Light me a fire, keep me warm, but don’t ever say sorry.

Woohyun felt that he had been standing there, in the dank basement forever, like he was chained there and was being tortured. On the inside, he was feeling tears well up in desperation, but on the outside he was trying to look strong in front of Sungjong, the enemy. 

He had stopped thinking about Sungjong's betrayal, for the moment. He was a detective; it was his job to find the murderer, but even before that, as a law enforcement officer, it was his duty to save people. Right now, Sunggyu was in danger; so were his colleagues. It was his duty to get them out of there unharmed, whether Sungjong got arrested or not would depend on the situation.

Without seeming to, while Sungjong was busy with Myungsoo, he took a searching look around.  There were no other doors, only the passage leading to the elevator. On the right, there was a hallway leading to the inside of the basement but he wasn’t sure there were exits that way.  There must be a staircase somewhere, but since he didn’t know where it was and there was definitely no time for experimentation, their only chance was taking the elevator.

It seemed that Sungjong was all alone here, but they couldn’t be sure about it. The self-proclaimed leader of the STR was definitely cautious; he had survived all these years, out of reach, even under the nose of a detective - it would suit him poorly if he hadn’t brought back-up. But where were they? They could be upstairs but then what had happened to Sungyeol and Youngjae? Had they met, had there been any confrontation? They hadn’t heard anything, but he couldn’t be sure.

Before he could think about anything else there was a commotion to his right. He watched with terrified eyes that Myungsoo, who was being provoked repeatedly, had lurched at Sungjong. Behind them Minji opened her catch with a loud click. They all knew what was coming after.

“Don't shoot!” Woohyun shouted, throwing himself onto Myungsoo, who was wrestling Sungjong, tackling them to the floor.

His heart was beating too loud; he wouldn't be able to hear if the gun had been shot. He felt an arm slip away from under his stomach. When he looked up, Sungjong was standing above them, revolver at hand, smirk in place.

With a nod of his head, he ordered Minji to stand down.

“My, my, that was brave. But it was poorly planned. Well, I don't think it was planned at all. You became too passionate I think, Myungsoo. Anyway, you never had much self-control.”

Myungsoo made a guttural noise, banging his head loudly on the floor. Woohyun placed his hand beneath his head, trying to help him up when something caught his eyes. Minji had earlier pushed their revolvers to one side; now he saw the of one of them peeking out from under a crate, a feet beside where he was sitting on the floor.

“I guess this is it,” Sungjong said, pulling out a small black remote control.

WoohyunI felt ice sinking into his stomach. That remote looked familiar and it made sense, in lieu with Sungjong’s wishes. He wanted everything related to STR to disappear. There was no reason for him to keep Star Dynasty standing anymore.

“That's all from me.”

Woohyun had less than a second to respond. He pulled the revolver out, lifted the catch and pointed it straight ahead at Sungjong’s head. Myungsoo had probably sensed what he was about to do. Uttering a shriek, he slapped at Woohyun's hand but it was too late. He had already pulled back the trigger but Myungsoo's interference had changed the course of the bullet.

To Woohyun, it seemed to happen in slow motion. Like a comet, the bullet tore through the air, originally aimed at Sungjong but now ready to put a fatal hole through Sunggyu, who was standing a little to the left of the younger.  While a raw yell escaped Woohyun’s throat and he felt the ground collapsing beneath him, someone else moved in a flash. With glaring speed, Sungjong threw himself in front of Sunggyu the bullet piercing his heart, splattering blood across his chest. Even as he fell, his mouth twisted into a painful expression, a distraught Sunggyu holding onto his arm, he pressed the button.

The explosion sounded like a mountain avalanche as the basement shook like it was made out of toothpicks. Jumping to his feet, Woohyun  pulled Myungsoo up. Hana had already tackled Minji, using the sudden shaking of the floors and the confusion to her advantage.

“Go run, find the stairs I'll get Sunggyu,” Woohyun gasped, pushing Myungsoo toward the exit.

“Sungjong,” Myungsoo said, his voice hoarse, his eyes pleading.

“Go!” he pushed again him with greater force and nodded at Hana, who had taken a hold of Myungsoo’s coat, pulling him with her.

Woohyun ran toward Sunggyu, who was sitting beside Sungjong, trying to shake him awake. Beside them, the piled up crates fell with an ear-splitting noise.

“Sunggyu, let’s go, he won’t wake up.”

He tried to pull him to his foot but Sunggyu wouldn’t budge. There wasn't time to convince him as the walls lurched dangerously again. Grabbing him forcefully, he forced him up and started tearing through the basement as cement and bricks started to fall like thick rain. Sunggyu was crying for Sungjong, and he knew Myungsoo was too but Woohyun knew he wouldn’t have time to double back for him. Besides, he was probably already dead from the bullet wound. Even if he wasn’t, the steadily falling rubble would immerse him in no time.

With a shiver, he realised that this was truly the end of Blood Lily, not just in papers and files, but also in reality. Who knew he would meet such an end?

The cold blooded fierce leader of the largest criminal organisation - his last act was to protect Sunggyu.

What does that mean?

Pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind, he tried to train his eyes to the darkness in the hallway.

“This way!” he suddenly heard a familiar voice. It was Sungyeol. What was he doing here? Hadn’t he made it very clear that if anything like this was to happen, the detectives should leave the building?

Sungyeol, that stupid, stupid…

“Come on this way, there are stairs.”

He followed Sungyeol’s lead, trying to shield Sunggyu’s head from the increasing fall of rubble. They dashed up the stairs, through a large room, at the end of which was a steel door. It was probably the back door, which was thrown wide open.

They made it out of the building just as a large pillar fell across the door, blocking it effectively.

There was chaos on the outside. The police had arrived, they were trying to make a civilian-free perimeter around the exploding building. The Medics ushered Woohyun and Sunggyu into the ambulance, tearing Sunggyu away from Woohyun and trying to salvage their wounds.

“Wait, where’s everyone? Sungyeol did everyone make it out?” he shouted at the detective, who had blood running down the side of his head.

“Yeah, everyone got out,” he managed to say, before he was surrounded by Medics.

“Oh,” Woohyun sighed, giving into the Medics who were trying to push him back onto a bed. His entire body was shaking.

They are all safe, they all made it out. Sunggyu’s okay, he’s alive. I didn’t kill him.

He let the adrenaline rush die down, feeling the intense pain all over his body. He had no idea how many injuries he had, but it felt like his body was on fire.

His consciousness was slipping, any minute now he’d lose his senses. With the last spurt of concentration he could muster, he opened his eyes and asked about Sunggyu.

“How is he doing? Did he get seriously injured?”

The Medics around him weren’t paying any attention, instead they were moving around in the ambulance busily, hooking him to machines and wiping the blood on his face with gauze.

“Sunggyu? Is he-”

“He’s fine.”

The voice sounded familiar. His vision was hazy now so he couldn’t tell who it was. He had a hunch that it was Youngjae, but it could be anyone. Little circles of light were dancing on the back of his eyelids, merging into each other and then separating. It was fascinating, and he wanted to watch the lights, but sleep was calling him. Even as he tried to extend his hands and touch the lights, he felt the last of the energy drain from his body.

“Sunggyu,” I called. I could see him turning a corner. He was wearing a long navy blue overcoat. He heard me, he stopped, waiting for me to catch up. “Sunggyu,” I said again, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Do you-do you know me now? Do you remember me?”

In slow motion, Sunggyu turned his head to the side. His eyes looked hard.

“I don’t know you.”

“I’m Woohyun,” I said, my nails digging into his overcoat. “It’s me, you love me, Sunggyu, look again.”

Glaring at me, he pushed my hand away.

“Oh yes, I do know you,” he said in a cold drawl. “You tried to kill me. You let Sungjong die, you’re a murderer.”

I gasped, biting my lips hard. How could he…

“No! Sungjong is the murderer, he tried to kill us all-”

“He tried, and you succeeded. You’re the murderer, Nam Woohyun. And I’m going to arrest you for that.”

In a flash, he produced a pair of silver handcuffs. Pulling my hands toward him roughly, he placed the cuffs around them. The metal was cold around my wrist; I felt them biting into my flesh, sinking deeper and deeper until they hit the bone. I cried out in pain.

Why are you hurting me so much Sunggyu? What did I do to you? I waited for you all this time, I prayed for you. Why do you hate me?

“You used to love me!” I cried out, falling to my knees from the pain in my wrist.

“That’s a lie Woohyun, and you know it. On the inside, you fear it. You know you forced yourself upon me. I had to love you because I couldn’t get rid of you.” Sunggyu’s voice held no emotion. It cut me, pierced my skin.  I was losing consciousness again, I couldn’t see straight. Tears were pouring down my face, into my lap.

“Take these off, Sunggyu, please, it hurts.” I extended my arms toward him, hoping he would relieve me of the flesh-eating handcuffs. Instead, he his heels and started walking away.

“Good,” he shouted over his shoulder. “Because Sungjong is in much greater pain right now.”

Something was prickling his eyelids, forcing him to open his eyes. He could see a sliver of a white room, too white for his liking. If he strained his ears really hard, he could hear a faint beeping. He was sure he was lying down, but he couldn’t really feel his body. There was no pain, no burn – he was aware of his body, but he didn’t feel any part of it.

He didn’t know how long he had been lying awake like that. After what seemed like a hundred years, something changed within his field of vision. There was a long shadow, a dark overcoat, messy brown hair. Someone bent down and peered into his face. He knew the face, he just couldn’t place him.

There were faint murmurs around the room now. Concentrating hard, he tried to make out what they were saying.

“-helicopter flew out, but we can confirm Lee Sungjong is dead. His back-up isn’t though, whoever flew that helicopter.”

“Well this might be the chance…”

A crack of pain shot through his brain. Concentrating was putting too much strain on his head. He wondered if Sunggyu had felt something like this, he wondered if Sungjong felt worse. How did dying feel? For some reason, he had a feeling being death was better than this short bursts of intense pain. The sharp ache was numbing and before long, he felt himself drowning in its depths as he lost consciousness.

“How was work today?” I asked, pouring ourselves two cups of coffee.

Sunggyu slumped on the sofa, loosening his tie.

“Exhausting. Let’s not talk about work.”

I smiled at him, bringing him the coffee cup. He accepted it gratefully, and took a long draught from it. Sighing contently, he made himself more comfortable on the sofa, kicking his shoes off.

“I think I’m going to stay over today,” he said after several sips. I was shocked. Usually he never brought it up. It was my job to ask him to stay, or ask him if I could stay over at his place.

“Are you alright?” I asked, half-joking, half-concerned. Sunggyu’s eyebags were an ugly shade of grey. I had seen him tired before, but he always had a satisfied air about him, knowing his work was paying off. Right now however, he was looking pretty hopeless.

“I was wondering…would you ever kill someone when you have another way, even if he was a murderer?”

There was something definitely off about this conversation; Sunggyu was not himself. His tone of voice was different as well, I had never heard him sound so sad, not even when he was talking about his junkie mother who had passed away and how the two brothers had grown up parentless.

“I – I guess not. But what is this about Sunggyu?”

I moved closer to him, settling on the arm of his sofa. Brushing his hair with my fingers gently, I watched his ashen face, his eyes closed in contemplation.

“Nothing – it’s just…the case I’m handling, if I find the man behind the drug gang – my mom used to get serviced by this gang.”

His voice trembled and I realized why he was being weird. This case was personal, this gang was responsible for what had happened to his mother and him. It was difficult to handle a case so close to you. That was why he was confused, because a part of him probably wanted to put a bullet through the head of the man who was responsible for his abnormal childhood. But he wasn’t that kind of a guy, I knew it.

“He’ll be punished Sunggyu, he’ll get what he deserves,” I said, nuzzling into his neck, kissing him softly. He let out an unintelligible murmur but his tense features slackened as he wrapped his hands around me.