ONE MORE CHANCE [✓]

38

Every time a gunshot rang out, Hyunwoo would flinch and wonder who got shot this time. He had taken his denim jacket off and used it tie a makeshift bandage around the man's wound. 

The man had fallen asleep and Hyunwoo could hear his rough, irregular breathing, and it scared him.

Finally, there were two gunshots, loud and clear, before silence took over. Hyunwoo got up with a start, hoping with all his might that his sister wasn't the one who got shot. There was a slight commotion before Hyunwoo spotted Sihyeon running towards him.

"Oh my god, you're okay." She threw her arms around him, pulling him into an awkward hug. "Is everyone okay?" Hyunwoo asked after breaking away from her. 

Sihyeon sighed and glanced at the man beside him. "Almost all." She turned to face the direction she came from.

Soon, he spotted Kihyun walking down the stairs, dragging what looked like a dead man by the hair. He didn't kill him, did he? Kihyun tossed the limp figure aside before giving it a good kick. 

"Load this fucker onto the truck. I'll think of a way to dispose of him." A few more limp bodies were hauled down.

How many people did Kihyun actually kill? Hyunwoo flinched at the dull thud of the body hitting the ground. 

Kihyun slowly walked towards him, and it dawned on Hyunwoo that he was going for his fallen comrade rather than himself.

Kihyun got down on one knee and propped the man up. Kissing the top of his head softly, he shook him awake. "Time to wake up." The man slowly stirred and opened his eyes. 

Hyunwoo sighed and turned away. So much for Kihyun still caring about me.

A few other men came over to help the man to his feet. Minkyun, was it? Hyunwoo watched as they brought him away, leaving Kihyun standing before him awkwardly. "Hi." Hyunwoo scratched the back of his head.

Kihyun broke into a forced smile. "Hi." 

Well, this is awkward. 

Thankfully, the awkward silence was broken by someone yelling. "Do we bring Minkyun to the hospital or do we just let him go?" Let him go? What did he mean by letting him go?

Hyunwoo stared at Kihyun in horror as he opened his mouth to reply. "Let-" He had just begun to speak when Hyunwoo cut him off. 

"Bring him to the hospital!" Kihyun furrowed his brows at Hyunwoo but didn't oppose it.

"Yes, Sir!" The man nodded and ran out of the warehouse. Turning to Kihyun, Hyunwoo twiddled his thumbs. "Why did you want to let him go, whatever that meant?" 

Kihyun didn't establish eye contact with him. "I don't want to remember him." He began to walk away.

Hyunwoo strode over and blocked Kihyun's path. "You do know he has a girlfriend and a family waiting for him, right?" Kihyun narrowed his eyes and shot Hyunwoo a venomous look. "Get out of my way."

He ignored Kihyun and continued barring his route. Grabbing Kihyun by his arms, he shook him, hard. "Look, you have people who love you too. And they are waiting for you." Kihyun tried to sidestep him, but Hyunwoo stepped in front of him.

"Your aunt, for example. Your parents put her in charge of taking care of you, but how often has she even seen you? Sometimes, when I drive past her house, she'd ask me how you were doing and whether you've been eating well. She cares a lot about you, and all she wishes is for you to do the same for her."

"Speaking of which, your parents love you too. But I highly doubt you've ever called them once since you came back here. Or maybe you have, I don't know. I never heard you mention them, not even once. I don't know much about your past, but I'm pretty sure no matter what happens, they'll always have your back."

He stopped to take a breather. Kihyun's face had turned an alarming shade of white. 

At least he's listening. 

Hyunwoo let go of Kihyun's arms and sighed. He turned back to look at the men dragging the bodies out of the warehouse.

"Maybe they don't exactly love you, but they've given up their lives to work for you. Isn't that almost equivalent to love? You do realize that once they've signed up to work for you, there is nothing else they can do in their lives right? Well, probably expect to go to jail."

"And the guy who got shot? Was his name Minkyun? I can't believe you almost let him die. I really don't understand you sometimes. You were behaving all heartbroken over him one second, and the next thing you do is tell your men to let him bleed to death. I don't know what happened between the two of you, but one thing for sure, he really looks up to you as his leader, I can tell."

Alright, things are going to get awkward from here. Hyunwoo's eyes darted to the floor.

"During the past few weeks that I've been locked up here, I've been thinking. Thinking and thinking, because that's all I can do, honestly. And if one day, just somehow, all those people I mentioned earlier happen to give up on you," He paused to look at Kihyun straight in the eye.

"There's still me."

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