"After them, all of you!", Taemin shouted with a voice that made every man in the room quake in fear with its authority. Even the drunk men jumped to their feet in an instant pursuit, but with so many men in the crowd a confusion arose. The prisoners had disappeared in the crowd, and were long gone from their hideout before clearer heads took over. Kneeling in agony, Taemin bit his tongue while his hand clamped tightly over where the bullet had pierced his side. His second in command, Taejun, came to his aid. Taejun lifted him and rushed out to where one of the only few doctors in Seoul, yet the greatest one of them all, Dr. Kim Jongdae, resided.

Taejun burst into the doctor's office, which was also his operating room, and set Taemin down on the table. "Fix him now! He better live or I'll have your goddamn head, you hear me?!", he ordered as he pulled a gun on the doctor, who hadn't even arose from his desk yet. Jongdae nodded calmly, and went over to the table where Taemin lay. Silently, he examined him, then quickly went to work with hands that seemed to be using magic with their speed and skill, not to mention grace. The bullet flew threw the air once Dr. Kim had swiftly removed it. Nurse Xiumin came in after hearing the commotion. He too went straight to work as if it was any other normal work day for them.

Many hours after being watched under the demanding eye of Taejun, the doctor and nurse finally stepped back from the body on the table. All that could be done had been done. "It was close, but he'll live. He'll need to take painkillers until the wound has healed, which I'm sure is no problem for you to get given your questionable line of work.... And, he mustn't stray from bed. I know I can't keep him here for observation, but just keep an eye on him. Too much movement could reopen the wound that I've done my best to stitch. He could bleed to death if it opens up again", Jongdae warned him as Taejun left with the unconscious Taemin in his arms just as quickly as they'd come.

Xiumin shuddered when they left, letting out a sigh of relief as he took off the mask of calm he'd put on while they were under threat by the scariest gang around. "We could've let him die you know. His buddy must've known his condition was critical, so we could've done minimal effort and acted like there was just nothing to be done. Then the gang's reign would've been over. We wouldn't have to live in fear anymore Jongdae, no one would. Why did you work so hard to help him? Why did you strive to preserve his life?", He asked as he cleaned off the doctor's work table, and sterilized his instruments.

"Yes, we could've let him die, but that wouldn't necessarily end anyone's suffering. Someone would only take his place at the helm. That person might even be worse than Taemin, more merciless and aggressive, or a more gentle soul. Either way, it is not for us to condemn people to their demise. Our job is to do the best we can to prevent deaths of any kind, and if death prevails then so be it, but we are not to throw away lives for our own benefits or the benefits of others", Jongdae answered in a cold tone that was quite unusual for him. Xiumin had never heard him sound so serious before. The doctor had always been so cheerful and happy despite any situation. Xiumin lowered his head timidly as though he had just been greatly scolded. Then he left once everything was tidy again.

Taemin gasped for air once he finally awoke, sitting up quickly as he took a fighting stance. Luna, his pet tiger, laid in her bed beside his. Her ears perked up when her master awoke with a fright, but she didn't seem all that concerned. Taemin scanned the room, then dropped his arms as he relaxed. He laid back down amongst the soft silk bedding draped over his mattress. His brows furrowed in frustration when he remembered the events that had transpired earlier. "Making me look like a fool in front of my men... Huang Zitao.... He won't get away again", he muttered with anger and determination piercing through his words. Then he gripped the sheets a bit. When he had suddenly sat up it made his side ache a little, so he rested for a while. He stared blankly at the ceiling while devising plans for capturing Tao and getting his organization back in order.

A bout of bullets roared through the street that lead to Taemin's mansion. Every muscle in Luna's body tensed as she growled lowly to alert her master. However, he had already jumped to his feet despite the pain in his side. "What is it now?", he asked, his voice now dull with a hint of annoyance in the tone. Taemin furiously ripped open the curtains, but relaxed soon after looking out the window. What he discovered quite surprised him, changing his expression quickly to one of deep interest. His lips played into a smirk while one of great familiarity strapped to the back of a white tiger shot those that stood in their way. Taemin laughed a little and watched men being cut down in the streets with little effort. When the duo reached the main gate of his estate, he yelled down through the open window,"Let them in without harm", to the guards below, who looked very uneasy about the presence of the strange pair. "Ah, Luhan it is good to see you again", Taemin rejoiced when the visitor and his tiger were brought to his chambers. The white tiger disregarded Taemin and went straight for Luna. He laid down beside her, nuzzling his head affectionately against hers.

"It's good to see you too, Taemin. You don't look like you're doing too well though. I could smell your blood from the other side of town", Luhan remarked as he hugged Taemin gently. He could tell that Taemin must be hurting somewhere on his torso by the way the other so cautiously hugged him.

"I'm doing very well. My men, however, are not doing too well. A few of them got caught in that mess of the streets you just made out there you know", Taemin chided lightly.

Luhan looked out the window, smirking slightly as he admired his work. Red was splattered here and there throughout the streets. The cold eyes of the men that he'd just slaughtered all seemed to be fixed on him. He returned their gaze with a just as icy stare. Luhan would lose no sleep, nor feel even a flutter of guilt for what he had done. He never had felt remorse for a kill, and believed that he never would. "It's been ages since I killed anyone. I just wanted to have a little fun, make a show of my entrance as well. This territory is new to me. I simply wished to strike a little fear into the hearts of men, so that there will be no confusion or doubts of my capabilities for future reference.

Taemin pulled back from the embrace to bring Luhan's hand to his lips for a gentle kiss to its back. "Well, I believe the men are fearful enough now. Although, it was quite amusing to watch. It looked as if the guards were to run off to their mothers when you approached the gate", Taemin said with a chuckle as he remembered the looks of the guards just before he ordered the gate be opened for Luhan.

Luhan's cheeks turned a soft rose when Taemin's lips grazed his hand. He could kill a man in a second without hesitation, but there had always been a soft spot for Taemin in his heart. Most likely it was there because they had grown up together. "You've changed so much since you left our home. So much stronger, handsomer, and manlier you've become since then. I never imagined that you'd make such an impression such as this. When I had heard you ran things in Seoul and was living it up in luxury all this time I thought the man who told me a liar. I guess I shot him for nothing then....", Luhan said softly as reminisced about the past that Taemin had shared with him.

Taemin brought out some glasses and a bottle from a cabinet of his personal favorites he kept next to his dresser. "It was home to you, but not to me. That's why I'm honestly very surprised you've come to see me. Why did you leave the compound? Did you finally see the flaw in its design?", he questioned as he popped the cork from the bottle, then poured them each a glass, watching as another red filled the glasses.

"I came to find you of course. I missed you terribly Taemin, and wondered if you might come back with me. It's such a bore to live there. Everything is carefully regulated, and nothing can be done without permission. It was so much more fun when we terrorized the play day and night with lighthearted tomfoolery. I miss those days, and often wished that I could turn back the clock. Now that I see what you've built here though, I understand that your answer will be no. You're really so lucky to have come to such power. Again I wish, I had wished that I might see the same power one day as well, the power to command a civilization. Oh what I would give to change the rules of the game once and for all", Luhan replied with a grin as excitement sparked a fire inside him.

Taemin offered Luhan a glass with a casual remark,"Perhaps it is best that you leave the leading to me before you get too ahead of yourself, hm?".

Luhan took the glass with a smile, and clinked their glasses,"I see that you've really become one with the higher class now. I hope that this doesn't mean you've gone soft. We still have that agreement in place you know. I plan to hold you to it", he sipped the wine slowly, savoring the taste as it washed over his tongue.

"I wouldn't break a promise to you even if the world was ending", Taemin said confidently and took a seat on the leather loveseat in front of the foot of his bed.

Rather pleased with Taemin's response, Luhan joined him on the loveseat. "Good, then I want you to do it tomorrow", he said after finishing off his glass fairly quickly.

Taemin's eyes widened with surprise as he looked over at Luhan. "Tomorrow? But you've only just arrived.... I did not agree to do this so soon....", Taemin strongly protested the idea.

Luhan sighed and set his glass down on the coffee table,"You agreed to do it before I got old. Well, I'm not getting any younger tomorrow", he said as he frowned.

Taemin brought Luhan quickly into his lap. "What is it that ails you so that you must come to me seeking the fulfillment of such a promise? Are you sick? Have you gone mad? Or.... Has the weight of your killings finally sunk into you? You are still young, Luhan, and you'll still be young tomorrow. You'll be a day older, but still within the appropriate range of a young man", he asked him many questions, because he was so startled by the suddenness of their arrangement to be executed.

"No, I am not sick, nor mad, nor guilty. I am simply tired. I wish to rest with those I have tucked in. Already, I have made my bed, and now I wish to lay in it. That is the true purpose for my visit. It can and will only be you that does it. Taemin, please, I want you to kill me"