They were walking again.

They’ve been walking since forever! She just wants to sleep. Is that too much to ask?

The man walking beside her, yanked her arm. Hard. This rattled the chain that was looped around both hands which produced a tinkling sound.

It would have sounded beautiful.. If only the chains didn’t hold her captive.

Not that removing the chains would do any good. The man beside her kept an iron grip on her arm. As if he doesn’t ever want to let her go.

She gave a little giggle and shook her hands, making the chains jingle together.

“She’s loopy again.” A voice behind her said.

The man beside her grunted but kept silent. Somehow. She found this extremely funny and she started laughing.

His grip on her tightened as she started swaying. That’s when he finally spoke. “Damn it. I told them to put her to sleep instead they do this and make me deal with this .”

“Just knock her out.” The voice said again.

“Don’t tempt me.” The man beside her gritted out.

“Man. They must have given her a pretty good dose.” The voice said with a laugh. “I’d love a good hit of that.”

Sandara jingled her chains again as the voice behind her laughed. She looked behind her and gave him a happy smile.

“Dude. She’s hot.. All flushed like that.. Even the half-shaved head is really y.. Are you sure we can’t -?”

“Shut up.” The man beside her ordered. “You want to up, do it somewhere far from me you dickwad.”

“Oooooh.. Somebody’s in trouble.” Sandara sing-songed. “You’re gonna get in trouble.. He’s gonna hit you real hard..”

“Quiet.”

Sandara complied but that didn’t stop her from pouting. Even in her happy state, she knew that tone of voice. That tone never boded well for her..

They stopped in front of a door which the guy beside her flung open. He practically pushed her inside only to actually push her once they were inside the room.

“Here’s your new charge.” The guy who flung her off said just as a pair of arms caught her. “Princess here is high as . Make sure she doesn’t bang her head on the wall too hard or something.”

“Merchandise?” The guy holding her asked.

“Nah. Apparently she’s like millions of dollars waiting to be encashed. Just make sure the other guys don’t touch her. Stupid heathens. Always wanting a free sample.” The first guy commented. “Other than the boss, only the docs get clearance to her, okay? They’ll call for her when they’re ready.”

________________________________________

Youngbae knocked on his best friend’s door and waited until said best friend looked up from whatever he was working on. Once he did, Youngbae entered the office and sat down on one of the chairs in front of Jiyong’s desk. “So.. General Yang is currently MIA. Want to track him?”

“Nah.” Jiyong answered almost absently. “Finding him won’t be worth the trouble we’ll get when we do.”

“What do you have there?” Youngbae asked trying to sneak a peek at whatever has Jiyong’s attention.

“The reports from our mission when we found Sandara.” Jiyong replied. “We were asked to infiltrate and shut down the facility..”

“Which we did exceptionally well.” Youngbae added.

Jiyong nodded. “When we got there, our priority was to disarm and disable but there was barely anyone there. I recall Seunghyun hyung’s report containing that info. The people that were detained were mostly rank and file and had no idea about the facility’s shady dealings. They all worked on the legit side of the business”

“Yeah. They were the first ones transported and our teams helped clear them.” Youngbae commented. For that mission, they were tasked to shut down the facility. Even with all their training and experience, they have no authority to arrest anyone. Unless it’s a citizen’s arrest. So basically, they’re allowed to shoot, incapacitate and blow things up to defend themselves and carry out their missions but they can’t detain people. A rule they’re straddling since they currently have one unconscious guest being hosted by Interpol’s Eun Jiwon. “All of them had no access to the more secure floors.”

“Why?” Jiyong asked. “Where were the doctors? The lab techs? Were they warned that we were coming? The room where they kept Sandara was unlocked. Have they given up on her?”

“You’re thinking there’s a leak.” Youngbae speculated.

“I’m not sure.” Jiyong answered. “I’m trying to figure out their security from the schematics that Deasung provided. So either we triggered a silent alarm that allowed them to escape or those in custody are hiding a bunchload of skeletons in their closets.”

“I’m guessing you want an interview with them?” Jiyong remained silent so Youngbae continued. “We basically accepted this mission as a favor to General Yang. I think the old man has a lot of explaining to do.”

Jiyong nodded. “That he does.” He looked up from the files to stare at his best friend. Youngbae noticed and tilted his head to the side in question. “Youngbae.. How.. how’s Sandara doing?”

“She’s pouting.”

“Pouting?” Jiyong asked in confusion.

“Seungri told her Mino can’t come visit her with his cat.” Jiyong looked away and started studying his fingernails intently causing Youngbae to chuckle. “Apparently, Mino has been sent on a mission to Jakarta.”

“Oh, yeah.” Jiyong answered nonchalantly. “I sent him off with a couple of rookies. The job is pretty straightforward but will be an excellent test to see if Mino can handle his own teams soon.”

“I agree.” Youngbae was still smiling. “It’s a great opportunity. Only downside is, it took him so far away from Dadoong.”

Jiyong grunted. “He’ll be back soon enough. His cat can still play with Dadoong.”

“But not Mino?”

“He’s on a job.”

“So he is.” Youngbae smirked. “Imagine that.”

________________________________________

Lee Seungri was doing a light workout on the treadmill just to keep his body active. Just because he’s injured doesn’t mean he needs to lose his hard earned physique. He’s already got enough competition as it is. Look around! Everybody is ripped! Sure, it’s like part of the job. But still.

He also came to gym because he needed to think.

Something’s bugging him and he can’t figure out what.

He sniggered as he thought about looking at the roster and finding out that Song Mino has been sent out to lead a team on a mission. His first one as team lead! It was a relatively easy security job for a Korean VIP for some event in Jakarta.

In Jakarta.

He shook his head, as his agile mile pieced together the details. Song Mino in Jakarta equals no Song Mino and Sandara interaction, which also translate to a less rage-y dragon.

An unexpected outcome though is a pouting Sandara. She thinks Dadoong is getting sad about not having another cat to play with. He wonders what his Jiyong hyung will do once he hears about it. Probably buy her another cat so that she won’t look for Mino anymore.

He sobered up as he thought about the girl that seems to have captured their leader’s elusive heart.

She’s gone from hysterical crying to awkward silence to casual banter in the past two days.

He’s not ashamed to say that she scares him a little. Not because he think she could hurt him physically but because he knows that as the details of her life before meeting them start to unravel, they’re all right there with her. The noonas are already horrified by what they know have happened to her. He recalls how Bom and even Hyesun wanted to do some damage to those s that killed Sandara’s pet. It wasn’t such a stretch for Bom, she is the Bominator after all. But Hyesun was known around the company, probably the whole industry, as the sweetest, kindest person there is!

He shook his head as he tried to regain focus, amping up the speed on the treadmill a bit to provide more challenge. He knows that whatever happens to Sandara, will affect them all. When he was told about the possible existence of one of Sandara’s relatives he was initially over the moon with excitement. He wanted to rush and tell her the news but Seunghyun stopped him.

They don’t want to give Sandara false hopes at this point. They’ll tell her as soon as they get more info, Seunghyun promised.

He gets why.

Poor girl has been dragged from end of the emotional spectrum to the other in a matter of days. Not to mention just having survived being held captive for who knows how long.

Now that he’s had time to think about it.. He’s got mixed feelings about her potential family. Right now, they’re all she has in the world and they’re unashamedly taking advantage of that fact. What happens when she finds her family? Will he still get to spend time with her? He knows the fact that he hoped, even for a moment, that this person wasn’t really her family was extremely selfish of him. Selfish feelings that he can see mirrored in his beloved hyung’s eyes when Seunghyun was telling him about Park Sanghyun. Jiyong kept his distance as Seunghyun shared the details with him and Youngbae but knowing Jiyong as well as he does, he could see the tell-tale stiffening of the jaw, the arrogant tilt of his head that masks emotions he’s sure the older guy is unfamiliar with.

He sighed. He really wants Sandara to find her place in their world. He loves her as if she was his very own sister. He also wants his favorite hyung in the world to find happiness and settle down. He thinks that the love of a good woman will do wonders for Jiyong’s infamous temper. Something proven time and again by how easily Sandara could diffuse the dragon’s impending rage. She’d smile sweetly or she would look up at Jiyong all wide-eyed innocence and his anger would deflate. Like a balloon popped with a needle.

It would be the best thing ever if they find love and happiness with each other. Then he’d get to see Jiyong happy and he won’t have to lose Sandara ever. Sure, he’d have to deal with Jiyong’s possessive but at least she’d still always be around.

________________________________________

After speaking with Youngbae, Jiyong tried to put in a couple more hours of work before giving up and taking off to find Sandara.

He can’t help it.

No matter how much he thinks it would be best if he kept his distance, he couldn’t.

The thought of not seeing her.. It does something to him. His insides freeze up and he feels as if there’s a heavy weight on his chest that makes something as involuntary as breathing seem impossible.

After everything that happened between them, it would be wise to stay away from her to give both of them a chance to work through the confusion. He also knows it would be smarter if he didn’t invest so much of himself before the mystery surrounding her is resolved.

Both ideas would mean protecting his heart.

But what use would that be when being without her makes it hard for him to breathe?

Maybe he had a hidden motive when he sent Mino to that job in Jakarta. Maybe there are other benefits other than getting the job done and giving Mino the opportunity to advance his career.

Maybe.

Maybe he just hasn't come to terms with the helplessness and anger he felt when Sandara flinched away from his touch only to find comfort in Mino’s.

Maybe.

He wasn’t technically abusing his powers as the boss.. Mino has been on his list of rising stars and this.. Whatever this is.. Just encouraged Jiyong to give Mino the chance to prove himself. An opportunity that he knows the younger man welcomed. He knows Mino is eager to rise up to the challenge and he’s actually looking forward to watching him succeed.

That’s his story and he’s sticking to it.

No matter how much Youngbae or Seungri insinuates otherwise.

Finally arriving in front of Sandara’s door, he knocked a couple of times before peeking in. He saw her seated on her bed and staring out the window with her journal on the tray table in front of her.

She tilted her head to look at the door after hearing the knocks. She smiled at him warmly. “Jiyong.”

“Hey.. You busy?” He asked as he entered the threshold. He’s a little concerned about how she seems to have forgotten his -of-the-year moment.

Is he hating seeing her smile up at him just like the way she used to? Hell, no.

Is he feeling a little bad about it? Maybe a little.

“Not really.” She admitted with a wry smile. “I was just reading what I’ve written down hoping it would help me remember more..”

“No luck, huh?” Sandara just shook her head. “I actually have an idea..” When Sandara didn’t say anything he continued. “You remember when we told you about how we suspected that you might have some ties to the Japanese?” Sandara nodded. “Well.. Seungrat - “

“Don’t call him that.” She admonished lightly.

“I say that with complete and utter fond