Daehyun's POV

The night before lunch with Eunyoung

I was walking past Boss's room when I heard my name being mentioned by a familiar voice. I decided to eavesdrop.

"Everything that happened to Daehyun was planned?" I managed to hear this bit of information coming from Hyerin.

"You can't blame me when he was the one who offended him. You know how I work. They pay me, I do it ." Boss said. It really wasn't a coincidence. I'm the target... I guess now is the time.

"I want out." I entered the room.

"Daehyun!" Hyerin was shocked I entered just like that. It didn't matter if I was rude. I want to leave.

"Are you sure?" Boss asked, not feeling surprised at all.

"Yes." I replied.

"You know it's not going to be easy to leave right?" He questioned. 

"State your terms. " I said. I wasn't sure where I got the guts from to talk to boss like that but I was already angry at the fact that he could accept money to hurt his own people or maybe I wasn't even considered as his people.

"$100 000." He smirked.

"So much?!" Hyerin asked. I was shocked too.

"I make the rules." Boss said. Judging from his words, there were no fixed rules. It could be any amount. Where am I going to find $100 000? 

"How about I give you another option? A battle." He asked when I had nothing to say about the sum. A battle didn't sound as bad as $100 000 but I don't think it would be this simple. The other option would have to be of an equal value. He wouldn't do something that he would cause him to make a loss.

"What's the catch?" I asked.

"You can't retaliate." He added. I knew it wouldn't be that simple. He probably knew that I will have difficulty raising that sum and would most likely find joy seeing me in pain.

"But-" Before Hyerin could continue, Boss interrupted her.

"This is not your business, you don't have a say." He told Hyerin.

"You have a day to decide. Now get out." He said to me. I left the room with Hyerin.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything to help you." She said when we exited the room.

"I was prepared for that. It's not your fault. I don't want you to fight with your dad because of me." 

"He was making things difficult for you. We didn't even collect this much from the last person who left the gang..." She said.

"Is that person still alive?" I asked. Hyerin nodded.

"I guess I'm just unlucky. Did you find out who was behind this?" I asked, accepting reality.

"Jaehyun." She revealed.

"That bastard." I cursed. Everything made sense now. I was always the only one getting into trouble for no reason. I really need to leave. I should have known that he was planning something when I saw him around.

"What are you going to do now?" Hyerin asked.

"Sleep. I'll figure something out tomorrow." I replied.

"I would help you if I could..." She said. 

"I don't want to put you in a spot. Helping me find out who was behind this was already helpful enough. Thank you." I said.

"How about your Hyung or Eunyoung?" She suggested.

"I'll think about it." 

Lunch with Young didn't affect my decision. I could only make that option. I just really wanted to see her. Even if Young doesn't mind, I mind. I cannot bring myself to ask her for money again. I haven't even return the previous sum. I can't take advantage of her like this. Besides, even if I get hurt, I'll eventually recover from the bruises. I wouldn't have to drag Young down with me because of my problems.

The fight was set three days later.

D-Day

I can't wait to get this day over and done with. There was nothing else I could do. Gang have rules and I knew it from the start. I should have left sooner. I'm just thankful they didn't find out about Young after our break up.

I reached the warehouse and was shocked to see such a big group waiting for me. I guess I was like a warning to the rest that leaving wasn't as simple. 

"There you are. Let's start. Remember, no fighting back. I promise you get to keep your life." Boss announced.

"Go!" He shouted as three people came running towards me. I should have known that he wouldn't play fair. I didn't expect to be up against more than one opponent. 

They took turns throwing kicks and punches towards me. I could only try my best to block them. There was only so many hits I coud block and resist before I started losing my strength. The crowd circled around us and was getting rather rowdy. I stole a few glances at some of my members, they looked away, not being able to help me. I didn't blame them. However, there were also a few that I thought were friends cheering for me to get beaten. Were they putting up a show or they have never considered me as a member at all? Then, one of them threw a strong punch to my abdomen area while I was busy blocking my head from attacks. I really wanted to fight back but I'm afraid that it would make leaving even more difficult. I'm just thankful that it wasn't like last time when Young had to witness my weak side.

Then came another hard hit at the back of my knee which caused me to fall over and landed on the floor. I was still hanging on, trying to protect myself. Everywhere hurts. I wondered when they would stop. Endure Daehyun!

"Three minutes!" Boss shouted.

One of them grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me upwards. They made me stand before attacking me again. I was on the verge of collasping when I heard Hyerin's voice.

"Daehyun watch out!" She shouted as she ran towards us. It was too late. I felt the sudden pain on my back. How dirty of them to use a knife. I felt the blade sliced my back. My body couldn't take it and I fell.

"Father enough! Stop them!" Hyerin shouted as she tried to push them away from me. They looked at boss waiting for further instructions as they didn't dare to lay a finger on Hyerin. All the attacks stopped when boss raised his palm, a sign to stop everything.

"I'm sorry I came late." She said as she tried to help me up. 

"Daehyun stay awake!" That was the last thing I heard before I out.

Eunyoung's POV

I felt like I woke up from the wrong side of bed today. Things weren't going well. I spilled tea and scalded my fingers because I felt uneasy and wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I sent out emails to the wrong people and got reprimanded. What's wrong with me? 

"Youngie! I brought your favourites! Come and eat." Mommy brought food for us again.

"I'm doing something! Later." I was annoyed when Mommy interrupted my train of thoughts. 

"Alright. Go to Daddy's office once you're done." Mommy replied.

"Sorry. Let's go." I apologized. I immediately felt guilty for raising my voice at Mommy.  

"What's wrong?" She asked as she place her palm on my shoulder while we walked to Daddy's office.

"Nothing. I just feel slightly irritated." I told her.

"Because of work?" She asked. I shook my head. 

"It's okay. I'm sure this feeling will disappear." I assured her.

"Don't bottle up your feelings alright?" Mommy said. I nodded.

"I was waiting for you. I'm hungry." Daddy whined a little when we opened the door. We then sat and ate together.

"Why are your fingers red?" Mommy asked when she saw my hands as I was scooping food.

"I accidentally spilled hot water." I said.

"Why so careless?" Daddy asked as he inspected the seriousness of the scald. Mommy lightly smacked his knee and shook her head.

"We'll treat it later. Eat first." Mommy said. I nodded and ate. The both of them talked while I just sat and ate, not really in the mood.

I went back to work after lunch but my mood didn't get better. I messed up an entire page of calculations and had to redo it. I was angry with myself.

Finally, it was time to knock off from work and hopefully it's also the end of feeling uncomfortable. I hope tomorrow will be a better day.

I reached home and got ready for bed since I wasn't in the mood to do anything else. Just when I thought things would get better, I accidentally bumped my toe at the edge of the door. I really can't wait to get this day done and over with.

'Are you busy?' I texted Daehyun in bed, getting ready to sleep. I unknowingly fell asleep while waiting for his reply.

I was in a room, my hands and legs tied up on a bed. Everything was a blur. A finger was gently tracing down my forehead, my nose, my lips then my chin. The touch suddenly became agressive as the person's thumb and finger squeezed my cheeks and kissed me forcefully. I struggled but it was of no use. I bit the person's lip while struggling and he landed a slap on my cheek.  I could suddenly see things clearly now. Jaehyun. I started crying when I saw how cunning he looked. His finger then continued tracing down my chin, my neck and then landed on my blouse. He gave an evil smirk before ing my blouse from the top. He was taking his time. I tried shouting for help but no words came out of my mouth. Jaehyun then pointed to the other side of the room with a smile. Daehyun! Daehyun was tied up against a wall and was getting beaten up. I tried shouting for them to stop hurting him but again, no words came out. Daehyun struggled and kicked around vigorously and had a furious look when he saw what Jaehyun was doing to me. Jaehyun grabbed my blouse and smiled again. 

"NO!" I shouted as I sat up, clutching onto my blouse and took deep breaths.

"It's not real. It's just a nightmare.'" I convinced myself. I got up and headed to the kitchen to get some water. I didn't want to stay in bed any longer so I ended sitting on the chair, resting my head on my desk.

It's been awhile since I last had nightmares. This one was slightly different because it was the only one where Daehyun was watching and getting beaten, not able to do anything...

I checked my phone and realised that Daehyun had not replied my message. Was he really that busy or maybe he forgot to reply? I wanted to call him but it's two in the morning and I didn't want to disturb him.

I tried closing my eyes to try to go back to sleep but I couldn't.  I decided to just watch some videos to calm myself down and distract me.

About 15 minutes later, Daehyun's name flashed on my screen. He called me! But at this hour?

"Hello? You're awake? Why didn't you reply my message?" I blabbered.

"Hello, is this Eunyoung?" A girl's voice said. 

"Who are you? Why is Daehyun's phone with you?" I asked, feeling suspicious.

"I'm Hyerin. Daehyun's in the hospital, seriously injured." She said.

"I'm on my way. Please keep me updated." I said as I grabbed my wallet and rushed out. I called a cab headed towards the hospital.

"Uncle please hurry." I said to the cab driver. Don't let anything happen to you Daehyun. Please be safe. 

From being distracted and having that uneasy feeling from this morning to the bad dream, I should have sensed that something wasn't right from the start. Why am I so stupid?

I finally reached the hospital and paid the cab driver before dashing out.

"Jung Daehyun. Where is he?" I asked impatiently.

"Calm down Miss. It's not visiting hours. You can come back in the morning." The staff said.

"I'm his fiancee! I heard he was hurt! Please! I need to see him! I'm sure you would do the same too if it's your family member! Please just this once! You can arrange a private ward for him so that the other patients won't be disturbed. I promise I won't disturb the other patients." I pleaded.

The staff let out a sigh and finally told me Daehyun's ward. I thanked her and ran towards his ward.

I opened the door and saw Hyerin. How did she manage to stay? She quickly removed her grip from Daehyun's hand the moment she saw me. I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't cautious against her. Keep calm Eunyoung.

I went to his bedside and noticed he was asleep. His face was covered with bruises and I was too afraid that I would hurt him if I touched him.

"What happened? How did he end up in this state?" I questioned her. She was the one who brought him here. She should have some answers.

"Let's talk outside." Hyerin said. Seeing that Daehyun was still asleep and I didn't want to disturb him, I followed her out.

"What happened? Why is he so badly injured and you seem perfectly fine?!" I was losing my patience and ended venting on her. She didn't seem hurt at all. I can't help but think that Daehyun got hurt because he was protecting her.

"He wanted to leave the gang. It was his choice. I should have stopped them but there are some things that even I had no say. I came late. When I reached he was already in a bad shape.The doctor said his life is not in danger. I'm sorry. " She explained. 

"They beat him up like this because he wanted to leave?" I questioned. She avoided making eye contact with me. I should have known they resort to violence to everything in their world. 

"I think you should ask Daehyun when he wakes up. It's not for me to say. Since you're here, I'll make a move." Hyerin said.

"Wait. I know you like him." I said as she turned to walk. She stopped her tracks. It's about time we settle this.

Finally got this chapter out! I have been waiting for this. Hope you enjoyed reading!