Jongin stepped on gas. His navigation warned him of the coming speed camera, yet Jongin didn’t think of slowing down. The sun was setting down, and the highway was painted in orange. Jongin narrowed his eyes, for the sunlight was blinding. He barely saw the car before him. Leaning his body to the passenger seat, Jongin opened the glovebox, searching for his sunglasses. To his bad luck, it wasn’t there. Jongin growled. Today was just not his day. Not a single thing went right today, starting with his father’s phone call in the morning. He should have known better. That was the ultimate bad omen.

His father had called as he was still asleep and had demanded him to come home immediately. Jongin was the “official” leader, but his father was still the one giving the tone in the gang. The old man had not retired for real.

As Jongin arrived and saw Suho standing at the front gate, he knew right away something was wrong. Simply a glance from the older and he understood he should brace himself for whatever was awaiting him behind that door. As soon as he walked through the gate, he sensed the intensity in the air. His father had summoned the most trusted “brothers” and “uncles” of the family and they all were armed. Yet, Jongin didn’t miss those strangers who were trying too hard to hide the guns under their jackets. It was clear. This was a “meeting”, one of the highest levels.

Jongin bit on his lower lip. How could he not notice the danger sooner? The moment his father introduced the middle-aged man in front of him as the new leader of the Black Lotus, Jongin understood he was already too late, too late to save Soo. And as Baekhyun’s uncle thanked him for his cooperation, his body moved on his own. The next thing he knew was being in his car, speeding to his safe house, praying that he’d be the first one to reach Soo. The voice of Baekhyun’s uncle was still in his head, giving him chill.

“As soon as Baekhyun is returned to us, nothing will be in the way of our new alliance.”

Jongin could hear the squeak of the tires as he stepped on the brakes. Arrived at the safe house, he ran inside as fast as he could. Yet, he was too late. The house was empty, and Soo was gone. Jongin let out a scream. His chest went up and down due to the running, as he checked every room and every single spot in this place. His hand clenched into a fist, and Jongin threw a punch against the mirror. The moment the broken glasses hit the ground, and Jongin heard the noises, the gang leader flinched. Was it his imagination or did he just hear Soo’s voice?

“Let me go.” Once again, Jongin noticed a voice coming from the wood. It was Soo. Jongin was sure. It had to be Soo.

In a second, Jongin rushed into the wood, following Soo’s voice. With every step, Jongin felt the wind more clearly. The air was changing bit by bit on his way. Jongin had no doubt where he was heading to. The cliff. As expected, he found Soo and his “uncle”, Choo, who was his father’s right-hand. Yet, he would never think Namjoon would be chasing after Soo, instead of helping that one person he had promised to protect.

Jongin ’s legs moved on their own. They were running so fast, it felt like they didn’t even touch the ground. Jongin hated the fact that he was close enough to see everything but not close enough to do anything. It was killing him, the way he was forced to watch his loved one getting hurt without a chance to help.

Jongin could clearly see how his “uncle” drew the weapon. His heart skipped a beat as Choo pointed his gun at Soo and a shot is fired. Jongin jumped at the loud bang, awaiting the worst. However, “uncle” Choo missed Soo. Yet, before he could breathe out, Namjoon pulled his gun as well. To Soo’s luck, or to his bad luck, Namjoon was too close to Soo, so they happened to fight over the gun. Although Soo had a hard punch, it was still a short fight. Their legs tangled, and Soo tripped, but behind him, the ground ended. Jongin couldn’t believe his eyes as Soo fell down the cliff. Soo’s scream mixed up with his own. Jongin couldn’t tell them apart.

The gang leader reached out for the smaller one, forcing his feet to move faster. But he was too far away. All the power he had was useless; in the end, he could do nothing but watch his loved one falling into death.

Then Jongin heard a loud crash that was followed by Suho’s voice. Turned around, Jongin widened his eyes as he saw Suho in a car that the older just crashed into a tree. Suho was in as much panic as Jongin. They both rushed to the cliff. Yet, while Suho slowed down at the last steps away from the abyss, Jongin seemed to speed even more. The gang leader was about to jump after his lover as Suho’s strong grip held him back.

“Let me go,” Jongin yelled at Suho.

“You know he’s a terrible swimmer.” The younger shouted.

“Jongin ,” Suho tightened his arms around Jongin.

“That doesn’t matter.” The older whispered with a broken voice, and Jongin froze.

“He wouldn’t come to swim. A fall from this height makes the water hard as concrete.” Suho explained. Jongin notic