Jisoo's POV

The next few moments happened in a blur.

Through the white hot pain scaling up my arm and setting off fireworks in my brain, I thought I heard frantic yelling.

Distant gunshots outside the lab.

I felt Jin leave my side, yanking the blade out with a twist and I shrieked as it sliced through flesh.

The yelling grew louder, reaching a crescendo as the door behind me burst open.

And then the rattle of gunfire echoing all around me.

"Jisoo!"

A female commando started untying me from my bonds. My knees buckled beneath me.

"Jisoo, come on we have to get out of here!" she commanded. I blinked up at her and Jennie's face swam into focus.

"You're with a SWAT unit?" I said stupidly.

"Where's Joohyun?" she said frantically as she helped me shred a piece of Jin's shirt to tie my wound, "Where's my baby?"

A girl's terrified scream rose above the chaos, coming from outside. Jennie's pupils dilated.

"Go!" I gasped. She nodded, passing me my pocket pistol then dashed out of the room.

I carried myself outside, finding myself at the back of a row of armed cops with their guns pointed at Jin.

He had his back to the railing and in his hand was Joohyun, writhing as she dangled in thin air over the shaft.

"Joohyun!" Jennie screamed hysterically, held back by the cops, "don't let her go, you scum!"

Jin laughed, wincing as he held his side. I saw red blooming beneath his hand.

"Where's Kim Jisoo?" he asked suddenly, "my arm's getting tired."

"Mr Kim, we asked you to lower the girl and rest. You are in pain. You need help." spoke the mediator.

Bathed in the light illuminating the central shaft, he shook his head, perspiration shining on his forehead. He looked gaunt, lines furrowed along his brow.

"Either you give her up to me or it's the brat here" and he shook Joohyun who wailed in fear.

"Enough!" I yelled and walked to the front. "I'm here. Let the girl down."

"Uh uh" he said, "I want a fair trade, you for her."

I ignored the low murmurs and the stabbing pain in my arm and hobbled over to him. In one quick motion, he lowered Joohyun safely and grabbed me in an arm lock instead.

"Well, this is " I muttered, almost choking, "and embarrassing."

"So, this is where it ends, huh?" He said with a loud voice, addressing our audience, "seems like the world wasn't ready to have a Mr Worldwide Handsome. Fine. But, only I can be the fairest of them all. And sadly, that means that this woman here can't live either. I am too enthralled by her beauty to think about destroying her face. So it's better if I just take her with me. Any last words, Chu?"

"Oh yeah, just this," I said, pulling out my pistol and shooting the arm round my neck. He howled in pain, twisting away, but his grip tightened around my neck.

I felt my feet rise on tiptoes as Jin arched over the railing and toppled backward into the yawning abyss.

"No!" 

I gasped in the choke hold as my body slammed unto the cold bars, slithering inexorably over as Jin's dead weight tugged me over the edge.

I was a see-saw, suspended in air, bending backwards until I could feel my spine popping. 

Jin was weakening, his arm slipping from around my neck.

"Hang on!" I croaked, grabbing his injured arm with both of mine. He kicked free from the edge of the shaft and dangled in thin air as a hubbub rose and people ran to grab us.

Blood was rushing to my head and I was feeling faint. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It's over Chu," he whispered,"I won't allow you to exist. I can't." He let his body dangle, trying to pull me down with him and the muscles in my neck screamed as my feet lifted clear off the ground.

My vision blurred as blood rushed to my head and I glimpsed the greenery beneath us just before my body slipped over the railings.

"Jisoo!"

Hands snatched at my ankles, tugging forcefully. It was a tug-of-war with me as the rope. Jin was still swinging , hanging on grimly to my arms. My wounded arm was bleeding, a stream running down our joined hands. My eyes were too heavy to keep open.

 "I've got you! Hang on, just hang on!"

Someone shouting in the distance. Jin's face warping and contorting.

"Together Chu," he mouthed.

Black dots spotted my vision as pain reached a threshold and a cry ripped from my throat. 

I tilted back and was about to surrender when hands slid under my back and lifted, bringing us back from the brink.

I heard Jin shouting as he was manhandled and and taken away, with all his staff standing in fear, their hands behind their heads. Jin's cries were drawn out and agonised.

They pierced my heart.

 I shut my eyes, trying to unmake the world and the scene in front of me, willing myself to slip away into the welcoming darkness.

My body slumped against the railings and I slid to the ground, dizzy and faint.

I felt somebody kneeling next to me, cupping my face.

"Drink."

The rim of a bottle clinked against my teeth and I tipped my head back, wincing as I swallowed--my throat was almost swollen shut. My stomach gurgled as well.

Finally, I summoned enough strength to raise my face. My vision tilted and shifted out of focus but I still recognised those cat-like features.

"Chu," she whispered.

"Jendeukie..." I answered feebly as she pushed my hair back from my face. She brought the bottle up to my lips again.

"You did well,"she said tenderly, kissing my forehead,"it's going to be okay. It's over. We did it."