A/N: FINALLY AN UPDATE~~ A bit longer than the usual update, yes? I thought I owed it to you guys ;; I promise I'll be more active, and update at least two of the three stories once per week, more than that if I'm not that busy~ Enjoy ^^ 

The ride to the house as awkward, to say the least. The atmosphere between Byunghun, Chanhee and Chunji was almost suffocating. Byunghun didn't have many harboured hatred for Chunji--he had accepted his fate without much fight. Somehow, he had gotten himself into this mess, and there was no way of getting out of it. The more he concerned himself with what was happening, the harder it would be for him to cope. As terrible as it was…the faster he died, the less crap he would have to put up with. It was a terribly selfish thought, and he would immediately feel bad for thinking such thoughts, especially because of Chanhee, and the others.

Chanhee, throughout the ride, was conflicted. So this was the infamous Chunji. Not that he could say that he never saw him before, but he hadn't expected…an exact twin. He would often catch Chunji sneaking quick glances at Byunghun, which angered him even more. Everything that Byunghun had to endure, physically and to some extent emotionally, was because of the bastard that was sitting in front of him. If he could reach over and strangle him right then and there, he would have. But for the sake of Byunghun, he tried to calm down. He had no idea why Byunghun was trusting him, or Miyoung, but he didn't want to add to the list of things Byunghun had to deal with. Chanhee decided to silently follow without objections, and deal with Chunji once they arrived. If Byunghun trusted Chunji so much, even after what that sick did, then there must be a valid reason, right?

Miyoung had a…different experience. The sight of two people that looked exactly the same still puzzled her--there was not a single detail off about either Chunji or Chanhee. They looked exactly like. If Chunji's hair wasn't brown, and Chanhee's hair wasn't black, Miyoung would have a seriously hard time differentiating the two, and the fact that she didn't know Chunji or Chanhee well enough o distinguish either would make that all the more difficult. Seeing Byunghun was also awkward, and a lot more uncomfortable than she had anticipated. He didn't seem too thrilled to see her, which was understandable. The last time Miyoung had seen him…was that night in New York. She regretted nothing of what she did, of course. It was something she had to do, out of love. There was nothing wrong about that. She hated Chanhee for stealing away what was hers to begin with, but she knew that she was brought along to help maintain some sort of peace. She couldn't scheme…just yet.

The house wasn't just some small shack on the mountains. It was fairly high up. The house itself wasn't modest whatsoever. It was modern, bold and huge. It was far too big to be holding only four residents. To be put simply, the first word Byunghun thought of when he saw the place was a castle. There were windows, but they were tinted so that it was impossible to see through them, even though they didn't look too dark. A light coat of snow covered the place; the rooftops, the ground.

"Are you kidding?" Chanhee asked in ridicule, staring up at the house when he got out of the car.

"I hope it's to your liking, twin." Chunji stretched a bit when he exited the car, immediately venturing down the winding path towards the large black, iron gates that shielded the perimeter of the house. Byunghun and Miyoung followed, quietly. "I don't suppose that this is some murder plot? That you're going to kill all of us in this house? That you have dead bodies strewn everywhere around the place like the sick psycho you are?" Chanhee asked, his voice cold and strangely threatening. Byunghun hadn't heard Chanhee use that tone since before they were together, so even he was shocked as to what words were coming out of his boyfriend's mouth.

Chunji stopped in front of the gate, cackling. "Don't get too excited, twin." He pressed a button that Byunghun hadn't known was there at first, hidden amongst bright green ivy. Could ivy grow during this cold weather?

A voice buzzed, sounding muffled. "Master?"

"Yeah, it's me, Hyungshin. Open the gates."

The sound resembling a coin dropping onto the pavement was heard. Chunji pushed the gates forward, the iron swiftly spreading out and revealing the property beneath it. "Welcome home."

****

"Now, there are a few rules you're going to abide by during your stay." Chunji began, throwing his coat onto the floor before facing Byunghun in particular. "There are six floors to this house. The first holds the dining room, entertainment room, the sports complex, the swimming pool, the kitchen and the living room. The second floor will be our pretty boy and his boyfriend's floor. Third is mine. Fourth is yours, Miyoung. Sixth floor belongs to the servicemen, and woman. Fifth is empty. To make this stay as enjoyable for all of us as possible, let's try to stay in our designated floors, shall we? Breakfast is every morning at seven. Lunch is at twelve. Dinner is at six. There are workers here, of course. Personal maids, butlers and servants will be on every floor. They are being paid a whole lot of money for their services, and to keep quiet, so don't worry about that.

Whatever I say, goes. If I ask you to do something, you'll do it. There's no leaving this house, without being accompanied by me. I know about everything that goes on in this house. If you ever find that what you want isn't here, ask your butler. He'll get it for you before nightfall. Your cellphones are burning in the fire pit as we speak. You aren't allowed to use any of your personal technological devices here. You may use what is provided--if you use your own, they'll be tracked and our cover will be blown. There are phones here that can't be tracked; use those to call whoever you may need to contact. Don't come bothering me, I'll likely be too busy to be bothered with your problems. And, please, try not to cause a ruckus while you're here."

With that, Chunji left.

"…Is he always so annoying?" Chanhee muttered, taking Byunghun's hand. Byunghun tried to let out a laugh, to lighten the atmosphere. "This isn't even his worst."

****

"Chunji, can you please not do anything to jeopardize Chanhee? You know how much he means to Byunghun. He'll never forgive you--"

Chunji sighed in annoyance, propping up his feet on his table and observed her with dark eyes. "I don't care. I doubt he's forgiven me for nearly killing him. You know what, I think he still hasn't forgiven me for coming into his life with such a bang." He smirked, looking up at the ceiling with a satisfied hum. "I do whatever it takes to get what I want. That's just how I am."

Miyoung huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "This is childish! If you're so determined to get Byunghun, at least do it in some sort of manly and charismatic way, not like some stupid children fighting over a toy."

"You don't understand the logical reasoning behind this. The next target after Byunghun's dead will be Chanhee. At least this way, I'm buying him more time."

Miyoung didn't understand Chunji, sometimes. Mainly because they were forced to work together when the two barely knew anything about each other, but also because Chunji kept thinking of the future--future plots, future problems. All his decisions were made to safeguard some sort of element of the future that weren't presently safeguarded. He did nothing for the now. In some cases, that was good. In other cases, it severely blinded him to consequences and the prices he would have to pay. This was one of those times. Miyoung wasn't an idiot--she knew that this partially had to do with the fact that Chunji had feelings for Byunghun. It didn't take a genius for one to find out--was Chunji even bothering to hide it anymore? Miyoung would think that having a relationship with your target wasn't exactly considered good. Chunji was smart, Miyoung knew that. He had to have hid it for some time before he decided to go rogue.

Strange, all three people had feelings for Byunghun, and all of the three had conspired in some way to get the boy. Miyoung, with her sort-of failed plot back in New York, Chanhee, who had stolen him right in front of Miyoung's eyes, and Chunji, who was trying to force Byunghun to be with him. Or rather, deviating a plan in order to do so.

"We can't have Byunghun, Chunji. Us two? We can't. Byunghun's already chosen, and he's chosen Chanhee. I know you think you're being noble by doing this, but Byunghun isn't going to submit without a fight. And, say he does agree. Doesn't mean he'll make any advancements to make true the statement. He isn't going to act all lovey-dovey with you, why would he? My father can't spy in this place. So what are you trying to gain from doing this? If the aim was Byunghun, you're going to lose him even more through this. "

Chunji narrowed his eyes at the female, slowly starting to feel himself losing his mentality. "Why are you suddenly acting like some expert on this? Is it because your attempt on getting Byunghun for yourself failed?" Chunji smirked a bit, finally glad that he was beginning to grasp seem leverage in this situation. He didn't know just how much validity this issue had to be arguing over, but one thing he knew for sure was that he hated losing. Losing to some girl who didn't have the experience he did was even worse.

Miyoung's eyes flashed. "That was a while ago. I've learned not to meddle anymore. I'm here to help you protect him, I'm not going to break him and Chanhee up. If they have survive a stupid fake affair, if they can last this long through your disgusting attempts at scaring Byunghun to death, if they can survive Byunghun in the hospital on the brink of breathing his last breath--just what makes you think that you'll be able to shatter all that? Let's say Byunghun agrees, and we all know it's going to be by force, what are you going to do then? How are you going to get the word out to my father? Let's say Byunghun's on board with this. How are you going to make Chanhee agree to those terms too? By threatening to kill him? We came here to protect those two. We're on the same damn side, Chunji."

Before Chunji could shoot out a reply, Byunghun walked in through the door, his hair tousled and looking very much half asleep. His shirt was wrinkled, barely able to keep his eyes open. "Can you two shut the hell up in here? Some of us are still trying to sleep at three in the ing morning."

"I don't care for your attitude, Byunghun. We're in here thinking of the best way to keep you and your stupid boy toy safe, we can do without your sour attitude." Chunji snapped, very unlike himself, Miyoung mentally added.

"You've already made my life a living hell, Chunji. It can't get any worse than this. I don't care about being safe. And if you call Chanhee my boy toy again the next person that'll be killed will be you." Byunghun growled, stepping out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

****

Byunghun walked back up down the flight of stairs, to the floor he shared with Chanhee. The floor was too big to be called just a floor--it was practically a mansion condensed into a one layer with too many rooms to count. The thought of how Chunji could afford something like this scared him. Chunji was pretty much a paid killer--just how many people did he kill for him to be able to afford such a ridiculously big house?

Past several, long hallways, Byunghun finally reached the bedroom. It had a polished wooden door as opposed to the normal, white-painted doors of the other rooms in this floor.

Chanhee was still asleep in the bed, exactly how Byunghun left him to shut the two up upstairs: on his sides, his arms outstretched in front of him. Knowing that Chanhee was here with him brought him a sort of comfort. He wasn't alone. He was with someone he could trust. Byunghun crawled onto the bed--Chanhee insisted on sleeping on the side closest to the door--and reinstated himself into Chanhee's embrace, nestling the blanket around himself.

"Where did you go?"

Byunghun turned his head to the side, to see Chanhee opening his eyes slowly. He looked as if he just woke up, which was good. Byunghun didn't want Chanhee to listen in to what Chunji and Miyoung were talking about, nor what Chunji had said to Byunghun. "Chunji was being a nuisance, as always. I handled it though. Go back to sleep."

It had been a chore in itself trying to get Chanhee to sleep. Chanhee still had trouble…adjusting, and trusting Chunji. He was convinced that Chunji was going to come into the room in the middle of the night and kill them. It took a while of coaxing and arguing before Chanhee finally agreed to sleep, but only on the terms that Byunghun had to wake him up if anything happened and that Chanhee was sleeping closest to the door. It was also a chore getting back to sleep—Byunghun hated thinking about what was happening. The guilt was so consuming, it made his stomach churn and his heart clench. He was the one that caused all of this. They were being held hostage in some mansion with a killer and a crazy ex, unsure of how long they have left to live, when they would be attacked, how they would be attacked…Or if they were even being attacked. Sometimes he tried to make himself believe that it was just a dream, sometimes that was easier to process and made him feel a lot less guilty.

It’s just a dream…It’ll all go away in the morning…

****

Morning came, and as usual, Byunghun seemed to be the first one awake. Chanhee was still fast asleep, and even after prodding him with Byunghun’s finger, the other didn’t wake. He knew that Chanhee would have thrown a fit if Byunghun had just left without trying to wake him.

Byunghun slipped out of bed, into the hallway. The house was eerily silent. Large tapestries that were bland and dull covered the windows, but it was still dark outside, so he guessed that it was early morning. The quiet was strangely comforting to him. So much was happening, bad things, and he felt as if he needed some peace and quiet for a while. It only lasted so long, however, because he ran into Miyoung during his stroll.

“Byunghun? What are you doing awake?”

Byunghun shrugged, a bit annoyed at having to see her, and gave a straight answer. “I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

She gave an exasperated sigh, rubbing her temples and looked up at him, eyes stricken with a sort of panic. “Chunji has enlisted for help. He’s bringing them over right now, and he says that he’s five minutes away. I had to figure out some kind of boarding for them, and had to arrange the servants to get it ready.”

Help? Why was Chunji enlisting help so early on? And what exactly was it that he thought the group needed help with? And Byunghun couldn’t help but feel a bit suspicious. Nobody knew if Chunji was 100% trustworthy, or Miyoung either, in that case. They could be conspiring, bringing over killers. With Chunji, anything could happen, and it made him suddenly uneasy that there were people coming here in the dead of the night to supposedly ‘help’.

“Come on, they should be getting here any second now. Help me welcome them.” She said with a smile, turning on her heel and walking down the hall. He hesitated for a few seconds before following her. Trust was the only thing that was going to keep all of them alive. There was enough to worry about, Miyoung and Chunji couldn’t be one of them. It’s going to take a while to get used to…But I have to trust them. And somehow get Chanhee to trust them, too.

*****

“What are you doing awake?” Was the first thing Chunji asked when he saw Byunghun. He shrugged in response, more curious as to who he had brought. Behind him, Byunghun counted two people, but couldn’t make out their faces yet. It was only when they had all entered that he got a real good look at them. The first was a girl, who looked no older than he was. She was slim, her hair a brown and she looked extremely delicate, as if one push would send her flying. The next was a boy that looked awfully like— “Niel?” Byunghun asked in disbelief, eyes blinking rapidly in confusion, as if he thought they were deceiving him.

What the hell was Niel doing here?

Niel seemed as confused as Byunghun was, freezing in his tracks when he saw the boy. Along with Woohyun and the others, Niel had spent vigorous amounts of time searching for him, as well as Chanhee. Two of their friends suddenly went missing one afternoon and haven’t returned—wasn’t it only right to search for them? He wasn’t sure if them being with Chunji was better than them being missing or not. Well, he could only guess  that Chanhee was here.

“Byunghun, are you listening?” Chunji’s voice cut in. Byunghun snapped his attention back towards him and blinked.

“Huh?”

Chunji groaned, mostly in blatant frustration, and gestured towards the girl once more. “I said, this is Chorong. She’s here to help.”

The girl gave Byunghun a warm smile, giving him a slight bow. “Hi, Byunghun. I’ve heard a lot about you; it’s a pleasure to meet you. You’re right, he is as cute as you said.” Chorong looked up at Chunji, before glancing back at Byunghun. He faithfully ignored her comment. Chunji, meanwhile, was speaking intently with Miyoung.

“Did you arrange a place for her to sleep?”

“I already said that I have three times already. Jiyeon’ll take her to her chambers.” The said girl, who was apparently a servant, then suddenly appeared from what looked like nowhere and gave too polite of a curtsey, gesturing grandly forward. “Miss, this way.”

Chorong followed, Chunji behind her. It was hard for Byunghun to believe that Chunji even had any friends, or people that would help him, considering what he was like. And he didn’t know how he felt about Niel being here.

“Okay, so the crazy serial killer and his psycho sidekick are living in the same place as you? How safe.” Niel sarcastically commented, making a face. Of course he would be filled with criticism—he wasn’t shy to express his hatred. That was where Chanhee and Niel sounded too alike; they had no problem talking about Chunji and Miyoung. Byunghun had was trying to get over it, why couldn’t they?

Miyoung didn’t seem like it bothered her at all, rolling her eyes and left as well. It was only after she was gone that Niel gave Byunghun a bone-crushing hug.

“I was worried about you, you . How can you not even call?”

That was a good question. Chunji had confiscated the phones that they had, and in turn told them that were phones they could use in the house if they wished. Byunghun could have easily picked up the phone and dialed Niel’s number, which he knew by heart, and explain this whole situation to him. The thing was…he didn’t want to. He would rather the group think that him and Chanhee went missing and give up the search, than have them try to search for them and get themselves into trouble too.

He realized that he didn’t want Niel to be here, to be a part of this. If he had a choice in the matter, he wouldn’t have even wanted Chanhee to be a part of this. Sometimes, he wished that he would just die already, so this could be over with. He was risking the life of everyone he cared about, and even the mere thought that one of them could die because of him made him want to scream.

“Let’s go wake up Chanhee.”