“You know the rules. It’s not like it’s something to be happy about” He said without regard to Min Ah’s feelings. Hoping that maybe it would help drive her away.

“What are you talking about?” Tao asked a little annoyed as he glared at Jong In.

“He’s right. I’m not sure… I really shouldn’t have come” She admitted.

“You have to see him first. You can’t just leave” Tao said quickly climbing up the rest of the stairs and grabbing her arm gently.

“She doesn’t need to see him. You know damn well Kris isn’t gonna be happy to see her! Don’t give her false hope!”

“If you’re gonna leave you need to see him. Don’t tell him who you are that’s fine, but you have to see him then you can go” Tao urged her, unwilling to let an opportunity like this go. Min Ah was the last part of their life that hadn’t gotten tainted in this whole mess they got themselves into. If anyone could change anything, it would be her he thought optimistically.

“Tao! Don’t force her alright?! She has common sense she knows what’s best” Jong In whispered. Praying that she knew what was best.

“Wait a minute, who’s Kris?”She asked.

“That’s right you don’t know any of that. That’s what he goes by now. No one beside us knows his real name so you can’t let that slip out or he’s going to know something’s wrong” Tao said hurriedly as he tugged on her arm.

“Stop telling her this crap! She’s going to go back!” Jong In snapped, his patience running thin as he reached out and pulled Min Ah back.

“I want to see him” She blurted out as she stumbled back, meeting Jong In’s eyes guiltily, “I just want to talk to him once and then I’ll leave. I promise”

Jong In stilled and looked away angrily. He let her go and ran an apprehensive hand through his hair. Everything was spiraling out of control and he hated it. Plus, he had already caused Kris enough trouble. When he found out it was all his fault, and he would because he always did, he would have yet another thing to add to the ever growing list of mistakes Jong In had caused. Even with that thought in mind, he glanced at Tao angrily for pushing her to make the wrong choice. The taller man, ignored the glare as he focused only on getting her back inside.

“You’re making a huge mistake” He said, grasping at the last straw of doubt in her mind.

“I know” She answered honestly, looking at the ground.

“Will you really leave after you see him? Will that be enough?” He asked wearily.

“Yes”

“Fine. For the record, we’ll say I invited you here on a date. He should believe that right?” Jong In said to Tao, not believing for a second what Min Ah was saying about simply leaving. This was a slippery slope and they were throwing themselves in head first.

“Yeah he will and Min Ah… I’m so happy you’re back” Tao added as he walked up to her and embrace the small woman tightly.

“I’m glad I found you” She whispered returning the hug with a small laugh.

“You go in first as if you’re looking for me, I’ll follow behind in a second” Jong In said, he turned to Tao, “Take your time coming back in. Let’s not make it obvious all three of us were together”

Min Ah hesitated, but nodded as she took those few steps back down and opened the door back in. She glanced back, before continuing back into the room. Jong In waited until the door shut behind her before turning back to Tao. He stared at the taller man, taking a deep breath to calm down.

“She’s a cop” He snapped suddenly.

“Wh-what?” Tao asked, surprise ruining his momentary joy.

“She’s. A. Cop. Do you know what you’ve done? Did you even think about what’s going to happen once Kris finds out because I can bet you my life he will” Jong In seethed.

“… So what if he does? You see it too don’t you? He’s not the same”

“None of us are the same!”

“He took the worst of it for us! To protect us he turned into this person, you more than anyone should be searching for ways to turn him back” Tao said, finally blurting out what he had been thinking.

“This won’t end well. For any of us” Jong In swore ignoring his words, though they were true, and went back inside.

He searched through the crowd and found her back at the bar. She was staring at her hands and he could see the hesitation in her. He looked back at their table and tensed when he saw Kris’ eyes fixed on her. The realization that he had seen her already finally made sense with Tao following them and he knew there was no turning back now. As he went over to her and she looked at him in relief. He knew that soon enough she would see what he had been trying to tell her. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too late.

“Come on and don’t forget to smile” He said as he pasted his own smile on and took her by the hand.

“I’m scared” She confessed suddenly and he nodded.

“You should be”

They got to the large table and conversation seemed to come to a pause as everyone just sort of stared. The music echoed loudly around them and Min Ah tried to not look at Kris as Jong In took a seat and motioned for her to sit beside him.

“So who’s your friend?” She heard a voice ask, though the authority in his voice made it clear that an answer was required. It sent a small shiver down her back as she settled into the black metallic chair.

“I met her yesterday when I went to get some stuff. She seemed nice so I asked her to drop by” Jong In answered easily as he reached out for his drink and took a long drink.

“What, you don’t look at people who talk to you now?” He asked and Min Ah closed her eyes in dread before forcing herself to look at him.

She kept her face expressionless as she looked up and met his steely eyes. His hair was blond now and he had gotten so tall she noticed a bit proudly. She didn’t say a word as a million and two questions ran through her mind. How did he end up here? Why hadn’t he stayed in Korea? What happened to all those dreams they used to have? But for her own safety, she stayed quiet instead. Conversation had resumed around them, but she paid no attention as she suddenly saw the corner of his mouth move into a small smirk and felt Jong In nudge her underneath the table. Ah, that’s right it’s weird if she kept staring at him.

“Tao, where have you been?” He asked loudly, as Tao came back and sat beside him, “Did you meet Jong In’s… date?” He said with a small laugh.

“Ah… no, hi” He said so quietly she barely heard him through the music.

She nodded in acknowledgement and looked away. Jong In was talking to a guy besides him and they joked around like old friends she noticed awkwardly. There were a few more guys there, including a really… well, pretty one she noticed, but he was silent and simply staring into his glass with a frown on his face. When she thought it had been long enough, she allowed her eyes to trail back to Kris. Long and delicate arms were wrapped around his neck and a tall girl with waist long black hair leaned forward, resting her chin on his shoulder. She was whispering something in his ear while he nodded along with a spark in his eyes as he absentmindedly played with a strand of her hair. Just like that, Min Ah felt a spark on jealous discomfort. Were they dating? Or something more? Maybe something casual? She was dying to know. Was tall and beautiful his type? She felt a nervous laugh escape her as she tried to not think about that.

His eyes suddenly flickered to her and the girl, upon noticing, frowned and glared at her. Min Ah looked away quickly and subtly grazed Jong In’s arm underneath the table.

“Sorry I’ve been distracted” Jong In cut in quickly, noticing the way Kris was watching her and scolding himself for not paying more attention, “I’ll get you a drink then we can get going” He added quickly to Min Ah.

“I’ll get it” Kris cut in, carefully pushing away the woman’s arms away.

“That’s fine. She’s with me anyways. Don’t bother” Jong In said a bit too quickly.

“I need a drink too. I won’t steal her away or anything, you’re so nervous tonight” He added, a slight warning on his words.

Min Ah watched as Jong In closed his mouth and simply shrugged. Though she could tell from the way he set his lips that he was not happy at all. Kris smirked and went off towards the bar without even bothering to ask her what she wanted to drink. He was suspicious, she thought to herself as she watched him walk towards the bar. A mix of confidence and arrogance in his steps, as if he knew no one would dare to mess with him. Which was probably true she thought staring down into her hands. This was enough. She needed to stop messing around and treating this like a game. Jong In was staring at her as she looked over at him and nodded. He seemed to relax then, as he tried to come up with an excuse to leave.

“Well we’re gonna head somewhere more private” He announced to the rest of the guys as he stood up suddenly, they laughed, except for Tao who frowned.

“Shouldn’t you stay for a little while longer?” He asked.

“Nope. She wants to get going too” Jong In replied smugly. Tao looked over at Min Ah and she nodded guiltily.

He opened his mouth to say something else when a crash echoed a few feet away. Glass lay on the ground and the spilled liquid glistened different shades of colors under the bright lights. Kris stood there a younger man directly across from him. Min Ah stood up to get a better look when she felt Jong In press a firm hand onto her shoulder and sit her back down. He had tensed up and all traces of any sort of emotion were gone from his face.

“” Jong In swore under her breath and she was overcome with a bad feeling that something was about to go very wrong.

“Careful next time” Kris snapped at the arrogant punk who merely cocked his head and let out a nasty smirk.

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” He sneered, digging his finger into Kris’ chest.

Kris scoffed before he grabbed the man’s finger and bent it backwards. The man screamed as he fell ot his knees and begged him to let go. Min Ah craned her head and watched as all feelings drained from Kris’ face. It was like a literal switch had been flipped and the human component of his body had disappeared. Without so much as a flinch he finished bending the finger far back so quickly that the crack of bones echoed around him. She cringed as for the first time in a long time; she felt the taste of true fear. The broken finger was evident as the man let out a painful scream and held his distorted digit in his hand.

“Learn your place” Kris snapped, wiping his hand on the man’s shirt.

The man had guts though, either that or he was high, because broken finger and all he suddenly rushed Kris. He dodged the rush quite easily, but turned to find that he hadn’t come alone and that his friends had been gathering in the meantime. At the same time Min Ah watched as Tao silently got up and walked toward the impending fight. Min Ah bit her lip as Jong In and a couple of the other guys at the table went over to Kris’ side.

“You must be new here” Kris announced as he took the numbers in. It would be over fast.

“Do you know who the hell I am?! My father is one of the most powerful men here. He has people everywhere!” The kid screamed as one of his friends helped him up.

A cold laugh echoed from his chest as Kris felt the weight of one of his friends come barreling onto him. Min Ah watched with apprehension as the fight broke out and from the second that the man ran into Kris she already knew that those boys were far out of their league. She glanced at the people around them, who only looked with mild interest and she realized that this must not be anything knew. No one freaked out, no one was calling the police, instead they watched with mild interest. If anything, there was only a hint of fear on a few of their faces.

Min Ah stood up as Kris broke free from the mess, the boy that had originally started everything came with him as they both crashed to the ground. His face was contorted with pure fury as he reeled back and arm and put all his visible force into the fist that flew into the boy’s face. Again and again as the false arrogance on the kid’s face quickly chipped away until nothing, but a scared kid remained.

“This is why you don’t go around messing with strangers” Kris said as he gripped the front of his shirt and pulled the boy up.

“Screw off” He spat, a bit of his bravado returned.

Kris jaw set as he cocked his head a fraction and pulled his fist back only to have it held back by two hands. He turned with a livid glare to see Jong In’s girl standing behind him. Her face was serious as she maintained her grip on his arm she stared at him daring him to do something about as he let go of the boy and he went crashing to the floor.

“What are you doing?” He asked as she instantly let go and met his eyes.

“You’ve made your point” She answered simply as she took in the blood on his fist.

“The kid needed a lesson in respect” He said as he turned to watch the last guy fall to the ground with a loud groan.

“And you’re someone to teach him respect?” She said coldly, letting her emotions get the best of her as disappointment in his actions left her feeling strangely bitter.

“Let’s go” Jong In said quickly as he ran up to them.

“What’s your name?” Kris asked suddenly, her behavior peaking his suspicions. Most girls would be screaming by this point who was she to not even be fazed at a random fight breaking out in the middle of her date.

“I didn’t come with you. I came with Jong In. I don’t see how my name is any of your business” Min Ah answered as he tried to stare her down.

“Come on” Jong In snapped as he grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her back, ignoring Kris’ glare as she turned and followed him up the stairs and out into the night air.

“He’s… so different” She said lamely as they stood behind the club, away from prying eyes and nosy ears.

“That’s what I’ve been telling you”

“What happened Jong In? What happened to all of you?” She whispered.

“I screwed up” He said simply as he let out a long and tired sigh and for a second she saw not the face of a reckless man, but instead someone tired who had seen far too much about the dark side of life.

She wanted to ask more, but she stayed quiet instead. She took a step forward and hugged him tightly. She felt as he tensed up, but he didn’t push her away. After a few seconds, he felt his own body give in and lean against her. He let his head hang as memories that seemed like nightmares rushed back. Would she still hold him like this if she knew the extent to which he had screwed up? He didn’t so, but he hugged her back because at the very least she hadn’t been dragged down too. It was a small comfort to his guilt, but it helped.

“I’m gonna call my driver and he’ll take me back to my hotel. You have my number from before if anything happens you better call” She said gently as she pulled back.

Jong In wanted to say thank you and something sweet, but the words caught in his throat. He was so selfish he noticed as he fought the urge to tell his old friend to stay because no one had ever held him like that since she had left all those years ago. But he didn’t say anything and just gave a nod as he turned away from her and walked away.

~~~~~~~

Kris went back to his chair as he grabbed his coat. He didn’t have to say anything, the atmosphere was ruined and it was time to leave. They had other business to deal with anyways. He was halfway up the stairs when it clicked in his head. Something had been bothering him ever since Jong In left with that girl. Something felt incredibly wrong, but he had pushed away his instinct since he had already caused enough trouble. But now it had come to him, so he stood gripping the railing as he felt Tao come up beside him.

“What’s wrong?” He asked worriedly.

“She called him Jong In” Kris said quietly.

“What?”

“She didn’t call him Kai. He never gives out his real name” Kris snapped as he looked around quickly. Something had been strange ever since Jong In was suddenly released from custody in Korea. Had he cut a deal with the cops?

He ran up the stairs, they had only left a few minutes ago. They might still be around Kris decided as he raced outside with Tao following close behind.

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Ok so really long update to make up for lack of updates... yeah.... you guys probably know how this goes since it's happened a lot *sigh* I'll still apologize cuz I feel bad though ._.

Thanks for reading though!