Hyehee stood awkwardly in front of the guys when the thunder started roaring.

              “You’re Hyehee right? Don’t be awkward,” Jonghyun half laughed, “My name is Jonghyun, you can call me Jonghyun oppa. And he is Key.” He said, pointing to the guy next to him.

              “Is my brother back?” Hyehee asked. In the afternoon when Taemin wanted her to come with him to meet Jinki and go back with him, she refused to go. She ended up locking herself in the room and whatever Taemin says, she won’t listen. Now that it’s almost nine and raining, she was getting worried.

              “Not yet.” Jonghyun replied.

              A few minutes passed and Hyehee was already sitting comfortably with the guys watching television. It was until the door started to creak when Hyehee found herself looking anxiously towards the door.

              His hair was wet, his skin slick from the rain and his white shirt flattened and stuck to his toned body. Taemin stood there, lost and confused.

              “Tae oppa…” Hyehee rushed over to him but Taemin brushed past her and headed for the stairs. Both the guys watched as Taemin climbed the stairs as though his legs were the heaviest thing on earth.

              “Oh my God,” Jonghyun mumbled. “Did you see what I saw?” He asked Key, who was also rooted to the ground.

              “Why…why does Taem has a dragon tattoo?”

The moment Taemin went into his room, he collapsed on the floor with his back against the wall.

              The reason why Minho asked if Hyehee know, he was trying to ask if Hyehee knew about Taemin’s past.

              The reason why Minho wasn’t surprised when he said he was Hyehee’s second brother was because he knows he isn’t.

              The reason why Minho asked about his past was because…he knows.

              “Taemin, you’re the son of the Dragon’s and the Phoenixes. You’re the key to everything.”

              Taemin closed his eyes.

              “You’re going to get sick.”

              He didn’t even hear her coming. Hyehee said gently under her breath but loud enough for Taemin to hear. She went to the bathroom for a towel before walking over to Taemin. “I’ve been with you since young but didn’t know that you had a tattoo…” She said, putting the towel over Taemin’s head and rubbing it. She was always curious why Taemin doesn’t go topless as a kid whereas Jinki will always be topless after bathing. Of course, until they started middle school, Jinki doesn’t do it anymore.

              “It’s not a glamourous thing.” He said quietly. It was a proof that he was from the mafia. Taemin sighed; he grabbed Hyehee’s hands and stopped her. “Hyehee…”

              Hyehee blinked and she waited for Taemin to speak. Taemin looked at her, both of them were so close and she, for a moment felt nervous from his gaze. “Leave this place and go back to your Jin oppa.”

              She frowned, and Taemin pulled her in for a hug. “Sorry, Tae oppa couldn’t keep you here…I couldn’t keep you by my side.”

              “Why…oppa…” Hyehee felt hot tears filling up her eyes. She wasn’t feeling sad from Taemin pushing her away but because Taemin’s words were filled with so much pain. He closed his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat; he rested his head on her shoulder with his arms tightening around her small frame.

              Ever since young, Hyehee has always been on better terms with Taemin than Jinki. They shared secrets that no one knows, and tell jokes that nobody understands. When they were younger, people always thought they were a pair of couple.

              Four years ago when Taemin was sold to the Phoenixes, Hyehee cried the loudest. Jinki on the other hand, could only hold onto the fourteen year old Hyehee that kept on pulling Taemin asking him not to go. That was the first and last time Hyehee ever saw Taemin shed a tear.

              Until today, her heart was aching so badly at Taemin’s choked voice. She doesn’t know what happened but Taemin…it just seems like Taemin can trigger her emotions easily.

              She hugged him tightly, patting on his back like he was a child. “Oppa…don’t do this to me…please…” she doesn’t want to lose her favorite brother.

              Taemin gritted his teeth. Remembering the time when their parents passed away and he didn’t even go to their funeral because he hated them for selling him off to the mafia. But the truth was that he wasn’t their child yet they brought him up. He was such not a filial son.

              Hyehee was his favorite sister and telling her to leave him for good is as good as saying goodbye. Most importantly, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he wasn’t her real oppa.

              “I’m sorry, Hyehee…” his voice muffled with his face buried in Hyehee’s neck.

              Why is fate doing this to him? When he thought he had a happy family with the best siblings in the world, he has to be sold to the mafia. When he hated his parents for selling him away, he has to be told that he wasn’t even their biological child. When he thought it was the worst already, he has to face the truth of being the son of the two clans.

              The Dragon’s and the Phoenixes.

              “I will go back…if that’s what you wish for…” he heard Hyehee saying in the softest voice he ever heard from her.

              He released her from his arms and Taemin thought his heart was going to shatter to pieces from seeing the tears stain on Hyehee’s face.

              To be honest, if I could, I would keep you here. But I can’t, because the mafia is dangerous…I am dangerous…

He looked at himself in the mirror. The bathroom was steamy from the hot shower and perspiration starts to form on Jinki’s nose and forehead. He stood half- there, grabbing the either side of the basin until he took a towel from the hanger to dry his face. He sighed as he turned his body.

              There it was the mistake of his life.

              He runs a finger over the dragon’s head on his right hip.

              “Hyehee will be home by tonight, I promise.”

              He sighed again when he recalled what Taemin said, after that, Taemin stood up and walked away without looking back. It was just like him, on that night when he walked away from the mafia without turning back.

              Jinki sat down in the living room with his hands clapped together and fingers intertwined. Will Hyehee really be back? He thought, putting his clapped hands under his chin with his elbows on his lap. Of course, Taemin will do what he said.

              And when he heard noises from outside the door, he stood up immediately and went over. “Hyehee!” Jinki collected his little sister in his arms and from the corner of his eye; he saw a black shadow exiting into the lift. “Jin oppa…” Hyehee sighed, hugging her brother back. “Tae oppa—,”

              But when Hyehee turned back, Taemin wasn’t there anymore.

              Jinki swallowed, he guided Hyehee into the house before closing the door behind them. “I’m sorry Hyehee, oppa shouldn’t shout at you, I shouldn’t hurt you.” he said.

              It’s hard to leave your favorite Tae oppa, right?

              “It’s okay Jin oppa, it doesn’t matter anymore.” Hyehee said, walking in to the living room and sat down silently. It doesn’t matter since Tae oppa pushed her away already.

              “Hyehee…” Jinki breathed, he noticed her blood-shot eyes and disheveled look. He doesn’t know what Taemin told her but he knew that Hyehee is losing herself already. Which in a way, he was glad that Hyehee will be giving up on Taemin.

              He walked over and leaned in, giving her a light peck on her forehead. “You still have me, you still have Jin oppa.”

              I’m sorry I had to do this. I didn’t want to push Taemin away too but…you’re my only one left, I can’t lose you too Hyehee…

Taemin stood before the big oak doors. He took a glance at his watch and it was almost ten. He sighed, bringing his hand up to knock on the door when he got pulled away suddenly with a hand covered over his mouth.

              “What the !?” he exclaimed when he saw Jonghyun and Key standing behind him. “We need explanation.” Jonghyun asked quietly, looking around to see if anyone is around. Taemin rolled his eyes. “You’re a spy from the Dragon’s?” Key asked and Taemin immediately frowned, giving him a smack.

              “What? No!” he almost shouted. “Then what’s with that tattoo?? Don’t you know that dragon tattoo means you’re from the Dragon’s??” Jonghyun hissed accusingly. “I have it since I was a baby, okay?!” Taemin retorted.

              “The three of you.”

              The three of them snapped their heads towards the direction of master’s room. “Come in,” his hollow voice echoed in the hallway.

              Taemin doesn’t know if it’s only him or everyone else. But each time he comes into master’s room, it’s always giving him a headache. The atmosphere in the room was always tensed and heavy, somehow casting a pressure on him. And the last time he came in, was when he was introduced to Jonghyun and Key.

              “I asked Jonghyun and Key along too was because they were your closest brothers, I bet you don't want to hide your past from them.” Master said, sitting behind the long royal desk on the tall leather chair. “I will not beat around the bush too.”

              “You’re the son of the Dragon’s and Phoenixes.” He started, and Taemin could hear Jonghyun and Key taking a sharp breath from the shocking sentence. “Almost twenty years ago, when I caught Choi Siwon and Hyori together, I was so furious. The Dragon’s and Phoenixes were enemies for generations, of course romance will be banned between the two clans.”

              “I forbid them to be together. But apparently, you somehow popped up in the picture. Choi Siwon doesn’t know about your existence. She only found out that she was pregnant after I forced the both of them to break up.”

              Taemin swallowed. “Hyori killed herself after giving birth to you. But the thing was; I couldn’t find her child. Only after going to places to find where she last went before she took her life, I found an old tattoo artist that said Hyori brought a baby to him for a tattoo.”

              Master took out a piece of paper from the first drawer of his desk. It was an old paper with a dragon drawing and Taemin found the drawing awfully familiar.

              “It was the tattoo on your back, Taem.” Jonghyun said low. Even though he only took a glance that night through Taemin’s wet shirt, he can still remember it.

              “My one and only beautiful daughter…my only hope to live on when my wife died…for a moment I blamed myself for forcing her but everything was too late. I have to find her child and keep them by my side because they’re the only one left that had my blood running.”

              Taemin cringed at the word of blood. He his dried lips and stared ahead.

              “Taemin, you’re my grandson.” Master concluded.

“Hey Minho, what’s with you and the guy called Taemin? You’ve been visiting the Phoenixes for him right?”

              Minho smirked, aiming at the dart board with a dagger in his hand. Lee Taemin, the end is coming…for you…once you know that you’re the biological son of Choi Siwon…

              He shoots the dagger and it pierced into the center of the dart board. Bull eye. He smirked again as he falls down on the couch.

              The door to the room opened and Minho thought that the guy who went to buy drinks for them was back, until it became dead silence that Minho had to turn his head back to see what was going on.

              The head of Dragon’s, Choi Siwon.

              He had a furious face when he walked over to Minho with some other guys behind him. The latter immediately shoot up from the seat, “Dad—,”

              Siwon pursed his lips and raised his hand back, throwing it forward as hard as he could across Minho’s face. His father’s palm was bright red, the same red mark that matched Minho’s cheek. He stared at him with his eyes wide as Minho’s hand slowly made it to his fire red cheek.

              “I heard that you’ve been creating troubles at the Phoenixes, is that true?” Siwon hollered.

              “I—,”

              “I only want to hear yes or no,” his voice firm and intimidating, making Minho clenched his fists by his side. “Yes—,”

              The moment Minho said yes, his head was slammed down against the table by Siwon. He groaned. “I repeat, the Dragon’s and Phoenixes are not to cross path. You hear me?”

              Minho gritted his teeth and Siwon let go of his grip on the back of Minho’s head. “Don’t let me catch you doing stupid things behind my back again.” His father said, before leaving the room.

              Minho stood back up and wiped off the blood stain off his lips. Siwon actually slapped him so hard that the inner side of his cheeks got ripped. He stared hard at the door, he should’ve felt some sort of remorse when his father lectured him, but he didn’t. Not one organ in his body could produce guilt for his actions.

              “You’re going to pay for this, Lee Taemin.” He hissed, taking sharp breaths as he walked around to his desk and opened the first drawer.

              A gun was lying in there.

“Minho!” Hyehee exclaimed and waved her hands in the air for him to spot her among the crowds. Minho smiled as he walked over to her with a cup of hot chocolate in his hand. “Been waiting long?” he asked, holding her hand and giving her the best smile he could with the injury inside his mouth. “Here, I bought it for you.”

              “Nope, no worries, thank you.” Hyehee smiled as she took the cup and started sipping on the hot drink. It was an hour ago when she received a text from Minho asking her to meet him in town for a date. He said he misses her. “Where are we going?” she asked, letting Minho lead the way. “Somewhere fun.” He smirked, and Hyehee was unfamiliar with that smirk and that tone of voice. She looked at him.

              Until when they reached the place, Hyehee thought it seemed wrong for Minho to frequent a place like this. The loud music causes vibration on the ground and her heart was beating loudly against her ribcage too. The different color of spotlights shining on the ground was giving her a headache. She had gone to the Phoenix Pub before but it wasn’t so bad and wild.

              “Minho!” She yelled, and it wasn’t helping when Minho was a head taller than her. “Minho!” She yelled again, pulling his hand this time and he turned back. “Where is this place?” She asked loudly, desperately trying to speak with the loud noises in the background.

              Minho leaned down beside her ear, “It’s Black Dragon, in short, BD.”

              Hyehee blinked, she had heard of BD from her classmates before. After all, they are all legal enough to club. She often hear them saying about the different pubs and the names that came up most often were the Phoenix pub and BD.

              “Why are we here?” She shouted and Minho led her into a corner where flight of stairs lead up to the second floor. “Minho?” She lowered her voice, before realizing that the second floor was all rooms and the corridor was so narrow that it hardly has any space for two people to walk side by side. She followed him and they ended up in the last room all the way down.

              “Minho, why—,” Hyehee dropped her cup of hot chocolate when she felt light headed and quick to fall on her feet, though Minho managed to catch her. Little black dots swarmed her vision, the corners of her sight slowly fading into black. She shook her head, trying to regain her vision and hopefully to shake away the blurriness.

              “It’s okay, baby.” Minho hushed her, carrying her up in bridal style and throwing her on the bed. “Aren’t you easy to trick? No wonder you’re not Lee Taemin’s sister. Lee Taemin is smart, you know?” Minho said, getting on top of her.

              Hyehee couldn’t register his words in her head, but she heard something about her not being Taemin’s sister. Of course she is, how is she not his sister? She groaned at the dizziness, she felt like the world was crashing on her when Minho starts to remove her cardigan.

              “No…” Hyehee breathed heavily, her consciousness slipping in and out when she tried to push his hands away. Minho smiled; Hyehee has no strength at all right now. “Lucky you wore a dress today; it saves me the trouble…” Minho whispered in her ear as his hand run up her thigh, into her dress.

              “Get….off….” She closed her eyes and she couldn’t focus, not at all.

Taemin looked up at the signboard that reads Black Dragon. What was it that Minho wants? Why is he asking for him to be here? What exactly does Minho wants when Taemin obviously was not in the mood for anything else after he knew about his birth?

              He sighed, heading into the pub and earning stares from the other people. Normal people would think why Lee Taemin, someone from the Phoenixes, would be here in the Dragon’s territory, and the Dragon’s people here, would be wondering if Taemin is here for trouble.

              But they were all wrong when Taemin went straight up to the second floor, which at the same time, caught a certain young lad’s attention. When Minho texted him, he already told him where to find him. So when Taemin reached the end of the corridor, he stood at the doorway of the last room, before realizing there’s a girl’s voice inside.

              And that voice sounded a lot like his sister’s.

              Without sparing a minute, he kicked the door open, and his eyes widen at the sight. Hyehee was already half on the bed, with hands hanging off the edge of the bed and eyes half opened. In that instant, Taemin dashed for Minho and grabbed him off his sister, throwing him on the ground. Minho almost laughed and Taemin had to use all of his self-control to stop himself from ripping him apart.

              “Who the gave you the permission to touch my sister?” He questioned him quietly, his voice so low and intimidating. He gritted his teeth as he takes off his outerwear before taking a quick glance at Hyehee. His fingers gently run over what seemed like bruises on her arms. Taking a deep breath, he covered her with his shirt. Even though Hyehee couldn’t see clearly, she knew it was Taemin. She tugged on his arm and he pulls her in for a quick hug. “It’s okay, Tae oppa is here.” He mumbled in her ear and he made sure that she heard it.

              By the time Taemin turned around, Minho had already gotten on his feet. “You hit her.” Taemin said; it was a statement, not a question. He walked up to him and punched Minho in the face, making the latter took a few steps back; and unlike last time, Minho fought back.

              The side of Taemin’s lips got ripped, and he wiped off the blood using the back of his hand before pushing Minho hard up against the wall. “No one hits my sister.” He said, up close in Minho’s face. “You mean, hit her, or hit on her?” Minho smirked, “I heard you’re the best fighter in Phoenixes. Is that all you’ve got?”

              Minho gave him a fast and powerful kick in the ribs; Taemin howled in torment and Minho took the chance to grab his left wrist and knee him in the stomach. Though Taemin managed to dodge it, his bracelet flew halfway across the room.

              The bracelet, !

              Taemin immediately went over for the bracelet. He picked it up and heaved a sigh of relief, lucky it wasn’t spoiled.

              “Taemin!”

              And the next thing he knows, he was hugged by something, or someone and all he could hear was Hyehee’s screaming.

              And he swears; he heard a loud ‘BANG’.