This Day | Gyuhao (Threequel to Youth & The Aged)

- 30

| Chapter Thirty — I WON |
| 📍Chicago, Illinois |

The hideout is a mess.

Minghao has to step over broken glass and duck under mishandled doorframes.

It's like it's been ransacked beyond anybody's compare, drawers open and bullet holes in the wall like it's been shot through just for fun, carpets scratched and floor tiles pulled up purposely.

It's bone chilling.

It only gets worse when Minghao sees someone down at the end of the hall.

It's a woman.

She's dressed in this silky black crop top with a leather jacket and shorts to match, black boots zipped up to her knees and it makes Minghao gulp. She's just smiling at him, bangs unmoving as she tilts her head in amusement, dark hair falling past her shoulder.

She looks like she's going to a party, but Minghao has a feeling that he's the one getting the surprise.

The heels of her boots clack against the floor as she begins walking towards him, that sadistic grin never leaving her face.

"We've waited so long for you." Her voice is like a siren, drawing Minghao in on the low glide of her tone.

But Minghao doesn't let his guard down, slipping his gun past his belt loop and clocking it harshly, aiming straight for her head, "This is a warning." He says, eyes widening when she doesn't halt her moving, "I said stop." And surprisingly, she does, still as happy as ever.

"The name's Minnie. Thank you for asking, Xu." She chuckles.

"Xu..." Minghao repeats, feeling anger bubble up in his chest. It makes him grip his weapon harder, "You were the messenger."

"Ding ding ding." Minnie clicks her tongue, snorting.

"What did you want with me?" Minghao asks, jaw tense and heart beating a thousand times per minute, the fright beyond scary, but the adrenaline overwhelming, "Why did you want me to come back?"

"Because like I said," She tilts her head, eyes smiling with her expression, "You're the main key to our plan."

"And what would that be exactly?"

"Wah... you're really as stupid as they say you are, Xu." She clicks her tongue a second time, leaning up against the wall of gunshots, looking at her nails with a dramatic sigh, "Did you come here knowing you'd die?" Her words chill Minghao to the bone, icing up his blood, but he doesn't falter.

In fact, he takes a step closer, knuckles white as he grips his gun tighter than ever before, "If I die by the hands of you fuckers, then I'll fight until my last breath."

"You'd do anything to save your family, wouldn't you?" Minnie purses her lips in fake sympathy, shaking her head, "You're really an angel, Xu Minghao. You care for twins the woman I shot to death bared. She gave you a family, didn't she? One you'd protect for life?" She asks, "Even if that means giving up yours."

"That's the first correct thing you've said." Minghao rolls his eyes, aiming throughly, "Where's Jungwon?"

"Aren't you eager?"

"I won't repeat myself."

Minnie holds a hand to her chest, gasping, "Is that supposed to scare me?"

And it's like lightning speed, Minnie slips out a very sharp knife Minghao didn't even know she had, adding a little swirl to her routine before throwing it as quickly as she can, Minghao ducking just in time, eyes flying wide when it goes straight through the wall, stuck and never coming out.

"That was a warning." She says, "And Jungwon won't see you for a while."

"Let me see him." Minghao pleads, "I need to see him. You don't understand."

"But I do." Minnie grits her jaw, cackling like a witch, "You want to tell him that kid's alive, don't you? Riki, was it?"

A bombshell.

Minghao almost stops breathing, blood running thin, "You know?"

"Yes." Minnie smiles, "Yes, I do. We all do." She takes a step forward, sighing sweetly, "And we're going to keep it that way."

"You're playing him." Minghao states the obvious, "You took him in as soon as he left us... He trusted you for revenge and you lied to him...."

"Oh, we didn't lie to him." Minnie declines, "We're just gonna keep that Riki kid a secret for now. After all, that's his fuel."

"Fuel?"

"It's what keeping him stand." Minnie rewords, "He'll stop once he finds out he's alive. I can't have that. Not when he's already promised me my side of the deal."

"Deal?"

"We help him kill Carnelian, and he helps us kill Carmine." She smiles like she didn't just say that, "Don't you see? It's perfect! He's been so good as our little mole, giving us the best ideas and being slow about everything to give you all the scares. Isn't it fun?"

"Threatening the lives of people is not fun."

"You say that while being in a gang yourself." Minnie coos, "How does the co-leader lie about the danger? You all have markings on your skin to remind you that you're killers too. You're not any different."

"No, we're not." Minghao spits, "But at least we've changed for the better."

"Have you?" Minnie laughs, "Because you of all people seem even dumber."

And Minghao's immediately out cold when someone runs up on him, quite literally smashing a bat over the side of his head before he can even get a chance to shoot, legs giving out as he falls to the floor.

"Nice hit, boss." Minnie walks over, grinning as she watches the blood pour from the back of Minghao's head, pooling around him like an angel's halo.

The Amaranth leader just smiles in return, bending down to push the bloody hair away from Minghao's eyes.

"Wake up soon, Hao. I'm really looking forward to you finding out who I am...."