ETY | MW [✔]

11.

Wonwoo woke up stiff and sore, his head throbbing. It took a few minutes to open his eyes and manage to get upright. He was expecting somewhere strange, but the sight that met his eyes was all too familiar. He was home.

He got as far as the side of the bed, resting his feet on the floor, and cradling his head in his hands. He didn't need to look to know where the cameras were or that the door was locked or that there were two heavyset guards outside.

So, he did what he'd been trained to do: regulating his breathing, getting himself under control, and thinking of ways out of his situation. Force wasn't going to do it, there were too many locked doors and guards between him and the outside world. There were no obvious weapons in the room, but he knew a few things he could use. There was also at least one knife he'd hidden the last time he'd been there. Maybe they'd found it, or maybe they hadn't. Either way, it alone wasn't getting him out of there. Which left option two; play along until a chance came to run.

An hour passed, a clock chiming in the distance, and he heard familiar footsteps approaching. Unwilling to show weakness, he got to his feet, his hands by his sides, and waited.

The door opened, and a guard walked in, followed by the men who called themselves his parents.

"Jiyong," he greeted the first man. "Seunghyun."

"Our darling boy," Seunghyun said. "And so grown up."

"Why am I here?"

The men shared a look.

"Did you think we'd just forget about you? After all we'd done for you, all the time and money we'd invested in your education."

"That was for your benefit, not mine. Don't pretend differently."

"So ungrateful," Seunghyun said with a sigh.

"We're not here to argue with you," Jiyong added. "You betrayed us, abandoned us."

"Then you brought me here for what? Revenge?"

"You owe us a debt," Jiyong replied. "And you're going to repay every last cent."

Wonwoo folded his arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you really think I'd ever work for you again?"

Seunghyun smiled. There was nothing pleasant about it, and his eyes stayed cold.

"I suppose that depends," the alpha said. "We've heard about that den of thieves you operate out of and that rag-tag group of rejects you call a pack."

Wonwoo didn't rise to the bait.

"They have nothing to do with this."

"Well, that depends on you, doesn't it?" Seunghyun said sweetly. "If you're a good boy and do what you're told, they can go on eking out an existence in the old man's house."

The elderly shifter his parents had sent him there to kill. Whose kindness had shown Wonwoo there were other ways to live.

"And if I don't?"

"We have a group of mercenaries ready and waiting to go on in there and take over. They'll keep the useful ones alive. Sell the fighters and omegas back to the schools and clubs. Any kids and babies too, they'll fetch a pretty penny. They'll kill the rest."

"We're not undefended," Wonwoo said, standing taller.

"And how many will die in the fight?" Jiyong asked. "How many are you willing to sacrifice in the name of stubbornness?"

He could tell they were serious. They didn't make idle threats.

Closing his eyes, Wonwoo dropped his head, pretending defeat. Maybe they'd see through it, maybe they wouldn't.