“Do you know that you’re putting yourself at great risk by doing this? It’s dangerous!”

Hyo Min hardened her gaze at the guy in front of her. While she was insanely worried about his safety, it pisses her off as he calmly slid off the couch and walked a few steps towards where she was standing.

“Don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing.”

“That’s not the point here,” Hyo Min hisses as she wagged a finger at him. “If they know what you’re up to, who you really are...they won’t let you off easy.”

He let out a small sigh as he places both hands on her shoulders.

“I need you to trust me on this...Okay?”

Hyo Min just stared at her cousin with much incredulity. She wanted to believe him; she wanted to have faith in him.

But she also knows those other guys very well.

They aren’t really the forgiving type.

“So, this is what we have gotten so far,” Jun Hyung said later that evening while they were all gathered in Yo Seob’s room. While the latter was sleeping soundly, the other five of them sat in a circle, munching on chips while listening intently to what Jun Hyung had to say.

“We’ve tried finding most of the under-ground groups that are still operating recently. There aren’t a lot but they are extremely dangerous. Some...even more than we are.”

“We’ve got a couple of them on our hands,” Hyun Seung piped in from beside Jun Hyung. “But...we’re going to need some help from the MBLAQ guys. I think they know better than we do.”

Doo Joon nodded thoughtfully.

“You’re right. It’s time to push aside our differences and work together with them. The greater we are in number, the higher chances of survival we have.”

“I can talk to Mir if you want,” Dong Woon offered as he popped in the last chip into his mouth. “But maybe this time it’ll be better for me to go alone.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea...” Doo Joon frowned disapprovingly. “Get one of the guys to go along with you.”

“Mir’s a friend hyung,” Dong Woon reminded his leader. Uncapping a bottled water, he gulped down his drink before continuing on. “He won’t do anything to me.”

“It’s not Mir I’m worried about,” Doo Joon admitted. “It’s that Lee Joon.”

“I’ll go with Woonie hyung,” Gi Kwang who had been keeping quiet since the start of the meeting suddenly spoke up. “We’ll talk to Mir together.”

Doo Joon raised an eyebrow suspiciously at him.

“You’ve never offered to do these kinds of things before. Aren’t you the more get-into-action type instead of negotiating? Is there any other reason why you might want to meet up with Mir?”

“Yah Kwangie! Don’t look for trouble if there isn’t one,” Hyun Seung gave him a light smack on the arm while the younger guy just gave him a cocky grin in return.

“It’s just a talk. It’s not wrong, is it?”

Just then, Gi Kwang could feel his phone vibrating in the pocket of his jeans. Frowning at the unknown number, he answered the call cautiously.

“Hello? Ji Yeon-sshi? Who’s number are you using? W-what? When? Alright, I’ll come over now.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Doo Joon asked urgently when he sensed the anxiety in Gi Kwang’s voice.

“Hyuna. She had been kidnapped.”

“And nobody bothered to tell me as soon as you got the call?” Gi Kwang demanded as soon as Byung Hee had finished filling him in about Hyuna and Joon’s incident.

All five BEAST members, excluding Yo Seob, had rushed over to Joon’s apartment after receiving Ji Yeon’s call. With the assurance from Ji Yeon and So Yeon that they would look after the injured member, did the rest of them finally feel at ease about leaving Yo Seob behind.

But nothing felt right as they sat together in the compact living room, with Doo Joon and Hyun Seung sitting on the couch while Dong Woon and Jun Hyun standing on either side of them. Gi Kwang was pacing across the room restlessly after checking in on his sister. He was clearly not happy about being kept out of the loop.

“We knew that we could take care of it,” Seung Ho who was sitting on the opposite side of Doo Joon answered. “And we didn’t want to arouse the suspicion of the other gang. If we had gone together...”

“But she’s my sister!” Gi Kwang roared, punching both fists on the dining table hard. “Don’t you think I deserved to be there too? She’s my responsibility.”

“She’s safe now...” Byung Hee started to say.

“She has bruises all over!” Gi Kwang cut him off angrily. “All those cuts on her hands and legs. And her face...what did they do to her? Why did they even take her?”

“It’s the sick game they are playing,” Seung Ho said tiredly, clasping his hands together. “They are toying with us.”

Gi Kwang shook his head disbelievingly.

“I told her again and again...” he muttered. “I told her he would only get her into trouble. But she still chooses to stick with him.”

 “Who are these guys? What do they want?” Doo Joon directed his question at Seung Ho, intrigued to find out more of this ‘mysterious’ gang.

Both Seung Ho and Byung Hee exchanged knowing looks with each other. Seung Ho took a deep breath before turning back to face Doo Joon.

“2PM, they are the most ruthless and merciless guys you’ll ever encounter. Get in their way; they’ll make sure you get out of their sight. I presume, you guys haven’t been around long enough to realise their existence?”

“I’ve heard of them...” Hyun Seung started slowly. He glanced up at Jun Hyung for a brief second before continuing. “Well, Jun Hyung and I came across them while we were searching for information. But we...we didn’t think it’d be them because like you said, we’ve never crossed paths. Why would they hurt Yo Seob?”

“It’s a ploy,” a new voice spoke up from behind them and immediately, all pair of eyes turned towards the source. They saw Joon coming out of the room with his left hand bandaged up in a cast. Mir followed quietly behind him, ready to help him out when he needed to.

“I’m fine Mir,” Joon rolled his eyes at the maknae. “It’s not like I broke my leg or anything.”

“Sit down here hyung,” Mir said, pulling out a chair for him. Joon gave him a small smile as he plopped down on the chair gratefully.

 “What do you mean it’s a ploy? You caused my sister to be in this situation. They must be after you!” Gi Kwang pointed an accusing finger at Joon. “And now, you’ve drag all of us into this.”

“Mind your tone,” Mir told him dryly. “Don’t forget where you are now.”

“Stop it, both of you,” Doo Joon commanded in his most authority voice. “Gi Kwang, get a grip of yourself okay? Or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“Hyung, why are we even having this conversation with them? Aren’t we supposed to be on opposing teams?” Gi Kwang argued, storming over towards where his leader was sitting.

“Hyung, you’re not using your head,” Dong Woon said wryly. “Those 2PM guys, they are setting us against each other. Can’t you see it?”

“For the first time, the maknae’s the wisest one here,” Jun Hyung added in ironically. “Don’t mix personal feelings in this matter Kwangie. We should all put our heads together and think of a way to defeat them.”

“They kept asking for a USB,” Joon carried on talking as though Gi Kwang’s presence didn’t affect him in any way. “I don’t think such thing really exists. It’s just something they came up with to get to us. Because if it does, I have no knowledge of any missing USB. It’s not with us.”

“If it isn’t so, what’s their real intention then?

“Why did you stop investigation on the BEAST gang? Aren’t they the closest you got to Park Sang Hyun’s case?”

Ji Yoon could feel Eun Jung already stiffening up beside her.

“We don’t have enough evidence to pursue on,” Ji Yoon explained honestly, watching her partner carefully from the corner of her eye. “And besides, we’ve conduct interrogations on them. We don’t think they fit the profile.”

“Isn’t this a gang-related case?” Jun Su frowned as he read through the report which had been laid down in front of him. “So it’s possible right those guys might have something to do with it?”

“I’m telling you Jun Su, it’s not them,” Ji Yoon said exasperatedly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “And besides, there are a lot of other under-ground gangs out there.”

“Really?” Jun Su lay back in his seat and did the same as Ji Yoon with his arms. “Have you met any gang in particular? Or maybe perhaps, after talking to the BEAST guys, you started to develop a soft spot for them.”

Ji Yoon’s breath got stuck in at Jun Su’s sudden proclamation.

How much does he knows?

One of the many reasons why she broke up with him – he’s too good at reading people.

He could just stare into your eyes and there he goes, evading your soul.

It was almost creepy.

Ji Yoon turned away from him immediately, shifting in her seat uncomfortably. Beside her, Eun Jung cleared awkwardly. It was a good thing the rest of their team-members were not present for the meeting. It would’ve been a little more difficult for her to handle.

“Ji Yoon, are you free now?”

She looked up in surprise at Jun Su’s random question. Exchanging a brief glance with Eun Jung, her partner just shrugged unknowingly.

“Why?”

“You and I...let’s pay those guys a visit shall we?”

I'm starting to lose energy writing this story :/ Idk why.