The letter was tempting. Sungmin still felt apprehensive. Something about this letter put him on edge. Should he wait for Kyuhyun or should he open the letter now? Sungmin bit his lip thoughtfully. Curiosity killed the cat, right? Satisfaction brought him back. Sungmin pried open the letter. A creamy white piece of paper fell out and Sungmin picked it up. He unfolded it and began to read.
Embassy caribou fear lei underground amphibian age r. Globe redawa bizarre. Be samosa wife.
Sungmin blinked. Then he read it again. He didn’t understand. What on earth was an ‘embassy caribou’? Why were they afraid of an underground lei and what the hell was an age r? And why the hell would he be a samosa wife? Sungmin was confused.
He looked again at the blank envelope it had come in. It showed nothing of what the words might mean. He tore open the letter of Ryeowook (why Ryeowook was writing to him, he didn’t know, they saw each other every time they worked at the shop) and looked at it closely as if that letter might tell him what was going on.
He opened Hankyung’s letter and discovered that he had written in Chinese. He shook his head. Heechul should never have asked to visit China again. The translation fell out and Sungmin scanned it quickly, discovering that Heechul was learning Mandarin and enjoyed all the clothes from China (the last sentence of the letter mentioned that Hankyung was doing well).
Sungmin smiled. He was glad his friends enjoyed being in China. He closed the letter and put it on the front hall table for Kyuhyun to read later. He then turned back to the mystery letter he had received. Kyuhyun walked down the stairs and found Sungmin sitting on the floor, staring at a piece of paper.
“What are you doing, Minnie?” Kyuhyun asked, looking confused. Sungmin handed him the paper.
“What do you think, Kyuhyun? What does it mean?” Sungmin asked, hoping that his lover would know.
“What on earth is a samosa wife?” Was all Kyuhyun had to say. Sungmin guessed that he didn’t know either.
“I don’t know but what do you think it means? I mean, have you ever gotten a letter that talks about embassy caribou that are afraid of an underground lei with amphibians?”
“I think it’s just junk. You know, someone playing a joke. We should just leave it. Unless of course you know what it means.”
“No, I don’t. I’ll put it in my office and figure out what to do with it,” Sungmin looked at the letter. He still had no idea what it might mean. Kyuhyun nodded.
“Alright. But not yet, I want to spend time with you,” Kyuhyun pulled Sungmin up from the floor and then sat on the sofa and brought Sungmin beside him. Sungmin smiled as Kyuhyun wrapped his arms around him. He leaned against Kyuhyun comfortably, his skin tingling lightly.
“That is a nice idea,” Sungmin murmured softly. No matter how busy Kyuhyun was or how crazy his schedule, he always made time to be with Sungmin. And this touched him truly. Because Sungmin ran a flower shop and was generally free most of the time. Kyuhyun on the other hand, was working at a large business, part of an even larger industry which meant more work and little time. Yet somehow, he was always there for Sungmin.
“Yes, I like it myself,” Kyuhyun answered. Sungmin smiled.
“So how did work go today?” Sungmin asked. Kyuhyun laughed.
“Apart from making the vice president want to kill me? It went well after you showed up. Seunghyun was surprised we actually got work done today. Jiyong wants us to go to his house for dinner sometime. I’m slightly apprehensive,” Kyuhyun ran his fingers through Sungmin’s hair.
“We should sample Jiyong’s cooking. It can’t be so bad.”
“Did you eat the cookies he brought in last month?”
“We can pray that he got better since then,” Sungmin decided.
“Speaking of which, what are we going to do for dinner?” Kyuhyun asked.
“I was thinking-” but whatever Sungmin was thinking, Kyuhyun never found out. At the moment, there was a squealing of tires in their driveway and two frightened screams. Sungmin jumped up from Kyuhyun’s lap and ran to the window. A black car was parked on the asphalt about three inches away from the garage door. Sungmin immediately paled. Kyuhyun came to the window and stared at the car.
“Oh no….” Kyuhyun breathed. Sungmin ran into the kitchen and grabbed two chairs. He handed one to Kyuhyun who held it tightly.
“Come on, let’s get this over with,” Sungmin nodded towards the door. They walked into the front hall just as the doorbell rang. Kyuhyun tightened his grip on the chair.
“Ready?” Sungmin asked. Kyuhyun nodded. Sungmin flung open the door and shoved his chair in front of him. A weak-kneed Kangin fell gratefully into the chair Sungmin had prepared. Kyuhyun opened the door wider and a wild-eyed Yesung collapsed into the second chair.
“What on earth were you thinking?” Kyuhyun asked. Yesung could only shake his head.
“Hello Sungmin-hyung! Guess what?! Umma said my driving was good so he let me drive to your house!” Ryeowook announced as he walked through the door. Sungmin’s jaw dropped as Eeteuk sauntered in cheerfully after him.
“I don’t know why everyone says his driving is terrible. It’s absolutely fine,” Eeteuk grinned as he took off his coat. Kangin simply shook his head and shivered. Sungmin placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Are you okay, Kangin-appa?” Sungmin asked apprehensively. Yesung wasn’t much better off. He was swaying slowly from side to side, looking dangerously near to fainting.
“I think you should re-evaluate Ryeowook’s driving,” Kyuhyun said, looking at the condition of Yesung and Kangin.
Eeteuk waved a dismissive hand, “He may have messed up once or twice but otherwise his driving is fine.”
“He nearly crashed at an intersection! There were two cars coming from opposite directions and he speeds past both at practically the last second! I’m surprised that no police officers have been chasing after us!” Kangin exclaimed, regaining some of his breath. Ryeowook pouted.
“There was enough space there! I got us through easily!”
“Wookie,” Yesung gasped dramatically, causing Ryeowook to rush to his side.
“What is it? Are you having stomach pains?” Ryeowook asked frantically. Yesung shook his head.
“I don’t want you to strain yourself driving home tonight. Let Kangin-appa do that so you can snuggle in the back with me,” Yesung pleaded. Ryeowook’s eyes glowed. He nodded enthusiastically and hugged Yesung tightly.
“Smart guy,” Sungmin mouthed to Kyuhyun who nodded back. Eeteuk smiled at Yesung and Ryeowook, then ushered them all into the spacious living room. Sungmin wondered what on earth Eeteuk was smiling about. Perhaps he hadn’t gone into shock yet.
“So what brings you to our happy home?” Kyuhyun asked, sitting on the sofa, delighted as always to see his friends. Sungmin snuggled in beside him.
“Well actually, we didn’t want to cook our own dinner so we thought that may-oof!” Yesung was elbowed not so discretely by Ryeowook.
“We wanted to visit our friends!” The eternal magnae interrupted. Sungmin smiled knowingly.
“If you’ll help me, I’ll prepare dinner,” Sungmin replied. Ryeowook nodded and bounced up.
“Let me help!” Eeteuk clapped his hands and followed the two into the kitchen. Dinner was late that night because Ryeowook tripped and sparked a huge food fight that resulted in practically everyone becoming covered in food and liquids.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
Sungmin was trying to find the perfect lobelia while Ryeowook talked about his driving lesson with Yesung and how boringly slow they were supposed to be driving.
“It’s no fun at all,” Ryeowook was saying, “if you have a fast car and can’t use it for the purpose it was made. Speed is the main feature, so why not use it?”
“Speeding ticket,” Sungmin replied, still searching for the flower. One of the customers wanted a bouquet of perfect flowers and that’s what Sungmin was doing now, finding the perfect flowers. Ryeowook was supposed to be helping him but he was too busy talking. Sungmin didn’t mind. He enjoyed it when Ryeowook talked.
“But a speeding ticket is the only reason! If you’re fast the police can’t catch you!”
“Police cars are faster than a normal car,” Sungmin replied. He found the perfect lobelia. “And I worry for your sense of the law.”
“I understand it! I just don’t see why they raise the speed limit,” Ryeowook said, his eyebrows scrunching in thought as if he were finding the answer to the question right then.
“To keep drivers like you from killing the human population,” Sungmin answered, walking back to the front desk and adding the final perfect flower to the others waiting to be wrapped into a bouquet.
“What do you mean by that?” Ryeowook asked, his eyes narrowing slightly. Sungmin stared back at him calmly. No matter how angry Ryeowook tried to look, it was always broken down by his cuteness. Unless of course he got really angry, but Sungmin knew martial arts so he was fine.
“Ryeowookie, drivers like you who…..tend to drive at….a higher velocity….are more likely to get into a car accident or end up killing someone or getting killed themselves. Yesung doesn’t want this to happen to you so that’s why he’s teaching you to drive slowly,” Sungmin explained, cutting the flower to the proper length and wrapping it up with the others.
“Is that why he’s so frightened whenever I ask to drive?” Ryeowook looked thoughtful.
“Yes, he’s afraid you might die,” Sungmin responded. “And afraid he might too,” he added in an undertone. Ryeowook wasn’t listening to him.
“I shouldn’t worry him like that,” Ryeowook decided. “I will drive slowly.”
“Yes and he will probably offer to drive so that you are safe.”
“He is so careful with me,” Ryeowook sighed happily. Sungmin grinned.
“You’re lucky. I need to walk home, that will take forever.”
“No it won’t. I’m going to bring you home,” a familiar voice said. Sungmin looked past Ryeowook to see Kyuhyun walking down an aisle. Sungmin’s heart leapt and he immediately ran to his husband and hugged him.
“Kyuhyun! I didn’t expect you to come here!” Sungmin said happily. Kyuhyun smiled and kissed Sungmin gently.
“I don’t want you walking around at night like this. You might get hurt,” Kyuhyun replied softly. Sungmin felt his heart swell with those words.
“It’s only six o’clock.”
“So? Who know what might happen to you when you’re walking home? It’s dark out.”
“I hate to break up your romantic scene but are you done wrapping the flowers and can we ship them out?” Ryeowook asked, waving a flower stem in their faces. Sungmin smiled and nodded.
“Is Yesung-hyung coming to pick you up, Ryeowook-hyung?” Kyuhyun asked. The eternal magnae nodded.
“Yes, I need to call him and ask him to come for me. He’ll be here in five minutes. I can close the shop, Sungmin-hyung, you don’t need to worry about it,” Ryeowook reassured him. Sungmin glanced at him doubtfully, unsure of whether to leave the youngest alone. Ryeowook’s glance told him that yes, he was okay on his own. Kyuhyun talked to Ryeowook while Sungmin got his things and the two of them left just as Yesung pulled up in his car.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
Sungmin threw his coat into the closet and picked up the mail that was lying on the floor. He handed a few business letters to Kyuhyun and found an envelope identical to the one he had received the night before.
“Kyuhyun, there’s another letter here like last time,” Sungmin held the envelope out for Kyuhyun to see. The younger male took it and looked over it.
“It looks the same. Let’s open it and see what the message says this time,” Kyuhyun carefully opened the letter. Sungmin leaned over his shoulder to take a look at what was happening.
Badmouth volley vinegar opera disgusting abbreviated an overbeat vendetta fallback. Describe replica wildfire tofu l.
Sungmin was just as confused as the first letter. What sort of nonsense was this? He took the letter from Kyuhyun and scanned it himself, wondering what it could mean.
“So what do you make of it?” He finally asked. Kyuhyun shrugged.
“I think it’s just some crazy person contacting the wrong people. We shouldn’t worry ourselves so much about it,” Kyuhyun replied. Sungmin frowned thoughtfully.
“I wish Hankyung was here. He would be able to figure out what this means. Perhaps we should think like him. Maybe it’s a code. Yeah! We should try and break it! What’s a synonym for badmouth?” Sungmin asked excitedly. Kyuhyun thought for a moment.
“Well to badmouth someone means to speak badly of them, sometimes behind the person’s backs.”
“So backstab. What about volley? Doesn’t that mean to return? Vinegar….bitterness? Opera….is kind of like a show, right? Disgusting also means horrible, or revolting. Abbreviated means shortened and what does overbeat mean? Maybe to hit repeatedly? What’s a vendetta?”
“It’s a war but also can mean a grudge. Fallback……can also mean alternative. To describe means to communicate the description of something. So communicate then? And replica means a copy or imitation. Wildfire can also mean fierce spirit and tofu…is disgusting so disgusting? And L…we can figure that out later. Maybe it’s the signature of the person,” Kyuhyun responded, starting to think about this.
“So the message basically says, backstab return bitterness show horrible or revolting short hit repeatedly grudge alternative communicate imitate fierce spirit disgusting. And how does that make sense anymore than the previous one did?” Sungmin demanded.
“Maybe we have to change the wording or tenses slightly. So then it comes out to, backstabbed returned bitterly shows horribleness or revolted shortness hitting repeatedly grudges communicating imitated fierce spirit disgustingly,” Kyuhyun mused. Sungmin gasped.
“I’ve got it! Backstabbing will be returned bitterly. It shows how horrible you are. You are short and were hit repeatedly. Our grudges will be communicated to you with disgust,” Sungmin looked proud of himself.
“How did you think of that?” Kyuhyun asked.
“I thought of Jiwon and how he would say something like that in a very unclear way. But he’s dead remember? So it must be someone else on the outside. Someone who wants to get me back for putting him into prison and surviving when he didn’t. Maybe it’s one of his loyal followers?” Sungmin questioned. Kyuhyun looked afraid.
“Do you really think so? Minnie, I’m worried for your safety,” Kyuhyun took Sungmin’s smaller hand in his own.
“Don’t worry about me. It will be fine. They obviously just want to scare us by sending letters this way. It will be fine, Kyu. Really,” Sungmin promised. He leaned forwards and pressed a gentle kiss to Kyuhyun’s lips. The younger male leaned into the kiss but didn’t relax. He was too afraid.
“Minnie, I nearly lost you once. I don’t want to lose you again,” Kyuhyun hugged his husband tightly. Sungmin felt the fear Kyuhyun had course through him. He wanted nothing more than to comfort Kyuhyun.
“Kyuhyun, I love you more than anything in this world and I won’t let anything take me from you. I promise you that,” Sungmin whispered.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Kyuhyun murmured, his hot breath blowing against Sungmin’s skin. The elder man felt goosebumps rise. He nuzzled into Kyuhyun gently.
“Don’t be sad, my Kyuhyunnie. Pick me a flower and see if I can guess the meaning.”
It had been a running game since Sungmin had returned home from the hospital five years ago. Kyuhyun would pick a flower from his vast collection and make Sungmin guess the meaning and flower name. They still hadn’t gotten through half of the flowers at all. Now they played the game to cheer each other up and to make the other laugh.
Sungmin sorted through the rest of the mail. It was obvious there was nothing more important. He threw the rest of the bills onto the coffee table in the living room. There was a slight thud as one letter hit the ground. Sungmin sighed and went to pick it up.
He noticed something different about it. It was a completely black envelope with silver lining. Sungmin looked at it carefully. He hadn’t seen it before when he was checking through the rest of the mail. Then again its small size made it hard to see.
He felt a slight twinge of fear as his fingers pried open the letter slowly. There was something about the darkness of the envelope of the letter. He didn’t know why he felt so apprehensive but for some reason, he did.
The silver paper inside did nothing to ease his apprehension. What could possibly be in this letter? It was too fancy to be from an advertising company. So who could it be? His fingers shook slightly as he lifted out the soft silver paper. Something about the material seemed familiar to him.
He unfolded the letter carefully, his gut telling him to run to Kyuhyun and stay there. His heart was pounding and he had no idea why. He swallowed and opened the letter fully. His heart stopped as he read the words on the page.
I am watching you. I know where you live. I will have my revenge. I will not let you get away with what you have done. We are watching you, Sungmin. We know everything. Every move you make. A word of advice: don’t walk down a dark alley alone. You have been told. Now wait for the coming storm.
Sungmin’s breath caught in this throat. He now remembered where he saw this paper before. It used to be on Jiwon’s desk in his office. That meant his gang members had gone into his house and removed whatever the police hadn’t taken. And that meant they were out for revenge.
Sungmin had once seen them in action, taking out a banker who had squealed on them. It wasn’t pretty. He knew that he was their next target. And if he wasn’t careful, Kyuhyun might become one too if he wasn’t already. Sungmin bit his lip. He couldn’t let Kyuhyun know about this.
He stuffed the letter underneath one of the sofa cushions and sat on top of it, trembling. He heart Kyuhyun walking back and immediately arranged his face in a happy expression. He wouldn’t let Kyuhyun know. He felt a fear that he hadn’t felt since Jiwon. His ex was dead right? That meant he either faked his death, his gang members wanted payment for Jiwon’s suffering or….there was someone else in charge. Someone even more dangerous than his predecessor. And this terrified Sungmin most of all. Who could possibly be more treacherous than Jiwon?
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
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