Bittersweet Baby

Chapter 24

The series of events that occurred after that happened in a flash.

Chanyeol only remembered wanting leaving the venue with Baekhyun in a hurry, but before they left Baekhyun excused himself to go to the restroom. Chanyeol remembered waiting outside the door and hearing his father take the stage and announce to the guests, all of whom were gang men involved in Baekhyun's father's-and now Baekhyun's-mafia, that the boss was dead, and that everyone was to answer to Byun Baekhyun now.

There had been quite the confusion and much astoundment. In the sudden disturbance and commotion between guests Chanyeol thought that maye he had seen a man pass by that looked enough like Zhang Yixing to cause himself worry, but his head felt too full already to cope with the idea that maybe the Chinese captain was slinking around somewhere. The masks were all too disturbing. So he didn't investigate.

That was his biggest mistake.

He realized this as soon as ten minutes later, Baekhyun still hadn't come back. The panic had set in immediately. He searched the restroom, bustled around the other masked guests for a single sight of his beloved, but he saw nothing. Baekhyun would have been the only unmasked person in the building. He should have stuck out like a sore thumb. The only thing that was burning and sore was Chanyeol's heart.

Baekhyun was missing.

Baekhyun was missing.

And it was his fault.

The guilt didn't have time to set in though-Chanyeol felt the intense siege of his heart moments later when determination and anger overthrew the fear and demise. He felt his fists heating at his sides, his brow hardening.

Someone had taken Byun Baekhyun.

And it was his job to find him.

His searching, however, came to an abrupt halt five hours later. Chanyeol had made his way all across the most part of Seoul and found himself back at the warehouse apartment sweaty, angry, and nearly hopeless. He had called Kyungsoo and some of the dockmen in Incheon. There had been no sight of Baekhyun or Yixing.

Chanyeol grabbed a pitcher left on the kitchen counter and hurled it against the wall with a guttural scream as the glass exploded across the room.

"Dammit!" he cried. Just as he was ready to take out his gun and shoot something his phone rang with a jolt, sending a shock of surprise through Chanyeol's body. He ransacked his own coat, scrambling between pockets with the burglar fingers of a desperate man. Once extracted from his person Chanyeol took a brief moment to notice that the number was blocked, which spiked his anxiety and anger even more, and then answered the call with a harsh,

"Where is he?"

Already in the background Chanyeol could hear the distant and sketchy tones of Chinese being spoken before the real voice came through:

"Mister Park Chanyeol."

Zhang Yixing.

"You son of a bitch," Chanyeol cursed.

"Let's cut the juvenile banter and get to the point shall we?" Yixing said. "I have something you want. I am holding Byun Baekhyun hostage." The Chinese man's voice pittered out and over the line Chanyeol could hear some amount of shuffling and ruffling. "Look at all these pretty hickeys," Yixing mused, then there was more rasping. "You really left your mark. He's got a soft neck, I see the appeal."

Chanyeol's blood boiled. "Don't touch him."

"You know, Byun Baekhyun always seemed like such a fucking stone head that I never really thought about what he would be like physically-I never expected him to have such nice skin."