a/n: I don't include audios anymore but honestly, this music sets the mood for this chapter, especially during the Baekhyun x Raon parts :)

Baekhyun wants to throw up. He hasn't even downed a single drop of champagne but he wants to throw up so badly. He pulls himself off of Yunho and he doesn't look at the man when he stands up to adjust the creases of his shirt.

"You don't look like you're in a condition to talk now. Maybe we'll continue this some other time. You can go think about how you will break up "

Baekhyun throws a punch across Yunho's face. His fist falls limp by his side as he breathes heavily. "Stop talking. Just... shut up."

He leaves a speechless Yunho behind. Once he is out of the room, he is walking like a lifeless corpse. Minseok comes up to him to ask him if he's alright, but Baekhyun isn't in the mood to talk to anyone. He just brushes Minseok off with a forced smile, saying that he is alright though Minseok can see that he really is the opposite of fine. He leaves Baekhyun alone because he knows that the one thing he needs right now is some alone time. 

Baekhyun exits the club and enters his car which is parked outside. He leans back in the seat without starting the car, taking out his phone instead. His thumb pauses over Raon's name on his screen. The contact picture he set for her is a picture of her in the middle of eating a steak before she found out that he'd been secretly sneaking pictures of her eating when they went out for dinner last week. He stares at the picture and sniffs before pressing the call button.

She picks up within the first beep.

"Byun Baekhyun, are you coming back now?" She asks, excitement in her question.

"Hey. Raon, the thing is... I don't think I can make it for dinner tonight. I'll be coming back really late, this meeting's taking awhile..." Baekhyun tells her. I'm lying to her again. "I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? You promise? I'm actually not going to take anymore excuses from you if you call this off, hmph."

"Yeah, I promise," Baekhyun smiles and a tear falls down his cheek. "Have fun with Mongryong."

"We'll have a great time without you," she teases him.

"I know you will," Baekhyun swallows the lump in his throat, making sure he sounds as normal as possible. "I'll text you back later. Don't miss me too much."

"Don't storm out of your meeting wanting to see me so much either, Byun Baekhyun." 

Baekhyun hangs up and the phone he is gripping in his hand falls on the passenger seat. The strong facade he put on moments ago collapses in a few seconds. It's going to take him awhile to build these walls again when he sees Raon.

Tears escape his eyes and he tries to stifle his sobs by covering his mouth, but he cries harder. He leans forward to rest his forehead on the steering wheel, his shoulders heaving up and down, his quiet sobs, all represent the intensity of his grief. Can someone end this pain for him? He squeezes his eyes shut, for the first time he prays that this is a dream. Only more tears drip on to the fabric of his pants and when he opens his eyes again, it is dark inside his car and he is still alone.

Baekhyun was excited when Yunho told the budding young swindler that he would personally take him to learn about the ways of a true con artist. Now that he is standing here, he doesnt know how to react.

They are in a warehouse somewhere on the outskirts of the city, you tend to find a lot of these abandoned buildings around here. Yunho and him are standing next to Yunho's father, renowned swindler, Jung Kangho. On the other side of the swindler stand a bunch of men working for him. So the rumours were true that he was involved in the underground crime scene.

 In front of them is someone on his knees, a low commoner is what Yunho calls him. Baekhyun is uneasy because they seem to be talking about the man being too persistent for his own good and Yunho's father is getting more pissed off by the second.

The gigantic doors of the warehouse are wide open, Baekhyun remembers the chilly winter gust coming in and messing up his hair. He has his arms around himself as he rubs his shoulders.

"Jeon Taehoon, was it? We do not have your money here."

"You're liars. I know you have my money. Give it back to me! I worked hard for that money to feed my family... so please... I have two daughters in high school and a son in elementary school. They need me and I need them..."

"You're like a pest, you, Jeon Taehoon. You've already disrupted my business plans several times and I think this is finally going to be the last straw," Yunho's father draws out a gun from his coat.

"You think that you can continue forever?! You'll pay for everything, all the crimes you have committed. Your business is only aiming to hurt others, you selfish bastard!" Jeon Taehoon yells. "The police will find out about you!"

"H-hyung, why is your dad bringing out a gun? Yah, that's too much. H-he says he has a family..." Baekhyun whispers to Yunho with urgency.

"Who cares?" Yunho merely tells him. "Just be quiet and watch the show, Baekhyun. This is how con artists do things around here. When he's dead you can support his family if you want."

"Yunho is right, Baekhyun... Watch and learn from your seniors, you might need to do this a lot when you become successful like uncle," Kangho says, pointing his gun to Jeon Taehoon. "Where should I pull the trigger? Straight to the head or..."

He tries to break free from the two men who are holding him down. His pleading face is engraved in Baekhyun's mind and he thinks, this isn't right. He steps in front of Yunho's father, gathering all of his courage to speak to the elder.

"Sir, can you spare him? It's not right to go so far as to trying to kill him..." Baekhyun stares at the ground. "He has a family! You can't do this, just send him off."

He looks back at the man who is smiling at him, mouthing a 'thank you', and he returns a smile.

Yunho's father clears his throat, staring at Baekhyun with a stony look.

"Baekhyun, you bastard, get out of there!" Yunho rushes over to pull him away and pushes him on the ground before he pulls out a gun of his own. "Why are you acting out of ing character? Don't do this. Stop trying to act like a good guy. You can't be a good guy, or you'll end up like him."

Baekhyun is at disbelief at how Yunho is treating him. This is not the Yunho who used to treat him out for meals or cheer him up like a big brother figure when he was feeling down. "H-hyung, why are you pointing a gun at me? I..." He stutters, but frowns and gets up again, about to go over to Jeon Taehoon. "Don't kill him, he didn't do anything wrong! Sir wait "

Yunho locks Baekhyun in a headlock and he can feel the tip of the gun touching his temple. "Don't do anything rash, Baekhyun."

Then a gunshot rings in the air. Jeon Taehoon is dead, Yunho tells him. Baekhyun widens his eyes when he sees the pool of blood on the floor and the body. This is his first time witnessing a murder and not being able to do anything about it.

"W-why?"

"Yah, we have to make a run for it. Come on."

Baekhyun stays in his place. He stares at the pool of blood surrounding the body. He shakes his head, he can't believe this is real. He had hoped to learn something when he followed them here, but this was what they gave him? The death of an innocent father. His family... what will his family think when they find him like this?

Baekhyun squeezing his eyes shut and turning around. He runs out of the warehouse, expecting to see the blaring car headlights but everyone is gone. And outside, it has begun to snow. He clenches