Don't Blame Me || Jeongcheol

Chapter 52

The weight of the past still lingered in the air, thick and heavy, even as they all sat in the same room, knowing that the war had finally ended. It should have been a relief. It was a relief. But for men who had spent years on edge, who had fought battle after battle, who had sacrificed too much just to survive peace didn’t come easily.

The large mahogany table in Seungcheol’s office bore the scars of countless meetings, strategies, and late-night discussions that often determined life or death. Today, however, it was different. Today, they weren’t planning their next move or preparing for a counterattack. Today, they were closing the book on a story that had tormented them for months.

Seungcheol, still pale from his injuries, sat at the head of the table. Though he had been advised to rest, he refused to miss this meeting. His position as their leader, their Hyung, wasn’t something he could simply step away from, not yet. His eyes were calm, yet firm, as he observed everyone in the room.

To his right sat Jeonghan, his fingers drumming idly on the wood, his mind distant. He should have been more at ease. He had his son, Haneul, safe and sound. The people who had threatened their lives. Kyun and Hyunwoo were dead. There was nothing left to fight.

And yet, there was something else, something unresolved.

Across from him sat Jeonghwa, the sister he had never known he had. Her presence still unsettled him, not in a way that made him uncomfortable, but in a way that forced him to confront a part of himself he had buried long ago. He had spent so long believing he was alone, that his family was gone. Now, she was here.

She had answered every question he had thrown at her a few nights ago. About where she had been. About why she never reached out. About how she had survived in the shadows while he had been left to fend for himself.

The anger was still there, simmering beneath the surface. But so was something else. Something softer. Something uncertain.

The rest of the room was filled with the people he trusted most.

Joshua sat beside Mingyu and Vernon, his usual easy-going demeanor replaced with a quiet sense of contemplation. He had always been the voice of reason, the calm amidst the storm, but even he seemed unsure of how to fully embrace this newfound peace.

DK, on the other hand, let out a deep breath as he leaned back in his chair. “So, this is it.” he muttered, breaking the silence. Jun asked looking at them. “No more looking over our shoulders. No more waiting for the next attack? Yep.”

Woozi scoffed lightly, arms crossed. “Feels strange, doesn’t it?” His voice was laced with something unreadable, a mix of relief and skepticism.

Hoshi nodded stretching his arms. “We’ve spent so long in this fight, I almost don’t know what to do with myself now.”

“You rest.” Seungcheol answered, his voice firm but kind. “We all do.”

Joshua let out a quiet chuckle, shaking his head. “Rest? That’s not in your vocabulary.”

Seungcheol smirked, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It is now.”

The group fell into silence for a moment, each of them absorbing the weight of those words. They had always known this life wouldn’t last forever. They had always dreamed of walking away.

But now that it was here, it felt almost... unreal.

Seungcheol’s gaze drifted toward Jeonghwa. “And you?” he asked, his voice softer than before. “What now?”

Jeonghwa hesitated. She had spent so long on the outside looking in, watching from the shadows, never allowing herself to be part of something. Now, with everything out in the open, she wasn’t sure what to do.