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"It's not safe to go back to the cabin, I agree with Mr. Min!" Jimin says, pointing to the leader, directing his statement at Jungkook, who insists on staying in the cabin, where he argues we could protect ourselves better.
"We can't just abandon our home." Taehyung says quietly.
"It's not your home," Mr. Min scolds Taehyung for such a comment. "It was your safe house. And now it's not-so-safe anymore."
"We have to look at the facts," Yoongi says calmly, intertwining his fingers and leaning against the table. "Hyunsoo knows exactly where the cabin is. He's knows that's where we've been staying for weeks before he attacked. For all we know, he and his men can be there now, just waiting for us to go back. It's not safe. We didn't go to hell and back for and with Y/N to be shot up in a place that they are already aware about. It's just too risky for her life and ours."
"So we just leave everything there and run?" Jin asks. "Running away from this is exactly what Hyunsoo wants. He wants us scared. I think that staying here, we can stand stronger. This is our terrain, backing down will only make us seem weak."
"We're not debating based on the fact of appearances." Hoseok, who has been quiet the whole meeting speaks up. He sits straighter than his lounging position he was previously in.
"We're choosing based on the fact that if we stay, we put everything we've worked for at risk. We risk Y/N and we risk being killed ourselves. Waiting for Hyunsoo to surface will take long enough. Weeks, months. But going back to a place he knows exists only puts us out in the open."
The table erupts in arguments and debates, trying to convince one another what choice is the right thing to do.
I shake my head, thinking about Hyunsoo. They couldn't find him or get close to him for years. But when I sent him a small message, he appeared in a snap.
"It can't be that complicated..." I mumble to myself, shaking my head. Taehyung head turns to me in my peripheral vision.
"Hm?" he hums, poking my splinted elbow gently.
I look at him, thinking and looking back at my feet again.
"It shouldn't be that complicated. Finding him. Looking for him."
"You're all making this shit too difficult and problematic!" Jimin argues with Jungkook, voice raised. "This is a no-brainer, we need to lay low-"
"Maybe laying low is the problem." I say, cutting Jimin off, everybody quieting down at my sudden comment. "It won't help now."
"Thank you!" Jungkook points at me. "She knows wha-"
"I'm not agreeing with you." I snap at him. "I'm taking a different perspective. The end goal here is to get Hyunsoo in our hands here, correct?"
Everybody nods and Mr. Min leans forward, intent. I look at him for approval to continue and he nods, gesturing for me to talk.
"All you have done is wait him out and hope he surfaces-"
"Not necessarily. We knew where he was staying. We just couldn't get close enough to him. He stayed within his comfort zone. He didn't usually stray from Seoul without heavy guards and connections." Mr. Min explains.
"Either way, it took years to get face-to-face with him. Why? Because we all just waited for him to make a mistake or slip up. Be desperate enough to leave his hiding. What if we make him desperate? We make him play our game."
"He knows you're with Mr. Min now," Hoseok says. "He won't be so eager to come. We know what he wants, but we don't know how bad he really wants you."
"That's not necessarily true," Yoongi says, rubbing his thumb along his chin. "We know he wants Y/N, but we still don't know what he wants her for. But to answer your question, I'd say he wants her real bad. Bad enough to hunt her for 11 years. That's pretty damn desperate. Like I said though, we don't know what he needs from her."
"Then consider this an educational piece of it." I shrug. "The more we know, the closer we get to him."
"How do we find him then?" Taehyung asks in a scratchy voice, adjusting himself in his chair. "We can't attract any unwanted attention from unwanted people. Other gangs, feds. It would only be bad news for us. Make our jobs harder."
"Carefully." I reply. "Trust me, I have no intention on getting any other dangers involved. We find Intel from others. Go to Seoul if we have any leads and if it's necessary. It won't be long before he surfaces if I'm out and about. Even if he doesn't show up on his own, we'll find him through our information that we uncover during our operations, missions if you will."
Mr. Min has a certain smile played on his lips that I recognize oh-so-well from Yoongi and his own expressions. He's pleased. Satisfied. Proud. I direct my eyes to him.
"You said you wanted assigned jobs for the boys? To help things run smoother? This is how you do it."
I lean back without even realizing that I was shifted forward in the first place.
"Y/N..." Jimin says in nearly a whisper. "Do you even understand how much of a risk you would be putting yourself in by putting yourself out in the open like that? Hell, even thinking about going to Seoul is reckless."
"I am thinking about that." I say, fiddling with my fingers. "Jimin, Yoongi said it himself. I've been running for 11 years. I'm done. I'm tired of running. I'm tired of being a sitting duck. We have to take initiative now while he's weak. If he hasn't even been seen in Seoul yet, then we have an advantage. We need to do something about it."
Jimin's concerned expression doesn't change.
"I could get killed. I'm aware of that. The way I see it is I live, I die or I survive. I've been surviving for 11 out of the 21 years I've been alive. Whether it's running or hiding. I want to live, thrive. If I die, I'm going down living, going down with a fight."
The room falls silent for a solid minute or two, the others thinking.
"I like it." Yoongi says, clapping his hands once and sitting up straight. "It's better than sitting around and waiting for Hyunsoo to rebuild his gang, bigger and stronger, and come up with new plans to kill us. I think it's worth a shot."
"So do I." Hoseok adds. "It'd be a good way to keep track of things easier and quicker."
Jungkook and Jin nod, agreeing with the red-haired member.
The only two who seem unsure are Jimin and Taehyung. Taehyung is understandable, considering his character and the fact that he's sitting in a wheelchair, practically ripped to shreds because of the man we plan on hunting ourselves.
Jimin just seems worried. For me and the others. He's never tried to hide his concerns. Eventually he clicks his tongue, ready to speak up.
"As far as plans go, I think it's a great approach. All I'm concerned about is the danger and the state that everybody is in right now. We're in no condition to start going out to chase Hyunsoo. How much danger would Y/N, the person we practically vowed to protect, be in?"
"Jimin," I say gently. His head turns to me and I give him a small, reassuring smile. "All you've done is worry about me, and I'm extremely thankful for it, don't get me wrong. But I'm where you were told to deliver. You got me here like you were asked, but now we have to start making hard decisions that may or may not jeopardize my life. But I know it's all for a good cause, whatever the outcome is."
"It's just... hard to think about." He says quietly. "What if something goes wrong?"
"It won't. Because you and the others are right with me. I'm not worried about anything going wrong because I know I'm in good hands. Plus if something does, which is a rare chance, who knows? Maybe I really deserve it anyway." I quiet down on the last part. My dream flashes back into my mind.
I've done things I'm not proud of and people got hurt. If I die, I guess that's fates way of biting me in the ass and giving me what I really deserve.
"We need to know if you're on board." Mr. Min says to Jimin, who's eyes are still on my presence.
He looks me up and down, sighing. I give him a slight now and he chews the inside of his cheek, letting his tongue wipe across the surface of his dry lips.
"Okay." He says quietly. "I'm in."
"Alright, good." Mr. Min nods. "Its settled. I'll let my associates know and have guards prepared."
"Guards?" I ask, everybody else seemingly as confused as I am.
"You're not 'laying low' anymore, correct?" He asks, lifting an eyebrow. I nod. "Then you'll be returning to the cabin. It's good to train in a place you're already familiar with and are settled into anyway. Not now, but once you recover, waiting for Namjoon is a possibility as well. You can go back, but not alone. I'll have guards posted at different parts of the house and people in the city, watching for any activity."
He looks around the table. "If there's any objections, speak now because I have different matters to attend and preparation that I need peace for."
Nobody says anything. Even the ones who voted to go somewhere else. I guess they never really wanted to leave, but were just worried about the security and of being found easily.
"Okay, for now, meeting is adjourned. I don't want to take too long for those who are recovering. I'll figure out what jobs you'll be assigned and let you know by the end of today. Get things arranged. For now, you'll have some time to yourselves until I say otherwise."
He nods, splaying his hands out and the boys begin standing up. Jimin comes around to grab Taehyung's chair while Yoongi comes to get mine, but his father stops him.
"No, I need to speak with her alone." He waves Yoongi away and he nods, heading to the door.
"Want me to wait outside for her, Mr. Min?" Jungkook asks as he pushes his chair in slowly.
He shakes his head. "No need, I'll let a guard take her."
Jungkook nods and follows the rest of the boys out. Taehyung is wheeled away and he looks back at me, giving me a small smile. I turn to Mr. Min, who clears his throat.
"What you did that night was very brave, Y/N, I can't imagine what you could have been going through. Then you were willing to take your own life for my boys. You're selfless. Just like your mother-"
"Don't," I say, cutting him off quickly, closing my eyes. "With all due respect, please don't mention her."
He nods. "Was this one of those personal things he told you?"
I chew my lip. "It was. I found out that the woman who raised me wasn't my mother and that my brother was." I shake my head. "I don't understand why people think it's right to keep things like that from people. I find out that my father was a mob boss and now that my family is more dysfunctional than I could have imagined, in less than two months than I have learned in 11 years. So yeah, excuse my crankiness. Oh yeah and that I'm related to my worst enemy, so we're just fucking thriving up in here."
I huff and shake my head, leaning back.
"Sorry..." I mumble and he dismisses it quickly.
"Don't worry about it, I understand how upsetting this can be." He says gently, a completely different tone escaping his mouth than what I'm used to. "I just want to talk to you and clear up what has really been going on these past years and why we've been trying to reach you."
"I think Yoongi or Jin explained this to me... you knew my father right?"
"I did. I was his right-hand man. We both were born and raised in the life of the Silver Wings."
"You must be a poet or something." I say sarcastically. He raises his eyebrows. "Sorry I have an issue with sarcasm."
"Don't we all." He grins, amused. "Anyway. After I heard that he was killed, I went to the house to check it out before the cops arrived. I saw three bodies, but I knew there were supposed to be five. I knew that Hyunsoo would be going after whoever was left, so I took my own team and we searched for about... a week after your disappearance before we gave up."
I tilt my head, recalling the first night in the house. 'Hyunsoo killed him... and his children.' I bite my lip and lean forward.
"Everybody thought we were dead? Even the cops?" I say, referring to Seho and I
"Right. We didn't think so, but we let our lower or younger agents believe so because business with Hyunsoo was just too dangerous."
"How?" I ask, confused. "It's not like mine and my brother's identities were secret, the cops knew we were a part of the family. It would have came out that we were just gone."
"It did come out like that. The cops were scouring everywhere. They knew your father was the boss of Silver Wings and that people like that aren't targeted by nobodies. They were aware that you were missing so they were searching for you two, but eventually the feds got involved and were getting too close to us. We eventually had to get our hands a little dirty."
My eyes widen. "You killed feds?"
He throws his head back, laughing. "No, no," he chuckles, shaking his head. "We staged your deaths. Nobody was killed during the process, all it took was some pig's blood and a very big explosion."
I scrunch my eyebrows together. "Uh huh. I heard that you spotted me a couple years back?" I ask, moving on.
"You and Seho, yes." I cringe when he says his name. "Somebody recognized the symbol on your arm, the extra ink that Seho had as well. We went for an emergency extraction like what we did for you a couple months back, but we were too late and you were attacked. By the time things died down, you disappeared again until you resurfaced at the cabin."
I nod, the memories coming back. It just triggers something inside me, making it feel as if the events took place yesterday. My fingers play with the hem of my shirt, a weight pressing on my chest.
"I know that you knew my father, but why come after me? For 11 whole years? You knew I was alive, out of his hands and that I found a way to live. I don't understand why you would want to still do an extraction, there wasn't really a point."
"I don't know if you remember me, but when you were young, maybe up until five-ish, I was with your father all the time. We were very close, like I said, I was his right-hand man. He trusted me the most, with both business and family. I was practically your uncle. I took care of you when your parents were out and I was there for yours and your brother's birth."
"I don't remember..." I mumble. It's expected. I don't remember much of my childhood at all, except for the vivid memory of my parents being shot. That won't ever be something I forget. "If you guys were so close, why were you only there until I was five?"
"Because he didn't want you to remember me." Mr. Min says quietly, twirling a pen between his thumb and index finger. "He didn't want you, Seho or your sister anywhere near the business. He was scared you would get caught up in it one day if you were exposed to it. He just wanted to keep you protected. We still worked together, but I didn't come to the house to see you or the other kids."
"There was no point." I shake my head. "If he was going to have children as a mob boss, he has to expect that they'll find out eventually."
"We kept it from you for 11 years, remember?"
"Even if I didn't know the truth about him specifically, doesn't mean he protected me from the life. I'm here, aren't I?" I snap back. I sigh, calming my nerves. "What about Jaegyu? Why did he of all people keep it from me?"
"Because he was on your father's inner crew as well. He made us all swear to withhold the truth from his family. He made us withhold it from our own families with special exceptions." Mr. Min shrugs. "Privately, I swore to keep you safe if anything happened to him. Take you in, but keep the truth until you were old enough to understand and after everything is dealt with."
"How come Jaegyu got there first then?"
"I don't know. Jaegyu was different from the rest of us. He thought that you deserved to understand what happened and be prepared for the worst, but your father didn't want that. But the second the shots were fired, we were alerted and he was the first to leave. We never saw him again and we never found you."
"He was right," I say. "He was right to tell us and train us. If he didn't I probably wouldn't be alive, or worse.I understand why my father would want that, but you can't seriously believe that it would be safer knowing nothing."
"He wanted this all a secret because he was worried this would happen. He was worried that all you would care about is getting revenge and he was right. We were going to tell you when everything was taken care of an you would have no reason to be trained, when it was safe for you, but then we had to worry about your safety and whereabouts rather than breaking Hyunsoo down so that we wouldn't have any more problems."
"Plans change, I guess. Now I guess you're stuck with me, because there's no way in hell that I'm letting him go next time. I with you and I'm with the boys, I don't care if it kills me. I have nothing left except for giving Hyunsoo what he deserves for what he did to me and my family."
"I know that. Even though things didn't go as planned or promised, I'm pleased with the outcome." He says, standing him. I give him a quizzical look. "Jaegyu might have been a traitor to Silver Wings and your father, but he made a damn good solider. A solider that I would like to consider making an official member of the gang."