He waits, waits and waits. The loud blast that he was expecting to fill his ears doesn't come. When is Yongguk going to pull the trigger? He was submissive a few seconds ago, he's readily accepting that it might be the last thing he hears. Only he's uncertain on whether it's going to be as quick as he hoped it would be. He's too scared to open his eyes; he doesn't want to see the gun pointing at him. 

"Yongguk, just what are you doing right now? I told you to pull the trigger," his ears capture his brother's voice.

"Yongguk!" Hyunshik shouts. 

Daehyun is wondering what's the fuss is all about, and dares to open his eyes. The gun is not pointing at him anymore; instead it's directed at his brother. Yongguk is holding the gun steadily, aiming for Hyunshik.

"I don't want to do this. I really don't want to do this!"

"Then kill me, and ruin your own life. If you take away my life, you'll be living your life in prison."

"Wouldn't that be better rather than living my life in fear? I'd rather rot in prison than be your puppet. Being your friend was the biggest mistake I have ever made. I wish I never crossed paths with you." 

"Yongguk, you don't want to do this..." Daehyun says weakly. "You're not a murderer." Daehyun shakes his head, and Hyunshik, seeing this as an opportunity to get the gun out of his hand, kicks him. 

Yongguk falls back with a thud, and winces in pain as he feels the previous stab wound stings. The gun flies away from his hand, and Hyunshik quickly snatches it. He smirks when he finally grabs hold of the gun, and aims at his brother. "Fine then, I will do it myself..." 

"Put down your weapon and put your hands up in the air!" As quick as lightning, a team of police comes barging in. Hyunshik, confused, puts his hands up. A detective pins his hands to his back, and cuffs it. He tries to struggle free, but he can only move so much when his hands are cuffed. They bring him away, and Hyunshik gives one final glare at Daehyun, as if giving him a sign that he will be back. Daehyun avoids looking at the brother he once looked up to, and sweeps over the scene in front of him. Some of the detectives help Yongguk up, and ushers him outside. Before stepping out of the place, he gives off a weak smile to Daehyun. Daehyun smiles back. 

"I'm sorry," Yongguk mouths, and soon he's out of sight. 

Daehyun's hands are untied, and he gives a slight bow to the detectives there. He steps out of the abandoned warehouse and searches for Yongguk. Police cars are everywhere and officers are milling around, making it hard to find the doctor. "Sir, we need to check whether you're okay or you're suffering from any pain."

"I'm fine," he waves the medical team away, and keeps looking for Yongguk. After a few attempts, he finally finds Yongguk sitting at the back of an ambulance, cleaning his own wound. Daehyun makes his way towards the doctor, and the doctor hastily puts a bandage over the wound, in an attempt to hide it. He buttons back his shirt, but Daehyun stops him. 

"I saw that, so it's no use trying to hide it. That must be Hyunshik's doing, wasn't it? I really had no idea. I'm sorry you had to go through a lot because of him."

"It's nothing, really. I was just careless."

"Stop trying to be nice, you've been through so much."

"Not as much as you've been through. Why are you still talking to me, when it's obvious that I had the plan to take your life away? Shouldn't you be punching me, and throwing curses at me?"

Daehyun grins. "Not now, I might be the one being carried away by the police later." His face instantly turns serious, "You don't have to worry about it. You're forced to do it, so it's not your fault."

"Why are you so sure that I never had the intention to kill you?"

"You don't have the reason to; or do you?" Daehyun lifts up an eyebrow. 

"After all you've been through, you still trust me? When I clearly lied to you about you being involved in a car accident?"

"I admit, putting my trust in someone now becomes a lot harder, after seeing with my own eyes how my own brother tried to put an end to my life. I've always had a hard time putting my trust in someone. But..."

"But?"

"Jiyoon believes in you. I know it's not a wrong decision to trust you."

"You really love her, don't you?"

Silence. Daehyun doesn't answer the question.

"You do..." Yongguk presses on. 

Daehyun shakes his head. "It's not the same anymore. Maybe I was being delusional; it was a dream, not real."

"So you're just going to give it up and walk away?"

"Yes."

"Don't be stupid, Daehyun. You said you have feelings for her, but now you're going away?"

"Don't you understand? It's different... And I doubt she'll ever fall for me. This Jung Daehyun means nothing to her..."

"You never even tried in the first place!"

"I'm tired of trying! Things just don't go right even when I do my best, so what's the point?"

"You'll never know if you don't try... She doesn't even get the chance to know you better."

"Why do you keep urging me to go to her? Don't you have feelings for her?"

Yongguk sighs and shakes his head. "It was in your dream, Daehyun. This is reality. Stop confusing yourself. I treat her no more than a sister, and she treats me no more than a brother." 

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Daehyun waves him away. He turns around, his back facing the doctor. 

"Are you sure you won't regret it? You won't regret letting her go?" 

Silence.

Daehyun walks away, leaving Yongguk alone at the back of the ambulance. Yongguk doesn’t give chase; his body still feels sore from the turmoil. Daehyun doesn’t want to continue this conversation anymore. He can feel his heart breaking more and more, yet he doesn’t know how to fix it.

Even though he’s glad it’s over, he’s still wondering on what made Yongguk agree to take on the job. Was it really because Hyunshik is Yongguk’s friend? Or was there any other reason that left him no choice but to follow his orders?

…

"Oppa, what happened to your hand?" 

Yongguk tried to enter his house as quietly as possible, but it proved to be useless when he sees Jiyoon waiting for him at the living room. There were scratches on his hand, so he had to cover it with band-aids. He thinks of an excuse, but finds none as Jiyoon pulls his hand and examines it. He pulls it back, and Jiyoon crosses her arms. "What have you been up to?"

"It's nothing, Jiyoon. Go back to sleep."

"What sleep? I couldn't sleep because I was worried about you! You've been gone for 5 hours, and now you've returned home with band-aids over your hand, but you tell me it's nothing?" 

"Where are mom and the twins?"

"Don't try to change the topic. Tell me what you have been doing for the past 5 hours. Please, I need to hear it directly from you."

Yongguk keeps silent as he makes his way to the stairs.

"How's Daehyun?"

He stops dead in his tracks when he hears the young man's name. How does Jiyoon know? Could she possibly...

"Yes, I know what your plans were. I was the one who called the police because I know you're trying to harm Daehyun. I don't know why you would do that, when he has never done anything to you! I never thought you'd be so heartless. Taking someone's life away? What were you thinking?" she presses on, afraid to raise her voice in fear of waking everyone up.

"Jiyoon, let me explain..."

"Explain what? I've heard your phone conversations with your accomplice. Were you the one who caused him to fall into a coma too? No wonder you've been isolating yourself so much, turns out you were planning out your dirty strategy. It's clear that you were planning to kill Daehyun," Jiyoon's tears pour out one by one, wetting her soft cheeks. Yongguk has no energy to fight back. He can only apologize in his heart, as he knows his words couldn't do anything to defend himself. "I can't believe you would do that, when I trusted you so much..."

Yongguk ignores her as he goes upstairs, letting her express her feelings. He understands; it's not her fault to feel that way. Although he regrets not having the chance to explain himself, he will redeem himself, somehow.

For now, he'll just allow Jiyoon to believe he's the bad guy.

Chapter 31! Shout out to all the people who subscribed and commented :)