Like a loose cannon with no destination the news spread like wild fire. The media knew nothing of this, but the underground did. The underground was in a sudden state of buzz and confusion.  

When was the last time something like this happened? No one remembered for sure, but what they were sure of was that it was a blood bath. 

Rumor has it that a Dragon's Mark is either an omen of death, or a mark of protection. 

Word has it that the Dragon had made his Dragon's Mark. Many have asked; on who? The answer was surprising and shocking. The rumors of the Dragon’s reappearance in Korea were solidified when the target was revealed to be Lee Sarang.  

Lee Sarang was the CEO of Lee Corporation's only granddaughter. Sarang, unlike most people with her social status didn't appear in the news. She had only revealed her face twice. The night of the opening of Lee Corporation’s Chinese Branch, and at a local business function where she was only seen for ten minutes. 

Aside from that the woman was a total mystery. She was a beautiful creature who only shows herself when forced to. Sarang lives in the dark shadows. So why was it that she, out of all people, was marked by the Dragon?

She was no dealer, no killer, no hacker, and no threat, or so they thought. 

Many had already arranged her grave.  The Dragon was out for kill they say, and the poor woman fell in the middle of the battlefield. 

--------------

Another punch followed as she hit her opponent, another kick, another hit, another throw, another rush of adrenaline, everything she felt was being let out to the punching bag in front of her. Every lonely emotion, every left out feeling, every bit of anger, every lace of regret was put into the object. 

Sarang dove on the ground; her body was drenched in sweat as her hair hung onto her skin. Her legs were tired and her arms were sore.  Her breath was shaky and unsteady. 

She's been marked by the Dragon. How did he even know she was looking for him? It didn't matter because she knew she would probably be dead before the week's end. 

The worst or best part, according to how you look at it, was that by the week’s end, she was to be wed. She was getting married in exactly a week. 

Her fiancée had left town. She heard from his mother, through a phone call from Paris that Kris had important business to be taken care of in China. Sarang really didn't care, she was glad he was gone. She needed time to sort out and cleanse her mind. 

They kissed. They freaking kissed, she wasn't going to deny the fact, she enjoyed it, she enjoyed it too much, and this was what frightened her. 

She didn't want to be attached to this man at all, but she had a contract with him. 20 months of marriage was so much easier when she didn't feel this attraction to him. He was good-looking, its only because of his pretty face, she told herself. She couldn’t afford to fall any deeper for a man she didn’t even know. 

Why was Kris her main priority when the Dragon had basically condemn her to death? 

Blood rushed to her brain when she quickly stood up, another flash of her past made a vivid reappearance in mind. 

Thunder crashed throughout the sky, lightning lit the darkness for her. She slowly opens her eyes. Her body felt sore, like she had just returned from battle. She felt like she had been thrown into a washing machine.

She used her arms to pull her upper body up. It was raining furiously and she had to blink a couple times before she could comprehend what was happening.  Her eyes fell onto the warm heat up ahead. The rage of brightness caught her attention. Her sight was still blurry from the impact.

She could feel blood oozing from her wounds, drenching her uniform in red, and her head aches in pain and dizziness. She forced her thin legs to hold her body as she stumbles on the street towards the warmth. Fire, she tells herself. Something was on fire.

As she stepped closer realization hits her hard. Her breath hinge and she felt her whole world turn upside down. She fell onto the ground, blood covering her school uniform as the sky poured its worst havoc on her. The acid rain poured endlessly and heavily, washing traces of the blood off. A car laid ahead, as fire ate it up. Inside the car laid the only home she had ever known.

It was unmistakable that the warm liquid spilling down her cheeks was not due to the rain. She was crying. She was falling apart right at this moment. At this moment, she crumbled. She shattered. She holds onto the fabric of her shirt right above her heart, fooling herself that if she clenched the shirt tight enough the pain would dull away.

A car approached ahead. It would be the first car to pass this road since she’s awoken. Forcing her legs up once again she frantically waves her arms in the air, praying for help. She expected the car to slow down, she expected it to stop. What she saw was the opposite. The car began to increase in speed; she stepped into the middle of the street,

“Stop, please stop and help.” She whispered coarsely with fat tears spilling down her face.

The head lights of the car blinded her sight as she shut her eyes close and she felt her entire body being thrown into the air as she was hit with the heavy impact of the car. A cry released itself from her lips as her body flew onto the ground, injuring her even more. Her body was sore all over after both accidents. She felt numb for a second before she was suddenly hit with pain.

“Please just help us. Don’t go.” She whispered once again. No one heard her, no one stop, no one cared. Don’t go, help us, she prayed silently.

She heard the car slid to a stop. She could see people step out of the car that had just hit her. Her eyes were barely open as pain spread throughout her body, eating her raw flesh bit by bit.

“Is she dead ?” She heard a male voice ask.

She could see a pair of footsteps approach her small body, but they stopped when red and blue lights along with the sound of sirens were heard and seen in the distance.

“I think so, let’s just go. They deserved it, they were aiding the Dragon. They were his protection. Now let’s see how well he holds up.” The man who was approaching her announced before running back to the car. She watched as the car drove off into the rainy night before the pain took hold of her and everything turned black.

“You’re late.” Jinra said to her. Jinra was busy trying to get all the preparations ready for the wedding. If only she knew that Sarang might not live till next week. The wedding would be at one of Lee Corp’s estates twenty minutes out of Seoul. Half of the business world in Southeast Asia was invited, and her grandfather had told her to put on her best face. Her wedding had turn into another one of those business circuses her grandfather used to promote himself.

“Sorry, I was preoccupied.” Sarang said softly, she was trying her best to push her feelings aside and hide the nightmare she had just relived. Sarang did the best thing she could in a situation like this, she put on her best façade.

“Mr. Wu is here, along with his friends." Jinra told her before she was pulled aside to finish checking the tables that were being set. Normally Sarang would give her input, but today she was just too tired and exhausted.

“Sarang dear, you’re here.” An overly cheery voice called for her. Sarang knew the voice; it belonged to Kris’s mother.

“Chairwoman Wu, I thought you were in Europe.” Sarang responded as the Chairwoman pulled her into a tight hug. The strong smell of perfume is inhaled into Sarang’s lungs.

“I was, but I returned just a few hours ago. I wanted to make sure everything was absolutely perfect.” She replied with the same a ruby red smile. Sarang saw no similarity in Kris and his mother. Though Sarang didn’t favor Kris, she prefers him over his mother. The woman was too materialistic. She lived her life for the next Gucci bag and the latest fashion hits. She was fake and took no responsiblity for anything.

 Sarang’s lips form a perfect ‘o’.  “And Kris-“

“His father forced him to fly back.” She answered. Sarang nodded, she didn’t understand why Chairman Wu had Kris fly back.

Sarang spent the rest of the time being introduced to the wedding party. Sarang didn’t have any friends, or family aside from her grandfather. All of her bridesmaids were chosen by the Chairwoman.  There were six in total, all of which the Chairwoman described as ‘daughters of important family friends’.  Sarang decoded the Chairwoman’s words; they were daughters that the Chairwoman was trying to stick up to in order to advance her in life.

After being whirl around for lord knows how long, Sarang finally got the chance to get some peace. She was standing in the room that would be the setting for their wedding ceremony. Sarang looked ahead to the chapel, a frown inched itself on her face.

Who knew that getting married would be this upsetting?

“Unnie.” A small voice called to her in Chinese-accented Korean, Sarang turned her shoulders and look down to find a small girl who couldn’t be older than seven, and she had big doe eyes and a soft smile.

“Yes?” She had seen the child around, ah, this was her flower girl, one of the only people Sarang felt like she could tolerant.  Sarang had always been fond of children and wanted her own kids, but she doubted she would be a good mother. Most mothers don’t go around killing people, or have a secret vendetta to fulfill.

The girl reached and grabbed Sarang’s hand before slipping something cold into Sarang’s ring finger. Sarang pulled her arm back, shock to find a wedding ring on her finger. The diamond shined dazzlingly against her pale skin. It was even a perfect fit and a small smile lift itself onto her face.  

“Where did you get this sweetheart?” She kneeled down and asked. The girl looked at her with a strange expression. Sarang repeated her question, only this time in Mandarin.

“Yifan.” She replied with a cute smile. Sarang narrowed her eyes before understanding. Kris’s Chinese name was Yifan.

“There you are, what are you doing?” The all too familiar voice called out. Sarang inwardly cursed, she didn’t want to be running into him, especially not here.

“Unnie looked lonely.” She responded in her Chinese accented Korean.  Kris threw her a cold glare before focusing his attention on the girl. Sarang awkwardly stood there, not knowing what to do. Maybe she should leave. She took a large step, trying to sneak away.

“Where did you put my ring?” Sarang heard Kris say. Her eyes widen remembering the diamond ring that was still on her ring finger. The girl pointed to Sarang, whose eyes were widened.

Kris’s gaze moved to her hand where the diamond ring lay, sparkling on her finger. Sarang quickly took the ring off before handing it to him. She dropped it in his open palm before turning around, trying to get away from him.

Sarang didn’t know why she was acting like this. She was never one to run from someone. Sarang was always the type to look danger in the eye. And Kris Wu was danger all over. Maybe it was the stress that was finally getting to her.

However it looked like she wasn’t getting the break she wanted. Once she turned around she was met with five figures who she remembered from the dress shop. These were his groomsmen.  Sarang felt draggers pierce towards her. Her eyes narrowed, something was different about them. If she thought they were cautious before, now they were on a whole different level of cautious.  A black cloud covered them, making them seem even more mysterious.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Kris declared sternly. Sarang whisked around to face him. His tone suggested that he was being serious and she could sense the danger and clear warning in his voice.

“Excuse me?” She raised a brow, annoyed by his sudden statement. She didn’t want to be here. Kris kneeled down and whispered something to the flower girl. She nodded before running out, running past Sarang and the rest.

“You. Are. Not. Going. Anywhere.” He repeated, his time emphasizing every word.  Sarang huffed, today was not a day where she needed to be lecture by him or anyone else.

Ignoring Kris she turned back around to walk away, she almost made it past his friends until someone reached out to grab her upper arm. She snapped shoving the arm away to have another arm reach out to grab her, and this time she couldn’t simply shove that person away.

“You’re not going anywhere. We have a decision for you to make.” Tao stated, she realized he was the one holding onto her.

“And what decision may that be?”

“Picking the best man.”

She wasn’t expecting that answer. Her jaw dropped for a quick 0.5 seconds before she regained composure. Tao let go of her arm, a satisfied smirk appears on his face because he knew the decision the woman was about to make would be her end.

“Hyung asked us to pick amongst ourselves, but apparently that isn’t going well. So we decided that you should decide.” He explained with a forced smile.

Sarang eyed them questionably. Something was definitely different about them, Kris was different as well. It had nothing to do with how they acted, but it was the look in their eyes.

“Okay.” She confirmed, taking a good look at each guy

 “You.” She decided, pointing to Lay.  “Zhang Yixing.” She confirmed.  She felt a rush of disappointment hit the other four boys before relief followed.

“Me? Why?” He asked.

“It took me forever to break your computer system down.  It was even harder working behind your firewalls so you didn’t know someone was hacking into your system. Plus you were following me when Kris and I were picking out wedding cakes. I figure, why not pick the hacker. At least you can look over my dumb fiancée.  That way he will always have someone protecting him.”  She answered. She was sure they knew that she was talking about the night she killed Eric, but she didn’t know why she included the last part about Kris.

She just thought that since they were such good friends, they should have each other’s backs. Isn’t that what friends are for? They were there for one another when they need help.

“If that’s all, I’ll be going.” She stated before turning her heels and walking away, but that was before she saw something that made her heart stop. Her lungs felt deprived of oxygen and she hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath this whole time.

She quickly dashed out of the room and into a more crowded room. She decided that the ballroom where Jinra and all the other workers were was the perfect place to sit. Everyone was busy setting up the tables; all the smaller details weren’t even set out yet.

Sarang grabbed the nearest chair she could find and fell down into it. She tried being discrete about leaving and was positive she pulled it off. She realized that while she was trying to decide on the best man, Kris, who was standing a good distance from her, held a gun in his hand.

“Are you okay Agassi?” One of the workers asked. She nodded, standing up and as quickly as possible left the estate.

She made her way out to the garden behind the estate. The bright pops of bright colors from the different types of flowers past her and the greenery blurred as she began running.

-------

He fumbled with the diamond wedding ring in his hand.  Maybe god had a cruel sense of humor, or maybe karma was finally coming back to kick him in the for all his wrongdoing.  The ring, which his mother had given him, belonged to his great grandmother. And it fitted Sarang perfectly.  Most grooms would be grateful for that fact, but he wasn’t most grooms.

“Well looks like she made her choice, time to follow through.” Kris heard Luhan mumble disappointingly. Kris eyed the hacker who stood across the room. Of all people, Sarang had to pick Lay.

There was a reason why they asked Sarang to pick the best man. Whoever she chooses as the best man would be the one ending her life. Tao had explained the whole situation to the guys. They were hesitant at first, but later understood why Tao was worried.

In their world you didn’t have time for any weaknesses. It was killed or be killed. If you were weak, you were taken down. They all saw it, even if their Leader couldn’t see it yet. Sarang was a weakness, or she would eventually become one.

Sarang was a strong, independent woman who was as stubborn as a mule, she didn’t give a damn about rules or obligations, and she did what she wants, regardless of what others say. Sarang was a loose bullet that had no target. She had no aim and no time for resolution.  They saw how she could affect Kris, how she already was affecting him.

“Are you ready who this?” Chen asked. Lay nodded, though the last thing he wanted to do was harm Sarang.

“Absolutely.”

“No.” Kris snapped. He didn’t want someone else taking care of his mess. He would handle it on his own, like he always did. A part of him regretted not ending her there and then back at the chapel. She was standing there, defenseless before him. His gun was in hand, his finger was on the trigger, and then he released his finger.

Why did she speak such nonsense? Why did she start talking about protecting him? He didn’t need protection, she did. She needed protection from him and EXO.

She had been marked for god’s sake, and he was sure she knew this. So why did she show up today and pretend like nothing was wrong. Was she really that fearless even death didn’t scare her?

 “I will do it.” He told the group. He could tell Tao was about to protest, but he shut the younger male up, “It’s my problem, so I’ll handle it.” He declared. He’ll be damn if the person killing Sarang wasn’t him.

--

“Hello.” Sarang stated as she picked up her cell phone. She knew the number quite well, it belonged to someone she had hired a while back.

“Agassi I have news for you.”

Sarang took in a heavy breath before slowly releasing it. The teller sounded pleased, was this a good sign, because she needed one right now.

“What is it?” She asked softly. She felt tired, physically, mentally, and emotionally, but she would never show anyone that. Lee Sarang was strong, fearless, and careless, or at least that’s what she wanted everything to think.

She heard a shuffling of papers before she got a reply, “I found out who the Dragon is?” The teller responded. Sarang’s attention instantly snapped back.

“You did? Well who is it?” She asked. She’s been searching this long for the identity of the famous Dragon. Now she’s been marked, now she’s really walking on thin ice, but she didn’t care. Sarang had a goal in mind, and she was fulfilling it.

“You know who it is.”

“The Dragon is Wu Yifan, also known as Kris Wu. He’s your fiancée.” Hell no. “Agassi, are you still there?” She let the phone slip out of her hand and fall onto the ground.

Everything slowly made sense now. The rumors of the Dragon resurfaced right before their engagement was made, right when Kris first arrived in Korea.  The documents he had in his office had the mark of the Dragon imprinted on them. Kris was a skill fighter. She remembered the night she killed Eric, he was able to track her down and even keep up in a fight with her. He had a perfect poker face, and never backs down. He was smart, confident, arrogant, and stubborn. These were all traits of the Dragon. He had given her a warning to stay away from the Dragon, as if he knew what the Dragon could do to her.  The reality was that he knew what the Dragon was capable of because he was the Dragon.

Then his friends, Tao and the rest; they were the members of EXOM. Of course, they were all trained in combat. They even managed to track her and Kris the day they left the business function and ended up picking their wedding cake.  They were always cautious, but not so cautious that one would feel threaten. She remembered all the compliments they gave her when they saw her in her wedding gown.

Today she noticed that something was different about them. They were more cunning, more careful, more determine. Then the image of Kris holding a gun in his hand flashed in her mind.

“Oh god, he’s trying to kill me.” She let the words spill off her lips.

Sarang would had never thought that her future husband, the man whose been living under the same roof as her, well not really because the two barely spent their time together, would be the one man responsible for how her life unfold.

It was all because of him that she lost it all. It was all for him, everything they did was for him. 

She crossed her heart right because she knew what this all meant.  Her fiancée was trying to kill her.

Sarang made her decision there and then, any sane person would call her crazy, but hey, she was crazy. She was going to protect him, because that was what they would have wanted, they died protecting Kris, so she was going to protect him for them.

“God has some twisted sense of humor doesn’t he.” She mumbled sadly to herself as she remembered the smiling faces of her home. The bitter truth was at the end of the day she would protect the man trying to kill her. She would protect him till the day he kills her.