It was starting to get late, Jiyong’s eyelashes knew too well since they were trying to hide his dark brown eyes and let him sleep. He was fighting it, he didn’t dare to fall asleep, not there, in a place he barely knew, with people who, even if they said otherwise, kidnapped him and made him hostage, or people who apparently lied about dead people being alive. He felt like that at least.

He was sitting on the sofa, in front of Bom and Minjie, who were mindlessly typing on their laptops. He thought, with a vague laziness, that he wouldn’t sleep until they did, even if he had to punish himself to have long lost sleep hours. And time was running quickly, he knew, and it was just a matter of time until he stupidly dies, since he hadn’t had his medicine with him, but he didn’t worried, for all he wanted was to welcome death with open arms. Yes, it was such an alluring and warmth feeling, feeling death slowly creeping through your legs until it reached the rotten heart that was beating out of habit. He looked up, looking at the ceiling without any interest, he was pretty bored at the moment, but his distrust didn’t allowed him to move, even if he was already sore all over.

“Kwon Jiyong, don’t force yourself, you can sleep, we won’t harm you in any way.” Bom said, noticing his strained eyes looking around. He gave her a crooked smile and shook his head slowly, his arms wide on the sofa, his legs crossed, he looked comfortable, even if he wasn’t.

“I’m not tired.” He told her. Bom smiled and closed the lid on her laptop, making Minjie looked at her with curious eyes.

“Well, I certainly am, so please, excuse me.” She said, standing up, taking her laptop with her and leaving the living room. Minjie looked at her leaving, then at Jiyong, who was looking at her with what she would think was a sensual stare, but in fact was an expert eye looking for any flaws.

“Aren’t you tired?” He asked her, to which she shrugged.

“I really don’t know how to feel tired.” She said and looked back at her laptop. Jiyong noticed she had been sitting in the exact same position for hours, not moving, not resting, her back straight, the laptop on her thighs and her knees touching as she kept her legs closed together.

“How can someone not know how to feel tired?” He asked her, and she shrugged again.

“We are trained different Mr. Kwon. You were trained to have the ability to move quickly and as smooth as water on the floor, but I was trained to remain still until I finished my work, to remain silent… I guess I’ve been talking a lot lately.” She said, giggling to herself.

“I’m curious as to how you know so much of me but I know so little of you.” He told her, to which she smiled.

“Oh you’ll find out soon enough, for now just rest Mr. Kwon, you look dead tired, and we might need you well rested tomorrow, I’m not sure.” She said.

“You might need me? I thought hostages weren’t useful to their kidnappers.”

“And I think you might know we aren’t holding you hostage. Come on, two programmers, slightly trained to kill, only to defend themselves, holding hostage a mortal weapon trained to kill at simple sight, being you, one of the most highly trained and powerful agents. No Mr. Kwon, you can walk out of the door if you wanted, but,” She said, her eyes looking straight at him, “If you want to keep your life, then I can assure you, this is the most safe place. Even as good as you are, there are others who can outcome you, many, in fact.” She said, slowly closing the lid to her laptop.

“So you’re telling me that I’m being held here under my own safety?” He asked, and she smiled while standing up.

“I believe I’ve told you enough.” She said, and as she walked away, he stood up and grabbed her by her arm, turning her around.

“No, you’ve just starting and I know it. Tell me what’s going on.” He said, and she stared at him, slowly removing his tight grip from her forearm.

“Please Mr. Kwon, there’s no need for that.” She said.

“No, I think this is exactly what we need. After all, I like it rough.” He said, and she smirked, and before he could do anything, she hit his diaphragm with the palm of her right hand, leaving him breathless and unsteady. Quickly, she grabbed his arm and jumped, snaking her legs around his neck and throwing him on the floor, his arm tightly held between her legs and on her hands. He used his other hand to balance himself and with his legs, he kicked her, and she let him go with a gasp. Her lip started to bleed as he stood up, but she was quite fast, almost as fast as him. She kicked his legs, and when he crouched she grabbed the other leg, making him fall on top of her, but before he could let is whole weight fall on her, she grabbed his chest with her arms and turned them around, now she was on top, her forearm held tightly on his neck as her legs secured his arms on his side.

“How’s that?” She said, and to his surprise, her voice was steady, unlike him that was still trying to catch his breath.

“’Slightly trained’ that’s cute.” He told her and she smirked, chocking him a bit more with her arm.

“So, how much rougher do you want it?” She said, and just then, a cough was heard on the hallway. Both of them looked up, only to find the tall figure of a man staring at them. Minjie quickly let go and stood up, bowing at the man while Jiyong looked at him with disbelieve.

“Seunghyun?” He said, almost out of breath. Seunghyun smiled and walked over him, grabbed his hand and lifted him up. Jiyong looked at him with wide eyes, and then at Minjie. “I thought this was a set-up.” Jiyong said, and Minjie shook her head.

“We told you we didn’t mean any harm.” Minjie said.

“I come back and see you fighting a girl on a living room, well, I see a girl kicking your on a living room. Where your manners have gone Kwon Jiyong –" he said, but before he could finish, Jiyong punched his face, hard.

“We thought you were dead!” Jiyong said and punched him another time. And another until Seunghyun hit the floor, and even there, Jiyong threw himself on top of him, hitting his stomach hard. Seunghyun gasped, but made no effort to stop him, instead, he allowed Jiyong to take revenge on him.

“What if I told you,” Seunghyun said after Jiyong stopped, both out of breath, “that for a moment I was?”

“I wouldn’t believe you. I mourned you motherer, I ing mourned you!” Jiyong said panting. Seunghyun nodded, cleaning the blood oozing from his nose with the back of his hand.

“You had to do it, it had to happen.” Seunghyun said. Jiyong shook his head and stood up, unbalance due to the adrenaline he felt.

“Why? Why we had to mourn you?”

“Because,” Seunghyun stood up, his nose and mouth still bleeding, staining the floor, “everyone needed to know I was gone.” He said and Jiyong scoffed, feeling the urge to punch him again, but after seeing the mess his face had become, thought otherwise.

“Enlighten me big brother, why did you play dead with us?” He said, and Seunghyun nodded, taking out a handkerchief from the back of his pocket, apparently he came prepared to receive Jiyong’s wrath.

“Kim Woochoong…” Seunghyun said as he cleaned his mouth.

“What about him?”

“He’s not dead, he’s not retired, and he wants blood, your blood.” Seunghyun explained, and Jiyong raised an eyebrow.

“Has death left you insane?” Jiyong said with genuine curiosity, to which Seunghyun shook his head no.

“No dude, apparently there’s still a score to settle between the Kims and the Kwons… and guess who’s the last in line of the Kwons?” Seunghyun said, and Jiyong scoffed.

“Woochoong’s dead, my father killed him.” Jiyong said with such a confidence it was almost as a kid saying he believed in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.

“Did he? What proof do you have?” Seunghyun said, and instinctively Jiyong put a hand on his neck, were a little golden necklace hanged, a little golden plate with the initials KW. Seunghyun chuckled as Jiyong did that, and shook his head. “No Jiyong, the story’s a different one than your father told you.” He said, and Jiyong shook his head. It was almost impossible to believe, as much as he thought about it, a world with that man in it was like a world with a walking Satan on it.

“No Seunghyun, you saw him, you saw my father covered in blood when he came home that night. You lived with me at that moment, you heard it too.”

“I saw Kwon Young Hwan coming home with clothes full of clothes and an empty gun, that’s all.” Seunghyun said, and Jiyong frowned.

“Are you saying my father, our father is a liar?”

“I’m saying, Jiyong, that probably he changed the events to prevent scaring your mother.” Seunghyun said, and as if a switch was touched, Jiyong snapped at him.

“DON’T TALK ABOUT THEM LIKE THAT YOU MOTHERING BASTARD!” Jiyong screamed, making Minjie jump from the start he gave her. Seunghyun looked at her and smiled.

“Minjie, why don’t you leave us alone?” Seunghyun told her, to which she nodded, grabbed her laptop and quickly left the living room.

“What are you now? Some sort of mafia gangster or something? Having woman doing your errands, what the has happened to you?!” Jiyong said, punching a wooden table next to him. It didn’t break, but the frames and vases on top of it jumped and fell, shattering into a million pieces. Jiyong felt how the burning feeling on his veins started to feel uncomfortable, the strain on his neck, the exhaustion his body felt, but nothing was compared to the constant feeling of treachery around him.

First it was Hyunsuk, whom he had loved as a father, the father he somewhat never had, since his own father was never home, not after his mother died. He was young, at that time, when his father made him stay at the YG company, with Hyunsuk to take care of him, and it wasn’t until a few days ago that he found out his father actually sold him to the company, all of that, only to die a few days after. Or being killed, but somehow, Seunghyun’s information made sense. Jiyong was the last in line to the Kwon Family, a once powerful family, feared by all the other families and conglomerates. He had been Chaebol, once, before the feud between families broke his completely, and he had to work his way up. He never dreamed of vendetta since both his father and the father of the Kim family were dead, but now, it was as if the image of everything true to him was just glamour of lies around him. No, that couldn’t be happening to him now, but then again, everything had happened to him since the moment she stepped in.

“No, I’m not a mafia gangster, I’m me, the one who usually has the information, the hacker, me.” Seunghyun said, and Jiyong nodded, slowly sitting on the sofa, feeling as if his body would give up anytime.

“It’s just too much to take.” Jiyong whispered and hid his face behind his hands. Seunghyun sat next to him, putting a hand on his shoulders.

“I’m here with you.” Seunghyun said and Jiyong smiled weakly and put his head on Seunghyun’s shoulders.

“I’m glad dude, I’m so glad you’re alive.” Jiyong said and Seunghyun smiled widely.

“I’m indestructible.” Seunghyun said and Jiyong laughed for the first time in a few days.

“So, fill me in. What’s going on?” Jiyong asked, and Seunghyun let out a breath before straightening himself.

“You might not like this, but Woochoong’s truly alive, and kicking. I’ve heard he had an expert in thief and espionage hired to come over and take the government, but we all know it’s just a lame excuse to get you.” Seunghyun explained, “But with this expert, who we have no idea who she or he is, well, we are at the tiger’s mercy.”

“An expert in thief and espionage? Someone we know?” Jiyong asked and Seunghyun shrugged.

“We’re still investigating. Bom and Minjie are expert seekers, or hunters, however you want to call it. They can track down almost anyone in the world, but this person it’s hard since we have no idea who he is.”

“Or she.” Jiyong said and Seunghyun nodded.

“But hey, what about that pretty lady at the company? The Chaebol daughter?” Seunghyun said and Jiyong scoffed.

“I’m surprised you don’t know about her.” He said and Seunghyun smiled.

“Ok, I know who she is, but still I want to know what happened after my ‘death’ at the company. Is she ok?” Seunghyun said, to which Jiyong shrugged with a hollow expression on his face.

“She disappeared, after we killed Hyunsuk and Hyunseung, she disappeared, without a word, without a note, only left me with her best friends, who had no clue of her whereabouts.” Jiyong explained, and when he looked at Seunghyun, he had a serious expression on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“When she disappeared?” Seunghyun asked, to which Jiyong shrugged.

“A few days ago, why?”

“Who are her friends? Anyone we know?” Seunghyun asked quickly.

“Yeah, remember Jamie, the actor? Him and a girl named Dara, why are you so worked up about it dude?” Jiyong said, but before he could say anything else, Seunghyun stood up and walked towards the hallway.

“Bom! Minjie! Come here fast!” Seunghyun called. “Listen Jiyong, I need you, really need you to stay here at the house.” He said and Jiyong stood up looking at him with raised eyebrows.

“TOP, you can’t –“

“You called?” Minjie and Bom said as they entered the living room.

“Search for Lee Chaerin.” Seunghyun said, “And Sandara Park.” He told them, and Minjie widened her eyes.

“Someone tell me what the is going on here!” Jiyong yelled, and Seunghyun looked at him with narrow eyes.

“Remember our motto, brother? ‘Never trust, never lose’?” Seunghyun said and Jiyong nodded slowly. “You trusted, and you lost. Now it’s my turn to play the cards, to save your mothering as I’ve always done.”

“But why…”

“Because if I’m correct, your dear Chaerin’s the new hired killer, and if I’m more accurate, she’s after you.”