Author's POV: 

Almost 15 minutes passed by and you saw the men becoming frustrated. They were searching here and there but found nothing. Thankfully, you came up with an excuse and told them that the mafias in the house had a fight and that's how it broke. They believed it and nodded. But you saw Kim giving you suspicious looks. 

"I don't think we should trust her." Kim whispered to Lee who asked, "What? She's like my daughter. I know her. She is innocent in this." 
"But... she seems too calm for this. She isn't even begging to get out."
"She's smart, she doesn't freak out easily," Lee said. Kim rolled his eyes and nodded saying, "Whatever."

You sat there, holding Azure. 
"We need to do something. Did you track their location?!" Your uncle asked as Joel said, "Wait... it's processing. Gosh!" 
"Done! Yes! It's done! They're somewhere near. Hey, I found the location. Gold mine." Your eyes widened as soon as Joel said those words. He was hacking their location through the laptop. What the f*ck? 

You nervously fiddled with your fingers. You saw your uncle getting his gun ready and your heart froze. They weren't just simply going to get the files. They were planning a murder. Shit, Taehyung probably had no idea about this.

You saw their men bulk up and gulped. Joel put a pocket knife in his pocket and winked at you seeing your terrified face. 
"Only if I knew you were a hostage... god, it's weird I thought you were his lover. It's funny how he brought you to New York to click fake pictures of how tortured you are and go to dirty places with him. But, I see what's going on beneath those acts." Joel smirked as you looked away. 
"You could've told me, you know... I would've saved you from him." He said, walking closer to you. You turned your face away. A part of you was cautious that the phone was probably still on the line and Taehyung was hearing everything.

"Well, once we're done killing him, I'll see if I can do something with you."
"Go away." You muttered, disgusted by him. The way he always stared at you made you angry. He was so disgusting and you hated him, more than you could ever hate Taehyung. Your hate for Taehyung was different. You wondered how you hated Taehyung, in what way—that it was so different—so close to you. 

He sighed and patted your head, walking away. You brushed your hand on your hair in an attempt to get rid of that filthy feeling his touch brought you. 
"Where are they?" You asked yourself, your voice becoming wobbly.
"Let's go to the gold mine, now. Funny how it wasn't even a real gold mine. That damn Choi tricked us." Kim spoke as the men were going out. You stared at him. He just cursed your father like that. Lee looked at you, panic rushing over his face.
"Let's go, Y/N." You got up. 

"What about her?" You asked, looking at Azure.
"It's their cat, who cares if it dies?" Your uncle's words brought more hurt to you. You shook your head and said, "Will there be a fight?" 
"Yes." 

"I'll keep her in my bedroom." You said. 
"We'll get out of there safely." Your remark made him nod.
"Yeah, they'll be the ones losing."

You took Azure and walked inside your bedroom, mumbling, "No... we will get out. You will lose." 
"Azure, there's the food, okay? Just pee on my bed if you want, I don't care. Be safe here, okay? I need to go... with them." You said.
"I promise we'll be back. We all, okay? Not them... but us. You, me, Taehyung and Jo." 

You were finding yourself strange. The way you were embracing those guys. It was as if you all were a team and your uncle was your enemy—which was true. You confirmed it the moment Kim cursed your father. It all made sense. You were hurt but more than that, there was anger in you. You knew that whatever would happen—they all deserved it. And you'd fight against your uncle if necessary. 
"I'm sorry Tzuyu but... my father was also hurt in this, and so was my mother." You said and got down, leaving Azure in your bedroom safely. 

"Let's go." You said, hiding the gun in your dress—which was in your bedroom, thanks to Taehyung giving it to you just in case. Your uncle nodded. And soon, you were on your way toward the gold mine. The whole road your hands were shaking in fear. You cut the call before leaving the house. You knew that Taehyung heard it. They knew about this plan.

As weird as this all sounded, you were helping the one who kidnapped you. Because they might've been the ones seeming bad but they were the ones with the right intentions. And the ones you've trusted all your life were the wrong ones now. And you were stubborn, so you'd fight against whatever was in front of you—you had to.

—Time skip

As soon as the car park, your uncle and Kim got out. Joel was in another car with their men. You were asked to stay in the car. Your phone was still in your hand as you stared at the screen. Pressing the call button once again, you waited for him to pick up.

You heard some noises. Maybe they were running or somewhere where it was in a rush, not quiet, not stable. 
"Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?" Those were the first words you heard. His voice sounded rushed, he was running somewhere. They definitely heard about Kim and Lee entering the gold mine to fight Taehyung and Jo. You heard Jo's distinct voice. 
"Hey? You there?!" You heard a panicked voice. You had to be quick, there was no time to drown in this voice and how his questions made you feel.

"Y-Yeah... I'm fine. I'm outside... the mine... in a car. They're with guns and men, you need to be careful. They know where you are. They'll attack!" You said, your voice almost breathless. Your heart was pounding so loud, that you couldn't hear your own voice. It was thrumming in your ears. Your palms were sweating so bad, that the phone would've slipped if you didn't grip it tighter.
"I know. We're preparing. We're not at the mine but we'll be there. We've collected the evidence and it's safe so don't worry."
"Police? You need to call them!" You said. 

"Okay, now cut the call. If you get caught, they won't spare you." You heard the concern in his voice. For some reason, despite this disastrous situation, you were hearing the concern in his voice. You were noticing it and feeling things because of it. You were confused. You weren't hating him at all, you were worried and scared, touched yet adamant. Adamant that this was nothing.
"Y-Yeah... don't get hurt. They want to kill you. I promised Azure that we 3 would go back safely."
"Is she safe?"
"Yeah... in my bedroom." 

He hummed. You heard a gunshot in the phone and realized, it was coming from the mine. 
"I have to hang up now. They're here. Don't come out no matter what. You need to stay safe. Just wait until the police come. And be safe." He said, hanging up.

You dropped the phone, holding your tummy. You were scared. So scared—you were becoming nauseous. You gulped, tears leaving your eyes. This was scary. 
But one thing didn't go unnoticed by you. Even in this deathly situation, he was asking you to be safe. It shouldn't mean anything but it did. Your heart was aching. After everything that happened in the past 2 hours, you were sure of one thing now. Whatever you had for these men wasn't hatred, especially him. There was no hatred. You had forgiven him a long time ago. Right now, what you were feeling was anything but hatred, anything but a normal feeling. It was special, something which made you pray for his safety, for them to win.

There was trust and worry, sadness and concern, pain and warmth. And lastly, there was love. A sort of love which you probably would never understand. And you knew it. 

If anything, they had to be safe. Both of them. 

"The police are coming." You said to yourself, gulping. But if the police came, would Taehyung and Jo be safe? Weren't they mafias as well? 

You looked inside. You saw Joel and your uncle roaming around. Many people were running around and the area was almost empty now. 
Taehyung and Jo weren't there. They were somewhere else, planning to fight with them. You gulped and stared out the car window. Soon, you saw a car parked near the men. You saw a man who worked for Kim getting shot in his shoulder as he fell down, groaning. Kim and your uncle were shooting in a direction. 

You noticed some men coming from another direction as they were fighting with the men who were with your uncle. They were fighting. The war had begun. 

You got out of the car and hid behind it.

You gulped and quickly took the phone. You needed to call the police. God knew when who'd come. You started dialling the number and called, "H-Hello... w-we have an emergency he-" 
You were talking but got cut off as a hand snatched the phone from your ears, throwing it away, and making you flinch. 
You looked beside you to see Joel glaring at you.
"I knew it, wench." He scoffed and said, "I knew that you'd be getting us in trouble. You know everything, don't you? F*cking piece of shit." 
You gulped, your eyes widening. He walked near you and grabbed your wrists, pulling you up. You gasped and winced in pain, "Leave me!" 
But he didn't budge. He dragged you along with him near the alleyway. 
"While they fight, how about I do something worse?" He smirked, his eyes turning dark. No, you knew what he meant. He was a f*cking devil. You knew it. And his intentions were darker than anyone in this place, you knew it too.

"You can do nothing to me." He smirked.
"Well, I've always hated Taehyung, you know? He's always been a pain in the ass. Guess why? He is my cousin, actually. But he's always been the favourite of all the elders. We both were taught shooting together but he was better at it than me. He never liked these but I always loved killing, shooting, and torturing. I was the one with a passion for this but he was the one with skills. But what? He let them waste... he supports justice? F*cking pretentious. He's a disgrace to our entire clan and I plan on killing off such a disgrace like him." Joel spoke everything in English but you understood it all. His emotions, his hatred for Taehyung.
"I once even shot him in the arm when we were kids." He said, pressing you against the wall as he smirked, caging you between his arms. You glared at him.

"He was so hurt but he forgave me. So, I hurt him again and again and again with every chance I got... until we became enemies. He was never mean to me or never hurt me until that day. Until you came in. Until I decided to target you. I'll never forget how he pulled out my nail for saying dirty about you. For the first time, he's tortured someone, for you. All for you. And trust me, I can imagine how crazy he'll go if I torture you the way he did to me right here while he's fighting for his life which will be gone in a while." 

You had nothing to say. You were speechless. You stared at the man in front of you with pure hatred in your eyes. Joel was about to kiss your neck but his steps halted, feeling something hard against his stomach. He backed his head, looking down to see a gun pointed at him. You cocked the gun and said, "If anyone's life will be gone, it'll be you... he'll be safe. Because I will kill you if needed."