The hourglass.

The rising sun peeked through the glass window, casting a golden glow on the old wooden door. The door appeared dreamy, as if it were an entrance to a fairytale world, as if the voices that escaped its creaks, becoming hushed whispers, weren't discussions of violence and revenge.

Laira let out another breath, which melded with the cool morning breeze unknown to her kneen eyes.

She was on the floor, her eyes aligned in front of her as if she could X-ray her vision through the door.

The whole night, she sat still in the narrowed passageway, under the window, facing the closed room, managing to catch bits of conversation that leaked out from the seams.

She could recognize Namjoon and Jimin with another voice that sounded too rough and low to her ears. They were summing up the events of last night. The stranger's voice reasoned that Jimin would have to send an apology letter to the Grace's Committee as the leader of the Tsuki clan, and Namjoon, as expected, counter-reasoned, saying, "But, Elijah, the Taiyo clan participated in the violence with the same enthusiasm!"

She recognized that name, Elijah, to be the shadow assassin's leader.

To her surprise, Jimin stopped the commotion by agreeing to the apology letter as he stated, "No other clan leader had so openly participated in the chaos, at least not physically. It's only fair that I apologize."

Namjoon scoffed and added, "Not like other clan leaders can fight. They are cowards who can't even move their limbs to save their lives."

If Jimin laughed at that, Laira couldn't hear.

She planted her palm on the cold surface beneath her and allowed her back to slump against the wall as their discussion didn't seem to end. It had already been 7 hours of her neglecting the human side of her being, which demanded food, sleep, and water.

Her feet were aching from her previous back-and-forth pacing and now her eyelids were seeking comfort from the heaviness.

She stomped her boot on the ground to keep her body alert and to keep her sleep at bay, but the slow constant sound resembling her heartbeat lulled her into the comfort of a deep slumber.

Before her mind could catch up, her eyes found themselves in a quiet and peaceful rest, seeking refuge in darkness.

*

A hand, very stern and rough, nudged her shoulder. Laira fought her eyes open, the impending sleep gradually budging away.

The first thing her mind could register was the face in front of her eyes of a stranger, a stranger too handsome to appear before her existence out of the blue.

His eyes were an open book, confidently stating that they were judging her. He shook her again as if her open eyes weren't enough to declare that she was awake.

"I'm up," she dumbly stated and blamed his ridiculously handsome face for that.

"Yes, now you are," he examined her head-to-toe, shameless. "You were snoring and drooling a while ago."

Laira's hand flew up to assess her face in panic, and the stranger burst into a squeaky laughter.

If she wasn't fully awake before, now she was, having never heard such a heartful laugh before. She registered the grip on her shoulder, very firm and unwavering, unlike common grips and surely better than her own.

Her heart rate jumped in alarm. Her one hand reached out to arrest his hand that was on her shoulder and the other one nearing the dagger inside her boot.

"Who are you and how'd you get in here?" she asked.

That man, with a suspiciously skillful grip, quirked his brow in amusement. He lazily stared at her alert form and said, "I could easily dislocate your shoulder before you could even retrieve that weapon from your boot."

Laira's gaze narrowed on his smug smile. "If you are a danger then I won't go easy on you."

He laughed that loud and chirpy laugh again. "I'm worse than danger. I'm Kim Seokjin, Tsuki clan's top sniper. Who are you, little lady?"

"You don't need to know who I am, but If you're from my clan then why haven't I seen you before?" she asked.

"I should be asking you that question. Guess, Jiminie has been keeping too many secrets from me."

Laira gasped, except for Namjoon's occasional frankness nobody called Jimin only by his name.

"I-ah, who are you?" she asked as shock rendered her mind in a breathless haze.

He let go of her shoulder, backing up to stand tall on his feet. His handsome face broke out in annoyance as he rolled his eyes. "I just told you my name and my position. Do you have dementia? And what business do you have eavesdropping outside Jimin's room?"

Her eyes slightly widened. "I did not- I was asleep when you found me!"

He raised his brow again before sighing. "And why were you sleeping here?" he asked with authority, which indicated she was in trouble.

Whatever his name and position were, he seemed close to Jimin.

She stood up, fixing her leather jacket. "Um, Master Namjoon assigned me to guard outside the room."

He wasn't deceived one bit and seemed displeased by her lack of talent in coming up with lies. "I'll let you off for now, kid. I'm already tired from traveling and now I have to go face a grumpy sleepless Jimin."

She nodded, clasping her hands politely.

"Uh, were you inside all this time?" she asked with hesitation.

He stared at her, flatly. "No. Didn't I just tell you I traveled?"

"Uh, yes." She mentally whacked her head for not functioning.

He just came. He traveled. Brain, what's wrong with you?

He knocked on the door and waited with his hand on his hip, seemingly uninterested in whatever or whoever awaited him inside the room.

When she stood there watching him, he turned around making a 'shoo' gesture with his hand, sending her feet into action.

Her hurried steps led her into the room she was given to stay in last night, which she had delightfully abandoned. Now, there stood a human she recognized with ease, a tiny head with busy hands going through her handbag.

"Ben, what did I say about touching others' stuff without permission?"

He flinched in shock before his body erupted in very childish laughter. "Sorry!" he squealed as Laira embraced him off the ground in a tight hug.

He clutched her jacket while giggling against her neck. "What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I'm here to see Dad and my Jimin."

"Who even brought you here?"

"Meanie hyung," he answered, twitching his nose in displeasure.

"Hmm, who could that be?" she wondered aloud. "I'm really happy to see you anyway! What were you looking for inside my bag?"

"Snacks. That meanie hyung only had jellies to give me."

"That's bad, but I don't have snacks here. C'mon, I'll get some food for us."

She took him outside to the hall where Jimin's protection squad was staying. She bowed to her seniors.

"Laira, you woke up!" the in charge of the second unit called out. She was introduced to him by Namjoon last night

She only smiled, keeping the bit about her all-nighter to herself. "We were looking for food."

He waved at Ben in her arms. "Of course, you two can sit at the table. I'll have my boys serve breakfast."

"Thank you."

Laira watched the little guy stuff his face with dessert and completely ignore the plate of salad in front of him.

It reminded her of her younger self and then of Chloe. Her dear Chole who'd slap at her hand reaching for countless candies. She'd scare her off, saying, "Eating candies will turn you into a sugar monster!"

And, Laira would laugh, arguing, "I'm not that young to fall for that!"

Her Chole was not with her anymore to give her the warnings. Worst of all, she wasn't back home safe and sound either.

Laira had no clue about her wellbeing and that was eating at her heart. That was also the reason why she camped outside Jimin's chamber, hoping to be a part of his plan to rescue her.

Unfortunately, they didn't talk about her or maybe they did when she was asleep.

Last night, before sending Laira to bed after reaching this old house, Namjoon told her that they'd bring Chloe back no matter what. However, there were no signs of urgency in the air.

The second unit, who had once attacked Laira while she was in disguise as Taiyo clan's trainee, were all present in the hall, seemingly under no orders to save Chloe.

All Laira could do was wait, just like she did for the past 10 or so hours. They were all brought to this small minka last night, led by Jimin's men after the face-off with The Knights and Hoseok's men after Jimin dragged Laira away from that scene himself.

This is where Jimin was staying after coming to Kyoto to keep an eye on Laira, to ensure her security, or to ensure her loyalty, she wasn't sure.

There were no signs of living in this place before the second unit making themselves at home here, scattering their bags and food all over the place as if all this time Jimin didn't even step a foot anywhere.

He wouldn't even need to use the main entrance when he could easily climb the wall to his room, but would he? She hit her forehead.

Focus.

All she noted since her arrival was that Jimin's chamber was past the staircase, following the narrowed passageway and her room was on the other side of the hallway, among the other two rooms. The ceilings were dusty, spider-webbed, and holed at places, and the floor creaked upon every two or so steps.

For the people, the second unit's assassins were loud and lively, forcing her to question if they were just ordinary men instead, Kim Seokjin was dangerous, and Jimin and Namjoon could have discussions for hours with no food and sleep in their systems, though she did smell coffee at one point.

Ben's loud voice broke her out of another zoning-out session. "Dad!"

Without command, Laira's face turned to see Namjoon jogging their way. He muttered something of a bad word and Seokjin hyung under his breath before sweetly smiling at his son. "He brought you along! Of course, he did."

Laira could notice how forced and painful his dimpled smile was.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Ben asked, pouting his lips which didn't resemble Namjoon's in any way, must be a trait of his late mother.

"I am! I'm very happy to see you, my dear," he said, engulfing his son in his embrace.

Laira cleared her throat, guilty of ruining the moment. "Can I have a word with you?"

"Yeah. Meet me outside in 10 minutes."

*

Min Yoongi is a freakin' vampire.

That much Chloe managed to establish. He needn't eat, sleep, or go out at all as he sat across the room on a couch, keeping an eye on her.

Does he even know what sunlight is?

She scoffed loudly, not even a fly scratching his ears. He had a book opened on his lap, which she supposed he'd put there for reasons other than actual reading.

Would he actually read?

In no capacity of her mind, could she think of him as an ordinary man.

He wasn't. He was a crazy lunatic.

He had to be.

Who in the world was so determined to score 150% on their assignments? Jung Hoseok said he had to keep Chole under surveillance all the time. Thereafter, Min Yoongi glued himself to that darn spot as if his whole life depended on succeeding in that one task.

"Do you even breathe?" she asked, not expecting an answer.

Silence.

"It's about time you flip the page, you know?"

Ignored.

"Ever thought about dyeing your hair green?"

Scoffed.

Scoffed? Chloe counted that as a mini-success. At least, now she knew he could hear her perfectly fine.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted the fierce assassin who had stopped her from leaving this morning, Jeon Jungkook. His red highlighted hair reminded her of Laira.

Laira.

She hoped that the girl was sent back to their headquarters and was now safely sleeping in their shared bedroom.

"Hyung, I'm untying her hands. She needs to eat," Jk said, settling a plate of fruits in front of her. Diced apples, bananas, and cherries.

"No, you can leave. I'll do that," Yoongi said, finally getting up from his throne.

He walked towards her, caressing the casting on his left hand. She was the one who had stabbed his hand with chopsticks earlier, and to her surprise, she felt scared when his eyes marked her in their frame.

Crouching down on his one knee beside her, he started to untangle the knots of the rope. She could feel his ice-cold touch against her warm, probably rashed, and bruised skin.

He untied her hands and pulled a chair closer to her. His eyes were steady and blank, targeting her motion, as he sat down a few feet away.

In the background, she could hear JK leaving the room.

Would he guard outside?

She needed to know what were her chances of escaping. Her hands made their way to the plate and fork under his heavy gaze.

Fork?

Before her mind could complete that thought, he spoke, "Don't you think about stabbing me with that thing. That boy waiting outside the door will not hesitate to decapitate you if you try anything funny."

Decapitate me?

A part of Chloe's head felt like laughing, but she wasn't sure a guy like Min Yoongi would be casually cracking jokes.

Well, at least one thing was clear, JK was guarding the door from outside, so any attempt to leave this room was useless.

"If your hand wasn't already injured, I would've given it a shot," she mumbled, loud enough for him to hear.

Yoongi sighed. "If you want to leave this place then stop thinking about harming me and instead think about your leader's address."

"Even if I figured that out, I wouldn't utter a single word."

"Yeah? What did Park Jimin do for you to be this loyal to him?" he asked, surprisingly without a bite in his tone.

She lifted the fork to take a bite of the apple before meeting his gaze. "Never asked myself that before. What about you? Aren't you loyal to Jung Hoseok? What did he do?"

He shrugged. "Life comes before anything else."

Chole was caught off guard by his answer and honesty. That single answer had so many meanings and one of them was, "If I hold this fork to your neck, would you safely get me out of here? Wouldn't you do that much to save your life?"

Min Yoongi laughed, revealing harmless, pretty gummy teeth. In this light, Chloe realized he was slightly good-looking, or maybe more than just slightly.

"Nice try, but Jungkook wouldn't hesitate to drive an arrow in your head even at the risk of killing me along with you."

"What a great friend you have," Chole mocked, peeking at the look on his face, solemn and soft, but somewhere along those lines lived dominance and rage. Despite herself, she wondered what kind of person he was away from the fast-paced, brutal lives they were living.

"He wasn't like that 2 days ago. Your friend caused that great change in him," he said, once again, sounding bland and bored.

"She did as she was told."

"Don't try to defend her. We are not the kind of people who work for righteous reasons and intentions."

"Your kind of people. Laira and I are just trainees who got caught up in this mess."

"Well, then you have a way out. Reveal what you know and you are free to go home," he said, caressing the slightly red-tinted dressing on his hand.

"Why does Jung Hoseok want to know the location of my leader's home?"

He shrugged again, resting his elbows on the chair. "Like you said, this is a mess. The lesser you know, the safer you are."

"Are you concerned for my well-being, Mr. Min?"

He smirked, causing her heart to sink, as he placed his elbows on the table to lean closer.

"That wasn't a precautionary note. That was a threat. If you want to survive in this mess, don't ask questions. Just answer."

Word count: 2.6k.

Author's note: Thank you for reading. I know it takes me a good while to update this book, but I always make sure the chapters are lengthy, mostly 2.5K - 3K words. Also, the next chapter is already under construction, but it would probably take me some time to do the anterior. (laughing emoji). Nonetheless, you can look forward to it.