Heartless || •OG• ✔️

Chapter 40 - June

The hotel was full of chandeliers, but it lacked people. June already realized it, but this was the final piece of evidence he needed: Solomon sold them out. He wasn't really working for a rebellion. Or maybe he was and he needed the money to help it grow. June wasn't angry. He had been betrayed before. At least this time it wasn't from someone he loved.

Speaking of, Ivan was holding Ariel's hand as they made their way through the hotel. It was empty, meaning a trap was waiting. The group naturally formed a protective bubble around Ivan and Ariel, Jimin and Kayden on the rear while Jericho and Charlotte took point. Asa, Theo, and June were protecting the middle the most.

Carpets the shade of honey with dark shapes as patterns sat beneath their feet. There was a front desk with a bell on it, computers behind the mahogany structure. There were chestnut-colored pillars holding up the structure. Not that it even needed it. The ceiling was two Theo's above them, the welcome center so wide, it could fit a hundred people in it. Despite the size, the chandeliers were able to light it without so much of a hint of a shadow lurking.

Moisture clung to the side of June's face. He peeked over at the glass door in the corner of the room. It led to the outside, and Charlotte was leading them there. Doing a maze through the giant hotel wasn't in their best interest, so they crept along the walls that were the same hue as the carpets, watching each corner.

It smelled of bleach, like someone was cleaning. It nipped at his eyes and flared his nostrils, June sniffling from the sensation. To make matters worse, the smell was so strong that his tongue was flooded with chemicals. He resisted the urge to vomit.

"I have an idea," June said, and Jimin shot him a glance.

"If you say we should split up, I'm going to sit you down and we're having a horror movie marathon until you see why that isn't a good idea," Jimin replied.

"That wasn't my idea. I was going to say flank them." June pointed to the door on the opposite side of the room, Jimin tilting his head. "Half and half. They have to be waiting outside, it's the most spacious area, which gives them the advantage."

"I don't know, doors and corners are the best for attacks," Charlotte said, Jimin agreeing right away.

"Fair point, but they'd be waiting all day for us if they were hiding anywhere else. Let's go half and half and go outside, sound good?"

"We have a kid, I'm not letting her go out in a potential gunfight," Jimin said, Ariel glaring at the back of his head.

"I have a knife."

"Oh, really? A knife? Go fight the guy with a shotgun, let's see how you do."

Ariel sighed, giving in but still holding her knife in one hand, Ivan's hand in her other. June's plan was the best option, so they split themselves off. Jimin, June, Ariel, and Kayden went one side. The rest went the opposite direction. Jimin stayed on their rear, Kayden next to June so they could protect Ariel as best they could.

June's eyes locked with Jericho's, and they gave each other a nod before they burst through the doors and jumped to the outdoor area. Two seconds after they stepped out, they were met with a hail of bullets. Jimin shouted something, but June was already hitting the deck. Literally. They were standing on a wooden deck, the railings blowing off from the fire.

Chunks of wood bounced off June's head as he crawled along the surface. A gazebo wasn't far from them, located in the center of the arena. The dark shingles making up the roof were falling off, the bullets continuing to annihilate anything in sight. June couldn't see where their attackers were coming from, and he didn't want to waste ammo returning fire if he didn't know what he was aiming for.

Only Kayden was by him. Jimin kept Ariel inside, but not because he was abandoning them. No. June heard the gunfire coming from inside as well, which meant Jimin was engaged in his own fight. The idea of getting attacked from two angles had June quivering. He pushed it down, observing the area more.

Blades of grass were soaked in blood. Okay, so at least Jericho's group figured out where the enemies were. Jericho and the others were over a dozen feet away, on the left side of the deck. Just like June's side, there were wooden railings blown off, lamps hanging off the hotel and illuminating the yard.

Other than the gazebo, there wasn't much of note outside. There was a grassland before them, and far out in the distance was the lighthouse. The fight came first, escape second. As a bullet grazed June's ear, drawing blood, he located where they were. They were crouched by the gazebo, firing from the underneath section of it. A crawlspace was tightly knit under the gazebo, little holes around the structure so the bullets could pass through.

Right as June gained confidence, a bang hit the air. A shot rang out, June yelping as the metal sliced through his shoulder, doing a dance inside his muscles before popping out the other side. Kayden covered him by firing at the source, June's face cloaked with tears from the sudden agony.

"Snipers! Seventh floor!" Kayden shouted, taking out one of them. June focused on the gazebo, praying Kayden would deal with the snipers before they could deal with them. Maybe Asa or Theo could take care of a few too. All it took was teamwork, but with June no where near the rest of them, it was beyond difficult to communicate their needs.

A minute passed. Kayden did indeed take care of the snipers, but there were still an unseen amount hiding away under the gazebo. June kept shooting until his pistol clicked. After a curse, he peeked at Theo, who had the bag of ammo. Both June's first and second pistol were dry. One was the silenced weapon he snatched from that man back in Canada, and the second was his trusty handgun with a rusted body.

"Cover me," June said, Kayden agreeing without a beat of hesitation. Taking a risk, June got up and sprinted across the desk at top speed. The gunfire was in much less volume now, and it ended by the time June came crashing to the floor by Charlotte's side. "Ammo."

Theo tossed him what he needed, June reloading what he could and preparing to return shots. Nothing came. It was silent for three agonizing seconds. Tick. Tick. Tick. No noise except their pants.

"You're hurt," Charlotte said, coming over and glancing at his gunshot.

June was quick to brush her off. "Jimin and the kid are inside. There was gunfire coming from there." At Charlotte's wide eyes, he held her shoulders. "I'll go get him. Sweep the rest of the area and keep everyone safe."

"Careful, I'm starting to think you like us," Charlotte replied, a sad smile on her lips.

Before he could stop himself, he rested a hand on her cheek and chuckled. "Shit Char, I'm starting to think that too." They stared for another beat, then, June got up and went inside the hotel. It was too quiet for his liking, and it didn't help that Jimin and Ariel were no where in sight.

The taps of his footsteps creaked into the carpet. June's wound was in immense pain as he traversed, but he clenched his jaw and continued. He only needed to go for another minute before he located Jimin. The back of his head, anyway.

"Jimin?" June asked, noticing Ariel was hiding by his side. Not a single budge. "What's going on?"

"Shh," Jimin replied, holding up his hand. June pressed his back against the pillar next to him and peeked over. That was when he saw it. There was a man there, a pistol in his hand and pointed at Jimin. Black curls identical to June's were sprawled out on his head, but they were much shorter and trimmed. Elegant, almost. Despite the elegant appearance of his trimmed hair and beard, moisture clung to his gray shirt until it turned a shade darker.

"I'm glad Mr. Byun could join us," he said, June pointing his weapon at him.

"You're him, aren't you? You're that Council member, Holden. Isaac sold us out, huh?"

"I must say, it's an honor to meet the best fighter in the Underworld and the notorious assassin. I admire your perseverance, but I'm not here for you. Hand over Charlotte, Theo, Asa, and Jericho, and I'll let you go. That's the best deal you'll get. This is your last chance for a peaceful solution," he said.

"How about a counteroffer: go fuck yourself," Jimin replied. "Tell us where we can find the rest of the High Council, and maybe we'll give you a swift death. There's a concert, right? Tell us where that concert is."

"It's public knowledge, you don't need me for that."

"So you're saying that if I pull this trigger, it'd be fine? I have no information to gain from you?" Jimin asked, his grip tightening around the metal. "Cause shit, that's the only thing keeping you alive."

"I can't stop you, but I have dozens of men about to blow smoke up your ass. Killing me won't save you."

"Can we back up and talk about this deal?" Ariel asked, June and Jimin turning to her with their jaws dropped. "What? I'm sorry, but haven't you been looking for a way out this whole time? This man just offered it to you. I like Charlotte, but she brought it on herself. Same with the others. Why don't we just turn them in?"

"I'm not letting the woman I love die," Jimin replied.

"Have to agree with Jimin. There's no guarantee he won't kill us as soon as we turn them over. I like our odds now," June said.

"As you wish," Holden said.

Right when the words left his mouth, gunshots hit the air. They were coming from their right side, down a hall June didn't see before. He ducked behind the pillar and watched Holden run off, probably to go find the others.

"Go! I'll handle this!" Jimin shouted, June grunting and agreeing. He followed after Holden thanks to Jimin covering him, turning down the opposite hall and listening for the man's footsteps.

They were distant, barely ahead of him. He kept twisting and turning down similar halls until he crashed into a man. Their weapons dropped, and June's head throbbed from the impact. The stranger recovered much faster than June. In a flash, hands were grabbing him by the shoulders and pinning him to the wall. A finger jabbed itself in his wound.

With a cry of pain, June did the only thing he thought of in that moment: he reached forward and bit the man's throat. Now the screams weren't from June. Copper flooded his tongue, his nose flaring from the putrid scent of blood. He ripped off skin, spitting it in the enemy's face.

June's knee made contact with the man's thigh, and he was released. He inhaled. By the time he was exhaling, he grabbed the gun and hit the man on the head with it. There was no point in wasting ammo when he'd bleed out anyway. That man was just a distraction to give Holden an advantage. So, June took the extra pistol and stashed it in his waistband.

The halls ended after a minute. June found the back door and burst through in time to see Asa on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Holden was ducked behind the wooden railing June was behind not long ago. Asa's eyes twitched, but other than that, he wasn't moving.

As soon as June stepped forward, he was shot at. His carelessness cost him. A bullet ripped through the skin of his hip, bouncing off his bone and causing fragments to explode inside his body. A screech fell out of his mouth as he dropped to the ground. Without wasting a moment, he brought his pistol forward and returned fire. That bought him the time needed to crawl back to safety.

That single guard who fought him wasn't a coincidence. Other enemies were in the area, fighting his friends who were huddled by the gazebo. Their plan was falling to shit real fast, but they could still take out Holden. This couldn't be for nothing. June finally found his friends. He couldn't let them die.

After a deep breath, June forced himself to stand. It took all of his strength. Stumbling, stumbling, and more stumbling occurred. He bit his sleeve to prevent any shouts, him leaning against the wall. A flank maneuver. Holden thought he got June out of the game. Which, to be fair to Holden, was a good assumption. June's skin was sickly, his body covered with liquid that was a mix of clear and carmine.

His hip was fractured at best, shattered at worst. That was why he needed the walls to stand. He used them as he navigated down the hotel to the other side. There were distant gunshots from Jimin's fight, and close gunshots from the one right next to him.

June got to the second door and went through, seeing Holden clear as day. However, Holden predicted the move and shot at him. Bullets grazed his battered body as he whipped back around and knelt. Pain blistered up from the sudden pressure, but he avoided the gunshots that were aiming for his head. He returned fire through the wall, panting when the fire ceased for a moment. Then it ceased for two. Three. Four.

Risking a peek, June looked out to see nothing. He went to investigate and got tackled to the ground. Gunfire continued, likely combating his friends. Not that it mattered. June was pinned to the ground by Holden, and he wondered why he didn't get shot only to see Holden's pistol was empty. June caught him in the middle of reloading, which meant June had the only operational pistol at that moment.

That didn't mean much. June was struggling with the hands around his throat choking him out. He was far too weak to fight back. The shots he endured were tearing his body apart. Adrenaline begged him to keep going, but Holden was far too strong and had the advantage. It was over. June lost, and his friends would lose too. They walked into a trap set by Solomon. June brought them to Solomon. Once again, everything was June's fault.

Right when he was about to black out, he coughed. "Help," June said with all the strength he could muster. Holden's thin lips pulled back to form a smirk, his dark eyes landing on June's. It was a stare that would have had June trembling if he wasn't pinned. And with that, he gave up his fight. What was left of his fingers went limp, his lips covered with blood and spit.

'Whack!'

Coughs spewed from his throat as his vision wavered between the colors of the outside and the blackness he wanted to succumb to. As he spat out substances he couldn't identify, he heard grunts and cries. That snapped him back to reality, stroking his hair out of his face so he could see the sight.

Ivan Belmour was attacking Holden with his fists. It was an unfair battle, but Ivan managed to use the element of surprise to his advantage. Holden got countless punches before he could return any. Ivan received one and fell back, dazed from the sudden contact.

June pulled his spare pistol out of his waistband and aimed, but the blood trickling down his face made his eyesight blurry. That and almost getting choked to death. So, when Ivan got up to fight Holden more, June did his best to find his voice.

"Ivan, duck," he said, his voice jolting halfway through the two words.

Ivan heard and dropped to the ground as soon as he did. Holden looked like a deer caught in headlights, him throwing his hands up to no avail. June shot him right through the head. After he slumped to the ground, June went to Ivan and got to his knees. The man pat the air until he found June's shoulder. June yelped.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were hurt," he said, June brushing it off.

"It's fine. What happened to Asa?"

"He got shot protecting Theo. We don't know how bad, we had to separate before we all got killed. It was an ambush. Where's Jimin?"

"Inside with Ariel. He told me to go..."

June trailed off and noticed the others had fended off the ones attacking them. It didn't stop the gunshots coming from inside. Jimin was still fighting for his life. Ariel was too. Asa was bleeding out, Ivan was blind, and who knew what happened to the others and how much ammo they had left. That left June with one option.

"I'm sorry, Ivan. I'm so sorry," June said.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Who was that you just killed? Was that the Council member?" June gave his shoulder a squeeze to represent a yes. "Don't hold it against yourself, you did amazing. You deserve to be happy, even if I don't give you that happiness."

"You do," June was quick to reply. "You do."

At his tone dropping, Ivan's lips fell open. "What's going on?" There was a realization in the quiver of his voice. It almost made June stay. "June? Talk to me."

"I'm not gonna make it."

"What? Yes you are, of course you are."

"I'll hold off the rest while you guys get Asa to the lighthouse, patch him up, and escape. Make those bastards pay, got it? Go back to the others and get out, I'll send Jimin and Ariel your way. Don't let my death mean nothing."

Ivan grabbed him by the shoulders, not caring about the pain it brought. "Five more minutes," Ivan said, his voice a whimper. "Please. Just five more. We can spare the time, it's fine."

"Jimin needs me, I can't stall any longer. Goodbye, Ivan."

June stood, Ivan standing with him. As soon as June left his side, Ivan reached out and panicked when he felt nothing. "June? June, where did you go? Where are you?" he asked in a shout. June noticed the others were gathered around Asa to check on him, but he couldn't pay them any mind.

Ivan Belmour was there, a new life awaiting him. A new life was awaiting June too. Just a different type of life, and there was a part of June that was okay with that. That mentality is what got him to indulge in his desires for one last, greedy second.

June stormed forward and wrapped his arms around Ivan, embracing the sobbing man. Time slowed. He knew he had to go before anything happened to Jimin, but if June was about to die, he wanted to die knowing he left on good terms with Ivan. Based on the way he hugged back, June's mission was accomplished.

"I was such an ass," June said, pretending he wasn't bawling. "I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner."

"Don't be. Go do your job... I'll go do mine."

June agreed, hanging on for a beat longer than he should have before he parted and went to the door, a limp dragging him down. "Ivan?" he asked, the man lifting his head up. "I'll always be your eyes."

Without another word, he departed. The hotel welcomed him with open arms. His legs swept him through the familiar area, his body running on pure adrenaline that masked the pain. His final run was enough to have him grinning. For once, he had no regrets. All of this was his fault, but it was time to make it right.

Jimin was in the same spot June left him, out of ammo and cowering in the corner as bullets fired upon him. He covered Ariel, his eyes shut as if accepting his fate. June didn't allow that to happen. With the remainder of his ammo, June shot the last handful of foes firing down on them. They weren't expecting June's presence, and he was able to defeat them with ease.

The silence was interrupted by shouts down the hall. Footsteps. They weren't alone, and it was a matter of time until they had company. June took the pistols of the downed men and replaced them with his empty ones.

"Thank you," Jimin said, getting up with Ariel. "Let's get out of here before they come back." At June's silence, Jimin froze up. "June..."

"Get Ariel out of here. Meet up with the others, they're on their way to the lighthouse. I'll hold them off so you can escape without anyone following you."

The duo stared at each other, Jimin sucking in a breath before nodding. "I know we don't have time, but can I ask a favor of you?" Although June hesitated, he figured that would lead to them having less time, so he agreed. "There's a girl. She has to be 9 by now. Long, black hair. She threatened me whenever I asked to cut it. Oh, short too," Jimin said with a laugh. "She got my short gene, that's for damn sure. Passionate as hell, amazing singing voice..."

"Aria?"

Jimin broke down at that. "Aria, my baby girl. When you get up there, you tell her daddy misses her, okay? And tell her daddy loves her so much."

June wiped his tears away with his ring finger, chuckling. "Jimin, I'd love to do this for you, but I won't be going where she is."

Footsteps grew closer, June staying on attention. Yet Jimin found a way to grin, his eyes going with it as he held Ariel's hand. It brought June's heart to a stop. Pain was a fleeting thought. All that mattered was June's breathing.

"You will," Jimin whispered.

Thousands of words flashed through his mind. His lips smacked as they parted, and he said the only thing he could think of. "Tell Charlotte she owes me, yeah?"

Jimin agreed, the two smiling at each other one last time before Jimin left with Ariel. That left June there. Pounding footsteps kept coming closer. The safety of his pistol clicked off, June checking how much ammo he had left.

Ivan asked for five more minutes. So, June started the clock. Men rounded the corner, and he opened fire. He wasn't sure how many times he got shot, or if he did at all. His mind was focused on each tick. Each swing of the pendulum. It was the most painful experience of his life, but also the only time he felt truly free. He lasted five minutes. Five minutes of shooting. Five minutes of saving his family. Five minutes of peace.

And also the last five minutes of his life.