Soyeon groaned, her head pounding as her eyes slowly opened. She blinked slowly a few times, her eyes adjusting to the low lighting. And then her eyes widened in shock.

Eight men stood before her in a line, their expressions cold, expressionless. nearly fell open, stunned as she stared at the five men in the centre.

Im Yunho, Kim Jaejoong, Park Yoochun, Kim Junsu and Shim Changmin. All of them amongst the most famous men in Korea. And all of them Vigilantes.

Standing on Shim Changmin’s other side was another familiar face: Im Jaebum. Her lips drew back into a snarl at the sight of him, “Im Jaebum, you bastard! You-”

“Silence!” A voice thundered as the man beside JB stepped forward and slapped her face hard.

Another familiar voice rang out, “Jun.K, stop it!” The man who had slapped her huffed, and stepped back.

Soyeon’s head whipped up in disbelief, and she stared at the tall young man who had taken a step forward. Her lips formed his name silently, “Chansung…”

There was a pause as their eyes met. Then Chansung stepped back, his gaze lowering, unable to meet her eyes.

“You are Park Soyeon, a member of T-ara, the highest ranked assassins?” Im Yunho asked, his voice emotionless.

Soyeon glared at him in defiance, “If you’re so great, surely you know it already!”

Yunho raised an eye, and the side of his lips curved up in a small smile. Junsu spoke, his famous voice as soft and melodic as rumoured, “My dear girl, I don’t think you’re in a position to speak to us that way.”

Soyeon spat, “You won’t get anything from me! I tell you, we’ll get rid of every single one of you, so you can’t interfere with us anymore.”

There was a long silence. Then Park Yoochun stepped forward and grabbed her chin roughly, “You little . You dare take this tone with us?”

Soyeon spat right into his face. Chansung flinched. JB took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he looked down.

There was a long silence. Then Yoochun punched her in the face. It was a strength she had not experienced before; so strong that her entire body swung to the side and hit the ground with a thud. Yoochun reached forward and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her up roughly, “You ; you think this is playschool?” He slapped her, leaving a bruising red mark on her face, “You think we’re just gonna treat you nice and sweet and let you go home safe and sound when this is over?”

Soyeon grunted in pain, her eyes swimming with tears that she refused to let fall. Yoochun rose and kicked her once in the gut, hard, “You think we’re going to take no for an answer?!”

Soyeon gasped in agony, clutching her stomach.

“Enough.” Yunho interrupted, his voice as calm and composed as before, “Enough.”

Yoochun turned back to look at his leader; “Let me deal with this, hyung. I’ll have her singing, and I’ll get to do something I enjoy for once.”

There was a pause as Yunho’s eyes met Yoochun. Jaejoong spoke for the first time, “Let him handle her. He can do it.”

Changmin nodded in agreement. Yunho gave a curt nod, “Very well. You handle this.” He turned and strode out of the room, Jaejoong and Junsu following after him. Changmin glanced at the other three men, “Stay here and help hyung if he needs it.”

The trio nodded. Changmin turned and left the room quickly. Yoochun spun to face Soyeon, a smile on his face. He reached out a hand; there was a brief pause before Jun.K placed a silver briefcase in it.

Yoochun quickly entered a combination and opened the briefcase. He picked up something; a small device that Soyeon struggled but failed to see. The Elder rose, his smile still wide as he spoke, “It’s been years since I’ve had an assassin to interrogate, you know that? Ah, I still miss the days…”

Soyeon’s eyes narrowed. This man was utterly insane. She opened to spit insults at him again, but was distracted by JB, who shook his head vehemently, mouthing, “Shut up!” Soyeon hesitated, surprised by the intensity of JB’s gaze.

“This was a commonly used tool back in those days.” Yoochun revealed the device he held in his hand; it was a small hammer made of metal, “But, of course, it usually didn’t work. When I start with this, I probably won’t believe anything you say.”

Soyeon shrunk back, abruptly aware of what was coming.

“And then we’ll proceed to this.” He lifted something else from his briefcase: a small, metal bowl filled with tree leaves and a lighter, “The combined effect of these two…when I use this, you’ll own up to a few things.”

“Then we’ll get to this.” He held up a pair of pliers, “When it comes to this, I can start believing what you tell me. And finally…”

Chansung took a deep breath. Jun.K cracked an unpleasant grin. Soyeon’s eyes flickered to JB; she could see the apology, the sorrow in his eyes. And she knew, that he knew what was coming next.

“Finally, we’ll use these. And then you’ll be begging to tell me everything you know.”

And he lifted a Heretic’s Fork.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taecyeon slammed the dashboard angrily, “Why the hell wasn’t I informed about this?”

No one answered him. Taecyeon turned to glare at his second-in-command who was driving the car, “Well?”

There was a pause before JB answered, “The elders said you were…indisposed. They ordered me to take over the mission. There was no time.”

Taecyeon cursed. It was a moment before Junho spoke, “Taec, don’t blame JB. He was just following orders.”

Taecyeon glared out of the window silently. After a moment, he asked in a calmer voice, “What happened after Elder Yoochun took over?”

“…”

“Well?” Taecyeon demanded, turning to JB. And then he stared, startled, as he realized that JB’s hands were shaking uncontrollably on the steering wheel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blood dripped from Soyeon’s fingers as her head lolled limply in the chair. Yoochun rose in disgust, “She fainted.” He wiped the blood of his fingers, tossing the red-hot hammer to the ground, “Pathetic.”

“Are you stopping now, sir?” Jun.K asked. Yoochun turned to give him a piercing stare, “Has she talked yet?”

Jun.K shook his head silently. Yoochun growled, “Call me when she wakes.” and strode out of the room. Jun.K followed him out.

Chansung waited till they were out of earshot before kneeling down beside Soyeon. He choked out, “Oh god, her fingers.”

JB stared silently.

“What do we do, JB-ah?”

“Bring me water and a cloth. And some anesthetic. Now.” JB instructed. Chansung staggered off to follow his instructions.

JB knelt down beside the older woman, “Soyeon-sshi? Soyeon-sshi, can you hear me? You need to wake up now.”

There was no response.

“Here’s the stuff.” Chansung placed the things JB had requested on the floor beside him. JB quickly wet the cloth. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and began to wipe the blood from her fingers as gently as he could.

Almost at once, Soyeon bolted upright, the pain searing through her fingers almost too much to bear. Chansung wrapped his hand around as she prepared to scream, shaking his head silently.

Quick as lightning, JB injected her with the anesthesia. For a moment, Soyeon struggled soundlessly. Then, as the anesthesia took effect, her body relaxed slightly, and Chansung removed his hand. Soyeon eyed JB dully, “You’re a Vigilante. You both are.”

“I don’t think you should be worrying about that now.” JB said crisply.

“We should have kept you away from Jiyeon the moment we started suspecting you. You’ll bring nothing but hurt to her.”

JB’s body went stiff. His fingers trembling slightly as he reached out to continue wiping her hands, he replied, “You should give Elder Yoochun what he wants.”

“No. Never.” Soyeon’s gaze hardened, “I won’t betray the assassins.”

“You’ll die, Soyeon.” Chansung whispered. Soyeon smiled a bitter smile, “That’s why I joined the assassins. You Vigilantes killed my parents. I’m here to take revenge.”

JB frowned, “We killed your parents?”

“Yes.” Soyeon hissed. JB shook his head, “Unless they were assassins, we would never do it. No Vigilante would carry out an unsanctioned hit.”

“Then obviously there’s a lot about your own organization that you don’t know.” Soyeon replied.

JB tossed the cloth into the basin of water, “I don’t know how far the Elder will go, and I don’t know if we’ll be able to stop him. My advice would be to give him what he wants. That way, he might just let you live.”

Soyeon looked away.

JB shrugged, “I thought not.” He took the basin, rising, “The anesthetic I gave you will last another two hours; but considering the torture Elder Yoochun is using, it’ll only be able to block out some of the pain. I suggest you fake that you’re in great pain, else he’ll suspect something. After that…you’re on your own again.”

He left the room. Chansung swallowed a sigh, “Noona, please. Just give the Elder what he wants. It’s easier for all of us. Neither JB nor I want to see you hurt.”

Soyeon didn’t even bother to answer.

The door swung open. Yoochun smiled at the sight of Soyeon awake. He tilted his head slightly, “Let us resume.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five hours later, Chansung flinched as Soyeon’s scream echoed throughout the room. Yoochun’s voice was a snarl as he slammed the pliers down on Soyeon’s hands, “Before I use this to tear your fingers right off, you better talk!”

Soyeon bit her lip as hard as she could, so hard that she split her lip. She threw her head back, desperately trying to keep the scream back. But as Yoochun cursed and slammed the pliers into her face, she couldn’t help it. Her face tore from cheek to lip, splitting open as blood spurted out.

JB turned his head away, his fist clenching. Chansung swallowed hard, almost taking a step forward to grab Yoochun’s hand.

There was a pause as Yoochun waited for Soyeon to speak. Then he growled, “You little !” He swung the pliers at her, and it slashed a deep cut in her forehead.

Without hesitation, Yoochun turned back to the briefcase and picked up the Heretic’s Fork. He reached forward to tie it under her chin, a gruesome smile on his face.

“No!”

JB shot forward, grabbing Yoochun’s arm. The Elder turned to look at him, his gaze cold, “No? Are you helping the enemy here, Jaebum?”

JB hesitated. He swallowed hard, the nervousness written clearly on his face.

“You may be Yunho-hyung’s son and protégé, but I’m still an Elder, and I demand the respect from you!” Yoochun swung at JB with the fork, but he ducked, twisting out of the way as he responded, “If you use the Heretic’s Fork, she’ll die. It’ll tear through her face. We can take things slowly, follow the same routine day after day. Sooner or later she’ll crack. But if she dies, we lose everything, sir.”

Yoochun hesitated as he contemplated JB’s words. Then he snorted, throwing the Heretic’s Fork into the briefcase, and stalked out of the room.

Chansung and JB waited till Jun.K had left before turning back to Soyeon. Soyeon’s eyes were glazed with pain as she begged, “Help me…get me out of here…”

“We can’t.” JB answered softly, “We’re Vigilantes. The only reason I’m helping you now’s because…” his voice trailed off. But Soyeon understood, “Jiyeon.”

“I don’t like the idea of helping an assassin, but…either way, we can’t help you escape.” JB replied curtly.

“Tell…tell Jiyeon…”

JB’s gaze hardened, “I can’t. She’ll know who I am. It’ll destroy everything we have between us.”

“It’s impossible for the two of you, anyway. You’re a Vigilante. She’s an assassin. You’ll do nothing but hurt each other.” Soyeon whispered weakly.

JB’s hand twitched and he balled up his fist, “Don’t push it.” He turned away and made to leave the room when Chansung called, “Hey, we’re just leaving her here?”

JB didn’t turn, “I have to return to school.”

And then he was gone.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Whew! Another chapter done! This one was more than 2000 words, I think that's the most I've written for a chapter before. 

In any case, this chapter is mainly about Soyeon and what she goes through under the torture of the Vigilantes. And we get our first glimpses at the Head Honchos! Yunho is the cold, expressionless leader, Jaejoong and Changmin are the practical ones, Junsu's the gentle-looking guy and Yoochun's the sadistic torturer! I like Yunho and Yoochun's characters best, personally. Yunho is cool and collected, while Yoochun is the exact opposite. What about you guys?

Junsu(2PM) also appears; he's like a mini-Yoochun, a bit sadistic and evil. And poor Chansung and JB! Chansung's forced to watch his friend get tortured, while JB has to watch too, all the while suffering the guilt from knowing that this is his fault, because he took her down. JB's actually a very loyal Vigilante, except he loves Jiyeon and will do anything for her, which is why he's helping Soyeon: he knows that Jiyeon will be upset that Soyeon is hurt, so he's doing his best to help Soyeon, in the hope that Jiyeon might just be less upset, less hurt about it. And poor Taec...

In any case, I felt a bit bad about writing Soyeon's torture; I didn't go into much detail, cos that would be too much blood and gore. But honestly, her injuries are a LOT worse than they sound in this chapter. It'll be elaborated on in the next few chapters.

So people, please wait for it! And remember, subscribe and comment!