Ricochet

     “We need a company that’s going to keep us financially secure.” Hana listens at the other side of her bedroom door at her mother’s phone call.

     “No… No I know how it is. I know it’s dangerous but—“

     Hana’s phone vibrates in her pocket as her mother starts to walk away leaving Hana with her ear to an empty door. She wanted her mother’s business to fall, in a way, but in the same way, her father had built it and she couldn’t help but be curious about what state it was in without him.

     Hana unlocks her phone to find the usual text from Kai that she’d known was coming sooner or later.

“Come out. I’m hungry and my stomach’s calling for Chinese.”

     Hana couldn’t help but reply sarcastically. Texting back with a simple ‘so go eat it’ and putting her phone back down. Kai had done her a huge favor when her father had passed. Something that no one else could’ve managed. But Kai had the connections and the will. He was like a savior in that time. But lately, he’d become more like a leech.

“Can’t eat without someone to boss around sitting across from me.”

     Hana sighs, the palm of her hand catching her chin as she leant against her window seal.

“Can’t. Finishing your homework. See you tomorrow at school.”

     She lies. Her phone is shut off after that. Hana can’t help but think about how things would be if her dad had still been there. Since she’d owed Kai, things seemed to have been very grey. She didn’t go out at all unless it was to eat or to go to school. He’d always call her to do favors and she’d do them, but when they were done and it was time for her to leave, Kai came up with another excuse.

     She couldn’t fathom what went on in his head. One minute his facial expression screams ‘mad man with a rifle’ and the next it’s ‘buy me a glass of chocolate milk.’

     Hana felt like it was all a mind game. He had her pinned to a corner, so why not have a bit of fun with it, right?

     Rosie tweets at Hana from her two story cage that sat upon her vanity and Hana can’t help but smile. Even if she didn’t go out and had no one to talk to but someone she knew had blood on their hands, she could be okay as long as she had that perky little bird by her side.

     After a few hours of quiet, Hana gets up for her nightly dinner. The diner was just a few blocks away from her. As long as her mother didn’t yell at her before she got down the stairs, she’d be home free. And those fish & chips were calling her name.

     Kyungsoo slides a few papers halfway out of a manila folder to show the buyer that Zaikai had done like they said they would.

     “The federal backgrounds of Officer Wayne, McKay, and Chang. Complete with current addresses, license plate numbers and family photos.” Kyungsoo’s eyes are steady as the words he spoke, the buyer placing the black casing onto the table.

     “I trust it. My boss and I are happy to do business.”

     And with that, he was out the door, leaving the twelve of Zaikai alone in their hideout. They were spread across the basement floor in their hideout that Tao used it for martial arts training outside of his home. But the rest of them only used it for fighting practice.

     Baekhyun got his usual fix at a local underground fighting league. Sometimes he’d come back to the hideout bruised and bloody and when the other members asked why he did this to himself he’d laugh it up and say that it was nothing.

     It was also the room occasionally used for when someone was brought back for information that just didn’t seem like giving it up. But Zaikai had ways of changing that.

     But today, this basement is used for something much simpler than any of that.

     “Alright,” Kai stands his spot in the middle of the room, unhooking the case’s latches to reveal several knives organized in a smooth, red, velvet casing. “This is what Suho got our information for today, what Kyungsoo handed over for, and what we're all here for today. These beauties right here.”

     “For… knives?” Kris is the first to question.

     “We already have knives. In fact, didn’t your knife cost around twenty-two-hundred?”

     “You’re not wrong, Minseok.” Kai picks up one of the knives in his hand carefully as if it would shatter to pieces if it fell. “But these are different.”

     “Aren’t they just knives?” Chen’s laugh rings throughout the basement. “Couldn’t we have just bought more if we needed them?”

     “We could have.” Kai begins to slide the knife out of its sheath, its shine reflecting the light from the fluorescents in the room. “But we couldn’t have bought this. Money doesn’t get you these.”

     Kai nods to Tao, giving him the signal to take the knife from his hand. Tao’s arm draws back as soon as he gets the knife and just as quickly, it springs forward, the weapon flinging out of his hand and flying across the room. As soon as it comes in contact with the metal sheets the crew used in the past for gun practice, it cuts a hole straight through it, coming right out behind it. Something even their bullets never managed to do. Not even once.

     “Holy .” Sehun exclaims.

     “That’s right.” As Tao walks away to fetch the knife he’d thrown, Kai grabs another. It’s thinner than the others in size, but appears longer. “These are the most effective knives in the world. If we train with these, guns won’t be able to touch the damage we could do.”

     Kai pulls out the knife once again revealing its shine. This time, the knife is just a sharp, but darker in color, the metal grey and smooth.

     “Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knives for Kyungsoo, Minseok, Yixing, and Tao.” Kai gives Kyungsoo a look and he moves, grabbing his knife and handing the other three out to their new owners. “Made in 1914, these knives were specially made for British commanders and marine raiders during World War II. The F-S knife is used mostly for ing, slashing, and quick movements during a swift attack. So sneak up on your opponent with these or be so ing fast that they don’t even see it coming.”

     Tao, Yixing and Minseok all take the knives out of their sheaths during Kai’s explanation, Kyungsoo the only one to stand attentive, listening intently to what his leader is trying to convey.

     “Next, for our lesser fighters, we have something special. Tactical SidePick Spearpoint Boot Knives. Not only are they sharper than the devils horns, but they’ll be useful when you need to avoid hand on hand combat. Suho, Chanyeol, Baekhyun… these are for you.” Kyungsoo once again hands over the new knives, these ones having holes in the middle specifically designed for spinning. “Throw them at your opponent and they won’t be getting up again.”

     Kai continues to hand out the knives. For Zaikai’s toughest fighters, the knife of choice was the LHR Combat Knife. Known for its up-close usage and military level, Kai stresses how it was the perfect knife for Luhan, Chen, Kris and Sehun.

     “And lastly,” Kai continues as he pulls the last knife out of the case. “My knife. The BC-41. A combined Knuckleduster-slash-dagger weapon used during World War II by the British commandos for close combats and ambush missions. It’s an extremely, extremely rare fighting knife. A knife is measuring in at 9 inches; the knuckle portion measuring 4 inches at its absolute widest point.” Kai pauses to place the knife over his fingers, a smile spread across his face. “It’s considered to be the best knife to date.”

     Kyungsoo grunts as he throws his knife for the two-hundred-and-tenth time. As he goes to retrieve it from the metal sheet, Kai watches him.

     “Don’t you wanna stop yet?” Kai asks him but Kyungsoo only shakes his head.

     “I wanna get this right.”

     It had been two hours since the others left to go eat dinner. Kai was ready to go but he’d always stayed at Zaikai’s hideout if someone wanted to practice. As a leader, he was dedicated to helping whoever wanted to get better in their crew. But the metal sheet had so many holes in it by now that there was barely any room left for the knife to pierce it.

     “If you keep doing it, you’re going to hurt your arm.” Kyungsoo pauses for a moment before throwing the knife again and becoming quiet.

     “I need to get this right.”

     Kai is quiet. After a moment, Kyungsoo finally goes to retrieve his knife. Kai knows that Kyungsoo wasn’t the best fighter. His father owned a very powerful bank and ran the debt collection division mercilessly. When he’d come home, he’d drag Kyungsoo to their in-home gym and force him to fight. Kyungsoo was only a kid when it first started but his father didn’t care. He was ruthless. And that meant Kyungsoo had to learn to retaliate. He fought back but no matter how much dished out, in the end, his father always knocked him down.

     It had gotten to the point where Kyungsoo ended up in Baekhyun’s mother’s medical room because his father wouldn’t dare to let him go to the hospital. But after time, Kyungsoo became stronger; more determined. And when he’d joined Zaikai officially, he knew he wasn’t going to give up his strength to his state of mind.

     “I think you’ve done enough tonight.” Kai urges again. “You’ve got school in the morning and a heist with us in the evening. It’s about time to call it quits.”

     Kyungsoo holds his knife in his hand, his arm trembling from being overworked. He waits for his breathing to slow down after back to back tossing and retrieving before he shakes his head at Kai.

     “Thirty minutes. Just half an hour more.”

     “Our asses have been in this same dark basement for hours, Kyungsoo. We’ll starve if we stay here forever, you know that right? You’re aware that people have to eat?”

     Kai’s eyebrow rises with sarcasm as he glances down at his phone, a frown forming at his face as he reads the text that lit up his screen before locking it again and sliding it down in his pocket. He stands up, grabbing his backpack and slinging it across the back of his uniform jacket.

     “Come on, grab a bite with me. I’ll pay the bill… probably.”

     Kyungsoo almost wanted to roll his eyes at Kai but he couldn’t help his lips from grinning instead.

     “You go.” He says.

     “I’m not going to leave you here for hours while—“

     “Thirty minutes. I said that.” Kyungsoo interrupts, knowing that Kai’s reaction could either be anger for his brash choice of words or he could just let it go. “Just,” Kyungsoo sighs before he turns to Kai, the grin completely gone from his face. “Another half hour and I’ll go. I swear.”

     Kai stares at him as he talks. He didn’t want to leave him here alone. He didn’t leave any member of Zaikai alone in the hideout. It was dangerous. If they were here, there were at least two. That was the rule. But the way Kyungsoo let out the air that was flustered in his lungs made Kai feel like he may have needed thirty minutes to himself. What Kai needed was food, and as much as he would’ve killed for someone to eat with, he’d have to settle for eating alone once again.

     “Fine.” Kai lets down his shoulders, taking a few steps to the stairs of their basement. “But no more than a half hour.”

     Kyungsoo nods, his arm rising and tossing his knife again as soon as he got the ok from his leader.

     “And call me if something’s up. Anything.”

     After Kyungsoo agrees, Kai is out the door and Kyungsoo is left to train on his own.

     After twenty minutes of throwing and retrieving by himself, the trick was getting old. Kyungsoo paid special attention to his aim, watching as the knife came closer and closer to hitting the same exact spot each time. But close wasn’t enough. Kai had gone out of his way to get rare, special one of a kind knives just so they’d have an advantage. What kind of member would be if he half assed it all and never learned what the knife’s proper use was?

     But after he glanced at the watch on his right wrist, he knew it was time to leave. He’d promised Kai thirty minutes. And his time was up.

     “You’re sure it’s here?” Himchan points forward, his arm wrapped in the bandage he’d gotten a just couple of days ago.

     “I don’t make mistakes.”

     Yongguk answers him, walking with his hands in his leather jacket and a scowl on his face. Today was not a joke. Today wasn’t a mission for his father’s business or a heist to win over information. Today was personal. And personal was brutal.

     The two of them know what’s coming. Part of Himchan didn’t feel like it was necessary but he knew he couldn’t argue with Carnage when he was this determined. In 2012, he’d tried to stop him from retaliating to harshly against the three gangs that had tried attacking them during an extremely important mission. He was only going to kill one out of the three, but when Himchan questioned his motives, he’d called them all down, half of them bringing backup, and Carnage didn’t stop to think for even a second before shooting.

     In the end, forty-three people were dead, their leaders kept alive to ‘remember their place.’ According to Carnage, anyway. Between the blood from the bullet wounds and the bloodshed from the slitting of several of their throats when they just wouldn’t die, the red that day was unforgettable. So Himchan didn’t question his leader anymore. None of Clear Carnage did.

     “There.” Himchan nudges his leader, nodding towards a tired, scraggly looking Zaikai member. “Kyungsoo, the weakest.”

     Yongguk watched as the boy struggled just to walk, his eyes narrowing as he thought of the boy’s downfall. He picked the wrong day to be walking alone.

     “Shouldn’t we wait until a stronger member comes out?”

     “No.” Yongguk was serious, no sympathy in his voice.

     “But he won’t even put up a fight.”

     “Less time we have to waste on this .”

     Yongguk doesn’t take his eyes off of Kyungsoo, whispering for Himchan to execute the plan like they’d discussed before. Himchan nods only once and pulls the hood over his head before walking out around and behind Kyungsoo, keeping as quiet as he can.

     Kyungsoo kept his pace, obviously not even suspecting Himchan’s attack. So as soon as he gets the chance, he strikes. Himchan’s good arm goes straight to Kyungsoo’s neck, his left arm grabbing his arms back as roughly and as uncomfortable as he could, a swift pull as hard as his arms would let him and Kyungsoo was brought to his knees, the loud crackling of dirt heard underneath him.

     Kyungsoo only grunted under his breath, afraid that if he screamed, whoever it was would think he was too weak and kill him off without a fight.

     As he struggles to release himself from his captives grip, a shape emerges from the shadows. Kyungsoo’s eyes went wide as he immediately recognizes its face; it was Carnage.

      “Little Kyungsoo... what are you doing out here all by yourself, huh?” Yongguk carried no weapons in his hand, but somehow, the cracking of his bare knuckles sent shivers down Kyungsoo’s spine. “Didn’t your leader learn not to leave his weakest link unguarded?”

     As he walked closer, Kyungsoo struggled harder to get away. Yongguk looks up, the grin on his face aimed at his partner in crime.

     “What do you think, Himchan?” He asks. “Leave the weakest link unguarded and it might just end up broken.”

     “Let me go now,” Kyungsoo threatened, his teeth press together in anger. “Before I make you.”

      Yongguk sighs.

      “Let you go? You think I’m here to torture you?” He takes a step forward, his hand reaching underneath Kyungsoo’s chin, Kyungsoo jerking his head to try to get away from his grasp. “I’m not here for that, today. Just here to get my point across.” Yongguk smiles his toothy, gummy smile at his prey. “Let’s get this over with.”

      As soon as the words are out, his hand moves back and Kyungsoo is hit with a vengeance, his jaw clicking from the unexpected clash of his teeth crashing together. Then it was a blow to the gut, twice actually. Kyungsoo’s grunts turned into loud groans of pain. Carnage’s hits didn’t just hurt, they stung. The more Kyungsoo, struggled, the harder he was hit.

      Himchan had let go of Kyungsoo, knowing that Carnage had hit him too many times for him to be able to run away and he finally was able to reach his hands up to his stomach, covering it in attempts to stop the blows from his rival.

      As Carnage delivers the strongest of his blows, his shoe against Kyungsoo’s face as he’s knocked over and onto the ground, Kyungsoo’s head flashes with the images of his father. Kick after kick. Hit after hit. It never ends.

      Kyungsoo coughs out the blood in his mouth before reaching for his knife, extracting it from its sheath and desperately using his energy to stand to his feet, immediately lunging himself forward towards Carnage, coming so very close to cutting him.

      But Carnage grabs Kyungsoo’s arm, Kyungsoo once again in his grasps as he brings him back down onto his knees with a cannon like force. But this time, Carnage makes a grab at Kyungsoo’s wrist, forcing his hand to come down towards his leg as the knife in his hand sinks directly into his thigh with no warning.

      Kyungsoo screams out in pain, falling over; the knife still in his leg and his eyes fixated on the spot as he watches his thigh bleed and bleed, hyperventilating in fear while he lies there in shock, unsure of what to do.

      Yongguk watches his state bleakly, unnerved and calls Himchan to his side.

      Himchan mumbles his weakest apology. “Sorry man, but there’s no way around these things. Maybe your gang’ll learn its place after this.”

      Carnage scoffs at Himchan’s comment, his grin finally spreading across his face again.

       “For the record, I’m not sorry.” He says, his foot lifting and coming down right on the knife that rested in Kyungsoo’s flesh, a blood curdling scream escaping from his mouth as the knife is plunged deeper into his body. “If this isn’t enough to make Zaikai realize its place,” Carnage pauses, moving his foot away from the knife. “I’ll ing kill you.”

      As Kyungsoo watches the state of his leg, Carnage doesn’t stop talking, his voice strong and intimidating, growing louder with each sentence.

      “And if that’s not enough, then I’ll kill more of you. And if that’s not enough… then I’ll kill all of you! So when those wide eyes of yours get back to your bastard of a ing leader, make sure that does too. Okay?”

      A very in pain Kyungsoo barely manages to mutters a tremulous “ you” after his eyes find the strength to leave his wound and focus on Carnage. As he struggles to get up, with no success, Carnage chuckles under his breath.

     “Same to you, little owl.” He sneers as he and Himchan walk away from the scene, leaving the Zaikai member to fend for himself.

      Yongguk and Himchan decide to catch a bite to eat after their deed. After a few words of arguing which place they should go to, they finally settle on whichever place is closest. But as soon as they finish their dinner and Yongguk looks up, as if it was written in her job description, Hana’s there by herself, sitting in a lonely booth and having her dinner.

      As Yongguk spots her, Himchan pays the tab for Yongguk and says he’ll be on his way. Yongguk stresses as seriously as possible for him to watch his back and to make sure he’s got his number on speed dial before he leaves and as soon as Himchan agrees, walking away from the table, Yongguk finds himself at Hana’s table, sitting down right in front of her.

      “So how is it that everywhere I go, you’re there?” Yongguk asks as if he had been there the whole time but Hana isn’t buying it.

      “Go away and you won’t have to see me.”

      Yongguk shakes his head and with a smile, he tells her that he thinks she’s the one who should go away, as she’s obviously been stalking him.

      Hana gets defensive, taking him a little too seriously and argues that she comes to this diner every single day for dinner and has never seen him here and now ever since that “pointless fight over who’s got the biggest ego” he’s suddenly everywhere she turns.

      “All I want is to be left alone.” Hana says, her voice as stern as usual but no matter how upfront and abrasive she expresses herself, Yongguk never hears it so she ultimately calms herself, her face and her voice lowering. “Like I always am.”

      Hana thinks that maybe if she lowers her front, he’d go away with nothing left to entertain him but instead, he gets quiet at the faltered tone of her voice.

      “I don’t have anything against you, you know.” Yongguk says after a while. “I’m just… curious.”

      “About what exactly?” Hana had stopped eating her food by now, her fish probably going colder and colder by the second.

      “What your story is. Why the hell is china-doll-goody-two-shoes hanging out with Zaikai?” Yongguk reclines back in his seat, his shoulders leaning back. “I mean,” He continues. “I know they’re not number one, but they’re not last either. Gang wise, I mean.”

      Hana stares at the boy across from her, contemplating whether she should tell him off or just tell him what was up. But no matter how much she told herself that he’d probably leave her alone if she did, she ended up only telling him that it was none of his business instead.

      “Someone who goes to Clearwater Academy has got to be loaded. So why the hell are you alone this late? The rich have their crew. Even if it’s not a gang, there’s a crew. There’s no reason for you to be eating your dinner at a ing diner in the middle of the night.” Hana’s mouth goes agape, muted sounds trying to escape before she can even find her words but Yongguk only interrupts her. “And you definitely don’t need to be running errands for some second rate gang. That’s bull.”

      “If that’s so true,” Hana begins, the words to express just how rediculous he was being finally coming to her. “Then why are you, the second richest person in the entire school, eating here at the same diner you say I don’t need to be eating at? Huh? And why do you always seem to be on Kai’s tail if even I shouldn’t be running errands, which, by the way, is still none of your business.”

      Yongguk sits up, eyeing Hana as he straightens his posture.

      “First of all,” he says. “I’m not on Kai’s tail, but Kai is always on mine. Trying to steal what’s our top spot in this town. And second… I’m only at this god forsaken diner because it was the closest spot to eat nearest to my last job.”

      After that, Hana gives up on being calm and blows up at the mention of him being at the top and his “job.”

      “You know what,” Hana starts grabbing her things as she talks, her items becoming as scattered as her movements as she goes off. “Mr. ‘Number-One-Hot-Shot-Rich-And-Oh-So-Powerful-Gang-Leader…’ I don’t even wanna know what your last 'job' was or what kind of status you have in this screwed up city, okay? I don’t need to get involved with you or your gang… or Kai’s gang o-or anyone.” She trips over her words the more she talks. “Or anything! I just need to pay off my debt so I can move on.” Hana finishes with a loud breath as she exhales, finally managing to hold her purse, her phone, and her jacket in one hand. “So if you’ll excuse me;” she says as she puts the payment on the table “I’m going home now. Unless I’m ‘too rich’ to be doing that either.”

      Yongguk watches her walk away, half shocked at her boastfulness and half intrigued. As she's leaving, the waitress comes back to collect the bill, asking if he needs anything else for tonight and he finally takes his eyes off of Hana, looking at the waitress.

      “Can I get a refill on this?” He says after a moment, holding up the empty glass of strawberry soda Hana had left behind.

      The air is so hard to breathe it starts to feel more like inhaling nails than inhaling oxygen. And it's only getting harder as the minutes pass by. Kyungsoo struggles his hardest to hop along the walls of the fence in the alleyway, the knife in his leg still in place as he was too afraid to extract it.

      His hands were covered in blood and his face had traces too. When he was left alone he’d tried grabbing the knife but was ultimately too terefied to even move it a millimeter so his hands ended up back to his face, his palms and fingers covering his mouth as he freaked out, tears breaking away along with the sobs his hands had muffled as he only became more and more unsure of what to do as time went by. So, he'd decided to send a mass text out to all of Zaikai, remembering that Kai told him to call him if anything happened. But in that moment, he knew he needed to focus all of his energy on getting back to a safe place and not on talking.

      Finally, he makes it back to Zaikai’s hideout. But only as far as the front door, falling to the ground, unconscious as he bathes in his own growing small puddle of blood he’s made underneath him in the time it took him to fumble with the door, attempting to open it with no avail.

      Kai is the first member to show up on his Suzuki. Before he even steps off, he spots Kyungsoo on the ground, his blood shocking and worrying him immediately. Kai runs to his side, dropping to his knees as soon as he reaches Kyungsoo and begins to check him for injuries only to find the wound on his leg, the knife way too deep to pull out. He doesn't even bother to wonder who was responsible, because he already knew.

      Kai feels the beat in his chest growing faster and faster with the time it took for him to pull out his phone and immediately send another mass text to all of Zaikai to meet him at the hospital. As soon as the message is out, Kai picks up Kyungsoo, carrying him on his back to his bike and positioning it so he wouldn’t fall off but it’s not enough. Kai’s heart is louder than the gunshots that so often rang through their basement during practice as he struggled to form the slightest idea of what he was supposed to do.

      After looking at Kyungsoo for a while, he got an idea. Tying Kyungsoo’s sweater tightly around the both of them to keep him secure, he holds Kyungsoo’s hands around his waist with one hand, riding him to the hospital in a hurry, his free hand on the bike’s left handle, stiff and striving to keep the bike balanced with the both of them on it. But he managed. There was no choice. As he rode, he kept whispering to Kyungsoo as many times as he could get out of him.

       “Hang on.” He kept saying. “Hang on and live to see those bastards pay for this.”