“But that- that can’t be true,” I say, my voice faint and high and stunned. “I spent years asking people, checking footage, studying ZE:A. They killed my parents. I know they killed my parents.”

    “Your parents both died of single shots to the backs of their heads,” Joonmyeon utters. “How would ZE:A have been able to obtain that accuracy through a drive-by shooting?”

    He’s right.

    He’s completely right.

    Joonmyeon gives me a cold smile as he gazes down at my horrified expression.

    “Now, then,” he says. “Let’s begin.”

    He pulls his phone out of his pocket and dials a number.

    “Come in,” he says.

    And suddenly, the door to Joonmyeon’s apartment bursts open and BTS bursts in, hauling Sora, Zelo, and Himchan. My eyes widen in terror; I move to them but Joonmyeon easily slides an arm around my waist and clutches me to him like it’s nothing.

    “You really should stay still,” Joonmyeon says in a tone that causes chills to run down my spine.

    “Sora! Zelo! Himchan!” I gasp. “Did they hurt you? Are you guys okay?”

    “What’s going on, Hyo?” Sora asks, her voice shaking. Taehyung is holding her arms behind her back, with a gun pointed at the side of her head. “They- they took us from the Galmegi when we were sleeping-,”

    “Joonmyeon’s the masked man,” I say in a faint breath. Zelo, Himchan, and Sora’s jaws drop in shock.

    “No way,” Sora whispers.

    “This is that bastard?” Zelo struggles against Namjoon, Jin, and Jimin, who are all restraining him. “Don’t ing touch her!”

    “Zelo, Himchan.” Joonmyeon sounds incredibly amused. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

    “Who the are you?”

    “Suho. It’s a pleasure.”

    Zelo, Sora, and I look utterly confused- what the is Suho?- but Himchan’s eyes widen in an alarming mixture of astonishment and fear.

    “You’re not the Suho,” he murmurs. “I- I’ve only heard whispers about you- but no one’s ever seen you-,”

    I look at him in confusion. “Himchan, you know him?”

    Himchan looks at me, and the sheer panic in his normally easygoing expression causes a jolt of trepidation to run through my body.

    “Kim Suho is rumored to be BTS’ sponsor,” he says softly. “He’s one of the most wealthy, influential men in the underworld. God, the sheer number of gangs he controls- and no one could figure out what company he belonged to, but-,”

    “That’s enough,” Joonmyeon coldly announces. “It’s always a pleasure to meet a fan, Kim Himchan. But that’s not why we’re all here right now.”

    “Hang on...,” Sora says slowly. “What company you belong to... your family owns the Korean Construction Company... so does that mean-,”

    It hits me. “You’re conducting criminal activity through the Korean Construction Company.”

    Judging by the tense looks the members of BTS throw at each other, I’ve hit the nail on the head.

    “Oh, you’re going down,” Sora declares angrily. “I’m telling my father to launch an investigation on your company- and you know what? I’m telling him about BTS, too.”

Joonmyeon bursts into laughter. “Please,” he scoffs. “Kim Sangyoon has been a corrupt bastard since his days as an intern. The last person he’s going to out is his business partner.”

Sora jerks her head back like she has been slapped. “What?”

There is a twisted look on Joonmyeon’s face. “Do you know why your father arranged a marriage between you and Taehyung, Sora?”

BTS looks at Joonmyeon in alarm. Taehyung warily steps forward. “Suho,” he says slowly.

“What are you talking about?” Sora demands.

“To put it in the words of my father and your father, they... linked mutual assets. Those old bastards brokered an arranged marriage between you two to cement their business deal.”

Sora laughs in disbelief. “Oh, please,” she says. “Why would my father, a politician in the Department of Justice, need to make a deal with your father and his crime-committing company?”

I uneasily lower my eyes. Joonmyeon lets out a soft chuckle.

“Hyo, why don’t you do the honor of telling her the truth?” he utters.

Sora’s gaze snaps to me.

My eyes widen. I whip my head around to look up Joonmyeon.

“Not like this,” I plead. “Please, not like this.”

“What are you talking about, Hyo?” Sora fearfully asks me.  

Joonmyeon’s face is obscured by the darkness in the room. The only thing I can see is the vindictive smirk on his face. His words echo in my ears.

You ruined my life, Kim Lia. And now, I’m going to ruin yours.

I take a shaky breath.

“Your dad works with gangs, Sora,” I say softly. “He created the Crime Relocation Program, which took out a lot of gangs and cleared the way for BTS to rise to the top of criminal world...,”

I pause. Something clicks in my mind.

Joonmyeon is BTS’ sponsor. Which means-

“The Korean Construction Company created BTS, didn’t they,” I breathe.

There’s a pleased look on Joonmyeon’s face, like I’ve just thought of a great idea at a student council meeting or figured out the answer to a tough calculus question. In another place and time, that look would have caused butterflies to flit around in my stomach.

Another knife stabs into my gut.

“You’re as smart as ever, Hyo,” Joonmyeon says. “See, despite the fact that my father thought I was the equivalent of dog , he still wanted me to take over the company. So when I was 14 years old, he took me to this enormous meeting he was holding with the head of the Crime Policy Prevention Bureau. He had a fabulous idea- why not expand the Korean Construction Company into the gang world? The profits you can earn from drug trafficking, ion rings, and money laundering are endless.”

“But my father thought that the best way to clear out the competition was to hire hitmen to take out every gangster in Seoul. My plan, on the other hand, was a lot more practical. What if we created a government-funded program that sponsored gangsters to leave their lives of crime and pursue an education, or move abroad, or find jobs? It would legally eliminate gangs, while making Kim Sangyoon look good, incentivizing him to join us.”

Waves of shock ripple over me. “No way. Does that mean-,”

“Yes.” Joonmyeon sneers, looking immensely satisfied at the stunned look on my face. “I thought of the Crime Relocation Program. It wasn’t implemented until two years later, after the legislature for it passed and we had properly trained BTS- the gang that we would create to conduct illegal activities and then siphon money through. I scouted you as one of our first participants, Hyo. I thought you’d be quite keen to escape the gang world, now that you’d slaughtered the people who you thought killed your parents.”

My fists clench by my side. Himchan narrows his eyes. “Thought?”

But Sora suddenly whispers, “Wait.”

She has stayed silent all this time. Every eye in the room moves to look at her.

Sora’s head is lowered. Her shoulders are shaking.

“So my dad basically used me as collateral?” she whispers. “I was just a way to ensure that he had a stake in the success of BTS?”

To my surprise, Joonmyeon grimaces.

“Basically,” he says, his voice is oddly contrite. “They talked about you like you were an object. It was disgusting.”

“Wait- you were there when they made the deal?”

Joonmyeon gives Sora a tight nod.

Sora drops to her knees. She lifts her face. My stomach plummets when I see tears streaming down her cheeks.

“That’s not all, Sora.” Joonmyeon turns to me once more. “Tell her the rest, Hyo.”

My throat feels like it is closing up- I can’t breathe.

“Joonmyeon,” I rasp, but he simply shakes his head.

“What is it, Hyo?” Sora whispers. “Tell me.”

A sob escapes my lips. I bury my face in my hands.

“Your brother was a gangster, too,” I say faintly. “He ran ion rings... and hurt hundreds of girls... and I- and I was hired to take him out.”

It is utterly silent.

And then Sora says, “No.”

I look up at her in remorse.

What I see terrifies me.

Sora’s eyes are wild with anguish and fury and desperation. I have seen an expression like that only once in my life:

In the mirror. After I murdered ZE:A.

“No!” Sora shrieks. She violently struggles against Taehyung’s grasp- he is gazing down at her in distress as she flails around, fighting to escape his grip. “Hyo, how could you?!”

“I’m s-sorry, Sora,” I hiccup. I can’t control my tears anymore; the grief weighing down my chest is almost unbearable. “I’m so sorry-,”

“He was my brother, Hyo! He was the only one there for me!”

She is bawling uncontrollably. I cannot bear to look and her and face what I have done.

“Your brother was Kim Byunghyun?” Zelo says incredulously. He whips his head around to gape at me. “Hyo, isn’t he the one who left those girls’ bodies-,”

“Don’t,” I quickly interrupt. Sora will not be able to handle the gruesome details of every sinful act her brother has committed. She is already traumatized. I can’t hurt her anymore.

The members of BTS are staring at her with worried expressions. They draw closer to her. Taehyung crouches down beside her, moves to wrap his arms around her-

“Don’t ing touch me!” Sora screeches, slapping him across the face. My jaw drops as Taehyung’s head jerks to the side from the impact of her blow. He stares straight ahead, utterly stunned.

“Sora-,” Jimin murmurs, but she angrily cuts him off.

“Do you think that I’m on your side?” she shouts. “You- I’ve been kept in the dark for five ing years about my own family, my own fiance, my own friends. I hate all of you!”

Oh, .

“Sora, calm down-,” Namjoon tries to say, alarmed, but Sora screams, “You have no right to tell me to calm down!”

And then in a blur of motion, Sora grabs Taehyung and rips the gun out of the holster hanging at his hips and Joonmyeon tenses and for some reason he loops his arm around my waist and shoves me behind him and my eyes widen and I am about to ask him why when Sora stands up, gun pointed straight at Joonmyeon, and everyone freezes.

“I hate you, Hyo,” Sora hisses. The gun is shaking in her trembling hands.

“Sora, no,” Taehyung says. He is staring at her in alarm.

“Joonmyeon, move,” I utter, my voice rising. “She wants me. Get out of the way-,”

“Shut up,” Joonmyeon mutters between gritted teeth. He continues to block me from the gun’s line of fire. “Sora, put the gun down.”

“Why are you protecting me?!” I shriek. “You’ve literally been after me all this time! Move!”

I slam my entire body weight against Joonmyeon but he does not budge. Tears are welling up in my eyes.

“I’m not protecting you!” Joonmyeon snaps. “You’re just not going to die this easily. I’m still not done with you.”

“What the ?! Stop it, Joonmyeon! Get out of the-,”

“Shut up, both of you!” Sora screams, and fires a shot into the wall only a few feet away from us. Everyone jolts in surprise; my arms tighten around Joonmyeon’s and I involuntarily yank him back towards me; BTS has let go of Zelo and Himchan, all nine of them currently gaping at Sora in horror.

“I hate this!” Sora cries. “You were my best friend, Hyo! I’ve never had a friend like you, and- and you were the first person I clicked with, and even though it was scary and I was totally useless I liked working with you at the Galmegi! I liked making fun of Zelo and flirting with Himchan and talking until 4 in the morning about how we were going to take down these evil gangs. And then I find out the people I’ve known since childhood- my ing fiance- belong to a gang, and now you’re trying to tell me that my father- the man who’s slaved at his job for years so that South Korea would be a safer place- and my brother- my ing brother-,”

    Sora’s voice cracks. For a moment I think that she is going to dissolve into tears, but she somehow- somehow- remains standing.

    “The brother that I loved, who would tuck me in every night and sign my permission slips and taught me how to ride a bike- he was a criminal, too? He can’t have owned ion rings- he- he had me! A little sister! If he was a gangster, how would he have been able to look me in the face with that smile and told me he loved me every day?”

My heart shatters into a million pieces.

The members of BTS look absolutely stricken. Zelo looks like he is on the verge of tears, while Himchan’s eyes have turned glassy.

I am facing Joonmyeon’s back. But judging by how taut his muscles are, I know that he is utterly tense as well.

“I’m sorry, Sora,” I quietly tell her. “I’m a terrible person. If you want to shoot me... I deserve it.”

“Stay back, Hyo,” Joonmyeon growls. I see Jimin nod vigorously from across the room and my eyebrows slightly shoot up in surprise.

Nevertheless, I continue talking.

“But no matter what, Sora,” I say, taking a deep, shaky breath as I gaze upon her utterly defeated face. “I love you. I will always be here for you. And if you don’t want to talk to me, then BTS is here. They care about you. A lot. I can tell- I could tell even when you were telling me about how they gave you so much when you started partying. And if you don’t want to talk to me, and if you don’t want to talk to BTS, then Zelo and Himchan are here for you.”

Sora’s wretched, tearful gaze meets my pleading eyes.

For a second, I think that she is about to put down the gun.

Then she suddenly jerks her arm up and fires two bullets at the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and it shatters to the floor and the room explodes into a maelstrom of glass and broken shards and Joonmyeon yanks me down to the ground and shields me under his body- a cry echoes through the air and the sound of a door slamming against the wall- and then Himchan hollers, “Lia, get out!”

Adrenaline rushes through my veins; I shove Joonmyeon off of me and- , there’s no exit-

The window.

I grit my teeth.

And then I grab a mug from the counter and fling it through the window. The glass shatters and I climb through, ignoring the shards piercing into my skin and the chilly December air that nips at me.

“Hyo!” Joonmyeon roars.

Okay. Two options. I somehow attempt to fling myself onto the roof of the building next to Joonmyeon’s high-rise complex. It’s at least three stories down, it’s pitch black, and there’s a nasty wind that’s whipping my hair around, making my body waver back and forth.

Other option: get back inside and deal with the aftermath of what just happened.

Looks like it’s time to channel my inner Spiderman.

I take a deep breath and jump.