"Here."
Seojun looked down as Hyunwoo placed something in his palm. "What's this?" A small plushie in the form of a keychain sat neatly on his hand, resembling a chibi guy with blue eyes and light pink hair with a star hair clip, it's mouth curved into a smile behind the mic that stuck out.
"Jinhyukie plushie version, think of it as a good luck charm."
"Why are you giving him to me? Don't you like him?"
"Yeah but I have another one so, keep it," Hyunwoo smiled as he tidied up Seojun's bed hair, "your siblings will be here soon so rest up for now. I need to drop by headquarters but I'll be back later, okay?"
Seojun nodded, playing with the plushie as he watched Hyunwoo leave. He pressed down on it's little hand as the room fell silent but before he could drown himself in empty sorrowful thoughts, the door slid open hurriedly.
"I'm here!" Jia shouted, experiencing a few seconds of relieve as she saw Seojun was alright but he could see the change in her expression as her eyes trailed to the bandage on his head.
"How was school?"
"Don't ask me about school right now!"
Seojun laughed, "right, sorry, sorry. Where's Seungcheol?"
"Oh, we bumped into that man so he's talking to him right now."
"That... man? You mean Hyunwoo?"
Jia nodded as if she didn't really care. Her eyes wondered around the room like she was bored then she suddenly pointed at the plushie. "Where did you get this?"
"That man gave it to me," Seojun replied, mocking her.
"What!? Why would he give this away? Does he not know how rare this is?" She said, completely agasp.
"He said he had two so he gave me one."
"Two!? How did he manage to get two!?"
Seojun shrugged, "no idea."
Jia shuffled towards him, "well I mean... Oppa, you're not exactly a fan of Jinhyukie, are you?"
"Not really."
"Then.. Can I have him?"
"..." To Seojun's surprise, he hesitated. Normally, no matter what it was, he would've given it to her without another thought. In a way he spoiled her so much without realising it had practically became second nature. But looking at the plushie he received from Hyunwoo, for some reason he couldn't let it go.
"No. I'm keeping this."
"Aw.." Jia sulked. She sat down next to him and spoke in a quiet voice, "are you.. okay?" Compared to her usual self, this Kang Jia was a lot quieter and careful with her words that even Seojun was surprised she had such a sensible side.
He smiled, "I'm fine." He looked at the door as he saw Seungcheol peeking his head around, "are you two hungry? Let's go somewhere to eat, the food here isn't that appetising."
Seungcheol pushed a wheelchair in as Jia stood up, "Hyunwoo Hyung said you need to use this if we want to go somewhere."
"Hyunwoo... Hyung?" Jia repeated slowly as she gave him a distasteful look, "when did you two get so close?"
"Jia, don't be rude. We owe him one for helping."
"He's right," Seojun nodded. "Come on, help me up."
When Hyunwoo got to the headquarters, the building was eerily quiet and completely empty. The usual pair at the reception desk was absent, the chit chatters strolling around the front was nowhere to be seen, there were no one guarding the training rooms, even the elevators were all at a standstill on the ground floor. In the deserted lobby, he quickly noticed someone roaming around.
"Dahyun," he called out.
The girl stopped in shock like she had just been daydreaming, she hurried over to Hyunwoo with a pile of documents in her hands, "mister, the boss said to go see her."
"Oh thanks, why is it so empty here? Where's everyone gone?"
"Erm," she glanced around nervously, "I think training."
"Training?"
Dahyun nodded, "I'm sorry I don't really know. When I came in no one was here either."
"It's fine, get going, I'll go find her."
She nodded again before scurrying off. Hyunwoo headed up to the top floor and knocked on the door to Haneul's office, waiting for a reply before going inside. Inside was however just as empty as the rest of the building, she was sat in her chair, hand over mouth as her eyes stayed on the screen in front of her.
"What's going on?"
Haneul looked up for a second before turning back to the computer, "special training day for everyone else, and special assignment for you," she hummed in a semi-serious tone.
Hyunwoo sighed. Special assignment meant either overseas or long term and either way, they were the most draining so no one really likes them. But they paid better than normal commissions which was why Hyunwoo usually took them on.
"What is it?"
"Private security, you'll be in Berlin for a few days. Flight's leaving early tomorrow morning."
Instead of his usual complaints due to laziness, Hyunwoo stayed quiet this time. Not because he was willing to go but because he had something to take care off, someone, and he didn't want to leave him but there was nothing he could do.
Haneul noticed his silence and sat up, "you don't have to go. I can get someone else assigned if you want."
He stared at her then shook his head. "No, I'll go."
"...Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Alright. You'll be sent the information for the mission later, just do what you usually do and come back safely." She paused, "oh and, you don't need to worry about Kang Seojun."
Hyunwoo nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, thanks."
-
The day before
Haneul took a sip then nodded to herself approvingly before placing the cup of tea on the table. She looked at the man sat opposite her as he contemplated over the piece of paper he was reading over, his expression tense as his brows furrowed, creating wrinkles on his forehead.
The paper in his hand was an outline for a contract of K company and Roses partnership. There were benefits for both parties if said partnership took place; K company will always have a place to send new graduates to gain medical experience and Roses will never be short of recovery units. But this wasn't a good enough deal, at least not for Kang Hyeonju.
He looked up then shook his head. "Miss Mun, I'm sure you're aware of how unfair this contract seems."
She blinked, "unfair? Really?" Haneul then smiled. "Well, I suppose it was drafted in our favour." She plopped a folder onto the table and began to flip through it's content; Pages filled with personal information of almost every employee under K company, past and current, with documentary evidence of their illegal practises in the form of photos, witness testimonies, signatures and more.
Kang Hyeonju narrowed his eyes, watching her do so before placing his hand on a page to stop her, "what is the meaning of this?"
"Ah, I think you know. Documented proof of the honorary and prestigious doctors of K company breaking the medical oath and partaking in illegal acts just to make some extra profit. If all this were to get out, I think you'd lose a lot more than say, just a deal, right, mister Kang?"
"... Are you blackmailing me?"
Haneul laughed, "no, I wouldn't call this blackmail. Honestly, we're not that desperate for your company's cooperation. This is something a little more personal. Your son is one of my employees and I am in no position to meddle in your family business, what happens in his personal life has nothing to do with me. But when that sort of thing conflicts with his job, I'm afraid I have no choice but to step in. As a director, you understand right?" She placed a pen on the table. "I look forward to your cooperation."
-
The day occupied with shopping was planned to end with a dinner treated by Hyunwoo. Jia stopped in front of the restaurant he had told them to meet him by and checked the time on her phone.
"He said to meet here, right?"
"Jia... can't you at least hold your own stuff.." Seungcheol panted as he caught up to them, placing the shopping bags on the floor as he tried to catch his breath.
"If I hold it, I can't push Oppa around," she shrugged.
"Don't buy so much then."
"It's not even that much! You're so dramatic, it's probably not even that heavy."
"Then you carry it back!"
"No! I don't want to!"
"Stop fighting," Seojun sighed. "I see him." He pointed at a figure walking towards them who was waving with a small smile as he saw Seojun.
"Did you wait long?"
"No, we just got here."
"Then let's go in."
They sat at a table tucked away in the corner and close to the kitchen. The small interior had a homey feel and wasn't busy for a restaurant during dinner hours, even so, the dining room was filled with lively chatter and every now and then if you listened closely enough, you could hear laughs from the kitchen.
Before they could even give the menu a look, Seojun saw an older woman rush towards them from the kitchen with a spatula still in hand.
"Hyunwoo!"
"Auntie, hey. How have you been? Have you been staying healthy like Jinyoung told you to?"
She waved her hand in dismissal, "I'll be fine, he fusses over every little thing at home I don't want you to start too. What about you? When did you come back? Is your mum alright? Is Jiwoo?"
Hyunwoo gave an awkward laugh in response as she looked around the table in embarrassment.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, where are my manners... I'm a friend of Hyunwoo's mum," she turned to Seojun and raised her eyebrows, both in a worried manner and as if impressed by something. "Oh my goodness.. You are a handsome young man! What--" She stopped herself as her eyes darted away from the injury. "Are you all siblings?"
"How do you know?" Jia asked.
"I can see the resemblance. You're practically clones of each other!"
Jia's mouth dropped open, she quickly recovered from the shock on her face as she pulled up her phone camera, mumbling about how wrong she was as her face distorted into multiple expressions.
"Ma!"
The woman's head whipped in the direction of the kitchen, "I need to get going, those brats can't do anything right. Hyunwoo, you should go see your mum if you're free, I'm sure she has some things to talk to you about."
Hyunwoo gave her a brief nod, "yeah."
The table was topped with dishes just a few minutes later and Jia and Seungcheol was fighting over something trivial while Hyunwoo was struggling to pick up a piece of pickled perilla leaves. His jaw was clenched as he glared at the dish, failing to separate the pieces for a good minute.
Seojun looked up as Hyunwoo finally managed to do so and placed it in his bowl instead. He batted his eyes before he started to laugh as Hyunwoo turned red and looked away. Jia and Seungcheol paused their little fight as they both looked at their older brother then exchanged a glance with each other as they tried to hold their smiles.
After taking the siblings home, Seojun and Hyunwoo went back to the hospital. Instead of heading back to his room, Hyunwoo made a quick detour and stopped by an area out of the way. Between the trees was a dimly lit gazebo. It was a little old and rusty but from there, you couldn't see anything that would even remotely remind you of a hospital so it was a good place to get away.
Hyunwoo sat down on one of the benches and spoke gently, "I'm going overseas for a bit."
"For how long?"
"Probably about a week. I'll be back before you're discharged."
Seojun nodded and looked down.
Hyunwoo grabbed his hand as he realised he was fiddling with it again and intertwined their fingers before he could break free. "Try not to miss me too much."
Seojun broke into a small smile as he squeezed his hand.
Hyunwoo left early the next morning and arrived in Berlin a little more than a day later. He sat down at a coffee shop, trying to fight the jet lag and tiredness of being on a flight for twenty four hours with a drink as his phone buzzed with the information for the commission.
He skimmed through the texts as someone approached and sat down next to him.
"Your boss must be paranoid. I haven't even left the airport yet and he's already sent an escort."
"..Well, can't argue with that. If you're ready, let's head out."