The double doors to a huge abandon warehouse opened and two bulk men leaded Hyebin in.
She walked stiffly in-between those two with only her eyes scanning the whole dim warehouse.
Her heart pounded against the paper length envelope that she was holding tightly against her chest as Yoongi's words ring back and forth through her head.
YOONGI: "Just do as you were told. Then you'll be safe."
???: "Well, well, well. Looks like our little brother got himself a new toy."
Her feet came to a stop when a man came out from the darkness at a distance.
Although it was quite far, she can see that the man had a huge scar vertically across his left eye and he, wasn't all that pleasant to look at either.
His arms all the way to his neck were cover up with tattoos and his skinny, unhealthy looks, tells her right away that this man was highly on drug.
SCAR MAN: "What's your name, sweetie pie?"
She stood her ground and did not say a single word.
Her strong presence made him sneered.
SCAR MAN: "Let's see what you got there."
The two bulk men held onto her arms and she yanked her arms away immediately.
The scar man rose his eyebrows at that and found some interest in her.
SCAR MAN: "I see you're not quite an easy one."
He gestured his hands for the two bulk men by each of her side to back away and then gestured his index finger for her to come over.
'25.' She said in her mind.
She counted 25 men standing in the dark shadow of the warehouse, staring at her with thirst as if she's a little lamb that has come into the wrong place.
YOONGI: "Just do as you were told. Then you'll be safe."
His words ring back into her mind and with that, she boldly took steps over to the scar man.
The scar man's lips curved upward when she made her way over.
But then she stopped, a couple of feet away before reaching him.
She tossed the paper length envelope into the air and it landed right in front of his feet.
He bended over and picked up the envelope. But before opening it, his gazed shifted back to her.
SCAR MAN: "Can I trust you?"
Two gun shots screamed in her ears and she squatted down in surprise as she covered her head with her hands.
The two bulk men behind her came tumbling to the ground after they were shot right in the heart.
All the other men came out from their hiding and pointed their guns at the group of men in suit that had marched into the warehouse.
And in front of those group of men, was Min Yoongi.
The scar man careless that his two men were shot, instead he snorted at the sight of his little brother.
SCAR MAN: "Hey, little brother. You always like to take me by surprise."
He ripped open the envelope and turned it upside down.
Hyebin slightly turned her head toward the scar man and her eyes grew wide when she sees what came falling to the ground.
It was small packages of deadly white powder drugs.
SCAR MAN: "You promised me big."
YOONGI: "He promised me bigger."
The scar man scoffed annoyingly with a smile on his face.
SCAR MAN: "Now, now. That is between you and him—"
A bullet shot right through his head from behind.
Hyebin gasped in terrify when blood spatters onto her face and the scar man fell down onto the ground right next to her.
He is dead, for sure.
???: "My apologies."
Another man appeared behind the dark shadow.
He is more pleasant and younger looking than the scar man but the evilness in his eyes is no joke at all.
And out of the dark shadow behind him, was his group of bodyguards.
KIHYUN: "I'll teach my men their lesson, for not doing their job right."
And with a snap of fingers, those men that was having their gun pointed at Yoongi's group of men, got shot one by one.
Hyebin flinched at each shot and lowered her head down to her knees as she was squatting down in between both Mafia gangs, none of them seem to care about her presences at all.
Kihyun gestured his fingers and a man from behind him walked up to his side and held out a black suit case.
KIHYUN: "It's all in here. Show me what I came for and this is yours."
Yoongi's slightly tilted his head and one of his men stepped forward and then grabbed onto Hyebin's arm.
She flinched frighteningly at his touch but before she knew it, he jerked her up onto her feet and dragged her back behind Yoongi.
A teasing smirk appeared on Yoongi's lip and his dark, cold eyes made contact with the man standing before him.
YOONGI: "I told you already, didn't I? I don't play games."
The look on Kihyun's face turned upside down.
No more talking. No more waiting.
All the men from behind each of their boss came running toward each other and there's nothing bloodier that she has ever seen than this.
---
Men shed their blood, men gave their life, men were badly injured, but Yoongi came back to his office without a speck of blood on him as if nothing had happened.
HYEBIN: "President Min, this is not what I applied for."
She strolled furiously into his office right behind him.
HYEBIN: "And what I saw today, selling drug and slaughtering men kind, this is an illegal act."
YOONGI: "Just because you live in a clean world, that doesn't mean everybody else does too."
HYEBIN: "But to the point of killing each other? You all are grown men; can't you just make an agreement like an adult?"
YOONGI: "Those men gave their life to me when they sign up for the job and I take full responsibility for their death. I know it may seem cruel to you, but that is just how this world works."
Her chest heaved up and down and she couldn't find the right words to express how she feels at the moment.
HYEBIN: "This is bull."
She mumbled softly underneath her breath.
YOONGI: "The whole world is, Miss Lee Hyebin. If you don't kill... you'll be the one getting kill."
HYEBIN: "Then I will resign. I will not be working with you if there's killing involved. Have a good day."
She did a quick bow and then turned and headed for the door.
YOONGI: "I did warn you. Once you get through this test, you have no other choice but to work with me."
Her hand stopped in midair before reaching the door knob and she turned back around to face him again.
HYEBIN: "Then what do I have to do, to be able to resign from this job."
Those eyes that were staring back at her were filled with nothing but darkness.
Every time she stared into those eyes, she felt lost as if she was trap inside a maze and she couldn't find a way out.
She feels... suffocating.
There's a sight change in his eyes and then the corner of his lips curved into a smirk.
YOONGI: "I'll have to take your life."
---
Coming out from after a warm shower, Yumae had her hair curled up in a towel with a green face mask on as she headed over to the kitchen.
But as soon as she grabbed a mug from the counter, the doorbell ring.
YUMAE: "Ah that must be mah gurl!"
She dropped what she was about to do and skipped her way over to the door and opened it.
YUMAE: "What sup—Holy balonee! What happen to you girl!"
Standing outside of Yumae's house, Hyebin burst out into tears as soon as she sees Yumae.
HYEBIN: "Yumae ahh~hhhhaaaaahhhhh~!"
Yumae placed her hand against her chest.
YUMAE: "Lord have mercy. So, I am right after all. They are a bunch of killer gangs!"
HYEBIN: "I'm a teacher, okay. I teach kids to only do what's good in life and not to do bad things, now look at me! I ended up doing it myself! How do I supposed to face them when I meet them again!?"
She suddenly held onto Yumae's hands.
HYEBIN: "I don't know what to do? Do you think I should just call the police? Or run away to my parents? He's probably not going to hire someone to track me down and kill me, would he?"
YUMAE: "Well, you did mention that he did a background check on you. Wouldn't that mean that he knew where your parents live?"
Hyebin paused to think for a second and then she suddenly gasped.
HYEBIN: "What if he got my parents in hostage?!"
Hyebin paced back and forth from one end of the living room to the other end as she bite her nails nervously for her parents to answer the call.
HYEBIN: "Come on... pick up..."
Her heart dropped in relief when the call was pick up.
HYEBIN'S MOM: "Hyebin?"
HYEBIN: "Mommy!"
HYEBIN'S MOM: "Yes, what is it darling?"
HYEBIN: "Is everything okay over there? Where is daddy?"
HYEBIN'S MOM: "Everything is okay and your dad is right there."
HYEBIN'S DAD: "Is that Hyebin?"
Her mom answered her dad and then handed the phone over to him.
HYEBIN'S DAD: "Hyebin."
HYEBIN: "Yes, daddy?"
HYEBIN'S DAD: "How are you doing? Don't overwork yourself okay. Your mom and I are doing fine over here. Don't need to worry."
She nodded and she could feel her nose getting stuffy again.
HYEBIN'S DAD: "Whenever you find the time, come and visit us too. We both misses you very, very much."
HYEBIN: "Okay, daddy. I'll come and visit you two soon. Sorry to bother you and mommy so late."
HYEBIN'S DAD: "It's okay. You didn't bother us at all. We always wait for your call, darling."
HYEBIN: "Alright. Goodnight, daddy. Tell mommy goodnight too."
After her dad ended the call, Hyebin continued to stare at her cell phone.
YUMAE: "So..."
She looked at Yumae and then look out to the city night lights with determination in her eyes.
After hearing a loud crashing noise from the living room, Taeran dashed out from the kitchen to check what was going on.
The man that she had help, was trying to stand up from the sofa and had knock over the bowl of water that she had left it there to wipe his face.
TAERAN: "You're awake?"
She dashed over to help him, who was struggling against the sofa.
As soon as he feels her touch, he shook her off and glared at her with exhaustion.
MAN: "Who are you?"
She was taken aback by his question and blinked her eyes oddly.
TAERAN: "I think the question is, who are you?"
MAN: "I asked you, not for you to ask me back"
He snapped at her and then glanced around the tiny apartment.
MAN: "How long have I been sleeping?"
TAERAN: "For almost one day and a half."
He couldn't believe what he had just heard.
A day and a half?
He shut his eyes and grunted irritatingly.
MAN: "Shit. I need to go."
Her eyes widen when he tried to lift himself up again.
TAERAN: "But you're not heal yet?"
Her hands reached out and held onto his arm.
MAN: "Don't touch me!"
He yanked his arm out of her hold and because of the force, she sat back onto the sofa.
She didn't say or do anything else.
She watched him as he toddler his way across the living room and then collapsed onto the hard floor.
He groaned in anger and hit the floor with his fist.
MAN: "Fuck this."
TAERAN: "You're weird. There's a cozy place for you to sleep on and why do you always like to sleep on the floor?"
His eyes flew opened into a glare and she was standing in front of his head, looking down at him.
TAERAN: "Here you go."
She placed the warm bowl of chicken soup on the table in front of Jungkook.
TAERAN: "Eat it when it's still hot. It'll make you feel better."
He looked up at her after staring at the steaming soup in front of him.
MAN: "Will you try to poison me?"
She gawked at his odd question and then blurt out a single laugh.
TAERAN: "If I was to poison you, isn't it better to just leave you out there in the rain and let a stray dog eat you up?"
He continued to stare at her continuously with that low angle eyes of his as if she's a threat to him or something.
Although she is considered innocent among the people around her, she is not a fool either.
She could sense that he was doubting her and she just found that quite funny somehow.
TAERAN: "That's strange. Usually in a situation where two strangers ended up being together like this, the girl will be the one who is afraid of the guy. Why are we opposite?"
He didn't say a word and just stared at her continuously without a single blink.
She blurted out a laugh at his seriousness and sit down on the chair across from him.
TAERAN: "Just eat up. I swear to god I didn't put any, what you call it, 'poison' in it. I pity the food."
He finally shifted his gaze from her to the soup and his hand reached up to grab hold of the spoon.
As he eats the soup that melted like ice cream into his mouth, he glanced up at her and she flashed him a warm, motherly smile.
TAERAN: "If it's not too much to ask, may I know your name?"
He paused at her question and then continued eating.
MAN: "It's not something you need to know."
She pouted and looked away.
TAERAN: "Fine. I don't want to know it anyways, Jeon Jungkook."
He looked at her immediately in surprise.
JUNGKOOK: "How did you know my name?"
TAERAN: "There."
She used her chin to point out the direction for him and he looked over to see his wallet lying on the coffee table.
His eyes shifted back to her and she smiled at him while raising both her eyebrows.
JUNGKOOK: "Just forget about it. Forget about meeting me. Act like you never see or know me before. It's the best thing for you."
His wording makes her confused. Is he just trying to scare her or what?
TAERAN: "Why? Are you being chase by some gangs? Or are you a killer that was being chase by the police?"
JUNGKOOK: "What if I say I'm both?"
She paused and stared at him for a second or two.
TAERAN: "Even if you are, I'm not afraid of you."
JUNGKOOK: "You're not afraid?"
TAERAN: "No. What is there in you that I am afraid of?"
Both of them locked into each other's eyes for a moment.
As the moment grew longer and longer, he sees nothing in this girl in front of him but only pureness.
Something that he had never seen in his whole life before.
And something that can be very dangerous to him also.
He lowered his eyes from hers and then pushed the bowl away from him.
JUNGKOOK: "I'm done. I need to go now."
He stood up while holding his lower waist and enduring the pain.
She followed him up.
TAERAN: "Wait here for a second, okay?"
He watched her as she ran pass him and into her room.
After a moment, she came back out and handed him something black, like a T-shirt.
TAERAN: "I washed your shirt for you... and also I tried to sew up the hole that the bullet had cause, but it doesn't look pretty so I sew a heart on it. Hope you don't mind."
He stared at the shirt that she was holding for quite a long while before looking at her.
JUNGKOOK: "You don't have to, but thanks."
He grabbed the shirt from her hands.
TAERAN: "Nice meeting you, Jungkook. I pray for you to only find happiness in your life and hope that you'll get well soon."
She reached out her hand to him and he stared at it.
TAERAN: "I'm Taeran. Kang Taeran."
His eyes shifted up and met hers.
Though he didn't feel attracted to her or anything, he couldn't resist looking away from that smile.
There's something with her smile that makes him feels warm somehow. Or maybe it's just that he hasn't seen a smile for so long.
A smile... from an honest person.
---
Sitting in the silent room, face to face with Yoongi again, Hyebin had finally make up her mind after a long night with Yumae.
HYEBIN: "Since I have no choice but to work with you, I'll continue working. BUT— in one condition, I will not travel to places like where you had taken me yesterday. Is that clear?"
Yoongi didn't say anything for the longest time and just stared at her.
After she thought she'll go crazy because of his quietness, he opened his mouth to speak.
YOONGI: "That is for me to decide."
Her jaw dropped to the ground.
He stood up from his sitting and strolled pass her and then out the door.
HYEBIN: "Hey!"
She jolted up and chased after him.
She walked alongside with him down the hall, although he seems to be ignoring her, she doesn't give a damn.
HYEBIN: "I can't put my life in danger like that! Just like you, I have my own responsibilities! I have to take care of my parents!"
The word 'parents' brought a softness onto his facial expression.
HYEBIN: "What if something happens to me, who is going to take care of my parents?"
He shook that word out of his mind and take a quick glance at her.
YOONGI: "Your parents will be in good hands."
She suddenly stopped chasing him and stared at his back view as he continued his way.
How can someone be so heartless?
Her hands clenched tightly into a fist as heat rise within her.
He slowed down his pace when he noticed she wasn't chasing him anymore.
Turning around to face her, his eyebrows scrunched up confusingly at what she was doing.
She marched furiously toward him with flames heating up from behind her.
And when she reaches him, she did not hesitate and threw her fist right at his face.
He stumbled off to the side because of her punch and his tongue poke the inner of his cheek furiously.
HYEBIN: "You may think that those lives that have been taken away are just your responsibilities, but have you ever thought of why they chosen this path?! They are willing to put their life in danger just so that their love ones don't have to suffer the same way that they had to suffer! Of course, you are rich and powerful as hell, so you probably don't know how it feels like to have your love one taken away because of money!"
He turned back to her violently and before she knew it, his hand has already wrapped around her neck and her back were slammed against the wall behind her.
How dare she? No one has ever dare to lay a finger on him before!
The anger in him causes him to squeeze her neck to the point that she couldn't breathe a single air.
She struggled against his strong hold like a fish taken out of water.
Those eyes... those eyes that are glaring back at her...
The moment she thought this will be the end of her, he let go of her with a push and she collapsed onto the floor, coughing and gasping for every air she could get.
His chest heaved up and down heavily as he stared at how pathetic she is.
He rolled his eyes as he turned and walked back into his office.
--
Strolling into the restroom, he leaned his hands against the counter sink and stared at his own reflection.
Her punch left the corner of his lips with a bleeding cut and a bruise.
He could have kill her. Why didn't he kill her?
That question lingered around his head and then her words came back to him.
HYEBIN: "You may think that those lives that have been taken away are just your responsibilities, but have you ever thought of why they chosen this path?!"
HYEBIN: "Of course, you are rich and powerful as hell, so you probably don't know how it feels like to have your love one taken away because of money!"
Anger takes over him again. He swings his fist and punched the mirror as he shouted with grief.
The mirror cracked and shattered all around, cutting through his fresh and tasting his blood.
--
Massaging her red neck, she stomped out of the company and sat down on a bench outside.
HYEBIN: "Stupid crazy guy! I pray for you to never find happiness in your life!"
???: "You might want to take that back, Miss Lee Hyebin."
She turned around to face this young, good looking man in a black and white suit behind her.
He flashed her a smile.
YOOHAN: "I'm Kim Yoohan. One of President Min closest bodyguard. Here."
He handed her a pain relief ointment and she grabbed onto it with no hesitation.
HYEBIN: "Thank you and you can just call me Hyebin. You don't need to be all formal with me."
He chuckled and sat down next to her.
YOOHAN: "I thought that since you're a school teacher, I might need to present myself better."
HYEBIN: "I used to, not anymore."
YOOHAN: "You're very brave. Even us men wouldn't dare to go up against President Min like that."
Her eyebrows scrunched up together and she looked at him.
HYEBIN: "You saw me?"
He slowly nodded and she gawked.
HYEBIN: "You saw me getting squeezed to death in front of your eyes and you didn't even bother to help me?"
YOOHAN: "President Min will never kill you."
She scoffed in disbelief and held the back of her neck.
HYEBIN: "I can't believe this! You guys are all the same! All! The! Same! So rude and heartless!"
YOOHAN: "President Min made seem to be rude and heartless, but once you get to know him, he's a very solitary person."
HYEBIN: "Tuk! Don't even tried to make me pity him."
He chuckled.
YOOHAN: "He rarely shows his emotions to other people. Congratulations. You're the first."
She burst out laughing in sarcasm.
HYEBIN: "Wow. Thank you. Thank you very much. I feel so honor."
His bloody hand slightly opened the curtain window and he stared down to Hyebin and Yoohan, sitting down below.
Yoohan came back into the building after talking to Hyebin.
As he turned the corner, his feet automatically stopped and he lowered his head immediately.
Yoongi was standing before him, with his hands inside of his pockets.
He was waiting for Yoohan.
YOONGI: "What did you tell her?"
YOOHAN: "I haven't told her anything, sir."
Yoongi sucked in his cheeks and took steps over to him.
YOONGI: "Just don't let me find out. If I hear anything from anyone..."
He leaned forward to Yoohan's ear.
YOONGI: "I'll stitch up your mouth. Understand?"
Yoohan nodded.
YOOHAN: "Yes sir."
~~~~
What do you guys think of this so far? ~ Author Tomo