MARCH 30, 2018 | FRIDAY

It was a Friday night. Joohyun and Taehyung accompanied each other to dinner at a small, quiet restaurant with Woohyun and Sungjong sitting a few seats away from them. Joohyun didn't want to break the news of dating Taehyung to all of her brothers, but she made an exception to Woohyun and Sungjong because they were going to eventually find out why she was going out more often sincethey were the ones that guarded her out in the public most of the time. In the time since the Families had come home from Bora Bora, Joohyun and Taehyung had been talking to each other everyday, and they were pretty serious about being exclusive to one another even though Joohyun had her concerns of not going too far with him until she ruled Taehyung out from being involved in her attempted kidnapping.

"Do you think things will be fine? You know, if they end up being serious," Woohyun asked Sungjong, who was busy chowing down on some fried chicken.

"I think so," Sungjong nodded, "besides, I believe Appa when he says that Delta had nothing to do with the kidnapping. I mean ... I know we've been conditioned to not trust easily, but we've been in the business for so long that our gut feeling ends up being the truth."

"Yeah but Myungsoo thinks that Delta had something to do with it," Woohyun replied.

"Yeah but he's also not that right in the head sometimes, you know that," Sungjong said, "anyway, Taehyung seems like a pretty decent guy. Don't know how Sunggyu will take the news, but that's not our problem."

Meanwhile, four tables over, Taehyung and Joohyun were finishing up dinner. 

"You have to go in to work, huh?" Joohyun chuckled seeing a look of disappointment on his face after he had read a text off of his phone.

"Yeah ..." Taehyung sighed, receiving his card back from the waiter after paying, "I was really looking forward to going to the arcade today, I'm so sorry Joohyun. We'll go tomorrow."

"Don't worry about it Taehyung, if it's anyone that understands the demands of your job, it's me," she laughed, "we can go when you have time."

"I just want to spend time with you that's all ..." Taehyung pouted like a child, causing Joohyun to gush.

"And we can do that after you finish your work," she smiled, "I'll always be a phone call or text away anyway, you know I'll always reply for sure now."

"Yeah, thank God we got that settled." Taehyung laughed along with Joohyun. The two stood up with Woohyun and Sungjong as well, and the pair hugged briefly and pecked each others' cheeks before saying their goodbyes and walking in the opposite direction. Woohyun and Sungjong gave each other a brief glance as their eyes moved to look at their younger sister, who seemed to be a little happier than usual.

"Are you serious about this guy, little sis?" Woohyun asked, with Sungjong chiming in almost immediately. "Yeah, is he a good guy?"

"He's really great, guys," Joohyun chuckled, rolling her eyes, "I know what I'm doing."

"I mean we trust you and everything," Woohyun began, "just wanted to know if you're really sure about him."

"Well nothing's getting serious until I find out that his Family for sure wasn't involved in that incident, which I personally don't think he was apart of," Joohyun replied, "so get used to him because I'm going to keep seeing him."

Woohyun and Sungjong just groaned. Joohyun gave them an innocent smile, knowing well that they wouldn't have a say in anything as long as she knew what she was doing.

"You only come into my room when you need something, Sunggyu ... what is it?"

Sunggyu had been acting weird since Joohyun had gotten home with Woohyun and Sungjong, and she was resting in her room for a bit before he had come into her room and tried making small talk, but she knew he only did that when he wanted to ask her something.

"Okay well ..." Sunggyu sighed, leaning against the doorway and running a hand through his hair, "who did you really hang out with?"

"I told you I went to go eat dinner with Seulgi and Wendy," Joohyun sighed, avoiding her brother's intense stare from her doorway.

"I know you didn't," he said, "you know how I know?"

The only response Joohyun gave was a tired sigh.

"Because you had the worst liars go with you to the restaurant," he chuckled, "Woohyun and Sungjong? You know putting those two together with a lie won't last too long. I would expect you to be smarter than that, little sister."

"What do you want, a plaque for your efforts in being the world's best detective?" Joohyun shot him a glare, only to see that he was smirking back at her.

"I just want you to be honest with your favorite big brother and tell me who you actually went to eat dinner with, that's all," Sunggyu shrugged, "I'm hurt that you told those two es over me."

"Because you would get all overprotective and stick your nose in places where it doesn't need to be, like you're doing right now," Joohyun shot back.

"Oh, so it was a guy?" Sunggyu chimed. He got his confirmation when his little sister groaned and tried to get him to leave her alone. "It's Taehyung, huh? That hunk that you cuddled with on the beach at the Family retreat?"

"I was not cuddling with him!" Joohyun shouted, instantly regretting saying that, as she had confirmed his guess, "Ugh, I knew Dongwoo couldn't keep his ing mouth shut --"

"The only brother that can keep their mouth shut is me, Joohyun, so you should've just told all of us to begin with since you know Dongwoo would've told us all eventually," Sunggyu chuckled.

"I just wanted to relish in your ignorance for as long as I could, that's all, Oppa."

"You're cold."

Sunggyu continued to pester Joohyun details about her little date, and she tried shooing him away.

"Can you at least close the door? I don't want the rest of the guys to find out," Joohyun whispered.

"Why? With Woohyun, Sungjong, and Dongwoo, the rest of our brothers will find out in no time," he cackled, and Joohyun rolled her eyes.

"Well, I at least want them to find out through me. I'll tell the rest myself -- well, maybe not Myungsoo."

"Why not?" Sunggyu quirked a brow.

"Well he seems uh, how do you say it, not very fond of Taehyung," Joohyun stated.

Sunggyu just nodded silently. He and the rest of his brothers knew of Myungsoo's stance on the Delta Family, even though the rest of them sided with their father. He knew that Myungsoo was very cautious of Delta Family, and that he didn't hae a very high opinion of them.

"Yeah, I get you," Sunggyu nodded, "are you ever going to tell him, though?"

"Yeah ... eventually, not anytime soon though," the female sighed, "I don't want him to be mad at me. I really, really like Taehyung, Oppa. So I just want to avoid any conflict until I know for sure that Taehyung's in the clear."

Before Sunggyu could reassure his younger sister, Myungsoo had knocked on the open doorway, announcing his presence. Joohyun tensed up, hoping that Myungsoo hadn't heard a word they were saying, but it was hard to tell since his face was stone cold all the time. She had deduced that he hadn't, though, when he began speaking.

"We're being called in to the warehouse for a meeting, Sunggyu," Sunggyu nodded at Myungsoo. He smiled down at Joohyun, ruffling her hair. 

"We'll talk again when we come home, okay?" Joohyun smiled back at her brother and nodded, watching him get off of her desk and leave her room.

Joohyun watched him leave, walking past Myungsoo, who was still standing by the doorway. 

"Be safe," Joohyun smiled at Myungsoo.

"We're just going in to a meeting," he chuckled lightly.

"Still," she shrugged, "never know."

"Okay, will do, Joohyun," he smiled at her for a brief, half second before turning around and closing the door to her room gently.

"I need Myungsoo and Sunggyu to attend a meeting with me on April second, Woohyun, Howon and Sungyeol to pick up inventory on the third, and Sungjong and Dongwoo to head over to Zeta Family's corporation building on the fourth to pick up some footage concerning Joohyun's incident."

Jungwoo was briefing in the men on what was to come of the following week so that they would be prepared for work. They were busy fiddling with the calendar apps on their phones to type in the jobs they were assigned to do when Jungwoo's radio device had vibrated on the table before a voice came from it.

"Boss, we're under attack!"

Jungwoo immediately grabbed the device and spoke back, holding a hand out to gesture his sons to stop in their tracks, who had already gotten up from their seats. 

"Brief me in, what's going on?" The Alpha boss asked quickly.

"Three vans drove in right through the inventory lot and started shooting up the first floor -- looks like they're stealing some of our inventory too."

"Handle it. Shoot up the vans. Make sure they don't have a getaway vehicle and that none of them escape alive," Jungwoo ordered.

"Yes Boss," the voice replied, "it also seems like their main goal is to get to you also. I've already ordered guards on the second and third floor to stop them."

"Just focus on the first floor, I'll take it from here."

The device then grew silent. Jungwoo put it down and looked at the men in front of him, alert and ready to be ordered.

"Sungyeol, Sungjong, Dongwoo," the mens' heads perked up as their names were called out by their father, "get to the first floor and make sure everything's being handled just the way I instructed. Every intruder on the first floor must not escape alive -- and if fate permits it, apprehend those that are still alive. Maybe we can get actual, solid information out of more hostages."

The trio all nodded once before proceeding to leave the office quickly. 

"Woohyun, Howon," Jungwoo turned to the two, "go to the second floor and make sure that any and all intruders that try to meet face to face with me is shot on site. I don't have time for child's play when I have more important things to attend to. If they really want to speak with me, they'll have to do so in the form of a hostage."

Like their brothers before them, the two nodded once in acknowledgement before they left the office as well.

"Now you two," Jungwoo directed his attention to his Capo and Underboss, "stay in this office with me. Once all the intruders have been stopped, I will go to the first floor and observe the damages. Myungsoo will gather up any hostages and Sunggyu will search the vans for any information on who these intruders are."

The pair nodded, understanding their father's commands before turning to the huge screen to their left, which displayed all the security cameras throughout the entire warehouse, watching the raid happen as they spoke.

Joohyun leaned backwards from the kitchen to see a couple of guards rushing to leave the estate. Furrowing her brows, she caught one of them by the arm and asked where they were heading.

"The warehouse was under attack and they need backup to help with the aftermath."

Joohyun's heart almost stopped after the guard spoke, and she immediately panicked.

"Is everyone okay? How about my brothers?" She asked, and the guard just shrugged.

"All the Boss told us was to come to the warehouse because of the reason I just told you, Ms.Irene. I don't know if anyone's hurt or not," the guard replied, and Joohyun sighed.

"Well, I'm coming with. Don't leave the estate without me," Joohyun ordered, and the guard nodded, telling her that everyone would be waiting for her outside.

As soon as the vehicle stopped in front of Alpha Family's warehouse, Joohyun was the first to jump out of the vehicle and run towards the back entrance. She saw Sunggyu, who was busy searching what seemed to look like the enemies' vehicle. 

"Oppa," she panted, grabbing his arm, "is everyone okay?"

"Joohyun, what are you doing here," Sunggyu frowned.

"The guards were leaving the house and I just decided to come with," she replied, "but is everyone okay?"

Sunggyu sighed, running a hand through his hair before nodding. 

"I think Sungjong and Sungyeol got roughed up a little, but they're fine. They're inside the first floor office if you want to check up on them."

With that, Joohyun left Sunggyu to finish what their father had asked of him as she rushed inside the warehouse to tend to her brothers.

As soon as she walked in, the first floor seemed to be a disaster. Some of the soldiers were trying to pick up any inventory that was still salvageable while some of the others were recording how much inventory they had lost, and other soldiers were disposing of the lifeless bodies of the enemies that had attacked them. Joohyun walked past the bustle that was her father's soldiers at work and made her way into the office, making sure to close the door behind her. She rushed over to Sungjong, who was sitting beside an long oak desk while Dongwoo was occupied at the open first aid kit on the table.

"Move," Joohyun pulled Dongwoo aside as she stepped in his position, her heart instantly aching at the cuts on her brother's face.

"Joohyun? Why are't you at home?" Dongwoo asked in surprise as he was suddenly pulled away from helping his younger brother. 

"I came with the guards when I heard the warehouse was under attack," she replied simply, quickly pulling out a tissue to wipe away the blood on Sungjong's face.

"It's not as bad as it looks, Joohyun," Sungjong sighed, wincing a bit as his little sister began dabbing some ointment onto his small cuts, "Myungsoo has it worse than us."

"Us?" Joohyun asked, her eyes wandering to someone else who was sitting at the table, which was Sungyeol. She sighed, immediately growing disheartened. She turned to Dongwoo. "Can you find Myungsoo and tell him to come in here so I can help him?"

Dongwoo just nodded silently and left the three in the office while Joohyun was busy tending to her brothers.

Joohyun had just finished tending to Sungyeol when Dongwoo had come back inside the office, but without Myungsoo.

"He refuses to come here until he sees all the surviving intruders transported into the holding area," Dongwoo spoke, taking a seat next to Sungyeol. 

Joohyun let out a frustrated exhale, and from that sigh alone, the three of her brothers knew she was getting angry. The trio didn't say a word as Joohyun threw away the cotton balls she used and left the office suddenly without saying anything. She walked rather quickly out of the first floor and towards the outer ends of the warehouse, where there was a smaller warehouse meant to hold any and all hostages her father wanted to hold under his command for information. She was never allowed inside, although she knew what kind of things went on inside the building. Joohyun spotted Myungsoo outside the smaller warehouse, watching soldiers what seemed to be three hostages inside the building. She forcefully yanked at Myungsoo's shoulder from behind, pulling him to turn around and face her.

"What do I have to do to get you to listen to me? Huh?" Joohyun spoke, her eyes staring intensely at Myungsoo's.

"First of all, you're supposed to be at home," Myungsoo answered with a blank face, "and secondly, I'm doing other important things, Joohyun. My cuts can be tended to later, it's not important."

"Well it is to me, okay?" Joohyun frowned, "So you're coming with me, right now."

Myungsoo turned his head to look back at the warehouse, and he concluded that the hostages had been transported to where they needed to be. He just let out a small exhale as he stared at Joohyun, letting her order him around just this one time. Once she saw the look in his eyes that he was going to listen to her, she just turned around and walked back into the warehouse, with Myungsoo following right on her tail.

"Can you guys stop fighting? Whatever's done is done, you can't do anything about it now."

Joohyun was in the midst of trying to calm down Myungsoo and Sungjong, who were arguing about the fact that Myungsoo had to cover for Sungjong and Sungyeol, who were suddenly ambushed by a group of enemies pretending to be wounded. In the middle of their argument, Dongwoo opened the door and called for Sungyeol and Sungjong. 

"Hey, I need you two to supervise two more hostages transportation to the holding area, I need to help Sunggyu with collecting evidence from the getaway vehicles."

Myungsoo stood up suddenly, as did Sungjong and Sungyeol.

"He meant Sungjong and Sungyeol. Sit down," Joohyun said sternly, but it seemed that Myungsoo wasn't paying attention to her. 

"I'll go, I've been supervising the last three hostages," Myungsoo offered, but Dongwoo declined.

"It's just two hostages; plus, you really need to get your wounds tended to," Dongwoo looked over at Myungsoo with concern.

"I'm fine," Myungsoo let out a frustrated sigh, "it'll only be a few minutes, anyway."

"No, you won't be going," Joohyun said clearly, getting up to stand in front of him. She looked over at Sungyeol and Sungjong and nodded at the door, gesturing them to leave, "just go."

Myungsoo clenched his jaw, watching in defeat as his two brothers left the office. He shot a glare towards Joohyun, who wasn't afraid to glare back at him. 

"Sit down," she instructed, and she pushed him harshly to sit down when he wasn't complying with her. Myungsoo winced in pain at the spot she pushed him, and he continued glaring while she went through the medical kit. "You wouldn't be wincing if you listened to me and sat down on your own accord."

Myungsoo just kept his mouth shut, still fuming that his sister wasn't letting him tend to Family duties all because of a couple wounds. Pain was temporary, handling Family duties was what he should be doing, he thought.

Joohyun was quietly putting ointment onto small cuts that were on Myungsoo's face, and once she was done, he leaned away from her and tried to leave.

"Not so fast," she stopped him, "Dongwoo said you had it worse than Sungjong. Do you think I'm stupid, Myungsoo? I see the stab wound on your shoulder."

"If you're not stupid then why didn't you tend to that first?" He shot back.

"Because you were getting on my nerves and I wanted you to have the wound for a little while longer as punishment for being a whiny brat," Joohyun crossed her arms over her chest matter-of-factly.

"Me? A brat?" Myungsoo scoffed. Joohyun clenched her teeth; she knew Myungsoo was really mad if he was talking more. "All I'm doing is trying to make sure the same people that tried to kidnap you are being held accountable. I need to make sure of it myself."

"You should learn to trust our brothers. They want to protect me as much as you do," Joohyun reassured, but Myungsoo shook his head.

"No Joohyun," he mumbled, "no they don't."

Joohyun just stared at him in silence, not understanding what he was trying to say. 

"Look," Joohyun sighed, "let me just fix your wound and it'll be over with. The more we fight, the longer it'll take for you to get back to work."

Myungsoo huffed, giving in as he just sat back in the chair he was sitting in, not saying anything as he turned his back to her. Joohyun pulled a chair to sit behind him, and pulled the kit closer to her as well. She saw that his jacket had a slit pierced in the shoulder area, and she pulled down his jacket to see the wound. She sat, paralyzed when she saw that the wound was more serious than she thought. Myungsoo blinked, not knowing what Joohyun was doing since she was quiet. 

"Is everything okay?" He asked skeptically and Joohyun just sighed tiredly.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," Joohyun replied simply as she began cleaning up the wound, "I just ... um. I have to stitch this up."

"Oh ... it's that bad?"

"Yeah."

After that, the two didn't speak. They sat in utter silence, Myungsoo letting Joohyun do what she had to do. Myungsoo tried to not show that he was uncomfortable as she was stitching up his wound, and his ear twitched when he thought he had heard Joohyun sniffle. "She wouldn't be crying," he thought, "she never cries." As he turned around to thank her after she finished, however, he was surprised when she turned away from him to wipe her eyes with a tissue.

"Were you crying?" Myungsoo asked carefully in a soft tone.

"Just a little," Joohyun admitted without looking back at him.

"Why?" Myungsoo asked. Joohyun was the definition of strength to him, besides their father. She never showed vulnerability, but he never really realized she showed it when she was around her family sometimes. It was only now did he realize that she was showing her true self, something he never really paid attention to when they were growing up. 

"Stitching up your own brother's wound , you know," Joohyun answered, turning back to him as she threw her tissue away, "I don't like to see any of you hurt. That's all."

Myungsoo looked down at his hands and smiled a bit. He always thought that Joohyun cared about her other brothers over him, mostly because they didn't interact very much while they were growing up. He was always busy being trained to take over the company when he was old enough while his siblings got it easier and had more time to spend with one another. Although he felt a bond with his brothers, he never really felt like Joohyun was his sister since he always distanced himself from her because of one thing their father had told him from the moment he knew that Myungsoo would understand. 

"Thanks Joohyun," Myungsoo looked up at Joohyun and gave her a smile, "I'm sorry I was being difficult." 

Joohyun looked up at him from her hands, giving him a tired smile. She widened her eyes when he leaned forward and gave her a brief hug before he pulled away..

"It's okay," she nodded, "I'm used to it."

"Hey," he frowned, "out of all of us, I'm not the most difficult."

"Hmm ... most of the time you're not," Joohyun agreed, laughing. Myungsoo joined in on the laughter as well, and for a moment, just a moment, he felt that everything in the world was right.

Joohyun and all her brothers, except Sunggyu and Myungsoo, had returned home with a good number of guards late at night. Exhausted, everyone headed to bed. As Joohyun nestled within her warm blankets and browsed through her phone, she realized that Taehyung had called her twice two hours ago. Calling him back, she didn't think he would pick up, but her ears perked when she heard a voice from the other line.

"Sorry, I just got home. Were you sleeping?" Joohyun asked.

"No, I couldn't sleep cause I was scared you were ignoring me again," Taehyung replied in a tired but husky voice, "at least you called me back."

"Aww I'm sorry Taehyung," she chuckled, "it's just ... some things happened."

"Like what?"

Joohyun filled Taehyung in on what had happened at her Family's warehouse, and Taehyung seemed to sound more alert and awake after her explanation. 

"Is everyone okay?" Taehyung asked and Joohyun hummed in response.

"Yeah, Sungjong and Sungyeol got a few cuts but I took care of them," she replied, "Myungsoo on the other hand ... he took a stab wound to the shoulder."

Joohyun could hear Taehyung wince from the other side of line. " ... was it bad?"

"Kind of," Joohyun mumbled, "but I stitched it up. I teared up a little bit to be honest."

"Oh, Joohyun," he cooed, "at least you helped out your brother when he was in need. That's what matters."

"Yeah, but it wasn't easy. The er was running around taking care of Family duties without treating the stab wound! I had to make him sit down so that I could take care of it myself." Joohyun was getting mad just at the thought of the argument she had gotten into with Myungsoo. 

"Priorities don't seem to be in the right place," Taehyung chuckled.

"Right?!"

Joohyun and Taehyung spoke for a little bit before she decided to end their conversation and head to bed despite Taehyung's pleas to stay up a little longer.

"Taehyung, you were tired when I called you. You're practically falling asleep as we speak," Joohyun sighed.

"I'm sorry," Taehyung's deep laugh brought a smile to Joohyun's face for some reason, "I just love listening to your voice."

"Well it's not like tonight's gonna be the last time you'll hear it, there's always tomorrow," Joohyun blushed at her own words.

"Okay, fine, you win ... I'm really tired," Tahyung yawned.

"Good," Joohyun giggled, "good night and sweet dreams, don't dream of me too much."

"I don't have to," Taehyung grinned, "when I finally have my dream girl in real life."

holy I didn't think this chapter was gonna be that long LOL

well I'm not about to separate this chapter so I hope you enjoyed the extra long update even tho it was kinda boring c: