Jennie's eyes scanned the room, the unusually light atmosphere creeped her out and it was due to one person - the person that stood by the window.

The man smiled, turning to face Jennie, "How have you been doing, HeeJung-ah?"

She dug her nails into her already sweaty palms, forcing a smile as she replied, "I've been doing well, Brother." 

"Drop the formalities for me, will you?" the man grinned, patting the side of Jennie's arm.

"I came here today because I heard a rumor." His eyes dart between his sister and Himchan, who was standing by the door. "I didn't know you were operating a cemetery here." 

His laughter fills the empty room, yet the tension thickened. Air escaped Jennie's body, and all at once her body felt limp. But it seemed that Himchan was already aware of the other male's intention, meeting his laughter with a small chuckle. 

"Ey, you know the business we're in, it's hard to not have a few dead bodies here and there."

"Yes, and I want one of your dead bodies. I want LeeYong." He lifted up a suitcase, opening it to reveal the stacks of cash. "Name your price. I have ten million here." 

Himchan chuckled, shifting from his left to his right. "We don't put price tags on our people you know that."

"And I'm saying I'm willing to give you everything you want, isn't that more important than the life of a complete stranger?" 

When silence was the only reply to his question, he pulled out a beige file out of his suitcase. "I'll add this too." 

"What's that?" Jennie questioned. 

"This, my dear sister, is all the information on the death of our parents. I know you want it." 

Jennie's eyes widened, focusing on the file that rested on the mahogany table. There was little that was good of Jennie, she reminded herself, because, in a sense, she was a paid murderer and there's next to nothing redeeming about it. Some may say that she was just a savage animal. But she's learned the fleeting nature of life, a small metal blade or a gram of white poison is enough to kill. And she couldn't ignore the taunting voice in the back of her head. You've killed before. This is the same, or even better. You're just changing a stranger for information that you've devoted your whole life to obtain.

She let out a breath of air, closing her eyes and willing her heart to calm down. 

LeeYong doesn't deserve it.

She opened her eyes, this time determined but was immediately cut off by another voice.

"Heechul, I'm sorry but I'll have you leave if you're just going to feed us things that we don't need. We've operated for a whole generation without struggling, I'm sure we'll do well without your help." Himchan grinned, his respectful manner of threatening Heechul.  

Heechul chuckled, flipping the suitcase of money close, shrugging in defeat. He knew that Himchan was serious, and at the moment, he was vulnerable. But he was never one to take offense without counterattacking his opponents. He walked past Himchan, purposefully knocking into him and stopped beside Jennie.

"We'll see each other soon, sister." His voice dripping with vicious intent as he slipped the file into Jennie's hands. "Count this as my... 'Long time no see' present for you." 

--- 

Jennie scrubbed her hand furiously as if digging her nails and pulling at her already irritated skin would remove her disgust. Her shoulders went slack as she rested the sides of her hand against the ceramic bowl. Her hands were covered in small abrasions, made when she was scrubbing her hands. Few things disgust her, and making hand contact with her brother was one of them. It wasn't that she hated him, but she hated what he did. She may be a paid murderer, but at least she did it for a cause - to earn money to facilitate her Furthermore, 90% of her victims were the disgusting scum of the earth and deserved being killed. With Heechul, he did the mafia thing as a side-job - to fulfill his bloodlust. His day job was a lawyer, and so he knew his way around laws. The fact that he would kill for fun made Jennie nauseated. 

Things were different, to say the least. Before they were dragged out and had the reality of the real world etched into them, they were an inseparable pair of siblings. Where Heechul was, Jennie also followed. They would spend Saturday mornings planting roses and gardening for the Japanese elderly lady that lived down the street, and when they were done, they would pester their parents to take them to eat pancakes for lunch. They were a normal, happy and loving family. That said, she couldn't pinpoint a single moment that it happened. They didn't just become two different people. It was a gradual thing, as with most things in life. It wasn't the death of her father, though it contributed to it. Neither was it her mother's death. 

She sighed, turning on the faucet, letting the cool tap water ease her irritated skin. 

Surely, her 12-year-old self wouldn't have even imagined that she would grow up to be part of Seoul's most notorious mafia or that her brother would turn out to be a cold-blooded psychopath.

That's the thing about life, she thought, nothing goes the way you think it would and you've just got to accept it. 

---

A wave of anticipation washed over Jennie. She wasn't sure if it was fear of knowing what really transpired or the yearning of knowledge that she'd spent years trying to obtain but her hands were shaking as she reached into the file. Her eyes glossed over the white papers, barely being able to pick up the first sheet of paper. Her brows knitted into a frown as she realized that she had seen it before. She had seen the format of the paper. It was how her missions were handed to her. A slip of paper detailing everything, with the salary stated at the top. Her fingers quickly flipped through the papers, stopping at a piece of paper stuck at the back. Chuckling as she leaned back in her chair.

Of course, mom was part of Black Manor. Of ing course.

A piece of a puzzle fell into place and things finally made a little more sense. She'd always thought that the reason Black Manor, to be more exact Himchan, accepted her was that she was a sad kid drenched in the icy rain that was crystallizing her skin painfully, but no. No, it wasn't because they were sympathetic towards a child. It was because she was already associated with them, and things would spiral downwards if people caught wind of her association. The perfect example of keeping your friends close, and enemies closer. She was an enemy, a possible defector and so they had to take her in.

Still, things were a mess. She pinched the bridge of her nose as a million more questions sprung to her mind. 

Why was she in Black Manor?

Why didn't anyone tell her?

Why? How? Who?

A hand on her shoulder jolted her into reality. She turned her head to see LeeYong.

"What do you want?" she grumbled. 

"You look like you're struggling," he sat down on Jennie's bed. "Tell me about it, maybe I might be able to help."

"You wouldn't understand it."

LeeYong laughed, crossing his leg over the other as he supported himself with one arm, "I told you I'll help you if you helped me. I will help you with anything since you helped me."

Jennie leaned on the table, burying her head in her arms as her finger toyed with her lips. 

"Technically, I've only done half of your request."

"Well, you've made me disappear from the surface of the earth, I'm sure that warrants some reward."

Jennie lifted her head up, making eye contact with the male before letting a sigh part her baby pink lips. "My mom was part of Black Manor." 

LeeYong's eyes widened, "Did anyone tell you that-"

"No! Jesus, why do you think I'm so frustrated. I've basically lived here yet no one told me anything." 

LeeYong leaned towards Jennie and grinned at her. "You've just received your first piece of the puzzle, aren't you going to investigate more? Or are you going to sit here and wallow in sadness and wait for others to solve it for you?"

A small smile parted her lips, but just as quickly it appeared, it disappeared in mere moments. It disappeared so quickly that it made LeeYong questioned if he even saw it. Jennie rubbed the sides of her arms, picking up the file and storming out of the room. 

"The least you could have done was thank me for giving you the boost you needed," LeeYong mumbled to no one in particular, as he leaned into the soft mattress. 

---

"What's this?"

Daehyun's eyes darted between the file and the girl that stood in front of her. He whirled the liquid in his glass, looking straight at the display of alcoholic beverages. "You tell me."

Jennie grumbled, quickly flipping open the file and pulling out the papers in it before shoving it Daehyun's face. His eyes glossed over the paper, eyes widening as he turned to face the girl. "How did you get this?"

"Answer me. What's this?" Jennie was glad that she was wearing a black shirt because she was sweating bullets - half from running across the whole mansion to find Daehyun and half from excitement and almost fear.  

Daehyun reached into his pocket, pulling out a packet of cigarettes. "Missions."

"Of course I know that. But why was it assigned to my mother?"

The black haired male clicked his tongue in annoyance, as he lit a cigarette, taking a long drag before breathing out a thin line of smoke. "Can't you make the connection?"

Usually, Jennie was a collected person, bottling her emotions in and restricting herself from impulsive actions. But today, she felt the itch to grab Daehyun's collar and slam him into the bar table. She wouldn't do it though, mainly because she was his subordinate and she knew that he would easily overpower her. So she dug her nails deeper into her palms, leaving burning red crescents in her skin.

"Why didn't anyone tell me that my mother was part of Black Manor?"

Another line of smoke rose from Daehyun's thick lips, "You didn't ask. Now answer me, where did you get it from?"

"Why does it matter? That's not even important."

"Oh no, baby girl," Daehyun sang - his voice melodic but in the same way a siren's song was to a sailor, "It is more important that you think. Because I had it burnt when she left. So how would you be able to get it?"

A lump formed at the back of Jennie's throat. Burnt? Left? She had come to Daehyun with a million questions, but it seemed like she was going to leave with a thousand times more question. 

"L-left?" She barely croaked out. 

Daehyun tapped his cigarette against the receptacle, letting the ash drop into it. "Your mom left with your dad. And we deemed them as traitors."

"Why did they leave?"

"I don't know," Daehyun pressed his cigarette into the plate, extinguishing it. "All I know is that those papers that you have shouldn't exist. You should be careful of who handed it to you. After all, the only other person who would have those papers is dead. It's only logical to think that the murderer is the one that stole it, don't you think?"

Daehyun hopped off his bar stool, "Be very careful Jennie. You might end up next."

 ---

A/N : sorry it took so long & that it's slightly shorter than usual!! i was sick and i just rushed through this chap, i hope you enjoyed it still though!!