"-I'm almost done, Blossom, hear me out."
BANG!
A bullet grazed against Soo-ji's cheek just as Jackson pushed her out of the way.
Chung Ha's blood curdling scream magnified across the entire ballroom. In her hand, the barrel of a pistol diffused a mist of smoke.
In a matter of seconds, she ordered the KSI to infiltrate the room to capture all the gangs. The room fell into chaos. Tables were knocked over, drinks were tipped over the floor and everyone ran in all different directions to the exits. Chung Ha didn't know what she was doing exactly, but her loss of control was terrifying to watch.
With no weapons, the gangs resisted with their fists only. A number of gunshots went off, sending some to their bloody death.
Yoongi, seeing that everything was getting out of hand, jumped over the head table. He kept his eyes on a certain girl in a green dress, unwilling to blink or look away as he knew he would lose her if he did. He pushed and shoved the scrambling bodies running past him, not caring about the flying bullets above his head.
From afar, he could see Soo-ji's head turning left and right, frantically searching for someone. She threw a knock-out punch at the KSI who came in her way before going back to looking around. Then, amidst all the heads blocking his view, Soo-ji was dragged under, lost in the sea of mayhem.
"Soo-ji!" He called out to her, hoping that she could hear him, but there was no reply.
He reached the spot he last saw her.
With a pounding worry heart, he breathed a sigh of relief to see her straddling on top of a large built man on the floor. Blood was gushing out of her nostrils onto her chest, no doubt after being dragged down and punched by the said guy.
Soo-ji, although unarmed, wasn't going to let him attack her without retaliation though. The bottom of her dress was torn. With the fabric wrapped around her two fists, she looped it around the man's neck, strangling him till he turned blue.
The man's body flopped like a lifeless fish. His mouth was wide open, having desperately tried to take in his last breath before Soo-ji cut off his airflow.
Soo-ji stood finally, gasping for breath like she had just run a marathon, until she slammed straight into someone. With a fist drawn back, she hurled her arm forward, only for it to be caught in someone's closed fist.
"It's me!" Yoongi called out to her, peeking round her fist which was inches from his face.
Soo-ji drew her arm back, releasing a sigh of relief when she finally found the person she was looking for.
In that moment, with both of them holding on to each other, a rain of bullets flew above their heads, forcing them to take cover on the ground. Instinctively, Yoongi placed himself over her, covering her like she was a part of him.
The room fell into a silence.
On the ground, dead bodies scattered the floor. The gangs were kneeling, having surrendered to the KSI who looked down upon them from their standing positions.
The KSI were littered across the room with guns in their hands, ready to shoot dead whoever resisted.
The clocking of Chung Ha's high heel echoed in the silence. She walked amongst the kneeling gangs like a queen, searching for a particular person.
At first, Soo-ji thought Chung Ha was looking for her. Yoongi thought this too, shielding her against Chung Ha's scrutinising glance.
But they were wrong.
Chung Ha stopped in front of a laughing Jackson.
Shakily, as if her knees grew weak by being in such close proximity to him, Chung Ha dropped herself to a kneeling position in front of him. She reached forward, lifting his chin up with a finger so that he looked at her.
"Isn't it funny, Blossom?" Jackson began, "a few years ago I was in the exact same position when you personally handcuffed me and sent me behind bars."
Chung Ha remained still where she was. She felt a shiver run up her spine when he called her 'Blossom' again. A burst of happy memories erupted in her brain, from when they made it a mission to find the best sashimi in Japan to when Jackson gifted her with a samurai sword.
Then, the most haunting memory of hers seeped in. It was when she personally arrested Jackson in Japan under their beloved cherry blossom trees. To her, it wasn't the arrest that devastated her. It was the fact that she knew she would come to arrest him one day, yet she made the irreversible mistake of letting her true feelings take over. And as heartbreaking it was for her, it also meant that she would be the one to single-handedly end the euphoric happiness that they once shared.
"If it was the other way around, if you were in my shoes, you would do the same." Chung Ha whispered. Her voice, small and soft, tried to justify her own wrongdoing. The memory tormented her soul and she found herself growing weak whenever she thought of the betrayed somber look he had when she arrested him. His facial expression said it all - heartbreak, disappointment and the look of betrayal for mistakenly falling in love with someone like her.
Jackson let out a dry laugh. Of course she would say that, he thought. "Actually, I wouldn't. I have more self-respect than to jail someone who you give all your trust to just for your own gain."
Like an arrow shot straight through her chest, a pain embedded so deep burst throughout Chung Ha's body. She would never admit it, never would let Jackson know that the time they spent together was the time she had ever felt so human.
"After keeping tabs on you for years, have you never wondered why I only arrested you and got you done for a measly little offence like corruption in the stock market exchange? Even when I could have you arrested for murder, drug trafficking, robbery, terrorism, the most atrocious offences in the world? For everything that you have done as the leader of China's biggest mafia gang, has it never crossed your mind that if I wanted to send you behind bars for life, I could."
Jackson scoffed at her, making Chung Ha retreat back into her cold shell. She had a lot to say to him, but she learnt that it was too late for explanations.
"Don't tell me that you have come to fall for me?" Jackson laughed loudly, looking around the others to encourage them to laugh alongside him. "Yo, check this out guys. This psychotic bitch is capable of loving!"
Chung Ha pressed her lips together and stood straight up, leaving a laughing Jackson at her feet. Her teeth gritted so hard together that her jaw was turning numb.
"Take them back to the temple." Chung Ha ordered the KSI. Her voice, strong and commanding, returned back to cold and distant. The feelings that she had suppressed, laid dormant for so long, were awakened by Jackson's mere presence and she struggled to deal with it so suddenly.
One by one, the gangs were handcuffed and dragged back to the temple. The underground prison originally only had one cell full, but it was quickly filled by the gangs piling on top of each other one cell after another.
"Thanks a lot, Wang." Jessi hissed after being shoved in the cell next to theirs with Red Velvet.
The underground prison became a zoo packed full of wild beasts. The gangs were all Alpha wolves, furious that Chung Ha had gone back on her word with the 'no kill' rule. They felt betrayed that she was now turning against them, especially when they were so close to joining hands with the KSI to take the Hope Gang out.
Surrounding the dojo, they banged against the gates of the cells, yelling and shouting at the KSI who all stood guard on the dojo mats outside.
Needless to say, the Hope Gang was more than thrilled to see Soo-ji finally joining them.
"Where's Hobi?" Taehee asked, running up to her to give her a bone crushing hug.
Soo-ji pulled away, giving Taehee a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Safe," was all she said. Taehee closed her eyes briefly, letting out a deep breath. Soo-ji didn't need to say anymore. In fear of who was listening in on them, that was all Taehee needed to know.
Looking around the cell, Soo-ji took her time staring at each members' face. She missed them, and was relieved that they were still alive and safe, until her eyes landed on Chanyeol.
He stared at her from the back of everyone else, but Soo-ji could see the pain etched across his face at finally seeing her again. It was a weird feeling, but now that they have come across each other again, they couldn't find the right words to exchange.
Yoongi, seeing this from a few metres away, knew what was the right thing to do. The way she looked at Chanyeol said it all and he wasn't going to be immature about it, even if the uncomfortable sting in his chest pounded with every heartbeat. He stepped forward, giving her a nudge with a small smile.
"He missed you." Yoongi told her, urging her to go speak to him.
Soo-ji would never stop being surprised by Yoongi's behaviour. If this had been a few years ago, Yoongi would've blown his head off, cursing left, right and centre, and throwing the biggest outburst. She knew Yoongi had grown up since then, but she still hadn't become used to how he evolved into this man who put her happiness before his own.
Soo-ji, taking a deep breath, stepped forward towards Chanyeol's direction. She only took five steps, but those were the heaviest steps her feet ever felt.
With only one step before him, she stopped in front of him. Then, everything fell into place without even trying. She stood on her tippy toes, reaching her arms out and embracing Chanyeol in a big hug. Chanyeol hugged her back as best as he could, bringing her small body as close to his chest as possible with only one arm.
"You're the most stupid and reckless teacher I've ever met." Soo-ji cried, burying herself into his embrace. "You worried me so much." Her voice cracked mid-sentence and Chanyeol knew instantly that she was on the verge of tears.
Chanyeol chuckled behind her. This was the Soo-ji he missed so so much. In a situation like this, when it was just them two in that moment, everything felt the same when that was no longer the case. They didn't know when and how they would see each other again, certainly not under KSI's captivity, but that no longer mattered. It was worth it to Chanyeol, with all the sacrifices he went through, that the girl he tried to desperately protect was safe, alive and in his warm embrace.
"Soo-ji ah," Miyoung crept up to them, "sorry to bother your moment, but there is something you need to see..."
Soo-ji broke away from the hug. The heels of her feet hit back on the ground just as she turned to Miyoung, who pointed to the cell opposite them.
Soo-ji took a step forward, peering in the gap between the bars of the cell. In the cell across the dojo, a lonely man cowered in the shadows at the corner. At a quick glance, one wouldn't even notice he was there.
"Who..." Soo-ji muttered, squinting her eyes to get a clearer vision of the familiar man.
Then, she gasped.
The President of Korea, who always supported the KSI and applauded them for their efforts, shivered like a rat as he hid himself away.
On Seokjin's television, Soo-ji always saw him wearing the most expensive suit when he addressed the nation, but his attire was nowhere near as extravagant now. Barefoot, body covered in cuts and bruises, the President of Korea wore rags behind the screen.
"They beat him everywhere apart from his face." Miyoung said, watching the President of Korea flinch at the gangs cursing, screaming and fighting in the cells around him. "They need his pretty face for TV."
Soo-ji gripped onto the cold metal bars to keep herself steady. The longer she listened to Miyoung, the longer she watched the President, the more she had come to understand the situation.
"You mean to tell me..." Soo-ji breathed out, her voice coming out shakily.
Miyoung nodded, confirming Soo-ji's thoughts.
"We noticed that the President of Korea was locked in here too. Kim Chung Ha would bring him out of the cells when they need him on TV. All of his TV appearances were staged. He doesn't support the KSI, so that means..."
"So that means Kim Chung Ha is really the one who's in charge of Korea. He's just a puppet." Soo-ji finished for her.
The revelation hit her like a train. All this time, it was Soo-ji's understanding that the government had fallen into a pit of greed. They abandoned the citizens, abandoned the country for their own desire. Like everyone else, she thought the KSI offered them unlimited power and the promise to keep the government filthy rich, but everything wasn't what it seemed.
When the KSI's actions became ever more outrageous, the President and his government had every intention to overthrow the agency. They saw the country plummeting into its own depths of hell and they refused to bend their knee at Chung Ha's demands.
"Kim Chung Ha is the real President." Soo-ji whispered. Her own words sent a chill up her spine. All along, it wasn't a presumption or belief that Chung Ha affected the politics of this country. That was an undisputed fact, but to say that she had truly taken over this country, Soo-ji found herself facing something bigger than she imagined.
"It's basic politics..." Soo-ji said to herself, combining each puzzle piece together. "For as long as his term runs, the President will always be President unless he resigns, if his cabinet vote him out midway or the public votes him out at the end of term. The President isn't resigning because he's stopping Kim Chung Ha from running the presidential race. His cabinet is keeping him in to ensure he sits in the President's spot and not Kim Chung Ha, and he isn't resigning because his campaign has a few years left. He's delaying Kim Chung Ha from taking over the whole of Korea. Then that means... the worst has yet to come..."
A resonating clang to the main door of the underground prison stopped Soo-ji's running thoughts. She looked up, peered through the gaps between the metallic bars to see Chung Ha emerging through the door.
Chung Ha walked in with unhurried but heavy steps, her hands were placed behind her back and she took her time marvelling at the world's greatest gangs in her custody. She felt like a queen, a god that no being could match.
To Chung Ha, it was satisfying to see each gang's faces squeezed in the gaps of the bars. They were all jeering at her, yelling out names such as 'traitor bitch', 'whore' and 'disloyal hypocrite' as she walked past them.
Expectantly, Chung Ha stopped in front of the Hope Gang's cell. Soo-ji stayed where she was at the front, the rest of them standing behind her like an army.
Soo-ji took a breath, not making a move to step back at all. Surprisingly, after learning that Chung Ha held much more power than she already had, 'fear' wasn't even a word that crossed Soo-ji's mind.
In fact, Soo-ji felt braver. This wasn't going to be an easy fight, but she was going to confront it head on. No questions asked.
She watched Chung Ha's intimidating glare span from the left to right, making eye contact with each and every one of them. When Chung Ha met with Soo-ji's, a bolt of electricity sparked between the two enemies' glare.
Then, Chung Ha carried on looking. A feeling of unease brewed at the base of Soo-ji's stomach when she realised that Chung Ha wasn't looking for her.
Chung Ha's eyes fixated on a certain person at the back of the cell.
"Open the gate." Chung Ha demanded her men, who rushed forward with a chunk of keys.
"Bring her out!" Chung Ha then lifted a bony finger, pointing to In-ah at the back.
Two bulky men rushed forward, grabbing In-ah by the two arms before dragging her out.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Jungkook, seeing this, went into a state of panic. At first, he tried to pry them away from a rather calm and collected In-ah. He kicked and yelled, but was held back by Namjoon as soon as a dozen laser beams were pointed at his forehead. The firing squad was back, this time all aiming their guns at Jungkook.
Strangely, In-ah didn't put up a fight. Did In-ah think it was no use?
Stopping in front of Chung Ha, the two men on either side of In-ah released her arms. The two women faced each other and the Hope Gang held their breath at what brutality Chung Ha was going to do to their first member.
Chung Ha stuck her hand out. "Welcome back to the KSI, Shin In-ah."