"They trained me for this. It's their own fault. They helped make their own doom."

― Victoria Aveyard, Red Queen

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"Don't react. No matter what happens inside, do NOT react," Kim whispered in Porchay's ear before walking away.

And, despite being the first to leave, his pace slowed as he approached his father's office. He tried to curl his trembling hands into tight fists and drew a deep breath in, ignoring the strange stares the others gave him. It didn't matter what they thought; he couldn't allow his father to control the discourse, he thought as the guards outside the office patted him down. Once the security check had finished, he sighed and entered. As he watched his brothers, cousins, and their partners, as well as Porchay, occupy the large sofas in Korn's office, he knew he wouldn't like what was going to happen. There were far too many people present to witness what he had hoped no one would see. The secrets he had kept to himself would be revealed to too many people.

'Too many weaknesses ...' his mind cruelly agreed as he looked at his brothers and Porchay.

"Come here, Khimhant," Korn said, nodding where he wanted him.

Sitting on his armchair, cross-legged, elbows on the armrests, and with a benevolent half-smile, there was he, Korn Theerapanyakul. He could fool anyone else by presenting himself as a gentle and loving patriarch, but Kim knew what that mask was hiding.

"We don't need an audience, Pa," Kim grumbled as he approached the specific spot, which happened to be directly in front of the one his father was occupied. There was a wood table separating them as it always did. Korn, despite the things he said, enjoyed exhibiting his dominance.

"It's you who have brought them between us. I have honored my side of the deal until you broke it," Korn reminded him, looking at their audience huddled together with an amused smile.

"I apologize for that, but now that I am here, I would like our conversations to be private," Kim insisted, attempting to appease his father. The presence of others, especially those three people who could be used against him, was distracting him: something he couldn't afford to be in his father's presence.

"We aren't leaving until you both let us know what's happening here," Tankhun muttered with a pout while Kinn seconded the sentiment with a firm nod.

"As you can see, Khimhant, unfortunately, I can't do anything about it," Korn said with a careless shrug.

As Kim looked at the man who sired him, he tried to control his face from twitching in anger. With a single inhale, he clenched his trembling hands and fixed his gaze on the only one ahead, refusing to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him crumple down.

"Fine by me," Kim said with a sigh, despite his whole system being alarmed, urging him to get his brothers and Porchay out.

"Is it?" Korn asked with a chuckle, looking fond, but behind the mask, he was amused, as if he knew how much of a facade Kim was putting on.

'He probably did, and the sadist he was, he was enjoying seeing him struggle,' Kim thought with a bitter realization. He was corned and could no longer hide behind the wall of indifference.

"What do you want, Father?" Kim asked, too tired, angry, and overwhelmed to keep up with the game the older man liked playing.

"I just want to know how you are feeling," Korn responded as if he was the epitome of innocence.

"I am sure by now you already know everything," Kim said, annoyed.

"How are your wounds?" Korn asked.

"Healing," Kim replied.

"What the doctors said?"

"That I will survive."

Korn sighed at the short answers before nodding at the man standing on his left, who walked towards the door and let a familiar man walk in.

"I never liked how quiet you get after your missions. You always make others report me," he complained.

"Khun Korn," the man bowed.

"Ah, yes, please tell us what happened. We all would like to know," Korn ordered with a soft smile as if he was as gentle as he portrayed himself.

"Of course, Khun Korn," the man nodded before continuing.

"As you had asked me, I entered the room only when I felt something went wrong. When I entered, I found Giovanni still alive, so I killed him. However, his boy was also there, and Khun Kim insisted that the boy should not be harmed, even though we were ordered not to let any witnesses live. During the discussion, the boy stabbed Khun Kim on his side," he recounted with a flow, ignoring how the audience let out a gasp of horror at his revelations.

"When I tried to kill the boy, Khun Kim kept blocking the way. And then his bodyguard came in and stopped me. We got out of there and from then on, I followed Khun Kim as you ordered," the man reported like a perfect little soldier.

"And you let the boy live?" Korn asked.

"Yes, Khun, because Khun Kim insisted," the man responded.

"Where is he now?" Korn asked.

"Khun Kim made sure he was sent back to Italy," the man answered.

"No witnesses. I thought I was clear, Khimhant," his father reminded.

"He was just a child," Kim protested.

"What?" There were several exclamations from their audience. But they mostly sat there, seemingly having no idea how to interject themselves into the tense conversation as they kept looking between the three men.

"Yet old enough to inflict damage on you. If the knife would have been just an inch deeper, you would have paid for your mistake of underestimating him with your life," Korn said with a light glare.

"And you," he turned towards the man standing beside his son and continued: "You are so loyal to Khun Kim just after one mission that his words overruled my command?" he asked with a soft laugh.

"My apologies, Khun Korn, that's not what I meant to do," the man muttered, sweating, realizing his mistake.

"Ah, that's okay. You just have to undo your mistake now," Korn said benevolently.

"What? I can't go back there, Khun. They will kill me. My cover is blown," the man said with a trembling voice.

"That's true," Korn said with an understanding hum.

"Father," Kim interfered, urgent yet ignored, as Korn nodded at one of his bodyguards.

A few gunshots rang suddenly, startling everyone present except Kim, who had seen it coming. With his eyes closed, he stood there, suppressing the urge to hurl as the left side of his face got tainted with hot blood that had splattered from the hole that the bullets had made in the man. He opened his eyes even if his wet sticky lashes made it impossible to do so, his vision turned crimson until he blinked a few times to clear it. With a deep sigh, he tried to control his irregular heartbeat and ignored the blood dripping down from his face, forcing himself not to be bothered by the wet clothes sticking to the left side of his body. When he felt a bit numbed to confirm, he looked down to the left where just a few seconds ago; the man had been standing and drew in a breath of relief. The man may be still bleeding on the wood floor, but he was dead. Good. Kim never liked prolonging death like his father, nor did he enjoy torturing the way Vegas did. He was cold-blooded like that. A clean cut and certain death, but then again, he never had run hot like others, so that was to be expected.

"My apologies, children," Korn said with a gentle smile, taking in the shocked expression of their audience as if he was concerned.

As if that insincere apology was enough for exposing them to such violence and killing a man in front of them. As if he wasn't enjoying the power-play as he looked at how pale Tankhun was or how Vegas and Pete had hidden a shaken Macau's body with their own or how Porsche was doing the same with Porchay whose wide eyes were still fixed on the body of the dead man. Looking at that, Kim silently moved forward to block the gruesome sight with his own body, snapping Porchay's eyes upon him.

His frightened big brown eyes remained on Kim for a few blinks and then, with a pale face and trembling lips, he looked past him. His reaction reminded Kim that with blood on his face and clothes, he wasn't painting a much better sight than the dead body lying on the floor. When Kim again focused on his father, he felt bitter about his failure to keep Porchay safe. He despised the way Porchay was dragged into a world prone to violence. The world Kim was born into, the world that he belonged to, the world that now unfortunately Porchay had to be part of, a world in which Kim couldn't protect him despite how desperately he wanted to...

"I know you don't like blood on you, Khimhant, here, clean yourself," Korn said benevolently, offering him a handkerchief.

"Come on now, son, you knew this was coming," he said, scolding him lightly when Kim made no move to take the handkerchief from his hand.

"You will have no loyal man left if you keep killing them," Kim warned.

"Oh, come on, why would I need men like him when I have you?" Korn responded with a twisted smile.

"No," he refused the unsaid command.

"No?" Korn asked to confirm.

"No. He is just a child. There is no way I will kill him, nor would I let any of your men do it," Kim said firmly.

"You think letting him live is a good choice?" Korn asked after silently gazing at him to check his determination.

"He would forget me," Kim assured.

"Did you forget your mother's killers?" Korn asked, making Tankhun cry out in objection.

"Pa, let it be, please," Kinn begged, not liking the conversation, shocked out of his mind at the causal way the two were behaving, unable to understand half of what was being said, or better yet, he refused to.

"I didn't," Kim responded, coldly.

"See, you didn't, nor would he. He would remember you and when he sees your face on the posters, or the TV, he would be able to identify you as the killer of his father and the Italians would come here after tracking you down. We would be at war. You are risking everyone's life for that stupid morality of yours," Korn said with a cold glare.

"What you are asking Kim is unfair, Pa," Tankhun cried out, throwing his hand in the air, even though it went unnoticed.

"There would be no poster or seeing me on TV. The deal was that I would never get famous enough to be recognized by someone," Kim reminded the elder man.

"Khun Korn was the reason?" Porchay muttered with narrowed eyes, recognizing the one who was the reason Wik stayed so underrated and underappreciated.

"Are we invisible to you both?" Porsche yelled in frustration at not understanding what was happening, but his attempt to attract their attention was ignored.

As if no one but the two of them were in the room, they continued their conversation.

"But you are famous now. Do you know the impact the tour had on your so-called career?" Korn asked with a smirk.

"Of course, you let that happen for your gain only," Kim muttered bitterly, but after a sigh, he continued: "That doesn't change the condition of the deal. I would decide what to do with my career and what not. My team is trying to limit the impact of the tour."

"Are you saying you are finally letting go of your hobby and coming back?" Korn asked, tilting his head in challenge. When his question went unanswered, he continued: "Even if it doesn't happen now, he would still search for you and find you, in the same way you are trying to find your mother's killers."

"What are you both even talking about?" Kinn objected, yet once again went unnoticed as the two continued their confusing yet rapid conversation.

"Then I would be waiting for him," Kim responded calmly.

"Nothing can shake you, right? You have the answer to everything, my little boy, so mouthy in such matters," Korn cooed with a twisted smirk and a cold glint in his eyes. "I never liked how you would let certain things limit you."

"Did you do it on purpose?" Kim asked, horrified.

"Did what?" Korn asked, curious, leaning forward on the edge of his seat.

"Letting the clips from the tour go viral? Making a child witness? Getting him involved?" Kim risked knowing the answers, even if he didn't want his claims to be true.

"I knew he would be there," Korn confirmed with a nod.

"It didn't matter what choice I would have made regarding the child or my career, you would benefit from all of it in any case," Kim whispered with a sigh, trying to overcome the shock his father's action could give him even though nothing should be off the table when it came to him.

"Took you long enough to figure it out, huh?" Korn commented with a smirk that cracked his face, making his true nature shine.

"I don't like you like this, Khimhant. Your weakness has to go for you to not feel the helplessness you are feeling right now," he said, gazing at the young boy partially hidden behind his brother.

"Don't," Kim hissed with a glare.

"Some other day then," Korn agreed before continuing: "But for today, your punishment would be someone else."

Hearing him, Kim felt his heart beat faster and stop when he saw Anon walk in.

"Father," he whispered a warning.

"What's even happening here?" Kinn demanded, taking in the way his brother was palling.

"Anon, right? Apparently, you are the only one Khimhant trusts enough to take you with him," Korn welcomed the newly arrived man with a smile. "My man died because of you," he said, pointing out the dead man. "His cover was blown because you forced him to follow your Khun Kim's order and not mine."

"The only order Anon was given was to protect me, so he did no wrong. Your man was about to shoot me just so he could follow your order of no witness," Kim intervened.

"What's with my sons wanting to protect their bodyguards?" Korn muttered with an annoyed sigh.

"He just got married. His wife is pregnant," Kim tried to reason with his father as he tried to pull Anon behind him.

"What are you doing, Kimhant?" Korn asked, baffled as he saw his youngest son cover his bodyguard with his own body.

"I pay his salary with my money. He no longer works for you, remember? Therefore, he isn't obligated to follow your orders, Father. He is under my protection," Kim firmly said, leaving no room for objection.

"You are weak and pathetic, Kimhant," Korn spit out, his face curved in disgust.

"Pa, we can solve this matter calmly," Kinn intervened, sensing the urgency in his younger brother's action.

"I will make sure each and every liability of yours is gone, Khimhant. Starting from him," Korn vowed as he once again looked at Porchay.

As his father once again threatened him with Porchay's life, the agitation and restlessness within Kim reached its peak and then plummeted down, leaving him numb and cold.

"If that's how you put it, you leave me with no choice," Kim muttered.

It occurred in a split second. Kim realized what had transpired after hearing the yells and astonished screams. However, when his thoughts caught up with what he had done, he didn't regret it. It was about time. Even if it had been pure instinct that had snapped and taken control of his body, he didn't wish he hadn't just pulled out the knife hidden in his sleeve and hurled it at the most dangerous mafia lord because he had dared to look at Porchay while threatening Kim with the consequences of opposing him.

"Kim, are you out of your mind," Kinn yelled at him, jumping up from the sofa.

But Kim didn't dare to look away from their father who was now taking out his previously offered handkerchief to wipe the blood from the corner of his forehead where the tip of Kim's knife had just barely grazed him.

"Put your damn guns down. Who do you think you are aiming at?" Kinn yelled at his father's bodyguards who had their guns directed at Kim and seemed to be waiting for instructions.

As Kim observed his father, who appeared unphased, he realized his father sure seemed to have been more prepared for his stunts than Kim himself was.

"Stop aiming at my Kimmy," Tankhun shrieked as he glared at the men.

"Are you both deaf?" Kinn yelled, clearly tasting disobedience when he hadn't expected.

When sure that he could afford it, Kim looked at his brothers and tilted his head when their eyes met. His message was clear. At least now he hoped Kinn would finally realize his father's grip on everything was still too tight and not every man obeyed Kinn, no matter how it seemed Korn had shifted the power to his heir and was no longer in control. When Kim saw Kinn's eyebrows making a straight line because of frowning too much, he felt a sharp zip of affection and pain for his brother. He couldn't help but wonder: would Kinn be able to handle it when the mask would drop and he would get to know the true nature of their father? When the truth would come out?

"I see you now, Khimhant," his father said, snapping his attention again at him.

"Do you, father?" He asked turning back to look at him, too casually, as if he didn't have multiple guns aiming at his head.

"You can't hide from me anymore," Korn said with a predatory smirk, sending shivers down his body.

That proved that his father had been letting him play the role, amused by Kim's assumption that Korn was unaware of what his youngest son was up to. Of course, he knew, and probably always had, everything figured out, and made it a point to corner Kim when he was most vulnerable, exposing his scars and weak spots to bend and mold him to his will.

That made it clear to Kim that acting indifferent wasn't an option now...

Claiming everything that he was threatened with as his was the only way to go forward, and that's exactly what Kim did...

"Good. That means I can drop the act too," he replied with a smirk of his own and without a second thought drew the gun from the side of his wounded ribs where the guards outside of his father's door hadn't dared to check him as well as they were supposed to when he had hissed and glared at them. Now the same gun was being aimed at the man who had never let anyone enter his office with guns.

Seeing him with a gun in hand, the people present in the office started to hurl questions at him, all at once. Different voices shouted in urgency, standing up and behaving chaotically.

"Kimmy, what are you doing?"

"Are you stupid?"

"What's happening here?"

"Father, what are both even doing?"

With a sigh, Kim lowered the gun. He didn't need one, anyway. Knives were more of his thing.

"Anon," he nodded at the man, handing him the gun and nodding at the door.

As Anon went ahead to block the entries to make sure no one could walk in, Kim couldn't help but be grateful for his father's will to outlive everyone, as that meant he was so prepared that he could survive even an apocalypse. Unfortunately for him, that exactly would be his downfall.

"What are you doing, Kim?" Korn asked with a frown.

"I just want to try out the newly installed security system of yours. My sources told me that you did quite an upgrade. A total lockdown from the inside and blocking everything and everyone out until you want? That's so you, father," he complimented mockingly.

"It's done, Khun Kim," Anon informed as the system got activated.

"Good. Now no one can enter or leave without my permission," Kim said with a smirk. Ignoring everyone else and their panic, he lazily walked toward his father, and with his foot, he shoved back the wooden table that was always between them and sat on it, just right in front of Korn.

"You shouldn't have awakened the monster you had created, Father, because now the first one subjected to its hunger is going to be you," he whispered with a smirk as he looked dead in the eyes of the elder man.

"His foot," Korn ordered, nodding at the man on his right.

"No one is shooting anyone here. Pa, Kim, both of you, stop this madness," Kinn yelled, clearly voicing the panic that must be reflecting on others' faces.

"I don't understand. What are you doing this, Kimmy? Why?" Tankhun asked, his voice trembling as the rest of him under the sudden distress.

When he heard Tankhun's questions, Kim wanted to comfort his elder brother, but he couldn't move his eyes from his father. He had to see what the confusion on Korn's face would transform into.

"Right or left, be specific, Father," Kim said, leaning back on his hands with a smirk on his lips, almost laughing out loud when Korn finally looked up at the men who weren't following his order with a confused frown.

"Khimhant?" Korn gasped, eyes sharp and tense, finally losing that causal ease when he saw Kim nodding at his bodyguards who followed his order of no longer holding their guns at him.

"I told you, you would have no man loyal to you if you keep killing them," Kim reminded him with a condescending tone in his voice.

"And what do you think you can achieve here?" Korn asked with a glare.

"You see, Father, you faking your death, and then these missions for regime change inspired me. Usually, I write and compose when I am inspired, but these past months you have kept me away from my music, worrying over what you are planning and plotting. So I thought why not find a different... outlet this time around?" Kim said with a shrug and brightly smiled at the man sitting in front of him.

"What's going on here?" Kinn asked, just on the edge of losing his mind.

"Dear brother, this means I am not going to wait any longer for you to snap out of your misplaced loyalty and devotion to our father to realize how necessary it is to take action. You are taking too long to catch up, so I will do it myself," Kim responded coldly.

"WHAT?" Everyone yelled at once.

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A/N:- Here is the next chapter, I hope you liked it. AND YES. Yes, yes, we are getting to see Kim in action now, and maybe we will get what we always fantasize about = the downfall of Khun Korn, Muahaha... *evil laugh*

I think Kim is the only one who could even make a decent attempt to take down Korn as others can't or don't want to. But what remains to be seen is if he can actually get the needed to be done or if Korn would outwit and outlive his attacker even this time around...

Please leave a comment or two to let me know your thoughts on the chapter and if you saw this coming and are excited for the next chapters... :)

Thank you! <3

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