An unarmed soul lingered through the vast deserts of Earth, hoping, crying and watching as everyone else tried their best to survive the hardships of life. The people he loved, the people who had lived with him, who had cherished every moment of their lives now risked their lives to save him, he, the one who had given it all for them. He didn’t wanted any of this, his fate would have ended long time ago, if it weren’t for those same people that now were covering his back as they dragged him out.

“Watch our left!” Jonghyun screamed, gun in hand, as he led Jiyong towards another aisle. Jiyong held onto James tighter as the sudden movement gave him an agonizing pain. He was in pain, he was weak and helpless. He tried to walk on his own but failed miserably to do so, everyone freaked out and James continued to carry him along the way. He could feel James limping, but his face was stern, determined, decided.

“Go through the right, the doors are there!” James yelled on his unmistakable English accent. Jonghyun nodded and walked ahead, James and Jiyong followed and after them, Chaerin was running quickly. Jiyong wanted to protect her, and every time she got ambushed, Jiyong would curse on his mind. What kind of joke was life playing on him if he couldn’t even protect the woman he loved?

“James, I’ll stay, go ahead!” Chaerin yelled, and in that instant, Jiyong’s heart froze.

“You can’t…” Jiyong said out of breath. James turned them around and Jiyong took a step forward, almost falling, trying to catch her. “Chaerin…” Jiyong tried to yell, but at this point, even his voice had weakened to the point of vanishing.

“She’ll be alright mate, we have to leave.” James said, grabbing Jiyong’s arm. Jiyong fought him, and as he did, he fell miserably on the floor. “Jiyong come on man!”

“She can’t stay…” Jiyong said again, but James ignored him, lifting him up the floor and running away with him. Jiyong whimpered all the way, trying to break free, but he could tell James didn’t even noticed as they passed the doors, where Seunghyun was waiting for them.

“Package secured, prepare to retreat.” Seunghyun said as they went by him. James quickly tried to get Jiyong on the van, but Jiyong fought again, this time breaking free from James’s arm and trying to run back to the building. This time, it was Seunghyun who stopped him, grabbing him by his shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going?” He hissed.

“I’m going to find Chaerin.” Jiyong panted. Seunghyun shook his head and pushed Jiyong to the back.

“No, she’s alright, we have to leave now.”

“We can’t leave her there!” Jiyong hissed now, his hoarse voice gaining strength as his rage increased.

“Yes, we can, we have to save you. You’re the one who can’t fight, not her.” Seunghyun reasoned, and Jiyong shook his head furiously, feeling light headed afterwards.

“You can’t possibly think I’m leaving without her.”

“I wasn’t asking you.” Seunghyun said, and just then, he grabbed Jiyong by his waist and lifted him up, putting him over his shoulder. It was an advantage that Jiyong wasn’t particularly big or heavy, he could be carried around easily, and Seunghyun was completely used to carry him every time he got dead drunk on clubs.

“Let me down!” Jiyong yelled, and after he forced his voice to come out, a series of coughs came afterwards. Seunghyun didn’t listen to him and put him inside the van, closing the door after he did. Jiyong hit the crystal countless times as both Seunghyun and James got into the van. Jonghyun was at Jiyong’s side, trying to hold him to no avail.

“Jiyong, brother, please. She’ll be alright.” Jonghyun said, and Jiyong felt a rage run through him as he heard those words again. He knew she would be alright, he knew she would come out victoriously, he knew her as much, but that was not what was bothering him. He was leaving her alone, there, on her own mercy. He couldn’t even bear the thought of her being injured because of him. He glared at Jonghyun, who, even if his voice seemed calm, his face was stern, serious and strong.

“What did you just said?” Jiyong hissed. Jonghyun narrowed his eyes and nodded.

“Look, I’m not too fond of this idea either, but you’re the one who’s dying, not her.”

“I’m not dying!” Jiyong yelled with the remaining strength he had, closing his eyes forcefully as a wave of pain rush through him.

“You’re pretty weak, I can see your pain, yet you want to go and fight. I admire you Jiyong, but you’ll just be dead weight for her, and you could cause her death. You better get yourself on a secure place, she’ll fight better knowing you’re off in a safer place.” Jonghyun said, and Jiyong knew he was right, but still that feeling of something not being right washed over him like the tides of the ocean.

“You’re talking nonsense… I’m alright!” Jiyong panted. The pain was increasing by the moment.

“Try chocking me as you want, try killing me right now as you desire. You can’t even lift your good hand properly.” Jonghyun said. Jiyong looked at him, his eyes narrow but his body weak. He was right, he couldn’t even lift a hand; he couldn’t even properly keep his head straight.

Jiyong shook his head and took a deep breath, closing his eyes as the van sped off and out into the road. Images of Chaerin’s fighting figure invaded his mind as he slowly drifted to dreamland, her swift movements so dangerous it brought him a grin. Her hair moved softly through the air as she jumped and kicked, punched and shoot. Her feline eyes fixed on her prey, narrow and dangerous, her hand moving fast as she grabbed her dagger and jumped towards her opponent, burying it on his chest, twisting it softly as the scarlet liquid fell on his chest.

Jiyong smirked as he looked at her, and a panic ran through him as he saw a man behind her, a devious smile as he slowly walked towards her, a katana in hand. Chaerin was oblivious to him, and as he slowly approached her, Jiyong could clearly see his face. It was Woochoong, almost 20 years younger. His face resembled Jonghyun’s, with the slight difference that Jonghyun bore Jihye’s eyes and nose, while all the other fierceness on his face was clearly his father’s. Jiyong tried to run, but every time he got closer, Chaerin’s body would get only farther away. As Jiyong ran, he noticed her intense stare turned to a scared one as she slowly turned around, and Woochoong buried the katana on her chest, then took it out and cut . Jiyong saw how her slim body fell to the ground, and he started screaming as he tried to run towards Woochoong.

As he got closer, Woochoong’s face turned into Jonghyun, and his face looked worried, confused and pained. Jiyong stopped abruptly as Jonghyun’s hand touched his shoulders, shaking him furiously. “Jiyong? Jiyong what’s wrong?” He said. Jiyong crooked his head, and everything turned into darkness. He felt himself opening his eyes, and a sudden fear crept over him. He sat up abruptly, knocking whoever was with him to the side.

“I see you and Chaerin are so alike.” Jonghyun said at his side. Jiyong looked at him, panting and sweating, and quickly stood up. Jonghyun stood up too, looking at Jiyong with a perplexed face.

“Where’s Chaerin?!” Jiyong said frantically. Jonghyun put his hand on his front, gesturing him to calm down.

“First of all, calm down. How are you feeling?” Jonghyun said. Jiyong grabbed his hair furiously and inhaled deeply.

“Who cares how am I feeling, where’s Chaerin?!” Jiyong said again, this time going towards the door. He stopped blankly as he noticed he wasn’t at Seunghyun’s house. Jiyong looked back at Jonghyun, his gaze dangerous and intense. “Where am I?”

“Key’s house in Busan.”

“How did I got here? What the ’s going on?” Jiyong hissed. Jonghyun sat on the chair next to the bed and nodded.

“I know you’re confused, but you have to calm down and listen to me.” Jonghyun said. Jiyong nodded and put his hands on his pocket – he was kind of glad he had pockets – and took a deep breath.

“Alright, I’m calmed, what the ’s going on? Where’s Chaerin?” Jiyong said. Jonghyun nodded again and crossed his legs.

“She’s stable.” Was all he said and Jiyong felt his knees trembling.

“What?” Jiyong said, unable to keep himself standing for long, he grabbed hold on the bed and slowly sat down.

“You’ve been out for almost a week now Jiyong.” Jonghyun said and Jiyong trembled again.

“Almost a week?”

“Five days to be exact. Jiyong, there’s something we need to talk about.” Jonghyun said and Jiyong felt a cold running through his spine.

“But I just fell asleep on that car…”

“No Jiyong, that was five days ago.” Jonghyun explained with all the calmness and tenderness he could muster. Jiyong shook his head and let out a sigh.

“What happened? What’s wrong with Chaerin?” Jiyong asked again. Jonghyun stood up and walked next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“One of Woochoong’s man attacked her. It was almost two days ago. She fought him but he was stronger, and she was pretty weak.” Jonghyun explained. Jiyong put a shaking hand on his forehead as he let out a pained sigh.

“It’s not possible.” Jiyong said.

“There’s more.” Jonghyun said and Jiyong looked up. Jonghyun smiled at him as he sat next to him. “We couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t wake up, so I asked a few of the best doctors out there to check up on you. Jiyong, that strange disease you had, it got worse.”

“I already knew that.” Jiyong said with a scoff. Jonghyun shook his head slightly.

“No Jiyong, it’s destroying you from inside out. That poison had already damaged most of your inner organs, that’s why you have been in so much pain for the past days. I’m so sorry to not notice that before.” He said and Jiyong felt all his world crumpling on his feet.

“Destroying me?” Jiyong said in disbelieve. Jonghyun nodded, his face a mixture of sadness and pain. “So I’m slowly dying?” he said and Jonghyun nodded again.

“My doctors are looking for an alternative, another drug to keep you sane, without pain or something to cure you, but they hadn’t found anything relevant yet.” Jonghyun said. Jiyong shook his head and stood up, standing in front of a full panel mirror on the wall. He was shirtless, his face hollow, his skin pale with bruises and wounds and scars. He was a terrible mess, his dark hair a mess, his eyes a reddish tone and his lips a shade of blue. He chuckled at himself, he looked like a corpse. A living corpse.

“So it was either your father or my own body.” Jiyong murmured. He could see Jonghyun standing up behind him on their reflection. Jonghyun stood next to him, his toned and broad body next to him looked like a boulder. His tan skin against his pale one looked like twilight, a shade darker, a shade lighter. Jonghyun’s healthy face looked gorgeous next to his, where high cheekbones made shadows on his hollow cheeks.

“We will find a cure, brother.” Jonghyun said patting his shoulder. Jiyong chuckled again and looked at Jonghyun.

“I want to see her.” Jiyong said. Jonghyun nodded and handed him a jacket.

“She’s here, at the house. We thought it wouldn’t be safe to have her on a hospital, considering what happened to you. James had been watching over her.” Jonghyun said. Jiyong quickly put on the jacket and zipped it up, nodding at Jonghyun.

“Take me to her.” Jiyong said and Jonghyun nodded, walking towards the door that was on the other side of the room. Jiyong followed him as he walked down a hallway.

The place looked modern with a hint of gothic antiqueness. He could tell Key liked somber and dark things by the portraits of maidens dressed in black dresses and crows on the walls. The walls were painted in a gray tone and the floor was covered in a black rug. The windows had black curtains on it that were spread, allowing the entrance of daylight into the house. Jonghyun stopped in front of a white door and opened it slightly. Jiyong looked at the inside, the room looked like a hospital room, a bed in the middle with machines all around it. On the bed was Chaerin, her bare, smiling face looking at her side as someone talked to her. She looked weak, her arms were filled with tapes and tags, and a tube connected her arm to a serum. A machine was displaying her heartbeat and respirations.

She looked fine, even if her face was all bruised and scratched, she didn’t looked like she was dying. Jonghyun knocked on the door and she looked, smiling at him. “Can I come in?” Jonghyun said and she smiled while nodding. By her looks, Jiyong noticed she hadn’t seen him. Jonghyun then opened the door wider and Jiyong could see James sitting on a couch next to the bed. As Jonghyun stepped in, Chaerin’s face turned from a smiling one to a surprised one. Both her eyes and Jiyong’s looked at each other, and for a moment, Jiyong felt completely lost into them. Her dark eyes brought him warm memories of them, laughing, smiling, and being free. He noticed her neck, the white gold pendant he gave her hang in there proudly, shining with the bright lights of the day.

“Jiyong…” She said almost out of breath. Jiyong smiled at her and scratched his head.

“Hey babe.” He said. Chaerin tried to stand up, but quickly rested her body back, flinching. Jiyong quickly went over her and she looked at him. For a moment, he hesitated, then she extended her arms and he quickly bend over and hugged her, tight. Even if his body hurt him, he wanted to feel her as close as he could.

“I thought I would lose you.” She cried on his ear. Jiyong nodded and hugged her tighter.

“For a moment I thought the same.” Jiyong said. Chaerin pulled away and grabbed his face and smiled, her red cheeks and watery eyes shine in front of him, and for a moment he thought he had died and went straight to heaven.

“Please don’t do that anymore. I couldn’t stand watching you there, sleeping without moving. I was scared.” She said and Jiyong chuckled.

“Hey, I needed the rest you know.” He said. She shook her head and let go of him.

“If you wanted that you should have told us.” She said. “Or if you wanted to ditch work you didn’t had to scare us like that.” Jiyong laughed.

“Talking about work, what have you guys done?” Jiyong said.

“You have just woken up and want to talk about work? You sure are a workaholic .” James said. Jiyong smiled and nodded.

“Success is for those who work.” Jiyong said and everyone smiled.

“We got Dami, she’s downstairs, locked in a room.” Jonghyun said and Jiyong’s eyes widened.

“You got our sister locked in a room?”

“With bars and everything.” James said. Jiyong scoffed in disbelieve.

“She’s not an animal.” Jiyong said and Chaerin scoffed.

“But she’s a human who bites.”

“Still, that’s inhuman.” Jiyong said.

“Oh please brother, we are feeding her and all. And you kill people under contract, isn’t that also inhuman?” Jonghyun said and Jiyong opened his mouth to talk, then shut it. He felt a cough creping through his throat and he tried to resist it. Jonghyun noticed that and looked at James, who quickly nodded and smiled.

“Come Jiyong, I’ll take you to Dami.” James said and quickly walked towards the door. Jiyong quickly nodded and looked at Chaerin, who was pouting.

“Alright, just go.” She said. “I’ll just stay chilling here, completely bored and out of action.”

“We do keep you updated.” Jonghyun said and she shrugged. Jiyong didn’t talked and left, nodding at her. James quickly closed the door and Jiyong ran as far as he could from the room, James following him. When he reached a set of stairs, he grabbed the handrail and started coughing. He cough and cough, almost until he got out of air and fell to his knees. When he looked at his hand, it was stained with blood.

“We haven’t told her anything. I thought you wouldn’t want her to worry about you.” James said as he assisted him. Jiyong nodded and when the coughing ceased, he stood up, still holding onto the handrail.

“Thanks.” He said as he cleaned his mouth. James nodded and patted his shoulder.

“I believe Jiyong, I believe we will find a cure for you.” He said and Jiyong shrugged.

“Yeah, but if you don’t, I beg you to please look after her. She’s everything to me, I can’t bear the thought of leaving her, but if I must, I’ll go in peace knowing you’re there.” Jiyong said, his voice low and husky. James nodded, his blue eyes turning watery as he bit his inner cheeks, holding in a sob.

“You can count on that mate.” James said, his voice shaking. Jiyong smiled and hugged him. James hugged him back tighter. A few tears escape Jiyong’s eyes as he hugged him. They pulled apart and both of them cleaned their tears. “You can always count on that.”

Gily's Notes: I bet you didn't expect that... neither did I xD 

So, now they have Dami, but now we know why Jiyong was so weak and in so much pain. Well, let's see what happens next!

Happy Reading ~

Gily ♥