I refused to believe that voice came from Jiyong. It sounded dead. But at least he talked, right? I glanced sideways at him, and still, his face looked the same: blank. “Adopted?” I echoed. I saw Wooyoung being pulled towards one corner.

 

“You seemed well-informed,” Uncle mused. “What else do you know about us?”

 

“I do my research. It’s my job,” Jiyong answered in that dead tone of his again. “You wanted a child so much, to continue your lineage and to have an heir. Your wife can’t bear a child and she got so depressed she killed herself. Wooyoung’s real parents were your house helpers at that time. The woman was pregnant and Woo’s father was diagnosed with cancer. You took advantage of it, offered help in exchange of the child. And you’re using his parents so he’ll follow everything you say; because to your disappointment, he’s not as evil as you.”

 

I don’t know if I can take all of these anymore. My head’s aching.

 

“You did your assignment pretty well. But you made one mistake. You see, he was as evil as me, only he . . . fell in love,” he sneered, disgusted and looked at me. “Of course courting Dara was all planned but my stupid son gave in along the way.” He turned silent for a moment as he looked down at Wooyoung’s unconscious state. “He talked to me. He asked me not to hurt you,” he continued and looked back at me. “He said he’ll find where the NGM is as long as I won’t hurt you. But you see, there are a few changes. Now that you know a lot of things and I kind of showed myself to you, I can’t risk letting you live. You might reveal me to the authorities.”

 

“You deserve to be put in jail!” I exclaimed.

 

“You’re probably right,” he shrugged. “Sang Won, get me a Swiss knife.”

 

My heart started beating hard against my chest again. He’s going to stabbed me to death? Why don’t he just go for the quick, easy way? Like putting a gun on my skull or something? “Why don’t you just shoot me?” I voiced out, unable to help myself.

 

“Oh, I will. But I’ll need the knife to get the NGM.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Have you ever wondered why you had a leg surgery before Dara?”

 

“I. .” I paused. Yes, I wondered about that. But Dad said it was needed.

 

“Your father’s pretty creative, I must say. I should have seen the signs. The Kwons suddenly appearing right after you had surgery,” he snorted. “A microchip implant. Who would have thought?”

 

The NGM’s implanted on my leg?!?

 

Now that pretty much explains things.

 

Now I understand why Jiyong chose to suffer being whipped than tell them where it is. He was, as usual, protecting me. The realization put a lump on my throat. But look at what I did in return. I took away his grandparents’ lives.

 

An explosion suddenly erupted, making the whole place tremble. The double doors burst open and men in black gear came in, carrying big guns with them. I saw Uncle retreated quickly and escaped through the door that’s partially concealed on the wall. On his heels was Sang Won.

 

We were then freed. Everything seemed a blur. My mind was chaotic. I can’t understand a thing, I just let my body go with the flow. As we trooped out, a series of guns fired, making me scream. I felt a hand pushed me down on the floor. I covered my ears, trembling with fear. I felt and heard more than saw bodies fell on the floor with a loud thud. I started crawling away, to nowhere in particular. I found a tiny path and went to it. As soon as I was between the walls, I started running away from the scene but I can still hear the exchange of bullets and some explosion from somewhere else. I turned right into a wider hallway. I looked around and found myself alone.

 

I can hear my heavy breathing echoing. I bent over, trying to catch my breath. Then, I started running again. A door to my right suddenly opened, making me squeal in surprise. My eyes widened when I saw Uncle pointing a gun at me. His face brightened up as he saw me. “Well, what a pleasant surprise,” he smiled. I was rooted to my spot. I started backing away from him when I suddenly felt the wall on my back. I ordered my feet to run, but they won’t move anymore.

 

Oh my God! It’s done. This is it. I’m going to die!

 

I shut my eyes tightly. Amidst all the noise from the other side and other parts of the place, I still heard three consecutive shots from Uncle. I waited for the pain to come. But when none came, I immediately thought I’m already dead. Surely, if you’re dead, you won’t feel anything, right? But then, I heard a pained gasp and labored breathing. I opened my eyes and saw Wooyoung standing in front of me. His face was twisted in pain, his eyes glazed with shock, surprise and again, pain. “I. . .do. . .” he rasped. “. . . love you. Believe me.”

 

His body went forward, making me scream. My arms went in front of me to catch him. Then, his body slowly slid down. “Oh God!” I cried seeing his dead eyes, staring blankly ahead. I looked up and saw Uncle looking at Wooyoung in shock. “You killed him!” I shrieked. Without thinking, I went to attack him. He was taken aback but he was able to lift his gun-bearing arm. I felt something seared through my right shoulder before even reaching him. I stopped in my tracks and looked at my shoulder. I saw blood staining my shirt. My eyes grew wide as I looked back at Uncle.

 

“I didn’t kill him,” he hissed. “You did! You should die!”

 

There was another loud bang. I tried to feel where he hit me this time but the only pain I could feel was in my right shoulder. That’s when I realized that it wasn’t Uncle who made the sound. I heard him cursed as his gun flew out of his hand. I looked up and saw he got shot near his wrist. I staggered backwards as the pain deepened. I started hyperventilating. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. I slowly slid down and started sobbing from the pain.

 

I heard another blast. I opened my eyes and saw Uncle breathing heavily, now on the floor. He was now cradling his arm. I closed my eyes again and bit my lower lip. Dang it! This is too much pain!

 

“Dara?” I heard someone called. I forced my eyes to open.

 

“Kevin?” I asked. He smiled gently.

 

“Can you stand?”

 

“I don’t know. It hurts too much.”

 

“I’ll carry you then.”

 

He scooped me up. It was then that I looked again at Uncle and can’t help but be satisfied when I found out he was shot twice. He also had his hands handcuffed. “Uncle’s gun-” I started.

 

“I already took it,” Kevin cut me off. My heart gave a painful squeeze as my eyes strayed to Wooyoung.

 

“Please don’t leave Wooyoung like that,” I whispered.

 

“I’ll take care of it later,” he said.

 

I don’t think I can hate Wooyoung after what he did. “Jiyong! Where is he?” I asked urgently.

 

“I left him fighting Sang Won and Heechul.”

 

My jaw dropped at this and I momentarily forgot the pain. “Y-you left him?!?!”

 

“He ordered me to look for you. He’s my superior, Dara. I can’t defy him.”

 

“But. . . but he’s-”

 

“He’s pretty capable of himself. And besides, Heechul isn’t really that much of a fighter. And he’s much of a coward to fight and die. He’ll run away. Jiyong would just have to worry about Sang Won.”

 

I turned silent as I remembered Jiyong’s grandparents. “How did you find us?” I asked through gritted teeth, trying to distract myself but it seemed a wrong move. I felt more tired now.

 

“We rounded on some people when Jiyong stopped reporting. Based from his reported files, we went to a few people. Hyuna told us the location. She’s pretty upset with herself.”

 

“She should be,” I gasped weakly.

 

“By the way, have you seen Joohyun?”

 

“Who?” I exhaled.

 

“Oh, of course you don’t know. I meant, Seohyun. Joohyun’s her real name. The name Seohyun is Jiyong’s nickname for her.”

 

I grimaced at this. He sure does love making nicknames for other people, huh? “No,” I mumbled. “I haven’t seen her.”

 

“Well, I- dammit!” He backed up and leaned against the wall as a portion of it flew off. He put me down beside him and pulled out his gun. I scooted and covered my ears. I heard footsteps and a thud. “Joohyun!”

 

“What the hell are you doing?” a familiar voice hissed. I looked up and saw Seohyun.

 

“I was-”

 

“This is not the right time to be kind, Kevin,” she sternly said. Then, she looked down at me. “You alright?”

 

“Fine,” I moaned.

 

“She’s been shot,” Kevin said.

 

“What?! Where?!”

 

“Shoulder,” I said.

 

“Oh. You’ll survive,” Seohyun nodded. Aish! Is she really like that? She turned back to Kevin. “Where’s Jiyong?”

 

“Left him off with Heechul and Sang Won.”

 

“You. . . what?”

 

“He ordered me to look for Dara and he said he wanted to deal with Sang Won personally.”

 

I saw something cold flashed in Seohyun’s eyes at the mention of her brother’s name. She heaved a deep breath. “Okay, then,” she said. “Get her out of here. And you better minimize the wound to one. You know how Jiyong is.”

 

“I understand,” Kevin nodded.

 

“Wait. Who shoot her?”

 

“Mr. Jang. She has been shot already before I reached them,” Kevin answered.

 

“That’s good,” she nodded then ran off. She turned in a corner and was gone.

 

“What did she mean when she said ‘that’s good’?”

 

Kevin smiled forcefully. “You being shot under my care would have caused me my life,” he said and bent over to pick me up.

 

“I’ll walk,” I said. “Or run.”

 

“Are you sure?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” I nodded. He took my left hand and started pulling me with him. We ran in the hallway, avoiding stepping on some bodies on the floor. Lucky for us, there seemed to be no one blocking our way. “So, you’re like Jiyong?” I asked, breaking the silence.

 

“Yes,” he answered. “Right after he took me in, I joined.”

 

He stopped, staggering backwards as a body flew a feet in front of us. I suddenly recognized Seohyun. I heard a groan of pain, and then her body fell limply to the floor.

 

“Seohyun!” I called but she was unresponsive. She must have lost consciousness from the impact. And then, Sang Won stepped out of the corner. Kevin suddenly darted forward, leaving me behind. I didn’t even notice he let my hand go. Kevin lifted his hand, aiming at Sang Won but the latter heard Kevin coming so he beat him to it. I saw Kevin flinched but I’m not sure where the bullet hit him.

 

Something went flying on Sang Won’s back, making the latter fall down on the floor. It was then that I realized it was Jiyong. Sang Won fought him off, trying to reach the gun he dropped but Jiyong gave him a punch, making him curl in a ball. They became a tangle of limbs, both trying to put the other down. I wanted to help, I wanted to go there and help but I was frozen with fear. I was afraid to die.

 

In the corner of my eye, I saw Kevin ran to Seohyun and pulled her up away from Jiyong and Sang Won. I heard a grunt and saw Sang Won kicked Jiyong off him and crawled towards the gun lying on the floor. But then, Kevin was already there, picking it up.

 

Sang Won sighed and chuckled. I stepped forward as I saw Jiyong pulling himself up. I wanted to run to him, to hug him but I stopped in my tracks as he glanced briefly at me. The look in his eyes- void of all emotions, made me remain where I am.

 

“Jiyong,” I mumbled softly.

 

And then, it happened again. Sang Won was able to kick the gun out of Kevin’s hand the same time he sent a knife flying towards my direction. I felt the pain right even before my mind processed what happened. I felt the air knocked out of my chest, making me choke. My knees wobbled, sending me kneeling to the floor. I heard a scream of pure rage. I looked up, my eyes automatically landing on Jiyong. He took the gun and pointed it at Sang Won. He pulled the trigger over and over and over again until it ran out of bullet. But still, he kept on pulling the trigger, producing only clicking sounds as there were no bullets anymore.

 

And then, I out.