He was snarling out his words, cursing his opponent internally the entire way as he was forced to have the conversation in Korean.
"001," he wanted to smash the guy's teeth in for bringing up a part of his past that he was more than eager to leave behind. His opponent had a smirk on his face, even as he was struggling to keep Ijin's knife away from his throat," Don't make this difficult," he tutted. Ijin narrowed his eyes.
He could hear Jiyeh shuffling behind him.
Leave it to 010 to pick the exact moment to attack. Even Ijin had to admit that he had picked a great moment to attack them. To wait until he and Jiyeh had exited the car before ramming their car with his own. Forcing the other bodyguards away from them.
It was well-planned out.
And he hated it.
010 had been one of the few numbered that was actively looking for him the night he left the camp. While 006 and the others had no problem feigning ignorance that night, 010 hadn't pulled any punches in tracking him down.
It was only due to an order from the camp that let Ijin get away in the dead of night after 010 had been ordered to return.
When he felt 010 bucking under him, he wisely rolled off of 010 and stood in front of Jiyeh protectively.
God, he missed his combat knife.
All he had was a little, flimsy pocketknife that Jiyeh carried with her.
"010," His words came out as a growl, he could hear Jiyeh taking in a sharp breath at his words," You want me. Do not bring others into our conflict."
That made 010 laugh a little bit too hard for his liking.
He stepped back a little bit more, using his body to shove Jiyeh further away from 010.
He and 010 had always had a problem with each other.
He didn't like 010 because he was a mad man that liked taking advantage of anyone he came across in all sorts of disgusting ways. He was similar to 004 in that regard.
And 010 didn't like him because as 001, he was the main one that would put a stop to his actions. More often than not, Ijin would stop 010 with brute force.
As one might expect, that would create rather high tensions between the two of them.
"You know, Mad Dog is livid that you're still alive," 010 said with a sneer, motioning to his eye as he said," he wants to return the favor."
Ijin knew exactly what he was referring to," I'll even it out myself." He forced himself to ignore the crackling of the radio in his ear, where he could hear Kyong frantically asking if Ms. Jiyeh was ok. There was concern in the older man's voice with Ijin's lack of an answer, but he needed to concentrate entirely and fully at the moment.
010 may have been the 10th strongest, and he wasn't 001 for no reason, but that didn't mean it was going to be an easy fight. 010 was bigger and heavier than him, he was the one they would go to if they needed something heavy to be moved.
It wasn't going to be easy to beat him while making sure Jiyeh stayed out of the way. For all he knew, 010 had a partner that was waiting for the right moment to either make themselves known or to take out Ms. Jiyeh.
The sound of a car door being forced open made them spring into action.
They collided in a powerful heap, Ijin's arms trembling as he held onto 010's wrist. Their arms were trembling with the amount of force they were exerting with the way 010 was trying to dig the knife into Ijin's neck once again.
Ducking, Ijin let the knife swing over him harmlessly as he used his own (tiny) knife to cut at 010's thigh.
It was far too shallow to get the results he wanted.
010 hissed, his arm quickly swinging down in an attempt to get the teen in the shoulder.
Ijin rolled out of the way, rolling to his feet just in time to parry 010's punch. He exchanged the blows, wincing each time he felt 010's large combat knife nick him, or cut him just shallow enough where he was still able to move.
He was cutting open the exact spots that he needed to. Cutting in the right places that would have left Ijin bleeding to death or rendering his limbs useless.
"Hurry up and die you traitor!" 010 hissed out, barely managing to block the hand that would have crushed his windpipe, but failing to avoid the hit that broke his nose.
Ijin didn't say anything.
He tackled 010, forcing his opponent to drop the knife just so he wouldn't impale himself on it.
He bounded back onto his feet, taking advantage of 010's slow reaction to grab the knife for himself.
He threw the tiny pocketknife to the side, far enough where 010 would have to make a dash to get to it.
They were circling each other again.
He could see movement behind 010 as they waited for each other to move again. His fellow bodyguards were moving in the background, no doubt taking notice of the standoff that was currently happening and trying to find a opening to interfere.
He had his back to Jiyeh, but he could hear her moving around in the little corner store doorway he had forced her into. The crackle of the radio was still going on in his ear, his teammates reporting what was happening as Ijin focused on what was happening right in front of him.
010 let out a dry chuckle as he thumbed off the blood that was running down his chin," I'm going to kill you," 010 said darkly, a crazed grin on his face as he continued," And then I'm going to fuck that sister of yours."
He bristled.
Just how long has 010 been watching him to know about Dayeon?
And how did he not notice?
He bared his teeth, his temper boiling over as he snarled out," I should have killed you years ago."
010 let out a laugh that almost sounded deranged," To think the infamous 001 would have a family to protect," He was inching closer, an action that Ijin mimicked as they got closer to each other," ironic innit?" 010's slight accent came out as he continued to mock Ijin, knowingly exposing his past as the other bodyguards were looking for the next chance to grab their subject," The same bastard who was worshipped for his lethality, has a family now. How many families have you killed?"
He knew that 010 was trying to get him to make a rash decision in his anger. He knew that.
And as much as he wanted to permanently silence the man, it would be a horribly stupid idea to move without looking for an opening.
But he was seething internally.
010's eyes remained focused on him," Hey, bitch," Ijin knew without a doubt that he was talking to Jiyeh," Wanna know something about 001 here?"
He wanted to do nothing more than kill the man.
010 sneered as he said with a disgustingly light tone," 001 has the highest kill count among the numbered," Ijin hated how much 010 was telling the truth," 15 years old and this little shit has taken out entire squads by himself." He could hear the men muttering in his ear, the radio picking up their whispers and broadcasting their voices to Ijin's ear.
This bastard.
"That is why," 010 said madly as he lowered his center of balance, clearly getting ready to charge the teen," I'm going to kill you. So I can be the one who killed you 001."
He swung the knife in his hand, gripping it in a backward grip as he growled out," Know your place 010." His insult worked exactly as intended.
010 snarled as he leaped forward, his hands up in a grappling position as he planned to grab Ijin around the waist.
Reaching back, he forced Jiyeh out of the way, forcing her out of the doorway just in time for 010 to grab him and slam him against the wall.
It was pure luck that Ijin managed to avoid smashing the back of his head into the wall.
It was pure luck that 010 had lost his temper to the point where his mistake was fatal. He had always hated the fact that Ijin was 001 instead of himself.
He was almost draped over 010's shoulder as he brought up the combat knife to plunge it deep into 010's neck, instinctively twisting it before he pulled it back out.
The sound of gurgling was the only warning he got before 010 collapsed under him, almost pinning him to the pavement before his arms slipped from his waist.
For a second, the only thing he could do was breathe as he leaned against the wall. Mentally going over his injuries.
The thin cut on the side of his neck was most defiantly going to scar.
He was sure that his ribs were bruised, maybe broken.
And the cut on his thigh was going to take stitches for that to heal. It wasn't deep enough for him to lose the use of it, but it was deep enough where the muscle that had been cut was going to heal incorrectly if he just wrapped it up.
The sounds of running footsteps reached his ear, and he found himself raising the knife in preparation before he could stop himself.
Two figures came to a stop in front of him.
He blinked in surprise.
"006? 032?"
Their hair was shorter and was now a different color. But he could recognize them without any problem.
006 grabbed him, muttering out a short apology when he made a pained grunt at the way they were forcing him to move,"002 is already here in Korea,"
Fuck.
There was no way in hell he was going to beat 002 when he was in such a condition.
" 003 and Mad Dog are on their way," 032 supplied unhelpfully, the younger teen being a little bit taller than he remembered," We gotta go."
006 pulled his arm over his shoulder, supporting him as they walked onto the street, 032 copied his brother as he did the same.
"Ijin?"
His stomach churned.
He forced them to come to a stop, much to his former teammates annoyance.
Kyong was standing there, looking thoroughly confused as he took in the scene. The scene of Ijin being supported by two strangers with a dead body right behind him.
"What's going on?"
Ijin pursed his lips, there was so much he wanted to say, out of everyone that was present, he felt like Kyong deserved an explanation at the very least. He knew that Kyong would be one he could trust to explain everything to everyone else.
"001..." 032 said anxiously, Ijin gaining more weird looks at the odd name the men kept on calling him.
But he didn't have the time.
"Take care of my family… please." He let his desperation leak into his final word.
He didn't get to hear a response.
Within seconds, 032 was pushing him into the back of a car before 006 drove off.
He sighed in defeat. It was a soul-weary sigh that got the attention of 006.
"Sorry." 006 added on as if that would make everything better.
Yeah…
He was sorry too.