a fool's escape.

It was CL. He fell asleep waiting for her, and now she was screaming and crying on the floor. He knew that it wasn’t that great of him to fall asleep, but it couldn’t be that offensive…

It was then that he noticed her attire, which he attached to his little dream that he had, and the outcome of her “arrival”. She was wearing the same exact outfit, the same hairstyle, the same makeup concept; everything was oddly similar, like he dreamt of her being there before she arrived. As much as he wanted to say it was a good guess and move on, it definitely wasn’t that. They were both freaks, after all. CL was a mental illusionist. It was an interesting power with many uses for someone with a vivid imagination, for them to project their wildest dreams with CL only being a guest in whatever endeavor they conjure. If CL was always the guest, and the other was always the dreamer… well, holy fucking shit.

She saw my dream.

“CL! Are you… okay?” he breathed out desperately, his voice croaking from projection, not quite fully revived from the nap he took. He lifted his arms, attempting to do something with them but he felt more useless than anything else. He couldn’t touch her. That was clear by the way that she was looking at him. She was completely petrified, like she was looking at the devil himself. His widened eyes and racing thoughts got the better of him, and he went into a mode of panic, saying and asking anything that came to his mind.

“That’s not—that wasn’t me,” his speech was quick, and he stuttered unintentionally. “I’m not like that anymore! I’m not him,” he swallowed a lump in his throat, which didn’t do much good. His brows furrowed in frustration, at his terrible luck and how it all happened the night things were made to be right. She didn’t have to flip out on him yet, he knew exactly what she was thinking. He remembered the story about her mother, and how she was killed by people like him—whoever him was. It was all so complicated, and he wished that he could tell her everything and nothing at the same time. If he had to lie, he would—but wasn’t it too late for that?

It was just a dream, only a dream - but it was a scarring one, and she felt emptied, as if someone had ripped out everything that she was and destroyed it. She couldn't even reply when Jiyong spoke to her, asking if she was okay - she thought of course that her mere demeanour would provide enough for an answer. Instead, she simply crawled over to where he was, too scared to touch him, simply out of shock - but still wanting to be close to someone, someone who understood and knew.

That was, until he spoke again.

A small moment passed while he continued talking, but the words repeated themselves over and over again in her mind. I'm not like that anymore! Anymore. Anymore. Her head whipped up to stare him down, her stomach flipping over suddenly as she realised what he had just admitted, even just in passing. G-dragon. It was... him. He used to be like that?

"What do you mean, anymore? You used to be like that? Jiyong? What!" Outrage displayed itself all over her face, and all sense fled out the door. She remembered the way he treated the gang members, the tied-up prisoner, even her - how cruel and vile and evil he had been in the dream. But... it had only been a dream to her. She knew there was more to him, that whole time.

And now, she suddenly realised by the guilt on his face, she knew that who she had seen and been afraid of had been the true him.

Eyes widening, she began to crawl away slowly as he attempted to comfort her. Tears flooded down her face. "You... you lied to me. You never, ever told me. You knew my past and what I had gone through and yet you never told me! NEVER! Jiyong, I thought I was your friend - your best friend! You should have told me about this!" Fear had turned to outrage, and she stood to her feet, eyes trying desperately to size him down. "I... I was so afraid in there. You offered me to those vile men, allowed for me to die. And now I find out that that is who you really are?"

Slowly making her way backwards to the door, her lips and hands shook as the sobs nearly overwhelmed her. "Stay... stay away from me. You are a vile, pathetic monster, no better than what I saw in there. You can't change who you are and I can never, ever trust you again." With one spin, she fell against the door, escaping from his home while crying her eyes out.

As if it was right on cue, the doors flew open and eager hands reached out for the girl. Blinding car headlights shone on the door, hindering his ability to see exactly what was going on. Their world was suddenly enveloped in sound.

“Hey! What the fuck is goin’ on here?!” a husky voice bellowed to GD, as his large hands gripped the woman’s much smaller wrists. He held her tightly to him, twisting her arms and holding her against his chest. “You need some help, G-Dragon?”

The voice was soon connected to one of the men that he sent off before. He couldn’t recall how long it had been since he sent the group out, but he knew it wasn’t long enough for them to have gotten anything accomplished. His brows tilted down in irritation, his hand lifting to block out the light from his vision, to no avail. He knew that he couldn’t explain the truth to the man, as it would lead to the girl being killed on the spot, as well as him. These people didn’t mess around when it came to their people and who they had to protect. He had been a liability to all of them since he was asked to join. After all, he was practically an alien. The only thing protecting him all this time was his limited ties and his relationship with the head. To the sub-units, he wasn’t all that well-liked. Respected? Yes. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t kill him as soon as they had probable cause.

“Do you need help?” he retorted, his voice betraying his worried thoughts. “I thought I told you to go after the target.”

“And I thought I told you that I had dibs on this bitch,” the other responded, earning a slight flinch from the brunet which made him cackle. “You tryn’a steal her?” This was tricky. He couldn’t wait on responding, but if he didn’t say something, it’d go against who the rest of them believed to be “G-Dragon”. This girl obviously knew a different side of him, from a past life or something else, and he had too much of a heart to put a bullet through her skull. “Or are you lettin’ her go?”

“You have a fucking job to do,” G-Dragon’s voice was heavier; it had a bit more substance compared to his other tones. “You have no right to question me when you shouldn’t be here in the first place.”

“But I’m not gettin’ personal, you little fuckin’ shithead. I’m asking for our security. Something you should be in charge of. Lettin’ her go would mean some secrets gettin’ out, and that’d be a lot of trouble for us,” the man looked back at the other two men who were standing in silence throughout all this. They nodded, their expressions matching almost exactly. They were like robots. “And the guy’s in the car. Taken care of. We were gonna ask you want to do with ‘em.”

What great timing.

He had no choice. It was either her or him, and he couldn’t take the risk. He took a deep breath, and exhaled as if it were an annoyed sigh. “Dispose of the body. Along with hers,” he said nonchalantly, gesturing to the girl as if she was already a dead body. “Thanks for taking it off my hands.”

“Man, you cold hearted son-of-a-bitch,” the man said, releasing one hand from around the woman and fiddling in his coat jacket, what smelled of cigarettes and dry blood. “Alright lil’ lady. Wish we could’ve gotten to know each other,” he smirked down at the woman, holding her so tightly to him that it was possible that she couldn’t breathe. GD’s jaw tightened and he turned around before his accomplice could find the gun and put it to her head.

“I have work to do,” he mumbled, stepping into the bloody mess he’d made before the encounter with the woman ever happened, slowly closing the door behind him.

There was a click of the gun, and the piercing sound of a gunshot.

Of course, the fear that was coursing through her veins would do that too.

She was held down as the gang members spoke to G-Dragon, discussing her as if she was a piece of filth to simply be dealt with accordingly. She wasn't property, and part of her wished she could scream it out in their faces - but all she could was stay still and frozen, terrified of their words and the implications that were being spoken.

CL would not survive this - of that she was sure.

At least it would be a dream - she knew she would wake up, no matter what happened. But, of course, there was also the trick card - G-Dragon. Although he worked for the gangs, she knew the Jiyong in him well enough to know that he would try to protect her, get her out of this. He could take these guys on easily, couldn't he?

Or... not.

The sudden words that escaped his mouth, sealing her death. The gears had been working in his head and it displayed clearly on his face in the slight guilty lines of his forehead - he had chosen his own survival over hers. 

The betrayal, though not strictly speaking real, stung like a stab to her gut. Her mouth fell open, words however refusing to fall out; instead, all she could seem to accomplish was allow a fear tears to escape. He'd betrayed her - so mercilessly. How could he dream up such a thing? Or was this her personal fear, beating alive in her mind?

The gang members came closer to her, suddenly squeezing her into his smell. There was blood mixed in with the rest of the fumes somewhere - and with one small click and images of her mother's death somehow rushing over her mind no matter how hard she tried to push them back, her own blood splattered into the coat. }