know it's going to be riddled with consequences, and I can't do any of that if you're not standing at my side." Seonghwa said with slight anger in his tone.

"You didn't need me before, so why would you need me now? You were a multimillionaire way before I ever entered the picture. I think you'll manage..." Hongjoong glared up at Seonghwa.

"I can't do it without you because I fucking love you. I wouldn't have put that god damn ring on your finger if I didn't, I wouldn't fight tooth and nail to protect you. You are the only thing that keeps me going, the only thing that keeps me  motivated enough to try my hardest." Seonghwa said with a frown. "I know I've fucked up countless times before, I know I'm not perfect, but without you at my side I am nothing. Forget the money, forget the power, I am still nothing when you are not at my side."

Hongjoong looked away for a moment as he let out a deep sigh. "I'm not going to sit by and watch yourself get killed. It's one thing to be an asset for the company, it's another to fucking run it. I've supported you through all of this for too long."

"Hang on, what are you saying? Because if it's what I think you're going to say, I'm not letting it happen. Abso-fucking-lutely not." Seonghwa shook his head, cupping his hands on Hongjoong's cheeks. "It's not gonna happen, you're not going anywhere. I've lost you too many times before. Don't you dare..."

Hongjoong's chest tightened a bit as he looked at Seonghwa. "I have no choice. You promised me that we would escape all of this, move on with our lives, and you broke that promise. I'm tired of all these empty promises never getting filled."

"Please, Joong, I'm trying... I know how this feels to you, I know it's difficult, but you can't just drop everything we have. You're my husband, my best friend, my lover, for fuck's sake. Please, just give this a chance. I promise-"

"Enough with the promises, Seonghwa..."

"I'm serious, this promise I will fill. I'll turn the company around, I'll make our lives easier and risk-free. You just have to give me a chance to prove myself..." Seonghwa said as he leaned his forehead into Hongjoong's. "Please... Just trust me, baby. I won't break this promise. Just give me one chance."

Hongjoong bit on the flesh of his bottom lip as he thought about it for a moment. The white-haired male then let out another deep sigh.

"Alright... But if you don't follow through with this last promise, we're done. This may be the life you want, the life you're used to, but it's not what I want." Hongjoong said as he gripped onto Seonghwa's shirt. "I'm choosing to trust you... Don't make me look like the fool."

"I won't... I know I can do this. I'll make our lives better, I'll do everything to keep you happy. You won't end up looking like a fool, I promise." Seonghwa reassured with a smile.

Seonghwa leaned down and placed a loving, open-mouthed kiss upon his lover's lips, running a hand through his white hair soothingly. Hongjoong exhaled through his nose deeply, enjoying the way their lips interlocked with pure passion.

The taller male broke the kiss, still hovering just a centimeter from his lover's lips.

"You know I love you right?" Seonghwa questioned in a soft tone, stroking the soft skin of Hongjoong's cheeks with his thumbs.

"I know you do..." 

"Say it back then..."

"I love you more, Seonghwa... I always will."

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