Tonight was especially cold, a chill runs down Gary’s spine, he fights a shudder. There were at least sixty men with him in the tower which overlooks the ground where the box is buried. A fond smile sneaks onto his lips as he looks down at the grounds where his mother was resting soundly. His father was truly an idiot but a very wise strategist.

For decades, the Kang’s many enemies had been trying to unlock the secrets of the box assuming it to be where the family’s most prized possessions are and where the bulk of the drugs the Kang’s produced are hidden. They were all correct however the thing that’s buried is much more precious than his father’s gold and greed.

After a final longing look where his mother was buried, Gary focuses on the disturbed dust playing around just five hundred metres away. The enemy had arrived.

However, without warning, Gary’s eyes becomes blurry and a projection of the little girl from his dream is standing right in front of him, crying. He closes his twitching eyes and press his palm over his lids. It fades as swiftly as it had appeared, and his vision returns. He sighs, feeling drained all of a sudden.

He looks down the tower and Gary signals Kwangso with a nod, his most trusted thug lifts his gun and fires a warning shot in the air. The dust settles from far away and everything is quiet. “There,” Gary indicates on his right indicating a blur of a shadow.

“One?” Kwangso whispers.

Gary watches the shadow with interest. Then, he sees what he was trying to pinpoint. A woman with her hair tied up in a high pony tail. “…” Gary murmurs.

With adrenaline rapidly pumping, Gary heads to the staircase to meet his adversary. “Sir?” Kwangso hurries behind.

“Do no attack until I give my orders.” Gary looks around the small space with a deadly glare. “No one moves.”

 “Right on schedule, Jihyo.” Gary’s voice carries over. He emerges from the the edge of the clearing.

 “Where’s the box?” Her voice loud and clear in the tranquil night.

Gary stops abruptly just five feet away, losing some of the edge from seeing Jihyo in a tight, black pants and black turtle neck. Her thighs wrapped with holsters containing a gun and a blade, and some other weapons Gary cannot see. He swallows, lust somehow able to break through his resolve. .

As if Jihyo had read his mind, Gary sees her smile, not an innocent one but a wicked smile that almost swept Gary off his feet. Anger flaring, he suddenly takes out his gun from his belt, his knuckles turning white from gripping it tightly.

“My, my, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Jihyo says in a sing-song tone.

Gary gapes at the woman in front him, letting his arms rest at his side. From far away, no one can see how relax Jihyo’s face is, the smile  that is a hiding a secret, how her eyes only was on him and not at all worried about the impending danger of the men hidden in the tower. Gary’s eyes widen as realization hits him, Jihyo was in control of the situation.

“Oh…Gary-shi,” She saunter towards him, her eyes sparkling under the moonlight.

Gary is rigid, unable to move or lift his hand. He was helpless. Is this how his enemies felt when he pulls the trigger?

Jihyo is suddenly too close and it feels like she was taking all the air, suffocating him. “You and your father are so similar, Gary-shi. Too similar. You are a carbon copy.”

He his a breath as Jihyo reaches up to nip at his ears.

“W-What do you want?” He whispers turning his head, hopeful to catch Jihyo’s cheeks with his lips. But he was too slow or Jihyo was too fast and she was suddenly out of his personal bubble. Even as his life hangs in the balance, the desire he feels towards Jihyo seems to be burning a hole in his belly. “Where’s the box?” Her voice turns deadly.

Gary shrugs coolly. “I don’t know.”

Jihyo’s eyes becomes hard, that slight sparkle earlier vanishes. “I can kill you. Right here. Right in front of your men.”

“Not unless I tell them to kill you first,” he warns, some of his wits coming back to him.

But she raises a brow and Gary loses the ferocity of his instinct, yet again. “My Lord…if you wanted me dead, you would have done so earlier instead of having this conversation with me.” She shows her teeth, eyes pleased. “You can’t kill me Gary…”

Gary points his gun at her. “I can kill you…” he hisses, annoyance flaring.

“I know your weakness, Gary. I’m afraid I’m prepared to use that to my advantage.”

“You don’t know anything,” Gary roars and suddenly jumps forward, his hand tightening around Jihyo’s neck. She makes a choking sound and Gary almost untightened his grip but he wills himself to hold on to the woman’s neck, the assassin in him finally taking over of his mind and body.

Jihyo holds onto his arms and tries to throw a punch at his torso, but Gary was stronger and was able to control the movement.  “What were you saying again?” He whispers harshly behind Jihyo. A waft of her scent assaults his nose as he drew his head close, distracting him for a second.

That’s when Jihyo decided to bash her head backwards, the back of her head connecting with Gary’s face. Jihyo frees herself from the headlock and stumbles forward keeping a safe distance from Gary. She was gasping for air.

Gary brushes away the blood from his nose, a smile forming on his lips. “Not bad...for a Choi.”

“Where’s the box?” Jihyo asks, her tone with a hint of finality.

Gary didn’t like it. He wanted to continue fighting Jihyo. Gary wants to see how far he can go until he breaks her, until she begs for mercy. He wanted to feel her underneath him when he finally succumbs to her pleas. He mentally shakes himself. “You know I cannot disclose that information.”

“I will flattened this area until I find it,” she promises.

It shouldn’t be like this. He shouldn’t feel a thrill run down his belly but the threat was coming from Jihyo and he welcomes it with open arms. “Not until I kill you first.” he warns with no malice at all. Without thinking, without really knowing what came over him, Gary asks his voice almost a plea, “Was any of it real?”

Jihyo didn’t show any disbelief. Her body relaxes and she loses the hardness her face carried throughout the conversation. “It was an act. And clearly, I’m a better actress than my father give me credit for.” Gary is unsure how to interpret her tone.

An unfamiliar coil of pain settles around his chest. What did he expect? For Jihyo to also feel the pull he seems to have towards her. To have the same –insane- affection he secretly holds for her? The longing he feels at night? He had been stabbed and shot and tortured before, but nothing can compare to what he feels right now. The rejection from the only woman, the only person, that Gary willingly invited into his defences stings like a .

His father was right, nothing good came from caring for someone.

In any given day, Gary would have blasted his enemy’s brains with his gun. However, something stirs within him, some unversed emotion washes over him that made Gary say the words so out of character that if his father was present Gary would have been murdered instead. Before delving into his thought process any further, Gary with a steady voice says, “Run away with me, Jihyo.”

A/N: What will Jihyo do???????