HERMAPHRODITE

▪️▪️▪️CH. 50▪️▪️▪️

Lee stalked towards Namjoon. "You think that maybe they would start to take me seriously if I were to shoot you next, Mr. Kim?" he snarled, waving his gun around.

Namjoon kept his features neutral as he eyed the man in front of him. Lee was a man on the edge and Namjoon wasn't about to push him any further if he could help it.

"I don't think it will make any difference at all if I'm the next one or not. The government can only move at a certain pace as you have already been told. Shooting me or any of the others won't help speed things up. Channels and protocol have to be gone through the right way and that all takes time."

"Crap!"

"I wish it were as simple as just unlocking a door and sending a chopper; but it isn't. Killing any more of us isn't going to win you any sympathy votes, if anything it could delay things further. Why don't you let these people go? That would assist your cause a lot better..."

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up! Letting these people go isn't going to happen. Face it, I let these people go and then it's all over, I have nothing to bargain with anymore and the law enforcement will simply walk in and we're history. I might be a terrorist but I'm not stupid," snarled Lee.

"You kill us all, and you have nothing to bargain with anymore," began Namjoon.

"I said, shut up!" Lee swung his hand and caught Namjoon on the side of the head with the butt of his gun, sending him to the floor.

"Now hang on a minute," began Gwan as he stood and went to help Namjoon up.

"Sit down!" barked Lee. "Unless you want to be the next in line."

The man sat but cast a worried look at Namjoon who had started to sit up and was rubbing his head tenderly.

"Get up," snapped Lee and bent to grab Namjoon by the shoulder, hauling him to his feet.

The room spun for a moment but Namjoon managed to regain his equilibrium. The cell phone in Lee's pocket began to ring again and the terrorist reached for it, giving Namjoon the opportunity to grab the table to steady himself. Taking a couple of deep breaths he gave Gwan what he hoped was a reassuring smile before turning his eyes back to Lee.

"What do you want?" growled Lee down the phone.

Namjoon's eyes slowly focused and as they did he found them drawn towards the air conditioning duct. He blinked a couple of times to make sure his vision was working correctly. If he wasn't mistaken he could just see the outline of a gun muzzle inbetween the grill of the duct cover. He didn't get time to completely study it though and confirm his suspicions as Lee grabbed him again and pulled him towards the broken window.

"You think I'm not serious?" Lee all but yelled down the phone. "You have two bodies already, in five more minutes you will have a third. Look up, asshole. See the window? Good. See who I have with me? Don't even think about trying to take a shot at me, I'm too far up for your bullets to reach... Five minutes, that's all you have and then Mr. Kim here will be the next stiff you have on your conscience." Lee flipped the phone shut and turned to Namjoon. "You're next."

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"We are working on it," Song said. "I can't move it any faster, we are doing everything we can to speed things up. No, no..." Song moved and looked up at the building. "Fuck!" he swore under his breath but Sejin still heard it.

"What's going on, Song?" he asked.

Song pointed up to the broken window of the Glasshouse where two figures could be clearly seen standing. Sejin grabbed the binoculars.