Family Ties | JJK

32: His Reminder

**

Escape.

So close but so bitterly far away.

Freedom was only a step away, one step and in an instant you could melt into the night, a ghost walking the streets. You knew how to disappear. That had been your plan.

You did not trust your father an inch, you were never going to let him manipulate you into playing his game, he was playing to win. And you knew that his win most definitely meant your loss.

So when you crash out of the doors, tasting the freedom of the night air... And become trapped in seconds by the crushing arms of a tall dark figure. Thick palms encircling your neck, gripping your throat roughly and cutting your breath until you feel your chest aching and your eyes rolling backwards.

You know you have lost this stage of the game.

**

The other men surround you tightly and push you back into the café, the main figure not for a second loosening his grip around your throat. He held your life in his palm as he dragged you back like a pathetic rag doll.

You try to fight and struggle, but there sheer numbers in strength and bodies carry you easily back into the building. They are not kind in their acts, hands grip you tightly and bring bruises to your skin.

Slammed against the wall as you are pulled back inside, you are finally dropped into a chair in the corner, back painfully pressed into one of the chairs as a figure in a woven mask leans into your face.

The bodies and chaos that had occurred in the last seconds had left you dazed and in pain, disorientated and struggling to stay logical.

You try to fight back but two other men hold your arms to the side of your body and the obscenely large man in front of you presses his thick legs against either side of yours. You're left completely immobile, unable to move an inch.

Frustration builds and mixes with the raw fear rushing through your nervous system. Your self-defence had begun to kick in, the human instinct to survive and protect, but unable to physically move the body to protect itself your brain had begun to shut down, clouded by intense panic.

The biggest guy in front of you, obviously the one in charge, runs a heavy hand over your leg, rising up the inside of your thigh. You bite the inside of your lip and refrain from vomiting.

Still with his hand pressed much too high he leans in close to your face, still covered by a balaclava, and his words curl around your throat and choke you.

'He wanted you to know, this was him, no denial- No secrets here. Your life is still his, so enjoy it while you can. He will get you back, and hurt you...

Here's a reminder from him sweetheart.'

The cool chill of a blade is pressed against your cheek, the point so close to your eye that the silver obscured the corner of your vision, you want to squeeze your eyes shut but you won't.

You don't dare to move, absolutely terrified from so many different things at once. You can't decide what is worse, Kang Sun's brutal message, your father's betrayal, the physical pain you were in, the hands gripping your body crushingly... Or the ice cold blade pressing against your skin, obscuring your vision, drawing tears.

The men either side of you grip you painfully tight and their hot breath burns against your neck.

It's pointless to scream, too dangerous to move, futile to fight, so you do the only thing you can.

You manipulate.

You struggle against the hold to voice a sound but you have to, so you manage to croak out your last chance to survive.

'Whatever he's offering you, I can double it. No matter what it is, why do you think he is so successful, why does he want me back so desperately?

Don't be fooled,' you pant into the night, 'by my appearance- let me go tonight and I can give you access to just one of the thousands of bank accounts under fake names, full of dirty money that's completely untraceable...

Just let me go, you can win. Why carry out his dirty work for him?'

You think you've won, from experience you know to angle the argument towards the male ego and prize. So your heart drops when they only laugh at you.

Sickly laughs curl your toes and cloy on your tongue, thick and ugly.

'We know who you are princess,' whispers from the side.

'And we know what you do,' from the other side, a hand grips your jaw as you listen.

'The boss has promised us more than money for your return'. The third purrs into your ear, you feel sick at the evil edge to their voices. You know Kang Sun, and what he does to his victims before killing them, it was something that haunted you for years. But the words that follow almost kill you.

'Just think about those seven pretty boys you brought into all this mess, we always have loved playing with our food before we eat it.'

'Mhaaaaaa ahhhugh.'

With his threat, the knife simultaneously sliced downwards, fast and easy, you almost couldn't feel it, and that meant the pain was so intense your nerves needed a second to process the level of pain. So all of a sudden, in a severe flash, the pain radiated through your skull, rendering your body useless as the onslaught of pain, white hot and furious, pricks across your face.

The men leave without another word. They don't need to. The message was given loud and clear. Kang Sun had found you, and through his message, he clearly had threatened BTS.

Your decision, will you return or still hide, whilst putting them in danger?

**