“Well,” Jaehyun said as he sat down, it was already ten in the morning, and most of them were still in bed. Unsurprisingly, Taeri was sleeping in.

“I still don’t understand how she did it. Sure, she had that bomb planted weeks ago, but Tee was surrounded by armed men,” Johnny spoke.

Jungwoo picked up his coffee.

“The bomb must have caused a distraction, but..just how,”

“Did you ask her?” Taeyong questioned.

“No. She scares me sometimes.” Johnny nodded, Taeyong chuckled.

“Do you actually think my sister can fight off ten or so men and come out unscathed? Taeri must have had another trick up her sleeve.” Taeyong stated.

“You sound like you’re reassuring yourself.” Johnny looked at him, the other male puffed his cheeks.

“It doesn’t add up, hyung.” Jungwoo said.

Lucas stepped out of his room and was surprised to find Chapo and Pablo waiting for him.

“Agasshi hasn’t fed you boys yet?” He asked with a small smile as crossed the hall, the dogs at his heels and tailed after him.

Lucas noticed how Taeri’s door was opened, he paused before making his way to towards it.

“Taeri?” He called as he stood by the doorway, Chapo and Pablo rushed in to the room and dashed towards the walk-in closet.

“Are you awake?” Lucas called again, he walked into the room and found her bed empty. His eyes roamed around the space when he noticed a shadow inside the walk-in closet.

“Taeri, are you dressed~” He was speaking as he slid the doors open, then he froze.

“Lucas!” Taeri halted, her palms hovering over her lower back.

“W—What..” Lucas trailed off as his eyes scanned on her exposed skin, Taeri had lifted her shirt and had positioned her back facing the mirror as she tried place ointment over the purple marks on her back. He could also see a huge scratch just above the waistband of her shorts, his shoulders tensed.

“Lucas, it’s not~”

“It’s not nothing.” Lucas crossed the room and walked towards her, Taeri exhaled and dropped her shirt’s hem down.

“How did you get Shownu out of there?” Lucas’s voice had gone dangerously low.

“I—I had to fight them off, it was difficult, not impossible.” She reached for his hand, Lucas let out a shaky breath.

“Lucas, don’t~”

“The hyungs have to see this.” Lucas spoke to her, Taeri bit her lip. He let out a breath before gesturing to her shirt again.

Taeri bit her lip before lifting it up slightly, Lucas’s fists curled, his fingers hovered over one of her bruises. He faced her again, his dark orbs studying her.

“It’s nothing really, a small price I have to pay for starting something like this, for not listening to my brothers when I should have.”

Lucas shook his head, Taeri felt one arm wrap around her waist and he pulled her closer to him.

“No, they will pay for this.” He stated.

“I’m okay, I just needed a few painkillers and~”

“I’m driving you to the hospital, you need to get checked.”

“But I’m~”

“Taeri, please.” Lucas met her gaze evenly, the girl exhaled and she slowly nodded.

“Okay, I’ll just change into something presentable.” She murmured, Lucas’s smile appeared.

“But, we still need to talk.” He playfully murmured as he tugged her closer again, Taeri winced.

“I was just looking out for you, and I wasn’t really~”

Lucas chuckled before capturing her lips with his, Taeri paused for a brief moment but she kissed him back.

“You have to stop doing that.” She muttered as she pulled away.

“I don’t want to.” He hummed back before touching her hair.

“I’ll wait downstairs.” He pressed her forehead against hers before stepping out of the room, the smile on his face disappeared and he took out his phone.

“Yes, young master?”

“I want a list of men who were with Shownu last night. Round them up.”

Taeri was eyeing her brother and the doctor sourly as they checked her X-ray result.

“Agasshi, you’re lucky, nothing’s broken.” He said with a pleasant smile.

Doyoung let out a sigh of relief.

“Unnie, that’s good!” Ahyoung cheered, Taeyong flinched. He shook off his coat and draped it around Taeri.

“Where did Lucas disappear to? He said he was going to drive us here.” Taeri spoke, her forehead creasing.

“Oh, he got called up. An emergency.” Doyoung nodded quickly, Taeyong glanced at him and bit his lip.

“Oh, is everything alright? Is it because of last night?” Taeri said as she slid down from the bed.

“No, no, must be his family’s company. He’s an only son, remember?”

Taeri paused but she nodded back.

“Shall we eat before going home, unnie? I’m sure you’re hungry.” Ahyoung beamed at her, Doyoung puffed his cheeks.

“No, I just want to go home.”

“Tee~”

“I’ll go with the guards, don’t worry, someone has to check on Mark at home. You guys can go on with your day.” Taeri stated.

In other words; get that girl away from me. Now.

Taeyong exhaled, he kissed the side of her head before letting her go.

“Do you want us to bring anything before going home? Ice cream?” Doyoung called after her.

“A cheeseburger.” Taeri chuckled before letting the guards surround her.

Ahyoung went ahead of them as they reached the lobby.

“Let’s kill them, the plan.” Taeyong stated.

“Do you really not know where Lucas disappeared to, hyung?”

“He mentioned something about moving Shownu out of the house.”

“Yes, and, he’s had all of Shownu’s men gathered. They’re at one of our warehouses right now.”

Jungwoo watched with slight disinterest as the guards hauled more men into the area.

“This is the Lucas we don’t really want to hang out with.” Jaehyun spoke, Johnny nodded from the back.

“What could have triggered this?” Jaehyun asked.

“Taeri.” Johnny stated.

“Taeyong hyung rushed Taeri to the hospital earlier, something about bruising on her back.” Jungwoo spoke, Johnny exhaled.

“Huh?” Jaehyun was confused.

“Taeri got beaten pretty badly last night, but our strong girl held it in. But Lucas saw the wounds earlier, and now, that.” Johnny pointed towards the twelve men who were bound and tied by their limbs.

“Touching Taeri used to mean getting a really nice present from Taeyong but now, it’s a party from Wong Yukhei.” Johnny said in an amused tone.

“Might as well join it,” Jungwoo grinned as he stood up. Jaehyun leaned back on his seat.

“Look at your boss.” Lucas spoke, the males looked up, Shownu was displayed before them, sitting on a chair.

“We had somebody staple the bullet holes to stop the bleeding, so, he seems okay now.” Lucas said conversationally, as if he was talking about the weather.

“I don’t even want to know where Bangchan is, nobody ing cares about that weak bastard anymore, I just want to know why,” Lucas said as he leaned over and pressed the heel of his show against the man’s knee. He started to scream in pain.

“Why beat up a young lady? With a gun, no less!” He cackled. Jungwoo joined him, he smiled before picking up an empty glass bottle and smashing it against one of the males’ heads.

“J—Just let us go! W—We’ll tell you where..he’s..hiding!”

Lucas shrugged, he stepped away and looked around him.

“You loved tormenting her, hurting her friends, tricking her and now, you beat her up. What makes you think we’ll let you go?”

Jungwoo grabbed a wooden chair and sat down again.

“We were under orders to get rid of her. We were only~”

Lucas picked up another bottle, he purposely smashed it against the floor and took one of the larger shards.

“At least Taeri was quick with this, but we’re not.” Lucas smiled as he threw the shard with so much force that it landed on the male’s stomach.

“They’re not going to tell you anything!” Shownu yelled, then he paused when he saw Johnny and Jaehyun stepping in.

“We weren’t asking. We’re here for our princess. Because you hurt her.” Johnny explained as he swung metal bat from his right arm to his left.

Lucas started to pick up shards and randomly threw it at the other males. It was the mafia’s own macabre version of darts.

“I hope this sends a message, not just to you and your piece of a of a leader,” Lucas mused as Johnny walked up to the males and used the bat to pushed the glass shards deeper into their bodies. Jaehyun walked to Shownu and pour a pail of ice cold water on him.

“Take him outside. I’m he’ll love the cold.” The Jung heir smirked before pulling away.

“We’re done playing by the rules. So, bring it on.” Lucas stated as he kicked the last piece of glass and it dug deeper into the male’s abdomen.

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