Natasha’s POV

It’s difficult to pull away from them, their grip is like iron, holding me tight enough to cause bruises. I stand at the base of the bed, staring over the two handsome men. The one with faded pink hair is more pretty than handsome, his features are so soft. The way he clung to me was like he was a child, while the other held me like a lover, what in the world happened between them and my apparent twin. It’s none of my business. I rip off the pajamas Hanuel had put me in and find my clothes tucked under the bed.

I plop into one of the chairs already a little breathless, but I need to get out of here before these guys wake up. With more effort than it should take, I manage to get my leggings and t-shirt on without falling out of the chair which I will claim as a success after such a ty night. My body aches from lying still for so long, my mind is still groggy from those ing drugs, I try to ignore my body’s pleas to rest as I stand and make my way across the room. Opening the door I expect to find Hanuel on the other side but anther part of me reminds me that she would know better than to talk to me after she pulled like that. The club is closed, the dancers are all gone, the only life forms I see are a few of Haneul’s men hanging out by the bar talking with my brother. He is chatting mindlessly with his dear friend Seungcheol, who runs a good sized group of boys that do a lot of Haneul’s dirty work, I didn’t think distracting my brother while I was drugged would ever include that but the world is full of surprises.

“Nat!” Wonho yells to me excitedly, much too loud for my sensitive mind coming around. His large frame swaggers over to me and throws an arm around my shoulders.

I just glare at him. He smells like liquor.

“Don’t give me that look. You are the one who fell asleep talking to Haneul last night. It’s not like I could put you on my bike like that!”

I scoff, “She told you I feel asleep?”

“Yea? Did you not?” Wonho’s drunkenness fades as anger and concern make his face fall.

“Haneul drugged me to make up for a favor she owed some one. I’m assuming this was your distraction all night?” I gesture to the group of half a dozen men who are now staring at us.

Wonho’s gaze turns on them, as brother and sister we glare the group down making the group share nervous looks. Seungcheol steps up, his hands out in surrender, “Look Hyung, I can explain.” My brother doesn’t care to hear excuses. Without hesitation he steps up and punches his long time friend in the face, a great metaphor for how I feel with Haneul at the moment.

The group steps forward to help their leader but he stops them, “It’s cool guys, I deserve that.”

Wonho wastes no time scooping me up and carrying me out of the building to where his bike is still parked. We leave behind our helmets, they are not worth stepping back into that building right now. I wrap my arms around him a little tighter on the way home, cold and tired and ready to sleep the day away. Someone buzzes us in through the gate, allowing us to pull all the way into the garage where we find Jooheon waiting for us rubbing his eyes. He helps me off the bike, catching me when I stumble.

“Woah there girl, what did you guys get into last night?” He teases with a chuckle, but his smile fades once he sees both of our conditions. I’m more unsteady on my feet than usual, Wonho’s fist is bloody from punching his friend and neither one of us seemed entertained by our brother. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you later. I’m going to bed,” I step away and make my way towards the stairs.

“Let me help you.”

“I can do it. I need to keep some dignity.”

They just nod as I shuffle out of the garage to the entryway of the converted warehouse we call home. Shownu is in the kitchen to the left making his usual breakfast before heading out to do a work out. He turns to question my condition but stops, I look over my shoulder to see the other two giving him a death glare to keep his mouth shut. I can’t help but chuckle at them, as annoying as they can be, they always know when to shut their mouths. Staring up the stairs I’m already exhausted, but after having part of my night ripped away from me like most of childhood was, I need to feel powerful.

With a deep breath I begin my hike up the steps, starting off on my feet with confidence. Half way up my legs are giving out and I’m on my hands and knees forcing myself to move. At the top I’m breathless and ready to collapse but up at the top so a victory dance is necessary. I get to my feet with the help of the railing, my fist pump into the air for a traditional Rocky victory. At the base of the stairs my brothers are cheering for me as if I had won a gold metal.

IM comes out from his room to see what all the noise is about, he sees me smiling at the landing and pats my back proudly, “Nothing in the world can stop you, can it?”

“As much as it tries I’m going to have to agree.”

“Go rest,” Shownu orders from down stairs, “I’ll bring you up some breakfast.”

I nod, “Thank you.” I shuffle into my room, nudging my piles of clothes out of way to my bed where I collapse. With my last bit of strength I crawl up my bed and actually make it under the covers before settling into my usual spot. I’m ready to sleep the next few days away. Memories on my childhood linger in the back of my mind with the drug induced fog still lingering there. My mind reminisces with other times I lost chunks of my life to that sedative cocktail, a few hour like last night, a few days here and there, months upon months of missing time.

I feel sick.

I wonder if Haneul thinks it was worth it. If those boys were worth my trust and loyalty. They seemed familiar but I’m not sure from where, their clothes were thrown around haphazardly, they looked expensive. The boys on the other hand looked ragged and in desperate need of a shower. They were pretty though, tired and under fed, but still pretty. I wonder briefly how they reacted when they woke up to me gone, probably not too heartbroken. I was just a replacement for some girl who left them.

They’ll forget about me soon enough.

…..

One Month Later

“I’m good,” I repeat for the millionth time as I confidently make my way down the stairs.

“I can do it!” IM insists, “I already did my deliveries for today!”

“Congratulations, I would really like to do my two. I’m going to go insane locked in here.”

Jooheon rushes to the bottom the stairs, “We aren’t saying you can’t go, we would just like it if you would allow one of us, or even all of us, to come with you.”

I stand on the second to the last step to be eye level with him, my hands on my hips and my face set in a scowl, “I would like to remind all of you, my sweet dotting brothers, that I was doing this before most of you. We’ve all had deals gone wrong, why are you guys freaking out this much? We’ve all been shot or shot at!”

“You were shot seven times!” Jooheon feels the need to remind me, as if the scars on my body aren’t enough. “Three of our brothers are dead and we almost lost you too!”

“I know! I was there! Me sitting here is not helping my health at all! It’s just reminding me of what happened and I have had enough trauma in my life to know that sitting around doesn’t solve anything. I need my independence back so if you would so kindly step out of my way before I kick your !” I don’t mean to raise my voice but I can’t go back now, I glare him down until he finally steps out of my way. I grab my jacket by the door, throwing it on as I make my way to the garage, making sure to yell over my shoulder as I go, "Love you guys!"

The door slams behind me but I still hear their faint responses back, "Love you too."

My helmet is sitting on the handle bar of my bike, I pull it on before opening the garage door and climbing on to my bike. It's a familiar feeling, straddling the seat, the grooves of the handle bars digging into my palms, it feels so nice, I can't keep myself from smiling as I take off out of the garage by myself for the first time in almost a year. I zoom through traffic, only half mindful of where I am going, the directions to my first pick up comes to mind.

The ride is fast, I pull up to the convent store and park my bike right outside the door and go inside. There are only a few people milling around the store, a couple in the corner, a loner by the drink, I swerve through all of them as if I were actually looking for something. I find my way up to the cashier, an older man who looks bored with the world, "A pack of cigarettes," I demand.

"What kind?" He mumbles as he gestures to the different brands hanging above his head.

"Dealers choice."

The clerk pauses for a moment before reaching under the counter for a black box of cigarettes wrapped in plastic. I pick up the box, stuffing it in my pocket before turning around and heading back outside without another word. I'm back on my bike and flying through the streets, the evening traffic begins to set in, slowing me only slightly. The drop off is coming up, a dive bar that is owned by some scum loan shark, a part of me is curious about what could be inside, part of me is always curious when it shouldn't be. It could be names or addresses rolled into the cigarettes, I’ve always preferred information passed this way, it’s easy and convenient. Plus getting stopped with a box of cigarettes is a lot less suspicious than a brown paper bag stuffed with shredded documents.

I pull into the back alley way and park there, I don’t have to look hard for a worker in their smoke break. It’s a familiar face though I can’t seem to be able to remember a name, “Hey, can you take me to the boss man?”

“What the do you want with the old man?” The man tuts as he blows out a cloud of smoke.

“I’ve got a delivery for him.”

He stares at me a moment longer, “Fine, come on,” He puts his cigarette out on the side of the building before pushing off the wall and leading me to the back door. The bar reeks, the disgusting men lined up at the bar rail are definitely part of the problem, the workers don’t seem the cleanest either. My places something on the bar rail, a lighter he must have bummed off someone. “Thanks Hyung,” he shouts to another worker, who is currently serving drinks.

The other man nod, his eyes shift to me, then back to his coworker, “Who’s this?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I respond on his behalf. “Let’s go.” My shrugs as he returns to the back of the bar, leads me down a hallway to some dingy office. The man I am looking for is inside at a large desk with a bottle of whiskey on it. I raise my brows at him, “Never without a bottle, are you?”

His eyes shift up, “I thought you were dead.”

“Yea, that was the rumor around town for awhile but I’m obviously not.” I walk in and slam the pack of cigarettes on to the desk, “Where’s my next package?”

“I was hopping you were dead.”

“Yea, you and a few other people. Now I don’t have time to waste at your pity party, next package?”

Ravi sighs as takes a swig of his drink, he snaps at the guy behind me and gestures him over to a closet to my left. The man goes and opens with door with the click of the lock, another man stumbles out, hands taped behind his back, gag in his mouth. He lands on the ground with a thunk, staring at all of us for some kind of assistance.

“What the I this?” I ask with a groan.

Ravi smiles at me, “Your next package. Sorry I couldn’t give him to you in more manageable piece, the next guy wants him alive for something.”

“We don’t move people.”

“He isn’t a person, he’s some piece of lawyer who screwed some higher up out of some money, just being him to the next location.”

I roll my eyes, “I didn’t ask for his life story. We don’t move people. Have one of your guys do it.”

“We paid for you to do it. I don’t want my guys caught anywhere near this.”

“Well too bad for you, I don’t have proper transportation for me and a hostage. You’ll have to run the chance of your guys getting in trouble unless you want this guy on the pavement behind my bike.”

Ravi jumps to his feet, slightly unsteady, “You ing ! We had a deal!”

I scoff, “All deals are rendered invalid if either party lies. We were not informed of the package size,” my hand waves in the direction of the captive, “If we were, you would have been denied. We do not move people, no exceptions.” I move to leave, “I’ll pass on that you didn’t have the proper delivery company set up. Hopefully you can figure something else out before the other party of this deal gets too upset.” With that said I give him a bittersweet smile over my shoulder as I head to the door.

There is someone shuffling things behind me but I keep moving, I only freeze on my toes when I billet whips by my head, landing imbedded in the arch of the door way. My head snaps back in Ravi’s direction, he is standing there with a gun in his hand, aiming at me.

“I need this deal to go well, I’m not going to let some little girl this up for me.”

That’s all I need to hear to slam the door behind me and book it down the hallway back towards the exit. He fires a few more shots, missing me completely, he yells something but I’m too focused on getting away. I’m not dying because of that son of a . I make it to my bike and throw my helmet on as I climb on. The back door opens, there is another bullet flying my way.

me.

A bullet grazes my upper arm, I groan as the pain spreads up into my shoulder. I gas on it, shooting out of the alley but not making it very far, another bullet hits my rear tire as I cross the street to make my get away. A car comes out of nowhere, smashing into my rear tire and sending me skidding against the street. My head smacks the concrete with a solid thud, scrambling my brain for a moment. I need to get up. Ravi is behind me somewhere with a gun, I need to get up.

Someone is yelling. There is a car door opening and more gun shots being fired, how the has he not run out of ammo yet? I roll on to my back, the street light above me is fuzzy but I can still see it, at least I’m not dead. I force myself to my feet, my bike is ruined, but there’s a car. The driver is out of the car, I see the open door, I need to get inside.

My feet manage to carry me to the open door, the driver is on the other side, crouching to avoid gun fire, he looks familiar. He looks up, his eyes scan over me, widening with surprise, I think. He has a gun in his hands, he reaches out and pulls me down to the ground with him, “You are going to get shot if you stand there!”

“I need to leave,” is all I can say as I struggle to pull out of his gasp. “I need to go home. I got hit, my brothers are going to be so mad.”

“You were hit? Hurry climb in!” He urges, slowly pushing me into the car, “The windows are bullet proof so we will be safe.”

I pull myself across the seats into the passengers side, “.” The man climbs in next, he slams the door before taking off down the street, my bike forgotten. My brain is still bouncing around in my head but I manage to get a few more words out, “the warehouses on the Far East side of the city, near one of the red light districts, take me there.”

“Baby, are you crazy? I’m taking you home!” The man snaps in response, his delivery is harsh but I can hear the concern.

“Home? That is my home!” I turn to glare at him as his words sink in, baby. My mind easily pulls out the memory of this man holding me tight, crying his eyes out calling me every pet name under the moon, but baby was one of his favorites.

“I’m taking you to my home, Hyung will be able to fix you up no problem. You just lay back and rest, we will be there soon!”

“You’re that guy from Haneul’s club, aren’t you?”

His pretty face turns to me for just a moment, even in my foggy state his beauty just mesmerizes me. He smiles softly, “You remember me.”

“You are pretty hard to forget. Do you remember that I’m not her?”

He stiffens, “Of course.”

“Great, now if you could let me out here that would be amazing.”

“I’m not letting you out until we are home.”

My vision starts to get hazy, “I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”

“Too late baby, I’m not letting you go.”