San groans as the decision to kill her comes out of their leader's mouth. The latter remains pensive, as if he still hasn't fully made up his mind. "Hongjoong, you're just making this harder. If you chose to kill her, that means it's four against four." They are huddled together in groups according to their choices, as if they have built a barrier between them. "That means it's a tie and we can't do anything about it."

"Unless..." Wooyoung trails off, biting his lower lip.

"Unless what?" Yunho asks.

The rest turn to look at him expectantly, the only member of the team who's a father. San touches the tips of his forefingers together, eyebrows raised.

His eyes go wide as realization dawns on him. "That is exactly what we are not going to do. We are not going to freaking ask my precious cupcake whether to take someone in or kill her. She's 6 for crying out loud, she's too innocent for this."

"Well, she is technically a part of our team," Yeosang shrugs. "That girl's got a mouth that's deadlier than any guns."

"She definitely learnt it from you," San purses his lips, momentarily forgetting that they are from opposing sides.

Mingi taps a finger rhythmically every second against the table, glancing at the wall clock. It's almost 11:30 p.m., yet they are nowhere near done resolving the problem. The request they received - the one Hongjoong had announced to the whole cafe because he's a damn genius - has not been attended to yet.

"We really need to sort this out before she wakes up. If we decide to take her in, we'll have to come up with something to make her stay. She'll run away once she wakes up and realizes that we're all a bunch of creeps who had a voting system to decide whether we want to be merciful on her or murder her. So chop chop, make the freaking decision before we all lose our shit."

Yunho hits his knuckles against his forehead while he closes his eyes, deep in thought. "I just barely managed to make her go to sleep."

"That's because you gave her sugar before bed," Wooyoung chastises. "I told you not to do that."

"It's not time for you to give me parenting tips. A girl's life is at stake here, excuse me."

"And it all depends on Hwayoung," Seonghwa says, his eyes radiating hopefulness.

"Ah, Seonghwa, not you too!"

Just moments ago they were each others' necks trying to defend their own choices regarding Byul, but right now they are all pushing at each other on who'll present the question to her.

"Jeong Yunho you're the father, you go ask her."

"I am not asking her that question. Let my poor baby sleep, she has to go to kindergarten tomorrow!"

"What about Wooyoung?"

"He's her least favourite uncle I'll doubt she will let him go even past her bedroom door," Yeosang comments.

"Yeosang you're really asking for it." Wooyoung loops an arm around his neck and pulls him down, rubbing his fist against the latter's head, messing up his hair.

"Stop it you're ruining my hair, I just went to the freaking saloon! I spent 300 bucks on this," he shouts out in terror, trying to untangle himself from his grip.

The cafe has become a witness to the brawl between Wooyoung and Yeosang, while Seonghwa and Hongjoong try to pull them apart, crying out profanities mixed with incoherent words. Jongho, San, Mingi and Yunho stay by the side, watching the entertainment unfold.

"So tell me, what are we here for again?" Jongho asks San, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm pretty sure at first it was about Han Byul, then Hwayoung and somehow it went to Yeosang's hair."

"Will we ever get this done?" Mingi laments.

"Maybe latest by next year, if we're lucky. Or maybe we'll even solve this by the time Hwayoung graduates university."

The fight goes on until the whole cafe is full of the sound of screeching birds, bouncing off the walls like they're fighting over the last grain of rice. Wooyoung is now pulling Yeosang's hair, mocking him about how he just wasted 300 bucks for an ugly ramen hairdo. Yeosang's arms reach out to pull his opponent's hair but he avoids it, bringing him down lower.

"One of you needs to throw a punch first, then we can get it moving," Jongho suggests.

"Jongho I will whoop your ass with a hanger if you don't stop encouraging this fight. I will-" Seonghwa shows a threatening finger.

"Yes mom." He rolls his eyes.

From the darkness of the pathway leading to the store, a figure with gauze dressing around her arms and adhesive bandages all over her legs scoffs at the chaos happening. Her tears have dried up and the feeling of fright is replaced with a feeling of incredulity after watching them fight like children because one called the other 'Hwayoung's least favourite uncle'. Even the two who are trying to pull them apart look like those inflatable tube men you see at any parking lot with one arm beckoning customers to come pay a visit.

She's starting to second guess herself; maybe she was the one who heard it wrong and there was no word of 'assassination' anywhere - but then again, they were clearly debating on whether they should take her in or kill her. All of that were presented when she just woke up from her fainting spell just minutes ago. The first words she heard that made fear creep up on her again was from the man who looks like a strawberry and they are 'kill her'.

With no way to escape, she stood long enough to discern that apparently four wanted to take her in, but four wanted to kill her. Since it was a tie, they had to ask another person's opinion, who happens to be the daughter of the man she tackled to the ground.

She should've run, but the back door's locked and she thought that she could bolt past them to the front door without them noticing. Her plan to make a run for it looks to be bleak since they have blocked the entrance. There is no other way that she can run to, plus the chaotic cat fight took her by surprise that she finds herself locked in place.

Who are they, really?

They look and act like idiots to be a part of a sophisticated gang or a group of assassins. She doesn't know what to make out of the situation so she stands still, wishing she could disappear into thin air instead. She can't guess where they stand regarding her, because if they were intent on killing her straight away, why would they help to wrap and patch her up?

Oh my god, they must have escaped from a mental institution.

But that can't explain how they have a whole cafe to operate at some dingy alley. Plus the coffee he made for her was actually good even though she only managed to take a sip before running for her life.

Maybe I'm just dreaming and I'm actually in a coma after being hit by a bus.

She slaps herself twice to make sure it's the reality, but the sound makes the dimpled man notice her after a while. At that same moment, the 'least favourite uncle' slams the '300 bucks hair guy' onto the floor, but the weird thing is they are laughing, as if whatever skirmish they had was some friendly fight. They stay tangled on the floor, while the ash blonde-haired man and the strawberry man look like they aged another 100 years.

"Kang Yeosang and Jung Wooyoung I will deal with both of you later," the man with the blonde ash hair says, putting his hands on his hips like a mother nagging her children. "I'm too old to be dealing with this shit."

"You're only 26," strawberry man replies.

"Yeah, but I feel like I'm nearing 200 for having to take care of every single one of you."

"It was expensive," the '300 bucks hair guy' mumbles, pushing his lips outwards to form a pout.

"It's ugly!" the 'least favourite uncle' retorts, sticking out his tongue.

"Both of you are 24," the man with the glasses groans.

"And... looks like she's awake," the dimpled man finally announces, looking at her direction and smiling.

She hates herself for feeling something fluttering inside her chest when he does that, the feeling intensifying as every single one of them turn to look at her. Even the two still on the floor turn to look at her, untwining themselves from each other in the process.

She hates that he used 'she' instead of 'you' when talking about her, as if she's just merely a passing shadow, like they're talking about someone who's not there. She hates that after witnessing everything she doesn't feel like they're a threat anymore.

She hates the fact that as she looks at their eyes she senses sympathy and guilt; like they are truly sorry she was caught at the wrong moment but there is nothing they can do about it.

"Are you... feeling alright?" The man with the ash blonde hair steps forward, and she takes a step back, letting herself get swallowed deeper by the darkness. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he quickly adds as she tenses her body, balling her fists.

"Why?" is what she can muster. "Why are you treating me like I'm some kind of object, tossing me into a decision of whether you'd take me in or kill me? What do you want from me, when my life is already shitty as it is? Who are you?"

"We-" Yunho starts but Hongjoong puts a hand out to his chest, stopping him from advancing.

The 8 of them look at each other, creasing their faces and sighing.

"You said you wanted to kill me," she utters. "Then get it over with, it's not like I have anything to lose anyway. I don't know why you're doing this to me but if you want to kill me then do it."

They shift uncomfortably in their spots.

"Why can't you do it, when you were so sure you wanted to kill me? Who are the other three who wanted to kill me? Is it you?" she looks at Yeosang, "or you?" she turns to Yunho, then to the rest. She studies their faces, but they avoid her stare. "When you had the chance, you should have killed me. Get rid of me to protect your secrets, whatever they are."

"Because we don't have a choice," Hongjoong replies. "You weren't supposed to get involved; it was my stupid mistake and I'm sorry."

"Not accepted."

"Give me a minute to explain."

Five seconds of silence pass by before she steps out, making sure to sit down as far as possible from the group. She eyes them warily but her body is tired and weak; she's had enough of always having to put up her guard. "I don't think there's anything for you to justify about wanting to murder me but go ahead."

"We can let you go," he says. "But we can't get involved if anything ever happens to you outside there. We can open the door for you and you can leave, return to your district. But if they catch up with you," he releases a shaky breath, "they will do far worse to you and we can't help you."

"Who are they?"

"Monsters."

She waits for him to burst out laughing, mocking her for believing him, but his face shows that he's not joking around. He looks serious, and so do the others. There is not a single hint of them making light of the situation, the light in their eyes switched off and shrouded with dark clouds after he mentioned the word 'monsters'.

She frowns, unable to grasp the current situation. "So you think that by killing me you'll be justified? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard-"

"There's nothing ridiculous about this situation, young lady. I think you're right; it's better to just kill you. You're talking too much that I'm starting to get annoyed. If you won't do it then I will," Yeosang says to the rest, already striding towards her.

"Yeosang, wait-" Seonghwa says but it's too late.

Yeosang charges towards her, alarming the rest as he chases her and takes a knife from behind the counter. She's already turning back to the store, considering that's the only way she could go. Seonghwa goes after him, but halts when the former slams the door shut and locks it.

The oldest bangs his fist on the door, calling out his name and warning him to not do anything stupid. There is no answer from him, only the pitiful scream from Han Byul from inside the store. Her scream continues before it gets completely quiet.

"Fuck, Kang Yeosang!" Seonghwa slams his fist repeatedly on the door, his shouts echoing until the main area of the cafe. "Bring the keys to the store, now!" he instructs San, who is looking through their sets of keys, skittish. He keeps dropping them, unable to find the right one. His hands are shaking, imagining what's going on inside the store. "Choi San, give me the keys, now."

"I- I- can't find it."

"San-"

The door to the store flies open and Yeosang steps out, bumping his shoulder against Seonghwa's. Seonghwa looks down to the knife in his hand, before his eyes travel to the situation inside the store. Yeosang looks at him before turning away and walking down the hallway to the front.

Disbelief and shock water their faces as he throws the knife onto the marble counter, fresh blood dripping along the blade and onto the surface. He washes his hands at the sink, then leans against the counter, tilting his head to acknowledge the kitchen appliance-turned-weapon.

"That was easy wasn't it? I told you we should have just killed her from the start. Saves us the trouble and headache."

---

[A/N: And... the end.

Or is it...?

This was how I imagined Seonghwa and Hongjoong when they're trying to break up the 'fight'

So another chapter before a long and tiring week ahead; I can already feel the exhaustion coming...

And I added a playlist at the beginning--

Thank you and I love you <3]