Mr. Jung Jinyoung sat in his usual spot observing the rest of the team working. Taeil was trying to detect the IP address of the sender of the video. It was the only way for them to know Sunggyu's current location.

The man's eyes traveled to the screen in front of him. The video was paused at the scene  were Sunggyu was being cut. He sighed at the horrible sight in front of him.

No matter how calm he wanted to look, he wasn't the least calm in the inside. How could he when he had sent an innocent teenage boy to the death without reasonable thinking?

He should've refused to send him there. But he didn't. They were running out of time and it was the best opportunity for them and Sunggyu happened to be the most suitable for the mission. He was, once again, blinded with his own greed.

'Every thing that's happening right now is your fault!' he could still hear Eunji's accusative voice. She was right, it was his fault and he needed to be ready to pay for the consequences.

'If it was me, would've you let me do it?!' 

Another question that made him feel even guiltier. Of course he wouldn't had let Eunji do it. There was no difference between the two. They were the same age and while Eunji was his daughter, Sunggyu was someone's else son. 

'Because of me, someone could lose their own son...' he fisted his hands, furious because of the whole situation and mostly, angry at himself. 

Mr Jung kept staring at the screen for a while longer. This time, he noticed a particular detail.

'This place seems familiar.' he zoomed in studying the background thoroughly.

"Taeil, I think I know where Sunggyu is." Mr Jung spoke up, making the whole team frown in confusion.

Just then, the door of the lab opened with a loud thud and a panting Dongwoo came in.

"Eunji had disappeared." he said with a terrified expression. "I can't find her."

"Maybe she's staying with her friends." Zico guessed.

"No she's not. Eunji went after Sunggyu." Kyung, who was focused on there monitor in front of him, said.

"She went to my old hotel?" Mr Jung asked.

"Yes she did." Kyung pointed at the screen, showing them two red dots and a green one close to each other. "She activated three tracking devices just now. The green dot indicates Eunji, since it's the edible one. The two red dots indicates the ordinary trucking devices. One of the is already moving, so I expect it to be a car." he explained.

"Who could be on the car?" Zico asked.

"Kim Misook, I guess. If Eunji was there then there's a big possibility that her mother would be there too." Taeil added.

"What are you waiting for? Shouldn't you send someone to rescue Eunji and Sunggyu?" Dongwoo yelled at them, impatient about the whole situation.

"Of course. Send two vans after that car and tell the police about it. And send another van to the hotel." Mr Jung ordered Jihoon and Sungjong.

Suddenly, a warning sign appeared on the screen of Kyung's computer. 

"! Send a helicopter to the hotel. Right now!" he screamed then turned to them to explain "Eunji got hurt."

-

Eunji watched as Sunggyu and the two guards walked past the door. 

'You have to stay alive, please. I still I have a lot to tell you.'

'Eunji, always remember that I love you.'

Sunggyu's words were still replaying in her mind. 

'Of course I will fight back ad will survive. I still have a lot to tell you as well.'

With a swift move, she took out the gun from the confines of her jacket, aiming it at Top.

"Kids these days are interesting, don't you think so?" the tall man asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, they really are. But we, adults, should put them in place." Chaerin said before aiming a gun at Eunji. 

"Now baby girl, lower your gun and let us take care of you, will you?" the woman said in an extremely low but scary tone.

Eunji didn't resist and started lowering her gun slowly, but it never had the chance to touch the ground. It all happened too fast, not taking more than sixty seconds, but for Eunji, it lasted more than half of her life.

Just as the gun was a few millimeters away front the ground, Eunji took the chance of being crouched to shoot a bullet at the woman and quickly roll to her side to avoid any shots.
The girl was a professional shooter, so she was sure that the bullet hit her target and she was sure that she saw the woman crumble and fall to the ground.
 

So where did the second sound of gunshot came from? And why was she feeling an unforgiving pain in her chest? 

Her body refused to move from the kneeling position she was in. Her eyes met Top's cold one, and she saw the amusement and triumph in them. She then noticed the gun in his hand.

Her eyes slowly moved to look at her chest. The heart locket was dangling there as usual. Never did she take it off, even after Sunggyu broke up with her. But usually, it was kept hidden underneath her shirt. Next to the heart shaped locket, there was dark red round spot. She slowly touched the spot before looking at the red liquid on her fingers. Blood.

Eunji had experienced gunshots before, but she never felt the pain, till that moment. And she could tell that this time, it hit her in a dangerous area, since the pain was already taking over her body and she felt that she could lose conscious any second. But she was still breathing and she still had the chance to take another move.

'If I'm going down, then I'm taking you with me.' she glared at the man who was still smiling at her.

Top started walking in her direction chillingly. He was enjoying that moment too much that he didn't expect her to raise her gun again and shoot him right between his eyes. 

-

Sunggyu was standing still in his place, afraid to take any extra step. He had heard the sound, he knew what it was. His mind refused to make any assumptions about the person who was at the receiving end of the gun shot. But his body had to move, he needed to go in there and do something. Maybe he was just being negative, he wanted to see it for himself.

He resumed walking, trying to pace up his steps. The door of the pools was finally in sight.

Sunggyu felt like time was repeating itself. Eleven years ago, when he opened that door, he found the dead body of his brother alongside with Eunji's unconscious one.

This time, there was three bodies on the floor.

He wouldn't care less about Top's dead body in the dried pool or about Chaerin's, but he could never say the same about the one near the door.

It didn't take him a second to drop on his knees next to Eunji and lift her upper half to lay it on his lap, supporting her head on his left arm. 

"Eunji-ah! Please, open your eyes. Huh? Please open them!" he pleaded, right hand caressing her cheek in attempt to wake her, while he tried his best not to concentrate on the dark red spot that only kept widening as the bleeding continued.

As if she had heard his pleas, Eunji opened her eyes and smiled as soon as they met the face  of Sunggyu.

"I-it end-ed." speaking was obviously too hard on her as he could hear it cracking.

Sunggyu's tears fell when he saw how sincere her smile was. Even in that state, she was happy that everything had came to an end. 

Eunji's shaking hand wiped his cheek as she mouthed a 'don't cry' to him. It only made his tears double. 

"I'm sorry..."

Eunji shook her head slightly, the smile never leaving her lips.

"Yo-" a tear rolled down Eunji's cheek while she was trying her best to speak. "You are the best thing that had ever happened in my life. I love you, Kim Sunggyu." 

Using the very little energy she had in her body, Eunji lifted her self a little bit to close the miniscule distance between her and Sunggyu.

 There lips didn't touch for more than two seconds before her whole body relaxed and her hand slid down his cheek leaving a long trail of blood.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! EUNJI! PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES! PLEASE! I'M SORRY! PLEASE!"

But no matter has much he pleaded, apologized or called for her, Eunji didn't open her eyes.

Sunggyu kept hugging her body to his chest, crying his heart out and chanting her name over and over again, his agonizing cries filling the whole space.
He didn't even notice the sound of the helicopter nor the people rushing to them. Even when Sungjong wanted to detach him from her, he used all the force that he had left to push him away.

"Sunggyu! We need to take you to the hospital. We can't lose any more time. Eunji's running out of time!"

That was enough to push a little bit of sense in the teenage boy and he obediently let them take him to the helicopter, his hand never leaving Eunji's, even when the paramedics were trying their best to keep her breathing and stop the bleeding.

But once they reached the hospital, he had to let go. A whole team of doctors and nurses rushed to them, to take Eunji to the surgery room. He didn't have any other choice than to let her fingers slip from his hold and watch the medical team push her bed behind the glass doors.

Sunggyu crumbled to the seat at the side, feeling all of the energy leaving his body. The pain and exhaustion finally got back to him. His scars and cuts were still burning like hell and his headache had became intolerable. But all of that was nothing compared to the amount of pain that was eating all of his insides.
His gaze fixed on his hands that were covered in blood. It was happening for a second time. 

'Once again, I failed to protect you.' 

Sunggyu didn't want to think at that moment. He didn't want to think of the possibilities of Eunji not surviving this. All that he wanted was to go back in time, to fix everything, to avoid reaching that point at all costs. But it was impossible, he knew that.

Sungjong came back with a nurse to treat Sunggyu. He knew that the youngest won't budge from his place till the end of the surgery. But he couldn't leave him in that state any longer. He needed treatment.

Surprisingly, Sunggyu had let the nurse take care of his wounds and give him a painkiller. If he wanted to stay there until they brought Eunji out, he needed that at least.

Not even thirty minutes later, Dongwoo came running in the waiting area. Sunggyu could guess that Sungjong had already told him everything on the phone. He kind of expected the eldest to attack him or punch him, but he didn't expect to be crushed in a hug nevertheless.

"I'm so glad that you're okay!" Dongwoo said, relief evident in his tone. 

Sunggyu was taken aback by the gesture. He didn't see himself as someone that deserves such a warm embrace after all that happened.

Even Mr. Jung who came in next, looked really concerned about him.

"It must've been hard on you." he patted his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Sunggyu said while looking to the man.

Dongwoo frowned at the apology. "There's nothing you should apologize for. You did nothing wrong." his gaze was almost scolding.

"How's she?" Mr. Jung asked Sungjong too carefully.

"The doctor said the bullet didn't reach the heart, but she's in a critical state nevertheless."

"She'll survive. She's a fighter, I believe in her." Dongwoo said with a lot of confidence although Sungjong could see the dread and fear in him.

Two hours passed and nothing happened. Every time the glass door opens, they get their hopes high, but it turns out that it was another surgeon, so they sit back. 

Mr. Jung had left with a man, the head of the hospital who was also his friend, and didn't come back ever since.

Sunggyu felt like suffocating, sitting in the same position, holding tight on his key pendant, not being able to do anything. He hated being helpless. But there was nothing he could do.

'Dear God, please, don't take her away, please. She's someone that deserves to live, the world will only be a darker place if she leaves. Please. You took Mingyu once and I had never complained. But Eunji, she can't die like that. There's a lot she still deserves to know. A whole new life awaits for her. Let me give her back the happiness that I once stole from her. At least let me do that for her.' he prayed with all his might, eyes closed and hands fisted together.

Somewhere after three hours of long waiting, the door to the surgery rooms opened and two surgeons came out of it. Sunggyu recognized the one that earlier talked to them so he stood up abruptly while Sungjong and Dongwoo run to him.

"Doctor! How's she?" Sunggyu didn't care who asked that, the answer was what mattered.

"We really tried our best but her heart couldn't take it. I'm so sorry for your loss. The time of her death was at 13:42, 28th April 2009."

And at that moment, time stopped for Sunggyu. 

He didn't start yelling hysterically like Dongwoo did, nor drop on the floor crying like Sungjong. All he did was to sit back on his seat and stare.

Sunggyu couldn't have any reaction because his mind went literally blank, just like he wished for earlier. His body and mind felt like two detached things. His brain wasn't processing anything. 

No one noticed it at first. When his friends came and heard about the agonizing news, they had similar reactions to those of Dongwoo and Sungjong, the normal kind of reaction you should have when you lose someone oh so dear to your heart. 

And even when they saw Sunggyu in that state they thought he was just too shocked.
He was human after all. No matter how strong a person is, they can't go through what Sunggyu had gone through and stay okay. It was impossible.

It was on the next day that they noticed that he wasn't just mourning. 

Sunggyu was only physically there. His eyes were open and he was seeing everything in front of him, but they weren't looking at anything in particular, just staring to the space, to nothings. He was hearing all the sound but they were blocked from reaching his mind. Even if they call his name, he wouldn't react.

If no one guided him to walk or move, he'd stay in the same position, unmoving, for hours.

When his father, Kim Kapsu, came to the hospital after Mr. Jung had contacted him and told him about everything, he noticed what kind of a state Sunggyu had.

"He was like this after Mingyu's death. It may be even worse this time." he muttered to Hakyeon who came with him.

They were both standing at the door observing the boy who was sitting at the bed, oblivious of everything going around him.

"Shouldn't he see a doctor, a psychiatrist I mean?" Hakyeon questioned, extremely worried about his young friend.

"I'm not sure about that. It made him worse once. I can't make the same mistake again. I should contact his mother right now. She's the only person that could help." Mr. Kim replied.

Hakyeon had always despised the man for his cold behavior toward his son, and he was sure that if Mr. Jung didn't contact them, there was no way for the man to know about what was going on in his son's life. After all, Mr. Kim didn't meet nor contact Sunggyu for once for the last three months. But at that moment, he saw the mix of worry and concern on the man's face, the type of expression a real parent should have.

Hakyeon had a similar expression as well. He hated seeing Sunggyu in that kind of state. He had never seen him that...quiet.

It felt as if the boy was living in another dimension. 

-

Eunji's burial was held during the afternoon. It was a monotonous hot day with dark clouds in the horizon but no wind. Even the weather was suffocating and sad.

Only few people were at the graveyard. Eunji didn't have many people she was close to, plus the news of her death was kept a secret from almost everyone. The whole country was too busy with the news of Kim Misook getting caught to care about anything else anyways.

Her family members, her four friends, Miss Ailee, the team members, Dr. Park, Mr. Kim and Hoya were crowded around the tomb, each holding a white Lilly.

Sunggyu came too. It's not that he asked to be there, nor knew what was actually going on. But Hakyeon knew that if the boy was in his right mind, he'd come to say his last farewell to Eunji, so he changed him into a black suit and guided him to the graveyard.

The doctor that was treating him said that it was okay to take him home. Physically, he was getting better and his wounds were healing, as long as he takes his medication regularly. But mentally, they needed to give him time to sort things with himself first.

Sunggyu was in denial. His mind had gone through a lot of traumas thus when he heard about Eunji's death, it refused to believe the news and closed itself from the exterior environment to avoid the reality. It was a defense reaction and they needed to wait for Sunggyu to accept the truth and face it. 

In the mean time, they had to keep an eye on him and treat him carefully. He was too fragile and could break down at any moment.

Hakyeon had taken it upon his responsibilities to take care of Sunggyu. He even suggested to move in with him, but Mr. Kim told him that he'll be the one taking care of him at  night.

It's not that Sunggyu needed that much of supervision at all. All that he did was to stay in the same position they had left him in and stare at nothing. He didn't even close his eyes at night.
 
He just needed someone to feed him, give him his medication, wash him, change his clothes, walk him and literally do everything to him.

Sungyeol, Myungsoo, Krystal and Bora would drop by every day after school and even during their breaks. Hakyeon was sure that they skipped some classes to visit sometimes.

They'd sit with Sunggyu for hours, talk with him, feed him, sing for him and keep him company.

They were trying so hard to pretend that everything was okay in front of him, while it wasn't.
 
 

Nothing was fine, nothing was like before. The school itself became a living hell for the four of them.

After the corruption scandal of the Jang groups and Eunji's disappearance, they had witnessed the other students badmouthing Eunji and her family more than once without being able to react in any way. Other than them, Miss Ailee and the principle, no one knew that Eunji had passed away. They were all thinking that she moved to study abroad. 

That was one kind of hell and lunches were worse. It has always been only the four of them during their freshman year, but after experiencing the joy of being a group of six, going back to being four was pure torture.

Food became so tasteless and the atmosphere quieter than ever. They couldn't sit more than ten minutes at the table without risking getting one of them to tears. 

Even Myungsoo who was considered as the coldest had excused himself few times to go to the bathroom and had came back with red puffy eyes more than once.

As for during classes, they had to bear with the sight of vacant seats too. 

All in all, school had became too gloomy and too insupportable without their two dear friends.

-

Mr. Kim entered his son's room to find Hakyeon giving him his medication and getting ready to disinfect his wounds.

"Let me do it." He volunteered, taking the cotton and alcohol bottle from the first aid kit. 

"Okay, I will go check on the dinner." the assistant excused himself.

Mr. Kim sat on the chair in front of his son and started unwrapping his left arm from the long bandage that was covering it. 

"How was your day, son?" he started, getting used to talking to Sunggyu in a fatherly tone after two weeks of trying.

Coming to think of it, he probably never had the time to ask him that question before. How much he regretted it. He was ready to repay for all the times he screwed up as a father. But he was afraid that it was late, because Sunggyu didn't reply, Sunggyu wasn't even looking at him.

Mr Kim kept speaking about everything and nothing while he kept dressing his son's wounds. 

"Okay, it's finished." he closed the white box and rest it on the nightstand. "I'll go bring you dinner, you must be hungry."

Hakyeon was preparing the tray of food for Sunggyu when Mr. Kim came in the kitchen.

"Your mother sent food again?" Mr. Kim asked as the sight of the various dishes.

"Yes, since he loves homemade food."

The old man nodded. "Please thank her on my behalf. I'm really grateful to everything you've been doing for my son even though it's not part of your job. I will make sure to give you a good raise." he added.

"Please don't misunderstand sir. I'm not doing this for money. This is my duty as a friend. I owe Sunggyu a lot and it hurt me so much to see him like that. I will keep doing this till he gets back to what he used to be and I won't accept anything in return." Hakyeon replied.

"But sir, Sunggyu really needs his mother by his side right now. It's been more than two weeks already and she didn't come." he added.

Mr Kim sighed. "I know. But I still can't get a hold of her. She went to Somali last month and she's still out of reach. I left her many texts and emails but there's still no response from her."

Hakyeon nodded in understanding. "I hope she sees them as soon as possible then. Here, dinner is ready. I'm going home now. Good night sir."

"Good night, Hakyeon-ssi."

-

Things had been hectic for Dongwoo lately. Being the CEO of a whole empire and trying hard to protect the company and keep it going needed him an army of lawyers. 

The case of the company was assigned to a whole team of investigators and prosecutors who had to go through everything thoroughly. It was considered as 'the biggest corruption case in the history of Korea', quoting one of the articles he came across one.

Thanks to the detailed documents that Woohyun had handed to the police, the process was much easier that expected and they came to a settlement in no time. The last trial would be held in a week, in which they're going to decide Mrs. Kim's sentence.

Dongwoo had distributed all of his mother's shares and most of his to the workers, making them the largest shareholder and giving the power to them. He was doing everything for their sake after all. Plus, he wasn't intending to be the permanent CEO of the company. So he had assigned another team of lawyers to get Woohyun out of jail. 
His cousin's sentence was really light since he was considered as a victim and had helped the police enormously and he was the only he could trust the company with. 

Overworking himself had helped Dongwoo divert his mind from the great loss he had suffered from lately, and for that, he was extremely thankful.

He hated going back to their apartement because he'd see ghosts of his sister in every corner of his place. She was in all of his memories too. He may had only noticed then, but she was a part of his existance and life. Losing her meant losing a part of himself as well.

But as much as losing his sister was painful, seeing someone like Sunggyu go through a severe case of depression was painful as well. 

Sungjong who visited the teenage boy occasionally had told him how bad his state was, so as soon as he got himself a spare time, he gave his dear friend a visit.

He knocked slightly on the door of the room Hakyeon had led him to before stepping in. Sunggyu was there, sitting on his bed and staring out of the window in front of him.

Carefully, Dongwoo sat next to him. "Aren't you going to welcome me? Don't you miss me?" he asked in a forced playful tone, but Sunggyu didn't show any reaction.

"What are you thinking about? Perhaps, about... her?" he asked hesitantly, his expression saddening. "You know, I think of her a lot too. I miss her so much. Do you miss her too?"

The eldest boy copied Sunggyu's position and kept staring out of the window before resuming talking. 

"When I was little, I lost my father. I don't really remember him, but looking at his pictures, I can see that I look a lot like him. I really hated growing up without a father but I hated having a step father as well. When my mother got married, I hated her husband so much and I hated having another sibling as well. I was really happy when she got divorced but angry as well when I saw her coming home with a little baby girl one day." he smiled bitterly.

"I hated everything about her and was too jealous to notice that my mother never paid any attention to the little baby. She was always under the care of the nannies, and while my mother would spend most of her spare time with me, she hated even hearing the cries of my little sister. They said she was doing it so I wouldn't be jealous. That was until one day, when the cries of the baby filled the whole mansion and didn't seem to stop. I was utterly annoyed by it and went to her room to scold the nanny. But there was no one in the room, just a three months baby on the ground, suffering by herself. At that moment, all the hate, jealousy and anger disappeared as I flee to take her in my arms and as magical as it could be, she stopped crying." a nostalgic smile formed on his lips at the memory.

"That day, I swore to myself to never let go of that little baby's hand and protect her from every evil. But I failed to do that a countless amount of times. Eunji grew up to be really stubborn and took it upon herself to stand against our mother. I knew she'd end up hurting, but I couldn't stop her from doing so. I was just a useless brother."

Dongwoo's eyes were filled with tears when he turned to Sunggyu, taking his hand and resting the heart locket pendant in it. 

"I think I never thanked you before so I will do it now. Thank you for letting her experience the real meaning of love at least for once, and thank you for bringing back her happiness. You did what I was unable to do for years. So please don't blame yourself for what happened because it was meant to happen. Even if she's not here anymore you need to live on, you need to keep going on. Please, Sunggyu don't stay like this, if not for yourself, do it for the sake of Eunji."

Dongwoo didn't want to lift his expectations high, but he really wanted Sunggyu to react. It didn't happen nevertheless. He stayed a while longer talking about other less serious topics before he had to leave.

Sunggyu was left alone in his room once again. But for the first time since that day at the hospital, his mind had connected with his body again and he initiated a move on his own. 

His fingers wrapped and unwrapped around the heart locket a few times, caressing its surface, while his eyes had left the window to stare at it. It was a robotic movement and his gaze was as dead as before, but it was a move nevertheless.

Suddenly, he heard his name being called by the most enchanting voice he had ever heard in his entire life. 

'Sunggyu-ah.' 

It was her voice.

Eunji's voice.

He slowly darted his gaze to the door, where he saw her standing.

She was barefooted, wearing a pink floral dress with her hair flowing freely on her shoulders. And she was smiling her widest smile ever. She was still as beautiful as ever.

As if he was a marionette controlled by invisible strings, Sunggyu rose and started walking in her direction, hand extended, trying to reach her. 
But she was running away. Her laughter filled the air as she exited the room and went downstairs. 

The blankness in Sunggyu's mind was replaced by one single thought.

'Follow Eunji.'

-

Myungsoo had some club activities in the afternoon but he didn't feel like attending. Even photography had became boring after all that happened.
So once again, he found himself leaving school earlier than usual and heading to Sunggyu's apartment.

"Hakyeon hyung!" he called when he saw the man standing in front of the elevator.

"Oh Myungsoo! You're early today!" he noted.

"Yeah, I finished early. You went out?" Myungsoo asked as they stepped in the elevator.

"My mother brought me some food so I went down to take it. Let's have dinner together since your here." 

"How's he doing?" the teenage boy asked almost carefully. He was still hopeful to come one day and hear a good news.

Hakyeon sighed. "The same. Dongwoo Hyung stopped by earlier. I expected his visit to cause a change at least, but nothing."

-

Sunggyu kept dragging his bare feet till he was finally out of the penthouse. His eyes kept searching for his target but she was nowhere to be seen. A small familiar giggle made him head to the emergency staircase.

He lifted his gaze to the upper stairs that lead to the rooftop. He saw glimpses of the floral dress disappearing behind the rooftop door, so he followed it.

-   

"I will go prepare the food. Sunggyu's in his room." Hakyeon said as soon as they entered the penthouse.

Myungsoo opened the room with a heavy heart, expecting to find his friend at his usual spot on the bed but to his utter surprise, he wasn't there.
The boy frowned in confusion, so he checked the bathroom but he didn't find him.

"Sunggyu's not here!" he yelled from the second floor as he rushed to check in the other rooms. 

His words chocked Hakyeon. The latter started searching for Sunggyu hysterically in all the rooms.

"I can't find him!" Myungsoo came down running.

"Me neither. He can't go out like that! We need to find him."

The two boys run out of the penthouse in a hurry. "He can't have taken the elevator. We were on the sole one that reached this floor." Hakyeon reasoned.

"So emergency stairs it is."

"You go up and I will go down."

The two parted into different directions, with Myungsoo going upstairs.

He pushed the door of the rooftop open to stop on his track, too chocked to take a step forward.

The good thing was that he had found Sunggyu. The bad thing was that the said boy was standing on the stone fence, or more precisely, walking on it, with his hand extended to the front, trying to reach for something.

"Eunji..."

Sunggyu get down please! first Eunji and now you! I still need one of you to finish the story you know... 

Anyways, what do you think is going to happen from now on? tell me what you think about this chapter down bellow (you know that you're comments motivates me, the more you comment, the faster the updates are going to be. just sayin')

Well you probably know by now that as soon as I finish a chapter I publish it that's why I didn't setle a regular time to update. 

The chapter didn't come as angsty as I wanted it to be. I'll try again on the next chapter (yes, the angst is still going on. do you think it's easy to have a happy ending? NO! I'm a salty forever alone person )

Have a good monday everyone (or at least try to bear with it like I do) and let's meet again on the next chapter! CIAO :**