WITHOUT You [YOONGI] (Book 2)

Chapter 41

Soo-ji slipped out of the bathroom door after cleaning herself up. A gold strip of cloth from Bora's dress was wrapped around one forearm and another was wrapped tightly around her palm.

Immersing herself in the pitch darkness behind the wall, she peered around the corner, looking for her next target.

Kai sat at the same table with a whiskey glass in one hand. His back was leaned against the leathery cushions, relaxed, completely oblivious that his life had a deadline.

The pads of her fingertips tapped against the fabric of her dress, feeling the switch knife strapped around her thigh.

She took a deep breath, eyes narrowing in on Kai and she took a step forward into the open where she would be exposed in the flashing strobe lights.

Almost instantly, as soon as the soles of her feet met with the lights, an arm lunged out, pushing her back into the darkness.

She gasped, feeling a pair of strong arms circling around to her back as she was pulled into a broad chest.

"Don't," a familiar voice whispered in her ear. Soo-ji's breath was caught in her throat, her mind going temporarily unfocused and blank at that voice she didn't expect to hear.

She jerked back. Placing a hand on the chest in front of her, she peered up at none other than Chanyeol.

"You're awake." Her voice came out hoarse and breathy. She was stunned, astonished, to see him conscious in front of her.

Chanyeol nodded, catching his breath after running here as fast as he could. His eyes scanned down her face and body, checking for any injuries and he sighed in relief when she seemed better than he feared. He reached out a hand, cupping her cheek in his palm as he thumbed away specks and splatters of blood on her face.

Soo-ji flinched at his touch, furrowing her eyebrows as she looked away from him to the side. She couldn't bring herself to look at him when he was being gentle. It confused her; she wasn't exactly comfortable with Chanyeol yet after the whole ordeal with Jean Pierre but what she didn't want was to think about unnecessary feelings when she had already closed herself off from trusting anyone ever again.

Chanyeol didn't fail to notice either. From the way his hand slowly dropped to his side as he watched her changed demeanour, he knew things weren't the same anymore. In some way, he felt like they were two of the same ends of a magnet. He would do anything to take a step towards her, but she would take a step back. She was unreachable, always keeping an arms length in between them.

"You have to get out of here." Chanyeol's voice was soft, swallowing down the heart ache feeling in his chest that he knew wasn't because of his wound.

Soo-ji looked to their side, watching Kai with a dark gaze. "I'm not finished yet."

She took a step around him, but his arm immediately dashed forward, pulling her back into his embrace.

"Listen to me," his face swam in front of hers, desperate for her to hear him out, "you've done so well so far-" his head nodded to the bathroom door next to them, "-but people are going to start realising Kwon Bora is missing. The longer you stay here, the harder it will be for you to get out."

He looked around them, trying to see if Kim Taehyung is nearby.

He continued, "leave Kai to me. I'll finish what you started."

Soo-ji shook her head, laughing under her breath as she stared at him. "He killed my family. His blood belongs on my hands."

"I know that!" Chanyeol said straight away, "I want him dead just as much as you do. He took my gang away from me and if it was the last thing I did, I'm getting it back."