Chapter 7

N was furious. Not only did his men fail to meet his orders, but they had also left precious merchandise at the mercy of thieves. He sat on his throne-like chair, eyeing the three men who had been ordered to stay in the warehouse. They were sprawled on the floor, whimpering and rolling in pain. Leo, his right hand man, had done a good job in finding and punishing them. But to N, it wasn’t enough. He needed to see them really suffer. That was the price they would have to pay.

“Please, sir, forgive us.” One of the men on the floor grovelled. Yet N still sat, unmoving and deaf to his pleads.

“Leo, please take these useless boys away and dispose of them appropriately.” He addressed the tall, silent figure standing at the other end of the room. Leo nodded and beckoned his assistants forward. N sat watching, as they were dragged away. When he was left in silence he sighed. A niggling pain, the first sign of a terrible headache, fretted away at a small corner of his temple. Using both hands to massage it, he breathed in and out slowly. His hot temper always left him with a pounding headache.

There was a knock at the door and N looked up, irritated. “Yes, what do you want?” He barked out, not caring about who was on the other side. Instead of a reply, the door opened and presently a tall, lean figure walked in and nodded toward him.

“Hongbin...”

Hongbin, the young man in question, was a tall, athletically lean figure with handsomely carved features. His large droopy eyes were a dark brown, his hair a dark auburn. When he smiled dimples would dent his cheeks, giving him a mischievous, roguish look. It was as if God had created him merely to plague the hearts of all the young girls. Now however his features looked stern. He walked towards N, his strides powerful and full of confidence, walking as he if he owned the world.  

“Too handsome for his own good, and he knows it!” N thought watching the younger man approach him.

Hongbin stopped near the desk behind which, sat his boss. N was a tall, lithe man with dark hair, swept back from his forehead, dark, slanted eyes and sun kissed tan skin. He was very young when he took over his father’s empire. Now, four years on, he had built an entire empire till he was a force to be reckoned with. His eyes could go from warm, merrily twinkling to cold in an instant. Yes, he was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

“Well?” N waited.

“Don’t you think Leo’s men got a little too carried away?” Hongbin demanded. N surveyed the young man before him.

“I suppose, why?” He questioned quirking a brow. Hongbin sighed, exasperation oozing from every sound and movement he made.

“As if I don’t have enough to tend to without all this, it was bad enough that I had to tend to the agent, and let’s not start with the number of stitches he had to have, in fact it’s a miracle he lived through that, but I do not appreciate them blowing out someone’s brains.” This he said without drawing one breath. N grimaced, he had, thankfully, not been there when Emile had been shot. He had never been able to deal with that part of his business, and blood made him nauseas. He could sympathise with the young man before him. He stood up, brushing imaginary creases off his trousers and went towards Hongbin. Hongbin lowered his head, worried he may have gone too far and angered his boss who, sometimes, scared him. N however patted his shoulder, smiling lightly.

“I’ll tell Leo not to let his men go too far.” Assured the older man and Hongbin relaxed.

“Thank you N.” Said Hongbin, looking relieved, and turned to leave, only to stop and turn back, “Ravi and Hyuk are back. They asked me to call you, said it’s urgent.” N nodded and watched him leave.

N sighed as he stretched and relaxed his sore muscles. He loved his job but sometimes felt overwhelmed. Around his closest friends he allowed himself to be carefree, otherwise his face was tightly controlled, and cold. He made his way to the mirror and saw the reflection of a young man, tired and careworn. This job was beginning to age him and he could see the tell tale signs. The small, minute lines when he smiled, that one grey hair he plucked out the other day. Yes this job was ageing him and fast.......

Hyuk and Ravi’s arrival had caused a stir. Every eye was on them as they walked down the corridor towards the medic wing. The girl they had caught was deep in oblivion. They had laid her down gently onto a bed as Hongbin raced over to them demanding answers to his questions and all they had to say was, “We need N.”

Now N stood near the bed as the rest clamoured around him minus his right hand man, Leo, and Ken. Hongbin was checking the girl’s pulse. “It’s steady.” He muttered to himself and started tending to her wounds. N turned towards Ravi.

“Explain.”

In the time it took for Hongbin to stitch and dress her wounds they can summarised the events that had unfolded. N was on the verge of insane rage. What the bloody hell was wrong with his men??

“Bring the men over. I want them here NOW!” He exploded. Hyuk flinched. He hated N’s moments of outraged outbursts. He turned his glare from Hyuk, who quaked under his anger, to Ravi who looked nervously at him. Both looked at each other. It was Hongbin, however, who spoke up.

“You told Leo to deal with them didn’t you?” He asserted, “I saw his henchmen drag them away.” He watched N face palm himself feeling mixture of humour and exasperation. N looked back at the men staring back at him and inwardly huffed. Suddenly he looked confused.

“Wait, what was I punishing them for again?” He asked trying to remember but his memory came up short, like it had been these last few days. Hongbin, Ravi and Hyuk looked at each other before all three looked away coughing awkwardly. Hyuk spoke up, “They were reported for harassing the girls.” N scowled, remembering the call he received from the head girl from the Cabaret. He was beginning to feel the start of another headache.

“Inform me the minute she wakes up. I’ll be in my study.” He informed them, walking away.

The three of them watched him leave the medic room. “Our boss seems to be losing it.” Ravi remarked. He felt concerned. Hyuk scoffed.

“What else do you expect when you hire half-wits like those men?” He declared, “They see a pretty face and all their brain power switches off. The only functioning organ is the...” Hyuk stopped here at Hongbin’s look. His arms were crossed and his features stern.

“You two have given me enough work to do.” He scolded looking down his nose at them, “Stop disturbing me and get on with your own work.” He shooed them away from the room and proceeded to check on the girl. He sighed. This was going to be a long day. He rolled up his sleeves and got to work.