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

by Con Template

  "They want to have a private meeting with the two of you."

  Despite her assurance, the worry had already started.

  Cupping her face with his hands, Tae Hyun delicately scoured her face for all the maladies present. Apparently he found a big one.

  "Who the fuck kicked your face?" he inquired, his voice vexed as he wiped the blood off of her mouth.

  She grimaced. Oh he should see the bloody hip...

  "Who the hell hit you with a stick?" Ji Hoon asked, inspecting the splinters buried in her skin as he held her hand up.

  Yoori was past listening at that second. She was too busy replaying a significant pearl of wisdom that Ju Won gave to her: "They will do whatever it takes to get what they want in the end. And you, my child, shouldn’t be afraid of extending the same courtesy."

  Yoori wasn't too sure if Ju Won voiced that "pearl of wisdom" to her because he wanted to inflict mistrust between her and the two gang leaders, but as the genuine concern of their voices flowed through her mind, Yoori decided then to merely place that pearl of wisdom in the back of her head. She would refer to it for reference, not for truth.

  "I'm okay," she repeated, mustering up a smile that quickly wilted under her wounded lips. She crinkled her face, unable to hide the pain. She regarded them wearily. "I just want to go home," she added, her voice barely above a whisper.

  She felt really discombobulated. There was so much on her mind and so much pain dancing up and down her body. At this rate, going to sleep was the only remedy she wanted.

  When it looked like Tae Hyun was ready to nod in understanding, his eyes flashed red when he saw that Ji Hoon was holding Yoori's hand.

  "Don't touch her," he ordered ominously. He pulled Yoori away from Ji Hoon. His eyes were hard as steel. "Haven't we established that she's my girlfriend and not yours?"

  Ji Hoon's face turned grim at the unpleasant reminder. "Clearly," he said through gritted teeth.

  "And you will do well to remember that."

  Yoori's mouth was gaping open the entire time. Was this another one of Tae Hyun's “performances” or was he serious? He wasn't really jealous, was he?

  "I'm glad you're okay, Yoori," Ji Hoon said quietly, the tenseness in his countenance loosening upon addressing her. He gave her a small smile before he flashed Tae Hyun a quick glare and proceeded into the meeting room.

  When Ji Hoon was out of sight, Tae Hyun found the back of Yoori’s hand smacking him across the chest.

  "What the fu – "

  "That was so insensitive of you!" Yoori whispered crossly, feeling a bit of her spunky personality return in face of Tae Hyun’s behavior. Even though she didn't like that he was being so terrible with Ji Hoon, she found herself secretly flattered with the jealousy he publicly displayed. Even if there was a strong possibility it was all for show, it pleased her nonetheless.

  Tae Hyun laughed, purposely ignoring her disapproving comment. He had other things he wanted to address. He lifted his hand to her face and begun to help wipe the remaining dried blood off of it.

  Regret in his voice, he said, "Didn't I tell you that you shouldn't have come?"

  "Rub it in, will you?" she muttered drily, staying still as he continued to delicately wipe against her skin.

  He hid a smile. "Apparently that's what I'm doing right now."

  Yoori laughed quietly. Only with Tae Hyun could she genuinely smile after getting hazed senseless by three crime lords and nine snipers.

  He continued to rub the dried blood away with his thumb. “Kang Min and Jae Won are waiting in the limo. You go to the hospital and then go home first. I'm going to be in late tonight so don't miss me too much."

  Yoori rolled her eyes at the tail end of his comment.

  He gazed sharply at the splinters buried inside the skin of her hand. "Dong Min was the one who hit you with the unshaven stick, wasn't he?"

  "How'd you figure?"

  Tae Hyun smirked knowingly. Bitterness resonated in his voice. "It was his favorite weapon of choice when he trained me."

  "Oh I see – oww!" Yoori yelped when he accidentally applied pressure on the sensitive part of her face.

  Tae Hyun sighed at her reaction, his eyes full of regret that he brought her to Ju Won's mansion. He withdrew his hands from her face.

  "I'm going to kill them," he muttered to himself, backing away from her. His eyes raged with a deadly storm. "Get some rest. I'll see you at home."

  Without another word or a wave of goodbye, an angry Tae Hyun stormed into the meeting room. The doors to the entrance closed behind him, leaving Yoori with the muffled sounds of Tae Hyun's irate voice screaming at the Advisors before the brown oak doors completely clicked shut.

  ■ ■ ■

  "Ah," Yoori cried when she stumbled into the limo, her back hitting the leather seat closest to the door with a soft thud. Before allowing herself time to acclimate with the comfortable seating, Yoori took it upon herself to pull the door closed as the limo began to take off.

  She heaved a breath before turning her attention to the two pairs of familiar eyes that were already locked on her.

  “Hey boss.”

  “Hey Yoori.”

  The brothers greeted her in unison, each sitting at opposite ends of the limo. Their faces and bodies were as beaten up as hers. Between the three of them, it was hard to figure out who was in the most pain – and who was the ugliest.

  "Hey," Yoori croaked. She readjusted her seating to make it more comfortable for the ride ahead.

  It was probably because they were each in pain and had a lot on their minds but as the limo picked up speed, a companionable stillness fell between Yoori and the boys. The only sound was the whirring of the limo moving against the windy streets.

  Though they didn't say anything to one another, their eyes were more than active.

  Darting their eyes from one person to the next, their lips remained sealed under the looming cloud of silence. Each stared at the bloody lips, the various cuts and bruises, the footprint embedded clothes, ragged hair, injured hands – all the maladies that the other individuals wore almost identically.

  And then, just as the anticipatory stillness became too intense to handle, a common sound broke out from each of their lips.

  “…Hehehehe."

  Suppressed snickering illuminated the dark limo.

  With one last glance at one another, the final action that acted as the last straw that broke the happy camel's back, the sound of guffawing roared through the vicinity of the limo. In one smooth action, Yoori and the boys pointed at one another and exploded in silliness.

  "Hahaha! Look at your face!”

  "Hello Yoda! Puhahahaha!"

  "You – you – ahahaha – you guys look like the personification of shit!"

  No longer able to sit straight from the explosion of laughter, they each fell to the side, the tickling escape of their laughter erupting with more intensity.

  "Oww! Oww!"

  Then came the punishment from the damaged fibers within their assaulted bodies.

  Yoori began to cough relentlessly, her throat clogging up in pain. Jae Won clutched his stomach as he wheezed in agony while Kang Min placed a trembling finger over his cut lip that had extended too far from laughter. The unexpected pain, as agonizing as it was, wasn't enough to dampen their spirits. Quiet laughs continued to radiate from their lips.

  Yoori smiled, fondly eyeing the brothers. Yes. Even under dire circumstances, Yoori and the boys continued to have that unspoken connection that made being around each other the best remedy they could ask for after the round of beatings they endured.

  Having calmed down since the eruption of laughter, they sat upright once more.

  "Who did that to you guys?" Yoori asked breathlessly, laying the back of her head against the seat.

  "The same people who initiated you," Jae Won answered hoarsely.

  Yoori groaned painfully. "It's like they took out all their anger on me."

  "Yeah,” concurred Jae Won.
“Ju Won and the Shins aren't known to be very forgiving."

  “If it makes you feel better, you came out looking better than Jae Won and I did when we were initiated." Kang Min smiled wryly, a move he regretted when he felt the pain from the cut on his lips. He shook his head again. "Dude, I couldn't see for two weeks after my initiation."

  Yoori gaped at him. Couldn't see for two weeks? Two weeks?

  Jae Won nodded, still clutching onto his stomach. "I broke several bones."

  Broken bones?

  "Oh the curse of not being born an Underworld baby," Kang Min muttered sullenly, briefly closing his eyes to control his breathing. He then opened his eyes and gazed at Yoori. The same concern that brimmed within his eyes inside Ju Won's mansion appeared again. "How do you feel?"

  "Scared shitless," she answered bluntly, finding it unnecessary to lie to Kang Min and Jae Won.

  The brothers nodded in understanding, a serious air floating between them. The carefree icebreaker, as wonderful as it was, didn't blind them from the importance of venturing onto the much somber conversation at hand.

  Once the air changed, the inevitable topic came up.

  "Did they bring her up?" Jae Won asked.

  He didn't need to specify who "her" was.

  Yoori’s warmth obliterated at the reminder.

  Composing herself, she nodded slowly. "Ju Won said, 'You remind me of someone. Which is too bad because she didn't leave being on my good side.’ Then they started the initiation."

  The muscles in their jaws tightened. It was as if their fears were confirmed.

  "Why did your jaws tighten?" Yoori asked suspiciously.

  She observed that they were also twitching uncomfortably.

  Now they avoided eye contact.

  Yoori was beside herself with their silence. How dare they withhold information when she just shared something important?

  "Jae Won?" she asked purposely, knowing he was the blabbermouth of the two.

  His eyes remained strangely interested in the red carpet of the limo instead of on her. He bit his lower lip uneasily.

  She grimaced, holding in an emission of anger before turning to Kang Min. He was finding interest in staring at the rope burns on his wrist. So apparently it was taboo to talk to her now?

  She glowered at the two brothers. The overwhelming urge to smack them across the heads burned in her splinter filled hands.

  "Are you kidding me?" She shook her head in disappointment. "Is this how it is?" she asked, unable to mask the melancholy in her voice.

  Her somber voice acted as a trigger that caused the boys to drag their eyes away from their visual distractions and onto her. Both then heaved a loud sigh as a non-verbal way of consenting to one another about the conversation they were about to embark on.

  Kang Min parted his lips, being the first to start the much-anticipated conversation.

  Or so Yoori thought until she saw that he reached behind his back to retrieve something instead.

  She was surprised to see him pull out the gold gun that belonged to Jae Won. Yoori stared at the gun that rested on the palm of his hand. He chose this moment to return it to Jae Won? Would it kill the kid to do it after he told her what she wanted to know?

  She silently watched Jae Won lean forward to retrieve the gun – or so she thought until she saw him reach behind his own back.

  Yoori's eyes enlarged when Jae Won pulled out a gold gun of his own.

  “There – there’s two?”

  Questions started swarming her head like bees to honey. Yoori then realized the complexities of the conversation she was about to embark on with the brothers.

  "Two identical gold guns were gifted to our boss from her father," Jae Won enlightened.

  "As two of her most trusted Scorpions, we were each given a gun to look after," Kang Min supplied, touching the gold surface of the gun he held.

  Yoori wanted to ask how Ju Won came into possession of the gun when Jae Won continued. "Guns are important to gang members like badges are to cops," he explained, staring at his own gun. "Our boss revered her guns like pets that she spent her life growing up with. She loved them."

  "A gun can be used for many things. Some more obvious than others," Kang Min pressed on, lifting his eyes off his gun and onto Yoori. "Some revere their guns so much that it slowly begins to symbolize their honor – their word."

  The dawn of comprehension brightened in Yoori's eyes.

  It was all becoming clearer.

  She parted her quaking lips, anxiety and anticipation reveling within it. "An Soo Jin promised Seo Ju Won something?"

  Jae Won lifted his eyes to meet hers. "A favor."

  "What favor?" she asked earnestly.

  When Jae Won didn't answer immediately, she turned to Kang Min. "What favor?" she asked again, curiosity drenched in her voice.

  Kang Min shook his head at her. "I honestly don't know." He paused, as if debating about sharing anymore. After taking a second to ponder the matter, he forged on. "I remember her saying that she was going to take care of some rival crime syndicates. I asked if she wanted me to accompany her but she told me that this was a delicate meeting and that it had to be just her. ‘I just need my gun.’ I didn't think twice about it and handed it to her."

  "How did she tell you she lost it?" asked Yoori, understanding it was the likely excuse An Soo Jin would give as to how the gun went missing.

  "In a brawl with rival gang members," answered Kang Min.

  "Now that I think about it,” Jae Won mused. “She didn't seem too upset by it."

  "Yeah, do you remember? She started acting strange. Like completely different. It was weird because it all happened right before the club – " Kang Min halted with his thoughts when he realized that Yoori was listening intently. Regretting his slip of a tongue, Yoori could sense that Kang Min was mentally scolding himself.

  "The club massacre,” prompted Yoori, dead-set on prying this information from him. “That's what you were about to say, right?"

  Anxiousness undulated in her eyes. What a fool she had been to only depend on Ji Hoon for the knowledge of what happened that night. Of course An Soo Jin's two right hand men would have some knowledge pertaining to what occurred that night.

  "Wh–what exactly happened that night?" she asked, trying to suppress the zeal in her voice.

  Her heartbeat quickened, every part of her body fascinated by what really occurred that night. For the split moment in time, nothing mattered. It didn't matter that her body was throbbing. It didn't matter that she despised Soo Jin and didn't want to be associated with her. It didn't matter how uncomfortable Jae Won and Kang Min were when it was clear they didn't want to talk to her about this. None of that mattered. Consumed, all Yoori cared about was finding out more about what happened.

  The brothers glanced uncertainly at each other. When they received confirmation from one another that since they'd ventured this far already, they might as well take Yoori all the way, Jae Won began to speak.

  "The first thing you should know about our relationship with our boss is that the three of us were really close. We confided in one another and told each other everything."

  "That was until the night after she 'lost' her gun," Kang Min added. "After that night, she started acting distant – secretive even. She was troubled with something. Something she couldn't talk to anyone about."

  "Kang Min and I tried to ask her what was going on but she kept insisting that everything was fine, that she was just exhausted from working too hard."

  Kang Min spoke. "We heard about the killings in the club just like everyone else. Some lowly gang members were hanging out in a nearby alley when they spotted her and Lee Ji Hoon coming out of the club. They said she was covered in blood. Curious, they snuck into the club and were horrified to find the tiles covered with blood and various dead bodies with their fingers cut off."

  "An infamous trademark that our boss employed to torture or to interrogate people she needed to get information out of," Jae Wo
n enlightened, sending unnatural chills through Yoori.

  Kang Min barreled on. "Shortly after finding the bodies, they heard cars approaching the club. They ran out, but not before catching glimpses of Ji Hoon's men infiltrating the club, gathering up all the bodies, and disposing of them."

  "Did you guys ask her what happ – "

  Yoori didn't get to finish when Jae Won cut her off.

  "She didn't want to talk about it and we were smart enough not to push our luck. When our boss was set on something, she was set for life. If she didn't want to talk, then you ended the conversation there."

  "I heard her crying the nights following that event though," Kang Min supplied, his voice soft as he recollected the final memories of his boss.

  Jae Won’s face became melancholic. "Yeah, I heard it too..."

  "Didn't one of the other Scorpions find the bloody clothes she dumped in the garbage?"

  "Yeah," confirmed Jae Won.

  Yoori's eyes fell onto the guns Jae Won and Kang Min held. Her eyes fixated on Kang Min's. She recalled the conversation she had with Ji Hoon about Soo Jin never being the same after the night in the club. What he said never really touched a nerve within her.

  Yet, with Jae Won and Kang Min's information, Yoori actually felt her heart go out to Soo Jin. It seemed that the guilt ate Soo Jin up.

  She shook her head.

  Now was not the time to be distracted.

  She measured the guns once more, the wheels of her mind running wildly. She began to put the puzzle pieces together.

  "An Soo Jin met up with Ju Won and gave him her gun as collateral. And then you said she started to act distant shortly thereafter, like she was conflicted about something she promised she'd do for him. After that, the murders in the club took place and she was mum about that."

  The question, “Why did An Soo Jin choose that particular family?” popped into Yoori's already swirling mind and she gasped, gaping at the brothers horrorstruck.

  "Do you think Soo Jin interrogated and killed those people for Ju Won? What information did she want from them?"