Minho stepped on gas. His navigation warned him of the coming speed camera, yet Minho didn’t think of slowing down. The sun was setting down, and the highway was painted in orange. Minho narrowed his eyes, for the sunlight was blinding. He barely saw the car before him. Leaning his body to the passenger seat, Minho opened the glovebox, searching for his sunglasses. To his bad luck, it wasn’t there. Minho growled. Today was just not his day. Not a single thing went right today, starting with his father’s phone call in the morning. He should have known better. That was the ultimate bad omen.

His father had called as he was still asleep and had demanded him to come home immediately. Minho was the “official” leader, but his father was still the one giving the tone in the gang. The old man had not retired for real.

As Minho arrived and saw Onew standing at the front gate, he knew right away something was wrong. Simply a glance from the older, and he understood he should brace himself for whatever was awaiting him behind that door. As soon as he walked through the gate, he sensed the intensity in the air. His father had summoned the most trusted “brothers” and “uncles” of the family, and they all were armed. Yet, Minho didn’t miss those strangers who were trying too hard to hide the guns under their jackets. It was clear. This was a “meeting”, one of the highest levels.

Minho bit on his lower lip. How could he not notice the danger sooner? The moment his father introduced the middle-aged man in front of him as the new leader of the Black Lotus, Minho understood he was already too late, too late to save Tae. And as Kibum’s uncle thanked him for his cooperation, his body moved on his own. The next thing he knew was being in his car, speeding to his safe house, praying that he’d be the first one to reach Tae. The voice of Kibum’s uncle was still in his head, giving him chill.

“As soon as Kibum is returned to us, nothing will be in the way of our new alliance.”

Minho could hear the squeak of the tires as he stepped on the brakes. Arrived at the safe house, he ran inside as fast as he could. Yet, he was too late. The house was empty, and Tae was gone. Minho let out a scream. His chest went up and down due to the running, as he checked every room and every single spot in this place. His hand clenched into a fist, and Minho threw a punch against the mirror. The moment the broken glasses hit the ground, and Minho heard the noises, the gang leader flinched. Was it his imagination or did he just hear Tae’s voice?

“Let me go.” Once again, Minho noticed a voice coming from the wood. It was Tae. Minho was sure. It had to be Tae.

In a second, Minho rushed into the wood, following Tae’s voice. With every step, Minho felt the wind more clearly. The air was changing bit by bit on his way. Minho had no doubt where he was heading to. The cliff. As expected, he found Tae and his “uncle”, Choo, also known as his father’s right-hand. Yet, he would never think Namjoon would be chasing after Tae, instead of helping that one person he promised to protect.

Minho’s legs moved on their own. They were running so fast, it felt like they didn’t even touch the ground. Minho hated the fact that he was close enough to see everything but not close enough to do anything. It was killing him, the way he was forced to watch his loved one getting hurt without a chance to help.

Minho could clearly see how his “uncle” drew the weapon. His heart skipped a beat as Choo pointed his gun at Tae and a shot is fired. Minho jumped at the loud bang, awaiting the worst. However, “uncle” Choo missed Tae. Yet, before he could breathe out, Namjoon pulled his gun as well. To Tae’s luck, or to his bad luck, Namjoon was too close to Tae, so they happened to fight over the gun. Although Tae had a had punch, it was still a short fight. Their legs tangled, and Tae tripped, but behind him, the ground ended. Minho couldn’t believe his eyes as Tae fell down the cliff. Tae’s scream mixed up with his own. Minho couldn’t tell them apart.

The gang leader reached out for the younger, forcing his feet to move faster. But he was too far away. All the power he had was useless; in the end, he could do nothing but watch his loved one falling into death.

Then Minho heard a loud crash. If it weren’t followed by Onew’s voice, Minho could have thought it was the sound of his heart breaking. Turned around, Minho widened his eyes as he saw Onew in a car that the older just crashed into a tree. Onew was in as much panic as Minho. They both rushed to the cliff. Yet, while Onew slowed down at the last steps away from the abyss, Minho seemed to speed even more. The gang leader was about to jump after his lover as Onew’s strong grip held him back.

“Let me go,” Minho yelled at Onew.

“You know he’s a terrible swimmer.” The younger shouted.

“Minho,” Onew tightened his arms around Minho.

“That doesn’t matter.” The older whispered with a broken voice, and Minho froze.

“He wouldn’t come to swim. A fall from this height makes the water h