[C h a p t e r 2 6]

- Ten Years Ago -

“I object, Father!” shouted Key at the old man as they stepped into the mansion’s front hall. “How can you let some scruffy kid – a ‘girl’, at that – join our organisation?” He turned to glance at Josephine in disgust, but she did not notice as she was busy admiring the large house.

Lee Soo Man turned around to face his son, still smiling that dangerous smile of his. “That is exactly why she should join our organisation. Just look at her! You would not think that this girl has just killed someone in cold blood, especially in her current state.”

Hearing Lee Soo Man voice out her crime sent Josephine’s blood cold. Her face immediately paled and she started to step away.

“Father, you are in no state to make such drastic decisions! Only minutes ago you were drowning yourself in a bottle of whiskey!” Key continued to shout at his father.

The smile on Lee Soo Man’s face began to fade and he glared back down at his son, taking a menacing step closer towards him. Key’s defying gaze began to slightly waver as his father approached him. “You dare to challenge my authority?” said Lee Soo Man in a threatening voice. “Key kim kibum, wants to challenge me,  Lee Soo Man, leader of the Syndicate?” He suddenly reached forward to grab Key by the collar. “Perhaps I have allowed you a little too much free reign in the past year I have been neglecting the Syndicate. I think it’s time you remember that while I may be your father, I am above all else your boss and you must listen to my orders. Am I clear, kibum?”

Key swallowed nervously as he averted his eyes from his father. He nodded his head and Lee Soo Man suddenly released his son. “Good. Now-”

Lee Soo Man turned to look at Josephine, but she was no longer standing in the same spot. Instead, she had been gradually walking backwards towards the door, shaking her head slightly with a hint of panic in her eyes. “I didn’t do it… I didn’t kill them… I didn’t do it…”

Everyone turned to stare at Josephine, watching her carefully. Kris, who had been standing off to the side, was now the closest next to Josephine. He managed to hear part of what she was mumbling and he now furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Them? You’ve killed more than one person before?” he asked as he took a step closer.

Josephine looked up at Kris, shaking her head furiously. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to… They… they wanted to hurt me… It was their fault…” She suddenly stumbled over her own feet and Kris ran over to catch her.

As soon as he touched her though, Josephine let out an ear-piercing shriek, beating against him wildly with her fists. Kris jumped back in shock as he defended himself and covered his own ears, staring at her bewildered. Josephine suddenly got up to her feet and ran out of the mansion, still screaming.

“Someone catch her!” bellowed Lee Soo Man over Josephine’s screams as he then ran out after her, Key and Kris following closely behind.

A dozen other members of the Syndicate suddenly appeared out of nowhere, heeding the call of their boss. One of the men managed to intercept Josephine as she ran blindly down the driveway, each of them struggling to hold her as she thrashed wildly against them. Several others came to help and together they managed to half-drag, half-carry her all the way back to the entrance of the mansion.

“Will someone figure out a way to calm her down?” shouted Lee Soo Man.

A man emerged from within the mansion, pouring some chloroform onto a handkerchief which he then covered over Josephine’s mouth. Her movements soon began to slow down as she inhaled the vapour, everything around her slowly becoming a blur. Before long, Josephine was unconscious in the men’s arms.

Key sneered down at Josephine from his spot beside Lee Soo Man. “What do you think of your newest member now, Father?”

Lee Soo Man ignored his son, walking forward to peer at the sleeping Josephine’s face. He brushed the matted hair which clung to her face out of the way. “I still think she will become the Syndicate’s finest weapon.” He then turned around to glance at his son’s angry face before looking away to shout into the mansion, “Sunmi!”

A rather large, middle aged woman came running out of the house, coming to a stop at the doorway as she stared at the sight before her, a little frightened. She had learned a long time ago that those who asked too much when the men in suits appeared, they would disappear, only to never be seen again. “You called for me, Master Lee?” she asked in a shaky voice.

Lee Soo Man strolled over towards Sunmi. “Take Josephine into one of our pre-prepared guest rooms. Get the other maids to prepare a proper room for her and take good care of the girl. Clean her up and once you’re done, stay by her side until she wakes. Bring her to me when she does.” He then continued walking past Sunmi, leaving her to carry out his orders.

She bowed as he walked by and she stood up straight just in time to see Key glaring at everyone in general before storming off after his father. Sunmi’s eyes then connected with Kris’s and he just shrugged in return with a smile before he went over to take Josephine from the other men.

“I’ll take her now, guys.” He picked Josephine up, carrying her in his arms. “Lead the way, Sunmi,” he said as he turned to face the maid.

Sunmi nodded and began to totter off, Kris following close behind. She led him towards the back of the mansion, where the smaller rooms for Lee Soo Man’s unannounced guests were located and she opened the door to let Kris carry Josephine in. He went over to the plain single bed, placing Josephine carefully down onto the sheets.

Kris stood beside the bed, looking down on Josephine as Sunmi soon returned with a bowl of warm water and a towel. Another maid followed in behind, carrying some fresh bandages and a new set of clothes. Stepping out of the way, Kris allowed the maids to attend to Josephine, watching the scene with a thoughtful look on his face. He wondered what could have happened to the girl in the past to trigger such an intense reaction. The bandages along her arms were being taken off by Sunmi and Kris winced slightly as he saw the raw grazes that covered her arms. He had to admit, the girl was strong if she managed to fight bravely with those injuries. But then again, when one’s life is in danger an unusual strength generally surfaced as the adrenaline kicks in. Yet, he couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that she had still managed to put a bullet into a man. He recalled the image of her holding the gun above him, the way her face had become like a stone carving as she concentrated on taking aim at the drunken man. Perhaps Lee Soo Man had sensed that side of Josephine, which was why he had insisted on accepting her into the Syndicate.

He let out a tired sigh, turning to walk over to the door. Pausing with his hand on the doorknob, he turned to say to Sunmi, “Do take care of her, Sunmi. And come find me when she wakes up.”

Sunmi turned to glance at Kris as he left, closing the door behind him. She then turned to look back down at the unconscious girl, absently chewing the inside of her lip. Although she burned with the curiosity to find out what was so important about the girl, she knew better than to go around asking carelessly. Sighing, she took the bandages from her maid and began to wrap Josephine’s arms anew, feeling pity as she saw her flinch slightly in her sleep.

Henry slowly regained consciousness several hours later to hear a girl bickering nearby.

“You guys are all idiots! Why did you have to hit my brother on the head?” snapped Seohyun.

“We already explained to you that it was necessary, Seohyun. You didn’t see how he was acting. We were afraid he might suddenly go crazy too so we needed to bring him back somehow,” explained Baekhyun in a tired voice, obviously having repeated the same story many times.

“Somehow? And you couldn’t think of a better way than to whack him on the head with a piece of wood?”

“Well… I have to admit it was probably not the best way but still… we managed to bring him back, right?” said Chanyeol in a hopeful voice. He wished Seohyun would just stop berating them already.

Henry then heard several fast footsteps and a chair suddenly creaking as it slid across the floor. He slowly opened his eyes to see that Seohyun was holding Donghae up by the collar, an angry look in her eyes. “Say something, Donghae! You were the one who hit him, right?” she yelled at him quietly. Donhae kept his eyes downcast, his face revealing nothing of what he was thinking.

Baekhyun then suddenly stood up from leaning against the wall, pointing towards the bed. “Hey, look! Hyung’s awake!”

Seohyun immediately released Donghae, running over to Henry’s side. “Oppa! Oppa, are you alright?”

“Of course he’s alright. He’s awake, isn’t he?” snapped Chanyeol as he rolled his eyes. Seohyun sent him a deathly glare.

Henry closed his eyes again, raising his hand to feel the slight bruise at the back of his head. “You are so going to pay for that, Donghae,” he grumbled, trying to ignore the throbbing pain. He proceeded to sit up on the bed, Seohyun helping him up. He then turned to stare at Donghae, who was avoiding everyone’s face in the room. “But thanks, anyway,” said Henry after nearly a minute.

Seohyun frowned at her brother before turning to glare at Donghae once more. “You’re thanking him?”

Chanyeol snickered slightly as he leant back against the wall. “Well, unlike you, Seohyun, Hyung has a little more sense and he understands the reasons behind what Donghae did.”

Seohyun went over to slap Chanyeol painfully on the arm. “I wasn’t asking you, Chanyeol,” she snapped.

Donghae finally looked up, turning to face Henry. “I’m really sorry, for doing what I did. I was just… desperate.”

Henry smiled reassuringly back at Donghae. “I know. I was being a little unreasonable. That whack on the head really did knock some sense into me.” He then peered at the room around him, realising that he was not at seohyun house. “Where are we?”

“You don’t remember the orphanage, Hyung?” asked Baekhyun, peering at Henry in disbelief. He then turned to look at Donghae with a crooked smile. “It looks like you may have hit him a little too hard on the head after all, Donghae.”

Donghae grabbed a magazine which was on the table beside him and threw it at Baekhyun, but it fluttered feebly through the air, missing him. Baekhyun just laughed. “Shut up, you idiot.” Turning to look at Henry he said, “They said that you can stay at the orphanage tonight and return back tomorrow. Seohyun… is here because she insisted on looking after you.” He couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable saying the last sentence and he wondered why.

Seohyun skipped over to Henry’s side, grabbing his arm with a big smile. “Your little sister is here to help you get better, Oppa!” she smiled up at him.

The twins both made retching sounds at Seohyun and she turned to throw deadly daggers with her eyes at them. They both immediately stopped the noises, gazing away with a small playful smile on their faces. Henry grinned at the twins, shaking his head a little which reminded him of the throbbing pain at the back of his head.

“I’m kind of getting a little tired here,” he said after a while.

Donghae was the first to stand up. “Then we’ll not bother you anymore.” He strolled over to Seohyun and began dragging her away from the bed. “Come on, leave your Oppa alone. Girls shouldn’t sleep in the same room as a guy’s.”

Seohyun attempted to resist Donghae, failing miserably. “But I want to stay by Oppa’s side!” she whined as Donghae managed to get her out the door.

The twins made a face behind her back, snickering slightly. As Baekhyun, who was the last to leave, stepped out the door, he paused, turning back to say, “Don’t think about running out after Josephine anymore okay, Hyung? Hitting you on the head just once makes us feel bad enough.”

“Yeah, yeah,” replied Henry as he rolled his eyes, lying back down on the bed and facing away from the door. When he heard the door click closed behind, he turned to peer over his shoulder to see that he truly was left alone in the room. Getting out of bed, he went to put his shoes on and walked over to the window, poking his head outside. He swore slightly under his breath when he saw that they had put him in a room on the second floor, so that he could not escape in the same way as Josephine had.

Pulling his head back inside, he then began to pace the length of the room, trying to recall all he could about the orphanage. It had been close to nearly a year since he had last lived within its walls and he could only sketchily recall the layout of the building. He then stopped pacing. It seemed that the only other way out of this room was through the door. Walking over to the door, he slowly opened it, peeking out into the hallway to see that no one was around. Stepping out, he quietly closed the door behind him and proceeded to make his way towards the back of the orphanage, where he recalled that there was a fire escape. The alarm on the door had been long broken, and he used to lead the others out on secret expeditions in the middle of the night while he had still lived in the orphanage.

The entrance to the fire escape was deserted and Henry rushed over to it, his heart beating furiously as he realised he was finally going to get out of there. As his hand connected with the doorhandle, he was suddenly stopped by a voice from behind.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea, Hyung,” said Baekhyun from behind. Henry spun around to see him leaning against the wall with a small smile and his arms crossed. “The alarm has just recently been fixed when one of the Sisters found one of the younger kids sneaking out.”

Henry stared at Baekhyun angrily, annoyed at having been caught. “What are you going to do now?” he asked bitterly.

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows, still smiling. “Me? Nothing. I can’t do anything if you still insist on finding Josephine, even after we’ve hit you on the head. There’s no point.” He then uncrossed his arms, putting his hands into his pockets as he turned to walk away. “I heard from someone though… apparently, the alarm on the girl’s fire escape has broken recently,” he said over his shoulder before he disappeared down the hallway.

Henry continued to stare after Baekhyun, a little surprised that he was now helping him. He then smiled slightly. “Thanks,” he said quietly before making his way over to the girl’s dorm.

tbc.

Henry is still stubbonly looking for her. Hmm...

next chapter: josephine decision.