Chapter 13 

 

From the moment Changwook had been taken from her sight and the door had been lock behind them, Yoona had been on the verge of hysterical panic. 

 

Where had they taken him? Why had they taken him? What were they doing to him? Were they hurting him, beating him, torturing him? 

 

Oh god. What if they were killing him this very moment? What if when those doors open the next time Changwook wasn't there? What if he was never there again? 

 

She had bang and pounded on the door with her hands and fists, even kicking it, all the while screaming her lungs out even though a tiny leftover bit of logic in her mind tried to tell her that screaming was pointless as there was a very good chance that the room was sound proof or at least near enough. 

 

When Yoona's throat was so sore that her voice had begun to fail and her hands were red and bruise and screaming in a faraway sort of pain that her frantic mind only seems to become aware of when the pain grew too bad to ignore did Yoona stop. 

 

With so very little energy left, Yoona crumple to the floor and buried her face in her sore and swollen hands. She crumples inside as well as out. She felt hollow inside, except for the increasing agony, the pain in her chest where her heart was. 

 

Every beat without Changwook, without knowing if he had ever come back was unspeakable agony. 

 

What if Changwook was never coming back? There was only one thing that could keep Changwook from coming back to her and that was death itself. 

 

What if she had finally succeeded in getting the man she loves with all of her heart kill? 

 

How could she go on? The pain at the very idea was crippling. The pain in her chest, it felt like her heart was literally breaking apart from the agony. 

 

When her mom had died, whom she had loved so very much, it had hurtled so badly that Yoona had thought that it was going to kill her. She had wonder how she would ever survive it. She had but it had cost her so much. In the end, it had taken her shutting herself down from the inside just so that she could survive, so she could endure until the pain had become just bearable enough to start dealing with but this...this was so much worse. So much more. This was something that Yoona didn't think she could survive. It was something she didn't want to survive, 'Please? Please be alive? Please don't leave me?' Yoona wasn't even sure if she was speaking out loud or in her mind but her wretch plea reverberated right through her entire being, her body, heart, and soul. 

 

Without Changwook she wasn't strong enough to face Kai or Sejoon or any of it. Without Changwook, without his love, his strength, without him there was no future for her, no hope. 

 

Each moment was a minute, each minute was an eternity. All there was was her prayer and the dreading feeling that she was well and truly alone in the world. The hollow pain, the half-hearted home, the endless begging of those on high. 

 

There was nothing else for her. 

 

Yoona tried to hold herself together, to keep herself from falling into a maddened crazy mindless hysterics, to keep hoping that Changwook would come back to her. She sat there on the floor with her legs folded up against her chest and her arms wrap around herself whiling rock herself back and forth. Only two words repeated themselves over and over in her mind as she prays. 

 

At the sound of the bolt being slid open Yoona's head snap up so fast that it actually hurtled and sent a wave of dizziness rolling through her but she didn't care. Yoona was on her feet before the bolt had even been completely pulled free of the lock. 

 

The door open and Changwook stumble in. 

 

Yoona didn't know who or if anyone had been behind Changwook to push him forward and she didn't care. Changwook was there. Changwook was back. Changwook had come back to her. Changwook was alive. 

 

The door slam closed behind Changwook with a resounding bang but Yoona hardly notice. 

 

Unable to stop herself, Yoona threw herself at him and wrap her arms around him as tightly as she could, hugging him for all that she was worth. 

 

Yoona deeply breathed in his scent, rejoicing in it and committing it to memory so that she would always know it no matter what. Changwook smelt so wonderful, the sweet musky smell was the most wonderful, most tantalizing that she had ever known. He smelt of man, sweat and of Changwook. There were newer smells there like the soap that they had been given in the bathroom to shower with and there were usual scents missing that Yoona usually associated with Changwook. 

 

Like the smell of coffee. Changwook loves his coffee. Yoona didn't think that she would ever again be able to inhale the smell of coffee and not instantly think of Changwook but as Yoona drew in the scent, she slowly came to realize that there was something, a scent he carried that hadn't been there before. 

 

They had been living in too close of a quarter for too long for Yoona not to have noticed it. 

 

It was something metallic, something coppery. 

 

Blood. Yoona could smell blood. 

 

Yoona lunch herself away from him, releasing her hold on him and look up at him and for the first time, she saw the bruises and blood. 

 

Yoona gasp in horror at the sight of it, concern for him flooding her and making her heart leap into , almost choking her, "Changwook Oppa. You are bleeding. What happen? Are you alright?" But even as she asked, Yoona knew he wasn't. There was blood on his chin from the cut on his swollen bottom lips but that wasn't the worst of the damage. Parts of his face were swollen, red and/or bruise. His left cheek was sporting a large deepening bruise that hadn't been there before and the top of his right ear was all bloody. 

 

Looking more closely, Yoona saw that there was blood in his hair around his ear as well, making his hair stick to his head. 

 

Yoona's eyes scan the rest of him, taking everything in. His shirt had come free of his black pants and hung in disarray around him. In fact, the entire shirt wasn't sitting on his body correctly as it had been before. A clear sign of a struggle or something that had been rough and although Changwook's shirt was a long sleeve one, it did nothing to hide the redness and swelling that was forming around his wrist, the skin was even broken in places, telling Yoona that he had been restrained and that he had fought against his bindings. 

 

Changwook had taken a beating. He had been tie up and beaten. 

 

Tears fill Yoona's eyes even as she fought against them. She had to stay strong. For him. If she broke down it would only worry and trouble him and that would be selfish. She had to stay strong so she could take care of him now. It was her turn to take care of him but what should she do? What could she do? 

 

Cold water. Cold water would help the bruising and swelling and she could clean away the blood. That would at the very least make him more comfortable. Wouldn't it? 

 

What if Changwook was hurt worse than she could see? What if beneath his clothes there were worse injuries? What had they done to him? 

 

"Oppa." But before Yoona could get more than that one word out of , Changwook was in motion. He walks straight past her and sat down on the bed that they had been avoiding going near since they have first been lock up there. 

 

A shocked gasp escape Yoona's open mouth but Changwook didn't either hear her or ignore her. He leans forward without a word and buried his bruise bloody face in his hands, balancing his elbows on his knees. 

 

Dread and fear grip Yoona, making ice water pool in her stomach and for a moment she fears that she was going to throw up but the moment passes. She remains nauseous but not so much so that there was a great risk of her being physically ill. 

 

Tentatively, Yoona took a slow step towards him like one would an injured wild animal. She wanted so badly to help him but she had no idea what his current mindset was. Her self-preservation instincts warn her to be careful until she was sure of where his mind was at, even though Yoona knew that he would never ever hurt her, "Oppa, what happens?" Yoona asks him gently, wishing that he had at least look at her. 

 

Changwook seems to be mostly alright but what did she know about serious injuries? 

 

"Changwook Oppa?" But Changwook remain motionless where he was, sitting on the bed with his face buried in his hands, "Talk to me Oppa!" Yoona begs him, her tone half-scolding half-beseeching. She couldn't stand his silence. She couldn't stand not knowing what was wrong. 

 

She had to help him but what could she do if he wouldn't let her if he continues to ignore her? 

 

"Oppa, are you alright? Talk to me please?" Yoona was on the verge of hysterics if he didn't talk to her soon she was going to lose it. 

 

Other than the blood and bruises that Yoona could see Changwook seem to be intact but that also wasn't the only kind of alright she had meant. He wasn't looking at her and that meant that something was up. 

 

Either Changwook was badly hurt and was hiding it from her or something had happened and he was struggling to deal with it. 

 

Yoona could think of nothing else that kept him from answering but he had to know how distraught she had been and still was. 

 

Changwook couldn't look at her. He couldn't even bring himself to open his eyes because he knew that the moment he did he will be forced to do what he had no other choice but to do but at the same time Changwook couldn't let her work herself into a state worrying about him, "It's worse than it looks." He mumbles, through his hands, his words partly muffled. 

 

Finally, Changwook had answered her. Her relief was near overwhelming but at the same time, there had been something off about the way he had spoken. 

 

If she believes him that he was alright that it was worse than it looks then something else was up, something that had unsettled him greatly, something that he was trying desperately to hide from her but for once was failing miserably. 

 

Yoona settled herself on her knees in front of him so that she was practically beneath him. She looks up into his face or tried to given that his head was still cover by his hands. 

 

"Oppa?" Her tone asks what was wrong. Changwook always seems to hear her tone better than the words she spoke. Changwook raises his head just a little, lifting his face out of his hands and look down into her very worried and fearful eyes. 

 

The concern in her shining dark brown eyes wrap around his heart like a warm hand and fill his stomach with icy dread and disgust at himself at even thinking of doing what he knew he had to do. 

 

There wasn't any choice anymore. 

 

He had to take this chance to save her. He couldn't save himself but he could still save her by doing the one thing that he had sworn he had never do. 

 

Oh god, how he loves this woman. What was he going to do? How could he do this when it would mean betraying her in the worst way and quite possibly earning her hatred in the process? 

 

Even sitting on the bed as he was was a small betrayal to her. They both had refused to come anywhere near the bed because of what it represented and because of those blasted chains resting on the top of the bed but again Changwook didn't have any choice. He would be putting the bed to use soon enough. Not the chains but the soft bed. There was no way in hell that Changwook was going to take Yoona on the hard floor. There wasn't much left that he could do for her but he could at least make their last time as easy for her as he possibly could. 

 

At least their first time had been solely for them, had been because of their love for each other and not for necessity. 

 

Changwook knew that Yoona loves him. He didn't doubt her or her love for him and she deserves so much more than him. She deserves the world, stars, sun, and moon and he would have gladly given them all to her but he couldn't. 

 

The way Yoona was looking up at him now both shatter and renew his heart. She loves him and he loves her every bit as much, more than he had ever thought he was capable of loving someone. Yoona always looks at him with such love and trust and now concern in her eyes. 

 

Yoona was a precious gift. She wore her heart and soul in her eyes and on her sleeve. Her true heart and trusting nature were evident in the fact that she had allowed herself to fall in love with him, a man who could never and would never be worthy of her no matter what he did and Changwook had no choice but to betray her. 

 

Changwook gently cups the side of her face in his hand, her cheek with his thumb as he stares unblinkingly back into her absolutely gorgeous eyes that were his heaven. 

 

Yoona only becomes more worried at his silence, his out-of-it-ness. Something wasn't right. There was something about him that was off. Her instincts were screaming at her that something was wrong but Yoona couldn't even begin to guess what. 

 

Yoona press on but Changwook's strange behavior had made her wary. 

 

"Oppa?" There was something very wrong with his expression, it was strangely dazed, out-of-it like he was drunk and his eyes look blank? Pain? 

 

"I'm so sorry Yoona," Changwook whisper heavily, thickly, as though the words themselves hurtled him to say. Yoona was filled with alarm. She wanted to touch him, to comfort him with her touch but something stop her, something told her not to. She was missing something here that she felt that she should be seeing. 

 

"What for, Oppa?" Yoona asks tentatively, forcing herself to ignore the voice inside that was telling her to back away from him. 

 

This was Changwook. He had never hurt her. 

 

Changwook didn't answer, only stare into her eyes for the longest time until Yoona finally understood. It clicks in her mind like that piece of the puzzle being put into place that made sense of the entire picture. 

 

There was only one reason Changwook had been given back to her. It explains why they had taken him only to return him later. 

 

They had been threatening him. Or more likely threatening her. Whichever, the result had been the same. 

 

Yoona's eyes grew wide as she understood. She couldn't believe it. She refuses to believe it. She refuses to believe that Changwook would ever even think of doing it. 

 

Yoona hurriedly rose to her feet and back away from him and the bed. That despicable bed that she couldn't even stand to look at let alone be near. 

 

She held up her hands as if to ward him off even though she knew that any effort to do so would be futile. Changwook would never ever hurt her, she trusted in that but he wouldn't need too. He was bigger, stronger and had skills and training that she could only guess. He wouldn't need to hurt her to force her where he wanted her. Besides, even if she could ward him off where could she run? The bathroom door had no lock even if the flimsy door could have held up against Changwook's strength. 

 

Yoona knew she had only one way to stop this and she had only one chance to do so. She had to talk him out of this even though she knew her chances were minuscule at best. 

 

When Changwook believe that he was doing something for the right reason there was almost no chance of persuading him otherwise. He was stubborn and headstrong and the most overprotective person Yoona had ever known. 

 

"No." Yoona told him, as firmly as she possibly could, putting as much firmness into her voice as she could muster, "No. Oppa, no. I won't do it. I won't. No." 

 

Changwook very slowly rose to his feet, his eyes glue to her with such a pathetic look within them that despite the fact that he was stalking her with the intention to do something that was against her wishes, she wanted to go to him and wrap her arms around him and assure him that everything was going to be alright. 

 

"You don't have a choice, Yoona," Changwook told her in that same sad detach tone. It was the voice of a man who knew he had been beaten and had given up in all ways that he possibly could, "It's me or Kai." 

 

Yoona's eyes grew wider at the action the implication of his words supplied but all she said in response was a resounding, "No." 

 

Changwook's eyes were filled with such sadness and remorse that Yoona knew that he didn't want to do this but he felt like he had too, that he had no other choice. This was what he had to do to protect her. 

 

How did you argue with a man who would do anything to protect her? 

 

"Yoona," Changwook told her softly, still stalking her as she slowly retreated from him. He matches her step by step, "If you aren't pregnant by the end of the week then your dad is going to give you to Kai and then you will be." Yoona's eyes grew hard with anger and impotent defiance, "I will never let him touch me." 

 

Changwook bow his head, closing his eyes against the harsh truth of their situation, "You won't have a choice." Yoona realizes just what he was saying. Against her will her eyes flicker towards the restraints that lay on the bed, waiting. Restraints that had been built for one purpose for one person. 

 

Her. 

 

Unaware that she was even doing so, Yoona back away blindly from Changwook or the bed or the chains, she didn't know. Maybe all three until her back hit the wall just beside the vault-like door. 

 

"No. No. Sejoon is a deranged but he wouldn't do this." But even as she said the words, desperately trying to find some argument that would still him from his mission, she didn't believe them. Sejoon would do this, he would do anything. 

 

This was just the lesser of his evils but while Sejoon would do anything to have a grandson from her, Changwook would do even more to protect her. That was who Changwook was, a warrior who didn't let anything get between him and what he believed he had to do. 

 

Changwook looks up into her eyes. There was such sadness in his eyes, along with a wild desperation, desperation to make her understand that he had no choice and that what he was about to do was for her, to keep her safe and out of Kai's cruel hands. 

 

"Yoona, he kidnaps you and held you against your will for two years." Changwook pointed out to her as if she actually needed reminding, "He kills your friends to get to you. He's desperate for a blood heir and he's willing to do anything. He's gone crazy, he's obsessed." 

 

Changwook steps towards her, closing the distance between them until he was right there in front of her, barely an inch of space separating their bodies. 

 

Not once did Changwook's gaze break from hers. 

 

Changwook raise his hand to her face and gently her cheek with his fingertips, his touch as light and as gentle as a whisper, "I can't let Kai or your dad do that to you. Please, I don't want to see you get hurt, especially like that. Just for a little while, can't we just forget about all of this? Can't we just be together just one more time? You will like it, I promise I will make it just as good for you as I did last time." 

 

Yoona's entire body shudder as she remembers. She could recall with perfect detail his touch on her body, his lips on her skin and how it felt to be virtually stuff by him as he moves above her. 

 

His words were as seductive as his touch, his suggestion as tempting as hell's most skill temptress but that's what this was. It wasn't out of love that he was seducing her now as he had last time. No, this time he was playing the devil's advocate. He just wanted to get her pregnant so he could protect her from Kai. 

 

At the cost of his own life. 

 

That thought was enough to cool her lust, to give her the strength to ignore her body's demands, to ignore her body's response to him just as he had been trained to do. 

 

Yoona looks up into his eyes, tears once again filling her own. She understood what was driving him, he had done so much already to protect her but right now she needed him to understand why she couldn't give in to Sejoon. The price was too high. 

 

"But if I gave him what he wants." Yoona whisper, her voice shaking as much as her entire body was, "He will kill you afterward." 

 

Changwook replied sadly but accepting, "I'm dead either way Yoona but what I can do before I die is to protect you from Kai. I'm sorry that I can't save you from your dad but I can do this. If we give him our child, he will have no reason to give you to Kai. He will probably even protect you from Kai. Of that much about your dad, I'm certain." The tears were streaming down her face now, though Yoona barely notices. How could she pay heed to anything else when the pain in her chest was starting to hurt so badly that it threatened to swallow her whole? "I can't lose you, Oppa. I love you." 

 

Changwook gave her the saddest smile Yoona had ever seen, one that threatens to shatter her heart beyond repair, "And I love you Yoona, that's why I have to do this. Why we have to do this." 

 

Yoona stares into his eyes for a moment before they harden. 

 

No. She wasn't going to give her dad what he wanted, she wasn't going to give her dad Changwook's child. Not when he intended to kill Changwook. She had to make Changwook understand that. 

 

She was never going to submit to her dad. Not for anything. 

 

"No!" Yoona cried, screaming the words at him as resolutely as she rejected the idea of losing him, "I won't give him your child! I won't!" 

 

Changwook was visibly struggling with himself, with his own thoughts and doubts. Yoona could tell by the flashes in his eyes and the way his body had begun to shake violently. 

 

"Yoona." 

 

"No!" Yoona violently shook her head, her hands curling into fists. Not from anger, not to use against Changwook but from her impotent rage at the situation she was trapped so helplessly in. 

 

"No, Oppa! I won't do it!" And just like that, Changwook was in complete control again. His body became still and his expression was one of a mixture of gentle love and sad self-loathing. Again he gently caresses her face as if he fears that it would be the last time he would ever be able to do so. 

 

"You don't have a choice. I won't let Kai hurt you." His tone was gentle and wretched, his touch was gentle and his eyes were defeated but there was an underlying resolve beneath that told Yoona that nothing she said or did was going to change his mind. That nothing was going to stop him from doing what he truly believe he had to do in order to protect her. 

 

Yoona stares up at him stubbornly, defiantly. He was strong, stubborn and determined but so was she damn it. 

 

"I do." Yoona told him, forcing every ounce of will and inner strength she had in the words, "I do have a choice." Changwook flashes a brief but real smile that was so sad that it made her heart cry out in pain once again. 

 

"I wish my parents could have met you." He told her wistfully, "My parents would have loved you. You are just like my mom, a force of nature whom just like my dad I can't help but love more than my own life. I never thought I will fall in love. After my parents were taken away from me I came to believe that love was a weakness but the truth is that I have never felt stronger. All because of you. Because I love you so much I'm willing to sacrifice anything, do anything for you. There is only one thing left that I can do for you Yoona and I know that you might never forgive me for what I'm about to do but at least I will die knowing that I did everything I could to make you safe." 

 

Changwook closes the tiny gap that separated them, pushing his body gently but solidly against hers. He was pressing her into the wall without pressing hard enough to crush her but hard enough that there was no chance of her going anywhere. He had effectively pinned her between him and the wall, pressing into her from her s to her thighs. 

 

Yoona her bottom lips into and bit down in a desperate effort to keep from crying out in wanton pleasure. Her breath came out in short quick pants and she could feel herself becoming wet. 

 

All Changwook had to do was come close and her body became too hot one touch and she wanted him with a desire that had her toes curling but when he pressed his body into hers she became so wet that she needed more to prepare her for his entry. 

 

Changwook had her body well train for him that was for sure. 

 

Then Changwook lowers his head and put his lips to her neck where he began kissing, nipping, and kneading his way with his mouth and lips along her neck. 

 

An involuntary moan of pleasure escape her parted lips, she couldn't hold it in anymore and threw her head back against the wall to give him better access to her skin even as inwardly she fought for control against her traitorous lusting body. 

 

Yoona had to get a grip on herself. She had to stop this. If she didn't then Changwook would have her mindless and beneath him within minutes. She knew firsthand how quickly all ability to think went right out the window when Changwook touches her. 

 

Changwook could make her body burn with just one touch. What hope did she have to hold out against him when he was hell-bent on seduction? But if Yoona didn't stop him now then it would be too late before she knew it. She hadn't taken any birth control in god only knew how long. What was that expression her friends had always use when talking about the importance of birth control? 

 

Oh, right. 'Miss one birth control pill and you are an idiot. Miss two and you are a mummy.' 

 

Yoona forces her mind to block out the pleasurable intoxicating sensation of Changwook's skill lips on her neck and brought her hands up and wedge them between the two of them, her hands flat on his solid muscle chest. She pushes against him, trying to push him away even though she knows that she didn't stand a chance of doing so. She couldn't push him away, the only way she was going to be free of him was if he decided to step back but still Yoona tried. She had, too. 

 

"Oppa, stop. Please?" Yoona begs him, even as she continue to futilely push harder against him, "I said no!" She snaps, forcing as much authority into her tone as she could but Changwook blatantly ignore her and kept going, his hands roaming over her body, caressing up and down her sides from her neck to her thighs. His mouth was working double time on her neck, sending delicious ripples of pleasure and heat through her entire body. 

 

It was driving her completely out-of-her-mind wild. 

 

Against her will, her toes curl and her fingers dug into the fabric of Changwook's shirt, pulling him closer, urging him on. 

 

Yoona had seconds before she was lost to the pleasure and demands of her body. She had to act and fast. She had to do something dramatic to get his attention off of what he was set on doing. 

 

"Changwook Oppa! Stop!" Yoona yells, the words right in his ear, "Do you really want to force me?! How will that make you any better than Kai?!" 

 

That stop him. 

 

Yoona had known it would. She hadn't even wanted to say it, it was cruel but he had left her with no choice. Changwook pulls back from her enough so that he could look at her but he kept his hands on her body, keeping her in place against the wall so she couldn't escape. He looks into her eyes, an odd blend of fear, sadness, desperation, and lust in his eyes, making them look wild in a way that told Yoona that he was at the end of his tether in so many ways. 

 

"Do you think Kai will stop when you ask, Yoona?" He asks her, his voice extremely strain. 

 

With all her strength, Yoona pushes him away from her in one desperate push. 

 

Changwook moves backward, freeing her, his hands leaving her body but his eyes never left hers. 

 

Yoona knew that she hadn't pushed him away. Changwook had step back. 

 

Had he even notice her futile attempts to push him away? Yoona honestly didn't know. 

 

Regardless though, Yoona was relieved that she had finally gotten through to him. At least enough to make him pause. 

 

Yoona hastily moves away from the wall and away from Changwook who remain where he was, only turn his head in order to keep his eyes glued to hers. She put herself in the middle of the room, now standing between Changwook and the bed. All the while never taking her eyes from his, never breaking any eye contact with him because she didn't want to risk snapping the tedious hold Changwook had managed to regain himself. 

 

"Do you think you can change my mind?" Yoona regretted the words the moment they were out of , they had sounded too much like a challenge. One Changwook wouldn't hesitate to accept. She continues on quickly, hoping that he will keep listening to her very poor choice of words, "I refuse to give my dad any child, let alone our child." 

 

Changwook bows his head, push himself away from the wall and turn his entire body around to face her. Now his back was too the wall. 

 

Which didn't necessarily make Yoona feel any less trap? 

 

"I won't hurt you, Yoona." It was a vow, a pledge, a promise, a solemn oath. 

 

In some strange way, Yoona could feel the steadfast commitment in his oath. She could feel all of his strength, all of his will, all of his courage, stubbornness, and determination in his oath as though it were a tangible part of him that had wrap itself around her, protecting her from every harm and possible heartache. 

 

This was Changwook. This was the core of him that he kept hidden from the world, the core of him that he always downplay so that people would know the iron core of him. 

 

The sight was dazzling, it was awe-inspiring, it was intimidating and intense but most of all it was dead serious and dead set on protecting her. 

 

"But Kai will hurt you and I can't die knowing I'm leaving you to that fate." Changwook took a single-minded step towards her. 

 

Yoona steps back. 

 

Changwook took two steps towards her. 

 

Yoona blindly scurried backward two steps. 

 

Changwook follows, his eyes glue unblinkingly on her like the predator he was, who knew he had cornered his prey. Yoona blindly back away another two steps and found herself back up at the foot of the bed. 

 

Yoona glance over her shoulder, knowing exactly what she was going to see but unable to stop herself from looking. 

 

The bed. 

 

Yoona quickly returns her full attention back to Changwook who was standing just in front of her. 

 

Yoona was fully aware exactly where she had just unintentionally placed herself and her eyes grew wide in alarm panic. Her heart was beating so loud in her chest that Yoona wonders if Changwook could hear it even from where he stood only a single step from her. 

 

Changwook wouldn't force himself on her, would he? He loves her. That Yoona knew with all certainty but she also knew that his will to protect her was fierce. 

 

Yoona was shaking, trembling before him and there was a desperate panic in her eyes that was damn near choking him. Changwook couldn't stand the sight of Yoona actually looking at him with something akin to fear in her wide eyes. 

 

He wasn't going to hurt her. He loves her. Yoona had to know both, right? After all, he had done for her, surely she could and would forgive him for this. It was selfish of him but even now before he did what he had to do, he wanted her forgiveness. 

 

His whole life, Changwook had live by the belief that it was better to ask for forgiveness than to seek permission which was exactly what he was doing now. 

 

Never before had Changwook found himself wanting forgiveness before he acted but he couldn't bring himself to ask her now. If he did, Changwook knew that he would never be able to get through with this but Yoona would forgive him, wouldn't she? 

 

In sheer desperation and self-preservation, Changwook turn himself over to his lust, focusing on it and pushing everything else away, including all thoughts of forgiveness, if Yoona didn't forgive him, at least he wouldn't have to live with it for long. 

 

Switching his mind off was the only thing he had to get through with this. 

 

He could do this. He could. 

 

For her. For his Yoona. As his last act. His last act would be protecting Yoona. Protecting her from being viciously by Kai. 

 

He could do that for her. He could. 

 

He would. 

 

He had, too. No matter how much he didn't want, too. Oh, he wanted her, he just didn't want her like this. 

 

'Please forgive me, Yoona?' 

 

Changwook closes the distance between them until their bodies were only just barely touching. Yoona could feel his body heat sweeping down on her so profoundly that it was like she was standing right up against an air heater. The tantalizing seductive smell of him fills her senses, heating her as thoroughly from the inside out. 

 

Yoona was burning from the outside and inside. Her entire body felt like living flame. It had felt like this each time they made love and Yoona knew that it was only going to get better, her body craved for it like her lungs craved for air after being underwater for too long. 

 

Oh god, she wanted him but they couldn't. 

 

Changwook swept his fingertips up her arms to her neck, making her shiver from the pleasure from the soft seductive touch. His large gentle hands cup her face and his lips came down to hers, stopping only a hair's breadth away. 

 

"Yoona." Changwook whisper, so softly that Yoona barely heard him, she felt more of the word as his lips brush against hers as they shape the single word, her name. 

 

Yoona could barely breathe but at the same time, her breath was rushing in and out of her in short rapid pants. With each inhale, Changwook's scent and his hot breath fill her senses, wrapping her in even more heat and making her sensual desire all the more demanding. 

 

She couldn't fight her own body much longer, against her own desire that with each touch Changwook made her feel hotter and more insistent. She knew that they couldn't do this, her mind was screaming at her that this was a mistake but the rest of her, her body, heart, and soul were screaming to become one with him again. 

 

They had been denied for far too long. Now that Yoona knew what it was like to make love with him, now that that part of her had been awoken, Yoona needed to be Changwook's woman. She needed it like she needed food and water like she needed air and gravity. 

 

The distance between them close. Yoona wasn't even sure which one of them had closed the distance between their straining bodies but suddenly every inch of her front was press into Changwook's. 

 

That seems to be all the cue that Changwook needed. He wraps his left arm around her waist, anchoring her to him and his right-hand curl around her neck. 

 

With her held securely against him, Changwook gently lowers her back down to the soft cool bed as he settled his weight on top of her, pinning her to the bed but without crushing her and that was the moment. Yoona closes her eyes against the tears. There would be no stopping him now. She had lost. Everything. 

 

Everything but her love for him. She might lose Changwook but she had never let herself lose her love for him. Changwook was doing this because he believes it was the best way he could protect her now and in return, Yoona would protect him. From himself. 

 

Yoona will her body to go limp. To not move. She wasn't going to fight him. Not for anything. She wouldn't fight him because fighting him would make what he was about to do something other than making love but she had to try, just one more time, to get through to him that she couldn't do this. 

 

"Oppa, please don't do this?" Yoona begs him softly, whispering directly into his ear as his hands resume moving over her body, this time working their way beneath the clothing. She begs him to stop while her body demanded that she beg him not to, "Please? If you love me, you will stop now." 

 

Changwook almost looks at her then but he knew that if he did he won't be able to go through with this, 'No, Yoona. It is because I love you that I must do this but I promise that I won't hurt you.' 

 

Forcing himself onward, Changwook reaches for the buttons of her texas teal plaid long-sleeve brushed twill shirt. He would make this as gentle as he possibly could. This wasn't about his needs or desire, it was about saving her. Yoona wanted this, she wanted him but she couldn't let him do this. Briefly but so many times since she had realized that she had fallen in love with him she had thought that she could give up a child to save him but now she knew better. She would never have been able to give up a son as her mom had done. She was strong but she wasn't that strong. She will never be able to live with herself for sacrificing her own son to save herself or even to save Changwook. 

 

Besides, any child of Changwook's Yoona would protect just as fiercely as she would Changwook himself. She could never give her dad what he wanted because the only child she had ever carry would be Changwook's and there wasn't a chance in hell that she will ever give up or endanger any child of Changwook's. 

 

There was nothing she wouldn't do to protect Changwook so how could she not protect an innocent piece of him just as relentlessly? 

 

"Oppa, I love you so much and if you want to do this, I won't fight you." Yoona had never heard her own voice sound so sad and so serious but yet so caring. She sounded just like her mom whenever her mom had implored her to understand or listen to something she was saying that was life and death important like the time her mom had explained to her just how dangerous her dad was and why it was so important that he never find them. 

 

That thought gave Yoona the strength to ignore her body's demands, to resist the seductions of the one man who was both her greatest weakness and strength. 

 

"But do you want this to be how I remember you?" Yoona finish, feeling for the first time in her life like a real grown-up, one who was losing all connection with the child she had once been. 

 

Sadly Yoona knew that the last of her childishness, her last grasp on the girl she had been had slip away. She was a grown up now, a woman and she had the strength and will of one. She wasn't a little girl anymore, she was a strong confident woman who was in love with a man who would die for her. 

 

If she had let him. 

 

At her words, Changwook froze. Somehow Yoona had always known just what to say to affect him to the maximum. It was like Yoona saw everything that he was, saw the very depths of his heart and soul and saw him for everything he was and because of that she knew exactly what to say or do to reach him when nothing else possibly could have. 

 

He loves her. Changwook knew that but Yoona truly did love him just as fiercely in return. She knew him, she saw him for everything that he was, shadows and all and she loves him still. 

 

She loves him. 

 

"God damn it!" Changwook swore violently, and at length, realizing that there was no way he could do this, not against her will. 

 

Without looking at her at all, Changwook moves off of her and the bed, leaving her there alone, still breathing rapidly. With barely control violence, Changwook forces himself as far from the bed as he could go which unfortunately was only the far corner of the room behind the bolted metal door. 

 

It was as far as he could get himself away from her in the confined space. 

 

Needing an outlet for his impotent but raging frustration that felt like a storm of madness inside of him that had been building for a lifetime, Changwook roar out in maddened frustration at the top of his lungs and drove his fist hard into the wall because there was nothing else for him to safely hit inside the cell. 

 

What he really wanted to hit was Sejoon and Kai. 

 

Slowly Yoona sat up, blindly doing up the buttons of her shirt that Changwook had undone. She jump startled and then flinch when Changwook threw his fist into the wall hard enough that she fears that he had just broken his hand as the wall was solid steel cover by plasterboard, she had noticed that when she had seen the door frame when the door had open the last time food had been brought to them but despite her worry for him that he had hurtled himself, Yoona remain seated where she was, not because she fears Changwook may hurt her but because he was strung so tightly, too tightly. His raging desperation to save her warring against the knowledge he couldn't was torturing him. 

 

It wasn't in his nature to admit defeat. He was a warrior, a protector and the one he loves was being threatened but he had done all he could do to save her and it still hadn't been enough. As a result, he was tearing himself apart from the inside. 

 

So Yoona would wait for him to get a hold of himself and calm down. 

 

They had to talk about this but that couldn't happen until Changwook was back in control of himself and his temper. 

 

Changwook whirl to face her, his expression wildly pain and pleading. He was beyond desperate, he was bordering on madness, push far beyond his limits already, "Yoona, do you understand that it's over? That your dad is going to get what he wants, whether you want to give it to him or not? Do you understand that in denying me you are choosing Kai?" 

 

Yoona looks straight into his wide wild eyes, her own sad but accepting. Inside she might not be anywhere near as calm but on the outside, she could put on a brave calm face for her love, "I wasn't lying when I said I will die first. There are some freedoms that he can take from us but there's nothing he can do to stop me from taking my own life." 

 

Yoona forces herself to ignore the agony she brought to his eyes by talking about ending her life. She bows her head and lowers her eyes to the floor so she wouldn't have to see it anymore. 

 

"I'm sorry I drag you into this, Oppa." Yoona told him sincerely, "I'm so sorry that you are going to die because of my stupid plan but no matter what happens I can't be sorry that I met you. I will never be sorry for falling in love with you. For so long I have been existing, not living and then you came into my life and you brought me to life. I have lived more in these past few months than I have in so long and I'm so very grateful to you for that. I'm so grateful for you." 

 

Changwook ran both of this hands through his hair in a gesture of pure frustration as he started pacing back and forth like a caged tiger that was well and truly pisses off, "I feel the same way. I love you Yoona but I can't let you die." 

 

How could she make him understand? How could she make him realize that if this was it then they were going out together? There was no other choice for them. 

 

"Oppa..." 

 

"No!" Changwook cut her off sharply, coming to an abrupt halt and turn to face her but he made no move to close the distance between them that to the both of them felt a mile away, "Don't you understand that I can't let that happen to you? I can't let Kai you." 

 

Yoona breathed in a sad deep breath in an attempt to both gather her courage and organize her thoughts into words before she raises her eyes to once again meet his. She felt oddly calm and sure. If these were her only choices then she had made her decision and it was one that she would accept. 

 

"I watch my mom live a half-life all my life," Yoona stated, as the opening statement of her explanation. 

 

Maybe Changwook wouldn't understand but she had to try to make him understand. She had to make him understand that she wasn't giving up but taking a path of her own choosing from this point onward. 

 

"My mom couldn't live because of the son she had left behind, the son she had sacrificed to the devil for her other child and she never forgave herself for it. Not for a moment. She never forgave herself for leaving her son behind in this life and in the end she was right, wasn't she?" It was a rhetorical question, "Sangho dies, murder by our dad's enemies. My mom loves Sangho every bit as much as she loves me." Her voice trembles at the end. 

 

Yoona swallows thickly and forces herself to keep going, "I have lived in my dad's world for two years and I have seen what happens to son's born into this world. I had rather die than give a son to this life as my mom did. I had rather die than allow a child of mine to grow up to be just like Kai. I can't do it. Do you understand that, Oppa? Can you understand that I had rather end my life than allow any child of mine or yours to be forced into this world of greed and blood?" 

 

Yoona raises her hand out towards him, palm up, "You should know better than anyone else. My dad destroys lives. He murders your parents in front of you, he kills my friends and sent my mom to an early grave and you want me to give up a child to that world? At least with my death, my dad's tainted bloodline and sick obsession will end." Slowly Yoona rose to her feet, everything about her imploring him to understand and accept what she already had, "I trust you, Oppa. I believe in you. I have faith that if there is a way out of here that you will find it but if not I know what I have to do." 

 

Changwook opens his mouth to object, moving to take a step towards her but Yoona's raise hand, this time her fingers pointing upwards stop him. She spoke before he could. 

 

"I won't take my life as long as you are alive." Yoona assures him, promise him, "Because as long as you are alive then there's still hope and I don't want to force you to watch someone else you love die. I can't and won't do that to you. I don't want to die. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, loving you but if we can't have that then this is the only way." 

 

Yoona closes the distance between them, taking each step slowly but steadily. She wanted him to know that she wasn't afraid of him just because he had had a violent outburst. 

 

Once close enough Yoona took both of his hands in her own, offering him what little comfort she could, "I hate it so much that the blood in my veins is the same that took your parents from you. I hate it that I can't hate my dad as much as I should. My mom loves him too much for me to hate him entirely. I hate that I know I might very well end up getting you killed. I hate that you won't find the justice you have been fighting for your entire life but most of all I hate that I have caused you so much pain." 

 

 

Defeat wasn't a part of Changwook's make-up, it wasn't part of who he was but not even he could maintain his temper in the face of such a profound speech. 

 

Pulling his hands-free of hers, Changwook wraps his arms around her and pull her close to him, holding her to him as tightly as he could without hurting her. He closes his eyes and laid his head on the side of her head, taking in how wonderfully she felt in his arms. This time he held her with only the intent to embrace and comfort rather than seduce. 

 

"I don't care about any of that anymore." Changwook told her honestly, speaking of his revenge for his parents, "All I want is for you to be safe. For you to live." 

 

"That's all I want for you." Yoona whispers into his shoulder, the words slightly muffled, "But just for now all I want is for you to hold me." 

 

Changwook pulls her closer to him, all but crushing her to his chest. He would hold her all night if that was what she wanted. 

 

There they stay for a long time, standing in the middle of the room holding each other and hoping that this wasn't their last night together but knowing that it might very well be. 

 

For the first time since the cell door had first close behind them, Changwook was asleep, really asleep. He had allowed himself to doze off but he had never allowed himself to sleep deeply enough that the cell door could be open without alerting him. 

 

Yoona knew that was solely for their protection. Changwook was a warrior and what warrior wanted to be caught unaware but maybe all the mental and emotional stress and constantly being on the alert had finally been too much for him and after their argument last night Changwook had fallen asleep holding her. He was slump against the wall in their usual spot and Yoona could just sense that he was really asleep but for the first time Yoona had remained awake all night. Instead of Changwook staying awake to watch over her as she slept, unintentionally Yoona had done the same for him. 

 

Maybe that was why Changwook had finally been able to get some real sleep or maybe it had just been a coincidence that Yoona hadn't been able to sleep no matter how hard she had tried to relax, both her body and mind but neither had her body nor mind had been in any inclination to rest. Her body because of both her discomfort from spending so many days and nights sitting on the floor and her ual frustration at having to deny Changwook the night before. 

 

Yoona was new to lovemaking but already her body knew what it wanted and apparently it didn't like being denied now that she had had a taste of just how wonderful lovemaking could be. 

 

Changwook only had to touch her and her body was readying itself for him but her physical frustrations were nothing compare to her mental frustrations. 

 

All night Yoona had been thinking about their entire situation thoroughly, desperately trying to figure out some way to get Changwook out of this alive but there had been nothing that had miraculously come to her. 

 

Briefly Yoona had considered somehow taking her own life right here in the cell before Changwook woke up, her reasoning being that if she took herself out of the equation then there would be no reason for any of this but within moments Yoona had dismissed the idea, not because she was scared of death, she was, she didn't want her own life to end but not enough to stop herself from doing it if necessary but because it wouldn't change Changwook's fate. 

 

Her dad would kill Changwook just out of fury. 

 

So that option wouldn't save Changwook. 

 

Even more briefly Yoona had considered agreeing to give her dad his precious grandson but she wasn't an idiot. No matter what her dad promise her, he would never keep his word. Changwook was a threat to his precious empire, there was no way that her dad would let Changwook live, no matter the reward. 

 

So where did that leave her? She couldn't kill herself, not as long as Changwook was alive as there would be little point to it and she couldn't give her dad what he wanted. 

 

All roads lead to the same outcome. Changwook's death and herself following soon after because there was no way she was going to give her dad what he wanted after he kills the man she loves with all of her heart. 

 

She couldn't live that life, not the life her dad had planned for her. To be forcibly impregnated and give birth to a son that would be raised in this life, no doubt her dad intended her to raise her son here, trap in her dad's gilded prison for the rest of her life, either here in the breeding cell or the mansion above, there was no difference. 

 

So what could she do? What was left for her to do? 

 

A familiar metallic sound wretched Yoona out of her head and into the real world that was her own hell, personally design just for her. 

 

Yoona expected the familiar but not too loud sound of the cell door being open to wake Changwook, who was sound asleep beside her, his arms wrap around her and his head resting on her shoulder but Changwook didn't wake up. 

 

Yoona stare at him, actually startled that he hadn't woken up. Changwook must truly be exhausted not to have leaped to his feet and place himself between her and the door. 

 

What was she going to do? 

 

The door opening told Yoona what time it was, not exactly but an educated guess and she lifted her head as the door swung open and in step the two goons who usually brought them their breakfast. 

 

They were also mildly surprised that Changwook was asleep instead of on his feet glaring daggers at them but they said nothing. 

 

They each set down the tray they were carrying, one at a time so one could cover the other and then they turn to leave but Yoona's words stop them. 

 

"Tell my dad I want to talk to him." 

 

They both gave her a startled look but said nothing, only turn and left, bolting the door behind them. 

 

The sound of the cell door closing did wake Changwook. His eyes open and his head shot up off of her shoulder, his eyes immediately scan the room in search of the threat. He was up, his body tenses as if ready for battle. 

 

Yoona said nothing. Only rose from the wall she was leaning against and went to retrieve the tray, balancing one on each hand she brought them back just to set them down on the ground before sitting back down to eat her breakfast. Changwook looks down at her and then the tray and whip his head back around to the door, the expression on his face was horrified and disbelieving. 

 

Yoona knew why. He was horrified at himself that their enemies had come into their cell without waking him, for the first time yet. She knew her love, in a couple of moments, he would go from horrified to self-loathing and self-berating. 

 

She wanted something to eat before she had to deal with Changwook in his 'I-fail-as-a-protector' state of mind. Honestly, the man had to learn that the entire world didn't rest on his shoulders, well not just on his shoulders. Oatmeal, fresh fruit, and lemonade juice were on the menu for their breakfast this morning but at least the oatmeal was warm and creamy, maple and brown sugar flavor, the fruit was fresh and ripe and the lemonade juice was chill to perfection. Yoona had to hand it to Sejoon, they were his prisoners but the quality of their food hadn't declined in the least. 

 

Yoona dug into her breakfast as she patiently waited while Changwook continues to stand silently berating himself and full on stressing himself out. 

 

Honestly, it was a wonder that he hadn't given himself a . 

 

When Yoona was finally finish eating and was sipping the last of her juice was when she looked up at him, feeling strangely calm. 

 

Or maybe it was more of an internal numbness. Yoona honestly didn't know which it was, calm or numb. Maybe a blend of both. 

 

"Changwook Oppa." Yoona scolded him gently, "Eat something." 

 

Changwook looks at her then, his eyes consumed with guilt and self-loathing, the blend of the two made his eyes look pain. 

 

What was she ever going to do with him? 

 

Yoona looks straight into his eyes, her own holding both a warning and a reprimand. 

 

"Is it so wrong that I watch over you for once instead of you always being on guard?" Yoona asks him, her tone matching her eyes. She or more accurately, her female pride was just daring him to disagree with her, "Even the most harden soldiers need their sleep." 

 

Changwook stares at her for a long moment, after which he shook his head, most likely at himself and sat back down beside her and began eating. 

 

Smart man. He had known better than to even try to insinuate that she wasn't fully capable of standing guard over him while they slept as he had over her. 

 

When Changwook had finished his breakfast and was sipping the last of his juice, Changwook comment on how much he misses coffee. Honestly, the man was a coffee addict but when they heard the heavy bolt on the door slide and the door open Changwook was on his feet at once, stepping between her and the door before anyone even had the chance to enter the room. 

 

Yoona slowly set down her plastic cup of lemonade juice and rose to her feet. She knew why Sejoon and his goons, including Kai were there but Changwook didn't. She had decided not to tell him that she was expecting a visit from her dad because she didn't want to tell him why. 

 

It would have only led to another argument and it no doubt still would afterward. 

 

Sejoon ignores Changwook completely, his eyes settling on Yoona with an obviously fake polite pleasantness. 

 

"You wanted to see me, Yoona?" 

 

Changwook whirl around to face her, his eyes narrowing on her in disbelieving accusation. 

 

Yoona wonders if Changwook would let himself get mad at her. She had asked to see Sejoon, had been expecting him but she hadn't told him. She had only witnessed him get mad at her a handful of times and he had only allowed himself to express that anger to her a couple of those times. 

 

It was like Changwook love her so much that his overprotectiveness of her was so great that he felt he shouldn't ever be angry with her but this was the closest Yoona had ever come to betraying him, to lying to him, that she guess that he had every right to be a little tick off at her. 

 

Guilt fill her but Yoona forces herself to ignore it. She had to do this, she had to try this one last time. 

 

Yoona steps forward, intending to go to Sejoon so that they could step out into the corridor for privacy. There was no way that Changwook would let her say what she had to say if he were present. He had only do something reckless that would probably end up getting himself hurt or kill. 

 

Changwook's hand shot out, grasping hold of her arm and holding her in place. His eyes narrow, even more, making him look very intimidating and dangerous. 

 

Thunderous. That was the word. He was a building storm that was about to unleash hell. 

 

Yoona tried to implore him to let her do this with her eyes, begging him to trust her, "Oppa, I only what to talk to him. I promise I will be right back. I will only be just on the other side of the door." She looks around Changwook at her dad, "Right?" 

 

Sejoon raises an eyebrow in response to her bossiness but he nodded his head once in confirmation, "Right." "Don't." He was begging. 

 

Yoona drew in a deep breath and tried to reassure him with her eyes that it would be alright, that she knew what she was doing. 

 

Again Changwook's eyes narrow on her but this time Yoona couldn't read what he was thinking on his face or in his eyes. 

 

After a moment which Changwook spent glaring down at her, he turns his narrow eyes back to Sejoon and when he spoke his voice was ice cold and filled with resolve that was as hard as iron. 

 

"She's not going anywhere with him." Changwook swiftly indicated with his head towards Kai who had been watching silently from the sidelines with his arms folded across the chest, a sneer twisting his face the entire time, "Fine." Sejoon replied, with strain patience as he turns to Kai and the goons who stood between them, "The two of you stay here." His eyes narrow in on Kai in warning, "Behave." And with that done, Sejoon and the remaining goons step out into the corridor. 

 

With a relieved breath, Yoona looks up into Changwook's eyes as he turns back to her, "I will be right back. I promise." And with that Yoona gently pull her arm from Changwook's hold. She had to stay strong so she could deal with her dad. 

 

One of the goons close the door behind her and slid the bolt into place, locking the door. 

 

The two of them had been lock inside together for so long that Yoona felt the close door between them. It was like the bond between them had been a rope that had been cut two-thirds of the way through. 

 

Yoona felt the distance between them. It was a steady ache inside of her heart that made it hard to breathe but she had to do this. This might very well be her last chance. Yoona turns her full attention to her dad, pushing all other thoughts from her mind. She had to focus. 

 

In a desperate attempt to focus, Yoona spent a moment studying Sejoon and she found herself wondering what had he been like before the madness had taken hold before her brother had died. 

 

Had he been the man her mom had remember up until then or had that man been slowly dying inside of him for the past decades? 

 

Yoona sighs heavily, sadly. She wonders where the man her mom had loved had gone; there was nothing left of that man in Sejoon now and she didn't feel angry or hatred towards him anymore, she just felt sadness and pity that even though he was surrounded by people he was so obviously well and truly alone. 

 

What must it be like to be alone? Was that what had finally driven him into obsession-driven madness? Yoona couldn't image what it must feel like to be alone. Sure, she had been trapped here in her dad's mansion for so long but she had friends whom she loves who were missing her. She had people in her life, her dad didn't. Not really. He had no friends, no family, Yoona might have been his daughter but they were in no way family to each other. 

 

That was why her dad really wanted a grandchild. He wanted someone to love and someone who could love him in return. That had to be it. No one did the terrible things he had done just to get an heir, it might be a convenient excuse but it couldn't have been the main reason that drove him. 

 

Her brother had been all Sejoon had had and when he had died so violently so suddenly it had left an emptiness inside of him that had slowly driven him insane until there had been nothing left but his obsession to get back a small piece of what he had lost but just because Yoona felt sorry for him and understood just a little bit of what drove him insane to obsession in no way meant that she was ever going to give him what he wanted. 

 

Sejoon regarded her impatiently, "What do you want to say to me, Yoona? Do you want to bargain for that young man's life? The FBI agent you brought into my home? Do you think that's a betrayal I could ever forgive?" 

 

Yoona wasn't that naive. Her dad had already decided Changwook's fate and he had done so without a moment of hesitation or an ounce of remorse. Her dad was about to completely destroy her life, her heart but he didn't care one bit. 

 

That was who her dad was, as cold and unfeeling as he was ruthless and obsess. 

 

Maybe he had always been that way or maybe he had become that way by necessity, either way, Yoona didn't think that she will ever really know for sure which. 

 

"Would it do me any good to bargain with you?" Yoona asked him calmly, but sadly. Without her hatred to fuel her anger, she was left strangely calm and eerily clear-headed. It was one of those moments in which she felt like an adult who was mature enough to handle anything rather than an awkward young person fill with doubts who didn't know what the hell she was doing. 

 

"You want a grandson so badly but there is still one thing you wouldn't trade for it." Yoona went on, "Your grand empire that you built with blood, suffering, and death." She raises her hands, indicating to all around them, "I would give you a child for Changwook's life if it really came down to it but you had never let Changwook live outside of this dungeon, would you? You can try to tell me that you had let him go if I give you what you want but you had killed him the moment he was out of my sight, wouldn't you?" 

 

Sejoon didn't say a word. He didn't bother denying what they both knew. 

 

"I can't save him, can I?" Yoona asks rhetorically, not expecting an answer, "And he's the only thing I had ever trade you a child for. So I ask you, where does that leave us?" 

 

Sejoon's face darkens, becoming cold and dangerous, threatening and intimidating, "You don't have any bargaining power with me, Yoona." He spat the words at her, letting her once again glimpse at the rage that he kept most of the time conceal beneath his businessmen's mask, "You never did. I can take what I want from you by force and you know it. I'm giving you one last chance to submit willingly, to spare yourself the pain. Regardless of your feelings towards me, you are still my daughter. It is not my first preference to let Kai lose upon you." 

 

Yoona laughs bitterly, unable to believe her dad could be so blasé about ordering the of his own daughter. 

 

It had been two years, didn't he know her at all? 

 

"Spare myself the pain?" She repeated incredulously, "What could you possibly do to me that's worse than the pain you have already inflicted upon me? You have murder my friends, burnt down their home. You have kept me prisoner here for more than a year, telling yourself it's for my own good just because you have gilded the cage." Yoona extended her arms towards the door of her cell, "You are going to kill the man I love and use a child you force from me to try to force me to stay in this life to raise him." 

 

"I wasn't lying about that." Sejoon objected coldly, acting as though she had offended him, "Once I have my grandson you are free to leave. After you sign away your parental rights to me that is." 

 

Yoona closes her eyes against the pain of it. So Sejoon really had thought of everything. He intended that once she gave birth to a son her dad really would let her go but first, he had assured that she could never take her son away from him. By signing over her parental rights to him, he could release her and there would be nothing Yoona could do legally to get custody of her son returning to her. 

 

Yoona opens her eyes and drew in a deep breath, whether for courage or patience she had no idea, "If you knew anything about me you will know that I will never leave my child here alone. My mom did and in the end, it kills her. I'm not as strong as she was but it doesn't matter because the moment Changwook dies, I'm going to take my own life. I had rather die than remain your prisoner." 

 

Sejoon opens his mouth to say something but Yoona raise her hand, silencing him and speaking first, ignoring the anger that flares in his eyes for her daring to doing so. 

 

"I know you don't believe I will do it but that just proves how little you know about me, doesn't it? I never thought I will fall in love as deeply as I have but Changwook." Yoona struggle for the right words to describe her love for him. 

 

How do you explain true love to a man who had forgotten what love was? A man who maybe had never known love at all? 

 

"Changwook is unlike anyone I have ever met. You don't know me but like my mom I love with my whole heart and there will never be anyone else for me. Without Changwook, only my friends remain, friends whom I can only truly keep safe by ending my life." Yoona place both of her hands over her midsection, indicating to herself, "You say I have no bargaining power but without me, your precious line ends and even with all your money and power, you can't change that but on the other hand." Yoona once again went on before her dad could say a word, "You can't afford to keep Changwook alive, even chain up down here. He's just too good at what he does. You know one day your hired goons will slip up and he will escape this prison and you can't risk that. So we are at an impasse. So what are we going to do, dad?" It was a challenge, a testament that even though she remains his prisoner, she was still defiant, "Neither one of us is ever going to win this. So how will this ends depends completely on you." Sejoon considers her darkly for a long moment, a moment in which Yoona fear that she had goaded her dad into doing something terrible but after a long silent moment Sejoon let out a loud delighted laugh, looking truly pleased, "You are my daughter. You might not want to admit it but there's a lot of me in you. That iron will, that defiant fire, all of that comes from me." 

 

Yoona shook her head sadly, bowing her head in defeat. She had tried to make him see and she had failed. What more could she do to make him understand? To make him see her? 

 

"I never said I wasn't your daughter." Yoona told him in a quiet subdued voice, "I only said that you aren't a father to me." 

 

Acceptance wash over her. It was done then. There was no other way that this could end. Her dad was going to carry this on until the end. Changwook would die, murder by her own dad and Yoona would find a way to end her own life before Kai had a chance to touch her. 

 

Yoona didn't want to die but there was no other way. She couldn't live this life. She couldn't endure Kai's sadistic touch and she absolutely couldn't live without Changwook, not now that she knew what it was to be his woman. 

 

It was hard to say what she was feeling. Was it defeat or was it acceptance? Was it dejection or was it peace? 

 

Was she at peace with her decision or had she just accepted it as the only way because to live on and endure the fate her dad had planned for her was so much worse than death? 

 

"Do you see anything of my mom in me?" Yoona asks, startled by the sound of her own hesitant voice asking the question she had always wonder but never had the nerve to say out loud. 

 

She hadn't meant to ask it now. It was like suddenly had a mind of its own and had spoken without her consent. 

 

Sejoon gave her a strange look as if he couldn't figure out what she was asking and why she was asking it, "What?" "You said that you see a lot of you in me," Yoona explain. She had asked the question, she might as well see it through. What did she have to lose? "But do you see any of my mom in me?" 

 

Sejoon stares at her for a long moment with a serious and somewhat reminiscing expression on his face. For that brief moment, he actually looks younger. 

 

"Yes, I see your mom in you." Sejoon answer, with more emotion in his voice than Yoona had ever heard before. Emotions that Yoona swore included sadness and regret. 

 

"I see her in you every time I look at you." Her dad went on and that was what he was right then, her dad, a glimpse of the man her mom had love, "I hear her in the headstrong words you speak and in your defiant eyes. Your mom looks at me the very same way you are now the night she took you and left me." 

 

Abruptly, Sejoon broke the eye contact with her by bowing his head ever so slightly as if he suddenly couldn't stand to look at her anymore. 

 

"You are your mom's daughter." He whispers regretfully, his head still bowed. 

 

Silence stretch between them until it became downright unbearable but Yoona dare not break it. So many different things she could have said pass through her mind but she kept them all to herself. 

 

If she had ever had a chance to talk her dad out of his insanity, this was it but not with words at this very moment, the words she had needed to say had been said. What she needed right now was for her dad to think, to reflect on everything he had done and everything he was doing. She needed him to feel remorse for what he had done and what he was doing. 

 

Only then was there a chance, as small and as unlikely as it seems, that Sejoon would put an end to this. 

 

"But none of that matters anymore." Sejoon mumble dejectedly, dashing every bit of hope she had dared to let herself feel in the last few moments and when Sejoon raise his head to look at her again, the glimpse she had seen of her dad was gone and the businessman was back. 

 

"I have made both of our positions clear," Sejoon told her, using his sternest businessman tone, one that was both threatening and immovable. He had made up his mind and that was that "I have given you every opportunity to do this the easy way but now you are forcing my hand. This is your last chance, Yoona. Take it or suffer the consequences." 

 

Sejoon nodded sharply at the goons who stood behind her. The goons snap to attention and briskly open the cell door, no doubt so that she could be put back in it. 

 

Yoona sighs with sadness and regret and turns without another word, intending to return to her cell, to Changwook, without another word but when the door open Yoona froze, her eyes going wide. Her mind acknowledges what her eyes saw before what her ears heard. 

 

On the floor right inside the doorway was the goon that Sejoon had left behind with Changwook and Kai. The goon was lying face down on the floor very obviously unconscious, although he had no visible injuries and only across the room, only a few meters from the unconscious goon was Changwook and Kai, lock in physical combat as they roll around on the floor throwing punches at each other whenever the opportunity presented itself. 

 

To Yoona's eyes, Kai seems to be in worse shape than Changwook but not by much. Both were bruised and bleeding. It only took the two to realize that they were no longer alone because abruptly they froze like two rabbits caught in a hunter's spotlight, Kai on top of Changwook, straddling him with his arm drawn back ready to deliver what Yoona knew would be a brutal punch to Changwook's face. Changwook was on his back on the floor but he had obviously been about to turn the tables judging by the way Yoona had noticed his body tense right before they had realized that they had company. 

 

If the situation hadn't been so serious and perfect time to illustrate her point, Yoona would have laughed at how they were frozen in place looking as startled and guilty as a couple of little boys who knew they had been caught doing something very naughty that they had explicitly been told not to do. 

 

Yoona turns to look at her dad straight in the eye, now outwardly seeming un-phase by the display the two of them were presenting that in any other situation Yoona would have found highly entertaining. 

 

"You see." Yoona said to him, fully aware that her dad could clearly see both her face and the two behind her, "Changwook will never stop fighting. He and I are the same that way. I always knew even before I went to the FBI that the chances of either of us surviving this were slim but I took the chance anyway because even then I had rather die than give you what you want." 

 

Yoona turns back around to look sadly into Changwook's eyes, "I'm just so sorry that I had to get Changwook kill with me." 

 

Real gut-wrenching terror flash in Changwook's eyes, not for himself Yoona knew but for her. 

 

There was something else in his eyes and Yoona marvel at how close they had become in such a short period of time. Changwook didn't want her to give up, to accept that death was their only way out. Her acceptance was killing him. 

 

Without giving him any warning, Changwook swung his fist out upwards, catching Kai under the chin and sending him flying backwards and with a helpful shove from Changwook, Kai fell to the floor beside him, leaving Changwook free to quickly get to his feet and step away from Kai who was no doubt still seeing stars from Changwook's final blow but Changwook didn't come to her. He remains where he was, his eyes glued to hers. He seems to be waiting for something, maybe Sejoon's reaction, maybe hers. Yoona just didn't know. 

 

Yoona was barely aware of her dad ordering the rest of the goons to get the two men, Kai, and the unconscious goon, out of the cell or the goons rushing to obey. All she knew, all she cared about was Changwook and the feeling that was plaguing her. 

 

Maybe it was feminine intuition or just logic but either way, it felt final. Like this was it. They had reached the end and there was nowhere else to go. 

 

It felt like the end. 

 

Sejoon might have said something to her before he left, Yoona would never know but when Yoona finally became aware of her surroundings once again, it was just the two of them once more. 

 

A wretched sob escape her lips, making her realize that she was crying, her body trembling. 

 

This was the end. Her dad was going to come back and he was going to kill her love. 

 

Goodbye. That was what her mind was trying to tell her, that this was her chance to say goodbye but how? How do you say goodbye to your heart? To your reason for living? And then Changwook was right there, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. 

 

Changwook didn't say a word. There was nothing to say. He just held her with the intention of never letting go. They just stood there in silence holding each other, Yoona weeping softly into his chest. 

 

Two tears leak from his eyes but Changwook quickly wipe them away so that Yoona wouldn't see them. 

 

This was it. There was no more time and no other choice. It would mean going against orders and risking an undercover operation that went back years but there just wasn't any other choice left. 

 

Yoona and her undercover FBI agent had finally run out of time. They had push Sejoon too far and now it was a matter of life and death. 

 

Theirs. 

 

There was no other choice. 

 

One way or another, blood was going to be spilled tonight. The only question was whose? 

 

Changwook woke to the sound of the bolt of the door being carefully slid out of place. He didn't move, only open his eyes, immediately aware that someone was trying to open the door quietly. 

 

An unknown time ago the two of them had fallen asleep in the middle of the bed on top of the covers and sometime during their sleep the two of them had assumed that their normal position when they slept together in the same bed. They were spooning, Yoona wrap protectively by his much larger body, his arms wrap around her, holding her close against his chest. 

 

Changwook took only the shortest moment to take in the sight of Yoona sleeping peacefully in his arms as this was most likely it. They had had their last moments together and then Changwook was in motion. Silently and stealthily, Changwook uncurls himself from around Yoona and slip off the right side of the bed. The moment his feet touch the floor, he lowers himself into a crouching position and reaches beneath the bed just as the room fell silent. 

 

The bolt was free of the lock. 

 

The weapon felt familiar and reassuring in his hand, the weight of the weapon as familiar to him as his own heartbeat. 

 

This was it. This was both his fate coming for him and his one chance. Very soon he would most likely be dead but before he went down he was going to do absolutely everything he could to give Yoona a chance to run for it. She was clever and cunning; she had escaped the grounds once before she could do it again. 

 

With his weapon in his hand and his eyes on the door, knowing that it would open any moment, Changwook clamp his hand down over Yoona's mouth, instantly waking her up. 

 

They weren't likely to shower the room with bullets, they would make sure that Yoona was well out of the line of fire before they took him down. That gave him an advantage. He could take at least some of them down before they could overpower him but he still needed to get Yoona into a more defendable position. 

 

Beneath his hand, Yoona made a startled but muffled sound and her body went tenses but that only lasted a moment. Even in the dim light and having just been abruptly woken, Yoona somehow knew that it was him and she relaxes a little beneath his hand. 

 

Trusting that she had correctly interpreted his means of waking her, Changwook removes his hand from and yank her up off the bed and shove her behind him, all but throwing her into the corner of the room that was furthest from the cell door that was slowly opening. 

 

Changwook took his defensive position in front of Yoona, standing steadily between her and the door, his feet set apart, his entire body tense and battle-ready. 

 

He raises his weapon and aims at head height at the door where any moment now he fully expected someone's head to appear in his eye line. 

 

This was it. 

 

Light flooded the room as the lights were . 

 

Changwook's grip on his weapon tightened. His body tense until he was coiled as tightly as a spring. In his chest, his heart race, pumping adrenaline flooded blood through his body, although his breathing remains steady and silent. His eyes were as black as night. If death itself had eyes, it would be these eyes. 

 

A figure step into the room. 

 

This was it. 

 

'Yoona.' 

 

Changwook's finger tightens on the trigger. 

 

---

 

N/A: I'm sure MOST of you guys are curious to find out who the other undercover agent is while some of you guys must have probably already figured it out I don't know but no more guessing because I will be revealing who the other undercover is in the next upcoming chapter tomorrow along with why Sejoon, Yoona's dad, kill Changwook's parents so stay tuned with me and don't go anywhere ;) 

 

- butt3rflyl0v3r ♡