Rush

file one: zyx

TWO WEEKS PRIOR

He leaned back against the dry wind, keeping his grip on the side of the bike tight.

The road underneath him ran long and ribbon-like, cutting a river in the semi-desert landscape like a child had taken a faded blue paintbrush to the painting of a scenery.

"You say there's more to this than Yoongi's death?" The man opposite him spoke up, shifting his weight to his left leg as he raised his right, the sole of his steel-tipped boot resting against the side of his motorcycle. "And expect us to believe you?"

Lay flicked up a sleek eyebrow, releasing his hold on the side of the seat and folding his arms over his chest. "So you will call me a liar and try to go against me?"

"Hey, hey, hey, never implied anything like that," Lucas said, a wide grin tearing open his mouth. "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. We're all on the same team here."

"And let's say that it was what we were implying," a third voice spoke up, and Lay's gaze cut to the man standing to his left, clad in a leather jacket despite the murderous heat. "What then? Are you going to kill us and answer to Hyojong about it?"

The corner of the ravenet's mouth quirked up into a smirk. "As much as I admire your thought process, Yukhei has the upper hand here," Lay answered. "We all know Hyojong depends on me too much to just let me escape his grasp over two ded bodies." He straightened in his sitting position on the bike. "So yes, Jaebum, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

A laugh spilled from Yukhei's lips, and the man himself got to his feet, swinging the shedded leather jacket over his shoulder. "Okay, maybe I'm in," he said as his laugh slowed to a stop; however, there were still signs of amusement in his dark eyes. "What proof do you have?"

Jaebum nodded, reaching up to unzip his jacket halfway to his chest. "Who told you this? What credibility does your source have? And how can we know you're not just trying to protect the girl?"

"I admit I would have gone to any length to protect her, but this is bigger than my instinct towards her," Lay answered, his low voice carrying despite the wind. "As for my source—it was Byun Baekhyun."

A ripple of shock went across Jaebum's face, but extinguished as quickly as it came. "Baekhyun? He's in Seoul?"

"Acting as informant to the racers, under the supervision of their left hand," he muttered as confirmation. "Kim Jennie. Thought supervision wouldn't be the most accurate word for it."

Lucas sucked in his breath through his teeth, smoothing back his hair as he raised his eyebrows. In the sunlight, his hair looked a lighter silver than its usual gray. "Kim Jennie? Hyojong's cousin?"

"Yes," Lay answered, his tone short and clipped. "Baekhyun told me that he'd been tracking Hyojong through her, and weaseled out information through a previous member." Discomfort flashed across his face as he spoke. "Extortion. Killed her later."

"Let me guess," Lucas spoke up, still looking like he regarded the whole thing as no more than a joke. "He found out about the under-the-counter drug deals between Hyojong and the Thai gang."

"That wouldn't relate to the Hwang girl unless she was another carrier," Jaebum muttered, forehead creasing in thought.

Lay nodded. "He told me that Hyojong was secretly working with the Lee clan."

The effect of the announcement was as desired—Jaebum and Yukhei stared at him with wide eyes, any other expression excepting shock wiped completely off of their faces. "What?" Yukhei breathed. "That's impossible."

"If he had been, we would have known," Jaebum said. "You would have known."

Lay was pleased that his words had affected him the way he had wanted them to. Considering Jaebum's troubled past in which a certain Lee had played antagonist, and Yukhei's unending thirst for secrets and their stealthy power, there was no way they were going to lay a hand on her.

He himself, of course, had only one aim in mind. Protect her.

"Anyway, why would he enter a deal with them?" The silver-haired man frowned deeply, looking not as amused as he had a moment ago. "He doesn't need them, and the bikers are not a big enough group to be of any aid to the clan. If it was a kill order, he would have employed us."

Lay slowly raised his eyebrows, looking at Jaebum as realization dawned on the man. "Unless this is the kill order," Jaebum said. "The girl. But what would Hyojong gain from this? What does he have that the Lee clan doesn't?"

"That's the part we don't know about," Lay answered, pinching the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. "You get it now? We can't associate ourselves with the Lees or do their dirty work for them. If they want the girl gone, then it means that she has something that's important."

"For them, at least." Lucas's eyes narrowed, a desirous gleam in them as he thought about the situation. "Which would be very helpful to us, if we somehow manage to tail the girl."

Jaebum looked over at Lay doubtfully. "But how are we supposed to do this? We can't disobey Hyojong in plain sight."

"Oh, no, we're not doing any of that." A smile threatened to take over the ravenet's features. "Baekhyun has made arrangements for me to meet her before she leaves the country." He looked levelly at the two men. "I want you to look after her just in case...Jeon's men manage to get me."

"Ah, yes, the racers will be a hindrance," Yukhei said, before smirking. "Unless we manage to strike a deal with them after she leaves."

"Just the two of us?" Jaebum's eyebrows arched questioningly. "What if someone else finds her before we do?"

"Not just us. You can let some of the others know about this, make sure they don't fatally injure her." Lay paused. "Take Yeosang. Maybe even Yuta or Jeongyeon."

"Alright, then," Lucas said, a knife-like smile parting his lips. "Let's see what the Hwang girl has to offer."