Dara

 

Seunghoon was right, it was all going down tonight. As much as I like the sound of us rescuing Jiyong at this very second, the
thought of not planning it out, intricately, did not sit well with me. I grew uneasy as Chaerin spoke.

 

 

"He's in Trieste," Chaerin stated, getting straight to the point.

 

 

Sounding pleasantly surprised, Top said, "That means he's only about an hour or two away."

 

"Yes and he's waiting for us," Chaerin announced.

 

 

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. I asked, "Wait, he knows we're coming?"

 

"Jinwoo said that we weren't in a place where we have the upper hand. Jinwoo thinks that we should try and at least talk to Kyesang. My original plan was to go havoc but Jinwoo convinced me otherwise in our conversation," She explained.

 

 

"Did Jinwoo really say all of that?" Taeyang asked Seunghoon.

 

 

"Maybe in shoulder shrugs, eyebrow raises, and eye rolls," Seunghoon snickered.

 

 

Those who overheard their mini side conversation also chuckled. Something inside me snapped when I saw their small
smiles appear at their lips.

 

"Do you think talking is going to get Jiyong back? What are we going to say? Are we just going to demand Kyesang to hand him over? Do you really think that he's just going to willingly give Jiyong back?" I asked, aggressively at Chaerin.

 

I was angered. I couldn't believe she was saying this. I was more baffled at the fact that people around me weren't opposing.
There was no way that I was the only one who saw the fault in this.

 

 

"Dara, do you think that I haven't thought about that?" Chaerin asked, defending herself. "If Kyesang doesn't give Jiyong back
to us, do you think we are just going to leave without him? If the talk doesn't go our way or if Kyesang pulls a move on us, we'll revert to my original plan."

 

Everyone's attention was focused on me. They were waiting for my response to Chaerin. I realized that my outburst was uncalled for. I was frustrated by the situation and took it out on her. Feeling embarrassed and sorry, I got up from my seat.

 

 

"I need a minute," I excused myself and walked towards the building. After entering the villa, I walked through the first door I saw. I didn't realize that I wasin the bathroom until after I locked the door.

 

"Dara, let's talk," Chaerin said, outside beyond the bathroom door. She had followed me.

 

"No, I need to use the bathroom. You can continue with the meeting," I quickly said, flustered. I heard Chaerin sigh. I put my ear to the door, listening to her footsteps as she walked away. Just to be safe, I decided to stay in the restroom for a couple more minutes to make it look like I was using it.

 

 

Going to the toilet, I set the cover down so I could use it as a seat. I sat down and thought of what I was going to do next.
Of course, I was going to apologize to Chaerin. I thought about what she said and the more I thought about it, the more I agreed with it. I guess it was the fact that I didn't like to feel helpless.

 

 

Seeing Chaerin being so willing to submit to Kyesang made me felt as if we already lost. We haven't yet, it's just that this time we were playing by the rules.

 

 

Jiyong

 

"Who's Dara?" A man asked. His question wasn't directed towards me but for his companion.

 

"His girlfriend," The other man answered."Oh, that's why Boss keeps telling him he killed her," The man said, fully understanding.

 

 

"I was beginning to think she was a sister or something."

 

 

"Nah, his sister is the one named Dami."

 

"She ain't dead but the girlfriend is?"

 

"Yeah. Kyesang said he was going to get her later and add her into our concubine."

 

 

The two men laughed about it. Even though my body wasn't in great shape, my spirit seemed functional. I could feel myself getting angrier as the conversation went on. In this situation,
if I was in better shape, I would have beaten the two men to death.

 

 

In reality, I was the one facing death, lying still on the cement floor. Unmoving to feel the bare minimum of pain, I laid clutching my broken arm. In my view, past the men's legs, was the door. It was fives steps away, maximum. After arriving at this very room, Kyesang didn't bother to tie me for they already knew I was too weak to even crawl.

 

"Who do you think is going to get first dibs with her? Me?"

 

"No way, Adam," the man chuckled. "Boss, maybe?"

 

 

"Too bad he killed Dara, she sounds like a good ," Adam said.

 

I reached the point where I couldn't let this slide anymore. I opened my mouth and coughed out the words, "Shut the hell
up."

 

"What the you just say?" the man who's name I didn't know yet said, stepping closer to me as he uncrossed his arms.

 

 

"I said, "Shut the hell up"," I replied louder this time, making sure he wasn't messing any syllables.

 

Adam stalked closer to me. He squatted and taunted, "Why? You don't like us talking about your dead lover and your able sister? How about your mother, aye? How is she doing?"

 

 

"You Bastard," I spewed.

 

Adam lifted his fist into the air, readying it to hit me in the face.

 

 

"Adam, don't kill him just yet," Kyesang chuckled.

 

 

Everyone paused and turned to the doorway. Kyesang had just opened the door and walked in on time to see what was going to happen. He had saved me from Adam's punch, but I knew I was
nowhere near safe.

 

 

"Move aside. I 'mgoing to deal with him."

 

 

Adam did what he was told and walked back to his friend. Kyesang towered over me and I glared at him.

 

"I thought I told you not to give me or any of my men a hard time," Kyesang threatened.

 

"You and your men can all go to hell," I muttered.

 

"By the looks of it, we aren't going there first," Kyesang said. "I was thinking that you'll like to be reunited with that little  of yours."

 

"Don't call her a ," I yelled, trembling with anger as my heart emotionally and physically ached.

 

"Aren't you dying out of curiosity? Let me tell you how I killed her."

 

For as long as I was awake to hear it, all Kyesang did was tell me he had murdered Dara and that she was dead. Every time he
did, I denied to believe it. Whenever he brought it up, I acted up in order to get Kyesang mad enough to make me pass out.

 

 

I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to know how he murdered her, that is if he did. There were doubts in my mind, but when it comes to Kyesang, you can never tell.

 

 

"You're a liar," I said, searching his eyes for a sign. Kyesang eyes hardened, concealing all truths.

 

"And so what if I am? You won't live long enough to know the truth," Kyesang replied, cold-heartedly. "Adam, Herman, hold him
down."

 

Adam roughly brought my hands above my head and held it down to the floor while Herman held my ankles. The natural sense of fear kicked in and I began to struggle against them.

 

 

"Couples get matching tattoos, but I don't think they are permanent enough," Kyesang said as he brought out a knife from the back pocket of his jeans.

 

 

I recognized the blade almost immediately. It was the same
one from the first time he had stabbed me. Kyesang grabbed a fistful of my shirt and brought it up, exposing my stomach.

 

"However, I think a matching scar will do. I'll say that she was familiar with the design since she was the one who stitched
up the original."

 

He brought the tip of his knife to the beginning of the scar he first gave me. Cutting my skin, slowly with light pressure, he began to trace it. I groaned in pain, cursing his name. To antagonize me, Kyesang went slower. The cut was deep
enough to make me bleed but not to the point where I was pierced open. All thoughts left me for I could only process
pain. It was clear to me that Kyesang didn't want me to die, he wanted me to suffer. 

 

Dara

 

"Dara," Top yelled. I jolted up from my sleep as he pounded on the door. I had fallen asleep while I was hiding out from
everyone. "Are you done taking a ?"

 

 

I got up in a panic. Checking the clock on the wall, I quickly calculated that I had stayed in the bathroom for about an hour.
I swung the door open and faced Top.

 

 

"I accidentally fell asleep," I explained, embarrassed.

 

"I understand. That happens all the time with me," Top said, patting my shoulder.

 

 

"Huh?"

 

"What?"

 

I shook my head, not wanting an explanation, and asked him, "Never mind. What's happening?"

 

"It's time to go. Chaerin wants to know if you are coming."

 

I nodded, "I'll stay in the car."

 

 

"Good, you can keep Nonna company."

 

"She's coming with us?" I asked.

 

Top scratched his head, "Yeah, she insisted on it."

 

 

Top walked me to the car we were taking after I grabbed my medical bag. Inside the black SUV, Chaerin was in the driver seat, Taeyang took the passenger seat, and Nonna was found in the back of the car, in the third and last row. Top and I sat in the middle row, freeing the middle seat for some personal room.

 

 

"Chaerin, I'm sorry about earlier," I apologized as soon as we hit the highway.

 

Chaerin glanced at me through the review mirror as she replied, "It's okay. I know that we are all sensitive right now."

 

"Demi was being pretty rude today, too," Top said, "It must be period season or something."

 

 

I smacked Top in the arm. The rest of the car ride was silent. Traffic was bad because of all of the mafia people who were trying to reach the same place. Our trip came to an end as we reached our destination.

 

 

"Wow," I gasped, not able to contain my awe. It was a house far grander than I had ever seen so far. The fact that it was wrapped around a hill made the structure look more spectacular. It was really modern. The place was almost windowed from floor to top. Inside, you can see people roaming about. As we got closer,
the people saw us and began to take an interest. In a scary way, they began to smirk.

 

 

The car stopped and Chaerin pulled into a parking space, in between the consecutive lamp posts.

 

"No, come on, we'll have to walk up the rest of the hill," Taeyang complained.

 

"Why does everyone else gets to park at the top?" Top asked, clearly regretting his decision on riding with Chaerin.

 

"Boohoo," Chaerin said, sarcastically, as she killed the engine.

 

 

"Dara and Nonna will be safer here. Let's get a move on."

 

I watched as Top, Chaerin, and Tae get out of their seat and out of the car. Chaerin tossed Top the keys and, then, he handed them to me.

 

"Be careful," I said before Top shut his door, which was the last door opened until that point.

 

 

To tell me that they heard me, they lifted their hands up and made the universal "okay" sign with their hands, their pointers met with their thumbs to make a circle while their three fingers that were left stood up.

 

 

"You, too, Dara. There's no way you can get inside the wrong car if you already are in the right car," Taeyang said through the earpiece, pointing at me as he walked backward up the hill. Chaerin whacked him in the back of his head. "Ow!"

 

 

I watched them walk away into the dark, occasionally reappearing when walking under the light of the lamp post. In my right ear, I could hear Top heavily breathing and groaning.

 

 

"Top, would you stop?" Chaerin asked, annoyed.

 

 

"Sorry, it feels like this hike has been going on since forever," Top paused, "Oh, look! We're here!"

 

 

Every conversation from that point on was in Italian. I strained my ears for the voice of Kyesang but the person Chaerin was talking to was not even a male. I breathed deeply in and out as I began to really worry.

 

"Everything will be fine," Jiyong's grandma said, out of nowhere.

 

 

"Oh, Jesus!" I said, placing my hand over my heart. I had forgotten about Nonna. I turned my body in my seat to face her.

 

 

"Good idea, sweetheart. Let's pray for we are in a time of need," she said as she closed her eyes, "Dear Lord, please keep
every one of good safe. Please give Kyesang and his weak men what they deserve. Please bring that son of a back to me where he solely belongs. Amen."

 

 

"Amen?" I said, questionably. After our prayer, the sound of gunfire could be heard through the earpiece and without
it. "What? They haven't even talked to Kyesang yet."

 

 

I turned back around in my seat and hopped into the driver's seat. Nonna stayed exactly where she was and questioned, "What are you doing?"

 

 

"I'm going to drive closer to the house just in case something bad happens," I explained as I started the engine. The
headlights and I spotted someone coming down from the distance. Squinting to get a better look, I asked Jiyong's grandmother, "Who's that?"

 

 

"Drive to get closer," Nonna suggested.

 

 

I pressed on the gas, slowly. As we got closer, I could make out the figure of a man limping. I caught a glimpse of his face as he suddenly turned around to limp back up the hill. This time, he was struggling more to get up the slope rather than going down it.

 

"Holy , it's him," I gasped.

 

 

Kyesang, with blood running down his leg, was standing
right in front of the car. Like a deer caught in headlights, Kyesang stared back at me, mirroring the same shock I was
feeling

 

 

"Run him over," Jiyong's grandma said, nonchalantly.

 

 

I gripped the steering wheel harder as I thought about that option. I thought I'd be angry if I ever faced Kyesang again. Instead, I felt pity. In front of me, beyond this car, was a man overruled with grief. He had mistakenly messed with the wrong people and the people inside the house on top of the hill was paying for it. I truly felt bad for Kyesang.

 

 

However, I was done feeling sorry for him at the second he reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. He began
shooting at the car, aiming at the windshield where he thought the driver was. That act of self-defense was useless, the bullets would wedge itself into the windshield and never broke free.

 

 

With each bullet piercing into the bulletproof window, I flinched. By the third gunshot, I pressed down on the gas pedal to avenge
all the chaos he had caused.

 

 

As soon as I hear a 'thud' and felt pressure going against the car, I pressed on the breaks. The momentum caused us to lurch forward with the car. My seat belt restrained me from leaning too far to the point where I could've hit my head on the steering wheel. Worried about the older lady's state after remembering she wasn't wearing her seat belt, I turned to look behind me.

 

 

Jiyong's grandmother neatly rolled over the middle seat, just like she had timed, and was in the process of getting out of the car.

 

 

"Stay here, darling," she said.

 

 

She closed the door before I could tell her to stay put. Nonna walked to the front of the car. She looked down at the space below and signaled me to move the car back. I reversed the vehicle to reveal, with the headlights of the car, Kyesang's body.

 

 

His two legs were positioned in a way where you could trace out the letter "w". His toes were pointed into the ground rather than up to the sky as he laid in a pile of blood. Nonna bent over Kyesang's body to grabbed the gun that was still in his hand.
She then moved over to feel for his pulse at his neck.

 

 

As a response to her touch, Kyesang twitched. Jiyong's grandma stood back straight and looked at Kyesang as she thought of what to do next. My eyes never left him until Jiyong's grandmother called for my attention. She couldn't be heard and I rolled down my window to ask her to repeat.

 

 

"Turn off the headlights," she ordered. Confused, I did what I was told and cut the engine.

 

 

 

As the car turned off, the lights went out. I was unable to see anything but I was able to hear. With my window still rolled down and the action happening from so close, I heard four clean and clear gunshots. Upon hearingthose chilling sounds, I knew what Nonna had done. She had ended him.

 

 

With my hands shaking, I fumbled with the keys but managed to start the car back on. The headlights beamed to show a very
dead man and a very happy grandma. Nonna walked back to the car and she hopped into the middle seats. As soon as she shut the door, I locked the vehicle.

 

 

"I'm going to frame this," Jiyong's grandmother said, waving the gun for me to see.

 

 

I flinched, "Please be careful with that."

 

 

"Do you want me to drive?" Nonnaoffered. "You look shaken up."
I looked at the old lady and shook my head, "No, no. It's fine. I can drive."

 

I drove around Kyesabg's dead body and continued up the hill. As we got closer to the house, I realized that all sound had
died down. I was so focused on Kyesang that I forgot what was going on with everyone else. Instantly, I began to worry.

 

 

"Chaerin? Eric? Top?Lorenzo? Taeyang? Seunghoon?" I started calling names in hopes that someone I knew would answer. "Is everyone okay?"

 

"We're searching for Jiyong, he's got to be here somewhere," Chaerin updated.

 

"Cleared," Eric said, telling everyone that the floor he had checked didn't show any signs of Jiyong.

 

 

"Cleared," Someone else announced.

 

 

A second after, another person claimed their designated place to search was clear.

 

 

"We heard from everyone but Marcella. Hey, Marcella are you done checking the third floor?" Giovanni asked.

 

 

"I'm with her," Aiden told Gio. "We are heading to the last room."There was silence as they played a cruel game of hide and seek. Interrupting, was Chaerin's gasp.

 

 

"Holy ," Chaerin said. "I found Jiyong. Dara, where are you at?"

 

"Front entrance," I said, wasting no time in answering.

 

"You're too far. Top has Jiyong on his back and the closet exit is through the back. Eric has his car there. You can follow us to the hospital," Chaerin ordered. Then, she set a rule for the others, "No one leaves until we get Jiyong out."

 

 

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