MC's blood ran cold as she felt the blade pressing against her throat. Saeran chuckled sadistically near her ear and a shiver ran down her spine. Where was Saeyoung? She had contacted him not long after she began to stay with Jaehee, but never got a response from him. Brown eyes darted around desperately, trying to think of a way to get away from her captor.

"I bet you're wondering why Saeyoung hasn't come to save you," Saeran whispered to her. "Unfortunately, I'm still not strong enough to kill the bastard yet. But, there are other ways to get him out of the country. Like a fake mission."

"Saeran… please, just let me go," MC whimpered.

He turned his attention to the silver haired man staring them down.

"Who is this?" the redhead demanded, ignoring her plea. "You're not cheating on me right?!"

"Don't hurt him!" MC exclaimed. "He's just a friend."

"Don't lie to me!" Saeran yelled.

MC flinched as the knife bit into her skin slightly. The man behind her used his other hand to roughly grope at her.

"You belong to me," he growled. "Tell him to leave or you'll regret it."

Her tearful brown eyes met angry red.

"Now!" Saeran yelled.

"Zen…" whispered MC. "Please… go. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay."

The silver haired man was shaking with fury. Saeran was still running his free hand over MC's body, and the brunette closed her eyes as the tears continued to flow. She yelped in pain as he grabbed her breast harshly, and Saeran laughed.

Snap!

The beads of Zen's bracelet fell to the floor. He didn't pay it any mind; his focus was on the man holding a weapon to MC. Saeran was smiling gleefully as he pressed the knife closer to MC's throat. The scent of blood hit Zen's nose, and he let out a roar.

Inside his mind, Zen was on his knees with his head in his hands. He felt utterly helpless in this situation and he didn't like it. His head snapped up when he heard a dark laugh, his demon side approaching him casually.

"It looks like she may just die," the demon said. "Too bad you're too weak to help her."

"Shut up!" Zen yelled.

"I can help you," the demon said with a grin. "All you have to do is set me free."

"No. I can't let you out," Zen replied sternly.

"In your current situation, I would say you don't have much choice, do you?" queried the demon smugly. "Either you release me, or the girl dies. Also, there's the possibility of him leaving with her who knows where."

Zen's eyes widened. He couldn't let MC get hurt, and he'd be damned if this man left out of the apartment with MC.

"Is there really no other way?" Zen asked himself desperately.

"Release me… you want to save the woman, don't you?"

The demon laughed gleefully as he felt Zen's control weaken. Outwardly, Zen's head bowed, his eyes hidden by his bangs. A red aura began to flare around him, and Saeran looked at the silver haired man in confusion. He brought MC closer to him, the knife cutting a little deeper into her skin. She whimpered in pain and looked at Zen worriedly.

"Let her go," rumbled an unrecognizable voice.

"Zen?" MC called.

His head lifted to the pair, and their eyes widened as they looked at blood red demonic eyes. Zen's teeth were bared angrily, long canines glinting. MC didn't know what was going on, but a cold chill traveled down her spine.

"What the hell?" Saeran questioned.

"I won't say it again," Zen said. "You're going to face dire consequences if you don't heed my order."

Saeran laughed incredulously.

"You can't be serious," he said. "You really think I'm gonna let her go? She's mine."

The demon snarled angrily.

"She's MINE!" he roared.

The aura around him pulsed outwardly. By the time Saeran could open his eyes again, Zen was gone. His eyes scanned the area as he backed up with MC toward her bedroom. Hitting a solid object, Saeran instinctively swung the knife toward it.

A clawed hand stopped him mid-swing.

Zen's blood red eyes were focused solely on MC's captor. Saeran grunted in pain as the demon applied pressure to his arm, causing the knife to fall from his grasp.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to be free," Zen said with a sadistic smile. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"

More pressure was applied to Saeran's arm, and a sickening crack could be heard. He yelled as his other arm instinctively clutched it, freeing MC from his grasp. The brunette ran into her bathroom, locking it and sliding down the door.

"Fuck!" Saeran yelled in pain. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Blood red eyes glinted, a gleefully deranged smile showing dangerously sharp teeth. Saeran pulled out another knife with his uninjured hand and attacked. Zen dodged his attacks easily, swiping a clawed hand and slicing a side of his face. Saeran howled in pain, but didn't let up on attacking. The demon began to look bored as he continuously dodged. The knife swiped close to Zen's face, and he used that opportunity to bite down on the arm wielding it.

"What the hell are you?!" Saeran yelled, fear creeping into his voice.

Blood filled the demon's mouth, and he drank it down greedily. Applying more pressure, he bit through the arm and Saeran's scream was like music to his ears.

"Even if I told you, you're not going to live long enough to tell anyone," Zen said, blood dripping down his chin.

He grabbed a hold of Saeran's hair and stared into the contact colored eyes with disdain.

"I told you, the woman is mine," he growled.

Zen bit down on Saeran's jugular. The redhead's body convulsed as blood poured from the wound. The demon groaned as the blood went down his throat. Releasing his grip on the dead body, Zen's eyes scanned the apartment looking for the brunette.

MC did her best to stifle the sobs wracking through her body. The screams of agony she heard from Saeran scared her; she didn't know what was going on with Zen, but she knew she had to find a way out of the apartment. She could feel the trickle of blood running down her neck from the wound Saeran left, and wiped at it with her shirt.

"I know you're still here woman," she heard the dark voice call out. "I can smell you."

The brunette had snuck out of the bathroom and was tiptoeing down the hall toward the front door. She heard a growl behind her, and her blood felt like ice. Panicked, she tried to run but was stopped instantly. Zen had her body pinned to the floor, his hands pinning her arms on either side of her head. Blood red eyes stared at her hard, and she felt so afraid that she couldn't even scream.

The demon's eyes traveled from her face to the wound on her neck. It was still bleeding slightly and he brought his head down to smell its scent. His tongue traveled along the wound, moaning in ecstasy at the taste. MC took a shuddering breath.

"I can't wait to devour you," Zen said as he brought his face to meet hers again.

"Zen, please… don't do this," she pleaded, finally finding her voice.

"Your precious Zen isn't here anymore," he replied. "I've waited years for him to slip up, and I'm not going to let him have control again."

The demon bared his teeth as he made his way back down to her neck. She could feel them drag along her skin painfully yet not breaking the skin. Her eyes slipped shut as a silent tear fell.

"Hyun… please."

Inside of his mind, Zen snapped back to attention. The demon had a firm hold on him, but he began to struggle against it. Outwardly, his body was frozen on top of MC.

"So, do you not like using your real name anymore?" MC asked.

She and Zen were having lunch together during a break in the photoshoot. The question seemed to catch him off guard.

"Well, no… not really," he answered honestly. "It makes me think of the bad times in my life living with my family, so I always tell people to call me by my stage name."

MC frowned at him.

"I personally like it," she told him.

He choked on his drink.

"R-Really?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah. I think it suits the real you, not the actor you are," MC said with a shrug. "But, if you like being called Zen better, it can't be helped."

"Well I'll make a deal with you," Zen said, sitting back in his chair casually. "I'll let you call me Hyun when it's a serious matter. That way, I know to take what's happening or what you have to say seriously."

"I'll take what I can get," she replied with a chuckle.

Zen smiled at her happy expression.

MC opened her eyes to see the man above her moving into a sitting position. Red eyes were shifting from blood red to its regular hue.

"W-What are you doing?!" the demon exclaimed.

"Let her go," Zen demanded.

Her eyes widened as she heard Zen's regular voice. Getting up slightly, she witnessed the man in front of her struggling to keep his distance from her.

"MC, run!" Zen called out to her. "Go back to Jaehee's house! Now!"

"No, I won't let her go!" the demonic voice yelled.

Clawed hands gripped silvery hair as Zen continued to struggle to regain control of himself. He looked at MC pleadingly, and the brunette nodded as she ran out of the apartment. The demon roared angrily, and his body began to stand; Zen fought hard to keep his body from chasing after her. In his mind, he and the demon were grappling against each other.

"I'm not going to let you hurt her," Zen said with determination.

"You shouldn't even be able to fight back!" the demon exclaimed angrily.

Zen smirked at the demon as he felt his control on it getting stronger. He really did need to thank V at some point for all of his help. Continuing the prayer V told him to recite, Zen could feel his body returning to normal. The demon retreated to the back of his mind again, and he sighed with relief.

Bright red eyes took in the scene around him. MC's apartment was beyond repair, and he could see a trail of blood leading to Saeran. Zen wiped his chin, and he saw blood against the pale skin of his hand. He felt physically sick, but walked to the dead body. Saeran's lifeless eyes were wide, his expression horrified. Zen turned away; he couldn't believe he allowed himself to do this. Turning back to the corpse, Zen picked up Saeran's body. Since the redhead didn't have any official records, Zen took the body and left it near an alley. If anyone came along, it'd look like Saeran got attacked by a rabid dog. It was the best he could do given the situation.

Walking down one of the main streets, Zen let his feet lead him without paying attention to the direction. He knew he was going to have to explain everything to MC after this debacle.