Daniel slammed his textbook closed, tossing it across the room where it landed in a fluttering heap beside the bed. His phone was ringing, no, blaring a stupid little jingle that had played so many times he knew it note for note. Snatching the device off the desk, he hit the answer button and pressed it to his ear.

    “I told you never to call me at this number,” he growled, his voice cold and icy but lacking venom despite the rage that filled his veins. He was tired. And how could he not be? Forty-eight hours without sleep would be taxing on anyone, but especially on someone who exerted the sheer amount of mental energy that he did. All he wanted was to study, to at least try to fulfill his promise and work on some of his homework. But he hadn’t had a free moment to himself all day! His Friday evening, by the grace of God, had been a pleasant one, spent in the warm comfort of Professor Lanh’s presence, filled with casual conversation and light teasing that had made his very soul sing. But his Saturday, from the time he climbed out of his cold, sleepless bed, had been nonstop calls from an annoying family member he never wanted to speak to in the first place. When it rang again, after an hour or so of peace, he was both surprised and pissed off that the call came from another number entirely. 

    “Yeah, well, how else was I supposed to reach you, Daniel? I can’t call you at school, I can’t call you on your cell–how am I supposed to contact you? A letter? Should I attach it to a pigeon?”

    “Haven’t you figured it out yet that maybe I don’t want you to contact me? At all?” he asked. His uncle heaved a haggard sigh, his heavy Korean accent growing more prominent the more he spoke. For him to even be speaking English he had to be around someone he trusted. Someone American. Someone who had no ties to their lives ten years ago.

    “Daniel, my boy, I need to talk to you. It’s important. Your father has tried calling dozens of times and you refuse to answer him. Do your old uncle a favor and meet with me–somewhere public–so we can discuss things. Please, this is your safety on the line,” he said. The urgency in his voice was what really got his attention, even though every enraged fiber of his being begged him to hang up and chunk the phone at the wall hard enough to shatter it. Daniel played idly with the a notebook that glided past him, sending it spinning to the other side of the room with barely a thought as he weighed his options. On one hand, his uncle would never leave him alone if he didn’t talk to him, but on the other, if he met with him perhaps he could talk him into getting off his back.

    “Fine. O’Riley’s pub on Eighteenth in half an hour. If you’re even a second late, I’m leaving.” 

    “Done. I’m headed there right now. Just, please, stay safe–” he started but Daniel ended the call. The last thing he wanted to hear from anyone was how safe he needed to be. He was fine and always had been. That is, until they started showing up.

    It didn’t take him the full thirty minutes to reach the pub. Downtown Chesterfield was barely fifteen minutes from campus and once he’d gotten behind the wheel it’d taken all the strength he possessed to pry his foot off the gas pedal. He didn’t know what it was about his family that made him so angry, but every time he ran across one of them his life always took a turn for the worst. He parked his car in a diner parking lot across the street, watching endless foot traffic filter in and out of O’Riley’s as an uninterested bouncer guarded the door. Right on time, a middle aged Korean man in a dark grey suit hurried through the door and into the dimmed interior. He looked like someone was chasing him, pausing only to throw harried glances over his shoulder. Daniel scoffed, pulling his ball cap lower on his face before crossing the street to meet him.

    Kang In Ho, the man he was named after by birth, was a wealthy businessman from back East. He and his elder brother In Sang went into business together when they were teenagers, amassing a fortune that would keep the Kang family filthy stinking rich for several generations. When Daniel was thirteen he was pulled out of school and moved to the United States, following his aunt and uncle at the behest of his parents. For the most part the man had raised him, taking him in and treating him as his own son, despite his horrible attitude and extreme desire to be independent. He had a relatively easy life, always living in the most expensive houses, driving cars that had never touched American soil, and with his family’s money and his impeccable grades, every school in the country was beating down their door. It was the life most people would kill for. But, just like with everything else, there was always a catch. 

    “Took you long enough,” he said as he approached the man at the bar. His uncle, already huddled over a cup of Irish coffee to keep his hands warm, glanced up at him then motioned for him to take the stool next to him. 

    “Yes but I wasn’t late. And that’s the important part, right?” he asked. Daniel slid uneasily onto the stool, his hands in his pockets as he regarded him with a cold stare.

    “So, you’ve got me here. What do you want?” In Ho gave him a look that told him he was less than pleased with his tone. 

    “Always straight to the point, just like your father. Isn’t it enough that I haven’t seen my nephew in two years and I simply missed him?” he asked, catching Daniel’s arm when he made a move to leave. “Alright, I get it, okay? But we have something important to discuss and I can’t just let you walk out of here without warning you.”

    “Then start discussing, uncle,” he said through clenched teeth. He could tell by his cryptic speech that this wasn’t going to be good. Better to get it over with while he could. The bar around them was loud enough that they could have their conversation without being interrupted, and if things got messy the throngs of patrons would make it easy for him to slip away unnoticed. The perfect setting for something to go wrong. “Say what you have to say already,” he growled. 

    “You should know why I’m here. Why I contacted you.”

    “And if I don’t? Are we done?” he asked. His uncle turned to give him an even stare, the intensity in his eyes sending chills rippling down his back. In that moment he couldn’t help but have flashbacks of his childhood, of that day ten years ago when his father picked him up from school and drove him straight to the airport. An unchartered plane idled on the runway to take him to his new life. He could still remember the sound of the engines running, the terrifying whir of the turbines as the pilot readied the craft. His mother stood, tears streaming down her face, begging them not to take her son, even while his father carelessly tossed his things into the carrier. As if he was glad to be rid of him. The monster. Images flashed in his mind, an older male petting his hair, smiling lovingly down at him, then disappearing from his life forever. Daniel frowned. Of course he would think about him now. Now that all hell was about to break loose.

    “Your father received word that they’ve located you again, Daniel. They kn