"It's too late, Ri... T-They... S-Soohyuk got Yoona..."

 

Jiyong's expression remained stiff as he heard the urgent babblings from the other end. He held his phone in his hand and tried to speak up, only to realise that his voice had broke. He didn't know he could be that worried about something. Ever since he was left alone to run the entire triad, he had trained himself to be strong. He never once regretted his decision nor worried over unnecessary things but this time, he's worried sick. He swore to God that he would lose his sanity if anything was to happen to her. 

 

What exactly happened? 

 

This had to be dated back to several hours ago, or to be more precise, back to the time when the disastrous night with Yoona happened... 

 

After he tucked her into bed and left the apartment, his heart continued to ache and he didn't know how to make it better. He ended up spending his night in one of the clubs that he owned, drinking to wee hours. He kept drinking, images of Yoona flying across his mind. How he first met her, how she knelt down in front of him and pleasured him, how adamant she looked when she mistook him for killing her dad, how sorry she felt when she realised that he was actually protecting her and finally, her tears when he kept on abusing her... 

 

He shook his head, trying to erase the memory. It's a mistake that he could no longer redeem and he didn't want to touch her anymore, fearing that she would be hurt by him. He finally fell asleep and woke up only when one of his subordinates shook him by the arm gently, telling him that the club was closing. He stumbled out of the club with a throbbing head, only to realise that it was already morning. 

 

He rubbed his temples and frowned at the blinding sunrays. Putting on his sunglasses to make himself feel better, he realised that he didn't have any place to go to. Ever since he got together with Yoona, he spent most of his free time with her. But now that things had became this state... He didn't know what to do. He looked around and saw the sparse number of people walking to and fro along the streets, he felt lost. For the very first time. He closed his eyes and counted his breathings.

 

1...

2...

3...

 

He opened them and sighed, making a decision. He would sneak back to the apartment, grab his belongings and head back to his own house. There's no way he could stay with Yoona anymore. Not after all the things he had done to her that night and the things that she had done... He got into his car and drove back, silently hoping that she'd still be asleep. 

 

But of course, like what he'd said, 'What you want, you rarely get.'

 

"Y-You're awake..."

 

Yoona had actually woke up when he reached. Despite the crazy night yesterday, Yoona fought with her heavy eyelids as she struggled to get out of bed, her sore body resisting her. When the sunrays blinded her, waking her up, she felt around her and dawned with realisation that Jiyong was no longer there. 

 

She sat up, only to realise how sore her body was and what a mess she had become; hickeys all over her body, her long, wavy silky hair, clumped and tangled now and the messy bedroom that had only her clothes all over the floor. Sleepiness left her as she sighed, images of last night replaying in her mind, reminding her of the things that she had done. 

 

But there wasn't time for her to feel remorse nor in pain as she reached for her phone to check the time and ended up rushing for work. She was on morning shift and there was no time left for her to feel sorry at all. She headed for the shower straight, ignoring her aching body. She took a few moments under the warm, running water trying to wake herself up and also in a vain attempt to ease the soreness. She was in the midst of making a quick breakfast when she heard the sound of the lock opening. 

 

Jiyong sat at the dining table, watching her got busied with the breakfast. He couldn't help but smirked. Though she had tried really hard to cover the mess, traces of last night activity was evident. She seemed to be limping or perhaps walking in an uncomfortable position and she had put on thicker foundation than usual to cover all the angry marks that he had left on her. But his smirk faded as she joined him at the table, sitting opposite him.

 

"Y-You want to eat?" 

 

"It's fine. I'll just have a cup of black coffee."

 

Conversation between them turned cold instantly, each of them reminded of the things that they had done to the other party. Silence engulfed them as Yoona poked her food mindlessly and Jiyong sipping his coffee. None of them spoke up, afraid that a single word might just ignite the fire and destroy this peace. 

 

"I-I... I'd be staying in my own house for the time being..." Jiyong gave an inward sigh and broke the silence.

 

"O-Oh... O-Okays!" Yoona tried to stop herself from crying and pretended to be strong. "W-When will you be back?" 

 

"I don't know..." Jiyong sighed and looked at her. "Look. Yoona, I'm sor-"

 

"I-I'm heading to work now! W-We'll talk when I'm back okay?"

 

Yoona cut him off, feigning a smile as she got up and grabbed her bag immediately, wanting to avoid the conversation. The last thing she want now was to hear Jiyong saying that he's leaving her forever and putting a fullstop to their relationship. She knew she couldn't bear that. She could bear all the pains that he had inflicted on her but she would not be able to bear the fact of him calling it quits with her. Perhaps, Jiyong's scoldings was right. She's a ; she always had been one except that no one but him knew. It was hidden deep within her and Kwon Jiyong had awaken it and there was no way for her to tame it back. She needed him. Badly. 

 

"I-I'll send you there?"

 

Jiyong was surprised by her reaction. He thought she would have hated him but judging from her reaction, it seemed that it was more of an avoidance instead. He could never read what's on her mind and that scares him even more. He didn't know what to do to lessen her pain. He's clueless. Was she really afraid of him already? Did she finally realise that she wasn't in love with this monster in front of her? Should he let her go then? But he needed her though. Badly. 

 

"N-Nopes! I-I can just go ahead by myself. It's near anyway! S-See you!" Yoona made a run to the door, fearing that he was using this as an excuse to talk with her in the car and to end things. 

 

"Im Yoona... Tell me what should I do..."

 

Jiyong slumped into the couch as he watched the door closed with an urgent thud and the shuffling of footsteps became a distant shortly. He buried his face into his hands and let out a deep sigh, cursing at his stupidity. 

 

∞∞∞∞∞

 

An hour passed...

Two...

Three.

 

Jiyong stayed in his position, the entire apartment an eerie silence. He should be packing his belongings and leave right away but his legs weren't doing it at all. He continued to bury his face into his hands in frustration, feeling helpless at his situation. 

 

Ring!

 

The sound of his phone ringing broke the silence and he picked up the call, all ready to snap at the unlucky one who happened to call at the wrong timing. 

 

/Long time no see, Kwon Jiyong. Oh, I'm sorry. I mean GD.../

 

He froze as the voice rang from the other end before he could speak. The voice... That awfully familiar husky voice. He would never forget this voice. The owner of this voice was a friend, was a brother, was a family... 

 

Was. 

 

/H-Hyuk.../ 

 

/You don't have the right to call me that anymore Kwon Jiyong! You lost this right since 3 years ago! So don't ing use that tone on me!/ 

 

His heart twisted as shouts rang from the opposite end, sound of things being smashed could be heard. 

 

/J-Jiyong! Ji!/ 

 

But he wasn't given any time to feel sad as amidst the smashing sound, there was a faint cry and shout of his name. He stood rooted right at his spot, trying to hear the voice again and hoping that he had misheard it.

 

/You can stop hoping. You didn't misheard anything. I have your girl with me. Meet me alone at your Songdo warehouse in an hour's time if you still want to see her that is./ 

 

/D-Don't hurt her!/

 

/Her safety depends on you, GD-sshi~ You can arrange a funeral for her if I find out that you're not alone or that you can't make it here on time. Good luck./

 

/Ji! S-Save me!/ 

 

/Yoong! Yah! YOONA!/ 

 

Tut... Tut... Tut...

 

The line was cut off and so did the screams of despair and fear. As if things weren't bad enough for him already, he received another call from Lee Seunghyun thereafter, asking him to stay by Yoona's side. But it was all too late.

 

"AHHHHHH!" 

 

Jiyong lost control of himself as he bawled, giving a hard kick on the coffee table, causing it to shattered. The shards cut his skin, causing a burning sensation but he couldn't care less. What's a small cut when his beloved is now in danger and her last sentence for him was to save her? He shouldn't have vent his anger on her, he shouldn't have let her go to work alone, he should have listened to her explanation instead, he should have insisted on staying around her after knowing the news from Tiffany. He shouldn't have, he should have... He could blame himself a thousand of times but the fact remained the same.

 

Yoona was waiting for him to save her. 

 

"Yoong, I'm coming. I won't let you get into any danger..."

 

He clenched his fists tight and grabbed his coat and gun, heading to the destination given.

 

∞∞∞∞∞

 

"Uhm! Uhm!" 

 

"Yoong!" 

 

Sticking to the instructions, Jiyong arrived at the warehouse within the timeframe. He took a sniff and a strong pang of kerosene hit him hard, causing him to panic as he rushed into the warehouse. There he saw Yoona, her wrists being tied behind the back of the chair and had a gag in . 

 

And beside her, stood the person that he hadn't seen for ages; 3 years to be exact.

 

"Long time no see, Kwon Jiyong..." The person smirked as he played with his lighter, flipping it up and down. 

 

It was the exact same lighter that he had and he had wore the exact same expression; the anger... the betrayal... the hatred... 

 

"H-yuk-Soohyuk..." Jiyong was careful with his words as he tried to approach them. 

 

"Stay there!" He shouted, lighting up the lighter. "Take one more step and I'll burn this entire place!"

 

"O-Okays! Calm down Soohyuk..." Jiyong raised his hands up and froze. "We can talk things out. I know it's me that you guys are looking for. She's innocent. Just let her go first and I'm all yours." 

 

"Oh really?" The guy smirked as he held Yoona closer to him, lighting up his lighter and putting it close to her face. "Maybe you should have a feel of what it's like to lose someone you love too!"

 

"S-Stop! R-Relax Soohyuk!" Jiyong too, was frantic as he tried to convice him. "I don't love her at all! Who is the one who t-told you that she's my woman?! You know I don't settle down for any woman. Not Krystal and definitely not this woman... She-She's just a that happens to be capable of pleasing me in bed slightly longer than the other s. I was about to throw her away already!"

 

Yoona was crying as she looked at Jiyong into the eyes, her body trembling in fear. There's fear in her but more than that, it was her heart bleeding. She could understand that he's just trying to lie to the kidnapper but still, her heart wringed when she heard those words coming out from him. And in addition to the fact that they just had a huge fight the previous night, there was a small part in her that actually believed that he might mean what he had said. 

 

"And you still have the cheek to talk about Krystal!" The guy got even more agitated as he snarled. "You don't have the right to even mention her name!" 

 

"Then come and get me. Tell Seunghyun hyung to come get me!" Jiyong shouted back. "Leave this woman alone!" 

 

"That's what you want isn't it? Degrading her so that I would let her go? I'm not stupid, Kwon Jiyong," he shook his head and became calm as he pulled Yoona's hair. "I'm surprise when I first saw her too. Are you trying to redeem your guilt here?" 

 

"Soohyuk please... I beg you. Just let her go... Whatever you want in exchange, I'll give it to you. Even if it's my life..." Jiyong knelt down slowly and was actually begging. 

 

"Wow. The formidable GD is BEGGING me?" He gave a cold chuckle before giving a fierce expression. "I think her life is worth more than yours, Kwon Jiyong. I know you too well. You don't mind risking your life for the ones you love. And this girl, is one rare person that you love. Honestly, I was surprised when I heard the news of you settling down for a girl but after meeting and interacting with her, I now know why. Looks like Kwon Jiyong has a pain point too~" 

 

"Seunghyun hyung... W-Where's he?" 

 

"You think I would let him come?" He answered. "He would kill you in a blink. You and I both know that he wants to kill you much more than I do. But I won't let that happen. I don't think you deserve to die. You deserve to stay alive, stay alive and feel the pain that Seunghyun hyung had bore for the past 3 years. How could you even bear to do that Kwon Jiyong. I'm amazed even till now..."

 

"I know it's my fault... You guys can do anything to me, but just let her go... Yes, I'm begging you..." Jiyong was beginning to cry as he knelt down. 

 

"When I first saw her picture, I was shocked," The guy ignored his pleading and continued on. "That's why I hid it from Seunghyun hyung. He can't see this. Kwon Jiyong, are you really out to ruin this brotherhood..." 

 

"I'm not... I never once gave up on our ties..." Jiyong had his head bent down, acting as pitiful as he could. 

 

"You think not retaliating after we snatched your turfs and getting this woman's father to kill you, will let us forgive you that easily?" He asked. "Try harder, Kwon Jiyong."

 

"I'm trying! But you guys are not letting me!" Jiyong shouted as he took advantage of the fact that the other party had his guards down and charged towards him. "I didn't mind you all coming at me but don't touch this girl!" 

 

They ended up in a fist fight as Yoona trie