***A day earlier….

JIYONG'S POV

         While on our way back to our hideout, I'm still loss with my own thoughts about my father's announcement in the gathering a while ago. It is only natural that he'll be taking great measures to find the person responsible for the killings inside the organization but I can't help to have an inkling that there's something I've been missing.

          The reasons for the killing is still unknown but based on the members killed, it almost point out that it is all about power. If the culprit wants to be the next Mafia leader, wouldn't it be better if he's going to target the current Mafia leader himself? It is also too risky to kill someone inside the organization if he's aiming for that goal.

          So if it is not about power, what is it all about? Moreover, Jung Ilwoo is targeting me according to what Youngbae heard. It's possible that he's the one behind all of these and he wants to get rid of me knowing that I'm the leading candidate for the next Mafia Leader. It is also possible that he knows about Sandara. But still... if he wants to get rid of me, wouldn't it be best to turn me over to the Mafia leader for lying about the whereabouts of the successor and keeping her for a long time now?

         I suddenly remembered what Lee Donghae said...

                          “Or... instead of us killing each other... the culprit might actually wanted for us to meet and team up for the common goal of protecting the successor..” 

         

         Is it possible? Is he really trying to help us instead of make us go around in circles? But why won’t he show himself? Is he somewhat trying to hide his identity because he might blow up his disguise?

         Wait… disguise?

          Could it be….?

          Once we got on our flat, Youngbae noticed that I’m bathed with deep thoughts.

            “Is everything alright?” he asked as he took off his tuxedo and loosened up his necktie and button.

          “Open all the information that we have about Jung Ilwoo.” I immediately ordered Youngbae. The guy just nod and instantly sat in front of his computer and worked on it.

          “Seungri, get the cylinder. And Daesung, lay out all the pictures you took while following Jung Ilwoo… and Top-hyung, I need all the information we have about the killings.” I barked orders and all of them swiftly moved without any hesitation. No ‘buts’ and no ‘whys’. I know they trust me this much.

            As for me, I walked up to my desk and opened my drawers. I got all the files I sorted out when I’m investigating about the killers. I kept it hidden when I thought it was just misleading me but now, I know I can get something out of it. We should’ve done this sooner. We’re always ended up out of lead and neglected the small things. I hope it’s still not too late for us.

            “Ji…I guess this is all.” Top called out. I approached him with the files in my hand. I looked at the pictures scattered on the table. There are pictures of the members all shot in the head. “As you can see, the type of the bullets used are the same.” Top explained while pointing at the pictures of the bullets used. “Everyone knows that the depth of the bullet in their heads are the same, which means they were shot up close… they opened the door and then ‘BANG’.. they’re dead. No force entrance was made that gives out to a conclusion that the culprit is someone that they know, someone from the organization.” He continued. “These are all the clues that we have. No fingerprints. No CCTV footages. Not even a slightest idea of what kind of gun was used.”

            Right. The gun…

             I took the picture of the bullet. It was a rare kind of bullet with an obvious handcrafted designs on it. Where does it came from? Who’s the maker? If we just know…

            “But I saw something really interesting just now… “ Top hyung said while holding one photo. I attentively listened to him. “This photo.” He showed a photo with the same bullet on the other photos. I can’t see any difference from the other photos.

             “It’s the same thing, hyung.”

            “No. If you just look closely. The design looks like a puzzle piece.” That perked up my curiosity. He gathered all the pictures of the bullets and set aside the unnecessary ones. He properly set the pictures of the bullets on the table. I looked at it and it’s still confusing for me.

            “We have 5 pictures on the table with an image of the bullet in different angles. Look at this carefully.” Once he said that, he inverted the second picture and moved it really close to the first one. A creased on my forehead formed when I saw what Top hyung is talking about. He’s right!

            “As you can see, the edges fits perfectly, I think we can get some clues here.” He adjusted his collar and sigh. “I haven’t paid attention to the designs of the bullets until just now so just give me a minute to figure this out.” He said as he concentrated on solving the puzzle.

            “Make it 50 seconds.” I ordered as I stood and approached Daesung who is busy arranging the pictures they took when they followed Jung Ilwoo. “Is this all we have?” I looked at the pictures and it seems like it’s just normal.

            “This is all we’ve got. He’s a slick one and very aware of his surroundings. He’s a tough subject.” Daesung speaks as if disappointed about himself. But… I noticed something.

            “When was this?” I pointed out at a picture where Jung Ilwoo’s car was parked.

           “That one? I almost got caught that time and decided to stop following him. That’s the only picture I took that day. It was at Hongdae.”

            “He’s there…” I muttered.

            My mind is working. Jung Ilwoo was there. When I saw the picture, the shop that barely got caught in the photo grabbed my attention. It was the shop where I and Sandara took a little photoshoot for a couple who’s celebrating their anniversary. The photo was taken the same day since I can see the decorations outside the shop. I remembered that time when I was with Sandara, I felt like someone is following us. Could it be him?

           “What time did you took it?” I asked shifting my gaze at Daesung.

          “It was early in the morning. As you can see, there aren’t a lot of people. That’s one of the reasons why he almost caught me. It was hard for me to conceal myself in an open and quite area and on top of that, Jung Ilwoo’s senses are strong more than any of us.” He then straightened up and crossed his arms on his chest. “This has been bothering me and I was about to tell you this a while ago…That guy, Ilwoo..During the time that Seungri and I are following him alternately, I’m quite sure that he caught us…. at least once..” Daesung explained as if digging up his memories. “Now that I think about it, never did I hear a thing from him….I was actually waiting for him to confront us but he kept mum about it.”

            I was contemplating on the information that Daesung have told me when Top hyung called out.

            “I’m done.” The big guy said. Daesung and I approached him and looked at the pictures that he patched up. “It says Chronos. I bet this is the penname of the maker of these bullets. I’m going to search it up.” Top hyung didn’t waste any time and opened up a laptop that is sitting on the table.

           Chronos. It sounds familiar but I just can’t remember where I heard it. This can be our only clue to point out who the real killer is.

           Youngbae called out and I approached him. “What do we got here?” I asked instantly seeing the light slowly creeping on this mystery.

           “Two years ago, Jung Ilwoo joined the organization. There were no information about his childhood and family background. It says here that he suffered from amnesia and was recruited in an illegal underground mixed martial arts competition. That means, ‘Jung Ilwoo’ is also not his real name. He remained undefeated in the competition. A Mafia member, Kang Seungyoon, who was a consistent viewer of the competition and constantly betting for Jung Ilwoo was once attacked by the people who are also watching the competition when they realized that he’s making a lot of money out of it. They tried to kill him on an alleyway and rob out all the money that he got when Jung Ilwoo came and rescued him. That’s when Kang recruited him for the organization. He was indeed a top performer, finishing missions in an earlier time. He was promoted as head of the Mafia leader’s unit at the end of last year. And yes..he was handpicked by your father.”

           “I already know all of these. Did you notice any lapses on his information? Who attacked the Mafia member that time? Any information about them?”

           “None.” Youngbae said feeling apologetic. “But I will try to search for Kang’s database. Maybe we can get something on him.”

           I straightened up and brushed my palms on my face. Jung Ilwoo is very mysterious. Who is he? Who is the real him?

           I remembered what Youngbae said about the time when he heard Ilwoo and my father talking about me.

          “Youngbae, when you overheard my father and Ilwoo talking, who brought out my name first?”

           “As I recall… “ Youngbae replied as if trying to remember.

 *****

               “Yes, boss. G-dragon was the last person that talked to Kim Taesoo over a week ago.”

                   “Is he going to be the main suspect for this incident?”

                  “He can be but he was away when the killing happened so he has a good alibi... unless we found strong evidence in his place then he might be.....” Ilwoo didn’t finish his sentence and just looked at the Mafia leader.

                    “I don’t want to think about it but for the organization, I’m willing to do drastic measures even if involves my son.”

                      

*****

            “…that’s what I can remember clearly.” He continued.

            “He answered a question from my father when he talked about me being the last person to have a conversation with Kim Taesoo, right?”

            “Well… if you look at it..he answered ‘Yes,boss’ which implies that a question was thrown at him.” Youngbae speaks while still busy digging out informations about Kang Seungyoon.

            “Does it mean that my father was the one who brought out my name?” I asked feeling hesitant at first. But Youngbae seems like he was thinking the same thing because his fingers stopped working on his keyboard.

           “I guess… yeah…but…”

           I was about to say something when Top abruptly stand on his seat as if he was shaken about something.

           “Jiyong-hyung… you need to see this.” Daesung said with wide eyes. Not leaving his gaze on the monitor of the laptop.

           Top hyung looked at me bewildered. “Ji…”

           I hurriedly walked to them and held the laptop. And I was immediately shocked by what I saw. It was an old picture of a man smiling happily while standing in front of small outbuilding with ‘Chronos’ imprinted on its door. He was holding a gun…. and right beside him are two gentlemen… I don’t know about the other one… but the other one… of course I know him. He was the one who I believed saved me from the darkest part of my life. He was the one who taught me that being weak is never an option. He was the one who told me that life is unfair and unpredictable. He was the one who made me what I am today. He was our Mafia Leader. He’s my adopted father. Yang Hyun Seok.

           No words came out from my mouth. I’m in shock. I can’t keep my eyes off of that picture. I never thought of him being the culprit behind all of these. But why?

           “The older man on the picture was Chronos, real name, Yang Jung Shin. He was the father of our Mafia leader, Yang Hyun Seok, the guy on the left. The man on the right was Jung Jae Jin, your father’s best friend. Both of the younger guys were part of the Mafia while Chronos was just making customized bullets for the two. Chronos died. It was believed that Jung Jae Jin was ordered to kill him but Jung denied everything saying he was not part of the Mafia anymore when Chronos was killed. Yang Hyun Seok was devastated but still believed his best friend.” Top explained noticing that I didn’t gave attention to the sentences written along with the picture. “The bullets found on the bodies was made by Chronos, Jiyong. No one used that kind of bullets since those were customized.”

          I’m still speechless. I don’t want to believe it but….

         “HYUNNNG! The cylinder is missing!!!” A panicked-stricken face Seungri suddenly appeared. “It looks like someone got here before us!”

         The cylinder….

         At the same time, the screen of the laptop I’m holding showed a static image.

         “What’s happening?!” Youngbae shout out when his computers showed the same images, too.

         And then, a countdown suddenly appeared with a voice over.

         ‘This device will shut down after 20 seconds. Erasing all files and data. Get out of there now!’

          It was a voice of a guy and it is very familiar. I stood up and reached for my phone on my pocket. I immediately dialed for Lee Donghae’s number.

          “GEAR UP! WE’RE GETTING OUT OF HERE!” I barked while getting my gun hidden under my suit.

          I heard the other line ringing. Damn Lee.. why isn’t he answering???

          Youngbae shot all the CCTVs as if securing that no one was watching us. But when Seungri was about to open the door…

           “SMOKE GRENADE! GET DOWN!!!!!” He shouted but it was too late when 3 consecutive canisters was thrown at us and immediately smoke came out from it. Security doors suddenly dropped down keeping out the smoke from leaking in every part of the room.

          I dropped the phone I’m holding and didn’t get to see if Lee answered it. I get down and was combat ready aiming my gun on the direction of the front door. I can’t see anything. The smoke is blinding my vision and on top of that, I’m trying to hold my breath.

         But I gasp when I heard a shot coming from a dart gun.

         My vision starts to get blurry but I saw bodies sprawled on the floor. My unit….

        The door opened but I can feel the strength on my body ebbing away. I tried to stand but my knees won’t help and I ended up lying face flat on the floor. There’s a paper in front of my face. It was one of the documents I kept when I investigated about the killer. And shockingly… it was a member’s file about the Mafia leader….my father…..

          When I feel that my eyelids are getting heavy, a man wearing leather shoes stopped in front of me. He sat on his heels and picked up the paper. I tried to look up at him but I can’t clearly see his face.

           “G-Dragon…”

           That voice.

           “…..my son. No. I don’t have a son.” I even heard him laugh evilly.

            Father…Yang Hyun Seok.

           And then everything went black.

 

 

#       #         #

           A cold water was suddenly thrown at me. I was shocked when the coldness seeped through my body and then I regained consciousness. It seems like I’ve been out  for more than 7 hours.

           “HEY! TRAITOR! WAKE UP!” A man who thrown me the water shouted.

            “Traitor?”

           My body hurts and I coughed a little. I looked around and realized that I was behind bars. This place is where they tortured the members who betrayed the organization.  

           “You son of a b!tch! You’re acting mighty and all yet you’re the one who betrayed the organization! You’re a disgrace! And to think that you’re the son of the Mafia Leader…”

           There are two men standing outside shouting distasteful words at me. They’re the guards for the traitors imprisoned in this place.

           “I’m not a traitor.” I said still feeling weak. I managed to stand and approached the bars. “You’re wrong. The Mafia leader is the one who…”

           One of the guy seemed to lose his patience and get his gun. He then grabbed my head and pushed me on the bars while pointing the gun directly at my temple. He is in rage.

          “Don’t.You.Dare.Say.A.Word!” He stressed out each word while he pressed the gun on my temple even harder.

          “We can just kill him and tell everyone that it was an accident.” The other one suggested with a smug face.

           “Sounds like a plan. Do you want me to bury a bullet on your head just like what you did on our fellow Mafia members? HUH???”

           “I didn’t kill anyone.” I answered.

           “You fxcking liar!!!!”

           He was about to blow my head when a voice stopped him.

          “STOP!”

           The guy let go of me and instantly bowed at the man who came. I looked at him and it was….

           Jung Ilwoo. What is he doing here?

           “No one will kill the captives until the Mafia leader said so. I guess… you know about that.” Ilwoo explained while approaching us. He stopped in front of the two. “Are we clear?”

           “Yes.” The two guys bow even deeper.

            “OK. Raise your heads now.” The two followed his command and raised their heads. “I know what the two of you are feeling right now. Anger. Betrayal. Blood lust.” He then faced me. “I feel the same way,too.” Our eyes met and I can’t help but give him a cold gaze.

           He approached my cell and pull out a silencer under his suit jacket. “The leader said that no one will kill him until he said so. But he never said that any consequences will be done for the rule breakers, right?”

          I can see the excitement from the faces of the two guys behind Ilwoo. They’re full of glee when they heard what the guy said.

           Ilwoo aimed the gun at me. “Sorry… you have to end up this way.”

           “KILL HIM!”

           “Yeah! Kill that traitor!”

           He pushed down the gun’s hammer ready to pull the trigger. I can’t see any hesitation in his eyes, he’ll definitely kill me.

           Fxck you.” I told him without tearing my gaze at him.

           “Thank you.”

           I was ready to take the bullets when Ilwoo suddenly turned around and shot the two men dead who are standing behind him. The bodies dropped on the floor with a thud. The next one he shot are the CCTVs and then the digital lock of the cell I’m in. The bars opened and Ilwoo throws me a gun which I caught instantly.

          “I can’t answer your questions now. Wear this!” He throws me an earpiece. “Come on! Move!” He ordered.

          I didn’t move still confused on what’s happening. Is he helping me?

          “Come on! We don’t have much time. I’ll explain the plan on our way.” He said while reloading his guns.

           I wear the earpiece and heard someone from the other line talking.

           ‘Ji.. are you there?’

          Youngbae…

          “Copy.” I answered.

          ‘We’re fine, Ji. You need to follow Ilwoo.’

          ‘This is Lee. Do you copy?’ I heard another voice and it was from Lee Donghae. ‘You need to move out from there now. I’m on my way to get Sandara.’

          “Sandara?”

           I can feel my stomach churn unfamiliarly. My heart beats wildly on my chest. Sandara’s face flashed on my mind.

           Sandara…. I need to keep her safe. I need to preserve that smile on her face. I need…. I still need her.

          And as if I regained all the strength I’ve lost, I stand up firmly on both feet and held the gun.

           I will protect her…even if it costs my life…

           “Copy that.” I answered back as I looked at Ilwoo who’s smirking like an arrogant that he is.

          “So ‘Sandara’ is the magic word.”

           “Don’t you dare pronounce her name with your filthy mouth.” I answered back as I pulled the gun’s slide to load the gun’s cartridges. “So what’s the plan?”

           Ilwoo smirked. “Follow me.”

           He leads the way as I follow him. “Just who are you?” I managed to ask.

           “Let’s just say that I’m here to help.” He answered without looking back at me.

           “I still don’t trust you.”  

           I heard him laugh as if mocking me and then he muttered something which I barely heard since gunshots suddenly emerged.   

           .

           .

           .

           .

            ‘You’re just like your father.’

     

 

 

#          #          #

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

OH MY GHAAAAAAAAAAADDDDD!

It’s been soooo loooooong!!!

T_____T

Sorry for keeping you guys waiting but

I hope you would like this update….

I know many of you are on the verge of forgetting

what the story is about so I’m suggesting you read the chapters again!

Kekekekekekeke…

I have to re-read everything again because I don’t want to miss out

a thing since I’ve been away for two months?I guess? And as all of you know,

I have to re-write again the next chapter because my laptop got broken so yeah…

Sorry ‘bout that…

I’ll try to update sooneeeesssssssssssst!

KYAAKKKKK! I MISS YOU GUYS!
THANK YOU FOR THE ENCOURAGING WORDS!

AND ALSO.. WELCOME TO MY NEW READERS! HOPE YOU ENJOY MY STORY.

DON’T FORGET TO UPVOTE! *thumbs up*

 

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