Sunoo pov
Water started dripping from the ceiling. I could tell because the drops touched my skin, Leaving a cold and wet trace. The basement was almost completely dark. Sunghoon told us not to use any flashlights or other things that would make us stand out. So we didn't. We didn't want to risk being seen.
Heeseung and I tried to find the room Niki was held in like two moles in bright daylight. It was an uncomfortable feeling to not be able to see. It wasn't complete darkness that surrounded us. But we weren't able to see much either. Every few steps a small spot would light up. It wasn't bright enough to help us see the doors. We still had to narrow our eyes, but it did help us to find our way. We stopped every few steps, waiting for the spot to shine.
"This must be it," Heesueng whispered almost unbearable. I took a deep breath before holding it in. Afraid of what was waiting for us on the other side of that door. They must have beaten him up even more before we got here. A slight creek filled our ears. There's no way Salvatore doesn't know we're here now. I followed Heesueng inside, holding my gun ready for whoever was waiting for us. After having a quick look around I realised there was no one inside here with us. No one except Niki. I gasped as I saw the state he was in.
His eyes were closed and swollen and his hands were tied above his head. He was hanging from the ceiling, making sure he wasn't able to sit or lay down. His feet barely touched the floor. His body must have been like this for a while now. He must be exhausted. I wasn't able to react, because of the scene but Heeseung cut down the robe holding Niki up almost instantly. It took me a few seconds to step in but luckily I made it in time. I caught Niki before he was able to fall on the floor. "Is he-"
I said once I saw the blood dripping from his chest. "I don't know" Heeseung pulled Niki away from me, laying him down on the floor carefully. "Check his pulse." He commanded as he grabbed his phone. I did as he told me and checked his pulse. It took me some time to find it. Causing me to feel a bit stressed. I needed to feel a pulse otherwise or I will go insane. When I finally found his heartbeat, giving me a bit of hope, I noticed It was barely there. "Barely." "Fuck-" Heeseung bent down as well checking where his wound was. He cut open Niki's black shirt revealing a wound in his chest. "He's been shot." My voice sounded shaky as I looked at his wound.
Heeseung's reaction to my observation was almost instant as he took off his jacket and placed it down on the wound. He kept leaning onto Niki's chest making sure there was enough pressure on his chest. "Sunoo, take over" He commanded. I hesitated a bit before taking it over.
As the blood started to leak through Heeseung's jacket. Many thoughts went through my brain. The chances of surviving a gunshot in the chest are slim. Only 14,3% to 36,8% survive. Depending on the placement of the gunshot and the amount of blood, I'd say Niki's chances are even slimmer. His chest was still moving, telling us he was still alive. This was something I only noticed just now.. I was trying to see more signs that could tell me he was still alive. "Niki?" I asked, a slight panic in my voice. how long his weak pulse would last was something I wasn't able to get out of my mind. After thinking things couldn't possibly get any worse in a situation like this Jay came running in.
"It's a trap," He said as soon as he entered the room. "Salvatore is at the estate." My mind went numb. No wonder it was this easy to get Niki out. Why didn't I think of this before? They abducted Niki as a distraction. They wanted Mae to stay behind at the estate. Two of our people lifted Niki up from the floor, probably to help him into Jay's car.
Jay's gaze looked normal. He's always been good at hiding his emotions. His ability to contain his facial expression is a gift. I stood up slowly, not wanting to let what happened to Niki distract me. "We need to go," Heeseung stated while grabbing my arm. I really hope they're able to give Niki all the help he needs in time...
Mae pov
We sat in silence. No one was able to move a muscle without knowing if Niki was okay. "Are we able to go and see him?" I asked knowing the answer was probably going to be no. "no." Heeseung said while looking at me with saddened eyes. I knew that was what he was going to say, but I still felt disappointed. He stood up as he made his way toward me. "I know we are all blaming ourselves but there's nothing we could've done differently" He spoke as he took another sip from his whiskey. That was a thing here. They all drink a lot of whiskey.
My eyes met his, which was comforting. I haven't seen this kind of caring look in his eyes before. He probably realises how bad this situation is. I couldn't help but think about what had happened. I haven't yet asked them anything. It didn't seem like a good time to bring it up. My body felt restless as I stood up from my chair. The idea of Niki dying made me feel on edge.
"I'm going for a walk in the garden." Before I was able to walk away from them, Jungwon held me back. "I don't think you want to be out there right now." Visions from earlier flashed through my brain. How could I forget about the countless dead men in the backyard? The horrific scene played over and over in my head. Every single person lying there had a life. Maybe even a family or a friend to get back to.
I sat back down without saying a word, replaying the scene over and over until a loud sound interrupted those thoughts. The sound of Sunghoon's phone. We all turned our gaze toward him, waiting for him to answer his call. It took him some time to grab his phone. He was probably just as afraid as we were. We didn't want to know how horrible Niki was feeling. We just wanted to know if he's feeling fine. He took a deep breath before pressing the green button and putting it on speaker.
"Mr Park." An unknown voice sounded. "Yes," Sunghoon answered sternly and short. There was a tone in his voice that made me shiver. "Park Jong-Seong told me to call you." it was deathly silent on our side of the call. What was he waiting for? We have been waiting in agony for all this time already, please just tell us what's going on.
Sunghoon placed his phone down on the table and we all gathered around him. He was obviously feeling the same way as he spoke "Just tell me." Sunghoon's voice sounded calm and collected. I could tell he was trying to hold back his emotions. I could tell the sadness and pain he was feeling. However, it was only because he wanted me to know.
He was good at hiding his emotions, he could fool us all if he wanted to. "well, If the bullet hits you dead centre, your spine is cut and you die. If it hits your spleen or liver, you die slower, slowly enough that medical intervention may save you, but you'll probably still die. If it hits low you leak from your bladder and that leads to perit-" We all tried to listen carefully but he was giving us so much information, it was hard to process. What was relevant to Niki's wound? Was he telling us he was going to die? At this point, he was making me feel like he just wanted us to know how smart he was. No one cared about how smart he was. We only care about Niki.
"If the bullet goes in and out while missing all these targets plus the bottom of your lungs, you get peritonitis from leaking intestinal fluids. You may live with that. Which is the case with Niki's wounds." I let out a breath I didn't notice I was holding. So there was a chance Niki would survive. "So there's a chance he'll die?" Heeseung asked shocked by what the person on the other side was telling us. Why was he being this negative? He could use some positive thought to get him through this.
"At this stage, the chances of him surviving are equal to the chances of him dying." For a moment, time seemed to stop ticking. There's a chance we'll never see him again. I felt disgusted by the fact that my father did this to him. My own father did this to Niki. I could only imagine what everyone is going through right now. I felt quite close to Niki because I have been living with him for the last couple of months. I could only try to imagine what these people, who've known him for almost their entire lives are going through right now.
"I'm sorry" the guy on the other side of the call told us. Sunghoon didn't respond to him as he ended the call with Jay's assistant and turned toward me. His expression was serious. "It is my fault. I brought you here." I couldn't help but feel saddened by his words. Did he feel like all of this was his fault?
I couldn't help but think Sunghoon was angry with himself because he brought me here. Maybe he was starting to feel like it was all a mistake? Maybe he was thinking I was a mistake. Even though I am a hostage and I am not one of them, I still feel like we all have a special bond. At least, Sunghoon and I did. I thought he was starting to get feelings for me, especially after he kissed me... But maybe I was wrong. Maybe he kissed me because he likes to play with my feelings. He'd probably had a lot more girls which he didn't care about. What would made me think I was any different? Why am I being this delulu?
Sunoo started sobbing which interrupted my thoughts. Both me and Jungwon ran up to him while trying to give him comfort. I hugged him from the side as I felt his cries. His body shivered as his cries grew louder. Jake was having a hard time holding himself together as well. Why didn't they all just cry? It would be good for them to let all those angry and emotional feelings out. I was hugging Sunoo tighter as I could feel my own eyes filling with tears.
It didn't take long for Jake to join Sunoo in his cries when he finally gave in to his emotions. He walked over to us and joined our hug. Heeseung followed, and eventually even Sunghoon joined our hug. Which was unexpected. He hugged us all tightly but still didn't shed a tear, or show us any emotion. I wonder what is going on inside his head. He did feel the need to join our hug, but he didn't feel the need to show his emotions. I wonder If I should ask him about it.
"I'm going to my office, if there is an update, you'll hear from me." We all looked at Sunghoon as he finally spoke. I was wondering why he acted the way he did, but the others didn't seem bothered as much. They were probably used to his weird behaviour. But I wasn't, and I definitely wasn't going to try and get used to it.
Sungoon pov
There were all kinds of weird things happening inside my body. There was a strange and painful feeling in my stomach, a weird tension in the back of my head, and my palms were sweaty. With Niki in critical condition, we are vulnerable. Was that the only thing I was worried about? No, was it the only thing I was going to let myself worry about? Yes. I was in no position to worry about Niki dying. It is my responsibility to make sure the others survive and to make sure I'll get my rightful place back. I could only avenge Niki if I was somehow able to get to Salvatore.
I was sitting at my desk, staring at nothing in particular and doing nothing important. I was just processing everything that just happened. Blood was still on my hands as I played with the ring on my index finger. It was a silver ring with my family signet. I always played with it when I was trying to figure something out. It helped me concentrate. The movements my ring made let me focus on something else than my thoughts. It wasn't like me to experience all these feelings and emotions, but somehow I have been feeling and experiencing more. This all started because of Mae. I couldn't help but feel protective over her.
After I saw her lying on the floor at the Prada event I felt this anger, this uncontrollable feeling. I needed to protect her, to keep her safe. There have been many girls in this estate before, many I thought were Salvatore's relatives: many pretty and attractive girls, but none of them were like Mae. None of them made me feel the way she does. I sign as I turn my gaze toward the ceiling. How could I let someone have that much control over me? It wasn't healthy. I needed to keep my distance from her, at least until I'd taken care of her father. She deserved at least that.
I was able to hear a soft knock on my office door, but I decided to ignore it. I wasn't in the mood to talk with Heeseung or anyone else. I needed to be alone with my thoughts for a while.
The soft knocking happened again. By the way, this person was knocking on my door, I could tell it wasn't Heesung. I didn't have the chance to try and identify who it was because the door opened. Revealing her small figure in the opening "Mae?" I asked, wondering what she'd be doing here. It was as if she'd been reading my thoughts. I was fighting everything inside of me to not stand up and walk toward her. To hug her and make her feel comfortable. But I couldn't. I couldn't give her the wrong feeling.
Even though I was trying to fight the urge to acknowledge her, I stopped playing with my ring and shifted all my attention to her. I couldn't help it, she was the kind of woman who takes your breath away. No matter how hard you fight it, you'd always want to be near her.
"I am sorry for interrupting, I was just wondering if you're alright." The soft and careful tone in her voice made me feel more at ease. However, I didn't want to show her I needed her kindness. So I just continued to stare at her while trying to contain my emotions.
"I'm fine, Mae." That was all I said. I had a hard time concealing my emotions so I acted as if I was invested in the papers lying on my table, when in fact, it was the first time I even noticed them. I was hoping she'd think that I was too busy for her and that she'd leave. That she wasn't able to see the pain and emotion in my face. "It's okay to feel sad or hurt after what just happened. If you need company I could-"
I took a deep breath and let my head fall back. How was I able to distance myself from her when she was being like this? "I'm sorry I disturbed you I'll let you get back to your work." she apologised after noticing my sigh and waited a couple of seconds. I was thinking about what to say to her but apparently it took me too long to react. Shed already stepped outside and closed the door behind her.
Immediate regret filled my body. I walked up to the door and opened it. I wanted her to turn around and look at me, maybe even run into my arms, but It was what occurred in front of me that made me stop. She was standing in the hallway, crying with Jungwon by her side. They hugged as she sobbed in his arms. I've never felt this kind of jealousy before, but Mae made me feel things I wasn't used to.