HoWon noticed the way that DaeHee tensed at JaeBum’s presence, immediately stepping in front of her protectively.

JaeBum smirked at HoWon, “What’s this? New boy toy?”

“JaeBum!” DaeHyun yelled warningly as he gritted his teeth at the younger male. He was held back by EunWoo, who tried to keep DaeHyun quiet so he didn’t agitate his wounds.

“Is he from Busan, too?” JaeBum laughed as he stalked towards them. “You sure know how to pick them, huh, Eve?”

 She bit her lip at the nickname as she looked down in shame.

“JaeBum…” YoungJae called out to divert his attention from DaeHee as Kae helped him closer to the newcomer.

“YoungJae! Man, you look horrible,” JaeBum gasped out as he gave his friend a once over.

“Yeah, thanks, Buddy. I’ll try to pretty myself for you next time you pop in unexpectedly,” grumbled YoungJae sarcastically. His movements were halted as his human crutch refused to move forward.

“Kae? What’s wrong?”

She bit her lip and stared at JaeBum, who had already averted his attention back to DaeHee.

“…he feels…wrong…” she muttered so only YoungJae could hear. He felt her hands tense, pulling at his clothes. He took one of her hand and released his shirt from its clutches, so he could hold onto it supportively.

“It’s okay…JaeBum is one of my friends…you don’t have to be scared…”

Kae looked over at DaeHee for a brief moment before turning back to YoungJae.

“…Jae…how important is that girl to you?” Kae asked out of the blue. He blinked in confusion, not quite understanding the correlation between their previous topic and her question.

“What does…that have to do with-”

“Would Jae be sad?” she mumbled. “If that girl wasn’t around, would Jae be sad?”

“Well…DaeHee is a good friend of mine…so I would definitely be really sad, but…why are you asking that?” YoungJae laughed, tilting her head up to him. “Is Kae jealous?”

She looked shocked at his question and quickly shook her head. “No! I was…just curious! Because…Jae…stabbed himself…to protect that girl…”

YoungJae smiled, ruffling her hair, “Yes, DaeHee is important to Jae. But Kae is more important…okay?”

She smiled with a nod at his answer before looking back at the terrified DaeHee.

“But…Jae would be sad…right…”

HoWon hugged DaeHee closer to her and whispered, “Don’t worry. I promise I’ll protect you.”

Her eyes dilated at his words echoed a different voice in her head.

Noticing her change in expression, JaeBum smirked at HoWon, “I don’t think it’s me you need to be protecting her from, Lover Boy.”

DaeHee screamed, throwing HoWon’s arm off of her while crawling away on the floor.

“No, no, no! It…it can’t be…no!” she cried as she huddled down in a ball. HoWon glared at JaeBum.

“What did you do to her?!” he demanded, curling his fists into balls, ready to punch JaeBum in the face.

“Me?” JaeBum sighed, shaking his head, clearly irritated at HoWon’s lack of understanding. “If you really know so little about her, I suggest you find yourself another girl.”

DaeHee’s eyes became distant as she relived the moments when JinYoung died right in front of her. JaeBum walked up to DaeHee and kneeled down in front of her.

“Get away from her!” HoWon growled, charging at JaeBum. The younger male became irritated at his interruptions so he grabbed HoWon’s fist, twisting it behind his back and kicking him forward onto the floor.

“You’re becoming a real pain in the ,” JaeBum warned with a fierce stare while stepping into HoWon’s shoulder. “I won’t do anything to your precious girl as long as she behaves, so shut up and stay out of my way or I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

With a scoff, JaeBum walked back to DaeHee, who looked possessed, chanting something under her breath as tears rolled down her eyes.

“You really aren’t someone that can just move on from their past so easily, right?” JaeBum smiled sadly down at DaeHee. She jerked violently when he touched her, thinking it was HoWon. Her eyes met JaeBum’s and she froze.

“Jae…Bum…please…I’m sorry,” she started mumbling automatically as she clung desperately to him. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…JinYoung…I-”

“I know…the very least I can expect from you is not to forget what JinYoung died for,” JaeBum sighed as he helped her up. He offered her a smile though it looked twisted in DaeHee’s eyes. “…which means words such as ‘I should have died’ are not allowed to ever come from your mouth.”

DaeHee stared at him in shock.

“What?” JaeBum chuckled, “Did you think I was going to tell you to kill yourself? You would probably do it too without a second thought if I did, huh…you really are too naïve sometimes. A life is very precious, Jung DaeHee. I think that’s the least we learned from JinYoung, don’t you think?”

She nodded in shame at how weak her will was in front of JaeBum. He frowned down at her.

“Please…for JinYoung’s sake…don’t ever throw your life away so easily…” JaeBum pleaded before pushing her to HoWon and announcing, “Here. You can have her back.”

HoWon hugged DaeHee tightly to himself and glared at JaeBum as he walked by to the B.A.P and Secret. He looked down at DaeHee with worried eyes.

“Are you okay? Did he do anything to you?” he asked immediately. She stared at the ground, still in shock at what seemed like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

“Why…do you care…so much…” DaeHee whispered as her mind was still on JinYoung.

“You wanna know?” HoWon smirked as he moved his head down into her view. “‘Cause you are my special~ special~ s-”

At his attempt to brighten her up, DaeHee couldn’t help but let out a small smile at how bright and happy he looked at her (while pushing his face away, telling him to knock it off). But the more he tried to cheer her up, the more HoWon reminded her of JinYoung. She was scared. She didn’t want to lose HoWon like she did JinYoung.

“Hey…DaeHee…look at me,” HoWon requested. When she tilted her head up, he swooped down and kissed her. Shocked by his action, DaeHee tried to pull away, mind still completely blurred with everything that had just happened. But as he refused to relent, her will to fight against him dwindled as well. Just as she was letting herself be swept away by the warm feeling in her chest, HoWon pulled away.

“I like you,” HoWon confessed simply. “That’s why I care.”

DaeHee blushed, looking down.

“Something so simple…” she mumbled.

He smiled at her, “Aren’t the simple ones the best kind?”

For the first time after the long ordeal, DaeHee finally returned the smile.

“Yes, I suppose they are.”

While DaeHee gave HoWon a hug in return, JaeBum bowed respectfully at the members of Secret and B.A.P.

“I’ve turned off the bloodbots as requested, HyoSung-sshi,” JaeBum reported as B.A.P turned to Secret’s leader in awe.

“Good work, JB. It’s been awhile, huh?” HyoSung praised with a smile, patting the younger male on the back. He nodded.

“Turned off?” Kae questioned with a of her head.

YongGuk sighed, “Yes, turned off. Like how they were supposed to be. It took years for us to figure out the frequency they were on, but we managed to get it and made sure that the bloodbots were undetectable unless taken from a physical sample and under a microscope. …that is…before a certain someone…”

DaeHyun turned away, not even bothering to defend himself.

“I texted JB to get it done first thing after we found out they were . It’s not something DaeHee wants…if earlier wasn’t evidence enough,” HyoSung explained.

“JB, what did you say to DaeHee?!” DaeHyun demanded as he tried to get closer to them with EunWoo’s help.

“Relax, Knight in Shining Armor. I just reminded her how meaningless JinYoung’s sacrifice would be if she carelessly threw her life away,” JaeBum answered, shaking his head.

“JinYoung?” EunWoo asked.

“DaeHee’s late boyfriend,” DaeHyun responded with closed eyes. “He died…saving her life…on her first mission.”

“Because she was too careless…too trusting…thinking she was invincible,” JaeBum continued with a forlorn look. DaeHyun glared at him.

“That must have been hard…on DaeHee-sshi…I can’t imagine losing DaeHy-” EunWoo gasped at what almost slipped out of and covered it before correcting. “-I mean…to lose someone that important! I can’t…I can’t imagine t-that.”

To her surprise, he wrapped his arms around her.

“EunWoo…too…I…” DaeHyun looked away before mumbling the rest of his sentence. “I mean…you’ve kind of…attached yourself like a bug to me…it would be…weird…without EunWoo…”

EunWoo looked up at the DaeHyun that refused to meet her eyes in pleasant surprise. She thought he would say something disheartening, but now her heart was beating against her chest in happiness at his words. With a warm and gentle smile, EunWoo returned DaeHyun’s brave confession with a kiss on the cheek.

HimChan smirked slyly at YongGuk.

“Hey, YongGukkie! Don’t you have your own confession to give?!” he taunted with a laugh as his leader tried to physically tear his throat apart while JongUp tried to stop him to save his annoying hyung.

“So that’s him?” JaeBum asked HyoSung.

“Depends who you’re talking about. The assassin that killed all your parents has already been eliminated by DaeHee. That’s Arcane, also known as Lee InSu…Lee HoWon’s uncle,” HyoSung sighed in shame, staring pitifully at the old man. “Why don’t you take him to our holding cells? We’ll have to see what we can get out of him.”

JaeBum nodded his head, taking out the handcuffs HyoSung had asked him to bring. As he walked to InSu, HaNa walked over to HyoSung (and away from all the commotion behind them with JiEun and SunHwa trying to stop YongGuk from murdering HimChan).

“Unnie, I’m surprised…” HaNa spoke quietly as she watched over JaeBum carefully. “You sure put a lot of trust in that kid.”

HyoSung smiled up at HaNa, “I watched each and every one of these kids grow up, HaNa. But JJ Project…were like my own children. JaeBum may be bitter, but he’s not stupid.”

Despite the relaxing atmosphere, Kae kept her eyes warily on JaeBum the whole time.

“I can take him from here. We’ll be sure to deal with him properly,” JaeBum informed, putting handcuffs on InSu, ready to take him away.

“Can you…be sure not to…kill him?” SungKyu requested with an uncertain voice.

JaeBum stared in confusion.

“He’s…even if he did all those things…HoWon…has never stopped caring about him…he’s his uncle and he’s dear to him,” SungJong explained with a sad smile. With a sigh, JaeBum nodded in understanding. Just he pulled InSu away from everyone, the captive finally spoke for the first time.

“Who is JinYoung?” he asked JaeBum, who glared down at him.

“None of your business.”

“So an important friend? Partner? Maybe a lover?”

JaeBum rolled his eyes as he pushed InSu forward.

“So, you feel ill-will towards DaeHee, yes?”

His eyes widened at InSu’s words.

“See, you do? Let me free and I can help you get revenge for JinYoung. I can also bring him back, I bet I can bring life back to your friend.”

“Bring…JinYoung back?”

“Yes…wouldn’t that be great?”

“It would…”

“Release me, please, I can help you.”

“For JinYoung?”

“For JinYoung.”

JaeBum’s passive eyes flared as he kicked InSu over, forcing the man in handcuffs on the ground.

“Do you think I’m stupid, Old Man? I haven’t been a part of this company for simple words like yours to appeal to me. What was that? Ill-will towards DaeHee? Psh, yah, if I let anything happen to her, JinYoung will haunt me for the rest of my life,” JaeBum scoffed.

InSu chuckled, “I suppose…but it was worth…a shot…”

JaeBum stared in confusion at the man.

He didn’t see the gun InSu had managed to grab with his hands behind his back after JaeBum had pushed him on the ground.

He didn’t see him aim his gun at DaeHee.

BANG.

All the jubilant ruckus from earlier came to a deadly silence.

HoWon had covered DaeHee in an automatic reaction to the sound of the bullet. Her eyes immediately watered as she screamed.

Flashbacks of JinYoung flew through her mind as she reached forward for the older boy. When she reached around to check on him, she was surprised to find no blood or wound. Instead, she looked up to see his face almost stuck in permanent shock.

“You really are an idiot,” InSu scoffed at the one only a few meters away from his gun, still standing protectively in front of HoWon and DaeHee with her arms out. “Shouldn’t you be helping me? She is your Appa’s killer.”

Kae’s eyes stayed unwavering along with her resolve despite the first shot having gone through her stomach.

“Jae…would be sad,” she said, only from her voice could you tell she was severely wounded. “…Kae would never…let Jae be sad. Not even for Appa.”

“K-K-Kae…” YoungJae finally whispered out, shaking in fear, as he scrabbled recklessly to his feet only to fall back on the ground, his mind unable to push his incapable body to run to her. “No…please…please don’t shoot her! KAE!”

“Suit yourself, Child.”

BANG.

=====================================================================

OH MY GOSH, DON’T KILL ME.

~Kira :3

P.S. I’m sorry for not updating for awhile…I’ve been sick and gross. :(

P.P.S. Don't blame me for this. This was inspired by "Rain Sound" teaser and "Special Girl" from Infinite H. >.>