/\/\/\
When Daechul got back to the Won's mansion, it was almost three o'clock. On its way back the man stopped to get some gas, as the fuel tank was almost empty. He also bought some flowers for his mother, intending to make amends. Maya was a stubborn woman when she was angry or frustrated, but she absolutely adored white peonies, so Daechul hoped that the flowers would make her happier. White peonies held significance in the Hyun kin. It was the flower that the men would give their women when they courted them, on special occasions or simply because they wanted to. This ritual of sorts was performed for dozens of years by Hyun men. Their mafia business was extremely old. Sungwoon was a man of tradition, so he never failed to make his wife smile, gifting her a massive bouquet of white peonies at least once a week. When he died, that tradicion stopped. Maya never told Siwon what her favourite flowers were, as Daechul was aware. She wanted to associate them to her late husband only. During the funeral, the only flowers that decorated the coffin were white peonies, to associate them with the late boss.
Daechul figured that for this occasion, white peonies were an acceptable gift.
The man parked in front of the house and killed his vehicle, immediately stepping out of it before grabbing the bouquet and locking the car. He stepped inside and started looking for his mother. Daechul asked one of the maids where she currently was. The young, flustered girl shyly informed him that she was outside in the garden. Daechul politely thanked her and headed towards his mother.
He found Maya surrounded by blood red roses, kneeling on the soft grass and trimming their stems, occasionally humming a light tone or petting the flowers. It was endearing. His mother has always had a very special spot for nature, spending her leisure time tending to her plants. She even did that while away from home.
Maya was wearing black leggings, some old yellow long sleeved shirt and yellow rubber boots, with a straw hat perched on her head.
Daechul stepped closer to her.
"Mom?", softly called to get her attention.
Maya turned to look at her son with a frown, that was completely gone when she saw white peonies. The woman's face changed to that of wonder and grief, and she stuttered, not knowing what to say.
Daechul smiled.
"I wanted to apologise for turning our home into a zoo. Figured you would appreciate me doing that with your favourite flowers."
Maya laughed tearfully and leapt on her feet, hugging her son thightly.
"Oh baby, I was never angry at you, just a bit sad. Thank you for considering my feelings, darling. And with such beautiful flowers no less. Thank you, dear."
Daechul rubbed her back with a spare hand, happy to see his mother so elated. He stepped back from the hug, giving the flowers to Maya. The woman sniffled, hugging them close to her chest.
"Do you want to drink some tea with me in the garden? Just the two of us", proposed.
Daechul nodded.
"Of course."
Maya grinned, obviously satisfied with the answer she got. The woman murmured about having to change her clothes and find a vase for the bouquet, suggesting that he waits for her seated on one of the glass tables in the center of the garden.
Daechul agreed, and Maya disappeared in the house.
/\/\/\
The mother and son spent about an hour just chatting about nothing and everything at the same time while sipping their hot tea with some sweets. As usual, Maya was a bubbly woman, and had so much to say. For the most part Daechul was silent, content with listening to his mother's high pitched voice. Although she was a stay at home mother, Maya lived a colourful life, spending her free time with friends, attending all kinds of events, traveling with the family, minus Daechul. The man was happy to see his mother still happy and joyful as ever, managing to find love again. He thought of her as one of the strongest people he knew. Maya was kind and supportive, she loved her kids unconditionally, always shoving her support and care. Daechul could only wish to be as happy as she was.
The pair was snacking on the chocolate cake that one of the cooks made a previous night, when the man suddenly remembered that he was supposed to drive Junghyun to his date. He cursed, abruptly standing and almost jostling the table.
Maya flinched.
"What's wrong, darling?"
"I was supposed to take Junghyun to this one cafe for his date."
Maya furrowed her professionally plucked eyebrows.
"Junghyun left an hour ago, dear. He told me that their plans changed a bit, and they met up a bit earlier. Geun came to pick him up, apparently Junghyun told him that he can't drive yet", said Maya with a small smile, but Daechul's mind was reeling.
Gureum was Junghyun's date? Gureum?!
That's when it clicked.
"Fuck! Mom, I've got to go, see you later", he kissed her on the temple and ran out of the garden, fumbling with his phone at the same time.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck", the man was quietly murmuring while heading towards his car, finally managing to call Junghyun, as he didn't know where exactly their date was.
"Daechul? I can't really talk right now", said Junghyun as soon as he picked up the call.
"Where are you right now?", the man asked.
"That one cafe near the city square, with red roses planted outside, you know the one?"
Daechul was nodding before he answered verbally. "Alright, just wanted to check where you are, that's all. Have fun on your date", he said and ended the call. The last sentence sounded like poison on his tongue.
As soon as he reached his car, the man threw open the door and pushed the ignition button. The car rumbled to life, and Daechul sat down properly, closing the door. He stepped on the gas and then the vehicle was moving, driving through the open gates. With one hand Daechul steered the wheel, with another he was fumbling with his phone, trying to make a call. After a few frustrating seconds daechul was successful. Kimoon picked the call almost immediately.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Meet me in the location I will send to your phone. As soon as possible."
There was shuffling on the other side of the call. Kimoon was obviously moving to do as Daechul said.
"Why, what happened?"
"Junghyun's date is Geun."
For a few seconds Kimoon was silent, until the information registered in his brain.
"What?!"
"Be there as soon as you can", Daechul reminded and ended the call, intending to focus on the road ahead.
The man was seething, his hands were shaking from the adrenaline. The man with a target on his head currently was with his brother. Who knows what could happen to Junghyun in that time. Daechul knew nothing about his date, only that the man was wanted by Chungee. He didn't know his intentions towards his brother. There was an extremely high risk to his safety. Geun could very much be after Daechul, pursuing Junghyun just for that reason alone. The man had a lot of enemies, so he wouldn't be surprised if that turned out to be true. The man was also aware how happy Junghyun was about this date, and it crushed his soul to think that his brother was played.
Daechul prayed that he wasn't late and that the pair was still in the cafe and not changed their location to somewhere else. That would be very not in favour to Daechul. The man also hoped that Kimoon and others would be quick too, as Daechul could very much lash out on Geun in front of other people and make a scene. He needed to be grounded to remain calm and collected.
Daechul checked a glove compartment for his gun, just in case the situation turned nasty, and let out a breath of relief as soon as he saw the black metal peeking through old newspapers and away from view.
The ride to the cafe was supposed to take around an hour, but Daechul was in a hurry, so he managed to shorten the time, the trip taking almost half an hour. He parked around the back of the building and killed the engine, waiting for the others to show up.
It took about ten minutes before two black range rovers parked in the same parking lot as Daechul did. He tucked his gun in his jeans and stepped outside, slamming the door after himself.
Kimoon, Ilsung, Jinwoo and Kangmin stepped from one of the cars, while another one was occupied by Sunmi, Jongil and Eunsang.
Everyone murmured their greetings before Daechul spoke up.
"Surround the building from all sides. I will go alone so as to not spook them. Geun could very much tried to run away, so carefully patrol all around the building
Everyone nodded, showing that they understood the instructions and made themselves scarce, diving from the group and silently surrounding the cafe.
Daechul rounded the building and stepped inside.