The door opened with a loud bang as Taemin kicked it. Chaerin walked in first, a frown over her face as she searched the place with her eyes as she stopped in the middle of the living room.

“Kim Jonghyun!” Taemin shouted as he walked towards the kitchen. Chaerin remained silent as she heard a toilet flushing. She narrowed her eyes as a door at the back of the kitchen opened. Jonghyun stepped out with a towel over his head and another one covering his lower parts.

He widened his eyes as he stopped abruptly, looking at Taemin with a shocked expression. “How did you know about this place?” He said, slowly lowering the towel on his head. Chaerin straightened up, taking a few steps to the front.

“The same way he knew where I was, Jonghyun.” She said. Jonghyun looked at her, then nodded in understanding, continuing drying his hair.

“Ah, I see.” He said, walking towards the kitchen. “Fancy a drink, Taemin?” He said as he took out a glass. Taemin frowned, crossing his arms.

“No.” He simply said. Jonghyun nodded as he poured himself the liquor.

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged and sipped on the glass, then set it down on the counter.

“Why did you sold me out, Jonghyun?” Chaerin said as she moved to stand in front of Jonghyun. He, however, remained composed as he looked at her. “Why did you called my family?”

“I didn’t.” He said, taking another sip from his drink. “I just called Taemin. I know he’s the only one you trust in your family. And I can’t help you alone.” She lifted her head, glaring at her.

“Help you with what?” Taemin said, but Chaerin ignored him.

“You could at least warn me about it.” She said, and this time, Jonghyun frowned.

“As you warned me about going out to deliver the note? Tell me, did you meet up with him?” He said, and she held in her breath, almost unable to talk back.

“I did.” She simply answered.

“She did.” Taemin said, anger spilling through his lips. “Careless.”

“And what happened? Did he come around? Did he softened?” Jonghyun said. Chaerin lowered her head, biting her lip as she recalled the meeting.

“No.” She simply said. “He loathes me, and he won’t back down.”

“Figures.” Taemin said with a scoff. “I am impressed, really, at how careless you can be, Lee Chaerin.”

“So then you rather me having a gun and killing innocent people?” She said.

“Of course not!” Both Jonghyun and Taemin said in unison.

“But at least you could be more careful.”

“I was careful. It was a public place.” She said.

“It doesn’t matters. Jiyong won’t care to kill someone in a public place. Don’t you think he doesn’t knows how to cover his tracks? He got Intel inside the media, he can easily control whatever comes out on the news.” Taemin retorted.

“That’s true.”

“Ok, I’m sorry!” Chaerin hissed. “But right now, we need another plan to make him back down. Otherwise, I am afraid he will really kill us all.” She said. Everyone stayed silent for a moment.

“What do you suggests?” Jonghyun said, resting his elbows on the counter island.

“Remember the attack at Ellui? Taemin said he wasn’t there.” She said. Jonghyun narrowed his eyes and looked at Taemin.

“Is this true?”

“Hey, I didn’t even know there was an attack to begin with. You know that’s not my area.” Taemin said, sitting down on a lounge chair close the mini bar.

“It did had me thinking.” Jonghyun muttered, slowly walking towards the minibar to refill his glass.

“Care to explain?” Chaerin said, looking at both of them with a confused look. Taemin smiled, crossing his legs as he gestured Jonghyun for a glass of rum.

“We have ranks, Chaerin.” Taemin said as Jonghyun poured two glasses of Whiskey. “This is a society where everyone has their own jobs. I, for example, am in charge of tracking people down.”

“I, on the other hand, am a mercenary.” Jonghyun spoke as he handed Taemin his glass of Whiskey. “Usually when trackers pin down a target, I am one of those who they order to kill them.”

“So, Taemin, you don’t kill people?” Chaerin said, her eyes narrowed. Taemin chuckled.

“I do.” He said, setting down his glass. “But not as much as Jonghyun or Kikwang. He’s also a mercenary.” Chaerin nodded, her lungs deflating as she remembered one of her conversations with Jiyong.

“Who are you?”

“Kwon Jiyong.”

“Who is Kwon Jiyong?”

“Who do you think he is?”

“I don’t want to guess.”

“Why not?”

“Because… It hurts to think I’m right.”

“What are you thinking?”

“You’re a killer…?”

“I am. But I am not a vicious one.”

“You kill people?”

“I am a mercenary. I kill under contract. The people I kill, are usually people that hurt other, and, in some way, kill others.”

“But it’s still killing.”

“If it was my choosing, Chaerin, I wouldn’t do it.”

“Why you do it?”

“I was raised like this. This is who I am, who I have always been.”

She closed her eyes, putting her hands over her face as she sat down on the floor. “Jiyong’s also a Mercenary, right?” She said, her voice a little higher than a whisper.

“Yes.” Jonghyun said softly.

“Their best tracker’s Seungri. That kid can track anything in the world.” Taemin said.

“Don’t forget their hacker, Daesung.” Jonghyun said.

“Right, that ’s nasty.” Taemin said, sipping from his glass. “He once found me while I was talking on my phone. Almost got myself killed.”

“Really?” Jonghyun said, and Taemin nodded, lifting his sleeve to show a red, thin scar on his shoulder.

“I got the memento.” He said, making Jonghyun chuckle.

“I can’t.” Chaerin whispered, slowly lifting her head from her hands. “I can’t do this.”

“Do what?” Taemin asked, finally looking at her.

“Be part of this.” She said. Jonghyun chuckled, resting his back on the minibar.

“You’d make a great strategist, think about it.” Jonghyun said as he lifted his glass. Taemin looked at him with his head crooked.

“Right, you would.” He said, but she simply shook her head.

“Let’s just…” She said as she stood up. “Let’s just concentrate on Club Ellui for now.”

“What’s in there?” Jonghyun said. She looked at him, still wearing his towel, and frowned.

“Yang Hyunseung.”

“Close the door and keep everyone out!” Youngbae screamed as he entered the apartment. Jiyong frowned and looked at him, too high for moving properly. “He ing did it again.”

“Did he overdosed again?” Seungri said as he locked the door.

“I don’t think so.” Youngbae said as he lifted Jiyong’s head. He smiled, chuckling softly as he slowly lifted one hand to touch Youngbae’s cheek. “Talk to me, son of a !” Youngbae slapped him softly, but Jiyong kept smiling.

“It wasn’t a trap.” Jiyong said softly as Daesung closed the curtains.

“Well, that’s good to know.” Seunghyun said as he handed Youngbae a bag of ice. He grabbed it and put the ice on Jiyong’s crotch. Jiyong flinched, whimpering as he tried to move away from the ice.

“What the ?!” He hissed, weakly pushing Youngbae’s hand away.

“You earned it, so shut the up about it.” Youngbae hissed.

“Take it out!” Jiyong whimpered as he kept trying to push Youngbae’s hand away. Seunghyun put another bag of ice on top of Jiyong’s head, and he hissed, closing his eyes in pain. “Stop.”

“Should we better get him to the shower?” Seungri said. Both Seunghyun and Youngbae nodded, quickly lifting Jiyong’s body and walking towards the bathroom. Jiyong frowned, his head hanging as they hurried him to the bathroom. Once in there, they put him on the tub and Seunghyun quickly opened the faucet.

The water started to hit Jiyong’s face, and he moved it sideways, almost drowning as the water kept hitting him straight on his face. Youngbae started to wet his hair, moving his head to side to avoid the water from hitting his face. “Talk to me, you bastard!” He screamed, slapping Jiyong’s face, but he couldn’t properly answer or talk.

He was too high for him to form a coherent sentence. And as he kept struggling, Youngbae continued throwing water on top of his head. He started to pant, slowly feeling as if he was drowning in a pool. His chest started to feel heavy, and the horrible feeling of going down invaded his body. “S-Stop…”

“Are you with me?!” Youngbae said, slapping him again.

“Stop…”

“Jiyong, answer to me, goddamit!” Youngbae said again, holding his head in both his hands. “Answer me!”

“I’m here.” Jiyong murmured. Youngbae let out a sigh, pulling his head towards his chest, hugging him tight.

“When are you going to stop?” Youngbae muttered as he hugged Jiyong. “When are you going to stop all of this?”

“I-I’m s-sorry.” Jiyong said, closing his eyes as the water soaked them both. “M-My head h-hurts.”

“Of course it would hurt!” Youngbae said, pushing him away. “You almost ing overdosed!”

“B-Bae…” Jiyong said, his eyes betraying him as he succumbed to the pain he was feeling. “I pushed her away.”

“Who? Who did you pushed away?” Youngbae said, his face an angered frown.

“C-Chaerin.” Jiyong said. “She’s alive. She wanted me to end this, but I can’t.”

“Wait, did you meet up with her?” Seunghyun said as he sat down on the toilet. “Are you mad?!”

“She wanted me to end this, but I cannot. I can’t back down.” Jiyong said, still a bit high.

“Right, you can’t.” Youngbae said, sitting at the edge of the tub, still holding Jiyong.

“But I want to.” Jiyong whined. “I want to stop.”

“Jiyong–”

“The Dragons…” Seungri said as he entered the bathroom. “The Dragons are here.”

“What?!” Youngbae said, his eyes wide.

“They don’t look too happy, either.” Seungri said. Jiyong scoffed, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

“They can’t see him like this.” Seunghyun said.

“I told you to keep everyone out.” Youngbae hissed.

“I tried, but it’s the Dragons. What am I supposed to do?” Seungri defended himself.

“Keep them busy.” Youngbae hissed as he tried to lift Jiyong’s body. “Seunghyun, give me a hand.”

“Do you think he can face them like that? Look at him, he’s a walking mess.” Seunghyun said as he helped Youngbae lifted Jiyong from the tub.

“There’s no other choice, right? He has to talk to them.”

“I won’t.” Jiyong said as they took him out of the tub.

“You have to.”

“No!” Jiyong whined as he threw all his weight down, taking both Youngbae and Seunghyun with him.

“!” Both of them said in unison as Jiyong got into a fetal position on the floor.

“I won’t talk to them.”

“Ji, get up.” Youngbae said, his voice tensed. Jiyong looked up at him, frowning as he saw him looking at the door.

“Ji–”

“Kwon Jiyong.” A voice said at the door to his room. Jiyong glared at the door, his eyesight slowly focusing on a man with a black suit standing at his door. “What a surprise.”

“Sean.” Jiyong hissed as he slowly put a hand over his bed, trying to get up. Seunghyun quickly went to his aid, but Jiyong denied it, finally managing to stand up on his own. “What are you doing here?”

“We came to see you, of course. Care to follow me down?” Sean said as he signaled the door. Jiyong scoffed, crossing his arms as he intended to stay in place.

“Why would I?” He said, and Sean smirked, gesturing someone to walk into the room. A man entered, holding Jiyong’s mother by her hair. She was crying, her hands tied and her face beaten. Jiyong held in a gasp as he looked at his mother being so badly injured.

“Jiyong, my boy, don’t do it, don’t comply.” She sobbed, and the man quickly held her neck, making her grunt in pain. Jiyong quickly moved to attack, but Seunghyun held him in place.

“Sean, be careful.” Jiyong hissed, but Sean simply smiled.

“I am afraid I will have to force you to come with me.” Sean said. Jiyong grunted as Sean went out of the room, followed by the man and Jiyong’s mother. Jiyong kicked the bed as he pulled his wet hairs in desperation.

“What the ’s going on?” Youngbae asked as he looked at the door.

“We will find out.” Jiyong hissed, walking out of the door, not even bothering in changing his wet clothes.

As he descended, Jiyong saw both Daesung and Seungri being held back by a pair of men in suits. He felt his throat constricting as he also saw his mother, crying in a corner while another man held her hostage. In the middle of his living room, the rest of the Dragons awaited, their hands intertwined, their faces deep into a frown.

“Kwon Jiyong.” An elderly man said, walking towards the stairs. He looked at Jiyong from head to toe, then raised an eyebrow. “So the rumors are true.”

“What the ’s going on?” Jiyong hissed, finally getting down. “What is this?”

“This is a threat, of course.” Another elder said. Jiyong raised an eyebrow.

“A threat?” Jiyong hissed. Sean, who slowly stood next to Jiyong, smiled as he extended his hands. Quickly, another pair of men held both Youngbae and Seunghyun by their necks, a knife to their throats.

“A friendly reminder, maybe.” Sean said, gesturing Jiyong to sit down on a chair.

“Boy, you have forgotten who you are and what you do.” Kyungmo said as he drank from his cup of tea. “And we have let you play enough.”

“Play?” Jiyong echoed.

“Pardon me but, where you actually ‘working’?” Another elder man said. Jiyong crossed his arms and legs, glaring at them all. He knew why they were there, he had failed to do his job, too submerged in his own misery, he forgot who he was dealing with.

“We have a job for you. Of course, you will fulfill this, if you don’t want the spill of blood on this luxurious carpet.” Kyungmo expressed.

“I don’t need to follow your orders.” Jiyong hissed, making the elderly men laugh.

“Of course you do. We are disowning you, dear boy. You’re no longer the leader of this society. Of course, we never considered you one, anyways.”

“You can’t.” Jiyong said. “This is my family’s society, I am the heir by right.”

“No,” Kyungmo said. “Your family might have been the founders, but it is not theirs at the moment. This belongs to the Dragons, belongs to all of us.”

“It doesn’t.” Jiyong hissed. Inside, all he wanted was take out a gun and shoot them all, but he had all the odds against him. One single movement, and the heads would be starting to drop to the floor.

“We know from good intel you met with one of the heirs this morning.” Kyungmo said. Jiyong glared at him. “Am I right?” Jiyong remained silent.

“Boy, you better answer.”

“Yes.” Jiyong simply said.

“Kyungbae, continue.” Kyungmo said. Jiyong glared at the brothers, who were both drinking their teas similarly. Kyungbae stood up, setting his cup aside and walking towards Jiyong. He didn’t lost his sight on the younger brother, who was well known for his lack of patience.

And as it was to be expected, Kyungbae held Jiyong’s throat in a swift movement, lifting him up from his chair. Jiyong struggled to break free, but he was still under the effects of the drugs he took, making him weaker than he already was.

“What did she wanted?!” Kyungbae yelled as he punched Jiyong on his stomach. Jiyong grunted, trying to cough.

“N-Nothing…” Jiyong managed to say, earning another punch from Kyungbae.

“Don’t lie to us.” Kyungbae growled.

“Kyungbae, enough.” Kunhee said. He was the eldest among them all, also the most powerful. Jiyong grunted again, and Kyungbae let go of him, making him fall on the floor. He coughed, holding his throat with his right hand as he slowly stood up. All the power he once felt vanished the moment he was treated like a mere rag doll, easily being chocked and lifted like he meant nothing.

“She… she said nothing…” Jiyong said, coughing and panting. “She wanted nothing.”

“Don’t lie to us, Kwon Jiyong.” Kunhee said.

“I’m telling the truth, Kunhee.” Jiyong grunted. “Why would I lie?”

“Because you love her!” Kyungbae hit the coffee table as he glared at Jiyong. “Because you failed to kill her once, and now that she’s alive, you probably are plotting against us!”

“Kyungbae!” Kyungmo said, finally standing up. “Why don’t you relax for a while?” Kyungbae hissed, then sat down, holding his cup of tea as if nothing had happened.

“Jiyong, please, you’re leaving us with no choice but to push your limits.” Kunhee said as he walked towards Jiyong’s mother. Jiyong tried to rush towards her, but Kyungmo held him in place. “I am afraid I’ll stain your lovely carpet.”

“No!” Jiyong grunted, still struggling against Kyungmo. “Let her go!”

“Jiyong, look at me.” His mother said. Jiyong shook his head, biting his lips as his mother smiled at him. “Everything’s fine, sweetheart, everything’s alright.”

“Ah, that’s enough.” Kunhee said, holding a knife against . Jiyong shook his head, looking straight into his mother’s eyes as she smiled at him, tears falling from her eyes.

“I love you, son.” She said before Kunhee finally cut open. Jiyong trembled, watching his mother bleed to death in front of him. His eyes didn’t spilled any tears, his mouth didn’t spoke any words, yet he trembled. In rage, in anger, in pain, in betrayal, he trembled.

“So, next one will be Seungri, now boy, will you talk?” Kunhee said as he approached Seungri. He didn’t flinched, Seungri, just remained calm as he looked directly into Kunhee’s eyes. Jiyong moved his head slightly, looking at Kunhee, who was already holding his knife against Seungri’s neck, slightly cutting him.

“Stop.” Jiyong said softly. Kunhee looked at him, a smirk plastered on his face as he pushed the knife a little deeper. “It’s enough.”

“Are you going to talk now?” Kunhee said, and Jiyong slowly nodded. “Alright, talk.” Kunhee said, not removing the knife from Seungri’s neck.

“Lower your knife.” Jiyong demanded, but Kunhee smirked wider.

“Call this my insurance.” Kunhee said. Seungri flinched a bit as the knife went deeper, a thin line of scarlet falling down, staining his white shirt.

“Chaerin wanted to stop.” Jiyong said, hating himself much more. But he had to save Seungri, no matter what, he needed to protect him.

“To stop what?” Kunhee said, still pressing the knife to Seungri’s neck.

“This.”

Gily's Notes: Ah, a little bit of action, finally.

So, it's on. 

Happy Reading ~

Gily ♥