Imagine a deck of cards, and each card represents an event that shapes the universe. When the cards are shuffled a particular way, they form into an entirely different reality. In our universe, Ryujin and Yeji are K-pop idols apart of a group known as 'ITZY'. But if the cards were to be mixed up into a random sequence, it would create a whole new set of possibilities and outcomes.
So let's say that we shuffle the cards again. In one universe, Ryujin was a hitman who met her demise at the hands of Karina which tragically left Yeji all alone in her solitude. However, if one card was sorted differently, the whole universe would result in an entirely new reality.
Following along?
Essentially, the Butterfly Effect also plays a major role. Every choice and decision would snowball into what would determine their fate and what their future holds.
There are more than a million possibilities of how their story would unfold. How their endings will be told.
Let's explore it, shall we?
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From the very moment a person is born, they are unable to choose their own paths. Undoubtedly due to the sheer fact that newborns are incapable of making their own choices, lying on their mother's chest in a hospital room with the blinding, bright light burning their eyes.
The type of person they would become is heavily determined by what environment they are in, how they are raised and especially the people that care for them.
It's granted that if a person is raised in a stable household, they'd most probably become a 'good' person who would become successful in the future. But if they were exposed to harsh abuse and neglect; in a dysfunctional family, they'd have a whole list of issues that they'd endure for the rest of their lives; affecting how they make decisions and ultimately, their fates.
The prime example of this was Shin Ryujin. An undiagnosed sociopath whose profession was to murder people at someone else's bidding.
Death wasn't anything that fazed the 21-year-old, she experienced quite a few in her short lifetime. Walking into her parents' private bathroom in their bedroom to find her mother's lifeless body with her blood dripping down the drain in the shower, and also witnessing her father's skull shatter against the steering wheel on their way back home from the liquor store.
Perhaps due to all the turmoils of her life, this was how her emotions and her capability to, quite frankly, give a shit about anyone was diminished.
Lost in her thoughts, a hard blow flew across her face. The dark-haired woman staggered in the makeshift ring. Boos and heckling were deafening in the abandoned warehouse in a dilapidated section of Seoul. She saw doubles of each member of the crowd, all screaming and yelling with spit flying out of their drunken mouths.
Suddenly, cheers erupted from the spectators as her opponent came charging towards her.
Thankfully due to his big mass, she was able to dodge his attack without much effort. He threw his arm out in an attempt to use his brunt force to knock her out. She took hold of his muscular forearm and turned around with her back facing his body, pulling downwards with all her strength.
With his momentum and her position, her opponent was thrown to the ground and without hesitation, she straddled him in a swift movement and landed punch after punch into the center of his face.
Her fury of attacks came to an abrupt halt when the referee pulled her off of him. The crowd immediately cheered for the dark-haired woman. Sweat and small drops of blood beaded off her shining forehead, she wiped it away with her forearm before looking back at her unconscious opponent.
A lazy smirk peeked out, unbeknownst to the audience due to the fabric covering the lower half of her face as she saw the referee's hand slam into the ring.
Five, Four, Three, Two, One... The sharp ring of the bell signalled the end of the match. The referee walked over to her and raised her arm into the air, reigning her victorious.
"And the winner is... HAN JOANNE!"
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Sitting in the empty locker room, she wiped her sweat away with a towel and shoved it into a small duffle bag. Ryujin could still hear the muffled cheers from the crowd from down the hall. Her phone vibrated in the bag so she promptly checked the notification.
[Chaery: Congrats, you won. But can you hurry up already? It's so fucking cold in the car and there are people staring at me...]
The dark-haired woman chuckled a little before replying.
[I'll be done soon, give me a second.]
She threw her phone back into the bag and searched for an object that she would be using later. With the metal object concealed in the back of her shorts, she threw the bag over her jacketed shoulder and walked out of the locker room.
Ryujin kept her gaze down as she walked past all the men who were working out and practising their jabs before their match.
Perverted whispers targeted the woman, however, she didn't care for their cat-calls or their lustful stares. She didn't care for anything really, that was until a tall, medium-built man suddenly came up from behind her and slapped her ass.
"Damn, she got some." He laughed hysterically and nudged his friend.
With a loud sigh, she turned back around and briskly walked towards him.
"Oh shit, you made the bitch mad." The friend said jokingly as he took a step away.
As he turned his face back towards the woman, he was immediately knocked out cold from her heavy-handed punch into his temple. The man's body fell to the concrete with a loud thump.
All the men in the room fell silent from the attack. Ryujin kneeled down to his unconscious body with a grin forming beneath her mask.
"What's all this commotion about?"
Everyone except the woman moved out of the way for the grey-haired man entering the room. He unbuttoned his blazer while scanning the faces of all the men weary in his presence.
The body of the man lay at the foot of the masked girl, who was looking back at the suited man with a gaze that could turn many into stone. He wasn't fazed, however, was rather impressed; taking down two of his fiercest fighters.
The grey-haired man focused on Ryujin with a dimpled smile, "Come with me, we need to talk."
Ryujin nodded before following the man. The hallway was illuminated by an old, dangling lightbulb that was nearing the end of its life. Rust and cracks formed along the wall that reverberated the cheers of the audience. The further they walked, the voices grew distanced and the sounds of their footsteps became louder.
Soon enough, they reached the end of the hallway to what she assumed was the man's office. He opened the door with his key and allowed her to walk in.
"What is your name?" The man asked as he shut the door behind him and walked over to his desk, leaving his key on the wooden top.
The masked woman kept quiet, keeping her place in front of the table with her arms crossed.
"You're quiet, aren't you?" He chuckled lowly, trying to fill the awkward atmosphere.
He opened the drawer beside him and took out a glass and a bottle of brandy.
"Well, I'm Youngjae. It means to be prosperous. I got to say, my parents chose me the right name." The man smirked as he gulped down his drink and promptly refilled.
"I've built this place from the ground up. Fighters from all over the city come here to see if they got what it takes to beat other people with the same goal as them."
Ryujin walked around the room, observing photo frames of men holding trophies and medals as they celebrated their win. There were some familiar faces of people she saw in the gym and the man she defeated in the ring.
"People come to my warehouse to spectate, bet and feel satisfied with watching other people's pain." The grey-haired man ran his fingertip along the edge of his cup.
A frame grabbed her attention; a picture of two young children, a little girl and a boy slightly taller than her. Behind them was Youngjae, younger with his dark hair.
"I never really understood the violence. How people could find pleasure in another person's suffering."
"It's human nature to enjoy it. The violence." Ryujin finally spoke, slightly muffled by the fabric on her face. "It's in our blood to desire for competition, excitement and adrenaline."
"Is that why you fought tonight?" Youngjae asked, interested in the woman standing before him.
"Perhaps."
He stood up from his desk and walked to her, "Would you do it again?"
Ryujin continued to analyse the family photo, focusing on the little girl with sharp, feline eyes. She didn't know how long ago the photo was taken, or how old the children were now but she had a task to complete. And she was determined to execute it.
"Yes."
The masked woman reached into her back pocket for the concealed weapon and pulled it out, flicking it to reveal a blade.
Before Youngjae could recognise the knife in her hand, the blade was pierced into his stomach. He opened his mouth in horror and took a step back, watching his white shirt stained red.
Ryujin's blade landed into his abdomen once again with her other hand covering his mouth.
"Shh" She whispered out. "There is another reason I enjoy the violence."
She could feel a warm liquid leaking onto her palm from her victim's mouth so she removed her hand and wiped the blood onto his blazer.
"It gives me pleasure. A high that I could only get from watching blood pour out of my victims' bodies. Then it also gives me satisfaction; and pleasure in being in control. You know what it's like to have power, don't you?" The hitman stared into his sharp eyes, filled with pure fear and anguish, something she loved feeding off of.
She received no answer from him other than blood-curdling from his mouth, and red liquid dripping from his lips.
"You're quiet, aren't you?"
The grey-haired man's knees gave out, making him fall back onto his desk. The hitman closed her eyes as she plunged the knife back into him again and again.
A man's voice that she had known for more than half her life tormented her. His drunken screams, calling out for her and her sister as they hid under the bed.
"Come out. Now. You need your punishment.'
The knife continued to fly through the air, landing on the Youngjae's lifeless body. She could feel the blood spattering her face with each stab.
Her phone vibrated with an incoming call in her bag. Ryujin finally opened her eyes to a red waterfall drenching the concrete beneath her feet. Her grip loosened on the body, causing it to fall to the ground.
She pierced her knife onto the wooden top and rummaged through her bag for the phone. Her stained finger swiped the screen and was placed to her ear.
"Chaeryeong?"
Ryujin pulled her phone away from her ear, "WE NEED TO GO NOW, THE POLICE SCANNER IS SHOWING A RIOT SQUAD IS ON THE WAY HERE NOW TO SHUT DOWN THE WAREHOUSE. LET'S GO!!"
"On the way."
She hung up and pulled the knife from the table. Ryujin grabbed a red cloth and a pack of black playing cards from her bag. She opened her pack and picked out one of the cards and placed it between Youngjae's fingers. Her signature.
The hitman turned on her phone to snap a photo of her target's dead body. Once satisfied, she left the room and cleaned her knife with the cloth covered with blood from all her targets.
The roars from the spectators were still heard loudly as she sped walked down the hallway. She kept an eye out for any witnesses or people that were near her.
Ryujin eventually made it to the main room, where fighters were still battling with each other. She pushed through the audience, bumping shoulders with drunken men who were rooting for the fighters they betted on.
She pushed the exit doors open and immediately bolted to the meet-up location that Chaeryeong agreed to extract her from. But there was no sign of her.
"Shit." She whispered to herself and pulled her phone out to dial her pick-up.
A loud honking came charging towards her. Her heart raced as she didn't recognise the car through the bright headlights. She held her hand above her eyes, immediately recognising the driver.
The car pulled alongside the road with the window rolled down.
"Get your slow ass in here NOW!!" Chaeryeong screamed from the driver's side.
As Ryujin was about to pull the handle, red and blue flashing lights glowed in the distance behind them.
"RYUJIN, NOW!!" She screamed even louder than before.
Before Ryujin could buckle herself in, Chaeryeong immediately stepped on the accelerator. The hitman turned around to see the police cars pulling up to the warehouse. She let out a deep breath as she sunk into the leather seats.
She closed her eyes to slow her heart rate down from the close call.
"You're an idiot!!" Chaeryeong yelled while hitting her friend on the chest.
Ryujin eyes shot wide open from the pain. "Ouch.. What was that for?"
"Cause you took your sweet ass time in there!! What were you doing?! Making out with all the hot and sweaty guys in there?!" The driver rambled as she ran a red light.
"Kick asses and eliminating the target, stupid." Ryujin said without a hint of emotion as she removed her mask and used it to wipe her face free from Youngjae's blood.
"Do it faster next time. Jesus, I was shitting my pants the whole time sitting in the car." Chaeryeong rolled her eyes. She looked into the rearview mirror to see the streets completely empty so she slowed down.
"How did you know I won?!" Ryujin asked genuinely while leaving her arm out the window, cooling her skin off from the humidity.
"Some guys were complaining that a woman knocked out the dude you fought and made them lose all their money."
Ryujin laughed dryly, "They made a huge mistake betting on that guy, he was fucking awful at fighting. All offence, no defence."
"Then, how did you get that cut on your forehead?" Chaeryeong raised her eyebrow at Ryujin.
"I walked into a door."
"Oh yeah, for sure." She said sarcastically before giggling.
The dark-haired woman turned on the radio to avoid any further questions from her friend. Ryujin leaned on the car door, immersing herself in the passing streetlights.
She was finally able to relax after her intense work session. This was the moment she enjoyed the most after completing her contracts. The calm after the storm.
Note:
sooo here is an alternate storyline for 'Save Me'!! some of the parts would be parallel to the first book and some comes from the first draft that i found buried in my notes. i'll be making this story darker, more angsty and more ✨drama✨
hopefully y'all enjoy!!