Author's note: This chapter was originally set after the chapter that comes after it, but I changed my mind and decided to switch the order for plot reasons.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty..."

As the remaining Song family member left looked upon his cousin's face, he chuckled.

Payback was sweeter than he had ever imagined.

"What does it feel like to have everything taken away from you?", he whispered into Song Chin Hae's ear, gleefully enjoying the feeling of having one-upped the jianghu prodigy.

"Who's in charge of the family now?" Chuckling, he drew a silver blade hidden in the cover of his boot and placed it in his mouth.

"Too bad you won't see the present that was left to Tiny Tim...bet he shrieked for days." Cackling like a hyena, he proceeded to lower the knife closer to the coma-ridden patient until...

The hand of death gripped him and flipped him over to his side.

"So, it was you all along?", hissed Song Chin-Hae.

"You were pretending...this whole time? Poor Tiny Tim...you let him witness..."

"Nothing. He never saw your box-I made sure of that," the male lead asserted.

Brushing himself off, the Song family cousin looked at him and grinned. "Oh, this is better than what I could have expected. Now...you have to do my bidding or let your little lady friend get hurt."

"You..." Grabbing him by the sleeves of his shirt, he barked, "Stay away from her."

"How can you keep me from her if you're faking being asleep?", he whispered back.

"Simple...a code blue..." Ripping off his IV, he did as he once practiced, and held his breath.

With intensive coma patients like his, his heartbeat and breathing were highly monitored.

Even if his cousin was the head of the bad guys, he was not getting away this time.

The cousin smirked, "Oh, how do you think I got in here? I paid off the staff...nobody will hear you scream."

Song Chin-Hae looked up, fury burning in his eyes. "Why did you have to take us all out?"

Song Ji-Hun laughed and said, "I'm Da E."

"Who?", the second male lead taunted.

"The head of the bad guys...you're just messing with me here, aren't you?" Reaching out for his cousin's neck, he paused in his tracks and recollected his thoughts.

Sighing, he said, "Let me offer you a deal. Join me, and you'll be rewarded in the end."

"Not in a million years, psycho."

He scoffed, "Alright, Mr. Do-Gooder. You think our family has gotten this far in business without breaking a few bones? You remain blissfully unaware of how the jianghu and business world works for someone from our kin. Aren't you ashamed of that?"

"I'm not the one that's lost face by killing his family in the process."

"Do you want the Pearl or not?", quipped Song Ji-Hun. "All that power...and you could have it. Just marry the girl, and we'll have it all..."

"What are you talking about?", he asked curiously.

"Seriously? Are you that ignorant of what the prophecy spells out for the family in possession of the Pearl? If the Lis get it, we're toast. But if we have it, think about all the possible implications...and if you think Lis won't win in their quest for it, think again."

"And...the Pearl could be hidden anywhere," he calmly asserted.

"By this point, everyone in the jianghu knows it's your girlfriend...Dude, you're stalling for time, aren't you?"

Caught glancing over to the door, Song Chin-Hae swore and bolted upright from his bed.

A struggle quickly commenced as the older Song fought the one who claimed himself 'Da E', and managed to land a blow before the door hinges were blown open.

"Are you alright?", exclaimed Detective Hua, a  detective from Hong Kong and long-time friend to Song Chin-Hae.

"No...maybe if I catch my breath..."

"You really need to hit the gym, buddy," joked the Cantonese speaker back to the Korean native.

"I'm a boxer, not a martial artist," he taunted, touching his abdomen and groaning from the strain he had put his previously immobile body under.

"So are you waking up now?", asked Hua. "It's been a month. Haven't you put enough people through the ringer already?"

Knowing who he was probably referring to, Chin-Hae replied, "No...there's always someone else. Besides, I gotta make sure he's actually Da E. Afterwards, then we can make a move."

"What now then? Send him to prison where he can use his connections as Da E?"

"Can you have a psychologist mark him insane?"

"Asylum, got it."

Agreeing with his old acquaintance, the detective hand-cuffed the criminal, and strolled off from the room as Song Chin-Hae pondered over what his cousin had said.

Did Ming Yue really have the Pearl inside her? And if so, was there a way to get rid of it?

None of this stuff was sitting right with him.

Moreover, if Song Chin-Hae was right in his assumptions, what did that mean about his relationship with Ming Yue?

Would he be able to protect the one he loved at this rate?

Back in China, Li Jun had been forced into shadowing his father at the company.

Preparation for his real work, they called it.

Which coincidentally started in a few weeks...when the wedding was due to be held.

Oh joy. Practically rolling his eyes, he secured his sunglasses, taking the first chance he had to get out of the corporate meeting and strolling around the building trying to find an exit.

There had to be a fire exit somewhere, right?

"Mister Li?", called out a slender, bespectacled stranger dressed in business attire who had walked in through the front doors of their lobby.

"Yes, who is this?", he rudely remarked.

His father popped out of nowhere, grinned pleasantly, saying, "General Manager Gi, how has your stay been in China so far? I imagine it is quite different than Seoul."

"Yes...Umm, this must be your son, President Li," he responded nervously in Korean.

"Indeed, come right this way. News from our South Korean branch would be truly appreciated," the father said.

Realizing that the head of the Li family had signaled him to follow and relay the information while they were walking, he bid adieu to the celebrity and left in haste.

Xiao Jun pulled off his sunglasses, balanced them on the top of his lip and mused, "There's something off about him."

Maybe he was seeing things, but he swore that guy looked familiar.

He had always been good with faces.

Well...perhaps he had seen him before in Korea somewhere, but where?

As Li Jun wondered this, at the hospital, Song Chin-Hae received a text from Detective Hua.

Suspect shot. In transit. Critical condition.

The last message confirmed his fears.

Not Da E.

__________________________________________________

Author's note: Faceclaim for Song family member, Detective Hua and Wang family's Korean branch GM. I'm introducing them as they enter now.

                                    Song Ji-Hun, Song Chin-Hae's now-estranged distant cousin

                                                            Lee Jung Shin

                                                   Detective Hua

                                                        Ludi Lin

                                              GM Gi, Wang family's Korean branch

                                                                 Kim Soo-Hyun