The boys skidded to a stop when they met a dead-end. They hadn’t messed with the older men since the night they were arrested with Naeul so what had they done this time? L.Joe hoped that they weren’t going after his other half because he would kill himself before he would let them touch her.

Panting, he looked over his shoulder and saw the men in black glaring them down. Sweat dripped from small bunches of his hair and his grey cotton shirt clung to his shirt.

“L.Joe, don’t you want to see your girl? She’s waiting for you back at our place.”

L.Joe stiffened. They had already gotten to her and for all he knew, they had probably already killed her and gotten rid of all of the evidence.

“Our big brother asked us to bring you and your friends to her.”

“What did you do to her?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Big Bro already had his way with her.”

“Tell him to let her go.”

“She could already be dead because you kept running away.”

When the boys were too distracted by the possibility, the older men grabbed the opportunity to drag them away. All the while, L.Joe prayed that Naeul was fine. He needed her to be safe and unharmed or else he would go insane and die. But these were thugs they were dealing with. They weren’t going to let her go easily even if she is a girl.

It was his worst nightmare. He was pushed and he fell to his knees as soon as they were brought into the special place. L.Joe looked up and saw Naeul lying in a small pool of blood and water. Her arms were cut and blood slowly flowed out. Her legs were tied by her ankles and it was evident that they tried to touch her in ways she didn’t want. Her lips were pale and blood crusted the corners of them. She was barely breathing as L.Joe stared at her with tears blurring his vision.

As his friends cried out in pain, L.Joe felt nothing as the men tightly bound their wrists together with zip ties. They left the room as soon as the boys were restrained and let them wait for the big boss to arrive.

The boys crawled to Naeul and L.Joe used his shoulders to try to shake her awake but there was no use. She had no strength to respond. She had been through Hell and was dragged back to the real world. They held her down with their arms and knees and when she kicked them away, they used whatever they could find to tie her legs together. They used their knives to cut her arms to make her feel the pain the boys had caused them. When she began to lose consciousness, they splashed water on her to keep her awake. So there was no way she could find the will to show L.Joe she would be fine.

<< >>

L.Joe managed to bring his arms back to the front and he did everything he could to stop the bleeding. His friends tore off parts of their shirts to clean up the mess. Tears rolled down one after another as he tried to help Naeul sit up. Somehow he got her to sit against the wall but it didn’t help much. He needed to get her out of there but he couldn’t.

“Naeul, babe, please show me that you’re okay.”

Naeul groaned softly but it took too much energy out of her. L.Joe had hope that he could get her out and make sure she would live. But there was still getting her away from the thugs. And as if they knew he was planning Naeul’s escape, they burst in with their boss.

“So these are the boys that caused so much trouble.”

“You have to let her go. She’s done nothing wrong.”

“I heard she was involved in the last incident.”

“She didn’t know what she was doing.”

“I think she knew exactly what she was doing.”

“She’s bleeding out for God’s sake. Please let her go.”

“What’ll you do for me if I let her go?”

“I’ll do anything for her.”

He watched the powerful man whisper to his henchmen to drag her out to another room before they grabbed her by the arms and pulled her away. L.Joe wanted to lash out and tell them to take her to the hospital but he knew he would only make matters worse.

The older man crouched down in front of L.Joe and grabbed his face harshly. He told him to behave and do exactly as told or else his little girlfriend would die. L.Joe agreed to the vague terms and he soon found himself holding a gun with his friends kneeling before him.

“Shoot them and then yourself. You’ve been the one causing the most damage so you must be a strong and tough man. If you’re so tough and strong, kill them. Kill yourself.”

L.Joe stared at his friends who just hung their heads low, unable to look at L.Joe or the gun. He didn’t want to do it. They were his family. They were his brothers. How could he kill them? But if he didn’t, Naeul would die. Killing himself was fine. For Naeul, anything. But his friends, no. He was torn.

“Do it or else she dies.”

The men who took Naeul away brought her back in all bandaged up. They threw her to the ground and she landed next to L.Joe’s feet. He stared at her for a few seconds before the man barked at him to pull the trigger.

His attention went back to his friends and he gulped. He couldn’t bring himself to pull the damned trigger.

“Don’t.”

L.Joe froze and he stared down at Naeul. Her voice shook and it was weak but he could hear what she was saying.

“Please let them go. It was my fault your men were in jail last time. I’m sorry. I didn’t know who they were. I’m blind and I couldn’t see who was with us. My friends were urging me to leave but I chose to fight them.”

Naeul slowly sat herself up and begged on her knees. But the men wouldn’t hear it. They were growing impatient and they drew their guns. L.Joe’s head was pounding due to confusion. He had a loaded gun. He had enough ammunition to kill his friends and himself. They were all going to die if L.Joe didn’t follow orders. He then did the unthinkable.

Six rounds were shot. Six bodies fell to the ground. Blood fused together into one big pool. Footsteps retreated and seven people ran down the dark streets of Seoul. L.Joe held Naeul close to his body as he ran next to his friends. He had shot six thugs and was getting away with it. They separated in case other men came after them. L.Joe raced toward the hospital.