Are you gonna give in? Are you gonna 

be caught by the surrounding traps?

...

As Yongguk lifts the roller shutter door to their headquarters, the sunlight from outside shines from his toes up to his head. His appearance doesn’t stand out much, except for a piece of handkerchief tucked behind and a large cross necklace hanging around his neck.

A figure comes into view and Yongguk smiles as he sees Jongup. Jongup may be a few years younger than him, but they’ve known each other for a long time so he treats him just like his friend. Jongup’s necklace swings as he approaches Yongguk to greet him. As Yongguk is too focused on Jongup, he didn’t realize a pickup truck just passed by and pulled up near them.

Only realizing when it’s too late, Yongguk notices a large man behind Jongup holding a metal pipe. He can’t produce the words to warn Jongup as the latter is forcefully pulled back. The man swings the metal pipe and it hits Jongup right in the face, causing him to pass out.

Yongguk kneels down beside him and shakes him violently, but to no avail. Feeling blank when he sees blood on Jongup’s forehead, he looks back at the culprit. The large man snarls at him while holding up a USB. The USB is thrown at him and the man hops onto the back of the pickup truck. It speeds off, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Yongguk picks up the USB, not really interested in it. The incident that just took place happened too fast, left him perplexed. He throws the USB away and turns his attention back to Jongup, who’s still lying on the floor, unconscious.

“I always have to do all the work, don’t I?” he grumbles to himself. “Where are the boys when you need them?”

…

The five of them are sitting at the middle of their headquarters, all heads clouded with confusion. They’re thinking about the missing Youngjae, whom they only met a few weeks ago. Being constantly chased by the police, trusting someone is not an easy task. But somehow, Yongguk finds Youngjae easy to trust.

Yongguk is always known as the blunt one, and thus making him the perfect leader for the gang. No one dares to disobey him and he has control over everything that happens in the gang. He never needed help from anyone, but that one day was an exception.

Youngjae had come up to him, claiming that he can supply them with lots of money. They used to be a street gang, making the empty streets and train stations as their ground. It wasn’t an offer to refuse and soon after that, they were no longer a street gang.

Youngjae’s unlimited supply of money seemed suspicious, but the wealth that followed after washed the feeling away. Their lives are a party; they enjoy every second of it. All this for only one condition; take Youngjae into the gang.

Compared to all the fortune they’re getting, letting him in was just a simple demand. After all, Youngjae had never let them down. Until now. He went missing just like that, without any news.

Jongup’s head is wrapped with a bandage; a hint of blood can be seen against the white surface. He’s wincing in pain, and the case of Youngjae isn’t helping to ease the throbbing.

The laptop open before him, Yongguk’s feeling uneasy. He’s worried that the visit by their rival gang yesterday is related to Youngjae. Are they giving a warning? A warning about what? Is Youngjae involved in the gang? Now he’s starting to regret the decision of trusting him so easily.

“Hyung, why won’t you plug this in?” Zelo, the youngest of the gang, speaks up while gripping a familiar USB. Yongguk looks at it sceptically, unsure on what to do. Should he take it? “Maybe it has something important in it?” Zelo keeps on pushing him. Zelo is right; he may be the youngest but he’s smart.

“Hyung, just do it,” Daehyun says and nods at him. Yongguk gives in and snatches the USB. After much debating with himself and playing around with the USB, he finally plugs it in the laptop. The anticipation is high; they’re all curious on what it contains.

The five of them direct their attention to the laptop screen as a video pops up. Three figures come into view, one of them being Youngjae. Though the other two men have handkerchiefs tied around their mouths, Yongguk can recognise them from their rival gang. The three of them are in a small dark room and Youngjae is tied to a chair.

Youngjae’s face trickled with blood and he looks helpless. Yongguk scrunches as one man pulled back Youngjae’s hair roughly and punches him hard. The perpetrator punches him repeatedly, and when he stops the second man puts a sharp knife at Youngjae’s throat.

Zelo and Daehyun look away as they can’t bear to see him treated that way. As much as he doesn’t want to watch it, Yongguk’s eyes are still glued to the screen. He knows the answer to saving Youngjae is in the video.

The man that put a knife to Youngjae’s throat picks up a sign and put it around Youngjae’s neck. With that, Yongguk understands what they want immediately. The figure $10,000,000 is clearly written on the sign. The man does a gesture indicating money, and the video ends.

The room goes silent but not for long. Himchan and Daehyun sigh loudly. Zelo leans back to the sofa while Jongup has his head in his hands. Only Yongguk is still staring blankly at the laptop screen, his mind elsewhere. He’s only thinking on how to save him.

$10,000,000 is a lot of money. Sure, they have all this wealth but it’s never going to be enough to total up to the ransom. After all, the one that have been supplying them money all this time is being held hostage by their rival gang. How are they going to get the money in a short amount of time?

Yongguk slams the laptop shut in anger and stands up hastily. He leaves without a word and four pairs of eyes follow him until he disappears from view.

“What are we going to do? Yongguk hyung is not helping at all!” Zelo shouts loudly.

“He’ll be fine soon, just give him some time,” says Himchan, always being the optimistic one. Since they’re of the same age, Himchan is the closest to Yongguk in the gang. He knows Yongguk, deep inside his tough nature, there’s a kind heart.

Youngjae is going to be safe.

…

They’re gathered around a table, devising a strategy. A map of the district is spread on the table, miniatures of vehicles placed on different places on the map. All of them are satisfied with the plan that Yongguk pointed out and not long after that, they spring into action.

All of them are given different tasks. Zelo and Yongguk observe the place they’re going to steal the money from. Daehyun and Jongup are sent to get firearms from a dealer. Himchan gets the job to fix the vehicles they’re going to use.

After all the preparations are done, they’re moving on to a harder task: Steal the money.

…

This is the chance to get the money to save Youngjae. Yongguk is so confident in saving him before but now he’s having second thoughts. Is it really worth it? What if it’s a trap? In the short period of time they’ve known him, he hadn’t done anything suspicious. They could just forget about Youngjae and leave his fate into the hands of their rival gang.

The image of Youngjae being tortured and being defenceless flashes before him. Does he want to see Youngjae in that condition? He pulls out his cross necklace and kisses it. He has made up his mind.

They’re going to save him.

…

Observing from a high location, Yongguk sees the two guards placing the sacks of money into the money transportation vehicle. He just has to wait for the right time to give the signal to the rest of the gang. The guards lock the door and mount the vehicle. Seeing the cue, Yongguk speaks into the walkie-talkie he’s holding.

“Now.”

As soon as Yongguk produces those words, the screeching of tyres could be heard. The jeep driven by Himchan trap the vehicle from the front and another jeep driven by Jongup trap it from behind. Wearing masks in hope of being unrecognisable, they hop off the jeeps. They charge towards the guards and Zelo takes the guards’ confusion as a chance to steal the keys to the vehicle. He throws it to Jongup, who rushes to the back of the vehicle with Daehyun. They unlock the door and snatch two sacks of money.

Leaving the guards lying in a comatose state, they speed off, their first mission a success. Yongguk follows suit and leaves the scene.

...

They got the money; but why does Yongguk feel hopeless? Being the leader of the gang always means that people follow his commands, never the opposite. Now Yongguk feels pathetic and ludicrous. Himchan pats him on the shoulder trying to comfort him, but it doesn’t help.

Still feeling down, he leaves the room quietly.

…

Their footsteps echo as they descend the stairs to the underground train station. Finally, the two gangs face each other. Youngjae is with their rival gang, still weak and his face bloodied. The two gangs keep a distance from each other, each of them on full alert in case one of them decided to strike.

Yongguk drops the briefcase at his feet and a man from the opposite gang strides forward to claim it. He unfastens the briefcase and smiles when he sees the money. He nods, giving a sign to release Youngjae.

Yongguk has tears in his eyes as Youngjae slowly walks towards them. He’s ready to embrace Youngjae when suddenly a gunshot is heard. Youngjae can feel his body turn numb as the bullet pierces through, hitting him directly in the heart. The five of them is stunned as they realize Youngjae was shot. None of them moves as Youngjae slowly crumple to the floor, lifeless.

“No!” Yongguk shouts and pulls out his gun, aiming it at the gang. He fires several bullets, hitting a few men. They fire back, one of the bullets hit Yongguk and he falls to the floor. Daehyun, Jongup and Himchan runs to take cover but Zelo runs to Yongguk’s side.

“Hyung, don’t do this to me! Please get back up!” Zelo shouts to an unresponsive Yongguk.

It’s a pandemonium; gunshots everywhere, bullets flying in every direction. Without their leader, the rest of the gang is desperately trying to fight back. Unfortunately, in all the commotion, all of them die in vain.

Seeing this as an opportunity, one man from the rival gang who’s injured, limps to take the briefcase full of money. Yongguk, still sprawling on the floor, grasps a gun. He uses his last strength and fires it, hitting the man on the back. As the man collapses to the floor, the leader’s head hangs back, showing no sign of life.

If only it doesn’t end this way.

…

Yongguk has tears in his eyes as Youngjae slowly walks towards them. He embraces him and pats him on the back, feeling grateful that he’s safe. Suddenly there’s chaos. Policemen from the SWAT team come pouring in, leaving no space to escape. Contrary to the confused expression on their faces, Youngjae has a satisfied expression. All of them, except Youngjae, raised their hands.

One policeman salutes at Youngjae and gives him a shiny badge. It takes some time for Yongguk to understand what’s happening. Youngjae s the police badge at Yongguk, who stands there expressionless. Yongguk’s eyes are trained on Youngjae, who in return smirks at him. Youngjae does a mock-salute at Yongguk and walks away with pride. Youngjae can feel joy as he leaves the chaotic scene. He succeded his mission.

Yongguk tries to chase him as Youngjae steps further. Unfortunately, the policemen hold him back. He attempts to wriggle free, but the realization that they’re betrayed hits him hard, making him concede. He can only trail Youngjae’s steps as his hands are pinned to his back.

He knows he shouldn’t have trusted him. It was a trap all along.

And he fell into it.