"Well, well, well...how the mighty warrior has fallen!" Hwangbo Yeon Hwa scoffed, standing with her arms crossed and leaning against the bars of the jail cell.

"What do you want?" Wang So asked, not bothering to even look at her or get up from his cot.

He still wasn't sure how he had actually ended up in here. The last thing he could recall was being in his own home with his younger brothers and being invaded by a bunch of black-clad thugs. There was no way those guys had been regular cops—not unless they weren't worried about being charged with excessive force. He had learned from previous experience that trying to resist arrest was not a wise choice, but in this case three cracked ribs and a concussion were proof that not resisting at all had obviously been the wrong choice too.

"You should really be a little nicer to me, So-yah," Yeon Hwa pouted. "After all, I'm your ticket out of here."

"No, thanks!" he gave back curtly and pulled the thin jail blanket up over his head.

Yeon Hwa humphed and stomped her foot in one of the childish temper tantrums that she knew irritated him to no end. It usually worked, but this time it didn't bring the intended reaction—matter of fact, there was no reaction at all.

"Oh, come on," she tried the 'sweet' approach this time, "don't be like that, jagiya! I've already posted your bond and I've got us dinner reservations at Choi's...you know, just like old times. Hmmm?"

Whether it was the 'jagiya' (honey/sweetheart), or the mention of bail-out, or the prospect of dinner at what used to be their favorite restaurant, Yeon Hwa didn't really care, but at least it got her some reaction this time.

So sat up slowly, suppressing a wince when his fractured ribs complained about the movement. He stared at his former fiancé, wondering what she was up to with her sudden bout of generosity. He knew her much too well—Hwangbo Yeon Hwa never did anything unless it benefitted herself in one way or another.

"Of course you'll need a bath before we go eat," she remarked, wrinkling her nose. "Just hurry up and come on!" She unfolded her arms and teased him with a cell key, dangling from her right index finger.

He stood and walked to the cell door, wrapping his fingers around the iron bars. His dark eyes narrowed ominously. "Tell me, what's in it for you if you get me out of here?"

Yeon Hwa looked away—she hated those eyes of his that seemed to be staring straight into her soul. Still, she chuckled lightly with well-practiced self control. "Why?...Can't I just be missing my man and wanting him back?...And have a little fun together, for old times sake?"

Wang So gave a cheerless laugh and shook his head. "Well, for one I stopped being your man months ago. For two, the only thing you actually ever missed were your rich sugar daddies, and for..."

"You fucking jerk!" she cut him off and reached through the bars in an attempt to slap him, but instantly felt her wrist caught in his unyielding grip.

"Go get your bail money back and disappear," So told her harshly, releasing her wrist. "And for old times sake," he added, "tell your brother to enjoy himself while it lasts, because it won't be for much longer!"

"You'll regret this!...I'll make sure of it!" Yeon Hwa fumed.

"Yeah, whatever!" Wang So shrugged impassively as he turned and walked back to the cot. He ignored the insults she still slung at him as she stalked off, her high heels clicking like a horse's hooves on the concrete floor, adding to his already blinding headache. He laid back on the cot and once again pulled the blanket up over his head.

Trying to get his mind back 'in gear' and figure out what had actually happened at his house, he realized that he didn't even know how much time had passed since the raid on his home. He had drifted in and out of consciousness several times and could recall a few bits and pieces, but nothing tangible.

He didn't know what had happened to his brothers, whether they were okay or not. He didn't even know why he had ended up in jail. Until Yeon Hwa had showed up, nobody had come to see him, nobody had tried to contact him—as least not as far as he was aware. However, it couldn't have been more than a few hours—maybe a day—since he was apparently still stuck in just a holding cell, or even Yeon Hwa wouldn't have been able to actually come to the cell door. Why or how she had been in possession of a genuine jail cell key, who knew? But in hindsight Wang So wished he had asked her some questions about this entire situation before telling her to get lost.

He was still pondering, trying to figure things out, and didn't react to the sound of the cell door opening. Only the shuffling of heavy boots on the concrete floor right beside his cot caught his attention—just not quick enough to protect himself against the sudden attack, and he cried out in pain when something slammed with brutal force against his already injured ribs.

The instinctive reaction to wrap his arms around his mid-section and shield his ribs against any further blows was only marginally helpful, as it left his head and the rest of his body unprotected. Three at least, he thought, writhing in agony against the vicious hits that struck in rapid succession. He tasted blood in his mouth, but clamped his teeth tightly shut, suspecting that Yeon Hwa remained close by and this was her way of keeping her promise to make him 'regret it'. He refused to give her or his assailants the satisfaction of hearing him scream again.

"ENOUGH!"

At the scornful command the attack stopped as suddenly as it had started.

Wang So cringed, recognizing the voice. He spit the blood from his mouth, but quickly gave up on even trying to move when an unsuccessful attempt to sit up sent shockwaves of pain through his entire body. He opened his eyes and drew a ragged breath, then fought to suppress a cough when air collided with blood in his lungs. It was a familiar feeling he had experienced before, but that made it no less worrisome.

Best case scenario— if there was one—his lungs were just bruised from the beating he had received. Worst case scenario, one of his broken ribs had punctured a lung—in which case he could be in real trouble since he seriously doubted that his mother, whose command had mercifully stopped the beating, was now gracing him with her presence out of actual concern.

Yoo Shin Myeong haughtily entered the still open cell. She gave a furtive nod to the three guards who remained standing beside the cot, batons in hand and satisfied smiles on their faces.

"You just never learn, do you," she stated callously, staring down at her son with an expression of unconcealed loathing.

"Jungie..." So whispered harshly, "is Jungie okay?"

Her face darkened in anger. "You stay away from Jung!" she hissed, dangerously low. "You already turned Yo against me..."

"I didn't..." he tried to argue, but the next breath failed him.

"Shut up!" Yoo Shin Myeong snapped. "You turned Yo and your father against me, and you even corrupted Eun and Baek Ah..."

So shook his head, unable to say anything.

"...with your lies about me," she went on. "You ruined my life, you ruined our family, you ruined everything! Why did you even have to come back? You should have stayed away! You...What?" She interrupted her rant. "Say it!...What?"

So struggled against another cough. "...need to...hospital," he partially choked out, squinting as his eyes were beginning to swell shut. "Can't...breathe!"

Yoo Shin Myeong dropped a corner of her mouth in contempt. "You don't need a hospital," she scoffed. "You should have died years ago. If only Yo hadn't interfered that day... but I guess he's facing his own punishment for it now."

Even knowing that his mother hated him—she had never left any doubt about it—those words still shocked him and he gasped. There was no holding back the ensuing cough this time, which only made it worse. It became increasingly harder to breathe, and he was getting lightheaded. Yoo Shin Myeong simply stood there, impassively, watching him struggle until he finally wasn't able to force any more air into his lungs. The edges of his vision were blurring, and the last thing he saw was the scorn on his mother's face before everything went black.