26th December
2012
Seonghwa feels like his heart is in his mouth right now.
A few months ago, he had tortured Hoseok severely, which lead to his body slowly dissolving from the acid. Though Hoseok had passed from his injuries after a short time, he suffered greatly by having to witness a loved one's body gradually decompose in front of him until his own last moments. Even after his own death, his body continued to disintegrate from the acid.
To put it lightly, Hyungwon was not happy.
The MX gang had lost both Hoseok and Hyunwoo at the same time, both who were extremely valuable and powerful. Hyungwon did not need to think twice before calling SS for a fight to end things once and for all. The back and forth backstabbing was growing stale and both sides were sick of the betrayal and unease.
SS gladly accepted the invitation to the fight, fully prepared to win. Getting rid of MX would mean fulfilling any revenge by any of the SS members as well as securing their future and living a more stable life. Well, as stable as gang life gets.
To make things fair, neither gang is allowed to bring any allies. And for the sake of their pride, neither even plans to bring extra people separately. After all, both are confident that they'll come out victorious on the other side anyway.
Though Seonghwa still has a bad feeling about this. While taking MX down has been his dream for years, he knows many, many lives will be lost and he's afraid there won't be as many SS members left after it all.
"Let's finally use what we've learned from all these years and put it to good use," Hongjoong proudly declares. Seonghwa and the other members present in the small room absorb his words and try to take it as a form of courage.
Seonghwa's mind, of course, travels to the worst case scenarios. He approaches Hongjoong while everyone occupies themselves with last minute preparations.
"Joong, in case anything happens to me, you should just leave me and-"
"Nothing is going to happen to you," Hongjoong interrupts sternly. Seonghwa tries to hide his frustration. "But in the small chance it does, I want you to be prepared," he whines.
Hongjoong shows a weak smile, one full of vulnerability. One that no one gets to see. One that even Seonghwa himself has not seen much of.
"I won't let anything happen to you, no matter what. Everything will be okay. Both of us will wake up tomorrow morning and start making plans for what's to come, but first we'll rest and celebrate our victory. Mark my words." Seonghwa feels a lump in his throat at his friend's encouragement. He still can't find it in himself to believe a single thing, but a wave of comfort does wash over him.
"If you get hurt then I'll kill you," is all Seonghwa replies with. Hongjoong playfully scowls. "Watch your mouth, you'll never know when I'll quickly turn my own gun on you," he scolds. Seonghwa laughs all his stresses away, in turn relieving Hongjoong's too. He smiles subtly while watching his friend.
"Is everyone ready? Let's go!" the smiles wipe off the boys' faces when Jaehyun's loud voice booms through the room. Everyone in the small room leaves silently and joins the rest of the members outside, so many members that multiple vehicles are lined up ouside.
Everyone heaps their weapons into the back of their cars, the atmosphere solemn. It's as if most of them know that there's a good chance they won't make it back alive afterwards. Their work mainly consisted of secrecy, so a full blown battle is something no one is prepared for, even after months of practice.
Hongjoong and Seonghwa sit in one car together nervously and stare out the window as multiple buildings pass by them. Hongjoong glances at all the shops and apartments and even a large hospital. He just hopes that all the incompetent members can actually do a decent job. He only cares for himself and Seonghwa to come out unscathed.
The groups of SS members arrive one by one to an abandoned warehouse, a location these gangs are all too familiar with. This one has clearly not been used by anyone in years, the thick layers of dust proving this. Not only is the paint on the outside worn out and corroded, but the large doors are hanging onto their last threads. The dark orange rust threatens to crumble and allow the doors to be blown right off their hinges from one gust of wind.
This place is perfect for a heap of bodies to be disposed of. Seonghwa clenches his jaw when he takes a step in, his throat and nose feeling irritated by the flying dust. It's a sunny day, which unfortunately makes its way through the holes in the worn out ceiling in the form of beams of light. Seonghwa's heart jumps when he spots the faces of the opposing gang, the sun illuminating them well.
They wait patiently on one end of the warehouse, Hyungwon standing smugly in front of them all. The rest of SS flood in and begin to occupy the opposite end of the warehouse. Jaehyun steps out and makes his way to the front of his gang with a stern face.
Hongjoong and Seonghwa stand right behind him and hold their guns tightly in their hands.
"Looks like we can finally kill all of you pests off," Jaehyun shouts to the other side. Hyungwon scoffs with a bitter smile, mind swirling with the faces of Hoseok and Hyunwoo. "Hoseok's death will not be in vain, is all I'll say," he responds with a calmer voice.
Jaehyun aims his gun at Hyungwon. Not another word is exchanged, but the fight has already begun. No one moves a muscle, glued in place by the sticky, thick atmosphere.
But suddenly, Jaehyun pulls his trigger.
Hyungwon quickly ducks down and avoids the hit, but the member behind him gets shot square in the face, catching everyone by surprise.
And with this, chaos ensues.
The sound of gunshots fill the air, the volume alone enough to make some ears bleed. Most people brought short range weapons, and the sounds of metal clashing against metal is also heard.
Seonghwa is one of these people as he skillfully slashes and digs his daggers into his opponents. He tightens his noise cancelling earbuds into place, flinching at the sound of all the gunshots that still make it through. He just knows he'd be deaf if he didn't bring this little bit of protection.
He ducks and slithers through SS members and pounces at the MX members. People drop like flies, and Seonghwa finds himself stepping on people by accident more and more by the second. He wades through the pools of blood and is too focused to even notice his shoes squelching with the liquid.
The numbers drop scarily fast and soon there aren't many members left. As his eyes scan the faces of everyone in front of him, he pulls out his own gun to get the remainder. But then as he's about to step over yet another man, he freezes in his tracks.
The whole world seems to go into slow motion as he sees the body of Jaehyun lying in front of him. He hurriedly drops to his knees and pulls his earbuds out, allowing the tsunami of sharp noises to fill his head once again.
His vision blurs and he searches Jaehyun's body for his gunshot wound while trying to blink away tears. Jaehyun's weakened hand lightly grips Seonghwa's and he opens his eyes.
"Go kill Hyungwon, and live. Thank you and Hongjoong for being my precious sons over the years," he croaks. Seonghwa shakes his head frantically and continues to search. "You'll come with us, just tell me where it hurts the most," his voice shakes.
Jaehyun smiles. "Allow me to face the fate I deserve. You boys are still young and I'm proud of you for everything, but maybe it's time to fall back," he demands. Seonghwa freezes out of disbelief. "There's no way I'm letting you go and escaping," he whispers. These whispers are barely heard with all the shouting and screams of agony in the background.
"Be safe, please..." Jaehyun mumbles one final time before drifting off. His eyes stop moving and so does every other muscle in his body. Seonghwa violently shakes Jaehyun in a panic and feels like throwing up when the others' body is completely limp against his own.
He sobs as quietly as he can into Jaehyun's body and feels a fresh sense of anger. "Seonghwa, watch out!"
Hongjoong's voice snaps Seonghwa out of his thoughts and he stands up and turns around, ready to unleash his rage.
But he quickly realises his situation. He didn't even notice that there is now pin-drop silence in the entire warehouse. His shakey eyes travel around the room and his heart drops when all he sees are corpses for as far as he looks.
Right in front of him are standing some of the last living people in the room: four MX members with guns trained to him, and in the front of the small group is Hyungwon himself.
Seonghwa's fingers itch to wrap themselves around Hyungwon's throat.
"If you even dare to lift your gun, we shoot," Hyungwon shouts with a smile, directing his threat to both of the last remaining SS members.
Seonghwa's eyes flick to a member's gun pointed to Hongjoong and doesn't dare move his gun, and Hongjoong reacts the same way when he sees the guns pointed at Seonghwa.
Neither of the boys catch the smirk on Hyungwon's face when he pulls the trigger.
Seonghwa falls to his knees, blood pouring from his shoulder.
He grunts from the shock, not letting any more reaction leave him. The three MX members standing behind Hyungwon look a little startled by their leader's rash decision, but no one gets the chance to react as Hongjoong lands a bullet through each of their skulls with the most accurate precision.
As soon as last remaining MX members drop dead, Hongjoong dashes to Seonghwa's side and crouches down beside him.
"A-Are you okay? Can you stand?" he panics, placing a hand over Seonghwa's wound. He flinches when he pulls back his hand and it's coated in warm blood. Seonghwa forces a pained smile. "Do I look okay to you?" he sarcastically remarks. Hongjoong bites his lip worriedly. He takes off his jacket quickly and wraps it around Seonghwa's shoulder tightly, slowing the speed of the bleeding. "Just stay here, okay? I'll be back as fast as I can, I'm getting a doctor," he blurts while standing up.
A weak hand grabs his leg. "You can't do that, you might get caught. Just leave me here and find a replacement of me," Seonghwa chokes out. Hongjoong's heart drops and he stares in horror. "No one can replace you so let me go!" he screams. Seonghwa's mouth drops open slightly in shock. He releases his hand from the others' leg with a smile. "Hurry up then," he croaks.
Hongjoong nods and sprints out in a panic. He recalls seeing a hospital nearby on the way to the warehouse, so he runs as fast as he can in that direction.
Seonghwa sighs, feeling an overwhelming flurry of emotions on top of the striking pain. He lies down and his teary eyes turn slighty to the side, filling up even more at the sight of all the bodies of his gang.
No one except for him and Hongjoong survived.
Yet this feeling isn't completely bitter. He turns to the other side and feels a sense of conclusion at the sight of MX. At last, they're all gone too. Both gangs have been completely iradicated.
The stench of blood kills Seonghwa on the inside. It's something he's too used to at this point, but the thought of this blood belonging to someone who acted as his father for the past five years hurts.
He wonders, what's to come? Both gangs are gone. Is this the end of his gang life? He can't tell if that's good or bad right now, he doesn't know what else to do with his life.
But then his mind travels to his best friend. That's right, it's not over just yet. The two of them still have their own plans.
Seonghwa realises that he's reached an ending in his life. But now it's time for a new beginning.
A/N
Yes I copied two paragraphs exactly from viridescence :')