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T W E L V E   

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Blood.

Blood.

So much blood.

Jong Up stared at the scene in front of him in horror. Bodies were running around in fear, and money and poker chips were scattered across the ground like ironic confetti. Security was nowhere to be seen, and all the staff had run for their lives, hoping not to be accidentally shot. The other gang, whose members wielded wicked snipers and loaded Glocks, barely had to hold up their weapons before the gamblers ran away in utter fear.  Their appearances were also shadowy and intimidating, as all twelve gang members were clad head-to-toe in black, their dyed hair the only thing that stood out from their clothes. However, Jong Up noticed that six of them wore a special compass brooch over their chest, inlaid with a jewel of a different color. They must be the leaders, he thought, as they noticed his presence and rounded upon him. Wondering how the hell he was going to get through a one-on-twelve, he saw Young Jae run over to the scene, and felt a sense of disappointment. Young Jae was a talented fighter, but he wasn’t his partner for the mission – which made him wonder why Zelo still hadn’t arrived yet. Pulling out his cell phone as the gang members walked over to him, he calmly held it to his ear, calling on the maknae for backup.

“Hello! You have reached Zelo’s answering machine! What the hell, why did you interrupt my warrior training? Maybe you don’t have the power but I do! Please leave a message if you’re my secret love!”

Even the damn kid’s answering machine was annoying, Jong Up thought, as he listened to it.   

Punching the numbers again, and watching as one of the leaders signalled to the others, Jong Up waited for the brat to pick up his cell. Zelo was irresponsible and a little kid, but he always picked up on the first ring when it came to his hyung. He had to admit, he fared well with Zelo as a fighting partner and he wouldn’t consider anyone else for the job. The jerk might have bee an annoying little prick, but he was a genuinely good kid and a dedicated, hard worker. He wouldn’t not pick up during a mission, especially since Yong Guk had been injured and news was spreading like wildfire.

The picking up of the phone suddenly interrupted his thoughts, and Jong Up felt relief at hearing the younger boy’s voice.  “Hello?” Zelo  asked calmly from the other line as Jong Up barked at it in frustration.

“Yah, Zelo, where the are you?”

“I’m right here, hyung,” Zelo replied lithely.

“What? You know that Yong Guk has been injured, so hurry up and get your over here! I still don’t see you!” Jong Up snarled as he scanned the crowd.

“You’re just looking at the wrong place,” Zelo said, as the group of twelve parted and unveiled

Him.

Jong Up stared at him in horror as the younger boy smirked at him, a chin mask covering his mouth, his blond curls a striking contrast to the dark clothes he was wearing. Yong Jae’s eyes widened as they looked at the younger boy – someone they had known nearly all their lives – with the gaze of stranger. His mouth was set into a hard snarl, his eyes like rocks, without the sparkle and charm that they were so used to. As the two B.A.P members stared ahead, the other gang’s leaders began to grin, and the atmosphere suddenly grew terse and full of tension. Watching as Zelo patted one of the members, a rather feminine looking one, on the shoulder, Jong Up realized what was going on. The new member of the gang – he didn’t even need to be unveiled. We knew him all along. The phone dropped from Jong Up’s hand as he realized what had happened, but he couldn’t make his mouth move.

He was paralyzed.

“Surprise, surprise,” One of the taller members of the new gang said, smirking, his voice honeyed with poison. “Jong Up, right? You’re just in time for the party. I see that B.A.P has gotten a new member –

And so have we.”

“Zelo?” Jong Up asked, looking at him with revolt. “Zelo, is this true?”

Zelo just grinned at him maliciously, while Jong Up stood in shock.

“No way – you brat-”

“Ah ah ah.”  the feminine boy said stoically.  His hair was bleached platinum blond, and scrunched into a wavy ponytail with wisps framing his heart-shaped face. Jong Up had mistooken him for a girl at during his first impression, but this just made it easier to memorize his face for later. Dressed to kill, he was wearing a form-fitting black suit, and although his face was slightly girlier than his teammates, he looked just as dangerous as everyone else. Jong Up couldn't help but notice the knives slotted in his belt and a hefty gun held slack in his left hand. “Mind your manners. Don’t talk to him so casually now that he’s not part of your group anymore," girly boy said, grinning without any trace of friendliness. 

Jong Up was stunned that Zelo already had the other team backing him up. “Yah, Choi Joon Hong,” Young Jae snapped, saying the words that Jong Up couldn't find the heart to, but Zelo ignored him. Smiling warmly, he rolled his frozen eyes in disdain at them. “My name has always been Zelo, Young Jae. Choi Joon Hong is part of the past.”

“Don’t around with me CHOI JOON HONG!” Jong Up yelled in fury as Zelo stayed composed.

“Did you really think I was happy, hyung? Did you think you could give me what I needed? Every day I was suppressed by my older peers, and had to train twice as hard as all of you combined. Not once has the leader ever promoted me, not once has he even considered letting me fight. If you were me, you would get tired of it as well – watching your brothers rise in rank while you’re stuck at the bottom. I’m young and I’m ready to fight, and I’m sick of everybody’s protecting. Yong Guk’s morals about creating a better world is just a dream, you idiot. A better world? The world is so screwed and corrupted, nowadays the only way to survive is to become even more corrupted then they are. You cheat those who are full of deceit - that's how it's always worked, and it's going to stay that way.”  Zelo’s words, full of malice, pierced at Jong Up like little daggers. “You think you’ll really be able to save everyone?

Then you’re just as stupid as everyone else.”

There was silence as Zelo’s gang snickered, watching the fight with amused eyes. They’d been waiting for this. They’d hoped for a division in B.A.P, and now they’d gotten it.  But Jong Up couldn’t just let Zelo go like this – he remembered the years they’d spent working to get to this point in their lives. And although Zelo degraded the group and hated it, the truth was, without it he wouldn’t have been who he was today. Desperately, Jong Up tried to plead his way into Zelo’s common sense. “Don’t do this, Zelo. You can come back. I’m sorry you think that way, but- ” Jong Up began, his voice cracking as he tried to speak. “But you know Yong Guk just wants the best for us.”

“The best? I’ll tell you what’s the best, Jong Up.

We live in luxury. We don’t need to scrimp by or hide ourselves from the world. Ever since I joined NU’EST, I don’t have to shackle myself to a crummy hideout for the sake of others. Voluntary hours? The reason Yong Guk spends so much time in the soup kitchen is all because he wants to feel better about the lives he’s killed. Don’t tell me we all don’t know that. Don’t tell me we all don’t know that our leader is just as emotionally compromised as everyone else. He can’t kill without spending years mourning after that death. Every person he's killed, murdered - he keeps the damn files of them in his room, Jong Up. He hasn't been doing anything for the past couple of years - and so I admit he’s talented, but he won’t even use his skills against people. I don’t want my talents to go to waste anymore, Jong Up. I didn’t train for so long because I wanted to have tea parties – I wanted revenge against those who hurt me.

And Yong Guk? The only revenge he’s ever done  is loving his enemies.”

Zelo didn’t flinch once while the vicious words rolled off his tongue, piercing straight into Jong Up like daggers laced with venom.

“You ,” Jong Up said, as he glared at the younger boy furiously.

How could Zelo say that? How could he treat Yong Guk like that?

“Yong Guk single-handedly raised you when you were a child. He was the one who taught you to survive, who taught you everything you learned. He sacrificed so much for you, for the whole group, and you decide to turn on him like this? Yah, Choi Joon Hong, get a hold of yourself.” He snapped. “It’s you that has to get a hold of yourself,” An older male with a blond haircut suddenly interrupted, looking calmly at the scene, which was full of raging emotions. “You may be used to doing things the way your leader expects them to, but Zelo’s with us now. He’s one of our team members and he’s no longer under your control. We’ve kindly extended our invitation to you as well, and we’ll give you a couple days to think about it. However, we don’t wait long, so don’t tarry. Even if you decide to reject, we hope you’ll remember our names. Because we’re not afraid to use what your leader is scared of –power.”

Blondie smirked, while Jong Up looked back at Zelo. “Zelo, please. You don’t have to do this. You can come back to us, and we’ll pretend this never happened. Look, Yong Guk doesn’t even know yet.”

“Sorry hyung,” Zelo said, not a trace of regret in his voice,

“But I don’t want to be weak anymore.”

And with that, the group left, leaving a trail of crime behind them. They stepped over bodies ruthlessly, some even purposely smashing the toe of their boot into the corpses. Young Jae grabbed his revolver from his pocket and loaded it, aiming it right at them, but Jong Up held the barrel of the gun with his hand and shook his head. They were smart and capable, and they had even managed to convince Zelo to join them – the one person who always had never-ending faith in Yong Guk. Feeling a stab of pain, he touched his head and pulled back his hand to see it sticky in blood, but Jong Up didn’t care anymore.

Zelo was right.  Pain was a weakness, a fatal flaw. And right now, that was all Jong Up could feel. 

Weak.