The morning was still dark, the sun hadn’t risen as Jiyong walked out of his room. Chaerin had fallen asleep again, and he took that as an opportunity to escape. Youngbae, as usual, was sitting in the dining table, writing on some papers. Jiyong stood next to him, putting the cleaning kit of his wound in front of him. Youngbae lifted his eyes and looked at him blankly.

“Clean me.”

“We have a problem.” Both of them said at the same time. Jiyong narrowed his eyes and Youngbae looked back at the paper he was writing. “Younghwan called, he wants to see you.”

“Does he knows I know?” Jiyong said and Youngbae shrugged, now crossing his legs as he rested his back on the chair.

“Better be prepared, your father’s crazy.” Youngbae said and Jiyong glared at him, then let out a sigh and nodded.

“Clean me.” He said and lifted his leg, showing him the dirty gauzes. Youngbae snickered and nodded, grabbing the kit and gesturing Jiyong to sit on the sofa. Jiyong did, his face all serious as he thought about meeting his father.

“I do hope this is healing, because I’ll get you locked in the hospital if it doesn’t.” Youngbae said as he took out the dirty gauzes. Jiyong looked at Youngbae’s face as he inspected the injury. He nodded with his lips pouted and grabbed a clean gauze, filling it with sterile water. “It’s healing perfectly. The infection seems to be diminishing.” Jiyong extended his hands and shrugged arrogantly, earning a glare from Youngbae.

“I am immortal.” Jiyong said and Youngbae stopped cleaning and glared at him.

“Immortal?” Youngbae repeated. Jiyong smirked and Youngbae purposely pressed Jiyong’s injure, making him scream in pain.

“Why the did you do that for?!” Jiyong yelled and Youngbae his front teeth.

“You are not immortal, you suffer, you get injured, and most importantly, you can die.” Youngbae said fuming. Jiyong scowled and scoffed, crossing his arms.

“Such drama.” Jiyong muttered. Youngbae pressed hard again, and Jiyong widened his eyes at him, warning him.

“I would most humbly ask you to please take more care of yourself.” He said. Jiyong looked at him without emotion as he diligently cleaned his wound. Youngbae looked tired, now that Jiyong took a good look at his face. He had dark circles under his eyes, his hands trembled a bit and his hair was a mess. He hadn’t slept that night.

“I will.” Jiyong muttered as he saw Youngbae’s tired face smiling a slight bit. “Bae, I will go see my father today.” Youngbae stopped and looked at him, all smiles and cheer had left his face, replaced by worry and anger.

“No, not yet.” Youngbae said. Jiyong frowned at that and crooked his head.

“Why not? The sooner the better.”

“Maybe you will not like what he will have to say.” Youngbae said and Jiyong raised an eyebrow.

“And what would he has to say? And what do you know about it?” Jiyong said and Youngbae shrugged, covering Jiyong’s wound with the gauzes.

“He never has anything good to say, and every time you go there, you get more depressed. Don’t torture yourself anymore.”

“Bae, it’s,” He started saying, then looked at the hallway, checking if Chaerin had woken up. “It’s Chaerin we’re talking about. I don’t care about anything else but keeping her safe.” He said in a lower voice. Youngbae nodded and sat next to Jiyong, keeping his leg on his lap.

“All I care is keeping you safe.” Youngbae said. Jiyong smiled and nodded, patting his shoulder.

“Then help me keeping her safe. Because if I don’t do something, the Lees are going to kill me.”

The bed was starting to feel uncomfortably hot, making her kick the sheets off. Her face was all sweaty, her body was also wet. Sometime along the night, the towel had left her body, leaving her in bed. She opened her eyes, quickly turning around, only to find the bed empty at her side. Jiyong had left, leaving only a note on top of his pillow. She hastily grabbed it, opening it quickly.

I left early, had to do some business. We prepared you breakfast, it’s on the kitchen. Anything you need, just call me. I love you, Ji.

She let out a sigh as she read the note. Some business, she thought as she stood up. Jiyong had, as usual, prepared clothes for her and leaved them on top of his vanity. She grabbed the clothes and looked at them, brand new woman’s clothes. She smelled them and smiled, hugging them tight. He had bought them for her. She quickly went towards the bathroom and took a shower, cleaning the sweat off her body.

After she was done, Chaerin walked out, dressed in her brand new clothes. It had been a long time since she had worn new clothes, and so expensive at that. She looked at herself and smiled, black leathered pants and a white loose blouse. She looked around and saw her stilettos arranged at a side of the room. Jiyong was perfect at everything, and so detailed it made her heart skip a beat. Without second thoughts, she grabbed the stilettos, along with her phone and walked out of the room.

With shoes in hand, she went towards the kitchen and smiled when she saw her plate of food covered with another plate. She removed it and smelled the scrambled eggs and toast in the plate. Her stomach grumbled, and she quickly grabbed a fork and dug in, eating every piece until there was nothing left. Chaerin cleaned the dishes and walked towards the living room, looking at the clear sky of Seoul as she unlocked the screen on her phone and checked the text messages. As one would have thought, there were many texts to get one person worried, but she didn’t cared. She ditched the ‘Where are you?’ texts from her mother and went to Taemin’s only text, ‘Father wants to see you.’ Without any emote or anything else. Chaerin’s air got caught in as she gulped, quickly dialing Taemin’s phone number. She tapped her fingers on her hips as she waited for him to answer. And when he did, she almost jumped.

“Taemin!” She said quickly, making him respond in the most laid back way he had ever had.

“What? Why so noisy in the morning?” He said, he was clearly just waking up.

“Sooman wants to talk to me? About what?”

“I don’t know, he never tells me anything. But he seemed mad, you should come quickly.” Taemin said, his groggy voice gaining strength.

“Now?”

“Now, do you need a ride?” He said and she shook her head.

“No, I can manage. Will you be there?”

“I live here, of course I’ll be here.” He said and she nodded, feeling too stressed to pay attention to his slight mocking.

“Then I’ll see you soon.”

“Great, bye.”

“Bye.” She said and ended the call, put the phone in her back pocket and grabbed her shoes, walking hastily towards the door. She opened it and frowned, looking at the alarm system besides the door. The words ALARM ACTIVATED continued to flash as she frowned at it. She thought of calling Jiyong, but shrugged it off simply putting her shoes and walking out, closing the door after her.

She put foot in the usually empty lobby, looking around for anyone, but there was not a living soul in the building. With a raised eyebrow, Chaerin walked out, quickly hugging herself as the cold breeze hit her skin. She regretted not bringing a coat with her. The day was cloudy, and it looked like it could rain any minute. Chaerin rolled her eyes and walked in a fast pace towards the street, where she lifted an arm, calling for a cab.

To her good fortune, one man pulled over, and she quickly went over the car, getting in without hesitation. The man smiled at her, and she bowed her head quickly. “Where to miss?” He said and she told him the directions. He nodded and drove off, not speaking any word as the music filled the car. She heard the lyrics and smiled, they were extremely good. But the smile wasn’t about the lyrics, it was the voice. She could identify the voice, could point a name on it, and her heart skipped a beat. She had almost forgotten he was a celebrity, and that once, he sang too, before producing. It was strange, watching him living two different lives at the same time. She never stopped wondering how he coped with it, how he managed to keep them both without any problem. She knew she could never do something like that.

The man pulled over in less than expected, and Chaerin looked out, feeling bitter just by looking at the Lee Mansion. The man blew a whistle, and Chaerin rolled her eyes, opening the door. Right in front of the gates, a man was waiting for her. He walked over the car as Chaerin got out. He bowed at her, and took out a wallet from his suit. Chaerin rolled her eyes again and walked towards the gate. The man paid the taxi and went over her, unlocking the gates.

“Welcome, Miss Chaerin.” The man said. Chaerin smiled without humor as he opened the gates. She quickly walked in, remembering the place all too well, after all, she used to spend her summers in there, the three of them. Though the place had changed drastically, from the pretty flowers all around the place and swings in the middle of the garden to plain green grass and a fountain where once the swing stood. She smiled bitterly as two women greeted her as soon as she reached the main stairs. The opened the door for her, and Chaerin bowed her head slightly before entering.

The place inside had too changed, before it looked alive, happy and homey, now it looked dead, cold and somber. The walls were painted in gray, the portraits where in shades of black and the candelabras were made of dark iron. Everything was dark, but it didn’t made her uncomfortable, in fact, she liked it. Something about it reminded her of the life she was born in and hidden from. She walked towards the main stairs, trying to remember where Taemin’s room was, when a voice called her from behind. She quickly turned around, only to see Taemin standing shirtless and barefooted under a door frame.

Chaerin smiled and crooked her head, she hadn’t noticed Taemin tattooed himself, his chest had a few, his upper arms had another, a pattern of tribal in the form of a serpent almost reaching his neck. She gulped as she saw her younger cousin for the first time like that. He had grown, he wasn’t the skinny man anymore, he had grown muscles, and the tattoos made him look badass, mature and even dangerous. She walked towards him, her stilettos making loud noises on the marbled floor. “Dad changed his office, now’s this way.” He said when she got close to him. She smiled and nodded.

“It’s been a long time since I set foot in this house.” She said and Taemin chuckled.

“I know.” He said and turned around, gesturing her to follow him. She did, not forgetting to take a good look at the house. It was completely different. They were walking through a place that had sofas and tables all around it, a place she remember it to be the dining room, with a long dining table and loads of chairs. The walls were decorated with dark portraits, and again, the same candelabras made with the dark iron. Taemin opened one set of doors, one that led to the guest’s rooms, she remembered staying there countless times.

“The guest’s rooms?” Chaerin said and Taemin shook his head.

“Offices now, father joined two rooms and made his office, then the remaining room became a place of meetings. As you can see, the whole first floor is made for visits.” Taemin said as he stopped in front of a door Chaerin remembered to be her room. He knocked softly on it and waited. Chaerin furrowed her eyebrows at the ceremony he had to do for his father to answer him. She remembered that, whenever Taemin needed his father, he just needed to burst into his office and Sooman would pay his attention to his son. Now, it seemed so ethical, so formal and so polite it gave her nausea.

After a few seconds, the door opened and a man in a black suit peeked his head out. Chaerin looked at Taemin, and her eyes almost widened as she saw Taemin glaring at the man. “Taemin, your father’s busy at the moment.”

“Tell him Chaerin’s here.” Taemin said in a menacing tone. Chaerin frowned too, not wanting to give them a reason to think she was weak. The man eyed Chaerin from head to toe, and nodded, walking back into the office, leaving the door opened. Chaerin looked to the inside through the small gap of the door. She saw Sooman talking on his phone, writing things down. The man stood in front of the desk, and Sooman looked at him with a frown. The man spoke to him, and Sooman looked at the door. He looked directly at Chaerin, and not to her surprise, he didn’t smiled, simply nodded and continued talking on the phone.

The man went back to them and opened the door wide. “Come in.” He said and Taemin nodded, walking in first. Chaerin followed him, looking at the office in front of her. It was different, completely remodeled. The doors she once drew on were painted in white, and the beds and vanity were replaced by sofas, a T.V. and a desk, all in black.

Taemin moved to sit in one of the sofas as Chaerin walked in slowly. Sooman said his last words on the phone and ended the call, looking at both Chaerin and Taemin with a frown. He lifted his index finger and nodded, clearly looking pissed. “That little act of yesterday; that was unforgivable.” He said. Chaerin gulped as she moved to sit next to Taemin. “And to top it all, after calling Jaerin a , you disappear, making a scene and injuring her. What is wrong with you?” He said, pointing an accusing finger at them, but none of them talked.

“I wonder, if there’s something you need? Money perhaps?” He said again, and again, none of them talked, just looked at him, then at their hands. “Answer me!” Sooman yelled, slapping the desk. Chaerin jumped a slight bit, looking back at him again.

“No, there’s nothing I need.” She said. Sooman nodded and rested his back on his chair.

“Great, because there’s something I need from you.” He said, and Chaerin raised an eyebrow, looking at him with caution.

“And what is that?” She said, her voice firm, yet she was completely uncomfortable on the inside.

“Your father and I have been arranging some issues a long time ago. Our company may fall in the wrong hands if we don’t reinforce our people. That’s why we have been working on an alliance with one of the most powerful families in Korea.” He explained, and Chaerin nodded, not giving one divine about what he was talking about. “Truth is, there’s no other way to make that alliance than to make it like old times.”

“Old times?” Taemin scoffed. He was glaring at his father, but his father seemed unaffected by it.

“Old times.” Sooman said. “We need to fulfill our promise to an arranged marriage. Kijin and I have decided this long ago, and now, it’s time we fulfill our promise.”

“Marriage arrangement?” Chaerin echoed.

“There’s no woman in the immediate Kim’s family, only males.” Taemin said, and Sooman smiled nodding.

“I am not planning on getting you married, Taemin. It’s Chaerin the one who’s getting married. She’s old enough to maintain the Lee name, and she will fulfill her duty, her father wanted it this way.”

“Me? Married?” She said, a hand over her chest, showing a clear expression of disbelieve. Sooman nodded smiling.

“It is time you settle young girl, and what’s best than getting married?” Sooman said, grabbing some papers. He stood up and walked towards her, handing them to her. She looked at the papers, and saw the picture of the man that spoke in her father’s funeral, Kim Jonghyun.

“I won’t do this.” She said, throwing the papers on the coffee table in front of her.

“This is mental father, you can’t force her to get married to someone she doesn’t knows.”

“I know him, and it’s more than enough. We all have to make sacrifices for our families. I did mine, now it’s your turn. Taemin, it’s time you start taking responsibilities as well. You can’t keep fooling around without paying consequences. This is final, so you better get prepared, the wedding’s being planned right now.”

The hair was getting tangled around his fingers as he continued to pull it. No matter how hard he tried, nothing could come out of his mind. It was as if it was completely blocked with an invisible brick wall. The pencil lead had been broken more than seven times already, and his patience was running low.

With a soft scream, he scratched the paper and threw it on the floor, letting out all the air in his lungs as he rested his back on the chair. He wasn’t like this, he never had this creative block before, and he needed to work. Too much time has been taken from his daily life, and he had to get it all back, yet nothing else but her name came to his mind. “I see you haven’t had any luck today.” Youngbae said as he walked into the studio, picking up the pieces of paper Jiyong had scattered all around the studio.

“No, no matter how hard I try, nothing seems to work.” Jiyong confessed as he continued to scratch his head. Youngbae chuckled and sat on top of the desk, setting the paper he had just picked up back on the table.

“I think you’re just avoiding the meeting with your father.” Youngbae said, and Jiyong scoffed.

“Like I would care.” He said and turned around, grabbing another pencil and putting it on top of a white sheet, without any thoughts of writing anything.

“He’ll come here if you don’t go there. Don’t let him get near your workplace.” Youngbae said and Jiyong nodded, scribbling meaningless words on the paper. He looked at them, and scoffed again, throwing the paper aside.

“I’ll go now, let’s get over this.” Jiyong said, quickly standing up. Youngbae smirked and nodded, grabbing a scattered sheet of paper from the desk.

“This is actually pretty good, considering the fact that’s talking about your latest killing.” Youngbae said, handing Jiyong the lyrics. Jiyong smirked and chuckled, grabbing the paper. He read it, a philosophical way of telling the world how he enjoyed torturing men, telling the world in a poetical way how he cut fingers out and made the man bleed until an almost imminent death, just before he put a bullet on his head.

“I can be so poetic.” He said and put the paper inside of his notebook, then put it on his drawer and grabbed his black, leathered jacket. Youngbae stood up, taking out a gun from his belt.

“This is yours.” Youngbae said, handing Jiyong his golden gun. Jiyong grabbed it and looked at it, a smirk on his face as he looked at the carved Dragon.

“This is a curse.” He said and put the gun on his belt. “One curse I have to carry until the day I die.”

“Tell me about it.” Youngbae scoffed as he walked out. Jiyong looked at him as he got out of the studio. Neither he nor Youngbae were tall, but they looked huge dressed in leather, especially Youngbae, who was as intimidating as he looked. He scoffed again, and walked after Youngbae, already counting in his head, trying to make the minutes go by faster, until the moment he would need to face his father. He wasn’t in the mood neither did he wanted to see him. He knew what would happen, he knew his father would tell him there was no other way out, and would make him do the impossible. He was as predictable like that, and Jiyong was starting to hate him for that.

All his admiration vanished the moment his task was set upon his eyes, and no matter how much he tried to reason with his inner self, there was no way he could make such an inhuman move. She was something else, and he had found that special thing with her that no one could give him. And that was probably why his lyrics were coming out so sadist, with feeling of bloodlust and hatred. He wanted to kill, but it wasn’t his target anymore. And if nothing came out the way he wanted, he wouldn’t hesitate in changing targets. That much they owed him.

Gily's Notes: I was intending to make this chapter longer, but I think this is long enough. Next one I hope it'll be longer! Right now, I think I'm hallucinating already! Forced my body to stay awake for 20 hours after more than 5 days of lacking sleep... I guess I can't keep on any longer... Jiyong's distorting in my mind and the bloody and sadistic side of me is wanting to come out... we have to force it to stay in... for now...

Anyways, I hope you're enjoying this... I know you hate Sooman, but I don't... Soon you'll know why. We still have loads of things to go through, and I think this will come out longer than I thought. I hope not, I don't like to read long stories, I know you guys don't either...

Hope you'll stay with me until the end, and I love you all dearly. 

And... this is it, so, bye now!

Happy Reading ~

Gily ♥