YES. You've read correctly.

I am now back to post the remaining chapters of this fic! =]

My laptop has been fixed, and with it, the story files I had made it out alive. So I'm not abandoning this story. <3

As a reward for almost two months [or more] of waiting, I've decided to update tonight! =]

So, here's what happened picking up from what had transpired in Kai's brown room...

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10. Etiam Nuper

Etiam Nuper: "Too Late"



"If they don't get me out of his hands now..."


She has to be saved before it is etiam nuper.


"... they might not get the chance to. "



= = = Soundtrack: Infinite - Come Back Again = = =

I was about to reach for the cellphone on the table when two things happened.



One, the call suddenly ended.



Two, the door of Jongin-sshi's room swung open...

...revealing a very handsome man with a black bag slung over his shoulder.



I immediately snapped back to my sitting position, wincing slightly at the pain that invaded my system with the action, and stared at the man who had just appeared in front of me. A confused look was reflected in his face when he took slow but sure steps towards me, which reminded me vividly of Jongin-sshi's steps in the gangwar, and leaned forward a little to look at me closely. I was holding my breath for the moments he searched my face, and my heart was beating about five times its usual pace.

"A girl? I was pretty sure that Kai-yah wasn't the type of guy to bring women to his room. Guess I was wrong." He said before looking to the end table where Jongin-sshi's cellphone was.

"That's his cellphone huh? Guess he left it on the table while he was doing you." He sarcastically added before flinging the black bag that he had, causing the object to slam against a wall of Jongin-sshi's room and fall to the floor with a loud sound.

"I changed the sheets in the other room just like what he had asked me. Tell him that when you see him. And remind Kai-yah that sometimes, despite being close to the leader of the brotherhood, he shouldn't make him do this kind of stuff." He said before smirking, which I found incredibly attractive for a guy like him. I was waiting for him to turn around and walk away, but he never did.

Instead, he once more leaned to my direction, making me fall back to the cushions of Jongin-sshi's bed. The man used an arm to support himself as his gaze travelled from my face down to the rest of my body, then back to my face again. He then gave out a soft "Tsk" before his lips and speaking in a whisper.

"He must've done you hard, 'cause if he didn't... then I would have."

He leaned even closer to me, and in fear, I scrunched my eyes close. I held my breath even more, and tried my very best not to cry.

Jongin-sshi, Kai-sshi, or whatever his real name is, might have not taken advantage of me.

But this man... certainly will.

The man's lips was millimeters from my own when Jongin-sshi's voice interrupted the act.

"I got out of the room to get myself some air, and I walk back in to find you pouncing on my girl? Really neat of you, Myungsoo Hyung."

Kim Jongin, you might not be the greatest guy I've met in my entire life... but I seriously am grateful to you for this.

I opened my eyes to find a smirk lining the lips of the man that Jongin-sshi called 'Myungsoo Hyung' as he withdrew himself from the bed, and my shaking frame. He then stood beside Jongin-sshi and patted his shoulder.

"Hey, I already changed those sheets in the other room. Seriously, you're making the head of the SkullBeaters change sheets? But then again, I guess L.Joe's been fooling around with s lately. Next time he does, I'll be sneaking a camera in. Better make use of them while you can, right?" He jokingly said. Surprisingly, Jongin-sshi gave out a soft chuckle before shaking his head, but said nothing. Then, the man named Myungsoo looked to where I was.

"I must admit though, Kai-yah. This lady's a good catch. She's hot. If you don't want to mess around with her anymore, bring her to me, arachi?" He asked Jongin-sshi, to my utter shock and horror, before spying another look my way and winking.

He then left the room as casually as he came in.

This left me with Jongin-sshi, who was simply staring at me with an unreadable expression. I just looked at him before asking.

"Kai-sshi?"

Jongin-sshi nodded before adding some more words.

"Yeah. That's how I'm called here in the brotherhood. Those people who call me by my real name are usually from my school... or people close to me." He said before looking at me softly. I immediately looked away and tried to make my mind busy with other thoughts, letting my eyes roam around Jongin-sshi's spacious room.

Then, I found myself staring at a window on one side of Jongin-sshi's room, which I didn't notice when I was brought here, and found out that the sky was already dark. It's already night, I guess, most probably near 24 hours since this whole fiasco with Jongin-sshi started. I wondered why my brothers haven't made a move yet, and I wished for something to happen.

It was going to be a day since I was captured.

But I know that my brothers won't leave me alone in an enemy's territory.

And I was right.

Not long after I thought of how my brothers won't leave me alone, a huffing and agitated Myungsoo-sshi went inside Jongin-sshi's room with a frantic look on his face.

"Kai-yah! What the heck is happening?! The ReapedSouls leaders came here! They're armed... and they've already taken down our four guards!" He said, which caused Jongin-sshi to look at me with a confused expression.

Adrenaline rushed through my veins and I knew that I should make an escape.

It is now or never.

I sprang up from the bed and pushed a shocked Jongin-sshi from his standing position and did the same to an unsuspecting Myungsoo-sshi, before running at full speed ouside of the room.

Surprisingly, the heavily styled house was easy to weave through. I found my way to the wide staircase of the mansion I was in very quickly and I began my way down, smiling as I saw both of my brothers in the distance with four bloody bodies scattered in front of them.

"Oppas!" I shouted with all my might, making my brothers look at me. Chanho Oppa immediately rushed to me while Seunghyun Oppa stayed to keep watch of anyone who would come and hurt us.

Chanho Oppa held me tightly in his arms and kissed the top of my head, and my eyes involuntarily released tears as he brought me to where Seunghyun Oppa stood. He also held me in his arms, kissing the top of my head as he released me.

"Let's get out of here. We thought we would never get you back." He told me, and I nodded in response.

= = =

"Shirin-ah!"

I was shocked when I heard Jongin-sshi's voice echoed throughout the halls, calling me in an informal way, and I immediately pushed at my brothers to move out and go. They got what I meant and quickly backed out of the mansion's doors. We all got outside of the humongous house before Jongin-sshi had a chance to come after us.

"Go and ride with Taemin-ah in the second car. He said that he wanted to see you again after last night." Chanho Oppa hurriedly said to me before going to a sports car a few feet from us and getting inside. This left me with Seunghyun Oppa with his hand gripping a gun.

That was when Jongin-sshi appeared again with Myungsoo-sshi just a few steps behind him. He was obviously shocked at the scene before him and he was stunned at the sight of both my Oppas coming for my rescue. Seunghyun Oppa looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to say what my next move shall be, but I only stared at the young man huffing breaths and gazing at me with a spell of hopelessness in his eyes.

At that, I made up my mind.

"Oppa, get in the car now with Chanho Oppa and drive away as fast as you can." I whispered to Seunghyun Oppa, who immediately complied with my plan. I saw Jongin-sshi get a gun and point at my brother, but I just placed myself in his firing range, which cause him to lighten his hold on the gun.

"You are NOT gonna shoot at my brothers with me around." I exclaimed to a shocked Jongin-sshi, and a smirk lined my lips as I heard the engine of my brothers' car as it sped away.

"Yah, Shirin-ah! Kaja!"

I heard Taemin-sshi's voice call my name, to which I nodded. I then sent a smirk to Jongin-sshi's way and made a dash towards the second car waiting for me, where my colleague was, and got in.

As Taemin-sshi was driving, I rolled my window down and looked behind me to find that Jongin-sshi and Myungsoo-sshi had gone out of the mansion and sent a few bullets after us, but it was no use as the cars of both my brothers and ours were too far from them.

I looked at Taemin-sshi, then, who had both of his hands gripping the steering wheel and his gaze straight ahead of us. I just let the silence take over the atmosphere in the car, choosing not to say anything, and looked out the car window from my side.

"We weren't too late, right?" He asked suddenly, and with wide eyes, I looked at him.

"What do you mean?" I asked him back, and confusion invaded my thoughts when I heard him sigh.

"Well, I was trying my best not to look at you earlier from here when you first met your brothers again. You seemed like you were ready to see your brothers hurt someone for you when you hugged them. But when you heard a man's voice... you just started acting differently. You immediately began pushing the hyungs out of the house. I had a hunch that you were somehow... protecting someone inside that house, Shirin-ah. You might have not noticed it, but I certainly did." He began to narrate to me, and I had to swallow hard the lump forming in my throat for me to actually comprehend what he was saying.

"Then, when the hyungs were already outside, you had this look of silent confusion. Like, you don't know if you were going to make your brothers go or make them stay. In the end, you chose the former. I found it in myself the will to stop staring at you right at that moment, so I rolled the windows up and waited for you to climb in beside me, just rolling down the windows a bit to shout at you." He added before increasing the car's speed. I sighed softly, trying to take everything in.

It all happened too fast.

"To be honest, I was battling with fear earlier after I rolled the windows up again." He told me, and this time, Taemin-sshi pulled up at the side of the road. I wondered why he did it, though, and I looked at him while trying to find out what was running through his mind. I let out a gasp when he suddenly gazed at me with concerned eyes, and his hands held mine.

"I was afraid that if we had come a little bit later to get you... you might not have agreed to come back with us."

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PLEASE DON'T SKIP THIS PART.

Yes. I am back, and I'm planning to update weekly starting this one, if not more frequently.

Sorry for making you all wait for so long.

I hope you support this story, again or continuously.

Thank you so much.

Important Note:

[credits for taemin pictures are given to fy!leetaemin. Taken from tumblr and google.]

[credits for chanho pictures are given to respective owners. Taken from google, tumblr, and 10mans.co.kr]

[credits for seunghyun pictures are given to respective owners. Taken from google, various wordpress accounts and photobucket.]

[credits for kai pictures are given to yeah-exo, fykimjongin and flawless-exo tumblr sites, as well as facebook.]

[credits for myungsoo pictures are given to respective owners. Taken from google and tumblr.]

All pictures used are for the sake of clothing recognition and venue identification, which aids in better visualization of the story. The pictures are not mine, and I stake no claim on them. No copyright infringement intended. Were only re-uploaded for the sake of complation and assurance of long-lasting viewing activity. Thank you.