Joon-wo asked, emphasizing in a deep, demanding tone of his voice. “What. Did. You Do!?”
Ryung did not bother to reply as he continued to stare at him unfazed.
“I’m going to ask you again. What. The. Hell. Did You Do?!” He stepped in and clutched onto his shirt tightly. “We’re not leaving here until you tell me…”
Ryung leaned in closer and asked without blinking. “Do you really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“I made a deal,” Ryung said.
“With who?”
“Bong Si-woo.”
“Why? I thought it was only a one time thing,” Joon-who became confused.
“Oh, it was but then he and his ally had other plans, then I was introduced to him. And I eventually end up doing his personal favors.”
“Like what?”
“A year ago, I ordered someone to intentionally run over Valerie, specifically because I wanted us to be on the next higher level of our status as a group. The second time she tried to escape, we had to make sure she was completely thrown off in that car accident and didn’t make it out alive. If I didn’t do it, I would’ve been eliminated or one of us was going to be, so I didn’t have a choice, but to accept. At least, it turned out to be successful when we did it. Lately, Si-woo and Mr. Kim had already compromised in exchange for controlling you for their wealth and fame on their business and Prime corporation. By all means, exploitation,” Ryung explained until he received two punches from Joon-wo’s fist, which caused him to stagger onto the wall.
“So… you were there the whole time?!”
Ryung touched his bottom lip and wiped the blood off of his nose.
“You bastard!!!! Bryan and his friends just lost their friend because of you! Now, you’re targeting me by bringing my father into this!!”
“Your father agreed because his business is going bankrupt, now that he is going through financial losses and your mother is sick, right? Si-woo and I had to help him out by signing a contract with him. You should thank me because I saved you and our friends. I could care less about that girl. She was just a cheap, typical detective, who has done nothing but chase after her meaningless dream.”
“She was somebody important! She was just like you and the rest of us when we were normal people! She brought us back together for a very good reason because she cared and admired us so deeply. And that same reason was for us to be a family again. That’s the kind of person she is, and she would’ve never trade your life for herself or anybody else’s! Our chairman is just using you!”
“I don’t give a fuck. I simply want us to be exactly the way it should be and it’s all going according to our plan, thanks to me,” Ryung scoffed haughtily with a smirk.
Joon-wo pointed his finger at him sharply and retorted back spitefully. “Fuck you…! I can’t believe I treated you with so much respect as a leader. You don’t deserve it. Why should I consider you as my brother? You and Si-woo should rot in jail for the crimes you’ve all committed because you two are heartless murderers! But you know what’s even worse… the fact that you chose to be one of his pawns and on the devil’s side.”
He was about to leave the washroom till he stopped for a quick second.
“Don’t mention it. I already know that I am for a long time and you will realize what I did for you. If you even dare to tell this secret to anyone or Jiyoo, you know what’s going to be in it for you…” Ryung muttered.
“What the hell are you saying?” Joon-wo whipped his head over his shoulder with a distraught look.
Ryung began to chuckle malevolently and shook his head in disbelief. “Oh, hyung… You didn't know yet? Our little Jiji has been head over heels with Miss Valerie ever since we took that trip to Jeju Island, even when he was with his girlfriend, Chia that day. He saved her countless times and even had to invite her into that Spring Gala party. My goodness… You thought you were the only one who had a crush on her? Pft. Please, don’t be so dense. I knew that you guys like her so much, it was so obvious. Though, it didn’t end well for her, did it? She has no chances with being in a relationship with one of you because you guys deserve a lot more than that. She’s just a pure distraction to us. A nobody. You have a higher calling-”
“Shut the fuck up! Just shut up!!!!” Joon-wo yelled hotly at him that his ears became red. “You’re a criminal for all I’ve seen so far, coming from that mouth of yours is vile and evil. You showed me who you are and that’s nothing compared to your alter ego because you are both the same person!”
“Don’t deny yourself. You also admitted that you too have one. The seven of us do, so don’t think that you’re so innocent.”
Joon-wo stayed silent with a heated glare.
Ryung leaned in slyly and went on. “You and I know you wanted this to happen. We all have background history to show the whole world what we are and what we’ve been through as a group and individuals.
“Trust me, I don't. I refused to be like you and I never will.”
“Oh really? There’s no escape for you either. Once you sign it, you are bound to him forever. Everyone else in the music industry knows that. If you tell anyone about this, they’ll wipe you off, so I’d stay quiet if I were you,” Ryung warned heatedly and slowly placed an index finger between his lips as an indication of his devotion to their higher being.
Joon-wo looked back at the front and shook his head off dismissively by slamming the door open, leaving him inside the washroom, smirking deviously and proudly to himself.
…
The sound alarm system began to alert the building with an ear splitting noise at exactly around 11:00 pm. All of the squad members woke up and jumped right out of their beds to stand on their feet. They took a quick scan as they were running through the hallways.
“Jason! We are being targeted by Si-woo’s henchmen. Even the headquarters, they are already on their way to hunt us down!” Julong informed urgently after busting the door open.
“As they should,” Jason said monotonously.
“Huh?! But why do you sound so thrilled by that?!”
“This is our perfect opportunity to strike at them. Don’t you feel the same?”
“I do, but uh…”
“Please, don’t be a coward. Besides, we trained you all very well and concisely. There’s no point in backing out now, so don’t underestimate yourselves,” Jason stated.
“We’ll see how this goes,” Luke said as he loaded a few bullets inside the gun with a sound of a click.
“What if I’m not ready, though?” Julong muttered.
“Then, you’ll be off the team,” Jason noted simply.
“Where’s Sunghoon?” Max asked with a blank expression on his face.
“He’s on the way,” Jason answered.
“By himself?” Max curled an eyebrow shockingly.
“Yes, and that is why the three of you will go and help him,” he pointed out and drank the alcohol, then put the glass down on the table. “I’ll also be sending another team for a backup, in case our strategy doesn’t work.”
“Ah, so we are divided into subunits,” Max said in realization.
“Hmm, and only our boss is the one who can decide which team he will join and that includes Miss Nown,” Jason instructed.
“Valerie? Isn’t she supposed to be recovering?” Max wondered.
“I have,” a feminine voice said with a subtle tone. They were surprised when they turned their heads over their shoulders to see her walking steadfastly with her hair bun tied up and fuchsia was the color of her lips, saying. “I don’t mind fighting against them, as long as we stay together and not leave each other behind. They are heading to one of the abandoned buildings and we have to sneak in carefully without being caught in. Though, I can guarantee that this is not going to be easy.”
Another young lady in her 20s popped up beside her and grinned with a peace sign at them. “Correct!”
“Huh?! Who are you?” Julong questioned in puzzlement.
“She’s your friend?” Luke asked.
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot to introduce myself. I just arrived here two days ago and talked to Mr. Wang and the boss. They wanted to hire me, so I accepted the offer. My name is Yuki Yamazaki. Nice to meet you,” she smiled brightly, which made the other guys blush in tinge pink after seeing how frail her figure is, yet she was confident about herself.
“Okay, you don’t seem inexperienced,” Max commented.
“Thanks, I assume you are Max, Julong, and Luke,” she chirped as she pointed her finger at the three of them.
“She has been training since she was twelve years old and used to live in Shiiba; Miyazaki village,” Valerie explained.
“Yup! And my father is a samurai,” Yuki said briefly.
“I see… That must be a lot of history there,” Max nodded.
“Hmm, so we’re going against the CEO of Big Prime Company? Aren’t there more because I’m pretty sure he can’t be the only one,” Yuki thought.
“Well, the other CEOs from the Famous Three have been planning to outthrow their artists and replace them with the new ones who will debut in the next few months. The contracts are always limited unless they agree to renew them, but there are some who want to end it and make their own decisions in their lives. That is why the staff and their management are going to be eliminating them if they choose not to sign again,” Valerie explained.
“That’s so messed up,” Yuki frowned.
“What she says is true. As an idol, we don’t make a lot of choices. For example, we are not even allowed to date anyone outside the companies because it is known to be a ‘scandal’ if we do. The fans are also the reason why we can’t interact with any female idols or even an ordinary person in particular, let alone their toxicity and how the level of their obsession goes over the top. Their minds have been brainwashed into thinking that they have a chance with their favorite idol or myself, but they don’t even realize that it’s damaging and harmful to their well being. Sad, really. Even you, Valerie… I’m sure you don’t know the members of K-East. From what I can tell, they have been using some of the effects to charm you in some way that you can barely recognize,” Jason said and went on. “As far as I’m concerned, you can’t remember everything in detail because of what happened to you lately.”
“No… I can’t, but all I know is that the companies haven’t been treating you guys well,” Valerie became a little perturbed, but she had to remain composed.
“Thanks to them, we can’t even speak honestly about how we think and feel for ourselves. We always have to follow the scripts that were written for us and do it in front of the camera,” Luke sighed.
“The rumors are made up by the media and articles have also been spread by journalists to stir a pot at any time,” Max said.
“And the concepts for our music videos too! We aren’t even allowed to do something different and far from what the companies originally intended to. It’s always full of triangles, diamonds, and all that dark stuff that we have to put up with. It’s very bullshit if you ask me,” Julong expressed his annoyance.
“That’s why we are here to fight the injustices that they’ve placed upon us and within the industry. This has been happening for years and nobody has ever done something about it,” Jason uttered and pressed the button to speak publicly to the rest of the members. “Everyone, prepare yourselves because this is going to be our first time fighting against a group of Si-woo’s henchmen. We must take heed and be sober minded. Get your weapons ready and go quickly before they attack us. This is an order, ladies and gentlemen. I repeat, this is an order!”
“Right,” the members responded in unison with a nod and left as they started to march outside the building and into their own vehicles
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