Narrative:

Rin ran.

She needed to draw them away from where Chanwoo was. His safety was of upmost priority. There was a gunshot and she heard the bullet fly past her ear making her stumble as her heart almost stopped. Any closer, she would have died. She picked herself up immediately and ran, she could hear them coming up to her. Her heart was beating against her ribs, it’s been a while since she was in a ‘battle’. Fear rose from inside of her, who wouldn’t be fearful. There were about fifteen men chasing after you, fully armed. She didn’t have any weapons, it felt like a hunt. She was the prey and they were the hunters.

“Please.” She breathed out heavily as she reached a dead end. Turning around, she realised that she wasn’t far from where Chanwoo was. She made a round and she was back to where she was at the start. Standing there, the men stopped running and circled her as they panted a little. She watched them carefully as she caught her breathe. Rin had to be calm in this situation, the odds are against her.

“I did it once, I can do it again.” she told herself. She took out ten people before so fifteen should be okay. Slowly, Rin backed away and they followed. Her eyes were scanning for a weapon that she could use. There weren’t in sight, it was just an empty area. It was then one of them lunged at her. Almost instantly, she defended herself. Her body remembers very well and she went with the flow, dodging and defending. She tried to hold out for as long as she can, it wasn’t easy. She was panting after about five minutes of fighting. She was losing strength. She grabbed the arm of the male in front of her and bend it backwards making him yelp in pain. Then someone grabbed her from behind, strangling her. It made her let go of the male in front of her. She grabbed the arm around her neck and struggled, she could feel becoming tighter and air couldn’t pass through. Her vision was becoming blur and she elbowed the man in his stomach as hard as she could. He grunted in pain and she continued to do that. She stepped on his feet making him loosen his grip from the combination. She quickly pushed him off her as she gasp for air.

She was thrown into a fit of coughs as air entered her lungs, her vision was blurred from the tears. She fell as she tried to catch her breathe. Having her hands tied was a huge disadvantage for her, she needed to get the rope off. Quickly, Rin stood up and stood in a stance, preparing for any attacks. She had her back towards where Chanwoo was hidden, if they wanted him, they had to go through her.

The men just walked towards her and cracks from their necks and knuckles could be heard in the quiet room. Rin knew that she doesn’t have the strength to fight all of them, she knew that this was suicide in a way but she was willing to take that chance. All she hoped was that her brothers would find Chanwoo soon. When she was slightly distracted by her thoughts, they attacked at her marking the start of round 2. She couldn’t attack, not with her hands tied up. All she did was defend. She threw in kicks and twisted their hands making them howl in pain. Her energy was draining away fast as beads of sweat and blood rolled down her face and back, her hair was drenched and it stuck onto her face.

Three down, twelve to go. She mentally told herself, she had to hang on. One of the man grabbed her by her hands and spun her around before letting go, she stumbled into several crates that broke under her weight. Pain exploded in her ribs and back and she hissed in pain. That same man grabbed her and pulled her out violently making the broken wooden pieces scratch her sides, he then pushed her against the wall roughly knocking the air out of her lungs.

“Not so tough are you?” he slapped her repeatedly and she tasted blood in . Just then, a loud bang resonated throughout the area and all of them whipped their heads towards the entrance and she took this chance to get out from that man’s grip by kicking him in the stomach before rolling sideways. Sitting up, she spat out blood, she didn’t like the taste and it made her queasy.

“Who the hell-“ That person never got to finish his sentence as he was kicked backwards. The others turned towards the intruders and that gave Rin some time to recuperate. She couldn’t see who they were as her vision was blurred with tears due to pain. She only knew that the men were getting their butts kicked. Her head pounded from the noise and pain as she grabbed unto the wall for stability, through her blurred vision, she made out a figure running towards her. She was brought into warm arms, her face buried into a chest.

“Oh my god, thank goodness!” He breathed out and wrapped his arms around her lightly. “Are you okay?”

“Chanwoo…” she whispered as she leaned into his embrace.

“We will get him. Rin, look at me.” he tilt her chin upwards and she stared at his handsome face. His eyebrows immediately furrowed together at the sight of her cuts. “Those bastards.” He cursed softly.

“Sunbae...” she looked past his shoulder and saw the other two fighting against those men. The two of them lock eyes with her and nodded in acknowledgement.

“Don’t worry, we came when the twins called. Let’s get you out of these and out of here.” he took out a Swiss knife and cut the ropes. The ropes dropped onto the floor and revealed red and bruised skin. The rope ate into her skin leaving it peeling. “Let’s go.” He held her hand. Rin looked at the scene, somehow, it seemed that the men multiplied and we were obviously outnumbered.

The nearby men attacked them and he pulled her behind him. Swiftly, he took them down and held Rin’s hand.

“Stay close to me, and take this.” He handed her weapons, a gun and a dagger. “For safety purposes.” He smiled a little. More of them noticed them and attacked, they were dead set in wanting her dead.

“Se Rin, let’s do it like what we do during training.” He got into his stance and she stood next to him, back against back. It’s been a long time since she last trained with him. She smiled unknowingly and got ready as well. “Don’t worry, I’ll look out for you.” he turned to her and winked. “Are you ready?”

“Myungsoo oppa, when am I not ready?” together, they fought the men, she was tired but that didn’t stop her. She noticed that the more they fought, the more men there were, by now, there were definitely around twenty-five of them or maybe more, she lost count.

Where are they popping out from? She thought.

The four of them grew tired from the continuous fighting from that short span of time. It was not because of their stamina was low, but because of the number of men kept growing. It was never ending. She got pushed against the wall and she kicked the man in the stomach making him grunt in pain. Grabbing his arm, she twisted it and stab his knees with her foot from the back, he came crumbling. With a last kick in the head, he laid on the floor knocked out cold.

Standing up straight, she panted and staggered towards the other three who were equally as tired as her, only to be pulled backwards. She let out a shout and they looked at her. She was being held by her hair. Rin’s hands flew behind and tried to grab the person but she only came in contact with the cold hard floor. She felt like her head was placed in between two cymbals and pain rippled through her head as she saw patches of black.

She gasped in pain as they rain kicks on her, they kicked her stomach, her head, everywhere and her whole body was in pain. Her gun flew out and landed a distance from her. As a form of defence, she curled her body as close hoping that this wasn’t the end. They stopped when she coughed out blood and shook in pain, Rin was having difficulty breathing, her lungs hurt.

“STOP!” A voice filled the room. She heard footsteps and more grunts of pain. She tried looking up but she couldn’t see clearly. Rin laid there as her breaths came out short and fast, blood flowed out from and down her chin to her neck.

“RIN!” he called out to her and she looked towards the direction, a white figure was running towards her only to be stopped by the men. She swear that they just keep coming out like they were produced here. “RIN!” she struggled to lift herself up, her arms couldn’t hold her weight. The sound of grunts, shouts and hits slowly decreased, the fight was coming to an end. She propped up her arm and sit to sit up which led to a series of coughs. Blood flowed out and she wiped it away with the back of her hand.

“Enough of this nonsense.” She heard and someone pulled her up roughly, she could tell that it was a guy. One of his arm rested on her chest and the other held a gun. He shot the air and the whole place turned quiet. She struggled to break free from his grip. “One more move, I’ll kill you.”

“Go ahead.” She spat. She wasn’t afraid, she did after all died multiple times.

“NO! DON’T TOUCH HER!” she looked up and saw Kris looking right at her. He was fuming mad, he struggled to get out of the grips of the guards around him. She looked eyes with him and breathed out. He was okay, he wasn’t hurt. Then next to him was someone she has been waiting to see. He looked completely out of it, he was pale and shocked. She noticed those eye bags and his sunken cheeks, she couldn’t help but wonder how much he has gone through.

“What do you want from me?” she asked, her voice was raspy.

“Nothing, I just have orders to kill you and I get a hefty sum of money.”

“If you get caught, you do know that you won’t be able to escape the time inside a square room.” she scoff as her eyes remained on the group of people in a distance. Like Lay, they couldn’t believe their eyes. They saw her disappear into flames but her she is, perfectly fine. Well perfectly fine would be an understatement since she was hurt and badly beaten up but she was alive.

“I’ve been guaranteed a free life after this.” he snickered and held her tighter making her wince in pain.

“Let her go.” Daeryong walked towards her and something poked at my back. She knew what it was.

“Don’t move or I’ll shoot!” Daeryong stopped walking and he froze there, his eyes were filled with worry. He was about to take another step when Rin shook her head slowly.

“Chanwoo.” She said loud enough for them to hear her and looked at the direction where he was. She stared at that area, her baby was alone and scared. Daeryong asked one of them to go and he pulled Chanwoo out. His cries filled the place and tears filled her eyes. She stared at her son who was crying, a mother’s instinct would be to run to her child and comfort him. But she couldn’t. “Chanwoo…” she breathed out and struggled, her baby needed her. Her body jerked forward as she let out a shout. All their eyes widened as blood flowed down from her waist.

“RIN!” Kris shouted with tears in his eyes. He hated that he couldn’t protect her, he hated it. He has seen her die in front of him so many times, he couldn’t bear to watch it happen again. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she gasped. Taking in deep breathes didn’t help, hearing his cries only added onto the pain she is experiencing. She wanted him to stop crying, it wasn’t like him. Chanwoo rarely cries. As if he heard her thoughts, Kris turned and walked to the person carrying Chanwoo.

“Baby.” he called out softly making Chanwoo look at him.

“APPA!” he cried out and hugged him. Kris buried his face into Chanwoo’s shoulder, mumbling words of comfort.

“It’s okay, appa is here now.” he whispered as tears escaped. He looked at Rin who could barely stand looking back at them with tears. The knocked out men around her started to wake up and they were now walking towards the group. Rin knew that she had to do something.

“Why?” she stared ahead at the lady standing there. Next to her was a shocked looking Xue in her lovely white wedding gown. Now Rin knew who she was, and she slowly pieced things together. “If she wants me dead, she could have just come to me and do it herself. Is she scared? Scared that the law will catch up with her and she doesn’t want to get her hands dirty? Do you think she will let you go free? There are government officers here in this room. Do you think you will be free after seeing what you did to me?” she spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, the man behind her tensed when he heard that there were government officers here. If he was smart enough, he should know that he was in deep . Her hand ran down her side and touched the handle, she grip onto it tightly.

“What are you talking about?” he snarled and pressed her wound making her shut her eyes from the pain. “Don’t spout nonsense.” From his voice she could tell that he was starting to panic.

“Nonsense?” Rin let out a derisive laughter. “What makes you think I’m joking?” her tone turned cold. She just glared ahead at the lady as she spoke. What she was going to say would be aimed at her.

“The one that wants me dead, this is probably the only way she can think off. Using underhand methods to get what she wants, to get things she doesn’t deserve. People like this, do you think they will support you, a mere hit man? If you think that they will, I’m sorry to say but you are so wrong. They would just dump you to fend for yourself or even get rid of you. Think about it, for that amount of money to kill someone, do you think it’s worth it?”

Rin started to see things spinning, her head was getting light from blood lost. Yet, she spoke clearly and with authority. Her breaths became slow and her eyelids were drooping. She heard him reloading the gun and whipped up her dagger, stabbing him from the front. He let out a yell and she stomped on his foot making him release her. Quickly, she kicked the gun out of his hand and it dropped a distance from him. She glared at him and he stumbled backwards while holding unto his wound.

“You should never have gotten into business like this and you should never mess with me.” His eyes were filled with fear and pain. He fell unto his knees and Rin bend down slowly and picked up the gun. “If I were you, I’ll surrender. That way I can get a shorter sentence.” Shooting him one last glance and spoke softly. “At least you will live.”

“Don’t listen to her.” a voice cut through the silence and everyone turned to her. “Kill her, you will get your money.”

“Mama….” Luhan spoke for the first time. “What are-“

“I said kill her!” she raised her voice and the other men started moving towards Rin.

“If you TOUCH her, you have to DEAL with me!” Luhan shouted and the men stopped moving. It made Rin turn around. He stared back at her with remorse filled eyes.

“Why do you want to kill me so much?” Rin asked her as she took a step forward. “Is it because I’m taking away something from you? I’m taking a business away from you?” her body felt heavy but she forged her way forward. From the corner of her left eye, she saw the twins signalling. They had something up and she needed to stall time for them.

“I’m only doing this for my daughter’s happiness.”

“Really? Happiness by killing?” Rin started to laugh, pain spread but she didn’t care. She stared at Xue making her flinch. “Your daughter’s happiness…..would she be happy if someone dies on her wedding day because of her? Would you Lu Xue Hwa?” The girl gulped. The way Rin called her was cold and almost merciless. She knew what Rin could do and didn’t replay due to fear.

“If you kill me, you will regret it. You will also lose your biggest shareholder, your business will go downhill immediately.” The lady clenched her jaw.

“What makes you think like that?”

“Because if I die, my family will never let you get away with it. NEVER.” She emphasised on that word.

“What does your family do?” she scoffed. “You don’t know who you are dealing with. You don’t even know who I am.”

“Mama!” Luhan went over to her not before glancing at Rin.

“You think I don’t know who you are?” the lady’s eyes widen when Rin spoke in Chinese. “You already gave Xue everything, everything that should have been mine. You took my life away from me, she became the youngest, she was spoilt with affections from my relatives, and she became me! YOU TOOK AWAY MY LIFE AND MY FAMILY! Now you want to take away the last thing that is mine? I won’t let you.” Rin glared at Xue. Breathing became difficult for her, she held onto her wound. “You can have my money, my clothes, my status but you can’t have MY FAMILY AND MY MAN. I WON’T let you take them away from me.”

“Who are you?”

“I was the one who spilled juice on your first set of branded clothes and because of that, you shouted at me. Are you sure you don’t remember me, auntie?” It took them a while to grasp unto the situation and when they did, their eyes eyes widened in shock.

“Can’t believe it huh, me neither.” Rin let out a laugh, she started to feel light headed. “If you kill me, my family won’t let you off the hook because you killed the youngest of the Zhang family.”

Rin now stood nearer to them, the lady and Xue were in shock. The missing daughter of the Zhang’s was standing in front of them alive, never in their life did they think that they will see her again. From the side, she saw movement on the right and she immediately lifted her hand before pulling the trigger. The man fall clenching unto his shoulder, she shot him without turning. She didn’t noticed it until she shot the person behind her for the same reason; they were moving in on her, her vision broaden a lot, she could see how wide the place was and she saw every single person in the room from left to right. It was then that she realised that she could see from her right eye.

She didn’t have time to celebrate as someone moved from behind her. She swiftly turned and shot the person at one glance. She didn’t kill them, but she did injured them so that they will be in pain. Before anyone else could move towards her, she pointed the gun towards Xue.

“One more move from anyone, she will have a bullet in her head.” no one moved and the lady’s eyes widen in fear as Xue started to cry. Staring right at the lady who is her auntie, she said. “Don’t you dare try take what’s mine again, try it once more and I guarantee that you won’t have a daughter anymore.” She shifted her gaze towards the young lady. “Xue, go and find your own man, someone who will love you for who you are. Don’t take what belongs to others, you will only suffer.”

“But…I love him!”

“But he doesn’t! You have no idea what I went through to be with him, all those years, those lives every time it ends up in a mess.” Rin’s voice started to shake, it dropped in volume.

“I won’t give up on Kris.” she said firmly. Rin started to sway a little, her head was light and her body felt heavy. The floor was calling for her.

“YI FAN, HE’S. MINE.”

“No, he is-“ Rin didn’t give her time to finish her sentence when she pulled the trigger. The bullet flew past Xue, barely missing her. Her auntie let out a shout as Xue fell just like that and grabbed her daughter to see if she was hurt.

“Don’t touch what’s mine.” The twins made their way over to them and surrounded. The other men were rounded up by her seniors as she was talking to them. They did it fast to avoid any other injuries.

That was it. It had ended. Rin dropped her hand and her legs gave way.

“Mei!” she came in contact with the hard floor, everything was spinning and she began to see patches of black and red. Someone pulled her carefully into their arms, she could recognise that scent. It made her smile a little.

“R-Rin, oh my god.” He held her tightly as he hugged her.

“Yifan….” She whispered.

“Shhh, don’t talk. Save your energy.” She heard shouting in the back ground and caught on the word paramedics.

“Yi Ning.” she turned slightly and looked at Lay, he was crying.

“Gege.” She breathed out weakly, it made him cry more. Holding her hand tightly, brought it to his chest as he cried. He didn’t need to say anything, he missed her a lot. “Xing xing, don’t cry.” he looked up at her and she touched his cheeks softly. She missed his handsome face, her brother’s warmth. She started to cough and vomited blood, Kris tense as Lay’s eyes widened.

“Where is the doctor?” Lay hollered and took her hands in his. Her pulse was weak, really weak. Taking off his jacket, he ripped his dress shirt and wrapped it around her wound. He had to stop the bleeding. He covered her with his jacket and looked at her. She was really pale, she lost too much blood.

“Ning, you have to hang in there!”

“Yifan,” she called out. Her hand reached out and touched his cheeks. That feeling of having him with her was just indescribable. “Byunghun said okay. Eonnie too.”

“Okay, that’s good.” He whispered and her breath hitched.

“I-I love you.”

“Me too, stay with me!” he looked down at her. “Don’t close your eyes, Yi ning, talk to me!”

“I’m tired…let me rest a while.” she snuggled into his chest and her eyes dropped dangerously.

“Mei? Don’t sleep, fight it!”

“Babe?” Kris called her but there wasn’t any response. The paramedics came in with their equipment. “Rin?” he shook her gently, she didn’t respond.

“YI NING?” he shouted and fear filled him as Lay placed his shaking fingers to her neck. The both of them were hoping that the worst won’t be happening.

“I-I c-can’t find i-it….I can’t f-find it.” Lay stuttered, he was shaking too much he couldn’t find her pulse. The paramedics came hooked her up to the potable machines they had.

“Her heart is beating but it’s really weak. We need to go to the hospital immediately. Kris and Lay followed them to the ambulance, and Kris climbed on board. Chanwoo cried out for him and he carried him.

“I’ll meet you at the hospital. Take care of her.” Lay said and he ran off to the car.

The ambulance sped down the roads and Kris held her hand tightly. He saw the rope burn he had and his heart ached. He made her go through pain again. He reached out and held her hand in his, she was so cold.

“Hang in there, Ning.”

They all stood outside the operating theatre, worry was painted on their faces. Kris sat there with Chanwoo in his arms, the boy was sniffing away. Once Chanwoo was in Kris’s arms, he didn’t let go. He held unto his life, he didn’t want him to leave again. To Kris, Chanwoo was his only comfort. He knew how much the boy meant to Rin, he hugged him tighter as the boy shivered in his arms.

“Hyung, we should bring him for a check-up.”

“Huh?” he looked at Kai with an empty look.

“That kid, he should have a check-up. In case he has trauma or something.”

“Oh, okay.” He was about to stand up when Kai placed his hand on his shoulder preventing him from standing.

“I’ll bring him. You wait for Rin.” he tapped the little boy’s shoulder. “Hello, my name is Jongin. Can you follow uncle for a while? We will come back before your eomma comes out.” the boy looked at him then to Kris, who nodded his head. He lifted his arms and Kai carried him towards the doctors.

“Can you explain?” Chen asked.

“I found her two weeks ago.” Kris said softly. “I saw her walking around and approached her. She didn’t recognise me. It wasn’t until I stayed in her house then I found out that she lost all her memories from her brothers. She couldn’t remember me.” he rested his head in his hands. “I wanted to make her remember me but there wasn’t a definite way, I just wanted to with her. I can’t lose her again.” he whispered the last sentence and cried.  

“She remembers.” Everyone looked at the twins that walked towards them. “She got back her memories.”

“W-When?”

“Before she got together with you. The night before she went to the hospital.”

“But-“

“She wanted to tell you, sooner or later she would have told you. She was scared that she has to go through the same thing all over again.” Soryong said. “She really loves you.”

“She will be fine, Rin is a strong girl. She had been through it once, she will survive the second.” Daeryong said. He turned to Luhan. “I’m sorry about what happened. They will be held in custody until her family decides what to do.”

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t know that my mother would be like this…my sister, does she have anything to do with this?”

“It seems like she didn’t know. Your mother seems to be the main person behind it. That includes Kris’s kidnapping as well.”

“I don’t know what to say….” he trailed off and inside he was feeling extremely guilty.

“It’s not your fault.” Lay placed his hand on his shoulder. “Just wait for mei. I don’t think she will press charges. They are family.”

“But after what they did to her-“

“She won’t. Yi ning isn’t like this. Trust me.”

After another 20 minutes, the doctor came out and everyone scrambled towards him.

“Are you her family?” they all nodded. “You brought her in just in time, any later we would have lost her. Broken ribs, gun wound, internal bleeding and blood loss. The bullet barely missed her organs and her right lung was punctured due to the fractured bones. Tonight will be crucial, if she can pass to night then she should be okay. All I can say is that we did our best, now it’s up to her.”

“Can we see her?” Lay asked.

“She is currently being wheeled into the ICU. It only allows one visitor at a time but visiting hours are over. You can watch her from outside.” The doctor bowed and walked away. He stopped in his tracks and turned to them. “I’m not sure if I should tell you this but she is a strong girl. Her heart actually stopped a few times inside but it appeared almost immediately after it went dead. Her determination to live is strong.” He smiled and left.  

Everyone didn’t say anything. No one was celebrating yet, she still had to pass the night. Kris slumped on to the floor and buried his face in his hands.

“Appa!” he looked up and Chanwoo came running to him. He open his arms and wrapped them around his small body, his tears just flowed. He almost lost her again. Twice in this life, it was overwhelming. “Appa, don’t cry. Appa has Chanwoo and eomma.” That sentence made him cry more.

“I’m sorry.” he croaked. “Chanwoo ah, I’m sorry.” what surprise the people around them was that Chanwoo started to pat his back.

“Eomma will be okay. Eomma won’t leave Chanwoo and appa.” He was just a three year old boy, but he seem to understand what was happening, what the adults were talking about and what’s happening to his mother. He knew and yet, his faith in her was so strong.

“She will be okay. We have to believe in her.” Lay said and nodded. They had to believe that she will be okay.

 

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Never mess with Rin. There is only one more chapter to go! Gosh, time sure flies, the story is ending! I feel a bit sad yet happy at the same time. I hope I didn't bore you all with the story. One more chapter to go:) Hang in there, readers!

14/02/15