They both stopped to look at each other.

Four hours after the initial trial, only two were left from each side; Luhan and this man.

It was shocking how efficient he worked in finding her, though Sena never intentionally hid herself in a secluded room. Lee Taemin was an awfully fair young man, such that he could have taken that title away from Luhan. His eyes were slightly slanted, tall nose bridge and a pair of pinkish lips. She folded her hands and refused to acknowledge the uncanny resemblance between Jongin and him.

“What are you doing here? What about Luhan?”

“We’ll have to wait for him, but then I’ve got you here, Lady Sena, so consider the mission done,” Taemin gave her a smirk. He noticed how she subtly avoided his gaze and looked on the walls behind him instead. So the rumor around her was true. She was in love with Kim Jongin and he betrayed her during a mission in Southeast Asia. No one dared to mention it anymore, but Taemin was too peculiar to be likened to everyone else.

“Are you keeping me hostage?”

“More or less,” He replied curtly. Luhan’s infatuation towards Sena was a well-kept secret among the clan members, especially the higher-ups. It had long surpassed the borderline of gender and respect, but so long as Sena was still set on getting married to Kim Joonmyun of the Genbu clan, it would not matter.

“You should’ve known better, Taemin,” Sena smiled absentmindedly at him. Taemin glanced at her side profile and hummed appreciatively. Her brown hair was falling to both sides of her face, framing a pair of pretty eyes and small lips. Having gotten used to stares all her life, Sena did not pay much attention to the admiration in Taemin’s gaze. “I am your Master – the one you are supposed to protect. If the Council hears of this trial, they would banish you to the clan’s prison.”

“But you won’t tell them, will you?” Taemin was very confident with his assumption. “You need my skill as much as I need you for this position.”

“I am not a nice person, Taemin,” Sena reminded with a rare gentleness she would not usually display in front of strangers. Her eyes were teasing, searching and brightly illuminated by the light above. Taemin had met a fair share of beautiful women in his life, but none was quite as memorable as Sena was. She might not be a great beauty like leaders from generations before her were, but her charisma was an irresistible charm to any man with a soft spot for strong women.

“Nor am I, but we are both superficial persons who take advantage of others while we could. You gain a strong new Elite, I get the position, no one’s losing anything,” Taemin persuaded. Sena had always thought that she was a good negotiator most of the time, but she could not talk back to this tempting offer. “It’s like killing two birds with a stone, though if I may speak out of respect, my Lady, perhaps it’s best to keep Luhan’s emotional stability at bay. He is a terrific fighter, second only to Sehun in the clan, and we won’t want him taken advantage of, now do we?”

“You know Sehun will come if I scream, right?”

Sena refused to comment at Luhan’s remark because she knew that as well. On one hand, Luhan was a close brother figure to her. They grew up together, and she would know him better than anyone else. They were faithful to each other, and he was also the first man Sena could trust. On the other hand, he was dangerous. Luhan’s obsession bordered insanity. He would stop at nothing to protect her, even if that meant bringing down the whole clan together with their downfalls.

“Would you, though?” Taemin challenged. He was not sure if he could win two of them, but it was worth a try. Sena smiled and shook her head in surrender. He had won this fight. She needed not a mindless killing machine but a good and strong strategist like Taemin. “There he comes. Luhan-ge, stop this trial. We have a winner. Let them into the Elites. We do not need a formal ascension but a welcoming dinner straight away.”

“Mei!” Luhan wanted to protest. He had a small bruise near his left eyebrow and his clothes were crinkled. There was blood on his white shirt which was clearly not his own. His hands were clenched in tight fists. There was a ferocious, almost brutal slits in his eyes. Even Taemin felt fear down his spine when he looked at those cold-blooded eyes, and he almost shouted at his lady to get back, but Sena was probably the only person in this world to dare go against Luhan at this point.

“Gege, it’s over. We need him,” She calmly explained and tugged her arms around his. Taemin mentally cursed as he looked down on the floor and played deaf. Sena had her harem of men, and she played them to her will. He was sure that he would end up the same, but the thought had him excited instead. “Go and tell Mr. Jung to show them to their rooms and to take a bath, then after that, we could have a proper dinner together. Please don’t tell me you’ve beaten them too badly.”

He softened under her gaze and threw one warning glance at Taemin’s figure. Together, the three of them walked down the stairs from the rooftop. They spoke in hushed whispers like a secret love affair on play, “Well, maybe not that badly, but some of them would have to skip dinner two days in a row.”        

“And you said it isn’t bad,” She gave him a pointed look to which he turned away from with guilt.

“At least they aren’t dying, are they?”

***

Kim Jongin sat in that dark room filled with blood stench and stuffy air. A dead body was on the ground and in his hand was a small gun he used to shoot him. It was not hard to identify the man he just killed – an important insider from Seiryuu clan that supplied information for Byakko for years. He deserved to die.

The gun felt heavy and strangely cold in his hand. He dropped it on the floor and started disposal by throwing the body into the fireplace after chopping him to pieces. He could not bother anymore about the blood on the floor as he sat down with both hands propping his face. There was trace of a frown on his now-matured face.

The wound in his heart grew impossibly. The hole only became bigger each time he killed a new victim. Her face haunted him ever since. Jongin never considered himself weak in any aspect, but he found it quite the impossible task to forget her expression on the last day he saw her. She was crestfallen and broken, and he was even more so. Blood was in his hands, and though none of them were clean anymore, Jongin could not come out honestly considering everything he had done.

There was a knock on the door and he was instantly alarmed. Without wasting another second in doubt, he kicked the sofa to cover the blood and swiftly pulled the bed sheet to layer it. His room was already messy, so it would not be suspicious to others. It took him five seconds to do everything in a flash and he quickly answered the door call. A no-name Shadow fighter stood with a cloak over his flat face.

“Is he calling for me?”

Jongin did not have to guess. The Shadow fighter nodded and pointed at the room by the end of the corridor. He had a hunch of what Sang Hyun wanted to say but Jongin dared not hope. Hope, he realised, was the end of all dreams. He too, once was a hopeful man who dreamt of being with his beloved for ever and after. But that hope killed his dream and left him in despair.

Yoon Sang Hyun was a shadow of his former self. He had grown so thin and frail it was hard to recognize him anymore. His eyes looked empty and dead – as he should be now. The only thing keeping him alive and ensuring his survival was Yoon Sohee’s blood and it was not enough. She might be a direct descendant, but she was not the youngest daughter, hence the reason why Seiryuu did not bless her with the throne and the sacred bloodline.

All twenty Shadow fighters surrounded him with guns ready. Sometimes Jongin wondered why Byun Baekhyun even bothered keeping this man alive when he was better off dead. But everyone had a reason in justifying their doings and the leader of Byakko had his. That man had been busy lately, toying with his new possessions of living vessels that he started neglecting other things in order to perfect the creations of his new experiment.

“Jongin, child, come here. I can’t talk loudly.” Though he was weak physically, his tone was harsh and demanding as it used to be.  

Jongin might seem reckless and careless, but he was not foolish. In fact, he was probably the most patient person, judging by the length of years he had served under this insufferable dictator. Yoon Sang Hyun was hard to please and his cruelty was intolerable. Many had suffered under his hands, and Jongin was only one of many nameless victims. Carefully, he stepped forward and cocked his eyebrows to hear what this man wanted to say.

Sang Hyun had long known that this brat was impudent and mannerless. He tried to change his way for many years of his youth, but Jongin was stubborn even as a child. If Sehun was water and wind, easily molded and always adaptable to his surrounding, then Jongin was fire and earth – strong, heartless and impossibly stubborn. He was better suited for a strong and fearless clan like Suzakku the Phoenix, rather than a defensive and passive Seiryuu.

“I need Sena’s blood. Sohee’s can’t help my condition anymore,” He tried to explain. Sang Hyun suffered from a rare heart disease that was caused by blotting of different mixed blood in his body. As a born pure-blooded Suzakku from a direct descendant, Sang Hyun should not have taken the Dragon’s blood to gain immortality. He had not told anyone of this illness yet because he did not want them to see him weak and useless.

“Are we going back to Seoul, Old Man?” Jongin did not beat around the bush and looked at him straight in the eyes. He did not hold an ounce of pity, but rather glee when he was faced with a chance to return back to his homeland. Seoul was his damnation and retribution, for only that woman could decide whether he would die a sinner or a martyr.

“Yes, Jongin, we are going back to South Korea soon.”