she's a silver lining climbing on my desire
***
The sharp object was coming closer and closer before it buried in to my skin and a scream erupted from the bottom of my throat.
'' Will you stop being dramatic, Rei? You're going to scare my customers away! What a sissy. ''
'' How am I supposed to not scream when you are repeatedly stabbing a needle in to my shoulder?! ''
I was laying on a tattoo table and hiding my face in my hands. My back was exposed and the tattoo artist Kai was leaning over my figure and trying to work. His dark hair was falling forward on his forehead, his eyes were narrowed in concentration and biting his lower lip to hold back his laughter at Baekhyun's irritated comments. He was one of the gang's best racers, but in his free time he worked as a tattoo artist. The walls of his studio were covered with his artwork and I could tell from his warm and gentle touch that he was an expert, but I still couldn't help it but to be nervous.
Needles were something that I wasn't a fan of, but it wasn't always like that. After my mother died, I lived here and there and I even spent some time with a hardcore drug addict. Needles were an ordinary thing to me back then, but everything changed about a year ago. I got really sick in prison, so I was taken to an infirmary and a girl who I was constantly arguing with, thought that it would be a perfect chance to get rid of me then. She followed me there and I barely managed to stop her from killing me, but I did end up with a needle stabbed through my hand and three more in different parts of my body.
'' Can you make this fast? We have work to do once we're done here, '' Baekhyun seriously murmured. His arms were crossed on his chest, he was leaning against the wall and tapping his foot in frustration. His gaze kept moving towards my exposed back and the old tattoo that I had right above my behind.
Nobody's angel.
I still remembered how embarrassed when something happened a couple of days ago. I was leaning over my motorcycle in the garage and working on some easy modifications when he appeared out of nowhere. I didn't hear him, so I couldn't help it but to scream when I felt his warm fingers touch my skin and slightly lift my shirt. He caught a glimpse of the tattoo and he was curious to see how the complete thing looked like. My cheeks were coloured red and I shoved him away without answering his question about how I got it. He stepped back and dropped the subject, but when our gazes met again, there was something strange in his eyes.
It was there that day too, when he watched Kai's hands on my back, even if the tattoo artist was simply doing his job. I wasn't planning to get a tattoo of the cards, which were a symbol of the Aces, but I changed my mind when the gang leader Junmyeon asked me if I would be prepared to do it. I was slowly gaining his trust and I couldn't afford to make any mistakes now, so I told him the first thing that I could think of. '' A tattoo is forever, but family is too. ''
So there I ended up, about to get ace cards tattooed on my shoulder. Junmyeon liked the response that I gave him and after thinking about it for a few moments, he asked Baekhyun to take me to their weapons supplier with him that day and make sure that I knew how to handle a gun. What for? I had yet to find out.
Family, huh?
It was one of the main things that Junmyeon seemed to believe in. He wanted to protect his family at all costs, but I couldn't help myself from thinking that what he was doing with Hwasa was wrong. He wanted to shut her away from the world in fear that someone or something would hurt her and it was all because of the guilt that he felt towards her dead brother. The only thing that did was make her desire freedom even more, so much that she even went and did something as stupid as become friends with a boy from a rival gang.
Last night I even caught her sneaking out of her room in the upstairs floor of the Ace of spades club. It was somewhere around three in the morning, I was sitting in the inside terrace and having a breath of fresh air. I was just about to go back to sleep when I saw her. The two of us stared at each other for a few moments, then she slowly raised her finger to her lips and whispered: '' You didn't see me and I didn't see you. ''
That made me frown with confusion and mumble: '' But I'm not even doing anything wrong- ''
Hwasa disappeared before I even managed to finish my sentence and from what I've heard about Baekhyun, it seemed like she went somewhere to party, because when he saw her in the morning she was clearly very tired and very hungover. She even asked him to lie to Junmyeon and tell him that they were together that night. I had no idea how she managed to do it and I could only imagine how useful it had to be know of a way to wrap Baekhyun around your finger.
When it came to us and our relationship, I barely managed to convince him to let me choose where we would go eat lunch. And even that happened only once every full moon.
'' So, how are you enjoying working with Baekhyun? He is supposed to teach you the ways of our gang, right? I bet he made you despise the concept of school and teachers even more than you already do. ''
The sound of Kai's words made me snap out of my thoughts. He was purposely trying to annoy Baekhyun and it was clearly working. The dark haired biker started tapping his foot against the ground even faster and his eyes narrowed in to slits before he smirked in irritation and said: '' Isn't she lucky? She gets to spend every day with me. ''
A tattoo of ace cards appeared on my back and when I was observing it in a mirror, I couldn't help it but to feel like I was slipping further and further in to the unknown.
Who even am I at this point?
Rei? Riri? White rose's daughter? An Ace? A rat?
There was the smell of gun powder in the air and guns were covering the walls of the place where Baekhyun took me after Kai finished doing my tattoo. My eyes were wide in amazement and I was itching to grab one of them. I used to have my own before I ended up in prison and I was quite proud of how good I managed to get at shooting. Junmyeon wanted Baekhyun to take me to the weapon supplier and find out if I was any goo at it. My mentor didn't seem to be expecting much and I couldn't wait to shock him with my skills.
The weapon supplier looked a lot more different than how I was expecting him to be. His caramel coloured hair was falling around his head in a neat way and he looked almost like a picture while he was sitting on a crate full of guns and typing away on his phone. Then his dark eyes snapped from the screen in front of him and moved towards us. They stopped on Baekhyun only for a split second, before landing on me.
I got a solid three seconds of his attention before he decided that he wasn't interested in me either.
His name was Hyungwon and he occupied one of the underground rooms of the Ace of spades club. I had no idea that the place even existed and I couldn't help it but to wonder what other secrets the gang was hiding.
'' Hyungwon. I know you are busy with... something, but we need your attention, '' Baekhyun announced and tried to hide his irritation.
'' What you need to do is learn how to show some respect and then maybe we will talk, '' Hyungwon calmly responded and I couldn't help it but to start giggling at the way he destroyed Baekhyun with complete ease. That earned me a glare from the biker, so I quickly covered my mouth with my hands to hide my laughter.
Baekhyun challengingly raised his eyebrow. '' Then you wouldn't mind if we look over your guns by ourselves? ''
Hyungwon stopped typing on his phone, but he didn't look up yet. '' If you touch my guns without my permission, you know very well what will happen to you, Baekhyun. ''
'' The sooner you give us what we want, the sooner you'll get rid of us, '' Baekhyun replied and smirked in triumph.
He knew that he won over the other guy, who let out an irritated sigh and jumped off the wooden crate that was sitting on. He slowly walked closer and his eyes landed on me again, while he was twisting his phone in his hands. I couldn't help it but to take a step back at the sudden pressure of his merciless gaze. His eyes felt like knives, poking around my sole and judging every part of my being. '' This is the new biker that I've been hearing about? She doesn't look that great. ''
Baekhyun's smirk grew even wider. '' You are probably thinking about Felix. He's the other rookie in our gang. A racer. A good one too. ''
'' Oh. Oh. You're right '' His eyes lingered on my face for another moment and he suddenly smiled in amusement. '' You must be the other one. ''
I didn't think I wanted to know what that meant, so I just introduced myself and asked him to get me a gun. That was Baekhyun's cue to interrupt me and start telling Hyungwon something about how he should give me a weapon for beginners. Something small and easy to use.
I could feel myself getting annoyed, but I didn't say anything until we got to the shooting range that was by the weapon supplier's room. There were three different spots that you could use, but they were all empty at that time of day. I was looking at the simple black beretta pistol that I got from Hyungwon, before raising my gaze towards the paper target hanging in the air in front of me. Then I heard Baekhyun's frustrated voice behind me: '' Is this going to take all day? ''
My eyebrow twitched in annoyance and I purposely fired a few shots as messily as I could. None of them came close to hitting the piece of paper that had a human outline printed on it. My bottom lip quivered and I loudly complained: '' This is so boring! ''
Baekhyun, who was standing right behind me and watching, raised an eyebrow and asked: '' What? Do you want to shoot at a human instead? ''
'' No, but why don't we make this interesting? You can shoot too, right? Let's have a competition. Whoever wins gets... A free afternoon! '' I announced and looked at him with a smile. The truth was that all I wanted was to see the look of defeat on Baekhyun's face, but I suddenly remembered that I had plans to meet up with Taeyong later. I didn't feel like answering the biker's endless questions about where I was going, so getting him off my back this way, was a perfect idea.
'' A free afternoon? Yeah, no way. I don't trust you to do both of our jobs properly. You can barely even do just yours job properly. And your job usually involves nothing more than watching what I do and learning, '' Baekhyun seriously responded and shook his head. My smile died down, then a flame suddenly lit up in the bottom of his dark eyes. '' But there is something else that we could play for. If you are really ready to bet it all... ''
'' Deal! ''
I purposely let him be the first to go. He fired three shots and they all came dangerously close to the centre of the target. He was good at shooting, but I was better.
His dark eyes were shining with smugness when he handed me the beretta and I put some new bullets inside it. He stepped back, crossed his arms on his chest and I slowly raised the gun. Then I suddenly changed my position, shut one of my eyes to see better and aimed. Baekhyun's smile completely disappeared when I fired the first shot and hit the exact centre of the paper target.
That's what you get for underestimating the daughter of the White rose, bitch.
There weren't many things that I was good at, but you could be sure that I was going to exploit the few qualities that I had, to their full potential.
There was no hint of a smirk on Baekhyun's face when I turned around to face him. I skilfully spun the weapon around in my hand and he narrowed his eyes. '' Sneaky girl. ''
'' I did learn how to support your nasty attitude to a certain extend, but I do have my limits too, '' I replied and balanced the gun on one of my fingers.
'' Okay, now you are just purposely rubbing it in my face. '' He snatched the gun from my hands and rolled his eyes.
He clearly didn't like losing.
I let out a lighthearted chuckle and curiously asked: '' By the way, what would you ask from me if you would win that little game? ''
A strange expression appeared in his dark eyes, then he flicked my forehead and murmured: '' Who knows? Could be something bad, could be something that we would both enjoy. Maybe you should've taken your chances with losing... But fun time is over now. We have to stop upstairs and have a chat with Junmyeon, then we are going back to work. It's still only noon, so I get to keep you for at least another three hours before you get to claim your reward and have a free afternoon. ''
With those words, he turned around and made his way back to the room where Hyungwon kept his weapon.
It was already dark outside when I got a chance to meet up with Taeyong. He was waiting for me in an empty bar near the area where his warehouse was located. Jazz music was playing from the speakers, his silver hair was illuminated by faint lights and when I sat down, he simply told me to 'speak'.
No lies anymore.
So I told him everything and I watched the light die in his eyes when he realised what I signed up for. '' You sold your sold for freedom, Rei. ''
I felt ashamed, but I also had to defend myself: '' If you would've went through what I did, you would understand. You know that what happened to me wasn't fair. I didn't kill anybody. A cop blamed it all on me, but of course, as a filthy criminal, no one wanted to listen to me. You aren't going to be like that too, right? ''
Taeyong stared at me from the other side of the table. '' What are you going to do when the time will come when you'll have to betray them? I know how you are. You get attached easily. But even if you'll be able to do it... One of them, someone, will come after you and make sure that the Aces will get their revenge. Have you ever heard of a rat getting their 'happily ever after'? ''
I cringed and quietly mumbled: '' I never even heard of a rat, period. They all end up dead, one way or another and everyone forgets they ever even existed. ''
Silence filled the air and I suddenly felt the tremendous pressure on my shoulders. He sighed and rubbed his temples in frustration. Then he suddenly glanced up towards me and asked: '' Wanna go for a ride on my motorcycle? I feel like riding. ''
'' I feel like doing anything but sitting here and thinking about how I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, '' I gloomily answered before I forced a smile on my face. '' So, sure. Let's go. ''
We downed our drinks, he sat on his motorcycle and I climbed on the back. My arms wrapped around his waist and I remembered last night, when we were speeding away from cops. He jumped right in front of a moving train and we came dangerously close to dying. '' No crazy stunts that have a ninety nine percent chance of killing us though. ''
'' Those are the most fun type of stunts, but I'll try to keep it down to ninety percent. Since you decided that you want to be a boring grandma, '' he replied and I couldn't help it but to laugh before we sped off in to the night.
I was sitting on the back of Taeyong's motorcycle, my arms were wrapped around his waist and we were speeding down the streets until he suddenly yelled: '' Someone's following us! You can check, but try to not to be too obvious! ''
He made a turn, drove on the highway and sped up. There weren't many cars there at that time in the middle of the night and his motorcycle was freely gliding down the road. I looked over my shoulder, squinted my eyes and tried to figure out which one of the vehicles was supposed to be suspicious. '' Are you talking about the three black Maseratis or the old Honda-... Nevermind. Fuck, Taeyong, there are three black Maseratis after us! What did you do?! ''
'' Me?! Why would you automatically think that it's my fault?! '' the guy angrily hissed in response. '' You can be pretty annoying too! And I told you not to make it too obvious when you look! Now they know that we spotted them! ''
I tightened my grip on him, glanced over my shoulder and cringed. '' I haven't been out of prison for long enough to make someone so mad that they would send three Maseratis after me! Unless they got released recently too... If it's that, then we are fucked. I've pissed off like a whole nation worth of people while I was in prison! It was the least boring way to make time pass faster! ''
Taeyong cursed and gritted his teeth with annoyance. '' What's going on? Why aren't they trying to get closer? Do you think that we can outrun them? ''
I looked back again and frowned in focus before I suddenly spotted something. My eyes grew wide in shock at the sight of the rifles that they held out the windows and pointed them in our direction. '' Can you outrun a bullet? ''
'' We can try, '' Taeyong mumbled and gripped the handlebars of his motorcycle. Then his look of determination quickly faded away. '' Yeah, no, probably not. Maybe that wouldn't be the best idea. ''
'' Yeah, definitely not. ''
One of the Maseratis suddenly sped up and got ahead of us, while the other two stayed behind us. I wasn't sure what that meant, but Taeyong told me that it was a sign that we had to follow the car. If we wouldn't, the ones behind us would start shooting.
That was how we ended up racing behind the black Maserati, all the way to a gambling club, located in the very centre of the Red light district. It had four floors filled with poker tables, slot machines and even traditional gambling games. The men that stepped out of the three black Maseratis, lead us to the highest floor of the building. They directed us towards an office that I assumed belonged to the owner and that was when Taeyong suddenly signalled me to stop. I looked at him in confusion and he stepped towards one of the men and began: '' Look, can't I just go speak with him on my own? ''
The man stared back at him with a blank expression on his face before he repeated the orders that he was given: '' Get boy and girl. Bring them to the club. Don't harm them. Too much. ''
His lips stretched in to a smirk when he said the last two words. Taeyong frowned and opened his mouth to protest again, but the man suddenly raised his fist and punched him right in the face. My eyes grew wide at the sight of his actions, then out of instinct, I let out a fighting scream, ran towards him, jumped on his back and started hitting him over the head.
That was how Taeyong ended up getting forcefully dragged in to the club owner's office. I was the first to get pushed inside the room, where I ended up tripping over the carpet and falling down right at somebody's feet. My gaze stopped on the fancy shoes, covered by a leopard print, before I slowly looked up towards the person that was standing in front of me and smiling at me.
Sunglasses were resting on his nose, he was using a cane to support himself and he was holding a cigar between his teeth. His grey hair was slicked back and his purple suit somehow perfectly matched his leopard printed shoes. '' What's with the bruises on your faces? Did you not want to pay me a visit? That's a shame because I was looking forward to seeing you two. Especially you, little rose. ''
I was staring at the man with a stunned expression on my face until Taeyong grabbed my arm and lifted me on my feet. My eyes were still wide and I couldn't hold myself back. '' Who are you? ''
'' Me? '' His smile grew even wider. '' My name is Kim Haejin. I am the owner of this club and business partner of Kim Junmyeon. But most importantly... I am the man that your lovely mother left for your father. ''
After that sentence left his lips, I was sure that I was going to die.
I never knew that problems with a shitty ex boyfriend could pass through entire generations, but Kim Haejin clearly wasn't prepared to let go of the past. Something that hurt him the most was that my mother didn't even consider about getting back with him after her brief relationship with my father. I thought that he planned to resolve the grudge he was holding against my mother by killing me, but it turned out that he just wanted to satisfy his curiosity.
Thanks to him, I also ended up finding out something that I wasn't supposed to know. At least not yet. He was the man that the Aces motorcycle gang worked for. A notorious drug dealer, the best one in Seoul. The big secret that they were hiding from me and other members of the gang that they didn't really trust, what that they were some kind of delivery people for him. They modified their motorcycles to make them faster, they armed themselves with guns and carried his supply all around Seoul or from Incheon to here. Sometimes even from Busan.
To say that I was shocked would be an understatement, but I was also annoyed that no one bothered to tell me the entire truth. Drug deliveries on motorcycles? I had to admit that it was smart, but it was something that could put all of them in prison for a very long time.
I should've went to the nearest phone booth as soon as Taeyong and I were allowed to go home, but I didn't. I let my emotions get the best of me, so instead of calling the police detective Jackson and telling him everything about it, I asked my friend to take me back to the club. He was quiet and I knew that he was mentally calculating and trying to figure out how to complete the job that Haejin gave him. He was getting a big supply of drugs soon and our gang needed more faster bikes and weapons to be able to carry it from Busan to Seoul, as fast as possible. And Taeyong was in charge of taking care of things like that, together with the weapons supplier Hyungwon.
I was getting more and more annoyed with each minute that passed and by the time I reached the club, I was absolutely fuming with anger. The bouncers that always tried to tease me, stayed silent and even jumped out of my way when I passed them. There was a fire burning in my eyes when they quickly searched through the packed club and tried to find a familiar face.
'' You are not going to believe who I ran in to today! '' I angrily announced and walked closer to the bar of the Ace of spades. Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Seulgi were sitting on the high stools and having a drink. They thought that I was having another one of my outbursts, then they noticed my swollen nose and the purple mark that was decorating my right eye.
A hint of concern flashed in Seulgi's eyes, she jumped off her seat and quickly rushed closer. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and her fingers gently traced the bruise on my eye. '' Oh no! Who hurt my baby? Tell me! Tell me and I'll make sure to cut off the hand that they used to punch you in the face! ''
Baekhyun was watching me with a deathly serious expression on his face. His grip on his glass suddenly got so tight that his knuckles turned white. '' What happened? Where were you? You told me that you went to meet a friend. ''
'' I did, but then we got interrupted by someone that all of you know very well. Someone that got annoyed because he heard about new members from rumours instead of Junmyeon himself. Members that he could use for his very special jobs. '' I didn't even bother to hide my anger and I narrowed my eyes as I glared at everyone's faces. '' If you don't know who I'm talking about yet, let me give you a tip. He has friends. Friends with long and hard things that they like to point at other people. ''
Seulgi was the first one to say anything. She skipped back to the bar to take a sip of her drink and she was clearly trying to hide her laughter. '' You said it, not me. Long and hard things that they like to point at other people? Seriously, Rei? ''
Baekhyun was serious before, but the sound of Seulgi's words made him glance at her and smirk. I almost cracked a smile too, but I forced myself to keep frowning and glaring at her. '' Now it's not the right time, Seulgi. I am mad enough to grab one of your cocktails and break it on someone's head. ''
The girl's eyes grew wide with interest at the mention of violence. '' I would love to see that. Any volunteers? ''
She looked at her group of friends with a smirk and I started turning around the club. It was another busy night, people were filling the dance floor and there were even more of them crowding in the booths. My gaze travelled towards the VIP area. '' Is Junmyeon here tonight? ''
Baekhyun jumped off his bar stool and stepped in front of me before I could go check for myself. I stopped when I got blocked by his tall frame and crossed my arms on my chest. There was a stern expression on his face and he was quick to move together with me when I tried to step left or right and walk around him. '' You are not going to the boss until you calm down. You might be pissed off now, but he gets angry very easily too and I am going to be the one stuck saving your ass when you'll make him point his gun at you. ''
I was still fuming, but I decided to listen to him. I turned towards the bar, grabbed his half empty drink and gulped it down as fast as I could. The strong alcohol burned down my throat and I felt my entire body get a little warmer when I turned my head and looked at Baekhyun again. '' Okay, how about now? ''
He rolled his eyes and let out a tired sigh. '' Let me do the talking. ''
'' I can talk for myself- '' I began to protest, but he quickly shut me up by putting his hand on my chin and squeezing my cheeks together.
He threateningly narrowed his eyes and seriously ordered: '' Riri. This isn't a game. Sure, you find out what the Aces do to earn more money, but the only thing that really does is put you in danger. The boss was still debating if he can trust you the last time that I spoke with him and if he decides that it is a secret that you shouldn't know, he will kill you. Do you understand? ''
My eyes slowly widened with surprise, then I began to mumble something, but my words came out only as muffled sounds because of the way he was squeezing my cheeks together. He quickly let go of me and I nervously said: '' I suddenly don't feel like I want to talk to the boss anymore. Can't all of you just forget that I told you anything, while I have another drink and curse my sorry existence? ''
'' Looks like it's too late for that, '' Baekhyun seriously answered and stared at one of Junmyeon's personal bodyguards, that was making his way in our direction. I didn't protest when he told me that I was needed in the VIP, but my heart was racing in my chest with fear. Baekhyun glanced at me and I saw his dark eyes scanning my face before he left the bar and walked after us. The bodyguard didn't say anything about Junmyeon wanting to see him too, but he knew very well that I had a bigger chance at surviving if he would be there with me.
The boss of the gang was sitting on one of the red couches of the VIP area and playing around with a gun.
Bad sign.
I didn't even get to sit down before he pointed it directly at me and fired a shot.
The bullet flew right past me and my heart skipped a beat.
Should I just start running?
'' Rei! A little birdie told me about your little adventure today! '' I didn't like the way he kept repeating the word 'little' but I stayed silent. My heart was racing in my chest and I could still clearly hear the sound of the gunshot from earlier. I knew very well that he missed on purpose.
I didn't even realise that I was standing still until Baekhyun's warm hand grabbed my wrist and dragged me the rest of the way to Junmyeon's table. He pushed me down on one of the sofas before stepping behind me and leaning against it. '' Haejin must have heard that the daughter of the White rose joined your gang. Everyone who knows anything about motorcycle riders, knows about her. So he probably got curious. ''
Junmyeon ignored Baekhyun's voice and kept staring at me with a serious expression on his face. '' You know everything, don't you? ''
I let out an awkward laugh and mumbled: '' Define everything. ''
The gang leader slowly raised his hand and pointed his gun directly at my forehead. This time, he wasn't planning to miss on purpose. His eyes were as cold as ice and I felt my whole body tense. For a moment I thought that my heart stopped beating, then everything inside me began to scream.
Run. Run! RUN!
I would've ran, but Baekhyun's hands suddenly gripped my shoulders and forced me to continue sitting there, with the end of a gun touching my forehead. His voice was serious and calm. '' Boss. ''
Junmyeon clenched his teeth together. '' Can you vow for her? ''
Baekhyun carelessly shrugged. '' She's one of us. A true Ace. I've seen it with my own eyes. You got no reason to kill her. ''
The boss of the Aces slowly lowered his gun and I let out the breath that I was holding this whole time. He skilfully spun his weapon in his hand and put it away again. His dark eyes were still watching me. Then they snapped towards Baekhyun and he coldly ordered: '' Alright. If you say so. If it's like that, then you can make sure that she starts working by next week. ''
Junmyeon was going to wait for some more time and take his time with deciding if he could truly trust me, but fate had other plans. My bad luck kicked me right in to the abyss. Now there was no way out of it anymore.
'' Oh and one last thing, Baekhyun. '' Junmyeon took a hold of his drink and his lips curved in to a smile. '' One mistake and she dies. And not only that. You die too. ''
If I would go down, he would go down with me. I was sure that Baekhyun would never willingly sign up for a deal like that, but strangely, he didn't try to protest. It made me remember how I was still supposed to tell detective Jackson about my newest discovery and I suddenly felt bad.
Baekhyun trusts you and you are planning to betray him.
Can you really do that, rat?