"Earth to Mone!" A hand waved in front of my face, causing me to snap out of whatever thought I was sunk into. I blinked several times and looked up at the person who's hand was right in front of my face. Oh Donghae was standing in front of me, a hand in his pocket and the other in front of my face as his eyes stared at my face. His hand lowered and he took a seat next to me, eyes still staring at me. 

   "Sorry," I apologized, bowing my head slightly then running a hand through my hair. "What is it?"

   "You okay?" he asked, leaning back on the chair. "You look tired. Is everything okay at home?"

   "Yeah," I smiled. "Why wouldn't it be?" Before he could answer, I stood from my chair. "I should get going. Dr. Lee wants me to give him a file for one of the patients." I picked up the papers that were in front of me and walked away. My breathing was erratic, but only because my head was reeling with thoughts of Im Yoonhee. She was killed, that much I knew, but I wanted to know how and why. It was obvious that Yongguk wouldn't tell me at all, so asking him was out of the question. Asking the rest of the boys was also out of the question. They would never tell me about her, they wouldn't even whisper her name. Asking Jinae would also be bad, since Yoonhee was her sister and Yongguk seemed to be her enemy. I was affiliated with Yongguk, and that was bad in Jinae's eyes. 

   I took a deep breath and shook my head, hoping to gorger everything that my head kept reeling about. I wanted to forget, and I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't. The hospital was full with patients and we were short on staff since there were numerous doctors that decided to take some time off. It was selfish of them, I thought, when the hospital needed them most and they thought that taking a week off to Japan was great. The rest of us, on the other hand, were busy taking care of our patients plus theirs. Chief Lee would be angry when he came back from a business meeting in Busan.

   I pushed the door open to Dr. Lee's office, but stopped when I heard another voice mingle with his. The voice was deep and rich, recognizable. I had heard the voice before, but I didn't remember who the person was. The voice was low and threatening, but I couldn't tell who exactly was the voice threatening. 

   "You know her," the low voice said, threateningly. "I need you to tell me where she is."

   "She's working in the ER," Dr. Lee's voice rang through the room. It sounded shaky and afraid. "Jung Mone is in the ER. That's all I know!" He was pleading, his voice shaking with each word that escaped his mouth. "Please, don't kill me!"

   I covered my mouth to stop myself from saying anything, and slowly peeked from behind the wall. There was a man holding Dr. Lee against the wall by the collar o his shirt. Dr. Lee was crying, eyes shut with fear. The man holding him against the wall was a man with platinum hair, a single braid to the side, and sunglasses covering his eyes. Even though the sunglasses covered his eyes, I still knew who he was. I had met him the time I was coming home from the norebang, shared a cab with him, and we exchanged phone numbers. The man holding Dr. Lee against the wall was Woo Jiho.

   I pressed my hand tighter against my lips and shut my eyes closed, calming down my breathing.

   "Hmm," I heard him hum. "I should thank you for the information, Dr. Lee." 

   "R-really?" Dr. Lee asked, his voice sounding a bit calm.

   "Of course," Jiho said. "But, you saw my face, and you know what that means?"

   "N-No!" Dr. Lee pleaded. "P-Please, no! I won't say anything, I swear."

   "You swear?" Jiho asked, prolonging each word, as if he were making sure. "Well, since you swear, I guess I should let you go, right?"

   "Yes, yes!" I heard Dr. Lee breathe. "Yes, thank you so much! I will say nothing my mouth will stay shut."

   "Of course it will," Jiho said. I peeked again, and this time, I had to push my hand even harder against my mouth to stop myself from screaming out. Jiho held a gun to the side of Dr. Lee's head, and with a wicked grin pulled the trigger. The wall was decorated red, and Dr. Lee's body feel to the floor in a crumbled mess of limbs. I took careful steps back, my hands shaking to my side. It would be little time before Jiho would come out of the door, so I hurried down the hallway and towards the stairs. I glanced from back at the door as I fumbled to pull my phone from my pocket. My fingers shook as I searched for the contact, my breathing came in ragged, and my heart was beating so hard I could hear it and feel it against my throat. I tried to calm myself down, but I couldn't. There was someone looking for me, and they probably wanted to kill me since they killed the man that gave them my whereabouts.

   I clicked on the contact and pressed the phone tightly to my ear as I descended the stairs as fast as I could without falling. They answered after the third ring, the sound of laughter colliding with his voice.

   "Mone," he said, a smile evident in his voice. 

   "Oppa!" I breathed, glancing up at the stairs in hopes that no one would be following. "Oppa​, where are you?"

   "Mone, is something wrong?"

   "There someone here," I whispered, leaning against the wall. "​Yongguk oppa, there someone here, and they're looking for me. He killed Dr. Lee!"

   The laughter from the other side subsided. "Hide," he quickly said. "Mone, hide right now. I'll call you when I get there, okay?"

   "I'm scared," I said, my voice breaking and tears spilling down my cheeks. "He just shot him without a care!"

   "Hide," Yongguk repeated. "Mone, hide right now. Stay on the phone. Don't you dare hang up on me, okay?"

   "Okay, okay." I took a deep breath, pushed myself from the wall, and hurried down the stairs. I kept the phone pressed to my ear as I pushed the door open and came to the full waiting room. Babies were crying, people were talking, and there were too many bodies to pull one out specifically. I pulled off my white coat and folded it as I looked for an empty seat. There was one by an elderly woman, who had her head leaned back against the wall and eyes closed. She was sleeping, soft snores coming from . I took a deep breath, ran a hand through my hair, and glanced down at my phone to see if the call was still connected. Thankfully, it was. 

   "I'm in the waiting room," I said, softly. "It's full. There are so many people here. I don't think he'll find me..." I trailed off as I saw him stand right in the centre of the room, eyes glancing around as his hands rested in the pockets of his sweater. "He's here."

   "Hide," Yongguk spat.

   I continued to stare at Jiho as he looked around. His eyes stayed on each person for a couple of seconds. My heart beat began to quicken. I looked down and took several deep breaths, hoping to calm myself. "I have no where to go," I said into the phone. "There's nowhere to hide."

   "Mone," Yongguk breathed. "Mone, please, you have to hide. You can't let him get you, okay? Hide. Now. Please."

   I slowly stood and carefully moved between those that were standing. When his eyes landed close to me, I would stop by whoever was standing besides me. It came to the point where I stood besides a young man with a face mask, his eyes casted down on his phone. It was a good thing he didn't look up at me; I hoped that he thought that I was just a stranger that happened to take a stand besides him. When Jiho's eyes moved away from where I stood, I ran to the closest set of doors. Miraculously, it happened to be the entrance of the hospital. Once outside, I took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. The sun was shining bright, and I felt an immense weight be lifted as it shined down at me. 

   "I'm outside," I said into the phone. "I'm going to the parking lot, okay?"

   "No," Yongguk said. "Go to the restaurant by the hospital. I'll pick you up there, okay?" He sighed, and I heard him slam his hands into something. "Jesus, Mone, never go to a parking lot when someone's looking for you. That's the second place they would look for you."

   "I don't know what to do!" I groaned, laying a hand on my forehead. "Oppa, I have never had someone look for me, someone wanting to kill me. I'm..." I took a deep breath and shook my head. "I'm terrified, okay? I have no idea what's happening."

   He sighed. "I'll tell you, okay?" he said. "I'll tell you, but go the restaurant, okay? Eat something, you must be starving."

   I did as he said and went to the restaurant by the hospital. It was a small restaurant that was always full with students, nurses and doctors, and those who were hungry. It was run by an elderly man who always had a big smile on his face when one came in. As soon as I walked in through the doors, he greeted me and showed me an empty seat. Before I could even order, he had already set a glass of cola in front of me and brought out the uncooked meat with the side dishes. I had come to the restaurant so many times that the man already knew my order, and that at least calmed me down a bit.

   I began to cook the meat while I waited for Yongguk. My heart was still racing against my chest, my hands were still shaking, and I felt as if I would throw up at any moment. I was terrified, confused, but most of all I wanted to know the truth. What was Yongguk hiding from me? I drank half of the cup of cola, allowing the fizzy drink to calm my erratic heartbeat and cloud my thoughts with just a bit of sugar. 

   "Yah, did you order all of this?" someone asked as they took a seat in front of me.

   I looked up to see Yongguk, a very small smile around his lips. "No," I said. "Ahjussi gave it to me when I walked in. How many times have I been here with my co-workers? A lot, apparently."

   "I'm sorry," he suddenly said, looking down. "I'm so sorry, Mone."

   I shook my head. "It's my fault," I said, frowning. "I met him a long time ago, and I should have known how dangerous he was."

   "You don't know who's dangerous or who's not," he said. "You will never know."

   "Are you dangerous?" I asked, looking up from the meat and towards him. He wasn't looking at me. His eyes were cast down, as if he were avoiding my look.

   "Yes," he said after a few seconds of silence. "I should have never allowed you to come close to me, to us, to move in and become part of us as if you were family." He let out a faint smile and shook his head, as if he was filled with disbelief. "It already happened once, how could I think it couldn't happen again?"

   "What are you talking about?" I questioned, furrowing my brows.

   "Mone, the man that killed Dr. Lee, is his name Woo Jiho?" he asked, the same faint smile on his lips. He must have seen my reaction, because he let out a soft laugh and shook his head. "Of course it's him. Who else would it be?"

   "You know him?" I asked, swallowing hard. 

   "He's..." Yongguk sighed and shook his head. "He was my dongsaeng," he divulged. "He used to follow me around like a puppy when we were children, then when we were teenagers, and still when we became adults. I failed him, Mone, I failed him terribly."

   "How?"

   "I let him get taken," he softly said, frowning. "I let him be tortured, beaten, humiliated, just because I didn't want to pay the ransom money they were asking for. When they liberated him, he... He knew I failed him, and he hates me. Jiho wants to make my life miserable, just like I made his."

   I stared at Yongguk with furrowed brows. "I'm confused," I said as I shook my head. "What are you talking about? He got taken, what?"

   Yongguk let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. "It's time for you to know the truth, Mone. Not just the half- truth we've been feeding you, but everything. Listen carefully, and please, don't hate me." He took a deep breath and straightened his posture. "When we went to dinner with your parents, Empire Group was not made up. The lie was that it was a conglomerate, when in fact we're... You can say it's an illegal business." He let out a soft scoff and shook his head, his eyes burning down. "I'm the leader, the boys are my henchmen, and they can die at whatever moment. But, then you came into our lives, and I stopped being careless." He finally looked up, eyes meeting mine. "Thanks to you, I found my reason to save them."

   "I'm still confused," I said, slowly, unsure. 

   He let out a chuckle. "Of course you are," he sighed. "Mone, my business is illegal. I sell and kill people for money, sell drugs, steal from the rich and give to the poor, I cheat. I'm not a good guy, not at all, but I do value a lot of things. My family, for example, the boys. You."

   I stared at him, my mouth open in shock. He was doing illegal business right under my nose and I didn't realise it. In other words, Bang Yongguk was the leader of a mafia, those groups I have read so much about and seen in dramas. There was a part of me that immediately became terrified, immediately wanted to stand from where I sat and walk away, never see him again. But, the larger part of me was soothed, not really afraid. That larger part of me felt nothing, just pure adrenaline. It was a stupid feeling, really, because he just said that he valued me. God, I felt so stupid. I needed to be afraid of him, but I just couldn't.

   "This is too much," I said, shaking my head. "You're... You're, what, a leader of a mafia?"

   "You can say that," Yongguk said, looking back down. "Mone, I know that you must hate me right now because of what I just told you. I'm not a good person, and if you knew everything I had done, you wouldn't be sitting in front of me right now. Hell, you would want to forget me at this instance."

   "Did Woo Jiho kill Im Yoonhee?" I suddenly asked. Everything he told me pieced together, like a puzzle. Why was he so afraid of losing the boys, because they were his family, the money, the contacts he had. It all made sense, and I felt stupid for not knowing for so long, but I also felt alleviated because he told me.

   Yongguk sighed, but nodded. "Yes," he said. "Jiho killed Yoonhee. What's the best way of ruining a life, Mone? It's not taking away money, or a house, or breaking bones. The best way to ruin a life is love, Mone, which is why Jiho killed Yoonhee."

   "Why is he after me now?" I asked, quietly, scooting closer to the table. "I'm... I'm not Yoonhee, or anything like she was to you."

   At that moment, a sad smile appeared on his lips. It was just as breathtaking as his happy smile, but heartbreaking. He looked at me, carefully, as if he were trying to drink me in. "You're not Yoonhee," he said with a nod. "That's right. But, you've become someone important to me, Mone, someone I need to protect. You've become a liability to me, and I need to protect you because I don't know how will I live with myself if Jiho got to you."