Love So Strong ~Hueningkai~

Chapter 9

 A year has passed since the incident occurred. Ari has been housebound since she arrived back home from Alaska, and it was not fun at all for her. Ayno was able to convince their father to let her out of the house a few times as long as she wore a mask and had security with her. For the most part, she spent her time in their big garage training. She showed Ayno and Ho-sung what TXT taught her. Her fighting, guns, and dagger/knife skills. The brothers were impressed. Ari and Ayno did lots of hand to hand combat. She was able to dodge every punch that came her way and managed to flip Ayno onto his back a couple of times. Ayno was still better than her, no doubt. 

Ho-sung was doing his very best at being a better brother. He gave her useful tips on gun control that Beomgyu didn't teach. He would spend his free time watching movies with her and even baking. Ari got to see another side of Ho-sung, and she loved it. Whenever they would bake, it would always end with them being covered in flour or whatever ingredient they were using. Ayno was the taste tester. 

Ari spent a few mornings helping her ma in the gardens. Seri had ordered more tulip plants for the backyard. Ari wanted to add different flowers to the garden, so she asked Ayno to pick up a rose bush when he was out doing errands. When she got the rose bush, she secretly planted it where her mom wouldn't notice it. A week after the rose bush was planted, her ma found out and was surprisingly happy about it. 

Ari and Kai messaged each other every day, and when he wasn't busy, they would face time. TXT hasn't been too busy. They had a party with a few of their fellow mafia friends, welcoming in Stray Kids. Other than that, it was mostly training. The guys kept a look out on Dmitri as well, but there was no way he would come to South Korea. Russian and Koreans weren't on good terms. 

Yujun spent a majority of his days at the warehouse/office. There had been no word or sign of Markoff yet. He found it strange and was assuming that Markoff was waiting for something. Yujun had contacted a friend of his in Russia, but he couldn't find any information on Markoff. Yujun was getting angry. He wanted to know the reason why Markoff wanted Ari. He can't remember what happened 20 years ago. Yujun wanted this man gone for good. 

Seri was worried for her husband. He was overworking himself, coming home late, all tired and irritable. She did her best to stay out of his way. They all did. 

There was one night that Yujun came home, muttering to himself. Seri, Ari, Ayno, and Ho-sung were at the dining room table eating dinner when they heard the door slam. Yujun walked in and dropped his briefcase, and stared at his family. There was dead silence. No one dared say a word. 

"We are leaving." Yujun said. 

Seri stood up, shocked. "What? Why? Where!" Ho-sung, Ayno, and Ari stared back at their father, shocked as well. 

"My men and I believe Markoff is about to strike. So we are leaving for Estonia. Tomorrow morning." With that, he walked out of the room. 

Seri hung her head down. There was no arguing with her husband. "Go pack, children." She lifted her head and left the room as well. 

Ho-sung threw his napkin on the table and sighed. "Fucking lovely." 

"Do we have a safe house in Estonia?" Ari asked. 

"Yeah, on an island. Manija. We will be flying, then driving, and then a ferry to take us over. " Ayno stood up, taking his glass of bourbon and downing it. "Go pack, Ari." 

"Am I able to let Kai know?" She asked, standing up as well. 

"I don't see why not. Father will probably let BTS know, too. " Ayno said, walking out of the room. 

Ari walked over to the stairwell and went up, taking her cell out and finding Kai's number. She pressed call. It rang a few times before he answered. 

"Hey, babe! How are you?" 

"Um, I don't know. We are leaving Romania. Tomorrow morning." She opened her bedroom door and went to her closet, grabbing her suitcases.

"Wait, what? Hold on, I'm going to put you on speaker. Okay, everyone is here." 

Ari took a deep breath. "Father thinks Markoff is going to strike soon. Why, I don't know. He didn't give us a reason. We are going to our safe house in Manija, Estonia." 

Soobin spoke up. "I wasn't aware you had one in Estonia." 

"Yeah, me either." Ari took most of her clothes off the hanger and laid them on the bed. She gathered more of her belongings before she started packing ,all while still on the phone. 

"Are you going to let BTS know too?" Beomgyu asked. 

"If my father doesn't, Ayno will. I have a good feeling we won't be returning to Romania." She sat on her bed and fell back, her hand rubbing her forehead. She hated everything about this.

Kai turned off the speaker, and the two talked until she was tired.

"Goodnight, Kai. I wish you were here with me." Ari played with the necklace that he gave her. it hasn't left her neck since that night, they confessed. 

"I know, love. Me too. Goodnight, Ari. I love you." 

"I love you too."