▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

C H A P T E R    F O U R T Y - T H R E E
➍➌

»Go ahead, Romeo, do your thing.«
— Tony Montana, Scarface

────────⊲❈⊳────────

PREVIOUSLY ON "AUTUMN KILLED"

"I found out about his marriage to Nalin."
"He did what?!"

—

"Ten, do you know something that I should know?"
"I'm not in a position to say anything."
"Then what do I do now?"
"Stay here for just a little bit more. Taeyong needs you. Believe it or not, he really does."

—

"So, I have a meeting in Tokyo, and I'd like you to come with me."
"I'll be there, Yuta."

~∙~∙~

[Spoiler Alert: If you haven't seen the movie Scarface (1983) but plan to do so, then please come back later to read this chapter. However, you don't have to watch it to understand the chapter.]

~∙~∙~

PAST

"Why don't you just tell me?" I nagged as I sat on Sayeon's queen-sized bed and watched her applying her lipstick. L'ÉTOFFE DU MAT was the trademark on her heart-shaped lips.

"The same reason why you and my baby brother hid your relationship from us."

"Not fair. You found out about us. It's not the same."

"That's correct, it's not the same. I found out. It's not like any of you told me."

"But why though? I just wanna know if he's someone I know."

"Pretty sure you do."

"Really? Please tell me then. Now I need to know!"

"No."

"Whyyy?" I whined like a little child, head disappointedly dropping to the side. With the look Sayeon gave me through the mirror, I concluded she could care less.

"It will put me in danger. It will put him in danger. Most importantly, it will put you in danger as well."

"I love danger," I grinned, "Come on, just tell me the first letter of his first name."

"No."

"Second letter?"

"No."

"Thir–"

"Cami!" She turned around abruptly. "It's already dangerous enough for you to know that I'm in a relationship. I won't ever tell you any names. The only way for you to find out is after I get married. So please, just let it be."

"Hm-kay."

...

"Sayeon?"

"Yes?"

"When are you getting married?"

"Cami!" Sayeon laughed. " If my crackhead family hadn't got such a stick up their asses, I would have told everyone who I'm with long ago. But... since that's not the case, we must all be patient."

"That sucks," I commented, "They expect you to marry one of The Six, right?"

"Hm."

"That doesn't leave us many options."

"Last night during dinner, my father mentioned Doyoung's elder brother."

"Gong Myung?"

"Yes, him. He praised him a lot. Said, how much he liked his work attitude and all that crap. He literally told Taeyong to be more like Gong Myung because he wishes to have a son like him."

I cringed at that and gave her a sympathetic smile afterward. "I smell an arranged marriage incoming."

"Same."

"Hey, I have an idea," I blew the few strands of hair from my face and grinned at Sayeon. "You could pretend to marry Mark, but in reality you're going to marry your actual boyfriend and that's how you two can be together forever. You only have to see Mark in official gatherings. I'm sure he'll play along. Like a double identity."

"Mark could literally be my son. And I won't do that shit just to please my parents."

"Hey, Mark is only one year younger than me," I complained.

"You're my baby, too." I stuck my tongue out at her when she said that, "All of you are my cute little babies!"

"Come on, give us some credit. We're all of legal age," I said getting up from the bed and stretching my arms in a cool manner.

"Cami," she turned around to face me with a serious look, "There was a time I literally had to explain to Taeyong what 'pop the cherry' actually means and I'm sure the other boys still don't know."

"Ew," I cringed, "was that before he started to call me cherry or after?"

"I don't know. There are some things that are better left... unknown, you know?" She shrugged, "Or you could ask him, I mean, he's your boyfriend after all."

"Yeah, anyway," I cringed even harder. "I hope you and loverboy use protection so Mark and I stay your only babies."

"CAMI!" She burst out shocked, shooting me a threatening look and about to hit me with her make-up brush.

I quickly ran away from her, closing the door behind me, giggling and shouting, "I said what I said."

PRESENT

"I said what I said." Mark stood in front of me with folded arms and looked at me with a blank, serious expression. I couldn't believe that he was confronting me with the sentence that I always used against others.

"Take that back."

"No."

"You're being unfair. I told you I'm too tired for a movie night," I complained.

"And I told you I would have hired someone else if I had known that a little bit of flirting and lovey dovey with the multi-billionaire would be so exhausting for you."

"Can't believe you're repeating it," I mumbled under my breath.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, Mark."

"So movie night?"

I sighed and made an annoyed expression.

"Amazing. You won't regret it, Cami, I swear the movie is gold!" He dragged me by my arm into the living room and let himself plop down on the white couch. He tapped the empty seat next to him.

With a beaten sigh, I complied with his request.

I could see why Mark liked the movie so much: money, guns, cocaine und sexist dialogues. That was some good Tony Montana shit he loved so much.

"What's so cool about him?" I asked out loud.

"God, Cami, he's a cultural icon. The Drug Lord. The baddest motherfucker of a mafiosi there exists. I love him!"

"The only thing I like so far is that he's portrayed by Al Pacino."

"Exactly! The Al Pacino!"

Mark's enthusiasm wasn't as catching as he might have hoped. The movie followed gangster Antonio Montana and his close friend Manolo Ribera from their trip on the Cuban Boat Lift for refugees to their arrival in Miami. After killing a powerful Cuban figure, Tony and company gain the ability to leave their refugee camps and roam around the U.S. After unsuccessfully trying to make it legitimately in the country, Tony and Manny resort to selling cocaine to dealers around the world. Tony's rise is quick, but as he became more powerful, his enemies and his own paranoia began to plague his empire.

Also, we agreed to play a drinking game: You take a shot every time someone says fuck or dies or does coke. An hour into the movie we had to cut down the rules because Mark started to feel fizzy.

"I need to eat more and I'm gonna feel better," he said putting away the whiskey bottle.

Wordless I gave him the bag of potato chips from which he ate a mouthful.

"Maybe you should only drink when Tony says cockroach," I suggested what made him loud out loud.

"As if that's better."

With a total duration of 170 minutes, the movie was nothing to watch quickly before bedtime. You had to be there with body and soul and, like Mark, have a heart for mafia movies.

In contrast to me, Mark had watched the movie a few times, so he didn't react very much when a surprising twist took place towards the end of it. The protagonist went to his sister's house when it was said she had disappeared for a few days, but instead of his sister, his best friend opened the door. And then it happened.

"Watch closely. This scene makes the movie almost Shakespearean in scale," Mark's excited eyes were fixed on the huge television.

"Wait- what!?" I jumped up and looked between Mark and the TV. "Why? Why'd he do that?" I asked confused and clearly in shock.

Mark simply shrugged his shoulders, "He told him to stay away from his sister."

"But-"

"Also, he didn't know they recently got married."

"Yeah, but-"

"Woah, woah, watch this," Mark interrupted me, "When Tony looks at Gina then looks at Manny. I got chills." Mark points to the screen with his finger.

I closed my mouth and continued to watch the scene in front of my eyes, how the men grabbed a wailing Gina and took her away from her dead husband's body.

"I love how throughout this entire scene Tony never says anything," I heard Mark say before gulping down his Whiskey-Cola.

I raised my eyebrow, "No woman no children but killing your own best friend is okay?"

"It's art, Cami, and shhh, I gotta watch the ending."

Until the end of the movie, when Tony lost everything he had built and finally died himself, I stayed quiet and only listened here and there to Mark's comments with which he analyzed the film.

"What a movie, man, he killed his right hand man who got his back that's why he died."

"How do you know that he would've survived otherwise?" I wanted to know.

"The thing is Manny always had the back of Tony... had Tony not killed him, in the end fight, Manny would have had his back and real legit chance of surviving and taking the entire coke empire. That's how it is. I don't make the rules."

„Interesting."

I turned my gaze back to the front as the ending credits were running and I wondered which movie we could watch next when I suddenly heard a voice in my head.

"What's with Jaehyun?"

I didn't know why I suddenly had to think about this question. I didn't know if it was the alcohol, or the greasy food, maybe the magical gummy bears Mark had praised so much, or just the fact that Manolo's hair had reminded me of Jaehyun's.

"Jaehyun is... well... he, um... he left shortly after you."

"What!?"

"Yes, he... um... I heard he moved to America and recently graduated from college."

"Do you know why he left?"

"Not really. It was something between him and Boss."

I had thought that it didn't make any sense, that Jaehyun wouldn't ever leave Taeyong, but now it did make sense to me. He left because he had no other choice.

Memories I had with Sayeon flashed in front my eyes.

"Yes, he is tall, Cami. No further questions."

"No, wait, his eye color, what's his eye color?"

"Like the sky on a bright summer day and as deep as the ocean, that's all I can say."

"Wow, Sayeon, careful, don't give away too much information."

"I'll tell you soon enough, just wait a little more, okay?"

"I'm happy as long as you're happy."

"He killed him," I whispered in a trance. Goosebumps covered my whole body. It made sense now. As if this was the last piece of the puzzle I needed.

Taeyong was a brutal murderer with no conscience and no soul.

He must've killed Jaehyun for having a relationship with Sayeon, the same as Tony killed his right-hand man Manolo for having a relationship with Tony's sister, Gina.

All this time, it had been Jaehyun. I just realized how blind I've been. Apparently, he was Sayeon's secret lover. And that's why he had to die.

I felt sick.

"Hey, Cami, you okay?" Mark asked me. I nodded quickly. I didn't want him to suspect anything.

"Yeah, perfect," I forced a smile and grabbed one of the Whiskey bottles. If my mind wouldn't shut up then I had to drown my thoughts in alcohol and make them shut up.

Right in that moment, I heard the front door open, and shortly I saw Ten entering the living room with two bottles of champagne in his hands. I had no idea where he came from but at this point, I didn't even want to know things that my mind couldn't handle. That's why I smiled at him, when he raised the bottles and happily shouted,

"Where are my party people?"

~∙~∙~

Ten grimaced and pushed something away, finally turning his back to me. I felt like someone had taken a tank from me – I could finally breathe again!

Still, the heat was unbearable.

It was sometime in the middle of the night and the three of us were all asleep on the couch that could be repurposed into a bed. I was very sure about one thing: we had drunken too much.

"Mark," I muttered, trying to kick his leg away from my lower body. He seemed annoyed that I was constantly interrupting his sleep, so he also turned around with a swing – a little too swingful, as it turned out shortly afterward – because he fell off the couch and that remarkably far.

"Oh, shit!" I exclaimed in shock. I was glad the TV was still on because without the light I would probably have ended up next to him on the ground.

"Ouch. That shit hurted," Mark mumbled and I grabbed his arms and pulled him up with difficulty.

"Whaaatta yer doing over there? 'm tryna sssleep," Ten babbled, but made no move to look at us.

I helped Mark back to the couch and he snuggled up against Ten without further complaint, he probably didn't feel the pain anymore – thanks to alcohol.

I crept into the bathroom, quietly, because I didn't feel like waking them up again. Presumably the alcohol in their blood would ensure that they slept like sleeping beauty anyway. Still, I played it safe and moved like a thief in the shadows.

The bathroom was fresh, cool, and that was exactly what I needed at that moment, after all, the heat would not give in. My hands stood under the jet of cold water for what felt like minutes and I dabbed my cleavage with my wet hands, then gargled with the mouthwash to neutralize the taste in my mouth.

Mark and Ten slept calmly and when I discovered my half-empty glass on the table, I sat down on the couch with a soft sigh and took a sip. Actually, I was almost at my limit when it came to alcohol, but I didn't know what else to do – I couldn't sleep at the moment.

The goofy grin crept back onto my face when I heard Ten's words echo in my head. Taeyong was a filthy asshole and I would think of a lot more to finish him off. What happened the day before did not want to get out of my mind, the humiliating position in which he had held me even less. He played with me, he tricked me, and on top of all this he married the one person on earth I hated even more than him. He was not only my enemy, but also the enemy of this family. I would make him suffer for murdering Sayeon's ex-lover. Not for Jaehyun – I never liked him anyway – but for Sayeon.  But I had to be careful: If Taeyong did this to his other half, then he wouldn't shy away from doing worse to me.

Frowning, I took a long sip from my glass and finished it in one gulp, then looked around for my cell phone.

Actually, I knew it was a stupid idea, because somewhere behind all the fog and deceptive courage, there was a tiny bit of common sense hidden. But it made no move to show itself to me, so I listened to the alcohol and fished my cell phone out of my jacket. I got up quickly.

A little too fast as I noticed, because the way the room suddenly turned in front of my eyes was dizzying – the heat shot through my body so quickly that it made me feel terribly sick.

My hand shot naturally to the door and I hurried to another. Before my brain had even realized where the second door even led to, the fresh night air met my face like a punch; I gasped and stumbled over my own legs, trying to find a stop at the banister.

Probably I shouldn't have gotten up so quickly, and maybe I shouldn't have chugged half of my glass. Everything was spinning horribly and my legs trembled as I sat on the steps.

The first dose of the fresh air almost knocked me out, but the second was terrific, driving away the heat and with it the nausea.

The night was pitch black and the streets empty, not a single light was on in the neighborhood. I was missing out when the seconds turned to minutes into hours and I wondered what time it was actually...

After what felt like an eternity, I felt the fresh autumn air on my skin and shivered a little, heaved myself up to go back into the house. When the gust of wind blew my hair off my face, I heard a loud bang and stared in horror at the front door that God, or maybe just the wind, had slammed in my face.

I was stunned and couldn't move a bit. Of course I could now keep ringing the door bell until one of the two alcoholic corpses opened the door, but I was sure I'd wake up the whole neighborhood by doing so. Instead, I used the cell phone that was still in my hand and called Mark first. It rang endlessly, maybe longer. And then I called him again. Again and again.

When he didn't answer, I tried calling Ten, going down the three steps and pacing up and down the driveway. I was slowly feeling cold because my jacket was still inside. If I didn't know better, I would say Taeyong was playing tricks on me. After all, he had found something wrong with my clothes for years and had stressed over and over again that one day I would freeze my ass off if I didn't start dressing appropriately for the season soon.

You are being paranoid. Again.

"I know," I said out loud and it look me a minute until I realized I was talking to myself.

And at some point I started laughing. It was all so shitty it was almost funny again. I had locked myself out and did not dare to ring the doorbell. At some point I even came up with the crazy idea of going for a walk while calling the two of them alternately, because of course I hadn't learned anything from the trip with Nalin five years ago. Irony off.

"Come on, pick up," I muttered annoyed and leaned against a street lamp. I could actually call my twin, but I didn't always want him to rescue me from an awkward situation that I got myself into. Also, I had a feeling that he would be around our father, and I really didn't feel like facing him. I'd rather freeze to death out here.

After Mark and Ten did not answer their phones again, I pensively rummaged through my phone's contacts. If I had more friends than I could count on three fingers, then someone would surely have come to my aid. Because I couldn't go back to the headquarter now either – my car keys were in my bag at Ten's apartment, too.

Taeyong. When I saw his name in bold black letters on my phone – I honestly didn't know why I had re-saved his number in my contacts – I grinned stupidly. Without thinking too much, I hit text and quickly typed a message.

ME
You'll regret messing with me, asshole.

After sending the message, I continued my walk and called Mark again. Less than 24 hours ago I was devastated with sadness, and today at noon I nearly exploded in anger thinking about Taeyong's wicked games, but right now I found it all just hilarious. So hilarious that I would kick him between his legs if I ran into him.

When I hung up, I was surprised to find a message flashing at me. Grinning, I opened the text message and promptly found an answer from Mr. Big Boss.

TAEYONG
Who are you?

Laughing, I threw my head back and thought for a moment.

ME
Really? You're asking who I am?
How often do you get these  kinda messages?

Again, it didn't take long for him to answer. Interesting. I would have sworn that he would not respond to the messages until tomorrow, after all, it was one o'clock in the morning - wasn't he at one of the spectacular parties he occasionally spoke of? Or in bed with some women; or even his wife?

TAEYONG
Who are you?

The question was the same, but I still had to laugh.

ME
Congrats, asshole,
I'm your biggest nightmare.

I knew that after this message and the repeated mention of his middle name – which, by the way, was Asshole – he would come to the conclusion it was me, and I was right in that assumption.

TAEYONG
Carmen?
What the hell is your problem?

My fingers darted across the keyboard, my legs carried me on.

ME
You are my problem.
Do you actually think that you can do anything without having to face the consequences? No need to deny you killed him like Tony killed Manolo,
and I refuse to let it happen again

His answer did not take a second.

TAEYONG
What?

Sure, his lifestyle was based on playing the ignorant, shortly followed by his motto deny, deny, deny in order to not getting caught at anything.

ME
Jaehyun deserved better

Wow, I probably wouldn't have spit such big words when I was sober. But suddenly nothing was funny anymore, somehow everything was just wrong and unjust. I was angry, my hands were shaking.

TAEYONG
Where the hell are you?

That he didn't react to my assumption just made me mad. I tried typing an answer, but my fingers were stiff with the cold. They didn't want to form meaningful words.

"Goddamnit, what are you doing out here?"

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

A/N:

I know, I know, I know, it's a cliffhanger, but the next chapter(s) will be updated sooner than you can say Mark-Lee-is-the-cutest-movie-watcher-of-all-times, so keep an eye out for that <3 (little hint: this weekend!)

Also, I apologize for my long absence. I can't thank you enough for all the love and support you gave me. And O.M.G. 200K reads *-* I'm beyond happy!!

We've come a long way and still have a little way to go. But this book is what it is, only with your reads, votes, and comments. Your support means a lot. Thank you, thank you, thank you! <3

QUESTION: Who do you think is the person that said the last sentence?