Donghae's POV:

                Kim Bum walks in, but stops when he notices I didn't move.

"... You can walk in." He encourages weakly, seems like he doesn’t really want to be here either.

"Mm" I nod. As I walk toward the killer, step by step. I've only seen him once, that last time I was here, but I've heard enough things about him to make me hate him for a lifetime.

"Hello, young man. It's nice to see you again, under our circumstances." The elder says to me as I walk towards him. I don't say a word.

"I want to let you know that you are a brave boy, Gaheun is so lucky to have someone like you." The man continues.  Kim Bum is quiet beside me. He seems to be clenching his teeth as well.

"I'm here. Now let her go." I manage to reply with composure, through my teeth.

Choi just chuckles, shaking his head. "No need to rush, Donghae, she will be fine. I keep my word."  Damn. I really should've thought this plan through. Maybe Ahjussi was right.

"Now, if I promise you not a single hair of her's will be touched, will you promise to cooperate with my plans?"

"Wasn't this already decided when I agreed to come here?" I ask, blunt.

He just laughs again, as if I said some funny joke. "Oh, so brave, spunky, full of life, even in the face of danger. Just like another person I remember..." He says, looking at me expectantly.

"Is that all?"

"I'll take him away, sir." Kim Bum says quickly.

Choi looks at him with raised brows, but nods once.

"Go ahead. Be hospitable towards him." He tells Kim Bum as Kim Bum gently pushes me away.

Kim Bum snorts, "Funny, I was about to same thing to you, sir." Then goes ahead of me, leading me away. Did he just ... ? Doesn't he care for authority? How could he talk to his 'boss' like that?

"Donghae," The elder calls. It sent shivers down my spine.

I stop, not moving.

"You're just like your father; you look like him, you even share the same bravery and pride he had. He would have been really proud."  I clamp my jaws together; the pressure makes my ears ring.

~~

"This was Gaheun's room; but you can stay here till-"

"Till my times up?"

"... Yeah." He mumbles, looking uncomfortable. "Just go in, I think I heard Seunghyun at the front door." Kim Bum tells me. I nod and head in. At least I know she wasn’t treated terribly here.

~~

Choi's POV:

                The resemblance between Donghae and his father is truly remarkable.  The same hair colour, the same charismatic eyes… They act similar, in attitude and behaviour. It's strange, considering Donghae’s father passed when he was so young, there’s no way Donghae could’ve learned to be like his father. Maybe it’s in their blood.

The doors open.

"Seunghyun." I greet. "You did your job well, son. You brought him here, without a fight too."

"Yeah." He answers, with the same tone Donghae used earlier.

"Now, I'll take over right?" I ask him. It was our agreement, he knows it. Yet, he doesn't answer.

"You told me you didn't care how it was handled when we first decided this. You said you wanted to get him. And you did; now it's my turn to deal with him." I say to him, as authoritative as possible.

"I know I said that. But I came here to ask you to postpone what you have planned." Postpone, huh? What's his plan? Unless he's just trying to hang on to the time he has left with Gaheun...

"Hmm... Why? I'd rather get this over with. Donghae's father-"

"Is the man you killed that sparked our whole crazy rivalry. I know." He answers, almost as if he were accusing me for my act.

"So you should know we should get rid of his son too. They're too alike, they can overpower us."

Seunghyun debates this thought,  "Why?"

"If Donghae takes his uncle's place, we’ll be done for. Everyone in their group will go with whatever he says, and he can get them to give everything 200%, we can't afford that." As I say this, my son exhales in disbelief.

"Don't you realize what’s going on?  They took Minkyung because YOU  killed his father! Because YOU  killed their leader!  It's not going to stop if you try to take away his son-" He shouts loudly. Is that why our relationship became so poor? Because he believes they killed Minkyung because of me?

"Yes. It will. And if it doesn't, they won't have Donghae’s moral support that drives them. They'll be easy to take down."

"No. I told you, we're only getting rid of Donghae for Minkyung. Have you forgotten that?" His eyes were glaring at me with nothing but hate. The little boy who used called me ‘abeoji’ is no longer there, is he?

"... No. I haven't. How long do you want to postpone it for?"  I give in, sighing.

"Give it a week." He answers firmly.

"Okay, done." He turns away to leave. Seunghyun's so foolish, always falling in love.

The doors close behind him.

'We’re only getting rid of Donghae for Minkyung. have you forgotten that?'  His statement won’t leave my head, no matter how hard I try.
 
Unfortunately, this only makes me remember another thing that took a while for me to forget.

*Flashback*

"Pull the trigger." Donghae's father said, his eyes closed, his face calm. My hand was shaking, maybe it was from our fight earlier, or maybe it was my nerves, I couldn't be sure.

"You want to die?" I ask him, confused with his expression.

"Death is inevitable. We all have to die at some point. Don’t we?"

"..."

"I will overlook what you have done to me when I am in heaven. But only if after this, you will leave my brothers and loved ones alone."    When he's in heaven?... Was he planning to haunt me in his afterlife?

I don't answer.

"Swear it. You have my wife and my child. Kill me and spare them. Spare my brothers." He urges me, his tone firm and forceful.

He can speak in such a tone even when I have a gun to his forehead. Charisma. I shake that thought out of my head.

                He opens his eyes, they were almost pleading, but at the same time condescending. I point the gun to his chest, for some reason I couldn't hold the gun to his face anymore. He was really willing to die for the ones he loved; he didn't even ask to see his wife or child. He doesn't know that I don't really have them here. Fool, I thought to myself, stop thinking too much and just pull the trigger.

"Swear you'll spare my family." He demands.

"I swear." I hear myself say unknowingly.

He sighs in relief, then raises his hand to my gun, and puts it directly on his chest, right at his heart.

"I can leave knowing they'll be okay." He sighs with a smile.

My hand begins to shake again.

                The next thing I knew, he was lying on the ground, a red pool forming around him. I was in shock. He was the first person I’ve ever killed with my own hands; maybe that’s why he still has a lasting impression on me.
 

*End of flashback*

                Sometimes I have nightmares of his Donghae's father; his condescending eyes looking directly at me, telling me I haven't kept my promise. These nightmares have been coming so often now, especially since Gaheun has been with us. I've gotten used to them though, I've accepted it. I'm not going to heaven. The rotten feeling that I felt when I dropped the gun that day came back to me again before I drowned it out with a glass of wine.