“So, where do you want us to go?” Seunghyun asked Mi Hwa the moment they left the Mall.

She shrugged. “The beach?” She looked at Yongie. “Yongie could play in the water. I’d packed extra clothes for him just in case he got himself all wet.”

He nodded. “The beach would be good for him,” he agreed. “Let’s go.” He took his nephew’s little hand and the three of them walked to the beach in silence. As they were walking, he glanced sideways to her. “How are you, really, Mi Hwa?” he asked.

She sighed. “I’m freakin messed up,” she admitted. “But for my son’s sake, I have to be strong.”

“We’re here for you, you know that, right?” he said quietly.

She nodded but didn’t say anything and they lapsed into silence once again. It gave Seunghyun time to notice that the usually green leaves were turning red and crisp, falling to the ground from their place on the trees.

“Hey, autumn is coming soon and then it’ll be Christmas,” he said. They’d reached the beach and Yongie gleefully ran down to make lots of sandcastles. Seunghyun and Mi Hwa sat down on the golden sand.

Mi Hwa smiled, watching her son carefully. She felt proud of her two-year-old son. He was progressing quickly and she was amazed that in the two years he’d been alive, he was really showing something. “Yongie loves Christmastime the most,” she told Seunghyun. She paused. “Well, except his birthday.”

Seunghyun laughed. It was so obvious. “Of course he would love them; they are the days when he receives presents. Who doesn’t?”

“So does GD oppa.”

Seunghyun realized something he never really paid much attention to but now it suddenly struck him. “Hey, Mi Hwa, why do you call him G-Dragon? Why not Ji Yong, his real name?” he wanted to know.

She shrugged. “Well, growing up, he and I always play pretend and his fake name would always be G-Dragon."

“Why did he choose to be called G-Dragon?”

“He wanted a name which people would fear,” she explained, “A name that sounds as though he have the authority over everything. G-Dragon sounds pretty evil, so that’s why he chose it. I guess I was used to calling him G-Dragon until it became like his adopted name of something. When I picture him, I’m more familiar with G-Dragon rather than Ji Yong, despite the fact that I grew up with Ji Yong. Sometimes it scares me, but other days, it seemed normal. Like he’s always been G-Dragon.”

“The pretend games really got to his head, huh?” Seunghyun mused thoughtfully. “How come I didn’t notice it?”

“You and Young Bae oppa were always doing things on your own,” she pointed out. She wasn’t accusing him, but she sounded wistful instead. “GD oppa and I were left to play by ourselves.”

Seunghyun didn’t know what to say. “Mi Hwa, we’ll get him back —”

“Forget it, oppa,” she interrupted. She knew what he was going to say and she didn’t want to hear any of it. She stood up. “Yongie! Time to go!”

“Awww,” little Yongie groaned. He got out of the water and began to run back.

Mi Hwa dried him with the towel and hugged her son. She kissed him sweetly on the forehead. “Mama loves you, boy,” she said softly.

“I love you, Mama,” he replied automatically.

Mi Hwa turned to Seunghyun. She smiled at him. “Take good care of my son. I’ll be back soon. Goodbye.” Before Seunghyun realized what was happening, she was gone.

“Mi Hwa!” he shouted but it was no use. Mi Hwa was already at the Zaifhers’ Headquarters. Hurriedly, he grabbed the stuff and Yongie and sprinted back to the Mall.

There wasn’t a moment to lose!

Mi Hwa looked around her surroundings to see G-Dragon’s bedroom empty. She sighed, feeling a little dejected. He was out. She didn’t want to go out in case there were guards outside. Just as she was wondering what to do, the door opened and she quickly hid behind the bed. She lifted her head high enough to take a peak saw a pair of boots walking here and there. It belonged to G-Dragon. She came out from hiding. “GD.”

G-Dragon jumped, whirling around, startled at the sudden noise. “Mi Hwa!” He quickly locked the door behind him and ran to her. He threw his arms around her and kissed her fiercely. “How did you get here? Oh wait, don’t answer. I know. But Mi Hwa, you shouldn’t have!”

“I’ve been so worried,” she murmured, hugging him back. “GD, why?”

He only shook his head. “I’m so sorry, Mimi. I just thought that it’s the right thing to do,” he said remorsefully. “I’ve got a plan.” He quickly filled it in to her.

When she was done, she gasped in shock. “Oppa, you can’t do that! It’s too risky! A lot of things could go wrong with that sort of plan!”

“It’s a good plan,” he said calmly.

“It’s stupid plan,” she retorted.

He covered but she shook him off. “Trust me on this,” he pleaded. “I know what I’m doing. It’ll work. My plans always work, don’t they?”

“And like all your other plans, they’re stupid. But this time, it’s not just stupid; it’s dangerous as well. You’re nuts,” she said disapprovingly. She folded her arms. “You can’t do this. I won’t let you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Come on, Mi Hwa,” he said impatiently. “I know it’s wrong but don’t you want to stop living in fear? I mean, this is for everyone out there, not just us.”

Mi Hwa didn’t like this. Not one bit. “Oppa, you’re crazy. You can’t do this. You just can’t. It’s wrong, like you said.”

G-Dragon took her hands and pulled her close to him, putting them around his neck. “Swear you won’t take me away, far from here to prevent me from doing it.”

She winced. She hated making promises. “Please don’t —”

“Swear it, Mi Hwa.”

“I — I swear,” she said weakly. Inside, her stomach churned with fear and panic. She really did not like this.

He nodded satisfied. He kissed her again, leading her to the bed. “I love you,” he said, not being able to take his eyes off her. “I love you so much, Mi Hwa. I need you. Right now.”

She blushed, realizing at the position they were in now with him on top of her. “I’ve got to go,” she said quietly.

“Don’t,” he begged, kissing her neck. He held onto her tightly, making it impossible for her to break away. “Stay with me. You know you want to, babe.”

Mi Hwa closed her eyes. “Oppa, let’s get away. Just you, me and the kids. Please. We’ll lead the others somewhere the Zaifhers can’t find them and then we’ll go off ourselves. Rae Ah can come with us, too.” She opened her eyes to find those familiar warm, tinkling blue eyes staring at her intently. She felt his grip tightened his body pressing against her hard. “Ji Yong . . .”

G-Dragon began to sob. He buried his head in her hair, holding onto her, never wanting to let go. He was afraid. He didn’t have to tell her for her to know. She knew. She hugged him back, kissing him softly, tasting the fresh, salty tears. She loved him so much. She didn’t care if he was crushing her. She just wanted him to smile.

He got up. “Mi Hwa, if we don’t destroy them, other people will suffer. Not just us.”

“Bu by sinking down to their level?” she argued back, sitting up. “That’s wrong.” She stood up.

“You promised me,” he reminded her. “So you can’t.” He grabbed her and pinned her against the wall. Before she could protest, she felt him locking something on her wrists.

Copper chains.

“No!” she cried out in frustration. She was weak against copper. She didn’t know why but her powers failed when she touched copper. “G-Dragon, you can’t do this to me! You promised me you’ll never use this against me!”

He kissed her deeply, his hands on her waist. He moved down to kiss her neck. She quieted down. “I’ll come get you later. But in the mean time, don’t make a sound or else you’ll be caught by Jihyun.” He kissed her lips again before walking out of the room.

Mi Hwa shrieked in annoyance, pulling and jerking on the chains but it was useless. All bound up in her chains, she began to sob.

Meanwhile in the mall, Chaerin and Seunghyun were discussing. “Seunghyun, there’s no time,” Chaerin was saying. “We could be too late.”

Seunghyun sighed, annoyed. He was back at the Mall and had told Chaerin and the rest of the clan that Mi Hwa had gone to see G-Dragon and Chaerin refused to go barging into the Headquarters to get her back.

“The boys are not ready for it,” Jonghyun agreed. “If we go now, we’ll lose badly. We could even end up getting killed. Are you really willing to risk your life for someone?”

“She’s part of the clan as much as you are,” Seunghyun snapped. “Rae Ah and my brother are there as well! Haven’t you heard what I told you about GD’s plans? If we don’t go now, and if there was a mistake, they’ll die!”

“Couldn’t Mi Hwa just teleport them here?” Bom asked.

Seunghyun shook his head. “G-Dragon had a hunch that she’ll go looking for him and try to stop him. So he had decided to — or already have — chain her up in copper.”

“Copper?” Minzy repeated, confused. “What has copper to do with anything?”

He shrugged. “Apparently Mi Hwa is weak against copper. No one knows why.”

All eyes turned to Gayoon.

She shrugged. “Hey, don’t look at me,” she said defensively, putting her hands up in the air. “I haven’t come across any substance that makes my power weak.”

“You have the same power as Mi Hwa,” Onew pointed out. “Maybe you could teleport over there and free them.”

She shook her head. “Remember that I would need to visualize the place. And it is very hard for me to go to places without any specific landmark images,” she said and Onew’s face fell.

“That was a good idea, but we’re going to keep trying,” Chaerin said encouragingly. “Any other ideas?”

“Chaerin, we have to go now,” Seunghyun said exasperatedly. He stood up to leave.

But she stood up to face him. “You can’t go out there by yourself,” she protested. “It’s not safe. We’ve talked about this.”

“I’m not losing my family!” he bellowed, finally snapping. Before he could even stop to think, he rushed off.

Chaerin was hurt as she watched his retreating back. The moment he was out of sight, she turned to the others. “We have to follow. He’s right. We can’t just abandon our family like that.”

“CL, I know you love him,” Jonghyun began, “but this is ridiculous.”

Hyuna nodded. “We’ll lose more if Jonghyun and everyone else go.”

Chaerin just gave her a dirty look. “Well, if you chickens won’t go, I will.”

Kibum looked shocked. “CL, you can’t do this alone!” he said.

“I’m not alone. I’ve got Seunghyun.”

But Kibum was not about to let his best friend go off in danger like that. “I’m coming, too,” he said bravely.

Onew nodded. “Same here.”

Dae Sung stood up as well. “If you’re going, so will I. Don’t you leave without me.”

“Hang on, as Head of Security, I say you guys are not going,” Jonghyun exclaimed.

“Jonghyun —”

“Let me finish,” he said, holding a hand. “Not without me, you’re not.” He smiled at them.

As if on cue, Seunghyun reappeared. “Good. Let’s get going.”

Chaerin hugged him before turning to Bom and Hyuna. “You girls keep an eye on the little ones,” she told them. “We’ll be back soon. Don’t worry. We’ll be safe.”

They nodded and the clan divided into two. The girls went to check on the younger ones while Chaerin, Gayoon and the boys headed to face the Zaifhers.