Chapter 26:

“Tae Yang, aim for the tyres.” CL explained, taking her gun out from her pocket as she kept her eyes in front.

“We need to get rid of them.” CL gripped the steering wheel in her sweating fingers, feeling the wind pulse through her skin, “Or else we would be in danger.”

Tae Yang’s eyes had latched onto a black object in CL’s hand, and just like that, all his senses were immediately lost.  He could not move, nor speak, nor think. All he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears as the memory of the time in the old YG building seemed to come back to him. 

Tae Yang tightly formed a fist with his hand, applying so much pressure that his own nails were nearly digging in his palm as he kept his eyes onto the gun, unable to turn his head to witness the alarm looking face of the person sitting beside him. 

Now Tae Yang was left with two choices.

Either he takes the gun and follows CL’s instructions to survive and lose the chance to reconcile with Seungri, or he declines taking the gun and risks the danger ahead.

Two choices.

 Losing or losing.

“Tae Yang!” CL hissed, her dark eyes bright with fury and anxiousness while she struggled to control the car on the narrow road.

Looking at the rear view mirror, CL could see Tae Yang hesitated on taking the gun and there’s a shocked look in Seungri’s eyes.

Why?

Why are the both of them behaving as if the gun is a monster?

The alarm bells exploded in CL's head, drowning her thought processes in a rush of adrenaline with seconds wasting on Tae Yang’s hesitation before CL swore softly.

"Tae Yang! Take over! Ride fast, stay calm, and above all else, keep the car steady!" CL commanded as she rolled down the window. Immediately a huge gust of wind rushed throughout the interior of the car.

Tae Yang watched as CL moved to the seat beside the driver’s seat, extended and twisted her upper body out the opened window and faced the white car while he climbed over into the driver seat and kept the speed of the car up. He tried really hard not to swerve the car too much, as he didn't want CL to be thrown off the moving car. At this speed, Tae Yang didn't even want to think about what would happen to CL.

Tae Yang broke out in a sweat. He cornered another curve and checked the rear view mirror. The white car followed closely behind, ready to pound them again.

“CL!” Tae Yang panicked as he made a sharp turn that sent Seungri falling to the side of the car while CL felt her shoulder pounding against the frame of the open window. CL could feel every bump of the road as she tried to maintain a firm posture out the window. Lifting her gun, CL blasted off five shots. The sound could be heard over the rush of the air currents.

CL returned inside the car, rubbing her left shoulder, which had been knocked about the frame of the opened window. She needed time to recover.

"CL, are you okay?" Seungri yelled above the wind resistance while CL nodded a yes in response before CL took a deep breath and stuck her body out the window again.

 Once again she was banged up against the window frame of the car, with the wind making it virtually impossible for her to hold steady. CL tried to remain as rigid as she could as she fired off five more rounds.

Looking at the rear view mirror, Tae Yang saw the white car go slightly off course as CL fired in succession.

But it straightened itself out and the chase continued. Tae Yang concentrated on the turn ahead.

"Do you think you've made an impact?" Tae Yang yelled, when CL heaved herself back into the passenger seat.

"Let's hope so!" CL loudly replied, as she rubbed her wound. CL seemed to be in pain, "I don't think I could take being jostled about again!"

Tae Yang looked at the rear view mirror. It took a while but he slowly noted the white car decelerating.

The distance between the two cars started increasing.

Eventually as time went on and Tae Yang drove on, the white car became a small speck in the rear view mirror.

Tae Yang heaved a sigh of relief.

"So, where do we go from here?" Tae Yang asked quietly.

"Just, keep driving." CL responded tiredly.

Tae Yang nodded his head and settled back to drive to wherever the road was taking them.

***

In a darkened room, littered with various contracts and newspapers, Hyun Seng sat on a sofa, an article in his hand, while Yang Yoseob strode in angrily towards him and a magazine into Hyun Seng's face.

“Jang Hyun Seng! What on earth are you doing?!” Yang Yoseob bellowed, shaking in fury. He tried to calm himself down, but was for once unable to.

Yang Yoseob couldn’t control his emotions for no reason. Or maybe there was a reason.

Both he and Hyun Seng have gone through so much to become what they were right now. Yet, because of the hatred Hyun Seng had for Seungri, he has to witness Hyun Seng ending his career.

Because of Seungri again.

“As if creating a stir in the entertainment industry because of a producing director is not enough, you are going to create another stir with Seungri?!”  Yang Yoseob hissed angrily. “Are you trying to end your career?!”

“Yang Yoseob!”  said Hyun Seng, jerking his head towards Yang Yoseob.

 “This would not be the end of my career," Hyun Seng said, careful to keep his voice level and calm.

“Do you think I am someone who would give up easily?” Hyun Seng asked and Yang Yoseob smiled slightly at the memory of the ups and downs they experienced together when they were trainees.

Hyun Seng’s stubbornness and perseverance that Yang Yoseob had witnessed was something he will never forget for as long as he lived.

“Hyun Seng, seriously…” Yang Yoseob collapsed on a nearby couch and buried his face in his hands.

Yang Yoseob hardly noticed Hyun Seng placed a cup of water in front of him, and he hardly noticed himself picking up the cup and taking a drink. All he knew is that Hyun Seng would have a hard time saving his career.

“Stay out of trouble for now if you still want to save your career.”

***

The sound of rain pelting against the window pane pulled Yang Yoseob from his roving thoughts. Absently Yang Yoseob lifted his arm above his head, glancing inattentively through the documents, which detailed the song that Jun Hyung had written for him as instructed by Doo Joon.

Yang Yoseob ran a hand through his dark hair, swept uneven by the wind, and loosened his fingers as the papers fluttered away in the direction of the cool current, a noiselessly but powerfully entity struggling between the nooks of his fingers, the white papers rolling pitifully across the concrete floor as they were nothing, but velvety, innocent handkerchiefs.

Yang Yoseob stared at the papers on the floor, wondering why he agreed to follow Doo Joon’s instructions.

All he wanted was revenge. Yet, Yang Yoseob could not help but wonder about Hyun Seng’s death.

 “Jun Hyung,” Yang Yoseob said clearly, turning to the figure at the other side of the room. “Do you still remember what caused Hyun Seng’s death?”

Jun Hyung looked at Yang Yoseob and smiled sadly. “How could I forget?”

“Based on what I know, the doctors stated that Hyun Seng was in a stable condition when he was admitted to the hospital. But something went wrong after that. The doctors had no answer as to why he died and they concluded it was as if Hyun Seng just decided to stop living.”

Yang Yoseob sighed and ran fingers through his hair and he sat in silence, pondering deeply.

After a few minutes, as if he had reached a final conclusion, Yang Yoseob turned his head towards the window, observing the rain as he spoke, "Jun Hyung, do you think that Hyun Seng would be dead just like that?”

Jun Hyung fell silent. Lost in his thoughts at Yang Yoseob words. Finally Jun Hyung broke the silence.

“Yang Yoseob …Hyun Seng is already dead.”  Jun Hyung paused to let the words sink in a bit. 

“Move on.”

Neither one said anything after that, uncertain what to say next. And for the rest of the time they sat there, neither said a word as the only sound came from pouring rain.