Whatever Jisung had expected of the event, it hadn't been this. He wasn't capable of imagining such wealth and novel tech around every corner. This wasn't a hotel, it was a building specifically for the purpose of showcasing the achievement of the rich.

The CEOs of successful companies were a kind of royalty, in and of themselves.

The only reason Jisung was taken aback was that he'd never been given the opportunity to steal from a place as prestigious as this. RFN had usually only taken from the usual, banks and the homes of the rich. The owners of the latter were never home anyway.

There was no point in robbing a hotel, because there were people in the front lobby constantly, and every visitor was awake until three AM, because fucking was so much more pleasurable on a bed that wasn't yours.

Chenle leaned over once they'd been in the hotel for a few minutes, handed in their invites and were being led to the area put aside for the occasion. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes," replied Jisung, the breathlessness in his voice a little real, a little fake. It really was amazing what capitalism could achieve. "I am. Thank you for inviting me."

There were two burly looking guards in butler's attire (a strange combination) at the double doors that supposedly gave way to the hall. Jisung seriously wondered whether their arrival would be announced, wondered what they'd say if so, then internally scoffed and folded away the idea.

The next ten minutes weren't very interesting. They entered the hall, which contained less people than Jisung had expected, who clapped for Chenle upon his entrance and some of which who gave Jisung a bit of a strange look. Well, he hadn't been kicked out yet, so he was obviously meant to be here. Some champagne was immediately thrust into their hands, the glasses Jisung was sure would shatter if he pressed a little too hard on them.

"Have you drank before, Yoonso?" mumbled Chenle sideways, sending a few nods to some people Jisung believed he'd seen before online.

Jisung nodded immediately, believing Yoonso would have been drunk before, being nineteen years old. He then realised that he shouldn't have done that at all because he himself had never had the time for alcohol.

"Good, good," said Chenle. "I was worried you'd be uncomfortable. Truth is, you have to drink this."

Jisung's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

Chenle grinned. "Because it's my favourite." He then proceeded to tip back the glass and get another. When Jisung gawked at him, he shrugged sheepishly, "I'm not a light drinker."

Alcohol and drugs? This kid's wilding.

Jisung sipped from the glass, lips barely skimming the bubbling liquid. He forced himself not to recoil. So, that was alcohol. He took another sip when he noticed Chenle watching him. "It's really good," he supplied. "I don't get such nice champagne that often."

"I thought you'd like it!" Chenle smiled straight at Jisung, then thankfully turned around to run off to the man standing at the foot of a raised platform.

Jisung shook his head, thoughts muddled again, and focused on them both to realise that it was Bang Chan Chenle was talking to, the CEO of SKS. Jisung began walking around. Not everyone was talking to someone, so he looked perfectly normal. It was frustrating though, he knew everything about the merger and for no reason.

He swallowed the rest of the champagne and immediately went to get some more, lest Chenle catch him being idle. The flavour was also beginning to come out of the bitterness now, and he had to admit that it was quite nice. He took another.

"Enjoying the beverages, my friend?"

Jisung had known someone had been watching him for two minutes, but they hadn't done anything about it until now. He... didn't mind. "Oh, yes. It's quite good, the champagne."

Jisung turned fully around and dropped his glass.

The boss of his old gang grinned at him.

"Mark Lee..." he muttered, quietly on instinct, because the crash was still reverberating and dozens of people were watching their conduct.

Jisung's eyes shot up to the windows, he looked to the entrances and exits, he glanced at the people around him, in some semblance of panic. He then took two steps back from Mark Lee and took a running leap towards the stage, where the two CEOs were standing and staring at them.

"GET DOWN! EVERYBODY GET —"

The fuse wasted away...

Boom.

His body was blown sideways by sheer heat and force. Other explosions went off by the walls and from the ceilings. The bombs couldn't have been planted there with intent to kill, because they had gone off so near to them that they all would have died, Lee included, in the explosion. If RFN wanted to kill, they didn't give a flying fuck who'd be caught in the onslaught, even their own members.

Jisung could hardly open his eyes, there were chunks of plaster falling down from the ceiling and hitting people, spreading dust and powder everywhere. He was also feeling slightly drowsy, so RFN had apparently also released some sort of gas. Or maybe he was drunk.

Shit.

He crawled to the side, encountering some wheezing bodies until he found a table and went under it to fully get his bearings.

He'd been flung sideways a distance of five meters, approximately, and his side was beginning to feel that now. No matter.

There was nothing to be seen through the haze. "Fuck," he cussed out loud, then again and again. So RFN was running ops in the same place he was, at the same time. Were they trying to sabotage his mission, or were they here simply coincidentally? There was little chance of that, as the person who had been tailing Jisung earlier had obviously been with them.

Would RFN kidnap the leadership of the merging companies? Did they have something to lose in the merger? SKS was a Korean company, where RFN were based... perhaps those accusations about weapon manufacture hadn't been fabricated.

Alternatively, were they just running a petty kidnapping? They could milk huge amounts of money from ransoming the leadership of these huge companies.

(Well, Jisung was running a petty assassination, but the leader of RFN himself coming along with backup and bombers made it even pettier.)

The dust was beginning to clear, so Jisung hurried to get up and look around, people were coughing and hacking, bleeding, and one or two bodies littered the ground. Jisung could tell they were dead. The grey marbled floor was white and red in the aftermath.

There was suddenly something cold against his throat. He almost laughed at himself. "Aftermath"? They hadn't even gotten to the point yet. And there was a knife threatening his windpipe.

"You've become so petty," said Jisung carefully, feeling the little cut on his throat widen with every word.

"And you've become so weak," replied Lee. Jisung felt as though the knife had been redirected to and penetrated his stomach. Weakness. Weakness. Weak.

"You're weak." Another hit and another and another, over and over till you're worthy.

"You'll be strong now." His previous tutor's last words before Jisung had killed him.

He was never meant to hear those words again. That was meant to be the end of it, the finality was crystal clear, so why was he back at the beginning —

No, he wasn't back at the beginning. Jisung dislodged the knives he'd hidden in his sleeves and waited. Lee was holding his breath, waiting for Jisung to shrink away. Wait for that exhale —

He skidded sideways and threw a knife backwards, deliberately missing the target. He dropped low to avoid the incoming onslaught of bullets and took his gun from his jacket's inner pocket. This time he threw a knife at Lee for real and shot bullets upwards, turning a full circle. Snipers fell from windows and Jisung reloaded, turning back to Lee immediately.

"Why are you here at this time, Lee? State your business, I'll wait."

Lee had his smile on his face but it ended at his mouth. Never, ever did it reach his eyes. "How long has it been, Park Jisung? Days? Months? How we missed you. And you greet us like this."

"Business, Mark Lee."

"We're just here to see how you're doing, Jisung! Here to give our best wishes to you in your new post —" The knife he'd been spinning around his fingers came flying at Jisung. He countered it in midair with a bullet. Despite the dust in the air, which was rendering Lee himself almost hard to recognise and the knife only identifiable from the movement he had made, Jisung's heartbeat was the steadiest it had been in days.

"Nearly got you," chuckled Lee, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Say my name again and I'll do my level best to get a bullet in your heart. Business."

"I told the truth! We were just checking up on you."

"I have a feeling that's not it."

He leaned forward and sneered, whispering, "Who are you targeting this time? Is it the CEO of SKS or Zhong Tech?"

Jisung's gaze narrowed and Lee mockingly put up his hands in surrender. Jisung warily watched his every movement. Mark Lee was very dangerous. If he was better at organising and just a bit proficient in business and conduct RFN could be just as big as SM. If Jisung was going to do anything, it wouldn't be to underestimate him.

"Also," said Lee, "A few more little things. We have both of the CEOs at gunpoint around fifty feet behind you. You missed a sniper at the window behind my head and I have another knife." He paused. "You know what that means!"

"Lee, this blackmail is not going to get you anywhere," reminded Jisung, not the least bit perturbed at anything except for the gunpoint part. Chenle... As in, Jisung had to be the one to kill Zhong, not some random RFN guy.

"Humour me, please," requested Mark.

"State your terms." Jisung had to stop himself from drawling. He couldn't shoot Lee or the sniper, because he'd just get a knife to the face either way.

Unless he had another gun that Lee didn't know about. Mark Lee always got too caught up in the moment to remember that he could still lose. He l winced inwardly. Again, don't underestimate.

Then, it was over in a flash. The sniper made a terrible mistake. Their suddenly incoming bullet was met by Jisung's in midair, the attacking one almost touching the barrel of his gun but not quite, sending a little jolt through Jisung's arm.

Lee was overtaken by fury at the sniper, giving Jisung the opportunity to slip the second gun out and spin around. He could just make out the two silhouettes of the CEOs standing opposite each other with their captors holding guns to their heads. Jisung just managed to figure out where one person ended and the other started before he shot both guns simultaneously.

He swivelled around in a split second of panic — he knew he'd left his back unprotected. Luckily, Lee was too busy imagining the death of his sniper to focus on finding the rest of his weapons fast enough.

He shot the sniper through the skull (he'd been in a blind spot before, but Jisung wasn't about to make the same mistake twice) and Mark Lee wouldn't leave this building without a bullet in his leg.

Maybe I'll paralyse him, mused Jisung, cocking the gun. That was the first mistake.

The gun aimed at Lee wasn't able to intercept the knife now hurtling at Jisung.

When it skipped his cheek, almost with a scrape, he let the sudden pain blind him. No tactic. That was the second one.

They'd be making their escape now, he surmised, once his eyes were open and seeing. He ran backwards to try and get his hands on the captives. It would do him no good if he had to infiltrate the base of RFN on a rescue mission. The gang wouldn't just kill the CEOs: They'd be sold or blackmailed. They'd take the money — all of it — and expand endlessly if they managed to keep it. There'd be no point in Jisung killing someone who used to be rich and important.

And it's Chenle.

Jisung didn't have time to deny the thoughts as they came, he wanted to believe.

Even as he shot at suddenly appearing gang members and knocked both of the CEOs to the floor (Bang Chan was a second thought, if he was being honest) he couldn't help but shudder at the torture that Chenle would have to endure. Would he live through it? He looked the conditioned, pampered, untainted epitome of the rich, even if his aura and professionalism proved different. This particular gang didn't pay attention to technicalities, and they enjoyed ruining people. Jisung was a prime example.

He was beyond relieved to see that they were both blindfolded. Jisung always spoke tartly to Lee, and had taken specific care not to let it echo around at all, but he couldn't have controlled what they had seen. He'd been counting on the dust in the air and the darkness from the knocked out lights.

"Han Yoonso? Is that you?" Chenle spoke up from where Jisung was protecting him, behind him. He sounded calm. Jisung's gun was running out of bullets.

The younger swallowed. He hoped he wouldn't have to explain any of this.

***

oops

also remember when chenle called jisung by his real name for some reason? yeah that was a mistake don't mind me