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That morning, Donghae chewed the sausage in his mouth ever so carefully. He didn’t want to make a single sound as he did not want any attention from the blackbloods, standing catatonically in the dining room. Awkward wouldn’t even begin to describe how he felt after witnessing live a man and a woman making out in the hallway last night.

Not just any man and woman.

These were the two persons standing across in front of him now, looking not an ounce bothered at what had happened.

So, she has a boyfriend. He couldn’t help but think. Heck, he couldn’t even sleep at all last night because of what he saw. Donghae saw how Dara let the man named G-Dragon kissed her senselessly on the lips. He heard her moaned out of pleasure because of his touch.

It wasn’t just awkwardness that he felt as that scene played on his mind over and over again. He just didn’t want to admit as he hasn’t really figured it out.

He shoved a big bite of the shepherd’s pie in his mouth to hide an expression that his face couldn’t really gauge.

G-Dragon is Dara’s boyfriend.

He shoved another bite without swallowing the previous one. He now looked like a chipmunk who’s about to sing a merry song with his group. Donghae could only stare down at his plate, looking like a kid who was forced to finish his food while dying to go play outside.

He thought it was unfair that he was the only one uncomfortable at that scene. He took the third bite of the pie, mouth totally full, while finally taking a glance at Dara. And there he choked on his breakfast as he saw Dara staring at him with a crease on her forehead.

“Are you okay, leader?” Daesung asked beside him.

He made a few coughs and straightened up. He grabbed for his mango juice as the pie jammed in his throat. “D-deh.” He nodded, and glanced back at Dara again, only to find her staring at the wall behind GD. Was it just my imagination?

Kiko approached him and bowed. “I’ll be returning to the lab.” She told him. “Daesung and Lisa will assist you to prepare for the Bartering this Sunday, leader.”

Donghae just gave a short nod. The Bartering . . . this Sunday . . . He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Just by hearing those words were enough to rattle something inside him. Can I do it? He asked himself in silence, hoping someone could reply back. Other than the intensive and painstaking training that Blackbloods gave him, he had another thing in mind that he had secretly been planning on ever since he agreed to this whole ordeal. So, can I really do it? He asked himself again. His eyes fell on his own reflection on the golden knife on his plate. I have to.

“See you later, babe.”

His thoughts were pulled back as he heard Kiko spoke again. He was about to wonder to whom she was speaking to, but his mouth almost dropped when he saw GD pulled Kiko by the waist and gave her a full kiss on the mouth.

What?

His head quickly darted to Dara. For that brief second, he really thought was about to go down before these so-called top murderers in a criminal group because of one guy, but it really confused his already twirled mind, when he found Dara standing there, still and disinterested, at the scene as if it was nothing. Not shocked. Not even hurt. Nada.

Wait.

What?

Daesung and Lisa left the two in the garden. It took Donghae 3 hours to finish memorizing the various faces, names and other important details about the leaders of Asia’s biggest mafia groups who will attend on Sunday. Although it really confused him why he still had to memorize them religiously when Dara and Daesung made it to the point to never talk to anyone during the bartering.

If someone tries to talk to you, ignore. They said.

And they expect me to convince people to be on our side for the next ten years through ignoring? How weird. He thought. Well, they also clearly stated that he should just let G-Dragon do all the necessary and even unnecessary conversations and transactions.

He really will just be there as a display. He will be only there to tell their dark world and its demons that an heir is breathing to abide their evildoings.

G-Dragon.

They said his brother, Minho, would do the same too, if only he were alive to grace his should-be first bartering.  He’d do so whenever certain leaders bored him to hell in the past. G-Dragon is the consigliere in Lost Anima. He gives advises and does the orders without any mistakes. When Minho was alive, other than his grandfather, it was GD that he trusted the most. He is the third in command in the family. He was his brother.

“Why can’t you just let G-Dragon run Lost Anima?” He blurted the question out, even though he knew the answer too well. Freaking bloodline. He assumed that the red-haired man was really the best for the position. Donghae knew his life would be so much better if only they chose G-Dragon to be their leader.

“You know the answer.” Dara coldly repeated, without raising her head to him. She was just quietly sitting beside him on the Lair’s garden of roses.

Freaking bloodline. Donghae nodded back and sighed, feeling his time is about to run out. There’s no clock present, but he swore he could hear the excruciating ticking of it.

Dara looked at him and saw so much anxiety in his eyes. “I’ll be there with you all the way.” She said, trying to comfort his fears.

Donghae’s eyes lifted to hers. The sound of ticking stopped as he stared back at her. Let me protect you. Those were her words that marked something in him.

I’ll be there with you all the way? She thought hard about her sentence. She should’ve used, we, as in the whole blackbloods. Dara was about to correct herself, but was silenced again when he spoke.

“Promise?” He softly asked.

If that was Minho, she would be scoffing already at the joke.

But he’s not Minho.

Dara opened . As a leader, you shouldn’t be asking that. She wanted to tell him, but her words drifted as his warm gaze didn’t leave her. “Promise.”

A warm smile appeared on his lips. The smile made Donghae glow under the light r