[Jiyong]

  I would never bow my head down unless circumstances made it necessary.

  What's necessary? It's when you are standing outside a ing ladies like some gaytard as families and students in a fast food restaurent stare openly at you. This is necessary. Forget about bowing my head, heck, I want a manhole to plunge into right now. Daesung and Seungri are going to hold this on me for two eternalty if they ever found it out. 

  Why the hell did I even tell that girl about that in the first place? I would've kept my mouth shut if I had known how badly she would react to it. 

  "Jiyong?" Her voice came out as a soft whimper from inside the washroom.

  This scaredy cat. No wonder she got knocked out by all the gore in her first surgery.

  Kicking myself off the wall, I answered back. 

  "What?"

  No reply. Bored, I checked my phone. There's a text from the consigliere reminding me that the evaluation for the new Underboss is in 2 weeks. The large-scale mole extermination is still ongoing. We've caught a few here and there (and disposed of them), but it didn't seemed like there were only a few of these bastards. With the current pace that things are heading, it wouldn't be long before the Family eventually put me and Soo Hyuk under investigation as well. To make matters worse, the White Traid House (Seoul Mafia's biggest rival) has been contacting the Russians and the Shanghai Clan, trying to form a drug cartel with the intention of further weakening us now that we're dealing with our internal chaos.

  All of these meddlesome affairs that I know I'll eventually have to face was kicked instaneously out of my mind when a blood curdling scream erupted from inside the bathroom. I had barely taken a step towards the ladies in alarm when the door burst open with a loud bang and a figure came charging out. Before I could further react, the fleeing figure pounced right into my arms. 

...

...

...

  Fck.

  Dara's chest was heaving against mine, her face snuggled deep into my shirt. I glanced at the bathroom distractedly and managed to catch a sight of the flickering, buzzing lights before the door closes. 

  "Hey, it's alright." I said hoarsely, noting how her arms are squeezing my waist. , are the air conditioners malfunctioning? Why is this place so damn hot?

  She shook her head furiously with her eyes still clenched tightly shut, making me burst into a small laugh. She's freaking terrified, this little thing.

  "It's nothing, the lights are just dysfunctioning." I said, entwining my arms around her waist in amusement. The background and the noises in the restaurant faded and all I seem to notice is how she's now suspiciously opening one of her eyes and how loudly something is banging inside my chest.

  What is wrong with me?

[-]

  The stiffened Dara blinked at Jiyong's words and pushed herself a little skeptically off him as she slowly turned her neck around to peek at the hellhole behind her.

  There were no flashing light. No murderous rooms. Just a close toilet door. 

  She heaved a sigh of relief, glad that she made it out alive. Turning back to Jiyong, who's grinning at her antics, she frowned deeply.

  "It's not funny!" She reprimanded, her voice squeaky. None of them seemed to be bothered by the fact that they were still locked in an embrace. "You don't know how scary it is to be in there."

  "Looks like I'll have to know then." Jiyong said, straightening his face immediately. With two hands, he grabbed Dara's shoulders and pushed her lightly off him before starting to march towards the ladies. 

  "KWON JIYONG! ARE YOU CRAZY?" Dara hissed as she yanked onto the back of Jiyong's shirt to stop him from storming straight into a WOMEN'S WASHROOM. "Sorry, he's a bit cuckoo today, sorry." Dara laughed in a strained pitch to the group of ahjummas who were waiting to enter behind them, making small circular motion by her temple while dragging a smirking Jiyong straight out of the restaurant. 

  Dara was going on and on about the kind of traumatising effects of the horror movies that Bom has put her through all the way from the restaurant to the car, spewing a thousand words per second. Jiyong was walking slightly ahead of her with a nonchalent grin hanging on his face, casually swinging his car keys with his fingers. The night was bright as the moon illuminated a soft, cool glow on them. 

  When they had finally reached the Black Mercedes, instead of walking over to the driver seat as usual, Jiyong pulled on the handle of the passenger seat and left it slightly open for Dara before getting over to his own. The stunned Dara blinked for a moment at the sight in front of her which has aruptly stopped her recital, before her lips stretched into a small smile at his gesture.

  "I wasn't going to remind you of how you just forced yourself on me back there." Jiyong teased, breaking the comfortable silence that they shared in the car as they stopped by the last traffic light before her house. 

  Dara's cheek turned into the deepest shade of beetroot. Kyaa, why did I even threw myself on him???! She thought, her thighs tightening together in embarrassment. 

  "You hugged me back too!" Dara defended, knotting her fingers together.

  Jiyong turned to her with his eyebrows raised as a silent "oh" escaped from his lips. She looks so damn nervous. He couldn't help thinking how adorable she looks.

  "I should've just left you in there. I actually seriously considered that." Jiyong joked, silently laughing again as he watches Dara's eyes widened incredulously.

  "I.would.freaking.kill.you, Kwon Jiyong!" Dara screamed as she landed multiple slaps on his arm, making him roar in laughter as he flinches away from her to stay focused on the road. Thinking about how it would have been if she had went into the toilet without the assurance that Jiyong was outside waiting for her still sends chills down her spine. 

  "You know there's a gun in there. Use it." Jiyong tossed a look towards the glove compartment at Dara's threat.

  "JERK!!!" Dara huffed without even glancing at where the loaded pistol is in before aggressively opening the car door as they reached Bom's apartment. 

  "Bye." Jiyong said, his eyes staring intently at Dara. "Goodnight." He added in a drawl. Their gazes locked and she was instantly pulled into the intensity of his stare. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest but she had already broke into a huge smile.

  "Goodnight, Ji." She answered, her annoyance earlier on erased cleanly.
 

  The night was beautiful through and through. 

  "Boss! The Russians had broken the Omerta! They're with the White Traid House now!" Seungri bursted into the lounge of their mansion.

  (Omerta: The Mafia's code of silence. In other terms, it meant a betrayal.)

  Seunghyun and Youngbae shot up from the couch. This is ing bad. It's disastrous. The White House Traids is gaining more power than they should recently. And the Russian Mafia... They've worked with the Seoul Family before. They know how their operations work, and this leakage could be dangerous to the latter since it would be easier for the Russians to snitch on any trade that The Seoul Family has to the authorities.

  "Remember those white guys we dealt with in the warehouse? They're the ones who called the cops on Soo Hyuk's shipment. They've been bought over by those Chinese-wannabes (the traids)." Seungri cursed. 

  "Get your wife, Daesung. Let's retaliate." Seunghyun said with finality as a dark mask cloud his face. This spells further trouble for their Caporegime. Afterall, it was his team that had done the deal.

  Their leader, who had been silent, spoke up.

  "How are you all going to find them? Take the next flight to Moscow?" He growled. At times like this, he needs to keep calm. He needs to think.

  Jiyong's phone began to ring and he picked it up.

  "What the is going on, Jiyong?" It was Soo Hyuk on the other line, his voice pressed and barely hiding his anger. It's obvious that the news had just reached him too. "Weren't you the ones that trades with the Moscow mob's representative?"

  Without answering him, Jiyong ended the call in frustration. The finger-pointing can wait.

  "But this is impossible. Even if the Russians are in cahoots with the White Traids, with all the sabotaging happening in the family, there must be a mole among us. Someone powerful enough to coordinate all these events simultaneously." Seungri reasoned, his brows knitted tightly together as he slowly sunk into an armchair. Seungri is gifted in hypothetical analysis and has a degree on profiling. As the best critical thinker among the Untouchables, the team relied on the usually goofy and playful maknae to do all the crisis analysis. 

  "Which makes me a prime suspect." Jiyong muttered under his breath. The situation is unfavorable to him. He's the one who dealt with the Russian betrayers and with the upcoming Underboss elections, there's a perfect reason for him to sabotage Soo Hyuk, his competition for the rank. And the attempt on Seunghyun's life, it almost seems like a cover up on his part in the ratting. 

  "If it's neither you nor Ghost's thats doing this, there's only one other possible person in the Family that is powerful enough to mess up everything before the New Underboss elections." Seungri said slowly, as if he's also gauging his own words at the same time. And when he has reached a conclusion in himself, he lifted his gaze grimly to the four, who's waiting intently for his deduction. 

  "It's the Underboss himself." The youngest announced firmly.

[DARA]

  REGULAR WORK IS BORING.

  It's been three days since that night that I was almost mugged. I went back to grandma's home already but decided to keep the whole thing from her first. 

  I haven't heard from Jiyong in two days. Which is kind of weird and unfamiliar. I guess I've grown so used to his torture now that not hearing from him for two whole days feels unsettling. I was about to start arranging the newly arrived clothes when my handphone caught my eye.

  I bit my lips. Should I drop him a text or nah? 

  Argh, screw it! I grabbed my phone up and swiftly typed in a text before hitting the send button. 
 

  Are you okay? What are you doing these days?
 

  I buried my chin in my palm and glued my eyes on the screen of the phone on the countertop. After an exact minute, my phone chimed, making me snatch it off the table.
 

  I'm busy, Park.
 

  That stung a little. What's with the coldness again after that night in Burger King? And why does he calls me Park all the time? I have a name too.

  This is weird, why do I care?

  Restlessly, I shoved my phone to the corner before getting up to help Bom with the unpacking. 

  "Your cheeks are going to sag to your s, Dara. What's with the long face?" Bom clicked her tongue, shaking her head at me as I handed her a stool to sit on. This unpacking is going to take quite a while afterall. 

  "So, where's your knight?" Bom teased, wriggling her eyebrows. She's been calling Jiyong my knight since I told her that he was the one who saved me from the mugger in the alley.

  "He's busy." I sighed. But what is he busy with? Probably Hani. A small voice prompted in my head and I quickly shut it out.

  "Is this a mobster thing?" Bom frowned, glancing up briefly at me before slicing her third box of arrivals open. "Donghae hasn't gone home in three days either." 

  "Donghae's really a gang member?" I asked. "Is it a street gang or a real.."

  "Mob?" Bom finished my question for me and I gave her a quick nod. "Yeah, apparently he's pretty huge in the White House Traids. That's the second biggest crime syndicate in Seoul and it's affliliated to the Chinese Mafia. So basically their rival is the Seoul Fam." Bom explained darkly. 

  The Seoul Fam... That reminded me of Jiyong again. GAHH. Why can't I keep that invading jerk out of my head?

  "What's up with you today?" Bom asked, pulling my stool to face her. "Did the medical college rejected you?"

  "I bet they would. But that's not it." I answered somberly, absent-mindedly going through the new clothes and messing up their price tags.

  "Then what is it that's making our princess gloomy?" Bom demanded, peeling the clothes away from my hands before silently sticking the right tags back on. 

  I sighed heavily before telling her the entire story, from the Mafia Sweetheart Hani to Seunghyun and all the way to the horror in Burger King.

  "Oh my god!" Bom squealed with her eyes wide as she hugged the packages close to her chest and started to slap my thighs in excitment. "You mean, the Capo actually hugged you?"

  "But he hates me." I said meekly. Well, he's supposed to hate me. I'm the epitome of misfortune for him. 

  "I wasn't going to say this, but from the way you describe how he is around you, that mobster is obviously rather smitten with you." Bom gave me a small wink.

  No way.

  "No way." I verbalised my thoughts stupidly.

  "Okay," Bom said slowly, her eyes staring intently on me. "Then if that's the case then what's your problem?"

  "I don't know. My life's got so messed up since I got here, Bom. When I'm happy, I'm happier than I've ever been in my life." I admitted. A quick flash of someone's laughter slashed across my mind. "But when I'm upset, it's unbearable." I whispered.

  Silence surrounded us. Bom's eyes were still on me as a small, mischievious smile started to form on her lips. Okay, forget it! Why did I even initiate this heart-to-heart session??? 

  "It must be the whole thing with Itaewon." I added awkwardly.

  Bom lifted her eyebrows. "It might be." She yawned lazily, but something tells me that she didn't think it might be that at all. "You never know."

  My handphone vibrated loudly on the desk, making the both of us jump. Before I knew it, I was already making an ancient Chinese Kungfu dive towards the counter as Bom shook me a questioning look. 

  But my heart sank when I saw that it was just an email. What's worse is that within the email, my premonition had came true.

  "The college rejected me..." I breathed out, my eyes still glued on the screen as they scanned the simple email again and again, trying to find something to hold onto. 

  "Oh, Dara." Bom covered as she stood up behind me, dropping all of the playful, teasing demeanor she had earlier on.

  I can't believe it... I mean, I joked about it but it actually happened. I wanted that job so bad...

  This day can't get an worse. I think I need to curl into a fetus position and chug some antidepressants. Or poison. Ahh..

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