Gun smiled as Daniel approached. "I should be the one asking you that, Daniel Park."
Daniel didn't answer. Not because he couldn't, but because the scene in front of him had stolen the words right out of him. He didn't recognize the man on the ground, but the way the man was positioned near Kangmi told him enough. He must have been her bodyguard. Kangmi herself stood rigid, her whole body wound tight with tension.
"Hyung." Daniel's voice came out quieter than he intended. "Did you do this?"
Gun looked at him. "Yes."
Behind Daniel, Zack, Vasco, and Hudson filtered in one by one and stopped. Even for men whose lives were anything but ordinary, there was a line, and this was it.
Daniel moved without thinking. He crossed to Kangmi, stepped in front of her, and looked Gun directly in the eye. "Please. Don't do this."
Gun let out a low laugh. "What are you doing, Daniel Park? Standing against me?"
"I just don't want you to do something you can't take back."
Something shifted in Gun's expression, not anger but something colder and quieter. "You still don't understand, do you?" His figure blurred past Daniel and he was already in front of Kangmi, his hand reaching for her throat. "This is who I am."
A spinning kick snapped toward his neck.
Gun caught it against his palm without even looking.
Daniel landed in a crouch between them. Gun stared at him for a moment, then smiled wide and genuine, like a man who had just received an unexpected gift. "So that's your answer." He rolled his neck slowly. "Let's see how much further you've come."
They launched at each other at the same moment, fists forward.
---
Goo rose from the ground slowly. The easy, laid-back air he usually carried had left him completely, replaced by something still and sharp.
Seongji watched him carefully. The moment he caught the first twitch of Goo's body, he was already moving.
But Goo had been waiting for exactly that. He dropped into a low stance with his front leg extended far forward, his rear leg anchored at the hip, and his shoulders turned at an angle. He held the rod parallel to his waist the way a swordsman holds a blade before drawing it, then burst forward and sent the rod cutting in a clean diagonal line through the air.
Moonlight, First Sword: First Moon.
Seongji felt the impact before he understood it. A deep gash tore open from his right shoulder all the way down to his left hip, and blood came immediately.
Goo stopped behind him and turned to look.
Seongji was still standing. His eyes glowed faint green, his jaw locked tight, every muscle in his body hardened at the last possible instant, just enough to stop the cut from going any deeper.
Goo studied the rod in his hand for a quiet moment. "As I thought. This won't do. I need something sharper."
Seongji didn't move or speak. His mind was running at full speed, taking in everything, Goo's footwork, his grip, the angle of that last cut. This fight had just become something far more dangerous than it was a moment ago.
A beat of silence passed between them, and then both men exploded forward at the same time.
Mid-charge, Goo scooped a second rod from the ground and swung both of them together in a wide diagonal arc that was faster than his first strike, the twin cuts slicing through the air in a wide crescent that left almost no room to escape.
Moonlight, Second Sword: Crescent Moon.
Seongji's eyes shifted to faint blue. He vanished from his spot and reappeared directly behind Goo, clasped both hands together above his head, and drove them down with everything he had.
Goo spun just in time and crossed both rods into an X to catch the blow. The block held, but the force buckled his knees and split a small crater open in the asphalt beneath him.
"You've crossed the thresholds," Goo said as he steadied himself. "Durability, speed, strength. I didn't expect that."
Seongji was already moving. He dropped low and swept his leg hard toward Goo's ankles.
Goo leapt back, but Seongji was right behind him and came forward with a low, forward-turning back slap aimed straight at his head.
Goo caught Seongji's arm between both rods and twisted them hard, straining his wrist. Before Seongji could pull free, Goo drove one of the rods straight into his chest.
The tip broke skin but could not go further. Seongji closed his hand around the shaft, his face tight with pain, and wrenched it to the side. His eyes burned red. He drew his elbow back and threw it forward as hard as he could.
The strike hit Goo's guard and the rod in his hand bent inward from the force. Goo clenched his jaw as Seongji's strength pushed past what he could hold, and he made his decision in an instant.
He released both rods and stepped back.
They stood apart. Goo's chest rose and fell with slow, measured breaths. Seongji hadn't followed. He stood where he was with his face gone pale, the color draining out of him steadily.
---
Kangmi had told herself a long time ago that she had seen enough of the world to stop being surprised by it. She had been wrong.
Gun had Daniel suspended by the hair with one hand. Daniel's eyes had rolled back and his body hung limp. Gun's left arm bent at the wrong angle, clearly broken, but there was no pain on his face, only that wild, burning look of a man who had just remembered what he lived for. "You truly are my masterpiece, Daniel Park. But you still lack experience, very much so."
He let go and Daniel dropped.
Gun looked around at the rest of them. Zack, Vasco, and Hudson were all down, unconscious, scattered where they had fallen. He put a cigarette between his lips, and began to lit, but stopped midway. He dropped the cigarette on the ground before squashing it with his foot.
Somewhere in the distance, the faint wail of police sirens drifted through the night air.
He walked to the car, and opened the passenger door. He looked at Kangmi.
"Get in."
She had already seen what he was capable of and she had no intention of testing him further. She got in without a word. Gun took the driver's seat, started the engine, and pulled away.