"Th-the boss?"

"You're damn right, so make sure you're presentable. Don't embarrass me."

Sooyoung opened the door to a pitch-black car, letting Wendy in first before entering the car herself. The drivers' and passengers' seat was occupied by two men, both in suits and smoking cigarettes. Sooyoung slammed the headrest of the driver's seat with her palm, and the car soon began moving. 

Wendy reflexively pinched her nose, disliking the smell of cigarettes. Sooyoung noticed, smirking at Wendy's little reflex. 

"Hey, you two. Throw those sticks out the window."

"Oh come on, boss, we haven't had a stick in ages."

"Just do it."

Boss. Wendy made a mental note to herself. Looks like Sooyoung wasn't just a soldier after all. 

"You forgot your manners?"

Wendy saw Sooyoung staring at her with expectant eyes, pointing at the window that was just recently rolled up from having been opened a moment ago. The car was rid of the harmful smoke.

"Ah, yes. Th-thanks... boss..." 

Sooyoung snorted, a snort that slowly evolved into laughter. Wendy couldn't help but pout. 

"H-hey...! What's so funny..."

"God, you're ing cute. I cannot get over you," Sooyoung shook her head, ignoring Wendy and taking out her phone. Wendy couldn't help but feel her ears turn the lightest tint of red. Eventually, no matter how poorly worded, compliments would still get to you. 

Wendy remained mostly silent after that, not wanting to accidentally say anything wrong or ask too many questions, lest Sooyoung gets suspicious. She mainly looked outside the window, Seoul appearing much darker to her than she remembered.

"...Where are we going?"

"Just wait."

"...Okay." 

Wendy didn't say a word more after that. Eventually, the buildings and lights started to completely disappear, getting replaced by warehouses, dim streetlights, and barb wire. Wendy felt her stomach doing somersaults.

"You motion sick? You look like you're gonna throw up."

"Hu-huh?"

"You. You're as white as . You carsick?"

"N-no, just nervous..."

Sooyoung chuckled. 

"Well, time to stop being nervous, cause we're here. Straighten that blazer, Son Wendy." 

The car stopped outside a brick wall, with nothing but one tiny door in the middle. There was another car parked outside, one that looked almost identical to the one that Wendy had arrived in. The men at the front got out and opened the doors for the two ladies in the back, Sooyoung waving a lazy hand at them as a form of thanks. 

Wendy nearly fell upon leaving the car, her legs giving way underneath her. Her heart was pounding. 

Sooyoung walked over to Wendy and patted her on the shoulder. 

"Relax, nothing bad's gonna happen here. You'll just meet the boss and one or two other people. The socializing comes after."

Surprisingly, Sooyoung held a hand out to Wendy.

"Take my hand."

Wendy stared blankly at Sooyoung's hand. 

"Take it." 

Wendy gingerly grabbed the tips of Sooyoung's fingers, and the taller girl sighed. She tightened her grip around Wendy and gently guided her towards the door, opening it to reveal a rather luxurious room. 

The room was much bigger than Wendy expected, comparable to the size of a restaurant's kitchen. There was a dining table sat in the middle, with several cases of wines surrounding the place. On the table, was a pistol, a photograph, and a knife. Surrounding the table were three faces that Wendy had seen not so long ago. 

"Sorry to keep you waiting, boss." 

"It's okay." 

Wendy felt a shudder go down her spine when that voice spoke. It was one of pure elegance. Soft, gentle, but at the same time, it struck fear deep into the roots of Wendy's heart for unexplainable reasons. It felt like an ice dagger had been stabbed right through her chest. Her eyes slowly rose up, and there she saw the woman herself, the Queen of the Underworld, the one that ruled above all those who chose to live life dangerously. 

Bae Irene. 

Her beauty was ethereal. Her perfectly sculpted jawline, crimson red lips, and piercing hazel eyes. The picture Wendy had seen did not do her justice. Wendy felt her jaw drop. 

"Go-go-good..." 

Wendy couldn't speak. She was overwhelmed. Her body was shaking like a tornado, and she couldn't help but immediately bow down, lower than ninety degrees. 

Loud laughter began to fill the room. Wendy heard Sooyoung give a loud 'tsk' at the masculine voice that had emerged in the silence. 

"Sooyoung, this is the scapegoat you got for murdering Kim? She couldn't squash a ing ant, and you want to bring her here?!" 

The laughter continued. Wendy bit her lip, feeling tears start to come to her eyes again. Her mind was racing with thoughts about Yeri, trying to keep herself from breaking down to her knees. She felt so powerless, so helpless, so worthless.

"Oh shut your ing mouth Siwon, she hasn't even stood up straight. Least she's got respect, unlike you."

"Can it, Jennie. Watch your mouth, swearing in front of the boss." 

The boss.

Wendy didn't dare look her in the eye. 

The boss. 

Wendy shut her eyes, and a teardrop dripped on the floor.

"Hey, Son Wendy."

"Come on, meet the boss." 

Seulgi appeared in Wendy's mind. 

"I vow to keep you safe."

Wendy took a deep breath. She mustered whatever courage remained inside her, raised her head and faced Bae Irene, who was sitting at the head of the table in a maroon suit that hugged her body perfectly. Her left leg was rested across the other, a glass of wine was in her hand, and a mild imperfection was present in her perfect face with a crease in her eyebrows. 

Wendy gulped. She was beautiful. 

"Son Wendy, I presume." 

She wasn't asking Wendy for her name, she was confirming it. Wendy threw herself into another bow. 

"Ye-ye-yes, ma-ma-ma'am." 

There was a brief silence that followed. 

"Come here, Son Wendy."

Sooyoung gently wrapped her hand around Wendy's elbow, pulling her up from her respectful stance and bringing her closer to the table, where Bae Irene sat. Wendy glanced over at Siwon, a dashing fellow, and Jennie, a youthful, beautiful woman. Siwon was staring hard at Wendy, while Jennie's gaze was softer as the new girl was brought to the front side of the table, less than two feet away from Bae Irene. 

Wendy didn't dare look Irene in the eyes. She focused her attention on the table, where that pistol and knife laid. She had gotten a closer look at the photo on the table.

It was one of a saint, like she had seen in churches. 

"Son Wendy, give me your hand." 

Her voice exuded so much authority. Though quivering, Wendy lifted her hand to meet Irene's. Her hands were warm, almost comfortable, if not for the slight roughness of her palm, indicating those hands had been used to do gritty, dirty work. It was a far cry from Sooyoung's ice-cold, smooth hands.

The knife on the table disappeared from Wendy's view. She had to bite back a scream when she felt something sharp prick her finger, seeing her blood then drip on the table. The picture of the saint was next to move. 

It was placed underneath Wendy's bleeding finger. Irene gave it a gentle squeeze, coating the picture of the saint in bold, red blood. The sound of a lighter popping one was next.

"Son Wendy, look me in the eye." 

Wendy's head felt like a ton of bricks. She couldn't move. 

"Son Wendy, look me in the eye," Irene repeated, her tone more soft, more... gentle.

The two woman's eyes met. 

Wendy could see the history behind the piercing hazel orbs that were Bae Irene's eyes. Those eyes had seen everything. They were cold, unforgiving, gave away no sign of positive emotion whatsoever. Those eyes could freeze hell over. 

"Son Wendy. Today, you will begin a new life. From today onwards, you will live by the gun and the knife and you will die by the gun and the knife." 

Irene lifted the bloody picture of the saint to Wendy's eyes. 

"This blood that was shed signifies that we are now one family. You will answer to the Bae Family and the Bae Family only. You will treat your new brothers and sisters with respect. You will carry honor with you everywhere you go, you will exercise class in everything that you do."

Irene was looking right into Wendy's eyes throughout her speech, not blinking once. Wendy could feel herself falter underneath the boss's glare. 

And she definitely felt every fiber of her body freeze upon hearing the rest of the speech. 

"You will not betray your family. You will not tell anyone outside your brothers and sisters about the life, you will not release any information about this family to anyone outside. If you do so, I then vow to you."

Irene picked up the lighter that was in Jennie's hands and set aflame the picture of the saint. It began to burn, quickly. Wendy could see her blood on the picture dry up and crumble to ashes. 

"I vow that your flesh will burn like this picture in front of you."

Wendy was speechless. She didn't react to anything that happened afterward. 

She didn't react when Irene gently grabbed her shoulders, pulled her forward and kissed her on both cheeks.

She didn't react when Irene leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Welcome to the Bae Family."

Irene seated herself once again. Wendy gave a stiff bow. 

"Th-th-thank you, Mi-Miss Bae." 

Irene's eyebrows creased once again. 

"Sooyoung, stay here for a minute."

The tall girl seemed mildly surprised. 

"Uhh, sure thing, boss." 

Siwon was now eyeing Wendy up and down, letting out a low whistle. 

"You know, if she wasn't made, she'd be good for my ion business," Siwon said, a little laugh coming from him once more.

Wendy felt goosebumps rise on her skin.

Siwon's laughter continued a little longer before it came to an abrupt end with the sound of a gun cocking. 

"Is that how you speak to your sister, Choi Siwon?" 

Wendy's eyes peeked up just a little. Irene was pointing the pistol that was on the table directly at Siwon, who looked mortified. Jennie had a sly smile on her face. 

"N-no, of course not, boss..."

"Apologize to her. Now."

Siwon turned to Wendy and bowed more times than Wendy could count. 

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." 

Irene rested the gun on the table. She turned to Jennie. 

"Hey, take her under your wing. Bring her back to your base to meet your family."

"Yes, ma'am." 

Wendy saw a new hand show itself in front of her. There was the woman she was hoping she'd work for. She had a toothy smile and a youthful face.

She didn't look much like a mafia member at all. 

"I'm Jennie. Wendy, you'll be working with me now. Come on, I'm taking you to meet the rest of your new family."

Wendy took her hand much easier than she had taken Sooyoung's. She was brought outside the room quickly, where a car was already running and waiting for them outside. 

"Get in." 

Jennie had also opened the door for Wendy, which Wendy thanked with a bow. Jennie bowed back too, which warmed Wendy's heart a little. 

When she entered the car, it was not two men, but rather two women in the front seat. 

"Take us back home, girls," Jennie said, closing the door. Wendy was already quite comfortable around Jennie. 

"Yo-you're really friendly, Miss Jennie..."

Jennie smiled warmly at the stuttering Wendy. 

"Thank you." 

The mafia boss gently patted Wendy's thigh. She dug into her purse and gave Wendy a sweet, which the innocent girl gladly took. 

"Th-thank you, Miss Jennie..." 

Jennie smiled once again. 

"Wendy. You seem like a sweet girl." 

Wendy popped the sweet in , a smile finally creeping onto her face. 

"Sadly, there isn't much space for a sweet girl in this life." 

Wendy's smile quickly disappeared. Jennie giggled, her snigger being much less condescending and mischevious than Sooyoung's. It was warmer, more light-hearted.

"Don't worry, I'm going to toughen you up. Looking at you, it might take a while, but we'll get there." 

Jennie placed a hand on Wendy's shoulder. 

"You got a family, Wendy?" 

"Ju-just a younger sister, and foster parents..." 

"Oh wow, I have a younger sister too. They're nice aren't they, little sisters? Though they can be a real pain to deal with at times." 

Wendy nodded, agreeing with Jennie's comment.

"Fa-family's great, Miss Jennie."

"Goodness, this formality makes me sound old. Please, Wendy, just call me Jennie." 

Wendy was about to refuse, but how could she when she saw the friendly, gleaming eyes of Jennie looking back at her?

"O-okay, Je-Je-"

"Come on, you can do it." 

Wendy let a little laugh out. 

"Jennie."

***

"Siwon, please leave the room. Let me know when you get that meeting with the Kim's done."

"Yes, boss."

The handsome man left the room, leaving behind only Sooyoung and Irene. 

The taller of the two, Irene was rather short, sat lazily across the intimidating mob boss. She grabbed a wine bottle from one of the crates nearby and drank straight from it. 

"Gosh, have some class, Sooyoung-ah." 

"Whatever, Irene. Today's been a long day."

"You're my underboss. Call me boss."

"No, I'm the girl that pushed you on the swing in kindergarten when no one else would. I'm calling you Irene." 

"...Fine." 

Sooyoung had finished nearly half of the wine bottle in one gulp, slamming the bottle down on the table with a satisfied sigh. Irene crinkled her nose. 

"Barbarian." 

Sooyoung ignored Irene's comment. 

"What'd you call me to stay for? Don't you usually get Jennie to drive you?" 

Irene shook her head. 

"Why didn't you tell me that Son Wendy was an innocent 20-year-old girl that you pulled off the streets?"

Sooyoung took another swig out the wine bottle. 

"That's what you wanted to talk about?"

"Isn't that what I just asked?"

Sooyoung cackled.

"You asked for a scapegoat, I gave you one."

"I asked for a scapegoat, not a baby lamb."

Sooyoung frowned. 

"You needed someone to take the fall, I looked."

"How'd you even find her? Why her?" 

Sooyoung furrowed her eyebrows at the frustrated Irene, who was sat with her arms folded. 

"We needed a place to off the guy. I found an empty warehouse, scoped it out, found that a bunch of kids always ran in there every day and figured I could pin it on one of them." 

Irene's jaw dropped. 

"You wanted to pin the murder on a bunch of kids?! Sooyoung, what is wrong with you?!"

The tall woman shrugged. 

"Just getting the job done. Planting evidence would've been easy too, those bastards are easy to manipulate. Just stick their hands on a gun, get fingerprints, done."

Irene sighed, pressing her hand to her forehead. 

"We have morals, Sooyoung. Ethics."

"Morals didn't ing get us to where we are, Irene. How many have you killed to get to where you're at now?"

"That's beside the point." 

"No, it isn't! Morals didn't get you making nine figures a month, Irene."

Irene sighed once again. 

"I won't bother wasting my breath on you." 

"Good, same here." 

Irene shot Sooyoung a glare, which the latter returned with a shrug. 

"So, what do you wanna do about Son Wendy then? This girl that you suddenly decide to have morals for. Cut her loose?"

"No, stupid. She's seen my face, your face, Siwon, and Jennie. She could rat us out anytime." 

"Rat us out? Did you see her face when you got to the betrayal part of the vow? She looked like she was about to both piss and herself."

"I noticed."

"And the way she flinched when you poked her with the knife? My god, she won't last a day with us." 

"Then why did you keep her alive? Why didn't you just pin her for the murder? Morals clearly don't apply to you, so why?"

That kept Sooyoung silent for a moment. Irene raised her eyebrow. 

"Well?"

"I thought she was cute. Wanted to pop her cherry."

Irene rolled her eyes. 

"You're an idiot."

"I'm the smartest person in the family, don't disrespect me."

Irene stood up from her seat, needing a bottle of wine herself to make sure she didn't lash out at her only friend, Sooyoung. 

"Besides, you put her with Jennie, and we both know how ing soft that chick is for the ." 

"Must you be so crude?"

"Yin to your Yang, that's what makes us work."

Irene chose to occupy herself with alcohol instead. 

"Keep an eye on her yourself then. It's not like you got much else to do. Who knows, maybe a fluffy, soft, caring, innocent little girl is what you need in your life filled with guns, blood, and money."

"You think I'd bother? Having Jennie with her is enough. She'll keep her safe." 

"That's the first time I ever heard you say you want to keep someone safe."

"Don't tell me... you wanna pop her cherry too?"

Irene massaged her temples, ignoring the idiotic giggles that Sooyoung was emitting. 

"I must admit, I feel the tiniest bit of pity for her. She doesn't deserve this." 

"Well, it was either that or dying for her." 

"If you had told me earlier that Son Wendy was a little girl, maybe I could've done something to make sure she didn't get involved." 

Sooyoung shrugged her shoulders again.

"What would you have done?"

"Release her because she's innocent then find another scapegoat, idiot. I wouldn't have used kids." 

Sooyoung sighed. 

"You're still a softie at heart, aren't you, Irene?"

Irene turned to face Sooyoung. This time, she had that icy, cold glare that made Wendy's hair stand and Sooyoung gently smirk.

"Right, sorry, I forgot." 

"You don't have a heart."

***

Wendy re-entered the brighter part of Seoul once again. The lights were back, people were strolling along the sidewalks and there was the smell of street food littered through the air. It was still fairly early in the morning, around 2 am, so the Seoul nightlife was still bustling. The car began to drive up a slope and into nature.

"Our headquarters are right here in Seoul. Most of our people have their own houses but tonight I gathered all of them over at base to meet you." 

Wendy felt a little burdened hearing that a whole group of people was coming to meet her. Her palms began to sweat a little, a clear sign that she was anxious. She started tapping her fingers against the car door, trying to help calm herself down. 

"Don't be nervous. We're a pretty close-knit family so you'll fit right in. Unlike the men..." 

Wendy noticed Jennie trail off. She seemed to space out for a moment before coming back down to Earth, a smile forming on her face once again. 

"Never mind that. We're here, Wendy."

The car stopped outside a place that seemed straight out a historical K-Drama. It was right on top of the mountain that was overseeing the city of Seoul. There was a large red gate that greeted them, and behind it was a house that seemed more like a palace. Two female guards stood at the gates, and they opened when Jennie showed her face. 

"Wendy."

"Welcome to the Kim Family headquarters."

A/N:

Hey hey hey~ 

Wendy is now officially a part of the mafia, and a little of Irene's personality has been revealed too. Yup, Sooyoung and Irene are childhood friends. Look forward to more of their history being revealed~

Your guesses in the comments were extremely fun to read. Maybe one or two of you hit the nail on the head? ;)

Thanks for all the support this fic is getting! upvotes and over 100 subscribers this early is definitely a new experience for me, and I am incredibly grateful for your support. 

See you soon lovelies~ <3