The lights of the city entered the room, a white glow illuminating a dark room. It was distant, yet the bright lights of the night could be seen everywhere. Jiyong stirred as he slowly open his eyes, afraid of the pain that was surely coming and daring him to give up. As he moved, he felt a warm body beside him, and a smile quickly plastered on his face. Her scent filled his nostrils as he took a steady breath, still afraid of the pain. He looked at her, where golden locks of hair had once decorated her hair, now a serene dark color took its place. He touched her cheek and she stirred, slowly opening her eyes.

“Hey.” She murmured. Jiyong quickly bent down and kissed her cheek, then her nose and finally .

“Thanks.” He said on her lips. Chaerin nodded and sat up slowly, supporting her weight with her hands.

“We have to go, James was looking for you.” She said. Jiyong smirked and nodded.

“And you came here to tell me or to sleep?” He asked. Chaerin shrugged and smiled.

“I guess I’m tired.” She said. He could see the sadness in her eyes, and he couldn’t blame her, he was sad as well.

“You should sleep more.” He murmured. She quickly shook her head and shrugged.

“I don’t want to lose any minute.” She said. Jiyong frowned and sat up, caressing her cheek.

“Don’t think about it.” He said. She nodded slowly, her eyes getting watery. Jiyong smiled at her and stood up. The sudden movement made him dizzy, so he had to hold onto bed to avoid falling. Chaerin quickly moved and held his arm, her face completely worried.

“Ji-“

“I’m alright, just dizzy, I just woke up.” He said. Chaerin shook her head and stood up, holding his arm.

“I’ll help you.” She said but Jiyong just shook his head and tenderly removed her hands from his arm.

“Go get ready, we still have work to do.” He said. Chaerin crooked her head with narrow eyes, but Jiyong smiled and nodded. “Go.” He said. Chaerin looked to the side, bit her lips then looked at him.

“Call me if you need anything.” She said and Jiyong nodded.

“I sure will, now go.” He said. Chaerin nodded and quickly left the room. As soon as she closed the door, Jiyong let his head hung low as he panted and whimpered. “.” He murmured as he tried to straighten up. A piercing pain had gotten the best of him, an abdominal pain forbidding him to properly stand. He shook his head and forcefully straightened up, letting out a silent scream as he did.

He slowly walked towards his vanity, supporting his way towards it with everything he could find. As soon he stood in front of the mirror, he shook his head, watching his face, staring at himself. He shook his head again and walked towards the bathroom. His hands were trembling, the pain almost unbearable, but he managed to get there, taking deep breaths that burnt his lungs every now and then. He should make it.

After he finished, he walked out of the room, cursing a bit on his mind as he saw the set of stairs in front of him. He thought he wouldn’t be able to make it, jumping from the edge will be easier, but maybe even more painful. As he was debating what to do, James appeared at his side. Jiyong looked at him and smiled, slightly lifting his head up, a gesture of greeting. James did the same and extended his hand.

“Need any help?” James said. Jiyong was going to tell him no, that he could manage, but the amount of steps scared him, he could fall, he could die walking down, so he just nodded.

“Yeah, I can use a hand.” Jiyong said and James smiled, holding his arm. He helped him go down, slowly, each step completely steady and coordinated. "It's stupid how sometimes I can manage, then other times, I feel like dying." Jiyong was starting to feel like dead weight, like he was dragging them all, a feeling that was slowly consuming him.

"It's all part of it, but you'll get better." James said. Jiyong only nodded as they descended. They finally reached the main floor, and Jiyong let go of James’s arm, smiling at him.

“I can manage now, thanks a lot pal.”

“Don’t mention it, I still am forced to do so, you know, Chaerin would kill me.” James said smiling. Jiyong laughed a bit and nodded.

“Yeah, she’s kind of hard.” Jiyong said. James chuckled and nodded, leading Jiyong to walk towards what was left of the main living room.

“Tell me about it.” James said. They reunited with the rest of the people in the house. Chaerin was sitting next to Dara, was moving, she was talking, but her eyes were distant, as if her mind was in somewhere else. Jiyong smiled and sat on a chair with little difficulty, he still had to have the presence of a leader.

“Well, now that we’re all here, he’s the deal. We can’t divide for this, we need all of our strength to take on Woochoong.” Seunghyun said. “According to Dami, his house will be complete desolated today, we should move faster than him and wait for him, you know, to greet him a nice welcome.”

“So we will need more than two cars, that’s kind of inconvenient.” Jiyong said. Seunghyun nodded.

“Indeed, but if we split, the higher chances there are to get killed. We’re not that many and we don’t know what kind of army Woochoong has.” Seunghyun said.

“Plus he won’t be expecting us, he thinks both Dami and me are dead. Jonghyun didn’t had any idea of that place, so he will have his guard down.” Kikwang said. Jiyong nodded.

“Then what are we waiting, let’s go.” Jiyong said, standing up. It took an inhuman effort for him to do so, but he was a performer, he could fake the pain, the struggling.

“We were waiting for you, sleeping beauty.” Seungri said. Jiyong smirked at him and nodded.

“You’re jealous you don’t get to have the “beauty” in sleeping.” Jiyong said and Seungri rolled his eyes. They all stood up, armed and ready. Jonghyun handed Jiyong a few guns and a dagger, and Jiyong smirked at him, putting his hand on his shoulder.

“Take care.” Jonghyun said. Jiyong nodded and pulled Jonghyun closer, hugging him with one arm. Jonghyun hugged him back.

“Yeah, you too. I want a little brother to nag and bully, you better come back safe.” Jiyong said and Jonghyun laughed.

“Aren’t we a little old for that?” Jonghyun said and Jiyong shook his head with cheeks slightly pouted.

“Nop.” He said. Jonghyun laughed and nodded, walking away when Chaerin approached him. Jiyong looked at her with his usual cockiness and winked at her. “Are you ready for another date?” He said. She looked down, then at him and smiled without any humor.

“Be safe, will you?” She said. Jiyong nodded, put a hand around her neck and pulled her closer, kissing her softly, longing and tenderly.

“You too.” He said.

After everyone finished saying their goodbyes, they walked out of the house and into the cars. Jiyong rode with Jonghyun, James, Key and Taemin. He wanted to go with Chaerin, but Dara and Bom had to get the techs ready, and they needed Chaerin for the coordinates. 

“I think you won’t have to lock the front door Key.” Taemin said. Jiyong suppressed a laughed as he saw Key’s killer glare.

“I guess I’ll have to make you all pay for insurance.” Key said and everyone laughed, including Taemin. Jiyong sat in the back, with James and Jonghyun, Key was driving and Taemin was at his side.

“I think Amber will be pissed once she finds out about that door, she loved it.” Jonghyun said and Key nodded.

“You should have the honor of explaining to her why her beloved door was destroyed. It was your father after all.” Key said. Jonghyun frowned and crossed his arms.

“Yeah, but she’s your woman, she must come around.” Jonghyun said. Taemin started to laugh.

“I don’t know how you can say that, isn’t she your best friend? You should know her best.” Taemin said. Jonghyun laughed and nodded.

“Yeah, you’re in terrible danger, Kibumie.” Jonghyun said and Key pouted.

“Kibumie?” James said.

“Key’s pet name. His real name’s Kibum.” Taemin said. Key looked at him and glared.

“Kim Kibum, actually. He’s my cousin.” Jonghyun said. Jiyong looked at him with wide eyes. “On my father’s side.”

“Ah, I see.” Jiyong said.

“Yeah, we’re not related, thanks God.” Key said and Jiyong glared at him.

“Yeah, I couldn’t agree more.” Jiyong said and Jonghyun chuckled.

“And you Lee Taemin? Are you related to any of them?” James said and Taemin shook his head.

“No I’m Jonghyun’s childhood friend.” Taemin said.

“More like childhood nuisance.” Jonghyun muttered.

“What was that?” Taemin said looking back, and Jonghyun shook his head and smiled widely.

“Nothing, I was telling them how much a beloved friend you are.” Jonghyun said and Taemin nodded, his face stern and serious, then smiled widely. Jiyong raised an eyebrow and looked at James, who just shrugged.

“Freak.” Key muttered and Taemin slapped his head. Key let go of the steering wheel and tried to choke Taemin. Jiyong quickly moved forwards to grab the steering wheel but Key had managed to grab it in less than a few seconds, keeping the car in complete control the whole time.

“Guys, stop it.” Jonghyun said and Key made a noise and arranged his hair in a diva manner. Jiyong grabbed his abdomen and whimpered, the movement he did brought pain on him. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m ok.” Jiyong said. Not after, Key pulled to a stop. In front of them there was the car that Dami was driving, and after Jiyong’s car, the car where Chaerin was stopped. Jonghyun opened the door and got out, walking towards his sister. Jiyong made the movement to get out, but James stopped him.

“You better stay, don’t strain yourself more than you should.” James said and Jiyong nodded. Jiyong watched how Jonghyun looked at the forest in front of them, then at the car. He shook his head and walked towards the car.

“We have one problem.” Jonghyun said. Everyone looked at him.

“What is it?” Jiyong said and Jonghyun let out a sigh.

“We have to hide the cars in here and go walking, Dami said the road seems to be closed.” Jonghyun explained.

“Didn’t she said it was going to be easy?” Key said and Jonghyun shrugged.

“Woochoong’s no fool, maybe he did that on prevention.” Jonghyun said. Everyone was looking at Jiyong, he could feel it. He debated a bit, then nodded.

“Well let’s start walking.” Jiyong said. Jonghyun looked at him with worried eyes.

“We have to run, in car it’s a 30 minute drive, on foot it can take 2 hours.” Jonghyun said and Jiyong shrugged.

“Then let’s start running.” He said as he scooped to the side to get out of the car. Jonghyun made way and Jiyong got out. Walking towards them was Chaerin, a dagger hanging on her side, a leathered jacket zipped up, hiding a black tank top. She was wearing black pants and black boots, her hair was secured on top of her head in a ponytail and her hands covered with black gloves showing her fingers.

“Can you handle it?” She said as she stood straight in front of Jiyong. She had turned into the trained killer, all serious and bossy. Jiyong nodded, securing a gun on his back, his own dagger hanging on his side.

“Yeah, had worst.” Jiyong said and looked to the car. “Key, find a place to hide the car, we’ll wait for you on the gates.” He said and Key nodded, driving off when Taemin got out.

They stood at the entrance, Daesung and Taeyang were setting a perimeter while Jiyong tried to warm his muscles. Not long after, Key, Minho and Seungri came back from hiding the cars. They reunited quickly and got ready for the run.

“Dami, lead the way.” James said and Dami nodded.

“Kikwang, stay behind, if someone gets lost, he or she is lost. Make sure you keep on Dami’s heels. Let’s go!” Jiyong said and everyone started to move into the woods.

Gily's Notes: The action IT'S STARTING~!

Brace yourselves, finale's also coming around!

Happy Reading ~

Gily ♥