Little Seulgi, at four years old, was already being spoiled by her doting father. His little princess, he would call her. Her older brother, on the other hand, was already receiving lessons to prepare him for the day he takes over the family business. Her father didn’t want Seulgi anywhere near the business, so she was allowed to pursue anything she desired. And at four years old, all Seulgi wanted to do was draw and draw.

            When little Seulgi started school, she was always doodling and drawing on something. The teachers found it hard to get mad at her; they could see the early beginnings of a talented artist. Little Seulgi was quick to catch onto this. And perhaps good business sense was genetic, for Seulgi started to trade commissioned drawings and doodles for extra snacks from her classmates. This continued up through high school, even though things began to shift in her family. Her father had retired from heading the family business as her older brother took up the helm.

            A few years later and it was time for Seulgi to start classes at her arts university. But of course, in these situations, something has to go wrong. And go wrong it did. Her older brother had been arrested, a prison sentence more than likely. In turn, her father had to come out of retirement to head the family business once more. Even with this disaster plaguing his mind, he had to keep things running smoothly. The need to reassure his business world that the Kang Organization would not fall apart.

            Taking in everything that was happening, Seulgi quickly withdrew from university. She was furious at the turn of events. Most of this anger, though, was reserved for her incompetent brother. How long had Seulgi been waiting for her father to be free from their business? But now he was forced to return. Thus, Seulgi felt the need to take matters into her own hands. She was confident in her business acumen. But still, her father denied her. “No Seulgi, my answer will never change. Stay out of the business. It’s not for you.”

            Seulgi relented. But only for about a month. And a month was more than enough time for Seulgi to develop a proposal. With this proposal, Seulgi began to approach many of her father’s closest partners. She worked with them to improve their sales and recruitment, gaining their trust ever so slowly. As the year went by, business for the Kang Organization flourished. All without her father aware of his daughter’s involvement. As word spread of Seulgi’s abilities, many flocked to her side. Seulgi knew in this world of business, however, that partnerships—good partnerships—weren’t so easy to come by. As she weeded out the weak and cultivated the strong and trustworthy, she found herself becoming her own boss. And then, she was ready to confront her father.

            The confrontation itself was relatively anticlimactic. Seulgi’s father was under the impression he was going to have a nice lunch with his little princess in his office, until she walked in with his closest partners in tow. Blindsided as he was, Seulgi’s father wasn’t the head of an organization as large as theirs if he couldn’t catch on to what was happening. Things had reached an ultimatum too quickly for his tastes, and this time, finally, her father relented. He just had one question though: Why?

            “Dad, oppa is already rotting away in prison. Do you think mom could handle losing you too? Not to mention, I’m the perfect candidate to take over. I’m unknown to those who keep a close eye on businesses like ours. My chances of getting caught are incredibly low. I’ll take good care of this office now, so you go back to enjoying your retirement with mom, okay?” And Seulgi showed her father the door.

            The next day, the remaining members from her father’s heyday were quickly shown the door as well, given directions to quietly retire. Seulgi gave them all a nice severance package; after all, they helped her to the top. There were a few that weren’t as willing to leave, but Seulgi’s team was more than willing to move in and take good care of such members. While such a big change in the structure of the organization’s manpower would slow business, Seulgi felt the risk was necessary for a clean transition of power. A calculated risk that she intended to use to throw off watchful law enforcement. Why is the Kang Organization’s presence in the underground market fading? Who is this new boss of the Kang Organization? Seulgi planned to leave them guessing as she worked to rebuild the family business in her image.

            Now… We return to the present day, a few years after Seulgi’s ascension to head of the organization.

//

            The Kang Organization had more than rebounded since Seulgi took over. She had trusted officers and lieutenants taking care of most of the day’s, and night’s, business. Seulgi realistically no longer needed to be present unless problems escalated. The business was running like a well-oiled machine. But appearances still mattered in a world as dark as hers so Seulgi made sure to go into the office every day, even if it meant she spent most of the day sitting there working on her art instead of conducting business. Thus, Seulgi always starts her day at 6 a.m. with either hot yoga or a morning jog, followed by a cold shower. It keeps her awake and alert for the rest of the day’s various meetings and responsibilities, if there happen to be any.

            Today was a morning jog day. Upon returning to her home, Seulgi shed her running clothes and hopped in for her cold shower. Once she was done, she wrapped herself in her fluffy bear towel and headed for the kitchen to have her breakfast. Except, her cell phone rang so Seulgi found herself turning back around to her bedroom. She looked down with dismay at the ringing device on her bed side table, her forehead wrinkling. She let out a sigh as she hesitated to reach for the phone and answer the call. “Hey dad,” she says upon picking up the call. She takes a seat on the edge of her bed, “How’s Hawaii?”

            “Good morning princess!” Seulgi’s father smiling face could easily be heard through his cheery voice. “Wait, it is morning over there, right?”

            Seulgi resists the urge to roll her eyes, “Yes dad. It is. And can you stop calling me princess already?”

            “Never!” A hearty laugh.

            “Daaad…” Seulgi sighs.

            “Oh yes, Hawaii’s great! Your mom is really loving the hikes.”

            “Well that’s good.” Seulgi finds herself smiling at the thought of her happy mother. “I’m assuming you have more to say than just checking in?”

            “Right you are, princess.” The jovial tone has since left her father’s voice. “I’ve gotten word you have a rat problem?”

            Seulgi groans. “Yes, there is a rat proble—”

            “Now Seulgi, if you need my hel—”

            “Dad.”

            And one stern word from his princess was more than enough to stop the king in his tracks. “Okay. Okay. I know. You’re more than capable of taking care of a rat or two. I’m just,” her father pauses and takes a breath, “you know, worried about you. You’re my little princess.” He fakes a sniffle.

            “Oh my god, dad, stop it. Seriously.”

            Her father smiles. “Okay. I will. For now.” His tone is serious again, “Just let me know if you need advice or help with anything. Rats can be tricky.”

            Seulgi’s lips curl into a small smile. “Okay dad. But I think I got this one. This one…is a bit stupid.”

            Her father laughs. “Okay then. Then I should get going. Your mother really wants to try to learn how to scuba.” He lowers his voice down to a whisper, “But don’t you think she might be just a tad old for that?”

            Seulgi shakes her head. “You know what dad? Have fun! I’ll be sure to pass the word on to mom if and when she calls.” She lowers the phone and moves to hang up. “Goodbye dad!”

            “Yah! Kang Seul—”

            Seulgi laughs as she puts the phone back to its resting place on the bed side table. As annoying as a doting father can be, she still appreciates the calls. She gets up from sitting on her bed and looks at her closet. She takes a moment to weigh her options. She shrugs her shoulders. I guess I’ll just get dressed now and head to the office early. She throws her towel onto her bed and walks into her closet to get dressed.

            After getting dressed, Seulgi heads to the kitchen to finally have her breakfast. As Seulgi prepares to fry an omelet, she’s reminded that it’s probably a good idea to put on an apron. Especially considering her more-formal-than-usual outfit for today. Normally, Seulgi wore a nice pair of slacks and a loose blouse into the office. Today, though, she had on her usual nice slacks but paired it with a dress shirt and long dark wool coat. Her pointed heeled boots only added to her strong charismatic aura today, that yes indeed she was the boss of a large criminal organization.

            Once Seulgi finished eating and put her dishes in the dishwasher, she grabbed her business purse from by the door and headed out of her house to the waiting car before her. “Good morning, Driver Kim.” She gives the older gentleman a nod of thanks for holding the car door open as she climbs into the car.

            “You look very beautiful today, Lady Kang,” Driver Kim notes as he closes her door and heads to the front of the car, getting into the driver’s seat. As he pulls away from the house, he glances in the rearview mirror. “And powerful too, might I add.”

            Seulgi laughs and smiles. “Thank you.”

            “What’s the occasion?”

            Seulgi sighs before looking at her purse with a grim expression. “I need to conduct some interviews today at the office.”

            Driver Kim nods and moves to adjust the sound system. “Then I’ll make sure to be a good DJ so you can work in the car.”

            Seulgi smiles again. “You’re the best Driver Kim.” She reaches into her purse now and pulls out her tablet. She braces herself for the résumés she’ll have to look through. She releases a breath, “Alright here we go.”

            As Driver Kim pulls into the underground parking lot, he hears a loud laugh from the back of the car. “An interesting applicant, I assume?”

            Seulgi takes a few deep breaths to calm herself. She wipes the tears from her eyes. “Oh my god. Yes! This girl has only been affiliated with us for a year—not even an actual member—and she wants to work as my right-hand lieutenant?” Seulgi has to keep herself from breaking into another fit of laughter. “She’s ambitious, I’ll give her that. She’s brought in good results though.” She tucks her tablet back into her purse and grabs the purse as she exits the car. “And if her picture is anything to go by, she’s cute too. But clearly, a nutcase nonetheless. It should make for an interesting interview later.” She gives a nod to Driver Kim, “Thank you for driving.”

            The older gentleman smiles. “Always at your service Lady Kang.”

            Seulgi returns the smile and bids Driver Kim goodbye. She starts walking to the parking lot’s elevator as a man appears beside her.

            “Here’s the schedule for today Boss.”

            Seulgi takes the schedule as the two enter the elevator. She looks it over and hums. “A bit tight today.”

            Her personal assistant nods. “Yes, but everything should proceed as planned.”

            Seulgi smiles as the elevator takes them up. “Let’s get these interviews done and over with.”

//

            Seulgi shakes her head, “No, thank you for coming in today.” She gives a polite smile, shakes the candidate’s hand, and gestures towards the door. “Have a nice day. I’ll let you know the results as soon as I have them.” Once the candidate leaves and the door closes, Seulgi heaves a deep sigh. God, I need a drink! She rolls back from her desk and stands up from her seat. Once at her liquor cabinet, she pulls out the bottle of whiskey and pours herself a shot. She takes a deep breath to take in the liquor’s aromas. She raises the glass to her lips and takes a small sip. A sigh of relief. Better. She looks over her shoulder to her desk and the memories of the interviews come flooding back. She shudders at the thought and quickly downs the remainder of the whiskey.

            When Seulgi is back at her desk, she picks up the résumés of the candidates she has already interviewed and throws them straight into the nearby recycling bin. She rolls her eyes. Trash. All of you. Three whole hours of my time just wasted! Curse me for being so nice and not kicking you out after the first five minutes. Seulgi pouts. She lets out a whine and kicks the bin in frustration. “Okay Seulgi,” she slaps her cheeks, “let’s finish strong.” She looks over the remaining résumés and sees the one from the ambitious nutcase. She laughs. “Well, if I’m going to end up wasting my time, I should have fun with it.” Seulgi pages her personal assistant, “What time is uhh,” she pauses to look over the résumé for a name, “Son Seungwan’s interview?”

            “She’s the first interview after lunch.”

            “Ahh, really?” Seulgi sighs. “Well, alright. That’ll be all then.”

            “Should I send the next candidate in?”

            “Oh right, yes.” No more kind Seulgi though.

            After two very brief disappointing interviews and a long lunch at her favorite sushi restaurant, Seulgi felt a little recharged and ready for the next wave of interviews. As she sat down at her desk, she paged for her personal assistant to let Son Seungwan in as soon as she arrived. Seulgi found herself surprisingly giddy with anticipation as she waited for the ambitious nutcase to arrive. This is going to be fun! While waiting for her fun to arrive, Seulgi decided to study Son Seungwan’s résumé a little more closely. She rubbed her chin. Interesting, using a bakery as a front to sell contraband. She quirks a brow. Oh, three bakeries. Seulgi let out a hum but was stopped short of reading more when she heard the door open. She looked up from the résumé to see a petite brunette walk in.

            Seulgi felt her fingers twitch as the sight of the brunette began to register in her brain. Her chest felt tight and her breaths short as her heart rate picked up. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears as adrenaline began to flow through her body. Something’s…off…about this woman. Seulgi could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand as she eyed the woman up and down. Instinctively, her hand was already on the handle of the drawer where she kept her pistol.

            Seungwan was nervous when she walked in for this interview but her nerves steeled when she felt the other woman’s wandering gaze on her. What a pig. She clicked her tongue as she gave a small bow. “I’m sorry. I thought this was an interview for the lieutenant position but I must have been mistaken.” She gives another bow as she starts to turn to leave.

            Immediately, Seulgi is out of her seat and face-to-face with the woman. “No, you weren’t. You’re in the right place.” She gives the woman another once over. I really can’t get a read on this damn woman. I still have my knife on me just in case, but…

            “Well do I get to sit down?” Seungwan is unable to hide the irritation from her voice. “Or we could just start with the questions already?” She crosses her arms and looks Seulgi in the eye.

            Upon making eye contact with Seungwan, Seulgi is rendered speechless. A shaky breath leaves her body as Seulgi feels herself drowning in the woman’s dark eyes. Unknowingly, Seulgi her lips as she remains transfixed on the woman.

            Seungwan rolls her eyes and scoffs. Seriously? She takes a step back to put some distance between them. “Wow, just wow. I came here for an interview, not to get ogled.” She bows. “Thank you for your time.”

            “C-Can I kiss you?” Seulgi blurts out. Immediately her eyes widen when she realizes the words that just have just left . Oh my god, what the hell Seulgi! “Sorry, I didn’t mean tha—”

            Another scoff from Seungwan. “It’s…cute I guess, that you think your lips are even remotely worthy of touching mine that you would ask such a question.”

            Seulgi tilts her head to look at the woman as a smirk graces her face. She chuckles. She reaches for Seungwan’s hand and forces a handshake. “Welcome to the club, Son Seungwan.” Seulgi gives a rich hearty laugh. “The best lieutenant is the one that can keep me in line.”

            Seungwan reluctantly returns the handshake, “You’re not joking, are you?”

            “Look,” Seulgi lets go of her hand, “I’ve got plenty of -kissers. What I need in a lieutenant is someone to help me grow this business but also someone who isn’t afraid to speak their mind around me.”

            “Okay.” Seungwan is still skeptical but she sees no harm in playing along. “When do I start?”

            “Oh.” Seulgi walks back to her desk to check the time on her phone. Still a little early but I guess that’s alright. She pages her personal assistant, “Can you cancel the rest of the interviews? And have Driver Kim get the car ready. Also, let Lieutenant Park know I’ll be early.”

            “Right away.”

            “Excellent.” Seulgi grabs her purse and turns to face Seungwan. “You’ll be starting right now. We have a rat problem.” She walks out of her office and makes her way to the elevators.

             Seungwan silently follows, uncertainty in every step. As she enters the elevator with her new boss, she starts thinking about everything that just transpired. This was too easy.

            “So, what kind of music do you like?”

            As Seungwan is pulled out of her thoughts and back into reality, she gives her new boss a weird look. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

            Seulgi’s lip twitches. “I was asking you about your music taste.” The elevator door opens and she starts walking to the car, with Driver Kim ready and waiting nearby. “You’re going to be my right-hand lieutenant, which means you ride with me unless arranged otherwise. So, it would make for a more pleasant car ride if our music tastes happened to match.”

            “Oh.” Seungwan follows her boss into the back of the car. Once she’s buckled in, she starts to explain that she’s fond of many music genres.

            “Well, that works for me.” As the car leaves the parking lot, Seulgi turns to Driver Kim. “There’s been a small change of plans, Driver Kim. We’ll be going to meet Lieutenant Park.”

            Driver Kim responds with a nod as he starts to take the car onto the freeway.

            Seulgi pulls out her phone to start making a call. She signals to Seungwan to keep quiet.

            Seungwan, confused as she is about the current state of affairs, agrees anyways.

            Seulgi smiles as her call is finally picked up. “Hello Lieutenant Park. Yes, my sincerest apologies for moving our appointment up.” A laugh. “As always, I appreciate your flexibility. Yes. I’m on my way right now. Just left the office. I’ll see you at the pier soon.” Another laugh. “No, Lieutenant Park. I should be thanking you for being so thorough to run the product purchase through me before we let it hit the markets. Yes, I’ll see you soon then.” Seulgi hangs up.

            Seungwan stares at her boss and points at her own lips.

            “Ah, yes, you may speak now.” Seulgi laughs.

            “So, we’re heading to the pie—” She stops herself when she notices the car has taken a different freeway, one that takes them further downtown and not anywhere near a coast. Seungwan her lips, “I see. Nevermind.”

            “Hmm?”

            “The rat problem,” Seungwan explains.

            Seulgi smiles with glee and satisfaction. “Well I’m pleased to know I made a good decision with you. You catch on fast.” The smile disappears as it gets replaced with a stern expression, “We’re headed to one of the branch offices to monitor things.”

            Seungwan gives an understanding nod and the rest of the ride to the branch office is silent. Upon arriving at the office, Seungwan follows her boss to a conference room. She takes a seat next to Seulgi and watches the main display on the wall facing them. On the display was a live camera feed, split into multiple angles, of a warehouse near the pier.

            Seungwan glances at her boss conversing with the staff in the room. She’s unable to pick up much from their hushed whispers, so she begins to read their lips. However, she gets distracted upon noticing one of the camera angles showing a small group of people on the back side of the warehouse. Wait, that’s the organized crime divis— “The rat has friends? Friends with shiny badges no less.”

            “Yes, good eyes you have there Son.” Seulgi looks at the staff in the room, “Are we ready to confirm her position?”

            “Yes, boss.” The staff hand Seulgi back her cell phone, although it now has some wires attached.

            Seulgi smiles as she begins to call Lieutenant Park.

            “Boss?” A feminine voice.

            “I’m so sorry Lieutenant Park.” Seulgi groans. “There’s some heavy traffic on the road right now.”

            Park laughs. “That’s okay. We weren’t scheduled to meet until later anyways. I can wait a little.”

            Seulgi breathes a sigh of relief. “I love that you’re so patient.”

            A giggle now. “Oh my god, boss. Stop it.”

            Now it’s Seulgi’s turn to laugh. She stops when she notices the staff give her a nod. “Alright. Well I’ll have Driver Kim re-route us to bypass this traffic, so I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

            “Sounds good, boss.”

            “Hey, Lieutenant,” Seulgi’s expression becomes dark. “Keep your eyes about you, okay? Pay attention to your surroundings. You’ve got precious cargo with you and you never know who could be watching.” She hangs up and rests her cell phone onto the table. Seulgi sinks into her chair as the display switches to a single angle focused on the warehouse.

            Seungwan gulps as a chill enters her body. When did the atmosphere get so heavy?

            “Here’s a word of advice, Son.” Seulgi glances at Seungwan. “Never choose to meet at some warehouse at a pier. It reeks of ship fuel. There’s broken machinery everywhere, like generators or boat propellers.”

            “I see,” Seungwan nods.

            Seulgi turns her attention back to the screen and gives a nod to the staff in the room. “Really now,” Seulgi begins coldly, a complete opposite from the warm orange glow reflected onto her face from the display. She sighs. “It’s just really not the best place to meet.”

            Seungwan bites down hard on her lip as she watches the warehouse burn on the display.

            “And now our rat problem has been taken care of. Even the friends too.” Seulgi turns to look at Seungwan and smiles darkly. “Out with the old and in with the new, right?”

            “R-Right.” Seungwan takes a deep breath.

            Seulgi looks at the staff in the room, “Thank you everyone for your hard work today.” She stands from her seat and gives a small bow. She looks down at Seungwan and rolls her eyes. She clears , “Ahem.”

            Seungwan looks up at her boss and immediately stands. She bows to the staff as well. Still, she remains wide-eyed as she tries to process what just happened.

            Seulgi lets out an irritated sigh. The young ones always get so scared. She offers her hand. “I keep a small number of lieutenants. So now,” she gestures at the display screen, “I can officially welcome you into the organization, Lieutenant Son.”

            Seungwan looks down at the hand in front of her and takes a deep breath. She grabs her boss’s hand and gives a firm shake. “Yes, thank you.”

            Seulgi gives a friendly smile. “The rest of her group will be gone by end-of-day today, so get me your personnel list by tomorrow morning and I’ll have your accommodations and workspace prepared and ready to go by lunch.”

            Seungwan simply nods.

            “Good.” Seulgi takes her hand back. “You can take the rest of the day off, you look like you need it.” Seulgi laughs. “I’ll have Driver Kim drive you back. I’ll be staying here for some meetings.”

            Seungwan gulps as her hand falls limply to her side. She gives a nod of goodbye to everyone in the room before leaving the room.

            Seulgi scratches her head as she watches the sullen woman walk out. Damn, I hope I didn’t make a wrong decision with her. She shrugs and sits back down. “Alright, well now, with this oh-so-sudden turn of events we need to call an emergency meeting, don’t we?”

//

            Upon arriving back at her apartment, Seungwan makes a mad dash to the restroom. She throws herself over the toilet as the vomit she was holding back is finally released. But the more she tried to get her mind off the warehouse explosion, the more she retched and cried. When Seungwan was finally able to stop, she flushed her waste away as she shakily stood up. She rinsed out at the sink and splashed water onto her face. Looking at the distressed woman reflected in the mirror, Seungwan laughed. God, what am I getting myself into… She grabs the nearest towel and wipes her face.

            Once in her bedroom, Seungwan moves to sit at her desk. She opens the hidden drawer and pulls out her police badge. She stares blankly at it as she rubs her finger over the engravings. Just focus on the bigger picture, Son Seungwan. Focus on that. She sighs as she flips the badge over to look at her ID number. Her expression darkens. She grips the badge tight in her hands as she folds her arms over the desk so she can rest her head. The bigger picture.

            Seungwan takes a few deep breaths as she closes her eyes and buries her head further into her arms. Her body begins to involuntarily shake, as all she sees behind her closed eyes is a fire swallowing her body up.

 

 

 

..end..

 

 

A/N:

Yes, this is somewhat of a prequel to the Deep Cover oneshot as it details the first meeting between organized crime boss Kang Seulgi and undercover police officer Son Seungwan.

And yes...Lieutenant Park is Park Sooyoung.