Chapter 337 - Clash of the Idols (3)

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Hyung Jung asked. Nida had given Mirae Ash's address and both of them stood outside the building with their men. Mirae was staring at it, a rush of emotions coursing through her heart. The pain that man had inflicted may have subsided thanks to KJ but she was still bitter at the fact that she let herself be deceived by the likes of Ash Park.

"It's the only way," she muttered. She had not seen Ash since the party and he had been unusually quiet. But she had at least thought that Dasom's death would have some effect on him but the man was as heartless as ever. He did not even acknowledge the loss of his former member and stayed away. In fact, Mirae even suspected that he had a hand in Dasom's death.

"He was responsible," she stated out loud. "For Dasom and Eli's death. The fact that he's been quiet for so many days only increased her suspicions. If he knew about Dasom's impending death and still stayed mum over it, then he was worse than even the President himself.

"We'll enter through the back," Mirae instructed. She turned to her men and said, "You all will intercept the security room and take down the guards to make way for Hyun Jung and I. We'll enter the apartment and capture him."

She had already sent a few of their men to scan the building and was waiting for their feedback. Her phone vibrated and she saw their text.

"The building is clear," she frowned. "No guards but there's signs of life inside Ash Park's apartment."

"That's strange," Hyun Jung commented. "No guards?"

"None," Mirae confirmed. "No explosives either."

"Let's enter with caution," Hyun Jung said, taking out his gun. Mirae, who changed into dark colored clothes with a bullet proof jacket, also took out her gun and led the way. They climbed the stairs till the fourteenth floor. To their surprise, the whole building was empty. There were no other tenants and no sighting of any guard. It was like Ash had set up some kind of love fortress there.

Finally, they reached his apartment. Hyun Jung took his position, aiming his gun at the door in case anyone came out of the apartment while Mirae connected a mini hacking device to the electronic door lock. It was scanning through thousands of number combinations until she got the numbers. 

"5516," she said, typing in the numbers. The door made a clicking noise and was unlocked. Mirae and her men took their positions, quietly creeping into the apartment. 

The place was really dark. All the curtains were closed and it was difficult to see in that much darkness when someone spoke from behind them.

"You won't need to attack anyone here."

Mirae and Hyun Jung spun around, shocked to see Song Tamlin appearing from the shadows. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Mirae demanded. "Are you in cahoots with him?"

"Yes and no," Tamlin replied. He reached to his right to turn on the lights. To everyone's shock, Ash was sitting on the couch, unresponsive. He was conscious but looked completely broken. All around them, the room was in a chaotic mess. Glass shards were scattered across the floor while the furniture were upturned as if a storm had blown by. But to Mirae and Hyun Jung's shock, Ash was clutching on to something in his hand.

It was a picture of a fourteen year old Dasom in his school uniform.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mirae whispered, her gun aimed at Ash. "Don't pretend that you cared for them! You betrayed all of us!"

"Jung Mirae," Tamlin began. He stepped forward to hand her a box. Not moving from her aim, she took the box and opened it with her free hand. The contents inside the box shook her to the very core.

"This is…" she said. "This is my family!"

It contained a picture of her father and mother who were posing with a teenage boy. He looked barely seventeen and it seemed to be a photo of his high school graduation. Mirae immediately recognized the boy in the photo.

"This is you," she stated. Hyun Jung was also shocked to see the picture. 

"That's Ms. Sohee!" he exclaimed. "What the hell…"

He looked from the picture to Ash, who was still not moving from his spot. Even though the man was not responding, there was a blazing fire mixed with unending grief which burnt in his eyes. It was like he was in a paranoia and would burst at any moment.

Mirae had never seen him like this. Even when he betrayed them, he had a calm demeanor as if he knew he was in control.

But now, he looked like a broken man. It was the same grief as KJ's. Both of them were sharing the same feelings. Mirae slowly put her gun away and stepped towards Ash.

"Are you...are you him?" she asked. "The boy whom my father had adopted in secret?"

She waited for him to answer but he was still as a rock. Tamlin was watching them, quietly waiting to see if Ash Park would respond to anything. His phone beeped and he saw that it was a message from SD.

"Is that why you were at the hospital that night?" Mirae asked. "You were there to see them off for the last time."

She waited for him to answer but he averted his eyes, not being able to meet them. 

"Tell me everything," she demanded. "What's your real plan? Why did you betray your friends? Why did you do all this? Why did you kill Dasom?"

The last part made Ash's eyes flicker and he turned to face her, angry at her accusation.

"I didn't kill Dasom!" he exclaimed and stood to his feet. "If I had known, I would have killed that man long ago! I…"

He broke off, unable to express what he felt at that time. Sinking back into the couch, he ran his hands through his hair.

"I want to take over the Cartel so that I could destroy it," he revealed. "Thirty years ago, when KJ's mother destroyed the mansion, Jung Taewon rescued me from those flames and hid me in one of his orphanages. He and his wife were my benefactors. They hid this from you so that no one could find out about me. Both of them treated me well and I was happy in the orphanage."

"But when they died, I felt as if my world had come crashing down," he said, his voice croaking up. "That night, when I saw you crying in the rain, I could not help but feel guilty. I felt responsible for my grandfather's deeds and I knew that I must punish him. So I decided to take down the Cartel by myself."

"I went back to my grandfather's mansion to claim my right to the Cartel's throne. The President refused to believe me at first but after a DNA test proved that I was his grandson, he reluctantly let me in. To prove my mettle, he had me join the entertainment industry, where I ended up meeting none other than his enemy, Jiwon."

"You were lying to them from the very beginning," Hyun Jung pointed out.

"I wanted to know what sort of person KJ was," Ash replied. "Why was my grandfather so hellbent on killing him.To me, EXOTIC was nothing more than a means to get to the top and one day, take over the Cartel. But I was also tasked with keeping an eye on KJ."

"You fed them false information," Mirae stated. She did not know what to feel about this confession. Angry? Sad? Happy? 

To her surprise, she only felt pity. Ash may have had his reasons to betray them but it could not change the fact that he did. He had the choice to tell them the truth from the beginning but he wanted to do everything alone without trusting those who truly cared for him. If he had told them the truth, maybe Dasom would have been alive today.

"Tell us everything," she ordered. 

"And you better hurry up," Tamlin warned. "We have very little time."

The others looked at him and he held out his phone to show them SD's message.

"KJ is on his way to the President's Mansion," he revealed.