“So you and Boss are okay now?” Hyuk quirks an eyebrow at me when I stand next to him to help pack an order for eight drinks for someone on a coffee run. I hum and shrug nonchalantly. “You’re fine with him being a gang leader?”

“It’s his life, I can’t just stop him from living it.”

“You can, actually,” he reminds me. “He would do anything for you.”

I don’t disagree with him. I cover the coffee cup that he hands me and I put it into the holder before bringing all the coffee to the customer who is waiting at the Pick Up area. Just as I return to stand behind the cash register to take the order of a new customer, the door opens to let Baekhyun and Jae in. I glance at my husband, who has his bottom lip slightly pursed, his eyes narrowed scarily.

“Uh-oh,” Hyuk mutters next to me, seeing the same thing as I am. “Something must have gone wrong in White Tigers.”

I am barely even listening to the order the lady before me is placing as I trail my eyes after Baekhyun, whose eyes are scanning the place as if everything and everyone here offends him. He pushes past the door of the counter with force. But instead of simply going to the back to seethe in his anger, he takes a turn and slides his arm around my waist. He leans in from the side, his breath warm on my neck.

“Hi, baby,” he mutters in his quiet, gruff tone that only appears when he is upset. Then, he presses his soft lips to my cheek, nods at the customer who has shut up to respect our interaction, and leaves.

I turn my head to stare after him, watching him enter the kitchen. Then I glance at Jae, who simply trails after him like a loyal dog. Feeling a discomfort in my chest, I swallow and turn back to the customer, who is staring at me. I give her a strained smile.

“Sorry. What was your order again?”

When Jae comes out from the back to help us out at the front, Hyuk and I swoop in on him like vultures to ask him about what happened when they were gone. He tells us that a group of newbies in the gang lost approximately one kilogram of while high on the substance. And on top of that, Baekhyun had gotten a very upsetting call after that.

I try to go back to work after the recount but I can’t seem to concentrate. Baekhyun has never seemed so mad before. And with our souls so closely intertwined, it is no good pretending I feel okay while my husband is obviously the opposite of that. So, I sigh loudly, slam the empty paper cup on the counter for Jae to make the order, throw the marker aside, and take off my apron right away to leave for the kitchen without any word to Jae or Hyuk.

The kitchen is small, just enough for an island in the middle of the room for the baking preparations, two ovens, and a sink. There is also a closet for cleaning supplies, another cupboard for all the things needed for baking, and another for the employees to keep their belongings. Apart from the door that leads to the café, there are three other doors; one to the alley where we throw out the trash, another to the bomb shelter, and another to the supply room.

Coming here now, I suddenly realise that I have no idea where Baekhyun went. He usually stays outside to do whatever work he needs done, saying he has “nicer view” sitting at the high table in front of the cashier. I look around the place, then at the door to the alley which I consider might have a door that leads to Baekhyun’s secret underground basement,q or something. But I decide to try the supply room first since that’s the only other place in the establishment that Baekhyun could be in.

I have been in here a few times, though Jae and Hyuk, sometimes even Baekhyun, always get the stocks for me whenever we’re running out at the front. Since we buy ingredients in bulks, most stuff are too heavy for me to carry. Though if they’re too busy and the thing I need is small, I would have to do it myself to get it. So even as I scan the small, cramped space, I already know that the supply room can’t be Baekhyun’s hideout.

I leave the room and shut the door, now moving to the door that leads to the alley. I stop, however, when I realise that there is another door in this place that I never gave much thought about. I turn to my right and stare at the door to the bomb shelter. I slowly reach my hand out to the handle and open the door, feeling a bit weird to even be checking out the bomb shelter. I have never even given it a glance ever since I am allowed to be back here.

Contrary to what I thought, the hinges of the door don’t creak like how they do when they’re never used. And to my surprise and awe, there is light in the room. I open the door wider and peek into it, eyes wide as I scan the desk in the middle, papers and some blueprints strewn all over it, a computer and two guns laying on top of them. There are boxes stacked around the room, some opened and some closed. In the opened ones I see packs of drugs and firearms. My wide eyes fleet back to the person sitting behind the table, his arm on the table as he holds his forehead in his hand.

Baekhyun glances at the door with a glare, only to blink when he sees that it’s me. He turns his chair slowly so that he is facing the door and not the wall. my lips, I step into the room and shut the door behind me quietly.

“What are you doing here, baby?” my husband asks in a strained tone that almost sound tired. “Something wrong at the front?”

I shake my head quickly, noticing how he is about to get up from his chair. His eyebrows furrow now. I glance around the room before landing my gaze on him again. “So this is where you hide your illegal stuff, huh?” I murmur, only slightly teasing.

He doesn’t say anything, which worries me. Baekhyun always has something to say. I sigh softly as I move around the table. He swivels his chair to watch me navigate the small space so that when I am standing by the table, his chair is already turned to me. I smile wryly and move forward to settle on his lap. He immediately wraps his arms around my waist and hides his face in my neck. I sigh loudly when I feel him taking a big breath of my scent, something he does a lot when he needs to calm himself down. Resting my arm on his shoulder, I tangle my fingers in his locks, playing with his hair like how he does to me because he knows I like it. I know that he likes it too, but I only ever get to do it when he’s upset.

Baekhyun lets out a muffled groan into my collarbone, releasing his stress and frustration even if it’s only a bit. I sigh and tilt my head to rest my cheek on top of his head. “What happened, baby?” I murmur softly, my other hand resting on his forearm to caress it gently. “Wanna talk about it?”

“I lost about $110,000 today,” he groans, making fake sobbing noises.

My eyes widen at nothing. “Jesus. How much is a gram of coke?!”

Baekhyun raises his head to frown at me. “How’d you know it was coke?” I purse my lips. “Jae?” He scoffs and rolls his eyes. “I don’t even know where his allegiance lies anymore.” I crack a smile at his complaint. He answers me anyway, “I get them at $110 per gram. And sell them for $200.”

“So you actually, potentially, lost $200,000.”

He groans, shuts his eyes and lets out more sobbing noises, which makes me giggle. I ruffle his hair and kiss his forehead.

“And what happened to the guys who lost the stuff?”

“Punished, obviously,” he sighs.

“Not kicked out?”

“I’m going to make them work like slaves to make up for the loss,” he grumbles passionately.

I hum. That sounds fair. “And what about the phone call? Another bad news?”

“Beom called to tell me Dad got admitted to the hospital for low blood sugar.”

“Oh, no. Is he okay?” I ask anxiously.

“He fainted.” Baekhyun shrugs.

I gape at him and smack his shoulder. “Can you be anymore emotionless?” He scoffs and rolls his eyes. “So you weren’t upset because he was admitted to hospital,” I assume, to which he snorts at. “Then what?”

“Beom told me to visit.”

I look at him, deadpanned, my fingers unmoving in his hair. “Oh, no. How upsetting,” I say sarcastically.

Baekhyun groans and pinches my waist. “You know how much I hate meeting my parents.”

“Your dad fainted, Baekhyun!”

“And?”

I roll my eyes and cluck my tongue. “You deserve the Best Son award. Really.”

He sighs and shakes his head, ignoring my comment. “I mean, sure, it’s slightly worrying. But at least he’s not dead.” He sees me open my mouth, ready to berate him for saying such a thing but he quickly continues, “And imagine if I visit. He and Mum would treat me like I’m dirtier than dirt.”

I sigh through my nose, my shoulders deflating. “Still. Just go visit him for, like, 15 minutes. I’ll go with you.”

“Obviously,” he grumbles. “You can’t just send me to my death alone.”

“You’re so dramatic sometimes, Baekhyun.” I shake my head, chuckling. Baekhyun heaves a big sigh again, dropping his head to rest on my chest now. “Though I’m not even sure they like me,” I grumble.

“What are you talking about? They met you only once. And it was so obvious that they liked you.”

I glance at him frowning at me. “I saw it in their eyes, Baekhyun. They think I’m either a pushover or a good-for-nothing because I’m not deterring you from your gangster business.” I pause for a moment, then I add, “And your mum rolled her eyes when I said I don’t eat tomatoes.”

“Well, joke’s on them because you didn’t even know I was a mafia leader. And also, I was appalled you don’t eat tomatoes the first time you told me. So I wouldn’t blame her.”

I smack his shoulder so hard that he hisses in pain. I glower at him. “Well, don’t forget that I’ve only just very recently forgave you for lying to me. I can take it back.”

He gasps in mock atrocity. “No, you can’t.”

“Yeah, I can.”

He says with force and narrows his eyes on me playfully, “No, you can’t.” I open my mouth to continue the banter but then he pokes his finger into my waist, making me squirm and giggle. “And you won’t,” he declares, eyes twinkling as he watches me wiggle on his lap to get away from his poking finger.

I start to hiccup with laughter, especially when he flutters his fingers along my sides for the light but fatal tickles. Baekhyun’s lips stretch into a soft, endearing grin as he watches me. But he knows when to stop before I get annoyed, so before I end up yelling at him to stop and take me seriously, he slides his hand under my shirt to rub his palm lovingly on my back. I lean into his body and wrap my arms around his shoulders, hugging him close and tight to my chest as I bury my nose into his hair. He embraces me back and hides his face in my neck, rubbing his cheek on my skin.

We stay quiet for a bit until I comment, “So how do we never get caught during spot checks? Don’t they check everywhere?”

Baekhyun hums and tilts his head so that he can speak without being muffled. “Jae and Hyuk clean out the whole room and put everything in the alley while the Hygiene People check the place.”

“Oh,” I mumble. “That’s a lot of work. But also quite smart.”

“I know.”

“So how come I never knew about this room?”

“Because I know you don’t give two rat’s about the bomb shelter.”

I slap his back lightly. “You’re a rat!” I insult, which makes him laugh.

Baekhyun tilts his head upwards and puckers his lips slightly. I hum and smile down at him, leaning in to connect our lips in a firm kiss. My husband moans a little, contented sigh. I slide my hands to the sides of his face and hold him there while I pull away.

He flutters his eyes open and stares at me with those gentle, bright globes. They always shine the brightest when he is looking at me. Yet at the same time they’re also the most loving they’ll ever get. Even when we’re fighting, despite the obvious anger that burns in his brown eyes, the adoring twinkle in them will always be there.

I give him another smile and peck his lips before letting go of his face. Really nonchalantly, I ask, “So when will you bring me to meet White Tigers?”

Baekhyun frowns and looks at me weirdly. “How did the conversation go there?”

“It didn’t,” I mutter, not looking at him as I play with his hair. “This is a new conversation.”

My husband rolls his eyes, though his lips are tilted in a smile. “When do you wanna go down?”

I bob my shoulders, glancing at him. “Anytime.”

“Tomorrow?”

“What about the café?”

“Oh, true.” Baekhyun purses his lips to hide his grin when I smack his shoulder. “Okay, what about next week? Then we’ll schedule one of the Casuals to work while you’re gone.” I nod my head in agreement. He hums. “Who do you want as our bodyguard? Jae, or Hyuk?”

I think about it for a moment and glance at him. But when I see him staring at me so seriously, I lean down and purr into his ear, really sensually just to get his mind off things. “I want you, Baekhyun.”

To my surprise, he stares blankly back at me. “Okay. Then I’ll get Hyuk to guard me.” I am gaping at him when he continues, “It’s not very obvious but his arms are actually two centimeters bigger than Jae’s.”

He stops and waits for my reaction. But all I am doing is staring at Baekhyun with my jaw unhinged. He’s always by my y voice. And he always jumps on me whenever he can.

“Are you okay, Baekhyun?” I breathe.

He stares at me blankly for a long moment before he breaks out into a husky chuckle. He stands quickly with his hands holding me carefully and bends over to lay me on top of the messy table.

“The look on your face was priceless, I just had to do it,” he admits, which makes me groan and slap his chest. He laughs as he leans in to nuzzle my neck, at the same time pressing soft, sensual kisses there. “You know I can’t ever resist you, baby. Especially when you smell like coffee and…” He presses his nose against the spot under my jaw and takes in a deep breath. “And sweat. Ew,” he mumbles.

“Baekhyun!” I laugh, pinching his arm in punishment.

He chuckles against my neck, his teeth grazing my sensitive skin. Even if it’s only temporary, I’m happy I could take his mind off things and make him feel better.

“Don’t you think we’re overdoing it a little?” Baekhyun grimaces at the basket of expensive nutritional supplements as he lifts it slightly to gesture to it.

“I need to make a good impression,” I tell him seriously as I wrap my other hand around his arm so that I am not only holding onto his hand but also clinging onto him like a koala. “They can hate you but I’m going to make them like me.”

He turns to me with a deadpan look, which I only grin at. He huffs and rolls his eyes, turning his attention to watch where he’s going. Hyuk is trailing behind us, though not too close so that we don’t look too suspicious.

We make our way through the overly white and bright hallway to locate the ward that Baekhyun’s father is in. When we find the room, Baekhyun pauses at the door and glances at me. I give him a reassuring smile and lean in for a quick peck. Then, I let go of his arm and give his hand a little squeeze. Taking in a deep breath, my husband straightens his back and steps into the ward.

There are four beds in here and two on the left are occupied by strangers. Only one bed on the other side of the room is taken up by Baekhyun’s father, where the whole Byun clan has congregated at. Baekbeom is getting his son to stop running around while his wife is talking to her father-in-law. Baekhyun’s mother is sitting by the side, playing with Baekbeom’s second-born.

“Uncle Baekhyun!”

The little devil runs away from his father and catapults himself at Baekhyun, who groans at the sheer magnitude of his energy. I smile when I catch the little boy’s bright grin as he looks up at his uncle.

Baekhyun must have respected his own uncle as his role model that even though he doesn’t get to see his niece and nephew very often, he always sends them toys. And when he does see them, he always brings along gifts and sweet treats that Baekbeom never approves of.

Baekhyun pats the boy’s head. We both look up, only to see the rest of the Byun family looking at us. Baekbeom and his wife are happy that we’re here but his parents don’t look very psyched.

“Come here, Joohwan,” Baekbeom calls, gesturing for his son.

The boy doesn’t leave Baekhyun’s side though, so I ruffle his hair and smile down at him. “Let go of Uncle Baekhyun, Joohwan-ah. We want to see Grandpa.”

Joohwan does, and the three of us walk towards the bed where Baekhyun’s father is lying. Hyuk doesn’t follow us any further from the door so he stays outside and waits. Joohwan stands next to Baekhyun when we’re with the rest of the family and my husband places the basket on the table at the end of the bed.

“Hi Mother,” I greet politely with a small, respectful bow. Then I turn to Baekhyun’s dad, who is looking at us dubiously. “Hi Father. How are you?”

“Good,” he answers gruffly. I open my mouth to ask about his condition, but he focuses his eyes on Baekhyun. “What are you doing here?”

Baekbeom quickly stands up and answers for his younger brother. “He’s here to visit you, Dad.”

Baekhyun his lips and scratches his temple with his finger before pointing at the hamper on the table. He starts to say my name and I know that he’s going to pin this only on me. So I quickly jump in and chirp, “We got you the hamper, Father!”

I ignore Baekhyun’s glare. His father ignores the expensive basket altogether and frowns at his son. “You haven’t visited in years and you came to visit me in the hospital? Were you waiting to see if I’m dead?”

“Honey!” his wife scolds. She looks pointedly at the children.

Taking that as her cue to leave the awkward atmosphere, Baekbeom’s wife reaches for her daughter on her mother-in-law’s lap and smiles at her. “I’ll take them to the playing area.” She turns to her son. “Let’s go, Joohwan.”

“But I want to stay with Uncle Baekhyun!” he whines.

“Joohwan.”

Baekhyun sees the pout on his nephew’s face, so he gives him a wry smile. We wait until the children are out of the vicinity before Baekbeom speaks again.

“Dad will be discharged tomorrow if all goes well and his blood sugar is regulated.”

I nod in relief, “That’s good.” I smile at my father-in-law. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

He completely ignores me and tips his head at Baekhyun. “What have you been doing lately?”

“Still running that art gallery?” Baekhyun’s mother chimes in, looking quite suspiciously at her son.

“And the—”

Baekhyun clenches hard on my hand and pushes me back a little to deter me from answering. I immediately shut up, though I glance at him, wondering why on earth he would stop me from talking about the café.

“Yeah,” he answers emotionlessly. “Baekbeom bought a piece when he came down last year.”

The parents turn to their eldest son, who grins. “Gotta support my little bro, right?” he says to Baekhyun, who shakes his head with a roll of his eyes.

“Don’t tell me it’s the one you gave us at Chuseok last year,” his father warns.

Now we all turn to Baekbeom with slightly raised eyebrows. He laughs a little awkwardly. “Yeah… I figured the, uh, kids were going to ruin it if we hung it up home.”

“We’ll return it,” Baekhyun’s father immediately announces.

I frown slightly, and even more when the mother of my husband agrees. “We don’t need it.”

“Just keep it—”

“No, we’ll return it,” the man on the bed says firmly, cutting off Baekbeom’s statement.

It’s quiet now as the three of them stare at Baekhyun, waiting for him to say something. His voice is levelled and quiet when he mutters, “Whatever. Just send it by mail so you don’t have to come down.”

I purse my lips at his emotionless answer. I glance anxiously at his father and see that he is indeed red in the face, looking so furious that I actually move closer to Baekhyun, afraid to catch the brunt of his fury.

“Byun Baekhyun!” he shouts.

I jump in fright before glancing quickly to the side to see that the other patients and their guests are looking at us. But Baekhyun has his chill when he asks, rather defiantly, “What?” His father tries to shout again but he continues, “You obviously don’t want to see me, or support my business—”

“That’s because your business is—”

“Honey, keep your voice down!” Baekhyun’s mum warns loudly, placing a hand on her husband’s chest, who is heaving in anger. She turns to glare at her youngest son and hisses in a low voice so only we can hear her, “We don’t want to support your business because it’s obviously dirty.”

“Dirty?” Baekhyun laughs dryly. “Not every cent I make is from doing illegal things, Dad.”

I stare at him in surprise, having never heard him do that before. His laughter is always either loud and cheerful or quiet and husky, but still full of endearment. I’ve been to dinner with his family just once before and though he was quiet the entire time, I never knew his relationship with his parents was this cold. It’s like they all happiness out of him, and that’s really saying something because I am here with him and I always put him in the greatest of moods.

“Baekhyun!” his mother snaps, very briefly glancing at me.

Baekhyun chuckles, again with no feelings. “What, her?” He tugs on my hand to pulls me forward. “She knows.” I look at him weirdly, not quite understanding why he would declare that until he says, “I told her.”

And then seeing the look of surprise and betrayal on his parents’ faces, I put two and two together, and realise something. His parents warned him not to tell me about his background.

I am still gaping at Baekhyun when his mother asks me, “And you’re not mad at him? Did you stop him?”

I blink and turn to her to see that she is staring at me quite intensely. I glance at the two men next to her and see them watching me as well. Her and her husband have the same look on their faces. And that’s when I realise that they’re both waiting for my answer so they could judge me for being either a good or bad wife. I have to tread carefully now.

I my lips nervously. “Um… I got mad at him,” I say slowly. I can see them relaxing, their eyes looking more inviting than hostile. They look to Baekhyun then, with a rather smug look on their faces which somehow ticked me off. Confidence floods my being as I continue, “But I didn’t stop him.” They both snap their eyes to me now in astonishment. I am firm when I tell them, “It’s his passion and I’m not going to stop him. If he wants to, then he wants to. If he doesn’t, then—”

“So you support him?”

I look at Baekhyun’s father dead in the eyes and nod. “That’s what a wife is supposed to do: support her husband.”

He looks horrified and disgusted by my answer. His wife interrogates me now, sounding a lot more riled up than before. “Even if he’s a mafia leader? Doing all that dangerous things to scare people?”

I glance at Baekhyun, who is staring at me, looking so awestruck by my honesty and bravery no matter how much I complained to him before about his parents not liking me. They probably hate me now. But seeing that loving sparkle dancing in his brown eyes and the amazement written all over his face, I realise that I shouldn’t care. Because I am in love with him, not his parents. Baekhyun is my husband and no matter how mad I was at him for lying to me, I am still his number one supporter, his biggest fan. I should be impressing him, not his parents.

So I shrug and turn back to his mother. Now sounding equally as emotionless as Baekhyun, I mutter, “If there’s a problem with my husband being a mafia leader then there’s a problem with those people for going to my husband. They should have anticipated all the dangerous things coming for them.”

Baekhyun’s finger trails gently along my back as he kisses me, softly but lovingly. It takes us a long time to break the lip-locking. And even when we do, I am somehow resting my chin on his so that our lips are still touching. He watches me with hooded lids that don’t even hide a bit of his loving gaze. He takes his other hand off my to push my hair behind my ear.

He has a soft smile on his face when he murmurs, “You were so y, baby.” He raises his eyes to the ceiling, reminiscing what happened just this morning. His smile widens and he groans low in his chest. “Mm. So hot.”

“Your father kicked us out right after what I said,” I chuckle, twirling his hair with my finger.

“Well, you stood up for me.”

“And that’s all that mattered to you?”

Baekhyun stops, squints at the ceiling, and frowns in approval, nodding. “Yeah, pretty much.”

I laugh, which makes his eyes crinkle into crescents. He is watching me with love bursting out of them. He lifts his head slightly and gives me tiny kisses on my grinning lips.

“I only did it because I felt like they were disrespectful to you and your passion,” I sigh, pouting a little.

My husband returns his hand to my , squeezing lightly. “Real wife material,” he mutters in a comment, shaking his head as he watches me adoringly.

I act like I never heard him. “And it made me feel so angry that they were happy we were in a rough patch because of what you do.” I pause only long enough for him to open his mouth but before he even gets to make a witty comment, I say, “Also, they thought I was a bad wife for letting you continue what you’re doing!”

Baekhyun frowns then. He nods. “I was actually pretty pissed at that too.”

“Right?!”

“Mm,” he agrees, nodding slightly. “I think you’re the best wife in all of history.”

“Thank you,” I say seriously, giving him a very approving nod.

It makes him chuckle. “Well, both my parents hate us both now, but at least that’s over.” I heave a great sigh, laying my cheek on his. Baekhyun smacks my and when I lift my head again to frown at him, he mumbles, “Round two?”

I hum and he quickly flips us around so that he is on top. Just before he begins Round Two though, I remember something and place hand on his chest to stop him. He frowns down at me. “Did your parents stop you from telling me about your career?”

He stares at me for awhile before sighing with a nod. “They only said they would sign the papers if I didn’t tell you about it.”

I look at him weirdly. “What did they want out of that?”

He shrugs a shoulder. “Probably afraid you might leave me.”

“Well, joke’s on them because I thought about it and didn’t.”

“Yeah, joke’s on— Wait, you thought about it?”

“So, round two?”

I am holding Baekhyun’s hand as we walk towards the art gallery. I’ve only been here once, during the opening. (Baekhyun completely ignored me pretty much the whole time saying he was “tending to guests”.) The guy at the door bows at us and opens the door to let us in. And the moment the gallery staff see that it’s Baekhyun, they all stop what they’re doing and bow in unison. He nods curtly and lifts our intertwined hands. They glance at it, and almost immediately fold into a lower bow. My eyes widen in shock.

Baekhyun continues on. His shoes tap against the expensive floorboards while my sneakers make soft squeaks. We walk to the back and enter through the doors that has the Exit sign overhead. We walk in a dark hallway with spare wires, metal structures, and all that kind of things.

“Are you kidnapping me?” I mutter as a joke. I warn him, “My husband’s a mafia leader.”

He snorts. “Well aware. But thanks for the reminder, baby.”

He opens a door on the right and we’re going down a set of staircase. The moment we reach the basement, my eyes pop and my jaw drops.

The place is huge. It is probably the size of a car park. There is a corner for people doing the accounts of the profits made, another for drug packaging, another for stalking loan sharking clients, another just solely for playing games and hanging out. If I was asked to part the room into ratios, the R&R corner is probably 40% itself while the second largest would be the drug packaging area that takes up 25%.

“Boss!” one of them shouts.

At once, everyone stops what they’re doing and stands to bow to us. Baekhyun nods and waves them back to work. They do. As I scan the huge space again, Baekhyun patiently waits by the side until I am done. Then I turn and gape at him.

“Why do you even need the café if you have the gallery already?”

He shrugs. “Sentimental value. I met you there. And also because you like the place.”

I blush though I don’t disagree with him. I cup his face and lean in to kiss him on the lips. “So the café’s basically a dump?” I ask when I’ve broken the kiss.

“Hm… I would rather call it a… playground to entertain my wife.”

I groan and roll my eyes. “Is that why your parents don’t know that you still have the café? Because it’s a dump?”

He shakes his head at my accusation. “Actually, I told them it’s been sold off to someone else so they think I only have the art gallery.”

“Why?”

“Word spreads fast in the mafia world. Those around us during the conversation heard it and told other people. So now they won’t target the café. And ultimately you.”

“What about Ruby and Mr. Park?”

“They took a chance because they couldn’t find me here or anywhere. Just a lucky guess.”

“Now that they know, doesn’t that mean that word will get out?” I look at him with a frown. “They’ll know the café’s still yours.” Baekhyun blinks at me blankly. I roll my eyes. “We need to get rid of the café, Baekhyun.”

“But it’s where our relationship started,” he argues, looking very reluctant about closing down the café.

“We can move,” I suggest. I hope to give him a bit of comfort when I joke, “Then I can call it ‘Buns and Toasters’.” Baekhyun glares at me for joking around. I giggle. “I’m kidding. But look at it this way: ‘Guns and Holsters’ was where we met and where everything started, yes. But you opened it when you were sad and alone and without me.”

“So you’re proposing that we open a new café together, the both of us.”

I grin at my husband, nodding. I always feel so lucky to be married to someone who is always in sync with my thoughts. I look around the place before letting go of Baekhyun’s hand. He calls my name in surprise when I quickly walk towards the Accounts section, but I ignore him.

“Hi, can I grab a piece of paper and pen?” I ask politely with a smile when a few of the guys look up at me.

Their eyes widen slightly just before all of them scramble to get what I need. In a flash, I have about five hands each holding out a piece of paper and a pen for me to take. I am so surprised that I can only frown at them. Their heads are bowed in respect. I turn my head slowly to Baekhyun, who has an arm across his chest while his other hand tries to cover his laughter. I return my attention to the men before me and simply take the paper and pen closest to me. At once, the guy who was holding it stands and bows 90 degrees.

I blink rapidly in surprise. “Uh… Um… Thanks, guys…” I say to all of them since they had all been so helpful.

But then all of a sudden, I have all five of them up on their feet, bowing to me in a 90-degree angle. I gape at them for three seconds before quickly turning away to run back to Baekhyun. I hug his arm and look at the guys from over his shoulder. They’re sitting down again, though now arguing over my preference of paper and pen.

“What’s wrong with your men?” I mutter. “They’re a bit nuts.”

Baekhyun laughs, turning his head to glance at me. I look up at him with a frown. “You’re like a celebrity to them. This is the first time they’re seeing you and they find out you’re so beautiful—”

“Seriously, Baekhyun,” I groan, smacking his back.

He stares at me for a moment before turning back to face the Accounts people with his arms crossed. I am in awe when he shouts for their attention, his entire aura now totally different from a second ago when he had been talking to me. His cold personality and overpowering charisma scream authority and leadership. I have never seen Baekhyun like this before.

“What are you guys yapping about?” he snaps, glaring at the five men, who are now standing again. No one dares to say anything, so he yells so loudly that I jump, “Answer me!”

At once, words tumble out of all five of them.

“Gunwoo thinks Lady Boss only took my pen and paper because I was the closest to her.”

“Lady Boss is even prettier in real life.”

“She only took Minhyuk’s pen and paper because he was closest to her but he thinks it’s because he’s cute.”

“I think Boss and Lady Boss suit each other really well.”

“I tried to get them to go back to work, Boss.”

At those honest answers, Baekhyun turns around to smile smugly at me. My face is already hot because of their comments but it is now hot and red because I know everyone in the room has stopped what they’re doing to watch the scene.

“Let’s just go talk about the new café,” I grumble, smacking the pen and paper onto Baekhyun’s chest.

He’s laughing even as he takes the pen and paper, and leads us to a room that is obviously his office. This room is a lot bigger than the bomb shelter at Guns and Holsters, and also a lot neater. Hyuk stays outside while Baekhyun and I enter the room, closing the door behind us. Without even waiting for him to say or do anything, I take a seat on the leather chair behind the table. I write Café ideas on the piece of paper and look up at my husband, who is standing by the chair that I am occupying, deadpan.

“We have a lot to discuss, stop standing there,” I tsk.

Baekhyun inhales a big breath and rolls his eyes. Instead of making me get off his chair though, he sighs and simply settles down on the corner of the table, his arms crossed as he gives me his full attention. I beam brightly at him.

The new café is about an eight-minute walk from the art gallery. The decision to close Guns and Holsters and open a new café was made within the day we were brainstorming. And a few days after that, Baekhyun and I went around inspecting shops that are for sale. We found one that we both liked on the second day of inspection and decided to buy it.

Now, Baekhyun is standing next to me as we both watch his men try to put up the signboard of our new café. He has his hands on his hips as he observes them with hawk eyes. I am pretty sure that even if one of the guys falls off the ladder, Baekhyun would snap at him to make sure that he doesn’t damage anything during his fall to the ground.

I flicker my eyes to the café and see someone stepping up onto the coffee counter with their shoes on. I gasp and run into the café.

“Get off the counter!” I yell, pointing at the guy. Everyone stops what they’re doing to watch me. The guy quickly hops off the tabletop. I stomp towards the counter and glare at the man. “This marble counter is expensive,” I snap. Then I turn to address everyone in the store, glaring at each and every one of them. “No one. Gets up on the counter. With shoes on.”

“Yes, Lady Boss!”

The resounding salute echoes in the new shop. I jump slightly when Baekhyun murmurs into my ear, “Damn, Lady Boss. You’re putting me out of my job.”

I roll my eyes and turn around. He is grinning close to my face, his eyes crinkled into half-moons. “I’m not putting you out of job,” I grumble.

He chuckles, tapping my nose. As he stands upright again, he says, “You’re shouting at my men like a proper mafia boss. You’re either trying to take away my job, or you’re becoming—”

“Don’t say it.”

“A mafia boss yourself,” he nods, grinning smugly. I groan and cluck my tongue. He laughs softly. “What’s so bad about being a mafia boss?”

“It’s not bad,” I mutter. “I’m just not a mafia boss.”

“You’re a mafia lady boss.”

“I’m not.” I glare at Baekhyun, only to see behind him, one of the guys pulling out their cigarettes just outside the café. I raise my voice, “Hey!” They stop like deers caught in the headlights as they stare at me. “Smoke further away from the shop!” I snap.

While they nod and scramble away from the café, Baekhyun laughs and shakes his head. “Whatever you say, Lady Boss,” he sings into my ear before walking out to watch over the guys and the signboard.

I can only gape after him. Surely he doesn’t mean it. I don’t behave like a mafia boss, do I? I mean, I can be bossy. He knows it. Jae and Hyuk know it. The other staff who were working at Guns and Holsters knew it. Being bossy doesn’t mean that I’m a mafia boss. It just means I have a bossy personality. (And I’m not saying is good, but that’s not the point.)

But the fact that Baekhyun said ‘shouting at my men’ reminds me that I wasn’t being bossy to the people I have authority over. I was being bossy to people who is under the power of my husband. And despite that, they answered to me as if I am their boss, as if they should be listening to me.

I stand in the middle of the shop, suddenly coming to a realisation. Baekhyun had said before that I have always been the most respected person in White Tigers even though I had no idea that this gang existed. I didn’t believe him. But now that I am thinking about what I’ve done and what he said, they seem to correlate. These guys listen to me not because I am bossy. They follow my orders because I am a mafia boss, their Lady Boss.

I swivel around to gape at my husband, who has a hand on his hip and his other hand out to point at the signboard. His features form a frown, his lips in a tight line when he is done making orders, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

I couldn’t see Baekhyun as a fierce, scary mafia leader before but now that I am seeing him in action with my own two eyes, I realise that it is in his blood to lead a mafia gang. He leads well and he makes all the right decisions. And that makes me realise that I could be the same. While I don’t see myself as a mafia leader, it is very obvious that the guys in White Tiger do. They already saw me as the ‘Lady Boss’ before I even had a clue about my husband being a gang leader.

I hadn’t known it back then but being Baekhyun’s wife and partner also meant being the Lady Boss of White Tiger. Just like the name of our new café, my fate as Baekhyun’s wife and White Tiger’s Lady Boss has been in my blood for as long as we’ve known each other, and for as long as we both shall live.