“Where’s Cheondoong?” Jiyong asked in the middle of their meal.

 

Dara frowned and shrugged. “He was sitting in on my morning classes. But he just got lost when we were on our way out. I tried calling him but he doesn’t answer. So I assumed he went to his school and attended his class or something.”

 

“Aren’t you worried?” Jiyong asked, stealing a one-second look on Daniel, who was just eating peacefully and then back to Dara.

 

“I’ll call him again later,” she just said. “By the way, where are the oppas?”

 

“They’re busy…” he trailed off and let her eyes wander towards Daniel. They shared a second of gaze before Daniel went back to eating. “…they’re preparing for something.”

 

“What are they preparing?” Dara asked.

 

Jiyong faced her and smiled at her. “Why don’t you try calling Cheondoong again or looking for him around the house?”

 

“Around the house?” Dara asked, frowning and confused.

 

“Maybe he went home first you know,” Jiyong said, shrugging.

 

Hesitantly, leaving her meal, she stood up. When Daniel and Jiyong were alone, surprisingly, Daniel didn’t gaze away from his meal. Jiyong kept his gaze on him, observing his next move. After a while, he then stared at his watch and nodded.

 

“It’s almost time,” Jiyong said, catching Daniel’s attention, but the latter didn’t utter a word. “I can give you a chance. Just confess right now.”

 

“Confess what?” Daniel coldly asked.

 

“Why are you after Mr. Song?” Jiyong asked straightforwardly.

 

“Mr. Song who?”

 

Jiyong slammed his chopsticks down. “Stop acting mum, Daniel.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“Mr. Song Baekyoung,” Jiyong said. “Why are you after him? And who is that old man? Why are you telling Dara that he’s her father?”

 

Finally, a smirk was forming on his lips. “What the fcuk are you talking about?”

 

Having had enough, Jiyong tried reaching for the guy across the table. However, an arm wrapped around his neck, strangling him. He looked to the side to see one of the black-suited men. He then looked forward where Daniel sighed and glanced at him and then back to his meal. As if nothing just happened, he drank a gulp of water.

 

“Don’t be rash, G-Dragon,” Daniel said, his voice soft and measured as he acknowledged Jiyong with his assassin code name.

 

Jiyong narrowed his eyes. In a split-second, before Daniel could even blink, he elbowed the man who was strangling him. He then grabbed the arm that was still holding him by his neck and brought him over his shoulder, causing the man to fall on his back on the table that was still full with foods. Jiyong then got his fork and stabbed the man’s hand which he was still holding.

 

The anguished scream filled the dining room. Jiyong stared forward where Daniel just stood, observing Jiyong’s moves.

 

“Reckless as ever,” Daniel whispered, already advancing towards Jiyong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile…

 

Although Dara found what Jiyong just said weird, she complied as she walked around the second floor of the mansion, keeping her phone on her ear as she listened at the endless ring of Cheondoong’s phone on the other line. She already checked his room but he wasn’t there. However, while she was passing by Daniel’s room with its door ajar, she heard a faint ringing of a phone.

 

Dara stared down at her phone and then took a peek inside the room. She hung up the phone and the faint ringing inside his room also stopped. She called again and there was that faint ringing again. Hesitantly, she pushed the door open and she entered.

 

The phone was still ringing so she went to the direction of it, where it became clearer and louder. It sounded as if it came from the bedside drawer. As she kept her eyes on the drawer though, she tripped on something. She looked down at the small trash can she tripped on where the contents were spilled. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of bloody bandages on the trash can.

 

“Daniel-oppa was hurt?” she asked herself and then went quiet again as she shrugged it off and continued her way to the drawer.

 

Before the phone stopped ringing, she already pulled the drawer open. She almost dropped her phone as she saw a handgun, Cheondoong’s phone which showed numerous missed calls from her, and a bunch of pictures of her, Jiyong, and her other oppas underneath.

 

Her breath got caught up on as with shaky hands, she picked up the handgun first to get the pictures of her and Jiyong underneath it. One picture, though, caught her attention. It was a picture of her entering a club where she was wearing a hoodie and a cap. She remembered she was meeting Cheondoong that time.

 

Dara thought back on that night and on what happened. She gasped loudly as she remembered how there was an encounter with someone when Jiyong pulled her out of the club. She then turned around towards the door, thinking if Daniel and the guy she shot several times on his back were one and the same. Then her eyes flew towards the spilled contents of the trash can.

 

Dara jumped on her place, the handgun she was holding falling to the ground as there was a rumbling noise on the closet. Her eyes flew towards it as her knees were shaking, unable to move, unable to think clearly. After a while, the door to the closet opened, showing Cheondoong, his hands and ankles tied and his mouth covered with a tape.

 

“Cheondoong!” she called, running towards him. She went on her knees to untie him and remove the tape from his mouth. “Are you alright?”

 

“Noona, Daniel is a bad man. You have to get out of here,” Cheondoong said as Dara helped him untie the ropes. “Daniel, he tricked you. He isn’t our cousin. That old man isn’t our father. He’s using you to get to Jiyong-hyung.”

 

As Cheondoong explained, Dara wondered if he heard the racing of her heart. She tried to still it, knowing that a panicked heart and mind would only lead her nowhere especially in times like this. She was already trying to make a plan, knowing that Jiyong was alone with the man who wanted to kill him. Surprisingly, apart from the information that he was using her to get to Jiyong, she didn’t really care with what Cheondoong told her about using her. She was just thinking of his safety.

 

“We have to get out of here,” Cheondoong said when he was completely untied.

 

Dara stared at him as she shook her head. “Stay here,” she said, pushing him inside. “I have to get Jiyong.”

 

“Noona!”

 

But Cheondoong was already back inside the closed space. Dara immediately got out of the room, locking the door behind her just to make sure that her little brother would be safe. She had enough of being separated with him for a long time. She wouldn’t risk endangering him again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a few minutes, the doors of the mansion flew open. Hearing this, Jiyong twisted the arm of one of Daniel’s men, causing the latter to writhe in pain. TOP threw a gun towards him, which in midair, he caught expertly. He then shot the man he had on his hands straight on his skull and another one who was just about to attack.

 

TOP, Teddy, and Kush also went to business as they found their respective opponents. Teddy jumped over the head of the one who was attacking him and with the two guns he had, he shot the two others who were fighting with Kush and TOP. But before they could sigh a relief, more and more appeared, making sure that Daniel, who was just standing in the middle of the room while watching them, would be untouched.

 

TOP pulled out a knife from his holster while his gun was busy shooting as there were a lot of men flocking together around him, he was also stabbing others. Kush settled on having a fist-fight as he expertly took them all even though he was alone against a lot of them. He kicked them on the head, as they stumbled back to the ground. As he felt it was rather exhausting, he pulled out his gun and shot everyone on their skulls.

 

There were already a few men left. And Jiyong saw this as an opportunity to attack Daniel. The latter saw this as he pulled out a metal bat from behind him. He tried hitting Jiyong but he was able to dodge it and landed a punch on Daniel’s jaw. The latter recovered immediately as the bat was already several feet away from him and before he was supposed to be shot by Jiyong, Daniel was still able to kick him on the face, causing Jiyong to tumble back.

 

Jiyong stood on his feet and just shook his head as he felt dizzy. He then returned the kick to Daniel who easily dodged them all. Jiyong also fired some shots occasionally but was afraid he was going to hit his brothers as Daniel was good at dodging. When it was time for Daniel to kick, Jiyong was able to catch his foot and he twisted it, almost causing Daniel to lose balance and fall. As he caught himself, Jiyong landed a punch on his jaw again. But the punches he received from Jiyong didn’t seem effective as Daniel stood well on his feet and was even returning the punches to him.

 

As Daniel threw a punch towards him, Jiyong moved to the left, dodging, and with her right hand, caught Daniel on his neck. He gripped on it tightly, choking the latter as he raised him and threw him harshly to the ground.

 

Daniel stayed on the floor, coughing blood and catching his breath. Jiyong saw another opportunity as he pointed the gun on his skull and cocked it.

 

“Surrender now while you still have time,” Jiyong hissed, his furious eyes raging.

 

Daniel stared at the end of the gun and then with blood in his mouth, he grinned. “I’m still the one in the advantage, G-Dragon. Remember that,” he said defiantly.

 

Jiyong was about to pull trigger when he heard a familiar voice.

 

“Jiyong!”

 

Jiyong’s eyes flew towards the staircase where a man was dragging Dara along with him, a knife on her neck. TOP, Teddy, and Kush also stopped from fighting as they heard Dara’s voice.

 

“Dara!” Jiyong called.

 

“Now, I have a suggestion, G-Dragon,” Daniel said with conscious effort as he tried standing up, wiping the blood from his mouth. “Drop the guns and I’m letting your girl go. But, you have to let me kill you.”

 

Jiyong then stared at Daniel who was slowly meeting Dara. When he was beside them, Daniel stared at Dara straight into her eyes.

 

“You evil bastard!” Dara screamed and spat on his face before the man got the knife closer to her flesh, causing her to lean away from the knife and whimper in fear.

 

Daniel pulled away, wiping the spit off his face. He then made a weary bitter sarcastic smile. “I can’t believe you fell for my story, Sandara, my dear cousin.”

 

“You’re a fcking liar. Rot in hell!”

 

“Oh I will. I will, with your boyfriend,” he said. “So what about my bargain?” he asked, turning to Jiyong.

 

Jiyong, TOP, Teddy, and Kush weren’t able to move on their spots as either a gun or a knife was pointed each on their heads.

 

“Deal!” Jiyong said without hesitancy.

 

“Jiyong! Don’t!” Dara called, struggling on the man’s grip but at the same time making sure she wouldn’t be grazed by the knife.

 

“But, in case you cheat, I’ll have the little girl captured first and then I’ll make sure I’ll let her go,” Daniel said, cracking his fingers, as if getting ready to fight.

 

Jiyong then inconspicuously stared to his sides, towards TOP, Teddy, and Kush. Each had their respective captor but as they made a one-second eye-contact with Jiyong, they understood. They seemed to converse with their eyes.

 

“Drop your guns,” Daniel ordered.

 

Slowly bending down, Jiyong, Teddy, TOP, and Kush made another eye-contact before they lowered their gazes towards their gun. With a centimeter gap from the floor, each of them executed their plan.

 

TOP kicked back to his captor, causing him to lose grip of the knife that was pointed at him. He then twisted his body so that he was lying on the ground and he shot the man straight on his forehead.

 

Kush swept his legs on the floor so that his captor fell on his . Before he was going to finish him off, he shot the man who was holding Dara straight on his head and then he turned to his captor, stepped on his gut and shot him on his head.

 

Teddy, however, was a second late when he decided to shoot Daniel first on his leg causing his captor to immediately make a move as he was stabbed on his shoulder. Still able to move, he turned to his captor, pulled the knife from his shoulder and stabbed the latter on his neck.

 

Jiyong, on the other hand, was able to kick his captor on the gut before he swiftly turned and shot him on the head too.

 

All these happened in just a few seconds that Daniel was caught off guard as he fell on the floor, his leg wounded. Blood was already gushing and starting to pool on the floor. He looked around him, towards his men who were all dead, lying around the mansion. Jiyong was already making his way towards him, a gun pointed at him.

 

“You’re dead now,” Jiyong said with low measured words. As he saw Daniel not moving, just clutching on his leg, he pulled the trigger, aiming for his gut, where it wasn’t enough to kill him.

 

Daniel fell backwards. There was a pathetic expression on his face as he felt the pain of the gunshot. He wasn’t expecting this to happen. He thought he was on the advantage, having Dara as his bait. He didn’t want it to end this way. He still had the money and his family’s lives at stake. His boss would surely reprimand him, assuming he would be able to survive after this.

 

Feeling helpless, he had an idea. He pulled out an extra gun from his pocket and pointed it at Dara, who whimpered in fear, hugging herself.

 

“Step forward…” he said, his voice hitching as a sign of nervousness and weakness. “…or I’ll shoot.”

 

Everyone in the room froze on their spots. Teddy, TOP, and Kush eyed Jiyong who had his eyes wide open. It seemed that he didn’t have an idea or plan for this.

 

“Don’t fool yourself. You’re on the disadvantage,” Jiyong said, more like convincing himself actually.

 

Daniel, holding on to his bleeding gut, laughed. “You don’t think that, do you? I can see through you. I have your beloved weakness at gunpoint. You don’t want to risk her life, do you?”

 

Jiyong’s grip on the gun slowly loosened. Dara was his weakness, yes. And he didn’t want to put her in any more danger.

 

Daniel was laughing through the pain as he watched Jiyong’s anguished expression. However, he missed the second when Jiyong’s eyes moved upwards, past him towards the railing upstairs. Jiyong then tightened his grip on the gun.

 

“Good bye,” Jiyong said, assuming a confident tone.

 

Daniel wasn’t able to react as two loud blasts were heard from a gun and he felt a seething pain on his arm that was holding the gun and another one on his shoulder. A second had passed as his eyes met Jiyong’s who was holding his gun pointed at his forehead before everything went black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dara stared at Daniel, a gunshot on his forehead with blood flowing out of it. She then stared to the direction where the first two gunshots came from. Cheondoong was standing there, his shaky hands still holding on to the handgun she recognized from Daniel’s drawer. He was sweating profusely as he stared, wide-eyed, at Daniel’s body just beside her. His eyes then moved to hers.

 

“Don’t you ever lock me in a room again!” Cheondoong exclaimed.

 

Dara broke a smile but before she could even say anything, a pair of arms gathered her and she felt herself rising from floor. She was almost crushed in the embrace but she let him be. She then wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back.

 

“It’s okay now,” she whispered, smiling again. “We’re safe now.”

 

“I can’t ever lose you, Dara,” Jiyong whispered back, burying his face on her hair, hugging her tighter, feeling the warmth and comfort from her. He would never risk her safety ever again.

 

Never.