NOT EDITED ♡
Your blood froze and for a moment time stopped once you saw the weapon in the older male's hand, pointed menacingly towards you. This is it. You thought, tears itching at the corners of your eyes as you were waiting for him to cock the pistol and take your life but it never came, there was only silence. Hongjoong kept the weapon raised at you but he made no move to pull the trigger, just stared at you in disgust and hatred but he didnt move an inch as no one else did. You could feel your heartbeat in your ears and the only thing you could hear was your heavy, shaky breathing.

"I'm debating on if I should make you beg for your life," Hongjoong finally speaks in a low tone, his voice devoid of emotion but his face told another story,"Or if I should just kill you like I've been wanting to." You finally feel that cold,wet substance on your face and you come to realize your tears started falling and you silently yell at yourself for letting him see them. The older male notices them and a smirk twitches at the corner of his lips, he was amused. Your eyes dart around for help frantically but no one says anything, no one moves and a part of you isn't surprised. They had just met you, a stranger, the daughter of the man who killed their friend. So, you take in a deep breath and look back at the man in front of you who still holds the gun to your face.

"Do what you want, I knew I was dead once I went with you all." You state in what you hope a stern voice but you know it came out shaky and uncertain as Hongjoong stares at you for a second before laughing, making you furrow your eyebrows in somewhat fear. He doesn't reply but he lowers his weapon, putting in back in holster but doesn't take his eyes off of you.

"You're right. I'm not going to kill you now, it would ruin my plans," He speaks, amusement laced in his tone,"Let's keep going, we still have a day of travel." And to your own shock, he clicks his tongue at his horse and continues forward as if he didn't just have a gun to your face. The other are hesitant to follow, looking you over but after a second or two they ride behind him, the only one staying behind being San. You don't say anything to him, you don't know what to say as your brain was still jumbled. The tears that escaped from your eyes slowed to a stop but the lump in your throat was still painful. San stares at you in what looks to be concern and pity that makes your stomach feel sick.

"You shouldn't have done that,Y/N," He finally says, upset,"Hongjoong is not a man known for his forgiveness." That statement makes you scoff and you can't help but feel anger at his words.

"The things my parents have done have nothing to do with me," You sneer and it shocks San, as if he didn't expect you to say anything,"I did not kill your friend."

"No, you didn't but it's hard to believe you had no involvement. Both your mother and father had something to do with his death and somehow you are the innocent?" San's tone drastically changed, his face full of anger and his lips etched in a straight line. Jesus does everything you say piss this man off? Before you could come up with a response he inhales deeply as if calming himself and turns his face forward.

"I'm not your enemy, Y/N, I didn't save you from that scumbag of a man just to have you killed," He says one last time before directing his horse to walk ahead, leaving you to your thoughts.

♡

It's been at least 3 hours since you all have continued making your ways towards Utopia according to ‪ Yeosang. San hasn't said a word to you since the incident and you haven't either, you've stayed silent and kept to yourself. Yunho and Jongho went back to bickering about, Hongjoong sometimes speaking to Seonghwa about places they need to visit once in Utopia. You don't know if you should be frightened or excited to see their home. Will there be others that know of who your father was and try to kill you as well? Hongjoong said he had a plan that involved you and knowing him already, it wasn't something good. You tried to ease your mind by looking at the scenery around you. The trees were somewhat pretty to you, the colors of the leaves ranging between brown and green. Your horse was keeping you company as well, sometimes making random noises and huffing when seeing other animals.

"We can camp here, Utopia is 3 hours away tops but it's getting dark, I don't want to run into anyone around," Hongjoong speaks suddenly and you raise your head up , confused because you didn't see anywhere to lay but Yunho who's beside you notices and points to a flicker of light up ahead. When you squint your eyes you can finally see that it's a cottage.

We have a friend out here who lets us stay with him when we need," He explains and you nod your head, happy to finally get out of the heat and hopefully eat something filling as the almonds and pecans that Jongho gracefully offered to you were not enough to keep your hunger at bay. You all continue forward towards the cottage and once you finally arrive you mount your horse beside Yunho and without saying a word, he helps you off making your cheeks warm. You brush yourself off and follow behind Yunho and Jongho who walk up to the small house.

Hongjoong is the one who knocks at the door but you notice he did the action in a series of knocks, as if it were a code. A couple seconds pass by until the door creaks open slowly and you see a young woman. Her hair pinned up in a neat bun, no strays of hair covering her face. Her dress was nice and looked expensive, embroidered in jewels and a ruby color which made you curious as to why she was staying in such a small house out in the woods.

"Hongjoong, it's so nice to see you!" She exclaims in a happy tone, her smile bright making her look even more gorgeous. You're shocked to see Hongjoong smile back at her with the same amount of emotion. You didn't think he even knew how to smile like that.

"Karina, you look beautiful as always," He says in a light tone that makes you quirk your eyebrows up,"Is Jun not here?"

"Oh stop it! You and your flirty ways," Karina giggles and you scrunch your nose," He's in his room changing up, he just got back his ride. Come in, please!" The woman moves aside and waves her arm towards the inside of her home, smiling widely at Hongjoong who bows his head and walks in the cottage. The others follow behind him and as you were about to walk in as well the woman lowers her arm and looks at you with curious eyes.

"And who may this be?" She questions but she doesn't direct it to you as she looks back at Hongjoong, awaiting an answer. Your heart beat accelerates and you're worried she might deny you to come in, your eyes darting to the older man. He doesn't say anything for a second but then he shakes his head and motions me to come in.

"She's a friend of San's, we're taking her with us to Utopia," He replies and a breath of relief leaves you. Karina hums and turns back to you, giving you a smile and moves aside once again to let you in . The first thing you notice while stepping inside was the smell of food cooking and you're afraid your stomach might start growling. The floors were wooden but crimson rugs were placed decoratively around the room. There were 3 doors that you could see, two in front of you next to each other and one on the left side of the cottage. The living area had two couches and a rocking chair with a red pillow on the back of it.

"I've almost finished cooking, just a couple of minutes before it's done, I hope you all can wait?" Karina speaks up behind you, walking towards what you assume is the kitchen.

"Yes, thank you so much! We've been eating ‪ Yeosang‬'s almonds for too long." Hongjoong chuckles which makes Karina giggle as well.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" ‪ Yeosang‬ questions in a offended tone and it makes you quirk a smile.

"We're tired of picking almond pieces out of your teeth, Yeo," Wooyoung says in a whiny voice which makes the older male scoff as he takes a seat on one of the couches followed by Jongho and San while Yunho and Seongwha sit on the other couch. Mingi and Hongjoong stay standing, the older of the two walking towards Karina and you. You don't know whether to stay still or move aside but luckily Jongho comes to your aid and calls out your name to sit beside him. You nod your head and make your way towards him, finally sitting on something that isn't your saddle on the horse.

Hongjoong and Karina walk to the kitchen, speaking low enough so that the rest of you aren't able to hear. You furrow your eyebrows but pay no attention to them, leaning back against the cushion and laying your head back, your eyes threatening to close as the exhaustion of the travel catches up to you.  A few minutes pass and the cottage is silent except for the occasional talking amongst the group of men, Wooyoung's  loud laugh keeping you from fully falling asleep. Suddenly you hear a door behind you creak open, footsteps emerging towards the living room.

"Jun!" You hear Yunho exclaim and you open your eyes to look at the so called friend of theirs. You hear the group of men get up from their seats and you turn your head to the commotion but once your eyes glance over to who they're speaking to you, the breath in your lungs leave you and you're left stunned. It couldn't be him..

Standing in front of you was someone you never expected to see, someone you haven't seen since you were 10, someone your father used to look after. He doesn't notice you at first, his eyes squinted from his smile being so big on his face as he hugs the group of men, happiness evident. You can't even bring yourself to speak, your shock stunning you. Why was he here? How was he here? And more importantly, why was he friends with Hongjoong?

"Jun, this is Y/N, San...found her." You hear Mingi speak in a forced tone and when the man finally looks in your direction his demeanor changes, his smile dropping and you swear your pulse stops altogether.

"You found her? Are you sure because last I seen her she was back with her mother in a dingy town," Jun speaks but his tone doesn't hold any illness to it, no anger but his face tells another story. The room goes silent, so silent you swear you can hear the sweat on the side of your face  fall to the floor. No one says a word, not even Hongjoong who emerges from the kitchen along with Karina but Yunho, being himself, breaks the silence.

"How do you.." Before he could finish his sentence Jun speaks up again.

"I know her. We grew up together," He says but he keeps his eyes on you,"It's been a long time,Y/N, I'm sorry about your father." You don't know what to say, you're frozen at your spot and all you want to do is just get out this cottage. Everyone's eyes are on you and you feel exposed, small. Jun's eyebrows quirk up as he awaits for you to respond and it makes your stomach churn but you open your mouth, licking your lips.

"Xiaojun, it's a surprise to see you here," You finally speak and the male hums and gives you a sarcastic smile, nodding his head.

"Yes, it is surprising, given your father did murder a close friend of mine," Xiaojun's tone no longer holds the calmness it did before and is not full of venom and disgust making your blood run cold,"So i'm confused as to why they've brought you here." You don't reply, your words caught in the back of your throat and you only wish the ground could swallow you whole but it doesn't and you're still here.

"Jun, I think we should talk," Hongjoong says in a heavy tone and the other male doesn't say anything in response but he nods his head, keeping his eyes on you for a moment before turning around and walking back to the room he came from, Hongjoong following behind him leaving you and everyone else in complete silence. God, can the ground swallow you already?

♡

WELL....! hello everyone i'm back with a longer chapter ! sorry for taking so long with uploading chapters :( i've been working full  time i try to write as much as i can so i hope you all enjoyed this chap <3 no san pic for the intro bc i can not for the life of me find the pic ..  thank you all for still supporting me