Shadows of the Zaibatsu

It had been days. Weren't they supposed to be in a damn relationship? No, what kind of relationship was it when that boy kept running off to stalk another man? Who knew where he was now. Paul made his way up the stairs to the apartment door. Maybe Hwoarang was there now, but it was doubtful. He should have known better than to get involved with someone so young, but it had been impossible to resist when the opportunity presented itself.

He leaned against the wall, preparing for a long wait as he rapped the door with his knuckles.

It only took a few seconds before the door opened, but it didn't reveal Hwoarang. Instead, the man standing there was Baek Doo San. "Good morning, Mr. Phoenix."

Oh yeah, it was that man's apartment! But wasn't he supposed to have gone back to the states soon? He had no clue, really. The problem was how to handle this without looking suspicious. "Heya pal, how's it going? I'm looking for Hwoarang."

"You are?" Baek asked curiously. "You don't exactly look dressed for business, but then again, that's not commonly seen from my boy either. So... why are you looking for him?"

"We... spar every now and then." Damn, that didn't sound convincing. Paul attempted a friendly smile to cover up his obvious lie. "Is he around? I haven't heard from him in awhile."

"He's not here right now, no." Baek frowned. "Spar? He must have improved since the last time I saw him fight..."

Paul shrugged and glanced down at his watch. Where the hell would that damn redhead be at that time of day? "He's a good martial artist. He learned from the best, right?" He winked and then paused. "Do you know where he is?"

Baek gave him a tired gaze. "No, I'm not sure. But if Jun Kazama got her way, he's probably visiting her son. What do you think?"

So that's what that damn woman was trying to do? Why the hell did he help her then?! Paul groaned and shook his head with annoyance. It bothered him that even Baek knew the brat was running around with the devil child. "What the fuck is with that obsession of his? Last I heard, he was at the Zaibatsu, but that was... days ago. Did he come home and go back?"

A smirk slowly crept upon the older Korean's face. "So you agree with me? Him associating with Jin Kazama is a bad idea, isn't it? Those Mishima family games are dangerous!"

"Yeah, I agree alright! I didn't like Kazuya from the start. That's not a man who should be breeding, if ya know what I mean, and Jin is the proof." Paul grimaced as he looked the man over. It was nice to know the legendary 'Master Baek' didn't approve of that little crush, and the man was attractive too. Very attractive...

The Korean nodded. "Indeed. Something needs to be done about that relationship." He crossed his arms. "Do you want to come inside for a moment?"

"Thanks." Considering what he had just been thinking when he was invited in, it was hard to stop his train of thought from going in the south direction. Paul walked in and looked around, unsure how to behave. He had never been there while Baek was there before, so he figured it was probably best to act like more of a guest than he usually did with Hwoarang. He took off his shoes - they weren't tied up all the way anyway, and his eyes drifted back to the other Korean. "Must be a pain to bring girlfriends home with that kid of yours, huh?"

Baek stared at him for a few moments. "I don't do girlfriends." He stated simply, then moved over towards the kitchen door. "I was about to open a bottle of sake, and I'd like you to join me."

Paul quirked a brow and followed the man to the kitchen. "You don't do girlfriends? What do you do? You gotta get off somehow, don't you?"

"I do boyfriends." Baek said with his back turned, opening a cupboard and taking out two glasses. As he placed them on the table, he added, "I want to talk to you about how to prevent Hwoarang and Jin's relationship." Then, the Korean turned to a different cupboard, retrieving the promised bottle of sake.

Now that was something he hadn't seen coming! Paul gawked a moment and then blinked, trying to figure out what had just been said. "Uh... Yeah, sure. It ain't gonna be easy, though. We can't really kidnap them for brainwashing."

"If it was easy, why talk about it?" Baek sat down, filling a glass generously and shoving it across the table to the blond, not without spilling a few drops. He looked awkwardly at the bottle for a few moments, then apparently decided to pour himself a glass as well.

"Good point." Paul watched the man as he sat down and took a sip of the alcohol. If Baek was gay, and Hwoarang had been trying to hide his own sexuality for so long, maybe Baek knew more than he let on normally. "So, uh. What do you think we're preventing here? What sort of relationship is it that those two might have?" To make the question seem less weird, he leaned back in his chair and acted as casual as possible.

"What kind of a question is that?" Furrowing his brows, the Korean leant his head back and downed the glass in one go... was that how you drank sake? He grimaced, stating in an annoyed voice, "if you don't stop playing stupid, we will never get anywhere."

"I ain't playing stupid. I don't know how far they've gotten, and from that answer, I'm beginning to think I don't want to know. As far as I knew, Hwoarang was only wandering around outside the Zaibatsu. He hasn't called me or anything since he actually got in, so if nobody tells me anything, what am I supposed to think?" Paul took a deep breath, going over what he had said to make sure he hadn't said too much. Did that sound too jealous? A concerned friend would act like that too.

Baek swallowed, picking up the bottle to slowly pour himself another glass. As he replaced it on the floor, he shook his head. "I'm wasting my time with you."

Paul scowled and downed his sake. Might as well finish the alcohol before he got kicked out. "I just wanted to know if they're fucking yet. So let's just say it doesn't matter - I think it does, but, what do I know - then if we're going to end it or prevent it, we're gonna have to... make them not like each other?"

After pouring Paul more sake, Baek leant back and crossed his arms. "That sounds like a possible option. Any ideas on how?"

Really pushing his brain to the limit, wasn't he? Paul tried to come up with something. How could they make those two not like each other? How was that even possible? "Well, if we somehow made Jin think Hwoarang betrayed him... Then he'd probably kill him. Okay, that won't work."

The Korean thought about that for a bit. "That only works if we manage to prevent Jin from killing Hwoarang. Which might be plausible in the short run, but real hard in the long run."

"And even then, you know Hwoarang will just stalk him again." Paul drank the sake again and eyed the Korean. It was getting more difficult to hide his interest, so he didn't bother. That guy would probably be too soaked in denial to notice. "We need to humble Jin. That'll do the trick."

That seemed to hit home. "Yes!" Baek said with a grin, "now there's a concept worth exploring." He filled Paul's glass again, then got a somewhat distant expression. "Now how do we humble Jin..."

Paul blinked, completely distracted from the topic. That had to be the first time he saw that man grin. Was humbling Jin really that exciting? He got up to move his chair closer to the man, and put a hand on the back of Baek's chair. The confused glance that came in response only amused the American further. "I never noticed how goddamn ho..." Bad idea! He stopped himself as he realised how bad hitting on that man could be. Paul cleared his throat and grabbed his sake glass to drink half of it. "I mean... I don't know. What would make your student lose respect for someone?"

After thinking for a bit, the Korean drew a deep breath. "He needs to see him weak. Lose a fight, lose something important." He concluded, lifting his glass to take a slow sip.

"Right, and who's going to beat Jin? I've been training for a long damn time to beat Kazuya, so I could probably take Jin down, but I don't want to be the one to rip Hwoarang out of his dream world. I'd lose my... sparring partner." Convincing yet? Could only hope.

"So, who else?" Baek asked, curiously. The Korean quirked his brow as he thought about it. "I hope my boy will know better than just starting stalking whoever wins against Jin..."

Now that was a good point. Paul smirked and drank the rest of the sake in his cup. In a joking grumble, he responded, "get a woman to beat him. Stalking wouldn't be a problem then."

With a light sigh, the Korean reached over to fill Paul's glass again. "A woman beating Jin? I have my doubts."

Had that guy even started on his second? Paul couldn't quite remember. He couldn't remember how many he had so far either. Maybe around three or so. "Yeah, well. Maybe you should kick his ass. Cheat if you have to. It's for a good cause, right?"

The Korean considered that for a while, finishing his glass and filling it again. "I'm not sure if that would even help." He concluded. "I wonder if they would have any interest in each other, or if this is all Kazama Jun's work..."

"Are you serious? Have you even met your student? Well, yeah, he's been trying to hide a lot from you, but he's been obsessed with that Kazama guy since they met. Believe me, Jun had nothing to do with that." Paul downed his drink and then got up before any more could be poured for him. Maybe it was the alcohol, but it was becoming harder to carry on a conversation without imagining that distinguished Korean bucking and writhing beneath him... "I can't let my training slip. I've gotta go find another 'sparring' partner before you get me too drunk."

"You're still hiding something..." Baek mused, "... but I suppose it's not necessarily any of my business." He pushed to his feet. "Well, let's both check our options, and then talk again?"

"I've got nothing to hide." Pulling a card out of his jeans pocket, Paul placed it on the table and then began walking out. He smirked confidentially back at the other man. "That's my cell number. If you think of anything, I'll be more than happy to help out."

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This is a collab, written together with Chlover. You can find her author profile here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=26260