𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 ♛ 𝐥𝐦𝐤

♛ 40

There he stood, wearing his usual attire; black and black leather jacket. 

Dasom curved a smirk, folding her arms on her chest. "Well, well, bold are we, Mark Lee?"

Mark snickered. "Oh please, just hurry up and come with me."

"And where to exactly?" She asked, following him to his car.

She hopped into his car, putting on the seatbelt. It was her second time sneaking out with him, though this time her butler was completely aware of it.

"Don't tell me we're going to school again." She joked, making the male chuckle.

"No, you'll see."

The drive was surprisingly quite pleasant. Mark played a song from the radio, a song that sounded so nostalgic. The sky was clear that night, showing the sublime moon.

They soon arrive at the place. It was nothing Dasom had expected, she thought he'd take her somewhere dangerous or thrilling. But it wasn't, it was a café.

When Mark brought her inside, at first she thought it was just a normal café. But as he took her to the other side, she soon realized that it was filled with delinquents and mafiosos. 

Mark sat on his usual seat, "the usual, please."

The bar server nodded, turning towards Dasom. "And you, madame?"

"Uh, the same as him," she spoke hesitantly, looking at Mark with a confused place. Their drinks arrived not long after they ordered it and he immediately took a sip.

"So mind explaining me what this place is? A bar? A café?"

Mark chuckled, enjoying his favorite red wine. "A café, Yeonjun introduced me to this place. I'm sure you know why."

Dasom hummed, taking a small sip of the drink. She wasn't much of a drinker, but the drink was surprisingly pleasant to her taste. "So, why'd you bring me here?"

"To talk," he said simply. "You see, my family was never the talker type, and so am I. But tonight was just, a hard one to pass."

He was caught up in his own small world. The burden that was blooming inside him was becoming too much to handle.

"Alright, I'm listening."

"I've told you before that Yeonjun was a member of Neo Mortem Mafia, right? It wasn't his choice, his father made him join. He was supposed to be an intel, serving the Phantom Viper classified information from the mafia," 

He took another sip of the wine, the sweet and fruity flavor filling his mouth. "It went well at first. Until my father and Chevalier himself gave my brother a mission to kill the descendant of Phantom Viper."

"That's the mission we're putting on hold right now, right?" 

"Yes, it is. They won't tell us who we're supposed to kill, so we thought the best way to find out was to have an insider in the mafia, because they had the information regarding the descendant. I asked Yeonjun about it cause he served as Phantom Viper's intel in the mafia, but he couldn't find an information about it. So Taeyong-hyung took part in the game, joining the mafia," 

It all slowly began to make sense to her, the pieces of puzzle were starting to put itself back into place, forming the bigger picture.

"So he joined, and the boss had taken quite a liking in him because he was Eric Lee's son, Chevalier's right hand. So they made a deal, the boss agreed to tell him who the descendant was if he agreed to kill the traitor of the mafia."

Dasom took another sip of her drink, her fingers circling around the tip of the glass. "And that was Yeonjun, isn't it?"

Mark let out a rickety breath, nodding his head. "It was Yeonjun. He didn't know it was him, not until he killed him."

It was far more complicated than what Dasom thought. It was messy and all over the place, and the fact that her past deeds were similar to this wasn't helping at all.

"Is that why he's now the underboss of the mafia?"

"No," Mark harshly said. "He's just being a dick, failing to accept the truth. He's escaping from the reality. This mission was supposed to be his, he brought me into this mess."

Dasom felt empty and doomed. If Mark knew the truth about her, he'd probably hate her as much as he hated his brother. She was the same as Taeyong, they both made a mistake, leaving their younger sibling to take the huge hit.

"He didn't mean it that way, I'm sure of that."

"You don't even know him." He spat.

"It's true, I don't. But as the older sibling, I understand where this is coming from." 

Mark snickered at her words, looking at her with a look full of rage. "He left me, Dasom. He left me to clean all of this mess after killing my best friend."

"It's not like he had any other options, right? That's why you made Heeseung join the mafia too, it was your only option. You had to finish the mission."

He pursed his lips tight, turning back to look at his half empty glass. "I guess you're right."

"He won't be happy up there if you keep on dwelling on his death," she spoke. "So, why don't we just make sure you'll fulfill your promise, hm?"

Mark's eye dazzled at her words, it was the exact words that he wanted to listen, perfectly said in the way that could push away his hesitation.

Swimming in the bottle of emotions, he began to open up to her. His true self wasn't as firm as the mask he put on everyday, she's aware of that. Nevertheless, it didn't mind her. They were in the same side of the coin after all.

They were running in the moonlight, dancing in the open waves. The words spoken that night were heart-wrenching, agonizing. He was still falling, never reaching the bottom nor the surface. But she was enough to make him stay, to stop the gravity.

happy new year everyone ! here's a longass chapter to start ur 2021🥳

oh also also, i've published my jeno book loser, lover so if ure interested please do check it out <3 

have a happy new year everyone!!