▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

When she had arrived the chains that kept her screwed to the floor were loose. Not by very much, but the fact still stood, the chain was loose. She hadn't noticed a few days into her capture, but she noticed it nonetheless.

Mari would stand up off of the ground when no one was around and tug at the chain with as much strength as she could muster. The more she would fumble with the chain she could catch just the smallest sight of the nails rising from their position in the metal. Though the girl knew that this process would be slow and draining, repeatedly yanking the chain for what sometimes felt like hours before dropping the action immediately when she heard someone coming.

Once she was no longer restrained, her likelihood of escaping would become just a little higher.

Though it was hard trying to perform this task, especially when she was so godawfully exhausted. The Underboss would enter the room at the most irregular hours and keep her up for interrogation to try and force her to spill where the Seo Faction was currently hiding. She wouldn't give him the answers he wanted, rambling on and on about unimportant matters irritating him with her unruly behavior.

Mari suffered the price for not giving the Kim Faction what they wanted, but they couldn't kill her. The Underboss made a promise to Wooyoung and even if he betrayed the boy he had to keep her alive for their master plan to murder her father.

"Fuck," Mari mumbled, staggering to the ground as she held tightly onto her wrists. There was a nasty looking bruise ringing around her arm, getting worse by the day as she aggressively pulled at the chains and the shackles scratched up against it. Usually, she wouldn't be so bothered by such a minor injury, but she hadn't had a full meal to build her physical strength back up. Not to mention the mental toll her mind had taken from her rather unique kidnapping circumstances.

"Ah that's gonna leave a mark after it heals," she mumbled, letting the chain fall limp in her hands as she took a moment to recover from her fumble. Mari couldn't help but wonder, how many more times did she have to pull on this chain till it finally broke free? So that she could stretch her legs and walk around the room as she ached to do so? She swore that at this point she might forget how to walk entirely.

She had to hold out though, tightly gripping onto the hope that someone would come and save her and Wooyoung. There was such a small chance of the two of them escaping by themselves, she had no choice but to rely mostly on the people she had surrounded herself with.

They must have noticed she was gone by now right? They had to know she was gone by now, someone was going to be worried and would come to get the two teenagers.

But the last time anyone needed any saving was when Wooyoung was in this place by himself, even Mari's constant begging couldn't make the faction move their feet to find him. Because they were weak and couldn't fight the Kim Faction at the moment according to Yeosang? So what made her think they would jump to their feet and come charging after her?

"Hongjoong, you bastard," She cursed, almost laughing as she mumbled a calling to the Kim Faction heir. Mari couldn't believe herself honestly, putting her faith in the hands of the son no one cared to listen to once again. "Please, for the love of God, come get me. I can't believe you're my only hope again."

When was the last time she had called upon Hongjoong to save her? When Chaeyeon was deathly close to kidnapping her after her fight with Wooyoung? He had come in riding in his black motorbike like a race car driver, skidding across the asphalt and extending his hand out to her so that they could make their quick getaway. Oh what she wouldn't kill for that to happen again, so she could just fall and collapse in his arms so she could finally rest from her unfortunate nights.

Mari shook her head at the thought, erasing her brain of any more useless thoughts. She couldn't rely on him completely for the girl didn't even know if he would be able to meet her halfway. Mari had to be the one to take the leap of faith and she would pray that he'd catch her.

"Come on, Mari," She told herself, trying to get a little bit of energy back as she stood back up again. The girl shot a worried glance toward bruises on her wrist, unsure of how she was going to continue knowing she was irritating the wound but she'd shoulder past it. If only Mari had a little bit of her strength back, she'd be able to move without the wound bothering her as much as it did now.

"One... two..." Mari mumbled, grabbing a hold of the chain that she had dropped to the ground. She tightened her grip around the metal chain, mentally preparing herself for her muscles to scream at her in exhaustion and for the bruise to spike her body with irritating pain. "Three—!"

"Princess?"

It's pathetic how fast the girl turned around, all actions she was trying to do dropped completely and her chest bubbling up with so many emotions she was going to explode. Mari wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted to let out every single emotion she had forced herself to contain in her kidnapping right then and there. But her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach, probably boiling in its acidic liquid and falling to her knees at the sight.

"That's what he called you, right?" Chaeyeon questioned, leaning up against the door frame and swinging the keys in her hand. The keys to what exactly? Mari didn't know. But she couldn't help but stare at its rotation around her finger, the jingling of her keys ringing loud in her ears as she watched. Chaeyeon laughed after a moment, noticing how mesmerized and desperately the Seo Faction girl was looking at the object in her hand.

"I learned that when we had that Lee Jaerin girl come in and give us all the juicy details on your faction," The Consigliere told her. The woman pushed herself off of the wall and walked toward Mari as she continued to speak, a whimsical look in her eyes as she reminisced on an event that took place only weeks ago. "She said that the Godfather's boy called you... princess. What a good name, fit for someone of your status might I add."

She stopped in front of Mari, holding onto the keys in a tight fist. "Princess... I like the sound of that. Princess, princess, princess! What a cute little nickname!"

"What do you want?" Mari snapped, her eyes wide with anger just hearing the woman's voice. "You come to interrogate me? I thought your Underboss would have told you I'm not talking, I won't give you a pinch of what I know."

Chaeyeon's eyes glinted with annoyance, rolling her eyes at the girl's quick aggressiveness. "Still got the attitude, do you? In this situation even?"

"My entire personality is my attitude," she grinned, though it was more like she was baring her teeth like an animal. "If you don't like it, too bad. You're stuck with it."

Chaeyeon scrunched her nose up at the thought, assumably not liking the sound of Mari constantly ridiculing and back talking to her. It was a very fortunate part of the girl's personality that seemed to stick with her no matter the situation she was in. Always catching an attitude with her enemies and bothering them until they decided she wasn't worth their time.

Though instead of giving the girl some sort of condescending and conniving response back, she crouched down to be at the same level as Mari. The keys in Chaeyeon's hands jingled as she put them behind her back, tilting her head to the side so that she could get a good look at the girl's face entirely. "The Underboss sent me here to question you, you were right. But this time, you've got a little bit of an advantage in this situation, hm? It'll be a win-win for everyone if you just... do as I say."

Mari rolled her eyes at the thought, even daring as to scout herself back and away from Chaeyeon. Like the Consigliere would actually try to do something within her favor. She was their prisoner, their ransom for the Seo Faction boss. That was simply not how things worked out.

"Listen here you little prick," She cursed, snatching a fist full of the girl's hair and forcing her to come closer. Mari yelped at the sudden tug, a headache beginning to brew inside of her head as a sharp pain shot through her scalp and to the rest of her body. In a sense, this was payback for the time the Seo Faction girl had pulled on the Consigliere's hair, but didn't the woman do it right back to her that same night? "I'm being very generous with you right, so I suggest you take my offer before I treat you like Jaebeom does."

"In your dreams!" She winced, reaching out her hands and grabbing the shiny skull pendant that hung down from her neck. Thanks to her sudden adrenaline rush Mari pulled down as hard as possible on the necklace, the metal chain digging into the woman's skin deep enough to at least cause an irritating wave of pain to wave over her body. Chaeyeon quickly let go of Mari, taking several steps back and away from the feral like child and rubbing her neck to try and soothe the aches.

The girl smirked as she leaned back, a haughty smile appearing on her face as she listened to the woman grumble and groan over Mari's pure audacity. She was rather defiant for someone whose whole world was on the line. Chaeyeon shot the girl a furious glare, frustration bubbling so high within her that was caught within her throat and refusing to let her speak. The woman was going to pop a vein at this point, her mind racing of all the things she wanted to do to Mari but couldn't because of the orders she had been given by the Underboss and Godfather.

"I advise you watch your words and you watch your actions," She hissed, finally composing herself enough to look the Seo Faction girl in the eyes. "You may be safe from any harm but someone else is going to suffer the consequences for your actions."

"You wouldn't dare—" Mari growled, sitting up straight at the mention of Wooyoung.

"I would!" Chaeyeon interrupted, spinning the keys around her finger again. Mari was entranced by its movement once again, her brain conjuring up fantasies where she could snatch them away from the woman and make a run for it. Though she was pulling back into reality when the Consigliere spoke. "I mean, why else would we have snatched him up instead of you first? That boy is very crucial to getting you to talk... well, him and the Godfather's son. So you really don't have the luxury of keeping your mouth shut if you like them so much."

"God, you're the devil," the girl cursed as Chaeyeon laughed. The woman was a little too amused by her responses and reactions to everything that came out of her mouth.

"You have two options," the Consigliere told her. "You either tell me all the information I want about the Seo Faction's whereabouts and plans, or you sit there groveling at my feet and beg that your friend only gets a slap on the wrist for your uncooperative attitude. Tell me, which one would you like to do?"

Mari thought about it for a moment, weighing the severity of the situation in her head before looking back up at Chaeyeon. "I pick... you taking me out of these chains and letting me scratch your eyes out like a cat! Doesn't that sound like a fun game to you?" The girl answered, a mischievous smile on her face as she held up her wrist and let them jingle as a sigh of temptation.

Chaeyeon, completely red in the face with anger, stomped up to the girl in a rush of adrenaline, snatching her arm and pulling her close. Mari winced at the action, the bruise on her wrist becoming even more irritated than it originally was. "This is a win-win situation, princess," the woman tried to convince her, digging her nails into Mari's skin. "Just give me the information I want and you and your friend won't get hurt. Doesn't that sound like a good deal to you?"

"Stop," Mari responded, trying to pry the woman's hands off of her. Her voice was barely over a whisper, grimacing as she struggled to force Chaeyeon off of her. "You're going to draw blood, fuck, stop it!"

"Tell me where your Faction is hiding then," The woman insisted, digging her nails even deeper into her skin. A small shriek escaped Mari's mouth, biting her tongue almost immediately after in an attempt to quell any other noise that wanted to leave her mouth. Chaeyeon let go of her after a moment, watching as she dropped to her knees and pressed her free hand tightly onto the new pulsing red wounds that dripped with blood. The woman had held onto Mari so tightly that her nails broke the skin and made her bleed.

Chaeyeon snorted at the wounds, rolling her eyes at Mari's reaction as she spoke again. "If you had just told me where your faction—"

"Piss off!" The girl yelled, a wild look in her eyes as she cut off Chaeyeon. The woman quieted down almost immediately, not expecting her to bounce back to her snappy attitude so quickly.

"You just refuse to break, don't you?" Chaeyeon huffed, disbelief overcoming her as she watched the girl calm herself down. "Jaebeom was right about you... damn, I wish he hadn't made that promise to that kid. I would have gotten you to at least crack by now! This man is testing my patience by not letting me hurt you the way I want to."

"What part of the words 'piss' and 'off' do you not understand?" Mari snapped, glaring down Chaeyeon with a serious side eye. "Do I have to define it for you? Put it in simpler terms? Here, fuck off!"

"Watch your mouth, princess," Chaeyeon hissed, slowly backing up towards the door. "You've already gotten on my nerves but I promise you, the punishment for not cooperating with us will make you wish you would have just given me the answers I wanted. I promise you that, it'll be worse than any death sentence in this world."

Mari waited till she heard the door shut for her to turn around, finding Chaeyeon had left the room with her keys in hand at last. She deeply exhaled a mix of relief and irritation crossing her face. She had forgotten how much of an annoyance that woman was, the last time she had come face to face with her was after the Utopia when she tried to kidnap Mari herself. It seemed as though she had gotten more confident in herself, creating a more ruthless persona than she had expected from her.

She shook her head from any more thoughts, biting her lip as she stood up and wiped off the excess blood that was spilling out of the puncture wounds Chaeyeon had made. "One step forward, all I need is one step forward and everything will fall into place," Mari convinced herself, grabbing a hold of the chain once more now that there was no one to interrupt her.

The girl counted silently in her head, psyching herself up before giving the chain one aggressive pull, pouring her frustrations into the palm of her hands and hoping that was enough strength to make the chain snap from the ground.

After a minute or so she smiled, slumping to the ground and catching her breath. Her hands were pulsing an angry red from how hard she had pressed her palms into the chain and her bruise wasn't exactly pleasant to look at anymore. But Mari was content with the progress she had made for the day, allowing herself to finally sit back against the stone cold wall and take a much needed breather.

"One step forward," Mari chanted, holding the broken chain in her hands and mindlessly swinging it softly to and fro. It snapped off of the ground and now she was free to roam. Who knew all she needed was for Chaeyeon to make her mad and it would give her all the strength she needed to free herself? "One step forward and everything is going to fall into place."

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

happy wooyoung day?