Blood, Sweat, & Tears

Kim Namjoon

It was hard to get ahead in a small town. Most places that would hire a kid as young as Namjoon only paid the bare minimum. Not enough to help his family and certainly not enough to live on. But those were the only jobs available, or at least that's what Namjoon thought.

The young Ilsan native was approached by a heavily tattooed man on the street. The man didn't necessarily seem like the most friendly type, but he didn't seem too dangerous either. The tattooed man lead the teenaged boy to an alley.

"You've been looking for a job?" The man's voice was raspy as if he was a heavy smoker. The young boy nodded not trusting his voice. The man pulled a paper from his back pocket, "Show up at this address 6:30 tomorrow morning. It'll be worth your while, kid."

Namjoon looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. An address from the bad side of town was scrawled across it in shaky handwriting. When Joon looked up again the tattooed man was gone. The teenage boy looked around in confusion for a moment before sliding the piece of paper in his pocket and making his way home.

"I wonder what kind of job they'll offer."

That's how Namjoon started his job as a low-level drug dealer. His main product was marijuana. He didn't have much clearance for the harder stuff. Occasionally, he'd run the couple kilos of cocaine to others, but he was never permitted to sell. His distributor was taking cuts from his income, which was understandable as he was the one who grew and cut the product. But lately, he'd been asking for more and more.

"Look, Joonie," The grower turned around in his chair to face the younger with a stone-cold stare, "I get that this income is all you've got right now, but the police are cracking down on your area and if you get caught I lose most of my income. So I have to take what I can get from you."

"With all due respect, sir," Namjoon's teeth clenched around the respectful title, "I can outsmart the police. I won't get caught. And even if I do, why not take income away from the coke dealers who sell for exponentially higher monetary gain than I do? You're already taking more from me than you are from them."

The older didn't say anything. He just sucked his bottom lip between his teeth and stared at the younger. The kid had a point, but the older wasn't willing to admit it.

"So what I'm hearing is that you refuse to give me a higher cut?" The grower stared hard at his dealer who just blinked at him.

"Clearly you don't need your hearing checked." The younger turned on his heels and stalked out of the office. The grower clenched his teeth and picked up the phone on his desk.

"Yeah. Do it. He refused me." An evil smirk spread across the man's face as he kicked up his shoes. "Good luck making it on your own, Joon."

Namjoon made it home in time for dinner. It was going to be the first time in weeks that he would actually see his family, while they were awake. He would be able to ask his little sister about school and whether or not she was learning anything interesting. He would ask his dad about work and how the outlook was. He would ask his mom how her treatment was going and compliment her looks, even though she wouldn't believe him, not when her hair was thining and her skin was paling at an alarming rate. They would have the chance to be a family again.

The front door was open. Strange. Namjoon slowly pushed the door open and was immediately hit with the suffocating metallic scent of blood. The 18-year old's heart started to pound against his ribcage. He slowly made his way through the living room, where his father lay slumped over on the couch, shot point blank in the back of the head. The teen swallowed the lump in his throat and carefully made his way to the kitchen.

His mother and sister lay on the floor of the kitchen, blood pooled around them. They had obviously tried to protect one another from the attack but failed. Joon dropped to his knees and wretched. Tears streamed from his eyes. They weren't going to get away with this. Joon called the police and after the report was filed, he quickly packed his bags and got away before they could come for him next.

Namjoon spent the next couple of years, building his own empire. His empire expanded to be the largest in the country. His six friends, who came from similar backgrounds at his side.  He even managed to become the CEO of the largest publishing company in Asia. That's how he met her. Ji-ah. The most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on.

She was the most accomplished publisher and editor his company had ever seen, earning her a top floor office with a view of the skyline. Every so often, Namjoon would catch her eye and his face would erupt with red. Even now that they were engaged, she still found ways to make the most ruthless leader in the underground soft. Not that she knew what he did after office hours, and he intended to keep it that way.

Ji-ah had such an innocent aura and to expose her to something as vile as Bangtan was unbelievable. Bangtan dabbled in everything except human trafficking, Bangtan was the only gang in the country that was working towards a stop to the disgusting practice.

"Joon-oppa," The boy looked toward the door of his office. The light of his life stood in the doorway, "It's late. We should get home before they all think we eloped."

Namjoon stood from his chair and walked over to the beautiful girl. Her long black hair in a ponytail, her reading glassed poised on the bridge of her nose. He smiled at her showing his dazzling white teeth and leaned down connecting their lips. His hands found hers and he played with the diamond ring on her hand.

"Alright," He said as he pulled away connecting their foreheads, "Let's go home, love."

A Mafia AU that will be filled with drama. I hope my writing will do my imagination justice.

The ring