Bang Yongguk had spent the longest time convincing himself his heart was made of plastic. Artificial, unbreakable. He didn't care about the people around him or the many cuts and bruises that painted his skin. He cared about completing his job to the highest degree of quality. He was a bit of a perfectionist in that respect, as well as someone who loathed loose ends and unnecessary complications. He lived simply, doing what had to be done, nothing more, nothing less.

These many factors contributed to him being the boss of one of the most feared gangs in Seoul. People wouldn't be half as terrified of crossing them if it wasn't for Bang. Outside of work, he was simply Yongguk, the friendly man next door. He walked to work every morning, stopping to buy a coffee when he needed a caffeine boost, like everyone else did. Who would suspect him of being a criminal?

Yongguk strode to work that morning, it was the same as any other morning except his footsteps were brisker and his fists were clenched. The news that someone had broken into their inventory and stolen some of their acquired goods angered him immensely. Although the occasional fool had tried to cross them before, none had moved a metre before being captured and dealt with. Yongguk ensured his team delivered a cruel punishment to anyone who trespassed on his property as a warning to prevent others attempting the same thing.

"Yongguk!" 

The sound of his name startled him and he whipped his head round in response to the voice.

"Hey, Yongguk," the speaker paused and smiled, "don't look so scared, it's me."

He unclenched his fists, realising he had stabbed his nails into his palm leaving red marks on his hand. He stared at the man in front of him, at his combed hair and all black clothes, before replying "Daehyun, you surprised me," He commented. His eyes darted around where he stood on the pavement, he was eager to sort out the gang's problem but at that the same time he did want to talk to Daehyun. Well, listen to him actually, as Daehyun usually did most of the talking.

"You're not hard to scare! I've talked to you every morning on your way to work since you've moved here and you still jump in shock every time you see me." Daehyun sighed, "Is it because you don't like me? Or do I scare you?" He smiled.

"I am not scared of you!" Yongguk replied, his voice coming out higher pitched than he wanted.

"Ok..." Daehyun said, not convinced by Yongguk's answer, "I worry about you sometimes, Yongguk." He added jokingly.

The two men walked down a busy street but Yongguk barely registered that there were other people around. It was strange how Daehyun enabled him to forget the world. He made him laugh the type of laughs that he used to when he was seven and his Dad had told a bad joke. He smiled and he talked and it was comfortable. He'd happily have a longer walk to work if it meant he could spend more time with Daehyun. A friend who didn't fear him. Of course, that was because he didn't know about his work. He didn't need to know.

For thirty minutes each day Yongguk's walls vanished. He was a normal twenty-four year old man who laughed at his friend's jokes. His heart pounded in his chest and he didn't mind. They separated eventually, Daehyun going to work as chef at a restaurant he owned and Yongguk as an assistant director at an electronics company (that's what he had always told Daehyun anyway).

The smiles and laughs were forgotten when he arrived at headquarters. Yongguk became Bang; a serious, terrifying man who was angry. He didn't say a word when he entered but his presence was noted as various heads turned towards him. Seeing his team, who all appeared busy, stirred the fire in his chest once more. He didn't notice when he clenched his fists again like he had earlier that morning.

"So, what happened?" he called across the room as walked over to a large table near where a couple of his closest members were hovering around. The air in the building weighed down on him. Maybe all the rage and frustration the group had experienced had replaced the oxygen in the room, making it thick and heavy and suffocating.

"I don't know how. Some guy broke in here and stole a bunch of our stuff. Guns, drugs... " Himchan replied, echoing Bang's anger.

He stared absentmindedly, listening to his second in command's account of the recent event whilst his finger trailed the edge of the table he was next to. "Well, how close are we to catching him?" He demanded.

"Zelo and Jongup are out looking for him now. Knowing them they won't return empty handed. Our security cameras did manage to record the thief but he was wearing a mask so we couldn't see his face."

Bang noticed the youngest of their gang were missing upon entering the room and Himchan was right, those two were an unstoppable pair who had never failed a job before. Knowing they were searching for culprit helped Yongguk relax. He wasn't overly worried however it didn't look good for the gang's reputation. He didn't like the idea that others might seize this as an opportunity to try and take advantage of them.

"Didn't the alarm go off?"

"No, he must have disabled it. I've been trying to figure out how," Youngjae reported, glancing up for the first time since Yongguk had arrived. He had been lingering over his laptop during most of the conversation, his fingers occasionally tapping the keyboard keys.

"Hmm... I am kind of impressed," Yongguk murmured. A single man manage to break through all their defenses without alerting any of their traps or alarms, the only trace of his existence was a blurry, black silhouette caught on the camera. The useless picture didn't help them, the thief may have been female for all he knew. Yongguk was annoyed and impressed all the same.

"He won't get far. The trackers on the container of guns shows where the guns are and our thief will be nearby." Youngjae explained.

Yongguk stole a glance at Youngjae's laptop screen, noticing the flashing red light on the map. It was close. Yongguk smiled.

"It's only a matter of time."

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The clock was loud, Bang noted.

Jongup called stating they had caught the thief. Although there were many things Yongguk should be doing, the news of the others' success caused him to stop everything. He sat, waiting, in the quiet room. Himchan and Youngjae sat on either side of him. Youngjae was still using his laptop which Yongguk peeked at a few times. He wasn't tracking their stolen goods anymore or hacking into Mr Lee's (a wealthy businessman) bank account like Bang requested yesterday.

Yongguk sighed to himself, his companion was playing a game. Unable to bring himself to tell the younger man to stop, he pretended not to notice. In his mind he debated whether he made that decision out of kindness or exhaustion. Let him have five minutes of fun, Yongguk thought.

Despite having a temper and acting impulsively, Yongguk was a patient man who was comfortable with drawn out silences. Himchan, however, was not. He was fidgeting besides Yongguk, his fingers drumming noiselessly on the ancient couch where they sat.

He froze and gazed up when he heard the door unlock, Himchan and Youngjae copied. Scuffling and the pounding of feet on the floor broke the silence. Jongup and Zelo dragged a man through the door. Yongguk noticed a lot of blood on his dark clothes and barely any on s. The beaten man had shaggy, brown hair covering his face but Bang could tell from his build that he was strong and a similar age to himself. The man kicked and struggled in Zelo and Jongup's grasp. The youngest members of the gang dragged the man through a doorway on the right of the room. Through the doorway was the room where they normally took those who had crossed them. Many had entered that doorway for their wrongs yet none of them had ever left breathing. This time wouldn't be any different.

"You found him," Bang stated after the two men had transported the thief into the other room, locking the steel door behind them.

"Of course. Do you want us to deal with him?" Zelo answered

"No, not this time. I want to shake hands with the man who got away before I deal with him myself."

Zelo and Jongup nodded and moved aside clearing a path to the room where the thief was.

Bang Yongguk strode towards the doorway, turned the handle and entered the gloomy room. He closed the door behind him and peered at the single lightbulb that hung from the ceiling struggling to illuminate the room. One day he might remember to replace that bulb. He stood frozen for a moment. The room was empty. Where was he?

A sharp blow to Yongguk's head soon answered his question. He stumbled sideways and glanced towards the direction where the hit came from. Another jab to his stomach managed to force his body into his action. His attacker was close and about to strike again, this time Bang was ready. He punched the man in the jaw and followed by kneeing him in the stomach. The thief wavered and sunk to the floor, struggling rise, his legs wobbled and his head was limp. He made another attempt to punch Yongguk but his hand missed by centimetres and he toppled down to the ground with a thud.

Yongguk observed the man's attempt to attack. "Nice try," he commented, his voice filling the room. The thief looked a mess, blood covered his face and there was a high probability that Yongguk had dislocated his jaw. Yet, the man's dark eyes gleamed. There was a determination and power in them that Bang noticed but he couldn't place why he recognised the energy.

"Yongguk?" the man grumbled.

The voice told him everything he needed to know. His eyes softened and his scrowl transformed into a slight frown as he took a step backwards. The man in front of him was Jung Daehyun. He had a beautiful smile and talked obnoxiously loud. He was his friend. He was the thief.

"Daehyun... What are you doing here?" Yongguk whispered, crouching down so he was at the same level as him. Their face were parallel to each other, close enough to feel the air breathed between them, close enough for someone to land a blow. "

What am I doing?" Daehyun scoffed, "what are you doing? You're the leader of the most dangerous gang in Seoul? When the hell did that happen?"

"Since when were you a thief? Since when have you been stupid enough to think you could steal from us and get away with it?" Yongguk retorted, growing angrier however he kept his voice steady so it barely rose above a whisper.

"I thought it was an ingenious idea, to be honest," Daehyun mumbled.

Yongguk sighed and fell to the floor. He repositioned himself to sit crossed legged opposite Daehyun. The silence dragged out.

"What now?" Daehyun finally broke the stillness in the room, "if you're going to kill me could you do it sooner rather than later? We both know that your enemies never last long."

Yongguk remained quiet for a few seconds, "I'm not going to kill you. I don't want to kill you" he admitted. "I can't just let you go, though." He rose to stand again, "what I am going to do is give you a choice." Yongguk inhaled, was this the right thing to do? He asked himself. Were there even any other options?

Daehyun stared doubtfully at his captor as the moment dragged out.

"You can either join us or I'll walk out of this room and someone not so friendly will talk to you instead." Yongguk explained.

"Hmmm," Daehyun replied, "that's a crap choice. What if I don't want to join a group of murderers?"

Yongguk flinched, "That's too bad, thief. But it's the only choice you're going to get."

Daehyun nodded, "I'll join you."

Yongguk reached out to help Daehyun stand up. "Just know that if you ever try and cross us again I won't be so forgiving," Yongguk said as he pulled him up, blood off Daehyun's fingers clinging to his own. He released Daehyun's hand when he rose to his feet and wiped the blood on his black trousers, trying to remove the sticky substance from his skin.

"Yes you will," Daehyun answered.

Yongguk cracked a smile before turning to open the door.

"Is everything ok...?" Himchan asked as Yongguk and Daehyun exited the room. He was the closest to Yongguk and the one member of his team who would question everything Yongguk did, his decisions, his actions.

"Daehyun will be joining us," Yongguk explained.

"Why?"

"Because he's obviously a skilled individual. We could use someone like him," Yongguk took a step towards the other men. "Is everyone ok with that?"

Youngjae, Jongup and Zelo nodded in unison but Yongguk was focused on Himchan, picking his body language apart. His arms were crossed over his chest, his feet placed in a strong stance. His head moved up and down a second after the others.

He shifted towards Yongguk, "are you sure about this? What are people going to think? He stole from us! You always told us to show no mercy when dealing with people who've offended us. No matter how skilled they are."

"Himchan, relax. He'll return what he stole and no one's going to know except us," Yongguk moved to leave, "Trust me, Daehyun is special."