Yongguk planted his hand hastily into his pockets as he walked side by side with Sungjae. All of a sudden he was having second thoughts about the whole gang life. Maybe if he just turned around and ran he’d be able to escape. Maybe then he could run back home to apologize to his parents, then he wouldn’t have to do anything that was immoral. 

Out of habit of being nervous, Yongguk reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette. He put it to his lips and lit it. After following Sungjae for a little longer, he stopped in front of a mansion. A grand mansion, at that. The gates were high and expensive looking. Yongguk glanced inside the yard and saw a wide garden, with a water fountain in the middle. Of course Yang would live here. He had to have a front of being rich and civilized but behind closed doors be a cold blooded boss. 

“I’ll lead you to here,” Sungjae said. “Just ring the door bell and someone will come to take you inside.”

Yongguk nodded, before dropping his cigarette onto that ground and stepping on it. Sungjae pat him on the shoulder before continuing to walk ahead. Yongguk turned his attention back to the mansion and rang the doorbell next to the gate. He tried to listen but couldn’t hear the ring of the bell, which made him want to laugh. 

Yang was living in a house to big that the guest outside couldn’t even hear what was going on inside. Whereas when Yongguk was still living with his parents, everything was heard. He would cough at the front gate as he got home and everyone in the house would have probably heard. 

This was the life that Yongguk wanted. A big mansion, people at your service. Yet, he didn’t want to achieve it through gang life.

Looking beyond the gates, Yongguk saw that there was a large, bulky man approaching the gates. He knew immediately that it was one of Yang’s many body guards. No boss would have to go open his own door, have to drive his own car, they were too rich to be doing things on their own. 

“What do you want?” The body guard asked hastily as he approached the gate, not opening them. 

The man had facial tattoos and tattoos covering his entire neck. As he crossed his arms across his chest, Yongguk saw that he had his hands covered entirely in ink and more at his wrist, going right up his sleeves, which Yongguk couldn’t see, since he was wearing a vest. Suddenly he felt that the tattoo on his back, that his mom constantly nagged about, was nothing in comparison to this man’s ink.

“I’m Yongguk, Yang wanted to see me.” Yongguk said calmly. 

The body guard barely reacted before opening the large gate. Yongguk slipped in between the gates and the body guard wordlessly started walking towards that house after closing the gates. Yongguk followed closely behind, looking at the garden, gawking at house large and beautiful it was. Which was quite ironic, since he knew that the things going on inside the house was nowhere near as clean and beautiful. 

As Yongguk entered the house, he was immediately greeted with Yang, standing right by the front door. He was smiling. But it wasn’t a smile that you’d expect from an older man like Yang, warm and gentle. No, his smile was almost fake and tired. Yongguk nodded at him in acknowledgement and felt the bodyguard walk right past him further into the house and disappearing into the enormous house. 

“Yongguk?” Yang smiled, offering his hand. “Very nice to see you in person.” 

Yongguk wordlessly took Yang hand into a firm but short handshake. 

The fact that he was a gang leader didn’t bother Yongguk at all. He didn’t have anything to lose, so he didn’t have to up. Yongguk wanted to be in the gang, but also wanted them to know that they didn’t own him. He wasn’t just another piece in their twisted game. He wanted them to know that he was still himself, he wanted to keep his dignity. 

“Come in, have a seat.” Yang gestured him into the large guest room. “Do you want something to drink?” 

“No, thank you.” Yongguk cleared his throat, settling into the luxurious sofa. 

“So,” Yang breathed, sitting in the seat opposite of Yongguk. “Sungjae seems to be very keen about you joining us.” 

Yongguk wordlessly nodded, clasping his hands together. 

“Why do you want to join us, Yongguk?” Yang asked, pouring himself a glass of expensive looking whiskey. 

Yongguk shrugged. At that moment he still didn’t know why he was in Yang’s house. Sure, he put a kid in a coma. Sure, he didn’t have any qualifications for a proper job. But was all this worth it? He didn’t know. He was gambling with his life. If things worked out, happy days. If they didn’t, that’d be too bad. His life would have been wasted. 

“I need to survive, out in the world.” Yongguk said. 

Yang chuckled, sipping his whiskey and setting his glass down onto the coaster. 

“Survive?” he raised his eyebrows. “Yongguk, you punched a kid into a coma, I think you’re pretty safe from  the world.” 

“I don’t want to be just safe.” Yongguk said, looking up into Yang’s eyes that were not smiling like his lips. “I want to be feared, I want to be bigger than I am right now.” 

It wasn’t true. Yongguk didn’t want to be feared, he wanted to feel safe in the open. But in order to get Yang to accept him, Yongguk needed to seem cold and heartless, definitely something that he wasn’t. Yongguk clasped his hands together, clenching them tightly together. To Yang, it would have just been a simple gesture, but to Yongguk, it was a reminder to himself to keep his composure. 

Yang let out a chuckle and softly nodded, taking another sip of his whiskey. 

“Alright.” he said. “If that’s what you want. If you want to be feared, then my gang is right for you, I’ll be making sure that you’re gonna put many more people into comas.” 

Yongguk unconsciously clenched his jaw. He had never meant to put that poor kid into a coma, but now it was a title that he wore in front of his chest. That one rebel high school kid that put someone into a coma. He wasn’t entirely proud of it.  

“Welcome, Yongguk,” Yang set his glass down onto the glass table. “To my world.”