Daesung stared blankly at the windscreen wipers that were swiping the falling drops of rain away from the center view.

He glanced at Seungri who was driving, and for a brief moment, he wondered how could his friend do it so confidently when he's just a student with no legal license. What Daesung found more perplexing was that even the patrol officer who stopped in the lane next to their's at the last junction was oblivious to the fact that a mere student is illegally driving the car next to his.

Could it be that he was just lucky...?

Daesung recalled how Seungri had simply walked up to an ahjussi who was about to get into his car and suggested that guy lent his car to the 2 boys. Without even batting a single eyelid, the ahjussi handed Seungri his car keys and walked off. It was as if giving one's car keys to perfect strangers was a natural thing to do. Ironically, Daesung was standing by the side, watching the event unfold. 

But why didn't I notice the strangeness of it all? Was it because of that resonating command to "work with him"...? 

He began an introspective assessment of his own emotions. Even though the heavy sense of loss that he felt in his heart is still there, Daesung no longer feel the need to cry about it. It was as if his grieve, sadness and confusion was suddenly lifted and replaced by the pulsing waves of calmness radiating from his heart.

Hell...my parents were murdered and I'm not even crying...? What kind of a monster am I becoming...?

The sound of the engine being turned off brought him back to the present moment. A lone house that stood atop an uphill slope loomed ahead of them.

"Where are we?" Daesung asked apprehensively. Seungri glanced at his friend, jiggling the set of keys in his hand. 

"You didn't read the name by the gate when we came in, hyung?"

Daesung shook his head wordlessly. 

Seungri sighed. "We're at my house, Dolce Vita....well, it's actually a share house, so technically it is not just mine alone... I live here with a few other hyungs."

Daesung his dry lips nervously.

"So why did you bring me here instead of the police station?"

Seungri gave a wry smile. 

"Trust me, hyung. Even the best of the nation's military forces won't be able to handle with what you are facing."

"But you and your hyungs can do what the nation's best military forces can't? Are you also saying that your house is actually safer than the safest military safe house?"

Seungri grinned as he nodded.

"You've got an entire set of superlative in that one sentence, did you notice? But to answer your question, yes. At the current moment, Dolce Vita is the safest place you can be at. And yes, me and the hyungs will be able to protect you..." Seungri paused, "...provided one of the hyungs don't come after you first." 

He must have seen the alarmed look on Daesung's face because he quickly placed an assuring hand on the older guy's shoulder.

"I'm just joking, hyung...now let's get inside and I'll introduce you to the other hyungs."

Once again, he paused as he was about to step out of the car and turned his head to face Daesung.

"After all you've been through for the night, I hope you are ready for what is coming up next, hyung."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Am I going crazy?, Daesung thought as he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. 

He had been quite convinced from the facade of the house that the share house was just the size of any normal terrace houses in Korea. So when he saw the breath-taking scale of the interior space upon stepping in, Daesung was stunned. In fact, taking just a few steps more confirmed his suspicion that the house is divided into different wings and sections that could each easily fit a basketball court or two. He didn't notice the height of the house from outside, but the grand staircase connecting the various wings of the house seemed to indicate that this share house is more of a mansion than anything else.

And a very luxurious one too. This house is certainly living up to its name.

But even as he continued to be awed by the lavish interior furnishings, a nagging thought occured to him - that perhaps the reason why he couldn't connect the outer facade of the house with the interior space may be the same reason why his own home had transformed into a slaughterhouse even though it had appeared perfectly fine before he stepped in.

Could it be due to that 'barrier' which Seungri kept mentioning..? Wait. I can't actually be believing that stupid lie, no?

But try as he may, crossing an unknown barrier seemed to be the only plausible reason which Daesung could think of.

I'm going crazy alright.

"Hyung, please have a seat and dry yourself in front of the fireplace first, alright? I would like to offer you some dry change of clothes, but I think it is best that I don't leave your side for now. At least, not until I introduced you to the hyungs..." Seungri muttered, "...just in case somebody might mistake you for dinner served." 

Daesung cocked his head to one side. "Did you say dinner served?"

Seungri assumed his wide grin again.

"Are you hungry, hyung? Because we are just in time for dinner."

Daesung glanced at the towering grandfather clock placed beside the fireplace.  

"It's 3am in the morning, Seungri. A little too late- or should I say, too early for dinner, don't you think?"

The wide grin turned just a little more mysterious then.

"Meal times in this house are a little different from the usual times because the tenants here are...well, let's just say they have unusual appetites. But don't worry, hyung. You'll get used to it in no time at all. Now let's hurry and wait for the other hyungs at the dinner table. I'll introduce you to them there."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Daesung let himself be dragged around through a maze of corridors until they reached a spacious room with a rather small and round dining table in the center of the room. The food had already been laid out, and given how he had emptied his dinner on the bloody floor earlier, Daesung was embarassed to admit that the tempting aroma of the dishes was about to give-away his act in trying to appear nonchalant throughout this whole ordeal.

So, in order to stop his hand from going straight for the pile of seafood pancake stacked right in front of him, Daesung surveyed the room to distract himself. 

The dining room was rather stark when put in contrast to the lavishly decorated living room. He wondered why that was so, since what he had glimpsed of the house so far looked as if the world's best interior designer had been called in to add some character to the place. There were some rooms that had been decorated in old European settings that looked like it came right out of the history books which Daesung had only flipped through a handful of times in his life. Then there were others that were so contemporary and modern, it looked like a scene out of a futuristic movie set.

But in all the rooms, there is bound to be a fireplace. And the dining room is no different.

I wonder how many chimneys this house has if it has a fireplace in every room..., Daesung thought to himself.

His musings ended when he saw a pair of snake-skin boots appear at the top of the grand stairway. A slim-looking guy with a shocking mop of pink hair eventually came into view as the owner of the boots continued making his way down. It was a visual shock, but Daesung has got to admit, the mish-mash of clothes that the guy was wearing actually looked rather stylish on him.

No doubt, this guy has got a unique and awesome fashion sense that only he can carry off. If anyone else tried the exact same thing on, they would be mistaken for a beggar.

"Hyung!!!" Seungri suddenly stood up, toppling his chair as he did so. The estatic response from the junior as the other guy makes his way towards the dining table startled Daesung. Without warning, the dongsaeng uncharacteristically jumped onto the snake-skin boot guy's back and forced his hyung to piggy-back him all the way to the dining table.

A feat which, to Daesung's surprise, pink head guy was able to complete. Upon closer inspection though, he noticed that the guy was actually lean and strong, the muscledflexing under Seungri's weight.

"Now get off my back, you brat. You're cramping my style," the guy said as he threw Seungri to the floor, but his dongsaeng just wouldn't give up. He got back up and settled himself onto the other guy's lap, locking his arms behind the scowling older guy.

"Don't be so cold, hyung. You are my favourite hyung, don't you know?"

Fu