The door shut behind her, and a hand rested on her shoulder. 

“I really didn’t want to do this, but you left me no choice. I thought I could trust you, so I must confess I was really disappointed. I gave you work, money, I trusted you with this, and you repay me with betrayal?” He shook his head with a sigh. “The police will hear about the two underaged girls living alone by tomorrow, and needless to say you won’t be stepping in here again. I also don’t want to get in trouble for having an underaged working here, so, it never happened, alright? Consider that part a thank you for the stuff you did do for me.” He squeezed her shoulder harder. “Now, I know you could see this as an opportunity to report our activities here. That’s why I brought you here today, so you have a little glimpse of what might happen to you and the people you care about if you as much as try. I have a lot more up my sleeve that you haven’t seen, dear Ryujin.” 

He released her shoulder and straightened his clothes. “You know what you have to do, and don’t forget to get the info I need from the pretty face. Report to me when you’re finished.” 

The men nodded, and the door behind Ryujin opened. 

“Such a shame it has to be like this. You really had potential,” he said, before the door closed again. 

Ryujin’s brain shut down. Her body felt numb, like an out of body experience. Like she was relaxed instead, waiting for her mind to wake up and take her out of that nightmare.  

But when Yuna growled, with tears rolling down her eyes, and the man standing beside her slapped her face, Ryujin came down to her senses.  

“YUNA! JISU!” She trashed her body, but the grip on her arms only increased. “Let me go, you motherers! Don’t you touch them! Beat me up instead!” 

Jisu shook her head, her voice coming all muffled and incomprehensible from the cloth over . The other man beside her pulled on her hair, while the other slapped Yuna’s face again, making her grunt in pain. 

“STOP!” Ryujin screamed, so loud and raw it hurt . “JUST STOP!”  

A hand came to Ryujin’s mouth as she screamed and tried to release herself from their grip. Her vision went blurry with the tears that wanted to break free. 

The man took the cloth from Jisu’s mouth. “Where is he?” 

“I don’t know! I already said I don’t-” a slap across her face interrupted her sentence. 

Ryujin felt every vein in her body pulse with something she didn't remember feeling before. Not even with her father, or with the sharks. A rage so strong, so pure, it made her want to kill them. She jerked her head back and with all the bubbling strength inside her, she sunk her teeth onto the man’s hand, so hard it hurt her jaw. He yelled in pain and retreated his hand, and Ryujin used the momentum to finally pull her arm away from his grip, elbowing his face and kicking his groin the next second and sending him to the ground.  

As soon as she turned to the other guy, his fist hit the side of her face, making her dizzy. 

“RYUJIN!” Jisu cried. 

“Shut up!” The man’s deep voice, alongside the sound of another slap echoing in the room, was all Ryujin needed to regain her posture.  

But now, it was her against three, as they abandoned Yuna and Jisu to fight her. Behind them, Ryujin could see Jisu trying to untie Yuna’s rope that tied her hands, and she knew what she had to do. 

“Now you wanna fight me, ing cowards? You should be ashamed of yourselves, beating up innocent girls. How can you sleep at night?” 

One of them, the one that dared to touch Yuna, lunched at her, so slow and predictable. All Ryujin had to do was avoid it, grab on his arm, twist it, and with a loud and painful crack, he screamed in pain as his body fell to the ground. 

A strong pull on her shoulder made her turn around, and another punch made Ryujin stumble back. She blocked another one coming from the other guy, but couldn’t block or dodge a punch straight to her gut. She coughed, curling up with her arms around her stomach, but couldn’t afford to waste time thinking of how much it hurt. She wiped her lip clean in the back of her hand and straightened herself.  

“Is that all?” She teased them, seeing Yuna untying Jisu now through the corner of her eyes. 

The two still standing guys exchanged a look and charged at her. Ryujin ducked, and punched his gut as revenge from before, but it barely had any effect on him. He grabbed on her shoulder and punched her face again, stronger than any previous punch, one that made her stumble and fall to the ground. She blinked, feeling the world spinning around, and as she was about to try and get up again, a thud followed by a yelp and another thud sounded around her. Ryujin looked up and widened her eyes at the chair in Yuna’s hands, and the man on the ground.  

“Yuna,” she mumbled, her eyes finding Jisu standing beside her with her chair in her hands as well. 

“You es,” the man that still stood gritted his teeth, and before he could take even a step, Yuna launched her chair at him, but he was fast to grab it, and with a strong push, he threw Yuna against Jisu, sending them both to the ground. 

“I told you,” Ryujin gritted through her teeth, finally finding the strength to stand up. “DO NOT ING TOUCH THEM!” 

Ryujin took off in a run, grabbing on his collar and pushing him against the wall with a loud bang, and punched his face, one, two, three times. 

“Hey!” Jisu’s voice sounded behind Ryujin, making her look back, to Jisu punching the first man Ryujin took down, right in the middle of his face, throwing him off guard. 

“Ouch!” Jisu yelped, grabbing her right hand with her left. “I’ve always wanted to do that, though.” 

Ryujin took advatange of his momentary dizziness to grab on the arm of the one she still had against the wall and turned. With a single, strong push, she sent him flying over her shoulder, hitting the other guy and sending them both to the ground, grunting in pain.  

Ryujin panted, eying the four men down, and then Jisu and Yuna. Their red, bruised faces, hurt so much more than the pain in her body. Tears fogged her eyes, and her legs threated to fail her, if it wasn’t for them to hold her. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, this is all my fault.” Ryujin cried, hiding her face in her hands. 

“Ryujin, we need to get out of here and call the police,” Jisu said, urgency in her voice. 

“Can someone explain to me what the hell is happening?” Yuna asked. 

“I’m sorry, Yuna, I never wanted this to happen-” 

“Ryujin!” Jisu grabbed her hands, staring directly at her eyes. “We need to leave! This is not the time.” 

Ryujin’s eyes jumped between Jisu and Yuna. She sniffed and cleaned her face on her sleeve. “Let’s go.” 

She led the way and opened the door, going upstairs with them following her. As they reached the top, and her boss Park’s office door came to sight, she slowed down. 

“You two go to the bar, talk to Sooyoung, tell her to call the police. She’s going to ask questions, but convince her to just call the police as fast as she can,” Ryujin told them. 

“What about you? Aren’t you coming with us?” Jisu asked. 

“There’s something I need to do.” 

“Ryujin, what do you mean? What’s all this?” Yuna asked, more tears rolling down her eyes. 

Ryujin cupped her sister’s cheeks, wiped the tears away, and kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry. I promise everything will be fine.” 

“Please, be safe,” Jisu said. 

Ryujin turned to Jisu. “Please take care of Yuna.” 

Jisu nodded, grabbed Yuna’s hand, and went on ahead.  

She stopped in front of her boss’ door and took a deep breath, letting her rage fuel the gauge of her courage. She knocked twice, and after the affirmative answer, she opened the door.  

Boss Park rose his head from his papers, and his eyes went huge as they met Ryujin’s. He quickly went on his feet as Ryujin closed the door behind her, her eyebrows drawn together and her jaw clenched. 

“Hey, boss. Didn’t expect to see me so soon?” 

“Ryujin.” 

“You really had the audacity to go after what’s most precious to me. Are you proud? To hurt my sister? And Jisu, again?” 

“It’s my job to teach people who need a lesson.” 

Ryujin cracked a chuckle. “How ironic. I’m here to do the exact same.” 

“Do you want to beat me up? Go ahead. Who do you think will have the most trouble next?” 

“I’m already in a lot of trouble with the police. Doesn’t really matter much anymore. So what if I beat the out of you?” 

He smiled, the same disgusting smile that made Ryujin want to punch his face the most.  

“I’m impressed you managed to get out of that room. I thought four men was enough, but I guess I underestimated you. You know, you could have such a promising future with me. If you only kept cooperating with me, you would earn tons of money, and give yourself and your sister a good life. Wasn’t that what you wanted?” 

“Yes.” Ryujin took a step closer, and he took one back. “But not like this. I’ll pay for what I did, and start again.” 

“What about your sister?” 

“Please, do not pretend to care when you just ordered grown men to beat her up.” 

He laughed again. “Truly, I intend no harm to her. But in order for you to learn with your mistakes, it had to be-” 

“SHUT UP!” Ryujin pushed the desk forward, making him take another step back and hit the wall. She jumped over the desk and grabbed on the collar of his shirt, pushing him deeper into the wall. “Do not speak of her or Jisu ever again.” 

His slender eyes were fixed on Ryujin’s, his expression as calm as ever, and it got even more on Ryujin’s nerves. 

“Always so reckless,” he said, smiling again, and Ryujin felt something prickling on her side. “You should be more careful.” 

She looked down, and her eyes went huge at the small knife pressed lightly at her sweater. 

“You will step away, calmly, and will not attempt to do anything.” 

Fear took over Ryujin’s body, so she did as told. First, she released the hold on his collar, then, slowly, took a step back, holding her arms at her head’s height. He walked past her, taking his small, calm steps, and turned to her.  

“In the end, you’re just a scared little girl. Have fun with the police.” 

As he turned and took another step closer to the door, something else ignited in Ryujin’s body. She let the sudden wave of courage take over her frozen legs and dashed towards him. She grabbed on his shirt, yanking him back. 

But as he turned and swung his arm up, a slash echoed in the room, followed by a shrill from Ryujin as a pain, sharp as nothing she had ever felt before, stung her left forearm. 

The sleeve of her sweater had been ripped, and from it, blood oozed. She took quick, hoarse breaths as she gripped on her arm, and tears rolled free from her eyes. She shot her head up, and there he still stood, staring at it with widened eyes. And the second their eyes met, he turned and aimed for the door. 

But it didn’t matter what pain she felt on her body, Ryujin was not going to give up. She urged forward and gripped on his shirt again, but this time, with a loud growl, filled with pain and rage, and all the strength she had left, she swung him back. He was thrown to the ground like a ragged doll, and the knife escaped from his hand. Before he could reach for it, Ryujin kicked it to the back of the room, and kicked his side, before jumping on him with her knees pressed on his arms. She punched his face, even using the hand from her left, hurt arm, and more tears fell from her eyes. 

Ryujin froze for a second, as she could hear sirens at the distance. She blinked the tears away, looking straight into his eyes, and felt the corner of her lips raise. 

“I told you...” she spat, and raising her right fist as high as she could, balled with all her fury and justice, and sunk it on his face. “I was here to teach you a lesson.” 

---

A/N: Sorry for the previous cliffhanger kekeke and I hope you liked this chapter! It was a bit violent but in the end, no one messes with Ryujin :))

The next chapter will be the last one already :( But don't worry, everything will be explained! Thank you so much for reading this far and I hope you enjoy the last chapter ^^