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

by Template, Con

  He handed her the hoodie. “Here.”

  “You’re so prepared,” Yoori marveled, grabbing the hoodie without hesitation. Normally she would show more apprehension with taking someone's article of clothing, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She was freezing her ass off and if Tae Hyun was willing to offer his jacket, then she was going to accept it; it was that simple.

  When her hand made contact with the fabric, Yoori heard a distant giggle that made her ears perk up in vigilance. She knew the giggle could only belong to one person: Jin Ae.

  So that was who one of those two silhouettes were…

  “Hurry and put it on,” Tae Hyun urged. He was also reminded of the quandary they were in with the announcement of Jin Ae’s presence.

  Stepping out of the corner as Yoori prepared to slip her arms through his hoodie, Tae Hyun thoughtlessly added, “And make sure to pull that hood up.”

  Yoori quickly slid herself into the hoodie. Her hands were in preparation of pulling up the black hood when she heard a familiar voice address Tae Hyun. Tae Hyun’s back was still in view as he stood under the dim corridor lighting. Although Yoori remained unseen, Tae Hyun was clearly visible to the two people at the other side of the corridor.

  Yoori listened closely.

  “Tae Hyun,” the warm voice of Lee Ji Hoon greeted, his tone embellished with taunt and arrogance.

  Even in the absence of his face, Yoori could tell from her visually impaired corner that Ji Hoon was more than likely shooting daggered glares at Tae Hyun.

  “It’s wonderful that you made it. Jin Ae and I were placing bets as to whether or not you’d dare show your face here.” Ji Hoon paused as if to play with something. “Obviously Jin Ae here won because you did show up.”

  A blast of indignation spiked through her when she registered that he didn’t pause to play with something—he paused to play with someone. She scowled internally. Wasn’t it just a couple hours ago that she was with him? This guy was unbelievable.

  “Tae Hyun,” she heard Jin Ae’s sickeningly sweet voice.

  It could very well be that she hated Jin Ae immensely, but the sound of Jin Ae’s flirtatious tone of voice with Tae Hyun made Yoori sick to her stomach. Who did this girl think she was talking to Tae Hyun like that?

  Her bitterness was short-lived at the sound of Tae Hyun’s cold voice. “It’s a shame that Ju Won would spend money on two worthless guard dogs.” She could hear the smug smirk in his voice when he stated this.

  Yoori couldn’t be happier with his insult. It did well to temper the anger mounting inside her. Yeah! Go Kwon Tae Hyunnie!

  Not that she wanted Ji Hoon to be insulted. Even though he unknowingly disappointed her tonight, she only wanted Jin Ae to get insulted. Ji Hoon was merely the necessary casualty of war.

  “Tae Hyun,” Jin Ae voiced meekly. She was hurt with Tae Hyun’s blunt insult.

  Her pouty voice became overshadowed by Ji Hoon’s angry voice. “Tae Hyun, you piece of shit!” he barked irately, his patience with Tae Hyun never lasting too long. “Do you have a fucking death wish?”

  Satisfied with the reactions he received, Tae Hyun smiled to himself. He turned his gaze back to Yoori.

  “Ready?” he mouthed quietly, pleased that Yoori got an unfiltered performance of what Ji Hoon was like when she wasn’t around. It was a bold assumption on Yoori’s part but she was convinced that Tae Hyun was still bitter when she called Ji Hoon her “suitor.”

  Extending his hand out, Tae Hyun’s smile remained as he waited for her.

  Albeit she was content with Tae Hyun’s cold interaction toward Jin Ae, Yoori also found herself simultaneously disappointed with Ji Hoon’s behavior when she wasn’t around. Apparently the “womanizer” in him was very much alive with other girls as well. Though it was difficult to deny her feelings, Yoori also knew that she had no right to be territorial. It wasn’t like Ji Hoon was her boyfriend or anything.

  No longer keen on prolonging the internal conflicts milling inside her, Yoori lifted the hood up and took Tae Hyun’s outstretched hand. She followed his lead and took her first step into the dimly lit corridor.

  Clearly bothered with Tae Hyun’s show of disrespect with his inattentiveness, Ji Hoon’s furious voice saturated the room as Yoori came out of the corner. “What are you – ”

  Ji Hoon halted mid-sentence when Yoori slid out of the corner and into view.

  Caught.

  At the unexpected sighting of Yoori, Ji Hoon quickly jumped to his feet and hastily pushed a smug looking Jin Ae off his lap. Though Yoori didn’t catch the entire view of Jin Ae sitting on Ji Hoon’s lap, she could surmise that was what occurred, especially considering Ji Hoon’s quick reaction to push her off.

  “Ji Hoon!” Jin Ae screamed, nearly doubling over. She repositioned her black high heels just in time to balance herself. She muttered a curse while she straightened her little red dress.

  Ji Hoon gaped at Yoori. “Yoori…”

  Jin Ae’s voice shadowed after his. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Feigning ignorance to the more than dramatic reactions of the people standing parallel from him, Tae Hyun simply gazed at Yoori.

  “Better?” he inquired, referring to the nature of her warmth. He didn’t have to say anything else, but Yoori knew what Tae Hyun was doing. It was his subtle way of throwing another insult toward Ji Hoon and Jin Ae by ignoring them. The King of Serpents loved making people feel like shit.

  Yoori nodded distractedly, the hood of the jacket bouncing with her head. “Much better,” she replied wryly, a bit uncomfortable knowing that all eyes were now solely on her.

  “Yoori,” Ji Hoon said loudly, trying once more to get her attention. He appeared to have regained his composure. His face was now pale with uncertainty. He had the guilt filled eyes of a kid who got caught red-handed.

  At the call of his voice, Yoori turned to him. She didn’t miss the death glare Jin Ae, who was standing off to the side with her arms folded before her, shot her way.

  “Wh – why are you here?” Ji Hoon asked, his voice actually shaking. He looked frantic with concern. When Yoori didn’t answer him immediately, Ji Hoon then turned to Tae Hyun. His pale face colored with anger. “Why the fuck did you bring her here?”

  Tae Hyun clenched his jaw. He was reminded of his own stupidity for bringing her to the mansion and he wasn’t happy. He glimpsed at Yoori, his eyes conveying to her that he wasn’t joking when he said that it was dangerous for her to come. Ji Hoon’s outraged question only further validated his point.

  “I wanted to come,” Yoori answered at once, knowing that Tae Hyun was probably entertaining the idea of throwing her back onto the motorcycle and driving her back to the apartment.

  Ji Hoon fell silent at her answer, his eyes becoming unreadable.

  Jin Ae, however, was less graceful with her reaction.

  “You stupid twit,” she started wrathfully, snarling at Yoori like she was the biggest airhead in the world. “We’re in this mess because of you. You think my uncle and the Shins will forgive you for ruining the peace before his birthday party? You have some fucking nerv – ”

  Jin Ae ceased with her words when she saw Tae Hyun’s foreboding glare. Biting her lower lip to keep from saying anything else, she pulled her folded arms closer to her chest and looked away. Her demeanor said it all: she would’ve definitely hurled more poisonous insults at Yoori had Tae Hyun not been there.

  Yoori scowled at Jin Ae’s words.

  Having the type of combative personality that she does, Yoori had to bite her own lips to keep from uttering a series of damning curses at Jin Ae. She could feel the insults pulsating in her mouth. Mentally, she calmed herself down. If this were any other occasion, Jin Ae would’ve gotten a mouthful from her already. Yet from the experience of being Kwon Tae Hyun’s personal assistant, Yoori had become a bitter expert at keeping things boiled in. She would deal with Jin Ae later.

  “Are we just going to stand here and stare at
each other all night or are we going to do something productive?” Tae Hyun asked curtly.

  Yoori hid a smile and subconsciously tightened her hand on his in approval. Ah yes, it was definitely more amusing to see Tae Hyun be mean to anyone other than to her, especially when that person was Jin Ae. She felt less angry already.

  After breaking out of their trance, Ji Hoon and Jin Ae straightened up, their smugness completely gone: Jin Ae’s gone from being reprimanded by Tae Hyun and Ji Hoon’s gone after being caught off guard with Yoori’s unforeseen attendance.

  Pushing the two oak doors opened, Ji Hoon turned to Yoori apprehensively. His face was still full of unspoken concern. His eyes briefly raked over her before he made his way into the dark room.

  With her arms still crossed, Jin Ae followed closely behind Ji Hoon. Before going in, she turned and stole a quick glance at Yoori.

  “Good luck,” she mouthed, a taunting smirk firmly solidified on her face as she made her way in. The sound of her heels clicked away in the darkness.

  “Pull your hood a little further down,” Tae Hyun instructed quietly. “The less the Advisors see your face, the better. They’re not known to be forgiving and I don’t imagine that you’re on their good side tonight.”

  Yoori heeded his advice. Her body humming in anticipation of finally being able to meet the Advisors, Yoori drew the hood down just a little bit more, her fears already reaching its apex at his chilling warning. If she had her way, she’d wear a mask as well.

  Tae Hyun tightened his hold on her hand. Yoori knew this was his non-verbal way of making her feel safer and it was a gesture that served its purpose. She inhaled deeply and followed Tae Hyun as he approached the opened doorframe. Their fingers were still tightly intertwined as the darkness of the meeting room swallowed them whole.

  Yoori marveled at the room ahead of her.

  She knew upon walking in that Ju Won’s “mansion” was not a mansion built for a crime lord to get some shut-eye. Absolutely not. This particular mansion was built for a crime lord who wanted to have secure meetings with his affiliates in the Underworld. Having the vicinity masked as a "homely" mansion was just part of that plan to camouflage what was really in here.

  When they drew further into the meeting room, Yoori’s eyes continued to survey the space.

  The dim illumination of light coming from the center of the room helped her to ascertain that the confined space was big enough to be called an arena. And of course, it was an arena big enough to fit the entire Underworld of Seoul. The front entrance from which they walked in was dark, a characteristic trait that matched all four corners of the abnormally large room. Distinct sounds of breathing could be heard ricocheting off the high ceilings.

  At the call of her instincts, Yoori twisted her neck upward. Still walking, her eyes struggled to find something in the darkness. The high ceilings. There was something going on up there…When the darkness that veiled the ceiling left her vision with nothing but a blank canvas, Yoori lowered her gaze, dismissing her paranoid instincts and paying attention to more important things at hand.

  Straight ahead at the source of the lighting, Yoori could see that there were five figures standing off to the left side of the room. It was Jin Ae, Woo, Jin Ae’s two other bodyguards and Ji Hoon. Ji Hoon stood closer to the light than the rest. He was facing something – or someone.

  Yoori followed the direction of Ji Hoon’s gaze.

  At the sight before her, Yoori suddenly found herself tightening her grasp on Tae Hyun’s hand. A sinking feeling forced its way down her stomach. At the further end of the room, where another source of lighting glowed from above, sat three older gentlemen. They were sitting on chairs so majestic and enormous that it could only be fit for kings. It didn’t take long for Yoori to infer that the one sitting in the middle, his chair being noticeably higher than the other two, was none other than the infamous Seo Ju Won.

  Though he was the oldest of the three, Ju Won looked utterly fit for a man of his age. With the faint light glowing hazily on the bald surface of his head, his mustache was the only indicator of his old age. It was lined more by the tone of gray than black.

  “Tae Hyun,” he spoke, his voice resonating across the high ceilings when his eyes spotted the two figures emerging out of the darkness.

  His gray suit rustled when he repositioned himself on the seat to get a better view of Tae Hyun. Tae Hyun had just stopped right unto the rectangular light, leaving Yoori to stand a couple of feet beside him in the cloak of darkness. Yoori understood then that Tae Hyun was still determined to do everything in his power to make sure the Advisors didn’t get a good visual of her face. If it meant hiding underneath the hood of his jacket and standing in the blinding darkness for the entire night, then so be it.

  “Wonderful that you two made it, ” Ju Won continued, staring directly at the darkness that shrouded over Yoori. She could see a smirk form wrinkles on his face. He knew what Tae Hyun was trying to do.

  “Ju Won,” Tae Hyun voiced politely, giving a slight bow to Ju Won.

  The old man nodded approvingly, his eyes flickering toward Yoori’s abyss covered direction every so often.

  Though it was subtle on his part, she was sure she saw Ji Hoon steal a quick glimpse in her direction as well. He looked uneasy.

  Tae Hyun continued with his salutations.

  He turned to the man dressed in a long sleeve black buttoned up shirt and light gray pants. He was sitting to the right of Ju Won.

  “Uncle,” he greeted with a smile and a bow. His voice was more genuine with respect.

  The middle-aged man, whose short black hair continued to layer his head, nodded at Tae Hyun, his face lighting up into a smile. It was clear to Yoori that this was Shin Dong Min, Tae Hyun’s mentor.

  To the man on the left, who appeared a couple of years older than Dong Min, Tae Hyun gave the same bow of respect. His voice was the only thing that faltered in terms of respect.

  “Jung Min,” he voiced softly. Noticeable disdain waltzed in his voice.

  Shin Jung Min, whose face mirrored a matching disdain, merely blinked his eyes in response. He clearly did not favor Tae Hyun. He dusted imaginary dust off of his white dress shirt and his dark gray pants, his blonde and gray hair glowing in the dim lighting. A tense sigh issued from his mouth, the upper portion embellished with a gray mustache that matched his hair. He turned away from Tae Hyun like it was too difficult for him to stare at something so unworthy.

  “What a surprise that you’re all here tonight,” Tae Hyun began, paying no mind to the fact that Jung Min was pretty much dismissing his existence. His attention slid from Jung Min to Ju Won. “I was under the impression that both of you were going to be in China for a couple more days.”

  “We got the business we needed from the Lords of the Chinese Underworld,” Ju Won answered coolly, the smile never leaving his face. “There’s no point in furthering our stay there when I have potential heirs who are looking to be enlightened.”

  At identical times, Tae Hyun and Ji Hoon forced a smile to appear on their faces.

  “Which reminds me,” said Ju Won. He turned to his right and snapped his fingers. Sounds of shuffling emanated from the darkness.

  Tae Hyun's expression fell.

  “I bumped into your men tonight, Tae Hyun,” Ju Won voiced soothingly. At the call of his snapping fingers, two bodyguards emerged out of the darkness.

  Yoori tensed when she saw that they were pulling two tied up shadows with them. Both sporting dried up bloody lips and a combination of cuts and bruises on their bodies, the brothers looked like they had just been through hell and back. Their leather jackets were nearly ripped to shreds and their pants were tattooed with footprints. They were being led out, their wrists bound together in ropes. They could barely keep themselves balanced. Her chest tightened at such a heartbreaking sight. It took all her strength to restrain herself from speeding over to help Jae Won and Kang Min. Though she hated that they were being treated with such callousne
ss, she also knew it wasn’t the right time to do anything drastic. For now, she had to trust that Tae Hyun would make everything better.

  Her heart grew heavier when she noticed that the brothers were now staring straight at her. Though she was enveloped in darkness, she knew they could sense her presence.

  Unable to restrain his bewilderment, Jae Won whipped his horror-filled eyes to Tae Hyun. “Why did you bring her here?”

  “Shit,” Kang Min whispered through his bloody mouth. His worried eyes peered in her direction. He wasn’t afraid for himself; he was afraid for her.

  Like a tidal wave, Yoori was rapidly washed with a terrifying enlightenment. She knew that Tae Hyun was determined to keep her face hidden from the Advisors because she wasn’t on their good side. Considering all that had happened with Jin Ae, that part didn’t surprise her. But in the short amount of time that she had, Yoori hadn’t once thought about another possibility that might inspire more fear and terror from her. A pang of uneasiness burst through her when she replayed the horror in Jae Won’s voice and the fear in Kang Min’s eyes.

  Shit.

  Why didn’t she take into account that she resembled someone important in this world? She gazed fearfully at the Advisors.

  Was it possible? Was it possible that the Advisors also hated An Soo Jin?

  “Interesting reactions,” Ju Won observed blithely, looking at her and the brothers.

  The two bodyguards kicked Jae Won and Kang Min into kneeling positions, their backs facing the Advisors and their faces directly in front of Tae Hyun and Ji Hoon. Throughout this entire exchange, the two gang leaders remained silent.

  Tae Hyun, who had a look of anger plastered over his face this entire time, returned his gaze to Ju Won. A storm rolled into his eyes.

  “Let them go,” he ordered simply. Though he hid it well, Yoori discerned from his voice that Tae Hyun was beyond the boundaries of patience.

  “In a minute,” said Ju Won, his big smile and gaze slithering from Tae Hyun to Ji Hoon. “Ji Hoon,” he launched blearily. “Do you realize that Tae Hyun managed to recruit the leader of the Dragons?” He jutted his chin in Jae Won’s direction. “Quite impressive, wouldn’t you say?”