Dance Monkey | Park Jimin (On Hold)

Chapter Seven~Jovi

Life, as I knew it, was over.

Standing at the head of a long table, flanked by my father and Choi Sung-nam, one on each side of me, it felt as if a stone had sunk heavily into my stomach as I heard the words that would damn me to a lifetime of fear and unhappiness.

"I am happy to announce the engagement of my daughter, Kwon Jovi, to Mr. Choi Sung-nam. We will have a wedding just before the holidays, and I hope all will join us in the joyous celebration, not only for the union of these two special people, but also for the consolidation of Mr. Choi's southern territory with my own domain. I trust the continued loyalty and commitment to our endeavors from each and every one of you, whether new to my organization or not."

One look down the length of the table made it clear this sham of a marriage was simply a business deal. There were no family members, no life-long friends; there were only the hard, draconian faces of my father's colleagues—criminals, every one.

There were grunts of approval from around the table, and an offensive suggestion or two concerning the wedding night. My face burned with shame at being the subject of such openly lewd conversation. I expected a harsh word from my father to put a stop to my discomfort, but he said nothing.

Sung-nam chuckled, "I've no need for advice. I've broken more than my fair share of innocents. She'll be tamed and on her knees before you know it. I will not tolerate sass or disobedience."

Muscles clenched tightly in disgust as I felt him cup my bottom, the heat from his hand searing my skin through the thin silk skirt I wore. I couldn't help flinching at the presumptuous grope. He pinched me violently in retaliation. The warning in his dangerous, narrow eyes was very real—I was never to pull away from his touch again, regardless of who was there to witness it.

My father pulled a chair out and indicated that I should sit. Talk continued around me as if I was not there. Apparently, the announcement had been the only part I'd been needed for. Business as usual continued for the rest of them. I picked at my food, but it tasted like sawdust on my parched tongue. Keeping my eyes down and my ears closed, I ignored the conversations around me as best I could.

Hot molten lava ran through every vein and churned in my stomach, and yet at the same time there was an empty hollow feeling in my soul.

Over the last month, I'd tried every trick I had up my sleeve to escape this fate. I never had a moment, except when I was sleeping, that bodyguards were not monitoring my every move. My phone had finally been returned to me, but it was now linked to my father's. He would be privy to every text, every phone call, and every Google search I made. I couldn't call my friends. And I would never put Mrs. Lee in danger by asking her for the kind of help I needed. Every other avenue that led toward possible aid had been cut off.

It finally sunk in how stuck I was.

I was utterly alone.

I retreated into my head and tried to imagine a better life—one where I was free, happy, and loved. As usual, I daydreamed of a building a home with a boy with ash blonde hair. Sunday afternoon cuddles, kisses that made my insides flutter, and barefoot dancing together around our cramped kitchen—in my fantasies, we were always poor. I realized now that I equated riches with immorality and living a life of crime.

"You could look a little happier, you know."  The angry growl in my ear startled me out of my thoughts, and I looked up just as Sung-nam mashed his fingertips into my face on either side of my mouth.

"You think you're too good for me, bitch? Cause I can make your life either very, very good—or very, very bad," he lowered his voice menacingly. His vice-like grip continuously tightened until the metallic taste of blood permeated my mouth.

I tried to pull away from the pain as sharp edges of my teeth tore the flesh on the inside of my cheek, but his strength was much greater than mine. I refused to give him the satisfaction of making me crumble in fear though. To appear weak in front of this sadistic bastard would be the end of me. Stiffening my spine, I lifted my eyes in open defiance, refusing to cower. If I went down, it wouldn't be groveling at his feet like a mistreated dog.

The room went silent. Sung-nam's enraged face was on the verge of turning purple when Jungkook appeared beside me. 

"I think that's enough for now, Sung-nam," my father's voice was restrained, yet authoritarian. He was not a man who ever had to give an order twice.

The pressure on my face was relieved immediately and Jungkook whisked me away from the table. Pulling me urgently from the back room of the crowded restaurant, his fingers dug into my skin almost as harshly as Sung-nam's had. At this rate, I would be covered in bruises by morning.

Jungkook didn't say a word. He pushed me through the exit and into the parking lot as a long black car magically slid into place in front of us.

I had had enough.

"Let go of me, you asshole!"

I wrenched my arm from his grasp and took a step back. Unfazed, he smoothly opened the back door of the vehicle and deposited me inside in one fluid motion.

"Jovi, do you have any idea what you've done?" he asked as he buckled me in and pulled the shoulder strap—too tight.

"Do you know what happened to Mr. Choi's last wife?"

I shook my head, trying to remember the gossip that had surrounded them at that time, but coming up short.

"Neither does anyone else! She just vanished. You know what that means!"

My eyes widened. People disappeared all the time. If you believed the whispers of people in the know it usually meant they had been taken care of, or to be specific—dead in a way that meant they would never be found.

Jungkook settled against the back of the seat and looked at me seriously, "Choi Sung-nam is not a man to be trifled with. Pissing him off is not the same as pissing me off, Jovi! You have a certain amount of protection from your father right now, but do not rely on that. If you engage in a power struggle with Sung-nam, you will lose."

"There's really no way out of this, is there?"

He didn't have to tell me; sadly, I already knew the answer. The dreams I had been holding onto with both hands fell away as easily as a house of cards. By the luck of the draw, destined simply by the family I was born into, I would never have a life of my own choosing. I would never feel the warmth of real lasting love.

Jungkook put his arm around me compassionately. We rode in silence the rest of the way back to the house.

I tried to remember my mother and whether she was happy with her lot in life, but I was so young when she died I had very few memories of her. My father had raised me on his own. He may have tried to shelter me from the inner workings of the business, but surely some of his characteristics had rubbed off on me. No, I wasn't disreputable or cruel, but I did have some of his better qualities—tenacious determination, a willingness to take calculated risks, and the patience to see a meticulous plan through to the end.

Add in that I was also desperate and willing to die on this battleground, and suddenly things didn't look so bleak after all. My father would never lie down and take this kind of treatment; I wouldn't either.

"Why do you look like you're planning something stupid?" Jungkook asked in a whisper, his furrowed eyebrows an indication of his feelings on the matter. He lowered his voice even further as the driver watched us in the rearview mirror. "Please don't do anything idiotic, Jovi."

I just smiled and nodded in vague acquiescence as the driver turned into the massive garage and parked the car. Jungkook's tone was pleading as he helped me out of the car, "Jovi, please... you do not understand the kind of war you could be starting here."

But he might as well have been talking to the air. There had to be a way out—a way for me to have a life of my own. I just hadn't found it yet.

And if I couldn't find it, then I would have to make it.

Somehow.