[CONTENTID1]iron[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Thirty Four[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

There are few things in life more contemplative than the cycle of life and death. One is born into this world kicking and screaming and covered in blood. For some poor, unfortunate souls, they also leave the world. Some go peacefully, in their sleep maybe. Some have a hard time with sickness, or heartbreak or other ailments.

Others choose to take their lives willingly.

Standing at the precipice of this cliff, Jakyung contemplated her life. She thought about the first memory she had, of a woman who was not her mother holding her carefully in her arms. She thought about the soft hands of that nanny, caressing her face and singing softly about little black sheep. Jakyung closed her eyes and let the soft breeze wrap around her in the way that woman’s warmth wrapped around her, so comforting and safe.

She thought about her brother and her grandmother, the two people who cared about her the most in this world, even above her own parents. She thought about the way Nana used to bellow out a laugh so loud and boisterous you couldn’t believe it could come from such a small woman. She thought about Taekyung, who even if he knew it would upset her, spent his whole life trying to shield her from the dangerous lifestyle that was her family’s underground business.

She sat down now, letting her legs swing over that empty expanse, letting her lose hair ruffle in the wind. She thought about EXO and how they had accepted her rough personality into their private circle, how they risked life and limb to keep her alive, despite her having next to nothing to offer in return. She smiled as she thought of Kai. Playful and cunning Kim Jongin. He was the little brother she always wished for and then some. Through him she met the others, those men who were dangerous and strange and so utterly intriguing in their own ways. Chen who was sweeter than anyone she had ever met. Chen was the man she could cry over for a hundred years and never regret a single tear. Baekhyun who, with his sharp tongue, kept her on her toes and who indulged her whims. Baekhyun who she would never tire of his bright personality and even brighter smile. And then there was Xiumin. Xiumin who made her feel a lot of things. Confusion, lust, caution, happiness, excitement. Xiumin who she couldn't decide if she wanted to hug him until their bodies molded into one, or if she wanted to run as far away as possible from.

It hadn’t occurred to her until that moment how much her heart ached for her friends; how much she wished she could be in their living room, the thirteen of them sprawled out bickering over their own stupidity. She missed her team at the office, who despite their initial wariness of her, had grown to become an effortlessly efficient unit. She missed the ty office coffee and the smile of the woman who sometimes delivered sandwiches from the company cafeteria.

Jakyung took a deep breath and stared at the city in the distance. Even though she had been reluctant to go there at first, even though she despised it at first, she couldn’t deny that she had made memories there. Good memories she would never forget for as long as she lived. Memories that would get her through the darkness when she needed just a little bit of light in her life.

With one final goodbye to the life she knew until that point, she her heel and walked away from the edge.

This life was at its end, but a new one was about to begin.

+++

The entire table of men was silent, all eyes fixed on a singular point in the middle. There was a single piece of paper, with neat scrawl they were all too familiar with. Three sentences, nine words, a world of heartbreak. The note had been delivered just moments prior, and it took a good deal of restrain on behalf of some of the men to not cry out in frustration.

I’m leaving. Don’t look for me. I love you.

“Her hospital room is empty,” Xiumin said quietly. “I went to check on her and she was just gone. The nurses said she checked out the night before, but gave no indication of where she was going.”

“Does Takyung know?” Suho asked. Xiumin nodded.

“He was the first person I called. He says she left him the same note,” Xiumin explained. He ran a shaky hand through his hair.

“Do you think she’ll come back?” Tao asked, glancing at Chen, who looked like he wanted to be sick all over the table.

“I don’t know.”

More silence, until Baekhyun couldn’t stand it anymore and slammed his hands on the table.

“Is she insane?! Does she honestly think we aren’t going to look for her?” His hands shook and his ears were red to the very tips, and his back of his eyes stung with tears. He snatched the paper from the table and fled from the room. Suho shook his head and urged the others not to go after him.

“She’s smart,” the leader said with a sigh. “Unless he’s got some massive army of private detectives, he’s not going to get very far.”

Chen was the next to leave the room, and soon after the rest went their separate ways. The only two left were Xiumin and Kai, who stared at each other from across the table.

“You know where she is,” Xiumin said quietly. Kai didn’t say a word and kept his face blank. “I know why you didn’t say anything to them, but please Kai. Please, tell me she safe. Tell me she’ll come back to me.”

“She’s safe,” Kai said after a silence that seemed to stretch hours. “It’s up to her if she comes back or not.” He stood and walked across to Xiumin, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks, Kai.”

+++

Jakyung settled into the bed with a sigh. She couldn’t help but be reminded of how different it felt from the mattress back in her apartment in Seoul, but that was the whole point.

She wasn’t in Seoul any more. She wasn’t even in South Korea anymore.

From outside the window, the melody of honks and wheels on asphalt was foreign, but comforting in its own way. The weather was appropriately hot for late June, but the air conditioner she had installed before she arrived was certainly earning its worth. She had always loved New York City, and for the first time since she was a child, she was able to come again.

Below her was the garage she would gut and renovate and turn into one of her own. Tomorrow was for finalizing paperwork and drawing up contracts with the companies that would be responsible for all of the relevant construction. Certainly the previous owner hadn’t been expecting her to buy the building with cash, but he wasn’t complaining. It took next to no convincing to let him hand the property to Jakyung, for which she was grateful. She didn’t need any more stress than she already had.

She closed her eyes and willed sleep to come to her.

This is good, she told herself. This is good.

+++

“It’s been a month, Baek,” Chanyeol sighed. “You’re wasting your time.”

It took every single ounce of Baekhyun’s self-control not to punch his friend in the face.

“I’m not stopping until I find her,” Baekhyun hissed. “She didn’t just disappear from the planet. She’s out there and I’m going to find her and knock some ing sense into that mind of hers.”

Chanyeol shook his head and left the kitchen. It was no use trying to get through to him.

+++

The bell at the above the door alerted Jakyung to the fact that there was someone in her shop. Jakyung slid out from her chair and walked from her office into the foyer area where she found a man sitting on one of the waiting chairs.

“Oh? Is the manager available?” The man who had come in asked her, eyeing her disdainfully before returning to his examination of the large car diagram posted to the wall. “My assistant dropped my car off here a few days ago and I am here to pay and pick it up. I also have a few questions about what I should do regarding my wife’s vehicle, which I would like to have looked at.” Jakyung raised a singular eyebrow at the man.

“My name is Jack Parker and I am the owner. How may I help you?” She asked, noting with no amount of surprise the look of disbelief that flashed across the customer’s face. He cleared his throat and looked away for a moment.

“Ah, right,” he muttered sheepishly, offering a hand. “I came to pick up my vehicle and pay.”

Jakyung gave the man a thin-lipped smile and indicated for him to follow her to the counter. It was always a lesson in restraint dealing with these kinds of customers. Men dominated in this profession, so she could understand his initial shock at discovering she was the owner, but she still hated the condescending tone with which he spoke to her when he hadn’t known.

Iron Will was a 3 car capacity, but fairly well to do auto parts store and garage and Jakyung was proud to call it her own. It had taken her nearly a month to get it up and running, and she had to hire mechanics to do the work she could not, but she had customers on a regular basis now and was able to make a nice living for herself. She was happy.

When the man left with his car and his questions answered, Jakyung glanced at the clock. Jamal, the only mechanic with a shift on Sunday, had already left for the day and it was nearing 5:30. She had somewhere she needed to be in two hours. In that moment, she was grateful that she lived right above the shop, it meant an extremely short commute. Bidding goodnight to the remaining two cars in the garage she headed up stairs.

An hour later, she was showered and dressed and in a taxi headed to the airport. Despite the attempts of the nice taxi driver to initiate a conversation, she had too many butterflies in her stomach to do much more than drain a bottle of water. New York was a beautiful city, especially when the sun started to set and pink and orange rays shown through the gridded layout of the buildings. It calmed her only a little bit, and she glanced at her gloved hands, trying to find solace in them. She was drawn from her thoughts as the taxi pulled up to JFK airport. With her fare (and a nice tip) paid, she headed to the entrance of Terminal 4. Only twenty minutes to go.

To calm her nerves, she grabbed a pastry from an overpriced shop and ate it as slowly as she could. There was nothing she could do to quell the slight quiver of her left hand, but she was used to that by now. It was her heart slamming itself against her ribcage that she was more concerned about. When she noticed that she had five minutes to go, she headed to where she would have the best view of the people disembarking from the recently landed planes.

It wasn’t hard to spot him, especially since he didn’t look much different than she remembered. And it was very clear that she wasn’t the only one who noticed his looks as there were quite a few heads turning as he walked by. The only major difference was his hair. He had brilliant white-blonde hair now, and a pair of dark sunglasses perched upon his nose like they were made specifically for his face. He flicked his hair out of the way and a few younger girls giggled. Jakyung rolled her eyes; he always was the type to enjoy the attention his good looks attracted.

She held up the sign, written in Korean, for him to spot amongst the crowd. It didn’t take him long, and when his eyes swept up to her face, his lips quirked up into a devilish smirk.

“Good to see you haven’t abandoned the flannel and sneakers,” He said as he approached her. Jakyung crossed her arms over her chest and eyed his leather jacket, white button up, and -hugging jeans.

“I see you haven’t lost your arrogance when it comes to looking like a runway model,” she shot back. They stared at each other for a moment more before he pulled her into a tight hug and she wrapped her arms around him and prayed with all her might that this was real.

“I missed you, Noona,” Kai said, his voice muffled into her hair. Jakyung could hear his hear racing and squeezed him even tighter.

“I missed you too, Kai.” She breathed deep, committing the moment to memory and pulled back from him. She took off his sunglasses and tucked them into his jacket pocket.

“Come on, let’s go get your suitcase.”

The taxi ride back to her apartment was much liv