Page 92 of Ruthless Touch

Gunshots erupt.

Bang bang.

The loudest sounds I’ve ever heard in my life. Then comes a grunt of pain as one of the men collapses…

My chest heaves as I’m jerked back to the present with violent force. The flashback has left my brain throbbing and heart racing.

I stand there paralyzed for a long moment, the old photograph still loosely in my grip.

Elise’s brows knit, a frown on her face. “Gun… Gun, what is it? Are you okay? Why are you suddenly so pale?”

I rub a hand over my face, trying to scrub away the shock from the memory. “You’re right, Goyangi. Everything you said was right. My father murdered yours. I remember because… I was there when it happened.”

NINETEEN

GUN

“This is a bad idea.”

Elise sighs from where she stands at my sides, huge sunglasses on her face and a wide-brimmed hat on her head. “We have to keep KD in the loop on what’s going on. He has a right to know the Cheongryong now suspect him.”

I grunt my dissatisfaction with this entire plan.

Everything about meeting up with her ex-partner—and ex-boyfriend—feels like walking into a trap we’re setting for ourselves.

But Elise insisted KD deserved to know.

It’s late afternoon when we arrive at the neutral location we’ve chosen—one of Pangyo’s bustling retail streets where a café sits tucked between designer boutiques and electronics storefronts.

The area buzzes with enough foot traffic that we should blend in.

The café itself is quaint and cozy, all exposed brick walls and hanging plants that give it the kind of hipster charm Seoul’s young professionals flock to.

KD’s waiting at a corner table, his brawny frame folded into one of their minimalist chairs as he sips from the straw of a cold brew coffee. The cup looks comically small in his massive hands.

His face lights up the moment he spots Elise, genuine warmth and relief flooding his features before his expression sours when he notices I’m with her.

He was hoping she’d turn up alone so it could be just the two of them.

“I really don’t like this guy,” I mutter under my breath as we approach the table.

“Shhh,” Elise shushes.

We take our seats with me constantly scanning our surroundings. Even in Pangyo, even with Elise disguised behind sunglasses and a baseball cap, we have to be careful.

The Cheongryong’s search net is wide. It would only take one sharp-eyed foot soldier to turn this cautious meeting into a bloodbath.

“Are you okay?” KD asks immediately, his attention focused solely on Elise. I might as well be invisible. “Do you need help getting out of this situation?”

I scoff before I can stop myself. “And what situation would that be?”

“The situation you’ve got her in,” he snaps, sparing me a look of loathing.

“Please behave like adults,” Elise groans, pinching the bridge of her nose in obvious frustration. “I’m not in the business of babysitting grown men.”

KD leans back in his chair, still working on his cold brew coffee. “What’s this about then? What did you want, EQ?”

“We wanted to meet so you could know the latest of what’s going on... since it involves you.”