.05% | lty

44. Goodbye: Reprise

The crowd seemed to have grown in the short time they were gone. The amount of people thinned out around the outside massive doorway and grew more concentrated toward the back of the room they had first met in. She followed behind Soo Man as the men made a path for him. The ones that lingered toward the back leered at her and grinned while the others had their backs to them, occupied by something else.

She knew they were going back to where Taeyong was and looked for him anxiously among the sea of people. The path behind them closed back up as people drew nearer to where Soo Man was headed. She craned her neck to see past him and spotted Jaehyun on the other side of the room. Next to him was Ten, Doyoung and Winwin standing shoulder to shoulder with pained expressions. Her heart started to race.

Soo Man stopped in front of her, causing her to nearly bump into his back. She noticed a clear line where the people stopped and took the opportunity to move next to him to free herself from the suffocating atmosphere.

She found herself at the edge of an open space. In the center Taeyong sat with his head hanging forward and his hands limp in his lap. The older men made a wide circle around him where they smiled and talked among themselves. She saw Da Reum's frightened face along the opposite edge of the circle right next to Winwin.

Her eyes snapped back to Taeyong. He let out a painful groan as his head lolled up and back. The light caught the blood on his face and made it glisten. She felt as though she would vomit her heart right out of her chest.

"Taeyong!" She cried, pushing passed the few men that started to close around her.

Her hands clamped on either side of his face and lifted his head to look at her. His eye had already started to swell and blood had splattered from his nose and mouth.

"Taeyong, look at me." She shook him lightly.

His eyes opened and focused on her.

"Yuna." He choked out.

"What happened?" Her voice shook. What do I do??" She asked frantically with tears in her eyes.

"There's nothing you can do." Soon Man said as he stood and watched. "I changed my mind."

She stood and faced him. As she turned, Taeyong raised his hand to grab onto her wrist.

"H-how can you do this?" She tried to sound anything but terrified but ended up stuttering anyway. "Does he mean nothing to you?"

"On the contrary." Soo Man answered. "He's very important to me. I have big dreams and he's the one that can reach them for me."

"No." Was all she could say. She put herself in between Taeyong and Soon Man. "You can't have him."

"Or what?"

She had no answer. What could she do in this situation? They were vastly outnumbered and she had no clue how to stop any of them anyway. She looked pleadingly toward Taeyong's friends; his brothers. Surely they couldn't just let this happen.

Their faces were pale and tormented. Jaehyun mouthed the words 'I'm sorry'. Winwin's hand grasped Da Reum's shoulder, Ten looked panicked and Doyoung only glanced around, assessing the situation. She could see the men looming behind them and the gleam of the silver guns that they pressed to each of their sides. A helpless cry escaped her lips.

She turned back to Soo Man and wiped her tears, gathering every ounce of courage she had in her.

"What if he doesn't want to do what you tell him anymore?"

"Then he's useless and he'll be disposed of." Soo Man answered simply.

"No, please!" She cried again, losing the thin veil of bravery.