Chapter Text
Captain Chun drops the file in front of him. “This is your job. Han Jaeho.”
“Huh.” Hyunsoo looks down at the file and takes a closer look at the photograph paperclipped to the stack of intel. It’s a candid photograph of Han Jaeho, taken from far away. The man is leaning against a car and smoking, turned towards someone off-frame with a mildly amused expression. It’s Han Jaeho, the ruthless underboss – the one who beat his way to the top of the prison food chain, the one that viciously fought for his place as Go Byungchul’s second-in-command for twenty years.
It’s that Jaeho who watches Hyunsoo start a brawl only a few days after he appears in prison, cackling in delighted disbelief as Hyunsoo slaps the shit out of the fat guy. It’s that Jaeho who visits his cell like a ghost in the night, keen eyes and deceptively gentle tone forming around sharp warning words.
Like a candid afterthought, Jaeho tells Hyunsoo, “Wow… Even your bruises are so pretty…”
And Hyunsoo, with a stifled laugh, dodges the hand that reaches out to cup his jaw. At the time, Hyunsoo thinks Jaeho is making fun of him, or he’s making a threat. Now, he’s not so sure.
But then Kim Sunghan shows up and fucks things up – and how low the mighty have fallen. As Hyunsoo passes Jaeho in the hallway, he notices Jaeho’s bruises, and, unbidden, as he looks back over his shoulder, continuing to keep Jaeho’s gaze in that moment as clouds cover the sun, the thought comes to him; Wow, even his bruises are so handsome.
Hyunsoo’s assignment is laid out in simple terms; get close enough to Han Jaeho for him to bring Hyunsoo into the gang. Captain Chun doesn’t expect him to get too high up the chain of command – a rookie like him taking on a project like this is already a hell of a gamble. But Captain Chun is a tough bastard, and knew how to gamble – and besides, she has Hyunsoo’s whole life in the palm of her hand; she has his mother, her hospital bills, and his police records.
Saving Jaeho’s life was never part of the assignment. Maybe, if he didn’t save him, Hyunsoo would be out of prison early, and off doing something else better. Who knows?
But he sees the knife and moves before he thinks, and now Han Jaeho lives to see another day.
Well, if Jaeho is alive, he better stay that way, right? Hyunsoo is nothing if not quick – quick to anger, quick to joy, quick with his fists, and quick with his brain. So, they blackmail the superintendent and then nab Kim Sunghan.
The intel on Han Jaeho that Hyunsoo read before going in completely left out so many things. Jaeho’s voice is low, but his laugh is high. His favorite mode of communication is mockery. His tone is gentle, but his words are terrifying. He looks at Hyunsoo oddly, as if Hyunsoo is some kind of strange bird that has decided to perch on his shoulder, and he hasn’t quite yet decided whether it’s useful enough to keep as a pet, or maybe he should just eat it.
The unconscious old gangster has been tied up by Yonggun, one of the few people within the four-meter wall whose loyalty to Jaeho isn’t conditional. Hyunsoo stands off to the side, watching as Jaeho picks out an apple, then turns to Hyunsoo.
“Want one?” he asks with a smile.
Hyunsoo shakes his head. “I’m not hungry,” he says, with far more bravado than he feels.
“Suit yourself.”
Hyunsoo watches Kim Sunghan wake up. He watches the boiling oil. He watches Jaeho.
It’s fucking terrifying. He’s seen bad stuff, but it’d already happened – crime scenes, pictures of crime scenes, videos of crimes in action – never actually happening right in front of him where he can actually smell the cooking flesh or see the way Jaeho’s eyes crinkle when he smiles coldly down.
Hyunsoo is frozen.
"…Baby, go outside," Jaeho tells him gently, and gives him a crooked smile and an encouraging nod as Hyunsoo lingers for a moment, uncertain.
Hyunsoo lingers out of sight, still watching, but finally leaves.
Kim Sunghan's screams die down about an hour in. Hyunsoo waits outside the kitchen, jaw tight, pacing the hallway, telling himself over and over; this is who Han Jaeho is. That, and worse, is what Jaeho will do to him if he finds out who Hyunsoo really is.
Hyunsoo knows he can’t slip up. It’s easy enough not to, right? Just being himself, Cho Hyunsoo, but he’s not a cop. But is being Cho Hyunsoo enough for Han Jaeho?
After all, in terms of gangster hierarchies, he’s not got much going for him. He’s only twenty-four, looks even younger, isn’t tall or particularly big, so even when he tries to be intimidating, he isn’t – he’s got the terrible habit of talking before he thinks, and to top it all off, the absolute worst thing is, he thinks that he would actually like Jaeho, if the circumstances were different. Hyunsoo’s constant sarcasm and bad temper haven’t left him with many friends over the years, but Jaeho seems to see right through all that from the start, and instead of being annoyed, he’s just amused. Jaeho seems to like him too.
So Hyunsoo paces back and forth, not sure if Jaeho had sent him out to just leave altogether – or just wait until he comes out. And Jaeho does come out. “Sorry, did you wait long?” he asks, rolling his neck and stifling a yawn.
“What is this, a date?” Hyunsoo scoffs.
Jaeho snorts. “…Yonggun can take care of the body.”
“He need any help?”
Jaeho shakes his head. “…Were you scared?” he asks.
Hyunsoo is quick. He knows what he needs. He looks over at him, balancing honesty and good humor to match Jaeho’s enigmatic little smile. “Hyung, I will never piss you off,” he says solemnly. “I promise.”
Laughing, Jaeho claps him on the back. “Good boy.”