This chapter contains violence. Reader discretion is advised. The violence is kind of spaced out in little chunks. If this makes you uncomfortable, skip the violence parts. Thank you!
When Life Betrays You
“Move? Are we going to get some action now?!” The voice on the other side of the line sounded excited.
“Yes, Shinjung. Come up to the house. We have plans to make,” Kyuhyun responded, starting to pace around now. The rest of the safehouse members were now crowding around Changmin and Minwoong who were reconnecting with each other.
“Okay, I have three of the guys here with me. Should I call for more or just come as we are and inform the rest later?”
“Call somebody and tell them to put the phone on speaker so we can all hear the plans,” Kyuhyun instructed, beginning to form an idea in his mind.
“Roger that! We’ll be up in a second. Is there any secret password we should know about or any random alarms that might be set off?”
“Yeah but I’ll get Junsu to turn those off. I’ll see you in a bit, okay?”
“Alright, Kyuhyun. We’ll be there. See you in a few!”
Kyuhyun hung up his phone and turned to look at the others who had left Changmin and Minwoong alone and were now staring at him in interest.
“Who were you talking to?” Yunho asked with curiosity.
“My reinforcements. They’ll be coming up to the house in a minute so, Junsu, could you turn the alarms off?” Kyuhyun asked, putting some of his papers away.
“What sort of reinforcements are they? And where did you get them?” Yoochun asked as he watched Junsu leave the room.
“They’re my friends from when we were in a gang together,” Kyuhyun answered, feeling no uncertainties about giving four police officers this information. Everything was out in the open now. They wouldn’t do anything until they got Sungmin back, Kyuhyun was sure of this.
“You were in a gang?” Minwoong gasped as if this was on par with being on fire or riddled with disease. Kyuhyun gave a half smile before he nodded.
“Yes, I was. Rich kids can be in gangs too you know,” Kyuhyun answered.
“When was this?” Minwoong asked in amazement.
“When I was a teenager,” Kyuhyun answered, taking out a pad of paper.
“Which teen gang? Ties of Black, Bloodband, Rebel Heirs, Dynasty Offenders, Outlawed Delinquents or Hellsent Brothers?” Minwoong asked excitedly.
“Rebel Heirs. I was the leader of it until the police got wind of us and arrested half of our members,” Kyuhyun answered, now taking out pens from a drawer.
“You were the leader? How did you manage to remain free? It’s always the leaders they get first,” Minwoong sounded like he was in awe of the elder male.
“My mother is a bitch. You don’t want to cross her. When the police came around to question if I had taken part in Rebel Heirs, she vehemently denied everything and told them that her son would never be part of a gang because he had a reputation to uphold. So the police were convinced,” Kyuhyun explained, walking out of his office, Minwoong following close behind.
There were five quick knocks on the door and Junsu raced to open it and four men walked into the house. Each of them dipped their heads in greeting to Kyuhyun as he walked down the stairs.
“Nice to see you guys again. Now, we need to start planning our infiltration of the Black Hand’s base. Minwoong knows a lot about them. Apparently they have their base in a factory. So we’re going to need a tag team. And Shinjung, will you call those members on speaker phone?” Kyuhyun talked while ushering his “reinforcements” to the living room where they sat down.
Yoochun entered the room and wrapped protective arms around Junsu. Minwoong stared at the members of Rebel Hand as if he were inspecting an interesting sort of specimen that he had found and Yunho presided over the lot of them as they began to talk.
“Hey, it’s me, Shinjung. Put it on speaker phone. We have plans to discuss,” Shinjung talked into his cellphone. Then he placed the device on his knee and gestured for them to continue talking about their plans.
“Minwoong, can you draw us a layout of the building?” Kyuhyun passed a pad of paper and a pen to the magnae who frowned in thought as he began to sketch a rough floor plan of the building. Kyuhyun watched over Minwoong’s shoulder as the youngest drew a large rectangle and then a bunch of other rectangles inside.
“Black Hand built their hideout in a way that seems odd to other people but makes perfect sense to those who are in a gang. The layout is simple and fairly common. If you look too hard for something, you’ll miss it. If you don’t you’ll find it,” Minwoong explained. Kyuhyun nodded in understanding. Rebel Heirs’ old base used to be somewhat like that.
“Okay, so where’s the best entrance for sneaking in?” Kyuhyun asked, staring at the rough floor plan.
“The back door would be wise. As well, if we can find Youngsoo in there someplace, we can get him to create a diversion,” Minwoong suggested. “The back of the building is not as well guarded because it houses a forest on the other side. So we can enter through the back door and do you see these hallways here? They’re built to be confusing but we can work them to our advantage. We’ll use their twists and turns.”
“It’s a little like our old base,” Kyuhyun explained to the others who were watching with increasing concentration. The large, brown haired man who was sitting nearest to Minwoong nodded. Apparently he was second in command.
“Okay, so we sneak in from the back door and then what?” The second in command asked.
“Well, we’ll need at least thirty members going in. Don’t forget, we also have Yunho, Yoochun, Junsu and Changmin,” Kyuhyun pointed at each of them. “So that’s thirty-four plus whoever else sneaks in or decides to join. No more than fifty though. Too many attracts a crowd,” Kyuhyun mused, starting to write down his ideas on the other side of the floor plan.
“No, we can’t have more than forty. Fifty is a hell of a lot and what are we going to do with all of them? Send them needlessly to slaughter?” The second in command countered.
“You have a point, Shinjung. All right, compromise. No more than forty five. We need backup from outside as well and maybe potential watchers. Then again, it would be nice to have at least ten waiting outside for double reinforcement,” Kyuhyun began to babble. Shinjung reached over and slapped him upside on the head.
“Shut up, Kyuhyun. We don’t need that many. There’s always the chance that this is one of their minor bases. Why have such a large establishment outside of the city? Most gang bases are in the very heart of the city,” Shinjung said, twirling a pen with his fingers.
“True but this might be a medium sized base. And with a gang the size of Black Hand, a medium is about the same as a large base. We can’t prepare for that. Our best bet was the compromise. Forty-five will go. That way thirty can be split into three groups of ten and five can be lookouts, five can be distractions and five can be backup. It works right?” Kyuhyun frantically jotted a few notes down.
“Kyuhyun, will you calm down? How are you supposed to help Sungmin if you’re like this?” Shinjung demanded. Kyuhyun started breathing hard.
“I have to….have to….help him…save him…..anything……got to get him-” whatever Kyuhyun had been about to say was cut off by a resounding smack. Yoochun, Junsu, Changmin, Minwoong, Yunho and the other three Rebel Heirs members gaped at Shinjung who had slapped Kyuhyun hard across the face.
“Will you please get a hold of yourself? What happened to the fearless Kyuhyun I used to know? Quit being a child! You’ve seen the real world! You’ve fought it! Will you stop being such a blathering idiot and start acting like a real adult? Christ, Kyu, stop being a nervous wreck,” Shinjung leaned back and crossed his legs carelessly.
“The other half of myself is somewhere out there possibly waiting to be killed and I sit here unable to do anything!” Kyuhyun breathed, his emotions getting the better of him.
“And because of you being a basket case, time ticks onwards and we still haven’t gotten anywhere because you refuse to calm down! So the faster you relax, the faster we can get to him!” Shinjung glared at his leader.
“We are wasting that time arguing right now!”
“Yunho, knock him out or something. Minwoong, continue. Can you get through the vents in the place?” Shinjung asked. If Kyuhyun was going to have a breakdown, better do it now and get it over with and then he could continue planning his leader’s husband’s rescue.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
“So, you thought you’d get away scot free and not suffer the consequences?”
“You threatened my family and Kyuhyun. That’s how you operate. That’s why people come willingly. I’ve seen it done, I’ve seen you do it and I wondered when it would be my turn,” Sungmin turned his head to the side to keep his captor in his line of vision.
“You’ve earned this. What am I going to do with you, Sungmin?” his captor smirked. Sungmin’s eyes widened.
“You were the one to-”
“Did you never wonder where that came from? Now you know.”
“Will you keep your promise? About staying away from my loved ones if you have me?”
“Look at me, Sungmin. Am I the kind of person to do that?”
“You keep your word. When it benefits you.”
“So then you have nothing to worry about. Unless you want me to go after them of course.”
“If it benefits you, stay here.”
“First I’m going to have a little fun with you. After all, I want my revenge. I want to be repaid. And what better way than to rip you slowly from those you love, like you did to me?”
Sungmin’s eyes opened wide as his captor laughed and pulled out a knife and a whistle. He blew once and Sungmin’s worst nightmares started over again. But at least a hundred times worse. More technology. More torture. Less people. That meant serious torment. A whip lashed out and struck Sungmin along the torso. He refused to make a sound as a red substance began to stain his shirt.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
Kyuhyun doubled over in pain. His midriff was hurting badly. Instinctively, he knew what was happening. Somewhere, Sungmin was being hurt. By what he didn’t care to know. But he knew that he had to get to him. Before Sungmin slipped from his grasp altogether.
“Okay, enough planning. We’ve got to go now. They’ve started torturing him. I can feel it,” Another spasm of pain shot through Kyuhyun’s lower torso.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
“We’ve brought a special surprise for you,” Sungmin’s captor grinned crazily. Sungmin breathed in shakily. He heard the crack of the whip, he heard the sizzle of electricity, and neither of it was enough to prepare him for the attack that came.
The whip cut into his chest and electricity shocked his body so much that if he hadn’t been tied to a chair, he would have jumped into the air and fallen over. Sungmin sat there, his skin prickling and a small gash in his stomach.
“You seem to dislike electricity. So why not bring out the electric whip?” Sungmin’s captor laughed loudly and took the whip from his associate. Sungmin breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself. Trying to make the pain seem less.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
Kyuhyun winced as his chest began to throb. He walked into his study and pulled down the encyclopedia volume “G”. He opened the book and removed the silver gun inside. Now it was really time to move.
“Kyuhyun! Get down here, we want to go as soon as possible! Minwoong says that if they’ve already started torturing Sungmin, we should be fast! Hurry up!” Shinjung’s voice floated up the stairs. Kyuhyun breathed in and then rushed downstairs to join the others.
“Okay, Kyuhyun, Yoochun, Junsu and Shinjung with me in one car,” Yunho instructed. “Minwoong, you and Changmin will go with those three in another and the rest of the forces can follow behind you guys.”
“Why aren’t we getting the police?” Junsu asked, wrapping a bulletproof vest around his waist. The police officers had stored some of their equipment in the house and were now donning vests, pants, gloves and belts that would hold their gear.
“Because they would arrest Rebel Heirs and we wouldn’t get Sungmin. If the leader heard the sirens, he would kill Sungmin outright. And we want to rescue him. We’ll call the police once Rebel Heirs has been evacuated and we’ve got Sungmin,” Minwoong explained, pulling on his belt.
“What are you doing?” Changmin asked, sounding outraged. Minwoong looked around.
“What?” The magnae asked, wondering what it was that he had done.
“You can’t expect to go! You’re in the most danger out of all of us!” Changmin exclaimed. Minwoong merely raised an eyebrow.
“How do you expect to get through everything without me? It’s essential that I go,” Minwoong answered.
“If they see you, you’ll be killed,” Changmin replied in an undertone.
“Not if I kill them first,” Minwoong answered, finishing putting the straps on his belt.
“You can’t stop him, Changmin. And he’s right. We need him. Just protect him well okay?” Yunho murmured, placing a hand on Changmin’s shoulder. The younger nodded in defeat and resumed putting on his gear.
“Are we ready?” Shinjung asked, looking over the assembled people. They were all dressed in black so it would be easier to sneak in.
“Let’s go,” Kyuhyun pointed at the door.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
There was a swishing sound as one of the whips accidentally cut the ropes binding him to the chair. Sungmin was flung out of his seat and landed hard on the ground. The men converged around him and smirked as he lay there, shaking on the floor.
He had endured this once. Now he had to deal with it again. And this time, his opponent was stronger than ever. Sungmin bit back a cry as another whip, serrated this time, crashed down on his back. He had to be strong. He had to hold out. The longer he did, the more satisfaction his captor would get and the more likely his family would remain safe.
A small gasp made it past his lips as he was kicked in the ribs and flipped over. His stomach was exposed and his torturers wasted no time in bringing their tools down hard. Sungmin couldn’t help it. He screamed as five whips slashed the soft skin of his stomach.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
Kyuhyun bit back a swearword as the pain in his stomach suddenly doubled. What could be happening to Sungmin? He could only hope that they would arrive on time. The car screeched around a corner. They stopped at a large building. Instinctively, he knew that this was it.
“Come on guys, we’ve got to hurry,” Kyuhyun murmured. He checked his weaponry to be sure he had everything. Two guns hidden in his shirtsleeves, two guns hidden in secret holders on his pant legs and two guns around his torso. As well as his silver gun that was being kept a secret. Seven guns in total.
He waved his hand once to bring the other members of their party over. The cars drove silently across the lawn to join Kyuhyun, Yoochun, Junsu, Yunho and Shinjung who had gotten out of the car. The others got out of their vehicles and looked at the building in front of them.
“Okay, you ten with me and Kyuhyun and Yunho. You ten with Yoochun and Junsu and you ten with Changmin and Minwoong. The five of you are lookouts and you ten are backup. Yoochun and Junsu, you guys are distraction as well as searchers. You have the radio? Good. Changmin and Minwoong, you guys are mainly searchers but also take down some of their members so they can’t help. You don’t have to kill them, just immobilize them. But if they try to kill you, go ahead and take them down,” Shinjung began issuing orders.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
Sungmin wiped blood from his mouth. It had been a long time since that liquid had left his body. He tried to stand up, only to be kicked in the shoulder and brought down again. He felt something encase his torso and he looked down to see a large metallic ring.
Then fire. Pain. It exploded through him. Lights flashed in front of his eyes as he convulsed, electricity flowing through him at an alarming rate. Then it stopped and his captor laughed loudly.
“So weak. How did you manage to escape that last time? We left you for dead. And you managed to survive. Is that twice you have escaped death, Sungmin? Well, three time’s the charm,” Sungmin’s captor gloated overhead.
Sungmin tried to respond but a knife cut through his side and his words were lost as he screamed. A fist made contact in his stomach and Sungmin coughed up blood. He rolled over and stood up. He glared at his attackers.
“Or maybe, I’ll escape death once again,” Sungmin snarled tiredly. His captor lost his smile and struck out. Sungmin was kicked hard in the chest and he felt at least two ribs break. A gasp of pain left his mouth and he dropped to one knee. A hand connected with his face and his head snapped to the side as his body fell hard on the ground.
His arm was pulled upwards and twisted. Sungmin screamed as he felt his arm dislocate from his shoulder. He breathed heavily as the useless arm was dropped back. Gritting his teeth in pain, he grabbed his shoulder and popped it back in place. His arm was still stinging with pain.
“Save your strength, Sungmin. You have a long way to go.”
Laughter echoed throughout the base as Sungmin’s captor gave the go ahead for the attackers in the room to unleash more torture.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
Kyuhyun was terrified. His body was hurting in multiple places and his arm was killing him. But nothing seemed to be wrong so he could only draw one conclusion. Sungmin was being beaten somewhere.
“We’ve made it to the second floor, state your position,” Shinjung whispered into the small handheld walkie-talkie that he was holding.
“We’re on the south side of the building, according to Minwoong. We’ve seen a few members but we’ve disabled them. They don’t look behind often. Sneak up on them if need be.”
“Okay, thanks for that. We need to find out where Sungmin is. Kyuhyun’s desperate. He’ll try anything.”
“Minwoong here. Sungmin will probably be in the holding room. It’s the large room on the fourth floor. The problem is, security tightens as you go upwards so be careful oka-”
Minwoong was cut off by the sound of gunshots. There were a couple more shots and then silence.
“Minwoong, are you okay?” Shinjung hissed.
“Yeah, we’re fine. Some just spotted us and tried to kill me but Changmin got them first. Anyways, the holding room is the large one on the fourth floor. Be careful.”
Kyuhyun bit his lip. They were on the second. Kyuhyun inched along the corridor and stuck his head around the corner. There was a flight of steps going upwards. Kyuhyun didn’t trust the stairs but they seemed to be the only way up. He motioned for Yunho and Shinjung to follow him. The ten other members of Rebel Heirs scanned the hallways for movement before following.
Kyuhyun was on the second flight of stairs going up when a gunshot cracked overhead. He looked up to see two men with large tattoos of a B and H entwined on their arms. Kyuhyun threw himself to the side and pulled out one of the guns hidden in his sleeves. He fired at one of them who dodged the shot and attacked.
Yunho, who had been coming up the stairs, immediately ducked down and pulled out his weapon. So far, he hadn’t been spotted. He took careful aim and fired. The first man went down, blood spurting from a wound in his chest. The other man began to run. Kyuhyun aimed at his legs and fired. The man dropped and crashed down the stairs at Kyuhyun’s feet.
“If you value your life, you’ll tell me where Lee Sungmin is being kept,” Kyuhyun snarled. The man glared at him.
“Sungmin is in the holding room, fourth floor. There are seven guards. One on each corner of the building and three are patrolling in between those four. Distraction,” the man answered, ripping part of his pant leg off and creating a tourniquet for himself.
“Thank you. As soon as we free him, we’ll call an ambulance for you,” Kyuhyun responded. He ran past the man on the stairs and upwards. He was getting closer to his goal. He could feel it.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
Sungmin flew across the room and smashed into the wall opposite. He crashed to the ground and lay there lifeless. His bleeding body was then picked up and he was thrown again to the ground.
“You are so pathetic. This is what you’re good for. This is what I’m going to do to you. I’m going to torture you until you scream. Not just scream. But scream for him to save you. Because I want to hear the hope die from your voice. I want to see despair in your eyes. I want to see your faith in him die, just as you will finally meet your end,” The man laughed cruelly.
Sungmin lay there, his eyes half closed. His body was aching all over and small ripples of pain swept over him every so often. He breathed in softly, “My faith in him will never die. I know it. And I won’t scream for him to save me. Because I chose to come here, I made it so that he wouldn’t follow. So I won’t scream for him to save me.”
“Then I will make you do so!” The man yelled in fury and began beating Sungmin himself. Pain shot up Sungmin’s spine as a painful blow landed on his lower back. He saw sparks flash in front of his eyes as he was hit in the back of the neck. His head snapped forward as he was punched and his forehead collided with the rough ground.
Blood trickled down his face as he looked up. A punch landed on his cheekbone and his head twisted to the side. A blow landed on one of his legs and he was flung to the side. He heard glass breaking and saw a bottle come towards him. The glass punctured his skin and Sungmin screamed in pain.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
A scream echoed through the hallway. Kyuhyun’s head turned to face the sound. He knew instinctively that it was Sungmin who was screaming. His blood boiled and he was about to race out to help when Yunho pulled him back into the shadows. The elder male pointed at a figure a few feet away.
“Wait, we don’t want to attract unnecessary trouble,” Yunho whispered. However, “unnecessary trouble” found them. The man heard Kyuhyun shift and turned to him. He saw two figures in the shadows and raised his gun and fired.
Kyuhyun was thrown unmercifully to the ground as Yunho pushed them both out of the bullet’s way. Luckily, the other members of Rebel Heir had snuck around a different way. Kyuhyun glared at his opponent and raised his weapon and aimed. He fired a round of bullets. He wasn’t going to let them win. He was ready to be a killer. It was kill or be killed.
“Get them!” The man shouted as a guard rounded the corner. Kyuhyun immediately fired at the guard who paid for his lack of attention. He doubled over and collapsed and Kyuhyun turned his attention to Yunho who was now firing off bullets to the patrol that had come.
Kyuhyun ducked as he heard a bullet hit the wall and ricochet somewhere. He pulled out his other hidden gun in his sleeve and took aim. He hit the light above the patrol and the glass shattered down. The man was not distracted. He pulled out another gun while firing at the falling glass. Kyuhyun’s gun was knocked out of his hand by a bullet.
The Black Hand guard aimed at him and Kyuhyun found he had nowhere to go. He took a deep breath. He refused to die here. He narrowed his eyes. There was no escape. Yunho was fired a shot at the advancing guard who dodged it. Yunho wasn’t going to shoot any more than necessary because as quickly as he could fire, the guard could kill Kyuhyun faster.
“Don’t shoot if you value the life of your teammate,” the guard said, drawing closer to Kyuhyun, now holding his extra gun towards Yunho who lowered his weapon. There was a gunshot and Kyuhyun’s eyes widened as blood splattered over him. The guard above him fell and Kyuhyun rolled out of the way.
“Are you okay?” Shinjung asked, running up to Kyuhyun from behind the guard. Kyuhyun nodded.
“I am now, thanks to you. Have you found anything?” Kyuhyun asked. Yunho poked the guard to make sure that he was out and down for the count.
“The east side is simply swarming with people. We need a distraction. I think Sungmin’s there. Why else would there be so many?” Shinjung reported.
“Okay, take five of the ten we have and create a distraction. Yunho and I are going in,” Kyuhyun decided. Shinjung nodded and immediately ran to the right. Yunho and Kyuhyun waited. He heard a bang and then another. There were voices yelling and shouting and then footsteps. Shinjung and five of the Rebel Heirs members rounded the corner.
“They’re following us. We’re going to herd them into a trap. You guys make yourselves invisible,” Shinjung informed them as they rounded the corner. Kyuhyun and Sungmin nodded. They backed into the dark corners of the hall.
A group of five men and six women came chasing after. Kyuhyun’s eyes widened. He held his breath as they rushed past him, taking no notice of their surroundings. Kyuhyun let out a gust of air as they disappeared, intent upon destroying the intruders.
“I hope they make it,” Yunho murmured.
“They will. They’re Rebel Heirs,” Kyuhyun smiled. He had faith in his team. Yunho nodded and they proceeded down the hall. Below, they heard the laughter of one group. It sounded as though the trap plan had worked. They continued to make their way slowly down the dark hallway. Yunho peered around the corner of the east side. There was one guard standing there.
“There’s only one man there,” Yunho informed the other. Kyuhyun frowned in thought.
“We’ll bargain with him,” the younger male decided. Yunho nodded. Then he walked around the corner with his gun raised.
“Don’t make a sound and we won’t shoot,” Yunho said as Kyuhyun came out as well. The guard shrugged and put his hands behind his head.
“I’m not a fan of the boss. Do whatever. But just know that he’s in there with fifteen other guys and they’re beating up someone named Lee Sungmin. So if you’re coming to kill him, come back later,” The guard said. Kyuhyun didn’t stop to listen to Yunho’s protests. He slammed open the door and looked at the scene before him.
Sungmin was lying in a pool of blood, his clothes torn and ripped almost beyond recognition. There was a large cut above his right eye and his shirt was no longer pink but a deep red. There were cuts all over his arms and his torso was matted with blood. What’s more, a metal ring was around his waist and as Kyuhyun watched, his husband was electrocuted and Sungmin screamed.
Kyuhyun snapped. He strode into the room and began shooting. Five of the closest men immediately fell, bullets smashing their way through blood and bone. There was pandemonium as the men inside tried to figure out what was going on. Kyuhyun fired a few more shots before a cold voice cut through the mess.
“If you shoot one more time, Sungmin will never see the light of day again,” The man stepped through the men who were still standing. His face was in shadow but Kyuhyun could make out brilliantly white teeth.
“If you hurt Sungmin one more time, I-” Kyuhyun was cut off.
“You’ll what? I could kill him right now. I have a silver wire around his neck and if electricity gets conducted through it, he could die. Want to see?” The voice taunted. Kyuhyun never got to respond because the choice was made for him. Sungmin, who hadn’t notice the wire around his neck, felt white hot stabs of pain shoot through his collar bone. He tried to scream but his muscles had seized and he couldn’t move. Then the pain stopped.
“You sick bastard. Who the hell would do this to someone else? Haven’t you had enough, Jiwon?!” Kyuhyun yelled. The man holding the gun to Sungmin laughed.
“Jiwon? He’s dead. Sungmin killed him. That’s why I’m here. To get revenge for the one I loved,” The man answered before finally stepping out of the shadows. Kyuhyun’s eyes widened.
“Lim Taekyung?!” Kyuhyun gasped. Taekyung nodded.
“It’s nice to see you again, Kyuhyun. Now, you understand why I have Sungmin here? It’s time for him to repay me for what he did,” Taekyung smiled coldly.
~₴~≠~₴~≠~
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