bloodied crown - hyungwonho

13: Comfort

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"You said it was the top floor? Are you sure of this?" He spoke into the phone as he parked the car in a mostly full parking lot. He glanced out through the dimmed window, eyebrows furrowing a little. If the younger wasn't completely confident in this, there was no way in hell he'd step foot into that apartment. "Yeah. It's the last place I can think of, honestly." Jooheon replied to him calmly, chair creaking coming through the line as the man changed his position.

"And what if this yields nothing?" Wonho then asked, clicking open his seatbelt before getting out of the vehicle. A sigh echoed in the phone. "Then I'll assume Son's taken him captive or killed him, which means a nationwide manhunt in this case." the man replied making Wonho close his eyes for a few seconds. The thought frustrated him.

He locked the car doors, before walking to the door of the apartment building. He dug out a set of keys Jooheon had given him from his pocket, pressing a black piece of plastic against the reader on the door. It clicked and Wonho pulled the door open, entering the large, empty lobby. "I'll head up. Text me the code to the door." He heard a small hum before ending the call and putting his phone away.

"God damn you, Chae," he muttered, footsteps echoing in the large space as he walked through. The lobby looked just as fancy as Wonho would've expected from the younger man. He didn't have time to admire the intricate design on the beige floor tiles, though, he just needed to get to the top floor.

Hyungwon, to no one's surprise, had been off the radar since running off. His ripped-up suit jacket at the bloodied scene was the last sign of life he'd left behind. Nothing after that. No phone call, no message, nothing. And it honestly made Wonho angry. Hours of radio silence. The younger should've been smarter than that and left at least a message if nothing was wrong instead of causing needless worry.

But apparently disappearing into thin air was just more Chae's style.

It was slightly more concerning considering what the backyard of that house had looked like. It was like a battlefield. Maybe, if there had been a tad less blood there, it wouldn't have been that bothersome but it looked insane.

His cheek was still slightly stinging from the blow the other had given him, hard enough to at first leave a clear red outline of a palm being followed by slight swelling and bruising. He had no intention of scolding the man on it, but that didn't mean he wasn't pissed about it even if he hadn't voiced it to anyone. It wasn't that important and Hyungwon would probably apologize if he felt like it.

Wonho hoped he would find the other leader, but also I.M, at the apartment, mostly for Jooheon's sake. The poor guy hadn't moved an inch from Hyungwon's desk, constantly clicking away at the computer, trying to find any trace of the pair. He probably didn't even blink. But also because he also didn't want to find them beaten up in some shit hole or worse, dead. Christ. If anyone should kill that fuck it should be him.

You never change, do you?

Son would've already been bragging about killing the Chae Hyungwon had he done so, though, so he doubted the leader was dead. Of course, the thought of that being the reality never left the back of his mind.

Entering the elevator, Wonho had to scan the electric key again before he was allowed to choose a floor. Maybe he should've considered this for his own space before the break-in that started all of this. Though, considering that even Hyungwon's high-security cell got broken into, it probably wouldn't have even helped.

Wonho leaned on the metal wall, listening to the hum of the elevator as it started going up. He was tired but he couldn't rest yet, even though the stable sound was very much urging him to just close his eyes for a few seconds. For now, he should be able to stay in the lead until he managed to drag Chae out of whatever hole he might have hidden in or been dragged into. He closed his eyes, head slumping against the cold surface but flashing open quickly when the metal box came to a stop with a high-pitched ding.