Welcome to the Underworld (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 1)

by Con Template

  "No, thank you," she said, taken aback by the display of kindness.

  "Hurry and put it on before you get sick," he replied with a tired voice, already helping slip her right hand through the gap in the hoodie.

  "No, I'm seriously fine. I don't need – "

  "Choi Yoori," he said sternly.

  Resigned to the fact that any further objections would be futile, she closed her eyes and lifted her arms, allowing Tae Hyun the ease of slipping the black hoodie over her head and onto her body. She held her breath when she felt his hand graze her neck. Hating him was becoming more and more difficult.

  Tae Hyun gathered the hair devoured by the inner part of the hoodie and lifted it free. He inched it onto one side of her shoulder. He lifted the hood and covered the upper part of her head with it. The hoodie hung a little bigger on her, but it did its job at warming her up.

  She kept her silent eyes on him, the pain in her head exacerbating, reminding her of the hostility she was supposed to bear for him. It didn't matter to her how nice he was being. She couldn't bring herself to return the civilized favor. She hated (or wanted to hate) his guts and wasn't too keen on hiding it.

  "Are you ready to go?" he asked, his eyes satisfied that she was now sheltered from the cold.

  He reached his right hand out and stepped forward, ready to help her walk back to the limo.

  She retreated from his reach, her legs staggering but her face holding firm.

  "I need to get some stuff from my apartment," she said at once, her face showing no remorse for her overt cold treatment of him. She wasn't too sure what she needed from her apartment, but she'd figure it out when she got inside. Her main priority right now was to delay any further interaction with him.

  Tae Hyun, in response to her reaction, slowly lowered his outstretched hand.

  Yoori softened her firm gaze when she noted a hint of disappointment within his eyes as he stared at her questioningly. As his gaze went from her semi-shaking legs to her stern face, she couldn't decipher whether or not he was concerned about her falling to the ground or confused as to why she was treating him so poorly. It could very well be a combination of both.

  Releasing a barely audible breath, he turned away from her and faced Kang Min.

  "Go with her," he commanded, his tone defeated. "Make sure you help get everything she needs."

  Kang Min nodded. "Okay, boss."

  Jae Won was ready to follow Kang Min to Yoori. He was stopped by Tae Hyun's stern voice. "You can stay for a little while longer. We have some things we need to discuss."

  Yoori, Kang Min and Jae Won exchanged worried glances before looking at Tae Hyun expectantly. What was he up to?

  Tae Hyun's eyes settled on Yoori. He raised a questioning brow. "Do you not need to get stuff from your apartment anymore?"

  "I do," she said slowly.

  "Then please do it soon. I'd like to get you home before it gets dark."

  Worry set in. As strange as it may sound, she had already formed an attachment to Jae Won. She didn't want anything to happen to him. Tae Hyun appeared to not like him very much. It was safer for Jae Won if he went with her.

  "Can Jae Won come and help me to– "

  Tae Hyun cut her off. "Kang Min will be enough help. Please go before I change my mind."

  Knowing that she couldn't save Jae Won from the inevitable nightmare of having a one-on-one conversation with Tae Hyun, she decided it was best to get her stuff without delay. Tae Hyun might really change his mind. She didn’t want to test him. Moreover, Jae Won should be fine. Right?

  "Let's go, Yoori.” Allowing her to lead the way, Kang Min shadowed her closely as she staggered by Tae Hyun. The pain throughout her body worsened with each step. However, she tried to keep her poker-face on.

  "Kang Min," Tae Hyun called out when they began to move away.

  "Yeah, boss?"

  "Make sure she doesn't carry anything," he commanded, his soft eyes on her for a fleeting moment before turning around to face Jae Won.

  Kang Min bowed his head before falling into step with Yoori.

  Limping along with him, Yoori turned her head to the side. She caught sight of Tae Hyun and Jae Won, both of whom had their arms crossed while speaking in hushed tones. She was extremely curious as to what Tae Hyun wanted to discuss with Jae Won.

  Truthfully, she didn't want either of them to get hurt. She hoped that Jae Won would be smart enough to know how to handle Tae Hyun. She hoped that Tae Hyun would be smart enough to control his temper. She hoped that they'd both be smart enough to not do anything stupid.

  She turned to face Kang Min. His attention was focused on the destination ahead. Her eyes grew marginally brighter when she realized that she would be able to have some alone time with Kang Min.

  The worry for Tae Hyun and Jae Won’s one-on-one conversation aside, this was the perfect chance to privately extract some information from the mysterious Kang Min.

  “By reminding them what you’re capable of.”

  19: Lookalike

  Yoori knew that Kang Min, excluding his interaction with Jae Won, was very skilled at keeping his composure. In the span of the past 20 minutes, as he ran around her room helping her pack up, the only topic of conversations he initiated were ones that consisted of him asking her if she wanted to pack a particular article of clothing. Never once did he bring up anything that pertained to what occurred earlier.

  It wasn’t like Yoori didn’t try to initiate the conversation either. She was anxious to bring up that burning topic but each time she made the attempt, she was shot down when he very blatantly pretended he didn't hear her.

  It was only when he kneeled down to zip up the luggage that she knew she couldn’t allow the moment to pass. She couldn’t wait any longer to get her answers. It was now or never.

  "Are you going to tell me about your part in this whole thing or am I going to get all of my information from Jae Won?" she asked casually, repositioning her seat on the edge of her bed.

  He froze. Midway finished with zipping up the last suitcase, he looked up at her cautiously.

  Yoori tilted her head. It didn't matter if he planned on making this harder; she was bound and determined to get enough information out of him.

  "You two have been in this together since I first met you, right?" she prompted, hoping he would take the leading question and start running with it.

  Much to her disappointment (and annoyance), his silence prevailed.

  She persisted. "I knew there was something off about you when you knew my name before you were even introduced to me. I knew there was something wrong when you knew that Tae Hyun had brought me to his apartment the night before. I received a call from Jae Won that night before I left with Tae Hyun. Were you following me that night as well?"

  "No," he finally answered, no longer able to keep the silence going.

  "What is your part in all of this?"

  "I have no part in any of this," he said quietly, his cautious gaze diminishing into a soft one. "I was thrown into all of this...thrown in by Jae Won."

  Her eyes urged him to continue.

  He took a moment’s pause. "As I was preparing for my flight for Seoul, I received an unexpected call from Jae Won. We separated from our mutual gang years ago; I never thought I'd hear from him again. But the content of his topic was enough to draw me back in." He swallowed tightly. "He told me that our boss had returned and for whatever reason, she was with the King of Serpents and she went by the name 'Choi Yoori.’ I told him that he had gone crazy but he urged me to see for myself."

  He took a second to inhale deeply before continuing. "That morning, when I went to Tae Hyun's apartment, I had expected to see someone who resembled her in only the slightest of ways." His gaze connected with Yoori’s. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you. Physically, everything about you mirrored her. But I knew right off the bat that you couldn't be her. Looks aside, you possess none of the qualities that she had."

  Yoori's brows inverted. She
wasn't sure if he insulted her or not.

  He smiled gently at her reaction. "I don't mean anything by it. My boss had a very strong personality. It could never be duplicated by anyone." His voice grew sterner. "And I emphasized that to Jae Won. But Jae Won, being the hopeful that he is, was sure that our boss had returned – that she was only pretending to be someone else. Believing this, he called up Tae Hyun and agreed to formally switch sides. I was with him when he did it. When we received our orders from Tae Hyun to come and find you, I was ready to run to your rescue before Woo even laid his hands on you."

  He stood up as if reliving the dramatic incident. His face looked regretful. "But Jae Won...Jae Won said that we should wait. Wait so he could prove to me that you could handle yourself – to prove to me that you really are our boss. So we both watched as Woo assaulted you. It was wrong on my part, but at that moment, I was in the same hopeful mindset as Jae Won. When we saw you raise that broken bottle, I was almost sure that you were her. You were standing in the same fighting stance as she always did. All you had to do was slice his throat. That was all you had to do. But when you allowed the moment to pass, I knew once again that you couldn't be her. Before I even had a chance to take off, Jae Won had pushed me aside and ran to you already."

  She nodded, processing the new information. So that was how it all went down. Her eyes became scrutinizing when she was reminded of the last scene where they handed her the gun.

  "You still thought I was her when he handed me that gun," she began, wanting to know their intentions after that scene. What if it was really their boss? Her concern for Tae Hyun was sparked. "What was going on in your minds? Were you planning on betraying Tae Hyun and taking over the Underworld with your boss or something? What were you thinking?"

  Kang Min raked an aggravated hand through his hair. "I could've strangled Jae Won for his stupidity when he handed you that gun. Jae Won's loyalty, as admirable as it may be at times, will be his death one day."

  "And where does your loyalty lie?" As much as she didn't want to show that she cared about Tae Hyun's well-being, she was still worked up about it. She condemned what he did to his own brother, but she didn't want him to get hurt either.

  Kang Min's eyes became foggy. "At a young age, I swore my life to my boss. When it comes down to it, she will always have my loyalty. But now that she's gone, I have since moved on." He held her gaze. "I know what you're thinking and yes, my loyalty lies with Tae Hyun. What happened with Jae Won was unexpected, something I couldn't control."

  Kang Min looked certain that he would never betray Tae Hyun, but Yoori wasn't satisfied. There were too many loopholes in his statement. One of the loopholes was obviously Jae Won. She was confident of that.

  "If you gave Jae Won's motives up to Tae Hyun, then it'll be in your control," she instigated, trying to see how far Kang Min's loyalties went for Jae Won.

  A bitter smiled appeared on his face. "I could never do that."

  "Why are you so adamant with protecting Jae Won?"

  Kang Min's smile grew. "It's kinda hard to turn your back on your older brother."

  Yoori leaned back, flabbergasted. "Older brother?"

  He nodded.

  She stared, openmouthed. Brothers? It was an odd mixture. Their subtle resemblance to one another was enough to have her infer that they were related, but it wasn’t enough to have her assume that they were brothers. Things kept getting stranger and stranger.

  "How old are you again?" she asked, her curiosity mounting.

  "18."

  "And how old is Jae Won?"

  "20."

  She blinked in surprise. She knew that Kang Min was younger than her, but she didn't realize that Jae Won was also younger than her. Now that she thought about it, they had an interesting dynamic between them. The brothers appeared close enough to each other but there was one thing that didn't make sense. Why would two brothers split off and join different gangs? Why didn't they stay with their boss if they were so loyal to her? Why would they leave?

  "Why did you two part ways and joined different gangs?" she asked, finding it hard to keep this question to herself.

  Before Kang Min could even think to answer, he was punctually interrupted by a familiar voice.

  "Kang Min," the voice called out from Yoori's living room.

  Yoori’s eyes snagged on the owner of the voice.

  Speak of the Devil, she thought ironically, watching as Jae Won made his way into her bedroom. She looked him up and down. No bloodied up face, no bruises, no dislocated jaw, no broken bones. The conversation with Tae Hyun must have gone well.

  Jae Won stopped in front of Kang Min. "He's waiting for you outside."

  Yoori raised a speculative brow. Why was Tae Hyun having a solo session with each of the brothers?

  She watched the two brothers exchange knowing glances before turning their attention to her.

  "I'll see you out there," Kang Min said before vacating the room. He seemed relieved to be free of her and her interrogations.

  Under any other circumstances, she would’ve been upset with him for leaving during such a crucial part of the conversation. However, Jae Won's presence more than made up for Kang Min's absence. Since she was done interrogating one brother, she'd go after the other.

  Her eyes darted over to Jae Won when Kang Min made his exit. The reminiscence of a child’s smile brightened Jae Won's face as he edged closer to her. She couldn't help but adore the guy. He looked so cute whenever he smiled like that.

  "Hey boss," he said happily.

  She glowered. She suddenly adored him less.

  "Haven't we established that I'm not your boss?" she said grimly, annoyed that he'd even dare to start calling her that name again.

  "Actually you are. It's been confirmed by Tae Hyun."

  Yoori was dumbfounded. "What?"

  "The almighty King of Serpents," he began in a somewhat mocking but playful tone, "has made me his assistant's personal bodyguard. So again, hello boss."

  "How did this happen?” she inquired, forgetting that she wanted to learn more about him and his past. Screw that for now. Her future was more important. “What did you guys talk about?"

  Jae Won shook his head. "A lot of what we talked about is confidential but he basically asked me what it would take for me to be loyal to the Serpents. I told him I wanted to work with you. And as in work with you, I mean watch over you."

  Yoori scoffed disbelievingly. "And he agreed to it?"

  "He's a smart guy. He can't always be there to watch you, which is where I come in."

  "You're both off your hinges. I don't need you guys to watch me like I'm a 5-year-old."

  "We're just looking out for you."

  "Seriously Jae Won, I don't need your protection or his protection for that matter. I'm a big girl."

  "That's the thing," he said patiently, kneeling on one knee next to the edge of her bed. He regarded the dried blood on the side of her lips. "That's all that you are in this world. You're just a girl. A girl amongst a society of people trained to be Gods and killers. And not just any girl at that, but a girl who has seemingly become the King of Serpent’s new girlfriend."

  "I'm not his – "

  "Seemingly," Jae Won stressed. "You have to understand that in this world, appearances matter. Tae Hyun has tremendous power over this society but in the same sense, he also has a lot of enemies. Because of this, your life is in danger in more ways than one. He understands that. You need to as well."

  "Seriously Jae Won. Out of all the positions you could've gotten within Tae Hyun's gang, you voluntarily chose to be my bodyguard? Are you thinking straight?"

  What was wrong with him? From the looks of it, Jae Won could have very well become another sub-leader in Tae Hyun's gang. Instead, he chose to work under her?

  Gazing at her, almost in reverence, he grabbed hold of her hand.

  "I failed once before to protect her," he began, his eyes never leaving hers. "I'm not going to fail again. You're it, Yoori.
You're my second chance at making things right. I failed once before but it won't happen again. I won't let it happen again."

  Yoori felt a torrent of admiration flow over her for Jae Won. Truthfully, she was touched by his loyalty, even if she knew it wasn’t for her. In that instance, she found herself growing envious of this Soo Jin girl who had all the guys in her life so mesmerized. First it was Ji Hoon, who had a one-night stand with her and couldn’t even forget her to the point where he had mistaken Yoori to be her. And now she met Jae Won and Kang Min, both of whom were still obviously loyal to her.

  All of this is a mistake, she thought with frustration.

  How similar did she look to this girl? It didn't take Ji Hoon long before he realized that she no longer resembled Soo Jin but for Jae Won and Kang Min, even after realizing that she wasn’t Soo Jin, they were still looking at her like she was. The boys told her she resembled Soo Jin almost perfectly, but Ji Hoon said that she actually bared little resemblance to her in broad daylight. But then again, Soo Jin was merely a one-night stand. Ji Hoon's opinion of the resemblance didn't have as much credibility as the brothers'.

  Her curiosity was getting the best of her. She had to go further into it. She had to know more.

  "Your boss. Is her name Soo Jin?" she asked, finally ready to say her name out loud. It didn't occur to her that it might’ve been a bad idea to get into this topic of conversation.

  Jae Won gaped at her dubiously. "How do you know her name?"

  "I've heard it in passing," she said, excluding the fact that she found out from Ji Hoon.

  "Yeah, that's her name," he confirmed. His eyes grew noticeably warmer at the reminder of his boss’s name.

  "What if she comes back and sees you calling me boss? Aren't you afraid? Wouldn't she be pissed off?"

  Jae Won smiled. "I highly doubt that."

  "Why do you doubt it?"

  He grew silent as he released his hold on her hand and stood up. She could tell by the sadness of his eyes that it was a touchy subject for him.

  "She's dead," he said simply.

  A chasm materialized in her stomach. Soo Jin...Ji Hoon's one-night stand...Jae Won and Kang Min's boss...was dead?