Minho stepped on gas. His navigation warned him of the coming speed camera, yet Minho didn't think of slowing down. The sun was setting down, and the highway was painted in orange. Minho narrowed his eyes, for the sunlight was blinding. He barely saw the car before him. Leaning his body to the passenger seat, Minho opened the glovebox, searching for his sunglasses. To his bad luck, it wasn't there. Minho growled. Today was just not his day. Not a single thing went right today, starting with his father's phone call in the morning. He should have known better. That was the ultimate bad omen.

His father had called as he was still asleep and had demanded him to come home immediately. Minho was the "official" leader, but his father was still the one giving the tone in the gang. The old man had not retired for real.

As Minho arrived and saw Onew standing at the front gate, he knew right away something was wrong. Simply a glance from the older, and he understood he should brace himself for whatever was awaiting him behind that door. As soon as he walked through the gate, he sensed the intensity in the air. His father had summoned the most trusted "brothers" and "uncles" of the family, and they all were armed. Yet, Minho didn't miss those strangers who were trying too hard to hide the guns under their jackets. It was clear. This was a "meeting", one of the highest levels.

Minho bit on his lower lip. How could he not notice the danger sooner? The moment his father introduced the middle-aged man in front of him as the new leader of the Black Lotus, Minho understood he was already too late, too late to save Tae. And as Kibum's uncle thanked him for his cooperation, his body moved on his own. The next thing he knew was being in his car, speeding to his safe house, praying that he'd be the first one to reach Tae. The voice of Kibum's uncle was still in his head, giving him chill.

"As soon as Kibum is returned to us, nothing will be in the way of our new alliance."

Minho could hear the squeak of the tires as he stepped on the brakes. Arrived at the safe house, he ran inside as fast as he could. Yet, he was too late. The house was empty, and Tae was gone. Minho let out a scream. His chest went up and down due to the running, as he checked every room and every single spot in this place. His hand clenched into a fist, and Minho threw a punch against the mirror. The moment the broken glasses hit the ground, and Minho heard the noises, the gang leader flinched. Was it his imagination or did he just hear Tae's voice?

"Let me go." Once again, Minho noticed a voice coming from the wood. It was Tae. Minho was sure. It had to be Tae.

In a second, Minho rushed into the wood, following Tae's voice. With every step, Minho felt the wind more clearly. The air was changing bit by bit on his way. Minho had no doubt where he was heading to. The cliff. As expected, he found Tae and his "uncle", Choo, also known as his father's right-hand. Yet, he would never think Namjoon would be chasing after Tae, instead of helping that one person he promised to protect.

Minho's legs moved on their own. They were running so fast, it felt like they didn't even touch the ground. Minho hated the fact that he was close enough to see everything but not close enough to do anything. It was killing him, the way he was forced to watch his loved one getting hurt without a chance to help.

Minho could clearly see how his "uncle" drew the weapon. His heart skipped a beat as Choo pointed his gun at Tae and a shot is fired. Minho jumped at the loud bang, awaiting the worst. However, "uncle" Choo missed Tae. Yet, before he could breathe out, Namjoon pulled his gun as well. To Tae's luck, or to his bad luck, Namjoon was too close to Tae, so they happened to fight over the gun. Although Tae had a had punch, it was still a short fight. Their legs tangled, and Tae tripped, but behind him, the ground ended. Minho couldn't believe his eyes as Tae fell down the cliff. Tae's scream mixed up with his own. Minho couldn't tell them apart.

The gang leader reached out for the younger, forcing his feet to move faster. But he was too far away. All the power he had was useless; in the end, he could do nothing but watch his loved one falling into death.

Then Minho heard a loud crash. If it weren't followed by Onew's voice, Minho could have thought it was the sound of his heart breaking. Turned around, Minho widened his eyes as he saw Onew in a car that the older just crashed into a tree. Onew was in as much panic as Minho. They both rushed to the cliff. Yet, while Onew slowed down at the last steps away from the abyss, Minho seemed to speed even more. The gang leader was about to jump after his lover as Onew's strong grip held him back.

"Let me go," Minho yelled at Onew.

"You know he's a terrible swimmer." The younger shouted.

"Minho," Onew tightened his arms around Minho.

"That doesn't matter." The older whispered with a broken voice, and Minho froze.

"He wouldn't come to swim. A fall from this height makes the water hard as concrete." Onew explained. Minho noticed the pain in the other's words.

"He wouldn't come to swim," Onew repeated. Just now Minho realized how the strength had left his legs. His body dropped to the ground, and he felt Onew's grip loosening.

"But he could have survived," Minho stuttered.

"No one survives a fall from this height, Minho. Wake up," Onew yelled at his boss as he grabbed Minho's collar with both hands. Minho widened his eyes in shock. Onew had never raised his voice against him. The older was shaking. The veins on his neck were visible. Onew looked like he was in as much pain as Minho.

Suddenly Minho felt so dumb for not noticing it earlier. Where did Onew come from? The older just appeared out of thin air.

"How did you find us?" Minho frowned.

"I followed you," Onew confessed.

"You did what? Why?" Minho's face darkened even more.

"Do you have something to do with this?" The gang leader said through clenched teeth, and Onew shook his head.

"I just saw you leaving all of sudden. I thought you might need some help," lied Onew, for he couldn't tell Minho that he followed the younger to find Taemin.

Minho hadn't bought that yet, but before he could react. Namjoon's voice interrupted their conversation.

"I'm sorry," Namjoon said. In a second Minho's shock turned into pure anger. The gang leader threw Onew aside and jumped down Namjoon's throat.

"What have you done? I trusted you." Minho shouted his lungs out. Why did people around him – one after another – keep disappointing him? Each and every time he trusted somebody; it'd turn out to be a mistake.

"I'm sorry, Minho. I did it to protect you," Namjoon apologized, getting on his knees. Yet, that wasn't enough for Minho to forgive him. The gang leader clenched his fingers into a fist, and the next thing Namjoon felt was a punch that numbed his jaw. Through the impact the bodyguard bit on his tongue so hard, it bled.

"To protect me? By betraying me?" Minho yelled.

"He was a threat to your safety. It was just a matter of time until he gets you killed." Namjoon spitted the blood on the ground and explained.

„You son of a bitch," Minho threw another punch, the hardest he could. The bodyguard was knocked out in one second.

"I'm sorry. I did it to protect you," Namjoon stuttered, barely understandable through the coughings. As Minho rubbed his right hand with a painful growl, being distracted for a short moment, Namjoon took the chance and bowed to his boss before reaching for his weapon.

Immediately Onew threw himself between Namjoon and Minho, while "uncle" Choo backed away for his own safety. Then, everything happened in a split second. They hear a shoot and a body dropped to the ground. All three checked on themselves and then on the others. Who got shot?

And in the next moment, they noticed Namjoon lying on the ground, which was painted red with blood.

"Forgive me," the guard whispered under his last breaths.

Minho was paralyzed. In just a few minutes, he had lost two of the people he'd trusted the most. His brain was refusing to accept all this.

"He killed himself," Choo stuttered, "I have nothing to do with this." The old man clarified before running away, leaving Onew the others behind.

"That son of a bitch," Minho shouted after his "uncle" who was almost out of sight. The gang leader turned to Namjoon who had stopped moving.

"How could he betray me?" Minho hissed, bowing down to his former guard. Yet, before he could reach the body, Onew stopped him one more time.

"Don't touch him. You'll leave your DNA on him," the older warned, "that coward was right, it was a suicide after all."

Minho had never been so confused like he was at this moment. His body was like on vibration. He wanted to do something. He needed to do something, only if he'd know what to do.

"I'll take care of that," Onew pointed with his head at Namjoon, "and you," he emphasized the younger's name, "you'll get on your car, drive down the river and find Kibum."

"Ok," Minho said in astonishment. Onew sounded different. What the older said sounded like an order to the boss. Every piece of his body told him to put Onew in his place, but Minho knew better. Onew was right. The best thing... No, the only thing he could do at this moment was looking for Tae.

Minho nodded and he ran back to his car, driving down the river. Maybe Tae made it. The younger must survive. And Minho would find him, wherever he was.

--- Ten days later ---

Minho growled as he opened the front door. The morning light was too bright for his eyes, so the gang leader told the person on his veranda to get in quickly.

"What do you want, Onew?" He hissed, being mad for no reason.

"Did you sleep here again? It's been over a week. You should go home," Onew sighed at the sight of a broken Minho. The younger had been staying in the safe house since Taemin fell off the cliff. All Minho did was looking for Taemin. At first, Onew was grateful for the leader's help, but as time went by it got sadder and sadder, for Minho refused to accept the fact that Taemin wasn't coming back. They might never find Taemin.

"What do you want?" Minho asked dryly. He was too tired to explain himself, and people wouldn't understand anyway.

"I have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I'm leaving the company," Onew said with hesitation.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Minho frowned.

"I quit, Minho. After what happened to Kibum, I can't wake up every morning, acting like it were nothing," Onew explained. Minho couldn't judge at the older, for he felt the same. Yet, unlike the older, he didn't have the privilege to 'quit' the gang. He was a part of it and he'd be a part of it until the day he died.

"I didn't know you were so close with Kibum," Minho said.

"I know you thought all I did was babysitting him, but," Onew replied, "... I promised him I would protect him, and I failed. He was a good person. He was too good for our world."

Minho nodded. Onew was right. Tae was too good for this damned world.

"Are you blaming me for what happened?" Minho asked, not being able to say the word "death". To him, Tae wasn't dead. He wasn't giving up on Tae. Unless he found Tae's lifeless body, or else he'd believe Tae had survived.

"I'm blaming every single person involved," Onew raised his voice until he was yelling at Minho, "I'm blaming you for hiding Kibum in this damned place without telling me. I'm blaming your father for trading Kibum's life for an alliance. I'm blaming Namjoon for telling your father where Kibum was, and I'm blaming myself for not finding Kibum sooner. So yes, Minho, it's not all about you. You fucked up and so did I."

Onew took a deep breath. His voice softened.

"And we both will have to live with this. Every time we think of him, we'll ask ourselves what should we have done differently? And it'll hurt, but that's the least we'd pay for our mistakes," the older lectured his boss.

Minho gasped for air. Onew's words were like thousands of blades cutting his heart. It pained because he knew they were true.

"And you should go home, take a shower, shave your beard and stop being so pathetic," Onew said, heading to the exit.

"He wouldn't want you to be like this," the older said, slamming the door behind him.

I don't have any excuse for killing Taebaby. I'm just an evil author and I'll go in the shame-corner now.