Meanwhile...

Breaking into the old headquarters and incapacitating the bunch trying to restrict his advance, Taekwoon burst into his intended destination to find the leader sipping casually at his tea. He had never liked the man but the man had exceptional admiration for Taekwoon, respected Taekwoon even.

"You broke into my house!" Taekwoon approaches him without hesitation and presses his loaded gun to the back of the man's neck. The man's bodyguards immediately got into formation, surrounding Taekwoon.

"You broke the rules first." The man answered. "You left."

"I've already made myself clear back then. I'm leaving. Didn't my message go through your thick skulls?" Taekwoon's voice deepens with malice.

"We can't afford to let you leave." "Come back and we will pretend none of this has ever taken place." The man smiled and placed a hand on Taekwoon's weapon daringly.

"Get it right. You don't own me." Taekwoon narrowed his eyes and releases the safety clasp of his gun.

"Fine." The man purses his lips. "I knew I had to choose from the two of you." He added in a matter-of-factly manner. "I was betting on you but the rest thought you were less dependable so they wanted him back instead." Taekwoon is a little baffled by this statement and does not attempt to mask his concern. He does not like to be kept in the dark.

"So you don't already know?" The man guffawed and Taekwoon shoves the barrel brutally against the skin at his head making the man wince a little. "Taekwoon oh Taekwoon. You are such a disappointment. I thought you were smarter than this." "Then again... he is a clever boy. You probably won't know if he doesn't want you to."

"Three... two..." Taekwoon started his count down, piercing eyes scornful.

"OK OK! I was just referring to the sneaky little one you are keeping at home as a pet." The man grizzled. Mocking Taekwoon is his past time. Some things never change.

"Hongbin?" Taekwoon muttered. It's more of an exclamation than question.

"Yes Hongbin. Hyung’s favourite. That toddler hyung had painstakingly trained." "He was hyung's pride before we merged." The man chortled again, eerily maniacal laugh bouncing off the solid walls. "And I was worried for a moment that you two had planned to elope at the first place."

"Bang!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stirring and waking on the gelid floor of a sickeningly familiar room, Hongbin winced a little on movement of his injured left leg. The bullet had surely been taken out since there is a bandage over his wound now. There are most probably stitches beneath.

Taking a deep breath, the young man got onto his feet and took a long look at the firmly shut door. He is back. Caged up like a pet dog. An object only as worthy as the body count he manages to chalk up. He hated this feeling to his very core. It is not that he wants to feel important. He had never felt important in his life anyway. Until he met Taekwoon that is, but none of that matters now.

He only wanted to feel loved and love in return. Why is that so easy for everyone else but him?

"You are awake." The door opens abruptly and a man enters. He has never lain eyes on this man before since he only ever saw every different individual once during the course of his ‘training’. They never came back once they left him. That included the man who kidnapped him. The man who dragged him into this underground cell and locked him in here while he screamed and cried at the top of his lungs. Not forgetting the few men and women who taught him basic attack and self-defence techniques, the person who taught him how to kill and last but not least his 'weapons' instructor.

Then the match came. He was pitted against a few older kids and it was as if no one cared if he would make it. They obviously did not hold high hopes for him. He was malnourished and scrawny whereas those kids apparently had more training and are conditioned to be so much more ruthless. He fought for his life that day and a transformation took place the moment he killed them. He had become a monster. An eight year old and he had murdered three. He was considered talented after that.

The man who orchestrated his misery doted on him since then, always giving him the most dangerous and difficult tasks. He was afraid to leave. They threatened the naive and fearful him with his grandmother's life. He remembered working extra hard so they would spare her. Then she passed on and there was no longer a reason not to leave but he was still terrified of them. Too intimidated to ecape their clutches, he would return to his cage after every assignment like a well-conditioned dog, waiting for his next job.

Then one day he met a photographer on his assignment. The lady showed him the world of photography through her lens. Though he did eventually murder her since his masters wanted her dead for some photos she had taken. They even gave him her camera after noting how intrigued he was by it. Ever since then, the longing to leave and explore the beautiful world outside grew and blew out of proportion. He eventually got tired of being scared.

"Remember this place?" "We let you out and you went loose." "How rude." The man sulked while moving a chair in front of Hongbin, sitting down casually.

Glaring at the man as he takes a step back, the young man browsed through his options. What methods he would use to kill this man. He does not want to stay here for a second longer. He will not hesitate to kill this man as long as he gets to leave. "You want to leave don't you?" The man read him like a book.

"Fine. We kind of expected that. It's not like we can stop you." The man said while faking a thoughtful expression. "We would have killed you if your original master was still alive. However, we have moved on from that primitive era." "We do not kidnap kids like we did with you anymore. AND we allow our assassins to choose their assignments." What he meant was that they have enough assassins to kill assassins who screwed things up or tried to leave. Assassins such as Taekwoon.

"You want to escape from this room really badly don't you?" Watching the young man pace around restlessly as the second hand ticks by, his antagonist decided to just get straight to the point.

"So. We have an issue with this ex hit man of ours. We need him dead because he knows too much about us. You are the closest possible person to completing this job." The man tapped his finger and spoke in a sing song voice.

"We have decided not to keep you under lock up for as long as you prove yourself to be trustworthy." "Kill him and we will let you choose your future assignments like everyone else. Fair enough?" The man's rantings are making Hongbin’s head throb.

Pulling out a picture from his envelope, the man smoothed it out on the table top. "Jung Taekwoon. Know him?" The man cheered up creepily with his facetious remark, smiling from ear to ear resembling an evil clown.

Hongbin's breath hitched and he takes a step back. The picture is of Jung Taekwoon. Not any other Jung Taekwoon but his Jung Taekwoon. The only other person he is willing to die for besides his grandmother. The only other person he loved with his entire being.

"No. I don't know him." Hongbin shook his head in denial.

"Indeed. You didn't know what he was." The man agreed, standing up to leave. "Now you do. So do us proud."

"NO!" Hongbin cried out in anguish.

"Then you can stay and rot in this little rat hole for the rest of your life." The man's previously flippant attitude took a hundred and eighty degree change as he turns to leave.

Lunging at the man, Hongbin was unable to withstand the effects of the man's taser and ended up on his knees. "One last offer. Kill him or rot here?" The man asked through clenched teeth. "What would it be?"

The crippled Hongbin had a myriad of expressions on his face but the man already knew his answer. "Kill him alright?"

Hongbin nodded.

"Good boy." "Oh and don't try anything funny. I have a tracker implanted in you so I will find you and he will suffer. Then." Running his index finger over his throat in a slicing motion, the man smirked.

Ps: Here's where it might get a little clichéd.