Chapter 30:

“Don’t try to learn it. Own it. No one’s going be better at this than you. I don’t care how you do now. I only care about the end result.”

Jong Hyun kept dancing vigorously, the words of his instructor during his trainee years kept echoing in his head. He kept dancing for hours, trying to keep up the level of Boa and Yun Ho’s outstanding dancing skills while Boa and Yun Ho were having a sudden meeting with a Hollywood movie director.

It’s amazing how his seniors could handle so many tasks in a short timespan yet, they still have the energy to go on with very little sleep, which was something he could never able to get used to.

Three hours, Boa’s song, only one, playing continuously and two empty coffee cups later, Jong Hyun striped of his sweat clad shirt as he began to rub a towel across his sweat drenched skin.

Just as Jong Hyun was pulling on a clean shirt, one of the dancers was looking out of the window in concern.

With a sigh, Jong Hyun lied down on one of the nearby benches and covered his face with a towel. Looks like the saesaeng fans were here earlier than expected.

Back then, screaming fans were the icing on the cake of the celebrity life, that followed by free hotels, endorsements, sold out concerts, and more screaming. But now, there's something about K-pop super fans or saesaeng fans that set them apart from any kind of other fans in this world.

Jong Hyun could still remember vividly on how TVXQ's apartment was broken into and sasaeng fans attempted to kiss them while they were sleeping and the number of blood letters he and the rest of the Shinee members received.

One of the dancers made an interested grunt before looking at Jong Hyun.

"Jong Hyun, you have to see this!” One of the dancers said eagerly as he walked towards Jong Hyun, brandishing the towel in Jong Hyun's face so frantically it was as if he was trying to swat away a possessed fly.

"Looks like sasaeng fans have gone up to another level of their craziness by having plastic surgery to look like a celebrity!”

Beneath his curtains of dark hair, Jong Hyun's eyebrows lifted, but only slightly. Whatever these sasaeng fans are doing are certainly up to no good.

Feeling curious on what the sasaeng fans have done, Jong Hyun got up and walked towards the window, gaping at the sight. His mouth open, eyes so wide they bulged outward slightly. 

"Oh God…!" was all that came from Jong Hyun before he tore out of the training room, heading straight to where Seungri was.

***

“It’s very simple, actually.” Hyun Seng leaned closer to Seungri. "Bring me the heads of the rest of the Big Bang members." he whispered, and then pulled back, smiling again. "If you do that, we will wipe the slate completely clean of what happened between us fifteen years ago.”

“It’s a great bargain isn’t it, Seungri?”

Seungri looked at Hyun Seng and felt his insides twist with apprehension. He was so confused. On one hand he had no doubt that the person was Hyun Seng. He could feel it, like some sort of unknown detector was giving him all the right signs and he couldn't help but feel foolish for even thinking that the person wasn't Hyun Seng.

On the other hand, other signs were making imaginary alarm bells ring in his head. Even in the earliest memories of Seungri's life, so faraway that they were only made up of hatred and revenge. But if Seungri searched his mind long enough, he could remember a different Hyun Seng. The hyung who had told him that having no sufficient ability is an excuse and that can be filled in with hard work. It was blurrier than the rest of his memories, but Seungri knew that Hyun Seng would never give such an evil request.

Without hesitating any longer, Seungri reacted. Seungri’s eyes instantly shot to Hyun Seng’s.

"Stop the act. You are not Hyun Seng Hyung.” Seungri spoke, his black eyes had rage swimming in them, as well as intense worry.

 "Who are you?!"

“Ah, I was wondering how long it would take you to realise.” The fake Hyun Seng said looking at Seungri with perfect contempt on his face. “Not too long, as I expected. “

“Who are you?!” Seungri repeated as his body shook with anger. “What did you do to look like Hyun Seng hyung?!”

“Plastic surgery.” The fake Hyun Seng replied, a smug smile curling his lips in a way that made Seungri felt fury boiled in his veins.

It didn't take Seungri very long to conclude that the person standing in front of him is a sasaeng fan as what CL mentioned about sasaeng fans came into his mind.

Seungri clenched his hand, forming a fist, his nails almost digging into his palm. It took everything for him to not launch himself forward.

“You,” Seungri said through clenched teeth. “What would you gain by doing all these?”

The fake Hyun Seng’s answer was like spit in his mouth, which sent Seungri into a raging fit that he had never experienced before.

Seungri constricted his fingers so tightly around the fake Hyun Seng’s neck that the sound of crushing bones echoed through his ears. The fake Hyun Seng forcefully tried to free himself, when he couldn't he slashed Seungri across the arm with a short knife, causing Seungri to back away, loosening his grip on the fake Hyun Seng’s neck.

 The fake Hyun Seng took it as an opportunity to slip through his grasp and free himself and swiped at Seungri, aiming to cut across his chest but Seungri dodged the strike. Another attempt and Seungri almost got caught. At the third, Seungri dodged around him, grabbing a hold of the knife wielding hand. Remembering the little amount of martial arts he learnt during his younger days, Seungri twisted behind the fake Hyun Seng, taking the arm with him, bending it at an unnatural angle. With all his strength, Seungri pulled back and up, and a loud crack echoed into the air.

The fake Hyun Seng screamed and fell to his knees, the blade dropping like a stone from his limp grip. Seungri kicked and the fake Hyun Seng fell, face-forward, howling in pain. Seungri picked up the knife and raised it, his other hand grabbed a fistful of the fake Hyun Seng's jacket and he pulled him onto his back. The fake Hyun Seng's eyes held fear as Seungri brought the knife down.

“VI-san! Stop!”

Jong Hyun’s voice was what stopped Seungri, the dirty blade a mere inch away from the fake Hyun Seng's chest.

Seungri's eyes widened as he realised, for the first time at what he had done. Seungri looked up from fake Hyun Seng, his gaze darting from one person to the next, at the horrified faces of the staffs in the SM building watching him. His gaze stopped on Jong Hyun standing on his far right, looking very pale and horrified.

The look on Jong Hyun’s face made Seungri dropped the knife as if it had been burned and Seungri moved away and stood still, trying to will these horrible feelings deep down to bury them.

Suddenly, Seungri saw everything happen as if in slow motion. Taking Seungri by surprise, Jong Hyun ran in front of him as Seungri saw fake Hyun Seng threw a punch at Jong Hyun's face, snapping his head back and a very audible crack echoed in the air. Jong Hyun howled at the pain of his nose breaking. His free hand came up at once and tried to stop the stream of blood from his broken nose.

Seungri’s eyes widened completely at the sight.

“Jong Hyun!”

While among the crowd, CL and Tae Yang came to a halt. Both of them felt their hearts plummet to their stomachs. A strong sense of foreboding took a hold of them.