poison.

Would this woman be his salvation?

Lips parted, quivering from the slowly numbing pain. The anesthesia she had given him earlier through a few pills was starting to kick in, blurring his consciousness once again while easing the sting of the knife wound. Eyes strained as his trembling knuckles grazed the outline of her pale cheek in an attempt to read her thoughts through physical contact. Even as she grew closer, she still seemed so far away, too distant for him to reach her. The single touch was the single bridge that linked them together - even with bodies in close proximity, their souls were far from connected.

What was so horribly infatuating about her? What could he possibly do to bring himself closer to her?

Even so, he knew not of tenderness. He could fake affection to any woman, but in such a state of mind, only the instincts that had been molded by the cruelty of the underground could arise. Force, power, strength - his heart was overruled by carnal responses. Fingers laced through the strands of cropped, black hair, intertwining through and drew her closer to him in a single, swift motion.

The women Soo Hyuk had been with in the past were, for the most part, more beautiful than the one before him at that moment. He had always preferred milky, clean, skin accompanied with simple and subtle makeup - those who gave off a more innocent aura.

Those who resembled her.

His  head dipped slowly, only to rise again as he inhaled deeply and clenched his jaw tightly to remain focused. If he let go at any moment, she would be gone the next - that he knew for sure. Even through his determination to tighten his hold on her, he couldn’t risk losing her.

A simple question may prove to be a viable solution.

Perhaps in any other situation she wouldn't have been so tolerant of such behavior. After all, her body was her selling point, the only means of collecting both her income and information. But the actions of the man before her failed to offend her in any way. In his display of the only strength he had left, she would not protest.

Even from all her years of observing men and learning of their habits, she could hardly read his emotions. Perhaps it was from the medication she had given him - it was nothing lethal, but undeniably strong. With his focus fading, his expressions were becoming more enigmatic.

Did she dare allow herself to be lured in?

No - in the end, she could only hold herself over her curiosity. Fingers clasped around the knuckles pressed lightly against her face, slowly pushing them away from her skin. Her black gaze remained firm and defiant, its glow dulled but still severe.

"If I told you," Bargaining - her survival strategy. "What would I receive in return?" Maintaining balance was key, even when her chest seemed to be twisting and potentially warping her senses.

Even upon being pulled closer to the man, she brought herself further into his field of vision. The distance between their lips was hardly more than a single breath - a slight tilt of the head could quickly result in contact.

Stop. Could he possibly give such an order to someone he didn’t know? To someone he had met mere moments before? Would she even dare to listen? Would she even turn around and return to his side with that single word? To that small figure that seemed to both linger and grow farther apart from him at the same time - he wanted to call out to her. Infatuation? Gratitude? In any case, he wanted, in that moment, to simply bring her back to where she had been mere moments before.

Moving himself would be, quite obviously, impossible for the moment. Back pressed against the brick wall of an alley building, the leader kept the edge of his palm digging into the now-bandaged wound in his abdomen, as if such actions would somehow ease the pain. A stabbing - perhaps he should have anticipated such an action especially considering the lack of conflict centered around the Hearts. The fiercest storms came in the quietest times, after all.

Unsurprisingly, he had managed to retaliate quickly enough to keep the assassin from completing his job. A swift pull of the trigger was all it took to defend himself - but of course, it all fell together too late to prevent some degree of injury. Perhaps it was his simple carelessness that brought him to allow himself some freedom for the night. After all, constantly traveling with body guards could only last for so long with such consistency.

To  make it worse, he had been left in the hands of a passing stranger. Who she was, where she was from, and what her purpose was he could not discover. A few dazed minutes of the “King” lingering in and out of consciousness was all it took for the woman to treat his wound and walk away wordlessly. And now, finally, right as his eyes could finally focus through the stinging pain, all he could see was her fading silhouette, walking away from him into the city lights.

He couldn’t give up. He couldn’t simply let her slip away from his fingers. Why? Unfortunately, that wasn’t a question he could provide an answer with at the moment. In fact, he refused to let such doubts cloud his immediate goal.

Anyone could tell that while it came naturally to push her desires as an informant, Gain had little genuine care for the world around her. Her job was to simply report whatever her superiors asked of her. Compassion, empathy, generosity - she was not a woman of such emotions. Great strength certainly came from harboring such feelings, and Gain simply accepted her inability to carry such burdens. Rationality always won over any other thought in her head; that was her survival tactic.

She never once imagined that she would be able to meet the infamous King of Hearts. Especially considering their distinct social gap and opposing affiliations, interactions between the two should have been nearly impossible. Eyes wide, chest heaving, with lips quivering, Gain stood shakily as she watched the man fall to the ground, hands covering the stab wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. Several moments passed before she ran to the man's side, palms grazing the ground as she knelt down at his side.

The cold steel at her side seemed to dig into her skin. This was the perfect opportunity - finishing him off would be all too easy. The frozen King of Hearts  would be no more. His ruthless ways would be put to an end, his ambitions crushed with a single, clean slice delivered by a lowly stripper whose sole purpose in life was to collect information until her death. A swift, bitter conclusion - wasn't that what many desired?

Perhaps that was the fatal flaw. For instead of destroying him, she decided to bring him salvation. Now, as she stepped away from his limp body, she was once again faced with two clear paths. The answer was so blatantly obvious - which tempted her to turn the other way all the more. Intrigue. Fascination. Obsession. When was the last time she had so strongly felt anything towards another human being? Lee Soo Hyuk - cruel, heartless, and ferocious.

Could he save her?

A few steps were taken backwards before she turned on her heel and crouched by him, arms crossed and head tilted. Wordlessly, she reached out, finger lingering right over his face. She silently traced over his features before dropping her arm, elbow balancing over her bent knee.