Disclaimer: Does everyone agree with me that I do not own the series? If I did, the arc would have gone like this instead and there would have been no need to write this fanfic.

Summary: Sera Kang's rescue was a bust and things go from bad to worse for our captive. Retelling of Yi Shi-Woon's rescue in chapters 72-80. Shi-Woon is more wounded and affected in this version (not to mention a little more helpless).

RME: this is dedicated to those of us who wanted more from this arc.

Kidnapped

By: RedMoonEclipse

The tendons in my neck were screaming from the strain I was putting them through. Sweat was dripping down my face even as I struggled to get free. Bae Seung-Jae was a mad man. If I didn't somehow free myself I was dead. I had told no one, not even Gyu-Bum Ajussi, where I was going. My words to him came back as if to haunt me.

"Can you wait here for a while, Gyu-Bum Ajussi?"

Seung-Jae was going through something beside me like nothing was wrong. Even the smile hadn't even changed. I struggled for any leverage that I could use to free myself but the restraints were tight and allowed almost no movement. With the one snugly around my neck, it was impossible to even chew through them.

He came back to me holding an IV needle and an empty blood bag. "Aren't you glad though?" He asked with his smile never wavering, "At least you got to feel the strongest level of Ki in the Murim before you died." His fingers softly went down my lower arm. The fear I was feeling must have been on my face when he looked up at me. "Now, now…don't be so sad. That blood is going to go to good use."

"Mmph! Mmph!" I tried to scream through the gag. Rocking wildly back and forth only served to make the restraints dig into my skin. It was as if I was donating blood at a blood drive but the part that had my heart pounding was the question of how many bags before he's done? Yang Yong-Hyun's words left no doubt that I was going to be drained dry like a vampire victim before Seung-Jae was finished.

"Ah, ah, ah…moving around like that will only cause problems," the man stated cheerfully. His deft fingers slipped the IV needle into a vein in my arm with only slight discomfort. Tape was placed over the long needle several times and I watched the tube at the end of the blood bag be connected to it. All I could do was watch as my own blood slowly went down the tube.

x.X.x

The full blood bags were neatly stacked in a white, plastic box nearby. I could feel Seung-Jae's eyes on me as I blinked again to erase the bleariness. The beeping machine nearby hadn't stopped since soon after I had woken strapped to the chair. I don't know what it was monitoring as my Ki level was supposedly at its peak. Since the start of the blood drawing Seung-Jae had barely even looked at it.

I blinked again in a vain attempt to clear my vision. My head was telling me to lie down for a while before I fainted. My body was protesting being in the same position for who knows how long. There were goose bumps collecting on my skin as if in testament to my dwindling body warmth. With only my boxers still on, there was no protection from the surrounding cool air. What I wouldn't give for a blanket right now. If the gag hadn't been around my mouth, I'm sure that my teeth would be chattering at this point.

"Oh! That one's done." His words brought me out of my thoughts in time to see him unhooking the tube from the IV needle and replacing it with another empty one. The full blood bag was stacked with the others in the box and he returned to his seat. I couldn't stop looking at the filling bag lying next to me on the cart. It felt so surreal that my life-blood was being drained so completely from me as if nothing was wrong.

Almost like I had blinked time away, the bag was filled and switched for another. My limbs and head were getting heavy and the energy that I had woken with was much depleted by now. I could feel the lethargy trying to wash over me. The fear inside me was being erased by a tiredness that I had never felt before. I didn't even have the resolve to continue to struggle like before.

My eyes closed and when I finally opened them a few more red colored bags had been added to the box. My head lolled to the side, almost falling off the headrest. I tried to count the number of bags my blood had already filled but the numbers escaped my grasp before I could even finish counting. I could tell my mind was shutting down. Before long I couldn't even keep my eyes open.

One of my eyelids was pried open and a light shone on it.

"Hey, hey, don't die just yet. I think we can get one more bag," Seung-Jae stated with worry. The fingers and light left and for a few seconds only sounds could be heard. Then he began to talk again. "Eat this and let's do our best." There was a slight discomfort in my other arm similar to when the IV needle had been placed earlier and a liquid was pushed into my veins. The slight discomfort came back as if to signify that the syringe had been removed. "Next, I'll harvest your skin and muscles."

I didn't even have the energy to feel disgusted at those words. My body was screaming for sleep and I couldn't say 'no' to it. I opened my eyes slightly to see what Seung-Jae was doing only to find that I was alone. A few seconds later my vision went black. The continual beeping was there as if to signify that I was still alive.

Am I…falling…into darkness? I slowly thought as the constant beeping faded.

x.X.x

BEEP

My eyes slowly opened. Sera Noona's face was so close and something warm was against my frozen lips.

Is this…a dream?

I blinked slowly and her face drew back. Her finger went against my lips. "Please swallow what's in your mouth. It's a blood supplement pill from the Il-Wol-Moon clan." Her fingers gently traced down my throat in encouragement. Reflexively, I swallowed what was in my mouth. She gently touched my sore wrist, loosened the buckle around it and then reached for the other side. "I'm transferring back your blood. Along with the pill's effects, you'll soon regain your strength."

I closed my eyes once more. Yeah, I thought, this must be a dream…there's no way Sera Noona would come here. After all, I had been terrible to her the last time I had seen her. Why would she rescue me after I had accused her of letting my mom get hurt?

"Shi-Woon-nim, stay awake, please," Sera Noona said from beside me.

I struggled to open my eyes again. I still didn't have the energy to move even my head but the sight of her standing there as if she was guarding me gave some comfort. When she turned and walked away, the panic came back. I wanted to call out to her but my mouth wouldn't obey me. She grabbed a full blood bag and connected the tube to the IV needle. She reached up above my head and when her hands came back down, they were empty.

Her eyes kept fluttering around the area in nervousness even though she never said anything. It was as if she was trying to stay calm while watching over me. I could only stare at her as we waited. She finally unhooked the tube and threw the now-empty bag to the ground at her feet. Her right hand went for another bag which she put above me again then connected its tube to the needle.

I closed my eyes and everything went black. I was so tired and Sera Noona was with me now. I was finally safe from Bae Seung-Jae.

x.X.x

The first thing that registered when I woke up was that my feet were being dragged across the floor. Then the pain in my arm and shoulder came. I made a noise as my eyes opened to reveal I was being carried along a walkway. The heavy breathing from beside me was the final thing that clicked.

I opened my eyes to see Sera Noona's sweating face.

"You're awake," she stated in a calm voice.

"H-how is it that you're...?" My brain backtracked in confusion. "Why am I leaning against you…?"

"Please don't worry about it," she breathlessly replied. "You still haven't regained any strength."

My face went hot. The only thing that I could think of saying was a dumb "Did you come here to rescue me, Sera Noona?"

"Let's talk about the details later. You need to focus on getting your Ki under control." There was silence with only her panting being heard.

A thought was nagging at me and, with my mind still not fully awake yet, I blurted out, "Um… about that day, I didn't get to properly apologize to you, and yet, here you are…"

She looked at me. "It's okay, I too was…"

"Oi, oi! Where are you going?" Sheer ice coursed through me at his voice. Sera Noona and I turned to find Seung-Jae behind us. "I thought you'd be somewhere far away by now, but here you are~!"

Sheer terror flowed through me as I remembered those numerous bags he had filled with my blood and the promise of cutting me up.

"You look pretty strong. You sure you were on the verge of dying?" It was if the man wasn't even flustered at finding me free. "I'll have to admit, you recuperating this much in such a short time, is quite amazing…," the mad man commented with that same smile from before.

The memory of my mom's unconscious body lying on that hospital bed came back. I took a step forward, my legs almost buckling underneath me. I wasn't about to let him hurt another person I cared about. No one else was going to get hurt while I'm here.

Sera Noona came beside me. With her hands on my arm in encouragement, she could feel my shaking muscles. She didn't have to ask if I had any energy because I knew she could tell that I had almost none.

Sera Noona's hands dropped and she took a stance in front of me with her hands up. I couldn't see Seung-Jae's eyes but the smile never wavered. I took the defensive stance that Jeon Jang-Il had taught me. My fists were clenched tight to hide the shaking I couldn't stop. My face was calm but inside I was panicking. My strength hadn't come back yet and my body felt warmer than normal.

Seung-Jae hadn't changed his stance but a knife had somehow appeared in his hand when I hadn't been looking. Even now his smile hadn't changed. He wasn't even in a defensive position like Sera Noona and I. What was the mad man thinking?

"Such a fine ingredient is getting away," Seung-Jae calmly stated to himself. "What will I do if the specimen is too wounded to harvest anything?"

My fists lowered slightly in confusion. We were about to fight and he was worried about not being able to harvest anything afterwards? I shook my head to clear the confusing thoughts and I squared my jaw. Bae Seung-Jae wasn't going to get me back so there was no point in worrying about his worries.

I was the first to break the wait. My lower fist went for the man's head but he just ducked. My right leg went into the air to kick him but I fell like a sack of potatoes when my left one gave out. My hands slammed onto the walkway behind me to break my fall and I had to wait for the world to stop spinning. A sharp, searing pain in my left thigh quickly brought the spinning to a halt. The knife in the mad man's hand was sticking out of the top of my leg. With a deft yank and fire running through my leg, the knife was pulled out and raised for another strike. I couldn't block the attack this time.

Sera Noona's slender hands wrapped around Seung-Jae's arm and she threw him over her shoulder. His back crashed into a wall far away, leaving a large indent where he had landed. She grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet. Her eyes were guarded as she steadied me at her side. Leaning heavily against her with my arm over her shoulders again, we continued forward on the walkway.

There was a sound behind us and my heard turned in time to catch that Seung-Jae was almost on top of us. I pushed Sera Noona out of the way and braced myself for impact. The sharp, searing fire in my thigh was echoed in my side. This time I grabbed the hand holding the weapon and pulled it away. The scream that came with the blade leaving my side seemed to come from far away. My hand tried to stop the bleeding but it must have been pretty deep for the blood to flow so freely between my fingers.

"Shi-Woon-nim!" Sera Noona screamed in panic.

My legs were trembling so much that I knew I didn't have much time to stop Seung-Jae before I used up the little energy that I had gotten back. I had to give her time to escape before my body gave out on me.

"R-run," I told her.

She shook her head. "Not without you!" She insisted. "You can't fight in your state so let me protect you."

I wanted to shout a venomous 'no' back but she wasn't bleeding and exhausted like I was. My desire to protect her was fighting against the blatant truth that I was on the verge of collapsing. The dizziness was threatening to return and if we weren't safe when it did, Sera Noona would have to fight alone to keep both of us alive.

I finally nodded my head and leaned against the railing of the walkway to keep myself from falling. She placed herself in front of me and took another defensive stance. My hands on the railing tightened to keep myself from falling. Seung-Jae looked from me to her and shook his shoulders, the knife gleaming red in the light. He didn't shift positions when Sera Noona started attacking. She was moving so fast that I couldn't keep track of her. I could see that the mad man wasn't that ruffled by the change in events. The fight played out like a movie with neither side getting the upper hand. My mind was screaming at me to help her but my body wasn't moving. The longer the fight went, the more I was lost in the haze in my mind. I was lightheaded and the possibility of fainting wasn't that farfetched. Like the times that Teacher had to save me, I was completely helpless watching a battle just feet away from where I stood. If my Ki-center hadn't been destroyed, I could have fought alongside her or even have killed Seung-Jae on my own.

"Ah!" Sera Noona's cry brought my attention back to the fight. In the time that I had been focused inward, she had received many wounds, including one to the side. Her pants were more pronounced as she held her hand over the wound. There must have been more because her other arm had blood dripping down it.

"Sera Noona!" I screamed in panic.

Without paying much attention to anything else, I was by her in the blink of an eye. My hands were placed on her shoulders and I could clearly see the pain she was hiding in her eyes. Her bloodied hand went to my cheek and she smiled slightly. Then her eyes closed and I had to catch her. I could feel her pulse when I put my fingers against her neck. I breathed a sigh of relief. She was alive. I had to get her to a hospital before she died from blood-loss.

"Ah, ah, ah, I can't have my ingredient be taken away from me," Seung-Jae stated. "After I spent so much time getting it ready, how can I just let it get away from me?"

My blood boiled and I saw red. Sera Noona was possibly dying and that man didn't care. My Ki was crying to be used and I gave in. If I didn't kill him soon, Sera Noona was going to die. I couldn't hold back.

With a strength that I suddenly seemed to have, my right fist collided with Seung-Jae's cheek. There was a bang from the Ki blast explosion and the man's back hit the walkway a few feet away from where I was now standing. I clenched my fists harder in rage and went after him again. The only thing on my mind was getting Sera Noona medical attention before she died.

"I'm really bad at this, you know," Seung-Jae commented as he stopped my punch. "Can't we just talk this out?"

I screamed words that even I couldn't understand. I jumped into the air and my uninjured leg connected with his face. He stumbled a few steps back and rubbed his red nose. I was right back in front of him with another punch when he suddenly ducked. Thinking that he was going for my other leg, I quickly jumped back and went into another defensive position. The mad man was still bent over, as still as a statue. I didn't know what he was thinking as his face was parallel to the walkway.

"Hmm….what to do," the man muttered to himself. "Don't want to harm it since I'm getting such a good deal for this. Should I just incapacitate him or knock him unconscious?"

A scream escaped my lips at his words. He wasn't completely in focus at this point but I could still tell where he was standing. I just couldn't see why he hadn't straightened up again.

"You're not getting me back," I forcefully told him. I wasn't going to show the fear caused by his words or my worry for Sera Noona's life.

"You sure?" He asked, "You see, I have my ways."

A sudden sense of vertigo overpowered me and for a bit my world went completely black as I tried to fight against going unconscious again. If I blacked out, Sera Noona wouldn't get any medical attention and the mad man would have me at his mercy again. I wasn't going to let either –

BAM!

When it finally registered that I had been hit behind the neck, I was already sprawled on the walkway with Seung-Jae above me. My vision faded to black as he continued to talk even though I couldn't hear him.

x.X.x

The beeping was back and I could feel something cold underneath me. The feeling of restraints around my wrists and ankles on top of the sore spots confirmed that I had been caught again.

I opened my eyes to the harsh light hanging above me. My leg and side were still on fire but the feeling of something covering them meant that Seung-Jae had at least stopped the bleeding. Thank goodness for the blood replenishing pill that Sera Noona had given me earlier.

Like lightning, the worry in me spiked. I looked for Sera Noona but I couldn't see her.

"Oh, you're awake!" Seung-Jae stated from above me. I couldn't move my head away thanks to the restraint around my neck.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"You mean the girl who was with you? She's in here with us."

He left my field of sight for many seconds and then returned dragging Sera Noona by her arms. She was still unconscious when he laid her by a beam within my sight. With my neck straining to get a better look at Sera Noona, the restraint was digging into my windpipe. I had to give up trying to see and instead my head went back against the headrest of the chair I was buckled to. He nodded his head once and returned to me.

"Shall we restart?" He asked with glee. "I think I'll start with the harvesting of skin and muscle this time." My eyes went wide. "Oh, but since there are others here who don't know you're here, I'll have to gag you again. Hope you don't mind."

"What!?"

A cloth gag was tied around my mouth tightly, effectively cutting off my voice. He patted my hand and turned around. "Let's see…where to start, where to start, where to start…," he muttered as his left hand roamed from my arms to stomach. "There are already wounds so I'll have to do this differently than I had originally planned." His fingers stopped above my chest. "Hope you won't mind."

In his right hand was a surgeon's scalpel. The fingers of his left hand spread out like a doctor, he sliced right below my ribcage. I screamed from the pain but his hand didn't even hesitate as he continued to cut. His fingers went into the incision and the scalpel cut my skin perpendicular to the earlier one. Eventually an entire piece was cut off from right below my ribcage. He picked up the section of my skin and put it in a small metal box on the cart. I could see that the piece wasn't that small.

Without giving me an anesthetic before he started cutting again, he kept going even with my muffled screams and shaking body. Another piece of skin was cut away and placed with the first one. I don't know how many pieces he took as I felt every incision, every tug he made while he worked. Sweat had already broken out on my body, the saltiness stinging in the wounds. More and more places on my body were burning with pain. I wanted to pass out but it was if the gods were mocking my silent plea for unconscious to take away the fire roaring through me.

Seung-Jae eventually paused and looked at my opened eyes with curiosity. "Haven't had this happen before," he muttered to himself. His bloody, gloved fingers checked for my pulse. "Awake and still alive, hmm?" His fingers left my wrist without bothering to wipe the blood off that was left behind. "By now everyone was always unconscious and close to death. Does it have anything to do with your healing rate?" He shrugged and returned to harvesting pieces of my skin.

When he went a few steps to the right, I thought that he was taking a break. My body relaxed but a few seconds later, the sight of scalpels in both his hands sent my blood pressure through the roof. His bloody hands were pressing lightly here and there on my left leg near the injury. The gauze was peeled off, the pain from the tape being roughly torn off my skin miniscule to the fire coursing above my stomach, and thrown to the ground. His left hand was touching close to the wound on my thigh and he cut perpendicular to the end of it. With two more cuts, the skin of my thigh was hanging above me. More pieces of my skin were cut off and placed with the others in the small metal box on the cart.

When he finally spoke, I could barely hear him through the creeping darkness. "Hmm…I should probably harvest the muscles and tissue now." His bloody hands went for something on the cart behind him. I could see perfectly the scissors with the bent blade in his hand when he turned around. His free hand went inside the exposed tissue under my ribcage and he began to cut the tissue in strips; the pain from before paled to the sheer agony that came. I'm not sure if I was screaming or crying but the cloth gag muffled most of the sound.

"Hey, hey, we can't have people finding you before I'm done," he reminded me.

I was shaking too much to struggle against the restraints. I was extremely dizzy and lightheaded. I felt like I was about to pass out from the pain. I prayed to the gods that whoever was here would find me before the mad man went much further. Sera Noona was bleeding freely just feet away from me and I was completely helpless.

There was a loud noise outside of the tent I was inside and several voices were arguing close by. From the look on Seung-Jae's face, he knew who was outside and, for some reason, wasn't happy that they were there. Putting down the surgical instrument in his hand, he walked through the flap. Thumps and cries filtered through the pain along with a shadow falling. When the flap moved again, a tall, brunette walked in with a bald man behind him. They stopped beside me and the cloth gag was removed by the brunette.

"Yi Shi-Woon?" He asked.

I only nodded as my throat was protesting about being used so soon again.

"I'm Heo Won-Jae. We came with Sera Kang to rescue you." He motioned to the other man. "Look Shi-Woon over before we leave this place."

"N-no," I managed to get out, "save Sera Noona first."

"Moon-Ju-nim?" The man asked.

Heo Won-Jae waved his hand in dismissal. "I'll look Shi-Woon over then. You treat Sera Kang."

The man's fingers traveled over my wounds with an unhappy face. The buckles were finally undone and Moon-Ju took a step back. "Don't move just yet," he commanded.

I struggled to not fall off while he went back for some bandages. I was still lightheaded and dizzy and I could tell that I was about to pass out. My worry for Sera Noona kept the blackness away for now. Once Sera Noona was safe, then I could finally pass out.

"Looks like you were skinned like an animal," Moon-Ju stated when he returned. "Your tissue has been cut out in places as well – some deeper than others. We'll have to wait for grafting skin back on and deal with the missing tissue after we get out of here. All I can do right now is cover the rather…extensive…areas that Bae Seung-Jae had created."

I was fine with that since it meant that Sera Noona could get to a hospital faster. I didn't move while he bandaged the wounds. When he was finally done, he took a few steps back and held out his hand. I grabbed it and stood up but found myself falling forward almost immediately. Grabbing me by my shoulders, Moon-Ju steadied me as the world spun out of control. My knuckles were white where I was holding his sleeve as I waited for everything to right itself again. Once the world stopped spinning, I stepped back. The man I had been holding onto didn't say anything as I watched the other man finish dressing Sera Noona's wounds.

"Let's get out of here," Moon-Ju commanded once the first-aid box was repacked, "I don't want to be around when back-up arrives."

"What about Bae Seung-Jae?" I asked in confusion.

"I killed him," Moon-Ju answered.

A part of me was relieved that Seung-Jae was dead because that meant I was safe from him. Another part of me wasn't happy that someone had died. It was something that I would have to sort through later when everything was over and Sera Noona was in the hospital.

Moon-Ju kept close by me while his companion carried Sera Noona on his back. I didn't know how to get out of this place so I let the others guide me to the car that was waiting for us. We were silent as we walked, each with our own thoughts. The pain from the wounds that I had received thanks to Seung-Jae were throbbing with each step and I could tell that I was about to pass out any minute. The dizziness was threatening my sense of vertigo as we continued traveling through what looked like an abandoned building. I kept expecting Yang Yong-Hyun to show up but we never came across another soul except Bae Seung-Jae who had been lying on the ground outside of the tent I had been kept in.

We came out of the building finally only to be surrounded by the S.U.C. with Yong-Hyun in front. We stopped not far from where the enemy captain was standing with arms folded looking like, for all the world, to be unimpressed. Many of the people dressed in skeleton outfits were holding bats.

"Let us through," Moon-Ju commanded the enemy.

"Give us Yi Shi-Woon and you may die fast," was all that the man in sunglasses said.

"He is coming with us."

"Then I guess you and your accomplices must die. Yi Shi-Woon is not leaving this place."

My hands clenched in anger as the S.U.C captain's words from earlier came back. There was no way I was going to join the enemy and I refused to be turned into ingredients. I wanted nothing more than to pass out right now and those who stood between us and the car were in the way.

"Fight me, Yang Yong-Hyun," I commanded, "If I win this fight then you'll let these people go. If I lose you can have my body like you wanted."

I ignore the shocked looks from my rescuers. I couldn't let them get hurt because of me. I would fight for their escape even if it meant that I died in the process.

"Very well," Yong-Hyun agreed. He looked at one of his guys and ordered, "Bring me my gauntlet." He held out his hand and a metal gauntlet was put over his hand and wrist. He clenched his fist and came closer.

I put my hands in front of my bandaged chest and spread my knees apart. My opponent stood in front of me as if deep in thought. The emotions flashing through his eyes changed too quickly to put a name to any of them. I gathered my Ki, ignoring the swearing behind me. My eyes never left the opponent in front of me so I never saw the coming attack from behind. It was like I blinked and I was laying face down in the asphalt with the back of my neck screaming about the abuse everyone else was putting it through.

"I'm still the head of a school," Moon-Ju stated from above my prone body with irritation dripping from his words. "I can win this fight without the help of an injured, half-there kid."

Blackness eagerly swallowed me up into the comforting arms of unconsciousness.

x.X.x

Cold.

Where ever I was, cold air was surrounding me.

Hard.

I was laying on something hard that felt similar to what Bae Seung-Jae had strapped me to.

BEEP….BEEP….BEEP…

The constant rhythm was familiar like I had heard it before, somewhere.

The soft male voice near me sent shivers down my spine as my mind connected the dots. The rescue must have been a dream and I was still in that mad man's hands. The beeping sped up when my heart threatened to break through my chest. Raw fear was coursing through my veins. All I could think about was that I was going to die unless I got out of there.

I struggled to open my eyes to find an escape route. My body was screaming for sleep but my mind was screaming to run away now. Fumbling to get up, I almost fell to the ground. There were shouts by someone but I was too panicked to process them. Arms caught me and I screamed with flailing fists.

"Where is that sedative?" A male voice I recognized hissed above me. "He needs to stop moving like this before something happens."

"Get away from me!" I screamed, trying to punch whoever was holding me.

A string of curses and, with my bleary eyesight, I saw some people run to me. I knew that they would hold me down until that sedative could be given and they could restrain me again. If that happened, there was no chance of getting away from Bae Seung-Jae. I couldn't let him have his way.

"Hold him down!" The familiar voice ordered.

Hands grabbed my wrists and ankles above the sores that the restraints from earlier had made. I bucked, trying to throw them off. More hands stilled me and the panic increased. I couldn't move as a needle was plunged into my arm and the sedative was given. My body sagged and I blacked out again.

x.X.x

When I finally woke up again, I was warm. I could feel a blanket covering my body and a bed underneath me. The beeping was gone this time and the cold air wasn't so chilly. It reminded me more of a hospital than some crazy person's personal lab.

The way I was laying was kind of uncomfortable so, still half-asleep, I tried to move positions. The fact that my arms and legs didn't move from their spread-eagle position brought the fact that I was in restraints to my consciousness. Still waking up, panic seeped through the filter on my mind.

"In case you were wondering, the reason you are in restraints is because you almost opened your wounds the last time you woke up. Think of it as protection if you want."

I blinked my eyes open a couple of times in hope of clearing my vision. The hospital room was pretty obvious now that my eyes were open. I turned my head trying to find the source of the voice, the fact that I could move my head freely being filed away for later.

"You gave the others quite the scare, by the way," the person continued.

I found someone sitting a bit of ways from where I was laying. Blinking a couple of more times, I was finally able to clear my vision enough to see Moon-Ju sitting with a frown on his face.

"Where was I earlier?" I asked, voice gravely from the previous usage.

"In the Emergency Room at the Il-Wul-Moon's hospital, actually. You and Sera Kang were being looked at when you suddenly woke up. You panicked and tried to escape. We had to sedate you to stop you from causing any more injures."

Forgetting that I was restrained, I tried to sit up, a sting in the crook of my elbow telling me that I had an IV in my arm. Considering the liquid was clear, I knew that it was safe. Sera Noona was my concern right now and, from what I could see, she wasn't in the same room as me.

"Where is Sera Noona, Ajussi?" I asked.

"In recovery; her surgery finished about an hour ago."

Moon-Ju stood up and walked closer to me. He didn't sit on the bed like my mother would have, instead to seemingly prefer looking down at people. "Now that you are wake and calm, we have some matters to discuss." His facial expression didn't change; that same irritated look was still there.

"First off, Bae Seung-Jae is dead. The Martial Arts Alliance sent some people to confirm that guy's death. Second, everything that happened in that place with Bae Seung-Jae is to be kept a secret."

"How can I keep the fact that I'm injured and wearing bandages a secret?"

Moon-Ju ruffled his hair in agitation. "We'll come up with a reason later. Right now, I'll just use Sera-nim's words as it's a much better version." He pointed at me. "First, you. Although you have the responsibility of Gaju, you acted alone and almost died. If the Sunwoo clan knew, they wouldn't like it."

"But, why does Ajussi care? Did you have anything to do with the incident?"

I could tell that he hadn't been expecting my questions. He blinked a couple of times and scratched his forehead. "I'll just be honest. To tell you the truth, I almost became an accomplice in the plot to kill you. It was a misunderstanding and that's why I went there to save you. But, the Sunwoo clan won't be so easily forgiving so, before we meet them, I was to make a deal with you regarding that area."

"Since you saved Sera Noona and me, I'll do as you say."

"Then it's a deal." The man delicately patted my shoulder as if I was made of glass. "Get some rest. The Sunwoo Clan Leaders will be here soon."

I blushed where I was laying at the thought of being seen like this. "Can't you at least take the restraints off?" I asked, failing miserably to hide the uneasiness. "Wouldn't that make them ask questions?"

Moon-Ju stared at me as if weighing something. "If you promise to not panic, run or cause any more trouble, I will take them off."

I smiled in relief. "I won't."

The man pulled the blanket away from my wrists and ankles. There was some pull as the buckles were undone then nothing. He didn't have anything in his hands when he went to leave. With his hand on the door handle, he turned to me. "I'll have a nurse come by later to take them off the actual bed."

"Um…can I ask one more question?" It had been bugging me since I had woken up but the conversation had gone so fast that I hadn't been able to voice it.

"What is it?"

"What happened to Yang Yong-Hyun?"

His hand left the door handle. Sitting in the same chair he had been in when I had woken up, he clasped his hands. "I fought him after knocking you out. I was able to injure him enough for us to escape but I didn't come out of it unscathed; been told that I have a couple of broken ribs, among other things."

"Oh…," was all I could think to say as I rubbed my sore, bandaged wrists.

Moon-Ju stood again and this time left without saying anything. I wanted to go see Sera Noona but I had no idea where the recovery room was at. With the knowledge that she was okay now, my mind went to the next problem: what to tell the Sunwoo Clan Leaders.

x.X.x

RME: …and that's all she wrote, folks! I'm leaving the conversation between Yi Shi-Woon and the Sunwoo Clan Elders up to your guys' imagination. Frankly, that part of the arc didn't have much to do with Shi-Woon's kidnapping so I didn't think that it was relevant. I hope that the ending of this story will blend nicely with the rest of the canon but, seeing as I haven't finished it yet, I don't really know. And, please, no spoilers! I would like to enjoy reading it.