“You better pray that Mingyu isn’t going to give me a damn lecture or your deadmeat,” Seungcheol snarled angrily at the sub-conscious man that was lying on the cold, hard ground earning another cry of pain as he lodged his foot into the man's ribs.

“God, do you ever shut the up,” he exaggerated with disgust. Dongwoo grunted in pain, loss and defeat; the taste of iron lingered in his mouth from the beatings. His men were tied together beside him, helplessly as if almost pleading Seungcheol to let them go while the other half, under Wen Junhui’s command to aid Donwoo, were undoubtedly snickering at the coward of a man he was for they were nothing but impassive to their situation. Seungcheol smirked in triumph, a look of satisfaction plastered across his face.

“ you,” Donwoo managed to utter out, venomously in an attempt to gain back an inch of his pride. He struggled against the burns of the ropes in an attempt to fight back but it was all in vain.

“I'm not the one who's on the ing ground,” he sneered. “Or maybe you didn’t get enough?” Seungcheol balled his hands into a tight fist as he raised it, ready to knock out his opponent’s last breath, but was stopped abruptly by a pat on his shoulder.

“Seungcheol, stop,” Jisoo, who had just appeared, intervened and forced down Seungcheol’s fist before more damage was done.

Seungcheol started to protest, “Oh, c’mon Jisoo ah. This little right here—“ Jisoo stared at Seungcheol firmly as he rolled his eyes in defeat. He glanced over at their batch of men, waiting anxiously.

Hyuk, one of latest to join the gang, pondered aloud, “What should we do now, Jisoo-nim?”

“We’ll let them go,” Jisoo commanded with a nod of his head in authority. Seungcheol stared at Jisoo in disbelief, but did nothing as he accepted the outcome and sighed to himself. Upon

hearing Jisoo’s command, the other members hurried along to free their enemies. Immediately, two guys dashed over to help their leader.

“Don’t ing come back,” warned Seungcheol as the opposing gang slowly disappeared from his sight. Dongwoo, with the help of s, limped away, pain evidently shown on his face.

Losers, Seungcheol thought victoriously.

“You guys can go back now,” Jisoo exclaimed at the crowd before him; they had been waiting for his next words. They did not question him, but merely did as told. Jisoo turned his attention to Seungcheol and mumbled, “It was a nice move for you to ruin Wonwoo’s birthday. I'm suprised Mingyu didn't give you a mouthful.”

“It wasn’t intentional. I'm sure Wonwoo will understand,” he said calmly as the two friends turned around to head back to the night club which was also where their meeting place was located, in the club’s underground basement. “Besides it’s not like Wonwoo to rat out on me or complain to Mingyu anyway.” Jisoo didn’t bother to argue with Seungcheol as they passed by the long line of people just waiting to get in and party wildly. Jisoo advanced forward, however, Seungcheol had already stopped in his track, intention aimed in a certain direction. He stood in front of the entrance with both hands crossed across his torso. Noticing that his friend was not beside him, Jisoo turned around with a frown. He knew exactly what Seungcheol wanted to do. Afterall, it has been three days.

Seungcheol cheekily hinted to Jisoo with a smile and wiggled his eyebrows.

He immediately shook his head, denying Seungcheols’ invitation, “No way. I am not going in there.”

Shrugging, Seungcheol replied, “suit yourself.” He cut through the line and came face-to-face with the two bouncers by the entrance. What was the use of waiting in line when Seungcheol could just enter whenever he wanted to? That’s what shortcuts were for right? - to make life a little easier.

Jisoo eyed Seungcheol intensely; afraid that he would cause yet another commotion, as if it wasn’t enough for the night already. The two bouncers nodded their head obediently while listening to Seungcheol with undivided attention. It was obvious for Jisoo or anyone to realize that they were, indeed, afraid and nervous by Seungcheols presence. Jisoo wanted to laugh out loud at how ridiculous it looked for two big-sized men to be afraid of one man that was significantly smaller than them. But, life was like this for them and being smaller didn’t mean you were weaker. Being respected, having immeasurable power at the tip of their fingers and in the eyes of outsiders’, there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, it may seem like it could be the best thing that could ever happen. Jisoo would have to disagree. What lies ahead for him was a vague and unclear path. The only thing he was positive about was danger itself. Seungcheol knew that, and Mingyu too, but they weren’t given a choice to begin with. When Jisoo was chosen amongst the bundle of other kids from the orphanage, he didn’t get to choose which path to take. It was all laid out for him and all he had to do was walk forward. Rather, he was forced to in the means of surviving in this cruel world. But even with all the negativity, there was one thing Jisoo treasured, it was the bond he had with Mingyu and Seungcheol – that would never change. They weren't brothers by blood but rather tied by destiny and he was glad.

“You sure you’re not coming?” Seungcheol’s call for his attention had snapped Jisoo out of his reverie.

“No, I think I should head back and continue with my reading,” he replied casually.

“Tch, nerd,” shouted Seungcheol and disappeared behind the large men.

“I guess I am,” Jisoo chuckled and mumbled to no one in particular, but to himself. If he was given a choice, he’d like to be a novelist or journalist. As s