"Take a good look at the , Yoochun. Tsk, first he was all good as hell with the 'simple, just kill the witness' , now he's ing pissed because he can't find her. Pretty ironic huh?" A familiar voice echoed as the door swung open from the entrance of the shipping room, approaching the older member.

"Looks like he'll shoot one of the workers soon if that temper doesn't die down," Yoochun shook his head, taking a glance at the short-tempered being through the glass.

Changmin gave a bitter laugh, "'Pity' doesn't exist in our world, Chun."

"Yeah, whatever. Don't start with your bull."

He shook his head as he leaned against the wall, mindful of what Yoochun might do to him if he were to disobey. "Then get rid of that disgusting feeling and hand me the profile beside you."

"Shut the up. I don't feel a damn thing for the guy; get it straight into your large head, will you?" Yoochun retorted, throwing the file over to the youngest, yet third to the most dangerous member out of all of them.

Changmin caught the file swiftly, smirking at his hyung.

Wait.

Hyung? No, they're relationship was nothing like he thought it would be, so far from his assumption. Damn, he has got to stop thinking about that kind of...bonding. He knew calling them 'hyung' was a one straight shot on the head. They were a gang, a group, men who decided to take the easy route out from this blasted life. Labeling each other as companions, friends, brothers was, in a way, like betrayal to one's self.

Yoochun was not his hyung, he was a member, and nothing more.





"And they say Junsu is short-tempered, you're just as the same, Yoochun."



* * *

Lee Sungmin entered the pitch black room, aware of the half conscious being lying almost lifelessly on the uncomfortable bed. He lazily approached towards his badly injured brother, grabbing a rusty, old chair before settling himself on it.

"Feeling alright?"

The supposed patient couldn't look at him, not after what happened, he felt ashamed for what he had done; so ashamed from what his actions had reflected towards their gang. He was ordered to kill a witness by Junsu, the highest among the gangs within the illegal underground industry out of all of them, yet he failed to accomplish the task.

A simple shot on the head, that's all it took, but why didn't he shoot?

Lee Donghae gave a painful and bitter laugh.

He had been too full of himself. It was an easy and simple thing to do; he was determined to satisfy the most highest. Maybe that was the reason why he failed. He had thought that after the assignment, Junsu would think twice about his abilities and maybe, probably, bring him to a higher position. It was, of course, something he would brag about if he had just pulled the trigger.

He wondered, what did it matter so much anyway?

To be asked to do something by the most superior was like creating a miracle to all of them combined. They knew how rare Junsu commands his people to do a murderous task, since it is Junsu himself who always finishes the job. Both the Lee's and their thirteen member gang were just extras under the superior's own five-member gang, and a given order by them was, as they all had put it, the reason why God had put them into this world.

Reason? He stifled the bitter laughter, ready to erupt from his lips. Bullshit. Pure bullshit.



*  *  *


"Your sister alright?"

"Yes...sir," Geun Suk hesitated, a bit confused by his boss' sudden concern. "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused a few days ago, I know you had told us that our private lives should never be brought at work but—"

He stopped upon seeing the chief chuckling amusingly at him. Geun Suk his dry lips out of habit, startled. Was he mocking him?

"Jang RiIn?" Chief Lee cleared his throat.

"Sir?"

"RiIn; that's her name, am I right?"

"Yes. May I ask how you know, sir?" The younger man took a seat as Chief Lee gestured him to sit down.

"Why, I feel rather offended. Hasn't Woohyuk ever mentioned anything about me to you two?" His boss stared at the boy in disbelief. Seeing how clueless the younger man was, he chuckled to himself. "I guess not. Your father was always a man who kept his working life out of his private life."

"You knew my father?" Geun Suk sat upright, surprised. "You knew my father, Jang Woohyuk?"

"Well of course!" Chief Lee slammed his fist on the table, knocking the stack of files down. "Young man, he and I were colleagues! Ah, the old bastard, life would have been easier if he was still living, huh?"

"Way easier," he muttered resentfully. "Kim told me that you wanted to see me, that's why you called me down?" He changed the subject. Further more conversation about his father would reveal his unpleasant personality.

The old man stared at the bravest and the best man in his league for a brief second before grabbing one of the files on the floor and skimmed through the pages, occasionally stopping at one of them to read carefully, studying the details. He shouldn't have mentioned a sensitive subject.

"Right. How's the investigation on the illegal drug shipments and Black society? Anything new?"

Geun Suk sighed, relieved that they were back on track."We found a lead. Further investigation on the target is still not fully finished. We think the target may lead us to at least one of the bases of Black society."

"And what is your lead?" The chief questioned, amused at the boy's immediate reports.

"One of my men reported spotting one of the members before he was shot," he paused. "...Shim Changmin. Supposedly an element of the highest among black society."

Again, the chief stared amusingly at his best police man, nodding his head in the process. "Well done. This is why you're the best in the league. Keep it up, I want this target and the rest of his shitty morons behind bars," the chief handed the file to him before allowing the him to leave.

Chief Lee grabbed the picture frame from his desk and looked at the two young men in the photo.

Interesting. Like father, like son.

He released a crackling laughter before throwing the picture frame into the trash bin.



* * *


Changmin looked through the file as he made his way to the basement of the warehouse.

It had took him two nights until the peak of dawn researching the so-called witness that had seen them gathering shipments at the dock three nights ago, at least, that's what Junsu had concluded. Nevertheless, the supreme never makes a mistake, and a serious issue such as this was not something Junsu would joke about. He was told to find information of the said girl even though the description Junsu had given him wasn't enough to fully determine who exactly their witness was.

"Slim body, long hair, pale, what else do you need to know?"

"With all due respect Junsu, a description such as that is impossible to find. There are thousands of women with the same exact characteristics as the ones you just gave me."

"Well here, let me minimize the ing research. She obviously lives in this ing city. Good? Now shut up with your complaints and get it done."

Although he always tolerated Junsu's ed up behavior, there was always a time where he wished that he could just shove that bottle of alcohol into Junsu's mouth and slap some sense into his bitter world. The only thing that had stopped him from doing so that night was luck and a brain that even Junsu lacked. If not for realizing that the witness was probably living near where their shipments was located, and finding how the neighborhood within the given area was full of the elderly, except for a particular address, he would have just done so.

Stopping at one of the doors, he entered the room, startled to see another person in the same room.

"Sungmin?" He called as the back view of the figure started to look familiar.

"Changmin-sshi."

"Off with the formality," he sighed, brushing pass him as he made his way to the body laying on the bed. "Can you give us a minute?" The other man nodded, hesitant to leave his brother with one of men under the superior.

"Donghae," Changmin called once he heard the door shut. "We need to talk. Something about the witness."

Slowly, the injured being turned towards his direction, avoiding eye contact as he looked up the ceiling. "I get it, I ing get it. I failed, just kill me already, I'd rather die than having the five of you rub it in my face," he replied icily.

Changmin chuckled, amused. "Well for one, we can't do that, not unless the superior's father says so," he leaned back against the chair. "And two, I'm not here to rub anything in your face, but to merely ask questions. I am a bit curious myself and Junsu already drove off to finish the job."

He waited for the other to speak. Receiving no reply, he then continued, "It seems I know the real reason why you didn't shoot," he smirked seeing how tensed the man in front of him became.







"Jang RiIn; sounds familiar?"



* * *



Today was going to be different.

Liyin stepped into the kitchen quietly and slowly. Pots and pans were already set aside in the cabinet, ready for use. The untouched groceries from last week were in the fridge, cabinets, drawers, waiting to be consumed. Taking out a recipe book from one of the kitchen drawers, she made her way to the stove, laid the pot, and waited for the water to boil.

She laughed to herself for the first time in such a long period of time.

Since when did I cook? Well, it's not illegal to try.

She glanced at the kitchen window; the sun was out. Could she say that her brother and her were on good terms now? She's happy, yes, something changed after the long talk with Geun Suk, but she still could not avoid the sadness lingering around, playing with her emotions. Maybe she's not fully recovered yet, but she was climbing towards the direction she wanted to in the first place.

Oppa likes soup, this should do some good, she remembered.

Sighing, Liyin scooped the chopped carrots in her hands and placed them in the pot, stirring until it came to a boil. Upon turning to grab the meat, a hand had placed itself on as an arm wrapped itself around her shoulders.





"Look who's found you, baby girl."