candy | markhyuck

forty

//: long ass chapter ahead 🍒

[ third pov ]

they drove for a long time; haechan lost track of how long after the first hour. a large building that resembled a warehouse came into view as haechan sighed in relief. the car stopped and he shifted in his seat as all the men got up to leave.

jaehyun stood up last and walked over to haechan, pulling him up from his seat. "let's go, you don't want our boss waiting." he warned, pushing the younger out of the van. he led them down a long hallway with a room at the end. something in haechan's guts told him that this wasn't going to be good.

"hansol, i have lee haechan." jaehyun took him inside; sitting down in front of them was a slightly older male with blond hair and judging by his stance and cane, he must've been crippled.

"ah, finally. take a seat." he smirked, gesturing to the chair in front of him. haechan hesitantly sat down while jaehyun stood behind him. hansol looked at the younger with a disgusting stare from head to toe before making direct eye contact.

the tips of haechan's fingers grew cold as hansol began to speak. "you're dongsuk's kid, right?" he started as haechan gave a small nod. he let out a dark chuckle before continuing. "your father was a smart man, hiding you away from me to make sure i wouldn't  know about your existence."

"why did he do that?" haechan frowned, speaking for the first time since he stepped foot in this place. this man seemed to know a lot of things about his dad.

hansol's expression changed to a rather surprised look. "he didn't tell you?" he asked in a even more surprised tone. haechan shook his head, his curiosity growing more and more.

the shock fell from the older's face and was replaced with a smug grin. he got off his seat and limped over to haechan's side. "you poor, poor child. how could he do that?" he pouted and mocked in a sad tone. his hand lightly caressed the side of the younger's face as haechan flinched.

he walked over to his seat and sat back down. "i'll tell you who your dad really was." haechan gulped, feeling a pool of uneasiness form in his stomach. he wanted to know but at the same time he also didn't.

"dongsuk was a rather successful businessman. he not only owned a fair amount of business affairs, but he also had a loyal group of people." haechan's eyes widened. "no it couldn't be-"

"bingo! it's the boys who i'm sure you've already met." hansol interrupted. "those people he had were the kids he saved from orphanages or ones he found on the streets. of course, they were an easy target. they had nothing to lose and immediately agreed to work for him."

"but i won't leave out the fact that he really did treat those kids like his own. he cared for them and loved them, probably even more than his real child." he smirked as haechan dropped his shoulders, knowing it was true. hansol chuckled inside his head, glad that this was working.

"such a sad thought to think that he abandoned his own child." hansol sighed. "but he did it in order to protect you from me. he thought that if he cut ties with you, it would prevent me from knowing about you. it worked, but only for a bit." he shrugged. haechan bit the inside of his mouth, feeling a rush of feelings come over him.

"on dongsuk's deathbed, they promised and swore on their life that they'll protect you, even if it meant their own death." haechan winced knowing that this was the true reason as to why they say it's their "job".

"such a shame, really." hansol paused as jaehyun handed him a black folder. he placed it in front of haechan along with a pen. hr looked down and read the papers. "now that your dad's dead and taeyong is long gone, you're the new head."

"you're in charge of the business affairs and i want them." he growled. haechan's eyes darted back and forth between the papers and hansol. this wasn't a decision he could make.

"i-i can't make that choice." haechan stuttered, he was overwhelmed by all the things hansol told him and he knew he couldn't think properly right now.

"just sign it-" at this point hansol was getting annoyed. his feet bounced up and down anxiously as he watched the younger bite his nails. he knew haechan was breaking under pressure.

"he doesn't make that decision, i do." a voice spoke from the door. everyone turned to face the owner of the voice. the color from jaehyun's face drained as haechan broke out into tears.

"t-taeyong?"

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//: thanks for 20k reads ‼️❤️