Note: Yay more subbies!! Lol...even though it's hidden...still, i'm pleased with the number. Hopefully the number continues to go up. Let's try for five comments for next update? Please? :D Sorry, I'm a demanding author but comments really motivate me to write. ><

Anyway, please enjoy!

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The figure tackled Dara to the ground but she managed to kick the thing off of her. She rolled to the side and got back up, grabbing her gun from her pocket. Just as she pulled the trigger, the beast smack the gun out of her hand and scratched her arm. “Bom, run!” Dara cried out as she clutched onto her bleeding shoulder.

    “I’m not leaving you! What the hell is this thing?!”

    “Just GO!”

    “NO!”

    Bom aimed her gun at the beast and managed to shoot it but it seemed completely unphased. “Damn it, why the hell isn’t it dying?!”

    “RUN!!” Dara screamed as she jumped onto the beast’s back, wrapping her arm around it neck. She jerked her arm up in attempt to choke it but the neck was too thick.

    “Dara!”

    “Bom, go! Find Il Woo! I’ll be fine!”

    The beast threw Dara off its back and she stumbled onto the sand. She got back up, ignoring the blood dripping down her arm and the stinging pain that went along with it. She took out her knife from her pocket and slashed at the beast but it was too fast and Dara was no expert when it came to knife fights. The beast growled at her, raising a clawed hand. “Dara, NO!” Bom was just about to intervene but before she had a chance, the beast was knocked back, flying half way down the beach.

    Dara gasped and looked at the figure standing before her. It took a moment to process what just happened and then she realized that it was Jiyong who had saved her. “Jiyong?” He whipped his head around, his golden eyes blazing.

    “Run…”

    “But---”

    “I SAID RUN!” He growled.

    Dara obeyed and grabbed Bom’s arm, dragging her back into the woods. Bom panted and looked around anxiously. She didn’t know what the hell just happened or what it was that just saved them but whatever it was...it wasn’t human. “Dara, what is going on?”

    “I’ll explain later! Right now we need to find Il Woo and get the hell out of here!”

    Dara stopped running when she saw someone up ahead sitting beside a tree. She and Bom ran over to the tree and realized it was Il Woo. He was tied to the tree and had scratches all over his face. “Il Woo! Il Woo, are you alright?!” Bom kneeled down beside him.

    “H-huh?! Dara? Bom?!”

    “Il Woo, it’s fine. Did that monster do this to you? Do you remember what he looked like?”

    Il Woo shook his head. “No...I don’t remember...all I remember was his eyes. They were gold...and he had claws. That thing is what’s been killing all those people!”

    “I know. We just have to find a way to kill it.”

    “How the hell are we going to do that? And---”

    Il Woo stopped abruptly when he something move behind Dara. He gulped and looked at her in fear. “Dara...there’s something behind you.”

    Dara and Bom turned around to find another beast. But it wasn’t the one they faced at the beach...this one was smaller and the eyes were bright green. The beast was just about to pounce but he suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Bom looked up and saw Top standing there with a gun pointed at the beast. “Looks like I got here just in time.”

    “Top? What the hell are you doing here?” Bom demanded.

    “We knew you were in trouble. Look, we need to get the out of this forest...now. It’s not safe here. There are more of these...things out here. They’re hungry and we will be their next meal if we don’t leave now.”

    “What are these things?” Bom asked.

    Top looked at Dara, silently asking her to handle it. But she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know if she could keep any more of this from Bom. “Bom, I’ll explain later but---look out!”

    Dara spotted another beast behind Bom. Luckily, Jiyong arrived just in time and grabbed the beast before throwing it into a tree. Bom screamed and back away from Jiyong as he turned around to look at her. His eyes flickered to Dara’s as she looked at him sadly. “Dara…”

    Slowly, his human features returned but Bom was still hysterical and Il Woo had passed out from shock. He cautiously made his way toward Dara but Bom regained her composure and pointed her gun at him. “S-stay back…”

    “I’m not going to hurt you or Dara…”

    “Oh, really? You’re one of those monsters! How do I know you won’t kill us, too?”

    “Bom, it’s ok. He won’t hurt us. He saved our lives!”

    “Shut up! How do I know he didn’t just save us so he can have us himself? Why are you defending him, Dara? He’s a criminal!”

    “No he’s not! Bom, put the gun down…”

    Jiyong took another step forward and Bom placed her hand on the trigger, her hand shaking. Jiyong looked at her and put his hands up, showing he meant no harm. Sure, he could’ve just used his powers to remove the gun from her hand but he didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was. “Take another step and I’ll shoot.” Bom glared at him.

    “I’m not going to kill you.”

    “You...you killed those people, didn’t you? The ones from the previous cases? That was you, wasn’t it?”

    Jiyong sighed and nodded. “But I didn’t mean it…”

    “How do you kill someone and not mean it?!”

    “It was an accident! I was trying to protect the people they were trying to harm. I never kill innocent people!”

    “How do I know I can trust you?”

    “Please, Bom…I won’t hurt you or Dara or anyone...please...”

    Dara bit her lip nervously, looking back between her best friend and Jiyong. She was frozen on spot. Bom wouldn’t listen to her and Jiyong wasn’t backing down… Jiyong looked at Dara again, but just as he took a step Bom pulled the trigger and shot his abdomen. Time seemed to stop. Dara’s eyes widened and Jiyong gasped as he fell to his knees. He looked down and saw a patch of red starting to form under his shirt. “NO!” Dara pushed Bom on the side and rushed to Jiyong’s side.

    “Dara, get away from him!”

    “He won’t hurt me! Jiyong, stay with me ok? You’ll be fine. Just...just hold on! Top call the hospital!”

    “No! No hospitals!” Jiyong groaned.

    “I can’t just let you bleed to death! Top, do something!”

    “I-I…”

    “Dara, get the away from him! He’s a criminal! He need to be put behind bars before he hurts anyone else!”

    “He’s not a criminal, Bom! He saved my life! Now, just calm the down and help me!” Dara shouted, trying to stop the bleeding with her hand.

    “Dara...give me your knife. I need to get the bullet out…”

    “O-ok…”

    Bom saw Dara reach inside her pocket for her knife and glared. “You are NOT giving him a weapon! PARK, step away from the perp and put your hands behind your head or so help me I will report you for obstructing a case!”

    “THEN DO IT, BOM! ing do it! I’d rather that happen then let him die! He saved us! And he is not a criminal!”

    Dara took a deep breath and handed Jiyong her knife. She watched with wide eyes as he picked the bullet out from his stomach and palmed the wound. Bom shoved her gun back into her holster and turned to run. She needed to tell someone. She needed to get away from this place. Dara had betrayed her. Dara saw Bom about to take off and immediately reacted. She grabbed Bom and yanked her back. “LET GO OF ME! YOU TRAITOR!” Bom tried to fight Dara off.

    “STOP IT, BOM! I didn’t betray you! Jiyong’s on our side! Can’t you see that?!”

    “J-Jiyong? As in...Kwon Jiyong? I thought he was dead!”

    “I thought so too but he’s not! Listen, Bom! Just let me explain!”

    “NO! He needs to be put away. WE need to turn him in! We’re ing cops! That’s our ing job!”

    “I’m not asking you as a cop to listen, Bom! I’m asking as a friend! Yes, we’re cops but we’re also human beings. Don’t you think it’s time we started ing acting like it?!”

    Bom stopped struggling and snatched her hand away. They both panted as they started at each other. Dara looked at Bom desperately while Bom looked at her with much uncertainty. “I-I don’t know, Dara. Regardless of that fact that he saved us or saved other people, he still killed people. A murder is a murder…”

    “So, what? The people that we shoot and kill sometimes isn’t?”

    “Dara, that’s different.” Bom shook her head.

    “Why? Why is it different? Is it because we’re cops? Not everything has to go back to that! We’re humans...do you know why we kill those people, Bom? To protect ourselves against them! To make sure we take them out before they get us, right? We kill to protected sometimes, too, Bom! What makes it any different for him?!”

    Bom walked up to Dara, her eyes narrowed. “I’m going to walk away from this and pretend this never happened. But you better hope that this doesn’t happen again. Oh, and I’m filing for a new partner in the morning. You take care of Il Woo. I’m not cleaning up after your messes anymore.”

    Dara looked at Bom in disbelief. After two years of working together, she thought she and Bom had a pretty solid relationship but she was proven wrong. Dara closed her eyes and sank to the ground as Bom walked away. However, she didn’t get far before she suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Dara lifted her head up and ran over to Bom. “What...what happened? Top, did you just tranq my partner?!”

    “Sorry...I couldn’t stand seeing her walk away. Take care of Il Woo and we’ll take care Bom. We’ll meet you back at the warehouse.” Top sighed and put his tranquilizer gun away.

    Dara nodded. She looked over to Jiyong who seemed to have recovered and he walked over to her, glaring at her arm. She had almost forgotten that she was injured. With the adrenaline pumping, the pain was almost nonexistent. “Did that...thing...do this to you?” Jiyong’s voice trembled with anger.

    “I-it’s really nothing, Jiyong. I’ll just clean it up and bandage it later. Let’s just get these two settled first, ok?”

    Jiyong had no choice but to go along with it.

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Warehouse

    Bom gasped as she sat upright. She looked around her frantically, confused by the unfamiliar setting. She felt for her gun but it seemed all her weapons were stripped from her. “Damn it! Where the hell am I?”

    “Don’t worry. You’re safe here.”

    Bom looked to her side and saw Top sitting at his desk, facing his lap top. He looked over to her and nodded. “What am I doing here? Why did you bring me here?”

    “Relax, we just wanted to try to explain things to you.”

    “We?”

    “Yes, ‘we’.” Jiyong came in from the window and took a seat beside Bom.

    She stared at him in fear and scooted away from him. He sighed and got up to stand against the wall. Top shook his head and took his place beside Bom instead. “Listen, Bom...about what you saw tonight...you NEVER tell anyone about it, do you understand? It is very important that all of this remains a secret, especially Jiyong’s existence.”

    “Why? Why is it so vital?”

    “Because Jiyong is a wanted man.”

    “Well, of course he is! He killed people!”

    “No, he---”

    “No, Top. She’s right. I killed people and even though they deserved it, didn’t make it right. But Bom,” Jiyong stepped away from the wall. “I’m not a psychopath, ok? I’m not some derange psycho maniac that kills people for the pleasure of killing someone. When I kill someone, I’m not always in control of myself. My… ‘beast’ side takes over and the only thing I know how to do, is kill. And believe me, I still feel remorse when I do kill...even if the people I kill are bad.”

    Bom sighed. “And what about Dara, huh? What’s the deal with you and her? Do you realize that she...no, WE could lose our jobs because of you?”

    “I know that. Dara knows that, too. But believe me, Bom when I say that I would never hurt her.”

    “Then turn yourself in. If you do, then everything will be fine. Dara wouldn’t be in danger anymore.”

    “But that’s where you’re wrong.” Top spoke up. “Jiyong has been the one protecting Dara for the past three years. He’s the one who has always saved her whenever she was in trouble. And giving him up will only put both you and Dara in danger. Is that what you want?”

    “Of course not…”

    “Then you will keep all this a secret and you will remain Dara’s partner. She needs you, Bom...more than ever now. The thing is, Jiyong isn’t just wanted by the police. He’s wanted by SM...you’ve heard of them right?”

    “How could I not? They’ve been incredibly active these days.”

    “Exactly...which means they’re getting bolder. They are the ones that created those ‘beasts’ that you saw tonight. We didn’t realize there were so many...we thought Jiyong was the only one. But that’s why SM is after him...because he’s their first experiment but it went wrong and he turned against them. And because of that, now they’re out to destroy him. And I guess they’re now using any means necessary, including creating a new army of ‘beasts’.”

    “But it seems Jiyong knows what he’s doing...I mean, he didn’t react the way those things did…”

    “That’s because Jiyong is different. When SM changed them, the chemical they injected into his was supposed to wipe his memories clean to but it didn’t .That’s why he’s able to control himself and that’s why he still has a human conscience and feels remorse when he kills someone. He’s not a monster, Bom. SM...they’re the real monsters.”

    Bom shut her eyes tightly, trying to grasp everything they were saying. It was all so confusing. It was so much easier seeing the world in black and white but now there were gray areas. As a cop, all she knew was that they were the good guys and everyone against them was the bad guys but now that wasn’t the case...Jiyong was different. Yes, he was a murderer and a “beast” but he also saved people and in twisted sort of way, that was a form of justice. And justice was one thing Bom stood by no matter what. “Ok...I understand. I won’t tell anyone and I’ll remain Dara’s partner. But you sure hell better make sure that no harm comes to Dara. If you hurt her, I will skin you alive, beast boy!” Bom threatened Jiyong.

    “Point taken. Thanks, Bom...really.”

    “Yea, well you convinced me you’re a good guy, I guess. I just hope Il Woo doesn’t flip when he finds out about this. He’s a completely other story. Despite the fact he’s a total player, he really cares for Dara. Or rather, he’s in love with her but she doesn’t love him...if he finds out she’s helping you...all Hell will break loose.”

    Jiyong clenched his hands into fists. “Then we’ll just have to make sure he never finds out.”

    “It might be a little late for that…”

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Dara’s apartment

    Il Woo frowned when he felt something wet and cold against his forehead. He blinked a few times before opening his eyes. He looked around and realized he was in a room, on someone’s couch. He stood up and turned around when he heard footsteps. “Dara?”

    Dara looked over at him and smiled slightly. “Hey, Il Woo. How are you feeling? You hit your head pretty hard.”

    “Right...what happened? Those things...that beast…”

    “There is no beast. You were in a panic and you couldn’t really think straight. Your mind was just playing tricks on you.”

    “I know what I saw, Dara. There were three of them...they came after me and dragged me into the woods. The next thing I knew, you and Bom are there about to get attacked by one of them but another one saved you.”

    “Il Woo…”

    “That BEAST is out of control, Dara. We need to bring him down...all of them!”

    “No! He’s not a beast!”

    Il Woo eyed her suspiciously. “You act as if you know that beast…” His eyes widened. “Tell me you don’t.”

    “Il Woo, he’s not a beast, ok? He saved me. He saved all of us. But those others...yes, they must be stopped. But trust me when I say that he’s different from them!”

    “How’s he different, Dara? He’s a monster! He must go down with them!”

    “NO! He doesn’t kill innocent people like those other monsters do. He’s different! He saved my life and return I owe him mine.”

    “You are NOT going to ing give yourself of up to that animal!”

    “Stop calling him that! He’s no a monster and he’s not a beast! He’s human, Il Woo! He’s much the same as you and me. He won’t hurt me.”

    “How do you know? What if one day he just slips up and ‘accidently’ mistakes you for a chew toy? Then what? He’s not human, Dara. He. Is. A. Monster. And I will do whatever it takes to bring all of them down.”

    Il Woo got up to leave but Dara grabbed him. “You will do no such thing! If he dies, I die with him, you understand me? If you kill him, you’ll have to kill me to.”

    “I would NEVER do that!”

    “We’re a package deal, Il Woo. I promised to protect him from people like you! He’s been through hell trying to hide himself so that SM doesn’t track him down! He’s lost so much, do you really want to take away his life, too?”

    “I’m doing this for you! Dara, everything that I’ve done has always been to protect you.”

    “I don’t need you to protect me…”

    “What? You only what that...that monster to protect you? You think you understand him, Dara, but you don’t! You’re playing with fire here! He could easily turn on you and kill you!”

    “Then he kills me! But I won’t be the one to turn him in and betray him...He’s saved my life multiple times now...he’s proven to me that he is a good man, that no matter what those bastards at SM did to him, he’s still human underneath it all.”

    Il Woo stared at her intently and gripped onto her good arm. “I won’t let him hurt you, Dara. And mark my words, I will do whatever it takes to bring him and all the rest down. And you will not get in the way.”

    Dara glared at him as he spun around to leave.“Maybe before you hunt him down, maybe you should think about who the real monster is.”

    Il Woo yanked her door open and slammed it shut. He leaned against her door and closed his eyes, clenching his jaw. He breathed to calm himself down and opened his eyes again, a certain ferocity and anger gleaming in his dark eyes. If you won’t protect yourself, then I’ll do it for you. I’m going to kill this bastard… He looked down the dark hallway and left, consumed with the desire to kill…Jiyong being his one number target.