doughty [ˈdau̇-tē] adj. - marked by fearless resolution

“Welcome to Dae’s, how can I help you?” Daehyun called out when the jingling of a bell signaled the entrance of a customer.

“It’s been a long time, Daehyun.”

Daehyun’s hands froze once he registered the familiar voice, and he slowly looked up to see the face that owned it. He pulled his safety goggles off of his head and placed them down next to the amplifier he had been in the midst of rewiring, “It’s nice to see you too, Mihyun. What brings you here?”

“I need twenty explosives,” Mihyun stated as she stared firmly into the boy’s eyes.

There was a beat of silence used for Daehyun to process the girl’s request.

 “Twenty? Are you out of your mind? Why the hell would you want that many explosives? Are you planning to blow up the blue house, or something?” Daehyun’s eyes widened and he gaped with an open jaw at the demand.

Mihyun paused for a second, and her lips lifted into a sly smile as she responded with, “Something along those lines.”

Daehyun shook his head and ran a dirty hand through his messy hair, “You’ve gone mad, Mihyun – absolutely mad.”

“It doesn’t matter if I have,” Mihyun responded with crossed arms. “Are you going to do my order or not? You know there are tons of others I could have gone to, Daehyun, but I came to you. Do you want me to place my money down elsewhere?” Mihyun knew she wouldn’t however, because Daehyun was the only one trustworthy enough to learn about the information she would soon tell him.

Daehyun stared at the girl in front of him in silence. It had been 5 years since he last saw his cousin, and here she was, standing in his workshop while making a ridiculous demand. He stared into the girl’s resilient eyes, and a low chuckle escaped his lips. She certainly hadn’t changed too much during the past 5 years.

“Are you in trouble?” Daehyun asked quietly, his eyes flashing with concern. “Is Chando Samchon in trouble?”

Mihyun quickly shook her head. “I’m not in any trouble, Daehyun, and my Appa… he can’t hear about this, okay?”

Daehyun was taken aback that the girl had requested to keep something hidden from her father. For all the years he has known her, Mihyun was always one to strictly follow the rules, and the fact that she requested for something as big as 20 explosives to be kept a secret from her father certainly aroused Daehyun’s curiosity. “I’m not going to make you twenty explosives if you don’t tell me what they’re for, Mihyun.”

Mihyun nodded her head. “Nor do I expect you to, Daehyun. I will tell you everything that you need to know, but only after you agree to provide me with what I’ve asked for.”

Daehyun fell silent for a few minutes as he thought over the girl’s request. This was the first time Mihyun had asked of anything from him, and he knew that although the order was certainly ridiculous, Mihyun was rational enough not to use them carelessly.

“Well, I have one condition to complete your order,” Daehyun stated as he cleared his throat.

Mihyun raised an eyebrow, a bit nervous on what exactly his requirement would be. It certainly wouldn’t be money seeing as how the elder possessed bags of it, and that was the only thing Mihyun was willing to give up so easily.

Daehyun’s lips spread into his charming grin that had made so many girls fall to his feet. “Call me Oppa.”

“Over my dead body,” Mihyun responded without skipping a beat.

Daehyun laughed and clapped his cousin on the shoulder. “It didn’t hurt to try, right?”

He was wrong; his cousin had changed extremely over the past few years. Her words were stated with more confidence; there was a rosy tint to her cheeks and a bright glint in her eyes. She was happy now, alive. Daehyun was curious as to what was the source of that happiness, but he decided not to pose any questions just yet. Instead, he would simply enjoy the presence of his transformed cousin, and silently thank the unknown stranger that had caused it.

“Are you sure about this?” Jaesuk asked hesitantly as the car slowed to a stop. He glanced at Mihyun through the review mirror, and was taken aback by how calmly she was sitting there.

“Positive,” Mihyun responded as she gazed out the window, a small smile spreading across her face at the sight of the familiar building. She opened the car door and tentatively set a foot outside, smiling even wider when a rush of cold air welcomed her back.

“What about your father?” Jaesuk asked as he stared hesitantly back at her.

“What about him?” she carelessly shrugged in return. She turned back to the two boys that remained hesitantly in the car, and pursued her lips as she placed her hands on each side of her hips. “Well, what are you waiting for? I’m sure Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, and Jongin are looking forward to seeing you both again.”

Luhan and Sehun exchanged a hesitant look before they filed out of the car one after the other.

“You’re just breaking all the rules today, aren’t you?” Jaesuk huffed under his breath as he ran his hand through his hair. His eyes flashed with worry, and he gestured for the girl to step forward. He reached out and caught several strands of Mihyun’s hair that was blowing in the wind. He pressed a gentle kiss against the tips, and tilted his head up to stare straight into her eyes. “I’ll protect you no matter what, you foolish girl, so don’t worry.”

Before Mihyun could respond, she was yanked roughly away from the car by a fuming Sehun. He glowered down at his Hyung and barred his teeth in a small snarl as he wrapped his arm possessively around Mihyun’s waist.

Jaesuk let out a small chuckle when the childish boy mouthed a silent ‘Mine’, and waved the trio goodbye with two fingers.

“I’ll complete everything you’ve asked of me, Mihyun, and return for you three in a few hours,” Jaesuk called out before he drove away.

“What have you asked of him?” Sehun demanded with pursed lips. “Why can’t I do it for you?”

The boy was smacked roughly behind the head, and he snapped over to glare at his smaller Hyung. Luhan rolled his eyes and held up the board he had scribbled across. Don’t act like a child, Sehun.

“I’m not acting like a child!” Sehun cried in outrage.

“Don’t waste time arguing,” Mihyun gently scolded the two as she began to walk to the Noye house.

“I never thought there would be a day that I’d willingly return to this hell hole,” Sehun murmured under his breath. “So this must be how it feels to be free.”

Luhan nodded his head solemnly beside him, leaning his head backward to observe the walls of the Noye house that stretched to the sky. He had gazed at this building numerous hours for so many years of his life, but never before from the outside.

“Come on,” Mihyun urged them forward gently. “Let’s go see the others.”

The three traveled silently down the halls to the cages, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

Sehun didn’t want to see his hyungs. He knew that was horrible of him to think, but he didn’t want to see them. He didn’t want to see the grime pressed against his Hyungs’ faces when his was clean of any dirty marks. He didn’t want to see the bones that protruded from their shirts, when the meals he had been consuming already provided him a nice layer of fleshy meat. He didn’t want to see their faces laced with hope and sadness when he already achieved his ideal life of luxury.

He didn’t want to be consumed by guilt.

He wondered if this was how Mihyun felt every time she visited them. If she felt as if she didn’t deserve the luxuries that she had, the luxuries the others could only dream about.

“Mihyun! Sehun! Luhan!”

Sehun was yanked away from his thoughts when a sudden pair of arms wrapped around his body. He glanced down with an expression of shock to see Baekhyun’s face gleaming back up at him. His previous feelings immediately disappeared, and he wrapped his arms around his hyung who was squeezing him tightly in his arms.

He looked over at the others to see Mihyun buried behind Chanyeol’s large body, and Kyungsoo practically wrapped around Luhan. Jongin was standing to the side, fidgeting in place to restrain himself from knocking one of his Hyungs aside to engulf any familiar face into his arms.

After a round of tight hugs and tears courtesy of Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, had been exchanged, the group of Noyes settled down in their familiar positions around the room.

“What took you guys so long?! Do you know how worried we were? We thought you two died or something!” Baekhyun cried, still sobbing into Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“T-The tw-two sc-sc-scary men t-took you a-away v-very qu-quickly!” Kyungsoo nodded his head furiously beside him, wiping the tears that strayed across his cheeks.

“We’re fine, Kyungsoo Hyung,” Sehun reassured the other with a small smile. He glanced over at Mihyun and smiled shyly down at his hands. “Mihyun took really good care of us.”

Luhan held up the board he had scribbled across. Did they do anything to hurt you guys?

Jongin shook his head and wrapped his arms tightly around Kyungsoo. “Nothing happened to us after you two were taken away; we were all just really worried.”

“We thought you weren’t going to come back to us,” Chanyeol admitted shamefully. He stared down at his shuffling hands with disgrace. “We thought that… we thought that since you were all free, you would leave us behind.”

A tense silence captured the room, and everybody waited for another to make the first move, not daring to do so on their own.

“Is that what you think about us, then?” Sehun glared at the four offending noyes. “Is that how highly you think about Luhan Hyung and me?”

The four quickly shook their heads at his accusation. “We didn’t want to believe it, truly! It was just, a week had passed with no word from any of you, and I guess…” Jongin’s voice drifted off. “We just thought we were forgotten.”

“B-But you g-guy-guys did-didn’t for-forget ab-about us, r-right?” Kyungsoo asked hopefully.

“Not for a minute,” Mihyun assured the other as she wrapped her hand tightly around his. “We couldn’t send anybody to contact you, and I’m very sorry about that. There was a bit of a… road block, you might say. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been hard at work in trying to make this a success. Therefore, I hope you guys have – where’s Minseok?”

“He was called to do some work, so he’s taking notes for the map,” Jongin replied as he pulled his own notebook out of his pocket. “We all made some really good progress.”

Chanyeol and Baekhyun pulled their own notebooks carefully out of their pockets, and offered it to Mihyun as well.

“What about you, Kyungsoo?” Mihyun asked as she stacked the pads carefully on top of one another.

Kyungsoo ducked his head in embarrassment, and stared down silently as his feet.

“They… they haven’t been calling Kyungsoo out to do work, so he hasn’t been able to get very much,” Jongin answered carefully. “But it isn’t his fault.”

“Of course it isn’t,” Mihyun smiled warmly at the smaller. “Don’t worry yourself about such a thing, alright Kyungsoo? They’re simply missing out on a wonderful worker.”

Kyungsoo offered the girl a weak smile, but didn’t say anymore.

“This is really good information,” Mihyun nodded as she scanned the contents of the books. “I’ll make sure to add them to the larger map tonight.” Her eyes gleamed with excitement as she smiled up at the Noyes who sat before her, “Freedom is just a few steps away.”

A few more hours quickly passed without the others’ realization. They had long moved past the talk of rebellion, and instead enjoyed the simply comfort of one another like they had before.

“You’ll be back soon? Promise?” Baekhyun quietly asked with large, pleading eyes. “Soon?”

Mihyun nodded her head and pressed a soft kiss to the boy’s forehead, “Soon, Baekhyun, very soon.”

The lot of them seemed satisfied enough with her response, and they sent the group off with reluctant goodbyes and small, sad smiles.

Jaesuk was already waiting for them outside, and he gave Mihyun a firm, silent nod to answer her unspoken question. He had completed the task she had asked of him without much trouble.

“He already knows where you’ve gone,” Jaesuk murmured quietly once they had all climbed into the car. “Guards from the Noye house must have contacted him, and he isn’t happy.”

“I assumed that they would,” Mihyun responded simply, her heart feeling much lighter than it would have a week ago. She turned to look at Luhan when the boy tugged at her sleeve. Will he hurt you?

“No,” Mihyun assured the other in a firm tone. “And he won’t be hurting you two either.”

Luhan bit down hesitantly on his bottom lip, but decided to trust in Mihyun’s words. She had never let him down before, and he didn’t think that she would sound that confident if she wasn’t sure her words would be true.

The rest of the ride home consisted of silence, and Mihyun remembered the decisions she had made the night prior. She wouldn’t allow her father to control her life any longer, not when she finally discovered a meaning to live. Now all she could do was only hope that everything would play out as planned.

“He won’t hurt you, right?” Sehun asked once again when the four approached the house after climbing out of the car.

“Don’t worry,” Mihyun smiled as she gave the boy’s hand a soft squeeze of reassurance. She paused briefly before continuing, “He definitely won’t hurt me.”

“Han Mihyun.”

Mihyun didn’t even flinch against the voice, and she calmly slid off her shoes before glancing up to look at her father. “Have you been waiting long, father?”

“Han Mihyun,” Chando repeated once again in a hard tone. “You dare to disobey my orders despite my numerous warnings to you?”

“It seems as though I have,” Mihyun responded simply as she folded her arms. “Haven’t I?”

Chando let out a small growl, and his eyes flashed dangerously. “Was the warning I had given you not enough? Did Jaesuk not give you the photo?”

“No, I received it just fine,” Mihyun replied as she stared at the man with an unwavering gaze. “It was rather kind of you to finally allow me to keep a photo of Mother.”

“It seems as though you’ve misunderstood my intention,” Chando growled with furrowed eyebrows. “I didn’t give you that photo to let you simply reminiscence.”

“Oh, I know that all too very well,” Mihyun responded as she pulled the said photo out of her pocket. She the photo in her hands for a few seconds before tossing it to the ground in front of Chando’s feet. “But you’ve miscalculated something, Appa.”

Sehun gave her hand a small squeeze of support, and his action transferred just the right amount of confidence that she needed.

 “I am not my mother. I am not as weak as her. I am not as foolish as her, and I will not let you control my entire life with threats, as you did with her,” Mihyun spoke out in a clear, crisp voice. “You need me just as much as I need you, and you know it better than I do that there are several companies who only have remaining ties with Han corporations because of me.”

A dead silence quickly captured the room, and even the servants who had secretly strained their ears to listen in on the conversation shamelessly turned to the girl with mouths gaping of disbelief.

“How dare you talk to me like that?!” Chando bellowed in an angry voice, his volume sounding twice as loud due to the silence it contrasted against. “I am your father!”

Mihyun responded without skipping a beat, “Only by name.”

It would have been somewhat humorous to see Chando’s face flame up in anger if not for the situation at hand. “You! How dare?! I can’t! You insolent!” Chando spluttered furiously. He stabbed a finger in Sehun and Luhan’s direction and commanded for the security guards to apprehend them.

Mihyun’s eyes narrowed when the guards stepped forward, and she darted towards them in a fluid motion.

“Mihyun!” “Agashi!”

Mihyun’s gaze remained unwavering as she tightened her grip on the stalk of the knife that was pressed against her own neck. “Anything you do to them, I’ll do to myself in ten folds.”

“Mihyun!” Sehun hissed in a low tone, outraged as to what the girl was proposing.

“I wonder how Han Chando would look if rumors spread that he was abusing his own daughter?” Mihyun asked with a cocked head, eyes swimming with courage and defiance.

“Don’t pull that bluff with me,” Chando scoffed as he rolled his eyes. He nodded at the guards to tighten their grips on the two Noyes.

“Agashi, please!” Jaesuk cried in protest when a drip of blood rolled down Mihyun’s pale neck.

“You should know me better by now, Appa,” Mihyun stated, refusing to wince at the stinging pain. “I’m not one to make empty threats. I believe that’s something I learned from you, isn’t it?”

Chando’s eyes were trained on the small train of blood that spilled from the pierced skin. “What makes you think that injuring yourself will do anything to bring me shame? I can simply claim that you had a psychological outbreak that had nothing to do with me, or that you were ambushed by one of my enemies – it’s not something that hasn’t happened before.”

“I don’t think you understand, Appa, just how many people believe my word against yours, just how many people only continue their ties with Han corporations because of me,” Mihyun responded slowly to allow her words to sink in.

As if on cue, Jaesuk pulled a large folder out of his briefcase and flipped to the first page. “Gang Corporations has agreed to pull their 500,000 stocks from Han Corp. if Han Mihyun is to break away from the company. The Kim family has agreed to eliminate their sponsorship of Han Corp’s Jeju branch if Han Mihyun is fired from Han Corp. Dokgo Estate confirmed that they will eliminate the future ten year contact they were to sign with Han Corp. next month if Han Mihyun is removed from her title. The Zhang firm refuses to represent Han Corp for any legal disputes if Han Mihyun is no longer in place,” Jaesuk read from the files in hand.

“Do you understand now, Appa?” Mihyun asked as she stared at her red faced father. “The list just continues on, if you’d like to hear. The Seungs, the Wangs, the Ryuks, the Ims, the Jeoms – more than half of the companies tied together with Han Corporations are only there because of me. I made sure to fulfill my position back when I was being the perfect daughter, and went out of my way to get many of these corporations to make contracts with us when they wouldn’t have otherwise. The only string connecting them with your company is me, Appa. So you understand what this means, correct?”

“If I go down, Han Corporations goes down with me,” Mihyun firmly continued. The corner of her lips curved upwards into a smug smirk as she stared at the twitching of her father’s veins.

“So, what will it be, Appa?”