Eun Ah hissed when light hit her in the face as she peeled her eyes open.

It took her a while to focus on surrounding when she felt someone pressing softly on her braced arm, massaging it.

"Are you up?"

She turned her head and blinked a few times before Himchan's face came into focus. The blood was wiped from his nose, but there was still a light red staining around his upper lips.

Eun Ah groaned and slowly started to sit up.

"Careful." He rasped out.

Eun Ah propped her back against the wall and let rested her head. She winced when she felt the back of her skull throb painfully.

She looked around and frowned when she didn't recognize the room. The last thing she remembered was untying Himchan in her living room.

This wasn't her apartment.

"Where are we?" She mumbled softly.

Himchan sighed and let go of her arm. "I'm not sure. He knocked me out right after he dragged you away. I think he took us down the emergency stairway."

Eun Ah quickly slid her free arm into her sweater pocket and sighed in relief. She patted her stomach and her ankle before leaning back, at little more at ease.   

Okay, this wasn't as bad as she thought.

"Eun Ah."

She looked over at her brother who was staring at her with his eyebrows creased, "What?"

"What are you doing here? Why did you come?" His jaw was clenched as he stared her down.

Eun Ah scowled at him, "I'm not going to just leave you here."

"He obviously wants you. You're his target, do you know how dumb you are just waltzing up in here? You didn't bring back up either and let me guess, Yongguk doesn't know, does he?" He said while shaking his head.

"Ryu took my mother and my father. I'm not letting him take my brother either. Ryu said not to bring Yongguk or the cops and I wasn't going to risk breaking his rules and get you killed." She hissed as she stared straight ahead.

Himchan closed his eyes, "You let Yongguk go after Yongmi, right? I overheard Ryu talking to you on the phone about it."

"No, he didn't."

He snapped his eyes open and looked at her, wide eyed, "W-what?"

"I'm pretty sure he used a decoy to make it look like he took Yongmi to lure Yongguk away from me." She said blankly.

Himchan looked bewildered, "How do you know?"

"I called Yongmi before I came here." She muttered as she adjusted her brace.

"So why didn't you tell Yongguk?" He balked.

Eun Ah stayed silent before tilting her head up, "Because this is between me and Ryu. Yongguk's just collateral damage now. I don't need Yongguk taking charge here. I'm ending this on my own accord. He protects me so much that he would never let me get me take matters into my own hands, which is what I intend on doing. That's what I would've done 4 years ago before I met any of you and that's what I'm going to do now."

"And he would be right. You shouldn't be getting involved. It would've better if it was just me. Now he has both of children of the parents he hates." He fired back.

"No one ever asks how I feel." She whispered, brushing off his last comment.

Himchan made a face at her, "Of course they do. They're worried about you. They want to protect you. They wanted you to feel safe."

She nodded, "I know. But no one ever asks me how I feel about Ryu, one man, taking away my whole family, including you. Every horrible thing that's happened in my life was either because of him or associated to him. I think people are so worried about keeping me alive, that they forget the amount of hatred and rage I feel towards Ryu. It scares me some times. I just image killing him over and over again, watching the life fade from his eyes the same way he must've done to so many other people. When I saw your picture and Ryu's taunt I realized that this is my chance."

Himchan was stunned at the tone of her voice. It was like nothing he had ever heard before. It was dark, emotionless and blank.

It was bloody terrifying.  

"If I'm going to die, it's because I did whatever I could to take Ryu down and if Ryu dies it's going to be because of me and no one else." She growled.

Himchan gulped and looked away. It was getting unnerving to stare at her. "It's not that easy. You can't take Ryu down just by waving a gun around."

"Oh, trust me. I know."

-----

Yongguk barrelled down Eun Ah's old apartment door with his father in tow but only felt his heart drop when he stepped in.

He had never once been inside her apartment.

Junhong was here when she first met him and Daehyun came by her place to pick up her stuff when he first made her stay with them, but he, personally had never been inside.

"They're gone. There's no one here." His father said as he finished checking the rooms. Yongguk's eyes fell onto the chair that Himchan was tied  to. The ropes were left by the chair  and other than a few splotches of blood on the hardwood floor, there was no indication of the three of them every being inside.

"I called Woon." Yongguk said quietly. "I told them that Himchan and Eun Ah were taken and he's going to put some of his people on it while keeping discrete so that it doesn't affect Himchan's job."

Soo Juk turned and frowned, "Why?"

"Because I'm tired." Yongguk said, his eyes hardened over, "I'm tired of running after him on my own. We need the cops and if that means that every illegal thing I've ever done comes out in the open, then so be it. I need her and Himchan back and I'll sell myself to do it."

"Woon would never do that. He wouldn't sell you out." His father said firmly.

"We'll see." Yongguk muttered as he surveyed the area.

His father scanned his son's darkened face, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that maybe my whole relationship with her has been one prolonged case of Stockholm Syndrome."

Soo Juk snorted, "Is that a joke?"

Yongguk turned to him, his face serious, "I essentially kidnapped her 3 years ago, made her stay with me and then forced to rely on nobody but me. I took her away from her life, forcing her to marry me and implying that there was no one that could keep her alive like I could."

"And you were right."

"Was I? She was vulnerable. Everything about her life continuously its head and she was drawn to me because I was the only one protecting her and I was the only thing that seemed static in her life. She was helpless when she was dragged into our world so she put all her faith in me and that made her grow attached. She even associates finding Himchan to me because without knowing me, she'd never find him."

Soo Juk shook his head, "I'm sure there's more to it than that."

Yongguk's body started to shake as he was hit with a realization, "Every time something bad happened to her, I would instinctively shower her with affection. When she first got kidnapped, I promised I would protect her and she even thanked me for it. The first time I ever kissed her, was right after Halmoni's shop was vandalized and she was openly threatened. I kissed her again after she took down Bohye's drug ring. I told her I loved her after she was kidnapped and tortured for 2 days. She associated every horrific thing that's happened to her with love from me."

"I don't understand what you're saying." Soo Juk said with a frown.

"I think I subconsciously conditioned her to think that she wasn't safe without me. That if she tried to leave me, she wouldn't survive with all the people after her. I've forced her into a corner where I've ripped every form of her individuality and independence away from her so that she was solely dependent on me."

"This…this is sort of coming out of left field." Soo Juk said while running a hand through his greying hair.

Yongguk shook his head with a dry chuckle, "Is it, though? You should've seen the way she was when I first met her. She was loud and firey and arrogant and she never backed down from a fight. Over the course of our relationship, I stripped that away from her to the point where it was like she couldn't live or even function when she thought I was dead. Both her parents died and she managed to keep pulling forward, but when I died and it was like she was self-destructing."

"Yongguk, I know that we need to have a serious talk about what you're saying, but now isn't really the time." His father said softly, feeling guilty for putting his son's feelings on the back burner.

Yongguk looked away before walking from his father, "Yeah, you're right. Forget it."

"No." Soo Juk said strictly, yanking him back, "What you're thinking right now is serious. I'm your father but I'm not going to defend your actions, however you did what you honestly believed was right back then. Your intentions weren't to manipulate her. That being said, you are right to consider the psychological affects that being with you and the life you lead may have on her and her relationship with you. You're relationship with her hasn't been based on the most normal circumstances, but now isn't the time to think about that. We get her back and then you can rethink it."

Yongguk looked at the ground and curled and uncurled his fists, "Do you think…do you think once I get her back, that I should leave her?"

Soo Juk stared at him, not at all shocked by his statement, "Didn't you, already?"

Yongguk didn't move, "No, I mean, if I end our relationship and part ways."

Soo Juk began walking around the room, inspecting the area, "After everything you did? Isn't that waste?"

Yongguk shook his head, "No, it's not. I did everything to keep her safe. Even if I leave her, it'll all be worth it because she'll still be safe."

"Do you think that'll be easier than when she thought you were dead?"

"Yeah." Yongguk mumbled as he walked around the spot that Eun Ah was bashed over the head.

Soo Juk leaned against a table, "You're wrong. It'll be worse."

"I can't imagine how." He mumbled.

"When you died, at least she knew that you loved her. If you break up with her, she'll believe that you didn't love her and that she was a burden on you."

Yongguk shot him a look, "But she's not. She never has been."

Soo Juk shrugged, "No one thinks logically when the person you love leaves. Does that change your mind at all?"

Yongguk's face stayed emotionless, "I don't think so."

"Do