Inescapable Fate

The rest of the group decided that we stay together for an outing on the first week and go back to our respective homes for the second one. With thorough deliberation, we picked Calvin's hometown, Jeju Island, for our first week.

Calvin or Kim Shi Young invited us (more like he had no other choice) to his hometown. His family owned a tea and reed farm, and we were all ecstatic when we received the news that his parents agreed about our week-long stay. We immediately set out the next morning.

I invited Artemis, but she said she would come a little late. Everyone asked me to invite Chen, to meet him, and luckily he agreed. He said he would take the earliest flight he could get.

As we got closer to Calvin's home, my foreboding feeling that something was going to happen grew, but I tried to squash that feeling so that everyone could have fun.

When we reached Calvin's house (which was big, mind you) we were all confused, because the entire place was silent.

"That's strange." I heard Calvin mutter.

He took a flower pot from the sides and picked up a silvery thing which I realized was a key. He used it to open the front door. We all piled inside and started placing our things on the floor.

Calvin headed to the kitchen and came back with a piece of paper on his hand.

He began to read:

"Dear son, your mother and I are going to Changsha for some personal matter on your mother's side of the family. We'll probably be gone for a week so please take care of the house and the farm until we get back. Tell your friends to enjoy themselves, you too."

Calvin started laughing with dead eyes but stopped and continued reading.

"Your sister's on a seminar in Japan. She'll also be gone for two weeks. Anyway, have fun! Love, mom and dad."

Calvin took a deep breath and sighed. He also started muttering in their local dialect in an unbelievable speed which I could hardly understand.

"Well guys," he called once he calmed down. "Looks like we have the entire place to ourselves."

Everyone didn't know how to respond and remained silent for a few seconds, but Coby and Blake suddenly cheered. Seven tried to stop them but the two most hyperactive troublemakers of our group ignored our pseudo-father and started running around.

Tim looked like he wanted to join them, but I held his arm and shook my head. He pleaded me using his eyes, but I continued shaking my head.

We started dividing the group. Calvin's house had four guestrooms.

Xander and Seven would share one room with Calvin – his room. Tim, Kai and Seth would share the guestroom in the second floor. Leo, Chen and I would share one of the guestrooms in the basement, while Kyle and Artemis would share the other guestroom in the basement.

They complained about why Kyle and Artemis had to share the room when I was the one dating her (they assumed), but Kyle shot them down by hitting them.

"Idiots. First of all, they're not dating. Secondly, she's my sister. So don't be assuming. Anymore complaints?" they all shook their heads.

Finally, Blake, Coby and Dean would share the last guestroom in the third floor. At first, I was really worried and thought it was a bad idea to put the two troublemakers (Coby and Blake) together in the same room, but then I realized they would be staying with Dean.

Jung Min Seok or Dean was a ticking time bomb. He easily gets angry, but he has a secret silliness within him when he wants to act cute. Except Seven, who was our surrogate father and the leader of our group, Dean was the only person that could make the two behave.

When evening came, Artemis arrived, followed by Chen who arrived at about ten in the evening. Everyone was shocked when they saw him.

"Are you sure you two are twins?" asked Blake.

Chen and I nodded. ""Pretty sure.""

"It's also what's stated in our birth certificates." answered Chen.

"Lei-hyung! You two look nothing alike!" exclaimed Kai.

"That's why we're called fraternal twins, numskull." I muttered. "He got his looks from dad, while I inherited mine from my mother or my mother's father rather. I never really saw him."

I used to get angry over the fact that I looked nothing like Chen when we are twins, nor bear any resemblance with the Zhangs.

I decided to forget about such train of thoughts. We spent the rest of the night playing some games, sharing some stories and singing songs around a campfire.

Life was so simple back then.

The next morning, I woke up very early and headed to the kitchen to get something to eat, but when I arrived there, I saw Artemis, Calvin and Dean already preparing breakfast.

"Morning guys." I greeted.

"Hey." Dean greeted back.

"Morning hyung!" greeted Calvin.

"Lei, help Calvin set up the table. Then start calling everyone for breakfast." Artemis said.

"Okay."

Everyone started coming to the dining room one by one. Once we have all gathered, we started discussing what we should do for the rest of the day.

"We could start harvesting some tea leaves." Calvin suggested. "I can teach you guys how."

"Okay. That's good. "complemented Seven. "Anything else?"

"Play at the beach!" voiced out Coby.

"Buy some things in the market!" Xander also suggested.

"Okay okay. We'll divide the chores, then after lunch we can have fun in the beach." Seven said and everyone agreed.

After we finished breakfast, we headed to our respective tasks. I was assigned to do the dishes with Chen and Kai. We were in the middle of washing the dishes when the dining room was suddenly engulfed in smoke.

"Sleeping gas!" Artemis exclaimed.

We started coughing and instinctively covered our mouths and noses, but I saw that some of us started fainting. I looked at Kai who sat down and leaned on the wall.

"What… are you… doing?" I asked.

"It's sleeping gas. So, I would faint in a moment. I don't want to hurt myself when I fall down the floor as I do. It'll hurt when I wake up." I stared at him wide-eyed. "I'll see you later hyung."

Moments later, I passed out too.

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Tim's sleeping face. I tried to move only to find out that my hands were tied behind me. I turned to the other side and saw Leo, still asleep. I tried to look around and realized that Artemis, Kyle, Chen and Seven were not in the room the rest of us were in.

The door suddenly opened and a burly man appeared. He had the same strange tattoo on his neck as the ones who attacked Artemis and me not too long ago; an eastern dragon curled around the stem of a rose.

"You're awake." the man said in Cantonese.

"Where am I? Who are you? Where are my friends?" I asked in the same language.

"You'll find out soon." he suddenly hoisted me up and slung me on his shoulder like a sack of rice. "As to where we are, welcome to Busan."

The moment I was brought outside, I saw a glimpse of the city through the large glass wall. I personally had never been to Busan, but I heard a lot from Dean (he was from there), plus I had seen pictures in the internet. There were the tall buildings, the port, the train rails, etc. which I would've enjoyed seeing if I wasn't slung upside-down on an unknown Chinese man's shoulder.

As I was lost in those thoughts, we suddenly reached to a stop.

"Boss, he's awake." said the man who carried me.

"Bring him in. His brother and friends are waiting for him." replied a raspy voice.

I was suddenly placed in a couch, rather harshly at that, and came face to face with a man that resembled a scarecrow. I didn't mean just the body, but also the face. First of all, he was really thin and his cheeks were hallowed, like he had not eaten in a few days and had been doing hard labor. There were also bags under his eyes and it seemed to be bulging out. It was plain creepy.

'Either this guy eats too little or he uses too much drugs. Probably both.'

"Ah, Mister Lei Zhang. Nice of you to finally join us."

My eyes fell on his arm where a tattoo of an eastern dragon curled on a rose stem was visible. Although his had three leaves, the others I had seen so far had no leaves on their tattoos.

"I assume you're Fa Xiao Min?" I asked in a bored voice, He nodded, so I added, "You don't look like much."

"You don't look like much either, brat." sneered Fa Xiao Min. I could see the veins on his neck bulge out at that action. "But you're a Zhang alright. You have your father's attitude."

I looked around and my gaze landed on my brother and friends. Chen was darting his eyes around, probably looking for a way out. Doctor Hunter looked bored and even yawned. She looked like someone who had dealt with this kind of incident before and she probably did. Kyle was expressionless while staring at the creepy thin man in front of us. And lastly, Seven who looked surprisingly calm.

"What do you want from us? Kidnapping someone is a serious offense you know. In every country there is." Artemis asked in a bored tone.

"You young lady, are insurance together with the rest of your friends. My business is with these two." Fa Xiao Min replied while pointing at me and my brother.

""Us?"" asked the two of us.

"Not with me?" Artemis inquired.

"Why would I have business with you? Probably unless I have a surgery with you as the doctor."

"Shame. You look like you need it." Artemis shrugged.

She was silent for a few seconds after that statement, but she suddenly sighed and stretched her hands. She also crossed her legs. I then noticed the handcuff that was dangling loosely on her wrist.

"Well that was uneventful." she sighed.

Since I already knew that she was an assassin, escaping from a pair of handcuffs was no problem for her. The creepy thin man on the other hand, he looked very shocked.

"Oh, we're revealing that already?" Kyle voiced out and straightened his arms as well. He threw the handcuff to the coffee table. "My arms were getting numb."

Next was Chen who did the same things as Kyle, then Seven. He really surprised me. He brought his arms forward then threw the handcuffs to the coffee table, it would've looked cool but he missed so it clattered to the floor instead.

After I saw them do such a thing, I also brought my hands forward and showed the unlocked handcuffs and threw it to the man that brought me in.

I mentally thanked my father who had me and Chen train in doing such things.

"So, what is your business with me and my brother?" I asked in a serious tone and looked at him intently.

Fa Xiao Min was silent for quite some time, probably trying to get over the shock and gather his courage and broken pride, but then he regained his composure.

"Anyway, my business with you is your family's expertise."

I raised an eyebrow at his reply. "Conducting a business deal? Being demanding?"

"Being a pain the ass?" inserted Chen, which made me smirk.

""What is it?""

His answer made me freeze.

"Grave robbing."

My brother and I both stiffened. I eyed Chen who caught my glance as well. I also noticed everyone's gaze on us.

The door suddenly opened and a woman entered.

She looked like a Filipino. I had lived in the Philippines for a decade and had Filipino friends, so I know very well how they look. And she looked a lot like one. She had curly black hair, slightly tanned skin the locals call kayumanggi, dark brown eyes, and a petite and slim stature.

"Boss, the rest of them is awake." she said in a slightly accented Cantonese.

"Lovely, bring them all to the conference room. Ah, this is Jessa, my secretary, but her original job doesn't usually deal with paperwork."

Jessa exuded the aura and had a gaze that resembled Artemis, the aura and gaze of a professional killer.

We were brought to a room that looked like a meeting room. I saw the rest of my friends seated around the long table with one of their hands cuffed to the arm of their chairs. I sat next to Seth who was on the brink of crying. I patted him on the shoulder to calm him down.

"Hyung…"

"Everything's going to be fine maknae." I said with a reassuring smile. 'I hope.'

A cough got our attention in front and saw the creepy thin man seated at the head of the table. He was trying to look intimidating, but he really wasn't.

"You might be wondering what is going on and why you're all here." he said in broken Korean which would have been funny if we weren't in such a difficult situation. "The answer is simple, I need something from the Zhang twins and the rest of you are hostages."

I heard their gasps and glared at the talking man.

"Hyung, what is he talking about?" asked Seth,

"Sorry, maknae."

"Now let's see if your father is available."

The big screen in front suddenly turned on. Then it showed that it was dialing my father's Skype account, but then it got declined. I heard some of them snicker, but they were silenced by the big burly man from a while ago. He dialed again, luckily, my father picked up.

"Zhang Wu Fen. I have your sons and their friends so you better listen."

"Even if you have them, what makes you think I'll listen to the whims of a rookie in the Triad?" my father said in the same cold tone he often uses to intimidate people. "And what makes you think my sons would let themselves be detained by you?"

"You're too confident, Zhang."

"At least I can back my confidence. How about you? I don't think so."

"Really now?" Mister Fa sneered. "I'll let you see the despair of your children and their friends."

He suddenly turned the laptop that was connected to the screen in front to us. I glanced at my friends and saw most of them with a scared look. Well, with the exceptions of Leo, Kyle, Seven and of course, Artemis.

The first three held a blank expression while Artemis was waving at my father with a carefree smile on her face.

'I bet she's thinking Fa Xiao Min and his men are nothing but small fry.'

"Hi Uncle Wu Fen!" she greeted in Mandarin.

"Artemis?" father's face turned to disbelief. "Fa Xiao Min, you really are a tactless man. I suggest you let them go as soon as possible if you don't want your head detached from your body and served in a silver platter."

Mister Fa scoffed. "You're only bluffing. You can't do such a thing."

"Oh, I'm not talking about myself. I'm talking about Victor Hunter of Sceptre. He will be the one who'll have your head in the silver platter once he finds out about this."

"Victor Hunter? Of Sceptre?"

"Yes. You have his precious daughter, do you think he'll just sit around and watch?"

Fa Xiao Min gulped and turned to the only smiling person in the room. Well, she was actually wearing a smirk.

"Uncle Wu Fen, he'll probably do just that. He knows I can handle myself. He will probably think it's entertaining."

"Well, if you say so. You and your father have strange tastes." my father shrugged. "So thin man, what do you want with me?"

It took a while for Fa Xiao Min to recover from his stupor. "Do you think I'm afraid of Sceptre? Of Victor Hunter?"

His voice wavered, so we all nodded our heads.

"Once I accomplish my goals, I will be unstoppable."

"Whatever floats your boat. Now, answer my question."

'Why do I get the feeling that Fa Xiao Min is just being pushed around by my father and Artemis?'

"The map to Emperor Yue, Liu Qing's, tomb, give it to me. You have it right?"

My father's eyes narrowed then replied in a very scary tone. "How did you know that?"

"The Zhangs, your ancestors, helped build his tomb. Of course you'll have the map. A detailed map at that."

My father sighed.

"Look, even if I do, it's one of my family's prized possessions. What makes you think we'll just give it up? Plus, the language it was written with is no longer spoken. In fact, the map wasn't even written in any known language in our world, and no one, not even my family could decipher it. And it had been with us for two thousand years."

"You're bluffing."

"I'm not." my father suddenly eyed me. "And besides, no one has seen the map since it burned in a fire ten years ago."

A scene from my childhood suddenly flashed in my mind.