“Hello…?”

“Don’t hello me, you bastard!” Luhan’s voice was heard from the other line, “Where the are you?! Why did you run away like that?! Why-”

There was a shuffling sound before Yifan heard Hangeng’s soothing voice, “Yifan?”

“Gege…”

“I’m sorry I had to cut the conversation between you and your brother, but he was too freaked out about you.” Hangeng chuckled, making the weight on Yifan’s heart lighten a little bit, “Where are you, Yifan?”

“…somewhere I can’t tell you for now, Gege. But, I’m going back soon.” Yifan said.

“…” Hangeng went silent for a while and then continued, “Is everything alright?”

“Ye-” Yifan stopped and sighed, “No, Ge. Everything isn’t alright.”

“Fine. Come back here as soon as possible and we’ll find the way to solve it, okay?”

“Gege.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you so much.”

Hangeng chuckled, “Just get your back here.”

Pocketing his phone, Yifan sighed and looked at the door where Lay had gone.

“No…” Yifan whispered, “I won’t let you ever again. I’m not going stop here. Just no…”

-

“What…?”

Yifan bit his lower lip and sighed, “It’s the truth.” And then he looked at his trainer, “I’m sorry, Ge, I can’t be your fighter anymore.”

“Yifan!” Luhan suddenly shrieked, “Don’t you realize what you’ve done is completely risky?! You allow yourself to get killed! This isn’t a joke! I can tolerate fighting, but assassination, mafia, no! I can’t let you do that!”

“Yifan.” Hangeng said, “Joonmyeon isn’t a joke. He is well-known in the underground as the most cold-blooded mafia. If he doesn’t need you anymore, he can kill you anytime, even in your sleep. He’s dangerous. I’m sorry, I can’t let you do this.”

Yifan clenched his jaw and got on his knees, “Please…I can’t leave him there…”

“Him?!” Luhan got up, “Who’s this ‘him’ you’re talking about?!”

Yifan kept his head down in silence.

“Yifan…” Hangeng broke it, “Is it Lay…?”

The asked fighter nodded his head.

“Lay?! Lay?! The geisha you were talking about?!” Luhan screamed, “For God’s sake! This is irrational! Why are you sacrificing yourself for a geisha that you barely know?!”

Yifan chuckled then, “I don’t know the answer either, Luhan. But, I really can’t leave him there. I just…can’t. I promised. And I won’t break my own promise.”

The tall fighter stood up and smiled sadly, “I’m sorry, Luhan. I love you, but if even if you don’t allow me, I’ll go back there.”

Luhan hung his jaw open, completely never thought that his brother would have done that. Hangeng got up and was about to grab Yifan’s wrist but the latter stepped back.

“I’m so sorry.” Yifan whispered, slowly retreating, “Goodbye.”

He had just turned his body and was ready to leave when suddenly a pair of thin but strong arms hugged him from behind.

“No!” Luhan cried on his back, “Don’t dare you say ‘goodbye’ like we’re going to part forever! No, Yifan, you’re the family member I have! I don’t want to lose anyone again!”

“Luhan…”

“No, listen to me! Whenever you go, whatever you’re going to do, please, please remember that I’m still your brother! Please contact me whenever you need me and whenever you want! Please don’t abandon me! Ju-just please!”

Yifan sighed heavily and turned his body to hug his brother properly, “I won’t leave you…I’ll contact you through Hangeng hyung. I’m sorry, Luhan, I know our meeting time was so short…I’m not a good brother for you, but I love you. You’re, too, the only family member I have left… I don’t want to lose you.” The tall fighter lifted Luhan’s face and smiled bitterly, “Live well, okay?”

He looked past Luhan’s shoulder and bowed at Hangeng, “Please take care of my brother.”

Hangeng rubbed his temple and nodded half-heartedly, “Be careful.”

And with that, Yifan finally leaves the apartment where he had spent the past month, heading toward the unreadable future waiting for him. He wasn’t going to look back where Hangeng and Luhan are, no, because if he did, he would break and run back. He had made a promise to Lay, he couldn’t leave the geisha, and all he wanted to do was to protect the flawless male. He didn’t want Hangeng and Luhan to see the tears shining in his eyes as he walked away from them, his back slowly disappearing out of view.

-

“I want you to learn how to use guns first.” Joonmyeon said, “With your reflex as a fighter, it won’t be hard to learn the knives. So, my priority is for you learn the guns first.”

Suddenly, a tall male, taller than Yifan himself, came out from behind Joonmyeon. Yifan knew that face, he was familiar with it, the face he had usually seen before.

“Junno…?” Yifan called a name.

Junno smiled, just the sincere smile he had usually given to Yifan back then, “Hi, Yifan.”

“Oh, you know each other?” Joonmyeon chuckled and spoke in Japanese, “Is he your friend, Junno?”

“From fighting, yes.” Junno answered politely.

“Well, so I don’t have to introduce you anymore. Just start with the training then.” Joonmyeon said, “And I’m expecting an immediate results from you, Kris.”

Yifan could only nod and see the back of Joonmyeon disappearing behind the closed door.

“What are you doing here?” Junno asked, displeasure clearly written on his face.

“What are you doing here?” Kris asked back, “So, you’re not a fighter?”

“I’ve never been one since the beginning, Kris.” Junno sighed, “It was just to camouflage my identity. I had a mission.”

Yifan leaned back against the wall and frowned, “So, you’ve been always a mafia?”

Junno nodded, “And I’ve never thought you would end up here as well. What did you do? What is your purpose? I don’t think you’re a person who fits with this .”

Yifan gritted his teeth, “It’s none of your business…”

“Okay, whatever.” Junno said. He walked toward a shelf to take two handguns from there and threw one of them to Kris, “Let’s start with the small one. Have you ever used a handgun?”

The memory of killing Jonghyun and the image when those dark orbs closed lifelessly flashed across his mind. And then it merged with the memory of him killing the robbers when he was 18. He clenched his free hand into a fist and nodded stiffly.

“Really? How?” Junno raised his eyebrows.

“I wasn’t accepted here without doing something, you know.” Yifan answered lowly.

Junno raised his hand to Yifan’s shoulder. Feeling the warmth of Junno’s palm, Yifan flinched.

“I’m sorry. I should have known since I did it too before.” Junno said, “Come on. Let’s start the practice and I hope you can follow my instructions well. If Joonmyeon said he wanted quick results, then it has to be it.”

Yifan nodded silently.

“Now, first thing you have to remember that if you want to shoot right on your target,” Junno said as he shoved a gun on Yifan’s chest so the ex-fighter had to catch it frantically, “You need a reason to shoot.”

-

Bang!

The bullet ripped the center of the target with no mercy. Yifan snapped his chin up to see it clearly and ‘ah’-ed at his own work, not expecting that it would have happened.

“Oh, wow. You could do it properly on your third day?” Junno hummed and the whistled, “You’re quiet talented.”

Yifan looked at the caliber 9 in his grip, “It was just…lucky, I think.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Junno said and pointed where the holes from the bullets Yifan had been shot on the targets, “Your bullets were steadily reaching the center, it showed you that your skill was improving.”

Junno replaced empty gun in Yifan’s hand with another reloaded one smilingly, “Shoot again. I bet you can reach the zone near the center if not the center itself.”

As much as Yifan didn’t want that, the thought of Lay standing with the kimono under the spotlight of the Kazuya’s club gave him reason to shoot. He pointed his gun at the target and he made it for the second time.

“See.” Junno patted his back, “You’re done with this one.”

Yifan was about to put the gun back to its place when Junno stopped him, “You don’t have to put it back. It’s yours now.”

“Huh?”

“This caliber 9,” Junno reloaded it expertly and handed it back to the younger, “is yours now.”

“Ah…thanks, I think…?” Yifan said.

The Japanese chuckled and gave him a briefcase filled with the remaining equipment needed for the gun.

“We’re finishing early for today. Tomorrow, I’ll teach you how to use a sniper.” Junno said, “The difficulty is going to be much harder than hand gun since it needs steady breath, soul, sight and support. I’ll explain it more tomorrow. But aren’t you hungry for now?”

Yifan touched his stomach and realized he hadn’t had the breakfast and it had been lunch time already, “Well, yeah.”

“Come on, let’s go to the kitchen and find something to eat.” Junno grinned, “But, please put them first in your room.”

Yifan nodded and brought his new weapon into his room.

“Hey, Yifan.”

The said man turned back to see Junno, his eyebrows raised in question.

“Keep your handgun loaded, bring it everywhere you go, and make sure you have spare ammunition.”

“I will. See you at kitchen.” Yifan waved with his free hand and left the backyard.

Once he reached his room, he put the equipment of his weapon under his clothes inside the wardrobe and closed the lid tightly. He pocketed his gun and saved the ammunition in another pocket of his belt. And then he left his room to meet Junno at the kitchen.

He was walking without any thought on his mind when suddenly he heard the soft strains of a guitar. Yifan lifted his chin and looked around to find the source of the music.

The guitar was so harmonic, and he heard someone singing along the rhythm. He couldn’t figure out what song it was or in what language, but he found it soothing. Carefully, he set his ears and followed the melody. It brought him toward the small backyard of the east wing of the house. It was smaller than the backyard he had been practicing gun, but it had a small pond complete with a small waterfall at the corner of it. The sound of the bamboo dropping down as the water filled it was heard too. It was so calm and relaxing.

But, it wasn’t all that made Yifan curious.

There was someone sitting beside the pond, right on the green grass, male from the look of the person’s back view. He had on a plain purple t-shirt and a pair of stonewashed jeans. The figure was smaller than him, and he found it familiar.

Hell, of course it was familiar. It was the back view of the person who had made Yifan lose his sanity, blinded by the extraterrestrial feeling filling his heart.

It was Lay.

Yifan almost walked toward the smaller figure to hug the one he had been craving the most, but his mind was telling him not yet. It wasn’t the right time. So, Yifan leaned his right shoulder on the wooden mast of the house and stared longingly at the lonely back of the geisha. He closed his eyes then, enjoying how Lay’s beautiful voice blended together with the harmony of the guitar.

It was beautiful. It was mesmerizing. How Yifan wanted to run and hug the smaller male in his arms, feeling the warmth they could share each other. How he wanted to pull Lay with him and run away from the damned mafia. How he wanted to have Lay for himself. How he wanted to show all of his love and affection toward the one who had captured him since the first time he had landed his eyes on.

“I didn’t know you could play guitar…” Yifan whispered, more to himself since Lay couldn’t hear him, “I found another thing I love about you…”

I love you, Lay…

ah...sorry for taking a long time...but, since i'm working on 3 fics at once, i really need to refresh my brain and i have something elses to do too...so...yeah...

^^;

tell me about this one guys! i'm waiting for your comments!

cawcaw~