Chapter Text
Rick had now been in South Korea for fifteen months.
And incredibly enough, not a single corpse had made its way to the cemetery yet.
That meant that he hadn’t been needed by Rick’s side to do some damage control.
But he was after all, still assigned to Rick, and checking on him and his work was what he was paid to do.
So he knocked.
Knowing Rick’s personality, he had expected the other man to let him knock on the door until he was annoyed enough to bother opening or telling him to enter. Except the door opened less than a minute later.
But that wasn’t the most surprising part. No, the most unexpected thing was the look on Rick’s face.
He seemed hopeful. Happy even.
A look that quickly turned to sour disappointment and annoyance when he recognized Yuri as the person in front of him.
‘‘Gable.’’
‘‘Rick.’’
Rick sighed in annoyance as he went back inside, leaving the door open for Yuri to enter and heading towards what Yuri expected to be his study.
Leaving his shoes by the door he had already closed, he followed, heading, himself, towards the room had gone into.
Passing through the living room allowed him to once again witness Rick’s cleanliness.
However, unlike his room in Berlin, the place looked lived in.
There were small decorative items scattered across the room, a hoodie forgotten on the back of the couch, small notes on the fridge, and the faint scent of coffee that lingered in the air.
That was very uncharacteristic of him.
On the contrary, inside the office, all the files seemed to be neatly organized and neither a pen nor a book was out of place.
Before they started working, Yuri tried asking how Rick was adapting to school and life in Korea in general.
A ‘well’ was the only thing Rick replied with.
They spent at least an hour going through all the work Rick had done while in Korea before they started talking about the work Rick had just been sent.
Rick spent the whole time glaring at him seemingly saying that he could do it himself and telling him to leave.
That was until they heard the front door open.
‘‘I’m here !’’
Yuri cut off his sentence as Rick quickly stood up, making his recline chair roll back in his haste.
He then left the office going towards the voice as Yuri followed, mentally preparing himself for the bloody sight that would soon greet him.
Fifteen months was already a good record for that man.
It wasn’t the first time something like that happened, fools inviting themselves because they overestimated their relationship with Rick. It had, especially, happened with those that had expected more after a one-night stand.
Already thinking of ways to compensate the victim and their family, it took him a good fifteen-seconds to register the sight.
The young man that had just entered was still breathing, even smiling. Rick had taken his his bag from him and offered his arm so the other could lean on him for balance as he removed his shoes.
When the man straightened up, he let go of Rick’s arm instead reaching for his hand as he kissed him on the cheek.
There was no blood.
Instead Rick smiled softly and kissed him on the forehead.
The man noticed Yuri not long after.
He smiled when he did and tried to walk towards Yuri, probably to greet him, but was stopped by Rick who was still holding the smaller man’s hand and had gone back to glaring at Yuri.
Nevermind, there would be blood to clean.
Registering the tension, the young man turned to face Rick, and using his free hand, flicked him on the forehead.
‘‘You have a guest, I want to greet him.’’
‘‘You don’t need to smile at him.’’
‘‘So you’d rather I stop being myself ?’’
Rick was pouting now.
Pouting.
The other man chuckled before giving him a quick peck on the lips and freeing his hand.
Five seconds later, the Korean stood in front of Yuri, reaching out with his hand that Yuri shook.
‘‘I’m Jeong Taeui, but just call me Taeui. I’m Ilay’s boyfriend.’’
‘‘Yuri Gable, think of me as Rick’s assistant.’’
Taeui nodded, seemingly understanding his presence here.
‘‘Would you like something to drink ?’’, he asked as he let go of his hand.
‘‘I will pass, thank you.’’
‘‘Very well, I’ll leave you two to your work then. Sorry for bothering you.’’
Rick finally moved at that, hugging Taeui from behind.
‘‘You’re not bothering us. Stay.’’, he mumbled against the junction of his neck.
Taeui snorted. ‘‘I’m not going far, I was just intending on taking care of cooking lunch.’’
Rick left a kiss against his lover’s neck before letting go of him and turning to Yuri.
‘‘Let’s get back to work.’’
So they did, but this time with the sound of something being cooked in the background.
Thanks to Rick, rushing him, they managed to finish around lunch-time.
Yuri had tried leaving but Taeui insisted he ate with them.
He thus spent a whole meal watching Ilay Riegrow, the man that could make people tremble with a look, taking things from his plate to put them on Taeui’s while asking to be fed when the other man tried to do the same.
—————
‘‘Of course young master.’’
Everyone stopped talking to listen, hoping to understand the conversation from how much Rita said on the phone.
‘‘I will prepare a guest room next to yours.’’
Silence.
Rita seemed to hesitate.
‘‘If I may ask, is the person accompanying you a lover ?’’
They all held their breath.
‘‘Understood. Goodbye.’’
She hung up the house-phone and walked towards them, knowing perfectly well that they would have asked her to come if she hadn’t.
She stopped at the head of the coffee table. On one sofa were Kyle and Helena, facing their mother who was seated on the other couch.
They had been talking about one of Helena’s teacher, an incompetent one before the words ‘young master’ had drawn their attention. A proof that Ilay had consciously and deliberately called.
‘‘I am quite surprised to hear Ilay called without being held at gunpoint.’’, their mother stated, an amused smile on her lips.
‘‘The second young master will visit for two weeks in a month.’’
‘‘And he will be accompanied ?’’, Mrs Riegrow continued.
Rita nodded. ‘‘A lover.’’
Helena scoffed. ‘‘There is no way Ilay found someone before either Kyle or I did.’’
Rita only shrugged.
‘‘Yuri might know something, we could ask him, he went to see Ilay about two months long ago.’’
All heads turned to Kyle.
‘‘Call him.’’, Helena ordered.
When he did, he put the phone face up on the table, speaker on.
‘‘Hello, sir.’’, Yuri greeted as he picked up the phone.
‘‘Yuri ! Does Ilay really have a girlfriend ?’’, Helena asked urgently, barely giving Yuri the time to end his sentence.
‘‘No-’’
A loud satisfied ‘‘Told you !’’ left her lips.
‘‘-he has a boyfriend.’’
No one talked for a few seconds, as if making peace with that information.
Helena, once again broke the silence as she mumbled. ‘‘Right, almost forgot that idiot was pan.’’
‘‘What is this young man like ?’’, her mother asked.
‘‘Kind, and lively.’’, Yuri replied.
Kyle shot a confused glance at the others, one that his sister matched.
‘‘And what does he look like ?’’, Kyle inquired.
‘‘He is attractive by societal standards.’’
Helena snorted, ‘‘Nothing new here, we don’t need you to tell us that he is pretty and lean, we know Ilay.’’
‘‘Actually.’’, Yuri resumed. ‘‘While he does look beautiful, I would say that he is more handsome and cute than pretty.’’
Kyle frowned, surprised.
As for Helena, she burst into laughter.
They all gave her time to calm down.
When she did, she smiled.
‘‘Ilay doesn’t have a boyfriend does he ? He just decided to make us spend weeks trying to find out more about this person just to annoy us because you reminded him he could come back to Germany to visit us. And you’re in on it because he threatened you.’’
Kyle nodded. ‘‘It does sound like something Ilay would do.’’
Mrs Riegrow stared at the phone before speaking. ‘‘What you are telling us is in fact quite surprising considering Ilay has always been attracted to what I’ll call the cold-beauty type.’’
‘‘I understand.’’, was Yuri’s only response, further convincing them that they were right.
‘‘Well, it doesn’t change much, I will only have his room to prepare either way.’’, Rita concluded, leaving.
—————
The four of them were sitting on the two sofas near the windows, waiting for Ilay to arrive.
Helena was on her phone, playing a game that didn’t necessitate using her brain. Beside her, Kyle was talking about the family business with their parents, the three of them sipping tea.
The driver had left about an hour ago for the airport, meaning that Ilay would soon arrive with his imaginary boyfriend.
And sure enough, a car pulled in front of the mansion about ten minutes later.
All eyes turned to look out the window. A door opened, Ilay coming out of the car, soon followed by the driver and then… another man. Asian.
The man got out and went to open the trunk but was stopped by Ilay holding his hand, and pulling him back in his arms.
The driver opened the trunk and the man seemed to argue but was once again stopped by Ilay, grabbing him by the jaw.
From where they were seated they could barely make out the pout that made its way onto the man’s face before Ilay laughed and kissed him.
A few seconds later, the man yelled ‘‘Thank you again !’’ As Ilay practically dragged him towards the house.
Rita was the one who greeted them at the door.
‘‘Welcome back young master. And welcome sir.’’
Ilay nodded while the man beside him smiled.
‘‘Nice to meet you, I’m Jeong Taeui, but just call me Taeui.’’
Rita only nodded. ‘‘Please follow me, the masters of the house are waiting for you.’’
She then led the both of them to the coffee table.
Reaching the family, all Ilay did was give them a cold look as he nodded.
As for the other man, he shot them a small smile before bowing slightly. ‘‘Hello, I’m Jeong Taeui. Thank you for letting me stay here.’’
‘‘Of course, it is a pleasure for us to have a friend of Ilay’s over.’’, their mother answered, an amused glint in her eyes.
Taeui seemed a bit thrown off by that, suddenly looking much less at ease than he had just a few seconds earlier and shooting Ilay a worried glance.
Ilay noticing it, finally allowed them the right to hear his voice. ‘‘I believe I already mentioned that he isn’t a friend but my lover.’’
That earned him a small laugh from their mother. ‘‘Of course, do not worry.’’ Lifting her teacup to her mouth she shot him an almost-accusing look. ‘‘It is quite nice to see you again, son. And of course, we are very happy to hear you are not alone.’’
Ilay didn’t answer, only staring back with his usual resting bitch-face.
That made their mother’s smile widen.
‘‘I am sure your journey was tiring, you two should rest for now, we will have time to get to know each other at lunch.’’
Ilay nodded, grabbing his boyfriend by the wrist and pulling him towards the stairs, barely giving him the time to thank them again for their hospitality verbally.
The two men weren’t present for lunch.
When mealtime arrived and no one seemed to come down the stairs, Rita looked ready to throw hands, but Helena’s mother stopped her.
‘‘I’ll go take a look myself.’’
Helena followed her, curious.
When they opened the door to Ilay’s room, they found Taeui sleeping on his back while Ilay, head on the smaller man’s chest, hugged his waist from the side.
Ilay, who had, of course, been woken up by the sound of the door opening didn’t even bother opening his eyes. ‘‘Leave, we’ll come down in the afternoon.’’
Mrs. Riegrow, in an uncharacteristically gentle manner, closed the door behind them.
—————
The two men were next spotted around 6pm, about half an hour after Rita woke them up so their sleep schedule wouldn’t be too thrown off despite the jet lag.
Ilay, holding the other’s hand was leading his boyfriend to the garden, probably to make him visit the estate.
They reappeared for dinner, Ilay entering the house while carrying a laughing Taeui. Both of their faces were flushed.
Rita only shot them an unimpressed look, one that Ilay absolutely ignored, focusing on placing his lover on a chair.
No one commented on the blush that graced their guest’s features when he noticed the public, instead staring at the soft smile Ilay was wearing.
With their dinner served, the interrogation began.
Their mother put down her glass of wine and started the hostilities. ‘‘What do you do in life, Taeui ?’’
Swallowing his mouthful of food, the asian man wiped his mouth before answering. ‘‘I am studying to become a nurse. My school is about 15 minutes away from Ilay’s by foot.’’
‘‘So you two met on campus.’’
Taeui nodded. ‘‘My brother and Ilay are in the same class.’’, he explained with a smile.
On his right, Ilay’s brows furrowed in annoyance as a disgusted look crossed his face.
As for Kyle, he choked on his food, coughing loudly. ‘‘You’re Jeong Jaeui’s brother ?’’, the elder sibling asked, ignoring Ilay’s glare.
Taeui nodded again, but his smile seemed practiced this time.
‘‘How do you know them, Kyle ?’’, their father asked.
‘‘Taeui and his brother are one of my friends’ nephews. As for Jeong Jaeui, he is a well-known genius researcher in the weapon industry.’’
Taeui didn’t seem at ease with where the conversation was going.
But Kyle didn’t notice, continuing. ‘‘Jeong Jaeui is also known for his incredible luck that he gets from Jeong Taeui, his Gilsangcheon.’’
‘‘His Gilsangcheon ?’’, their mother inquired.
Helena wasn’t high, Ilay had definitely tensed at that, his eyes widening, before turning towards Taeui, looking worried.
This time, Taeui didn’t seem bothered.
‘‘I’m basically the reincarnation of a Goddess of luck, apparently. But I can only bring luck to my twin.’’
Helena frowned in confusion? ‘‘Are you guys in a cult ? Because you seem really convinced that this is the truth. Seriously, how would it even work ?’’
That made Taeui laugh. ‘‘We are not. But as I mentioned, Jaeui and I are twins, and we are somehow linked by what we call a red string of fate. It is difficult to explain but Jaeui does get his luck from me. He apparently shouldn’t have survived because of his bad health and frail body, but he did. And the only sort of ‘proof’ we might have is that he always gets sick or hurt when I do.’’
‘‘Still sounds cultish to me.’’
‘‘Yeah, I get why it might seem that way.’’, he nodded, still smiling.
Still suspicious but doubtful she would get a more satisfying answer, she resumed the questioning. ‘‘I wanted to ask before Kyle cut you, how did you meet ? I have a hard time believing you two simply crossed each other’s path and started talking. It doesn’t sound like Ilay.’’
Ilay answered this time. ‘‘He stopped a person whose girlfriend I had fucked from punching me.’’
Silence.
There definitely were more romantic first meetings.
Taeui didn’t seem bothered, simply done with Ilay and amused.
How did this man even deal with Ilay ?
Their father was the first to recover from the shock, letting out a sigh before choosing a hopefully tamer subject. ‘‘And how long have you two been together ?’’
Taeui’s eyes unfocused, probably trying to calculate, but stopped to look at Ilay when the other man answered. ‘‘A year, three months and seventeen days.’’ He blinked once before opening his mouth again. ‘‘Since you accepted to let me take you out. On a date.’’, he added while looking at Taeui.
Both had an amused glint in their eyes, as if sharing an inside joke.
But more than that, they were both smiling softly at each other.
They looked disgustingly in love.
These weeks were most definitely going to be long.