credits:ISHIEMARU

credits: iamcrystalball

credits:Kaiipture

credits: tarozuki

Amidst the sound of crickets and rustling leaves, the footsteps of a number of people disrupted the peaceful forest in the dark of night. Their path illuminated by the moonlight, Jiyong together with his trusted sworn brothers - TOP, Youngbae, Daesung and Seungri - made their way deep into the woods as instructed by Hyun Suk or YG, his uncle and the former Dragon Head.

They arrived in an abandoned hunter's cabin where a man from YG's unit was waiting. The scent of old wood and dried leaves welcomed them as they were ushered inside the cabin. The room was empty and the dwelling had obviously seen better times. There were a lot of broken furniture scattered around and the walls and ceiling were almost decaying. Their guide removed a number of floorboards, revealing the hidden stairs going down the unknown.

Their group descended the stairs and walked through a dark path before finally arriving in a huge clearing with multiple exits that looked like narrow caves. In the middle of the clearing stood YG, evidently waiting for their arrival.

"Join me for a walk, son", he said.

Jiyong quietly followed him while the rest remained on their spots. YG entered one of the multiple small caves with a candle in his hand. A sense of foreboding engulfed Jiyong when they finally stopped at a gigantic steel door that opens in the middle. There was a dragon emblem on both sides, signifying the Triad ownership.

As the two stepped inside, Jiyong stopped on his tracks as he saw a huge angel sculpture by the corner, directly facing the entrance. The place seemed like an old church that was submerged in the ground – with high ceiling, grand chandelier and large windows with colorful mosaic. Jiyong roamed his eyes around until his gaze settled on the twelve pedestals in the middle of the room, arranged in a circle.

There were twelve pedestals holding bronze animal head statues of the Chinese zodiac. Beside each pedestal, the elders from the Underworld Tribunal were standing, their gazes full of wisdom and experience all focused on him. His uncle was now standing beside an empty pedestal, making Jiyong frown in bewilderment. He stepped forward to have a better look at the statues and his eyes widened in awe upon recognizing what those were. He could not believe that the precious treasures of the Triads which were purposely scattered all over the world were now gathered in one place.

Originally, the twelve statues, which were fountainheads that spout water to tell time, were part of the water clock fountain in the Yuanmingyuan or Gardens of Perfect Brightness – the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. During the Second Opium War in 1860, the statues were among the cultural artifacts looted by the British and French expeditionary forces.

Unknown to many, the Triads, which was founded in the mid-1700s and which already had a strong, loyal force during those times, were able to  recover the twelve statues of the Chinese Zodiac before they could be transported out of Beijing. The Triads replaced them with replicas that even until the present were not detected to be fake. The twelve replicas were currently located in various museums after they were bought from the auctions by famous business magnates. The world remained unaware of the existence of the original twelve fountainhead statues of the Chinese zodiac in the possession of one of the three biggest organized crime societies.

"Son, this was the true reason why the Underworld Tribunal was traveling around the Triads Headquarters all over the world for the past month. We were trying to determine which among the current Dragon Heads would be the most suitable for this task while protecting these precious treasures. We have decided that you, the current Dragon Head of the Seoul Chapter of the Triads, together with your trusted sworn brothers, are the most qualified to accomplish this task."

Jiyong became rigid as his eyes settled on the empty pedestal where the Dragon fountainhead, the most important piece among the twelve, was supposed to be. The twelve elders were guardians of a specific zodiac statue. The duty was passed down from generation to generation of retired Dragon Heads across the globe. His uncle was the elder of the Dragon statue, but where was it?

"We believe that there is a traitor within the Triads, son," the elder of the Tiger statue started. "Each of us received a message that the treasures we are guarding will soon rise from the underworld. That could only mean one thing – the culprit plans to announce to the world the existence of the original statues unless we give him something."

"For the perpetrator to even manage to send a message to the twelve of us was in itself alarming," the Ox guardian said.

"Soon after we received the message, the most important piece of the twelve zodiacs, the Dragon statue, was stolen," YG informed him in a regretful voice. "The elders were all gathered to discuss the message we received and that was when the location of the Dragon statue was raided by an unknown group."

"So, the current location of the Dragon statue is unknown?" Jiyong asked.

"No," YG replied. "We found out that the Dragon statue was listed in the Auction by the Candle which will be held soon. You are well aware of the rules of the Auction by the Candle, son. It is a neutral ground among all underground organizations – from the petty criminal syndicates to the members of the three biggest crime societies. But, each organization can only send one group to represent them."

Jiyong took a sharp intake of breath as he realized what the task entailed him to do. The Auction by the Candle was a ruthless black market auction which was seldom settled by money. The auction was a mixture of a battleground and a madhouse. The stolen goods were often used for brutality such as offering a life in exchange for the item, or for sick entertainment such as ripping the internal organ of the opposing bidders. It was called Auction by the Candle since an item would be up for bidding until the burning candle laid on the table went out. The burning candle was the time limit for the bidders to convince the auctioneer to give the item to them by either heeding to the auctioneer's request or by presenting him a tempting offer.

Most often than not, the bidders sent by organizations as representatives were the best fighters since some of the deals were settled through a death match. Any goods, whether stolen or not, that were listed in Auction by the Candle were considered property of whoever brought the item and were assured of their anonymity by being assigned an auctioneer as their front wherein the communication would be through the earpiece while the item owner would be in a remote and unknown location with live feed of what was going on in the auction. The Triads could not contest their ownership of the stolen item since it had long been agreed upon by the ancestors of all the underground societies that the Auction by the Candle policies would be respected and that the only way to get any item was to win the auction.

"Your task, Jiyong," YG continued, "is to win the auction of the Dragon fountainhead statue."

_____________________________________________________________

Are you coming home tonight?

Dara sent the text and placed her phone on the bedside table. Jiyong did not come home since he left last night and she was becoming restless. What if something happened to him? He didn't even text her that he was fine and he was not replying to her messages.

She paced back and forth the room, not knowing what to do. She strode towards the display cabinet where her action figures were and thought of cleaning them to pass time, but all her action figures were still clean. Minutes passed and there was still no reply from the guy. She sat on the bed and massaged her temple, shutting her eyes as she felt an impending migraine coming. The stress was getting to her.

She was about to get a medicine when Jiyong entered the room, startling her.

"Hi babe," he said weakly, removing his shirt as he walked towards the bathroom. Dara remained seated on the bed and waited for him to finish freshening up. When Jiyong finally stepped out of the bathroom, he strode towards her and gave her a quick peck on the lips before finally collapsing on the bed.

Silence enveloped them as Dara stared at the guy. Oddly, even though she had multitude of questions swimming through her mind, remained shut. Perhaps it was because she knew they would just end up fighting and would not resolve anything anyway. It was too tiring.

When Jiyong's phone beeped, the guy sat up and retrieved his phone from his pocket, reading the message and immediately replying afterwards. His action made the girl frown. He wouldn't even bother replying to her texts but he texted back right away to whoever sent him a message now?

"Who's that?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Nana."

She felt blood rushing through her head when he mentioned the name of the new secretary. Jiyong's phone beeped again and she saw him smile while reading the message. It's probably her again. She breathed deeply, her annoyance mounting.

"Is that Nana again?" She asked.

"Yeah."

Jealousy and insecurity engulfed her, clouding her mind. Since when did Jiyong have that kind of smile when a girl texts him? Did something happen when he was with Nana during the Jeju trip? Was there something going on between the two?

"You didn't even reply to my messages," she said accusingly.

Jiyong placed his phone on the bedside table before shifting on his spot to face her. "I was busy."

"But you're replying to Nana right away."

"I'm not busy now. And it was something important."

"So my messages are not important?"

Jiyong sighed exasperatedly, raking his fingers through his hair. He averted his gaze and clicked his tongue, failing to see the shred of pain that passed through the girl's eyes. "Look. I didn't reply to your earlier messages because I was busy," he explained as he stared at her wearily. "I didn't reply to your message a while ago because I was already in the building and was on my way up here. If it bothered you so much, then I'm sorry."

Dara took a sharp intake of breath, her frustration piling up with his attitude. He was dismissing their argument again and it was making her all the more furious. It was as if he just wanted her to shut up and to just accept what he said. It was as if she was the one who did wrong for even bringing it up.

"Jiyong, I was worried," she started.

"Yeah. I'll reply to your messages right away," he said, evidently irritated with the way their conversation was going.

"We haven't seen each other for more than a week and look at how we are. I didn't even know you and Nana were in Jeju trip together. And I certainly didn't like what I saw in her office yesterday," Dara mumbled, her voice becoming tight.

Jiyong glared sharply at her, his eyebrows deeply furrowed. "Nana is our new secretary. Of course, she had to come. And what the hell did you see in her office yesterday? I was just inspecting her wound because she was grazed by a bullet, for Pete's sake. I don't ing understand where this is coming from," he shot back and shifted on his seat, turning his back at her. He slumped and rested his arms on his knees, his legs spread apart as he sat on the edge of the bed, his lips forming a thin line in annoyance. Why the hell was the girl making a fuss over something so trivial AGAIN? It was tiring.

Dara stared at his back, her heart clenching painfully. Was she really being unreasonable? But couldn't he have explained it to her in a better way? In a way that wouldn't make her feel like she was being a nuisance? Was she a nuisance? Didn't she have the right to ask those questions?

She was about to say something when her head throbbed. She shut her eyes firmly as the migraine became worse. Dara struggled to get off the bed, her knees wobbling as she felt as if someone was pounding her head forcefully. She sat on the floor and leaned against the side of the bed, massaging her temples, her eyes tightly closed. She whimpered and bowed her head down, resting her arms weakly on her sides, unable to move with the pain she was experiencing.

Jiyong glanced back curiously when he heard her soft whimper. He shot to his feet in alarm and made his way towards her when he saw that Dara was slumped on the floor.

"What's the matter?" He asked, his face drawn with concern as he slouched and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Migraine," she mumbled in distress while glancing briefly at him. "Can you get me some medicine?"

The guy quickly did what she asked him and made her drink some meds. He slumped on the floor afterwards and gathered her in his arms, making the girl sit sideways on his lap, his hand guiding her head to rest against his chest.

"Do you want to lie down on the bed?"

"No. I'll throw up if I lie down. It happened before."

His chest constricted in worry as he wiped the cold sweat forming on the girl's forehead.

"Should I call the Triad medics? They can inject you with some pain reliever."

"No. I don't want that."

"But-..."

"I'll be fine."

"I want you to be fine now," Jiyong said worriedly as he peered down and saw Dara's eyes firmly shut, still suffering with severe migraine. He hugged her tightly, her back to soothe her. "God, babe", he whispered. "Is it still painful?"

"Yeah," she replied weakly.

"Does this happen often?"

"Mhmm."

Jiyong didn't even want to think how she got through the pain without him being there. It was as if tiny needles were pricking his heart witnessing how the girl was suffering.

"Is it still painful?"

"Jiyong, calm down. I'll be fine."

"I don't want to see you in pain," he said in a tight voice, as if he was the one hurting instead of her.

"I already drank medicine. It'll go away." Dara buried her face on the guy's chest, giving her a bit of comfort as she felt his reassuring presence once again. It was absurd, but she wished she would be in pain again so she would experience what Jiyong was doing now. Was she really that desperate