Kicks

A/N: Aw shit, here I come again. Wtf. GO AWAY MUSE, I DON’T WANT YOU. D:(

Warnings: Crude humor. Like… satiric. And uh. Sex. All warnings apply for the span of this story JUST TO BE SAFE. And because IDK where I’m going to take this. Maaaybe. Kinda.

Goal Word Count: At least 5.000

Actual: 6.000



Lol. A lot of people tell me that they’d rather read my A/N’s than my story. I don’t know whether to be insulted or… eh, whatever. I still lol myself. X]





x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x



“I… this… ohmygod… Oooooh my God… you… I…!?”



“Woah woah woah, calm down Kicks!” Bam reached over and slapped Sae’s knees out of the way so he could unlatch the glove box, where he tore out a brown paper bag and tossed it at the hyperventilating teen.



Grasping onto the crinkly bag as if it were a life force, Sae brought the opening to his lips and tried to calm his breathing; it was working, but his mind was still racing a million miles per hour. After a few tense moments, he dropped the bag in his lap and let his head thunk back against the head rest, his eyes staring at the ceiling of the van.



“I… this is too much, Bam…”



A hand came into contact with his knee, and Sae almost jumped. It was warm, adding to the searing heat that was already seeping through his dress pants, and he jerked away from the touch. He didn’t mean to offend Bam at all, but it was just too hot. He glanced over at Bam, his cerulean eyes slightly watery.



But the look on Bam’s face made Sae suck up any complaints that he was about to deliver. His cousin looked… desperate. This really was important to the guy; Hell, he’d probably been working his whole life to prepare for all of this. And here was Sae, feeling mighty spoiled at this point, ready to hyperventilate and have an aneurysm. A feeling of guilt welled up in the pit of the teen’s stomach, and he reached out to take Bam’s hand with a reassuring squeeze.



“I… I just need time to take this all in. I’m not going to abandon you.”



His mind was swimming with a lot of different things. He was a Prince. He had to boss people around. Of course he wasn’t against it, his family’s honor was at stake, but he was a bit hesitant about the life he was about to lead. Did that mean he was about to become famous? It’s not like he had anything to lose… save for Milk, his kitten, but he was sure that she didn’t give a care that he’d left. She was the run who ran, after all.



A squeeze to his hand brought his mind back, and he refocused his gaze on Bam, who was still staring out at the road.



“I know it’s a lot to handle, kid. But you’re our only hope.”



Okay, so maybe he didn’t have a whole lot to lose… but now he had the weight of his family, his cousins (however many there were) on his shoulders. It was a bit stressful, but Sae straightened in his seat (even though his back stuck to it and made a sickening noise when he peeled away) and nodded.



“I’ll try my hardest.”





x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x



They drove as far as they could into the night, but both were too exhausted to go any further. Bam was falling asleep at the wheel, Sae was too busy nodding off to look at the map and make sure that they were going the right direction; eventually they pulled into a small Inn, and both of them flopped onto the small bed that was supposedly able to harbor two full grown men.



“At least the lady was nice,” Bam commented as he rolled over to face Sae, who was still blushing furiously.



“Yeah, a little too friendly.” He rubbed his backside a bit, cringing. “I’ve never been so violently… violated in my life.”



Bam laughed, “Hey, she knows a good lookin’ kid when she sees one.” He winked, and Sae’s blush darkened.



“Mmmh. Whatever. Get some sleep.” The teen said, rolling over so that his back was to his cousin. He felt an arm snake around his waist and he tensed a bit, hissing lightly with the sensation.



“I’m falling off over here.” Bam said, as if explaining the reason as to why he was currently spooned against his prince.



Sae had never ‘cuddled’ with anyone in his life, before. Well, he had a girlfriend the previous year but she made him sleep on the floor… and whenever they watched movies on the couch she merely rested her head against his shoulder. So to have the close proximity of someone pressed up against his back, it made Sae’s whole body tingle with an unfamiliar warmth. He brushed it off as just being unused to it, and slowly drifted off to sleep, dreaming about nonsense things.



A few hours later he stirred, slowly blinking his eyes open. It was still dark, and he yawned, then snuggled back into Bam’s chest.



He froze.



He was half sprawled on top of his cousin, head pillowed on the man’s strong chest; Bam had an arm curled around Sae’s shoulders to keep him in place, his other hand on top of Sae’s, which was on his abdomen. Sae contemplated moving, but didn’t want to take up the other man. However, this was a very suspicious position. He felt like a woman, burrowed into Bam like that. He scowled lightly but stayed where he was, letting out a huff as he closed his eyes.



A few moments later Bam shifted, and Sae lifted his head to take a peek at his captor-turned friend. The man’s features were totally relaxed while he slept, and a small smile was still present on his face. Sae had to wonder why the guy was so happy all of the time; obviously he was going through Hell to get the Joo clan back on top, but he was so nonchalant about it. It was perplexing to Sae, who wasn’t exactly a hard-ass, though not so much as happy-go-lucky. He was down-to-Earth and was a skeptic about most things, but he knew how to have a general good time. He smiled when the moment was right, but most of the time his features were smoothed into a look of contemplation. He was always thinking.



Bam seemed too busy laughing to think about most things. Maybe Sae could take a lesson from the guy. Laugh more, live more, think less. The man was still in one piece, though a bit frazzled around the edges. And he seemed to know where he was going – at least he had a distinct goal in his life. Sae, he just had a dream: to be a singer. In the mean time he didn’t know what the heck he was going to do. What kind of job he wanted, or even a career. To sing was just a dream. Bam, though, he knew what he wanted and he was working tooth and nail to get to it. He’d even basically kidnapped a stranger! It was obvious that Bam was willing to go to whatever lengths it took to get the Joo family up and running again.



In his musings, he hadn’t noticed that Bam’s eyes had opened, but he did notice that a hand started to sift through his hair. They hadn’t taken showers yet, so they were both pretty sticky and gross from the day’s heat – they heard on the news when they came in that thunderstorms and rain were going to pound down on them the next day . Sae’s eyes drifted shut with the sensation of Bam’s fingers rubbing over his scalp, massaging gently in circles to sooth away all of Sae’s previous thoughts. He snuggled further against the man’s chest; Bam chuckled, and instantly Sae scowled.



“Shuddup, it feels good…” he mumbled, and Bam shrugged his shoulders lightly.



“Yes, Prince.”



Sae let out a breath. It was weird, being addressed as such. He knew Bam was kidding, but he also knew that one day he would have to actually respond to that title. That, and Bam was already ‘fulfilling his duties’. He was at Sae’s beck and call for the simplest things; even when Sae didn’t mean to slip out a command, it was immediately met. Without argument. It was odd… having such authority over someone. Someone who was older than him, to boot! He had already tried explaining that he didn’t feel right bossing Bam around, but the older man had merely shrugged and smiled and continued to pamper the prince.



Which, in a way, was nice. Being ignored by his busy parents most of his life, Sae was unused to the attention. Sure, there were some girls (and by some, he really meant a good couple dozen) that tried to woo him with their food and sweets and whatnot, but he had shrugged them off. He just wasn’t interested in women; their giggling ways, their blushes, their… everything. He hated the smell of hairspray and perfume, he definitely didn’t like kissing them and getting their sparkly lipgloss on his own lips. And he most of all didn’t like how they needed to voice their emotions every five minutes. He knew what they were feeling. They knew what they were feeling. There was no need to announce it to the world.



That was why he didn’t mind being with Bam, who was really the first person that Sae had been so close to (spending the last 24 hours with him made him basically Sae’s best friend). They didn’t speak unless it was needed, and they had a mutual understanding of each other. Bam knew that this all needed to sink in, and Sae knew that Bam really had nothing but good intentions. The older man understood that Sae was a man of few words, and didn’t mind that while he talked Sae kept silent, and listened. Sae really appreciated that.



“Quit thinking.”



Sae blinked and glanced up at Bam, who had a brow raised and a small smile on his face.



“Your shoulders are tensing and relaxing.” To make his point, his hand drifted from Sae’s hair and rested on one of his shoulders, using strong fingers and a firm palm to massage it gently. Sae’s eyes fluttered shut, and Bam chuckled. “You’ve never had a massage in your life, have you?”



“No…” Sae murmured, eyes closing again. Man, it felt good. He hadn’t had a massage before. Well… not a good one. Girls were too dainty and delicate with their hands – and Sae knew it was an excuse to feel his back muscles. He wasn’t stupid. So he had declined most massages from his fangirls – er, the girls that liked him.



“Here.” Bam moved and Sae groaned with the movement, but found himself on his stomach with Bam sitting on his rear. They were both shirtless, because though the temperature had cooled down, they were still roasting. Firm hands smoothed over Sae’s back and he gave out an appreciative moan, Bam’s hands like magic on his muscles.



Bam alternated between his fingers and palms, smoothing out the skin over Sae’s shoulder blades. He touched on the neck, the lateral muscles, and slowly started to work his way down the younger male’s back. Sae gave out occasional noises of approval, which were met by entertained chuckles from Bam, and found himself melting into the bed with every stroke of the older man’s hands. This was… bliss.



A few moments later, all movement stopped, and Bam clambered off of Sae’s body. The teen groaned and moved his head to look at his cousin, who was rubbing the back of his neck and making to get off of the bed.



“Bam…?”



The older man smiled brightly and pointed over his shoulder to the bathroom. “We should shower then get ready to go. If we wanna make good time, we could leave now and get to Taejon by the time the sun sets. Maybe even earlier if traffic isn’t backed up.”



Sae sat up, stretching his arms over his head. The covers were pooled in his lap and his boxers were hanging off of his hips (really, hardly any of his clothes fit him properly), and he let a yawn split his lips.



“Okay.” The teen said, flopping back onto the bed. He wasn’t sure what made Bam get off of him so quickly, but he figured he must have caught sight of the time.



Bam exited the room, probably going to find the schedule to see when the hot water came on and how long it lasted. Sae drifted in and out of sleep, and when Bam came in, he shifted to see the frown on the other man’s face.



“She says that the hot water lasts for five minutes, then takes another thirty minutes to heat up again.” He glanced at the clock; 3:43. “So that only leaves time for one shower before the sun starts to come up…” He looked over at Sae with a smile. “You can go ahead and shower. I don’t need one.”



Sae blinked and sat up, tossing the covers aside and standing as well. “No way, you reek.” He grinned. “Let’s just both take a shower; it’ll save time and clean us both.” He moved to the bathroom to look at the stall – it was… uncannily small. Hm. “It’ll be hard work but we can do it in under 5 minutes, I betcha.” He smiled at Bam; Sae was being purely conventional. There were no hidden meanings behind him suggesting that they shower together. He was captain of a sports team, after all, he was used to showering with other men.



Bam coughed lightly. “No, it’s okay-…”



Sae interrupted his sentence by getting behind the older, taller man and shoving him into the bathroom. “Get in there, you stink!”



Bam laughed and Sae chuckled, and they both pulled off their boxers. Already their pale skin glistened with sweat, and they got into the stall before turning on the water. Not a drop would be wasted. They took turns ducking their heads under the spray, using the small bottle of shampoo to wash their hair and their bodies. Five minutes hadn’t quite expired, but the hot water was already starting to turn a bit cold. Bam was the first to get out, but Sae lingered to scrub himself off a bit more. Personal hygiene was a quirk of his; he’d have to make due without a shave or even cologne, but he didn’t care. He could do all that once this stupid road trip was over.



Once they had both toweled off, they put on their ragged clothes from the previous days and left a tip on the pillow of the bed. They clambered into the van and rolled down the windows, Bam attaching the little fan that the old lady had given them to the console. It misted every five minutes with cool water, and it oscillated as well. It was amazing.



The sun wasn’t even up and Sae was already sweating. He didn’t bother putting on his shirt, and he’d rolled up his pants to his knees. How could it be so hot? Wasn’t it going to rain? He could see clouds gathering in the distance, but it would probably be another few hours before they opened up and gave them the reprieve they’d been praying for.



Bam popped a tape into the cassette player, and soon the sounds of H.O.T. filled the cabin of the van. Sae laughed lightly and gave Bam an incredulous look; Bam grinned and shrugged.



“I recorded these guys on tape when I was in high school. I made this mix for a girl I liked, but she gave it back to me… explaining that she was a lesbian.”



Sae laughed even louder, an arm resting over his abdomen as he ran a hand through his damp hair.



“Man, that’s priceless.” He glanced at the dashboard where the sounds of H.O.T. were slithering through, and couldn’t seem to stop smiling. H.O.T. could make the bitterest person smile; Sae had to admit that he had secretly liked them when he was little. Who couldn’t? Boy bands in Korea were still popular to this day; it wasn’t just girls who liked them.



A few hours went by, and then finally the clouds started to darken and let a few drops of rain fall to the Earth. A few moments after that, Sae and Bam found themselves in the middle of a huge thunderstorm, and they rolled up their windows and turned down the music so they could listen to the sound of the rain and hail hitting the van and bouncing off, the rumbling of the thunder clouds lulling them both into an amiable silence.



Sae was watching the lightning in the distance, happy that it wasn’t anywhere near them. Who knows what would happen if lightning hit a nearby tree and it landed on the van… not only would the pair probably get injured, but then how would they get to Cheju-do? Bam was humming along to the music (they had switched to a radio station after listening to the tape three times), and Sae was tapping a foot along with it.



With the thunder and rain came considerably cooler temperatures, making Sae unroll his pant legs and put on his shoes, as well as put on his shirt and button it up all the way. He even put on a tie; they were going to stop in at the next town and find something to eat. He kept it loose, though, feeling too stuffy with it tightened. As he played with the ends of the red piece of material, he had a revelation:



He no longer had to deal with school anymore.



He blinked. From what Bam had insinuated, once they toppled the Kim family they were going to take over again. Sae knew the basics of what they did; they lived with lavish expensive stuff, traveled all over the world, attended charities and benefits… they were busy people. Their children went to private schools for the elite, but didn’t even bother with high school since they went straight into family business.



A small smile flitted over Sae’s features. It wasn’t that he hated school, it was the fact that now he was a part of something much bigger than he was. And from the looks of things, he was a lot bigger now than he used to be. Now he actually served a purpose. He was going to be spending his time contributing to something that meant something to him, and his family. His blood relatives, whom he’d never met before, but already loved with all of his heart.



Of course in the back of his mind was the nagging voice saying do you really believe all of this is happening? Are you sure this is all true? That Bam is safe and really doing what he’s saying he’s doing?. But Sae’s heart would always respond with I trust him. He didn’t know why he trusted the older man… it was just a feeling he got in his gut when he was around the man. He felt like he belonged around Bam, that Bam belonged in his life. They’d been together for almost sixty hours and hadn’t gotten in a single argument. They just fit together. There hadn’t been any negative signs, or anything that made Sae feel like he needed to not be there.



He was welcome. He was wanted. And better yet, he was going to do something great.



A faint jingling tune brought him out of his thoughts, and he blinked while glancing around. Bam looked confused as well, glancing down at his pocket where his cell phone was held.



“Er… that’s not my ringtone…”



Sae patted his thighs for a moment, and felt something blocky in his right front pocket. Ah, his cell phone! He didn’t even think he had it. He pulled it out and checked the caller ID: Home.



Flipping open his phone and extending the antenna, he answered.



“Yo.”



“Oh, Sae honey. Are you all right?” His mother.



“I’m fine, mom.”



“Did your cousin come to get you?”



He smiled. That just confirmed his doubts that anything was wrong with this. “Yes, we’re on our way to Cheju-do right now.”



There was a relieved sigh from the other end. He could tell his mom was smiling and had a hand over her heart. “I’m sorry that we were so distant to you, Sae. We just didn’t want to get attached when we knew that you were going to be carted away…”



“It’s okay, mom.” He said with a smile, fiddling with some lint on his knee. “How’s Milk?”



“Oh, I called just to tell you: a nice man came over and picked her up, saying that he was going to meet you on the island with her. I knew you loved her so much, I was afraid that she was going to run away without you.”



Sae smiled brightly. “Really? Awesome! I was starting to miss her…”



He could tell that his mother nodded. “Yes, and she missed you as well. She even slept with us the first night you were gone.”



“Aw…” Sae bit his lip, looking forward to getting on the island and seeing his kitten. The only woman he would ever need in his life.~



“Well, I’ll let you get back to whatever you’re doing. Tell your cousin I say ‘hi’, and be safe all right?”



“I will, mom.”



There was a pause, then:



“I love you, Sae. We love you.”



“…” Sae licked his lips. It was the first time that his mom had ever said that to him. His smile softened. “I love you too, mom. Tell pops I said hi.”



The click from the other end signaled the end of the phone call, and Sae shut his phone. The charm dangled from it, a TokiDoki figure as well as a little cupcake figurine – Milk loved to play with them when they dangled off of the corner of Sae’s desk.



“How’s mom?” Bam asked, jarring Sae from his thoughts.



He smiled and shrugged. “She’s good. Said that someone came and picked up Milk and is gonna meet us at the island.”



Bam nodded. “I called another cousin, Shadow, to come pick her up. I noticed how attached you seemed to be to her…”



Sae tilted his head. “You only saw her for like, two seconds before she ran off.”



The older man turned to Sae with a raised brow. “You think I just automatically knew where you lived and when you would let your cat out?” He chuckled. “I had to stake you out, you know. You’re a pretty easy person to follow, though. School, practice, study, bed. Do it all over again the next day.” He nodded.



Sae paled a bit. “You stalked me?”



“How else was I going to nab you without grabbing attention?” Bam said, matter-of-factly. “It’s not like I was gonna break into your house.”



“So why did you chloroform me?” Sae asked, a bit incredulous.



“I know you get scared easily. I didn’t want you screaming and waking up the neighbors. Not everyone will believe our story, y’know.” He smiled gently and waved with a hand as he spoke. “Especially the cops. They would just laugh at me and throw me behind bars... which isn’t a fun place to be, by the way.”



Rolling azure eyes, Sae glanced out of the window, watching the rain roll down it in rivulets. He watched a few of them drip down and disappear into the crack of the door, then turned to Bam.



“Who’s Shadow?”



“One of our best spies,” Bam said, shrugging. “He’s super stealthy and really good at gathering information. I almost sent him to get you, but alas, I’m your right-hand-man so it’s only fair that I’m the one to retrieve you.”



Sae nodded lightly, resting an elbow on the door and propping his cheek on his open palm. He stared ahead, watching the windshield wipers move rhythmically across the glass, then yawned. The sun was up but it was covered by the dark clouds, and it was about one o’ clock in the afternoon. His stomach growled idly (he could feel it more than hear it), and he rubbed his stomach absently.



“Is there a town nearby?” He mumbled, picking up the road map and scanning along the red line that they were currently following. Ch’onan stared at him, being the next town they enter, and he glanced up to Bam. “Mind if we stop in Ch’onan? I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since that perverted old lady molested me last night.”



Bam chuckled and grabbed the map, looking it over as if debating if they could drive a little more. Setting it down on the seat between them, he nodded. “Sure. I’m getting a bit hungry, too.”



It was about twenty minutes before they entered the town of Ch’onan, Sae smiling at the populous. Even though it was raining a few people were still out and about, doing this or that. Some people were pulling tarps over their food stands, others were shielding themselves with umbrellas as they scurried to shelter. They pulled over on the side of the road and quickly made it into a café, laughing lightly and shaking off the rain that had managed to soak them in the two seconds they were outside.



“It’s really coming down, hm?” Commented the hostess, who smiled and lead them to a seat. They weren’t the only ones that were seated and dripping wet, so they didn’t feel too bad. “What can I get you?”



“Let’s start off with a round of hot tea.” Bam suggested right away, and the lady smiled and handed them a menu.



“Sure thing.~ I’ll come by when you’re ready.”



She left and Sae picked up the menu, glancing over it quickly. He wanted something tasty… and warm. But at the same time he didn’t want to eat too much…



“What do you want?” Bam asked, looking over the menu for himself.



“I dunno. Something good, but not a lot of it. I was thinking maybe some yaki mandu… (1)”



“Mmm.” Bam made a noise of agreement, then set his menu down. “Wanna split an order of Bul-Go-Gi? (2)That should fill both of us up and last for a while.”



Sae’s mouth watered at the mention of the beefy delight. “Oh, yeah, that sounds delicious.”



The lady came back and took their orders, and soon returned with the pot stickers. Sae broke his chopsticks and immediately dug in, while Bam sipped on his tea and was busying himself with people-watching.



Between stuffing his face and drinking his tea, Sae watched his cousin. Bam looked completely relaxed, and very youthful in that very moment. He had an ankle resting over his knee, and an arm spread out along the backrest of the chair. His hair was drying, but was still damp so it hung close to his neck. The stubble hadn’t really thickened over the past few days but it was still visible, and he had that same soft smile plastered on his lips. Sae caught himself staring and blushed a bit, returning to his food.



Soon enough their order of Bul-Go-Gi came out and they both eyed it hungrily, and started attacking it with their chopsticks before the waitress could set it down. She laughed and shook her head as she walked away, the two men busying themselves by stuffing their faces. Neither of them had had a real meal in days (for Sae, much longer since he was busy studying for the past week and had been mainly just snacking on things), and people around them were casting curious glances as the cousins devoured the large plate of beef, carrots and onions that had been placed in front of them.



After about an hour, both men were laughing lightly and sipping on their tea (which had been refilled a few times), exchanging words with the neighboring tables. They said they were heading down to the ocean for vacation; when Sae was asked why he was wearing his school uniform he had shrugged and said he accidentally packed it, and it was really comfortable so why not wear it? After a few moments Sae excused himself to the bathroom, entering the small room and relieving himself.



Moving to the sink, he washed his hands and then glanced up at his reflection. A rather cheery face stared back at him, and he shook his head. Usually he was a bit more reserved… not exactly ‘stoic’, but he had never engaged in talk with complete strangers before. Let alone told jokes and laughed with them. Bam’s appearance had not only turned his world upside down, but it had turned his personality inside-out. It was… interesting, but nice. In fact, Sae was smiling so much that his cheeks were starting to ache a little bit. He dried his hands and exited the bathroom, coming out to a dead-silent crowd.



For a moment he wondered what was going on, and then he saw it: a man with a gun. His heart hammered against his chest and he quickly squeezed himself between a vending machine and the wall – it was dusty, his asthma would flare up but he breathed sparsely. He strained to hear what the man was saying, and when he did, his blood ran cold.



“Where is he?!”



“We don’t know!”



The voice of the lady. Oh no… please don’t get hurt…



“Sae Rang! Where is he!?”



“We don’t know who you’re talking about.” Bam’s voice. It was hard and firm, unlike any tone that Sae had heard before. It made him shudder and close his eyes, praying that the man wouldn’t see him back there.



“Oh yeah?” The voice of the man with a gun seemed to get a bit closer; Bam must have been standing near the bathroom, probably to warn Sae. “You seem to be pretty calm, prettyboy.” The crook’s voice rose, as he addressed the rest of the crowd. “I’m looking for a young brat and an old man.”



Sae frowned. He most certainly wasn’t a brat, and Bam definitely wasn’t old.



“We haven’t seen anyone of the likes come in all day, sir, please.” The lady pleaded. “It’s raining outside, all we have here are travelers-”



There was a loud crack and the sound of a body hitting the floor; Sae glanced down to the other side of the vending machine and had to stifle a gasp when he saw the woman’s lifeless eyes stare up at him, her face bloodied by the gash in her head. The teen covered his mouth – the gasp had brought in dust and irritated his lungs – and started to pray hard.



“Exactly.” The man said. “Travelers. These guys are traveling somewhere.” He seemed to be talking to himself, or maybe the frightened crowd in general. Sae’s head was starting to spin from lack of air. There was a few moments of tense silence, and then the man snorted and cocked his gun. “You guys are all useless.”



No sound of a blast came. Instead, dozens of shouts echoed in Sae’s ears and he heard a few bodies fall to the floor; the sound of cursing and grunting filled his ears, and he knew someone had taken down the gunman. The teen’s lungs were feeling tight, his knees were getting wobbly, and he gripped onto the back of the vending machine tightly to keep himself from falling to the ground and exposing himself.



The quarreling seemed to subside and finally the sound of a gunshot came, causing a few terrified screams and Sae to open his eyes.



Please don’t be Bam, please don’t be Bam-



“Kicks!”



Sae stumbled out from behind the vending machine at hearing Bam’s (healthy and unharmed sounding) voice, and fell forward into his cousins open arms. He glanced over and saw the gunman with a gaping whole in his forehead, blood starting to spill around his body. Sae was weak, his asthma was kicking in and he didn’t have an inhaler.



“You,” Bam pointed at a nearby young gentleman, who looked barely older than Sae. “This man came in and demanded money, and killed the waitress. You negotiated with him, got the weapon, and then shot him, saving all of these people.”



The man stared blankly and nodded, but a woman protested.



“You were the one who saved us!” She said, and Bam glared at her.



“Don’t mention our presence here. It’ll only mess things up.”



The diner fell silent, and the citizens nodded and stared at the corpse of the gunman on the ground while someone picked up their cell to dial the police.



“C’mon Kicks. We gotta get you help.” Bam hauled Sae into the van and drove a couple of blocks before finding a pharmacy, going inside and returning with an inhaler. He handed it to Sae, who took it and immediately sucked in the air.



He took three puffs, since it wasn’t as strong as his personal inhaler, then slumped back against the seat as they started driving again.



“What…” he breathed. “The fuck… just happened…?”



Bam looked a bit shocked at the fact that Sae had just cursed, but covered it up with a frown. “The Kim family knows that I have you and that we’re on the move.”



“Is that…” Breath. “Why we have…” Gasp. “Nicknames…?”



“Exactly why. Our birth certificates are erased from the files and now all we have is our nicknames. They know we’re working for the Joo clan but they don’t know where the Prince is. They know it’s you, but they haven’t been able to find you thanks to us giving them false leads most of the time.” Bam took a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t think they’d catch on so quick of our departure. That’s why it’s so important to get to Cheju-do; from there we go to Japan where the Kim clan has no jurisdiction.” He smirked. “Us, though. They just think we’re Joo mercenaries. We have no jurisdiction.”



He glanced over to Sae, who was still breathing heavily. “Are you all right?”



“I…” the teen licked his lips. “I’ve never seen someone die before…” And he'd never seen Bam act like that. So... angry, yet in control. Stern. Hard. Completely opposite of what he usually was.



A hand connected with Sae’s thigh, and the prince grasped onto it tightly. Their fingers laced, and Bam gave Sae’s hand a squeeze.



“I’m sorry. This is the downside of what we’re doing. A lot of people - guilty and innocent – are going to die.”



“Is… it really worth it?” Sae asked, starting to feel a slightly negative way about the whole operation.



“It’s worth it when you consider all those monsters have done to this country.” Bam said, his voice filled with slight remorse.



Sae looked over at his cousin, who had his eyes fixed on the road. He glanced down to their joined hands, and then placed his other hand atop Bam’s. The older man glanced over to him, and Sae spoke softly.



“I don’t want the innocent to die…”



Silence fell between them, and Bam gave Sae’s hand another squeeze. “With you as our Prince, the innocent will be safe.”



--

A/N: Woah. I almost didn’t end that chapter. Almost kept writing and writing and writing… @_@; Lol. Thanks to those have reviewed so far, I appreciate it. :] Readers, thank you too~ though leave me a note saying you read it. Reviews = encouragement 8D



(1) Yaki mandu = fried pot stickers. Gin mandu are steamed. I personally like my mandu to be crunchy and deep fried and artery-clogging 8D

(2) Bul-Go-Gi = another delicious Korean meal. It’s a huge sizzling hot plate with mounds of shredded beef simmered in the special house sauce. It’s surrounded by thin slices of carrots and onion. Deeeeelicious. *_*



REVIEWWWWW PLZZZZ.

:D