Tuesday, August 30th 2161, 13:53.
Cheongnam, South Korea.
"It's like... I can't tell what is truly me anymore, or what is him. It's like he's occupying part of my mind, trying to influence and twist me to become the man that I was under his watch."
Minhyung blinked at Taeyong, his mouth agape as the latter kept his eye fixed on the table beneath the desk in his office in Neo City. He spun a small knife between his fingers, hardly acknowledging that the slightest slip-up could leave him with an injury, though minor.
"You think that Lim Kangdae is living inside of your head?" asked Minhyung, and he raised his brow. "I'm sorry, Taeyong. It's not that I don't believe what you're saying, exactly... I just don't know what you mean."
"I know—I know it's ridiculous. I'm sorry for saying something so... strange. It must be the... uh... nicotine, or something. I've been smoking more than I usually do these past few days or so. I guess I'm just stressed out, so I'm saying nonsensical things."
"No, it isn't nonsensical. I can see how you'd feel that way, I think," said the younger man as he subconsciously scratched the back of his neck. "It's just that I don't know much about this kind of thing."
Taeyong nodded to himself, allowing the knife to slip from his grip and onto the desk, where it landed among a pile of creased and crumpled paper, alongside a folded paper cup. Upon recognising the mess from the corner of his eye, Taeyong shifted his attention to it and picked up a ball of paper. He threw it in the direction of the bin, only for it to fall onto the floor due to the sheer amount of waste already inside of the mesh container. Taeyong saw how Minhyung eyed the mess, his eyes narrow as he glanced back up to his brother.
"I heard from Jeno that you've been looking for that child. You know, the daughter of the Namjeong Clan Patriarch. It'll be pretty hard on you, right? I know you'll want to do all you can to find her."
A nod was all that Taeyong could muster. He used his fingers to slick back his hair, only to grip and pull at the strands without mercy. Minhyung stood up from where he was sitting, and he leaned over the table to reach the older man. He placed his hands on Taeyong's shoulders and looked him in the eye, prompting his older brother to loosen his grip on himself.
Minhyung's expression softened as Taeyong glanced up at him, his eye gleaming under the fluorescent bulb above his head. "I'm sorry, Taeyong, but... I need to say this. I can tell that you're struggling, and I can't be of help to you. I get it—I really do—you don't like therapy. You've been through it before, right?"
"It doesn't help. It might be comforting to some people, but to me... I don't want to relive it all more than I already do, Minhyung. If they take me away, if they try to 'fix' me with their little pills and machinery, I don't know if I'll be the same person that I am now when I return," said Taeyong, and he picked up a ballpoint pen and began to scribble in the corner of his collections form. "I don't want to go through that again. I escaped that emptiness on my own, and I won't return to that state."
"But... you're not coping."
Taeyong raised his brow. Minhyung's comment hit him like a ton of bricks, because it was exactly what he was thinking about himself. "It isn't about coping. I don't need to cope. Not while there's a child out there, probably terrified of what is going to happen to her. I'm sick and tired of people preying on the innocent."
"I don't get it, Taeyong. It isn't as though the rest of Noctis can't search for her themselves, you know. You're just as capable as they are, but right now, I worry that you're going to do something that you'll regret."
"Why can't you all see that I'm not going to abandon a child's life? Is it really that hard to fathom? I've done a lot of wicked, horrible things in my life, but I won't let an innocent child come to harm just because you all think there's something wrong with me!" said Taeyong, which made his younger brother frown.
"You're telling me that you think that Lim Kangdae is living inside of your head, but you don't think that you need help?" asked Minhyung through his furrowed brow. "You're making people worry about you. I don't want to be working on this case, wondering whether I'll come home to find out that my brother has died of a drug overdose. We've only just found each other, Taeyong... I don't want to lose you again."
Taeyong let out a sigh. Part of him wanted to tell Minhyung what he'd been keeping from him, to let the floodgates open and reveal what was weighing heavy on his soul, but he refrained. He didn't know how he'd react. He was scared to alienate his brother and lose him. Frankly, they were one in the same. They shared the same fears, and while they were vastly different individuals, their goals weren't so different either. "Please, just forget what I've said to you today."
"Forget? How am I supposed to just forget?" Minhyung yelled. "You can't keep doing this to people. You can't expect us to ignore that you're slowly destroying your life, and taking our concerns with you! We care about you, I care about whether you live a happy life rather than simply surviving as you are now!"
It took Taeyong by surprise. He watched as Minhyung turned and walked toward the door, without even a moment to spare on contemplation. He pulled the office door open and disappeared on the other side, leaving his brother alone. As it waded shut, Taeyong saw a figure on the other side of the door, waiting, as though they had been listening to the whole conversation.
He couldn't bring himself to care.
--
Taeyong didn't have time to mope alone in his office. Soon after Minhyung left, Xiuying contacted him, inviting him to investigate what had happened to Hyejin.
Often in the early afternoon, much of Cheongnam was bustling with traffic—both pedestrian and vehicular—and was at its busiest. Chinatown was no exception, though it featured much more pedestrian traffic than otherwise. Taeyong was used to clinging to the darkest shadow that he could find, it was a skill that came with the trade of killing, and it came all too easily. He stayed hidden behind a ramen stall, out of sight from the local population.
He needed to be useful, and if he was contending with the local thugs, there was no way that he'd be helpful in the search for Hyejin, the missing child. He meant every word when he told Doyoung that he'd find the young girl, even if it killed him.
But Doyoung didn't know that he was in Chinatown. He would have freaked out even if Taeyong ever so slightly passed onto the territory without a member of Noctis by his side. Chinatown wasn't the friendliest place for an outsider, especially a former Namjeong Clan hitman. Taeyong had to lie to Doyoung in order to leave Neo City without the younger man by his side, as the latter had been given a day off by Taeil. He promised that he'd stay away from trouble, even if the notion was impossible while sneaking around Chinatown.
Taeyong was safe, to some extent, in Chinatown. After all, he wasn't going to search alone. He simply had to wait for Xiuying to arrive, and then theoretically speaking, he'd be left alone. However, often the theory and practicality of an event were not accurate—but it was a risk that he was willing to take.
He wasn't going to sit back and wait for Kun to come across a lead to find Hyejin, not while one was being hung out for him to follow. He didn't trust Xiuying completely, he knew better than to trust somebody who'd approached him in such suspicious circumstances, but he needed her help. Xiuying seemed to understand the gravity of potentially tricking a former hitman, so Taeyong was slightly more comfortable working with her.
If she betrayed him? Well, he wouldn't kill her. He told his mother that he'd never harm a woman, and he intended to keep his word unless there was a gun to his head. However, Xiuying didn't need to know that.
As the sound of crumbling gravel reverberated through the narrow alleyway, Taeyong stepped backward and disappeared into an adjacent road. He waited, not daring to blink as the sound of footsteps grew closer. He knew that it was likely Xiuying, as they'd agreed to meet there, but he never jumped the gun. If it wasn't her, he could have been in trouble, and as advantageous as his placement in the alleyway was, he didn't want to make a scene. He could hear his own heartbeat through his focus, as adrenaline shot throughout his bloodstream at the very thought of a fight.
Taeyong's mind drifted. It took a great feat of self-control for him to stop himself from pouncing out from the darkness, and reaching for the nearest unsuspecting wanderer who he could take by the throat with his slender, metallic fingers and steal away what was left of their pathetic life. He took a deep breath, trying to calm the instinctual excitement that stirred within him.
If he hadn't been completely spent by his morning with Doyoung, being caught by the people of Chinatown wouldn't have been his only problem.
He was lucky that the approaching wanderer was indeed Xiuying, as the woman was standing directly in front of him, staring at him through a furrowed brow. He was breathing heavily, much more than he had intended, and it was clear that she'd found him due to the fact. He cleared his throat, shifting where he was standing.
"I'm not going to ask what you're doing, or what's going through your head right now, because I'm sure that I don't want to know," said Xiuying, and Taeyong was grateful, to say the least.
"It's nothing, anyway. I wouldn't tell you even if you asked," he replied, regaining his own composure. "You remember where you saw the child, right? Let's go and look around where you saw her and this Reisa woman that you mentioned."
"Of course, I remember everything that I see when I'm on lookout. I wouldn't be a good thief if I had a short-term memory, would I? I was supposed to be scoping out a local business, and I saw them passing by from the cafe that I was observing from," she explained, and pointed out of the alleyway and at the busy street. "It's nearby, that's why I arranged for us to meet here."
Taeyong looked in the direction of the exit from the alleyway, though it was difficult to see much through the wispy smoke from the ramen stall, filling the air full of the sickeningly abundant scent of spices. "I hope you're right about this being safe when I'm with you, I'd hate to have to pour a bowl of noodles on somebody's face."
"I'm sure you'll be fine," said Xiuying, and she chuckled at his comment. "You'd look more suspicious walking alone, and the local thugs know me. They'll probably leave us alone."
It wasn't that Taeyong wasn't up for a fight, he was. He felt uncertain about himself ever since the incident with Jaehyun, and he wasn't sure if he'd act as crazed as he did then again if he was to get in a fight. If his life wasn't hanging on the line, he'd do it. But if he was to lose himself and kill somebody, then he was as good as dead, and he would be leaving not only Minhyung and Doyoung behind, but the whole of Noctis who depended on him more than Kun liked to admit.
"Fine, I'll trust that you know what you're doing, but there's no way that they won't recognise me. I'm one of a kind," said Taeyong, though it sounded more egotistical than he'd intended. "If they don't recognise me, they all must be blind or living under a rock."
"If they recognise you, that doesn't mean that they have to react. They might even be scared of you," said Xiuying. "It isn't as though the Tengzhi Mafia or the Ziyhou Triad are stationed around here, these are just small street gangs that we're worrying about here. You're the most recognisable person who's ever been in the Namjeong Clan, they'll probably be quaking in their boots if they see you."
Taeyong appreciated it when his potential enemies were scared of him, it was convenient, and often made his job much easier. He smirked, nodding to himself. "Well, when you put it that way, I shouldn't be standing here worrying about handing somebody's ass to them. Let's go."
Xiuying led him out into the open, and all Taeyong could do was trust her. If he was a fool for trusting a stranger, then he'd get what was coming to him. He was as good as worthless without a gun. Sure, he had his dagger and his knives—and his fists at a stretch—but it was much safer to rely on a firearm than not.
"I was nearby when I saw Reisa and the child, scoping out a local business, as I said. I couldn't see exactly where they went, but I'm almost certain that it was into a building just down the street," said Xiuying, and she pointed further down the brick road, in the direction of a large building decorated in traditional Chinese architecture. "I think an organisation is occupying that building right now. It used to be a restaurant, but they closed temporarily just over a week ago. The timing matches almost perfectly."
"So, what's the plan of action? It isn't as though we can just walk through the front door, is it?" asked Taeyong, his eyes following a group of men who walked past them. "I'm risking a hell of a lot being here, and I don't plan on being the cause of a gang war."
"Why did you agree to meet me if that's the case?"
Taeyong scoffed, shaking his head. "I thought you were smarter than that. We could easily be bombarded by people if we entered through the front. We're opening ourselves up to being overwhelmed if we make ourselves that obvious. Plus, I'm on a strict order not to blaze up an entire building. I can't kill."
"A hitman who can't kill?" asked Xiuying, smiling to herself. "You're a strange man, Lee Taeyong. Here I was thinking that you were truly as fearsome as the local legend states."
"I don't have a death wish, and I'd sure as hell hope that neither do you. We need another plan. Do you have any other ideas, or am I going to have to do all of the work?"
Xiuying furrowed her brow, and sighed. "Fine. Follow me, I can see if we can do this stealthily. You're lucky that I get along with so many people here, otherwise you'd be climbing up the side of the building."
They walked in the direction of what seemed to be a small general store. It was ironic, Taeyong thought, that a thief like Xiuying would be friendly with the local business-people. Almost too ironic for his liking. He followed as she walked inside and bowed at the owner, a frail elderly woman who greeted Xiuying in their dialect. That was all that Taeyong could understand from the conversation, and he stood apart from the pair, tucked into the corner of the store like a spare part. They looked in his direction occasionally, and he offered a smile for the elderly woman, aware of how daunting his appearance was to the majority of the people around him.
Xiuying turned to face him, but her expression was unreadable to Taeyong. She nodded, walking in his direction, and pointed at a door. It must have been a success. "We're going upstairs. It'll take a little bit of parkour, but we can get into that restaurant from the fire exit."
"You want me to jump from one building to another?" he asked, raising his brow. "I think climbing up the side of the building may have been the easier and quieter choice."
"Don't worry, it's a narrow alley. Chinatown isn't as spacious as most of Cheongnam, so it won't be that difficult," said Xiuying, and she opened the door.
Taeyong sighed. At that rate, finding Hyejin was truly going to be the death of him, but that was a risk that he was willing to take. He glanced down at his metallic hand as he walked up the stairs, hoping that the upgrade was as strong as Sicheng had claimed as he was fitting it. He clenched his fist, watching the wires shift beneath the gunmetal grey plating. If he overestimated the strength, he could disconnect a wire, or lose the arm entirely.
"I have to warn you, though. I'm not sure who these people are, they could be powerful people, and they'll probably have a lot of manpower. I'll be there to help you, but... if you can't kill, you might die."
"I've been prepared to go to the extreme to save this child ever since I first learned of her kidnapping. If you're trying to change my mind, it isn't going to work," he said.
Xiuying glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "I admire that. I was expecting you to be like them, but I think you're much more likeable than people say. They could never be as respectful as you are, Lee Taeyong."
"There aren't many people who'd say that to me," said Taeyong, and he snickered as they reached the top of the staircase. "Thank you, I guess."
"You don't have to sound so uncertain about that," she laughed. "I mean it, though. You're a better man than I imagined."
Taeyong glanced out of the window, and upon seeing the gap between the fire exit and the window to the other building, he sighed. It wasn't going to be an easy passage. He examined the space on the other side and found it to be a storage room of sorts, making his job ever so slightly easier.
"It'd be best if we waited for evening, I think. I usually see some of their men leaving at around 5 PM, to go out and drink at a local bar," said Xiuying, and he hummed in response.
"I suppose this gives us time to figure out exactly what our plan is," said Taeyong, turning back around to face her. "I hope you've got plenty of ammunition, or at least a nice sharp blade, because you're going to need it."
"Of course I do. I didn't bring you into this building simply because of the fire exit," she said, and she reached for a backpack that was thrown against the wall in the corner of the room. "I'm not as unprepared as you think. I've been renting this room on the off-chance that you didn't want to raid that place the easy way."
Taeyong sat down on the ground, watching as she pulled an assembled Uzi from the bag, followed by another, and a box of ammunition. Xiuying took out the magazine and began to fill it with ammunition at the other side of the room. Taeyong raised his brow, taken aback by the weapon's sudden appearance. "You've got an Uzi? I thought you were a small-time thief."
"I am," said Xiuying, and she glanced up as she replaced the magazine and cocked the gun. "I have two, I loaned them from a merchant before I met you."
"You should've warned me, at least. I don't like to let my guard down in hostile or armed territory," he said, and reached out to catch an Uzi as it was thrown his way. "I told you that I can't kill anybody—"
"You don't need to kill. You're property of the Namjeong Clan, I'm sure I don't need to teach you about a non-lethal takedown method."
Taeyong rolled his eye at being referred to as the Namjeong Clan's 'property', but he knew that at one point, that wasn't far from the truth. "I'm not their property. But sure, I know how to take somebody down non-lethally, but... I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself."
"Your instinct is to kill them, I get it. It's no secret that you're no short of a sadistic murderer, Lee Taeyong. I've seen your crime scenes before," said Xiuying, and she checked her watch. "We've got just short of two hours until we'll be free to head inside. Have you ever tried to prevent yourself from succumbing to that instinct?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're not an animal. You're capable of self-control, you know. I understand, though. I've felt it before, too. I know what it feels like to let myself go in a fight, and enjoying the bloodshed isn't uncommon in Cheongnam. You're not the only one."
"I've abandoned any self-control that I had for the past twenty-or-so years. I can't just bring it back now. I've fallen too deep for that now," said Taeyong, and he sighed.
Xiuying finished filling the second magazine with ammunition and placed it down onto the floor, far from either of them. Taeyong watched her as she stood up from the ground and moved over to where he was, and took a seat beside him. "I think... I think I might have an idea as to what will help you keep your mind clear for when we head inside of there."
Taeyong didn't need to inquire, as Xiuying had already turned and connected their lips before he could muster the words. He smiled, letting out a quiet laugh as she placed her hand on his shoulder and moved once again, standing ahead of Taeyong as she reached for her silk shirt and travelled down the seams, releasing the buttons from their hold. Upon seeing a healing slash on her chest, he remembered the rush from the first time they had met in that alleyway, and how he'd created the incision during his adrenaline-fueled attack.
"I think it's worth a shot," said Taeyong, and he reached down for the buckle on his belt. "But I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."
--
Later that day.
Taeyong took a deep breath as he pulled his waistcoat back over his shoulders, before turning his attention to fixing his rolled-up sleeves as they rested on his forearms. He glanced into a mirror on the wall, using it to fix his hair and the eyepatch strung around his head, acutely aware of Xiuying's naked form on the floor behind him, only shielded from his eye by a thin bedsheet. He peered over his shoulder at her as she rested. Ultimately, he knew he'd come to regret his rather thoughtless rendezvous, as neither of them were prepared for the event. He decided to play it safe.
Taeyong searched around the room, and upon discovering the two guns, he took them. He made sure that the safety triggers were both activated before slipping them both into modified pockets on the inside of his blazer jacket. But he wasn't going to disappear into the night, not like that. He reached into his pocket and took out his wallet. As empty as it was, he wasn't going to leave Xiuying unprepared for what she was supposed to do next. He split his cash in half, and left some beside where she slept, oblivious.
He wanted to leave a note. He wanted to tell her to head to the local pharmacy, just in case, and that he was going to confront the kidnappers alone, but he couldn't. He was unprepared, as much as he hated to be so. Instead, he whispered, standing over her sleeping form. "I'm sorry."
Before she could awaken, Taeyong opened the door leading to the fire exit staircase, and he gauged the reach. It was risky. He wouldn't die if he fell, but it would ruin the plan. He climbed over the railing and stood on the slight overhang beyond it, holding onto the railing for dear life. He cleared his throat, chuckling to himself. He'd done some foolish things during his life—like jumping onto a moving train, twice—but he was no acrobat. He clenched his fists around the railing, stepping up onto the central bar on the frail barrier, leaving no room for hesitation.
It was much too late for Taeyong to back out. He abandoned what little concern remained in his body, preparing his mind for the oncoming agony. He bent his knees, getting ready to make the jump. It left him a moment to calm his rapidly beating heart. He took a deep breath, shifted his foot, and leaped through the air.
He felt his life flash before his eyes, as though that was going to be his last moment on the earth. It was more agonising than any physical wound could ever be, to see each and every mind-shattering scene of his life before such a pivotal time. Even if he made the jump, he was darting straight toward an armed bomb. A single stray bullet could end Lee Taeyong. He could die, or at least he'd never be the same again.
Taeyong felt it vividly. He felt how the glass pane in the window shattered upon making contact with his body, and it sprayed across the room as though it was no more than liquid. His whole body tensed, and he cast out his arms. Landing on the tough ground among the shards of glass was much more painful than the impact. Taeyong felt a shockwave rush through his biological arm—no doubt caused by the interference of gravity—as he shifted his weight onto his shoulder, and rolled onto the ground. His body crashed against the wall, but he was alive.
He pushed himself from the ground, squinting and clenching his jaw as tender flesh stung across his body. He hadn't been the only thing to take a hit, it seemed, as he pulled an Uzi from the inside of his blazer. It hadn't taken much damage, but a slight dent had been made in the barrel. It wasn't entirely unusable, but the accuracy of each shot may have been impaired. Taeyong returned the damaged firearm to his blazer, and found the second to be only scratched. He took a moment to hold the Uzi in his flesh hand, feeling the grip against his skin. It had been at least a year or two since he'd last held any firearm other than a pistol or revolver, and even longer since he'd shot one.
If he was there with him, he was sure that Doyoung would have been drilling it into his mind that he'd be dead the moment that he pulled the trigger. He wouldn't have been wrong, necessarily. He was always being monitored by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, after all.
Taeyong had abandoned the prospect of a stealthy and discreet raid on the restaurant when he'd made the jump. It would have all been up in flames the moment that he'd have been forced to pull the trigger, anyway. He'd rather go inside guns ablazing than have to tiptoe around the building, having to watch his back for the inevitable moment where he'd be discovered and would be overwhelmed before he could even load the Uzi.
He was capable of being non-lethal, even with an Uzi at hand. It was a fact that he repeated inside of his mind as he released the safety and cocked the barrel, preparing to fire at short notice.
Upon slamming his heavy boot against the door and allowing it to swing harshly into the wall, Taeyong began the timer. He heard a series of chairs scrape against hard vinyl as the door swung open, and soon, two startled men were unearthed from beyond. They reached for their own firearms, struck by a bout of hard instinct, but Taeyong couldn't let that happen. He fired, watching in anticipation as a bullet tore through the air and struck the taller of the two men in the hand. It sent his pistol onto the cold, hard vinyl as his shorter counterpart erupted into a state of stupor, gawking as he stared down the muzzle of the Uzi.
Taeyong didn't pull the trigger, however. He lowered the firearm and approached the man, sheltered by the horror that sunk deep into the bones of his next target. He placed his hand on the neck of the man's pistol and pushed it until it was facing the ground beneath him. Taeyong pulled the weapon out of his grip in one swift tug, and swung the Uzi around the back of the stunned man until the grip struck the base of his skull. He lowered the man's disorientated form to the ground, and only then did he shoot a round of bullets into his ankle, leaving him to scream in agony as he moved along to the next room.
Very few injured grunts would get back up to continue a fight. They were all pathetic bottom-feeders that rarely showed true strength.
Taeyong rolled his wrist as he pushed open the next door, already aware of what would await him on the other side. He spared a quick glance into the room before taking shelter behind the wall. A rapid-fire round of bullets shot through the air, leaving crumbled drywall to rain around him as he crouched out of their line of fire, taking the moment of opportunity to replace the ammunition that he had fired. It wasn't even close to empty, but he couldn't know what he was yet to face, so had to be safe.
He heard voices from the other room between the firing of an orchestra of weaponry, and recognised the language to be distinctly Chinese. It didn't come as a surprise to Taeyong, however, it did narrow down the culprits of Hyejin's kidnapping to be one of few organisations, though he's already anticipated that to be the case.
Taeyong took a risk, spinning on his heels until he was peering around the corner, his Uzi raised against the offenders and ready to shoot. A measly five men stood ahead of him, varying in ages and stature. It would hardly be a challenge on a regular occasion, but now, without the freedom of blowing their brains out? He was going to struggle. He shot the first bullet, narrowly missing a man's head yet managing to hit another's shoulder, making for an effective and unbearingly painful affliction. A scream broke through the constant fire, sending a gentle buzz all throughout Taeyong's body.
He could feel himself drifting, almost fading away as he took down the opposition—one by one. His mind had tuned out the rumbling of gunshots and replaced it by an incessant humming. It was awful. An almost numbing sensation sunk into his brain, and the Uzi slid straight out of Taeyong's steel grip and clattered against the solid floor.