Thick silence suddenly enveloped the room after Kyuhyun's words, and JaeIn found herself gripping tightly on Yoora's hand to stops her from doing anything that they will regret. Luckily, Yoora also catches the sudden air of nervousness that shrouded the room, and she keeps her silence for now upon realizing that even Changmin has subtly straightened his posture.

"Well?" Kyuhyun impatiently asks. "There better be a real damn good explanation as to why they look like they've gotten a thorough beating when I remember stating quite clearly that I want them unscathed. Especially that ginger, because I gave you direct order to took a good care of her, Elias Choi."

Jonghyun clears his throat and cautiously says, "Well...you see, ge, Amber...was originally in G-Dragon's custody so we couldn't...really intervene on how she was treated."

Kyuhyun stays silent, only turning his eyes to Minho who keeps fidgeting – Kyuhyun has use his last name, that is never a good sign – before anxiously explains, "Well...I did order the guards to do just that ge. I told them to treat her like a guest..." Throwing a nervous glance at Jonghyun, he then continues, "However apparently, G-Dragon told the guards that she's just a normal hostage and they could roughen her up a bit."

"...How the is he allowed to intervene on our way of treating our hostage but we can't intervene on his?" Kyuhyun growls. "And why, for sake, you guys did ing nothing about it?!"

"I...I just found out about it today..." Minho weakly reasons.

As a respond, Kyuhyun angrily shouts, "AND WHAT THE WERE YOU DOING THESE LAST TWO ING WEEKS, YOU USELESS LITTLE PIECE OF ?!" while violently throwing an ashtray at the said man.

Minho let out an indignant shriek, which thankfully got covered by JaeIn's shocked gasp, as he dodges the object at the last second. That got JaeIn heaving a relief sigh, while Yoora let out a breath that she didn't realized she's been holding. Meanwhile, Jonghyun keeps his silence and Changmin looks completely unfazed, although the display of violence earlier finally got him speaking.

"He was covering your up, Marcus." He rolls his eyes and adds, "Heck, we all did. You knew very well that you have more important business to take care these past two weeks, so we have to make up for your absence."

JaeIn can feel her heart pounding so hard that her ribcage may burst from the pressure as another moment of silence passed. She may not know much about this group, but even an outsider like her can feels the heaviness of the moment. Despite everything, however, Yoora throws a calculative glance around the room and after making sure that Minho is indeed safe, starts assembilng an escape plan. Because she doesn't trust them, not even the slightest bit, especially after what Kyuhyun did earlier.

"," Kyuhyun finally grits through his teeth. "How ed up is the situation then?"

"We're not ed up," Jonghyun scoffs, surprising the two girls because well, just earlier he seems to be immobilized by fear. "Sorry to burst your bubble, hyung, but we got on, even without you. Yes, we've been slaving our off to keeps everything on track, especially after the mess that she created at Wynn Macau, no offense," he quickly adds with a fleeting apologetic smile at Yoora. To which the ginger frowns because it wasn't her fault dammit! "But everything is still going on smoothly, as you wish," Jonghyun says. "We just didn't really have the chance to check up on Ruby or intervene on Big Bang's affair."

"Fair enough," Kyuhyun says after some time. "I suppose it's my fault then, that all of us gotten too busy and our lack of attention brought you to this state, Yoora-ssi, JaeIn-ssi. And for that I sincerely apologize."

His sudden apology startles both Yoora and JaeIn, but not as much as the fact that he just called them by their real name. However, JaeIn manages to stutter out an acceptance which Kyuhyun returns with a slight nod.

"So what did the doctor said about your conditions, Yoora-ssi, JaeIn-ssi?"

"What doctor?" Yoora asks, and Minho instantly got all flustered again.

"I...I haven't got the chance to get her to the nursery wing..." he weakly says.

"Me neither," Changmin adds, and Kyuhyun groans in unmasked annoyance.

"I understand Elias’s level of reasoning, but you too, Max?" Completely ignoring Minho's protest on the insult, he turns to Jonghyun and orders, "Get Suho here. I want him to run a full check up on the two of them. And you two," he looks at Yoora and JaeIn. Staring at Yoora's defiant look and JaeIn's nervous one, he sighs and politely says, "Colin will you to the room next door, where you can rest and wait for our doctor. He will check your condition, then later on I promise I will explain everything so we can talk about the Black Pearl issue."

Exchanging nervous glance, the two girls passed on a silent agreement and follows Jonghyun through one of the doors.

"Wait here for a bit, okay? Suho will be here soon." Smiling, Jonghyun adds, "And don't bother trying to escape, this door is the only way in and out."

"," Yoora curses, banging her fist on the wall. "We're trapped. Very good. And he knows our name! HOW THE DOES HE KNOWS OUR NAME?" Turning her head to JaeIn, Yoora worriedly asks, "What is actually happening here, Jayn?"

JaeIn can only shakes her head hopelessly. "I have no idea at all. But I think from now on we need to cooperate with them."

"What?!" Yoora throws her an incredulous glance, but before she can say anything, JaeIn grips her hand tightly. "You said yourself, Yoora-ya. Our identity has been compromised, and there are too many things that we don't understand now. We need more information, so it's best to play along first before deciding how to proceed."

Reluctantly, Yoora agrees to her proposition. She understands JaeIn's reasoning, after all. And she knows firsthand just how dangerous the situations - and those four men - are.

Right then, the door opens and a short man in crisp green shirt and black pants walks in. He's smiling and he looks really nice, but they have learn firsthand that in their world, looks are often deceiving. So they still take a step back in caution.

"Please don't be scared," the man smiles. "My name is Suho, and I am a doctor. I'm here to examine your condition."

***

As soon as he closes the door, Jonghyun throws a pointed glare at Kyuhyun. "I thought we agree not to use their name until later on?"

Kyuhyun winces and rubs his forehead, "I know, sorry. It slipped my mind. But at least I got them to cooperate with us, right?"

"You're lucky they do, or else I would personally kick your ."

"Like hell you could."

"I'm pretty sure he could, Daige," says a light voice, and Junmyeon emerges from the door behind Kyuhyun's chair with a smile. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing much, just Minho nearly peeing himself because Kyuhyun scolded him," Changmin smoothly says, earning him an ignored protest from Minho. "How is she?"

"She will be limping for a while, but other than that, she's doing just fine. Nearly no signs of the wounds that Changmin hyung caused. I think it's best if Kyuhyunnie hyung stay away from her rear for now on though," Junmyeon flippantly says. And if it's not for the glint in his eyes, one would think that he's completely oblivious to the laughter and teases on Kyuhyun that ensues because of his words.

"It's good that you're done with her. We need you to check on her friends," Jonghyun points at the door which Yoora and JaeIn went through earlier, and Junmyeon let out a dramatic sigh.

"You guys are working me to death! I'm too young to die, but when that happens, do bury me in a pearl white casket that resembles my pureness."

"I'll bury you in a lake so our family will never found out. How about that?" Minho teases, and Junmyeon flips him the bird. Suddenly, Minho's phone starts ringing and like everyone else, Junmyeon  patiently wait for what Minho would have to say.

"It's Kim Jonghyun. He said G-Dragon is downstairs, and he demanded to meet you. He seems pissed."

"Who is he with?"

"T.O.P and Seungri."

"The right hand and the baby?" Jonghyun asks in disbelief. "He's not with Taeyang?"

"No sign of him this far, so..."

"He must be really stupid not to bring his strongest member here," Changmin comments and Kyuhyun merely shrugs his shoulder.

"That, or he's too pissed to wait for Taeyang. Either way, send him in. And go, Suho-ya. Do your job."

Apparently, Kyuhyun's prediction was right because not five minutes later, an extremely pissed G-Dragon storm inside his office.

"Hey, Ji. To what do I owe this honor?" Kyuhyun calmly asks, and he raises his hand just in time to block G-Dragon's punch. "Going violent, already?"

"Where is she?" G-Dragon asks through gritted teeth. "WHERE THE IS SHE?"

"Pissed off, much?"

"OF COURSE I'M ANGRY, MARCUS. SHE'S MY HOSTAGE. MINE."

"And we're just borrowing her. After we're done talking with her, she's free to go back to your place. If she wants to, that is." A devilish smirk make it's way to Kyuhyun's handsome feature, "Somehow I doubt she would, though, given the way you treated her..."

"How I treated her is none of your business!" G-Dragon snaps.

"It is, unfortunately. Since we've agreed to work on this Black Pearl issue together, how you treated our hostage is my business," Kyuhyun wittily retorts as he leans forwards. "That reminds me. It was pretty stupid of you to treated Ruby that way. I heard she holds grudges."

"I couldn’t care less for that sorry excuse of a woman. What I want to know, Marcus, is why you order him," G-Drago points at Changmin with anger evident in his face, "To broke into my Head Quarter, took my hostage, and killed two of my men in the process!"

"Because it is necessary." Kyuhyun's calm response only anger G-Dragon even more, and the former let out a tired sigh. "You know as well as I do, Ji, that we need their cooperation to make this work. And after what you did? , we have better odds on training a ing Sidcup monkey to become a sniper!"

At that moment, Suho walks into the room with Yoora and JaeIn behind him. The two girls tensed immediately, although for different reasons. Yoora is more than displeased with the fact that they just got even more outnumbered, while JaeIn is shocked by the appearance of someone that she knew so well.

"... Jiyong oppa?" JaeIn faintly calls, voice laced with uncertainty. Yoora looks at her in surprise, while Kyuhyun exchange a meaningful glance with Changmin.

G-Dragon's eyes widen at the sight of JaeIn, and without thinking twice he pulls out a gun from his pocket and cocked it right at JaeIn 's head.

His action triggers the others' reaction, and the room turned into a standoff with T.O.P and Seungri aiming their gun at Kyuhyun. In return, Junmyeon and Minho aims at G-Dragon while Jonghyun aims at T.O.P. Changmin, despite the short time, manages to aim a gun at Jiyong's head with one hand and pressed a knife at Seungri's neck with the other one. Even Yoora reflexively puts herself in between Jiyong's gun and JaeIn.

Yet Kyuhyun stays unmoved and instead he taps his fingers impatiently as time passes and the standoff continues. "Are you guys done being idiots?" he asks. "If you are, then put those ing guns down so we can get a move on."

Nobody moves, and he growls. "Now."

Yoora and JaeIn exchange a half-surprised half-admiring look when one by one, everyone reluctantly lower their guns. None of them bother to put it away, though. But she quickly averts her attention to JaeIn. "Are you okay?" she worriedly asks, and JaeIn manages to nods with a wry smile. Although she is curious, but Yoora knows better than to pressed her with questions now. Realizing the air is still thick with tension, Kyuhyun rolls his eyes in annoyance.

"For the love of god, sit down. All of you. You do realize we have more pressing matter to discuss."

Still holding hands, both Yoora and JaeIn sit down on the nearest chairs, and somehow ended up sitting in between Suho and Jiyong. Jiyong's stance turns rigid and he does not even spares a glance at JaeIn. Noticing that this somehow makes JaeIn's shoulder slumped, Yoora squeezes JaeIn's hand as a matter of support but all she got back is a weak smile that does not quite reach her eyes.

"You can start now, Suho-ya."

Junmyeon  clears his throat before starting with Yoora. "I hate to be the bearer of a bad news, but Ruby's condition is quite bad. Aside from the apparent bruises all over her, her left shoulder is dislocated while her right ankle is sprained. I need to run further examination, but I suspect that one of her ribs is broken and her jaw is slightly dislocated due to a hit from a blunt object, presumably a gun, correct?" Yoora nods, and Junmyeon frowns, "Must've been Jongin. Anyway, we're lucky that there's no damage to her internal organs, so I think she'll need about three weeks to recover."

"Three weeks should do," Kyuhyun nods. "Do me a favor, Ruby, and let Suho run a more thorough check up on you later on?"

Yoora glances at JaeIn, who subtly nods and she shrugs. "Why not. It'll benefit me as well."

"Good. So how did you handle the situation, Elias?"

"I might have shot them and left them to bleed to death."

"Hmm. Do you have further use of them, Suho-ya?"

"Why? Do you want me to salvage them?" Junmyeon bluntly asks, and Kyuhyun turns to Yoora.

"Well, what do you think Ruby? What would you like us to do with them?"

JaeIn gulps at the look of fury in Yoora 's eyes, and she quickly clasp their hands together to help her calm down. She realizes, however, that Kyuhyun and Suho had refrain from using Yoora's real names, and for that she's grateful.

"I would like," Yoora says in strained voice, "For you to save them, treat their wounds, and let them be."

"Are you sure?" Minho asks in surprise. "After what they did?"

"Yes. Unlike you, I don't have the tendency to lashes out on a mere underling for doing what their superior ordered them to do."

"That's quite different from what we heard," Changmin smirks, and Yoora glares at him.

"Whatever you heard, I'm sure it includes how much I hate arrogant bastards who treat humans' life like it's just a replaceable trash."

"Whom are you referring to, again? Those you killed or your higher ups back at Black Pearl?"

"Stop it," Kyuhyun scolds before Yoora can retorts. "We have more important matters. What about Amber, Suho-ya?"

""Oh she's fine. Some bruises and scratches on legs and arms, but that's all. No broken bones or any internal damage. She'll be perfectly fine in, say, 2 days. You took quite a good care of her, Jiyongie hyung."

"See? I know how to treat my hostage, unlike you," G-Dragon snarls, and Yoora scoffs, so does Minho.

"Last time I check, G-Dragon-ssi, I leave her on the guest room and ordered Jongin and Sehun to watch over him. This morning, I found out that someone ordered to move her and roughen her up a bit. Need I remind you about the identity of this someone?" Minho asks, and Kyuhyun raises his eyebrow at the concealed anger on the younger’s voice.

"Yet despite knowing that, you still shot them," T.O.P says, speaking for the first time. "Just like your precious hyung who shot two of our unarmed men who did nothing to obstruct him."

"They were unarmed?" Kyuhyun asks, surprises evident in his voice and Changmin only shrugs his shoulder. For a moment, JaeIn thought Kyuhyun would snaps at Changmin. But instead, he snaps at G-Dragon.

"WHAT THE WERE YOU THINKING? You knew they want her head, and you let two unarmed pricks guard her? Someone could have easily sneaked in and killed all three of them!"

"... Who wants my head?" JaeIn timidly asks, confused, and all the guys freeze.

"No one," G-Dragon hastily says, and Kyuhyun scoffs.

"Yeah, no one." Staring straight at the two confused girls, Kyuhyun calmly says. "Black Pearl wants your head, Amber. And after recent circumstances, Ruby, I suspect they would want yours too."

A/N: Sorry for the late update, but I have been caught up in exams and holidays. And I lost half of my draft for this chapter because something went wrong with my phone's memory card.

Alas, just like the chapter before, here you could see the level of trust between the groups by their name usage. Demons Run uses their codename when Yoora and JaeIn around, then change to their real name once they're alone, and revert back to their codename once Big Bang entered the scene. Also, the Demons Run's leaders somehow know Yoora and JaeIn's real name, something that really unnerves the girls because their name was supposed to be a well kept secret. Although accidental, Kyuhyun's usage of their real name gets him their cooperation. However, they still refrain from using it once the Big Bang's members appear. This could be taken as a sign of distrust, or a way of keeping information and thus gaining the upper hand. It also show the dynamics between the two groups. Yes, they work together, but it's quite apparent that there's not that much of trust in between them and Demons Run sort of put themselves in higher position, much to Big Bang's displeasure.