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

by Con Template

  Yoori's eyes bloomed at the sight of a noticeably underdressed Tae Hyun.

  In the name of all that is Holy!

  Unknowingly losing grip of the comforter she held against her chest, a soft gasp escaped from Yoori's lips. Her rounded eyes gaped at Tae Hyun’s half-naked form. Standing at the doorway, bare from the top up whilst holding a meager white towel around his hyperventilating abs, the sheer masculinity of him aroused her womanly senses. He looked like he was made of muscles. Rivulets of water streamed from various parts of his body, gliding lovingly over the hard ridges of his statuesque form. Wet from head to toe, her stunned self could only surmise that he must've ran out of the shower when he heard her scream.

  Whoa, Yoori thought, so entirely lost in the world of Tae Hyun's hot, wet body teasing her that she completely forgot about the strange girl in the bedroom. She also temporarily forgot that she was supposed to be “done” with him.

  Oblivious to the unusually perverted stare Yoori bestowed upon him, Tae Hyun's frantic eyes ran from Yoori and then to the mystery girl. His own eyes grew wide when settling on the mystery girl.

  "Hae Jin," he grounded out, his voice throbbing with rage. "How the hell did you get in?"

  Hae Jin?

  Yoori’s eyes were fixated on his misty body while the girl’s name rang in her head. Then, once she processed the familiarity of the name, she faced the girl.

  Hae Jin?

  The little sister?

  "Oppa!" Hae Jin squeaked out, calling Tae Hyun the Korean endearment reserved for younger sisters to address their older brothers. Her right hand waved nervously at him. She obviously knew she was in trouble.

  "I came in and you were in the shower...and I was wondering who was in the bedroom and – " She stopped and glanced at her scantily dressed brother and then at Yoori, who was still standing atop the bed with her eyes wide from shock. She gave out a knowing laugh and covered her mouth. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt!"

  Yoori's jaw fell when she realized that Hae Jin misunderstood the content of their relationship. They were not getting ready to have sex!

  "No, no, no!" Yoori cried desperately, jumping off the bed and running to her. Hae Jin covered her mouth in amusement.

  "It's not what it seems!" Yoori shouted breathlessly.

  Hae Jin wasn't listening. "I'm sorry," she muffled through her hands. Her eyes had a hint of a smile and an apologetic gaze as she eyed Yoori keenly.

  "No,” Yoori repeated frantically, getting exasperated. “It’s not what it seems!"

  How could this be happening? It was one thing to "seemingly" be Tae Hyun's girlfriend, but to be "seemingly" having sex with him? No matter how inappropriately tempting the thought, Yoori could never do that! She didn’t even know how to have sex. She paused. Okay, that may not be true. She knew the mechanisms of how sex worked, but it wasn’t like she had ever done it. She paused once more when she recalled her amnesia. Not that she knew of anyway.

  "Hae Jin!" Tae Hyun roared, interrupting Yoori's disconcerting thoughts. "Get out, right now!"

  Though he did grab their attention, neither of the girls jumped at his resounding voice. They were well accustomed to him elevating his voice to such a level.

  Giving Yoori a slight bow, Hae Jin took her hands off her mouth and made her way to the door.

  "Oppa," she called when she reached her older brother. "Is that your girlfriend?"

  "No!" Yoori screamed, panicking once more.

  "Hae Jin, that's enough," Tae Hyun said firmly, purposely ignoring her question.

  Yoori expelled a breath as she watched Tae Hyun reach for the doorknob. At least he’d be able to clear up the misunderstanding.

  His next words, however, strongly combated that reassurance.

  "Sorry baby, go back to sleep."

  "What?" she shrieked.

  Having the forefront to sense the eruption of rage that was ready to emit from Yoori, Tae Hyun gave her an apologetic smile and instantly pulled the door closed.

  "What did you call me?" she hollered, running to the closing door. Yoori stopped and gazed at the two siblings through the half-closed door. Was this seriously happening?

  Looking over her brother's shoulder to steal another peek at Yoori, Hae Jin smiled favorably when the door finally closed shut. "Oh my God, she's so pretty!"

  Even though she was reeling from the last five minutes, Yoori couldn't help but smile at the recent round of flattery imparted to her by Tae Hyun's sister. It may be because Hae Jin boosted Yoori's ego, but Yoori already liked Hae Jin. If you discounted the fact that she scared the hell out of Yoori a few minutes ago, the girl wasn't so bad.

  "Hae Jin, please shut up," she heard Tae Hyun beg his younger sister from the other side of the closed door.

  "Big bro,” his little sister squealed teasingly. Laughter erupted from the other side of the door. “You're such a porn star right now."

  Yoori snickered after hearing Hae Jin tease her older brother. How could one not be amused with this endearing conversation? She doubted it was an everyday occurrence that the King of Serpents got teased like this.

  "Fuck. My. Life," said Tae Hyun when he processed that his half naked self should put some clothes on. "I have to change. Don’t bother her."

  "Aw, look at my big brother being overprotective of his precious new girlfriend. I just want to talk to her..."

  "Hae Jin,” he voiced sternly. Yoori was pretty sure that he must’ve given her another one of his death glares because Hae Jin's voice was instantly silenced.

  Standing in front of the door, Yoori remained quiet, shadily hoping that she'd be able to overhear more. After a long period of silence, Yoori concluded that Tae Hyun must've gone back into the bathroom to change into appropriate clothing.

  Her gaze on the white doorframe, the image of Tae Hyun running into the room with nothing but a towel on flashed in her mind. She couldn’t deny that such a sight was definitely a nice picker upper to her strange morning.

  "Ah, pervert, pervert," she mumbled, bringing her hands up to her face. She rubbed her eyes as an attempt to drown out all the perverted images she was having for her gang leader boss.

  It took her a minute of staring at the doorframe to fully remember what her attitude toward Tae Hyun should be. All perversion aside, she hadn't forgotten their conversation from the night before. Her face grew solemn and her smile faded. Her heart grew heavier as recollections of the night before haunted her. She squeezed her eyes shut, allowing the illumination of the morning sun to graze her skin. It was a welcome feeling in face of the unpleasant memories from the previous night.

  Then, another thought invaded her mind.

  "Girlfriend?"

  She groaned. Oh God, had it really come to this? At first, she thought their relationship as "boyfriend and girlfriend" was used strictly to get Jin Ae off Tae Hyun's back. But now he was lying to family too? What was she supposed to do? Play along? She scoffed. Like it mattered if she consented? If Tae Hyun wanted her to play along, then she would have to. It wasn’t like he gave anyone much of a choice when he wanted something.

  She muttered an incoherent cuss. You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that being labeled as the official girlfriend of the infamous King of Serpents would merit a little bit more than a "congratulations" from his crime lord friends.

  Say hello to an endless amount of death threats, Tae Hyun’s new “official” girlfriend, she thought scornfully.

  Her current of thoughts ceased when her ears perked up after hearing the sound of muffled laughter from the other side of the door. Her curiosity getting the best of her, Yoori approached the door and leaned her ear against it to get a clearer idea of what the two siblings were up to.

  "Is she coming out?" she heard Hae Jin ask Tae Hyun. Loud clacking footsteps approached the door.

  "Crap!" Yoori muttered frantically. She retreated several steps to prevent herself from getting caught eavesdropping.

  The sound of footfal
ls running after Hae Jin's heels took over the hall.

  "Don't bother her," came Tae Hyun's voice. He must’ve stopped and pulled his sister away from the door. "She's not in a good mood."

  Footsteps descending away from the door soon followed.

  "What did you do to make her mad?" Hae Jin asked as their voices became harder to hear.

  "Why do you assume it was me who did something?"

  "‘Cause you're the one sleeping outside."

  Yoori smiled approvingly. That Hae Jin was a smart cookie.

  If Tae Hyun responded to his sister's observation, then Yoori couldn't hear it. Either they were whispering or they were done talking. Whatever the case, the conversation outside was no longer audible to a curious Yoori. She debated once more about sticking her ear against the door but heavily fought against that. She shouldn't be nosy, especially when the door could slam into her at any moment.

  There was a much safer way to quench her curiosity.

  She exhaled deeply and approached the door with the intention of going outside to talk to Hae Jin. Regardless of her ill feelings for Tae Hyun, Hae Jin didn't do anything. Yoori couldn't be rude and stay inside Tae Hyun's room. Plus, it was better if she was outside so she could know exactly what was going on. She turned the knob. She didn't even make it out the door when she was unexpectedly greeted with a familiar face.

  "Hi!" Hae Jin waved happily, standing right in front of the door. Right in front of Yoori's face.

  “Holy shit!” Yoori screamed, jumping back. She gaped at Hae Jin, her eyes bitterly boring into the girl. It was the second time in a row where this girl scared the shit out of Yoori. “Is it your mission to give me a heart attack today?"

  "Oh man," Hae Jin began wearily, briefly covering her mouth in disbelief. She smiled apologetically. "This is crazy. I swear, I'm not some creep who walks around with the intention of scaring the hell out of you." Her eyes flickered to the empty living room. "My brother is outside on a business call. I just wanted to take the time to get to know his new girlfriend before I leave."

  Yoori regarded Hae Jin with open suspicion. In all honesty, it was freaking her out that Hae Jin was so nice. Could this really be a crime lord’s sister?

  She grew calmer at the sight of Hae Jin beaming at her. She slowly lowered her guard. Kwon Hae Jin definitely had a contagious energy. How could she be angry at someone who was so nice?

  Feeling awkward that they weren't formally introduced, Yoori said, "I'm Choi –"

  "Yoori," Hae Jin finished for her, the smile never leaving her face. "Already heard it in passing when my brother came in screaming your name."

  "Yeah," Yoori uttered uncomfortably, attempting to block out perverted images upon being reminded of Tae Hyun running into the room with only a towel on.

  "Anyway," started Hae Jin, "I'm – "

  "Hae Jin," Yoori finished for her. Of course she knew who Hae Jin was. After what took place at the warehouse, who wouldn't know who Kwon Hae Jin was?

  Hae Jin nodded, pleased that Yoori already knew her name. "Well, Yoori. What do you say? Do you have a few moments to talk? I don't get to meet my big brother's girlfriends very often, if ever."

  "I'm not his girlfri – " Yoori stopped midway, realizing that she would have to play along with Tae Hyun no matter what. Mentally sighing at the lie she was about to embark on, she reluctantly parted her lips.

  "It's complicated," she voiced instead, meaning every word of it.

  Hae Jin nodded understandably. She strode into the bedroom and took a seat at the edge of Tae Hyun's bed. "It's always complicated with my brother." She placed a hand next to the side of her mouth and lightheartedly whispered, "Between me and you, I think he's a little weird."

  Thrilled that someone finally understood her, Yoori laughed as she closed the door and ran over to sit on the edge of the bed beside Hae Jin. "Seriously, right?"

  Hae Jin nodded again. She pulled up her legs and crossed them on the bed. "He has a good heart though. This brother of mine has never been too good with letting his feelings out. Sometimes it comes out a little rough around the edges. Look at it this way. At least he hasn't shot you in the head, right? Simple relationships with him usually involve him killing you."

  Hae Jin's face lit up. She laughed at her own joke – or what Yoori presumed to be a joke.

  Yoori strained to keep her weak smile in place. She awkwardly laughed with Hae Jin. "Heh...yeah…heh, heh, heh..."

  "Anyway," Hae Jin said again, her laughter dying down. "Give me the 411. How did you and my brother meet?"

  Yoori winced at Hae Jin's unexpected, but highly reasonable question. She knew she had to lie, but who knew she would have to lie this much to someone she just met?

  The uncensored version played like a movie in the backdrop of her mind.

  "Apparently, I caught his eye at the diner where I worked," Yoori answered slowly, her voice suppressing the urge to blurt out the whole truth.

  He blackmailed me into slavery, she desperately clarified in her mind.

  Hae Jin's smile widened. "Wow, really? How did he ask you out?"

  Yoori paused to nervously bite her lower lip, thinking up a good enough answer to give. She faked a laugh of joy. "Oh your brother...being the sly devil that he is, essentially told me that he wanted me by his side…"

  As his assistant.

  "And things just quickly rolled from then on. Next thing I knew, I was in his limo clinking that damn champagne glass with him and agreeing to always be by his side whenever he needs me."

  Hae Jin's eyes grew huge. "Wow, you guys move fast. You weren't afraid of the commitment with a total stranger?"

  Yoori laughed despairingly. "Yeah...heh, heh, heh...you know that brother of yours...definitely has that certain charm to put anyone under his spell..."

  Crime Lord! Crime Lord! Crime Lord!

  Hae Jin nodded before her face contorted in confusion. "So what are you guys arguing about? He looked pretty pathetic slumming on that couch while he was talking to me about you."

  Yoori stopped emitting fake joy. "What did he say?"

  "That you're mad at him about something. He didn't really get into it.” Hae Jin eyed Yoori, her eyes faintly asking Yoori for the reason why she was giving her brother the cold shoulder. “To be perfectly honest, I don't think he really knows why you're mad at him either."

  "It's complicated,” Yoori replied softly but firmly.

  Yoori fidgeted, feeling awkward. A big reason why she was angry with Tae Hyun was because he killed his older brother. Hae Jin's eldest brother to be exact. How was she supposed to tell Hae Jin that?

  Hae Jin gave a small smile as her way of assuring Yoori that she wouldn’t pry for any further details.

  Yoori returned the small smile. She was surprised that Hae Jin was so much sweeter than she expected her to be. Before Yoori met her, she assumed that Hae Jin would be much like Jin Ae, especially given what she knew about her from the warehouse incident.

  Yoori shuddered at the thought. Thankfully Hae Jin was nothing like Jin Ae.

  "You're really different than how I imagined you to be," Yoori said in a matter-of-fact tone, crossing her legs on the bed. If it were anyone else, then Yoori probably would’ve thought twice before making such a bold statement. Yet, there was something about Hae Jin that made her comfortable.

  Hae Jin looked at her, amused. "Good different or bad different?"

  "Good,” she reassured. “Definitely good.”

  Hae Jin nodded with a smile. "Good."

  Yoori also nodded, her thoughts migrating back to the event that took place in the warehouse.

  "Your brother was really worried about you the other day," she continued mindlessly, curious as to why Hae Jin would sleep with Ji Hoon and piss her brother off. The siblings seemed to get along incredibly well.

  "Yeah, I heard about that," Hae Jin trailed off uncomfortably. Her eyes locked on the bed. She began to toy with the lining of the comforter. The sudden tautness in her demeanor made it
appear that she felt guilty.

  "Why did you – "

  "I was pissed off at the bitch Jin Ae for cheating on my brother with Lee Ji Hoon," Hae Jin answered without hesitation, already expecting Yoori to ask that question.

  With her attention on the comforter, she continued. “I was mad at someone else too, and I had too much to drink.” She swallowed tightly at the reminder of this “someone else.” "Really, it was nothing. I was drunk and stupid that night."

  Despite Yoori’s attempt to conceal it, an incredulous gaze formed on her countenance. "Really? You slept with Ji Hoon just to piss off Jin Ae and piss off whoever you were mad at?"

  Hae Jin scratched her left temple with frustration. "Like I said, I was really upset and drunk.” Anger bubbled in her voice. “And Jin Ae has never been someone I favored." She took her eyes off the comforter and gazed at Yoori. "You've probably never met the girl, but she's the absolute worst thing on earth. Think of the worst bitch you can imagine and multiply that by 100 and you'll get Jin Ae."

  Yoori remained silent. Even though she did heavily agree with what Hae Jin said, she didn't want to interrupt Hae Jin as she continued with her line of reasoning.

  "My brother never took her seriously, but it still left a sour taste in his mouth when he heard that she was sleeping with Ji Hoon. He was too nice to do anything about it, so I decided to take care of it myself."

  Hae Jin sounded so proud of her one-sided reasoning. It would be a disservice if Yoori didn’t shed some light on the hole in her reasoning. "You didn't think it'd be worse for your brother once he heard that you slept with Ji Hoon?"

  She paused, regretting her boldness with speaking to Hae Jin in such an authoritative tone. Oh God, why did she suddenly feel like the equivalent of an older sister as she spoke to Hae Jin?

  Hae Jin sighed. "Yeah, that thought did cross my mind in my drunken state." A smirk outlined her lips. "But I take bigger joy in knowing that Jin Ae must be throwing a tantrum right now, to know that she means absolutely nothing to the two crime lords she claimed as her own."

  Seriously?

  Yoori wanted to shake Hae Jin and ask her what the hell she was thinking. Her reasoning made sense. Yoori wasn't a big fan of Jin Ae either. Having said that, it baffled her as to how Hae Jin could use her body so freely like that. The girl couldn't be older than 18. It may have been an old enough age for someone to start having sex, but that didn’t stop Yoori from feeling protective over Hae Jin.