“You’re lying.” 

Heiran had been chanting that for the last 10 minutes.  

Mark and Jaebum could only watch helplessly as she paced back and forth, “Heiran…”

“No!” She screamed, holding either side of her head, “No! I refuse to believe that my ex-boyfriend is the leader of some gang. Do you know how insane that sounds? This isn’t possible.”

Mark let out a long breath. He was also reeling from the new information. When he walked into Heiran’s office today, he thought he was just going to lay around on her couch until she was done for the day. Seeing his enemy and her threat reaching out to touch her wasn’t on his top 100 list of things he would have to deal with.

And then she called him her ex-boyfriend. 

He stepped towards her once he realized the situation, “Duchess, maybe you should sit down. I know him. That's DS.”

“How? How is this even possible?” She snapped, her glare finally landing on Jaebum, “You were like in your early 20s when we dated. How are you a crime boss? You’re full of .”

He slid his hands into his pockets, “I wasn’t the boss back then.”

“Yeah, he was probably just a third rate lackey.” Mark hissed. 

Jaebum clenched his jaw and scowled, “Kind of like you are now.”

“Enough.” She seethed, “This is about me. And how my ex is a gang member. And lied about it.”

He flinched, meeting her eyes, “That’s what I wanted to talk about. I didn’t mean to lie about it. I want to come clean.”

“Really?” Mark snorted.

She tensed, her body shaking from rage, “But you did lie about it. If you didn’t mean to lie, you would’ve come clean a lot sooner.”

“He—“

“Years. We were together for years. How could you have kept something like this from me? You were around Lucy when she was a baby and the entire time you were a criminal. Did you ever bring a gun around her?” She snapped.

Jaebum looked away and she scoffed, “I can’t believe you. I can’t believe you did this to me.”

“, Seo, please hear me out.” He pleaded.

Mark barked out a laugh, “Why? So you can lie to her again?”

“Mark…” She mumbled tiredly. 

He glanced at her before sighing and moving to stand behind her. She rubbed her forehead in an attempt to stop herself from passing out, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Because I knew it would hurt you and I wanted to keep you as far away from that life as possible. At first, I didn’t know where our relationship was heading but by the time I was in love with you, I knew it was too risky to tell you.” He explained. 

Heiran gulped and looked away. Was there any point in getting mad now? They’ve been broken up for years now, reconciling didn’t mean anything. Neither did holding a grudge or getting mad at him. 

The only thing that ticked her off was the fact that she was constantly being abandoned and played by men who were criminals, linked to the same world. It wasn’t fair that every time she started to feel less alone, she’d have the rug pulled out from under her.

“Wait.” Mark said, stepping forward. 

Heiran reached a hand out to stop him, “Mark, enough.”

“No, hang on.” He muttered, stepping towards him, “Did you know about her dad?”

Jaebum narrowed his gaze, “What?”

“When you two were a thing, did you know her dad ran GOT7?” Mark asked. 

Jaebum glared, “This doesn’t involve you, Mark. Mind your own ing business and stay out of this.”

“Answer him.” Heiran whispered.

Jaebum opened his mouth before shutting it with a glower. "Listen—“

“Answer his question.” She barked.

He closed his eyes, “Yes, I did.”

“Oh my god.” She whispered, “Is that…is that why you dated me? Why you even came up to me?”

Jaebum reached out to touch her but before she could duck out, Mark shot his hand out and gripped his wrist, twisting it away. “Don’t ing touch her.”

He hissed and ripped his hand out Mark’s hold. He instinctively reached for his gun but Mark stepped towards him, “Do it, I dare you.”

Heiran scoffed at Jaebum, “ off.”

“You were an assignment at first.” His tone softened when he addressed her, dropping his arm away from his gun, “They wanted me to get close to you to see if you knew anything about your father. If there was anything I could learn about you that we could use to our advantage.”

Now that hurt.

To be abandoned and used by the same man. 

The only man she thought she loved.

Heiran let out three short breaths and fisted her hands to avoid imploding. “You’re a monster. I can’t ing believe you used me like that.”

“At first yeah, I was just doing my job but the more time I spent with you, the harder it became to lie to you. I started to actually have feelings for you and the next thing I know I fe—“

“Fell in love with me? How cute.” She deadpanned, white-hot rage trembling through her, “I loved you so much. I wanted to build a life with you. You made me so happy, I thought that I would never find myself another man like you but you’re just a coward. If you were so in love with me, you should’ve told me the truth.”

“I couldn’t. If I told you, you would’ve left me.” He whispered, “You would’ve hated me and I was selfish because I didn’t want to let you go. And if I told you the truth and someone found out? I would’ve been pulled off the assignment and you could’ve been in danger.” 

She ran a hand through her hair, “You were just playing with me our entire relationship. Was there anything you were honest about?”

“Look, when you started talking about marriage, and the future, I was so happy. More than happy. All I wanted was a life with you, but I couldn't bring you into my world like that. I lied to my boss, told him I broke up with you. If I married you, you'd be in danger especially because of who your father was.” He explained. "But my feelings were real."

“How heroic.” Mark snarked. 

Heiran stiffened, “If you love me so much why did you target me? Once you found out that I was the person who allegedly put your man in jail, you could've just backed out, and gone after my dad or someone else. You knew it wasn't really me who screwed up and got your guy arrested. You were one of the only few people who knew I had no relationship with my father. You could've kept me out of it entirely but you didn't. You essentially took out a hit on me even though you knew I was innocent. Why? Why did you do all of this to me?"

Jaebum eyes grew misty, emotions she didn't recognize spun as he stared at her, "I can't tell you."

"Did you think I really was working with GOT7? That I flipped to the dark side after you left me?" She muttered.

"Of course not! I just wanted to save you from this life and being tied to it.” He whispered. "It's complicated and there's a lot going on. I can't say much about it now but you have to know I did those things because I had to. You were never in any real danger. None of it real. It was all intimidation and those threats were always empty. Your life wasn't at risk." 

She scoffed, “That doesn’t make any sense! You threatened me, you hurt me, you kidnapped me and tried to hurt Lucy. You made my life hell, I spent every second terrified. What the hell is wrong with you? How is that saving me? How was I not in danger?”

He laced his fingers behind his head, “It got out of hand, but you were never supposed to be hurt in any of that. I tried so hard to keep you safe. It was...fake.”

“Fake? You kidnapped me!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, throwing the rose at him, “Your men beat me up, harassed and threatened me! That was all very real to me. You tried to keep me safe? No. Mark kept me safe. Do you know what I've been through because of you? Rot in hell.”

Jaebum tensed, “They weren’t supposed to touch you. It was all just to scare your dad into letting me talk to Mark.” He said weakly.

Mark's jaw clicked, “You took her to The Bunker.”

“And she just sat there. She didn't experience it.” Jaebum growled. "She was supposed to be kept there until we reached her father."

"Of course! Everything that happens to me is because of my father, isn't it?" She heaved. “I was just a means to an end. You didn’t hesitate to traumatize me for life just because you wanted to chit chat with Mark. Even all these years later, you’re still using me." 

His shoulders sunk, "I'm sorry. I was livid when I saw what they'd done to you." He glanced over at Mark, “That’s why I kept them there when you went down to get her.”

“So I could kill them for you? I thought you said that if I worked for you, you’d never send me around like a pitbull with a gun.” Mark growled. “So much for offering me a better life.”

Heiran gasped, “You offered him a job? What the is your problem?”

“He’s a sociopath, that’s what.” Mark grumbled. 

Jaebum sighed, desperate, “It’s hard to explain right now. It’s complicated, I know it all looks bad but one day it'll all make sense how I did this for you. I’ve never stopped loving you, I would do anything for you. I never intended for you to get hurt. Please remember that."

Heiran shook her head, “If I have to hear it's complicated one more time, I'm going to ing lose it. You’re obviously lying about something if you can’t even tell me WHY you pretended to target me even if you knew it wasn’t my fault. You dodge my every question. I still have no clue why you did this. Why come after me when I'm innocent? Why threaten me and scare me? How was any of this supposed to save me from this life like you claim?“

Mark grumbled reluctantly, “I don’t know if he’s telling the truth about everything but it does make sense that none of the threats got close to you no matter how many opportunities they had, nothing was ever carried out except the kidnapping. They had plenty of opportunities they never took.”

“Bull, but okay, fine, let’s pretend that you’re telling the truth. Where does this leave us now? There’s no real threat against me anymore. I now know the 'truth'. So I’m free, right? Nothing will ever happen to me. Life can go back to normal. No more looking over my shoulder, right?” She asked, her eyes shaking. 

He gave her a look, “It’s not that simple.”

“I bet.” Mark muttered.

Heiran was exasperated, “Yes it is. It is that simple. You made the threat, so you can call it off. I mean, you just said that the plan was never to actually kill me for revenge. So I have nothing to be scared of.”

“Like I said, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes and I can't explain everything yet. But the cops are getting involved now. Someone’s gonna have to pay.”

She was stunned, "Wait, but I'm not involved in any of this, you know that. So, I'm not the one that needs to pay, let me off the hook."

Jaebum gulped, “Look, nothing will happen to you, I promise, but with the cops circling both our gangs, your friend Yugyeom included, you’re still at risk of being involved in everything. Even without me, your name is still on those accounts and transactions. You're still tied to illegal activity on paper.” 

“But—“

“And I have allies.” He said quietly, “Allies that operate on their own. They’ve found your name and they think you jeopardized all of them, it’s only a matter of ti—“

“So, you’re saying that now I have multiple targets on my back and instead of clearing my name, you just let them come for me. ing hooray!” She yelled, tears filling her eyes. 

He rocked on his heels, "I can't control their every move. Your name was spread too fast and knowing the police has our man is making everyone edgy. Since my threats were empty they're going to take things into their own hands."

Mark rubbed his forehead, “What the , Jaebum?”

“Shut up.” Jaebum hissed.

Heiran’s eyebrow twitched, “Don’t bark at him.”

“Say it!” Mark goaded, “If you have something to say, ing say it, jackass.”

Heiran felt her head throb, “Mark…”

“Fine. I should’ve ing aimed that knife at your chest instead of your hip. Should've let you bleed out.” 

Mark chuckled and tried to step around Heiran to get in Jabeum’s face, “Like I would've let you get that cl—“

SMACK!

Mark’s lips parted in shock as he stared at the red handprint blooming on Jaebum’s cheek.

Heiran’s voice sounded inhuman to him. “You’re the one who stabbed him? You could’ve killed him, you ! I had to be the one that put him together. He would’ve bled out on my floor and I would’ve had to live with losing him. You had no right to get angry at him. You had no right to hurt him! You do not touch what’s mine.”

Jaebum clenched his teeth at that, “He came to me wearing my ing ring, telling me that as long as he was alive, I wouldn’t get 100 feet near you.”

“And he was right.” She growled, “You think I’m just going to open my arms and let you back in? No, and that ring isn’t yours anymore.”

Jaebum’s eyes softened and it made her feel like she was 23, in love while looking at the face that was once synonymous with home. “Please don't say that, Seo. Give me a chance. Let me make it up to you.”

“You could’ve made it up to me long before I was dragged into the middle of all of this. You could’ve been a decent person. But no. You lied. You hurt me. You allowed other people to hurt me. I will never trust you for as long as live.” It was like her mood suddenly switched and the anger that was threatening to boil over was replaced with deadly calmness. 

It was worse than the anger. 

“Get out.” She muttered. It felt like their break up all over again. “Actually, we’ll leave.”

Heiran grabbed Mark’s hand and dragged him to the door before stopping and turning to Jaebum, “You know, if you had told me the truth instead of leaving me, I would’ve been furious, but I could’ve forgiven you. That’s how much I loved you. But you don’t get to come back here claiming you love me after you abandoned me, torture me, hurt the people I care about, and then expect me to forget everything with one ty explanation 5 years later.”

And then she left.

-----

“Wanna talk about what just happened?” Mark asked as he drove them away from her office. 

She clenched her jaw, “I could ask you the same thing.”

“What do you mean?”

She glanced at him, “Obviously I’m not the only one he shares a history with.”

“Nothing as dramatic as sleeping with him.” He grumbled. 

Heiran scowled, “I loved him.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that.” 

She fisted her hands, “What the hell does that mean?”

“Don’t get mad at me. All I mean is that saying you loved him, past tense, isn’t an excuse or a reason anymore.” He explained gently. "You don't owe him anything because of a feeling you used to feel."

She pursed her lips, “I know that. Why else do you think I walked out of there?”

"Then stop saying you loved him. It's inconsequential." He said. 

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah."

Mark shook his head, “I still can’t believe you dated him.”

“I know, and I can’t believe I’m back in the same ty position that got me into this mess.” She muttered. "He was a good actor. Fell for everything he used to tell me."

She noticed Mark was driving in the opposite direction of her house but didn’t comment on it. Mark tapped his fingers against the wheel, “He wants you back.”

“I don’t want him back so he can