….
They made it three steps into the lobby before Jin-Ho spoke again, his voice even lower this time, stripped of all humor.
"One more thing."
Tony glanced sideways at him, noting the shift in tone. "What now? You want my car too?"
Jin-Ho, still half a step behind, spoke without looking at him. "I wouldn't mind that... but it's about that Baldie. I don't know."
His voice dropped lower. "Something about him feels... off."
That was it.
Tony didn't answer right away, but his stride hitched - barely noticeable, just enough to show he had heard.
"You do realize we talked with two baldies on the way here, right?"
"You already know which one I mean."
And with that, the conversation died.
Tony heard enough to tuck it away somewhere in the back of his mind - the part that liked connecting dots when the world went quiet.
Who knew his exact route in Afghanistan? Who had access to his detailed schedule? Who would benefit most if Tony Stark was permanently out of the picture?
The answer to all three questions was walking twenty feet ahead of them, smiling that practiced smile.
Tony filed the thought away for later - when he had time to dig deeper, to find evidence, to confirm what his gut was already starting to suspect.
For now, he had a press conference to deal with.
"You better be wrong." He doesn't want to be convinced.
….
The press conference was chaos - controlled chaos, but chaos nonetheless.
Tony sat on the floor instead of behind the podium, eating another burger while cameras flashed and reporters shouted questions.
Jin-Ho, meanwhile, caught movement near the far end of the lobby - some man in a pressed suit sliding up to Pepper, flashing a business card, murmuring something about an organization.
SHIELD?
Jin-Ho knows better not to get noticed by them, with his 'mutant' powers.
Even so, his shoulders stayed tight, eyes tracking just long enough to read posture and tone before he forced himself to look away.
Honestly, his body felt like a cracked vessel - running on instinct more than strength now - but his guard didn't drop.
Up front, Tony dropped the line that would detonate across Wall Street:
"Stark Industries will no longer manufacture weapons."
The room erupted.
Obadiah stepped forward, trying to salvage the situation. "Tony's been through a traumatic experience, we should give him time—"
But Tony was immovable, jaw set, eyes hard.
Jin-Ho watched Obadiah's face carefully during those moments - saw the flash of anger, quickly masked, saw the calculations happening behind those concerned eyes.
After the press conference dissolved into barely organized pandemonium, Tony found Jin-Ho waiting near a side exit.
"Happy ending to your little speech." Jin-Ho commented. "Really brought down the house."
"And the stock prices." Tony added dryly. "Should be bottoming out right about... now."
Jin-Ho pulled out a phone. "Your accountant is probably having a heart attack."
"Where did you even get that phone from?" Tony was sure Jin-Ho couldn't have bought it in such a short time.
"That guy... Happy, right? I borrowed it from him." Jin-Ho replied without looking up.
Tony blinked. "You mean pickpocketed it?"
He could imagine it happening with the kid's powers.
"I said 'borrowed', didn't I?"
"How the hell do you even know his password?"
"He is your head of security, yeah?" Jin-Ho shrugged. "His password's literally 'Password.'"
Tony was completely speechless. "...You are kidding."
"Nope."
"Unbelievable." Tony muttered, shaking his head. "The guy guards me, and his password is something a teenager could guess."
Jin-Ho said, scrolling through a news app. "Looks like your company's stock is already tanking."
Tony shot him a look. "Yeah. That's the price of being the good guy - well, trying to be."
Meanwhile, up ahead, Happy was visibly struggling to control the crowd - sweating, waving his arms, completely unaware that his phone was in Jin-Ho's hands.
Tony sighed, rubbing his temples. "I should really start giving out IQ tests before hiring people."
"Maybe. But I kinda like his simplicity."
"We might have finally landed on mutual agreement."
Jin-Ho nodded, then his expression shifted, and became more serious. "I need to check on Yinsen. Hospital?"
"I will have Happy drive us." Tony muttered, patting his pockets uselessly.
….
About Yinsen's condition.
Weak, yes. Pale, definitely.
But fine, which was somehow the most surreal part for the doctors who treated him - witnessing how serious the wound was, and the blood loss.
Tony stood at the foot of the bed, listening as the doctors rattled off medical jargon - successful surgery, stable vitals, full recovery expected in two to three months with proper rest and physical therapy.
Jin-Ho stayed near the window, quiet, just... listening.
"You are going to be fine." Tony said, and the relief in his voice was almost palpable. "Better than fine. I will make sure you have the best care, the best—"
"Tony." Yinsen's voice was rough but warm. "I know. Thank you."
They talked for a while longer - about Yinsen's family waiting for him, about the village he wanted to return to, about second chances and time earned instead of wasted.
Jin-Ho contributed less to the conversation than usual.
Finally, the nurses started giving them pointed looks - visiting hours were stretching thin, and Yinsen needed rest.
When they were leaving the ward, Jin-Ho stopped near the doorway, looked back once, and said. "You might need to prepare another bed, Tony."
Tony turned, confused. "What—?"
Then Jin-Ho swayed, half-smiled, and hit the floor.
"Hey—!"
Tony dropped beside him, panic spiking, but the doctors were already rushing in.
For a few tense seconds it looked bad, then one of them checked his pulse. "He is fine." the doctor said, almost bemused. "Just... completely exhausted. His body shut down."
Tony exhaled, part relief, part disbelief. The kid had fought his way out of a war zone and only now decided to collapse.
As they carried him to an empty bed, Jin-Ho's voice floated faintly from the edge of sleep.
"Makkkeee suuuree... no fan... under my head..."
Tony blinked, trying to parse that. "What? Fan? Kid, what are you—"
But Jin-Ho was already gone, lost to sleep so deep it looked like a coma.
….
Jin-Ho slept for an entire day.
Twenty-four hours of deep, dreamless sleep while his body desperately tried to repair itself.
Tony, having been checked, prodded, and given a clean bill of health - relatively speaking - found himself checking on the kid periodically between meetings with lawyers, accountants, and concerned board members.
When Jin-Ho finally woke up, it was afternoon.
"About time." came a familiar voice.
Jin-Ho turned his head - slowly, because everything still felt a bit disconnected, to find Tony sitting in a chair beside the bed, looking far better than he had yesterday.
Clean clothes, shaved, the Arc Reactor visible through his shirt but no longer looking quite so much like a car battery duct-taped to his chest.
"How long was I out?" Jin-Ho's voice was rough.
"A day. You snore, by the way."
Jin-Ho blinked. "No, I don't…"
"Yeah, you do. Loud enough to scare off the nurses."
"That must be because they couldn't handle my handsome face."
That earned a quiet grin from both - the kind shared by people who had walked too close to death and made it back anyway.
Over the next few hours, various people filtered through - doctors, nurses, even Pepper stopping by with concerned looks and a fruit basket that Jin-Ho eyed with deep suspicion.
"What's wrong with fruit?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Nothing. It's just... suspiciously healthy."
Tony snorted. "He has been living on cave rations and fast food for three months. Real food confuses him now."
But eventually, it was just Tony and Jin-Ho again, sitting in comfortable silence.
After a beat, Jin-Ho exhaled, rubbing at his legs. "Can we go for a walk? My legs feel like concrete."
….
They ended up on the hospital roof - technically off-limits, but Tony Stark didn't really do 'off-limits' - watching the sun sink toward the Los Angeles skyline.
Jin-Ho stood at the edge of the roof, hands in his pockets, staring out at nothing and everything.
"I think… I should get going." he said finally.
"Are you trying to act cool?"
"Was it too obvious?"
"Right. You should take notes from me."
"Well, I can't do that as I am leaving now."
Tony's expression shifted - amusement fading into something more serious. "Is this serious? I thought you were messing around again."
"Well… Nope, I wasn't."
"But leaving where? When? And how?"
"Soon… like now maybe?"
Jin-Ho glanced back at him. And for the first time since they had met, he looked like an uncertain teenager–
"I don't belong here, Tony–
"This... this isn't my world."
"You are still sticking to that story of yours."
Jin-Ho turned fully to face him. "We are way past the point to make it a joke."
….
.
[To be continued…]
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