"Since when did you become the Underworld's new welcoming wagon?" Ji Hoon inquired.
"I see you’ve brought a lot of new faces today," said Tae Hyun, ignoring Ji Hoon's retort. “Congratulations on the new recruits. You’re going to need them for what’s coming up.”
Ji Hoon smiled. He glanced at Tae Hyun's men. He was not impressed. "A lot of new faces on your side as well. But the numbers are a little low, aren’t they?"
Tae Hyun’s cool smile remained. "You definitely have more new recruits, but I'm not too sure they possess the same qualities as my men." His eyes settled upon the four men being nursed by several other Skulls members. "They were so quick to beg and scream for mercy."
Ji Hoon was unfazed by Tae Hyun's comment. A sneer appeared on his face. He had something else in mind to retort.
"Speaking of screaming and begging," he began with much amusement. "Some girl I was with last night was also screaming and begging." His smirk grew. "But for totally different reasons."
Tae Hyun continued to remain silent yet the subtle fury exuding out of him was palpable. His jaw tightened dangerously.
Oh no. This is it, Yoori thought. Tae Hyun was at his breaking point.
"Tae Hyun.” Ji Hoon masqueraded a look of shock. "I'm sorry but I must have mistakenly called you last night." He laughed. "Sorry about that man…I was checking my voicemail. I must have misdialed." He patted Tae Hyun's shoulder. "At least you heard a good show, right?"
Tae Hyun swatted Ji Hoon's hand away. "Stay away from her,” he said simply.
A mocking astonishment dawned on Ji Hoon’s face. "Wait a second." He pointed at Tae Hyun. "That girl…you know her?"
Tae Hyun didn’t reply. He was too busy fuming. He looked like he was ready to rip Ji Hoon's face off.
"Yeah, what was her name again?" Ji Hoon took a moment to think about it before saying, "Oh yes. Hae Jin…Kwon Hae Jin."
Yoori's eyes rounded. It couldn't be!
Ji Hoon pretended to be surprised with this piece of information. "Could it be that you two are related? Isn't that your younger sister?"
"You know who she is," Tae Hyun said icily, maintaining his composure. He stepped closer to Ji Hoon. "Stay away from her."
Yoori's jaw dropped. This was what it was all about. Tae Hyun baited Ji Hoon here to warn him to stay away from his younger sister. All along, he wanted to protect his younger sister.
Ji Hoon smirked, unaffected by the obvious anger rising within Tae Hyun.
"You're damn right I know who she is.” He leaned closer to Tae Hyun, whispering loud enough for everyone in the warehouse to hear. "She's the horniest piece of ass I've ever had."
And that was it.
That was all Tae Hyun needed to hear before he slammed Ji Hoon to the ground and started to savagely punch him. And that was the only cue the gang members needed before they started attacking one another as well. In mere seconds, a war broke out before Yoori's eyes. In this chaos, all she could focus on was Tae Hyun and Ji Hoon. They were beating each other to a pulp.
The warehouse soon housed a sea of violence as men threw ruthless kicks and punches at one another. Yoori stood frozen in her stance. She craned her neck out to get a better view of the two gang leaders.
Tae Hyun managed to throw another punch that left Ji Hoon spurting blood out of his mouth. Forcefully grabbing the collar of Ji Hoon's shirt, he threw him against one of the pillars in the warehouse. Ji Hoon's impact against the pillar was so hard that it caused the dust from the ceiling to come deluging down. Distracted by the wave of dust that clouded his vision, Tae Hyun was unable to anticipate the forceful kick that Ji Hoon bequeathed upon him. He immediately fell to the floor.
"Tae Hyun!" Yoori whispered, feeling the urge to run over to help him.
She expelled a thankful breath when Tae Hyun quickly regained his balance. He rocketed toward Ji Hoon with full force. When he reached him, he swept the floor with his right leg, stealing the ground from Ji Hoon’s feet. Ji Hoon fell, but not before Tae Hyun delivered an uppercut that had Ji Hoon crashing into the pillar again.
As they fought, she saw Ji Hoon struggle to get something behind his back. Alarm blared through her when she saw that he was reaching for his gun. It occurred to her that Tae Hyun neglected to bring his gun with him. She covered her mouth to muffle a scream when Ji Hoon produced a black gun from behind his back. He pointed it at Tae Hyun.
Tae Hyun, amused with the weapon, stopped fighting with a scoff of disbelief.
Afraid that a wrong move would cause their King’s head to be blown off, Tae Hyun's men followed suit and stopped fighting.
Ji Hoon's men took the opportunity to follow their leader's example by taking out guns of their own. They aimed at each member of the Serpents. A victorious sneer appeared on their faces.
Silence descended upon the warehouse.
It was only disturbed by Tae Hyun’s cool voice.
“Come on, Ji Hoon. I was having so much fun beating your ass. You were that desperate that you had to resort to taking weapons out?” A challenging light played in his eyes. “Put the gun down and fight me like the Underworld Kings we were raised to be.”
"I promised Ju Won I wouldn’t kill you before his 65th birthday party," Ji Hoon said instead, ignoring Tae Hyun’s proposition to fight one on one.
Ju Won? Yoori's mind was reeling. Who was Ju Won?
Annoyance pierced through Ji Hoon’s eyes. "I was going to let you live a little bit longer to see me take over the Underworld." Ji Hoon wiped the blood from the side of his mouth. He glared at Tae Hyun who stood there, undaunted by the gun aimed at him. "But you've proven time and time again that you're irritating to have around." Yoori held her breath when Ji Hoon centered his gun onto Tae Hyun's head. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now."
Tae Hyun smiled, finding hilarity with the state Ji Hoon was in. "Seeing as that I'm close to taking over the Underworld as my own, I can't see any other reason why you shouldn't shoot me right now."
He glared at Ji Hoon, daring him to pull the trigger.
"This is your only chance, Ji Hoon. We all know that Ju Won favors giving his empire to me. You also know that the majority of the Underworld favors me as their King. If you don't kill me now, you will never get the chance again. And trust me, in the future, there will be a lot more reasons why you should shoot me."
What the fuck? If Yoori had a gun of her own, she'd probably bash it against Tae Hyun's dense head. Daring Ji Hoon to shoot him? What was he thinking?
"But I can understand your hesitation." Tae Hyun smiled widely at Ji Hoon. It was clear Ji Hoon was apprehensive with pulling the trigger. "You'd never stand a chance of getting his fortune if you kill me. You know that."
Ji Hoon nodded, his eyes burning. Much to Yoori's relief, he started to lower his gun. But such an action was short-lived when a smile lit his face. A light bulb went off in his head.
"He doesn't have to know that it was me who killed you," he mused, centering the gun on Tae Hyun's head once more. There was no more hesitancy on his part. Slowly, he began to pull the trigger.
"NOOOOOO!" Without thinking, Yoori found herself making a mad dash toward Tae Hyun and Ji Hoon. Her safety no longer mattered. The only thing that mattered was helping Tae Hyun.
Her rationality only returned when she saw that all of the guns went from being aimed at the Serpents to being aimed at her.
She stopped in the darker corner of the warehouse, her heart pounding ruthlessly. One would think that by now, Yoori might’ve gotten used to having guns point at her. But as she stared at the barrel of Ji Hoon's gun and the guns of his men, she knew that she had made the biggest mistake of her life.
Crap.
She really should’ve thought this plan through.
Tae Hyun finally lost his composure once he saw that it was now Yoori’s life that was in danger. "YOORI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
He didn’t have to tell her twice. What was she thinkin
g running to Tae Hyun and Ji Hoon like that? Did she really think she could’ve stopped Ji Hoon from killing Tae Hyun?
A wave of common sense engulfing her, she decided to abort her plan, or lack of a plan, altogether. With the utmost velocity, she attempted to head out in the direction from which she snuck in. She barely made it halfway before she felt a pair of hands latch onto her shoulders.
One of the Skulls threw her like a rag doll into the center of the room. She yelped when her knees made an agonizing impact against the floor. With her head hanging down in exhaustion, she stared at the two legs standing before her. Trepidation struck her. Why did she have the feeling that those legs belonged to a certain Skulls leader?
She heard a soft chuckle that made her breathe heavier in fear.
"Tae Hyun, you fucking bastard," she heard Ji Hoon say in between laughs. "I can't believe you brought your girlfriend here."
"Leave her out of this," Tae Hyun commanded. His voice was tight with worry. Not for himself but for Yoori.
"She's a new one, right?"
"Let her go," Tae Hyun commanded once more.
Yoori closed her eyes in distress. She continued to kneel on the floor of the warehouse, her head hanging down. Her legs throbbed and she did not want to look at Ji Hoon. She was afraid if she made eye contact, she'd be shot to death right then and there.
Ji Hoon laughed once more before squatting down beside her. She felt his eyes lay upon her. "Tae Hyun, you and I always seem to have the same taste in girls…" Ji Hoon allowed his gun to trace the outlining of her left cheek. "I wonder if I'll like this one too."
Yoori snapped her head further to the side when she felt the cold gun graze her face. She shook like a leaf in the wind.
"Ji Hoon," she heard Tae Hyun warn. “Don’t fucking touch her.” She could hear him struggling to run to her but Ji Hoon's men must have held him back because he was nowhere near her and Ji Hoon.
Terror reached an all-time high for Yoori. What was this guy going to do with her?
"Wow Tae Hyun, look at you," Ji Hoon observed. "Replacing Jin Ae already, huh?"
"Ji Hoon,” Tae Hyun seethed gravely. “If you so much as hurt a strand of her hair, I will slice your head off."
Yoori had no courage to look up. Under any other circumstance, she would be touched by Tae Hyun's overt concern for her. Having mentioned that, this was not the time for her to dwell on the uncharacteristic side that Tae Hyun showed. She was a little bit more preoccupied with fearing for her life, again.
Ji Hoon said nothing to Tae Hyun. He averted his attention back to a quivering Yoori. "You must be something, you know that?" he said delicately, this time allowing his fingers to trace the side of her left cheek. "The King of Serpents doesn't get worked up like this over just any girl."
Yoori recoiled when she felt his fingers trace her face. She didn't want him to touch her.
Ji Hoon laughed, unoffended by Yoori's actions. He slid closer to her. "I'll tell you what," he whispered softly so that only she could hear. "If you lift your head and let me see how beautiful you are, I'll consider letting you and Tae Hyun go."
His delivery was mocking. Yoori was positive that even if she obliged with his request, it might not give her and Tae Hyun a free pass to leave the warehouse. Ji Hoon, from the looks of it, did not appear to be the type of person to let anyone go that easily.
However, regardless of her lack of trust for this particular gang leader, she was really backed into a corner. If there was a small chance that she and Tae Hyun could get out of this situation unscathed, then she should take it.
And that was what she did.
She took the chance.
"Good girl," Ji Hoon said approvingly, satisfied as the dim lighting of the warehouse gradually revealed Yoori’s face. Her blank eyes fell onto Ji Hoon's smiling countenance and she stared at him in silence.
The ball was in his court now. Whatever he chose to do with her was up to him.
She expected him to mockingly smirk at her when she made eye contact with him. What happened next threw Yoori into a whirlwind of confusion.
As the full features of her face became unveiled, Ji Hoon's smile evaporated. His eyes soon grew huge as he scanned her face in disbelief. The vibrancy that he once possessed vanished. His breathing quickened while the intensity in his eyes grew. Yoori couldn't make sense of what was happening. Why did he look so…confused?
Silence monopolized the warehouse as Ji Hoon shook his head in disbelief, his eyes firmly set on an equally confused Yoori. To her, he no longer appeared like a demonic gang leader who was ready to take her life at any moment. No. He appeared utterly dumbfounded, lost, and vulnerable.
He was looking at Yoori like she was a ghost.
During the moment of silence, Ji Hoon's lips parted more than once, but no words came out. Nothing was making sense to him. He didn't seem to understand what was happening. Despite his bewilderment, his unblinking gaze on her remained. It was as if he was afraid that if he closed his eyes, even for a second...she'd disappear.
Disturbed by what was happening, Yoori made an effort to part her lips to attempt to break the silence. Much like Ji Hoon, she found that no words came out.
The simple act of parting her lips, however, was all that Ji Hoon needed to break out of his trance. He held his breath and finally lifted his hand toward her. Apprehensively grazing her face with his shaking fingers, Ji Hoon's eyes glistened in happiness. It was as if he finally realized that she was real.
The next words out of his mouth echoed through the warehouse, leading Yoori further into bewilderment. "…Soo Jin?"
“Because if you don’t . . .”
15: The Meeting
If there was ever a moment in time that allotted Yoori the opportunity to crumple her face in confusion, this was that moment.
Soo Jin?
Words could not properly describe how gobsmacked Yoori was. A migraine began to plague her after being witness to such a psychotic episode. Ji Hoon had lost his mind. He had officially lost his mind.
Terror cloaked her eyes as she gazed at him. She had to get away from this guy.
She slapped his fingers away from her face and attempted to stand up. Pained nerve endings exploded in her legs, causing her to instantly fall back down. She hadn't realized that the impact of the fall made such a lasting impression on her kneecaps. The pain was so acute that she was sure she would black out at any moment.
"Soo Jin!" Ji Hoon uttered, reaching out with the intention of helping her regain her equilibrium.
"No," Yoori said warningly, her hands outstretched to prevent him from coming any closer. Rallying all the effort she had left, she managed to prop herself up with her own hands.
Ji Hoon froze when Yoori backed away from him.
"Soo Jin, please.” He gazed at her. He didn’t understand why she was hostile toward him. His focus flickered to her knees. "Your legs...are you okay?"
Yoori gawked at him, utterly mind-boggled with his behavior. This was quite possibly the strangest situation she ever found herself in. Were the lights in this warehouse that dim? Did he need glasses? Lee Ji Hoon must’ve had too many girlfriends if he couldn’t even keep track of the faces of girls he’d been with.
"Look,” she said, ignoring his query about the welfare of her legs. She wanted to get straight to the point. As vulnerable as Ji Hoon may appear, the gun he held was a big motivator for her fear – that and the sole fact that he was acting like a crazy person wasn't helping his cause either. "All of this is a mistake. I don't know you. We've never met."
Ji Hoon inhaled deeply, not listening to the actual words that flowed from her mouth. "Why are you acting like this?" He took a step forward and tried to reach out for her. "Baby, please..."
Yoori limped backward in a panic. "Stop it!" she screamed, nearly tripping over herself. Her legs and head throbbed with exacerbated pain. She continued to retreat from Ji Hoon.
"Ji Hoon! Get away from her!"
No longer having the
patience to watch the scene before him, Tae Hyun managed to fight off the Skulls that held him back. He took off like a missile and sped to Yoori like there was no tomorrow.
Yoori glanced at Ji Hoon who had his back turned to her. With Tae Hyun distracting Ji Hoon's focus, Yoori knew that this was her moment to make her escape. It was more than likely the adrenaline pumping in her body but as she took off in Tae Hyun's direction, she no longer felt the pain entrenched in her legs.
"Soo Jin!" Ji Hoon screamed when she zoomed past him. He attempted to seize her hand. His fingers grazed her wrist, failing to form any grip on her.
Bewilderment covered his face while he watched Yoori take off toward Tae Hyun. It was as though he was beginning to realize that she wasn’t the girl he thought she was.
"Soo Jin?" he asked softly, this time uncertain if the girl before him actually answered to that name.
"Yoori!" Tae Hyun screamed, speeding up in her direction.
Yoori sped up as a response, surprised that her legs could run that fast. If she weren’t so out of shape and panting ruthlessly, she probably would’ve screamed out his name as well. It felt like forever, but reprieve spilled over her when she finally reached Tae Hyun. Without saying a word, Tae Hyun grabbed Yoori and pulled her behind him, effectively becoming her shield. Cautiously retreating backward, Tae Hyun positioned Yoori in an angle that protected her from any incoming bullets.
They both panted in exhaustion. Yoori's panting was a little bit more aggressive than Tae Hyun's. She made a mental note to work out more often in the future – if she ever made it out of the warehouse alive that is.
Her blood ran cold when she saw that one member of the Skulls had his gun aimed in their direction. His finger grazed the trigger.
“Oh no.”
This was it. This was where the story ended.
Yoori closed her eyes in anticipation of the incoming bullet. Her heart galloped to a stop when she heard the fatal gunshot. The earsplitting sound howled throughout the vicinity of the warehouse, bouncing off every possible wall and ceiling. Panic ensued when she registered that nothing penetrated her body. She warily opened her eyes. If she wasn't hit, then it meant that Tae Hyun was.
Welcome to the Underworld (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 1) Page 17