Chapter 15 Elise #3
But I’m not one to rely on anybody but myself, and that hasn’t changed even now.
“Let me go!” I yell, still trying to wrench my arm from Gun’s iron grip.
He doesn’t even slow down. He snaps at me from over his shoulder. “Shut up and follow my lead!”
If it were any other person, any other moment, I’d tell him exactly where he can shove his orders. Then I’d knee him in the crotch to emphasize my point.
More bullets streak past us and signal now is not the time. For once in my life, I’m going to have to let someone else take control.
Gun leads us to a sleek black and blue sports bike parked in the shadows between two buildings, its chrome gleaming under the streetlights. I hesitate for a split second, but he’s already swinging his leg over the seat and revving the engine.
“Hop on and hold tight!” he shouts over the roar of the commotion. “Now, Goyangi!”
I swing my leg over the back of the bike just as the whole crew of Cheongryong soldiers emerges from a side door of the karaoke lounge. Their weapons are drawn, and their faces are twisted by bloodthirst.
Gun doesn’t wait for me to get settled before he slams the bike into gear and rockets us into the Gangnam’s streets.
Neon lights streak past us in brilliant blurs of pink, yellow, blue, and blinding white. The cool air whips through my thick braids and makes them flutter behind me like a cape.
I wrap my arms around his waist and hold on for dear life, cheek pressed against his leather jacket.
He weaves between cars with reckless abandon that’s almost admirable if not fucking crazy.
Several times it feels like we’re about to become street food—Gun taking turns so sharp the bike nearly goes horizontal, diving down alleyways so narrow I question if we’ll get stuck.
But somehow he keeps us going, jetting out on the other side.
The Cheongryong aren’t giving up easily. Through the mirrors, I can see them tailing us in a massive black SUV and two smaller motorcycles. Their headlights are blinding as they chase after us like we’re prey to be hunted.
More gunfire erupts as they try to nail us.
Gun responds by doing something completely insane.
He turns down a crowded promenade full of late-evening shoppers. They scream and scatter in all directions, diving for cover as we rocket through the plaza.
One of the shoppers freezes in horror as they try to cross to safety and then wind up in the path of one of the motorcycles following us.
The Cheongryong rider panics too, swerving left and crashing into a shop window. Glass explodes everywhere, designer handbags and mannequins among the debris.
The SUV appears through a side street, clearly undeterred by their partner going down.
Gun slams on the gas as the massive vehicle barrels toward us.
We shoot forward into the narrowest alleyway I’ve ever seen—so tight the brick walls brush either shoulder.
One wrong move and we’ll be in the emergency room.
The SUV comes to a screeching halt behind us, too wide to follow. By the time they find another route around, we’ll be long gone into Seoul’s labyrinthine streets.
But we’re not in the clear yet.
The second motorcycle is still on our ass. Its rider opens fire again as we emerge from the alley. Gun’s body jerks against mine as a bullet pierces his shoulder.
He growls in pain, the bike wavering dangerously as he fights to maintain control while blood soaks through his jacket.
For a terrifying moment, I think we’re going to go down in a tangle of metal and broken bones. Gun manages to wrestle the bike back under control and guides us into the mouth of a concrete parking garage.
We hop off the moment we’re out of sight, both of us breathing hard as the sound of our pursuer’s engine echoes off the walls somewhere behind us.
“This way,” he growls, grabbing my hand again.
We disappear deeper into the shadows, racing up the stairwell to hide in the massive concrete structure.
We hurtle up the stairs two at a time, breathing ragged every step of the way.
The skybridge appears like a lifeline on the fifth floor. It stretches across the void, connecting the parking garage to a massive designer mall that glitters with Gangnam retail opulence even at this hour.
We sprint across the glass-walled corridor as another black SUV cruises past on the street below.
More Cheongryong members scouring the area for us. They know we couldn’t have gotten far.
The mall’s interior is as expected. Nothing but luxury storefronts and polished marble.
We wander the area until we find a family restroom tucked away near the food court. I dive inside first as Gun follows, snapping the lock into place.
He immediately wrests off his leather jacket, hissing through his teeth at the pain from his shoulder.
Blood has soaked through the black t-shirt he’s wearing, exposing the damaged flesh.
“How bad?” I ask.
He grits his teeth and snatches paper towels from the dispenser. “I’ve had worse. This isn’t what I’m worried about. I’m more concerned with how the hell we’re going to get out of this area... and how you can ever show your face in Seoul again after tonight.”
I catch his reprimand and irritation and react off temper.
“I never asked you to intervene,” I say. “In fact, I would’ve preferred if you hadn’t.”
“I wasn’t going to let you murder my father,” he snarls back, clutching his bleeding shoulder with a handful of paper towels that immediately soak through.
“You better get used to it, because I’ll never stop trying!”
Gun’s face clenches the same way it had the last night we argued. He’s at his wit’s end, any and all patience gone.
“Tell me!” he demands, taking a step toward me despite his injury. “I want the truth right now, feline. What the fuck is your revenge all about? What has you so fucking bitter you’d risk anything to destroy my father and the syndicate!”
I back toward the door, suddenly needing escape more than confrontation, but he refuses to be denied this time.
“I SAID TELL ME!” he barks louder. “Tell me what the fuck it is!”
When I reach for the handle, his good hand slams against the door above my head, keeping it firmly shut.
He’s not letting me leave.
I spin around to face him, for the first time in years, emotion swelling up inside me like a dam about to burst. My chest heaves with desperate breaths as everything I’ve kept buried threatens to spill out in a torrent of pain and fury.
In a distant blur of memories that have been eating me alive since I was old enough to understand what loss really means.
“You want to know what this is all about, Rhee?” I cry out, my voice trembling. “You want to know why?”
The words hang in the air for a heartbeat before I finally release them into the world, each syllable heavier than the last.
“Your father murdered mine.”