In The Dark

Chapter 47

Zach

"Cory, I swear if you don't hurry up. We don't have time for this. I told you we were doing it and you seemed to be fine with it."

"Seemed fine with it. I'm not fine with it, Zach."

"Oh my gosh! You are literally--"

"Both of you shut up!" Nathan walked into the room. "We need to go now. The longer we wait for nightfall, the longer Ian stays in that hellhole."

It was weird, this raid we had spontaneously planned. Cory was being a bigger douchebag than he had been two days ago. I know we all were mourning silently with Byung-chul and Ren, but he didn't have to take it that far. She had things to worry about and he had his brother to worry about. I wasn't about to let him ruin this moment. If anything went wrong with the plan I'd thought over for an entire night, I was blaming Cory.

Nathan grabbed Cory's arm and snatched him out the door. I stayed behind to talk with Ren. Dominick was going to come over in a few minutes to keep her and her brother company. She had yet to hear back from Ryder about the Korean-French agreement. Even I wanted to find out if they were going to hear Ren out.

"Don't worry about it, Chul Chul. I got it," Ren was saying.

"No you don't. I told you I had it," Byung-chul argued. "It's not like the world is going to end, if I don't go to school."

"We're going to be on a long waiting list. Not unless you plan to go back to America and attend school."

"I'm fine with that."

"It's never going to happen. Not with Tyler sneaking around killing people. I can't lose you, too. I'd love it if you actually listened to me for once and called the school. They're going to close soon and you won't have another chance until tomorrow."

"...Noona, you're being difficult."

Ren scoffed and prepared to hit her brother across the head. "I'm being difficult? You're almost 18 and acting like you can't call the school to get yourself into the system."

"Maybe if you took up law instead of mechanics, you'd know it takes more than a phone call to put myself into an entirely different school system." Byung-chul looked ready to hit his sister back.

"Should I be offended?"

"I hope you are."

I stepped in between them and smiled at Ren. She was slow to put her hand down, but she did it. Her face gradually changed from anger and spite to something more manageable for her age. I grabbed her hands and gently pushed Byung-chul away. He huffed and stomped off. Well, I'm glad I didn't have a sister or brother. They'd be dead by now.

"I'm leaving with Cory and Nathan to find Ian. I'll be back later tonight. Don't wait up," I said. "Not unless you really want to."

"Why now? You could have waited a little longer," Ren whined.

"I could've, but I don't know what Tyler is up to. You know he's in Milan now. He could slip up thinking we aren't onto him. With Ryder off doing your bidding, he probably thinks you're busy with the mafia. Perfect time for him to let his guard down."

"From what I heard, Tyler doesn't let his guard down. I doubt he'd slip up now."

I chuckled and pulled Ren into a much needed hug.

"Please don't get hurt. We haven't gotten a new doctor and you know Nika can't fall asleep without you." Ren tightened her hold on me. "Promise me, Z."