The broken tip of the bottle still in hand, Ji Hoon pointed threateningly at the four kneeling patrons. "If anyone dares to talk to her that way again, I'll make sure that you will not only have the same fate, but I'll be sure to rip all your tongues out as well. Do you understand?"
The remaining four patrons nodded in fear.
Satisfied with their quick understanding, Ji Hoon threw the broken bottle to the ground.
The crowd churned with endless whispers as they all watched Lee Ji Hoon make his return to An Soo Jin. The Scorpion princess was eyeing the scene before her in complete disbelief as well.
"They're all yours," he said almost triumphantly.
"Was that really necessary?" she questioned, gazing up at his now smiling face.
"No one will ever get away with talking to you like that. I'll make sure of it." The sincerity in his words surprised him. Though he had only known the girl for a short time, she made enough impact on him to make him want to rip anyone who dared to disrespect her to shreds.
"I could’ve taken care of him myself," she replied thanklessly.
"I know. But you shouldn't have to get those pretty little hands of yours dirty."
"Well, aren't you a hero in disguise?" she asked sarcastically. Though her critical gaze on him remained, he could tell from her eyes that she was more than amused with him.
"Not a hero, just a guy who's infatuated."
"I bet you that infatuation will fade if I put a bullet through that cocky head of yours," she replied nonchalantly, casually folding her arms so her gold gun was in plain view.
Exhibiting no fear, he leaned in. "You can do anything you want because as of this second, it seems that I'm yours as well."
Soo Jin took a step back and moved away from Ji Hoon. Though she didn't say anything, Ji Hoon could see by how Soo Jin was staring at him that she may have developed a certain infatuation toward him too.
"You're lucky I find you to be amusing, pretty boy." She turned away and nodded at her men. After seeing her nod, her men grabbed the vodka bottle from each of the patrons' hands and proceeded to smash the bottle into each of their heads.
After sounds of breaking glass and screams of agony permeated the club, Soo Jin returned her gaze to Ji Hoon. He was unaffected by what had just happened.
"Thank you for an entertaining evening, Lee Ji Hoon," she said warmly, already making her way toward the exit.
Stopping suddenly in her tracks, she maneuvered around and steadily trained her gun at the patron who Ji Hoon assaulted for disrespecting her.
"This," she began, her eyes cold, "is for disrespecting me." Without even blinking an eye, she fired three perfect shots into his abdomen, chest, and head.
The roaring bullets echoed in the now quiet club. Soo Jin shook her head at the dead patron's body and begun toward the exit once more. With her Scorpions, and Ji Hoon's eyes, trailing closely behind her, she threw her gold gun back at one of her men and made her way out the door. As one of the Scorpions held the door opened for her, Soo Jin spun around to steal a quick glance at Ji Hoon. He was still gazing at her with unrivaled interest.
"See you around, Lee Ji Hoon," she whispered, flashing him a seductive smile of her own.
Ji Hoon's smile grew wider as he watched her leave. She couldn't have appeared more beautiful to him. "See you soon, babe," he whispered as he watched the door close.
“Just one ounce. . .”
28: Massacre
"I think you know what eventually happened after that," Ji Hoon concluded pensively.
"She sounded like she was one heck of a chase,” Yoori prompted a little too enthusiastically. Now that she knew how they met, she also wanted to know how the courting between them progressed. She knew she should've taken Ji Hoon's pain into account but it was really the last priority for Yoori. She just wanted to learn more about their relationship. “How did you eventually get her?"
"Ah, that part is a secret," he said wistfully. "Sorry Yoori. As much as I would love to share, I don't kiss and tell."
Yoori frowned at his answer but didn't push him. No matter. She was interested in the other stuff anyway. "What was it about her that made her so special to you?"
From how he spoke about meeting her, he sounded more interested in bedding her than anything else. How did An Soo Jin turn this player into a lovesick puppy? His exterior charm aside, Yoori could tell that he truly loved Soo Jin.
His eyes rested on his steering wheel. "An Soo Jin began merely as a means of entertainment for me. She was the coveted trophy in our world. Though she had just made her debut, her name was fast becoming infamous in our society. Everyone was fascinated with the Princess of Scorpions whose knowledge of weaponry and martial arts exceeded those around her."
His distracted gaze on the steering wheel remained.
"Her beauty was what attracted me in the beginning. I wanted the glory of catching her, the glory of making her mine. As the chase went on though, I began to find myself entrenched in just being around her." He laughed wearily. "The funny thing was that I didn't realize that I had already fallen for her – hard. She was the first and the only woman I've ever truly given my heart to. There was not a day that went by that I didn't count my blessings when I was around her. She made me feel like there was a bigger purpose to this type of life, like there was more to me than just being a crime lord. It was such a simple, yet powerful thing. She made me feel like I was – "
“Human," Yoori absentmindedly finished for him.
She smirked to herself. It was ironic to her, crime lords embracing the vulnerability that came with being “human.”
Ji Hoon turned to Yoori. "I know what you're thinking. How could one ruthless killer fall for another ruthless killer, right?"
She remained quiet. That was exactly what she was thinking.
"Choi Yoori, if there's only one thing you need to know about our world, it is that everyone is trained to be a killer, especially the ones born into it. It's a terrible thing but from birth, we were all raised to not only desire power but also yearn for it. In this world, if you have no power, then you'll die a pitiful death." He stared off into the distance. "Soo Jin did what she had to do to keep her reputation alive in the Underworld. She was ruthless and cruel when she needed to be. In the same token, she was also loyal and caring when she needed to be. It really depends on which side of the coin you fell on for her. But then again, that's the case for anyone who holds any form of power in the Underworld. For people involved in our world, they know what they got themselves into when they made this their lifestyle. The rest from then on is fair game. You kill to stay alive, to get to the top. That's how it works in this society."
Yoori shook her head at his explanation. He made it all seem so simple, so black and white. "You say that people who involve themselves into this world know what they're getting into, so it's fair game from that point on. But what about the ones thrown into it?"
Tense lines formed on Ji Hoon’s face. He knew where she was headed with this question. Before he could utter anything to stop her from finishing her thoughts, Yoori had already ventured into dangerous territory.
"What about that family in the club who were killed that night?"
"Yoori," he said warningly, making it clear that he didn’t want to discuss this.
"What about them, Ji Hoon?" she continued, ignoring his overt distaste to where she wanted to take their conversation. Why was he being so secretive about this? What did he have to hide? "You said it wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault – so was it yours? Were you the one who killed them?"
"No!" he answered, turning back to her. "It's not what you think. I didn't kill them. Those were all rumors."
"Then why won't you set it straight?" she asked, annoyance mounting in her voice. "Do you realize how difficult it is for me to even try to be civil with you when I have thoughts of you killing that poor family running around in my head?" Ignoring the distress on his face, she continued. She was going to get to the bottom of th
is once and for all. "Just tell me."
There was a long silence before he said, "I can only tell you what happened afterwards."
Yoori shook her head. She was becoming more frustrated by the second. "Why won't you tell me what happened?"
"Because I can't."
"Why?"
"I just can't."
"Why not?" she screamed.
"Because I wasn’t there when it happened!"
That was all it took for Yoori to choke on the remaining words that were ready to escape from her lips. Her mouth agape, she fell back into her seat in shock. She was uncertain of how long she stared at Ji Hoon in stricken silence. It must have been awhile, she concluded dimly. It must have been awhile because her eyes were beginning to ache from not blinking for so long.
"What?" she finally stammered. She couldn't be hearing right. She must be going crazy. There was no way she could've heard right. How could Ji Hoon not be there when the family was murdered?
"That night," he said again, his breathing now painfully shallow, "when that family was killed, I wasn't there."
She was thunderstruck. All this time, she had thought Ji Hoon was either there helping Soo Jin kill that family or standing by and watching it all happen. But this...this new piece of development was a shocking one for her. It changed everything.
Yoori felt so ashamed to admit that she had a small hope that An Soo Jin would have no part in the killing of the family. She was ashamed to admit that a small part of her would rather have Ji Hoon admit to her that he was the one behind the massacre that night. If it were just Ji Hoon, then it would’ve been easier for Yoori to hate him. It would’ve been easier to hate him as opposed to hating An Soo Jin. Nausea engulfing her body, her tired eyes went back onto Ji Hoon. She was so disappointed. Not in Ji Hoon but in An Soo Jin and herself.
"Why didn't you tell me this from the beginning?" Yoori asked, her voice trembling as she kept her gaze on him.
His silence remained.
Curiosity eating away at her, her probing continued. It didn't matter if he was having a hard time with this. All that mattered to her were the answers. She seized his shoulder and shook his attention back to her.
"Did you do all of this just to protect her? You said that it wasn't her fault but it was, wasn't it?"
"Yoori don't – ”
"It was all her fault," Yoori found herself saying when it all began to make sense to her. The nausea and pit in her stomach expanded as she went on. "She killed them and you allowed people to think that you were in on it because you wanted to lessen her fault in all of this. But it was really her. All of this was her fault."
Yoori couldn't help but wince when it all hit her.
The truth.
Finally the truth.
She closed her eyes in resignation. Every time...every time she thought that there was hope for An Soo Jin to appear more human, something like this occurs to show her that Soo Jin truly was a monster.
"She wasn't that type of person," he began, facing Yoori with desperation. "You have to understand that Yoori. What happened that night was out of character for Soo Jin."
"Tell me what happened afterward then.”
He shook his head. It was clear he wanted to take the time to talk about the type of person Soo Jin was first. "Just let me – "
"Stop trying to lessen her guilt," Yoori said sternly. "Just tell me what happened afterward."
She was too immersed in all of this. She couldn't waste anymore time listening to useless stuff. Here was finally the truth about the Scorpion girl, the one that people have been telling her that she resembled. All Yoori needed to know was the truth so she could further validate her belief that she couldn't be An Soo Jin.
Her head began to ache.
God, she desperately needed that validation right now.
When it looked like Ji Hoon was about to continue with trying to lessen Soo Jin's guilt, he stopped. It was palpable on Yoori's face that she didn't want to hear him stand up for Soo Jin anymore. It was clear on her face and she knew he saw that.
Yoori knew it was reprehensible that she was forcing him to relive something that obviously pained him to relive. He was only doing it to satisfy her need. It was also appalling on Yoori's part that she was feeding on all of this. Now that she had come to terms with how coldhearted An Soo Jin was, she felt...validated.
In a strange way, she wanted Soo Jin to be a monster. If Soo Jin was a monster, then it further supported Yoori's stance that she couldn't be the Scorpion girl. The more horrible An Soo Jin was, the more validated Yoori would feel about herself. Rationality no longer mattered. All that mattered was that she hated An Soo Jin with all her might. She couldn't be someone she hated, she just couldn't.
Her desperate gaze on Ji Hoon grew stronger.
All he had to do was keep feeding her all of this.
All he had to do was give her what she was yearning for: validation.
"Ji Hoon," she whispered when he didn't say anything. They've come too far. If he was going to share this much, then he was going to have to finish it. "Please…" she added. Her unblinking eyes began to well up. Her breathing was becoming so rapid that it was beginning to hurt her. She was that desperate to know. “Please tell me.”
Leaning against the window, Ji Hoon’s face had grown so pale that she was sure he was more likely to kick her out of the car than proceed with telling her what happened. But as she watched him part his lips, his eyes staring off into the dark street ahead, she knew Ji Hoon was ready to bear the pain just for her. He was ready to share his side of the story.
"I still remember how broken her voice was when I listened to the voicemail," he said brokenly. He kept his eyes away from Yoori. "She was so distraught. I remember it like it was yesterday..."
■ ■ ■
"Ji Hoon," Soo Jin cried over the voicemail. "Please. Please come...please help me. I need your help..."
Closing his cellphone lid, Ji Hoon muttered a string of curses as he floored the acceleration on his Mercedes and sped through the night. He ran past several red lights, nearly getting into several accidents in the process but none of it mattered to him. Soo Jin's helpless voice replayed itself in his mind. His heart ripped apart as his concern for her grew. Soo Jin had never been the type of girl to ask anyone for help and if she asked for help now, then it must mean that something horrific had happened.
Parking his car in the no parking zone, Ji Hoon turned off his engine and fled out of his car. He flew toward the club entrance. When he opened the door, the horrific smell of death invaded his nostrils. His concern for Soo Jin's safety heightened, he ran into the pitched dark club screaming out her name.
"Soo Jin!" he shouted, stepping into the center of the dance floor. With the aid of the light from his cellphone, his eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness.
His face contorted with disgust when his eyes finally made out the dozens of dead bodies laying on the floor of the club. There was blood seeping out of the bullet holes in each of their heads. Though the light from his cellphone was dim, there was enough illumination to show him that a massacre took place here.
Men and women alike, their lifeless eyes watched him as he took cautious strides over them. His stomach churned as he glanced at the pool of blood that was beginning to mix together.
"Shit!" he shouted when he almost slipped over amputated fingers that laid beside the dead bodies. Though it disgusted him to no end, what Ji Hoon was seeing was nothing new to him. Death was something that Ji Hoon saw everyday.
But the next thing he saw threw him through a whirlwind.
"Oh fuck," he uttered, covering his mouth to prevent himself from throwing up when he made eye contact with two lifeless kids, both of whom stared blankly at him. Laying side by side, their blood became mixed with the blood of a woman. Ji Hoon could only guess that she was their mother.
"Shit, Soo Jin.” His eyes scoured the room for her. “What did you get yourself into?"
Finally, out of the sil
ence and darkness, Ji Hoon heard soft sniffles that captured his attention. His eyes found Soo Jin sitting in the far corner of the club, her head buried in her knees.
Blood.
Even in the darkness, he could see that there was blood on her. Blood on her black jacket. Blood on her jeans. Blood on her boots. Blood on her hands. Even bloody fingerprints were present on the gold gun laying beside her sobbing body. Blood was everywhere.
"Soo Jin." He rushed to her. He jumped over the dead bodies in his way. When he reached her, he extended his arms out to her.
"Baby, are you alright?" he asked, pulling her close to him.
He cupped her face with his hands and brought her face into view.
"What happened?" he inquired, his heart breaking at the sight of her tear filled eyes. His thumb wiped away the small splatter of dried blood that was on her face.
The blood wasn't hers, he knew that much.
Soo Jin's lips quivered uncontrollably. She looked around the room. Her eyes glossed over with more tears when she laid her desperate gaze on him.
"This is all my fault," she said painfully, her face growing paler by the second.
"Soo Jin, what happened?" he asked again, hoping she'd answer him. He watched her eyes dance around the room in confusion, his concern for her more than magnified. What happened to her? What the hell happened tonight?
"I went too far," she started frantically, her eyes glistening even more. She took in a deep breath and grew lost in her frantic thoughts. "But they wouldn't stop crying. I told them to stop crying but they wouldn't stop!" Her voice elevated to an abnormal level. It appeared to Ji Hoon that she was actually reliving what happened. "I told them to shut up or they'll all get a bullet to the head but they wouldn't stop crying. I tried. I tried so hard to tell them to be quiet or they'll die but they didn't listen. They wouldn't listen! They began to cry even louder."
She pounded her head against the wall and closed her eyes in anguish. Her breathing became heavier, her chest moving up and down at a rapid pace.
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