Kris felt his insides turn cold. However, his exterior remained expressionless and impassive.

 

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

 

G Dragon chuckled lowly, picking off the lemon slice hanging on the edge of his glass and at it delicately. "Of course you don't, Kris - or should I say, Wu Yifan."

 

He was vaguely surprised that the glass in his hand had not yet shattered from the amount of pressure he was putting on it.

 

"I think you're mistaking me for someone else-"

 

He was interrupted by the loud clink of the other man's glass, now empty except for a few ice cubes, against the black marble of the bar. 

 

"Quit playing games," the blond snarled quietly, sunny smiles and carefree disposition vanished. Kris knew better than to think that this was a result of the alcohol; those eyes were as clear and calculating as his own. G Dragon leaned closer to him.

 

"I'll ask again. What is the heir of the autonomous assassination society of the Triad, the Dragon himself, doing in the Seoul Underground?"

 

Kris inhaled deeply, letting go of the still-untouched drink and flexing his fingers before curling them into a tight fist. "How do you know all of this?"

 

G Dragon seemed to unwind slightly, leaning back and rolling his shoulders as if to rid himself of a cramp. However, his grins did not return when he spoke again. "I've met you before, only you had black hair back then. And it was longer. You probably won't remember, I was just a small grunt. I thought I recognized you during the Gala, but I wasn't sure. Did some research," he said, tone still quiet, just loud enough to be audible to Kris. "Strange though. The latest reports say that you're in Tianjin, and those were from just this January. And if I'm not mistaken, SM's group has been in the works for longer than a few months."

 

"What were you doing in the company of such people?"

 

"It was how I got into meddling with cars," he said, waving a hand airily. "At one point or another, I got bored of shipping and receiving crates of illegal car parts and went into building illegal cars instead. That, and the fact that the authorities started cracking down on the trade, and the people I was working for were going out of business anyway."

 

Kris wracked his memory for any meetings dealing with the auto trade. He couldn't come up with any in the moment.

 

G Dragon raised a thin bleached eyebrow at him. "You're still avoiding my question. What are you doing here?"

 

"If you think I'm who you say I am, don't you think that you should be a little more careful when you're speaking to me?"

 

Without missing a beat, the other man snorted. "Ettiquette is the last thing on my mind right now. If you wanted to kill me, I've given you more than enough reasons to do so already."

 

"I don't want to kill you. I don't want to kill anyone," he said blandly, leaving the irritated 'unless I have to' part hanging unspoken in the air between them. G Dragon seemed to pick up on it, and smirked.

 

"Good to know. So what are you doing here, if not to take a few names?"

 

He finally took a sip of is neglected drink, which was now a bit warmer than he liked. "To race, obviously."

 

The blond rolled his eyes in exasperated boredom. "One last chance to fess up, my man, before I do something I don't want to do, since you seem like a decent guy - former homicidal tendencies exempt - and I'd really hate to mess up your future so badly."

 

Kris' eyebrows rose incredulously. "What could you possibly do that would worry me in any degree?"

 

The leer G Dragon wore when he leaned in conspiratorially almost caused a shiver to run down his spine. Almost. But then he spoke.

 

"I'll tell Jinnie you're HIV positive."

 

CRASH.

 

The glass in his hand had finally decided that it had had enough of his abuse, and had shattered under his grip, leaving his sleeve and hand drenched in whisky. He cursed, jumping up away from the dripping counter, vaguely aware of the curious and slightly worried gazes on him.

 

GD laughed. "Don't worry, I'll take him to get cleaned up," he said when Gummy approached, frowning anxiously. "Come on, and don't be stubborn. I doubt Jinhye will like you very much if you stink of alcohol for the rest of the day."

 

 

-- 

 

 

He followed GD down a hallway leading from the main room, mouth shut firmly in a tight line. He soon found himself in a rather small and bare room, walls white, floor wooden, decorated with only a leather couch along the length of the room. the wall opposite of the couch was covered with large rectangular mirrors. 

 

"You're a bit taller than Seunghyun. Thinner too. Here, try these."

 

The mirrors turned out to be stuck to doors, which opened to reveal an extensive closet. Kris eyed the black blazer and white shirt he was being handed warily.

 

"They're not gonna strangle you or anything."

 

Kris gave the grinning man an emphatic once-over from head to toe, then raised his eyebrow at him. GD rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to waste designer fashions like mine on you, don't worry."

 

He didn't want to accept any favors from the blond, but the bourbon vapours were already starting to give him a headache, so he grabbed roughly at the bundle of clothing. 

 

"Is there somewhere I can change?

 

"Why? We're both male - or do you have something to hide?"

 

Kris glared at him, and turned his back on him before shrugging out of his coat and tossing it onto the couch. He paused for a moment before ing his shirt and almost tearing it off in his haste to be half- before the blond for as little time as possible. 

 

A damp towel hit the back of his head. He caught it before it fell and craned his head around to frown at the offender. G Dragon merely grinned. "You might want to wipe your arm down a little. No point for a new shirt if you're gonna stink it up again.

 

He made a noncomittal noise but rubbed at his arm nonetheless.

 

"Well?"

 

"Well what," he retorted. He could feel the other man's eyes narrowing at him.

 

"I wasn't kidding about the HIV thing, you know."

 

He tugged on the lapels of the blazer and loosened himself into it before turning back around. "What makes you think she'd believe you?"

 

"I have connections. I can get the docs to prove it."

 

Kris was silent for a moment, cursing the blond in his head. 

 

"Why are you so interested anyway? I'm not here to screw up the circuits, if that's what you're wondering."

 

GD waved the explanation aside. "I couldn't care less about what you do or don't do to the circuits."

 

"Then why do you care?"

 

"You don't listen very well, do you? Standard interrogatory procedure. Consider this the background check," he stared hard at Kris unblinkingly. "So far as I know, you deserted the Black Lotus, which seems pretty damn cowardly. Jinhye doesn't need cowards in her life."

 

"I am not a coward," Kris snapped.

 

"So explain."

 

He gritted his teeth at the satisfied smirk on G Dragon's face, then let out a frustrated breath.

 

"I got sick of their code - or lack thereof."

 

GD said nothing, merely waiting for him to continue.

 

"There are subdivisions within the Lotus, each one dealing with their own specialized branch of assassinations. The one that I was a part of was the one that oversaw all of them. It was rare, but I was born and bred in the business - groomed to be the next perfect unfeeling Master," he said bitterly.

 

"That didn't work out as well as they hoped, apparently."

 

"No. It didn't. My father made the mistake of allowing me contact with another boy from one of the divisions. My first 'assignment', in a way, because the boy was 'adopted' into the family, and needed moulding. I was seven."

 

"Young age to be acting the part of the dictator."

 

"I did mould him, but befriended him as well. His personality wasn't suited to the lifestyle at all, but I couldn't let anyone else know that. He would have been seen as a liability and terminated." He sighed. "But I suppose it would have happened sooner or later. He was far too softhearted. He couldn't complete an assignment because one of the subjects was a three-year-old girl. I was ordered to eliminate him. I couldn't, and that was seen as direct disobedience of orders. We had to leave immediately, and even then there was a fair amount of bloodshed."

 

--

 

The boy's face was terrified as soon as he stepped into the room, as if he was aware of the fate that awaited him. One of the two men that accompanied him gave him a hard shove in the small of his back, and he stumbled to stand in front of a twenty-one-year-old Kris seated in a circular armchair.

 

He was trembling from head to foot so hard that his outline almost appeared to be blurred. Kris avoided his eyes, speaking instead as he polished the weapon in his hand with a red silk kerchief.

 

"Do you know why you're here, Twelve?"

 

Zitao stared at his feet and let out a squeak, which led to another sharp jab to his back, this time hard enough to send him to his knees. His head was yanked back harshly.

 

"Look at the Young Master when you're being spoken to," the man spat. Kris' lips thinned.

 

"Y-yes."

 

He raised the weapon in his right hand. It should have been warm from all the polishing, but the unforgiving black steel was as cold as it had ever been. His fingers felt numb.

 

Their eyes met, and he flicked back the safety.

 

The boy on the floor choked back a sob, and squeezed his eyes shut.

 

A muscle was jumping in Kris' jaw. He inhaled deeply, trying in vain to calm his frantic heartbeat.

 

"Sir, not meaning to be rude, but-"

 

The man never got to finish his sentence. Two loud bangs later, he and his colleague were on the ground, identical holes decorating the spot between their eyebrows.

 

 

--

 

They had changed into the clothes of the guards, then stuffed the bodies into the bag intended for Zitao. They had made it to the garage before the alarms had sounded, the morgue having discovered their ruse. Many people had died that day, and Zitao still had nightmares about it sometimes.

 

"The Lotus has no sense of 'family'. The members are supposed to remain without identities. Faces, perhaps, but nothing behind them. There was no bond within it. The only semblance to a morality was duty to the Master. Otherwise, order was kept through both money and fear, since defectors are killed immediately."

 

"Yet here you stand," GD said, amused.

 

"I crippled the Lotus quite badly when I left. My father was terminally ill at the time already, and my departure left the divisions in turmoil. Also, SM offered me asylum. The Triad's reach doesn't extend to Korea, anyway, but I figured it'd be better to be safe than sorry."

 

"Ah."

 

"To their credit, they've replaced me quite quickly - or so it would seem to outsiders. The Lotus wouldn't want any of the Triad to think that they've lost their ace in the hole."

 

It was silent for a moment after he finished his story before GD broke it with a dry chuckle.

 

"Sort of a bad decision on your part though. You left one battleground only to enter another one."

 

"It was the best option at the time."

 

"Having second thoughts, after the Gala?"

 

"It was no worse than a field mission gone awry."

 

"Except there weren't Lee Jinhyes on those missions, were there."

 

He froze, a sudden spasm of fear passing through him at the memory. "Women were very few within the Lotus," he said slowly. "And they were transient."

 

G Dragon observed him, evaluating.

 

"Do you know how Jinhye's fiancé died?"

 

"He was killed by one of the groups from JYP, wasn't he?" Kris retorted, a little smug that the question would not have the shock effect that the blond probably intended for it to have.

 

"Sure, that's the official underground story. It was really timely though."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

The other man's expression was unreadable. "They weren't called the circuit's Golden Couple for no reason, and they were going to retire from the tracks after they got married."

 

Kris' eyes narrowed. "What are you trying to say?"

 

"Just a warning. There's no getting out of this business alive. Unlike the Lotus, you'll be wiped out before you can make the mistake."

 

 

--

 

 

GD had also ed a leather jacket at him as well before they returned to the bar.

 

"Jiiiyoooonng~ where did you go??"

 

Kris' eyes widened when you tackled the blond. You had removed your jacket, as well as the huge red scarf, your shirt's wide collar exposing an expanse of skin from shoulder to shoulder. He swallowed, throat suddenly dry.  "Were you being mean to Kris? You don't need to~ he's really really really nice~" You giggled and tugged at GD's sleeve, cheeks rather rosy.

 

"Oh jeez. Damn. I forgot. She's going to kill me," G Dragon muttered. "How much did she drink?" 

 

"Just two. And a half," the tallest - Kris guessed that this was Seunghyun - replied sheepishly. 

 

"Aish - you know she can't handle her alcohol," he said, tilting his head away from you as you began to poke at his cheek. "Jinnie, Jinnie stop poking me- come on we've gotta get you home before you doing something stupid-"

 

"No!" 

 

You pulled away from him sharply, swaying a little from the momentum. "No! I'm on a daaaate~~ that'd be rude to Kris - where is he anyway what did you do to him??" You gasped, then flew forwards at the blond once again, this time attacking him with flailing fists.

 

"You killed him! JIYONNNG WHYYYY--"

 

Kris stared as you continued to pummel G Dragon, who was trying his best to evade your blows without hurting you.

 

"Jinnie- ow- Yah, Lee Jinhye he's right there!" GD grabbed you by the shoulders forcibly and spun you around to face him. You froze, fists still raised, and gaped. Then-

 

"KREEEEEAAAAAAASEEEEEEEEE."

 

-and he found himself being forced backwards a few steps, the breath knocked out of him. Your arms were wrapped tightly around his waist, cheek pressed against his new white shirt. 

 

'Breathe.'

 

"Don't scare me like that you idiot I thought you were dead," you murmured, voice muffled. 

 

His brows furrowed to accompany his wide confused eyes as he raised them to stare at G Dragon and a concerned Gummy uncertainly.

 

GD's expression was a strange one. He looked caught between smirking and frowning, and thus his lips twisted in an uncomfortable grimace.

 

"I...sorry?"

 

You sighed, your breath warm on his chest. "Stupid."

 

Gummy coughed. "I'll call a cab for you-"

 

"No! What don't you guys understand?! I'm not going home!" You twisted your upper torso around to glare at her, your arms still firmly attached to his waist. "We're visiting the Han okay, it's been years since I've gone-"

 

G Dragon's eyebrows disappeared behind his fringe. "You're taking him to the river?"

 

"Shut up, okay," you whined, burrowing your face into Kris' shirt again. 

 

The blond sighed in resignation. "Call a cab anyway. I'd rather not she take the public transit like this." Gummy nodded, and with a final worried look, she disappeared into the back of the bar.

 

His mind finally unglued itself. "Wait- what? Cab to where?"

 

"The Han, duh," the blond replied. "This girl, I swear..."

 

"I don't understand. Why does she want to go to the Han river so badly?"

 

"I expect she'll tell you herself," the other man said. "Assuming she sobers up enough."

 

Kris was cut from asking any further when Gummy reappeared. "It'll be here in five."

 

GD nodded and grabbed your abandonned jacket and scarf from the bar, and reached forward to prod your shoulder tentatively.

 

"Jinnie?"

 

You twisted around to glare at him, cheeks puffed out in a pout. However, you obligingly detached your arms from Kris' waist to allow the other man to slip your coat on, but stopped him when he tried to tie your scarf for you. Instead, you tugged it out of his hands and threw the thick wool around Kris' neck instead, looping once so the ends hung loose in the front.

 

You grinned up at him, and he felt his gut spasm violently.

 

He turned to leave to wait for the car outside when G Dragon caught his arm. He frowned in question. The other man's mouth twisted, as if unsure how to say whatever he wanted to say.

 

"Kreeaaasseeeee, come on I'm getting too warm in here," you called from the stairway.

 

Kris turned back to the blond, who lifted his eyes to the ceiling briefly.

 

"Look, just don't up, okay? Stay alive."

 

He was confused beyond words, but nodded nonetheless before moving to the doorway where you stood, waiting impatiently.

 

"Hey, Kris."

 

He stopped again, turning. "What is it?"

 

G Dragon grinned, but the grin looked like it was causing him pain. "You're a decent guy."

 

'I'd hate to see you go the same way as Jaejoong.'

 

 

 

-----

 

I said quickly, didn't I?

 

Okay on a completely unrelated note. 

 

HOLY KIM JAEJOONG HOLY HOLY. . YOU GOD. ASLDKFSdfgklhdF:LHJHDF:HJSRT:HLJSEGR:LKASWF:LKDAS HNNNNNNNGGGGHHHHHLKGFj:FGLHK:FGLKJghj;lkhg COHERENCY WHAT IS COHERENCY.

 

Okay so the MV was just gorgeous and tear-worthy, but oh my god his VOICE. not just in MINE but the entire album it's been on repeat for the past two hours while I was working on this chapter and I just--- ;n;

 

MINE gives me jrock feels for some reason. uguuu i'm so in love with that song. and all the other songs. and oh god i'm just. so filled with emotions right now JIN ZAI ZHOOOONNNGGGGG *sobbeu*

 

lol i know you're expecting kris but srsly not this time not today.

 

 

no gifs b/c they're all in photosets and i'm lazy bUT ANYWAY GO WATCH HIS FREAKING MV PLEASE SERIOUSLY.

 

- Ace

 

PS: COMMENTEUUU PLS. BACKSTORY WANTS FOR COMMENTS ;----;

PPS: also 'upvotes'?? whatever they are. tHEY SOUND NICE AND YOU ARE NICE PEOPLE SO YOU SHOULD GO TOGETHER LIKE PEACHES AND DRAGONS.

WHAT.