by Con Template
“What could it hurt if we continued to torture them?” his baby sister suggested beside him.
Splatters of blood tarnished the black jacket and jeans she wore. With her black hair tied up in a ponytail, her hand holding a bloodied knife, and her face void of remorse, Soo Jin was the epitome of the Underworld’s best interrogator. She had the face of an angel and the moral flexibility of the Devil. Those who didn’t know her would come to fear her, and those who feared her would never forget her. She was the very best right-hand soldier and the best person to force out information from these people—that was if they knew the information to begin with.
“Nothing matters anymore,” she went on, her voice as cold as her emotionless face. “The moment they stepped foot in here, they were going to die anyway. Why not try to find out something for Ju Won while we’re at it?”
“You trust him too much, lil sis,” Young Jae said severely. “Ju Won is a snake and the worst possible kind. Nothing he offers you should be taken lightly.”
“He’s offering our family his empire, oppa,” Soo Jin argued, still sounding respectful despite her raised voice. “You know the pendulum of power that comes with that exchange.”
Soo Jin looked down at the scene below her.
Resolve overcame her.
“The Serpents are becoming stronger. Kwon Ho Young not only has the support of China’s Underworld, but he also has a trump card—his younger brother. His brother is on his way to ruling over the 1st layer. You know how influential that layer is when the Corporate Crime Lords are united. If we don’t move Ju Won over to our side, then all the power will shift to the Serpents. Is that what you want? For this world to kneel under the rule of the Serpents? The fuckers who murdered our father?”
There was judgment in her eyes that she gave away for a split second. It was a look that insinuated Young Jae did not care about their father’s death as much as she did.
“Don’t speak to me as if our father’s death affected you more than it affected me,” Young Jae warned, reading her mind. “You have no idea what I’m going through.”
Soo Jin bowed her head in apology. “I’m sorry. You know how much I hate them whenever I think about our father.” She softened her gaze, her eyes imploring him to see her logic. “Our world is changing, oppa. The three gangs are growing stronger and stronger everyday, but there’s a shifting of power now. Pretty soon, once things are in order, there will only be one Lord of the Underworld to rule over this entire layer and the two layers above it. I can’t stand here and allow the Serpents to have that power, especially when all we have to do is find out whatever it is Ju Won wants from the family below.”
Her eyes narrowed on to the floor where the unharmed mother and twins sat huddled in the corner, their faces paled from horror. The mother wore a yellow sundress, and the twins wore yellow t-shirts and khaki shorts; they looked utterly out of place in such a monstrous scene.
“You’re not touching them, Soo Jin,” Young Jae commanded, following her gaze.
“Look at how they shake,” Soo Jin observed, callous amusement sparking in her eyes as they rested on them. “That woman was Hwang Hee Jun’s girlfriend, and although the children aren’t his, I’m sure he loved them like his own. From the fear in their eyes, how they shudder, and how they looked at me when I tortured and shot those sixteen people, I know that they are the ones who have the answers we’re looking for.”
“You’re entertaining the idea of torturing a mother and her two children?”
“In every war, there are casualties,” said Soo Jin, the emotions in her eyes now completely unreadable. “I plan on interrogating them, and I’ll do what’s necessary if they refuse to tell me the truth.” She turned to him, already resolved on what she had to do for her gang. “Have the others leave, oppa. It should only be the two of us who hear any of this.”
“You’re not invincible, baby sister. Murdering gang members is very different from hurting innocent people.”
“She should’ve known better than to get involved with the King of Siberian Tigers then,” Soo Jin voiced with a shrug. There was no remorse or apprehension in her tone. She held his gaze with hers. “What happens tonight will be placed under my name and my name alone. I killed those sixteen people, and I’ll finish the rest. What I do to the mother and her children will have no effect on you. I don’t want to do this either, but if it’s for the good of our gang, then I’ll torture them all night if I have to.”
Young Jae took a long, thoughtful moment to deliberate everything. Finally, he acquiesced. “Don’t hurt them too badly.”
A smirk came over her face. “You were always the kindest of the two of us.”
A breath later, she jumped over the balcony. Her boots landed easily on the floor, crushing two amputated fingers beneath her. Soo Jin wasted no time. She sped over to the mother and children at once.
And then . . . it began.
“Get the fuck over here,” Soo Jin growled, grabbing the mother by the curls of her black hair. She dragged her over to the corner of the club where there were stairs and a white pillar.
Screaming in agony as her children chased after her and Soo Jin, the mother tried to fight, but found it was futile as both her hands and legs were bound with sturdy ropes.
Soo Jin kicked her face, and the mother was left wailing. Her children crawled beside her and tried to tend to her. They didn’t get too far before Soo Jin kicked them both out of the way and bestowed the mother with another kick to the face. A loud crack whipped in the air, indicating that her nose was broken.
“You bitch!” the other family members bellowed over their pain. They continued to shudder in shock as they screamed out to Soo Jin. “Leave them alone! They don’t know anything!”
“Go outside,” Young Jae ordered the four Scorpions watching the scene from the nearby balcony. “My sister and I will take care of this.”
“Yes, sir,” all four said before walking out of the club and slamming the door shut.
Young Jae looked back on the scene. Soo Jin was still beating up the mother while the children kneeled beside her, crying and begging for Soo Jin to stop.
“Just tell me where it is! I know that you know it!” Soo Jin screamed, opening the woman’s mouth. She stuck in the blade of her knife and held it there, the pointed edge of the blade promising to rip her cheek apart. “I know that Hee Jun trusted you,” Soo Jin snarled. “He couldn’t be sure that he would survive, and I know that of all people, he told you.”
“I really don’t know!” the mother cried, blood spurting out from her mouth.
Soo Jin smirked and pulled the knife out. She was careful with not cutting any skin. She veered her attention to the children. They were kneeling before her, still crying loudly as they begged her to stop torturing their mother.
“Would your sons know?” Soo Jin evilly prompted, already grabbing them both by the collars and throwing them toward their mother like they were rag dolls. “Did Hee Jun tell them instead?”
“No! No! Please, don’t touch them,” the mother begged, tears gleaming her eyes. “Don’t hurt my babies!”
Echoes of the children crying invaded the club. Soo Jin’s breathing became more intense after she closed her eyes in frustration. Their incessant crying was driving her crazy.
“Please!” one of the boys screamed, choking on his tears. “Please don’t kill us or our mommy!”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Soo Jin spat out, her face paling at the sight of them crying. Her patience obliterated, she raced over to the woman and pulled her by the collar of her dress. “Tell me now because I have no more fucking patience. I’ll start cutting off their fingers if you don’t start talking.”
“Soo Jin, that’s enough,” Young Jae ordered from above. The sounds of the kids crying drove him mad with guilt. He couldn’t stand watching it any longer.
He commanded her to stop, but Soo Jin did not heed his command.
The boys continued to cry along with their mother
, and Soo Jin continued to scream at them to shut up so she could hear their mother speak. But they wouldn't listen to her.
“57!” the boys started crying out. “57!”
“I told you to fucking stop crying!” Soo Jin snapped.
Her furious screams only made the kids cry harder.
Infuriated, she slapped them across the face to shut them up, but they still wouldn’t listen. They continued to cry and continued to shout out the number. Soo Jin was rubbing her face in irritation. She began to crack under the emotions spilling out of her. Their cries grew louder and louder. They became so desperate that they were even ready to rush over to Young Jae for his help.
Two heart-stopping gunshots were suddenly fired.
Boom! Boom!
The whole place shook as the gunshots reverberated on to the walls.
The crying stopped as two small, lifeless bodies fell on to the floor.
The club erupted into bloodcurdling screams.
“Noooooo!” the mother sobbed. “Oh God! Noooooooo!”
Young Jae felt the air leave his lungs. He nearly keeled over at the appalling scene before him. His sister—his baby sister—just shot two children.
“Noooooooo!” the mother continued to cry out. “Noooooooo!”
Soo Jin shook uncontrollably, her eyes enlarged from what she just did. An exhale of relief emitted from her before she calmed herself down. Tucking her loose bangs behind her ears, Soo Jin pointed her gold gun at the mother. There were tears forming in Soo Jin’s eyes.
“Now!” she demanded through her tears, her gun trembling. “Tell me now. Tell me something, and I’ll let you go with them. If not, I won’t even let you die. I’ll keep you alive and have you stare at them until they begin to rot away!”
The mother’s tears mixed with the blood on her face. As though apologizing to her dead boyfriend, she closed her tearful eyes and finally told Soo Jin what she needed to know.
“On the left side of the Siberian Tigers’ estate . . .” she whispered through her tears, staring at Soo Jin dead in the eyes as she took her final, fading breath, “buried deep in the ground under the red roses. What you’re looking for, you’ll find it there.”
■ ■ ■
“What happened after that?” Yoori asked, shivering not from the cold, but from the nausea devouring her body.
She could feel the bloodstains on her. She could hear the screams. She could feel the guilt constricting her breath. An Soo Jin . . . that monster . . . that heartless monster. Yoori couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that Soo Jin was the one who tortured them—the one who killed them. Yoori wanted to sink down to the ground and cry as the remorse stabbed at her heart. Yet, with mighty effort, she took in a deep, shuddering breath and continued to persevere to gather more information. As long as she wasn’t feeling faint, as long as she wasn’t blacking out, she had to fight it out to learn more.
“Soo Jin shot her,” finished Young Jae, “and we killed the rest of the family members.”
“Did we find Tony and that . . . that thing for Ju Won?”
“Yes,” he confirmed. “We found both.”
Yoori nodded, pressing her clenched fists against her stomach to ease the pit of despair within it. She didn’t know how she was still breathing when there was so much guilt pumping through her.
“When did Soo Jin become consumed with guilt for killing those kids and their mother?”
“Right after we found it,” said Young Jae. His expression became pained at the reminder. “She took one look at it, fell apart, and disappeared afterward. I had no idea where she went until I heard rumors about someone spotting her and Ji Hoon at the club. I hadn’t realized that she returned to the club.”
“Can you tell me what that thing was?”
“It wasn’t worth it,” he said plainly.
“Wasn’t . . . Wasn’t worth it?” she stuttered.
He nodded.
Yoori waited for him to actually tell her what it was. When he refused to elaborate, she pressed on. “Can you please tell me what—?”
Young Jae shook his head, effectively interrupting her. “This is where it ends, little one. I can see how all of this has taken a toll on you. I’ve already told you too much. I’m not telling you anymore.”
“But—”
“No more,” he dismissed with a wave. “You’ve heard enough.” He squared his shoulders. It was clear that recounting this story also took a big toll on him. He ventured back on to the topic that convinced him to reveal all of this in the first place. “Now tell me how you found out it was the Hwangs.”
“Tae Hyun’s assassins,” Yoori answered, unsatisfied that he wouldn’t disclose what it was that Ju Won wanted, what was worth killing thirty-four people for.
“The Cobras,” Young Jae said knowingly. “I should’ve known they would be the ones who would find out that information for their boss.” He sharpened his eyes on to her. “The fires in Taecin were made to look like it was an accident, but I knew it was too much of a coincidence. I wasn’t sure before, but I’m pretty damn sure now that it was them who set the fires.”
Yoori remained silent at her brother’s accurate assessment. She did not want to confirm that he was right because it would give him more leeway to hate Tae Hyun.
Young Jae caught her reaction nonetheless. It did not take him long to figure out the truth. “His assassins tried to kill you a year and a half ago.”
And a couple of days ago, Yoori supplied in her mind.
“And you’re walking around hand-in-hand with their boss? Do you not comprehend what a dangerous position you’re in right now?”
“I’m safe with Tae Hyun,” she assured him. There was no fear in her when it came to Tae Hyun. “He cares about me. His feelings for me are genuine. I know it.”
“The Cobras are well-known in this world, lil sis. They possess the same qualities that Tae Hyun possesses. They are vengeful and prideful. They may heed his orders to not kill you now because he wants you by his side, but they will protect him at all costs. Rest assured that they are not done. They will find out something about you and tell him. And in turn, Tae Hyun will throw you out and feed you to the wolves.”
Yoori remained unfazed by her brother’s ominous words.
“I know that Soo Jin hated the Serpents family. That information isn’t new to Tae Hyun or me. And he knows that Soo Jin killed that entire family, so that isn’t new either. I’m not worried about them finding out anything from my past. Tae Hyun wouldn’t care.”
“There’s another one, lil sis,” Young Jae said forebodingly. “One more secret that would be strong enough to rip apart anything you have with him. It would be destructive, and I’m afraid if the Cobras dig enough, they will find out what it is and tell him.”
A cold wind breezed through her hair as goose bumps chased after goose bumps on her body. She was feeling unusually cold, and if the pit that worsened in her stomach was any indication, then she had the feeling that this was a terrible secret.
“What is the other secret?” Yoori asked with caution, fearing with all her heart what the answer could be.
“Ask him,” he whispered, gauging her reaction, “how his mother died.”
Her heart gave a horrible jolt.
“She committed suicide,” Yoori said flatly, suddenly shaking in her wits as the wind around her grew colder and less forgiving.
Young Jae gazed at her, his solemn eyes rippling with pity. “Nothing is what it seems in this world. Masquerades don’t just extend to the theme of tonight. It extends to all other realms of this world as well.”
He sighed, noting the trepidation that enveloped her eyes.
“Just ask him, lil sis. Just ask him how his mother died, and you’ll understand.”
“And if you are not fit to be a Royal. . .”
14: Serpent’s Instinct
“Damn it, Choi Yoori,” Tae Hyun complained from across the little coffee table they were sitting at. “I just bought you a big s
lice of red velvet cake. You can’t eat something this good and pout like you’re at a funeral.”
Yoori, dressed in a black velour ensemble to fight against the winter cold, scowled at Tae Hyun’s incredibly blunt statement. She grudgingly watched him eat his beloved cake.
After parting ways with her brother the night before, Yoori went back to Tae Hyun ashamed, traumatized, and not in the talking mood. After opening the door of the limo, where Tae Hyun and the brothers awaited her, she threw herself in. Yoori announced that she was tired and sought refuge on Tae Hyun’s lap by sleeping on it. Of course, she didn’t really sleep, but spent the time mulling over everything her brother had told her.
If it were any other situation where it was just herself and Tae Hyun, Yoori would have already divulged in what happened with her brother. But due to the brothers’ presence and her adoration for them, Yoori was afraid to share the contents of what transpired that night in fear of the brothers changing their respectable opinions about her. Yoori was ashamed. She was ashamed of the heinous crime Soo Jin imparted to that poor mother and her two kids. She knew that the brothers grew up with Soo Jin, but she doubted they were ever present for something as immoral as killing two children. She didn’t want to wreck any respect they may harbor for her. In addition to her worry, she couldn’t forget the question her brother implanted into her mind.
“Just ask him, lil sis. Just ask him how his mother died, and you’ll understand.”
Yoori didn’t have the courage to question Tae Hyun on how his mother died because she was afraid of what she would find out. She didn’t want to understand. She was happy with Tae Hyun. She didn’t want to risk anything breaking them apart. If denial and avoidance were going to keep her with Tae Hyun longer, then she didn’t want to know the answer. In this case, ignorance was truly bliss for her.
It wasn’t until the next day, when they woke up and decided to go for a winter afternoon jog, did Yoori share everything with Tae Hyun (except for that one ominous question). After she told him everything, Yoori found herself stuck in another wave of nausea and guilt. It was something that appeared to be a habitual routine for her as of late.