Page 23 of Damian & Jun, Episodes 13-16
Damian looked towards the kitchen. Any moment Émeric, Jun, and Collin would be back with the wine and sides, ready to eat. “He has to be wondering if his father is good or bad, Sevastyan’s accomplice, or someone else caught like Rei.”
Richard gazed at Damian, thoughts turning behind his eyes. “What do you think of Sevastyan’s loyalty?”
Damian breathed out, looking out the window again. “His loyalty is to Rei. And perhaps Ellisandre.”
“Jun trusts him.”
And what did that say of Jun? Damian let out a slow breath. “Jun is used to snakes. Wolves make him relax.”
Richard’s lips twisted in wry agreement. “You owe Sevastyan.”
“For rescuing Jun?”
“No. For Thaddeus. If I were a betting man, I’d put money Ellisandre and Sevastyan turned him in. They have the skill. I was wondering who Ellisandre had gotten to help them. I’d almost decided on Alice and Ash.”
Damian blinked, slowly. Oh.
Richard chuckled, a hint of strain in his tone. “Ellisandre doesn’t take well to their family being threatened.”
Collin and Jun returned, followed by Émeric. Richard sat and Collin settled in his lap. Damian had moved the single chairs to the side and put the shorter couch facing the larger one across the coffee table. Jun curled up with his feet under him beside Damian and leaned into him, plate on his thigh.
Damian closed his eyes, feeling the press of Jun’s shoulder against his and the heat on his tongue, his ears tuned to the soft sounds of his family eating together. The food was spicy and filling. He needed to save up this moment, to live fully inside it. Moments like these were not promised. The numbers of times he would be able to do this again was unknown.
Jun
Jun scrubbed the bottom of the enchilada pan. Beside him, Collin dried the silverware. It was just the two of them in the kitchen. Émeric was setting out after-dinner drinks and dessert. Richard had gone to check in with their security details for the evening. He didn’t know where Damian was, but if he had to guess, he was calling Armada.
“Will you tell them? Su-jin, Geun, Jaewoong, and Yohei?” Collin said all of a sudden.
Jun scrubbed harder. He’d been thinking about that since earlier. “I don’t think so. They can’t change anything. We’re a team. I want to tell them. But if they say the wrong thing in the wrong place, Rei could be dead.” Jun looked up.
Collin was regarding him with compassion. “If they don’t know, they can’t mess up.”
Jun nodded, feeling his lips turn down at the corner. It felt like a wedge between him and the others. He’d told them everything before, even when he’d started having concerns about Bak Gyeong’s payments to 5N. To not tell the others about this felt like a betrayal.
“I’ll tell them about the warrant when it comes through. It would be odd if they didn’t know. But not the rest.” He shook his head and shrugged, going back to scrubbing. “Like Ellisandre and Émeric said earlier, the less said the better.”
Knowledge was power; it was also a responsibility. Would the others want to know? They’d want to help carry the burden, but they would want Rei as safe as possible; they would want Jun as safe as possible. No, for the moment, they could best help by not knowing. That much more of their thoughts would be available for what they were already doing, preparing for the comeback, writing a new album.
Because that was important. That was now part of the plan. More than careers now rested on the music they released.
They had a trap to finish setting.
Damian
It had been a mere week since Sevastyan’s visit. Each day since had stretched to fill a week on its own. The hours were neither long enough to encompass the tasks to be accomplished, nor short enough to move Damian closer to the peace he was fighting for. Which was why he was meeting Collin and Jun at the Church on a Sunday morning instead of having a quiet weekend. His suit and tie was already on from a breakfast meeting.
Inside the sanctuary, the equipment from shooting the music video was mostly cleared away. Damian looked up towards the roof. Clear sheeting covered the holes still there, allowing sunlight to stream in. Perhaps they should leave the openings. The one tree growing out of the wall was valiantly straining upwards. Its root system couldn’t be good for the walls, but it was beautiful all the same.
Jun and Collin looked like they’d also been awake for hours. They both wore work clothes. Gloves were stuffed in the thigh pocket of Jun’s dark brown Carhart pants, the same ones he’d worn for the music video. Collin wore an identical style in blue. They stood close together in front of the alter, their heads bent towards each other and over whatever they were looking at. Jun’s hand was on Collin’s lower back, his finger caught in the top of Collin’s belt.
Like brothers, or lovers.
Damian snapped a photo to share with Émeric and Richard, before calling out a greeting. It was the moments, these moments, that mattered.
“Wolfling, Kitten.” He only dared to use their private names because Cedric had confirmed the sanctuary was secure and empty. Their personal security teams were outside, patrolling from a distance and giving them privacy.
Jun and Collin turned around, smiles on both of their faces. They waited for him. Behind them the altar had been cleaned and covered with a tarp. Architect drawings were spread out over the surface.
