Happy New Year everyone! Thank you all for the support and love you have shown this story! 

Woo Taewoon took a long drag of his cigar as he stared emotionlessly at the corkboard in his brother’s old office. It was plastered with pictures, but only two stood out to him. The first was of his brother lying in a pool of blood, bullet-holes riddling his abdomen. His eyes were still open, frozen in shock, as his body lay limp on the ground. The second was of another man. A sleazy smile was frozen on his face as his hands traveled up a skimpily-dressed woman’s leg.

Taewoon tapped the cigar’s ashes onto the crystal ashtray on the table and walked over to the corkboard. He surveyed it coldly, dark eyes flicking back and forth between the two photos.

With a mighty roar, he ripped the other man’s photograph off the board in one swift motion, crushing it in his hands.

“They take one of ours, we take one of theirs,” he hissed venomously, balling the photograph in his fist.

His thoughts returned to his now-deceased younger brother. That poor foolish man. Why had he allowed pests like those American thugs in his life? Taewoon knew the man hadn’t been the most honest, but he picked his fights well and didn’t lose. Not until now.

But Taewoon had a plan to flush them out cold. He didn’t care how many men he lost. Men were easy to gain back. What he wanted was Im Jaebum dead.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” Taewoon spoke authoritatively, as the second-in-command Lee Taeil stumbled in, boots quaking.

Taewoon had never liked delegating work. He preferred being a one-man-show. But handling a sprawling gang across the acres of Seoul was tough on one guy alone, and he could at least trust this one, despite how spineless he seemed to be. The nerdier Taeil usually handled the computers and the finance, but he could pack a mean punch if needed. The guy just preferred not to fight. Taewoon didn’t give a about how cowardly he was, he just needed a guy who could do the work. And Taeil did it just fine.

Taeil hesitated, looking at Taewoon with trepidation.

“What is it?” Taewoon asked quietly.

“I have a withdrawal case,” Taeil began, but was interrupted by the sharp “No” emitting from Taewoon’s mouth.

“You’re not even going to consider?” Taeil asked in confusion. “It’s Lee Youngmi. She just does tuition, not much of a big deal to us.”

“Can she fight?” Taewoon asked frigidly, eyes on the corkboard.

“Um, I think so?” Taeil replied, confused.

“Then she’s not allowed to leave. We need as many of us as we can if we’re going to successfully take down Got7 and avenge my brother,” Taewoon narrowed his eyes, hidden flames of fury behind his eyes.

“She’s really no big-“

“I SAID NO!” the man roared, swiping his arm and sending his crystal ashtray flying.

Taeil jumped out of his skin, before bowing hurriedly and muttering apologies to his new boss and hurrying his way out of the room.

Taewoon’s mind whirled gears as he stared at the other pictures on the board. Lee Youngmi… Could he use her?

---

Hoseok adjusted his necktie uncomfortably as he glanced around his surroundings, a deer-in-headlights look plastered on his face. He wasn’t scared or anything… okay fine, maybe he was a little scared. Just a wee bit. He definitely didn’t want to hightail it out of there or anything.

But who could blame him? It was his first time attending the funeral of one of the most influential of gangsters in Seoul, and one of his girlfriend’s closest friends.

In the haste of the funeral, Hoseok didn’t even have time to get a proper tuxedo. He wore one of his father’s formal white shirts and a pair of black slacks, and had borrowed his father’s office shoes, which were way too loose on him, but he had to make do. His girlfriend looked equally ridiculous, having borrowed her mother’s black dress and shoes, but he didn’t have the heart to make fun of her, especially when she was so close to tears.

He wanted desperately to cheer her up, but he didn’t know how to. Hoseok didn’t know much about the gang presence in her life, but she had mentioned that Zico-ssi had been one of the closer people to her.

“Do you want to go get some fresh air?” he whispered to her as he glanced at the top tier gangsters middling around, focused on their small talk.

She took a deep shuddering breath.

“Yeah, let’s go to the garden,” she shot him a watery smile as he felt a pang in his heart for her.

They walked quietly to the garden, the sad funeral music playing softly in the background.

The garden was much quieter and less populated than the front room of ZIco-ssi’s house had been. Hoseok felt a little less intimidated here, since he wasn’t surrounded by people who could kill him with a finger.

“How are you feeling?” he asked gently, putting his larger paw over her smaller one, as she glanced at their interlocked hands in sadness.

She let out a deep sigh.

“Did I ever tell you how I joined the gang?” she asked quietly, avoiding his question.

He waited for her to continue.

“It was a long time ago…”

---

“Lee Youngmi,” the taller boy sneered as I lay on the ground, books scattered all over the place. “You’re such a nerd. Give me your money, nerd.”

I felt the tears well up as I hugged my body to myself, waiting for the bullying to eventually happen.

People would make fun of my injuries, and ask questions about my parents. What do your parents work as? You don’t have a mum? What happened to her? Did she leave you?

Abuse was on the regular with my father. He beat me at night, leaving me to patch myself up in the morning while he lay drunk in bed, mourning the loss of his wife. I was left to fend for myself, and now was the time of my downward spiral before I hardened myself up.

The punch never came.

I looked up to see an older teenager holding back that boy, a smirk on his face.

“Come on, you gonna let him hit you?” the teenager scoffed at me. “This fatass couldn’t even hit himself!”

I stared at him in curiosity and fear.

“Come on, I’ll hold him,” the teenager postured, and adjusted the struggling boy in his arms. “Just punch him in the stomach.”

I felt my eyes widen in shock. Punch him?! Could I?

“Come on, don’t be a weakling,” the teenager encouraged. “You gotta learn to stand up for yourself kid. Don’t let these bastards get their way.”

I felt a spark of anger burst in my chest as I narrowed my eyes.

This guy was right. Why should I let someone beat me up and steal my money? I already had to deal with so much at home, what gave these people the right to bully me and call me names?

I staggered to my feet and aimed a punch at the boy’s stomach, my fist landing lightly against his abdomen.

“Let me go, you bastard!” the boy squealed like a pig, but the teenager just laughed.

“Come on, harder!” he called. “You gotta show him you mean business!”

I steeled my brow and my spirit, before aiming all my strength onto the spot between his ribs, right where his heart was. I landed the punch, pushing the two boys backwards a bit with the force of my strength. I felt the recoil bounce back onto my arm and I withdrew it towards my body, hissing in pain.

The boy stopped struggling, gasping for breath and the teenager dropped him, laughing heartily.

“Good job kid,” he grinned, showing off a pair of golden grills and ignoring the broken boy lying on the floor. “What’s your name?”

“L-Lee Youngmi,” I stammered, eyes focused on the boy currently rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach. “I-I didn’t hurt him, did I?”

“Oh please,” the teenager snorted. “He doesn’t matter. Weaklings don’t matter.”

“B-but I’m a weakling,” I trembled like a leaf as the teenager let out a heart guffaw.

“Nah, I like you,” he grinned. “You’ve got moxie. The name’s Jiho, but you can call me Zico. Nice to meet you, Youngmi!”

I stared at him in a mixture of awe and trepidation as he squatted onto his knees to look at me eye to eye.

“You know, you’ve got a good punch,” Zico-ssi grinned and glanced at the books on the floor. “And you seem pretty smart too. Wanna join my group of friends?”

I’d never had a friend in life, so I nodded my head eagerly. This guy seemed nice, and he helped me defeat the bad guy. His friends had to be nice too!

“Okay, come on, let’s go meet them,” Zico-ssi shouldered his bag. “You’ll like them for sure.”

Eagerly, I traipsed after him, leaving the broken boy behind.

---

“The gang was officially formed a few months later,” I continued as Superhero-sunbaenim continued to listen in rapt attention. “They taught me how to fight, while I taught them how to study. It was thanks to me that Zico-oppa could graduate high school at all. And it was thanks to him that I became stronger. But of course… one thing led to another and then I became a monster.”

“You weren’t a monster,” Superhero-sunbaenim jutted in as I rolled my eyes.

“I’m not now,” I said, as we lapsed into silence.

“I’m sorry someone so close to you passed away so early,” Superhero-sunbaenim said earnestly.

I shrugged.

“I was going to leave the gang anyway, remember?” I said. “We wouldn’t have remained friends.”

We lapsed back into silence as my heart lay heavy in my chest.

The door to the garden opened. We turned around to see Taeil-oppa flanked by Jaehyo-oppa walking purposefully towards us.

“Taeil-oppa?” I stood up to greet, but he held up a hand to stop me.

“I found a way to get you out of the gang,” he spoke in hushed, hurried tones. “But we have to discuss it alone. You, me and Jaehyo.”

Superhero-sunbaenim stood up immediately.

“I’ll just go get a drink then,” he told me, but his eyes betrayed concern.

I nodded to him, trying to convey the message that I would be fine and he walked back to the front room.

“Okay, what do I need to do?” I turned to Taeil-oppa and Jaehyo-oppa once we were out of earshot.

“You’re not going to like it,” Jaehyo-oppa warned. “And neither is your boyfriend.”

“Why? What is it?” I said agitatedly.

“Actually, Taewoon was the one who told me the idea,” Taeil-oppa said. “I didn’t want it either, but we don’t have a choice. It’s the only way he’ll let you go.”

“If not what happens?” I asked cautiously.

“He sends you in with the rest of the rookies with a gun to overturn Got7,” Taeil-oppa sighed, rubbing his temples. “And you end up killed.”

Okay, that wasn’t an ideal situation.

“So what does he want me to do?” I asked.

“Seduce Im Jaebum,” Jaehyo-oppa filled in.

I felt my jaw drop open.

“Are you certifiably insane?” I heard myself ask, but my head was spinning. “Who the is Im Jaebum?”

I was ing 15 years old. This Im Jaebum, who even is he? Why did it have to be me?

“He’s one of the main guys of Got7, most likely the one who calls the shots. He frequents our pubs, so he knows all the girls who work there,” Jaehyo-oppa explained. “You’re the only one he doesn’t know, since you don’t work as a callgirl. It’s risky, but we can get you out alive. It’s either this or we hand you a gun and send you into the fight. Neither of us wants to risk that, because you’ll definitely die.”

“But what about Hoseok-sunbaenim?” I asked fearfully. “I have to consult him about this, he’s my-”

“We can’t have any word of this plan leaking out,” Taeil-oppa informed me regretfully. “Taewoon suspects that Zico’s murder was an inside job. So it has to stay between just the four of us.”

“It’s the only way he’ll let you out of the gang,” Jaehyo-oppa said. “He wants you to prove yourself worthy.”

I thought back to Superhero-sunbaenim’s mum and sister, who cooed over me and showered me with affection because I was their family member’s girlfriend. What would they do if they found out I was in a gang?

And what about my own family members? They hardly knew anything about my past, even though they did question. I always avoided it, but if I came clean to them about it… Would they disown me again?

I felt frigid fear clutch my heart as I imagined being by myself again, without Youngjae-oppa and Youngwon-oppa and Eomonim. My life had been so hard without them… I couldn’t handle losing them again.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” I sighed. “But you promise to get me out afterwards. And you promise I won’t die.”

“Not unless Im Jaebum finds out, which he won’t if we’re careful,” Taeil-oppa promised. “And we’re always careful.”

“Okay, so what do I have to do?” I sighed, resigned to my fate.

This plan was ludicrous, but I had to get out of this place.

Was this really the only way?