welp...

“Perhaps it would be.” you said.

He smiled, looking at you properly. Then his other hand came up to hold your face and he got closer. “I really want to kiss you, right now.” he said, with a pout and curled eyebrows. He looked anything but evil. “I really, really do.”

“Why? Is it because you punched me?” you asked genuinely. His lips pursed into a thin line, his eyes still wide and filled with some sort of discontented worry. “Three times?” you added on, making him grimace and wince like he’d been the one to receive the punches. You laughed.

His hands slid down from your face all the way down to your hands and he held them together, close with a gentle but firm hold on them. He brought them up to his face but looked down. “I’m sorry…”

“You’re sorry?” you repeated, and you could’ve sworn he froze in fear for a second. You sighed. “I’m the one who told you one punch wouldn’t be enough, Hanseok-ah. Don’t apologize for things you shouldn’t.”

He sighed.

“Apologize for things you should.”

He gulped, but nodded and looked up, after pressing a brief kiss to your intertwined hands. “Of course. Then maybe I’ll apologize to Vincenzo for fooling him into thinking you work for me and I punched you when I found out you were working for him. Which you weren’t.”

“As if you would actually apologize for that.” you laughed, shaking your head. Then you noticed the silence that followed was a bit weird. You looked at Hanseok and he was staring at you, a bit more serious now.

“You weren’t really working with him, were you?”

Oh, that was it. You sighed and your expression softened. “No. Hanseok, I will not work with your enemy. I’m with you, I love you.” you stated, “Also, I know you, so… Even less behind your back.” you added, smiling a bit. The man chuckled and your chest felt lighter. Hanseok was, deep down, very fearful. Because he felt like he was always on top of everything and everyone— That he would always be one step ahead and above everyone else. That guaranteed him confidence in the fact that he’d never fail, and that his plans would always… Well, go according to plan.

But Vincenzo Cassano had guessed right. You were Jang Hanseok’s one and only weakness. The Ace card he could use against him if you decided to work on his side— Or the hostage he could punch and threaten so his enemy would surrender. So Hanseok, despite not admitting it, feared. That Vincenzo would get ahold of you and hurt your skin like no one should ever do. Or in another case— He feared that you would leave him to find refuge at Vincenzo’s side for some reason. He knew you had reasons that could justify why you would, because he was the evil one in this story! Of course! So why would you want to stay with him? Right? It made sense.

But he treated you so well. He bought everything you needed and wanted and everything that you didn’t even need. He stopped when you told him to, he followed what you said. He did everything to assure you were alright. That you felt good and comfortable around him and in his house and with him in general. He was good! He was good, to you! So you couldn’t possibly leave him.

Right?

So Jang Hanseok was scared. And that was why you would, in a bit, go cry to Vincenzo Cassano about the punches he’d sent to your face as you told him they needed to take down Babel fast because he knew you were betraying him and if things didn’t go faster he would kill you. That was why you would come back home as usual and grin in contentment as you’d tell him everything Vincenzo planned to take him down.

That was why, that was why, that was why. Jang Hanseok needed the world, and Vincenzo, to believe you were not close to him. Because he loved you, and he was scared.

If Vincenzo found out you were only a spy and put a gun to your head you knew for certain he would take his time. Whereas Hanseok wouldn’t, and Vincenzo would regret the few seconds too long he’d spend on pulling the trigger. So then whatever happened Hanseok would win! He would save Babel, he would save you, he would save himself, he would save everything he held dear!

And that was all that mattered.

“I’ll take care of you when you get back, okay?” he said softly. You nodded and he smiled, pressing a short kiss to your lips. “You know, I love you.”

“I love you too. And don’t worry too much.”

“How could I not?” he laughed, despite the underlying tones of upset in his tone, “You’re everything to me, you know.”

You swallow thickly. And you nodded. “I know. Take care. Alright?”

“Alright. You, too.”

The beeping sound was unnerving. It felt as if it echoed around his house’s walls, bouncing off every expensive table and surface it could find only to hit Hanseok back in the face. It felt like an eternity before his doctor decided to answer his damned phone.

“I have someone in need of urgent medical aid.” Hanseok said, unaware of how dead his voice sounded. He continued to stare at your face, the hand holding the back of your head never moving. “I’m at my house. I expect you to be here in the next two minutes.”

That was a threat. Just as much as the forsaken letter written on your skin, if not more.

He hung up, threw his phone aside, and cradled your face with his other hand. His eyebrows furrowed at the sight of your unconscious features. You looked peaceful, but he knew it wouldn’t last. Once awake, your face would be adorned with your most pained expressions. Getting hit so hard you passed out hurt like hell. Or at least, Hanseok figured it did. He’d always been the one to knock people unconscious.

He was gentle in the way his thumb swiped over the blood-written-letter on your cheek, but it was with withheld force that he did so. He was furious. He felt the blood in his veins boil like he’d been set on fire. Vincenzo Cassano had been the most annoying, persistent, pestering thing in his life for a good while now. He’d crossed one too many lines and it was getting harder for Hanseok not to snap. Which was precisely why he always took out his rage on anyone standing near him whenever he felt the need to. Thrown objects, broken windows, punches and slaps and killing and all. But never with you.

Not once had he dared do anything more than raise his voice at you, even in his angriest moments. Anytime the thought of even hurting you in the slightest crossed his mind, he felt terrible. And the fact that it made him feel this way in itself was something that annoyed him; confused him. Why you? Why did you, out of all people, make him feel so awfully gentle? Why were you so important to him?

In this moment he swore seeing Vincenzo Cassano’s bloody signature on the finished Babel Tower wouldn't have angered him half as much as it did to see it on you.

He figured the line not to cross, after all, was hurting you. If he himself didn’t allow himself to do so, how dared any single person on this Earth believe they had the right to? Vincenzo had laid a hand on your skin– Touched your face for even just half a second, and had hit you hard enough to bleed. He’d done everything he should’ve never done and that made Hanseok manic.

How dare he do this much, he thought, how dare he lay a finger on the most precious thing I have in my life?

Hanseok had long finished the phase of his life where he felt completely enraged at the thought of you being important to him. He’d long come to terms with the fact that he needed you in his life, irritating as it could be. And truthfully, he had realized the world needed you if they didn’t want all hell to break loose. And Hanseok was edging on the gates of it; the now-unlocked gates of hell.

Then you opened your eyes, and Hanseok’s widened in surprise. He instantly stopped the unconscious scrubbing of his thumb on your skin to wipe off the bloody letter to bring your face closer to him. “[name].”

“Han– Argh.” you couldn’t even say his name before your hand weakly came up to hold the side of your head. You looked at him through hooded eyes. He looked startled, and worried. His eyes were scanning your face like he was making sure you were okay. You wondered if he’d just gotten here? You exhaled painfully and gulped. “Hanseok.”

“You don’t need to talk, it’s okay.” he used that gentle tone of voice of his. Like if he raised his voice even a bit too much, you’d break. “The doctors will be here soon, okay?”

And in your dazed state, you only managed a half-conscious nod before you fell back into sleep.

When his doctors finally arrived and took you away, Hanseok took a little while before following. They carried you out of the house and into the ambulance and he just stared. He wasn’t aware of how static he’d become. He stared out the window as they drove away.

“Mr. Jang, we heard about–”

“Shut up.”

Silence. Just as he wanted. He turned around to face the three people he’d expected to come running to him eventually. The two lawyers and his brother. Quite frankly, he was not in the mood to speak or listen to any of them at the moment, which is why he walked past them and outside his house without uttering a single word. He got into his car and started driving.

The direction was to the hospital. The drive wasn’t supposed to be too long, but it felt like it. It was hazy. Hanseok almost felt like he was drunk and driving. The world blurred more and more outside his windows and he rubbed his temple in thought, elbow on the edge of the window. This was unlike him. He should’ve listened to what they had to say. After all, you were being taken care of. But the phrase “being taken care of” without him being there didn’t sit right with him. Enough for him to ignore his so-called “allies” and wave off his bodyguards to go see you on his own.

You made him act unlike him.

As soon as he reached the hospital, everyone that greeted him received the pleasure of getting ignored entirely. He didn’t have time to waste, or any will to spend energy on, greeting random people whose names and faces he was barely familiar with. He just wanted to see you.

The door opened almost loudly but he stopped his movements right before it hit the wall. Thankfully. He didn’t want to accidentally make your head hurt more than he already did. He slowly closed the door behind him and walked over to you. Your eyes were closed and you had a bandage around your head. You were awake, that much Hanseok could tell. From the way you were breathing to the twitching of your fingers on the sheets.

He smiled and pulled a chair closer and next to your bed. “Why are you pretending to sleep? Wanna catch me looking at you all lovey-dovey, or something?”

You opened your eyes and smiled.

“I don’t need you to think I’m asleep to do that. You look at me like that every day.”

He scowled. “I don’t.”

“You sure do.” you groaned, sitting up. Hanseok reached out to help you but you smiled at him as if to say it was okay. So he sat back down, but brought his chair closer. “You were already there before I woke up.”

“Hm? No, I wasn’t, unfortunately. Why?”

“What’s with the Jang Joonwoo facade, now?” you scoffed, “You know I saw the smudged blood on my cheek before the nurses cleaned it off, right? My skin was so red. How long did you spend trying to rub it off?”

Hanseok gulped, gaze averting. “... Sorry. I didn’t realize I hurt you.”

“You didn’t. It’s fine.” you said, while stretching your arms up. “Ah. I’ve gotta say, I didn’t think Vincenzo would find out we’re close. Or at least, close enough to knock me out to threaten you.”

“He was right. But he shouldn’t have done it.”

You weren’t looking at Hanseok but his voice edged on terrifying. It was calm, almost joyful. Completely unfitting to what he meant by his words. You knew he was furious. You know he wouldn’t hesitate once to pull the trigger on Vincenzo if he was in front of him, in this state. It reminded you of the old him.

“Chill out.” you said, “You’re not supposed to act like a serial killer anymore.”

Hanseok only chuckled, leaning back in his seat. “I’m fine.”

“Sure.”

“Sure. I’m fine as long as you are.”

You weren’t at all phased by the blood. It wasn’t really something that surprised you, anymore. And you knew what blood looked like, just as anyone else. Seeing it on his face precisely didn’t shake you in the slightest. It was almost normal. You sighed and brought your knees closer to your chest. “Did you go and kill someone, or something?”

“Something like that.” he exhaled in what seemed like satisfaction as he took off his jacket. He started walking towards the bathroom but stopped at the door to look at you over his shoulder. “What’s up with you?”

You shrugged. He pouted a bit but walked into the bathroom. You had no doubt he was trying to wash off the blood from his face and hands, and would probably come out with a different shirt at least. You sighed and let your head fall sideways onto the couch you were sitting on.You were tired. A bit sleepy. There was no reason for you to be on the couch rather than on the bed, really. You just didn’t think of moving. And didn’t really have the energy to, either.

Hanseok walked back into the room without a drop of blood on his skin and with a new hoodie. Just as you thought. He walked over to where you sat and plopped down next to you with a sigh. “What a very slightly eventful day. How about yours? You look exhausted.”

“Don’t know. I’m just tired.”

Hanseok hummed and pursed his lips, looking away before smiling and turning towards you. He opened his arms and you gave him a questioning look. He waved his hands towards himself, clearly beckoning you over. “Come here.”

You shook your head no. You didn’t feel like moving. Hanseok sighed and wrapped his arms around you, easily pulling you onto his lap and into his hold. You didn’t shake him off. Really, you didn’t mind it— You just didn’t have the energy to move. And it felt better now that he was holding you, too.

Hanseok gently caressed the side of your head, fingers eventually grazing your cheek. He smiled to himself at the sight of you, then looked you in the eye. “Don’t worry.”

“Easier said than done.”

He smiled. “As usual.” he said, “But still. I’m here. It’s okay.”

You sighed and let your head fall onto his shoulders, staring into nothing in particular as you practically dozed off. The atmosphere was much more comfortable with Hanseok around. Maybe it was ironic, because you knew he’d just come back from literally killing someone. But, well. It was Jang Hanseok. To you, this was just part of him, and you were used to it by now. It didn’t concern you much, and he knew that too.