“Come in.” A voice called from inside. Chaerin let out sigh and lifted a hesitant hand to touch the doorknob, slowly turning it until the door was opened. She peeked inside first, and to her dismay, the room was already full. She took another deep breath and opened the door completely, taking a step in.

“Chaerin, come in.” Sooman said as he signaled an empty space in a sofa where Taemin was seating. Taemin smiled at her softly, patting the space besides him. Chaerin hesitated for a moment, then let out another sigh and walked towards the sofa, sitting down softly.

“You’re late.” Taemin muttered.

“I won’t be sorry.” She hissed. Sooman stood up and walked towards the front of the desk, looking at Chaerin. She looked around, and noticed Jonghyun wasn’t there, only his younger brother Kibum and his father Woochoon. She frowned, crossing her legs.

“As I was explaining, our numbers are being diminished, we are losing too many men with this guerillas. We have to take this to a higher action.” Woochoon said, deliberating ignoring Chaerin’s most awkward entrance.

Sooman looked at her, then at Taemin, and finally, at Kikwang. He put a hand on his chin and nodded. “Chaerin,” He started. She lifted her head and looked at him. “I believe your father has taught you a thing or two on defense, right?” She nodded.

“It’s not enough.” Woochoon hissed. Sooman nodded, lifting a hand towards Woochoon.

“You know how to handle a gun, girl?” Sooman said. Chaerin scoffed silently, still looking directly at him.

“I know.” Chaerin answered. Sooman nodded, his smile wide. Woochoon, on the other hand, was fuming, his face red, his hands balled into fists.

“She will start training, I know she can pull it off.” Sooman said, now walking towards his desk.

“Sooman! Just think for a moment. A woman isn’t fit to this kind of life. Why push her when she’s clearly rooting for the other side?”

“And what should I do with her? You don’t want her as Jonghyun’s bride, and I can’t allow her to stay around living in the darkness. What do you suggest? The more power we have, the better, and may I remind you, she’s still one of my heirs, regardless of her past actions, Woochoon.”

“And are we to expect her to run into the arms of them whenever she’s got the chance?” Woochoon said. Chaerin narrowed her eyes at him, but remained silent.

“She will not, I am certain.” Sooman said.

“How so?”

“Because Jiyong’s put a price on all of our heads, and he already killed her.” Sooman said, and his words went deep into her heart. She lowered her face, not in shame but in pain. Her hands trembled, and she intertwined her fingers in hope of controlling them, all to no avail.

“Uncle…” She muttered, her voice weak and shaky. “Does he not know I’m alive?” She knew all eyes were on her the moment she spoke, yet she didn’t cared.

“He doesn’t knows.” He said. She bit her lips, and when she look up, the door opened rather hastily, and Jonghyun walked in, his face into a frown, his eyes deadly. Sooman looked at him and smiled. “Is it done?”

“It’s done.” Jonghyun said, taking his seat close to his father. Jonghyun took a glance towards Chaerin, and she hoped he would smile, but he didn’t. He simply nodded slightly, and looked back at Sooman.

“Perfect.” Sooman said, a genuine smile over his face. “Taemin, start the attack. This is our chance. By this moment, he must be completely weakened, and everyone around him must be by his side, completely vulnerable.” Taemin stood up and walked towards the door, gun in hand. Chaerin widened her eyes, looking at Taemin, then at Jonghyun and finally, at Sooman.

“What happened?” She asked. Jonghyun lowered his face, and Sooman smiled looking at her.

“What happened is that our family is getting stronger.” Sooman said. “Kikwang, take her with you, you already know what to do. Kibum, why don’t you go with them?”

“What did you do, Sooman?” Chaerin hissed while standing up. Sooman smirked, taking out a photo from his desk.

“I’ve won.”

“We’ve managed to stabilize him, but he’s still pretty weak. Right now he’s out, we’ve sedate him. The blood that was used wasn’t compatible with his. He was poisoned.” Jonghoon explained. Youngbae held his hair as he let out grunt of anger.

“How is that even possible?” Daesung asked. Jonghoon shrugged as he set his papers on Jiyong’s food table.

“I left the specific doses in the blood bank. They were tagged and everything with his name. They were already prepared, all the nurses needed to do was grab the bag and administer it. I don’t know what happened.” Jonghoon said.

“This is an attack.” Youngbae muttered. “They tried to kill him.”

“From the long list, who?” Seungri asked. Youngbae straightened, his right hand hanging lose as his left held the gun that was on his belt.

“Kim Jonghyun knew of his stay in this hospital.” Youngbae said.

“What?!” Seunghyun almost yelled in his deep voice. Youngbae nodded. “And you still allowed him to stay in here.”

“He needed treatment.” Youngbae defended himself, but Seunghyun scoffed.

“And look at him now!” Seunghyun yelled, pointing at Jiyong’s body. “He’s almost dead in that bed while we are here, trying to figure out why. This is a mistake, this is your mistake, Dong Youngbae.”

“I know…” Youngbae muttered with his head low.

“How did Kim Jonghyun found out he was here?” Daesung asked. Youngbae took a deep breath and sat on a chair that was close to Jiyong’s bed.

“Youngbae?” Seungri repeated. Youngbae slumped down on the chair, putting a hand over his forehead while the other rested on the armchair.

“Because…” Youngbae started, then put his hand over his mouth, caressing his lip. “He was accompanying Lee Chaerin.”

“What?!” Everyone said in unison. Youngbae lifted his head and looked at Jonghoon.

“Wasn’t she dead? I saw her die!” Daesung said.

“This can’t be.” Seungri said, slumping down on the sofa.

“Jonghoon, did you knew about this?” Seunghyun said, glaring at Jonghoon. Jonghoon lowered his head and nodded.

“Why didn’t you said anything?” Daesung said.

“Because he can’t.” Youngbae said. “She’s his family, and for what I saw, she’s being heavily protected.”

“Does Jiyong knows?” Seungri asked, but Youngbae shook his head.

“No, he doesn’t knows.” Youngbae said. “Jonghoon told him a rather convincing story.”

“Why not tell him the truth?” Seungri retorted.

“Because,” Seunghyun spoke. “He would go ballistic, and probably go and look for her, getting himself killed in the way of doing so.”

“.” Seungri said. “That’s true.”

“He’s going to find out soon she’s not dead.” Daesung said.

“Let us act like we don’t know anything for now. If he finds out before we think of something, pretend you didn’t know.” Youngbae said.

“Are you seriously telling us this?” Seungri said with a shocked chuckle. Youngbae nodded.

“I’m seriously telling you this.” Youngbae said. “Do you want to get on his black little notebook? He becomes Kira with that .”

“So we basically lie to our boss, that’s an amazing plan guys, really.” Seungri retorted.

“You little should stop complaining so much.” Daesung said. Seungri crossed his arms and looked at Jiyong. He was moving.

“Guys, he’s moving.” Seungri said. Youngbae stood up and went next to him, so did Seunghyun.

“Jiyong? Hey buddy.” Seunghyun said. Jiyong slowly opened his eyes, in pain.

“.” The first thing he muttered, slowly lifting his right hand to his head. “.”

“Hey, are you ok?” Youngbae asked, touching Jiyong’s shoulder a bit.

“I feel… horrible.” Jiyong said. He was looking pale, his under eyes dark, his lips purple. “Like a train went through me.”

“Let me check you.” Jonghoon said, walking towards him. He put a hand over Jiyong’s forehead, then the stethoscope on his chest. “He’s still cold, I’ll find a heat blanket.” Jonghoon said and left. Jiyong coughed a bit, trying to sit up.

“Yo, wait, stop.” Seunghyun said, holding him in place. “You must rest.”

“I just want to sit.” Jiyong said, pushing his limits to sit up. He panted, sweating a slight bit. “I’m ing cold.”

“It was a massive blood loss, you’re still receiving blood, look.” Youngbae said, signaling the IV and blood transfusion next to the bed. Jiyong looked, scoffing and shaking his head no.

“Any idea of what happened to me?” He asked. Jiyong noticed the shared looks, and shook his head. “Guys, you’re being obvious. Who tried to kill me?”

“We think it could be an attack. You were poisoned with your last transfusion.” Seungri spoke. Jiyong nodded.

“It was an attack.” Jiyong agreed.

“But we’re not sure yet.” Youngbae said.

“Oh, I’m sure.” He said. “It’s Kim Jonghyun.”

“How can you be so sure just yet?” Daesung said. Jiyong shrugged.

“Besides Jonghoon, he’s the other person who knows I’m here.”

“What if it’s Jonghoon?” Youngbae muttered.

“What if you stop questioning my word?” Jiyong spat. “Ever since I got here all you do is question my words, going against everything I say or do. Do you have a ing problem that needs to be solve right now?” He said. Everyone remained silent.

“I’m just saying, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet.” Youngbae defended himself.

“I will jump to any conclusion I want. And if you don’t want to do as I say, you’re free to leave.” He said with a final tone. Youngbae nodded, looking to the side, trying to hide his angered face. Jiyong looked at the others, who were looking anywhere but him, and frowned. “If it’s Jonghyun, then he must be allied with the Lees. If that’s true, then prepare for an imminent attack. Call everybody, we are still bigger in numbers than them.”

“Should we launch an attack on the mansion?” Seunghyun asked, but Jiyong shook his head.

“Just defend our people. I need three teams, one protecting the Dragon’s house, one protecting YG and the other one protecting Club Ellui.”

“And what about you?” Seungri said. Jiyong smirked.

“I just need you guys with me.” He said full of confidence. “Do I still have you on my side, Dong Youngbae?” Youngbae looked at him, still frowning.

“If I’m not here, who’s going to make sure nothing happens to your spoiled ?” Youngbae said, making Jiyong smile.

“Perfect, that’s my boy.” He said. “Make the calls, I am expecting anything within the next 5 hours. Our priority, Club Ellui.”

“And why’s that?” Seungri asked while taking his phone out.

“That’s why I called you all here.” He said, getting comfortable on bed. “I need someone to be watching Yang Hyunseung at all hours, all the time. A few days ago I received reports of a low on our income at the club, and that’s suspicious, considering my club it’s one of the hottest in town.

If my calculations are right, and the time fits, I think Yang Hyunseung is allied with the Lees.”

“How come?” Daesung asked. Jiyong nodded.

“Remember when Lee Chaerin first came to our company?” Everyone nodded. “She was working at Club Ellui at that time. It might be nothing, but she was an Heir, and as far as I know, that family only allows their precious Heirs to work or be at places of trust.”

“So you’re saying she was being protected there?” Seunghyun said, and Jiyong nodded.

“Exactly. I never trusted the guy, but as she used to tell me, her last boss was really nice to her. Hyunseung isn’t nice with anyone, he’s an .”

“For money, even I can be nice to anyone.” Seungri muttered. Jiyong smiled.

“Exactly. Yang Hyunseung is a suspect of treason. I want a full report within 24 hours.” Jiyong said. “Bring me Kiko, she can do that, we need to focus on what’s happening now. No one’s going to kill me in my own place, now go.” Everyone stood up and started to work on calls while walking out of the room. Youngbae took out his phone, ready to leave. “Youngbae, wait.”

“You need something else?” Youngbae said without looking at him. Jiyong frowned.

“I had a dream, and I want to talk to you about it.” Jiyong said. Youngbae slowly turned around, putting his phone aside.

“Go ahead.” Jiyong nodded.

“I dreamt you were talking about her, that she was alive. It felt so vivid.” Jiyong said. Youngbae shook his head.

“Dreams are just dreams.” Youngbae said. Jiyong scoffed.

“Funny, my dream happened in this exact place.” Jiyong said. Youngbae chuckled. “Anything you’re not telling me?”

“Like I said,” Youngbae started, now walking towards the doors. “Dreams are just dreams, Kwon Jiyong.” And he left. Jiyong shook his head, looking down at his hands.

“I hope you’re right.”

Gily's Notes: Ha! A rather short chapter... But I promise I will fasten my pace from now on. Thanks for bearing with me... lol!

Thanks for those who commented! As you have already noticed, I read them all and try to answer everyone of your, so please, leave your feedback. I like to feel in contact with my readers. 

Happy Reading my beloved!

Gily ♥