JB buckled his short sword by his side, before picking up a gun, studying it carefully.

Taecyeon walked up from behind him; he picked up a gun too, pretending to inspect it as he murmured to JB, “This was a direct order. From Yunho himself.”

JB didn’t look at him. “How many times are you going to ask that, Taecyeon? I already told you, Father came to look for me on the roof and gave me the orders. Orders are orders, and no matter how many times you ask about them, they’re not going to change.”

Taecyeon shot him a challenging look. “Does that mean you’re prepared to take Jiyeon down?”

JB slid a gun into a holster in his jacket, ignoring him.

Behind them, Junho and Wooyoung were talking quietly as well. Both were already prepared; all that was left was for them to change into their Kevlar vests. Wooyoung’s expression was cold, with a hint of satisfaction as he spoke, “It’s a good thing Yunho has initiative, not like his son.” He shot JB a disapproving look, but he paid no attention. “And his other son just lazes around, completely unlike a Warrior.”

If Jr heard Wooyoung’s words, he gave no sign of it, calming going ahead with his preparations.

Junho pulled his Kevlar vest on, his tone calmer, “Maybe you should consider it from their point of view. JB’s only a kid, and he’s immature. Taecyeon’s always been wilder than the rest of us. Stands to reason that they would be the ones to fall in love with the wrong people. Plus, love brainwashes the sane into insanity.”

Wooyoung snorted, “Yeah, well maybe they should consider it from my point of view. Those ing es killed my parents.”

“Are you done?” Taecyeon’s voice interrupted; Wooyoung looked up and took a step back, startled to see Taecyeon right in front of him. “We’re going after them now. You’re getting what you want. So I don’t want any more of your disruptive remarks. Understood?”

Wooyoung took a step forward, his expression rebellious, but Junho grabbed his arm. “Stop it.” Wooyoung hesitated, glancing at Junho. Then, reluctantly, he nodded his head.

JB glanced over at all the Warriors making preparations. Jun.K sat alone in a corner, his expression like the cat who ate the canary and refused to swallow it. Junho and Wooyoung were still talking quietly, but they seemed to be discussing battle tactics now. Seojoon and Jr were silently going through their preparations; their thoughts seemed to be elsewhere. Taecyeon’s eyes were unfocused; JB was willing to bet that he was thinking about Eunjung-sshi again.

At that, JB’s thoughts suddenly turned to Jiyeon. He’d been trying hard not to think about her at all, but it wasn’t working at all. He cast a guilty glance towards Taecyeon. He felt apologetic about letting Taecyeon reveal his identity all alone to Eunjung last time, and even now, he didn’t want to let Jiyeon know who he really was. As long as Jiyeon didn’t know, there was a chance that they might still end up together. But if Jiyeon were to find out…He flinched at the thought.

Jr joined him. “Hyung, you all right? You look a little pale. Is it…?” his voice trailed off, but both of them knew the name Jr had been about to say.

JB forced a smile, but it looked more like a grimace. “I’m fine, Jr. Make sure you’re ready for the fight, I’m not prepared to lose my brother.” He patted Jr on the back, and the younger guy gave a cute, boyish grin. “Right back at you.”

Taecyeon clapped his hands. “All right guys, it’s time. Now, we don’t have time for the usual pep-talk, we’re on a strict schedule. We’ll take the ‘copter to the airport in wait for the T-ara members and then we’ll take them down. Understood?”

“What if one of us spares a member of T-ara?” Wooyoung spoke up, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Our orders were to terminate them, right?”

“We bring them in dead or alive. Alive would be preferable – then we can get information out of them, like who they’re leaders are.” Taecyeon ordered. “The important thing is to let no one escape.”

Wooyoung nodded, satisfied with the suddenly focused Taecyeon.

“All right, let’s move out!”

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

“So you people are…assassins?” Dani asked hesitantly.

The T-ara members nodded in unison.

“…So you’re kidnapping me to kill me?”

Jiyeon gave a small laugh. “No, course not. If we wanted you dead we wouldn’t have stopped the car. Besides, we kill only the scum of society.”

Dani frowned, not quite understanding. “The scum of society? What scum? We’re living in the twenty-first century, you know.”

“The scum of society still exists.” Qri’s voice was quiet but vehement, “Those rich folks who only know how to waste their money on trivial pursuits of pleasure, who have no thought of sacrifice, of caring for someone other than themselves. The folks who are corrupt, going around bribing people or accepting bribes. Those who use money control the law, make themselves seem above the law. Those are the people we prosecute. The people who deserve to die.”

“No one deserves to die. Everyone deserves a second chance.” Dani said quietly.

“That’s why we always go after those who have no hope left for them, who have already squandered their second chance.” Eunjung challenged.

“Like who?”

“Choi Siwon, the chairman of Super Corps. Lee Sooman, founder of SME. Kim Kwang Soo, owner of a chain of e bars. And a lot of others. There are many of these people out there, Dani. They just hide behind a mask of charity and kindness.” Boram explained to her.

Dani said nothing, but her expression was dubious.

“Anyway, you should understand why we’ve explained all this to you, right?” Hyomin questioned. Dani looked up, startled. Her expression turned sharp. “You want me to join you.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’re happy where you are anyway. We can take you in, teach you. You can become one of us, part of our family. It doesn’t look like your brother will care much anyway.” Hyomin replied, thinking back to that moment when Wooyoung had slapped his sister.  

Dani hesitated, her expression contemplative. It was true, anyway. Wooyoung wouldn’t care much what happened to her; she knew he thought that she was a nuisance. And the promise of a new family…

“What’s the catch? Like, do I have to kill my best friend as part of an initiation test or something? Not that I have any best friends, anyway.” Dani raised her eyes.

Jiyeon smothered a fit of laughter. “No, not at all. There’s no catch, it’s a genuine offer. We can even let you try it out for a while, and if it doesn’t suit you, we’ll let you go. But, of course, we can’t let you leave the assassins with your memories intact. We’ll have to wipe and replace them.”

Dani considered this. She looked at each T-ara member in turn; they had tried to be as honest with her as possible, she could tell. And they were already treating her like one of their own. Which was more than she could say for her brother.

“…Count me in.”

All the T-ara members grinned widely at her words. “Good choice.” Jiyeon said, clapping Dani on the back.

Hyomin parked the car at the back of the airport, which was deserted, and turned the engine off. “We’re here. Get Chansung off first.”

Dani’s eyes widened suddenly. “Chansung?” *

*Dani didn’t know that Chansung was in the car. The T-ara’s car is more like a van, split into three parts. Hyomin, the driver, and Qri, who was in the shotgun seat, were at the front. Dani, Jiyeon, Boram and Eunjung were at the second row, and Chansung was lying down on the laps of Soyeon and Hwayoung at the last row, so he wasn’t visible to Dani.*

Jiyeon glanced at her. “You know him?” She turned to look behind, where Chansung’s head lay on Soyeon’s lap, out cold.

“Yes, he’s my brother’s friend. He’s always coming to our house, along with Taecyeon-oppa, JB-oppa, Jun.K-oppa, Junho-oppa, Seojoon-oppa and Jr.”

Qri, Soyeon, Hwayoung and Boram looked dazed by the sudden influx of unfamiliar names, but Jiyeon picked up on one. “JB?”

“Yeah. JB. He and his brother Jr are good friends with my brother and Chansung.” Dani explained.

Eunjung and Jiyeon looked at each other, and Eunjung pointed out softly, “He introduced Taecyeon as his brother. It’s possible that he just didn’t show himself that night.”

Jiyeon’s eyes darkened, confusion and doubt beginning to cloud her mind. Dani whispered to Eunjung, “What’s going on? Why did you guys take Chansung-oppa? Is he one of the “scum of society”?”

“No. He’s a Warrior, a member of a society that tries to hunt down us assassins.” Eunjung replied, “But Chansung was Soyeon’s friend, so he tried to save her when she was captured and tortured. Unfortunately, he was found out and badly injured by one of his friends. We’re taking him to our headquarters to repay his favour for bringing Soyeon back to us.”

Dani’s eyes widened in shock, and she turned to look at Chansung with new eyes.

Hyomin peered around, frowning. “Where is the helicopter that’s supposed to be waiting for us?”

As if on cue, there was a loud whirring noise from the skies, the sound of a helicopter. Hyomin glanced up. “About time. Come on guys, get everything and let’s go.”

The T-ara members got out of the car first, then Jiyeon and Eunjung went to help Hyomin to carry Chansung out of the car. Dani peered upwards at the helicopter, using her hand to shade her eyes. Qri waved to the helicopter, as if asking them to hurry up.

And that was when things went wrong.

Dani suddenly flung herself backwards, her cry panicked. “My brother’s in that helicopter!”

Heads whipped around, and Hyomin’s eyes widened. “Jang Wooyoung?”

Qri’s voice was a shocked whisper, “Oh my god…that’s Ok Taecyeon.”

Everyone was looking upwards now, their eyes wide in shock and horror. And then Jiyeon registered one thing.

JB was in that helicopter.

It was Hyomin who recovered herself first; she grabbed her gun, yelling, “Get ready for battle, everyone!”

Hands reached for guns and knives, and they were not a moment too soon. The door of the helicopter opened when the ‘copter was only a distance from the ground, and bodies flung themselves out, rolling to a halt right in front of the T-ara members.

The first was Ok Taecyeon, his face grim, a semi-automatic in his hand. Eunjung stared at him, almost accusingly, but he looked away, refusing to meet her gaze.

He was followed by Junho and Jun.K, all wielding a gun in one hand and a sword in another.

Another body landed beside them. Eunjung heard Jiyeon’s breath in beside her.

It was Jr. Which stood to reason that…

“Assassins!” Taecyeon’s voice rang out in the deserted area. “Surrender now and we won’t harm you. Otherwise we’ll have to take you in by force!”

Soyeon snorted, “Won’t harm us? You mean until you start torturing us?”

“Shut your mouth, !” Jun.K took a step forward with a malicious sneer. “I suppose you wouldn’t like torture…I remember how you screamed and begged for mercy last time.”

Eunjung’s eyes flashed, and she nearly flung herself at him. “You dirty little-”

Hyomin gazed at them coldly. “Just because we let you go last time doesn’t mean we’ll let you go again.”

Junho raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think you can beat us?”

“Like you can do anything to us.” Hyomin looked at them pityingly. “Besides, we outnumber you, and-”

“Do you?”

Hyomin froze as she felt the cold prick of a knife against her skin. Beside her, Eunjung and Soyeon stiffened up as well.

Before any of them could react, the three girls were wrenched away from their fellows, dragged back towards their cars.

The other T-ara members whipped around, eyes wide in shock, and Jun.K gave a small smirk of satisfaction.

“Jang Wooyoung and JB. We should have guessed.” Hwayoung’s voice was icy.

Wooyoung held Soyeon by the neck, while Seojoon gripped Eunjung by the hair. And, between the two of them, stood JB, his knife against Hyomin’s neck.

“Surrender.” JB’s voice was soft, but the threat behind it was obvious. His eyes met Jiyeon’s without flinching; Jiyeon stared at him disbelievingly. Automatically, she took a step forward. “JB-”

JB drew back, pressing the knife harder against Hyomin’s neck. “Keep your distance.”

Qri grabbed onto Jiyeon’s hand, pulling her back. “He’s not JB anymore. He’s just another Warrior.” She murmured quietly.

Jiyeon’s body was stiff, her eyes still fixed on JB, but he was no longer looking at her. Instead, he addressed Hyomin quietly, “Tell your fellows to drop their weapons and we’ll spare you.”

Hyomin tried to jerk away but he kept a firm grip on her. She settled for a sneer instead. “You think I’ll ask them to do something like that? Go ahead, kill me. I’m not scared of you.”

JB glanced at Wooyoung, but his eyes were focused on someone standing behind Jiyeon. “Dani! What the hell…”

Hyomin’s grin was triumphant. “Didn’t know that your sister would rather join us, did you?”

Wooyoung stared at Dani. “You…this…”

Dani’s gaze was defiant. “That’s right, brother. I’m one of them now. You kill them, you kill me.”

Wooyoung’s grip loosened slightly. “You’re crazy. After what these people did to our parents you-”

Soyeon whipped around, taking advantage of Wooyoung’s distraction. Wooyoung cried out in pain as she twisted his arm, grabbing the knife and holding it to his neck instead.

The other Warriors jerked forward instinctively. This wasn’t part of the plan.

Wooyoung grimaced in pain, but he stormed, “Kill them, kill them all now!”

JB hesitated. Then he gave a soft smile. “Impasse, I suppose.”

“Unless you’re prepared to give up his life for your cause.” Soyeon responded equally softly.

Jun.K was getting impatient with all this talk. Ignoring the rest of them, he strode to the T-ara car.

Soyeon’s eyes widened. “What are you-get away from that car!”

But it was too late. Jun.K’s grin was triumphant as he dragged Chansung out of the car, carelessly dropping him onto the ground. Chansung hit the ground with a loud thud; his eyelids fluttered open, taking in the scene before him. His breath in, and he stared at Soyeon with real panic now.

Then he felt the cold steel of a gun pressing against his head. He knew who it was. “Jun.K. Looks like you found me again.”

Jun.K smirked, “Looks like I did.” He cocked his gun.

The other Warriors’ eyes widened in alarm, JB taking a step forward in shock. “Kim Junsu, what are you-”

The gun fired. 

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

Omo! Poor Chansung...He gets shot with a gun, thrown on the floor and now is in danger of dying...

Anyway, the hits the fan in this chapter. All identities are revealed, and Jun.K reveals himself to be a real bastard. 

But will JB and Taecyeon follow through with their orders and bring the T-ara members in for torture? And what about Wooyoung? What did he mean about their parents and the assassins? Will he hunt his own sister? Wait for the next chaper to find out!

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