| Chapter Twenty |

Jiyong sat in a shadowed corner, his legs pressed up to his chest, as he rocked back and forth. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing there, but he was scared. He was scared far beyond the meaning of the word scared, and to say he was terrified would have been an understatement.

He started to hear faint voices in the dark distance ahead of him, getting louder as they drew closer to him. Except, as they were getting closer and louder, they also got more difficult to understand. Jiyong couldn't make out even a single word they were saying; it was like he was hearing the mumbles of a young child.

However, what seemed like centuries later for the troubled soul, the words became clear and even closer in proximity. These strange and unfamiliar voices were practically right in his ear as they whispered things like,

"Useless."

"Unwanted."

"Unloved."

Jiyong smacked his hands over his ears in a desperate attempt to silence the voices, but they just got louder and louder, embedding themselves inside of his already fogged-up mind.

"Jiyong."

These voices were still so faint that Jiyong couldn't manage to put a name to them.

"Jiyong."

But one, in particular, made his ears perk up; this one he could recognize.

"Jiyong."

There was no denying it; he knew this voice.

"S-Seunghyun?" he stuttered in a shaky voice. "Is that you?"

No reply came from any direction anymore and everything fell abruptly silent. Dead silent.

"Seunghyun, are you here? Where are you?" Jiyong was now on his feet, his arms wrapped around himself tightly. He picked up his feet, as to start walking around, but was quick to find that he was so petrified that even feet were giving out on him. He needed to find Seunghyun so he could feel safe again. "Where are you, Seung?" he repeated, his voice cracking as salty tears fell from his eyes. "I-I'm so scared. I need you..."

Then everything went even darker.

"Ji," Seunghyun said as he shook the crying man beside him lightly. "Baby, wake up." A few seconds later, Jiyong's eyes flew open and he sat up instantly, his chest heaving up and down as he inhaled sharp, short breaths. "Are you alright? What happened?" Seunghyun said as he sat up as well, starting to gently rub Jiyong's back.

"I-It was so d-dark..." Jiyong said in between small and silent cries.

"What was? Tell me what happened," Seunghyun said, concern possessing his whole voice.

"I couldn't see anything, but I heard voices," Jiyong said after taking a few seconds to begin to calm himself down. "They kept saying I was useless and unwanted and unloved. But the scariest part was that I could hear your voice, but...but I couldn't see you or feel you." Seunghyun automatically took Jiyong in his arms as soon as he saw the glistening of a single tear roll down his cheek.

"It's okay, you're okay," he said in the form of a whisper, his arms completely encircling the younger male as he slowly rocked them back and forth. "Whatever those voices were saying wasn't true. You do have a purpose in this world and I want and love you. It was just a nightmare, so don't let it scare you."

"P-Please don't leave me," Jiyong sobbed hard into the crook of Seunghyun's neck, his grey t-shirt there to catch and soak up all his tears. "Please just..."

"You will never be alone," Seunghyun cut him off, pulling back from the hug and cupping Jiyong's face in between his hands. Jiyong sniffled lightly as Seunghyun kissed all his tears away. "I will always be here for you, no matter what, and don't you ever forget that." Jiyong managed to nod ever so faintly before returning the smaller male back into his arms.

He Jiyong let out the rest of his tears as he just sat there, whispering sweet nothings and other comforting words in his ear in an attempt to calm him down. It absolutely tore Seunghyun's heart apart to see him in such turmoil and melancholy, yet he felt like there was nothing he could do besides hold him, which only made him feel worse.

Jiyong eventually settled down, letting out a sigh to let Seunghyun know he was alright for now. Seunghyun broke the hug for a second time and pressed a kiss to Jiyong's forehead before laying them back down on the bed and pulling the covers over them. Jiyong snuggled closer to Seunghyun than he ever had before, still fearful that he might lose him somehow despite knowing that he had just been dreaming. Seunghyun gladly accepted him, wrapping his arms around him tightly and placing another kiss on top of his forehead before they both returned to their sleep.

~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Seunghyun woke up early due to an urgent call he had received from Chaerin only an hour before. She didn't specify what the problem was over the phone, but Seunghyun knew it was serious, so he rushed around in order to get there as fast as he could. He left Jiyong a note in case he woke up and noticed that he was gone before heading out the door and to the office.

"Chaerin, what's wrong?" Seunghyun asked, feeling slightly out of breath from all the rushing, as soon as he entered the office. Chaerin turned around at the sound of his voice and sighed heavily, running her fingers through her hair.

"There's a huge problem with your assignment, Seunghyun," she said.

"What do you mean a huge problem? What happened?" Seunghyun inquired.

"You know those guys I was telling you about that came in earlier looking for Jiyong?" she said, moving them so that they were now in her office.

"Yeah, I remember," Seunghyun said as he nodded.

"Well, turns out they are more relentless than I thought," she said, putting her back to Seunghyun for a few brief seconds.

"And that means what exactly?"

"They are starting a search party of their own, Seunghyun," Chaerin said, her hands now slightly in the air but still at her sides. "They are looking for him, and I'm pretty sure they are working more efficiently than any police station ever could."

"Shit," Seunghyun cursed before letting out a heavy sigh. "You don't think they found out that I was the one who picked him up, do you?"

"I sure hope not," she said with widened eyes. "If they did, they can probably find your place easily, which means they could find him easily." Seunghyun lowered his eyes to the carpet below, trying to think of ways to stop this before someone got hurt, that someone being Jiyong. "Where was he when you left this morning?" she asked suddenly.

"He was still sleeping, why?" Seunghyun replied. Chaerin bit down on her bottom lips, tapping her painted fingernails against her chin. "Wait, you don't think they're there now, do you? I mean, I know it's easy to find someone's address these days, but that quickly?"

"The only way we're gonna find out is if we go over there right now," she said, letting her arms fall back at her sides. Seunghyun nodded his head quickly and, after grabbing her coat, him and Chaerin left the office.

~~~~~~

When they reached Seunghyun's apartment complex as fast as they could, they both bolted up to his apartment. Seunghyun pulled the keys out of his jean pockets and unlocked the door, the piece of tall and thick flying open as a result of all their rushing. Jiyong flinched a little from the unexpected sound, now sitting on the couch, but smiled softly when he saw that it was Seunghyun.

"Hi," he said cutely as he got on his feet.

"Hey," Seunghyun said, practically all out of breath. "Who are they?"

"Oh," Jiyong said as he turned to face the two males sitting on the couch as well. "Seung, this is my...uh...friend Dongguk and Hanbin, the one I was telling you about before. They stopped by to visit me, I guess, although I don't even know how they found me."

"U-Uh...sorry, hyung," Hanbin apologized, his cheeks turning a faint shade of red. "Dongguk insisted I tell him."

"I guess I can forgive you," Jiyong said with a smile, a joking tone in his voice that caused Hanbin to laugh a little. "But, they were just about to tell me something when you walked in. What was it?" Both Seunghyun and Chaerin shot the man a worried look, silently pleading him to not say anything for the sake of Jiyong.

But of course, he wasn't going to listen to them.

"I was just going to say that you need to come back home with us," he said.

"Huh?" Jiyong asked in confusion, letting out a small sigh. "Why would I do that? I thought I told you I was happy here. You said you understood."

"I know, but this guy isn't who he seems to be, Jiyong," he replied. "If you're going to take such a big risk, it should at least be for someone who will be honest with you."

"What are you even talking about?"

"He's been lying to you." Seunghyun let out a heavy, distressed sigh as he turned around, running his fingers through his hair. They say that there is always a moment of truth in every lie you tell, well for Seunghyun, this was his moment and he was dreading it. Jiyong just kind of looked in Seunghyun's direction with furrowed eyebrows, seeing him looking distressed, but he still refused to believe Dongguk.

"You're lying," Jiyong said, shaking his head as he looked back at Dongguk. "He would never do that to me. He loves me."

"I'm telling you the truth, Jiyong," Dongguk said, taking a step closer to the younger male as he took one back. "He's just been using you for a stupid work assignment. Someone set up the appointment with you just so that he could pick you up, keep you hostage for a while, and then send you off to jail for prostitution after they got information about me from you." 

Jiyong couldn't believe what he was hearing, he refused to. Seunghyun brought him here to protect him, to help him. He couldn't have been using him this whole time.

"Think about it, Ji," Dongguk said. "Why would someone just pick you up and decide to keep you all of a sudden, huh? I mean, no offense, but people like you and Hanbin aren't exactly what most would call keepers."

"Hey," Seunghyun said in dislike of Dongguk's comment. "I know you're here to destroy everything, but please don't talk about him like that."

"Wait," Jiyong said, putting a hand up in the air before a fight could erupt. Jiyong looked at Seunghyun, his eyes already glistening with tears. "Seung, please tell me he's lying to me. Please tell me that what he said was just his lame attempt at trying to get me to come back." Seunghyun could only sigh in response; there was no lying to Jiyong any longer. He had screwed things up so badly already, now it was time to pay the price.

"Ji, I..." he started, dropping his head for a few seconds before lifting it back up. "I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how to so that you wouldn't get the wrong idea."

"Oh my god," Jiyong said, feeling his heart skip a beat. "You mean to tell me that this whole time you were lying to me about wanting to keep me safe and protected? That you were just using me because of your job?"

"That's just how it started out," Seunghyun said, trying to explain himself as he stepped closer. "Yes, Chaerin gave me the assignment to pick someone up so we could get information, but I didn't plan the love part. I didn't know I was picking up the person I would fall in love with so quickly." Jiyong could only manage to let go of a few tears, his head clogged up by the sudden and hard truth. "Ji, I swear, I never wanted to hurt you," Seunghyun said, trying to get closer to the younger.

"But you did!" Jiyong said loudly. "You lied to me from day one about your intention even though I asked you to be honest." Seunghyun just looked down at his feet in shame, feeling his own eyes begin to tear up. "You know what, though, this was my fault, too. I was the one who was stupid enough to believe that someone could actually feel love for me without expecting something in return. What a fool."

"Jiyong, no, that's crazy, don't say that," Seunghyun said, bringing his head back up. "I do love you. I love you so much, more than I've ever loved anyone before."

"Well, it's a little too late to say that now, isn't it?" Jiyong said, looking at Seunghyun with nothing but hurt in his eyes that sent a sharp pain through Seunghyun's heart. "I can't be here anymore. I'm leaving," Jiyong said before pushing his way past Seunghyun and the others, only to be stopped by Seunghyun's hand wrapping around his wrist. "Let go of me!" he shouted, more tears streaming down his face rapidly. "I don't want to be anywhere near you." The last part came out as a quieter whisper, but it was just as effective as his shout.

Then, without any other interruptions, Jiyong grabbed his sweatshirt off the coat rack and left the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him and never looking back.