when you wake up | sunki

fifteen.

The day of the arranged attack on the TSUNAMI stronghold is set for two days after Sunoo moves back to his old apartment.

Riki is arguably the youngest person present on the mission, but he's one of the core four the AUREUM representatives look to for instruction that night. Jay, along with his two other leaders Sunghoon and Jake, clear all moves with him before they begin. Tonight's operation should be fast. No information collection or recon will be done; they are here for blood, and that is all they will accomplish.

There are seven cars present for the entire operation. Jay tells him there are twenty-two men present today, twenty-two people who volunteered, stepped up of their own volition to fight back for the injustice that was done against Riki's family. The younger boy nods, but he doesn't say anything.

He notes that AUREUM is nothing if not organised, as they exit the car. There are people poised at all entrances ready to overtake the compound. There is a nationwide ban on firearms in Korea, but it doesn't seem to be a concern for any of the members. Almost everyone has a firearm on them, each person seemingly with their own specialised model, unholstered and ready to attack.

At Jay's signal, the twenty-two of them breach the compound walls, and the operation begins.

Gunshots ring loud in the night, louder than Riki remembered.

─

The soft tap of Riki's shoes on the cement floor bears with it a heavy finality as he heads for the front door. Jay, Jake and Sunghoon follow close behind, the building silent as they leave. Blood dries sticky on their hands, but they have all grown to stop minding these things.

"Headcount?" Jay says, stopping just past the threshold.

"Twenty-two, all our members are out," Sunghoon tells him. "The building is clear."

"Heeseung-hyung just sent a signal," Jake says, looking down at his phone screen for the briefest moment. "Everything is set. We can leave now."

Jay turns to Riki and the younger boy nods, his face unreadable.

"There's another thing I need to do before we go."

Jake dips into his pocket and hands Riki the white spray paint. He shakes the aerosol can in his hand as they near the far walls of the compound, and writes.

正義. Seigi.

Justice, in the Nakagawa-kai's signature color.

Blood for blood, fire for fire.

Unity above all.

Riki steps back, letting the white writing dry in the chill night air.

"Burn it down."

Riki holds his fist up, a signal. The compound lights ablaze as they turn to walk away, the night sky in the distance behind them bright with yellow and orange and dancing gold in the darkness.

They rejoin the rest of the men a distance away, where their cars are still parked. Some of them are injured, as is always to be expected of a mission of this sort, but all of them look up and stand in a show of respect as their leaders return to them.

Riki lets the three leaders rejoin their members, and he faces the twenty-one people alone. Kneeling, he bows deep enough for his forehead to touch the ground before him.

Utmost respect, a symbol of gratitude for the sacrifice they have made to be here with him tonight.

He remains silent on the ride back.

─

Riki accepts the firearm of TSUNAMI's leader from Jay without a word as he returns to the apartment building. The revolver is sleek silver, printed with the insignia of the knife, the same logo he recognised the night he lost everything, the symbol of a gang who paid the price in blood for their actions.

It is time for him to return to the Nakagawa-kai soon. The revolver is a symbol of his exacted revenge, and with it he can rejoin his yakuza family. There will be a place for him there, as the son of Nishimura Sen and Yamazaki Keiko, but also as himself. He will build his own name as Nishimura Riki.

And he will never let what happened to him happen again. 

His flight back to Okayama is scheduled to take off in a week's time. Riki's not sure how long it'll be before he returns to Seoul, or if he ever even will, but Grandma Park assures him there'll always be an apartment ready for him if he chooses to come back one day.

"Sunoo, will you go to Japan with me?"

The older boy looks up from his notebook, dropping his pencil for the moment. They're at the rooftop again; Riki is counting down the days before he has to say goodbye to the place, and he doesn't forget his old routines even in his final days in Seoul.

"Hm? Is there a reason?"

Riki nods slowly. "My family's funeral. I told you I wasn't going to have one, because I didn't have any family members left. But the Nakagawa-kai have a special tradition for honouring the deaths of their members," he answers. "I can give them the proper send-off they deserve now. Will you be there with me?"

"I told you I would, on the first night we met here," Sunoo says, with a smile. "You might have forgotten that, but I haven't. Of course I'll be there with you."

They waste no time in getting air travel arrangements, with the help of Jay and his AUREUM people. Sunoo is surprised to find out that Jay's mafia family has its own travel agent equivalent, but Riki tells him he shouldn't be. A family this large should have representatives in almost every profession imaginable.

Grandma Park is sorry to see Riki go. She doesn't tell him anything outright, but she heads up to apartment #04-01 the night before they leave to hand him a bag full of treats; milk candies, biscuits, homemade kimchi and bungeoppang, his favourite waffle snack.

"You better keep safe now," she says, with a vague warning tone. "Stay in contact with my son, alright? I want to hear about how you're doing every now and then, don't forget about your old Grandma Park back home."

"I won't," Riki promises. He couldn't, even if he wanted to. Grandma Park had done so much for him in the weeks after the accident; sending him home-cooked food so he wouldn't miss any meals, making sure his water and electricity bills were paid, checking on him every so often just to see if he was alright, just like a real grandmother would. He sometimes wondered if Grandma Park basically thought she was raising two grandsons, which in reality wasn't so far from the truth.

"You, get back here soon," she says to Sunoo, then turns to Riki. "And you...keep safe, boy. I hope you know we'll always be here for you."

"Thank you, Grandma. Be safe and well, while I'm gone."