Sungmin woke up before his alarm clock went off and immediately checked his phone for what he would be doing tonight. And he wasn’t surprised by the text he found waiting for him. Club Inferno. Like usual for a Friday night, he was being sent to party with the rich college crowd in town. He hadn’t been there for a couple of weeks so he found that he was actually looking forward to it. Even if it was only to see Kangin again, at least tonight he had something to look forward to.

But since the arrival of the Tower’s youngest residents, Sungmin was once again anxious to see how the kids were doing. He had learned a long time ago that it was hazardous to the health of new arrivals to leave them alone here for very long. And the kids appeared to be holding up very well, but Taj had stayed away from them so far, and sooner or later that would change.

Sungmin threw a pair of jeans and a T-shirt on and then hopped on the elevator. He didn’t have to go to Club Inferno until 9 pm. There was plenty of time for him to take the kids out shopping for food and other necessities. Sungmin smirked; knowing exactly how badly the guys in security hated having to chauffer him and the other tower residents around during the day.

For Sungmin, these shopping trips could be near endless sources of amusement. Because he could order the Tower’s security staff to take him all over Seoul to go shopping all day long. He usually went out shopping with Joon, Heechul, Zhoumi and Eunhyuk. The five of them had been known to drag their “bodyguards” into dozens of stores with them, each one in a different corner of the city, buying only a handful of items in each before setting off for yet another store, salon or restaurant.

Since Sungmin and the rest of the top floors’ inhabitants were all always expensively dressed and perfectly groomed for their clients, Black tolerated this flagrant waste of his underlings’ time and resources quietly. Taj’s staff drove them around and paid for all of their purchases with special credit cards. The boys in security usually played rock paper scissors over the chore of who would get stuck driving them around in the limo that day.  

Sungmin pressed the button for the tenth floor and waited for the elevator to make its descent. He was relieved to find that all was quiet when he opened the door in front of their dorm. It seemed they were all still asleep.

He went into Ren and Baekho’s room first. Once again Baekho was hugging Ren as they slept. “Hey guys, it’s time to get up. We need to go out grocery shopping before I have to go to Club Inferno.”

Ren squirmed his way out of Baekho’s arms and nodded tiredly as he sat up. He poked Baekho in the ribs. “Sungmin hyung is here.”

Baekho groaned and tried to roll over the other way. Ren bopped him on the head with his pillow. “Come on, wake up, baby.”

Sungmin rolled his eyes and smiled at Ren’s approach to waking him up today. “He’s definitely not a morning person.”

“Not at all,” Ren giggled and leaned down to gently nip his ear. “Come on, I know you’re in there.”

“I’m too tired…” Baekho grumbled, as he stretched. When he noticed Sungmin he sat up right away. “Hey- what are we doing tonight?”

Sungmin shook his head. “I don’t know yet. That’s why we need to go out while we can and pick up some groceries for you guys.”

That got Baekho’s attention. Ren and Sungmin both laughed as Baekho climbed out of bed immediately.

The others were much easier to wake up and it wasn’t long before they were on their way to the ground floor. When they reached it, Sungmin led them to the security desk where a pair of guards wearing dark grey suits sat watching the security monitors.

“I need you to take us out shopping,” Sungmin said. “Now.”

The guard on the left smirked. “Tough luck, Myung. I took him out last time. It’s your turn.”

The other guard rolled his eyes and sighed but he walked into Taj’s office to get the keys to one of the limos. When he came back, he followed them into the elevator and then opened the rear door to the limo for them. “Where are you going tonight?”

“There are no groceries on the tenth floor yet. I’m taking them to go get some. Why didn’t the house manager take care of that yesterday?”

“Jia has been busy. I haven’t seen her around much.”

Sungmin snorted. “Yeah, doing nothing, as usual.”

Myung just shrugged, “So, what store are you going to first?”

“The nearest grocery store will be fine. We need to get back here before Taj decides what these guys are doing tonight.”

Myung smiled like he knew something, but he shut the door and got into the driver’s side of the limo and they left the underground parking lot.

It wasn’t far to the nearest market and Sungmin helped them pick out enough staples for a week plus some snacks. “So,” He said as they wandered into the fresh fruits and vegetables, “Do any of you guys actually know how to cook?”

“I know how to make peanut butter and jelly,” Ren giggled. “Oh! And ramen!”

“I know how to make rice, and macaroni and cheese.” Baekho offered. “Oh, and I can stir fry meat and vegetables too.”

Minhyun shrugged, “I know how to make some stuff like kimchi and fried rice.”

Aron grinned, “I know how to make lots of American food. And I love to make tacos.”

JR thought for a minute. “I know how to make a few things too, so I guess we won’t totally starve.”

Sungmin laughed. “Well, it’s a start. And if you can follow directions, Ryeowook and I have a couple of really good cookbooks where the recipes only take a few ingredients each. We’ll let you borrow them while you are getting settled.” 

“Thanks, hyung.” Ren said.

Myung followed along lazily, more interested in his phone call than he was in what they were talking about. “Yo!” He said finally hanging up his phone. “Sungmin, it sounds like Taj has the cardkeys and phones ready when once we get back to the tower.”

Ren looked at Sungmin curiously. “Special phones too?”

Sungmin nodded. “Just so that you know, they track and record all of our phones’ calls. They use it as a safety precaution to keep us in line. So never use your phone to talk about anything with anyone that might get you into trouble. Usually I just use my phone long enough to find out what I am doing for the night. Anytime you are with a client you are supposed to have your phone with you. And when you are at the host club or at Club Inferno you are supposed to have it with you.”

Myung snorted. “Actually, he should be telling you boys that you should have it at all times. If you are caught outside of the tower and you don’t have your phone with you, you will regret it. Keep it with you.”

Sungmin nodded. “That’s his way of saying that our phones also have tracking devices in them. That way if we leave the tower without permission, they know where to look.”

“Well, I’m glad that’s not illegal or anything,” Aron growled sarcastically.

Myung shrugged. “That’s just good business. You guys are all very valuable. The boss wouldn’t want anything to happen to any of you-”

Sungmin snorted and rolled his eyes. “Stop trying so hard, dumb . You’d totally wet your pants if you ever actually met our boss.”

Myung’s face turned bright red and he pretended he was busy playing with his phone; he also let them walk all the way down the next aisle to get away from them for a moment.

JR and the others chuckled and Sungmin grinned too. “The boss has a hundred bottom feeders like him hanging on his every word. And Myung isn’t brave- or dumb enough- to make a memorable impression on him. He’s loyal though, so it will probably get him killed someday.”, 

Minhyun looked at him curiously. “You sound almost… sad for him.”

Sungmin shrugged, but he couldn’t keep the emotion out of his voice this time either. “He’s been at the Tower for three years. I’ve known a lot of people who have died following the boss’ orders. And I still don’t understand why any of them thought that their job would be worth dying for… Anyway, let’s get going. We need to get back to the Tower so you guys can pick up your phones and keycards.”

“Do you know what we will be doing tonight?” Aron asked.

“Not yet,” Sungmin shook his head as they moved into a checkout line. Myung followed them over to the counter quietly and waited for the total. Then he swiped his card. Meanwhile, Sungmin helped the boys pile all of the food into bags and arrange it in the shopping cart so that they could get everything out to the limo in one trip.

Myung and the other guy at the front desk both had to help carry everything into the dorm’s kitchen but they didn’t stay to help put things away. While the kids figured out how to organize their kitchen, Sungmin set about heating up a pot of Ramen.

While they were eating, Taj came into the dorm without knocking. He glared at Sungmin, but otherwise ignored him. He slid a small cardboard box onto the table toward the boys. “These are your phones and keycards. Don’t lose them and make sure you are at the pool by 9pm tonight.”

“Am I still going to Club Inferno tonight?” Sungmin asked.

“Of course!” Taj snapped.

Sungmin stared at him for a moment, incredulous. “Really? So you idiots actually want that moron Ryuske Tashimoto to try and kidnap me?”

“No. But, the Club paid for tonight two weeks in advance. So if we cancel sending you now, we will owe them a refund of half of your fee. So, the boss says once Ryuske figures out that you can take care of yourself, he will give up and go home to Japan where he belongs.”

With most people, Sungmin would have agreed. But he sensed that successfully resisting would only make this particular idiot want him more… On the other hand, Sungmin knew he had nothing to fear and if the pea brain got shot by Nero, good riddance…

Taj left the dorm as quickly as he had entered and the kids dug their phones and keycards out of the box. They had each been given the very latest in smart phones and their key cards were labeled for them too.

“Wow,” JR said, looking at the phone in his hand.

“Yeah, they’re the good ones alright, but don’t forget, they will track you with these and they will record all of your calls too- both sent and received.”

“But it won’t hurt to play games and stuff with them while we’re here, right?” Baekho asked hopefully.

Sungmin grinned. “I suppose not. Anyway, you guys have a good night. I have to go get ready to go to Club Inferno.”

“Goodnight, and thanks for everything, hyung.” Ren said and all the others agreed, bowing politely.

“You’re welcome. And, anything you need, just call or text me. I’m sure my number is already in each of your contact lists.”

“Will we see you tomorrow?” Minhyun asked.

Sungmin nodded. “I don’t know exactly what time, but I’m sure I’ll have time to drop by and make sure everything went okay for you guys tonight.”

When he got back to his own dorm, Henry was waiting for him in the living room. “We were all wondering where you were. It’s going to be time to leave soon. You should hurry.”

Sungmin nodded, and stripped out of his clothes while pawing through his closet for something to wear. He had more clothes than he needed- they all did. But that was why it was so hard to choose.

Finally he settled on a pair of black silk slacks that showed off his and a matching sport cut jacket with no shirt. He only buttoned the bottom button, allowing the wide cut of the jacket to show off his abs and chest.

He put on eyeliner and decided to leave his bangs down and lightly feathered the sides away from his face. His hair was getting long again he noticed happily; he had always liked it better that way. He decided that tomorrow he would go to the salon and get it colored.  He was definitely tired of black again. He had gone back to his natural color months ago. He wondered what Kangin would think of him as a platinum blonde and decided to find out. He had always liked going lighter, it looked striking against his pale skin and dark eyes and that made him feel y.

He dug a pair of designer shoes out of his closet and slipped them on just in time for the intercom to buzz. “It is time to go to Club Inferno. Come down to the limo.”

Myung was waiting for them when they got downstairs. Tonight only Hannie, Siwon, Ryeowook and Yesung met him and Henry at the limo. It was a smaller group than usual for a Friday, but with Ryuske Tashimoto waiting for him, Sungmin wasn’t really surprised. He had a feeling that Nero might already be at the club to keep an eye on things.

The club was as crowded as always when they arrived. The music was loud and the dance floor was packed with hot male and female bodies moving to the beat of the DJ’s turn table.

Sungmin liked the song that was pumping out of the speakers so he went straight to the dance floor. Moving his body to the beat of the music he wasn’t surprised when he attracted a small crowd. He liked to dance but he had never considered himself particularly good at it.

The people around him pressed closer, their bodies moving together like the beginning of an of hedonistic delight. He stayed on the dance floor for another three songs. Then he was glad when a song he didn’t like started. He went over to the bar and ordered a soda.

He sat down beside Siwon who greeted him with a smile. “Hello, hyung.”

“Hi,” Sungmin said cracking the can open, he took a long drink.

“Have you seen Ryuske?” Siwon asked.

“No, not yet, but I wasn’t looking either.” Sungmin shrugged.

Siwon frowned. “We all know how strong you are, but it isn’t smart to ignore a guy like this. I never saw him the other day; so I can’t even help keep a lookout. You know that he’s dangerous!”

“He’s even fatter than Taj if you can believe that- and he’s shorter too. I’m not ignoring him. I just think that he is an idiot if he really believes the boss will let him take me anywhere.”

Siwon rolled his eyes. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt underestimating the danger you are in.”

“I could kill him myself without breaking a sweat.”

Siwon nodded. “I know but don’t you realize if you do that, his brother will try to hurt you back?”

“Since I didn’t start this bull, I don’t care,” Sungmin shrugged.

“What about the kids on the tenth floor? If something happens to you what will happen to them?”

“I can’t even protect them now- not the way I want to, Siwon! None of us are safe- you know that! Do you remember what they did to Rain? We watched through a TV screen while they whipped him on that stage then they sold him like an animal!”

“Yeah, I’ll never forget it.” Siwon nodded. He put a hand on Sungmin’s shoulder. “That’s why we have to stick together. No one can get out of this alone.” He hugged him firmly, letting his forehead rest against Sungmin’s. “But we will get through this, hyung.”

Siwon had always been good at talking him out of being so worried. And it didn’t hurt anything that he was smart, loyal, a particularly gifted student of Tae Kwan Do and utterly gorgeous. Siwon spent most of his time working out in the gym on the first floor, and it showed. The guy was as tightly muscled as Hyeongkon but even taller and he had a face that most of Hollywood’s movie stars would envy.

Sungmin didn’t move, he snorted in resentment but let Siwon hold him for a long moment. Finally he sighed and relaxed into Siwon’s embrace. “It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, hyung.”

“When I let my guard down someone usually gets shot or just disappears…” Sungmin said quietly. “But… You’ve always been a good friend. Thanks, Horse.”

Siwon hugged him tighter and smiled patiently. “I’m just returning the favor, hyung.”

Neither was surprised when the club’s owner’s bodyguard, appeared on the balcony of the club’s office some 25 feet above them. The upper balcony was nearly fifty feet above the main dance floor. He waved toward Sungmin motioning that his boss wanted to talk to him.

Siwon shook his head. “No. Don’t go up there.”

Sungmin sighed. “I’ll have to see what they want eventually.”

“Eddy’s an .” Siwon cautioned. The club’s owner was young but they all knew he was in pretty deep with the Black Dragon. “He would sell his grandma for the right price. He’s probably agreed to help Ryuske.”

“I doubt he’d do anything that direct.” Sungmin shook his head. “Our boss would skin Eddy alive if he helped Ryuske take me out of his club and he knows it. But Ryuske probably is up there with his bodyguards. Eddy will probably to tell me to let the me since my fee is covered for tonight.”

Siwon gave a snort of disgust, “There’s an even better reason to stay down here.”

Sungmin nodded. “Don’t worry; I going to ignore them for now. But we both know that this place will be closed for repairs by the end of the night.”

Siwon smirked. “Yep. Geng and I are here to watch your back. Nero said not to let anyone suspicious get anywhere near you.”

Sungmin nodded. “I appreciate the back up. But what is Yesung doing here?”

“He’s here to keep the crowd distracted as long as possible.”

Sungmin nodded, Yesung would definitely do that. No matter what kind of song he was performing, Yesung was a gifted and passionate singer. He had been the lead singer of Korea’s most successful rock group for four years- until the boss bought out their parent company.

And despite his obvious talent, Yesung’s unpredictable interviews and odd personality had kept the boss from giving him any real chance at a solo career as an idol. So, Yesung shared a room with Ryeowook on the 11^th floor where he had three pet turtles. And, even around their dorm the guy was just adorably strange.

With his charismatic dark, smoldering gaze, muscular body and good looks Yesung fit right in at the Tower but he was usually not at home. The boss hired him out to dance clubs all over the Korea, Japan and China. Yesung hadn’t been with his group for more than three years but he was still a big draw because he really loved to be on stage and it showed. It was rare for Sungmin and the others to be able to see Yesung perform though because they never seemed to have the same schedule.

At the far side of the huge room, there was a change in the lighting. The rest of the club’s lights were dimmed, while the stage was lit up with soft blue and purple lights and a fog machine was filling the stage with mist.

Up in his booth next to the stage, the DJ of Club Inferno, Zico grabbed his mic. “Hey yo! Everybody ready? We have a very special surprise for everyone tonight! Are you ready?”

The crowd shouted and surged toward the stage, wondering who was here tonight.

“Woah, ladies and gentlemen, is that all you got?” Zico smirked and tisked at them. “Maybe I should tell our special guest you don’t want a live show tonight? You better get louder than that!”

The crowd howled and screamed, waving their arms and shouting louder.

Zico looked around. “That’s better, but I bet we could try one more to make our special guest feel welcome, can’t we?”

The crowd was even more excited now; they shouted and screamed almost as one. They waved their arms and jumped up and down.

“That’s right!” Zico called out, waving his arms. “Come on, everybody! Let’s give it up for Yesung!!”

The crowd was deafening as the speakers erupted with the beginning notes of one of Yesung’s most famous rock songs. 

Sungmin grinned as the handsome singer walked out on the stage and bowed to the audience before he sang his first lines.

“Hey,” Someone grabbed Sungmin’s arm from behind and his first instinct was to step back into him and slam an elbow into the man’s side.

Sungmin whirled around to face the man who had grabbed him and glared at him. It was Yeosub, the main bouncer. He was holding his side, hunched over while one of his underlings pointed at him. “Watch it, you. Ryuske Tashimoto-San wants to see you.”

Sungmin smirked. “Why would you think I care what that beached whale wants?”

“We have orders to you to him; he’s in Eddy’s office.”

“Forget it.” Sungmin shook his head. “You all know you can’t make me, and you’d be stupid to try.”

Yeosub stood up straight. “A friend of yours is will be very disappointed if you don’t come. After all, I’m sure you saw everything that was said about the two of you on the news.”

Sungmin glared at him. “Leave Hyeongkon alone! A-Jax has been hurt enough!”

Yeosub smirked. “If you think so, you will want to come with us…”

Siwon interrupted, shaking his head, “Hyung, no! Don’t go up there! You know they’re probably bluffing.”

“What if they’re not?” Sungmin asked him and Siwon sighed. “If he really is here, I can’t let him get hurt again- not because of me!”

Hangeng spoke up from Siwon’s other side. Siwon was still protesting, but the Chinese man wrapped an arm around the other’s shoulder. “We’ll wait for your signal.”

Sungmin nodded gratefully. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

Eddy’s office was above the main dance floor and in between the two largest VIP rooms. A graceful metal staircase led to it, but halfway up; there was a private sitting area that usually held as many as 30 guests on its large balcony.

Tonight, Nero was sitting at one of the tables there, totally alone except for a heavy crystal goblet of red wine; it didn’t look like it had been touched yet. The assassin quirked one golden eyebrow curiously when he saw Sungmin walk past with his of bouncers, but he made no move to interfere.

Sungmin smirked, thinking it strange that for the first time in ten years, he actually found Nero’s formidable presence soothing. Even sitting there seemingly relaxed and totally motionless, the blond American still carried an unmistakably powerful aura of danger. The bodyguards felt the weight of his cold blue eyes too; all of them hurried to shuffle past him. With his all but running from Nero, Sungmin was quickly shoved through the door of Eddy’s office, and the door was closed behind them.

The owner of the club was young, at 25; he was still a student at a prestigious university until May when he would graduate with degrees in both business administration and finance. His father had given him the club two years ago, as a way to get his feet wet. But his father was dead now and Eddy had always been close to Black, so Sungmin didn’t understand why he would risk so much to entertain a Japanese Yakuza boss.

Eddy was handsome and he sat coolly in the chair behind his mahogany desk in his dark blue silk suit and stylish tie.

There was a large sitting room in Eddy’s office and Sungmin glared at the fat man when he saw Ryuske sitting on one of the overstuffed sofas by himself. The man smirked when he saw him and Sungmin wanted to kick him right out the window and down onto the dance floor below…

But he looked around at the rest of the room, ignoring the idiot instead. A sick feeling stirred in the pit of Sungmin’s stomach as he realized that the figure who was slumped over the arm of one of the overstuffed chairs actually was Hyeongkon.  

“What is he doing here?” Sungmin demanded.

Ryuske grinned wickedly. “It seems that he got drunk and passed out. So far no one else knows he is here. As one of this country’s precious idols, I’m sure you can see why we are carefully deciding what to do with him...”

Sungmin glared at him. “Don’t threaten him.”

Ryuske smiled and continued as if Sungmin hadn’t spoken. “I’m glad that you came when you did, because I was thinking about taking this fine looking young man home to Tokyo with me. I’m sure the price would be low given the cloud of disgrace that you helped hang over him. But I suppose I could be persuaded to leave him here…”

Sungmin snorted. “You aren’t taking him anywhere.”

“How much further do you suppose it would drop the price on him if the press found out about all the drugs he’s had tonight?”

“You’re a bastard.” Sungmin growled. “If it’s me you want, leave him out of this.”

“I want both of you. But my friend Eddy tells me that it could be dangerous for me to try to take you now. But he also tells me your fee has been paid for the night. Get on your knees and convince me to leave your friend here.”

Sungmin shook his head and smirked. “You really have no idea how much I’m going to enjoy kicking your out that window.”

Eddy and his bodyguard stood up and smiled at Ryuske and bowed as they moved to the door. “I think this is where I leave you alone for a while. Have fun guys.”

Ryuske glanced to his left and a young Japanese woman sitting on a bench along the back wall stood up. She was wearing an expensive red mini dress and a fortune in rubies and gold. Sungmin wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed her before but she didn’t look like much of a threat. She leaned seductively over the back of the sofa, showing off her shapely s as she crept toward Hyeongkon. That was when he noticed she was holding a syringe with purple fluid in it.

Sungmin had never attacked a woman before. And against his better judgment, he attacked only the syringe; he knocked the needle out of her hand with a spinning roundhouse kick. “Bastard!” She shrieked and scrambled to retrieve it.

No sooner had Sungmin stopped her than the bouncers grabbed him from behind. He was ready when Ryuske’s bodyguards got up to attack him too. Sungmin kicked the first one in the face and then reached back and grabbed the bouncer holding onto his left arm, and dragged him over his shoulder and hammered a blow to his throat.

He ducked under an uppercut from one of Ryuske’s bodyguards and swept the man’s feet out from under him. The other bouncer landed a brutal punch to his kidney, but Sungmin only growled and speared the man’s throat with three fingers as he spun around.

The other bodyguards were surrounding him now, but Sungmin’s attention was on the girl. She had found the syringe and she viciously stabbed it into Hyeongkon’s left shoulder while he was unconscious. Hyeongkon groaned and opened his eyes but remained completely helpless.

An involuntary shudder ripped though Sungmin’s body. He had been drugged like that too many times to count. Being alert and aware of your body and your surroundings while not being able to protect yourself was its own special kind of hell. It was why Sungmin had stopped doing drugs and drinking alcohol years ago- they hampered his reflexes and left him easy prey for exactly that sort of attack.

And he knew from experience exactly what was in that needle. The way Hyeongkon was just laying there totally helpless told Sungmin that he wasn’t just drunk like they had originally told him. But how much of the stuff had they already hit him with, he was afraid he might not want to know...

The girl looked at Ryuske and smiled; her delicate, perfectly manicured finger ready to press the plunger.

Sungmin growled in Japanese, “Do it and you’ll wish you were dead, .”

Ryuske laughed. “Oh come now, I just want to have a little fun. You should know that it was your appearance on the news last night with him that gave me the idea to have my men bring him along. I had a feeling he might prove useful in getting your attention…”

Sungmin glared at him. “Leave him alone or I will personally kick your out that window.”

Ryuske smirked and motioned toward his lap. “I’ve already told how you can protect him.”

Sungmin rolled his eyes. He had no intention of obeying the idiot. But he had to get rid of the danger to Hyeongkon before he could beat the living crap out of Rysuke. "Fine I’ll you off. But you will have your break that needle first.”

Ryuske looked proud of himself as he said loudly, “I think you’ll just have to trust me.”

Sungmin pretended his feelings were hurt. “Aww, so you don’t want me after all?”

“How about she takes the needle downstairs? You know, out to my car?” Rysuke offered.

Sungmin almost laughed because from where he was standing, he was the only one who could see that Nero was about to join them… “Either she breaks the needle right now or your miniature will stay very, very lonely.”

Ryuske finally growled and waved the girl back to the bench where she’d been earlier. “Fine. Kieko, go back over there.”

The girl was pouting over it, but she did as she was told and savagely ripped the needle out of Hyeongkon’s shoulder. There was a bleeding gash in his arm where the needle had been as she moved away from him. “What now, boss?”

Sungmin glared at her and spoke in Japanese. “Stab the wall so that it breaks off the needle. Now empty it. Push the plunger all the way in.”

The girl looked at Ryuske who scowled at Sungmin and then nodded to her. “As he says.”

The girl’s scowl deepened but she did as she was told. As soon as she broke the needle, Nero burst into the office. He lunged at the first two bouncers who were still conscious and slammed their heads together before they could even turn around. They crumpled to the floor without a sound. And Nero leveled the third with one steel toed boot to the face.

Sungmin smirked and three fingers into the soft part of the bodyguard on the right's throat. Ryuske’s remaining bodyguard tried to hit him with a collapseable steel spun, grabbing it out of his hand. Sungmin hit him hard in the back of his head with it and then turned toward Ryuske slowly. He spat on the wicked man and then tossed the baton back toward the door, far out of anyone's reach.  

"How dare you try to defy me?" Ryuske shouted, bouncing on the sofa in impotent fury. Then Ryuske smirked as he pulled a silenced 9 millimeter out of his jacket and pointed it at him.

“My bodyguards aren’t my only defense.” The japanese man hissed menacingly. “Now get over here, you little !”

Nero didn’t look happy, but he didn’t move to interfere. He knew Sungmin could take care of himself.

Sungmin moved closer to the Japanese boss slowly, careful to look scared. When he was standing in front of him, Ryuske smirked, thinking he was going to get what he wanted. He looked down and motioned toward his lap with the gun.

That was the opening Sungmin had been hoping for. He kicked the gun out of Ryuske’s hand and hammered a vicious punch to the man’s groin.

Ryuske could only whine as he slumped off of the sofa and onto the floor. He wallowed around in pain for a moment before he hissed at Kieko to, “Do something!”

The girl started for the gun automatically, but Nero stepped in front of her and grinned. She looked into those predatory ice blue eyes and backed away instinctively. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him as she sat back down- her boss already long forgotten.  All women feared Nero like this. Sungmin had seen it more than a hundred times before- even women who were cops and other trained fighters. The American had a truly dark aura, one so powerful that in moments like this Sungmin couldn’t blame anyone for freezing.

“Worthless !” Ryuske kicked weakly at her legs, still holding his groin and hissing in pain. Finally released from Nero's spell, Kieko winced and immediately kicked him back! One of her stiletto heels jabbed him in the groin hard as she she scooted out of her boss' reach.

Nero laughed as Rysuke bellowed with impotent rage. Sungmin shuddered, as he passed the blond though. The assassin liked girls with spirit- he wouldn’t kill Kieko; but by morning she might be wishing that the bastard had…

Sungmin moved to Hyeongkon’s side and picked him up as gently as he could and carried him to the door.

“Wait,” Nero said suddenly as Sungmin opened the door to carry the singer down into the club.

Nero hit a button under the far edge of Eddy’s desk and a large piece of the wood paneling slid back to reveal a passageway. “Leon is already waiting outside; make sure no one sees him like this.”

Sungmin stared at Nero wondering if he was sick or something, being that protective of anyone. “What’s going on?”

“The boss hasn’t decided what to do with A-Jax yet.”

“Then why hasn’t he lifted a finger to protect them before?” Sungmin demanded.

Nero shrugged carelessly- like it was the most normal thing in the world that he was still holding two people hostage at gunpoint. “Lee Soo Man will find that he isn’t the one in control very soon. Now get out of here, brat.” Nero was no longer looking at him, but he was practically purring. “I’ve got work to do…”

It wasn’t really in his nature to simply obey Nero, but this time Sungmin decided not to argue. He walked through the hidden door and followed the passage to an industrial style lift. It didn’t look like the safest thing in the world, but he was glad he didn’t have to carry Hyeongkon down all those stairs. When the lift stopped, they were at a door that led to the alley behind the club.

Leon was there with the limo as promised. And the driver opened the door for him and helped him put Hyeongkon inside, and they quickly left club behind.

**

Kangin scowled as soon as he saw Ryeowook. “Hey, where is Sungmin?”

Ryeowook and Henry shook their heads sadly. “Sorry, Hyung. Siwon and Hangeng let him go upstairs.”

Kangin nodded. “That’s bad. Ryuske and his flunkies brought insurance with them tonight!”

Siwon and Hangeng nudged their way into the conversation too. “What do you mean?”

“The guy that Sungmin was on the news with yesterday is up there in Eddie’s office! He was unconscious when they dragged him in here!”

“We know,” Siwon growled. “But Sungmin hasn’t given us the signal yet and I just saw Eddie leave! You know something has to be wrong up there or he’d stick around.”

Hangeng nodded to Kangin. “Yeah. Your boss is definitely a rat! They always know when to abandon a sinking ship.”

Kangin nodded. “I’ve noticed. And I think Sungmin needs help too, so-”

There was a terrified scream that rang out over the loud music. Those who looked up saw a short but enormously fat male body flailing frantically as he plummeted toward the dance floor. People screamed and tried to move out of the way as shards of glass started to rain down on them from the floor to ceiling windows in Eddie’s office. The man landed head first with a sickening crunch and a dull thud, leaving a growing pool of blood on the concrete floor.

Kangin, Siwon and Hangeng were the only ones who ran for the stairs leading up.

The huge crowd that had packed the dance floor only moments before was panicked; screaming as they bolted for the exits. The music continued for a few moments but the dance floor was quickly abandoned. As people stampeded for the exits, Zico shut the music off and quickly retreated to the employee only area behind his workstation.

Yesung quickly left the stage and joined Henry and Ryeowook, “What should we do?”

Henry shook his head sadly, “We’ll just get in the way if we go up there. We need to pray that Sungmin-hyung is okay, and that Kangin, Siwon and Hangeng get there in time.”

Hangeng and Siwon bounded up the stairs together with Kangin. But when they arrived, they found the office was quiet. There was another window in the office; this one looked out onto the lower section of the roof. That window was open and Eddie’s expensive blinds were ruined, but there was no sign of anyone on the roof now.

The bouncers and Ryuske’s bodyguards were still soundly unconscious and Kangin leaned down to tend to one of the men who had been hurt the worst. But he saw something glinting under a large, heavy chair.

As soon as he picked it up, he realized it was a syringe with a broken needle. But it also had a cracked vial and that was why a little bit of purple fluid was smeared on the outside of the tube.

“What is this?” He wondered, not realizing he had spoken aloud.

Hangeng shook his head. “Afterglow, come on, let’s get out of here before we touch anything else.”

Kangin blushed, realizing he should have thought of that himself. But looking again at the needle, he frowned. “Is that like a designer drug or something? I’ve never heard of it.”

Kangin could hear sirens now and he knew the police were coming. Hangeng handed him a tissue from the box on Eddie’s desk and he wiped the syringe off and set it down where he found it. Kangin felt bad about removing the fingerprints of the one who had used it, but he couldn’t afford to be implicated in the death of Rysuke and blow his cover at the club.

Siwon nodded. “Yeah, Afterglow is quite a bit like Ecstasy. But it lasts for a shorter time than its predecessor because it is made to disappear from the body faster and more completely. It also leaves your memories almost completely in tact. You can’t move; you can’t talk- you can barely think- all you can do is feel. Afterglow stimulates all the pleasure centers of your body and your brain. That means when it wears off, you remember everything that they did to you while you were helpless and you remember that you liked it.”

Kangin smirked “It sounds like something that the frat kids I knew from my college days would have loved.”

“Some of them maybe…” Siwon gave a faint smile. “If you get sassy, try to run away or attack a client, the boys in security inject this into your arm, leg, back, chest, stomach- wherever they can reach… Then after the client is gone and you are still helpless, you get again by the guys who drugged you- or Taj just beats the living crap out of you.”

The sirens were louder now and they could hear the police spreading out through the club and looking for suspects. Each of them raised their hands quietly when the police arrived in the office and commanded them to surrender.