Hi! So I ended up writing this instead of revising, which isn't good, but well, it's done now. Kinda always wanted to write a Mafia!AU soooo yep! Pleaaaaaaaase tell me what you think, I need to know whether people will read this or not. Also sorry if there's any mistakes, its nearly 6AM. Ha!

Tao couldn’t really explain how he got into this line of work, he just did. Coming to Korea with nothing but the clothes on his back and his martial arts training didn’t exactly leave him with many options. He’d started off with underground fights, but was quickly approached by an old man with a face marred by scars and wounds asking him to do him a ‘favour’.

And somehow it became a regular thing.

After a while, he gained a reputation. More and more of Korea’s underground business men approached him asking for him to take care of their problems in his own little way, and Tao was certainly not one to turn down offers.

His targets were usually scum too, dirty dealers and snitches trying to make an extra buck. He didn’t really care what they had done, he only cared that at the end of the day they were fish food and he was a lot richer.

Money was, after all, why he said yes in the first place.

Even after a long day, Tao could always find solace in Luhan’s letters.

He didn’t usually have a fixed residence, so they were rare and there were few of them. But each one was special to him, enough so that he kept them locked in a metal container hidden under his bed, right next to his ammo box.

Luhan was a sweet boy from the orphanage where Tao was raised, and Tao doted on him like he was his own little brother. Luhan liked strawberries and puppies, and he wanted to be a vet when he grew up. He would always tell Tao about how he shared his meals with the cat which liked to hang around the orphanage, a female tabby cat called Mei, Luhan had named her.

But as if being orphaned wasn’t a cruel enough joke, Luhan was also incredibly sickly.

The orphanage tried desperately to scrounge up enough money to treat Luhan, but it was hard, especially when there were other children that needed to be looked after. At first Tao had tried to find work on the local farms near the orphanage, but none of them would take him. He knew that Luhan would one day become too sick and would quickly fade away, and it killed him inside. They just couldn’t afford to keep sending him to the hospital.

And that’s how Tao had ended up, standing outside the airport in a brand new country with crinkled photographs in his pocket and money on his mind.

It had been his unofficial day off when the phone call came through. He had been meditating quietly when the annoying ringing disturbed him, he’d sighed as he stood and answered the phone, already knowing who it would be.

A job waiting to be taken.

The man was, well, not all that interesting.

Tao had been told that his target was a street hustler that stole from his boss, an insignificant amount of money, really, but his client had to keep up appearances so that none of his other workers would dare to do the same.

As he’d followed him, he flicked through a couple of pictures he’d been sent. The man wasn’t tall, he was skinny and rather feminine, which was common with a lot of street hustlers. Tao had followed him as he made his way down the high streets, disappearing into various clothes shops only to emerge with bags filled with luxury clothes.

His client had specifically requested that the matter be dealt with quietly, so Tao was only watching him for now. He hadn’t been spotted, nor had the mark made any movements which would indicate that he was trying to throw Tao off.

He quickly made his way into a dinky little eatery near one of the backstreets. The tables were plastic and the food was fast and got out to the patrons very quickly. His mark looked incredibly out of place with all his designer bags and neatly cut hair. Unfortunately he wasn’t alone anymore, someone - which Tao suspected was one of his friends or even his lover- had joined

him. A tall, goofy looking man with unruly hair.That always complicated things, but it was nothing Tao couldn’t handle.

He waited until there was a steady stream of noise before he made his move. Gun already loaded, he smoothly pulled it from the holster hidden under his leather jacket, flicking off the safety with one hand as he pulled up his bandana with the other.

One shot, directly to the chest. Another to the forehead.

Screams and crashing noises flooded the backstreet as terrified humans scattered like animals, some ducked for cover after the first shot rang out. The only person not moving was the mark, who was taken out, lying in a pool of his own blood. His companion was crying out for help as he scrambled over to his friend, but it was too late.

Tao put the safety back on, holstering his gun once more, before turning away from the loud cries and chaos. He mentally ticked the name Byun Baekhyun from his list, reminding himself to burn the photographs as soon as he was away from the scene.

It was his ritual, he own little thing. He burned the photos of his targets to symbolise the world being cleansed. The flames away at the discoloured paper until it was nothing but a pile of ashes at Tao’s feet.

He needed to feel like he was getting rid of the bad people. He need to feel like he was doing something good.

It was spring, a ridiculously early time in the morning when his next call came through. It was someone who had hired him before, a business tycoon who often liked to play on the edge of the law.

“He’s a threat to my business, he’s been meddling in affairs which do not concern him and I need him gone.”

“Give me his name and a week, and he’ll no longer be an issue to you, sir.” Tao sat up in his bed, his voice was hoarse from just being woken up and his body felt heavy with fatigue. He was finding it much harder to sleep at night.

“Wu Yifan. I’m assuming it’s your standard fee?”

Tao smirked, he could probably get more out of this particular client. “The costs for my services have gone up, sir. It’s ten grand for him to be brought alive, fifteen for him to be taken out. You know I only work cash up front.”

There was a spluttering on the end of the phone as the man cursed at the prices, after more grumbling he finally gave in. “I want him taken out, no questions asked. The money will be left for you in the usual place.” Then the line went dead.

Tao hummed, pleased at himself for squeezing out an extra five grand from the gullible client. It was too late to go back to sleep, he’d woken up fully at this point. He scratched at his unruly black hair, deciding to take a shower before getting to work.

He needed to find Wu Yifan and start to think of his plan of action.