Chapter 164 - Sunny Daze (10): Two Sides of a Coin

KJ looked from Ash to Teppei. The latter was shocked as blood gushed out of his leg. He tumbled forward, writhing in pain.

"AHHHH!" His scream echoed through the room. 

"Ash!" KJ called out. He was stunned at his sudden appearance. "How did you get that gun?"

Ash did not reply but stared at the wounded man. 

"Y-you…" Teppei sputtered out. His leg was in excruciating pain. The blood loss was too great; his consciousness was fading.

KJ turned back towards Junhyung, who was watching everything with an amused expression. 

"Let Hyun Jung go," KJ threatened. "You've been overpowered here."

Junhyung was silent for a few seconds before letting out a loud laughter. KJ was confused. 

"Why are you laughing?" KJ demanded. Junhyung's eyes were tearing up with his laughter. He hiccuped and pointed behind KJ.

Confused by the reaction, KJ turned back only to find himself at gunpoint again. This time, Ash's gun was pointing towards him. The gentleness in his eyes was replaced by a cold, calculative gaze.

"Ash…?" KJ whispered. "What are you doing?"

"Hi, Jiwon," Ash greeted in a chilling voice. 

"What is all this?" KJ questioned.

"Let me tell you!" Junhyung piped up. He began to pace back and forth.

"Ash was raised by the President of the Cartel himself," Junhyung began to narrate. "He was secretly groomed by the President in order to take over as the next head of the Cartel. However, Shun and Ziko were increasingly gaining momentum. They wanted the top throne and the President suspected that they were planning a coup-d'etat to take him down. Ash wanted the throne to himself and those two were becoming a headache."

"So I went to Madam Lim's gang," Ash continued. "To spy on Ziko. All these years, we kept on instigating Ziko and Shun against each other while I posed as an escort slash idol. It was difficult to keep up with so many identities, but it was necessary. However, the cream on the top was...you."

"You see, we had only planned to infiltrate Ziko's gang," Junhyung said. "But our luck favored us when you and Ash were trained to be in the same idol group. And then, EXOTIC debuted. For years, Ash kept an eye on you."

"I wanted to test you," Ash said. "Analyze you to see if you were a worthy opponent. To see if you were as indomitable as everyone claimed. No matter how much you claimed to be cold and unfeeling, I deduced that you had one fatal weakness. You care for the people around you."

"So...all the time we spent together as friends...were a lie?" KJ questioned. His voice was hoarse. Hurt and betrayal were bubbling inside him. Please say no, he begged. Tell me you're lying.

"They were," Ash replied. "I wasn't beside you as a friend. I was there as your future enemy."

"And...her?" KJ asked. "What about her?"

Ash did not reply but his eyes were cold. "A distraction," he admitted. "She was a distraction. I fancied her. Nothing more."

"Your promises were lies," KJ stated. 

"Merely half truths," Ash corrected him. 

"And the story about your parents and sister? I'm assuming you lied about those as well."

"I did," Ash replied calmly. "The girl whom I raised and sent away from the country was just someone I adopted to keep up with the ruse. I fed her lies, pretending to be her older brother. She was gullible and bought it. I cooked up the story of how the Cartel was blackmailing me to keep on working for them otherwise they'd take my sister away."

"How did you hide all this from Abyss?" KJ asked.

"It was simple, really," Junhyung said. "We just did not contact each other at all. After making the plan, we went on to incite the war inside the Cartel on our own. Ash was spying on Ziko while masquerading as an idol since Ziko's hold in the entertainment industry was strong. I kept an eye on Shun and the President. We worked independently to avoid any attention."

"Abyss never found out because we had no records," Ash stated. "We had only one way of communicating."

"CEO Ahn," Junhyung stated. "You see, early on, Ash had acquired evidence of CEO Ahn's gambling habits. So I went undercover as a bank teller and handled all his finances. I forged his connection with the Cartel, implicating him in the process. We used this to blackmail him."

"We made him verbally transfer information to and fro," Ash continued. "I was the one who informed Junhyung of Madam Hong's death through CEO Ahn ."

"But Ahn got rebellious," Junhyung said. "So I had him killed to keep his mouth shut. Then I informed Teppei that Madam Hong snitched on us," Junhyung said. "Teppei and I simply concocted a plan where we'll lure you here and kill you so that Ash can take his rightful place as the next successor. As for Teppei, we double crossed him and will leave him here to rot. Abyss can get to him and if he spills, they'll get Ziko. With Shun out of the way already and if Ziko is caught he'll be out too…We already know who the CEO of Abyss is. It's only a matter of time before the Cartel gets to her.

KJ clenched his fists. His closest friend...the friend he fought so hard to protect was claiming that he betrayed them. It was hard to believe. The flashes of their youth were popping up in front of his eyes. Their struggles, their pain, their laughter. Everything they went through together to form EXOTIC. Was it all a lie?

"Why didn't you kill me all this time?" KJ asked sarcastically. "You had plenty of chances."

"I did," Ash agreed. "But if I had killed you then, it would not have been fun. I wanted to look you in the eye and snuff the life out of you. You and me... We're two sides of the same coin. I wanted you to face death by my hands."

"So you wanted to kill me? So that you could become the next head of the Cartel?" KJ scoffed. "And you used Teppei as bait. You made us think that we were using him whereas it was the other way around."

"Yes," Ash said softly. He raised his gun. "I didn't want Teppei to finish you off. After all these years, that right remains with me. It's the kindest death I could offer you."

"Death doesn't scare me," KJ declared defiantly. "Go ahead and shoot. I dare you!"

Is it really you, Ash? KJ wondered. Where was his strong and gentle friend? Why did it all come to this? Is he telling the truth? Or is he lying?

Behind him, Hyun Jung stirred. He opened his eyes, only to be blinded by the bright light. Blurry figures stood in front of him. Blinking several times, he managed to clear his vision. The scene in front of him stunned his very core.

"KJ?" he whispered. "Ash?"

Why was Ash holding a gun at KJ? Why was Junhyung standing next to Ash? 

He tried to move but his body was tied up and there was a gag in his mouth.

"Let him go," KJ said. "Hyun Jung did nothing wrong!" 

"We don't care about him anyway," Ash sneered, as he pulled the trigger. "Time to say goodbye, KJ."

But before he could pull the trigger, Junhyung jumped on Ash, pushing him to the floor. A single gunshot missed him by half a second. KJ turned his head around to see a lone figure standing at the doorway. A small ginger cat stood by her side.

At that moment, the person standing there scared him more than Ash's cold gaze. Because Mirae's eyes were full of bloodl.u.s.t, ready to kill anyone in her way.