The sound of her veins beating uncontrollably on her ears was making her deaf. The pain on her wrist was even worst, the soreness of her body was slowly sending her towards insanity. The slashing sound of a leathered whip filled the room. The laughter and the evilness of a threatening voice filled her brain as the scarlet liquid filled her heart. She tried to look up, but the heaviness of her head forbid her to do so.

“Where is he?” The evil said again, and once again, her lips remained sealed. The blood that dripped from her hands made a calming noise, a sound only a trained ear could hear, but she heard it as loud as she heart her heart beating. She could feel the tingling sensation of adrenaline running through her, but it escape through every wound her body received. She closed her eyes once again as the whip found its way to her flesh. The sound of the leather colliding with her skin made the adrenaline run faster, and the pain could not be felt anymore.

“I told you, I told you I would kill them all!” and again the whip touched her skin, but now it was as if it was caressing her, and not after, the sound of it touching the floor made her open her eyes. Woochoong was in front of her, his face distorted in rage and insanity as he looked for another instrument of torture. She scoffed as he pull out a knife, not longer than 4 inches. The familiarity of it almost made her gasp. It was his knife, Jiyong’s.

“Where… did you found that?” Chaerin spoke with the last strength she could find. Woochoong laughed as he balanced the knife on his hands.

“It would be so romantic, being killed by his own knife.” Woochoong said. “But it’s not his, oh no. This is his father’s. Still, it’s twin remains in the hands of the bastard that should be dead, and you did not finished your work. You will pay Lee Chaerin.” Woochoong said and put the knife close to .

“Go ahead. Spare me from my life. Spare me from this life, end the misery.” She hissed. Woochoong stopped and looked at her in the eyes. She never backed down, she never surrendered, and even if Woochoong gave her a fear she didn’t know, she never lowered her gaze. Woochoong stepped back and threw the knife towards the wall, screaming in exasperation as he did.

“I had high expectations for you Chaerin. I was going to love you as my daughter, as my own daughter. You betrayed me, you’ve hurt me.” He said. Chaerin scoffed.

“Interesting, wanting to love me as a daughter when you killed your own.” Chaerin said. Woochoong glared at her, his eyes narrow and his hands balled into fist.

“She wasn’t good enough.” Woochoong said, and Chaerin scoffed again, feeling nauseated by his own words.

“So you killed your own daughter because she wasn’t good enough? What kind of monster are you?!” Chaerin yelled. Woochoong slapped her hard on her face, then grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

“Yeah, I said it wrong. Her mother wasn’t good enough. She wasn’t meant to live. Her mother wasn’t meant to be my wife. How could she rule my own Empire, when her blood wasn’t good enough?” Woochoong said. Chaerin gulped, her knees suddenly trembling as he said those words. Woochoong forcefully kissed her lips, then slapped her again, throwing her to the floor. The chains that binds her wrist cut into her skin, the wound getting deeper as she tried to stop the fall with her shoulders. Her face hit the wall as her body collapse on the floor. A thin line of blood fell from her cheek as it tore from the hit.

“You, Chaerin, would have been so good. So good.” Woochoong said as he cleaned his hands and grabbed his suitcase. “I’ll leave you here, to contemplate on your mistakes. Maybe, if you repent, I’ll let you go.” He said as he reached the door. Chaerin tried to stand up, but the chains were making it almost impossible to do. She was trapped in her own apartment, in her own room. She cursed at him, yelled a thousand of profanities, but he was already gone. She closed her eyes as the pain on her body was almost unbearable, and as she did, she hoped for death to come, or at least, for sleep to come fast.

As she was drifting into dreamland, the main door slapped open, the noise making her alert. She sat up, the chains pressing hard on her already tore skin. She whimpered but ignored it as she tried to hear who was running up the stairs. It was hard to tell, since even the footsteps were as light as feather. She kept looking at the door, which not long after slapped open, revealing a male figure behind it. It was Jonghyun, his face glistening in sweat, his black shirt slightly damped and sticking to his skin, so was his silver hair.

“Chaerin.” He said as he ran towards her. She tried to back away, but he grabbed her hand and tried to open the lock on the chains to no avail. “Where did he put the keys?”

“What are you doing here?” She said. Jonghyun stopped and looked at her. His face pure confusion, and she hoped it would be real.

“I came to help you.” He said.

“How did you know I needed help?” She said. Jonghyun chuckled incredulously and stood up, searching on her vanity for the key.

“Everyone knows you need help. The words has been going around that my father wants you dead. Who better than me would know what he’s capable of doing?” Jonghyun said and Chaerin considered for a moment. If it was real or not didn’t matter. He was the only human in there, and the only one who could set her free.

“Alright, get me out of here.” She said. Jonghyun opened the last drawer and yelled in happiness.

“Found it!” He said as he went back to her with a key on his hands. Chaerin extended her hands as he unlocked the chains around her wrist. They fell on the floor making a loud noise of metal against wood. Chaerin flinched as the pain on her wrist worsen due to Jonghyun’s touches. She pulled her hands back and stood up, shaking a bit. Jonghyun quickly grabbed her by her waist the moment she completely lost balance, almost falling to the floor.

“I’m fine.” She said as she pushed him away, trying to control her balance. Chaerin took a deep breath and straightened her body, slowly feeling the balance on her, she walked on. Jonghyun continued looking at her as she approached her closet, opening it slowly.

“What are you doing?” Jonghyun said, to which Chaerin simply shrugged.

“I’m leaving.” She said as she grabbed her luggage, throwing inside all her belongings. Jonghyun walked next to her, intending to help, but she just pushed him aside. “I still haven’t decided if I should trust you or not.” She said as she grabbed the last pair of shoes, a pair of high kick black boots.

“What?”

“You heard me.” She said while slipping her feet on the boots. She quickly laced them, then grabbed a black leathered jacket and throw it over her shoulders, the luggage securely closed. “And if you allow me, I’m late. I need to go.” And she walked towards the door.

“Chaerin, what do I have to do for you to trust me?” Jonghyun said at her back. She stopped just in front of the door and slowly turned around, her face already swelling from the wounds she received.

“Just show me I can trust you. I’ll contact you later.” She said and finally left.

Without any phone, Chaerin got into a café, black shades covering her swollen eyes as a scarf covered the still bleeding wounds on her neck. She walked towards the attendant, a wide smile plastered on her face as she slightly bowed.

“How can we help you?” The attendant said. Chaerin smiled again and set the luggage on her side, her hands firm on the counter.

“I need to use the phone. It’s an emergency.” She said. The attendant looked worried for a moment, then looked both ways before looking at Chaerin again.

“I’ve seen you here before. You were here once with G-Dragon.” The lady whispered. Chaerin smiled and nodded eagerly.

“Yes, that’s true.” Chaerin said. “If you allow me to use the phone, I can bring you a picture of him. No, I can convince him to drink a coffee with you, but please, let me use your phone.” For a moment, she felt stupid as she begged, but she was desperate, in a hurry and in danger, it was a matter of life and death. The lady, however, shook her head quickly as she lifted her hands.

“There’s no need, I’m contented with only serving you. And yes, you can use the phone.” The lady said. Chaerin let out a sigh of relieve as the lady handed her the phone. She quickly grabbed it and dialed the number that she had been chanting ever since that morning, when she left the owner of it.

As the phone rang, Chaerin tapped her fingers desperately on the counter. The long wait for him to answer was making her anxious, her stomach crumpling and her heart accelerating. At the 4^th ring, the sweet and melodic voice of Kwon Jiyong answered the phone with a confused ‘Hello.’ And Chaerin let out another sigh of relieve, this one being loud enough for everyone to hear her.

“God, I’m glad you answered.” She said out of her own relieve.

“Chaerin? Oh God where are you? What happened to you? Is everything alright?” Jiyong quickly said, his voice anxious and stressed. Chaerin closed her eyes as she felt the hotness of fresh tears forming at the rim of her eyes.

“Yes, I’m fine. I need you to pick me up. Now.” She said.

“Where are you? I’ll come right now.”

“I’m at that café you once brought me, in Hongdae, the one that looks really cute.” She said, unable to remember the name of the place and too distracted to notice that the attendant was mouthing the name of the place.

“Which one? Ding Dong Café?” He asked, and Chaerin let out an exasperate sigh, looking around. She finally noticed the lady mouthing the words ‘Ding Dong’ and Chaerin smiled brightly, lifting her thumb finger at her.

“Yes, Ding Dong, that one. Come quickly.” She said, and as if it was timed with her voice, the sound of a car roaring to life was heard at the other line.

“I’m on my way, don’t move.” Was all he said before he ended the call, leaving Chaerin staring at nothing with the phone clutched to her ear.

“While you wait, would you like some coffee?” The attendant said, and Chaerin slowly put the phone down as she nodded.

“Yes, please.” Was all she said. The attendant nodded and typed a few things, then wrote down another few and walked out of the counter, leaving the piece of paper on a silver tray behind her.

“Follow me.” The attendant said as she gesture Chaerin to walk forward. Chaerin nodded and grabbed her luggage and walked towards the back of the café, where the lady pointed. The lady walked next to her as she showed her a table for two. Chaerin looked at her and then at the table, it was the same table she had sit once with Jiyong. “While you wait, make yourself comfortable. I’ll let him know you’re here.” The lady said, and Chaerin looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“Tell who?” Chaerin said. She was starting to feel uncomfortable, since she left so quickly, she didn’t had time to even grab her dagger, she was disarmed. The lady, however, just smiled.

“I’m sorry, I assumed you called Mr. Kwon.” The lady said. Chaerin thought for a moment, then simply nodded at her.

“Yes, it was him who I called. So please let him know I’m here.” Chaerin said and sat down. The lady bowed and then left, leaving her alone in the small space the V.I.P section was. Chaerin put her hands on the table, and she noticed they were trembling. She was holding in too much, the pain on her body, the stress from her situation, not knowing how everyone is was driving her insane. She was glad for a moment she heard Jiyong’s voice, that meant he was still alive, but what about the others? What about her father? Her hand went to automatically as a sob escaped . The shaking of her body was making her pain worse, but she couldn’t control herself any longer. She knew she was being weak, that she was trained to feel nothing more than the sweet scent of adrenaline rushing through her veins as she inflicted pain, as she ended lives and destroyed homes.

The lady came back with a coffee and a cupcake in hand, and Chaerin quickly cleaned her tears. She noticed that the lady’s eyes widened as she came closer, and Chaerin quickly looked down, only to remember that she had taken her sunglasses off and they were now resting peacefully on the table. Chaerin lowered her face and grabbed the shades, quickly putting them on.

“It’s alright. I won’t tell.” The lady said as she set the small tray on the table. Chaerin nodded and quickly grabbed the coffee. “This one’s on me. Please enjoy it.”

“Thanks.” Chaerin murmured as she took a sip of the steaming hot coffee. It burned , but the feeling was so needed it felt absolutely good, heavenly good. The lady bowed again and left, and once again, Chaerin was alone to meditate on her life, her doings and her misfortune. If that could be called misfortune, she thought with a misery that was only hers, with the sour taste of pain and sadness, of darkness and sorrow, it must have an end. 

Gily's Notes: I updated because you guys are so cute! Lol!!

Next update will be on Wednesday I swear! I always try to update on weekends and midweek, don't forget that hehe!

I love you dearly!

Happy Reading ~

Gily ♥