Chapter Text
Hyunjin was having a very peaceful evening alone. His twin sister Yeji had left the house to go hang out with her girlfriend and his parents had both gone out for date night. And Hyunjin didn’t think that Riki would bother him too much.
He had been trying to get the right shade of orange for the sunset he was painting. It was a lot more difficult than he had anticipated to paint this specific sunset.
“Hey Hyung!” Hyunjin’s little brother called for him from downstairs. There went his peaceful evening. “I have a question!”
Hyunjin sighed and set down his paintbrushes, careful not to stain the carpet or his clothes in the process. He exited his room and walked down the grand staircase. Riki was looking over some papers laying on the kitchen island counter.
“What is it?” Hyunjin asked him, peering over Riki’s shoulder to look at the papers.
“There are reports.” Riki stated, a crease between his brows. “Of shady stuff happening over at the docks.”
“What do you mean shady stuff?” Hyunjin asked.
“Shady as in we’re gonna get caught soon if our dock workers don’t get their shit together.”
Riki was looking up at him, distressed, but Hyunjin wasn’t worried. Stuff like this happened all the time. People would get suspicious at the activity at the docks, but it wasn’t like anyone was actually going to check what was going on. Those who went searching for answers never usually came back.
“It’ll blow over, don’t worry,” Hyunjin ruffled his younger brother’s hair affectionately.
“What if it doesn’t? What if somebody comes and checks?” Riki shook his hand off, standing up to his full height. He was getting a lot taller lately, almost up to Hyunjin’s height. He would probably surpass him pretty soon. Hyunjin frowned a little at that. Riki being taller than him was not something he could imagine.
“Nobody’s going to check,” Hyunjin smiled reassuringly.
“You mean nobody would find them if they did.”
Hyunjin’s smile wavered a little at that. The entire family tried to protect their youngest from the brutality of the mafia world, but some truths were not as easily covered up. And there were times when they would need alibis. Riki never knew why, but he could probably guess at most of it.
Before Hyunjin could say anything, not that there was anything to say, the front door opened. The sound of laughter flowed from the front of the house, and Hyunjin could just feel all the shopping bags that Yeji and Ryujin were carrying.
I motioned for Riki to quickly hide the papers. Ryujin had no idea about the Hwang family being in the mafia business, and Yeji had stated multiple times that she would like to keep it that way.
“Noona!" Riki called in greeting, any evidence of his concern vanished.
“Riki,” Yeji’s voice called back from the front of the house. “Where are you?”
“The kitchen,” Hyunjin supplied for her.
Yeji and Ryujin were instantly there, setting their numerous bags down on the kitchen counter.
“Hey Riki,” Ryujin lifted one of her bags and handed it to him. “Can you help me take these to my car?”
“Sure,” Riki muttered. “Just use me as the pack mule, why don’t you.”
Ryujin just smiled. “Thank you Riki,” Then she turned to Yeji. “I’ll get going then.”
Yeji’s brow furrowed. “Are you sure you don’t want someone to come with you?”
Ryujin laughed. “Yeddeong, I can drive. I’ll be fine.”
Yeji still looked worried. Hyunjin understood that feeling. Just because Ryujin didn’t know what Yeji did, many other people did. People who didn’t like the Hwangs at all. If they saw Ryujin with Yeji, they could use it against her. He understood why Yeji wouldn’t want Ryujin to leave her sight.
“Okay, bye Ryujinnie.”
“Byee,”
I waited until Ryujin had shut the door behind her before I turned to my sister. “When are you going to tell her?”
“I don’t know,” Yeji's voice sounded strained.
Hyunjin tried his hardest not to cave, but seeing his sister like that wasn’t something he could ignore. “Come here,” He murmured, holding his hands out. Yeji folded into him. He could feel his shirt getting wet, but he didn’t care. And if Riki came back and joined the group hug, well, he would never admit that anyway.
…
“Why the fuck has my bank account been drained of 700,000 won?” Their father raised his eyebrow at Yeji, who just shrugged, an innocent look on her face.
“Do you really need this many clothes?” Their mother had been looking through the bags for a while now, and was severely concerned.
“Yes mom,” Yeji opened the fridge, in search of snacks. “Oh, we still have tteokbokki!”
“Really?” Riki leaped up from his chair, face alight with excitement.
Mom tsked. “Cheol-soo, not right before dinner.”
“But I’m starving,” Riki flopped back on the couch, gangly legs sprawled out in front of him.
“And it’s dinner time right now,” Dad smiled, ruffling the top of Riki’s head. “Bulgogi with a side of deep talk.”
“About the company?” Riki, ever the observant one, asked.
“Kind of,” Their mother said, the nervousness in her tone apparent.
“Yeji, could you get the food for us?” Their father instructs as he gestures for Hyunjin and Riki to set the table.
Yeji stayed in the kitchen, getting the food, while we stepped out onto the porch to set everything up. It had stopped raining just a few minutes before Yeji had gone to the mall with Ryujin, leaving dew still stuck to everything.
We owned a big house in the suburbs, not as big as a mansion, but big enough for it to be extremely grand, and far away from the rest of civilization, save for the abandoned factory used for illegal imports and exports, to be left alone. The backyard was evidence of that. A gazebo with vines wrapping around the pillars, large trees offering shade in the hot seasons, and greenery left to devour the entire space.
We liked to eat under the gazebo when the weather was nice, our parents said it helped to get the factory fumes out of their lungs.
They were barely out of the house, Hyunjin just finished closing the sliding glass door, before his mother grabbed his arm and gently turned him to face her.
“Hyunjin,” She started, her face and tone serious. “Yeji is going to need your support after everything goes down, validate her emotions, stay with her, comfort her, I don't care. Just be there for her. God knows she’s going to need it.”
“Mom, what?” Hyunjin stared at her. “Why? What’s going on?”
“We’ll tell you all during dinner,” She guided him to the table.
Dad and Riki had already finished setting the table. Dad was beaming, while Riki was silent, staring at the ground. As Hyunjin sat down in his seat, on the left to the head of the table, Riki gave him an odd look. Hyunjin could swear he saw it, but it was gone the next second, almost convincing him that he had imagined it.
“Umma!” Yeji opened the sliding glass door, holding a steaming steel pot. “There’s more in the kitchen, I need help carrying it.”
…
Once everyone was situated, mom and Riki on dad’s right and me and Yeji on his left, the real “deep talk” started.
“So,” Dad started, making sure all of us had food on our plates. “You know the Lee family, right?”
“Yeah,” Yeji snorted, “The rich shits. Of course we know them.”
“They have… pretty damning evidence against us,” Mom jumped in.
Riki choked, Yeji’s head shot up so fast she got a knot in her neck, and Hyunjin’s fork fell against the table when he failed to control his limbs.
“The fuck—”
“How did they—”
“What are we going to do—”
Dad slammed his fist against the table, an unusual burst of anger, effectively silencing us. “We have a plan,” He started. “It involves sacrifices on all our parts, but it’s either that or jail.”
“Or death,” Riki murmured.
“What are we going to do?” Yeji repeated her question, eyes as wide and glassy as pools of silver.
“Yeji,” Their mom reached across the table to grasp Yeji’s hand. “Dear, I’m sorry but—”
“What did you do?” Yeji’s voice quivered. “What deal did you make?”
“An arranged marriage,” Dad raised his head to meet Yeji’s eyes. “Between you and the Lees’ youngest son.”
“Lee Felix,” Hyunjin murmured. He had seen the sunshine of the richest family in the world. Of course he had, there was nobody in the world who had never seen the absolute beauty. He was across billboards around the world, portraying a soft image that Hyunjin was sure that he was faking. You couldn’t be in an industry like that and not be corrupt.
“Wait, you can't do this,” Yeji was hyperventilating now. “I have a girlfriend, I have a life, I don’t want to—”
Hyunjin took Yeji’s hand, making her eyes meet his. “Please,” she begged, a tear already making its way down her cheek. “Jinnie,”
And Hyunjin decided, right then and there, looking into his sister’s pleading eyes, spilling tears, that he would do whatever he could do to get his sister out of this.
Even if it meant burning the Lees down into the ground.