“Bennin!”

At the sound of his step-brother’s frantic cry, Bennin sprang up and thew his bedroom door open, taking the three flights of stairs to the kitchen three at a time.

“Benji!” He yelled, and the second his feet touched the tile, he bolted forward, in time to snatch the knife that was flying through the air and stop it. 

“ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?” He screamed, whirling on the thrower - Bryson, one of his other step-brothers. “Have you lost your mind? You threw a KNIFE! At your brother!”

Bryson frowned and crossed his arms over his chest while across the room, Benji curled in the corner, in tears. 

“Do you have anything to say?” Bennin demanded, getting in Bryson’s face. “Huh? Go on - what’s the excuse this time?”

Bryson was silent, and Bennin knew then that Bryson had done it simply for the hell of it. 

“That’s it. I’m done!” He spat, and stomping across the room, grabbed Benji’s arm and dragged him to his feet. “Come with me, Benji.”

“Where are we going?” The boy sniffled as Bennin pulled him to the door of the kitchen.

“Out - And Bryson, if you throw that, I’m going to throw it back, and unlike you, I won’t miss.”

The clink he heard told him that Bryson had set the knife back down and he breathed a silent sigh of relief before yanking Benji to the front door.

“Abby!” He screamed. 

A second later, the maid appeared.

“Young master?”

“Come with me!” Bennin ordered, and after a moment, the woman wiped her hands on her apron, took it off, tidied her skirt, and turned to him.

“Where are we going?”

“Away from here,” Bennin replied and headed toward the front door, still pulling Benji along. He was afraid that if he let go of his little brother’s hand, the monstrous house looming at their backs would swallow him, and Bennin would never see him again.

He’d never walked so fast as he hurried Abby and Benji to the car. Bryson had likely gone to report to their father - they had to get out before then.

“Young master?” Abby asked, as Bennin slid into the driver’s seat and started the car with a roar. “What’s going on?”

Bennin gritted his teeth.

“I’m done,” he replied, turning the car onto the street. “I’m done with this. With his bullshit. With the mental and physical abuse. With the danger. I shouldn’t have to worry about something being hit for not bringing in more money, or worry about something being put in my food. Benji shouldn’t have to worry about having a knife thrown at his face by his own brother. You shouldn’t have to worry if a spec of dust in Melanie’s ‘precious’ room will earn you a slap across the face, or a pay garnish. I’m done, and I’m doing what I was too afraid to do so long ago. I’m getting us out of here.”

“He’ll try to stop us,” Abby whispered, and Bennin turned the car onto the highway.

“Yes, he’ll try. But as I said, I’m done. I’m not going to let him push me around anymore.”

“What inspired this… change?”

“Recently, someone I know has been trying to make improvements to her life, standing up to the challenges thrown at her. I told myself if she could do it, I could too, and I’m sick and tired of seeing Benji in danger.”

The boy whimpered.

“Bennin… you didn’t have to… father’s gonna…”

“He won’t hit me,” Bennin promised, meeting his younger half-brother’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “I’ll make sure of that.”

“Where are we going?” Abby asked, next, and Bennin took a deep breath.

“The only safe place I know.”

He drove them to his agency.

“It’s huge…” 

Benji cringed back against Bennin’s jeans, holding onto them, and Bennin patted his head.

“I know it is. But it had to be here. There are many eyes here. That bastard father of ours can’t lay hands on us in public, and I’m famous enough that he wouldn’t dare try. Come on. Let’s go in. Then I’ll make some calls. We’re gonna get out of here. For good.”

Both the housemaid and younger brother were silent at that and allowed Bennin to pull them into the building.

“Kilomen?” One of his fellow actors under the agency cried, jumping to his feet as they entered the lobby. “You rarely come down here, and you… have people with you? What’s going on?”

Bennin ignored him, searching. A second later, his eyes landed on the woman his age who sat at the front desk.

“Daisy, do you remember that folder I asked you to hold on to for me?”

“Here, sir.”

She produced the folder from the depths of the desk and handed it to him.

“What’s that?” Benji whispered, and Bennin gritted his teeth again.

“Documentation of what that bastard’s done. I’ve been collecting it for years. My contract is also here. I snuck it out of the house two months ago. It’s our official ticket out. Father’s lifestyle is being funded by my job. With that cut off, he’ll have to go back to pulling his own weight at his own company… if he’s even capable of that. What really matters is getting rid of this, which will officially free me from his grip, and then, we’ll go to the police. Abby, do you have any family that can meet us there?”

“I don’t…”

“Right. Sorry.” Bennin murmured. He suddenly remembered being told previously by Melanie, his father’s live-in girlfriend, during a session where she was screaming at him, that Abby’s husband had left, and her daughter had died at the age of twelve. “I didn’t mean-”

He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as a large man approached them.

“Kilomen?” He asked, confused, on seeing the actor and his company. “You aren’t supposed to come here for another few days… did you leave something here?”

“Mr. Cho,” Bennin whispered, and dipped his head. “Sir, can I… talk to you for a moment? This is important.”

“Important enough to put aside my meeting with my shareholders?”

Bennin swallowed hard at that.

“For me, yes.”

He then waited in the horrible silence, and then felt a squeeze of his hand. He looked down to find Benji holding his hand tightly, looking up at him with anxiety. Any bravado the little boy normally displayed was now nowhere to be seen, and Bennin pulled him a bit closer to his side before looking at his boss once more.

“I need your help.” He said, a bit more firmly. “My father has been hitting my family and me, and I’ve decided I’ve given enough. I want to get out of there, and you’re the one who can help me do that.”

Mr. Cho raised an eyebrow, glanced over the little group, and then nodded.

“This way. I’ll help you as best I can. Do I need to call the police?”

“Yes, please.”

“Alright.” A faint smile crossed Mr. Cho’s face. “You’ve said previously your father was a real piece of work, and now I understand why. Let’s give him the shock of a lifetime, shall we? He has to pay for hurting my precious jewel… I want you to stay with this company for a long time, Bennin, so I’ll help you get away and get your revenge on him.”

“Sir, I never said anything about revenge.”

“I know you didn’t. But you said you’d given enough, right? I heard certainty in your voice - you meant it. So let’s pay him back for everything he took from you.”

Bennin stared at the man’s large back as they walked, amazed. He’d never had long conversations with his boss, who he considered slightly frightening, but now he understood why some of the other actors had called him the golden dragon - strong, and vengeful against anyone or anything that tried to steal his treasures from him.

“There’s something an old friend of mine used to tell me,” his boss said, glancing over his shoulder at Bennin. “Do you want to know what it is?”

“Um… yes, sir. What did he say?”

“He used to say ‘pay back kindness tenfold, evil a hundredfold, and if you decide to get revenge, make sure no one is left standing’.”

“That… seems… cruel,” Benji whispered, and Bennin stared down at him.

“Benji!”

Mr. Cho was huge in their industry, and owned Stage Craft, the company where Bennin was contracted. He singlehandedly managed nearly a hundred actors without a secretary or outside assistance, and seemed related to several other higher names, as no one Bennin had seen in the industry ever dared to disrespect or speak poorly of the man. 

“It’s alright,” his boss soothed, and turned, crouching to see Benji better. “Do you want to know why that friend used to tell me that?”

Benji glanced up at Bennin worriedly, and Bennin sighed. He’d gotten them into this mess, so he’d have to get them out of it.

“Why?” He asked, and the man’s eyes flicked up to his. 

“He was worried about me,” he replied. “Back then, I was a bit softer then I am now, and he was worried once he left that I’d get myself into trouble. And without his advice, I certainly would be.”

He then stood up, heading to his office again, and the other three trailed behind him.

Just as they reached his office door, Benji spoke again, and Bennin slammed his hand over his brother’s mouth, but he was too late.

“Mr., what was your friend’s name?”

Bennin’s boss froze in place, and Bennin held his breath. He’d heard Mr. Cho reference the ‘friend’ a hundred times - everyone in the agency had - but they’d all known better than to ask about it. 

After a moment of silence that seemed to stretch eons, the man finally spoke, and Bennin, who was standing slightly to the side, saw a sad smile pull at the man’s lips.

“I don’t remember anymore,” he whispered. “He used to have one… but he’s been lost to time, now. I can’t remember what his voice used to sound like… or even what his face looked like. But I do remember what type of person he was, and there are so many things he said that people who interacted with him, like me, have carried around for the rest of our lives.” 

He turned, flashing that same sad smile at Bennin, and opened his office door.

“You remind me of him,” he said. “Which, for whatever reason, makes me want put your father through hell. Do you have a problem with that?”

“I do not,” Bennin replied, dipping his head. “Thank you, sir, for your help… and for your story.”

“Don’t thank me.” Mr. Cho turned back to his office door, stepping through the doorframe. “He’d really like you a lot, I think… I really do. I wish you could’ve met him… he did revenge like no one else, but since he isn’t here, it’ll be down to me to help fill in for him. Am I allowed to do anything I want as long as it’s legal?”

“Yes sir. Like I said before, I’ve given enough.”

“Alright. Sit down. I’ll call the police, and while we wait, tell me everything.”